Pleasant Field

Where in the world is Jess Robert Angus?

Brazil!!!! :P Just kidding. Read ahead.

Are you writing to other people each week?

Just you and the mission president. Just that I don't read, nor do I type very fast. What's worse is that the little time I have on the computer isn't enough to practice. :P

What happened to the woman who you wrote about last week?

Don't know. I'll ask my last companion next time I see him, but the last thing I heard is she would be going to church this last Sunday. We shall see.

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Campo Bom. Beyond a phrase meaning literally "good field," it also happens to be where our hero has found himself in the continuation of his grand adventure. In video games, large fields normally hint at the use of horses or transport, but for me, it's still all on foot. But there's no use complaining, because the walking will help me when I get home, seeing as I no longer have a means of transport... :P (I still can't believe someone bought my van)

Anyway, new area, new people, new companion. Elder Caetano is from a small town in Pará, Brasil, and has just about as much time as I do in the mission. He's been having troubles with a few "dead" (homesick) missionaries and hasn't been able to get a lot done in the last few transfers, so when I arrived, we got straight to work. Now, when I say work, I mean we went crazy with contacts and looking for new investigators. The best part is, we got more than we expected, with time to spare.

The best part about having so many people to teach is that each one has his own story. One was a young man in his twenties who had passed through a lot of difficulties. A few day's before we arrived, his life plunged into a downward spin, losing job, friends, health, and hope. Finally, he decided that he needed to return to God and ask for his help, knowing he couldn't get through without it. Then, a few hours later, two young men in formal wear knocked at his door. When we taught him, I could feel the spirit really strongly, and I knew not only that he had accepted our message, but felt he would do all that he could to follow it.

Him, like many others, is one of those whose prayers God has answered, and in whose answer I've had the pleasure to take part. However, there are also many others who may not have asked in a time of need, but have been prepared to receive our message for a long time. Such is the case of a young woman whose door we knocked on. When we had first arrived, she immediately called us in, after which she informed us she was about to leave, so we conversed a little and marked to return. When we returned, we discovered that she'd actually been really nervous the first time because we were the first visitors she'd ever received, and not knowing what to say, the first thing that came to mind was "come in!" Nevertheless she let us sit down and we shared our message. By the end, she was teaching herself more than we were teaching her. We invited her to be baptized and she readily accepted. :D

Through the mission I've come to see many great works and wonders among mankind, but I'm glad to say that the great majority of them have been the changing minds and hearts of those I've had the pleasure to help and to teach.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support. I'll be needing them as I need to do my best in the time that I have left. So, until next time!

Elder Angus

Phrase of the week:

vai te catar (vaee chee kah-tar) Slang meaning "scram" or "beat it." In fact, it literally means "go pick-off ticks from yourself." Hopefully the ticks aren't as abundant on humans as they are on the dogs. 

Higher Motives

You mentioned Carnival in your last letter.  What is that?

It's a holiday where people fill the streets with sin. Partying all night long wearing practically nothing, drinking, shouting, etc. Luckily, this only gets completely unbearable in Rio de Janeiro and in New Orleans (yes, that's in the USA)

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Hey everyone.

This week was pretty interesting, especially when nothing goes as planned. If you could take a look at my planner, you'll see that almost everything was crossed out, including our alternative ideas. We walked a lot, we achieved very little, but never the less, we found some very special people just when they needed it.

One of them I must tell you about. We had received a reference the other day from a member in another ward. We called the man, marked to go there on Thursday, and arrived for the appointment to find the house completely empty. Ready to move on to our second plan, we felt that we should knock on the neighbor's door, where a young woman responded. She told us that she "already congregated in another church" but would be interested in receiving our message. She asked us to be quick about it because she had another commitment. So, we sat out front, and we tried to teach a quick message of the restoration. Instead, we ended up teaching two hours and answering the best questions I'd ever heard from any investigator. At the end of the lesson, she went to her room and grabbed her diary, where she showed us the goals that she'd made and asked God to help fulfill. Among them was one that said simply "find the true church and attend every week." Then, with tears in her eyes, she thanked us for helping her find an answer to her prayers. She told us that she'd knowingly let her commitment pass by because this was more important, and she needed to know.

This among many other experiences helped me remember that even when the world seems to darken around us, God is still beside us and continues to guide us in his work. When I left that house, I felt the spirit stronger than I ever had before, and I know that everything we teach is true, through and through.

Sorry, my time just ran out. Thanks for everything! I just got informed I'll be transferred again tomorrow, so we'll see where I end up. Until next time!

Elder Angus

Word:

aeroporto de mosquito (air-oh-por-toh gee moh-skee-toh) Meaning bald head ;P (airport for mosquitoes)

References from God

What is the main reason for the inactivity of the members there?

Normally it's from something another member did or said, or simply because the only friendship they had at church was the missionaries, and after they left, they didn't have any more support.

Did your baptism for Vera go through?

Yes!!!!!!!!! Photo!!!!!

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Normally, people to teach comes from your own efforts. 1) References from Members 2)References from Investigators 3)Street Contacts and Tracting. However, there are those rare moments where your future investigator in fact goes out looking for you. These we call references from God, and they're probably the best you'll ever get. This week, we got a really special one, but I will tell more in a little bit.

We are finally getting into fall weather.  The temperatures are always rapidly changing and people all over are catching colds. This includes the missionaries as well. :/ However, luckily we haven't gotten anything more than a runny nose. :) On top of that, Carnival happened and ended this week, which means the slack has finally stopped and everyone returns to work and to school. (Luckily Nothing really happens here during carnival, but I've heard it gets really bad in some places) So, finally the endless frustrations of vacationing investigators has ended, and now we just have to catch them when they're actually at home. :P 

But this week brought some pretty great experiences. One of these was the baptism of Vera. Over the last week, we were helping her make the last minute preparations for the baptism, and she accepted each challenge that we gave to her. Until now, she's only gone twice to church, but already understands everything we taught,  made new friends at church, and even offered to give us lunch each month! Of all the people I've helped teach and baptize, she is one who was open and willing to accept the gospel of Christ and live it. The baptism was really spiritual and turned out excellent, including the guitar number done by my companion. 

Another special experience was that reference from God I mentioned. Saturday night, the other two Elders were at the chapel, waiting to teach their investigators, when a young couple and their daughter approached the building. "Hi," they said, "We're new here and we're looking for a new church to attend." Of course, I can only imagine how many beats the Elders' hearts skipped when they heard that, so they chated and got their number. That next morning, we called them and invited them to church that same day, and lo and behold, they came! They payed perfect attention, participated in all the classes, and enjoyed every minute of it! The family is so excellent, my companion and I almost invited them to be baptized together with Vera, but we all knew it'll have to wait. (Let's see about next week ;P ) With them, and a few others, our group of investigators is growing with some really excellent people. Like those packets of Hawaiian punch, we just need to add water.

Oh, good. Since I have time to write a little more, I'll leave a short message. In my studies, I've been recognizing how truly everything that exists and was created by God testifies of God and of Christ. Even the sun, the moon, and the stars in their regular motions testify that there is a God. The more we learn, as much about the plan of our Heavenly Father, we come to see even more purpose in Christ's sacrifice, our relationship to him and our Father, and the great potential we have yet to achieve. Since I could spend a long time on this subject, I guess I'll just leave it at that.

  

Thanks, and until next time,

Elder Angus

Word of the week:

cuscu (koos-koo) Meaning dog. This is a word they only use in the south, as the usual word is cachorro (kah-show-hoo) I guess strong southern accents aren't something found only in the states. :P

Photo:

-Baptism of Vera

Dividing Time

Where do most of the missionaries from there go on their mission?

Most serve missions in Brazil, but here are a few that go foreign.

Are you in a very big ward?More or less. here are 600 members, but only 150 are active. :/ But that will change.

Do they have more then one ward in the city of Porto Alegre?Yes. I don't know about the south, but the northern part has about five or more. Porto Alegre is really big, like Denver.

note: sorry for spelling errors. the keyboard here is broken :(

ox

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Our area is strangely divided. Basically, it looks like a pair of sunglasses, because there are two huge land-masses connected by a very thin straight. So, this week we've been splitting our time up between the two of them. In the last few weeks, we passed most of our time on the land closest to us. After a lot of work with little success, we finally decided to pass some time on the unknown side. Fortunately, we saw very great rewards.

Among the people we found, there were some very special ones. Some expressed they had been waiting for some time, others that they had never thought about it but felt they'd been needing this for quite some time. One of them, however, was truly special. When passing by a house of a return missionary (returned four weeks ago) he gave us a name and address of his godfather, and then simply stated, "It's time." So, feeling ready to go, we passed by the house. The man at the door greeted us and invited us in, beginning a very long conversation about his life and the happiness he searched for. He said that he has traveled about the world several times, looking for something to change him, or fill the emptiness inside. But, every time he returns home, he realizes that nothing has changed.

So, when he paused in thought, we were moved by the spirit and declared to him, "John, the hole in your life is something that can only be filled through the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Such a gospel that we carry, and we testify that our message will not only make you change, it will make you complete." After that, we began to teach, reading scriptures and testifying without end, and left that powerful lesson with a baptismal commitment, a few references, and a really powerful peace. This man has a lot of potential, and all he needed was someone to send us his way.

The scriptures always remind us that as long as our brothers and sisters are outside of the church, they will always be missing something, whether they've recognized it or not. Whatever the case, we have been greatly blessed and therefore have the great responsibility to invite others to receive the same.

Thanks for everything, and until Next time.

Elder Angus

wotw:

tempo (tehm-poo) Meaning both time and weather, being also the two elements we cannot control... yet. ;P

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.