Monday, October 29, 2012

October 29, 2012

 Baptismo!  Boom Baby!
Ricardo was Baptised!  Yay!  Glorious day !!!
 
 Elder Nielson and I on divisions!  Good times!
Elder Oxborrow is a great guy!

Wow, Time flies. All of my Nephews and Nieces are so huge in those pictures. Craziness! And they aren't the only ones getting older, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROBERT! and also HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA NEWTON! So, last week, I forgot to mention, but I went on a division with Elder Oxborrow, and he is awesome. This week I also got to do another division with Elder Nielson! Great times. Brownie Milkshakes, and Açai Smoothies. Divisions are great. Ha. But there were several reasons why we did these divisions, including, a baptismal interview. Ricardo decided to be baptised, and therefore he was baptised on Saturday! It was so great. We were all so happy! This will really change their lives, and I can see that he really is changing. Ricardo and his family are awesome people. The work is going good here, as we are always trying to find and teach everyone that we can. The mission really is important, and I am so glad to be here. The Lord blesses us so much. This week, I wanted to pass on a scripture that is in Acts 5:41. They both were happy to suffer for Christs sake. We always should be willing to sacrifice, being great or small, for the Lord. The Lord loves us, and through our works, we will be blessed. I love you all, and hope that you all have a great week.

Abraço,

Elder Tanner Ross Paxman
 
PS: As for Halloween; they do kind of have it here ... it is very little though - not really celebrated. An English school has a lot of decorations, however, most people sometimes do little things, but nothing big that I know of. As for Mitt Romeny, I just hear that he is running for President, and don't really hear much in favor or against.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

October 22, 2012

 For Sammamish First Ward ... and especially for Christian McOmber to welcome him back home from his mission in Brazil !!!
 "Up above the sky so high, like a ...  dead man that just climbed the mountain"  Ha!

Pablo is a Rapaz that is preparing for his mission here in the next year.

I am utterly surprised that yet another week has passed. But, do what? Ha. This week was another average missionary week. We are working with several families to progress towards baptism, and several new people that we have been finding. Ricardo is the father of Alessandro, and Ricardo's wife, Claudia, is not active in the church. His wife's cousin is active in the church. Her name is Sandra, and she has several kids that go to church as well. We also will start to work with her brothers which are both inactive that were both married this last week. Ricardo is a great guy, and he seems to be progressing towards baptism, and he likes the church. We also are working with another less active family, that the mother, and two youngest all aren't baptised. They are pretty cool people as well. The mother suffered an accident a while back, and both legs and an arm were broken. She still is unable to walk. Also, her "husband" got up and left her recently as well. We are working with them, and she also is the sister of a member of our ward. They are also helping us to bring this family unto Christ. This week, I was reading in the Book of The Acts, and came upon a scripture that I would like to pass on. Its found in Acts 10:34-35. Our Heavenly Father created all of us, and therefore we are all His children. He loves us all equally, and wants all of us to be happy. He doesn't bless one more than another because he loves them more, but its according to our obedience. If we keep the commandments, then God will bless us. All of us on the earth have the same oportunidade to keep the commandments of God, and be blessed. God loves each and everyone of you, and wants all of us to be happy. I hope that we all can look as God does, and love all mankind, and continue firm in the faith. I love you all, and have a great week.

Abraço,

Elder Tanner Ross Paxman

Monday, October 15, 2012

October 15, 2012

Elder Reis and I didn't have much food in the house ... so we got experimental ... 
A COISA BRANCA!  The lovely invention Elder Reis invented (milk, cornstarch, salt ... with ketchup on top)

So, if you can believe it or not, its already been a week since the last time I wrote. Time is just flying faster and faster, and when I look back, I am always shocked at how much happened. I can't believe that Elder Reis and I have already been together for three weeks ... time flies. Its already somebodies  birthday.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEATHER!  Yay! Hope that this Day is wonderful for you. So, this week has been a normal week in the life of a missionary. Wake up, study, go visit people, eat Almoço, visit more people, walking até o pó (until the dust), go home, plan, pray, write in journal, go to bed. Ha. Its a great life though. I'm loving it. We are working with several people, and trying to help them progress towards baptism. One of these people is Ricardo, who is the father of Alessandro. We are working with their family, and they are pretty cool. We get to know a lot of people as missionaries. The thing that is probably most exciting (unusual) out of everything this week, is that one night we got home, and had only a few ingredients for food, but we were hungry. So, therefore, Elder Reis invented "A Coisa Branca!" (The White Thing). It wasn't too bad. Ha. So this week, I would like to highlight Alma 13:28-29. It has some counsel for all of us, and a goal that we can accomplish. We need to humble ourselves and be ever watchful about the evils of the world. When we do this we can be led by the Spirit in all things. We should always strive to live our life in such a way that we are always led by the Holy Ghost. We need to continue with our Faith always pressing forward towards our final and greatest goal which is eternal life. If we do this, always following the Holy Ghost with the Love of God in our Hearts, we can, and will be lifted up in the last day. I love you all, and hope that this week is a great week for all of you and that you can all seek to follow the Holy Ghost in all things.

Abraço,

Elder Tanner Ross Paxman

PS: I'm sorry to hear about Aunt Lorraine ... but we know that she'll be in a better place now.  Our knowledge of the great plan of Salvation is what lifts us up in these times of trial. We may not know the why, but God knows, and everything is done with a purpose. And as for Stake Presidents and bishops; the calling time is the same amount as the states (bishop - normally 5 years, stake president - normally 10 years). Normally the stakes here consist of 6 wards, and all the wards have about 120 people, sometimes less and rarely more. I heard that there is an English speaking ward somewhere in Brazil, but I think that that's a rumor. Ha. I also heard that one stake has a single adult ward, but that is really rare here. They normally just have a single adults class, and have activities and institute with a lot of stakes.

Monday, October 8, 2012

October 8, 2012

It rained a lot !!!  Yay! 
 Bad quality picture ...  but that's the English room at General Conference.  yay!
 Yup ... I just surprised you all, ha.  BAPTISMO! (Alessandro and Family)
Alessandro at his baptism!  YAY!
 
Another week passes, and this past week was an amazing General conference! Yay! That was pretty dang awesome. I love conference. We were able to watch all of the sessions, though we ended up watching the Priesthood session in Português. The age announcement about missionaries is super cool, and was completely unexpected. That will sure help the number of missionaries to increase. wow. The other Americans and I were really enjoying Elder Nelsons talk, and thinking, wow, I guess we are the solution for everything. Ha. Just Kidding. I loved all of the talks, and I really enjoyed the first session. Unfortunately, none of our pesquisadores could watch it, since it wasn't in our church building, but it was farther away. This weekend was the highlight of our week. Not only was it general conference, but we had a baptism. Alessandro is a young boy of 10 years of age, and his Mom is a less active member, but he has been going to church with his moms cousin. He has been wanting to be baptised for a while, and finally everything worked out. It was really exciting. He will be confirmed this coming Sunday. Other than these great events, its been the usual going around teaching and finding. Elder Reis was 6 years old when his family joined the church. And this is his fourth transfer as a zone leader. All is going good, and we are trying to do our part. I wanted to send home a scripture that's in Doctrine and Covenants 14:7. The greatest gift that we can achieve is Eternal life. God loves us, and according to our diligence, He will help us achieve this gift. We should all review the talks that our living prophets have said to us, and always look forward to the eternal rewards and blessings. I love you all, and hope that you all have a great week this week.

Abraço,

Elder Tanner Ross Paxman

Monday, October 1, 2012

October 1, 2012

 Elder Nogeuira and I with Rodney and his Family
 Elder Nogeuira and I with Irmã Lucimar and her Family
Our crazy Zone!
Our Good Zone!
Elder Reis and I!
 

Another week flew by. Time is super weird. It feels like Elder Reis and I have been together for a long time, but at the same time it passed by so fast. And yes, that means that Elder Nogueira was transferred, and I'm here with my new companion, Elder Reis from Rio De Janeiro! (He-oh, g, janer-o). He is pretty cool, and things are going well here. Before I continue, I need to say, HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUTUMN! Yay! And now, what makes a favela different? Well, its not very well organized, normally has drug trafficking, is a little more dangerous (don't worry), and its a little more poor. A member lives in the favela, and therefore, we went and visited her and some of her neighbors. So this week we have been working with several pesquisadores that we are trying to help progress towards baptism. We are also working with less active and new member families to try and strengthen everyone. Its been a good week. We are working in some new areas, and we are working hard. I am so excited for general conference this week, and hope that everyone can go and watch it. A living prophet isn't a small thing. I wanted to send home a scripture that is found in 1 Nephi 17:3. We must fulfill and keep all of God's commandments. It isn't an option that we can choose to follow or not  --  we need to follow them, being every human being on this earth. When we do follow them  --  God will help us to complete our part  --  and he will even bless us beyond those blessings.  God loves us, and he will always make a way for His commandments to be completed by us. The Lord will provide for us when we trust in Him, and do what He says. We have nothing to fear if we are doing the right things and trusting in the Lord. I love you all, and hope that you all have a great week.

Abraço,

Elder Tanner Ross Paxman

PS: The high schools here don't have teams that play against other high schools. They just have things like PE. And they don't really play football here, its rather rare. Ha. Its all soccer. As for Cars here, they are really expensive and normally are small. They cost double or triple of the cost in the states ... maybe even more. Practically all the cars here are small. A Honda Civic is an upper class car here. There are some brands that are the same as the states, and some that are different. But they still drive on the same side of the road, and the same side of the car. Automatic cars are a lot more rare here though. Only the rich can afford them. Its practically all manual here.