Oiii tudo mundo!! February 25, 2013

Oiii tudo mundo!!

So this week was ANOTHER good one. Every email is going to start off like that ha.

So I’m staying another transfer and super happy about it. When the new Elders and Sisters arrived in our zone, a few of them thought I was Brazilian, because I don't have an American accent!! So I was super happy about that... I still have days that are hard, but most of the time I am speaking really well.

So, Mom, Dad, Ryan and Sam, you already know, but they are dividing my mish! [It was announced this week, that in July the Brazil Curitiba Mission will be split in two, the other half becoming the Brazil Curitiba South Mission.] I want to stay in the south part... with Ponta Grossa and maybe Iaguacu Falls!! But either way, I’m sure I will end up where I’m needed.

This week we found some awesome investigators!!! We found an ex-pastor of an evangelical church... and he’s a super nice guy. He’s been soaking up the lessons and reading the book of Mormon, but he hasn’t prayed yet to ask if it’s true... but he will! I think were gunna baptize a pastor ha! Super cool. R., a teenager we have been working with, should be getting baptized this week. He was supposed to be baptized this past Sunday, and he passed the interview, but his mom wouldn’t let him because she thinks he’s not ready to be baptized... so we are working with her. She’s not a huge fan of the church, and somehow she knows a lot about baptisms for the dead ha, so it should be a fun week.

The family you asked about names are: M., D., [The man who was killed by the train.] and their 4 kids and I don’t know how to spell their names. Ha. They are progressing realçly [I left that Portuguese “ç” typo in there to show that Elder Miller’s keyboard must be different. It gives me hope for his spelling!] slowly, but we are still working with them. She is depressed I think, and she doesn’t have a lot of motivation to do anything (like read or go to church) but we're not giving up.

So a few random facts to end this email....we almost died on the way to another city called Castro to do a baptismal interview. We were in one of the double accordion busses and it was raining hard... and for some reason the bus driver started stopping super fast, and the back half of the bus (that we were in) swung around and went parallel with the front half ha! It was crazy, but no one was hurt.

Also, a crazy guy came up to me speaking ´´English.´´ ha. He was just speaking gibberish but he thought it made sense. I had to tell him like 20 times that he wasn’t speaking English... and he still thought he was. It was hilarious though, and it was in the middle of a bus terminal and tons of people were watching.

Also, we tried teaching a family last night and I’m not sure why, but the drunk husband wanted to fight me (I think because I’m white... but his wife was white too. ha) so that was exciting. He was a small guy, and drunk, so I was pretty confident ha-ha. But because I’m a missionary, we walked away as he was swearing. It was hard. ha

So that’s all for now. I love you all so much and miss you too,

Elder Miller

 

Elders Miller and A Silva and their wonderful Ward Mission Leader.

Happy birthday!

 

Still in Ponta Grossa February 18, 2013

Soo... I'm staying in BON SUCESSO!!! Woop! I was a little nervous I was gunna leave this transfer, but I've got at least one more here in the Celestial Kingdom!! Which is good, because I think we are going to have even more baptisms this transfer!!

We didn't have a baptism this week : ( Our interviews fell through... no one was home, dang it! But they all went to church yesterday! So we will have the interviews this week!! But we had 8 good investigators in church yesterday... and I think all of them will be baptized this transfer! Hopefully a lot more ha.

Yesterday after church we had a family home evening with a recent convert family and it was super fun.... I shared a message about Christ.. and my comp said I sounded Brazilian when I was talking! And it's so weird, now I really don't have to try to talk or understand, it's just natural. I'm still learning new words everyday and working on my accent, but its so cool being able to just talk with out problems!

Dad and Mom! You two lovebirds are so cute ha. [We sent him pictures.] Thanks for the Valentine's help Mom and Dad... you guys are the best  : )

Ryan! That picture is awesome! I'm still a little confused where you are right now, [Ryan spent the long weekend with friends at a beautiful cabin in thesnowy mountains of the Idaho Palisades.] but I'm definitely jealous! It's super hot here right now, I'm sweating like crazy just typing this email!

So, I took lots of pics this week, and I will send a few real quick. Also, I made a few videos that are super funny. [No videos came through.]

I had to kick another dog in the face this week (he looked a lot like Truman, but about twice the size and he tried to bite me).

Oh! One other cool thing. Today I was studying scripture for personal study... and I'm reading in 2 Nephi where he's quoting Isaiah... in Portuguese, so it's a little hard to understand. ha So I turned to my English scriptures for help, and as I was flipping to the right page, I found my Patriarchal Blessing, and started reading. I felt the spirit so strong as I realized how accurate it has already been. It has so much counsel for me and my mission. It was crazy! It's seriously incredible how much guidance it gave me today, and how well our Father in Heaven knows each of us personally.

But I'm going to send those pics.

I love you all,

Elder Miller

Bad hair week? February 11, 2013

Oiii tudo mundo,

So this week, we baptized B.Saturday! And he was confirmed on Sunday!!! I don’t know if I explained about B's family... but they [hadn't come to church for about 5 years] and we have got them all coming to church again... and they are really enjoying it!

It was a super good week! We marked 24 dates for baptism this week!!! But we didn’t have a lot of investigators in church this Sunday : ( Sunday was super cold and raining super hard, so I think no one felt like getting out of bed : ( But next week should be better...I want to have like 30 investigators in church. Ha. We had 4 [investigators] at B’s baptism and afterwards we taught them the first lesson and marked dates, so I’m hoping that goes well!!!

We taught the family of the man who was killed by the train a couple more times... and they forgot to go to church : ( But they are still progressing and I feel like the gospel is really bringing them comfort.

Also, this week I taught another guy for the first time... It went really well actually, and he has a lot of faith in Christ!

Also, I got a terrible haircut... The worst haircut of my life. Ha. But it will grow back. And I borrowed clippers from another missionary and fixed it up a little bit. Ha.

I don’t even know what else to say... I have so many investigators and people that we are helping I have no idea where to start. Ha. I’m loving it here!!! The transfer ends this Sunday and I’m a little worried I’m going to get transferred, but we will see what happens!!

So Ryan... that’s awesome you’ve got a good team!! You are going to make bank!!! Ha. All the Living Scriptures guys! Ha! Speaking of Living Scriptures... I saw it again down here... It’s pirated. No joke. Some other company pirated Living Scriptures for sure. It’s not Nest Entertainment. Ha. It’s some Brazilian company, but they only have like three or four of the films ha.

 

Mom that’s super cool Anthony was called to Brazil!! Que legal!

 

Ha Remi! Good job helping Dad with the shed!!! Did you have an interview at Publix? And congrats with the Sacrament, Buddy!! You will do awesome!

 

Dad, the shed looks awesome!!

Well, that’s all for now! I’m going to send pics.

Love you all,

Elder Miller

 

So this first picture is at a recent convert’s house. Their family is super cool... and their little girl, M. is soooo cute. Ha. She wanted to take a picture with me really bad! So I had to hold her up Ha.

 

The other one is at a family home evening we had with a bunch of members and investigators... we played a cool game where you make a mountain out of flour... and put a centavo (a coin) on top... and everyone has to cut a piece of the mountain away with a knife until it gets super small and falls.... and whoever makes it fall has to grap [grab] the coin using their mouth. Ha.

 

And the last one is B.'s baptism... It was an awesome day!!!

 
[PS Today the beautiful photo on Bing.com is of Iguazu Falls in the state of Parana, Brazil, where Elder Miller is serving! He chose a photo of them for the background of this blog!
http://www.bing.com/]

 

Busy, busy February 4, 2013

Oiiiii!!
So, another week down. They are starting to go by super fast!!! I feel like I was just writing you guys yesterday and I'm already writing again!

So this week... We had one baptism! G.! He's super cool. He's an 11-year-old and his dad baptized him! Right before I got here, his dad and step mom and older sister were baptized. But G. was living with his mom, who's not a member, in Curitiba... But he just came here to live with his dad... and so his dad asked if we could teach him. When we started he didn't know much about Jesus Christ or religion at all.... but he memorized literally every thing that we taught him... and now he is a genius ha. He is going to be a spiritual giant.. and it was so cool to see his dad baptize him!! It was super spiritual!

Also, we are going to have a baptism this week... B. is 13 years old and his family has been less active for the past five years. We have got the family coming back to church though!! And we taught B. and his step mom (who's not a member) all the lessons and now they are both getting baptized!! The mom quit smoking already.. but it's going to be a month at least until the mom is baptized, but she has a super strong desire. When we started teaching her she didn't know anything about religion and so she has come a long way in the past month! B. will be baptized this Saturday!!

So the parents of L. are going to wait for another week before they are baptized :( But M and K were confirmed this week! I love those kids. ha

Also, this week, we taught the wife and the family of the man who was killed by the train.... It wasn't very reverent when we started..... they have 4 little kids. But when we started talking about how they will have a chance to see their dad and live with him again...(and that he didn't go to hell because he wasn't baptized) it got so quiet and the Spirit was so strong.... It was an incredible experience. Wow.

Oh, RYAN and SAM... I was teaching a family on Sunday... and they were watching TV.... and they were watching Living Scriptures in Portuguese... the Old Testament about Abraham and Isaac!! It was crazy ha, and it was on TV! I don't now how, but it was most definitely Living Scriptures. ha
But that's all for now! I love you all. Ryan and Sam... where are my emails???? ha

Love You All,
Elder Miller