Passo Fundo Week 4

Hello people i love. It was fun to hear about all of your thanksgivings. I did not even remember it was thanksgiving until late that night. Needless to say i was a little sad. BUT, i think i lived it a little bit vicariously through all of you. So thanks.

I cant lie.. It was a bit of a frustrating week here in Passo Fundo. One of those weeks where nothing goes to plan and everything kind of falls apart. People have kind of gotten into the idea here that ìts just the missionaries.´ And we had just about every apointment fall through this weekend. Did a LOT of walking.. and a lot of time wasting. But, we continue to make progress with Gilmar and Selete, We had to be realistic, they will not be married in time for our date. But we decided that we are still going to baptize the kids. We are trying to keep them motivated and animated, but like our other couples, they seem to want US to pull them up the hill. I think they think its the church´s obligation to pay and organize everything for them, and yeah it makes me a little bit annoyed.

Can i get some support from ex-missionaries (Adam, Dad, Brit..) on how much you HATE the palavra... (the word) You seriously know your screwed in a lesson when your teaching and the person is sitting there nodding their head and saying yes, yes, verdade (truth). Certainly. We have a very unique message. People should not just agree! We had a plethora of peole this week that we came to find loved our visits, yet wanted NOTHING to do with the church. And even got a little angry! WHAT DO THEY THINK WE ARE?? Two people coming here to sit and go RAW RAW GOD!! your awesome! Seriously, I am going to make a statement. The minute you tell me you are evangelic, is the minute i tell you you are an idiot. At least catholics believe in something...

Okay, that was a little harsh, and probably not very missionary-esque. But i lost some serious respect for evangelics this week. Moving on. I am SO big. Seriously people. My pants are starting not to fit, and my garments seriously hurt when i take them off cause they are so tight. Yeah, its bad. I weighed myself at 81.8 kilos. Not sure. Do the math.

Can i just have a okay he´s finally getting it moment. All the things that dad used to tell me are finally making sense. Few examples. Lunch a few days ago. UFC fight is on. Im getting so mad at myself cause im not enjoying it like i used to. im just thinking how can we feel the spirit when this guys head is spilling blood all over the guy thats beating the crap out of him. The kids at my baptism, walk in with their ipods plugged in, (seriuosly you cant take it out for 3 minutes?) then are TEXTING while we are having our service. I was so mad. i straight yelled at one kid to put it away. I never thought i would ACTUALLY change...

I hate dogs. So bad. Brasil has the WORST overpopulation problem. And they are everywhere. And they bark, and they bite. I hate them. We had lunch with a guy we simply call homem loco (the crazy man) who told us he had a revelation that he should not pay tithing, and that all the people who have ever opposed him have died. Oh yeah and that his papers say he´s brazilian, but his blood is american. And god made a mistake. he has american crap everywhere. he has 6 dogs. Go figure.

How is the Christmas season!! They have started putting up decorations in centro here. They are different.. but close enough to make me a little sad. Are you guys going to go to scrooge this year?? I love this time of year. Football... Christmas. That sucks about BYU.

Di, i think you were inspired with your glucosamine pills. Because although i dont think they help my knee, thats destined to alwasy just be an annoyance (JUST an annoyance di, please dont send me anything else to help.) i have started having some seriously painful hip issues. So, i decided what the heck, lets take some glucosamine. Big difference. the lord works through mothers. Look at the sons of helamann.

It was a rough week overall but we made some progress and as always had some spiritual experiences. The church here is very disorganized and child-like but its the same church that is true everywhere and poeople continue to recognize it. Its an incredible difficult but powerful calling being a missionary. Thanks for all of your support to help me through it. I love you, and i love this church. have a good week.

Hey, just wanted to say a little more on something ive been meaning to ask if youve heard anything about for the last 3 months. I heard a lot about this at the mtc. If you havent noticed there have been like NO americans getting calls to brazil.. As shown by the 11 americans that were there when i left. Apparently this has been a a big decision by the church. Something obama said has made it near impossible to get visas, and here they have made HUGE effrots to get 5 missionaries from every stake. They are going to start calling people from other south american countries.. (argentina, chile, per etc.) here and ONLY callig brazilians to brazil missions.

So.. what this means. it looks like my section or group whatever you want to call it. Will end up being the last REAL batch of americans called to brazil.. obvioulsy there will still be some. but you will never see it again like you did, where there were tons. Because its too hard to get here, and they are trying to become less reliant on north america. Kind of cool to think about.

Here are a couple more pictures. The dark ones are from when our power was cut, we couldnt make food, or take showers! So we had to be a little creative!

The ones of me running are after a triumphant lesson and me screaming EU AMO MINHA MISSÃO!!!

Lastly, Wanted to share i think what i found to be my 2nd favorite quote ever. By C.s. Lewis, so naturally dad will love it.

-There is a common misconception in the world today that people who have not succumbed to tempation do not know how strong it is. You find out how powerful the wind is by walking against it, NOT by laying down.

Is that powerful or what...

Passo Fundo Week 3

So, I totally forgot about thanksgiving until i got on email today. Wow, crazy, eat a lot for me people cause no di, they definately dont celebrate that delicious holiday here. Firstly, i need to tell you about our holiday we created today!! We called our beloved lez´s (zone leaders) to see whats up, and somehow we decided to have AMERICA DAY!! So we met at the mall where they have an imitation macdonalds and subway, bought a coke, and had a feast!! Actually it was A TINY amount of food, and it was RIDICULOUSLY espensive, and it didnt taste lke subway or macdonalds (i had to buy the subway after i finished my big mac cause i was still starving) but it was AWESOME! ill send a picture.

Now, i need to tell you about my two first horrifying experiences this week!! Yayyy! 1. My first traumatic spider incident. So, wed night, we finish praying, i get up to close the door, and behind i find a nice big friend waiting for me!! Big as my palm, no lie. Yeah, i didnt sleep for two nights. 2. My first crazy person incident. Sun night I awake about 2 to people SCREAMING (demonnniiias!! (demons)) and glass breaking. I think its just idiots partying (idiots party here) until i hear BOOM BOOM BOOM. I start waking up thinking thats REALLY close.. it was then my comp GRABS my foot and pulls me down to the floor telling me someone was shooting!! Not sure if i told you the bishop lives below us, and his store is the first floor. Big mess in the morning, felt real bad for the bispo. Everyone was out in the streets after, crazy brasil.

We had divisions thursday. I went and worked in Erecheim (furthest city east in our mish) with..ELDER HARKER. Remember him? Yeah, not fun. He didnt say a word to any of his investigators.. it was kind of a conf. booster for me though, i understood most of it! i kind of had to dominate the conversation.. Good to travel a little though. On the way i read an awesome aritcle that i KNOW dad will remember. Coisas como realmente são (things as they really are) by david r. Bednar. Classic.

Week wise it was pretty good! We had our baptism (felipe) and Gilmar and Selete are really progressing! They are the family of 4 that i just love. nights like last night make the mission worth it, we had a family night with a member. We ate hot dogs (very different from what you are thinking) watched the joseph smith movie, and had a small testimony meeting. Everyone was in tears, and they have accepted to be married and baptized! It is going to be so difficult. We are going to the ex (she´s still married...) today to get his approval. Marriage is s chore here. And we do all the work.

So, i am having some serious bug issues.. Every morning i wake up with like 5 new bites. and they are big and hurt so bad. Cockroaches are getting riciculous, and we have these wierd bugs that we kill, and blood splatters EVERYWHERE. Like, a lot of blood. We think its ours, they are like mesquitos on steroids. Thanks for the letters, i finally got some! As far as mine, as you probably figured they will be fewer and further in between, but this means that im working my butt off and dont have time to write! I would still like some occasionally if you could though.. i know email is SO much easier, but its nice to get letters! Tell corb thanks for the wedding invitiation! That was really nice of them. They look really good.

We are halfway done with the transfer. Crazy. We speculate often about what the chances are of both of us sticking around... I actually think pretty good. We both want to stay, and i honestly think i would cry if i left before i got to see this family baptized. (Gilmar and Selete) not to mention we might have 3 wedding parties in 1 week!?? FESTA!! This place is crazy. Im starting to miss food a lot. Eating a sort of real burger didnt help. (NO where else has burgers) Overall the food isnt bad and SOMETIMES can be incredible. Real brazilian food is un imaginable, better than tucanos, no lie. But rice and beans EVERY day gets old. The people are good. They just need to stop smoking and having sex!! Easier said that actually done. I love you all and hope your thanksgiving is fabulous. Eu sei que esta igreja é a maneira para vida eterna. Só por meio o evengelho podemos voltar á presenca de Deus e vivermos com nossas familias para sempre. Joseph SMICHE foi um profets. Temos uma profeta vive em Thomas S. Monson. Como grande é nossa chamada.

Abracos.

Passo Fundo Week 2

Yo Family. And anybody else who reads this... Its was a pretty good week here in the land of Brasil. It is getting so fetching hot... Humidity is just a killer. and everytime i tell one of my investigators that they laugh and tell me we are not even fully into summer yet. Yikes.

i realized that from my last email i didnt talk a whole lot about my companion. his name is elder lynn, and he is from renton washington. he has 10 months on the mission, and has admitted to me doesnt feel at all ready to be training someone. not gona lie, somtimes i feel that way. I like him a lot but sometimes i feel like the senior companion. But its all good, i like having an american, and while i may not learn the language quite as fast, its good to have someone that is easy to realate to and can speak english with! As far as our accomodations.. i think i spoke a little about that. Our apt is grubby and full of cockroaches, but im informed that is gets a lot worse...

Food wise continues to be a bit of an adjustment.. I think i have finally adjusted to having lunch as the big meal of the day, and even to some of the food. I slowly find myself eating and even liking things i NEVER would have eaten. Theres gross stuff too.. But the hard part is the fact that we dont eat dinner.. That gets hard. i actually am really enjoying breakfast.. If you would have told me that i would eat bologna sandwiches every breakfast, i would have been more than a little nervous. But now i like crave them!!

So I was treated quite badly for the first 2 times this week... First at the house of Michael. An investigator that we had to make the hard decision to cut this week. Very sad. But we cannot go back after his mother yelled at us that we WOULD NOT believe in this foolish joseph smith, and that we do NOT have a living prophet on the earth. She has hardened her heart so hard that it has rubbed off on her son.. and its really sad. Ha, the other time was kind of funny. After lunch one day a little old later came screaming at us waving her finger telling us that we were sinners and that the world was going to burn because of people like us.. Good times.

A little about the good old south.. Its an interesting place. Haha, three things you will find at EVERY house here..1. A churrasca pit.. (by the way had my first REAL homeade churrasco, WOW. Doesnt happen very often, but it was SO good. made up for all the crappy food. better than tucanos, no joke) 2. A Cuia. This is the cup they use for chimarrão. If you are in the south, EVERYONE you see will have one of this with them if they are sitting. its really wierd to see. But i am slowly begining to be obsesed. They told me i would love it, and i didnt believe them.. but i drink like 4 cups a day, and it just gets better and better. For sure an aquired taste, i think di would love it.. 3. A flag of their soccer team. nobody supports brazil here. they support one of two teams.. Internacional, or Gremio. And it is scary. BYU/Utah times 10. I have a gremio jersey.. but i think i may have to send it home to wy.. Cause i think im making a trade. sh.. dont tell anybody.

I told dad a little bit about Darceu and Sonya. They are a family i love with an AWEOME member of a daughter. And the wife wants to get baptized, but she is on the string of her scary husband.. This week i looked him in the eyes and said things i never thought id say before.. I am still alive, but only barely. That was one of THREE baptismal invites we made on sunday!! It was a good day.. Why? Because Gilmar, Selete, and their 2 children agreed to start the process to get married and be baptized!! It will not be easy, but they have a nephew leaving on a mission Dec. 23, and he bore his testimony to them of how much it would mean to see them make this step towards changing their lives. We were literally all in tears, and now we have a baptismal date.

It was a pretty good week. Aside from a couple rude experiences and an extremely creepy husband of one of our investigators (when i say husband i mean ex-high priest who lives with her) who continually asks me why i am a virgin and how i can stand to do that, and if we are looking for any girls in passo fundo.. My comp says before i came he offered him a job, and told him he doesnt need to get married! just find a girl here and live with her! yeah, hes fun. But really.. life is pretty good. i love my ward, and we have some awesome investigators. The work is hard but fulfilling. I miss the simple pleasure of the united states, like hot water, food, cleanliness, and english.. but i love the culture of brasil. Going away from your family and your country makes you realize how much you miss both of them. i love you all.

P.s. I have been meaning to ask about a song that i used to love!! Come thou fount on the efy soundtrack... BUT, this morning i heard a familiar tune from my comps ipod.. and i was like hey thats my cousin!! (sort of) freddy ashby, hes famous here. Everyone loves that song. I remember it from chel, we used to listen to it. Anyways, good stuff. have a good week.

11/9/10

Oi familila!!
Di, you think two weeks was long for you? Yeah, i know. WAY too long. It was rough. and really hard. But i am currently escrevendo vocês from a little lanhouse filled with perverts doing some sort of online chat and a bunch of wierdos playing some sort of warcraft. Maybe ill rock their world and start handing out books of mormon... probably not.
So, some changes. one cool part about this mission- we do not have a rule about time on email. so i am in no rush. its pretty sweet, so tell people to email me if they want, and i dont have to worry about captuing them on my camera anymore!! its good. So, arrival details. As you know, i left at 345 in the morning (it sucked) and arrived in Porto Alegre that morning. I met President Pavan and his AP´s-two of the coolest guys i have ever met. I came to be prettty good friends with both of them, as they were in my city touring with their families! it was really wierd... and hard to watch. them ending, but it was fun, im really sad they are leaving. Elders Forgren and Zaharis. Because Im not sure if i mentioned.. my first city, is like the envy of every missionary. Everyone LOVES passo fundo. Yes, that is where i am. We call it passo FUNdo. Just kidding, its not really all that fun...
I have attached a bunch of pictures! And i am sending the rest of them home. Just send them back when your done, no rush. Cause i can actually send quite a few at a time through email.. and just disperse them. As to my living arrangements... im not sure how the states were, maybe the same Brit? But they are... interesting. Its a grubville people. Really gross. and missionaries are unfortunately not very clean. We have a quite nice infestation of cockroaches, that my companion loves to kill, and it smells in just about every room. it is pretty big however, i have heard the biggest in the mision. Ha, so, washers, dryers, and hot water are things that dont exist here in brazil. So its quite at interesting process. We have a little twirly thing that sort of washes them... then we rinse them and let them sit, then we hang them up. (Yeah its 1880 here) just kidding, that was mean, its just a different way of life. Everyone hangs up their clothes.
Thats really funny about Brolin... Its so fun to be able to actually look at pictures! ill probalby go back and find all the ones i missed! i would still like some hard copies though if possible. SO fun to hear about mike as well. it sounds like it was a pretty big party.. i will never forget that night for the primaries. Tell him congrats. and all your good looking sisters i say hi! i would have loved to go running with them, cause i go running here! yeah, my comp suggested it, and i really didnt want to, but i was like fine i guess ill go. so i did. and we go every other morning now. Speaking of my comp... He is an upgrade. I am still not quite sure how i feel about him. At first i loved him, for reals, pretty cool, but occasionally he gets really obnoxious.. but, he works, and thats a real value here. for reals. and the cool thing about a mission, is that we would have NEVER been friends before, but here, we have become pretty tight.
The knee still has some issues.. but, please dont worry about it. Not a big deal. For reals. Food wise.. I think i am officially getting over being a picky eater! Serious, i dont really have an option.. But i eat stuff and then like a minute later im like.. wait, did i really just eat that? We just ate at a sweat place called master grille, all you can eat for 6 bucks! Tight. Thats way fun to hear dad is coaching again. Go get them col! And wy, i laughed really hard at his halloween. Getting more scared than enjoyed at the scary movies, thats hilarious. People, i love you. Missions are so freaking hard. But we had a fantastic day yesterday.. im going to write another email in a minute telling about my investigators cause i think this is much longer than people want to read, but those good days are priceless. They make it all worth it. I love this gospel, and my family and friends. Boa semana.

-Elder Alllred

Write ALL letters/packages/anything to this-

Missâo Porto Alegre Norte
Caixa Postal, 13008 Cep: 91010-971
Porto Alegre -RS- Brazil


Sorry if your sick of me... But i wanted to tell you a little bit about some of our investigators.

My first baptism to fall through was a 21 year old named Felipe. Dude is ready. EVERYTHING, exept for cigarro. Serious, guy had some serious issues, but its all been resolved except for that freaking tobacco, everyone smokes here. We have many investigators that i try to have faith for, but struggle. My second to fall through this week was luzia. Awesome lady, piece of trash for a husband. They need to get married. (another huge problem) the guy has been saying he would for 2 years. Long story short, we caught him in a lie, were pretty dang sure hes cheating on her. Not sure what were going to do. One of my favorite families is Jamar and Shalene, they have an awesome nephew that will get a mission call this week! and they come to church, but for some STUPID reason we cant get them to be married. Im REALLY frustrated with a guy that Elder Lynn has been visiting for 3 months now, named Michael. Every time we go, we get berrated with 100 questions that ARENT relevent UNTIL he gets a testimony. but he is too stuborn and wont do it our way, he knows its true but wants physical evidence, and is looknig for any doubt he can. Why did Brigham young need 30 wives, why cant i drink coffee, why is the temple so secreitive? They are really hard questions to answer in english, near impossible in portuguese. One of my grestest experiences so far has been with Darceu and Sonya. As we taught about eternal families i saw a man that absolutely hated us and comes from a DEVOUT catholic familiy grab his daughters hand and start to cry. They will be baptized. I want to mark a date this week. Ah.. so many more. but my aboslute favoirte might be Rafael. We found him this week. And someday i will tell you the story because it was a great faith strengthener. Its wierd how close you come to some of your investiagators, you pray for them daily, and want only their happiness. Ha, i might write one more email, sorry, i just forget some of the things you people ask. I love you all dearly. have an awesome week.

Adios CTM

Missão Porto Alegre Norte

Rua Visconde de Macaé, 245 – Cristo Redentor

Porto Alegre – RS - Brasil Cep:91350-290

Dear Allred Family,

After spending a few hours with your son, we sense his spirit, preparation and testimony. Our hearts are filled with gratitude to parents that sent us such a fine young man.

We thank you for your sacrifice and know that Heavenly Father will richly repay you and your missionary as he serves the Lord in this part of his vineyard.

We read in the Book of Samuel of Hannah, who promised, if she were granted a son, she would consecrate him to the Lord. Blessed with the son she asked for, she took him to the temple and “lent him to the Lord”. You have done something very similar to Hannah. What is marvelous is that, by offering our children to God, they become ours forever.

We are happy for the opportunity we have to be called with your son to serve in this mission. Rio Grande do Sul is a marvelous place with friendly people anxious to hear the gospel. Sometimes the work will be hard and your weekly letters will give him inspiration and encouragement.

Every young missionary, often through difficulties and challenges, grows a lot. He will have sacred experiences as he is obedient and dedicated. Great things are happening in the work of the Lord and it is marvelous that your son is playing a part.

We will most certainly take care of him and love him as if he were our own. We thank you one more time and pray that the blessings of the Lord be with you.

Sincerely,

President Edison Pavan Sister Marcia Fajiolli Pavan

Safe arrival to the mission home

Dear Allred Family,
After spending a few hours with your son, we sense his spirit, preparation and testimony. Our hearts are filled with gratitude to parents that sent us such a fine young man.

We thank you for your sacrifice and know that Heavenly Father will richly repay you and your missionary as he serves the Lord in this part of his vineyard.

We read in the Book of Samuel of Hannah, who promised, if she were granted a son, she would consecrate him to the Lord. Blessed with the son she asked for, she took him to the temple and “lent him to the Lord”. You have done something very similar to Hannah. What is marvelous is that, by offering our children to God, they become ours forever.

We are happy for the opportunity we have to be called with your son to serve in this mission. Rio Grande do Sul is a marvelous place with friendly people anxious to hear the gospel. Sometimes the work will be hard and your weekly letters will give him inspiration and encouragement.

Every young missionary, often through difficulties and challenges, grows a lot. He will have sacred experiences as he is obedient and dedicated. Great things are happening in the work of the Lord and it is marvelous that your son is playing a part.

We will most certainly take care of him and love him as if he were our own. We thank you one more time and pray that the blessings of the Lord be with you.



Sincerely,
President Edison Pavan Sister Marcia Fajiolli Pavan