Tuesday, December 20, 2011
December 19, 2011
I forgot we also went to Uruguay last P-day. It was cool. We walked to this city called Artigas. I bought american deodarant there which was awesome. And we talked to some sister missionaries. The knew Elder Fleming! Who apparently is serving in a close by city. It was hard to understant the spanish at first, but i could still understand. The hard part was them understanding me. haha I got back in brasil and I felt back at home with the portuguese. haha
We also had a zone conference in Alegrete this week. In the picture here i´m giving a wierd hug to Elder Forasteiro. This is his last transfer and i´m probably never goig to see him again :( I lived with him in the same house for like 4 months.)
The zone conference was way cool. president gave us a training for "life" that he said he won´t give again. (because it´s not for the investigators). He talked about the difference between salvation and exaultation. He went in depth and it was way cool.
We had a baptism which was awesome. We have been working to reactivate the immense number of inactives here. One family we have been working with had a 10 year old daughter that hadn´t been baptized. Her name is Tayne and she reminds me alot of McKenna.
My companion right now is Elder Lima. He´s a brazilian from Porte Alegre, which is crazy, because thats the capital of the state we´re working in. He is a true Gaucho and knows how relate to the folk here.
Até sabado!
Tchau!
Elder Rollins
We also had a zone conference in Alegrete this week. In the picture here i´m giving a wierd hug to Elder Forasteiro. This is his last transfer and i´m probably never goig to see him again :( I lived with him in the same house for like 4 months.)
The zone conference was way cool. president gave us a training for "life" that he said he won´t give again. (because it´s not for the investigators). He talked about the difference between salvation and exaultation. He went in depth and it was way cool.
We had a baptism which was awesome. We have been working to reactivate the immense number of inactives here. One family we have been working with had a 10 year old daughter that hadn´t been baptized. Her name is Tayne and she reminds me alot of McKenna.
My companion right now is Elder Lima. He´s a brazilian from Porte Alegre, which is crazy, because thats the capital of the state we´re working in. He is a true Gaucho and knows how relate to the folk here.
Até sabado!
Tchau!
Elder Rollins
Monday, December 5, 2011
December 5, 2011
This last Sunday we had a great baptism. We found Filipe about 2 weeks ago. The first time we talked to him I knew he was going to be baptized. There are just some people who are prepared by the Lord and when you find them you just do your part (teach and baptize). I´m grateful for the chance I had to work with Filipe and I know that he will be a great member of the church. You know when someone is an elect when there is a instant acceptance of your message. and this is why Filipe was an elect.
I hope that everyone at home is having great missionary experiences too. I would love to hear about them!
I hope that everyone at home is having great missionary experiences too. I would love to hear about them!
Friday, November 18, 2011
November 14, 2011
Oi Familia!
Things are going really well. here in Ijui. We went back to Kevin´s house and his mom said he couldn´t be baptized. That if he wanted to go to church he would have to go to his mom´s church. We´ll go back there this week and get the signature;) the mom just needs a little conversation haha. Other than that the work is going on. The only major problem we have is getting people to go to church. The lessons have been good. I´ve learned so much more as a trainer than I ever did as a junior companion. The most spiritual parts of our messages always seem to be the beginning and the end. The are the times that we normally bear testimony more often. We usually have about 25 to 30 lessons a week. (we spend alot of time walking haha).
Elder Soares is doing well. He is my favorite companion so far. We seem to interact with our investigators and the members better now.
You guys bought guns!!!!I want to see pictures! haha Things sound great about the family. Tell the kids to write me more letters!!!
I hope everything is well!
Love
Elder Rollins
Things are going really well. here in Ijui. We went back to Kevin´s house and his mom said he couldn´t be baptized. That if he wanted to go to church he would have to go to his mom´s church. We´ll go back there this week and get the signature;) the mom just needs a little conversation haha. Other than that the work is going on. The only major problem we have is getting people to go to church. The lessons have been good. I´ve learned so much more as a trainer than I ever did as a junior companion. The most spiritual parts of our messages always seem to be the beginning and the end. The are the times that we normally bear testimony more often. We usually have about 25 to 30 lessons a week. (we spend alot of time walking haha).
Elder Soares is doing well. He is my favorite companion so far. We seem to interact with our investigators and the members better now.
You guys bought guns!!!!I want to see pictures! haha Things sound great about the family. Tell the kids to write me more letters!!!
I hope everything is well!
Love
Elder Rollins
Monday, November 7, 2011
November 7, 2011
Oi Familia!
Como estas coisas?!
Things are going great here in Ijui. We having much more success then before. We have two investigators marked for baptism on the 19th and the 26th, and also many others we are trying to help and prepare. The major problems the we have with the others are only 3 things; going to church, smoking, and not being legally married. We are trying to help many families overcome these problems. The last one is especially prevalent here in Ijui. I actually heard that a majority of couple in the city are not married legally. Over half. haha It´s like they already are married, but don´t want to pay the 100 bucks to make it legit. The people are awesome though and I know they will be baptized eventually. We found one boy named Kevin. He lives in the poorest roughest part of the city, but he´s really good...good at soccer. I think he´ll be the Michael Jordan in the soccer world. (Also, he wants to follow God and be baptized:)) We challenged him the same day we found him.
Everything sounds great at home. Keep writing!
Com Amor
Elder Rollins
Como estas coisas?!
Things are going great here in Ijui. We having much more success then before. We have two investigators marked for baptism on the 19th and the 26th, and also many others we are trying to help and prepare. The major problems the we have with the others are only 3 things; going to church, smoking, and not being legally married. We are trying to help many families overcome these problems. The last one is especially prevalent here in Ijui. I actually heard that a majority of couple in the city are not married legally. Over half. haha It´s like they already are married, but don´t want to pay the 100 bucks to make it legit. The people are awesome though and I know they will be baptized eventually. We found one boy named Kevin. He lives in the poorest roughest part of the city, but he´s really good...good at soccer. I think he´ll be the Michael Jordan in the soccer world. (Also, he wants to follow God and be baptized:)) We challenged him the same day we found him.
Everything sounds great at home. Keep writing!
Com Amor
Elder Rollins
Monday, October 31, 2011
October 31, 2011
Oi Familia!
There's a visitors centor for the Gilbert temple! Thats awesome! You guys should definately send pictures of the progression of the temple. That would be way cool.
The first picture is me and my new companion traveling back to Ijui. His name is Elder Soares, he´s from Rio de Janeiro (the cool city that has the giant Christ statue). He seems to be a great guy. While going through the training, teaching him is going to teach me alot. I´ve grown more in the last couple days than I have in my whole mission. I´ve been trying to be the best example possible to Elder Soares as possible. My president told us in training for the trainers that this the most important leadership position in a mission. Because everything you do and teach will be what he does and teaches the rest of his mission.
This was a great Sunday! We only had 2 investigators there but alot more members came than normal. There were about 80 and normally there is like 50 or 60. That was really exciting for me. It really shows the importance of good leadership. Our ward hasn´t had a bishop for a while but they recently called a new one and it´s really turning everything around.
The second picture is my tie.....it died. haha It was surprisingly realy hard to burn. It melted but it still counts I think. The tradition goes-
6 months on the mission: burn a tie
1 year: burn a shirt
1and a half: pants
2 years: Suit
(I heard the one of the apostles did this on his mission. haha)
Things are going great and I´m working hard. I can´t wait to hear from everybody there!
The church is true!
Love Elder Rollins
There's a visitors centor for the Gilbert temple! Thats awesome! You guys should definately send pictures of the progression of the temple. That would be way cool.
The first picture is me and my new companion traveling back to Ijui. His name is Elder Soares, he´s from Rio de Janeiro (the cool city that has the giant Christ statue). He seems to be a great guy. While going through the training, teaching him is going to teach me alot. I´ve grown more in the last couple days than I have in my whole mission. I´ve been trying to be the best example possible to Elder Soares as possible. My president told us in training for the trainers that this the most important leadership position in a mission. Because everything you do and teach will be what he does and teaches the rest of his mission.
This was a great Sunday! We only had 2 investigators there but alot more members came than normal. There were about 80 and normally there is like 50 or 60. That was really exciting for me. It really shows the importance of good leadership. Our ward hasn´t had a bishop for a while but they recently called a new one and it´s really turning everything around.
The second picture is my tie.....it died. haha It was surprisingly realy hard to burn. It melted but it still counts I think. The tradition goes-
6 months on the mission: burn a tie
1 year: burn a shirt
1and a half: pants
2 years: Suit
(I heard the one of the apostles did this on his mission. haha)
Things are going great and I´m working hard. I can´t wait to hear from everybody there!
The church is true!
Love Elder Rollins
Sunday, October 23, 2011
October 11, 2011
Oi familia!!
Bah! Things sound pretty crazy over there in the US. This week was crazy and a little crazy. I have two stories of stuff that happened yesterday.
Our investigator who was the closet to baptism (Isabell) didn´t come to church. We were really bummed and we were talking about this to one of the ward members (an old bishop). We were saying how she didn´t go to church and he asked her name. We told him and he just kind of stopped. He looked at us with a little confusion and said," Elders.....she has already been baptized. She has been a member for about 20 years now." He said that and we didn´t really believe him. So we had the stake secretary check on the church computer for us. Lo and behold HE BROUGHT UP THE BAPTISMAL RECORD OF ISABELL! I could just see my mission president in the next interview. "Elder, you cannot baptize the members." haha I´m still in unbelief. We have been teaching her for about 2 months and she said she wasn´t baptized! The stuff we´ve been teaching her was completely new to her! So i´m still not exactly sure what we are going to do, but whatever happens will defiantly be interesting. haha
The other story is really crazy also. I think i saw john the beloved or one of the 3 nephites! haha We were just sitting there in sacrament meeting on night. and two young men walked in and sat down. (they were probably like 25 years old). About 15 minutes later they got up and left. I said to Elder Biaggio "Lets go talk to them!". We ran out the chapel and they seriously disappeared. We weren´t that far behind them but they were just gone! But than we noticed one man standing in front of the church with his dog. We thought well lets talk to this guy at least. We brought him in the church and we taught him a watered down version of the Restoration. It was great he was extremely interested and he said he always wanted to know something like this. We took his adress and gave him a book of mormon with a commitment to read it. Unfortunately, the address wasn´t in our area. We called the other elders in our district to pass the address to them that night. When we called them we just heard an loud voice of Elder A. Santos," A gente encontrou um elieto na rua!" (we found an elect in the road). After the man went home with his dog he found the other elders in front of his house just walking down the street! He invited them in and they taught him the Restoration more in depth. The man (Luiz) said , with his wife, that they were going to study and pray. (and be baptized:)
THE 3 NEPHITES EXIST!!! THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS COINCIDENCES!
If we didn´t try to follow those two guys we never would have found him.
Com muito amor
Elder Rollins
Bah! Things sound pretty crazy over there in the US. This week was crazy and a little crazy. I have two stories of stuff that happened yesterday.
Our investigator who was the closet to baptism (Isabell) didn´t come to church. We were really bummed and we were talking about this to one of the ward members (an old bishop). We were saying how she didn´t go to church and he asked her name. We told him and he just kind of stopped. He looked at us with a little confusion and said," Elders.....she has already been baptized. She has been a member for about 20 years now." He said that and we didn´t really believe him. So we had the stake secretary check on the church computer for us. Lo and behold HE BROUGHT UP THE BAPTISMAL RECORD OF ISABELL! I could just see my mission president in the next interview. "Elder, you cannot baptize the members." haha I´m still in unbelief. We have been teaching her for about 2 months and she said she wasn´t baptized! The stuff we´ve been teaching her was completely new to her! So i´m still not exactly sure what we are going to do, but whatever happens will defiantly be interesting. haha
The other story is really crazy also. I think i saw john the beloved or one of the 3 nephites! haha We were just sitting there in sacrament meeting on night. and two young men walked in and sat down. (they were probably like 25 years old). About 15 minutes later they got up and left. I said to Elder Biaggio "Lets go talk to them!". We ran out the chapel and they seriously disappeared. We weren´t that far behind them but they were just gone! But than we noticed one man standing in front of the church with his dog. We thought well lets talk to this guy at least. We brought him in the church and we taught him a watered down version of the Restoration. It was great he was extremely interested and he said he always wanted to know something like this. We took his adress and gave him a book of mormon with a commitment to read it. Unfortunately, the address wasn´t in our area. We called the other elders in our district to pass the address to them that night. When we called them we just heard an loud voice of Elder A. Santos," A gente encontrou um elieto na rua!" (we found an elect in the road). After the man went home with his dog he found the other elders in front of his house just walking down the street! He invited them in and they taught him the Restoration more in depth. The man (Luiz) said , with his wife, that they were going to study and pray. (and be baptized:)
THE 3 NEPHITES EXIST!!! THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS COINCIDENCES!
If we didn´t try to follow those two guys we never would have found him.
Com muito amor
Elder Rollins
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
October 3, 2011
Oi familia! Tudo bem!
How was the cabin? It sounds like it was a fun time. General coference was way cool. I really like the talk by Elder Holland. There was other great talks too. What were all of your favorite talks? I watched it with a bunch of americans. It was really wierd, for a while it felt like we were in the united states. It was funny to see that it´s already october 3! It about 2 weeks ill make 6 months on the mission! It´s crazy I just felt like I left! Elder Dossena (One of my old companions) came up from a different city to watch conference with us.
This week we made 2 other baptismal dates for the 15th of october. I hope it works out. We just have to get them to go to church. One is polacka, she is a reference from another member. She is a great investigator and wanted to be baptized in the evangelic church before we came. The timing and conditions are perfect for her. The other one was a 23 year old named Vaugner. He´s a really cool guy and he likes to play soccer (not that this is uncommon or anything haha). He takes the lessons and the spirit very seriously.
The church is growing fast, but it could grow faster. The difference i`ve learned is the members. This week my challenge is to do something to help the missionaries.
I love all of you and hope that all is well!
Com amor,
Elder Rollins
How was the cabin? It sounds like it was a fun time. General coference was way cool. I really like the talk by Elder Holland. There was other great talks too. What were all of your favorite talks? I watched it with a bunch of americans. It was really wierd, for a while it felt like we were in the united states. It was funny to see that it´s already october 3! It about 2 weeks ill make 6 months on the mission! It´s crazy I just felt like I left! Elder Dossena (One of my old companions) came up from a different city to watch conference with us.
This week we made 2 other baptismal dates for the 15th of october. I hope it works out. We just have to get them to go to church. One is polacka, she is a reference from another member. She is a great investigator and wanted to be baptized in the evangelic church before we came. The timing and conditions are perfect for her. The other one was a 23 year old named Vaugner. He´s a really cool guy and he likes to play soccer (not that this is uncommon or anything haha). He takes the lessons and the spirit very seriously.
The church is growing fast, but it could grow faster. The difference i`ve learned is the members. This week my challenge is to do something to help the missionaries.
I love all of you and hope that all is well!
Com amor,
Elder Rollins
Sunday, October 2, 2011
September 26, 2011
This week has been really good. Right now I am Santa Maria which has been really cool. We´re going back to Ijui tonight. We had a zone conference this week and recieved some instruction from Presidente Ribeiro. He talked alot about faith, and how we need faith in our work. October 15! this date is our next baptism day!!!! Our goal is to have 5 baptisms for this day. BUT we need your prayers!! We have some investigators that have potential, but we defiantly need to find some more ELECTS. If we could get the whole family to pray for these two specific numbers I think it would help a ton. The Elders who were in the last photo were top: Elder Forastiero (A brazilian from São Paulo I have been living with the last couple months. He´s really cool.) and Bottom: Elder Anderson (who was my companion in the Provo mtc. He is also serving in the same district as me right now.) In the bottom photo you´ll also notice that we are wearing two very stylish soccer shirts;) To understand Rio Grande Do Sul (the state i´m serving in) you have to understand these two soccer teams. The Red is Internacional and the blue is Gremino. They´re two soccer teams here in the south based in Porte Alegre. The rivalry is HUGE. It makes utah and byu look like little cute puppies playing in a field. haha
One of our investigators is named Isabell. She is the lady we have been teaching for a while. We´re trying to prepare her for the 15th. She believes everything and accepts all the invitations, but like alot of people, doesn´t have the greatest sense of commitment. This has been our major struggle with alot of people here. Specifically getting people to go to church. Luckily this week we have the big guns. The one......the only.......GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!!!WHEW!!!YA!!! I´ve never been so excited for general conference in my life. One thing we teach to people in the 1st or 2nd visit is about prophets. I always knew that we had a prophet, but at the same time, I never realized what that meant. WE HAVE A FREAKING PROPHET!!! This is going to be a very special weekend and a great opportunity to prepare people for baptism. This last week I talked to the ward and challenged everybody to bring at least one friend to at least one session of general conference. So We will have to see how that works out. In the Book of Mormon we read about prophets (or seers) as someone that knows "All that we must know in the past, and in the future". Everything that we need to know or anything that would really help in our lifes will be spoken of this weekend. It´s like having a newspaper with the most cutting edge stories and information, but from God. I´m really excited to hear our prophet this next week, AND I can´t wait to hear about all of your thoughts about it too.
All is well (Tudo Bem)
If they´re family they can email! and please do!
Something cool just happened. An Elder next to me right now (Elder Asbahr) just got an email from his family. His dad who isn´t a member decided that the Gospel is the right path to take and finally wants to join the Church!!!!!What a blessing right?! way cool
Package was great I liked evrything!
in the next one i need maybe a zip drive, more food;) maybe if you could food seal some taco bell haha jk, i would like a couple more ties, calender with important dates to remember (I think i might be missing someones birthday. I think there was one in August but I don't know!!!! Sorry if I missed something!) A photo album with photos of family, friends and other cool stuff. More information about other christian religions (the book is awesome I really like it, but it wasn´t very specific in the christian religions. maybe just Internet articles giving really basic doctrine. Not that i want to bible bash with anyone, but it would be nice to know. haha) and maybe a CD player with speakers would be awesome too. with some more efy and church music. (I think it will be secure, all the missionaries i´ve talked to never had a problem.)
Muito obrigadão :)
Com muito Amor
Elder Rollins
ps. Now i only have 3 minutes to email the president! AHH
One of our investigators is named Isabell. She is the lady we have been teaching for a while. We´re trying to prepare her for the 15th. She believes everything and accepts all the invitations, but like alot of people, doesn´t have the greatest sense of commitment. This has been our major struggle with alot of people here. Specifically getting people to go to church. Luckily this week we have the big guns. The one......the only.......GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!!!WHEW!!!YA!!! I´ve never been so excited for general conference in my life. One thing we teach to people in the 1st or 2nd visit is about prophets. I always knew that we had a prophet, but at the same time, I never realized what that meant. WE HAVE A FREAKING PROPHET!!! This is going to be a very special weekend and a great opportunity to prepare people for baptism. This last week I talked to the ward and challenged everybody to bring at least one friend to at least one session of general conference. So We will have to see how that works out. In the Book of Mormon we read about prophets (or seers) as someone that knows "All that we must know in the past, and in the future". Everything that we need to know or anything that would really help in our lifes will be spoken of this weekend. It´s like having a newspaper with the most cutting edge stories and information, but from God. I´m really excited to hear our prophet this next week, AND I can´t wait to hear about all of your thoughts about it too.
All is well (Tudo Bem)
If they´re family they can email! and please do!
Something cool just happened. An Elder next to me right now (Elder Asbahr) just got an email from his family. His dad who isn´t a member decided that the Gospel is the right path to take and finally wants to join the Church!!!!!What a blessing right?! way cool
Package was great I liked evrything!
in the next one i need maybe a zip drive, more food;) maybe if you could food seal some taco bell haha jk, i would like a couple more ties, calender with important dates to remember (I think i might be missing someones birthday. I think there was one in August but I don't know!!!! Sorry if I missed something!) A photo album with photos of family, friends and other cool stuff. More information about other christian religions (the book is awesome I really like it, but it wasn´t very specific in the christian religions. maybe just Internet articles giving really basic doctrine. Not that i want to bible bash with anyone, but it would be nice to know. haha) and maybe a CD player with speakers would be awesome too. with some more efy and church music. (I think it will be secure, all the missionaries i´ve talked to never had a problem.)
Muito obrigadão :)
Com muito Amor
Elder Rollins
ps. Now i only have 3 minutes to email the president! AHH
September 19, 2011
Oi familia!
This last week was crazy! I got my package! And i got sick.... but i´m feeling better now it´s alright. Today we played soccer in the rain. It was awesome! It was 21 to 19 (I lost) but it was one of the coolest things i´ve done in a while. We have a new Elder named Elder Kelly living in our house. He´s from Everett, Washington. He seems to be cool, and I think it´s going to help alot having an american in the house. This week we are going to have another zone conference here in Ijui. We going to talk about october 15. The mission is planning a big baptism day for every area. I think it´s going to be really cool. I have to get back to work ;( we didnt have alot of time this week. Thanks for the package! it was awesome! The funny thing is the dictionary you guys sent me is the same on I already have! haha Until next week!
Com Amor,
Elder Rollins
This last week was crazy! I got my package! And i got sick.... but i´m feeling better now it´s alright. Today we played soccer in the rain. It was awesome! It was 21 to 19 (I lost) but it was one of the coolest things i´ve done in a while. We have a new Elder named Elder Kelly living in our house. He´s from Everett, Washington. He seems to be cool, and I think it´s going to help alot having an american in the house. This week we are going to have another zone conference here in Ijui. We going to talk about october 15. The mission is planning a big baptism day for every area. I think it´s going to be really cool. I have to get back to work ;( we didnt have alot of time this week. Thanks for the package! it was awesome! The funny thing is the dictionary you guys sent me is the same on I already have! haha Until next week!
Com Amor,
Elder Rollins
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
September 12, 2011
Familia!
This last week was really good. I´m going to stay here in Ijui for one more transfer which I think will be good. We´ve found some people with some really good potential. Lately we have been working in a really poor part of the city called 15 de Novembro. We saw and heard alot of sad things there and It turns out that we have alot of people baptized in this part, but none of them ever go to church. We did find one man named João. He is our toothless, armless, shower less investigator. I think João in specific has a ton of potential. He is a gaúcho (a Brazilian cowboy) and he seems to be really good. We were teaching about the Book of Mormon and we said," The Book of Mormon is a record that testifies of Jesus Christ written by prophets that lived here in the americas." He Suddenly started screaming"YES! YES! It makes sense I was wondering why we never heard about Jesus here. This is true right?!" We just kind of sat there and thought Wow. This guy is awesome! Its true how could an armless man that does rodeos not be cool? haha
Last night we were talking to a member in the street and he said our ward has like 500 people baptized. (I don´t know if it is true because this guy likes to talk alot), But this last week we had about 50 people at church including children. Keeping people active here in the church is turning out to be a big problem.I´ve been studying lately on why it´s important to preservar até o fim (endure to the end). This point in the doctrine of Christ is KEY. It´s alot easier to get someone to go to church for two weeks and then get baptized than to baptized someone that will never miss a week. One example of this is a young couple in our ward Fabio and Eliza. They are recent converts who are taking the things we taught them and applying them to their lives. They are receiving many blessing from this. I know that as we endure to the end we receive blessings.
Com Amor,
Elder Rollins
This last week was really good. I´m going to stay here in Ijui for one more transfer which I think will be good. We´ve found some people with some really good potential. Lately we have been working in a really poor part of the city called 15 de Novembro. We saw and heard alot of sad things there and It turns out that we have alot of people baptized in this part, but none of them ever go to church. We did find one man named João. He is our toothless, armless, shower less investigator. I think João in specific has a ton of potential. He is a gaúcho (a Brazilian cowboy) and he seems to be really good. We were teaching about the Book of Mormon and we said," The Book of Mormon is a record that testifies of Jesus Christ written by prophets that lived here in the americas." He Suddenly started screaming"YES! YES! It makes sense I was wondering why we never heard about Jesus here. This is true right?!" We just kind of sat there and thought Wow. This guy is awesome! Its true how could an armless man that does rodeos not be cool? haha
Last night we were talking to a member in the street and he said our ward has like 500 people baptized. (I don´t know if it is true because this guy likes to talk alot), But this last week we had about 50 people at church including children. Keeping people active here in the church is turning out to be a big problem.I´ve been studying lately on why it´s important to preservar até o fim (endure to the end). This point in the doctrine of Christ is KEY. It´s alot easier to get someone to go to church for two weeks and then get baptized than to baptized someone that will never miss a week. One example of this is a young couple in our ward Fabio and Eliza. They are recent converts who are taking the things we taught them and applying them to their lives. They are receiving many blessing from this. I know that as we endure to the end we receive blessings.
Com Amor,
Elder Rollins
Monday, September 5, 2011
September 5,2011
Oi Familia de Rollins!It feels like I was writing to you guys yesterday, not a week ago haha. Time here goes by sooo fast.
This week I learned something very profound. Something I never really thought about. It´s that children are much smarter than adults. This week we found and taught various families and this fact was prevalent in all of them. The members of the family that were always able to understand and answer questions first were the children. I learned two important things from this. 1. To never stop learning and using my brain. Many of these adults have lost the capability to learn well. This has impeded them from understanding the importance of our message. Their lack of mental progression in their lives stopped their spiritual progression. Children have minds free from past life styles, attitudes, indoctrination, tradition, habits or anything else whether they be good or bad. Because of this they are humble enough to learn, or in other words they know they don´t know enough. this is the second thing 2. To never think I already know something. Many people will not listen to us because they they already think they know. They were born catholic so they catholic church is true and blue to them. Or their evangelic pastor told them that we worship Joseph Smith and not Jesus. Everybody assumes they know or they´re, and when you assume- you stop progressing. If you don´t progress you´ll never become like God.
So I thinking this is the problem we have right now. The work is moving along and we still have alot of potential in alot of our investigators. Trying to get them to keep their commitments and trying to find new people that will. Next week we have transfers so I think this might be my last week in Ijui. We´ll have to see ;) It´s starting to get hot....really hot. It´s like nothing i´ve ever seen before........just ......so...hot. ]
The Family sounds like they´re doing great. How was the family. Malcolm is going to Bolivia nah?! Legal demais! Dallin I defiantly want to ride a bull too....you have to wait for me.Let me know about everything back home. (ill get the package hopefully next Tuesday)
Amor Do Elder Rollins!
This week I learned something very profound. Something I never really thought about. It´s that children are much smarter than adults. This week we found and taught various families and this fact was prevalent in all of them. The members of the family that were always able to understand and answer questions first were the children. I learned two important things from this. 1. To never stop learning and using my brain. Many of these adults have lost the capability to learn well. This has impeded them from understanding the importance of our message. Their lack of mental progression in their lives stopped their spiritual progression. Children have minds free from past life styles, attitudes, indoctrination, tradition, habits or anything else whether they be good or bad. Because of this they are humble enough to learn, or in other words they know they don´t know enough. this is the second thing 2. To never think I already know something. Many people will not listen to us because they they already think they know. They were born catholic so they catholic church is true and blue to them. Or their evangelic pastor told them that we worship Joseph Smith and not Jesus. Everybody assumes they know or they´re, and when you assume- you stop progressing. If you don´t progress you´ll never become like God.
So I thinking this is the problem we have right now. The work is moving along and we still have alot of potential in alot of our investigators. Trying to get them to keep their commitments and trying to find new people that will. Next week we have transfers so I think this might be my last week in Ijui. We´ll have to see ;) It´s starting to get hot....really hot. It´s like nothing i´ve ever seen before........just ......so...hot. ]
The Family sounds like they´re doing great. How was the family. Malcolm is going to Bolivia nah?! Legal demais! Dallin I defiantly want to ride a bull too....you have to wait for me.Let me know about everything back home. (ill get the package hopefully next Tuesday)
Amor Do Elder Rollins!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
August 29,2011
Oi familia a melhor no mundo!
This week was great! Not that we had any baptisms, but we worked like we did. We found alot of people with a ton of potential. I hope I stay here next transfer to see if any of them get bapized. This week was pretty crazy, it was rainy and cold at the beginning, and hot and sunny at the end. We found two families where the kids were all bapitzed but not the parents. Those families in specific have alot of potential.
My message this week is to those preparing for missions- It´s very important for a missionary not to have any fear. I have been talking with my mission president via email and this is a major problem with alot of missionaries. They are nervous, timid, and scared to approach and/or teach with authority. The first thing you must releaze is that there is NOTHING to fear. It´s actually kind of funny. Literally the worst thing they could do is say no. The thing President talked about with us is the baptsimal challenge. Many missionaries wait until the 3rd, 4th, or even 5th visit to challenge someone to be baptized, or the cut the investigator before ever challenging them. This is wrong. To all you pre-missionaries- study the 1st section in Preach my Gospel and learn more about the authority of your call. Right now i´m developing a street contact where I will teach and ask about baptism on the 1ST conact. There is no better way to find elects than to be direct and brave.
Everything sounds great at home. Dallin and Todd are back! WHEW! I want to hear all about it. And São Paulo for Brandon!!! Wow thats great! Let me know which mission I think there is 3 or 4 in são paulo. Hes coming to the best country for missionary work ;)and the 3rd biggest city in the world.
Let me know about everything at home!
Com Amor,
Elder Rollins
This week was great! Not that we had any baptisms, but we worked like we did. We found alot of people with a ton of potential. I hope I stay here next transfer to see if any of them get bapized. This week was pretty crazy, it was rainy and cold at the beginning, and hot and sunny at the end. We found two families where the kids were all bapitzed but not the parents. Those families in specific have alot of potential.
My message this week is to those preparing for missions- It´s very important for a missionary not to have any fear. I have been talking with my mission president via email and this is a major problem with alot of missionaries. They are nervous, timid, and scared to approach and/or teach with authority. The first thing you must releaze is that there is NOTHING to fear. It´s actually kind of funny. Literally the worst thing they could do is say no. The thing President talked about with us is the baptsimal challenge. Many missionaries wait until the 3rd, 4th, or even 5th visit to challenge someone to be baptized, or the cut the investigator before ever challenging them. This is wrong. To all you pre-missionaries- study the 1st section in Preach my Gospel and learn more about the authority of your call. Right now i´m developing a street contact where I will teach and ask about baptism on the 1ST conact. There is no better way to find elects than to be direct and brave.
Everything sounds great at home. Dallin and Todd are back! WHEW! I want to hear all about it. And São Paulo for Brandon!!! Wow thats great! Let me know which mission I think there is 3 or 4 in são paulo. Hes coming to the best country for missionary work ;)and the 3rd biggest city in the world.
Let me know about everything at home!
Com Amor,
Elder Rollins
Monday, August 22, 2011
Austin's letter August 22, 2011
Olá! Como estas coisas la em Estados Unidos!?!
This week was a good but im a little dissapointed in some of our investigators. We had two families that were just ELECTS. They were so ready for baptism and everything was going perfect. This week they started faulting on visits and other things. One family said they believed everything, but that they were not prepared for the Gospel. I couldn´t believe it! We worked so hard this week but all of our appoitments seemed to be falling through. The thing that made this week great for me was a man named Fransisco. We taught him for the first time Saturday night and the lesson was great. The next morning, he came to church! When we taught him the spirit was very strong, and I´m excited to see what will happen with him. I have baptism fever right now. Im really excited to see what will happen this next week. We have some great families to visit and also alot of time to find new ones. The works going good! Pease keep my investigators in your prayers.
Com Amor,
Elder Rollins
This week was a good but im a little dissapointed in some of our investigators. We had two families that were just ELECTS. They were so ready for baptism and everything was going perfect. This week they started faulting on visits and other things. One family said they believed everything, but that they were not prepared for the Gospel. I couldn´t believe it! We worked so hard this week but all of our appoitments seemed to be falling through. The thing that made this week great for me was a man named Fransisco. We taught him for the first time Saturday night and the lesson was great. The next morning, he came to church! When we taught him the spirit was very strong, and I´m excited to see what will happen with him. I have baptism fever right now. Im really excited to see what will happen this next week. We have some great families to visit and also alot of time to find new ones. The works going good! Pease keep my investigators in your prayers.
Com Amor,
Elder Rollins
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
August 15,2011
Oi! Tudo Bem!
I hope everything is well back in the good old United States. This week here in Brasil was one where I feel like I´ve grown, alot. I was sick almost the whole week which made it very difficult to do anything. Before the things that I did with excitement and ease became the hardest of things to do. But its finally gone! Im so excited to start this week new and fresh. This last week we were planning for the batism of Mateus. We went to visit them one night to get permission from his mom. It was doce (sweet)! She said that Mateus has free agency and this decision was between him and God. It was going perfect. Then out of nowhere she said "but Im still not going to sign any papers". haha I couldn´t believe. The good thing though is that Mateus wants to be baptized, I think he REALLY wants it. This means in a couple years he´ll still be baptized (he wont need permission). Im really excited for the upcoming month we´ve found some great potential in some of the families we´re teaching.
This week I´ve been studying about prophets alot. The keys they hold are "key" (haha) to the guidance we need in these days. In 3rd Nephi, Jesus commands us to listen to the prophets. It´s important to remember this is after his Resurrection. The idea that we don´t need a prophet anymore is rampant here in my area. haha They say we have "Espirito Santo" or "Biblia" all of which are true but they are not enough. Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. I´m preparing now to hear our prophet this October and I recognize the blessing it is it have him.
Não posso esperar ouvir mais de vocês
Com Amor
Elder Rollins
Thursday, August 11, 2011
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Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Austin' letter August 7, 2011
Família como vai!?
Everything sounds good back in the US. It was a good week. We led the mission in new investigators and lessons taught. My new comanion is Elder Biaggio. He is a brazilian but he looks like an american. haha He speaks english too which has helped me a ton with portuguese. I generaly understand almost everything now, but there is alot of things I just can´t say yet. For example, I asked one member what his work was and he said something about making ~./;.][lç~lfjasdhlds. I later learned that he said he makes lamp shades, there are just a ton of words to memorize.Thats awesome about Ben, tell him congrats for me. I still expect a invitation haha.
This week I have been thinking alot about baptism. Preach my gospel says that baptism is CENTRAL to our purpose, and for good cause to. It is really the door to progression. When we do missionary work we need to be working to the waters of baptism. This next week I want you guys to make a family goal to baptize. Think of a family or friends we have and make a goal to have them baptized on a certain date. After make a action list with things that each member of the family could do to work to this goal.
Im thankful for my chance to serve here in Brasil. Im learning and progressing everyday. Please keep my invesigatores in your prayers that they will accept the batismal challenge.
Com Amor,
Elder Rollins
Everything sounds good back in the US. It was a good week. We led the mission in new investigators and lessons taught. My new comanion is Elder Biaggio. He is a brazilian but he looks like an american. haha He speaks english too which has helped me a ton with portuguese. I generaly understand almost everything now, but there is alot of things I just can´t say yet. For example, I asked one member what his work was and he said something about making ~./;.][lç~lfjasdhlds. I later learned that he said he makes lamp shades, there are just a ton of words to memorize.Thats awesome about Ben, tell him congrats for me. I still expect a invitation haha.
This week I have been thinking alot about baptism. Preach my gospel says that baptism is CENTRAL to our purpose, and for good cause to. It is really the door to progression. When we do missionary work we need to be working to the waters of baptism. This next week I want you guys to make a family goal to baptize. Think of a family or friends we have and make a goal to have them baptized on a certain date. After make a action list with things that each member of the family could do to work to this goal.
Im thankful for my chance to serve here in Brasil. Im learning and progressing everyday. Please keep my invesigatores in your prayers that they will accept the batismal challenge.
Com Amor,
Elder Rollins
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