Worn Out Shoes,Teaching the Gospel and Loving Itapoã

Wow,

I can't believe the day has already come, Noah’s already headin out today!!!!! that is so crazy how fast it has come up. It literally feels like yesterday I saw the video of him openin up his call! But I’m so proud of him and I know he’s gonna be an incredible missionary and make a big impact!! He’s gonna be awesome!!!

This past week was really good!! We taught a ton of lessons, marked some baptism dates, and did a bunch of contacts with people in the streets.

It has been "winter" here. but still super hot here and super dry, and it hasn’t even hit the hottest time of the year yet!! not until September and October. It was funny cause the other day, It was super hot and we were talking to some lady in the street. She was like "You need to use sunscreen and drink lots of water, because it’s about to START getting hot here." I asked her "start to get hot?? What do you call this weather that we are having now???" haha.  But it’s all good!! I’m gettin used to it 

We are going to start teaching this family from Peru. They speak Span-gues (spanish and portugues). But it will be cool and my companion is fluent in Spanish and I’m able to understand a lot of it now!  Elder Fernandez is seriously a stud!! We noticed that I had a good sized hole in the side of my pants. Later, after taking a shower and getting ready we go out to work, and I noticed that I didn’t have a hole. I was like what happened?? I looked at Fernandez and he confessed that he had patched it up for me without me knowing! I was like dude you're the man!!    It’s small and simple things like that, that really mean a lot. He didn’t do it to receive thanks or for something in return, but just to be nice.  It meant a lot, now I gotta think of something to do for him. maybe I’ll buy him Açaí or something :)

We found this awesome family/friend group. We were out doing contacts and we saw a group of ladies with a couple guys sitting outside a gate to a house. I could tell they were staring at us and talking bout us since its pretty obvious we are foreigners, but we go over and start up a conversation! It went awesome. They liked us off the bat, and as we were leaving they invited us to come in and meet the rest of the family/friends. So inside the gate, there are like 8 separate houses, full of family and friends. So we met a ton of people, and then scheduled to come back this week on Wednesday. About 30 people agreed to be there, and listen to our lesson that we will share!  We are pretty excited to get over there this week!

But other than that, all of our investigators are doing good and progressing!! I’m loving Itapoã and I don’t want to leave here, I’m feelin in my gut that I will be leaving after this transfer but I really hope that I stay!! 

I love yall so much, I know Noah’s gonna do awesome, have a ton of success, have life-changing experiences, and make yall proud!!! 

love,

Elder Bean

Oh yeah,

Augusto´s  2 year old nephew is so funny. He knows how to say "Bean".

yesterday we go over there, we knock on the gate and when we enter he goes 

'BEANNN"

hahha its hilarious.  Little Miguel. 

When we left he goes  Eu te amo bean. ahah   I love you bean.

He’s a little stud!!

Enjoying some fun with things from my "one year" package

Duct tape is awesome to fix the insoles of my shoes

Missionary Life....the shoes!!

View of Itapoã from a balcony of a members house where we ate lunch!
They fed us well it was so good; rice, beans, meat with onions,
pasta, salad, chicken and mango juice!

Raimundo and Ivaneida surprised us twice this week with bringing us
dinner after we got home!! They really do take care of us and love us!! They are awesome!

Pão Françes  (french bread).  its soooo good here! Within ten minutes of
walking from our house you pass 7 bakeries. They are all over the
place making the fresh bread. It's awesome!

Every transfer I get a new planner. Everyone covers the
front and back with pictures, check out mine below

Alma 17:13 And it came to pass when they had arrived in the borders of the
land of the Lamanites, that they separated themselves and departed one from another,
trusting in the Lord that they should meet again at the close of their harvest; for they
supposed that great was the work which they had undertaken.

Ready for Church

Street Contacts Are Where It's At

Bom Dia para vocês! Espero que tudo estejam bem com vocês!!

Olá,

This week flew by so fast! The weeks are starting to feel like days! Last night I realized that today, in one week Noah will be leavin home for the MTC. That’s crazy!! It has come up so fast. It feels like yesterday I was in Gama at a lanhouse watching the video of Noah opening up his mission call!! the time has flowwn by so fast. But I’m super stoked and excited for Noah and the experiences that he will have!! Atta boy!!!

Me and Elder Fernandez worked our butts off this week!! You know you had a good week and worked hard when come Sunday night you are just exhausted beyond belief. Pday is definitely necessary, not just to email and write home but also to rest up for the next week. Our mission has a new rule, of making 100 contacts with people in the streets per week. We found out Wednesday, and me and Fernandez ended up with 102 contacts! on top of teaching 37 lessons in peoples homes this week!! We try to do most of our contacts while walking from appointment to appointment or when appointments fall through and people aren’t home. We normally have to walk about 25 to 30 minutes from one house to the next appointment. We found 12 new investigators this week that are really solid and really interested and that we were able to find and teach this week. Just shows you might have to talk with 10 people, to find 1 good one that is interested. Two of the people we found are Valto and Conceição.

Thursday night while we were walkin to an appointment, we walked past a house and I had a strong feeling to go back and knock on it. So we went back and knocked and "asked for water". Something we usually do is say that we are missionaries, have been walking a ton are super thirsty (even when we had just asked for water at another house a minute earlier) ha.  It seems to be working!!

Valto came and brought us water and he is a super cool guy!! He is in his later 40s and is married. He welcomed us in and we taught him the Restoration! It was super spiritual and he had so many good questions! When we answered them, it all made sense to him and we invited him to get baptised if God answers his prayers about what we taught him! He was like Of course I would!! and we marked a date for August 31st!  The dude is a stud!!

Conceição was a contact we did in the street. She was walking by us and when I guess she could tell that we were gonna talk to her cause before we opened our mouths she said "No, I don’t want anything to do with what you want to say." And walked right past us in a hurry. I smiled, kinda chuckled and took this as a challenge!! :) , So I jogged after her and say "Irmã espera, espera!"  She then stopped and explained to us she is really strong in her church Assembleia de Deus and that her husband and 13 yr old son happen to be members of our church.  After we were talking for a bit in the street, we started inviting her to church and asked if we could write down her address and share a message with her and her family. She said No. After we kept tryin to convince her she looked me right in the eye and said "Why should I!"  Then I just went off on pure testimony and by the power of the Spirit. It was incredible experience, the words were just flowing faster and better sounding then I think I have ever spoken. It was probably better than I would of done in English. She just had a shock look on her face and I knew she had felt the authority and power that was behind the words. After I finished, she smiled and told us her address and said we could come by Sunday night!  Sunday night we went over there and brought Raimundo with us too. We taught the Restoration and it was one of the best lessons that I’ve had the privilege of participating in. We invited her to be baptised on September 7th if she received an answer from God, and she accepted!!  The feelings that we had after leaving that lesson are difficult to explain. It’s a surety that you feel, that you know without a doubt what you taught is true and you just feel so happy!

Raimundo ended up driving us around and teaching with us all Sunday!! The dude is seriously a stud!! He gave us a reference of his friend and took us over there, his name is Augusto. The lesson was awesome and Raimundo spoke a lot and boar his testimony! It was such an awesome moment to see the changes that Raimundo has made in the past two months when I got here. His first Sunday back to church was my first in Itapoã so we both have 8 Sundays straight!!  Him and Ivaneide will get married at the end of the month or beginning of September, and she really wants to get baptised the Sunday after!  Raimundo and Ivaneide treat us like family and Raimundo is always wantin to make sure that we are takin care of and have what we need! It’s a blessing for me to have gotten to know them!!

Augusto (Neymar Jr.) is still doing great!! We give him readin assignments in the Book of Mormon with questions he has to answer and he has been doing them! One of the proudest moments thou, was the other day at his house. We were sharing a message with Augusto, his whole family, and his mom´s friend. It was awesome while we were teaching, Augusto would look at me and ask, "Bean, can I explain this part?"  yaehhhhh buddy. haha it was awesome. And then his mom started crying when she talked about how grateful she is for us and that we were willing to leave our own families to come find her son! (I almost cried when she said those words too).  She talked about the changes she has seen in Augusto and it is amazing. Her friend even mentioned to how much Augusto has changed. She said that Augusto use to be really rebellious, and very disrespectful and not care about anything, only soccer. When she would come by the house and ask if his mom was home, he would be really disrespectful and just not give a darn. He always disrespected people and his mom.  But the other day, she came by the house and asked if his mom was home, Augusto welcomed her in with a big hug and kiss on the cheek, and then got her a cup of coca-cola before she could even ask for something to drink. She said that she was shocked and thought "Is this even Augusto?"  He has literally become a whole new young man!! I am beyond proud of him. Seeing him at church, he goes around and introduces himself to people he doesn’t know and is proactive and is signing up to go to EFY (FSY) next spring 2015!!!  It is so hard to explain how proud I am of that kid. It is incredible seeing how much being a part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ truly does change lives and makes you into the person God hopes and expects you will become here. Augusto even is workin on his "Duty to God" everyday (something I didn’t even finish or focus on like I should of)  It will be the hardest thing saying goodbye to him when I have to leave Itapoã. He has grown to be like a little brother. 

But I am so grateful for the experiences that I’m having here!! Its incredible how much God loves us!!  This work his true!! Go out and spread the word!!!!

Love,

Elder Bean

About to start the day

Eating Açai

Augusto's mom's friend, Fernandez, Augusto, Me

Augusto "Neymar Jr"

Eu corri means I ran. It's a marathon shirt that Raimundo always wore and
I would always tell him that's a sick shirt dude. He brought it wrapped up as a
gift for me one Sunday. Love it

Churrasco, Brasilian BBQ

So I finally received y'alls letters that y'all sent on May 17th, after we skyped. I loved mom´s comment in her letter, "You’ll probably get this in June." ha.. More like August! :) Bem-vindo ao Brasil!! lol 

But I was super stoked to get it and we had an awesome week!! Me and Elder Fernandez are kickin butt here in Itapoã. We have a lot of fun together and I really like workin with him. He has been teachin me some Spanish too. I’m able to understand most of it but learnin how to speak some words too. We had many really spiritual tearjerking lessons this week!! We also got to have a BBQ with the Elders Quroum on Saturday!! It was a good time, had some investigators, got to see the woods and some Brasilian forests, and eat some good Brasilian bbq. Churrasco!!

Augosto, who was baptised last week is doing awesome!! He’s such a champ! We show up to church yesterday like right when it started, Augosto was already there (30 minutes early) and he brought two friends with him! He was lookin fresh in his white shirt, tie, and a suit coat with jeans and nikes!! wat a boss!!  Me and him have grown super close. He gave me a card the other day, that he designed with photos from those church pamphlets we have given him. It really made me realize the impact that we have made in his life. He told me how I am his best friend and that he is so grateful that I helped him find the right path that leads to salvation, and that he knew the first day that I came to his house that we were going to be great friends and that I would baptize him!

These are words comin from a 13 yr old dude!! He’s a stud. He signed a contract to play professional soccer for the team here in Brasília!! He thought about going and playin for a team in another part of Brasil but stayed here cause of family. So next year, he can start training with the team and will be on the "minor league" until he turns 16, then can be on the team. Pretty awesome!!

Yesterday, Augosto went with us and Raimundo to the baptism that the other missionaries had! He was so excited to go, and support the new people. He really is lookin forward to getting the priesthood and being able to take part in the duties that come with that. I’m so proud of that guy!!

We had an awesome lesson with a great family: Jurandy, Ilma, Diego, and Igor! We taught them the Gospel of Christ, and it was super spiritual, especially at the end. It was incredible. I could feel God´s love for them so strong!! and it made me realize too how much he loves me as well. cause we are all God´s children! no matter where we are from or what color our skin is. One thing I am so grateful for about being a missionary is when we are teaching people, and you feel the Spirit whisper to your heart what you need to say, and to feel God´s love for that person or family you are teaching! it is incredible and difficult to explain!! At the end of the lesson we marked a baptismal date with them.

We have been teachin Ibraim, whose wife (Leila) is a recent convert and they have two little kids. We have been helping Ibraim make goals so he can stop smoking and drinkin. He’s doing good and he really is wantin to stop!! 

Raimundo and Ivaneide and their family are still doing awesome!! I have enjoyed so seein how much Raimundo has progressed since his first Sunday back to church, which was my first Sunday here in Itapoã. He and Ivaneide haven’t missed yet, 7 times in a row! They are plannin on getting married around August 20th and then afterwards Ivaneide will be baptised!! Raimundo is such a stud, he really wants to help his whole family and others find the gospel and "partake of the fruit". We read the story of the Tree of Life (Lehi´s dream) in 1 Nephi chapter 8 in the Book of Mormon with them this week. A part that jumped out to me was when it started out, Lehi was walkin in darkness and didn’t know where to go, so he started praying unto the Lord, and then a light came and he could see.  It made sense, cause sometimes we feel like in life, we might be having some difficulties and thinkin we are in a hole and that our life is not lookin too bright, but lookin dark. That is when we need to pray unto the Lord for help, and when we do so, we will begin to see the light and he will "carry" us out of the darkness. But it wasn’t until Lehi Acted! and prayed! so sometimes we need to take the initiative and act! can't just sit back on the couch and expect things to get better, need to act.

I got to do a couple of Baptism interviews this week for the missionaries in my district. It is always blast gettin to do interviews and see how excited they are to get baptised. One of the guys that I met with is João, he is 19 and is planning on serving a mission a year from now after he is baptised!! he is already workin and wanting to save up his money!! 

We did a contact in the street with a guy this week named João Batista (John the Baptist). It was cool, I was tryin to be funny and told him congrats on baptising Jesus! Then, we learned that he didn’t even know that John the Baptist baptised Jesus! ha. So we had a good conversation with him, wrote down his address, and he thought it was cool when he learned that he is named after the man that baptised Jesus. lol

We also found this incredible family that we are meeting with again tonight!!!! Francisco, Valdete, and their 5 yr old daughter Yasmine.  We had just left a members house the other day and we decided to knock on a door of someone we had talked to earlier in the week. As we walked to the house we passed by a man that was outside cleanin his house. We just said "Boa Tarde" and kept on walkin. After we knocked on the door of the house (no one answered), I looked back and saw the man again down the street, still cleanin his house. I felt really strong, go talk to him!  But for some reason I felt nervous! and I haven’t felt nervous since my days in Santo Antonio  about talkin with people in the street. it was a weird feeling and a bunch of excuses came to my head. But we went back to talk with him! and I’m so grateful that we did!!! Lookin back, I realize it was the adversary that was tryin to get us not to go back and talk with him. He is a way cool guy and invited us in right away to drink some water and eat a snack!! We became friends right off the bat and broke the ice really easy. He thought what we do is awesome, how we leave our country and our family to help others.  After about 15 minutes of getting to know each other, we asked them if we could share a very special message with him and his family! they accepted and we taught them the Restoration!! It was awesome!! Talk bout a perfect lesson. the spirit was so strong, and we taught in perfect union, me and Fernandez. After we taught of the Book of Mormon, they both agreed to read it and pray. They are catholic, and Valdete´s response was awesome. She said how she didn’t understand the importance of getting baptised again right now, but when she prays about the message and the Book of Mormon and receives an answer, she hopes the Lord will change her heart and she will want to!!  They are an awesome family and we are excited to go back tonight!!!

There are so many great things that happen every week, that could take all day writing about!! But know that I love y'all and that I know this work to be true!!!!

Love,

Elder Bean

At Neymar jr. house :)

The forest that we went to for the Churrasco, about 5 minutes from Itapoã.

Look closely, that's an ostrich on the left above the truck.

So our washing machine broke two weeks ago. we got this new beauty a couple days ago. You have no idea how excited a missionary would get about a new washer haha, we were looking at it
and admiring it like we would a new flat screen tv back home before the mission. :))

Elder Fernandez, Augusto and I at the church in Paranoá for the baptism on Sunday.