i have a cold, with nose congestion, but other then that im well. dont know how u get sick in the heat but it happens. Got sniffles haha annoying but happens. We finally got a blender so i can make juices, yummy!!
We (Kevin and his companion) are great. working hard. he speaks (Portuguese) pretty well, so its not much trouble. it feels nice to be pretty much fluent. Haha
Saturday we had Baptisms. Yay, Wilson was baptised by me. Wilson dunked himself again in the water after he was baptised to make sure all of his sins were left there. haha Ester (84 yr lady) was baptised by Favreau. was funny seeing him try to delicately baptise and old women, but went fine. It was quite interesting, but went well. So nice to have baptisms.
Tuesday we had some food that is from the South, Rio Grande do Sul. its was soo good and such a change from beans and rice. Dont know how to describe it but it was good.
HAppy Birthday Shelly (Feb 6th)!!!! now you are legal!!! i havent sent the letter yet, we dont have a post office in our area, ill try to give it to some one to send here soon though. Love ya!!
1/26/2011
Things are going well with Elder Favreau. We have been working really hard the past week and will continue doing that. We so far have two people lined up for baptisms this weekend, one is a 71 year old lady that pretty much never lets us talk. We ask her something about Joseph Smith (etc.) and that launches her off on a voyage of stories. So we just teach her the basics and she should learn the rest while attending church in the future. She is really funny though. The other is Wilson, the guy I talked about last week. He is solid firm and we will have his interview friday. Keepin my fingers crossed.
Yesterday we had a conference with Elder Itinose (see photo). It was really really good. He taught us alot of technices on how to better our teaching and using the spirit. Favreau and i plan on integrating them today and try to work better. He also shared his decision on serving a mission. He was the only member of his family and the instant his parents knew he was going to serve a mission they pretty much turned against him and dissowned. During his mission, he commited to serve as best as he could to demostrate why that path was the right path. It was a really spíritual story. It shows the sacrafices that sometimes we have to make in our lives to live the true gospel of Christ.
We dont have any really good new investigators yet, havent had alot of time the past few days to do tracting, and when we were it didnt work. We do have this one lady that is baptist, but has alot of questions about our religion. Monday we visited her for like an hour and the whole time we were answering questions. So i pray something touches her heart and leads her to follow. we will see. This week we are going to tract alot and get references to find more good news. So it will be a hard week of work.
Hmm...being an online teacher (Mom) for BYU-I, thats interesting. kind of being a professor without actually working on campus. haha go for it. What are u applying at Phoenix university for again?
Well, normally p-day is today, but because of the conference yesterday, we are going to switch p-day with yesterday and work hard. it will be different, but we cant waist time.
Good Luck shelly with the cake (decorating competition) and All-state (Choir try-outs). dont worry, just do your best!!!
1/19/2011
i did not get transferred (this time), but Melo did. He is going to salvador and turning Senior!!! yahoo!! haha i received an American named Elder Favreau. He is from Mesa, Arizona. I knew him when i was in Ilhéus, so its not some one completely new. He has 6 months on the mission, and he just got transfered out of an area that was hot in baptisms, so im going to try to suck out every ounce of success they had to help our area grow.
No problems here, if anything is just being rediculously hot lately. I wish we would have rain, but then again it would be much more humid. so not much i can do about that. Yes, i have heared alot about the flooding ( in the southern parts of Brazil). Many people have died from this and supposedly it happens alot. i definetly hear the scripural profecies about the second coming ringing in my head!
My week was pretty great. Melo and i were really praying and seeking guidence from the Lord to find people that are wanting to be baptised. we found a man named Wilson in a new neighborhood that we are working in. He is awesome. We had the lesson before in the past, but for some reason, he stopped and fell into the world. we showed up at his door, and one of the first things he said was him wanting to be baptised. He went to church and everything!!! its awesome. I just need to learn how to really get guidance from the Lord and follow it everyday and we can work miracles here in California!!
Well, im doing fine so far. new transfere, new experiances!! i hope i can really grow and start having alot of success. I have alot of faith in this new combination, me and Favreau. We arent perfect in speaking portuguess, but i think it will humble us enough to have success. we will see!!!
Well, i love you and talk to you next week. i included an interview with elder melo!!!
1/12/2011
im good, with good health. Elder Melo got sick with a stomach virus sunday night, and was throwing up all night. i gave him a blessing of health at 4:30 am, in portuguese, and half awake. was pretty funny, cause he woke me up, i did the blessing, he threw up one more time, and sleep peacefully the rest of the night. i cant really remember what i said anymore. haha we are having problems with progressing investigators not going to church. we have a few people that have testimonies, but wont go to chruch. so we have to drop them. pray for us to have success with visits to church please. i heard from a few friends, aunt pat, and no one from the ward, unfortunately.
the past week we have been having alot of trouble following up´on investigators, so its been alot of walking, knocking, and walking again. we talk to people on the street to find more people to teach. so i pray that results in some success. im really trying to go the extra mile to get those extra blessings. man, last week of the transfer, i hope Elder Melo and I both stay one more transfer. we will see next monday.
Today, i bought a game, that is similar to Stragtego. Its just a good game to play with my companion when we have a bit of time. i trying to look for Monopoly Deal. its monopoly in the form of cards, alot faster and just as fun. None of the stores have them, since they are preparing for the new school year here in march. annoying!! oh well, patiences.
Dad, I really want to see your old (missionary) manual and such. It will be interesting to see how missionary work and conduct has evolved over the past few decades (since God never changes). We have a missionary manual, or the white bible, too. i usually keep it in one of my back pack pouches, since i dont like having alot of things occupy my shirt pocket, haveing it pressed against your chest all day every day in this heat adds one more unwanted comfort. i just keep a two-sided picture of Christ´s baptism and the First Vision and my pen in my shirt pocket. I put my transfer planner in my back pocket. just a few mission habits i have picked up, haha.
Haha, i wish sometimes i could have a lot of commentary books about the scripures, but i have my whole life to learn. when i get time again, i want to study the New testiment reading Jesus the Christ. it has everything about His life. it really is a great book. Also, one of the mission progress for becoming a better missionary, includes studying Preach My Gospel. one of the parts is finding all of Christ´s questions in the New Testiment and the Book of Mormon. its been really interesting reading how perfect of a teacher he was. No one could find fault in his ways. its really interesting.
Well, things are going decently well here in Ala California (who thought i would be living in california OUTSIDE
1/5/2011
had splits yesterday with my LD, was pretty good. it felt really different without my companion in the way of following the spirit. I had to kind of do it all by myself. Elder Santana (my LD with 9 months) definetly is different then my companion.
Well, the past few days have been really busy, with the division and us working hard. This week alot of appointments have fallen, but we are plugging along to make up for it
12/24/2010 – Phone call home!!! Merry Christmas!!
12/15/2010
im trying to do my best, like i mentioned in the other email. ``Remember who you are``, when the church authorities come, haha. i still remember mom saying that line. haha moms voice seems to be part of my conciouns (sp?)
I feel though, that this transfer will teach me alot. My junior companion, Elder Melo, is a great missionary and i feel that he really knows how to use the spirit. Im trying to learn how he does it so i can be even a better missionary. I was trained in the beggining how to ``teach lessons`` but our job is to ``Teach People``. its a hard habit that i have really be trying to break, ive never really be good at just following a feeling, because it moves me out of me comfort zone, my knowledge, and puts me into a plain that i dont know what the outcome will be. but thats what we need to do as missionaries, we need to learn how to figure out the needs of the people, figure out what they need to hear, know, or read, to change their hearts and follow Christ. This is my main challange currently, just listening and following the spirit.
12/8/2010
Yes, i got transfered.....im really sad, cause Elder Salla and I were really getting along very well, and i was kind of liking the area. but i guess thats the point of transferes, to not get comfortable. I got transfered to Itabuna, a city just 45 minutes away from Ilhéus. My companion is Elder Melo. I dont know too much about him yet, since i got into Itabuna at noon and he slept a good chunk of the afternoon. Im working in the California Ward. Its a really really strong ward, i heard. So i am excited to work in a stable functioning ward finally. So ill do my best.
Well, today, i woke up at 4:30 to go to the bus station to wait for Salla´s new companion. His bus didnt arrive till 5:45...lame. then we went home, conversed, and i finished packing. At 7:30. we went to the bus point to catch the bus. I got in Itabuna at 11. Dropped my luggage off at the house, had lunch at a members (sweet!!). We chatted and such. Then we went back home, where i unpacked and my companion napped. I washed my shirts, scrubbing the necks (the back mold specks arent going away). I then let the machine do the load, forgetting to put the drain pipe in the right sink. So water gushed out and got the detergent all wet....yea, that was a ::palm to face:: moment. oh well....haha then i drew. Yea, im starting to draw. Elder Salla drew alot, so i started a bit with him. now im here in the lan house. Thats my day so far. haha i dont know much about my area or companion yet, so next week ill let you know.
Well, thats pretty much it for the news. Im looking forward to christmas!!! Last christmas in the field.
