June 3
Let’s start with wonderfull transfers. Last Monday I packed all day (no letters guys I'm sorry, thought I would have time, but didn't). I got to say goodbye to a few people in the ward and a few recent converts. It kind of made me sad to go because Maria just about cried seeing me go, and they were all telling me watch out for druggies and the whole bit because São Paulo is a bit more on the dangerous side. (Oh we got a really good cake at one of the houses we passed too, thank goodness for birthdays!)
Then came the 2 days of misery. Yes, I repeat, feeling sick on a bus for about 12 hours, and wanting to puke the whole ride and not being able to sleep. (No mom, there were no live animals on the bus, it was just really jerky.)
The buses, by the way, are like our charter buses in the states, the only problem is the roads in that area still need a bit of attention.
So we stayed in Londrina one night, hung out with Elder Finati and Elder Llianis for a bit, (me and Elder Pedro de Sousa) and the next morning got on another bus that was a bit better...
Now with Elder McGuire, we have had a few investigators, at least one we want to baptize – a family. The kid Gabriel is reading the Book of Mormon like a boss, and the mom stopped smoking and coffee after being severely addicted for 14 years (maybe longer, I forget the number) in one day. Loco! They just need to recognize their response and be baptized
I’m still just getting the feel here. We met a guy that I would like to baptize, a little crazy, but Edineas is a really cool guy. We met him as we were trying to get a hold of another Maria (recently moved in and didn't know where the church was. she fed us dinner one night after we passed by, oh my gosh deliciousness.)... (One more thought. that was the first time on my mission I went back for seconds on the salad. Wow!)
Anyway, that’s all I have to say about our investigators, we have a few other good options, just need to teach them. Anyway, love the ward; love the people here, not too many druggies (though the first contact I did here we think was a drug dealer...)
Here’s some responses to my Mom’s questions:
How do you like your new companion?
Elder McGuire is fantastic, and all I could have asked for. He's ginger, and tall, (Just so you know the zone leaders who always are with us at lunch are really tall too, so they make me feel really short all the time, and I just have to kind of deal with it.).
But he is a worker, just finished training Elder Cox (arrived the same time that I did) and just turned DL, so he is kind of learning as we go. It’s cool getting to see him in action, and seeing how he cooperates with everyone. I get to learn a ton of new things all the time. He is from Vancouver Washington, was the companion of Elder Millett (who is also from Washington) and played basketball and is really chill. I love how much he loves sharing the gospel with others, and I feel like we teach really well together, (or at least I can speak the language a bit better now)
Are their four of you in an apartment again?
Nope, just us.
What is your new place like?
Well it’s not the prettiest place I have ever lived.... let’s just say I was counting the spiders in the bathroom as I was taking my daily shower. I lost count.
It’s pretty big for just the 2 of us, but would be small for 4 of us, so it’s just right. Not a ton to work with, but at the very least has everything the last house didn't when I started, like tables, a bit of food, and beds and dressers. I'm set :) so basically its home.
Do you feel wet all the time?
Since it’s been raining all week... yes. But thanks to my wonderful mom who thought ahead and sent me a light raincoat, I'm all set to battle the elements! (I love how it is packable...)
How are your feet holding up?
They stink, but I’m living still, so the smell obviously isn't that bad.
Anyway, if you have any more questions, I would be happy to answer them, it makes it easier for me to write these letters long :)
Love you all, and write me soon!
Elder Sean Anderson
(My name is officially now Elder Sean. when I say my name, people always think Jackie Chan. I’m not sure why. Maybe I should just change my name to Elder Chan).
Sunday, June 9, 2013
There's a reason you do things the right way, and glimmerings of a transfer
May 27
Here I am again, just living life as a missionary, and how great it is! Well sometimes. (I`m pretty sure anyone who has been a missionary knows what I`m talking about).
To start, this last week we played some basketball on p-day, as always I have the worst hand eye coordination, (I swear I must be a lefty, cause this right hand isn`t working for me so well all the time.) and just kind of chilled on p-day. we ended up doing a bit of work, but didn`t have a ton of time, so we just visited Maria, making sure she was ready for the interview the next day.
The next day:
We had our weekly district meeting, and after ran over to get her so she could have an interview with the zone leaders, who are in our district. We got there, brought her to the church, and later that night ended up baptizing her.
Cool thing about it, we did the baptism twice cause she didn`t go all the way under, (Elder Millett did it) and she didn`t want to do it again ‘cause she didn`t feel like it made a difference, but after the baptism, she felt this relieved feeling come over her. So far she has been firm, and hasn`t given in to anything even though we think she is having problems with at least one of her sons. Man she`s great!
The rest of the week we just looked for people to teach, baptize and such. One guy we found, Alimao (German in English) was one guy we found as we passed his house and he invited us in. Seemed a bit crazy after talking to him telling us that he works at the wall right outside his house (don`t know who pays him) and such.
Oh and that brings me to the big news. I`m going to Bauru! wooooooo!!! That’s going to be so much fun, can`t wait. My new companion is Elder McGuire, kind of really excited! But I`ll have to write about that next week.
Funny thing is, we finally got the tables and almost everything sorted out - that’s the funniest thing about all of this.
I don`t have a ton to say this week, ‘cause it was mostly just a “looking for people” week, new people that we can teach, though I don`t have any more to do in this city except pack and leave. So that will be coming up really quick.
Stay tuned in next week for the new companion and how we get along!
Elder Sean Anderson
(ps write me you guys, I miss hearing from you (though I should get letters here really soon))
Here I am again, just living life as a missionary, and how great it is! Well sometimes. (I`m pretty sure anyone who has been a missionary knows what I`m talking about).
To start, this last week we played some basketball on p-day, as always I have the worst hand eye coordination, (I swear I must be a lefty, cause this right hand isn`t working for me so well all the time.) and just kind of chilled on p-day. we ended up doing a bit of work, but didn`t have a ton of time, so we just visited Maria, making sure she was ready for the interview the next day.
The next day:
We had our weekly district meeting, and after ran over to get her so she could have an interview with the zone leaders, who are in our district. We got there, brought her to the church, and later that night ended up baptizing her.
Cool thing about it, we did the baptism twice cause she didn`t go all the way under, (Elder Millett did it) and she didn`t want to do it again ‘cause she didn`t feel like it made a difference, but after the baptism, she felt this relieved feeling come over her. So far she has been firm, and hasn`t given in to anything even though we think she is having problems with at least one of her sons. Man she`s great!
The rest of the week we just looked for people to teach, baptize and such. One guy we found, Alimao (German in English) was one guy we found as we passed his house and he invited us in. Seemed a bit crazy after talking to him telling us that he works at the wall right outside his house (don`t know who pays him) and such.
Oh and that brings me to the big news. I`m going to Bauru! wooooooo!!! That’s going to be so much fun, can`t wait. My new companion is Elder McGuire, kind of really excited! But I`ll have to write about that next week.
Funny thing is, we finally got the tables and almost everything sorted out - that’s the funniest thing about all of this.
I don`t have a ton to say this week, ‘cause it was mostly just a “looking for people” week, new people that we can teach, though I don`t have any more to do in this city except pack and leave. So that will be coming up really quick.
Stay tuned in next week for the new companion and how we get along!
Elder Sean Anderson
(ps write me you guys, I miss hearing from you (though I should get letters here really soon))
Learned a lesson about putting off the "natural man"
May 20
Well this week was pretty fun, and also a little difficult. We had a lot of rain for a couple of days, it got so bad one day that we returned home for a bit and studied and dried off waiting for it to calm down. After that it was a lot better, we talked to people and set a baptismal date for Sunday.
The problem with the baptism was she didn't show up.
Maria, I believe I talked about her a few weeks ago, but she stopped us in the street to tell us to help her son and her with the gospel. One of her sons was baptized previously, and so we came and taught her. Everything was going right, except she didn't think that she needed to be baptized again, or that she could be baptized again. Other than that she was all ready to get baptized and to make the covenants with God.
So Sunday, we had a member pass to try and look for her - she wasn't there. So we passed by later on before sacrament, about 3 times. Each time wasn't there. So the baptism at 12p.m. was canceled and good thing, ‘cause earlier that day we tried turning on the heater which hadn't been turned on in years and the font turned really dirty. That was problem number one with, the other was it took an hour to try and figure it out and turn it on. So it was a good thing it canceled in a way. We passed almost every hour after trying to get in touch with her and have the baptism that night. Ended up being a no go because we finally got in touch with her at 7p.m. that night, and she wanted to wait a bit longer.
We'll wait untill Tuesday, and hope and pray that nothing goes wrong.
There really wasn't a ton this week, we talked to a few new families, did some searching for news. Oh yeah, we went to an English class and talked with the students there, and that was really fun. the teachers were both really cool and were glad we came to talk to them, and the first the one that initially came in contact with us was super cool and made us cookies!!!! Both regular and chocolate chocolate chip (2x times the chocolate :P) and it has been so long since I’ve had chocolate chip cookies! (Hey Mom can you send me you're favorite recopies for that and just in general, I need more things to make at night besides pasta and rice :P). The second class we passed was smaller, but still cool. (Though it sounds like all the students here like to party, get drunk, and hang out with friends. They need more hobbies). They also talked about passing the church on Sunday but they never showed. Sad day.
The other really funny story: we passed a lady the other day who came out of the house when we knocked and she started talking to us (it doesn't help me when people talk fast to me). At first she seemed really crazy, and my companion told me to make it simple and fast, but she ended up being really cool, gave us a ton of references telling us to pass and teach the whole world another day. And she brought us coffee, we had to turn it down, I feel bad when people do stuff for us like that and we have to say no, though also glad that this wasn't the first time I had to drink coffee :P
One thing I learned this week is that people get mad at little things a lot. I am starting to notice that people get frustrated easy at little things and it hasn't really helped me. for example, the other day I was making rice, and was just about done, and one of the members of our household gave a little suggestion to do something that I could have done 10 minutes before, but didn't make a difference at that point, and on top of that it didn't end up making much of a difference in the end anyway. The thing was he gave me the advice expecting me to do it, and he blew up when I didn't.
(Oh by the way, I have learned that people look really ridiculous when they get angry and yell. That was something that Elder Chollett taught me.) From that I have tried really hard to never yell back at people. and to couple that I read the next day in mosiah 3:19
19: For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.
So what I learned from this is that with the natural man, the first reaction is the one that destroys. In this instance, both he and I could have avoided this situation and little argument by putting off the natural man, by not giving into the first reaction.
Also, we also need to give up our own pride sometimes when we see that someone will blow up like this, to do our part to help avoid the situation. It’s kind of sad how it happens, but if we can all learn to put off the natural man, we can also get along better with each other and have the peace that our Heavenly Father promises us.
Well I'm out of time, got to go, miss you all, and write me soon. I might have to resort to some other method of sending letters than through scanning them into emails the next few weeks till I can figure out what’s wrong with my camera, but I will still send through snail mail. See you all in a year and a half!
Elder Sean Anderson
The problem with the baptism was she didn't show up.
Maria, I believe I talked about her a few weeks ago, but she stopped us in the street to tell us to help her son and her with the gospel. One of her sons was baptized previously, and so we came and taught her. Everything was going right, except she didn't think that she needed to be baptized again, or that she could be baptized again. Other than that she was all ready to get baptized and to make the covenants with God.
So Sunday, we had a member pass to try and look for her - she wasn't there. So we passed by later on before sacrament, about 3 times. Each time wasn't there. So the baptism at 12p.m. was canceled and good thing, ‘cause earlier that day we tried turning on the heater which hadn't been turned on in years and the font turned really dirty. That was problem number one with, the other was it took an hour to try and figure it out and turn it on. So it was a good thing it canceled in a way. We passed almost every hour after trying to get in touch with her and have the baptism that night. Ended up being a no go because we finally got in touch with her at 7p.m. that night, and she wanted to wait a bit longer.
We'll wait untill Tuesday, and hope and pray that nothing goes wrong.
There really wasn't a ton this week, we talked to a few new families, did some searching for news. Oh yeah, we went to an English class and talked with the students there, and that was really fun. the teachers were both really cool and were glad we came to talk to them, and the first the one that initially came in contact with us was super cool and made us cookies!!!! Both regular and chocolate chocolate chip (2x times the chocolate :P) and it has been so long since I’ve had chocolate chip cookies! (Hey Mom can you send me you're favorite recopies for that and just in general, I need more things to make at night besides pasta and rice :P). The second class we passed was smaller, but still cool. (Though it sounds like all the students here like to party, get drunk, and hang out with friends. They need more hobbies). They also talked about passing the church on Sunday but they never showed. Sad day.
The other really funny story: we passed a lady the other day who came out of the house when we knocked and she started talking to us (it doesn't help me when people talk fast to me). At first she seemed really crazy, and my companion told me to make it simple and fast, but she ended up being really cool, gave us a ton of references telling us to pass and teach the whole world another day. And she brought us coffee, we had to turn it down, I feel bad when people do stuff for us like that and we have to say no, though also glad that this wasn't the first time I had to drink coffee :P
One thing I learned this week is that people get mad at little things a lot. I am starting to notice that people get frustrated easy at little things and it hasn't really helped me. for example, the other day I was making rice, and was just about done, and one of the members of our household gave a little suggestion to do something that I could have done 10 minutes before, but didn't make a difference at that point, and on top of that it didn't end up making much of a difference in the end anyway. The thing was he gave me the advice expecting me to do it, and he blew up when I didn't.
(Oh by the way, I have learned that people look really ridiculous when they get angry and yell. That was something that Elder Chollett taught me.) From that I have tried really hard to never yell back at people. and to couple that I read the next day in mosiah 3:19
19: For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.
So what I learned from this is that with the natural man, the first reaction is the one that destroys. In this instance, both he and I could have avoided this situation and little argument by putting off the natural man, by not giving into the first reaction.
Also, we also need to give up our own pride sometimes when we see that someone will blow up like this, to do our part to help avoid the situation. It’s kind of sad how it happens, but if we can all learn to put off the natural man, we can also get along better with each other and have the peace that our Heavenly Father promises us.
Well I'm out of time, got to go, miss you all, and write me soon. I might have to resort to some other method of sending letters than through scanning them into emails the next few weeks till I can figure out what’s wrong with my camera, but I will still send through snail mail. See you all in a year and a half!
Elder Sean Anderson
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Got to talk to my Mom!
May 13
I hope you are all doing well!!!
I know I am :)
This week we worked a lot with finding newbies and a certain young man named Mateus, the brother of Ronaldo. He was a very very muley kid, and to explain, he didn't want to get baptized, but then he did, then he didn't - switching back and forth. Barely didn't get baptized this week, but we got him in the water on Sunday, and so now we have had two baptisms two weeks in a row, which is really cool, I'm glad to have been a part of it. On top of that we also got to talk to our Moms!!!
So, my mom is fantastic, she is looking very beautiful (as always), and I would also like to say happy birthday to her, and between the stress of life, they are all doing well. It’s weird though, ‘cause I expected to feel differently after we talked, ‘cause I felt like I didn't have enough time to talk to my family, that it was really short, and that I need another 10 hours to feel satisfied. But it was kind of fun getting to talk to my family, despite Elder Gutemberg asking every 10 seconds what they said. Psh, can't I talk to my family in a language they understand? :P
Today, I'd just like to talk about the difficulties of life. I feel very often here that life is a lot harder than it should be, that there are things that just stress me out. For example, if someone yells at you for some reason or another, it just raises tension in the house, and you just want to hide. The only problem I have is there is nowhere to hide. I had one of those moments recently, where someone became frustrated with me for one reason or another, and I went out and found a place to just sit and talk with my Heavenly Father. In this moment, it started seeming a little bit easier, I could feel the presence of my Heavenly Father, and I sat and talked with him and opened up my thoughts to him, and it’s been a bit easier to feel love for others, and to have as my friend Steve says - charity.
I've been finding as of late that some of the hardest traits to develop are 1) charity, the pure love of Christ, and 2) humility. Whenever I feel frustrated with others, I sit down, and think why am I frustrated and I think of humility and the promises of happiness when we have humility. And as president Benson or president Uchtdorf remind us, pride is trouble, and they warn us of the traits of pride. If we can throw off our pride, we can be humble. The problem is when you are frustrated with someone else, the automatic response is pride. Thinking that you are right and they are wrong. This is the huge mistake. While it may be true, they won't see it that way, ‘cause they will be thinking the same thing.
Basically, what I'm trying to get at is if we can learn to have love for all man, we can start to develop this trait of humility. The best tool to get this when you are feeling frustrated is prayer. When we pray we are talking to our Heavenly Father. When we read the scriptures, we read the teachings and revelations of the master teacher, Jesus Christ. When we stop and do that, we can start overcoming the difficulties we have. We can start opening up channels that only come through love and humility - that will allow blessings. When we pray we show our Heavenly Father our faith in him that he will help us, and we allow him to lift us up again.
I've had some thoughts about this recently as well. The lord doesn't need strong men, he needs weak men, that way he can break them down easier to build them up. That’s what humility is, we get rid of the rickety foundation of pride to have our lives build upon the foundation of Christ. Also, to be a good winner you have to be a good loser first. I have noticed this playing chess lately (cause that’s what we do in the house) when someone is willing to play again even after many times of losing, they will improve, but if someone gets frustrated with losing, they won't progress cause they won't want to play.
Just a few of the thoughts I've had lately. Gotta go, I have more I have to do such as submitting this baptism :P
Love you all, write me soon!
Elder Sean Anderson
I hope you are all doing well!!!
I know I am :)
This week we worked a lot with finding newbies and a certain young man named Mateus, the brother of Ronaldo. He was a very very muley kid, and to explain, he didn't want to get baptized, but then he did, then he didn't - switching back and forth. Barely didn't get baptized this week, but we got him in the water on Sunday, and so now we have had two baptisms two weeks in a row, which is really cool, I'm glad to have been a part of it. On top of that we also got to talk to our Moms!!!
So, my mom is fantastic, she is looking very beautiful (as always), and I would also like to say happy birthday to her, and between the stress of life, they are all doing well. It’s weird though, ‘cause I expected to feel differently after we talked, ‘cause I felt like I didn't have enough time to talk to my family, that it was really short, and that I need another 10 hours to feel satisfied. But it was kind of fun getting to talk to my family, despite Elder Gutemberg asking every 10 seconds what they said. Psh, can't I talk to my family in a language they understand? :P
Today, I'd just like to talk about the difficulties of life. I feel very often here that life is a lot harder than it should be, that there are things that just stress me out. For example, if someone yells at you for some reason or another, it just raises tension in the house, and you just want to hide. The only problem I have is there is nowhere to hide. I had one of those moments recently, where someone became frustrated with me for one reason or another, and I went out and found a place to just sit and talk with my Heavenly Father. In this moment, it started seeming a little bit easier, I could feel the presence of my Heavenly Father, and I sat and talked with him and opened up my thoughts to him, and it’s been a bit easier to feel love for others, and to have as my friend Steve says - charity.
I've been finding as of late that some of the hardest traits to develop are 1) charity, the pure love of Christ, and 2) humility. Whenever I feel frustrated with others, I sit down, and think why am I frustrated and I think of humility and the promises of happiness when we have humility. And as president Benson or president Uchtdorf remind us, pride is trouble, and they warn us of the traits of pride. If we can throw off our pride, we can be humble. The problem is when you are frustrated with someone else, the automatic response is pride. Thinking that you are right and they are wrong. This is the huge mistake. While it may be true, they won't see it that way, ‘cause they will be thinking the same thing.
Basically, what I'm trying to get at is if we can learn to have love for all man, we can start to develop this trait of humility. The best tool to get this when you are feeling frustrated is prayer. When we pray we are talking to our Heavenly Father. When we read the scriptures, we read the teachings and revelations of the master teacher, Jesus Christ. When we stop and do that, we can start overcoming the difficulties we have. We can start opening up channels that only come through love and humility - that will allow blessings. When we pray we show our Heavenly Father our faith in him that he will help us, and we allow him to lift us up again.
I've had some thoughts about this recently as well. The lord doesn't need strong men, he needs weak men, that way he can break them down easier to build them up. That’s what humility is, we get rid of the rickety foundation of pride to have our lives build upon the foundation of Christ. Also, to be a good winner you have to be a good loser first. I have noticed this playing chess lately (cause that’s what we do in the house) when someone is willing to play again even after many times of losing, they will improve, but if someone gets frustrated with losing, they won't progress cause they won't want to play.
Just a few of the thoughts I've had lately. Gotta go, I have more I have to do such as submitting this baptism :P
Love you all, write me soon!
Elder Sean Anderson
Baptisms
This week has finally been much better. I had my first baptism - Ronaldo. I talked a lot about Ronaldo last week, and this last week he finally gave up cigarettes, long enough to be baptized, and he is still going! So that’s the biggest news so far.
On top of that, we were able to get their whole family there, and he has brought friends with him to church as well as his brother to church, so we're going to work a lot with the brother, Mateus this next week to get him baptized as well.
About the baptism (it happened on Thursday)
The day before, Elder Millett got really sick, and had to stay in the house, so me and Elder Gutenberg went out to try and get a hold of Renaldo, and weren't able, but we heard good news that he was not smoking still, so we decided to give the heads up to Elder Delgagillo to come down here. The night before the baptism we shipped Elder Delgagillo to Medionera to do the interview, but that night was a holiday and Ronaldo forgot about the interview, so all we did that night was worry. The next day Elder Millett was still sick and was working on getting better, but they decided to try and get a hold of Renaldo one more time, and ended up finding him, and doing the interview.
Ronaldo is so awesome.
After the interview, they talked about the date and time of the baptism and set it for that night, but after 8 so that his dad could make it. And at that point we started calling people like the bishop and a few people to talk at the baptism. In total we called maybe 3 or 4 people. I don't know what happened in the time between, but somehow they got a hold of a lot of people, so many in fact we were counting how many people weren't at the baptism rather than were. We just about had the whole ward! On top of that, they brought cake!!!! OH MY GOSH, that cake was so good, I feel like it’s been ages since I’ve had something like that.
Anyway, the baptism turned out amazing, better than I hoped it would be! It was the best first baptism I could have hoped for. As for Ronaldo, he is holding strong, doesn't have a desire to smoke any longer, and has said several times that he wants to serve a mission. He is funny, and a freaking stud (sorry Megan, you have a total of 3 Brazilians that are attracted to you now... I'll work on someone that’s a little closer to your age).
After the baptism it just gets better, there were a lot of members that have been asking to have us take them to their house and try and get to know the family, and make friends with them, and show that they are very welcome in the church! So we are working a lot with the members all the time, and they love working with us a lot, (I guess that’s what happens when you go three years without missionaries)
Experience # 2,
We had this lady stop us on the street this week, who said her son was an inactive member of the church and said that she wanted us to come and teach her and another son about the church, and we went a couple days after. They seem like a really good family. They even showed a picture of the other son getting baptized with one of the members, about 12 years ago. It was kind of cool seeing the member in the picture, and I think we might even try and bring him along with us to this family. I just think it’s cool that the Lord puts us in the right spot for people when they are ready to hear the gospel! It was funny because Elder Millett knew she would talk to him for some reason. We'll see what happens with them in the future :)
All in all, between the great experiences that we had this week, and the rain that we got on Saturday (thank you mom for the rain jacket! cause without it, that day would have been even more miserable :P ) this week has been a really good week. Next week we are going to make it that much more awesome!
Anyway, love you all, and I hope to hear from you all soon!
Elder Sean Anderson
Just a quick response to the questions, I don't have much time left:
Q: Isn't it always busy?
A: No, there is a lot of time that we have where we wonder what to do, because knocking doors isn't very efficient, and there are hardly ever people in the street to talk to, so we try and work with what we have.
Q: How are things going with your investigators?
A: Depends on the investigator, Ronaldo is going very well.
Q: Are you staying warm enough?
A: It's about the same as Texas in the winter right now, but a little warmer. They never see snow here.
Q: Do you have heat in your apartment? Do you need heat in your apartment?
A: No, and No :P
Q: What is the most spiritual experience you've had?
A: Mmmm, not sure right now...
New investigators
April 22
Questions from Mom, answers from Sean:
Q: Do you have plates to eat and pans to cook in yet?
A: Got them just a few days ago.
Q: Someplace to cook?
A: Got that 2 weeks ago, but didn't have the pans.
Q: Are you still with the same companions?
A: Maybe, we have transfers... and we still don't know.
Q: Are you headed into winter now?
A. Yupp, so I might use that jacket after all, I will wait till after winter to decide if I need it or not :P
Q: Are your seasons opposite ours or the same?
A: Opposite
Q: Are you loving rice and beans?
A: Oh yeah, they are the best rice and beans I have ever had in my life! I could eat this for the rest of my life.
A regular meal consists of rice, beans, some sort of pasta with sauce, meat, and usually a salad and potato or manjioka frita and succo or guarana
Oh and guarana is the best. Go look for it in the stores Mom, it’s not very common, but it is the best. Ask Brother Kooyman, or someone that served in brazil, they will know. Elder Millett says it’s in Boise.
Q: Have you figured out how to make them so you can show me when you come home?
A: Working on it.
This week we have been working on finding a lot, working with our same people, and trying to find people to teach. The most promising right now are the one family that will soon be married so they won't have problems with the law of chastity anymore - they are so awesome. Marian and Dirley (sounds like jerry-lee really fast) and they have a 2 year old daughter Natalie who is so funny all the time. We have had a member here named Anderson, who him and his wife have been helping us a ton with them. They love church, and love the missionaries. Oh and maybe the brother will be baptized too (brother of Dirley).
Second is Renaldo. Fun loving, jokes all the time, has terrible eyesight, but I love him and his family, because they are always ready to invite us in. they made us popcorn the other day which was a blessing for that day. But Renaldo went to church the other day, family didn't come, but he went and the branch president came and talked to him and started trying to help us out, and so I have decided that this branch is awesome. Everyone is glad that the missionaries are back after 3 years, and want to help get people going to church so it can be a ward!. Maybe get a new building! Woot, hope I can help with that.
Other news is our house is almost completely ready, we still need some tables and our sink, but that’s about it! Close! Then I won't be so homeless.
That’s about it for this week, not a whole bunch, just a lot... lot of walking and talking to people.
Miss you all! Write soon!
Elder Sean Anderson
Questions from Mom, answers from Sean:
Q: Do you have plates to eat and pans to cook in yet?
A: Got them just a few days ago.
Q: Someplace to cook?
A: Got that 2 weeks ago, but didn't have the pans.
Q: Are you still with the same companions?
A: Maybe, we have transfers... and we still don't know.
Q: Are you headed into winter now?
A. Yupp, so I might use that jacket after all, I will wait till after winter to decide if I need it or not :P
Q: Are your seasons opposite ours or the same?
A: Opposite
Q: Are you loving rice and beans?
A: Oh yeah, they are the best rice and beans I have ever had in my life! I could eat this for the rest of my life.
A regular meal consists of rice, beans, some sort of pasta with sauce, meat, and usually a salad and potato or manjioka frita and succo or guarana
Oh and guarana is the best. Go look for it in the stores Mom, it’s not very common, but it is the best. Ask Brother Kooyman, or someone that served in brazil, they will know. Elder Millett says it’s in Boise.
Q: Have you figured out how to make them so you can show me when you come home?
A: Working on it.
This week we have been working on finding a lot, working with our same people, and trying to find people to teach. The most promising right now are the one family that will soon be married so they won't have problems with the law of chastity anymore - they are so awesome. Marian and Dirley (sounds like jerry-lee really fast) and they have a 2 year old daughter Natalie who is so funny all the time. We have had a member here named Anderson, who him and his wife have been helping us a ton with them. They love church, and love the missionaries. Oh and maybe the brother will be baptized too (brother of Dirley).
Second is Renaldo. Fun loving, jokes all the time, has terrible eyesight, but I love him and his family, because they are always ready to invite us in. they made us popcorn the other day which was a blessing for that day. But Renaldo went to church the other day, family didn't come, but he went and the branch president came and talked to him and started trying to help us out, and so I have decided that this branch is awesome. Everyone is glad that the missionaries are back after 3 years, and want to help get people going to church so it can be a ward!. Maybe get a new building! Woot, hope I can help with that.
Other news is our house is almost completely ready, we still need some tables and our sink, but that’s about it! Close! Then I won't be so homeless.
That’s about it for this week, not a whole bunch, just a lot... lot of walking and talking to people.
Miss you all! Write soon!
Elder Sean Anderson
Sometimes you have to go to the poorest places to find the best diamonds.
April 15, 2013
This week was grand! I spent it in our new house with our new furniture, stove, fridge, clothes washer, and a few other things and we finally have a table. The worst part is we still don't have anything to cook with, except a few Tupperware containers for the microwave (oh and we just got a ton of cereal that is so delicious - store brand frosted flakes. Haven't had that in a while! Oh, and I just found a cookie that tastes relatively like Oreos... still not the same, but close.
We worked our tails off this week. Between finding and teaching, we had a bunch of new investigators, walked across our city a number of times every day, and had 2 investigators at church. Wasn’t the most exciting thing ever to only have the two, but it was still a good week. Next week will be better.
I think one of the funniest lessons this week was with a contact. It wasn't that long, maybe 15 minutes, but I don't think the girl we were teaching broke eye contact with my companion... awkward.
Also, we found this place where we taught a couple of families. It is a flavela, (very poor area) but on the outside we are allowed to teach, but to get to these 2 houses that we have been teaching we have to cross the sketchiest bridge that I have ever walked across. That thing is just waiting to give up.
So the weather here is starting to drop. It was about 60 when I woke up this morning, and considering we don't have heaters here, and the walls keep in the cold... it’s going to be a cold winter. Not like that of the states, but getting there. Still looking for a hammock, haven’t found a place that sells them yet, but maybe I will get lucky and find one in the city.
I just have to say kids with handicaps are awesome. Here in brazil we meet quite a few, but we went to a house the other day and they had a kid named Tiago, who was so happy, though I didn't understand a single word that came out of his mouth.... I know the lord has a special place for them in heaven.
Anyway, this week was good, hope all is well on your end. Hopefully I get letters this week.
Elder Sean Anderson
This week was grand! I spent it in our new house with our new furniture, stove, fridge, clothes washer, and a few other things and we finally have a table. The worst part is we still don't have anything to cook with, except a few Tupperware containers for the microwave (oh and we just got a ton of cereal that is so delicious - store brand frosted flakes. Haven't had that in a while! Oh, and I just found a cookie that tastes relatively like Oreos... still not the same, but close.
We worked our tails off this week. Between finding and teaching, we had a bunch of new investigators, walked across our city a number of times every day, and had 2 investigators at church. Wasn’t the most exciting thing ever to only have the two, but it was still a good week. Next week will be better.
I think one of the funniest lessons this week was with a contact. It wasn't that long, maybe 15 minutes, but I don't think the girl we were teaching broke eye contact with my companion... awkward.
Also, we found this place where we taught a couple of families. It is a flavela, (very poor area) but on the outside we are allowed to teach, but to get to these 2 houses that we have been teaching we have to cross the sketchiest bridge that I have ever walked across. That thing is just waiting to give up.
So the weather here is starting to drop. It was about 60 when I woke up this morning, and considering we don't have heaters here, and the walls keep in the cold... it’s going to be a cold winter. Not like that of the states, but getting there. Still looking for a hammock, haven’t found a place that sells them yet, but maybe I will get lucky and find one in the city.
I just have to say kids with handicaps are awesome. Here in brazil we meet quite a few, but we went to a house the other day and they had a kid named Tiago, who was so happy, though I didn't understand a single word that came out of his mouth.... I know the lord has a special place for them in heaven.
Anyway, this week was good, hope all is well on your end. Hopefully I get letters this week.
Elder Sean Anderson
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