Pics from this week

I love you all

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For the record

If you´re going to write me, do it before P-day. Most times I get on and I dont have any emails.

 

Thanks

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Chia-like, I shall grow

Let´s see what happened in my part of the world this week -

 

We got robbed. In the middle of the night. When we were all sleeping. How this happened I have no clue, because we have 2 different gates to go through before you get to the house. You wanna know what the funny part is? They only took our clothes that were on the clothesline, our shoes, and our shampoo. Oh, and my socks. They took all of my socks. I can understand everything except the shampoo. This I dont get. So, as we´ve been walking around we´ve been looking for a bum with nice hair and wearing smartwool socks. I doubt we´ll ever find our stuff though, it´s probably in Paraguay right now. The only thing I´m depressed about is that this happened so soon in my mission. I´m bound to get robbed again. It was the first time for Elder LaBanc though, and he goes home this transfer. Oh well, I guess these things happen.

 

As far as the work goes here, everything is just sailing along. We´ve just marking dates for baptism left and right. We´ve been going on divisions with the members and other missionaries all this week. We had a really good district meeting. But, our star investigator moved. When we found him he was moving that same week, so we were over there every day. Him and his family (Mom, Dad, Sister) were just eating it up. After he moved we´ve been teaching his Mom, and she came to church this Sunday along with another person that we´re teaching, Reginaldo. The only question she had was about tithing. She was amazed how we had such a nice building and how she didnt here about money or tithing once during the meetings. So we explained to her that tithing was a personal thing, and that she would never hear people asking for money or calling her out from the pulpit because she didnt pay her tithing. She´s going to keep going to church, and next week we´re hoping for her husband and daughter to come with here. The only problem is that her daughter works alot, and it´s hard to get them all at the same time. In fact, that´s probably one of the hardest things about Brasil, is that everybody works so much. At least, that´s what they tell us. The four most common excuses we here from people are;

 

"Oh, I´m never home, I´m always traveling."

"Oh, I work so much, it´s so hard to find me at home."

"Oh, I was just leaving..."

"Oh, I dont live here.."

 

With the rate that people travel or dont live here youd think this city would be completely empty. But, we learned real quick how to get around that. We mostly just say "That´s cool, we´ll try anyway." Or, "Well, we have missionaries there also, they can teach you." After that the truth comes out - "Oh well, I´m Catholic.." And our response? "That´s cool, because our message is for you, regardless of religion". Most times they run out of excuses so they just give us their address.

 

Oh well, I´ve gotta cut this short, I´ll upload some pics and then I´m outtie.

 

I love every one of you! The Church is true! God loves us! Jesus Christ is our Saviour!

Elder Standard

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It´s the Catalina Wine Mixer!

Hey folks! like always, I dont have alot of time today, since I was transfered out of nowhere! We recieved the call that I was being transfered on Sunday before church, so as soon as church was over I had to pack, say good bye to members and invesigators and then it was off to Londrina. I´m serving in the city, and it´s so different than the country. There in Jacare I could look around and know I was in Brasil, but here in Londrina, it feels like Houston. There´s a Wal-Mart, a Mcdonalds, Pizza hut. My new comp is Elder Rodriguez. He´s from California, and he´s cool so far. We like pretty much all of the same things, so at least we shouldnt be butting heads about the fact that Madonna sucks. I´m staying with the zone leaders in this little tiny house, which makes me happy. It´s a good setup, and with the zl´s always around we´ll have some help. We´re splitting an area with them, and we´re still getting everything squared away right now. So far, I love Londrina, I love the members, and we´ve got a TON of people to teach. Yesterday I went on splits with one of the ZL´s to teach this one woman. We had a member come with us, and after we got done with the lesson, her daughter comes home. To make a long story short, she sings and plays the guitar in a band that plays music very similar to one of my favorite artists, Cat Power (you should look her up, she´s awesome. I recomend "The Greatest"). So, the requirements for "Wife:Celestial type" just got a little more stringent. I have got to have a wife that sings. I dont know why I´m telling you this, other than maybe there´s some lucky lady out there that just might stumble on my blog and see my picture...

 

But on to the Good Stuff.

 

We went around finding all of the inactive members yesterday. A popular excuse here in Londrina is "they moved" or, "I dont live here, I live in a completely different state". Everybody said that yesterday. But, we found this one chick, who is sooo cool. Her name is Luciana, and she was baptized about 3 years ago. She hasnt been to church a whole bunch for certain reasons, but she was so receptive. She remebered everything about what we were talking about, and she´s going to start coming back to church. At the end, she even offered to pray, which suprised me and Elder Rodriguez. I know it dosent sound special to other people, but it´s extremely rare that someone actually offers to pray, and then prays for the Elders while they´re at it. Seriously, Londrina is like Heaven compared to Jacarezinho. But! I´m grateful for the opportunity to learn what a..... not as good area is so I can value a good area. When the Branch President of Jac. found out I was leaving and a new Elder was coming, the first thing he asked Elder Barbosa is "Does he speak better than Elder Standard?" And then, when I´m having lunch with the members here, they percieved very quickly that I wasnt the worlds best at portuguese, but they were so patient. "Dont worry about it, you´ll learn here" was what the said. I know this stuff seems simple, but it makes me so happy. I´m easy to please now. Honestly. Back home, a new gun, or 1000 rounds of ammo, and I´d be happy. Dude, here, give me some new socks. Give me a Twix (they dont have them everywhere here) and I´m happy. I´m not anywhere close to where I want to be as a person yet, but I´m happy of the steps that I´m making. Most of the stuff back that I did back home, it dosent excite me like it used to. Maybe that´ll change when I return, but it´s a friggin blessing right now. Thanks for all of the emails so far. Thanks for all of the help. I love you all. The Gospel is true, It´s been restored! We have a Prophet today that talks with God, so we dont have to worry about the future. That is such a blessing. When the rest of the world is freaking out about the future, we can remain faithful and calm for what lies ahead. God loves us, and He cares for each and every one of you. The Book of Mormon is true. I just got done reading it again, and I promise you in the name Christ that it´s true. I know these things to be true by the power of the Holy Ghost. 

 

Stay Classy,

Elder Standard

 

 

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Message about packages

From the secretaries -

 

 

"The packages are getting taxed. Tell the people sending the packages that the value of the things inside has to be less than $50. Any package with a value more that $50 will be taxed 60%."

 

If anyone is sending a package, dont be completely forthcoming on the value of everything inside.

 

Elder Standard

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Pics

8836 - is a pic of me and Elder Gunnell. Me and the LD went on splits that day in a city called Marilia. Elder Gunnell was in my district in the MTC. Out of the entire city, which consists of about 100,000 people, our two companionships happened upon each other at the same corner. What are the odds (So what was all that one in a million talk?)

 

8828- One of the members here was moving their store to another location, and we helped them. They needed some concrete broken up, and so this is a pic of me breaking concrete up. How I longed for the days of that Milwaukee jackhammer of Dad´s. This is a pic of my better side.

 

8830- No good dead goes unpunished. I was hopping over a ledge to close the gate to our residence for one of the girls that lives here (easy folks, she´s ugly) when I slipped and fell over the ledge. Nobody saw anything happen, so I continued to close the gate, take the long way around and came home to cry in the corner.

 

8832 - Now 20% more Snob!

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I´m just worried about your salvation and stuff...

Hey folks, hope you got your runnin shoes on, because I´ve got alot of ground to cover and not much time (like always). This week was interesting. The week before we had interviews with the President and I told him that I wanted him to look at our numbers, because I was going to give it everything I had, literally. So, the week comes and goes, and I´m just busting my butt to get stuff done. And, lo and behold, this was the WORST week number wise. I think I got better numbers back in Gerogia. Go figure. So, the one week where I talk big and have the Pres look at our numbers, is the one week where everything went wrong. Elder Barbosa´s Asthma started acting up, and so we couldnt do a whole lot. Then, he catches something else and gets sick. Murphy´s law was in full effect last week. But, I learned something very important - Doing your best isnt about numbers. I learned alot, and I knew that whatever happened, I had done my best, and the fault is not mine. It´s just the way things go sometimes.

 

Another thing that´s been happening lately is realizing that I´m here in Brasil. We´ll be walking down the street, and I´ll just stop and think to myself - "Holy crap, I´m in Brasil". You´d think I´d be a little more aware of that, since, ya know, I´m in Brasil and all I do is speak portuguese. But this feels like home now, and sometimes I just get complacent. Riding the bus around, looking out the window, and in some places you´d think you were in Tyler, Texas. Turn the corner and you think you´re in the Amazon. This really hit me two days ago. I was reading the conference edition of the Liahona and I just got done with Elder Richard G. Scott´s talk. I paused, looked at the page, and realized, "holy crap, I just read an entire talk in portuguese". And folks, I didnt just read it, I actually understood enough of it to glean something useful. Just 5 months ago, I was holding the Livro de Mórmon in my hands, and trying to read it, understanding nothing. Now, I´m plowing through the Livro de Mórmon, Gospel principles, and others.

 

I can hardly say what I want to in english, and now, I´m teaching people what their purpose here on the earth is in portuguese!

 

When people ask me how long I´ve been studying portuguese, they think 5-6 years. Then, when I tell them I´ve got about 5 months, they dont believe me. People that have been studying english for 8 years are suprised that I can speak as well I as can for the miniscule amount of time that I have. Dude, seriously, it´s nothing of myself. I give full credit to Heavenly Father. If anyone needs further proof that not only God lives, but that this is His church, and His work, then this is one more drop in the bucket. What do I do to study? I read books. I talk to people in the street. It´s nothing special. It wasnt a $400 program that Nasa uses. I read a book, that we hand out for free to people.

 

I know that I literally can do anything with the help of Heavenly Father. I know that if I humble myself, and have faith, I can literally do anything. In fact, I think humility is the key to almost everything. If you are humble, you can be taught. You can be instructed. Otherwise, if you try to do everything with your own power, you will plateau. You can do alot of things under your own power, but there will come a point where you can do no more. And that is where you will need help. Divine help. It´s like climbing the mountain and reaching the top is only half the journey. For the other half, you need wings.

 

----------------------

 

 

And now, for something completely different -

 

Have I ever said how much I love Texas?

 

Seriously, it´s the best state ever. And I´ll tell you why. Here in a couple of weeks, Jacarezinho, Brasil, will be having a Texas fest.

 

Here, I´ll say that one more time - Here in a couple of weeks, Jacarezinho, Brasil, will be having a Texas fest.

 

I´ll give you some background:

Jacarezinho is a tiny little town, nestled in the hills of B.F.E, Brasil. Where the only people that know about it, are the people that live here. Notwithstanding, they will have a festival to honor and celebrate the awesomeness that is Texas. You never hear about Illinois. Kentucky. Iowa. It´s always Texas. You here alot of New York, but who´s got the festival coming up? Eh?

 

It aint California folks!

 

So yes, there will be pictures, there will be shirts bought. There will be had a merry time by all. Because everyone will be united in the same thing, bowing down to the splendor of Texas. The Texan spirit has reached even that of southen Brasil.

 

So, that´s all for this week.

 

Check yo´self,

Elder Standard

 

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