Campos2 - Week Five

New glasses and a new tie

Well, I love general conference. What was really interesting is that we were talking in the house about what temples would be announced, and all of us agreed that it would be in Rio, because of this and that and everything else. We were all shocked at the announcement of the Rio temple! As were the members here in the Stake. The Rio temple, (when finished) will be the temple for our mission. Really cool.

I liked those photos of conference that you put up. As always, Elder Holland's and both of the talks by Uchtdorf were favorites. I noticed that they talked a lot this conference about having a firm foundation in Christ, and also fortifying the family. It seemed like they put a lot of importance on 1. personal and family scripture study every day, 2. Personal and family prayer every day, and 3. Family home evening every week.  And that is how we have a strong foundation.  It was really good.

Well that was really the focus of the week. The mission has been really working hard this week. But Our work has been going pretty slow lately. We are starting almost everything over again, and we haven't really been able to pick up the pace yet, but we're doing our best.

We have really been trying to do our best. I really love the mission, and know how much I'm helping people here.
I don't know if you remember Tania, who we baptized here in Campos right before I left. I got in contact with her this week and we are going to eat lunch with her. Last night she called me and was telling me about all the blessings that have happened in her family since she joined the church. At the end of the conversation, she started crying and was saying, thank you, thank you so much. Thank you for bringing me to the true church. If there is one thing that brings joy to a missionary's heart, its hearing someone say that. =)

I got the package that you sent in February. Thanks. haha. I like the Chargers shirt. We ate all the candy already. =)

Congrats, Darcy for being a soccer star. You are an excellent young woman. Just keep being happy, apply what you learn about the gospel, and keep up your plans and your goals. Aim high Darcy!

Drew I know that you have all the potential to be an outstanding example. Congrats on doing well in school. I wish that I didn't slack off that much. haha. I forget who said it, but in conference they said to make plans for your life. DO IT, and make goals to help you achieve those plans. And a mission better be number 1 on your plans.

Blake, you are the best redhead brother ever!  Keep being kind to others. You will be a huge difference in the world because of it. I love you.

Love you family! And its fine for you to come get me here on the mission.

Got a call this weekend that freaked me out. A missionary called me and told me that the US was at war. But then I found out that we aren't. Yet... haha

I love the gospel, and conference is the best thing ever.

See ya!

Campos2 - Week Four

On a division. Went to Habbibs. Ate 10 mini pizzas. Each.

Hey family, so to respond the questions first.

The day set for me to go home is September 24. yikes. Only 4 more transfers . . .  Last that I heard, its all right for you to come get me but I'm pretty sure that you guys have to arrange it with the secretary so that they don't buy my plane ticket or whatever. Stuff like that. You know how it is. =)

About the Book of Mormon, what I have found on the mission is, we can prove to these people that the church is true only using the Bible. It is possible. It's pretty easy actually. But even if you prove everything to them, they won't accept it or they won't ever have a firm testimony of the Church. True conversion only comes through an answer to prayer through the Holy Ghost. As Moroni says, “and by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.” Conversion is much more than knowing.

Well, I'm super excited for conference. Like stoked. I LOVE conference. It's the best.

This Sunday we would have had a baptism. But we didn't. We've been working with Valdir for a long time, but he's still indecisive about the baptism. On Saturday he visited family who didn't help support him in his choice. We are going to keep working with him though. He has a lot of potential.

Easter wasn't really that special. The only thing that I noticed that it was Easter was all the people in the supermarket going to buy chocolate eggs. Other than that and the talks in church about Easter, everything was exactly the same. It was really normal.

So this week it continued raining, and it flooded a few streets here.

This is our street.  Past our ankles in rain!

Rain is good, but not that much rain. The best for working is when its almost raining.

I got my glasses this week. I don't know if that picture I sent I'm wearing them. I haven't been taking very many pictures. My bad. haha. I'll try to do better.

Happy birthday, Darcy!! Sorry I forgot to send that last week. Here in Brazil at 15 is the big party for girls. They dress up like princesses and have a huge party. And ballroom dancing. And then normal teen dancing. haha. My little sister is all grown up! =)

Hey, if you could send portraits of the family that are new it would be cool because the photos that I have are from Zions, and like 2 years old already . . .

Cool things that happened this week. We had lunch with a member, and her friend was there. We talked about the organization of the primitive church, and we talked about the apostles, prophet and the seventy, with the bible. Then my companion showed that list of general authorities that is in the ensign. She thought it was really cool. We are going to try to keep teaching her this week.

We also visited Angelica this week. We baptized her daughter this transfer and it had been a while since we had been by there. We passed and just left a normal message there, and went. We were close another day and we decided to pass by. She told us that the other day when we visited them, that she really needed our visit. That she felt like she needed us to go by to help her spiritually and then we showed up. It really is amazing how God answers prayers through really simple means. It wasn't like any huge spiritual prompting telling me to go there, but just a small desire. I thought that helped me know that I needed to do it. So subtle that you don't recognize until you've already followed it. It's really cool.

The best lesson that we had this week was really good. It was with a man named Genilson. We didn't have much to do one day so we were knocking doors in the rich neighborhood in our area, giving out pamphlets of the plan of salvation, in preparation for Easter. We met this guy in front of his house and he let us in. He used to be an atheist, but because of something in his life he is starting to change. We taught him about the Atonement, and the spirit was really strong there. I was surprised when I heard an instrumental of “I Need Thee Every Hour” playing on his radio in the kitchen. I was really surprised. It was cool. We are going to go back and teach him this week also.

Well, today I'm going to learn how to do some wood carving with an investigator. Like make signs and that kind of thing out of wood boards. We've been looking forward to it almost all week. haha.

Well.  I guess that's about it . . .

Word to Drew, just do it bro. Organize your time, and do all the things that you want to do. If you really want to do it, you'll do it. Buy a planner. haha.

Well I guess that's it. I love you guys. =) I'm trying to do my best.

Campos2 - Week Three

This week was okay. I did have one really awesome experience this week.

First of all, the questions. I'm in a different part of the city, and my area has all kinds of places. In one part it's a really rich neighborhood, really big houses, and it really nice. The people who live there are normally married, middle age and have one or two kids.
We also have areas that are really poor, where there are more people who are not married, and there are a lot of kids on the loose in the street. Really different. We are working in all of the places in our area, which is a little difficult, we're trying to change a bit.

As for Drew and the kids, I really, really regret wasting so much time at home doing literally nothing on the computer. So much time to learn how to do something, and it's just wasted. Music, for example, is a great way to spend time. Even if its skating, it's better than sitting on the computer. In my opinion, video games, although fun and entertaining, are not the best way spend time. Learn! D&C says that man cannot be saved in ignorance, and that all knowledge that we gain in this life will put us one step ahead after. A little bit of video games is fine, but we should use more time doing productive things. Learn a new skill. Develop new talents. Gospel Principles says we need to develop our talents! =)

About the Eagle, it's totally worth it. I really think that it was the Eagle that got me my job. For members of the church it's not that impressive. But everyone outside that knows anything about scouting thinks that's super awesome. Really good boost when trying to get a job.

I went to buy glasses today. They were expensive here. I little money help would be nice but whatevs. I'm only going to get a box next transfer, or in 3 weeks. =( lamesauce.

I live with two other elders, both Brazilians. I’m the only American here, but that's fine. I'm still losing a little more weight, which is a good thing.

We had a cool experience this week. On Sunday, we had to go get Valdir, who should be baptized next Sunday. We had to go get him, we took a bus, which was late, he wasn't ready, and then we missed the bus on the way back, and church had already started. WELL great. We sat there a while, and I thought, Heavenly Father, we really need to get to church. If someone could give us or ride, or send the next bus or  something, it'd be really great...My companion was thinking the same thing. WELL, almost the exact moment that I finished that thought, a pickup stopped in front of the bus stop. The window lowered. I couldn't help but think, No flippin way. A guy asked us if we were going to the church, and offered us a ride. He was an inactive member, going in that direction, so he decided to help us out. By small and simple means great things (or miracles) come to pass. Really cool. My comp freaked out. haha it was for sure the coolest thing that happened this week.

We are doing WELL, I'm trying to do my best. I know that this has been the best for me. I've have been thinking about my mission and what I've learned. I don't know if it really has been the BEST two years in terms of having fun, because I've had a lot of struggles and hardships, but I do think that with the amount that I have learned and grown, it has been the best two years of my life without a doubt. I learn new things every day. I'm thankful for all you have done to get me here.

I love you!

Campos2 - Week Two

 My new companion.

So, this week was pretty good. There was one day this week that was just killer. It felt like it was 50 degrees C. It was so hot that in the shade, the wind passing was hot. It was just ridiculous. But other than that, the week was great. We had a lot of lessons, and we are working a lot with the members here.

This Sunday, I had to give a talk in church, and I had to teach the gospel principles lesson, but that wasn't hard. On Saturday, bishop called me asking me to give a talk about having good language. So I didn't even have a day to prepare, but everyone thought that my talk was good. I used what you always say, If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. =)

The end of this week it started to rain. A lot. Brazil has some flooding problems because the drainage systems in the streets don't really work. So the streets just get full of water.

We are going to try and baptize two really awesome people soon, the first is Valdir, who is an older man, lives by himself and is a member's neighbor. He really likes the church, but we have to teach him a little bit slower for him to understand and remember everything. We marked a baptism date with him for the 31st. We are also teaching a guy named Atos. I think he's 18, but he came to church with his friend and this week he came by himself. He really likes the church, but we discovered that he has some family problems. We are going to continue working with him. I know that the gospel will help his life.

That's about it for the week. I'm going to try and see how much glasses are here so that I don't have to worry about that anymore. I already have the prescription. Well, I love you, Good luck with everything.
Keep doing soccer Darcy,
Happy Birthday Drew!! xD you're 17 now right?

Until next week. =)

Back to Campos

 Baptism!  Daniela is awesome.

 One of the members that I really like here in the ward.

 Thierles, the member I helped re-activate.

 In Portuguese, the abbreviation for Book of Mormon (BofM) is LDM!

More LDM!

Hey mom! well, this week was pretty good.

So I was transferred to.....Campos....again. haha But at least I'm in a different ward this time. I'm on the same side of the river, just on the other side of town. Its pretty good. I'm not training like I wanted to. My new companion is Elder Stelzer. He looks like an American, but he's not. haha. Everybody thinks he is though. He's from São Paulo. We're getting along really well, and we are starting to do some really good work here, and he was already here when I got here. He is still pretty new in the mission, but he is great. It's really good here. We baptized this week also. Kind of. Natalia is a daughter of a  member. She wasn't baptized at 8 because of family problems. She turned 9 last week, we taught her and baptized her. I don't really count that as a baptism, but the mission does. haha.

This Sunday was really cool. Some of the investigators we had marked with didn't go to church, but we had others who just showed up there.  Like Danieli. =D She lives near the church, saw the sign that said it was open at 9 on Sunday, and felt like she should go. She liked it a lot! She really liked the gospel principles class where people got a chance to talk and debate. She said that in ALL the churches she has been to, she had never seen that. After gospel principles, we talked a lot because she had a question about the primitive church, because she didn't know that Christ established a church. She was really interested, and we marked with her to teach her more on Tuesday. =D I'm excited for that.

On Sunday, I fell asleep at lunch. We ate a ton and the member left us alone there. haha We slept for like 15 minutes with our heads on the table. It was pretty funny.

Well, I'm still getting used to the whole area again, but I think its gonna be great. I'm sad that I only stayed one transfer with Blackwelder, he has been my favorite companion so far.

That's about it for me, I haven't taken a pic with my new comp yet, but I will. Love you all

Serra - Week Seventeen

Well unfortunately, its not letting me send photos again. =( annoying.

I was transferred. My companion will stay in the area. There are going to be 18 new missionaries, and I want to train again. That's what I'm hoping for.

But anyway, this week was super good. It ended with a baptism!

So, Daniela, who we have been working with for more than a month, was baptized on Sunday. But she had really changed from the start of the week to the end. At the start of the week she was just the same, keeping with commitments, she really likes the church, but didn't want to make the hard commitment to be baptized. We taught her with a member and we ended up talking a lot about baptism and the baptismal covenant. It was really good, and we marked her interview. On the night before the interview, she woke up in the middle of the night, thinking a lot about baptism and the things that we taught. She went and got a notebook and a pen, and started writing things that she like about the church, and why she should be baptized. She said that it was like her hand was being guided and that it wasn't really her that was writing these things. At the end of the list that she had written about why she liked the church, that she knew it was right, and all the things she knows, she wrote, "so what's keeping you from being baptized?" And she decided that she would be baptized. Sunday was stake conference right after, with about the whole ward there, we performed the ordinance. It was awesome. Everything went well, and she said after that she had been really nervous and stuff, but after she knew she had made the right decision. =) I know that she will never fall away from the church. She is already integrated well with the ward, and has really felt the power of conversion in her life. =) Now she just has to keep it up so her husband will get baptized too.

We also had a super awesome experience with a couple that we are teaching, Renan and Silmara. We bought members there, and this lesson was really spiritual. We talked a lot about the restoration, and Renan was asking a lot of questions because he really wanted to understand. He is feeling the lack of God in his life, and really wants to change that because of his new daughter. What was cool is that this member couple taught more than we did, which I thought was great. At the end we wanted him to pray. We suggested that one of us pray, then one of the members, and then him, on our knees. He agreed. When it was his turn to pray, the spirit was really strong. It was probably the first time he had ever prayed out loud, and probably the first that they had prayed together as a family. It was really cool to see him take that step in his life. He has so much potential. =)

I'm just sad that I have to leave the area. There are so many good people here! Speaking of which, at stake conference I saw some people from Linhares, my first area. And they remembered my name! That made me really happy. It was good seeing these friends again, although I did have time to catch up because I had to do a baptism. haha

And, I saw the cops chase some guy down. And WE were in the way. Almost got shot. haha  It was exciting even though for me it was super casual. Some guy was running away on a bike and started to take a gun out and I super casually said to my companion, that guy has a gun...
Soon after, two gun toting cops came around the corner after him, then two pickups full of the BME (which is kinda like SWAT-- they go to GET the guys.) My comp dropped on the ground, I just stood more to the side. Someone shot at someone, but I didn't stop to see. I just kept going back to the house, but it was cool. I've never seen the cops chasing after someone.

That's about it. If I have a package I'll get it tomorrow. Oh, and a member gave me a guitar yesterday. =) that was cool. But yeah, I really liked this area and I'm sad to be leaving. I want to train a new American. haha but we'll see. I'll let you know.

I love you all, I'm safe, (I have yet to be robbed on the mission, the spiritual protection is great =) and I love what I'm doing. Hope you're all well. I'm surprised how fast its gone. I'm almost on the home stretch. =/  Well, until next week. =)

ps, I took a lot of pics this week, but the computer won't let me send them. Better luck next week I guess.

Serra - Week Sixteen

To answer questions first, transfers will be next week. Our mission will get 20 new missionaries, which is a ton! We have been getting a few more sisters, but not much. From everything that I've heard, its okay to come still, but I think that might be something to talk to the secretary about.

I had an experience this week that changed my mission and the way I see things in the gospel. Me and my comp have talked a lot about some things and I have felt that I have really grown.

To start, what helped me learn was our zone leader talking about how our purpose is only baptize and saying a lot of things that I didn't agree with such as there is no point in teaching lessons and getting new investigators if they don't accept the baptismal invite on the first go, or if they are having trouble quitting smoking or any other change, just stop visiting them and try to find the "elects." I got really frustrated because it's not the Lord's way. We are representatives of Jesus Christ. Our purpose is so much more than baptize. If I can help someone come closer to Christ, helping them have more faith, helping them believe more, helping them feel the Spirit, helping them change, even if they didn't get baptized,  I fulfilled my purpose. My purpose is to invite othesr to come unto Christ, helping them have faith in Jesus Christ and in his Atonement, repent of their sins, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end. If I can help someone in any of these steps, I succeeded. A reactivation, a renewal of a covenant is just as good as one made.

Numbers, are not what's important. What is important are the things you can’t measure. Love, charity, faith, kindness, service, obedience, diligence, the Christlike attributes.  That is Christ's way. I thought a lot about Elder Holland's talk from conference about the first and greatest commandment. Lovest thou me? Feed my sheep. We are to emulate the Good Shepherd. We do this by caring for the flock individually, being sensitive to the needs of others and focusing on helping them. Our numbers will be reflective of our diligence, but only in a way. I don't need to teach 10 lessons in a day to have an awesome day, but if I helped just one person feel the spirit and come closer to Christ, my day was a success. Our job as missionaries is to establish the Church, and one way to do that is through reactivating. The church here in Brazil only has a 20% activity rate. I feel like that is because missionaries here focus so much on the number of baptisms, and not the quality of conversion.  That is what I have learned this week. Our work in the church shouldn't be so much, How many? but Who? Christ, the Good Shepherd knows his sheep, each one, and loves them. As servants of Christ in his church, we should do the same. Know those you work with, their needs, and focus on helping others reach salvation, and not just the number of people present, or not.

We have decided after studying Preach My Gospel that we won’t teach lessons without members. We will focus on only teaching lessons with members present, and working much more with less actives and part member family to work with reactivation, and to get more references.

I feel like the things I have learned this week will stay with me for the rest of my life, and I have also seen things that are almost the same in my patriarchal blessing, which helps me know that this was a lesson that I needed to learn. =)

We have a few investigators close to baptism, and a few we are starting to teach that have a lot of potential. We are still working with Daniela. We're trying to get her to read and pray about the Book of Mormon everyday. Because we know that if she does, she will get her witness.

Sometimes we just need to stand up for what we know is right.

The First sign of Love has always been Loyalty.  Loving Christ means being loyal to him and his gospel. It means helping others as he did. It means doing what Christ would do.

Everyday I think about that primary song, "If the Savior stood beside me, would I do the things I do? Would I follow his example and try harder to be true? Would I think of his commandments? Would I live more righteously, if I could see the Savior standing by watching over me?" This song has become something that I can't forget. It helps me look for opportunities to serve, to do good works.

I know that this church is true, even though we have faults. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way to be truly happy in this life. I love the mission, even with all of its difficulties, disappointments, and hardships. I love it because never have I felt so much joy, happiness, or Christ-like love towards others. Never at one time have I  grown so much. I know that this is where I am supposed to be, and that the mission is supposed to change me, more that it should change others. I really love Elder Holland's last talk. Especially after learning this lesson.

I love you all. Keep up the good work. =)