Boa tarde tudo mundo! Como vocês estão? Como foi a semana para vocês? Foi Ótimo? Foi maravilhoso? Espero que sim e que vocês estejam bem! [Good afternoon everyone! How are you? How was the week for you? It was amazing? It was wonderful? I hope so and that you are well!]
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| Member lunch |
How's it going guys! As always, it feels like time just flies by on the mission. It is weird to think that in 1 week it will be Christmas once again! I can still think about last Christmas finishing finals at BYU and then going home to see family for the Holidays. It will be a while until I spend another Christmas with family but I will have the rest of my life and eternity to celebrate with him. For now, I can help the people of Brazil who are looking for the joy that comes from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And speaking of that, here is my update for this last week: |
Nice pic for mom |
Monday - We had President and Sister Bikman over to do interviews and check on the house. I learned a lot of handy cleaning tips from Sister Bikman and for once, we had a really clean house!😅 I forget as missionaries we don't have monthly cleaning inspections like the apartments at BYU! I also spoke with President and other than talking about Engineering, math, and building bridges, he taught me the importance of counseling with others. A lot of the time, misunderstandings happen that could be solved with better counseling and counseling is a part of life. It's something we all need to have to grow our relationship with others and have more charity for others as we may not think as they do. It reminded me of something my dad does with my mom on their wedding anniversary. He always asks, "How am I doing?". Even something as simple as this can be life changing and improve a relationship! |
| Lunch with the Elders |
Tuesday - Things today were a little slow as a lot of people weren't answering their doors or responding to our emails. At one moment, Elder Da Silva and I were sitting against a wall and two random kids appeared and gave us cookies. It honestly caught me off guard but was really sweet of them and helped me remember our purpose as missionaries. We are successful missionaries based on our DEDICATION and feeling of the Holy Ghost and it wasn't until later that day that we went to visit our recent convert Ana that one of the kids that lives close to Ana ran up to us and asked to be baptized! Truly, God works in ways that we may not understand but he always knows what's best for us. So for now, we are helping Abana prepare to follow the example of Jesus Christ! When we arrived in the house after work hours, I also watched the Christmas Devocional that happened a few weeks ago and some parts I loved were "Christ was born to save" and we need to "Live in Spirit of Halleluhah" (idk how to spell!) |
| Bday cake with the boys [Mom note: Happy 20th bday!] |
Wednesday - During our companion study today (we didn't have a mission devocional bc we had a special devotional on Friday) Elder Loertscher was using matches to explain the Holy Ghost. I then showed a cool trick I learned with Elder Hall of how to flick matches. Note to self: Don't teach Elders how to do this because they will continue to do it and may or may not burn one of your shirts!🤣 We had Cris arrive today to help us confirm people for church and for a special Christmas lunch after sacrament.  |
| Cris with the boys! |
We ended up knocking some doors and found this man named Adam and to confirm his name I asked, "Adam as in Adam and Eve" and he responded "yep, we got Adam but we don't got Eve!". We got a chuckle out of that and ended up inviting him to Church (he was busy so maybe another week!) To finish off the day, Elza prepared cake and ice cream for us to celebrate my birthday and not gonna lie, being 20 is weird. I admit, IM OLD😅. Elza also ended up giving me this basket of sweets (which I think Elder Cardoso has eaten more than me) and Cris also suprized me with some chocolate. I truly appreciated their gifts and birthday wishes. Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes! Sorry if you wrote on my timeline, I can't respond on Facebook as a missionary but know I truly am thankful for all the birthday wishes! Here's to being an adult and no longer a teen!
I like ice cream! ELZA BASKET!
Thursday - We only had a few hours to work in Palmeira and my goal was to invite Beatriz to be baptized. We ended up finding a time when we could speak with her at her cousins house and originally I thought we would just speak with her but we ended up teaching the entire family! So, following the spirit, we read about Christ visiting the Americas and baptism and I kinda invited the entire family to be baptized! We ended up marking a date with Kaila and Beatriz and Maria accepted our help to be baptized one day! It was both nerve racking but awesome! (Thanks Holy Ghost!) We also traveled to Curitiba to arrive for the Devocional the next day and when we arrived at the office, Elder Araújo asked me "do you want to go sing with us?". Not knowing what I was getting myself into I said yes and we ended up singing Christmas carols in portuguese, spanish, and english for a childrens hospital! It was truly touching to see all the kids and see the Christmas spirit aluminate from them and the people singing. It was after this singing that I truly felt like it "was beginning to look a lot like Christmas!"🎄
AND THEN, Elder Araújo said that they were going to Sam's club and invited us to go with them. We ended up getting an uber with a lady that speak german, english, spanish, and portuguese. Its so cool to see all the kinds of people we can meet around the world. But the best part, I WAS IN A SAM'S CLUB AGAIN!!! AHAHAHAH!
INSIDE SAMS CLUB (Elder Da Silvas first time!)
Friday - Started the morning visiting the temple and for whatever reason.... I forgot my wallet and recommend😅 President ended up showing up and helping me enter the temple. We then had our special MISSION CHRISTMAS DEVOCIONAL with a lot of musical numbers. I was also asked to sing with Sister Bikman, Sister Hall, and Elder Hanosek. So without practicing before hand, we sand "Angels we have heard on High" in portuguese. It was awesome! We also had a quick lesson on what we would see if we had a day with Christ and truly, we would see many miracles! I would love to spend a day with Christ! I also met a family that knew my brother when he served in Curitiba South. Ended up getting some McDonalds before going back to palmeira and heard some Michael Bubble music. Let's just say I ate my food a little slowly😉
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| Mission Devocional |
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| You remember them Sean? |
Saturday - Listened to the Conference Talk, "In the path of their duty" and my biggest take away is Helaman 15:5-6. We all have a duty to fulfill that is equally important to others and sometimes, the greater duty may not recieve the greatest praise as others but it is still as vital as others. A funny moment that happened today is when a bird pooped on me again during the mish (tally: 2). We were trying to find this former member of the Church and a bird pooped on me in the middle of my speech. I won't forget that awkward moment! Moments later though, another miracle happen when 2 kids ran up to me and said they finally had 8 years of age and want to be baptized! It turns out they were the Kids that Elder Hogge told me about and now we are helping them following the example of Christ. So... thanks bird? |
| Bird poop |
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83 PEOPLE!
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Sunday - Today we hit our new record of 83 people at church!!!! WOOHOO!! We invited everyone to participate in church and the lunch afterwards. We had this fried rice that was really good! We also had the baptizm of Laysa and it was awesome to have a lot of people to witness the baptizm and learn a little more about The Restored Church of Jesus Christ. Truly was a remarkable day with the presence of the Holy Ghost. Later that night, there was a parade with PAPA NOEL (Santa). I may or may not took some pictures and acted like a kid.....😅 |
| Family of Laysa |
Truly this last week was full of miracles! It's funny how we may start the week feeling one way and thinking the week won't be very productive but then God knows better and places along our way people and things that need our help as instruments in the hands of God. I truly bear my testimony that God places people in our way for a reason and that he knows better than us. He has a plan for not only us but those we meet. We just need to trust and press forward with faith to be prepared when God needs us to be in the path of our Duty.
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| Elder Cardoso napping |
I love you all and hope you are well! If you ever need anything, let me know! I'm praying for all of you and know that God is always carrying you in your difficulties and afflictions. God has never and will never leave you. Ate mais!
-Elder Fisher