April 14, 2018 letter -- Salvador (Ondina)

so tbh (to be honest) my week was pretty boring!

monday we visited our investigator lorival and taught him about the plan of salvation. we had a good spiritual lesson with him but unfortunately he doesnt really care much to learn more because he thinks we are just like his baptist church. then we had a good chat contacting a reference from a member returning to activity Isaias and Nilda his wife.

tuesday we had mission leadership council just another thrilling day with some good training from president about how to get more out of our visits with less actives and remind them of their testimonies thru the First vision.

Mission Leadership Council

wednesday we had a normal work day here in the office.

thursday we had a nice zone conference (basically the same thing as mission council on tuesday) and got out into the street for some visits. we saw vivaldo and taught their family a good lesson about the Holy Spirit and how we can recognize our answers from God. We also had a really cool lesson with a contact named Sergio who commited to go to church and be baptized without even thinking twice! now we just have to see if his girlfriend wnts to get married/truly live the law of chastity with him! but the challenges are what make the sweet moments even more worth while.

Imbui Zone

Salvador Zone

yesterday we had a long day in the office with two training from São Paulo about some new computer programs and preparing some stuff for stake conferences and presidents visits to the other parts of the state for zone conferences. 

This week i read an article in the Liahona for this month about Islam. i thought the article was extremely interesting and a good one that everyone should read. The church has started doing these articles to educate members about other religions so we dont stumble around saying or believing incorrect things about our brothers and sisters around the world. It was a really touching article  and gave me further appreciation for the blessing we have to be able to have freedom of religion in an amazing country. God bless america (and Brazil!!!) I am so grateful for those who sacrafice their lifes for our freedoms and freedoms of all people in the world. they are examples of charity for all of us and show us how we should strive to be to bring change for our world. 

elder prince

Elder Cantuario, Sisters Gama, Venturini and Espinal

April 7, 2018 letter -- Salvador (Ondina)

transfers were crazy and there were no baptisms sadly enough. conference is/was awesome. 

so monday was pretty dope. we got up early to play basketball then we went to the office. president didnt pass the transfer until super late so we didnt get to the bus station until 1ish then we returned at night to make sure everyone picked up their bus. nothing super exciting just lots of organizing.

tuesday we got up early to help people get to their areas and the mission home for new missionary training and trainer training. we then went to the airport to pic up the greenies and returned to the mission home for an afternoon of training! pleasant surprise elder castellano who came to the mission with me came back to the mission this week! we then gave our training and spent the night making sure everyone got to the bus station and on the bus. you would be surprised how easy it is for missionaries to miss their buses. my new comp is elder sorocaba from sao paulo and elder cantuario will stay until he goes home 10 of may. 

wednesday was a normal day in the office and we got to the area to teach vivaldo and reinaldo and we reviewed the restoration with them! then we got back to the office to prepare to send the elders to sao paulo for visa renewal and here is where our week gets interesting. 

We got to bed a little late and woke up at 130 am (Thursday) to take the elders to their 4 am flight then went home to take a short term elder to the bus station. then we went back to the airport with all the elders and sisters going home. everyone got their planes and no one got fined for extra baggage and we got back to the office until we had to go BACK TO THE AIRPORT to get the elders from renewing their visas in SP, take them to the bus station and they went to their areas. i got home and died on my bed i was so tired. 

Elder Prince and Elder Do Vale (returning home)

friday we had a nice day, did divisions with members and i showed elder sorocaba the area! we had some cool lessons with former investigators we didnt know and explored a part of our area im not too familiar with!

this week i felt an overwhelming gratitude for modern revelation. the heavens are open for all of us to recieve orientation from our Heavenly Father. The changes to some organizations of the church included in the week of conference will be awesome! im so glad and i felt an amazing spirit in being able to sustain new apostles and a new senior apostle. it was great to be able to be in the session then to go home and receive again during my prayers a confirmation from God about our new prophet.

"And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things. " the promise from Moroni 10 is ready and waiting for all of us to ask any question we need an answers to. Ask of God.

Elder Prince, Elder Renaldo, Elder Saavedra, Elder Cantuario

have a good week!

March 31, 2018 letter -- Salvador (Ondina)

well fam we had a interesting week this week full of cleaning organizing and computer work.

the auditor came on tuesday so monday president requested that we do a deep clean on the office. the place is looking awesome and i finally feel like i know where stuff is now hahah after almost 3 months im still a little lost. also we have a safe here in the office for passports and stuff but no one has ever been able to shut it and get the combination to work. we spent about two hours on it and got 3 blisters and it still didnt shut. but were gonna get a new one. 

when the auditor came president brought breakfast and fresh baked chocolate chip cookies from sister bangerter (pretty tasty but not as good as rachy's) and started to treat to every whim of the auditor. so i kinda hung out with presidnet bangerter while the auditor was with elder cantuario and then we went to the pelourinho haahhaha so yeah i got an extra p day this week. being secretary is cool sometimes. then we were able to teach vivaldo and reinaldo about the law of chastity and they actually loved it. we challenged vivaldo to talk to his wife and ask her to marry him! lets see what happens!!

wednesday we had zone meeting with President in the morning and training from São Paulo in the afternoon so it was a full day. we got to our area and were able to do some invitations to conference! President gave us a goal to invite well over 100 people to conference this week! thursday/friday we had a busy days organizing the office a little bit more and organizing documents/spreadsheets and folders on the computers to do back ups. Soon theyre gonna do a revamp/remodel in the office and mission home in preparation for the new president in june. sounds like such a thrilling day right?? nothing better than microsoft word and excel. but We have to treat this matters with care because its the organization of the Lords work here. D+C 84 am i right?

This week in preparation for conference I have been thinking about how grateful i am for modern day prophets and revelation. This weekend (today/tomorow) we wil have the opportunity to sustain two new apostles and our beloved prophet. Without prophets we wouldnt have the book of mormon or so much knowledge that we have gained in the past 200 years about Our Heavenly Father and his plan for us. I was also thinking a lot (after looking at some pictures) about our leaders. I used to think every conference weekend "goodness i gotta listen to all these old guys again??" but now i understand why. many people critize the church for our leadership being a bunch of guys who already have 234234513 great grandchildren and more than 70 years of age. But thats the beauty of it all, we have the people with the most experience practice and true wisdom in the world. They have survived generations and generations happily and with success without bending or breaking their morals because of the world. Who better to trust? not to mention that they were chosen of God. I am so grateful for their wisdom and leadership! respect your elders!

love elder prince

WE WENT TO THE PELOURINHO WITH THE AUDITOR  AND PRESIDENT HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH 

​

March 24, 2018 letter -- Salvador

what up fam! we had a pretty good week this one with some interesting happenings.

sunday we had an awesome day. we had marked with Haziel for him to go to church with his neighbors so we werent too worried about him getting to church but when we went to meet up with vivaldo we got a pleasant surprise! we had expected some excuses and walking back to church alone but He was ready when we got there and he brought his brother in law as well! so we showed up feeling good on sunday and there was some crazy dude shoouting a bunch of nonsense at church.

monday we had a normal day in the office i worked on putting together some stuff for the transfer and translating some stuff for president into english on a new project of his. we got out to our area and some stuff fell thru so we were knocking doors in an area we have already hit but this time a little old lady and her grandson answered the door and she tried to send us away but her grandson begged to let us in! we had an awesome lesson with Rose and Rafael about the restoration and the amazing truths that were restored to us. Its really rare to find young men and women here who pay attention or care for religious stuff so its always really special when we visit with them.

tuesday spent some more time preparing transfer supplies and organzing the office. and then we had a good lesson with vivaldo and reinaldo (brother in law) about the Holy Ghost and what amazing traits it can bring to our lives. And they accepted baptismal dates for 3 weeks for now! we were super excited and so are they.

wednesday we had some good office work but also the north and northeast of brazil had a huge power outage from 4 pm until 9ish so we were not able to really get into our area. we went there but people just sent us home cuz it was dark and unsafe. Then when the lights came back i think the whole city started screaming it was awesome. mom you would be very pleased to know that literally the only commercial point open and serving (restaurant or grocery store/any type of shop) during our 30 minutes walk home was good ol' MCDONALDS hahahha so we got some burgers.

thursday we had some huge material deliveries in the office and a good lesson with vivaldo and reinaldo about the plan of salvation.

Elder Bednar's visit to Salvador. Elder Prince is located on the right side of the photo in the last row on the aisle.

March 17, 2018 letter -- Salvador (Ondina)

sunday we had stake conference and it was super good! we had a 70 elder dias come talk to us and he kinda started off his talk nice and cute then just started layin into the members because they need to pay their tithing and have the faith to do it. but he did it with love. then elder cantuario had an interview with president and i got the news that grandma beth passed away. it was pretty funny the way president did it. he came up to me in front of everyone like all the members right after conference had ended and said, "you sweet sweet boy, your grandmother passed away" never in my life thought i would hear president bangerter call a missionary a sweet sweet boy. i still dont think ive proccessed that grandma died. 

monday we went early to presidents house to take some stuff to him and pick up an elder who's companion was headed home. we also got to eat pancakes and eggs!! first time ive had maple syrup in so long!! then we had a long list of things to print out for zone conferences and stake conferences in the next two weeks that we sent with elder davis who went to itabuna monday night. spent the whole day printing and cutting papers hahah. 

tuesday spent the day preparing some more stuff for the transfer and visa documents for the renews we had scheduled thursday and friday. We also got to have a good lesson about the gospel of Christ with Vivaldo and his daughter Talita. Theyre super awesome probably our best investigators we just need to get them to church!

wednesday we had a normal day doing stuff here in the office nothing super exciting. 

thursday and friday were kinda just messes. We had 3 visa appointments marked and none of them went correctly. apparently in like the last week the federal police here have changed how we renew the visas and one elder lost some documents of his so we spent all day both days driving to various government buildings and the airport trying to get this all figured out. to top it off we had the bishops son bail on a FHE we had marked with vivaldos family and some marked lessons fall thru. not the most successful days. 

Elders Iuberes and Prince

Elders Iluberes, Prince, and Opfar

i really liked a scripture that i read this week in 3 nephi 18

21 Pray in your families unto the Father, always in my name, that your wives and your children may be blessed. 

family prayers are one of the greatest things we can do to strengthen our families and bring unity into our homes. one thing my mother always tried to do was have family prayers every morning and night and i am so grateful for that. i dont think we were ever frequently perfect having the whole fam for two prayers a day but she tried to hard and gave a great example, getting it done by doing 2 or 3 familiy prayers as each child left the house or got home at different times. I am so grateful for that and i think everyone should put a little more effort in to pray with those in your home and family!

elder prince

March 10, 2018 letter - Salvador (Ondina)

this week was pretty good! monday we had a nice busy day of work in the office and were able to get into our area for some lessons nothing super interesting.

tueday we were doing a lot of preparations for our mission council, elder bednars visit, and salvador stake conference this weekend. We had to buy bus tickets cut papers to be used as reference cards that president made. they look like the name cards that we use for baptisms and temple work theyre actually way cool. I got to do a little division and visit some of elder davis' investigators where we had an awesome lesson about the plan of salvation with ramon and his family who are preparing for their marriage and baptism in the near future!

wednesday we had a good mission council and a busy afternoon getting everyone to their homes. The zone leaders and sister training leaders stayed until friday to be able to meet elder bednar and recieve extra training on thursday. president showed us a new ward mission plan that is gonna be distributed to all the stakes because if there is no plan there will be no action and unity to grow the church!

thursday we ran around making some payments and setting up and planning zone conferences in the next few weeks. President also asked us to come help him set up the chapel for elder bednars visit so Elder Cantuario, President and i set up chairs in the cultural hall and organized them in rows. I felt like i was getting ready for a mission homecoming or farewell back at home again haha. We were able to get into our area and visit Raziel who went to church last week and a less active Galego.

Yesterday was so awesome. We got to the chapel at 6:50 to start getting everything orgazined again hahah and people started rolling in 60 from our misison and 100 from the other mission all to see elder bednar. The transmission worked well and everyone was able to see and hear. It was so amazing to hear from an Apostle of the Lord. He taught us a lot about using questions to teach people, and not questioning to recieve a specific answer but questioning in a way that others learn and gain their own witnesses of the truth. in reality learning to ask questions to make people really think. Then he bore his testimony for us and it was so incredible. before he entered in the room we could already feel a different prescence and then in the end when he bore his testimony it was truly like an out of body experience. We were able to shake his hand and i think he looked so deeply into my soul thru like 5 seconds of eye contact that he saw me and my choices in the premortal life. 

he also gave us an amazing invitation to help us teach better. He asked us all to read all 4 of the standard works and look at the questions that prophets, apostles, servants of the Lord, God and Christ asked people they were teaching. Look at the simplicity of the questions and the way they helped people to learn and have spiritual realizations. those questions that really make the lightbulb go off. 

in acts 15 when there is an issue presented to the apostles they were guided to respond in a certain way because of confirmations from the Holy Ghost,

25 It seemed good unto us, being assembled with oneaccord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth. 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;

They counselled with God and He impressed on them thru the spirit in how they should respond and help others. When we have issues we can trust in the feelings we recieve from the spirit to help us do the Lords will and follow what will be best for us! Christ lives and guides his church all throughtout the world for the benefit of all living things!


it was extremely cool i kinda want ot send you a picture of my notes. it was like a discussion for 3 hours. not a single "talk" was given. Elder Bednar also has a firm grip and extremely smooth hands

[Sam's grandmother was hospitalized on Thursday the 8th] This is not really the news i was expecting. please tell grandma i love her very much and im very thankful for all that she has done for me. I miss her very much even though. ive been feeling lately like i should write her a card but i never got around to it. now i know why. thank her for always supporting me and showing me love as well as helping me to learn patience and hard work from the time i spent in her garden and on her roof as well as doing christmas. lol. i will miss christmas and thanksgiving in her house. just like i miss playing othello and other games with her. she has always been an inspiration for me in the way she works hard and is able to live alone (without complaining too much hehe) please tell her i love her and wish i could give her a hug. thank her for helping me with my mission fund. and generously paying my work even when i didnt want to accept it. 

[Sam's mission president wanted him to speak with his grandmother, so we were able to speak with him Saturday night and Sam was able to talk to his grandmother before she passed away later that night.]

March 5, 2018 "supplemental" letter -- Salvador

sorry i forgot to write you guys an email i got caught up in the rush of the mission and some sweet p day activities lol.

tuesday we had a normal day in the office and taught a cool grandma/granddaughter duo who we contacted the week before. we taught them a nice lesson about the restoration and invited them to go to church but they already had other plans so we will get them this week!

wednesday we had a zone meeting and recieve some training about finalizing our baptisms so they dont fall thru at the last minute. the week of baptism can be extrememly stressful sometimes so its always good to practice and remind ourselves of how to handle squirmy investigators. I also finished making some cards for recent converts that president likes to send out. we had a cool lesson with clara and cailani about the plan of salvation but they seem pretty "mole" or soft (dont really care) so we might cut them from our group soon.

thursday we went and spent the morning at a chapel helping some tech people do a practice transmission so that everything goes smoothly on the day Elder Bednar comes and it went well. i got to stand in front of the pulpit and just talk for like an hour to make sure the sound was working on the transmision. it also rained super hard on our 15 minute walk to the chapel so we got soaked. we had a way cool lesson that came out of a contact with a 10 year old on the street and we ended up teaching a group of family and friends of over 10 people from the steps in front of their house. i kinda felt like a preacher hahha. 

friday we had a busy morning in the office but we got to go to our area to work in the afternoon and it was nice productive day. nothing too special or out of the ordinary.

saturday we went to see the lighthouse in itapuã and ate lunch at president barbosas house (pres bangerters 1st counselhor) nothing better than rice and beans

sunday we went to get our investigators before church and sadly enough we came up empty handed. people who had commited to be there firmly were still sleepy or just didnt want to go anymore so we kinda hung our heads back to the chapel and thru sacrament meeting until we turned around right before the meeting ended and saw that the family who did FHE with us last week had brought their neighbor who we thought wasnt coming!! Raziel is an awesome kid and we had a nice lesson with him later in the afternoon.