#23 - SAM'S CLUB!? MCDONALDS!? BURGER KING!? (10/23/23)

 E ai todos! Tudo bem? Espero que vocês tiveram uma semana incrível esta semana passada e que vocês vão ter uma semana marivilohsa esta semana!

6 Elders in our area now

This past week was a bit different from other weeks in regards to having a division for like 3 days in a row! Palmeira is a newer area in the mission and about an hour from Ponta Grossa where the majority of our district resides. So when Elder Hogge and Elder Loertscher went to Ponta Grossa, I stayed with Elder Cardoso and we were working 2 areas for a bit. It was honestly a really good division.

The smolder

In other news, heres the update for this week!

ELDER MORTENSON! [comp from the MTC...they arrived in Brazil together]

Monday - Got to visit some of the stores around the area and found a rubiks cube and nutella with a picture of a significant place in Brazil! (Also got trapped in a storm while trying to visit a member.... yep... I got drenched)

Tuesday - We met a lot of new people today to teach and also made some really good fried rice! For those that don't know me, I love making fried rice and it is usually a go to for me. Since being here, Elder Loertscher and I have been experimenting in the kitchen and it has been really fun to cook and try new recipes.

Fried Rice

Wednesday - We recieved a message from President Ribero (1st counselor in the Curitiba Presidency) that he would come and paint our house, so while Elder Hogge and Loertscher were leaving for Ponta Grossa, Elder Cardoso and I started cleaning up and moving all the stuff to the middle of the house. While cleaning, I found out we have 5 different languages of the Book of Mormon here! (And the only ones I understand are english and portuguese😅) After cleaning, we went over to Elder Cardosos area of Palmeira and kept on running into this one guy on a bike like 5 times. I'm not sure if he is interested in the church or just likes talking to us🤣 We also invited about 3 people to be baptized and 1 accepted! WOOHOO!

5 books of mormon (idk all the languages)

Thursday - We did a little bit of teaching today before we had to leave for Curitiba and during one of our lessons, a older lady kissed me on the cheek! I literally looked over at Elder Cardoso and he couldn't help but grin! We then got on the bus for 2 hours and headed to Curitiba. On the way I found out that Sam's Club exist here! Later that night we got some food at Burger King and it tasted pretty much the same as the one in the states! We then got to stay at the Staff house and it was super chique! (fancy in portuguese) It had 4 bathrooms, a giant living room, a huge kitchen... It was like a super nice New York apartment!

The force!

Friday - Went to the temple today and had Zone Conference where I was asked to play piano (shoutout to Sister Whittington, I did in fact need to play piano on my mission😆). Also, I am not sure how zone conference works for other missions but ours is only about 2 hours long where we recieve training from our Sister Training Leaders and our AP's and finally President will speak with us. My biggest take aways was the idea of teaching effective lessons which should 1. Break the ice and find a need 2. teach with the spirit 3. be simple 4. use the Book of Mormon 5. have the right invite 6. testify of Christ and promise blessings. As missionaries we never know how much time we have for a lesson so we try to teach as simple and clear as we can to meet the needs of people ("Teach people, not lessons"). Other take aways were Jacob 1:19 (showing the importance of working as a missionary) and how our mission president and their wife are here to help us become who is mentioned in our Patriarchal blessing. After Conference we then missed our bus getting back home so we stayed in Curitiba and got some Mcdonalds (also very good)

zone conference

Saturday - Had a baptism interview for Maiara and Jefferson (a mother and her son) and they passed! They then invited us over for a dinner that night and we may or may not have gotten home past 9:30 because of it... we messaged President!😅

Long day

Sunday - BAPTISM OF MAIARA AND JEFFERSON! Right after church we had an amazing baptism and I was also asked to play piano for it. It was awesome to see 2 more of God's children coming back into the embrace of God and make their first covenant with him. Alma 26:30, how great was my joy! We then went around visiting people with the President of the Branch, President John, and we found some members who hadn't been to church in about a year! We hope to see them next Sunday.

Baptism!

I have also had a lot more time to watch this last General Conference and here are some of my take aways...

- Reminder that in coming days, we need the Holy Ghost to survive spiritually (this is why I am serving a mission)

- Become a good and Faithful Servant, Matthew 25:21 (SHOUTOUT TO GARY B. SABIN HALLMARKS TALK!)

- "Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal" (Quentin L. Cook)

- "If you have not chosen the kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you have chosen" (Maxwell in christopher Waddell talk)

Lunch with the Ward Council

I hope that everyone is doing well and has had a chance to watch and rewatch the conference talks from this past conference. I truly testify that all the individuals that spoke in conference were directed by the Holy Ghost and God and that each one of us has potential beyond our comprehension. It is only through putting our faith in God that we will attain this potential and find the most joy we can in this life. Love you all! Ate Mais!

-Elder Fisher