July 30, 2012

Our Zone with President & Sister Martins and Elder & Sister Costa

 

Its so good to see all the fotos of the family in good ol' Canada. I love that place. So, first of, I totally forgot that the Olympics started if that shows how big the Olympics are in Brazil ...  Besides the fact that we are missionaries and we hardly know anything about what's going on in the world. Ha. But anyways, before I continue, HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHAD! and also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMBER! Two in one week! Yay! I hope that you both have a great Birthday! So this week has passed by incredibly fast. I look back, and I am always amazed at how much time has past. This past week we found a lot of "elects" ...  and then we found out they aren't really "elects". Ha. We found several people and families to work with, but then none of them went to Igreja (Church). We are working hard here, and the Lord is always blessing us. I also did another division with Elder Engberson, and that was interesting. He is a good guy. Ha. We heard a scripture in the mission conference last week that I would like to share with you all. It is Mark 9:23. Truly anything is possible if we believe. The Lord will help us to do anything we need to. Impossible is a lie. Trust in the Lord, and do what he says, and anything is possible. I love you all, and hope that all continues to go well this week. Next week we will go to the temple, so our P-Day will be moved to Wednesday, so I'll write you guys then. Until next time...=]

Abraço,

Elder Tanner Ross Paxman

 

PS: I'm about an hour and a half from the mission house by train and bus. The school here starts in January, and goes until December. They have two breaks that are each about 1 month each. One starts in December until February, and the other is part of July.

 

 

 

 

 

Juy 23, 2012

 Oh Yeah!  I got me a new belt buckle!  Sweetness!  Ha.

 Goodbye Alcohol!  Hello Wisdom!

Elder Nogueira and I!  Dois Loucos!  Rapaaaz!

Another week bites the dust. And before I go on about this past week, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! I hope your birthday is wonderful. This week was a rather busy week. It all started on P-Day when we went to the center of São Paulo and bought some ties and I got me a Belt Buckle. My collection continues to grow. That all was a good adventure and we had a great time there. Then we had interviews with President Martins on Wednesday, and that went good too. The next day we had a mission conference (Elders of the "Capital") with Elder Claudio R. M. Costa, and he talked with all of us leaders, and then with all of us together. It was a great meeting, and the spirit was strong there. We have been able to work with several families and individuals to grow closer to Christ. The Lord blessed us with six of our Pesquisadores that went to church. The Lord always is looking out for us and blessing us. Also, we got together with a family of recent converts that are really cool, and he used to drink alcoholic beverages, and even had a nice collection. He was counseled to get rid of it all, so we had a party and poured it all down the sink. That was quite an adventure ... we have a little video on my camera. So, we are continuing to work with Samuel, his parents, Lucimar and Marcos, and his little sister, Sofia. They all went to church on Sunday, which was really cool, since it was the first time Marcos went. We are going to go there again, and talk to them about being baptised. We also have several others that we are working with. Elder Nogueira and I are happy and working here. Que Alegria! Que Regozijo! He is super animated and a good missionary. The scripture that I would like to pass this week, is Mosiah 5:13. We cant serve our Lord and God without knowing Him, and we should always search to know more about Him. He loves us, and wants us to be happy, and we can show our love through our service, as we learn more and more about our Savior and Redeemer. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, and that He loves us all, and wants us to be happy. Truly there is no greater happiness than that which comes from keeping the commandments of God. We can receive all the blessings of God through His restored gospel. I love you all, and hope that you all have a great week.

Abraço,

Elder Tanner Ross Paxman

PS: Here in Brazil all the missionaries are limited to only walking, no bikes or cars, just the bus and train when we can afford it. Ha. Its a good work out for us. We don't really see many strange animals. There are a lot of birds here, mostly pigeons, but some parrots, and cranes and stuff. There also are wombats. Usually we don't see a lot of animals  --  besides the large amount of dogs, birds, and cats.

July 16, 2012

Some pics of when we hiked up to the Peak of Jaraguá last P-day.

We went with some members:

Mais um of the Peak of Jaraguá. Translation:

"Dont feed the animals, they bite and transmit sickness"

 

Óppía! Another week is already gone. wow. So yes, my companion collects ties, and he uses them, but I don't know why he wants so many. Ha. Its funny though, we'll see if he uses them more than once. Ha. Elder Nogueira has been here one transfer before I got here, so he knows the area pretty well. I also went to on a division this week with Elder B. Rodrigues in Taipas. There are some dangerous areas there, but all is well, nothing happened, the Lord protects us. I don't think the size of our area is affected if we are leaders or not, its just one area that is good distance from all areas. I don't really know how they are chosen. Church here is good. We have two wards that meet in our chapel. The missionaries in our zone are spread out among a few cities. We have 6 companionships in our zone. My companion and I are working with several people to prepare for baptism. We are working with Samanta, a young women who went to church this week, and is really interested in the church, and likes what we have taught her. We also are working with Samuel, and his family, including his mother Lucimar. Samuel doesn't want to be baptised for who knows why, but they are a great family. We are always looking for more and working with less actives and recent converts. This past week we also had "Conselho de Líderes da Zona" which went really well. So This week I wanted to pass a scripture in Mosiah 18:21. We should always strive to be one. Especially in the church. We can help all our Brothers and Sisters and show forth our love for those around us. When we are united, we are strong, and we can do anything. God loves all of His children, and wants us all to be happy. I love you all, and hope you all have a great week.

Abraço,

Elder Tanner Ross Paxman

July 9, 2012

 Running from dogs is fun. ha.

Three Generations!  Me, my "son", and my "grandson!"  Yay!

 Elder Nogueira and I!  Que alegria! 

My companion, Eder Nogueira, and I eating goiaba!

My old Zone!

The super smelly river! Tiête.

So, here it comes, the results of the transfers. I am now in Jaraguá, a new area that is pretty humble. I have a new companion, the famous Elder Nogueira! Que Alegria! He is crazy, and a great guy and missionary. He is hilarious, and não é pouco não! Ha. He is from Pernambuco, and state of Brasil in the Nordestino (North east). We have already done a division actually, so we already knew each other. We both are the zone leaders of Zona Jaraguá. Its super different than Alphaville here, but the people are great here. My companion is always trying to get ties, and I've already gotten 5 ties from members here. Ha. He has a way with people, and gets ties and helps me get some too. So, this week has been getting to know the area, and all the people here. Its been good. Right before I left Alphaville, we went to take a shortcut that we take all the time, and were chased by two dogs, and we jumped a wall to get away. It was pretty sweet, and no one got hurt. I'm pretty sure that a man sent his dogs after us. It was funny because I made a noise with my backpack, and my companion took off running, and I thought he got scared easy ...  then looked back and heard the dogs running after us. What an adventure. So this week I wanted to pass a scripture with a testimony about our Savior, Job 19: 25-26. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. There truly is no greater joy than the joy that the gospel brings. Our Savior died for us, and wants us to be happy. He therefore left His gospel for us, so that all mankind can know, and have this great joy.  And that same gospel that all the prophets and the bible testify, yes, the same church that Jesus Christ organized, was restored, and is on the earth today. I love you all, and have a great week.

Abraço,

Elder Tanner Ross Paxman

PS: As for fruits here; there are a ton of fruits, several I have never seen before. I really like Maracujá  (which is like passion fruit I believe). There are some real good fruits here. As for raspberries, they are super rare in stores, and probably expensive. Goiaba is another good fruit that we don't have back at home.

July 2, 2012

 Elder Vincent & I!  Good division with chips and salsa to top it off!

You might think this is random, but it has a reason.  Look close to the top of my thumb ...  there is a beast there ...  I'm pretty sure its a wombat (or Capybara) that was just chillin' in the woods.
Legit Não é?

So, it is time again for yet another transfer. That means its already been six weeks, which is really crazy. Ha. Yes indeed, its transfer time, and we will know the results tonight. Who knows what could happen? It decides the next few weeks of my life. Ha. I'll let you guys know next week. And before I forget, to all of you in the states, Happy Fourth of July! Sorry for the lack of pictures, we are responsible for a nice area, but we live outside our area in a "normal" neighborhood, so we don't have the best computers. Sometimes the system just doesn't allow fotos as well, but I'm working on it, slower and fotos is better. Ha. So, this Sunday we had something happen that I'm pretty sure must be rare. We had two mission presidents return to our ward. Yes indeed, and one of them was Elder Black's mission President from Belo Horizonte. Now we have at least 4 ex-mission presidents in our ward. Crazy eh? Ha. We also were able to teach Caio, a young man about our age that knows some members. It went really well with him, and we are excited to be working with him. Also, I was reading in "Preach My Gospel" about how the Lord will guide us to the people that are ready for the Gospel, or guide them to us, and then we got a call with a reference. I guess this man, Joaquim, just walked up to the church and talked to the members that work in the office there and wanted to know more. We then went there and taught him, and we also returned with Irmão Piros (ex-mission President) to teach him. The spirit was really strong, and he told us that he wanted to be baptized soon, and we marked a baptismal date. The Lord is always watching us, and will bless us with Miracles. Miracles are truly happening everyday. I know that Prayer is super important, and that it can bring Miracles through our faith. There is a scripture in Alma 6:6, that talks about praying for those that know not God. We should be praying for people to have the opportunity to have the same joy that we have through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are all brothers, and we want to have the whole family there when its time for the "homecoming party." I love you all, and hope that you all have a wonderful week.

Abraço,

Elder Tanner Ross Paxman

PS: As for various wards in a chapel, here it is normally one ward for each chapel since the ward areas are normally larger than ours. Sometimes there will be two wards in one chapel, but typically it is only one.