Brasileiros are Obsessed with Fireworks, Happy 2015

With out a doubt. The fireworks start at sundown and stop around sunrise. (they do slow down around 12) Therefore I've been lacking a little sleep this week (and I imagine that it will be similar the week that comes).

So this week we got a stop light in our area. And it broke the next day. So we had a stop light.

Well this week was great, I got to work hard and do almost nothing at the same time. As in everyone is obsessed with the commercial part of Christmas that they completely forget the Christ part of it. We knocked doors, and didn't get into one. We made contacts, and I managed to get 5 addresses. Also we contacted some referrals, and we found one in their house who was leaving (as in we were walking up to the door and they were walking out of the door, so we simply set up an appointment for next week). 

And I'm pretty sure the members are trying to kill us. Every time we talked with a member this week they invited us in and gave us food. I think I gained like 10 pounds just this last week. 

So this week we went to talk with people we have contacted on the streets and met a man with whom we had a great discussion. I really enjoyed talking with him. As we gave the lesson he would bring up any points that were out of line with his faith, and we would talk some more about them, and we would turn to the scriptures to clarify anything that we didn't come to a mutual understanding on. He is probably the first investigator that I have taught that is constantly asking us questions to clarify, and who helps us understand his beliefs so we can have a greater understanding of each other and thereby more effectively teach.

I got to call home on Thursday, which was nice, I loved hearing from my family and being able to see their faces. (and my puppy) We went to the bishops house and called from there and my family got to meet the Bishops grand children. 

Saturday we ran into a lost American couple and we stopped and helped them. We discovered that he is a returned missionary returning to visit where he served! We told them how to get to their hotel, and they took us to dinner, then we took some pictures with them (if I can I will send them home, but its not looking like it)

Elder Conceção and Elder Dennis almost had a baptism this week, but their investigator asked them to change the date to next week.

Also next week is transfers, and  Elder Conceção and I will probably head to new areas.

yeah this was a good week.

I love you all

Have a prosperous New Year.

Feliz Natal! We got a White Christmas Too...With Fog :)

So the reason I am writing today is because we had Christmas conference ontem e (I just switched in to Portuguese didn't I...) We woke up at 5 so we could get ready and go to centro to leave by 8 then arrived in Juiz de Fora at about 10. The conference started at 11 and lasted till 5 (including photos and lunch), and then we headed home and arrived in Petropolis at 8 (not sure why it took 3 hours to return, there was more traffic on the way there) and basically ran home and arrived at 9(02). 

But hey it was awesome to see my group and all the missionaries I know and all those that I don't.

This last week we worked our tails off (including 3 service projects). 

So this week was interviews with president, which means that I do not understand. Somehow it fell through so we had to throw together alternative plans (seeing as how we thought that there was no way the interviews would be cancelled we didn't make alternative plans) 

So we scrambled together some plans, visited some people whose addresses didn't exist, and stopped at a members house to ask for referrals. 

 This week we started talking with the owner of the pastry shop in Independencia, and gave him the first lesson. We learned that his wife (we aren't completely sure if they are married) is less active and has been wanting to return, and he has been looking for more peace in his life. After we taught him he told us he knew it was true, but when we invited him to be baptized he said he wanted to read the Book of Mormon and go to church before he settled on a date. So this week we will probably return and give him the second lesson and again invite him to be baptized. 

This week we also had the opportunity to do some family history (one hour) so we went to the temporary stake center (the actual center was rededicated this week) and filled out the my family histories that unite us then went back to proselyting.

 This Sunday after church the president of the elders quorum called us in to talk to us about plans for Christmas and how we would spend most of the day visiting members, then he said the list (signup sheet) was downstairs and we went to go get it and as we walked into the relief society room. The entire ward started singing "Hark the Harold Angels Sing", and they had a table FULL of food that they gave us (which I think will last a full transfer or two (or three or four). See pictures.

 Then we all said a few words, and some how I broke into perfect Portuguese when I was thanking them and bearing my testimony. Afterwards I had so many people come up and complement me on my Portuguese. I testify of the gift of tongues, the Spirit really can put words, even words you don't know you know into your mouth. 

I know that Jesus is the Christ, that He is the Gift, the Perfect Lamb, I know that as He lives, we to may live, that we are made alive in Him. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints is the kingdom of God on earth

I love you all!!!


*****my prayers have been answered, it looks like we are going to have a white Christmas, it is currently exceedingly foggy

With the Relief Society

Food!!!!!!!!!!

New Companion Elder Duarte

Well this week was transfers, and Elder Cordiero left to go to Ubá i am still here.  My new comp. Elder Duarte is really good, he is constantly encouraging me to speak more Portuguese, and is always helping me when I say something wrong. He is also one of the larger missionaries in the mission, and I feel rather safe around him(I'm no longer the tallest in our house and Elder Dennis is no longer the largest in our house).

This week I introduced Elder Duarte to our area (Elder Duarte meet area, area meet Elder Duarte) and to all of our investigators.Literally all of them (so we had a lot of lessons this week) 

This week it rained. If you didn't know rain makes things hard for missionaries because not many people are on the street, so it's hard to do contacts, and no one wants to come out to open the door (the majority of houses here have a wall around them so they have to go outside to open the door to the street) so its also hard to find new people. Also even water  proof shoes get wet in a Brazilian rainstorm. This week we (our house) bought four umbrellas Elder Dennis had to buy two and the other elders one, due to the excessive rains and winds (mine has yet to break). 

In case you have never been in 25 degree weather (about 70) and had thick fog covering everything its really really weird, but such is Petropolis. 

Anyway we got 3 new investigators this week, one was a reference from an investigator, one was from knocking doors, and the third just showed up to church. we have been having problems with all of our current investigators (only one of them is always at church and she needs to be married before she can get baptized) 

We have a young man with whom we have been working with for a while whose parents again refused to let us baptize him, and told us that their son would not be baptized until he is an adult.

So we can only work with his parents and pray that their hearts will soften or that our investigator will continue to go to church until he is old enough to decide for himself that he wants to be baptized.

well I don't have much more to say except that we learned that our ward is pretty close to a split (we only need 2 more Melchizedek Priesthood holders and this month we have a recent convert who should be receiving the priesthood) and we have been working with two of the central people from the Old Quitandinha branch who when they fell inactive many others also fell inactive, and I hope that as we help them they will help us and others in strengthening the church here. so before I go home we should have a Quitandinha Ward.

Transfers but I'm not leaving!

Well my pai is going to oba, and we are getting a new sister in our district, but otherwise our district is sticking around.

So this week has been averaging around 25C (thats around 75) it's also been cloudy and rainy...

So one day we are soaking wet because we are sweating buckets (I drank about 4 liters of water one day) then at the end of the day we are soaking because the sky was clear when we left the house but now it is pouring (but its still hot enough that fires are common somehow).

This week our numbers were pretty bad, all but one of our appointments fell through, but hey we might have another confirmation this week.

The young man who we have been working with for a while is back in his house, and his mother has agreed to let us baptize him after she has gone to church and taken the lessons (she also said we should give her son the lessons again so he knows exactly what he is getting in to). We should have at least one if not more confirmations coming from his family. (pray also that we can touch the heart of his father)

Besides that we don't really have any changes, or big happenings. I am seriously close to just giving up on some of our wards here (there is one we haven't had any lessons in, two we have had one in, and one we haven't had any lessons in for one transfer) maybe we just need to spend more time in them...

Miracle of the week: this week I had a headache, but it only ever hit me as we were climbing the servidão to our house, and always faded as we were descending.

This entire week our lunches fell trough (except sunday). At least in part, they all gave us money, but being with the member 1) takes less time 2) lets us get to know the members better 3) helps us get references from the members 4) gives us an opportunity to help the members with spiritual and physical needs 5) help less active, and non member family members. 6) I'm pretty sure the members get more blessings for feeding us than for giving us money (example we ate lunch with a poor member who when seeing we were to eat with her she realized she hadn't enough money, and at the store she found 50 r$ in her purse, so she used it all for us (best meal I've ever eaten here and probably #3 in my life) and I know that God will bless her more for doing so)

One thing i don't like about Brazilian computers is that the vast majority of them don't like my camera. (I feel sorry for Elder Cordeiro he just got some photos of his girlfriend and is now a little trunky) 

I love you all

Elder Lindsey

 This is a gospel of progression the ultimate end is progression, how do we get there? Daily progression here on this earth. How much have you progressed this week? (i know i could do better so don't take it too hard)

So much Rain! And crazy dogs!

Its been raining here!!!!! We were in a bit of a drought, and yesterday we received too much! Yesterday we went to lunch, and the sky was clear so we didn't bring our umbrellas. Then we waited for about 4 hours for the rain to slow down enough that we could run to the ward missionary meeting, then afterwards we had a member give us a ride home so we didn't have to walk through the rivers (streets).  We were completely soaked by the time we ran up the stairs to our house. Today while walking to centro we saw dozens of people cleaning the dirt that had been washed into the streets (like with bulldozers and dump trucks) yeah crazy amounts of rain!!!!!!!!This week we had some fun experiences with dogs, one followed us for almost two kilometers, and one said hi almost as enthusiastically as blaze!  I had a puppy almost pee on my shoe, and we got chased by a massive dog, like the kind whose shoulders stand higher than the head of blaze. (big dog)
We have started teaching someone who has been taking lessons from the Jehovah's witnesses, but they are really good investigators, and they even said that the Spirit had been with us as the lesson went on, so we have great hope for them!!  Elder Cordeiro has been a little sick again, please pray for him! This constant fluctuation between the thirties and the teens has been hard on his body.
Our system for asking referrals from members has really been great! We have several less actives we have started to work with and some new investigators. We have also been handing out papers to families that are guides as to how to do activities with non members and how to introduce them to the missionaries, so we should start seeing results from that these next few weeks. Also we are starting a PMG Sunday school class taught by none other than the MISSIONARIES!!! It's to help the members bring friends to the knowledge of the gospel.
This week we worked a lot with members trying to get them more involved in the missionary work, so hopefully we will get a lot more help from members (up to now almost everyone who has been doing good has been a referral.)
The food is good here, and I get fed plenty, so don't worry about me.
Well time is short here, I love you all.
Elder Lindsey
P.S. I don't remember who it was but one of the presidents of the church said that we should all try to bring one person into the church each year, think of how many souls we as a whole could bring unto Christ in a year if we all brought at least one person into the church.

Transfers!!

Well this week was transfers!
 Elder Cordeiro, Elder Conceçao and ! are staying here. Elder da Luz foi embora,e his replacement is Elder Dennis from New Zealand.
So Tuesday we went to the Rodoviaria (bus station) to drop off Elder da Luz and since me and Elder Cordeiro were the only companionship in the zone without a transfer we stayed there all day to be temporary comps with those who were waiting, and due to the fact that Elder Dennis came from the farthest part of the mission, we had to return Wednesday morning to pick him up.
This week was okay. All of our baptisms fell through, but we've rescheduled for next week, so hopefully we will have two (or more) next week. Almost all of our investigators (except for 3) are referrals from the members.
 Help the missionaries! In truth we have referrals from only 3 members, but lots of investigators from those. So this week we started something new. We have a stack of referral cards that we gave to members at church, and they filled them out and gave them back, so this week we will set about visiting the many people we were referred to.
The gospel is really awesome! Our investigators almost always ask questions that are answered in other lessons, so sometimes we just have to say, "we will answer this question next time, and here is the pamphlet of the next lesson if you want to study a little before next time."
Pray for our investigators to come to church, they need to come to church to know its true, and we don't always have investigators coming to church.
This week we were walking down R. Rio de Janeiro when a man came up and started talking to us (almost always a good sign) as with almost everyone we talk with the topic quickly turned to religion, and missions. The man has been interested in finding the right church, and often goes to several different churches a week. He was amazed by the missionary work, and asked if he could go along to our next lesson, which sadly fell through, and afterwords our paths divided, he was heading to another city for the week, but we invited him to come to church so hopefully he comes this next week.
It's really interesting that I can't speak Portuguese very well except during a lesson. I can say almost anything I want to say with little difficulty.
It has been extremely hot this week (it gets up to the mid thirties by the time we leave our house) I carry two water bottles with me, and they are empty by the time the sun goes down. Last night we had an impressive rainstorm, which should help cool things down. It was raining so hard that often times we could barely hear the thunder of the lightning due to the drumming of the rain on our roof. and there was plenty of lightning.
Well that's all that I have for now, so signing off!!
I love you all
Elder Lindsey

Transfers plus a Flooded House!

  Well, this was a great week. Absolutely awesome!    It is transfers this week, and we are losing Elder da Luz, but the rest of our district will stay here.
So Tuesday I got to go on a division with Elder da Luz, and it was great (even if I didn't really know the investigators or area). Our friend Wesley (aka the skunk) temporarily returned (he didn't make too much noise, and hasn't returned again). Elder Conceção broke my bed again (it is now being held together with duct tape and string) and our house flooded (-ish---we walked in to a large puddle)
     Our bathroom sink sprung a leak while we were at church on Sunday, and when we returned, water was leaking out from under our door (which is right next to the bathroom). We quickly turned off the water, randomly found a spare of the part that was leaking (coincidence, I think NOT) fixed it, mopped up the water, and that's it.
     On Friday we were teaching a less active with a member, and the lesson ran over a little bit (a lot) and at about  9:20 we headed out the door.  Thankfully they both have motorcycles! So Elder Cordeiro on the back of one and I on the back of the other (as long as they stayed side by side we weren't breaking any rules) zipped home and sprinted up the stairs to our house to arrive at 9:30).
     Our investigators are doing well, and we had 4 at church :)
     We have two new investigators, who have great potential!  Sebastião, and Eva who like to talk a lot so it takes at least an hour to share a message with them! We often have to bring them back on topic, but they are doing great.
     The Lord blesses his missionaries a LOT. I see blessings in my life every day, many times a day.
Well I love you all, and pray for you oft (I think its Moroni 8:11)
Remember, the Lord loves you, and blesses you often
Elder Lindsey

General Conference and my Birthday!

Lets see, we have a ton of new amazing investigators! If only they had come to conference!!! :(
Claudir is still improving, Arnaldo and Isabela just need to get married. We should be baptizing Alison this week if we can get in two more appointments (one lesson and interview)
This week we literally preached from mountaintops! (we were teaching someone just a little below this)

We had a great birthday celebration and "it is [now] prohibited to party on [my] bed" because on my birthday, Elder Cordeiro and Elder Conceção broke my bed (we  fixed it with string and duct tape.)
 Also, here is a view out the window on my birthday. Yeah lots of fog..... and when the fog went away we had rain instead!

We didn't have any power on the third, which made cooking quite fun. :)
I held a parrot at a members house!
And don't forget GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!t was amazing, I got to go to all of it, and watched half in Portuguese, half in English, and Elder Martinez in
Spanish.
I learned so much, and there are so many things that I have to work on.
A few things I learned this week:
If you are not continuously improving, you are not doing as good as you could be.
Repentance is a constant effort, continual improvement, not a single moment of repentance here and there.
Prayer is not made up of the words so much as it is made up of the throbbings of the heart.
Share the gospel because of how much it means to you.
Faith brings miracles.
Yeah this was an absolutely amazing week.
I want you all to know that I love you all, and often pray for you!
Love,
Elder Lindsey,

P.S. go read the scriptures.

Wesley...he's not who you think he is...and It's ELDER LINDSEY"S BIRTHDAY!

Well I will start this letter with Wesley. Who is Wesley? He was our upstairs neighbor, and considering the fact that like all missionaries we live on the top floor, he lived in the attic, and liked to keep us awake at night! Him, his wife and his children were really annoying. Oh, they were also gambas. (or in English skunks). Yes we had a family of skunks in our attic, and we called the bombeiros to come get rid of them. So no more skunks in the ceiling.Also it gets really foggy here in Brasil, and it rains a lot so everything tends to be wet most of the time.

So this week has been pretty good. We have had a lot more lessons with members, and we have started working with two less active members.
One of the youth in the ala has been bringing a friend to church who has started taking the lessons, and has committed to baptism (October 12)
Please pray for these investagators, as they have problems or doubts keeping them from being baptized:
Claudir has stopped drinking, but still has some problems with smoking.
Ricardo has also stopped drinking, but we havent been able to contact him, except seeing through some of his friends.
Pedro e Anezia are doing well, we aren't completely sure why they don't want to be baptized, but we are working hard with them.

On Friday we went and helped a member build a house. As in-- they were building the house we were hauling 20 kg bags of concrete, about two tons of rocks, and nearly a thousand bricks up seventy stairs. (about the first 10 times I ran, but after about 30 we all walked slowly up the stairs) Yeah we were exhausted, sore, and we've slept really well since.

The Lord watches his missionaries. I know that I have seen God taking care of us, and that he takes care of you.
This next week is GENERAL CONFERENCE!!! And my BIRTHDAY!!! (if you want to send something send reeses or candy)
"if any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God"
Elder Lindsey
Moroni 8 3
I love you all.

Here are some pictures!

First, the district in the MTC

Second, his trainier

Third, his area

Crazy Week

So this week Elder Cordiero was sick, and it was really bad, so we spent the day in the hospital. By the way the hospitals here are nothing like hospitals in America! We had to wait for about an hour (and we were in one of the better hospitals, apparently its usually more like four hours).  Elder Cordiero is feeling a lot better right now, so hopefully this week will be a little better.

It rained a lot this last week. The streets turn into rivers and everything gets soaked. It's also been pretty cool (it's about 15 right now.)

We had an emergency transfer, so Elder Silvestre is now in Juiz de Fora, and we are currently waiting for our new Elder. 

We have a few good investigators, but they all need to stop smoking. Yesterday, we went to go pick up Claudir and bring him to church, but on the way to church he backed down.

 Pedro and Anezia don't often come to church, but they have been investigators for a while, and they got married, but Anezia is having problems with the word of wisdom. We haven't seen Ricardo this week, but we think it was because he was with his family (he has been separated from his wife because of his drinking and smoking, so we are hopeful)

Tomorrow we have an appointment with a friend of a member, who has gone to several activities, and has expressed interest in getting baptized.

My Português is improving and I can understand a lot more, and can usually get my point across. My accent is still awful, and I imagine that it will be for quite a while.

The other Elders in our ward had a baptism this week, which was really exciting.

The food here is really good, and the members basically force you to take two plates weather you want to or not. 

When ye are in the service of your fellow men ye are only in the service of your God

I love you all, and pray for you

Elder Lindsey

Missionary Work is Awesome

Seriously, missionary work is awesome! It's hard, and there are a lot of challenges (like sore feet).  But then there is that one moment, when your investigator sees you across the street, and calls your name, then comes and talks to you....it  is totally worth it! Also members love missionaries! Every time we pass the house of Sister Cesar and she sees us she invites us in, gives us a drink and a snack.

We have 12 new pesquisadores (investigators) this week. They are all amazing! Please pray for Claudia, and Ricardo, they both know the church is true, but they just need to stop smoking and drinking. They are by far our investigators with the most potential, and the other day they invited over two of their friends to have us teach them.
The people here are so humble, they have so little, and they love the Lord. We have taught people who live at the end of dirt roads, in houses I cannot stand up in, and some men who live under a bridge. At times when we talk to people on the street they start talking to us about their faith, and how they believe in Christ. The people here are trying to find Christ but don't know where.

The other day I was walking along a clear stream, when i noticed that it had turned brown, i looked back and saw a small trickle of filthy water had joined this much larger clear stream and had been polluted by a small bit of filth.

We walk a lot here. A lot of hills!! One of the pictures that I hope sends shows the terrain we are walking through all day.
Also pray for Vanhia and Eduardo. We set a baptismal date with them, but haven't been able to get in contact with them since.
The work is going great!  I am starting to be able to understand the majority of what people say. The members here love the missionaries, we can barely pass a members house without them stopping us and offering us a drink.
Moroni 7 (I think its verse 21 and 22 but it might not be, but it talks about faith.) Basically read everything Moroni wrote. :)
With all my love
Elder Lindsey
P.s. dont ever drop a meal appointment with the missionaries (you never know when they will be fasting)
PPS i tried to send pictures but they wouldnt load so maybe next time

First Area: Rua Coronel Viega (Petropolis) Lots of hills!!!

Well this is it. The work is hard, but the Atonement wasn’t easy, and the path to salvation isn’t easy.

The last week at the CTM was pretty normal. The last day was 10 hours of orientation that I learned very little from.

We woke up at about 2 to get to the airport and fly to Rio, and we could just barely make out Christo o Redentor from the road. We went to the mission office, had lunch, and learned everything we were supposed to learn in the orientation.

 We stayed with the APs then the next day we got assigned our areas, and got our trainers. My trainers name is Elder Cordeiro, and I am in a suburb of Petropolis (it’s in the south east of the mission and in the state of Rio, so everyone speaks Portuguese here.) My area is 5 wards that are basically a hill or two and also the valley in between them (except for indepencia which is our only somewhat level ward) The hills here are really steep, imagine the Lehi dip, but five plus times the size of that hill. Yeah huge and steep, and we walk up and down them all day.

Yeah my feet hurt.

Our first day was awful!  We are in a new area, so we don’t have investigators and we only had 1 lesson. And it was raining all day. The second day was better, we had several lessons!  In one of them the Spirit was so strong almost everyone was crying (and Brasileiros don’t show emotion that often). We got two baptismal dates, and 3 investigators. (Who live at the top of the biggest hill in our area at the end of a little tiny dirt foot path that we have to cross a stream to get to).

Saturday and Sunday nothing huge happened, except we have another investigator (who lives just a little bit from the top of São Paulo).

God blesses his missionaries. We get to see blessings daily, and there are many miracles. For example on Thursday when it was raining we would just stepped under a roof and the rain would go from a drizzle to pouring! And then as we are leaving it would return to a drizzle. 

There are so many dogs here, and every time I see one I think of Blaze, and I just want to pet it and play with it. 

The other day we were walking through the city and there were some horses just chillin’ outside of some house with some cãos (dogs) barking at it.

My companion and I are starting to be able to understand each other and we teach each other our languages. I am getting to the point where I can say just about anything I want to (even if I sound like a 3 year old). I still find a lot of people hard to understand (some are really easy and I can understand every word, but there are others that I can barely understand anything. 

I am learning a lot about teaching, and am getting pretty good at contacts and the baptismal challenge, I still struggle to speak, but the point gets across. 

The locals can’t pronounce my name, so they all say Elder Lindsh, or Elder Lindish.

I love you all.

Stay firm in the faith that our reunion may be like that of Alma and the sons of Mosiah.

I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know that we have a father in heaven who loves us and blesses us. I know that Christ atoned for our sins, and that if we have faith in him, repent, are baptized, receive the Holy Ghost and endure to the end, we can repent and be saved. I testify that Joseph Smith restored the Church of Jesus Christ, again on the earth. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Gods church on the earth today. God loves you. He watches over you.

-Love Elder Lindsey

He arrived in his mission!

Elder Lindsey first day in Juiz De Fora mission!

Elder Holland Visits Brazil MTC

Well, I will be here at the CMT for a grand total of 7 more days. I am excited, and feel vastly unprepared (but considerably more prepared then when I got here). The food here is still good. It has been a really hot and dry winter here like the mid-seventies, and it has only rained about ten days while we have been here.
One of my instructors, Irmão de Oliveria got engaged this week so he was really happy the next time we had him. (they were reading Alma 7 and he poppped the question)
Life here in the ctm is just about the same every day--minus last Thursday. We had Elder Holland come speak, and we all got to shake his hand. He talked on obedience and our purpose as a missionary. He talked about our purpose and got to the first two words of our purpose, which are 1. "invite" or,  we ask them to come, and our duty is to bring the Spirit and they have to do the rest. "Others" 2. If we are to invite others, we already have to be there. We must be our first converts here in the mission field. He also said "unless you are a Brasilian missionary you don't rise to the summit"
Well I get to be a Brasilian missionary, and I have decided to reach the top, whatever the top might be (Elder Holland was joking about the Brasilian missionary thing).
I am really excited to get out into the field, for the field is white already to harvest, and here in the ctm I feel like the amount that I am learning each day is not as much as the day before. Thankfully this week we basically learned about being a missionary, instead of studying language (we all love gosple study a LOT more then we like language).
Life here in the CTM gets really boring (as we have at least ten hours each day stuck in a tiny little room). Oh I forgot to say, we got three new elders in our district (one is still in provo) so we now have 11 going to Juiz de Fora, and aparently we are the largest group of American Elders to all get our visas at the same time ( there were 15 who arived with me) which is really cool. Everything I hear about Juiz de Fora is good, the work is progressing, the people are nice, and that you will baptize people. It is going to be really hard, but nothing worth doing was ever easy.
The language is coming and our district is doing English fasts (no English whatsoever). It's hard to say what I want to say, but I learn so much more when I don't speak any English. Well time runs short, so see you in two.
Vocês me faultam, e penso de vocês .
I miss you all, and think of you.
With love.
Elder Lindsey,

P.S. future E-mails will probably be on Mondays (and I might not email next week)

Proselyting for the first time...and sketchy meatballs??

Proselyting was amazing!! We got to place 4 copies of "O Livro de Mormon"! The first was easy, as the guy spoke like five languages and wanted to talk to us in English. Then had two guys come up to us and ask for a copy, and the third three of them were members, and the fourth wanted a Book of Mormon. He is a man who has a strong testimony of Christ, but he has never heard of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and we talked with him about how the Book of Mormon is ment to be junto with the Bible. After that we still had about twenty minutes, so we managed to give out about 7 pass-along cards. It was a great experience, and I learned that very few people talk anywhere near as fast as my instructor Irmão Nasimento. 

Speaking of instructors, one of ours, Irmão Leal, is now going to college, so we just got a new one yesterday (Irmão Ceasar). This last week we also got to go to the federal police station to apply for residencey, and apparently another Elder and I had a problem with ours, so we go back again on Friday. The other day we had a rainstorm that dumped water like  crazy, and the power kept going out (the CTM has  a generator so it only goes out for a few seconds). We had some really sketchey meatballs this week that tasted more like mint than meat... Thanks for all the letters. I have to say I kinda miss home, but they dont give you enough time to miss home for more then a few seconds before you are off to some other activity. We didnt get devotional last night which made me really sad, because devotional is what carries me until p-day, but they changed it to tomorrow, so I'm pretty sure it is for an important speaker (rumor has it that it is Elder Holland). We are beginning to be tired of studing in the same room for 10+ hours a day so sometimes we try to study outside. We have a massive group of 16 american elders arriving in our zone today, and I think there is another district or two in other zones. The bus ride to and from the temple was a lot shorter then last time, so my legs didn't feel like falling off. 

They now occasionally serve panckes for breakfast (the best thing I have eaten here, with the exception of tortugitas (little chocolate turtles). I miss having american food, and random thing, just about every Brasilano that we talk to loves lasagna, it appears to be just about everyones favorite food. I am excited to get out of here, it gets kind of boring doing the same stuff each day. 

Other news, I am the new district leader (which basically means I pick who prays). I am kind of scared to get a haircut at the barber here. Most of the district got one this week, and they either had their head all but shaved, or had random bits of hair that weren't cut (Elder Grigg had racing stripes in his hair, and an alfalfa spike, which we trimmed) Just about all the friends we made in our first week here at the CTM have gone home (as in our district and the other american district that arrived the same day as us are still here) I am excited to get out in the field and only have 13 days left in the CTM. I am just about the only guy in my district who isn't gaining weight. I love going to the temple as missionaries, and we take up just about the whole session, and today i did the whole thing in portuguese, and understood a lot more then I thought. Well we only have like 45 min here to email home so I am running out of time, so I love you all, thank you for all the letters and prayers, signing off Elder Lindsey. I love you all. 
Bye

Half Way Through the MTC!!!

HEY everybody!!!! Its been another great week here at the CTM. I am enjoying learning poruguêse, and am doing well. I have to say my Spanish has definitely helped me. Our investigators are progressing, one doesn't always read the Book of Mormon, but he knows a lot, and loves to ask questions, and the other one is almost impossible to understand. We get to go proselyting this week!!! It's a little scary, but I think I can do it. There is a sister here from Juis de Fora, that my district loves to sit with, because she speaks slowly, and clearly, so we have no trouble understanding what she says, whereas, anyone from São Paulo might as well be speaking French. I love being here, even if the schedule quickly becomes repetitive. Glad to hear so many of you are doing so well on your own missions. Missionaries love to get emails. so if you are reading this, feel free to send a quick email. I am excited to get out of the CTM, I'm half way through, and even though I learn a lot, every day (minus Wednesdays, and Sundays) are the exact same as every other day. I enjoy the work of learning, and am progressing quickly, and the language is coming, but I am excited to do some real missionary work. We went to the temple today, and got some pass along cards to give out today and during proslitismo.  Then we spent about two and a half hours on the way back due to bad traffic. I love the devotionals here, even if they are hard to understand, I learn a lot. eu gosto de falar portuguêse, and am starting to think in it. I don't think I told you, but a while ago we had a GIANT moth fly into our dorm hall. It was seriously bigger then my hand. I am getting pretty good at playing volleyball, and enjoy physical activity. We spend at least 10 hours a day in our classroom, and have come to both love and hate that room. Oh have I mentioned feel free to write... you know who you are. I officially love guava, it is one of the best fruits they serve here, and the papaya can be a little sketchy. It is raining here again, and the rain is weird, its not even really droplets, but more of a heavy mist. It is kind of scary knowing that I will be out on the streets proselyting, Feel free to pray for me, I will need it. Our Brasilian roommates left for the field this week, and we are excited for them, (and hoping its just the four of us in the room for a while) The six flights of stairs are starting to become easier, seeing how we climb them a lot. One of the elders in our district twisted his foot playing basketball the other day, and has to hobble up to the seventh floor every day. I have decided that P-Days are the best, we get to go to the temple (and sleep on the bus) send emails home.... (hey if you dont send emails...) and get to go out in the city (a very limited area) and we are only in our classroom for 3.5 hours!! I hope to be able to hear from you all next P-Day. (again feel free to write) I love getting news from home, it can be spiritual expierences, day to day stuff, or just what ever. even though the food is good, and I eat all I can every day I haven't been gaining weight like some of the elders here. Today at the temple I was proxy for David Lindsay, so close!Well time is running short and it is time for me to get off. I hope you are all having a good time, learning alot, and constantly improving yourselves. I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!                                    - Elder Lindsey                                                                                                                                                                        P.S. write me, I love getting letters from home

x

Stuffin' Our Brains With Portuguese: Week 2 in the MTC

Well, I made it through the 2nd week at the CMT. (by the way this is a weird keyboard so excuse any typos, and i don’t think that the enter key works) I am starting to love speaking Portuguese. I am doing well, even if I occasionally slip into the primitive language of Spanish. I can hold conversations with the natives, and i am usually able to understand what they are saying. I’ve decided that the things I miss most are my family, and English.

I love going to the temple, we take up about 90 percent of the session, so they do it in English (I think the Spanish missionaries do the same thing). We spend about 10 hours a day in a classroom, stuffing our brains full of Portuguese, and top it off with some missionary stuff. The food is still good, even if most of the American elders are having problems with it. I love the devotionals, even if i don’t always understand everything that is being said. I love the people of Brazil, you can go up and talk to anyone, and they don’t look at you like you are weird. The city is huge and it takes about an hour just to get to the Sao Paulo temple on the other side of the city, and looking out of our window, it is impossible to tell where downtown is simply because the entire city has tons of skyscrapers.

 I am starting to get tired of doing just about the same thing every day, but p-days are a great boost, as are Sundays. I miss being at home with my family and friends, but here i am constantly surrounded by 7 of my best friends, all of whom are in the exact same boat (or district) as I am. I am excited to get out and start teaching on the streets (we get to at 4 weeks) one of our pesquiadores committed to baptism last week. I love Tuesday mornings, because we get to do service (not sit in the classroom and try to teach ourselves Portuguese) and we clean the building. The CTM has a beautiful courtyard and some picnic tables outside that we love to have our lessons at (if only because that makes it so we are in the classroom for 9 hours instead of 10) Our district is becoming very close, and during meals we rarely sit with less than another companionship.

The Brazilians that arrived at the same time as us just left, so we lost a few of our friends, the room I am in now has two Brazilians staying in it along with the four of us. We are starting to get used to the CMT and the language. Our instructors now don’t respond to us if we ask questions in English, except to help us say it in Portuguese. The spirit is very strong here in the CMT and you learn a lot in your studies. I have been learning a lot about myself, about others, as well as about the gospel and how to teach it. It’s kind of strange how the instructors don’t ever give us feedback on the lessons we teach, but i feel like i am still learning a lot.

There is a guy who has a shop just outside of the CTM that sells really nice leather scripture cases to missionaries, and i am getting one with a picture of Christ coming out of the tomb on it. I learn a lot, and we are often told to keep our head up even though it is hard, and it is hard, but i try to keep my head up. Thanks for your letters, and Heather I laughed when I read that blaze slept on your stomach. Please keep sending them, I look forward to them, and enjoy them greatly. (And if you didn’t send me one, try to this week.) I heard that spencer made it to Mexico this week, so congrats to Elder Hunt. Well my time is short and I love you all.                                                                                                 

                    -Elder Lindsey

Hard Work and Good Food--Week 1 in the MTC

Well this is it. I made it through week one.
The plane flight was crazy long, and none of us got much sleep. but that didnt stop us from starting classes that day, and being immediatly immersed in the ctm life. the food is way good here, they serve rice and beans with almost every meal, and have a pizza night every wednesday (yay today is wednesday) where they serve pizzas with white sauce, and chocolate bannana pizza. (they have their own pizza oven here) every day we get up, shower, then have personal study. afterwords we eat breakfast, then have additional study, then companionship study, then service (where we help clean the cmt). After servicao we have physical activity, where most of the american elders go play basketball, but i find vollyball to be way better.
we then clean up and have lunch, then we have our first 3 hour class, where we are completely immersed in portuguese. then we have dinner (its at four so its a little early) then we go to our second 3 hour class (right now we are trading off practing teaching an investagator in portugeuse (we started on thursday)) then we have planning (i realized somewhere in the day i missed language study, i dont remember exactly where it fits in but its in there.) and we get a snack then its off to bed and repeat.
today we had the oppurtunity to go to the temple, it was awesome, we all but comletely filled the session.
the days are going alot faster, no longer seeming like weeks. my district is awesome (especally when we are on topic)
on sunday they threw us in with a portugeuse branch because the english one is bursting at the seams. the devotionals here are great (but hard to stay awake through). the choir here is pretty big, there are about 250 missionaries who sing in the choir (there also happens to be around 250 missionaries here...)
we have 8 guys in my district. 7 are from utah and one from arizona.
we all feel a little tired most of the time, but we all get by.
We live on the 6th floor and class is on the first floor meaning we run up and down stairs alot (here the first floor is the first floor above ground level, so i geuss i live on the seventh floor.) and it is aweful when someone forgets something because they have to run up 5 flights of stairs, and they have to drag their companion with them.
well after this email, i get to go out into the city with my district (we only have like 2 blocks from the ctm that we can go, but hey! its something.
Its been around 60 all the time ive been here and has rained at least 5 of the days ive been here. everything i hear about juiz de fora is good, they speak slower then in the city, they have better food, they dont get cold (if this is cold then i dread summer)
 thank you so much for all of your encouragement, and for all of the insperational messages you sent me.

I love you all
 - Elder Lindsey

First Day at the Brazil MTC

Dear Parents,Sister Swensen and I are very happy to let you know that your missionary has arrived safely at the Brazil Missionary Training Center.  What a great joy and privilege it is to greet each missionary as they begin their missionary experiences with us. We will surely take good care of your missionary. Your missionary is about to make an eternal difference in the lives of many others. President Lorenzo Snow said: “There is no mortal man that is as interested in the success of an elder when he is preaching the Gospel as is the Lord who sent him to preach to the people who are the Lord's children".  We love these missionaries as if they were our own.  We will watch over them carefully to ensure they are ready for a wonderful missionary experience after the rewarding time they will have in the MTC. We thank you for preparing such a wonderful representative of the Lord.President Robert Swensen and Sister Julie Swensen

He is in Brazil at the Missionary Training Center!

Hey I made it here here to Brazil, sorry the payphones at the Atlanta airport werent working so I couldnt call you. I met up with 3 elders and a sister at salt lake, and there were 17 of us on the flight to brazil (15 elders) the airplane food is pretty good. My companions name is elder MacMullin. Brazil is great, its pretty warm here (event though its winter) one of the cars got pulled over by the police on the way to th CTM. the flight here was long, and boring, but i got to talk to some people. they had us exchange all of our us currencey into brazilian . we (all the elders who arrived today) are on the 6th floor, so we have to go up and down alot of stairs.

   My love from Brazil,
   Elder Lindsey

He's off!

My name is David Lindsey. I have been called to serve in the Brazil, Juiz de Fora mission, Portuguese speaking, for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I report on July 23, 2014.
If you would like to contact me, my mission email is david.lindsey@myldsmail.net

David just left on the airplane this morning!  Should be arriving in Brazil tomorrow morning! Go get 'em Elder!