 |
| [Mom note: Elder Fisher's sister pretended he was there for Christmas] |
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE FROM THE AMERICAN WHO IS HAVING HIS FIRST CHRISTMAS IN BRAZIL!!!!! Ngl its weird that instead of freezing, im tanning (but mostly burning😅). But whether your in Brazil or the States, Christmas is Christmas. A moment to remember the life of Christ and give thanks to him and our family that we have because of him.
 |
| Milk-shake |
In other news, heres the update on the week leading to Natal (Christmas)
Monday - All I have written for today is that I bought boots! Sadly they werent full blown country swing dance boots (dont worry guys, ill get them by the time I go swing dancing again) but it was both a bday and christmas gift to myself!
 |
| Chilling |
Tuesday - We were visiting our friend Daniel that speaks a little english and he asked me to pray in english. I think I was translating word for word portuguese to english and realized how much easier it is to speak and teach the gospel in portuguese then english (i hope after the mish I can do divisions with missionaries in the states to get some more practice with english🤣). We also visited the Cartório (a place that deals with government documents and marriage) to learn how to help Rosa marry with her spouse. We arrived and I asked, "How does marrying work?" and I think the lady thought we were talking about us😅 still working on the portuguese. Later that day when we visited Rosa, her nephew Laysa gave us some cookies that were as hard as a Brick! Almost lost my smile!
Cookies Pickles exist
Wednesday - Mission Devocional! We talked about the importance of obediance and always finding new people to teach as missionaries. And let me tell you, we found a lot of people when we did a Division with Elder Jenkins and Lizana! I got to work with Elder Jenkins one last time before he goes back home this week and ends the mission and we worked HARD! In one day, we hit our weekly goals of marking 6 people for baptism, made 50 contacts with a goal of 20, and inviting 10 people to be baptized! I also realized with Jenkins the covenant we make at baptism to share the gospel at every opportunity we can because we were talking with everyone. We have this mission to help everyone make a choice that can bless their life and without us, people may be faulting this peace that the gospel brings. Another funny moment is I tried to send a message to our friend Douglas that speaks and teaches english and I couldnt speak english at all. I kept on defaulting to portuguese!😆
 |
| JENKINS (before he goes home and ends his mission) |
Thursday - FINISHED READING THE BOOK OF MORMON BEFORE CHRISTMAS!!! WOOHOO! I was reading in both portuguese and english but I achieved my goal... time to start again! Today was really special because it was full of Christmas music... in ENGLISH! During our lunch, we heard Michael buble and "Text me merry christmas". We then worked with Douglas, Tayrone, and Arianne (Who teach english at KNN school) to sing Christmas carols in the town. It was awesome!
 |
| The singing group |
Friday - The morning was pretty rough. We had 3 people cancel on us, 2 batism dates drop, and people message us that they dont want to see the missionaries again. Even though this happen, I still think about what makes a successful missionary. Missionaries will always have challenges as we are fighting against Satan to save and help Gods children, but we shouldnt let ourselves get down but remember we are successful if we feel the spirit and have dedication to serve! It actually turned out okay because God always blesses us and we met some awesome people who also speak english! While we were visiting the supermarket today, we got a foto from Arianne who was having lunch there and I realized what my hair looks like from behind🤣 we also song again with Douglas and may or may not ordered a pizza and played some pool🙄😉
 |
| Back of my head (thanks Arianne) |
 |
| pizza! |
Saturday - A literal STORM during the morning while we were teaching and we were stuck there for a little bit. Luckly it cleared up when we finished cleaning and we could get back to working. I soon found out during lunch that my water bottle opened up and got my bag soaked! I ended up buying a towel to dry my bag and quickly passed the house to put my Bible in front of a fan to dry during the day. We also went to buy tickets to travel to Ponta Grossa the next day and Elder Da Silva said my drivers license photo looks like Tom Holland! Couldnt help but laugh🤣. The best moment of my day happened with our friend João. While we were teaching about the Book of Mormon, he explained that he recieved personal revelation that 2 american young men would visit him and teach him. Elder Jenkins and I found him on Wednesday and when he said this I couldnt help but feel the spirit and I knew that God was leading us to him and him to us. We invited him to church and he ended up coming! It was awesome!
 |
| STORM |
Sunday - woke up this morning with some bad news that our van driver couldnt work the van. We then acted fast and called to other people that have a van but no one responsed. We ended up telling our President of the Branch and Cris and we ended up moving the meeting to 10:30am. We then began driving to pickup people with Presidents car and Cris's car. Thanks to their help, we were able to bring people to church such as João and our friend Alexandro arrived out of no where! Truly God is blessing this branch! One other thought I have, when we were on the bus for Ponta Grossa, i read this talk titled "The Greatest Generation of Missionaries" and truly I understand that we are fighting against Satan and the importance of D&C 4:5. Even after the mission, we may be released from our calling, but not from the Church. We are preparing to raise the next generation and bless all that we can which is why we need to have our eyes on the "glory of God"
 |
| Mormon?! |
Truly as a mission, I have more love for God and his children. I realize the calling I have to help people find more peace and help people live with their families forever. We are bringing salvation and love for all which is also the importance of this season. I truly hope you all have a Merry Christmas and remember Christ this season.
 |
I actual dont know the name of this drink |
Feliz Natal!
 |
| Christmas Day |
 |
| Games on Natal |
 |
lunch with the president of the branch
 | Natal
|
|
- Elder Fisher
