the weekly news 5/5/14.

well this week was soo much better than the last one! 

we have been working with this one less active member for the last couple weks and this week we started teaching all of his family, no of them are members! it has been great! this saturday we will be baptizing one of his sons, and his brother in law! interesting how things work, just when you think that there is nothing left that you can do, if you just push yourself a little more, to the point where you think that there is literally nothing more that you could do, that is when the success comes! it has been great!

this has also really helped elder Arreas get excited to work this last week! things have gotten a little better, but its about the same situation as last week, lots of distractions and unexcitement! but things have definitely improved over the last week! hoping that we can build on the progress that we had this last week! 

Did a division with my District leader this week. it was good, he is really smart and when he works, he works really well, i learned lots from him. but it drives me crazy because he isnt exactly the most obedient missionary, but has way more success than me! it is kind of annoying sometimes! but just tryin to remember that i will recieve my reward later, that doing what is right doesnt always win the glory of men! but that is ok! doing what is right, even when its hard, is always better! 

The Sunday was amazing! haha like the best sunday of my mission! we had 4 less actives come to church again, we had 3 investigators, i taught the young mens class, and i had the opportunity to confirm manoel, out bnaptism from 2 weeks ago! it was great! its great to start seeing the fruits of all the work that i have done! 

there is only one week more in the transfer, hoping that i can finish it strong! thanks for your letters and emails, they help more than you know! love you all and hope you are all doing great! 

Elder Ryan

MOM: about skype, i will skype you at 8 in the morning here, which i think is about 11 or twelve in the afternoon! i will skype to cats account? or a different one? let me know soon! cant wait to see you all! 

only one more week until 6 months...4-21-14

well like the subject of this message says.. only seven more days and i will have 6 months in the mission field! so freaking wierd to think about! feels like yesterday that i was leaving home for the MTC.. so wierd to think that already one fourth of my mission is over! not really sure how to feel about it! hahah

Well News about easter.. nothing! holidays dont exist for missionaries! everyday we work! haha

well this week was an up and down one! this week we had a hard time finding new people to teach because during the week of easter.. everyone has work off... the whole week! so not a lot of people were really interested in hearing what we had to say! haha but we were out working none the less! it was also another week of having our appointments fall through!

we had interviews with President Gonzaga (or Elder Gonzaga... seeing as he was called to be a seventy this last general confernece!) so i have officially been interviewed by a seventy! haha. but it was a good interview! its so weird to think that he will be leaving in June. the change of presidentes will for sure make things interesting! but basically Pres Gonzaga told me while i was hear in Viçosa (without really saying it) hahaha but we talked about how lots of the other missionaries are baptizing more than i am here in viçosa, but that maybe the purpose for me being here is to learn´patience and how to be persistant! it was a really good interview! i have been having some difficulties because i have been talking with some of the people that arrived here in the mission with me, and they have all been baptizing way more than me! its been hard for me because i feel like i have been working so hard and feels like im not seeing any sucess yet.. but i just need to keep chugging on. Carry on!! (thanks Joelle!)

we did have a baptism this week! which was really awesome! we´baptized Manoel this week! we planned the baptism for 3:30 in the afternoon on saturday..... we waited.. and waited.. and waited, tried calling him... nothing! we decided to walk to his house around 6. he lives about 40 minutes away from the church. at this point was pretty stressed and sad! haha.. but we walked to his house.. he wasnt home, on the way back we we saw him on his motor cycle! he stopped and told us about how he went to their farm to take care of the cows there, and his motor died! he was stuck on the farm without cell hone reception! and that he had just got the motor fixed and was driving back! we talked a bit and then all 3 of us headed back to the church to baptize him.. remember when i said that he lives 40 minutes from the church?? we sped walked to the church in 16 minutes... it was crazy how fast we got there! haha but we baptized him and it was super awesome! but the sad News is that he wasnt at church on sunday to get confirmed so im hoping that nothing bad happened and that he will be confirmed next sunday! i feel like nothing normal in Viçosa can happen easy!! haha there Always has to be a complication! hahaha

on sunday morning we had to get on a bus to go to the stake conference in Maceió. the confernece was good, then we missed the bus that goes back to viçosa.... so we ended up having to stay in the house of other missionaries, they live way close to the beach, so i saw the beach for the first time on the mission... to bad it is against the rules to walk on the beach! haaha, but it was fun staying in Maceió except taht i had to sleep on the ground because they didnt have any extra matresses! but that was sunday, and that finishes up the week!

Elder Arraes only has three weeks more on the mission, that is pretry wild. but he is getting pretty ready to go home! trying to keep him excited to work is sometimes a challange, but hoping that we can finish Strong together!

well Viçosa is full of challanging things! but it is teaching me tons! thanks for all the letters and hope that everyone is doing well!

Love Elder Ryan

the weeks news!! 4-7-14

well this week was good.. i feel like i start every email with that phrase.. but só vai! 

we played basketball today. my first time playing basketball in like 4 months and it was great.. but im soo out of shape!! haha but it was a good time! miss playing ball every week! 

had another zone meeting this week, and it was really good! it was about staying excited and not losing hope! talked about how when we think about our achievements sometimes we feel like we have done enough, and that we need to only look ahead, to see what we can accomplish if we press on! it was really great! got us really pumped! talked about finishing the transfer (which will end this next sunday) strong and instead of thinking of it as a end to rest, but to think of it as a 100 meter dash, and just push it till the end! to was really good time. really enjoyed the meeting. realized how important attitude is! it really is everything! if you want something, go get it! hoping to finish this transfer strong! 

it looks like we will be baptizing this saturday! which i am super excited for! one of our investigators who we dropped, Manoel, we decided to give him one last shot, jsut to make sure! and what do you know!! he told us about how for the first time in 6 months of meeting with the missionaries, he had a desire to know if he should be baptized. and for the first time in his life he got a comfirmation that this was the path for him! it was way cool! and that is how it works! if you really want to know, if you show desire to know, then God will show it to us! was a great experience with lots of learning! sometimes we need to be persistant to help the people realize that really this gospel has so many good things to offer and enrich our lives and unite us! was a awesome! he watched G Con with us on saturday and he seems really excited! 

I realized that like no one here knows really how to read! and i realized just how important education is! knowledge is like so important, adn it helped me realize just how blessed i am to have been educated and have had so many opportunities to learn! one thing i think the mission has really helped me realize is just how good my life is! i really have had such a good life! Thanks Ma e Pa! you 2 are pretty great! thanks for every thing you have done for our family! 

well conference was real good! ( you could say that it was... CREAMY) hahah but i was phased for like the first couple minutes because it was in portuguesse.. which i wasnt used to when seeing the prophets face! haha but it was really good! feel like it was one of the frist conferences where i actually payed attention and learned soo much.. interesting how that works! who would of thought that attention would have led to more understanding?? not me!! hahah 

well that about sums things up on this end! hope that all of you are doing super good! miss all of you! especially the marti gra fam dinner! it is always the best one! especially because of the powdered sugar mess! haha 

espero que todos de vocês têm um semana muito bom! que vocês vão mandar muitos caixas pra mim!!! da missão é um experiencia muito boa com muito aprendendo! até próximo semana!! 

Elder Ryan

PS mom i got the package of valentines cards! it was awesome! thank you every one who wrote in it!!