Merry Christmas from Jess

Since our missionaries get to call home on Christmas and mothers day, we had him record a little message for all of you.

That video has been uploaded to the facebook group: Elder Angus

A late Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Ashes of the Pheonix

And thus did he cry from the wilderness of Ivoti, "Repent thee, repent thee oh though wicked generation! How hast though drawn so far from thy God!" Okay, I have yet to say this, but it is truly what all missionaries are called to do. >:D

Hello world, and thanks for tuning in to the wonderful mission of Elder Angus as he struggles to save the souls of all he can. This week was truly beginning to become testing for me and my companion. First of all, many of the past few days have been really hot, and I mean really hot. Really' it's just hard enough to stay dry sitting down in front of a fan, let alone walking quite a distance from house to house in the sunlight. An interesting thing I've been seeing is that as time goes on, we are walking further and further in this area. I don't know why, but for some reason we never seem to teach people all in one area, and investigator by investigator, we are slowly expanding out to quite some great distances. The weird thing, though, is that we often encounter these people in street contacts on the other side of town! Why? I don't know but that's the way it is. We also had some trouble with the progression of many of our investigators who were unwilling to follow up on commitments, some even that have completely lost their desire. :( I guess that's just the way it is with this kind of missionary work. You bring the truth to all the people you can, but it is truly up to them if they want to follow through and discover the truth of these things for themselves.

The week wasn't all downs though, for some truly inspirational things occurred. For one, I received a wonderful package of cookies and candy from my Mom. (Thanks Mom) But more than that, we had a special Christmas dinner in our small little branch here in Ivoti, where we had the opportunity to teach about Christ to investigators and countless neighbors and friends that outnumbered the number of members. >:D What was really cool, is that one of our investigators invited a friend, who discovered that she had already known the church and the missionaries, but hadn't met with them in eight years, but wants to be baptized. :D It is truly a blessing to see the souls prepared by God making their way towards the right.

I guess I should finish up now. Thanks everyone for all that you do for me, and I'll let you know when the first set of Skittles arrive. ;P Remember that all of you are children of God, that he has a plan for you, and that one day he will place his servants in your path. When this happens, don't push them away, for they truly carry a message of great worth.

Teu amigo,

Elder Angus

Salvation of the Drunken

Friends, Romans, countrymen.

Four score and seven years ago I had a dream. I don't quite recall this dream, but it had something to do with ice cream. Hello everyone, and Bem Vindos for the next episode of Angus in the White Fields! This week was a little different than others because a lot of it was spent outside of our area. This week we had the priviledge to visit the Porto Alegre temple on Tuesday, a mission Leadership Conference on Wednesday, and than a Zone Confrence on Friday, all of which require us grabbing an Onibus to Novo Hamburgo (and for some a train to Porto Alegre). Although extra instruction is great, I feel like this entire week was overloaded and we got very little done with the time we had. However, there were a lot of good experiences we had.

An interesting story of what came to pass two days ago is that of our saving a man who was extremely drunk and nearly died in the backyard of an investigator family. However, after already typing a few details then deleting, I've decided that one is better left for the imagination. After all, the better stories are those of when souls are saved, not only vitality. This week had an especially legit experience with an investigator named Luciani. We had encountered her while knocking at a random door after having lunch with a member in the far reaches of the city. She's only lived here for a few months, but moved here with her daughter, son, and husband (whom I've never met). She's really progressing well and is one of two people (her and Michael) who actually visited church a second time in a row. This week, when we visited her we started by asking if anybody had questions. Luciani's hand shot strait up and she said I have one! Of course, at this time we have all the different scenarios running through our heads, what rumors she heard, what her husband said, etc. Then, to our surprise, she said, "What do I have to do to be baptized in your church?" :l ... :D It took a few seconds for the question finally sunk in and we realized what she had said. After that, me and my companion excitedly explained all she needed to know. We can't set a date yet until she has plans for marriage, but she is certainly ready to receive and has a desire to do so! :D

I could probably relate more, but I'm an extremely slow typer, so I'll just finish with my motivational thought. This week I've been studying the General Conference talks in the Liahona (in Portuguse :l) and encountered a talk by Elder Quentin L. Cook titled "Can you feel so now?" (I think) and the first things he talks about is repentance. Often we see repentance as solely a means to receive forgiveness, but this is not it. Repentance is like the remedy to a sickness. Whenever we take anything into our hearts or our souls, it damages us and makes it difficult for us to move or to act. Repentance is the means by which we can relieve our burdens, open our spiritual sensitivity, and realize more of our grand potential. 

Thanks everyone for your love and support. I gotta run!

Elder Angus

P.S. Thanks to anyone with plans to send Skittles ;)

Skittle Famine

Gazooks!

I figured my letter intros needed to be a little more interesting, so I started to improvise. Todays letter, however, will begin with my lamentations of the long lost product of infinite worth... Skittles. They don't sell them here! DX I don't even think the black market smuggles them in, mostly because they're focused on the Old Spice. The lack of thereof, has inspired a desire within those touched by the rainbow that they will even surrender time in their day and teach with the missionaries just for a bag of skittles. So, I make an official plea to the world that is listening to send me this precious commodity. ;P

Okay, it really isn't that dramatic, but there litterally are no skittles here, and one of the five male members of the branch here will only combine with us for a bag of skittles, a little joke. I am glad to announce, however, that we have finally received a fridge and stove! Now all we need is gas and we'll be ready to eat something other than sandwitches and cereal for breakfeast and dinner. However, we have had some nice treats to snack on from families we've taught. My companion told me that you know a person/family trusts you when they send you home with food, and you know they love you when they make you Churrasco (pronounced shoe-haus-coo, meaning barbecue, sweet sweet barbecue). Luckilly, both of these things happend this week, wich means we have alot of friends and alot of good food. :D

But the food certainly isn't the best part of the mission, nor is it the purpose. The best part is the people. For example, one of our investigators, Michael, is probably one of the best people I know. Unlike every other investigator we have, he actually calls Us to confirm appointments. :D He's also studying the "Principles of the Gospel" book for sundayschool and asking us questions when we stop by. The best part of all is that he will go to the church on his own, and drag his family along too. We're considering calling him a dry member, because all he needs is baptisim. :)

But when it all comes down to it, we all should be this excited about the word of God. It is not some form of fantasy, a good story, or a means by which we justify our actions. No, the word of God is an essential part of all our lives to secure our salvation and the salvation of those we love. It answers all of our questions, and it prepares us for that which matters more than all things, returning to the presence of our Heavenly Father. Please, no one take these things lightly, but don't be afraid either. When we have treasured the word unto our hearts unto action and following the word, we have secured our salvation and in this we may have joy.

Thanks everyone for your love and support. We'll be having a baptisim this Sunday and I hope you all pray to make sure it happens. In the end, this branch is amazingly small and we need more members to help. :) 

High Fives, handed out like party favors!

Elder Angus

Days Without Rain

Opa!

Once again you have the great opportunity to hear the toils and random nonsense of Elder Angus out in the farthest reaches of Brazil (well, okay that may be a little exaggerated). The only real way to describe how life is here is adventure. In our house, we haven't had power for the duration of the week, so we haven't been able to wash our clothes or iron them, and we also have been taking cold showers by candle light every night. Elder Tenório, my companion/trainer/Pai, says he's always had everything he needed in a mission house, and so he feels very unprepared. However, just this morning, the lights suddenly came on and it was like a hallelujah chorus. However, we still haven't had the chance to use it. :l Oh well.

The work here is going remarkably well. Among all the chaos of a new area and a new home, we've been meeting some great new people. We met a family the beginning of this week who are from Forteleza, and they were really receptive. My companion is from Forteleza as well, so immediately they hit off a great friendship. So far we've been teaching them everyday and already have the kids set for baptism on Dec. 9! Oh sweet beans and hot sauce! Sorry for my weird exclamation but I just think this area is really cool. Literally no one here has heard about the church and everyone is letting us in for at least one lesson. What's really cool, though, is that this Sunday we had eleven investigators and a few children come to church, nearly doubling the size of the branch attendance! That's already tons for this mission, but me and Elder Tenório have even greater goals, to help everyone we can, find the pathway toward joy and salvation.

For my little spiritual message this week, I'd like to talk about one of our investigators. We've only taught him once, but we are already certain he will be ready for anything we throw at him. He's the father of one of the branch members here that was recently converted, and he has a great interest in truth. After we finished teaching him and challenged him to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know of its truth, he said, "Com certeza," ("without a doubt," in this case) and explained that he felt a true knowledge and spirit within us, and that he had studied and searched for truth in all things. Furthermore, he explained that he had no doubt that if these things were true, and if God were to affirm this through prayer, he would, without a doubt, be baptized and become a member. This is the kind of person we all need to be. Not necessarily in receiving the gospel as such, but we must be actively seeking for truth, or more truth. We must be searching to learn more about God, about his plan, about our responsibilities, and even simply about the world he created if we so choose. When we do this, when we are in a state of active search, it is then that the Lord reveals his truths unto us.

Just a note for my Mom, the little worry wart, ;) I'm fine and eating well... at lunch. The members truly feed us well, and although we only eat cookies for breakfeast and dinner, the lunches make up for the rest. >:D

Thank you everyone and thank you for your prayers and support. I'd hug you all, but that's a little difficult to do from here, so hug yourselves for me. :P

Your friendly laborer in the field,

Elder Angus

For all mail and packages, send to 

Elder Jess R Angus

Caixa Postal 13008

Porto Alegre - RS

CEP:91010-971

Brasil

Elders at the airport Wendy's (Elder Christiansen at front)

Me w/ Mission President and wife (Pres&Sis Wright)

The Elders of my CTM district

The CTM View at night

My whiteboard drawing of Christ

My CTM companion on his bed (Elder Davidson)

My CTM district + Irmã Menezes

Me w/ CTM President and wife (Pres&Sis Dane)

Our new House and Eldder Tenório

Arrived safely

Casa Branca

Ôla!

Elder Angus here on another great addition of the wandering missionary. So, I'm finally out into the field! It's kind of crazy down here but one thing is for sure, this place seems more like america than Brazil. If the people here spoke English, you wouldn't tell the difference. So, I am now in my first area. The interesting part, though, is that it also happens to be a new area. What I've been told is that the town of Ivoti has never had missionaries before, and that they've held a special fast in order to receive them. :D Que coisa boa! There are only about twenty members in the branch here, but they are all really strong members and about half of them speak descent English. You'd think that would help me, but in reality, my entire life right now is in Portuguese. At times I, I even think of a Portuguese word first, label it as English, then speak the English equivalent as Portuguese. X( But the good thing is that although my language system is a complete wreck right now, I can still teach. 

So, since this area is entirely new, we're doing a lot of contacting people. We've been "knocking on doors" (which is actually clapping at gates) and making a lot of street contacts so we can find people to teach. The funny thing is that nobody here knows who missionaries are, so you'll be standing on a street and see hundreds of people stare or take double takes at you with confusion in their eyes. I don't blame them though. Usually its not normal to be walking around on a hot day with a shirt on here, let alone pants and shoes as well. We also just got a new house to stay in, so we literally have nothing in the house but two mattresses, two lawn chairs, a bathroom + shower, and a sink (which we barely finished installing this morning). But its all a fun experience.

There is one family I really like so far. We encounterd a man, Michael, on the street and he said we could visit him. When we went to visit him though, he wasn't there. However, his Mom and sister were, and when we taught them the first lesson, I could see on their faces that they liked it and they wanted to learn more. My mom has been worried about her talk this week and has been desperately asking me to say why I chose to leave on a mission. The awnser is this, that I love to see other people when they are happy. The gospel we have to teach is a powerful tool that brings families closer, and people closer to Heavenly Father. This naturally brings people, like me, great happiness in their lives, a happiness you can see in their smiles and their behavior. This is something priceless, and something that brings me great joy as well. 

Good Luck on your talk Mom and thanks everyone for your love and support. Iforgot to bring my photos and info with me today, so expect them next week. Just know that there are no gaurantees the current mission adress will work, unless you're using the one that goes to the post office box. Love you all, and stay sweet!

Elder Angus