Serra - Week Eight

This week started off pretty well. All of the missionaries in my district got together with permission of President, and we all just relaxed Christmas eve. The best part for me was singing Christmas hymns together, and it really brought the spirit.

Christmas Eve with the district.

 Opening presents.

 Christmas Day lunch.

The start of this week didn't go very well teaching wise, there were still a lot of people gone, most of our GOOD investigators we still haven't talked to yet, which is kinda lame. We were able to teach a few lessons, but not with much results. Our best day would have been on Friday but we had a division, and I didn't work in my area. It was good, but was a little disappointing that almost all of our appointments fell through. Saturday was a hard day. We weren't able to teach our investigators, so we switched our focus to less active members to teach them and bring them to church for Sunday. It was pretty good, and we got a good showing.

Sunday was the best day of the week for me. Although we didn't have investigators at church this week, we had some of the less actives there, especially Thierles, who we are trying to bring back to church so that he can go on a mission. At church we had some good talks, and the bishop talked a bit about the good Samaritan and how sometimes we pass by the problem. He also used a part of the Miracle of Forgiveness, about the sin of omission, that when we fail to act, we are also in the wrong.

After church we taught two really great people. The first was Merisley, we contacted her a while ago, but never got to teach her. We went by and she let us in. She has had positive contact with the church because one of her friends is a member of the church, and she has already been to two church activities. She has a lot of potential, especially because she lives with her daughter and doesn't have a problem with th whole marriage issue here.

The other good lesson that we had was with Elanio, who a recent convert brought to church last Sunday when she was baptized. Elanio liked church, but thought it was long (he was there for like  4 hours because of the baptism.) We taught him about the restoration, and it was really good. He seemed to understand what we were saying, but seemed a little reluctant to leave some of the traditions(?) of his family. But he is a great investigator and we'll see how it goes this week.

Thinking about new goals and everything for the new year. Learning about how goals are important for us missionaries, and how through goals people progress, I got to thinking in church and decided to do something that I've never done before. Making goals without following up is useless so I decided to do the following.
Set the long term goals, or the goals for the year. At the start of every month I will make goals for the month to help me reach my year goal. Every week, make goals to reach my monthly goals. At the start of every new week, review my goals and how I did, and make goals for the new week. Same thing for the new month. And I’m going to write these down on my desk where I can see it every day.

I think its interesting how sometimes we fall into a routine with our prayers. This is something that I have improved on the end of this week. There is a quotation from president Hinckley in Preach my Gospel about a missionary that when he prays, he really converses with God. Sometimes I lose that feeling and the difference between sincere prayer and praying because you need to everyday is immense. Really praying with sincerity, and really focusing on the prayer brings a special spirit that I have grown to love. It makes a huge difference in the day. I really have gained a testimony of prayer on the mission.

Today, I'm going to buy myself a cake, and the other missionaries are going to eat lunch with us.  Yay.

Well, I love you all. I hope you have a wonderful new years.

Serra - Week Seven

 We were setting up for the ward Christmas party but then....

we got distracted! 

 The mission Christmas party.

 Me with the Pres.

Caroling with the ward.

Me with some of the youth in the ward.

                                                   "To live without love is to live halfway."

Dear family,

I like the Christmas picture. =) Nice Photoshop-ing. I like how I have Blake's hands. All of the littles are so much different from when I left!

Anyway, I will call tomorrow, around 9 your time. 2pm here in Brasil. I can talk for as long as I want. =) President doesn't care, and we don't have anything to do tomorrow anyway... I will skype from the chapel, while my companion uses the phone to call home.

Tonight, the other missionaries will come over and we will spent Christmas eve together, which is cool, I guess. You said you send three packages? I only got two. So the paper tree, I don't have. haha. Oh well.

This week was really, well, slow in terms of work. We taught very little, but we helped out a lot with the ward. They had their dinner (that we didn't eat. >=( freak.) That we helped set up and clean and do everything.

The best part of the week was yesterday, when we went caroling with members of the ward to some less active members, from 5 until 9. It was great, I really liked it. It was the best thing that I've done all month. It brought a little bit of that Christmas spirit that is lacking here in my area. We brought the less actives fruitcake (which is actually a popular thing here, no one throws it out). It was really great to see their reactions when they saw a ton of members that they haven't seen in a while at their door to sing for them. Some of them started crying. The Spirit was really great. I loved it.

That's about all we did all week. Love you, talk to you tomorrow. =)

Serra - Week Six

Hey family,

Well, this week it was really hot again. Flip, Elder.

So we had some good things happen, and some things not happen, but that's alright.

So our best investigator at the moment is Ilda and her daughter Deborah, and now we are teaching her sister Joelma too. She is the one that lived in Campos. She read the Book of Mormon, and really liked it, and she said that she felt good while she read. She was going to go to church with us, but she didn't. =( and I don't know why yet. But she really likes our visits, and she committed to live the Word of Wisdom. Progress! I really think that she will be baptized.

We are also focusing on Marlete and her family, even though she's not married. Her daughter in law Magna, who was there when we taught the Book of Mormon read, prayed, and says that its true. =) We are also working with the family to get them married and to church, which is seeming difficult, because they are always doing something.

Thierlies went to church again, but isn't reading the Book of Mormon still. He's a really great member, he has a testimony, but he wants to return to activity before thinking about going on a mission.

The week has been pretty slow, people are already starting to travel. This next week will be difficult as well. But we are basically working with these two families a lot, and I really like them both. What is awesome is that every time we teach in these two places, the Spirit is always really strong. It is always the most spiritual lesson of the day at these two houses.

This week the mission will have its Christmas party. It's tomorrow actually, along with transfers but I'm staying again, so whatev. They said that this Christmas we can't go to a members house to use skype or something like that but I'll get back to you next week about what will happen for the call.

Sorry for the short email. i know its annoying. Next time I will write down my biggest spiritual experience of the week to tell to you. =)

Love you all. Thanks for all the love and support. I'm trying my hardest. I feel like the mission is a huge patience test with my companions. I seem to only get companions who have companionship issues, and President puts me with them because he knows that I'm patient. haha

Until next week, and then one more day.

TCHAO!!

Serra - Week Five

 The mission office.

Our new hammocks!

Well, this week was really hot. Really hot. Like 100 hot. But that's just part of the work here. But today its raining again. haha

The Christmas tree is in a member's house. And I am PRO and made a BALLER Christmas card. I hope you liked it. And I did pay more money to get that box there before Christmas. =)

Brazilian food. Well, if you just make rice, beans, and some chicken, along with some coke and a salad, that's your basic Brazilian lunch. haha. But to make something a little better, get some dough to make tortillas, and you put basically whatever inside (ground beef, ham and cheese, pepperoni), fold it over (almost like a taco) and fry it in oil. Its called pastel and it's really common here. I don't know...
basically beans, rice, pasta (some kind of noodles) a kind of meat and a salad is the basic food here.

This week we didn't have that much success, but we tried hard. We ended up knocking a lot of doors this week, but we did find some really great people. The problem is going to be Christmas because a lot of the good people that we are finding will travel. Lame.

So I don't know if I told you about Marlete already. She is a great investigator, she says that it's her dream to be baptized like Christ was baptized and she really wants to see a baptism. She has so much potential. The only problem is that she isn't legally married. That's something that is really annoying about the people here. They live together 20 years and aren't married. Her daughter-in-law was there when we taught the Book of Mormon, and she really liked it. She said that she wanted to read the whole book to know more about it. So I don't know how much that they will progress, but I really like them.

Our best investigator, Angela, is going to travel and won't come back until the new year. =( But she is going to take her book of Mormon and her notebook to take notes/write down questions. I won't be surprised if she read the whole thing by the time she gets back. She said that she'll have a lot of questions for us when she gets back.

We found a really awesome family this week knocking doors. We talked to a girl named Deborah and she said that we could come back when her family was home. So we did. She lives with her mom and we taught them. Ilza, the mom, lived in CAMPOS for 7 years, in the area I was, so we got along well, talking. We gave a really spiritual lesson there, and we marked to go back. They also have a lot of potential and I am excited to keep teaching them.

One of the inactives that we have been visiting went to church today and it made me really happy. His name is Tierlies, and he's 22. He prepared his mission papers 3 times, but didn't go because of dental issues, but he came to church for the first time in a while, and it was great. One is his problems is that he plays League of Legends a lot, the same that Cam and Zack play, and he keeps saying that he wants to play with them. haha

Well, that's basically my week. Oh and I bought a hammock, and slept there two nights in a row. It's pretty sweet.

Thanks for everything mom, dad and the rest of the family. I love you all.

We went to the mission office last Monday, but they said that they can only give the letters and packages on transfer day now. =(

I bought a harmonica, and I am learning to play some hymns. Pretty sweet. Do we have our trombone still? I'll want that when I  get back.

I think that's it. Love you all. =)

Serra - Week Four

 A service project.

I put Christmas lights up in our house!

Hey family, well, this week was kinda crazy. We decided to focus really on getting a lot of new investigators, weeding through those who don't want to do anything, and those who do. So, the week started out awesome. we were on fire. But then, about halfway through the week, we lost it. We taught little, so the week didn't turn out that well. At  least we have a lot of new people to teach now. We found a family that was really cool, but the third time we came they said that we couldn't teach them, and they gave us their Book of Mormon because the dad was trying to burn it... but we'll give it back again. We also found a really cool family that used to be Jehovah's Witnesses, and they had a lot of interest, but they're working a lot and didn't have the time to talk to us again. So its been frustrating.

This Sunday we found a super cool woman and her daughter, she really wants to see a baptism, and agreed with the restoration, but she isn't married. But she does have a ton of interest. so we'll see.

It's been either rain or really hot here this week, but personally, I prefer the rain. Christmas spirit doesn't exist here like it does back home, Christmas caroling confuses people, (not a Brazilian tradition) and maybe 1/16 of houses have something Christmas on the outside. But that's okay.

The email isn't very long this week. I sent a package home with a present for Drew, Darcy and Blake, you should get it soon. Sorry to the rest of you, I couldn't/ didn't have time to get something for everyone.

Well, I love you all, thank you for everything, you are the best family!

Serra - Week Three

FYI the graffiti says "independence is a fairy tale, revolution now." haha

So this week was interesting, went by fast, but it feels like we didn't get that much done. So this week we cut almost all of our investigators because they are being weaksauce. Its rather annoying. But we worked with some part member families this week, and we could have some success there. The problem here in Brasil is that people aren't ever married, just living together. Lame.

On Wednesday we had a multi-zone conference. It was pretty good. I really like hearing the mission president talk, he's really funny. Sister gave us good words about obedience and qualities of a good missionary. And one of the new things that our mission is doing, is a obedience report? spreadsheet? I don't know what to call it. Unfortunately we have some slacker missionaries here, so now we have to report on obedience, which for me and my companion, isn't really a problem. =) President talked a lot about change, and how we are going to change the mission. For our mission, we need roughly 42 new investigators for every baptism, which is more than just about every mission in Brazil. (This is one of the hardest here.) But he's putting in some changes so that we can teach more, find more, to baptize more. Woo hoo!  President told us about his conversion story, which was literally about "the lord calls men in their weakness and qualifies them for the work." The ward council where he lived was praying for a bishop. He visited the church out of nowhere, liked it because of the architecture of the chapel, and because it had a place for football in the back. So he decided to join the church. 1st Sunday, he was confirmed. 2nd, he was called to the bishopric, and 3rd Sunday, he had to preside the meetings, and then when the professor wasn't there gave a lesson which happened to be on one of the only scriptures that he had read in the Book of Mormon. President is a really funny guy, and I'm pretty sure he'll be a Seventy after the mission.

The rest of the week the work did not go all that well. We had a lot of appointments fall through. We tried our best, and we taught some new people who have potential. We are doing great. Saturday was ridiculously hot, and then Sunday and today it decided to rain again. Yay...

Well that's about it. We don't have any baptisms lined up since Sergio's wife decided to be offended over something silly, and now he wants time before we come by again. That ticked me off. But that's it.

I got that box already. I called the bank also. Yep. So now I just have to wait for the Christmas boxes. That's all. Thanks family for everything.

I love you all! Looks like you're having fun and staying busy!

Oh and I forgot that it was Thanksgiving until halfway through the day. I had gravy to make potatoes and gravy, but I left the gravy in Campos. =(

Tchão!

Serra - Week Two

  FHE.  Sergio, our investigator, is on the right.

The new area is really good. We do have a lot of jungly areas, but we don’t really go there because no one lives there. haha. But basically since I've gotten here, its rained. I think I've had one day in this area without rain. Some of these cities close are under water because the drainage is bad. The other  guy in the photo [from last week] is Eliomar, he's going on a mission next year, so he's been helping us out.

So this week started really good, went bad in the middle, and finished well. We started the week off with Family home evening with a less active family, and our investigator Sergio came. He liked the message
and we helped him make friends with some of the members. He is one of our baptismal dates, and his son Paulo. He went to church this week with his wife and son, but they had to leave after sacrament meeting.
But they really liked it, and Sergio and Paulo are progressing really well. I asked Paulo this week how his prayer was, and he said that he felt something really strong inside of him. awesome. They are supposed
to be baptized this Saturday, but we're going to remark the date with them so that they ca go to all of the church meetings.

So we were supposed to have two baptisms this weekend. Super firm, with the mom and the sister of a member. We have been teaching them since I’ve gotten here, and they have been progressing well. We had a division to go and do the interview, and Vânia said that they were moving to Bahia in 10 days, and that she prayed and decided to get baptized there. flip. she told us earlier that it would be in a few months. So that was pretty sad because they are great investigators, super humble and accepting.

We are working with an investigator named Eliziani and her son Bruno, who are also really great. Eliziani really wants to go to church, she says that she has been praying and that she knows what we teach her is
true. We had invited her to be baptized, but we need to do it again, because we didn’t really mark a date with her.

The best lesson that we had this week was with an investigator named Neive. She had a baptism date when I got here, but she wasn’t taught everything and the day passed. We brought a RM sister, with us, and we
always teach her at a member’s house. We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Spirit was super Strong. We asked really great questions to get her to think about what we were teaching. We all bore
our testimonies, and there is no way that she didn’t feel the spirit. She was still being kinda flakey, so I explained to her one more time about why the Book of Mormon is so important. And she understood that
if it is true, it’s all true, but if it isn’t, its all a lie to deceive people. So basically its in her hands if she wants to follow or not because I know that she's already gotten an answer.

I love missionary work. Sometimes its hard, nothings going right, and you feel like you're just throwing away time (which is really frustrating when you aren’t able to teach anyone) , but the spiritual experiences are great. The satisfaction is great.

Something that I learned reading through the book of Mormon this time is Nephi's example. His Go and Do attitude is apparent throughout 1 Nephi. He always says "The lord is commanding us to do it, so, let's
go! just do it!" I love it. That's exactly the attitude that we need to have. The Book of Mormon is the Best. =D

I love you all! Stop having a bad attitude. Going on vacation with the family is great. I hope everyone is doing fine. Try to share the gospel. =)
Love ya!

Serra - Week One

 Going down an alley in our area.  Lots of houses!

 My new companion, Elder Delgado from Paraguay.

 Praying to choose the right path . . .

 "I don't think this is it."

 Lots of dead things.  Bones . . .

So I have been transferred to Serra! woo! I'm now serving in the Jardim Limoeiro ward, zona Vitoria. Awesome. My new companion is Elder Delgado, from Paraguay! I've taken the opportunity to start learning Spanish as well. haha. We like in an awesome house, just us two. It’s pretty great. Delgado is crazy, but he's funny and we work well together.

This week has been pretty good. We have already had success. It’s just awesome. So we've had about 4 people this week give us their address without us saying anything more than good afternoon. Which has been really nice.

Our area is super big. We have to walk a lot. My comp walks slower than my last one, so it takes a little more time. We have already marked 4 baptism dates here, with two women who will be baptized this Saturday! wooo! They are the mother and sister of a member. So it was pretty easy teaching them because they had already gone to church.

We also have been teaching people who live on the side of our house. He is an inactive Adventist, but he really likes the messages. He wasn’t able to go to church this week though because he had to go to the hospital with his wife, or something like that. His son Paulo, also has a baptism date, and he says that he wants to be a missionary like us. Really cool.

So, remember how in Linhares we did family home evening all the time? Well, it didn't work in Campos, but it works here. We will have one tonight with a lot of people at an inactive member's house, (who we got to go to church yesterday.)

Well, I really like this area and I think that we'll have tons of success.

Well that's about it. I love you all, hope you're doing fine!

Keep up the good work guys! And Drew, you should totally leave with the missionaries. That's one thing that I wish I had done more, and something I will do when I get home.

See ya!

More pictures from Riley's farewell tour of Campos

 It's hot.

 Sunday lunch with the district.

 With Tânia after her baptism.

 Us with two of the young women from the ward, Raiane, and Thamires, who helped

 us in the mission work. If it wasn't for Thamires we never would have taught Tânia.

Us and Francisca. A member who is super awesome and 

makes the best food in the ward. =) She really likes us.

I'm gonna miss the people in Campos!

Campos - Last week before transfer!

 Eating ice cream with Andre. 

 We had a random lightning storm out of nowhere this week. It has been SUPER hot, 

and then in an hour, heavy rain, lightning, and thunder. One hour later, it was gone.

 Me with the ward missionary couple on Sunday.

Our zone.

I have been transferred. But, transfer meeting is tomorrow, so I'll be able to tell you what happened next p-day. Everyone in the Zone has been transferred. There were only three missionaries here that stayed. So this week has been rather crazy. It's been a slow week, but a really good one. We have been working with a few people. For most of the week we have been trying to get Tânia to go to church and read the Book of Mormon. Her husband is still kinda against it.

Me and Orlando

 We stopped teaching Orlando this week, unfortunately. We have been teaching the family of a man named Costa, we built a really strong friendship with him this week. We had dinner with him and his family, and it was great. His family is one of the families that I admire the most that I've met here in Brazil. They are really close, and very kind. Costa will definitely be baptized by the next missionaries that come here. He thanked us deeply for all that we did, bringing our message and peace to his home. He said that we arrived at a time that he was really needing us. He is really searching to know that it's true. He says that when he knows that it's  true he will be baptized. So awesome.

The best thing that happened this week was definitely Sunday. The best day that I've had. So this week we had been talking with Tania, and we brought up baptism on Friday. She said she didn't know and reminded us that we had marked her baptism for this Sunday. But we had been thinking about it, and since she hadn't really firmed up in her desire, we thought that it would be better to wait for the next missionaries to baptize her next Sunday.

On Sunday, she came to church, alone. As we were walking her to the Relief Society, she told us that she had brought her clothes to change after the baptism. We were kind of shocked that she said that, and said we didn't know if her baptism would be this Sunday or the next. She seemed disappointed when I said that. I went back to quorum, and really thought about it. I prayed and asked if we should baptize her today. The more I thought about it, I realized, that if she had brought her clothes to change, without us saying anything about it, she decided to be baptized. So after class we started making preparations. We went to go talk to her to confirm that is what she wanted to do. Before principles of the gospel, she gave each one of us a present (which was a nice tie. I opened it at home). The best part was the note. It said, "thank you so much for not giving up on bringing to our home the Gospel of Jesus Christ." Wow. Awesome. It was really a fight there. haha. But that's not all.

It was fast and testimony meeting yesterday, and Tania really felt the spirit. She said that many of the testimonies spoke directly to her. The most amazing part is when she got up near the end, and bore her testimony. She talked a little about the troubles that she was going through, and how we showed up and started teaching her. She told about how grateful she was to have had us in her house, and for our determination and persistence. She said "I wanted to know if it was true, I read the book and prayed to know if it was true like the elders asked me, and I know that it's true. And today I'm going to be baptized." Ohmygoodness I have never felt soo much joy in my life! Almost by herself, she received testimony and made the decision to be baptized. Until that point, it wasn't really certain if she would be baptized then or the next Sunday. But she announced it in her testimony. Wow. It was definitely a miracle and the best way to end a transfer.

The baptism went well. One kid from the ward was being baptized. too. The primary sang, “When Jesus Christ was Baptized,” and it really brought the Spirit. I know Tania felt it. The  service was perfect. Two recent converts bore their testimonies. Seriously was the most joyous day, the happiest day I think I have ever had.

A family that I have been helping. The dad is less active. 

 Basically the rest of the day we visited members saying goodbye, after 7 months here in Campos, I'm kinda sad to leave some  of the friends that I have here. We had lunch with Francisca, who made my companion a cake, (it was his birthday on Friday) and gave us toys. haha We visited a few others, visited Tânia again, who again expressed her gratitude for what we did. And she says that if you come to visit we can stay at her house. She is really one of the biggest hearted people that I've ever met. We had more cake later that night, and then I made a few trades. Jonata, saw my Chargers shirt when I got it and said that he wanted it. So I traded him for an official Brasil team jersey. And then I gave his dad, Jocimar, my American flag after I signed it and that made him really happy. 7 months I have been working with him. He says that he'll send a signed Brazil flag home.

So that's about it. It was a great week this week. Sunday made all the time that I've spent here in Campos worth it. =)

Just a note, I'm kinda happy because I'm losing weight now. haha I've lost at least 2 kilos already.

If you could send like 2 more American flags to me to trade/give away, that would be really cool. =) And there are people here complaining that I haven't added them on facebook yet. haha.

Love you mom. Thanks you everything that you and dad have done for me. Thanks for teaching me to do the right. I'm really thankful that you taught what you did.

Love you family. I'm glad that Cam and Lauren are safe, when all the people here were talking about how big the hurricane was, I got worried. What part of New York are they living in?

And where in Brasil does James live?

That's it. I'll tell you where I am next week. Eu amo vocês!

Campos - Week Twenty-seven

Well the weeks are going by really dang fast. I don't know what's going on.

Anyway, that is just crazy bout the missionary applications! Who'da thought that it would have changed so dramatically! Sisters are going to destroy the missions now.

Well, thinking about what I did this week, I don't really remember, so it might be a kind of boring email this week.

We taught, we tracted, we contacted, and we didn't have anyone in church. That's it. See ya later family!!!








Just kidding. This week we started teaching a family which is pretty cool. The first time we just taught the wife, whose name is Eloisa. She let us in without a problem, and she said that she had interest to know more about our church. We taught her the first lesson, and it was really great. She is really intelligent. Later this week, we came by and her husband and her other kid was there, and we taught them the first lesson again. Costa asked some really good questions and wanted to really understand what we were teaching. He was really open to our message. We are going to go back this week and challenge the whole family, (they have two kids, one who is 10 and the other is 15) to be baptized.

This week I have gotten a little frustrated with my companion. I just got to tough it out one more week though. It's weird to think that I'll be leaving campos. 7 months seems like it's been forever.

This week has been really hot. Really hot. Like I have been melting, but it's not that bad. haha. Gotta give all for the Lord's work I guess.

We have been trying our best with Orlando, he has been making progress with the Word of Wisdom, but we haven't been able to talk to him very much this week and he didn't go to church on Sunday, which was disappointing. We'll really have to get on him this week. He's a really good kid, and he knows it's right, but his friends will really hold him back. We had a really good lesson with him this week with a member, and we found out that when he was younger, he was shot 6 times, and so he really thinks it a miracle that he survived, and that he has some mission to do, but he doesn't know what it is.

It's really interesting to see how much you love the people that you teach and how much you want them to choose the right, and how disappointed you are when they choose to not keep the commitments that they make.

Jonas, our baptism is doing really well. He really wants to learn about the gospel. He's already excited to get to the temple, and he really wants to do what is right and serve. Its amazing to see how much he has changed since we started teaching him. He used to be very serious, and he never smiled, and always looked like he was mad at something. Now he smiles, he jokes and really just wants to learn more about the Book of Mormon, about the church and about the gospel. It's amazing to see the changes that the gospel brings in people's life.

We started to work with Tanya again, we challenged her to be baptized again, and she said that she would. She was finally deciding to do it. But then she didn't show up at church, and basically I don't think that she will be baptized for a while because of her husband. It's really annoying. But what can we do?

It's great being a missionary. It definitely has its challenges, but it's great.

I found a bakery this week that has the closest thing that I have found to jelly filled donuts. ohmygoodnessgraciousdeliciousness. I'm definitely going to get some today.

Oh, and we also had the primary program here too. It was pretty funny. I had to bless the sacrament this week so I got to look at the congregation. It’s interesting to see how many of the people were singing the songs too.

Well that is about it for my week.  Love you all! You're the best family! The mission goes by way to fast.
It’s scary. I only have 7 more transfers to really work hard and teach the gospel. That's a crazy thought. I think I need like 10 more.

Well, lots of love, until next week!

I saw the google maps street view car this week. Took a picture just to prove it.

Campos - Week Twenty-six

 With the Ten Commandments

Us with Andre.  We learned a lot from him this week.

Baptism! (L to R) Heron (performed the baptism), me, Jonas (who was baptized),

 my comp, and Sergio (ward mission leader)

Hey family! How's it going?

The Weeks are going by really quickly. It's rather amazing. Anyway, We baptized this week!  Got really nervous for a few times with Jonas, but everything worked out all right.

So on Friday night we were needing to talk to Jonas.  We had planned to go by his house later that night. But we got a call from him saying that he was waiting there for us to come by and teach him. (Jonas is a really cool guy, but his family is super against us like I said.) I was worried because his baptism was marked for Sunday, and we still had to teach him all of the commandments. We were praying that he didn't have any problems. We got there and he was waiting for us. We taught him all of the commandments in the same night, and talked about baptism, Holy Ghost and endure to the end. We were there for almost an hour and a half. But thankfully he didn't have any problems. Saturday morning, he was interviewed and passed! Phew! But then that night when we went by there to help him with whatever doubts or problems or questions that he had. When we got there at the time that we marked, someone from his house was outside yelling and swearing at him telling him that he had to decide if he was going to stay on his mom's side or if he would go to the other side. Telling him that he had to make a choice. He told us to leave and he'd get back to us later. We were really worried. We started going to our next investigator's house when we decided to pray. We took turns praying and asking that Jonas would be able to make the right choice and not falter. About 30 minutes later, we got a call from Jonas, and we planned to meet him at the church. We got there and he was waiting for us. We talked to him and he was firm in his decision to be baptized. I don't know what he worked out there, but he said that he was going to be baptized. We talked to him a bit and then let him go.

Sunday was hectic. The time changed and we forgot. We were leaving our house at 8 to go and get investigators, when we got a call from the other elders saying that church already started. We got to church at about 9:20, and Jonas was there already. We got through the first hour until I remembered that we hadn't filled the font yet. Yikes. So we got on that. I left with another elder to go get one of our investigators before sacrament meeting. He came. After sacrament meeting was even more hectic. We had to prepare a baptismal service, I had to take care of our other investigator, a sister was wanting us to come with her to give a blessing to her aunt, and more. Lost in the confusion, my companion let Jonas go alone to go get a towel. That was also worrisome. A lot of the members were saying that he wouldn't come back. But after a long 20 minutes of waiting, he came back. And was baptized. Awesome. So rewarding. What was really cool is that he really came out a new person. At church he was just wearing a normal shirt, but when he came out of the bathroom after the baptism he had a white shirt and tie and everything! Really great. It's just a great feeling to see the people that you love and worry about so much make the right decision. =)

This week we started talking to a kid named Orlando. He is really good. Monday night we had nothing to do. All of our appointments fell. I thought of a guy we had talked to but I didn't remember exactly his address. I knew kinda where it was. We went close and started knocking. The gate next to where we were opened there were two guys sitting there and I went and talked to them. I asked them if they knew where this contact lived. He gave us information and I asked if we could share a message with them. They let us in. We met and taught Orlando, who is 20, and Felipe who is 16. We taught a great first lesson, and then I explained a little about baptism and invited them to be baptized. And they accepted. It was really great. When we listen to the Spirit, when we don't give up, the Lord blesses us. He blessed us with these two investigators, a spiritual lesson, and people willing to learn and to progress. The next time we went there we taught Orlando about the Book of Mormon, and he promised to read and pray. We had trouble talking to him the rest of the week because of his friends, but Sunday we showed up, and he came to church with us. Later that night he said that he had read, but didn't understand very well, and that he prayed and felt good. We taught him the Word of Wisdom because we knew he was going to have problems with this. He accepted to keep the commandment, and we set goals with him to help him stop. I really hope that he decides to progress.

Sunday we also talked with two less actives, whom I really like, I think they are great guys, and I learned a lot from them. We talked about a lot of things and I learned things that I can do to help. I learned a lot about the importance of Service, charity and being able to listen to the needs of others, especially when you are in a position of leadership.

I'm grateful for the experiences that I've gained on the mission. I feel like I could have done so much better. A while ago I felt like I hadn't learned all that much on the mission, But I've reflected and thought about the lessons that I have learned, and they are many. I know that I still have more that I can learn.

Thanks for everything mom and dad. I love you and I'm grateful for all the things that you have taught me, that you have taught me to choose the right, and that you helped me to get here on the mission. Probably the best thing you have done for my life. =) I cannot express the gratitude that I have. I am looking forward to the months at home to spend with the family before going away to college again. Love you all!

Campos - Week Twenty-five Riley's One Year Anniversary!

Me and my buddy Elder Lefoll on an early morning year mark division.

 (A year for the both of us--we got here together.)

Us in the back of a member's car. It's small.

Anniversary açaí.

The weeks pass so fast it's hard sometimes to remember exactly what happened. It all kinda blurs together.

Anyway, we would have had a baptism this week. We got right up to the day. Saturday, we were at Tanya's house to help him get ready and be firm and everything and help her with what doubts she may have had. So, she was all ready. Sunday morning, her husband called, (he never calls about anything good, but only to unmark our appointments) and (I admit that I shouldn't have answered the phone) but he told me about why Tanya doesn't want to be baptized and that she's not going to and such. It was really disappointing, because it wasn't even her telling this to us. =( We tried going there to talk to her, but we were unable. So, we'll see what happens. It was a little disappointing.

We have a baptism date with a man named Jonas, who lives across the street from some members in the ward. While we were teaching him he expressed desire to be baptized this Sunday, but we didn't have time to teach all the commandments to him, so we decided to wait one more week. His biggest problem is that his family is incredibly ignorant. They ripped the pamphlets that we gave to him twice, so this time we left the Book of Mormon and the stuff at the member's house for him to go and read. He went to conference last week, and really liked it, but he didn't go to church this week because he was confused and didn't know if church started at 9 in the morning or at night. =/ weak sauce.

We are also continuing with a family that we have been teaching.  I may have mentioned them to you last week. Hellilton, his wife Maria, and their daughter Eduarda. So we have been over there a few times, Maria really likes talking to us, she always invites us in, but she is super hard hearted Catholic. Hellilton is really open and kind, and they were going to go to church yesterday, but because of the situation with Tanya we weren't able to pass by and go with them to church. But we were teaching them, and we read the Book of Mormon with them. The spirit was really strong, and I know that Eduarda was feeling the spirit. But at the end, when we were asking them to pray and ask god, Eduarda said that she would, but Maria said that she doesn't need to. She believes that her church is right, that it was the one that Christ established, but she also believes that all churches are right and lead to god. I asked her a question like this: "Sister, if GOD was here right now, and was telling you that our message was true, and that this was the true church, would you follow what GOD was telling you?" and she said, "Mmmmm. No."  What? You gotta be kidding me! Haha anyway, we have hope for her husband and daughter. They are much more open. Just ridiculous.

We are also working with a kid called Mavery, who is really cool, just his problem is that he is really Catholic as well. It is really sad that the tradition and conviction of families will keep them for receiving the truth. He also didn't go to church this week because he was tired from working. This week we'll se if he'll progress more or we'll have to stop teaching him.

I've got a ton of time here, but I do like the members here. Some of them are really cool.

Well I'm definitely trying my best, and trying to improve NOW. This is also something that I've learned. A lot of times we just kinda wait for some milestone to change what we're doing. Like, next month I'll do things differently. Or next transfer, next week. Thinking like this you'll never change anything. The right time to choose the right is now. That is a lesson that I have tried to put in practice.

Something that really helps me be better, is one of my favorite primary songs, (I really like the primary songs now.) Is thinking about the words to "if the savior stood beside me" I think that is the kind of attitude we should always have. Before we do something or say something, we should think about these phrases. If the Savior stood beside me, would I do the things I do? Would I say the things I say? Thinking about this really helps me. =)

That's really cool about the experience that Tim had. I'm still waiting for that person. In preach my gospel we learn about patience and hope. I know that is the reason why I came here. Even thought it hasn't happened yet, I am waiting patiently on the Lord and I know that if I do my best, I will be where I need to be.

Thanks for everything mom. I love you guys. Thanks for the emails every week. The time just goes so fast. I'm sad that I only have one more year to work. It worries me a little. Now I really have to do my best, because my time to be a full time missionary is running out. I guess we have to make the best use of our time while we have it right?

So you guys are going to come pick me up then? =)

It's not super hot here yet, which is good. I don't really need anything.  I just miss some good American candy. They don't have anything like skittles or starburst here.

Thanks for everything that you do for me mom. I love you all, and hope the best for you. I love the gospel. =)

até mais. eu amo vocês!