We found Stanley, the investigator that ran away. He fell to the power of drugs again, and sold his brother's bike and his cell phone for more, so he was afraid to come home for fear of his brother.
Today he went to a rehabilitation clinic where he will stay (it's like a farm in the middle of nowhere) for the next seven months. Which means that he will not be confirmed and will have to be re-baptized when he gets out. I'll have to leave a post-it note on the wall or something for the Elders that will be here in March.
Marcia, the woman from Paraopeba that was supposed to be baptized on Sunday fled from us. I went there with a member in his car on Sunday morning. We went to get her at her house and she answered the door and was ready to go already, we didn't even have to wait for her. We went to the church/house where we have the meetings and she watched the sacrament meeting and then in the interval before Gospel Principles she came up to me and said "I'm just going to run back home to invite my niece to the baptism and grab the things you told me to bring to the baptism (towel, sandals, etc.)." I, suspecting nothing, said "that's fine, we'll pass by your house to pick you up and then we'll all go to Sete Lagoas together for the baptism." She agreed. When church ended (in Paraopeba it's only 2 hours), we went to pick her up and her mom said that she had left and that she said she didn't want to be baptized anymore. We went to the house where her mom said she had gone, and the people there said she had just left. We're going back this week to see what happened.
It's difficult to work in two areas. Everyone who gets baptized from Paraopeba has to go to Sete Lagoas, because there's no baptismal font in Paraopeba. It's rough.
So, my birthday was yesterday. For lunch the members whose house we ate at made a special meal (beans, rice, french fries, and these parmesean chicken things - excellent. I loved it) and then at night we had an appointment at Rosa's house, the lady who Elder Martinez and I baptized last transfer. Turns out that it was a surprise party, and her husband was doing a churrasco (barbecue) for us, with all of my favorite meats. It was awesome. He also said that he's going to be baptized. Probably next Sunday. All in all, it was a blast. I think I ate cake in four different houses. By the time we got home, I was dead from having eaten so much during the day.
Elder Rodrigo (remember him?) sent me a really expensive cologne called Carpe Diem from some perfume store called Boticário. I've never heard of it, but my companion said it's really expensive. I don't even use cologne, but I guess I can start now. Anyway, that was neat.
Today we played soccer, and a bunch of our investigators went. Soccer is the best integration tool that exists in Brazil.
Love,
Elder Sisco