December 4, 2017 -- Teotonio Vilela (Ilhéus)

monday i got to travel to salvador to pick up my new comp straight from the mtc and i sat on the bus by 3 missionaries going home and they were just trunky and nervous hahahah but we made it to salvador safely. 

tuesday we spent the whole day in presidents house recieving training and introducing the new missionaries to the mission. it was pretty cool and nice to be back in salvador. i had really missed it and it was fun to see some friends and other missionaries. I got my new comp elder sobral from sao paulo! hes been a member for a little over a year and he's extremely excited about the work. we finished off the night by picing up another bus back to ilheus 8 hours yay

Elder Prince and Elder Sobral

wednesday i showed elder sobral around the area and we met some membrers and some of our investigators. we had a cool lesson with emanoel and davi about their reading in the book of mormon and they both accepted baptismal dates in a few weeks! its so nice to have the book of mormon and challenge people to read it to gain a testimony. 

thursday and friday and saturday were just kind anormal proselting days. elder sobral got to experience his first day in the mission where you dont find a whole lot of people at home and you do a whole lot of walking. but we had a really cool experience. we were walking down the street and this man walks past us then turns around and stops us and read our nametags then nearly pulled us to his house to teach him more! his name is junior and we started talking about the Church of Jesus Crhist and how it was lost after the death of christ and was restored. He gave this whole explanation aout how he wondered why there were so many churches in our days and stuff and it was super cool.

we got to see a ton of less activies ths week and they all or most of them went to chrch it was so nice to see the church more full and stuff. 

i think the best part of this week is that every time we walk by the church elder sobral shakes his head because our church is gigantic but we only have  branch here. its so different for him becaus ehis ward is big but chapel small and it makes me laugh so hard everytime.

Gigantic church building for the branch

i love you all so much. Jesus loves you too.

sam

November 27, 2017 -- Teotonio Villela (Ilheus)

Sam's companion Elder Araujo goes home this week, so Sam will get a new missionary straight from the MTC. He reports that he will travel to the mission home Monday night, have a day of training, and get his new comp on Wednesday. They will serve in Teotonio Villela (Ilheus), where Sam has been serving for the last few weeks.

Brazilians love Christmas, so they already have a tree in their apartment.

View from their balcony

I think this photo is from their apartment.

November 20, 2017 letter - Teotonio Villela (Ilheus)

this week because of the week of dedication we started a little early on monday. 3 pm instead of 6 so that was kinda weird. i felt like we didnt even have a p day but it was chill. 

uesday was super duper rainy the whole day so we spent the day trying to visit investigators and less actives in the rain and lets just say that we had less success than we would have liked. also got super muddy because my area is full of dirt roads but im really coming to enjoy that part of the misison. its something im not used to seeing. well now im used to it but not so normal in the states. 

wednesday was a holiday here in brazil im not sure for what. i think every other week has a holiday here in brazil. but there was a bbq for the ward and it rained again. one funny thing in the mission is that in the handbook says that sundays and holidays are the best days to FIND PEOPLE AT HOME. what it does not include is that they are THE WORST for people to let you in their homes hahah but it was a pretty good day as well. 

thursday we were able to meet with an investigator who showed up randomly at church and he has a super cool story. eugenio was a drug addict but then got put out on the streets and moved to sao paulo. after trying to sell fruits in the streets of the big city he has made his way home and is really searching to find the purpose in his life and trying to support his family witha son on the way. he loved church and loved our lesson about the restoration and the existance of prophets to guide us. 

friday we visited a part member family who commited to start reading the bom together and prayhing together. the parents need to get married so they can get baptized and are actually super excited to have us visiting  them. 

the rest of the weekend we spent preparing for stake conference and gettting a few things in order for my companion to go home next week! lets just say he is pretty excited hahahah. stake conference was super good. lots of talks about keeping the sabbath day holy. 4 to be exact. then the area seventy came in and talked for a full hour. it was an amazing talk about sacrafice love and truly serving our neighbors. truly guarding the 2 greatest commandment to love our neighbor. it was an amazing talk and got a sweet feeling of the spirit to make me happy. 

also had another super cool/crappy experience this week. for the past little while i have been doing lots of my personal study only in english and not reading in portuguese very much anymore and it came back to bite me. this week it was like my tongue was not meant to speak portuguese and my ears not made to understand anything. it was a very odd feeling but as soon as i started doing my study again in portuguese evertyhing turned around and i was understanding and speaking again. i recieved a very personal testimony about the gift of tongues and them importance of using the talents the lord gives us. if we hide our talents we will lose them. mmaybe we dont all have the coolest talents or talents that seem popular or necessary but our talents are what make us who we are and what make us special to our Heavenly father. SO use your talents! be grateful for the talents you have this thanksgiving week.

i love yall. 

sam

November 13, 2017 letter -- Teotonio Villela (Ilheus)

Remember a few weeks ago when president was going to send me to BJDL and then he wanted me to go to Ilheus, but then changed back to BJDL? he moved me this week. new area is teotonio villela in ilheus. its a little bit more inland than the actual city and a pretty humble area.

Teotonia Villela (Ilheus)

wednesday night super cool family in bjdl made a cake for me and we had a sweet time visiting them before i left. 

Karianne, Dona Lurdes, Xavier and their family

thursday i spent 14 hours on the bus and another hour in a taxi just to get to my new area. friday and saturday and sunday were spent "showing me the new area" in which my comp just showed me members on the same 3 streets. so i still dont know the area or really any investigators! comp is Elder Araujo. he's brazilian and has only 2 weeks left in his mission.

Sam and new comp Elder Araujo

sunday was super nice to be back in an area where they have lunch for us and people in church! the branch is a little weak right now but we gonna pick things up! it was nice to sing hymns and sacrament and classes and stuff i loved it. also had random people show up at church that we are gonna visit this week im super excited! just gotta keep that positive attitude. and on top of all this president has made this week a week of dedication that we are just gonna skip studying and stuff and get up even earlier so we can literally spend the entire day in the street working. wish me luck. stake conference this weekend so it should be pretty chill here

ive been reading in the beginning of 2 nephi too and jesus the christ (super good book wow) and its really inspiried me to try even harder to be like christ and apply the atonement in my life. i read a scripture that i really liked this week in 1 nephi 17:50-51

50 And I said unto them: If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them. If he should command me that I should say unto this water, be thou earth, it should be earth; and if I should say it, it would be done.

51 And now, if the Lord has such great power, and has wrought so many miracles among the children of men, how is it that he cannot instruct me, that I should build a ship?

if god has given us a calling or and assignment we can do it! he will never leave us alone to do things but always use his power and lift us up to the level we need to be to accomplish our tasks! I love my god and my savior. we always can have more faith that they are there with us and that we can do the things we need to do

love you tons, sam

Map of Teotonio Vilela, Ilheus, Bahia, Brazil (November 13 -

November 6, 2017 letter -- Bom Jesus Da Lapa

our week was pretty chill. i feel like i talked to you all so recently because p day was one day late last weeek. not a super ton has changed here but we have been seeing small miracles for our hard work. we were able to put to work some of the trainings and tactics from zone conference to help instill excitement or root out the problems in our investigators. 

the problem is that while we may be able to get into a lot of houses here in bjdl we are having difficulties with finding sincere people. lots of them just let us in to here about jesus then dont want to hear anymore because "they were born catholic and will die catholic" or maybe because they think we are annoying hahha. but in between all of this just while walking in the street we have found like 10 less active members who were baptized in othe cities or states then moved and went inactive. also a ton of peple who were investigators in other cities or states and have invited us to visit them so always count your blessings! i know that the lord never forgets to watch over us and put eveyrthing in our path just the way we need it. 

we finally got some rain here in bjdl and we have seen great numbers of frogs and lizards since the rains. its super cool because we live close to a pond and they are super loud at night. i also go to do a exchange and went into a little town out side of the city where the other companionship works and it was sick! the little town they work iin is super in the midle of a banana plantation that is one of the biggest in the state or country or something like that so it was just bananas for as far as the eye could see. and i ate chicken feet yesterday. 7/10 not much better than the other parts of the chicken. 

we are geting super close to having the baptism of a family here so please keep karin, lurdes, and xavier in your prayers. theyre an awesome family and they already act like members we just gotta get them over the hump. this week i started the book of mormon again and im also trying to read the 4 gospels and its just a spiritual treat. its amazing to read more about my savior and get to know him better. 

i was reading the sermon on the mount this week when i came across a principle that i really like. matthew 6 :14 "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you"

like one thing we can always do is forgive others and be patience. when we try hard to love others and show them that we love them and forgive them our heavenly father will forgive us and show his love for us. 

i hope each one of you knows how much i love you! have a great week and dont forget to read the book of mormon.

sam

October 31, 2017 -- Bom Jesus Da Lapa

well sounds like a chill wekhahha. but idk about this logan lucky movie. nothing will ever top oceans 11. everyone in the house is getting along pretty well. had a few problems in the other companionship because our district leader is kinda hard headed and likes to do things his way. also he's not very good at doing things on time always seems to be a little late to everything. not a problem though. i'm actually so happy that rachel is on track to graduate and jared is doing well. you and dad really deserve a break after all i put you through so im glad The Lord is blessing you guys hahahah. also sorry about me in high school i was pretty dope but school was not my thing. 

is this infinite atonement book good? please fill me in i like the sound of it. also i'm super proud of myself that i am a "practicing" mormon now. finally been a true member for like 10 months now. rachel and jared copying my costumes i guess you guys really miss me at home hahaha. YOU'RE GONNA CHANGE THE KITCHEN WITHOUT MY PERMISSION?? WHAT IS THIS WORLD I AM THE THIRD PARENT AND WE NEED TO BE IN AGREEMENT. ugh. 

TOKEN SINGLE PERSON AT THE PARTY HAHAHAHA I THINK THIS WEEK WAS THE BEST BUNCH OF EMAILS I HAVE GOTTEN IN SO LONG I JUST IMAGINE YOU using the mic hahahahahahah. [I was the MC at the Elders Quorum Halloween party due to my "single" status with Jeff at work.] what brax talked about in his talk is true. the mission is a rollercoaster. wow rach actually pays attention in church. God really loves you and dad. the other three just keep making up for my mistakes hahahahahahaah. dude those ranger apprentice books are so good. 

well folks this week was extremely normal. a bunch of lessons lots of prayers and some good feeling the spirit. i don't really remember what happened this week. i feel like everytime we get to the computer my mind goes blank. usually i write stuff down but i forgot and forgot my planner. so i'm just gonna share some stuff from sunday and yesterday because they were the most important and eventful days. 

on sunday we were going around visiting all of our investigators before going to prepare the hotel for sacament meeting. we were passing in front of the hotel and we both had the feeling we should go in and talk to the owner who loves us. she doesn't want anything to do with the church but loves having our meetings there and giving lunch. we went in there with nothing to talk to her about but she was doing a contact for us! there was a couple there and she had given them a little friendship card idk what theyre called [pass along cards] but we had left them there and she was giving them out! then we got there to talk to the dude and he had been a pastor at some other church but started seeing all the problems and had been praying and fasting to find other church!!! we taught the restoration right then and there and it was super spiritual. he had already looked into the church but never understood it and we were able to answer all his questions. it was such a cool experience. this was at 4 oclock and sacrament is 5. he went home and came back for the meeting!!! I WAS SO HAPPY I ALMOST CRIED. miracles are real. i have been praying super hard that we can find people who are lost and looking for some help and the lord is always hearing our prayers. 

Sam and Elder Sonntag at zone conference

yesterday we had zone conference in brumado. after a sleepless night on the bus we had an amazing conference. president talked a lot about when he was serving a mission and the letters his father sent him. we learned a lot about how we can help our investigators to read the book of mormon more and keep the commandments with more enthusiasm. also president talked a ton about the difference between worth and worthiness. he emphasized a ton about how much we and all the other children of our heavenly father are worth to him. he gave a super sweet quote from brigham young, i think i wrote it down wrong but "the value of the more unworthy and lowest soul is worth more than worlds to God" imagine that. even the worst scummiest soul is worth more than worlds to God. he knows our eternal potential and loves us no matter what.

so if you all are ever feeling down. remember that God loves you and so do i! 

have a good week! Sam