January 30, 2012

 Pizza!  We got to make it, and then eat it.  It was real good!

Division headed to São Paulo for the trienamento of New Leaders of Districts

So - first of all, about the storm: here, it normally is blazing hot and sunny, and then clouds over really fast and starts pouring rain. Its crazy, so a lot of the time there isn't much warning, ha. And as for my umbrella, we both ended up buying new ones. And I really think that some people truly must buy gas from gas trucks when they pass, or maybe the gas truck drivers like to listen to weird ice cream truck music. Ha. And here's the real big news, I am still in Salto De Pirapora with Elder Wendel! Yay! But wait, there is more, I am the new District Leader of us, and two other companionship's. That's gonna be crazy, I call everyone every night, and I will be giving trienamentos in our district meetings now. I'm excited, and hope that I can help our district. As for who we are teaching, we are teaching a few people. Ataide and his family are cool, we are hoping that they will pray and ask with real intent about The Book of Mormon. Also, Keti, who is progressing and stopping smoking, though she needs to get married too. This week, was very eventful, Monday pizza, Tuesday Setenta (Seventy), Thurs/Friday São Paulo Trienamento. So yes, we got to make and eat our own pizza on P-day, and it was really good. We had Elder Jay E. Jensen from the Presidency of the Seventy come and had a meeting specially for the Elders here in the interior. That was really good. He has a Spanish accent in his Portuguese. And then I went to a training in São Paulo at our mission office for all the new Leaders of Districts. Also, another one of our pesquisadores asked if we could take a few days off from the mission to go travel Brasil with him in his truck. That would be pretty intense and exciting, but I told him we couldn't because we are servants of the Lord here in Salto, and we don't have "breaks." So in my study this morning, I read the talk by Elder Richard G. Scott (which is a excellent talk), and he mentioned a scripture that I truly do like. Its in Alma 7:23-24. It talks about good qualities that all of us should seek for. When we need, all we need to do is ask, and when we get, we need to thank Heavenly Father for giving it to us. And truly Faith, Hope, and Charity are bound together in a unbreakable bind, that when you have all three, then surely you will be doing good things that you should be doing. The Lord loves us all, and will bless us when we do things that are good and in concordance with His will. I love you all and wish you a great week.

Abraço,

Elder Tanner Ross Paxman

January 23, 2012

Birthday Cake 1 ...  Yay! 

 Birthday Cake 2 ...  Boo Yah !!

Our umbrellas after a huge rainstorm! We had to get new ones. Ha.

Wow is right. Ha. This week was an eventful week for all of us.  You guys suffered through snow storms, while I got soaked in a rainstorm. Ha, what an adventure! We were walking on the road, and bam, it hit!  Holy cow, it was like a hurricane, and yes, we tried to get to cover, but we had to find some first! Ha. Hopefully all worked out with you guys and the snow. So my Birthday was amazing, I didn't get to celebrate with family and friend from back home, but at least I got my friends and family here. It was a great time, a member took us to a restaurant for Almoço, and that was really good. I also was invited to a couple peoples houses, and that was a fun time. The work here has been going good. We are starting to teach a few people that look promising, and are really cool. As for the birds nest, it was above that weird tile stuff they have for a lot of church ceilings or schools, and some parts of the nest just started to appear, so we got it down. You guys know when you hear that music on the street ...  and up comes the ice cream truck? Well, I heard that music, and here comes the truck, and "what the...?" It's a gas truck. That's crazy eh? I guess people might just come out of their houses to buy their gas. Crazy eh? Ha. There was another cool event that happened this week, my companion made 6 months! We burnt a tie and had a good time. It's crazy how fast time flies on the mission, transfers are this week, I think I'll stay here with Elder Wendel though. I hope so, things are going great here. So, the scripture of the week this week will be Romans 1:16. We should not be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. We should stand up for what we believe and always be brave. I think it matters more what God thinks that what man thinks. The Gospel truly is the thing that brings us the most happiness, and also that will save all of us in the end. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is perfect and was created for all men, so that if we do our part, that we can be saved. We need to be actively engaged in doing good things and being good examples of what we believe and know. The Lord knows each of us individually and loves each and everyone of us. Let us all show our love for him as he shows his love for us. Everyday is a blessing. I love you all and hope that you all have a great week.

Abraço,

Elder Tanner Ross Paxman

January 16, 2012

 Glasses Day!  A random day we just wanted to wear our glasses ...

A bird nest that we found in the Church ceiling.  It was huge!  And Douglas - who is Hilarious.

Talk about a crazy week. Well for you guys back home at least. Ha. That's awesome about Trayden! Yay! Another Nephew! We all can play Rugby together when they're all older. I'm excited. Ha. And thanks for everything. I can't believe that this week I will become an adult. Well, at least not a teenager anymore ...  Time is such a strange thing. It passes at the same rate in reality, but it seems to vary in our minds. This week was not very exciting for me, we had a lot of "compromissios" fall through and people that don't really want to do their part. I think we need to increase our teaching pool, and help those that want to be helped. Its really hard, because I know that everyone of us is a Son or Daughter of God. It's sad to think that not everyone will accept the Gospel. As righteous members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we know that the greatest happiness truly comes from living the Gospel and keeping the commandments. Truly the Gospel will improve our lives in every way possible. This doesn't mean that trials wont come, for they surely will, it just means that we will have the help of the Lord. Truly, to arrive at the Top of the Mountain, we need to do our best, and make it as far as we can. If we rely on the Lord, we can make it a good distance. We won't make it to the top of the mountain without the Lords help, but if we do our best, and rely and trust in the Lord, it doesn't matter how far we make it. The lord will lift and carry us when we don't have strength to carry on, and only through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we can receive the fullness and all the blessings that the Lord has promised. We have so many great promises of the Lord, and this is according to our obedience. The Lord gave us a promise through modern revelation, that if we do our part, He will do his part. This scripture is in Doctrine and Covenants 82:10  Please, give heed to our prophets that receive revelation from God specifically for us, remember that all of us are Children of God, and we therefore have an opportunity to be blessed more than we can imagine. We can receive all that the Father hath. I love you all, and hope you all have a wonderful week.

Abraço,

Elder Tanner Ross Paxman

January 10, 2012

Thought you might enjoy two pictures of Tanner sent to us from Elder Parker's mom (the missionary Tanner is Standing with) ...

January 9, 2012

 Salto De Pirapora!  Cool Eh?

 SDP "Close Up"  TOD, ha.

SDP, Mais uma!

Another week passes. Its been good here, and yes, really hot. It's supposed to get hotter too. I think we'll die. Ha. Crazy news from home, eh? Claire's getting married, Amber is moving out, and everyone is growing up. Wow. Ha. I also heard that I have letters and a package coming my way, which is always good news. Ha. I made sweet and sour the other day; my companion said it was good, though he doesn't really like sweet and sour sauce ...   Dad, you would be proud. Storytime... So we were walking on the road and there were some cows on the side just chillin, and I did the famous cow call, and it started running at us. We are lucky it had to cross a street and stopped because of the cars coming. Ha. It was really funny, but the call worked. So this week, we have visited a lot of people, inactives and pesquisadores alike. We had some inactives at church, and some investigators too. That was super good! An inactive even bore her testimony and thanked us. It's so good to see the goodness and happiness that the Spirit brings. We really need to focus and help some people prepare for baptism and find those that our ready. We have some people on date, and we really hope that Naide and Leticia do their part and prepare for the baptism. They are awesome people. I am so glad for the Lords help in all that we do. The Lord is real, and I know that he loves each and everyone of us. We are all brothers and sisters here on this earth, and all therefore, sons and daughters of God. There truly is nothing in this world that will bring our families and all of us closer and more united than the church. The first scripture in the Book of Mormon shows us the importance of family. Our families are the most important units in this life, and we should all do our part to make our homes a heaven on earth. As someone, don't remember who, said, "Heaven should be a continuation of the ideal family home." The Lord loves us and has given all of us families, and as all members of the Church know, or should know, we are all one big family. "United we stand, now and forever more." We should seek to be one with the ones we love and let our love grow for all others. I am so thankful for my family and I love them so much. I wouldn't be the same without them. I love you all so much, and wish you all a great week.

Abraço,

Elder Tanner Ross Paxman

January 2, 2012

 Year of Baptisms ...  and Corintions!  Ha.

 A cool rock and forest

A cool short cut across a log bridge. Otimo Ne? (Awesome isn't it?)  Ha.

IT'S 2012 !!!   Oxe, I don't believe it!  So, first of all, thanks to Clark for allowing me to jump in the lake through a cardboard substitute. That is awesome! I'm glad I could still participate  :-)    And congrats to Amber with Kitt! That's so exciting! Yay! I have another niece! She looks great too. She'll be pretty big when I get back too. Kids grow so fast. So, this week has been a normal week of visiting people and teaching about the Gospel. It's really sad though, when people say they will come, and they don't come to church. Sometimes people just don't understand the importance of going to Church. It truly makes all the difference in our weeks. We did visit several less actives this week too, and we need to get them to feel the Spirit again. The part that is hard for all missionaries is free agency. Sounds funny, but when you know something is good for someone, you really want them to follow and do these things. We can teach and preach all we want, but it's up to them to act, to let the Spirit touch their hearts. As missionaries, we aren't called to convenience anyone, we are here to invite and help. I know that truly the Spirit is the only way we can experience real conversion. We all should seek to let the Spirit into our lives and increase our testimony at all times. So, this week, we celebrated New Years by going to a party, but, we had to leave when everyone was showing up because of our hour to return home. But I did wake up and drink a cup of Mango juice and count down to bring in the new year. Pretty exciting eh? They have tons of fireworks and lots of parties here. I hear that it's one of the biggest holidays in Brazil, though, we were asleep for most of it. Ha. The fireworks were really loud, though we couldn't really see them. Ha. It was good though. Here we go 2012. Let's do it! So, I would like to share a scripture that is in Mosiah 4:30. Yes it's a scripture mastery, but it's scripture mastery because its a good scripture. Ha. We should all watch ourselves and set goals that allow us to improve in the new year. We all can let our spirituality grow in this year, and we should always be willing to let ourselves grow and improve. I know that it is through goals that we make, that we improve and grow. I love you all and wish that you all have an awesome week ...  and set goals that will help you and others to walk in the light. 

Abraço,

Elder Tanner Ross Paxman