Week 77 - December 28, 2016

After the Skype session with the family...

Our giant cheeseburger on Christmas Day!

Making sock "snowmen"...

Well there was a lot of build up for Christmas (as always) so the "crash” is always a little rough, but anyways...

Starting with investigators... our only really "solid" investigator quit on us and doesn’t want to keep trying to do the right things because it is too much for her at the moment or something. She runs away into the forest behind her house every time we stop by so...*snip!* As for others, we found some more people to start sharing the gospel with and they were pretty receptive and are willing to listen! So that’s exciting! As for the less active reactivation movement in the branch, it is going well! We had a whole less active family show up to church yesterday, of which one of the sons is an ex-convict...but the church is just a big hospital right?! 

As for exciting things that happened, I totally got to Skype the family and let me just say, I got the best dang family that ever existed! So that was fun, and I also got a couple new ties and socks from Santa Clause so that was neat too! We ordered a giant hamburger to commemorate for an equivalent of $14 dollars. It was so good!

We had a good week though and we are exercising our faith a lot and trying to make the best of the time that we have out here. Maybe the work isn’t the easiest all the time, but it sure is good when you see the gospel work magic in families and changes in the hearts of the people. The book is blue!

Tchau!

Elder Buck

Week 76 - December 21, 2015

Hey!

Well our week here in São Francisco was pretty wild but on the bright side we had a really good time and got some stuff done! 

Well starting out with investigators... There aren’t very many YET, but we have one named Patricia and she’s not progressing very much anymore so we are mostly working with her to help her to get an answer about the Book of Mormon. She is coming along slowly. We also have been teaching a family who looked pretty elect, but we came to find out that they do drugs and steal, and beat their kids and stuff so... Jesus is really going have to help us out with those guys. We actually found a couple this week that are AWESOME! They are from outside the state of Santa Catarina and just recently got married, don’t have addictions of any kind, and are looking for a church to attend. They are really good listeners and have a ton of potential to be really awesome members! 

As for exciting things that happened during the week, we had our Christmas Conference with three zones from our mission (Joinville Norte, Joinville Sul, and Itajaí). I had a really great time being able to play a little bit and rest my mind for a day haha. Elder Peterson (the rock), me, Elder Oldroyd, and Elder Berquist (the Sons of Thunder) or formerly known as the Singers of Solomon, sang a special musical number for the 3 zones. We killed it! I’m pretty sure I saw some sisters tear up or something, I don’t know! And I would like to give a big shout out to the families that sent me boxes and Christmas cards; it really made this Christmas conference a special one!

And for those of you out there that don’t believe in Christmas miracles, I’d like to tell what happened on Sunday. So Elder Peterson and I went to church yesterday (after thoughtfully bringing ALL of the plastic containers and plates that were in our house for the sisters to reclaim) and went to Priesthood opening exercises. As I was sitting there, along with the 4 other brothers and elder, I look to the back of the room and there walking in was Vilmar from Itajaí. The same Vilmar that my former companion (Elder Cordeiro) and I baptized about 10 months ago. I stood up and gave him a big ‘ol hug and asked him briefly why he was there and he simply drove almost 2 hours just to visit me. Since I had left his son Vitor had been baptized, they both have received the priesthood, and their family has been preparing to go to the temple. They have been super firm! It was one of the happiest days of my entire mission!

That’s all for this week, love you guys!

Tchau!

Elder Buck

Week 75 - December 14, 2015

Making paper snowflakes...

Hey y'all!

So I’m gonna be frank and say that not very much happened this week, but the week went well and that we have been working hard. It was sunny this week, so it’s been a lot easier to work and find new people to teach. This week there was a member who had passed away form breast cancer and it was very sad because she was someone who we would visit to help her family get back to church. We did have a family home evening with a family in the branch here along with a family that we have been teaching and it turned out super well! Unfortunately when Sunday came around for church, they didn’t go...So looks like we still got a lot of work to do! 

I figured I would take a moment to bear my testimony of this church and this work (because it is what I do every day, but also because I need to fill in some of this extra space I have hahaha). The Book of Mormon is true, and because of this truth, I know that Christ lives, that He is the Savior and Redeemer of all mankind. I know that Joseph Smith was called of God to be the prophet of the Restoration. Because the true church was restored, I know that there is a living prophet on the earth today, and that he receives revelation from God in our days. I know Thomas S. Monson is a prophet because I live his teachings and they have not led me astray! I know that as we live in accordance with Gods plan, he promises us joy. I know this because I feel this happiness that living the true gospel brings every single day. It is wonderful! 

Have a great week, Tchau!

Elder Buck

On the way to zone conference...

Week 74 - December 7, 2015

Oi!

So this week was pretty sad because it only rained 6 out of 7 days this week, but turned out okay because we are figuring stuff out! I got myself a pair of boots now so no more wet feet for me! It's great :)

As for our week, we have been just finding so many inactive members in this Branch it’s not even funny. They also somehow find us on the street too…its weird! Our investigator is not really progressing anymore so we are really trying to help her and her inactive cousin get on the right track.

I have really gained a strong testimony of this church and the Book of Mormon. The declaration of Joseph smith in the introduction of the Book of Mormon is so true "Eu disse aos irmãos que o Livro de Mórmon era o mais correto de todos os livros da Terra, (…) e que um homem poderia aproximar-se mais de Deus seguindo seus preceitos do que os de qualquer outro livro.” 

If any person is feeling Far from God, the Book of Mormon is definitely the BEST resource. We have really been able to touch some hearts here because of it! There is not any way that this church is not THE true and complete church of Jesus Christ. Não tem como.

I love you guys and hope everyone has a great week! Tchau!

Elder Buck

Papai Noel está vindo yall!