Hi!
So things are looking up here in Jaboatão dos Guararapes!
We have two more baptisms marked and they are children who complete families! The parents are coming back to church and the children are excited to be baptized. My companion and I are working well.
In Jardim Guararapes things are cooking. I don't know if you remember, but I told you that the ward is in danger of being closed. The stake is helping and asked us to focus on Jardim Guararapes. When I got here there were 19 people in church and it fell to 12-13 in the next few weeks. Yesterday there were 65 people! Some were visiting from another ward, but most of them were inactive members who came! It was amazing! I'm not saying that I made the difference, but knowing that I did my part, seeing such progress is gratifying.
One last thing: I learned a new Brazilian superstition these last few weeks.
If you sleep with a fan close to your head, you will get a cold or flu. This myth came from the fact that people do not often clean their fan blades (the covers are often really hard to take off) and so the dust builds up and blows into your nose. Anybody who sleeps like that, then wakes up feeling like dad in hay fever season. I've never had problems. Just every once in a while I notice that some plant is blooming and I take an allergy pill for a few days. I also clean my fan when there is visible dust on it.
I love you all!
Elder Page
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Monday, January 9, 2012
9 January 2012
And my new companion is...
...Elder Xavier...again!Yeah it's weird, but he seems like he's doing well. And the amazing news is that this week things went super-well. WE BAPTIZED!!!! Jefferson and Janderson (see photo) were really excited. Sadly they showed up late so they weren't confirmed yet, but they're doing well!
We also got a ton of referalls from the members from Jardim Guararapes and things are really starting to get figured out here.
I'm doing good, but I'm starting to feel tired and stretched. I think that when I get to the end I'll feel like a old dog on a hot summer day: lazy!
Well, I love you all and I can't wait until May (YEAH, SKYPE!).
Elder Page
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| Baptism - Jefferson and Janderson |
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| This fruit is called the Jamba fruit. |
2 January 2012
Elder Page in 2012
Well, the world may not end this year as people are predicting, but unfortunately the mission is. Time seems to fly here.
We have two baptisms marked for this week (the two sons of José Jorge) and Samuel is progressing. It's going slow but we are picking up momentum. There members that like us and are helping us (we could use more referrals...). We have figured out that the solution is work hard and obey. We may be able to get something done this way!
My companion and I are getting to that moment of "please transfer one of us". You know where living with another person for 24 hours a day gets a little thin... We've managed to keep things together, but I really hope that he gets transferred. He's getting too stressed out in this stake (almost his entire mission has been in these wards).
Well, I love you all. In 5 months!
Elder Page
Well, the world may not end this year as people are predicting, but unfortunately the mission is. Time seems to fly here.
We have two baptisms marked for this week (the two sons of José Jorge) and Samuel is progressing. It's going slow but we are picking up momentum. There members that like us and are helping us (we could use more referrals...). We have figured out that the solution is work hard and obey. We may be able to get something done this way!
My companion and I are getting to that moment of "please transfer one of us". You know where living with another person for 24 hours a day gets a little thin... We've managed to keep things together, but I really hope that he gets transferred. He's getting too stressed out in this stake (almost his entire mission has been in these wards).
Well, I love you all. In 5 months!
Elder Page
26 December 2011
Feliz Natal!
So, I don't have a lot to say (I mean I JUST talked to you on skype!), but I want to tell you how much I love you and the gospel. I wouldn't be able to do this work if it weren't for your prayers and the love that I feel. I know that I'm horrible at sending letters and photos, but it's all part of my evil plot to make you want to send more to me (even if the letters just tell me to send letters!).I know that God is litteraly our Heavenly Father and that he sent his Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, here to suffer and die for us. One of the amazing things that I fianlly understood this year is how amazing Christ is. The veil fell over his eyes too! He was born just as you, me, or any other child that has ever come here, and with less comfort than many. I don't know what he was like growing up, but we know that he never sinned. That's what is so amazing: He never made any mistakes, and it's not because he was the Only Begotten in the flesh, but pecause of who he was! I firmly believe that even if he had been the son of Joseph that he would have still lived a perfect life! He is that much mopre amazing and marvelous because of that. I know that He never forgot any of the children of God, for whom He shed so many tears and drops of blood. He is still very much involved in our lives and He has now restored His church to bless all those who bring their burdens unto Him. I know that he called Joseph Smith, and now Thomas S. Monson, to be His prophet and revelator in the last days. He has given us more scripture and only refrains from giving even more because we aren't using what we do have to it's full potencial. He loves us and has given us everything we need to return to God's prescence, and more.
I love you all a lot.
Elder Page
21 December 2011
So, I don't want to weigh anyone down about anything here, so I'm just not going to talk about this week. Next week will be better, okay?
Anyway, I am super excited. I go to the temple today! I call in FOUR DAYS!!!! And we have a progressing investigator!!!!!!!
So life here, despite the first sentence, is good. I love it here (even with the problems we face). I don't want to say too much because I'll talk to you on Sunday, but I love you all!
Weird news: I am now "velhinho". That means that in less than 6 months, I will be done. It's not exactly a good feeling...I just keep saying it to myself because if I don't, I'll break down at the end of my mission. I found out that time here passes too fast to believe. The mission's got this feel like it's tightening; I'm running out of time to do things. One elder who almost has as much time as I do said, "It'll be weird because for the first time in our lives the focus will not be the mission." And he's right. I've spent my life preparing for and serving the mission and when I get home the focus is work, school, and family-building. I'm not all sad for the end. I've learned that change is actually good, because progress only comes with change. But it's still not easy to accept big changes.
I am so excited for Sunday,
Elder Page
Anyway, I am super excited. I go to the temple today! I call in FOUR DAYS!!!! And we have a progressing investigator!!!!!!!
So life here, despite the first sentence, is good. I love it here (even with the problems we face). I don't want to say too much because I'll talk to you on Sunday, but I love you all!
Weird news: I am now "velhinho". That means that in less than 6 months, I will be done. It's not exactly a good feeling...I just keep saying it to myself because if I don't, I'll break down at the end of my mission. I found out that time here passes too fast to believe. The mission's got this feel like it's tightening; I'm running out of time to do things. One elder who almost has as much time as I do said, "It'll be weird because for the first time in our lives the focus will not be the mission." And he's right. I've spent my life preparing for and serving the mission and when I get home the focus is work, school, and family-building. I'm not all sad for the end. I've learned that change is actually good, because progress only comes with change. But it's still not easy to accept big changes.
I am so excited for Sunday,
Elder Page
Monday, December 12, 2011
12 December 2011
So, hey there all you happy people!
Well life is good, but it hurts too! Saturday we "bateu laje" which is so complicated to translate that I'll leave in for the PWoL. We spent more than six hours in the sun mixing cement and toting it up to the roof. It was awful. Even with my sunscreen I burned the back of my neck pretty badly and my body STILL aches. It was fun and it gave us an opportunity to talk with several non-members. I won't be repeating THAT particular project soon. Anyway life has been good here, I've just realized that I am working and doing what the Lord wants (I'm still not perfect, I'm not saying that I am). With or without baptisms I can see the value of my work. I have learned a lot from reading the Liahona (they don't have the Ensign here). Pay attention the next time that you read an issue. Most of the stories about baptism are about the author's baptism and the missionary stories often don't mention if the person was baptized or not. They just tell experiences in which they felt the spirit and I've been feeling His influence a lot lately. I've learned that the drive to do missionary work comes from inside of me and not from results. I am so excited for Christmas and the chance to talk to you all. This year has been difficult for me but I can testify that when we seek Christ he really does come "with healing in His wings". I never really understood that phrase before; what do wings have to do with healing? Now I get it; he comes as fast as he can when we call in righteousness. What mode of transport is faster than flight? What better image to show that he is willing to descend from heaven and give us the 'balm of Gilead"? I have felt the Savior's love and it just makes me want to spread these feelings to all others. I love this place. It's hard to really describe why: there's garbage everywhere, it stinks, no one speaks my native tongue, and often the people call me a Satan-worshipper. Somehow none of this makes it hard to love Recife! I want to take so many people home with me, but I'll have to settle for internet and letters. I guess I've got it better than a lot of returned missionaries. Well, this letter is starting to ramble and get weird, so I guess I'll end it here.
I love you all and I'm excited/horrified that I'll be home in little more than six months.
Elder Page
Well life is good, but it hurts too! Saturday we "bateu laje" which is so complicated to translate that I'll leave in for the PWoL. We spent more than six hours in the sun mixing cement and toting it up to the roof. It was awful. Even with my sunscreen I burned the back of my neck pretty badly and my body STILL aches. It was fun and it gave us an opportunity to talk with several non-members. I won't be repeating THAT particular project soon. Anyway life has been good here, I've just realized that I am working and doing what the Lord wants (I'm still not perfect, I'm not saying that I am). With or without baptisms I can see the value of my work. I have learned a lot from reading the Liahona (they don't have the Ensign here). Pay attention the next time that you read an issue. Most of the stories about baptism are about the author's baptism and the missionary stories often don't mention if the person was baptized or not. They just tell experiences in which they felt the spirit and I've been feeling His influence a lot lately. I've learned that the drive to do missionary work comes from inside of me and not from results. I am so excited for Christmas and the chance to talk to you all. This year has been difficult for me but I can testify that when we seek Christ he really does come "with healing in His wings". I never really understood that phrase before; what do wings have to do with healing? Now I get it; he comes as fast as he can when we call in righteousness. What mode of transport is faster than flight? What better image to show that he is willing to descend from heaven and give us the 'balm of Gilead"? I have felt the Savior's love and it just makes me want to spread these feelings to all others. I love this place. It's hard to really describe why: there's garbage everywhere, it stinks, no one speaks my native tongue, and often the people call me a Satan-worshipper. Somehow none of this makes it hard to love Recife! I want to take so many people home with me, but I'll have to settle for internet and letters. I guess I've got it better than a lot of returned missionaries. Well, this letter is starting to ramble and get weird, so I guess I'll end it here.
I love you all and I'm excited/horrified that I'll be home in little more than six months.
Elder Page
Monday, December 5, 2011
5 December 2011
Well, I hope that all is merry and jolly there. Here, I find it so odd that their Christmas cards and decorations have snow when almost no one here has ever seen snow and it's THE MIDDLE OF THE RIDICULOUSLY HOT SUMMER! I guess some things are world-wide, but it's weird to see drawings of snowmen painted on buildings (almost so hot that the paint just melts off!) when they don't even have any idea of how much work it takes to make one. The descriptions of what they think walking in the snow is like is actually quite funny; they describe it like walking through knee-high dust! Even my companions from the south (WAY south) have said that the most that they've ever seen is frost...not the same thing (although it is IS pretty Oregonian).
So yesterday we sang in a missionary choir "Quando o Anjo Proclamo" (The First Noel) at a choral fireside in Recife. Because of this I got a good chunk of time to talk to Elder Apeland (we took the same bus coming back). He's doing well. I think that he would be a cool companion because he has a desire to do what's right and he already speaks Portuguese well for an American who got stuck in the states. His area is also the only chapel that I've heard of that has couches (it's a pretty rich area...), so he got pretty surprised when I explained about how several wards don't even have chapels. He's a pretty cool guy. I'm certain that we met on some committee, but neither one of us remembers.
Anyway, I love you all!
Elder Page
So yesterday we sang in a missionary choir "Quando o Anjo Proclamo" (The First Noel) at a choral fireside in Recife. Because of this I got a good chunk of time to talk to Elder Apeland (we took the same bus coming back). He's doing well. I think that he would be a cool companion because he has a desire to do what's right and he already speaks Portuguese well for an American who got stuck in the states. His area is also the only chapel that I've heard of that has couches (it's a pretty rich area...), so he got pretty surprised when I explained about how several wards don't even have chapels. He's a pretty cool guy. I'm certain that we met on some committee, but neither one of us remembers.
Anyway, I love you all!
Elder Page