Week 27

Bom Dia família e amigos!

Area:  Sobral still      companion: elder albuquerque still

so nothing happened with transfers in my house, but we got a new zone
leader, a district leader changed, and some missionaries in an area.
seriously, the computer i am using is the worst computer ever. i hope
that i will be able to type more than 5 sentences before the time runs
out. AND it wont let me attach pictures.... i have TONS from this
week!! this week was full of fun activities and random things. also,
it was the hottest i have been in my life. this week was seriously
difficult because i couldnt think, work, breathe,  or anything
really.... also, i forgot my journal so i hope i remember what
happened this week.

monday-we went to subway which was awesome! it was oh so tasty and
wonderful to have in my mouth again.  i dont
remember else what happened so i dont have much to report.

tuesday- there was a really fun party tuesday! its called quadrillhia
and had food, skits, dancing, music, and lots of people. it was a
really cool cultural thing and it was fun to hang out with the
members there.

wednesday-i made 6 months in the mission. its crazy how fast time
flies... during the day, i did another division with elder black. he
loved it again and it was a very funny day. we met some strange ,
interesting people that were very fun to teach, but, i  dont think we
will ever return. at night, we bought a pizza to celebrate the 6
months and we ate cake and pizza. it was way fun :) i also burned a
tie to celebrate. it was already falling apart and was held together
with staples, so it wasnt much of a loss.

thursday-we had kind of a mini family night which was really fun and
depois (wow, a portuguese word!)  *after* we went to the church to
play ping pong with some investigators. it was really fun and funny.
we also taught a friend of lots of members and it was really good; he
grew up going to activities all the time but has never gone to church
on sunday. we taught the restoration and he liked it and accepted a
date of baptism if he recieves an answer about the book of mormon. he
is excited and really wants to recieve an answer. with some people,
you just have to invite. he almost grew up in the church, but was
never invited to be baptized so he never thought about it.

friday- at night we had a big BBQ at the house of a member. it
was really fun because there was lots of food and lots of people. we
had 5 investigators there and they all really liked it! i ate some
really good meat and alot of rice :)

saturday- nothing much happened this day. it was another day of alot
of walking in the sun. every day is getting hotter and hotter...

sunday-we went to bring our investigators to church and again nothing
happened :( two days before, a man told us to come get him because he
really wants to go to our church. we went all the way to his house and
he told us that he didnt want to go anymore. we had one couple there
that some members brought and the whole sunday was about geneology. it
was really interesting, but im not sure what the investigators thought
about temple work and baptisms for the dead...

monday-today we will just kind of relax and gain some energy. i was
seriously tired during this week and i need to rest a bit more. the
sun steals all my energy.

 

this week was a bit tough, so i hope this
week will improve!
thanks for all the love and support!!
-Elder Lambert

Week 26

area:sobral     Companion: elder albuquerque

this week was very very good. we had interviews with the new president and he really told us what he wants us to do, and we applied it! the pictures again are not working, but i hope i can figure something out!!! keep me updated on all the stories that are going on (and you know which stories i mean). also, today we will find out about transfers!!!! i have no idea what will happen... i think i will stay here, but stay tuned for next weeks email!

monday-i already told most of the stories about monday, but not about the night! we were pretty much running all of p-day because we were so time crunched and we had a fmaily  night at 6:30. i planned the lesson and activity in about 3 minutes, but it worked out great! we had less active families there, active families, the family of the bishop, kids with friends. it was perfect :) they all really liked the lesson and the activity. SUCCESS!!! AND, we got a bit of cake to bring home :)

tuesday- we taught like crazy today which was awesome. we taught 8 lessons with a member, and 2 others. we taught with a really funny guy from our ward. he is about a meter tall, has a big beard, and long hair. he wanted to leave with us, so what the heck! why not:?! also, the guy who used to be the leader of a gang gave me a hug, it was a cool experience :) 

wednesday- we had interviews with the president, and they were super slow. ours was scheduled for 11:30, but we started at 4:00. he spent alot of time with all the elders. then when my turn came, my interview was only 10 minutes, it was kinda strange, but whatever :) i really liked talking to him and i really like his vision. he emphasized ALOT on only teaching families unless we are inspired to contact someone else. its really wierd because i came in and was trained hard in the mission to baptize anyone who wanted, but now its all about baptizing who will stay in the church. its really good, but its hard to adapt. the visions are very different, but i like they new one more. i am still adapting a little. 

the fire outside our house

the activity from last week

thursday-morning time was a little rough. i was still really confused about what i should do and how i should teach and i had a really bad headache. it made me feel really sorry for the people who have even more time in the mission than me, our world was turned upside down with the new president. we taught the gangmember the importance of marriage, and he loved it. he wants us to talk to his wife to help persuade her :) also, we taught márcio the restoration  and he said everything made perfect sense. when we got to the part about the book of mormon, we challenged him to read and he said no. it was really surprising and we asked why and he responded that he has fear of the answer. i was kinda sad, but its actually good. he has faith that he recieves an answer, and he knows its true! if the answer is no, he wouldnt have to be afriad of anything. he traveled so still we have to follow up with him. i hope he read and prayed! we met a family in the street that we contacted that appears pretty good. we shall see, we shall see...

the view from above

the funny bus that we rode to get there

friday-today we made a division with our district leader. i stayed in my area with him. we contacted a member less active/recent convert and he was really happy that we stopped by. we gave him some force to go to church, and he went!! he love, love, loved it. everyone was so happy to see him again, and he was happy to. he is the only member of the church in his family. i asked him if we could come back to teach the rest of his family, and he got excited. we also contacted a member reference with the irmã and it was good. they have already been taught alot, and nothing happened so im not quite sure what will come of it! there was a youth conference fireside at our chapel at night and it was super super good. 2 members of the 70 were there and it was really fun to listen to them and do something a little different.

backstreet boys

i almost died....

saturday-we made another division and today i worked with elder black in his area. i was a little nervous because it was me and an american with only 6 weeks, but it was SO fun! it was the best division ever. we were just talking to everyone and everyone loved us. two missionaries who are americans with red hair and are taller than everyone. everything worked out great and we never had any problems. i was really happy because he told me that it was the best day in his mission, and also it was a confidence booster to know that i can work with a new american and still get along! who knows what will happen with the new transfers! only 4 people are coming in, so i dont think i will train a new guy. im guessing my house will stay the same and i will continue training elder albuquerque until his 12 weeks are finished.

my name tag and the city of sobral (literally sobral has nothing around it)

SUPERMAN!!!

sunday-we went to get our investigators to bring them to church, and sadly nothing happened again.... this is the hardest thing in the world!!! church is so early, so people dont want to go. BUT, they need to go to be baptized! but, church was great. the recent convert/less active guy went that i talked about earlier and loved it. we went to a family´s house with irmão edson an it was way good. i think the family liked him, and it helps them because they already have a friend in the church. i REALLY think this family will go next week. for sure there will be many prayers said about them. after we went to irmã alzira and met some more less active people who we will bring to activities during the week! she also invited us to come over today (monday) to eat shrimp :)

all of us crammed in the tiny truck bed

the crew

monday-today we will clean our house, and wait for the phone call of transfers!!!! also....... WE WILL GO TO SUBWAY FOR LUNCH!!!! we discovered a subway, and we will go there to celebrate another transfer in the mission :) also, i will make 6 months on the 25th! im so excited and i still cannot believe that i already have completed 1/4 of my mission. it goes by so fast! i will probably burn a tie or something to celebrate... ill keep you updated in next weeks email! 

Week 25

friends and family!

Area: Sobral    Companion: Elder Albuquerque

so for some reason the computer wont let me attach photos... its a bummer because i have LOTS to send! this week was pretty great. its so nuts to think that my sister will leave for BRASIL TOMORROW!!!! ahhh i am so excited for her and she will be such a great missionary. i hope i can fit everything in this email...

monday-another pday of relaxation that was very needed :) afterwards it was great because we had a family night in the house of an inactive family. they really loved us and we planned another fmaily night for the next week (today). they thought of lots of friends that they could invite, so i am excited to see how it turns out!! 

tuesday-so during our district meeting we heard some weird noises outside... we went to look and there was fire outside next to some of the houses! people burn garbage all the time here, but this one got a little out of control... there was smoke everywhere and the fire people had to put it out. we also had a big activity at the church of another ward. it was a stake activity and we brought an investigator there and he liked it alot. he already knew some people which is really good! we also got some references from members - these are always good!

wednesday-this day we worked really hard and were practically running between lessons, but we ended up teaching 10 lessons which is really good! we are still working with some investigatores who are having some problems. its really hard because they want to change, but they wont go to church!! this is the best thing that they can do, but they never go :( 

thursday- we had lunch at the house of the oldest couple in the world i think. they are super cute and the man is blind so his wife leads him around everywhere. every sunday they make the slow journey walking to church, its the coolest thing ever. lunch was really good until i realized that we were eating fried chicken feet. it tasted normal until i noticed, but after, every bite was an adventure. also in the street after, three boys stopped us and asked about our church, they were very interested and they recieved us very well! we planned to show them the church the following day and play soccer with the other boys in the ward, we taught a less active member who went to church again the last sunday. he loved it and said that he will never leave again. he also gave us some references of friends and family that he wants us to help. he is really great, but sadly he didnt appear at church this week... we contacted a reference that we received tuesday and it was really good! it is a married couple that have 7 children all married also! this is pretty much impossible to find here in brasil. they loved us and said that they will go to church for sure, but sadly, they didnt either... 

friday- FELIZ ANIVERSÁRIO PAI!!!! i would love to wish my dad a wonderful birthday this latest friday. i ate a cake in memory of his special day. but, we also noticed that it was friday the 13th and EVERYTHING went wrong here... lunch was a disaster, i cant even describe in words the situation, it was just super super akward. no worries, nothing bad happened, it was just one of those experiences... we brought the boys to the church to play soccer, but the leader of the young men canceled without telling us... our investigator was smoking when we arrived,. and we barely taught anything... but, happy birthday dad :)

saturday- we talked about Christmas this morning which was super weird. it was really weird to think about leaving the house at christmas and it will be the hottest part of the year, i dont know if i will be able to deal with this fact... it will play some serious tricks with my mind. lunch was good because the lady that fed us brought a friend that really liked us and we will start teaching her. she will be at the family night tonight. we taught the law of chastity to one of our investigators which was really funny actually. it was way different than any time before... he was telling us that it is impossible to live this law and that people in the church must take some sort of medicine to help us keep it. the way he was saying things was super funny. also, we met another man who was really interested in us as missionaries and our church. we started teaching about family and he explained to us that he used to be the owner of the gang here in sobral, but he is changing his life. he was way cool and i think we can really help him. its definitely something not many people have done. we also contacted another member reference that was way good. he has already read the book of mormon and has a testimony of it. he was going to church 6 years ago but stopped and was never baptized. we will help him reach that point. 

sunday- we only got one person to come to church :( but i love church so much! it was super great.  

monday-so i am sending this a bit later than usual because we had quite the adventure today! we went to a place called the delta. its a mountain where you can see all of sobral, which isnt much. we went there in a tiny van packed with people which was way fun because we were going up steep, windy roads. after, we hiked a bit and got to a point were we could see everything! it was so cool! we stayed there a while and hiked back down. this was the interesting part. its easy to get a ride up there  but back is another story. we ended up riding in the truck bed of some random person. it was a tiny truck and we had 7 poeple :) we asked if he was drunk and he said no, so everything was good. he went super fast around all the curves and it was way fun and intense. now, i will finish and head for a family night!!! 

i love you all and keep you in my thoughts and prayers. the church is true!!!

-Elder lambert

Week 24

Area: Sobral       Companion: Elder Albuquerque

this week was INTERESTING! i have so much stuff to write about. it was a week filled with adventure and different things every day.

monday- this pday i just relaxed in the house in my hammock with a fan and listened to the Mo-tab. it was oh so great. we discovered that some of our investigators are having a problem with their son/brother. we met him outside the house and we scheduled a day to come back and teach him. we really want to help these families!! also, the ward missionary leader made a list of all the members and told us that we could stop by to grab it. we stopped by and they have a HUGE german shepherd that i discovered if you get to close to the family, he gets a little upset. i was talking to the son and he was showing me something, so i got closer to him to look and the german shepherd jumped on me and bit my thigh... it was playful, but still, a playful german shepherd is not too fun. i had slobber all over my pants...

me and elder smith. he will return this transfer and he thinks he knows nat. she should look at the picture

tuesday- we taught alot of lessons today which was way good, and then when we returned, something crazy happened... i cant remember if i mentioned this, but all the leaders in the mission left the morning of this day to go to teresina to have a training with the new president. the last training meeting, the trainers were included, but my zone leaders told me that i didnt have to go.... so at 10 at night, they called me, already in teresina, and said ``Vai para Teresina agora!!!´´ (go to teresina now!) i left the house 3 minutes later in the same clothes with just my area book and we went to the bus station. I bought a ticket, and i went on my way! i journeyed all during the night without eating, sleeping, or showering, and alone! the secretaries also forgot to buy my ticket, so that was R$ 42....

wednesday-so i didnt really sleep on the bus, and i arrived there 6:30 in the morning. when i arrived, i called the zone leaders, AND..... my cell phone ran out of credits!!! the phones here work by credits and we get a certain amount, and they ran out our last call in sobral. so now, i was alone, in teresina, without a cell phone :) i didnt really know what to do, so i just found a taxi driver and and described where i wanted to go and luckily we made it! that was another R$20.... i arrived at the staff house right as everyone was leaving for the chapel. it was perfect. everyone was very happy to see that i actually made it. it was a pretty fun experience! it was so cool seeing all the leaders there. i got to see elder rais, iverson, and barros again and i met tons of new people. there are some really cool powerful missionaries who were there. we met the new president and his wife! it was way cool and i love the vision of this new president. president Dias was all about baptize the whole world even if they arent really ready, but the new pres is all about retention in the ward. for sure he wants us to baptize, but he is all about working with the ward to reactivate inactive members, baptize new members and keep them there. i like him alot alot alot. all the training was way fun, and i recieved lots of letters!! and a package from my dearest family!! thanks for the goodies :) we headed back for sobral that same night, and the secretaries forgot to buy my return ticket too! that was another R$38... we traveled back during the night, and again i didnt sleep very well... when we showed up in sobral all the people only had R$50 rais bills for a 10 rais taxi ride, so i paid again. i am very lucky that i kept a reserve like we are supposed to. almost nobody does this, but i would have been in BIG trouble if i didnt. i now have R$6 for the next 10 days :)

me and eder nascimento (one of my zone leaders and super good friend)

thursday-i got back at 3 in the morning and woke up at 630 to work!! while walking to lunch, i did something i havent really done before. there was a guy sitting on the curb, and i asked him if he wants all his sins erased. he said yes and i asked him if he knew how we could do this. he said no and i told him that through baptism, this is possible and challenged him to be baptized right there on the 22nd. he accepted! we will pass by his house to prepare him. we werent able to go yet because he lives really far, but i really want to soon. im not quite sure what will happen, but he must have a pretty open heart to accept baptism right there in the street. it was an interesting experience :) we taught  the brother/son that had been causing some trouble again. we taught him tuesday and he seemed interested, and elder albuquerque taught him with another missionary while i was gone. he was super excited to tell me that he said the prayer and that he likes our messages. we taught the restoration and he had TONS of questions. we shall see what will happen with him too...

me and the president and his wife!

friday-we did a crazy division because we needed to have someone interviewed for baptism, same with our district leader. only leaders can do interviews, but you cant interview your own investigators. our district leader stayed with my companion in our area, i stayed with a zone leader in his area, and the other zone leader stayed with the other elder. it was nuts... it was super fun though because i got to work with elder nascimento!!! he is so cool and i really like the way he works so i want to learn from him. i love talking and joking around with him. also, we met someone who speaks english pretty well! i taught him in english and it was actually pretty hard. i kept mixing up words in english and portuguese. it was a pretty cool experience!

saturday-the president came to sobral for the zone conference!! it was funny because elder alb. and i were lost trying to find lunch and we saw the president and his wife in their car; they were lost too trying to find the chapel. at 230, we had the conference, and it was really good. it was similar to the training in teresina. after, we went out to work. we didnt teach alot, but we talked to alot of people. i used to get really stressed out because of number of lessons taught and such, but I'm getting better at focusing on developing better relations with the people now.

sunday-we went to bring a bunch of investigators to church, but only brought one :( it was tough, because we left really early and walked alot... BUT some of the inactive members we talked to came! we had meetings all through the affternoon and we set up a really good ward mission program. I'm really excited to see how it works out. i think it will be really good! :)
this week was great, and I'm still loving the mission!!! 6 months is creeping up really really fast :/ it sounds like you guys are doing great at home and having lots of fun without me!!!! i only have 1 more minute, yikes!!!!

me and alb.

everyone at our zone conference in sobral

mashed potatoes and GRAVY!!! thanks mom!!!

me on the 4th with my american flag tie (again, thanks mom!!!)

Week 23: God Bless America!

 hello friends and family!

area: sobral     companion: elder albuquerque

this week was pretty good. still we are in need of more people because we were left with 0 investigators. this area has not had a baptism in 4 months, so the ward is really ready to have some work done! i was a little sick this week which never makes things easier, but hey, its life  :) i am so happy to hear mother and father that the youth conference went well! you guys put alot of work into it, so im glad it all worked out just splendid. im so jealous that a bunch of people will be coming over for the 4th of july! i want to come too....  BUT for sure i will wear my american flag tie :) it has been very hard to save it. thats so crazy hearing about nats farewell! i feel like it was yesterday that i gave mine. she will do so great and i am so excited for her to enter the CTM. which day is her report day again? if she has any questions, hurry and send them! some advice that i have is leave some extra space in the suitcases, they will fill up with random stuff while you are out and about. it is also crazy that the boat went in the water. i lost all track of seasons here because it is always summer plus another 20 degrees... im glad to hear that mel and dave moved successfully! they will have to send me some pictures :) i will attach some photos of our house. its becoming more normal to talk in portuguese. i dont have to think first (ok, talk in portuguese now) it just kinda happens. and as im sending this email, the words in portuguese are coming into my mind. i will try to record a video this week of my testimony or me and my companion speaking portuguese or something! somethin real nice :) 

monday-so monday was my 5 month mark which was crazy beyond belief.... we went and played basketball which was maybe the funniest thing i have ever seen. i dont think brazilians or argentinos have handled basketballs before :) they would just kind of run around with it, bouncing it every once in a while, spinning in circles, and huck it as the hoop. it was really fun meeting up with the others   and talking. my ´grandpa´was there and we talked for a while. i came home and made jiffy pop. the brasileiros thought it was the coolest thing ever. america must seem like such a strange place to them. 

tuesday-we had district meeting with the zone leaders. and the best part of my day was a free haircut! we needed haircuts because the following day we had a meeting with the president and it happened to be that where we ate lunch, the people cut hair! they wouldnt take money,  so we will do something special for them. we brought one kid to seminary, aldeir, and he really opened up to us as we were walking him home. he said he has some problems in his family and that he wants our help. 

wednesday-we had a reunion with the president! it was both really cool but really sad. it was our last time seeing him :( as of the 29th at 6:00 pm, we now work under president siedschlag, pronounced zitchlog. we watched a slideshow of all the missionaries in the field and his family sang some songs. it was way cool. later at night we met a woman named valdiana. she is really cool and really liked our message, i hope she will continue on the path she is on!

thursday- today we worked in the neighbor hood that is far away and in the middle of nowhere.... we had little/no success there :( we taught aldeir and his mom about family and how important a family in the gospel is. they really liked our message, but she is still wanting a divorce. we will continue helping this family!!! i also felt like i should pass by someones house on the way home, so we did. as we got there we were talking to the guy asking if we could help him with anything and he said he wants us to help him quit smoking. he told us that he was just on the way out the door to go buy more smokes when we showed up! it was pretty darn cool and we will try very hard to help him to. we arent really baptizing right now, but we are helping alot of people!

friday-we worked again in the far away neighborhood again with little success, but we were able to help an inactive member; she has a strong desire to return to the church. we will help her with that too. we are just little helpers here in brasil. its the coolest thing ever :) EVERYONE SHOULD SERVE A MISSION!!!

saturday- soooo this day was a little rough. i woke up with a cold and also with a very upset stomach. our lunch was super far away, so i started out a little nervous. while at their house, their kid wanted to show me some stuff on the computer, which was actually really cool. we looked up our house on google earth! it was cool seeing grass again. and with these things all day, i was also fasting. fasting while sick is not the easiest thing ever. AND some others didnt fast and were eating cake and soda which made it really hard for me, but hey, I'll get blessings :) 

sunday- church was way good, but only one investigator came... but i was able to break my fast with a delicious lunch. we had lots of meetings and study time so we were only able to teach one lesson, i was kind of frustrated. i think i need to learn more patience. time is out!

i love you all!!!!!! can you send pictures of dad on his mission? i want to see what he looked like :) thanks for everything!!!!

-Elder Lambert

a normal meal here in brasil, BIG :)

making jiffy-pop

our chapel