7-20-2015

Things are moving very fast. The mission here is also starting to pass by a lot faster than in the beginning. I am feeling a lot more comfortable with the language, granted I still have a lot to learn but I do feel like I am making progress. 

Braxton is already heading out huh? Is he excited, nervous? We will have a few members of the fam on missions then. Matt is getting closer to returning right? Or does he have more time?

This week was pretty good. We just visited some families as my companion said goodbye to everyone. But he did give me some mission advice our last week together which was nice. I just got to put it into practice now. The baptism went smoothly and there weren´t any problems. I am in the same area, but I don´t know who my companion is. We find out tomorrow. My ZL said that I will probably be senior companion this transfer because there are a lot of missionaries leaving the mission. So I am a bit nervous about that. So we´ll see what happens. 

Love you!

-Derek

7-14-2015

Hey,

So this week is actually the last week of the transfer. So far it has been going pretty good. We visited a few families yesterday in Guajuvidas and had a barbecue because Elder Quiroga will be leaving the mission. So we switched our p-day this week which is why I am writing to you guys today. Next week will be on the normal Monday. 

Have a good week! 

7-6-2015

Hey, 

Things are about the same here as well. We have just been visiting a few people this week

On Thursday our Mission Presidents changed. President Wright and his wife left on the same day. I saw a video of them arriving there in Salt Lake airport. 

This Sunday we had an investigator in the "church" well the school ;) We have been working with him this week to help him get ready to be baptized on the 19th. 

One thing that I have been learning about is diligence. One day was pretty hard to get working because we had a long list of people to visit that were less active. We spent the whole day knocking on doors and walking all around the city. It was hard because either no one was home, or they didn´t live there anymore, or the house didn´t exist anymore like it was destroyed our something. But we kept marching on until the last address. It was late and cold but we decided we had nothing else to do, so we headed out for this address. After arriving at the last street at the last house we found the address. So we knocked and found out they had moved. Struck with disappointment we were ready to leave. But then the lady said that they moved just 3 houses down. So we knocked on the door 3 houses down and met with the family we were looking for. Later their son who was a member told us that last night he had prayed for some way that he could return to the church. The next day we showed up. So that was a really cool experience we had had. 

-Derek

6-29-2015

Well as of today the new President is in effect! I sent my first email to him today. I don´t know a lot about him but on Friday we will have a Zone Conference in Porto Alegre to get to know him. Sadly they didn´t really do anything for any sort of farewell for our last MP. They sent their last weekly message today, but that was about it.

Well let’s see, this week was another week of visiting members and less active members. We are trying to think of ways to re-animate them. Oh so our chapel is being remodeled because it is really old and falling apart. So we moved our Sunday meeting into a school for the Deaf called "Padre Reus." This last Sunday was our first time meeting there and it worked out pretty well. It was really cold and cramped but hey it is better than nothing! I met a sister in the ward who speaks Libras, the Brazilian form of sign language. She has been teaching me some signs. It reminded me of how much easier it is to learn ASL than Portuguese because it is more visual. So that was really cool. I also thought of Briana and her signing skills. 

But yeah that is what happened this week. 

Oh that´s awesome Braxton will be heading out soon. He enters the MTC one day after our next transfer. Be sure to take some photos. 

-Derek

6-22-2015

I am glad to hear dad likes the new addition to the family. As for here things have been pretty calm. We had a baptism this Saturday. She had been waiting for a long time. We really did not have to teach her anything she had already been taught by the sisters a few months ago.

The area is really nice. The food is about the same. The area is very green and flat. There are a few forests of trees that kind of surround the area. But I hope to go to the temple soon. It has been so long since the last time, I was there in December. I want to visit the temple here. My companion is going there at the end of the transfer so maybe I will go with him. 

Have a good week!

-Derek