No More Mouse Problem

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

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!!!

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!!

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

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

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

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