9 + 8 = 17

"Oi!

This has been an exciting week! We've worked hard and are doing very well. Let me remind you of the standard that we are trying to meet:

10 investigators in church
12 lessons with members
14 new investigators

This past week we reached:

3 investigators in church
13 lessons with members
17 new investigators

Along with another 18 lessons ourselves, that makes 31 lessons total. This sure isn't Germany, is it Dad?

Something amazing happened as well, which I'm still not quite believing. We found a family of seven, five of whom are 8 or older. We taught them the first lesson and less than half a second after we invited them to be baptized on October 25th, the eight year old son shouted "I will!" Then we went around the room and all five committed to be baptized. I'm still shocked by it all! They didn't go to church Sunday, so they'll have to be baptized on the 26th after church, and we haven't been able to talk with them all together again, but we've talked with a couple of the sons and the mom and each time they've said they're excited to be baptized. We're praying that this comes through. Their names are Damiro, Raimunda, Benicio, Pablinho, Fabrico, Milena, and Andre. Please put their names in the temple. I think that I'm so shocked that this has happened that we need a bunch more people to excercise their faith too!

We also have a baptism of an old investigator, Aparacido. He has been having a tough time overcoming smoking, alcohol, and coffee. He will be baptized on the 25th as well. Antonio, Roseli, and Jader are also marked for the 25th, but Roseli freaked out when she went to church. She thinks she's too poor and that everyone looks down on her and doesn't accept her. And now she won't give up coffee to save her life, but she know this is all true. She's just acting like a spoiled little child in response to their father. She'll come around, especially after Antonio and Jader get baptized.

So in total, October 25th, 2008 we plan to baptize nine people!!! The zone leaders also have eight people marked for that day. Can you imagine 17 people being baptized in one meeting! Nossa! I just really want this to happen. The ward has been really animated as they've heard about this.

We had interviews with Pres. Castro Deus on Monday and he is really happy with our work. One thing he always says in my interviews is, 'Elder Larsen, your companion really likes you.' That always makes me happy. And today in the leadership meeting he told Elder Clark that he really wants us to baptize, because 'they deserve it.' I'm super happy. This has been a good week.

I love you and am happy. I know this is the Lord's work.

Elder Christian

Ten Investigators at Conference

"Oi!

We just got back from the temple and the mission office. Holy cow, those were some heavy packages! lol!

This week has been nuts. Conference was amazing. I got to watch all five sessions in English. The best was priesthood. I enjoyed all of Pres. Uchtdorf's talks and I don't know how, but Pres. Eyring's talks always are directed to me, without fail. You should have seen our faces when Pres. Monson announced the Italy Rome temple. The four of us were astonished! That is so cool!

We were able to take 10 investigators to watch conference this past weekend. I was really proud of that. I didn't realize that we had 10 until Monday night when we ran into Aparacida and she told us that Luiz and Eduardo went to the priesthood session Saturday night.

Our district leader has been worried that we haven't been able to mark any baptisms for awhile, so he did a training on the baptismal invitation and called us to practice first . In that practice I felt the spirit as strong as I've ever felt here in my mission. That was a powerful testimony to me that we are doing very well and doing things right. We are working hard, everything will happen in the time of the Lord. We have marked one family to be baptized on the 18th...Antonio, Roseli, and Jader. They are awesome. We just met them and they went to church the first week we invited them and they know this is true.

The exciting thing this week is Elder Bradford's old area. They baptized 11 this past Saturday. Dad, can you imagine that ever happening in Germany! Eleven people in one baptismal service!

I read the email from Casey about casting out evil spirits...that's intense. I read it aloud to everyone in our house. Up north in Brazil they have a lot of problems with that kind of stuff. I've heard of it here in our mission, too, but it's not nearly as common.

Well, I'm sure tired. I'm going to go home and rest and do laundry before pday ends. I love you all. Tschau! Tschau!

Elder Christian

Parrot Poop and Motab Hymns!!

"Oi!

This week has been good...this last weekend in particular. These past few weeks were slow until Friday. We just dropped everything and walked our entire area teaching two minute lessons on the Restoration to anyone we saw. We marked appointments for this entire week and we've found some good families. One family is really good. They are really needy though, but that makes them humble. Their names are Antonio, Roseli, and a son Jader. We will also return to a family today and I hope all goes well. We taught the wife the first lesson and we'll teach the husband tonight. I pray that works out because they really are a good family. What may impede them is that she works on Sunday. Their names are Gilmar and Luiana.

Here is some other good news! Joao Batista came to church on Sunday!!! I expect he'll also come to at least one session of conference too! He is wonderful. His wife and daughter are still resisting to be taught, but he is firm.

Some more good news...remember Aparacida, whom Elder Hancock and I baptized. Well, her oldest son, Eduardo, has started coming to church! I was blown away when I saw him there. That is a good sign! We can only teach him on weekends, but I bet he'll go to conference and then we'll invite him to be baptized along with his dad, Luiz, who continues to go to church. I bet, if Eduardo gets baptized, Luiz will also and that family will be complete and will be able to be sealed in the temple in one year.

We had a Church Exhibition on the Square on Saturday. We set up a huge banner that we used in the open house and we had the four of us missionaries and about five members giving out cards and questioning people about their beliefs and whether they'd like a visit from the missionaries. We got about 30 references from that...some have already fallen through, but it was a good activity. We gave out almost 500 pass along cards, some of which I'm sure will turn into references. During the activity I got pooped on by a wild parrot. I didn't like the poop, but I thought it was cool that it was a wild parrot!!!

Speaking about parrots, have I told you about our parrot next door? He can whistle the Brazilian National Anthem and is learning the MoTab Hymns now!

We are SUPER excited for conference. There is nothing better than this! We'll get to watch everything in English, and we'll even get to watch it here in Vinhedo. We would normally have to go to the stake center in Itatiba which is a pain in the butt! But we can watch it here now.

I realized that I was close to the year mark, but I didn't realize how close until you said it was only 6 weeks away! NOSSA! Time has flown by and continues to fly!

We're working really really hard and we're happy. I love you."

Elder Christian.

New Shoes.......and Great Pizza!!

"First, I have to say that I have never received a better package than the shoe package! My bishop here passed by the mission home while he was in Campinas and picked up my package. That was after I had called Pres. Castro Deus and asked for permission. It was pretty awful walking around in strong rain with a hole in my shoe. Thank you for the socks, insoles, shoes and candy. Oh, and I'm sure that Elder Rossi will be grateful for the jerky seasoning. I'm certain that he can find someone in Brasilia that can translate the instructions for him.

This week was eventful. Saturday night we, together with Elder Clark and Elder Bradford, did a Musical Fireside. It was actually an activity for their ward and was part of the open house we did, but this open house involved the entire city, so we worked on it together (even though my ward didn't show up or pitch in, neither did the bishop announce it, so nothing good happened for our ward!). It was fun, because I played the piano for their choir and on Sunday I had to go to their sacrament meeting to play the piano, too. That made me feel good to do something that I was good at for them.

This week was crazy as well. The pizza here in Vinhedo is SUPER GOOD. We ate pizza five times this week...one to celebrate the transfer, one because we had another elder over on a division and three more. lol, oh well! It's prett nutty with four Americans. We laugh a lot , and just like the last time I lived with my ZLs, I think that I'm the only sane one in the house.

Here in Vinhedo we are trying to start from scratch. For that entire transfer with Elder Hancock we were working with old investigators that they had with his previous companion. Well, those people were going nowhere very, very slowly, so we dropped just about everybody and are trying to find new people. That is why these weeks have been so hard. I've never started with a clean slate before. I'm learning a lot. Those two women you asked about are hard to reach. Ana Maria, the one with the super nice house has been living in Sao Paulo these past few weeks, so I haven't even been able to talk to her again, though I call her everyday. I am praying hard that one of these days when I call her, she'll be home. Ivone is almost the same way...rich people are difficult. We're starting a new program of cards here in the ward with 48 little displays that we are putting around the city that hold pass along cards, so I expect we'll get a lot of references from this once it gets started. Also, this was the first week when I succeeded in marking for members to teach with us everyday. I'm happy, but yesterday and the day before didn't work out, so cross your fingers for the rest of the week.

I love you guys. Tell Tiffany that I'm proud of her because she is active in the church and doing well in high school.

Tchau! Ate mais! Elder Christian

Bad Week.....But I'm Happy!

"This has been an eventful week. First off, this has been one of the worst weeks of my mission, but I'm still super happy! It was bad because three of our families shut the door on us...half our teaching group. I think I cried, I can't remember. Also we threw a huge open house with our zone leaders ward and nobody...NOBODY came, so we lost a lot of time, but the open house was really good. I'll tell you about it later.

Yesterday Elder Hancock was transfered. My new comp is Elder Nodal from Albuquerque, NM. This is his second transfer and I'm his second companion. He is really new to the mission. My zone leader got a new companion, too, an Elder that I really like, Elder Bradford. His is super humble, super excited and super happy all of the time. We still live with our zone leaders, so it's still crazy at our house all of the time.

The open house was really well done. We had the church decorated really well and each room was about a different aspect of the church. Our room was the Missionary Work room and we had the baptizmal font open and running. It was cool! We had a bunch of neat banners from the mission and there was a room that had a pathway made out of old liahonas. It was pretty neat!

I saw everyone yesterday at the mission conference. Elder MeEwen was the happiest to see me. He got the present and said he nearly cried when he saw it. Elder Pereira nearly knocked me over when I gave him the ring you sent for him. I told him he didn't need to pay for it. Elder Benson, from my CTM group, was made senior companion and Elder Rossi, my old comp and (at the time) his comp said that Elder Benson was praying that he and I could be companions. I may not have baptized many people yet, but it seems like I'm making a big difference in the lives of many of the missionaries here.

We taught two rich ladies the other day...one lady's house was as fancy as anything in Park City. She called to receive a Book of Mormon. What happened was that she found the number to call while she was channel surfing waiting for her husband's surgery to finish. She happened upon a church film (about the Beck family, one of whom, the subject of the film, I know from Sunday Singing) and she called then and there in the hospital. When we invited her to be baptized she told us the she never thought she could be baptized, that she couldn't convert to Mormonism...that we were like the Jews and that you had to be born one. We were like OF COURSE YOU CAN! She said that she wanted to talk to her husband first. The other lady did something that nobody has ever done before. She wrote down the date and time of our baptizmal invitation! We will have to call both ladies to go back and that will happen tomorrow. Please pray for them. Their names are Ana Maria Mandoza and Ivone Wagner Bento. We also need to teach their families.

I'm happy and working and loving the mission. Thanks for the information on my friends. Will you find out if Casey (Bangerter) knows an Elder Monson in Fortaleza. He was one of the zone leaders that I got to help call and introduce while I was AP in the CTM.

I love you. Elder Christian.

Miracle Baptism...More Coming!

"This week was good, VERY tiring, but good. I think that I told you about what happened with Aparacida. Not this past Sunday, the Sunday before that we filled up the font after church and taught her and her husband that day and invited them to be baptized that night. That made a deep impression on her, deep enough that the following Tuesday she told her son that she wanted to be baptized the following Saturday. He immediately called me and told me and she was baptized by him on that Saturday. At the baptism she told me that she really wanted me to baptize her... even more than her son! But we both thought it better that he baptize her and I confirm her.... since I have the Melchizedek Priesthood and he does not. That was really good. That was a miracle baptism. We're working for another miracle baptism this week...Luiz, her husband. I think that he needs a lesson about agency and the atonement, that he has to act, make the choice. He is a "dry Mormon"... he only lacks the baptism.

I'm very happy about our other investigators. Joao Batista is totally elect. I can't even describe him! This is the guy that called to us on the street. He just needs to go to church and then I'm positive that he'll accept baptism. His wife and daughter are more difficult. His wife accepted the first visit, but then we met her in the street and she said (very happily and almost laughing) that she was 'passionate' about her church, that she believes that it is the only true church, and that is where she cries and feels good and that she would never, ever, ever change. The daughter does nothing more than study. She's very nice but she fights with her parents. I think they are probably a little overbearing, so she doesn't want anything to do with anything. Pray for them. Send their names to the temple. Joao Batista, Adelia, and Isadora. He is stake president material.

We have lots of other investigators. All of them are working on various problems, but they're all really good people. This weekend the other ward is throwing a big open house. It's HUGE and we're working with those missionaries to put this on, because it will affect both wards. I'm excited for this. Pray for the well being of our investigators, that they will act according to the knowledge they have so they can be touched by the spirit and choose to be baptized. But pray also that they will attend this open house and that many members will participate and be profoundly affected.

Dad, you should see the campaigning down here. They have an annoying peculiarity here called the sound car. They go around playing jingles for the candidates all day long! They congregate in the most densly populated neighborhoods where we also are and it begins to really get on your nerves.

This coming Tuesday are transfers. But, we're working and praying that Luiz can be baptized. I love you and am happy. Ate mais!

Elder Christian

Faith, Hard Work....And a Mission Record!

"Oi familia!

This week was an amazing week...we worked SO HARD! And exercised so much faith! We concentrated on everyone that was possible to be baptized that week and invited everyone for that Saturday, but nobody accepted. Sunday we filled up the font right after church as an act of faith and went directly to Luiz and Aparacida's home to invite them to be baptized that night at 8. I even told them that the water was waiting for them. They rejected, but she asked me, 'Will there be a baptism tonight?' I said, 'Well, not now.' And she said, 'I'll prepare myself then.' Yesterday, I got a call from her son, who told me that she just barely told him that she wanted to be baptized this Saturday! YES!! Elder Hancock and I nearly fainted, we were so overwhelmed. So happy! She'll be baptized this Saturday at 7. Pray for Luiz Carlos and Eduardo, her husband and son, so that they can be baptized with her.

On top of this we met a super prepared family Saturday night. We felt impressed by the Spirit to keep Saturday night planned for a baptism, even though we hadn't marked one, so we were walking to the church when a man across the street called to us. He asked what time church was and where the church was and if he could go. We told him and marked to go teach him. We taught him yesterday. He and his family live in the richer part of Vinhedo and asked every question that we answer before we answered them...'Are there prophets in our day? Is there modern day scripture? What do I need to do to know that this is true?' They'll accept our baptismal invitation after they go to Aparacida's baptism Saturday.

And what more this week, the mission hit a record. We baptized 204 people in the month of August, and 63 in this last week....a record unparalled in the history of this mission! YAY! It's truly a blessing, the Lord has seen our hard work, sacrifice, and faith and is blessing the mission like never before.

You don't need to worry about the packages. I'm getting every single one. The customs people don't take them. I need new shoes. I think I'll have these resoled, and maybe buy another pair. I left my other pair in Piracicaba, because they had a huge hole in the bottom. I'll take a picture and send it to you so you can get more from Missionary Mall, but I need some new shoes right away. You don't have to send much more mac and cheese. Please keep sending a few socks and maybe some insoles. I ate macaroni today and the four of us devoured the candy. I gave a lot of macaroni away to our zone and they appreciated it. Everyone thinks we're rich now. Ha ha

I can't wait to hear about Casey. I'd love to keep hearing about my missionary friends that are out. I don't hear much...and now that I'm senior, I can't find time to write either...

I'm super happy and love the mission. Thanks for everything!"

Elder Christian