Monday, January 29, 2018

Borda do Campo Week 18

Well this week was good. Elder Gomes and I spent the week joking and ``counting down´´ the days until transfers. Also this week I reached my one year mark on the mission. I didn´t do anything special for it, but that´s okay. Anyways we did work hard. There is one investigator, Alersson, that I hope gets baptised. I am excited for this transfer, and I have a lot of hopes. I was transferred to Parigot de Souza which is in Curitiba. It is my fourth area, and my first that really is located in Curitiba. It looks like the area is good, and I am excited to work here. I want to work well, and I plan to do everything that I can to be obedient, and work with Elder Morais (my new companion.) I am learning a lot about how we have to choose to be obedient in every way possible, and that we have to do everything that we can to work.

I hope that you all have a great week.

-- Élder Pettingill

Some questions I asked him:

Tell me about the area: So this area looks pretty good. It has a street with a bunch of stores. Also there are 4 missionaries, but they live in 2 different houses, and they are trying to move to save money.  There are some investigators that sound like they are making progress, and I heard that the sisters in the ward are really nice. It is a higher class area than the other areas that I have served.

Are you farther or closer to the mission office? A lot closer. I am in Curitiba now, and not at the edge of the world. This is my first area that is really in Curitiba so it will be interesting. 

Tell me how transfers work: So with transfers, we get a phone call Sunday night from the ZLs, and they tell us the transfers, so generally you don´t talk with president. Also I had 3 transfers there, and you don´t generally stay more that 3 transfers in an area. 

Tell me about your new companion: 1 year and 3 months. I don´t know a whole lot about him because we have only been together for a few hours, but he will study law after the mission.
Do you know the other two missionaries in the area? I know one now. He is he is Brazilian and he is new with 3 months on the mission. He will train so we don´t know who the other missionary is yet.

Fotos:
-1 year on the mission, and the corners of my planners. 
-Elder Gomes with a pine tree
-The new tie that I got when I traded ties with Elder Fretes on the divison
-Me in my hammock




Monday, January 22, 2018

Borda do Campo Week 17

So one thing that I am really learning is that there is no umbrella that can stop Brazilian rain storms. If you are walking, even with an umbrella, the best thing to do is just find shelter.

We are doing a bunch of cleaning today, so we are on later. It is good to do a good cleaning job once in a while, and transfers are next week, and I don´t want to leave the house really dirty.

So first I will answer the questions.
-When do you get to go to the temple again?
I am fairly certain that we will go during the next transfer
-Do you feel safe there? Have you had any scary experiences?
So I do feel safe, or at least I don´t feel in danger. Sometimes there are scary things that happen, like you hear a gunshot at night, but it is really rare, and nothing happens with us.
-Do you walk as much in this area as in your past areas?
Yes. So far all of my areas have been very big. we walk a lot here, and there are a few hills.
-Do you ever take public transportation or just walk?
we take buses when we need to go to the district meeting, but other than that, no.
-What do the members usually feed you? Do you have lunch or dinner with them every day?
So generally what we eat is rice, black beans, chicken (of some sort), some type of pasta, and a salad of lettuce, tomato, and/or onion with vinegar, and salt as a dressing. They don´t really believe in salad dressings here. 😉

Anyway one thing that I learned is that we really need to give references to the missionaries, especially our friends. We met with some new people this week, and the major part of them were references. One was a contact that some sisters made, and the others were friends of a sister that is leaving on a mission to São Paulo, that we contacted at her mission send off thing. Anyway they are nice people, and I think they will make progress. Anyway I don´t have much time.

I love you all, and I am so grateful for the support.

--Élder Pettingill

so the pics are of the grateful list that Elder Gomes and I made last week

Monday, January 15, 2018

Borda do Campo Week 16

Well this week was interesting. So this week was a lot of ``what are we going to do?´´ This isn´t exactly the best question for missionaries to ask, but sometimes it is necessary. There were a lot of things that fell through this week. It was sad, and it didn´t help that this week for some reason I was angry and negative, probably because I was tired. That continued until Sunday evening. We went to teach a man named Alison. Well I got into explaining something, and then I felt the spirit, and as we say here in Brazil, he gave me a quemadinho, which basically means he burned me with my own words. That was alright because I was able to focus, and feel the spirit for the rest of the day, and get out of the bad attitude that I was in. Moral of the story, the Lord knows what he is doing.

Anyway, this week Elder Gomes and I did a thing where every day we made a list of the things that week we're grateful for. It was cool to see that when you really focus, and think of the things for which you are grateful, you find that it is easier than you thought it would be. I totaled the combined list made--162 things for which we were grateful. That is 162 things per person so yeah. It was really good to see the different things for which we were grateful. I will send pics of the lists next week. We did this in remembrance of President Thomas S. Monson and when he said that we should develop an attitude of gratitude, so I invite all of you to find some way to be a little more grateful for the things that you all have received from God.

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

-- Élder Pettingill

-The legos that we got for christmas, and the adjustments that I made.
-Pizza
-Here in Brazil they have a thing called missionary tea which is like a baby shower, but for people who are going on a mission. The missionary makes a list of the things they need, and people go to this event, and give them the things. Anyway they had one for a sister going to Santos, São Paulo, so we went to support and talk to any non member that went. This is the pic from that.


Monday, January 8, 2018

Borda do Campo Week 15

So this week has been interesting. It was really sad to hear about the death of the prophet, but it is good to know that he isn´t suffering anymore. Right now is the time to really remember his teachings, and put them in practice again. This week I have asked a lot of people what was the last thing that the prophet said. It was really sad to hear that a lot of people didn´t know. So I would like to remind everyone that is reading this that, if you have forgotten, the last thing that the President Thomas S. Monson said was about the Book of Mormon, and how we need to read it, and really focus on developing a testimony of it. As I thought about it I asked the question, why of all the things that he could have said, he said this. I have realized that it is because, if we really have a testimony of the Book of Mormon, we have a testimony that the church is true. There is no way of saying that the church isn´t true if the book of Mormon is true, and aside from that, it really is a book that testifies of Christ. It helps us understand Christ's teachings, and helps us come closer to him. If we live all the teachings that there are in the Book of Mormon, we will really have great lives, and we are prepared for the second coming of Jesus Christ. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I say this a lot here, but I would not be in Brazil, spending 2 years of my life helping people come unto Christ, and testifying of the Book of Mormon if it were not true. One way that I know that we can really remember Christ, and remember President Thomas S. Monson, is if we study the Book of Mormon. Not just read it, but study it, and ponder the message that it has.

Thank you all for the support.

-- Élder Pettingill

Elder Pettingill didn't send any pictures this week, but there were pictures from his Christmas conference posted on the mission website. You have to look for him, but he is in each one of these pictures. Also posted on the mission website was pictures of the t-shirts he and Elder Curbelo made for President and Sister Cuvelier, conjugating their name as a Portuguese verb.












Borda do Campo Week 14

So this week was interesting. It was hard to visit a lot of our investigators this week because a lot of them went on vacation, but we did manage to find some new investigators that I think will make progress. On New Year's we had to be home by 7pm because of the different fireworks and stuff. Anyway Happy New Year to all of you, and I hope that your 2018 is better than your 2017.