Enjoying These Two Years

Boa Tarde!!!! :)

E aíííí!!!!!! I hope all is going well with yall!!

This week was awesome!! it rained a ton this week, pretty much everyday. But it was a nice break from the heat.

I ate cow stomach this week!!! it was actually pretty good :) the guy made me eat it before tellin me what it was haha. He cut it up in chunks and had it in soup. It was really good!! Today for Pday we played soccer/futebol!! it was awesome. We played with some guys in our zone. Its really fun and getting to talk crap with the Argentinan and Brasilina missionaries :) 

We have 6 people that have dates to be baptized here in March and we are going to invite 4 more people this week!!! We have been workin so hard. We are going to have a Family Home Evening tonight with the Stake President and his family with Lorena, Ercilia, and Gabriel. 

On Saturday, we had an awesome experience. We were leaving the apartment at 10 to start our day and teach a lesson before lunch. Our neighbor across the hall was moving so I asked if we could help carry stuff down. His mom and 18 year old brother were in town to help him, but just them 3. So we helped and then we went with them to his new apartment which is in Central, close to the stadium and helped unload. It was a great experience that helped plant seeds. They talked us into taking us to dinner later that night, and they took us to a wayy nice restaurant. haha We are gonna start teaching the guy, Mauricio. He is 22 years old and a way cool dude! Hopefully it all works out.

Early this week, it was pouring rain so we ran to stay under some cover next to a building until the rain stopped. Next, there is this Little Brasilian guy who is soaking wet and comes up to us. He was really genuine and cool and asked us if we could preach the word to him and his buddies. He then told us that he was about to rob 3 people to help his buddies. In my mind I was like laughing and wondering if this guy was serious. haha. But he took us to his buddies and we read them some scriptures. They loved it. Afterwards I tried to give him a Book of Mormon, but he respectfully said no. I asked why, it’s free. He said he didn’t want to accept in and carry it since he was about to go rob 3 people.  The guy was so grateful and told us how much he loves us missionaries and respects us. I felt bad, most of his buddies we talked to are homeless. The guy feels like he is doing the right thing and was wanting to hear a message about Jesus first.  

I have really grown to love the people here and love Brasil. You bond really fast with the people here and you truly want what is best for them and to be happy. Our investigator invited us to eat pizza with her and her friends at some restaurant for her birthday. We are now teaching one of her friends, and he is really interested. he speaks good English too. 

There are a lot of little things that happen everyday, just in the streets or during lessons or while helping someone that makes a mission so worthwhile and makes me feel so grateful to be here. I love it! I love the other missionaries in my zone and district and love workin with them. It’s a blast teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and having fun doing it! enjoying these two years!!!

I love yall so much!!!! hope yall have a great week!! Obrigado por tudo!!! Eu sou grato por vocês!!

com amor,

Elder Bean

Being a dork after studying

Being a dork with Elder Reis

Gremio jersey

The three Texans

Pretty, dead bird

The Zone!!!!

Testimony

This week Elder Bean didn't get much time for emailing due to Carnival.  The missionaries were out on a limited basis because it gets pretty crazy in Brazil during Carnival.  We got a letter a couple weeks ago that he wrote January 13th, here is his testimony as he wrote it in Portuguese and the translation follows.

Eu sou muito grato por meu oportunidade estar aqui no Brasil por dois anos. Eu sei que esta obra, este trabalho missionario é verdadeiro. Meu testemunho sobre esta igreja e todas coisas sao muito forte agora mesmo. Oracao é real. É verdade. Quando tenho dificuldades, Deus me adjudou muito. Eu sei que, com tudo meu coracao. Deus vive e tamben Jesus Cristo. A Igreja de Jesus Cristo das Santos dos Ultimos Dias é o Reino do Deus na Terra. Eu nao quero saber onde Eu seria sem este Evangelho é voces minha familia. Sou muito grato por voces. Familias sao Eternas. Eu sei que isto é verdadeiro. Deus vai responder a nossa oracao se nos temos desejo.

Porque estou aqui? No Brasil? Porque Deus me abencoado com voces e O Evangelho na minha vida! Eu sou muito com sorte. Eu tenho o Evangelho verdadeiro! Esta dificil as vezes, ser um membro da igreja, mas é felicidade verdadeiro. It is all worth it!

Eu amo voces! Eu amo as pessoas no Brasil! Eles sao filhos de Deus tambem. Entao, quero eles para ter o que nos temos. Nos temos uma familia Eterna. Uma familia feliz. Dom de Linguas é real. Eu prometo. Eu testifo que posso falar em portugues e escrivir esta carta so porque de Deus. Quando tento um Espirito Santo, Eu posso falar todas es coisas! Entendo tudo tambem. Eu lembro antes a missao…Eu obedeci os mandemeutos e muito ativo na Igreja. Eu tive um forte testemunho tambem. Mas agora…Nossa!! Meu testemunho é MUITO FORTE!! Nossa!! Serio!! Eu vou ser forte na Igreja para sempre e vou fazer o que Deus me precisa fazer. Eu quero casar no Templo (muito tempo depois missao ☺ haha) e ensinar meu filhos o Evangelho e seja um exemplo para eles.

Todas as coisas Eu tenho, é porque de Deus. Entao este 2 anos é meu “Gracas a Deus”. Mas nos precisamos ser representantes de Jesus Cristo SEMPRE! Com ou Sem plaquetas missionario. Depois 2 anos, Eu quero minha plaqueta, na meu curacao!

Voces sao minha rocha!! Muito obrigado por seu amor, cartas, emails, caixa, e apoio. Eu sou muito grato por isto! Eu Amo Voces!!

Eu estou bem feliz, porque Eu escrevi esta carta sem um dictionario!! Eeee Rapaz

I am very thankful for my opportunity to be here in Brazil for two years . I know that this work , this missionary work is true . My testimony of this church and all things are very strong right now. Prayer is real . It's true . When I struggle , God helps me. I know that with all my heart . I also know God lives and Jesus Christ . The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the kingdom of God on earth . I do not want to know where I'd be without you guys this Gospel is my family . I am very grateful to you guys . Families are Forever . I know this is true . God will answer our prayer if we have the desire .

Why am I here ? In Brazil ? For God blessed me with you and The Gospel in my life ! I'm very lucky. I have the true Gospel ! This is hard sometimes , being a church member , but it is true happiness. It is all worth it!

I love you guys ! I love people in Brazil ! They are God's children too. So , they want to have what we have . We have an eternal family . A happy family . Gift of tongues is real . I promise . I testify and speak in Portuguese and also I can write this letter because of God . When I try with the Holy Spirit , I can talk all things ! Understand everything too. I remember before the mission ... I obeyed the commandments and was very active in the Church . I also had a strong testimony . But now ... Wow ! My testimony is VERY STRONG ! Wow ! Serio ! I will be strong in the Church forever and I will do what God needs me to do. I want to marry in the Temple ( long after mission ☺ haha ) and teach my children the gospel and be an example for them .

Everything I have is because of God . Then this 2 years is my " Thank God ." But we need to be representatives of Jesus Christ, ALWAYS ! With or Without missionary name plates . After two years , I want my plate , in my heart !

You are my rock ! Thank you for your love, letters, emails , boxes and support . I'm very thankful for that ! I love you !

I'm very happy because I have written this letter without a dictionario ! eeee Boy

Elder Bean

Grateful to Be an Instrument in God's Hands

Heyyy,

Dang can’t believe it is 7 months already today in the mission!!!! The time is seriously flying by now. This past week was awesome!!!! We found this awesome new family that is so special!! We are seeing them again tonight. Leandro and Fayna. Funny story, so one day we were going to Sandra´s house. The lady that we helped carry bags one day in the street. We go to her house, and we find out that a new family was moving in! We found Leandro moving furniture in the house and found out that he and his family were moving in.  We helped and then asked to come back another day. They are awesome!!! Nossa Senhora they are sooo specail. The love and happiness in their home is so so strong, they have a 6 year old son, Daniel, and she is a couple months pregnant. Daniel is such a cool kid. The Spirit was so strong when we were teaching them. We knew afterwards that we were meant to find this family. I can't describe, how special it was being in their humble home. The level of happiness and love was indescribable. They are going to the English class we teach on Wednesday and going to church next week.  

We have still been teaching Ercília, Laurena, and Gabriel. Wow they are doing so awesome too. Our lesson this week with them was so spiritual. We taught the Plan of Salvation and I felt the Spirit so strong while testifying that families are eternal. Even Ercília started crying when I was talkin about living with our loved ones forever and eternal marriage. Ercília and Laurena went to church and then went to have lunch afterwards at the Stake President´s house with his family. Talk about awesome!! He actually gave us the reference for them. He took the same English class as them and told them he knew two Americans that could help with them with English and share a message about Christ. Our stake president here is awesome!!!! The guy is a champ!!  They really enjoyed church. 

Gabriel couldn't go, but last night we took two of the young men from our ward who are studs and love to play futebol just like Gabriel does. It went awesome. They invited Gabriel to play with them this Thursday at the church, and Gabriel was stoked. They all bonded fast. This will help Gabriel feel more comfortable in coming to church knowing he has some buds already there. 

Today for Pday we actually played futebol!! ha. I am so grateful to be here in Gama. Everyday is a new day full of experiences that I will never forget. I am really starting to notice the miracles that are happening around me. Me and Tippetts are still killing it and workin really hard together. I have learned so much out here on the mission. I have learned to be more grateful for what I have and be humble. It is so cool teaching people and just doing contacts on the street and already having such a deep love for this person. Knowing that they are also another child of God that God loves just as much as He loves me. I am so grateful to be used as an Instrument, In His hands to help his children here in Brasilia. 

I love yall so much!!! Stay strong. Have faith, and know that whenever we have trials, we will only come out more stronger then before through Heavenly Father´s help. He only gives us things we can handle. I miss yall a ton!!! see ya next week!!! Te amo!!!! Obrigado por tudo!!

Love,

Elder Bean

Drinking Coca Cola with Agostinho, love this guy

With Elder Sowards!!!  e Agostinho

Agostinho and his son Lucas

Pudding from care package

More soccer pictures from the other week

Love Futebol

Elder Labrada

Eating pizza on Valentine's Day

Celebrating Elder Soward's birthday

Batismo

Boa Tarde do Brasil!! 

Today was transfers but none of us four got transferred!!!! We are all stoked. Me and Tippetts will be together until the end of March so we are stoked. Both Reis and Sowards stayed also. This transfer will be awesome!! :) Our zone is doing awesome and we have a ton of fun while also workin our butts off. I love serving here in Gama. The members are great, supportive and really want to help in missionary work. Gama has the richer parts, and also has the poor parts with houses made of mud and bricks. I love being in Gama!! Stoked I will probably be here until May or June.

The highlight of the week was the baptism we had this week for Sarah!!! yeahhhhhhhhhhh. Foi muito muito bom. Nossa foi legal demais. The Spirit was so strong and there was a ton of family and friends that came to support Sarah. The sister missionaries in Gama Central had a mom and her son getting baptised also so there was a ton of people to see the three of them get baptised. Singing the opening song, I was sitting by Sarah and she seemed really uneasy. She was nervous. But as she was coming into the water she started to get emotional and she was beaming cause she was so happy. It was such an incredible experience getting to baptism her. I felt so happy and the Spirit was so strong. I didn’t want to leave the baptism font cause I felt so good! ha. It was like a glimpse of Heaven for a second. Afterwards I asked her how she felt and she couldn’t use words to describe how amazing she felt. She was crying at the end while everyone was giving her hugs and the Spirit was just so strong their. It really strengthened my testimony. It made me so happy to see her happy and having been baptised. She has so many big things ahead of her in life. She told me again while we were singing the closing song that she really wants to serve a mission and help others have this happiness that she has. I was like wowww this is so awesome!! gosh I love being a missionary!!! haha. Her Uncle, Irmão Hélio é O CARA. haha He is THE guy. He is awesome! He has helped so much with us teaching his nieces. He is so involved and his testimony that he shares when we teach with him is so powerful and has warmed the hearts of his family members. He has had several people in his family or friends that have been baptised because he wasn’t afraid to introduce it to them. He is a stud! 

Teaching Sarah with Tippetts has been an amazing experience. That just makes seeing her getting baptised that much sweeter and knowing this isn’t the end of her journey, it is only the beginning!! I personally grew closer to my Heavenly Father during the times we were teaching her and the experiences we had. I know He loves me and He loves all of us. We are all His children! I am so grateful that throughout my mission I have been able to grow closer to my Heavenly Father then I ever was before and really go to Him in prayer when I am in need. The scriptures have meant more to me than ever. I'll be honest, I didn’t read my scriptures a lot by myself before the mission. But I have really grown to love them and so grateful for the Heroes and examples that are throughout them. I love the Book of Mormon!! I know it is the word of God! I know that God answers prayers. There are times when my faith is weak, but Heavenly Father is there and strengthens me and builds me up every time. He literally is there for us. We are never alone. Feeling God´s love for another person is one of the most humbling experiences to me. I am so grateful to be out here on a mission.

This week we started teaching Laurena, Ercilia, and Gabriel!! Tippetts had taught them about 2 months ago twice before the went to Gois to visit their parents. They stay here in Gama since they are studying in college in Brasilia. They are way awesome!!!! They are so cool. We feel really strongly that they will get baptised. There is a special spirit that is there every time we teach them. Our lesson this week with Nathalia went really well!! She had a lot of questions for us but we were able to answer them all so she could understand. The only problem is that she is really nervous about going to church without her cousin. So she comes to the English class every Wednesday night but hasn't come on Sunday yet. I promised her that if she came to ours in the morning on Sunday then we would go visit hers at night. Hopefully she can get to come this week.

I miss and love y’all so much!! You are always in my prayers everyday. The Lord is watching over me and I know he is watching over y’all as well :). I am so grateful to give the Lord my all for these two years in Brasil!! 

Eu amo vocês!!! Muito obrigado por tudo. 

tchau,

Elder Bean!!

The Zone

Elder Archuletta

Sarah's baptism day

Sarah and her uncle, Irmåo Hélio 

Elder Labrada

First time performing a baptism, it was awesome!

This picture shows about half of the youth that came out for
the baptism, there was a lot of support!

The three blondes walking around Brasil

Elder Sales, I gave him my Texas Jersey, love this guy!

Elder Grisham

Elder Lenon from my MTC district, he just got his visa and got down here!

Elder D. Call, probably the last time I see him before he finishes his mission and goes home.

Soccer stadium