Week 35

I guess the biggest news was that I was NOT transferred.We´ll see what happens at the next transfer. This one is only 5 weeks though. Anyway, my last companion Elder Rocha was sadly transferred though. That was actually a surprise. I was finally dealing with him pretty well, and usuallywhen you train, it´s for 12 weeks, but we only had 6. He just swapped areas with an elder with the same time in the field. Elder Summerhays is an American.

Tough luck too, because Saturday we passed by all of ourinvestigators to invite them to church on Sunday. That special family we prayedto us, a lady who seems pretty interested, and a new family said that they´dcome. Then, when we got home, we prayed a lot as a companionship, as well aspersonally, that these people would all come. We made sure to give them allreminders and get them prepared by making sure they know how to get there, thatthey had a way to get there, etc. Anyway, we waited outside the front of thechurch for almost an hour waiting for them. We even tried calling, but no onecame. That was a huge bummer. We were pretty sure they were coming since weprayed so much. I guess we kind of forgot that people have free agency and theLord won´t  make anyone come to church. Anyway, we passed bythem that night and instilled a little guilt and encouragement (if that´spossible) to get them to come next week.

That´s about it for this week.

As for college/profession, I don´t really know yet what Iwant. I know that I have several talents, one of which I´d like to use is myimagination. That´s why I like making movies. My mind runs wild a lot. I stillhave lots of crazy dreams. Jordan and I killed some guys that were trying torob his house the other day. Then one of them came back to life as a demonzombie thing, and tried to get Rylee and Jenna. Jordan has a shotgun though, soit´s cool. Everyone else was playing Kinectamals at the Paxman´s house thoughand didn´t really seem too worried. Anyway, I´m just going to have to keepthinking about it when I have time. My patriarchal blessing mentions myprofession lightly, so I know that Heavenly Father already has plans for me.I´ll just keep thinking and praying.

That big missionary work meeting sounds like something theentire church needs to hear. I´d love to get that message out to our wards outhere. We rarely get to work with members. It´s only when we specifically marksomething with one of the more willing members and go and teach a lesson. Theydo a good job of retaining, in this ward at least, but of helping friends tochurch and stuff, it´s pretty rare. That´s probably a big reason why the workis so slow here. 

Alright. I have a few photos, so I´ll get those sent. Talkto you guys next week. As for Mother´s day, it sounds like it´s still good togo.

Our last zone taking pictures on Tuesday.

Same thing. I didn´t actually get a single good one.

We played a quick game of Ninjas before we leftthat day. A few of us got into it. I´m in the middle. Elder Rocha is on the farleft. I think he looks pretty funny, but maybe it´s because I know hispersonality. 

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-Elder Candland

Week 34

So this week we had some pretty sweet stuff happen. We started teaching this girl who has an aunt, uncle, and cousin who are all members. Her aunt and uncle came by the other day and we got to talk with them for a while. This girl seems pretty interested in what we have to say. I think she´s kind of looking for something since she hasn´t found a church where she really feels something special. Her aunt and uncle I think have helped her out. She also worked with a member who wants to come and help us out with the lessons. Anyway, a few months ago Elder Davis and I set a goal with a family in the ward. We set a goal to find a family that we could baptize. We decided pretty specifically what we want, then we prayed to find a family of 5 with a mom and dad that are married, two sons, and a daughter that are about youth age. This week we found a family finally that fits exactly the criteria we asked for There aren´t many people with more than 2 kids in São Paulo, let alone who all live together, and are married legally. We went in, taught the entire family the Restoration, invited them all to read, pray, and also go to church, then we prayed, everyone kneeling, and left. We passed by a few days later just to check on them and it looks like some of them have started reading a little bit. We´re pretty excited for this family.

Pretty sweet to see Dallin giving it his all finally and not really worrying about his back. I hope he can end his last season in high school pretty well. He also hasn´t emailed me yet.

I´m not sure if you guys sent any of thos recipes yet, but I just remembered that I want Dad´s chili recipe. Everyone freaks out when I tell them we only eat beans about 3-5 times per month and it´s not the same way they eat them. Several of my Brasileiro buddies here have been saying they want to try chili.

We played some more soccer today. It was only my 2nd time. I´m so awful, but I scored lots of our goals. I think it´s probably just because I´m in a little bit better shape than most of the other Elders in our zone.

Send some pictures of the new stuff happening in the house. I still have no idea what the new closet in the girls´ rooms looks like. 

I´ve got a few pictures this week. I´ll send them right after this email. Talk to you guys next week.

--
-Elder Candland

And it came to pass...

 I made some really good syrup stuff out of goiaba. It´s really really good.

There are some pretty sweet places to film a zombie movie here.

This place is pretty cool too.

There was a lizard on our wall two nights ago.

I had to get up really close to get this one. I hope Lars appreciates it.

Just some guys playing soccer. It´s pretty normal here. Just a feel of Brasil

A good part of my area.

Some sweet telephone lines. When the guys come to fix the cable and internet, but they don´t have time to finish it in one day, they just leave it like this. 

I was reading in Alma and got to chapter 11 where it talks about their currency. I drew out a few little graphs to show how much each is worth. The number represents how many of the items on top make up an item on the left.

Week 33

I hit 10 months yesterday. 

This week was pretty lame for us. It got pretty hot again, but it´s cooled off now. The house is about 77 - 78 during the night and I almost have to put on some socks because it´s a little chilly. 

Sounds like Spring Break was pretty good. Easter was pretty lame here. We scored a box of chocolates from a couple members, but that was all. Easter here is wierd. They don´t do a bunch of eggs, they sell one giant chocolate egg stuffed with little toys or more chocolates. They´re around $15 - $30 each. I almost bought myself a Hello Kitty egg, but I decided it wasn´t worth the money. I pretty much only wanted the little mug inside anyway. Anyway, chocolate here in Brasil isn´t that good either. Also, we lost a bunch of investigators this week that I was excited for. One family in particular that I just loved. They have 2 little kids that were a lot of fun to talk to, and they seemed to be accepting the lessons well, but after Easter, we swung by and the mom handed over the Book of Mormon. Turns out they went to church at the normal Catholic church they attend every so often, and the daughter was telling everyone that they were wrong because the missionaries had taught her that it was `this´ or `that.´ I guess the mom got kind of embarrassed and decided that she didn´t want people to think bad of her for learning about our church. They´ll be baptized still. I still pray for them. I just won´t get to see it. 

That was pretty much the week though.

Alright. That´s it. I gotta go work now. I didn´t sleep well last night, so I´m kinda pathetic right now. I´m not feeling too hot... great. It´s still kinda hot for me here actually. I´ll talk to you guys next week. Have Dallin email too. He still hasn´t. Tchau.

--
-Elder Candland

Week 32

I guess it´s General Conference email. 

Unimportant things first: Did you catch David Archuleta in the missionary choir the 2nd session? Elder Rasband looks like Uncle Tom still. David F. Evans came and spoke to our mission a few months ago. I read that article in a Brasilian magazine that Neil L. Anderson was talking about; his interview was solid.

 Anyway, so the theme seemed to be Families. I learned lots of stuff that I figured applied to my life after the mission, but then as conference went on, I realized how it could all be applied to the mission. Particularly the stuff on raising a family and children. I can apply it to my new companion. Two other Elders from the US and I watched conference in English in a little classroom. We were all psyched when we got there. I think being on a mission really makes things like General Conference a lot cooler. We had Rose (our last baptism) and her daughter at the stake center and they seemed to like conference. We´re really hoping she´ll want to be baptized after conference and her mom recieves the gift of the Holy Ghost this weekend.

 I think part of why conference is so cool is that it´s like watching TV. We don´t get to watch hardly anything on the mission, and lots of us resort to quoting the DVDs we have in our homes. We have this thing called The District, which is basically like The Office, but of a district of missionaries. Also, The Testaments movie. There´s a particular line from that one I like: ``Where you go I can no longer be your father, but you will always be my son.´´

 Anyway, if you´re still working on a package, I could use some music. An MP3 CD with the Saints and Pioneers album, Celtic Threads album, all of the christmas music you think is appropriate for a missionary, Josh Groban and Andrea Bocceli are totally approved here too, and the Women at the Well album. I lost most of my music back in December when Elder da Rosa was trying to put something on my iPod for me.

 A few days ago I saw this decent sized concert off the side of the road. It was a Michael Jackson tribute concert. That´s totally Brasil. Everyone seemse to love Michael Jackson, as well as Slipknot, Guns n´ Roses, and all ``Black Music´´ they call it.

 We have a goal to baptize 5 people in April. Seeing how I´ve only seen 3 baptisms on my mission so far, it´s kind of intimidating to think we can manage to get 5. After hearing President Martins talk about how we can work with angels if we do what we´re supposed to, and especially after hearing the Prophet and Apostles speak, I´m feeling pretty good about it. We have a few new investigators that are all showing some serious interest right now. One in particular is actually setting up our lessons with members present for us. She has a friend in the church that she wants to have over when we next come back and talk with her and her family.

That´s pretty much it for now. Maybe next week I´ll be able to reply to some of your thoughts on conference, etc.

Anyway, I usually do email for another 30 minutes, but we have an appointment set up right now, so I gotta go. Talk to you guys next week.

Week 31

So the big thing this week is we had a baptism here. It's the first baptism in the new ward since the ward changed. Her name is Rose (pronounced hosy). She was pretty excited to be baptized I think. I hadn't seen her that enthusiastic before. She's a pretty somber person usually. Anyway, she's the lady who found us in the grocery store a while ago.

Elder Rocha (HO-shuh), my companion, is Brasilian. Things are still getting better, slowly. Very slowly. He needs to learn a lot but doesn't really realize how much more there is for him to learn that he didn't already learn in the MTC. We'll get him there.

We got invited to another churrasco this last Saturday. We stayed, had some really good food, and tried to talk with some of their friends about the church. They always have other people at their home. We were on the street the other day and some guy came and talked to us real quick. He said that he'd met us at their house a few weeks ago. I don't remember him really, but he remembered us and the fact that the family likes us too helps their friends to feel a little more comfortable with the Elders.

I was thinking this morning, and remembered how much I didn't know about the Plan of Salvation and how it all works when I got to the MTC and started learning how to teach it. I was thinking it would be a good idea to to a FHE lesson on the Plan of Salvation as well as another on the Restoration. Those are both really important things that make our church of Jesus Christ different from all of the others. Especially for Dallin, Shaini, and Lars... Lars who could have opportunities to share the church with friends.

Another goal I thought might be a good goal for you guys is to try and think of a reference to give the Elders whenever they're over for dinner. We have a family here that kind of does that and it's super helpful. Plus, if the Missionaries happen to start teaching that family, you guys can help them out, and when members help, there is so much more success.

Alright, so my big thought for the week. We were studying the chapter on Christ-like Attributes and read teh scripture in Matthew when Jesus says that the greatest commandment is to love God, and second love our neighbors as we would ourselves. I was kind of trying to figure out exactly why that's most important, and it's kind of obvious: if we do everything with love, we'll do everything right. What I got from that is if we do everything with love, we can't sin. Someone could say (maybe someone like Lars) ``What if I kill someone with love? Well, there's the scripture that says "If ye love me, keep my commandments." Take that Lars. Anyway, I'm pretty sure it's part of why Christ was able to be perfect.

Anyway, that's it. I did like the part in Dad's email about Rylee waiting at the free tray. I remember doing the same thing.

A green coconut.

Elder Morais chopped it open for me to drink.

That´s Elder Morais.

Some member in the ward has this ninja statuettes set up in his living room. My house will have something similar I believe.

Here´s a cool shot from his apartment.

Here´s Rose with her daughter Larissa in front of the church.

Elder Rocha, Rose, and me.

Our friend Van was taking pictures and he snapped this one. I think I look good in white. 

--
-Elder Candland

Week 30

Things are definitely getting better with my new companion. It´s still not super fun though. I´ve been praying a lot myself. I try to express my gratitude for my new companion in my prayers, and it´s helping a little. I think one thing I´m going to learn is to be really productive with our time. If we ever have down-time because of poor planning, it means I´m stuck trying to find something to do with him. If we can just work, work, work, then I can focus more on the work and the people than worrying about having an odd companion.

I got the package. The guy in the office told me it was a little wierd for him. Some random guy came up handed over the fence an opened box with my name scribbled on it. Since it was opened already he decided to look through it. Anyway, I freaked out when I finally had the guitar book. Whenever I have down time, I end up playing the 3 hymns I have memorized, but now I´ve been slowly learning other hymns. I´m a lot better than I was when I was first playing them at home. I don´t really have much time to play though. Today was about it. Then at night when we get home, IF we get home right at 9:00, I usually have about 15 minutes to play around. The Darth Vader box is a lot cooler than the chocolates tasted for sure. The crayons are helpful. I finally have something to mark scriptures with again while I study. Then there was one more thing I think.

As for the geneaology chart, I think what we have of the last 6 generations would be cool going back to my great-great-great grandparents.

Also, I have a few things to email Dallin, but I´m still not sure if I have his correct email or not.

Here´s a small thought really quick: So Elder Davis hates this cheese called catupiry, as well as the sound of babies crying. After he left, I noticed we were all of a sudden eating that cheese with our meals in the members´ homes, and the neighbors baby started crying a lot again (it had sort of stopped whining so much when he got there, but I figured it was just kind of stopped being such a baby, but I guess not). Anyway, the point is, he doesn´t realize that we ever had this cheese very often with members, or that the baby used to cry so much. I just wonder how many small little blessings each of us don´t ever really notice we´ve recieved.

That´s all. And some photos coming too. Nothing special.

One of our investigators has about 14 cats.

We fed them ground beef and they started going nuts.

That´s homemade lemonade. I made it with beets. It tastes like normal, really good lemonade, just with like this healthy ``dirt´´ flavor. I like it.

 This huge nasty spider that´s probably about the size of Rylee´s hand when it´s all stretched out.

Until next Monday.
--
-Elder Candland

Week 29

I guess that´s cool that Jordan and I will be getting home around the same time. For his sake, I still hope he can get back out to the field really soon.

Two requests really quick. I realized I´d like to have a family tree, as well as my priesthood lineage chart. If it´s possible, I´d like to get a priesthood chart in about 3x4 inches to fit in my little Missionary Handbook that I have with me always.

 Anyway, I stayed here. I´m training again. Elder Rocha is probably going to be my most difficult companion. He got here and pretty much started trying to train me. Not that he said I was doing anything wrong, but whenever I tried to help him learn a principle he doesn´t quite understand yet, he started trying to teach me something I had already learned in the MTC as well. He´s got a lot to learn about the work. He thinks he can pretty much kill anyone´s doubts with a scripture or logic. That´s not how it works. They need to be taught by the spirit to be convinced. We´re not here to convice; we´re here to invite.

Please pray a little extra for me. I´m going to hate the next 3 months of my mission if I can´t learn to like him.

Anyway, I got to see the two videos. Kortney looks a little older, and I really like Rylee´s breakdance splits. The pictures were fun too.

The zone and Elder Davis since he was the only leaving from the zone. Lame.

Elder Davis, Van, and I. Van was meditating I think.

That´s Van´s guitar too.

Some of the funniest grafitti art I´ve seen.

Some of the best I´ve seen.

Also, it this new elder looks like Andy Samberg.

That´s all for this week. It´s going to be a tough next week. I´ll talk to you guys next Monday.

--
-Elder Candland