So we have met some really cool people this week. We met a family of five, a dad and 4 daughters and they are so open to the gospel! The oldest daughter is friends with a really cool member and she took us to their house. We've taught them a few times, but unfortunately only 2 were able to go to church on Sunday. Also Junior is going to be baptized. His grandpa is putting things in his brother's head but we talked to his mom again and she said that if he wants to, he can be baptized. He said he wants to, he's just nervous right now.
We got told by the president that he wants us to baptize 20 people in the Boa Vista ward this transfer (if we don't he's going to remove one of the companionships). The pressure is on (not really that different, but my comp thinks this changes everything)! I just want to warn everyone who is going to serve a mission to watch your thoughts, words and deeds (Mosiah 4:30). Let your focus be on obedience and the people; numbers are not what's important. Also remember that one of the things that leads to false doctrine is pulling scriptures out of their context. Truly study the scriptures diligently with a spirit of love and not pride.
Elder Page
Monday, November 29, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
22 November 2010 - email
So we got a call from the president on Wednesday. He told my companion to take care of me and to train me to become a senior...I really don't want to become a senior that fast, it means more responsibility and working with newer missionaries. I'm a little scared of this, but the good news is that president says he likes me, so that's always good. That means that Trindade and I are staying in Boa Vista 2! It's going to be awesome! We have so many strong investigators right now:
Aline and Tiago (+ two daughters) want to go to church are accepting the commandment without question (threw out the coffee) and are planning on going to church. She wants to get to know the church before she commits to baptism.
Adriana and her daughter were living in California. Adriana can hardly speak English and the daughter doesn't know any Portuguese. We're trying to find a class for her and we're going to teach the gospel to them in Português and English at the same time! It's going to be awesome!
Elder Page
Q: How weird is it to be headed into the holidays during the summer down there?
A: Oh my goodness it's weird. I keep thinking that soon the back to school sales are going to start and then I see Santa. It's really different because Halloween only exists if you worship the devil (I've already gotten lots of questions from members about Halloween in the states), thanksgiving (nada), and I don't know about Christmas yet. But man. It was 30 degrees yesterday (roughly 86 degrees, and, yes, I did do that in my head) at noon!
Q: How tall are you compared to the average Brazilian?
Q&A:
Q: How weird is it to be headed into the holidays during the summer down there?
A: Oh my goodness it's weird. I keep thinking that soon the back to school sales are going to start and then I see Santa. It's really different because Halloween only exists if you worship the devil (I've already gotten lots of questions from members about Halloween in the states), thanksgiving (nada), and I don't know about Christmas yet. But man. It was 30 degrees yesterday (roughly 86 degrees, and, yes, I did do that in my head) at noon!
Q: How tall are you compared to the average Brazilian?
A: How tall are you compared to the average munchkin? Actually it's not too bad. I'm considered tall but not monstrously; Brazilians are more of a mixed culture than hispanics so their hieght varies more. In our zone (before transfers) I was the second tallest (half American - half Brazilian zone of 14 elders and 2 sisters).
Q: What kinds of food do you cook for yourself there?
A: Remember ramen? Well here they have a brand called Lamen (I'm not joking), but the name of the food itself is mioju. I get eggs and cheese and sliced bread every once in a while, and once I got cereal to celebrate good news from president (see main letter). Generaly I don't eat much at home because lunch is always HUGE and they always say "Come mais, Elder!" For breakfast I usually eat oatmeal.
Q: What's your most effective door approach like?
A: Door approaches are not effective in Brazil (everyone has two gates and a front door and an angry dog, so they don't even come out to tell you to leave if they don't know you). Street contacts are better. One of the best ones is to give the a member's address and ask if they know where the house is. Then proceed to explain that we don't know the area very well because we're missionaries...(you can see where it goes from there). In the end we repeat the address back to them with a small error, if they correct us, we go to the house. If not, it's fake and we say goodbye. But in reality it's just through the members that we have success. My comp doesn't want to admit this, so if there's any way to make it look like we didn't get help from the members, we report it as such.
A: Door approaches are not effective in Brazil (everyone has two gates and a front door and an angry dog, so they don't even come out to tell you to leave if they don't know you). Street contacts are better. One of the best ones is to give the a member's address and ask if they know where the house is. Then proceed to explain that we don't know the area very well because we're missionaries...(you can see where it goes from there). In the end we repeat the address back to them with a small error, if they correct us, we go to the house. If not, it's fake and we say goodbye. But in reality it's just through the members that we have success. My comp doesn't want to admit this, so if there's any way to make it look like we didn't get help from the members, we report it as such.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
15 November 2010 - email
To answer the question of whether Brasil (I will be spelling it in Portuguese from now on, I think) is Christian I will just say that these phrases are painted, drawn, and graffiti-ed everywhere: God is faithful, Jesus - this name has power, this belongs to God, and Jesus loves you. Also one of the people's favorite lines to use when we invite them to do something is "Se deus quiser" or "If God wants". HE WANTS IT! Today we were in the park (with sloths and monkeys. No, I'm not kidding. Someone said there's Cobras there too!)
People don't have neighbors. The word neighbors implies that the houses and families are separate, not one big street-wide blob of people. So, yes, people are super involved in each others lives. Remember how the branch would start 1/2 hour late? Several meetings here have started over an hour late (not church itself, but other ones).
The city here is sprawling and our area is HUGE! It covers 5 hills, that I know of and has everything from busy city-center to quiet urban streets, from favela (shanty town) to mata (jungle/forest). The people here are receptive to a point. Most are always ready to listen, but doing something? Are you kidding me? It's a struggle to find those elect people that the Lord prepared.
We work mostly with references [referrals] from the members and neighbors of current or past investigators.
The wards here are normal, just a little irreverent (because people need to learn how to take care of their kids during the sacrament). They also have no carpet. I'm starting to forget the feel of carpet (or any hard surface) on my feet.
I love you all!
Elder Page
People don't have neighbors. The word neighbors implies that the houses and families are separate, not one big street-wide blob of people. So, yes, people are super involved in each others lives. Remember how the branch would start 1/2 hour late? Several meetings here have started over an hour late (not church itself, but other ones).
The city here is sprawling and our area is HUGE! It covers 5 hills, that I know of and has everything from busy city-center to quiet urban streets, from favela (shanty town) to mata (jungle/forest). The people here are receptive to a point. Most are always ready to listen, but doing something? Are you kidding me? It's a struggle to find those elect people that the Lord prepared.
We work mostly with references [referrals] from the members and neighbors of current or past investigators.
The wards here are normal, just a little irreverent (because people need to learn how to take care of their kids during the sacrament). They also have no carpet. I'm starting to forget the feel of carpet (or any hard surface) on my feet.
I love you all!
Elder Page
Monday, November 8, 2010
8 November 2010 - email
Things are going so well. Our recent converts are doing well! Carlos and Lude are firm in the church and Junior has a testimony that takes my breath away!
This week we started teaching a family (three half siblings and the oldest's fiancé) in Manuel Chel. It's a barrio in the middle of nowhere (about an hour's walk up and down hills from the rest of our area).
Honestly, not a lot happened and without emails to guide me I'll ramble and I'm already mailing a letter home, so...I guess I don't have much to say. I love you all!
Elder Page
Monday, November 1, 2010
1 November 2010 - email
Hello!
So, I went on division [exchanges]...AGAIN! Goodness, I spend almost as much time out of my area as in it! I went to Bom Conselho and we found a family! We were at lunch and we asked if they had any references [referrals]. They said their neighbors - so we went over there immediately and gave them the first lesson. Then, we marked [challenged] them for baptism! Woah!
CARLOS AND LUDE GOT MARRIED AND BAPTIZED!!! I'm not a 'dry missionary' anymore! I've physically baptized 4 people and 2 of them were our investigators (one of the other two was Junior, who really was our investigator, but the number had to go to the LZ's area because that's where he lives and that way the office knows what's happening in the areas). Elder Trindade baptized Carlos (who said either could baptize) and I baptized Lude (she asked for me specifically! Crazy!). I told Lude that I want to hear from them in a year to see that they are going to the temple to get married. She told me that they were already planning on it.
Junior is strong in the church too; we baptized him on Saturday. We're going to start helping his sister, Gabby (it's a nickname so I don't know how to spell it), too. The only reason she isn't baptized yet is that she is a lot more shy. But now she's opening up to us and she's read and she loves the discussions. The only things missing are church and baptism! The mom is going to be harder, because she smokes a package a day and works on Sundays, but with her two children in the church, I think we can help her!
Little Geraldo has friends in the church, but his whole family is inactive except for his father who is not a member. It would be great if you could include this little boy in your prayers; I'm pretty worried about him staying active. We baptized him on Saturday too!
So...I guess that's all I can think of writing. Assuming that I don't end up on division this week, I'll actually have time to write a letter to mail. I'm trying!
I love you all! Yes, even you.
Elder Page
So, I went on division [exchanges]...AGAIN! Goodness, I spend almost as much time out of my area as in it! I went to Bom Conselho and we found a family! We were at lunch and we asked if they had any references [referrals]. They said their neighbors - so we went over there immediately and gave them the first lesson. Then, we marked [challenged] them for baptism! Woah!
CARLOS AND LUDE GOT MARRIED AND BAPTIZED!!! I'm not a 'dry missionary' anymore! I've physically baptized 4 people and 2 of them were our investigators (one of the other two was Junior, who really was our investigator, but the number had to go to the LZ's area because that's where he lives and that way the office knows what's happening in the areas). Elder Trindade baptized Carlos (who said either could baptize) and I baptized Lude (she asked for me specifically! Crazy!). I told Lude that I want to hear from them in a year to see that they are going to the temple to get married. She told me that they were already planning on it.
Junior is strong in the church too; we baptized him on Saturday. We're going to start helping his sister, Gabby (it's a nickname so I don't know how to spell it), too. The only reason she isn't baptized yet is that she is a lot more shy. But now she's opening up to us and she's read and she loves the discussions. The only things missing are church and baptism! The mom is going to be harder, because she smokes a package a day and works on Sundays, but with her two children in the church, I think we can help her!
Little Geraldo has friends in the church, but his whole family is inactive except for his father who is not a member. It would be great if you could include this little boy in your prayers; I'm pretty worried about him staying active. We baptized him on Saturday too!
So...I guess that's all I can think of writing. Assuming that I don't end up on division this week, I'll actually have time to write a letter to mail. I'm trying!
I love you all! Yes, even you.
Elder Page
The following are pictures that David emailed:
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| Really cool sunset (for Rosie) [Sao Paolo] |
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| Me at marco zero [Recife] |
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| That's the friar statue [Recife] The following are pictures that David mailed (from Recife):    |
