Well, this is my last week in the office. Can you believe it? I was cleaning my stuff out of the office this week and counting my daily planners I realized that I have had 7 here in the office. 7 transfers in the field (including the MTC) and 7 in the office, half of my mission I've been here! I have to say though, even though my whole mission has gone by really fast this second half of my mission has definitely gone by faster than the first part! I'm so grateful for the opportunities I've had and the things I've learned during my time here.Even though at first I didn't understand exactly why I was called to work in the office, I can see now that there were things I needed to learn, people I needed to meet, and experiences I needed to have, and I wouldn't have had all these things if I didn't get called to the office. Getting to know President so well and working close to him has been a huge blessing for me, and the things I've learned from him I know I'll never forget. I'm very blessed to have such a good mission president like President Scholz!
Even though it's over and there will for sure be people and things I'll miss, I'm looking forward to these last 4 months I'll have in the field. This week has been pretty busy with finishing up everything for the transfer and with Elder McLean's training. He's ready though, he was able to pick up everything pretty fast. It was a great transfer with him, we got to be pretty good friends over the past 6 weeks. In the field, it was actually a bit slower as we had to stay after hours in the office getting things ready.
For my studies I focused and thought a lot about faith. I decided to study the Book of Enos again, and this time where I studied it I got more out of it than I ever have! Verse 8 is really interesting: "And he said unto me: Because of thy faith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen. And many years pass away before he shall manifest himself in the flesh; wherefore, go to, thy faith hath made thee whole." But the interesting part is the last part when the Lord says "made thee whole". In Portuguese, the translation says "wherefore, go, thy faith hath saved thee". Because of his faith, Enos was saved! He then tells Enos later on that "Whatsoever thing ye shall ask in faith, believing that ye shall receive in the name of Christ, ye shall receive it." I think that is one of the hardest things for us a lot of times, actually believing that we'll receive. It goes back to that quote I shared by Elder Antunes; "Do you have the faith that The Lord can do miracles or will do them?" Knowing, as Enos did, along with doing our part is when the Lord will grant unto us what we ask for. I'm very grateful for the scriptures and all that we learn from them.
Last Thursday, we got the transfer and I found out where I'd be going. I'm going to a city called São José do Rio Preto, and the area/ward I'll be serving in is Anchieta. I've been to the city before, but never have served there! I'll be "opening" the area, which means that neither me or my companion have served in the area before, so we'll be starting from scratch learning the area, we won't have too many investigators, etc.
Also, I'll be training a new missionary! His name is Elder Silva (if he doesn't decide to change his name when he gets here on Tuesday) and he's from São Paulo. I'll also be serving with Elder Pinheiro as a zone leader which should be fun. He's from Fortaleza! We'll split the area once I get there I think. I'm really looking to put into practice my faith with this assignment that President has given me, I know there are people in this next area that are ready to hear the gospel, and the Lord will lead us to them! There's my week though, last P Day on Saturday!
Thanks for all the support I get from back home, I'm really grateful for it! Love you guys! Elder Odom
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