8/1/11 - Dear Family, Como vai? (How are you?) Como foi a mez de voces? (How was all of your month?) Ok, I will leave the Portuguese there so you can understand the letter. I hope you're all doing well. I am having a lot of fun here, although there is a lot to do. The lanugage is coming along slowly, but its coming. I am having the most trouble with the conjugations of the verbs, especially the irregular verbs. I am really liking the food here, meat, beans and rice every day for lunch. I have a Nutella sandwich with fruit for breakfast and a mango for dinner. I am usually still full from lunch when we get back to the apartment at night. I am tanning a little, which is good because it is sunny pretty much every day. I am studying in 2 Nephi 2 right now, I have had more joy and have been learning a lot about things that I did not realize before. We should all be studying the scriptures each and every day, and it would be good to keep a study journal as well, so that you can write down what you learn, even if it is just a sentence, it will help you to learn more and understand more of what you are reading. I love you all and miss you all! I hope everything is well and will continue to be well. Elder Adam McBarron
8/8/11 - Muito Brigado peta Parabems por men Anevesario! (Thank you very much for the Birthday wishes for my birthday!) I am glad that I was able to email you all. Thanks for all of the love and support you give me. I missed being able to celebrate my birthday with you all and with my friends, its kind of weird not really celebrating a birthday. It is especially weird because I am still doing all of the missionary stuff like it is a normal day. I am going to have to have a big celebration when I get home to make up for these two years that I won't have a celebration. I really miss the Birthday to out to eat meal right now, and the birthday brownies too. I am glad that I was at least able to communicate with you all today. Mom, Thanks for everything, I am really glad that you decided to start that blog form. I am very thankful for all of the support that you give me. I miss being able to just talk with you, but I am really glad that I can write and email you. Thanks for everything you do for me. I miss you all. Keep reading your scriptures often. Mom and Dad I would ask you to go to the temple and do a session as often as you get a chance to, especially for me, I really wish that I could have the chance of going to the temple, but I have to wait 2 more years before I am able to do so. Megan when you can go do baptisms for the dead, it will be good for you to keep doing that. I am very grateful for the support that you all are giving me while I am here in Brazil. Remember to write in your journals, anything is good, but especially write down your spiritual experiences that you have. It has already been a blessing to me while on my mission having kept a journal so far, being able to go back and read it. I miss you all, but I am also having fun here too. Here's the motto: work hard, play hard and enjoy! Balance in all things! This not only applies to me but to all of us. So let's all live it. Elder Adam McBarron. P.S. I am now 21 years old!
8/9/11 - Yesterday turned out to be a really good birthday! I had a surprise celebration/party kind of thing that our investigators Michelle and Victor planned with my companion and 3 members from the Group Marcia (Relief Society President) her daughter Tainah and also the Gospel Principles class instructor Flavio. It was really cool, Victor made a cake and everything. It was really cool of them to do that for me. Sorry if it is hard to understand my writing, I am on a bus to the transfers. I will write a little about that in a little bit on the back of this paper, the transfers that is. I got called to the area Serra 2. It reminds me a lot of Auburn for some reason. Elder Turley is still my companion, and he is now a District Leader. Our District has our Zone Leaders in it. They are really cool. You will probably have heard all of this and more by the time you get this. Oh, I got both of my packages! Thanks for everything! Especially the shorts and t-shirts, the special letter paper, the green and white tie, and a very special thanks for the tie, hanky and cuff link set! I really liked all of it! Oh and thanks for the address book too! Elder Adam McBarron
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
8/29/11 Email from Serra Sede
Adam's email this week, my questions are in brackets.
[You didn't ever say if you have a mailing address at your new place or if we should keep sending letters to the mission home.] Ok so just keep sending the letters to the mission home, because I don't have an address to send it to and I will always be able to get them if they are sent to the mission office, but if they are sent to another address, there is a chance that I would not get them.
[Did you have your baptism Sunday? If so, how was it?] We didn't have the baptism Sunday, but it will be this Saturday.
[Did you find new people to teach?] We haven't really been able to find some new people, but we are going to try some new things this we and see if they will help.
[Have you done anything fun in your new area?] This last pday and this pday we are playing soccer with the zone, last week was really fun!
[Are you getting more involved in the ward?] I am starting to speak more at church, and in the ward, we don't really do too much in the ward other than help the new investigators around, which is cool! The ward missionaries take care of a lot of it.
[Did you get to bear your testimony in your new ward?] I have not had the opportunity to bear my testimony in the ward yet, but this Sunday is Fast Sunday and I will be most likely be bearing it then, especially because I have a feeling that I might be getting transferred again this next transfer. This is a really cool area that I am in right now, but it is also a challenging area. It is a really large area, and also there aren't too many members from the ward in our area, not to mention all of the hills too. We go up and down hills both ways from every appointment.
[What was your best experience this week?] My best experience this week was a missionary conference that we had with the mission president and also with the area president and their wives. I got to see a lot of the missionaries that I came out with there! I also had a really good experience this morning in my study. I haven't been feeling the spirit as strongly as I had been the past couple of days. Today I was reading in the August 2011 Liahona and there was a quote in there from President Kimball in an article from Elder Perry that said that when he is feeling distant from the spirit, he immerses himself in the scriptures and renews that connection. I decided to try that today after reading that, today was one of the best studies that I have had in the past couple of days and I feel like I have a stronger connection to the scriptures and the spirit. That was my best experiences this week.
I will be looking for the next package, thanks mom for all that you do! I love you all and miss you all!
[You didn't ever say if you have a mailing address at your new place or if we should keep sending letters to the mission home.] Ok so just keep sending the letters to the mission home, because I don't have an address to send it to and I will always be able to get them if they are sent to the mission office, but if they are sent to another address, there is a chance that I would not get them.
[Did you have your baptism Sunday? If so, how was it?] We didn't have the baptism Sunday, but it will be this Saturday.
[Did you find new people to teach?] We haven't really been able to find some new people, but we are going to try some new things this we and see if they will help.
[Have you done anything fun in your new area?] This last pday and this pday we are playing soccer with the zone, last week was really fun!
[Are you getting more involved in the ward?] I am starting to speak more at church, and in the ward, we don't really do too much in the ward other than help the new investigators around, which is cool! The ward missionaries take care of a lot of it.
[Did you get to bear your testimony in your new ward?] I have not had the opportunity to bear my testimony in the ward yet, but this Sunday is Fast Sunday and I will be most likely be bearing it then, especially because I have a feeling that I might be getting transferred again this next transfer. This is a really cool area that I am in right now, but it is also a challenging area. It is a really large area, and also there aren't too many members from the ward in our area, not to mention all of the hills too. We go up and down hills both ways from every appointment.
[What was your best experience this week?] My best experience this week was a missionary conference that we had with the mission president and also with the area president and their wives. I got to see a lot of the missionaries that I came out with there! I also had a really good experience this morning in my study. I haven't been feeling the spirit as strongly as I had been the past couple of days. Today I was reading in the August 2011 Liahona and there was a quote in there from President Kimball in an article from Elder Perry that said that when he is feeling distant from the spirit, he immerses himself in the scriptures and renews that connection. I decided to try that today after reading that, today was one of the best studies that I have had in the past couple of days and I feel like I have a stronger connection to the scriptures and the spirit. That was my best experiences this week.
I will be looking for the next package, thanks mom for all that you do! I love you all and miss you all!
Elder Adam McBarron
P.S. thanks for the print off of the Birthday wishes mom!
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Photos of Landscape Leaving Anchieta, Brazil
These are photos Adam took of the landscape when they were leaving Anchieta on their transfer to Serra Sede.
Friday, August 26, 2011
8/22/11 Email from Serra Sede
Sorry this post is late, I was on vacation and just got back. My questions are in brackets.
Hey my week was better this week. I can't believe that Megan [Adam's sister] is a senior, that is crazy, it feels like I was just there a couple of months ago.
[How are the lessons going with your new investigators?] The lessons with the investigators that are progressing are going well, we don't have too many people to teach right now. We are trying to get more people to teach.
[Any baptisms set up?] We have a baptism set up for this Sunday and it will hopefully happen, if not, it will be next Sunday. Her name is Malu, it is short for a longer name that I don't know how to spell. She was first taught by the missionaries before us.
[What is your new apartment like?] Our new apartment is bigger than the one we had in Anchieta, it is nice to have different rooms for our different things, we study in one room and then sleep and change in the other. The only draw back to this apartment is that it only has one bathroom.
[Are there interesting sites in Serra Sede?] There is only two interesting sights in Serra Sede, one is a big Catholic church and the other is a big garden/park like thing that is pretty cool. I don't have any pictures of it cause we only pass it while we are proselyting and we are not supposed to take pictures while we are out proselyting.
[What was your best experience this week?] My best experience this week was when I was able to say almost all of what I wanted to say in a lesson in Portuguese on faith.
The pictures are of our baptisms and of a cake that an investigator made for me for my birthday. Thanks for the packages! I miss you all and love you all. Elder Adam McBarron
Hey my week was better this week. I can't believe that Megan [Adam's sister] is a senior, that is crazy, it feels like I was just there a couple of months ago.
[How are the lessons going with your new investigators?] The lessons with the investigators that are progressing are going well, we don't have too many people to teach right now. We are trying to get more people to teach.
[Any baptisms set up?] We have a baptism set up for this Sunday and it will hopefully happen, if not, it will be next Sunday. Her name is Malu, it is short for a longer name that I don't know how to spell. She was first taught by the missionaries before us.
[What is your new apartment like?] Our new apartment is bigger than the one we had in Anchieta, it is nice to have different rooms for our different things, we study in one room and then sleep and change in the other. The only draw back to this apartment is that it only has one bathroom.
[Are there interesting sites in Serra Sede?] There is only two interesting sights in Serra Sede, one is a big Catholic church and the other is a big garden/park like thing that is pretty cool. I don't have any pictures of it cause we only pass it while we are proselyting and we are not supposed to take pictures while we are out proselyting.
[What was your best experience this week?] My best experience this week was when I was able to say almost all of what I wanted to say in a lesson in Portuguese on faith.
The pictures are of our baptisms and of a cake that an investigator made for me for my birthday. Thanks for the packages! I miss you all and love you all. Elder Adam McBarron
Monday, August 15, 2011
8/15/11 Email from Serra Sede, Brazil
My questions are in brackets.
[You never told me the name of your new mission president, what is it?] My new President's name is President Araújo.
[Are you getting to know other missionaries?] I am getting to know a few other missionaries, I haven't really lived with other missionaries yet other than Elder Turley.
Hey, I am going to be sending a package home sometime this transfer, I will have a few things in the package for you all and also some things that I don't need here that are just taking up space and weight. Oh in your next package that you send could you include a portable cd player, and a copy of the Sons of Provo cd? President Araújo has said that we can listen to any music we want as long as it brings the spirit and does not hinder our work. I thought that the Sons of Provo would be a good p-day music. If you can send that, feel free to make any cd's you want and send them with it. It would be cool to get cd's from other people as well, like Gram, Christina, and others too.
[Where is your new area? What is it like?] My new area is in Serra Sede, in the mission it is called Serra 2. It reminds me of home a lot, the feeling of the city has the feeling of Auburn, and there are a ton of hills. The area is huge, and we walk every where, we walk at least 5 miles a day, up and down hills.
[Is it a ward, branch or member group?] Here is a ward which I am really glad about. Oh I am in the same ward as the zone leaders, they live in another part of the city from us which is why me and Elder Turley are still by ourselves. The zone leaders are also in the same district, which is awesome! Oh, I forgot to tell you Elder Turley is the district leader for the district. Serra Sede is part of the city of Serra.
[How is the language going for you?] The language is still coming along, this week was a hard week for me, cause I still can't really understand everything that people are saying to me, and I can't say all that I want to say either. Also I had to learn a new area, it really took a toll on me, but there will be weeks like this, especially in the beginning of the mission.
[Is there anyone you are teaching this week?] We are teaching 4 main people this week. Marcia, Rosangela, Roberta, Nina and Maralug, ok there are 5. We are starting from the beginning with all of them, and going to make baptismal dates with them all.
[What was your best experience this week?] My best experience was the baptisms of 2 people that were already setup for baptism this Sunday by the elders before us.
Love you all and miss you all,
Elder Adam McBarron
Sunday, August 14, 2011
8/8/11 Birthday Emails!
Adam's email this week, our questions are in brackets.
Thanks for the Birthday wishes and also everything else! I haven't gotten my packages yet, but I will get them tomorrow at transfers. I will be getting transferred from Anchieta with my companion to another area. I will tell you more in the next email as I don't know any details yet. I am 21!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[Did you have your baptisms this week? How did the baptism go? Did you get to dunk one? or did you do the confirmation blessing?] We had both of the baptisms this week, Elder Turley baptized Michelle and I baptized Rafaela!!!! I got to baptize on the beach! The members did the confirmations. I got to baptize on the beach before I got transferred from the area!!!!!! It was so cool baptizing Rafaela on the beach. I can pretty much say that that was a huge birthday present from the Lord. I am really grateful for the opportunity that He gave me to have that chance. It was so cool! I only had to start over once because I said it wrong, but I kind of expected that to happen since I am still learning the language.
[Were you guys part of Mormon helping hands in Brazil? What was you project if you were?] Yes, I was part of the helping hands. We went to an old folks home and did a few things there, we mostly just sang for them though and played music.
[Did you move to your new apartment yet? What's it like?] No we have not moved into the new apartment because we are being transferred, so the next missionaries in the area are the ones that will be getting the new apartment, those lucky ducks. It is a really nice apartment, 2 bedrooms a kitchen, a living room, and 2 bathrooms. I wish we could have been in there, but oh well.
[Have you found anyone else to teach? When do you have the father of the girls set up to baptize?] We haven't found anyone else to teach really other than Rafaela´s mom. We don't have a date for him, cause he didn't accept a date yet.
[What is your favorite thing to do on your p-day?] My favorite thing to do on p-day is to write emails and write letters, I like sharing everything with people.
[Do you guys tract a lot or do you do other things to meet people?] Yeah we do a lot of tracting, but we mostly go off of referrals, they are more willing to listen, and it is a lot easier to find their houses, and they have constant contact with members as referrals.
[What is your favorite snack there?] My favorite snack would have to be mangoes, and also a little chocolate egg called a kinder ovo or kinder egg, it also has a little trinket inside.
[Do you get to meet with the members much?] We meet with members every day, they are awesome!
[Any bugs you run into a lot? Are the mosquitoes bugging you much?] We run into ants everywhere. I haven't been bothered too much by mosquitoes. Don't be surprised if I send my bug net home, there aren't many places that I can use it at according to other missionaries.
[Do you have a new companion?] I don't have a new companion, but I will be in a new area tomorrow with my companion. we are both getting transferred to a new area together.
I will attach photos of the baptism on my next email. I have to go, Tchau! Elder McBarron
Thanks for the Birthday wishes and also everything else! I haven't gotten my packages yet, but I will get them tomorrow at transfers. I will be getting transferred from Anchieta with my companion to another area. I will tell you more in the next email as I don't know any details yet. I am 21!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[Did you have your baptisms this week? How did the baptism go? Did you get to dunk one? or did you do the confirmation blessing?] We had both of the baptisms this week, Elder Turley baptized Michelle and I baptized Rafaela!!!! I got to baptize on the beach! The members did the confirmations. I got to baptize on the beach before I got transferred from the area!!!!!! It was so cool baptizing Rafaela on the beach. I can pretty much say that that was a huge birthday present from the Lord. I am really grateful for the opportunity that He gave me to have that chance. It was so cool! I only had to start over once because I said it wrong, but I kind of expected that to happen since I am still learning the language.
[Were you guys part of Mormon helping hands in Brazil? What was you project if you were?] Yes, I was part of the helping hands. We went to an old folks home and did a few things there, we mostly just sang for them though and played music.
[Did you move to your new apartment yet? What's it like?] No we have not moved into the new apartment because we are being transferred, so the next missionaries in the area are the ones that will be getting the new apartment, those lucky ducks. It is a really nice apartment, 2 bedrooms a kitchen, a living room, and 2 bathrooms. I wish we could have been in there, but oh well.
[Have you found anyone else to teach? When do you have the father of the girls set up to baptize?] We haven't found anyone else to teach really other than Rafaela´s mom. We don't have a date for him, cause he didn't accept a date yet.
[What is your favorite thing to do on your p-day?] My favorite thing to do on p-day is to write emails and write letters, I like sharing everything with people.
[Do you guys tract a lot or do you do other things to meet people?] Yeah we do a lot of tracting, but we mostly go off of referrals, they are more willing to listen, and it is a lot easier to find their houses, and they have constant contact with members as referrals.
[What is your favorite snack there?] My favorite snack would have to be mangoes, and also a little chocolate egg called a kinder ovo or kinder egg, it also has a little trinket inside.
[Do you get to meet with the members much?] We meet with members every day, they are awesome!
[Any bugs you run into a lot? Are the mosquitoes bugging you much?] We run into ants everywhere. I haven't been bothered too much by mosquitoes. Don't be surprised if I send my bug net home, there aren't many places that I can use it at according to other missionaries.
[Do you have a new companion?] I don't have a new companion, but I will be in a new area tomorrow with my companion. we are both getting transferred to a new area together.
I will attach photos of the baptism on my next email. I have to go, Tchau! Elder McBarron
Friday, August 12, 2011
7/17/11 & 7/25/11 Emails to Dad from Anchieta
7/17/11 Email:
I wanted to show you what our apartment now looks like, and we will probably be moving soon to another apartment. We have one room and a kitchen, I also included a photo from our window.
7/25/11 Email:
We had an activity with the group this week, and we made a makeshift outhouse. I took some pictures, I thought you might get a kick from them. Oh, I have something for you to look up, it is a Brazilian steakhouse that is supposed to be in Washington and a few other places in the U.S., it is called Fogo De Chão, if you can find it, you might like it. Here is the address that it has for Brazil, I don't know what it is for the U.S. or if it is the same, fogodechao.com.br. Seu filho Elder Adam McBarron
I wanted to show you what our apartment now looks like, and we will probably be moving soon to another apartment. We have one room and a kitchen, I also included a photo from our window.
7/25/11 Email:
We had an activity with the group this week, and we made a makeshift outhouse. I took some pictures, I thought you might get a kick from them. Oh, I have something for you to look up, it is a Brazilian steakhouse that is supposed to be in Washington and a few other places in the U.S., it is called Fogo De Chão, if you can find it, you might like it. Here is the address that it has for Brazil, I don't know what it is for the U.S. or if it is the same, fogodechao.com.br. Seu filho Elder Adam McBarron
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
July 18, 2011 Letter from Anchieta
Dear Family,
I can't wait for this Saturday, I forgot to mention in my email that our group is having an activity on the beach and there will be Brazilian BBQ and we are in charge of the activities or games that we are going to play. We have planned already for a race against the missionaries where it is all of the members versus the missionaries (me and my companion) in a race. Other than that we don't know what our other activities are going to be at this point. All I now is that it is going to be fun and the food is going to be good. I love the food here, the beans and rice are really good here. The meat is really good too! Most of all the fruit is really good.! I just bought 4 mangos today for 4 reais! I am really excited to eat those!
I told you a little about Miguel and Michelle. I told you that Michelle is Miguel's daughter and that we contacted Miguel in the street. What I didn't tell you was that Michelle did have a church that she was attending and Miguel didn't have a set church that he was attending. When we had our first visit them Michelle seemed excited and Miguel had a lot of questions for us. On our second visit, Michelle seemed even more excited and had looked the church up on the Internet. On our third visit, we asked Michelle if she had read the assigned chapter from the Book of Mormon that we gave her, she was all too excited to share with us what she really liked from the chapter, and it just so happened that the scripture that she shared was one of the scriptures that we were going to share with them. Miguel had many questions on each visit. It's now time for us to give them a baptismal invite. We are going to invite Michelle first because she seems more enthused about the gospel than her father, even though he likes what he has heard so far. She just has more excitement and a different spirit about it then her father, we are going to have to keep working with them, especially Miguel to answer all of his questions.
I am now on Chapter 16 in 1 Nephi chapters 11-15 are really good. I would like to ask you all to have family scripture study at night if you can for half an hour or so, I know that I am asking a lot yet also very little, but I know that what I ask is pretty important, it will bring our family closer together. And also help with bringing more knowledge unto each of you, and it will help you be ready to teach on anything to anyone at any time. I would also have you remember your spiritual experiences that you have had and also to read your Patriarchal Blessings, both of those have already helped me a lot on my mission so far with disappointments and hardships and discouragements. I have seen the blessings that come from these in my life more readily here, and these are great blessings, blessings of guidance, peace, love and hope and also of faith these are all blessings that every one can have if they seek them and along with those blessings come more spiritual experiences if we are prepared to receive them. I know that everything happens for a reason, whether we know that reason or not. I miss you all and love you.
Sincerely, Sue Filho Elder Adam McBarron
I can't wait for this Saturday, I forgot to mention in my email that our group is having an activity on the beach and there will be Brazilian BBQ and we are in charge of the activities or games that we are going to play. We have planned already for a race against the missionaries where it is all of the members versus the missionaries (me and my companion) in a race. Other than that we don't know what our other activities are going to be at this point. All I now is that it is going to be fun and the food is going to be good. I love the food here, the beans and rice are really good here. The meat is really good too! Most of all the fruit is really good.! I just bought 4 mangos today for 4 reais! I am really excited to eat those!
I told you a little about Miguel and Michelle. I told you that Michelle is Miguel's daughter and that we contacted Miguel in the street. What I didn't tell you was that Michelle did have a church that she was attending and Miguel didn't have a set church that he was attending. When we had our first visit them Michelle seemed excited and Miguel had a lot of questions for us. On our second visit, Michelle seemed even more excited and had looked the church up on the Internet. On our third visit, we asked Michelle if she had read the assigned chapter from the Book of Mormon that we gave her, she was all too excited to share with us what she really liked from the chapter, and it just so happened that the scripture that she shared was one of the scriptures that we were going to share with them. Miguel had many questions on each visit. It's now time for us to give them a baptismal invite. We are going to invite Michelle first because she seems more enthused about the gospel than her father, even though he likes what he has heard so far. She just has more excitement and a different spirit about it then her father, we are going to have to keep working with them, especially Miguel to answer all of his questions.
I am now on Chapter 16 in 1 Nephi chapters 11-15 are really good. I would like to ask you all to have family scripture study at night if you can for half an hour or so, I know that I am asking a lot yet also very little, but I know that what I ask is pretty important, it will bring our family closer together. And also help with bringing more knowledge unto each of you, and it will help you be ready to teach on anything to anyone at any time. I would also have you remember your spiritual experiences that you have had and also to read your Patriarchal Blessings, both of those have already helped me a lot on my mission so far with disappointments and hardships and discouragements. I have seen the blessings that come from these in my life more readily here, and these are great blessings, blessings of guidance, peace, love and hope and also of faith these are all blessings that every one can have if they seek them and along with those blessings come more spiritual experiences if we are prepared to receive them. I know that everything happens for a reason, whether we know that reason or not. I miss you all and love you.
Sincerely, Sue Filho Elder Adam McBarron
July 11, 2011 Letter from Anchieta
Dear Family,
So today is my third p-day in the mission field. This past week was a crazy week. So much happened. I had my first companion exchange, I went to Guarapari and my companion stayed in Anchieta. Guarapari is the nearest big city. My exchange was with Elder J. Silva, he is a Brazilian missionary. I had a lot of fun on the exchange, I learned a lot and it helped my Portuguese too. It was a little strange though going to sleep there that night. And the next day when I was my companion again, we went and gave a presentation when I was with my companion again, we went and gave a presentation to these kids that are in a drug rehab center in our area. That was really cool! Everyone wanted to talk to us because we are from the U.S., but I couldn't really reply because I could not understand them. They all liked our presentation and we passed out 40 Book of Mormons there.
That same day we found Adias as we were out walking around. Sorry that was wrong, we found Adias 2 days before that. The next day, we had Leticia's baptism. The night before we visited her and her cousin was at her house and he tried to tell us that she wasn't going to be baptized, but what was cool was that before that Leticia pulled us aside and told us that her cousin was there and not to listen to anything that he said and that she was going to get baptized the next day. The next day came and things weren't going smoothly, we got ready and got to the church building and then we got a call from Leticia saying that they were having trouble with transportation. So our Group President went and picked them up. And after that, we had the baptism without any problems. I was one of the witnesses for the baptism. Oh, I almost forgot the night before the baptism I dreamt in Portuguese. I don't know what was said, but I know it was said in Portuguese.
The night right after Leticcia's baptism the power in all of Anchieta went out. My companion and I were about to get burgers to celebrate the baptism when it went out. It was out for about an hour or so. It was kind of cool because everything was dark and you could only see out in the street by the mooonlight. That was Saturday. Sunday, yesterday, we had Leticia's confirmation, which I got to stand in for, which was pretty cool. We also had someone that we made a street contact with come to church that we didn't think would come, but she came and brought a friend. We mad an appointment to meet with them, but we don't know whether they will be investigators or not. Their names are Anna-Luiza and Brisa. Brisa is the one that we contacted. We will see if they will be investigators or not.
Well, that was all of the excitement for the week for me. I have started over in reading the Book of Mormon I am in 1 Nephi 13. I have really enjoyed reading again because it seems to refer to why I am here on a mission and to what I should be doing as I am here on a mission and to what I should be doing as I am here. The coolest chapters that I have read so far are 1 Nephi 11, 12 and 13. Chapter 11 has some really cool information in it. I have made a lot of connections and learned a lot from just that one chapter. I would suggest that for your next family home evening that you all read that chapter together and try and find connections to things and between things. It would cool also if afterwards you all could pick a favorite scripture or two and write down what it is and why it is your favorite scripture or scriptures and share them with each other, and then send them to me so that I could be a part of the blessings that will be shared by this activity. I ask that whenever you get a chance to got to the Temple that you take the opportunity on behalf since I can't go for the rest of my time here on the mission.
Thank you for all that you have done for me and for all that you are doing for me. I thank you for the way that you raised me and for all that you have taught me. For all of the help that you have given me and all of the help that you are now giving me. I miss you all and am hoping the best for all of you.
Seu Filho (your son), Seu irmao (your brother) e seu neto (and your grandson), Elder Adam McBarron
So today is my third p-day in the mission field. This past week was a crazy week. So much happened. I had my first companion exchange, I went to Guarapari and my companion stayed in Anchieta. Guarapari is the nearest big city. My exchange was with Elder J. Silva, he is a Brazilian missionary. I had a lot of fun on the exchange, I learned a lot and it helped my Portuguese too. It was a little strange though going to sleep there that night. And the next day when I was my companion again, we went and gave a presentation when I was with my companion again, we went and gave a presentation to these kids that are in a drug rehab center in our area. That was really cool! Everyone wanted to talk to us because we are from the U.S., but I couldn't really reply because I could not understand them. They all liked our presentation and we passed out 40 Book of Mormons there.
That same day we found Adias as we were out walking around. Sorry that was wrong, we found Adias 2 days before that. The next day, we had Leticia's baptism. The night before we visited her and her cousin was at her house and he tried to tell us that she wasn't going to be baptized, but what was cool was that before that Leticia pulled us aside and told us that her cousin was there and not to listen to anything that he said and that she was going to get baptized the next day. The next day came and things weren't going smoothly, we got ready and got to the church building and then we got a call from Leticia saying that they were having trouble with transportation. So our Group President went and picked them up. And after that, we had the baptism without any problems. I was one of the witnesses for the baptism. Oh, I almost forgot the night before the baptism I dreamt in Portuguese. I don't know what was said, but I know it was said in Portuguese.
The night right after Leticcia's baptism the power in all of Anchieta went out. My companion and I were about to get burgers to celebrate the baptism when it went out. It was out for about an hour or so. It was kind of cool because everything was dark and you could only see out in the street by the mooonlight. That was Saturday. Sunday, yesterday, we had Leticia's confirmation, which I got to stand in for, which was pretty cool. We also had someone that we made a street contact with come to church that we didn't think would come, but she came and brought a friend. We mad an appointment to meet with them, but we don't know whether they will be investigators or not. Their names are Anna-Luiza and Brisa. Brisa is the one that we contacted. We will see if they will be investigators or not.
Well, that was all of the excitement for the week for me. I have started over in reading the Book of Mormon I am in 1 Nephi 13. I have really enjoyed reading again because it seems to refer to why I am here on a mission and to what I should be doing as I am here on a mission and to what I should be doing as I am here. The coolest chapters that I have read so far are 1 Nephi 11, 12 and 13. Chapter 11 has some really cool information in it. I have made a lot of connections and learned a lot from just that one chapter. I would suggest that for your next family home evening that you all read that chapter together and try and find connections to things and between things. It would cool also if afterwards you all could pick a favorite scripture or two and write down what it is and why it is your favorite scripture or scriptures and share them with each other, and then send them to me so that I could be a part of the blessings that will be shared by this activity. I ask that whenever you get a chance to got to the Temple that you take the opportunity on behalf since I can't go for the rest of my time here on the mission.
Thank you for all that you have done for me and for all that you are doing for me. I thank you for the way that you raised me and for all that you have taught me. For all of the help that you have given me and all of the help that you are now giving me. I miss you all and am hoping the best for all of you.
Seu Filho (your son), Seu irmao (your brother) e seu neto (and your grandson), Elder Adam McBarron
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
8/1/11 Email from Anchieta
Adam's email this week, my comments are in brackets.
[Do you still have baptisms set for this week?] I have not gotten any packages yet, I should get them either on thursday, or on the thursday after my birthday. It takes 3 to 4 weeks to get here, and then I get them at transfers or earlier if either me and my companion have to go to the mission office, or if the district leader has to go to the mission office. The transfer ends on the 9th of August, so the 11th I will definitely have at least one package. It is really cool that I have my birthday on a p-day cause I can email you all on that day!
[Do you still have baptisms set for this week?] Yes we do still have 2 baptisms set for this week, they have been interviewed and they are all ready to go! I can't wait!
[Have you taught a lesson yet?] I have not taught a full lesson, but I have taught many parts of the lessons.
[What kinds of foods/snacks are you missing from the US?] I am missing all of the sour candy, they don't really have sour candy here in Brazil, I am missing Papa Murphy's Chicago pizza, and a few other things that I can't think of right now. Oh, sushi from Sushi Town.
[What kind of stores and businesses are in Ancheita?] There are a lot of pharmacies and super markets, and little resturants too. Other than that not really much.
[Where in town is your apartment?] My apartment is kind of on the edge of town nearest to Vitória and the new apartment that we will be getting is even closer to Vitória. Oh and the city name is Anchieta, I misspelled it when I sent my first message to you.
[What was your best experience this week?] My best experience this week was at our district meeting, I was able to understand more things in Portuguese, enough to be able to respond and teach in our practice teaching segment in the meeting. I am being able to speak and understand a little more each day, but it is still pretty hard to understand and speak.
I hope everyone is doing well back home, i miss you all and love you.
Elder Adam McBarron
PS This is a picture of a statue in Anchieta that is in front of a gas station, I thought it was pretty funny and cool.
[This is a picture sent to me from Elder Turley's Dad]
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