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

Week 4

I'm falling in love with Brazil and her people already. Last week we took a bus to the biggest subway station in Sau Paulo and each companionship had 4 copies of the Book of Mormon and 30 minutes to place them. We couldn't proselyte in the station so we walked around the surrounding streets. There are so many people here. The first young man we talked to had a cigarette in one hand. After we parted ways he had a Book of Mormon in the other! That was the greatest feeling ever and I couldn't help smiling for the next few hours. There was an energy  inside me that felt as if I was about to burst. When we talked to our 2nd young man it hit me that I was actually communicationg with these people. Evern though I spoke with my broken 3-week-old Portuguese, they understood, and when they responded I understood. we'd been talking with our Brazilian instructors every day but this was the real deal. All 4 of the poeple we spoke with accepted the Book of Mormon and they promised to read it and call the number we provided. Each time I had them read the introduction and then I shared some of the my favorite scriptures. They were always surprised when we told them it was freee. They were so inviting and open. They would help us out when we struggled with the language and were always surprised when we told them we had come all the way from the states to live here for 2 years witout pay and that we'd only been learning Portuguese for 3 weeks. I hope they all read the book and become members.

 

We also had the opportunity to listen to a devotional by Elder Richard G. Scott broadcasted to all the MTC's around the world. Some of the things he said really stood out to me: "Don't rush through your opportunity to converse with your loving Father in Heaven. Take time to listen for His response."

"Everything good in my life has come from my decision to serve a mission. Take advantage of the time you have to devote 24 hours a day to serving the Lord."

 

Then yesterday it was our opportunity to listen to the 1st Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, Elder Causse, speak to us during the devotional. This one was special to me for 2 reasons: my companion, another elder in my distric, and I sang "Creio em Cristo" (I Believe in Christ) for the MTC which was quite an amazing experience, and because Elder Causse had visited my home ward twice before I left for my mission. After the devotional I got to shake his hand again and we were able to talk briefly before he had to leave to catch his flight. Best part about it was he recognized me! He spoke on how our weaknesses make us humble and that they are essential to being a good missionary and for obedience, charity, and success. 1 Corinthians 1:19-28 really ties into what he said.

 

I love you all as always and wish you a wonderful 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 3

This is my halfway point at the MTC! This week I learned a lot about how to teach. The 2 years that I spent in mission prep really prepared me for this week. One of the principles I recognized from my experience in mission prep was that when we prepare lessons for investigators we should always have something we want thtme to know (saber), feel (sentir), and do (fazer). I thought of Brother and Sister Schern (my mission prep instructors) and mentally thanked them for teaching us that so I could learn faster here.

 

We found out last Sunday that we'll be prostlyting this coming Friday! We've only been here for 3 weeks and here we go to place 4 copies of the Book of Mormon in an hour. I'm so excited. Hopefully I'll be able to speak and understand them! We also learned that a few months ago there used to be a total of 6 Americans in the MTC because of Visa difficulties. Now there are over 150, more than Brazilians. Of course they come and go faster though. I feel so blessed.

 

During this week I tried to memorize many scriptures in an attempt to learn the language faster and have something to recite to investigators when we taught them a particular lesson. One of them was the 1st Vision: "Vi um pilar de luz, acima de minha cabeça, mais brilhante que o sol, que descia gradualmente sobre mim... Quando a luz poussou sobre mim, vi dois Personagems, cujo esplendor e gloria desafiam qualquer descrição, pairando no ar, acima de mim. Um Deles falou-me, chamando-me pelo nome, e disse, apontando para o outro: Este é Meu Filho Amado. Ouve-o!"

 

I am serving a mission for 2 years. For 2 years I am in another country across the globe, speaking a different language. I have left my family whom I love very much; my friends; my education; and all other opportunities including marriage, for 2 years. I serve for my God who had given me life; for the Lord Jesus Christ who is my Savior and Redeemer and has suffered for all my sins and felt all my pains; and for my family who has supported me from birth, taught me important lessons throughout my life, and never ceased to show me love through raising me with the gospel of Jesus Christ, teaching me when I made countless mistakes, and being proud of my righteous actions. Now in the mission field, I represent my God, my Savior, and my family. I am here to invite all to come unto Christ, become perfected in Him, and with Him partake of all the blessings of Salvation and eternal exaltation. I have spent the last 18 years enjoying the knowledge and blessings of eternal families, and now it is my turn to preach that wonderful news to the world. I am a representative of Jesus Christ, a missionary of the CHurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. How great is my calling!

 

If I don't respond to your emails or letters right away I am sorry, we are so busy we have literally no time. But you will get a response! Love you all!

--

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 2

Well I've been here for 2 weeks today! Couldn't be happier. I love it here, and I'm picking up the language little by little. I'm finding success in understanding the gist of what people say for the most part, and I'm working on speaking faster. I never thought of it, but when we speak English, it sounds super fast and confusing to people from other countries because we slur our words together and speak at a speed comfortable to us because we're fluent in English. It's the same here. When I first talked to someone on the streets, I thought they were speaking something other than Portuguese because it sounded so fast. But it'll come given time.

 

We enjoyed several devotionals this week, and it was interesting to hear what each speaker had to say. Many of them were missionaries who had served here many many years ago. Some of them were from the states and so every once in a while they would have to look back and ask the MTC president how to say a word in Portuguese because it had been so long since they'd served. From the past 2 weeks, the most important thing I've learned is that obedience brings blessings! More than anything, if we are exactly obedient to the commandments, counsel from leaders, and other rules, the Lord will pour out blessings on you. And for us at the MTC, we want those blessings more than anything as we attempt to learn a new language. Hope to hear from you next week!

Love,

Elder Andrew

--

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 1

This week has been amazing! I love it here at the CTM in Brazil. Unfortunately we don't have a lot of time here so I won't be able to say much. I hope to be able to say more about Brazil next week. I learned this week from Elder Faust that there are 2 kinds of missionaries, those who are sent to Brazil, and those who wish they had. I couldn't agree more! I won't be able to attach any pictures until I'm out of the CTM. As I have been studying the gospel and Portuguese this week, a scripture in Doctrine and Covenants stood out to me. It says, "For it shall come to pass in that day, that every man shall hear the fulness of the gospel in his own tongue, and in his own language, through those who are ordained unto this power, by the administragtion of the Comforter." (D&C 90:11; see also Helaman 5:18 and 2 Nephi 31:3) I love that scripture because it really stood out to me and gave me strength this week. And for those of you who knew Elder Dawson who served in Moab a few months ago, I saw him at the MTC a few days ago because he finally got his Visa! I am very appreciative of the love and support every one has shown me, and I pray for you as well! For those who would like to write me a letter, my address at the MTC for the next 5 weeks is:

 

Elder Joseph Andrew

Porto Alegre North Mission

Rua Padre Antònio D`Angelo, 121

Casa Verde - São Paulo, SP

02516-040

Brazil

 

Keep the faith!

~Elder Andrew

My Farewell

Thank you to everyone who came to my farewell and open house this past Sunday! It was so nice to see everyone before I leave this next week. I will be flying out of the Salt Lake airport on Tuesday the 26th and arrive at the MTC in Brazil the following day.

Here are a few facts about the Brazilian MTC (pictured above):

Presided over by: President and Sister Swenson

Home to: Excellent cafeteria, a gymnasium, walking track, weight room, and garden areas around the grounds of the MTC for outdoor study

Capacity: 646 Missionaries

Dedicated: May 1997 by Elder Russell M. Nelson

And it is the second biggest MTC as well as the largest Church-owned building outside the United States. I am excited to arrive!

In case you weren't able to make it to my farewell, here's a link to my talk.

--

Elder Joseph Andrew

Porto Alegre North Mission

Caixa Postal 13008

CEP 91010-971

Porto Alegre-RS

Brazil

The Countdown!

On April 10th I was sitting in my living room when the mailman pulled up. Just as I glanced out the window I saw him place a large white envelope in the box. He had scarcely pulled away before I was at the mailbox ripping it open and locating the letter I had been waiting several weeks for.

When I finally opened it and read the cover page, I found out that I would be serving for 2 years in the Brazil Porto Alegre North Mission! I will report to the Missionary Training Center in Sao Paulo, Brazil on August 27th. There I will learn Portuguese for 6 weeks before arriving in my mission (Porto Alegre).

When I first received my call, I had approximately a third of a year to wait until I would finally leave. It seemed like an eternity away. Now, thanks to the arrival of my Visa, I have only 14 days left!

I express gratitude for all that has been done on my behalf that has made this possible. From childhood I have always desired to serve Heavenly Father by taking 2 years off of work, dating, and schooling to preach His gospel wherever He would send me, and now this dream is about to come to fruition! Come hear me speak in church this Sunday, August 17th, at 11am in the chapel at 475 West 400 North. I would love to see you all there!