I am serving a two year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Brazil, Porto Alegre North Mission. I post on this blog every week, so check it out to hear about my life as a missionary!

Monday, December 29, 2014

Week 17

This has been one of the best weeks I´ve had on my mission so far. On Monday we had churrasco with Pamela. She´s one of the only female cozinheras (cook/chef) in Carazinho. She´s really good too, she made some of the best steak I´ve had. The next day my companion and I put into action the best idea we´d had this transfer. The previous Sunday we had talked with members in Church about our investigator Daniela and how her boyfriend had left her with 3 kids (ages 9, 6, and 1), no work, no money, and no food. So with the members´ help we gathered food, clothes, and toys for the kids. We were astounded at the result:


Even visitors from a neighboring city, Passo Fundo, donated things for them. Then on Tuesday, together with the youth and leaders from the church, we stopped by her house, dropped everything off and carolled to them. That made the best gift all of us had ever given someone for Chrisatmas. Later this week we stopped by her house and were pleased to see her previously bare shelves stocked full of food. The whole family was the happiest we´d ever seen them. Her son Fayneos is 9 but after teaching him and watching the change in his maturity he seems like he´s 14.

On Friday we visited Pamela again. As always she had many questions. I always love answering them because she is so curious and hungry for more knowledge. During some of the responses I gave I could feel the Spirit´s help in assisting me answer in a way she understood. I never said anything I didn´t understand myself, but I saw the Spirit´s help in bringing to my memory the words I needed. I love being an instrument in the Lord´s hands. We set a date for her to be baptized on the 11th of January.

On Christmas day we headed over to a member´s house and Skyped our families! It was so great to see them. I´ve been blessed to have them as my family. They showed me the skimpy snow Moab had received and I showed them how I was sweating as we talked! I was also able to see by brother Chris and new sister-in-law through a double Skype call that my parents set up. At the end of the call I was asked to bear my testimony in Portuguese. 2 days later was the 4 month mark for me as a missionary in Brazil. Happy New Year!

--
Elder Joseph Andrew
Porto Alegre North Mission
Caixa Postal 13008
CEP 91010-971
Porto Alegre-RS
Brazil

Monday, December 22, 2014

Week 16

Well summer began just a few days ago! Last P-day my companion and I set up a Family Home Evening with a less-active family. While there we got to feed their parrots! We were quite excited to do that. We shared a message with them about how the 12 apostles, the Prophet, and the Priesthood makes up the foundation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. During the Great Apostasy, many people picked out principles that they liked from the Bible (i.e. baptism, tithing, etc.) and constructed a church out of it. However, we have the fulness of the gospel (ALL the principles) today and can enjoy the blessings of continued revelation. This is just one of the many examples that shows how much Heavenly Father loves us and desires to bless our families. To our surprise and excitement, this family is now going to church and holding FHE on their own!


Pamela, one of our investigators, is making leaps and bounds in her progress. She devours everything we teach her. We´ve seen such a change in her this week. Before, she sat silently listening, but now she actively participates, being motivated by the results of her own progress and is excited to learn more. We´re constantly surprised by how close her beliefs are to the church´s standards already. We know she has been prepared by the Lord beforehand. Keeping her commitments and doing her best to be prepared to be baptized, she is now down to only 2 cigarettes per day and has stopped drinking coffee and wine! She told us how what we promised is coming true: she is feeling a difference in her life because of her efforts to follow the Lord´s commandments. She is feeling the increased sensitivity to the Spirit. I was so happy when she told us how she went to the store and told the cashier that she was buying her last pack of cigarettes from him. To that he and her friends responded with their disbelief, but she replied confidently, "Just you watch, I will be a Mormon yet."

We´re very excited to Skype our families this coming Thursday for Christmas, it´s been 4 months since I left them and 8 for my companion. Merry Christmas and I hope to hear from you all next week!

--
Elder Joseph Andrew
Porto Alegre North Mission
Caixa Postal 13008
CEP 91010-971
Porto Alegre-RS
Brazil

Monday, December 15, 2014

Week 15

This week was full of different things. For starters we decided our apartment didn´t have enough Christmas spirit, so we made tons of paper snowflakes to hang around and borrowed a light-up star. Whenever we´re in the apartment we play Christmas music to add to the environment. I finally got tired of slipping all over the place in the rain because of my worn-down shoes so I found this shoe professional tucked away on a back street to fix them up. When I came to pick them up I was quite impressed: he´d put hard-core boot soles on my shoes and replaced the laces. Now I could go hiking in these shoes if I wanted! The best part was it only cost 30 bucks (60 reais). The other companionship also had a division with the Zone Leaders, so Elder Sorenson came to our city to be with the District Leader for a day. It was funny because he is from Salt Lake City so the three of us Americans started talking about all the restuarants we missed. The top 3 were Cafe Rio, Papa Murphy´s, and Golden Corral.

This is me at a member´s house this week ´helping´ them cook the churrasco (Brazilian Barbeque) for lunch. They know how to do it right!



The highlight of the week was getting to teach one of our prized investigators, Pamela. She is the most interested investigator I´ve ever seen. Every visit she has a ton of questions about the Church for us. I always love answering them because I´m excited to share the gospel to those so eager to learn more about what I know to be true. Its truthfulness is re-affirmed to me every time I teach it. Another investigator we have is in the pits of despair because her abusive boyfriend left her with 3 kids and no way to support them. We want to do everything we can for her. We know the gospel can and will change her life. Another investigator told of how she had been having killer pains in her head and how her home had always felt filled with bad feelings. But when we first visited her, the pains stopped immediately and never returned, as well as the atmosphere in her home. She said we brought a light with us, and always felt peace and warmth when we taught her. We really hope they continue following the promptings of the Spirit and be baptized soon.



--
Elder Joseph Andrew
Porto Alegre North Mission
Caixa Postal 13008
CEP 91010-971
Porto Alegre-RS
Brazil

Monday, December 8, 2014

Week 14

To start off the week we had a Family Home Evening with a less-active member family. My companion and I decided to cook them an American meal so we whipped up some alfredo pasta with chicken for dinner and chocolate chip cookies for dessert. They´d never had it before and loved it! They invited us back every night the rest of the month, but unfortunately we had to decline haha. After dinner we shared with them a scripture (Alma 7:10-12) and the video "He is the Gift." It was great to give them a taste of America and share a message about the reason for Christmas.

A few days later we visited a lady that had attended church with us and her less-active husband last Sunday. Last week we had challenged her to be baptized but she was very hesitant and scoffed at the idea of being baptized "so early." Then as we met with her after she had gone to church, her whole story changed. She told us something that re-affirmed our testimonies that church attendance is of paramount importance to really feel the Holy Ghost to the convincing of what we´ve already taught. That´s because church is where they can see the Church: one is hard pressed to experience a desire to join a church that he or she has not already attended. Church is where the Spirit will work on closed hearts, whispering to them that this is where they belong. What this lady said was, "As soon as I left the church meeting I wanted to go back!" That´s the most powerful experience I´ve seen yet. Right now they´re working on gettting married and after that (Hopefully I´ll still be here) she´ll be baptized.

On Thursday  we had the Mission Christmas Conference in Porto Alegre. Because I´m currently serving on the very borders of the mission, we had to travel to Passo Fundo the previous day, sleep for 2 hours, and board a bus at 2 in the morning to arrive in Porto Alegre in time for the conference at 9. During the Conference we listened to various talks and presentations by the secretaries, assistants, and the President and his wife. Sister Wright told a Christmas story, told us how much she loves us, and gave us all a little treat bag. Then right after, President Wright showed us a new certificate he´d come up with and then proceeded to lead us in singing Handel´s Messiah while the music was blasting at top volume as if he was Handel himself! I´ll never forget that, they´re the best. After that we went to the gym of the church building we were meeting in and watched each district do a short Christmas performance. Most sang a variation of a Christmas hymn, but others were quite inventive. We next ate lunch, had dessert, and returned to the chapel to watch the slideshows the secretaries had put together of the past year. Lastly we received packages that had come and made the 7 hour trip back to our area.

It was a good week! I hope the next week is wonderful for you guys, and I´ll hear from you this coming Monday.

--
Elder Joseph Andrew
Porto Alegre North Mission
Caixa Postal 13008
CEP 91010-971
Porto Alegre-RS
Brazil

Monday, December 1, 2014

Week 13

This week had mixed success. We lost some investigators that didn´t have the desire to change and follow the example of Christ, but we also helped others to set dates of their baptisms! One of our best investigators struggles with worshipping saints (idols), and despite everything we tried to help her with she still made the decision to continue even though she had made such amazing progress. It reminded me of an addiction to drugs/smoking, and how hard it is to change. You have to have faith in Christ´s atonement to change. That´s the only lasting way to give up a habit or addiction is to turn to our Savior.

On a happier note, we set a date for this couple to get baptized on the 14th! They´ve made such wonderful progress and have been prepared by Heavenly Father to receive our message. They´re open, humble, and thirsty for what the gospel can do in their lives. It refreshes my own testimony to see their´s grow. 

On Friday we had a special Zone Meeting. We got mail (thanks to both my grandparents and cousin Kate!), and received instruction straight from Church headquarters. As Christmas approaches, they´ve come out with some exciting events that comprise their goal to have everyone in the world hear about the Church by Christmas. We were given special pass-along cards that we are to hand out for all our contacts, and informed of what the Church has lined up this coming month: They´ve already opened a new site (for us it´s natal.mormon.org but for the states I imagine it´s christmas.mormon.org) that has a new video called "Ele é o Presente" (He is the Gift). This video is now being played and promoted at all Visitor´s Centers across the globe, spread across all forms of social media including Facebook and Twitter, will be promoted at Times Square in New York on the big screen, and on December7th, this video will be the only announcement/advertisement on YouTube! The first thing everyone will see will be this video. We´ve been trained to share it with literally everyone we come across. Every contact, lesson, and conversation will be connected to it. I challenge all of you to do the same. Share it on Facebook, show it to your griends, join the Church in spreading the meaning and purpose of Christmas to the whole world. As the video itself says, Discover the Gift, Embrace the GIft, and Share the Gift.

I know the Church is true. I wouldn´t be in Brazil if it wasn´t. I wouldn´t want to be anywhere else but here for this Christmas. Jesus Chirst has broken the bands of death for us, He was sent to this world by our loving Father in Heaven to bring us back. Now let us show our gratitude by sharing this with everyone. (John 3:16) Have a wonderful week and good luck in your Christmas preparations!

--
Elder Joseph Andrew
Porto Alegre North Mission
Caixa Postal 13008
CEP 91010-971
Porto Alegre-RS
Brazil