Serra - Week Fourteen

Oh, and I think that's super cool that I'm on that scouting thing! I was excited!

Well, this week was rather interesting. So I couldn't send email on my normal day because the place was closed. This has been like the biggest holiday weekend ever. It started on Friday, and technically ended yesterday, but today everything still isn't open. It's the recovery day. haha.

Well, so here's some fun stuff that happened. We bought 10 liters of açaí last p-day, and we've been snacking on that for almost every day this week. That's what the photo is. We also got some chocolate "fruitcake" for super cheap that we have been snacking on also.

So, Something interesting, is that this week, we've been starting in a new bairro that the missionaries have almost never worked in. Out of the 5 houses that we've been in so far, All of them are married couples. It's a miracle! I was pretty excited about that.  One of the families that we found there was really cool. We were walking down the street, going to one of our appointments,  and some kids started talking to us, we stopped for a bit and their parents showed up. We started talking about the church and about what we do as missionaries, and then they invited us in. we found out that they were married too, and we marked to go back. It was great. We are also having success finding men to teach. Which isn't all that normal for us, because normally they're out working during the week, but with Carnival, there were a lot of people home so we found some really good men and their families that have a lot of potential.

We are working with a man named Agenor, he says that he wants to be baptized, and he is going to church and quitting smoking, but he can't read. That's one of his difficulties. But, if he has desire, we'll get him baptized.

We had some really great experiences with Marrone and his mom Adilena this week. Marrone watched a baptism at church, but is still saying that he doesn't want to get baptized yet. We are teaching his mom, (his dad is a member) and she is really liking the Book of Mormon. She just thinks it's great. We had kind of a family home evening there. We were there teaching and everyone decided to show up and participate. After we talked about the word of wisdom, we kind of hung out with the family, and they really liked it. They went to church on Sunday, and their other son, who is a member went also. It was the first time that I have ever seen him at church. The best spiritual experiences this week were with them. Last night we were there again, and we passed the 20 minute restoration movie, they liked it so much that we watched it twice. Adilena thought that it was really cool, and wanted it to have more. We are going to challenge her to baptism this week. =)

I guess other than that work was pretty normal. The streets were pretty dead. I think I'm losing weight. haha I look thinner, and I'm gaining muscle. Its amazing what 30 minutes of workout every morning will do to ya.

My comp is newer than I am, he doesn't have a year on the mission yet. But I do want to train again. I think maybe this next transfer because we'll get like 15 new missionaries.

So, I'm having a great time, I love the mission. I'm looking forward to the rest of this transfer. Looks like we'll have success!

I made a goal to take at least one picture a day, because I haven't been taking any. I'm sure you'll like getting the extra pics. =)

I guess that's it. Love you all. I'm doing my best here. =) Darcy should be watching all the soccer games that are happening in preparation for the cup.

See ya later.

Serra - Week Thirteen

I took hardly any pictures this week. I hit my comp in the face with a refrigerator snowball. In retaliation for the one he threw at my back.


Anyway. Still didn't get your other box, I did get a care package from the Relief Society, which was awesome. Kind of a surprise. But it didn't have Mike and Ikes. Oh well . . .


So, cool things this week. We are teaching a vampire lady! haha  :) She can only talk to us when the sun isn't super bright. So on cloudy or rainy days. But she's really good. Her dad was a member, but he was the only one in the family. She knows a little bit about the church. We taught her with a member which really helped because he really supported her in her desire to quit smoking. She is excited to read the Book of Mormon too. She is just overall a great investigator. But extended family is coming to stay the week of Carnival, so its going to be hard to peacefully teach her this week. (Stupid carnival . . . ) Anyway, a little bit after that lesson, we tried to teach another lady, who said she was busy, but made us some food. Salgados. yummmm . . .  I'm sure we can get this vampire baptized. I just hope she doesn't burst into flames when she takes the sacrament. :)

We are still teaching Daniela.  She is for sure going to be baptized. We just need to talk with her to get a good date, because she'll be out of town this weekend to avoid the Carnival madness. She'll for sure be baptized. She's just awesome. She's already super integrated with the ward. She's going to another ward activity next week too.

So here's a cool little tender mercy, Saturday, we had walked a lot. And it was Really hot. We were getting to the other bairro, and I commented to my comp, a cold soda would be reaaaly nice right now. Less that five minutes later, we walked past a restaurant on the side of the freeway, and someone called us over. He told us to sit down and he ordered us soda without asking us. Haha He had talked to the missionaries in the past, and had been to church. We talked to him for a while, he bought us more soda, and then gave us his address so that we could go talk with him about the Book of Mormon. Yesterday, we ran into him again. He's a really great guy too. =)

I guess that's it. We also had a lesson with a member's son about repentance and the commandments. We drew a cliff, put a railing on it, and then an ambulance at the bottom. The cliff is sin. His question was, why not just wait until before you die to be baptized? So we talked about true repentance. Just because there's an ambulance at the bottom, would you jump off the cliff? The commandments (the guardrail) are there to protect you. Stay on the right side and you won't need the ambulance (which is repentance.) He got the point. But it was a cool visual aid. You can't purposely break commandments saying "I'll repent later." Jump off the cliff.  You lose your agency.


Well I guess that's it. Never thought the 49ers would be in the super bowl. Carnival is this week. Work will probably be a bit slow. Love you all. Thanks for everything and all the support!

Serra - Week Twelve

So, in response to your letter:

No, I haven't gone to the eye doctor. The secretary will mark for me and then I'll go.

I guess I'm like the black sheep in the family because, I don't really like basketball that much. I'm more of a football and soccer guy . . .
Haha.

BTW, have you decided if you are going to come and get me, or if we'll just come back for the World Cup?

So, talking about standing in holy places, I saw a quote defining what is a holy place. It isn't just like in the church or temple, but a holy place is anywhere that you can feel the presence of the Holy Ghost. SO at home should be a very holy place. Talking about the internet, what you choose to look at, listen to, or the like, could influence very strongly the presence of the spirit. Standing in holy places could also be standing for what you believe in. Holy places are very often attacked, (could use the Book of Mormon for this) and when the people don't have the spirit in the holy places, they lose, and often are destroyed. So, They need to be spiritually ready to defend beliefs or defend against unvirtuous things or even others challenging our beliefs. That's my quick thought on it.

As far as the Plan of Salvation goes, we don't always teach the restoration first. Something cool in the pamphlet about the Plan of Salvation is that it has a little roadmap, and it says, “The Atonement makes salvation possible.”  I usually focus on the Fall and its effects, how the atonement overcomes the Fall, and what we need to do in this life to have access to the Atonement. Because all in all the Atonement is the most important thing, and the youth need to have a testimony of the Atonement.

Speaking about life is like a game, on Sunday, one of the youth totally talked about that. Because he likes video games, so he likened it to that. He talked about how the game master (God) gives us missions (commandments) to fulfill. When we complete them we’re blessed, and we "level up." We can choose not to complete the missions, we don't grow, and our progress is hindered. Really cool.

Anyway, this week went by really well. I get along really well with my comp, he's really cool and I really like him. We are working a lot with Daniela. She is an excellent investigator, and she is the one that is progressing the most. We brought a lot of members there this week, and one we just let a member teach the lesson and we just sat there. It was awesome! She even went to the RS activity on Saturday, and then went to church this Sunday It was really great. I'm pretty sure that she'll be baptized. =D

That's about it I guess for this week. We taught a lot this week. It's awesome.

Anyway, I love this work. I know that this is the right thing to do. I know that it's all true. All of it. I don't have any doubts. I know that this is the work of the Lord to save his children.

Although I haven't found all the people that I have to teach, I know that if I do my part, the Lord will put these people in my way. It's up to me. I know that the Lord will keep his promises.

Thanks for everything mom and dad. I'm thankful for all the things that you have taught me. =) Short this week, but next week will be better.

Serra - Week Eleven

 I bought a new flag.

 My new comp with a zombie dog.  It's the only picture I have of him.

I like graffiti.

Well. This week was pretty good.

Anyway, so my new companion is Elder Blackwelder from Florida. I really like him because he's a nerd too. xD something I found is that it's a lot easier to start getting along with your companion when you don't have a culture barrier. This is only the second American companion that I've had. The only other was my trainer. Elder Blackwelder worked at Universal Studios at Hogwarts, so he has a Gryfindor tie. Pretty cool.

This week went by pretty well. We had some really good work with some members, which helped a lot. I like a lot of the members here. Something that hit me this week, is that some of these members that I consider to be friends, are like a little younger than Drew. haha sometimes it's weird to think that I'm 21. Wow. That doesn't even seem right.

Anyway, something that's really going well is one of our investigators named Daniela. We talked to her on the street and asked if we could come by and she accepted. We went by and taught her about the restoration. It was great! We marked a return visit to also teach her husband, but when we got there he had already left because he doesn't really like religion...yet...but we also taught her the Book of Mormon and she understood, we are going to challenge her to baptism tonight!

We are teaching and planning to baptize a kid named Marrone. He is 14 and his dad is a member. We are teaching him along with two inactive members about his age (I think they are cousins? Whatever, they are family) who are really supporting him and are excited to go back to church again as well. Sometimes it gets a little out of control, having a deacon present is like having Doug from UP! He kind of has problems paying atten . . . Squirrel!! . . . tion. But we are planning on baptizing him this week.

We had a really great experience with Rafaela. She is the daughter of a member, and has only been to church a few times. She's already heard the lessons from a lot of different missionaries. But she likes when we are there. We were trying to discover what is holding her back from being baptized. We were talking about the Book of Mormon with the member, and she started to ask a lot of really good questions about the church and what we believe. While we were there, the home teachers showed up one by one. And the first started to share his testimony about the Book of Mormon and the church. As the second came in the door, she asked him to share his testimony. And he did. It was a really spiritual experience. After we left, me and my companion talked a little about it. We decided that she was like one of the members there who bore his testimony. She knows that it's true, but hasn't asked God yet, and she doesn't want to be baptized because she says she "doesn't have time" when really it's because she knows that if she joins, she won't ever leave. And that is exactly what happened with the member who bore his testimony. He did pray, and he hasn't left, but he was in the same situation. I still think its amazing how much you care for these people. When conversing with me about the church, she always says, but I don't want to be baptized. And I say, "I don't want to baptize you. Someone else can do that.  But I want to do is help you know how important these things are, and I want you to have the joy, happiness, and direction in life that comes from this gospel. And this only comes through baptism and enduring to the end." In the end, I know she'll accept the gospel. I just hope she does while I'm there.

I love the mission. I do know that it's where I'm supposed to be. I've always thought of the mission as tithing on life. You go at the years that should be your best. The two years you give are basically 10% of the years that you've lived so far. So, just like how tithing you get a lot of blessings, I believe that the mission blesses you a lot as well. From what I've heard anyway. =)

I love you guys. Thanks for all the support. I'm glad that you are my family.

The power went out for a minute, so I took a picture of Elder Blackwelder.

Serra - Week Ten

This week really had some ups and downs. Interesting week.

Here's something I know you'll love to hear. So, I’ve been having eye problems for a few months now, I always have red eyes, and stuff. I didn’t know why. This last p-day I went to the eye doctor in Vitoria, and he checked it out. Basically, I need glasses. And because I don’t have them, I’m straining and overworking my eyes, making them be red and having irritation. Just a heads up. He gave me eye drops which are helping with the redness, but this is just a temporary solution, and so I’ll probably need to get glasses before coming back home. So I don’t know exactly how we'll work that out. haha oh yes........

Anyway, we worked well some of this week. We didn’t do well some other parts of this week. Things that we did well, we left with a lot of members this week. It was really great; it helped us out a lot. I think that it helped some of our investigators as well. Another good thing that we did was that we marked a bap date with a young man named Jefferson. He's really cool. He's 17 but he understood our message and without a problem he accepted the invite. He also said that he would go to church without a problem, but, when Sunday came, his whole family was going to his grandma's house so he couldn’t go, and was a little disappointed about that. He promised that next time he will. I’ll keep you updated on him.

We (kind of-not really) got into a Bible bash....The family was really nice, but the man didn’t want to accept Joseph as a prophet because of the research that he had done (he is a historian) but never prayed to ask if the Book of Mormon is true. It was a really cool family; I liked them, except that when I was trying to bear my testimony they kept interrupting. haha Annoying. But that’s okay. When people already have an opinion formed, usually they don’t want to change. And I don’t like the way that so many people idolatrize the Bible. Many of the evangelicals here talk about the Bible like its perfect, and that literally it is all anyone needs. Interesting.

I had a division this week with the ZL Elder Aguaysol, the guy from Argentina that I was with in Linhares. It was really good, he helped me to do a lot of things that I have been forgetting to do. I liked it a lot.

Well, this week I had some more problems with the comp, but not really on my side. I was fine, and again he didn’t want to do a certain thing while planning because he thought it was too far. I tried to help him see the importance of working hard, and shared the mission experience of President Hinckley, "forget yourself, and go to work" but I still couldn’t get him to agree. So, after a day of problem solving and talking with the Zone leaders, we got everything worked out and the end of that day and the next we worked really well. It was excellent. Then yesterday, we got a call that he was being emergency transferred. =( I was kinda disappointed about that. So today I'll get a new comp.

and yeah, Vitoria is sweet. too bad I don’t work there. haha. There is a river somewhere here in Serra. It's not in my area either. Vitoria reminds me of San Diego. =) There is a beach close by to where I am. When we have zone conference we go to a chapel in Vitoria really close to the beach.

Well I guess that's about it.

Interesting that while I was talking with this man who was trying to have a bible bash, its seemed as though he was trying to convince me to stop believing in the things I know to be true. But thinking back at all of the spiritual experiences that I've had throughout my life, there is no way that it's not true. Especially my testimony of the prophet. Something that always comes to mind is Elder Holland's conference talk about the Book of Mormon. Something that I know to be true, and nothing would be able to convince me otherwise. No amount of study could change that. Because God told me that it was true. And so I can't change my mind about that. And that's what I told that man.

Sometimes I think that it's incredible that people don’t believe our message or even do the things for them to know like read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. It's SO much to know, and only requires a simple step of faith. But that’s what separates the elects from those who don’t want the truth.

Thanks for everything Mom and Dad. I've really been able to reflect on the lessons that you have taught me and I'm really glad that you are my parents.

Serra - Week Nine

To answer the questions: No, I did not get the box yet. After Christmas the post office kinda stopped. Yes, it is still super hot. Yes, things are getting back to normal, kind of. Because we live near the beach (and it’s summer here) now everyone is going to the beach every day, which is also annoying.

Anyway, this week started well, was a little bit rough, but then we got back into the rhythm and taught well.

On my birthday, all of the elders in the district came, and we ate lunch and a cake that I bought from the store. It was really good, too.

 My first bday cake of the day.

A Legend of Zelda bomb bag that an Elder crocheted for my birthday.

Then we had to go to Vitoria because my comp needed to get his passport to get money that his mom sent to him. We did take a few pictures at a tourist spot near the office.

That night we didn't really work because a sister in the ward wanted to do something for me. It was only supposed to take an hour, but ended up being a lot longer. She made a huge cake for me, and it was awesome. She also put fireworks on it and I burnt my thumb while lighting it with a lighter.

I'm giving the first piece of cake (a tradition here) to the Sister that made it for me.

Tuesday was really difficult.  Everyone was still recuperating from the excessive partying from the night before. I also woke up at midnight because of the ridiculous amount of fireworks being let off by people in the neighborhood.

We started teaching a young woman named Mayne, who has a kid already, but she lives with her family and also lives close to a member. She is really interested in learning, and I think that the positive influence that the member gives her will make it easier for her to go to church. We were going to teach her again, but when we came at the time that we marked with her, she and the member went job hunting. grrr.

We have returned to teaching Maria da Gloria, her friend who is a member had died recently and she is still really feeling that effect. She is also not happy with many aspects of her life and wants to make a change. That's where I know that the Gospel can help, if she lets it that is.

One of the best (and most disappointing) things that happened this week was Elanio. He came to church with his friend for her baptism, and we started teaching him. We taught him for the second time this week, and talked about the Book of Mormon. He understood, but didn't pray yet to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet. He was saying, “Yeah well I'll read, but I'll probably still go to my church. I think faith is more important than what church you're going to.” Then his friend Tiago came, who was really interested to know more. We gave him a brief overview of the Book of Mormon, and the Spirit was really strong. He wanted us to stay and talk more about the Book of Mormon and about the gospel. It was great, but we had to leave. We will teach Tiago again on Tuesday. We went back to follow up with Elanio yesterday, and he said that he wanted to stay in his church. I asked him if he read or prayed and he said no. He said that he was content with where he is. I tried to tell him that God has much more to give him, and all he has to do is pray with faith and ask Him. But he didn't really want to listen. So disappointing. =(  *sigh*

Another super spiritual experience followed by disappointment was with Julius Caesar. We tried to visit an investigator, but she wasn't there. Her uncle? (I don't remember) was there and we asked if we could teach him. He was a kind of rough looking guy, almost 50. What really helped in this lesson is that we brought a member with us who loves to bear testimony and teach. We taught him the first lesson about the Restoration of the church. He understood everything super clearly, especially apostasy. It was awesome. Something that I've never heard someone say was "so he (Joseph Smith) was the one that brought the church of Christ back to the earth?" YES. It was a great lesson. One of the best I've had in a long time. And the Spirit was super strong testifying to all of us that it was right. But then he said that he was going to work a little to the south and won’t be back for two weeks. Flip, Elder!

Well that was most of my week. And I had some hard times with the comp this week also because he isn't really motivated to work hard, so sometimes I get a little frustrated. But I'm sure as heck a lot more patient.

And I'm really glad for the things that you've taught me mom and dad. Especially with this comp I think at least once a day about things that you have taught me to help me. Things such as, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything. haha. I've also gotten really good at the “forgive and turn the other cheek” thing. haha Something that reminds me of mom and watching football. It's always the guy who retaliates who get the penalty.

Being with so many other people for long periods of time helps me really see and appreciate how I've been "born of goodly parents" and how I have been taught to do what is right. Thank you mom and dad for the example that you have given me, and for being the best parents ever. I love you! =)

I know that this is where I'm supposed to be and that this is the church and the work of Christ on the earth. Thanks for all the support!

Until next week.

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.