Transfers

Hi Everyone!

This week we had transfers! On Wednesday, we drove out to Hagerstown to drop off Elder Wilson and pick up Elder Harris. On the way there we stopped at Jimmy John's, and ran into Elder Page! I had never met him in person before so I was super excited (if you don't remember who Elder Page is, he is the Elder I teach English class with). Also, I found out Elder Harris was originally assigned to the Brazil, Goiânia mission, so that's pretty cool! We have been having a lot of fun and we all get along great. 

Sadly, the work has slowed down quite a bit in our area. We haven't had contact with Tatiana in over a week, and Debbie texted us saying she doesn't want to meet anymore. It was pretty disappointing, but that's how it goes sometimes. But, we were able to get back in contact with someone I taught when I first got here, Teri, so that's good.

Spiritual thought: Mosiah 3:17 "And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent."

Christ is the only way, follow him

Things I like: We got to go to Jimmy John's. Also, we have been able to go on some nice walks, and last pday we did the Maryland Heights Hike again. It's so pretty here in the fall

Things I hate: The landlord had a dying pine tree cut down in front of our house, which is nice except all the Ladybugs from said tree have now moved into our house. They are all over the place haha.

Photos!

1. Last P-day hike

2. Walk to Jefferson Rock (Thomas Jefferson stood on this rock)

3. A big cannon

4. The new trio

5. Sunrise from our townhome window

6. Meeting Elder Page

7. The old trio

Transferências e Divisões

 Hi!

This week we had exchanges, zone conference, AND we found out about transfers. We'll start with exchanges. I got to stay in my area with my zone leader Elder Baggaley. He is a super cool guy and we had a blast. It was kinda nice to be out of a trio for a day. Trios are fun, but kinda hard when trying to teach people. Zone conference was great as well. It was our first full-zone in-person conference since quarantine!  Saturday night, we found out that Elder Wilson will be leaving, and Elder Dixon and I will be getting a new third companion, Elder Harris. It'll be good because Elder Harris speaks Portuguese, so we can all practice more.

Other than the things mentioned above, things went pretty slow. All of our appointments fell through, except 2 lessons with Debbie, and a couple member lessons. In our lesson with Debbie, we tried to mark a baptismal date, but she still isn't ready. We are trying to help her realize that revelation only comes after much prayer, scripture study, and church attendance. But, it's hard to help her keep commitments. Since we didn't have many lessons this week, it gave us a lot of time to make videos. We have an awesome one coming out tonight, so go check it out on my Facebook!

Spiritual thought: 2 Nephi 20:15 "Shall the ax boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? As if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself as if it were no wood!"

We are like tools in the hands of God. The good we have and do isn't because of us, but because of God. Tools can't do anything without someone using them. We shouldn't boast of ourselves, but thank God for all we have.

Things I like: The leaves are starting to change and it is getting colder. It's finally become more like fall!

Things I hate: Sprickets (Cave Crickets). I keep finding them all over my house and they're nasty

Photos!

1. & 2. we did service sealing a basement wall for a food pantry

3. A Chilean member made us a box of delicious empanadas 

Weekly Sacrament Meeting!!!

 Hi there!

This week we had an exciting thing happen, we found out we can go to church every week, and that there can be 100 people at church! It will be super nice because then we can invite people to church every week, and meet more of the members.

Tatiana was supposed to be at church, but she was feeling sick so she had to watch it from home. We were able to have a couple lessons this week, which was good. Our friend Debbie watched 30 minutes of conference, and she told us what she learned is that she probably should be baptized! It's crazy because when we originally called her she was like "I'll never convert, but you can share messages with me". She is unsure about baptism still and wants a confirmation that that is what she needs. Please pray that she can receive that. Debra, who we taught last week, canceled on us so no progress there.

Spiritual thought: In conference, I noticed many people talked about Joseph Smith being in Liberty Jail. In his darkest moment, when he thinks God has forsaken him, God speaks to him saying "my son, peace be unto they soul". Many people are going through hard times, but Elder Godoy talked about how we can be an angel to someone else, an answer to their cry to God. We can be ready so that when God needs to tell one of his children "peace be unto thy soul" we can be his mouthpiece. I invite you all to pray for the opportunity to be an angel in someone else's life.

Things I hate: Sharing a car with the Elders that live 15 minutes away. But...

Things I like: We got our own car!!! It's a brand new equinox that had less than 100 miles on it. It's pretty nice.

Photos! 

1. We walked down to the river this week

2. The old railroad and Catholic church

Conference Weekend

 E aí bom?

This week was great! We were able to stay pretty busy, which is always a good thing. For service, we went to the food pantry and helped seal cracks in their basement walls. It was my first time working with cement so that was interesting. Also, we were able to find a new person this week, which is definitely a miracle. Her name is Debra, and she is actually in California right now, but she lives here. We told her about the Book of Mormon, and she was super excited to hear more! We also were able to get her to watch conference! She seems very interested, so pray for us that all goes well.

Another cool thing that happened this week was we started a zoom Book of Mormon class for our ward. We only had 3 members this first class, but we are working on getting it to grow. It was really fun and I'm excited to keep doing it. The best part of the week though was definitely general conference.

Spiritual thought: There were so many great talks this conference about loving everyone, and making ourselves better every day. I especially loved President Nelson's talk about Israel, and how it means let God prevail. He asked us to pray to find those who will let God prevail. I invite you all to do this with me so that missionary work can continue forward through you and me.

Things I hate: It's funny, every time I type "things I hate", "mosquitos" pops up on my recommended words to use. It is true, they are the worst. Nothing really bad this week though so that's good.

Things I like: Conference. Also, we found some cool places on our walks in between conference. The weather has been great this week.

Photos!

Quick story, Elder Brady gave us a potato like 2 months ago that some other Elders gave him at transfers. We named it Elder Brady and kept it in the fridge until he finished his mission and went home, then we shipped it to him haha. So that's what that photo is.

The others are photos from our walk around Harper's Ferry between sessions on Saturday. There was a cool foundation of an old Civil War era grain mill and a historic farm with cool trails all the way down to the Potomac. 

Also, I forgot to tell you that we get to meet in-person for Church every week now with up to 100 people in the meeting (which shouldn't be a problem for our ward). I am so glad we get to start going to church again. Maybe it will remind the members that we missionaries are here and need there help in spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (And a dinner or two brought over wouldn't be bad either)

Elder Brady received his potato back home