Cruzeiro Week 3 And 4

These last few weeks have been pretty crazy here! Everything is going well. Even though the other Elders in my district say that Cruzeiro is pretty much the toughest area they have had, I love it here. We have a pretty good amount of people we teach, even though Elder Wilcken says that no one wants to talk to us here (I can only imagine what the actual city is like if this is the hardest teaching area). My language is continually improving due to the Gift of Tongues. It’s amazing how much I am able to understand now. Sorry that I didn’t email last week. It was a pretty crazy P-Day. Here are the interesting things that happened:

         

                    

                   4. We had the chance to go to some awesome waterfalls last P-Day. One of the guys that comes to our English class, Gostavo, took us. He is attending college right now and is super cool. It was about a 30 minute drive and a 10 minute hike to the falls. We hung out there and just chilled. It was super pretty and really fun. Gostavo then took us to a place where there are a bunch of little ponds. Elder Wilcken and I had brought coconuts with us, so we used our coconut punch to open them up and drink them. I have discovered that drinking coconut water straight from a fresh, green coconut is amazing! After we were finished there, Gostavo drove us to his house, where we ate dinner and taught him the first lesson. All-in-all, it was the best P-day!

                   3. I went to my first Zone Conference this last Thursday. It was super fun! We received some great training from President Miller, Sister Miller, and the APs. It was super fun to hang out with so many missionaries.

                   2. We also had the chance to watch General Conference this last week. Even though it was in Portuguese, I still understood a good amount. I obviously would have learned more in English, but I still had the chance to receive some great personal revelation. I really enjoyed President Eyring´s talk on holiness.

                   1. We have this awesome new guy we are teaching named Fernando. We met him as we were walking down the street one day. He pulled up to us on his motorcycle and just asked us for a Book of Mormon and if we could come teach him! It was crazy. We have been to his house to teach him and his girlfriend Renata several times since, and it has been awesome each time. Fernando is the rare guy that understands what we teach, remembers it, asks questions, and applies what he learned previously in the last lesson. The Spirit is really working on him! 

Scripture of the week: Alma 33: 21-23

21 O my brethren, if ye could be healed by merely casting about your eyes that ye might be healed, would ye not behold quickly, or would ye rather harden your hearts in unbelief, and be slothful, that ye would not cast about your eyes, that ye might perish?

22 If so, wo shall come upon you; but if not so, then cast about your eyes and begin to believe in the Son of God, that he will come to redeem his people, and that he shall suffer and die to atone for their sins; and that he shall rise again from the dead, which shall bring to pass the resurrection, that all men shall stand before him, to be judged at the last and judgment day, according to their works.

23 And now, my brethren, I desire that ye shall plant this word in your hearts, and as it beginneth to swell even so nourish it by your faith. And behold, it will become a tree, springing up in you unto everlasting life. And then may God grant unto you that your burdens may be light, through the joy of his Son. And even all this can ye do if ye will. Amen.

There is one other thing that I started thinking about during General Conference. It is not really a complete thought yet, but I´m pretty sure that the principles of the Gospel just come down to Faith, Obedience, and Repentance. As we develop those three things, we develop other Christ-like attributes. As we do that, we come to a conclusion of being filled with charity. As we do that, we become like our Savior, which is our goal.

I love representing the Savior in Brasil, I love my companion, I love the Gospel and Atonement of Christ, I love my family, and I love my Redeemer. I am ready and excited to work harder, learn more, and love better this week!

Love,

Elder Warren Matthew Dudley

Week 3 pics - The Hike to the Waterfall with Gostavo

Week 4 Pics-

#1-2 On the road at the farms outside the favela

#3-4 Rio Parabaíba on a Cloudy day

#5 Sunset on the Streets

#6 Sunset on the Rio Paraíba

#7 View of Cruzeiro from Fernando’s house

#8 Elder Wilcken and I at Fernando’s house

#9 Elder Wilcken, Elder Ward, and I drinking coconuts on the way to zone conference

#10 Guaratinguetá Zone Conference

Cruzeiro Week 2

Bom dia/tarde/noite!

This week was absolutely awesome! It was so much better than the first crazy week! I am starting to get used to all of the different things here and am starting to love Brasil. I just can´t wait until I´m fluent. Although I wish I could understand everything now, I am also very appreciative of all of the blessings Heavenly Father has given me and all of His help with the language. 

This week, we had several awesome experiences. We set one baptism and taught some awesome Spirit-filled lessons. Here are the highlights:

5. All you can eat Brazilian pizza is awesome, but not meant for my stomach. I spent some quality time in the bathroom the next day.

4. Caldo de cana (sugar cane juice), Guraná, and Pernil sandwiches are awesome.

3. Juliano set a date for baptism. This is awesome because Elder Wilcken has been trying to get a date set for two transfers. We met with him in the church with Presidente Pedro (our branch president), and taught him using Alma 36, the story of Alma’s conversion. It went really well. At the end, we talked about the stuff he needed to too to be baptized and invited him to be baptized. He didn’t want to set a date, but Elder Wilcken told him that he would call him that week to see if he had picked a date yet. A few days later, Elder Wilcken called him and was shocked to find out he had picked a date!

2. We had an awesome experience of Heavenly Father answering our faith-filled prayer. We didn´t have anything set for one night this week, so we prayed for someone to teach during our daily planning. As we were tracting in the rich section of town (because that is where Presidente Pedro wants us to tract) we knocked on Cesar´s door. He was busy that morning, but he told us to come back that night - exactly what we had prayed for. We taught him the lesson of the Restoration, and he had some very thoughtful responses and answers. It was awesome.

1. We had an awesome lesson with Adriano and Flaviani. Adriano is Juliano´s brother. He absolutely loves the scriptures. Elder Wilcken has been teaching him for a while. Adriano loves the lessons, pamphlets, and the Book of Mormon. He totally marks up everything we give him and totally understands. However, his wife, Flaviani, had never listened to a lesson. Last week, she came in to ask us a question at the end of our lesson. We ended up talking for 30 minutes with her. During our next lesson, she came in and we taught the Restoration. She loves the Book of Mormon! We had a 2 and 1/2 hour lesson because of all her questions. It was awesome, and the Spirit really helped. She told us that next time we come back, she´ll make us a really awesome Brasilian desert (I forgot the name). I really hope that they and their kids continue to progress. At the end of the lesson I gave them my new Portuguese Bible from the CTM. They are very poor, and their other Bibles are really beat up. I think they really liked it!

Scripture of the week: Alma 5: 49 "And now I say unto you that this is the order after which I am called, yea, to preach unto my beloved brethren, yea, and every one that dwelleth in the land; yea, to preach unto all, both old and young, both bond and free; yea, I say unto you the aged, and also the middle aged, and the rising generation; yea, to cry unto them that they must repent and be born again."

I love being on a mission, being a representative of Jesus Christ. I love Brasil. I love my comp. I love Cruzeiro. I love the scriptures, the Gospel, and my Savior - Jesus Christ. 

Love, 

Elder Warren Matthew Dudley

Pictures:

#1-2 The view from the apartment window

#3-4 The Missão São Paulo Leste Coin

#5-6 The Tracks

#7 Elder Wilcken’s best Mario impression

#8 Our Area (Cruzeiro 3)

#9 Elder Wilcken and I in the Itagaçaba neighborhood

#10 The Chapel 

First Week In Cruzeiro

Wow, how crazy it´s been! Sorry that this is my first email, but the CTM was super crazy and we really didn´t get a lot of time. Also, sorry for any typos, but Portuguese keyboards are weird.

CTM

When I first arrived at the CTM, I went upstairs and met my companion, Elder Christensen. He was super awesome and is also going to BYU. He is from Oregon. We hit it off right away. We jumped right in to learning the language and studying. My district and my instructors were super awesome. We all became super tight friends. Saying goodbye was super hard, but luckily, six of my CTM district are serving in Sao Paulo Leste!

Five days after we arrived at the CTM, Elder Christensen and I were called as Zone leaders. It obviously wasn´t like being a zone leader in the field, but I really liked it because we got to go to meetings with the CTM President and had some other responsibilities.

Later that week, someone from our District went home due to serious depression and anxiety. It was super sad, and really hard for all of us. His companion, Elder Wolcott, was placed in a trio with Elder Christensen and me. Being in that trio turned out to be super fun for all of us. We became super good friends. Unfortunately, it didn´t last. After we had been in the CTM for 3 weeks, we went up to our dorm room one day and found a new missionary. He was on the same week as us and had just been transferred from the Provo MTC. I was split off from the trio and placed into a companionship with the new elder, Elder Smith. This turned to to be super hard for me. One of my mission goals was to be Christlike to all of my companions, but Elder Smith really tested me. I had so much fun with Elder Wolcott and Elder Christensen, and I loved being a zone leader. Elder Smith and I had nothing in common. But I guess being a missionary is not all fun and games, so I tried my best to be a good companion. I ended up learning a lot about myself while I was his comp.

In the CTM, I had the opportunity to go to both the Sao Paulo Temple and the Campinas Temple. Both were incredible. I also was able to here President Nelson speak by way of broadcast twice.  I learned a lot from what he spoke on to the missionaries and to the people of Brasil.

Cruzeiro

We left the CTM last Tuesday. The group going to my mission is huge. There are about 20 of us! When we arrived at the Mission office, we quickly met President and Sister Miller (both of whom I really like). He interviewed each of us, and then took us upstairs to assign us our trainers and area. My trainer´s name is Elder Wilcken. He is from Texas and has already taught me so much. We are serving in a town called Cruzeiro, the farthest possible area from our mission office. It took us a long, long time to get there. We had to wait in a bus station for two hours, and then we had a five hour bus ride. We got to Cruzeiro at midnight. Two other missionaries from my group are being trained here as well. Their names are Elder Tuttle and Elder Stewart. There are eight missionaries in our area because President Miller wants us to build up the area. There are barely more than 30 people in the branch. Its super hard to find people to teach. I have also realized that the Portuguese I learned in the CTM is nothing like what is actually spoken here. Everyone slurs all of their words together, and I can´t tell what they are saying. It´s pretty hard, but I trust the Lord and the gift of tongues. This is a really hard area, and is different from anything than I ever expected, but I think that the Lord will really help me grow. I am excited to be here and to my best to help the people of Cruzeiro!

Love you all!

Elder Warren Dudley

Pictures:

#1 Our District. In Cruzeiro. From Closest to farthest: Elder Ward, me, Elder Wilcken, Elder Zundel, Elder Jaime, Elder Oliveira, Elder Stewart, Elder Tuttle

#2 I was so tired after the long bus ride that when we got to the house, I feel asleep sitting down.

#3 I was still tired the next day, and when we taught English Class at the church, I feel asleep behind the pulpit as I was studying verb conjugations.

#4-8 Our apartment in Cruzeiro. Elder Zundel, Eldeir Oliveira, Elder Wilcken, and I lived in that apartment. The other four elders lived in a house down the street.

#9 All of the missionaries from my group with their trainers.

#10 All of the missionaries from my group at the mission office.