Time is Flying

Heyyy

My emails must keep getting increasingly boring. Every time I sit down to write one of these thingy´s i try to think back on the week and can´t remember anything that happened... Go figure.

Unfortunately we didnt have a whole lot of time to teach this week, but we were blessed with four baptisms. We worked our butts off against Satan for them, and as it always happens something ALWAYS goes wrong right before the baptism. But luckily for us it all worked out and they are all super excited to be members. Rosange is the best member missionary in our ward. She has given me more references in 2 weeks than my entire ward put together in 4 months. She is fantastic and talks about the church with EVERYONE. On the bus, in the streets, at her work. Its so pleasant to see one of your Recent Converts sharing the truth.

This week has been greatly administrative. We went to Osório this week to fix some apostasy that is going on there. Missionaries are kinda dumb sometimes. Then we spent almost the whole day yesterday trying to help Gravataí with some problems. This week we will be doing divisions almost the entire week. I won´t lie.. I´m starting to get tired. Not even so much my body, but I think more my mind. Its a lot of stress. But I am normally fairly good with handling tough situations and Ill get over it. The mission is just such a learning curve for life. It prepares you in all aspects for the challenges that will come.  

Sorry, I need to write things down during the week. Just know that I love you and pray for you all.

Stay Classy.

This is going to be short

It was a decent week, not as great as i hoped, but fine. Our pool is getting smaller and smaller. So we are going to have to go back into what i like to call the "finding stage." You returned missionaries know this stage as "hell." Just kidding. Yesterday we worked our butts off and taught 8 lessons, finding 10 new investigators. All the Lord asks for is our effort. If we are willing to give it, he is willing to bless us. Its not necessarily fun, but worth it if you are willing to take a walk of faith.

Friday we had a lidership conference in Porto Alegre. It was fun, but 105 degrees on a hot smelly bus is not fun. We had to bust it back in suits to do two baptismal interviews. Luciano (see pictures) passed and was baptized that night. He´s the man. Rosangie also passed, but then when i told her what time the baptism would be was like, wait, I´m not going to get baptized without my husband... Ahhh! Her husbands name is Reni. His brain is fried from 30 years of drinking. He just got out of a clinic where he was baptized by some dude from who knows what church. Basically as many times as we explain AUTHORITY he cant understand why the alcoholic from the clinic doesnt have it. He also is Brasilian, and believes that the only sins are killing and robbing. If you dont do those two things WHY do you need to do things like pay tithing, or live the word or wisdom. "Your not hurting any one else.." Yes, you heard me right, a guy that spent his families life savings putting him into a clinic off and on for 5 years thinks that he is only hurting himself. I love people.

Other than that we have just been doing fun finding activites to try and find new poeple to teach. Namely, knocking doors. But i have a new strategy that i would encourage all missionaries to follow. I call it "the wrong door approach." It goes like this.. You make up a name, and knock. You say does this person live here...? They say no.. why do you ask, and IMMEDIATELY come out to the fence. (Brasilians are super suspicious) Thats when i ask how long they have lived there, and show them my cute little pamphlet. Its genius. 

I love Hot tomales, Mitt Romney, and Coka Cola. The Great Apostasy happened. I PROMISE. If you dont believe me look up James E. Talmage. After that Christ decided that we were worth saving. How grateful i am for that. How grateful i am for the Restoration of the gospel. If you dont have a testimony of it, get one. It will make you so much happier.

Tchau gurizada.

Brasilian Stuff

Hello white people.

I had a good week, a tough week, but a good one. Let me get my venting off my chest first, as i normally do. Brasilians can´t say No. It drives me insane. They will waste your time, energy, money, and effort, without blinking twice before they will say NO. I think i have mentioned an Old Lady that used to love us and make us dinner that we were trying to help stop to smoke so that her and her granddaughter could get baptized. When we really started cracking down on her not smoking she suddenly started to disappear. Every time we would mark with her (we have been leaving early in the morning at 9 a.m. to walk 45 min to her house) she was not there. We have literally been doing that for 2 weeks trying to prepare her to get baptized. Saturday we met with her and told her 2 Elders were coming from far away to do the interview in an hour, she´s like yeah okay! The Elders waste their time and money and come, not there. I call her, the minute she hears my voice, hangs up. We have wasted SO much time on them, because they always pretended way interested whenever we talked to them, but never wanted anything. Brasilians can´t say no, and it makes me CRAAAAZZZYYYY!!!!

Advice to South American Elders: Don´t waste time on people! Cut them!

Have i ever spoken about my friend named Rafael? He´s the PUNK in the first picture of the baptism of Reni. He is that ladies son, and he makes her cry daily. He´s super sick, but ridiculously prideful, and super mean. (Basically he´s me) And I´m like his counselor. So Friday we get there and his mom asks us to talk to him cause he said he´s quitting school. (Very rare to finish high school here) So we sit down and have a very long conversation. Long story short as I´m trying to explain to big picture to him, cause he´s super smart, he just keeps telling me im just like his mom and i dont understand, that i had forgotten what its like to be 16 and have a girlfriend. It was right about then that I looked at him and thought i was looking at myself in the mirror. It was really weird. I then preceded to explain WHY is was so important that he doesnt quit school, doesnt break the law of chastity, and does serve a mission, so he could have the perspective on life that i now have. It doesnt mean i dont remember what its like to be him, its just that i understand so much better what things bring happiness, and what things dont. When we are young it is so incredible difficult to see past the next weekend, or the end of high school, then we grow up a little and realize how little some things matter. I am eternally grateful to the mission for that, there is no greater blessing.

Last night we had another fun drunk person experience. (for the 100th time) So we´re walking home a little late and see this dude on the side of the road with a paper towel in hand. Dude is in a BAD way, but like usual i did my customary compliment. Baaaddd idea. Dude immediately SPRINGS forward to my comp trying to grab him, and we jump back fists raised yelling at him not to touch us. He then preceded to ask my comp for a "patriarchal" blessing (slightly aggressively) and my comp still a little wigged out is like no, no i cant. Also a bad idea, the guy gets all indignant and  points his blood covered finger at my comp and starts questioning his worthiness. (for sure a member) By about that point I decided it was time to take off, so we start backing up and as soon as were sure he didnt have a knife took off. Love drunk people, especially mormon drunk people.

More advice to South American Elders: Don´t come home late!

The mission is fun. Its so painfully devastating at times but mostly its good. I´ve picked up a new good thing from my companion. Whenever something crappy happens he says something to the extent of " its all good, this is not going to affect my eternal salvation." I feel like thats good advice for all of us. When little crappy things happen lets remember the big picture. I´ve applied that in my mission. I am STILL going to get married to a hot wife in the temple. I am STILL going to be a DA in New York. I am STILL going to be saved at the last day. NOOOOO WOOORRRIIIEEESSS. (this is for you DI, stress free!) 

I love you all. Me and Evans are both staying here for one more transfer. Big shocker. Not too happy about it. But hey, Christmas is STILL 2 months away. Stay Classy Orem.

Happy Halloween

No Halloween is not celebrated here. Well, not really. Its mostly just another holiday they stole from the U.s. as an excuse to not work and get as wasted drunk as they can. Last night was CRAZY.

Things are good here. It was a tough week. Lots of problems we´ve got to resolve in the ward and the zone, but thats life. If you can´t resolve problems, you´re going to live them. Mostly I´ve come to the conclusion that EVERY major problem that ever happened in the history of the world starts with pride. Don´t be prideful. (Steve, Alex, Colin)

This is the last week of the transfer. We are going to the beach this week, and then we have two baptisms this weekend. Its going to flyyyy... 

New favorite obsession- Mormon.org. I watch Brandon Flowers video at least 3 times every p day. Mostly just as an excuse to hear Killers music... but hey, its the church website!

I love you all, sorry this is short. I have no doubt this is Christ's restored church. Anyone that leaves it must foolishly crawl around or over the Book of Mormon, which has stood for hundreds of years in spite of being critically attacked. We would all be wise to strengthen our own testimony of that book. There are more important things in life to be found in there.