Another Transfer Here I Come! 3-16-15

Friends and family,

Well that passed fast! It doesn't feel like I've been here for 6 weeks already! Feels like last week I got here! So what are we waiting for lets get to the new stuff!

CYLCONE!!!! This week it rained a ton! We went to a members house and we were talking about the rain and they proceeded to tell us that there was a 100 km wide Cyclone out over the ocean! Because of that it was pounding us with rain! It was kinda scary knowing it could move toward us and really hit us. But everything was fine and it stayed out on the ocean.

Manifestation!!!! This week our zone leaders called and told us that on Sunday, yesterday, we weren't allowed to leave the house. WE could only go to church and that was it! So that's what we did! Apparently there was a public unrest manifest about politics and so we were "in danger" but it was fine.

Rodizzio! This week we went to a pizza place with a recent convert to try and help him get some friends! I did take pictures but they got corrupted. We were sitting there the 3 of us and then these three girls sat at the table next to us and started talking to us! They were marveling at the fact that I'm American! Elder B didn't say a thing so they thought he was Brazilian. IT was funny because W, recent convert,  said we were missionaries and they were like instantly backed away. Super funny.

Other then that Brazilian life is a bit strange! I found out that the standard for clothing is almost optional right now because summer is ending. So walking around the center is interesting this week. We kinda have to avoid any busy spots in the city for fear of seeing anything too bare.... So that's different then in the states.

The pic that I'm sending is of a family home evening that we did with a member, her less active daughter, and her home-bound dad. We did the Familias podem ser eternas! It was a blast and they were super nice. They're two kids were kinda active but that's okay. I was like that when I was their age.

Well family, That's all the interesting this week. Love you guys and you little ones remember to read you scriptures and say your prayers! Those two things make all the difference in life! And my dear cousin, I wish you all the best and I'm praying for you! Love you guys!

Elder George

Deven's cousin, who is serving a mission in the Dominican Republic, was involved in an accident. She and 2 other missionaries were hit by a motorcycle and injured. She took the brunt of the impact. She received stitches last night and was sent to a larger hospital to determine how to treat the burns she received on her arms and legs. Her family is very worried. Any prayers on her behalf, and for her family, would mean a lot. Additionally, I KNOW God hears and answers our prayers for healing and comfort. I KNOW that we are His children and he loves us and is involved in our lives. Thank you for your prayers and your love. Sincerely-Deven's Missionary Mom, Stacey

March 9, 2014

Hello!

This week was rather bland. Not much went on. So I'll get right down to it!

We are teaching a recent convert who moved from another state. He is super awesome. His name is W and he loves the gospel. This week we taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For those who dont know, we teach the lessons twice. Once before baptism and once after. So we were teaching and we did all the points of the Gospel and it was good. He has a strong testimony and it was awesome. He is really very ready to begin his journey to the temple.

This week I have been spoken to in English quite a bit. People can just tell that I'm American and that's funny. We met a guy from New York today! So that's an adventure every time. Sometimes people just say something super generic and you can tell they DONT speak English; so sometimes I rattle off something super fast to try and confuse them. So thats fun.

I was studying about infant baptism for no particular reason in Moroni 8. Its super interesting that they thought of that 1600 years ago! That was interesting to study about the will of God with respect to this stuff!

Not too much terribly spiritual this week. Sorry to disappoint anoyone... but I do have a counsel. You YOUNG ONES! Read the BOOK OF MORMON! IT is the essential tool to being a missionary! KNOW the BOOK OF MORMON. Thats all I'll say about that.

As for our investigators... They are falling a bit. They are lacking desire so if you could mention these people in your prayers that would be awesome!

A-desire to obey the Word of Wisdom and quit smoking

L- that God exists

F-desire to go to church and read the Book of Mormon

If you could pray for these individuals I would be so grateful.

Well, love you guys and I hope to hear from you next week!

Elder George

Another Week, Another P-day! 3-2-15

This week was another week on the way to the 6 month mark! It was pretty good! Here is a pic AFTER haircut :)  It’s a good haircut and it was free!

First off we met a guy on the street who came up to us and said to me "You’re American right?" (Everyone knows that I'm American!!!!) I said I was, in Portuguese, and he said "Oh its cool. I speak English." Turned out he has dual citizenship in the states and here! He went there and was a marine and a cop! As he was talking I thought to myself," Yup. You could be a cop." But, that was fun.

Other than that I realized something they have here that is less common in the states! Street performers! LIKE IN THE STREET! They juggle, and do weird things that I wouldn’t pay a nickel to see. So that’s fun.

Saturday I bought a “cake for 1” mix and ate it this morning! Yep-I ate cake for breakfast! IT WAS GOOD. It was only like 1 real. So that was awesome! I’m gonna go back and get another couple today :)

Lessons were lacking this week. We had divisions and meetings with the district so that made it harder but even so there isn’t anything new with them! Exchanges were fine. Everything went well and we are pretty good friends now! He is from El Salvador so that’s different. He's gonna make tacos for us soon :D

Yesterday, it was testimony meeting. THERE WAS A LINE OF PEOPLE!!! We didn’t have any investigators attend, but we had some less actives so that was good! We are trying to do more with less active members because we are lacking with new investigators right now. So we are focusing more with them. After church, we went with a member for lunch. It was so much fun now that I can understand!

This week we have another zone meeting and another opportunity to receive mail, so that’s exciting! So there is a new convert in our ward who moved here from North Brazil! HE IS SUPER COOL! I'll get a pic with him this week to send next week but we have a bit of a problem with his records.... Since he moved like RIGHT after conversion his records are kinda screwed up... He received the Aaronic Priesthood but the records don’t show it so he'll have to receive it again. Also his baptismal date in the computer says that he was baptized in November but he was actually baptized in January.... So we are trying to help him with that. 

The mission is a weird place! I have decided it is only place where you can feel so spiritually high and not even be effected by anything bad! So that makes things a bit easier! It’s like things just always work out! For example, we were waiting for a bus one night at like 8:55 that should have passed then and we had been waiting for like 15 min. Turned out that there wasn’t even a bus that night. But we said a prayer that everything would work out and right as we said “amen” a member drove by and gave us a ride! So that’s what I think about the mission.

Well everyone, I love you and miss you and hope you have great week!

Sinceremente,

Elder George

 

Britain Meets Brazil --- 2-23-15

This week was a different one. Some good and some bad. Let’s start with interesting though.

This city is like my last area. Some of the roads are paved but others are cobblestone. It’s really quite strange to walk on cobblestone. The better thing is no one sleeps on the streets here. So that’s better to walk the streets and not wonder if someone is dead...... 

Today I got emails from Friends, my uncle, both grammas, my sis, and my cousin! I HAD NO IDEA SHE WAS THINKING ABOUT A MISSION!!!!!   I was happy to hear that she got her call to Peru! :}

Today I'm getting a haircut. AND I found a lady in the ward that does hair so we are going there today! Super excited! We cleaned house a lot before we came here... So that took time. We don’t have time today to do any sight-seeing or hiking. We usually shop every Monday so probably after my haircut we'll get groceries. We’ve eaten at....... MCDONALDS!!!!!!!! I get ice cream sometimes too when I'm feeling down. The menu is about the same as in the US but WAY more expensive. Like 10 bucks.... So we've only eaten there once.

Lessons this week were just about the same. We have a baptismal date for A. He is a guy who is 26 and he really wants to change his life. So we hope that he can stop drinking tea and coffee. Our baptism is scheduled for March 7th but we are gonna change it to the 14th because we have stake conference.

We had exchanges with the zone leaders this week and that was difficult. One of them kinda told me that I didn’t speak very well and that was discouraging but oh well. 

As for poverty here. There isnt much here. There is like one bairro that is poor. Other then that its all like average in the states. So thats nice. It feels a little closer to home.

I got this picture today next to our lan house and I thought I would look super British because of the umbrella.

So one of my watches broke this week and I lost my Pearl of great price...... I was super bummed. I'm gonna get a new watch today but I cant replace that Pearl I received the 1^st time I went to the temple. I have a spare watch. My one from gram, but I want one with the date. So with the money that gram sent me I'm gonna get a new one. 

Other then that I didnt have too many spiritual experiences this week. Kind os a bummer week. But oh well. Until next time, and I hope all of you have great weeks!

Love you guys,

Elder George

Second Week in the new area 2-16-15

This is one thing we do with the ward. We hold a family home evening and talk about the proclamation then take a pic with these banners and post it to facebook. To show beliefs and stuff :) The guy is super cool!

This week wasn't nearly as interesting. So this email will probably be much shorter... Sorry!

So here in the new area, the culture is like sunrise and noon. Not completely different but you can tell the difference. The people here are less inclined to listen to you and aren't very polite about not listening. So that’s different. Rejection feels a bit worse. But that’s life. It’s Carnivale this week. It doesn’t really affect us because it’s really just on beaches. But everyone in the city left to go to the beach so not many people are here. People go like 3-5 hours away or farther. In like Rio and São Paulo it last like a month. Officially it ends this Thursday here.

Before today's haircut......

I don’t know if I have gained weight! I put on some jeans and they were SUPER Tight. I didn’t remember them being that tight... So I have no idea. Everything else fits. Thank goodness. I don’t wanna buy stuff here... BUT one of my pairs of shoes is already falling apart! Super annoying. I'm still gonna keep the beat up ones to show at the end when I get home :) They aren’t horrible right now but the surface is starting to peel.

Ropa Normal

Being companions with a district leader is different. We have to go on splits with the zone leaders once per transfer so that’s fun... We actually have our split with them today. So I'll let you know how that went. Also he has to have district meetings to train the district every week. So he spends time preparing for that a bit. But other than that it’s the same.

Investigators are a little crazy right now. We still don't have them locked in really. But, we may have also found an investigator that wants the lessons in English! SUPER COOL! I wonder if I'll be able to do that.... :} We have a reference system on lds.org that the mission office sends references to! So they sent it to us.

I do have one person we are teaching that I would really like you guys to pray for. His name is L. He is 18 and he is the son of a non-active returned missionary. He doesn’t believe that there is a god and needs to know what's out there. So you guys could keep him in mind that would be great.

Lessons are hard to describe really. But we had one with L. He speaks English and Portuguese but his wife doesn’t speak English so he doesn’t have a chance to speak English so for part of the lesson I taught in English. It was good! I liked it. And I KNOW he felt the Spirit. I was like drowning in it so I know he felt it. We just taught about how it makes sense that something else is out there. HE seemed to understand and feel it so that was awesome.

One really awesome thing last week was getting my scriptures ordered! I'm super pumped to really study the scriptures in Portuguese. For the past while I haven’t really been able to because my scriptures got soaked. So having these will make all the difference. So that was good!

Well, one scripture that really stood out to me this week was Matthew 26:22. This is when Christ says to the apostles," One of you will betray me." They were each exceedingly sorrowful and began to ask the Master," Lord, is it I?"

This inspired me to ask that more often to find out what I need to improve on. What I may not be doing as well as I could. So I think we should each look at ourselves and ask if we are doing everything as best as we can so that we "may stand blameless before God at the last day." I know that if we do this we will have a more happy life and a more Christ-like life. I know this is the Church of Jesus Christ on the earth today. I love you all and wish you the best of weeks! I thank you all for you prayers on my behalf and know that I'm praying for every one of you.

Love you guys,

Elder George

PS---- #popcornselfieswag  ;)

New Area!! ---February 9, 2015

Elders with Branch Mission leader

Greetings!! The new area is freakin fantastic! We are right in the center of the city. It is a city with MANY people and a nice ward! There are about 50-60 active members so its much different then the 20 in my last branch. They are really interested in missionary work and they want to help us reactivate people and meet new people who might be interested! Investigators: we have like 10. Progressing, 0......   I met the bishop for the first time on Saturday and he freakin asked me to speak the NEXT DAY! So yesterday was my first talk in our new area. It was good I think. It was about member missionary work. (before I knew they were already excited about it...)Other than that the members are REALLY excited about helping us and doing missionary work! This area is basically night and day difference then our last area! YES the members do feed us! We didn’t have a day last week without lunch! Each member has a day of the month-ish. The church building is about the same as every church building in the states. Just without AC. So thats nice for a change.

2nd Area-Criciuma 1

Our apartment is in a big apartment building and its pretty nice! Also, the water from the tap is drinkable here! It wasnt there in my last area. So thats awesome that we don't have to buy water or go the church to get water. And yeah it is the same apartment as I described on Skype at Christmas-where we stayed when I first got to the mission; (with the mold on the walls and the plastic couch) but he cleaned it really well so it’s like the best apartment ever now. It’s in an apartment building and it’s pretty nice. I'll send pictures next week. I ACTUALLY HAVE A DESK! It's so awesome. In my last area we didn’t have desks so that’s better.

My new companion is Elder B. His 20 years old and is from the US also. He has 15 months in the mission and 5 months in Brazil. He is the district leader here and he is super fun. We have a lot in common. He loves to sing, play sports, and we both want to work and strengthen the area.

Being companions with the district leader is a little different than the other elders. Every week he has to call the other pairs and get their numbers from the week and see if they need anything. He also prepares training for district meetings every week. So it is a bit different.

I have a bus card that the mission gives me money to fill. It’s like the city bus so it’s good. We use it to go to different areas that take too much time to walk. That is also different.

I had a really happy moment this week! I spoke to our Bishop here about scriptures to see if he could order some for me, because last transfer me and Elder Badger we walking in the rain and they got soaked... So we looked online on a site called Deseret Brazil and they sell Portuguese quads! The church doesn’t make them in Portuguese, only this guy that makes them specially. So we ordered one and it should be here next week at the latest! That was awesome! Also, they have a ward choir here! We went and I discovered something. She is super controlling and judgmental if you get there late or leave early. So that was funny.

I witnessed a miracle this week. When I left my first area I could only understand about 50% of what was said. When I got here I was suddenly able to understand everything! We are 2 Americans with not a lot of time in Brazil and we doing great things here. It was insane how much the spirit helped us this week. We are having a lot of fun as well. 

I was listening to Elder Holland's talk from conference this last time around ("Are We Not All Beggars" Here is the link:  https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/are-we-not-all-beggars?lang=eng )  and one thing he said really stuck out to me. When he talked about Pres. Monson and Mother Teresa and their service he said something that was really moving for me. "She hath wrought a good work. She hath done what she could." That's all God asks of us. Do what we can to keep the commandments and do the right things. If we do these things we will add so much good to the world. "What good we do is but a drop in the Ocean, but if we don't do it, the ocean will be one drop less." Let us all add our one drop to the ocean, Because if we don't the ocean would be without a whole lot of water.

I love this gospel, and I love the prophets and apostles. Their words are literally words from God to us. I bear testimony that this is The Church of Jesus Christ on the earth today. We are God's children and he wants us back. So, let us do what we can, add our drop to the ocean, and return to his presence so that he may embrace us and say "Well done my son/daughter."

I love you all and hope you all have magnificent weeks. Take good care of each other! I would be very sad to find out someone had a broken bone or something. Thank you for all of your support and remember that I'm praying for you.

Sinceramente e com amor,

Elder Deven George 

Pics with people in Imarui:

 Imarui Branch President and his wife

 Some favorite people in Imarui

 Imarui Primary President and her daughter-in-law who was our investigator

Our young investigator



GETTIN TRANSFERRED!!!---- February 2, 2015

Personalized mission planner

Well this is my last day here! I have been transferred!!! It's a MASSIVE City and I will be the companion of Elder B who is the district leader there and also an AMERICAN!!!! Two Americans in a row! How's that work?????

Anyway, we took pictures with everyone that I will be sending next week! We had our last meetings with investigators and we leave at 630 in the morning tomorrow. We go to Florianopolis first and then we part ways and go to our next areas. He is going to Joinville. I can't wait to get to know new people. There is one thing that I dreading a bit... There is a rumor going around that I will train this next transfer.... Our district leader apparently told Pres. Silva that I was one of the best missionaries he'd seen and that I could be a really great trainer. So it is rumored that I will train next transfer....... So we'll see.

Other than that, our solid investigators are still solid and this area will definitely have baptisms next transfer so that’s really frustrating... But oh well.

Well everyone. Next time I email you I will be in my new area!

Love you guys and here is the scripture that has influenced me! Helaman 5:12.

Elder George.

"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."