Nuclear

Your last letter was a day late.  What happened? 

The temple is closed on Monday's, so P-day is on Tuesday when we go to the temple.

How was your visit to the temple?

It was good. I learned a lot, and I loved the new film. I'd like to know how it is in English now.

 

Do you ever have ward activities?

Sometimes. Here there are very few places that are on top of that. However, there will be a few this week, so it'll be exciting.

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Something I've come to love and enjoy is talking with returned missionaries. When you get to talk a while, you begin to understand the two years they served, and as well, all the things they learned that helped them overcome the greatest difficulties that we face in the mission field. Recently, we learned a technique the members call "nuclear," being that as one reactive particle excites many others, one new investigator leads to thousands. Simply, everyone we teach, we have a goal to leave the house with three other names of people to teach. That way, we have more success in finding those who will receive us, and those that will accept the gospel. 

This week was a trail run of new ideas. We were running about all over the place, some things worked, some things didn't. Some things brought the spirit with great force, others failed misserably. But in the end, the future looks very bright. This week we found some excellent people to teach, and we saw very excelent people finally make the next steps towards Christ. 

One of these people is Vera. We'd been teaching her quite some time, actually, but she was always very special. Ever since the first lesson, she's had a testimony of the truthfulness of the church and the gospel. Beyond that, every time we pass, she's told us another story about how she's been touched or somethings improved because of the gospel. The only problem was she never went to church, and never accepted a baptismal date. So a few days ago, we passed by and taught about Christ's example and the path he set. The spirit was really strong in the lesson, and following inspiration, I challenged her to be baptized the 9th of March. Surprised, she announced that this was the same day her father had been baptized, and felt like that would be a worthy goal, and so she accepted! Now she's working hard to get there, including going to church, which she finally did this week for the first time! 

There are many more stories to tell as well, but unfortunately, my typing speed has never improved. Oh well. Just let me say that if we act with faith, surrendering all of our will and belief to that of God, we will see things happen we never thought possible, and that is a promise.

Thanks for everything!

Elder Angus

Word of the week:

Internet (eent-air-neh-chee) Yes, it is what it looks like. In Portuguese there are many words that they don't bother to translate, so it's a little silly hearing the talk sometimes.

Photos:

-Temple of Porto Alegre-RS

-Me, my companion, and other Elders eating at the Burger King. (It's been a while)

Treasure Hunting

How are you?

Tudo Bem (too-doo beng) All is well. Everyone says this, as much as a response as a greeting, just like we say "good morning."

Do you ever use a bike to get around or catch the bus?

Bike, no. Bus, Yes! Especially when the area is huge, we catch the public buses from place to place. If you remember in Mexico, we took the bus into the city. Here the buses are almost the same. Unfortunately, we'll never have bikes because of a few missionaries that did stupid things on them. :(

What is your companion like?

He's really cool and a little bit crazy. But, I like crazy. He is a heavy metal fan and loves to play guitar, and his skills are through the roof. He's from Rafael Castillos, Argentina (close to the capital, Buenos Aires) He's been in Brazil for 6 months now. He's 20. 

You mentioned the area you are in has had difficulties.  What kind of difficulties are you talking about?

Well, it was more about a bunch of missionary fubekas(slackers) that didn't do anything. Basically, there were a lot of missionaries that passed through here that were in the last months of the mission, so they didn't do squat. So, we're here to help the area come back into action!

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If you ever noticed, the greatest and rarest treasures are very well protected, and many times we will have to pass through the booby traps just to get to that one perfect treasure. The mission field is almost the same. Many times we pass through the worst of storms and the longest difficulties before we have that one chance to help someone who has been truly prepared. This week that happened a lot, and always turned out well in the end.

Fortunately, one of the things that's no longer a problem is the heat, as it is finally starting to cool back down. What has been a problem, however, is the people. After a year and a half, I've received so many excuses that I could list them all off. I'm never at home, I work 24/7, I'll go if it's not raining or if no one's visiting me, etc. There are many other excuses that the general population list off. Sometimes I just get a little sad that there exist so many people who have been so accustomed to where they are that they no longer desire to search or work just a little to find something greater, better, and happier. However, there are some that do, and when we find them, it makes it all worth it.

Just yesterday, for example, we passed by the house of a reference we received. She's the grandmother of one of our best investigators.  We'd only made quick contact with her before, but now we had the opportunity to pass by and share the message of the Restoration. Luckily, we even got the investigators father to participate too, and the lesson was beautiful. The whole time we talked, they had their eyes and ears focused completely on us, asking great questions, and truly understanding all that we said. The spirit was really strong while we were there. As we left, they couldn't say anything more than Thanks for everything. Moments like these help us remember that we should never become discouraged, because if we continue to work our best, we'll find those who are willing to make the effort to change for the better.

Sorry that my time seems to be getting shorter. Today I finally get to go to the temple, and I need to run to catch the bus. However, I wish everyone an excellent week. Thanks for everything!

Until next we speak/read.

Elder Angus

word of the week:

Corrido (koh-hee-doo) Race, or rushed.

photos:

- My companion and I

Another Jungle

I seem to have found myself lost in another jungle. The trees are all concrete, the roads almost all paved, and the walking distances just get longer and longer.

Hello again my friends, as we begin another adventure with Elder Angus, this time lost in the wild city of Gravataí. With him on this journey is the powerful Elder Quiroga, of Argentina, talented guitarist and expert at testimony bearing. The only needed change is his accent still needs a little work, but he'll get over that soon enough. Here in Gravataí, I continue as a district leader, but now I'm over three companionships, in which all of them are training. That basically means that we'll have the added help of renewed motivations and new ideas to help this district get up and moving again. This is gonna be good!

The area we're working in has had a lot of difficulties the last few transfers, so now it's almost like opening a new area, spending almost all the time making contacts and looking for new people. Although we started with almost no one, we've already got plenty of new people to teach. Even on the first day, we had such a good day as to find many elect investigators, simply waiting to understand and learn. One of them in particular, made me feel even happier then the rest.

This young man was about 18 years old, and was a good friend of a church member. He was already given as a reference from that friend, but  the other Elders never caught him at home. Finally, as we passed by in the front, we caught him just as he was walking in. So, he invited us in, we sat down, and began to chat. He began to explain about his life, the difficulties he'd past, and then how he found a church that helped him out a lot, and all the people that supported him each day. Because of this he already had a great faith in God. So, we began to teach. We taught the restoration, and the gospel of Christ. We taught of God's love and the desire for us to be clean and return for him, and for this he established his one true church. We talked for a while, and when we stopped, we asked him how he was feeling. He paused a little, thought, and then said simply "A peace. In fact, I'm a little nervous because I'd never felt like this before. It's almost as if God just took everything bad out of my soul and replaced it with good. Is this supposed to happen?" To this we responded, smiling ear to ear, "Yes, this happens whenever God testifies the truth of his message. He is helping you know that truth for yourself." 

After so much time in the mission, you learn to trust in all of the Lord's promises. Whether great or small, every single promise the Lord makes, he will fulfill if we do our part and keep our side of the deal. If we testify of truth from our very soul, we have the Lord's promise that the Holy Ghost will testify of that truth, and unless that person rejects the feelings he receives, he will know and recognize that that truth comes from God. Testify, and know that the Lord thy God is with thee, confirming every word of truth in the heart of every listening ear. 

I'm glad for this opportunity to work, and although the time I have is running at a cheetah's pace, I'll try to do as much as I can. Thanks for the prayers and the thoughts, I couldn't get by without them. So, until next time,

Elder Angus

Phrase of the week:

outro lado do céu (oh-troo lah-doo doo seh-oo) The other side of heaven.

Hanzel and Gretle's Revenge

Are you enjoying the nice warm weather there?

No. If it were nice, I'd enjoy it. However, 100 degree weather is far from nice. ;) If you could, I'd appreciate a little of your weather in a box.

How can you shed a layer of hair?

You guessed it, buzz cut!

 

What is the date of your next transfer and how many weeks do they go  between transfers?

The next transfer is TOMORROW. Each transfer is six weeks, and I only have five transfers left of mission service. So, I'm probably going home on the 28 of August (if there's a five week transfer) or the 2 of September.

7 MONTHS

Anyway....

- § - - - - - - - - - - - - - >)    l°°l                      l°°l                                

I feel as if I just got on Hansel and Gretel's bad side, because the best way to describe the conditions here is a state-sized oven. Really, heat isn't that bad for me, but right now, as my homeland is hitting record colds, we're passing through record heat over here. Everybody's dying, especially the missionaries.

OK, we're not dying yet, because Sister Wright (the Mission President's wife) has got us all so full of water we'd have to go a week without water before that happens. What's sad is that although we're ready to work, heat like this chases everyone away. But with a little work, we were finally able to chase down a few good people.

One of these people was the mother of our other investigator. We'd received as a reference, or in truth contacted her when we were taking her son to church and he wanted to stop by to grab a little cake before church. :3 When we first went to teach her, it seemed as if she had always been waiting for us. Although she claims not to learn very quickly, we taught almost all of the first three lessons, and she understood all of it! Not only that, she has an honest desire to know the truth and have a complete certainty of that. To show that, when we returned, she told us the story of how a good friend of hers warned her about receiving "the Mormons," and advised her to reject further visits of this "devil worshiping cult." Of course, this wasn't the first time I'd heard that false rumor, but always fear that others may believe it. However, in this case, our investigator simply looked her friend in the eye and said, "No, I don't believe they are. I felt better with them than I did anywhere else, and if them helping me to come unto Christ is wrong, I believe we believe differently." When she related us the story, she was still innocently confused about why her friend said that, so we simply asked her to ask God for an answer.

Well, time flies and you never see where it's going. This week is transfers again, and I have no idea where I'm going. So I guess that will wait until the next episode of...

Elder Angus

Potw:

Sei lá (sae lah) I don't have a clue

Educating Missionaries

How are you doing?   Good.

Did you get your baptisms this week?   Two of them! 

Live in three what?  Last week Jess wrote about 2 brothers they met in the park and when they went to visit them at their home he found them living in humble circumstances and that they live in three.  I asked him what live in three meant.

Three people. aka the three live together.

What do they do for their work?
Recycling. Basically, they go around the city and open all the trash cans looking for cans, plastic, etc. Then they sell large bags of them to a collector or business.

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Flip-flops are an essential element of Brazilian culture. They are a fashion statement, they run and jump in them, walk around the house in them, and  above all, use them to educate rebellious children. Recently, the missionaries in our house have decided to adapt them into fighting tools to "educate" one another. Basically that means that in the minutes before bedtime there is an all out flip-flop war in the dark. If I didn't know better, I'd say we're all crazy. However, I've learned the secret to life: What we call crazy is many times unique and therefore normal, and what we call normal is the exact oposite. :P 

Anyway, with that thought off my chest, this week was really good.  I had the opportunity to travel and do divisions with the Elders in my district. That means a view of the mountains of Santo Antônio and the beautiful beaches in Torres. Beyond that, it also meant learning even more from the other Elders in the District. In fact, during these divisions, I've taught two among the best lessons I've taught on my mission. 

The first was a nice old couple. They were parents of one of the Elder's other investigators, and although the mother had interest, the father stated clearly that 'he was Catholic and would die Catholic.' However, we conversed awhile and he sat down to listen. Then, we went, and we taught not by our own voice, but as the Holy Ghost directed us. We taught about God's plan, about the family, and about baptism's great importance. By the end of the lesson, the spirit was so strong that everyone, especially the father, was in tears. He told us he'd never felt so good, and committed to be baptized. Being that this man was a stuborn Italian, such a drastic change was so incredible that I, the other Elder, and the wife were all completely shocked. Just goes to show the power of God. 

In the other area, we were teaching a couple where the woman was a less-active member. In the lesson, we spoke simply about the restoration of God's primitive church, and about baptism as Christ was. Then, we began answering so many questions, most of which I don't even remember how I responded, but in the end we knelt down, and the husband offered a beautiful prayer, expressing his great gratitude, and even expressing his desire to know the truth and be baptized. At the end of the prayer, the other Elder and I were smiling ear to ear with joy. I hope I'll be around for their wedding and baptism. 

This week we had two baptisms! There were many complications that the Devil threw our way, even to the point where one investigater had desisted and decided he didn't want any more. However, we did our best to fight the Devil off, and we helped two more of our celestial family enter into the baptismal font. I'm excited for the work and glad to see it moving forward. 

whoops! Time is almost out! Thanks for everything; prayers, honorable mentions, worries, letters, candy, etc. I'll do my best to retribute.

Anyway,

Elder Angus

Phrase of the week.

Não queiro não (naugh kei-roh naugh) No, I don't want to(it).

Photos:

- Baptism of Rosa

- Baptism of John

Against the River Flow

Have you had any baptisms lately?

Not recently, but this week we have up to three. I hope they all follow through.

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This week we were blessed with cooler weather, and that weather brought with it a plenitude of rain, and with the rain came an notified switch from streets to rivers. If anyone remembers the classic game 'Frogger', they'll understand the type of proselyting we need to do. XP Oh well, it's better than the burning sunlight.

Anyway, this week involved a lot of sunlight, a lot of walking, and very few lessons taught. Recently we've been running into a wall as some of our investigators begin to cease visits and or progress, and new investigators are in rare supply. As a result, we pass a lot of time walking in the empty streets of Osório. However, we do have great blessings that come along-side these tribulations, as all of the investigators that we have been able to teach are progressing rapidly, and all of them preparing to be baptized in these next few weeks! This week will be a special blessing, because three people are preparing to be baptized that hadn't been progressing for the last few months, then suddenly started booking it to the finish line. Their stories have already been scattered across my letters from time to time, but now their stories will be getting even better.

But, as far as cool stories go, I'll talk about a few others. In church this week, we had a ton of investigators, including two brothers in jeans and sweaters. We'd contacted them first downtown, sitting on one of the park benches, where they had expressed a great desire to follow Christ. When we passed by their house on the other side of the city, we learned just how special they are. They live in three, and as my companion likes to put it, their house doubles in value with just our presence in the room. However, despite the circumstances, they are truly faithful, humble, and motivated. They walk through the whole city almost every day for their work, which rends near to nothing. But, when all is said and done, they were happy, and in search for something even better. The moment we began to teach, they accepted everything, and even began testifying to us how they already knew it was true. They accepted baptism and  will soon enter the waters they've always wanted to.

I guess I'll finish with one of their words. "If it wasn't for God, we'd have given up on life a long time ago. Because God is, our life has purpose."

Thanks for everything, and sorry I never have time to write more. 

Sincerely,

Elder Angus

Phrase of the week:

E aí (ee ah-EE) Meaning literally 'and then,' but commonly used to greet people. aka "Yo"

P.S. We totally taught Elvis this week! I knew he wasn't dead. :D

Who Turned Off the Dark?

What did you do for the Beginning of the New Year?

We ate at president Chiaki's house for dinner, then we went home and watched the fireworks at midnight. Unfortunately, champagne is against our beliefs, so we just drank grape juice. :P 

When you were teaching the new investigator, who talked a lot, did you get a chance to get a lesson in?

Kind of. What we did is to let him teach himself. Just say a few things and try to direct him into the right train of thought. ;) However, it's a lot more complicated than it sounds.

Fireworks are really a big thing in Brazil. For one, summer isn't complete without tons of randomly fired fireworks during the day. For another, every official holiday(Christams and New Years) means staying up til midnight and setting off all the mortars you've got. Officially, we missionaries have to sleep just as we always do. However, just as I could never sleep in a war zone, there was no way we'd be snoring in bed any of these nights. ;)

Anyway, although this season is full of some great memories and some wonderful opportunities, it also means a lot of difficulty in the missionary work. When it gets really hot around here, you can guarantee that everyone in the city has one, gone to the beach, or two, gone to the lake. So, the official population of the city falls somewhere around two, Elder Angus and his exhausted companion. So it goes to say that this week we knocked on a lot of doors with little or no success. But, we did however find a few golden families, all of which were truly prepared by God.

The first was one that I'd actually met before. We'd knocked on every door, in the rain, and we were rejected by everyone until we reached the last house. Once there, the woman shouted, "Oh, Elder! Come on in!" Beyond the fact that she already knew us, she said it all in English. :) Turns out that she was an English teacher that my second to last companion and I had helped out once. She told us that she was 'agnostic' but that she wasn't really able to decide because all of the different descriptions of God, who he is, and what he does just left her with doubt. So we sat, we talked a little while, and she showed this intense desire to know, as if she was simply waiting for someone to say simply, "God exists, and he loves you."

Another, although only a contact, was something really cool. A member was helping us do contacts yesterday, when we passed one of the richest houses I've seen in all the area. So, Elder dared me to try the contact, and I did. After chatting a little on the interphone, she came out front and we talked to her about the importance of the family and a little about the church. In return, she told us that this had been exactly what she'd been looking for. Although her husband was under the belief that "all churches are true," she was truly searching for one different, and one that could help her family be happier. When the holidays settle down, we'll start visiting with her and her family. Booyah!

Just to finish, I'll talk about one of the coolest things I saw happen. Basically, the Holy Ghost takes an active role in every life to help them do what's right. That role kicks in for all of those that are ready to follow his promptings. One of our investigators showed us this. When we arrived there to visit him, he said he knew we would come. Earlier, he'd passed in front of six churches he'd previously attended and was invited to, but something inside him told him to leave and keep going. So returning home, not knowing why, he got the feeling to stick around, because God would be "sending him his servants." Little later, we arrived at his doorstep. 

Anyway, gtg. Thanks for everything!

Elder Angus

wotw

desafio (des-ah-fee-oo) Challenge. Life's better when it's full of them.