Subject: The good the bad and the birthday
I've only got 4 minutes to write this letter!!! So my birthday was great, no one worry lol, lots of cake and good times. As far as this last week, it's been awesome and awful as well. Saturday afternoon we had a baptism of this wonderful little lady who is the proud owner of 5 children under the age of 9 and and her husband is soon to follow!! Bad news on top of bad news is that night my comp received a phone call about a good friend having passed away, and Sunday afternoon received another phone call about the father of a missionary that passed away. The elder went home for the funeral but he's back already and sitting next to me, his comp Elder Mitch Hope (lives in Cedar Hills next to me) aha stayed with us, ahhh no time will finish next time! Love
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Brian's email on September 29
Subject: Best day EVER!!!!
OK... so maybe it wasnt the BEST day ever, but yesterday was up there on the good days list. So recently we have been struggling to get people to make and keep commitments, mostly coming to church. Everyone always seems to find an excuse on why not to come. Well, this past week we have been encouraging all of our investigators to come to church, Most of which have never been to the church, The Lord must have been busy yesterday morning because by some miracle he woke everyone up and got them to church. We had 10 of our investigators come! last week we had 2! It was so incredible, because when people come to church they get hooked. And from now on it will be easier for them to come. So this next week, elder Munyariri and I are going to start putting people on Baptismal Date so they can receive the blessing that the restored gospel has to offer! What a great work we are a part of! I love life :D Oh and the day kept getting better even after church, we got fed by a really nice lady who found out about my birthday and made a really really really good chocolate cake, and then we went and taught one of my favorite investigators who came to church and it went very well because while she was at church I found out that she knows a member there and so we took her with us to go teach her. And then we finished the day with two other incredible lessons about the Book of Mormon. So... its days like that that mission so "flippen" cool! :D
Love Elder Brian Spencer
OK... so maybe it wasnt the BEST day ever, but yesterday was up there on the good days list. So recently we have been struggling to get people to make and keep commitments, mostly coming to church. Everyone always seems to find an excuse on why not to come. Well, this past week we have been encouraging all of our investigators to come to church, Most of which have never been to the church, The Lord must have been busy yesterday morning because by some miracle he woke everyone up and got them to church. We had 10 of our investigators come! last week we had 2! It was so incredible, because when people come to church they get hooked. And from now on it will be easier for them to come. So this next week, elder Munyariri and I are going to start putting people on Baptismal Date so they can receive the blessing that the restored gospel has to offer! What a great work we are a part of! I love life :D Oh and the day kept getting better even after church, we got fed by a really nice lady who found out about my birthday and made a really really really good chocolate cake, and then we went and taught one of my favorite investigators who came to church and it went very well because while she was at church I found out that she knows a member there and so we took her with us to go teach her. And then we finished the day with two other incredible lessons about the Book of Mormon. So... its days like that that mission so "flippen" cool! :D
Love Elder Brian Spencer
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Nathan's email from September 15
Subject: com assunto de sua cabeça...
Another week come and gone, transfers were today and I find myself in the same bed as the night before, and elder Santana as well (in his own bed mind you). We're stickin firm in Vila Imperio. This transfer we know where we are and we're going to get things moving here. Last Saturday was pretty cool, we had an activity with the youth in our ward. So all last week I'd been praying and praying that this activity will go well and all our youth will come to it. Well, Saturday morning comes around and someone from our district calls up and needs to make a division with us to have interviews (division is a trade of companions for a short period of time) so I was worried from the getgo cause our activity is at 4 and we needed to set everything up at like 3. So 9:30 we started our division and we left for lunch early so we could have extra time after. The plan being to end the division at 2:00 at an area 20 minutes outside of ours. Well, we arrive at lunch and mom says here help me feed the kids, awesome I love helping lol, after a little mess we had success there... but time is ticking. Well due to some technical difficulties in the kitchen we didn't leave her house until 2:30 and I'm smiling and saying thank you for lunch haha. Anywho her house was a good hour from the place we needed to end our transfer so she said just take the bus in front for Santo Amaro, it'll pass right pass where you want to go... Famous last words lol. So 3 o'clock we squeeze our way off the bus (it was so crowded we couldnt move in a literal sense...). But the bus sent us almost to a different mission! Holy smokes, so luckily the elder with me recognised the area and in a half hour we made it to the place we were looking for and ended our division so that we could run and make it to the church for this activity which was supposed to start at 4. Well, during this time I was thinking "Heavenly Father whatever happened to all those pleas for a good activity?!?!" Well truly he tries our patience and our faith, but in the end he pulls through (Mosiah 20 or something, really good scripture try to find it). So all the youth showed up late too, giving us time to set up the activity and all three of the leaders I asked help with showed up too!!! And in the end we had like 16 youth there and everything worked out wonderfully, phew!
Anywho it's already September, actually it's already halfway through September holy smokes, my birthday is in 2 weeks! Congrats Brian, happy birthday in two week! Oh my first birthday away from my twin... Maybe i'll write in my journal about it or something lol. Oh and Jordan happy birthday too, 12 years old and into the Beehives... caramba!
Well thank you all for your love and support, hope your all having lots of fun and success and making lots of memories. The church is true and the Lord looks after his own.
Elder Nate Spencer
Another week come and gone, transfers were today and I find myself in the same bed as the night before, and elder Santana as well (in his own bed mind you). We're stickin firm in Vila Imperio. This transfer we know where we are and we're going to get things moving here. Last Saturday was pretty cool, we had an activity with the youth in our ward. So all last week I'd been praying and praying that this activity will go well and all our youth will come to it. Well, Saturday morning comes around and someone from our district calls up and needs to make a division with us to have interviews (division is a trade of companions for a short period of time) so I was worried from the getgo cause our activity is at 4 and we needed to set everything up at like 3. So 9:30 we started our division and we left for lunch early so we could have extra time after. The plan being to end the division at 2:00 at an area 20 minutes outside of ours. Well, we arrive at lunch and mom says here help me feed the kids, awesome I love helping lol, after a little mess we had success there... but time is ticking. Well due to some technical difficulties in the kitchen we didn't leave her house until 2:30 and I'm smiling and saying thank you for lunch haha. Anywho her house was a good hour from the place we needed to end our transfer so she said just take the bus in front for Santo Amaro, it'll pass right pass where you want to go... Famous last words lol. So 3 o'clock we squeeze our way off the bus (it was so crowded we couldnt move in a literal sense...). But the bus sent us almost to a different mission! Holy smokes, so luckily the elder with me recognised the area and in a half hour we made it to the place we were looking for and ended our division so that we could run and make it to the church for this activity which was supposed to start at 4. Well, during this time I was thinking "Heavenly Father whatever happened to all those pleas for a good activity?!?!" Well truly he tries our patience and our faith, but in the end he pulls through (Mosiah 20 or something, really good scripture try to find it). So all the youth showed up late too, giving us time to set up the activity and all three of the leaders I asked help with showed up too!!! And in the end we had like 16 youth there and everything worked out wonderfully, phew!
Anywho it's already September, actually it's already halfway through September holy smokes, my birthday is in 2 weeks! Congrats Brian, happy birthday in two week! Oh my first birthday away from my twin... Maybe i'll write in my journal about it or something lol. Oh and Jordan happy birthday too, 12 years old and into the Beehives... caramba!
Well thank you all for your love and support, hope your all having lots of fun and success and making lots of memories. The church is true and the Lord looks after his own.
Elder Nate Spencer
Monday, September 15, 2008
Brian's email from September 15
Subject: sca sinya nako!
The sun is out and I wasn't prepared.... so you geussed it, I look like a nice ripe tomato :s lol most people laugh at me because they think its funny to get a sun burn. But they've never felt the wrath of the sun! Black People! lol
well onto more serious matters. Thabiso is set for baptism, he is getting interviewed next saturday. The Zimbabwean family came to church again and brought another member with them this time. So that is promising. We spent some time visiting some less actives last week and got several to commit to come back to church... and yesterday none of them showed up! ha! that explains why they are less active :) Well i lied, one lady did come so I guess it was worth it.
So as missionaries we play soccer on our P-days and we challange other Zones to play and the soweto zone (my zone) beat both the near by zones... ya so that wasnt as exciting as i thought it would be, but we did get cool jerseys for ourselves.
Alright so now for an interesting/spiritual experience: So yesterday at church I got a phone call from some guy who saw our name and number on a pamphlet that we hand out to people. he really wanted to learn about this "Book of Mormon" thing. So we got his details and went and visited him later that day. I was really excited because not many people take the initiative to actually call us when they are interested. Well, it turns out the guy is crazy... he has schitsophrenia (im sure i spelled that wrong) but i guess he loves books. So we went to his home and taught him about it, and his family. Well, the Lord works in mysterious ways, cause his sister was there and was very interested in our message. Ill have to keep you updated on her progress. yup, other than that... lots of Tracting :D good times, the church is true, the book of mormon is blue and I am through :D
Love,
Elder Brian Spencer
The sun is out and I wasn't prepared.... so you geussed it, I look like a nice ripe tomato :s lol most people laugh at me because they think its funny to get a sun burn. But they've never felt the wrath of the sun! Black People! lol
well onto more serious matters. Thabiso is set for baptism, he is getting interviewed next saturday. The Zimbabwean family came to church again and brought another member with them this time. So that is promising. We spent some time visiting some less actives last week and got several to commit to come back to church... and yesterday none of them showed up! ha! that explains why they are less active :) Well i lied, one lady did come so I guess it was worth it.
So as missionaries we play soccer on our P-days and we challange other Zones to play and the soweto zone (my zone) beat both the near by zones... ya so that wasnt as exciting as i thought it would be, but we did get cool jerseys for ourselves.
Alright so now for an interesting/spiritual experience: So yesterday at church I got a phone call from some guy who saw our name and number on a pamphlet that we hand out to people. he really wanted to learn about this "Book of Mormon" thing. So we got his details and went and visited him later that day. I was really excited because not many people take the initiative to actually call us when they are interested. Well, it turns out the guy is crazy... he has schitsophrenia (im sure i spelled that wrong) but i guess he loves books. So we went to his home and taught him about it, and his family. Well, the Lord works in mysterious ways, cause his sister was there and was very interested in our message. Ill have to keep you updated on her progress. yup, other than that... lots of Tracting :D good times, the church is true, the book of mormon is blue and I am through :D
Love,
Elder Brian Spencer
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Nathan's email from Sept. 9
Subj: Marriage!!!...almost :D
Well its already been over a month since I arrived in Piratininga now and its flying here holy Toledo. Elder Santana and I have been working hard to create a new group of people to teach. See y'all need to understand that countries are different, well cultures are. For example the soldiers (missionaries) in the US are fighting to find an investigator to teach, whereas in Brazil we need to get rid of our investigators in order to find new ones. See, here people are very open and love to talk, especially lonely people. But that doesn't always mean they will follow and be baptised, it just means that they'll let you teach them until you get sick of them not following through lol. But with higher turnover rate we also have many results as well :D, Sandra and Valfreido, a cute little family weve been teaching are marked for marriage. In Brazil you have to go to the marriage place, mark a future date, then go back on that future date and you're married. Well they made the step, yay, and so on October 23 there will be one more beautifully married couple in Brazil (that means we can baptise them, YAHOO!!). But the story for this marking of the marriage is actually quite entertaining so I will tell.
So we talked to Valfreido and Sandra and agreed to meet them at the cartorio (marriage place) at 3 o'clock on Friday. They both said they knew were it was and they both had work so it would be easier to meet them there. Well, little to our knowledge the cartorio moved locations to another area, so two lost elders show up, luckily, (for missionaries luck is divine intervention) we had with us a sister in our ward who knew where the other cartorio was. Well in 30 minutes we show up to find Sandra with her 2 year old waiting for us. Perfect we've got half the couple at the cartorio, now just waiting for husband... 10 minutes...30...45...60...83 minutes and 47 seconds later, with 10 minutes to spare until the cartorio closes, screeching around the corner rolls a taxi with husband's head out the window :D Oh, I forgot to say that the whole while wife is saying "this is his last chance, if he bails on me at the cartorio its over :s " So he arrives with some excuse that doesn't even matter because now they are going to be married haha!
Now lets see our other family that have stopped using drugs and drinking and smoking and yelling at their kids, with the exception of a little yelling (the kids are really bad) they are still a 100%. It's so wonderful to see the power of the gospel in effect with this family. Truly the Light of Christ is returning to the eyes of this humble and loving couple. We're still searching for work for the husband so that he can come to church on Sunday and eventually be baptised, but the fire has started and the Lord's refining fire will make a pure and delightsome family out of what used to be torn and shattered lives. I love the Lord and his loving gospel which blesses all who heeds its councels, both temporally and spiritually. I know my Savior lives and loves me too, He shows his love in such remarkable ways to every people; if we just search with an open heart we will find that love. Thank you all for your love and support, your prayers in behalf of the missionaries are being felt and appreciated!
Elder Nate Spencer
Well its already been over a month since I arrived in Piratininga now and its flying here holy Toledo. Elder Santana and I have been working hard to create a new group of people to teach. See y'all need to understand that countries are different, well cultures are. For example the soldiers (missionaries) in the US are fighting to find an investigator to teach, whereas in Brazil we need to get rid of our investigators in order to find new ones. See, here people are very open and love to talk, especially lonely people. But that doesn't always mean they will follow and be baptised, it just means that they'll let you teach them until you get sick of them not following through lol. But with higher turnover rate we also have many results as well :D, Sandra and Valfreido, a cute little family weve been teaching are marked for marriage. In Brazil you have to go to the marriage place, mark a future date, then go back on that future date and you're married. Well they made the step, yay, and so on October 23 there will be one more beautifully married couple in Brazil (that means we can baptise them, YAHOO!!). But the story for this marking of the marriage is actually quite entertaining so I will tell.
So we talked to Valfreido and Sandra and agreed to meet them at the cartorio (marriage place) at 3 o'clock on Friday. They both said they knew were it was and they both had work so it would be easier to meet them there. Well, little to our knowledge the cartorio moved locations to another area, so two lost elders show up, luckily, (for missionaries luck is divine intervention) we had with us a sister in our ward who knew where the other cartorio was. Well in 30 minutes we show up to find Sandra with her 2 year old waiting for us. Perfect we've got half the couple at the cartorio, now just waiting for husband... 10 minutes...30...45...60...83 minutes and 47 seconds later, with 10 minutes to spare until the cartorio closes, screeching around the corner rolls a taxi with husband's head out the window :D Oh, I forgot to say that the whole while wife is saying "this is his last chance, if he bails on me at the cartorio its over :s " So he arrives with some excuse that doesn't even matter because now they are going to be married haha!
Now lets see our other family that have stopped using drugs and drinking and smoking and yelling at their kids, with the exception of a little yelling (the kids are really bad) they are still a 100%. It's so wonderful to see the power of the gospel in effect with this family. Truly the Light of Christ is returning to the eyes of this humble and loving couple. We're still searching for work for the husband so that he can come to church on Sunday and eventually be baptised, but the fire has started and the Lord's refining fire will make a pure and delightsome family out of what used to be torn and shattered lives. I love the Lord and his loving gospel which blesses all who heeds its councels, both temporally and spiritually. I know my Savior lives and loves me too, He shows his love in such remarkable ways to every people; if we just search with an open heart we will find that love. Thank you all for your love and support, your prayers in behalf of the missionaries are being felt and appreciated!
Elder Nate Spencer
Brian's email from Sept. 8
Subj: None of us is as dumb as all of us!
Alright everybody, so life had taken a bit of a change. I now have a solid companion, his name is Elder Munyariri. He is from Zimbabwe and he is a stud! I don’t really feel like I'm training, because he came out prepared. He is a convert to the church, which is very powerful; he was baptized 3 years ago and sacrificed a lot to come serve a mission. He had been going on splits with missionaries back in Zim for a long time prior to coming here. It’s great to work with someone who is new and excited about the work. We are blazing some new trails and getting this area on fire.
First I'll share a cool experience, So I found a family from Zimbabwe two weeks back and I was excited because I new I was getting a companion from Zim and they were all very interested. Well, we came to find that the landlord where they stay isn’t friendly with Mormons... But we didn’t let that bother us, we found a nearby member and she opened her home to the family. This was a great blessing because she also brings this family to church as well, and her husband isn’t a member so having us in the house might lead to a chain of events. Time will tell. But now the family is on the path towards baptism and eternal life! I'll keep you updated their progress.
So dad asked about my area and the culture there and other aspects of the region. So I am in Soweto but it is a new part of Soweto on the outside parts. It is probably the most well off part of the entire township, which also means that it has be very westernized.
There is still lots of Culture of course, but only they have only kept the most important parts of their culture. Men Drinking alcohol seems to be the most prevalent piece of culture that has been maintained. But there are other things. There is still a lot of Witchcraft and other Traditional practices.
Sangomas are people who slaughter animals as sacrifices to Ancestors; we have a lot of investigators ask if they are members can they still go to the Sangomas to do cultural things. And we have to kind of kindly explain that that is the devils work. And some of it is really scary stuff.
But over all life isn’t too different. Most people can’t afford a vehicle, and they live in modest homes. The homes here almost all have electricity and indoor plumbing though, so life is pleasant. Yup that’s about its, I’m sure there’s more but I can’t think of anything.
So I hope everyone is well, Love you!
Elder Brian Spencer
Alright everybody, so life had taken a bit of a change. I now have a solid companion, his name is Elder Munyariri. He is from Zimbabwe and he is a stud! I don’t really feel like I'm training, because he came out prepared. He is a convert to the church, which is very powerful; he was baptized 3 years ago and sacrificed a lot to come serve a mission. He had been going on splits with missionaries back in Zim for a long time prior to coming here. It’s great to work with someone who is new and excited about the work. We are blazing some new trails and getting this area on fire.
First I'll share a cool experience, So I found a family from Zimbabwe two weeks back and I was excited because I new I was getting a companion from Zim and they were all very interested. Well, we came to find that the landlord where they stay isn’t friendly with Mormons... But we didn’t let that bother us, we found a nearby member and she opened her home to the family. This was a great blessing because she also brings this family to church as well, and her husband isn’t a member so having us in the house might lead to a chain of events. Time will tell. But now the family is on the path towards baptism and eternal life! I'll keep you updated their progress.
So dad asked about my area and the culture there and other aspects of the region. So I am in Soweto but it is a new part of Soweto on the outside parts. It is probably the most well off part of the entire township, which also means that it has be very westernized.
There is still lots of Culture of course, but only they have only kept the most important parts of their culture. Men Drinking alcohol seems to be the most prevalent piece of culture that has been maintained. But there are other things. There is still a lot of Witchcraft and other Traditional practices.
Sangomas are people who slaughter animals as sacrifices to Ancestors; we have a lot of investigators ask if they are members can they still go to the Sangomas to do cultural things. And we have to kind of kindly explain that that is the devils work. And some of it is really scary stuff.
But over all life isn’t too different. Most people can’t afford a vehicle, and they live in modest homes. The homes here almost all have electricity and indoor plumbing though, so life is pleasant. Yup that’s about its, I’m sure there’s more but I can’t think of anything.
So I hope everyone is well, Love you!
Elder Brian Spencer
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