9/19/11 Email from Serra Sede

[Here is this week's email, our questions are in brackets]

This week was really good and challenging for me, we upped our goals, and my companion had me be the senior for the week, it was kind of cool to do that.  We don't really have any new baptisms on the horizon soon.

[Are you getting transferred? If so, to where?]  I am getting transferred but I do not know where yet.  I find out tomorrow at the transfer meeting.  I am actually kind of excited about it.

[How many lessons did you teach this week?]  I taught quite a few lessons this week, I was also the senior companion for the week.  That was pretty fun!

[Have you handed out any of the things we sent for the little kids?]  I haven't really handed out too much of the little things to kids, we have to get permission from their parents to do so, they pretty much just look at me like I am weird.

[What was your best experience this week?]  My best experience this week was pretty much this whole week.  But there was a part that will be a pretty good mission story.  This week we were going to visit a reference that we received and had set up an appointment with him.  We got there and rang the door bell and then out of nowhere there comes this dog barking at us and tries to bite us from underneath the gate.  This continued for a good 5 or 6 minutes then my companion decided to try and kick the gate as the dog was barking to scare it.  He kicked the fence and it worked in scaring the dog but he also kicked the gate open.  He had started walking off already and didn't see the gate open.  I told him to run and we both ran as fast as we could as far away as we could from that house.  The dog didn't chase after us luckily.  But it was a funny experience now that I think about it.

I miss you all and hope the best for you all.

Elder Adam McBarron

9/12/11 Email from Serra Sede

Adam's email for this week, our questions are in brackets.

 My week was a little better but not too much, the adversary is working really hard in this area with our recent converts and investigators.  We were working on cleaning up a huge mess this week.  I also had a service project this week that during it I got a nice chunk of my hand taken out.   But all things turn out good in the end if you look for the bright side.  I included some pictures of the nice little gash, from the time I got the gash to the time of today to show the healing process.  I will probably have a scare from it so that is pretty cool!

[Any new people to teach this week?]  We don't really have any new people this week, but we are working on getting them.

[What do you do to keep going when you feel discouraged?]  When I feel discouraged, I  think what am I here for, to share this message of joy and happiness with the people here.  I also pray for help not to be discouraged and I also think that McBarrons don't give up until the job is done, that makes me feel better.

[What is your favorite area of Serra Sede?]  My favorite area of Serra Sede is Cascata, it reminds me a lot of eastern Washington and there are a lot of cool members that live there.

[Have you found anything fun on your P-day? or are you spending all day doing laundry? or are you using the cleaners?]  I have been playing soccer with the Brazilians on p-days for fun, we do laundry too on p-day, but sometimes we do it during the week if we need too.

[Do you get to eat at members homes much? What do you get fed?]  We get fed every day except for p-day.  We eat lunch with the members, lunch is the big meal here, not dinner.  We eat meat beans and rice, and what ever else the members decide to make for us.

[You said that the ward mission leader was a great, is he got it going for you guys and is he keeping you feed?]   The ward mission leader definitely keeps us fed.

[Are you suppose to be transferred soon? Do you know who you would like to be companions with?]   The next transfer is on the 20th I won't know until Sunday night whether I will be transferred and then I wouldn't find out who my companion would be or what area I would be going to until the day of the transfer.  I would like to be companions with one of the Assistants to the President, but other than that not really.

[What was your best experience this week?]  My best experience this week was going on a visit to a family in our area with Presidente Araújo, it was awesome.  He is really cool I am so glad that he is my mission president.

[Do you need anything? Do you want anything?]  I don't need or want anything at the moment other than letters

We have had a hard time trying to find news, but we are going to try getting news in a different part of our area.  Oh and by the way, it is probably over 80 here almost every day, so I know what you have been going through the past week for temp wise.  I love you all and miss you.

Elder McBarron

9/5/11 Email from Serra Sede

Our questions are in brackets.

I had a better week, I had to do a lot of work this week and I learned a lot this week.  I don't know why, but I was worrying that I didn't have the Spirit with me, but when I was looking back on the week last night, I realized that all that I did this week was done with the Spirit.  Satan has been trying hard this week to work on me and my companion.  He has been trying to bring us down anyway he could.  He has even been trying to use the dogs here, I was almost bitten this week by a dog and almost attacked by another, but I know that I was protected and my companion as well by our Heavenly Father.

[Are you still walking 10-15 miles a day?]  We are still walking that distance.

[Why don't you guys go buy bikes so you are not walking so far? Is it prohibited?]  It is against mission rules as far as I know to get bikes, or else I would go and get one.

[Did your baptism happen on Saturday, if so how was it?]  We had our baptism this Saturday, I heard that it was good.  I wasn't able to go because we accidentally scheduled to teach people during the same time as the baptism, so we had a division.  I taught the people with a Brazilian missionary that only has a month out in the field and he is 18.  My companion went to the baptism.  It was a good experience for me, it gave me more confidence in my ability to speak, it was an interesting day, but good.

[Do you know Elder Bagley, the missionary that had the accident with the train and lost his leg?] Yes I do kind of, he was the trainer for Elder Spencer.

[What kinds of food items would you like me to mail to you? (I hear Peanut Butter is a good one as well as Mac & Cheese)]  Mostly just peanut butter, we don't have too much time to make things at night.

[Did you find anyone to teach this week? What was your new plan?]  Yes we did, I was lead by the Spirit to people, and also this week we found a lady that had recently lost her daughter.   I was able to feel the love that her daughter had for her mom and also the joy that the daughter had that we were there teaching her mom.

[What was your best experience this week?]  My best experience was pretty much just the whole week, but mostly with the division with another missionary where I went knocking doors all day and contacting people.  I was lead by the spirit a lot that day.

I don't have any new pictures right now to send, but I will send them as soon as I do.  I love you all and miss you all.

Elder Adam McBarron

August 15, 2011 Letter from Serra Sede

Dear Family,  Thanks for this cool paper!  Thanks for all of the treats and the goodies.  Thanks for the ties and the t-shirts and shorts, I really like them!  The new area is cool, although it does have its own new challenges to deal with.  It has been hard getting used to the new area and still learning the new language.  I lost it one day in persona study and just really could not get any good kind of study that day.  But everything is getting better now.  The Ward Mission Leader here is amazing!  This is a really cool area!  It reminds me of home, which is good and not so good at the same time.  It's good because I feel good here, but it is bad because it is easier for me to think about home here and get trunky (miss home or something).  Dad would really like it here in Brazil, there are motorcycles every where and they are pretty much all Hondas too.  I miss my dirt bike, I kind of wish that I had ridden it more before the mission.  Oh well I will just have to ride it a lot when I get back.  Keep strong in reading your scriptures, praying, and going to church and doing the things that we have been told and should be doing.  I miss you all and hope that you are all doing well.  Elder Adam McBarron   P.S.  A good scripture that I have read is 2 Nephi 9:52