Olá Família!

Olá Família!

    This last week was a little different. Transfers was last Monday so I had to travel to Tetropolis Monday night, stay with the elders there, then Tuesday morning caught the first bus to Petropolis. My new companion is Elder Cruz. He is a little goofy at times but still good. We have been working until 9 at night here, instead of studying more at 8 o clock with Edler Torres, which is good, but drains the energy out of my system.   Our area covers part of the rich part of the city, with clothing stores and apartment complexes, but most of the more poor area also. A large part of the hill doesn't even have roads just a sidewalk and stairs that go in between all the houses. We also have a lot of fog too so that is pretty cool. The members are nice here and seem willing to help. Our ward is still small, about 70 members, with a lot of older people. We spent quite a bit of time this week looking for a different house. Ours has mold in some parts, and we have to be careful where we store our clothes, so they wont grow mold too. haha. Our chapel is being refurbished so we share the stake center, so church is 3-6 at night. We can see Rio de Janeiro in between the mountains, I will send some fotos of our area, and of a small abacate (avocado). 

 A cool experience I had was last night. We were finishing up contacting at 8:45ish and I decided to give a pass card to this lady on her phone. She was a little older and looked a little mean, so i figured it would be a quick contact. I gave her the card and she gave us her information but told us that she wouldn't have time for us to visit this week. Elder Cruz started telling about the importance of being baptized and proper authority, and went on for a little bit. When he finished they both looked at me. I didn't know really what to saw, but i shared how important this gospel is. How i have a family in another country that i love a lot and miss a lot, but am here learning a new lanuage to share this gospel. Because the gospel isn´t just for this life, through the gospel we learn how we can be with our families for eternity. And that there are many people that don't know that. Her eyes got big, and she said that she wanted to learn more and would make time for us this week. She expressed how it didn't make sames for God to create us, only to die, with no purpose, and that that was all she had been taught. That no one had anywhere to go after this life. A cool experience to know that when you strive to have the spirit with you, the words you need will be in your mouth, and those words are what that person needs to hear. 

- Elder Child

Olá

Olá Tudo,

This last week was pretty good. We spent a lot of time visiting our investigators with the intent to get them to church. All of them said that they would be there but no one showed up...again. So we are trying to figure out what more we can do, we offered bribes of candy, visited with members, and teach them about why obedience to the commandments is important, but nothing seems to work. I am sure Elder Torres will think of something. Today is transfers, and they called yesterday with my new assignment. I am heading to Petropolis and will be serving in  Alto da Serra, with an Elder Cruz. I have heard that he is good, and likes to work. He is also Brazilian so that will be better I think to finish my training. Hopefully I will learn the language faster with him. But also the people have a different accent there, so i think i may have to start from square one again. I guess we will see. haha. We did have a batismo this week too. Bruna came to church on her own and has basically taught herself all the lessons through lds.org. So when we taught her it was just a review. She had a testimony really fast, and also had a lot of questions. We agreed on a baptismal date, and she was really excited. However, one of the sisters in the other ward found out and started talking to Bruna, and got her confused. Saying that it was to soon for her to be baptized, that she had to go to the stake activity that was scheduled for the same day as her baptism, and that she needed to learn more about the gospel. So last week was a little bumpy, for her. Even up until her baptism. But we helped her get through it and now she is back to normal. Kind of frustrating when we work with someone who is clearly ready for the gospel, lived all the commandments since she read about them(ON HER OWN), and knows more than the others we have baptized. And have a member from the other ward tell her she wasn't ready. But the important thing is that she was ready, and is now happy and looking forward to being confirmed. It is amazing to see the miracles happening here in the field. Truly everything can be done through the Lord, and nothing can be done without Him. I am glad to be an instrument here in Brasil. Even if I have no idea what is going on and feel completely inadequate, ´´the best we can do is nothing more than the what Lord expects of us´´ (Jesus the Christ). Love you guys tons! Glad to hear everything is going well. Enjoy the Cold! Your going to miss it when it is gone. haha.

- Elder Child

Olá

Olá Família,

This last week was definitely different. haha. Every morning we try to play soccer for our exercise, since the church has a little field. Tuesday morning, Elder Torres went to kick the ball, and twisted something in his neck. He couldn't move his head or neck without pain. So we took it a little easy, still walked to lunch, but after he couldn't work. So we studied for a while then finally went to the hospital around 7. I will attach some pictures. haha. It was a really small hospital and had only a few holes in the ceiling. They ended up giving him an IV of morphine, and some other shot. The next day we had divisions with the Zone Leaders, to do our baptismal interview. So that was kind of interesting since I had to try not to get us lost on the way to our appointment. But we made it on time. haha. When we got back to the house, Elder Torres was able to move a lot better, so the rest of the week went smooth. We did have a Baptism of Hudson on Saturday. His girlfriend Jessica, is a member in our ward and has invited him to come to church the last 4 weeks, he accepted all of the lessons and read the Book of Mormon before we even asked him. Jessica´s father baptized him. He even invited his mom, grandma, brother, and friend to his baptism. His friend came with him to church the next day also. We went to pizza after wards with the other Elders and Ricardo, who is a recent convert. We had a little competition to see who could eat the most pizza, and I won...with 26 pieces. But the pieces were small, so don´t think I am fat. haha. We are having a little trouble getting our investigators to church. We had 14 total that said they would be there, but only one came. We are trying to figure out why our two families wont show  up, they do everything else but wont come to church. Even after we visit them with some members. But other than that this week has gone well. The Portuguese still needs a lot of work, but the people are usually nice an say they understand. If they are not nice they cut you off in the middle of your street contact, and say ``you must not know very much Portuguese huh.``  But oh well. I love and miss you all a lot! Glad to hear everything is going well!

-Elder Child

Olá

OIá Familia,

 This last week has been good. It hasn´t rained so it feels pretty dry, haha. We have found a new family to teach; a mom her 5 children and her mother. They are really nice and seem to accept everything. When we contacted her (Elisangela) on the street the she said that last week, two men with white shirts and ties were at her house, and told her about us, and where the church was. We asked her if their names were Elder and she said no, but couldn't remember their names. Pretty cool, we are pretty sure that at least 2 of the 3 Nephites are in Brasil. The Lord is preparing his people to receive the gospel. It is a blessing when we can find those  that are just ready. Others need some work but thats ok. haha. Conference was great, from what I could understand. Some pretty cool inspired messages and 7 new temples. Also two new apostles, one from Brasil! WOOP WOOP! We had a pretty good Easter Sunday too. We Started the morning walking to the Elders Quorum presidents home, for what we thought was for a reference or lesson. But it turns out that the ward had pitched in and we got some gift baskets! With a lot of candy. I have a picture that i will send. We also had lunch at a members home, which we hadn't had all week. haha. But it was really good, it was like a fish casserole with rice and greens on the side. We had two investigators watch conference with us. One family didn't show, and Josieli and her family of 4 went to the hospital for their 4 month old girl. She was better then Saturday, when we gave her a blessing, but Josieli still wanted to take her to the hospital. Which is a pretty legit excuse to not go to church. I am struggling a little bit with patience this last week, so I prayed for a little help, and guess what, now i have to practice a little more. haha. But oh well, that is the only way for us to get better at anything, by exercising and practicing. I have been thinking a lot about the Word of Wisdom this last week. How drugs and alcohol are bad because they block our mind from promptings of the spirit. But thing that aren't listed are; cell phones, tv, netflix, social media, and other things that take up our time. We need to recognize and learn how the spirit talk to us, and how to follow its promptings for us to be where we need to be. When we are buried in a screen we are just as incapable of feeling and recognizing the spirit as we would be if we were black out drunk. These things are good when used wisely but we must live our lives, always, as disciples of Jesus Christ. And always remember his sacrifice for us. We promised this on our day of baptism, and we must do it, every minute of every day. The best ´´me time´´ you can get is when you read and ponder the things of the Lord. This is something i am trying to work on. The most peace, and joy we can feel is through the scriptures and service of others. Not the comments or  likes from facebook. I know that when we put God, our Father, first, we become closer to him, and and a result, closer to each other. Living the gospel of Jesus Christ isn't always easy, but it is of up most importance to read the scriptures, pray for missionary opportunities, open our mouths, and serve our brothers and sisters. Sorry if this sounds like a soap box speech, but I write what i feel like the world needs to hear. 

Sounds like everything is going well at home! Including a new baby BOY!! WOOOHOOO! Congratulations David and Savannah! Love You guys! Talk to you again next week!

- Elder Child