Weekly Letter

Olá Família,

    This last week we visited a man and his mom, who we had found last week and decided to pass by again yesterday. We got there and decided to read the first part of 3 Nephi 11 and explain it as we read. While we were reading another woman showed up and started to invite the mom to go to her church and even offered a ride. However the mom asked her to sit and wait a little and then they would leave. We started reading and the woman asked if we were reading the normal bible or our bible, so I explained again how it isn ́t one or the other, and that we use the Book of Mormon together with the Bible to learn more about Christ. She didn't really seem to be satisfied with the answer and left to wait outside. We continued reading and finally invited them to finish reading the chapter and to pray to receive an answer for themselves. The woman entered again exactly when we were inviting them to do so. She looked uncomfortable again and left quickly. haha. Hopefully we will be able to find her again when we visit the family and maybe she will open her heart a little more. It must have been the first time she had tried to invite someone to her church with some missionaries there watching. haha. The family really like the reading and were excited to continue learning more. The week has gone by really quickly because of the rain, but we are still able to achieve our goals and find new people to teach. Thank you everyone for your support and love! Love you guys!

- Elder Child

weekly letter

Olá Família,

    This last week has gone by very quickly. Here in my new area it is really hot then rains a lot, so we have been trying to work overtime to still find some new people here to teach. The branch is pretty small with around 30 active members but they are really nice. The city is pretty small with almost 87,000 people, and we live with two other Elders in our house. The people are a little bit different here and we have to work a little more to get them to give us their address. We found an older man this last week and when we taught him he accepted the invitation to be baptised. So we were super excited and we returned on Sunday to walk to church with him. he was already dressed with a button up shirt and everything, he was sitting on the side of the road with his dog. He said that he wouldn't be able to go to church with us and didn't really say why. So we got a little disappointed but hopefully he will come next week. The same thigh happened with the other elders too, so we will have some brainstorming to do on how we can get these people to come to church. My new companion is Elder Castilho and he is from São Paulo. He has 8 months in the mission. The other two elders in our house are Elder Leonard (my old companion) and Elder Alvarado who is from Guatemala. Thank you guys so much for your prayers and support! Love you guys!

- Elder Child

PS- i sent a pic of a statue of christ here in Muriaé

weekly letter

Olá Família,

   This last week went by really fast. It has rained a ton these last few days and we got drenched quite a few times. haha. We did get transfers yesterday and I will go to another city called Muriaé with Elder Leonard, but we won't be companions any more. I am hoping that it isn't too hot there, because it's hot here and summer hasn't even started yet. haha. I have already told the members here that I will pass my last Sunday meetings with them so that will be fun. I love you guys tons! Sorry for the short letter! Thanks for your support!

- Elder Child

weekly letter-Nov. 4, 2019

Olá Família,

    This last week was good. It has been raining a lot so we have been trying to work double time when it is clear out. This Sunday a man named Marcio came to church with his wife. She is a non active member and is starting to come back to church. Marcio is really excited to learn and is really comfortable during the meetings. We are really excited to teach him. Also his wife still has a lot of friends here in the ward, so they will be integrated really well. We also had another split this week with the Zone Leaders. We learned a lot about the importance of teaching the lessons quickly and in a way easy to understand. Because sometimes we go into a lot of details about some things, and the investigators end up having more questions after the lesson then before. We also did a little service project and  helped the primary president write the talks for the Sunday program. Hopefully they will skip the part I wrote and sing a few more songs instead. haha. This next week will be really busy and we will travel quite a bit for some other baptismal interviews. So it will be really great. Love you all and thank you for your support!

- Elder Child

PS. The Mission Presidents wife is asking for pictures and/or videos of us opening our calls. I dont know if we have any but, please send some ( if we have some) LOVE YOU!

Weekly Letter-Oct. 28, 2019

Olá Família,

     This last week was really good. We have been visiting quite a few people but have had quite a bit of difficulty finding them in their homes. So we have been knocking a lot of the doors of people that are home, and have been able to find quite a few people to teach. This Sunday we had Stake Conference and an area 70 came to speak. He focussed a lot on the importance of showing your love and appreciation for your family and friends. He shared several experiences and said that we need to show our love now, and not wait, because sometimes it's too late. He also taught the importance of not getting down so much, when you have trials. Basically when you get sad or disappointed, you aren't following the Savior ́s commandment when he said to ``be of good cheer.`´ Even though we do have trials and difficulties in our lives, we must have the faith and hope through the Savior Jesus Christ. I am really glad to have this opportunity to share my testimony and help others come unto Christ. Thank you all for your support and love!

   - Elder Child

Weekly Letter-Oct. 21, 2019

Olá Família,

   These last two weeks went really well. The new Venezuelan family arrived well and they are really excited to start their new life here. We have helped them know the city a little and showed them how to get to the church and the center of the city. They have been learning portugues quickly and have been able to make comments during our church meetings, so that is really good. The weather is a bit crazy here, so it gets hot, and then cools down, then rains all over again, so we have been taking quite a few flu medications haha. Elder Leonard did hev to make a trip to the hospital but it wasn't that serious so we can keep working. haha. We have been working quite a bit to try to receive more referrals from the members and we were able to teach the mom and sister of a recent convert, Pablo. He is preparing to serve a mission to and has already sent his papers so we are pretty excited for him. His family is really nice and they always get pretty emocioned during the lessons. We have already taught them the Restoration, Plan of Salvation, and the word of wisdom. They also have accepted baptismal dates! They are excited to learn more, even though there have been lots of missionaries that have tried to teach them,but never had much luck. We are super happy for them and excited for them to join the church and become a better support group for Pablo, for when he leaves on his mission. We also had a mission tour this last week with Elder Parrela, who is in the area presidency. It was really good to get trained more on the importance of constantly finding and teaching people. Not just keep teaching the same people hoping that they will change, but always finding and teaching the most people as possible. These last few weeks have flown by, but they were filled with great experiences. i´m so happy to be here and always learn a little more each day about the atonement and God's plan for me. Thank you guys so much for your support! I hope everyone has a good week!

    - Elder Child

Another picture from Oct. 14

I can't seem to rotate this photo (thanks for understanding) but the Bishop lives in the house at the top of the hill...notice the stairs leading to it.  Who would be up from this trek every day? And how many times a day?

Oct. 14, 2019 Pictures

This week we got to talk to Jake and he shared the experience of the family from Venezuela. They are teaching them Portuguese and showing them around the city.  The family consists of the parents, their 3 boys and both sets of parents.  Because of the unrest in Venezuela, members are migrating to Brazil and Chile, learning how to become self-sufficient in a new country, and then rebuilding their lives.  Jake said this family sold their car but didn't have a chance to sell their house before they left.  They came with a suitcase and 3 gunny sacks. When they took them to exchange their money, they walked away with $80...What an amazing example of faith and love for the gospel.  Sound familiar?

Weekly Letter-Oct. 7, 2019

Olá Família,

  This last week was really good. We only had 2 full days to work because of general conference. We also had a service project that took all day. The ward here is adopting a Venezuelan family this week, so we were helping get the house ready for them. They are a family of 9, the parents and their 3 children and both sides of grandparents. We are all excited to get to know them. My new companion is great. He is from Chile but has lived in Brasil for 6 years so he already talks well. He also has a little over 3 months in the mission so he likes it when I joke with him. haha. We were working this last week and found a form in our house with some names and addresses in a specific neighborhood, so we decided to visit all that we could throughout the day. We knocked on a door and asked to talk to Fernanda (one of the names). But, when we introduced ourselves and asked if she remembered the missionaries that talked to her, she did not remember. She said that she had never talked to missionaries before and that she had moved into her house a few days ago. She also said that the person that lived there before was an older man that had passed basically his whole life in that same house. So we got a little confused on how there could have been an address of a person that didn´t live there at the time, and that now there was a person with the same name that had moved in recently. It was really cool that the Lord has everything planned out. Even though we may not have found the same Fernanda that was contacted a few years ago, we found one that is interested and excited to hear our messages. I was able to strengthen my testimony on how the Lord´s plan works in our lives and that each one of us is priceless. He never forgets or neglects us because of our flaws or imperfections. He will always make it possible for us to repent, change our lives and know a little more of his Son Jesus Christ. Just like what happened this last week with Fernanda, I have no idea how we had her address noted years ago, or how we were the first missionaries to talk to her, but I know that the Lord is always behind the scenes and making our lives better and better each day. I hope that everyone is well and was able to enjoy general conference. I am grateful to have you r support and love. Love you guys!

- Elder Child

 we got another jack fruit haha