August 4, 2018 -- Salvador (Ondina)

mom you dont need to explain how [swim] conference works i havent forgotten everything hahahahah. you have a position on the country club swim league board???? i bet you had an awesome time in the little oly pool all day long sweating your butt off hahaha. what were jared and rachels times?? did they qualify and position well in the finals? also WHAT WILLOW CREEK WON????? im glad you guys got the win nice job. swimming has been a huge part of our lives you're right. some of my favorite memories are definitly from swimming. i think my fav though was the district meet at the U my senior year. that was freaking dope. im glad we swam. 

dad surviving work? good to hear that he got to see the swimmings thats so fun. how has jareds team looked in practice so far? how did all that off season training benefit him? also how is steve forsberg doing?? im pretty sure he got married and all that jazz. aww i love a good visit to st george. i havent had a real good visit there in so much time. i think i need to do that when i get home. are stan and barb still getting around well? im glad you have a cute little relationship with barb. also i remember who carole and stu are mom hahaha do you think ive just forgotten everything??? also STU IS GETING MARRIED??? what in the world is happening.. we are growing up way too fast. 

president and sister biddulph brought it up like 3 times this week.. " elder prince what are you gonna study? what od you want to do with your life? everyone at home is getting married so fast.. we cant wait to meet your wife and kids once we get home from our mission!!" .. okay it wasnt exactly like that but i was like.. woah.. i gotta get on with my life now.. i dont like that.. 

but it was a chill week. really kinda hectic and busy actually. 

sunday was a good day. matheus and geisa went to church with us but left early because their son was being overly active and screaming and stuff. theyre progressing but slowly because its been hard to find a time when they are home to receive us so we can teach them!

monday we spent the day preparing for the transfer and helping president out. Also i received my new companion Elder Gray, from Logan, UT. He will be the new secretary and i will train him until the end of the transfer.

Elder Gray, Elder Sorocabo, and Elder Prince

tuesday was President Biddulph's first time receiving new missionaries! we received some brand new missionaries, elders from brazil and sisters from USA, and it was a grand event. it was extremely similar but differnet from the "first days" with President Bangerter. but the wonderful spirit is the same! we spent the morning in the airport and the evening in the bus station. we only had one mishap where a sister left her ID with the other sister and almost wasnt able to get her bus ticket! i love transfers!!!!

wednesday we got our first real day for me to start teaching Elder Gray how to be secretary. It consisted of explaining something then doing it, then watching him repeat the activity to make sure he did it right and understood. its been pretty chill. i also gave him the phone responsibilities so i dont have to answer it anymore hahahaha. 

thursday we had a nice productive day with more learning on elder grays part, took him to have some fun at the notary!!! what a thriller. we also said bye to elders and sisters going home which was not fun. gonna miss elder davis and elder vander werff. and the sister from my group went home. that was weird. then at night we visited Romilda and Daiane's mom and they both made us food i thought i was gonna explode by the end of the night. Bahians offer so much food its awesome, im actually surprised i havent gained more weight. 

Missionaries leaving for home and the office elders and the Biddulphs

yesterday was by far the day of the week. we had the biddulphs appointments at the PF so we packed up in the car and made some good visits to the PF (sitting and waiting), the notary (again sitting and waiting), and the bank (sitting and waiting). but we were able to get so much done and now the biddulphs are legally here and they should be able to get their stuff from home thats waiting in storage! it was quite a productive day and fully of nice conversations with Pres and fam. its been cool to learn from him and see his opinion on a lot of things. Its been real interesting to see how he is adapting to being a mission president and the responsibilities he has. at night we were able to visit lucas and teach him the 3rd lesson (he gave it 5 stars) as well as rafael, who is progressing to come back to church!

a nice solid week. 

Elder Prince

July 30, 2018 -- Salvador

[Sam sent photos today.] Elder Sorocaba and I in the street, the office staff, investigators neighbors HUGE DOG, me in the bus station

Elder and Sister Thompson and Elder Sorocaba

July 28, 2018 -- Salvador (Ondina)

jus doing my job hahah ive been helping them [President and Sister Biddulph]with their visa stuff and everything they ask me to do. its not been like anything cool. i explained to sister biddulph how the mail works and how she can use IMOS which is an administrative thing that the church uses to oversee the missions and missionaries. i showed her a few of the letters that we use to send to missionaries and stuff. there were a few visa things i got together for them but nothing super intersting.

i tried to take president to get his first register done witht he federal police but they made us mark next friday. we got him his brazilian social security number and prepared some documents and went to the notary so that they can receive some shipments of some stuff from home. idk. nothing that special. 

monday we had a tons of stuff to get done so we were in the office the whole day. wednesday too. tuesday we visited Daiane and read alma 40 with her and talked about the resurrection with her ad the plan of salvation. she sent us home with a bag full of mangos so that was pretty sweet. not a huge fan of mangos but i still like them. 

I spent this week getting ready for the next transfer and making sure all the flights were set. i also spent a few afternoons explaining to president and sister biddulph how the week of the transfer works and kinda giving them a little outline/schedule of what we usually do so they could make their plans and change it to their desires. 

We got to visit Carlos and Reinaldo yesterday but theyre planning another trip so we are gonna miss them. its kinda frustrating to teach people who like to go on little trips!

July 21, 2018 -- Salvador

sunday we had a normal day at church and some real good visits! i think i already told you but Reinaldo accepted a baptismal date for the 11th of august! we went to visit them and were just kinda talking about nothing in particular and next thing i knew he had accepted a baptismal date and the whole family listened to us and decided they wanted to go to church tomorrow! we can see the little miracles coming because usually everyone would hide when we got to their house! 

monday we had some normal visits with leandro and his roommate! he came back for a couple days from itabuna and we talked about the reading he has been doing in the Book of Mormon but he has already gone back to itabuna. a little bit of a bummer because he loved his reading. 

tuesday we had a dinner with romilda and talked about her reading and goals with finishing the book of mormon! she is coming close to reaching 1 year that she was baptized and says she loves reading the book of mormon just doesnt always understand a whole lot! so we had a nice little discussion and cleared up some questions she had. we also followed up on Daiane and lucas and their readings too! unfortunately daiane and lucas and leliane have the baby shower this weekend so they cant go to church. 

wednesday we had a normal day with training from São Paulo and our district meeting. im also district leader by the way i dont think i ever mentioned that hahaha. gave some training and we had a whole mess with the reference online system. i think the people from the MTC called me 3 times everyday this week. 

friday we had another good lesson with lucas and daiane. until now daiane hasnt been super open or willing to listen to us because she has been studying with the Jehovah's witnesses but she asked us some questions and we kinda just layed it out for her. then we taught her the plan of salvation and it was awesome. she was pretty unsure and confrontive about the premortal world and God's body but she quieted down and when we got to the end of the lesson she asked about her family that had already passed on and what she needed to do to help them? we kinda just looked at her hoping she would answer and she was like "oh.. i need to get baptized dont i?" and we just gave her some real energetic head nods and bore our testimonies! it was awesome! the spirit was wonderful and it made me so happy. I love our Father in Heavens plan for us and the hope we can have from it! all thanks to His son Jesus Christ!

have a good week

Elder Prince

Reinaldo and Vivaldo

Elder Santos and Elder Lluberes

July 14, 2018 -- Salvador (Ondina)

this week went just fine! we had some good lessons and busy times doing office work! monday we had a few things to do around the office but once we left we were finally able to find a family that we had taught a few months ago. antonia diogo edmundo and jaqueline! we taught them the restoration and we had commentary from many view points because of the mixed religious backgrounds but there was a spirit felt by all! in the end Edmundo said that he was feeling very good and really enjoyed hearing our message! the first time we had visited they werent so open to us hahah so we can see the progress we are making and the way the Lord opens up that hearts of the people.

tuesday was a normal day nothing of great import. imagine me speaking with people in the street and typing things on a computer. wednesday was also fairly bland but i had a call with the people from the reference center in the provo MTC. gave me some good training about how to better pass the media references or from members to the missionaries. 

thursday we had a lesson with Sara and her niece and friend. Tiago went along with us and we taught them about the Book of Mormon being another testament of Christ. it was a cool lesson and we were able to meet some new gators. Sara was a reference from Haziel, who is doing well. 

friday we visited vivaldo and his family and had a long chat about.. fruit. they had some weird orange coconut they got from their farm but they didnt know its name. but once we started going, Vivaldo told us that he really had a desire to be baptized and loved going to church with us. we were trying to set a date with him but its a little difficult because of some stuff with his "wife" (not actually married). apparently for like 30 yeras she wanted to get married but he didnt and now he wants to but she doesnt! love it! 

reading the scriptures this week i was really inspired by King Benjamins speech and how amazing the teachings are. dude was a good guy and loved the Lord! we can always benefit from humbling ourselves and being unselfish and more loving towards others. 

Elder Prince

July 7, 2018 -- Salvador (Ondina)

monday we spent the day talking with pres biddulph and planning. he came to the office and spent most of the day kind of getting to know us and the mission and we kinda started showing him the basics. we gave him the little secretaries training so he knows what we do and what is important for him to know from our viewpoint. and we had some technological problems so it was a bit of a slow day

tuesday we had zone conference and it went really well! president biddulph and sister biddulph bore their testimonies and we had good trainings from the zone leaders and assistants about the plan of salvation. we also were able to visit angelo who was baptized around christmas time and has been having some troubles financially and with his mothers health and we were able to comfort him a little bit. he talked about how he had felt really lonely lately and we were able to share christs story of how the Father left him at his most difficult moment and bear our testimonies to him. great moment!

wednesday i got to help sister biddulph and their daughter do some registering with the government and get ID numbers and a whole bunch of junk. mission presidents and their fams have a lot more stufff to do than normal missionaries hahaha but we are figuring it out thats okay! also finally Vivaldo and Reinaldo got back from the farm and we were able to visit them and invite them to church again! they are commited and we are excited!

thursday and friday we had busy days in the office and helping president get everything set up for him. its been a busy week and super interesting going from a president who has had 3 years of practice and experience to one who only has 3 days. President Bangerter was amazing and President Biddulph is too! 2 inspired men who are here to serve and help us come unto Christ. im so grateful for both of them and for being able to work closely with them. they both love to serve and love the people but one thing president biddulph said this week stuck with me. love and service are our duties and show our gratitude to our Father in Heaven.

And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn ^awisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the ^bservice of your ^cfellow beings ye are only in the service of your God. 

have a good week!

Elder Santos and Elder Antunes

Elders Davis, Souza, Garcia, Antunes, Sobral, Davis, Thompson, De Pina, Sorocaba, Lopez, Santos, Lluberes

Salvador Zone - Elder De Pina

June 30, 2018 -- Salvador (Ondina)

my investigators are good. its been busy here  in the office so a little harder to get to our area. Mateus and Geisa are doing well, theyre a new family we found right before the transfer. Vivaldo and Reinaldo are still traveling on their little farm. Nilza is finally opening her heart a little after we gave her a priesthood blessing and her pains have disappear. shes obviously got a lot of faith just a little shy and closed about sharing it still. we had a good FHE the other day. haziel is still going to church and passing the sacrament but our ward has been pretty empty lately. this time of year is very complicated and the attendance has taken a nice little dip. the world cup is more important than anything here. literally when brazil has a game is a holiday. last week they had a game on wednesday i think? since it was a morning game no one went to work. literally everyone got the day off end of story. weird right?

love you guys!
Elder Prince

[After Sam wrote this email, his new Mission President, President Biddulph, arrived and President Bangerter left after a brief training. I have high hopes Sam will send more details. Sister Biddulph posted the photo to Instagram--a mission mom who uses social media! this is fantastic!]

Group photo including President and Sister Bangerter and President and Sister Biddulph and the office elders.

Outgoing President Bangerter (third from left) with incoming President and Sister Biddulph and the office elders. Best looking one is on the right.