Gaia 6/25/17

Aloha Família!

It was suuper hot so Élder Karthigeyan and I were joking

 that we'd start proselyting like this, or in shorts, haha. 

Irmão Carlos Braga took the pict for us.

We were blessed this week and it cooled off small kine.

We "re-found" Carlos Peixoto on the street! He was the guy we marked for baptism, but then had to pass to the other elders. He had stopped progressing, and had given everything back. He didn't wanna hear anything more, but we were able to get him to take back the Book of Mormon, get him marked for baptism, and re-made the plans for his baptism! Was super cool cuz we hadn't planned to be in that part of town, but after a suggestion from the sisters about passing a refferal they had given us, we felt good about it. We went and he was there! Soo grateful for the opportunities we have to serve as tools in God's hands.

We were able to do service for this young couple of our ward. We helped them move! Sadly, I didn't take pics....

The Stake Presidente's daughter with her plastic
hammer. Some of the kids in the background
also have hammers.

 So, this past week we had our Festa de São João Festa for the ward! Festa de São João is a catholic holiday that celebrates Saint John the Baptist, but really, it's just an excuse for people to get together and party haha. Grilled sardines and broa, a type of bread, are traditional foods for this holiday. Also, everyone walks around with plastic hammers and hits each other. I don't know why, but they do, haha. Was fun.

Other than that, we are still working hard, opening our mouths and talking to everyone! We have some investigators that are showing promise, and we will continue to do our best to help them gain the blessings of heaven. I love you family! Have a great week!

com amor,

Élder Kim

This is behind our chapel. This past Friday was a catholic holiday called Festa de São João. It was pretty fun to be able to eat good food, help our investigators get to know people, and have a good time. 

Wikipedia explains: "The festivities have been held in the city for more than six centuries, yet it was during the 19th century that Saint John's day became impregnated in the city's culture and assumed the status of the city's most important festival. An interesting tradition among the people of Porto during the 'Festa de São João', with roots in pagan courtship rituals, is to hit each other either with garlic flowers or soft plastic hammers."

Here is a picture taken in Porto. We go to porto, right across the river, to do email. This is of the Praça de Aliados, or Square of Aliados. There are tons of tourists and stuff. Élder Karthigeyan and I went and ate kebabs. Was mean! I love the kebabs! (Sorry no picture of that. I ate it too fast, kkkk.)

 Here is a view of the of the rain coming in one morning. It can be raining one minute, then sunny the next, as you can see the light reflecting off the buildings.

This is a family we found and taught the last two weeks. Right to left: The dad is José, the mom is Ana, the daughter is Maria, and the son is Bernardo. They are a part of a hard core sect of the Catholic church, like a church within the church (not sure how it works, it doesn't really make sense to me). They are really committed, however, to God and serving Him. They accepted the invitation to read the Book of Mormon, and we're excited for them. I know that if their faith is in God, as it should be, and not in their church, they will receive an answer of the truthfulness of these things.

Élder Karthigeyan took this pict to show the similiarity between my hair and the dying weeds on the side of the path as we were taking the "mountain pass" to get from a reference in the sister's area, to a potential investigator in another area, where we would "re-find" Carlos Peixoto. 

Here is a pict of our mission training we had this past week via a Skype-like application called Zoom. It was pretty cool. Sad thing was, even tho' we could see and hear everyone, we could not be heard or seen bcuz we neva have camera or mic. My companion and I are the one black square. Lame... someone took the camera we had, so yeah, small kine sad, but it was still a good training.