16 Jan 2012 - Palmeiras Area (Dad)

The police strike is over. Deep back in my gut I was hoping for a 2 week riot just to have a cool story. That probably wouldn't have gone over well though.

[I shared an experience of rejection in Nicaragua with Jeffrey.] I remember that story, you had told me earlier on my mission. I was thinking about 'The Other Side of Heaven' and my mission has got nothing like that. How are they going to make a movie out of my mission? I have set a new goal too: I'm going to write in my journal everyday. I usually write in it every 2-3 days. The main reason I'm doing it is so that the producers have an easier time making my movie :) It will probably help me with other things too.

I hate to admit it, but my current area is tougher than pork chops cooked in a microwave. Sometimes I just have no idea what to do. I go and do and it fails miserably. There are probably silver linings that I am missing. I am really hard on myself and I always think it is our fault. I'm not perfect so there is something I should be doing better. I don't know. I'm trying to go and do what I need to do. Sometimes I feel all is lost, but I bounce back.

9 Jan 2012 - Palmeiras Area (Mom)

[I was asked to do the Stake Valentines dance refreshments again.] I remember doing stuff for the Valentines Dance before I left. Like anyone goes to a dance to eat food anyways. They are all old and married. They go to just show off and make out :) It is the kids dances that need food because that is what makes them worth it. Just throw some beanie weenies and some chips and that will make all the old people happy. That would make me happy at least....

It must be nice to have good people in callings and the ability to solve problems. Here some of the leaders are inactive and any meeting (like Ward Council) takes about 3 hours and the people just end up attacking me for some reason. Then nothing happens. Some wards do it better than other wards. It will be nice to go back to America and not have to deal with ward members anymore ;)

This week was another hard week. I have been noticing that I haven't been happy during the week. I'm always worried and wishing things were going better. I guess I judge myself too much. It's hard. We had some investigators at church which is a miracle. I'm trying to stop the worrying and trust in God more but that is hard. :)

9 Jan 2012 - Palmeiras Area (Dad)

Well I figured out why we got robbed on Sunday. Apparently there was a Police strike so there was no Police on the street from Dec 31- Jan 3. I feel free to tell this to you now since it has already passed. So there is no need to worry. As you can imagine it was CRAZY here. It is crazy with the police. It was kind of like serving in the middle of Somalia. Everything was closed and widespread robbing happened at the strip malls and stuff like that. Kids were just walking down the street with guns. It was kind of intense. Our neighborhood that we live in was less intense. Our work area though was kind of dangerous. Downtown was ransacked. This is what people tell me so I don't know how true it is. It'll be a good story to tell my kids. We all had to be home by 6 PM.

I was thinking about running more when I get back home. I'm still just on the thinking stage of course. It is good to know that we still have the treadmill. Maybe I'll run outside to keep my tan. I can't wait to get back and work out in the gym though ;) It is a lot easier to work out when you don't have to walk around all day.

So we were teaching this nice old lady these past few weeks. The kind of old lady with no teeth that is always smacking her lips. She was a great lady and she loved us and loved our message. She accepted everything that we taught her. She went to church and everything. Then one day we taught here this week and she did a complete 180. She didn't want to talk to us anymore and didn't want to be baptized. I was sad. She was talking to us and telling all kinds of apostasy and lies so that we would go away. I honestly cried about 3 times during the lesson. It was really sad. I felt anguish for her soul and her hard heart like it says Alma & Nephi etc. felt for their people. I can't say I have felt anguish for everybody's soul that I teach, but I felt it this time. I can only imagine what our Heavenly Father feels every day when he sees his poor children doing wrong things. I knew what she was doing and I knew that it was the wrong path. We tried to help her but she just kept resisting and wouldn't listen. We tried but I didn't know what to do and I felt even worse. I imagine it is the same with parents. I love these people and the people of this area aren't being nice to me :) It is hard for me to work every week and have nobody come to church. That is the key but nobody wants it! It makes me want to be better though so that Heavenly Father doesn't have to feel that sadness when he sees me. I think we should all work harder so that nobody feels that sadness because of us. I hate feeling that sadness. I'm sure my parents do too and so does Heavenly Father.

I know that He loves us more than anything. We must do what He tells us to or else we can go nowhere! He knows what is best for us and He knows what will destroy us! It aches my heart when I see people openly denying Him. I have a lot to do to be one of His perfectly righteous sons, but I know that I can achieve that. He will help me and that is His main goal. So why not make it our main goal too?

2 Jan 2012 - Palmeiras Area (Mom)

So people are telling me that you went paintballing and others are saying that you went laser tagging, so I'm just going to assume you shot people. That is good that you are enjoying it. I have been working out here, but it not easy and sometimes I just don't feel like it. We went running in the morning the other day so that was cool. I do my usual pushups and pullups. Hopefully when I get back home I can get on a better routine. I too struggle with the task of eating right. It's not my fault all of the good food in this world is greasy and heart attack causing. I'm a southern boy, it's no fair.

I have been working hard, knowing that my time is ending. It's good to train at the end because you work harder and your companion always has that fire. I'm trying to do all that I can and I think I am giving my best effort. I'm happy and we are teaching great people. One thing that I'm trying to work on is prayer because it has never been a strong point and it is sometimes hard for me. I figure it will help me a lot after the mission too :) Just trying to do what I can. I love you!

2 Jan 2012 - Palmeiras Area (Dad)

It is going well. We have found a lot of great people this past week. New Years was a bummer but things should start picking up again. We have awesome people, so we are thinking about them a lot and how we can help them. We are praying and trying to do everything possible to have success with these people. I want it to be their fault if they don't get baptized, not my lack of skills/faith/teaching/etc. So we are trying to be perfect so that the Lord can use us and so that the people can be convinced as it says in the Book of Mormon to believe our words. We all know that the Holy Ghost is the one that 'convinces'. I have some more good news. I can held up again! Yay robbery! They didn't take anything this time but I got a few chuckles because my companion had no idea what was going on. The guy told us to stop or he would shoot. Everyone and their brother has a gun here apparently. Then he just shoved his hands into my companion's pockets. We didn't have anything though, we were coming home from Sunday lunch. Well I did have my camera in my bag but he didn't take my bag luckily :) The only two times I walk around with my camera I get held up....at least he didn't take it this time. Then he apologized and I told him no problem and said thanks and gave him a thumbs up and we walked away. I think I am getting the hang to this whole robbery thing. I'm just going to print off pass along cards saying "I don't have anything, please don't kill me, don't take our bus money. If you need money, my companion is Amercan/Brazilian and he is rich! " It might work. Well things are good here. By some freak of nature I got up and went running the other day. My body didn't like it and punished me with terribly painful knees. Lets see if I do something crazy like that again. I prefer exercising my brain in a chair, it's less painful.

26 Dec 2011 - Palmeiras Area (Mom)

[It was nice to hear your voice.  I have to admit that I, for whatever wacky reason, do not miss people that much when I do not see them.] People usually tend to forget people when they don't see them so that makes sense I guess. I don't really have an uncontrollable desire to be home either. I just don't miss it that much. Like you said, it will hit me when I go back home, but it's good for now. It is a lot easier to work when you aren't missing home. Some elders go crazy near the end of their missions. I'm more or less the same. I've gotten better in a few things, but I haven't changed much in other aspects.

[Brother Gerrard in his talk today likened Santa to Heavenly Father.  He said when he was small he remembered that he would go and sit on Santa's lap and tell him all that he wanted.  Santa would bring him what he had asked for and not disappoint.  He received more than he asked for most of the time. Tha is ho our Heavenly Father is.  We ask for things.  He gives us that and much more.  He does not disappoint.] I don't know who Bro. Gerrard is but I don't remember Santa giving me everything that I wanted. He often disappointed me ;) I don't remember when I stopped believing in Santa. I'm pretty sure you destroyed that whole belief so that we wouldn't ask for expensive things because we thought Santa could provide anything we wanted. Christmas here wasn't too special. It was a bore and a headache. People always say that they have awesome Christmas's on the mission, but mine are always terrible. Nobody goes to church, nobody wants to feed us, nobody come and opens the chapel so we can call our parents...maybe I'm just bitter and not loving enough :) Well New Year's will be more of the same and some more drunk people.

26 Dec 2011 - Palmeiras Area (Dad)

[We're going to play laser tag tomorrow with a couple of families in the ward. Hopefully we won't suffer any collateral damage and we'll have a lot of fun.] You can get eye surgery at the same time that you are shooting lasers at people. What collateral damage would come from laser tag? Just try not to pistol whip people.

Well Christmas wasn't much of anything. It was even worse because it was on Sunday. So people got extra special excuses to skip church, even the members. So that was a bummer because we had baptisms marked on New Years, but no investigators went to church so... This Christmas was a big headache. I'm convinced the mission teaches you to enjoy holidays and Sundays because you always end up working the most on those days. I think that being a member of the church is always accompanied with a lack of sleep. Mission, seminary, church in the morning, scout camp, kids, random meetings....That is why we have Sunday to sleep :) I don't have much to say. We had another week of the same old stuff. We taught a really great guy that is an elect, but he hasn't gone to church yet. He readily accepts all the invites to change and is keeping all the commandments. Hopefully, this weekend he'll go to church because New Years is drink-a-ton day and he doesn't drink.