On
Tuesday we went to the office for transfers and I met up with my new
comp, his name is Elder Singleton and he is from Ohio. He is a tall
lanky blonde american, so now there are two tall lanky blond Americans
in Itapeva. Haha just about everyone talks to us here to find out about
the US, it has been interesting thus far. We left the mission office at
about 2:30 PM on Tuesday and got into our area at 10:15 PM that night.
It was crazy. We are just super far away from everything out here!! We
spent our time waiting in bus terminals and on the bus rides planning
for the next day and planning our Zone training that happened on
Wednesday and it went really well. There are only two other smaller
cities that have missionaries in our zone, but each area is huge and has
several cities in the them. We are excited, we really are trying hard
to be exactly obedient, we need all the help we can get and we know that
as we are obedient we receive the blessings of God. I know that God
knows where these people are that are ready for baptism, we need to do
our part so He will guide us to them. On Thursday we planned a split
with Itararé, the farthest area in our mission and I went there to get
to know their area and their needs. It is just tiny there, it cracked me
up! But we worked really hard and were able to have some success. I was
with Elder Irineu so it was nice to work with him again, he is the
District Leader so we were able to work hard and teach each other.
We
have been opening our mouths and talking to seriously just about
everyone! Everyone. There are about 90,000 people here in Itapeva and we
tried so hard to talk and teach as many people as possible this week.
We are teaching well and trying hard. Elder Singleton knows this area
really well and is passing along as much information to me as possible
so that I can get to know the area quickly. We had a baptism this last
weekend, it was really great. A young couple were baptized, their names
are Rodrigo and Vanessa and they are so great. It was wonderful getting
to know them last week and being able to see the joy that the gospel has
brought them. The branch was really helpful and a ton of people showed
up to the baptism here. We were really pleased and grateful. They both
said they felt so good after the baptism and on Sunday they were happy
as well being confirmed. On Sunday several families here that usually
come didn´t come to church for various reasons and there were still 72
people in total at church! This branch could totally be a ward, but it
is the biggest in the region so the others are all pretty small!
We
invited everyone to come to church this week and on Sunday morning we
were everywhere inviting people and passing by the houses of
investigators who said they would come with us. It was kind of
heartbreaking, not a single one came. We had been praying so so much and
everyone fell through. So we came back to teach Gospel Principles
class. Now rewind to Friday. We were in a part of the neighborhood we
usually don't work a ton in and I saw this little old lady sweeping the
sidewalk next to her house, so we did a contact and I felt like I needed
to tell her about family history and ask if she new her great
grandfather´s name. We told her she could find out through the church
and she said to us that that was her great desire in her life, to get to
know more about her family. It was incredible. So we told her she just
needed to come to church on Sunday to get to know the people there who
could help her. So go back to Sunday when no one had come. During
Sacrament meeting in walks the same little old lady!!! She walked in and
sat next to us and listened and at the end was talking to all the
members and we marked a day for her to come to the family history center
here and work with some members!! It was a miracle. We were so
grateful. Heavenly Father really did help us and touched this little old
ladies heart to come and learn more at Christ´s church. It was great.
So we did our absolute best and when that wasn´t enough, God blessed
us.
It has been good here thus far, we are just
throwing ourselves at the work. There is a lot to be done and we are
trying our best. The members here are so used to having a branch for so
long that a lot of them don´t believe they can have a stake here, we are
hoping to help change that feeling and help them really believe and do
the things that show their faith. Well, love you all, have a great week!
Elder Carney
9/8/14- Well my second week in Ariston went really well. I love this area, and it is just full of hills, haha so many steep crazy hills. And it is covered EVERYWHERE with houses, it blows my mind to see how many people live here. I had a couple moments this week when I could look out on the city and see all the houses and just think about how many people there are here that need to hear the Gospel.
It was a good week,
we worked hard and were trying our best to prepare some great
investigators for baptism. One of our investigators, Claudina, is
wonderful. Her daughter is serving a mission right now and her other
daughter is a less active member of the church. She never really
accepted the Gospel and when I got here Elder Gimenez had been teaching
her for a while. She has had such a mighty change of heart, it has been
incredible to see. She was always really hesitant to get baptized and
really nervous and this last week she just had such confidence and peace
of mind, the Spirit truly worked in her heart. We are also teaching her
sister who lives next door to her (who lives next door to us) and her
sister was able to come and see her get baptized. It was such a great
baptismal service, it was the day before the year anniversary of their
mother´s death. She´s a champ, she is going to be a blessing to her
family and I am sure her daughter is going to be happy to find out. She
was excited to get confirmed on the anniversary.
Last
week I was able to go on a couple splits, haha I have been able to get
to know my area really well because it seems like we always have to go
on splits with the other elders here. We went on a split on Saturday
with a Young Man in the ward named Kevin, he is great, just really
socially awkward and super shy. We went with him and I invited him
during a couple lessons to bear his testimony to the investigators and
you could tell he was really nervous but he did a great job. I don't know
if the investigators will progress or not, but either way it was so
good for him. His parents came up to us and thanked us for working with
him and on Sunday he bore his testimony about missionary work, it was
cool to see.
This last week was good, we just
worked hard and were praying a lot to help this people and achieve the
goals we set as a companionship and as a zone. The members here are
great, they really help with the missionary work.
Today
I got a phone call from President and I got transferred! I am going to
be a Zone Leader in an area called Itapeva. Remember when I was in
Itapetininga? Haha well Itapeva is another like two hours away from
Itapetininga, even farther away!There is only one other area that
is farther away in the mission. So it is going to be very very different
from Ariston. I am excited, President told me that he wants to create a
Stake there (they are districts that are a part of the mission right
now) and so that is our goal in working there. I am excited, it is going
to be a challenge but I know that is where I need to be right now. So I
will be transferred tomorrow and get there and start working my tail
off!
That is about it for this week, just
loving the mission as usual. I feel so so blessed to be here, I am
eternally grateful to be a missionary.
Love you all!
Elder Carney
9/2/14 Man it feels like so so much has happened since the last time I sent an email to you all. It was a long week, but it just flew by! Haha so the moral of the story of this email is that this area is super great. Just fantastic. Haha I am loving it here. It is kind of just only hills which has been making me feel pretty fit again! Loving that. Last week we were able to work our tails off. On Tuesday my comp had to go to a meeting in São Paulo so I did a split with another elder who is from my group but I don´t know really well, his name is Elder Ihasz. His comp went to the meeting as well and the LZ´s decided we would work together for the day and in my area... which I don´t know at all! Haha it was an adventure! But we rocked it! We just spent the whole day trying to contact old investigators, less actives, and find new investigators. We were so blessed, it was humbling to see how merciful the Lord is. We worked super hard and had a great and successful day. So woo hoo! And Elder Ihasz is great so it was good to get to know him a little better.
On Wednesday we had a great day and we went to the house of an
investigator who had stopped progressing recently and who had already
been to church three times and seminary. We went there and I met her and
then we called her to repentance... haha we invited her to be baptized
and promised her the blessings that she would receive. And she accepted!
So that was a miracle! We were really excited for her, her name is
Bruna.
On Thursday we had a Zone Conference with Elder
Aidukaitis, who is the 2nd Counselor of the Brazil Area. It was so
great. He let us ask him questions and even did some practices with us
to show us how to be more effective teachers and better servants of God.
It was really uplifting and I felt the Spirit really strongly.
On Friday Bruna was interviewed and then her parents
decided at the last minute that they didn´t want her to be baptized,
which broke our hearts. So we called some members to go and talk with
the parents and they went and the parents changed their minds! So
Saturday morning Bruna got baptized and it was such a spiritual
baptismal service. We were really happy. On Sunday she unfortunately
decided to travel, even after a lot of encouraging and testifying from
us and the members, so she is going to get confirmed this Sunday
instead.
After church we had a great lesson with another
investigator named Bruno, he had a lot of questions about the Plan of
Salvation, and it was such a great lesson, the Spirit was present and it
was wonderful to see his understanding. We are teaching like madmen
here and trying our best and truly trying to offer our all to the Lord. I
love working, haha I am so tired, but so happy! I love it.
Well thanks for everything, today we went to the
temple and it was such a great experience, very needed and now I feel
re energized and rested spiritually.
Love you all!
Elder Carney
