Well I have had another good week as always busy but enjoyable. To finish off this last week we had Zone Counsel which went well. Our mission just called six new Zone Leaders and they are all excited and willing to serve. It is funny to think that this last Zone Counsel completes one year of counsels that I have been to. I am not sure if it will be the last but it has been a great experience. It has been interesting to see the changes in the leadership and the attitudes of each leader. Out of all the meetings in the mission Zone Counsel is probably the best and most spiritual. On occasion our Staff meeting are really great but I have learned a lot from our zone counsels. At this counsel we spoke a lot about the mission but in particular the missioná focus or vision. To teach to convert, increase convert retention, reactivate less-actives, baptize more men and families, and train leaders.

But the weekend went well nothing to crazy we have been working hard both in and out of the office. We are having some success with some inactive families but we will see how things go this week. We have been trying hard to work more with the members but things are a little tuff. I love this ward and the members but we have little contact with the most of them. We did take a young woman to church on Sunday that was baptized a few years ago. Mariana is her name, we have been working with her for a while and we were happy to see her their. She also took her younger sister to church and she enjoyed it a lot.
But as for the beginning of this week nothing to crazy, just a lot of work. We are starting to crunch for Christmas. I am in the process of working out a Christmas Mission Choir in which we will go and sing at various locations throughout Maceio. In addition something that wont be too exciting for everyone else but the church came out with IMOS (Internet Mission Office System) which makes our work a lot easier so I have been busy getting orientated with the program and inputting all of our data. Like I said I am sure that isnt very exciting for al lof you but once I get things up and running it will make my life easier.
But I am happy and excited. I love you and miss you all!

Oxente, this week was a busy one!

This week was a busy one, i´ll tell you what I am exhausted. So as I mentioned last week on a little bit of a sader note we had two missionaries who were sick. Well Thursday one of them was trasnfered to stay in the office with us for a few days, that was Elder Ribeiro. Then on Friday, Elder Azevedo had to go home. I believe I mentioned about him last week he fell and hit his head pretty hard and he losed a lot of his memory. But on the good side he is able to relearn pretty quickly. Along with all that on Friday we also had breakfast at the Presidents house to do a bit of transfer wrap up and also trasnfer planning, it as always went well and tasted great. The only problem it makes me a little homesick everytime we do it cause Sister Beynon always makes Egg Caserole which reminds me of Christmas.

On Saturday we had two baptisms which went well, Edlane and Vinicios. I forgot the pictures so I dont have one to put on. But the baptism went well we had a lot of people in attendance. Following the Baptism ther was a birthday party for Edlane which was fun. She is quite timid and I think the party helped for her to get to know some of the children in the ward.

Then on Sunday it was her sister Mila´s birthday. We had the confirmations at church and we also had a good afternoon but that night we had an interesting experience. We went to Edlane and Mila´s house for a family night where we watched the testaments. During the movie they stopped and told us that one of Mila´s friend´s needed our help. She was in Mila´s room balling and they couldnt figure out why. They asked us to give her a blessing in hopes that she would get better. I slowly enterd the room a little lost as to what we could do but as I sat on the bad talking with he she told us that she was afraid. She felt like something had happened to her family. We gave her a blessing and she quickly calmed and immediately after the blessing her cell phone rang and her family was just fine. I learned a lot that we need not be afraid as to what we are going to do but that we must always be preapred. If we are prepared when the moment comes we will not have a problem. Why she had become so afraid for apparently no reason I am not sure why but I know that Heavenly Father loves each and everyone of us as His children. I know that he recognizes our difficulties and knows how we are feeling. Because he knows these things he will bless us with experiences and challenges that we may learn and grow.
But lets move onto this week. It like that end of last week has been a tuff one. On Monday we had everything going on with The Elders who we going to go home on Tuesday. Along with all that Elder Ribeiro who had been our companion for the weekend was sent home. We had to get up at three to help him get out the door and get to the airport. It was sad to see him go but while we dont understand the Lord´s will and why things happen we can trust that he has a plan and not just a plan but a perfect plan.

At the Airport with all the Missionaries going home.

The Mission Staff - Elder Gonçalves, Elder R.Marinho, Elder Silva, and ME!

The Group of the new missionaries.

The new missionaries and I teaching a family in our area (Teles and Rayanne)

As for Tuesday it got even busier. It was transfers so our phone started ringing at four in the morning and Elders began passing our house at 5:00 to pick-up various things and to leave other things. We had ten missionaries going home and 14 missionaried arriving. So we took all the missionaries to the aiport to send them of then picked up the new missionaries. A few notes of Elders that went home, Elder Veloso one of my companions went home along with Elder Sadleir who has both lived with me and worked on the Staff with me for the past few months as an assistant. But after the airport we went to the mission home for lunch and orientations. Then following the orientations four of the Elders went to our house cause there first areas are in sergipe and they didnt go till today. So last night we took them and worked in our area and it went great. We found 15 new investigators and marked 10 baptisms. It was a fun and great night. I love seeing the excitement of the missionaries. I can see that same escitement in the e-mails from Adam. The only challenge then is to learn how to keep that excitement.

As for today we got up a bit before five to get the four new missionaries to the Bus Station. Then we resolved a few office things and spent sometime downtown at an artists market which was cool. But it was a busy week and I am tired but I loved it. I cannot believe where all my time has went, it is going by so quickly. But I love you and miss you all!

Another Good Week

Well I had another good week. Into the weekend things went well, nothing to serious went on it was pretty clam. On Friday the staff had interviews with the President as usual which went well. We had a great interview and we decided to as an office staff do a reading of the Book of Mormon. From now till the year´s end we are going to read Mosiah and Alma. We are in the office four days a week so that will be four days a week about ten pages per day. I am escited to do the reading, I love those two books, they are full of missionary experiences.
On Sunday we had a great sacrament meeting and Sunday school and Primary. President Beynon, Sister Beynon, and my companion Elder Silva spoke on sunday. I enjoyed President Beynon´s talk on the Book of Mormon. He had a whole bunch of books that he showed that all teach worthy and needful things, but none of them even come close to what we can find in the few pages of the Book of Mormon. Then following Sacrament meeting we along with the President gave a training to the ward. We did a few practices with the members of how we can invite our friends and neighbors to a family night or to receive the missionaries. Then as I said we had a great Primary. Why did we go to Primary? That is where I got my turn to talk, this months theme is service. So I spoke on service focusing on the service of missionary work and how we can invite our friends to come to church to be happy just as we are. It all went well. Then on Sunday night there was a fireside at the church for all of Maceio, specifically the young single adults but everyone was invited. It was a fireside with Elder Araujo of the seventy. I enjoyed it alot, obviously talking to YSAs he spoke a lot about marriage but he talked about a lot of other things that I enjoyed.
We had a cool experience before the fireside, one of my recent converts was sick and we visited her before the fireside. We decided to give her a blessing so she could get a better and also go to the fireside previously mentioned. After giving hte belssing she said it seems as though the consecrated oil that we annointed her with jst went from her head slowly down to her feet during the blessing curing her along the way. Isabella has such a stong faith. She is most definatley a fighter. Preachmy Gospel teaches that we cannot teach somone beyong our own testimony but I tell you what I wish I had the faith that she has. She is an example to me of how we can truly put the Lord first and put our trust in him.
As for this week it has also been coming along well. Sadly things have not been going wll with some of the missionaries in the mission though. As a part of my work here in the office I work along with Sister Beynon to take care of health in the mission. Elder Azevedo, a new missionary in the mission, had a accident on Sunday morning. While in the bathroom he fell and hit his head and also cut hiself when falling under the chin badly. The part that makes it bad is that he has suffered a bit of Amnesia which is difficult. He is remembering things roughly but we pray for his recovery. It is tuff to see something like this happen all of the sudden. It makes me really realize how fragile our bodies are. It seems as though he will be sent home to recover with his family and we hope upon his recovery he can come back into the mission.

As for today we had a pretty fun P-day! We went and played some paintball which was fun so I am pretty tired. In the end those who still had balls lefts decided to play without guards/shields. I did well and only got hit once but it was a good hit. I wasnt as unlucky as the other when it got down to just him and I. I got him about four times in the chest side and back. As you can see here are a few pictures from today. It was lots of fun and then after that we went home got cleaned up then went to the Chruch to play a little. On the second floor is the Institute, they have ping pong, fusball, air hockey, pool, karaoke, chess and whole buch more.
But ot was a pretty goos week. We are excited for this weekend and the finish of yet another transfer. I love you and miss you all.

My Week

Well this has actually been a pretty calm week, nothing to crazy going on. I actually had to think about what I would tell you about this week. Near the end of last week we were excited for Sunday and those we were teaching. They didnt make it to church the week previous but they were excited to go this last Sunday. Sadly they didnt go this week either and they had absolutely no excuse to go. So I know we are going to have to leave them trusting the Lord has prepared others to receive our message.
It´s not all said though, we are working ro reactivate two families and everything is going great with them. Edison, Denise, Milena and Edlane went to church and they are doing great. Edlane is excited for her baptism and birthday on the fourteenth.
Along with their family we have started working with the family of Luciano. He approached us and said I have a problem and I think you can help me. He said my son should have been baptized a long time ago but we haven´t exactly been the most active, but we need to change. They also went to church this last Suday, and last night we had a successful family night. There son is Vinicios, he also has his baptism marked on the fourteenth. Things have been going well with the reactivation of these two familes.
Not to much else is going on in other news. The mission has been doing well as a whole. I have been working these days on a few things for our Christmas and in the process I created a mission logo. These days as I said have been pretty calm here in the office. President Beynon returned from Campinas (near São Paulo) and then went straight into the interviews with the missionaries so he hasnt been in the office much.
But I am doing great I am loving my mission and all the great experiences I am having. This work is truly important and I know that I am being richley blessed. I love you and miss you all.