5 months in Brazil! 2/24/14

Yet another week in Paradise here in Itapetininga! I am loving it here as always and it is already almost March which just blows my mind! Also today is 5 months in Brasil! Which is just crazy, it feels like I just got here yesterday but it has already been almost half a year here! Also next week will be 8 months on the mission for me. So basically I am feeling "old". This week was really good, we are working hard and my companion´s feet are getting better which is really nice. I am enjoying that we can work harder now, haha I felt so bad for the poor guy with how many blisters he had on his feet, but they are pretty much healed over by now. This last week I also ran with one of the other elders who we live with, it was so so so so so so so so so so ssssssssssssss ooooooo nice. Haha and it hurt a lot. Basically I love running, but I remembered that it also hurts. It has been cooling down here in my area and almost every day we have had overcast weather which has been a true blessing after how crazy hot it was in January and most of February. It has rained  a couple times and that has been good.
The work here is progressing! We are finding some really really great new investigators and they are progressing well, unfortunately as always getting them to church is a struggle, but we are trying hard to enlist the help of members to get them involved. Our area is huge and so we have to really be smart in how we plan everything and get our appointments set up, but it also makes it hard to go and get the investigators and bring them to church if they live so far away. But we are working on that! The family of Matheus haven't really progressed, mainly because Matheus has been sick this last week and so couldn't really meet and it turns out Martha, the mom, had talked to some pastor from another church who told her some really false ideas of what we believe. Bless her heart she told him she needed to see proof and citations of these stories (Joseph Smith being a horse robber and going to jail before the First Vision...?) and we were able to answer a lot of her questions. So we are really trying to help her solve the doubts she has through the Book of Mormon and prayer, and it is good because they really do have desires to have a happy and united family.
We have also been working with some less actives here in the area, and it has been so good! One of the them, Danilo, who is 19, came to church! We were walking with one of the young men in our ward who is leaving for his mission in two weeks and he pointed out the house of this person, we had walked past there before but never known that a member lived there. So we visited him another day and he said that that same week he had been thinking and had the thought and feeling that he should go back to church this week! And then we find out about him and show up that same week! It was great and it was cool to see him back at church! We also have been working with this lady who has been investigating the church forever. Seriously so long. She has almost been baptized a bunch of times and we went to see what was holding her back. We also discovered that she talks a ton, and told us some very interesting stories from her past, it definitely was interesting, but we really feel like we can help her overcome her fear and receive the blessings of being baptized and receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Her name is Sandra and we have enjoyed working with her.
We had some really great blessing this week in being at the right place at the right time, it was humbling to see little miracles happen as we prayed and asked for guidance and then were led to people who truly were prepared to receive us. One is a young couple named Fernando and Líla, they have a baby boy who is 1 years old, named Rafael. They are super great and just really genuine and kind people. We are going to go back there and teach them this week, they hopefully will pray and read and have the blessings of the gospel in their lives.
Overall, I am loving it here! We also had splits with the Elders we live with and it was good, I was able to see how they are doing and help them with the difficulties that they are having in their area. We also were able to teach seminary that night, they have some investigators from both areas that attend, and unfortunately Matheus didn't go because he is sick, but it was great, I really loved teaching! We taught the Restoration to them because of there being investigators there but it was really involved and all of them said it was their favorite lesson thus far! So that was fun and exciting! Overall I am doing very well! And I am getting good at killing cockroaches! And I saw a huge toad that secretes a substance on its back that blinds you if you get it in your eyes, and I saw and armadillo for the first time in my life. And pomegranate grows here everywhere. Basically I am living in a different world. I love it.
Love You!
Elder Carney

Hot. Rain. Hot. Rain Feb. 17, 2014

Haha well this week was certainly interesting!!! One thing was the weather! Last Thursday a record was broken here in Itapêtininga! The hottest it has ever been recorded! It was 40°C here... which was 104°F. Haha and super humid. Basically I died. BUT, it was also a super good day and we are working super hard. This week was the most productive we have had of the transfer and we are teaching a lot more. I think a lot of it was due to Elder Noleto´s feet getting better. Poor guy, his feet have been seriously thrashed these last couple weeks, he basically didn't walk ever before his mission and now he is walking a ton. With an Elder who ran a ton before the mission and doesn't really understand super well that feeling of having feet demolished with blisters. But he is getting better and I am trying to be sensitive to the pain that he is going through.And prayers are being answered in him getting better and more accustomed to having to walk everywhere. Sister Martins was talking with me while my comp was in an interview with President and she said she would tell anyone that walking and getting in shape is just as important as preparing spiritually before the mission.  I know that is true! We cant teach if we don't have the Spirit with us but we also can't teach if we are stuck in one place not being able to walk! Haha so preparation is a good thing both spiritually and physically! We had really been praying for this one family who came to church last week, Marta, Alfonso, Matheus, and Julia, they are so great! Unfortunately they had a ton of questions about what we believe after coming to church and some members told them some things that aren't important or relevant to them right now. So we had to spend a lot of time answering questions and helping them with their doubts. They didn't come to church yesterday which killed me but Matheus did alone! He has attended seminary these last two weeks, loves it, but is now struggling because he doesn't want to continue alone. So we have a lesson tonight with him and I am praying so so hard that he will have the courage to continue and that his family will have their hearts touched by the Spirit. We can try as hard as we can to convince them to change and continue learning, but only God can change their hearts through the influence of the Holy Ghost. 
We also had splits this last week with our Zone Leaders, that was super fun , splits seriously bring miracles! We worked in an area that is really rich that day and usually it is kind of hard to work there, but we taught like crazy and found so many new potential investigators, it was a serious miracle. And it was super fun as well, splits are great, I was with Elder D Santos who is going home this transfer and has a lot of experience and I learned a lot of what I can now apply to help my comp and our district do what we want to do (baptize and help these people come unto Christ). 
Like I said we had interviews with President these last week, we have them every three months, and it went well! I learned a lot from him and it was good, haha like I said he is very similar to Mr Carpenter and so you have to be very very careful with how you say things and be very direct and clear in saying things to him, haha it was interesting but also very edifying and I learned a lot of how I can help my investigators with their specific challenges.
Oh and it actually rained this last week as well! So even though it was crazy hot it also rained a ton and then got hot and then rained a ton so I have been very very grateful for those little breaks! Now we are just focusing a lot on working through ex investigators, potential investigator lists, and less actives to find new investigators. We stopped teaching most of our investigators because they weren't progressing and so we had to start over from scratch, but we are seeing miracles happen. Including one less active who basically has a super crazy hard life now and decided that God doesn't exist or if so then he just wants to spite her. So that was hard to hear, but in the way we found her it was very much so from guidance from God and she recognizes now that we were sent from God to help her. Unfortunately we cannot help her with finances or raising her children alone, or selling her house, but we have focused so much that if she reads the Book of Mormon, prays and goes to church, she will receive more blessings than she can handle, most of them spiritual, which really are the ones that matter, but others that are temporal as well. It has been humbling to see her situation, and we actually found her on a day that had been really difficult and no one was listening, and so when we found her it was a blessing for us to realize that when we ask for help from God, he gives us opportunities to help other people which in turn is a blessing for us. She read the part we marked, first time she read in years, and after saying she would never read again, we were able to bear testimony and promise her specific blessings as representatives of Christ and she had a change of heart and said she would try to do those three things. It has been really good to see her make small changes in her life. Overall a great week!
Yes mom, I do get letters sometimes from friends which is so great!! I actually need to write a few to catch up, I got one package from Christmas with the small stockings, and my comps feet are doing better! And I am doing great! Love you all!
Elder Carney

His Christmas pkg got there! 2/10/14

Get better mom!!!!!! That is definitely not fun to be sick! I was starting to get sick as well this weekend, but with some medicine and lots of water I am already feeling a lot better! I had a really good week, we were able to have a great start to the week in that Wednesday we had a Multi Zone Conference! It was absolutely awesome, so much fun to see other missionaries that I know and are my friends, and wonderful to receive instruction from President and Sister Martins, they are truly inspired. It felt as if so many of the trainings that we received were exactly for our area and the situations that our investigators are in. We have been working hard here, unfortunately it was also a super hard week, it felt like no one was progressing and it was just difficult to even find people to teach at times. Plus my comp´s feet have been massacred, i feel bad for the guy, especially because our area is HUGE so we walk a lot here just to get to neighborhoods that we work in. But we take little breaks and he has some powders and other little things that are helping his feet. I am definitely grateful that I ran 60+ miles a week for a year before my mission, i had absolutely no problems with being sore or have blisters when I got to the mission, haha running really is great!

An interesting thing that we found out in our conference is that January was the hottest January that is on record in the State of São Paulo... haha but it makes me feel better that it will most likely only get better! It has truly been so so so so hot.And it hadn't rained here for such a long time, it was killing us. But then it rained yesterday which felt so wonderful. I can hardly wait until April and May for winter to start, it will truly be great! Sunday was a great day, why? Because we had a family come to church!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 Their names are Marta and Alfonso, and they have two kids, Matheus (16) and Julia (10). They are great. They are progressing well and I hope and think that they will be baptized. One cool thing is that Matheus is solid, he said he would come to church even if the rest of his family didn't and after church a kid from the branch was baptized and the rest of the family left but he decided to stay and watch! Then he got invited by a young man in our branch to go to seminary this week (they have it two times a week at like 7h30 pm) and he said he was for sure going to go! He is solid, so we are excited about that little family. And we had like three families of less actives who have now been to church 2 or 3 times each, so it is cool to see that they are coming back after we have been working with them. I am enjoying it here, it is really hot, but since this last week was difficult at times I was praying more and having to have so much more faith. Every little lesson we have and every time an investigator progresses it is such a blessing from my Heavenly Father. I really cant do anything in this work without Him. So grateful that he is there for us as missionaries. Oh also I got a nice surprise at the Zone Conference... my Christmas package!! Which was sent November 13th!!!!!! Haha it was so great, the crackers were even whole and the snickers were great! The sugar from te Sour Patch Kids had kind of been dispersed throughout the baggy and melted... but they were still super good! Haha and it was so nice that you sent a little stocking for Elder D Oliveira. Unfortunately he wasn't with me to get it, but he finished his mission this last transfer so I think he is doing fine! Love you so much, hope all of you are doing well!

Elder Carney

Broncos had a fan in Brazil! 2/3/2014

Well this week has been absolutely insane!! Starting last monday after emails we went all out and went to a Churrascaria, or Brazilian BBQ. Basically Tucanos but here in Brazil. And it was absolutely amazing, so so good! I loved it, it was only like 18 reais, or 9 dollars, and I loved it. Elder Agnelli was having his last P Day ever so we went there for him! Then we found out about transfers!!!!!! Elder F Oliveira was transferred to the Capitol and I am staying here in Itapê! And I found out I would be training! And I am a District Leader now! Basically I was super psyched, nervous, kind of wanted to throw up, lots of emotions! Haha it was good though, I felt very much so like this would be such a growing experience for me. Elder Ashford is also staying here in Itapê which made me psyched to continue living in the same house as him since he is awesome and actually likes to run in the mornings with me! So then the next day we spent walking around, teaching some people and saying bye to the members for Elder F Oliveira, and then he packed that night. That night the Elders from the zone farther away than ours came so they could sleep at our house and get picked up by the transfer van there the next morning at 5 AM. Then when they all left it was only 4 of us left, waiting for our comps to arrive that afternoon, and all four of us were Americans!!! Haha it was so weird, we spoke in English and Portuguese and it was this weird mix, and we couldn't use the correct sentence structure and it was fun! I loved it. Then my companion arrived!!! His name is Elder Noleto, he is Brazilian, and he is from the state of Tocantins, which is only 25 years old and is way north and way hot! He is a great missionary! He is very competent, motivated, teaches well, and likes to work hard. So basically it is already great!! Seriously, I feel like I am learning so much already, i have to think of a lot more things and be able to explain things in an easy way for him, because he has so much to learn right now and I have to be able to explain why we do certain things or what our investigators need. 
I was bummed to say bye to Elder F Oliveira, and Elder de Oliveira went home this transfer as well and Elder Agnelli as well! It was a bummer but it was good to see them go home and finish their missions well. This week has been really good so far, and we are just getting accustomed to teaching together and working in our area! I love it here in Itapê! 
Also I was wearing my Broncos tie yesterday!! But that´s ok about the loss, they can win in the future. But seriously, I was nervous walking to do emails today because I wanted to know so badly what happened! I love you all so much, this week we have a Multi-
Zone Conference so I am way psyched about that!! Love you all!
Elder Carney

Last week of the transfer 1/27/14

Holy Cow this transfer flew by! It was seriously so so fast! I think part of it is living with another companionship of missionaries as well as this being the last transfer of Elder Agnelli, so that has been just insane! He was the Secretary of the Mission when I arrived and it is insane to think that he is going home! Also, last week I had officially 4 months here in Brazil. It feels like a lot longer and also like I have only been here a week. But it is fun! I had a good week, it was unfortunately not the most productive week we had this transfer, mainly because it felt like seriously no one wanted to talk to us this last week! We were working so hard and trying so hard and inviting members to lessons - seriously everything - and it just felt like a ton of appointments were falling through. But we still had a good week, we are inviting more people to make commitments with God (President talks about that a lot, that these commitments aren´t with us, they are with our Heavenly Father and these people need to realize the importance of that) and we have seen success in that regard. I don’t know if I already told you that one of the Standards of Excellence and an Indicator that we give to the mission every week is how many new addresses we receive each week, the standard being 42 or 6 every day. Well we have been working our tails off to get that and we have been getting it! It also has been very overwhelming because all of a sudden we have the info for 42 or more people every week!! All of whom we tell that we will pass by sometime in the future and all of whom need this message! It makes you feel a little overwhelmed and you realize just how much responsibility you have for your area. This area has a ton of members, many of whom are less actives, but only two full time representatives of Jesus Christ. Only two. Me. And my companion. Haha it makes me want to work even harder because these people need these blessings and the chance to start progressing towards eternal life. So we have been working hard to spend our time contacting these new people and using the Area Book like maniacs, very very organized maniacs.

This last week we also had the opportunity to go to São Miguel Arcanjo, a little city of 35,000 people that is about an hour away by bus, which is also a part of our area. In short our area is massive. We never have gone there because it just didn’t make sense to go there when there aren’t members, it is so far away, and we have so many people to teach and that are progressing there. But Adriana, our recent convert lives there with her family who are now investigators of ours, and the branch told us about a less active family that used to be super strong in the Church that moved there and all the leaders of the branch have asked that we visit them. So Adriana had a day off, we planned well, and went out there for an afternoon to teach her family and somehow find this family. Unfortunately we only had the name of the street of this family, no number, no cell number, nothing. Only their last name and the street, haha we didn’t even have a map. But not because we didn’t try, haha we called seriously everyone and used our resources here to find it, but no one had any info more than the street name. But then Adriana blessed our lives and used the phone book and found their number and cell number and gave us a map of the city!! It was so great! A real answer to prayer. So we contacted them and now members are planning on going out there in the future to visit them and they are excited because we visited their! So it was good and then we returned to our little city of Itapê and worked hard here. Now to answer some questions from Mom:

HOW ARE YOU??

Do you even need to ask this one!?!??!!?!?! Haha so good.

Are you taking vitamins/eating enough to stay healthy???

No on the vitamins, yes on eating enough. And when I say that I mean I eat a ton. Like all the time. And I eat healthy. I love how cheap vegetables and fruit are here, but I am eating a ton! But I will buy some vitamins or something, I actually was thinking about that the other day.

When are transfers (I think they're coming up soon)?  Will you stay in Itapetininga?

Transfers are this week!!!!! So we will see what happens! I am maybe going to stay here; since it is so far away and this is my first transfer here most likely I will continue here. And Elder F Oliveira already has three here and this is his first area so most likely he will be leaving. We will see what happens, haha I am loving it here and it is different for sure, but I will find out this afternoon or tonight! We´ll see! If I don’t email next Monday it´s because I got transferred to the Capitol and I will be at the temple. So there you go.

Tell us about your companion & roommates!!

My comp is from the State of Pernambuco, the city of Olinda (close to Recife where the temple is) and he is great! He is new like me, has a great accent which is fun to try out, and is really motivated to work. haha is super goofy, but very sincere. Also he is black, so that is awesome. Haha he wants to be the President of Brasil one day, but first the governor of Pernambuco, he has a lot of pride for his state. The other missionaries are Elder Ashford and Agnelli, I already told a little bit about both, I come to Brasil with Elder Ashford, and he is a nerd which makes me feel comfortable since I too am a huge nerd. Although he wants to be an engineer, so we aren’t really nerds in the same subject areas, but that´s ok, he is great, wants to work so so hard, and is going to keep on progressing really well. He graduated this last year and is from Austin Texas, after the mission he is going to BYU, and Elder Agnelli is from Paraná, the state next to são paulo, is a convert of about three years, and super great.

Did you ever get to email Joe Reynolds about that older lady in your branch?

Yep! I am emailing him and sending photos and fun things like that!

DO YOU KNOW YOUR MOMMY LOVES YOU??

YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well that´s it!! Love you all so much! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Carney

Who's wearing his Orange & Blue TIE today! 1/20/14

Haha so I was hoping today I would be receiving good news in regards to the Sports world... and good news was received. So for just one moment I would like to say:

BBBBBBBBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNCCCCCCCCCCCCCOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So there. Now I can continue on. In the grand scheme of things this really isn't that important. BUT. It is super fun to hear that the best team in the world is going to the Superbowl, so thanks for the updates.

I had a great week, it felt like we were getting so many blessings. We are working so hard here, basically I am always exhausted, but so so happy. We are working hard to meet the standards of excellence here and it is genuinely difficult, but they aren't the standards of mediocrity, they are the standards of excellence. So we are trying to be excellent. haha it is going well, we are talking to the entire city of Itapêtininga, and it is going great! We are still having a rough time finding new investigators, but we know that there are people here who are ready to change and enjoy the miracle of the Atonement in their lives. One really cool thing happened! I told you about that investigator who was an answer to prayer, came to church, and accepted a date for the 25th to be baptized. Well we talked with our District Leader and he asked why not see if she wanted to get baptized this weekend and not even have to wait! So we asked! She got interviewed, was super psyched about it and passed and said it actually was better for her this weekend than the 25th! So we prepared and it was awesome until we got a text from her saying her boss said she had to work all day Saturday and Sunday. It was the most horrible feeling! We called, tried to figure it all out, and it looked like it would have to wait. We said a prayer on the street and then a little bit after we got another text saying she could get one day off on Saturday. Well this was great news but it meant she could get baptized but not get confirmed for more than a week after... which is not so great. So we called again and asked if she could switch and work Saturday and not Sunday and get baptized before church on Sunday! She asked and it worked out!!! So she got baptized! There were other complications like the water not working and then it taking forever to fill up on Saturday and other things, but eventually it worked out!!!!!!!!!!! It was so cool to see, her face was just so filled with joy, and her mom and sister came to the baptism and church and really liked it! They aren't members so it was a good experience for them. So woo hoo!!!! I loved it, and so it was a really great ending to the week! 

Other than that I am just enjoying the missionary life. We are so blessed to be here. I love being a missionary, it is just the best thing in the world for me right now! We are working a lot with the members and OH! I forgot to tell you all this but guess who is the Branch Pianist.... THIS ELDER! Haha they don't have anyone who knows how to play the piano, so when I got here they immediately asked if I could. Well and I couldn't lie, even though I hate playing hymns because people have to sing with you and I get nervous and all sorts of things, so I said yes and I have been playing the hymns for sacrament every week. It has honestly been very stressful and I absolutely love it. I have found more appreciation for hymns, and I have seen how it can touch people´s hearts. One sister bore her testimony about the hymn we sung one week and it was ´Come, Come, Ye Saints´, which is also my favorite hymn, and it made me realize just how special music can be to touch the hearts of others. Oh, Mom, I had an idea! You should do a list of questions one week or something and I can just copy and paste them and just answer them! I always forget what you say and ask and so this would be easy and I love talking about Brazil so that could be fun! So you should do that! I think I could do that and if I don't finish I could continue the next week! Let me know! Also a member asked me about getting a triple scriptures in English for him, but I think he can just order them through LDS.org, so I will tell him that, because shipping them to me and then me not even being here by the time I might get them would be just crazy! Well I love you all, i love this work, I love the Broncos, and I love my Savior.

Elder Carney

MOM NOTE: Danny refer's to a BRANCH - this is just a small congregation of church members.  A larger congregation is called a Ward. So he is the pianist for his congregation apparently!! Those piano lessons payed off!

Jan 13, 2014 The Heaven's Open

Well this week was a very interesting one, as the title says, the Heavens are definitely open here!! Haha in multiple ways! The first way is rain, and lots of it. This last week we were enjoying a good day working in a part of our area about an hour walk from our house. It went really well, we talked to tons of people and enjoyed success with new and progressing investigators. Well it was about 7:30 and I saw some crazy huge dark clouds coming in and told my comp that i thought it was going to rain pretty hard and we should start back after our appointments since it is an hour away! We went to one more appointment which went great, then as we left it immediately started to pour. So hard, So so hard! And it had been clear skies and crazy hot so neither of us brought our umbrellas. And we were far from home and needed to get back and had no idea if the rain was going to stop. So we just kept walking. And were more soaked than I have ever been in my life! There was crazy rain, we couldn’t see a thing, we were running down the hills, and the lights were all going out on the streets! Finally we reached main street and there were some awnings to use as we walked, but it was so crazy!  And what were we doing as we were walking?? Singing Hymns of course!! Haha all in all it was a very memorable experience and eventually I dried out. It was really fun.
It rained like that a couple of times this week, including last night which woke us up because of how crazy the lightning and thunder were. Summer rain is just insane her! 
Now for the other part of the heavens opening! This week we had so many blessings! Our president just gave standards of excellence for the first time this last week and we were working so so hard to reach them and really push ourselves!! Which included talking with the world, teaching like mad men, and just being the best missionaries we can be! We also have been praying so hard about our investigators and baptism, we just really want to help these people and this branch grow, they haven’t had a baptism here in so long! So then Sunday comes around and almost none of our investigators came to church... except one! Who I hadn’t even met yet! Her name is Adriana and she lives in a city like 40 minutes away but is part of our area. She had gone to church like 4 times before with friends here in the branch and already said she wants to be baptized, but with the end of the year she couldn’t meet with us or go to church. So then out of the blue she showed up alone, had a great time, and later that day accepted baptism and the date of 25th of January!!!! It is seriously such a huge blessing. We are also working a ton with the members and just trying to use them to help our investigators see the miracle of the gospel in our lives and to help them get to church. It is good, we are seeing results! 
Another cool thing, we have this old lady here who got baptized in 1992 and is awesome! Unfortunately her health is bad so she can’t come to church without help from the members but we visited her and gave her a blessing when her hometeachers' couldn’t, and she told us about the missionary who baptized her and that he is from Colorado! That was exiting and then she said his name is Joseph Reynolds, I thought, that´s funny that name sounds familiar, but it is a common name so whatever! Then she showed us this book of all teh missionaries she has gotten to know here, and the first one was a Joseph Reynolds from Brandt Place, Littleton, CO, 80127!!!! WHAT!?! Haha so I am not sure because I wasn’t even born yet when she was baptized but I am pretty sure this is the Joe Reynolds son of the Reynolds in our ward!!!! Could you confirm this please??? This member would love to hear how he is doing. Let me know.
Also here is our new mailing address! The office moved, but we will still be getting anything that was mailed to the old one, but from now on use this address:
Missão Brasil São Paulo Norte
Avenida Nova Cantareira, 1146  fundos
Tucuruvi
São Paulo - SP - 02330-001 

So use that exactly! Especially the word fundos! Thanks! I love you all and I am going to send some pics really quickly!
Love you!
Elder Carney