"...she will run into the waters of baptism."

Wow I just realized that I have been here for ELEVEN MONTHS what the heck! How did that happen?!
This week has been very excellent, we have aumented (is that a word? I think augmented...increased is what I am going for) our group of investigators about 150 percent. We found a lot of really good investigators and marked a ton of baptismal dates.
Elder Miranda and I are getting really close, becoming really good friends. I have been lucky to have basically only good companions so far on the mission.
We did a division for basically the last two days. I worked with Elder ____ on Monday. He is having an incredibly hard time speaking Portuguese, so he was able to vent with me and basically tell me stories about how he has anger problems. He realllly likes me, so I know that I am safe, but I am not so sure about he and his trainer. Tempers are short in that house and they cannot communicate at all.
Then yesterday I worked with Elder ____, who has a knack for finding and teaching, very emotionally and passionately, teenage females.
But we found one girl who seems like she listened to us not just because of our muscles (LoL). Her name is Taís, and she is 15. Basically she goes to an evangelical church called Brasil for Christ, but has not been baptized and wants to be.
We taught her about the restoration and she said that when she receives an answer to her prayer and knows that the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true, she will run into the waters of baptism. So that was a pretty cool experience.
The rest of the week pretty much consisted of us running all over the place trying to contact all of our 97 references, figuring out which ones actually exist, who gave us their address as a joke, and stuff like that. So that has been fun.
This week was pretty chill, I don't have a lot of really interesting information. I miss soccer still, but will survive.
Love you all, best wishes
Joseph

"But look how they treat us
Make us believers
We fight their battles
Then they decieve us
Tried to control us
They couldnt hold us
Cause we just move forward
Like Buffalo Soldiers"

"It was a really special experience, and the Spirit testified more than ever..."

Well done graffiti

Yoooo! So I would like to share a few initial thoughts about this new area. This keyboard is the worst yet, please forgive poor spelling!

1. Our ward mission leader looks like Ghandi, a lot
2. The members here really like missionaries, not just tolerate them.
3. There are recent converts here.
4. People go to the temple.
5. We live close to a huge supermarket.
6. The members are excited about the gospel.

Well that list turned out pretty unimpressive, but this area is the bomb. We have started from scratch, there were zero investigators here when I arrived. We have upped that number a bit, now we have a few investigators. It seems like the day is really short here! We have so much to do and so little time.
At church there were no investigators, but there should have been. People bail a lot, so we are going to involve the members a lot more, especially because they are so stoked to help us! It had been a while since I had seen anyone excited to help the missionaries in any way! But now it is just awesome.
There is a mom and daughter that were taught a year ago that are good friends of a mom and daughter in the ward here. We visited with the daughter, and she seemed pretty interested in the church, so we are going to try teaching them a lot. They would be really good members because they will have an incredible system of support. So we hope that continues.
Also we taught the friend of a returning-to-activity young man and his family. They seemed cool too, but they were not home on the return visit.
One really neat experience we had was yesterday. We went to the house of a less active woman who actually has a returned missionary son (there are returned missionaries here!!!) and a daughter who was married in the temple. So we got there and I asked her if she reads the Book of Mormon. She said that she doesn't really believe in the Book of Mormon, and that she only reads the Bible.
So we taught her about what the Book of Mormon is, why it is true, then answered a rather stunning question: "How do you do the Mormon prayer?" Apparently the missionaries that taught her 15 years ago were too quick and failed to teach her how to pray or teach her about the Word of Wisdom.
So we taught her to pray, and she said that she could feel the spirit a lot. We gave her a blessing to combat her depression, and left. It was a really special experience, and the spirit testified more than ever before to me that the Book of Mormon is true, the most true on earth.
Also in my district, there is a very new missionary. He is having a really hard time and carries a big hunting knife with him at all times. He has basically lost hope/desire to learn Portuguese.
If anyone prays, pray for this dude! There are two positive aspects of him being blessed: 1. He will be happy and bless the lives of others 2. He wont go nuts and stab all members of the district to death.
Love you all, sorry for the short email. This computer is low quality.
Joseph

P.S. There is a ton of really beautiful graffiti here, it has inspired me to start practicing in a notebook!

"But look how they treat us
Make us believers
We fight their battles
Then they decieve us
Tried to control us
They couldnt hold us
Cause we just move forward
Like Buffalo Soldiers"

A sign that is funny in a park

A nice cloud

"But of course, there are those phenomenal exceptions."

Elder Miranda and I

The Portuguese translation of Barack Obama

The Tavares' and I

Well as you can all tell from the subject of this email, I was transferred today/yesterday. I grabbed a bus out of Foz at 9:40 last night and got to Londrina at about 6 this morning. I am now working in the Semíramis ward which is in the poorest part of Londrina (YESSSSSSS) so that's pretty cool.
The new comp is named Elder Miranda. He is from the amazon rain forest. That is actually not true, but he is from the state Amazon. He has been on the mission for about 5 months, so that's pretty cool. I'm excited to get to know him, he seems like a pretty chill dude.
Basically it looks like they stopped doing work here for the last little while so we will have to resurrect this area. But it's cool. Elder Proulx stayed in Medianeira and will receive Elder Madrid. I don't know why we switched spots, but whatever.
Well in the last week we brought Marinalva to church with three of her children. That is pretty cool, but the problem is that when people go to church in Medianeira they are not well received and feel really awkward. It normally ends their interest in the church, normally.
But of course, there are those phenomenal exceptions. One of these exceptions would be Ivonete. She went to church last week, and was a little shocked by the lack of people there. But we blitzed her yesterday with a lot of baptism talk. It is still a long way away (she isn't married to her spouse) but she is progressing really well. She knows without a doubt that the Book of Mormon is the truth. We invited her to prepare to be baptized, which she accepted after learning the importance and existence of priesthood authority. So I am stoked about her progress. I hope she gets married and baptized soon.
This was not the longest email, but it's about all I have for now. Oh yeah, one last story from the zone conference. So we go in the church, and there is this opossum in the gym. I messed with it with a broom a little, but it was aggressive, so i ditched it.
They called the bishop, who came in with a big broom. He was like "We have to kill it, there is no other option". So he got this stick and just started beating it on the head and back until it died. It was really gruesome, it was like bleeding out of its ears and stuff. But I guess it's just a part of the job as bishop.
Love you all
Joseph

The Animal

"But look how they treat us
Make us believers
We fight their battles
Then they deceive us
Tried to control us
They couldn't hold us
Cause we just move forward
Like Buffalo Soldiers"

"It is a positive exercise, except probably Elder Proulx thinks I am crazy."

The flag

The fantastic burgers

The feast

YOoooo family,
This week was nice, arguably the social highlight was JULY 4!!! YEAH crazy party in the apartment, check the photos. I threw on the jeans, the Nikes, a tiger shirt, and we ate cheeseburgers, chips, soda, brownies, and cereal. I have never been so patriotic in my life. I even got out the kazoo to play/beatbox The Star Spangled Banner, ill times.
Anyway, the week was good in terms of actual stuff too. We FINALLY got Ivonete to go to church. She liked it, but wishes there were more people. I know how she feels. But she is stressin in a good way about keeping the commandments like the WoW and stuff. Things are going very well, and she is gaining a strong testimony.
One problem with a lot of our really good investigators is that they are hard/impossible to find at home!! Lourdes has taken up traveling to Cascavel and staying there for long periods of time as a hobby, making it impossible for us to teach her. So that's basically a matter of perseverance.
So Brasil was eliminated, I must admit I am not disappointed. I was sick of their cocky attitudes and lack of faith until results started showing. So I hope Holland can win this thing, but my goodness... Germany must be the most in-form team in the history of the world cup! 4-0 over Argentina (which gave the Brasilians a chance to use their unspent fireworks), 4-1 over England, 4-0 over Australia... It is difficult to hit 4 ONCE in a world cup, and the Germans have done it thrice against good, organized defenses. I can't see them being stopped. But the Spaniards have basically found a way until now, so only time (about 5 hours from now) will tell.
So President Leal left last Wednesday. The zone leaders already met President Tavares, they said he is nearly the opposite of Leal. So far the only change in effect is that we have time for breakfast AND language study. So I have been doing a lot of reading and lesson giving in the bedroom, recording myself on my camera to make sure everything is actually understandable and trying to find the best way to present things. It is a positive exercise, except probably Elder Proulx thinks I am crazy. He is probably right.
I scored big time when we received mail on Monday! I got the package with ELEVEN packages of PB Eminims, two of sour skittles, the Conference Ensign (Tearin it up already) and those cool little things for each country of the world cup. Also the DVDs of music and stuff, so I'm stoked for that. Also got letters from the two roommates from USU, Scott and Philly, so that was pretty exciting.
Here is something interesting: The letters that the young men wrote to me several months ago (postmarked March 24) got here just now. I am absolutely baffled as to why it could have taken so long for them to get here, but it was worth the wait.
We have Zone Conference for the first time with the new president tomorrow, so that is exciting.
I got a haircut today. I am so sick of haircuts.
Love you all
Joseph

The haul of mail

A hippie

A car/motorcycle accident in front of the house--nasty fractured leg flopping all around

"We are being blessed like nuts..."

This is the "Miracle Tent." The Stuff people go for here...

Well this week was a really good one for the majority of the investigators we have. Also I was close enough to two cows to take photos with both of them, so that's a bonus.
The Best story would arguably be with Lourdes. She is the Lady that has been pretty interested. So she had pretty much fallen off the map since the 17th, so we both were nervous that she was dodging us or something.
But we got a helping hand when this dude named Rafael was like "Hey are you guys the Mormon Elders?" I was like "Yeah, what you know about it?!" He gave us his address to talk to him another day and then was like "Oh are you going to visit Lourdes? She is my Aunt."
So he walked into her yard and knocked on her door and looked through her curtains and stuff. Eventually she invited us in. She had been out of town extensively. So we got to talking about the commandments, which she is already keeping. Then she had a question about what differentiates our baptism from the rest of the baptisms. I explained, and she was like, "But don't you think maybe Deus would get a little mad about me jumping around and getting baptized again?" I was like NO then explained more.
So in the end she was like "alright welll I will decide if I want to get baptized and let you know." So I have a lot of faith that she will decide yes. Then as we were about to leave, she asked us "Hey the Mormon Church exists in Cascavel too, right? I went there while I was visiting with my sister and now she is going to have the boys (Elders) visit her. I forgot to ask the Pastor (Bishop) his name, but the meeting was the same as it is here in Medianeira!"
I was so stoked, she went to church in an unfamiliar city without any encouragement or accompaniment from us. So I am really really stoked about her.
Also we went to Rafael´s house and he was not home. But his mom was like "Oh I was baptized in your church." So we went in and talked to her a lot, she has not had contact from anyone from the church in about 10 years. She really didn't understand almost anything, but was asking me a lot of interesting questions. So hopefully we can get her involved in the church again and help the rest of her family also affiliate with the Church of God.
Luiz missed church for the first time in months. He is still good, but I really hope he gets baptized before I leave this city. Oh yeah, I didn't get transferred, I kinda forgot that transfers happened. Me and Proulx will be here for at least the next transfer. I am glad, I really feel like I need to find someone here.
I think that someone might have been found yesterday, the day after the transfer. I had a really strong feeling to visit this one girl who once went to church with a friend, but never really expressed any interest. I didn't know where she lived, so I called Elder Carmo, who described how we could get to her house. We went to that street and knocked on the fourth house on the left. This lady answered the gate and I was like "Hey does Jessica live here?"
She was really friendly and told me that she lives next door. But we resolved that we would share the Restoration with this lady too. So she let us in and we started talking to her. She is: 1. Not convinced by the truth of her or any other church; 2. Very concerned about her family´s happiness and unity here on the earth; and 3. Very interested in knowing if she will see her parents or her son-in-law again, all of whom died in the last year. So she is ripe for the Plan of Salvation in her life. I am really stoked to go back and help her understand more and answer more of her questions. I believe firmly that if we do our part she and her ancestors will be blessed.
Well, Bardomiro, Marinalva, e familia continue to progress and be excited about the gospel. Their extended family is also getting involved, Bardo's brother took a Book of Mormon to Paraguay where he lives, where it will probably be shared with others. And Nalva's mom also wants to talk to us. We are being blessed like nuts, and it is nice to think about how incredible this area can become.
One last story. There is a family that lives in a smaller city about 20 minutes by bus from Medianeira. We decided to go there to have a family home evening with them because they are not totally active and, being far away, need contact with the church. So we got off our bus in that city and started walking to their house. We were climbing a hill and these two dudes were half walking half running behind us in an apparent attempt to catch up with us.
So I thought "GREAT we are gonna get robbed!" Fortunately I had my Brasilian watch on and not the calculator watch, so I wasn't too worried anyway. But one caught up to us and was like "Hey are you guys missionaries" I said yes, and started saying the name of the church. He was like "Yeah I know, I was baptized in the church about a year and a half ago, WHERE IS THE CHURCH IN THIS CITY!?!? I have been looking since I moved here." I told him how he could get to the church in Medianeira, and he was super excited. He will be there on Sunday.
He asked us to call him when we return to that city so we can visit him. He seems like a dedicated member, he was baptized in Evan's mission. We were elated to find out that there is someone in that city that can help the member family there be strengthened. Moral of the story: the Lord puts the right people in our path or puts us in their path. Always.
We accidentally taught at a prostitution house last night. I know that place looked shady...oh well, what can you do.
USA eliminated...5 minutes of intense sadness on Saturday.
Love you all VERY MUCH!
-Joseph

"I'll be comin, yes I'm comin
yo I'm on my way
Just stay
And I'll be there by the break of day"
-Matisyahu, "Thunder"

"Arguably the most important day in US soccer history."

Well, it all comes down to this: 90 minutes against what should be a weak Algerian team that could finally put us on the world soccer map once and for all. I have been fasting and praying like never before that we win strongly. That was a joke LoL, I have not prayed for our boys once.
Anyway, this last week was a very good one. Elder Proulx and I were studying in Pregar meu Evangelho about the responsibilities of the ward leaders. I already realized that the branch here is dysfunctional, but Proulx was a little bit devastated by how poorly things function and how alone we are compared to Preach my Gospel standards. So we just started working even harder and we have seen great results from contacts on the street and people we found knocking doors.
This one family we found is really boss. The family consists of Bardomiro (weird name huh?), Marinalva, Angela, three other girls whose names end in "-gela" (very Utah-ish naming system, they must be ready for the gospel LoL), and Andre. We ran into them knocking doors.
They are Lutheran and pretty active in their church, but not necessarily convinced that it is the true church. In fact, Bardomiro told us that every day before leaving the house he prays and asks God to show him the true church. So that's pretty cool. We taught them about the restoration and the Book of Mormon and they all seemed really excited about it. So we are really stoked about that.
Also one of our investigators, Ivonete, is learning like nuts. She was nervous about praying about the Book of Mormon because she really fears God and knows that it's basically go-time or condemnation once she gets an answer. But she got up the gumption and prayed, then opened up the book. The first thing she read was in 3 Nephi when Jesus restored the authority to baptize to the Nephites. So she considered that an answer, along with the feelings of the Spirit that she felt. So yeah, she now has a higher level of commitment and desire to learn and follow the Savior.
We have been teaching a lot lately, we taught, I think, 15 lessons in the last two days and found something like 18 new investigators. So it's safe to say that we are stoked about what the near future will bring to Medianeira.
Transfers are next week, this transfer FLEW past, oh my geez. I think I will stay here, Leal will probably want to leave things as stable as possible for the arrival of President Tavares, which is also next week I think.
Love,
Joseph

Sorry, no photos this week
--
USA!!!!

"It was a nice spiritual banquet."

Me and the Leals

Zona Foz and Distrito Cascavel

Yoooo family how are things there?!
I am really excited that you are recording all of the games of the world cup!! I am stoked, but really you don't need to do that. When you think about it, there are 64 games in the world cup, each lasting two hours. I will need to watch soccer for 128 hours to see it all. At eight hours per day, it will only take me 16 days to finish.
What I really want to see are the USA games and all of the games in the second round and beyond. But thank you so much, that is incredibly thoughtful. I got the debit card with the ill CTR stickers and funny card, thank you! Also got a card from Gam and letters from Nick, Cade, and Elder Yuma.
Well, we had zone conference on Monday. I would have to say that it was one of the highlights of my mission, we were really blessed with a lot of spirit. This was the last time we will see President and Sister Leal, so a lot of people got really emotional.
We got to eat at a churrascaria, which was unhealthy but solid, and take a lot of photos. I ran into a few good buddies there that are in the neighboring zone. Then Presidente interviewed Elder Proulx and me, then we caught the bus home. It was a nice spiritual banquet.
We had a lot of success at stake conference on Sunday. Six investigators made the hour journey with us, and there was a talk that was like exactly what Luiz needed to hear. He is going along step by step...steps smaller than we would like to see, but steps never the less.
So Presidente has banned any watching of world cup games, even those of Brasil. We were instructed by our zone leaders to just stay inside yesterday for a few hours because NOBODY wants to hear two "Germans" talk to them about a "Mormon Bible" while the pride of the nation takes on the weakest team in the world cup. The funny thing is that Brasil barely won, and there was a great deal of skepticism about the possibilities of success even in the group phase.
We have a lot of people to teach, so we do not have a lot of time to stop and think or get off focus, so that is a relief. This transfer has passed really fast so far, I think we only have two more weeks.
I believe Bert enters the MTC in a bit, that's cool. Then Zach is coming to the south, that's gonna be sick to have a high concentration of *Horses in this continent.
Mother, I hope you didn't break anything at Laurel Retreat! It's weird to think that a year ago me and Spencer gave you a ride there, that has passed very quickly.
Well, enjoy the cup. Seeing the little bits as we walk past bars and stuff has really made me miss playing for USU and intramurals and stuff, not to the point of distraction, but to the point of "Oh that will be nice."
I know that Jesus is the Christ, he is the Redeemer, and his complete gospel was restored through Joseph Smith.
Love you all
Joseph
*Joey's rap band with three of the four members serving missions in South America.

Me eating

Us with Presidente

Me, Elder Costa. and Elder Sehn