Borda do Campo Week 9

So this week was good. We started the #LighttheWorld program here with the zone conference where we got the materials, and then we showed the introduction video in the church on Sunday. It is really cool to do. It is called #SejaALuzDoMundo here, which means Be the Light of the World.  Also we have been working a lot with a Man named Ricardo, who has been an investigator since I got here. He was one of the first people that we found. He went to church for the first time this Sunday; it was the primary program. His daughters participated in the program, and he went with his mom who is also an investigator. His wife had to work.

We had Eunice´s baptism this week which was really good, and went well. Eunice is elect. She is the mom of a recent convert, and out of nothing wanted to be taught. I am so happy to be able to help people here. Also she ``adopted´´ us so now I have two moms. haha. Anyway I don´t have a lot of time to write a whole lot.

I hope that you all can be a light to the world this December.

Tchau!

-- Élder Pettingill

So about these pics, first there is Elder Curbelo and I when we went to renew my visa. Then there is us at the birthday party of a member. Then there are the cookies that I made. After that is our hammocks. Then the pics from Channel Hill, (which is really a moutain.) Note about that is that now we know that we shouldn´t have done that, but we thought it was a hill. Also the last pic is of Elder Curbelo´s shoes after the hike. After that is me with a tie from an Elder that asked me to thin it, so before giving it back I took a pic. Then there is me making pancakes. After that is our zone shirts of the Book of Mormon. Then is the Eunice´s baptism.

Answers to a few questions:

Do you sleep in the hammocks? No, we tried one night, but it felt too much like camping, so we didn´t make it through the night. 

Did you celebrate Thanksgiving? No, nobody celebrates it here.The only thing that they have is Black Friday, which we noticed when we got milkshakes on Saturday. 

Why did you say you shouldn't have gone on the hike to Channel Hill? Well, in the missionary hand books it says that we can´t do mountain climbing, probably because it is very easy to get hurt, but we have to climb hills in every area that is built on hills, so I think a hill would be okay. 

Are you getting tan since it is so sunny now? I don´t think that I am getting very tan, at most I am just burning. I am trying to use sunsceen every day, but I forget.

 

They called this the Lion King hill. This pictures shows why. :)

Borda do Campo Week 8

So this week was a good week, but at the same time could have been better. First off about the weather here. So you would think that it is almost summer here, but the problem is that Borda do Campo is an area that is weirdly cold, but that doesn´t stop it from being hot as well. Basically during the day we have the four different types of weather right now. We start off with usually brisk and sunny; after that it sometimes becomes rainy/sunny or rainy/cloudy/hot, or sometimes it just becomes scolding burning sunlight. Also it can get rainy, and windy, and cold, but at night it is usually consistent with cold. Yeah it is pretty funky here, but it isn´t getting bone chilling cold so I guess that is good. 

Anyway we had a division this week, where I went to Jardim Ipê with Elder Verdugo, a missionary from Chile who is still training; and Elder Curbelo stayed in Borda with Elder Alvarado. It was pretty good, and I learned somethings so I guess it worked out. About our investigators, we haven´t been able to talk with Maria Lourdes, because the last time we had a visit, they called and canceled. We dropped Benedito, and because he wasn´t making progress, and he doesn´t really believe that the Book of Mormon could be true, and he will only accept an answer through a dream. We are still trying to talk with Douglas´ dad, but he doesn´t help us out so it is hard. Giovanni is making progress, but hasn´t been to church yet, and he has problems with understanding, so it is going slow. Eunice will be baptized this week! So that is awesome. She is really interested, and doesn´t have any problems. She was living with a man, but he didn´t want to get married so she left. 

We have ``found´´ some new investigators. I say ``found´´ because some went to church without being invited so that was cool. We talked with them, and went there with a member that knows them (ilco Paulo, Erika, and Alinny.) They are interested, and good. I think that they will progress. There is also a young women, Emanuela, who was taught by the missionaries, but they stopped for some reason. We met her at the birthday party for a different member, who is good friends with her. She is interested, but also has a lot of problems in her life, and family, but all's well because the gospel changes people. 

There was also an interesting experience this week. We went to Ricardo, our investigator, to teach him, but he had been called to work. His mother, Tanha, attended, and said that he went to work, but invited us in so that we didn´t lose the visit. So we talked with her, about Ricardo going to church (he hasn´t gone to church, and we have been teaching him for a long time.) She said that she would try to get him to go, but said that he would be tired, so probably wouldn´t go. We invited her to go, and Ricardo's children. She said that she would go, and the girls (the children) wanted to go because of the Sunday School, and they ended up going! It was really cool, and funny because Ricardo didn´t go because he was tired. She is really sweet, and the girls said that they liked it. (They are 7, 5, and 5 years old.)

Anyway I know that the Lord loves all his children, and that he is preparing a way so that all his children can hear of his gospel, and partake of the blessings it brings.

Thank you all for the support, and I hope that you all have a good week.  

-- Élder Pettingill

Borda do Campo Week 7

So this week wasn´t the best week. I think that part of it is because I haven´t gotten a new daily planner yet, (because of some problems, and some imperfections.) Anyway, we haven´t planned the best this week, (I am the one that is more organized in the companionship.) I have faith that this week will go well. We visited Benedito again this week, and I had more deja vu. I don´t really know what to make of it.

Also we have a family that we are teaching this week that was a reference of the new Relief Society President. It is a friend of the member who had heard a lot about the missionaries through her friend, but the missionaries had never actually gone there. It was a strange experience because we ``knocked`` the door the first time, and her son came out, and we marked a different day. It was an experience like when missionaries had already been there, so we thought that we weren´t the first ones. We came back again, and the mother came out, and let us in without really talking to us (another sign of missionaries having been there before.) We started to talk, and we realized that the reason she was so open was because she had already heard a lot about the missionaries from her friend. We were amazed at how much they knew without talking to the missionaries. We are now teaching Vanderlei (the dad), Adelia (the mom, and the reference), Leonardo (the youngest son), and we will teach Vinicio who is the oldest son who wasn´t there when we talked with them the first time. This really was an example to me of how much the members can do to prepare people to accept the missionaries. Our job is to teach, but we can only do that if we have people to teach, and it is a lot easier to teach someone who has a friend who is a member. 

That was a long story, but I  all of you to talk a little bit more with people about the gospel or about the missionaries. It is something so simple, but it helps so much.

 I am grateful for all of the things I am doing here, and for the people I am getting to know. Thank you all for the support.

 --  Élder Pettingill

Borda do Campo Week 6

So this week was transfers, and nothing happened. I am stil here with Elder Curbelo which means that I will probably stay here for the next transfer as well (but it isn´t garenteed.)

So this week was a good week. The only thing is that Halloween isn´t really celebrated here so I didn´t even notice that it went by (that was really strange to realize.) We have been working a lot this week. This week I made Elder Curbelo the ``senior`` companion for the week so that he can prep better for one day being the senior. It was good. We have been contacting more references this week and that went well. We found a lot of people that are really good, and really prepared to receive the gospel. We have been well received in these homes, and the work is moving along. The mission president hopes to turn this branch into a ward in December, and the Lord is helping us help him make that happen.

I had an experience really cool. So one day we were going to contact a reference from a missionary that already served here a little while ago, and we ended up finding Benedito. He talked with the missionaries some time ago, and ever since has been reading, and praying to know if the book of Mormon is true, but he hasn´t received an answer yet because he had been hoping for a dream as an answer. Anyway we started to teach him, and I had the weirdest deja vu. I know that I had been there before, and that I had talked with him before. He had a lot of questions and doubts, but I think that we were able to resolve most of them. I know that for some reason I am here teaching this man. SO I would just like to testify that mission presidents are inspired, and that God loves his children. How this story relates I don´t know exactly, but I think that I knew this man before this life, and that if only for him I am here. So this makes sense to me, and I wanted to share this with all you.

I don´t know if I told you, but this area, and Jardim Ipê are in a city called São José dos Pinhais. This area is a poorer area that is also unusually focused on spiritual things so that is really good. I don´t feel unsafe here. Please pray for the branch here. We want a lot of people to come back to church, and we are having a lot of difficulty visiting all the people that need our help here.

 We will be going to the temple probably in the next transfer.

We have been teaching a lot, and helping a lot of people here in Borda do Campo, and the experiences that I am having every day are testifying to me that God is real, and that he lives. Jesus Christ is the son of God, and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and we can come closer to God by studying it.

Thank you all for the support, and have a good week.

-- Élder Pettingill

This is of the Family Home Evening that we did with one of the sisters in the ward. Also there is a pic of our investigator Ricardo. Also, these are pics from the jeopardy activity that we did with the Branch this week which included ping pong.