Seeing the Fruits of Our Labors!!!

Boa Tarde!!!

My week was incredible!!! Seriously was awesome!! One of the best weeks I’ve had on my mission! We worked so hard and are seeing the fruits of our labors!!!

This week we found a ton of new investigators. We found a solid 13 more people that are "bons novos". That are actually wanting to hear our messages and look into it!! We marked 4 baptism dates this week and so now we have 6 in total!! I have never worked so hard on my mission, and never felt so much joy and the Spirit so strong throughout the day!

One of the studs we found was Vinicus. So we are doing tons of contacts in the streets and trying to talk with everyone we see about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  One day, after our studies in the morning, I just looked to Elder Lima and told him I had a feeling we would find someone special who needed to hear what we had to say and would get baptised! So we started the day off!  The first lesson we had marked, we brought a member with us and the lady ended up not being at home.. So that fell through. The member returned home so we started doing contacts. At least the first 8 people rejected us. I was just thinking, wow this day has started off like crap. ha.  But we kept on going! After another contact in the street flat out rejected us, another guy was headed in our direction. He was looking at us (I think just waiting for us to start talkin with him about what we had to share lol) and so we started to talk with him and taught him the whole message of the Restoration in a summarized form on the side of the street. Afterwards I showed him a Book of Mormon and we explained to him what it was. Then, I did something I had never done in my entire mission, I invited a contact in the street to be baptised if he received an answer from his prayers! He accepted and agreed to a date for June 14th!!  Contato de Ouro!! Golden contact!!  The Spirit was super strong talking with him!! 

For the rest of the day we just found so many awesome people who were willing to hear from us!! Including a contact we did with a lady named Fabiana. We went over to her house yesterday. She lives alone with her 3 kids, ages 14, 12, and 8. We taught them the Plan of Salvation and how Families are Eternal. It was so awesome!! During the lesson I felt prompted that we should sing that primary song, Familias Poderão Ser Eternas (Families can be together forever). I have never sang before in a lesson but we had our hymn books with us and we sang it! and the Spirit was so strong!! At the end of the lesson she said she just felt so good and it was all new information to her but she just felt it could be right! She said she has always wanted to believe that families would stay together in the next life but she had always had doubts! Now she feels and knows its true!! We then invited her to be baptised on June 14th and she accepted as well!!! 

We also have been teaching and meeting with a pastor from a different church. Funny story how we met him ha. We planned to meet with one of our investigators at a restaurant. Well after 10 minutes of being there and talkin with her, a pastor showed up to sit with us! So our investigator had called this pastor to come and I guess have a "Bible Bash" with us and try to tear us apart.  Well it ended up being the opposite. And we didn’t know that this guy was coming!  So the Pastor thought we would want to Bash with him I guess but we had just a great conversation with the guy. We read some scriptures together and just talked freely. At the end we showed him the Book of Mormon. After we explained what it was and how we believe in using both The Bible and The Book of Mormon, he got really interested!! How one complements the other.  We ended up marking another day to just visit with him (and not our other investigator, who we have stopped visiting..)  So he had read part of the Book of Mormon and really liked it! It is cool talking with Nicolas cause he already has so much knowledge about the Bible and things other than a lot of the people we teach who Believe in the Bible but have never read it. We just explain to him that we aren’t trying to take away the Truths that he already has a knowledge of, but to add onto the truths he does have with the fullness of the Gospel!!

This week was seriously a blast!! We taught so many people and just had fun going around and sharing this great message with everyone we could find!! There are so many great stories to tell that would take a whole day trying to email them all!! Awesome experiences happen everyday, and I’m so grateful to be more in tune to notice those big things that happen but also those little blessings and miracles we sometimes take for granted.  Its awesome how, the days you work the hardest is when you return home the most happy and full of the Spirit of the Lord!! I love this work and I love my Savior!! I know that He lives! That he died for us so we could one day return to the presence of our Heavenly Father! It is a blessing to take part in this great work here and see the hands of God in the lives of others!! So stoked to see Elder Neil L. Anderson this Saturday who is coming to visit our Mission!!!

I love you!!

Elder Bean

Mother's Day Skype was Awesome!!!

E aí,  como está as coisas!?? :))

Nossa Senhora, skyping yesterday was so Awesome!!! Im so grateful that don’t just gotta rely on handwritten letters, but can skype and write emails. I miss yall so much but it was so great getting to talk with yall!!! I was so pumped afterwards!!! 

This week was awesome!!! I picked up Elder Lima on Tuesday!!! My "son"!!! Hes awesome. He is 24 and from Minas Gerais, Brasil.  He has a lot of desire to serve the Lord and just wants to work work and learn learn. I’ve had a blast being his companion and trainer!!!

We marked a baptism date with Dino, (pronounced G-No) for the 31st of May! He is a stud!! We had a super spiritually awesome lesson with him this week and afterwards he said the prayer before we left. It was such a powerful prayer, and he was just bearing his heart to Heavenly Father. He started crying and I’m not gonna lie, i got a little teary. It was legit!!! And then we also marked a date with Nathalia for the 25th of May, someone we met in the street doing contacts. We talked to her and her boyfriend. Her boyfriend was a way cool dude, he was baptised into the church about 2 years ago but had stopped going about a year ago. We then taught her the next day, and it all just clicked with her! She said it just made sense. Then we promised her that she would receive an answer to her prayers before the 25th of May!! 

Yesterday on Sunday, Sarah (the girl we baptised in February) gave a talk in church and it was awesome!! It was super cool to see her growth in the past few months. Going from teaching her with Elder Tippetts, to seeing her give a great talk about Faith in Church!!! 

I love this Gospel and love being a missionary and helping others come to know what I know and share in the happiness that I have been blessed to have. 

I love yall so much!!!!! Espero que vocês tenham uma ótima semana!!!! :)

Com Amor,

Elder Bean

Studying the gospel!!! 

Me and Elder Lima (his name will probably change to
Elder P. Lima because there is already an Elder Lima in the mission.

Sowards, Lant, Lima, and Me at church on Sunday.

Lunch at house of Agostinho

What I do best...eat

Me and Dino!!! He cooked us a feast of fish and meat!!

With Raimundo, Dino's older brother

Dino's neighbor

                                          

Testimony in Portuguese

New Companion, My "Son" Elder Lima

My "son" gets to email his family today to let them know he made it safe and stuff. I had to send him some photos, so I thought I would also say hi to ya :))))

His name is Elder Lima. He is a 24 year old Brasilian who just got out of the MTC in Sao Paulo yesterday!!! He officially has 14 days in total on the mission (13 days in the MTC)

He is really cool and we bonded really fast.  He is super respectful and told me he is so excited to learn from me. He told me last night how I was the person he was praying for in the MTC even though he didn’t know my name or my face.  Its cool cause he calls me "pai" even though I’m younger than him. He really respects me and looks to me for everything to help teach him and show him how to be a missionary! He is so excited to learn and I am so stoked to work with him!  I will learn so much from him as well!!  so excited momma

Today I gave my first district meeting training! Went really good!!! super spiritual :)

With Elder Lima, my new companion riding in the van to the bus stop.

Elders Sowards, Lant, Me and Lima

With Elder Sena and Elder Fonseca in Cruzeiro.
We spent the night to get our new companions the next day.

Elder Swallow one of the Assistants to the President

Elder Koelliker the other Assistant

Playing futebol for zone activities a couple weeks ago

Monkey in a tree

Zone Alvorada shirts

Service project at a member's home.

Lunch at the Bishop's house with his extended family.

The Bishop (Bispo)

Elicya, the girl that Elder Tippetts and I baptized.

Raillan, the boy I baptized

Transferências!!!! Still in Gama. District Leader and Trainer!!

Today was Transfers!! I stayed in Gama!!!!!! whoooooop.  Both me and Elder Sowards stayed here in Gama together!!!! We were super stoked to find that out. And then today at transfers I found out.... IM GONNA BE A DAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHH whoooooo I'M TRAINING!!!!! hahaha I’m so stoked!!!!  That means my "kid" is still in the MTC right now and he will get here tomorrow!!! I’m pretty sure he will be a Brasilian. Gosh I’m so excited!!!!!  

And on top of that I am also going to be District Leader!!! So crazy!! so with only 9 months and my first time being a Senior companion I will be a District Leader and training!! I’m super stoked! This transfer will be awesome! Elder Lant will be companions with Elder Sowards and he is a really cool guy too. Right now I am in a city called Cruzeiro (near Plano) with Elder Sena and Elder Fonseca. We are staying the day and night here and then tomorrow afternoon we will go and get our new companions. The newbies will arrive at the church tomorrow with President and Sister Gaertner!!!  I feel so blessed and grateful that President Gaertner and the Lord are putting this trust in me and giving me this opportunity to grow and learn!! 

Elder F. Machado and Farias "died" (returned home) on Wednesday!! So after I "killed" F. Machado,  me and elder Sowards were companions until today. It was a good transfer with F. Machado again!! Really prepared me for becoming Senior and my portugues got a ton better. Last night, the Assistants passed over the names of the people in our zone, who was getting transferred or staying. I was super nervous cause I really wanted to stay in Gama! After Sowards got the names, I was so nervous. and then he announced we both stayed!! We were so stoked we just jumped around and celebrated at our investigators house!! haha it was awesome. And then the Assistants said I had to bring an extra pair of clothes to transfers. Which usually means, you’re TRAINING!!  It was an awesome feeling!! I felt like I was actually gonna have a kid!! hahah  I had butterflies in my stomach all day like I use to have before games.  I feel so lucky and blessed. I’m really excited for this opportunity train someone who just got on the mission!!

These past couple weeks have been awesome here in Gama!! We have an investigator, Raimunda, who is progressing really well!! Me and Machado found her doing street contacts. We contacted her Grandson.  We were walking by, and there was a bunch of dudes just sitting against a house. We said hi and kept walking. and after we had already passed them I had the feeling to turn around and go talk to them. So we did, and met Daniel, Raimunda´s grandson. Daniel is a little moley but Raimunda is awesome!! This sweet, kind, funny lady who is in her 60s. She can’t read, but is learning at a school. She has such a deep heart and compassion for us and others. She has been to church the past two weeks!! She can’t walk that great, but a member in the ward here has given her a ride to church each week and taken her home so that has helped a ton! She will probably be baptized on the 17th of May!  Dino has been doing really good too. Me and Sowards taught him the message, The Restoration, again the other day but really straight forward and direct. It was incredible. We brought a member with us, and she bore her testimony at the end and it was so powerful!! Testimonies from the members are so powerful, because it comes from a "normal" person and the investigators can relate more to them. Especially when the member is a convert as well. 

I felt the Spirit so so strong when telling the part of the first vision! It’s just a confirmation to me over and over that it truly did happen. My testimony is strengthened each time. This last time was an incredible experience!!

We have many more investigators that are doing well and progressing!! I think this upcoming week, I will try to do a ton of contacts in the streets to help my new companion learn to feel comfortable sharing the Gospel with everyone. It will be great!!! 

But I am so so excited for... SKYPE!!! YESSSSSS i cant believe Mothers day is almost here already!!!  I saw Olivia’s email.... scared me to death. haah saying she was going out of town and wouldn’t be able to talk with me.. :)) haha she’s hilarious!!! I miss yall so so much!! So excited to get to see yall again!! The time is flying by now in my mission and before I know it I will have 1 year! It’s crazyyy. 

The mission life is incredible. Its awesome how much fun you can have and how happy you are doing this great work!! Coming home exhausted and sometimes beat up mentally but still with a positive attitude!! I have noticed the miracles around me everyday. Helping others come unto Christ, helping others have a better knowledge and better relationship with God, and serving these people with whatever they need is such a blessing to me! Its crazy how, when we truly put others needs above our own, and serve others, we are indeed serving God! And in turn, by serving others, we receive so many blessings for it! I love this Gospel!! Heavenly Father is so awesome!! I am so grateful for the relationship I now have with Him and I can carry that with me, even after my mission!! I love the scriptures and the answers to my prayers that I find in them!! 

This work is true!! I know it is and so grateful to go out everyday, sharing this wonderful message we bring to the world!!!  

I love you!!!!!!!!!

Elder Bean "Pai" 

P.S.

Me and the Pizza guy are back to being best buds again :) hahaha  whenever we order pizza, its awesome chatting it up with him for 10 minutes. super cool dude