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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

 

not much time!!!

Let me explain! No..there is too much. Let me sum up:

This week was fun, crazy, long, fast and we will baptize (Tuani and Milena)! That´s what really matters. Basically we just worked like dogs to find people to teach, and didn´t find much, but we are trying things a little bit differently.

 

Let´s let P-guese explain first:

Esta semana foi bem corrida mas produtiva. Decidimos a, ao invés de apenas fazendo contatos, batendo portas, visitando coisas no Livro de Área, etc., trabalharemos mais com os membros e serví-los ainda mais. Estamos deixando e 1a mensagem com todos os líderes da ala, e também cantando para as irmãs quando estivermos perta às suas casas. Tem dado muito certo e estamos animados a continuar ganhando mais o respeito da ala, fazendo projetos de serviço, etc.

So basically, we´re trying to pull an Ammon and serve the people and then lead them to believe (or baptize, or both), etc. We´re leaving the message of the Restoration with all the ward leaders and we´re also singing for any member that we come close to. It´s been fun and the members are eating it up. We´re receiving more references and the ideas that we have, when put into practice, will work out well. We´re really excited!

 

Per my Dad´s and other´s request, I´ll put our address of our house so yálls can look on Google Maps, etc. and see for yourselves where it is we live. Then a brief explanation of our area, then I´ll go

 

Rua Guilherme Lunardon, 300 Bloco 29 apt. 4

PIlarzinho, Curitiba, Paraná

82110-240

Brasil

Look it up.

 

Our area has a TON of hills, and I officially have the finest legs of the mission. We have a wide economic and demographic range, from the really really rich (like as in US rich) to the dirt poor who live in one room. I live in an apartment complex on a hill that basically divides our area called Parque das Araucárias, and we have an apartment by ourselves. It´s small, but it´s clean and it´s nice enough for us. I usually eat a nice oatmeal-like breakfast with some Tang (my comp. is CRAZY for Tang, especially because there are like 20 varieties here), and it´s the good ´ol rice and beans for lunch, with varying amounts of spaghetti and meat/chicken. I sleep on a bed with a decent enough mattress and our apartment is carpeted, but not the good kind.

 

No more time! The church is true! Love yáll! BATISMO!!!!!!

Elder Brown

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Depois das provãções....os BATISMOS!!!

As the subject declares, we have our heads above water now! I´m so freakin´ excited!!!

 

To put the stuff together, I can basically describe the last two weeks, except for yesterday and Monday, with a singular sentence: we walked and did our best, but the people decided that Eternal Salvation wasn´t as important as working in their piece of poop jobs. Yeah. But NOW...things have been different.

 

I´ll go over quickly the last two days and then write a brief synopsis of everything:

We had our District Meeting again, and then we started Elder Marx´s first division of his mission! I was a little nervous - for him and for me, as I had to train a new Elder on lots of stuff - but it worked out well. Elder Soares and I started going and we did a few contacts in the morning. For some background: our area is veeeery hilly. Like, my quads have gotten seriously tighter. And so, half to punish Elder Soares for not doing his contacts and half for fun, I decided to use these new weapons and walk everywhere as fast as I possibly could, including up the hills. Needless to say, he was panting and sweating on a cold day when we got to lunch. At lunch, we ate EVERYTHING that the irmã had. That was good. The first part of the day was a lot like the other days had been - we did contacts, visited some addresses from contacts, and had basically no physical luck. But then..we actually got a lesson! With a new investigator, who is a Seventh-Day Adventist, but doesn´t want to just bash with us! Yay! He said he´d read the BOM and it was a very spiritual lesson - really enjoyed the opportunity to teach. THEN, we visited a few more houses (no luck) and then headed reeeeeeeeeeally far away to a Family Home Evening with two new references from Walter´s family (members). We finally found the house, out in the middle of nowhere, and the family was there with two girls. Even before the lesson, they were talking about their baptism, so I felt completely relaxed in inviting them in that lesson to really follow the feelings they had. It was an even better lesson than the first one, and they felt the Spirit very strong. They accepted baptismal dates!!! They´ll (Tuany and Milena) be baptized on the 22nd!!!! WOOO!!! After that lesson, we left with some major fire in the bones. I was impressed. This stupid Evangelical lady (I mean daughter of God who we love) tried to bash with me, but I just told her that she needed to be baptized in the true church. Bam. Take that, Satan and your minions. And I bought us hot dogs that were really cheap but extremely good! So that was Monday.

 

The division went until a little before lunch the next day, and I showed Elder Soares about the importance of being perfectly obedient - we did excercises, studied, and felt right dandy. We then went to end the division in the Cabral Terminal and it was really good. A success! After lunch, which was with an irmã who hates cooking but who is really cool, we started off basically the same - contacts, no success. THEN....we visited one contact on a whim (the Spirit rocks) and totally found en elect couple who´ll be baptized on the 29th!!! They just need to stop smoking and get married, but that´s easier than having no one to teach. Then we visited a few other people - no one. We then taught Ricardo e Lucí (a less-active family) with Irmão Alexandre, our LMA, and they went to church, after 4 months of not going!!! THEN...another Noite Familiar! We taught Delly (her name is Jardelle, and no, she´s not a large black woman), and it was one of the better lessons I´ve ever seen. The members helped so much and she also accepted to be baptized on the 29th! Shé´s absolutely pumped to get her answer that the BOM is true - she´ll get it. Then we got to eat pizza, for free. And thus ended two of the best days in the history of the world. Ohhhh yeah; the church is soo true.

Also, we had a Zone activity at a really cool park place and played basketball, a game with a birdie-like thing that´s played like badminton, and futebol. Then, we ate a delicious burger, but before that...of course, the Elders had to be manly, and we all had an arm-wrestling contest. Needless to say, my right arm didn´t fail me, even against my giant companion. Go pushups. But then came the crazy-ripped-russian-looking guy that challenged me. Needless to say again, he about ripped my arm off. And actually, I really got hurt. Like, he ripped my arm apart, and I was in some serious pain. But I asked for my comp and Elder Lott (my first comp!) to give me a blessing and it was amazing. I don´t hurt at all now!

Basically, this week was the stuff and then some. We are going to baptize 205 people this month in our mission! Woot!

 

Portuguese time:

Esta semana tem sida excellente!!! Nos últimos dois dias, temos marcado 5 datas firmes!!! Estamos muito animados e sabemos que realmente nosso trabalho, embora um pouco difíçil, tem feito alguma coisa, e agora estamos recebendo as bençãos.
Eu estou bem. Estou animado a batizar e estou animado a ter uma entrevista contigo semana que vem. Gostaria de falar um pouco naquele momento sobre algumas coisas em que tenho perguntas.
Meu companheiro também está muito bem. Ele é muito forte espiritualmente e é um trabalhador. Esta começa da missão dele tem sido mais difíçil do que minha foi, mas ele está sendo obediente e feliz, e aprendendo rápido a língua. Estou animado por ele.
Nosso Distrito também está ótimo. Esta semana vamos batizar o Henner em nossa área e Boa Vista tem várias datas firmes por semana que vem, junto com duas datas nossas. Estamos prontos e fazendo a nosso parte a batizar pelo menos 205!
Fizemos uma divisão e eu e Elder Soares ficamos juntos. Para falar bem a verdade, quase matei ele de trabalho, mas ele aguentou e estava bem feliz - até fez todos os contatos dele! Realmente não tenho nenhuma preocupação sobre eles.
Espero que o Presidente está bem - até semana que vem.

 

Translation (kinda- from Google Translate- Jen) This week has been excellent! In the last two days, we marked five firm dates! We are very excited and we know that our work, although a little hard, has done something, and now we are receiving the blessings.
I'm fine. I'm excited to baptize and am excited to have an interview with you next week. I would like to talk a little about some things at that moment that I have questions.
My partner is also very good. He is very strong spiritually, and is a worker. The start of his mission has been harder than mine, but he is being obedient and happy, and learning the language fast. I'm excited for him.
Our District also is fine. This week we baptize Henner in our area and Boa Vista has a number of firm dates for next week, along with our two dates. We are ready and doing our part to baptize at least 205!
We did a split and I got together with Elder Smith. To tell you the truth, he almost killed at work, but he broke down and was quite happy - until they made all his contacts! Really have no worries about them.
I hope that the President is well - until next week.

 

 

The church is true. Christ is our Savior. Be a good boy/girl and everything will work out. Love you all with all my heart.

Elder Brown

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Pioneer children never walked as much as we did this week. Sheesh.

Opa gente,

 

Basically, the subject is false, but true. They didn´t have to walk in the hills of Tanguá or Pilarzinho. My legs have been greatly strengthened, and Elder Marx probably wants to kill me by now.

 

To have things make more sense: we are working to help our teaching group grow - we had to cut a lot of people after Elder Barbosa left, and that means that we are left with almost no one to teach. SO, we have been hitting the rubber hard trying to look for new people - addresses from contacts, the Area Book, everything. It´s been a little frustrating because our biggest problem has been actually finding people at home. If the house actually exists (and it´s about 25% of them that are fake numbers or have been destroyed), then the person is NEVER home, even when they say they will be. I try to mark a time to pass by for the week and we mark it all right, with me reminding them about what day and time, etc. Then, when we actually get there, there are no signs of life and it is very annoying. I want some problems like the Word of Wisdom other than just walking from address to address with no sign of anything!

 

AHH!!! Sorry. But besides all that, this week has been very productive and I have learned a LOT. Training is supposed to be a teaching time, but I am learning way more than Elder Marx is. All  - ALL - my actions are watched and noted, so I can´t do anything wrong. This is tough, but I´m doing my best and can do even better. We´re being obedient, we´re being creative on how to find people to teach, he does contacts like a pro now and got more addresses than I did on Monday, he´s learning how to make and complete thoughts in Português, he likes the things that I like...life is ok.  At least I have a good companion, a good ward, a good district, and a good cause. The best cause, that is.

 

An experience worth writing: we were doing (or making? I don´t know/care) contacts and it all started with Elder Marx saying to a guy in a neighborly way "goood morning". At 7 at night. The guy stopped, and, drunk out of his rocker, proceeded to tell us that we were great and mighty men. He then asked what Elder meant, and I, the huge liar that I am, told him that it meant "baptism" in English (it had been a long day). I asked if we could teach him and he invited us to come over, right then and there, to his house (during this time it is raining pretty hard, and we don´t have umbrellas. Yipee.). We got there and he went up to his room on the second floor, which had a second lock, to let us in to his house. He lives on the same piece of land as his parents and it´s basically a complex, Brasilian style (so smaller and crazy). As he failed effort after  effort to unlock his own door, we talked to his depressed Evangelical mother, who continued to speak about her trials and how she wished her son would stop "taking it to the neck" (ok, she didn´t actually say that, but she should´ve). He came down, beaten by his own front door, and said that we still had to teach him. I´ve gotten pretty darn good about dealing with drunks by now, so I told him that if he got the door open, we would teach him. If not, we would leave. He decided to take "the back door". This was not the best idea of all time; the back door consisted of a concrete wall (about 6 feet) and a balcony several feet about that, with metal rail protecting kids from falling. In the rain. With a drunk guy. With me positioned below him to catch him if he fell. Yeah. The ONLY reason he made it up there ok was because we were both praying that he would and not fall and die. So, after a mighty struggle with the alchohol-induced-super-jump-door-unlock, we got in to his house (through the front door). His house was actually pretty nice, and we sat down to teach him about the Restoration. It all went pretty well until about 2 minutes in when he asked if he could smoke - I told him not to, and if he would, after the lesson. After we talked about Christ and the Great Apostasy, he couldn´t stand it and got up and started opening the window to start smoking. I said - if you smoke, we´re leaving. He said - no you won´t. I said - yes-huh. And this continued for a good 20 seconds. Sorry Mom. He finally started smoking and we ended the message. He said he would be mad if we didn´t drink some coffee with him, so I invited the drunk man to get mad and we said no. So he gave us some quite tasty orange juice stuff. Then we left, with no commitment to return. That was Flávio.

 

We laughed for about 5 minutes after that one.

The church is true. I love you all. BE GOOD AND DO GOOD STUFF!

Elder Brown

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