Sim.

Hello everybody!!

This week was suuuuuuuper slow. Totally not, it went by SO fast! I´m just going to give the hilights, since most of our investigators stopped progressing.

So the beginning of our week was kind of slow, especially Wednesday because Brazil was playing here in Fortaleza, so everything literally stopped. EVERYTHING. Plus, we were on divisions. I was with Elder Caceres from São Paulpo/ Uruguay. Before, we managed to visit a contact that kind of contacted us. Her name is Lídia and she goes to church just because she knows she should. We had a great lesson, but she was traveling this weekend, so she couldn´t come to church. That was the highlight of that day.

Thursday, we had interviews, so we headed out early to the center. They were our last with Pres. Souza, so he kind of did an exit interview with me, asked about my plans for the near future. Afterwards, we went and marked De Assis and Cintia´s wedding, that´ll be the 19th of July. We headed back, and I was feeling nasty because of the bus ride, so we rested a little, adn at 4, we were back to it.

The other highlights were on Sunday. I gave a talk on Missionary Work in Sacrament Meeting. I spoke most about how to participate in the work, we just need to participate. The more we do it, the more we are inspired in how we can do it our own friendship circle. As missionaries, we can see everyday how much we could have shared the message with our friends, and as members help in the work, they too have that feeling.

 That was my week! I love you all and until next time!

 Elder Cornwell

Ai que cansaço!

Hello everybody! 

So this week again, like always... passed by super fast! I came down with a cold at the end of the week, so it was difficult to round everybody up at the end, but we managed to come out well! 

So Monday night, we tried to go by Eliane, but she wasn´t home, and one of our golden investigators said she would be moving to another area... SHOOT! But we got a reference from George that we visited the next day, and we stopped by De Assis and Cintia again.

Tuesday was a little busier. We taught the daughter of a less-active member, but she is still the ward´s responsibility, so we passed it on to the Bishop. Then we contacted Alcina, who Alex had talked to on Sunday. We had a great first lesson with her, and she said that she felt relieved by our message. We marked to teach her another day and then went to our next appointment. We talked with Manoel and Nalya a little bit about how the church could strengthen their relationship, and after that, we couldn´t get anything to work for us!

Wednesday, we talked with Luis Henrique again, and turns out it was his birthday, so we gave hima  Book of Mormon as a present! Afterwards, we managed to talk with Eliane, and we found out why she hadn´t gone to church. Then we taught De Assis again! We kind of just have to help him with his doubts, but he already has a testimony and is working to feed it.

Thursday, we did a service project for a less-active lady, and we got to meet some mof her neighbors, so we did some contacts and marked a few lessons. After lunch, we did some visits with Matheus, and afterwards, did a family night, and I taught his family and some friends how to make cookies... they turne out alright, but it was good enough to eat!

Friday, I woke up feeling a cold coming on, and after lunch I felt AWFUL. So I bought some medicine and rested for a little bit, but at 5, we headed out again and managed to talk to Eliane once more.

Saturday was the same thing, but we had to walk even more! We made final plans with our investigators to watch Stake Conference. I was just chugging along the whole day, trying to fight off the cold.

Then Sunday, we had Stake Conference. There was a talk about being Ambassadors of Christ. He defined being an embassodor as someone of the highest character and attitudes that perfectly reflect whom they represent. As baptised members, we all have this responsibility to be an embassador in our words thoughts and actions. Our investigators all loved the experience!

Then today, I took a risk and made Baião, and to my surprise I managed it! I´ll try to perfect it so you all can eat what I eat everyday!

That was basically my week. Lots of work, and lots more to do!

Love, Elder Cornwell

The picture is of Kyle'sMTC group...all coming home soon.

MTC group

Nova semana, Mesma Coisa

Hello everybody!

So this week was a lot like last week. LOTS OF WORK!

Monday, we went to De Assis and Cintia again, and did a family night thing.

Tuesday, we went and contacted more references that we had. We contacted an 80 year old woman named Maria. It was a really neat experience for us. We talked a little bit, since she lives alone and loooooves visits. We talked about the restoration, and as we talked about the first vision, we felt a very strong sense of love... mayube a fraction of what Heavenly Father has for us.

Wednesday, we contacted two more families in the afternoon, and a little later, we talked with some members that I knew from the first time around here!

Thursday, EVERYTHING fell through. Everything.

Friday was much better. We talked with three different girls who are coming to church regularly, but still don´t want to be baptized. WE don´t really know why! Then, we went with the Bishop and visited Maria again, and a member less-active and his wife, Nirinha. Afterwards, we contacted another reference from the activity on saturday.

Saturday, we visited everybody! WE also met a new investigator named Eliane. She was another reference from an activity. Anyways, as we talked to her,m she asked a lot of questions and she said that she felt empty by all other churches she had been to, and was looking for something to fill that emptiness (I about fell out of my chair at this point). We left a lengthy message with her, since she had MANY questions for us. All of which, we answered with the answer she loved!

Sunday, De Assis and Nirinha came to church, but our other invewstigators had some problems in the morning and couldn´t come. Afterwards, we kind of did a round up to help them go to stake conference next week.

and that was my week! Simple stuff... just work work work! Oh! Also, I stepped on a nail in the street, but it didn´t go in my foot... just poked a hole in my shoe. Miracles!

Love you all,

Elder Cornwell

Semana Cheinha!

Hello everybody! Our week was pretty full of stuff! We made 30 new investigators this week, so I won´t go detail by detail in everything, but I´ll share the details of the best parts of the week.

So I am part of the new mission that will be officially new as of the 1st of July, just to clear that up.

So Monday, we had a family night with Matheus, who I saw come home from the mission. The phrase of the week was ´´Elder, you look familiar.. have you been here before???´´ There was supposed to be an investigator there, but she didn´t show up... we spent the whole week trying to talk to her!

So we started just looking for references that were in the house and we contacted them and some of their neighbors as well. We also have two more neighborhoods that were added about two months ago.

Tuesday, our highlight was meeting a couple De Assis and Cintia. De Assis´ brothers and mother had been receiving the lessons, and he got to know the missionaries there... but this was five months ago, and the missionaries never went to house. But basically, he has been to about everything you can call a church, looking for the truth. All of the other churches he went didn´t completely agree with the bible, or missed something, and he didn´t believe that to be right. So on Saturday, we gave the first lesson to them, and they were very interested, made many questions, and their beliefs lined up with our message perfectly. The Book of Mormon, which normally is a stumbling block for people, he understood perfectly and could see the need for it in our days. As we finished the lesson, he gave the prayer, and asked that he could know the right path, and by the end of the prayer, he asked that his family members could also find this path.

Wednesday, we had our district meeting, that got us totally pumped up for this month! Afterwards, we tried to find a less active. We ended up meeting José, Alison and Marilene. Marilene actually lives in a place where the church hasn´t been established yet. She has a church that runs in the front of her house, which is much more common than it should be here. Anyways, we gave the restoration, and she understood it as us being sent to show her where the true church is. She had asked for this exact thing the night before we came, and she dreamed she was at her church and two men (dressed like us, she said) came and said everybody was under arrest, and all the members claimed their innocence for being part of a false ministry. AS she was leaving, the two men stopped her and told her to stay because ´´her work was not yet done, and she would find the true ministry´´. The next day, we showed up and gave her the message of the restoration of the true church of Christ. 

As we headed back down the street, we overheard a group of people talking about us and our work, and we felt impressed to go back and talk to them. We ended up meeting three men named Luis Henrique, Davi and Jonas. More on them a little ahead.

Thursday, Elder Cruz wasn´t feeling very good, so we spent the afternoon resting, but we managed to talk to Luis Henrique in the morning. He said that he felt the Spirit when we talked to them yesterday, and told us about the life he has led, and his desire to continue changing. 

Friday, we talked to Luis Henrique, Jonas and Davi. We gave them the first message as well, and there was a very strong Spirit. They are active members of another congregation, but they were very interested in our message and the implications that it brings. Davi was very touched and we felt that he received his confirmation already.

Saturday, the ward did an activity were the ex-missionaries went out and contacted people for us to teach. So, 8 in the morning, we were at the church already to take part in a devotional that they gave, and then we headed out to go to work ourselves. We headed home at 9, only with an hour for lunch, so we worked 12 hours straight... and I was exhausted!

Sunday, we did the normal church routine, and I gave some English materials for a young man who is becoming active again (he went inactive way back when I was in the area for the first time). After lunch, we went to contacts some of the references we had received. We met a mailman named Francisco that in said he wasn´t religious, simply because religion was full of confusion. He believed that God would come to take his people, but who would be those people? Once more, his doubts and beliefs were supplemented by the message of the restoration. He really liked the message, and agreed with the necessity of a restoration. Now all he needs is to pray and know that the message is true for himself.

Well, that was my week! I think my letters will be like this until the end of my mission. The members here are so excited to work with us!

Love, Elder Cornwell

Interesting Answers to Questions

I asked Elder Cornwell to tell me about:

1.      What happens at your transfer meetings?
            A. Basically, President gives a thought, and the secretaries talk for a little about after the meeting, and then the areas and companionships are announced. Then it’s off to the new area! Nothing very special happens... it’s a meeting of about an hour in total.

2.   The miracles you see around you (simple things)

            A. Most miracles that I see are people being softened by the Spirit as we visit them, people having their lives changed by reading just a chapter of the Book of Mormon, or a prayer that was said not personally, but at the end of a lesson. We also run into a lot of people being guided in very simple things. The Spirit can only work with our knowledge, so instead of saying ´´Go to this street and talk to this person, because they are waiting for you´´ the Spirit will say ´´Go visit so-and-so´´ and they won´t be there, but the person waiting for us will. We are guided to someone who needs our message in that moment almost every day.

3.      Some things you struggle with

            A. Fatigue! I am ALWAYS tired! It gets hard to focus sometimes and reason when we teach, but getting up is easy when everybody else gets up too, and there is some sort of interaction in the morning. I have never been homesick, it doesn´t feel like I´ll be home in three months and it is easy to be obedient. The only difficulty is being tired!

4.      Are you now in the mission you will end with?  Has the mission already opened?

            A.  I am. The zone Messejana is part of Fortaleza Leste, the actual division will happen on the 1st of July.

5.      What kind of interactions do you have with the members of the ward?

            A. We get a lot of cups of water from them, and we talk a lot about their friends and such to get references and teach those references with the members. WE always try to establish a friendship, but we always have that focus on our work. If a member isn´t willing to work or isn´t able to work with us during the week, we simply don´t have a reason to interact with them, but thank goodness, this area everybody is able and willing to work with us.

6.      Do they do nice things for you (besides give you referrals)?

            A. always give us water, a snack and stuff like that. There isn´t much more they can do for us, but its more than plenty for us!

7.       Where do you do your laundry?

            A. We have a washing machine at home, so we always are doing our laundry. There aren´t any Laundromats here. Kind of different from at home, because we have to scrub our shirts (sweat + dirt=marks on white shirts).

8.       What do you do on P-day?

            A. Our P-days here are kind of dull... we can´t play soccer, nor get together with more than four missionaries, so normally it’s just finding something to do at home, or sleeping after our email home.

10.  How often do you “cook” (I don’t mean make a sandwich)?
            A. Not that often... this morning I made French toast, but it’s been maybe a month since I´ve cooked something.

11.  How often do you eat with members?   Do you all eat together?

            A. Every lunch is with the members, and we usually always eat together with EVERYBODY. They serve us first, and then its eat eat eat until the food is gone (1 kilo of rice is R$2 and 1 kilo of beans is R$4, so there is always plenty to eat).

12.  Give me some cultural information

            A. That’s a hard question to answer haha... the big festival from this region is the Festa Junina, which I have no idea what is actually about. The typical plate is Baião and Carne do sol, the traditional music is called forró (look up Luiz Gonzalez on YouTube and you´ll get to know it). There is also a big fishing culture, for being on the beach. and Soccer... lots of soccer. Like people kill over teams that dispute 2nd and 3rd divisions. Crazy!

13.  Any other interesting tid-bits
            A. It’s always hot! They have summer and ´winter´ or in other words, super hot and hot n rainy.