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!

Uh...Hello!

So first off, I´ll just say that I only got the opportunity to watch conference one session in Portuguese.... surrounded by screaming children. I got nothing out of it, so I´m just going to download it and listen to it in English!

But yeah, so this week was pretty short. We didn´t really have much of interest happen either, okay so this letter will probably short.

So I stayed in the house until Thursday just staying out of the sun and being really bored... REALLY bored. I had nothing to do at all. I couldn´t really read because my eye was still sore, so I just slept a lot.

Thursday we finally got it to work and we just hit the ground running . We passed by most of our investigators and talked to them and whatnot... but I can´t remember anything now. Go figure!

Friday... Friday was interesting. We went to Aracati to do interviews for the sisters. The bus to go there leaves at 7:30, but this day, it left at 7:10, so we didn´t have a way to get there. So we sit and think and a guy comes up to us and asks where we are going (really normal at this place really) and we say Aracati. He just says ´´right on, let’s go!´´. So we hop in his “taxi” with 2 other people and head off. One of them got dropped off pretty soon, so we just kept going. Then there was a young woman that was waving the car down, so he stopped and picked her up and told her to get in the back next to me (I think he was trying to set me up, mainly because after that he started turning the hard real fast and whatnot to cause jostling and such hahaha). So we keep going, and he stops and picks up an elderly couple. We had a total of 7 people in the car... which was a Volkswagen Golf. It was this way for about 15 minutes, then luckily it was our turn to get out. Then we did the interviews, lunch normal stuff and headed back to Pacajus at about 5. After that, we just worked in our area like normal.

Saturday, we worked in the morning before lunch (it was REALLY hot... even more than normal). Then we had lunch at the Elder´s Quorum President´s house and he said his sister was moving in with them and he wanted us to teach them (so we´re going there tonight! Yay references!). We finished up there and passed by a bunch of investigators to just leave short messages. Then we went to the Stake House (tee hee) to watch the Saturday Afternoon session of Conference. I loved Elder Soares (vai Brasil!) about following the spirit. I thought it was interesting that he said the best way to follow to spirit was to always do good things and think good thoughts because all good comes from God. Jesus is our example in this because he led the perfect life. After that, we went to a member´s house for dinner and then headed home.

Sunday we had sacrament just like normal (not sure why, something to do with the transmission of conference). But before we went to find an investigator that wasn´t sure if she would come back from a trip to go to church (turns out she didn´t). Then we went to church and there was a less active who came with his wife and mother. His mother is an active member but his wife isn´t , and so we got to know him and marked a day to go bay and get to know them, so it worked out pretty good. After that, headed home like normal.

Today, we went to a school and played around in the gym (football and basketball) and that wore us out pretty well. Then we came here.

That was our week and my brain is fried right now, so I´ll finish this up!

Love you all! (Especially you Aunt Mitzi! ;) )

Elder Cornwell

I gave him some questions to answer:

1. I had a hard time getting a good translation of this: pegei conjutivite, e tenho que ficar na casa por mais 4,talvez 5 dias. Que bom que tenho p-week! Então, estasemana pasada começoou no 2a feira, e terminou no 5a feira. Qe joia! I understand that you have conjunctivitis, but what exactly did the rest say?

It just says I got pink eye and I was to stay in the house the rest of the week

2. How long were you having problems with your eye(s)? I had it once for only a few days before and had 2 weeks clear

3. Did you go to a doctor? Yes. Got medicine and everything.

4. Will you be able to wear your contacts? Yes when it’s all completely clear... I´m still kicking the last little bit out, but I can work, so I will.

5. Did someone stay in your place with you the whole time you had to stay in? They had splits frequently

6. Since you have been on your mission what have you come to recognize as a blessing, that you didn’t think much about before? As a blessing? MY capacity to learn really. I recognized as a spiritual gift pretty soon from the beginning and it has helped me a lot. Also seminary is a BIG blessing. Sunday School too. Gospel knowledge will always come in handy. As for temporal blessings, I´m living in Brasil. I haven´t asked for anything of Heavenly Father on my part really, I just do what He has asked of me.

Ao infinidade... e além!

So,I´ll go up front and say it, pegei conjutivite, e tenho que ficar na casa por mais 4,talvez 5 dias. Que bom que tenho p-week! Então, esta semana passada começo ou no 2a feira, e terminou no 5a feira. Qe joia!

[Allison’s Rough Translation: I got conjunctivitis, and I have to stay in the house for another 4, maybe 5 days. It’s good to have a p-week! (didn’t really get this next part…something about this last week early Monday, and ended on Thursday.) What joy!]

There. Said it!

So now that I have a working card reader, here are some photos! (I had intended to send my last card in that package, so I am without it at the moment...I´ll get it back tomorrow though)

1. Baptism of Jane
2. Elder Rocha and I
3. My current accruement of souvenirs
4. Elder Costa and I(Vai Corintian!)

So yeah, this week not a whole ton happened because of what I mentioned at the beginning. I´m stuck in the house until next Thursday, so Elder Francis has been doing exchanges so our area will still be alive.

Monday after we finished emailing, we went to a member´s house to visit a less active and his non member wife, but it turned out to be a family home evening of the whole ward, so we partook and received 5 references. Cha-ching! Then we headed home and it was all good.

Tuesday, we had district meeting and then we went to teach a kid named Erickles who just started appearing at Seminary and activities. After that, we taught a 19 year old girl that is friends with a newly returned RM (Allison’s note: RM=Returned Missionary). She was very interested in our message (the RM explained about the plan of salvation to her and we just picked up from there). Then at night we taught Kleber and Claudianna (the less active from earlier). He was really excited to see us. We talked about the Book of Mormon with Claudianna and answered some questions. After that we headed back home.

Wednesday we headed out waaay early (8:30) and taught a cousin of a member. Then we just continued all morning until lunch, then set out again. We set up two baptismal interviews, one of which didn´t work out because the girl is too closely attached to the catholic church (but she still attends church every Sunday???). We finished about 6 and headed home to study.

After that it’s just nothing. I had to stay in the house and just work on getting better.

BUT to get some real meat in this letter, I will pass on some counsel from Elder Bednar in preparation for conference.

At the beginning of his 3 hour talk to us, Elder Bednar said more or less ´Don´t copy my talk down word by word!´ which you all should do at conference. Seriously, it´ll be printed word for word the next month, just don´t be occupied by it. Elder Bednar said why... ´If you are occupied copying down word for word what the speaker is saying, you won´t hear what the spirit is saying... and that will not be copied down for you to read afterwards in the Ensign.´ So he said take notes on what the spirit says to you because that will be of more worth eternally. Just think, what are more important in the Book of Mormon to us right now, the Large or Small plates? So start your own small plates here in this general conference, and I can guarantee it will be the best one you have ever listened to because you will have been taught by the spirit for 8-10 hours. What has more value than that?

Also remember to take the counsel of what they say. Sometimes we find parts we like, but skip over the general message of our inspired leaders.

Also to Dad, it sounds like you are really enjoying your working the temple! It’s good to hear its reaching into your life outside the temple. Mom likes it too1

So, that’s all for this week. I love you guys!

Elder Cornwell

Allison's PS - Here is the reply to my email about how much I enjoy participating in Sunday School discussions:

I´ll pass a little something Elder Bednar passed for us about Sunday School. He said the problem is that it turns into a guess what I´m thinking and less what can you learn?. So his model is to give material to read before the class, and then start to talk about the topic and ask what everyone learned in their personal study. He said that is what most invites the spirit of learning and revelation. Incidentally, that is exactly how missionary discussions should be. We leave something for them to do, discuss and teach after. Always remember the best Sunday school teacher is the Holy Ghost.

Also, look in Mormon Doctrine where it talks about the Lost 10 tribes. It says that there is a good possibility that some of them rebelled and spread throughout the earth (the example given was of Laman and Lemuel, and that was just one family). Bruce R. McConkie makes a comment about the Tribe of Ephraim and how it was most probable for them to rebel, given their history. So maybe we are literal descendants of Ephraim (The only uninhabited land in that era is modern day Russia by the Black and Caspian sea)... some interesting thoughts (BUT NOT DOCTRINE!). I think I decided today I would like to do a religion minor of some sort... become a biblical scholar to a minor extent. I have found I enjoy reading biblical texts and religious texts to learn more than reading other books for recreation. Just some thoughts.

Also, you can make juice for dad pretty easy. How they make it here is a good amount of fruit (an example would be 2 oranges) probably half a liter of water and enough sugar for taste and then blend it until its juice. That's how we make it here and it is really delicious. Try it with strawberries or limes. Also get a feijoada recipe and give that a shot. It is just black beans with different cuts of pig, but it is REALLY good.