8-30-2010 Letter Home

O Cidade de Suar

  Hey everybody! This week was great. Started kind of slow because we had Zone Conference on Tuesday and Elder Da Hora and I took the wrong bus (again!) that got us home at 6:00 at night, when all of our meetings begin, so it was as if we didn't work that day.

Then Wednesday we had a big two-hour block of the day taken up because Elder Da Hora got his Patriarchal Blessing (really cool, I'm not saying that's a bad thing), so it was a quick working day. The rest of the week we raced to teach all of our investigators at least once. 

We've had to make some hard decisions and leave some of our investigators out of our schedule because we don't have time to teach 70 people during the week while finding new people as well. But, that's how it always goes, the people that won't devote twenty minutes of their time to read a little bit and say an earnest prayer or go to church to change their life and eternal destiny... are better left alone until they are ready. It's tough and I feel sadness for every single person that won't make that effort, but I've got work to do and so does the Lord, and what the adversary wants the most is that we continue teach people who will never progress. It's tough burden to bear, though.

But, I am always re-energized by seeing people enter the Kingdom through following the example of Jesus Christ and being baptized! Yay! 

Yesterday night we had the privilege of baptizing Jessica (12) and Mateus (9), the children of Emanuel and Elizangela. We had an excellent baptism, the members are really doing a good job in integrating new converts and helping them feel loved. Emanuel and Elizangela need some more time to be baptized because there is divorce paperwork to finalize and a marriage to be realized, but hopefully we'll be able to see a picture of them in white by the end of this transfer, who knows? It is really awesome to see this family enter the Church, because we were the ones to make the first contact and teach the first lesson. We've seen the entire process of their conversion, and been participants in it. What an awesome blessing for us to be the instruments of the Lord in helping  this family eternally (and, in the future, seal them together). 
It's been the greatest of many miracles this week that the Lord continues to show us, time and time again. 

One such miracle... our wards start at 8:30 (Castelo) and 9:00 (Fortaleza) respectively. So every morning we race to all of our investigators to wake them up if necessary and get them to church, first in Ward Castelo and second in Ward Fortaleza... only, when 9:00 rolled around we were stilled waiting for our investigators Igo, Evelleni and Genaina to get dressed and I made the poor decision to stay there and wait for them. Which meant we didn't take the Sacrament. After lunch rolled around and we returned home to brush our teeth I felt horrible. Bore my soul in prayer to the Lord about the situation. I was feeling pretty guilty, but whadyaknow, we get to church at 4:30 to get ready for the baptism at 5:00 and the baptismal font hasn't been filled! No! But it was a blessing in disguise, because at the same time another ward was in session, so we shuffled all of the members and investigators to the sacrament meeting and started filling the font. We then had time to rush into the sacrament meeting and take the sacrament. Yeah! What an awesome blessing. That wouldn't have happened if the font had been filled, because we wouldn't have had a valid excuse to delay the baptism for an hour. And, our investigators really enjoyed the sacrament meeting as well, so it was all good.

Man, missionary work is way cool. Glad I'm here and doing the work of the Lord. I am realizing more and more that when we are obedient and give ourselves completely to the Lord, we will be blessed in all things. A tough lesson to learn but one that is very necessary.

Just that for the week. Oh, I loved the new tie and the candy, family! And the peanut butter! Thank you so much! Thanks for the sweet picture Kaitlin! Haha, you guys are the best.

Love,
Elder Brendon Carpenter

8-23-2010 Letter Home

In the Right Place!
 
This week was great! We baptized two investigators of the previous missionaries, Ramon and Renan. Ramon is 18, Renan is 14. They've been going to seminary and really integrating with the ward and making friends. They are both really good guys. I baptized Renan, he's a really quiet kid but has a huge testimony. He really helps his older brother see how the Gospel can be important. The parents of Ramon and Renan came to the church for the first time for the baptism and seemed to like it... we'll be teaching them this week and this transfer or in the future, they'll be baptized as well! Yay!

Otherwise, being senior companion is tough. I'm learning alot about myself and my weakness, my strengths. Man, there is so much to think about so much to plan and do. I feel like the weight of the world is on my shoulders sometimes because there's so many people to find and teach but so little time on our part. But, the Spirit is always helping me out and the Lord is helping me bear these burdens. Still, I have to remind myself every day that I am really a nothing, everything that happens here is because of the Lord and not because of me, I'm just his instrument, just along for the ride. 

Only through daily miracles do we accomplish anything, because we're just two young men and the Adversary really has built a fortress here in our area. Here, as in all areas. So many people are struggling to find light in their lives but are being kept from the truth because of confusion and sin and the numerous distractions that exist in the world. We have to be heroes, we have to be titans, in order to tear down such walls, and the only way we can do that is through the power we are given through Jesus Christ. He is the one doing the work here, we're just along for the ride.

Elder Da Hora is great.  He knows how to teach very well and he was a furniture salesman for years so he knows how to talk really well with people. He loves Coca-Cola, buys two liters every day! We're getting along very well he already told me that he thinks I'll be his best companion.

Yes, yes, I am taking showers outside but privacy isn't really an issue because we have a big stone wall around our house (like all the houses here actually). There is one towery-looking apartment in the distance but... well, we've just got to ignore that or we won't get to take showers every day. The showers here aren't electric, but the pipes (which are external) get hot during the day and stay hot during the night, so the first to shower gets about 5, 10 seconds of hot water before it gets cold again.  Ah, well, I'm used to cold showers now, its not a problem.

So here's some cool pictures of people in white, and I'll leave you all with just that this week, my time is ending. But I love all of you and I am thinking and praying for ya. Thanks for all the kind words every week.

Love,
Your friend and son and brother and relative,
Elder Brendon Carpenter

 

8-16-2010 Letter Home

Mountaintop!

Hey guys! Man this week was one of the best of the mission. 
We. Worked. Our. Pants. Off. 
The members here have a ton of references and we didn't want to leave any one of them waiting too long, so we worked as hard and fast as we could all week long. I guess the two wards here are really liking us, and so they are wanting us to teach all of their friends as soon as we can because they are afraid they might not get more missionaries in the near future and they want to make the most out of us. So, yeah, we worked a bunch and we are way tired. 

Let me just lay some numbers on you to explain how this week went. 46 new investigators taught and 19 investigators invited to be baptized. Ladies and gentlemen, in this week alone we gained almost all of the investigators we had found in six weeks over there in Ala Veneza. And 19 investigators with baptismal dates doesn't mean that they will all be baptized, but it does mean that we are finding a lot of way good people. This area is awesome! I'm so lucky to be here. The Lord has really been preparing this area and he has been preparing Elder Da Hora and I to be his laborers here.

Last night the Zone Leaders called me up. "Hey Elder Carpenter, just wanted to say congratulations for your week and the numbers... but, we wanted to know, how did you end up teaching so many people this week?" And what did I say? "Do Work, Son!" No, no, I didn't say that, haha.

I'm sending some pictures of members in Ala Mondubim that I left behind. :( And of our last baptism there. And of Elder Da Hora. Hope you like them.

Our house is awesome. It has an empty pool in the back and the interior showers are all broken so we take showers every day in our backyard. Kind of interesting. Really big and comfortable. 

Yep, you can officially start the countdown!

 
I think hump day already passed, actually, because we will be returning on either the 12th or 11 of August, 2011, right? So... one more year!!! It's really weird that I have already finished a year of my mission. Who knew it would fly by so quickly? Really really strange. My first year has already been written, my first half! I only have to do what I've already done one more time again! Strange but awesome and motivating.

Messajana is very close to one of the most dangerous areas in Fortaleza, Palmeiras... so... yeah we have to get back home at 8:30 instead of 9:00 or 9:30 but it is way hard because we have so many appointments and sometimes we have to walk back home with a little bit of nervousness, ya know.

We definitely are instruments of the Lord, which is really awesome. The Spirit really does guide us to people who are ready to hear the Gospel and it's awesome. We just trust in the Spirit and we find and teach way cool people, like magic! The Lord has been really great to us this last week, we owe a lot to him. We've got to remind ourselves constantly that Heavenly Father is doing His work, that nothing is because of us. Our only responsibility is to work and follow the rules and we will be rewarded with the opportunity to see first-hand the miracles of the Lord! How awesome is that? My testimony has grown a ton because of this realization.


Being a senior, I finally recognized that I know how to do everything here in Ceara. I don't need anybody's advice or help, I can just go and work and be fine and see results afterward. The only guidance I need is from the Spirit and the Lord! Very awesome. 

So weird I have gotten so used to living here in a different world almost. That's great that Kaitlin had a good first week, I am very comforted to know that everyone is watching out for her. 

Good job on the new routine! Routines are way important. I love having a schedule it's great, keeps us in line and productive. When we are productive, we are happy and proud of ourselves! I hope I never forget that, that productivity is the key to tranquility. 

Sunday was great, our wards are very functional, we had seven investigators in the sacrament meeting, very cool. I was praying during the day that we would find and teach six new investigators before the week ended and, with only five, we were walking back home, me feeling a little bit down because I didn't fulfill my personal goal, and at 8:00 I spotted a woman smiling at us and I made contact with her and we ended up teaching her and her family, three adults in total, a quick lesson about the Restoration. I was thinking, wow, what a miracle, 8 new investigators in one day, and I told Elder Da Hora about how I had been praying to teach six new investigators that day and how the Lord really came out for us. And then, to top it off, Elder Da Hora said, "But Elder Carpenter, when we were going back home we had already taught six new investigators, you didn't need to make that contact to fulfill your goal." I made the count again and discovered I had miscounted! Can you believe that? So for Sunday we taught 9 new investigators! Haha, the Lord really used my lack of attention in order to motivate me to reach out to more of his sons and daughters before the end of the day.

 
Have a great week!

Your son,
Brendon

8-9-2010 Letter Home

The Wizard Has Become the Man on the Mountain  

No way!!!!! I have been sent to yet again a new area! This time in an area called Messajana. We are going to work in two different wards. One of the wards is Ala Fortaleza and it's one of the first wards organized in this city. Tiny tiny little areas, it should be fun working here. 
I am now with a new companion, Elder Da Hora (Of The Hour, which is a slang for "Really Cool", so everyone laughs at his name because they read it as "Really Cool Elder") and he is from Bahia, a state to the north of Sao Paulo. I have not had a companion yet from that state of Brazil, so, one more to add to my list! 
I bid Elder Reis farewell today... man, that was tough. He's been such a great companion, I really had a good time with him. He's going to stay in Mondubim and watch over our investigators. 
We had one more baptism in the ward this Saturday, a 13-year old girl named Ariadeny. We taught her all of the lessons this last week and she had a great desire to be baptized. Her sister was baptized by my good friend Elder R. Pereira last transfer and though she took a bit more time, she finally came to us and told us she wanted to take the lessons again and join the church. It looks like her family will be taught as well this next week. Isn't that awesome how because of the boldness of one person many people can gain a testimony of the Gospel and receive the blessings from living it? The Gospel of Jesus Christ really is contagious and wonderful!!

I took a bunch of pictures I wanted to send you all today but I forgot my camera in the house. :( 
Next week, though. 
Our new house is huge but also very old, kinda run down and we have to shower outside because the interior bathrooms don't work ... =/ ... 
But everything is going well here, my mission is so awesome I can't believe I've been so blessed. 
Man, I had so many experiences to share but it looks like my hour is ending already. I'll tell you one.

So at the beginning of our transfer in Mondubim we did some tracting and found one family that was just awesome. The woman, Vilani, really opened up to us and told us that they had difficulties in their family, even though they were already very active in their Evangelical Church. We taught them about how families can be together forever and how they can be united through the Gospel, and she really liked it. We wanted really badly to talk to her husband, Francisco, who is a preacher for their local Evangelical church, actually, so he is very busy. So, the transfer gets going and our appointments always fall through with this one family, we can never get into contact with Francisco... until this last week, when we set up an appointment. 
We get there Monday night and there is Irmao Francisco, waiting for us, and he was way impressed how we arrived exactly on the hour. It turns out we teach the entire family and two people from his congregation that he invited, about ten people in all, about the Restoration of the Gospel. 
Woah. Really powerful lesson, they asked a bunch of questions and were actually very interested. We shared with them the Book of Mormon and they very openly accepted the challenge to read and pray about the Book of Mormon and we left with smiles on our faces. 
They liked us so much they walked almost all the way back to our house with us, and it was really late at night, too. Great family! 
We went back there this week and, once again, we taught a wonderful lesson. We brought a local member who used to be a co-preacher of an Evangelical Church until five months ago, Elizardo, and he has a really powerful testimony. He helped them a lot, to see how the Gospel is different. 
Irmao Francisco asked us... "So, Elders, a quick question... what is your purpose being here with us?" And Elder Reis and I explained directly, "To teach all of you the Gospel of Jesus Christ and help each one of you be baptized with the power of the Melchizedek Priesthood and recieve the Gift of the Holy Ghost and receive the blessings of the Book of Mormon." He seemed to be pondering a lot, and did tell us that he thought he never would leave his local congregation, but we told him about how he could receive an answer from God about the Book of Mormon so that he could know for himself what he needs to do, and he told us he would pray. 
Really powerful experience, the Spirit was very strong!

Yep, that's the miracle of the week, hah, it was a good experience. We were afraid we would go there and they would want to do a lot of Bible Bashing, but it looks like the family is really accepting the message of the Restoration well. I hope everything goes well there with Elder Reis.

Man, how time flies! I love all of you guys! More updates and photos next week!

Love,
Your son, brother, friend, and relative,
Elder Brendon Carpenter

P.S. Yeah, you guessed it I became senior companion this transfer... 
Not that that's a big thing... but it's kinda cool, ya know... *cough* *cough* ;)

8-2-2010 Letter Home

Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin...
 
Hey everybody!!!

Eric and Erica were baptized Saturday! It was kinda scary because everything was ready for them to be baptized, they were very excited, and then we got to the chapel at 7:00 and no one was there! It was completely locked up and without lights on... What was going on? 
Then some members arrived and we told them to wait at the chapel to tell Eric and Erica and their family that they would still be baptized but we needed to find someone with the keys. Turns out our ward secretary forgot about the baptism but everything went well because we found someone else with the keys to the chapel. 

It was a great service, if a little bit late (we finished up at 9:20 and ran home before 9:30 arrived, didn't want to break any rules). Ate pizza to celebrate. What a great family! I can already see that the Gospel is blessing their lives and that they are feeling the joy that comes from following God and his commandments. 
On Sunday the two were confirmed members of the church and while Irma Fatima and Eric needed to go home early, Erica stayed with us in Gospel Principles class and afterward she left with a bunch of Young Women to go hang out at a member's house after church. Way awesome! Love those kids.

Let's see, what else... Man, time is passing so quickly. Nothing too exciting. We have a lot of good investigators right now. Our ward is great, really enjoying the members here. Transfers are coming up next week and I'm getting anxious about hearing the news. This will probably be my last week with Elder Reis, who has been a great companion, I will be very sad to see him go. 

Oh, can't believe I forgot!!

We went to teach Joyce Saturday night, and we were very nervous, because we pass her house frequently during the week and there is always a bunch of people sitting outside of her house, usually talking very boisterously. We get to her doorstep with a big smile on our faces and invite everyone to hear our message and like usual we have a polarizing effect... some people quiet down and see what we have to say, and others get up and leave quietly. The lesson goes well, even though the busy street nearby makes it hard to keep the lesson reverent, and the playful kids nearby are always calling the attention of the mothers in the group. 
They ask a lot of questions about the Church, how we pray and if people need to be invited to enter the chapel on Sundays and other interesting things. Joyce is the spiritual guru of the family, seemingly the most religious, she goes to an evangelical church, and at first she was kind of resistant, saying that everyone who has God in their heart is a prophet and typical things of that nature, but in the end she started really liking the message. 
Out of nowhere at one moment, she pointed to one of the other woman, and said "Tell them about the pain in your stomach, they can pray for you and it'll go away. Tell them!" 
We said we would talk more about it after the lesson, and explained about the Priesthood and the ordinance of the laying on of hands. So after the closing prayer, we explain a little more and we get out the consecrated oil and give the woman a blessing. I kind of fumbled with some of the words in the anointing but I'm sure it was sufficient, and Elder Reis finished up. The woman thanked us afterward and immediately Joyce sits down in the chair and tells us she wants a blessing as well, that she has been feeling very down and depressed. As we put our hands on her head I can hear the other woman explain to another person there how she could feel the power in our hands streaming down into her body (cool). We bless Joyce and when we say Amen, she gets up and tears are streaming down her face, she tells us how she is thankful for our visit and blessing and how she knows we are true messengers of God and how she knows God wants her to help her family come into the light and how she needs us to save her family and some other very special things. 
Wow, the Spirit was very strong! That was a great lesson!

 I am going to finally make root beer today!! Maybe horchata too later this week, we are going to a big grocery store twenty minutes away that should have all the ingredients.

Sweetness!  

Yeah, so, it looks like Connor and I should be arriving home August 11, 2011... which means that very soon we'll start coming down the mountain and counting the time left will be a lot easier. Man, that kind of makes me nervous to know that I am finishing up the first half of the mission! Time really flies! Since April the mission has been passing really, really fast.  So glad that for two years I just need to preach the gospel, follow the rules and what President Batt says. Yeah, so I've given up on the video thing... actually, Pres. Batt said that until he changes it, that all the missionaries in Mission Brazil Fortaleza are forbidden to even record videos on the cameras, let alone send them, to help prevent us from being tempted to put them on the internet. So, in other words, I'll send a lot of pictures. 
How's my blog doing? I haven't seen it for months, I hope its still not a pain to put all of my messages together to make an entry. 
I love the pictures, thanks so much! Thank you, as always, for the kind thoughts and your prayers. Thanks for mowing the lawn!! Man, mowing the lawn back at home sounds very fun right now, hah. I'm doing great here, more news later, but have a great week !!!


Yeah, had a great week! I love you guys! That's all I got right now.
- Elder Carpenter

Love ya,
Your son,
B