Cariacica - Week Four

 My comp and I went to the beach!

Not really.  We had to come to this beach city to do an interview.

There isn't anyone at the beach because in Brazil, it's WINTER!

All right, so here's what's going down this week. So we had a lot to do in the zone this week. It was really rushed.

So about the zone, its pretty dang big. It's the biggest in the mission. We have 23 missionaries, nine of them sisters. The zone has like four cities, Cariacica, Cachoeiro de Itapemerin? We just call it Cachoeiro, Anchieta, and Guarapari which are beach cities. So we have done a lot of traveling the last two weeks.

This week we went to Anchieta in the morning to do an interview with a guy named Wesley. He was baptized this Saturday.

As an LZ, I have to call a lot of people. That is about it. haha. No, we do some training at the start of the transfer, that's why we had two zone meetings. We had to do it in two different cities.

This week we found a lot of people to teach. The zone baptized a lot this week as well. We could have had more, but we faced some setbacks.

We found one guy who was just prepared for us. It was really funny. His name is Edilson. We did a contact with him in the street. He's only 16 but had gone to church once by himself and really liked it, but never went back. That same day we went and taught him, his brother, and 18 year old that lives there, and Edilson's mom. It was really good. In the upcoming weeks they will be baptized. =)

We worked hard this week.

Sorry I don't really have anything super cool to share this week.

Thanks for everything fam. I'll be home soon.

Cariacica - Week Three

Well, I have noticed that I have grown a lot here on the mission. One thing that I have learned on the mission, I always thought that the mission would make you a different person. That's always what everyone says, “oh you come back different!” But what I have come to realize on the mission is that you don't change. You are still you. What the mission does is kinda filter out the parts about you that aren't that good, and helps the good things, (a.k.a. Christlike attributes) become more apparent in your life. And that's how I've changed.

One of the big things that I have come to realize as well, Like the children's songbook says, "by this shall men know ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." (I guess that’s in the scriptures, too!) I have really tried to apply that in my life. I know that I'm still not perfect. I'm still the same person, just a better version of me. =)

This week we had zone meeting twice. My companion and I had to travel to another city, it was like a 3-hour ride there and back, but it was a really great meeting. The Spirit was there really strong.

Toward the end of my mission I am really learning to recognize the influence of the Spirit, the moment that he is present. And that really helps in the lessons. Our investigators know that they are feeling the Spirit too. It's really good.

We have a few investigators that are progressing, and we just got some really good references yesterday for some families that have a ton of potential.

Do you help the missionaries out? If you don't, you should. Because the work doesn't go forward really quickly without the member's help. And that's what the prophet is wanting to change. Remember Elder Anderson's conference talk: Paint a missionary tag on your heart!

We are having fun, and feeling the Spirit.

Looks like you're all having fun. If we don't do fun things when I'm around I'm leaving the family and finding another that includes me in the fun activities. haha kidding.

Love you all.  I'm doing my best here.

Cariacica - Week Two

Well, this week has gone pretty well, I guess. I'm working really hard, but we're still having a few problems here with the area, a.k.a. we don't have a big teaching pool yet. So we are walking a lot and talking to a lot of people to try and see if someone wants to talk to us.

So, last week, we helped a woman named Raquel up her hill with grocery bags. She appreciated the help, and we taught her really quickly and marked to come back. Anyway, she went to church yesterday, and she really liked it. We have been teaching her a lot, and she Knows that what we teach is true. She accepted to be baptized, but didn't want to mark a date yet. She is really awesome. And she's really using her faith because Satan is really trying to get her to not go and stuff like that. The night before going to church she had a dream and saw the church exactly how it is but people were doing weird spirit things in the chapel, and it really scared her, but she went anyway, and saw that it was nothing like what she dreamed. She was impressed by everything in the church. We have been teaching her son Felipe as well, and he will progress as well. He really likes what we're teaching him.

Other than them, we have a few new investigators, but we don't know how its going to be. I'm going to make a lot of cookies today for our zone meetings that we have to do in two different places, because the zone is really big. But its going to be good. We're going to lose a day of work in cachoeiro (another city close) to do the meetings there, but the bus ride is a few hours long. we'll spend the day doing a division with the other elders there.

We're working really hard, and the ward here is really big! I've never seen any other this big on the mission! It really helps in the bringing investigators to church part.

We also had our zone counsel this week, with president. It was pretty good. They talked a lot about how the prophet has asked to speed up the work.

I guess that's it with the mission work. We're working hard here. There are some days that I'm just super tired, but I get through it.

Love you all.

Cariacica - Week One

Well, my week has been really busy so I haven't really had time for much thinking about anything but missionary work. haha

This transfer, to my disappointment, I was called as a Zone Leader. My new companion is Elder Tavares, he's from the south of Brazil and only has 11 months on the mission, but he's really cool. We've had some really good talks about some things, and I can tell that we are going to get along. We have some of the same opinions about missionary work and about the Lord's way of leadership. So I'm kind of getting used to being a zone leader and using the chance that the Lord gave me to improve a little more before I go home. I also think that it will help me work hard until the end.

So a few things, what kind of haircut is that Zack? I can't tell if its like Mexican, or like UFC fighter . . .  Anyway, Mom, I also think that the pizza sandwich is the most effective way to eat a pizza. At least Little Caesars. Way to go Drew. Like a boss. Good job on having spiritual experiences. Now you just need to work up the personal desire to go on a mission. The Elders that are here because they want to are one step ahead of the ones that go because someone else wants them to.

Anyway, we've had a good week of work. It's actually been really spiritual. And the ward here is huge. Pretty cool.

We have been teaching a girl named Natalia, who is 15 and has been going to church for a while. She hasn't been baptized yet because her dad doesn't agree with it . . . yet. =) she told us that she had never actually received an answer about the church or the Book of Mormon. We taught a really good lesson about faith and the Spirit was really strong. I asked her if she felt a difference between before we showed up, and now. And she tried to describe how she was feeling. And I helped her see that the feelings of peace and warmth that she was feeling was the Spirit. We challenged her to pray and ask if we are representatives of the Lord and if the Book of Mormon was true. We came back the other day to follow up with her. When we asked her, she was really excited because she said she got an answer! She was happy because with the other elders she never recognized getting an answer.

We have taught some really spiritual lessons this week, and we are finding some really good people to teach. I like it here. I think it's a great area for the end. Oh and I'm in Cariacica. In a ward called Itacibá. It's a really big area, but I like it.

But yeah. I guess that's all for now. I'm doing my best, and I'm feeling the Spirit doing the Lord's work.

Have fun in the summer. It's cold(ish) at night here. Love you all.

Campos2 - Week Sixteen

Well, looks like you guys are really busy with the summer activities.

Anyway, the week went by pretty well, and we found out about transfers last night, and I'm finally getting out of Campos. unfortunately, our bus leaves at 2am in the morning tomorrow. Lame. So today is going to be really busy. That's the biggest news that I have.

This week we had a really spiritual lesson with Isla. It was one of the strongest spiritual experience that I can remember in the past weeks. We left a quick message about the organization of the church, and I bore my testimony. It was just a really good experience. I'm really happy with the progress that she has made and how her testimony of the gospel has grown.

That was basically the best thing that happened this week. We'll see what'll happen this transfer. It will probably be my last area.

Well, I guess that's it. Love you guys. Have fun with your summer activities.

P.S.  I forgot my stuff so I can't send pictures today.