Jacob 6:12

Pics: Bry in Sao Paulo

Sao Paulo Temple at night

It's great to read all the talk about the upcoming UW BYU game next week...it is going to be pretty big. I really wish that I could be there with my family of cats and dawgs to watch it. I will hear about the end result.

Cool thing that Kelsey & Mom ran into Sean and Jonathan at BYU. BYU just has everyone there doesn't it? Anyways, I may try to leave the airport secured area in SLC just to say hi to some people during my layover.

About the flight update from Elder Hurst, you need to talk to President Rau about my release, and when it will be scheduled. Also, I have not received the package yet, but I'm sure I will soon, don't sweat it.

Onnnnnnnnnnn to the week.

Well, not a ton to report from this last week, as things didn't give way to much excitement. The main developement here on the mission is that I spent all week giving a 4 day leadership training about a new system that just came in from Salt Lake. They were four days of training, starting at 9 am and going til 3 pm, that involved doctrinal teaching and practices. We taught the missionaries about 8 key things...The Doctrine of Christ; The role of the Holy Ghost; How to help investigators receive revelation through church attendance, reading the Book of Mormon, and praying; Teach People, not lessons; We invite, they commit, we follow up; starting to teach. President Cooley did all the doctrinal teaching, whereas Elder Alves and I showed them how to use it and led all the practices. It was a pretty effective, but tiring, week. Everyone learned a lot and is really excited to get out into the field and work. I really wish actually that I could have gotten these trainings a lot earlier on my mission, they are really good and help us to be real teachers of the Gospel of Christ. It was a lot of fun and we are scheduled to give the training again next week, but in the far away part of the mission. Well, since I really dont have much more to write this week, I will put in some of my favorite scriptures:

Jacob 6:12 (Book of Mormon);

O be wise; what can I say more?

Moses 1:39 (Pearl of Great Price);

For behold, this is my work and my glory - to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.
Matthew 6:24 (Bible);

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Moroni 7:33-34 (Book of Mormon)

And Christ hath said; Repent all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, and have faith in me, that ye may be saved./And now, my beloved brethren, if this be the case that these things are true which I have spoken unto you, and God will show unto you with power and great glory at the last day, that they are true, and if they are true has the day of miracles ceased?

One of the Craziest Weeks in the History of Ever

Pic - Division in Trujillo...the Stake where I started my mission.

Shout outs to: Sean Layton - Thanks for the email man! Can't wait to see ya.

Parker Beazer: You ain't no elder anymo', but I got your letter

Katrine: Got your letter, will send one out soon

Onnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn to the week.................

This was one of the craziest weeks in the history of ever. The mission is determined to not let me "rest in peace" as there are new issues coming up, huge new trainings (4 days long!), and this past week was a 4 day long division out in Sorocaba (Sorocaba is to Sao Paulo as Sacramento is to San Francisco). It was killer! Elder Alves and I left the office Monday afternoon and we just got back on Friday night. We did divisions with all four stakes in Sorocaba.

The best stories from the week come from the divisions with Elder Lopes (Zona Sorocaba) and Elder Payne (Zona Barcelona). The division with Elder Lopes was a lot of fun. The day started out with our lunch appointment falling, so I became the designated chef and made a Brazi style stroganoff. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm good. It actually turned out pretty well. After that, Elder Lopes and I left to begin our search for new people to teach in the area. All in all, we were able to mark two baptismal dates together during the day. The coolest lesson of all was with this girl named Camila. We were teaching her and her boyfriend in front of their house right at the end of the day. It was a great first lesson. While they didn't really have any religious background, they were able to understand concepts like Prophets, Apostles, Apostasy, Restorations, etc. There were both really interested and really wanting to know the truth, committing to pray to ask God if the things were true. Even better, when we went to go give the Book of Mormon, she said to Elder Lopes, "so, do you guys baptize?" Of course we do! We were able to make a baptismal date for her the next month.

The next day I went to Barcelona for a division with Elder Payne. We had a pretty good day together, but things didn't really pick up until that evening. We had made the goal in the beginning of the day to find two people that wanted to be baptized. Our ending time was going to be 6:30. At 5:45 we started teaching this pair of teenagers about the restoration. I used weird examples like a commandment against mowing lawns to help them understand that there is only one God, and that His commandments are the same for us all....so we need to find the church that teaches the right things. In the end, they were really excited and both accepted baptismal dates! Pretty exciting thing. There were super excited to be able to pray on their own to receive and answer from God, instead of having to have some indoctrination shoved down their throats. Go Power of Prayer.

ONE MONTH!

Bryan is coming home on September 16 - if you are in Bend, Oregon he'd love to see you that weekend before he heads to UW for school. He will be speaking at church on September 19 at the 9am meeting - Bend, OR Stake Center. Save the dates.

Things have been pretty basic for the past 10 days. The biggest thing for me is that I am still getting used to and trying to find the right rhythm with my new companion, Elder Alves. He is a great guy, great missionary, but just is different after working for four months with Elder Parsons. We had a few divisions this week, mission council, and I got attacked by mosquitos for the first time in forever. They bit me four times in the face! How inconvenient.

The first division tht we did this week was out in Barueri, where I stayed with Elder Sena. There weren't really any big cool experiences, but it was fun talking with him for a day. Elder Sena is from a state in Brazil called Bahia, and he has a really strong accent from there, and is a really funny guy. The other two divisions were done in the northern zone of Sao Paulo, in areas called Pirituba and Santana. Santana was fun because we ate lunch at a member's house who had just gotten back from a vacation to Seattle! It was way trunky talking to them haha...made me miss the emerald city a lot. She looked at your website, Mom, and she really loved your paintings. The day in Pirituba went pretty well as I went out with Elder Warner from Orem, UT. We had some fun and taught a really cool person that is finally going to be baptized after years of investigation. Yes, Little & Fabian, Aslaine is going to get baptized in September.

The other big event of the week was mission council, where we have a meeting with all the Zone Leaders of the mission. We talked about some mission goals, problems, etc. Our training was about working with members in the missionary work, and igniting the missionary fire in the hearts of the members. Definitely something tough to do. I used the example of how I didn't really do any "missionary work" before the mission, mostly because I didn't realize how important missionary work is. Now that I am here, I know...but all the members are still in the same pickle. We talked a lot about preparing spiritual lessons for the members to help them feel the power of the Holy Ghost, taking members with us to teach investigators, etc. Went really well.

ONE MONTH!!!

I am a Grandfather

Pics:

On a division. my companion is the one on the far right with Lion hair.

A dog named "Poopey" i guess it is "doll" in German.

Me and the washington kids that came in, one on right is elder schoen's son - Spencer Calvert, friend of my Sis from BYU - Small World.

Me trying to sneak into the van that took my old comps to the airport...gonna miss those guys

It has been way too long since my last pday. I am exhausted!!! Really definitely needing this day of rest. Super happy to be emailing yall as well. I am in my last transfer! We are in August as well...I can officially say that I am coming home next month.

Shout out to Krispy Kremer Supreme...got your letter!

Onnnnnnnnnnnnnn to the week

Well, things have been pretty crazy in the past ten-ish days. It is that whole bujumbled story of transfers, doing divisions, watching people go home, getting new companions, starting my last transfer on the mission, etc. To tell you the truth, I am not even really sure where to begin. I guess the main thing is that my companion Elder Parsons (now just Brent Parsons) went home! That was a sad parting. It was the longest time that I had ever spent with one companion. He was definitely one of the best, we had a lot of fun together and I feel like we had a lot of success as well here on the mission. He is gonna rock life back at home.

My new companion is Elder Alves from Fortaleza, Brazil. He is definitely a lot different from Elder Parsons, so I am getting used to it still, but he is a really hard worker and really wants to do things the right way. It is weird, since he has such a different way of doing things...I have been used to one thing for the past four and a half months. Well, it is going to be great though. Best of all....I GO HOME NEXT MONTH!!!!

As for the whole thing of transfers. We had some cool divisions to make sure that all the transfers things were correct and to see how some people were doing. The best division was in an area called Cerqueira César, which is the downtown area of the mission. This is the area that gets the Avenida Paulista, Faria Lima, Oscar Freire, etc...all the chique places. It was tons of fun out there. Actually, it was rough, as I walked SOOOO much, we didnt get into many homes to teach lessons. However, I did make a sweet contact with this lady as she was walking around with her fancy dog and pushing her baby in the stroller. She spoke perfect english (common for rich Brazilians). I don't really know what is going on with her, but she seemed super interested in the church.

The Elder that I went out with, Elder Schenatto, is a brazilian that also speaks decent english. He is now training an Idaho boy there...so funny...imagine a shy kid from the middle of nowhere...and now imagine him walking around Brazil's version of Wall Street and Time Square..big change. Transfers went pretty well. There were a couple last minute problems and we had to change some things around, but mostly it all went very smoothly. We have 8 new zone leaders, 15 trainers, 1 new assistant, and 10 new district leaders...basically a total change on the mission. Plus, we are having fun integrating this new program that we received from Salt Lake a little while ago. Going pretty well so far.

The coolest thing about the transfer is that Elder Schoen, my son on the mission, is training again. Im a grandfather! Again! Even cooler, he is training someone from Redmond, WA. Even better than that, he is training someone that has met my family - dated my sister's roommate at BYU. Small world, right? But the guy is legit, I bet him and Elder Schoen are going to have a great time together and lots of success. Well, that is about it for now. I have a new companion. My old companion is at home. I am a grandfather (That is when the person you first trained, is now training someone new, that person is your "grandson" - mission lingo). We are at the start of my last transfer. I am not trunky, but stoked.