Week 48

Monday, November 12, 2018

This week has been nothing but rain every day. I love rain but it makes missionary work a little more complicated. We had one day where nobody would let us in because we were wet and the rain is horrible to clean up after with all the mud and earth here. But this just goes to show the importance of preservation. The last door we knocked happened to be the family that let us in and became new investigators. This week was hard because we had to let go about all of our investigators and start from nothing again. The Area book is full of great people but doesn’t have any addresses... Moral of the story future missionaries... fill out the whole paper ;)

This week my pet tarantula is still alive after not eating for 7 days... we feed him but the bugs and him become friends. Doesn’t make sense to me. Also this week I bought some sick soccer shoes. It will make all the future p-days a little more satisfying. My pet tarantula is still alive after 7 days without eating... I don’t think he will ever die. I also made a coca cola cup from a glass bottle using rope and finger nail polish and fire to cut it. We also taught at an English school to get references... it was really fun. I was having a hard time only speaking English though. I would start and end in Portuguese... And one professor who lived in Boston asked why I had an accent... So there’s that... 

In all honesty this week has been pretty hard. All of our appointments fell through and rain kills the work because nobody wants to stop or let us in. But this has helped me appreciate the ministry of the savior and helped me too realize that it was never easy for him. And as Elder Holland proclaimed, Salvation is not a cheap experience. 

Our goal is to work a lot more with members here in the area. With all the difficulties that this area has we have so much potential. We just have to wake up some people and help them see the light of Christ. Sorry this week was short but not a lot of excitement. Rain, knocking doors and waiting for the blessings that are arriving. But love you all and hope you all have an amazing week! 

Challenge: Invite one person to church with you or present them to the missionaries... let me know how it went!

Love, Elder Lee

Week 47

Monday, November 5, 2018

So this week was very exciting in the field of wild life... While walking to an appointment I saw a little channel of drain water because this city is a mountain city... And low and behold inside are hundreds of cat fish... so we decided to catch one. I waited with hand in the water to remember that they bite and grabbed one quick. We carried it all the way to our dinner appointment and gave it to the member. She was super excited and gave it a tank and feeds it. The name is Nemo.... ha-ha it’s about a good 10 inches.....

     And then Sunday night while returning to our house my comp screamed and yelled at me to come back... I returned and asked what happened... turns out I almost stepped on a freaking bird eating spider tarantula. This thing was huge! But because we didn’t want it to eat anyone we did the city a service and caught him... brought him home and made an aquarium... His name is Aragog. The best part was seeing my comp, who is huge and ripped, screaming over and over... he doesn’t like spiders... 

But that was the wild life excitement this week. As for the work we are starting to work more with members here.  They are difficult but children of God and I look forward to spending more time with them. Here in Espirito Santo (the state I live in) churches are more common than McDonalds.... Serious... there are ever 20 meters. They are like a business here. But anyways there is only one true church being the Church of Jesus Christ so we have our work cut out for us. 

My companion is super great and loves Coca and Soccer more than anything so he is easy to keep happy. I really like him. It will be hard to separate. His name is Elder Ferreira. He is less crazy than me but is willing to go along. Ha-ha he hates stairs but climbs them all day to keep me happy. We are a great team. And he is helping me a ton with Portuguese. But that’s about it for this week. Love you all tons and hope you all have a great week!!!! 

LEVI!!!!!! JET!!!!!

First thing... how are you guys!!! Second thing what the heck! A back and spring? Not even I can do that. And jet you got baptized! Man a live everything happens while I’m away... But hey guess what! The other day I went fishing with my hands and caught a cat fish.... and the next day we found a tarantula... we also caught him and he is in my house... hope he doesn’t get out... ha-ha but I love you guys! Have fun and keep being awesome!!!!

And my comps name is Elder Ferreira. He is really cool. He is super good at futebol and loves Ranaldo like you Levi!!!! 

Love you both!!!!

Elder Lee

Week 46

Monday, October 29, 2018

I am in love with this city! There are so many mountains and hills it’s crazy! It’s literally a city in the hills like it says in the scriptures. For those that wan to google it you can google Colatina, ES Brazil....

My camp is super great! He can cook like nobody’s business and loves soccer as much if not more than me. We actually eat dinner now. And it’s more than just rice. It’s nice having time when we get home and not being scattered to call people. 

As for the work here, there are a lot of members that have family not baptized for weird reasons. So we are making a lot of friendships and working to gain confidence to baptize the families. They also give a lot of food here which is good because all the walking we do I am getting even more skinny... 

Today I and the ZL woke up at 5 to go on a run in the Brazilian mountains. It was super epic. We did a 15k and then we will play soccer for a few hours... I’ll pay for it this week am sure ;)

But really just this. We are getting to know the area and the members. There was wedding we attended to help with so much food but to gain more blessing we decided to do a fast. And we found so many nonmembers that were there to make appointments... I love you all tons and hope you enjoy the photos!!!

Week 45

Monday, October 22, 2018

So this was my last week being a trainer and zone leader and being here in ala Itacibá... I got transferred to a little city in one of the far away zones of the mission. Ha-ha the mission jokes that people go there to be forgotten. The only sad part is the zone conference is excluded so I won’t get to see a majority of friends and old companions. But am super excited to get back and work in another branch. The begging is hard but it truly is a blessing to see the results and fruits of your labor. It’s like the story of Joshua and Caleb in the bible. When trials come and difficulties arrive... Give me this mountain.... 

Being as it was our last week in our house living together we decided to do something special each day... and being as it is that we are young man and missionaries it involved food every day. Monday we ate hamburgers... (Ha-ha I miss McDonalds) Tuesday it was a more or less version of tacos.... Wednesday it was ice cream and Thursday hotdogs... Friday a member made us pizza and Saturday I made donuts. Ha-ha, I’m trying to bulk up now for when I spend the next part of my mission in interior.... 

This week we also had stake conference and it was truly awesome to hear the training that the president gave. Here there has been a lot of contention because of the president’s election. He taught from the story of Moroni and how the people were weakened by their separation. We as members of the church of Jesus Christ must stay firm and united in our beliefs and life. Whoever wins the church will still be true... It was interesting with our investigators there but they enjoyed the conference. We are leaving behind 3 baptisms... but Elder Lima promised to send photos... 

This week’s spiritual thought... Either 12:27... We need to learn how to rely on the lord to accomplish miracles and his plans for us. And in order to do that he gives us weakness to help us remain humble. These weaknesses are not to stay weak but to be shown unto the lord that he may make them become strong. Challenges are the same thing. So in reality we should learn to be grateful that god puts difficulties and trials in our lives... It Awesome how the gospel can be strung out and woven together in to a chord (thank you Bednar) 

Over all I love you tons! Thank you for all the things that you are doing to help Gods Kingdom grow on earth. I hope you have a wonderful week and stay firm!

Pics will come in the next email... 

Week 44

Monday, October 15, 2018

This week passed by super-fast... We only have one more week until transfers arrive and it will be interesting to see what will happen. Elder Lima (the other ZL) and I will finish our sons training and send them out. But whether or not we will stay we have no idea. I’m hoping to stay a few more months in this ward. It is truly amazing when you can stay in one area for a long time to see the change in people and the growth and fruits of your labor. We all bore our testimonies this week and every member came up asking us what the heck was happening and if we were leaving because of transfers. It was really touching to see one member start crying. The people here are super loving. I will really miss the Brazilian culture in this aspect. 

This week we drank a soda that is only found in the north, north region of Brazil called Guarana Jesus... They literally have a soda named after Jesus. It’s pink and super good. Ha-ha (not IBC root beer level) But super good.. 

This week we also had a three stake activity for the youth called Meet up. It was super funny to hear all the Brazilians saying this English name with the biggest accent. But it was awesome because I saw people and members from all of my areas but one. It was truly a joyful encounter to see the people active and happy. I imagine it’s what Alma and the sons of Mosiah felt when they found each other again. 

I also taught English at a school for a service project... I know I know I don’t speak very well and have an accent but it was still super fun. Something I could do for a living here in Brazil (jk mom just wanted to give you a quick heart attack). But over all that was my week. We are really working hard to find new people because unfortunately a lot of our investigators are not progressing. Pray for us to find new people. Love you and miss you all tons!!!

Week 43

Monday, October 8, 2018

This week was super amazing but also a bit difficult. We are in the process of having to decide what families we will continue with. I think the hardest part of being a missionary is having to leave people in the area book and hope the missionaries in the future will find them. But we have to have faith and do our part to find those that are ready to progress and commit to making the covenants of baptism. We found a couple last week who went to church with us and her problem is that she suffers from depression. But there was a talk in conference that is perfect and exactly what she needs to hear. It’s truly amazing how the lord’s servants can receive revelation to bless the lives of Gods children. In between conference Sunday we went to bring people but all our families fell through. I received a prompting to go to a family that we cut long ago that wanted nothing more... after testifying with power and authority I was sure they would come... but only they didn’t. While walked back feeling defeated wondering why I had the prompting we saw a man lying on the ground having serious pains. The people around him asked us to help him. We were in a hurry to return on time and I offered to give him a blessing. I felt inspired to say that he would be healed by his faith and able to make it home. After we helped him up and he thanked us and god and went on his way. I realized that we need to really listen to the spirit and not question the results because God is over everything and knows all. I have sooo much learning left to do it blows my mind. I’m worried two years isn’t enough time for a mission. I’m waiting for Pres. Nelson to say that missions will now be 3 years next conference... (Don’t have a heart attack mom)

But I love and miss you all and hope everything continues to go well for you. I pray for you all every day and am thankful for the continued prayers of strength and encouragement. They really make a difference!

Love you all!

Highlights of this week:

Made Donuts this week and went out for ice cream with the other American one day...