News from Brazil on the 27th

We have started teaching English again. We stopped for a 2-3 weeks as only 2-3 people showed, but some people are asking for it so we are going to give it a try. I have also decided that missionaries get really excited really easily. Just about anything can excited a missionary. We also invited everyone to bring a kilo of food to help a family who is going through a lot of trouble. The daughter is a member, and the mom wants to be but needs her own house and a job first.

As for the photos, the first should be self explanatory; we got to go to a wedding. They are all members and they got married in the chapel this Saturday. It was awesome. The second is a picture from our doorway. Yep that is our church out here in Rio Largo, and we live right in front of it. The third is a young mens and young womens activity me and Becker dropped by. They were preparing for Super Saturday, and they made headbands which said "SUD" which is the Portuguese version of LDS. So overall we are doing well. Oh we also got a small electric piano thingy that me and Becker are practicing with.

Editor's comment - The following is from a handwritten letter from the same time:

I will try to write more often.  A bit has happened.  First though, I should write about the work.  It is coming along slowly.  There are some issues in the Branch we are working on, but mainly we are trying to find new people.  We can find plenty of people to talk to, but often there is a problem with going to church or getting baptized.  We currently have one family and two other women we are teaching.  I don’t know if anything will happen with the family as the Grandma is a firm Catholic believer.  One of the women knows the Branch President so she has a good chance to progress.  The other I’m not sure about.  She enjoyed the lesson and said she would pray and read the Book of Mormon.  She did at first tell us that her pastor said not to go meet us.

One day I had a division with my (LZ in Portuguese), zone leader, Elder Biddulph.  We did some contacts and visited some investigators.  Then we went to family night.  That was a half hour walk away and I got lost on the way, so I am glad we left early.  Overall it was good.  That was on Friday the 17th.  On the 23rd, Wednesday, we went out to Tabuleiro to do baptismal interviews for them.  I got to do some visits with Elder Biddulph in his area while Elder Becker, my companion, did the interviews.

On the 28th, Tuesday, we had another division in Rio Largo.  However, this time it was with the young men.  Yep, not even past 3 months and I got to be the senior.  But all the appointments we planned for Wellington and me for the day fell through.  Instead we did some contacts and visited some less active members.  I thought it was pretty decent for a day with just me and a non-missionary.

Now the stuff for fun.  Two things stick out in my mind.  The first was on the 25th, Saturday, we got to go to a wedding.  Two members got married in the chapel.  It was awesome.  They hung up balloons for decoration and we had an electric piano play the bridal march music.  The second councilor to the Branch got to perform the ceremony and the quorum president gave a talk.  After that was a party of sorts with music, cake, chocolate and soda.

The second amazing thing we did was to go to Severino’s roça.  A roça is a farm-like place.  It isn’t an American type of farm, but he does grow food on it.  Basically it isn’t that organized.  It is somewhat, but not as straight lined as American farms.  Actually, we helped clear a path through a forested area with machetes.  He also told us about a somewhat swampy forest like area not far away that was a tad dangerous.  Afterwards I got to eat some food from the farm that we cooked on a fire.  We ate it in his wooden hut with a plastic roof.  I certainly had fun that day, even though the back of my neck got really sunburned.

So overall, the work is slow, but we are persevering.  In our free time we have some fun but most of it is work.  On that note, I am feeling tired.  Until next time, or, até mais.

Elder Vincent Malmrose

Letter from Elder Awesome

Oops. Guess I haven’t written in a while. Sorry.

We have a few investigators I hope and think will get baptized. The first is Silvana. She is a 53-year-old woman who just moved here. We got her to go to church, and I think she enjoyed it. We had Luciete (pronounced Lu-sea-eteh) go to church. He daughter is already a member as well and she enjoyed it. We just need to work on helping her get separated from the man she is living with. The man is a great guy when he isn’t drunk. I really am getting to see how drinking can be a risky thing to do and how it hurts families. We don’t have any other strong investigators yet. We have been doing a lot of contacts and trying to find more people.

We had a Zone Conference. That is basically a day-long meeting. We hear talks and testimonies for 3 to 4 hours, have lunch, do some practices for 3 hours, then hear another 1 to 2 hours of talks and testimonies. I am realizing my Portuguese is coming along well. My accent isn’t that thick, even if I’m still having trouble with some of the grammar. Overall I enjoyed it - especially when I got to pick up my letters and packages.

It is the political season here so there are plenty of cars driving around with giant speakers spouting propaganda for one or another candidate.

Me and Elder Becker are also starting to teach Seminary. The Seminary teacher went through a rough experience and then moved, so we have stepped in to substitute. We also had a change of leadership in the Young Men’s and Young Women’s presidencies. I personally think that is for the better. We also have 3 new elders in our District. A new zone leader, and another companionship. The new companionship is also training. Overall, not that much changes but at least we are working hard. I hope all is well in the States.

I love receiving letters. All letters should be sent to the mission home where I pick them up at Zone Conference. The address is:

Elder Vincent Earl Malmrose
Brazil Maceió Mission
Av. Dom Antonio Brandão, 333 Sala 402
Ed. Work Center, Farol
57021-190 Maceió - AL
Brazil

Love,
Elder Malmrose

Here are a couple photos for everyone. I think all they really need is some names. The first is Severino, the awesome elders quorum president in our Branch. The second is Rapael, age 10. The third is Carladaniela, age 8, the daughter of a less active we helped reactivate. The fourth is Valquiria, age 8. Overall, I think this has been a good week. 

I love you all, and look forward to getting some letters from you all tomorrow. Or atleast emails soon. I'm not sure I'll be able to check e-mail again later tonight. In general, it might be better to send any emails you would want me to read on Sunday. Occasionally the emails take a while to get to me. I know it doesn't make sense, but one time I started checking mail and half an hour later a five hour old email from mom poped up. 

Hi!  It has been an interesting week or so.  On the 4^th of July I went on a division in Tabuleiro 2.  A division is when I spend the day with a different Elder.  Tabuleiro 2 is an area that is rich and religious.  It’s a hard area.  We also had a bit of fun with firecrackers and all that.

On the 6^th I had interviews with the President of the mission.  President Gonzaga is pretty awesome.  I haven’t really gotten to know him well though.  I will get to know him better when I can speak better Portuguese.  We also dropped by to see Cicero.  He is such a simple man, but also pretty awesome, like a big teddy bear.

On the 7^th we made some torches out of an old Pringles can and oil, and some toilet paper.  It was pretty awesome.  We also took a ½ hour to an hour bus ride for a baptismal interview, that wasn’t for that day.  Quite a tad frustrating, but we got time to write on the bus.  We did some tracting but with very little success.  References are so much easier and more efficient.  On that note, if you could give the missionaries references and feed them regularly they would love you a lot.

On Sunday not much happened.  There were only 48 people at church, which was sad.  They used to have 120 frequently, but now it isn’t even 50.  After that we visited people with someone from the Stake Presidency.

Wednesday.  Oh yeah, probably the best and worst day in my mission so far.  First it was lunch time, so we had a half hour walk in total up and down steep hills to get lunch.  And we had to make lunch ourselves.  After that we were going to have a division, so we went out to Tabuleiro to get it started.  After we got there, around 2:30 on a busy street a young man, about 25, stole our phone.  He just walked up to us and said, “Passa o cellular,” and snatched our cell phone out of Elder Becker’s hand.  Best part is the cell phone is really cheap so he can’t sell it for much and the SIM card is superglued in.  Yes, President Gonzaga had all the SIM cards superglued into the phones.  Annoying for both us and the robber I think.  Don’t worry though, I’m fine.  I personally got a laugh out of it as that is going to be frustrating for him.

After that I was the companion with a Brazilian, Elder Tavarez, who doesn’t speak English.  We did some contacts and tracting, but the best part was Mutual.  Yes, we are running, planning, and prepping the YM/YW activities.  This was actually the first Mutual this branch has had.  So odd to have a large YM/YW group and no activities.  Anyway, we shared a spiritual thought, then sent the kids through a labyrinth of chairs blindfolded.  At the end they had to walk on a chair and bench, then do a trust fall.  Someone would guide the blindfolded person through just by talking and catch them when they fell.

I hope all is going well for everyone at home.

Elder Malmrose

I seem to get a lot less time to write now.  This was a mixed week.  At the beginning all of our appointments dropped, so it was slow.  The next few days, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, were a tad packed.  We had a district meeting so I got to meet a bunch of other missionaries in the mission.

We went to José Suares’s house.  His wife prayed about the Church and the Book of Mormon, to know if they are true.  That night she dreamt that her friend was inviting her to church.  That is a pretty awesome answer, isn’t it?  Unfortunately, she still will not go to church.  Que, horror.  Good news is that Cicero is still strong.  He accepted tithing easily and readily.  We just need help to take care of his grandma.

Friday we had a big church party that was fun with music, dancing and food.  I didn’t go dancing, but I got to play musical chairs.  The food was also amazing.  We helped make the food, and organized a game or two.  Saturday was more of a typical day, but nothing dropped or fell through, so it was a good day.  Sunday was a bunch of walking.  Before church we invited some kids to go, so we had to go pick them up.  Then after church we showed the Primary Presidency the homes of all the new kids, so that took 4 hours or so.  I had fun, but I was feeling a tad dead after that, but we still had weekly planning.  All in all, it’s pretty good out here.  It is really hilly, and I still don’t know Portuguese, but I like it.

In the Field, and out of the CTM!

In the field now, but I'll still be updating this by mail. All is well, and Im in Rio Largo if anyone wants to find it. It supposed to be a poor town, but I think it is decently well off. The people are really laid back, and nice. More info is on the way.

P.S. Someone tell me what has been happening in League. Its been 2-3 months and I still know nothing about what has changed and not.

It’s been a long time since writing.  Well, I’m in Rio Largo.  It’s a poor place, but living conditions are nice.  The roads range from well paved, to rocky blocks, which is most common, to dirt paths.  We don’t have a dryer for our clothes, or a warm water shower, but we have everything else we need.  Most other houses don’t have doors, just curtains.  The weather has been good here.  Rainy, cloudy, and not too hot.  That could just be because it is winter.  The sun does burn, so I’ll probably come back with a tan.  A lot of the guys around here don’t wear shirts, which I find odd.  The culture around here is very laid back.  It is not hard to always hear music anywhere.  One car even had a trailer just for giant speakers, the kind at dances.  As for the work now that I’m in the field.  For the first half of the day we study or practice.  That is a good part of the day, and I like it.  Then we have lunch, which is always rice, beans, noodles, and meat.  Not too bad, but I think it is going to get old.  After that we relax for a bit, then get to work.  That consists of dropping by our investigators and talking with them, as well as the recent converts.  One investigator we have is a simple minded 55 year old man.  He used to smoke 20 cigarettes a day, and after 2-3 weeks he is down to none.  He just doesn’t go to church.  He wants to, but is busy taking care of his grandma who is 105 years old.  Another is Jose Suares.  He seems interested, but again we can’t get him to church.  He got in a motorcycle accident and is paralyzed from the waist down.

My companion or trainer is pretty cool.  He is tall, lanky, confident, and a redhead.  He has been out for a year and five months.  That means he is really excited for the work, but he also hasn’t been dating for the last year and five months.  Lucky me, I have a girlfriend.  His family sounds awesome.  Both his Mom and Dad like games.  His Dad is a graphic artist.  Hopefully we will remain good friends and have opportunities to talk after the mission.  That should be it for now.

Talk to you all later.