Letter from 11/17/08 - Sorry, no letter for today - 11/24/08, hmmmmm?
Yep, this had been a crazy week too. And speaking of crazy… :-) I think that the thing that I have learned this week is that Lord blesses those who seek blessings from him. I have recently changed the way that I pray at night and it has made all the difference. I have been able to see more clearly all of the blessings that I receive everyday. For example, we are now teaching a wonderful family of 5, and another of 3 that are going to church and everything. Last week this family of 5 just showed up at church. I, being the sharp guy that I am, spotted them and immediately went to find out who they were. I was worried that either they were members or that they were in the other elder’s area. I started talking to them and my I was right - the couple was already baptized. They had been inactive for years, but due to several miracles and dreams that they had had, they decided to come back to church. Great, I thought. I hope they have children to teach and baptize. And they did - two sons of 9 and 10 years old. They now are getting ready to be baptized this next week.
In other news, today I went to the eye doctor and she said that I need glasses. I have to go to another doctor here in a week or two to do some more tests. It looks like I might have glaucoma. Fun, huh! So I guess that I am going to need some money soon to be able to buy glasses… I know that this is a tight time of year, so just let me know what you think. Also, let me know what kind of glasses to get- so that I can look COOL!!
DAD- wowzers- benny is already leaving on the mission!! Sounds like he already has the gift of speech. I have found that I never have trouble filling the time. Actually I have trouble speaking TOO much. It is a common problem among missionaries. We talk ALL DAY, every day, so it becomes natural to talk a lot- especially when it is about the gospel. One time in juiz de fora I got to sac meeting and the bishop asked me to speak. I said sure and he said I would have 20 minute exactly. I figured since he was asking me 5 min before hand that the schedule wasn’t so tight. Later, when I was giving my talk, I knew I was close to the 20 min mark, so I started bearing my testimony. Then I felt this tapping on my leg. I started wrapping up fast. Then I felt something smacking my leg. I looked back to see the 1st counselor with a rod in his hand smacking my leg to let me know that time was up. Sheesh, I thought, and then turned and ended the talk. That was actually pretty common in that ward. On time they did the same thing to the bishop’s wife and she turned around and chewed him out right there in front of everyone. I think that it stopped after that.
And hey good luck helping that recent convert. They really need help because it is so different in the church- so much to change and learn. They just need friends and responsibilities to learn and grow.
MOM- I’ll have you know that I AM peter pan. Getting old and growing up are different things. Let me quote to you from the doctrinal classic- “if you could hie to kolob” (what the heck is ‘HIE’. Is it like “hie, how ya doin” or “wow, that plane is really hie. I wonder if I could hie to that plane.”) anyway- somewhere in those weird extra verses it says “there is no end to youth” (rhymes with ‘truth’)- so I guess that we never really grow up. Just get bigger.
Relax- our apartment is awesome- we have desks now but no beds. My companion is… well let’s say he is great. His personality is … different. He is really smart and his sense of humor requires that he makes fun of everyone and everything. Rather than try and change him, (that never works and is a false principle :-) ) we are adapting. I like him, and I am not sure about the others. That is their problem. The greenie is AWESOME with a capital A. He is so excited. Sometimes we do divisions before lunch so that we can work together. We do crazy stuff that our companions don’t want to do. He is full of energy and it is contagious.
The stomach problems… hmmm. I heard one RM say about his mission, when asked the same question, “NO, I only had diarrhea once. … and it lasted two years.” :-) Actually I went to a rodizios de churrasco this last week and ate a TON of meat. So I am all good now :-)- maybe fatter…. And that letter I promised… hopefully I will mail it before Christmas :-)
ALYCE- whoa-who’s that hottie?? If you are looking for recognition that you are a cutie you should hear the stuff that the elders in my house say about you. Maybe I will let them write you a letter… :-) but seriously, my comp thinks that you are quite the cutie- too bad I wouldn’t let you date him. :-) (“speaking of cuties”- I think that you have said that Zack Efron is cute in three letters in a row…- weird!)
I will get you guys the sweetest picture ever next week. But I have no idea what to take a picture with. I am not close to any beaches. The Christ statue is really far away. Favela- I don’t have any of those anymore either, I guess Ill take a pic with rice and beans… :-)
Well folks, that’s all she wrote.
Love
Elder helland
Monday, November 24, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Olá família- lição da semana
letter from 11-10-08
SORRY - I was the MOST behind I've been - so Adam's last THREE letters were just posted today. You can scroll down and read them! :-)
Olá família- lição da semana
Man, this has been a long week. We finally moved apartments- that was a pain in the drain. We also had mission counsel- that was really awesome.
This week we started teaching a new family. There is a really neat story behind how we found them. I wrote it in Portuguese… sorry.
Eu vi muitas bênçãos do Senhor também essa semana. Segunda feira semana passado estava chovendo aqui. Nós não tivemos peito um planejamento a noite anterior, e quando pday acabou não tínhamos nada para fazer. Eu tinha alguns endereços, e decidimos visitar eles; não deu. Nós oramos para encontrar alguém batendo portas para ensinar. Sem guarda chuva nos buscamos noite inteiro. Também, noite inteiro meu companheiro falava coisas negativas. Finalmente, depois muitas portas e orações a noite tava acabando. Eu perguntei pra meu comp o que ele sentia. Ele falou que sentiu que nos tivemos feito tudo possível e que poderíamos voltar pra casa. Eu senti que nós tivemos feito tido possível, mas que isso significava que o Senhor faria a parte dele por causa disso. Fizemos mais uma oração e o próximo pessoa passando na chuva eu parei. Ele me convidou para casa dele o próximo dia. A família dele inteiro está lendo o livro de mórmon agora e tem data pra próximos semana. Eu mi que o Senhor está me usando pra ajudar os filhos dele. Foi um sentimento muito forte e especial.
(I'll get Jay to translate this for us and add the translation next week - don't forget to check back!)
Actually that is the sweet and condensed version. It really was a great experience. Also this other family showed up at church this week. The parents are members that have been inactive for at least 5 years. They now have two sons of 9 and 10 years old. Which is perfect- so we are going to teach them this week too.
Mom- Nova Iguaçu is my new area. It is the fourth largest city in Rio de Janeiro- but only has ONE ward. Our area is HUGE. It is close to Rio- about 45 min by bus from my last area. Good news is that this area doesn’t have half the danger, violence, drugs, or favela that my last area had. It is like utah in comparison. The neighborhood that we live in now is pretty “chique” –meaning “uppy” and “pretty darn sweet”. Here I would say that 50% percent of the people have a car. And some have the kind of cars that we have in the USA. It is pretty cool. But that is JUST the neighborhood in which we live. Everywhere else is normal. Living with three in one apartment was pretty cool at first. And maybe still could be, but my comp has a tendency to argue and hurt the feelings of others in the house… but we are trying to work this out still. By next week it will all be great. I got a few letters this last week- one from Sarah, and two from the Stanfield family. Please tell them THANK YOU for the letters! :-) Something that bro stanfield wrote helped me out. He said something about the importance of learning to love your companion and the people. I am trying harder than ever to love my companion- even when it is hard.
Get me Benjamin’s address too. Who knows when I will have time to write, but… who knows…And hey- since when do you say “wowzers”- I think that you are spending too much time with alyce. She is infecting your brain. :-)
DAD- forgiven. “and I Nephi did frankly forgive them.”I think that it is time that we forget this notion that occurred in the CTM, that if you write less I will write more. These things are entirely independent. I love you big guy- but you must have been really tired b/c you did even say who won in sports. Maybe you could try writing earlier. :-)
Alyce- I am glad to hear how busy you are. You don’t write so much about boys and the yucky stuff. Hey if you think that those candies where poorly made, you have got to see some of the candy here! There is one thing that I really like here that I don’t remember seeing there- cookies in travel packaging. Imagine one of those columns in the oreo box. Now imagine that it is all wrapped up and sold separately. Yup. Cool huh. :-) they sell these like crazy here. The best is the trakinha. Double stuff chocolate cookie with strawberry frosting!!! Hey, I hope you are studying the scriptures a lot, because I think that is my favorite thing to do these days… well, it is one of the only things that I do. :-) anyway, elder scott taught us a lot about how to study and learn. One of the things that he taught that is helping me is to study trying to learn by the spirit. I think that sometimes I read and study, loving it, but doing it to get more knowledge about the doctrine and the scriptures. BUT elder scott said that as we do this, b/c it is a good thing to do, we should be trying to learn from on high. He said that when we feel that the spirit is trying to teach us something that we should write that down and guard it in a safe place and read it often. That way we can learn more the next time. I bet that this applies to studying for school too. Actually I am not really sure how, but you are smart, you can figure it out :-)
Love you guys
Elder helland
SORRY - I was the MOST behind I've been - so Adam's last THREE letters were just posted today. You can scroll down and read them! :-)
Olá família- lição da semana
Man, this has been a long week. We finally moved apartments- that was a pain in the drain. We also had mission counsel- that was really awesome.
This week we started teaching a new family. There is a really neat story behind how we found them. I wrote it in Portuguese… sorry.
Eu vi muitas bênçãos do Senhor também essa semana. Segunda feira semana passado estava chovendo aqui. Nós não tivemos peito um planejamento a noite anterior, e quando pday acabou não tínhamos nada para fazer. Eu tinha alguns endereços, e decidimos visitar eles; não deu. Nós oramos para encontrar alguém batendo portas para ensinar. Sem guarda chuva nos buscamos noite inteiro. Também, noite inteiro meu companheiro falava coisas negativas. Finalmente, depois muitas portas e orações a noite tava acabando. Eu perguntei pra meu comp o que ele sentia. Ele falou que sentiu que nos tivemos feito tudo possível e que poderíamos voltar pra casa. Eu senti que nós tivemos feito tido possível, mas que isso significava que o Senhor faria a parte dele por causa disso. Fizemos mais uma oração e o próximo pessoa passando na chuva eu parei. Ele me convidou para casa dele o próximo dia. A família dele inteiro está lendo o livro de mórmon agora e tem data pra próximos semana. Eu mi que o Senhor está me usando pra ajudar os filhos dele. Foi um sentimento muito forte e especial.
(I'll get Jay to translate this for us and add the translation next week - don't forget to check back!)
Actually that is the sweet and condensed version. It really was a great experience. Also this other family showed up at church this week. The parents are members that have been inactive for at least 5 years. They now have two sons of 9 and 10 years old. Which is perfect- so we are going to teach them this week too.
Mom- Nova Iguaçu is my new area. It is the fourth largest city in Rio de Janeiro- but only has ONE ward. Our area is HUGE. It is close to Rio- about 45 min by bus from my last area. Good news is that this area doesn’t have half the danger, violence, drugs, or favela that my last area had. It is like utah in comparison. The neighborhood that we live in now is pretty “chique” –meaning “uppy” and “pretty darn sweet”. Here I would say that 50% percent of the people have a car. And some have the kind of cars that we have in the USA. It is pretty cool. But that is JUST the neighborhood in which we live. Everywhere else is normal. Living with three in one apartment was pretty cool at first. And maybe still could be, but my comp has a tendency to argue and hurt the feelings of others in the house… but we are trying to work this out still. By next week it will all be great. I got a few letters this last week- one from Sarah, and two from the Stanfield family. Please tell them THANK YOU for the letters! :-) Something that bro stanfield wrote helped me out. He said something about the importance of learning to love your companion and the people. I am trying harder than ever to love my companion- even when it is hard.
Get me Benjamin’s address too. Who knows when I will have time to write, but… who knows…And hey- since when do you say “wowzers”- I think that you are spending too much time with alyce. She is infecting your brain. :-)
DAD- forgiven. “and I Nephi did frankly forgive them.”I think that it is time that we forget this notion that occurred in the CTM, that if you write less I will write more. These things are entirely independent. I love you big guy- but you must have been really tired b/c you did even say who won in sports. Maybe you could try writing earlier. :-)
Alyce- I am glad to hear how busy you are. You don’t write so much about boys and the yucky stuff. Hey if you think that those candies where poorly made, you have got to see some of the candy here! There is one thing that I really like here that I don’t remember seeing there- cookies in travel packaging. Imagine one of those columns in the oreo box. Now imagine that it is all wrapped up and sold separately. Yup. Cool huh. :-) they sell these like crazy here. The best is the trakinha. Double stuff chocolate cookie with strawberry frosting!!! Hey, I hope you are studying the scriptures a lot, because I think that is my favorite thing to do these days… well, it is one of the only things that I do. :-) anyway, elder scott taught us a lot about how to study and learn. One of the things that he taught that is helping me is to study trying to learn by the spirit. I think that sometimes I read and study, loving it, but doing it to get more knowledge about the doctrine and the scriptures. BUT elder scott said that as we do this, b/c it is a good thing to do, we should be trying to learn from on high. He said that when we feel that the spirit is trying to teach us something that we should write that down and guard it in a safe place and read it often. That way we can learn more the next time. I bet that this applies to studying for school too. Actually I am not really sure how, but you are smart, you can figure it out :-)
Love you guys
Elder helland
perdo, e um como pedro...?
Letter from 11-3-08
that means forgiveness- which is something that i am going to need from you guys.
i had to pass all the numbers to the office today and fix the site of references
AND finish an assignment from the president- so you guys got put on the back burner. now i have an appointment with a guy to rent a new house here. which means that i needed to leave and get on a bus about 30 min ago. i am pretty late. i will use my pday today getting everything organized for the new house. so i will have to be really short.
the only thing that i really wanted to write today is about one of the coolest experiences of my life. on Thursdays last week we had this SWEET conference with elder richard g scott. HOLY SMOKES!!! after that conference he had a meeting with just the zone leaders from the mission. WOW AGAIN!! he had an incredible spirit about him that filled the room. he speaks funny portuguese, but it was great to be so close to one of the Lord’s anointed. i imagined myself in the presence of peter, james or john. this is a REAL apostle!
i will try and re write a lot of the stuff that i learned in a letter and mail it to you guys this week.
well, i was serious, i gotta go.
love elder helland
PS good luck with the election. remember "shall we not go on in such great a cause..?." whatever happens- the Lord is in control, and we are in His church, on His service, and being guided by His prophets. maybe, like with zions camp, we just have to endure faithfully no matter what for the campaign to be a success. "its true isn’t it?... then what else matters?"
that means forgiveness- which is something that i am going to need from you guys.
i had to pass all the numbers to the office today and fix the site of references
AND finish an assignment from the president- so you guys got put on the back burner. now i have an appointment with a guy to rent a new house here. which means that i needed to leave and get on a bus about 30 min ago. i am pretty late. i will use my pday today getting everything organized for the new house. so i will have to be really short.
the only thing that i really wanted to write today is about one of the coolest experiences of my life. on Thursdays last week we had this SWEET conference with elder richard g scott. HOLY SMOKES!!! after that conference he had a meeting with just the zone leaders from the mission. WOW AGAIN!! he had an incredible spirit about him that filled the room. he speaks funny portuguese, but it was great to be so close to one of the Lord’s anointed. i imagined myself in the presence of peter, james or john. this is a REAL apostle!
i will try and re write a lot of the stuff that i learned in a letter and mail it to you guys this week.
well, i was serious, i gotta go.
love elder helland
PS good luck with the election. remember "shall we not go on in such great a cause..?." whatever happens- the Lord is in control, and we are in His church, on His service, and being guided by His prophets. maybe, like with zions camp, we just have to endure faithfully no matter what for the campaign to be a success. "its true isn’t it?... then what else matters?"
Weirdos from another planet
Letter from 10-27-08
Weirdos from another planet...
so the big news is that i got transfered. I am now in a place called Nova Iguaçu. I am still a zone leader and my new companion is elder campos, a brazillian from rio grande do sul. This is HIS first time as a zone leader, so we are having a blast here. He got transfered here with me, which means that he knows pretty much as i do about this new area- ... nothing. I am now living, for the first time, in a house of four! The other two missionaries are elder carvalho, são paulo, and elder correa, some where in the northeast. Elder correa is a greeny and elder carvalho, his trainer, is awesome!!. Elder carvalho was a zone leader for a long time before too, so we got to know one another. Our new ward is great. It feels really strange because i was so used to my last area, but i am excited to learn to love the members here.
FYI: Elder andré was transfered too. He is now a DL in some other place that i forgot and you wouldnt recognize anyway. Elder rhodes was transfered back to bento ribeiro, so the ward didn't get TOO sad.
We are actively serching for a new house to rent in this area. The house that we have is WAY TOO SMALL for 4 missionaries. For example- i sleep on a mattress on the ground so that in the morning i can lean it against the wall and study and stuff. We only have 2 desks in the house and 3 chairs and 2 beds and one bathroom- for 4 missionaries. Today i am going to buy a pillow (something else that we don't have here), and some food. We are going to rent a house today or tomorrow and move this week
This week i think that i ate something that didn't like me, because i have had a rough time in the bathroom for a few days. I haven't eaten much of anything too. One day i was so bad that i had a fever- but i just told the missionaries that it was a fire that is inside me wanting to be put out in the waters of baptism. :-) i am currently eating water and oatmeal. I guess that makes sense as a healthy diet idea in my head at least.
So i tried to send some pictures to make this week a little more fun because there isn't a whole bunch to write. I am in a new area, i am pretty much lost all of the time, and i am loving it.
Thanks for the vote. I feel validated knowing that i didn't shirk my responsabilty to my country. In brazil it is a law to vote. You HAVE to. So that people that win are that people that have catchy tunes or cool signs, or give stickers out for free. It is really different here.
WOWZERS!!! I almost forgot to tell you guys- elder richard g scott is going to visit our mission this week. On Thursday, we are going to be able to hear him speak just to us. He speaks portuguese, so it is going to be awesome!!!!! I will fill you guys in on that one this next week!
One thing that happened this week that i really liked. When i was super sick, and falling apart in the street, i sat down for a little while on a curb to take some medicine to beat the fever. I was on a division with e. Correa, the greenie, and was feeling bad that i couldnt work really well with him. We were close to the church. I felt like i should do all i could to be a good example to him- it was like his 2nd day in the field. I kelpt on talking and doing practices with him to keep him excited. We got to the church and i had him give me a blessing. It was neat because he is a pretty recent convert and a really new missionary. The blessing that he gave me was simple and short, but powerful. Afterward, i still felt awful, but decided to show some faith and we got up and left to go to work. The day went by slowly for me because the headache didnt every really go away, but it turned into a great day to work hard in the Lord's vineyard. I felt the Lord stregnthen me with a greater desire to work and talk with people, even though i was sick.
That is that- hope you like the pictures.
Until next time- keep your stick on the ice.
Com amor-
Elder helland
MOM- sorry, it is tough to be real detailed in an email this short. You are right- i think that trunky is stupid too. I understand why it happens though. You see, missionaries miss their families, their former lives, girlfriends and other dumb stuff :-) I feel privleged to be able to train misionaries all the time. Sometimes i am surprised at how much they trust my advice and listen to my ideas for them. I tell all those that listen that being trunky is not a phase of being a missionary like some say. You don't automatically get tired after a year and a half. These are choices. You CHOOSE your attitude. But here in the mission field there are a lot of therometers and few thermostats. Some missionaries just don't seem to get it. But that is how is it anywhere.
Have fun with the new TV!
DAD- good luck KEEPING the TV.
Alyce- blind dates should only be for the blind. “hi, my name is helen keller...”
.jpg)
Most of madureira zone at interviews
.jpg)
elder nacimento, e. plozai/(terra) and e. andre
.jpg)
elder jefferson and elder nilson in madureira.
.jpg)
elder andré- sorry i didn't mail you a pic when we were still together.
.jpg)
Our zone playing some b-ball. The first time in over a year for me.
.jpg)
elder cano- the other AP. He is pretty cool too.
.jpg)
elder kzecizk- one of my favorite district leaders
.jpg)
elder allen- he was the assistant to the pres for over a year and an awesome missionary.
.jpg)
Weirdos from another planet...
so the big news is that i got transfered. I am now in a place called Nova Iguaçu. I am still a zone leader and my new companion is elder campos, a brazillian from rio grande do sul. This is HIS first time as a zone leader, so we are having a blast here. He got transfered here with me, which means that he knows pretty much as i do about this new area- ... nothing. I am now living, for the first time, in a house of four! The other two missionaries are elder carvalho, são paulo, and elder correa, some where in the northeast. Elder correa is a greeny and elder carvalho, his trainer, is awesome!!. Elder carvalho was a zone leader for a long time before too, so we got to know one another. Our new ward is great. It feels really strange because i was so used to my last area, but i am excited to learn to love the members here.
FYI: Elder andré was transfered too. He is now a DL in some other place that i forgot and you wouldnt recognize anyway. Elder rhodes was transfered back to bento ribeiro, so the ward didn't get TOO sad.
We are actively serching for a new house to rent in this area. The house that we have is WAY TOO SMALL for 4 missionaries. For example- i sleep on a mattress on the ground so that in the morning i can lean it against the wall and study and stuff. We only have 2 desks in the house and 3 chairs and 2 beds and one bathroom- for 4 missionaries. Today i am going to buy a pillow (something else that we don't have here), and some food. We are going to rent a house today or tomorrow and move this week
This week i think that i ate something that didn't like me, because i have had a rough time in the bathroom for a few days. I haven't eaten much of anything too. One day i was so bad that i had a fever- but i just told the missionaries that it was a fire that is inside me wanting to be put out in the waters of baptism. :-) i am currently eating water and oatmeal. I guess that makes sense as a healthy diet idea in my head at least.
So i tried to send some pictures to make this week a little more fun because there isn't a whole bunch to write. I am in a new area, i am pretty much lost all of the time, and i am loving it.
Thanks for the vote. I feel validated knowing that i didn't shirk my responsabilty to my country. In brazil it is a law to vote. You HAVE to. So that people that win are that people that have catchy tunes or cool signs, or give stickers out for free. It is really different here.
WOWZERS!!! I almost forgot to tell you guys- elder richard g scott is going to visit our mission this week. On Thursday, we are going to be able to hear him speak just to us. He speaks portuguese, so it is going to be awesome!!!!! I will fill you guys in on that one this next week!
One thing that happened this week that i really liked. When i was super sick, and falling apart in the street, i sat down for a little while on a curb to take some medicine to beat the fever. I was on a division with e. Correa, the greenie, and was feeling bad that i couldnt work really well with him. We were close to the church. I felt like i should do all i could to be a good example to him- it was like his 2nd day in the field. I kelpt on talking and doing practices with him to keep him excited. We got to the church and i had him give me a blessing. It was neat because he is a pretty recent convert and a really new missionary. The blessing that he gave me was simple and short, but powerful. Afterward, i still felt awful, but decided to show some faith and we got up and left to go to work. The day went by slowly for me because the headache didnt every really go away, but it turned into a great day to work hard in the Lord's vineyard. I felt the Lord stregnthen me with a greater desire to work and talk with people, even though i was sick.
That is that- hope you like the pictures.
Until next time- keep your stick on the ice.
Com amor-
Elder helland
MOM- sorry, it is tough to be real detailed in an email this short. You are right- i think that trunky is stupid too. I understand why it happens though. You see, missionaries miss their families, their former lives, girlfriends and other dumb stuff :-) I feel privleged to be able to train misionaries all the time. Sometimes i am surprised at how much they trust my advice and listen to my ideas for them. I tell all those that listen that being trunky is not a phase of being a missionary like some say. You don't automatically get tired after a year and a half. These are choices. You CHOOSE your attitude. But here in the mission field there are a lot of therometers and few thermostats. Some missionaries just don't seem to get it. But that is how is it anywhere.
Have fun with the new TV!
DAD- good luck KEEPING the TV.
Alyce- blind dates should only be for the blind. “hi, my name is helen keller...”
Here are some sweet shots of the last two months:
I think that it is clear that missionaries love taking dumb pictures with me.
I guess it must be that crazy face i put on for pictures.
.jpg)
Most of madureira zone at interviews.jpg)
elder nacimento, e. plozai/(terra) and e. andre.jpg)
elder jefferson and elder nilson in madureira..jpg)
elder andré- sorry i didn't mail you a pic when we were still together..jpg)
Our zone playing some b-ball. The first time in over a year for me..jpg)
elder cano- the other AP. He is pretty cool too..jpg)
elder kzecizk- one of my favorite district leaders.jpg)
elder allen- he was the assistant to the pres for over a year and an awesome missionary..jpg)
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
hey there goonies...
Hey fam!
Sorry last week’s letter was lame. I think the problem was the fever and the meds. But i am good now. I ran a fever for a few more hours after and then i was good to go. The next day i was already chomping at the bit to find some people to baptize !! the biggest challenge this week was my comp. Let me tell you about him.
He is from são paulo, is 25 years old. He was baptized when he was 12 with a good friend of his. No one else in his family are members of the church. He is from a favela and loves to tell stories about his life before the mission :-) Believe you me, he had an interesting life, ... for an american mormon anyway it was interesting. Any way, these last weeks he has been pretty tough. I learned a lot from the other troubles that I have had with companions, and we are great friends, but he is passing through some tough times now. His mission ends in January, and he is not really wanting to work any more. I wrote an email to president today, and we have talked to pres a few times, and we’ll see if some thing gives.
I have a ton of pictures that i want to send you guys, but this lan house doesn’t let us download either. (today is a holiday, so almost all of the stores are closed.) This week is transfers. I have been in this area for 7 going on 8 months now, so it is probable that i will be moved this week. BUT, i have heard of missionaries that have stayed much longer in one area, so...
We are now working with different families. We stopped visiting a lot of the families that were getting ready to be baptized, for various reasons. This last week, we knocked a lot of doors. I mean a LOT. We found a lot of people that DONT want to here our message. It was funny. One time this lady was yelling at us that she already “knew” Jesus. I was out of patience for these people, so i asked her if she knew any one that “knew” Jesus and liked Him and would like to hear more about Him. She got angry and started talking about how she liked Jesus and a bunch of other stuff. She didn’t like that i implied that she didn’t like Jesus. It was funny. Another time, after a long day of having people yell mean stuff at us, we were knocking doors again. We came to this big gate and clapped our hands [that’s what they do in Brazil instead of knocking on the door, they clap their hands]. “who is it?” they yelled. And elder andré responded, “ the Mormons!” they didn’t answer or come to the door. :-)
Mom- sorry, didn’t carry all the Christmas stuff with me. I gave a lot of it to brazilian missionaries that think that that kind of stuff is really cool. As far as presents go, i am good. Whatever’s clever, you know.
Dad- whahoo, joe ferry. I remember visiting that guy. Holy smokes. That is awesome.
Alyce- i really like that idea about tolerance. I guess that God is intolerant of sin, but loves unconditionally, that is a tough attribute to acquire. Like Christ says, it is easy to love those that are like us and love us, it is HARD to love our enemies. I guess that we can be INTOLERANT of sin, but we have to FORGIVE all men. It is an interesting concept. I guess when i see all this stuff that i know makes our Savior sad, i just think about how i can teach them to repent. It is really hard to love those that don’t want to repent, that don’t want to do what is right. THAT is hard for me. Because i feel so sad knowing that they will not return to the presence of the father like that. There is nothing we can do about others free agency, it is after all “the most precious gift we have been give, next to life itself, the power to direct that life.. :-)”
Well, i got to go, until next week,
Love
Elder helland
ps - this week i ate pigs feet for the first time. i always thought is was just a joke of mom’s. it was gross!!! my piece had little poky hairs pointing out of it. yeeeeaaaallkkkk!!
Sorry last week’s letter was lame. I think the problem was the fever and the meds. But i am good now. I ran a fever for a few more hours after and then i was good to go. The next day i was already chomping at the bit to find some people to baptize !! the biggest challenge this week was my comp. Let me tell you about him.
He is from são paulo, is 25 years old. He was baptized when he was 12 with a good friend of his. No one else in his family are members of the church. He is from a favela and loves to tell stories about his life before the mission :-) Believe you me, he had an interesting life, ... for an american mormon anyway it was interesting. Any way, these last weeks he has been pretty tough. I learned a lot from the other troubles that I have had with companions, and we are great friends, but he is passing through some tough times now. His mission ends in January, and he is not really wanting to work any more. I wrote an email to president today, and we have talked to pres a few times, and we’ll see if some thing gives.
I have a ton of pictures that i want to send you guys, but this lan house doesn’t let us download either. (today is a holiday, so almost all of the stores are closed.) This week is transfers. I have been in this area for 7 going on 8 months now, so it is probable that i will be moved this week. BUT, i have heard of missionaries that have stayed much longer in one area, so...
We are now working with different families. We stopped visiting a lot of the families that were getting ready to be baptized, for various reasons. This last week, we knocked a lot of doors. I mean a LOT. We found a lot of people that DONT want to here our message. It was funny. One time this lady was yelling at us that she already “knew” Jesus. I was out of patience for these people, so i asked her if she knew any one that “knew” Jesus and liked Him and would like to hear more about Him. She got angry and started talking about how she liked Jesus and a bunch of other stuff. She didn’t like that i implied that she didn’t like Jesus. It was funny. Another time, after a long day of having people yell mean stuff at us, we were knocking doors again. We came to this big gate and clapped our hands [that’s what they do in Brazil instead of knocking on the door, they clap their hands]. “who is it?” they yelled. And elder andré responded, “ the Mormons!” they didn’t answer or come to the door. :-)
Mom- sorry, didn’t carry all the Christmas stuff with me. I gave a lot of it to brazilian missionaries that think that that kind of stuff is really cool. As far as presents go, i am good. Whatever’s clever, you know.
Dad- whahoo, joe ferry. I remember visiting that guy. Holy smokes. That is awesome.
Alyce- i really like that idea about tolerance. I guess that God is intolerant of sin, but loves unconditionally, that is a tough attribute to acquire. Like Christ says, it is easy to love those that are like us and love us, it is HARD to love our enemies. I guess that we can be INTOLERANT of sin, but we have to FORGIVE all men. It is an interesting concept. I guess when i see all this stuff that i know makes our Savior sad, i just think about how i can teach them to repent. It is really hard to love those that don’t want to repent, that don’t want to do what is right. THAT is hard for me. Because i feel so sad knowing that they will not return to the presence of the father like that. There is nothing we can do about others free agency, it is after all “the most precious gift we have been give, next to life itself, the power to direct that life.. :-)”
Well, i got to go, until next week,
Love
Elder helland
ps - this week i ate pigs feet for the first time. i always thought is was just a joke of mom’s. it was gross!!! my piece had little poky hairs pointing out of it. yeeeeaaaallkkkk!!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
If I were king of the forest…
Letter 10-13-08 (oops, posted one week late!)
What I wanted to do was send a bunch of pictures to you guys, but this dumb internet café doesn’t allow it. I am not really feeling all that good right now, I have been sick with the flu these last couple of days. I woke up this morning with a pretty gnarly fever, so as you can imagine, I don’t really have the energy to write a whole bunch today. My head is really slow, kind of like an old telephone modem- and I am not really getting a good connection. “What king of chip you got in there, a Dorito? It’s all about the Pentiums, baby.”
On Saturday, we had a neat experience. We went to a neighborhood that doesn’t really get worked in a lot. The neighborhood is called “Colégio”, which means “school”. Anyway, it has this giant favela in the middle and I don’t really know the streets there all that good. We grabbed the area book the night before and the ward list and pulled out all of the addresses that we could find that were in that neighborhood. And then we spent the whole next day in that part of the area.
That day was pretty tough. We searched for all of the addresses that we had and no on wanted to hear a message. The worst ones were the in-active members that we looked for. Some of them yelled at us, others had moved or died. One lady, who was the sister of a member that is inactive, told us that hr sister had moved. So we asked for her new address, and the lady said she wouldn’t give it to us. So we asked for a telephone number. Again she said that she wouldn’t give it to us. Okay, well, could you tell her that we came here looking for her? ... No. And then the mean old lady started yelling at us saying that she was going to sue us and call the police and a bunch of other junk. Elder Andre told here to calm down and we left with her still yelling.
The next house was another inactive member. We found the address and as we got closer I saw that they were having some kind of party. I said this to elder Andre, who kindly informed me that that was no birthday party. It was a macumba party. The house where it was happening was the neighbor house to the house that we were looking for. They were beating drums and shouting and stuff, so we had to clap out hands really loud to and shout “Jefferson” (the was the man’s name that we were looking for.) well, I guess that we were interfering with their satanic ritual, because thy all stopped and looked at us. The man in the middle of the circle, that was all dressed funny, started screaming. It was pretty scary. All of the people cheered when he screamed. Then this dinosaur lady saw us, I think she was the one directing the spirit ceremony. She was dressed funny too, and had two big swords in her hands. She started coming towards us and asked us why we were there. (She had this really deep raspy voice) we said that we were looking for Jefferson; she said that no Jefferson lived there now; we took her word for it and took off. It is so weird that here, there is a giant and popular religion that claims to believe in Jesus Christ that has ceremonies to posses people with evil spirits. I guess that the evil spirit that was in that man didn’t like being so close to priesthood power, because he was screaming like crazy. :-)
So, that whole day was tough like this, running into all kinds of opposition. I was thinking the whole time that this must be that trial of our faith and that soon we would be blessed with something great. And we were. At night we found a new family to teach. They live close to a few members and were excited to learn more about the restored gospel. Turns out that opposition is an important principle and that when things are tough, that Lord is just waiting to see if we will hang in there to get the blessing at that end.
Mom- I got a letter from grandma jones. It is the only one that I got this last transfer. You can tell her that she made my day! Don’t worry about being short and sweet next time. The problem is usually that I don’t really feel like writing a lot, and time is just a good excuse. It is a hard transition to try and think about you guys after a week with out really, well, thinking about you guys. I mean, I pray for you guys and stuff, but writing is tricky if you aren’t in the mood. I am usually still thinking about the problems I have with my missionaries and my investigators, and that kind of stuff doesn’t translate real well into a letter home. I think that THIS letter wasn’t all that good, but my excuse it that my head is all fuzzy today and that is really all that comes to mind.
Dad- man, you got to watch out for those cigar stealers, they are slippery! I thought that there was a camera there, filming the bad guys? Have fun with those pavers.
Alyce- “My little wild one. I know who I can find when I need a wild time…” sounds like you got beat up at that concert. The only thing that I can say about teaching is: learn how to ask good questions. Not just asking question, but good questions. Questions make people think and feel. Luckily for me, I teach pretty much the same lesson everyday, so I have a pretty good list of “good questions” to ask. But I am also always planning trainings and other lessons and talks and stuff, and I have to say, that is the key to take the lesson to the heart of people. Of course, the scriptures, the spirit, environment, and testimony are also important, but learning how to ask effective questions is a tough skill to learn.
I am totally beat. I am going to grab a snack and then sleep the rest of p-day.
Love you guys-
Elder Helland
What I wanted to do was send a bunch of pictures to you guys, but this dumb internet café doesn’t allow it. I am not really feeling all that good right now, I have been sick with the flu these last couple of days. I woke up this morning with a pretty gnarly fever, so as you can imagine, I don’t really have the energy to write a whole bunch today. My head is really slow, kind of like an old telephone modem- and I am not really getting a good connection. “What king of chip you got in there, a Dorito? It’s all about the Pentiums, baby.”
On Saturday, we had a neat experience. We went to a neighborhood that doesn’t really get worked in a lot. The neighborhood is called “Colégio”, which means “school”. Anyway, it has this giant favela in the middle and I don’t really know the streets there all that good. We grabbed the area book the night before and the ward list and pulled out all of the addresses that we could find that were in that neighborhood. And then we spent the whole next day in that part of the area.
That day was pretty tough. We searched for all of the addresses that we had and no on wanted to hear a message. The worst ones were the in-active members that we looked for. Some of them yelled at us, others had moved or died. One lady, who was the sister of a member that is inactive, told us that hr sister had moved. So we asked for her new address, and the lady said she wouldn’t give it to us. So we asked for a telephone number. Again she said that she wouldn’t give it to us. Okay, well, could you tell her that we came here looking for her? ... No. And then the mean old lady started yelling at us saying that she was going to sue us and call the police and a bunch of other junk. Elder Andre told here to calm down and we left with her still yelling.
The next house was another inactive member. We found the address and as we got closer I saw that they were having some kind of party. I said this to elder Andre, who kindly informed me that that was no birthday party. It was a macumba party. The house where it was happening was the neighbor house to the house that we were looking for. They were beating drums and shouting and stuff, so we had to clap out hands really loud to and shout “Jefferson” (the was the man’s name that we were looking for.) well, I guess that we were interfering with their satanic ritual, because thy all stopped and looked at us. The man in the middle of the circle, that was all dressed funny, started screaming. It was pretty scary. All of the people cheered when he screamed. Then this dinosaur lady saw us, I think she was the one directing the spirit ceremony. She was dressed funny too, and had two big swords in her hands. She started coming towards us and asked us why we were there. (She had this really deep raspy voice) we said that we were looking for Jefferson; she said that no Jefferson lived there now; we took her word for it and took off. It is so weird that here, there is a giant and popular religion that claims to believe in Jesus Christ that has ceremonies to posses people with evil spirits. I guess that the evil spirit that was in that man didn’t like being so close to priesthood power, because he was screaming like crazy. :-)
So, that whole day was tough like this, running into all kinds of opposition. I was thinking the whole time that this must be that trial of our faith and that soon we would be blessed with something great. And we were. At night we found a new family to teach. They live close to a few members and were excited to learn more about the restored gospel. Turns out that opposition is an important principle and that when things are tough, that Lord is just waiting to see if we will hang in there to get the blessing at that end.
Mom- I got a letter from grandma jones. It is the only one that I got this last transfer. You can tell her that she made my day! Don’t worry about being short and sweet next time. The problem is usually that I don’t really feel like writing a lot, and time is just a good excuse. It is a hard transition to try and think about you guys after a week with out really, well, thinking about you guys. I mean, I pray for you guys and stuff, but writing is tricky if you aren’t in the mood. I am usually still thinking about the problems I have with my missionaries and my investigators, and that kind of stuff doesn’t translate real well into a letter home. I think that THIS letter wasn’t all that good, but my excuse it that my head is all fuzzy today and that is really all that comes to mind.
Dad- man, you got to watch out for those cigar stealers, they are slippery! I thought that there was a camera there, filming the bad guys? Have fun with those pavers.
Alyce- “My little wild one. I know who I can find when I need a wild time…” sounds like you got beat up at that concert. The only thing that I can say about teaching is: learn how to ask good questions. Not just asking question, but good questions. Questions make people think and feel. Luckily for me, I teach pretty much the same lesson everyday, so I have a pretty good list of “good questions” to ask. But I am also always planning trainings and other lessons and talks and stuff, and I have to say, that is the key to take the lesson to the heart of people. Of course, the scriptures, the spirit, environment, and testimony are also important, but learning how to ask effective questions is a tough skill to learn.
I am totally beat. I am going to grab a snack and then sleep the rest of p-day.
Love you guys-
Elder Helland
Thursday, October 9, 2008
what a weekend!
letter from 10-6-08
Yep, conference was awesome here too. I think that my favorite thing about conference is … man there are so many favorites. I guess it is cool for me to teach people every day about prophets and what they do, then to finally see and here one is… “it is like a paleontologist that has studied dinosaurs his whole life and finally has that opportunity to meet one.” (Movie quote?- I know it is a little fuzzy, but cut me some slack b/c I haven’t seen this movie in forever). I guess that I liked all of the talks, but sis allred did awesome talking about baptism and missionary work. Later in the priesthood session there was this awesome MTC choir. I thought about all of those missionaries starting just now and how much they will learn in the coming months, how much good they will do in the next two years. Elder Holland, always a favorite, talked about angels. One of the scriptures that he, and many others for that matter, used was “ I will go before you and be on your right hand and on you left and mine angels round about you to bare you up.” (Rough quotation) I was also reminded of where the BoM says that angels are preparing the hearts of men to receive the gospel truth. I also liked elder uchtdorf’s; ‘lift where you are’. I learned a lot about just how far hard work and team effort will help us here. I also liked this talk by Lawrence Corbridge (?). It was kind of different, but I really liked the feeling of it. The focus on the Savior really helped me realize that THAT is the focus of my life and work too. He is the only way for me or anyone else to be saved.
Mom:
I guess I felt a little funny when I found out that you guys fasted. It was sweet, but I read that missionary manual A LOT so that I am 100% obedient and to answer that questions of other missionaries too. AND there is one little part that that says not to ask people at home to fast for stuff here. I know I didn’t ask, so I thought that is was really cool for you guys to do that. This week our zone baptized 4 people. We were going to baptize too, BUT one of her children got the chicken pox. Her name is Daniele. She and her daughter Juliana (8 years old) were going to get baptized this week. They hadn’t even gone to church yet. They are pretty special. I will tell you more next week.
Dad-
Wait, you mean to say that you didn’t sleep this year in the priesthood session? J man you are doing better with out me there….And holy smokes!, the dentist took out some of your bone!!!??!! B careful, your brain could fall our now. Here, when they do normal dental work you get 0 numbing stuff. You would be out of luck if you lived here.
Alyce:
pó cara,nem tou ligado mais na giria aí, maluca! mas vanilla ice ainda é doido pra caraca. tu fale com jay pra apostar na parada, manê. (That is my rad ability to speak in slang in Portuguese.) My companion must be like that guy. he says "pó cara" every other sentence. Way to go swinging an "a" in college. You’re like a nerd now.
(one more lesson in Brazilian slang: You can actually say "nerd" here and everyone will understand that you are talking about those losers that like to get good grades. :) but another on that i think is funny is calling someone a "C.D.F."- which is to say- "cabeça de ferro"- being translated is "head of iron". It is how they call nerds here. I guess that makes you a C.D.F.! ha ha :)
Well, I had better get going.
love – elder helland.
Yep, conference was awesome here too. I think that my favorite thing about conference is … man there are so many favorites. I guess it is cool for me to teach people every day about prophets and what they do, then to finally see and here one is… “it is like a paleontologist that has studied dinosaurs his whole life and finally has that opportunity to meet one.” (Movie quote?- I know it is a little fuzzy, but cut me some slack b/c I haven’t seen this movie in forever). I guess that I liked all of the talks, but sis allred did awesome talking about baptism and missionary work. Later in the priesthood session there was this awesome MTC choir. I thought about all of those missionaries starting just now and how much they will learn in the coming months, how much good they will do in the next two years. Elder Holland, always a favorite, talked about angels. One of the scriptures that he, and many others for that matter, used was “ I will go before you and be on your right hand and on you left and mine angels round about you to bare you up.” (Rough quotation) I was also reminded of where the BoM says that angels are preparing the hearts of men to receive the gospel truth. I also liked elder uchtdorf’s; ‘lift where you are’. I learned a lot about just how far hard work and team effort will help us here. I also liked this talk by Lawrence Corbridge (?). It was kind of different, but I really liked the feeling of it. The focus on the Savior really helped me realize that THAT is the focus of my life and work too. He is the only way for me or anyone else to be saved.
Mom:
I guess I felt a little funny when I found out that you guys fasted. It was sweet, but I read that missionary manual A LOT so that I am 100% obedient and to answer that questions of other missionaries too. AND there is one little part that that says not to ask people at home to fast for stuff here. I know I didn’t ask, so I thought that is was really cool for you guys to do that. This week our zone baptized 4 people. We were going to baptize too, BUT one of her children got the chicken pox. Her name is Daniele. She and her daughter Juliana (8 years old) were going to get baptized this week. They hadn’t even gone to church yet. They are pretty special. I will tell you more next week.
Dad-
Wait, you mean to say that you didn’t sleep this year in the priesthood session? J man you are doing better with out me there….And holy smokes!, the dentist took out some of your bone!!!??!! B careful, your brain could fall our now. Here, when they do normal dental work you get 0 numbing stuff. You would be out of luck if you lived here.
Alyce:
pó cara,nem tou ligado mais na giria aí, maluca! mas vanilla ice ainda é doido pra caraca. tu fale com jay pra apostar na parada, manê. (That is my rad ability to speak in slang in Portuguese.) My companion must be like that guy. he says "pó cara" every other sentence. Way to go swinging an "a" in college. You’re like a nerd now.
(one more lesson in Brazilian slang: You can actually say "nerd" here and everyone will understand that you are talking about those losers that like to get good grades. :) but another on that i think is funny is calling someone a "C.D.F."- which is to say- "cabeça de ferro"- being translated is "head of iron". It is how they call nerds here. I guess that makes you a C.D.F.! ha ha :)
Well, I had better get going.
love – elder helland.
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