Jardim Ipê Week 4

So this week was pretty good. We had a zone conference and that was really good. The trainings were really good by all the people, especially President, but that is because he is president. I really learned a lot there, and I have been trying to apply everything that I learned in my work. 

I got a package from my mom with pens, peanut butter, drink mixes, maple flavoring, some of my sweats, and some pictures. There was a drink mix flavored root beer that my companion, Elder Sousa, really didn´t like. It was pretty funny. I got the Zebra pens to, and I really like then. Thank you Elder Davis for the idea. 

I had a division this week with Elder Sodré. It was really good. We knocked 3 doors, and entered 2. One of them were ``elects`` as we missionaries say here. It was really good, and I learned a lot. I am really excited to continue working hard in my area. Divisions are really a blessing because you get to learn with a different person for one day, and you get to get excited for the rest of the week.

The rest of the week was normal, but yesterday we had a really good experience with finding new people to teach. We had a goal to find 10 new people to teach this week, and after Saturday we had only 5. It didn´t help that we were planning to do weekly planning on Sunday because of the division that we finished on Friday. Anyway we had about three hours to work, and we had appointments as well. All the appointments fell through, and so we went to a different house that we had contacted one time before, and we entered. We taught a good lesson and we got two ``novos.`` We tried to teach some other investigators that we have, but couldn´t get anything. So we were walking back to the house to plan for the week when I saw a woman cleaning her front yard. We knocked there and taught a good lesson, and we got 3 ``novos.`` The parents and one 9-year old, and with that I know that Heavenly Father helped us find those people that we wanted to find. I know that if we have faith Heavenly Father will help us act, and that he will help us achieve our righteous goals.

The only bad thing that happened this week was that I lost my other name tag. right now I am using one of Elder Salazar´s name tags with my name taped on. I know that everything happens for a reason, and hopefully someone will find that name tag and eventually be baptised. 

I love you all, and I am very thankful for your support

-- Élder Pettingill

So there are pics of us waiting for the bus at 6 in the morning to go to the temple. There is a pic of the temple and me with the temple. There is one of all of the missionaries in my house in front of the temple with scarfs on (all but the on on Elder Sousa are mine that I lent to them) There is a couple of the two times that we had Lauches (basically fast food) at a house of a member when we got money for lunch. It was really good. There are some of the pastels that we made in the house of a recent convert. Also of the cookies that we made it the house of a member (they are really similar to sugar cookies). There is the missionaries that Elder Salazar made (the bigger one - Based on Elder Herlin) and the one that Elder Sousa made (the smaller one - based on Elder Salazar) Also of the Pizza we had for my six month anniversary on the mission. My division with Elder Sodré. The second time that I made pancakes (only for me and Elder Sousa). And the last one is my name tag right now​

Jardim Ipê Week 3

So today is officially 6 Months on the mission! I am 1/4 of the way through my mission! I can´t believe this, it is too strange to think about. Also it doesn´t seem like I have been here very long.

Anyway this week has been good. I have been learning a lot more about making contacts, and teaching lessons better. It is starting to feel like Elder Sousa is my third trainer. Anyway we met a family this week that is really good, and that I think will be baptised. We have been working this week to find new people to teach, and we have had some success, but we are going to do more things to really focus on finding more people to teach. 

;"> We met a family this week that just moved into our ward. They have a launchonette which is basically a fast food restaurante so we went there for almoço when we got money. They made us a huge lauche that was really good. I will send a pic of it next week, but it was really good, and suprisingly only Elder Salazar didn´t finish it completly. I had been fasting before it so I think that is why I could finish it

We had another division this week that was really cool. I got to really take the lead in my area. We found some good people, and taught some good lessons. Church on Sunday was really good, and I was asked to bare a 5 minute testimony, and that was really cool. I am really renewed each week on Sunday, and I am so glad for the opportunities to learn, and to teach people every week here is Brazil. I learning so much, about being a better person, and about representing Christ in the best way that I can. I am so grateful for all your support, and I am glad to be here in Brazil, speaking português, and helping people come unto Christ. 

Até mais (See you),

-- Élder Pettingill

Jardim Ipê Week 2

So this week went by really fast. Also this transfer has been going by really fast as well, but it has been really good. We had a baptism this Saturday, Daniela. She is part of a family that Elder Sousa is really close to. It was good, but because of some confusion there weren´t a lot of people there. Sunday was good as well, and I had two divisions this week. One with Elder Gutierrez, a Mexican from my group that still has a thick accent, and was trained in my area; and one with Elder Salazar who is in the 4 missionaries in our house so it was less exciting. I learned a lot more about faith, and about when you really have faith then you can do anything. There is a verse in the Book of Mormon that talks about that, but I forgot where it is. Also I learned about what I can do to be a better missionary.

Also this week we went to the temple, and I think it was the best experience that I have had yet in the temple. It was absolutly amazing. 

First to respond to your questions mom, we had to wake up a 4:30am to get there early for the 9am session. It didn´t help that it was 2 degrees C this morning. We only did 1 endowment. We went there and after ate lunch then went to the bookstore to buy things that we needed. It was in Portuguese because everyone speaks (or should learn to speak) Portuguese. Although if you wanted you could use headphones for the translation. Also I saw sister Miller from my district in the ctm at the temple. So Elder Sousa likes to joke a lot, but we have already had some really good moments so I like him a lot. I haven´t been cooking that much because I haven´t had time, but I will soon.

When I went in the temple before the session I felt really good, and I just focused on the feeling I was feeling, and I felt amazing.So This past week I have been a little discouraged because everyone in my house has a lot more time on the mission, and so I have been thinking more about the fact that I still have a lot of time left on the mission, and so I have been a little discouraged. So after the session in the temple I was just thinking, and praying, and I just felt Heavenly Father´s love for me. There was a Book of Mormon next to me, and I felt like I should read a bit. So I flipped to Alma 39 and started reading at vs 13. It was exactly what I needed to feel. I felt so much better about the mission, and about life. I am excited to really strive to be a better servant of the Lord, and really help his children come unto him. I love the Lord, and all the he has done for me, and the opportunity that I have to raise my voice and proclaim the gospel of Christ. 

Thank you all for your support.

-- Élder Pettingill

​So there are pics here of our district meeting, also of the temple and all the the elders in my house using scarfs (because it was cold, and 3 are mine) Also there is of the baptism this week, and of a member's house that was really cool.

Jardin Ipê Week 1

So this week has been exhausting. I don´t know exactly why. My companion Elder Sousa is the district leader here, and Elder Herlin and Elder Salazar (he is from Ecuador) are the zone leaders. Elder Salazar (apparently ``Z`` is a th sound in Spanish) only has two transfers left so this will be his last area. My area is called Jardin Ipe. It is said like jarjin Eepê--i is an ee sound.

My area here is big, not as big as my other one, but still big. Elder Sousa is really animated, and he likes to joke. It was a problem this week because sometimes I can´t tell if he is joking, because he keeps going with the joke for about 15 min, but we talked and all is well. We have some good investigators,and some good recent converts in the area. We will have a baptism on the 15, and another on the 29 so far, but we hope to mark some more. It feels like we are opening an area because Elder Sousa was the only one that was here before the transfers and didn´t work a lot in our area, so we don´t have a lot of investigators. We will really have to focus on finding new investigators this week so that we always have a lot to do every night, but everything is good here. 

Elder Herlin is from Colorado, but he doesn´t speak English with me, which is good. I like not speaking English, it gets me better at speaking Portuguese. Also I am having problems now with knowing the meanings of some words in Portuguese

So Elder Sousa is my brother because we were trained by the same person, and Elder Salazar is my Grandfather, because he trained my trainer. So basically we are a family here. Also today I cut their hair. Elder Salazar was with scissors.

The house we are living in right now is really small, especially for 4 missionaries. It has 4 rooms, and two are bedrooms, one is the entrance room where we keep all our clothes, and the other is a kitchen. We do have a part behind the house, but it is small as well. We are hoping to move houses this transfer. 

Also I lost one of my nametags so I will be asking for a new one. It happened when we were walking. 

The ward here is really good, and the members are really helpful with the work. The Ward Mission leader is a very animated person. Most of the members here live in Jardim Ipê A which is the area of Elder Salazar and Elder Herlin, but we still have good people here to teach, and some good members.

We do have one investigator that lives in the mission Curitiba, but we are allowed to visit her because it is really long for the missionaries there to go there, and they don´t have anyone else to teach there, so I get to go outside my mission every once in a while

I am doing well here, and the people here are great. I am so glad to be a missionary here in Brazil where I can help people come unto Christ.

Next week we are going to the temple on the 18th, so I will have my pday on Tuesday not Monday.  

I love you all, and hope that you are doing well. 

-- Élder Pettingill

P.S. These are pics from this week and last week. One there is the pic from the 4th of July Pizza we had.

Week 17 - Transfers

So this week, wasn´t very exciting in terms of investigators, and novos, but it was transfers so that was cool.

So for transfers, I was transferred to a different area in Curitiba called Jardim pê B, and from what I have heard about it, it is a good area. It was split this transfer into area A and B, but it was only combined for the last transfer. I am with Elder Sousa, who is on his seventh transfer, and was trained by my trainer, so we are ``brothers.``

We are in the same house as the zone leaders, who are one American, that has about a year, and has lost his american accent; and a different elder from a spanish speaking country I can´t remember which. He has two transfers left on his mission. 

Well before I left Ferraria, we worked a lot on finding some less actives from a list that the ward mission leader gave us with five names from all the different parts of the ward. So we spent a lot of time on finding them, and working with our investigators. So we didn´t get a lot of new investigators. We did find some, but at the same time we spent a lot of time searching for names that we didn´t find. We did get a couple of less actives to come to church along with one of the recent converts that hadn't been coming.

I did learn that I need to really focus on talking with people and making contacts fast, as well as really conversing with people. This is one of the harder parts of the work for me. Also I have really realized that I need to have more faith, and more courage. Courage to talk to people, and to talk to my companion. I am working on it, as well as trying to help out others with their problems.

This Sunday was really good. I really enjoyed the opportunity to fast, and to really help out my investigators. I was able to focus on learning, and I was able to understand things better. Also, I was able to see some ways that I can teach better, and help people a little bit more. 

I am really getting a testimony of all the different scriptures that we use, and share with people. I get to see all the different ways that the scriptures can be applied in our lives. I love being here, and being able to feel the spirit so strong every single day. I am so grateful for everything that I have, and everything that I am given, and I know that I am where I am for a reason, I just have to find it in every area, and with every companion.

-- Élder Pettingill

A few questions I asked him:

Does your new companion speak English?  No he doesn´t, I am only speaking Português. I was hoping for someone that doesn´t speak English so that I could really focus on leaning português more. I am having trouble with knowing the names of a lot things. This makes things hard when I want to make an analogy. 

When you said in your email that you need courage to talk to your companion, what do you mean?  When there is something that I want to do to be obedient, and my companion does something else, like when he didn´t include me in the planing one day. I didn´t have to courage to say, hey I we need to work together, or something like that.

What other thoughts do you have about we can share the Gospel as a family? What we sometimes do in our lunches with members  is we invite them to share a small pass along card with someone. There is always something that we can do no matter how small it is. It is a commandment to share the gospel, and the thing about a commandment that I learned here, is that it means that EVERYONE can do it. It can be difficult for some, and some people can do more than others, but everyone can fulfill all the commandments that we have.