Week 30

This was the first week of my thrid transfer here in Vera Cruz. This is the first time for Élder Lemes and I to be with the same companion a second transfer. Yesterday at church all the members were expecting a new missionary but they were very happy to see us both here still. They had really grown to like us the previous transfer. In fact the branch president liked us so much he assigned us talks in church!

On Tuesday while we were planning the week, we were discussing what we could do for Maria & Sebastião to help them get married seeing as they missed the last opportunity. Right in the middle of our conversation we received a call from the business that does marriages. The lady on the phone told us of a marriage previous missionaries had arranged months ago that never ended up happening. She wanted to know what we wanted to do with the money that had been paid, and after a few minutes we were able to transfer the marriage for Maria & Sebastião.

Later in the week we faced the problem of getting their birth certificates from distant towns. While we talked about it a less-active member told us that he knew people in both of the towns and could arrange something to bring those documents here. Miracles happen!

Also during the week we found a fox living in our attic... Apparently he wasn´t privvy to the rule that only missionaries can be in the missionaries´ house!

--

Élder Joseph Andrew

Missão Porto Alegre Norte

Caixa Postal 13008

CEP: 91010-971

Porto Alegre - RS

BRASIL

Read my blog at elderandrewinbrazil.blogspot.com

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Week 29

Last P-day all the elders in our zone grouped together and we visited a park in Santa Cruz famous for caves, waterfalls, ruins, and free-roaming monkeys. It was quite a cool experience. I can now say I´ve seen my first wild monkey in Brazil! During our hike around, I was impressed with how dense the forest is. It would only take 10 steps in to get lost. One of the coolest parts was that we could hear a ton of different wild birds, insects, and animals as we explored. We took with us a young man from the Vera Cruz branch who helped us around because he´d been there before.

On Thursday we visited Maria & Sebastião and found out that their marriage hadn´t happened! They missed the date scheduled and so they have to reschedule for another date. Sunday we had a good turn out at church with 3 new investigators. With the Lord´s help this branch will have a good amount of baptisms the next transfer.

Speaking of transfers Élder Lemes and I will stay in Vera Cruz for the next transfer beginning tomorrow. It´s the first time for both of us that we´ll have the same companion for 2 transfers. We´re excited to work together for another 6 weeks, and we have quite a few potential baptisms in the future. Happy Páscoa (Easter) everybody! 

--

Élder Joseph Andrew

Missão Porto Alegre Norte

Caixa Postal 13008

CEP: 91010-971

Porto Alegre - RS

BRASIL

Read my blog at elderandrewinbrazil.blogspot.com

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Week 28

This week was full of miracles. Even though I was sick in the beginning, I didn´t notice it much because we worked so hard. We made a goal to be more diligent, obedient, and have more faith the first day of the week, and the Lord blessed us right off the bat. In order to find more people to teach we scoured the area book for former investigators and for less active members. The very first day we added 15+ people to our group of promising investigators.

On Tuesday we began our plan to visit all our conrtacts, ex-investigators of previous missionaries, and less-active members in a certain neighborhood. We were very blessed to find a house of 6 that are elects for sure. They paid a lot of attention during our lesson and asked great questions. A lot of the ex-investigators were awesome as well, we´re hoping we´ll be able to work with them and help them prepare to be baptized soon.

Thursday was the weekly district meeting as usual. After it we did a division with me staying in Santa Cruz with the district leader and Élder Lemes taking the district leader´s companion to our area in Vera Cruz. During the day we found many new families to teach for Santa Cruz. One young woman was really attentive and actually asked us how she could know for herself if our message was true. I would be very surprised if she isn´t baptized this coming week. The next day we returned to our own companions and areas.

This week Élder Lemes and I were very happy to find out that Maria (baptized 5 weeks ago) and her boyfriend Sebastião will be married next week! We´re helping him to stop smoking, and his baptism will be next week if he stops. They will help out this branch a lot if they stay firm. 

On Saturday we met Maria´s daughter when we went over to visit her family. The next day she was at church with Maria almost before we were! If the marriage happens, we´ll baptize the whole family next week.

Here is my companion, Élder Lemes, and I with an American flag we found!

--

Élder Joseph Andrew

Missão Porto Alegre Norte

Caixa Postal 13008

CEP: 91010-971

Porto Alegre - RS

BRASIL

Read my blog at elderandrewinbrazil.blogspot.com

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Week 27

On Monday half the Zone ate at McDonalds for lunch. Man I´d never seen such high prices there. The cheapest burger there was R$20 (~8US Dollars). In Brazil it´s more of a fancy restuarant, quite the contrast to the States where they have the dollar menu. I was able to spend R$45 and still be hungry!

Wednesday we had a Zones Conference in Porto Alegre. Half of the zones were there, with the other half meeting on Thursday. We woke up at 4am to travel by bus and arrive at the designated chapel in Porto Alegre at 9. During the conference we received training and instruction to help us be better missionaries. One of the presentations was by the president of the health department for all the missionaries in Brazil. At the end both President and Sister Wright talked to us. In between their comments, Sister Wright played the violin while President Wright played the piano. It was the best rendition of "I Know My Redeemer Lives" that I´ve ever heard. I´m bummed because I will only have one more conference with them before they head home in July.

The next day my companion had a really bad stomach pain that took a while to be relieved, so we ended up spending a few day at home. After it became almost unbearable he asked me to give him a blessing, the second one he´s ever head in his life. Right after the blessing his condition improved rapidly, with the worst pain leaving immediately. Faith really works miracles. Unbelievably, when he´d improved to a point where we could return to work, I caught a nasty cold that hindered us further. 

On Sunday we were able to bring a good amount of our investigatros to church. To our surprise, Christofer (Wesley´s older brother) showed up out of nowhere and attended all the meetings without having been encouraged by anyone. We´re hoping this means he´s having a change of heart and becoming more open to what we have to teach him. He could make a good missionary and bishop someday. I hope we can help him chose the right path.

--

Élder Joseph Andrew

Missão Porto Alegre Norte

Caixa Postal 13008

CEP: 91010-971

Porto Alegre - RS

BRASIL

Read my blog at elderandrewinbrazil.blogspot.com

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Week 26

Like we did last transfer, we tried working in a new neighborhood this week. Unfortunately the results weren´t as good as we´d hoped. The majority of the houses we found there were closed up and empty, waiting for their owners to return from work much later at night. The few people we found at home that allowed us to share our message with them were disinterested, with other priorities demanding their attention. It´s true that when life is going well for us and we don´t have many problems we are generally less humble and desirous to follow our Saviour.

This week it rained almost every day again. From what I´ve been hearing from everybody, that means that it´ll finally cool down soon as Summer ends. I also hit the 6 month mark of my mission last Friday! I can´t believe a 4th of it is over already. I will be very sad when my 2 years are up.

We visited the young woman that asked us that funny question mentioned last week. Her name is Letieli, and she is cousin to one of the recent converts in the branch. She´s super humble but lacks faith. She told us one day that she doesn´t really believe in God, which is super rare in Brazil. I invited her to begin praying daily with a desire to know that He exists and promised her that He would respond. We hope she does that with a sincere heart and real intent as it says in Moroni 10:3-5. She even came to church with us yesterday, which was good as it was Fast & Testimony meeting. I´ve come to realize the importance of fasting, giving a generous fast offering, and bearing testimony the first Sunday of the month. It´s a powerful combination that really brings learning by the Spirit in a one-of-a -kind way. 

--

Élder Joseph Andrew

Missão Porto Alegre Norte

Caixa Postal 13008

CEP: 91010-971

Porto Alegre - RS

BRASIL

Read my blog at elderandrewinbrazil.blogspot.com

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.