3-28-11 Running again! Elder Halvorsen's Last Transfer, Story of the Two Buckets

HELLO BOM DIA!

EMILY RAN A 2:21 ALREADY [in the 800 meter race]? IN MARCH? MY GOSH CONGRATULATIONS! THAT IS AWESOME. WOW I THOUGHT ABOUT THAT SEVERAL TIMES THIS WEEK, AS ME AND MY COMP DECIDED TO START RUNNING EVERY MORNING. WE HAVE A QUARTER MILE DIRT TRACK CLOSE TO OUR HOUSE (IF IT IS NOT 400 METERS, IT IS EXTREMELY CLOSE). I HAVE BEEN ACTUALLY DOING SOME INTERVALS EVERY NOW AND THEN, BELIEVE IT OR NOT... I RACED A 400 MYSELF AND RAN 61... IT FELT LIKE A 55  (IT HURT A LOT).  BUT DANG EM, YOU’RE A STUD BY THE LOOKS OF IT. YOU’RE  A CHAMPION IN MY EYES, YOUNG PUP!

YEAH I REMEMBER ELDER BUMGARDNER, I ALSO DON'T REMEMBER HIS FIRST NAME BUT I SAW HIM ONCE BEFORE I LEFT I THINK, AND I REMEMBER HIM FROM THE SOCCER TEAM. I PLAYED UKULELE WITH HIS GOOD FRIEND JAKE (I THINK THAT’S HIS NAME). AND CONGRATULATIONS TO JAKE ASDEL, THAT’S AWESOME HE IS GOING ON A MISSION.

  

ANYWAYS THE WEEK WENT ALRIGHT. UNFORTUNATELY NOT MANY PEOPLE THAT TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR ENGLISH CLASS WANT TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE GOSPEL.  WE SPENT A LOT OF TIME ORGANIZING THINGS WITH MEMBERS AND LEADERSHIP OF THE WARD TO HAVE FUTURE SUCCESS. WE WERE HAVING A DISAPPOINTING DAY ON SATURDAY, AND WE WERE THINKING AT 8 THAT THERE WAS NOTHING ELSE TO DO, SO AS WE WALKED TOWARDS OUR SIDE OF TOWN HOPING FOR SOMETHING, THERE WERE A BUNCH OF KIDS PLAYING JUMP-ROPE WITH A BIG ROPE ACROSS THE STREET. WE ASKED THEM IF WE COULD SWING THE ROPE FOR THEM AND WE ENDED UP TAKING TWO OF THEM, PAULO AND BRENO, TO CHURCH THE NEXT MORNING AND TEACHING BRENO WITH HIS MOM AND MARKING TO TEACH PAULO'S FAMILY. THEY BOTH LIKED CHURCH, AND I WISH THAT ADULTS COULD FIND IT SO EASY AND ATTRACTIVE TO GO TO CHURCH AS THOSE KIDS DID. PAULO WAS BEGGING HIS MOM TO GO. 

JAILSON RECEIVED THE AARONIC PRIESTHOOD YESTERDAY ALREADY.  HE SAID SOMETHING FUNNY- HIS FIRST WEEK AT CHURCH HE THOUGHT THAT UNDERNEATH THE SACRAMENT CLOTH WAS A DEAD BODY. BUT THEN IT TURNED OUT TO BE BREAD AND WATER.

TODAY WE ARE VISITING THE CITY OF CAMARAGIBE. BECAUSE IT IS ELDER HALVORSEN'S LAST TRANSFER, PRES LETS US GO VISIT SOME OF HIS OLD AREAS. WE HAD AN AMAZING LUNCH WITH A REALLY NICE LADY HERE WHO HE HELPED TO REACTIVATE.

What kind of responsibilities does a district leader have?

 I GAVE A TRAINING ABOUT TEACHING PEOPLE, NOT LESSONS, ON TUESDAY AND I THINK IT WENT PRETTY WELL.  IT'S FUN TO BE ABLE TO TALK TO THE MISSIONARIES IN THE OTHER AREAS AND HELP THEM WITH IDEAS AND STUFF FOR THEIR INVESTIGATORS. 

YEAH ELDER HALVORSEN IS STILL GLAD TO BE ABLE TO HELP PEOPLE HERE. AND NOW WE ARE STARTING TO HAVE MORE ENERGY DURING THE DAY BECAUSE WE RUN EVERY MORNING AT 6 30. ITS IRONIC THAT THE ONLY TRANSFER HE ACTUALLY WORKED OUT MUCH IN HIS WHOLE MISSION WILL BE THE LAST!

[Catherine wants me to tell you that she sent you a really long letter...]

ALRIGHT I LOOK FORWARD TO MAIL ALWAYS. KEEP IT UP CATH.

IT WILL BE HARD TO GET INVESTIGATORS TO CONFERENCE, WE HAVE TO GO TO A DIFFERENT CITY, A HALF HOUR BUS RIDE AWAY. 

WE SHOW UP WITHOUT A MESSAGE AT MANY MEETINGS OR LESSONS... AND THAN WE JUST GET TO KNOW WHAT THE PERSON NEEDS AND WE CAN GENERALLY HELP THE PEOPLE IN SOME WAY. WE WERE TEACHING AN INVESTIGATOR, LUANE, IN THE HOUSE OF A MEMBER LAST WEEK, CLAUDIA (WIFE OF MARINALDO), WHEN SHE ARRIVED AND WAS VERY STRESSED OUT. SHE JOKED AROUND WITH US BUT WE COULD TELL THAT SHE WAS REALLY STRESSED. SO ELDER HALVORSEN TOLD THIS STORY ABOUT 2 BUCKETS, WHO HAVE THE SAME LIFE AS EACH OTHER BUT ONE IS HAPPY AND ONE IS SAD. ONE IS ALWAYS SAD, CUZ NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES HE GOES UP THE WELL FULL, HE KNOWS HE WILL ALWAYS GO DOWN EMPTY. AND THE OTHER SAYS WELL I KNOW NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES I GO DOWN EMPTY, I WILL ALWAYS COME UP FULL AGAIN! WE THEN TALKED ABOUT DECIDING TO BE HAPPY, LOOK AT THE GOOD STUFF. SHE TALKED TO US YESTERDAY AT WARD COUNCIL AND SAID THAT MESSAGE REALLY HELPED HER. IT WAS A GOOD EXPERIENCE, AND WE WEREN'T EVEN THERE TO HELP HER, BUT HER NONMEMBER FRIEND, BUT I KNOW IT WAS CLAUDIA THAT BENEFITED. LUANE IS REALLY COOL, HAS A TESTIMONY, BUT HER HUSBAND DOESN'T WANT HER TO BE BAPTIZED.

THANK YOU FOR THE MAIL AND PRAYERS AND UPDATES! GOOD LUCK WITH EVERYTHING THIS WEEK AND TALK TO YOU MONDAY!

LOVE

JON

3-21-11 Baptism of Jailson, Staying in Ponte with Elder Halvorsen, English class, District Leader

21 March 2011

This last week was a good one. We were able to have the baptism of Jailson and everything went really well. It was perfect, he just showed up at church 2 weeks ago, we started teaching him, he went last week and met everyone, kept teaching without really having any obstacles to overcome, and now he’s baptized and confirmed. He’s a cool guy, 20 years old, and has been very well received in the ward.  I was able to baptize him and it was a really nice experience.  I made brownies again for his baptism and everyone was asking me for the recipe! I think I wrote it for like 5 people that night.

Today is transfers, but I stayed in Ponte Dos Carvalhos with Elder Halvorsen. I will be his last companion (he goes home after this transfer). I got a phone call just now and found out that I am our new district leader... Just our companionship, the companionship in Escada which is now Elder Mesquita and a new Elder he will train, and the LZs (Elder Cabreira and Labrum, Elder Wells was transferred).

The English class is going really well. We called the president and told him about it and about the area and that is probably why he didn’t transfer either of us. Last week we had several random people show up at the English class. I really like teaching English. The majority of the people here have already learned at least a little, but they usually pronounce everything very wrong. Even the teachers in school here teach English wrong- I’ve seen some assignments and stuff and the teachers don’t even know how to speak English (very basic mistakes). So it is nice for them to be taught by someone who speaks the language. We had about 12-15 people in the class on Friday, and separated into two classes (I taught the new people and Elder Halvorsen taught those who have been going or know more).

Last night we were starving and normally we buy snacks for dinner on the street but it was Sunday, so we got home and looked at the ingredients we had. I threw sugar, flour, a little bit of hot cocoa mix, and oil in a pan and cooked it. It was like really gross brownies, so we went over to the member lady who lives behind us and she made us delicious cuzcuz with sausage and vegetables. It was cool because we thought we were gonna be going hungry but she told us never to go to bed hungry, so we took her up on it.

We are doing family nights with lots of people in the ward. We have 3 planned for this week, and we did 2 last week. They are fun because Elder Halvorsen and I always make an interesting message and after play a game and eat cake or something.

Well, you’ll have to ask me questions if you want more information, I don’t know what to say!! [Jon didn't receive my email again, but I caught him while he was still at the computer and told him I'd resend it...]

Love
Elder Hooke