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[Bouts of Busy]
6/14/2021
Hey my people! Sorry for not getting an update out last week, it was a crazy p-day with transfers happening. I ended up spending the day with the APs [assistants to the President] because my new companion wasn't arriving until the next day. But, I will recount a couple of things during the week leading up to it.
So two weeks ago I left off with the account of Elder Vivanco coming to be in our companionship for a while. As it turned out, after talking to various counselors, President Hirschi, and his parents, Elder Vivanco decided to return back home, after only just a couple of weeks here in Brazil. He let Elder França and me know Monday night that he would be leaving us on Thursday to stay with the mission office secretaries, and then flying home on Friday. From a few of the conversations I had with him, it seemed like he's never really seen extreme cases of poverty up close before, and I guess he wasn't prepared for the reality of some rash decisions people choose to make in desperate situations. It was sad to see him leave the mission knowing he'd be missing out on a lot of personal and spiritual growth and development, but ultimately it was his decision to make and I know all things happen for a reason (see 2 Nephi 2:24).
Speed round:
-Tuesday was the last District Council meeting of that transfer, the Sisters made a cake to celebrate.
-Wednesday, we helped teach part of a seminary class online and Marina brought Gabriella again. It was a great lesson about the Restoration of the Gospel.
-Thursday we left early in the morning to take Elder Vivanco to the Mission Office and then returned to our area, just the two of us again.
On Sunday we received news about the upcoming transfer. In the morning we got a text from the APs saying that Elder França would be leaving our area for another area in our zone. This caught us somewhat by surprise because we thought I would be the one leaving because I've had more time here. Then in the evening President Hirschi called and asked me if I would be willing to train a new missionary. That was pretty exciting! He said my new trainee was Brazilian and knew no English, so even more opportunities to improve my Portuguese was coming. Then he told Elder França which area he would now be serving in. He said he would decide how he wanted us to move the next day - Monday morning.
Last Monday (p-day) we got the apartment all cleaned up and ready for the new guy, and Elder França ready to head out to his new area in Mauá. We got a call from the APs in the afternoon saying how our part of the transfer would go. I would go with Elder França to drop him off to his new area and with his new companion (turns out it's Elder Pontius from my MTC group), then go with Elder Pontius' old companion to another missionary house. Then from there I was to get an Uber and go to the Mission Office where I stayed with one of the APs, Elder Erickson, until about 9pm when transfers were over. It wasn't until then that I could call my family for quick chat and then we headed back to the APs house. The reason for all this was because my trainee wasn't arriving until Tuesday and as missionaries we need to be in a companionship or with other Elders. Also, it helped that I was close to the office for when my new companion arrived.
Tuesday morning, I woke up with the APs and a couple other missionaries who were finishing their missions who had flights home. We had a normal morning of exercise/stretching and personal study, and then an Uber picked me and the APs up. We headed back to the Mission Office where I waited for my trainee to arrive. So, I had plenty of time to document the happenings of the previous week.
Turns out I would stay there at the office for the whole day, because my new companion's flight got changed. He finally arrived around 6pm and we met, and I learned his name is Elder Boize. President Hirschi then took us in his car to the mission home where Sister Hirschi made a lovely dinner for the four of us. After dinner, each of us shared our testimonies, which was a very spiritual moment for me. It had been a while since I felt the Spirit so strongly. After testimonies and a couple of quick pictures, it was back to the office for a couple of short trainings from the APs. By this time it was already about 9:30pm, and the APs were having some trouble finding an Uber that could fit both of us and Elder Boize's luggage, or that would accept the long drive back to our area, so we ended up splitting up. I went with Elder Erickson to stay the night in the AP's apartment once again, and Elder Antônio, the other AP, stayed the night in the secretaries' apartment (which is right next to the Mission office) with Elder Boize and his suitcases.
Wednesday morning we woke up, joined the Zoom call for our morning mission leadership prayer, and then I finally got to go back to my own area with my novinho [brand-new] trainee, Elder Boize. It turned out to be one of the most busy days on the mission in Brazil so far, which was really interesting. We had a ton of meetings, with the mission, with leadership, with the ward leaders, with the Stake presidency, and also three member lessons and weekly planning sprinkled in.
Thursday was our district council meeting which was pushed because of transfers on Monday and Tuesday. Right after our meeting, the Sister missionaries had a referral for us. His name was Valter and we had a lesson together so they could introduce us to him. We get to teach him because he lives in our area not theirs. We stayed at the church building with the ZLs (Zone Leaders) and the other set of sisters, to join another mission leadership call. After our meetings, we finally got back to our area, and went to the bank and to the store to buy some much needed breakfast and dinner foods. In the evening, we had some good text conversations with some of the people we are currently teaching.
Friday was much more relaxed and the first full day spent entirely in our own area. We didn't have so many meetings. Something kind of funny happened as we were going through our area book, contacting some of the people who were taught or had talked to the missionaries in the past. One woman we sent a message to said to us, "Hey you guys disappeared, what happened?" After we responded, she said, "I'm already looking to get baptized." Elder Boize and I looked at each other in excitement and I was thinking, "Wow I'm finally being blessed for all the hard work I've been putting in." So we took a screenshot of the conversation and sent it to our district chat with the caption, "Aqui só milagres," which means "Only miracles here." After some congratulations from the district and trying to set up a lesson with the woman, she told us, "Well, I can't do a lesson tomorrow because I have something at another church I'm getting baptized in." Dun dun dun! Hahahaha! We spoke way too soon on that one. We're still gonna try and keep in contact with her though, and teach her about the Priesthood and proper authority. And hey, now Elder Boize and I have our first inside joke, Aqui só milagres! Haha
On Sunday, we had a great couple of first-Sunday-of-the-mission sacrament meetings for Elder Boize. He was even asked to give a talk next week in the 5th ward, haha. Classic! Other than that, just business as usual, lots and lots and lots of contacting.
Well that oughta do it for the past two weeks. Thanks for sticking with me and reading to the end (which if you're reading this, means you probably did that, yay!). It was great to feel busy again for that short burst of time around the transfer, if not a slightly bit overwhelming, after a while of not having too much to do. But I'm yet very happy to be here, improving my Portuguese day by day, doing my part by having no fear and just opening my mouth to share what I know to be true.
Love you all. The support you have given me is so much appreciated. Catch y'all next week!
Elder Bird
-Elder Boize with President and Sister Hirschi
-Elder Boize and I at the mission home x2
-Door of the mission office, with the mission logo!
-The state of São Paulo is trying to have everyone vaccinated by September. Only three months away, exciting!
[New Developments]
5/31/2021
Hey all you people, hey all you people, hey all you people won't you listen to meeee! Alright now that we've gotten that obscure reference out of the way, let's get on with this weeks happenings!
On Wednesday, an older member of the Guarará ward was looking for some help with her English grammar for a test she's about to take, and asked me to go over a review sheet she had been given. So we gave her a call and talked through a couple of the questions she had doubts about. It felt good to be able to help her out, using my unique talent (at least here in Brazil) of being able to speak fluent English, and to be proficient enough in Portuguese to understand and resolve her concerns.
We are working a lot with the members here and helping them become more active in the church, and also with sharing what they know with the people around them. On Friday, we were invited to the home of a member of the 5th ward (which was great, because we're only allowed to go to people's homes if they explicitly invite us). He is a math professor at a university (I'm not sure where haha). He had a big, really energetic dog that was jumping around all over the place, it was kind of funny. The member was finally able to get his dog into another room and shut the door, and then we had a chance to visit with him for a bit. It was a good chat.
Saturday is when things got a bit interesting. In the morning, President Hirschi called us and asked how many beds we had in our apartment. We told him that we have two beds, but three mattresses. Then he told us there was an Elder who arrived last week, Elder Vivanco, that was having a bit of trouble adjusting to Brazil in his other area. President was looking for a place Elder Vivanco would feel a bit more comfortable, and then said he would get back to us after making a few more calls. Later that night, the mission office called an Uber for us to go and pick up Elder Vivanco from his area, which was on the far west side of the mission, so it was about a 45 minute drive both ways.
When we arrived, I started to understand what Elder Vivanco was feeling. This was a pretty rough part of town, and especially where their house was located it was super sketchy. As we drove back to our area, Elder Vivanco talked the whole way, relishing the opportunity to speak in English, after feeling a bit trapped with his Brazilian companions. He started his mission in the Denver Colorado South Mission, serving there for about a year, and was just transferred to Brazil. He only knew a tiny bit of Portuguese from his "at home" MTC training. Then he shared what his experiences were in this scary part of town, having only been there for just a week. I won't go into detail, but I can say the things he was telling me were really bad. I think it was good for him to get it all out, and I hope I can help him work through it, even if just a little bit. Well, when we got home it was pretty much bed time, so we showered up and I took the floor mattress. Funny to think how the dynamics of the mission and a companionship can change so quickly. When we woke up this morning, Elder França and I had no idea such a change would happen. But, we think it is an excellent addition to our companionship and we hope to be able to help him get better adjusted. We're not sure exactly how long it will be the three of us, but we're happy to be here. Transfers are next week, so we'll see what happens.
Thanks for reading, hope everyone has a great week!
Elder Bird
--Elder França, Elder Vivanco, and me
[Birthday Week]
5/24/2021
Hey y'all, it was a great birthday week here for me!! I want to send a big "thank you" to all those who were thinking of me and sent a message or an email. It was very much appreciated!
On Tuesday we called the wedding office in Diadema for Juliana (Cleiton's girlfriend) and related all the things they told us back to her. We are trying to help them get their marriage down on paper, so that Cleiton can get baptized! Juliana has been the one leading the charge in finishing up this whole process, but understandable because Cleiton works a lot.
Tuesday night was our final lesson with Isabella before her baptismal interview on Thursday!! It's been so much fun teaching her all about the Gospel and seeing her progress through the lessons with a clear knowledge that this is right.
On Wednesday, we had our district council meeting in conjunction with interviews with President and Sister Hirschi. The APs were also there to give a bit of a training. After our meeting finished, everyone gathered around me and sang the Brazilian Happy Birthday song to me! It was super nice!
On Thursday we started our exchange with the ZLs, where Elder Silva came and stayed in our area with Elder França to do the interview for Isabella, and I went with Elder Larson back to their area. It was seriously sooo nice to have an American companion again, just for a little bit. Don't get me wrong, Elder França and I get along really well, but it's just that I'm not proficient enough in Portuguese to have long, deep, and profound conversations with Brazilians yet. So it was an awesome English exchange really getting to know Elder Larson and developing a friendship with him. He was English deprived too, so we talked and joked around a lot - haha.
On Friday we finished our exchange and went back with our regualer companions. Elder França and I made some final preparations for Isabella's baptism for the next day. Friday was also my actual Birth Day!! Pretty exciting, officially not a teenager anymore - haha. Apparently Isabella made a cake for my birthday, which was so sweet of her! Elder Silva and França brought some back to the house for me after her baptismal interview on Thursday. Then later Elder França and I got some birthday ice cream, and President and Sister Hirschi called to wish me a happy birthday. So nice! Other than that, it was a pretty normal day. Oh, I was able to call my parents in the evening as well, which was the cherry on top!
Saturday was baptism day! Elder França and I spent pretty much the whole day at the church building, filling up and heating the baptismal font, and then after, draining it. All of those take more than an hour to complete, respectively, and need to have someone in the building to check the progress. But the baptism itself was so amazing to be able to be a part of. They asked me to lead the music, so that was my contribution, and Isabella's dad was able to perform the baptism and the confirmation.
That's all for this week, hope it was a good read! See y'all next time!!
Amorão,
Elder Bird
-Sunday sweater gang
-We are heading into winter and it's getting foggy and super cold at night! Time for some double blanket action - haha
-Birthday ice cream
-Baptism pics!!
Video - District wishing me a happy birthday after District Council
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Click to view video
[Zone Conference and Construction]
5/17/2021
Hey everyone! Last week we had our first in person zone conference! But first, a couple other updates..
We taught Isabella twice this week, first about the Plan of Salvation, and then about the Word of Wisdom. Both lessons went great, and she is just so awesome at remembering everything we've taught so far. At the end of each lesson we've been doing reviews of previous principles. She seems to be ready for her baptism on Saturday and we are super excited for it!
We finished our visits with the people on our recent-move-ins list, and made some good connections to people who are wanting to come back to church! One big family came on Sunday and we talked with them for a bit and set up a lesson with them for later this coming week. It is with one of the sons and his family.
I finally got around to mending a few of my pants. Some of the seams had come undone in a few places. I also redid the hem on two pairs of my pants. Even though I'm a beginner, they all turned out pretty good, and I'm proud of myself for a task completed.
Zone conference for our zone was on Thursday. We were excited that it was going to be in person. We got to the church building around 9:30am for a 10am start and it went all the way until 4pm. Sister Hirschi spoke first about how some of the pillars of our mission (Christ-like attributes) will lead to the Miracle of Conversion for our investigators. Then President Hirschi talked about what we, and the people in our wards, need to do in order to become who the Lord wants us to be, and how we can better work together with our ward leadership. Afterwards, our financial secretary gave a brief presentation and then our STLs and ZLs did their trainings. It was about lunch time by then, which was provided by one of the Bishops. It was super good!
After lunch, we took a zone-wide picture outside, and then the APs gave some thoughts and did a roleplay training for everyone. At the close of the meeting, the Mission President had some final thoughts and we sang our mission hymn. Overall it was an amazing conference and now I'm super pumped to be getting back into the work!
Saturday was pretty fun, we got to help with some construction on a member's house in the Guarará ward. We worked a lot with cement: mixing, filling buckets, and handing them up to the people pouring it into a preset mold to harden and dry. We got ourselves covered from head to toe in cement, so went straight into the shower when we got back home.
On Sunday we were super sore from the service project. It was a good workout - haha. One of the young women asked us to give a little talk/presentation on an article from the Liahona magazine for a "2nd hour" meeting. It went super well and we took up all the time we were supposed to.
This upcoming week should be super great, with my birthday on Friday and Isabella's baptism on Saturday!! We are super excited!
Love you all, boa semana!!!
Elder Bird
-Pics from Zone Conference!!
-The whole zone
-Elder França and I thumbs up
-The room set-up
-I got some packages and letters that took a while to get to me - haha
-Elder França and I quick selfie
-I couldn't snap a picture during the construction project because I didn't want the phone to get cement on it, but that night they ordered us a pizza as a thank you for coming to help out
-The poster for the Sunday night meeting we spoke in, "Super Heroes"
[Family Home Evening]
5/10/2021
Big howdy all you folks! Another blessed week has gone by here in Santo André.
Last week after P-day (P-day ends at 6pm, for those who didn't know), we were invited to join Family Home Evening by a member family in the Ala 5 ward, who had just recently moved into the ward. We were pretty excited to join in, but also a bit scared to be walking around their area at night. They live in one of the apartment buildings way up on the mountain to the east. But, we made it unscathed, and it was a real treat for us to be able to participate! One of the sons conducted and the other son gave a lesson about repentance. We basically just added a few comments here and there. It was so great being able to just hang out and visit for a bit in person. Then they ordered an Uber for us to get back to our apartment safe, which was super nice.
On Wednesday, we had to take a good part of our day to update our cell phone. I guess there is a new version of software that we had to get, so we did a factory reset on our phone and set it up completely new again. Since all of our work is dependent on our phone, we didn't really have anything to do for a couple hours. We recently heard from one of our bishops that the church building has a ping pong table that we didn't know about, so we pulled that out, and played a couple of games in the meantime.
On Friday, we taught Isabella about the Restoration of the Gospel, which includes prophets, apostles, the priesthood, and Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. Because she's a bit younger, we tried some more interactive methods of teaching of the principles, which seemed to work out great! She understood everything we talked about. The family even has the picture book that we used, so she could look at it more with her parents, who are going to help with some review. We were able to set a date for her to be baptized, so we're planning on May 22nd! We know that she'll be ready by then, after we teach each lesson and the ZLs do her baptismal interview. Super exciting!!
Throughout the week we have been making visits to people who have recently moved into the Ala 5 ward. So far, we've been able to talk to two families out of the few we've visited, and this is seriously the most I've felt like a missionary for my whole time here in Brazil. Being up on our feet out of our apartment, walking around our area, going to people's houses with a purpose in mind, and having really good conversations with those at home.
On the way home from one of our visits, a guy in a car waved for us to come over. We didn't recognize him but we went over, and he opened his car door and handed us two little blue pamphlets that said "For Mormons" on the front. Then the guy gave us a thumbs up and drove off - haha. Well I knew exactly what this pamphlet was, because I had seen some like it at our bus terminal, but those were "For Catholics" and "For Jehovah's Witnesses", so maybe this was the same guy who made those. They are pamphlets that discourage these religions. It had highlights a couple scriptures in the Bible and then does some mental gymnastics to say our church isn't biblical, but I gotta say, it wasn't very effective - haha. It was some of the same tired arguments I have seen hundreds of times before, and I could respond to each one if need be. Anyways, that was just a funny little experience from one of our journeys.
Yesterday during sacrament meeting for Ala 5, I was asked to give a short talk right before the meeting started. I was grateful to have a little something prepared to talk about from when we were asked a couple weeks ago. It went alright and I was able to get my points across.
Well that's pretty much it for this past week! Today we're heading over to Diadema area to get flu shots with our district.
Happy Mother's Day!! I hope everyone was able to do something nice for your Moms yesterday!!
Love you all! Until next week,
Elder Bird
-Photo taken from a part of our area we hadn't been to yet.
-"For Mormons," "Truths and Illustrations That a Mormon has to Know" lol
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