First Week

My new missionary is a little bit shy which I think is perfectly normal. I'm encouraging him to make contacts with people and the start our lessons with investigators. He’s from Macapá, Amapá. That's were Brazil starts in the North; his accent is a little hard to get used to...

We are doing a lot of finding this last week with lots of teaching opportunities. We have come across a lot of crazy people this last week...like one who seemed to be drinking garlic sauce while drooling it out of his mouth and screaming about how he loves saints. I gave him a Book of Mormon and was very grateful.

It just doesn’t feel like Christmas when it’s so flippin’ hot. But it looks like I will be able to talk to the fam using skype. Rio Grande is pretty wealthy at some parts.

Sinto que o Espirito do Senhor está me dirigindo para os eleitos. Parece que os jovens daqui são mais receptivos para ouvir nossa mensagem mas não me importo, Nós só precisamos um momento para testificar para que Eles possam sentir o Espirito e saibam que nossa mensagem é verdadeira.

[I feel the Spirit of the Lord is directing me to the elect. It seems that young people here are more receptive to hearing our message, but do not care. We just need a moment to testify so that they can feel the Spirit and know that our message is true.

Until Christmas,]

Até Natal,
Elder Willard

New Companion

Final transfers have arrived and well I will be training a new missionary from the MTC. I’m super excited and I just hope my language is good enough. I have to go back to Porto Alegre to pick up my companion and do some training.

This week was really cool. Elder Lazarte and I decided to go out and teach a lot of lessons in one day like 11, when this area had been doing 3 per day. We went out praying in our hearts all day long that we would find the elect and invite everyone to be baptized. By the time we got home we had taught 11 lessons. I'm starting to understand what Christ said about faith, that you can move a mountain with your words. If you truly believe that you can do anything. You are a child of our Heavenly Father who has eternal potential. You just have to exercise your faith and work and miracles will happen.

Eu sou grato pelo oportunidade a trabalhar como representante de meu Salvador, Jesus Cristo, e fazer as coisas que Ele faria.

Papai Noel é legal, mas Natal é chamado por Jesus Cristo.

[I am grateful for the opportunity to work as a representative of my Savior, Jesus Christ, and do the things that He would.

Santa Claus is cool, but Christmas is called by Jesus Christ.]

Also I watched a church video in Spanish and understood like half of it. HA!!

Elder Willard

Finally Moved

President Castro called me on Tuesday at about 3 o´clock and said, “Elder Willard you are going to be transferred to Rio Grande (5 hours away by bus).” I said that was really cool, but when? He said, “Tomorrow...” Regular transfers are not until the 11th of December. A missionary in my area was having some problems and was emergency transferred to my area and we switched areas. I had been in that area for 7 ½  months, so in less than 24 hours I was on my way, with all my stuff to a brand new area at the very bottom of Brazil. I was forced to buy a very expensive bus ticket with my own money (sorry Dad). The thing that bums me out the most is I have a baptism this Saturday and I won’t be there. But the president needed my help and he seems to trust me. The other missionaries think I will start training at the beginning of the next transfer.

My new area is called Cidade Nova and it’s tiny. You could walk from one side to the other in 15 minutes: a huge difference in that my last area was 3 ½ hours on foot. My new companion (for only a week) is Elder Lazarte from Nebraska and he’s half Bolivian. I'm helping him with grammar rules and speaking with more fluency. The area doesn’t have much going on in it with a tiny ward of 30 active members. We are going to get to work right away to get some people baptized. Elder Gull, from my last area said that he has baptisms marked for the 8th and 15th and 22th of this month. If anyone is willing to serve the Lord and work hard you can qualify for miracles.

Eu sou grato pela oportunidade a servir meu mestre e levar as pessoas para as aguas do batismo. Compartilhem o evangelho com todo mundo. Eu amo vocês.
[I am grateful for the opportunity to serve my master and getting people to the waters of baptism. Share the gospel with everyone. I love you.]

Elder Willard

Another Miracle

So this Sunday we had a few investigators come to church, but all hope of  having a baptism this transfer kinda fell through. But at the last moment an old investigator popped up and said she wanted to be baptized, so we marked her baptism for the 8th of December!!

Honestly me and my companion have been working hard and have had a little success, but finally our labors have qualified for a miracle!!!!

Things that happened:

I saw a giant tarantula just walking on the sidewalk.

Got terribly sick on Wednesday with a fever of 101 degrees and vomited; got a priesthood blessing and was totally better the next day.

Found several cockroaches in our apartment and promptly destroyed them.

I am super excited for Frazier to go to Brazil. You will learn to love America, not to say Brazil is terrible, but we are so blessed to have been born in America. Learning another language has been the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, but you know Spanish so it should be a bit easier. Also read preach my gospel in English first to get the lessons down.

Anyway, I’m excited to talk to my family on Christmas, hopefully through Skype, but we still have some time. I hope Thanksgiving was awesome. That is not a holiday here...so I just worked. I miss berry delight...and orange rolls.

Eu Amo Voces,
Elder Willard

Mission Changes

New changes to all missions in Brazil.

-We can not play basketball or soccer or football.
-We can not be with other missionaries on P-day.
-We can not have Zone activities.

We don’t really know what to do on p-days now...we can have staring contests in the apartment.
Other news! Frazier got his mission call to Manaus Brazil!!! I also made pancakes today because we found some mix in a random store. Of course it’s a Great Value brand, Oh Walmart....

I sure am enjoying the work, being a missionary and teaching o evangelho restaurado!
até agora, foi maravilhoso, aprendi bastante. Mas agora chega a hora a trabalhar bastante
e batizar todo mundo. Eu gosto de ver pessoas mudando vidas deles para preparar-se ser
batizado na igreja de Cristo. (the restored gospel! Until now, it was wonderful, I learned a lot. But now it's time to work hard and baptize everyone. I like to see people changing their lives to be prepared for baptism in the church of Christ.)

I have never been so tired in my life. I'm getting a better understanding of what exercising faith truly means, and going the extra mile. And what it means to love your companion on the mission. People weren't lying when they say you become a better husband, father, brother, etc, serving a mission. It’s just natural after seeing literally thousands of families and their relationships, what works and what doesn’t work.

Eu sei que a igreja de Jesus Cristo dos Santos dos Ùltimos Dias é verdadeira.
(I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true.)

Elder Willard

Missionary Angels

We are already listening to Christmas music! Which is great! Thanksgiving does not really exist in Brazil so we are just gonna skip it and go to Christmas. Something cool happened yesterday. My companion and I went to an investigator’s house and as we came in we saw that the family was watching American football! Let me remind you that Futebol Americano is not popular at all. It is nearly impossible to find the football channel, let alone people that are interested in it. But lo and behold, I saw my beloved Seahawks playing the Jets!

We also saw Lynch score a touchdown! It was pretty difficult to teach a lesson compared to just sitting and watching something other than soccer.

On a more spiritual note, we found a family pretty far from our home and the Grandmother, Olinda, told us that just the previous day she had been praying for an angel to come and see her. Then she said, “And then two angels came walking down the road to my house.” Hopefully we can get her to come to church and get baptized.

Also a little advice about dating or having a relationship:
Get married to your husband or wife legally and don't live together until you are married. Being legally married strengthens every single aspect about your relationship with your spouse and your future children. If someone truly loves you, they will want to marry you legally because they don’t want a light relationship or “no strings attached.” They are in it for the long haul, for good or for bad. Too many people here in Brazil just start dating someone and then start living together because it’s fun and easy. But down the line they realize that they don't truly love each other, and at the first sign of trouble they want to split and unfortunately the children suffer.

Eu sei que Cristo sofreu tudo por nós e podemos aplicar a Expiação de Jesus Cristo em nossas vidas incluindo casamento.
Vivem vidas certas e nunca esquecem oração pode dar muitos respostas para todas as perguntas. Eu Amo Vocês!

[I know that Christ suffered for us all and we can apply the Atonement of Jesus Christ in our lives including marriage. Live certain lives and never forget prayer can give many answers to all questions. I Love You!]

Élder Willard

Prayer Works

Being senior is pretty awesome, but an aspect that I'm trying to watch out for is listening to my companion and allowing him to do his part. He can receive revelation about the work just as much as I can.

Estamos falando portuguese na rua e a gente tem mutia coisa a melhorar, ainda. Mas, estamos ensinando muito e, pela nossa fé, vamos batizar!

{We are speaking Portuguese in the street and we have a lot to improve still. But we are teaching very much and, by our faith, we baptize!}
We are going to the temple today, which is why I didn't write on Monday.

But one quick experience: yesterday we went about working with almost no success which was very bothersome and frustrating. As we walked and worked I was praying to Heavenly Father for guidance or direction to help us find someone to teach. We had a dinner with a less active family, so I had given up in finding anyone for the day. But it wasn't until the end of the dinner that the family’s 10-year-old daughter asked to be baptized!! YEAH! Prayer works everybody!!

I am thankful for all the blessings that I have received on the mission and in my life.

Elder Willard