Who Taught This Kid English?
Hey friends! First things first. I invite every single one of you to get on your knees and pray. Pray for peace, if not for yourself then pray for peace in the world. There has been a lot of stuff going on in these past few weeks but the thing that triggered this invite was the shooting that happened on January 7th at a Latter-day Saint Chapel. That being said, please pray for the victims' families and strive to be a peacemaker anywhere you are.
Okay now that I made everything somber and gave you time to reflect and pray… I’m back, I know you missed me. To get it out of the way; my next P-day will be Wednesday the 21st because I get to go to the temple! I am very excited. This week was a pretty good one so let's chat, shall we.
Guess Who's Back!
The APs came back to visit! I love the APs, Elder Cadena and Elder Bahia. They did an divisão with my ZLs again but, this time, Elder Cadena stayed with us. He's so funny, especially when he speaks English. The only English he knows is the English that his comps have taught him so it's a bunch of slang. Not only that but he says it with the funniest intonation and accent, it shouldn't be as funny as it is but yeah…
Outside of him being unnecessarily funny he is also a good leader. (Remember when I said you can have fun and be a leader, our APs do that (most of the time)). We were waiting around for lunch, not really doing anything, so he had us read a BYU devotional called Be 100% Responsible by Lynn G. Robbins. In summary it talked about the fact that placing blame rarely helps, even if you're in the right. It continued on and said there is always something we can do to take more control of and improve a situation. When we choose to take responsibility for something, even if it's not our fault, we can always make the situation better. I'm gonna be so for real, sometimes that's extremely hard. More than sometimes actually, it's always hard. However, it's going to be a goal of mine to always try to do as much as I can. It will be hard and I will definitely never be perfect at it but, I can try.
Service Project!
In Brazil there aren't a ton of huge service opportunities (so I am told) but we got to do one this week! There is a school that an irmã in our stake works at and, since it's summer break, they have to clean out the school. We had to move every desk and chair up two floors to storage. The zone next door to us went a day before to get everything ready then my district went over there and did the heavy lifting. We moved about 300 tables and chairs, got soaked in sweat and covered in dirt. My shirt is no longer white because of that project. It was super fun though and was definitely nice to get a break from the endless walking in the sun. Was it easier? No, but it was a much appreciated change of pace.
My Boy Eduardo
Y’all remember my boy that got baptized three weeks ago? Eduardo? Yeah, well he basically became a missionary this week. On Tuesday he came to our district meeting to help us practice our teaching methods. It was so much fun and afterwards he told me he was thinking about a missionary. The next day we invited him to lunch with us, he was supposed to go out with friends after but he said he'd rather stay with us so we took him out on the streets with us. Lowkey, he's a better missionary than me. I am pretty sure he did more talking in our lessons and street contacts than I did. Then, on Sunday, he received the priesthood and went out on the streets with the other Elders in our ward.
He's only been a member for three weeks and he's already spreading the gospel with a super strong testimony. It's amazing to see and we need more people like him. After all this he told me that missionary work was a whole lot more interesting and fun than he thought it was and that he wants to serve a mission now. He's only 16 but when he hits 18 he's going to be such a good missionary.
The Random Stuff
Sat outside until 11:15pm just chatting with Elder Eysser
Stayed up late with AP Cadena and got a pizza
My guy that is going to get baptized finally got the courage to give up cigarettes and so he gave them to me to get rid of. He also gave me this sick lighter that I didn't even ask for.
Eduardo is learning English now
Had (and helped make) churrasco two times this week (learned that no one in Brazil sharpens their knives, cutting the meat was miserable)
It was my mom's birthday on Saturday! Happy birthday mom!
Quotes
“I'm so freaking fat bro… let me just eat my pain away.” [Elder Eysser, 1/6/2025]
“Vamos! Let's blow this popsicle stand.” [Elder Cadena, 1/7/2026]
God's Hand
Getting to work with my recent convert on a day I had no motivation to work
Getting to talk to my family on Saturday.
Absolutely fantastic lunches with members
Spiritual Thought
This week I have been thinking a lot about personal and spiritual momentum, especially because of my comp struggles. It's amazing how easily one person can kill your desire and energy that you have to work. However, you have to choose if you're going to kill your momentum or if you are going to keep your momentum. At times we will go through trials that God lets us go through to learn and strengthen us (2 Nephi 2:2), sometimes they may be so difficult that we feel like our energy is not being replenished. That is when spiritual momentum comes into play. President Russell M. Nelson said “Spiritual momentum can help us withstand the relentless, wicked attacks of the adversary and thwart his efforts to erode our personal spiritual foundation” (The Power of Spiritual Momentum, April 2022). I invite you to always strive to have positive spiritual momentum. How? In his talk, President Nelson explains ways we can achieve and maintain spiritual momentum, I invite you to read it. This positive momentum, and remembering the promise that he is always with us (Isaiah 41:10), will carry us through our trials. I have a testimony of this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Challenge
Be a peacemaker.
Another week down. Now it's time to see if I survive this next week. I won't have p-day until next Wednesday, please pray for me.
I love you all so much and hope you have a fantastic week! Email me, I love hearing the updates. Let me know if I can do anything for you!
Tchau,
Elder Urbano
