I'm an old man! 2-9-15

so tomorrow i will become an old man.. and that is just weird! i cant believe that im gonna be 20, seems like it was yesterday that i was home, a little 18 year old punk leaving on the mission... time is just passing by way too fast!

so things have been going really well here in Siqueira in a couple of areas, and not so good in others so lets get the run down started! 

So the good news is that me and elder Kimball are killing it! we are teaching so many lessons a week (about 40) which is like nuts, ive never taught so much, which is way more fun than walking in the burning hot february sun here! so we have been going pretty hard core teaching tons of people, but the only problem is... that no one goes to church! ah dang it! the same problem! its like.. its not that hard... just wake up at 8 and go to church! its actually pretty good there! you will be pleasently surprised! but that isnt really a new challenge! but i had a really good experience the last night. me and kimball were talking about how we werent able to get people to church and stuff and that day i think we had taught about prayer literally like 8 times, and kimball was like, "you know we tell every one that they just need to converse with God and talk with him about how we feel and really just try to talk with him from the heart.. lets pray!" i think it was one of the few nights in my mission where i really just put it all out there before God.. normally i just tried to figure it out on my own, but it was an awesome experience... after the prayer, it was like ideas were coming from all directions! it was really amazing! that is the best part about the mission, just when you think you know what you are doing and think you can do it on your own.. you realize that no matter how good you are, you need the Guy upstairs to help out! over all we got some new plans to get people to church, really excited to put them into action! 

This sunday president Gomes gave us a surprise visit at our church meetin.. he walked in and i had the horrible realization that i had forgotten to shave.. smooth move Ryan... but im pretty sure he didnt even notice! 

also this sunday, Islei gave a talk, and it was seriously so good! it seemed like he already had like 2 years as a member, he was bearing his testimony and using scriptures, it was so good... honestly i dont think there is anything more rewarding that watching some one get truly changed by the Gospel... its gonna be real hard tosay good bye there! 

investigator watch: we got no one who is really progressing other than Maria. she is Vitoria´s mom,one of my recent converts! she stopped drinking coffe this week! it was legit, she just asked usto take all off here coffee away! so we took it, and the rest of the night my bag smelt like coffee until we found a garabage.

we also gots Mécia, she is showing some life again, she is really having a hard time praying and with coffee, we will see what we can do! 

we got a ton of others, but none of them went to church so yeah..we will see what happens this week!

thanks everyone for the birthday wishes and hope that everyone is doing well! love you all and hope you have a great week! Carnaval is happening this week so it should be a party up in here!! 

Elder Ryan

The News! 2-2-15

Alright so my new companion is Elder Kimball! yes, is a related to President Kimball and no, its not his grandpa, its a bit more distant! haha he is from Lubbick Texas, and he is literally the Piano Man! he plays like a boss!

But this week was a really good one! things in the area werent looking to hot as we ended the last transfer, but me and kimball got off to a really good start working really hard, finding lots of new people to teach, including a really good new family (3of the 6 members went to church this week) and lots of lessons! we really destroyed together! it was a really fun week! it felt like we didnt miss a step together.. normaly it takes some time to adjust to your companion, but we just really clicked fast and worked really well together! 

So i dont know it i said this in my last letter, but last sunday i started visiting the members and telling them that i was probably gonna be transferred, saying good bye and talking pics.. well that night i learned that i was staying! so this sunday was pretty funny, everyone asking me what i was still doing here and all confused and stuff! but i was pretty sad at first when i realized that i was staying, but this week has changed every thing! 

Investigators: Suzana.. well that was really interesting this week! so she has been going to church and stuff and she likes it and all but she doesnt think she needs to live the law of chasity and she doesnt need to know that Joseph was a prophet to get baptized... she sees the law of chasity as if it has faded out with the times and doesnt believe that any one in the whole world lives it.. therefore she refuses to live it.. and she doesnt think that it is important to know if JSmith was a Prophet.. needless to say, there were some pretty intense lessons there.. but none of them really got us any where.. some times its rough because the people can just be so hard hearted and kinda blind.. we dont really know what we are gonna do with her...

Rafaela, Regina, Ester, Marcia, Flaviano: this is the super legit family that we found this week! they are progressing really well and are keeping commitments and everytime we teach there it just really flows with the spirit! they are marked for the 14th and the 21st. things are looking really good here!

 we have some others but most of them are waiting on marriage or having other problems.. we dont really know if we are gonna stay with them.. that probably is the hardest part of the mission, you start teaching and loving the people, just doing everything you can for them, but sometimes we cant help the people that dont want to help themselves, no matter how much we love them... i think it is the same thing with God. he loves us so much and wants to help us so much, but sometimes we dont let him into our lives. maybe it is because we are scared of what others will think, or maybe we think we can do it on our own.. but in the end, every one is gonna need help from the divine that they can find in no other place. 

This week i learned that when we just focus on other people and trying to help them, life is really busy.. but really happy! this was one of the best weeks of my mission, and i never have felt so good, and i realized that i stopped thinking about how i was gonna make it through one more week in Siquiera, or how i was gonna solve my own problems... i just worked, and it was a week full of miracles! 

Love you all hope that everything is going well for you!! love you tons!! 

Elder Ryan