alrighty 7-14-14

well Mom, i will use this email to try and respond to all those demands that you had! haha 

so the music here that i hear almost every day walking on the blisteing hot streets of barren, desert, (but close to the ocean, topical) Maceio brazil! we live about15minutes by taxi.. which is real crazy, probably more like 45 minutes for a normals person driving! but that always makes things exciting when we need to go to the center! im in the Paradise Ward, it recently was grew to a ward! my companion is Elder Cordeiro, he is from Curatiba Paraná, in the southern part of brazil! he is 19, he is my "son" here on the mission, seeing as i am is trainer! i was recently called as the DL here in the area, which leads to lots of excitement and pressure. the people here are great! they are some of the most freindly people i have ever met! i have never met a person here who doesnt believe in God.. but on the other hand, i havent seen a whole lot of people who live like it! haha between all the drinking and smoking, it doesnt suprise me when i see a person without teeth! haha. Preaching about the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ has been one of the most amazing and most rewarding experiences of my entire life. never have i felt that my life has had more purpose than it does right now! never have i felt that what im doing is helping the world become a better place than teaching the "Good word ;)" i Feel that i have learned so many things on my mission! i have seen, that living the gospel can change our lives for the better more than any other thing in the world.. but it isnt just a thing that we do sometimes, its not like getting baptized by someone holding the preisthood is going to magically fix all your problems, but if we really let it become part of the way we live.... its gonna change everything for us.. everything for the better. our lives will not be free of difficulties, or without sadness.. but some how it seems like everything is more possible, we see things with a different perspective. because as members of the church of christ we know that we are part of an eternal plan. there is so much more to our lives than just this time we have on the earth. we have the opportunity to progress much more than we can imagine because of the saving atonement of our Savior.. and if we just suck it up sometimes, do what is tougher than tough, and choose to following with all that we have... All will be Well. 

well Mom i hope that responded to your questions that you had! now i will try and give you a little more updated news splash on what is happening here! 

Well the world cup is finally over! and that is just soo great, because that means that we can finally get back to work.. like really work again! im real excited about that! 

we are having lots os success teaching new people and many people that are teaching are having the wonderful experience to witness that God really does answer there prayers.. but unfortunately the bigger part of them are having a tough time deciding that being baptized is really what they want! its been a process with many investigators that we are having to help them exercise there faith and help them recognize that they wont know everything about the Gospel before they are baptized.. i dont even know everything and i am a member for almost 19 years! but we are continuing onward working and trying to do everything that we can to help them recognize how much better things can be for them if they just follow! 

i had my first division with the Zone leader this week as the DL. man the pressure was real! haha but i think he will send a good report of me to the pres ;) but it was really good, Elder Franczak is a really good missionary and he taught me a lot about the things that i can to better! it was a good time! 

tuesday and saturday were two days that were impossible to work because of the brazil games, and for the rest of the week, every drunk person and little kid asked me if i was german.. i can honestly say that i have never been so happy to be american! haha

i dont know i dont really have much other news.. i bought a harmonica and ive learned how to play that.. that has been good, the other day i found a Football in a store... not a soccer ball, but a real american football! i about screamed like a little girl in the middle of the store and caved instantly and bought it! so now i have a football! 

needless to say, things are going well here for me! not baptizing, but that seems to be like a trend in my mission.. but what do you do?? haha i just keep trying to do my best and the rest is what it is! but im giving it all that ive got! 

Hope that everyone is doing well! i love you all and you all are in my prayers!

Elder Ryan

Certinho! 7-7-14

well this week was freaking good! yes it deserves a freaking! haha 

so this week started out pretty normal, last p-day we played a ton of basketball, we played with our ward in the morning and then later that day we played with all the missionaries in our zone! that was super fun, but i was like an old man walking around for the next 3 days! i think im getting old or something! hah

i led my first district meeting this week! and i cant lie (because that would be a sin!) it was pretty good! haha but it was fun leading things for a change and we every one got real excited to work and stuff! it is really nice to be in a are full of excitement and faith compared to what was happening in Viçosa! its been a great change! 

this week we had lots of success finding new people to teach, we found 12 new people to teach this week and marked 10 of them to a date of baptism! so that was super exciting! it felt like after two weeks of working my butt off with no results finally paid off! it was great! this next week we should have the baptism of Ana Vitoria.. finally! hhaha after working with here for the last transfer and a half! but im really hoping that all goes well for that to happen this saturday! 

also did my first baptismal interview this week! that was pretty cool! felt some pressure but.. im pretty smooth so there were no problems there! ;) (dang sometimes i am so humble!) haha 

thrusday was the "welcome pres and sister gomes" meeting here. it was good, they seem cool but a little like greenie missionaries! it is a little funn! but im excited to see what i can learn from them! 

Sunday was good, we had 3 new people visit the church, so i was pretty psyched about that, only bummer about this week really is that i cought the cold on tuesday, and it hasnt gotten better yet! but other than that... life is pretty good here in paradise! 

Hope you all have a great week! it was awesome hearing for all of you! love you all and hope you all have a great week! 

Até mais!!

Elder Ryan

well now... 6-30-14

so lets just get down to the dirty details! so like i said there was a transfer this last week! to my surprise i was called as the new district leader here in the area! cant lie im pretty thrilled about that! 

things in the area are going about the same! we have been having lots of trouble finding new people to teach because of the holidays. (week of São João here) and the world cup, to sum things up, this week has been about complete craziness with all the drunks on the street and loud music!  but hoping that things start getting better! im super excited because our district is super young! im the oldest with 8 months on the mission, elder martins has 6, and he and i are both training new missionaries! its been a lore of fun with all of us super excited to work! makes the work more fun even when you arent having lots of sucess!

saturday was a nail biter for brazil! almost lost the chile, but they won in a shoot out! i have never heard so many yells and fireworks in my life! out house was shaking for about 2 hours straight after the game! (good thing we have skipbo to not bore our selfs to death during the games!) haha

well it was just a week of grit and spit and lots a duct tape work! haha but not to many results! actually when i think about it, we are still working way better than any other time of my mission, even when we are working bad! haha it is funny but nice for a change, to have a pattern of sucess other than of unsucess! its been great! for the first sunday in the area, we didnt have anyone visiting church, there goes our streak of 7 sundays ina row of having an investigator at church! but it was awesome while it lasted, cant lie! haha hoping that we can get ana vitoria baptized this week and also patrick.. two of our eternal investigators! haha but i think that things are finally going to go right this week!

well i hope that every one is doing well! i love hearing for you all! hope every one has a great week! amo todo de voces!! 

Elder Ryan

PS Brock Adams is like my favorite person here in the misison.. or was.. because he left now! haha but! he is awesome, he was my zone leader in my first area, and he helped me out tons! 

8 months... whoa 6-23-14

well this week will mark 8 months already.. that passed by freaking fast! haha but it is the end of the transfer here, and it passed by faster than all the others! it feels like time just goes by faster and faster everyday and i dont have any time in a day anymore! haha 

this week was a good one! not a whole lot to report on, nothing super funny or cool happened, but what do you do about it?? haha but the work is actually continuing surprisingly well! we arent teaching as many people as i would like, but things havent completely stopped like i thought they would this month! (except on the days of brazil games!) 

things are great with my companion! we really get along great and we joke around and laugh tons! really have been loving the area, just about everything here in our area! its has been really great! the work is as hard as ever and there are the stressors of that, other than that.. all is well in paradise! 

bought a basketball this week! today we played lots! hahah unfortunately i couldnt manage to dunk anymore.. that is a little sad!  haha but i think we will be playing every day this week for exercises! that should be great (shaw if you are reading this you will be sad.. because im not fat yet! hahah) 

well hoping that we will have 2 baptisms for this week... they arent super commited.. but hopefully all will work out well! sorry that this email is super lame and without lots of excitment! mas fazer o que??

thanks for the emails! love you all and hope you all have a good week! 

Elder Ryan

The Update 6-16-14

so first thing is first, im sure that you all are dying to know what is happening here in Maceió during the world cup, so lets just start this sucker off with all juicy details! so we arent aloud to leave out house during the days that Brazil plays, i didnt really know why at first but after thursday.. i understood why! the entire game, there are fireworks being lighted off.. and when brazil makes a goal... you just start hearing the entire city screaming!! and then start even more fireworks.. and then the fires in the middle of the roads! it is freaking madness it is soo sweet! to bad that we cant leave the house! but it was so loud at the end of the first game when brazil won, that our house started shaking a little bit! so Dope! hahahaha

but now the update on the work! so it is pretty tough to find new people to teach because everyone is always watching a game of the cup! it is pretty annoying, cant lie! haha but we have learned a little better this week how to work for referals from the members, and also working with less actives and finding new people through them! but it was a good week over all, really different because of the cup, but over all was good! we had planned this week the baptism of Ana Vitoria, our over prepared investigator, who i am pretty sure knows way more than i do about the gospel! but out district leader did the interview, and she passed with flying colors, like he said that he was in shock a little bit! haha but she doesnt want to be baptized yet, even though she believes it all.. she is even doing personal progress... like even the active members dont do that! haha its an interesting situation, but im hoping for a moment of inspiration this week to discover what it is that she needs help with this week! 

everything is good with me and my companion! really liking working with him, we really click and work well together! he is really good, for only having one month on the mission, he surprises me everyday with the things that he does! either im a super good trainer... (i think to think that this is the reason! hahaha) or he came super prepared (the real reason! haha) 

this week was elder Cordeiro´s birthday, and the members, his family back home and I planned 2 suprise parties for him! the first was on saturday night in the church, he couldnt believe it, it was awesome! and the second was on sunday night, one of the members planned a family night in her house, and he was all psyched because she told him that she would bring some new investigators for us to teach.. and then when he got there , there was the surprise party! it was hilarious because after he told me that he was a little sad because there wereny investigators there! hahaha he cracks me up sometimes! but it was a good weekend because we ate lots of cake! haha 

things are really good here in the ward im in! we had ward counsel this last week and it was all things that were good because all the members got all excited to help us, and started asking us when they could visit our investigatores with us! it really makles all the differences in missionary work to have the members always helping you! 

also this is the last week of pres Gonzaga.. a little strange to think that he is already leaving and that we will have a new pres soon! 

but all things are good here in paradise! hoping that we can have a little more sucess during this month of soccer games! but all is well! 

but that is it from me! boa semana por todos! 

Elder Ryan

well here you have it! 6-9-14

So this week was an interesting one! 

this week was a week of everything falling through! i feel like i have already said that about a few of the weeks (or many possibly!) of the mission!  but i have never had a week like this! seriously everything that we planned would fall through, and then a plan B would fall as well! but it was a good because i learned alot how important it is to be persistent! 

i dont think i have ever worked so hard! we walked so much and talked to tons of people, it was funny because at the end of the week, i was feeling sad about how we didnt have such a good week.. when we added up our numbers of the week, we had had one of the best weeks number wise, of my whole mission! even though it was super hard, im glad i didnt give up this week, because there were a few days when it just seemed like a better idea to go home and sleep! haha but for some reason, we just kept working.. (i think im going a little crazy! ahaha)

one good thing about this week is that we have been teaching a Ana Vitoria. she is progressing really well, she has already been to church three times and she probably knows more about the church than i do! i have never seen anyone search so much to know that something was true! it was hilarious because at church one of the sunday school teachers told her that she needed to be baptized this week so that the next sunday she could teach the class! it was hilarious. but she is a little nervous about baptism, but im hoping that we can help her out this week and that she will be baptized this saturday! 

things are going really great here overall! My companion is all better, after going to the hospital twice, but he is back to working shape! it is crazy how fast he is learning. he puts me to shame already and i have 6 more months than him! haha but things are great on this end! i love the area, love the people, and i love sharing the gospel! it is all things that are good! haha hoping that things can continue at least a little bit during the rest of the month seeing as the world cup is starting on tuesday. we have to stay at home during the hours of the games of brazil, so that will probably mean lots of skip bo! hahah but that is the report for the week! 

hope that everyone is well! appreciate all the emails and letters! boa semana pra voces! 

Elder Ryan!

what up from Maceió 6-2-14

well this week was all things that are good! hahha

it seems like every thing is falling into place in this area, it has been really great! this week we had zone conference! i played the piano and didn't completely choke! ( just a little) haaha but it was really good! learned a lot! Pres and Sister Gonzaga are great to hear from! the talks are really helpful and help´me get excited to be a missionary! was a great meeting! way nice to sit in a air conditioned chapel all day too! ;)

my companion this week got dengue fever! it has been a bummer! but he was a super stud and worked everyday this week until saturday! we had tons of success, finding lots of new people to teach and teaching the people that we had already found! just when i think that the members here have done all they can, they start helping even more! it was been mind blowin for me! really enjoying working with the members, it brings way more success! on saturday w went to the church early to fill the baptismal font, and my companion laid down while we were waiting, and he looked so dead that i called sister Gonzaga and she sent him to the hospital! he went the companion of my District leader, who we live with, because he too was sick! but they went to the hospital and were told they cant work for the next couple days! so i have been working with Elder Silva the last two days and it has been a hoot! it is really cool and we are basically the same person! we have had 2 of the same companions and we bothed passed in Viçosa. but it has been fun with him, but hoping that my companion can get back into working shape soon!

The story of the Week: so on wednesday night we were in a meeting for missionary work in the ward. we were just sitting there waiting for it to start and one of the ward missionaries walked in with a young man of 14 years. i  had already seen him at church and at all the church activities. i thought that he was already a member! so the ward missionary walked up to us and said, "this is anderson, he wants to be baptized!" well that was cool! so we taught him the next 2 days, he already knew everything because he hsa been visiting the church for the last 3 months and we baptized him this saturday! was legit! haha but just goes to show that the lord is the one doing the work! sometimes we are working and searching in very place we can think of, and the Lord is preparing the people and when we least expect it, they fall into our hands and we get the blessing of baptizing! haha but that was a cool experience!

well that about sums things up for this week! love you all!

Elder Ryan

PS mom skip bo has become a every night deal! We play one or two games everynight before we go to bed!