1/30/12 Email from Jardim Limoeiro

[Adam's email this week, our questions and comments are in brackets]

Sporting a Bieber do just before a hair cut : )



 [Mom has been sick this last week, how about you, how is it going?]  I am doing well, Mom I have something to say that a lot of times we have to do all that we can do first before a miracle can take place, especially with a blessing of health.

[How is your new companion, where is he from and how long has he been out, etc. ?]  Things are going better here.  I am a little more ready to work and I want to work.  I was kind of getting depressed with my last companion wanting me to make all of the decisions and being quiet and not really talking a lot.  Me and my new companion are getting along really well.  My new companion is
from Spokane, WA and he came to Brazil with me.  He was in my CTM District.  His name is Elder Collins.

[What are your goals with your new companionship?]  We are planing our goals for our companionship.

[How are your new roommates, where are they from, how long have they been out, etc?]  My roommates are from California and São Paulo.  The American has two transfers left after this and the Brazilian just started, he just ended his training.

[How is the teaching going?   Did you have your baptism?]  we have not had our baptism yet, it will be on the 10th.

[What was your best experience this week?]  My best experience this week was getting Elder Collins as a companion.

Miss you all and love ya.

Elder McBarron

1/23/12 Email from Jardim Limoeiro

[Adam's email for this week, our questions and comments are in brackets.]

 

This week was good, we met a lot of new people and had a new perspective this week.  We have a baptism marked for February 11.  She is 12 years old, but she is showing a great interest in the church.
  

[We got snow and freezing rain, how about you? Okay, we know Heat, Heat and Heat!]  No we didn't have any snow or freezing rain.  We hardly had rain this week it was a really dry week and with that it was even hotter.

 

[How is it going with your investigators?]  One of our investigators gave us the boot, probably because her boyfriend was talking bad about us and she didn't want to give up her boyfriend to be closer to Christ.  We are teaching a family and we are now focusing on teaching one of the children that has a chance of getting baptized.  We are teaching the lessons to the new members because the members aren't doing it up to this point.

 

[How are your families that you have baptized doing, have your heard?]  Michelle is going strong and Malu also, the others that are not in my area are starting to fall away or have fallen away because the members aren' really helping them stay active.  This is something that is a problem in the church in whatever area you will be, if the members are not helping with the new members, they will fall away.

 

[Is the ward taking care of you?]  The ward is giving us lunch and that is about it.  We are getting a few references but that is about it.  We have to work pretty hard to get these references.

 

[What did you do for fun?]  For fun this week we had an activity with the zone.  Also we got pizza and will get pizza again today.

 

[What is the news on transfers for this week?]  I am staying again in the area.  My companion is being transferred and the other 2 missionaries as well.  I will be the only missionary that is staying again.  That is pretty much the news on the transfers, Presidente said that I will really like my new companion, but I don't know who my new companion will be.   I am trusting president on this one.

 

[How is the toe doing?]  My toe is doing fine, the nail is growing back now and everything is looking good.

 

[Who was the most interesting person that you ran into this week?]  The most interesting person that we ran into was a woman that, as we were walking in the street, came to us and asked us who we were just because she kept seeing us walking in the street and thought we were Seventh Day Adventist but wasn't sure.  We got her address and will be going to visit her. That kept me going for a little while.

[What was your best experience this week?]  My best experience this week was last night at the fireside that President Araújo gave in the ward.  It was really good and I was the chorister, that was pretty fun!

 

I don't really have too much else to say other than I miss you all and love ya.

Elder McBarron

1/16/12 Email from Jardim Limoeiro

[I have to apologize for this being a week late, lots of storms this week here in Washington State and we lost power for days.  So, here is Adam's emails from last week, our questions and comments are in brackets.]

[Let it snow , let it snow, let it snow; did you guess that it is snowing here?]  Thanks for the trunkyness, that's what we call homesickness here in the mission.  I wish that I could have been there for the snow.  Oh well, I am getting a pretty dark tan here.  This week I was frying a couple of days because I forgot my sunscreen in the apartment but I didn't fry too bad as I was good by the next day.

Things are going ok here, we aren't having the results that we would like from our work but that is sometimes part of being a missionary, right? We woke up this Sunday at 5:30 am to go and get our investigators and not one came to church with us.  We were at one house for about an hour trying to wake them up so that they could come to church, I was yelling pretty loud for about the whole time and no one woke up.

Oh, I found a DVD  and bought it for really cheap, guess what it is of . . . , the Woody the Woodpecker show.  But the only thing is that it is only in Portuguese so if you guys wanted to watch it with me I think that you would be a little lost.  I was really excited when I saw it because I hadn't seen that show in years!  I bought it for 2.50 reais which is about $1.25, that was pretty cool too.

[Are you supposed to find out if you are getting transferred this week?]  We have one last week of this transfer, to get things going right with all of the members and with our investigators.  I will find out if I will be transferred next Monday and I will not find out where I will be transferred to, if I am transferred, until next Tuesday.

[Are you keeping your space clean? How are chores divided between you and your roommates?]  We are keeping things clean, we divide everything up.  One person cleans the bathrooms, one cleans the kitchen, one person sweeps and one person mops.

 

[What was your best experience this week?]  My best experience this week was that with the bishop here.  We had a really good lesson last night while we were teaching the mother of a member.  I started saying things about the first lesson that I had never thought of saying before and bishop said some really good stuff.

I was trying to send photos again this week but the computers here aren't liking me sending photos.

I hope all is going well for you.  Miss you all and love ya.

 

Seu Filho

Elder McBarron

 

1/9/12 Email from Jardim Limoeiro

[Adam's email for this week, our questions and comments are in brackets.  I can tell it's getting harder for him to think in English, I had to fix some of his sentences. : ) ]

[Nice picture on the motorcycle, who's was it?]  The motorcycle is owned by one of the people that I baptized.

[Now that the holidays are over, have your lessons picked up?Anyone new this week?]  Our lessons are starting to pick up now that the holidays are over, but they are still going a little slow right now because it is vacations for the Brazilians right now.  But we are finding more people to teach and it is getting easier to find people in their houses. We are unfortunately going to have to cut a lot of our teaching pool, they are not progressing. I had a division this week with my zone leader, that was pretty good.  Last week the Mission President said to me in an email that I might be a trainer or a leader soon, I thought that was pretty cool!  We are going to be using our teaching records from the area book more this week to try and find more people to teach, we found three people this last week doing this.  My district leader is becoming a little bit better to deal with, he is starting to talk with me a little bit more at the very least, which is helping.

[I wasn't feeling well and had our home teacher over for a blessing and we set a day for him to come visit every month.]  I am glad that you are doing well now. The weeks are going a lot faster here now. I am glad that you are having your home teachers come over we as members have to be asking or accepting our home teachers to come and visit us, home teaching is a big problem here, not too many people do their home teaching.  I am glad that you marked a set day for your home teacher to come and visit with you, it makes it easier on everyone.

[What is your favorite treat to get in Brazil?]  My favorite treat to buy is a chocolate from the Garoto factory called Serenata de Amor, it is really good.  When I come home I will buy some for you all to try.

[Any new goals for 2012?]  I have a new goal that our Mission President set for us that each missionary will baptize 20 people during the year.  Also to finish the Book of Mormon in Portuguese by the end of the year 2 times.

[Are you getting transferred now that the new year is here?]  I don't really have too much more to say for this week. I won't know if I will be transferred until not this next p-day but the p-day after, but I will probably be transferred, but I don't want to be transferred from here.

[What was your best experience this week?]  My best experience this week was working with my zone leader in my area, we had some really good lessons, and one lesson that we did not leave until she understood the importance of visiting the church.

That is pretty much all that I have for the week.  Oh I tried to do the Justin Beiber hair-do this week, I will be getting my hair cut today. I will send pictures next week the computer is not liking that I am trying to send pictures. Love you all and miss you all.

Seu filho

Elder McBarron

1/1/12 Email from Jardim Limoeiro

[Adam's email for this week, our questions are in brackets]
 
I can't believe that it is 2012. Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!

[How did you spend the rest of Christmas day?]  After we talked, I spent the rest of the day visiting people and then went home and slept.

[What did you do all week?]  I get to wake up the same time as every other day 6:30 am, what a wonderful life of a missionary!  We did find things to keep us busy, we had interviews with the Mission President and also a zone conference that when we got done and got to our area it was 7:30 pm.  We didn't really need to come up with something to do because the Mission President did it for us.  The other days we were trying to make up for lost time, and we played in the street, playing soccer with mangos.

[What did you do for New year's?]  I had a good New Year's, I woke up just in time to celebrate the new year changing and then went to sleep again.

[Where did you spend New years eve and day?] We spent new years with members and investigators until 8:30 and then we went back home planned and then went to sleep and then went to church and spent the time with our investigators again.

[Were you able to teach this week, or were most people out of town?] We were able to teach this week but it was difficult because everyone was traveling and most people were out of town but we did teach some people, but we didn't find any new people to teach.

[How about the new family are they receptive to you message?]  The new family is doing well the only thing is getting them to the church, we will mark dates with all of the children.

[What was your best experience this week?]  My best experience was my interview with President Araújo.

Miss you all and love you all.

Elder McBarron