April 29 2013

Hey everyone!

This week was really great. The coolest thing that happened was yesterday. Yesterday was the stake conference for the Santa Cruz stake. President and Sister Wright were there, which was awesome, and I also got to see a ton of the members from Rio Pardo. For those of you who don´t remember, Rio Pardo was my first area here in Brasil. It was really nice to see them. They all remembered me, and gave me a very warm welcome, which was great. But the best thing that happened was that I got to see one of the people I baptized in Rio Pardo be sustained to receive the   

Melquisedeque Priesthood. I am very proud of him, and the progress that he has made in the gospel. I got to congratulate him after the meeting was over, which was pretty cool. Other than that, things are pretty normal. The work is going great. Oh, my new companion is Elder Herrlein. He is from Argentina, which is also pretty cool. I am helping him learn Português, and English. He´s really cool. 

Anyways, I´ve got to go. Thanks everyone!

Sincerely,

Elder Day

April 22 2013

Hey everyone!

This week was interesting. At the start, it was really dificult. It seemed like no one wanted to talk to us, and a lot of our investigators had lost interest in the Church. We worked really hard all week, and nothing was going right. But yesterday made it all worth it. There is a part member family here that is really cool. Two members of the family are baptized and active in the church. The parents are not members. The Mom wants to be baptized really bad, but her "husband" doesn´t want to get married, so she cant be baptized. They have a son who is older and lives with another girl, but for the longest time they had absolutely no interest in the church. He smoked, drank, and did not believe very much in God. His name is Leonardo. Then last week, out of nowhere, he went to church with his mom and sisters, so that was cool. They were at church yesterday too. We visited this family yesterday, and Leonardo and his girlfriend were there, which was really awesome, but when we entered the house, I had to face my biggest challenge yet as a missionary... THEY WERE WATCHING THE HOBBIT! AND THEY ASKED ME IF I WANTED TO WATCH IT WITH THEM! Obviously I said no, but it was not easy. But it was worth it, because Leonardo and his girlfriend Paula opened up to us. They shared some experiences that helped them know that God exists. He has stopped smoking and drinking all by himseld, and they want to get married and baptized. It was pretty cool.

Transfers tomorrow. My companion got transfered, so I get a new one tomorrow! Hopefully he will be cool. I´m glad that I get to stay in Venâncio Aires. It´s an awesome city. 

Thanks everyone!

Sincerely,

Elder Day

April 8 2013

Hey everyone!

This week was great. I really enjoyed General Conference. I got to watch all four sessions live in our chapel in Venâncio Aires, which was awesome. The Priesthood sesssion wasn´t aired until 9 PM, and only in the stake headquarters, so I will have to download that today. I think my favorite talks were of President Eyering, Élder Holland, but all of them were excellent.

I´m having a ton of fun here. Fun fact about Venâncio Aires: It is the national capital of chimarrão in Brasil, which is really great because chimarrão is awesome. Seriously, I make a chimarrão everyday before the morning studies. It´s the best.

We are teaching a ton of people right now, and having a lot of success. Venâncio is only a branch, and it´s part of the district Santa Cruz. The district has a goal to become a stake by the end of the year, so we are working really hard to make that happen, and so far it´s working! 

Thanks for your support!

Sincerely,

Elder Day

March 26 2013

Hey everyone!

This week was a lot of fun! We got to go to Porto Alegre yesterday for a conference with three other zones, and President Wright, so that was cool. We received some cool trainings. President Wright says that he wants to send another companionship of missionaries to Venâncio Aires next transfer, which would be the coolest. Four missionaries in one apartment. IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITES! 

The people here in Venâncio are really great. We are teaching a ton of people, and I am having a great time. Thursday, I hit one year, and Sunday is Easter! Woohoo! This is gonna be a good week.

Last week the First Presidency authorized missionaries in the whole world to email friens, as well as family! Anyone who would like to contact me through email, my adress is: 

samuel.day@myldsmail.net

Now I will be able to respond through email, which is a lot better than through letters!

Thanks everyone!

Sincerely,

Elder Day

March 18 2013

Hey everyone!

Transfers again! I got transfered to a city called Venâncio Aires, and it´s awesome! My companion is Elder Costa, and he is from Manaus, which is really close to the Amazon rainforest. He´s really cool. 

When I was riding down from Passo Fundo to Porto Alegre last week, we passed through a mountain range. I kept my eye out for secret Gadianton Robber caves, but I didn´t see any. I guess it does say that they were pretty well hidden...

Last week, in Carazinho, we had the opportunity to do something really cool! In the Passo Fundo zone, there is a small city called Lagoa Vermelha. They have a branch, and they meet in a rented house. They have land to build a chapel when their attendance is higher, but they have been struggling to increase the attendance for the past few years. In fact, the attendance was so low, that they are in risk of losing the land for the future chapel. To help them, our entire zone (8 companionships) went to Lagoa Vermelha to blitz the city on Saturday. Sunday was their ward conference, and they had a goal to have 100 people there. On a normal week, they only have 30 people at church. We spent about 4 hours on Saturday, going from house to house, and inviting them to church the next day. Then we all left and returned to our areas. Sunday night, the missionaries in Lago Vermelha called us all to tell us that they had 105 people at church, and 74 non-members were there. It was pretty cool to say the least.

Thanks for your support everyone!

Sincerely,

Elder Day

February 4 2013

Hey everyone!

This week was great! I think the most interesting thing that happened was lunch on Friday. We ate lunch with one of the coolest members of the ward here in Carazinho. He served us pig heart and pig kidney. The pig heart was really good, but the kidney was strange. I thought it tasted like pig urine, but as I don´t know what pig urine tastes like, my suspiscions remain unconfirmed. The next day we ate an animal called capivara. They say it´s the biggest rodent in the world. It looks like a huge beaver, and it tastes really weird. We ate it at the Bishop´s house. He said, "Elders, have you ever eaten this type of meat before?" "No Bishop, what is it?" "Just eat it, and I´ll tell you what it is after you finish." It was pretty funny.

Transfers tomorrow! I´m staying in Carazinho with my companion Elder R. Santos, so that´s good. 

Thanks for the support everyone!

Sincerely,

Elder Day

January 28 2013

Hey everyone!

This past week was really great! Today makes 10 months since I started my mission, so that´s pretty cool. Time is flying really fast.

Today something really cool happened. This week, we received a reference from a member. They are family of four. João Vitor is the dad, and Noeli is the mom. We contacted them on Friday. We taught them the first lesson, and it went really well. They told us that they had just moved here from the North east of Brasil, and they don´t have very much money. We invited them to church on Sunday, and offered to arrange a ride with member. They excepted. Yesterday, we got a member, and picked them up and brought them to church. During Elders quorum, the father of the family spoke with the President of the Quorum, and said they were struggling finanicially. Last night, the President of the quorum called us and we arranged to visit João e Noeli. This morning, when we showed up at the members house, he and some other members had gathered about 150 pounds of food and clothing to give to the family. We delivered it to them this morning, and it was awesome. It was really amazing to see how fast members church can unite to help people in need. João and his family were really greatful, and they are doing really well.

Transfers in eight days! I will let you know next week what happens! Thanks for your support everyone!

Sincerely,

Elder Day