Week 94 (Section 34)

Wow, this really is winding down now isn't it? Just a little over a month left.... dang. 

Anyway this week was full of adventure rain and killer cold. We had transfers as you all know and I am now with who was Sister Jane here but President sealed us last week and said that he received revelation that we should be married...... KIDDING! I´m once again with an Elder that I lived with before. He calls himself Elder Ramirez and he´s a great guy from Peru. Here´s a pic form last transfer 

He´s the Peruvian looking one in the middle giving a thumbs up. 

So this week we went to the last leadership meeting with President Wright. It was pretty amazing. He gave us a great message and he left all of us with tears in our eyes. It really was pretty great to have served with him and he´ll be missed a lot here. He´s almost like a super star, really. It was nice to have at least that good point on the day, we then went home and only got there around 5:30 and then we went to go work it started raining and the temperature fell to about 45 or so so it was cold. And we didn't have umbrellas. so I guess it was all blessings for the future that night. 

The rest of the week went pretty well. We found some down-right legit families. We got a referral from a young woman in the ward and they are just golden! They came to stake conference this week. 

Speaking of which, stake conference was with a 70 named Elder Antunes! On top of that we got to go to the adult session. Usually we can´t but we got a call from Pres. Wright Saturday morning around 10 and asked if we were going to be in the meeting that night. I said that it looked like none of our investigators would be attending, so that means we couldn't go. He then cut me off and said ´no Elder, you two are going. The 70 asked that you two be there tonight´. I´m not one to argue with General Authorites so we went, ha ha. 

After I hung up the phone I told me-oldie comp about the news and then said ´I hope he doesn't call us up in front of everyone´. Little did I know that proved to be prophetic, ha ha. He did EXACTLY that and asked us a few questions about receiving referrals and working with members and what not and then we sat down. He really gave a great talk after that and really got everyone´s attention. He´s quite the jokester actually, a lot different than I imagined. The Sunday session was awesome as well. 

So for my spirituallities this week I was think a bit. I was a bit down in Friday thinking about how we didn't have any hope for a baptism this week and feeling really down for not having one. I then realized just because this is my last transfer doesn't mean it´s gonna go perfect. I just need to keep in working and do my best, like I've been doing. If I give %100 no one can really say that the results were my fault. I just need to keep on keepin´ on. 

That and I was listening to a talk today where they read this poem which I thought you all might enjoy: 

Jake, the rancher, went one day to fix a distant fence.
The wind was cold and gusty and the clouds rolled gray and dense.

As he pounded the last staples in and gathered tools to go,
The temperature had fallen and the snow began to blow.

When he finally reached his pickup, he felt a heavy heart.
From the sound of that ignition, he knew it wouldn’t start.

So Jake did what most of us do if we would have been there.
He humbly bowed his balding head and sent aloft a prayer.

As he turned the key for the last time, he softly cursed his luck.
They found him three days later, frozen stiff in that old truck.

Now Jake had been around in life and done his share of roamin’,
But when he saw Heaven, he was shocked—It looked just like Wyomin’!

Oh, there were some differences, of course, but just some minor things.
One place had simply disappeared—the town they called Rock Springs.

The BLM had been shut down, and there weren’t no grazin’ fees,
And the wind in Rawlins and Cheyenne was now a gentle breeze.

The Park and Forest Service folks—they didn’t fare so well.
They’d all been sent to fight some fire in a wilderness called Hell.

Though Heaven was a real nice place, Jake had a wondering mind,
So he saddled up and lit a shuck, not knowin’ what he’d find.

Then one day up in Cody, on a cold fall afternoon,
He saw St. Peter coming, and he knew he’d be there soon.

Of all the saints in Heaven, his favorite was St. Peter.
Now, this line, it ain’t needed, but it helps with rhyme and meter.

So they set and talked a minute or two, or maybe it was three.
Nobody was keepin’ score—in Heaven time is free.

“I’ve always heard,” Jake said to Peter, “that God will answer prayers,
But one time I asked for help, well, He just plain wasn’t there.

“Does God answer prayers of some, and ignore the prayers of others?
That don’t seem exactly square—I know all men are brothers.

“Or does He randomly reply, without good rhyme or reason?
Maybe it’s the time of day, the weather, or the season.

“Now I ain’t tryin’ to act smart; it’s just the way I feel,
And I was wonderin’, could you tell, What the heck’s the deal?”

Peter listened very patiently, and when ol’ Jake was done,
There was a smile of recognition, and he said, “So, you’re the one!

“That day your truck, it wouldn’t start, and you sent your prayer a-flying,
You gave us all a real bad time, with hundreds of us a-trying.

“A thousand angels rushed to check the status of your file,But, you know, Jake, we hadn’t heard from you in quite a while.

“And though all prayers are answered, and God ain’t got no quota—
He didn’t recognize your voice, and started a truck in North Dakota.”

A bit of humor to end the week :). Hope you all have a good one! Tchau! 

-Um no exército de deus

Elder Teelad with before. He calls himself Elder 

Week 93 (Section 41)

Hello everyone! 

The keen observer might notice that my countdown of the D&C Jumped a bit, but that is because I was actually a bit behind I found out. No one judge me, I´m not even trunky anyway :). 

So this week sure was fun.... well interesting and weird would be better words for it. Monday we actually almost worked normal because we had the temple on Tuesday, we just did our email because we wouldn't have time to do it Tuesday trading the p-day. We did a few visits to our normal people here and went and got some Xis to finish the night. It was a pretty uneventful day really.

Tuesday is where things started to get a little wacky. We went to Porto Algere early to try and get some stuff done before and eat lunch there, so we took off at around 9am to get there. We were there till about 11 heading out to lunch when we got a ´phone call from the assistants.... Turns out the temple lost it´s power that day. Some construction project or protest or something happened they said. So that kinda threw a sour note on our day, but we went to a pizza buffet and ate away at our sadness a bit, ha ha. 

We then went to the airport to get the train there but Elder Nielson and Barnes had a secret combination made I think and just down and watched airplanes go by for about 20 mins. Trunk-faces. We then went and took some cool pics at what they call the ´lasso-er´. Here´s one: 

I really don´t know why this statue is here or what it represents, but it´s pretty cool, haha. 

Wednesday was more of the same, just a lot of work and knocking doors. We went out with a pretty cool young man named Helaman who helped us knock out our portions of lessons with members a lot. It was a good day in all. 

I really don´t remember all that much of Thursday. I guess it was a bit of a ho-hum day. Oh actually, I remember now. It was a thing they called the mini-MTC for the youth in our stake. It was basically us showing up for lunch and giving a training on contacts (me and Elder Nielson) and then heading out with the kids to do contacts in the street. It was kinda funny to see them all come back and think they were already the greatest missionaries on earth, ha ha. It was pretty funny but I liked the thing over all. 

Friday was the day we actually went to the temple which was cool. We ate lunch with a cool sister and then took off to Porto and had a good session there. It started raining and then the power was coming and going. I was thinking the power would go out again but at least this time I was through with the session, ha ha. We then went to a near-by mall for some milk shakes and wandering around a bit and then went home and got soaked because we were running the last half mile or so to home, ha ha. It was a fun and memorable day. 

Saturday we found some really cool people to teach and knocked out a ton of lessons. The only problem here seems to be that people are too lazy to come to church...... They all love our visits and the messages but don´t ever make it there..... gggrrrrr. 

Sunday we worked for a while and then made a quick trip home so I could make some cookies for a going away party for Barnes and Nielson. We then went to said party/FHE thing and had fun there. Speaking of which this is transfers this week. I´m staying here as ZL but I have no idea who is coming but it´s my last transfer so I hope they´re ready to work and party, ha ha. I´m gonna kill it. It´s just so surreal that it´s all gonna be over so fast now....... I can hardly believe it. 

That´s gonna be my message this week. It´s really not worth running a race just to stop 10 feet before the finish line. I will not be one of those missionaries that doesn't nothing his last transfer. This is a ´finishers wanted´ gospel. I like what Christ said ´And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.´ That and ´Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.´ it´s like that. I can rest when I get home, for now, I´m still a missionary. 

Well, there´s your weekly rant. Have a good one everyone! 

-Um no exército de Deus

Elder Teela 

Week 92 (section 53)

So this week wasn't too fun, but it had it´s ups as well. To start off we went to one of them great pizza buffets for dinner on last Monday. We got to this SUPER fancy place and payed way more than we should have, but we had already gotten there and walking back didn't seem too fun without eating, so we did. I managed to get down 30 slices of pizza! Yeah, how´s that for manhood, haha. But the real winner of the night was my companion. He pounded down 40 slices of pizza! Can you even imagine that?! The crust is thinner here and all but man, I think I would die. 

Then it rained for 3 days straight. I´m pretty sure I´ve already explained this but when it rains here literally everything stops. No one goes shopping, no one is on the street, no one wants to have visits or let you in..... it´s real fun. But we got some good work in still this week. We pretty much did all our work for the week in 3 or 4 days which was pretty busy but it still worked out pretty well I think. The only annoying bit was that we had a record of 5 baptisms fall through in the ward this week. 4 of which were ours, so that was no fun :(. I think we´ll get em´ on this week though. 

I really can´t think of all that many funny/crazy stuff that happened this week..... We did go to a birthday party for one of the sisters in the ward last night. It was pretty fun, I made a pie for sure and we ate tacos like crazy. It was fun until a woman decided to feed her 2 year old son..... breast feed that is.... in front of everyone.... and she´s at least 300 pounds.... Yeah that was a fun sight. It´s fairly normal here in Brazil for woman to breast feed their children like without a blanket or anything covering but a 2 year old with a fat woman..... The freak was that!? I pretty much lost my hunger after that, ha ha. 

So for a spiritual thought I was a bit inspired by the John Rowe Moyle story again this week. It´s a story about a man who lost his leg as a stone cutter while the Salt Lake temple was being built. I would check into the church film "Only a Stone Cutter" if you get a chance. I´m sure most of you have already seen it but it´s a really cool story if you haven´t. 

I hope you all have a good week! 

-Um no exército de Deus

Elder Teela

Week 91- Section 59 ( 2 months/ 8 Sunday's left )

Hey everyone! This week was interesting enough. We had two divisions this week and it was a bit crazy because I left our area for both, so that was fun. The one day I was in my area we got stopped by some guy in a car and started asking for our address to stop by and give us some referrals. We both thought it was a bit weird so we told him we would meet at a near-by supermarket. We talked a bit more and found out he´s actually from another state... which is a bit weird here in Brazil. Turns out he gave us some awesome referrals while I was gone. I really don´t know any of them yet, but Elder Nielson got pretty excited about them all. 3 Came to church yesterday and seem really elect, we´re hoping they´ll be baptized this week. 

Um, I went on the splits and the Elders are doing good, but one when we were walking home at night turned to me and said ´Oh, just to say, a crazy guy jumped out here a few nights ago and chased us with a 2x4, so just be ready to run´. He said that while we were walking on the edge of the city, close to the ´forest´, so that kinda freaked me out but we got outta there fine. Thanks for that bro, ha ha. 

The other division went off without any sort of craziness, just a few baptismal interviews and a lot of walking as always. 

Some Elders from our house were really poorly mugged it looks like last night as well. I guess robbed is more of the word. A guy stopped them, they talked for like 10 mins and at the end of the conversation ordered them to give him their phone. Little did he know our phones are crap, ha ha. They gave over what maybe values 15 dollars and left. They dude didn´t even pull a knife or anything and seemed drugged they said. Kind of a funny way to get your phone stolen, ha ha. 

We´ve also had a bit of a card game tournament going on at night in the house, ha ha. Winner will get his pizza payed for at a buffet tonight by the rest of us. I got knocked out in the semi-finals and the thinnest kid in the house won! He´s only gonna eat like 3 pieces anyway! It was fun though, lots of bro-bonding.

For a spiritual thought I guess I could talk about Section 59 that I read today. I gotta go here quick so I would suggest give it a look see and think about the blessings we get from going to church simply. 

Hope you all have a good week! Tchau! 

-Um no exérctio de Deus

Elder Teela 

Week 90- Section 67

Hello again! 

So this week was good until about Thursday... but I´ll get there in a bit. 

First we made some awesome lunch last Monday using our fire-pit in the apartment which was sick. I also made a pie of course which was great it not huge. We didn´t have a pan to make it so I bought one but it was a little big you could say. Also we then made some ´doves´ out of origami and then tried to get the Levite in our house to offer them as a ´burnt offering´ but ended up just buring them ourselves, ha ha. What happens when missionaries get bored.... 

We also had interviews with president Wednesday so we also did district meeting that day. It was cool to see him one last time. He said that it would be our last interview together, but the secretaries called and asked if I wanted him to do my final one as well and I said yes. They didn´t make any promises but I might have it with him. We talked about goals and what not and in the end we man-hugged it out and were both a bit sad. 

The next few days we were tearing it up. We don´t really have very many investigators so we just kinda went crazy and hit a ton of doors with members and taught tons of lessons we also had the young men out with us so it was a pretty good blitz. Then.... it happened. We were both a bit hungry so we decided to go get some Shish-kabobs somewhere, so we got some from an old guy cookin´ em up on the street.... not our best idea. 

We spent the next two days in the house. I´ll just say that. Our poor toilet...... 

Our week was at least pretty good even with the sickness, we just did some interviews for some baptisms and then got our two ready for the week. We baptized these two: 

They are both super cool. The black guy was the one that stopped us on the street and the girl was a investigator that has a cousin in the church. Her friend baptized here to the left there. Blessings from Gob the two of them! The water was so cold I literally didn´t feel my feet after the 30 seconds I was in the water. The poor Haitian guy literally ran into the bathroom afterwards to change out. It was a good baptism though, both were super prepared. 

I then chatted with the family for the last time on the mission..... I´m so old in the mission! It was fun and the sister kept bringing us Brazilian doughnuts and stuff. We also had a little talk and I translated for everyone. A great time in all. 

So this week I learned a little about preparation. I was supposed to talk to my family on Saturday but the computer didn´t have a mic or enough power to really run Skype. It was really frustrating and we ended up wasting a good few hours that could have been used a lot better. I really should have made sure everything was good to go before, I would even call it a spiritual prompting I got to check that the laptop was good to go before we started but I ignored it and well... this happened. Just for the future, always follow the scout motto ´Be prepared´. The scriptures say ´ if ye are prepared ye shall not fear.´ and ´gird up your loins and be prepared´ in D&C 38. 

That´s all for now. Everyone have a great week and prepare for my glorious return!

-Um no exército de Deus

Elder Teela 

Week 89-- Section 79

This first week was pretty awesome I think you could say. It was  a bit of a surprise from the start. We got to transfers this week and I went and found the guy who has been my ZL for about 4 transfers or so while I was in São Leo, Elder Nielson and I saw that he was in the same transfer group as me. I looked at him and said, ´Do you think we´ll be comps?´ We then both thought that would be impossible and laughed a bit until I got the envelope with my zone on it. He was on it.... And well, you can guess what happened, we´re companions now! After this we´ll be staying in the same complex at BYU as well..... yeah I guess that we were just long lost brothers or something, ha ha. He´s really cool and we are tearing it up in the area. We are the ZL´s of one of the high baptizing zones, so President and the AP`s are expecting a lot of us. 

The area is pretty good but we mostly just work in the ghettos. It´s not dangerous, just really dirty, smelly and a bit hard sometimes to see all the poverty but it´s going well. Just from the last week we had 6 baptisms just in our house. Oh, yeah, we also live with not one but two other companionship's in our house, ha ha. It´s way bigger than the other houses in the mission but still very small for american standards but it has two bathrooms at least and two bedrooms. Here´s the whole gang: 

​So we got Elder Barnes on the far left, then his comp in front of him, Elder Sacramento, then our two beloved Cariocas (people from Rio) Elder Dos Anjos and Elder Vicente then me and Elder Nielson. Elder Nielson and Barnes go home this transfer and I go home the next one..... We are  ´house of the dead ones´ to translate, ha ha. 

So this week we went to leadership meeting this week, which was cool. President had some fun comments like ´I´ve made it. I´m a zone leader, how cool´ and talked about fishing for men and stuff like that. He sure is one great man. Everyone here loves him and he always leaves us inspired. He made a interesting point about how soon we are going home. He said `you are all going home tomorrow. You don´t realize it, but you are. This time is short´ he made some points about how after all the time he had lived the time on the mission seemed way shorter after it was done and how we should leave it all here if we can. Very inspiring. 

We had a cool investigator this week that showed up. His name is Jean and he is from Haiti (I say that because I have no idea how to spell Hai-shun.... don´t judge me) and he almost scared me to death. He called out to us from behind a tree at about 7:30 at night and being a big black man how´s worked construction all his life, he´s pretty formidable. I thought we were gonna get mugged but he just invited us to teach him because he had been studying with missionaries about a year ago in São Paulo. He´s so cool but speaks very littler Portuguese but is fluent in french and we were lucky to have a French BoM in your house to give him. We think he´ll be baptized next week :). 

Speaking of baptisms, we baptized a fairly portly man name João this week. He´s at least 270 and we had to get some special pants for him, but they turned out to be way too big for even him. We put this Karate style belt on him but that didn´t help, so we ended up baptizing him together for me to help Elder Nielson bring him back up and to hold his pants up with he went down..... one of the most interesting baptisms I´ve had to date, ha ha. 

Well, that was my week, hope you all have a good one! If you missed the spiritual stuff look just below the photo a bit, about President. 

-Um no exército de Deus

Elder Teela 

Week 88-- Section 80

Hey everyone! This week was a bit slow because my comp was a bit sick but I've still got a few stories to tell, ha ha. 

So this week we found some cool people that are really prepared. One is evidently the grand-father-in-law of the bishop and is pretty cool. We also found a cool woman who evidently already checked out the church but wasn't baptized for a unknown reason but she is super cool and ready. 

Another thing we did is that we went to a pizza place to celebrate the transfer ending. We got the buffet going and had a competition of who could eat more pizza. Elder Lago ended up champion with 31 pieces, Elder Ramirez with 29, Me then with 23 and finally Elder Sanchez with 18 (he said he got 22 but still had 4 halves of pizza left on the plate so I didn't count them). The best part I guess was after we started heading home and Elder Lago was bet over and almost died on the way home along with Elder Ramirez. The two sat there and every time the other asked for a piece the other was like "one for me too!!!" It was super funny. 

After that we had a bit of a funny moment at church. The man I wrote about a bit last week told everyone in the elder's quorum that "the pig is a cursed beast".... We both about died laughing at that but managed to stay quiet. It was sure strange.... he's always doing something like that, ha ha. 

We've also passing all of our favorite families and stuff, so I have some good pics of them. One of them gave us a fruit called a Conge Fruit. It's like this weird mix of a banana and a pineapple that is super sweet and stuff like that. It's pretty much a dessert really.  

So just to finish up I forgot to say that I am being transferred and that I was called as a zone leader. It's pretty exciting, another area and another companion and yet more responsibility in the mission. I thought I would end district leader but looks like the Lord has other plans for me. Just gotta keep on working and see what happens here. Should be good. 

So you all have a good week, until next time! 

-um no exército de Deus

Elder Teela