Hey everyone!!
Let me get straight into the good stuff! Last week like I said, the office was robbed for the third time and we were getting a bit worried as to when this person or people were going to strike again. After the robbery the main security people from the church in Brazil came in and they put in alarms and bars on the windows. All we need now is a dragon wrapped around the office! ;) Anyway, we felt pretty safe with all that stuff. On Sunday morning we went to church with Carmita and her two grandson's, Ana Luisa and two young kids called Bruno and Vitória. Ana Luisa was going to finally be confirmed, Mateus was going to receive the Aaronic priesthood and Bruno and Vitória were going for the first time to church.
We rushed to church worrying that we were gonna be late, got the bus and when we walked up to the gates we saw a bunch of police cars and the members leaving in their cars. Yep, they striked again. This time in our chapel. Someone had broken in and robbed the chapel (in reality there was nothing to steal so they just broke all the doors) and the church meetings were cancelled. We were super sad and all these plans for an awesome Sunday went down the drain. :( We still managed to take Bruno and his sister to a different ward and they really enjoyed primary there.
As we sat in sunday school in the Cantareira ward, I got a phone call from the police saying that they had found the robber in the chapel that morning. He was asleep and drugged up. They then told me the guy was found with one of the Sisters' passports. My heart must have stopped beating for 2 seconds. :P They quickly linked the office and chapel robbery and told me I had to go to the police to declare it was stolen. Before I knew it, there were two police guys with guns inside the church looking for me. They took me and Elder Cardoso to the police station and drove super fast. Okay, maybe they drove at a normal speed but in my head I was in a action police film or whatever. In the end we got the passport back and I could breathe again. Since then, the guy admitted he also robbed the office and they found out he is a less-active member of the church. *sigh* What an adventure! ;)
On Tuesday, we had our last multi-zone conference and it was a special one indeed! President's two oldest children came from the States for one week and in order for the secretaries to take part, they made the pancakes and waffles this time round. ;) Although it was my fourth conference in about two weeks, the spirit there was incredible. I was reminded that disobedience to even the smallest little things means we are breaking our temple covenants. I won't repeat much of what happened because I described it last week but as I released my balloon with that piece of paper saying what I would change to become "the fourth missionary" I felt a newfound desire and drive to be better and continually seek to change. :)
Here is a picture of the secretaries, assistants and the Farnes Family (including President's soon to be daughter-in-law ;)). What an incredible family!
After feeding our spirits in such a great multi-zone, we got the chance to fill our bellies at the Outback Steakhouse with president's family and the office staff. It was awesome!! It was good chatting with Skyler, their oldest son. He served a mission in South Africa and gave some good advices. His girlfriend Kaitlyn signed the mission flag as "Kaitlyn Farnes". President's reaction was hilarious! ;)
This week as we have tried to be more obedient in little things such as doing exercise in the mornings and getting out of bed before 6:30, we have seen more little miracles and blessing here in Horto Florestal. Tomorrow we will have the baptism of Bruno and Vitória and hopefully a lot of their family will come too. :)
I love this gospel and my Saviour Jesus Christ. What a blessing it is to be here doing His work. Oh yeah, this transfer I will be training Elder Pereira as the new executive secretary. He was in my MTC district and was an example of me of obedience and diligence in scripture study. I'm sure I will learn a lot more from him than he will from me in this transfer!
Love you all!!
Elder Torres