Week 64

Monday, March 4, 2019

Hey Family! This week was Carnival... Not going to lie... I don’t like it very much. All of our investigators go to the beach and leave us with no one to accompany. So we did a lot of work trying to find new people. Here is an over all of our week.... 

Monday: We picked up my new companion and then went to downtown to take Elder Sater to the medical to have a few exams done. We also had a Family night with Bishop and taught his friend who also invited her friend. Ironically the friend of the reference had more potential and we continued teaching her and her 10 year-old son. Her name is Suzane. 
Tuesday: We started our day early by trying to bring a coffee substitute for an investigator and then worked in the area lunch would be. After lunch we accompanied all our of dates for baptism and then went to the chapel to prepare an activity for the 43 Venezuelans here in the city. I got to DJ at the activity and we served authentic special tradition foods from there and had a powerful testimony meeting in Spanish. Gift of lounges is crazy! 

Side note: Today I started Reading the Defense of truth. Greatest thing ever. Its two missionaries being challenged by leaders form all the churches trying to prove the church and book of Mormon false. But the missionaries can prove all the doubts wrong using the bible and logic. I’ve found it super helpful in teaching investigators. Here everyone uses bible like deodorant... 

Weds nay:  Sad News... my camera broke. But here there is a sight like craigslist and I was able to buy another camera super cheap that Works great. It’s a film Fuji semi pro... Have no idea why it was cheaper than all the others but it Works great and is tons of fun. 

Thursday: So Thursday night is the pre-night to carnival... So it’s always a little crazy and dangerous. But don’t worry mom, we didn’t see any action. But what did happen was a major storm that wrecked a ton of roads and killed a lot of people’s power and knocked over a bunch of stuff. We were literally in the middle of a lightning and thunder storm right over us. I’ve never seen lightning hit the ground before. Also we got drenched because we didn’t have umbrellas and the sky threw everything it had at us. 

Friday: Today I did a division with Elder Nasilai Who was the number one pick in college football before he came. He turned down all the schools to serve a mission and will play for BYU when he gets back. I was already a DL of him in Colatina so it was really fun to see that I would live with him again. Super Great guy!

Saturday: Running around like headless chickens trying to get somebody to church...
Sunday: Happy fast Sunday! Hope all the boys remembered to use the fast Sunday ties. 
Over all this week was busy and flew by. Only five more weeks in this transfer. We have five dates for these next two weeks. If you could all pray for Rayanne, Ciça, Lucas, Suzane and Paulo I (as well as them) would appreciate it! I love you all tons and hope you all have a great week! FELIZ CARNIVAL PRA VOCÊS!!!  - Elder Lee

Week 63

Monday, February 25, 2019

So we finally found our baptism... And now I understand why it was delayed. We had to wait for Zoriada to come all the way from a different country to get here. She is a 79 year old grandmother of a family that came from Venezuela. We got to teach her in Spanish and complete her family who are now all members. Gift of lounges is so real. And it’s a blessing that Spanish and Portuguese are similar. But her Grandson baptized her and Elder Garcia got to leave the zone baptizing. It was a very spiritual long awaited moment in the family. 

So... one of my favorite people on the planet left yesterday. Elder Garcia my comp was transferred to Colatina the area I was before I got here. It was nice because I gave him list of people who will help them out tons. But I won’t lie I will miss him tons. We really hit it off and never had any problems. My new comp is from Sao Paulo and seems super cool. His name is Elder Oliveira. We are excited to start this next transfer working form the beginning. 

Over all this week was just a lot of running and trying to get everything done. We had 5 people return to church with us and are excited to see where they go. One is Raine who her family is the owner of a big ice cream chain and she gives us free ice cream. She is a life saver! I'll really miss her entire family when I leave. Also my fav member who is my mom is moving to the south this week so that is sad. But the work continues and we are looking forward to the giant harvest awaiting us.

This week we got caught in a thunder lightning storm and rain storm... it literally was the most rain I’ve seen in my life. Google recent rainstorms in Rio... we could have gone swimming in the roads... Also my shoes got destroyed while helping a lady move. It was actually really sad 

Love, Elder Lee

Week 62

Monday, February 18, 2019

Hey everyone! This week was weird with all the changes in communication with families. But it should be awesome! Now we have an excuse to extend the mission to 3 years! (sorry, love you mom). But this week was super busy and productive for us. Sunday we brought 9 people to church and it was a fun interchange between sacrament and classes trying to get everyone in the right place. But it all worked out. My ward is super great with receiving new people. 

This week we spent a lot of time helping the new Hispanic family and getting to translate. We will probably baptize the grandma Saturday. If all goes well I will enter the water with my comp Elder Garcia and we will both help her be baptized. She has a few physical problems and so we will have two people in the water to make sure it all goes well. Pray for her. 

Fun story... Elder Garcia lost his name tag and wallet. He was really sad and a bit shaken. But we prayed and helped him have faith that it would all work out. After church a drunken guy entered with his name tag looking for Elder Garcia and praised him for being a man of god. And then after we got home he found his wallet waiting on the table.  Tender mercies are the best!!! We have lots of people to work with and couldn’t be more happy. On the 26th we will have transfers and are praying to both stay in the area with our families. But God knows best. 

We also started a challenge with all the members to invite three people to church and accompany them. It can be friends, family, or that person you meet in the grocery store line.  We are having lots of success with this. I would like to extend the challenge to you all for this week. It can really make a difference in their lives but even in yours. God is always looking for excuses to bless us. Help him out ;)

I love you all and miss you. Hope you all have a great week! Let me know how the challenge went!

Love, Elder Lee

Week 61

Monday, February 11,

So I had zone conference this week. And holy cow after a few hours in the AC I came out to the real world and got a super bad cold. But the conference was super good so it was okay. We had interviews and Sister Mazzagardi came to visit our house that was clean and organized like always... (she doesn’t like messes...) We rode in her brand new car. I’m not gonna lie; I got a little car sick. She drives crazy and the traffic here in un-real. 

This week we have been working a lot in the houses of the new Hispanic family that got here today. We picked them up at the airport. It was really weird to see all the planes. Haha, made home sick just for a little but then we found a family to do a contact with. We have been working all day with them. They will adapt and learn super fast, no doubt. Their month salary was so low that it only worked to buy a few pounds of chicken. 100 of their money is 25 cents here in brazil which is 7 cents in the USA... But it’s super cool and they gave me some to remember. I gave them a few reals to help them out. 

Last p day we got permission to leave my area to visit Walmart. It’s not anywhere the same... but they have an entire section for ice cream... I almost cried. It was beautiful. Seriously... maybe the most beautiful thing I’ve seen here ;) We also went to the mall to get my comp clothes for work. Also I got a haircut... So did my comp. he cried for a few days. He really likes his hair ;)

Highlight of the week: We borrowed a few bikes from members to bring some people to church Sunday. Transportation here is really hard. So we rode the 6 miles to pick up 15 year old Lucas who was 200 pounds and is 6 foot 3 and took him to church. He rode behind me and I had to pedal him there. I really appreciated sports training before the mission. We got to church and I had to give a talk and I was red and my shirt yellow. But the members see that we are working and are giving us confidence. This area would be great if we could always use bikes. This day was the  most productive. What takes hours to walk and dying in the sun turned into a quick bike ride with wind in our face. The only problem was our bikes were pink and purple... hope nobody got the wrong idea....

Over all, all is good here and I love every day miracles! I miss you all tons and hope you all have a great week!!! 

Love, Elder Lee

Week 60

Monday, February 4, 2019

This week passed by super quickly. We ran around trying to get everything we wanted done. Man and let me tell you there is not enough hours in one day. I remember working before the mission thinking that time never passed and waiting for the hours to pass. Here it kills me to see time pass knowing I’ll have to wait to get things done. Blessing of the mission I guess. But we were able to meet a few new people that really have potential. I’m really excited for this week. We will have President come and have a giant meeting with us. And he will bring our houses mattresses and other stuff we are missing. 

My comp is form Chile and I am getting to re-learn Spanish. We have a Hispanic family coming into the ward that doesn’t speak Portuguêse... So my comp and I get to translate... motivation to learn faster. 

The members here are starting to like us and are inviting us to family home evenings in their houses. We attended a ward council and bishop on the spot asked me to do a presentation. So I had to spend a good amount of time talking and discussing what they could do better. Our bishop has stressed that the way to strengthen and grow the church is by missionary work. He is very right. I remember when I thought that it was the responsibility of the missionaries to do everything in that field. I’ve spent a lot of time repenting. I hope that eventually I can be a super member that they can count on. Members like you all!

Love you all tons and am super grateful to have you all as examples in my life. This week’s spiritual thought is short and fast. But true as ever. Miracles come... after the trial of our faith... after the sweat of our brows... after we suffer and give what we can.

Love you all tons!!!

Elder Lee