Week 15 - From Obidos to Santarém and back!

Hello!!

So we are here a little early today. It has been a very eventful week. I received an envelope package with pictures and candy and a big box with the scriptures and football. So that was great! Thanks! 

The week went by very fast. We left Tuesday night for Santarém and arrived Wednesday morning. I went to the doctor with Elder Capello and it was just like a typical doctors office. We were in the waiting room for HOURS! But afterward we went back to the zone leaders house. There are 4 missionaries living there and we did a split with the missionaries in our district. I went with Elder S Olivera (everyone calls him Salvador. haha!!) He is super cool and I really like their area. It was a tough day because no one was home but we made a lot of contacts and I learned a lot from him. We had 6 missionaries in the house so you can imagine how crowded it was when we returned that night! 

Thursday was zone p-day so the whole zone came and we had a zone meeting that morning then p-day. We played basketball and ate lunch and it was cool. But here is the bad news. Elder Capello fell against a concrete wall and broke his wrist. He went to the doctor in Santarém with Elder Galindo and I went on a split with Elder S Leite. We weren't sure how bad it was but when they returned he had a sling on and they said he had to see another doctor. So we stayed that night. The next day I went on another split with Elder S Leite and Elder Capello went to a bigger doctor. They decided that he broke his wrist and would have to stay in Santarém for a little bit so Elder S Leite would return with me to Óbidos. But the boat had already left by the time we got everything figured out so we were stuck there another night. We finally arrived here in Óbidos Saturday afternoon and ran around like crazy trying to confirm with our investigators about church on Sunday. Elder S Leite doesn't know the area at all so I was kind of the senior companion for a little bit until he figured it out! But we are having good success here. Elder Capello plans to return to Óbidos at the end of this week.

Also when we arrived in Óbidos, our electricity had been cut off! We didn't pay the bill yet but thought we had time. So our refrigerator smells terrible and we are without light. And most importantly, without a fan!! But we talked to our neighbor and ran some extension cords so we at least had a fan. But we will pay it today and get it all fixed.

We had two new investigators at church on Sunday! It is two young women. One has a child and smokes tobacco. But she is really excited about the gospel and said she will stop smoking. So please pray for her! If all goes well with our other investigators we will have 3 baptisms this week.

Then the weddings are still on schedule and if all that works out we will have 2 legally married couples this week and 3 baptisms the next week!

We had a cool experience last night. We went to an investigator's house who will be baptized this week but she wasn't there. She lives close to our house and we don't have anyone else close by to teach and it was only 8 o clock. So as we were walking I stopped at a house and clapped, and clapped. No one was there. But the neighbor came out and I asked for some water (the best way to start a contact). He brought some and an extra liter for us to carry with us. We asked if we could share a message with him and his wife and they said ok. 

They are very young. Only married for 1 year (LEGALLY MARRIED!) and don't have kids yet. I couldn't believe how great they are. They paid close attention and understood the entire lesson! We think she even almost cried after the 1st vision. They said they visit tons of churches and pray every day that God will show them the way they should live and raise their future kids. These are his words, "We always pray that God will show us the way, and now you two missionaries are here. I will pray about your message, and I really hope it is true." They also asked very good questions. After the lesson the lady asked, "After I pray, how can receive an answer and know it is true?" Me and elder S Leite looked at each other like, this can't be real! Afterward we basically ran down the street we were so excited! It was crazy. Truly a blessing and inspiration. I hope they continue to progress! 

So that is pretty much it for this week. Lots of ups and downs but I can't help but be happy when I am teaching the Gospel. Joshua 1:9. The Lord is always with us and will help us in our challenges and give us spiritual experiences. Always have faith in Him! Hesitation or fear is the opposite of faith! Don't fear! It was hard for me at first to speak with people because I don't speak the language well and some people are scary. But now I will talk to anyone, anywhere about the Gospel. 

The rewards God has promised are greater than any persecution we may have here on earth. I love yall!

  Elder Green

NOTE FROM BETSY -

We have seen so much growth in all areas from Clay that sometimes we forget he's barely eighteen. This email exchange between him and his four-year-old niece reminded me...

Email from Scarlett to Clay - 

Clay,

Did you get the package with dog treats? I sent those in grams package for the dogs. I do love dogs I taught beau how to do some tricks. Oh I hope all those dogs aren't dead already on the road that's why I sent those treats for the almost dead dogs. Do good on your mission.

Love Scarlett

Clay's response - 

Thanks for the email Scarlett! Yes I got the dog treats and I will start to give them to the dogs. I actually saw 2 dead dogs yesterday on the same street! It was basically just bones left! Thanks for the email! Love you! 

Elder Green

Week 14 - Weddings in Obidos!!!

Oi!

So this week is a little different. We have a zone meeting on Thursday in Santarem and we are going to have a zone p-day there as well. So today isn't our p-day but we still are allowed to email. We leave Tuesday night on the boat for Santarém and arrive Wednesday morning. Elder Capello has to go to the doctor there and the guy could only see him on Wednesday. So that's why we have to go a day early. We will most likely do a split with the zone leaders there on Wednesday and stay the night with them. Then we'll be ready for the zone meeting on Thursday. So that will be fun! I am always down for an adventure. 

And the next week we will go to Óriximina for the marriage of an older man and his wife. It is cheaper there and we can get the marriage certificate on the same day where as in Óbidos it takes a long time and is expensive. The man's wife has been a member since the church first started here in Óbidos 18 years ago. She was baptized by the first missionary here, Elder Wilson. He is American and everyone talks about him. He is basically famous here. He came back for the dedication of the new chapel a few months ago so that was cool. The older couple doesn't have much money so Elder Wilson is paying for the marriage. The husband has been coming to church every Sunday for 3 years. Very firm. But he can't be baptized until they are legally married. It has taken us a while to help them get that all worked out but they did and he will be baptized!! So thats cool! 

We will also go back to Santarém next week because the President will be there with one of the counselors in the Brazil Area Presidency - Elder Mazzagardi! So that is special. A lot of traveling these next couple of weeks. I love it!

We had a very special experience/miracle yesterday. The missionaries have been teaching a family for 7 months - a young man and a young woman and their 8 month child. (A very fat child.. seriously I have never seen such a big baby. its crazy) The man is the brother of a very strong member. The couple has been firm in their desire to be baptized the whole time the missionaries have been teaching them. But there were a couple of problems standing in the way. First they aren't legally married and second the young woman was only 15. Her birthday was November 3rd so the plan was for them to get married and then be baptized. That was the plan all this time. The man was out of town all week but we visited the girl a few times and she was very excited. We had to do all the paper work for the marriage so it could be sent to the zone leaders in Santarem because they travel to Belem this week for training. Then they will give it to other missionaries in a city where you can marry a minor without both of the parents present (since her father lives far away). So it was quite the process. We would get the signature of her mom who lives in Óbidos. Everything was set. The girl and her mom were very excited all week. Then on Saturday we went to see them. The man  was asleep because he was very tired so we didn't get to talk to him. But the girl was really sad. She said they weren't getting married anymore because they are too young for marriage. We were very confused. They are already parents and for 7 months they have worked with the missionaries and seemed anxious to get married. And now she just acted like it was all over - no marriage and no baptism. When we left we were very confused. The devil really waited till the last hour to step in and mess things up. 

We said a prayer right outside their house and many more that night trying to decide what to do. Finally we decided we needed to go to their house on Sunday morning and see what was up. We got the man's brother who is a member and has a car to drive us to their house. The man came out and we briefly explained what had happened the night before. He said he was very tired when he got home and said some things he shouldn't have said but he was better now. So we said let's go to church! It was 9 o clock at that time but we said it was ok if we were late. So they all got ready and came to church. Gospel Principles class just so happened to be about Eternal Marriage. Coincidence? I think not! After church we didn't ask them about their marriage plans but said we would come visit them later. That night we brought the bishop and his wife- who was 16 when they got married. It was one of the best lessons I've had yet. The bishop told his conversion story and afterward they were both excited to be married. But we had to have all the paperwork and money sent that night because the zone leaders left today. So we got the brother to drive us to the girl's moms house so she could sign the paperwork. They don't have any money so the brother paid for the whole fee. Then we went to the boat and sent it off! It all worked so perfectly. We fasted and we prayed, and the Lord softened their hearts and made things work out. It may not sound like much but it was one of the best experiences I've ever had. 

We also taught an English class at the church and we found an English teacher at a school. So this morning we went and taught English to 2 of her classes. Its funny because she's teaching English but she doesn't speak hardly any English! We were thankful for the opportunity though!

That's about it for today. I love all of yall!

Elder Green

Week 13 - Fishers of Men and Fishers of Fish in Obidos!!

Opa! 

Thanks everyone for all the emails! I love reading emails more than I like typing them but I'll try to make this interesting. Looks like all of yall had fun for Halloween. I asked some people if they did Halloween in Brazil and they all said yes. But we were out on Halloween and nothing was different... I love all the pictures! Those pictures of baby John bout killed me! Elder Capello liked the picture of the Farrer boys because he loves BYU! Haha! And the Power Rangers didn't surprise me one bit! And Avery did look pretty terrified in that picture of Abbie!

To answer Mom's questions - yes we have a washing machine in our house, but no dryer. We just hang our clothes on the line. My shoes are doing better than I expected but I will need some new ones soon. I think I will have to buy them in Santarem - when my debit card comes. I spent all my cash before I left the MTC but the money the church gives me is sufficient for my daily needs.

So here we go with one of the best weeks yet. So our lunches this week were awesome. They all had TONS of good food!!! And it rained a lot this week - I mean like big thunderstorms. It was pretty intense with heavy winds that blew sand up into our eyes but it was nice to get rid of the sun for a little while. 

I had a very humbling experience this week: There are some very difficult places to walk here - huge hills of just sand and big ole rocks. So we were walking in these hills and we stopped at a house on the side of one big hill and talked to this lady. She has 7 little kids. The oldest is 12 and the rest are very young. Their father doesn't live with them anymore and she can't work because she has all those kids. So they are very poor. Her dad helps them a little bit but it is still difficult. They only have one chair so when we returned to teach them she sat in the chair, Elder Capello sat on a big rock and I sat on the dirt. I didn't mind, but it really made me more thankful for the things I have. Then the lady and all her 7 kids showed up to Church on Sunday so that was awesome! I know this Gospel can make her family so much happier and I really hope she continues to progress. 

So here is another highlight of this week. We got permission from the Mission President to go fishing with the men in the ward. So we got up way early on Saturday and met them at the church. There was a bunch of us so we all got on the back of a big truck. The path we took was for cars and motorcycles only - but they said it was fine. It was crazy! We were literally in the jungle on a little path and the dude who was driving went so fast that trees were whacking us from the side! We kept having to stop to clear the path so we could fit through! Like I said - crazy! But it was definitely an adventure I will never forget! Then we fished and then we cooked what we caught on a little fire and ate them straight up. They didn't cut the fish or anything. You just have to be careful not to eat the ribs!! It was pretty legit. And it wasn't fishing with a rod and reel either. We had old bottles and cans with a string wrapped around it and a hook on the end. And also some nets that they would throw in and catch a lot at one time. Definitely an adventure!

And to make the day even more awesome - when we got back we had 2 baptisms. It was a really good meeting and a lot of people showed up! It was a great week!

I absolutely love it here. The language is a lot better and I am learning so much. I know that this Gospel is true. This Church is Christ's Church re-established through the Prophet Joseph Smith. I have no doubts about that. It makes me so sad when people here don't listen to our message or - after they listen they decide not to be baptized just because they don't want to change. We are here to change. The Atonement of Jesus Christ IS change! We should strive to change for the better every day. 

Well, that's it for today. I love yall and thanks again for the emails!

    Elder Green

Adventures in the Jungle!!!

The only fish I caught but I can now say that I have fished in the Amazon River!!

And the fish we ate!!

Sunburned Missionary Feet

And lunch we had one day this week

Me eating some famous acai!

Week 12 - the work continues in Obidos!!

Opa! 

    It was great hearing from all of you! Glad all the kids did well in their primary programs. And Scarlett was nervous! haha! 

    So this was a good week. Nothing really new or exciting happened but it was a solid week.

      Everyone keeps saying that I look skinny in all the pictures but I eat a ton! They feed us so good here and I love the food! There is never any leftover food at lunch! I am really trying hard to maintain a healthy weight. But we walk a ton. Elder Capello is trying to gain muscle before he goes home. So we go and workout every morning and he brings a container of meat and potatoes to eat at night because we usually don't eat dinner until 9:30! So I will probably start bringing food to eat in the evening as well this week.

      We had one baptism this week - an 11 year old boy. He is the cousin of the girl who we baptized a couple weeks ago. It was really good. We were supposed to have 2 but the other woman backed out Friday night. It was really sad because she was progressing very well. Her life could have changed so much for the better. Her eternities could have changed. I wish everyone could see the happiness this gospel brings. But our 1 baptism was great. Our zone reached our goal of 21 this month. Our missionary numbers are down and our baptisms are way down. But hopefully that will improve.

       Transfers were this week and every companionship in our zone changed except ours. Elder Kautai left so that is sad. But I think we are getting an American sister in the zone so I won't be the only one!

        I have progressed more in the past week with the language than the whole time I have been on my mission. Elder Capello can't believe it. He is telling everyone that it is a miracle! haha. I hear him speak all the time so I can understand almost everything he says. We never talk in English anymore unless I am helping him. Other people are more difficult though. But I am progressing each day. Truly a blessing. 

       I read a lot of conference talks this past week. I think President Utchdorf is my favorite. I get super pumped up everytime I read one of his talks. I read one "Lord is it I". I couldn't believe all the things I learned from that one talk! I have set a goal that after my mission. I will start with the first conference that was documented and read every single talk and write one page of what I learned from it. It will probably be a lifelong goal but I want to do it! 

   Here is a scripture I love - Ether 12:27

   We all have struggles and difficulties in life. Some things are harder for some and easier for others. But with humility and the Grace of Christ, weak things will be made strong to us. We always have things to be thankful for. That will make our weaknesses easier to bear. If we are humble enough to recognize our weakness and ask the Lord for help, they will be made strengths. Have faith in that. I know it is real. Keep doing good and always try to improve. That's eternal progress.

       Well we are at a different cyber today and this computer stinks and we don't have any more time. Love yall. Thanks for the support! 

         Elder Green

Week 11- Obidos: First Zone Meeting!!!

Ola minha familia!!!!

      Hope everything is going well with yall. Thats cool mom got to go to Texas. I bet you are having fun. Is your wrist getting any better? Sally and Jim are serving a Family History mission in Salt Lake? That is so cool. Thats on my list of things i want to become really good at when I get home. That was a funny Alabama joke! I laughed! 

      My week was good here in Óbidos Prime. We took a boat Tuesday night to Santarem for the zone meeting so that was fun. We met up with some sisters when we got there and went to the church. Once the zone leaders got there I went with Elder Kautai (the only other American in our zone) to the police station to get my address changed or whatever they did. Elder Kautai is super cool. He is from Texas but his family is from Tonga so everyone thinks he is Brazilian. He finishes his mission with Elder Capello in December. But then we took about a 30 minute bus ride back to his house to let him pack because he came back to Óbidos with us to observe. Since we are so far out no one visits here very often. We also got all the packages and what not for the zone. I did recieve one package with candy and gatorade and stuff in it. I didnt get the one with the debit card yet but transfers are in a week or two so I will probably get it then. We went back to the church and had a really good meeting. The president was not there but I am pretty sure he comes in a couple of weeks. Then Elder Capello Elder Kautai and me and one set of sisters had to take a boat back to our area. So while we were waiting we ate dinner at this sushi place. It was really good. But we were a little late getting to the boat so there was already a ton of hammocks taking up all the space. But we finally found three open hooks but they were reeealy close together. We were very packed. The old lady next to me was kicking me all night. But it was good! We made it!

       We went as normal and Elder Kautai tagged along. He was really fun to have around. He is a big time football player. He has a brother playing at BYU right now and another brother at Utah. But the one at utah will be serving a mission in December. Then he will play again when he returns. Elder Kautai will also go play at Utah. So we talked a lot of football. He served in New Jersey in a Portuguese branch for 10 months waiting for his visa so he was already fluent in Portuguese when he got here. He is super cool. So Thursday and Friday went by and he was supposed to return to Santarem on Friday night but the guy feeding us dinner was super late so he just decided to stay one more day. Then on Saturday we were eating with the bishop and we found out there is no boat on Saturday. So Elder Kautai had to stay Sunday as well and just left last night! His companion wasn't very happy but we had a good time here. Every bit of the food in that package is gone haha! We went crazy on that candy and gatorade! I still have some gatorade but that's it! I made the spaghetti last night and I think I messed it up but I gave half to Elder Capello and he said it was good so whatever! 

       It was ward conference this weekend so the Stake Presidency was here. So that was good. We had 4 baptisms on Saturday but 2 of those were for the ward so we really only had 2 for the mission. One girl is 10 years old and was baptized when she was 8 but we found out they forgot to do the confirmation so we had to baptize her again... 2 years!! But that was good.

       So something I have really learned here on my mission is the importance of prayer. Prayer is the key to everything! No one will be truly converted unless they pray to know the truth. It is sad because most people here have never prayed. We have to teach and help grown adults pray everyday because they don't know how. When we pray we are literally talking to an actual being - having a real conversation with the Creator of the universe! I have really tried to make an effort to make my prayers more meaningful. We should prepare before we pray. Not pray for things in general but specific things we need that specific day. I have felt so much peace in my life when I pray with real intent. It is not an easy thing to do, but it is one of the most important things we do here on the earth. Alma 13:28

      Love yall and thanks for all the support and what not!  

Elder Green

        

Week 10 - More Adventures in Obidos

Hello!
    Thanks for all the emails. It was great hearing from everybody.
Glad yall had a good week and that mom is doing better.
    So last p-day I got attacked by a dog for the first time!! We were early for an appointment so we were making some contacts and it was dark outside. We talked to this one lady for a little while then as we were leaving I heard something approaching me very fast from my side. Instinctively I jumped back on the road. It started barking and growling and I ran! It got a little bit of my pants but I didn't get bit. It didn't really chase me - just snuck up on me out of nowhere and tried to eat me! It scared the mess out of me and I almost had a heart attack! I was yelling in English and of course Elder Capello was about to pass out he was laughing so hard... The crazy stuff only happens to me it seems!
      And it finally rained! We got back to the house Friday night I think and it just started pouring. It didn't last very long but it was still nice. I just wish it would've rained while we were out walking all day in the heat! We got to go into the jungle a little bit this week! We had lunch and some contacts in some crazy places. So that was an adventure!
      This week we are starting an English class! The members here
have been bugging me about it so we finally agreed. They are going to make little cards to pass out to people on the street that say "Free English class with an American!" Haha!!! Because I am literally the only American here a lot of people might show up! Everyone wants to learn English and its a good opportunity to find new investigators. I am a little nervous though because you all know that English wasn't my strongest subject in school and now I will be teaching people!! But it will be alright.
     We have our first zone meeting this week. We will take a boat I think to Santarem and will be there for Wednesday and Thursday. The president will be there too so we will have our interviews. I am pretty excited. Another adventure!
      We had 2 baptisms on Saturday between the 2 sessions of
conference. They are both really good and I think they will be firm. We are teaching pretty much everyone they know and have dates set for a lot of them. Its amazing to see the Spirit literally change people and families. So again I didn't get to watch the first session of conference. It took awhile to get it set up and working. But we watched the rest of them. It was in Português so I struggled to understand but I still learned a lot from it. I loved hearing the music in English. It was so great to hear English! My favorite part of conference had to be the talk by President Eyring. I have been studying a lot about the Holy Ghost recently and that is exactly what he talked about. We all want the Spirit but it is sometimes difficult to maintain a close relationship. As we courageously follow every prompting of the Spirit we will begin to receive more and more promptings and our eyes will be opened to the Lord's plan for us. The Holy Ghost enlightens our understanding and we recognize God's word more clearly. Only through the Holy Ghost can we see people as God sees them. 
     Mosiah 3:19-My Ponderizing scripture for the week ;)- By yielding to the Spirit we put off the natural man. D&C 67:12- Natural man cannot abide in the presence of God. Therefore, follow the Spirit to return to live with God. Submit to the will of the Father as a child submits to the will of his father. I love studying about this. I know that the Igreja de Jesus Cristo dos Santos dos Ùltimos Dias is true. It gives me chills just saying it. I know this through the Spirit. We must always follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost.
     Well that's it for this week. As far as the Christmas package the only other thing I can think of is could you send a little photo book? Just of all of yall and the kids and what not. And even some pictures from here that I sent you. That would be nice. Thanks!
     I love yall and I'm thankful for all you do! Get better soon Mama!

Elder Green

Week 9 - Obidos - Watching Conference and Killing Spiders!!!

Hi there!

  

So thanks for all the emails! Sorry for not responding individually but time is short today. I love hearing about everything and I’m glad yall enjoyed conference. Me and my companion were just laughing at the picture of Scarlett and Sadie watching conference in a tent trying to be like the people of King Benjamin. Too funny! Sorry about your wrist Mom! It is kind of funny because in Moms email she said she just hurt her wrist a little bit. Then Emily said Mom broke her wrist. Then Dad said Mom broke her arm AND has a big ole cast!!! So I am a little confused but I’m glad that she’s alright. That’s good about Alabama! I sure do miss those Saturdays sitting around eating good food and watching football with all of yall! But I like what I’m doing now just a bit more;)

     So a funny story – It might have been Tuesday, but we were doing companionship study and Elder Capello was about to share his thoughts when out of the corner of my eye I saw something come out of the hallway. I looked over and saw a HUGE HAIRY spider coming right toward me! It was seriously one of the spiders on Harry Potter. I flipped out. Then Elder Capello got a broom and stood as far away as possible and started whacking it with the broom. We killed it but the question was – Did it come from the kitchen or from the bedroom? AND did it have children??? I haven’t seen any more so hopefully we’re done with those! Haha!

     We had 2 baptisms on Saturday – the brothers I told you about last week. The time and day got changed for the baptisms multiple times because of the conference confusion and what not. But we finally did it! I have some pictures I’ll send to you.

     So I did get to watch conference this weekend! We went on Saturday and they had the Women’s Session going but could only get it in English and Spanish. So the bishop said we will have regular church on Sunday and watch conference next week in Portuguese. But after the baptism me and Elder Capello went in and watched it in English. You can only watch the sessions live and when we turned it on it was halfway through the second session and the end of Elder Hollands talk… So that was disappointing. Then we only got to watch half of the Sunday morning one because we had to walk forever to our lunch appointment. Then we watched most of the last session but then they came in and hooked up this new device thing and started watching the women’s session in Portuguese. So we had really loud English and Portuguese going at the same time and everyone kept looking at us cause they couldn’t focus. It was really awkward. We were there first but we decided to be the bigger persons so we turned off the English. And it was right before Elder Bednars talk (my favorite) so that was disappointing too. But I’ll get to watch it all in Portuguese next week!

     I loved what I got to see of conference. I was praying that I could watch at least some sessions in English and the little bit I did see was exactly what I needed to hear. I love the Prophet and the apostles. The spirit was so strong as we watched them speak. Afterwards I just wanted to go talk to everyone on the street about the gospel! This church makes me so happy and it breaks my heart when people reject what we teach because they don’t know what they are missing out on. The Lord is so merciful. I love my mission and I love all of you!

Elder Green