Weekly

Hey, everyone, this week was great! to start off, I got some good news! we will have a baptism this week, on Saturday, in the ocean!! I'm way pumped

So this week was pretty normal, this email will be pretty boring. But today, we went to an island called Morro de São Paulo, which was super cool! (pictures attached)

I'm loving being on a mission. It is such an amzing experience to do the Lord's work. I'm so grateful for all of you that email each week. I hope you all have a good week this week! 

-Elder Opfar

5 months!!!

hey, everyone! 

so, I hit 5 months today! crazy

so this was a good week here in valença. 

This week, we did some service at a members house. it was awesome. we had to clear out some weeds and trees and stuff. but he lives in front of the jungle, so we had to clear part of it. it was awesome. went into the jungle with a machete and just started hacking away. I saw the biggest ants I've ever seen in my life. I was a little scared, but it all turned out all right haha. 

we had lunch at an investigator's house. it was awesome. they made lasanha. oh, how I love the lasanha here. it is divine. 

This week, I was able to teach seminary. man, it was intimidating, the bible is hard for me to read in Portuguese because its verb conjugations that I don't study very much of. but it all turned out good, and I was able to teach it decently. 

a little spiritual experience of the week, we were teaching a family of recent converts about the plan of salvation. it was cool to see their enthusiasm and to hear their answers to our questions and how much they've learned already and to see their progress. Being on a mission is hard, but it is such a rewarding experience to see change in peoples lives because of our work.

sorry, this is a short email, and I don't have pictures, but I hope you all have a super good week! 

Week 3 in Valença

Hey, so to start this email, This week, I found a list of people who gave me their email to put on this list, but I guess I forgot, so sorry to all those who missed the last 20 weeks of my mission, but hey, you're here now! 

This week was a very busy week.  

Tuesday- normal day, taught some people, traveled that night to Itabuna. There's an area there called California. So we stayed there, I slept on the nastiest mattress I've seen in my life haha. gotta love the mission.

Wednesday- we had zone conference. Had some training from President Bangerter, learned about teaching less actives, and giving baptismal dates. That night, we had a bus at 11:30, so we spent the rest of the day in Itabuna. I bought some ties, and we taught a lesson at a recent converts house there. They were awesome, such a cool family. The people here in Brazil are crazy, in the best way, and I love it.

Wednesday, we got back here at 3:45 in the morning, and I won't lie, we didn't wake up on time the next day, but we still had a good day. We taught some good lessons. 

Thursday- 1st service project. So we woke up, got ready, got a bus and went to Guaibim. It's the place where we baptize. There's a member who lives out there, he house a house and a hotel thing, right on the beach! But he always has things to do around there. . so me, and Elder Santos (not my companion) we got up on the roof, and we had to repair a partof it. It was super hot, and super sketchy, I was afraid I was gonna fall through, haha but it was all good we got it done. But also, there was a lid to a huge water tank that blew over and broke the roof. So we had to get it of the roof and put it back on the tank. I sent a picture of the tank. It was also super sketchy, and I got fiber glass all over me. But we got it done. After, we played with his dogs and his puppy. I removed coconuts from a palm tree for the first time, felt like a real Brazilian. After that, we went to the beach for a little bit. It was such a pretty view. After that we went home, showered, and went out to work.

Friday- we had another service project. There's a guy in our group, he's 16. His name is Charles. He is the only member in his family, and they were moving across the town, so we helped them move. we hade to take 2 trips with the van. well first, the van got stuck in the mud, so we had to get it unstuck. After we filled it up, we all jumped in the back and had to hold things down during the 10 minute journey haha. The road isn't great, so it was interesting. Also, one of us had to hold the door shut with a rope. So we did that 2 times. Also, they moved to a building, and live on the 3rd floor, so we carried everything up 3 floors. It was fun, and pretty much took all day. 

Saturday was a normal day of work! Really good teaching and finding.

Sunday- church was good. but before church, we went to search for investigators to bring. The first one was home, so we went to Diego. He was home, but he decided he doesn't want to recieve our messages anymore, and he joined another church. But a little kid at his house, Caio, he is 9, he really wanted to go to church with us, so we asked his mom if we could talk him. Long story short, he didn't come this week, but were gonna teach them this week, and they'll come next Sunday. so hopefully that works out. 

So for church, sacrament was normal, Halmir stole the water after. 

primary was good. We tried to teach the primary (4 kids, all recent converts of last transfer) we tried to teach them, ´´I am a child of God´´ to sing to their dads for Fathers Day. Well, they couldn't seem to get it, so when they sang it to their dads, me and Elder R. Santos sang with them, but we were the loudest. It was interesting. 

Last night, we went to the birthday party for a baby. There's a guy in our group, Marcus. He's 18. He's also the only member in his family, but we teach his mom. Well, his sister has a baby, and it was his birthday, and they invited us. After the party, me, Elder R Santos, and Marcus talked with his mom, and she approved that he can go on a mission! So tomorrow we're gonnas help him start his papers!

I want to challenge you all, anybody who has every been curious about Mormons. Find some missionaries, ask them for a Book of Mormon, it's free! and read 1 chapter. Any chapter. You will find it teaches of Jesus Christ. Say a pray, and ask if it is true. I know you you get an answer. 

I hope you all have an amzing, blessed week! 

-Elder Opfar

Weekly

Hello, everyone! hope everyone had a great week! my week had its interesting moments. 

1st interesting person we met:

 Luciano. We met him last Saturday, went to his house on Tuesday. he was drunk on both occasions. Tuesday, we went to his house, entered, and sat down. He started talking and talking. We couldn't teach. We invited him to church, he was very excited, asked if he could bring his mom, and some friends. (he's in his 40´s I think) we said of course! We said a prayer, and then he said ´´can you say another prayer to get rid of the Macumbas in my life? (Macumba is like the voodoo black magic stuff, so basically, people tried to curse him or something) so Elder r Santos said another prayer, then he asked us for our numbers so he could call us. We gave him a pass along card with the number to receive a Book of Mormon. He got on his knees and bowed to us. We left. He never showed up at church :(

2nd- Junior. this man approaches me ´´are you from the America?´´ ´´yes´´ ´´you're Joseph Smith!´´ this man had been visited by the missionaries before, and he thought I was Joseph Smith for real.  Eventually, he sang a song to me, and then walked off. it was interesting. 

Valença is a special place. I am loving it though.

We also had some really cool spiritual experiences.

We taught the Plan of Salvation to a girl and her mom. They are awesome people. Her name is Ravena. She has 4 friends who are members, and her mom loves them. she wants her daughter to be baptized in a church, but she's still trying to decide which church. She is really like the Church of Jesus Christ. so anyway, we taught them the Plan of Salvation. God´s plan of Happiness. it is one of my favorite things to teach. For anyone who isn´t familiar with the Plan of salvation, basically it is God´s plan for us. We know that we are all children of God, and we lived in His presence before we came to this earth. We know we have a purpose on this Earth, and we know where we're going after we die. We know God is just, and after this life, it isn't just Heaven or Hell. And one of my favorite aspects of the plan, we know that we can be with our families for all eternity. That one day, when we die, our spouse will continue to be our spouse, our kids will continue to be our kids, our parents will continue to be our parents. It truly is a plan of happiness. 

anyway, we taught the plan of salvation, and the holy ghost was testifying so strong. it was an amazing lesson. they came to church this Sunday, and they really liked it. I'm excited to keep teaching them, and sharing the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. 

I am really loving serving a mission. It is an amazing experience. I am learning so much about the scriptures, and I'm learning so much about God´s love for each of His children. I hope you all have an amazing week! (sorry, no pictures this week:(