When is Prayer Never the Answer?

This week was good. I got better sleep than last week but I am still consistently tired everyday. I bought new curtains (which were expensive) and they are a lot better than the last ones. But they still aren't perfect. We also spent way to long looking for them. I miss being able to go to a store and know exactly where it is and that it will have curtains and it will be well organized and reasonably priced. Here I have none of that. We had to walk around, find a store, find out if it had curtains, find out if it was affordable, find out if they had good looking curtains, find out if they were thick enough to block the sun, and then find out if they had enough of the same curtains. But after a few hours we managed to get some curtains. So hopefully every missionary in this house after me will appreciate being to sleep just a little bit better.

Also I have ring worm now. For anyone who doesn't know what ring worm is, it is a circle shape rash that sometimes itches. Really it is a fungus. The only annoying part is that it is pretty contagious. But of course because I am in Africa it is a big deal. As soon as I told Sister Moraes she told me to go to the clinic immediately. Unfortunately the dermatologist wasn't there so we had to come back later. When we got in to see him, he was like "show me the rash" and after I showed it he was like "yeah it is ring worm, here's a prescription." I spent more time waiting in the lobby than actually talking to him. So now I am treating it and it should go away in a few more weeks.

We also had exchanges with the DL this week. He wanted to work with the new missionaries and see how good they can run an area for a day. So I got to go to his area with his companion. We did a lot of walking. I don't think we had a single lesson where we weren't rushing to get to. But it was really good and nice being in another area for a day.

Then this Saturday we had Carlos and Jasmin's baptism. They got married last week and this week they got baptized. It was super cool.

I have been pretty tired these last few weeks. Our weeks have been pretty busy, I haven't gotten the best sleep and my year mark on the mission is fast approaching. To say I am not stressed would be a lie. There is just a never ending pile of things to do and things to do better and an ever increasing pile of things I could have done better. But once again this is just an excellent metaphor for life. We can pick and choose what we do, but there will also be mistakes and more things to do. All we can do is do our best and keep our eyes and what really matters. And through the gospel of Jesus Christ that is following his example and becoming better. There are many ways to become better at something but Christ offers the best route possible.

This next week I will have been on the mission for one year. So I am planning on my next email being a big one. But for now, know that I am doing well and want you to do well too.

Also prayer is always the answer, always.

Elder Jeremias and me

Beautiful field

Carlos and Jasmin before their baptism

Weird tree and root