Elder Evan Church: Cidade do Sol: Week 10

We had a baptism on Saturday! It was that same lady that I mentioned last week. Her son was able to baptize her.

Let me answer some of your questions. I like getting questions by the way.

How was your mission conference last week?

Really well! It was good seeing old companions or friends and talking to missionaries that were in one of my last areas. The president and his wife gave a lot of training, and at the end the missionaries who are leaving gave their last testimonies. I´ll send some pictures.

Did it last for a whole day?

We had to get up at about 4:30 am to be able to get there on time, and then we got home at about 5pm.

Do you have zone conferences every few weeks?

This zone conference was a conference with 5 zones- all of the missionaries in the capital. There´s also a conference with the 3 zones in the interior. These conferences happen about once every 3 or 4 months. But we also have zone meetings once a month with just our zone (22 missionaries).

You mentioned that you showed a Mormon Message video to the ward mission leader. In English, or is that available with Portuguese subtitles?

No, almost all of the mormon message videos are available in portuguese audio.

Do you have a device that can show videos, or did you use his computer or something? we do have a portable dvd player in our house that´s mainly used when a missionary is being trained and needs to watch the district or other videos. But we showed it on his tv.

Do most people have computers? TVs? What about cell phones? Does your companionship have a cell phone?

Everyone has cellphones- most people have smartphones. But it´s rare to see the iphone here because it´s really expensive. They have all of the nice electronics available here, but they´re just all a lot more expensive than in the US. It´s not rare for people to have a tv as nice or nicer than ours though. Yes every companionship has a really basic cell phone. The only hard thing is that our minutes are limited and we often run out at the end of the month. Using cell phones is more complicated here because there are several different carriers and it´s more expensive to call to certain ones than to others. You have to check what carrier the other person has. It´s different than in the US where almost everything is unlimited.

So, Evan, how are you doing? Are you happy? Healthy? Fluent?

I´m great because I really like this area and this ward and the missionaries I live with. I´m happy about the progress of our recent converts. Deybron and Nábila have been progressing very quickly. They are each doing a lot in their callings.

The only times I´ve gotten sick on the mission have been with a cold, so no big deal. I´ve been blessed in that way.

The language is going well. If you say fluent is saying and understanding everything I need to, then yes I am, but I am still working hard to speak more like a native.

and dad´s questions:

Have you found success sharing the progress form with Auxiliary leaders?

Yes I´ve been happy to see that they are using them and that they ask about people on the lists that they don´t know.

Do you see non-members attend baptisms? Not very often. we should do a better job at inviting friends and family of the person and planning the baptismal service well.

Is the Church well known in your area? Yes it is, most people have heard of it and lots of people know where it is. But it is very rare to find someone who actually knows something about the doctrine. People have just heard about the church of the mormons and lots of them have even heard rumors or half-truths. A lot of people think at first that we don´t use the bible or that our bible is different- the bible of the mormons.

Yep, 9 months is a lot of time! There is lots of work to be done. That´s really great to hear about the MLS missionaries. I have learned more about MLS on my mission and I wish I could work with it. That is exciting.

I´m amazed about the growth of the church in Brazil too. I´m enjoying working in this ward because the leadership is young and motivated. The new bishop is great and has been dedicating lots of his time to his calling and helping us. He is only 26 and he didn´t serve a mission so it´s not like he´s the most experienced either. I see our ward as being well organized and run, but it´s still quite a bit different from our ward. Even people from São Paulo that visit here say the church is more organized there. Yesterday I was able to confirm someone for the first time in my life. That was a good experience.

Well there´s a little weekly update and an answer to your questions. Have a great week!

Love you,

Elder Church