August 27, 2012

Well this week went pretty well, we had an amazing conference with an area
president of the 70 named Elder Godoy. We met with him on Thursday morning
with the other zones that are farther from the capital. He spoke to us
about many things, but the thing that I liked the best was he talking about
why we´re here on the mission. He gave us three reasons:

To save others
To build the Church
To save ourselves

Every reason is important, and any one of those, if forgotten, could result
in not doing what we came here to accomplish. If we baptize baptize
baptize, but the numbers of people in sacrament, priesthood holders and
recommend holders don't grow, we´re not doing our job right. And if those
two aspects grow, but we still have our own personal problems and habits
that we cant overcome, then we are not growing into the people that we need
to become.
A lot of analyzing was done during the conference, which leaves room for a
lot of repentance. I know that this time is truly sacred, and it is a time
given to me to help me grow closer to God, Jesus Christ, The Holy Ghost,
and God´s children in Brazil. Also I have found myself grow much closer to
my family back home and my friends who I love, even though I don't have
anywhere near the same frequency of communication with them, at times I
feel like my communication with them is much more powerful now, and much
more fulfilling. Even if it is just a short letter from a missionary in
Bolivia, Spain, Brazil, the States or from a friend back home, I feel so
much peace in knowing that I made the right decision to come out here, and
often times i feel impressed to pray for people back home and to write to
them.

July 16th - "As we learn and humble ourselves before God, we will be changed..."

haha wow, it seems like so much has gone on this summer with everyone! There are so many things i wish i could reply about! I love everyone back home, and i hope everyone is doing great!
So, we went to the doctor, and they gave me some anti-biotics, but in the mean while, some members have been trying to help me out. Did you know that if you put a bees wax cotton straw in your ear and light it on fire, it creates suction? Haha, you learn things like that when you have an ear infection and you tell the members.
This week was kinda a downer, we met some awesome, big families, but none of them went to church. It is also getting really cold and rainy! We are starting to work better with the members, we are awaiting some referrals and family nights that sound like they will be really awesome!
The Ward had a baptism this week which i feel a little a part of! There was a boy who went to the Festa Junina, and really enjoyed it. then Elder Merril and Steele went to his house to show him the restoration video, which he really liked. The next day, Elder Merril and I were doing a division, and he told us he wanted to be baptized, and then bore his testimony to the investigator that i brought. It was a very amazing experiance. He told about how he prayed and how it changed his life in 4 days, and he didnt want to do anything wrong, and wanted to be a new person. The gospel is like that, as we learn and humble oursleves before God, we will be changed and we will not have the same desires that we used to.
I love you all!
Elder Halls

Monday, July 9th - "We are really excited!"

Oi Família!!!! Tudo Bem?

     How is everyone doing? I just want everyone to know that I recieved some amazing letters this week, a lot of faith building testimonies from everyone and some wonderful, inspired experiences. I dont have much time today, because we are going to eat lunch, and then go a park with some members today. This week was pretty tough here. Elder Squires and i were doing really well on monday, tuesady but wednesday came, I got really sick with I think strep throat. We still worked a lot, but it was definately pretty hard. I am pretty much better right now, and I am hoping this week will be great.
     We had 2 or 3 meetings with our ward leaders trying to get them excited about missionary work, and I think they´re getting excited! We are going to start doing a family night with a family almost every night if we can! We are hoping that everyone will come on board especially because we only have like 6 or 7 families in the ward. haha, every family night will be an opportunity for us to bring a non member or for them to bring a non member. Also, we want to involve some of the many less active members in the area. We are really excited for this and i think that it will help us alot!
      One amazing experiance this week was on friday. Elder Squires and I were walking and making visits to a ward party, Festa Junina (Or Festa Julila haha because it is no longer june). And we decided that we would stop in and see if we could use somebody´s truck to help us move some things for a family that we are teaching that is moving. We had some difficulty getting over there, but felt it was really important, and when we got there, The man we wanted to talk to was asleep, and his wiife told us to just call that night. So we were about to leave, when we popped our head in the house of another family in our ward inside of the same gate and we saw our secratery sitting there. He was lying on a bed with bandage all over his knee! We had given him a blessing a couple weeks back, and he asked for a blessing saying that he just had surgury on his knee from an accident. We annointed him with oil consecrated for the healing of the sick, and then I gave him a blessing. It was a very neat experiance. I remember blessing him that his family would be provided for financially while he is resting. After the prayer, he said that he will be out for 2 months, and then after that he will have physical therapy for a year.
     We also had a Festa on satuday night!!!!! It was awesome! Alot of people came, and we we able to get some new people to teach. We ate Bolinhas Caipiras (which makes me so hungry just thinking about. haha) and had a lot of people there! I would send pictures, but I forgot my chord today to send pictures. Anyway, they had square dancing, and food! And a big room dedicated for missionary work! It was a great oppotunity! I wish i knew how to send you videos!
   Anyway! I will respond to your letters next week, I love you all!  I am so grateful for a mom so close to the spirit. I love you and dad so much!
  I love you!
Elder Halls
PS- Do you think that I could get a calander or something with all the cousins birthdays? I would love to write some of them, maybe all. haha I love you! Enjoy the heat! We are in winter here!

"One way I have found to repent is to seek the word of God, bear testimony and live it" ~Elder Halls

I love you mom! Haha, you sent me the message amost exactly 30 seconds after I got on. I dont have to much to write this week, not much happened!!! Haha, I cant remember very much other than the feelings. I am so jealous that you guys went to Lake Powell!!!!!! haha, to the people here, if you were to bring them to Lake Powell, i think they would think the´re in paradise. Or maybe that is just what I would think being there, having been on my mission for 4 months already. Man, I wish you guys spoke portugues. haha, its way fun to speak, and I made an oath to myself that I will only speak portugues when possible for now on. haha it has been going really well, and i am amazed at the things i have learned in just 3 days of not speaking english. Haha, in other situations it probably wouldnt be so hard, but living in a house with 4 americans and one of them being newer than me, its a little hard, but the more i speak the language regulary instead of english, the more i feel the spirit testify to me that this is where i need to be, that I am called to be here, and that either I am supposed to teach these people, or that they are supposed to teach me, which i am just about sure that it is the latter.
That is just what I said in my testimony yesterday in front of Ramo Jardim Liberdade (Jardim Liberdade Branch) haha, i have been really loving my studies and waking up early lately, and when it came time to bear our testimonies yesterday, i was the first person up. haha, its really funny how when you have the spirit with you and are seeking through faith to follow the scriptures how you literally have no fear.
Let me back track a little. This week, was a little tough, we had a rough start, and we were in a slump. We realized that pretty much everyone we had been teaching, we arent going anywhere with. We were having little success, and it was making us discouraged. During a companion study, we talked about it, and we talked about how to get out of the slump, how just 2 weeks ago we were sowing and reaping miricles, but lately it just wasnt happening. So i made a few commitements to myself that I know if i am faithful i will be able to keep. One, I will be exactly obidient to the rules. I will not look to how i can strech the rules, but i will look at how i can more fully accomplish and keep the rules. Two, I will speak portugues at all times even with americans, even if it is hard, i will ask how to say things and learn while i am speaking, even if i am in a house 3 other americans. haha, three, I will make 20 contacts a day. This is something that President Moreira spoke about alot, which is very hard for each companionship to get 40 contacts everyday, but it is very possible.
Anyway, haha, I have been doing some praying, and alot of thinking and pondering at how i can improve. Friday and saturday i was thinking all day. Saturday i woke up early at 6 so I could finish the book of mormon from where i was at and have time to pray about it. I thought all day about what i should do to become the missionary i want to become. Oh, haha also, this week (sorry for jumping around so much) I had a vision. A dream, about me walking into our house on Woodside way after my mission, getting picked up from the airport. The temple was finished, we were going to do a session before i got released. And I walked in the house through the garage, got to the laundry room, and just broke down in tears. I couldnt bear the feeling of longing to continue on my mission, to serve the Lord, to love the people of Brazil, my companions, the Branches of sometimes just 40 people. Wow, i am about crying right now as I write this. But anyway, feelings like this, reading the book of mormon, bring people back to church that havent been in such a long time, (we walked with 2 children in a family who almost begged there parents to let us take them to church), watching the baptism of a family in the Ward of the other elders, it has just brought a lot of things into perspective.
So i want to act. I know that i will cry when i get home, and i will be filled with saudades for the people here and for my call as a missionary. But i want to be able to look into the eyes of everyone i meet and say, i gave everything i could, i worked as hard as i could, i loved them more than i loved my own life. Once i can do this, i will be a successful missionary.
Anyway, so I love the opportunity we have to repent and to come back to the savior. One way i have found to repent is to seek the word of God, bear testimony and live it.
 I hope everyone takes every change in there life as an opportunity to repent and become the person you want to become. This life is so short to not become who you want to be, you need to choose now, now is the time. Life is too short to fill it with excuses or i things you wish you would have done. Through the atonement of Jesus Christ, we can change our lives. But we first need to humble ourselves and pettion him to show us how we can change, that through his sacrifice we may be saved. I love the words of Ether, the prophet, at the end of the history of his people `34 Now the last words which are written by aEther are these: Whether the Lord will that I be translated, or that I suffer the will of the Lord in the flesh, it mattereth not, if it so be that I am bsaved in the kingdom of God. Amen.`
I want to have the same surety in the Lord. Read The Book of Mormon, read the Bilble, read the words of the prophets, read Jesus the Christ, treasure up the scriptures.
I love you all, i love the people here in Brazil, I love this church I love our savior Jesus Christ. I remember the words of Jeffery R Holland to us saying, One of the many truths we brought the world is the image of a weeping God. Jesus Christ is calling us back always, his arms are always outstreched seeking to gather us in. All the challenges in our lives can be a way to learn and grow if we but put our trust in Jesus Christ.
Com Amor,
Elder Halls

June 26, 2012 - We are really excited to be here!!

Happy Fathers day!!!!!!

I am so grateful for my dad, and my grandfathers. I was able to spend a lot of time with them before my mission either working, or hunting, or doing yard work ect. It was an awesome time! I have definitely been blessed with an amazing family. Thank you for all being such wonderful examples to me.
I think the Advengers idea is great.
hahaha, we walk by the movie posters for Os Vingadores (the advengers) almost everyday!!! haha, and a missionary who is visiting this area was just telling us that he saw it and loved it. haha, and when I heard Ammon was smiling the entire time, I knew it must be a great movie!

Well this week was pretty tough. Pretty much none of our lessons happened that we had planned because of one thing or another, and out of the 7 people that promised to go to church, nobody went.. But Rosangela did get confirmed and it was an amazing experiance. (ok, i dont know if i am spelling anything right, because this computer says everything is misspelled) We asked Daniel Woss, the missionary who was visiting this area to do the confirmation. It was really special because he baptised her children, but Rosangela was still working through quiting smoking.

Anyway, Elder Squires and I are staying in Jacareì por mais um transferência!!! For one more transfer!!! Same with Elder Merril and Elder Steele. So 3 transfers with only americans. haha, I think it will be good because by the time I have a Brazillian companion i should be able to say pretty much everything i need to. Well we are going to Almoço right now (lunch but bigger. and better. haha) so I have to get off, but we are really excited to be here! We have a few families and people that we really want to baptize, and the members here are awesome.

We just got news on sunday that we need to find a new building for the members to meet, because we are going to demolish the old church building in august and build a bigger one!!!! The members are all really excited, and so are we. And we are probably going to have the temporary building closer to a couple of the more concentrated areas so it will be easier to get members to church.

I love you all! Oh no! I forgot to tell about the conference with the president. It was amazing!!! He knows his stuff. He talked about symoblism and the different meanings of the Hebrew words that the Bible uses. I learned that the Brother of Jared used Stones in his boats and how his boat was similar to the Arc of Noah. The Hebrew word for rock, is Tshomething.. i forget, but it can mean window or rock, and in the bible, it said Noah put a window in his arc. So its pretty cool to draw the similaraties. He said that the reason why the Brother of Jared didnt ask Heavenly father what he should do is because it was written in the records of Noah that they alread had.  It was amazing, He talked about alot about symbolism including jacob 5 talking about the Olive Trees. haha, he asked the question, why would anyone plant an olive tree in the middle of a vineyard?

Alright! Im heading out!!!  It was hard to say goodbye to president moreira! we sang him a song

The chorus was the following

Podemos estar juntos para sempre, eu sei.

I love you and hope everything is going well!!! This mission is passing by so fast already! Im almost at my 6 month mark! I love you!

Elder Halls

PS. Just so you know how my day was, we woke up at 4 to go to sao paulo after spending the night at another missionaries house, where i froze to death on the floor. haha, then we had the conference, at lunch there, came back and on my way here, A drunk man grabbed my companion and gave him a hug asking for money, when i went over and talked to him gave him 2 reais then he kissed us both and we got away after praying with him. haha just an ordinary day in brazil!!! I love you!







I just had lunch at the coolest house! Oh how i cant wait to cook brazillian food for you guys!!! haha, so for everyone here, they usually only use Rock salt to cook there meat here. not small salt, but rock salt, just that, then they usually throw coal down on the concrete somewhere and put a grill over it. then they put the fat on the grill and let the whole piece cook for a little, then they cut it into smaller pieces and cook them individually after putting more salt on. It is soooooo good. haha, anyway, make sure you guys get to know the missionaries in our ward! Give them people to teach! Feed them! It would be the most amazing experience if you guys were able to help someone get baptized while im on mission. Also, tell dad to do his home teaching! Its so simple, but it is how we keep track of the members in the Church. One thing i have learned is that God will hold us responsible not only when we do something wrong, but when we do nothing at all. He is giving us part of the vineyard to be under our dominion so that we can help it grow and nourish it. There will be a day when we will stand before God and he will ask us what we did to help. And he will hold us accountable for what we did and didnt do. President explained it like this the day i walk in. Someone will say to Heavenly Father after this life, i saw the missionaries walk by, but they didnt say anything to me. I think this is the same with all of our callings. we need to magnify them.

So i have been thinking about buying some shoes here, and i think they actually have some great pairs! The shoes that i have wore out really fast.... haha, i need some with some thick soles. and I will go to a shoe place and check, we pass by like 5 shoe stores everyday, i just have only seen them work with wooden souled shoes. haha, so i really want to buy a pair here. the innersoles you sent me with saved my life. If i didnt have them, my feet would be destroyed. haha

I love you mom! I hate how fast the mission is going to me! haha Give everyone a big hug for me :)
Elder Halls

Temos um Batismo Esta Semana!!!

  Alright, this week has been very long, tiring and rewarding! haha, So monday and tuesday Elder Squires worked very hard doing contacts and staying focused. In fact, we were lead by the spirit to go to places. Usually we cross a bridge and go to the other side of the city to start working, but this week, last PDay we decided to stay on this side and talk to people. Elder Squires and I were just about ready to go home, when we passed this dark alley that had a sign that said dead end. haha, so I said, i feel like we should go here. haha, we went back there, and met the sweetest lady who went to church with us yesterday and we are teaching. haha, Elder Squires thanked me for being inspired to walk into a death alley to find a person who is truely ready to hear about the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, haha.
     We also had a bunch of miricles this week. On tuesday, I gave my first blessing in Português. It was an amazing experience. Tuesday night, we visited Rosangela to help her quit smoking, and after a powerful lesson, I felt inspired to ask her if she needed a priesthood blessing before we left, and she said yes. So she asked me to give it to her. It was hard to remember how to conjugate some of the verbs just because i wasnt used to saying or using verbs like I bless you, or we bless you, so it was a little diffucult. But the spirit was definately there, and I knew what I needed to bless her with through the spirit that I felt. We asked her to stop smoking by friday, her next interview with our District leader, and she said she will.
     So by Wednesday, we returned to teach her again. We gave a very powerful lesson, and I remember being very direct and clear. We taught her about Faith, Miricles, Repentance, Desire and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I had scriptures that I had written down in a notebook that were just perfect to teach her. The spirit was very strong, and we invited her to give us her last cigarrettes and just be done now. To choose right now and be free of this binding thing that was impeding her from Following the Example of the Savior to be baptized. As bold as we were, we were on the same page as each other (Elder Squires and I) because we were influenced by the Holy Ghost. The lesson went great, she made her choice, and I left with a pack of cigarrettes in my pocket :) haha, we told her that the Lord is capable of making miricles and if she quits and is baptized this week, that would indeed be a miricle and through her faith she could do it. We can do anything within the Lord´s Will through faith.
   Then came the interview (friday), wow. haha, she was smiling when we got there, and we could tell by her face that she had quit smoking and that she indeed was ready. We shared a quick message and had a prayer, then Elder Merril did the interview. It went very well, she wanted to not do the baptism until the following week because an old missionary who was here was coming in town, but we we said it would be better for her to have him there while she is getting confirmed a member of the church when she recieves the Gift of the Holy Ghost.
   Sunday. We only had 2 investigators at church, but they really loved it. After lunch and visiting a few people we practiced a musical number for the baptism, then we went to pick up Rosangela and walk with her. It was all going great! Except her 16 year old boy who was going to baptize her was on the other side of town! haha So we called him and started walking to the church. When we finally got to the church, William, the second counsiler of the Branch went to go get her son, the are in the picture of 2 guys on a motorcycle. haha

   They got dressed, and the service started. The spirit was so strong, and everyone was so happy, Rosangela had a big smile on her face! So did everyone! And the missionary who baptised her children was able to come, he has been off his mission for about a month. So her son, Elias got in the water with his mom, and they tried about 7 times to get her under the water, but her knees kept coming up. She also got water in her nose the first time and the water was soooo cold (its the start of winter)

(when in reality its not that cold, we´re in brazil. haha) and it was really hard for her to get all the way under. He tried a couple more times while they were both on their knees. She could barely breathe, so she walked back up into the bathroom where some of the women of the ward were able to help her. I felt like i should bring my baptismal clothes incas something happend, so i had them in a room nearby, I asked if it would help if i stood in there to help, and the branch presidency though it would. So in all of about 30 seconds, i threw on my white clothes and got in the water, she came back down from the bathroom, then Elias said the Prayer again. On the first try, we got her in. She came up with such a shivering cold smile, but while walking up the steps, touched me on the shoulder and told me thank you. I was almost brought to tears, because i remember when I first met her, she couldnt understand anything, and she would tell everyone, Ele não intende nada! but since then i have grown in so many ways other than the language and now she is baptized with her whole family.
  For those of you who may be confused about baptism, because it may sound like we drown people in freezing cold water, baptism is an Ordinance of our church. We baptize because Jesus Christ was baptized and he invited us all to be baptized in order to come unto him and enter in the Gate to have eternal life. We believe in Faith in Jesus Christ, Repentance  (which is an act or result of our faith), Baptism (which is a result of repentance and faith), recieving the gift of the holy ghost and enduring to the end by keeping the commandments. I would love to be able to talk to anyone who is confused, but i have very limited time, and i will be busy for the next 2 years. haha, but there are missionaries in almost every area across the world who are doing the same work as I am. They would love to talk, to you, as will I when I return.
   This week I will work harder, I hope all of us can be inspired when we here the story of Rosangela quitting smoking after many years and being baptized by her son of 16 years old. I know that through the power of God we can do all things. We are his children, would you want you children to be able to do all that you can, even better? God has power of all and created all things. He knows that we can do anything through his power if we are doing it within the bounds of righteousness he has set for us. If we show faith in his Only Begotten son, we can become like our father. You can know with a certainty that God is pleased with you when you are keeping the commandments and you feel the spirit or the Holy Ghost work through you.
   Eu sei que O Senhor vive. Eu sei que por meio fé, arrependimento e obediência do mandamantos nos podemos voltar e ser mais como Jesus Cristo e nosso Pai, Pai Celestial. Por favor não esquece as palavras do Profetas e as escrituras. Estude diligemente, e faz orações com força, e vive como O Senhor quer que nos vivermos.

I love you all!
Elder Halls

PS- Happy Fathers Day Dad!!!!!!!! They dont celebrate it here, so i forgot.. haha but I love you!!!!
i sent ammon and tanner a letter last week, and I will be sure to send you all letters too! I love you all! Transfers are next week, and we are hoping that no one gets transfered here, but the president did ask me if i thought it would be easier to have a brazillian companion and i said yes. haha, so maybe i will get a brasiliero!!!! haha love you all!

Haha tell Mrs. Mittlestald I have thought of her class because in portugese, we have the word vocês, which translates to y´all, and she would use that to help us learn who was the subject or object of the sentances

Yum! Guess what's for lunch????!!!

"Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God." ~Helaman 3:35

Oiiiiiiiiii

E aí minha família! this week has been just crazy! haha we have all new zone leaders, and now Elder Merril is my district leader!!! And president Moreira is leaving in like 2 weeks!!!!!! :( noooo!!!! anyway, i have a lot of stuff to talk about, muitas coisas para falar, muchas coasas para hablar. i think thats how you write it in spanish, i feel bad for anyone who is learning spanish.. haha, português is just so much prettier :)
Anyway, I was having a pretty tough time speaking the language, and being ok with getting things wrong (a lot of times its not because i cant communicate, its because i have fear of not being perfect) but then we had did a division with my zone leader, Elder Renato, which i think i sent a picture of, and he brought some life into this area! he only has one transfer left, and he really inspired me to just always be happy, and to always try to help others feel happy. So since that day, things have been going really smooth. I have been doing a lot better! He taught me a lot of new things in português, but mostly how to be excited while talking to people on the streets, and doing lessons. It was a great division.

So he slept in Jacareí that night, and we swiched back the next day, and Elder Squires and I were doing pretty good again! We had interviews the next day with president, which went really well. Our president is such an inspired man, after the interviews, a van came with all the packages and letters for our zone! haha, it was awesome!!! my house got 5 packeges!!! haha, and 4 of them were from you guys!!!! the other missionaries really like the candy and things that were sent! and there were so many amazing things in there!!! i went into more detail in the other letter, so i will talk more about other things, but pretty much, i have the best family in the whole world, and i loved the letters too from everyone! thank you so much!!! I also made brownies for a family after teaching a lesson, and they loved them! thanks for brownie mixes!!!
So we have been doing a lof of work with the part member families, and especially with a women named, Rosangela, her kids are already baptised, and she goes to church every week, she just needs to quit smoking. we planned her baptism for yesterday, but she still wasnt feeling very ready in the interview. So this week we are shooting for her to be totally done smoking and she should be baptized on sunday. She is so firm and is already sharing the gospel with other people, she just needs to be baptized.
Sunday-
The dedication of the temple was amazing. I forgot to bring my book that had my notes in it, but Deiter F. Utchdorf did the dedication, and also talked, along with  Quinten L Cook, and Claudio R M Costa! the same man who dedicated the ground for the gilbert temple! Claudio RM Costa is the President of the Area here.
Deiter F. Utchdorf spoke, then said, i feel impressed to share a story about a meeting here in Manaus that happened in 1977 i think, i dont have my notes. He said that James E Faust was there, along with the mission president, but it was alot of the members in the area, yet still a small meeting. James E Faust asked a boy to give the opening prayer. He said, I would love to give the opening prayer, but please let me also bear my testimony.
James E Faust also asked a girl if she would sing, and she said the same thing, I would love to, but let me bear my testimony also. And so the small meeting of about 40 people went, each wanting to bear testimony of the Savior who is so deeply embedded in their hearts.  That story touched me so much. It was definately something that everyone in the room could barely hold back tears while hearing. President Utchdorf talked about how the temple is a manifestation and a result of the faithfulness of the members here, and a fulfillment of profecy (A man named Grant Bangerter profecied that there would one day be a temple in manaus(who is related to my old companion Elder Bangerter))
The rain poured as tears from Heaven as the young adult choir sang Eu creo en Cristo, I believe in Christ. It was such an uplifting meeting.
The work is going good, we met a lady that accepted the book of mormon, and started reading while we were there, and is going to pray about the truth. I am so excited to talk to her next week! we have been finding families, it is just really hard to get people to go to church. We are going to do a lot more contacts this week.

I love you all so much!!!! this week should be great! even though its freezing cold and raining right now. haha

Elder Halls
hel3:35