May 29 - Gutierrez area

I see a Belo Horizonte

Well, this week went by a little slower than most, but I guess not every week can be stellar. But, the bright side is that Rosalia accepted the invitation to be baptized this week. So, if everything goes well there will be a baptism this Saturday and uma festa nos céus. (if you want to know what that mean you can use Google Translate.) But, we are hoping for the best.

This week we were teaching Rosalia and Lucimara and they offered us canjica, which is type of corn soup, and they asked me if I would like hot sauce. I responded that I would. Unfortunately, I wasn´t paying attention while I was adding it and added a whole three tablespoons. That´s about five times more than needed. I tried to mix it in to hide the flavor, but I burned quite a bit. I didn´t eat any hot sauce for the rest of the week.

Randoms:

• Elder Briggs and I made up broccoli and beef (My cooking skills are improving)
• Elder Briggs and I found 2 liters of ice cream for 8 reais (less than 3 dollars). So, we bought it and promptly ate all of it.
• We tried to write a song as a house one night and we found out that we are horrible at writing music.

Scripture of the week:

"Now, what do we hear in the gospel which we have received? A voice of gladness! A voice of mercy from heaven; and a voice of truth out of the earth....How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that bring glad tidings of good things, and that say unto Zion: Behold, thy God reigneth!....Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory!"

D&C 128:19,22 (this is an excerpt, I would recommend reading vs.19-24)

Abraço
Elder Quain

May 21,2017 - Gutierrez area

I see a Belo Horizonte.

New week. New companion. New area.

To start out, last week Elder Namauu and I had to say bye to our investigators Rosemeire and Lorrane. It was a little hard, as us two were leaving and entrusting them completely into other´s hands. But, Rosemeire and Lorrane are super strong. It was an honor for God to have entrusted them to us and to have been able to teach them.

My new companion is Elder Briggs. He is from South Jordan, Utah. He is a nice guy with a sarcastic sense of humor, so that means that we are getting along rather well. We met up at the bus stop, where I also got to see all of my past companions that are still in the mission.

Then I came into my new area, Gutierrez. It is quite different than any of my past areas. There are a bunch of apartment complexes and high rises. So, I am trying to adapt the way that I work to better fit here. We have quite a few good investigators that are progressing well. My favorites are Rosalia and Lucimara. The first time that we went there I thought that they were already members. I got a shock when I found out that they weren´t. I was talking with Elder Briggs and asking about why they were not yet members and he told me that it was because of coffee. That is probably the most universal problem that people have here. But, we are working with them to help them stop.

That´s about all for the week

Abraço

Elder Quain

May 15, 2017 - Belo Horizonte, Guarani area

I see a Belo Horizonte.

I received a package from home this week and I decided to start with the Reese's. Brasil has not yet found out the perfection of mixing chocolate and peanut. Maybe, someday they will understand, but today is not that day. 

This week, in honor of mother´s day, all of our lunch messages were aimed at mothers. So, obviously we used the example of the 2000 stripling warriors and the examples that their mothers gave them. The great miracle is that even though they were inexperienced in war none of them died in the fight, this was do to the faith and obedience that they had learned from their mothers. So, learn from your mom and listen to her. Who knows, one day it could save your life.

Shout out to my own mom,to whom I am very greatful for; love you! and thank you for your example.

Sunday was a rather exciting day with the skype call home and transfer calls. It was fun to call home and see everybody. You all look great. After we got home from the skype call we received the call that I will be transferred to Gutierrez and will have a new American companion. I have really enjoyed serving in Guarani with Elder Namauu I have learned a lot, we have had success and there are some very special people here. I am sad to be leaving, but super excited to see what this new area has in store for me.

Abraço

Elder Quain

 In honor of Casey & Trevor's wedding, we sent Elder Quain a matching tie.

Mother's Day skype call :)

May 8, 2017 - Belo Horizonte, Guarani area

I see a belo horizonte

This week feels shorter than most as it has been only a little time since I have written. But, first news. I now have a married sister and I officially feel old. Best Wishes for Casey and Trevor.

Here in Brasil one of the big events this week is that we had a split with the Zone leaders. I was with Elder Gimez. He is from Paraguay and spoke Portuguese before coming to the mission, which is super lucky. He is a really nice guy and we were able to teach a few people and I leaned a lot from how he teaches and adapts his teaching to the people. To finish off the split we all got açaí; because everything is better with açaí. There is an elder that lives in their house that is going home in a week and it is weird to think that in just a little bit that will be me. 

We came back to our area and ran around like crazy people trying to get as much work done as we could in our little work week. I felt like we were unable to do everything that we wanted to, but we actually had quite a few people show up to church and they all really liked it. Jessica (the granddaughter of the women who stopped to ask us if we could have 4 wives) came to church and when she saw everyone bearing their testimonies she was shocked. She said that no one in her church would get up and say their testimony for such little things. They had to have some giant miracle to tell others. That just reminded me that we need to strive each day to see the hand of the Lord in our life and be grateful for what he does for us.

Abraço

Elder Quain

May 2, 2017 - Belo Horizonte, Guarani area

I see a Belo Horizonte

Well this week we had a zone conference. In the conference they talked about some scriptures. The first being, "Ask and ye shall receive." During my study this week I also found a cool scripture that elaborates more on that topic,"Behold this is my will; ask and ye shall receive; but men do not always do my will"(D&C 103:31). We talked a lot about the fact that many times God simply waits for us to ask. It is that simple. Then why do we ask for so little? God has all power and can do all things. So, we just need to ask and trust in him. We do have to act too, we can´t just lie in bed. 

It was fun to talk with the other missionaries at the conference. My former companion, Elder Ribeiro, was there and he is just two weeks from going home. It´s so weird. He was my companion last mother´s day and that has already been almost a year ago. 

Other than that it was a normal week for us. We studied, walked, taught some people and tried to find more people to teach.

This week Casey is getting married. Shout out to her. I would love to have been there, but I´m sending a congrats and best wishes. I´ll have to get to know Trevor after I get home.

Abraço para todo mundo

Elder Quain

Zone Conference