Brazil Salvador South Mission
March 2017-March 2019

Monday, May 29, 2017

Weekly

This week was great! 
I has rained, hard, every day for the past 8 days. so much rain! one of the days, we were walking down a hill, and there was 3 inches of water flowing down the street and it was dumping on us! but it is awesome!
so last Monday, we went and got our haircut from a guy we taught once. Hes really cool, but i don't know if well go back to him again to cut our hair, lol.(i'll add the picture) so it was interesting. my Portuguese isn't the best, so i wasn't sure how to tell him to cut my hair. i told him, ´´5´´ and i touched the side of my head. so he cut the side at a five, and then slapped a whole bunch of gel in my hair, and slicked it back. he never cut the top. so at some point this week ill have to try to cut the top of my hair. but yeah, my hair looked really strange, i looked like Alfalfa from little rascals. but him and his friends thought it looked really good. he totally butchered elder Gomes hair, so he just had him cut it all off. he wasn't too happy hahaah. but it'll grow back. 
so our microwave has some loose wires on the back, i don't know where they go, but oh well. so i was trying to heat up some pasta, and i pressed start and there was a flash of electricity and a pop, but the microwave started and it cooked my food. so i guess the wires aren't crucial, ill just have to try to not touch them.
i'm starting to get used to horses in the favela. last night, 8 men on horses, barebacking, no saddle, came trotting up the hill behind us all casual. its really strange. every body here thinks people from Texas ride horses every where, but i've seen more people here in 5 weeks riding horses than i ever saw in Texas!
The work is going well here. were preparing several people to be baptized on the 10th, and the 17th! last night we had family home evening at an investigators house, and it was so cool. the spirit was way strong, at the end, i added my thoughts and testimony. i am learning this language slowly, but i am learning every day. and the Lord helps me so much. there is no way i could learn this much in 2 months all on my own(and ill add a picture of everyone at family home evening)
i love the people in our ward, they are so loving and amazing. we have amazing lunches every day, and they are always willing to give us water when we pass by their houses. 
So it rains a lot here, but as soon as it stops, its back to being super hot. so im either drenched with rain, or drenched in sweat. haha fun stuff. 
We had 5 or 6 investigators at church this week! it was awesome, it was an amazing meeting with great lessons. 
well that is all i have for this week,
I am truly loving the mission. it is amazing to be doing The Lords work, and helping so many people. i hope you al have an amazing week, know that i love you all! 




From my letter:
I wanna tell you about one investigator. his name is A** N**. he has cancer. he breaths through a hole in his neck and he eats through a tube in his nose. he can barely talk. he has to lay in bed all day. he lives in one of the most humble homes i have seen yet. hard circumstances. but he is amazing. one of the most receptive people i have ever met. he came to church with us yesterday and he loved it. so the first time we taught him, he was shirtless in a swimsuit, because we just showed up at his house. after that day, he always wears his best clothes when we come to teach him. i love this man so much. i don't know how we can baptize him, with the hole in his neck, and all his problems, but he is definitely one of the purest, most humble guys i have ever met. he is truly amazing. we had to have a member drive him top church because its pretty far away, but the member is awesome. Fabinho. hes great. but yeah everyone at church was so nice to him, and he loved it. i am hoping we are able to baptize him. he is amazing


Monday, May 22, 2017

2 Months

It´s crazy to think i've already been out for 1/12 of my mission. Time is going too fast! i am loving every minute! I love being in Salvador! 
This week was really good! Last p day, after i emailed, we went to Mercado Modelo, and the huge elevator  there. (i'll attach a picture of it!) it was cool! the view was pretty, when we were leaving, the sun was setting over the ocean. i didn't take a picture though:( but yeah walking around the historic part of Salvador was sweet. there's a spot where Michael Jackson filmed a music video so i went there and saw that. there's a lot of African-Brazilian culture and a lot of cool stuff. there were some dude doing some sort of martial arts in a patch of grass. i can't remember the name of it, but it looked super cool. I love Bahia

Tuesday was another day of hard work. we found a lot of new people this week! They are all so receptive, but they just dont pray! i know if they pray, they will receive answers. its a struggle. but were working with them, and hopefully this week week we can have more success. We just gotta get them to church. if they come to church, they will feel the spirit, they will know its true, and they will have a desire to be baptized. our ward is amazing. i love the people so much. i dont speak super weel, and i can barely understand anything they say, but man they are awesome. 
We had a priesthood activity on saturday, and we had a barbeque. holy moly, brazilian barbeque is sooo good! so we had barbeque and played ping pong. 
So we were walking to an appointment, and we waled around a corner, and i was a little startled at first, because as i looked up, i beheld an old black man, with long, gray dreads, mounted on a horse with no saddle. he was casually having a conversation with a man and buying some drinks, from atop his horse. it was bizarre, because i think i was the only person who thought it wasnt normal. every body else was just going on with the rest of their days. 
i wasnt hit by any cars this week, so ill consider it successful. 
probably one of the funniest things ive seen, is at the moto taxi stations, they all have a slogan. ´´Deus é Fiel´´ God is faithful. Those things terrify me. i dont know how anyone can get on the back of one of those and not fear for their life.
also, i took a picture with this super creepy tree, ill send the picture. but yeah it has a bunch of stuffed animals hanging in it. kinda strange.  
it rained evry day this week except for sunday. it rains a lot haha, and then it clears up and its super hot again. its impossible o get dry. its eaither raining, or super humid and youre super sweaty. i have never sweated more in my life. 
so i guess the American missionaries that have been here in the past, would do magic for the kids on the street. because every little kids asks me to do magic. they are all convinced that i can do magic. or they ask me to speak in english. 
i dont know if i mentioned this in previos emails, but im being absolutely eaten alive by mosquitoes. theyre some sort of different breed, that doesnt care how much bug spray i wear, they can still bite me. and i sleep with long pants on to try to help, but its super hot. and my fan broke on day 3, so its fun sweating to death every night. haha but hey those are just little things. im still alive. im still here. i get the privelage of doing the Lords work so i cant complain too much. 
i learn to speak more and more Portuguese each day. i just cant understand anything lol. Bahianos are soo hard to understand. but yeah i understand enough during the lessons that i can teach, but its difficult. i'm learning though.




From my letter:

The best thing this week was a barbeque we had at the church! it was so so good! but the best spiritual thing, is that we have one investigator, her name is nelia. she is amazing. she is 52, and we teach her and here 16 year old son joão gabriel. when we taught her this week, the spirit was so strong. and i bore my testimony to here, and every time i do, i talk about how much i love the book of mormon and how much it means to me. and yeah the lesson was super good. i definitely think shell be baptized. she has a date for the 10 of june, and she just has to come to church twice. shes solid. 
my favorite meal was the barbeque. chicken, beef, sausage. a bunch of good juice. it was awesome. 


Monday, May 15, 2017

Salvador Week 2

Elder Gomes created this of the elders in their apartment



hey! how was everyone's week? this week was good here in Bahia. i'm loving it here. the people are amazing, the food is amazing. the language is hard. haha but I'm learning so much every day and my companion is amazing. this week, we committed 6 more people to baptism. so now we have 12 investigators with dates! buuut, we have so much work to do. we have to get them all to come to church, which is super difficult. but man there is nothing i would rather be doing right now then this work. yesterday, i was able to skype with my family! it was super good to see them and talk to them. after i was finished, the people whose house i was at were having a barbeque, so i got a bunch of steak and sausage and terere. it was so good! 
i've been studying a lot about the restoration of the gospel, and the history of the church. i'm so thankful for this gospel in my life. i love teaching it to the people of Brazil. 
the people here are awesome. there is one man, who rides a shopping cart up and down the road. he sprints and then jumps on the back, and he keeps up with the cars. its impressive. also, there's a tree here, with a bunch of stuffed animals hanging in it. i don't know why, but its super creepy. ill try to taker a picture this week. and i don't remember what ´picture i sent last week so ill just add a few. man i love my area. the members here are super great. Sunday is always cool, because the people are so loving. We've had a few family home evenings with members and investigators. its super cool. Families, and having a strong family is so important. its cool to come together and experience the love these families have for each other. 
i cant really remember anything else that was super cool, this coming week ill try to write stuff down so i have a more interesting email. 
today were gong to a super famous elevator that is here, and going to a huge market. ill update y'all on that next week. Love you all!


The stuffed animal tree

Monday, May 8, 2017

First Week in Salvador!

I made it to salvador! my first area is called santa cruz, in salvador. its right next to the beach! its a cool area. our area has sooo many hills! its a serious workout. my companion is elder Gomes, from sao paulo. he has 7 months on the mission. hes an awesome guy, and an amazing missionary. getting out here, i realized how little portuguese i know, but i learn every day. its difficult, but i love it. the people are amazing! we already have 4 people with baptismal dates, but we still have a lot of work to do with them. this week was full of ups and downs, but im happy to be here, and i love getting all your emails each week. so a few things about brazil. EVERYBODY has a motor cycle. and they are insane. we walk up and down the narrow streets dodging motor cycles. and they have moto-taxis. you would have to be insane to ride on one of those. another thing, the roads are way narrow, so were always dogding cars. i got hit by a car yesterday! well, i got hit by the side view mirror, so nothing happened, but it was really funny. the people here are really friendly, we talk to a lot of people, and a lot of people accept our message another day. great, nice people. the food is good! a lot of beans a rice, or pasta, strogunof, and meat. lots of meat. coca cola, or guarana with every meal. and a lot of maracujá! its my favorite. i think its passion fruit, but i don't actually know. but its insanely good. the bread here is amazing, i don't know why. we get some every night on our way home though! last night, a less active member gave us a whole bunch of snacks to experiment, and then made us some maracujá. it was all super good. 

so, to conclude this email, i just wanna say how greatful i am to be a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. it is such a privelage to wear my saviors name on my chest every day. im so thankful for the gospel, and how it blesses my life and how it blesees others lives. im grateful to be serving here in brazil. it is very humbling. i would like to invite you all, if you have ever wondered about the Book of Mormon, or the church of Jesus Christ, please, get in contact with the missionaries. Just hear the ,essage, and pray with real intent. Heavenly Father does not lie. ask him if its true. i know you will receive an answer. i love you all, i hope you have an amazing week. 

CTM Pictures:




above, view from the CTM

below, CTM District



First Pictures from Salvador
Elder Gomes from Sao Paulo








Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Arrival in Salvador

Parker made it to Salvador and is alive and happy!
This is his mission president for the next two years, President G. Paulo Bangerter and his sweet wife.


Elder Opfar and his trainer, Elder Gomes from Sao Paulo, Brazil.