2012....Hard to believe (1-2-12)

Once again to all, Feliz Ano Novo! It´s quite hard to believe that 2011 has already passed. It was my only complete year on the mission. Kind of wierd to think huh? I really can´t believe it. But at the same it´s not being hard to accept. New Year´s Eve is nuts here in Brasil. I´ve never seen so many drugs, alcohol and partying in my life. Right in public on the streets too! But we were safe and happy at the bishops house eating churrasco (BBQ)´. It was pretty fun. Plus it´s been raining since Saturday morning. It put a big damper on the customary fireworks. But there was still a ton of fireworks and soooo much noise. I finally got to sleep about 3 in the morning because of the noise.

The work is also going really well in the area. It really is a great area to work in. Until Friday we hadn´t found many new investigators. All of our plans to find ended up leading to less actives to teach. Which is great, I love to work with less actives but we were also desperate for investigators. But Friday was pretty miraculous. I spent all of my personal study studying and praying about the Area Book ( the record of all the people taught in the area) and selected various families for us to visit. Interestingly we didn´t find any of them at home on Friday. But, the next door neighbors of all these people were prompt and ready to hear the message. The day resulted in 7 new investigators (the normal finding of a whole week´s worth of work). It was a great testimony builder. This ward is also great at giving referrals. To all of you members: Give more referrals! It can be anyone, even if they don´t seem ready yet to accept the gospel.

I´m worried about transfers next week. It will be a normal transfer day. All logic says that neither of us will be transferred, buuuut the way things have been going, who knows? I really hope to stay. The companion and area are great. What more can you ask for?

I hope you all have a great week. I love you all so much. Have a great 2012!

Elder McLelland