Day 350

 Zone conference Jan 2019. Elder Gondim is on my right side.

We've already heard about the new mission president that'll get here in June. It's a couple from Bolivia. I think the church announces all of the new presidents somewhere online but we got the notice by email.

We took full advantage of our free time today. Yesterday, we stayed over at the Transit House, where the zone leaders (currently 3 missionaries) live. It's a giant house in the city center with several rooms full of bunk beds, and the house is always packed during transfers.  Today it was just us 5. 

We pooled money to buy ingredients and charcoal for churrasco. The garage (pictured here) has an oven for cooking churrasco, so we bought some high quality meat (fraldinha) and pork sausage. Also potatoes and carrots for what brasilians call "maionese", which is basically diced potatoes and carrots in a thick homemade maionese (made with eggs, oil, and milk... i think. I didn't follow the process very closely)

The total was 90-100 reais, or about 35 dollars divided between 5 people. Which really isn't bad.

This week, we marked a baptismal date for February 9th with a woman named Ledí. I've known her since about the first month I've been here in T. Neves but we're finally managing to meet and teach regularly. Last week, she came to visit the Church of Jesus Christ for her first time. She was impacted by the difference she saw there. We visited the next day with Elenice, the bishop's wife, and Ledí first thing talked about how at the church she had been going to, every single day they're always asking for money. They start by asking for large amounts, and slowly whittle down the price, 50, 30, 20, 10, 5, even asking for a single real! She said that she'd always believed in tithing as a commandment, and as 10% percent, but can't help notice blatant exploitation. 

But the most important part is the work we're doing with members. What happens a lot (I think not just here in our mission) is that people make friends with the missionaries and when the elders or sisters leave the area and they don't know anybody else at church and almost immediately go inactive. So with Ledí, the ideal is that with *every visit* we make, we have Elenice or other members by our side. It's simple in theory but it's surprisingly easy to let opportunities slip by. 

Happily, all is well.

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