Esta semana

Hey everyone,

 

This last week has been one of the most tiring ones of my entire life. We had the performances for the Mission Choir in a place called Shopping Estação. It´s a super nice mall and it actually felt really, reeeally bad to be in there - it is completely "of the world", as you might say.

 

One experience, though: We went from Ala 2 (in the Center) to another bus tube to get to the mall. Imagine ~50 Elderes and Sisteres piling into a huge red bus and you´ll know a little of what I mean. When we arrived, all the Elders freaked out (because it is soo against the rules to go into the mall), and I went in, leading the Elders. It was impressive. Imagine a line of 50 missionaries, suited or dressed, all excited and smiling, and then imagine every single person in the mall looking at them, almost in a jaw-dropped fashion. When I got to the place where we were to sing, I turned around to see if everyone was coming. It was an awesome sight - literally, the whole mall stopped! Girls, men, little kids all looked to see what was going on. Then they showed us the riser where we were to sing and we got ready. We started the program, and I got to introduce the choir, blah blah blah.

 

We sang Joy to the World, then a small group sang All Creatures of our God and King, then the Sisters sang with the small group Away in a Manger, then Far, Far Away on Judea´s Plains, then the Sisters sang Teach me to Walk in the Light, then Silent Night (we had one Elder read Mosiah 3:5-8 with the choir humming, it was cool), then Beautiful Savior with the small group (the best one, by far), then Angels We Have Heard on High, then While Shepherds Watched their Flocks by Night, then Joseph Smith´s First Prayer with me and the sisters, then I Believe in Christ with the whole group. It was super cool, and we got a big applause from everyone. It was reeeeeally hot in the mall and we were all sweating a ton. There were a couple Elders who almost fainted from the humidity. Miss Curitiba was there, because she got baptized the week before. President was there and there were a lot of members and investigators. I would say that everything worked out and we have no regrets. It required a lot of energy, but it all worked out in the end.

 

We (the small group) also got to go to a special presentation waaay outside of Curitiba on the way to the beach to one of the Stake President´s in Curitiba´s work party. It looked nice for Brazil, a little run down for the states - lots of land, nice cabin, etc. We had to listen to the President of the company drone on for a while about the marvelous success that they had and then we heard a Catholic priest talk about Salt and Light. We had to repeat the prayers that he passed out on pieces of paper to us, etc. Very glad to be a member of Jesus´ church. Then we sang and it was warm fuzzies for everyone. Then the little snack and we left by taxi. It was super expensive, but we didn´t have to pay (~R$130 round trip, for two taxis).

 

It´s been interesting in this time working up until Christmas. A lot of Elders have the attitude that no one will be home and that nothing will work out like it should. We don´t! We´ve been able to teach tons of people, especially with the wonderful deluge of rain that we´ve been receiving recently. We´ve been working to help the Élderes keep their positivity up, and the article that I got from Elder Mott really helped. We´re excited! We´ve got several people that are preparing to be baptized on CHristmas! IT´ll be awesome!

 

I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know that, even though at times we have difficulties and problems, we can find peace in Him. I can personally testify as to the cleansing effect that His Spirit has on us and of the peace it gives us, amidst a very troubled world. It really is worth it to be here, and I love it. Every day is another adventure, and I know now with an increasing amount of reality how little time I have left to serve. I know that while I feel that my sacrifice is small, it is the best I have to offer and I know that it´ll be accepted by the Lord.

 

Love you all. Merry Christmas, almost!

 

Élder Brown

 

 

 

E aí

Hey guys,

So, at my mother´s request, I will write about some stuff:

• Please tell me about each investigator you have right now.  I love hearing their stories and progress!

So.. We´ve got Noemi E Gelson. They need to get married. Their kids were baptized and confirmed a little while ago but they need...desire and reason to get married. She wants to, he doesn´t. But they´ll work out ok - they love church and what it´s done for their kids. Then there´s Iuza and Dirciu. He needs to stop drinking and being a retard, and she has an issue with someone at church. It´s great fun. They´re ok, but they need to go to church. Then there´s Adriana and Igor. We found them last week and they have a baptismal date for CHRISTMAS!!! Whee! She called us the other day to say that she received her answer and that she wants to give her Padre (Catholics) the Book of Mormon. We will surely oblige and baptize her whole church. Then there´s Manoel and his Family, Henrique and Janete. They´re from São Paulo and they are SUPER elect, with dates for Christmas as well. They have got to go to church and continue to give us delicious cake. Then there´s a member reference named Ana who´s ready for baptism, we just need to find her at home and she needs to cut smoking, which she´s already doing. There are other people, but these are the best ones. They´re pretty amazing and we´re finding new people every day.

• Please share your spiritual experiences and testimony in your mass email- to me it is like a spiritual shot in the arm!

The Spirit experiencezão for the week would have to be yesterday. We were teaching a lesson to a media reference and it was going, well, pretty machine-like. I got a little frustrated when she said that she had already been baptized (Catholic...blah) and didn´t need it again. We left the lesson and we both felt...a little empty. We decided to testify of Christ in some contacts, and we instantly felt better. The Spirit is the ONLY WAY to go on the mission, and in our lives. Without it, LIFE DOESN´T MAKE SENSE!!! Without it, this isn´t the true church and the BOM isn´t true, etc etc etc. We need it! If you don´t feel the Spirit, start keeping the commandments and you will be baffled to see that you feel it! Wow! What a concept! Sorry for the sarcasm but that´s just how I´ve been feeling lately. But in all seriousness, it is amazing and it was great to see/feel His presence a little more.

• How are you doing this week? 

I´m ok. We´re helping the Zone to be a little more excited because they were a little dead. We had a Zone study in our chapel about Charity, followed by a mountain of brownies, juice, and baskeball. The Americans also, as I am proud to announce, destroyed the Brasilians in soccer. HaHA. Take that.

• How is choir? 

Good. It is very good.

• When do you perform?

Today, Friday, Saturday, and a few other performances that are being scheduled. It´ll be great!

• How are your clothes/ shoes holding up?

Great. Holding up well, and I´m seriously getting a lot skinnier.

• Did you buy new socks?

No, I decided that I really didn´t need them - we´ll use these ones until the end. Maybe I can use the $ as an emergency fund.

• When you receive your Christmas package please open it as soon as you get it! I want you to be able to enjoy it right away.  I hope it comes soon!

Me too.

I love you all. More bullet points:
- there´s a dog that likes to eat grass. It´s funny.
- we found a PENNY on the street. Weird.
- we heard Brasilian AC/DC. Needless to say, it was horrible beyond reason.
- there was a dog that peed for a good minute straight. Impressive.
- we taught a lesson in a "SPiritual Center", and, actually, the medium there was super cool. SHe´ll be out of town on Christmas, but later she´ll be baptized!

The Church is super duper true. Jesus is the Christ. He loves us. He knows us. Trust Him.

Élder Brown

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whoa no time

11-24-10

Subject says everything.
Bullets!
- I did a contact with a midget the other day. He was reeeeally small with a normal-sized head. Weird.
- this was probably one of the craziest weeks of all time. For example - renewing the visa, having to give the secretaries a bill for over 840 reais from an area in the zone, etc. Fun stuff.
- I saw Christmas lights and they made me feel much better
- We saw this crazy drunk guy Sunday. He asked us in tons of slang if we had any girlfriends/concubines/etc. He then asked about the Law of Chastity, and when he heard that you can´t do "the stuff" before marriage, he got all worried and said "Nossa...então minha mãe está pecando legal" (Wow...then my mom´s sinning cool, literally). Then his friend who has herpies on his face came up and started applying this crazy purple stuff to the sores. One of the better experiences of the misison.
- The freakin numbers here are ridiculous, just to say it again. 15, 2, 3,444,000, etc. Go organization.
- we saw a weed that was over 10 feet tall. It was very big.
- we pushed this guy´s car to help him start it, but he decided that the brake was the clutch and the car wouldn´t start. We let him figure out his own problems after a few tries.
- we have an investigator named Élcio. He´s cool and really wants to be baptized, but has to get married and stop drinking and smoking. His father-in-law was totally smashed and kept making these crazy noises during the lesson (woowooooooo!!!!). It was difficult to concentrate, but we did.
- We met a guy who is convinced that the world will be destroyed in 2015. He´s pretty cool and we´ll try to teach him another day.
- choir was better today! We felt the Spirit! Yay!
I know the Church is true. This isn´t just the "Mormon" church- this is Christ´s church. We have His authority and we´ve got to use it as such.
Love you all!
Élder Brown

Cião Élder Pettegrew!

11-17-10
Hey ya, hey ya. All right, all right, all right.
Ok.
We had transfers, Élder Pettegrew went home to St. George, I will now work
with Élder Rasmussen, my trainer and many companions also went home, we
baptized 2 more people last week (Paôla e Pablo), I apologized to the bispo,
we found some new people to teach, everyone´s excited to baptize 150 people
this month in the mission. Other stuff (because of the lack of time):
- I saw these two guys giving this kid a super wedgie in the middle of the
street, and holding him up by his pants. It was insane. The kid was
screaming and the other two looked extremely satisfied. It went well up over
his head.
- we can´t drink a drink called chimarrão here, but I bought some for Élder
Pettegrew so that he can drink it at home. Alex says it´s horrible. Cião,
love. Boa semana para todos! A Igreja é verdadeira! Elder Brown

Hey hey hey...it´s FAAAAT Élder

Actually, I´m losing weight. Yay!
My comp. just found a scripture that has my name in it! Genesis 30:40! Weird.
To sum up, this last week was absolutely nuts. We had about 18 interviews to do and it was really crazy, but in the end it all worked out. The zone baptized 25!!! We´re stoked! We´re also dreaming of a White Christmas (Natal Branco) and we hope to baptize around 20 people in one day. It´ll be fabulous!
Bullet Points:
- we practiced caroling on the side of the road, waiting for the bus after a Zona activity called a Blitz. We then sang on the bus and in the terminal and we received both looks of horror and utter delight. That´s the mission for ya.
- we saw the weediest garden of all time. I would not want to weed it. Not at all.
- we definitely ate some pigskin for lunch, and it was not that delicious.
- We met this guy on the street who called himself 8ball (bola 8). He had this huge growth on his neck and he was weird. We sidetracked his weird musings by telling him to be baptized. That seems to work really well with people that want to talk to you.
- there´s an Elder from Paraguay in our zone who has over 20 siblings and 150 cousins! Sheesh.
- We were walking down the street looking for an address when this crazy old lady screamed at us to come to her house. She invited us in and told us to teach her crazy drugged-up son about Jesus. He was actually really cool and accepted a baptismal date! He´ll be baptized on Christmas!
- there was a girl running down the street and I decided to do a contact with her. I sucessfully got her address and wrote it down - running. The handwriting is tough to read.
- There was a pack of 3 or 4 super gays walking down the street. I really needed a missile launcher at that point.
- we knocked a door and the guy inside invited us in - he was washing dishes and his kids at the same time. Turns out that he used to be a huge druggie and his life was saved by church. Unfortunately, he´s a member of an apostate church and must learn the real stuff. He started "teaching" us about how we´re unlearned and need to understand the scriptures more as he explained to us why Jesus, God and the Spirit are all in one body and, at the same time, not in anything. Yep. But we were pleased because we just explained the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he couldn´t deny that. Sucka!
- we had choir today. It´s getting right up to that point where God has to send the angels, but we know that it´ll work out. We got to break mission rules with Presidente´s permission - go into the mall. It was weird.
- my comp. is looking at chapels on the church website. There are SO many in Utah! Seriously!
- we watched The Testaments yesterday. I invite everyone to watch that movie with a friend - they will feel the Spirit! There was one quote that I loved: "Em todos os anos como um dos féis, você nunca sentiu algo tocar no seu coração?" (In all your years as a believer, you never felt anything touch your heart?) I know that we all feel that it´s true, and that´s why we stay with it. There is a purpose to all of this, and He loves us more than we can know. Always.
I love you all. I love this church. I know that Jesus is the Christ. This is His work.

Good week! Church is good! 
Elder Brown

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Uma semana muito rápida

Oi oi gente querida,                                         

It´s been really weird to be my comp.´s last companion - I´m killing him! It´s good though, because hes not trunky, just a little nervous.
Some bullet points:

- we were knocking doors and we came up to the same house where Elder Pettegrew tickled the dog´s chin. The dog took one look and knew who he was, which lead to the same look of impending doom in his eyes. Then my super smart comp. tickled the huge Boxer´s chin while making little noises. Amazingly, the dog wagged his tail and my comp. isn´t dead, yet. All is well.

- We baptized 2 people on Saturday! Endrigo and Iuri, two brothers that were super ready, were baptized by a guy who lives in Portão, by the mission office. It was really cool and their mom went and loved it. We actually had more investigators than members there - around 10 - and it was pretty cool. We´re going to baptize 3 more people this weekend - Paôla, Pablo, and Christian. Prayers would be great!

- I would really, really like some new socks, if that´s possible. Both black long ones and shorter athletic ones. Mine are getting pretty toasted. And american deodorant.

- We almost got stuck in a HUGE thunderstorm yesterday - I don´t think I´ve ever been in such strong wind. Crazy Brasilian weather.

- I had to make a report and send it to President and it took over 4 freakin hours. I was almost done, and then BAM the computer shut down and restarted. Then, after saving it, it did it again and was unreadable again. I ended up doing the same huge report 3 times. Now I know how to do a report really well.

This transfer has absolutely flown by. It´s interesting what happens when you have more work and try to forget yourself. I had always wanted to say that I was able to forget myself, but I was never really sure if I would be able to do it. Basically the only secret that I have been able to find has been just working, working, working, and loving, loving, loving every second, every rule, etc. It´s nice to just be able to think about mission stuff. Girls - no matter how pretty or amazing - college, family, etc. don´t matter right now. The only thing that really matters is the Lord and His service. I just hope that I can work hard enough to be able to fulfill the plan he has for me. I´ve been discovering a little more about what that is here - it doesn´t mean that to be a success, you have to be a leader on the mission, baptize a million people, etc. It just means, like PMG says, we need to give it our best shot. Our BEST! I am excited to see what my "best" is at the end of these two years, and I know that, with work, it will be much better than it was now.

I love the Lord. I love Christ. I love the Book of Mormon. I love the missionary schedule and the missionaries with whom I serve. I love the investigators. I love you all and hope that you (yes, you) know that.

Let´s go get ém!
Elder Brown

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Hey ya

Hi everyone,

This´ll be a quick one, sorry. 

- We had another Blitz - take all the missionaries of the area to one area and help them pump up their teaching group. It worked really well and we were able to find a lot of new people for them to teach.

- Choir is going much, much better! We changed the rehearsal spot and put some new things into practice and the results were fantastic! Unfortunately, we don´t have a pianist, so I´m playing for most of the hymns. It´s been a lot of fun to work with the Elders to prepare for our presentations. We received word that we will be singing, on live television, for the newly-elected Governador de Paraná - Beto Richa. Also, we´ll get to go to some other places in the Center of the city. Yay choir!

- we´ll baptize two awesome people on Saturday - Endrigo e Iuri! They´re two brothers (the younger one reminds me of a much smaller and younger Peter) and the older one has been dating a member for 3 years and going with her to Institute - he showed up in the church and said he wanted to get baptized. We agreed with his decision. His brother and his mom are getting ready with him!

- I am getting "tan" again! Hooray for summer!

- one last experience: we were at a recent convert´s house (Valdir - he is the MAN!!! One of the best baptisms ever) leaving him and his family a message because they haven´t been coming to church (his uncle died three weeks ago and it´s been crazy for their family). During the lesson, two of his little twin boys - Ruan e Renan - were making a lot of noise. It´s against the rules to make them sit on your lap, so I decided to sit with them , one on each side, and read the scriptures quietly with them. They loved it, and there was a great SPirit. Also, as I was leaving, they were licking their fingers and cleaning the dirt of my shoes with their hands. It was amazing. I could feel the love of the people because I was able to love them a little more. I know that I can feel this love for any person - I just have to show it.

This is the truth. We are lucky to have it. We must share it with power!

 Love yáll!
Elder Brown

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Morôni é o cara dos caras!

This week, we are trying to put something big into practice - be just
like Captain Moroni! As we read in Alma 48, he was strong, powerful,
of a perfect understanding, faithful, etc. We are trying to better
develop these atributes by first stydying them and then setting
meaningful goals to help really put them into practice. It has been
working! Instead of talking about things that don´t have much to do
with missionary work, we talk about Moroni and what he would talk
about/be like/eat for dinner (deep-dish lion lasagna is my thought).
We´ve found some really good familes in our area and several people
are preparing to be baptized this week and in the following weeks!
We´re trying hard to organize our time a little better so that we
spend a little less time walking and more time inviting people to be
baptized. It´s worked out and we´ve had some great experiences!
Some bullet points:

- my comp. and I went to a less-active woman´s house and tried to help
her out a little. Her name´s Zilda and ela é da Bahiiiiia ( I love
Bahianos). We had a great lesson and she ended up going to church that
week. Also, she had this sweet poster of Bruce Lee that my comp. had
his eye on. She asked him if he wanted it, he said yes, and 3 minutes
later we were doing contacts with it. It was awesome. Turns out that
Bruce Lee is a great way to find new investigators!

- I was able to go back to my 2nd area and do a few interviews. It was
amazing. There was a lady named Ivone, and she didn´t really feel like
she was ready to be baptized. One thing that I´ve learned in doing
baptismal interviews is that you really need to let the person feel at
home and comfortable, with a strong Spirit in the room. I let her talk
and after a while, she started really going deep with things she´s
done in her past, her regrets, etc. She started crying and I almost
did, too. When I asked her if she ws ready to be baptized she wasn´t
sure. I ´ve gained an enormous testimony of the scriptures, and that
when we study them the Spirit will show us EXACTLY what we need and
when. I read her Alma 7:11-15. She cried. She was baptized with her
daughter.

***I REALLY would like some photos of the family and of me when I was
younger to show investigators. People will not leave me alone about
this!

- my comp. was petting this cute dog and then it jumped up on his lap.
He then grabbed the dog and raised it up over his chest. He then
started to sing the Circle of Life and the recent convert (Aparecida)
and I couldn´t stop laughing.

- we are teaching a guy named Wagner who looks EXACTLY like Frodo from
Lord of the Rings. It is seriously creepy - I´m expecting him to hear
"it´s getting heavier, Sam...it´s calling to him...", etc.

- We went to the temple today! Even though my comp and I couldn´t go
into the session (because he had a little problem with his recommend)
we were able to do initiatories. It was soooo cool! I love the Spirit
of the Temple and the peace that it brings.

- Choir´s going better. Everyone´s staying more focused and actually
learning, which is showing some great progress.

- drunks are our best supporters, by far. Everywhere we go they´re
yelling our name and saying "yeah! Go get´m Americans! Speak German!"
and the like.

I know that Jesus is the Christ. I have seen Him change my life and
the lives of others. Thanks for your support - you will be blessed for
every ounce of effort.
Elder Brown

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What a week!

As it says above, it has been quite a week.
Bullet points, to start this stuff out:

- I did an interview for a lady named Karla in Autódromo, my second area. She has been receiving the lessons for a while and she was just struggling a little to know that she really was ready to be baptized. Last week I challenged her to be baptized on the 24th, but she felt that she was a little more ready a little faster than we thought she would be. BUT, she said she still didn´t know that the BOM is true. I challenged her to pray in that second and that she would know - she cried. I saw someone receive an answer. It was amazing. There isn´t another feeling like it. She was baptized.

- We were walking on the train tracks (our area has a huge train station that ships stuff everywhere) and we ran into some drug dealers, who happened to be at that moment on Cloud 9, if you´re picking up what I´m laying down, yo. They were actually really happy to see us and as we got their addresses, they asked if we were the cops. They were pleased to find out that we were not. So were we.

- There was this crazy swarm of little ants with wings all over the city - it´s like there was some mass breeding and they came out. They all went towards the lights and it was gross/cool.

- we were knocking a dog and this huge dog came out of the corner, just looking at me and Elder Pettegrew. Elder had a lot of dogs before the mission, so he promptly began to tickle the dogs chin, in a half-mocking way. I saw the look of utmost hate and bitterness coming from the dog, but he couldn´t do anything about it. It was hilarious.

- there was this guy walking down the street really fast, punching the air and making growling noises. He was weird.
So, these were more of the semi-pro things that happened. Now for the bigger stuff>

- we have marked about 15 baptismal dates in this last week! It´s awesome! We just leave the house with a little more faith, believing that we´ll be able to find people, and the Lord provides. Now we just need to help these people progress until Exaltation.

---THE BLITZ!!! So in a few areas close to us, the Elders are lacking a lot of people to teach and it´s been frustrating for them because they´re actually trying, just not getting a lot of material success. We decided to get all the Elders and go to that one area and work there for a few hours and find some new people. It was awesome!!! We were able to teach, in 2 1/2 hours, around 10 first lessons, several familes and mark 8 baptismal dates, as well as a slew of contacts. We challenged the Elders to be just like Moroni - a challenge we all received from Presidente Cordon - and I can sincerely say that we all felt like him for that time. We got back afterwards, talked about the succes, and filled out the Teaching Records for each person, then gave them, with days to go back and follow up, to the Elders from that area. Whoever had the best/most detailed Teaching Record got a prize and whoever taught the most lessons, marked the most dates, did the most contacts, got other prizes. We had a quick testimony meeting and it was cool - there were a few problems with people in districts and such but they were all figured out. All in all, a success and we want to do it in every area here. Some other things that happened during the 2 1/2 hours: 1. we (my comp. and I) went to the richest part of the area to knock some doors down, but no one was home. We said a prayer to find someone and then we were able to at least meet with some people, but no one could meet with us. Then, after a few minutes, we found two people (who live on the street) making out on the grass. We decided to interrupt and them teach them, and they accepted a baptismal date. Also, as we were heading back to the chapel, there was one guy who only had 10 minutes to hear a message. We were leaving the message with him and it was going well, and then I started to say the First Vision. As I said it (his eyes were closed to focus on his feelings, not his surroundings), his dog starting biting me. In the crotch. (sorry for any females who read this). It was awkward, but we were able to mark a date with him too. Then, as I got up to go, I put on my backpack, and as I reached down to pull up the strap with my left hand, I felt something wet. The dog´s poop. Yes Dad, I have now been pooped on. Trumped, I believe. Enfim, the Blitz was awesome.

- I got separated from my comp for 30 minutes! We were deciding to get or not get another bus and he ended up jumping out right as the doors shut. It was terrifying (it was this morning), but we´re ok.

This week has been great. I hope all weeks will be this way, and I know they can if I´m obedient, work, love, etc.

Love you all, more than you know. It´s true - the good stuff, at least.
Elder Brown

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Doce É O Trabalho!! (translated is...)

Sweet is the work!

This last week has been absolutely full of awesome experiences. It really is weird to me that when you just go to work, not thinking of yoruself and of your own problems, everything seems to work out and you always have enough energy to keep pushing on. I also am comforted by the Spriit and by how much it blesses us here in the mission field - for those who have or haven´t experienced it, the greatest feeling in the world is that of being led by the Spirit and knowing that you´re worthy to have Him operate because of your good works.

Bullet points:
- choir is getting better every week! It´s really cool to see how the Élderes do their best and how much we can feel the Spirit. We put in a few special musical numbers for a small group and it´ll be amazing (Beautiful Savior and All Creatures of Our God and King!)

- there was this crazy guy with an awesome old-style corduroy hat, sitting in his outside garage on Sunday, with an electric keyboard plugged in. He was playing it and making Stevie Wonder-like faces. The best part: he didn´t know AT ALL how to play - he basically just hit the keyboard at different rythyms, making different faces as he went. Hilarious. He let me play the Maple Leaf Rag and after I was done, he muttered something under his breath that sounded like "...doesn´t even play nuthin´." Silly rabbit. Good times.

- We were walking down the street on the holiday ( I can´t remember which - they´ve got quite a few here) and there were these really, ahem, "gangsta"-looking guys on the other side of the street graffitiing (spelling? Oh well.). One of them, who had a riDANKulous afro, came over and talked to us as we admired their work. It was really cool. We didn´t ask to teach, we didn´t interrupt them, but just let them know that we liked their stuff. I´ll get a picture of it later.

- There was a drunk guy passed out on the street yesterday. Groaning and moaning. Beer= bad.

- we had a crazy emergency transfer for an unknown reason. Elder Askins (one of the other Elders that lived with us in our house, who was comps with my trainer, Elder Duarte) was transferred to another area to train some of the Corto Prazo (the elders that come before being called for a few months to learn the ropes) and Elder Miguel got transferred in to Capão da Imbuia. It was crazy, but that´s life.

- we ate Mexican food today. Ohhhh yeah.

There is really a big difference between working just to work and working because you love it. I have discovered the difference and it is becoming even more of a joy to work every day. It´s not just "one more day", but another opportunity to do my best and help others receive the blessings. I love my comp! Before we were companions we were great friends and now it´s a pleasure to work with him. People have a difficult time telling us that we can´t come into their houses! We win them over with our crazy American craziness and they love it, feel the Sprit, and yeah! It really is all true! This work isn´t just for fun, or just to suffer and say that you did. It´s because peope really need this. Every day when people say that they don´t want to hear or that they don´t need to, it´s becoming easier and easier to say that YES, you DO need this!! I love telling that Catholics that the Pope needs to be baptized in our church - it makes them crazy mad sometimes, but at least they know. I also love bearing my testimony. I love being able to study the scriptures and learn more about the things that I´ve "known" for a long time, but never really dug into. I can´t wait to be able to continue to learn and apply this stuff - now in the mission and later on in life. There was a time when I would count down the days until the end, but now that it´s starting to come up, I don´t want it to come! Go away!

God lives. THIS IS His church. He loves us so much. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to atone for us and pave the way for our Salvation. EVERYONE needs this restored Gospel. EVERYONE must be baptized by the authority that we have been bestowed so graciously. I don´t always understand everything, but the things I understand are good enough for me, and enough to keep me going.

Love you all. Let´s keep it up!
Elder Brown

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uma semana mais louca (one crazy week)

Sheesh. That basically describes this week. Because it was AWESOME!!!

Bullet points (for lack of time):

 

- I found R$32 on the ground!!! I consider it a blessing, a blessing from the Lord (God be praised).

 

- I tried a new way to do proselyting this last week: get into the really rich places of our area. They´re all protected by gates and guards, so I decided to walk up with a professional style and present our message. I then pulled out my temple recommend and flashed it to them like the guys in the FBI: "Good afternoon - Elder Brown, missionary of the church of Jesus Christ. We were informed that there are some people in this residency that desire baptism in the Lord´s church....". It was fun, even if we didn´t get in. Next time, we´ll try getting at least one lesson marked. Then...the rich men WILL enter into the Kingdom of Heaven!!

 

- I got transferred! I now work in an area called Vila Oficinas with Elder Pettegrew, one of my best friends on the mission! I also live with my trainer and his comp. in the same house!!! My comp. and Elder Duarte are going home next transfer! AAHHHH!!!! It´s a pretty rich area and I KNOW that there will be some rich guy who can´t resist baptism by fire in the Lord´s church. Perhaps dozens.

 

- I did my first Dan Jones. It wasn´t as cool as I wanted it to be, but basically we were on the tour bus going around the Centro de Curitiba and I started yelling at people with the Book of Mormon when the bus stopped. It was awesome, and the next time, it´ll be in a church. And my comp. will be totally in on it.

 

-         we were challenged by President Cordon to be just like Moroni this month! We´re totally going to do it!!! Let´s baptize around 500!!!

 

Let me explain...no, there is too much. Let me sum up: I love the mission. I love being able to serve and feel the Spirit all the time. It is awesome to be obedient and feel that you are making a difference. I love the Savior. I love His Spirit. I love the Book of Mormon. I am starting to recognize that I won´t always be a missionary, and it MUST be taaken advantage of. I love you all and pray for you.

 

Keep the procession into the pia batismal rollin´.

Elder Brown

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As bênçãos que o Espírito nos traz (The blessings that the Spirit brings us)

Oi gente; espero que todo esteja ótimo convosco.  (Hi guys, hope all is great with you.)

 

Bullet points!!!

 

- this last week that just went by (until Sunday) was pretty tough. We had a lot of days that were started with a lot of faith and that didn´t really find a lot of results, numbers-wise. We were a little low on our faith by Sunday and church definitely helped give us that Spiritual boost that we were needing, but even after that we were still a little shaky. A lot of people had promised to go to church and only one guy was there. All the people we had planned to pick up were either not ready or didn´t want to go. It was tough. But the work goes on.

 

- Also, during Gospel Principles for the recent converts and investigators, there was a bit of a scuffle. One stupid guy, Irmão Pinheiro, was there. He´s been a member for almost 30 years and yet he never really was able to quit smoking. Because of this, he hasn´t received the Priesthood, gone to the temple to be sealed to his family, etc.  So he decides that the best thing to do is just to blame God for his weakness and terrorize everyone around him. He´s a nice enough guy, but he could not stop ranting about how hypocritical people are in the church (which in and of itself was pretty dang hypocritical). The class was about obedience, but we were only allowed to talk about it for about half of the time because he wouldn´t shut up about the stinking Law of Moses and how nobody has ever lived it perfectly except Jesus. Retard. I lost my patience after about 30 minutes and basically said that it doesn´t matter what others are doing that are bad - that doesn´t change the commandments and our obligation to keep them. When we keep the commandments, we are blessed and prosper. When we don´t, we are miserable and weak. He shut up after that. It was cool.

 

- One cool thing that happened in the ward is that, because of our service and not just demanding things from the ward, people are starting to ask to do splits with us, and not the other way around. It is AWESOME!! Helverton, an RM who served in Recife, asked us (in broken, awesome English) if he could teach with us. We had not taught any first lesson the whole week, but we said that we would teach a lesson with him! We found an Adventist guy who let us teach him and it was cool. We felt the Spirit. We felt a lot better.

 

- Also, lunch fell. On Sunday. That makes things a little difficult. Basically irmã forgot and then started making a big deal without specifically saying that it was our fault. Fun stuff. But we did get to eat - she made a delicous and fast lunch. Another thing we have been doing is looking for whatever kind of service project that the members need - usually, they have nothing for us, but this time they had something that was a little ox in the mire-y. We took a couch over to another member´s house and hoisted it up about 15 feet with a rope. The irmãos were impressed by the big American´s strength. Oh yeah. Go pushups.

 

- there was this frog that was jumping across the street and almost got squished. It was hilarious and almost disgusting.

 

- we taught a rapaz in our ward, after a split with him, how to pray in English. He got super excited and next Monday we´ll go visit his friends.

 

- President asked us to write something about how we are in our area. Here´s ours:

 

Nós, na área de Pilarzinho, _________.
1. AMAMOS (nosso trabalho, os membros, os pesquisadores, e até os cachorros. Alguns dos cachorros.)
2. TRABALHAMOS (com os membros, com força e com eficácia)
3. ORGANIZAMOS (nosso tempo, nosso trabalho, nosso serviço aos outros, e nosso Livro de Área)
4. BATIZAMOS a liderança futura da Igreja aqui no Brasil Curitiba.

 

We in the area Pilarzinho, _________.
1. LOVE (our work, members, researchers, and even dogs. Some of the dogs.)
2. WORK (with members, with force and effectiveness)
3. ORGANIZE (our time, our work, our service to others, and our area book)
4. BAPTIZING the future leadership of the Church here in Curitiba Brazil.

 

Yay! Go our area!

 

- we had an awesome division and new missionary training on Monday and Tuesday!! Sérgio, Jussara and Flávia will be baptized soon in the district.

 

- we took the tour bus all around Curitiba and took tons of pictures. And no, there is no time to send any. Sorry. It was fun, though!

 

Out of time. The church is WAY true.

 

Elder Browntown

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Hey yáll!

Hi everybody,

 

Don´t have a lot of time but I´ll write a little bullet-point-style for us:

- we met this crazy Presbytarian (spelling?) minister on a hill. He made sure to stand in front and higher than us. He liked to shout. He basically told us that our John Smith didn´t know what he was talking about and that he had authority to kill us both. We took it pretty well, I´d say. He asked who was our boss and we said, happily : "Jesus". He asked who our Pastor was and we said again : "Jesus". He started to get mad and pulled out a little card that he probably just made on the computer and then laminated that he said gave him authority in his church. I reeeeeally wanted (and Elder Marx too) to pull out ours, signed by the Prophet of God, but we resisted. He then asked what we preach. I bore my testimony and I know he felt the Spirit, even though he was drunk as a drain. He stormed off. We did a little dance in the middle of the street and exchanged awesome high-fives. We actually saw him again at night just before going home and he was in a suit and even more plastered. Funny.

- we saw this huge group of like 50 kids in the middle of the street all acting like a fight was going on. There were just these two skanky-looking girls talking and everyone saying "ooooh!!!". They all dispersed after about 2 minutes. Lame.

- I was walking down this dirt stairway thing and these two ladies were climbing. I decided to pull a Monty Python and say "No one gets by without answering a question!" My companion stood looming behind me and I got their addresses. Go stuff.

- There is a LOT of really horrible political propaganda here, the worst of which being cars equipped with big speakers and stickers blasting music about the person. There´s a guy named Beto Richa who has a car that basically just screams his name: "BETO BETO BETO BETO BETO BETO BETO!!!!!!!!". Annoying stuff.

- there was this really disturbed looking black guy walking towards us the other day. I told Elder Marx to do a contact with him, and after he responded heck no, I tried to do one. The guy responded by screaming "AAEHHHHFCOIPOGIPTEH&¨*&#@$GHAFIUSDISDOASO!"!#¨*%@$&*(*&¨0943dfgdafgf$*(&¨#%(*¨%!!!!!!..... It was great. I think he told us to go bathe in poop or something. It was funny and a little scary, but mostly funny.

- Elder Marx did a contact with this rich guy the other day. The guy wasn´t interested and asked what we wanted. I told him we wanted to come over to his house and rob all of his stuff in the dark of the night. He then replied that his Pit Bull, him with a shotgun, and his wife with a ".48" would all be waiting for us. We kind of just looked at each other and then we both started laughing (us and the guy). Good times. Way to break the ice, Elders!

 

It was a great week! We had choir practice and we worked a lot on musicality. It got a lot better!

Pray for Ricardo and Luci. They´re sick.

 

Love you all!

Elder Brown

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Coral começou!

Hey all you chuckleheads,

 

Choir started up again! It was actually really good! We decided to organize it a little better than last time with a few changes: first, there will be section leaders which have already been called with the responsibility to maintain the quality, attendance and betterment of each section. Also, we had a "tryout" - basically, we wrote up a paper to explain musical experience, interest in singing in a small number, etc., and I tested each Elder´s range, tone, and assigned them to a specific part. It was actually really cool, and though it was tiring I got to know all the Elders and their voices. I wasn´t actually in the practice so I didn´t hear how it actually went, but I think that this next week we´ll start getting into the musical stuff - volume, how to breath, to not scream, etc. It´ll be a lot of fun, and it is seriously freaking me out that it is already almost Christmas! AHHHH@#&#&*%@(!!

 

Now, to copy my good friend Elder Brott the First, the bulletpoints:

- Lúcio, our best investigator, has a theory about why the churches have the big spires. He thinks that someday, at the Second Coming, Satan will be thrown and skewered on the top of each Mormon church. I really enjoyed that one. Anyone else have any ideas as to why? (pointing to God, not the cross, etc.?)

 - I was nearly kissed by a hot Brasilian moça. Lúcio´s daughter. She came in the door and I, who was seated in front of the door facing the other direction, turned to shake her hand. She then promptly grabbed my hand and came in to kiss me on the cheek. In the words of my companion, I nearly karate chopped her in the face, but didn´t, and she didn´t actually touch me - just left me terrified and my companion busting up laughing. Great. Welcome to the second year.

 

- I have a scripture for Peter that can be applied about your relationship with your older, more attractive brother  - Alma 39:10. That´s right, it´s even in the scriptures. Now get big and prepare for our rematch!

 

- Portuguese part, then the explanation:

Estamos, de novo, fazendo coisas de uma maneira diferente. Estamos servindo aos membros em maneiras simples - o outro dia, fomos à casa de Helverton a ensiná-lo um pouco de Inglês, e daí ele saiu conosco numa divisão, e encontramos 3 novas datas. Não há segredo - só use os membros! Estão aqui a servir, e depois que ganhar a confiança deles, o trabalho é muito mais façil.

 

We went to Helverton´s (an RM in our ward who´s been married about 7 months with someone he met in the mission - don´t worry, he´s clean) house to teach him some English to help him prepare for an upcoming interview. We read 1 Nephi 1 out loud and he started out our planning session with a prayer in English! He´s the man! We helped him correct pronunciation and then watched the Restoration - it was cool. We then took him with us for 4 hours and visited some of our investigators, some that he helped us to find. I learned a lot of new things that ne used while teaching and he expressed his gratitude to have, as he put it, Americanos que não são chatos (annoying, idiots, etc.). It was cool.

 

- I´m not sure if it´s against the rules, but my companion really wanted a Monster (energy drink) the whole last week. I couldn´t find it in the against the rules thing, and finally the curiosity killed me and I made him buy one. It was...not that powerful. I think my blood is more potent. Oh well - confessing your sins is the only way to be fully repented.

 

- my comp got sick last Saturday (as in throwing up, no energy, really sick. He´s a stud), and so I got to have a huuuuge study session. An hour and a half on the LM and PME, then lunch, then I cleaned our whole frickin house. It is sparkling. And our Area Book might just be the best in the world. And he´s better now. 

 

- we did a contact yesterday when it was reeeally windy. A lady walked up and I asked if she knew what the LM was. She said she always wanted to read one, and I said that we could give one to her for free. She got really excited and I explained to her a little about it. She then promptly opened it to Moroni 10:3-5 and started reading...and explaining...and reading more...in the street. It was awesome. I gave her a small challenge

 read the whole book by Saturday. She said she would, and we´ll visit her then. Woo!

 

- we found a family knocking doors and they´re awesome! Celso and Jamile! He was almost a professional soccer player but his evil Dad (from the Assembly of God) forbid him. So he´s not rich like he could´ve been. But he´s still cool.

 

- We taught several lessons with Lúcio that were awesome. First of all, a little about him: as I believe I said before, he has had a pretty crazy past (dad killed himself, he uses crack, etc.). He is also one of the most elect people I´ve seen and is already coming up on 2nd Nephi in the LM. The First Lesson that we left with him was extremely Spiritual, and they both (he and his wife Fabiana, equally awesome) accepted a baptismal date. Also, we left the 2nd lesson yesterday and it was equally special - the ambient was perfect for the Spirit. Fabiana also had a dream - she was in a big circus tent looking around for the true church. The ringmaster was Christ. There were many people with white t-shirts on that had their church´s name on it, but the only one that she could read was the one that said "Mormon". Mom, remember that sweatshirt I had from swim season? Yeah. Maybe that was it. Cool stuff!

 

The Church is true. I promise to make the most of this 2nd year, and to find/bring joy in/to every place that I go. Love you all.

 

Elder Brown

 

oh dear. One year.

As everybody should probably know, Agostinho caused a big of a ruckus last week.

It actually wasn´t as funny as it all seemed, even to us.

 

So we found out on Monday that he had killed somebody, which obviously is sad. Then on Saturday, we found out that the person that he killed, with a knife, was one of our investigators with a baptismal date. Márcio, who was one of the best first lessons that I had ever seen, was killed last Sunday. It was a bit of a huge shock and we were all taken aback. One thing I know, however, is that the Plan of Salvation is real and that Heavenly Father ALWAYS loves His children, no matter the circumstance. If you could, remember him and pray that he will accept the gospel in the Spirit World.

 

We will have another mission choir for Christmastime! And...I´m directing it! Again! It´ll be fun, and we´re going to try to sing in a few public squares and cool places. One of the places that we´re looking at is in our area (the Wire Opera House - Ópera de Arame) and it should be a really good experience.

 

This is basically just to freak my mom out: every single night, right around the time I go to bed, I hear gunshots and people dying. Yay!!! Isn´t it great?

 

So one of the Elders in our district decided to go home, after just arriving. Because of a girl. For any girl that reads this, know this: don´t lead some poor guy on right before his mission! You will be destroying the blessings that the Lord will bring to the lives of many because of his service. Be smart and mindful of the eternal perspective and, gosh dang it, don´t do it! For the guys: lock your stinking hearts, from any girl! Work, love it, and after the 2 fast years are up then go for it. That´s my raging tirade for the day.

 

As the subject says, I am going to have one year on the mission soon. Soon being tomorrow. It is really crazy and cool, but I´m a little sad. I only get to do this for another year. For the rest of the email, I´ll make a list of the things we (the Lord, my comp. and I) were able to do:

learn a new language, baptize God´s elects, sing solos, watch people´s lives change, help wards to become excited about missionary work and divide the wards, talk with people every day on the street about Jesus and His Restored Gospel, read the Book of Mormon daily, around a million pushups and situps, cry when our investigators have problems, observe the Spirit touch people´s hearts and souls and change them, watch people make the decision to stop smoking/take out an earring/go to church, etc., budget a relatively small amount of money, learn how to teach better, practice diligence, learn patience, be molded by the Lord, learn to forget myself and work.

 

I have learned much in this first year, and I plan to learn more in this second year. I promise to do my best daily for all of you, our investigators, and most importantly the Lord. He deserves it.

I know that this is the Church of Jesus Christ, and that through it we can become closer to God. Jesus loves us and is our Savior. He suffered for our sins and loves us. The Book of Mormon is undeniably true and amazing. It is the pure word of God. I love this work and know that it is of God because of the joy it brings me daily. LET`S DO THIS, SECOND YEAR!!!!!!

 

Elder Brown

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Augostinho

There will be exactly one subject in this letter: Augostinho.

 

We showed up at church on Sunday - a normal day, nothing different - and started getting everything ready for the meeting. Calls, designations, making sure the people who were going to be confirmed were there, saying hi to everything that moves, etc. It all started during the announcements, and I heard it. A man´s voice coming from the back of the chapel, shouting stuff that didn´t really make sense. Stuff like "eu consigo!" (I can do it), "____ em meu coração" , "sai diabo, sai de mim", "mai, porque não me ama", stuff like that. It started to get out of control and I was receiving many a glancing eye from the Bishopric, the relief society President, the little girl in front of me eating her brother´s hair, etc. I decided to go back and sit by him. When I got back there, I saw a sight. A lot of people were slowly inching away from a very disturbed-looking young man, about 18 years old. His hair looked like it had been badly chopped by a dull lawnmower blade and he had bloodshot eyes, and was sweating profusely. Now I´m no messer of drugs and the like, but I think that after some , ahem, hangin out in the ghetto, I know the type a little better. He was going through some pretty severe withdrawals, and even is Spirit wanted to get outta there. I tried to get him quiet, ask who he was (I had no idea who he was - I had done a contact with him a month previous but completely forgot) and find out what he needed. He didn´t use his inside voice very well, or maybe his outside voice is a bellowing foghorn, and as we conversed - me whispering, him half-screaming, all the members looked in half admiration, half disgust, and half confusion at us. Finally, after a while, my efforts were starting to run short and e decided to take matters into his own hands. After having told me that he wanted to be baptized right then and there by the bishop, he got up from the back and walked with a purpose up to the front of the chapel. Right as Bishop was about to confirm Millena a member of the church. In front of the whole ward.  

 Yeah, I might have been a little tense. He then proceeded to sit down in the chair that was for Millena, and she looked more than a little confused. Bishop handled things very well and brought the guy to sit down next to him afterwards. After more persuasion and more looks of confusion from the members, he came back and sat next to me again, all the while talking about how he wanted to be baptized and "receive the Spirits". He sat down next to me and asked if I would read him some of the hymns. As I whispered still in the middle of sacrament meeting), he started crying and freaking out even more. I then decided that it was time for drugman to go byebye. I asked him if he wanted to go outside and talk, and we went. I then talked to him a little, then started to teach the 2nd lesson (Plan of Salvation). It actually went pretty well, and Elder Marx became hip to the situation soon and ran outside to meet us. I thought we were ok, and right as we came in, it was time for closing prayer. We made it through the meeting! Just two more hours to go!

Then: Gospel Principles. It was about tithing, and, naturally, he felt a large urge to pay his tithing, and tried to give Elder Marx 40 reais. Continued controlled chaos.

Then: the meeting about missionary work with the whole ward. With us in front, with him - the both of us on his both sides. He tried to answer to every question and almost got them right (but not when he said that the Spirit feels like Satan. That was bad). We then brought him out again and he talked to a member of the Bishopric for a while, which was better. After 3 long hours, he finally left, muttering to himself. I feel a lot like Mormon, only able to write a 100th part of the history, but I´ll leave that to your imaginations.

Oh, and it gets better. The next day, during District Meeting, Bishop calls and tells me not to visit him (we had it marked for 8 oclock on Monday)...because right after church he shot and killed someone. Yeah. Let´s just say that the mission is insane. And yes, Mom, we´re ok and still protected by God.

Agostinho. Hope he´s ok.

The church is true. Love ya´ll.

Elder Brown

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Elder Brown's mission Blog- new Mission President

Check it out!

 

http://www.curitibamission.blogspot.com/

Uma semana excellente!

Hey yall biscuitheads,

 

This has been a very fast week! First of all, this was the last week of the transfer and we had two baptisms!!!! I´ll let POrtuguese explain a little about it:

 

Estamos muito animados após do batismo de Domingo!!! Batizamos Tuany André e Millena Rauch de Oliveira Alves e foi uma experiência extremamente edificante e boa. Fizemos coisas um pouco diferentes neste batismo: ao invés de apenas convidando gente a entrar na sala da Sociedade de Socorro, fizemos a reunião na Sala Sacramental. Eu já estava vestido de branco e os batismos também, e foi organizado muito melhor do que qualquer outro batismo que já participei (tivemos uma ata batismal já preenchida, um DVD de Encontrar a Fé em Cristo tocando na sala, etc.), e estávamos correndo às pessoas e falando com ânimo do batismo. Devido disso, tivemos mais do que 70 pessoas na reunião batismal!!! Foi excellente! Faremos isso cada vez com cada batismo, e será muito melhor para todo mundo!

 

Google translate:

We are very excited after the baptism on Sunday! Andre and we baptized Tuany Millena Rauch Alves de Oliveira and was an extremely uplifting and good. We did things a little different this baptism, instead of just inviting people to join the Relief Society room, did the meeting in Room Sacramental. I was dressed in white and baptisms as well, and was organized much better than any other baptism I have ever attended (we had already filled a baptismal record, a DVD of Finding Faith in Christ playing in the room, etc.). And we were running at people and talking to spirits of the baptism. Because of that, we had more than 70 people in the baptismal service! It was excellent! We do this every time with every baptism, and will be much better for everyone!

 

 

As it says, we had a ton of people at the service! Awesome! They really were ready to be baptized (Tuany and Millena) and we really loved the feeling of a baptism after a while of finding.

Another thing (also to be explained in Portuguese) about an activity that we´re going to do in probably October: A Celestial Day!

 

Estamos planejando a fazer uma atividade na alaque se chamará "O Dia Celestial". Basicamente, será um dia em que os membros da Igreja serão missionários - fabricaremos plaquetas, organizaremos as pessoas em Distritos e Zonas, teremos um almoço gostoso, daremos treinamentos e discursos para incentivá-lhes, e sairemos com eles a fazer proseletismo na área de nossa ala! Depois, voltaremos e prestaremos nossos resultados à "Missão Pilarzinho", teremos uma reunião testemunhal, e já podíamos começar um jejum a ir até o próximo dia (que seria Domingo de Jejum). Estamos planejando agendar isso pelo dia 2 de Outubro, 2010,e será de 7:00 (de manhã) até ~5:00 a tarde. Gostaria de saber se o Presidente pudesse participar nesta atividade - talvez como discursante (Fé, como accompanhar os membros, etc.), talvez como missionário, talvez os dois! Acho que seria uma coisa excelente a animar a ala ainda mais, e também o Senhor podia ver (talvez com a Sister também!) uma parte de nossa área por se mesmos. Estaremos esperando com mais informações, e se quiser nos ligar e conversar um outro dia, seria ideal.

 

Google translate:

We are planning to do an activity in alaquas be called "Heavenly Day." Basically, it will be a day when church members are missionaries - made nametags, arrange the people in districts and zones, we have a tasty lunch, give trainings and speeches to encourage them, and they run away with doing in the area of our proseletismo wing! Then come back and pay our results to the "Mission Pilarzinho," we witness a meeting, and it could start a fast to go until the next day (which would be Sunday Fasting). We are planning to schedule it for October 2, 2010, and will be from 7:00 am (morning) to ~ 5:00 in the afternoon. I wonder if the President could participate in this activity - perhaps as speaker (Faith, as accompanhar members, etc..), Perhaps as a missionary, maybe both! I think it would be an excellent thing to liven up the wing even more, and also could see the Lord (perhaps with the Sister too!) A part of our area for themselves. We will be waiting with more information, and if you want to call us and talk another day would be ideal.

 

We´re planning on a huge day (which was an idea from on of the RMs in the ward) that will be just like the mission! We´ll have trainings, proselyting, nametags, districts/companionships, etc., and it´ll be a blast.

 

Something that we´re trying a little harder to do this week: Christmas Caroling! Seriously! We´re going around to the member´s houses (if we´re close to the house in the area we´re working; we also do this after every lunch) and singing Hymns to them (usually Christmas ones). Then, if there´s time, we leave a quick message about the First Vision, they feel the Spirit, we offer service and tips on how to get new people to teach, and then we say a prayer and get the heck outta there. It´s been a very positive experience because we´re 1. showing the members that we´re around and working, 2. using our musical talents for the good of the work, and 3. it makes us energized to hit the road and find lots of new people ourselves! It´s really been a blessing to see how the members react to being treated with love, not just telling them what to do. Our focus is to gain their trust, and we´re doing it.

For some reason, the computer is not letting me upload pictures, so that´s annoying but predictable. Basically, lunch fell twice this week which means we had to make our own food. As anyone who knew me at BYU can testify, I make a mean burger. So....we made burgers. For the reader: imagine the biggest, juiciest burger ever, with bacon, tomatos, and with the meat special dipped in a homemade sauce, grilled to perfection, and then eaten in between what but two grilled cheese sandwiches...with fries. We called it the "Overlord". I´m seriously kicking myself because we don´t have pictures to show, but it was about 9 inches tall and weighed a few pounds. Yeah. Whoever´s at home when I get back can see and maybe eat one of their own.

 

More Portuguese:

Estamos nos esforçando a achar pessoas boas a ensinar, e ontém encontramos com Lúcio (buscando um endereço falso). Ele é excellente, e tem uma data pelo dia 19 de Setembro!

 

We found an awesome guy named Lúcio while we were looking for another address (which didn´t exist). He was really cool and let us in. We found out that he´s Catholic but is still very open to learn. He´s also a MotoBoy (a go-fer on a motorcycle - very dangerous and crazy) and he´s legally married with a daughter! Woo! We started teaching and the Spirit was extremely strong. After we shared the First Vision, he said "wow". He told us that he´s been waiting for something in his life to change because of some really crazy things that happened in his past (his Dad commited suicide to save him and his sister´s life, etc.), and because of that he drinks, etc. BUT, he got really excited to read the BOM (especially when he heard he didn´t have to pay) and even more to go to church! He´ll be baptized with his family on the 19th!!!!! We´re so excited, and I have a firm testimony of patience and diligence. No effort is wasted in the Lord´s work! Remember that!

 

Also, Elder Marx and I are together for another transfer. We´re gonna raise heck on this shindig. I love that Elder.

The Church is sooo true. Christ lives and loves us. I love all of you and pray for you daily.

 

Elder Brown