Mender Family

Independence Day

2011-07-07T07:44:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone,

Happy Fourth of July!! One funny story we walked out of our house yesterday morning and a little girl, no older than 7, said today is your Independence day! It made me laugh that she would know that. It just kind of made our day. We have had a great week. I feel like Elder Jones and I have a great companionship we teach with a flow and a spirit that is incredible. I'm so grateful to be here in Petrolina. This is one of the best wards in the mission. Everyone is so willing to help us. It really is amazing how a member with a smile on his face can make your day ten times better. This week we have been teaching a 16 year old named Victor he is just amazing. In testimony meeting on Sunday, he sat there with tears rolling down his face. After church he told the members that talked to him that he would be baptised next Sunday. I’m so excited for him and to see his progress.

One story that touched me this week was that on Monday night the other missionaries asked us to go pick up a cake at a members house. When we passed by the cake wasn’t done. The family invited us in, to wait and participate in family night, with them. As I sat there listening to this family, one by one share testimony and say what they had done in the past week I almost teared up. Sometimes as missionaries you stay so much in the world, teaching people who don’t care about the gospel, who don’t have the desire to follow Christ and when I saw this family together, following the counsel of the prophet, it was just a beautiful thing it helped me remember my purpose here. I know that I have to go out and use every possible second to help bring families to a knowledge of the truth. How I love this gospel. I hope that we are doing the small and simple things to bring about great things. Small things like family night, reading the Book of Mormon, prayer, and going to church. I know that these little things bring about great things. It’s these simple things that got me on a mission. How I am grateful for my parents and their diligence in doing these things as I was growing up. I know that my investigators are also grateful for their diligence.

Last night for our Forth of July party we had a churrasco and made chocolate chip cookies. We had four American Elders and two Brasilian Elders it was a lot of fun to come together and celebrate a wonderful day. We also decided to have a wrestling competition after we got done eating and don’t worry Dad, I didn’t let you down. I didn’t lose one match. haha it was a ton of fun.

I sure love you guys, I hope you all are doing great! Have a fantastic week!

Love,

Elder Mender

Memorial Day

2011-05-30T20:28:00.000-04:00

Well Mom how are you doing? I can't believe you're all home and it is Memorial day. Some family barbeque time seems amazing right now. Well everything is just dandy here in Brasil. So today is P-day because tomorrow we have a meeting. We are pretty excited. The work is going great. Maybe tomorrow I'll get the package you sent. I hope so. Well in other news we are working really hard. I'm pretty happy with life. Did you ever get the pictures I sent home?!!? I'm a little worried its been a few weeks. Well have a great Memorial day say Hi to the family. Have a great week. Love you mom!!

Hello, Hello, Hello - what a beautiful day to baptise!!!

Well... I would like to say we baptised this week but satan seems to be working triple time on our investigators. We have one woman named Vanalusia who is just a power house. I swear when she gets baptised she is going to be the next relief society president of the church. But she always has work getting in her way and when she doesn't have to work, her family isn't there or some problem. So She decides to wait one more day but I know this week is going to be the week. We just have to be strong.

We also have another family that we are teaching that is just amazing the Grandma is Vania. She is a well known woman here in Salvador and just amazing. She has two children Eros and Luana. Eros is married to a member and is probably one of the smartest guys I have ever met. He can rap freestyle like nothing else but also is book smart as well. He is really into philosophy so we have been able to talk about that. When he read the Book of Mormon he felt an answer that it was true. Now the tricky part is helping him realize it. I love this family so much. His sister Luana is also another amazing woman she is single with a 7 year old daughter that has a medical condition which has made it so she couldn't walk her whole life. Her name is Samara. She is just a princess, last month she had a surgery which will help her to walk in the future. I just love this family. It is interesting how all three of them have said they can see how God has led us (the missionaries) into their lives. I'm so grateful for the miracles I have seen with this family. Last Saturday we had the chance to go do a service project and paint two rooms in the house. It was so much fun to be with the family. Afterwords they made dinner for us. I'm pretty sure that's like 100 celestial kingsdom points right there! haha it was amazing. Sunday the whole family showed up at church. I'm pretty sure I started crying when I saw that. They looked like they just fit in the church. I love this work. You know everyday I wake up tired but something just makes me get out of bed excited and happy. I love teaching this gospel. It's one of the best feelings in the world. I know that as we just keep working hard we will see more and more miracles happening in our work. I testify that Christ lives. He is the son of our loving Heavenly Father and He loves us. The plan of salvation is perfect. We just gotta do our parts and eternal life is promised to everysingle one of us. Have a great week everyone. I love you all!

Love,

Elder Mender

Not One Card

2011-05-24T21:27:00.000-04:00

Mom,

So here everything is amazing. We just go out everyday and teach the Gospel. I'm with Elder Ercek. Its been a blast, its really funny because he thinks he is a profesional comedian. So every night he does stand up routines for us. It's pretty wonderful. We are seeing improvements with the langauge (his). I feel like this transfer I'm working my hardest. I definately feel good about life right now. Like all pistons are running 100%. Just gotta teach and work with the spirit and all things will work out for my good. So one bit of sad news. Last week we had a training with President and I didn't ONE CARD!!! This is trhe first time on my mission I didn't get ONE CARD. Do you know what that means? people have forgotten about me. I thought that would never happen to me, but as it happens to all, it happened to me. Haha but at least I had an email from you, dad, and Owen!!!!! Probably the best p-day of my life today. I dont think its ever happened that I got an email from all three of you on the same day. I feel good Mom, I feel like everything is just working out how it should. I know the Lord has got it all covered. Can you believe I turn 21 in two weeks?! Man my life has just passed by way too fast. No... its passed by at JUST THE RIGHT speed. I'm happy! No, I'm more than happy with my life! Thanks Mom. have a great week!!!

Love,

Mitch

Mother's Day Call

2011-05-15T16:58:00.000-04:00

Sunday was Mother's Day and that means we were able to talk to Mitch, in Brazil...this was the first time we have been able to use Skype and that was just a technological wonder! I did a couple of dry runs with some friends since I've only used Skype once or twice before the big day. We also bought a little connector so that we could view the call on the big screen. How is that for cool?

The kids all came to the house and we all got the chance to talk to Mitch. Nothing is as fun as listening to your grown kids talk and laugh together! The video element of Skype allowed for lots of interaction that just isn't possible on the phone. Of course Adelynne and her interactions with an Uncle that she only knows (and remembers) from photos was just too cute for words. I wonder how she will do when she actually gets to meet again in person!

I loved listening to everyone plan what we would do as a family when Mitch comes home.....knowing he will be here for such a short time before heading off to school. I am so happy that we have a family vacation planned for December and knowing that trip will be at a bit more relaxing pace!

Easter

2011-05-15T16:37:00.000-04:00

On Easter we had family and friends to dinner at the house,

before dinner Adelynne came over for a small egg hunt at Grandma's house.

Grandpa hid eggs all over the house and most of them were hidden in plain sight

but it was still alot of fun!

(Adelynne also looked for eggs when she came to visit on Mother's Day)

Here is one in the bowl!

And another on the couch!

My full haul of eggs!

The table set for dinner!

Dinner with Family and friends!

Three in ONE!

2011-04-12T20:36:00.000-04:00

29 March 2011

Hello all!!!

What a crazy couple of weeks. Lets start off with two weeks ago. We had a party for two of our investigators where I made two cakes and bought soda we filled up balloons and had a sweet little get together at the church it went really well and was a lot of fun and then on that Saturday was their baptism!! His name is William and her name is Sandra they are two of the most special people I have ever met. He told me the on that Sunday that he would serve a mission in New York. It was a very fun day.

One night as my comp and I were walking home we found a stray kitten in the road and you know me! We couldn’t leave him in the road so we picked it up took it home gave it a bath and food. We kept it in our house for the next few days as we found a new home for her. It was the a ton of fun to watch this little kitten learn and grow. Lucky for us, she has a wonderful new home and is quite happy.

This last Saturday we had the chance to go out to a farm and do a service project building a new house but the farmers here are so nice they just want to go around feeding you and showing their fruits that we didn’t really get a TON of work done at the house... ha-ha I had to tell him about a hundred times "irmao we are here to work on the house what can we do to help?" And he always said shut up and eats this fruit. Ha-ha I got to eat cocoa…. did you know it was a fruit? I didn’t... java, sugar cane, coconut, tangerines, oranges, banana and a bunch of other fruits that I don’t even remember the names but it was a very fun day and I learned a lot about a loving people I’m pretty sure they would give away all their fruit and end up with nothing to sell...

This week we had the baptism of irmao Dina she is the mother of a member and she was also baptized with her other son. It was amazing to see their baptism after we spent so much time teaching them. They are so special. The son Eder, won a modeling contest this week... he is 10! Ha-ha I’m so grateful foot the chance I had to serve is Santo Antonio de Jesus because well... it ended. Today was transfers and I got moved to Barbalho a neighborhood in Salvador. Which should be really interesting. It has a ton of hills and is kind of like the ghetto of Salvador. I’m excited to serve here since I’ve spent my whole mission in the interior. My new companion is Elder Gross, he is from Idaho! Yep an American. This will sure be am interesting transfer. Well last night we had to take a bus from our area to Salvador at 2:30 in the morning... well it broke dawn at 3:30 and we had to wait on the highway another hour for the second bus then another bus broke down and we had to wait another two hours to help the second bus that was broken down. That turned our two-hour bus ride into a 6-hour bus ride and for some crazy reason they decided to not turn on the air conditioning, which normally isn’t a problem, but this bus didn’t have windows that you could open up!!!!! How lame is that. I’m pretty sure I lost about 5 kilos in sweat on the bus ride but hey I guess that’s a good start on my new years resolution huh?

Well people I’m super duper excited for conference this week and I hope you are too! It isn’t everyday that we get to hear the words of living prophet. Take advantage of it and don’t fall asleep like I used to do!!! You miss so much!! Have a great week I love you guy’s tons thank you so much for the support. I hope to get letters out next week folks so hopefully here un 3 or four weeks you’ll get some cards. te ammo

Love,

Elder Mender

5 April 2011

Hello all!!!

Well I just want to let you all know I think my area is CRAZY. I swear there is some parts of my area that is worse then rock climbing. So let me explain real quickly how they built Salvador they took an area of steep hills and built houses on them.... crazy huh? So there are some parts where you literally feel like you are rock climbing. It’s an adventure. The good news is my legs are getting way strong. I'm quite proud of them.

But the good news is we have a pizza place in our area that if you buy ten pizzas you get one free! So our district has become addicted to pizza I don’t know what it is about missionaries but we love free stuff!

This last week was general conference and it was amazing. We got to watch the four normal sessions with investigators. It was just amazing. I love listening to the words of the Prophets. It was a lot of fun because I understood everything! I remember my first conference when I didn’t understand anything. It truly is a miracle to think that now I can kind of speak Portuguese or at least enough to get through teaching people. Speaking of teaching people we have amazing people that we are teaching here. We have a man called Luciano who is joining the marines but preparing for baptism this week he is just a complete stud. We have a member named Ceju and his wife that are preparing to get married next month and then they will be baptized. I love teaching people here. It’s the only time in my life when I know exactly what to say and how to help people. I’m so grateful for my chance to be a missionary and I love the chance that I have to testify of Jesus Christ ever day. I know that he is our Redeemer. I testify that He loves us and is here to help us we just have to go to him. I love you all hope you have a great week!! Hopefully next week I can write more.

Love,

Elder Mender

12 April 2011

Hello all,

Well it’s been another amazing week her in Salvador. The new area is kicking my trash but I think ill get used to it. For example one night we were hiking up Mount Everest and when I got to the top I was out of breath …. for real its crazy! And for a sign the woman that were at the top said, "look at the big one he is dying!!" I just stopped looked at them and said "yep its true" and we laughed but its not really that funny. I’m sure I’m going to lose a ton of weight here but I guess that’s a good thing. Since we heard this week from our President that we are supposed to get married in less than year after my mission. So I guess now is the time to start that LGN diet.

Our investigators are amazing. Elder Gross and I are teaching like crazy. He is a spiritual power giant. I love teaching with him. Last night we taught a lesson to a man who didn’t want to get baptized because he didn’t want to give up relations before marriage and Elder Gross just started dropping what we call spirit bombs on him it was amazing. I'm learning a ton with him. By the end of the lesson the man said he would prepare for baptism this Sunday! Always a good sign. My favorite part of a new area is meeting the new members. And boy do we have some great members here. This week we ate lunch with a 75-year-old woman and she piled my plate a mile high with food and made of me when I couldn’t finish it!! She is so funny. Her husband lives in another state and I said oh that’s sad she said "nope its perfect I lived with him for 50 years if he doesn’t want to stay here now that’s fine with me!!!" it cracked me up hard core.

Well I sure love you all I hope you have a great week. And remember READ THE BOOK OF MORMON it’s the best thing in the world.

Love,

Elder Mender

A Really Happy Week

2011-03-19T08:47:00.000-04:00

BOM DIA!!!!

How is everyone doing today? I'm doing great this last week was a really long week and a really happy week. This Sunday was the baptism of a young man named Crislam. He plays soccer semi-professional. He is such an amazing guy. I was so happy he decided to be baptized. He will be an amazing missionary. We are preparing a man named William and his girlfriend Sandra to be baptized this Saturday. They are so special. I love teaching them they just soak up everything. William told us the other day how Sandra would have to wait for him because he wants to serve a mission. It was such a powerful lesson. Im pretty sure we all cried. I love this area when i got here we had a bad rap because the missionaries before us did some pretty bad things but i can tell the mood of the ward is changing and people are starting to trust us more. I love this work and i can’t imagine a better thing to do with my time.

The past few weeks we have been working a ton with the members. And man has it been helping. Everyday we do a division with a young man or we do splits with the quorum of elders. And they bear powerful testimony. They don’t always know how to teach perfectly but you can tell when they bear testimony that the investigator feels the spirit. I love this work. I love that we have to work closely with the spirit or nothing happens. We have to teach people how to gain a testimony of Christ. I have to run but just to wrap up i want to say read the Book of Mormon. It should be an IMPORTANT part of our lives. Family and personal. We need to read it love it and use it. I can’t stress it enough and we can’t stress it enough for our investigators. I hope everyone is getting ready for general conference it will be a great few days when we can refill our spiritual batteries. I sure love you guys. Have a great week.

Love,

Elder Mender

Updates from Brazil

2011-03-19T08:33:00.000-04:00

Heloo everyone!!!

How are you all this week? Well this week was amazing for us here in Santo Antonio de Jesus. We had the baptism of a man who is amazing. His name is Rafael and is has 20 years old. He told us this week how he started going to church because of a girl (see why its good to "flirt to convert"!!!) But then he realized that Heavenly Father was using her to bring him into the church. Yesterday he went to a family night with us and bore an amazing testimony about the gospel of Jesus Christ. We also had the baptism of Adriano he is the young man who has been going to church for over a year and his mom didn’t want him to be baptized. This week he surprised us by saying he got the signature of his dad. It was a complete miracle and the baptism service was one of my favorite services here on the mission. They asked me to sing the music from EFY "one voice" in Portuguese and it went really well. This Sunday they both received the priesthood and Adriano told me that in two years he would serve a mission. It’s always nice to hear that your converts have an eternal perspective. It seems like the Lord has been pouring out his blessings on our work the last few weeks. It is an amazing time to be a missionary here.

We are teaching two families who are really amazing. One is a young man whose brother is already a member and he has a lot of problem with the commandments but has made a ton of promises to himself the lord and his family. It is the most amazing thing to see the changes that are happening in his life as he studies the Book of Mormon and is praying. I can really see his testimony growing. The other family is a family from Argentina some of the family are members and others now. It has been so much fun to teach this family. Sometimes i have no idea what they are saying but im grateful for the spirit that helps me know what to say! We usually have really fun lessons full of laughter and the spirit.

Well this week is Carnival and luckily here in this city it doesn’t mess-up our work. The only thing that happens is the city completely shuts down and the people who don’t leave to go to Salvador get really drunk but we still manage to find people to teach. Im loving the work. Hope you all have a great week. I’ll write more next week. Love you!

Love,

Elder Mender

I LOVE the Mission

2011-03-05T21:33:00.000-05:00

Bom dia,

Well it’s been a crazy week here. It’s been a crazy transfer. Probably my favorite transfer on the mission. I have learned so much and am thankful for my time here in Santo Antonio de Jesus. You know I always thought that the best transfer on the mission would be when I baptised a million people and saw the numbers that prove that I was a good missionary. This transfer I didnt have any of that. We baptised one person and inspite of all our hard work had about 10 other baptisms fall through. I once heard a missionary say he wondered who was really winning the battle - Satan or us. Well this was one of those transfers were I had to stop and ask if we were really winning the battle. Is my work here in Brasil worth anything? If I’m not bringing people into the church what am I doing here? I’m not trying to be negative it is just a question that I used to analyze my work. Let it be known, I LOVE the mission, I LOVE this work, and I know that there is NO better place on for me on earth than this beautiful land called Bahia. This transfer I had the chance to really get to know the people here. I spent many hours talking to people I now call friends and learning about their pasts. I’ve heard things that I never thought possible that I never imagined was possible. Things in horror movies and tv shows.... but its real and its been a part of my life the past few weeks. I’ve seen peoples lives and families destroyed because of drugs, alcohol and abuse of all sorts. Many of our baptisms fell because families wouldn’t let or wouldn’t support them in their decisions. I often cried myself to sleep wondering how it was possible that our loving Heavenly Father could let things happen. Why a young man of 16 years couldn’t be baptized because his mom wouldn’t let him after more that a year of going to church, being more of a "priesthood holder" than the other young men. Why some of the most faithful saints I have ever seen had to be born into families that beat and abused them. Why loving moms have to live poorer that dirt because some drunk decided to abandon his family, why kids that when you look into their eyes you see the pure love of Christ have to be born to mothers who are drug addicts and can’t take care of them properly. I spent many, many hours struggling with this... of course the simple primary answers came to my head (because our Heavenly Father loves us and knows what he is doing/we have to learn from our trials/ the Lord doesn’t give us more than we can handle) You know, I would love to say that I found out the answer and I came to peace with this problem but the truth is I haven’t. I was told a quote from an apostle who said "sometimes in life we have to be like a stick and not a rock, when a rock is placed in a bucket of water it sinks. When a stick is placed in a bucket of water it floats. Being a stick or a rock you are in the water, a part of the problem but the difference is the rock becomes overcome by the problems while the stick manages to stay a float in the problems and help from the top" as a missionary I’ve had that struggle and I think I’m doing ok. I’m so grateful for the things I have learned and seen here. I know I will never forget my time here in Santo Antonio de Jesus.
Yesterday was transfers and.... drum roll please.... I’M STAYING!! I’m really excited to be staying. My companion, Elder Araujo was transferred and I have a new companion Elder Castro he is from Rio Grande do Sul. I’m pretty excited for this transfer and know that we will have a lot of success. We have been teaching some really good families and are excited to continue working with them. This week we found a woman who just moved here and is recently married she has always wondered why we don’t have prophets today and was really excited for the chance to read the Book of Mormon and pray about Joseph Smith. I know that my calling here is so much more important than a missionary but we are really just tools in the hands of the Lord delivering a message of the gospel. A message of eternal hope.
I sure love you guys hope you all are enjoying a winter with snow because the summer with sun is sure killing me! I don’t see why we cant just get a little snow here in Brasil. I don’t think I’m asking a lot! Remember to study the Book of Mormon EVERYDAY and pray EVERYDAY. It’s really important. It’s how we get the strength to continue on even when you don’t think you can. It’s how the Lord guides us in our day to day life and it’s how we show our love and respect for our Heavenly Father.
Have a great week!!

Love,

Elder Mender

Not a Great Week

2011-01-26T17:54:00.000-05:00

Mitch did not write a letter to share this week so I'm taking an exerpt from the letter he wrote to us....

So Monday night/Tuesday morning was really, really rough for me. While we were sleeping our house was robbed. The robber came in the house through the bedroom window, just by my head. He took all our technology...my companion and I are now without our cell phone, ipods, cameras, and watches....but that is not the bad part. We had borrowed a laptop from a member and were making a program for a church activity and it got stolen too! I feel horrible, I never imagined something like that would happen. But I'm so grateful that we are alive, usually robberies don't go that smoothly here in Brazil. But I need to buy this member a new laptop. He is really poor and has done so much to help us and will be starting school again in February. I know I have a few dollars in the bank so please put it in my account. (We just told him to replace the computer)

Sorry I didn't send an e-mail yesterday but we spent the whole day trying to find a phone that worked (to call President Toledo) and looking for a new house...I'm really stressing out right now. I just want to get back to work. We had so many good people lined up to teach and ths is totally screwing up my life. But it is OK, I know it will all work out.

Happy 75th Birthday!

2011-01-24T21:00:00.003-05:00

A 75th birthday only comes around once in a lifetime! So we wanted to celebrate with you....this has been quite a year for celebrating your birthday (and by year we mean the last twelve months)! We started out the celebration with a call which said let's go to Florida and celebrate mom's 75th birthday...well thinking that mom's birthday is in January that seemed like an exciting idea! But the get together had to be scheduled in August.

So we gathered in Florida at Walt Disney World for the birthday celebration without end! Did you know when it is your birthday at Disney they give you a button that identifies you as the birthday girl? And did you know if you wear it every day for a week, every where you go you get birthday cake and that every one wishes you happy birthday? Well Pat does!!!!

First Birthday celebration!!

Next Birthday Celebration!

You get the idea!

Then we were off to visit the Disney parks.....oh did we mention it was 100 degrees and 99% humidity? We visited MGM, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom all in one week. Here are some of our photos from the week!

Did we mention it was hot?

We saw Pluto and Goofy!

And Tigger too!
And of course Winnie the Pooh.

We partied at Hoop de Doo!

This kind of looks like a parade!

Grandma and the Cousins!

Pat and Lew - still in love!

Pat, we had the kids over for Family Night last month and we talked about what we wanted to share with you on your birthday. All the reasons that you are special to us. We came up with a HUGE list of things and wanted to share some of them with you as a kind of birthday tribute!

Special Thoughts

Joe

Mom, you always made us whatever kind of cake we wanted. I especially remember the snowman and my favorite, mac and cheese. Do you remember my 16th birthday? You put me over your knee. I was thinking I should return the favor. I always remember how you always woke us up singing...whatever was on your mind.

Kim

My favorite memories are knowing that you and Lew would always be there for family milestones. You are always there for the "big" events....blessings, baptisms, temple endowments, graduations, missions, football games, performances, marriages. The list goes on and on. You are an amazing example of love of family. I also love your generally sunny disposition. You are a great example to our family....we love you tons!

The Boys....and Anne Marie

Always to be remembered....those "terrible" Christmas cookies.

Could you ever make enough?

We remember when we came to visit you always made sure everyone had breakfast no matter how many people were there, or how long we slept.

We remember hot dog casserole and macaroni salad (Yummmmy)

Enjoyed going to the Hill Cumorah Pageant and staying at your house.

Characteristics

Short and Sweet

Happy

Fun Loving

Loves to be with the Family

Makes everyone feel like part of the Family

Loves to be with the Family at the Temple

Loves the Gospel

Good cook

Caring

HONEST

Pat, we are so grateful that you and Lew have made the trip up to be with each of our children as they have gone through the temple....here are a few pictures to help you remember those trips.

Owen - Boston Temple 2005

Mitch - Boston Temple 2009

Anne Marie - Palmyra Temple 2010

Pat, I can't thank you enough for all you have done for our family. You have obviously been a fantastic mother. Joe is all that I could hope for in a friend and husband. He is kind, and caring, and constantly thinking about the needs of others and I know he learned all that from his mother. You have been a great example to our boys and have always encouraged them to do the right things and have written to them and supported them on their missions. You have made gifts for their babies and always remembered them on their birthdays and special events. Not only were you there for the birth of our children --- you've been there for the really important events in their lives. You know them and love them! You truly are a significant part of their lives and for that I thank you. You have shared your spirit with them and your love of life. They know that they are important to you!

Hope you have a great day today and know that we love you! Happy 75th Birthday!!!!

No Energy

2011-01-12T19:33:00.000-05:00

12 January 2011

Hello my friends!

How is everyone on this fine day?

So first off I was transferred from Passe to Santo Antonio de Jesus it is a city, in the middle of nowhere, about three hours away from Salvador. I’m really excited to be here with my new companion Elder Corriea, he is from San Paulo and everyone just says really good things about him! That’s always good right? So lets talk a little bit about why I love transfers, especially this one. Remember the first transfer I had when I got to the home and it didn’t have any toilet paper but I really had to use the bathroom? I think this transfer might be better. We got here at 7 at night and it was already REALLY dark at 7 and well…. we didn’t have any energy. Wait you ask, Elder Mender, why didn’t you have any energy? GOOD QUESTION!!! The answer is because the secretaries forgot to pay the bill!!! Oh alright, the secretaries are busy guys….that can happen, but here in Brazil they don’t shut off your energy until you don’t pay THREE BILLS, which means the secretaries forgot to pay since last OCTOBER!! So I got to spend all morning running around a city I didn’t know. Trying to get the bills paid so that I can have light and water to shower and OH YEAH…..to SEE with! It was definitely an interesting night unpacking in the candle light. Let’s hope we don’t have to do that again!

Other than this life is really good and we are excited to start off this transfer strong. Last week some fun things happened, I got to speak in church and it actually went really well (last week was my first time giving a talk here in Brazil). I guess that means my Portuguese is getting a little better! It was interesting because I remember as a youth getting asked to talk for 5 minutes and only taking two! Sunday I was asked to speak for 20 but with how things went I ended up having 30 mintues and I’m pretty sure I could have kept going for another 30! I don’t know why when I was younger I thought it was so hard to speak. There is just so much to share and say! I love it! I found out I get to share another talk this week. Two Sundays in a row! Woot! Woot!

Well I guess that is about it. Sorry I don’t write an email every week but life has been really, really hectic lately and sometimes I forget or don’t know what to say. I hope you all know I love you. Sorry if you haven’t gotten a letter from me in a while….I blame the mail service here in Brazil because, I promise, I really am writing!

Have a great week and remember, if it is not already a habit, you have to read the Book for Mormon everyday!!! Just like Nike says “Just do it”!

Love to you all,

Elder Mender

Happy New Year

2010-12-28T16:20:00.000-05:00

28 December 2010

Hello Friends and Family,

First off, I hope you had a Merry Christmas and I wish you happy New Year. Just so everyone knows I respond to every card I get. So if you write me and don’t get a card back you can know one of two things, I did not get it or some Brazilian postal worker decided to try and read English (your card from me) sorry if you have not heard from me but know that I love you and I am grateful for all your support. Really I am. So the past few weeks have been amazing. We have been working really hard and seeing a ton of blessings. One of these blessings is a man named Christian. He is super humble and super spiritual he bore his testimony at his baptism and told everyone how he knew the Book of Mormon was true from the very first time he read it with us. It was amazing. Today the zone played soccer so we decided to wake up way early and go play (we live in the middle of nowhere) well I’m no Brazilian but I’m definitely learning this tricky game. It was a lot of fun. Then as we were coming back we passed a store called "cacao show”, which is without a doubt , the best chocolate in the world. If you’re lucky I might bring you back some in two years. So that was fun. I’m trying to think of other stories to tell. I’m extremely tired, we have just been going non stop this transfer, which is amazing. We have so many lessons that most days we have to do divisions with members or we can’t teach everyone. We are teaching a family the mom is named Lenina. She is a single mom and has four boys, 11 to 17, and they are such a humble family and way fun to teach. Because of Christmas and everything we didn’t have a lot of people at church this Sunday but I know in the next few weeks we will have a lot of people. Speaking of Christmas I think I gained about 100 pounds in two days. The sisters here just feed you, and feed you, and don’t let you stop eating. If you try and stop they just pile it on your plate for you. Christmas eve and Christmas day was rough but I guess I can’t complain because I love the food here and they really do their best for Christmas. I’m so grateful for the chance to be here. Our district decided to go caroling in the town square last week and it was a lot of fun. We had some people stop and listen but we usually had to chase people town and tell them we had a present for them (a pamphlet, DVD, or Book of Mormon) to get them to listen to us. I’m so grateful for this time of the year when we get to remember the birth of Jesus Christ. I know that he is the Savior and Redeemer of the word. I am honored that I was considered one worthy to be a representative of Christ. I love Him and am grateful for his eternal sacrifice, which makes it possible for us to be clean of our sins and, if we endure to the end, live with our families with our Heavenly Father for eternity.

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful end of the year.

Love,

Elder Mender

Have I Told You It's Getting Hot?

2010-12-11T16:02:00.001-05:00

8 December 2010

Hello Meus Queridos Amigos,
This week was another great week! Have I told you it’s getting hot here? Yeah it’s a whole different kind of heat I think my body is mad that it has been hot for ten months straight and hasn’t had one cool day but it will survive. I hope...
We are teaching a ton of amazing families! We found a family who some Sisters have taught in the past. We also found a man named Ruam who wanted to get baptized when he was younger but his mom wouldn’t let him and now that he is 20 it’s his own choice. It has been really neat this week as we have been prompted to walk a different direction then are normal pattern and in these moments we find these people that seem elect.
I’m so grateful for this month of December and for the chance to be a missionary we are using the birth of Jesus Christ in our contacts and seeing a lot of Success I love the spirit that this season brings.
I do have one cool story that I want to share. The other night me and my comp were walking in the street and a woman stopped us and was talking to us as she realized what we do she asked, "Are you happy? Because I don’t believe two young men like yourselves could truly be happy doing what you’re doing." As I thought about that question I was hit with huge sense of peace and joy and I was able to testify that I really was the happiest vie been in my life and that I could think of no other place I would rather be. I know that I was called to serve here by a prophet of God and that as I sere with all my heart might mind a strength I will continue to be blessed. I hope that during this month we all can seek to strengthen our testimonies of Jesus Christ and then go and share it with others for this is what really brings us joy. I love you all and hope you have a great week. Thank you so much for all your support!
Love,

Elder Mender

Thanksgiving

2010-12-11T16:02:00.000-05:00

November 23, 2010

Hello everyone!!

Well this week was a great week. We got a lot done and have a lot of fun stories. The first one starts out Saturday night we were sitting in a lesson with a woman who had a baptism date for next week and I felt like I needed to invite her to be baptized the next day... It’s really hard to try and convince someone to be baptized the following day but I thought hey why not she is ready! So I gave her the challenge and at first she said no, I'm going to be baptized next week. But it was really cool to be able to respond to everyone one of her concerns, and finally she just stopped sat there in silence for what seemed like three hours and then she said "ok I'll do it"... with a huge smile on her face it was the most exciting thing in the world! So cool. So we hard her baptism this Sunday which was one of the best baptisms I have ever been to very spiritual everything just went together perfectly. The branch here is really starting to come together here and it is a very neat thing to witness I am very excited for this area. We had another cool lesson where we sat down and instead of the lesson we had planned we just got out our hymnbooks and would sing a hymn and then share a message about it and then sing another hymn and share a message about it. It was a very fun lesson and also really spiritual it was just what the investigator needed on that day. I'm so grateful for the hymns and the spirit they bring when we sing them as a praise to our Father in Heaven, we taught another lesson last night actually which was one of the most powerful lessons I or my companion have taught. As we walked in the door we both knew that we needed to talk about the word of wisdom so as we asked him about it he told us he had a problem with the word of wisdom with smoking and coffee. I swear the whole lesson I was just sitting there writing in my planner scriptures and outlines of messages that came to my head and I saw the word of wisdom in a whole new way. I'm so grateful for this commandment, which really blesses our lives more then, we can know. It was interesting the week before he had told us he wasn’t baptized because he hadn’t felt the "desire” we were able to bear strong testimony that it was because of the word of wisdom that he hasn’t felt that desire. Its like this we know that the spirit touches our hearts and that’s what gives us the desire. Our bodies are temples of Heavenly Father and that is why we can have the spirit touch our hearts but if we are doing everything in our power to keep these bodies clean (drugs, alcohol, smoking, coffee) we aren’t showing respect for the temple of God and the spirit cannot and will not be with us and for this reason we don’t feel the spirit. For a long time I always thought the word of wisdom was so that we could have energy and health but it’s so so much more than that. That’s why one of the blessings is hidden treasure of knowledge or a testimony!! The law of chastity is the same exact thing and every other commandment that God gives we have to keep them BEFORE we get that witness or testimony of the trial of our faith. And then he told us well ill try to stop smoking but I don’t want to make a promise I cant keep. Well that doesn’t fly! You can say that about anything and stay promise free and never have a responsibility the rest of your life but we have to learn to make promises and commitments. It’s that way of our Heavenly Father only he calls them covenants. SO we got to share a story with him of a man who kept the hardest promise of all who made a promise and kept it even thought he was scared and didn’t know if he could keep it but he did! And it is because of this man that we are all here and have the chance to one day return and live with God for eternity it is because of our Savior Jesus Christ. Yeah we are going to mess up we are going to make mistakes but it’s ok. Its part of the plan. The question is are we going to let the atonement of our Savior be in vain or are we going to do everything we can to repent and use that sacrifice in our lives. We can use it for anything to stop smoking, to stop bad habits, to repent of a sin, and to get back the joy and happiness that we are supposed to have in the life. I know the Jesus is the Christ. I know that God is our Heavenly Father and is just waiting for us to keep the commandments so he can bless us. I hope you all are reading the book of Mormon because that book is key it can become our personal liahona it is how we can receive the personal revelation. Never forget that the last part of the gospel of Jesus Christ is endured to the end. Never stop just keep pushing on and you will be blessed. Im so grateful for the chance to be a representative of Jesus Christ for this short time. I know this is where im supposed to be and I love it here.
I love you all and I hope you have a great week and a great thanksgiving!!

Love, Elder Mender

Hey, Hey, Hey

2010-12-11T15:53:00.000-05:00

October 27, 2010

Hey, Hey, Hey!

So I have a ton to tell today so lets just jump right into it! What an amazing week we had! It was super busy, super happy, and super sad! All at the same time! Já pensou?! So lets start off with last P-day. So that night we went to teach the family we encountered who had the doubts with coffee and marriage. When we started the lesson he told us he quit coffee and was going to get his marriage papers the next day!!! This family is so elect. I absolutely love them! Whenever they learn a commandment from God they just do it. As I was thinking about the differences between this family and others families I’ve taught the only thing that stuck out is they kept their commitments! They read every night as a family they prayed together as a family and when they had doubts they didn’t ask us to explain more. They just prayed and asked God they are the most amazing family. This Friday Elder Merrell and I went to Pilar to help our investigators prepare for baptism. This is when it gets sad.... well Daisy, one of the women we have been teaching, who was marked for this Sunday got told a bunch of lies by her "friend" so she decided not to be baptized this week. I get so sad when I hear people who are scared to be baptized because of what their friends say.

Have a great week.

Love, Elder Mender

Just Do It

2010-12-11T15:50:00.000-05:00

October 19,2010

Hello hello,

So how is everyone? I’m doing great, thanks for asking! This week was an amazing week. Elder Sato and I had some great great greeaaaat experiences. We tracked into an ELECT family. Cool story about how we found them we were walking down the street and Elder Sato heard Japanese anime and got all excited saying it was a sign that we had to knock on the door. So we did and bam we found them. They went to church and we are helping them prepare for baptism they love the church but aren’t sure about marriage and coffee. But we will get that sorted out in no time. We also have another young man who we are working with who just accepts everything and is excited for his baptism this Sunday. Also, in exciting news--the group of members out in Pilar, Elder Merrill and I had a chance to go out and visit them Saturday and we got stopped by another woman who is a member but didn’t know the church was there in Pilar, well she brought her husband, who isn’t a member to church, and we have three possibilities for baptism this week there. Elder Merrill and I will go there Friday and work until Sunday. This week was just amazing and this next week is going to be even more amazing. I’m sad that it is the end of the transfer but im so glad I got to be here for this transfer. I have learned so much and grown a ton. One of things that we have been focusing this week is helping our investigators understand that they can receive answers to prayers. This is such an important part of the gospel. I hope everyone is praying. I know that God loves hearing our prayers and that he is ready to answer and will answer. I have received so many answers in my life and especially here on the mission. Prayer is real; prayer is powerful and prayer works. In the words of an important man "just do it"

Love, Elder Mender

I Like to Think I'm Tough

2010-10-11T19:58:00.002-04:00

Well how do I say this... this week was... AMAZING. I swear every week on the mission just gets better and better. It was funny we were talking as a district and saying how before the mission no one tells you how a mission really is. They so oh it’s amazing you’re going to love it the best two years of my life. You know the normal stuff. Which is all-true! But they give you the idea of a Disney land mission not the real deal that’s hard and hot and a lot of work. Now some of you might be asking why I would say something that is hard and hot and a lot of work makes up the best years of my life? Well its because that’s exactly what it does! You learn so much on your mission that you can’t learn anywhere else you are happier on your mission than you can be anywhere else. To have the spirit with you and to be able to help others find this happiness is truly what makes life enjoyable. So this week we taught some amazing lessons. We are teaching a man who is just amazing. Every time we teach him he gets more and more excited with a bigger smile on his face. We are also teaching a single dad who has a ton of questions but is just progressing amazing. I can just see how the Lord is preparing this area. This branch here in Senhor do Bonfim is amazing. This past Sunday was fast and testimony meeting and I think it was one of the most spiritual meetings of my life. I’m so grateful for the chance to be serving here in Brazil.

We did have one funny story this week. So we live in an apartment complex thing and our house is at the end of a long dark hall. With only one light, that is motion sensitive, but of course it’s at the other end by our house. You have to walk all the way down the dark hall just to have the light turn on, as you are about to walk in your house. Well, one night this week we got home as a district and the 4 of us were walking down the hall. Right as the light turned on a bat started flying around us. No to set the scene, there is me, Elder Mender a big, tall, I like to think tough, man. Elder Mota, a professional soccer player, Elder Sato the Japanese missionary, and Elder Merrill, the country farm boy. Well the light turns on and Elder Merrill is just like whatever and doesn’t move. Elder Sato kind of turns off to the side all cool like but off course me and Elder Mota, we grab on to each other, (try and picture this) and give our manly screams, and then we start running down the hall as fast as we can. As we reached the end we looked back and saw the bat right behind us so we both jumped at the same time and landed on the ground with what I thought was a pretty beautiful dive. Elder Merrill said after that it looked like something from a war zone. If you tell this story to anyone I will deny it, but it was pretty funny night and to this day we still laugh our heads off about it. Well that’s about it. My time is up so I hope you all have a great week and I love you all.

Love,

Elder Mender

Just One More Lesson

2010-09-30T20:06:00.000-04:00

Well I don’t have a ton of time but I'm going to try and fill you in on the good stuff. It’s getting hotter and hotter here in Brasil. And well, I’m not a fan of the heat, but I am a fan of this work! We have been so busy this transfer teaching and finding new people. Just last night we were about to go home when we thought, no, just one more lesson, and we knocked on a door and two brothers were home who let us in and just seemed like they were elect. We got home a little late, but we were so happy to have found these two brothers who were ready to hear our message. This week we had a pretty cool experience happen. We were preparing a baptism and the energy went off in the city and all the lights went off at the church and it was getting dark. We didn’t want to have the baptism in the dark, but as soon as the other Elders walked in the door with the man who was going to be baptized the energy turned on and stayed on until the closing prayer, when it shut off after just a few minutes. It was really a little Brazilian miracle.

I hope you all are excited for this next week, which is General conference!!! Woot Woot. I am so excited. I’m ready for that spiritual boost because we as missionaries can definitely use all that good spiritual love and messages we can get. The gospel is true, and all is well, because we are winning the war. I can see it every day here in Brasil.

So this morning Elder Merrill and I woke up really early to take a bus to small city called Pilar we will spending the week here teaching people and trying to help start a branch here it is going to be really fun. The weird thing is we get to stay at a "hotel" which is more like a room in some random persons house. But we are having fun and excited to see what will happen the next few days. I hope you all have a great week and don’t forget to watch conference. Love you all!

Love, Elder Mender

The Best Two Years

2010-09-26T12:21:00.000-04:00

Hello every one!

I love P-day because it gives me time to write this weekly letter to you all. During the week we don't have a lot of time to think and relax but as I'm writing this letter I am able to see all the blessings that happen daily and even hourly in my life. This week has just been an amazing week! We have a woman who is marked for baptism this Saturday and her husband is an inactive member and all her sisters are members. As she has been on this journey preparing for baptism we have seen the excitement growing in the ward and in her life. It really is such an amazing thing. We also have an young man who lives about half an hour from town but is preparing for baptism and willing and happy to make the sacrifice to come into town every sunday to go to church. I remember something....I think I learned in the MTC about why we have the right to ask people to make these drastic and hard changes in their lives or why they even should make these changes! And the answer is because its true, every single little part of this gospel is true, and when we live it our lives are blessed immensly. This is the best week of the transfer because you and your companion teach "perfectly" together you have already had a lot of time together and you know what they will say, what you need to say, and you just let the Spirit guide the lesson it is really amazing.
I have a joke which I read in a coloring book that one of the crazy churches down here puts out. It was a cartoon strip and in it a man asked the other man what was all powerfull, rules our life, and starts with a "D" and the other man answered "dollar!" (the word for God in portuguese is Deus). I thought it was funny, but also sad, how true that cartoon can be in our lives often times the hardest part about a person accepting the gospel here isn't if its true or not, but the fact that they don't want to give up the things of the world. That is one of the saddest things to watch as a missionary. Well my time is short today but I want you all to know that I know this Church is true! And I know it not just because my parents told me, but because I recieved an answer myself and it's for this reason I'm here in Brasil having the time of my life preaching this gospel. I love you all and hope you have a great week!
Love, Elder Mender

Better than Duct Tape!

2010-09-26T11:06:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone!
Publish Post
Well this week has been another crazy fun week in Brasil! To start off with… we absolutely destroyed (I think this is a good thing?) in lessons and new investigators this week and then no one went to church. It always seems to work that way, it’s sad because you have to wait a whole week to get them to church but we know that this week will be good and that with time it will all come! So the work is good and we are tired but extremely happy. We are teaching a family whose son has epilepsy? I don’t know but it’s close to that in Portuguese. And it is really hard to get them to church because of that but this family is elect. We have some amazing lessons with them this week. We watched Together Forever (not a good movie for Elders to watch because it has cute young newly married couples that sometimes might make you trunky as your watching it...) but as we watched it and talked about eternal families the spirit was so strong you could see how interested they were in this idea. I love watching investigators interest grow because you can see the progress and you know that they will really try hard to pray and do the things you ask them and you know in time they will get the answer they are looking for. I think one of the reasons I love teaching this family is the son is always so happy and funny as I look into his eyes I swear I can feel the love of the Savior and our Heavenly Father. I always leave that house happy and ready to teach the world.

This week we had a special training on Joseph Smith by President that was just absolutely amazing. I have such a testimony of Joseph Smith. I love him and am so grateful for the sacrifice he made to bring us the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Then after the training we found out that next month Elder Oaks will be visiting our mission! We are so excited it is going to be amazing. Such a special day. Also it is sweet because the transfer will be extended another week because of it!! So we have a seven-week transfer. That is amazing! I have at least another week guaranteed with my companion and here in Senhor do Confirm.

So as for the interesting Brasil stories it goes like this... I have been using the same pair of shoes my whole mission (Rockport’s are amazing) but lately the sole of the shoe has been slowly coming off and rather then bringing them to a store to be fixed I went out and bought some crazy Brazilian super glue and fixed those puppies myself. I’m pretty sure I can get a few more months out of them! And if you think super gluing your shoes is lame I say its better than ductape! Also the other day Elder Merrill and I were on a division walking through the center of the town and we passed a mom with her daughters talking to another women and she said "yeah I think ill try and marry my girls to the Mormons" I guess she didn’t think we spoke Portuguese because they stated laughing but I thought it was pretty funny because we knew exactly what they said. Jokes on them. Hah

Well my last "fun" story is that me and my companion were talking the other day and he told me how he hated cats and he said "they don’t show love, they don’t listen to you, and they only play with you when they want something but dogs are faithful, show love, listen intently are your best friend and will never leave you” and of course I responded " are we talking about cats and dogs or women and men because it sounded like you just described women and then men...." sorry if that offended anyone but we laughed our heads off. It kind of reminded me of that computer joke where that class described if the computer was feminina or masculino.

Well I hope all is well I love you all and im so grateful for your support. Keep the letters coming and know that I love you. Have a great week!

Love, Elder Mender

Hump Day

2010-09-19T20:12:00.000-04:00

Hump Day Poem --

The Camel is the Symbol of the Seasoned Missionary

As you come to the one-year mark of your mission, I am sending you a camel

to remind you how far you have come, and where you are going. There are

many similar characteristics of a great missionary and a camel.

The first is the "hump"

Yes, you have crossed the mark and now are over the hump of the first year.

But remember, the hump of a camel is used to store food for the long

journey. Camels can go far for long periods of time without food, but a

wise missionary will store the knowledge he has gained and put it to greater

use the second half of his mission.

Another important characteristic is what the camel does to be prepared to

carry his load for his Master. A camel sometimes protests his heavy load,

but he drops to his knees for his Master and once started, he patiently

carries his load.

As a missionary, sometimes the load seems heavy and difficult to carry.

But when you drop to your knees and succumb to the Master's will, he will

carefully lead you and you can bear the load patiently, and do your Father

in Heaven's work as he would have you do. This is why the camel's knees are

heavily padded, as a missionary; your knees are calloused from many hours of

kneeling in prayer.

The camel has high set eyes, which enable him to see long distances.

A missionary has his eyes set on higher things, he follows the Spirit that

enables him to see the Children of God, those who are seeking answers, and

he teaches them the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The camel has broad, two-toed feet, which keep it from sinking in the desert

sand.

A missionary has a broad knowledge and a firm testimony of the Gospel.

This enables him to teach with boldness and stand steadfast and immoveable.

The people you teach do not yet have the blessings of such a sure-foot, but

as you teach with love and the Spirit, you will help them gain their own

testimony, that will help them walk on firmer ground, the path that will

lead them back to their Father in Heaven.

So you see, a Missionary has a lot in common with a camel.

Put this camel where you can see it often.

Dedicate yourself to do as the camel does. (No spitting) Serve your Master

well and patiently over the long journey.

You have come a long way; there is still much ground to cover.

Continue to move forward, serving with love, until your mission is complete

and your Father in Heaven will say, "Well done, thou good and faithful

servant."

No One Notices the American

2010-09-19T19:52:00.000-04:00

I hope all is well up there in North America! This has been an amazing week! We got to work hard this week and have been ridiculously busy! It has been a fun week. I have a lot of crazy stories to tell but of course we just came from playing basketball and I left my planner home... I’ll try and remember some of the fun stories. To start on Sunday we had a man show up at church so we got his address and set up a time to go teach him last night. Well last night we went to find his house and of course he lives in the middle of nowhere half way up a mountain so we hike up the mountain for about 40 minutes and when we get to his... shack? He wasn’t home. Claro. So we decided to wait fifteen minutes hoping he would come home. And wouldn’t you know it, just my luck, while we were waiting a ridiculously drunk guy came up and started talking to us. He really liked the fact that my companion is Japanese (I love having a Japanese companion because no one notices I’m American anymore! It’s all about him! BEAUTIFUL) Well, I thought we were up this mountain, we might as well try and preach the gospel, you know…. do our job, so I asked him why he was drinking and I got a long winded answer saying that its what he does with all his money. Oh great. I then asked him if he had work tomorrow and he said of course but he would get drunk tonight and then work tomorrow because he was a tough guy. That sure impressed me.... not. I asked him if he had a family, he said yes, and five kids but his ex wives took care of them so he didn’t have to worry. He then went on to tell us that his dad had five houses but wouldn’t give him one and we told him that we thought we knew why maybe if he stopped drinking he would be responsible enough we then told him how God commands us not to drink and at this point he zoomed out of reality and started singing crazy drinking songs. I was blown away that he was content to live his life like that and even though it was really funny at the time it made me sad to think that his five kids didn’t have their dad that this man was not fulfilling his obligation to his family. How much happier they all could have been if he could just put away the bottle.

Another fun story is this week we had to take a bus to lunch but the bus driver didn’t want to stop so he just opened the door and I got to jump on my first moving bus! It was quite the adventure. Luckily he decided he could stop to let us off.
What else oh this chapel here is so beautiful! It has air conditioning and a piano that plays by itself! It is so nice to finally sing with a piano again. Oh when I got here I was told we had a firm baptism for this week! So went to go teach him and from the first lesson I could tell something was off. And in the second lesson I knew why. He told us he was worried about tithing because his tithing would be thousands of dollars every month...? (He is living with his grandma.) He then went on to explain that he found a way to create electricity from leaves and that he was going to create a house in which people could enter and pay fifty dollars to take a light bath. The idea being they would walk in between the light bulbs powered by the electric leaves. He told us he figured out the idea while he was on about six different (illegal) drugs after he got out of the mental hospital. He was in the hospital for five years. Well as it ended up our firm baptism wasn’t so firm after all. It was probably one of the craziest lessons I have ever taught.
To wrap up this week we had the chance to study the Book of Mormon. I love the Book of Mormon. It is such an important book I love the quote by Joseph smith that calls it the keystone of our religion. On of the first things we need our investigators to answer are if the Book of Mormon is true. Once we know that the Book of Mormon is true everything comes into place! Joseph smith was a prophet, the restoration really happened, Jesus is the Christ, we have answers to the most important questions in life, and we know that we can receive personal revelation all this is so important to our salvation. Its not just another book or another bible but it a book that has the power to help us in our lives if we will study it and apply its teachings in our lives. I hope you all take time to study the Book of Mormon and use it daily because it is amazing.
I love you all and im so grateful for your support! Have a great week.

Love, Elder Mender

Transfer

2010-09-11T18:46:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone!
How are we all today?! Well as you can all tell that I was transferred and that is why I’m writing a day late. It was really sad to leave Coite, I spent the most time on my mission in Coite! I have a lot of good friends and memories there but I’m learning when the Lord calls we just do and we don’t hesitate. I was transferred to a city called Senhor do Bom Fim. It is located in between mountains and is a really pretty city. I am very excited to serve here, I have only heard really good things about this area. I’m sure many of you are dying to know who my companion is and his name is Elder Sato, he is from Sao Paulo but his dad is actually Japanese (funny how Japan is a common theme for my companions) I have also only heard good things about him so I am very excited for this transfer lets just see where things go!
So I’m trying to think of things to say because I forgot the paper, which has what I wanted to say. I do have some fun stories from the past few weeks that I have missed. First a baptism! We baptized a woman named Vivianne, her husband and sisters are already members but she --for a long time wanted nothing to do with the church. One day she came to church and told us she felt like God was telling her she needed to get baptized so we began teaching her and two weeks later she was baptized. She is such an amazing woman and it was very sweet to be able to complete this family. Now they are working on preparing to go to the temple! How exciting is that?! Story number two, I found a person who really doesn’t like me! So it all started on a Sunday afternoon while were eating lunch I walked into the kitchen to get some food and as soon as this littler girl saw my face she started screaming and crying and throwing her silverware. The only thing that calmed her down was when her mom turned her face away from me. I thought dang that’s weird she must just be cranky... nope a few days later we were teaching a lesson and the little girl walked into the room, saw me and started crying and whining at me so we had to wrap up the lesson fast and leave it was very sad! But wait you say two times could just be a coincidence. OK, yes, I’ll give you that, but want more? A few days later we walked into a house for lunch and this little girl who was ALL the way on the other side of the house saw a GLIMPSE of my face and started screaming and crying it was the most bizarre and kind of really sad thing of my life. All the Elders were saying it was because I picked on her in the pre-existence but I just don’t see me doing that. Do you?
Finally my last story I think I told you how zone conference have been moved to every other transfer we on the off transfer we have what’s called a special training were a district or a few districts get to have training essentially one on one with the president and it was a really cool training this past meeting as we got to role play and get feedback right from president. Mission Presidents are some of the coolest people in the world. Just one look into their eyes make you want to get to work and go out and baptize the world. The church has put out a new training to go along with Preach My Gospel and as we have been applying it in our work it has just been amazing. I truly know that this work is really important. I have a testimony of Jesus Christ. I love that everyday I get to go out and testify that He lives as an authorized representative. It is amazing, I love it, and I hope you love it too this amazing gospel that we have!
I hope you all have a great week and keep smiling because life’s too short to live it another way!

Love, Elder Mender

How Much Water do you Really Need......for a Baptism?

2010-08-18T20:52:00.002-04:00

Hello hello! Lets see for a quick update - here in Coite things are amazing! The work is going great and life is perfect. I don’t think it could get any better. This week seemed to be one good experience after the other! To start out, Thursday we had zone conference, and just had a great training. We also found out that because of changes in the mission we will be having zone conference one transfer, and interviews the next transfer, instead of both every transfer that is kind of sad, but good because it will give us more time to work every transfer. Then after zone conference we ran home to get a baptismal meeting together and when we showed up at the chapel the Bishop called me into his office and said, "Elder we don’t have water” -- I’m thinking well that’s fine lets just fill up the font! And then he explains how that water in the tank ran out and he did some things but it would be about another two hours until water came (welcome to Brasil) well what can you do? Nothing, so we sat there and waited. I didn’t want Jefferson and Vanikelly to get bored while we waited for the water to come so I was going around the church introducing them to everyone I could find and telling them random facts about the church. But two hours is a very long time to wait! Eventually the miracle of the water happened and it started to fill up, but as usual no one wanted to wait for it to fill up all the way so we decided to go ahead and have the baptism. Well as I stepped in the font and realized the water didn’t even come up to my knee I knew we were going to have a problem! But you can’t stop a baptism mid program to fill up the font so I told Jefferson as he got in the water that he just had to trust me and we were going to get it done. I am so happy to say after the fourth try he didn’t stick a part of his body out of the water and we did indeed “get it done”, then Vanikelly came in the water and acted like a champ and it only took her one try. After the baptism Jefferson’s friends were asking him why it took him four times to be baptized so I told the that it meant he would be a powerful leader in the Church. That shut them up and made Jefferson have a little bigger smile on his face. It was so amazing to watch these two young people show their faith and make this important covenant with God. I’m so grateful for the chance I had to be here and watch their growth in this gospel. Then this Saturday our ward had an activity which was kind of like jeopardy and do you know what?! No one knew where Joseph Smith was born! I always thought that was an easy question but I guess I was just one lucky duck to have grown up in the east. This Sunday is what I like to call miracle Sunday. I think it was the best Sunday I have had in a long time. As we got to church we saw George sitting there (this is the man who got arrested last week) and he looked really happy to be there and then half way through priesthood we had a family show up that we have been teaching. It was so great to be able to sit with them through church and see the smiles on their faces. I was also asked to bless the sacrament which was really weird because I haven’t done that since I have been on the mission. But I’m happy to report I got it right the first time! After church, George told us he would try even harder, and be more focused on his baptism. Last night we taught a lot of amazing lessons one was with the family that went to church and it seems Satan is very aware of the progress they are making because every time the lesson got even the slightest bit spiritual someone knocked on the door or walked in or some distraction so we ended the lesson quickly and remarked for tonight. It has just been a really great week and transfer. I can testify that this work is important and this gospel is real. I hope you all are well and that you are enjoying this wonderful gift we have called life! Have a great week and remember that I love you.

Love,

Elder Mender

American Snack Bar in Brazil

2010-08-10T20:31:00.000-04:00

First off, sorry that it has been so long since I have written. Life is just crazy this transfer! For example, today we spent all day helping a Returned Missionary (RM) who has decided he wants to open up a snack bar here in Brasil. But he wants it to be only with American snacks so today we showed him how to make cookies, seven layer bars, haystacks, and chocolate oatmeal cookies. I don’t want to brag but I am a dang good cook!! They all turned out pretty tasty and it’s not just me saying that, it’s everyone who tried them!!! But to give credit where credit is due, thank you Sister Crossett for your recipe book! You have saved my life so many times here in Brasil and perhaps helped a returned missionary start a thriving business here in Brasil! So that was one fun P-day!!

This week has been a lot of fun. We have had a lot of amazing lessons. We are teaching a girl named Vanikelly, who the first time she prayed she didn’t feel anything, but the second time when we asked her she had a light in her face as she said my prayer was so much better! She has a desire to get baptized but will have to overcome her whole family that doesn’t want her to get baptized. It is so sad to see people who want to do what’s right but then their families don’t help them. I have learned that we all have obstacles to face and I hope she has the strength to overcome this one and be baptized into this amazing church! We have another family we have been teaching who are just amazing when we gave him the Book of Mormon he took it, and with a big smile on his face, he said, I will read it , I will find out if it’s true! That was a really cool lesson we have some awesome lessons this week where we walked out and said, "man that was amazing I think they were really supposed to hear that." We are really hopeful for this month and this transfer. One crazy you know you’re in Brasil moment….. is when went to go teach an investigator and when we knocked on the door his mom answered and we asked where he was ,and she said casually , that he was in jail.... oh cool. When will he back? Monday? Ok we will come back Monday.... it was crazy but at least we can teach him again on Monday right?

Well as busy as this week has been I cant think of a lot of stories to tell so I think I will call it good and hopefully you will get the pictures I sent as well. Have a great week and I love you all! Until next week.

Love,
Elder Mender

Menopause

2010-07-28T20:35:00.000-04:00

How is everyone?! (You can send me a letter to respond to that question :)!! ) I can tell you I am amazing here in Coite Brasil! Things have just been going perfect! Don’t get me wrong the work is hard but when you hit the most problems that’s when you know you must be doing something right! This transfer has just been a lot of fun its crazy to think another transfer starts today! Speaking of transfers I have a new companion Elder Vieira, I have been living with him for three months so he just switched wards into my ward. We are excited for this next transfer it should be a good one. Well it happened this week! My trainer went home. It makes you feel like your growing up in the mission when the Elder who trained you finally hits the end of two years! Best of luck to Elder Mierjewski. Thanks for being such an amazing missionary and teaching me what it’s all about!

Well I guess I should apologize for not writing a letter last week. So I’m sorry and ill try and tell you what you missed now. Lets start off with some of the fun stories. So it all started on a normal day just like another. My companion and I were at a members’ house for lunch and after we had eaten we were sitting down about ready to share our message when the sister noticed I was sweating and she asked if I was hot? I said “yes, I always am here in Brasil”. She said I was crazy, and that it was freezing that day. She then asked if she should open the door to let some air in. I said it wouldn’t help I would still be hot and she just looked and me and said, "have you hit menopause?" Story of my life right there... What can you do but laugh when a grown woman asks you that question? Then another day our district was walking home and a car pulls up in front of us and tells us to get in. Of course we didn’t want to, but our District leader tells us to get in so my companion and I who don’t know this man. We think he is a member so Elder Conrad starts to get in then our district leaders companion walks away so he has to leave and he says, "its ok just get in". Well I’m not feeling very good about this, but what can I do, so we get in and he starts to drive. As he is talking I realized I can’t understand a word this man is saying, I mean I know my Portuguese is bad, but it isn’t that bad. And then I see that Elder Conrad has his door open a little bit as we were driving and I think to myself “huh that’s odd.” Well to say the least I am not loving this car ride -- I’m crammed in the back of this little two door car and every time we go over a bump the man throws his hand in the air and screams. We almost hit a tree about three different times and somehow made it to our corner safely. When we got out I asked my companion “why did you have your door open the whole time?” He just responds, "the man was drunk so if I had to bail I could." I’m thinking “wait.... I WAS STUCK IN THE BACK! I had no way of bailing out” ---thank you Elder.

This week we played some more soccer and I’m getting pretty good at this little game! I made another goal this week with my HEAD. Yeah the Brazilians were pretty impressed. ha-ha (it was all luck but don’t tell them that) Oh yeah, the fun part of that story the field we played in had cows, dogs, ducks and geese running around the field so we were playing soccer in between all these animals and trying to not step in animal poop. It was an interesting time.

I trust all is well! I love you all and am so grateful for your support! Remember to read the scriptures and pray daily, its better than an apple a day, it keeps Satan away! Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Mender

My Brain is Fried

2010-07-21T20:29:00.000-04:00

Mom, I'm not writing a big letter this week. Sorry, my brain is fried and I'm super tired. I also forgot my planner at home so I don't have all the stories I wanted to tell. I'll write more next week. I hope you know I love you and check your Dartmouth account. I sent a bigger letter to you. I love you tons! All is well, so don't be worried. I'm just tired from a long week. ;-) But all is good right?

Miss you Mom.....Love you.

Your Face is Cute!

2010-07-13T20:33:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone!!! I have had an amazing week here in lovely old Coite! First off, some fun stories. I killed a fly with a toothpick. I will repeat that I killed a fly with a toothpick. Yep I stabbed a fly how amazing is that?! I really wanted to show you a picture of it but the fly fell off the toothpick as I was carrying it home... so im sorry you don’t get to see the picture but its true! I was pretty excited about that one!

Second, on Monday we were at lunch at a members house and the craziest thing happened... he came out with a bb gun! I thought he was just going to show us his gun, but nope he wanted to shoot it! So he and his friend set up a target in the back yard, which was just a old baby bottle, and then they proceeded (this was another you know you are in Brasil when moments) to shoot the gun from the living room through the dining room, kitchen and washroom to hit the target in the backyard it reminded me of a very redneck thing but I also think it is a Brazilian thing to it was pretty funny to watch this man and his friend shoot then run through the whole house to see how good there shot was. Very exciting day for me.

Third, yesterday we were at a members house trying to get references and this very talkative six year old was having a lot of fun conversing with me and after a while she asked if I wanted to play a game and of course I love games so I said yes! Well she went into her room and came out with a school workbook and then showed me a math page well I never liked math a lot but I figured I could do this six-year-old math and I was right! So I started to tell her what numbers to put where and she stopped and looked and me and said, "you don’t know anything, I will show you how its done" and the she explained a very complex math system that I do not think has any logical bases but she ended up winning every time. Now of course I didn’t like this so I asked her if we could play another game and she said yes so I drew a tic tack toe board and I asked her if she knew how to play she said, "of course!" And then had me go first so I put my x down and then she did the craziest move ever and drew a tic tack toe board in one of the squares of the tic tack toe board and exclaimed "I win!!" When I asked how she said, "if I go here or here I win." I felt like I had a flashback from when I was younger and playing with my brothers!

And last but not least, one day last week we were sitting there teaching a family and this little girl I think she is three was sitting on her moms lap mumbling and rambling on about stuff. My comp and I were just sitting there laughing at her because she was too cute and then she stopped mid ramble and looked at me and said "your face is cute" and then just sat there grinning it was probably the funniest cutest moment of my life. Priceless. Maybe you had to be there....

Now on a more spiritual note, we have had some really fun experiences here. If you remember the boy that we baptized last week well this week we were teaching his mom and she told us how she wanted to be baptized and one of the reasons was because last week she tried to tempt her son by making him coffee but he said, "Mom you know I cant drink that!" How amazing is that? He doesn’t even know how influential he is being in the salvation of his family. It is so neat to see how kids can change the lives of their families just by living and standing up for their beliefs. And second I found out today that one of the people I was working with in Park City got baptized I practically jumped up and screamed right her in the land house because I was so happy to hear that.... everyone kind of looked at me weird but that’s ok. I love this Gospel and I love this work! It truly does change lives. I hope everyone is doing well and that you are remembering the important things in life, the things that truly bring happiness in this life and the life to come.
I love you all and am so grateful for your support!

Love, Elder Mender

Crazy Food Gods

2010-07-06T21:22:00.000-04:00

Bom Dia!
    Well it has been a wild week! Another full week of rain! Now in the states this isn’t really problem, but here they don’t have drying machines for your clothes (this made me laugh- It’s like he forgot the word dryer).... some of you might be wondering why this is a problem, well when missionaries can’t dry their clothes for a long time they can’t clean their clothes, and we as missionaries, only have a certain amount of clothes. Not like teenage girls in the states, so by the end of this week we all ended up wearing wet clothes because we didn’t have dry clothes! We have fans at home blowing on our clothes but that really just makes them a little less wet and a lot colder! So that was an adventure! It was interesting because this week I got sick again and cold! It was a relief to feel cold for a bit even if I was miserable. Ha-ha but the good news today it is sunny and we have hope our clothes will dry out and maybe in a few weeks, our shoes will too! ;)
     This Sunday we had a baptism! This one was a lot of fun because it was a young boy whose family we have been teaching and the parents have been kind of wishy washy but this week the boy said I want to be baptized. So we had the chance to baptize him and then after that his parents got really excited for his baptism and you can tell they are a little more anxious to make this convenant themselves. It is very interesting what the courage of a young child can do to change the course of his family!
    Also did you know Brazilians do not like twizzlers?!   I was shocked to find this out! Who does not like this wonderful family treat that is perfect for going to the beach?! I guess Brazilians. Well, me and my companion were first shocked to find this out, but then grateful that it meant we got to have the whole bag to ourselves. The bag was gone in 2 minutes but that’s a different story....
OK who in the world decided that liver was a good meat to eat?!?!? At one of our lunches the Irma put this awful smelling and not normal looking beef in front of us and my comp was like "oh man..." and I was like "what?!" and he said "ohhhh nothing" and I said "ohhhh crap" so he asked if I wanted to know what it was and I said "heck no" and put a slab of it and my plate and, mom you would be so proud of me! I ate that whole thing and I didn’t throw up! Well after I was done, I said "ok Elder what was it that I just ate and you were to pansy to eat?" And he said liver, well I wanted to throw up, but I didn’t. I took it like a champ. That is called taking one for the team ladies and gentleman. You see irmas get very offended if you don’t eat their food so at least one of you has to eat it and for some reason it is always me that’s gets sacrificed to the crazy food gods but I suck it up and take it like a champ. I am very grateful for all those times my mom made me sit at the table for three hours until I finished that tomato slice on my plate she truly was preparing me for my mission! And because of those hours of crying and screaming at the dinner table are now paying off in Brasil when I get liver, and cow toe and chicken intestine placed before me. So mom and dad I salute you, and thank you.
One last thing! I heard a talk I loved this week by Elder Packer and he shared a story that I think a lot of people know but I really like it so I’m going to share it. he said that he likes to carve birds and one day he had a bird and he and a friend were taking this final project into town to show another friend (these birds take years make) and the friend driving it had to slam on the breaks and this beautiful bird fell onto the ground of the car and broke into pieces. Elder Packer says that and pulled the car over immediately and was devastated but Elder Packer just calmly said, "It's ok I can fix it" and he did just that" he fixed it and made it better and stronger and all this because he loved this little carving of a bird. He then related how much more or master loves us the great Creator and how he will always fix us and help us be better. I know this is true we all have to go through trial in our life every single one of us we have t be broken and crushed and burnt and mashed and stepped on and destroyed until we are humble and then the Lord will step in and help us because he loves us. But we have to make the choice to let him help us! Are we doing everything we can in our lives to allow the Lord to fix us and make us better? Or are we mocking that sacred sacrifice of the atonement by not letting him in?
I know that this Gospel is true and I hope you do too! All you have to do is pray, read the scriptures, and go to church and you too can know hope you do just that! I love you all and I hope all is well. I’m so grateful for all your help and support! Have a great week!

Love, Elder Mender

Greetings from Coite Brasil!

2010-07-06T21:17:00.000-04:00

6/29/2010

Bom dia,
Greetings from Coite Brasil! It has been a wet week and for some people a cold one (i think they’re crazy) it is weird because here it doesn’t just rain it either pours buckets and gets you completely soaked in 3 seconds or mists and just makes it uncomfortable to work. Despite the weather being against us we have kept our spirits high and the work moving forward. We have taught a lot of amazing lessons and seen the power if this gospel as we talk with these amazing people. We have some amazing investigators who i am so happy to be working with. One named Marcia, i don’t remember if I've talked about her, but she is so closed to being baptized she knows everything she just doesn’t have the "desire" to be baptized yet which means something is up. So we will continue trying to help her she has been so much fun because in the middle of us teaching her she will turn and start teaching her children these important truths it really is neat thing to watch. Another investigator is named Jesse he is a really humble man who wants to believe everything but hasn’t gotten his answer yet i feel that once he goes to church his doubts will be solved. It has been a hard month to get people to church because of the world cup and the million holidays they have here. Either people aren’t home or if they are they don’t want to leave their home! It’s been crazy. Speaking of the world cup Brasil one their last game and we were trying to get some work done but as soon as they won every member of Coite ran out of their houses screaming and yelling with horns and drums and the streets were crowded i was scared for about the first 15 minutes thinking i was going to die. I cannot imagine what it will be like if they win the world cup... i hope president makes us stay inside. I'm not a fan of working during the cup games you get yelled at a lot. Ha-ha but i guess that’s what i signed up for right!? This week has been an interesting week and a fun one im so glad i have had the chance to serve here it really is amazing!
Yesterday was Zone conference, which was a really good zone conference. We talked a lot about faith. Faith is a very interesting principle of the gospel i feel it is so simple and yet so complicated. Often times we think of faith as believing but it is that and more when you believe you will get up off the couch and go do something about your faith. If we as missionaries have faith that we can baptize but then we sit at home all day it does nothing for us and our faith cant grow but when we get up and work, talking to everyone, teaching, and sweating every minute we see the fruits of our labors and our faith will turn into a perfect knowledge which is everyone’s goal is it not?
I know that God would not send us to earth without a way to return and live with him again. That way is the gospel, as we live the gospel as taught by Jesus Christ and his prophets and apostles our faith will grow and become a perfect knowledge of Christ. I know that this Gospel is true i do not have a doubt of that. I have started a fun little experiment, which i have learned a lot from. As i have been reading the Book of Mormon and i see a promise from the Lord (or a prophet which means its from the lord) i have put it on a card and made it a goal to test that promise. And as i do my part i really can see the blessings pouring down from heaven, more than the rain we have been getting. :) I know that God wants to bless us he is just waiting for us to be obedient, to do our part, and then to ask. So much is dependent on if we will ask. Prayer is such a sacred tool that we have to communicate with our Father in Heaven, i hope you all are daily praying and asking for whatever thing you need and then thanking for the thousands of blessings you have been given. I know that gratitude will help strengthen your faith and is an important part of this beautiful Gospel. I am grateful for all of you and your support i am so lucky to have you as friends and family. I am grateful for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ without whom i could not return to live with my Father in Heaven, my God, whom i love, serve, and worship with all my heart.
I hope you all are well and as happy as i am. I love you all.

Love,

Elder Mender

World Cup Frenzy

2010-07-06T21:08:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone,

Sorry this week wasn’t very exciting so I don’t have alot to write about. But i hope you all know I love you and I’ll write more when I have more time and stories. I guess what I do have is this week we had a few funny things happen...

One the world cup has been insane people have huge banners and streamers that go over the street from house to house and Brazil colors are all over the place. You have no doubt what country you are in as you walk down the road. Every time Brasil scores it doesn’t matter where you are you can hear it as people scream and fireworks go off it is pretty exciting to be here during the world cup!

Second we went to an investigators house and I saw her walking down the hall so I waved to her and when her grandpa came to the door he told us she wasn’t home.... think about that one!

And last, but not least my companion and I have been having a lot of fun as we work, it is amazing what a funny companion can do for the work! This week has flown by and I’m not excited for it to end which means he goes home... it seems like all the Elders I become friends with go home! Why does everyone leave me? Story of my life tear, tear!! No, I’m just kidding!

Oh one more thing! So the next few weeks are a holiday called Saint John, I guess he is the Saint of the fireworks because the sale of fireworks and small bombs has increased and they seem to go off every few minutes. It’s really annoying because kids find it funny to throw it at us. Well more at me because I don’t pay attention when I walk and when it lands 5 feet from me and blows up really loud I jump pretty high! A couple times I almost dived on the ground but I stopped myself. It really is a scary thing! haha well that’s about it for this week. I hope all is well.

Love,

Elder Mender

A Shooting Star

2010-06-20T21:17:00.000-04:00

Hello all,

Well, guess what?! I’m 20!!!!! That’s weird... I feel like I have to be serious and not funny like my parents or something. No, I’m just kidding! My parents are amazing! I need to stop picking on them. I love them to death. Well this week was a wonderful week! We started of the week with interviews with president I’m getting less and less scared of him so that is good right?! Ha-ha! No, I love my President he is an amazing guy but I think all mission presidents are. They just seem to know your problems before you say anything and they always have the perfect words and the perfect scriptures to help you out. It’s a pretty cool thing! After interviews our zone went out to lunch together at an all you can eat macaroni place! That is pretty cool huh? I didn’t know they did all you can eat in Brasil... and it was only five reis! That’s about 2.50 in dollars think about that!

This week I saw my first shooting star in Brasil! The nights are so clear and beautiful I miss sleeping under the stars like we did in Petrolia. I love staring at them and thinking about whatever. That is one thing that testifies of God I mean look up there! It didn’t happen by chance! Look at Orian's belt that was done by a perfect artist, our heavenly father.

Well this week we did a ward activity to help get the ward excited for missionary work and we had been planning it out and getting everything ready for weeks and then last Saturday the bishop showed up and another RM and that was it. So we just went and did divisions. I’m starting to understand a little bit more about the joys and pains of organizing church functions.

Then yesterday was my birthday! And I was sick! It was so lame who gets sick on their birthday?! in high school you are all excited to be sick because you get to stay home and watch TV but on a mission being sick is the worst thing ever because you teach a lesson and sprint home, teach a lesson and sprint home. I’m pretty sure I did about three of coach gambles hard workouts in one day. But it wasn’t all bad! One sister made me a cake another bought me a box of chocolates and I had a lot of people sing happy birthday to me! It was a fun day then at night the Zone leaders came over and we made pizza and did what all missionaries do on P-night played games. Dominos, Uno you know the usual.

That’s about it for this week! The good news is the church is true and we don’t ever need to worry about that! I hope all is well and that you have another great week! I love you all.

Love,

Elder Mender

World Cup!

2010-06-20T21:16:00.000-04:00

Hello all!

How are you doing? So this is going to be really short im sorry... since transfers just started i have a new planner and my old one has all the stories so yeah this is just going to be about the past two days! Lets start with Monday morning we found out the elder Almeida was being transferred and i would stay and elder Conrad would be my new companion! For those of you who don’t know elder Conrad is the best Portuguese speaker on the mission and is from Connecticut, so i am really excited to work with him. We were in the same zone in Petrolina and he helped me a lot there. We said it would be amazing if we were comps and then BAM we are comps. Tender little mercies of the Lord! Well yesterday i had to wake up at 4 am to go to Salvador to pick up elder Conrad. I absolutely love transfer day all the missionaries in the bus station telling about their crazy experiences in the transfer it is a really big missionary party.

Yesterday was also the Brasil game. Now i cannot explain to you how the world cup is for Brasil it is bigger than the super bowl, world series, NBA playoffs and any other sport thing combined it is huge! We were walking from burger king to the bus station and a 75-year-old woman sprinted past me in a Brasil jersey because the game was about to start and she had to be by a TV. Then in the bus station in Salvador when a goal was scored all sense of order vanished and screaming and bombs going off and horns blowing all started and continued for about 20 minutes. Soccer is not just a sport here it is life and the world cup is greater than life. The next few weeks will be very interesting for the work!

And one funny story about two hours ago we showed up at our house and it was FLOODED. The washer hose had gotten jammed and water just spilled out onto the floor so elder Conrad and i got a bucket and two rags and sat there sucking up water and squeezing it into the bucket by hand for a good 45 minutes it was quite and adventure. I was lucky that none of my stuff got wet.... other elders not so much.

Well things are amazing here and i cannot believe another transfer has started! Time just flies. I hope you all are happy and having fun because i know i am! Until next week have a good one!

Love,

Elder Mender

You Know you are in Brazil When....

2010-06-03T20:40:00.000-04:00

Tudo bom!!! Com credenza!

Hello everyone I hope you all had an amazing week. First of all I need to say thank you to everyone who has sent me letters and packages it is always a ton of fun to receive a handful at conference. This past conference was amazing and not just because of the letters I received although that didn’t hurt. :) As many of you know Elder Godoy of the Seventy was at our conference it was just an amazing spiritual conference where we learned soooo much. Kind of like a mini general conference. He taught so well and the Spirit was so strong. I remember two things specifically…. The first his wife said. She was telling a story of when she was leaving her mission she was in tears and her mission president said, "You don’t need to be sad the next thing will be better" HOW TRUE THAT IS! Those were the exact words I needed to hear at that time. The lord loves us he knows what we need and will give it to us. So we don’t need to worry or be sad just take comfort in the Lord. The second elder Godoy talked about three questions we need to ask ourselves as missionaries but I also think we can ask it as members too. 1) What are we NOT doing that is keeping blessings from us? 2) What ARE we doing to keep blessings from us? And 3) what do we need to KEEP doing to receive blessings? As we answer these three questions and form goals around the answers we will see the blessings of the lord pour more rapidly and abundantly into our lives. That is true.

I have a lot of stories this past week and stories from others weeks that I have forgotten to tell so sorry this email might be a little long! First this week Elder Domelles and I had a chance to change a light bulb while we were on divisions now this might seems simple but the ceiling was high and they did not have a ladder so we did what all good missionaries do and he climbed up on my back and changed it from my shoulders it was actually quite impressive and made a good video!

Second, a few weeks ago we went to play soccer at the institute building and while we were playing a man came to work on the front gate. Great right that good? well when we finished and had to leave he wasn’t finished but he couldn’t open the gate because he was changing the metal plates in between the bars well this is where the story gets good... all the skinny elders squeezed their way through the opening without a problem then it was me and another larger (but not as large as me) elder I naturally being the polite man that I am let him go first well he struggled a little bit and finally got through as many of you can imagine I’m freaking out right now in my mind thinking there is no way I’m going to fit through this! Well I’m an Elder and there are about 20 other others on the other side of this gate so I have to try if I want to keep my man status. Well I put my arm through that BARELY fits then my torso hits the bars stop. all forward progress stopped I push a little bit not going to happen no way so I start to back out but elders always willing to help grab my arm and start pulling! (I’m about 90% sure they did it to see me in pain) well with elders pulling on my arm I get about halfway through. Uh oh stop again! I now cannot breath at all the pictures from this point make me look like one of the toy heads that you squeeze and the eyes and ears pop out. Yeah I was in pain but not to be out done the guy working on the gate starts pushing! so I feel kind of like a ragdoll in the hands of little boys being pulled pushed and beaten to a pulp at about the last second when I’m two hundred percent sure I’m going to lose consciousness because of lack of air I pop out the other side fall to the ground with the worst pain of my life in my chest! Needless to say it was a fun adventure! And the pictures are priceless. I’ll try and send them...

I have realized that the best time for a nap is when the missionaries are at your door, kind of like the best time for a relative to die is during finals in college...

This week we were having a delightful lunch at a members home and of course the sister asked me to eat more. "come mais elder" is a favorite saying of the members here in Brasil and a saying you hate to hear as a missionary well I went for some more chicken and BAM it happened I somehow stabbed the chicken in the right way and chicken grease and the ridiculous amount of oil they like to cook their meat in spilled all over my brand-new white shirt! Oh I was so sad but what can you do but laugh when this happens? Nothing all you can do is laugh so for the next five minutes we all had a good little laugh at my chicken stained shirt, which is good we all need to laugh every now and then right? Well I feel lucky that I made it as long as I have with spilling it was bound to happen on the mission!

I had another "you know you’re in Brasil moments when..." this week it was really quite interesting. So there we were teaching a lesson and a chicken walks through the living room. You know you are in Brasil when a chicken walks through the house and you are the only one that feels this might not be the right place for a chicken to walk freely... but i guess ill learn right?!

Well this week and the past few months certainly have been an adventure. I truly am learning to love the work and love the people here. This place is so beautiful and every now and then you will get a glimpse of a sunset and a view that just takes your breath away and you fall in love with Brasil all over again. The work is wonderful to see people’s lives change because of the gospel that you are teaching ... there is nothing sweeter in the entire world. This gospel is beautiful I hope you all know of the testimony I have and the love I have for my Savior Jesus Christ who without this work and really this life would have no eternal purpose.
I love you all and hope you have another great week.

Love,

Elder Mender

A Bite on the Butt

2010-06-03T20:31:00.000-04:00

Hello!!!

What an amazing week it has been here in Bahia Brazil!! We are getting ready for a zone conference with Elder Godoy of the Seventy which will be amazing tomorrow except that we have to wake up early, like... 3:30 to get there on time but that’s OK I'll get over it, right?

Well let’s see exciting stories from this week... do you remember how I said you could become a real missionary one of three ways? A dog biting you, pooping your pants, or being robbed? Well I think I found a new one to add to the list! So there I was at church talking to a member and a kid comes up and BITES me on the butt!! No like a child soft bite but a horrible painful bite that I'm pretty sure will scare over! It was the craziest thing ever all the member could do was laugh out of pure shock... I mean what can you do in this situation?!

This week was elder Almeida’s one-year mark on the mission so I made him two cakes. Yes you read right I made two cakes for him! And they turned out ´pretty good too! I even put sprinkles on it. I'm thinking my wife is a pretty lucky woman, I mean, what more do you need then a man that can make and decorate a cake?!

Well here in Brazil they like hot sauce on their food and this one sister made some of the best hot sauce I have ever had so I asked her to teach me how and she said that she would make a bottle for me! Well yesterday I picked up the bottle and I could tell it was going to be good. My companion just looked at it really scared and told me to run my finger over the opening and not touch it and then stick it on my tongue so I did and my tongue was burning just from the fumes of the hot sauce! I am so excited to use this it is amazing! If anyone wants I’ll make it for them when I get home. I'm thinking my dad will love it!

Well this week while we were teaching this really cool parable came to my mind! I love it, tell me what you think. It’s called the parable of the ice cream shop:

The kingdom of Heaven is likened unto an ice cream shop. The owner of the shop wanting all to partake of the best ice cream in the world will do everything he can to help people enjoy his ice cream. The owner tells how the journey will be hard and long but the reward worth it so we all agree to try. Since the owner is the only one who knows where the shop is he gives us a bike (because it is long and impossible to get there in feet), a gps (because maps are outdates and a gps is cooler), and money for the ice cream once we get there. So we get on our bikes and start out. Along the way are other shops that seems good but their ice cream is not even close to as good as this one shop and after a while there is shade which looks really nice since its hot and the journey is long finally we make it to the shop because be paid close attention to the gps, stayed close to our bikes and those of us who have the money pay and are able to eat and enjoy the best ice cream in the world with all the joy and peace and happiness what we were promised. Now wasn’t the journey worth it?

As many of you can tell the ice cream is eternal life, the owner is God but the other symbols in the story aren’t so clear.... the Gps is the Holy Ghost and prophets and it only works if we listen to it and pay attention to it. The Money is baptism God has made it available to all but not everyone will accept it and if they won’t when they reach the final destination if they don’t have it they cannot enter and receive (john 3:5). The bike is Christ we cannot get to the end without Christ we are totally and completely dependent on him and if we walk away from him and do not gratefully partake of the atonement we will not end up where we want. the shade is the joys of the world or immediate gratification is makes us happy for a minute but in the end it isn’t what we wanted and last we have the other shops which are other churches that look good and offer good things but they do not have the fullness of the Gospel and the fullness of the joy that we can receive if we endure to the end and make it to the real place.
This is a fun little story that points out what I have learned to be the most important parts of our message to the world and my testimony.

I know that God lives that he has given us His beloved Son and it is only through Him and by accepting His atonement and baptism that we can be saved at the last days. I know that God has given us everything we need to return to live with Him again if we will only listen to the words of the prophets and give heed to the whisperings of the Holy Ghost we can endure to the end. My prayer is that we can all humble ourselves and stay strong in our journey to live with heavenly father again. I know that Joseph Smith is a true prophet of God and that because of his works and sacrifice we have the true and living gospel today. His fruit for us is the book of Mormon which testifies that Jesus is the Christ. We cannot look beyond the mark or away from the staff of life if we want eternal life with all of its many blessings. This is my testimony in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I hope you all have a great week and know that I love you so much. Never forget your purpose in life and life will be that much easier. Not easy but easier. I love this chance that I have been given to serve a mission and I am so grateful for all I have learned here in this short time. Ate mais meus amigos!

Te Amo,
Elder Mender

I Scored a Goal!

2010-05-18T20:29:00.001-04:00

Hello all!

What a crazy week it has been here in Brazil! Full of rain, sun and snow!!! Ok not snow... but i pray every day for snow. Do you think that prayer will come true? We teach that faith without works is dead, so i bought a snowboard. OK not really, but the weather was crazy this week! Always a fun adventure to work in the morning in pouring rain, and then after lunch work under the hottest sun you have ever felt!

I don’t know how many of you know this but I am a genius! I’ll tell you why right now. OK so it goes like this: I have had a knot in my shoelace that I could not get out.... for about 2 months. I couldn’t get it out, none of the missionaries could either, no one. So one night I was sitting at my desk, so frustrated that I had this stupid knot in my shoelace, I couldn’t pull them even before I tied them and I was sitting there with a frozen water bottle and I have this thought water expands when frozen!! So I leapt out of my chair, ran to the sink, and soaked this little knot in water, then I stuck it in the freezer. It’s a priceless look when a missionary opens the freezer and finds a shoe there, but anyway the next day I jumped out bed, ran to the freezer, pulled my shoe out let it thaw and BAM I got my stupid knot out. Yes, Yes, I know, I know I am amazing.

So today we played soccer with our zone and I scored a goal. Just picture this ….me, Elder Mender scoring against a team of Brazilians. Needless to say, they weren’t happy but it was a lot of fun, and I am slowly but surely starting to love the game! haha but it will never be as good as American football. Well I’m running out of time but that is really all the exciting things that have happened this week. I love you all and hope you have a great week! I hope next weeks letter will be better!

Love,

Elder Mender

oh!! My birthday may or may not be June 7th soo... yeah just a thought. :)

I Saw a Monkey!

2010-05-11T20:21:00.001-04:00

Hello tudo mundo!

How are things going up there?! Down here in Brasil they are amazing. We had a great Mother’s Day and I got to talk to my family! How cool is that? I hope everyone is helping my mom while I’m gone because it sounds like she is having a very hard time with me not at home... OK, maybe that was a joke. My family sounds great! It is always cool to see the blessings that come from serving a mission.

Some fun stories from this past week. I SAW A MONKEY!!! Pretty much my lifelong dream accomplished this week! I got to hold it and it was the craziest experience of my life. It’s the bishop’s pet how insane is that?! It likes to try and crawl up your arm and sit on your head and they have this little leash for it. It was amazing.

I have realized that I am really getting used to being down here.... I was sitting at my desk one night eating crackers with this jelly like substance they have down here then when I went to put the lid on the jar I saw an ant on the inside of the lid! So I killed it. then when I looked at my finger I saw jam so naturally I licked it clean... about two seconds later I realized I just ate an ant and it didn’t even bother me that much. Another morning as I went to get into the shower there was a lizard chilling there so I took the broom and pushed him into the hallway and took a shower. I didn’t even worry about getting him out of the house. I mean he would just crawl back in right?

I don’t know how many of you knew this, but I am a magician. I had the most fun this week making coins disappear and reappear behind kids ears. They think it is just the coolest thing ever... if only they knew the truth. Hahaha

Well we have some of the coolest families ever in this ward. I absolutely love this ward! I mean they have pet monkeys! One member is named Robson but its pronounced Hobson with a Brazilian accent, probably one of the coolest names ever. I want to name my kid that but I’m not sure my wife will go for that. I mean think about when he is trying to learn to spell his name and he spells it with an R and all the kids think has stupid or the first day of school when the teachers call his name they say Robson and he will have to explain that is Hobson and that he has a Brazilian name... but has American!

This week we taught some amazing lessons! I love teaching even if people don’t understand what I’m saying and my companion has to translate it is very cool experience to just have thoughts and ideas come to your mind as you are teaching by the spirit! This week we were working with this new member family that got offended by a member and didn’t want to go back to church... I would like to explain to everyone that 1) the church is perfect, but the members are far from it. 2) If you are offended by someone... Great! Think about the group you are with. Think of all the people that offended Christ! The trick of life is to learn how to forgive and move on to what’s important.

We have these three siblings that are preparing for baptism it is so much fun to watch them get so excited and to see the change in their parents life too! Last night the parents told us they like our church because it is different and feels good. I’m hoping they will chose to get baptized too but first they have to get married! Ugh that is one hard thing down here. No one is married and it takes a good month and a half to get the papers processed for a marriage. So please do the missionaries a favor and just get married when you find the one you want to live with. Okay, thanks. :) We have another less active family who we challenged to prepare to go to the temple and they accepted and they are progressing so fast! It is amazing how when you have a goal, something to focus on, you can and will improve at a faster rate.

My companion is a ton of fun which makes life and the work a lot better. This work is amazing. I have a testimony of this gospel and this work. If you want real lasting happiness in your life live the gospel of Jesus Christ. I promise this is the only true way to eternal happiness.

I love you all and am so grateful for your support. Until next week! Have a great one.

Love,

Elder Mender

24

2010-05-06T21:04:00.000-04:00

Hello all!

Well I will start off my letter with the sad news: I got transferred. Now the exciting news: I got transferred!!

It was really sad to leave my first area here in Brazil I don’t think I will ever get used to leaving people I love. it was especially hard because when I left home or left park city I knew I would see these people again but Monday night I realized I could never see these people again that I loved! If you promise not to tell anyone I’ll tell you a secret... I cried as I left Cohab Monday night. On the other hand it is exciting to have a new area and a new companion and a new six weeks to work! It I something about the start of a transfer that gives you more energy and more joy!

If you are wondering my companion is elder Almeida (I want to get a tag that says elder Bauer... tell me that wouldn’t be sweet!) he is from Rio de Janeiro or close to there and is black as can be! I have a feeling we will get along great so I am excited for this next transfer. (I was going to send pictures but this computer doesn’t have a card reader... sorry) we are serving in the smallest area in the mission called nova esperança in a city called Coite about four hours from Salvador! Woot,woot!! This is my companion’s third transfer here so he knows pretty much everybody that lives in our area.
yesterday was transfer day so all the missionaries that are being transferred go to Salvador at the bus station it is always a good day when you get to see all your mission friends, make new friends, and talk about mission stories! So yesterday was fun and we got burger king! (Salvador is the only city with a BK so on transfer day you can see about 80 missionaries in filing in and out of the place.)

Well one story that is sad, funny or happy I can’t really decide: our investigator Charles we had an amazing week with him! We challenged him to baptism and he accepted. He was keeping all his commitments and was just a golden investigator then Friday before the baptism we went to his house and his mom said "charles doesn’t need to be baptized he is already baptized." so we explained to her proper authority and how baptism needs to be done by someone with the right authority but she cut us off and said, "no he was baptized in YOUR church." If you can imagine the look on my face and the sound that came out of my mouth it slightly resembled Tim from tool time as he hears something shocking. Well we did a quick search of the records and sure enough his name was there. When we asked Charles why he didn’t tell us he said he thought he could be baptized again and receive a new forgiveness of his sins... I mean it is good that he understands why baptism is so important right? So while we didn’t baptize him we did reactivate a very amazing man.

What else... I think that is about it on the exciting scale yesterday I had to say goodbye to missionaries going home which was really sad because Elder Ballard and Elder Sego are two of the missionaries that helped me a ton here in Brazil but I know it just means that soon it will be my turn to help some poor new elder out and pay-it-forward.

One really cool thing that happened before I left Cohab Monday night the 1st counselor in the stake presidency came and gave me a soccer jersey before I left! That was really quite an honor here in Brazil soccer jerseys are like... Gold or.... diamonds! The people here are so amazing they will do anything for you. Give you the shirt off their back if you asked. The humility and the charity are in abundance and I love it!

I hope all is well in the states and that you know how much I love you. I need to get to work but I will write more next week hopefully with some good stories! Have a great week and if you’re a mother have a great mother’s day!

Love,

Elder Mender

Frustrated - Mender Man on a Bad Day

2010-04-28T21:19:00.000-04:00

Well.... I'm more frustrated then a mender man on a bad day! Freak sorry everyone i just typed up a huge long email and my computer froze and I lost it.... now I don’t have a lot of time so this letter wont be funny or have good stories like the other one but maybe if you imagine really hard you can imagine what it said! Good luck.
Well this week was amazing we worked so hard and the Lord has blessed us with some amazing investigators! I have never been so tired in my life as I was this week and it was such a good feeling. When you can pray and tell Heavenly Father that you gave it your all and you tried your best and you can say it with an honest heart there is no better feeling.

One night on the way home a girl stopped us and asked us if we were Mormons as we got to talking she had amazing questions and was just a golden contact. At the end I felt like I should give her my first lesson pamphlet and ask to read it and bring it on Sunday to church. She said she would and as we walked away my comp asked why I did that and told me I would never get it back. (Our mission doesn’t have first lesson pamphlets so this is one I brought from the MTC) well he was right... NO I'm kidding. That would be a crappy story. Well this Sunday I got called out of class and who was standing there? Her with my pamphlet! It was a miracle! She then stayed for sacrament meeting and after we got to give her the first lesson and now she is a golden investigator! She is wayyyy smart and speaks a little English so that is always fun.

Well we have another investigator named Sharles who is so humble and just an amazing guy. He lives with his parents because they need help around the house and he keeps every commitment we give him. This Sunday he was ready and waiting for us to go to church. I love teaching him!

I also went on divisions this week with the zone leaders and learned a ton I love learning new ideas about how to do the work! But on my way home I lost my bag that had my shoes, BYU shorts and other clothes in it. That night I had nightmares of some man walking down the street wearing my clothes or another guy trying to sell them or something well a miracle happened and that Monday after church when I finally had a chance to go look for them I found them in a store and a lady had kept them hoping I would return! How cool is that? I was so grateful the Lord was looking out for me in my moment of stupidness. Well time is just about out but I love you all and hope you have a great week! Ate mais

Love,
Elder Mender

You Killed my Father, Prepare to Die!

2010-04-28T21:03:00.000-04:00

Hello all!

Well we are in the middle of a huge zone churrasco so I don’t have a lot of time but I will share with you some stories and thoughts and I hope it will suffice for one week! First there is this AMAZING soda that is only local to Petrolina called cajuina or something like that but you should try and order some and drink it because even if it is really expensive it is so worth it! Ha-ha just a thought.

So my socks have a lot of holes in them and this week I pulled out the old thread and needle and I'm not half bad at darning socks! Although I had to safe the black thread for my pants so my socks now have cute colors like blue, red, purple, and pink in the toes! I figured that was ok because I only take my shoes of in our house...

One fun story! Brazilian kids love to shout at you and use their English vocab.. Which sometimes is only swear words. Well one kid was being really obnoxious and yelling a pretty bad one at me so i called him over and asked him if he knew what that word meant and naturally he said no so i informed him because i think all small children need to know that when he says that word he is actually telling the whole world that he is gay. He then asked if i was serious and i told him he probably shouldn’t tell people that unless he was! He walked away shocked that he had said that. As soon as he was out of sight my companion and I busted up laughing that it had actually worked!

This week I taught a lesson to a man with 12 fingers!! No joke the 11th and 12th had nails and everything it was crazy! Although it wasn’t that good because the whole time I had the urge to say, "you killed my father prepare to die!" If you don’t get that joke go watch Princess Bride....

I finished Jesus the Christ this week and if you haven’t read that go do it now. Such an amazing book that really helped strengthen my testimony of Christ. I can’t wait to read it in Portuguese!

Do this week was a hard workweek. It seemed everyone we talked to either had already talked to the missionaries or gave us a false address so our district leader is having us double work his area so we had to learn his area and rebuild or pool of investigators but I'm excited for the next few weeks I have a feeling it will be good!

That’s all for this week, I hope all is well in the northern part of the American continent. Oh I sent out letters today responding to every letter I have received so if you get one good, and if not... sorry the mail service in brazil is pretty sketchy.... I also put stickers on them so I hope those arrive on the letters! Ha-ha they make me smile and I hope they’ll make you smile! Have a great week.

Love,

Elder Mender

No More Mouse Problem

2010-04-14T19:41:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone!

What a great week! We are working hard and... I'm the only one sweating. I guess it has been cold here this week because everyone keeps saying how cold it is but I don’t get it. IM STILL SWEATING! Oh well things are amazing and we are very excited with our investigators.

Today for P-day we had a churrasco or BBQ with some of the elders in our city it was really fun and really good although missionaries and fire are a very interesting mix but no one was hurt and we are all very full (80 reais of food was purchased for the event)

Exciting news this week we had zone conference which it is always fun to see your friends on the mission and see how they are doing! And understood most of it again! So that was exciting. ALSO after I could talk and understand the jokes and stories that were being told! It is amazing how fast you can learn something when the spirit is helping you!

After zone conference some of the elders who live farther away got to spend the night at our house which is always exciting and we found a very large mouse in our house. I have decided I need to have a Brazilian living with me always because the thing was so cute and staring at me and it didn’t want to die and I couldn’t kill it but elder Arauja had no problem beating it with a broom. So needless to say we no longer have a mouse problem.

I bought a hammock this week! It is very comfortable and good for a little reading before bed. It also is good when it rains at and your bed gets soaked you can just go sleep in the hammock! :)

Well sad story of the week we went out contacting one night for three hours and made soooo many good contacts families and men. We had 10 appt for the next day and then we realized we had been so into tracting we had left our area and gone into another area... so we had to give our whole nights work over to other elder! They were happy but I was pretty sad. Moral of the story always remember your area ends at rua 18!

This week we had a lot of fun. I have realized that while we missionaries may mature I do not think we will ever grow up one day at lunch a boy brought out his box of hot wheels cars and immediately we four elders started playing and racing with the little cars. I had to stop and laugh at the scene.

also my parents sent me a little sensor that goes in the toilet seat that when light hits it will scream well I don’t know if I have told you this but our house has the rumor of being a haunted house and missionaries hate spending the night at it so when our zone leader stayed the night he went to go use the bathroom and came out screaming like a little girl it was a very funny sight to see a pretty big Brazilian scared.

Last story of the week I had the most fun convincing people that my brother is Matt Damon the actor from the Bourne movies. A lot of girls have asked if they could email him... until they found out it was him and a lot of members where really excited to find out that matt Damon was a Mormon! Ha-ha

Well I love you all I hope all is well. I have tried to attach some photos so I hope you get them. And.... tththhthats all folks!

Love,

Elder Mender

Come What May, and Love It

2010-04-11T15:59:00.000-04:00

Hello tudo mundo!!!

How are things around the world? Updates and pictures are always greatly appreciated. :)

First off, life is amazing down here!! I am so grateful for the chance I have to be here in Brazil sometimes I feel like I got called to a mission in the desert and not in Brazil. It can get pretty crazy down here and it is wonderful! Stories of the week are pretty lame because well first transfer you’re still trying to figure out who your companion is, but we did get to watch conference on Sunday! (Yes only Sunday) in the morning we watched priesthood but it was in Portuguese so i didn’t understand a whole lot. But the speakers looked good!! Then for the next two sessions we were able to watch them in a small really really really hot room with all the American missionaries in Petrolia, it was a great experience! Oh i forgot to mention that the chapel was air conditioned... how lame is that?! But it is ok because sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven and even though it was hot the spirit was strong and the messages beautiful! I hope you all had a chance to watch a few sessions.

Sunday night we had an Easter egg hunt which was really me telling my district to close their eyes while i placed a chocolate egg in their hands. Now this was no ordinary chocolate egg I also had a cute little princess box for it. So Sunday night we each had a chocolate egg and a princess!! What more do missionaries need? I think nothing.

This week was also really sad because we had a baptism fall the day of when we went to go talk to him he told us that he didn’t want to be baptized and he wouldn’t tell us why so that was very sad day. His name is Tiago and he is really a neat boy, I was so excited to see him get baptized since I have been working with him for four weeks but we are still working with him and hopeful that in the future he will decide to be baptized!

Everyone always says that a mission prepares you for the rest of your life and I cannot figure out how walking in the sun and having cockroaches crawl on me will prepare me for life but last week I figured it out!! So in order to have 1 baptism you have to make contacts with about 100 people then teach about 50 first lessons then get 25 return appointments and then have about 10 got to church and hopefully by then you will have 2 or 3 golden investigators who are ready for baptism but then do to some unknown cause 2 will always drop out and one will get baptized! Well how does this apply to life? In order to find a wife, us returned missionaries, need to make about 100 contacts hopefully get 50 first dates then if we are lucky 25 second then have about 10 meet the parents then hopefully you will have 2 or 3 ready for marriage but two will always drop out and you will have you eternal companion left!! Its brilliant I know.

Well I love you all and am so grateful for your support! Just remember, "come what may and love It." it really helps when life gets a little difficult. Have a great week and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do... ok maybe use a little bit more caution then that!

Love,

Elder Mender

HAPPY EASTER!!!

2010-03-31T22:30:00.000-04:00

What a great week this is for everyone a time to remember the resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. How truly blessed we are to have him on our side. I am so grateful that he has one the fight and all we have to do is follow him. I hope everyone takes this week to watch general conference. I know I am so excited for this weekend. I have been counting down this whole month! What is even more exciting is that we will have it in English for the Americans down here! Wahoo!

So this past week has been CRAZY. I could not make up these stories if I tried! First off all Elders in my apartment were transferred and three more arrived today, they are all Brazilian so I am in for a treat this transfer. I need to learn Portuguese really fast!! My companions name is Elder Andrade he is 27 and from Sao Paulo he seems like a really good missionary and I am excited to work with him this transfer!

OK so the crazy part of this week: on Wednesday my companion and I went to teach a lesson to the Stake President's son who is 8 (they asked us to teach him so we said yes) and when we got there President said he had to leave for a few minutes and we thought that would be ok. Well he left us with his 4 year old daughter too and as soon as he shut the door she started crying and beating the door trying to escape and she finally figured out how to open it and ran out. My companion went to go see where she was headed when I finally got to the door I see him 40 yards down the road chasing after her at a dead sprint. When he finally catches her he has to carry the screaming and fighting girl back to the house where we padlock the door so she couldn’t escape again and we started the lesson. During the lesson she would stick her tongue out at us and be a four year old nothing too bad. When we ended with the closing prayer it was as if a demon entered her body and she began throwing shoes at us and sandals and we tried to get her to stop but she just got madder and madder as we would try and hold her she would use her demon powers and break out of our arms then she went into the back room and got tomatoes and started throwing those at us!! It was insane what can a missionary do?! We couldn’t leave because of the padlock and we didn’t want to leave this child alone then she got her bike and started ramming the door thinking she could break it down. At some point I realized that water was leaking all over the kitchen and at closer examination at some point she had unplugged the hose from the washing machine and that was where the water was flooding from as quick as we could we started to clean it up but the girl realizing she wasn’t going to escape started swinging a broom at us!!! Finally we got the water cleaned up and the broom out of her hand and as soon as we did that president walked in the door and we ran out screaming... no president showed up and we calmly tried to explain why his house was a mess and that we had done our very best but we were sorry. We then left and started laughing our heads off wondering if that had really happened!

Well it has been an amazing week and I am excited for this next transfer. I hope all is well and that you remember that this holiday is not only about the chocolate! :)

Oh have you ever wondered why chicken got robbed of a cool meat name? The pig has pork and bacon and ham, the cow has ribs, hamburger, steak but chicken has just chicken?! Just a thought...

Another thought~I believe that as we kill flies we are just helping out evolution and making the fly species stronger because of survival of the fittest you know we are only killing the slow and stupid flies!!!

I love you all.

Love,

Elder Mender

More Photos from Brazil...the real deal!!

2010-03-23T20:58:00.001-04:00

View from the top of the road!

There is a dog on the house in the neighborhood!

Mitch has found that the climate is very similar to a sauna!

Interesting sights....

I love this picture....so Mitch with the animals!

Cute Parrot

Another shot of the Mender sweat glands in action!!

Mitch and Companion!

Mitch finds another feathered friend!

The Bedroom.....

The bathroom

The shower.......

Retaliation

2010-03-23T20:03:00.000-04:00

Hello all!!!!

What a week!!! I have some good stories this week. Maybe they are "you had to be there" stories but I think they are funny.

To start with if you have ever wondered what missionaries do in their spare time read 1 Nephi 11: 10, 15, 23   in that order (don’t read the verses in between). One day elder Dias was sitting at his desk and he said, "I have decided the scriptures contain all. It has my number one wish!" It was really funny as we all sat there and read it and said dang I want that too!
   10 And he said unto me: What desirest thou?
   15 And I said unto him: A virgin, most beautiful and fair above all other virgins.
   23 And he spake unto me, saying: Yea, and the most a joyous to the soul.
One night this week an Elder came home and his family had a dinner to celebrate and the whole ward came and it started with a opening hymn and prayer then the Dad talked, then the Mom talked, then the Elder gave his testimony then they had a slide show (which had the song another summer day has come and gone away in Paris or Rome I want to go home.... yeah that will make your trunky...) and then ends with a closing hymn and prayer it was a new experience for me! Very fun.

This week we were sitting on the bus and these two women got on wearing the exact same clothes I was like, "Elder look that so weird!!" He just stopped looked and me and said, "Elder look at us...." that was an “OH yeah” moment for me! You could say I felt pretty stupid!

Last P-day I forgot to mention that we got woken up at 5 AM by the ward clerk asking for our baptismal records. Now for those of you who know me 5 AM is not a good time, and on p-day it is an even worse time, to be awake.   And also here in Brasil the sun is already up so it is close to impossible to fall back asleep so we weren’t too happy the rest of the day and then on Sunday this same man who has been a member for a YEAR! Got up in gospel essentials and said the Lord’s Prayer as his closing prayer.....   Now when you just explained to your investigators that we aren’t the Catholic Church this can be a very confusing thing for them. Ah what a great adventure a mission is here in Brasil!

I also found out yesterday that here in Brasil they teach that we only have six continents!! Six! South America and North America are one! That just blew my mind that they teach that in school.

Yesterday it rained really hard while we’re teaching kids and after we started walking to another appointment and the kids followed us and as all kids do they were splashing each other in the puddles which reminded me of the carefree days and without thinking (like most 19 year olds) I started splashing them too. They laughed and thought it was so fun but I forgot about the retaliation part of being a kid and two seconds later they managed to have me soaked head to toe... it was quite the day!!! A lot of fun and I learned a valuable lesson about getting kids wet!

Also I was reading in my missionary hand book and I found out fireworks are not allowed so I would like to apologize to everyone for my very greeny mistake and let everyone know I am trying to repent! Thank you.

Oh speaking of greeny mistakes I forgot my tag on Sunday! I think instead of progressing in the mission I am digressing! It was a very tragic day! I had to borrow the tag of Elder Dias and everyone thought I was Mexican.....

Well this week was amazing and I love being here!   Next week is transfers so if I don’t write next Tuesday you will know why! I love you all and hope all is well in the States!

Love,
Elder Mender

Just some Photos

2010-03-20T10:55:00.000-04:00

Mitch as a Zone Conference

Elders at dinner - Mitch right far back!

Elders Preparing for dinner

More...

Sister Toledo, the mission President's wife, posts photos of the missionaries on Picassa Web which is so wonderful because we can just download them from her. So far we have not seen the first disc of photos that are supposed to be on their way from Brazil! Hopefully in the next week or two. Hard to be patient when you just never know if the photos will make it out of Brazil or be stolen by some postal worker who needs a memory card!

BiPolar

2010-03-16T19:42:00.001-04:00

What a great week it has been for me here in Salvador Brazil! To start off with we had our first baptism this week it was really exciting this is a family that we have been teaching this whole transfer! It was so exciting when the mom and dad said that they wanted to get baptized. I about started crying right there, I love this family so much they are amazing the whole lesson right before they said "vou" (I will) I was just praying please Heavenly Father help them to feel the Spirit help us to say what is right help everything to be perfect and then bam! They said yes. So I testify that prayers are answered!! Don’t doubt that they aren’t. It was also really cool because he asked me to baptize him and I did it! I said the words right, his name right, and got him all under in one try! It was amazing and probably a miracle! But it was an amazing experience and I can see the benefits of my labors and it is amazing! I just wish everyone would accept it.

As with all good things trials come and this week one of our investigators who KNOWS the church is true told us "I know your church is true but I like sinning too much, I don’t want to go to church anymore." That is the saddest thing you can ever hear. It amazes me how the mission is an emotional roller coaster you can go from one end of the spectrum to the other. My district leader and I where talking and I said, "elder i think I'm bipolar!" And he just laughed and said, "No you’re a missionary."

This week was a lot of fun and a lot of work. I can’t really think about any exciting stories to tell so I apologize for that. We did do service this week at a members house and I got to make cement in the street that was way cool. Then he asked us to paint his house and having visions of home life when I painted and Mom yelling at me because it looked bad got scared but then as I watched the other elders paint I realized they really didn’t care if it looked good they just want paint covering the wall and so I got into it and it was really quite fun! I'm pretty much a professional.... not! Speaking of failed projects at home again I was talking with my district leader after the service project about how at home when we were doing projects at home mom always found some flaw in them so we got to wondering what Gods wife said after the creation... and then realized that God is perfect and so are his creations so she was probably perfectly happy!! Sorry dad you’re not there yet...

Well I hope all is well at home those seem to be the highlights of my week! I hope you all know I love you and I pray for you daily.

Love, Elder Mender

The Gift of Tongues

2010-03-09T19:43:00.000-05:00

Hello all!

I have had an AMAZING week and I have a lot to write about but first off I hope you know I love you!

Things I have learned after a month in Brazil:

1. Cock roaches can survive in microwaves.

2. Cock roaches can fly if they are big enough

3. Mice can climb in suitcases

4. Having more than 100 bug bites is possible

5. Brazil makes pre-existing skin problems worse

6. Brazil gives skin problems you never knew existed

7. Blisters the size of golf balls are only cool when Robbie Crossett has them!

Ok so I have some amazing stories to tell this week. First why I want all mail sent to the mission home... a missionary had his mail sent to the apt and then got transferred and Brazilians don’t really have a sense of privacy so naturally it got opened and it was a wedding announcement from his girlfriend! Well we had a good laugh at that but I want to open my dear john first! I don’t want someone else opening it!

In our area we have this crazy lady that like to sing to you as you walk by... one time we saw her sitting on a rock with a microphone she made out of trash! Another time we walked by and she started following us singing to us. I asked my comp if he knew what she was saying and he said he had no idea. Weird!

Well last week at church I had an amazing experience! I was standing there and a man came up and started talking to me! And I understood everything perfectly! And I responded perfectly! I was getting so excited that I had the gift of tongues and then it hit me: we were speaking English.

So one day we were teaching a lesson and this BABY wasn’t listening to his mom and in the middle of the lesson she whipped him with a belt!!! I don’t even think a bull trainer could have done it harder. And then another day we were walking and in Brazil the sidewalks drop a foot at a time when you go downhill it isn’t gradual and these girls were running down behind a stroller that had a baby in it and he was just bouncing around like an earthquake! It was crazy and so sad to see!

Well Friday was my comps year mark and I wanted to celebrate right so we went out and bought fireworks! Now fireworks here aren’t the same as in the states... there they are pretty and colorful here they are loud just loud. so I didn’t know this and I bought ten reais worth (that buys a lot here) and we were back at the apt setting them off because we have a side yard that you can do that in and we had one that looked like one of the flower ones from the states so we lit it and threw it expecting a nice flower thing 3...2...1.... BOOOOM the loudest explosion I have ever heard happened right there in front of me I was so scared I dropped the cup that was in my hand! I was freaking out thinking the cops would come and my comp was like what are you worrying about they don’t come because of a loud noise. We went the next day to see what was left and there was just a black mark and no evidence that a fire cracker ever went off it just vanished it was crazy. Well moral of the story we have five left and have purchases 5 different types of fruits. :)

On Sunday we took the sacrament to an older women who was sick and she took me by the hand and pulled me close and said (imagine old woman scary voice here), "you will pay for your sins here in Petrolia" well I just about started crying. That is the scariest thing you can imagine for a new missionary!!!

This week I had some amazing experiences. Some of the most beautiful things you will ever see is: an investigator on her porch reading the Book of Mormon, a Dad sit up to read scriptures with dignity in front of his family, a 12 year old boys eyes light up as you teach about the priesthood that he could hold, or a 10 year girl grin ear to ear and nod her head as you ask her if she wants to be baptized.

Sunday was fast and testimony meeting and we had ten investigators come it was amazing! And the even more amazing part was that one got up and gave his testimony!! He talked about how he knew this church was true because when he walked in he felt good and he didn’t see any priests casting out devils it was pretty funny but also pretty exciting!

Yesterday was zone conference and I understood everything it was the coolest thing ever! I had the chance to give my testimony and I got a ton of compliments about how my accent and Portuguese was really good. Members this week have also been telling me that, so I’m getting really excited about everything my mission seems to be going perfect! I cannot wait until I am fluent but I know with time and effort it will all come together.

Well, I have one quote I want to share with you it is by President Hinckley and a missionary left it above my desk and it helps me every day as I read it. I really love it a ton! "Anyone who imagines bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed. the fact is most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, most job are more often dull then otherwise... life is like an old time rail journey-delays, side tracks, smoke, dust, cinders and jolts, interspersed only occasionally but beautiful vista and thrilling burst of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."

I hope you understand the truth and hope this quote gives!

Love,

Elder Mender

His Name is Jeff

2010-03-02T21:19:00.003-05:00

What an amazing week this was!!! My life is just one huge adventure down here! Some fun stories:

We ran out of water soooo we got to take shower-in-a-bucket! Well you stand outside and pour waters from a bucket one cup of a time on your body with soap and shampoo and then when you are done you pour the bucket over you! Way fun I felt like I was a kid in the bathtub again! kinda...

Well missionaries carry around pictures because I guess Brazilians love pictures and it is so funny every time I show them pictures without fail three people are commented one. First Adi and how cute she is. Then Owen how cute he is. The girls always giggle and point at his picture and then Lauren and how beautiful she is.. it makes me laugh so hard every time.

Oh we did service this week and we helped the bishop prune his fruit trees I wish I had my camera it would have been an epic picture! And then we spread gravel in his yard... yes in his yard but it wasn’t gravel it was crushed up bricks and cement it was way weird! But he was grateful so that is good.

I have so much time on my hands since I have no idea what’s going on... well I kinda do but it is so easy to daydream. I always do theses countdowns it’s so bad! And one night I was talking to my district leader and I’m like elder I’m so trunky! I keep counting down till I go home but I’m trunky I love it here! And he just laughs and says I know exactly what you mean it’s just because you don’t know what people are saying so all you can do is think about home. It was interesting and comforting to know that it isn’t just me!

Oh we also have a family of lizards living with us! I see the dad a lot I have named him Jeff; well I assume he is the dad he is the biggest. He is really nice and we like to talk about the weather and sports. It is really nice because he speaks English which is really hard to find here!!

Well this week has been a lot of fun. We were sitting on the sidewalk and this donkey came running around the corner and it sprinted past us it was so random but soooo funny. Just the sights you see here are amazing! I love walking home at night past people on the sidewalk listening to music and playing with their families with smells of cooked meats or fresh fruit it is just one of the most beautiful things I can think of I really do love it here and the culture is amazing.

I love being the white guy here. Kids will always come up and say "fala ingles" and I’ll just say "ingles" and then they laugh and run away or they’ll ask how tall I am and ill say three meters it is so much fun to just be able to laugh and talk and play with these amazing people here in Brazil!

Well I hope all is well in the states and that you are enjoying your carpet!
Remember if you have a problem turn to the Lord he can solve it better then we can!

Love
Elder Mender

I Did Not Get Deported

2010-02-25T21:20:00.000-05:00

Mitch with President and Sister Toledo

February Missionaries in Salvador, Brazil

Mitch at Airport meeting President Toledo

Meeting their Trainers

We think this is Mitch's Trainer??

Hey All,

What a great week!! Sorry I didn’t get to email yesterday but we had to travel to Salvador yesterday so I could become legal here in Brazil! Needless to say we are so tired today but excited that I didn’t get deported. :)

Well why was this week such a great week? Because I'm on a mission!!! Yesterday while we were in Salvador I was sitting in the mission office and I picked up a church newspaper. Some random paper from last November and as I read it I was taught by the spirit and remembered a few reasons why I came on a mission. I want to share some of the thoughts i had with you.

Sorry my letter today will not be as funny as usual but these topics are important to me and I hope to convey my thoughts to you as well.

The paper was on service: in it every article I read touched my heart. One was about a celebration President Monson had to honor young women leaders of old some of the things these women did in the church were amazing! There was a quote from president Hinckley about how we need to give the youth road shows and dances and parts in plays and not rob them of these special opportunities and i thought about how as I was a kid I watched those road shows and wanted so bad to take part in one but never got to. And i realized that is one reason why I am here in Brazil, why leaders of this church are so important especially local to give these kids opportunities that will strengthen their lives and testimonies! I want so bad for these kids that I am serving to know the joy that comes from living the gospel principles, the joy that comes from having good friends, and the joy that comes from participating in wholesome activities! The youth of this church are so important and so often we rob them of priceless moments because we look beyond the mark. How simple it is to put a smile on their faces.

Another article was about how service makes us happy! It was a study done by a BYU teacher and how as we sacrifice our time to serve we find greater happiness and even though it was applied to youth I know it can apply to all of us. The easiest way to happiness brothers and sisters is to forget you and go to work. SERVE!!! It is simple, it can be hard, but it is so worth it! I am so grateful for the chance I had to grow up in a family that taught me how important service is. I'm grateful for the example of my dad, mom, and brothers all of whom helped strengthen my testimony of service as a young child. I know the truly we can only be happy when we help others. Has Christ not promised us that when we clothe the naked, feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, and comfort to the lonely we do it unto him! Who would refuse to help Christ? Then why refuse to help others. This life is not a time for us to become millionaires but to prepare to meet God. I know why I am here in Brazil to bring the world its truth and to help my Savior find his sheep and feed, clothe, and comfort his children.

The last article I want to talk about was one about the scripture in doctrine and covenants that was given to Oliver Cowdry about him remembering the night the Lord spake peace unto his mind. The article applied it to a missionary who is having a hard time with the language and reads it and finds comfort remembering that special night when the lord spake peace unto him. I know that we are ALL entitled this sacred experience and if you have not had it i encourage you to search diligently with faith, and real intent and then when you receive that peace to never forget it for it truly will be a sacred and sustaining experience throughout your life as it was for Oliver and is for me and millions of people around the world.

I give my testimony that this is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Christ is at its Head. God lives. The atonement is real, powerful and perfect. I know that as we follow the simple promises of the Lord we will be blessed as we learn to serve others and not worry about how hard our life is now we will find eternal joy. It is my hope and my prayer that we all might come to knowledge of these eternal truths through prayer, scripture study, attending church, and applying them in our lives.

I love you all and hope the best for you! Because even if your not in Brazil having the best time in world i still love you. :)

Love,

Elder Mender

P.S. in the MTC and from bishops I've heard the more you work in the rain and heat the prettier your wife gets.... I figure my wife is probably working for some modeling company right now.

Petrolina

2010-02-17T20:16:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone!

It has only been a couple days but what a crazy few days it has been!! Let me first start out by saying if you get sick easily you probably want to stop reading right now.

So with you having been warned there is a saying here that to be a real missionary you have to poop your pants, get robbed or beat up. Well I’m a real missionary now and i didn’t get beat up or robbed.... yep I pooped my pants. Lets go to the start though.

Saturday night I was out teaching with Elder Barlow who returned home (with honor) today. He bought me some chicken from a street vender I asked, are you sure this is fine? He responded oh yeah I've been eating it for six months!! So I ate it what I didn’t put together is 6 months ago is still 18 months after he had been in Brazil not 4 days... his body had adjusted mine had not.   Well thanks to my dumb mistake I have had the worst diarrhea (don’t know how to spell that sorry if its wrong but you get the idea...) of my life!!    Well on to the next part yesterday was transfers which mean ... drum roll please... i have my new area and Trainer!!!   We will talk about that later.   Well my area is 8 hours away from the transfer station so we had to wait at the bus station all day and then we took the 10:30 bus to me area ohhhh the bus station saw that we were missionaries and charges 40 reais to put our bags on the bus soooo gay ha-ha no one else had to pay! Dumb. Well the whole way here I had stomached pains and you know the bad stuff well we finally get to my new apt (which makes my old apt look like a kings palace) and well I don’t make it to the actual bathroom but whatever it happens you know so I go the bathroom and there is nooooo toilet paper. Now my comp doesn’t speak any English I speak very little Portuguese this could be hard but toilet paper is a very easy word explain across all languages you just point at the toilet and your bottom you know? They understand.   Well as it turns out THEY DONT HAVE ANY!!!! So today I got to walk the store ten minutes away with pants and underwear that was less than ideal. That was an experience.... ha-ha let me tell you what!! This is going to be an amazing two years that is all I’m saying.

Back to my new trainer and area!!! this is the sweet part! I'm in Petrolia in another state not actually Bahia it is the hottest place in the mission (a desert) it was 110 yesterday.   But its one of the highest baptizing areas. Missionaries love coming here because it is flat and you lose a lot of weight here. Ha-ha missionaries are saying ill drop 25 lbs my first transfer. My trainer is elder mach ado from Rio!! Woot! Woot! Just the coolest guy he was the only trainer to run in the room and hug is new comp with a huge smile on his face just amazing. So humble and nice I'm excited to work with him and to learn from him. President said he had a smile on my face.   OH funny story about my area when Sister Toledo heard where I was going the first words out of her mouth were OHHH NOOOO not very encouraging for a new missionary if you know what i mean. Ha-ha but its all good.

Well the food is good but I think I might have actually caught some sort of worm which isn’t as exciting as it sounds when you’re sitting in America in an air-conditioned room with a nice bathroom... but when you’re in Brazil and you think you have one you want it to die fast. Moral of the story don’t wish for things they actually come. (Remember how I said I wanted a worm?) Oh and I said I wanted to serve in Petro joking annndddd i got it.

Well I'm going to walk a loooootttttt here, which will be good. But not a lot has happened besides these fun stories.   Oh my p-day is Tuesday so that is when i will be emailing from now on unless its transfers and then i might have to email on Wednesday, like today.   But it has definitely set in that I am in a different country and I'm so happy to be here. I have no idea what anyone says to me but I'm trying hard and loving it.   I'm so grateful that the Lord saw fit to call me here and that I was actually able to make it here!

Oh my apt is crazy ha-ha I’ll explain that real quickly!!!   So the shower... outside. Bathroom light doesn’t work, toilet seat is broken, and so it comes off after every use. Smaller then my closet at home. Beds... outside in front yard. Um... yeah lots of friends aka bugs all over the place. It is crazy I'm really excited for the next two years i know i am going to have tons of fun stories!!

Stay tuned for next weeks email i hope all is well know that i love you and i really couldn’t be happier here! There is nothing better then serving the Lord!

Love,

Elder Mender

Grandkids are fun!

2010-02-13T13:08:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday we watched Adelynne most of the day while her parents went over to Gilford, NH. We just had a blast with her! She is such a cute little girl and just so mild mannered. We had lunch.....grapes, string cheese, and crackers. We played games - peek a boo and hide and seek. We read books, and played with legos. It is so funny that as grandparents you feel like you have so much more time to play the games than when you are the parent!

We bundled up in the car mid afternoon and Adi was out for the whole trip down to Concord to meet her parents and go to dinner. The picture above was from a ribs place called "Famous Dave's" that I had never heard of but the food was very good and reasonably priced. We had a great day with the kids! We did miss Mitch and Owen since we think if they had been there we might have actually been able to finish the "family meal"! Maybe in a couple years!

Things I Have Learned

2010-02-13T12:45:00.001-05:00

Hello all!

What a great week it has been in Brazil!!!

Things I have learned:

1. I will spend the next two years of my life in a constant sweat.
2. Ants will be an ever present in my life also (shower, dinner table, bedroom, everywhere) and other bugs
3. I really am in another country
4. Brazilians are the nicest people ever
5. Bus rides = no room... seriously
6. Fruit here is amazing thus juice is too
7. My Portuguese is worse than the 6 year old kid that was picking on me.
8. Clothes really aren’t necessary if you are Brazilian
9. There is no such thing as too much PDA... like it can’t get worse.
10. The church is true no matter where you are!!!

Well I have learned a lot in the few days I have been here. But the most important is that I am so excited to be here and Brazil is amazing. I’m sad that I have already been out five months and only get another 19 here.

On Tuesday I got here and started sweating... immediately. I found out Brazilians drive insane and motorcycle drivers are even more insane BUT they have fewer accidents then we do. I have decided that if we just let people drive how they want we will have fewer accidents. When I got to the apartment I found out that transfers are next Tuesday so I will just be staying with the assistants until then. (They also have the nicest apt in the mission) so things will be interesting. Let’s just say Park City was not the best preparation for a mission in Brazil.

So I have been in the city of Salvador living a very nice life. Next week I will get my area and my trainer, I am very excited. Some fun things that have happened this week.... I was walking down the street and this little kid calls me A-hole!!! I was like elder what did he say? He said don’t worry about it. I was like no what he said! And he told me that he called me an A-hole. This kid was…8? It was pretty funny.

Showers are also the best part of the day.... I just stand there under the cold water and it feels so good. Ha-ha

Oh we walk a lot here... like a lot a lot. I am so sore I’m pretty sure instead of getting out of shape like most missionaries do I will get in better shape. I walked up the longest stair case in Salvador and just about had a heart attack! Ha-ha not really but it was bad.

The food and juice here is amazing so many different kinds and it all is so good. If it wasn’t so hot here I would think I had died and gone to heaven.

Well the missionaries here are amazing, hard working, and funny. It is great. It is a reality here that we can baptize weekly if we work hard. So I am pretty excited.

Everything is great here I already love the people and the culture and I’m sure it will just become more intense as I learn how to speak the language!! Ha-ha it is so funny we went to an Avella which is pretty much shacks crammed together on the hillside where thousands of people live and these three kids were picking on my Portuguese hard core. But it is way fun.

I hope all is well in the states and that you know I love you!!

Love,

Elder Mender

One Transfer Down

2010-02-13T12:21:00.001-05:00

Hello friends!

How the heck are you? Well things are great here. I survived transfers and am still in Park City which is amazing my trainer and I are living it up and working hard.

This week has been wonderful. Tuesday we had a chance to go to the Jordan River temple which was wonderful it has been way too long since I have been to the temple. We came out and we had a message from the assistants saying they had news about transfers and we were all worried that one of us might be leaving but when we called them it was just a mix up and we got to stay!! It was fantastic.

So one interesting stories this week: there is this family that has been going to church since October but they haven’t wanted to get baptized and we have been told not to go by because they just need space and time. Well this Thursday morning during personal study I had this thought that we needed to go by that night. And I was like no bad idea we will scare them off but I couldn’t forget about it so I said a prayer and it just felt right. But I was scared to tell my companion because well we were told not to think about it!! So I finally got the courage and I told him and he said," I think its too soon but ill trust you” so we went and just talked and I invited them to take the lessons and they looked really excited and said ok. Well the next morning we got a call from the ward mission leader (who had told us not to go by and didn’t know we went) and he said that the family was ready to get the lessons and moves forward with baptism! It was an amazing experience so we are in the middle of teaching them. They are really an amazing family and I hope they stay with it. The whole experience was a hugged testimony builder of how important it is to listen to the Holy Ghost. I can really see in difference in the kind of missionary I am when I am listening to the promptings and when imp not.

oh I think this was last week and I cant remember if I told you all or not butttt I got a signed book from president Uchtdorf with a little note for me it was really cool and i will cherish it forever!

We have some investigators who are really athletic and one was going to go to the NFL but had too many concussions and the other is a kid who just got back from rehab and has just been working out pretty much his whole life. He was on some all-star team where the coaches made sure they had all the drugs they needed to "perform well” so that is really lame but he is such an amazing kid. One of the ways we have been fellowshipping them is to play basketball with them. ... They are in 100x better shape then I am! Ha-ha my companion and I crawled into bed Friday night sore as can be. But they are such amazing people and I really hopeful that they will get baptized soon. My trainer still tells me I have match faith, which I am ok with. Ha-ha

Oh this Sunday we went to the singles ward up here and I think last week I told you missionaries are awkward BUT missionaries AT a singles ward is pretty much the most awkward thing ever. These people are just so weird. I was laughing the entire time annnddd it dragged on for an hour and half! How ridiculous is that a sacrament meeting for 95 minutes and these aren’t normal talks these are singles ward talks! I was very grateful that I have not spent a ton of time in a singles ward.

Well there isn’t a whole lot else but life is great I cant believe how fast time is flying it seems like you have a p-day and bam the next day you have it again! But the work is great my testimony is strong of the work. If you ever want to strengthen your testimony SHARE IT. It helps a lot. Well I love you all and I hope things are great.

Love,

Elder Mender

I'm a Missionary!!!!

2010-01-25T19:13:00.006-05:00

So like my subject says I feel like I am finally a REAL missionary!

Why? What made this week so different from my others? Well brothers and sisters I will tell you. Hold on to your seats as you are in for the most exciting letter of my mission!!

To start off this week we were at an investigators house and he asked me to play pool so me being the competitive person I am agreed. After he kicked my trash he asked if I was willing to make a bet! Now the first thought was I’m a missionary I can’t bet! But then personal revelation came and I said sure! If I win you read the whole book of Mormon in 60 days. And he said ok if I win you buy me last samurai. (Some ridiculously expensive Japanese place) so we started. I completely convinced that the Lord had promised me that I would win. As we play he gets up by three balls. I’m starting to sweat a little bit but then by some strange series of events I’m up by two balls! And I sink my last one before the 8 ball I mean I’m on fire just making every shot. But of course the 8 ball is a hard shot so I miss! Then it’s his turn and he sinks all but one of his and gives me another hard shot! I miss again... I’m thinking come on I was promised a win here! Well as you can tell this is a very intense pool game all in the room staring very quiet and I felt like I was playing professional billiards. Well getting back to the game apparently Heavenly Father did not give me revelation because I LOST hard and tonight I am going to pay a ton of money for his food. Moral of the story: listen to the prophet and don’t bet even when you think they’re going to read the Book of Mormon.

Reason number two why I am a real missionary! Thursday night at about one in the morning I wake up feeling horrible I then run into the bathroom where I begin throwing up and having other bodily problems due to some flu or food poisoning or something ridiculous and that continued until about 10 in the morning. Needless to say I did not sleep and was not a happy companion as we went out and worked. But I’m finally starting to feel better and this week should be great! So don’t worry about me. Not that I’m thinking many of you where too worried...

Reason number three! I had my first baptism on Saturday! He asked me to speak at the baptism and to confirm him on Sunday it was a really great experience for both of us I think. It was so amazing to see the excitement in his eyes and face throughout this whole process. What a wonderful week!

Well that was about it... but as I look back on this week I feel like I have passed missionary initiation and I am now one of the real guys in black suits with a name tag. I also hit 4 months which is ridiculous because time is flying wayyyyy too fast! I feel like we have p-day and then the next day it is p-day! But in two months I get to burn a tie! How cool is that?!?! I have realized that as missionary simple things bring me enjoyment... I feel like a 5 year old. For instance a game of tic toe kept me entertained for about 30 minutes. I also make up random songs about my amazingly amazing life.

Oh I have also realized that missionaries just make everything awkward. It doesn’t matter what we do every situation we are a part of is just plain awkward but it is fun and I love it! I am learning so much. It really is a labor of love. I feel like love is what I am learning a love for my companion, for my family, my friends, the people I serve but really a love for Christ and his atonement. Preach my gospel says that as you learn more about the atonement your desire to share it will increase. How true this is! Because as you learn more about WHO Christ is, WHAT he did for us, and WHY he was the kind of man he was your heart changes and it becomes more Christ like. I remember one of my first weeks as a missionary I had to learn fast what kind of missionary I wanted to be. I made it a goal to study Christ and the missionary that he was. One of the missionaries at the match taught me that if I ever had a problem I could turn to the scriptures and find an answer. That is probably the best advice I have received on my mission. I want to testify that this is true! For EVERY problem we have in this life the answer is in the scriptures. If you don’t know how to act, or what to do, or what to say, TURN TO CHRIST. He has all the answers. One of the really cool things about being a missionary is that we can promise blessings. I can promise that if you make Christ your example a joy and peace that you have never felt will come in to your life. No matter how perfect you are you can become better. That is why we are here on earth to learn how to become like Jesus Christ our perfect example. As you do this, order will come into your life. One of my favorite stories from the bible is when Peter walks on water, as he focuses on Christ it isn’t that the seas are calm, but more that he doesn’t notice the wavy seas! And that is the power of Christ to bring a peace into our lives! Yes life is hard, and stressful, and boring, and long, but Christ has already won the battle! All we have to do is look to him. Please do!

I hope you all are doing great. Know that I love you a ton! I’m so grateful for your support! Have a great week and remember that even though I’m not there with you right now, I was once, and I will be soon enough!!

Love,

Elder Mender

A Perfect Life? I Think So!

2010-01-25T19:12:00.001-05:00

Hello all!!!

How are you doing on this fine snowy day?! It is snowing like crazy up here. We probably wont get back to Kamas tonight but that is ok it will all work out. It has just been an amazing week and I hope you all can say that too!

This week has been an adventure. Just one crazy thing after the other! I feel so blessed to be here in park city and having a chance to learn how amazing this work is.

On Monday for P-day we went up to Olympic park and took the tour it was a lot of fun and ski jumpers are crazy. But I also bought a pair of Oakley glasses and an Armani watch and a DKNY watch they are beautiful!! And because I am such a smart shopper I saved... $682!!! Crazy huh? Well that was fun.

We have a baptism this Saturday for a 10 year old boy named Christian he picked up an things a lot faster then we thought and when we asked him if he wanted to change his baptismal date a week up he got so excited and had the biggest grin on his face. It has been really neat to see how the gospel can bless EVERYONE and if they are able to keep commitments they can have greater joy and happiness then they have ever known! Even a ten-year can understand! I love it.

Oh we got a flat tire yesterday and I got to pull out my mad skills and change it in less than 8 minutes. Ok my companion helped a little but man we are so fast we should be on NASCAR or something!

We have been out trying to find like crazy and it is really funny some of the reactions we get. We received a referral last Sunday for this Jewish lady and when we showed up she was upstairs and she yelled for us to come in but it was locked so she came down stairs and asked who it was when we said the missionaries she laughed and said "forget it” I was like,"forget it?" She didn’t even open the door or look out the window!! It was crazy funny.

We had a dinner appt. with the bishop’s family and I had them laughing solo hard. I told my date story. If you haven’t heard that ask Lauren she tells it pretty good. (It is too long to type.) My companion and I are pretty much the perfect companionship. He is so funny and everybody loves him. We pretty much joist feed off each other. It is hilarious.

On a more serious note, this week has been one of intense spiritual growth I have learned this week about how the spirit works and about the importance of this gospel. I cannot explain how I know these things to be true but I know that they are true. The spirit has testified to me and I can’t deny that I know that God lives and Jesus is the Christ. I am so grateful for the trust the Lord has shown in me in letting me preach his Gospel. I feel like I would give anything to be the kind of man I need to be. I don’t know everything the Lord has in store for me but I have decided to give everything I have to him and the advancement of the Kingdom of God. I love this work and I love you all so much. I hope that one day I will be able to say just like president Hinckley and Joseph Smith that "I gave it my all and did my best."

Well the food here is amazing and we get a TON of it. The weather is perfect and the people amazing. I am going to be so sad when I have to leave and go to Brazil but I know I need to go there and I am excited for that too!!! What an amazing two years this has already started out to be!

Love,

Elder Mender

Park City Madness!

2010-01-11T19:08:00.001-05:00

Boom dia!

Well what another great week it has been here in park city! Some fun things that have happened... I had a woman slam a door in my face before I had a chance to open my mouth! It was amazing kind of how I have always pictured this great work! Ha-ha I really did love it. Then another day we had a dinner appt. and then a lesson planned with another family and at the lesson they decided to feed us again! AND send us home with more food. It is just crazy how much they feed us here. Well I shoveled my first driveway on my mission. Something I never thought I would do when I opened my call to BRAZIL! We had zone conference this week it was one Joseph Smith and it was just a wonderful chance to teach more about the prophet and what an amazing man he was. I think back and I realize how lucky I was to grow up only 20 minutes from his birthplace and to often have the chance to go and feel the spirit that is there at that sacred site.

We spent a lot of time down in the valley this week because of district meeting, zone meeting, and other things and I really see how blessed I am to be in Park City. This area is the area that every missionary wants because it is big and free. You don’t feel like you are squashed in one small area.

This week we went on splits with the Zone Leaders that was a really fun experience. We got to teach a few lessons and one lesson was to 5 children and it was a lot of fun to try and teach a lesson with all their craziness I really do miss kids so if anyone wants a babysitter in two years I am your man! Well anyway then next day they had baptism and being the missionaries they are they forgot to get someone to fill the font! And at the last minute he was freaking out because they got locked out of the control room to fill the font and they had about two hours before the baptism... so one elder was calling everyone he could to see if they could find a key and the rest of us were running buckets from the kitchen to the font! It was quite an adventure finally they got a hold of a locksmith in one of the wards and he came and broke in for us. What else....

One of the Bishops here is amazing! He does this thing ever Sunday were he invites a few selected families (different each week) to a meeting and we pray and think of houses! Not even names of families who are ready to hear about the gospel. It is really cool because the mission average is 10% of referrals will get a return appt but these are 33% so we are seeing a huge jump in our numbers this week! It is great we are so busy. We find that we come home at night so tired and wake up even more tired but as we get up and get to work the Lord makes up where we lack. I look back on how much sleep I used to need and think I could never have done this but now as we strive to be 100% we have blessings that are just remarkable!

I know this church is true! I cannot question it. So many things have happened to me this week and I can tell you without a doubt that God knows each and every one of us. He knows our needs and wants to help all we need to do is turn to him. I pray that we will all do everything we can to spread the gospel. I hope that we are not ashamed of what we have or that we think some person might not accept it. Who are we to decide who can hear the gospel and who cant? I know that this work is real and that we have a sacred responsibility to invite all to come and hear it. This week I have seen the light in people’s eyes as they hear the Gospel and remember that it is true and decided to act on it. It is such a blessing in my life to be out here on a mission. I know that as members of this church we have the gift of the Holy Ghost. What a blessing that is! I am trying so hard to be able to listen to the promptings with exactness. I know that as we do that we are blessed.

One really cool thing that happened this week: we have this object lesson when we are teaching about faith and we put a book on the table and we say with your faith pick it up and usually they will look at us weird and say I cant. But this week when we taught a 10 year old as soon as we said it he just picked it up. And it hit me right there that is why the Lord tells us we need to become as little children. They are so pure and innocent. They don’t doubt they just act and do. I know that as we began to show that kind of faith where we don’t question it but we do what the lord has asked no matter how weird or hard or uncomfortable it seems we will be blessed. Sometimes we don’t know why we need to do it but sooner or later we will see the Lords wisdom and that is why we need to trust in him and have faith, hope, and charity.

I love you all so much. I really do. Sorry if it takes me longer then it used to respond to letters but I have no time for myself! (Which is wonderful!) But I will do my best to respond when I can. :)

Love elder mender

Missionary Rock Star

2010-01-04T19:39:00.000-05:00

GUESS WHAT?!?!

ONE WEEK IN THE FIELD!!!

what a crazy week it has been. i pretty much love it here. it is freezing cold but the work is good!! ok so tuesday night we had a wedding and a baptism which was really cool! it was a young mexican couple and it was so good! i couldnt understand a whole lot of what happened BUT they got married and baptised and then the food was AMAZING. you dont even know! real authentic wonderfulness!

wednesday we went around doing missionary stuff. it is so interesting how missionary work is in park city you dont track you just go from lesson to lesson and members give you referrals!! its like.... a gold mine!! we had some lessons in spanish and i would testify in portueguese and it was awkward but it works out. the spirit can appearently translate poor portuguese into spanish.

thursday was new years and we had new missionary training down in the valley so we went down in the morning for that then after rather than drive all the way up to park city just to turn around and come back down for lockdown we stayed in the valley and double worked draper. we went to in and out for lunch... seven of us and this woman just comes up and pays!!! it is crazy out here! missionaries are like, i dont even know what we are like! but i havent come home one night without at least a bag full of food! they just feed you here and buy you things and its crazy you dont even know! haha and in park city missionaries get all sorts of "hook ups" or places we eat free, get free services, or huge discounts! oh yeah so any way we were in draper double working the area and we went on splits and went to a lesson at this members house AND after the lesson they fed us of course but they had this huge basement with a basketball game, ping pong table, fuseball table, pool table, mini kitchen with popcorn maker, and living room with every game system imaginable it was crazy... unlike anything my young eyes have ever beheld. then we had lockdown where the president makes zones stay at a church so they dont get hurt by drunk people. and we got to watch night at the museam 2 and play basketball and of course eat tons of food. this mission is definately not a mission where elders lose weight! then that night we had to stay in the valley so we spent the nights at our zone leaders house and missionary couches just arent that comfortable...

friday elder lopez got a new visa waiter as a companion and elder m and i moved back out to kamas whihc is about 28 minutes from park city so we have to drive that every morning and night. it is pretty crazy. but we have divided park city so elder lopez gets the spanish branch and we get the english wards so this week is a trial run it will be interesting to see hwo that works.

but i am having so much fun! the members here just help like crazy with everything and ward mission leaders, bishops, and the stake president are so involved. which is really nice because most of park cities work was spanish so now that we split it we have to build up the english pool. i am just so excited to be out here. we have the feeling that i might be here for a bit which is ok with me because i feel like i have some things i need to do before i leave.

one really interesting story that isnt done yet. in one of the wards here a missionary went to salvador brasil on his mission and died in an accident down there it was really hard on his family because his dad isnt a member and it kind of tore his family apart but they say that my companion is exactly like elder Knoop, that they could have been twins. and we have just been feeling promptings that we need to go talk to the dad and the bishop also felt that we should go so we are trying to track down where he lives but it has just been really weird how we are all connected and both me and my companion feel like we need to go talk to this man. who knows how it will end!

well not a lot else... time just flies here i cant believe it has been one week. it needs to slow down but they tell me it just speeds up! i hope you all had a great new years. i love you all and am so grateful for your support in all its various forms. have a great grand and wonderful year! i know i will! (this year is my full year in the mission that is crazy!!!)

love elder mender

1st Day Salt Lake City South Mission

2009-12-29T20:22:00.000-05:00

Hi all

sorry i dont have alot of time because today has been crazy.

things i want to say... thank you so much for all your support in the MTC. it was great! i had so much fun this christmas we got to hear from elder anderson and elder perry.

christmas day we had a talent show and an elder sang a song about visa waiters and had a line "but have faith we wont be here as long as elder mender! 14 weeks i would die." after that missionaries kept coming up to me and asking me if i was THE elder mender. haha im pretty much famous now!

but the good news i am out of the MTC and in the field! i am in the salt lake city south mission in park city and i am... SPANISH SPEAKING!!! yeah its going to be an adventure. one of the missionaries i came up here with just today got his visa today so he leaves tomorrow. things are crazy i am threesome with elder lopez and elder mierzejewski. (the latter is my trainer) they seem like great elders and i am excited to get to work. we have three lessons tonight and a wedding and a baptism tomorrow!! they say we dont find out here we just teach and baptize i am so excited to get to learn spanish and to get to work!!

i love you all. have a great week hopefully a longer one next week!

love elder mender.

Just Another Day in Paradise

2009-12-22T20:37:00.000-05:00

hey hey hey!

well as im sure most of you have figured out i am still at the mtc and unless my visa comes today i will probably be here until next year! crazy to think about... on thursday my whole district got their visas so yesterday i said goodbye to my second district. That was really a sad day.

not a whole lot has happened that is exciting. i have learned a lot this past week about patiance and other things. yesterday during my personal study i had an idea to have an fhe with all the missionaries that have been here 9 weeks or more. so i got a lesson together and told as many missionaries as i could about it. it sounded like not a lot would be a ble to come so i was a little worried but about 30 missionaries came and we talked about what we can do to make these next few weeks some of the best rather than some of the saddest. a lot of us have been really annoyed that we arent in Brazil but i am hoping last night helped some of them. i know it helped me a lot to realize what an amazing chance the Lord has given me to study!

well not a lot else exciting... my new companion is elder perry and we do a lot of things with the new missionaries, that is really fun. yesterday we spent about five hours listening to lessons in portuguese or working on door contacts with first week missionaries. it is really a fun experience.

i hope you all have a merry christmas! what an amazing time of the year this is! truly the lord has given us so much. i am so grateful for the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. i know that he gives meaning to my life. i love you all so much.

love, elder mender

PS what else? oh in a few weeks ill have the record for the mtc!

Merry Christmas from the MTC!!!

2009-12-15T19:30:00.004-05:00

How blessed i am to be here this time of the year! what an amazing season this is. I keep hearing from everyone that some of their favorite christmas memories were from the mission and i can see why. i cant imagine being anywere else this week.

first i want to start with some news from last week! so every sunday night they show movies a district favorite is the mountain of the lord. if you haven't seen it go see it now. amazing and soooo funny. of course because we are elders my district laughs at all the wrong times and the sisters get really mad at us. But one part i laughed my head of at was when a reporter was talking to president woodruff asks the reporter if he is married. the reporter replies no and the prophet says, "marriage, a great institution, i highly recomend it." just the way he said it i thought was pretty funny. but then again i have been at the mtc for 12 weeks....

speaking of that i am kind of known around here... elders i have never met before will be talking to me and say oh you're elder mender the 12 week missionary. how are you still alive! i asked one elder how he knew about me and he said, "oh our whole floor was talking about you and how your district got temp assignments but they forgot about you and left you here..." so i guess missionaries just talk about me. way sad. hahaha

Good news about temp assignments i should know tomorrow where im going!!! i'll have my mom send out an email so you all can know as well.

Well we got to see the Christmas devotional that was just amazing! i hope everyone has seen it. if not log on to lds.org and watch it right when you get done reading this email! so wonderful.

so funny joke that might not be funny because like i said i have been in the mtc for a while (this place does things to you... some good, some bad) but our district was having this intense debate about cain and secret combinations and who the worst person to ever live was and how cain just lived a horrible life and never did anything good. and i read a verse that says, "and cain knew his wife and had kids." or something like that and i was like, "hey elders cain knew his wife at least he didnt marry any random woman. thats good right?" we all busted up laughing i think i started crying. but yeah i enjoyed it. haha

so exciting news from last tuesday!!! this was crazy listen up everyone. so we are in the temple doing sealings and this woman gets up and says sorry i can do it, im dizzy gets up and goes to get a drink. she comes back and tells us she is fine so we start again and she gets up and says, "sorry i have to sit down" but she heads to the door. right as she reaches the door she faints!!! and slams her head on the door and drops to the ground but an elder caught her just in time so she didnt hit her head again and i had to run and go get help it was just crazy! and then an old guy next to me says, "thats the 9th fainter ive seen in the temple." he just said it so causually it made me laugh. e muito interasante. nao e?

oh last wednesday we got to be TRC missionaries that the new missionaries see role play. it was really fun. since we have been here so long we get to do all the fun stuff like volunteer in the TRC. last week we got to be investigators for english and portuguese missionaries. i love this work. yep its pretty much amazing.

last tuesday for the fireside was elder costa of the 70 from Brasil!! it was amazing. i am so excited to get to my mission he told of his conversion and i hope to be able to have that kind of influence on just one person! well more if i can but ill take one. haha

and this sunday we had the BYU mens choir come and it was just an amazing. the music and testimonies given were just amazing. one student talked about how christmas and music are intertwined because at christs birth angels must have sang and it was jsut a really pretty program.

well i guess ill finish by saying i have almost done an 1/8 of my mission!!! that is crazy to think about. i am starting to wish it was a 3 year mission not a two year mission. i mean i have only been in the mtc!!! haha

well i love you all i hope you enjoy this time of the year and take a minute to remember the true meaning of Christmas the birth Of Jesus Christ. Have a merrry christmas and look for those chances you have to serve (they are kinda limited here in the mtc.. :( )

I love you all!

love, elder mender

The New District

2009-12-08T19:26:00.000-05:00

Hello all!!

well life is great at the MTC. we found out yesterday that starting tomorrow we will be in one big district with all the groups that have been here 9 weeks and we get to plan our own time. so it will be more like the field in that we dont have official class. it will be really nice because we have a lot of options for us. they have pretty much opened the MTC for us. we can volunteer as investigators in the TRC, we can spend as much time in the RC as we want. we can go to any tutor whenever we want, and the coolest part we become mentors for the districts that are new. as a companionship we get 2 or 3 new companionships that we help with portuguese and learnign how to be a missionary. it is going to be a really unique experience.

so they told us that at the most we will only be here two weeks after our 9 week mark (im the only misisonary that has been here longer) so im not sure what they are going to do with me butim hopeful that in two weeks ill either be in Brazil or some other mission til my visa comes.

funny story of the week: i got a letter from my mom and i was reading it while following my comp and i was really focusing and out of my eye i see him turn the corner into the bathroom so i follow and i read a really funny part of the letter and i stop and start telling my comp (who is in the stall) about the story. he says "ya....ok" and half way through my comp comes walks in the door and says, "mender, what the heck are you doing?!" im like what the freak!!! moral of the story i was telling some random elder about my moms letter why he was going to the bathroom. i busted up laughing so hard i couldnts stop laughing for about thirty minutes. tears for sure came. i havent laughed that hard in a long time.

um... what else to tell you not a whole lot. i find i do the same thing every day... class, study, eat, sleep... i am very excited to get in the field and work with real people and bring them the Gospel of Christ.

oh on that note! josephine ward has gone to church, gone to her wednesday night book of mormon class that the missionaries hold and meets with the missionaries twice a week. she is keeping her commitments and very excited about baptism. i cannot wait for that day! just to see the change in her life how happy she is now and how her relationship with Christ is truly amazing. every time i talk to her i get that much more excited for the work. truly this work is amazing and the Lord is the master of it. my wish is that all could have it in their lives so that they could recieve the millions of blessings that come from Gods true church.

well i love you all and i wish the best for you. time is flying by!! i cant believe christmas is just a feww weeks away! i am so excited for this season i have heard that it will be one of my happiness memories in life and i can already see why. what a great chance this is for us to remember our savior and redeemer Jesus Christ! I wish you all the best.

Love elder mender

Thanksgiving at the MTC

2009-12-05T21:23:00.001-05:00

hiiiiiiii

well to start off the week elder oaks came with his wife for the tuesday devotional and it was just amazing! he and his wife are so fun together he gave a great talk about how to be a better missionary and being an active missionary. it was just delightful!

then wednesday night elder holmes got sick and he wanted to tough it out because we knew holland was coming thanksgiving morning but thursday morning he wasnt looking too hot and he went to the front desk and they put him into quarintine minutes before elder holland showed up!! so sad and because he went into isolation our whole district had to take tamiflu pills so we didnt spread whatever he had.

so elder holland came thanksgiving morning and that was a life changing experience. i was second row right in front of the pulpit it was amazing!! we as missionaries get into debates about "deep" doctrine and he answered all of the questions it was just amazing how on fire that man is when he speaks.

So friday night our district is brushing our teeth and our Zone leader says "friday nights suck" i asked "why" and he says "you know all those girls waiting for us are on dates right now" and then elder elmer the quietest kid ever who when he speaks you listen because it is either deep or hilarious says, "my wife is on a date right now.." we all busted up laughing soo funny. maybe you had to be there but i think you get the idea.

so sunday night we have the chance to watch movies but elder deffense wasnt feeling too good so we decided to go back and study (so he could take a nap ) but on the way some elders were caroling and i made him stop and we joined them. it was a lot of fun it is so pretty around here at night because they have put up a lot of christmas lights (kind of like the jsm) and it is most joyous at night. i am so excited for this christmas! This is such a great time of the year! where we can focus on the birth of our savior Jesus Christ and give thanks for all he has done for us.

after singing we decided to go vist elder holmes in isolation because you can go up to the door that leads to their hallway. so we ran up there and it was really funny because they (they just stick all the sick kids in one place) have stacked up boxes in an archway and wrote "koritane population 19" then the scrathed out the 19 and put 20. it is pretty funny. so we shouted to elder holmes through the door it was pretty fun. i felt so bad for him because they cant really do anything but sleep and skype into a class when class is going on.

so elder deffense has warts on his feet and we had to go out of the mtc to get them cut off and he is allergic to pain killers so they couldnt numb it and i got to watch him as they cut all 20 of his warts off and it was so funny but kinda sad to watch him tear up. dont worry i did get a lot of really good pictures!!! hahaha

oh they are starting up this new program since there are not a lot of missionaries in brazil (they are all stuck here) where brazilian teachers will shype with us during the week from the sao paulo mtc i am so excited for that it is going to be sucha great experience!!

well i love you all so much have a great day and thanks so much for all your letters and support.

love elder mender.

It's not Salvador Brazil

2009-11-28T16:53:00.002-05:00

HELLO friends, family, and anyone else who feels they dont fit into those categories but are still reading my emails!

como vai?!

well to start things off this week i was looking at a memory card that had pictures of Katies efy and my comp was sitting next to me and a picture of strawberry shortcake ice cream popped up and at the same time my companion screamed, "ahhh i want one!!" so we went and got one that night it was pretty funny because it had been years since we had had one.

ok so this one elder in my district is a miracle worker and he adjusted my back one night and it was most wonderful!

ok so i have a joke that i think i have heard but i heard it this week and it made me laugh and its about brazil so ill tell you.

this girl goes to the fair and she comes back and her roomate asked how it was and she said, "it was great i made out with a brazilian!" her roomate then responded, "you slut!!! ... how many is a brazilian?" yeah i laughed pretty hard sorry if i offended any one.... remember a man is a fool who takes an insult that wastn intended. :)

so we are sitting in my room and talking about the wii fit and elder way get all mad and he says, "i hate wii fit!!" (he is a tall athletic kid) and we were like what? why?! and he tells that the wii fit game made his avatar, with his actual BMI, have a pot belly and he was legit mad about it. i laughed so hard and he just got angrier and he was like you dont know what its like to have a fat avatar! yeah way funny. maybe you had to be there....

ok before you all think i havent done anything spiritual or related to my mission this week i have probably the most exciting news of my life!!! Josephine Ward, the woman i have been giving the lessons to over the phone, We asked her to prepare for baptism and she said yes!!! and it has just been amazing to see the change in her from the first time we talked to where she wants to be baptized and asks heartfelt questions about the gospel. Even if she doesnt get baptized to me it is a miracle and i am so glad i was the one that was able to talk to her! one of the tender mercies of the Lord.

so i had a dream the other night that my district put fake travel plans in my mailbox and i started crying.... like i started crying in my dream. hahaha sad night.

i went to the travel office and they said that elder Perry does not want to give out any more temp assignments so i just missed a temp mission and will be here, for now, until i get my visa. so who knows when i will leave.

i have a challenge for those of you who are bold: pray tonight about someone in your life who is ready to hear the Gospel and then give them a book of mormon and then write me a letter telling me how it went! i would love to hear your missionary experiences. :)

also i would love for people this week in there letters to tell me things that they are grateful for. just to get other peoples opinions on what the Lord has given them! thanks so much if you do i know ill love reading your letters.

so i hope you all know how much i love you! i know every one of you has touched my life in a unique way and i am glad to know you all.

oh exciting news about staying here for thanksgiving we have no classes and we get to do a huge service project that is going to be amazing and rumor has it that elder Holland is coming!! woot woot.

ok te amo, ate logo.

elder mender

The Forgotten Elder....

2009-11-15T13:40:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone!!

What a great week it has been. Warm, beautiful, and full of learning!

to start things off our district has been here way too long! saturday night as we walked home to our room we ran up the stars in slow motion. fighting, talking, everything in slow motion it was crazy when we got to the top i realized oh my goodness im turning into the crazy missionary i saw when i first arrived! sad but fway funny day.

then sunday night during the fireside my pen stopped working!!! sooo frustrating. it would work and then not work for a letter or a word and then work and then not work! i finally threw it down and stopped taking notes. it was a really good frieside though!

so this week i had a chance to talk to Josephine Ward and she agreed to go to church and i am just so excited for her!! how great it has been to be able to work with her!

during class this week i volunteered my comp and i to teach a lesson and he hates when i do that but we prepeared it and we were so excited and then our teacher had us start from the door (which he usually doesnt do) then when we came in we asked him how his life was and he just started talking!!!! and he wouldnt stop to breath at all oh he told us we only had ten minutes to teach him. come to find out the whole point of this lesson was for him to show us that brazilian people wont shut up so you have to learn how to tactfully interupt them. so frustrating. but really funny. he talked about cow tipping and other crazy stuff. oh all in portuguese which just adds to the humor.

ok joke time!! why do all the pictures of the book of mormon characters have really buff arms?! because of all the brass plate scripture searches!!! i laughed so hard for about an hour when i heard that.

this week our branch president taught us about a thing called, "jeito" which is basicly brazilian bribary. he told us how he smuggled his kid into the U.S. after living there. it was jsut a really funny story but morl of the jeito is you can get around any red tape with enough money! woot woot. it made me think of the lytles...

so this tuesday we had a fireside on temples!!!! so good. i LOVE the temple! if any of you do not go to the temple as often as you should do it!! if you arent worthy get worthy! im just so excited about temples. today we did an endowment session. how amazing the house of the Lord truly is. so yeah he showed pictures of most of the temples it was great. They are such pretty buildings! if you didnt know....

oh so i accomplished my life long goal! aka my mtc goal. to eat a plate from everyline!! i felt so pround of myself. unfortunately i forgto that we had gym right after lunch so about died from my poor choice. but it was so fun it reminded me of the time owen and i drove down the miracle mile stopping at every fast food joint! thanks mom!

oh tell the carpet guys "tudo bem?" when you see them its like "is everything good?"

oh this missionary in my zone is soooo funny. i asked him if he had a belt on because he looked like he didnt and he comes over with this sad face and says "no i have dunlap disease..." i was like what is that? he got a huge smile and said my belly dunlap over my belt!" so freaking funny i just about died.

so visa information:
my whole district has been assigned a temporary mission to georgia and tennessee!!! (sister hobbs spelled that) our district leaves monday morning. except me. they forgot about me!!! haha our district got called down to the travel office and she was handing out assignments and she got to me and she was like oh... we forgot you. so i have to wait at least another week. i dont know what ill be doing since ill be all alone so dont ask but mom! the lady felt so bad she forgot me that she gave me a phone pass so im going to call tonight at 8 your time. please you and dad be by a phone!!! so yeah it is going to be interesting next week when im the oldest missionary and im all alone. i think ill just get a lot of study time. who knows!

well life is good im hoping eventually ill get out of here but if not all is well. it truly is a great place i learn so much every day it is crazy!! portuguese is so fun. i love that i can pretty much read whatever i want its just the speaking part that is really hard. but im hanging in there and practicing a lot!

what else? thank you everyone who sends me mail! it is so fun to hear what is going on in the "real world" . soooo... im gonna go now. Love you! you are amazing! all of you every single one of you. i love you and miss you. well not really miss... i dont know its hard to explain im just so happy to be here i cant imagine being anywhere else! so i miss you all but i dont. you know what i mean? (that was for you owen!)

tchau!
elder mender

The Miracle of the Apple Juice

2009-11-15T13:29:00.001-05:00

HEY!!!!!!!
this week was greattttt! kinda like frosty flakes great!

to start off with holloween is definately not the same in the mtc, i have a feeling its just not the same on a mission! it is ten times better! i walked around saturday night handing out spider rings and a bunch of people said i made their day so that was fun!

because the time changed we felt it apropo to have a time change party in which people invaded my room and spent the night there. it was fun until people kept talking past lights out and i couldnt fall asleep but im not bitter....

um... arianne if you could have ariel send those amazing brownies that would be life changing! love you! haha

ok so fhe this week was amazing! irmao marriot had us prepare a five minute lesson for another elder in our district (we pulled names) and then give the lesson to the whole district i got about two pages of amazing notes from all the lessons. it is amazing when these elders (and sister) speak power and authority comes out of their mouth.

oh we got one sister this week who is going to salvador!!!!! finally another missionary!

so the devotional this tuesday was AMAZING. elder Rasband or something like that spoke with his wife and she told a powerful story about a missionary who in one of the last areas got his shoe shined by a poor man in ny. when the missionary heard the man cry out shoe shine who wants a shoe shine he got really excited because he had always wanted one and when he asked the man how much he just said as much as you are willing to pay. as the missionary was thinking about it the man just got down and started shining his shoe he put everything he had into that job even using his shirt to shine the shoe. she said that the missionary in that instant saw the savior in the garden of gethsemani and realized the savior has done everything for us and all he asks is for us to give what we can. as she told this story tears came to my eyes, yeah im a baby i know, but its so true the Savior is there to do what we cant and he has suffered for worse than we ever will. when the man was done this missionary gave him all he had and all his companion had. then elder rasband spoke and told a story about his parents who served a mission and thought they hadnt really touched anyones life. then 25 years later elder rasband was one assignment and a woman came up with seven kids asking if he knew these two missionaries (who were his parents) as they got talking he had the chance to give the whole families blessings and then go home to tell his mom who was living in assisted living care and tell his mom that because of her mission thousands had been converted,(four of the boys had served missions) then she responded "you mean my mission meant something?" when i heard those words i knew the reach of our mission goes far beyond what we can ever know and it was just an incredible feeling.

so i called josephine ward on tuesday(the investigator i got on the chat) and gave her the second lesson then i called on thursday and gave her the first lesson. as soon as i got to joseph smith story she said hold on. then i heard yelling and swearing and it was crazy and then the phone hung up. sad sad sad! so i called her today and i guess the police showed up with a restraining order! for her kids and it is just a very said situation but i have a time to call her on monday and hopefully things will work out. the missionaries in her area need to get to her soon!

since i have no really funny story this week i am giving multiple kinda funny ones.

1st elder johnson told me the other day that in his celestial kingdom he would be in a field where zombies were coming at him and he could shoot power beams from his hand and kill them. he was dead serious. we then had a hour long conversation on why that could or couldnt happen.

2nd elder moore and i have become really good friends this week and he knows me really well and he was reading in the middle of class and he stops and says, "elder mender, why does it say we will all SUFFER death?" and just the way he said it with the emphasis on suffer i busted up laughing and laughed anytime he said it throughout the day... he did it a lot.

3rd elder bigalow asked in the middle of class "come se diz how?" or how do you say how?

4th elder moore and i were walking out of the temple and i saw the byu stadium and i just got really happy and i continued to tell him how my perfect day would consist of me going to the temple with my wife, then going to a byu football game with her, and ending the day with a nice dinner date. and then we saw a husband and wife jogging with their kid in a stroller and i said that would be another perfect day. and i was just wayyyyy happy. (i love it here.. ) the funny part is later he told me as i was teling my perfect day he was getting really jealous of the dates i had with my wife! so funny.

ok so a legit miracle happened this week!!!! listen up all.
so i really wanted apple juice but there was none! and i was so upset but i was like ok thats fine i can deal with out it today but what do i want? and i thought fruit punch , i dont ever drink fruit punch in the morning!!! but i did it anyways and apple juice came out!!!! it was a miracle i kid you not! it was a great morning!! oh and the other day i went to the bathroom and i washed my hands and there were two rings sitting there! a lehis dream ring and a ctr ring! for those of you who dont know i have big fingers! but these fit me! as i looked around i was all alone! a gift from above? i think so!!!

ok i love you all. your support is amazing! i miss a few of you... jk i miss you all!!

love elder mender

Update from the MTC

2009-11-01T18:03:00.003-05:00

Hello Elder Mender fans!

OK, so this week has been crazy! Happy sad... sad and happy!

First off I am no longer zone leader. Here at the MTC they like to give as many people leadership positions as they can, so they switch it up every four weeks. (Unless a missionary leaves) so I’m not leaving but I am no longer zone leader. That was really sad because I have had so much fun working with the zone and being able to serve everyone. I think I have said this before but I really do love them so much. So yeah I sat on the stand tearing up it was so pathetic but it is really exciting because I have had so much time to study and get caught up!

Which leads to the TRC this week was amazing we taught a wonderful lesson! That proves that miracles happen. It was really funny because the woman we taught brought her baby and set him on a blanket during the lesson. Mid lesson he crawls over to me and rubs his face on my leg and plays with my shoe. I can’t describe him rubbing his face on my leg! It was crazy!!! hahaha but soooo funny my companion and I had to try so hard not to laugh!

This Sunday the fireside was amazing one of the district presidents and his wife gave it. They had their family come and sing this song called “my kindness shall not depart from thee”. It was absolutely amazing! I for sure teared up during it and then President Thomas gave a talk about how the cosmos are testifying of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon apparently some of the locations in the Book of Mormon have been found (how could Joseph Smith know about them) and he also talked about how there is a part of our galaxy called the habitable zone and we are in that spot the perfect spot for us to live and he used the scripture "there is room down there where we go and create the earth" or you know what one I mean. It was just so cool to see scientist who are not Mormon show how the Book of Mormon is true! And includes things that Joseph smith could not have known!

Then Tuesday night Elder Perry came that was just amazing as well! He talked about five points for us to teach better and it was just great to be taught by a prophet! He used one of Elder Holland’s talks to create his talk so it was kind of like getting a two for one!

On Wednesday our teacher told us he had a friend that was coming and we were going to teach her the first discussion he said she wasn’t a member and was doing an exchange program here at BYU. We got really excited and started to prepare as a district. As soon as she walked in I was so mad because I recognized her as my teachers boss (you have to have a temple recommend to work here) but we started to teach her and this was one of the most spiritual lessons I have ever been in. It was amazing to watch these elders in my district who when they first got here could not teach to save their lives give this amazing lesson with probably some of the strongest testimonies I have ever heard. So I was so glad it happened and it turned out to be amazing!

OK so a lot of people have been asking about the visa issue. A visa hasn’t been approved in about 6 weeks so I am thinking I will finish up the MTC here and do one transfer in a mission in the states. It should be really interesting. It will also be interesting because a few of us in my district came late so we don’t know if we will leave with our district or stay another week. Stay tuned! But yeah I don’t think I’ll be leaving the US for a while. :) It’s what the lord wants though so it’s all good!

OK funny story for the week: I was sitting there waiting for the Sunday fireside to start and this sister going to Argentina sat down. her name was Hermana Mitchell and I said "Hermana Mitchell! What a great name! it’s my first name!" and she goes "your name is hermana?" Completely serious, I just look at her and cock my head to the side. She thinks for a minute and covers her mouth saying, "OH MY GOSH I CANT BELIEVE I JUST SAID THAT!!" it was hilarious...

Oh we got a new sister this week who can rap and all the elders are mesmerized by her. HAHA She just did freestyle on the restoration that was pretty sweet I’m not going to lie.

Oh we also got to host this week which means we get to pick up the new missionaries on the curb and help get them situated it was so fun! I saw Sister Stephenson on her first day that was exciting! BTW it was so much fun to talk with new missionaries, see where they were going, and help them find there way around.

OH in the RC this week I talked to a woman who is having a hard time with her family and she wants the Book of Mormon and the missionaries. She also asked me to call her and give her a lesson! So she is my first investigator! I am so excited. Also I talked to another guy who was excommunicated and then his brother committed suicide and he was saying he didn’t have faith and I talked to him about how his heavenly father loves him and even though he wants us to be happy he cant take away our agency and it was a really neat conversation then he just logged off! I don’t know if I helped at all but I sent him an email and I hope he will respond.

Oh mom it’s getting cold can I please buy sweat pants and sweat shirt?! or can you send me some? We also like mountain dew but we don’t have any... :) Oh Dear Elders are sent on Saturday so you can send them then too! Well I love you all. Thank you for all your support!

Love,

Elder Mender