Secretary to Pres. Pinho

July 14, 20012

Here in chacara we are planning on having a baptism for August 4th!! His names Migeul and hes 32, he has a big desire and he already has the support of an amazing ward, because he went to Church!!!!!!!  we are helping him stop smoking. He was at 20 per day and now is working on the goal of 10! Hes really doing great!!!

So about the stuff in the packages, if its possible I'd really like some Zebra pens, I know its weird but they are really my favorite and also some things I have been craving, skittles and starbursts!! ha ha I really miss those :) 

Also something new, I got the news I'm being transfered :( :)(Mixed emotions ha ha). I'm leaving Chacara Santana and the Lord has called me to be secretary to President Pinho. I'll be moving there to the mission office on Tuesday and be living there for at least the next 6 months. I'm really nervous, but I do know that with the Lords guiding hand I will qualify for the position for which he has called me. Elder Cherry will be training me. Its kinda funny because I remember when Ii was at home and was emailing Him to know about the mission.

July 24, 2012

This week was awesome and I"m having a great time working here in the mission office! There´s a ton of stuff to remember and a lot of stuff that your responsible for, so it´s a little hecktic but I´m just hopping and praying that all get it with time. To answer your question about the prosilyting, yes, we do get to prosilyte. We work in the office Mon-Tues and Thurs-Fri after studying 10:30-5:00 and we get to work in the area from 5-9:00 and Saturday and Sunday all day. The only problem is that sometimes we don´t get to leave if we are really weighed down with work, but the amazing thing is that Elder Cherry and Elder Vasquez(the last secretary of the mission and secretary of finances) were still able to baptize! Elder J. Castro(The new sec. of finances) arrived in the area Tuesday and we have a baptism already planned for Saturday! I'm supper excited, the area here is really different. Its Really Really wealthy here. In our ward, its just full of high up leaders in the church. Pres. Pinho, Pres. são paulo south, Pres. Coasta( brazil area president) its really sweet! The problem is that because the areas is so rich its really hard to teach here, they are really "hard in thier hearts" like the scriptures always say and don't have any room for the message, but the Lord always provides a way and we are trying to think of ways that we can get references from the members so that we can enter some of the huge apartment buildings were all the wealthy live and BAPTISE!! But as for now we are mostly working in an area really far from the office that is a favella called João dias, there the people are more humble and willing to hear our message.

July 30 2012

So novidades(new stuff). Its now my second week in the mission office and its really going good! There´s a ton of stuff to learn and to remember, but I"ll get there I know it ha ha. One of the great things about being in the office as Secretary of the mission is that I´ve been figuring out that my English definitely will get back into shape. I'm having to call the association in Salt Lake at times so I'm practising and by next phone call at Christmas I should be great. Also with 4 Americans and only 2 Brazilians that are trying to learn English here in the office, we are talking a lot in English so that helps too.

I had an experience this week that now seems funny but at the time was just terrible. I ran out of toothpaste one morning and had forgotten to buy some that night before returning home from proselyting. I needed to brush my teeth that night before bed so I asked Elder Soares, the Brazilian AP, if I could use his. He said ya and that his toothpaste was in the second bathroom. I went to the bathroom and found what I thought was his toothpaste and went to brush my teeth. When I put my toothbrush in my mouth and started brushing I realized immediately that it most definetly wasn't toothpaste!! I spit everything out and washed my mouth out and then looked at the container that, lo and behold, read Creme de barba, in other words shaving cream!!! ha ha This week i learned that sometime things aren't as they seem and that you shouldn't judge things by how they are on the outside! :) ha ha

But all jocking aside I really had a good week! The Lord is really molding me through experiences here that are always in response to prayer. One thing that I am really learning lately is about positivity and the giant role that it plays in the live of a true follower of Christ. 

August 7, 2012

This week was super stressful. We got hammered with a bunch of stuff we had to get done fast and on top of that there´s always the elders that are calling with problems to be resolved. I know that Lord has placed me in this calling. I am always reminded of a passage from my patriartical blessing that says, about my serving a mission,"How you do this work will prepare you physically, mentally and spiritually for the rest of your days on the earth." I Know that these experiences that I am having, have the ability to change me into the person that the lord wants me to be, I just need to do my part and work hard while staying humble and leaning on the Lord!

As for proselyting its going good, its amazing to see how the Lord blesses us. Even with The restricted time that we have as secretaries, it is having no effect on maintaining a teaching group just as if we were normal missionaries.

Right now were are teaching a couple FAMILIES!!! I am so happy, my goal is to find, teach and baptize an elect family of the lord, so that they can eventually be sealed in the temple! I want that so badly!!

August 15, 2012

This week was tough. :) So, I only have two more weeks until training is finished for me here in the office. I'm kinda stressin out about this a bit because after training all the responsibility will be put on my shoulders.

  

About your questions ya, the secretary of the mission handles all the Administration for the mission. so everything from visas to calling parents because they aren't writing their missionary letters.ha ha. Right now we have 6 people in the office because Elder Cherry & Elder Vasquez are training Elder Castro and I, and then the assistants. but after the transfer on the 28th it will just be the 2 secretaries and the AP´s. To answer your other question as well its just the AP´s that travel with Pres. Pinho.

So the Family that I was telling you about is planning on going to the court house and getting married on the 18th, which is a huge step and I"m really excited about it! This week was amazing, I had a really neat experience with them. We taught a lesson about the Book of Mormon and we read 2 nephi 31 together. It was so beautiful to see the family all united together happy and reading the words of God. It's amazing the power the gospel has to unite families in happiness and love!

New Opportunities

So Alan was BAPTISED Saturday (July 7th)!! It was really great and he really has developed a testimony!  Sad:(  he got sick and didnt make it to be confirmed on sunday:(next week for sure). 

Here in Chacara we are planning on having a baptism August 4th.  His names Migeul and he's 32, he has a big desire and he already has the support of an amazing ward, because he went to Church!!!!!!!  We are helping him stop smoking. He was at 20 per day and now is working on the goal of 10! He's really doing great!!!

Something new happened, I was transfered :( :)(Mixed emotions haha). I'm leaving Chacara Santana, the Lord has called me to be secretary to President Pinho. I'll be moving there, to the mission office on Tuesday  July 16th. I will be living there for at least the next 6 months. I'm really nervous and scared because of the responsiblity, but I do know that with the Lords guiding hand I will qualify for the position for which he has called me.. I'll be conpanions with Elder Cherry for the first 6 weeks, while he is training me..Haha, it's kinda funny becuase I remember when I was at home and was emailing him to know about the mission. 

My p-day is now going to be on Wednesdays.Thanks to everyone for the prayers and letters. I am so grateful for the support!

E. Rasmussen

Transfered

NEW area!! I'm now in Chacara Santana in zone Guadapirunga and its really great!! My new comp is Elder Firl (an American this time haha). things are really starting off great. 

Again my Comp and I are opening the area which just means that both of us are new to the area and having to start with 0, but all the more exciting this way

. 

Right now the conditions are not very good. We don't have a house in our area and are living in the house with the elders in the area next to ours. We don't have a cell phone as of yet either, so things are a little scrabbled right now but we are doing great!

The ward here is really supportive and the Lord is always there for us. I know Elder Ffirl and I are hear for a reason and if we are obedient and diligent well fulfill the purpose for sure!

I"m so happy to be a missionary, I'm learning a lot.  pray that can learn and grow and be molded into the servant that God wants me to be. 

Right now we have 5 people marked for baptism for next month on the 7th. I'm praying a lot and I hope they reach conversion. I know that if they just keep there commitments, with a sincere heart they for sure will.We Will see :)

E. Rasmussen

Catch Up!!

Bad Mom award for me. I have not been doing so good on keeping up on the blog. I am going to do better!!

4/3/12
So my second week in the field has come and gone. Things are great, sometimes hard but Great! You asked about my companion Elder Lembranzi.. He has been out 1yr 8.5 months. He is from Rondonha, Porto Velho. It's a city near the Amazon jungle. He has a girlfriend at home and will get married shortly after he returns. I'm told this is typical for most of the native elders.

The ward in Cotia is a fairly large one we have 130 members, however most of the membership is woman and children which makes incomplete families in the church. We have a lot of work to do in bringing the fathers into the church.Our ward area cover an 5kl by 8kl area, with a ton of hills.  The people of the area are a little harder to teach. We get appointments and they let us teach them, but they don't put a lot of importance in what we are teaching them. We do find those Eleilos(elete) that truly are prepared by Our heavenly Father and are ready to hear our message.

A mission is an extraordinary experience. I have never felt so close to my Heavenly Father. He is always there for me as I lean on him with the very important task he has laid before me.

4/10/12
I Had my first baptism this week!It was a couple that just got married. They have been coming to church for 4 yrs. So we didn't do much. A baptism is a baptism. Ha Ha:) We have a goal to have 5  baptisms for the month osf April. Our investigators are Lusas, Jodma, Jessica, Sabustiana, and the Luan and Lucus families. We also have Sara, Zesinho and the "Jata"-Jose Family. We are working hard to help them gain a testimony of their own so they will realize the importance of being baptized and becoming a member of the Lords church.

I have sent pictures of the city of Cotia, my house and the couple we baptized.

The Campo (field)

Monday March 26, 2012

I'm pretty much settled here in my first area and really love my companion. I am in the city of Cotia. It is about 2 hrs from the city of Sao Paulo. It is a pretty nice place there are some poorer areas but for the most part it is nice. My companion and I are very blessed to have a fairly nice house to ourselves. It came complete with box springs and mattresses. I guess this is not common from the way my companion and district leaders acted when they saw them.

My companion's name is Elder Lembranzi. He is a Brasiheido 100% and he speaks 0 English ZERO!! What a blessing it's been and I think it will really help me to learn the language much faster. Both he and I are new to this area, so getting around has been quite the adventure. This week we have been trying to learn the area and get to know the investigators.The Bishop and members of the Cotia 1 ward are amazing and so willing to help. The boundaries of the ward are huge but it has been great.

The language is a bugger! Especially understanding the people in the campo(field). I don't understand a lot, but it is only the first week and I know for a fact that if I am faithful, diligent and obedient the Lord will make me equal to the task. The members and my companion have been very supportive of me and it has really helped a lot!!

I know that this is where I am suppose to be with a certainty, even though a times it is tough and stressful, already the good times far out weigh them. This gospel is true I know it, Heavenly Father lives and hears our prayers, we have a Savior Jesus Christ who knows all our difficulties and sorrows (Alma 11:13) I know this to be true. The gospel is so simple and beautiful, how blessed we are to have it, live it and gain the wonderful happiness and joy from it!!

Elder Rasmussen

New Experiences & Miracles

This week was full of tons of new experiences. Wednesday my district and I along with some other districts traveled to the federal police station to get finger printed. The missionaries from the Sao Paulo East Mission also came. The ones who had been out a year and were renewing their visas. It was awesome to talk to them, hear their accents and talk about their experiences. I learned from them that in their mission many people get baptized but don't get confirmed. This was shocking to me. They said they get about 400 baptisms a month and only 250 of those will get confirmed.

Another amazing experience this week was proselyting. Yesterday(Mon. 3/12) was my district's first taste of preaching the gospel to real Brazilians. We went out around the town of Casa Verde. It was amazing! We talked to this one kid, his name was Rafiel, he was 14. He told us he lived right by the Casa Verde church building. It was amazing to bare witness to him of the Book of Mormon and have him commit to read and pray about it. We were able to pass out all the Book of Mormons we were given. The total was 6. Next Monday (3/19) we will go into down town Sao Paulo. It will be great!! To top it off today we are going to the temple in Campinis. Two temples in just two months. That the same number of temples I have been to in the states.

A couple of weeks ago I had an amazing experience. My instructor Irmao Ramolhid was giving a lesson on how the B of M is more than just a great book and how to help people realize that. This was the first day our instructor chose to only speak in Portuguese the whole class. The spirit was so strong, he talked for about an hour and gave an example of teaching an investigator. I was able to understand everything. Afterward he had us teach our companions. I felt the spirit flowing through me and helping me speak the words. It's not a constant everyday thing but, I know through experiences like these that the gift of tongues and interpretation of tongues are real gifts. If I work my hardest, stay in tune to the spirit and it's Gods will I can speak.

You asked if I am ready to go out into the field. When I came to the CTM (missionary training center I made a list of goals that I wanted to accomplish while I was here. I pray about them often and the Lord has helped me achieve everyone. So I am ready to go into the field and work hard and do my very best for the Lord. With Him I know I will succeed.


                                                                      Elder Rasmussen

Week 6

February 27,2012
Querido,
I'm so glad to write to you. To answer your question about what an English fast is. It is a whole week when my companion and I only spoke Portuguese. It was sooo hard! The story we heard from Robyn about her nephew who was on a mission in Brazil. The one where his companion lost his leg when he was jumping on a train. My branch president here in the CTM is the doctor for all the missionaries in Brazil. He told us the whole story. It is incredible. The Elder was trying to jump on the train and fell under the train. The next thing he knew he was laying on the ground no leg and blood pouring out of his leg. The Elder's companion was very green and just went into shock and didn't know what to do. The Elder tried to take his belt off and make a turnicut, but was loosing blood to quickly and didn't have the strength and passed out. A man who called himself Joao "John" came out of know where and told the companion to call the mission president and then call the ambulance. Joao took the elders belt and made it into a turnicut. The elder was dead on arrival at the ER. He had no pulse, by a miracle the OR was already prepped and he was in surgery within 10 min.  This Elder is alive today and is getting married soon. What an amazing story!! God truly does watch over His missionaries!

Here in Brazil they have this amazing drink. It's kind of a drinkable yogurt. It's called vigor. It comes in huge bottles and tons of flavors. We drink it sometimes for breakfast. It is amazing!!

Sao Paulo is huge, very green and warm. There are many poor people here, but they are very kind. In the CTM there are many Brazilian missionaries. They are all very nice and are very willing to help you with the language. The language is coming, my dyslexia makes it a little hard when it comes to the reading, but I know it will come.

As soon as I get out in the campo (field ) I will send some pics. Here is some Brazilian slang;
                                 E al cada = wats up man!
                                 Belaza = awesome or killer
                                 Legal = cool
                                bacana = stud
                                ultimo = great
                                fubeca = slacker
                              
God lives, Jesus Christ lives, This is His work and I'm so grateful to be a part of it!

                                    Elder Rasmussen