Week

March 24, 2014

So I have some kinda bad news.  My package did not arrive.  So it´s probably another 6 weeks until my next opportunity to get it if I stay here in Vilhena.  Which I probably will.  But so here is what I think you should do. Look up the package number that they gave you, And send it to me as well so I can check it.  What happened to my companion is the government held his package.  No reason, just stored it in a building.  And they charge you to store it there.  And if no one picks it up they send it back.  It´s super rare but it happened to my comp so the numbers and look it up.  It could happen.  I hope not but it could.  And it can get expensive, like an extra 100 bucks expensive if you leave it sitting there.  So I saw the money that dad put it and I´m super grateful cause I need it.  Broke through those new shoes I bought like 3 months ago.  They´re gone.  Já era.  Have to buy new ones today.  Totally lame.  Don´t know how but yea,  I´m needing new ones like today.  So I know you don´t want to send shoes but I could really use some american shoes.  And my comp got some like black ecco hiking boots, and they are awesome and will definately last a year.  So I´m thinking if I could get some of those, that would last me the rest of the mission.  I know it would be expensive cause the safest way is one at a time but it could be worth it in the long run.  It´s that or buy shoes every 3 months,  Which I really don´t want to do.  But so that´s my news, I was at conference this week and no package.
So here is what happens.  We never travel to Manaus except transfers or if you are a zone leader, but even rarely for them.  So we travel 6 hours to a city called Jí-Paraná.  There are 3 or 4 companionships there And that is our entire zone.  But then sometimes we have a combined zone conference with Porto Velho, which is 12 hours away by bus.  I think there is another 6 or 8 companionships there.  Oh and Porto velho is basically underwater right now. It´s been raining so much that the river broke the thingies that keep it in (forgot what they are called).  Flooded most of the city.  Pretty sad, but no one has died so that´s pretty good.  And the houses of the missionaries are in good areas so nothing has been lost yet. But it´s still raning a ton without the chance of stopping until like the end of April.  That´s when the rainy season is supposed to end.  So yea, the missionaries there are just doing releaf efforts right now.... And baptizing while doing it. Probably can baptize in the road with the amount of water there.  But yea, those are the two zones here in this area. This area being the entire state of Rondônia.  But I guess that´s just how it goes. But so now to answer dad´s e-mail. So there are 2 other companionships here in Vilhena, my district leader and his comp and then the Sisters.  So we aren´t entirely secluded, and we all travel together so we usually have something to do on the bus.  Talk or just go to sleep (usually sleep).  But we follow the same schedule as everyone else. We wake up at 6:30 and do exercises, then get ready for the day.  8 starts personal study,  9 starts comp study, and 10 starts language study to keep working on the language.  Because we are living with 2 other elders while we find a house for the sisters, our language study has turned into teaching them english while my comp and I try to learn some Spanish.  Basically Português is down, just got to get rid of my accent and that just comes with time.  So now we are learning some spanish.  It´s pretty awesome. I´m gonna come home knowing 3 languages, and I´m just gonna learn more when I get home.  I´ve got some big goals now.  I wanna know English, Português, Spanish, French, Italian, Latin, German, and a little bit of Arabic and possibly throw some Greek in there too.  I think that would be awesome.  But back to my schedule.  So then at 12 we have lunch and then we work until 9.  A pretty typical day of the missionary.  Teachin and learnin and stuff haha.
And so yes mom I am happy.  I´m doing pretty well, enjoying my time here and I´m learning a lot.  So I wanna tell this story of what happened this week and then I´m gonna stop writing, I´ve written a ton.  And unfortunately no pics.  I´m gonna find a way to get some for you for next week, I promise.

So here is the story. So my comp and I are walking down the street and this man stops us and says his family is in need and doesn´t have food. Unfortunately we don´t have anything on us so we can´t really help.  We pass by a few days later and clap our hands (that´s the same as knocking on the door here) and his wife comes and says they are still in need.  They literally have no food.  So we go to our branch president, Presidente Rui (pronounced Presidench Hooey), and tell him what´s happening with this family.  Without hesitation or question he has me hold up a bag and starts loading in food.  80 reals (40 dollars) worth of food and asks where they live.  We drive to their house and drop off the food then Presidente Rui invites them to church.  Presidente Rui and I pass by there Sunday to see if they will go and give them a ride.  The entire family and a friend are sitting outside waiting for us.  It was so awesome to see that they remembered and that they were honestly willing to go.  It was super cool and we will start really teaching them this week.  We were waiting to see if they would go to church and now we know it is honest and sincere and they are ready to recieve the good word.  So I would like to invite everyone to act like Presidente Rui. When someone is in need, without hesitation or question, it is our job to help.  And everyone is in need.  Everyone needs the gospel and it is our job to help them see the light.  So that is my tip of the week.  Help everyone, don´t question, just do it.  And they will see the light.  So that is all I have for this week, remember to look up the number. Love you all! Love you mom!

Week

March 17, 2014

But so let´s see.   Let me tell you about my week.  It was pretty normal honestly.  We decided to all work in one of the 3 areas for a day then the next move to a new one.  So we spent 2 days out of our area working in others.  The plan was good but it didn´t quite work like my district leader planned.  So I don´t think we are gonna do it again.  And we didn´t get to baptize this week.  Had one lined up, but she got sick Saturday night of course and couldn´t make it to church.  It was a big badger.  But this next week I´m pretty sure will be better. But in better news, I have gone on divisions with another elder to teach this one investigator and he finally got baptized this week.  After 1 year of being taught, he finally got baptized.  I was super happy for him.  It was pretty cool.  But for his baptism he only wanted specific people there.  It wasn´t open for anyone to come.  Only those like 4 people invited.  And then the missionaries.  It was pretty cool either way.  But so yea, that about sums up my week.  Sorry I don´t have that much, it was a pretty average week this week.  Oh, I am trraveling this week.   I will be on a bus for 6 hours there and 6 hours back.  And I will get my package!  So then I will be able to send pics! But until then I don´t have pics yet....But I will next week, promise.  So sorry about the short e-mail but it´s all I´ve got to report right now.  So I will be sure to watch myself about soccer and everything.  Hope everything goes well with the house. Love you all a bunch! Love you mom!

Week

March 10, 2014

That´s really cool that Jessica reported this week.  So we haven´t had a conference yet so there hasn´t been a chance to even see if I have gotten any packages. So unfortunately we are just gonna have to wait a little more, so please stop worrying that you haven´t seen my face.  It´s all still here, as pretty as ever. Maybe a little red cause I got sunburned this week but that´s about it. 

So one of our baptisms did come through this week, a little 8 year old child of a less active family.  His name is Elber.  He is so small.  Like he walked into the water and was already almost under, the water came up to his chest.  It was kinda funny.  But him and his brother have been walking by themselves the past few weeks for over a mile to get to church, so I think he was kind of excited to get baptized.  He was pretty happy.  And now his family is starting to come back so that is pretty sweet.  But that is about the summary of this past week. Getting everything set up and confirmed for the baptism and trying to find more but all of those falling through.  So just the one baptism this week.

And I would send pics from my comp but they take forever to load and I have kinda been waiting a while. I will try to send them next week. And then hopefully I will have had a conference and recieved my package by that point.  So I will send all that have passed and then I will be sure to take some new ones just for you.  

SO just to clarify right now I am not in a ward, I am in a branch.  And it is doing pretty well.  We had 80 people in sacrament meeting so that was pretty good.  We need 20 more and then we can start talking about a ward.  But so that is basically it.  We found 2 new families so hopefully this week we will teach them and they will prove to be pretty cool and receptive. Unfortunately though the 2 new families is countered by 3 investigators not wanting any more.  Pretty sad when someone drops you but they have their agency so there is nothing I can do to force them to accept.  Just keep working and hope in time they will open up more. 

So I hope everyone enjoys their spring break of coldness and the time off from school!  I don´t really get anything like that so enjoy it for me too.  Be sure to encourage Caden to participate in the mission prep.  It will help a lot. That´s about all I have this week guys. So here is something in Portuguese.  See if you can figure it out. I love you guys. Love you mom!!!

 

Então, se você sabe que essas coisas são verdadeiras, você vai seguir o exemplo de nosso Salvador Jesus Cristo, e seja batizado pelo uma pessoa que têm a autoridade para realizar essas coisas? Por que nos sabemos que essas coisas são verdadeiras, e que A Igreja De Jesus Cristo Dos Santos Dos Últimos Dias é a igreja de Jesus Cristo aqui na terra e que nos temos a autoridade para fazer seu batismo. Is that good?

(So if you know these things are true, you will follow the example of our Savior Jesus Christ, and be baptized by a person having the authority to do these things? Why do we know that these things are true, and that The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints is the church of Jesus Christ here on earth and that we have the authority to make his baptism.)