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