#76 - President Lincoln!?🧔🎩 (10/28/24)

Elder Batista 

E aí Galera! Mais uma semana passou e agora estamos entrando na clima de verão aqui em Brazil! Na verdade, paguei gripe novamente por causa da chuva e sol essa semana! [Hey guys! Another week has passed and now we are getting into the summer mood here in Brazil! In fact, I got the flu again because of the rain and sun this week!]

Hats in the road

Hey guys! How is it going? It is such a beautiful day right now after a week of random rain and wind but it was a really remarkable week working with my new companion, Elder Batista! He is from Fortaleza and is the same age as me. He has 13 months on the mission and is a really cool guy. We have a lot in common and he are some of the events we had from this last week:

Caught in the rain

Monday - Transfers! Elder Ferreira went off to Telemaco Borba with my friend Elder Filetti and I got Elder Batista! During our p-day we cleaned up the house a little and we went to go get lunch realizing that it was only 9:30 in the morning! Bc of waking up early for transfers we thought it was a lot later in the day. Later at night we went to visit some less active members and we ended up talking with a former missionary from our mission, Elder Lobo! He gave us a lot of advice of putting aside our pride and remembering that we are here not for our own welling being, but for others and we should focus in the Lord, his gospel, and his church. It was really cool! 

Elder Batista 

Tuesday - WE MET THE PRESIDENT!!! PRESIDENT LINCOLN!!! We were contacting people and we met someone whose name was Lincoln and he president himself as Abraham Lincoln and made a joke about it. We talked to him about what we do as missionaries and even though he didn't have interest in learning more, it was still cool to talk to him and connect to him in that way.

Wednesday - We visited a Facebook reference today, Luis! I had already known him for a few weeks but it was cool to be able to pass by and read more of the BOM with him and he offered us his own home made soda.... it was... okay 😵‍💫. He also ended up offering us free razors.... thanks? Later in the day it started raining and at one point I decided to try and catch the rain in my mouth like with snow and the first rain drop went right down my throat and almost killed me! Note to self: try to catch snow, not rain 😂

Friends and horses

Thursday - To all the people who know the phrase "The devil is meeting his wife" (when it is raining but sunny) this happened all day! We ended up running to another Facebook reference in the rain and we found Alaine! She asked for a BOM and we gave one to her. She also runs a thrift store and told us that she doesn't do this a lot but she gave us each a free tie because she said God touched her heart (Aww!) I also had my second removing of a demon on my mission. A neighbor of our recent converts Pedro, Esteffany, said that she had been seeing a person from the other world and showed us some videos she took. I definitely felt a weird prescence when we were there and so we dedicated her house to call the spirit out. For now, we are praying. While leaving, these random kids ran at me and hugged me out of no where! I kept to mission rules and just lightly tapped them on the back😆

Friday - Temple trip 2 weeks in a row! The "rose" for the day was working with technology and calling a referral who immediately started singing a song about Jesus loving us and talked to me in english. It caught me so off guard. Thanks Pedro!

Saturday - 2025 YOUTH ALBUM MUSIC!!! (Shoutout to the song Doubt Not) Normal going around and confirming people for church but also finding a ladybug here! (Idk they existed)(shoutout to also finding fireflies at night🤩🤩)

Ladybug!

Sunday - We got Leandro and his family to church again (we are now helping him and his wife to get married and become members of Christ's church) and my boy Moseias! Yesterday was pretty chill, not to much happened.

Something we talked about in Elders Quórum yesterday was the idea of pride getting in the way of the will of the Lord. If we truly want to do the Lords will, we must strip ourselves of the pride that hinders the spirit from guiding us (Alma 5:28)

EDWARD THE BIG CAT!

Overall an awesome first week with Elder Batista here and I look forward to the coming weeks as well. 

Cat

Até o proximo!

Elder Fisher

#75 - Reopenings and Closings👨‍👩‍👦‍👦🥹 (10/21/24)

Boa tarde Galera! Como está sendo essa semana para vocês? Está indo bem? Na verdade está bem tranquilo por aí, tivemos transferências e agora estou na mesma área com Elder Batista!! [Good afternoon guys! How has this week been for you? Is it going well? It's actually quite calm there, we had transfers and now I'm in the same area with Elder Batista!!]

Horse

Hey guys! How's it going? I've been up and at it since 6am this morning and I felt that more time had passed so Elder Batista (my new companion) and I went to get lunch but when we got there and we ordered, they said, "It's only 9:30am, we don't open until 11:30". I guess the early bird doesn't get the worm XD. 

Elder Ferreira and I

But in other news, here is an update from this last week:

Monday - We ate too much pizza again!😆 But we ended up playing soccer with some members and their friends!!

Caterpillar

Popsicles and friends

Tuesday - While visiting our recent convert, Rosimery, they offered us popsicles while we watched a General Confernce talk. Afterwords we were talking about what we learned when out of no where I found a bug on my shoulder and freaked! It looked like a caterpillar that we have in the States but I didn't realize it at the time and totally screamed out of no where. It was a pretty laugh. During our tecnology time today we actually had a few references that were members of the church who were looking for chapels that were close to them. It was cool to see them looking to come back to church. And to end the day, Elder Ferreira and I passed a drunk man doing interpretted dance (10/10) and I may or may not have tried to kiss a frog to see if it would turn into a princesses instead of a prince 

Princess and the frog?

Wednesday - We found our friend Moseias today while contacting people on the road. He is honestly a really cool dude and said we could pass by the next day and share a message with his family. We also got brownies from another recent convert, Nicole, It was pretty fire! When we went to go visit Kemilly and Sabrina (who were baptized last week), their dad came to great us first and out of no where, their dog came over and pulled his pants down!😬😵 The 3 of us couldn't help but laugh! It ended up being a great message about the Restoration of Christ's church. 

Drawing by Sabrina

Thursday - Mission Devocional! We talked about the Prophet's talk from the last general conference. Some of my take aways were: 1. Every sincere seeker of Jesus Christ will find Him in the Temple, 2. To whom or to what will I give my life?, 3. Ether 13 prophesy about the New and Old Jerusalem. We went to also visit our friend Moseias and found out that his mom had already known the missionaries and the church a little. We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them and Moseias accepted to be baptized! We are now helping him to make his first covenant with God.

Brownie!

Friday - We woke up early and mission impossible ran to irmã Dhully to go to the Temple with her (THE TEMPLE REOPENED!!!) (and when I say we ran, I mean we ran in suits and everything 🥵) After the temple session I said my finally goodbyes to my dad Elder Hall and a Sister that arrived with me, Sister Anderson. It is insane to think about but they both have finished their missions! 🥹🥹 I will miss you guys!! We also asked an inactive member if we could use his internet to work with tecnology and after we finished he started talking to us about his workout routine and then took of his shirt and asked me to do push-ups with him! I love our members!

Temple with Dhully

Saturday - Today we had an interesting experience with someone named Fernanda. We were heading to lunch when this lady named Fernanda stopped near us and asked for help. She had seperated with her husband the day before and was heading back to his mom's to live with her but she lost her passage. She asked us if we could help but I told her about our mission rules to not give money to people. We ended up calling a member close by who could help. We then walked with her to the members who offered 10 reais for her to get a new passage. She was very greatful and we also ended up giving her a Book of Mormon. I don't know where she is now but I hope that she is well and remembers God has a plan for her.

The squad!

Sunday - Sadly, many of our friends fell through coming to church today but that's okay, we had Leandro and Mateus there! Elder Borjas asked me if I could go with him to visit someone who has been going to church for a while to help invite her to be baptized and I went. After getting to know Emilly a bit (the person attending church) she showed desire to be baptized but was waiting for a confirmation. I asked her to pray aloud for us and after she did we just sat there for 2 minutes. I asked how everyone felt and told everyone that was the spirit. I asked if Emilly wanted these feelings to stay with her and she said yes. I told her this is possible by recieving the Holy Ghost and she is now on date for this coming Sunday! To end the day, Elder Ferreira and I went to our chapel, which is being remodeled, to work with tec. While working, a random drunk dude appeared out of no where! We found out that he was living in the basement with his dog and so we just slowly slipped out, locked the gate we had opened to get in, and called the branch president. I think that was my Halloween scare for the season!

All in all, it was a remarkable week. I am looking forward to working with Elder Batista here. To all who are in need of something, take heart in the promise of Mormon 9:21. Whatever you ask of Heavenly Father, with faith in Christ, will be granted unto you.

Duck and phone juice?

 

Duck!!!

Amo vocês! Até o próximo!!

- Elder Fisher 

#74 - CORRENDO ATÉ O FIM!! [RUNNING TO THE END]👨‍🦰🧑‍🦱🏃‍➡️🏃🏻‍➡️ (10/14/24)

Tarde Galera! Como vai hoje? Quais são os novidades essa semana? [Afternoon Guys! How are you today? What's new this week?]

The boys

Hey guys!!! Wow has the week gone by fast! Each week feels like it passes by in a day. This week was pretty special and unique and full of miracles. Here is an update on what when on in the companionship of Elder Ferreira and Elder Fisher:

Art of Elder Ferreira and I

Early bird gets the worm

Monday - Note to self: DON'T ORDER 4 PIZZAS WITH THE ELDERS AND OVERSTUFF YOURSELF😖😅 (Shoutout to one of the best flavors, dois amores! (ITS literally a white and Black chocolate pizza))

Pizza w/Elder Brown

Paulo

Tuesday - Divison with Elder Borjas!! Elder Borjas asked to do a divison to help some investigators who wanted to be baptized but needed that extra push. We ended up talking with their friend Paulo that wants to be baptized but didnt feel ready. I read 3 nephi 11:23 which explains the requirements of baptism and I asked if he had these things. He said yes and we marked him on date for this coming Saturday! His younger brother also started throwing these small cactus things at me, idk why😂 While looking for other references, this Luis (who actually was the reference) found us on the road and gave us this stroopwaffle (10/10!). Later we visited Vitor who has been going to church for 6 months and was just waiting for that extra push. I did his baptism interview without telling him I was and he passed! He is marked on date for tomorrow to be baptized and soon get the priesthood to work towards being sealed with his spouse that already is a member!!

Stroopwaffle

Vitor and his wife (goofy photo)

Wednesday - Divison with Elder Brown! I went over to Almirante Tamandaré (my first área!!!) I let Elder Brown lead because he is going to train soon and it was awesome! We had some good laughs trying to visit and find people in the rain and finding sponges hanging on drying racks (once again, idk why) but what was remarkable was our last contact for the night. We were trying to find a Gabriel and when we knocked his door, a young girl opened the door and started to talk to us. Her neighbor saw us talking to her and came to assist her. She didn't want to talk to us and we felt a bit of the spirit of contention but Elder Brown presented the Book of Mormon and gave it to them and the spirit of contention left. It is remarkable to see newer missionaries act in faith like that!

Rain and broken umbrellas

Thursday - Back in my área!! (Shoutout to Elder Ferreira for holding down the fort for me!) We went around finding new people today. While finding new people we passed by this one car that has the loudest speaker and was playing what I thought was frog sounds (once again, idk why🤣) but we had such a cool spiritual experience with a facebook reference, Luis and his sister Vitória. They had asked for a Book of Mormon and as soon as we presented the Book, I felt nothing but the spirit. We ended up sharing our favorite verses and just reading random parts. It was awesome!

Mikey

Friday - I dont remember too much from today besides have a little picnic with Elder Ferreira. We bought some coxinhas and tortas and just ate them cause we were starving😅

Picnic!

Saturday - We had the zone leaders over to do baptism interviews for our friends Sabrina and Kemilly! They had watched conference with us the week prior and loved it so much! The zone leaders ended up performing the interview and we met Sabrina and Kemillys Father in law. We were worked he wasn't going to allow them to be baptized but he allowed them to be baptized and we found out he speaks some english!

 Late night cooking 

Sunday - And now the title! We woke up this morning and literally ran to Sabrina and Kemilly to make sure they were awake. They were. We still had about an hour before we needed to call an uber for them so we ran to another family that wanted to go. We called and over for them and by the time they were on their way, we had 20 minutes to get back to Sabrina which was a 25 minute walk so....we ran!! We made it and got everyone to church on time (including us!) We then had the baptisms of Sabrina and Kemilly and Sicero from Cachoeira 1 and Raquel from São Lourenço. Overall a day to never forget!

All dressed in white

Sabrina and Kemilly family

These last few days I have been studying conference and 3 nephi 1-9. Overall, I like to think about my dad's favorite word: Remember. When we Remember, we won't got astray. We will do the things God asks of us and the covenants we made with him. Christs arm is extended to us, we just need to "Remember" to come unto him (3 nephi 9:14)

Ate o proximo! Amo vocês!

Facebook post: My God has been my support; guided me through my
troubles in the desert and saved me from the waters of the great deep.

- Elder Fisher

#73 - CINNAMON ROLLS AND CONFERENCE! (Just like old times!)😋🍪 (10/7/24)

Boa tarde Galera! Temos que mandar um vídeo para Sister Bikman hoje de nosso apartamento limpo então, limpamos bastante agora que meus dedos estão como uvas secas🤣🤣 [Good afternoon guys! We have to send a video to Sister Bikman today of our clean apartment so we cleaned a lot now that my fingers are like dried grapes]

Idk

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, babies and slightly smaller babies, welcome back to another week from Elder Fisher!!"(Shoutout to anyone who knows the reference😆)

How it going everyone?! Fun fact, I just discovered right now how to put my keyboard in english and not portuguese so hopefully there won't be any more grammer errors (besides the ones that I continually make as a human being 😁) This week was honestly really cool especially with General Conference and with finding a lot of people that have interest in learning more about Christ! Here is the overview for the week:

Zone Meeting normal

Monday - I gave my first training as a District Leader! I didn't know we did this but apparently the District Leaders are starting to give trainings during our Zone meetings. We gave a training on 3 things: Contacts, Baptismal invites, and Acompanying. I got to teach the baptism invites and it was pretty cool to share what experience I have gained along with the scriptures I use. Later that day, we were at the Elders house cooking and the Elders bought peppers (hot spicy ones) because Elder Ferreira asked them to buy peppers, but not spicy ones. And as that old saying goes "Monkey see, Monkey do..." yeah... I recommend not eating hot peppers 🥵😵

Zone Meeting goofy

Tuesday - Today we found some really cool people to teach and watch conference. One of them was named Fabio. We were talking about sports and when he said he played volleyball I went to give him a fistbump but he totally didn't notice so I awkwardly stood there and slowly lowered my hand. But while we talked to him and showed him The Book of Mormon, this other kid on his bike passed and said "I have been looking for that book!". We gave them each one and then went to a family night where we talked about Prophets and make hotdogs and cake. 10/10!

Wednesday - TEMPESTADE DO NADA!! We went to go talk to our recent converts today about General Conference and to watch at home but out of no where it started down pouring. When we arrived at the house of our friend Rosimary, we were drenched! All throughout the day it rained and right as we were about to give up, we knocked this point on our map that had been to church a long time ago and we found Emily! She talked about how she wanted more strength in her life and wanted to change things, we explained how the Holy Ghost could help her and how she could have this gift through baptism. She ended up accepting to be baptized and our goal is that she can be baptized this coming Sunday!

Before the storm

Thursday - To was inviting a lot of people to watch conference and I remember from going around 2 things: 1. There is one man here who always says "Oi americano" to me with a weird hand sign and 2. There is a dog here that looks like a sheep. I would have taken a picture but I wasn't able to

Friday - Shoutout to Elder Ferreira! I had this saying stuck in my head from some movie and Elder Ferreira helped me remember which film! In the movie bolt, you have these 2 pigeons that say slowly "oh my gosh..." and I don't know how he remembered but I was finally able to make that connect! But back to the mission, we confirmed a lot of people for conference and during our tec time I did like 4 baptism interview calls for my district😅

The boys are tired

Saturday - THE CONFERENCE MARATHON BEGINS!!!! Our goal is to help other people watch conference so I haven't been able to watch it all yet (so no spoilers!) but today we got to watch with our friends Iran, Emily, Sirleni, and a few others.

                                                          Donuts and cinnamon rolls
Sunday - We woke up this morning with plans to have a baptism for our friend Jean but he wasn't attending our calls and overslept so we just had the baptism of our other friend Marcelo from the other Elders area! Afterwards, we went to a members house and as the title suggests, THEY MADE CINNAMON ROLLS!!🤩🤩 We ate a few then went to watch conference with investigators. Between sessions we ran into this drunk person who ended up bringing us to house, made me play guitar, and share a message. We got to meet his family and his daughter who speaks some english and she showed interest in the BOM so... A win I guess! We then had one of our friends fall through for watching conference and so we felt prompted to watch with Sirleni again and her family was there! It was so cool to see them so involved with the conference and especially with the Prophet at the end! We gave them a BOM and while we were leaving, they were reading it!

                                                              Marcelo baptism
Overall a remarkable week! Of course some things didn't go as we planned them but the Lord never left us with nothing to do. He provides us the means to fulfill his work and the miracles he wants. We just need to trust! I will try to watch all of conference this week and give my thoughts next time but for now here is a thought: 3 Nephi 12:1-2, the first be attitude is to listen to the prophet and apostles. As our President said, we should never have a reason to miss a live session of General Conference and it is true! The answers and guidance we need is in the words of God which are presented in Conference.

Selfie with isabel

I love you all and hope your well! I would also love to hear your thoughts on conference if you want to send them this way!

Ate o proximo!

- Elder 🐟 er