Elder D. Andrew Greenman

Our son, Elder Andrew Greenman, has been called to serve in the Mozambique Maputo Mission. He has asked me to create this blog so that you, the reader, can read his letters to home. His current writing address is found below along with the most recent letter.

Monday, July 16, 2012

Progress is Found in Change


We have a new mission president!  His name is President Paulo V. Kretly.  He's Brazilian and if you type up his name in google you can find out more about him.  presidentandsisterkretly.blogspot.com Along with this new president there have been a lot of changes.  (Not so much for me, because I didn't really even get to know my first mission president.)  President Spendlove's focus while mission president was baptizing quality families while helping all the thousands of inactives here in Mozambique, and President Kretly's focus is baptizing quality families while helping all the thousands of inactives here in Mozambique, but just more so.  He wants quantity and expects the same quality.  I'm super excited.  President Kretly has great vision.  I've learned so much from him already.  He spent that last week in the Biera area and I was able to really get to know him.  He's inspired, in me, a great desire to work even harder.  He's given me vision.  Ever since our Zone Conference last Tuesday Elder Gergetz and I have found so many more contacts.  We've been averaging 6 a day.  On friday when we had divisions and the District Leader walked with me in my area we got 9 contacts 5 of which were families.  I can already see our recent training is making a positive change and effect in Dondo.  

Ever since I arrived in  Dondo I occasionaly saw a man who seemed smart, dressed well, and seemed happy all the time.  I would always wave to him or say "Boa Tarde"  He'd respond in like manner.    As the weeks past we would cross paths in the street going to our various different places.  I kept telling my self that some day I'd talk to him.  Someday I'd actually start up a conversation other than the usual Bom Dia or Boa Tarde.   Last Friday Elder Gergetz and I had come up with a fun way to contact people and we used it various times with other people until suddenly I saw ahead the particular man who seemed smart, dressed well, and seemed happy all the time.  I told my companion, "hey, lets talk to this guy up here, i've got a feeling he'll be good."    

Quickly let me explain this "fun way" elder Gergetz and I discovered for contacting people.  One day when we were walking to one of our areas we passed by our neighbor's house, and I could see through their fence that they had a small plate with a strange looking fruit on it for sale.  We walked up to the fence and with a quick "Com Licenca" someone came to the fence and we each bought one these fruits.  Fruit was called "Carambola" It's not very common here in Africa, but is in Brazil.  You may know it as Starfruit.  We gave the lady two metacais and went on our way, starfruit in hand.  Elder Gergetz said with a smile on his face that we could use this fruit to get contacts.  We would walk up to people and simply ask them if they knew how to eat it.  In their eyes we were just two white guys who didn't know anything and had a strange fruit in their hands.  They would go on to say that no, they don't know how to eat it, in fact they've never seen the fruit before.  From there we would walk way two minutes later with the person's name and phone number.  

We did the same with this man who seemed smart, dressed well, and seemed happy all the time.  It went very well.  He was very open and kind.  We invited him to church that coming sunday, which happened to be the District Conference in Beira.  We told him that the church had rented a Mashibombo (bus)  and that it would leave from the paragem  at 8:00 so he had to arrive at 7:30.   Now usually with people we contact, we invite them to church but dont expect that they'll come the first time.  We were very surprised on sunday morning when he was there, ready to go.  Later that evening after the conference and when we had arrived back in Dondo we asked him if we could pass by his house.  He said yes.  So we did. It was an amazing lesson.  The Spirit was felt there powerfully.  He told us that he wanted to join our church, that we wants to leave the Universal church, and that he wants to get married as soon as possible.  I know that God prepares people to hear his word.  I testify that that is true.  I know that he prepared Vitor to hear our message.
I know that he cares about each and every one of us.

Until next time.
-Elder Greenman

P.S.  Dearelder.com decided to continue their promotion.  It's still free!  But only for the next 24 hours from when you read this.  



Andrew's pictures on Picasaweb: https://plus.google.com/photos/109925268862178384484/albums/5755267058684627153?banner=pwa

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