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
Monday, September 15, 2008
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
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Nathan's email ffrom August 19
Subject: If Mike Phelps was his own country he'd take 4th place in the world...
So the Olympics down here are pretty big, like every store has the games on and every house as well. Its fun, but everyone still talking about that fishman from America lol, yeah Micheal Phelps!
Another week come and gone. Saturday we had a baptism of an 18 year old kid, he's a pretty cool dude ya know, the problem was is he's pretty big too and we were late getting to the chapel to fill up the font, so let's just leave it at 2 wet missionaries running from room to room with buckets in their hands, laughing all the way. It was quite entertaining, and in the end there was enough water in the font to save a soul.
Well this week should be interesting we plan on marrying a couple, that's always cool, and finally starting our English class, that's always stressful. No, but it should be fun and such, people here love English. I can't think of many stories for the day. Yesterday we met this 84 year old guy who's been a lifelong member of the Congregation of God church, he feels like there should be more to life and he saw us, don't think that's a coincidence. Well we taught him, he liked it, his life didn't and he's coming to church with us this Sunday :D I find this extra sweet because 99 percent of active religious people are 99 percent impossible to reason with, so you do the math and leave the rest for the Lord!
Oh, by the way everyone from the ward thank you so much for your little letters and such, I received them last Wednesday and I loved them and cherished every one! Sounds like mom gave the best lesson in the world about missionary work or something, go mom!
Anywho thanks to everyone and their love and support for us missionarios, é sempre bom de saber o amor e supporta das pessoas lá na outro lado do mundo, muito obrigado pelos testemunhos vocés tem e compartilhar para fortelecer um e outro, especialmente nos missionarios. então até mais meus amados Irmãos!
Elder Nate Spencer
So the Olympics down here are pretty big, like every store has the games on and every house as well. Its fun, but everyone still talking about that fishman from America lol, yeah Micheal Phelps!
Another week come and gone. Saturday we had a baptism of an 18 year old kid, he's a pretty cool dude ya know, the problem was is he's pretty big too and we were late getting to the chapel to fill up the font, so let's just leave it at 2 wet missionaries running from room to room with buckets in their hands, laughing all the way. It was quite entertaining, and in the end there was enough water in the font to save a soul.
Well this week should be interesting we plan on marrying a couple, that's always cool, and finally starting our English class, that's always stressful. No, but it should be fun and such, people here love English. I can't think of many stories for the day. Yesterday we met this 84 year old guy who's been a lifelong member of the Congregation of God church, he feels like there should be more to life and he saw us, don't think that's a coincidence. Well we taught him, he liked it, his life didn't and he's coming to church with us this Sunday :D I find this extra sweet because 99 percent of active religious people are 99 percent impossible to reason with, so you do the math and leave the rest for the Lord!
Oh, by the way everyone from the ward thank you so much for your little letters and such, I received them last Wednesday and I loved them and cherished every one! Sounds like mom gave the best lesson in the world about missionary work or something, go mom!
Anywho thanks to everyone and their love and support for us missionarios, é sempre bom de saber o amor e supporta das pessoas lá na outro lado do mundo, muito obrigado pelos testemunhos vocés tem e compartilhar para fortelecer um e outro, especialmente nos missionarios. então até mais meus amados Irmãos!
Elder Nate Spencer
Brian's email from August 18
Subject: Spaghetti is messy
Yes... I spilled a whole plate of spaghetti on my lap at a dinner appointment and yes go ahead and laugh, all the other missionaries did! lol good times!
Well I now have a new companion, his name is Elder Chavez from San Diego California. He goes home on Saturday so I am just his companion for a week. My new companion will be here on Sept 3rd. Chavez is a stud though, he works so hard. We were tracting last night until after 8 o'clock! and we were able to find and teach LOTS of people. Life has been kinda tough as far as some of our investigators :S I think we might be losing one of our best investigators, Molley. She was doing amazing and reading the Book of Mormon, she is almost all the way through Alma and she has come to church several times, but she just asked us to stop coming :( I don't even know why, we have one last appointment on Wednesday with her. I think she may have talked with her pastor... But I don't know.
We still are working with many hopefuls and it's only a matter of time before baptisms come. We are working a lot more with members lately and that always helps. well that's about it for the week. Until next week! love you all
Elder Brian Spencer
Yes... I spilled a whole plate of spaghetti on my lap at a dinner appointment and yes go ahead and laugh, all the other missionaries did! lol good times!
Well I now have a new companion, his name is Elder Chavez from San Diego California. He goes home on Saturday so I am just his companion for a week. My new companion will be here on Sept 3rd. Chavez is a stud though, he works so hard. We were tracting last night until after 8 o'clock! and we were able to find and teach LOTS of people. Life has been kinda tough as far as some of our investigators :S I think we might be losing one of our best investigators, Molley. She was doing amazing and reading the Book of Mormon, she is almost all the way through Alma and she has come to church several times, but she just asked us to stop coming :( I don't even know why, we have one last appointment on Wednesday with her. I think she may have talked with her pastor... But I don't know.
We still are working with many hopefuls and it's only a matter of time before baptisms come. We are working a lot more with members lately and that always helps. well that's about it for the week. Until next week! love you all
Elder Brian Spencer
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Nathan's email from August 5
Caramba! what a week! Well actually I'll start with Sunday cause that was the best! It was fast and testimony meeting and one of the most spiritual sacrament meetings of my life, actually I think it was the most spiritual.
So those youth I'm always talking about... they all bore their testimonies, but they didn't just get up and say I know the church is true, they gave heart felt testimonies with their conversion stories, I was close to tears. and better yet Erick and Raphael, two awesome brothers, finally convinced their parents to take a few minutes off work to come. They came and heard their kids bear testimony and also saw them administering the sacrament! Caramba if that's not a powerful message for a parent I don't know what is!
But alas, Sunday night we found out about transfers and the elder AssiSpencer duo was broken, I'm now in a new city, Piratininha, very close to my other area but I'm opening this area and that means for all of you who are unfamiliar, that I'm completely lost :D Isn't that fun! No but I'm excited cause I've heard tons of good stuff about this ward and the last missionaries left it in good condition.
I'm now with elder Santana, he's a pretty cool kid. I don't know much about him yet so I'll fill you in on those details next time, but he seems kinda excited about missionary work so I'm sure we'll get along just great :D haha
Well someone just said something and I wasn't listening, so my comp tried to speak English to explain, cause he thought I just didn't understand, thus confirming he can say five and minute with a wonderful accent. haha perfect :D Oh I was at my new house a little while back and its awesome, much more roomy than the last house and there's only the two of us. the washing machine looks like it works so that'll save on a lot of work, hurray!
Anywho I'll have more to say next week about my new area cause as of yet I don't know anything, but tune in next time to hear all about it. lol
Thank you all for your love and support!
Elder Nate Spencer
So those youth I'm always talking about... they all bore their testimonies, but they didn't just get up and say I know the church is true, they gave heart felt testimonies with their conversion stories, I was close to tears. and better yet Erick and Raphael, two awesome brothers, finally convinced their parents to take a few minutes off work to come. They came and heard their kids bear testimony and also saw them administering the sacrament! Caramba if that's not a powerful message for a parent I don't know what is!
But alas, Sunday night we found out about transfers and the elder AssiSpencer duo was broken, I'm now in a new city, Piratininha, very close to my other area but I'm opening this area and that means for all of you who are unfamiliar, that I'm completely lost :D Isn't that fun! No but I'm excited cause I've heard tons of good stuff about this ward and the last missionaries left it in good condition.
I'm now with elder Santana, he's a pretty cool kid. I don't know much about him yet so I'll fill you in on those details next time, but he seems kinda excited about missionary work so I'm sure we'll get along just great :D haha
Well someone just said something and I wasn't listening, so my comp tried to speak English to explain, cause he thought I just didn't understand, thus confirming he can say five and minute with a wonderful accent. haha perfect :D Oh I was at my new house a little while back and its awesome, much more roomy than the last house and there's only the two of us. the washing machine looks like it works so that'll save on a lot of work, hurray!
Anywho I'll have more to say next week about my new area cause as of yet I don't know anything, but tune in next time to hear all about it. lol
Thank you all for your love and support!
Elder Nate Spencer
Brian's email from August 4
This week has been the best one for a long while! Nothing incredible happened, just lots of good stuff and just a good week. We found several solid investigators this week, and guess how we found them! Tracting! Ya it was pretty cool. One guy we found is an old crazy man, but one of the good kinds :) He is really smart and knows his Bible but he isn't against new revelation and others views, so he listens to us very well and is willing to accept whatever truth God will reveal to him. The reason why I say he is a crazy old man is cause of the way he looks and talks. haha He is bald except some white hair jetting out the sides of his head, (like a mad scientist) and when he talks, he is very loud and enthusiastic! but I like him.
We also found another man, and the first thing he said to us was he wasn't Christian, but he was willing to listen nonetheless. Well it turns out he is very familiar with the Bible but because of the inconsistencies in the Bible and in Christianity he has given up hope. Well, it just so happens that our message answered many of his questions and I'm confident that it will continue to make sense to him. Especially if we can get him to pray about it and read the Book of Mormon. I always love finding potential priesthood holders who can help lead in the church.
Then we found another two ladies who are sisters, and the one sister, Neli, started crying because she was just about to give up hope in Christ and she asked us to come back and to help her find her faith again. She seems very promising and I'm looking forward to working with her.
So those are just three of the people we found this week. It's times like those that really give you the boost to keep working :D Tender Mercies, just keep your eyes open and its impossible not to see them.
Thats a wrap I suppose!
Love Elder Brian Spencer
We also found another man, and the first thing he said to us was he wasn't Christian, but he was willing to listen nonetheless. Well it turns out he is very familiar with the Bible but because of the inconsistencies in the Bible and in Christianity he has given up hope. Well, it just so happens that our message answered many of his questions and I'm confident that it will continue to make sense to him. Especially if we can get him to pray about it and read the Book of Mormon. I always love finding potential priesthood holders who can help lead in the church.
Then we found another two ladies who are sisters, and the one sister, Neli, started crying because she was just about to give up hope in Christ and she asked us to come back and to help her find her faith again. She seems very promising and I'm looking forward to working with her.
So those are just three of the people we found this week. It's times like those that really give you the boost to keep working :D Tender Mercies, just keep your eyes open and its impossible not to see them.
Thats a wrap I suppose!
Love Elder Brian Spencer
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