June 15: Opa

 Well this week wasnt as great as the last ones. Lets just say I have had my fair share of arguments this week with the leadership in our branch here. Basically in a nut shell they are having problems with the baptisms we are having. Us and President Farnes are having to team up to get them on board with the idea of more baptisms. They are not used to having recent converts to have to take care of... lets just say none of my Recent Converts have received a visit or even know who there home or visiting teachers are.. Its been a mess. Just life lessons you learn on the mission on how to deal with people that take different approaches. There idea is that we are responsible for taking care of these converts... We keep telling them we wont be here forever.. But I feel like it is getting a little better. Our Ward Mission Leader is AWESOME!! he is killing it here with us! I got to do a division with one of my old companions and that was fun! We also had a 70 come and give a training. He is brand new. His name is Elder Cero Schmeil. It was good the only problem is that we ended up getting home at 1 in the morning. It was in sorocaba a 5 hour drive.. We are working hard here still. I just hope we can see more miracles here! keep praying for us!! LOVE YALL!!

June 8: Milagres

milagres means miracles for those who didnt understand;) Yeah the miracle being we were able to baptize this weekend! Its a story that I will tell after the mission. ;) lets just say it was a miracle for now;) My new comp is awesome. He is super serious but as I have said before I have become very used to it after having a few of the other comps I have had. It is kinda funny to me now. He is great though. Super focused on baptism. We are working hard. He goes home in November so we are really pushing each other! You know to be honest it hasnt really hit me yet that the time is winding down. I keep forgetting and then members will always say something about me going home soon. Its kinda nice. I have been almost more focused now than earlier in the mission. I hope it stays this way;) We are going to have a 70 here this week to talk to all of us. a mission tour of sorts. I have been really wanting to go to the temple lately its been like 3 months! hahah I know carley had to wait like 2 years but with having a temple close to here it gets you anxious to go! dang the mission is really the best. The stuff I have learned here... lets just say I am a changed man;) Well I would like to think I am a man not just a young man anymore;) Well keep praying that we can keep baptizing! The mission is way more fun here in Brazil when you are baptizing! LOVE YALL!!!

oh yeah and i almost forgot- I got bit by a dog!;)  not to bad just ripped my pants! and gave me a nice cut and bruise. and for those wanting to know.... he wasnt a big dog... a stupid yappy one.

 

 

 

June 1: Peruvian

Well this week was the last week of the transfer and we saw the miracle of one more baptism. It was by far the most miracles I have had on the mission in one transfer and better yet one month. Elder Curtis and I will be parting ways. It will be hard cause of how much success we had and how well we got along but as we know the greatest growth comes with change and Elder Baldera from Peru will be my new comp still here in Itapeva. It will be a great transfer and fromt he looks of it I know two of the missionaries coming into the zone. I think one of them is Elder Rodriguez my comp like a month ago haha. I am excited to hit it hard these last two transfers and to work hard on baptizing weekly. We are at 4 weeks straight and want to keep it going! Pray that we can find some miracles! Love YALL!!!


PS it is getting super cold here!!!

May 25: 20 months

Well today marks 20 months on the mission and it has been nice having a companion who has the same time on the mission as me. We are much more focused because as everyone knows the closer you get to coming home the harder it is to stay focused. It is really nice that we are pushing each other to stay focused and finish with No Regrets! We say another miracle this week with two more baptisms that we found just one week ago. It is unbelievable how blessed we are. I have never felt so strong on the mission. I pray that I finish with these feelings that I am having right now. I am learning an awful lot about service in the Lords kingdom and how to efficiently and effectively serve. Lessons that I will no doubt carry with me for the rest of my life. I am reading Jesus the Christ alot now and have been learning quite abit of things that I have learned before but never really thought about. Its a great aid in knowing more about Christs role in everything. I was rather shocked to get the news of Uncle Freds passing and I cant imagine the power that is behind adam during this time of trial. All I know is there is without a doubt a greater force in his teaching and a greater love for the people. I know that the Brown family will be forever blessed because of Adams service during this time. What a great privelege it is to be blessed with the knowledge that Uncle Fred is still very much alive and is merely awaiting a joyful return of his loved ones to never again be plagued with illness or heartache. The Plan Of Salvation for those who have served is by far the best lesson shared to those we teach. No greater spirit can be felt than when testifying that indeed families can be together forever. I know now more than ever that this life is just a time of preparation and a greater opportunity to learn and grow. I will continue to do everything I can to finish my mission as the Lord would expect me to finish! I love you all and am praying continually for yall!

May 18: What a Miracle!

Well this was probably the best week on the mission thus far!! Let me explain why: On monday we had a goal of 2 baptisms set for the weekend and we had no Idea how we were going to reach it... We have been fasting every saturday to sunday as a zone for miracles and tuesday My companion calls me and tells me he knocked into a grandma who is 82 and her granddaughter who is 8 who went to church like 4 years ago a couple times. We both felt really good about them and so we went the next day and marked a date with them for yesterday. We followed up with them daily and while doing that we in turn also marked for yesterday with a mom of a Recent Convert who is super strong! (both of these stories I will for sure explain in great detail upon return!) Their baptisms were sooooo special yesterday! me and my companion both teared up! their is way to much to explain about the story right now but all I know is that God truly loves us! Its amazing what happens when we do our part! In fact as i had just written that line one of our most solid investigators we had lost contact with just passed by and we saw him and left running out of the internet house and caught him and now we are going by tonight! what miracles!!! woah nelly.... its sooooo amazing being a missionary!!!! I love you all!!

May 11: Happy Mother's Day

Well first off happy mothers day mom and it was great getting to talk to all of yall yesterday! Yeah I dont know if yall thought I was awkward yesterday or not but yeah I totally was hahah!! Im sorry Im just REALLY nervous to be ending the mission and when we have little things that remind me of home I get super anxious!! haha I will try and adjust well upon returning because I definitely dont want to be one of those missionaries who returns home and "stays" on the mission... I will need some help though;) This past week was a good one for sure! We saw the miracle of a baptism! We are working hard to get the other companionships in our zone to get on their horse and ride if you catch my drift..... we are really excited to work with the elders here and will be doing a few divisions with them to try and find some people they can baptize. The whole knocking 80 doors is going well... not going to lie.... its pretty tough but we are finding alot of great people! It is getting a little colder here which is AMAZING!!! I can start using my cardigans! haha well I hope you all have an amazing week!! I love you all!!

May 4: Feliz Cinco de Maio!!

well it actually isnt a holiday here but I thought I would wish you a happy 5th of May! Well the first week here that should have been spent here in Itapeva was mostly spent in São Paulo because we had a transfers on tuesday, a leadership training meeting on thursday, and a meeting with L Whitney Clayton of the 70 and Marcos Audukitis of the 70 as well. It was a great meeting. But São Paulo is about 6 hours by bus from Itapeva so we ended up having to crash with other elders for the week. But finally on Saturday I made it here to the area and got to meet a few of the investigators we have. Our president wants to baptize 300 in the mission this month and He has asked each of us to knock 80 doors every single day for the month in honor of our mission celebrating its 80 year anniversary. We finally hit 80 yesterday and not even joking.... it took 6 hours to do.... But we have quite a few potentials to contact now! I love the zone and my comp is LEGIT . Im excited to skype this week and will let you know the time when my comp talks to his family. Hope yall have a great week! LOVE YA!!