June 20, 2016 (week 36)

Hey everyone!

This week was good!

So a lady said this week “dont bother I dont understand your voices” then my companion said “but im brazillian…” haha we just left it at that and said good afternoon

This week Rikael (an investigator that is 12) said that I looked like captain america, I couldnt help but laugh cause obviously theres no resemblense, but hey Im not complaining. Anyways a few days later we were teaching Jardel (hes 11) and after my companion asks him “you know what movie he was in? Captain america!” Jardel apparently thinks that I look exactly like him too, well the next day we stop by his house and its the birthday of his brother and so theres a ton of kids and he calls all the kids and starts telling this story of how im captain america hahah I couldnt stop laughing, the kids were little and they all believed it. I love Jardel, hes the man!

So this week we are focusing a lot on Jardel and André and Doroteia. Jardel (the same from the story) is the man. He literally prays that he can get baptized in almost every prayer. Its been a while that weve been teaching him and he should get baptized this sunday. He will be an awesome missionary one day! André and Doroteia… so theyre married and André actually stopped us in the street and asked for a Book of Mormon. Well we dont have a ton of Books of Mormon but we made an appointment with him and taught him. The lesson was good, but when we came back the next morning he said that he and his wife thanked us but decided that they dont want to talk to us anymore. So we left and later that afternoon I told my companion we need to go back, he agreed and so we did. We didnt know what to expect but they let us in and we all bore testimony of our message (we were with a member to) and the spirit was strong! But even so it didnt change there minds. Well a few days later, even though we dont have many Books of Mormon, I told my companion we should stop by and give him a Book of Mormon to read for a few days, because I know that book is a lot better missionary than either of us two. So we did… Will Sunday morning we are walking to church and guess who we see, ANDRÉ E DORATEIA!!! we were so so so so happy. They loved church, we are excited to work with him, and hopefully they are able to get baptized soon!

I hope all is well with you guys!

Elder Lawrence

June 13, 2016 (week 35)

Hey everyone!

So this week we fasted with Gostavo so that his mom would let him get baptized. He’s been going to church for over a year and the only reason he hasnt got baptized is because his mom knows he likes church and since he isnt a perfect kid she wants to take away what he likes. Although she agrees what hes learning at church is good…. so it doesnt really make sense. But anyways we asked him if he wanted to fast with us and since hes only 12 we said wed start the fast after lunch and he could start after dinner but he said “No! I can make it the full 24 hours” and he did! but weve tried to talk with his mom every day and she always gives an excuse or she just isnt there.. but hopefully we’ll be able to talk to her this week!

We met a kid this week and his name is Kaio, but he likes to go by arch angel so theres that hahah, its actually his middle name but still haha

So people (well kids) still dont always believe im speaking portuguse. I literally had I 5 minute debate with this kid as to if I was speaking portuguese or not, in portuguese haha. He said everything I was saying was english, but he doesnt speak english so it doesnt make a whole lot of sense haha

This week I also convinced my companion and a few investigators that the US has a day without crime, where you can do whatever you want… I dont know why or how they believed me but they did!

Also this week we had the amazing opportunity to hear from Elder Christensen and his wife! The spoke in english and there was a translator so it was great to hear it in the two languages. It was awesome and definitely inspiring!

So this week I want to share a scripture thats in matthew 11: 28-30 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your sould. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

When we are exhausted and want to give up, we need to turn to the Saviour! The path that he offers is easy. But not easy in the sense that you arent required to act. Easy in the sense that it is the path of happiness. We cant truly be happy doing nothing! I find that I am most happy when I am working the hardest to be like my Saviour. I know he is the only way to return to the Father!

I hope everything is well in the states! I pretty much here nothing about the news of there haha

I attatched a picture from the conference and one of our zone and one of my district!

Elder Lawrence

June 6, 2016 (week 34)

Francilino baptizing his brother!

wow, I just realized as I typed the subject line that its already june!

This past week was good! We are super excited for this coming week. It should be the baptism of Breno and maybe his sister too. I dont really have anything else to say to be honest..

Till next week!

Elder Lawrence

sorry for the second email, but i realize that i wrote pretty much nothing and thought id add one thing.. so remember Francilino and Josiane? the couple that were baptized about a month ago, on my last day in my other area, well yesterday, FRANCILINO BAPTIZED HIS OLDER BROTHER! I just got the picture and wow! Im literally so happy!! I love that family!! Francilino, Josiane and Batman (enzo) have a special place in my heart!

 

May 30, 2016 (week 33)

Hey everyone! So this week was pretty good. We felt like a ton of people were making a lot of progress and then on sunday no one came to church… Literally EVERYONE was spending the night with family living in other places. But next sunday will be better! Our area is realllllllllly small and so we pretty much know all of the streets already. I like it here, but the church is about 30 minutes from our area and so its hard to convince people to come to church because no one wants to walk in the heat.

I dont really have a whole lot to add this week…. although it is pretty frusterating sometimes because people never want to leave the church they are attending. This week I started asking people why they go to the church that they go to.. and until now not even one person said that they prayed and asked God. The usual answers are “I was raised in that church” “I feel good there” or “It doesnt matter what church I go to” Then when we ask them to pray they almost always dont want to. One person even said “it doesnt matter if I prayed, because even if your church was the only true church I still wouldnt go there” sometimes you cant help but laugh at some of the things people say. We are trying to talk to EVERYONE to find more people who are ready to hear and accept the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I know this is His work and I know he wants His children to have an opportunity to accept His gospel. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has the authority of God to baptize people, one of the requirements to enter in the kingdom of God. I am so grateful to be here helping Christ in His work and I am definitely happy to be here!

Hope all is well with everyone!!

Elder Lawrence

May 23, 2016 (week 32)

Hey everyone!

So this week was pretty hard. It seems like at the beginning of the week everything was going well and we had a ton of people progressing but at the end almost everything well apart. But we’re excited for this week and we know it will be better!

We received some super exciting news!! Elder Christensen of the 70 is coming to our mission!!! (for those of you who arent members of the church, if you would like to know about Elder Christensen search on lds.org) We are suuuuuuuper excited to have him here, but I dont know how its going to work because I dont know if he speaks portuguese, but im sure its all figured out already. He will come on the 7th of June.

Well I cant really think of anything else, if anyone has any questions feel free to ask!

Elder Lawrence

 

May 16, 2016 (week 31)

oh and the picture I attatched was of a taxi driver watching a movie while driving, so that cant be good haha good thing we avoid taxis if at all possible anyways because theyre expensive.

This week was awesome! We are working our best and finding a ton of great people! I wish I had time to write about everything that is happening here.

This week Nádia and Inário were baptized! The are a couple that weve been able to work with for the past few weeks and it was great! Everything went perfectly. Well, more or less haha

We are teaching a group of kids (12-14years old) that we found in the street. Its sad because the most of them dont have parents and so they are living with grandparents that arent really there. But they are awesome and we love talking and teaching to them. Hopefully they will be able to be baptized in a few weeks.

I know that our Savior lives! I know that this is His work. Everyday I have the opportunity to talk with children of God and share what I know to be true. It is the greatest pleasure in the world to see someones life begin to change when their faith starts to grow. I know Im doing what the Savior wants me to be doing right now. Even though most of the people that we talk with dont accept what we teach I know they can feel the spirit when we bear testimony of the truthfulness of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I miss you guys but Im so happy to be here!

Elder Lawrence

oh and the picture I attatched was of a taxi driver watching a movie while driving, so that cant be good haha good thing we avoid taxis if at all possible anyways because theyre expensive.

May 9, 2016 (week 30)

Hey everyone!

This week was good! My new companion is Elder Marques from Rio De Janeiro, hes awesome! At least so far, we get along really well and hes awesome to work with. Our apartment here is great too. In the other one we didnt have running water for the past month and its soooo nice to have it again. We are pretty much starting the work over again because there wasnt really any investigators when we got here. We talked to a TON of people this week and found some people who we are excited to work with!

Mothers day is the day that we get to skype our families and that was great too! Its kind of weird to go so long without seeing family and definitely one of the harder parts of serving a mission. The next time Ill be able to skype is christmas and im already excited for that haha.

On the last day in my old area we found a building that you can go on top so ill attatch a few pictures of what my area was like. Ill attatch a picture of my new companion too!

Im loving it here! I hope you guys are all well back home 🙂
Till next week!

Elder Lawrence

May 2, 2016 (week 29)

Francilino & Josinane signing their marriage documents

Celebration & wedding cake!

Baptism of Francilino & Josinane

This week was great! Francilino and Josinane were baptized!! There were some hiccups on the way but in the end it was perfect!

They got married on thursday and we were able to be the wittnesses for the marriage, it was awesome!

So we went to the church for their baptisimal interview. We showed up a little early and opened the church. Well right as we heard the alarm we realized we didnt have the password… So we ran (literally) to the nearest members house and about 20 mintutes later we were back at the church (just imagine two missionaries in shirts and ties sprinting in the street ahahah) and we turned off the alarm. A minute or two later someone from the security company came and after talking to him a little it was all good!

Well the next day was the day of the baptism. Long story short, someone emptied the baptismal font and so we show up about an hour before the baptism and realized theres no water… We start to fill it up using buckets and the two facets that are in the church, but after a while of this the church ran out of water… So someone went and bought 60L of water and we dumped it all it. Well after this there still wasnt enough water. I wasnt about to let the baptism fall through on the account of lack of water, so we ended up baptizing well kneeling. All and all it was a great day. And the next day in fast and testimony meeting Francilino bore his testimony!! It was so awesome!

So transfers are tomorrow…. and im being transferred!! Im going to be a district leader in a district with only sisters! Which is scary…. but most sisters in our mission have a lot of time on the mission and I know I will learn a lot from them! Even though I dont feel qualified to be a district leader Im excited to work my hardest and let the Lord help me!

Hope all is well!!

Elder Lawrence 🙂

April 25, 2016 (week 28)

Hey everyone!

So this week marks six months that Ive been here! Well actually last week but I forgot. It really feels like yesterday that I arrived in the MTC not even knowing how to say hello. Time flies!

So I think I already said this, but my companion is really trying to learn english and for some reason he loves the word knowledge. He says its the hardest word that he can pronounce right. So sometimes he just randomly says knowledge and maybe its his tone of voice when he says it but I cant help but laugh a little.

We had a conference with half of the mission and so I was able to see all the americans that I arrived with. It was a little weird because now we can all speak portguese (more or less haha). Ill attatch 2 photos. One with my companion from the MTC, he has lost more than 40 pounds!! crazy huh?

So this week is going to be the marriage and baptism of Josiane is Francilino! Maybe.. So Francilino has a STRONG testimony. Hes read the book of mormon once KNOWS its true and is reading it again! He said that since we started teaching him and since hes learned about the truthfulness of this church theres been “nothing but blessings” in his life. Wow, probably my favorite moment thus far. The only thing is that Josiane is less excited and hasnt received an answer from God yet as to whether or not the church is true. Well, actually she has, she just hasnt realized it yet. Francilino marked a time for us to visit when shes not going to be there and we trained to mark another time but he said he wants to talk to us. Were super worried that hes going to say that Josiane wont be baptized with him.. I know she will recongize her answer and be baptized, I just dont know if it will be this week, but I really hope it is!

Thats all for this week! I hope everything is well stateside!
Elder Lawrence

April 18, 2016 (week 27)

This week was awesome! I really feel like the work is starting to progress here and we’re starting to find a lot of people who are ready to hear the gospel!

So my companion is trying to learn english and, I dont know why, but he loves to say “this is terrible” and when he says it, it sounds almost like charles barkley because of his accent hahah I love it.

So Francilino and Josinanni are progressing a ton! Francilino finished the Book of Mormon already, and Josianni is bringing Principles of the Gospel to work every day to read during lunch!! (a book that teaches basic beliefs that we have) I feel a little bad, because the family of Fancilino is calling him crazy and they are super against him getting baptized, but he knows its true, and hes following the answer that he received! Its amazing to see how much a simple prayer and a simple question can change your life. They are an inspiration to me!

Ill attatch a picture of my zone.

Till next week!! I wish you guys the best!
Elder Lawrence 🙂