Week 8

On Wednesday we had a Zone Conference where 4 of the 11 zones came to a chapel in Porto Alegre and listened to talks and presentations by the Mission President, his wife, and the assistents to the President. It was very good, we learned techniques on teaching, how to better use our time, and how to find people to teach. One of the biggest things talked about was trusting in the Spirit. The Spirit is the most important part in conversion, so we as missionaries, and others teaching the gospel, need to create the environment, be worthy of His presense, and trust that He will do the rest. It`s very hard to do because many times you want to teach your way, but trust me when I say that the Spirit knows what the investigator needs much more than we do.

After the conference it was like Christmas came early because missionaries received letters, tons of packages, and more teaching materials. Apparently there is one address here for packages, and another one for letters, something I didn`t know before. My companion received a huge package from his family containing things you can`t get here including jars of peanut butter, a new bag for his stuff, more socks, peanuts and cashews, and a gigantive thing of nutella. Let`s just say all the sisters suddenly became his best friends!

On Thursday we came back to our apartment after having a really successful day and decided to celebreate. Being missionaries and having limited funds posed a problem. However, we got inventive and threw together whatever we could find. Some sugar, lots of chocolate cereal powder, oil, popcorn seeds, and 10 minutes later, we had ourselves a party! While we were chowing down on this concoction, my companion commented that we should tell our mom`s how we were learning to be such good cooks haha.

Two things that are unique here that I failed to mention earlier are that instead of knocking on doors we clap at the gate. It looked really ridiculous when I first arrived but I`m used to it now. The other is that every city in this state is the national city of something. For instance there are cities where they are supposedly the best in the nation for grapes, leather, or shoes, and are known for their experise in their respective things. Ivoti is the national city of flowers, but if no one had told me that I would not have known haha.

I was also reflecting on my experience in the MTC compared to the actual field. To those who will be going to the MTC soon, just remember that the MTC is nothing compared to the field. You will learn a lot about a new language and a little about teaching (which is why Mission Prep is essential!), but you really learn how to be a misisonary, a representative of Jesus Christ, in the mission field. I still have a lot to learn, but I have learned so much more in the last 3 weeks than I did in the 6 weeks at the MTC.

To end I will share something funny I heard from a member this week. So there was this barber, and one day he was cutting the hair of a Catholic priest. When he stood up and searched for his wallet to pay, the barber said, "Oh don`t worry about it, I respect those who spread the love of Christ and think what you do is beautiful. Free of charge." To that the priest replied that he was very grateful and the next morning the barber found a really nice necklace with a cross on it at his door. Later he was giving a rabbi a haircut and as he stood up and searched for his wallet he said, "It`s free of charge, what you do is great, I have much respect for people that spend all their time teaching about Jesus." To that the rabnbi expressed his gratitude and the next morning the barber found a beautifully decorated gold Star of David at his door. Sometime later he gave a pair of LDS missionaries haircuts. Being very satisfied with the short cut, they reached for their wallets but the barber said, "No worries, I love seeing the gospel of Christ being preached, I think it`s awesome that you dedicate this time to do that. It`s free of charge." The missionaries thanked him for his service and went on their way. The next morning at his door the barber found 12 more missionaries!

Well it`s been a great week and I loved hearing from those that emailed me or sent me a letter. Have a great week!

--

Elder Joseph Andrew

Porto Alegre North Mission

Caixa Postal 13008

CEP 91010-971

Porto Alegre-RS

Brazil

Read my blog at elderandrewinbrazil.blogspot.com

Week 7

I can´t say how much I am thankful that I was called to serve in this country. There are people who have been prepared for the missionaries everywhere. Something that would rarely happen in the states happened to us one day as we boarded a train to head to a neighboring city. One of the maintenance ladies sweeping the floor saw us and recognized us immediately by our nametags and suits. She came right up to us and asked if we would teach her more about our church and pray for her children (as if our prayers were somehow paid more attention to by Heavenly Father or something haha). We wrote down their names and her address just before she had to leave. Give her 1 week and she´ll be the newest member of our church! The Lord certainly moves His work forward.

I have really gained appreciation for the members of the branch here. Even though many of them are poor, they take turns feeding us every lunch and making sure our needs are taken care of. Many of them remind me of my own mother. Without them we´d have a difficult time having enough to eat. They help us to spend all our attention on missionary work instead of trying to live. When I´m in their position one day, I´ll be the first  to sign up to feed the missionaries, because that is really important in missionary work. Something I´d never even thought of before.

Something cool about Brazil is that they don´t tax stuff in the store.What you see on the price tag is what you pay. However, they do tax electronics and cars heavily.

It´s funny because we somethimes refer to the missions in the states as vacations, becasue here we don´t have iPads or cars, we walk everywhere we go (sometimes up to 15 miles a day), and we don´t take an hour out of our preaching time to stop for dinner at a member´s house, we just keep working. I like that because not only does it keep me in better shape, but we get more opportunities to find and teach people at a critical time of the day.

In closing I´d like to share a scripture found in Ether 12 that has stood out to me this week. In verse 12 it says, "For if there be no faith among the children of men God can do no miracle among them." I love how Moroni uses the word ´miracle´ because I have surely seen many of those miracles manifested during the week, but it was only after we had faith and showed our faith by working hard to accompilish our goals.

Until next week! Oh and have a great Halloween, because they don´t celebreate that here!

--

Elder Joseph Andrew

Porto Alegre North Mission

Caixa Postal 13008

CEP 91010-971

Porto Alegre-RS

Brazil

Read my blog at elderandrewinbrazil.blogspot.com

Week 6

Well it´s been a long week! We received our ministerial cards last Sunday. They certify that we are representatives of Christ and are authorized to preach His gospel. I love how the last sentence says: "We invite all people to listen to his (referring to the card bearer) message." Then it´s signed by both the Prophet and the bearer. It reminds me of D&C 35:13 where it says that God calls upon the weak things of the world to thrash the nations by the power of the Spirit.

During my last weekend at the CTM, all the missionaries got to watch and listen to General Conference. You can probably imagine what it was like when it was announced that 1 of the 70´s would speak in Portuguese. It brought us a lot of joy. Althought I had many favorite talks, one of them was Elder Bednar´s during the conclusion of conference. I liked his answer to the question, "Why are members of the Church so eager to share their beliefs?" Our religeon always has been and always will be a missionary Church! We take to heart the charge to invite all to come unto Christ. The Central focus of the gospel is sharing it with others. Who, when he or she has something desirable and good, doesn´t want to share it with their neighbors? The gospel really is good news. We can be together with our families forever! Throught Atonement we can have all our burdens and sins wiped clean!

I arrived safely in my mission last week. Porto Alegre is the best! My first area is in Novo Hamburgo, with the actual city I´m working in being Ivoti. My trainer is Elder Nielson from Virginia. He´s been out for a year and 3 months and is awesome! We´re the only elders working in the area. When I arrived we got right to work doing service, street contacts, visits to less-actives, and lessons to investigators. It´s crazy and I love it. While walking home on the second day we found a huge tarantula just sitting right in the middle of the street. I´m in Brazil!

Unfortunately the public computors that we use here aren´t taken care of very well so they are often riddled with viruses. This means I won´t be able to send many pictures home for fear of corrupting my camera and flash drive. My companion already experienced this a few months ago as he attempted to do the same, and now one of his memory cards is cooked. So I don´t want to risk that, but if the oppurtunity arises and I come across a clean looking and trustworhty computer I will for sure send the best ones home!

One of the highlights of this week was my first baptism! We encountered many obstacles during the week, but in the end the Lord made it happen and we added another member to the small branch we´re working to build. It was such a great feeling to watch her begin a new life surrounded by other branch members also recently baptized.

Well it´s time to go to the temple so I will write again on Monday! I also hope to respond to all those who I haven´t responded to yet. Have a great week :)

--

Elder Joseph Andrew

Porto Alegre North Mission

Caixa Postal 13008

CEP 91010-971

Porto Alegre-RS

Brazil

Read my blog at elderandrewinbrazil.blogspot.com

Week 5

This is my last week! I leave the CTM this coming Tuesday. Couldn't be more excited. I'm definitely not ready in terms of the language, but I'm more than ready to get out of the CTM and hit the field. During my last week here, the CTM totally switched up the schedules of all the districts because they were trying a new program. Unfortunately, that changed the day of our P-day. We're super excited for Conference tomorrrow though!

 

It's hard to believe that I've been at the CTM for almosty 6 weeks. In 4 days I'll be landing in Porto Alegre and preaching the gospel! I've heard so many good things about my area. Some of the things that I've been told by instructors that either served there or visited include:

-It's very organized and beautiful

-It's the second coldest area in Brazil (even then it typically only reaches 20 degrees F)

-They use more formal Protuguese

-The people are very aesthetic

-It's a little harder to baptize compared to the rest of Brazil (Some areas you risk pneumonia from being soaking wet in the font all day)

 

One of the scriptures that really hit me this week is in D&C 138:55-56, "I observed... the noble and great ones who were chosen in the beginning to be rulers in the Church of God. Evern before they were born, they, with many others, received their first lessons in the world of spiritis and were prepared to come forth in the due time of the Lord to labor in his vineyard for the salvation of the souls of men." Us members of the church are thos noble and great ones! And we have the responsibility to share the good news of the gospel that we enjoy in our lives with everyone we meet. The missionaries do some great work, but the members are truly a key factor in bringing many souls into the church.

 

I love you all and wish you the best in the week to come! I challenge you all to invite a non-member friend to watch conference with you this weekend; get excited to hear the words of the Prophets!

--

Elder Joseph Andrew

Porto Alegre North Mission

Caixa Postal 13008

CEP 91010-971

Porto Alegre-RS

Brazil

Read my blog at elderandrewinbrazil.blogspot.com