Reprova a Prova de Respirar

Well, another fast week with more interruptions! Not a whole lot of not happened, but I´ll try to pass on something interesting.

So, Monday, we went to a family night in Ala 1, not too much of note.

Tuesday, we went and taught some references that were in the house. We went to a woman named Dani who had accepted the missionaries that came before us. We did a normal ´follow-up´ at first, and discovered that she didn´t know why the missionaries had stopped coming by. She already has a testimony that the church is true and everything! it is just a little difficult to get her to church. But we talked with her about her experiences and committed her to come to church and continue to read the book of Mormon. Afterwards, we went to try to find more people at home, but with little luck.

Wednesday, we had to head out early to go to a lung doctor in Fortaleza for Elder Rodolfo. H did a bunch of exams, and they didn´t find anything out of the ordinary... just some left-over junk from colds he has had. But we only left there at about 6 or 7. Killed the day.

Thursday was our Zone conference. A lot was talked about the content of our teaching, as in teaching all the doctrine of a lesson. This is already something I work on a lot, so it was just a reinforcement for me... no guilt trips this time! President also announced that the Mission would be split to Fortaleza and Fortaleza Leste (in other words, Fortaleza Ghetto and Fortaleza Rich). The split will occur on the 1st of July, and will only affect my last transfer... if it affects me at all. The mission will receive about 50 new missionaries in the next two transfers as well... 25 of which are sisters. As of late, we have 12,so some will train 3 or 4 at a time! Yikes!

Friday, we went to teach a brother of a member, but he wasn´t home, but we received two references that she had passed to the other missionaries, that they hadn´t contacted. WE visited some less-actives as well. At night, we met a friend of a less-active named Roberta. She is a long time friend of the Bishop´s family, and has gone to church when she was younger. We taught her about the restoration and the book of Mormon, and she was interested in coming back to church after a good time away. We also did the baptismal interview for Ronald who we have been teaching during the week. He needs his parent´s authorization, but other than that, he is prepared and knows EVERYTHNG! He asked us this week what the steeple on the chapel means... we had to ask the bishop to google the answer haha.

Saturday, we visited all the investigators we could, and answered questions, and made our normal follow-ups to help everyone go to church!

Sunday, we headed off to church like normal. Only Expedito and Ronald showed up, but it was a good meeting. Someone talked about how to build ourselves on Christ, using 3 Nephi 18 and the sacrament. Right after church, we gave a blessing of health to a member who had stayed home from church. Afterwards, we went to our lunch appointment, and then we visited all the less-actives and investigators that didn´t go to church. We tried to talk to Expedito, but he wasn´t home. We thought he would be at the Patriarch´s house, but he wasn´t there as well... we ended up eating tapioca and then headed off to pass our numbers to the ZL´s.

I plowed through the Isaiah chapters of 2 Nephi this week, and there was a phrase that appeared a good bit, that really tied in with my study of the atonement. ´´For all this his anger is not turned away, but his ^fhand is stretched out still.´´ This phrase appears a LOT in chapters 19 and around there. It shows that even though we do a lot of stupid stuff that God doesn’t like... we can still come back to Him through Christ.

well, that was my week! I love you all!

Elder Cornwell

P.S. I´ll send more pictures next week.

Carnaval!

Hello everybody! Well, this week didn´t have a lot going on for a good number of factors.

Monday, we went looking for people to talk to, but everybody was travelling for Carnaval, the next day.

Tuesday, we tried to find something to do, or someone to talk to, but the neighborhood was ABANDONED! We talked with a few less-actives in the area.

Wednesday, we went to our District Meeting in Fortaleza, and had our training on ´How to begin teaching´. We practiced a lot of summarizing what the message of the restoration has for the investigator. Afterwards, we went to Aldeota to the hospital because Elder Rodolfo has a pretty nasty cough and has had it for a looooooong time. We might have to go again this week. Anyways, we got home way late, only enough time to stop by an activity at the church.

Thursday, We managed to talk to Darwin again, and answered some questions he has about the mission. Afterwards, we talked to A recent convert and her family a little about what serving a mission is like as well as how she can prepare to serve a mission. Afterwards, we visited another less-active named Monica. Her mom is very active in the church and asked us to stop by and help her and other family members. We talked a lot about the Book of Mormon, and other things that would help her progress.

Friday, we visited more less-actives, and at night, we talked with Ronald, who is a friend of the Bishop´s daughter. We had already talked a little but with him, and he has already been to church. We talked about the restoration, and he was very open to it. He has already noticed many differences to the church he was attending. He said he feels the Spirit stronger and he was impressed by the organization of the church. We explained the reasons for those two things, and he accepted a baptismal date.

Saturday, we ran around our area trying to talk with investigators and contacts, but we had little luck... we had more luck with less-actives, which are a lot more ready to come back to activity. WE also taught Ronald again about the Gospel and the Word of Wisdom. He was excited about the new things he is learning, and is looking forward to his baptism. We also got to know a friend of a member named Willian. He is 23 and he sells clothes from his home (kind of like a zumiez or pacsun from home) and he is a tattoo artist... side note... I met a tattoo artist without any tattoos! But we talked about what we do, and about the church. He is interested in visiting, but he was sick this week, so he wasn´t able to come.

Sunday. we faced torrential rains (the rainy season has arrived!) to go to church. Ronald and Expedito had already gotten there with members. I was freezing cold because of the rain, and the air conditioning on top of that. Afterwards, we had lunch with a counselor of the bishopric. The rest of the day, we talked with some less-actives again.

Well that was what we did this week. Most of my study was on the Book of Mormon, since I´m studying chapter 5 of Preach My Gospel. This week, In read a lot about how the Book of Mormon solves doubts and answers questions... both of investigators and our individual problems. I noticed that it talked a lot about principles of personal revelation... on one part, our searching for it, and the other, showing investigators how to receive answers through the scriptures and prayer. It was interesting to study.

Well..that was my week!

Love you all!

Elder Cornwell

Pequenininha!

Hello again! 

I know I say this every week, but man this week passed fast! WE had to get our bearings set opening a new area, but it is a very small two ward area... Maybe from G Way to the river, from Hanford to the Harvey´s. But there are a lot of people here and a lot of people to talk to!

So Monday night, we went to a family night in Ala 1, and there were maybe twenty people in attendance. We got to know a good number of people and there were even  few investigators as well.

Tuesday, we set out to work, going after a lot of references that were left for us. Most of the time, we had to mark another time, because we didn´t know what time they would be home. But we did get four lessons in, as well as getting to know some more members.

Wednesday, we headed off to our District Meeting, which is about an hour and a half away, in Bom Jardim. ZL training, and we learned a good technique to get members involved in the work without them knowing! It was something I already knew how to do, but I had just forgotten over time not really being able to use it. It is called giving the member a reference. Most of the time when we talk to somebody, they know a member, so we go to that member, ad give them a reference! it’s a neat thing to do that helps members get over that fear of sharing the gospel! WE got back home around 1 in the afternoon, and ate lunch and then we headed out doing the same thing! We taught a family that part are from the interior of the state, and had already known the church a little bit. We just talked a little bit about their experiences and we left a short message. Afterwards, we talked with the Bishop about a sister-in-law of his, that lives in front of him... more about her later. At night, we went to the church to participate in the Executive Council of Ala 2. We got to know some more members, and they passed some less-actives for us to visit. Of all the areas that I have visited, this was the most coordinated. They have a bunch of activities planned for the future, so we will have a lot of work to do.

Thursday, we continued our routine, and we contacted the sister-in-law of the Bishop, Jo. We talked with her a little bit first, and she mentioned that she noticed something different in the Bishops family. She said she didn´t know what it was, but they are happier, more united and they are just different from everyone else. From there, it was easy o offer her a family just like that trough the restored gospel. She seemed more interested in seeing how church was after our lesson. At night we went to the church again for the weekly soccer, which is always full of less-actives, and non members. We took a few names down, and then headed home.

Friday is when things started to get rough. The weekend before Carnival! It isn´t the normal Carnival here, because EVERYBODY LEAVES! We found about 1 in 10 people at home when we went to visit. But we did visit a brother who is passing through some difficulties, and we made some goals with his and his family to help strengthen him and his family. We visited a few other less actives with Niedson, a counselor in the Elders Quorum.

Saturday... nothing. Nobody was home, or nobody wanted to attend us. Literally nothing for walking AAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLL day!

Sunday, church was pretty empty, but we got to bless the sacrament twice... something I haven´t done in a very long time. There were a few investigators, but most of them traveled. Afterward, we ate with a member of the Bishopric and we went after more people. WE talked with a long time investigator named Expedito. He likes the church, but doesn´t want to be baptised because he doesn´t want to commit himself and fall into old habits afterwards. We read with him about the iron rod, showing how he could stay firm. He still didn´t want to commit to a date... we asked a few more questions and discovered that he had not prayed about the message of the restoration. We talked with him about how prayer and testimony are necessary for us, and how when he has pared, he will have the confidence to be baptised.

Then today, we got up and cleaned! Yay!

This week, I started studying Chapter 5 in Preach my Gospel about the Book of Mormon. I learned that the Book of Mormon is what support all our claims as a church to have the fullness of the gospel. Without it, we really don´t have any proof of our claims to current day revelations. Not only this, but our testimony of the book of Mormon is what keeps us firm in our conversion. The comparison made is of the archstone... the more pressure we put on it, the stronger the arch becomes, but the less and less we stress it, or even take it away... our arch doesn´t stay on its feet. But this is why God gave us the book of Mormon, and we teach using it more! To more fully convince us that He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, he gave us the Book of Mormon, as well as to keep us firm in the gospel. As missionaries, we need to teach with a focus on the book of Mormon. We won’t convince anyone what we are saying is true, if we do not use the proof we have at all! Most people believe the Bible to be the word of God, so why would we need to convince them more? The Book of Mormon is true, and most people don´t know that!

That was my week! until next week!

Elder Cornwell  

Nova área!

Hello everybody! This will be a quick one, since we had a lot of interruptions in our week, plus we had transfers this week.

I´ll send something more detailed of my day to day next week, but this week, we spent a lot of time working with certain less-actives and their friends and family. Elder Feinman said goodbye, since he was in the area for about 6 months already. I was expecting to stay but... more on that later.

We had to help out the other elders a little bit because one of them had some lung problems (pneumonia I think) and he wasn´t able to walk a lot. On Saturday, we also did a service at an English school. I went from room to room and spoke English with some of the students there. It was a neat thing to do... it reminded me of when I was taking French and listening to a native speaker.

But come Sunday night, we received notice that we both would be going, which was a shock for me. I was really enjoying the area and we were starting to get a really good rhythm going with the ward.  Anyways, we got a ride to the stake center with our LMA (Allison's note: Ward Mission Leader??) this morning. So we had the transfer meeting and I was surprised when they announced ´´In Novo Horizonte 1 and 2, as District Leader, Elder Cornwell´´ I thought it wasn´t me, because President had announced the new District Leaders and hadn´t announced me. So when that happened, I was really confused. I´m still confused because I don´t really have any idea of my new responsibilities. But my new companion is Elder Rodolfo, with whom I was already living, but we are opening an area here in Maracanaú, a suburb of Fortaleza. I am not sure exactly of where we are at, but we got a ride with a member of the w(ard here right to the door of our house. We´ve got a bunch of work to do here, and I am already tired!

Well, that is my short letter, I´ll write more next week!

Elder Cornwell