July 25, 2016 - Sete Lagoes

I see a belo horizonte.

Well we started off this week with a surprise.

Last p-day we decided that we wanted to make a cake for the district meeting. Elder Catiste and I were designated to make the cake. We put one of the cake mixes in the pan, but decided that it could fit two. One was vanilla and the other was chocolate, so we would make a swirl. However we forgot that cake rises. We were all sitting in the other room and started to smell something burning. The cake had exploded in the oven. We cut off the top to save the cake and finished cooking it. Surprisingly, it turned out really well and even had the swirl in it.

I actually cooked quite a bit this week. Almost every morning I made an omelet and only had one that broke apart. We also had lunch at home and I made Brazilian hot dogs for my companion and me. They are hot dogs that you put in French bread with cheese, mayonnaise, ketchup, tomato sauce, corn, and batata palha( shredded fried potatoes). 

Doing misionary work is great and we learn a lot, but it can also be a stresser. When people understand, but they don´t want to change. We want to help them, but there is little that we can do when a person doesn´t have the desire. Usually, I just tell them about all of the blessings that God has waiting for them if they simply act. The greatest of all being that if we are baptized and continue on the path of righteousness we are able to return to live with our Heavenly Father and family for eternity. It can be difficult being seperated from family here on earth, but compared to eternity this is a blink of the eye. This is why we need to make and keep covenants with God.

Elder Quain

July 18, 2016 - Sete Lagoes

I see a Belo Horizonte,

Right now we are teaching a lady that owns an ice cream store. We started teaching her because my companion and I wanted a shake. She is doing well and is reading the Book of Mormon, which is great, but she can almost only meet with us in the ice cream shop. This means that most of the time our lessons are interrupted by her needing to attend a customer. We have also used this to our advantage as a finding tool, talking with people to see if they have interest in the gospel and ice cream, if they do, then they have a lot in common with my companion. He has a sweet tooth and eats more dessert than lunch.

We are also teaching a barber. He is also reading the Book of Mormon, but always says that he doesn´t have the desire to switch religions. We are teaching him and trying to help him see that this really is the only true church of Christ. He is leaving the Book of Mormon in his barber shop and gives it to people to read while they wait. He is preforming missionary work without being a member.

We got a new ward mission leader a few weeks back and he has brought a new feeling to the ward and the ward is becoming more excited about missionary work. It is great when somebody that is not called to be a full time missionary is excited about the work.

Elder Quain

July 12, 2016 - Sete Lagoes

I see a Belo Horizonte

This week went by really fast, but I guess that is normal on the mission. This is not going to be in any determined order, but these are the happenings of the week.

I´ll start of with my 'firsts' this week. I have quite a few this week. First 'first,' I played the piano for sacrement meeting. It was rather stressful and I messed up quite a bit on "I´ll go where you want me to go", but I learned it in ten minutes and everyone was saying how well I played afterwards. As if playing the piano wasn´t enough I also gave my first talk (15 minutes) in sacrement meeting. when I finnished I asked my companion how I did and he responded, dá para intender, or I understood it. I just turned to him and gave a sarcastic thank you. The best part is that this was the first time that I gave a talk without shaking.

Well, I also had to renew my visa this week. Everything went well and I will now be legal until the end of my mission. The only bad part was waking up at 4:30 a.m. and walking to grab a taxi. I also got to catch up with Elder Nelson and we were both shocked how much time has gone by already.

We have missionary moments all the time. My companion and I were walking this week and saw an ice cream stand. We didn´t have any plans for little while, so we stopped to eat an açái milkshake. While we were eating we ended up starting a conversation with the manager and turned to talk about the gospel. She had a lot of questions and because my compaion eats really slow I had a lot of time to talk. Afterwards, we were able to mark a visit with her. Moral of the story, if you feel you should drink a milkshake, you probably should.

tchau,

Elder Quain

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Extras: Questions from the Kimbler family

Benjamin--is it easy to find people to teach?

At times it can be. A lot of people here are really open to hear about the gospel. It is really cool when you find someone that has been prepared to hear our message.

Emma--what is your favorite p-day activity you have done?

I really liked hiking the serra that is close to my house and number two would have to be our B-B-Q activities.

Mo-- how big is the city you are in?

the city has 270,000 inhabitants, but the are that I serve in is on the edge of the city and is almost rural.

Henry-- do get a chance to play the guitar?

Yes, I actually have a guitar that I play in the little spare time that I have, but I also have played at other people´s houses. It is a great way to break the ice with people. The best way is to talk about family, then beliefs, and also music.

Rebekah-- how big is the ward? How many people are in sacrament mtg?

My ward right now is quite a bit bigger than my last ward with an attendance of about 90 people. The ward is fairly new as it was created from 2 existing wards that split into three about a year ago.

Rachel-- what has been you favorite music to listen to?

President didn´t approve of music that wasn´t produced by the church, but I do enjoy listening to Mormon tabernacle choir.

 

July 4, 2016 - Sete Lagoes

In the Brasil, Belo Horizonte mission we teach repentance and baptize converts.

This week the biggest event was the baptism of João Paulo. I would like to tell a little bit of his story to you. 

To start with was how we met him. He just showed up at church. He had been invited to visit by his ex-girlfriend that lives in our ward and decided to come (more for the girlfriend than for church), but we talked to him and he accepted visits. Unfortunately, he live in another city that is on the edge of another missionary´s area. It was also really far for the other missionaries to visit him also, but when we were talking to him we found out that he worked in our area. We were able to plan the lessons to be taught in one of our member´s houses.

We noticed later that we had planned the visit for the same time as a baptismal reunion that we needed to assist and ended up doing a split. Another elder and I went to teach the first lesson and he accepted to read the Book of Mormon, but wasn´t sure about a baptismal date. When my companion and I went back to visit him he had actually read, but still didn´t feel prepared. We taught him the word of wisdom and  his only problem was café. The best part is he told us that he would give it up. He said that his sister had been telling him that it wasn´t good and this confirmed it.

We were able to invite him to a family home evening where he accepted a baptismal date and we continued to teach him the lessons for the next week and a half. When he had received all of the lessons he told us that he didn´t feel ready and didn´t mark anymore visits. As we didn´t have a way to visit him anymore we called the missionaries that were in his area. They went to his city, which they don´t do too often and talked with him and helped him feel more secure about his preparedness. 

This week he was baptized, after being visited by 6 missionaries, and bore his testimony. He was talking about how he had been having a lot of difficulties in his life, but through reading the Book of Mormon he was able to overcome them. He is truly converted and it is great to see how happy he is now.

Elder Quain

João Paulo at his baptism and the six missionaries who taught him.