Week 1 Of Cruzeiro Transfer 2

Ola!!! 


Great week here in mostly super sunny Brasil! I got my new comp, Elder Hatch on Tuesday, and he is great! He is from Sandy, Utah, and is only two transfers ahead of me. He already speaks pretty much fluently. Here are the top moments of the week:

 8. I usually have to improvise while I cook here, but I learned for some things, I should probably stick to the recipe. I tried to make chocolate chip cookies, but instead of cooking them in cookies, I put the entire batch in a sheet. It worked, but it's not cookies. It's more like a breakfast bar. I just made some frosting, and now it's good.

 7. We had a storm appear out of nowhere yesterday- wind, rain, hail. We took shelter on the side of a building and watched the road flood with huge puddles. It lasted 30 minutes and was pretty fun to sit there and watch the storm. However, when we got home, we realized we had left the windows open and all of my study materials and my bedsheets were soaked. Luckily, my bedsheets dried before night, and my scriptures didn´t get ruined, but I did have to spend a while cleaning.

6. We got chased by dogs for the first time. There are dogs all over here, but they usually don´t bother us. Elder Hatch knocked on a door, and a pack of dogs came flooding out. One of them bit Elder Hatch - it didn´t puncture his skin, but he´s got a pretty good bruise. We had to get on another road pretty quick to get away from the dogs.

5. We got let into two houses we knocked on, and we taught two first lessons to those families.

4. For the second time in as many weeks, someone told us that they had a vision of Christ appearing in their bedroom. We meet this man named Carlos on the road. He is super nice and seemed super normal at first. We talked to him for about 45 minutes on the road and then invited him to English class that night. He ended up being the only one in English, so we taught him the Restoration. After hearing about Joseph Smith´s First Vision, he started talking about how Christ appeared to him in his room one night but told him not to look or he would be turned to a pillar of salt or something like that. I was just thinking, "Aw, man!", but then he delivered the best quote I have heard yet. Carlos said: "So that´s what happened. I´m really glad I talked with you guys. I guess you could call me the Brasilian Joseph Smith". 

3. I´m working super hard on my Portuguese with Elder Hatch. I really want to use all of the correct grammar. Some missionaries never learn how to talk completely correct because Brasilians don´t always use proper grammar, but I want to. Elder Hatch does too, and he knows a lot about grammar, so that's great. Elder Hatch also said that he thinks that I am about the same level he was when he had my time, so that is very encouraging.

2. We found a man that has already read all of the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and knows all of the history of the First Vision- down to the angel Moroni. He has never met with missionaries, but he said that he thinks the Book of Mormon is the most similar book to the Bible. I am super excited to teach him.

1. I am super excited to be Elder Hatch´s comp. I can already tell that I am going to learn so much from him. We worked so much harder this week that any other week on my mission. It was so great. It was exactly how I thought my mission was going to be. It just feels right. We knocked doors for hours each day, which is the worst way to do missionary work, but is basically the only way here in Cruzeiro 'cause we don´t have a lot of members. I am so excited to have a comp that has the same mindset as me about missionary work.

Scripture of the week: Alma 61:

9 And now, in your epistle you have censured me, but it mattereth not; I am not angry, but do rejoice in the greatness of your heart. I, Pahoran, do not seek for power, save only to retain my judgment-seat that I may preserve the rights and the liberty of my people. My soul standeth fast in that liberty in the which God hath made us free.

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 

Pictures:

#1-4 The Streets of Cruzeiro

#5 Knocking doors

#6-7 Itagaçaba, close to Renata’s house

#8 - Itagaçaba

#9 -My Cookies!!

Cruzeiro Week 6 Of Transfer 1

Ola!!! 

What a week! This was such a crazy end to the transfer! We had some pretty crazy stuff happen because Elder Wilcken went home because he finished his mission. He left yesterday. I haven´t met my new comp yet, but I know that his name is Elder Hatch, and he is from the States. Here are the crazy things that happened this week, in order of least crazy to absolutely bonkers.

         6. We dropped Elder Wilcken off at the bus station. Before we left the apartment, he said one last prayer. It was a really tender experience to hear him express his gratitude to the Lord through tears. It helped me understand how much a serving the Lord changes you. It was pretty depressing afterwards when we dropped him off because we could really tell he didn´t want to go.

         5. Branch Conference

         4. I tried a fruit named jaboticaba? I have no idea how to spell it, and neither did Elder Wilcken. It was really good though.

         3. I gave my first blessing in Portuguese. It was a really neat, testimony-building experience to be able to feel that the Lord can work through us no matter the language. Our district was at a member´s house, and the dad had never given a blessing. One of the daughters asked for a blessing, so Elder Stuart anointed, and I sealed. After that, the other daughters asked for blessings, so we taught the dad, Ivan, how to anoint. He did so, and Elder Zundel sealed. For the next blessing, Ivan sealed. It was super cool, and the Spirit was present in their house.

        2. I slept on the floor in São Jose for two nights. Elder Wilcken had to go to the mission home in São Paulo for self-sufficiency, so he and I left on Tuesday for Sao Jose. We met another companionship there and slept at their apartment (on the floor). The next morning, Elder Wilcken and Elder Owen (who is also going home) left for the Capitol. I stayed with Elder Johansen and Elder Holdsworth (who is also in training right now). It was really cool to see what a normal São Paulo Leste Area is like. Cruzeiro is really an exception. In São Jose, and every other area, the missionaries get lunch every day from members, and often dinner as well. They have really good member support systems and teach a lot more. I understand a little better now why the more experienced Elders in my district in Cruzeiro always complain - I ate so much in São Jose! The good thing, however, is that I really love Cruzeiro - even if it is tough, we don´t have a lot of people to teach, and we don´t have a lot of members to help us with missionary efforts and lunch. I am really glad I am here because it is helping me grow. 

 

    1. Elder Wilcken and I got back to Cruzeiro on Thursday, and on Saturday, the craziest thing that has happened yet on my mission happened. We went to teach Fernando, who is one of our best two investigators. We were walking there, and at the base of the huge hill he lives on, he passed us on the back of a motorcycle. They stopped, and he hopped off. He was super animated, and wasn´t making much sense at all. He told us to hurry to his house and that he would explain on the way there. It turns out that the previous night, he thought that he had a vision of Jesus Christ. He said he was writing, and he felt an energy come over him. He said that Christ told him to preach the gospel to all the churches in Cruzeiro and in the world. When he woke up, he was wet, so he also thinks that he was baptized. It was actually just a water leak through his light fixture, but we couldn´t explain that to him. Elder Wilcken and I just calmed him down once we got to his house and talked to him about the proper manner for baptism and how God typically works. We also talked about commandments, including the Word of Wisdom - which it turns out he has problems with. However, although he was using some substances last night, he thought he still had a vision. Once we ended the lesson, Elder Wilcken looked at me and said that it is my problem now because he was leaving. 

Scripture of the week:  2 Nephi 25: 23 and 26

23 For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.

26 And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

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 

Pictures:

#1- Elder Wilcken’s last District meeting (his funeral)

#2 - Jaboticaba

#3 - Elder Wilcken’s last Sunday

#4 - The last picture of the Cruzeiro District

Cruzeiro Week 5 Of Transfer 1

Ola!! 

I had another awesome, but tough week here in Brasil. I'm constantly being pushed to my limits, but in a good way. I´m starting to see why the other Elders in my district say this area is tough. It is almost impossible to find new people to teach. Everyone here is one of two things. 1. People are super Catholic and pray to statues of Saints, which results in a rejection. 2. If they aren´t Catholic and they don´t immediately reject us when we contact them, they are not home when we come back, which just results in a lot of walking. That´s ok though because I know that if I continue to put work in, Heavenly Father will provide. Here are the most interesting parts of this week:

           5. I made some awesome mashed potatoes! We made lunch as a district, and I made the best, most American, butteriest mashed potatoes!

           4. Brasil has green oranges and orange limes?!!

           3. I got to do my first service project this week! We helped Fernando with the construction of his house. It was pretty fun to do something like that. My neck got super sunburned because usually I have the collar of a white shirt to protect my neck, but we were wearing normal clothes. While we were working on the house, Fernando said that he is starting to believe that Joseph Smith was truly a prophet of God! We were so happy.

   

        2.  Adriano and Flaviani are getting so close. They both read the Book of Mormon. Adriano studies it like crazy. He actually did the scripture study in the back of the pamphlets and came up with perfect answers to the questions using the Book of Mormon scriptures listed. One of the times we taught them this week, we were talking about baptism, and I felt the Spirit super strongly. I testified to them of the importance of Baptism by proper authority and of the blessings that come afterwards - that we can have eternal families. It was a really incredible experience. It´s just hard because we can´t get them to come to church. I really feel if they came, they would continue to recognize that the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is on the earth.

         1. We had our first person that we are teaching come to church this week! Five weeks of hard work every day and it finally happened! We told Fernando that we would come pick him up with Presidente Pedro´s car. We got there, and he was still asleep, but we woke him up, he took a two minute shower, and we went to church. It was great! He loved it! We were super happy.

Scripture of the week: Alma 48: 

7 Now it came to pass that while Amalickiah had thus been obtaining power by fraud and deceit, Moroni, on the other hand, had been preparing the minds of the people to be faithful unto the Lord their God.

8 Yea, he had been strengthening the armies of the Nephites, and erecting small forts, or places of resort; throwing up banks of earth round about to enclose his armies, and also building walls of stone to encircle them about, round about their cities and the borders of their lands; yea, all round about the land.

9 And in their weakest fortifications he did place the greater number of men; and thus he did fortify and strengthen the land which was possessed by the Nephites.

10 And thus he was preparing to support their liberty, their lands, their wives, and their children, and their peace, and that they might live unto the Lord their God, and that they might maintain that which was called by their enemies the cause of Christians.

11 And Moroni was a strong and a mighty man; he was a man of a perfect understanding; yea, a man that did not delight in bloodshed; a man whose soul did joy in the liberty and the freedom of his country, and his brethren from bondage and slavery;

12 Yea, a man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God, for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people; a man who did labor exceedingly for the welfare and safety of his people.

13 Yea, and he was a man who was firm in the faith of Christ, and he had sworn with an oath to defend his people, his rights, and his country, and his religion, even to the loss of his blood.

17 Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.

I was also thinking about how I can be more Christlike. One thing I thought that I need to do to be better is to see people the way Christ does. Instead of letting people´s flaws, errors, and mistakes distract us from seeing what they are truly like, we should recognize, rejoice for, and learn from the good things about others.

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 

Pictures:

#1-3 View from the cross over Cruzeiro

#4 Lime orange

#5 Sunset from Fernando’s house