The happenings of the mission! 1-28-14

como está tudo mundo? eu espero que tudo é certo lá!

here is the update for this week! 

to be honest i cant really remember what things happened on what day! haha the days seem to blend together and the mission kind of feels like just one massive day! haha but today is my 3 month mark!! holy crap! i really cant believe it! it has passed so fast! it feels like yesterday that i was being dropped off at the curb in provo! crazyness! 

but this week (some day earlier in the week.. cant remember which!) we went to a different city in our area to meet with an investigator! this city is like 10 miles from out house so we took a bus (which was like riding a roller coaster! it was super fun! haha) we got there and were trying to find the house where she lived! ( her name is josiane) at this point i hadnt even met her yet, soares had talked to her when he was on a transfer with our zone leaders! but he talked about her like he was in love with her! hhaha it is hilarious! he was always telling me ´Elder ryan! nós precisamos falar com josiane!! ela é um eleito!´haha but any way, so we got to this city and were trying to find her house, we got lost for about an hour and a half till we eventually found her house, and when we got there... she wasnt home! haha so that was a bummer, but we eventually were able to meet with her the next day ( i think) and it was good! it was like Soares dream come true! hahha 

this week we have been working a lot with Max. i cant remember if i talked about him yet, but we have been teaching him for 2 weeks now and he is going to be baptized tomorrow!! im super psyched for that! he will be my first baptism! but the coolest part about meeting with him this week was one day we had no idea what we should do to help him with the word of wisdom and law of chasity, and during the opening prayer of out lesson i was just praying to know what we should do! and when we started the lesson, i just started talking and he told us all about his difficulties, i shared some scriptures and we had an awesome lesson! at the end of the lesson, he told us that he was ready to be baptized and that he was ready to live the comandments! it was an awesome experience for me! 

the thing i learned most this week was that it is really important to love the people you teach! you cant look at them as investigators.. i mean they are investigating.. but they need to be your friend more than anything! you to help them with there difficulties and just be their friend. if you can do this, you can help them so much more! 

this week we also knocked on a ton of doors.. and got rejected like everytime! so that was kind of a bummer! but you have to try right? 

this week one of the elders in my house got nerf guns... LET THE BATTLES BEGIN!! hahaha but  we have had lots of fun with those! maybe more than we should... haha

over all this week was a really good one and im super excited for tomorrow! 

hope all is well for all of you there! love and miss you all! love hearing from all who write and recieving the pictures! keep sending them! 

love you all! 

Elder Ryan

The daily prophet! haha 1-20-14

well that is one transfer down.. only like.. yeah i have no idea how many more i have! haha but its crazy how fast this transfer went! it seems like yesterday that i was arriving here in maceio! and its already been 6 weeks! crazy!! 

this tuesday i had my first interview with president gonzaga!  and it was good! when he started the meeting, he asked me how i was so happy, he said that most americans durring the first months of the mission are like depressed! haha i dont understand why! i mean the language is hard, but in all honesty the mission is a hoot! haha i mean there are times when you want to die because its so hot and you are dead tired, times when you think you will never understand, times when you are disappointed because your investigatores dont want to meet any more, but really its the happeist ive ever been! i dont know how to explain it, but i really just feel so happy! haha but the interview was good! and he told me at the end that i speak really well! so that was awesome! 

Also this week i got one of the packages that you sent! ( the mission ties one) and it was awesome! i loved all the treats and so did the other 3 elders in the house!! thanks so much mom and dad! it was great!

this week there was a little bit of excitment about the water situation!.. we almost ran out! haha we only had like one buckets worth of water left, and we werent sure when we would have water again! but about 30 minutes later, we had runing water!! Miracle! haha 

this week overall was good! we are continuing to work with Taísa and anderson! ( not sure if i talked about them already) but they are good and she is really excited to be baptized! we have the wedding planned for the 28 in the morning and the baptism that night! so im pretty stoaked for that! also this week we started teaching max! he is good but has lots of problems with the word of wisdom... as usual with people here! we dont have a date for him yet, but he told us that he knows that it is true and told us that he wants to be baptized! we were a little unsure about him, but when he told us that, i wanted to jump up and give him a hug i was so excited haha! but that was really awesome! the only bummer about this week was on saturday, literaly all of our appointments fell through.. like all of them, and we spent most of the day tracting.. with no sucess! so that was a hard day! but other than that, this week was a good one! 

also this week i had a dream that was half in portugues!! i was freaking out when i woke up! is weird but ive started to realize that i think lots of times in portugues! the language is coming really well! and its been fun! the gift of tongues is so real! because sometimes during lessons i wont know how to explain someting, but ill just start trying to respond and all of the sudden ill be saying words and explaining things that i didnt know i could! its sweet! 

funny moment of this week! we probably talk to a drunk person everyday, but on sunday this drunk guy saw us from pretty far off and he started running at us (this guy.. he was huge! i mean i havent seen many people more ripped than him!0 at first i was terrified he was gonna beat the crap out of us! haha but then he started talking to us, he told us that he was a messenger of god as well! haha we asked him what his name was and he responded.. Slivania ( kisses both his biceps) da silva.. a Montanha! hahahaha i was tryin so hard not to laugh! classic! 

well that is about all i have for this week! hope all is well for you all and i love and miss you all! 

Elder ryan!

Update on Ryan-- Serving in Arapiraca, Alagos, Brazil

Ryan is currently serving in Arapiraca with Elder Soares.  I love that they refer to it as a "rapidly growing TOWN".   Where I grew up we drove into town--all 1,109 residents of it!!.  

Arapiraca is a municipality and a large and rapidly growing town located in the center of the Brazilian State of Alagoas, some 135 km (84 mi) from the state capital, Maceió. It was founded in 1924.

As of 2010, it has a population of c. 214.006 inhabitants.,^[1] but IBGE estimates 227.640 inhabitants for 2013. Arapiraca is the second largest city in Alagoas.

The city is known mostly for its production of tobacco and thus is often considered "The Brazilian Tobacco Capital".

Whats up whats up?? 1-13-14

hello family and friends!

come vão todos?? 

hope all is well for you all! here is the update for this week!

this week was a good one! we worked harder than we have yet and it showed! we worked with a couple, anderson and taísa, anderson is a member, but taisa is an investigator, but they decided to get married this week so that she could be baptized so that was super awesome! marriages are pretty tough down here but we are hopeful that it will come through by next week! its been great working with them and everytime we teach them the spirit is so strong and its just a great expereince! also on monday we taught an investigator, and at the end of the lesson he told me that i was almost fluent!!  heck yeah!

this week we also did divisions! on wednesday i was with elder valdivia and he was awesome! i have never met some one so enthused and fun to work with! during the one day that i was with him, we taught 7 lessons ( in a week i normally teach 8 or 9) so that was a way cool expercience! had lots of fun with him! also did a division with elder henrique, he is our zone leader, and he is a stud, he let me do a lot of the talking which was way fun for me and good practice! he taught me that you have to do all that you can before you give up on an investigator and that you have to just love the people you teach with all of your heart! the best part about the divisions though was that i realized that i can actually speak portuguese and understand most of what is going on! MIRACLE! hahah but it was a great experience! im no where near fluent but, but i can say what i need to say without to much diffuclty and its awesome! cant wait to keep improving! 

the only bummer on this week was that on sunday i got sick! the first time of the mission! but it was to bad because we had a great day scheduleded and we had to cancel all of our appointements! :( but dont worry mom! it was just the flul, and im fine now! dont go calling the president telling him that i need medical attention and such! hahaha ;)

overall things are hard, but good! loving it down here even though its bloody hot! haha

hope all is well for all back home! love and miss you all! 

até mais!

elder ryan

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! 1-6-14

well this new year for me was passed sleeping! haha i was so tired that as soon as we got home that night i fell asleep! i was awoken by my companion screaming and running through our house at 12! hahha it was pretty funny! but over all it was a pretty strange day and didnt really feel like new years!

this week was a good one! on the final day of the year we found 3 new investigators, and when we taught them, i just started speaking and teaching without even thinking about it! IT WAS AWESOME!! hahah my companion said that at the end of the lesson i sounded like a brazilian! haha so that was really cool, im no where near being fluent, but now when we teach i can talk without stressing out and its getting to be really fun! 

on wednesday we met this old lady and we started teaching her.. but everntually she just started talking and telling us her life story and started giving us a tour of here house! overall we where talking ( well actually i think in total me and my companion said like 10 words each ahah) to her for 2 hours! i think if we had let her she would have talked to us all night! she was pretty funny! 

this week we dropped a investigator. this first of my mission! it was sad for me! because during our lessons she really felt the spirit! during one everyone present cried, the spirit was so strong, but she wasnt keeping any of the commitments so we had to drop her. it was sad! 

but this week we found 2 new investigatos who im really excited for! samuel and thaisa! they are awesome! they both really got into our lessons and are reading the book of mormon and all that good stuff! im hopeful that by the end of this month, i will have my first drowning.. i mean baptism! haha so that im really excited for!

the only problem i have with the mission is that everytime i bear my testimony and the spirit is strong during our lessons.. i start to choke up and almost cry... dang it! haha but other than that! things are really great! 

hope everyone had an awesome new years! love you all and read the book of mormon! its sooo sick man!! ahahahaha 

Elder Ryan