March 26, 2012

The END OF THE WORLD. Ha. We got soaked.

 Talking to my friends ...

 Balloon heads.  Ha.

 Teaching a balloon head ...

Sometimes calling to repentance is necessary ....  Ha.

 

Another week flies by. Sometimes it amazes me how short a week really is. And lovely fotos from Hawaii Mom and Dad, yes I do remember when I fell in the water in Hawaii. I wish I could fall in here too. Ha. The stars here are pretty bright, you can get some great views looking at the stars. I think I saw some planets from here too. Stars are such a beautiful creation of God. And I didn't get any mail this time, so I'll have to wait for the next chance. So this week wasn't too exciting. We did live through the "end of the world." It was crazy, we left the church after a reading one night, and it was raining. Then the wind picked up, which meant we couldn't use our umbrellas, so we got soaked. But that's not all, the power goes out in the city, and so its pitch black, and we're going through the rain with passing car lights and lightning lighting our way. Our house had power when we got there though. But it reminded me of what the end of the world would be like. Ha. It was cool though. We also had some fun with a package that my companion got from his family and girlfriend. We also have been working with several investigators and we have found some new people to teach too. The Lord is always watching us and blessing us in all that we do. The Lord loves us so much, and we should show our love to him. We can truly show our love by keeping his commandments, and as it says in Mosiah 2:17,  we can show our love by serving others. Truly we are all brothers and sisters, and we always should strive to serve others. The Lord blesses us, and we can be a blessing of the Lord by helping others. I am really looking forward to conference, and hope that all of you get a chance to hear the Prophets voice, and the counsel from him and others that God has called to lead us. I love you all, and hope that you all have an excellent week.

Abraço,

Elder Tanner Ross Paxman

March 19, 2012

 1 Year foto ...

 1 Year !!!

 Face burning. owwww! Ha. (not literally ... no one was seriously hurt in the taking of this picture  :-)

 One month for Elder Agnelli ... and one year for me!

 Burning Shirt = Really Hot!  Ha.

 Hey Look, it's Salto De Pirapora!

Thanks Grandma for the package  :-)

Another week flies by in the mission. I can't believe its already been a year. Craziness. This week has been quite a week. Elder Agnelli is still doing great, though we both are still the typical tired missionaries. Ha. We are really trying to talk to more and more people and trying to improve our contact skills. We had an amazing mission conference this week, and we all left pumped up and ready to work. Also Friday;  I made one year, and my companion made 1 month, so that was exciting, burning shirts, and drinking milkshakes. Ha. (Don't worry the shirt wasn't mine, it was an old one we found). I got a package from grandma which was awesome, and we have another chance to get mail this week, so we'll see if I get anything else. Thanks for all the stuff you send. This mission is awesome, and I'm loving it here. So Eliane is a member that used to be inactive that we reactivated, and she is a good friend of missionaries. She taught us how to cook a few things, and we had a family night over there with several members the other day. It was one of her kids birthdays, she has two boys, though in the end they couldn't come. We did a lesson using my legos. When we were heading over there, we walked over a log bridge, and its was super dark, and I saw a huge frog, I mean It could have been a bunny the size it was ...  jumping right in front of me. My companion told me to run, and I told him, its alright its already gone. He started running, and I looked to see why, and there was a huge bull (ox?) running right at me. I took off and booked it for my life. It didn't follow us for very long though. And later we had to sneak around another cow too. It had huge horns. It was an adventurous night :-)  Viviane and family are doing great, Ataide hasn't been to church yet, but the Kids went alone, as the Mom had a meeting and couldn't come. Truly the Lord blesses us in every moment. A scripture that I think has amazing counsel, is in Alma 37:37. It is very important that we counsel with the Lord and look for his help in all things.  I love all you guys and hope that you all have an amazing week.

Abraço,

Elder Tanner Ross Paxman

Some more pictures from members:

March 12, 2012

More pictures ...

March 12, 2012

 Three Generations!

Us and our Parrot Friend!

Holy cow! All my nieces and Nephews are getting huge! Its always great to see pictures of them. This week was another fast week, but here comes the news. I am a "DAD!" Ha. I'm training here in Salto De Pirapora with my "son," Elder Agnelli! Yay! He is from Paraná, Brasil. He is super excited and full of gas. I hope that I can be a good example for him, and truly help him in his mission. Its been going good so far. So, this week is another Birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY PEPPER! (Someone tell her for me please, ha). So this week, we have been able to mark a baptismal date with Viviane, and we are working with her family to be Baptised as well. We'll see how that goes. They are an awesome family. Otherwise we have been searching for those that are looking for the gospel, and visiting and teaching several people here. And as for Goiaba, it doesn't really taste like any other fruit. Ha. I don't know how to describe it, but its good. And we will be hitting up the boonies once a week it looks like now. Holycow, time flies. I wanted to pass a scripture this week that I think is very simple and true. It is Jacob 6:12. Its a simple things, but truly we should always try to be smart in what we do. We should always seek counsel from the wisest of all, our Father in Heaven. Truly it is bad enough to not receive blessings from God, but also there are natural consequences from sin that just add to the pain. Let us be wise in what we do. I love you all and have a great week.

Abraço,

Elder Tanner Ross Paxman

March 5, 2012

So, today I will find out the next six weeks of my life, yes its transfers yet again. Já. And, Yay I'm a Llama again! I mean, an uncle! That is super exciting news about Autumn and her new Baby Amy. So its birthday time right now. Ha. HAPPY belated BIRTHDAY TABOR, and Amy too! So, the Baptismal fotos that we took are with Leticia, her Mom, the Bishop, and us. The Bishop did the confirmation, and its so good to see her as a new member of the church. And every chapel here in Brasil, that I have seen so far, has a baptismal font, ha. And, as for transfers, I have no idea what will happen. I'm excited to learn soon. But every time we are transferred, everyone that gets transferred goes to the mission office in São Paulo, meets their new companion, and then goes to their new area with their new companion. So I honestly have no idea what will happen this time, but we'll see and I'll have to tell you next week. This week truly has been a normal week in our life as missionaries. Calisto is doing good, we are glad to be working with him, and we'll see how that goes. We are truly trying to help the people here, and we're glad to see a few people on Sunday at church. The Lord truly blesses us in our efforts. We also did go to the boonies of our area, as we went to Quintas, which is a neighborhood of farms and houses out in the country. We went with a member, and we just plucked fruits off trees, ate them, and threw the rest out. Tons of Goiaba. It was cool, I liked the change, and it was a really peaceful place. The bus to get out there was practically an Indiana Jones ride. A scripture that I would like to share this week is Moroni 7:16-17. Truly all men were given the Light of Christ to judge. All of us were commanded to be perfect, and we should strive to be perfect. We wont make it, but we should do our best. We should do all our duties helping each other out. We are all on the same team, and the enemy is real. We need to help out all our team members. It should be our goal that as much of our team as possible can make it back to the "Homecoming Party." (Look up "Life is a Football game," by Troy Dunn. It's real good) We should always help our fellow brothers and sisters, as we as a team should work to conquer Satan. What good does it do you if your the only one at the homecoming party? The more the merrier. We should strive to do all good things, as all good things come from Christ. I love you all and wish you all a great week.

Abraço,

Elder Tanner Ross Paxman