Mais Um!

Hello everybody!

So this week passed by fast/slow. It seems fast now, but each day was REALLY long.

So. Monday, after doing our P-day stuff, we went and visited an older man who had gone to church (I spent most of this week getting to know members and other people). Afterwards, we went to family night with a few families. It was at the house of Branco. The dude is really awesome, and loves the missionaries... which is great, because he runs a pastel and salgado stand!

Tuesday, we were at lunch for a long time because the sister started making lunch when we got there. Afterwards we visited Deborah, who knows everything, but hasn´t gone to church because something always comes up in the way. This week, her Dad broke his foot and she had to take him to the hospital. Afterwards we taught Beatriz and her mom. The whole time her mom was asking questions about Catholic Doctrine. We had been talking about Jesus’ ministry, so I felt bad for her because we had to say ´´Well, Jesus didn´t institute that´´ or  “That wasn´t how Jesus did it.”  But she still liked it (but isn´t interested in following).

Wednesday, we went to district meeting in Fortaleza (two hour bus ride there and back) and we had to have lunch at our house. Then we started looking for a new apartment/house since the landlady of the apartment wants it back (or R$50 more) to do something with her aluminum business. We visited Shellida and Leidianne and talked with them mainly about what they thought of the lessons and if they read/prayed about it. Then we visited Karlienne and Evilania and talked to them about preparing for baptism.

Thursday, we had lunch with Irmão Branco, which was awesome haha. Then we set out looking for a house again. We found a few and looked at them, but none that would suit President´s fancy. Then at night, we taught Luciano about the Book of Mormon. 

Friday, we taught a bunch of people. We taught Brena, Beatriz, Shellidah about commandments. We talked with Karlienne and Evilania again about their baptism to help them prepare. Then we taught a woman named Lange about the plan of salvation. I tried to clear up that there was a continuation of life, but it wasn´t reincarnation, which she believes in ´sigh´.

Saturday, we found a house that the President approved, and then headed to the casapela to get the "font" ready for the baptism. We had problems with water, but dot it all sorted out. Then we had the baptism of Karlienne and Evilania. The baptism was just nuts. So they got there early and there were people there for an institute class that didn´t end up happening. We only had two baptismal suits for them to wear since the Branch President has the rest and he had to go to the hospital that day. So we give them the suits to change into, aaaaaand the zipper is broken on one of them. So they decide to have one of them get baptised and then change and then the other would wear it to be baptised. There was a sister there who was just weeping and wailing about how bad their baptism would be and that they should wait a week, but Evilania wasn´t having any of it. She said, “No, I´m going to get baptised NOW!”  And she started towards the font. After that, it went without a hitch. It was really neat to see how important this was to them. Just a note, they are the first baptism I´ve seen here on the mission from a contact. Just goes to show it really is the member´s who make a difference.

Sunday, we had stake conference in Fortaleza, and a family we hadn´t seen before came on the bus to see it. We´re going to follow up on that tomorrow.

So my thought for the week. I read the parable of the talents (Luke 19) this week and I thought about how it relates to the three kingdoms. There are three people who are given gifts (bodies, life, agency) by a king. The king goes to receive a kingdom and the people don´t accept him (what king was not accepted by the people of his own covenant?). He comes back and judges the three based on their works with what they were given. The person who does the best receives the most and accordingly. Just an interesting thought I had.

So that was my week! I´m running out of time, so I´ll close with that. Love you all!

xaaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuuuu!

Elder Cornwell

===========================

Mom asked some questions and Elder Cornwell answered them:

Q. Are you the senior companion? 
A. Yes.

Q. Tell us a bit more about Elder Rodrigues. 
A. He´s 18, he is the youngest in his family and he likes Palmeiras (ick).

Q. Is Elder Rodrigues a hard worker? 
A. I think so, we go full speed and he doesn´t mind.

Q. Describe your apartment and who all you live with (where they are from, ages, etc.). 
A. Our apartment is about to change to one above a baptist church. Its just us that live here. The next closest area is Mauranguape (Elder Baltazar and his trainer Elder Bodily)

Q. What makes Baturité so beautiful? 
A. It´s one of those towns set in the mountains. Its hard to describe, but google maps it... it has some street view parts you can look at.

Q. Any moldy clothing yet? 
A. Nope not yet!

Q. Have you given away lots of t-shirts 
A. Traded and given away... I still have a bunch more though!

 

De novo!

I would send you all pictures this week, but this computer doesn´t want to recognize my card for some reason. Go figure, cuz I got some sweet ones! I´ll talk about that mais para frente, tá bom?

BELEZA!

So, this week was just nuts. I mean NUTS. Sunday was the only day Elder Francis and I were in the area together for the whole day. NUTS.

So Tuesday, we had our district meeting, and then a Zone Lunch for the last week of transfers. After that, I went on splits with Elder Carreira (LZ) and he came to Pacajus. We taught Carole and tried to help her recognize a testimony. After, we went to Dianna´s. This is where you will see how involved the Lord really is involved in this work. So, normally the last interviews for Elders leaving are on Thursday, but this week, they were Wednesday. So Elder Pili was going to do divisions with me, but he had to go to the interview the next day, so Elder Carreira came instead. Then, we taught with Jane, and dropped her off. We hadn´t planned on seeing Dianna, but I looked down the street and decided to go anyways. We got there and she was talking to other people for like 15 minutes, and we were getting ready to leave and she came out finally. So we talked with her a little bit, and she wasn´t excited about the church or Baptism, so as we were talking, Elder Carreira and I decided to do a baptismal interview then and there. He went and did it, and she left really happy and excited. It had turned out that on Sunday, someone had said that she wouldn´t be able to baptised. After that, she didn´t want to have anything to do with the Church, and we would have cut her. So everything went in our favor there.

Wednesday, I went to Horizonte with Elder Costa and we visited a lot of people over there, then came back to do his training study.

Thursday.... I totally blanked on what happened on Thursday. Foi mal!

Friday, we started out by doing service for a member and painting their house. We had lunch there too, so it worked pretty smooth. But Elder Rocha and Francis ended up having to go to Fortaleza to get a contract from the Mission Office for a house in Horizonte. So Elder Costa and I ended up finishing it ourselves after lunch. WE got back to the house at like 3:30, and when we got all ready to go it was about 4:15. Then we realized that we didn´t have keys, and that we had to climb around our door to get in. So we had no way in our out. So we ended up starting his training study early that day.

That night, we got the call about transfers. We were all expecting to stay (that was what the President had told us after all). CHANGE OF PLANS! We both left the area! Elder Francis was transferred to my homeland (Castelo) and I was transferred to Baturité. Now I am in the same district as Elder Baltazar and his trainer, Elder Bodily! There is a son, father and grandfather in the same district! But that was kind of a surprise for all of us. The members especially.

Saturday, we went and did interviews in Aracati for the sisters, and got back around 5. Then we went and visited and said goodbye to some members and investigators.

Sunday was more of the same thing. Everyone was really surprised that we were both leaving (since it supposedly never happens). We spent that night packing up our stuff and staying up late with the other Elders.

Then today, we headed off to Fortaleza at 8 in the morning. When I got there, the first people I saw were Elders Empey, Heath and Swinney. We had a good time chatting and catching up on old times. Then I saw Elder B and the other Elder B (Bodily), got with my companion and we headed off to the Rodoviária. We got a bus to Baturité and two hours later, we are here! It is probably one of the most beautiful places I´ve been. I took a ton of photos, but can´t send them for some reason.

Anyways, my new companion is Elder Rodrigues. He is 18 and from São Paulo. He was born in the church, but his family went inactive about the time he was 8, then he was baptised later. He just got finished being trained, so it is his 3rd transfer in the field. I´ll send a picture when I can.

I´m all overwhelmed and stuff now, so I can´t remember a whole lot of this week, but this has been it!

Love you all!

Elder Cornwell

P.S. I should be getting the package tomorrow at District Meeting. Thanks again Aunt Mitzi!

Macaquinhos!

Some Pictures for you to enjoy:

1. Elder Rocha burning his 1 year shirt

2 - 3. Monkeys playing around near our apartment today

4. Near the edge of my area (We had lunch there on the horizon that day!)

Hello Everybody!

It feels like it’s been another really long week... probably because there has been a bunch of travel for me!

So, Tuesday, we had district meeting like normal and we were late to lunch... like normal. Lunch was a little weird though... we had to get there real fast, and it was hot (when is it not?) and we were all sweaty. The sister who gave us lunch kept on insisting that we take a shower there. It was even weirder because she wasn´t like a sweet old lady just being grandmotherly, but she was like 40. Elder Francis and I were really creeped out. After that, we headed out and knocked doors, which is a little different here. No one refuses you, so we just knock 3 doors, and there goes 2 1/2 hours.

Wednesday, we had lunch at the Campos’ house. There is like 8 people living in that house, and they all love us, so it’s always a treat to go there. After lunch, we went and taught with Jane (who lives there). We passed by Carole, Dianna and Kezia with her. Kezia is less active since she moved here, but she is thinking about coming back after we visited the first time. Jane didn´t even know that she was a member haha. Then we went by another member´s house to get a reference he wanted to pass to us. It turned out she was there talking with him, but he had to go work, so we only had to time to get to know each other a little bit, and then mark another appointment, which we did for the next day.

Thursday, I have this written in my planner. ´´O nosso onibus bateu num carro... que vergonha!´´ I´ll get to that later though. So we had interviews with President at 8 in the morning, but the earliest we could get there was 9:30. We were going to stay at the Secretaries house, but President said it was fine to be a little late. So we got there, and thank goodness our zone is small! When it was my turn, President did the normal greetings and whatnot. Then he said that the interview was going to be more of a conversation. Then he asked ´´So Elder, what do you want to talk about?´´ I kind of just that there with a blank stare and said ´´Well I don´t know!´´ President kind of chuckled and said ´´How do younot know?´´ to which I responded ´´Well, you were the one who called me here!´´. That was pretty much the interview. It was maybe 10 minutes, which I´ve come to find, is a good thing; We finished up at about 130, then headed out to get lunch. Elder Rocha wanted to go to some place across the street that was a buffet kind of place. We get there and Elder Francis just stares at the food... for like 5 minutes. Then he says ´´I have one chance this transfer to eat something OTHER than rice beans, macaroni and chicken... I´m going to Burger King´´. I laughed and quickly followed him out of there. I had a whopper instead hehehehe. After that, we trekked across the Center to the bus station, and got on our way. AS we were about 10 minutes from Horizonte, the bus is pulling off towards a turn about thing they have here, and the driver doesn’t even look and totally nails a car in the right lane! The car saw him coming and sped up to get out of there, but he wasn´t fast enough. The bus got the car on the side as it was going in front. The car´s door got bent in a little but nothing really actually happened. Then we had to push the bus out of the road, and as we were, the driver almost backed into the patrol car parked there hahahaha. Then we got home way late, and that was that day.

Friday, I had splits with Elder Rocha. WE headed out way early... like 9:30 to teach someone who works at noon (Dianna and Dené). Then we had lunch at Luquinhas´s house (he is one of my favorite people here on the mission). After we ate, we out behind his house and got coconuts and drank the water. Always awesome. Afterwards, we went and taught an old investigator who started going to seminary with his friends again, and some other old investigators. Then we went and visited Kezia and her Mom, but her Mom didn´t get back from work that day until later. WE ended up talking to Kezia about church and why the Book of Mormon is so important to us. Then we went to the Campos´ house and again and we watched a church film with a bunch of investigators/references; Then we went to a less active member´s house to help him stop smoking. He really likes us, so it was really neat... and I ended up leaving with a pack of cigarettes! When we got back we were just joking around with how we should get rid of them and Elder Francis with a big grin on his face, said ´´Let´s burn them!´´ Har. Har. Har.

Saturday, we walked about an hour to get to lunch. It was WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY out there. On the way, I had the idea to have someone send me a pedometer so I could see how much I actually walk here. After that, we just went by people who were going to go to church.

Sunday, there was a little thunderstorm... and it was pretty cool that day, so it was good to walk around in. So we had lunch with the Bishop´s family, and then visited Dianna and Dené again. After that, we headed out to church where we had 10 investigators practically out of nowhere. We were pretty happy though, since we had been lacking in that area as of late. Then we headed back.

So what I learned this week? Looking back, someone made a comment about how one of the greatest miracles of Jesus was the woman touching his robe and being healed. I commented that without faith, there is no power for him to do anything. Now, looking back on the topic of temples and covenants there, I realized how it seems like there is so much that the Lord has promised us, but it is really nothing without our faith. Just that grain of faith could move mountains, but more importantly, it raises us up into the presence of our Eternal Father. And not just us, but we can do the same for others as well. Maybe that is why faith is the foundation of the Gospel. Without it, there is no way the Lord has any power to do anything with us. Pretty Amazing.

So that´s all I have for this week! Looks like it was a meaty letter! Just one request for Mom, could you send me a word document of the family recipes again? That would rule!

Love you all!

Elder Cornwell

Aluma título legal!

Boa Tarde/bom dia meus queridos!

This week was looooooooong... or at least felt that way. So I´ll just start in on it.

Monday, we did a family home evening with a members and we left a message about prophets (to give an intro to the 1st lesson since there were some non members there), After we just chatted and ate, and then we headed back home.

Tuesday we had District Meeting in the morning and we commemorated Easter. Here they just give chocolate eggs to each other (a little less unrelated to Christ compared to our tradition it seems). Afterwards, we headed out to lunch and got there at like 1:30. The member had to go work so we ate really fast. Then we walked all the way down south of the town to go to some appointments, and headed back to teach a casal (man/woman... not necessarily married) real close to where we had lunch. That night I started stretching for exercise hahaha.

Wednesday was just.... normal. I left my planner at home again, so I’m kind of lost about what happened throughout the week. But for sure it involved a TOOOOOOOOOON of walking. I am really just blanking on almost the whole week. OH! I remember now.

So Thursday, Elder Costa and I went on splits since the others had a leadership meeting in Fortaleza. After lunch we had an appointment with a young woman who is interested in the church. She does dancing for a marching band though, so she is always out of town on Sundays. We conversed for a while, left a message and then headed out. Then we went to teach a friend of Jane (recent convert) and then we went to teach a different friend of hers and her mom. Then we went to a Pizzaria with some members and their non member friends to start that connection.

Friday (Dia dos Mórmons here) though, we had pretty much nothing marked (which was weird since Thursday and Saturday were chock full.) So we went around and tried to get references, knocked some doors and visited a less active. That day was reeeeeaaaaaallly long because we walked all over town.

Saturday, we had a few things marked, but not until later and our lunch was going to be money, so we just ate at home, and then headed out. Our first appointments fell through (probably because of the holiday), and after we went out with Jane again at about 4 o’clock and taught some of her other friends until night. One of them who we had already taught this week (Carole) was really excited about it all. Her Mom was a little apprehensive it seemed because she is a member of another church, but she was supportive and said she might even visit church (MIGHT). After that it was already pretty late, so we headed back.

Sunday, we had lunch with a member I didn´t really know, but we talked a lot after lunch (which was goat. Really good stuff!) and we got to be more acquainted with her. Then we stopped by Jane´s to see who of her friends were really going to church, then made a few quick visits. After that was Church. Our Priesthood lesson was about Eternal Life. It was interesting because they talked about how life doesn´t start after our death, because our spirit never dies, so eternal life has already started and we need to live life with that perspective. That is a key difference in our church. We know where we are, were we are going, and what is most important in life. It reminds me of the Rich man who came to Jesus asking how he could gain Eternal life. After he made the comment about a camel and the eye of a needle. Turns out the Eye of a needle is a term for a small door in the walls of Jerusalem. For a camel to pass through, the load had to be taken off, and put back on in the other side. So why load ourselves up with stuff we are just going to take off? This is why we have covenants... we have other things waiting for us on the other side if we do our part on this side. Its guaranteed that we will receive these things and that the others will ´rust and be eaten by moths´.

Sacrament meeting was all of the Bishopric talking... which would normally be awesome, but it’s the 6th Sunday in a row that our bishop has given a talk. It’s just part of the church in this area.

That night, I made scones. I didn´t have real yeast., so it wasn´t as soft as normal, but it was still reeeeeal good. Then today we went to the municipal and played volleyball and then came here1

That was my week! and Brother Murray, Hi! hahaha. I´m glad to hear all the support I am getting from home... I can really feel it out here in the field.

Welp, that was my week. A little busy, and a lot of walking! (Drew can sympathize!)

Love you all!

Elder Cornwell

P.S. Mom, I want a list of all my younger friend´s mission calls and whatnot!