Sunday, August 17, 2014

Campo Grande Week 20

August 11, 2014

ELDER ANDERSONS BIRTHDAY: August 16



Campo Grande Week 19

August 4, 2014
Todo mundo,
I don´t know if I have been this tired in my life. It was rad week. I held my first district meeting, which was awesome, I had a sister in our district talk about an atribute that Christ had, she talked about diligence which was super cool. I moved our chairs in to a circle and together we decided on our district goal for the transfer. It was fun. And of course we passed tereré around during the meeting.
       I was traveling around our district all week doing baptismal interviews, it was exhausting and we were not able to work in our area very much this week but it was also one of the coolest things I have ever done. I got a new companion, his name his Elder Souza, he is from Porto Velho, Rondonia. He has an awesome story, he was serving in São Paulo and his girlfriend got called to the same mission so he got transfered here when he had already been out a year. He has been out about a year and a half and is super good at teaching and has already climbed the corporate ladder of the mission. I am super grateful to be with him. His attitude is perfect and he works smart. We have a good time
    We had an awesome P- day today. We headed to Terenos which is a cool little town in the middle of no where. We already passed through there once last week for an interview and an exchange and I was stoked so we invited everyone in the district and few others in the zone. We had a huge churrasco and played a bunch of Brazilian games. It was awesome.
   I love my life. I love my mission.




Campo Grande Week 18

July 28, 2014
opa.
 Last week was a lesson in not stressing over things that are out of my control. It started awesome we had seen some awesome things happen after a mega fast we did over the weekend, we had marked five baptismal dates and were feeling super good. Unfortunately, one by one all of the baptisms canceled. So that put a pretty big damper on our excitement, especially for my companion who has been working super hard here for 3 transfers. On top of it all it was super cold and rainy all week and our shower has been broken all transfer so we heat up water on the stove and make it happen. It was a transfer of real work and good times with amazing people. I think the biggest mistake a missionary can make is turning the mission in to a business or something like that. When you go down that road you rob charity and love and take the spirit out of the work. I don´t ever want to do that. I was reminded of how blessed I am just to be amongst the people here. That is success right? happiness and fulfilment in the service of your fellow men, not numbers that you pass on. 
   Elder Santana got transfered to Ponta Porã  which means I will stick around here and take over as district leader. My new companion is named Elder B. Soulsa, he is a Brasileiro who has been on the mission for a year and a half. He gets here tomorrow from way up north. I am stoked for another transfer of hard work and good times here in Amumbaí.
2.We eat super good here, a lot of churrasco which is an amazing brazilian barbeque.
3. For sure. There are some awesome hikes in the Pantanal that I plan on hitting this transfer. 
4. It has been cold and rainy the last week or so. Not super cold, but it feels like it because we are used to be hot all the time.
5. that is elder rolim, he is super cool. it was on a split we did. it was his second to last day on the mission. He is home safe in São Paulo now. he said he wanted to drink all the tereré he could before he left.
6. It is unlike any other drink in the world. there is tons of different flavors and types of tereré but the one I like is menta e boldo its incredible. it is super common to squeeze an entire lime in the water, mom would dig it.
7. Já falei
8. The language is coming along great. The accent in Cuiabá is super hard, it is like the back woods hick accent of brazilian portuguese, people here are super easy to understand.
I love you all tons!

Campo Grande Week 17

July 21, 2014
Mãe
This week was hardcore. We made moves across our entire area on foot almost every day and finally after an entire transfer of working our tails off we are feeling like we are making progress.
  
   When I got to the area there were some major challenges that I didn´t realize. About our mission and our area. The Cuiabá Brasil mission has the fewest amount of members out of all the missions in Brasil and it is the biggest. The challenges with our ward are super complicated. The ward is dead. It is one of the oldest wards in Campo Grande, and the members have just forgotten how it works. They aren´t taking care of each other. Word on the street is that president has thought about pulling the missionaries out of the ward for a while now, so we are hoping that doesn´t happen.
    We have really seen the blessings that come from fasting. This week we have the opportunity  to baptize Edineia e Luana, an awesome mother and daughter that we found in the street my first week. It´s been a struggle but they have over come all of the challenges that were standing in the way. I have really grown to love the heck out of them. They always make us tasty stuff and we cried together when Brasil lost one more to Holanda.
    Cleidiane was a miracle. Her step mom is a super cool lady in the ward who has been through a ton of rough times. Anyways she lives in England but her step dad who is not a member is super sick, so she flew in to spend the last few weeks with him. She was at church  last week and this week. We set her baptismal date for the 26th of this month. I have never met anyone that is as prepared as she is. The lesson that we taught her was the most spiritual lesson that I have been a part of in a long time. I really felt like I articulated every single thought that I had in Português with out even thinking about English. It is difficult to describe but the language is coming along super well and I feel super blessed for it. Cleidiane lives super close to the temple in London and has always been super curious about what happens there. When she asked her step mom Carmen happily explained the endownment cerimony. It was such a Brazilian moment. No secrets here.
   Another funny story, the patriarch in Cuiabá invited the sisters to give a blessing with him and they did it. There is a bunch of funny stories of things like this happening and for some reason it makes me love the people that much more. They are so confident yet simple and humble. Everyone here is open and spiritual and all though they love their cerveja and parties they are happy to take us in.
        I feel like I am growing more than ever. Growth hurts sometimes right? It´s rad. I feel like I am learning to truly give myself to the lord and to life. To really listen to people, see things the way they see them. Pay attention to the experiences, the spirit and the diverse ways that he comunicates with me. Move past the comfortable and artificial place in my  head.
        My English is terrible and I do not even care.
P- day was rad. We had a huge churrasco with the Terenos Elders and played soccer for hours with a bunch of missionaries. A super cool Elder, Elder Rolim, is ´´dying´´ this week. (ending his mission this week) so we are partying hard tonight at a noite familiar with an awesome family in our ward.




Campo Grande Week 16

July 14, 2014
This week was pretty rough for Brasil. After Brasil lost to Alemanha the people fell in to depression I have encountered a few angry people spitting out cuss words about Alemanha, but it is all good I just calmly explain that I am American and people chill out. After we lost to Holanda it was the nail in the coffin. Missionary work was tough this week needless to say. However we have some Baptisms set up so life is good. This area is super tough but super awesome. The members are super classy. 
    So here in Brasil missionaries don't live in apartments, we live in little houses. It is just me and my comp. in our house, except Monday night.  Two other elders come and stay with us because their area is about an hour away and we have a meeting every Tuesday with our district, Which is awesome because I love those guys. I am the only gringo in our district. Which is a huge blessing.
    I am super proud of the proggress that I have made on the language this transfer. I am fine tuning it and learning a bunch of cool phrases and expressions.
   We are playing soccer and going to a sweet market today!
I haven´t gotten any packages.
We walk so much.




  

Campo Grande Week 15

July 7, 2014

Mother! Life has been a whirl wind lately. This week we went to work, we get home and I am completely exhausted, every day. Which is rad. 
This email really isn´t one to share with everyone. I am having a bit of a moment with my testimony. I just am a bit frustrated ya know? I have been praying, studying, and really trying to recognize the spirit but I just feel like I haven´t had a strong confirmation in a long time. Don´t get me wrong my testimony is rooted deep and I feel strong and motivated to continue in this great work. But, is it wrong to want to take my testimony to the next level? I want an answer that is definite and clear. I know that I have had strong spiritual experiences, and my testimony of Jesus Christ is incredibly real. BUT I want to truly truly truly KNOW! Be converted to the CHURCH of Jesus Christ. I want to feel the spirit when I am reading. I want a little refresher. I want to really know. can that happen? I would love some real experience. Be real with me and give me a little council.
I love you very much.