Week 36 - March 16, 2015

Selfie of the week...

DIA 251… HaHaHa I counted yesterday!

Cool thing: So yeah things are going super duper over here. We have six baptisms marked for this month and the next month coming up - so sweet! The family we had planned to get baptized at the end of the month will have to wait until April to get baptized because of work issues and stuff. It is really tough for them right now. BUT we have been teaching this guy and his son and they are planning on getting baptized on that date instead! I also get to stay in this area for another transfer with my same comp!

Funny thing: We have had two elders in our house who are going home this Tuesday and every morning for the past week one of them (Elder Galvão) would yell "EU VOU EMBORA!!!!!!" When my comp and I were talking to our neighbors (who happen to be members) about something else one day, she said that every morning at about 6:30 in the morning, she has been waking up to Elder Galvão yelling that he would be leaving.... Bahahah I laughed!

Me and Elder Galvão

Weekly triumph: I killed two cockroaches two nights ago like a boss.

Weekly difficulty: The cockroaches just disappeared after I killed them.... AND you know that moment that every missionary never wants to happen to them when the Bishop comes up to you and your companion before the meeting starts and says, “can you two give 10 minute talks today?" Then there is that moment where you just cant say no and so you say yes? So I gave a talk this past Sunday that turned out to be fine but it is kind of stressful when the only resources you have are the book of Mormon and the Bible... 

Spiritual Experience: After my talk I sat down and asked my companion if everything made sense and he said yeah it was really good, you corrected yourself on words I’ve never heard you correct yourself on. The thing is I don’t remember correcting myself at all.... So I think there might have been some divine intervention going on during my talk.

Interesting News: It has been pretty wacky over here because everyone is trying to impeach the President! The area president over Brasil sent out a letter to our mission president saying that yesterday we are not allowed to leave our houses to work at all just go to church and go home.... so yesterday we didn’t do anything! It was awesome! I read Jesus the Christ like the whole day. 

Scripture of the Week: All of them! 

Tchau!
Boa semana, 
Elder Buck

Oh Elder Cordeiro...

Week 35 - March 9, 2015

Diligently Studying...

Me and Beecroft

Hey there!

Just another normal week here in Brasil! Not too many new things...Lets see...

Cool thing: In Gospel Principles class our investigator Darlen told us about something that happened to her at work, and a time she did missionary work. She explained how she was at work and was reading the Gospel Principles book at lunch and a co-worker asked her what she was reading. Darlen told her about the book and stuff and afterwards the co-worker asked her to read about the fall of Adam and eve, so she flipped to the page that talks about it and started to read. Afterward the co-worker explained that the book had explained so clearly something she had a question about and wanted to know more. The funny part is that Darlen didn’t know if she was allowed give the number of the missionaries to her co-worker or not. HAHA So, that was cool!

Funny Thing: There is a little Asian boy who is maybe 2 or 3 years old and he was running up and down the stairs in the front of the chapel, and as he was running down the 2 stairs, he tripped and fell flat on his face during the hymn. The conductor and the bishopric just lost it and started laughing hysterically. The little boy was fine; he kind of just jumped up and started running around again! hahaha

Weekly triumph: Someone had an American football last week so we played some 2-hand touch on a sand field. BOOYAH.

Weekly Difficulty: My glasses broke.

Spiritual Experience: We always have a good experience with our investigators Carlos and Darlen But when I walked in the house on Friday night and saw the dishes done and the floor swept, boy did my heart rejoice!

Scripture: Well I really liked singing Hymn 270 in English this entire week hahaha It’s my new favorite hymn!

Welp that’s all for now! Till next week! Tchau!

Elder Buck

There's dad! Oh wait...

Week 34 - March 2, 2015

This week was the busiest week ever. And we got some stuff done!

Cool thing(s): We had a zone conference with President and it was really really good. Every time he speaks I just get the feeling that he truly is called of God, and I respect him so much for it. Also, we had the dedication of the new chapel here in São Vicente. It is beautiful! There was a ton of people there too! There were less actives, actives, investigators, etc...It was super duper cool! And we worked really hard the entire week inviting people on the street to enter to check it out and stuff so seeing that the work we did actually paid off, was a really good thing!

Weekly triumph: MY FIRST BAPTISM OF MY ENTIRE MISSION. We finally baptized Ester! After all the fasting, and praying and persistence, we finally got a baptism. She wanted Elder Burton (my last companion) to come baptize her and the President allowed him to do it! We were able to confirm her and everything on Sunday, it was super cool.

Weekly difficulty: I left by bag in a cleaning closet in the new chapel and when I went to pick it up, I had rested it on one of the soap bag things that go in the bathroom, so it got covered in soap. That was awful.

Interesting Character: I don’t remember his name but the night of the dedication of the new chapel, there was this guy who walked up to us when we were greeting people who were walking in, and asked if there was a place inside where he could sit down. Of course we said yes and sat next to him during the whole dedication ceremony thing. At the end of the first prayer he stood up and yelled, "amen. Amen! AMEN!" And everyone looked and it was kind of funny hahaha. And after the special musical number he started clapping and stuff it was weird. Oh!!!...and then the Stake President welcomed all of the visitors and people and then this guy yelled "OBRIGADO!" It was interesting but I’m glad he came!

Spiritual Experience: We went to the house of Carlos and Darlen and taught them the restoration again. We started the lesson and before we could even really finish the part about the families being blessed by the Gospel part Darlen cut us off and said, "So I went to the pastor of my church and told him I was taking the missionary lessons and stuff. But the thing is when I started talking about you guys he got all weird and started saying a bunch of stuff about how you guys don’t believe in the Holy Ghost and the commandments, but I know you guys believe in these things because it seems like its all you talk about! And I told him that he needs to go home and do his research about different churches before he started saying bad stuff about them." And a problem she was having before was making the switch from her church to ours. And so after we asked her again if she and Carlos would be baptized on the 28 of March (because of work difficulties) and they said without hesitating "of course!" And they had both received an answer to their prayers if the church was true or not the moment they went. I thought that was cool! And also during the dedication I definitely felt the Lord accepting His house. It was so cool!

Welp, that’s all for now!

Elder Buck

Week 33 - February 23, 2015

The Americans in our Zone...

Oi! Esta semana fui muito normal e nada aconteceu na verdade.... è bem triste, mas vou tentar falar algo para vocês, porque sei que no momento eu não falo nada, minha mãe vai ficar muito chateada comigo...Então.

Cool Thing: Carlos and Darlen came to church with their 4 kids! I was so happy! Carlos and Darlen are investigators we have been teaching for the past 4 weeks and they are super ready to be baptized but just want to make sure the are making the right decision. 

Weekly Triumph: Totally gave a twenty-minute training for our whole Zone about daily planning. Killed it.

Weekly Difficulty: We had a family home evening with Carlos and Darlen and their family and with some other members, but the members burned the cake.... Hahaha actually it was kinda funny!

Spiritual Experience: The FHE With The family of Carlos and Darlen was incredible. The members gave the lesson about families and how they can live together forever! I guess this was a concern Darlen had for a long time even before taking the missionary lessons and she explained to us how she was feeling, and it was super cool! The Lord answers her prayers a lot but she’s just not realizing it. 

Scripture: Isaiah 2:2....after reading it, read about how Utah got its name and what it means. That was something I didn’t know! Mind=blown.

Have a great week!

Elder Buck

The face you make when it is as hot as it is...

What happens in the mission. You just die.

Week 32 - February 16, 2015

Just walking...

I am doing well! We had a really good week and we are teaching a bunch! My companion reminds me a LOT of my first companion Elder Magalhães. But this time around has been a little easier because I feel like I actually know what I’m doing! I don’t need someone to show me how to be obedient or hard working when I have JESUS! There is a lot you can learn from every companion you have and with this companion the Lord has given me, I am learning patience and how to understand better what people are saying.

Cool thing: Got Boxes! With peanut butter!

Funny thing: Totally lead the music in church yesterday! 

Weekly difficulty: We had 10 elders in our house last night because of the ridiculous carnival day in Navegantes.

Spiritual Experience: We taught the Plan of Salvation for a lady and in the middle of the lesson she broke down in tears because she didn’t know where her two brothers are now who passed away 3 months ago. It was super cool to see the hope that the knowledge of this amazing gospel brings into the lives of people.

Scripture: Alma 48. Captain Moroni is so cool!

That’ s pretty much it. Love you guys!

Elder Buck

Week 31 - February 9, 2015

Welp there goes another week! And so you know, it was not too incredibly exciting but I’ll try to fill y’all in!

Cool thing: Well I totally gave my first 10-minute talk during sacrament meeting yesterday and wow wasn’t that stressful! Bahahaha It went better than I thought considering I prepared it all the day before and I don’t speak Portuguese very well. The Lord definitely guided me!

Funny thing: Played basketball today and Brazilians are miserable hahaha

Interesting Character: CECILIA. So we were at the home of an older lady who goes to church every week and is super nice. We left a message with her and after we asked if she knew anyone that would like to hear a message. She said she is always sharing stuff with all of her friends, but at the moment not really. During one of our zone conferences when Elder Claudio Costa spoke to us he instructed us to get references from the members. And when they say they don’t have anyone to give to us, then we should ask if they have an enemy that needs to hear a message from the missionaries. We did just that with this little old lady and she gave us a reference of Cecilia who lived across the street from her. But before going across the street to talk with her, this little lady told us that Cecilia was the most awful woman that she has ever met and she is just angry all the time. So we walked across the street to her house she was already out side and we greeted her and before we could even say that we were missionaries, she just said, "What do you want?" And we said we were missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and she responded by saying, "leave I don’t want to hear anything you have to say!" We kind of persisted and said, "We have a message that is super special for you, it’s about Christ and how we can be happy for all eternity!" She proceeded by saying," I’m already Catholic and I know that there is only one God not the fifty that you people preach!" Elder Cordeiro proceeded by saying," So if your Catholic, you believe in commandments and one of the greatest commandments is to love thy neighbor as thyself" then she continued by saying, "I don’t want to hear anything you have to say!" And then it was probably pretty bad what I said, "Look, I didn’t leave my house, my family, friends, school, and everything for nothing. We are hear to talk to you about how we can find our salvation and you don’t even have the time to listen for two minutes at what we have to say. How rude." Then she said leave so we did. That was a good one...but we figured we had pretty much taught a lesson right there. We had taught a little about commandments, sacrifice, salvation, love, and charity! Hahaha The only thing missing was a prayer! :)

Weekly Difficulty: I was walking on the street and this guy on his bike rode past and called me a prostitute and called my tie ugly :( Yeah…wasn’t exactly the biggest self-esteem booster....

Spiritual Experience: Yesterday me and Elder Coelho felt like we should knock doors on a specific street and found 4 new investigators in about 30 minutes so that was super powerful!

Scripture of the Week: Alma 26 Who wouldn’t want this kind of happiness!?

Love you all, hope your week was as interesting as mine! HAHA

Elder Buck

Can you identify the two Americans??

Cookin' like a boss...

What happens to your chair when you let another elder sit in it 

when you're not home...

Week 30 - February 2, 2015

The best mission in the entire world!

Hey Everyone! 

I am doing really really good over here! I’m really beginning to love the mission a lot. It definitely is NOT EASY BY ANY MEANS but it’s definitely where I’m supposed to be and what I’m supposed to be doing. I am happy right now. Happy to be here, happy that I’m doing what I am supposed to be doing, happy my family is all good, happy to know what I know, just super happy! I am doing very well. Please continue to feed the missionaries and help them as much as you can! It's cool to find a family you can hang with and it almost feels like you’re at home again. I love those families.

Cool thing: Transfers. I have a new comp! It’s ELDER CORDEIRO (kor-daye-roo). He’s Brazilian and from São Paulo! He seems pretty cool, he has about 8-9 months in the mission, and so he’s pretty new like me! (Which makes me feel not so bad hahaha.) I am super stoked for that! And Elder Burton got transferred to Navigantes (nahv-ee-guhn-cheese), which is literally 30 minutes away from this area.... So I’ll be seeing him again soon!

Me and the little guy...

(Not So) Funny Thing: Well I’ve eaten some pretty weird crap thus far in my mission and it all seems to be from this month (not all but most of it hahaha) well here is the list:

-Cow Stomach (this was actually really gross and we had it this week. Just look it up on the internet.)
-Octopus
-Cow Liver
-Chicken Hearts
-Squid
-and flippin' Marlin (it was delicious)

Interesting character: …yeah I don’t have time to write this one…

Weekly Difficulty: One of our investigators was arrested this week...She was caught in the act of deadly assault with a weapon...YEESH.

Spiritual Experience: Me and Elder fasted for Esters mom to let her be baptized this week and we showed up for church and she came up to us and said she was ready to get baptized :) The power of fasting is absolutely incredible. We are going by her house today to have her mom sign the baptism papers! It looks like the date will be on the 21 of this month :)

Scripture: I studied Isaiah 29 this week and that was cool.

Love Y’ALL!
Elder Buck

The biggest bag of Ruffles in the entire world!