Elder Joseph Sant: Week 59 Santarem

Hey Y'all! Tudo bom!?

This week was a good one but went by really fast! So to start off we got transfer news this week. And I will be staying here in Santarém! I am honestly really excited, because I love this area so much! It is amazing! And to make it even better, I will be training! I will be getting a new companion that is starting his mission with me! I am pretty stoked but a little nervous because I still have a few things that I am learning in Portuguese but for the most part I can communicate without problems!

Also, this week we had the baptism of Douglas! It was amazing to see his transformation as he prepared for baptism, to me he actually looked different!

This week I had a very interesting day! We had a wonderful lunch with a giant fish and ice cream! And then we started our afternoon visits like normal. And we ended up visiting Douglas, who got baptized yesterday, and after we taught him he wanted to feed us, so we ate shark with him. Shark isn't the fish, it is a meat that I still haven't gotten a straight answer about what it is. It sounds like the cartilage and other parts of animals that no one eats. Except here they eat it. So ate it fast, it wasn't tasting too good, but I felt fine. And then we visited our next person, and after the lesson she gave us some juice and my comp had a nice clean white plastic cup. And I was handed a dirty, orange-black, cup with a bunch of ants. I had already talked about how I liked the juices here in Brasil, so I had to drink it. So I drank it fast and with my eyes closed. And after I drank it, I started getting sick. So we were walking on some back roads to get to our next appointment so that if I threw up I wouldn't end up on YouTube and some lady came running out of here house say that she wanted to talk with us. So we talked with her and heard her miraculous story. I would say it here but it would literally be pages! So, I'll keep it at spectacular and miraculous to say the least! And we taught a fire lesson with her and her family and then We left because by this point I was feeling really sick. So as we are walking we are talking about if we should return or not, and I just knew I was gonna throw up, I could feel it in my mouth. So I went down an even smaller dirt road and there I lost it. All of the shark and the juice, all of it! After my stock was on the dirt road I looked up and I saw some old Brasilian women staring from her porch, so I gave a thumbs-up and left. And then we kept working and I felt fine! And the other good news is that I did not throw up the delicious fish and ice cream from lunch! So yeah, that was one of my more interesting days but equally miraculous. Without getting sick I never would have passed the backroad of that miraculous lady! Almost no one else lives there,but God knew that she was there and the she needed help, so he sent his sick, broncão, servant to help her out. And in the same way the Lord is aware of all of you and will send help to those that trust in Him and His timing!

It was just a good week in general and I am excited for the next few weeks! We saw a lot of miracles this week and I am excited to see where this upcoming transfer takes me!

This week I wanted to talk a little bit about change! Because is almost always a hard thing. But to me, it is also the quest of our life. We are here to prepare ourselves to live with our loving Father in Heaven! He wants us to prepare and to be ready to return to live with Him, but we need to change a little to do this. Alma 34:32 says "For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors." This is our time to work and labor to prepare to meet God! And the labor we are to perform is written out in the Gospel of Jesus Christ! I have seen this gospel of Christ change so many lives, especially my own! I am so grateful for the perfect plan of our loving Father!

Now pictures!