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.

June 23, 2018 -- Salvador (Ondina)

president and sister biddulph get here on the 30th i think and they are taking one daughter is all i have heard so far. president bangerter has assured me that him and i are gonna get real close this week cuz he has a lot of stuff he needs help with to finish up the mission perks of being secretary. its gonna be nuts. 

this week was super busy. we had transfers and mission leadership council! monday we had a meeting all morning long with president bangerter and the assistants planning out a very hectic week. We had lots of people coming and going and staying extra time in salvador because of the leadership council so we had to plan how long everyone would stay and where they would stay. Then we spent 6 hours waiting in lines to buy bus tickets for the transfer. i think i got stuck waiting in more lines in the bus station than i do in 2 days at Disneyland. This weekend, today actually, is the holiday thats really strong here in Bahia, São João which pretty much celebrates John the Baptists death. ive heard it explained a lot of different ways but they pretty much celebrate his death by eating lots of cooked peanuts, dancing and countryish music and dancing in all the citys that arent the capital. so all week the traffic has been awful and theres not that many people in the city. on top of that we have the world cup! during the two brazil games so far you cannot find a living breathing soul in the street during the game.

tuesday we had the arrival of 5 new missionaries and trained them all day long before sending them off to various areas in the city and state. 

wednesday we had an appointment in the federal police to register the thompson senior misisonary couple and it was pretty fun. we ended up getting stuck in traffic and misplacing a few things so we were kinda scrambling all of over the city all morning but everything ended up going just fine. we spent our first real afternoon working in the office and at night had to return to get the bus tickets for the mission council that we werent able to buy the other night which meant 2 more hours in the lines. people were so stressed out they all started fighting in the lines and getting all mad. 

thursday things got real interesting. president took a group of missionaries early early to the airport and thought they had all gotten on their flights but one elder got all the way in and was waiting to board when they were informed that the flight had been canceled and he would miss his connection, but we didnt get this information until later in the day when president was back home and i was picking up another missionary to take to the airport because his flight was a good amount of time later in the day. so when we got to the airport the elder who missed his flight was nowhere to be found and president had told him to go back to the mission home. we ended up taking him again at 5 am the next day and the same exact flight got cancelled again and the elder ended up going home in a taxi since he lives in the neighboring state like 4 hours away.

yesterday was president bangerter's last big meeting in the mission council. it was moving and spiritual and i am very grateful to have had him and sister bangerter taking care of us here in Brazil. it was amazing to hear him express his love for the gospel and the Lord and each of us. i'm gonna miss him. They are an amazing couple and really have a great focus/motivation to help all of us and the people of bahia. at the very end of the council he cited the scripture from alma 26:16

16 Therefore, let us ^aglory, yea, we will ^bglory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his ^cmercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel. 

the Lord is great and He is our strength.  we can rely on Him in any moment.

love

elder prince