March 25, 2009
Thanks to all who sent letters I got a number of them this past zone conference and have enjoyed reading them all, and then some again..
Do you crazy cats get the Liahona there in the states? or is it just here in Brazil (even in English its called the Liahona here... just wondering) it’s interesting, the articles I’ve seen lately in the church magazines have had a lot to do with member missionary work... speaking of which, there are some really great members here in the ward, last night after passing by Jamile's place (more on her family coming up) I received the impression that we should stop by this sister's house and ask if she could pass by Jamile's place and just see how they were doing during the week, make friends with her mom etc. and boom, "yeah I’ll do it" I can pass by tal sister’s place to find out where she lives, and yeah, I’ll pass by there.... amazing, if we had more help like that in the ward, all of Conquista would be baptized and firm at that. Jamile's family (minus one brother and her dad) went to church this past Sunday, it was kind of funny as we passed by, everyone was ready there with the desire to go, minus her little 9 year old brother Felipe, who wanted to fly his kite (An avid past time of many kids here) who ended up heading to church crying along the way, but as you might imagine, he came home excited as ever about church, and he will probably be baptized here this weekend or the next with his other sister Jirlane. Though as of yet Jirlane hasn’t completed the Book of Mormon reading, she isn’t such a big fan of the whole reading end of things. I love heading there to teach them, though their street has a bit of opposition, and it seems that her family has a long history of Catholics with the mentality of born Catholic, die Catholic, and the only baptism I need is that of when I was a baby. I hope that she (or in reality, all of them) will do their part, "experimenting upon the word" and pray to ask God if it’s true, the only one who can and will manifest the truth of all things unto them, if they but give place for the word, even with only the desire to believe, and ask God in faith (meaning that they will act in accordance with the feelings they received), they will come to know the truth. For if they ask their pastor, he will give his opinion that his church is the one they should stick with, if they ask us, we'll say ours is that which they should join, but if they ask God, which church will He tell them they should join? His? or some other. I know that this is the Church Of Jesus Christ in our days, that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, that he saw God the Father and His son Jesus Christ, and that they restored the fullness of the gospel through him, with the power and authority to perform the ordinances necessary for our salvation.
Jacob
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
March 18, 2009
General Conference (check out www.lds.org for those who don’t know what this is on April 4th and 5th) here will be at the stake center (where my ward meets) and who knows, maybe I’ll get to see some of the Itapetinga crew, that’d be pretty cool,
Jamile's baptism was great, It seems that her family might be a bit more hesitant about exercising their faith like her, her sister has yet to follow through with her word, as does her mom, but on the upside one of her cousins went to church this last Sunday, and liked it, unfortunately there were some other boys his age who were messing around during sacrament meeting who I think detracted from his experience. We taught his mom once already, (with the big group of girls aforementioned) and met his father Monday night, he seems open to us coming by, welcoming in fact, but he was also a bit drunk, so that might have influenced things, they are a great family though, and I think Jamile will be a great help there, did I mention already how we were teaching her sister, and when her sister had doubts about committing to prepare to be baptized, Jamile raised her hands asked if she could share something she read in the book of Mormon 3Nephi 11,
33 And whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God.
34 And whoso believeth not in me, and is not baptized, shall be damned. (also in Marcus 16:16)
( I think she’s the first investigator I’ve ever seen 1st, mark scriptures she liked in the assigned chapters, and 2nd, "burn" a family member, as Elder M. would say, era da hora)
Elder M. went into the doctor, got some x-rays, had them read... and as a result received a nice shot in the backside... and it seems like not much has changed... don’t remember if I explained this, but it is a problem with a lack of cartilage so bone is against bone... not fun to say the least.
Kapoeira... tis a good time, maybe I’ll even come home with some of their crazy pants, more of less fluffy white pants... strange I know, but the sport of its self is pretty cool... as of yet I have only the basic movement down though, a good bit more time is needed, hope Elder D. and I will be in the same area another transfer...
Well, I guess that’s all I’ve got time for this week, but the address here to write letters directly to me (only while I’m here in Conquista) is Avenida Amazonas 690 Ibirapuera Casa 2 not sure about the zip code... should be easy to find online though... if you can't find it I'll try to find out/remember to bring it next week.
I know that God lives, that this is His gospel, and His church led by His prophet, through which we can hear His words, and be guided through the "more fertile parts of the wilderness" to the "promised land" of His Celestial Kingdom. In the name of Jesus Christ, amém.
Elder Jacob Pettit
General Conference (check out www.lds.org for those who don’t know what this is on April 4th and 5th) here will be at the stake center (where my ward meets) and who knows, maybe I’ll get to see some of the Itapetinga crew, that’d be pretty cool,
Jamile's baptism was great, It seems that her family might be a bit more hesitant about exercising their faith like her, her sister has yet to follow through with her word, as does her mom, but on the upside one of her cousins went to church this last Sunday, and liked it, unfortunately there were some other boys his age who were messing around during sacrament meeting who I think detracted from his experience. We taught his mom once already, (with the big group of girls aforementioned) and met his father Monday night, he seems open to us coming by, welcoming in fact, but he was also a bit drunk, so that might have influenced things, they are a great family though, and I think Jamile will be a great help there, did I mention already how we were teaching her sister, and when her sister had doubts about committing to prepare to be baptized, Jamile raised her hands asked if she could share something she read in the book of Mormon 3Nephi 11,
33 And whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God.
34 And whoso believeth not in me, and is not baptized, shall be damned. (also in Marcus 16:16)
( I think she’s the first investigator I’ve ever seen 1st, mark scriptures she liked in the assigned chapters, and 2nd, "burn" a family member, as Elder M. would say, era da hora)
Elder M. went into the doctor, got some x-rays, had them read... and as a result received a nice shot in the backside... and it seems like not much has changed... don’t remember if I explained this, but it is a problem with a lack of cartilage so bone is against bone... not fun to say the least.
Kapoeira... tis a good time, maybe I’ll even come home with some of their crazy pants, more of less fluffy white pants... strange I know, but the sport of its self is pretty cool... as of yet I have only the basic movement down though, a good bit more time is needed, hope Elder D. and I will be in the same area another transfer...
Well, I guess that’s all I’ve got time for this week, but the address here to write letters directly to me (only while I’m here in Conquista) is Avenida Amazonas 690 Ibirapuera Casa 2 not sure about the zip code... should be easy to find online though... if you can't find it I'll try to find out/remember to bring it next week.
I know that God lives, that this is His gospel, and His church led by His prophet, through which we can hear His words, and be guided through the "more fertile parts of the wilderness" to the "promised land" of His Celestial Kingdom. In the name of Jesus Christ, amém.
Elder Jacob Pettit
Well let’s see, new area and the past week in review... Elder M. and I share a lot of the same interests, and I think have similar personalities, it’s been great being with him as a comp. seeing as he likes to talk, and so I'm learning a good bit of Portuguese here with him, Elder L. and Elder D. (E. Diego is a kapoeira instructor, and so today I started learning some basic moves, I’m pretty excited to learn, it’s kind of a dance using karate-ish moves) Unfortunately though, we haven’t been working a whole lot here, I think I already mentioned Elder M. is a tired trunky missionary with a knee problem. SO again this week we haven’t done a whole lot, but we have been blessed in the work here, Last week we had a baptism for CLeide a little girl Elder M. and his old comp. were teaching, and during the end of last week, we met and taught a group of 6 girls (various mothers and daughters) and all of them fell through before Sunday, but because of them, we were led to another family, which has been prepared for the gospel, the youngest daughter (12) Jamile went to church on Sunday and already began talking about baptism before we taught her, She attended church a bit a year or so ago with her now inactive aunt who lives with her. Her mom at one point this week wasn’t going to let her continue going to church anymore. But as we talked with her, we asked her if someone spoke bad things about the church, that we take people to other countries, take out people’s eyes or organs, etc. after asking how we knew, we explained, and she opened up to us, there is also a member nearby who is somewhat friends with Jiane (Jamile´s mom) and thus just another way this family has been prepared to enter the way leading back to God's Kingdom. Jamile will be baptized Saturday or Sunday, and is also excited to go to a young woman’s activity on Saturday. The ward here seems to be really pretty good at having activities (pretty much every weekend for the girls and soccer every week for the guys,) I know the Lord will guide us in this work which is in reality, His work, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man if we but listen to His Spirit, and act without fear.
Well, time is running short here, but again I hope all is well with you all, I know this is God's church on the earth, with all the authority and truth necessary to enable us to one day return to His presence. I read an interesting thing the other day, I forget who wrote it, (maybe pres. Kimball) it was called “7 Deadly Heresies”, and in it he explained how this life is the time to orient our lives for a track that eventually leads to become how our Father in Heaven is, we aren’t going to reach that level in this life, we don’t have too, we just have to do our best, making those simple decisions to go to church, read the scriptures, pray and so on, and if we do these things seeking to submit to the will of the Lord, great things indeed will be brought to pass, but again, it is only after all we can do, that we are saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior and Redeemer. I leave this my testimony with you all in the name of Jesus Christ Amém.
Jacob
Well, time is running short here, but again I hope all is well with you all, I know this is God's church on the earth, with all the authority and truth necessary to enable us to one day return to His presence. I read an interesting thing the other day, I forget who wrote it, (maybe pres. Kimball) it was called “7 Deadly Heresies”, and in it he explained how this life is the time to orient our lives for a track that eventually leads to become how our Father in Heaven is, we aren’t going to reach that level in this life, we don’t have too, we just have to do our best, making those simple decisions to go to church, read the scriptures, pray and so on, and if we do these things seeking to submit to the will of the Lord, great things indeed will be brought to pass, but again, it is only after all we can do, that we are saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior and Redeemer. I leave this my testimony with you all in the name of Jesus Christ Amém.
Jacob
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Transferred
Opa!!!! estão beleza e tudo mais? Conquista... well, its certainly a bit different than Itapetinga here both with comp. and area. Elder M. is from São Paulo and the others here in our district are also from Brazil, I’ve really been blessed on that end. (as a side note perhaps just to sat e my pride Elder M.thought I was from Brasil woohooo) I def. learn much better in the speaking of Portuguese than learning by the book. And being around only Brazilians (or at least most) thus far in the mission has been a great blessing for me in vocab, grammar, pronunciation and so on with the language.
The area here seems a bit more difficult then Itapetinga, it also kind of strange the way things are set up, take for example the fact that our house isn’t in our area. The area is set up by bairro" meaning neighborhood more or less, and so our area is a bit irregular or at least for me coming from where our area was the whole city. Elder M and his former comp have been working in one of the only poor areas here in the area, but its about 45min-hour walk (I think) and we have to leave before 6 to get out safely, add to that the fact that lunch is about where we live and it becomes unrealistic to head up there before lunch. thus we have very little time to find new investigators there, not to mention they’ve been working a lot with recent converts from upwards of 2 months ago, leaving even less time. Something’s gotta change, or this area is just going to die out. Fortunately it looks like we’re going to head to another area here closer to home, in which we can really start to work, but, Elder M. has a knee problem as well for which we are going to the doctors for tomorrow to see what is to be done. All in all a difficult situation, but on the upside it seems there is a good strong member to leave the recent converts with (though I fear it's a bit of a heavy load 2-3 houses with one man...) and also we have a little girl of 8 years that Elder M. and Elder R. were working with who will be baptized this Saturday, she has several friends who are members and her mom has given her authorization to be baptized. All in all I think that scripture you sent in this weeks email is perfect for the moment, where is that scripture found? Hoping to get to work here sometime soon, we’ve been here two days as of yet and I feel like we don’t do anything, more to come in the letter on this (btw, I can receive letters at the house here, apparently semi reliably, I will send the next letter with the address.)
Toe continues on the mend.
The new house is pretty big for only 2 elders, decent kitchen, big study room, two bedrooms, tiny bathroom, another room we don’t use, and a little area in the back with the washing machine and clothesline. all n all remarkably clean for a mission house, apparently the sisters used to live here... probably has something to do with it.
The area directly around our house is pretty nice, the streets here are mostly asphalt thankfully, much easier on the feet, don’t know how to describe the houses... I’ll see if I can finagle something with a photo in the next email or letter, but as of yet I really don’t know the area so it's hard to say anything other than that.
We have a nice chapel here, pretty big to boot though again I understand there are only 50 or so active members at the moment. though there are two wards that meet in the building.
The trip went well, fortunately I’d come here before so I knew what I was looking for, no surprises there, including when nobody showed up for 30 min or so... it’s kind of a joke here on the mission, always happens.
Teaching, well, like I said I feel like we aren’t doing anything, we’ve been in 4 or 5 houses since I've been here, two of which were members... yeah, not to satisfied either, hoping to figure out some way to get it so we will start to work.
I know this is the Lord's work, that this is His glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life or man and that when he gives commands, He provides a way for them to be accomplished. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amém.
Jacob
The area here seems a bit more difficult then Itapetinga, it also kind of strange the way things are set up, take for example the fact that our house isn’t in our area. The area is set up by bairro" meaning neighborhood more or less, and so our area is a bit irregular or at least for me coming from where our area was the whole city. Elder M and his former comp have been working in one of the only poor areas here in the area, but its about 45min-hour walk (I think) and we have to leave before 6 to get out safely, add to that the fact that lunch is about where we live and it becomes unrealistic to head up there before lunch. thus we have very little time to find new investigators there, not to mention they’ve been working a lot with recent converts from upwards of 2 months ago, leaving even less time. Something’s gotta change, or this area is just going to die out. Fortunately it looks like we’re going to head to another area here closer to home, in which we can really start to work, but, Elder M. has a knee problem as well for which we are going to the doctors for tomorrow to see what is to be done. All in all a difficult situation, but on the upside it seems there is a good strong member to leave the recent converts with (though I fear it's a bit of a heavy load 2-3 houses with one man...) and also we have a little girl of 8 years that Elder M. and Elder R. were working with who will be baptized this Saturday, she has several friends who are members and her mom has given her authorization to be baptized. All in all I think that scripture you sent in this weeks email is perfect for the moment, where is that scripture found? Hoping to get to work here sometime soon, we’ve been here two days as of yet and I feel like we don’t do anything, more to come in the letter on this (btw, I can receive letters at the house here, apparently semi reliably, I will send the next letter with the address.)
Toe continues on the mend.
The new house is pretty big for only 2 elders, decent kitchen, big study room, two bedrooms, tiny bathroom, another room we don’t use, and a little area in the back with the washing machine and clothesline. all n all remarkably clean for a mission house, apparently the sisters used to live here... probably has something to do with it.
The area directly around our house is pretty nice, the streets here are mostly asphalt thankfully, much easier on the feet, don’t know how to describe the houses... I’ll see if I can finagle something with a photo in the next email or letter, but as of yet I really don’t know the area so it's hard to say anything other than that.
We have a nice chapel here, pretty big to boot though again I understand there are only 50 or so active members at the moment. though there are two wards that meet in the building.
The trip went well, fortunately I’d come here before so I knew what I was looking for, no surprises there, including when nobody showed up for 30 min or so... it’s kind of a joke here on the mission, always happens.
Teaching, well, like I said I feel like we aren’t doing anything, we’ve been in 4 or 5 houses since I've been here, two of which were members... yeah, not to satisfied either, hoping to figure out some way to get it so we will start to work.
I know this is the Lord's work, that this is His glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life or man and that when he gives commands, He provides a way for them to be accomplished. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amém.
Jacob
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Big news for the week, looks like Ill be staying here in Itapetinga for another transfer. Woohooo!! also of note, I’m done with the whole switching the bandage on my toe, now its just showing its ugly face in the sunlight, peeking out from underneath the cuff of my pants, reminds me of Emperor Palpatine every time I look at it, I’ll see if I can get some photos sent out sometime soon, it seems the email of the church wont let me, though maybe its just a lack of know-how on my part.
Carnival is ending here, though thankfully in Itapetinga we didn’t have much to deal with, though a drunk man confronted us the other night in the street, saying the devil sent the message, asking what the purpose of life was, All around absolutely smashed and trying to start something as he pushed at our shoulders a bit, I gave him a card of the message and he grabbed some stuff out of my shirt pocket, at which point I asked him more or less, "what, will you break a commandment of God and steal?" he returned the stuff, (all during the midst of a group of others saying, "let them work", What are you doing etc. ) and as we walked away he followed after us, but fortunately did nothing more than apologize. It wasn’t till later I realized the Lord´s protection, and how things might have been diff. how many prayers of let us go home in safety are answered without us knowing?
Had a big meeting with most of the active members of the ward Sunday night, and handed out assignments to the members to pass by the houses of recent converts, two times a week, and also to bring them to church on Sunday, also put in place a system of reporting. We will see the results of the meeting today as we call out to the leaders to see how people have been taking their responsibility. There seems to have been a division as I first mentioned when I got here, and hopefully that will lessen as we all work together to help the ward grow, the goal set is to have 75 people attending by the end of the transfer. (requirement for a chapel) I found out an interesting fact this past Sunday as well, apparently at one point there were about 100 ppl or so active in the ward here, but many went inactive, moved away etc. The land for a chapel was bought, but the stake president never put out the money for the chapel, and with time, the numbers weren’t sufficient to build one. As for the meeting, it seemed well enough accepted with more then just us as missionaries talking, thankfully. Though there was a bit of strong pessimism from a small percentage, guess we’ll see though, no unhallowed hand can stop the work.
Ward activities, there was a cry for them at the meeting on Sunday, but then people retorted that if we have them, people have to come, there seems to be a great desire to just show up to church on Sunday for many and not much more, but then again who am I to judge. I wasn’t much of a member missionary. Man my views on that end of things have changed.
We met a man a couple days back who is set to be baptized on Sunday who seems really sincere about finding the answer. We have only had a chance to meet with him once as of yet, so we’ll see how things go when we meet with him tomorrow.
Elder Pettit
Carnival is ending here, though thankfully in Itapetinga we didn’t have much to deal with, though a drunk man confronted us the other night in the street, saying the devil sent the message, asking what the purpose of life was, All around absolutely smashed and trying to start something as he pushed at our shoulders a bit, I gave him a card of the message and he grabbed some stuff out of my shirt pocket, at which point I asked him more or less, "what, will you break a commandment of God and steal?" he returned the stuff, (all during the midst of a group of others saying, "let them work", What are you doing etc. ) and as we walked away he followed after us, but fortunately did nothing more than apologize. It wasn’t till later I realized the Lord´s protection, and how things might have been diff. how many prayers of let us go home in safety are answered without us knowing?
Had a big meeting with most of the active members of the ward Sunday night, and handed out assignments to the members to pass by the houses of recent converts, two times a week, and also to bring them to church on Sunday, also put in place a system of reporting. We will see the results of the meeting today as we call out to the leaders to see how people have been taking their responsibility. There seems to have been a division as I first mentioned when I got here, and hopefully that will lessen as we all work together to help the ward grow, the goal set is to have 75 people attending by the end of the transfer. (requirement for a chapel) I found out an interesting fact this past Sunday as well, apparently at one point there were about 100 ppl or so active in the ward here, but many went inactive, moved away etc. The land for a chapel was bought, but the stake president never put out the money for the chapel, and with time, the numbers weren’t sufficient to build one. As for the meeting, it seemed well enough accepted with more then just us as missionaries talking, thankfully. Though there was a bit of strong pessimism from a small percentage, guess we’ll see though, no unhallowed hand can stop the work.
Ward activities, there was a cry for them at the meeting on Sunday, but then people retorted that if we have them, people have to come, there seems to be a great desire to just show up to church on Sunday for many and not much more, but then again who am I to judge. I wasn’t much of a member missionary. Man my views on that end of things have changed.
We met a man a couple days back who is set to be baptized on Sunday who seems really sincere about finding the answer. We have only had a chance to meet with him once as of yet, so we’ll see how things go when we meet with him tomorrow.
Elder Pettit
Thursday, February 19, 2009
February 18, 2009
(In regards to the flu going around their apartment-and Jacob not getting it) Thankfully I did, and it seems to have passed through our apartment woohooo!! Other medical news the toe is still on the mend, orange sandals and a big white bandage are still the biggest things in style here in Itapetinga, transfers seem to have been delayed for a week here, so this a Saturday we'll find out if I stay or go...
Thanks for posting the address, I love getting letters.
Hair cut? They’ve got local barber shops here in Itapetinga, and thankfully we found one without porn posted on the walls to go to, it’s about $5 per cut generally speaking.
Well, let's see, this past week has been good, though we were all ready for transfers to arrive, Elder Jenkins has been getting a little ancy as he has been here in Itapetinga for 5-6 months(I think there about) We had an interesting time in Church this past Sunday, only four young men (Valmar, Igor, Helio, and Eliandro) were able to make it, and well as 12-15 year old boys are bound to do, when one begins to act up, the rest are as well, and after having them hanging around in a tree outside the entrance to the chapel, yelling out our names for a little bit of time I admit my patience was tried, so Elder Severo and I went out there to get them to at least quite down (Interesting what a difference is made when their parents aren’t around) and As one of them just didn’t seem to want to calm/quiet down we left church early with them to drop them off at their homes again, but before leaving had a neat experience with them (minus the fact that one of them would not shut his mouth) In trying to get them to realize the importance of Church, and why they at least needed to be quiet, I asked each one of them, why they came to church in the first place, starting with Valmar, who responded that he felt God touched his heart and told him it was the thing to do and that the church was true, this continued through each of the others except the one who kept them all riled up and made fun of them as they answered, (though he too answered with in a similar manner) I was a bit well, perturbed to say the least, and we left to bring them home. Through this experience I feel I have experienced a little about what it means to be a scout leader, and/or parent, but also a renewed testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel, and the strength of the spirit, that would cause even 12-15 year old boys full of energy and whatnot to say even in the presence of one who is making fun of them, that God touched their heart and they feel of the truthfulness of the Gospel.
Currently working on a plan which we will present to the ward including how they will help the ward grow by bringing people (specifically at the moment recent converts) to church on Sundays, so that we can work on just bringing the people we found that week. this will also help those who have recently been baptized make friendships and not feel connected to the church only through the missionaries, and thereby eliminating the likelihood that once the missionaries leave, they will stop going to church. The ward seems reluctant to do more then just show up at church on Sunday (save a few exceptions) but we will hope, pray and do what we can to excite them and feel of their responsibility to help the work of the Lord move forward. The goal of this plan for the moment is to have 75 people attending church regularly within the next month and a half, (Starting at about 25) if any of you have any ideas feel free to send em my way :)
Well, I know this is the restored Church of Christ, that Christ is our Redeemer, that God is our Heavenly Father, and that if we just do those small and simple things, reading the scriptures and applying them in our life, praying each day, going to church on Sundays, in reality exercising our faith, the Lord will bless us, and we will return to live with our Heavenly Father.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amém.
Jacob
(In regards to the flu going around their apartment-and Jacob not getting it) Thankfully I did, and it seems to have passed through our apartment woohooo!! Other medical news the toe is still on the mend, orange sandals and a big white bandage are still the biggest things in style here in Itapetinga, transfers seem to have been delayed for a week here, so this a Saturday we'll find out if I stay or go...
Thanks for posting the address, I love getting letters.
Hair cut? They’ve got local barber shops here in Itapetinga, and thankfully we found one without porn posted on the walls to go to, it’s about $5 per cut generally speaking.
Well, let's see, this past week has been good, though we were all ready for transfers to arrive, Elder Jenkins has been getting a little ancy as he has been here in Itapetinga for 5-6 months(I think there about) We had an interesting time in Church this past Sunday, only four young men (Valmar, Igor, Helio, and Eliandro) were able to make it, and well as 12-15 year old boys are bound to do, when one begins to act up, the rest are as well, and after having them hanging around in a tree outside the entrance to the chapel, yelling out our names for a little bit of time I admit my patience was tried, so Elder Severo and I went out there to get them to at least quite down (Interesting what a difference is made when their parents aren’t around) and As one of them just didn’t seem to want to calm/quiet down we left church early with them to drop them off at their homes again, but before leaving had a neat experience with them (minus the fact that one of them would not shut his mouth) In trying to get them to realize the importance of Church, and why they at least needed to be quiet, I asked each one of them, why they came to church in the first place, starting with Valmar, who responded that he felt God touched his heart and told him it was the thing to do and that the church was true, this continued through each of the others except the one who kept them all riled up and made fun of them as they answered, (though he too answered with in a similar manner) I was a bit well, perturbed to say the least, and we left to bring them home. Through this experience I feel I have experienced a little about what it means to be a scout leader, and/or parent, but also a renewed testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel, and the strength of the spirit, that would cause even 12-15 year old boys full of energy and whatnot to say even in the presence of one who is making fun of them, that God touched their heart and they feel of the truthfulness of the Gospel.
Currently working on a plan which we will present to the ward including how they will help the ward grow by bringing people (specifically at the moment recent converts) to church on Sundays, so that we can work on just bringing the people we found that week. this will also help those who have recently been baptized make friendships and not feel connected to the church only through the missionaries, and thereby eliminating the likelihood that once the missionaries leave, they will stop going to church. The ward seems reluctant to do more then just show up at church on Sunday (save a few exceptions) but we will hope, pray and do what we can to excite them and feel of their responsibility to help the work of the Lord move forward. The goal of this plan for the moment is to have 75 people attending church regularly within the next month and a half, (Starting at about 25) if any of you have any ideas feel free to send em my way :)
Well, I know this is the restored Church of Christ, that Christ is our Redeemer, that God is our Heavenly Father, and that if we just do those small and simple things, reading the scriptures and applying them in our life, praying each day, going to church on Sundays, in reality exercising our faith, the Lord will bless us, and we will return to live with our Heavenly Father.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amém.
Jacob
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Feb. 11, 2009
Thankfully the toe is pretty much a thing of the past, just have to go into the hospital every couple days to change up the bandage, though it looks like this’ll be the last week, WOOO hoooo just in time for transfers, I have mixed feelings as to whether or not I want to be transferred, but fortunately I don’t have to worry about that decision. Itapetinga has been good, it’s been interesting as this transfer has been coming to a close, I’ve looked back at the success and the failures, the things that have changed, within and without me. That’s something that’s diff. about the mission, it’s split into smaller periods of time, set up for goal setting, looking back at where you’ve come in a six week period, it’s almost like a happy new year every month and a half. And though I haven’t thought too much into things yet (time to think about those sorts of things is a little scarce on a mission) I feel a great desire to and to set new goals. That’s become something I’ve had a greater desire to do, without goals, we just spend most of our time dribbling the ball up and down the field of life.
Went to the zoo here in Itapetinga today, thought it would be a dinky little place judging by the size of the town, but as it turns out it was really pretty cool. It’s a lot different then the zoos in the states as all the roads were dirt, they had random trails leading through the forest with animal statues and tribal looking things as well scattered throughout. (not to mention the wild monkeys, SOOOO COOOOLLL) also of note were the pigeons they had there, not outside the cages but in... that was a bit of a site to see, don’t think you’d find that anywhere in the states. Also had a good number of sweet birds, turtles, crocodiles, a puma, porcupine.... and another strange find hamsters yes hamsters, and some rabbits. Also got some cool shots of the plant life there, it’s so sweet being in a diff. climate like this. Oh and before I forget a big ole banana spider that Elder Severo practically walked right into, (I’ll send a pic next week) it was chilling right there across one of the trails.
This week has been a bit slow on the work as Elder Severo has been sick a good number of days (3-4) with a flu like deal. Elder Matos also picked it up, but fortunately the rest of us have stayed out of it. But the work as been slowed as a result, but it looks like Creuza will finally be coming to Church this Sunday, we taught her the 2nd lesson this past weekend which hopefully brought some eternal perspective into here life, and comforted her concerning her son who was killed awhile back. We also baptized a boy named Eleo, who seems excited to come to church this Sunday (couldn’t last week as we had stake conference out in Conquista, bom de mais, I’ll explain more later) we will be baptizing his brother this Saturday, and hopefully the parents will follow. As of yet though they aren’t married. Redinaura (Eleo's mom) has a problem with drinking and smoking but is trying to stop, and in the short week and a half that we’ve been visiting with her family, I've seen a great change in her, she seems to be happier when we swing by her place, and it seems she is drunk less often when we pass by. It's rough though as of yet, it seems her husband is still drinking a good bit and we haven’t been able to really catch him in the house sober yet.
Stake conference was great, President Silva spoke as well as his wife, and other leaders in the stake. The themes of the talks were more or less consecrating everything to the Lord, building faith, hope in the plan of salvation, preparing for the future, (financially, food storage etc) and uniting the family in the gospel of Christ. All of which reminded me of general conference and how these really are the last days, and how the hearts of Zion are being prepared for the Second coming of the Lord.
Well that’s all I’ve got time for today, love you all, thanks for the letters and packages, I got the one with the fruit leather and measuring stuff at the conference. (speaking of which made the syrup today, pretty good if I may say so myself) thanks much. I know this is the only true and living church on the earth today, with a prophet who can speak with the Lord, face to face as Moses did, with 12 apostles, and the priesthood authority to baptize and perform the saving ordinances of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know Christ is our Savior, and that He lives and loves each and every one of us. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Elder Pettit
Thankfully the toe is pretty much a thing of the past, just have to go into the hospital every couple days to change up the bandage, though it looks like this’ll be the last week, WOOO hoooo just in time for transfers, I have mixed feelings as to whether or not I want to be transferred, but fortunately I don’t have to worry about that decision. Itapetinga has been good, it’s been interesting as this transfer has been coming to a close, I’ve looked back at the success and the failures, the things that have changed, within and without me. That’s something that’s diff. about the mission, it’s split into smaller periods of time, set up for goal setting, looking back at where you’ve come in a six week period, it’s almost like a happy new year every month and a half. And though I haven’t thought too much into things yet (time to think about those sorts of things is a little scarce on a mission) I feel a great desire to and to set new goals. That’s become something I’ve had a greater desire to do, without goals, we just spend most of our time dribbling the ball up and down the field of life.
Went to the zoo here in Itapetinga today, thought it would be a dinky little place judging by the size of the town, but as it turns out it was really pretty cool. It’s a lot different then the zoos in the states as all the roads were dirt, they had random trails leading through the forest with animal statues and tribal looking things as well scattered throughout. (not to mention the wild monkeys, SOOOO COOOOLLL) also of note were the pigeons they had there, not outside the cages but in... that was a bit of a site to see, don’t think you’d find that anywhere in the states. Also had a good number of sweet birds, turtles, crocodiles, a puma, porcupine.... and another strange find hamsters yes hamsters, and some rabbits. Also got some cool shots of the plant life there, it’s so sweet being in a diff. climate like this. Oh and before I forget a big ole banana spider that Elder Severo practically walked right into, (I’ll send a pic next week) it was chilling right there across one of the trails.
This week has been a bit slow on the work as Elder Severo has been sick a good number of days (3-4) with a flu like deal. Elder Matos also picked it up, but fortunately the rest of us have stayed out of it. But the work as been slowed as a result, but it looks like Creuza will finally be coming to Church this Sunday, we taught her the 2nd lesson this past weekend which hopefully brought some eternal perspective into here life, and comforted her concerning her son who was killed awhile back. We also baptized a boy named Eleo, who seems excited to come to church this Sunday (couldn’t last week as we had stake conference out in Conquista, bom de mais, I’ll explain more later) we will be baptizing his brother this Saturday, and hopefully the parents will follow. As of yet though they aren’t married. Redinaura (Eleo's mom) has a problem with drinking and smoking but is trying to stop, and in the short week and a half that we’ve been visiting with her family, I've seen a great change in her, she seems to be happier when we swing by her place, and it seems she is drunk less often when we pass by. It's rough though as of yet, it seems her husband is still drinking a good bit and we haven’t been able to really catch him in the house sober yet.
Stake conference was great, President Silva spoke as well as his wife, and other leaders in the stake. The themes of the talks were more or less consecrating everything to the Lord, building faith, hope in the plan of salvation, preparing for the future, (financially, food storage etc) and uniting the family in the gospel of Christ. All of which reminded me of general conference and how these really are the last days, and how the hearts of Zion are being prepared for the Second coming of the Lord.
Well that’s all I’ve got time for today, love you all, thanks for the letters and packages, I got the one with the fruit leather and measuring stuff at the conference. (speaking of which made the syrup today, pretty good if I may say so myself) thanks much. I know this is the only true and living church on the earth today, with a prophet who can speak with the Lord, face to face as Moses did, with 12 apostles, and the priesthood authority to baptize and perform the saving ordinances of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know Christ is our Savior, and that He lives and loves each and every one of us. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Elder Pettit
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