i'm coming home

Well this is probably my last email and since we talked yesterday I am not sure what to say. 

 

I guess it is sufficente to say that I worked really hard. For two years I worked for Heavenly Father. And that is about all I can say. 

 

Sometimes there were results sometimes there weren´t that was up to him and up to the agency of the people who recieved my message. I can say two things I never stopped working and i never broke rules. 

 

That seems to have been the test. 

 

The Lord wanted to see who would be obedient and who would work.

 

I learned to Love him here. I learned to love Heavenly Father more than I did before. I learned to work hard and love much.

 

I hope you all have enjoyed my emails thanks for all the support and for the love,

 

Elder Noel

So I am in a new area with a new companion and a new zone.

 

Things here are different. Only 14 people in the zone as opposed to 24. And the zone is a stake instead of a district with a larger growth ratio in the last trimester. The stake has had a lot of problems in the past with missionaries and with members but recently has gotten a lot better and is growing a lot.

 

This week I had to say good bye to my district which was pretty hard. It is odd how much friendship you make even when you just see each other once a week when you are all working really hard for one goal. I made the best cinnamon rolls that i have ever made for the good bye district meeting. So many good byes as a missionary.

 

I got a letter from Catherine and 2 from Hannah. Catherine is doing well I guess. She wrote me from the MTC so I dont~know how she is right now haha. But she liked it. Hannah is doing really well. IT was funny because you said she was liking the MTC but she told me she wasn~t really liking it. haha She said the first 3 weeks were like an eternity.

 

I also got your Package which was nice. I loved the chocolate and the notes were fun :)

 

Good to here that SVU gave me some money. I hope that it all works out. I know it will.

 

This week we had a meeting with Presidente Fernandes that was really good. He talked a lot about Planning. Which is something I need to get better at. I get so excited to do something that I forget to plan and my work suffers. He helped alot by talking about vision and how we have to see where we want to go before we can get there.

He really is incredible. He has turned this Mission around. For 10 years the church in this mission was basically dormant. And now it is the mission that grows the most in Brasil. It is incredible to me to see how the Lord put me with a President that helped me work the way I wanted to. He isn~t worried about Baptisms he is worried about real growth. And that is what is happening. The number of priesthood holders and number of people in sacrament meeting went up constantly over the past year. Something that it hasn~t done in a long time. It is cool to see that because sometimes we think that nothing we do makes a difference because no one gets baptized but we know that things are moving forward.

I know that Christ lives and that he loves me. I know that through him we can be perfect and we can be sanctified. I love him.

 

I also love all of you.

 

Elder Noel

So this week started out with a trip to Florianopolis on monday via Airplane. Tuesday night we came back to Chapecó via onibus (12 hours) and we had 22 boxes that people sent to missionaries. The bus company wanted to charge us more for our boxes  because there is a limit for bagage that isn~t written anywhere I asked him to show me the rule and he couldn~t show me but told me that it was a rule. I had to keep my mouth shut not to yell in him face about how stupid it was to have a un written rule about baggage when everyone needs to know how much you can bring. I was pretty upset but he gave us a discount for the baggage so it all turned out good. 

 

We didn~t really sleep on the bus so we were tired and the next day we worked normally and then on thurday we had a zone meeting that we had planned for the last month and we announced it 2 weeks earlier to everyone so that they could plan accordingly. The day before a missionary called me telling me he would be late because he had to do some errands before coming and wouldn~t be able to come on time. Once again I had to keep my mouth shut. But ended up convincing to come on time (he just wanted to show up grab his boxes and leave) and stay for the meeting (actually i didn~t really convince him I just told him that if he didn~t want to come on time he didn~t need to come at all)

 

Then on thursday I woke up at 5 after sleeping on the floor because we didn~t have mattresses for everyone and had a very stressful zone meeting that no one paid attention to (that is super dissapointing when you talk and practice and pray and no one pays attention) so I was a little frustrated and tired ( luckily a letter with pictures cheered me up for a little) then we went on with our week and saturday came and I was planning to fast and almost cried thinking about fasting because I wasn~t sure I could but ended up fasting anyway and it all turned out well. 

 

Yesterday we had some lessons with members that were amazing and we are working on the baptisms of Claudio and Margaride. We are really excited for them. 

 

I love being a missionary!!!

 

Hope all is well on the home front!

Wright

another crazy week

So this week was pretty crazy. 

 

From Chapecó (where I am right now) to Florianopolis. (Where I need to go to the mission meetings) is 11 hours on a bus. On tuesday i went to Florianopolis. On Thursday i came back. haha and both the buses were at night which means that i didn~t sleep this week because monday was the transfer and I was getting elders at the bus station all night. But it was a great meeting with Presidente Fernandes and this area is really special. 

 

We have marked 3 baptisms this week. That is crazy. How many baptisms did I mark in 8 months in Sao Fransisco? .... 2. haha it is really strange to have people accepting us and accepting baptism. I actually don~t really know what to do. hahaha

 

My new companion is a really good Elder. He is a little hard in his leadership style but he is a great leader and wants to help the missionaries. He teaches well and is obedient. I think he is the best zone leader that I have seen all in all. I was a little offended by that at first because I am a prideful jerk who wanted to be better than him.I was a little rebelious in the beginning but then Heavenly Father gave me a little inspiration. He told me that This might be the last time on my mission that I have a chance to sit back and learn from someone. It has been 9 months since I have had a companion with more time than me on the mission and might be the last. So I should enjoy the time and the chance to learn. After I learned that I started having better feelings for him. 

 

Yesterday we had an incredible experience here. The branch President asked us to do a presentation called Project: Chapecó Temple. That is a little strange because here only has a district and hasn~t even turned stake but he asked us to do this. Then He moved back to Sao Paulo. My companion who was planning it all with me was transfered and one of the sisters who had a significant part was also transfered. All one week before the fireside. Leaving ME with all the responsibilty of something that I had recieved second hand. haha I prayed and fasted for help and we worked a lot to practice and perform well. 

 

We borrowed computers from members and a projector from another area (4 hours away another story and another miracle) and we got ready. We prayed and it turned out great. 

 

My companion was fantastic in envolving the crowd and the members got into the practices we did with them and the fireside had an incredible spirit that you could see in the eyes of the members as they left. I am so excited to see what happens here. I know that one day there will be a temple here. We just need to work more. 

 

It was such a strong testimony of the power of grace. We did all we could and Heavenly Father made up the rest. We couldn~t have done that fireside as well as we did alone. It just ins~t possible. we don~t have the skills or the resources but the members helped and Heavenly Father sent a special spirit to the meeting that was incredible. 

 

I love being a missionary. It is something so special. 

 

 

Just a little comment here. Our district is great. We have 4 great elders and 2 great sisters that are all hard workers and very spiritual. It is so fun to be part of a district like that. They are funny and we can laugh and learn and have a great time together. They were fantastic in the presentation and afterward we had a little party with cinnamon rolls (made by me) and there was just a special feeling when 6 righteous people are together to do something good. 

 

Well thank you all for everything that you do. For your prayers and for your thoughts. 

 

Love you all,

 

Wright

October 22, 2012

Well I just got a call from the President telling me that I will be going to Chapeco.

 

So this week was kind of crazy with lots of made plans and fallen trough plans lots of contacts and some bright spots of progress with investigators. The highlight of the week was making cinnamon rolls with My companion and then making them bymyself  the next day for a family night. It was so cool to have members like them and things like that. I love cooking! haha unfortunately all the things I bought to help myself out here will have to be packed up because I was transfered.....

 

When the General Authority Elder Godoy came here he talked to us about two side of missionaries. The attributes side and the tactics side. That every missionary has these two sides the attributes to be like Christ and the Tactics to teach. I have thought a lot about that. As I read the book of Mormon I see that Moroni was so impressive because he understood the two sides. He had the attributes, but more importantly he understood that attributes are more impórtant than tactics. The lord rewards us based on our attributes. As moroni Prespared for war he put the attributes first. But he was also tactically brillant. He worked on the tactics and with inspiration he used tactics never before used. He was amazing.

 

I want to be like that. I want to have the Christ like attributes to see and help people and have the tactics to get things done.

 

I love you lots. I am so greatful for the prayers that you say for me. I am greateful that I have such a wonderful family that is truly faithful. I see so many problems here with kids because the parents don~t love each other or because the parents are more interested in themselves than the welfare of the family. I am so greatful for you two.

 

Thank you so much for everything.

 

Wright

 

Hey so I tried to make bread this morning lets see how it works out:)

So for the first time I will be leaving the Brazilian Coast. I was transfered to a small town in another state (Rio Grande do sul) called vacaria. So we will see how it goes. I know my companion already. He is from my group and has had a hard time so far on the mission. SO pray that I will be able to help the branch and also be able to help the missionary as well.

It is so odd to leave an area. I only had 6 weeks here but I love these people already. It is so great to be a missionary because you feel a love for everyone. But the hard part is that you are always coming and going. I guess life is kind of like that but that doesn~e make it any easier.

We had the stake dance festival here in our ward and had 3 investigators and 1 less active member that came to watch which was super fun. The youth did a great job and it was super fun to see everyone just excited about being in the church. Especially when it was competely modest and appropriate. It was so great.

I never know what to say in these emails.... haha sorry but it is so true.

I am glad that someone came to look at the truck. I hope it all went well. I have been a little stressed about everything this week. Mostly due to the fact that my life is completey blank after june of 2013. haha I have so many loose ends and sometimes they all come back to stress me out. But that is part of faith right. Knowing nothing more than God will help and moving forward.

My companion(who is just trained) will go back to San Fransisco  (where I just left) so he wil get to teach all the people that I taught there and will get to help in the growth of the church. He will be great there.

Well I love you all. I feel like time is passing really quickly right now. I hope we all make the best of it:)

Love Elder Noel

9-17-2012

Hey mom/dad so this week was a good week. 

 We had the chance to talk to a lot of people in their houses which is kind of rare here. haha and Heavenly Father opened doors for us that I never thought we would be able to get into. Please pray that we might be able to help these people as they grow in the Church. 

 The highlight of the week was that we had the chance to sit next to Leandro in church. Leandro is a man who two years ago was involved pretty deeply in international drug trafficking. He left and started going to churches but was a little confused as to why there are so many churchs and why so many talk about money so much. He saw us taking a break outside his house and asked if we wanted water. we said no and then he asked if we wanted an orange, you know me mom I never accept food from other people but I said sure and he cut up some oranges and told us his story. we marked a lesson and visited him with a member. 

 That was two weeks ago. This week he came to church for the first time. As the choir sung (As sisters in zion and Well bring the world his truth,) he told his story to the member and his wife as tears rolled down his face. He cried for the whole church meeting. It was something so powerful that reminded me that there is so much more than us. We as missionaries are pretty much nothing. We cant speak well. we are uneducated and we are immature. But as Heavenly Father helps us we can see miracles in the lives of his children. 

 I am increasinlgy horrified but the focus that the mission puts on Baptism. It worries me alot. I know we need to baptise people but is that really our Goal? Peter invited people to be baptized only after they had gained a testimony that Christ was the Messiah. Christ and his apostles baptised those who wanted to follow him. John baptised those who believed his words. Shouldn~t that be the first step? Testimony? Baptism comes after testimony. I dont know how to see this focus on baptism. It scares me but at the same time I see it as almost a necessary evil. Are we as missionaries ready to recieve the doutrine of teach for testimony and baptise the repentant? I don~t know. But that is how I teach and how I work.

 I love you guys I pray for you and for all that you do to help other people and to help me. 

 

 

 

Well this week we found some cool people to teach. The work is starting up here which is cool to see and fun to watch the members get excited about the work. I always have fear to invite members to our lessons because sometimes they think they know better than us how to teach. Wchich ends up being a head ache.... but it is fun to see how exctied they get afterward. 

The bishop told us about his missino and how he didn~t get up at 630 ever. That he always got up´ before to study or read. That is a pretty interesting thought. I am thinking about starting my day a little earlier.... 

 

Recently I have had several members tell us about reading the BOM and how fast they read it. Or how many times they read it on the Mission. Do you know how many times I will read the BOM before the end of my mission. NOT ONCE. I am in Alma 30 and started in the MTC reading slowly and studying the book Marking who is speaking and where and why drawing maps and things. I have started to understand so much more. I learn things as I understand WHO is talking to who and why. I have gained a new appreciation for Mormon. It is mostly his insights that we have in the book or mormon. I love his perspective. The way he talks about events and the way things happen. Little words here and there show how he understood and knew our Heavenly Father. 

 

As of late my understanding of study has changed. We dont study to read the BOM or the BIble. We read to know GOD (John 17:3) I get so frustrated with people (members non members and missionaries a like) who know the scriptures but don~t know God. IT is so sad. They have gained a telestial knowlege through telestial study. As we study and write with the intent to use the books not as manuals for obediance but rather as sources of knowlege designed to change behavior we start to understand and apply in a celestial way.

 

But enough preaching. This week was good. I am tired and ready to rest. haha There are a ton of hills here and I need to change my eating because my waist is smaller now than when I left home. haha

 

Love you guys

 

 

 

 

What a week filled with tears.

Monday in the branch We had a family home evening/ say goodbye to Elder Noel where the branch President asked everyone to write a little note to me. It is these little things that really give us rewards. Those pieces of paper don~t have value to me. They are literally invaluable. I love these people so much.

There was one girl who lives in a family all alone. I believe she is the only sane person in her house. And the note she wrote about finding strength was so touching that it changed the way I looked at myself.

Tuesday I left in the morning and half the brach came to the bus station to say goodbye again and the sang a song. I cried and hugged everyone.

So tuesday I got here and Wednesday I met my companion. He is from São Paulo. He is cool and is well prepared and ready to work. We are going to do miracles here I know it. The Ward Mission Leader here is so good and the bishop is great. I have no doubt that the ward here is going to start to grow.

This week since we know nothing about the area or the members or the work we just started working. We talked to 202 people from wednesday to yesterday and were able to teach 2 lessons. But one of them was with an amazing man. His name is Fabio and he accepted our message because he is doing his doctorate in English and wanted to speak english. So I taught him in English. He is gay. He said that he wants to change but he doesn~t know how. He wants to have a family but he just doesn~t feel attracted to women. He asked why he was made so wrong why God would deny him that privelege here on earth. It was so eye opening to me. That this man saw homosexuality as a burden. We invited him to stake conference and he came. He liked it and he said he would start reading the book of mormon. He is amazing and I am so excited to help him change his life.


He asked me what sucess for me would be with him. If he started frequenting would that be sucess or if he was reading or what? It was such a deep question. What is sucess to me?  Where am I taking my investigators? Why am I working with them? It was pretty introspective.

This was a hard week for me. To show up in an area all alone in a small area divided in 2 smaller areas and just having to work. At having 4 missionaries and having less of a chance to impress members. I felt a little overwhelmed a little cramped and a little mad at President for doing this. I had some talks with my Heavenly Father about this. I got such a new perspective. I was actually kind of slapped in the face. I felt this `where is your faith, do you  think that President just put you there because he wanted to?`  I was a little taken aback. Then I just thought ok lets go. Started singing Gosple rock and reading my Book of Mormoin. I love that book. It helps so much.

I am going to start to try working in a different manner here. Not to please anyone but to work to find the right people. Not to make numbers but to find the people prepared to hear us. I dont want to waste anymore time with people who don~t want to listen. I am going to try and start working in a more celestial manner. It will be so hard to let go of that Pride factor of hey I teach lots of lesson and just have my work between me and my Heavenly Father.

I love you guys so much.


Wright

So my companion was emergency transfered out of the area after he had 2 little mini seizures on the street. Pretty interesting. Luckily we had 2 other missionaries with us so we were able to keep him from falling down but still a little interesting. 

My new companion is also a short term missionary who is living in the state and waiting to go on his full time mission. He is cool and we will get a long well. These last three weeks in the area will go fast. 

This week we had a little miracle with Kelly and Valdo (the family from my time with Elder Grondel) she cooled off and then recently has started wanting more. After a few lessons we made some promesses about things that we would each do (her, me my companion and her husband) to help her get a testimony. After little progess we had a lesson with her on saturday night where i felt impressed to stress the importance of quiet prayer with the book of Mormon. I told her to go into her room and read and pray quietly to get a testimony. 

The next morning before church we stopped by and talked to her and she told us that she had done what we asked and that she just opened the book randomly to Alma 5 (haha) and started to read. She read vs 40 That says that everything good comes from God and everything bad comes from the Devil. She took that to mean that she needs to follow a church. She just needs to have a stronger confirmation that THIS church is the church that she needs to follow. Pray for her she is so close!!!

Ademar and Adainane got all their papers ready and are going to start the marriage papers today!!! I hope I am still her for the wedding!!!  

Next week we will get a new branch presidente I think i know who it will be (he was the only one called to the stake offices yesterday... hmmmm) and he will be great. We will do miracles with him. 

The work here is going great:)

This week I read in alma 17 about the mission of the sons of Mosiah. They were told by the Lord to go a preach the word of God.And after the lord said be patient in your suffering to give a good example of me to the lamanites. How important is a good example? we remember that in alma 24 the anit-nephi-lehites were examples of suffering even unto death and they just from the example converted thousands of their bretheren. I want to be a better example of Christ this next year. 

Love you all hope all is well,

Wright

Ok so this week was exciting. 

Wednesday we went to eat lunch at the house of Roberto. He made some french fries for us and we were eating a delicious lunch when his wife asked him to make some more fries for the daugter who was coming to eat lunch. She put the pan of oil on the stove and told him about it. 

We were eating and talking and he (we, but really him because it is his house) forgot about it. Then he remembered and went in to find the oil on fire. So we were opening the windows and clearing the house as he put a lid on the pan and the fire went out. I went into the kitchen to see how it was and he took the lid off the pan. The pan started to smoke and he grabbed it to take it outside. As he was walking to the door it caught fire again and as he moved the oil spilled onto his hand and arm. As he let the pan go the oil (now spread out in the air) caught fire in a big fire ball.

At this point Elder Noel is in disbelief that this is happening right before his eyes and doesn~t really know what to do. 

The brother was more worried about his autistic son who had followed him into the kitchen and was right by his side when the pan caught fire. I grabbed the boy and carried him out of the kitchen as the sister called the ambulance. The brother went into the bathroom and was about to put water on his arm when I remembered that oil burns shoudn~t be put directly under water (or thats what I thought I couldn~t quite remember my first aid merit badge) Anyways I yelled Não água!!! (Water no! ) and ran into the bathroom and wrapped a towel around his arm. Then we soaked the towel in water and wrapped it around his arm. 

Anyways he is fine now with 2nd and 3rd degree burns on his hand and arm but he is recovering well. His autistic son was only burned by 3 drops of oil that fell on his hand. That is it. Only 3 drops of oil. Heavenly Father was watching. I saw that pan explode. It was like a movie his whole body was covered in fire and the son that was right next to him was unharmed. 

So I with 2 bus accidents, 1 severe burning and various epileptic seizures from my companion (5 and counting) this area is hands down the most exciting area on the mission. haha

Oh Kelly and Valdo, who I talked about when I was here with Elder Grondel decided to start investigating the church again!! We made some goals yesterday with her so that she could get a testimony. (Just as a side note her husband said he had a dream with `the prophet` where I and the prophet walked in and knelt down and started praying for Kelly. I thought he dream about president monson because he had seen a picture of him in the church. But i grabbed the gosple principles book and showed him a picture of the Prophets and said was it one of them? He looked and said it was this one and pointed to a picture of Presidente Hinkley!! He said but he was younger and didn~t have glasses. He had never seen a picture of him before and had no Idea who he was. But in the dream I and my companion (President Hinkley) walked in knelt next to Kelly who was laying on the bed and started praying for her. Cool huh! Pray that we can help her get a testemony. 

Well thanks for the love and the support. I love you all. It is great to be out here. 

Love,

Wright

P.S. this week our class of gosple principles with new members and in actives was bigger than the gosple doutrines class. people kept telling me congratulations but I felt bad because I feel like I havn~t really done a lot. More like I just received blessings from Heavenly Father. But either way the branch is growing!!! 

Attatched is a picture of my leg.....

To answer your question mom I have vitamins but I haven~t been taking them. I guess I should. I eat really healthy in general. I have lost weight since my first area and my body fat is down (bigger muscles I guess). I eat only whole wheat bread and have recently been buying chicken breasts and cooking them on Pday to eat during the week. I don~t really eat at night because we work from 1 in the afternoon until 9 at night and when I eat at night I get stomach aches so I just eat breakfast and lunch. Just letting you know that I am feeding myself and taking care of myself (exept for that little leg thing but that really wasn~t my fault)

Well not a whole lot of news this week. We started teaching some new people who have interest to get to know the church which is always good. We really have been guided to good people here. The people have more interest to know the church and to know what we are doing as missionaries.

I think this comes from a desire to be different from other churches. When we act just like other churches people dont~have a whole lot of interest to see our church. but when we explain our beliefs as a restored church we have more interest from people. That was hard for me. To look people in the eye and say that this church is THE restored Church of Jesus Christ. But when I got over that hump we started having more interest from people. 

It is really cool to see people who are getting to know this church as something different. 

I asked to stay another transfer here (that would make it from 28/1 until 15/8 that I stayed here. I hope president lets me stay. I love it here and the people are helping a lot. We are going to change branch Presidents here so I want to avoid loss of information. Everytime a switch happens we lose a little of the information and I want to avoid that with a transfer and a swap in presidents at the same time.

So pray that our president will be inspired in whatever he decides to do. 

I love you guys. Crazy to think that only 11 months and I will be home. Time goes so fast!

I love you!!!

Wright

A visit to the Dr.

So this week we went to Joinville (the biggest city in the state) that is about 1 hour away from our area. We had a zone meeting and then I was off to the hospital as the apparent bug bite on my leg continued to get worse. By wednesday my inner thigh was swollen from the knee to about 3/4 of the way up the leg and the bite opened and started to ooze blood. 

On the way to the hospital we got a call from the assitant that Elder Welling would be transfered to the other side of the state. 

I entered the hospital and was treated by a doctor who said that it really was an ingrown hair that got infected. He injected it with      some anestetic and used a pair of medical scissors to open it up and clean it out. Then he grabbed my leg and squeezed out the blood and whatever else was in there. 

So right now I have about a 2cm deep hole in my leg that oozes dries on my clothes and opens again when I move my legs. But i am on antibiotics and am doing great. Friday I stayed home and rested while my new companion unpacked his bags and rested from the 13 hour bus ride. I felt like a bad missionary but I got over it. haha

My new companion is Elder Aguiar from the state of Santa Catarina. He has Epilepsy and tried to go on a mission but wasn~t allowed to because of the medical situation and is doing a short term mission of 9 months here in the state. 

Our time together will be good for me. He has an interesting personality so my pacience will be growing. I am working with him now to get him to have more confidence in his abilities. These short term missionaries aren~t really trained by other missionaries and it shows that he doesn~t feel the same as other misionaries. We are working together to get him teaching and excited to work. He has a great spirit and we will do miracles here. 

Yesterday was the dedication of the Manaus Brazil temple. So we didn~t have sacrament meeting and got to watch the dedication. It was fantastic. It was really cool to see Elder Cook and President Uchtdorf outside of General Conference. They looked so Human. It was really cool to see that and understand that they are people too. They are great people but still people and they have their weaknesses and trials and feel uncomfortable too. I am so grateful for the chance I had to watch the dedication.

I am doing well. This new companion brings new challenges and opportunities. Chances for me to teach alone which I like a lot better than working with others and chances for me to show him his potential as a missionary.

I read a book about an LDS boy who did some crime and the victim of the crime was helping him to understand his worth with the phrase Eagles don~t eat worms. Reminding us that a majestic eagle doesn~t stoop to eat worms. Just like we shouldn~t settle for less in our lives. We are children of our Heavenly Father. It is something I hope that we can come to understand better together.

Remember Eagles Don~t eat worms.

Love,

Wright Noel

1/2 way point

This coming week will make one year since I left!!! Crazy how fast things move. Seems like not too much has changed there... lol.

Today I am a little sick. I think this comes from a bug bite that I have on my inner thigh. I got it friday night I think but yesterday It started hurting a lot and I noticed a red line leaving the circle of red around the bite. I called Sister Fernandes and explained (in portuguese) about this thing on my leg. She said it could be a parasite of some kind. A worm that enters your body and starts eating its way through your veins.... interesting huh? haha So today I will be talking to some kind of medical professional about this.

Hey have you guys ever heard of a film called Charly? It is made by a guy who is a member of the church and is a story about a girl who joins the church. Elder Welling and I watched it this week. It was good. If you guys can get your hands on it it is a good family film.

This week passed quickly. We found some new people to start teaching which is always a good thing. People with real promise. So we will be praying for them that we can help their families join the church.

Our branch president will move this month so it looks like we will be here for a branch presidency change. Which will be interesting because there are limited men who are qualified (by requirements) for the position and most of them have already served. There are lots of men here who recently returned to activity so the number of qualified priesthood holders is beginning to grow and this branch will be really strong soon.

Well I love you lots. Sorry this email wasn~t very interesting I am a little out of it today.

Love you,

Elder Noel

May 21st, 2012

Well I will be staying in São Fransisco for another transfer and my Companion will be..... Elder.... Welling. haha Two boys for the same state who arrived in Brazil on the same day staying 4.5 months together in the same area. haha Crazy

This week was a good week. Went by really fast and we survived another bus wreck. This one not nearly as bad but caused by another drunk driver driving the wrong way on the road. This time we were on a city bus so it is a good thing that we didn~t lose control or you would probably be getting this email from the mission office haha.

About 3 weeks ago Elder Welling and I prayed about which members we should visit to do a program with us like Elder Aiken did with our Family. We both felt like we should visit this family that is really weird and that is super uncomfortable to be around so we went to another family with plans to pass by this family one day. Yesterday we passed by this family and spent the first 15 minutes in the most awkward conversation with pauses pregnant with oitoplets. Finally we were able to break the ice and started talking to them. They hadn~t been to church in 3 weeks and expressed to us how happy they were that we had come. We were the first people to visit them in the three weeks that we had been away from the church. Isn~t it funny how the Lord knows who needs a visit? We didn~t even do the missionary program with them. Just shared a message and left. It was a really good experience. 

This next week we have the baptism of Vitoria. The family that Heavenly Father Showed us is progressing really well and despite a few hiccups in the logistical side of things we are really excited with them. We are trying to reactivate all 6 of his children and we need all the prayers and all the faith we can get to help us do this.

Oh in other news this week Elder Welling got a phone call that a package with his name on it got taxed.... he was waiting for one from his family so lets hope it wasn~t his from you guys that got taxed and sent back. haha Or else he will have one shoe... lol

Anyways love you guys lots the work is progressing here,

Love 

Elder Noel

May 14th, 2012

It was so good to talk to you guys!!

I miss you.I am convinced that talking to the family makes it worse more than it helps. haha but oh well.

So you worried me about my truck.... if the seat is torn now and the seatbelt doesn~t work anymore I am a little worried that it wont~get the value it wouldn have gotten when I was there. If that is the case take the brush guard off (hamilton knows how) and sell the truck for a lower value and I will use the brush guard to spruce up my next truck (or my honda civic as the case may be haha)

It was good to see everyone. Blonde hair on the boys was a little wierd but it looked pretty cool so I liked it. The girls seemed quiet and shy by maybe that is because I couldnt hear very well. haha

Kindles and I pads and Yoga and Garmins.... the blessings of having a missionary are coming in pretty well huh? haha It was cool to see how much is changing and hear that you guys are doing well.

My companion and I had a little fight last night. I brought up something that bugged me. I was just going to let it go but I figure this is all good practice for marriage right? So i said it. He comes from a family where the mom and dad didn~t sleep in the same bed for about 4 years so his way of dealing with relationships is completely different than mine and so we had a little discussion. But no tears or yelling so it is all good.

Oh in this email from President he informed us of a new program they are doing. It is called the winter coat program. They have asked all American misisonaries to ask for a coat from their families. It can be used or new or anything but the coats here are really expensive and the mission doesn~t have enough money to buy them for missionaries that don~t have them. some of the brazilians from the north have never needed a coat and don~t have so they are asking this now. If you guys don~t have the money to buy a coat please use the money from my account to buy one and send it to the mission office. Just address it to President Fernandes or something like that and specify that it is a coat and it will all work out well.

Love you guys! Thank you so much for all the support,

Wright

May 7, 2012

So I am assuming that my time to call you guys is good? 7 o´clock here which is 2 o´clock in the afternoon there. Should be fine right? If not reply before sunday because at 7 o´clock sunday I will open up my email to make sure it will all work out. So good luck! haha

I thought Elder Aiken was transfered a while ago? I sent him a letter about 4 months ago but he never replied..... oh well if you see him give him a hug for me.

This week I am a little frustrated with the branch here. That family we found is waiting on an interview so that the dad can baptize his daughter. I have been waiting for 3 weeks to get this interview done. It is frustrating but oh well. This área is diffucult because people don~t really stay here. It is a tourist town and people move in and out. We are working right now with 5 potencial Priesthood holders of the Melquesideque priesthood that have firm roots here so if we can get the branch excited about that it is five new families that could help change this branch. We need lots of prayers.

This week we visited Andrei. His baptism is marked for the 26th of May. The transfer is on the 22nd so we will see who is here and who is not haha. He wears earings. We had never talked about Earrings with him before and I was pretty hesitant to say anything about them. But yesterday we decided that we would talk about it. When we said it he got this weird look on his face and said wow I was just about to say something about that. As of tomorrow I won~t be using them anymore.

It is amazing how the Gosple acts on people. It is making changes in the lives of so many people. If people are just willing to live it then they will see miracles in their lives. Jonathan who is an intelligent but hard headed man has completely changed because of the Gosple. He was pretty against baptism because of some things that he was uncomfortable with but after 4 months in church reading the Book of Mormon and reading other books of the church he is ready to be baptized. He is just waiting on a marriage that can~t be done because his wife is 17 but she will turn 18 in july and we will have a baptism for them as well. Pray for them because they will move to another area here in a little and I hope that the missionaries there can be patient enough with him to help him be baptised. It is probably good he is moving because he has offended about every male member here. hahahaha

This week we also taught Alda. A less active member that we found through a miracle. She had a friend over and the friend was from a different church. Alda, with all the energy of a young missionary began to explain how Joseph Smith compiled the plates and burried them and that Moroni discovered them. After we fixed that little point of doctrine she explained how just like God talks to this ladies preacher he also talks to the Prophet...... It is a good thing that Preach My Gosple says that we should work with members or else I would not work with them at all hahaha but we love Sister Alda she is an amazing lady who has suffered a lot. Her activity in the church is the result of sacrifices that she makes. She is amazing.

Well this week was another good one. Give everyone my love and in 6 days we will see eachother on the SKYPE!

love you,

Wright

Thank you so much for sending the shoes. I hope they get here. 

I am sorry but I don~t really understand the two box shoe logic. Wouldn~t it be better to get 0 shoes than 1 shoe...but the Lord works in misterious ways so I will be praying that they get here. Oh to ease your mind your second package got here. I loved the valentines. Mckaye is so funny. Her hannah comics make me laugh everytime. haha

So this week we had a huge miracle here. 

Here in Brazil they have a huge problem with unkown people. With the address system and the records system there are a lot of things that get dropped through holes. 

So as missionaries we are working with the lists of members to find people and update addresses and things. It is a great way to find people because it shows a more professional side of our work rather than just knocking doors. 

Because of this we were trying to find a woman named Mariana. We went to her house but she had moved. So we went to the new address not really knowing where she was but having a rough explanation in a foreign language. Naturally we felt comfortable enough to go looking for her. So we found the street and started walking down it knocking on doors every 100 yards and asking for Mariana. Eventually we found her. She was a little cold but she accepted a visit from us on a different day. She told us that her Dad lived 2 houses down and was also a member. (His name was not on the list) we visited him and walked into his front room (which was layed out like a church....) he told us that he was baptized 30 years ago in another city and moved her 25 years ago. At that time there was not church here and he didn~t have the money to ride the bus to Joinville so he stopped. He went to other churches but was discouraged by embezelment and lack of doctrine. He was frequenting the 4-square church and was having meetings in his house but eventually stopped. His wife told us firmly that they had decided not to go to church anymore just stay home and read the bible and pray. They had been disgusted by religion in general. That was about 2 months before we showed up. 

We, being led completely by the spirit found his home. We set up an appointment with him the next tuesday. That tuesday we gave the first lesson. Thinking that it would remind them why THIS church is different. Oh my goodness. The spirit was so strong. It was so easy to talk and the thought pattern just flowed. I usually don~t talk a lot about the priesthood and more about the Gosple of Jesus Christ but this time I felt like we should talk about the priesthood. (We had planned a different focus but it was strange because I completely forgot what it was during the lesson. Like I could n~t remember where the scriptures were and Elder Welling had the same feelings so we just didn~t teach that part) After we finished and invited them back to church the mom started crying and told us how she remembered the blessings here husband used to give her children with the priesthood. It was without doubt the most powerful moment on my mission. 

That night during planning Elder Welling and I just sat and talked about it. We just started crying because it was something that we never thought we would have. In the MTC you have all these stories and ideas and philosophies about how the mission is and you arrive in the field to find out that it is way different and that you lose some of that faith that those experiences happen. But we had one. And it wasn~t from us. It was just because the spirit was with us and he told us what to say. It was an experience unforgetable. 

He is a melquezedque (sp) holder and has 5 kids that live in the city and are married. Another with 15 years that lives with them. They got to other churches but they have positive contact with the church already. He has 17 grandchildren. He is a response to our prayers. They were never sealed so we are working with them to get to the temple. 

Heavenly Father loves us. And he is responding to our prayers. There are alot of people praying in the branch for this and we are working hard for it. He loves us. 

Love you lots,

Elder Noel

( wright still loves his truck...here's his instructions to someone who is borrowing it right now)

But I am assuming you got it working for now? (And is this a you break it you pay for it thing?)

I hope he knows some things
1) the electric fuel pump under the cab has a fuel filter infront of it, if you don~t change that fuel filter every month you could burn out the injection pump because the fuel pressure goes down
2) Keep checking the oil and water
3) Make sure he turns off the manual glow plug switch. You won~t burn out glow plugs but you will burn out that big relay
4) Add some fuel additive every couple tanks it will help the injection pump last longer.
5)Tell him to enjoy that bench seat, most comfortable truck I have ever ridden in.

Anyways this week,

Had that family of Kelly say they don~t want anymore. I wanted to cry. It is frustrating not becasue they said no to me but because they refused Christ. They had the spirit so strong in their house and she wants to stay Catholic.

Our new Family, Aldemar e Adianiae are progressing well and we had a lessson with Sandro this week which went really well.

We had more inactive members come to church this week which was wonderful! The work with inactives here is really strengthening the branch and the number of people frequenting the church is really growing. When I got here it was about 30-40 and now it is about 60. And all because the members decided to start working with inactive people. The members are so key. We can~t do anything without them.

I am starting to realize that as missionaries we really can~t do a whole lot. We are just supposed to teach with the spirit work hard and let God work through us and help the members do misionary work. We are pretty much cheerleaders haha. It is a good perspective to have. I have stopped worrying so much about what I will do and more about how I will accept the counsel and the help that comes from Heavenly Father. I love it.


This was a great week. Learned alot. I was thinking about how sad I felt when Kelly and Valdo rejected the gospel. And was like man I can~t wait until the mission is over so I can~t feel this anymore and then I thought about how Sandro´s daughter rejected the church and I thought this is life and then I thought about Heavenly Father and I thought this is Eternity... hahaha

We really have to respect free agency,

Love you Guys,

Elder Noel


PS Tell that guy to love that truck. I miss her. And please tell Scott Hi for me. He is a great guy and I learned a lot from him. Though I feel like I gave him a lot of problems :/ oh well

Ok Family,

This week was a lot less exciting. Gave a flawless baptismal interview (ok well not flawless but a lot more flawless than my last one) and had a much more boring bus ride home afterward (but you better believe that this time we wore our seatbelts)

This week Kelly whose husband wants to be baptized and who has been progressing so much sat us down and told us that she doesn~t think that she will get a testimony and that she wants to go back to the Catholic church.

So we explained to her that there is only one church that teaches the path of Christ. And that there is no possible way for this Church to be a good church. either it is the church that Christ established and restored or it is a lie. We taught that to her and promessed that she would get a testimony if she read and prayed this week everyday. Thursday we go back to see how her week went.

But we Found another amazing couple! Aldemar and Adiainae. They came to church by themselves this week and liked it!! It was so good to see them come in and see the light in their eyes afterwards. The saturday before we taught about celestial marriage and this week we will teach about celestial families and how they can have a celestial family.

It is amazing here. We had another good week. We are doing divisions with the members every friday (which here in this mission is as miracle!!!) and the Elders Quroum president is doing miracles here working with family budget and home teaching. he is amazing please pray for him his name is Sandro.

Also please pray for my companion. Elder Welling (from spokane) he has been scarred by what happened early in the mission with disobedient companions and has lost some of his desire. I know him from the MTC and he has so much potential. We need to excite him again.

Love you all so much,


Elder Noel