Weekly email pah-tay

Hello all you trolley people,

There is some kid listening to music and playing Super Mario World. I want to kill him. With the Spirit gun.

I think Brasil has some of the best music and some of the worst garbage I have ever heard. I almost wish you could all hear it for those who aren´t here, but I would´nt wish that on you. Basically, it´s like a dying chicken trying to rap or make some sort of beat - they must all be destroyed, then peace shall be restored in the galaxy.

I have been learning even more about patience! Weee!!! For a little background, there is something going on called the World Cup. For the Americans who maybe don´t know what it is, it is soccer - a LOT of soccer. I am in Brasil, which is the kingdom consecrated and dedicated to soccer. I know, it´s sad, but it´s true. We, as missionaries, are not allowed to watch the games because there is "no missionary benefit" in watching them. There are a lot of missionaries (and members who think they know more than God) who say that it is sacred and that we should be able to watch. But as for me and my companionship, we shall serve the Lord (2 Steve 3:4). So, basically, we can try to find people to teach and do contacts or we can slack off and say that nothing´s possible. Elder Barbosa and I chose the first option and, actually, it was great for several reasons. First, there were a lot of people on the street (cars=no, people=yes) and almost all of them were stunned that we even work when Brasil has a game - rack up one more for the true church! Second, every single goal is signalled by an instantaneous and sounding explosion (literally, as in bombs and stuff. Seriously) of gunpowder, fireworks, screaming, and really annoying little horns that every little 5 year old and his mom have, so we always know the score to every game, without watching. Blessings for free!!! Third, there really are people waiting for us during these games and they will be found!

We annnounced the Gincana at church on Sunday - in short, the ward exploded with excitement. Let´s rock the heck out of this area and divide the ward!!!

The church is really super true, yáll. Go to it.

Elder Brown

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Batismo! The joy and sweet alegria!

Dear all yáll,

 

I don´t think I mentioned it to anyone, but I had an awesome dream a while ago. I was in the baptismal font, dancing (in warm water - even more crazy), and there was a huge line of people in white making a sort of Congo line from one side of the font to the other. There was also music - dadadadadaaDA! dadadadadaaDA! Every DA! I baptized someone. It was awesome. And lasted for like 5 minutes. Chalk up one more goal for my mission - doing a dance in the baptismal font after 5 minutes of baptizing.

 

This week was really good. I seriously think that me and my companion could baptize every week this transfer and the next! The ward is so excited and we´re putting in some new ideas so that the work can explode even more. If you could pray for these people I would appreciate it (these people are scheduled for baptism these next two weeks, or potentially could be baptized): Danilo, Monique, Maria, Rosane, Taína, Camilla, William, Domingos, Terezinha, Marilei, Antônio, and Célia. Our goal for this month is 8 and we´ve had 2 so far - let´s get em!

 

I realized something - it is now easier for me to speak in my mission language than in English. This is, honestly, a huge surprise, but it makes sense. I´ve only had one American companion in the field and 5 Brasilians, so, naturally, it´s easier to speak Portuguese with the Brasilians. I hope you all know that the Gift of Tongues is real - it worked for me (imagine a cheesy infomercial)!

 

We baptized Maicon this last Sunday! It was really good - he was ready to be baptized. We are working to improve the quality of our baptismal meetings so that more people have more desire to also be baptized. We are also planning/making a contest (Gincana) for the missionary work in the ward, a calendar for splits with the missionaries, little reminders for the divisons, a giant poster (by Elder Barbosa, who´s an artist - he´s the man)...it´s good. After Autódromo, this ward is a welcome change and we´re readying it for even more.

 

I think that the people in the States don´t know, but for those of us in another country the World Cup in South Africa is underway and thriving. Yesterday was the first game, and, you guessed it, we couldn´t watch. It was actually really funny. There were some people on the street and so we just did contacts for about 2 hours. It was ok, and let me just say that I hope Brasil wins it all. If not, and if the USA wins, I am going to die along with the other Americans. Every GOOOOOOOLLLL!!!!! that they had there were about 1,000 fireworks that went off at the same time. There were also people crazy drunk with the Brasilian flag used for underwear, etc. etc. etc., no more details necessary, and it was fun. Basically we know what happened in the game as if we had actually watched it ourselves because that´s all people are talking about right now. Anyway, the next game is the 20th, so we have some more time to wait.

 

A really weird realization that I had the other day - President Araújo is dying! He´s going home, in 2 weeks! It will be really interesting to have 2 mission presidents, but the only thing we can do is wish the best for Pres. Araújo and do our best to serve the new one. He´ll be awesome too, and there´ll be a lot of baptisms.

 

The church is SO true. The missionaries, even if they aren´t the best, receive blessings every day. I am keeping the rules and working my best for all of you and hope that you are all doing the same - be a missionary! It´ll bless your life and the lives of others! It´s easy! But you don´t have to take MY word for it...takes LeVar´s instead.

 

With a neckhug,

Elder Brown

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Bracatinga? BrawckaCHEENgah!!

Like I said, Bracatinga. It´s a part of our area here. Love saying that word. Say it - you´ll get happy!

 

Here´s the Portuguese study of the day:

 

Estou sendo muito abençoado pelo Senhor em recebendo áreas excellentes e companheiros bons. Elder Barbosa é um dos missionários que posso dizer que realmente quis ser companheiro dele, e agora só falamos de batismo. Esta ala está muito pronto a explodir com ainda mais batismos! Temos uma meta de 8 pessoas e estamos marcando mais datas com mais pessoas boas. Depos de minha última área, esta é uma benção muita grande, porque lá senti que o meu trabalho foi só a reanimar a ala, que fizemos, mas a não ver "sucesso". Aqui, tenho o opportunidade de ceifar e ver os resultados, que sempre ajuda o seu atitude e ânimo.
Estou agradecendo ao Senhor pelo privilégio de servir como Lider de Distrito aqui. Minhas orações têm melhorado muito e sinto que estou ficando mais sensível aos sentimentos do Espírito. Fiz minha primeira entrevista semana passada e foi uma experiência inesquecível. Também conduzi minha primeira reunião de Distrito e deu muito certo  - todo mundo marcarão mais datas e batizarão mais!

 

I am being very blessed by the Lord in areas receiving excellent and good companions. Elder Barbosa is one of the missionaries who I really wanted to be his companion, and now only speak of baptism. This ward is very ready to explode with even more baptisms! We have a goal of 8 people and we are scoring more dates with more good people. Depos my last area, this is a very great blessing, because there I felt my job was only to revive the ward, we did, but not to see "success". Here, I have the opportunity of reaping and see the results, which always helps your attitude and courage.
I am thanking the Lord for the privilege of serving as district leader here. My prayers have improved a lot and feel I'm getting more sensitive to the feelings of the Spirit. I did my first interview last week and was an unforgettable experience. Also conducted my first meeting of District and worked very well - everyone will score more dates and baptize more!

 

As the part above explains, it has been an amazing week. I have come to a conclusion that Heavenly Father always knows what will be best for us, and if/when we do our part, He´ll do His. Always.

My last area was a little tough. Good people, great place, but the ward was a little unexcited as far as missionary work. Our job was to re-excite them, and we did a better job with that. But now, all the people that I was working with will be baptized by someone else. BUT,  that is a good thing. The kingdom is growing anyway.

This ward is ridiculously excited already! This year, they´ve already had 21 baptisms. My goal is to double that by the end of my time here. Woo! Elder Barbosa is the face (o cara - the man) and we are going to baptize everything here. We´ll also start up a Gincana here to get things going more organized and let the references flow into the baptismal font. We had a baptism last week - Robson, a 11 year old boy who is the man.  It was a really fast service and the water was FREEZING cold. Good thing a member baptized :) .

I´m trying to send pictures but this LAN House is my  enemy. Dang it. I´ll probably send a letter home soon with pictures and ya´ll will enjoy them.

 

I know that Christ lives. I know that missionaries are blessed and bless others for every bit of effort that they put into the Lord´s work. NO effort is wasted and no amount of devotion is too much. He will come again.

 

Elder Brown, Pilarzinho (a parte no Norte da Cidade)(with a LOT of crazy hills. My calves are burning)

 

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Terceira Área!

As the title says, I´m writing this from Pilarzinho, my third area! I only stayed for 3 months in Autódromo, but I can honestly say that I poured my blood,sweat, tears,and faith into the baptismal font (this is just a cool analogy - don´t freak out) and though we only baptized 4 in 3 months, there are around 7 who could be this month. PLant the seeds,watch the results.

 

I think the three things I learned most in that area had to have been faith, patience, and humility. It is literally ridiculous to think about where I was 9 months ago and what I was like. I can´thelp but feeling a little retarded when I think back about how I used to be. I´m pleased to write that if to improve yourself was the only purpose of the mission, I could be coming home now. I´m even more pleased to admit that I have even more time to give to the Lord and receive/distribute those blessings to others. It is amazing and powerful to watch the effect of your work on all the people you see and love.

 

My new area looks great and smells really great - like baptisms. Delicious. My companion is Elder Barbosa, who is seriously the MAN! I always wanted to be his companion and now we are going to go nuts and bring the masses to the font. I have also been receiving more opportunities to serve and help and that has been very comforting and rewarding.

Time´s a little short, so I´d just like to share one experience:

 

It seems like every time I´m transferred, a greenie enters in my place and baptizes everyone who I taught. THis happened again, and he (Elder Groom) is soooo good! He´ll be an excellent missionary.Anyway, we were coming home on the bus and he was rapid-firing questions at me about everything under the sun- have you been robbed, will it get colder,etc. I was surprised that Iwas able to answer everything and more that he needed, and it felt good. I took a step back - wasn´t this me just a little while ago? Yes, it was. And BLINK, here I am.

 

As we were walking to our only appointment that day - with Paulo and Daiane (and thank you to all that are praying for them - I told them that and they cried), and he said that he really wanted to share an experience with them on how he can help Paulo stop smoking. I agreed, and after I started the lesson and had talked a bit, he started talking (inEnglish) with me translating (Português). It was almost spooky. I felt so smooth and relaxed with everything hewanted tosay, and when he bore his testimony to Paulo and Daiane, in English, mind you, they felt theSpirit. It was powerful! I was appreciative tohave shared in that experience and to have felt the Spirit. They accepted a challenge to be baptized thisweek!!!!

 

I love you all. In a while you will all be hearing about the wonderful world of Pilarzinho! Let´s GOOO!!!!

 

Elder Brown

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