April 28, 2014

FAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMIIIIIIIILLLLLLLLYYYYYYY!!  

How are my favorite people doing?  I hope you are all enjoying the nice spring weather and the beautiful world Heavenly Father has given to us.  It really is beautiful, isn't it?

Sorry for not writing last week!  It was a little CRAZY.. For an hour I was trying to get my computer to work, but to no avail.  Here's an update from the last two weeks!

Holy moly... this has been a r-o-u-g-h transfer, but I sure have learned a lot, especially the importance of hard work. Heavenly Father hasn't forgotten us!  Things really are starting to pick up, and after a very dry transfer, we might have 3 baptisms this next week.  Pray all goes well!

Hahaha SO.... last week we had the lovely opportunity of going to the Temple of the Lord in Curitiba!  IT WAS SO PERFECT.  I really needed that sweet communion with my Heavenly Father.  They didn't have headphones for us, so we all did the session in Portuguese.  It was actually wonderful!  I was able to understand everything and participate fully, and it was a marvelous testimony builder to me that the Gospel truly is the same in every country and tongue.  Despite the beautiful day, THIS Elder forgot his camera..... so... sorry for the lack of pictures!  

The day after the temple, we were teaching a less-active/part-member family, and diarrhea hit... Yikes!  I ran to their little bathroom and then 5 minutes later I had to run back, but this time it was vomit.  AND THEIR TOILET WOULDN'T FLUSH!  I felt SO bad for this poor little family since we had to leave right then, and I left their bathroom destroyed....  After a not-so-pleasant trip to the hospital, we found out that apparently I got food poisoning...?  Super random, and Sister Monteirowas NOT HAPPY with me.... Haha but I'm all better now, and now I know not to make egg salad sandwiches here in Brazil :)

Next week is transfer time already!  This has been a pretty sluggish one, but things really are looking up.  Its the hard times that really make you grateful for the good ones!  I know that Heavenly Father is intimately aware of our struggles and is waiting to help us.  I've learned that sometimes, all we need to do is ask. 

I love this Gospel!  I know it's true.  I love you all so much!  Thanks for the love, the prayers, and the letters.  

Love forever, 

Jason

April 14, 2014

Bom dia familia!!  Eu amo vocês MUITO.  Sinto falto de vocês MUITO tambêm!

This week... was a bit of trial!  We continue to work work work and continue to try to find new people to teach and take to church, but for some reason, prospects seem to be drying up - not just for us, but our entire area.  Not sure why.... but... I have SUCH a testimony that Heavenly Father will bless all those that "endure"haha, so we're staying hopeful!

This Wednesday, we get to go to the lovely Curitiba temple!  It will be such a marvelous blessing!  Holy cow... it's been 10 months since I've been able to go to the temple, so.... this is a much-needed trip.  I always love to go to the temple and feel the sweet, comforting peace within.  Always, you feel of Heavenly Father's profound love for us, and the profound simplicity and perfection of His Plan.

I love this Gospel!  Even when life is "hard", we can take comfort knowing that it is "...but a short moment".  I know that Heavenly Father is ALWAYS aware of us, and is ALWAYS there to help us in our struggles when we turn to Him for help and guidance.  I am SO thankful that this week, we get to commemorate the resurrection of our beloved Savior, Jesus Christ.  Truly, He lived, died, and rose again on the third day that we might have everlasting life.  What a choice blessing!

Sorry this email is so short this week!  And sorry for the lack of pictures... More to come next week for sureI LOVE YOU!  

Have a wonderful, uplifting, and fun week.  I'm thinking about you!

Love, 

Jason

Conference and craziness -- April 7, 2014

My wonderful family!  What a week!  I hope you all enjoyed the marvelous messages from General Conference. I sure did.  Without fail, there always seem to be talks especially for me, whispering the guidance or direction I didn't know I needed.  I love it!

This week was my first week with a Brazilian companion... .HAHAHA it was a toughie, but it was good!  Elder Osório is helping me with the language, and is very patient.  We knocked SO. MANY. DOORS.  It was probably the roughest week here in Brazil so far, as almost NO one let us in...  which is strange for this part of Brazil.  Our whole zone found the same problem this week, too, so... I guess that means we're gearing up for a miracle here pretty soon!  Thankfully, after a few hard days, we had the absolute delight of General Conference - IN ENGLISH!!  Woooooooo  We all traveled to the Stake Center, and all the Americans went to a little classroom with TV and watched GC in exile.  

I was so touched by the speakers this session.  All testified of our Savior, taught that we should love, and shared moving stories.  It hit me this conference, what a blessing it is to have modern-day revelation.  The world is changing SO rapidly, but what a relief and comfort to know that God never changes. We can always rely on Him and His laws and His guidance through the scriptures and a living prophet.  ALL, literally all he asks of us is to keep His commandments, and we are GUARANTEED an eternity of happiness and rest.  It's just these "4 minutes" that count, so I hope we will all do our very best to rely on Atonement and shine for this short moment here on Earth.

Some of my favorite quotes from this past conference include:

"Truth is truth. It is not divisible." - Russell M. Nelson

"Evil, error, and darkness will never be right, even if it is popular." - Russell M. Nelson

"It was the load..." - David A. Bednar

"The Gospel isn't weight.  It's wings.  It carries us." - Jean A. Stevens

I LOVE THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST!  It is liberating, exhilarating, and wonderful.  

I love you, and pray that we will all take what we learned this week in conference and apply it to our lives and character.

Love forever, 

Jason

TRANSFERS -- April 1, 2014

Hello hello family!  My my my it has been a crazy and long week, but a good one at that.

I cannot believe it is already APRIL... This transfer went by super fast! Because it was transfer week, and my companion, Elder Astudillo, is getting transferred, most of the week was spent visiting our recent-converts and prepping for the new changes.  I'm super sad that Elder Astudillo is leaving... my new companion is actually a Brazilian that lives in our apartment.  He speaks NO English... which is good (I hope), so I will HAVE to learn fast!

Our mission baptized 186 people this month!  We are SO happy.  Because we met out baptismal goal of 165, we all will be going to the temple!  Woooooo!  It has been 9 months since I've last been, so it will be marvelous going once again with my mission.

HAHA so... everything in Brazil they say "wants to kill you".  A few days ago, one of the missionaries in my apartment got touched by a crazy looking caterpillar, and had to go to the hospital with my companion, so I had to stay with another American missionary who speaks less Portuguese than I do, and try to teach our people we had planned for that day!  It was SUPER stressful at first, and felt like I was back at the MTC ;) but all went well.  Even though I didn't have a "senior" to catch my fall, our investigator understood, and we mostly understood her, too.  Haha it sure made me grateful to have an experienced missionary as my companion.

Are you excited for General Conference??  NOTHING is as wonderful as General Conference to a missionary.  Holy cow... we are SO excited to take our investigators and recent converts to hear the Prophet and Apostles.  I am SO thankful that we have a living prophet to help us and guide us.  Just think about it.  We have someone who speaks directly with God and receives revelation for us and for the world.  What a blessing.

I hope you all have a wonderful week, and receive answers to your questions this conference.  Can't wait to tell you all about my first week with a Brazilian companion.

The Gospel is TRUE!

Love forever,
Jason

March 24, 2014

Familia!  Eu amo vocês!

Holy moly... this week was WONDERFUL!!  Remember that girl we baptized last Sunday, but couldn't baptize her parents because they weren't married yet?  Well...  we went to visit them on Tuesday, and they were all gone except the dad... Turns out the mother took the kids and the rent money, and went back to her hometown in search of drugs... Naé, the dad, was super sad, and super discouraged.  But.... WE HAD THE BEST LESSON EVER WITH HIM.  Holy cow.... The Spirit was SO STRONG.  I was having a hard time understanding him, and when Elder Astudillo turned the time over to me, I wasn't quite sure what to say... But I just opened my mouth and started talking, and it was filled.  It was one of the most special experiences of my mission so far.  I just talked!  And then Naé started to cry... then I started to cry... it was just... perfect. Such a tender mercy of the Lord that made all of the "awkward" moments and struggles worth it, because Iknew in that instant, Heavenly Father was using me, as a tool in His hands to touch the heart of one of His sons.   Because his girlfriend left, he was no longer breaking any commandments, and wanted to be baptized this past Sunday!  Just about EVERYTHING during our time with him went wrong, or seemed to (girlfriend left; Crazy lessons at church; The water in our city got shut off, so he had to get baptized sitting down; etc), but really, he is just a true elect of Heavenly Father and has such a desire to follow Christ, so none of the "bad" things even registered with him.

I'm having a wonderful time making fun contacts on doors, and in the streets.. Hahaha people are RIDICULOUS HERE!  I got a liiiiittle snappy with an old lady who told me in response to my asking her if she wanted a message about God said, "I NEVER LIKED GOD!"... WHOA, SISTER! She was the first person I've met here who didn't like God.  :)

I can't believe it has already been over a MONTH since I've been in Brazil!  It has FLOWN by... Next week is transfer meeting, and there's a good chance I'll be getting a new companion.

I sure love my family!  The gospel is TRUE.  I love love love going to church here because it is such a testament to me that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the same everywhere, and moreover, the Spirit is the same in every tongue.

Have a SUPER week! 

Love, 

Jason

Another White Week! -- March 17, 2014

Oi Familia! I hope all is well in America and that this letter finds you safe and happy!

What a week!  Things are still going quite well here.  I still love the area, Ponta Grossa, and I really love the other missionaries I live with.  They're kind to help me with my Portuguese!

Holy cow.  I really love Brazil!  Everyday, I can feel Heavenly Father help me understand what people are saying, and help me remember the words I study.  It is going to be SO MARVELOUS when I can speak Portuguese.  Literally, it will be so FUN once I don't have this handicap.

Super news!  We had a baptism this weekend!  The super elect family that we found about 2 weeks ago has been coming to church and having us over a lot. They are SO faithful, and love the Book of Mormon.  They aren't legally married yet (a major problem here in Brazil - everyone lives together because getting married by law costs a lot), but they are working towards a date to be married, and then be  baptized.  Nathali, their 10 year old daughter, was baptized yesterday!  She is super cool, and super smart.  It has been so fun working with this family and seeing their faith in Christ grow, and their desire to adopt the Gospel increase.  It keeps blowing my mind how here in Brazil, everyone (mostly everyone) is SO accepting.  For example, the first week this family came to church, they got there 30 minutes early, Sacrament meeting started 20 minutes late, and Priesthood "lesson" was an argument over how to give a blessing.... The whole time, I was just thinking, "Noooooooo.... we are going to lose them!"  Then, when we went to visit them the following Tuesday and asked how they liked church, they both said they loved it!  They said it was exactly what they have been searching for.  WHAT?!  It was such a testimony to me that the truly humble and elect of Heavenly Father will only see the good; that they'll be able to know through the Holy Ghost what is right, and won't notice what appears amiss to us.  M-i-r-a-c-l-e.

The faith people have here goes both ways though.  They are VERY believing, so when we commit someone to come to church, and a family member or friend or pastor tells them that they shouldn't, they won't!  We had a few of those happen this week, but we know Heavenly Father will help us find the elect, like Nathali and her family, if we keep trying!

Haha it's so fun here, because you can stop and talk to ANYone, and they'll almost always talk with you!  I've point- blank just asked people on the street if they'd like to be baptized, and it starts a good conversation (that I have to turn over to my companion ;)).  Haha like yesterday before church started, we went out and street contacted people, inviting them to come to church with us RIGHT THEN!  It was so fun!  No one said yes... but still, I don't think you could do that in America.

Because we teach almost solely out of the  Bible here (totally opposite of my mission in the States), I've been trying to read a lot!  It has been such a wonderful experience re-discovering the life of Christ in the New Testament.  It is so beautiful and plain.  I am so thankful for a loving Savior who came to Earth to set the perfect example for us, to die for us, and then  to rise again so that we too might one day return to live with our Father in Heaven and families for eternity.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is TRUE.  I love it!

Have a SUPER week!  The Church is TRUE!  Heavenly Father loves you!

Love forever,

Jason

Week 3 in BRASIL -- March 10, 2014

Olá, familia!  Tudo bom?

It's only been 4 days since my last email, so I'll keep this one brief and spare you :)

When it's not raining, it's HOT!  Holy cow... maybe it's just humid... but I always feel like my body is melting.  My 1oz tube of sunscreen is totally depleted and I think I might get skin cancer!  Hopefully I can find some Brazilian stuff to help!

EVERYTHING IS SO FOREIGN.  Haha the grocery stores here sell only milk (NOT like milk in America...), deli stuff, and junk food!  But it all tastes really good!  Everything in Brazil (or at least Ponta Grossa) seems 10-30 years behind the States.  For example, our phones are like those first Nokia cell phones we had in the late 90's, and all the cars and houses are just... different!  When I show people our family/house, they CANNOT believe that we live in a place like that.  No house has gas lines or water heaters, or dependable electricity.

ANYWAY... Yesterday I got to give a talk in sacrament meeting! HAHAHAHAHA I bet the Brazilians were CRINGING in their seats... Thankfully it was only a 5 minute talk.  The language is still a huge stumbling block, but slowly and surely I'm having more "A-ha!" moments and starting to understand better.

I LOVE THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST.  I love that no matter what language you speak or country you're in, it is the SAME, and you can always feel the Spirit.

We walk SO much here!  It's pretty great.  We eat only junk food because they don't believe in dinner here (only lunch!), but I'm pretty sure I've lost weight.

Sorry for the lack of pictures and info this week, but more will come!

I KNOW that this gospel is true.  I know that through Christ and His Atonement, we can ALL return to the glory and peace and presence of our loving Heavely Father.  This is a gospel of happy endings!

Com MUITO amor,

Elder Jason Allred