Week 36

hello my dearest USA!

this week was an absolute blast! we ended up teaching alot, but also doing some really fun/different things! we worked alot with the members/less ative members which is always way good! ALSO, we scored food a TON this week. the only thing i had to buy this p-day for the following week was toilet paper and milk. i found a scale today and found out that i have already gained 5 kilos (11 pounds)... i dont really know if its a good thing or a bad thing, but regardless i am positive i will continue to gain....

soap soccer

family night with irmã alzira

so i forgot my journal, but i will try to remember everything that happened!

monday-so this p-day was awesome. we have a little tile area in our house and we plugged all the drains and filled it up with soap and water :) we played soap soccer for quite a while and everybody left with bruises all over their bodies and walking funny. BUT, it was really really fun! i have some funny videos but they are too big to attach, i will try to send them on a CD or something... it was really great at night, because a group of the young women in our ward went to visit bruno (recent convert) and he really liked it! we are doing everything to make sure that he stays firm!

tuesday-for the district meeting i gave a training about how we should share personal experiences to bare testimony more powerfully. we had a family night about how to use our free agency. it was really good for everyone in the family to hear, and also the girl had her boyfirend there! he is not a member of the church so it was really good for them too.

cake that we scored with some members :)

activity for the youth

wednesday-i did a division with elder black in his area this day. it was really fun and we had a very successful day! its always fun working with other people, especially in other areas. i love meeting the new people and looking around in different areas.

thursday-today was a very very awesome day. our plans were not falling through and we taught people in all differet kinds of groups! we also showed up at emanuel´s house to teach him, but he was playing uno, so naturally we played with him! he had two friends there who really liked us and we will start teaching them too now. 

one of my presents. i never could have guessed it was a tie...

sunday lunch BBQ (with LOTS of coke!)

friday-to be honest, i dont really remember what happened this day. we taught and worked :)

saturday-saturday we were planning to go to tianguá to do a division with the elders there, but their baptismal interview fell through. i think we will go there tomorrow. we passed the day with some members less active and after we had a youth activity at somebody's house. it was way good and i think the youth liked it alot. they used a fish hook and explained how it is easy to get hooked, but really hard to get off. they related this to stuff for the youth (drugs, dating, law of chastity, friends, beer).

me and jaredy (he turned 14 the 29th)

everyone at jaredy´s and my birthday lunch!

sunday-wooohooo!!!! 20 years old! i feel so old and wise! today was a perfect day. we had ward conference today which was way good and after we had a BBQ at one of the members houses to elebrate my birthday and the birthday of her son (jaredy). there were 6 people there and we ate tons and tons of meat and drank 12 liters of coca cola :) i bought a bunch saturday night so we could drink it there sunday :) this family is super cool so we talked to them for a long time and the mom (irmã valdira) gave me a pair of jeans from her work for my birthday! the people in the ward are so so awesome. ALSO, we scored dinner at night in the house of another family :) still the attendace of our ward is increasing which is way good.

monday-we went to the center this morning with a boy who will leave on a mission soon. we are trying to encourage him alot and give lots of support. it was fun hanging out with him during the day. we are about to go out and work and do another week in the mission! this week should pass really really fast.

irmã valdira gave me jeans for my birthday!

dinner that antoher family made for us

this week we have interviews with the president, divisions in tianguá, and general conference! i'm so exited! here the sessions will be sat/sun 1-3 and 5-7. i'm super excited to watch and for all the other stuff that will happen this week. my birthday was perfect and i want to thank everyone for the love and support!!! i love you all and wish you the best! i would love to thank my family for the presents and pictures they sent me :) they mean alot!

-Elder Lambert

me with my shirt and bag from my fam!

Week 35

hellllllo family!!!

i'm glad to hear that still my family is alive and kicking! this week passed by really fast, i dont really know why, but it did! we are running out of investigators which is a problem... right now we are having a difficult time meeting new people, so we are working alot with members less active. we already reactivated one (ribamar)! he has gone to church the last two months now and has a calling, i gave him a tie to remember me :) he is so fun to talk to, i attached a picture of him. some exciting news is that i will make 8 months in the mission tomorrow and my birthday is sunday!! crazy crazy crazy... also, this week i will start doing divisions with other elders in their area to help them with their work and to make sure they are working! 

me and ribamar

me and elder bastos in our hammocks :)

monday- we ate lunch at a less active members house (narcélio). we have already worked with him for 3 months and never have been able to get him to church again. BUT, this sunday he went! he finally went and loved  it! he was so happy to be there with us :) we went to the chapel to play ping-pong with some of the youth who are approaching the age of elders! we are helping encourage them to go on a mission. rosángela resurrected and will start working again in irmã alzira´s house! we also discovered she has a boy friend....

tuesday-i gave a training this week on the training that i recieved in teresina. i made my mashed potatoes that my mom sent me, and they were oh so delicious:) i gave ribamar a tie and also bought a box of chocolates for irmã dorinha! she is pretty much my mother away from home, she is always giving me food - it was her birthday so i decided to do something for her!

the bird that pooped on my shirt, again....

me and a little kid on my buddies motorcycle :)

wednesday-today was interesting... we never taught an official lesson throughout the entire day, but we helped alot of people. we helped a member family clear some doubts about the church, hung out with a less active youth, and we went to visit bruno (recent convert) with some friends of the church. also, a bird pooped on my shirt...

thursday-we entered charles´ house! this was a very big moment! we have never been able to enter his house because of his parents, but we did it! we also planned a family night (for tomorrow) some members and investigators who have non member boyfriends/spouses. we will teach about family! we also had fish for lunch. it was the first time i have had fish here on the mission. i learned two things very quickly: i am very thankful for boneless fish in the US and fish has no flavor here or was prepared poorly, but it was fun!

charles (investigator), mateus (member), me, and Bruno (less active)

somebody had a hamster! its been a long time since i've held a hamster...

friday-we were able to find emanuel home after a while and he told us AGAIN that he wanted to stay with the JW´s, but we talked once again :) we talked about the importance of reading and praying about the book of mormon and he wanted us to come back again the next day.

saturday-we passed by narcélio to encourage him to go to church and he actually went this time! he was so happy to be there (i attached a photo of him and his son). we taught emanuel and he wanted to go to church with us but something came up and he had to travel with his mom. 

sunday-charles and narcélio went to church! at night we passed by the houses of the people who didnt go to church and also scored some ice cream at the house of a member  

me and elder albuquerque with narcélio and his son

oreos and peanut butter! thanks for the peanut butter mom!

thanks for all the love and support and stay tuned to hear about the following week! i will try to pass as many exciting experiences as i can so i can send them to you :) 

love,

-Elder Lambert

Week 34

hello my dearst friends and family!

this week was quite an adventure that i am excited to report about. one of the exciting things was that we recieved letters! letters are normally exciting, but when you can only recieve them once every 6 weeks, it gets pretty crazy... i recieved lots of letters from my dearest family :) i also got a letter from elder paxman and discovered that he is a zone leader!!! also, one letter from elder howell! its so fun writing to my buddies in portuguese and finding out how they are doing. one letter that i recieved was both sad and exciting. it was sad because it was the first letter my SISTER sent to me, but exciting because i got to hear from her finally! thanks nat... i had no time to write letters in return, but hopefully i can get a few in the mail next week. being the district leader is going well, but it is a big responsibility. i dont have a ton more things to do, but i just have to make sure to always be a good example and work really hard (which is good). its fun working closer with the zone leaders and the giant meeting that i got to go to during the week. thanks for the updates about BYU and all the adventures! it sounds like you guys are keeping busy and working hard. 

i was able to take lots of pictures, here are the first two.

the chaple in Teresina

a photo with some of the people i traveled with!

me and elder barros!!

 everyone eating lunch at the leadership meeting

monday-this night we passed by the peoples houses who didnt go to church

tuesday-we had another district meeting and got to meet elder ribeiro (new to the district). this week i gave a training and practice on moroni´s promise and how to present it. after the reunion, i went to the giant bus stop to meet up with the zone leaders to travel to Teresina! we left at about 2:30 and arrived at 8:30. i talked to elder Deaver on the bus (from california) and it was so much fun. he is a giant in my district that i get along with really well. after we arrived, we took a ton of busses and arrived at a mission house in the zone Teresina Horto. there was a ton of people there, so some slept on the ground, and nobody had a fan :( i slept from 3-5...

me, elder murray, and elder deaver

our district!

 

wednesday-we woke up at 5 to start the small journey to the chapel. i love traveling on the public busses becasue it is always such an adventure! i was seriously squished between a lady and a young woman this time which was kind of awkward... it was really funny though because elder deaver was bent in half the whole ride. we arrived at the church at about 7:30 to eat a small breakfast and get started! it was so fun seeing all the people who i already knew, and i met alot of new friends! its really fun talking to all the missionaries who have lots of time in the mission. all the trainings were really good and based on the area book and meetings. i love recieving trainings and participating in the leadership of the mission. afterwards, we recieved a ton of supplies to haul arround and bring back to our house. we crammed 6 people in a taxi with a ton of boxes and letters and such, it was really fun. we left to come home at about 9:45 at night. i was super excited to read my letters on the bus, but my light didnt work :(

a big chunk of the leadership

our house!

thursday- we got back to sobral at 3:30 and the house at about 4:30 in the morning. i slept at the zone leaders house because it was closer. we had another night of just 2 hours of sleep because we woke up at 6:30 to work! the other elders in my house came to get me and we had to carry all the suppplies to our house. carrying the huge boxes of books of mormon is very unpleasant. we tried to teach emanuel at night, but he was sleeping, BUT irmã alzirã called us and wanted to give us dinner :)

friday-today was difficult because i woke up with diarreah and a cold :( but hey, this is normal here. we went to emanuel´s house and he said that he decided again to be baptized with the JW´s, but we talked again and he is open to recieve us again! i also started a book of miracles! everyday in the misison i will record a miracle in a separate book. i looked through my journal and picked out miralces of all the days that have passed. 

saturday- all of our plans fell through sadly, and emanuel wasnt in the house... we also journeyed far away to visit a less active YW, but she was busy. but, we had a great lesson with a less active youth named bruno and he said he would go to church again this sunday, and he did!

sunday- we didnt have many people go to church, but bruno went! i love my ward so much :) one sister named irmã lidiane found out my birthday was arriving and gave me a soccer jersey and a chocolate bar! at night we had a really good meeting with the ward missionaries and i hope everything will go as planned.

also! i recieved two packages from my mom for my birthday, but sadly i couldnt wait :) i already opened them and was very pleased with all the food! i am saving the stuff that was wrapped separately and will open those on my birthday. thanks mom!

i love you all and keep you in my thoughts and prayers! thanks for the support and prayers! 

-Elder Lambert

Week 33

hello my dearest family/friends!

so the news about the transfer! we discovered monday night. i will stay here and also i will stay with elder albuquerque! we already stayed 3 months together, but i guess the president wants more. he also finished his 12 weeks of training so he is a normal missionary now and i was called as the DISTRICT LEADER! i'm pretty excited because i get to do some pretty cool things now :) i get to interview people for baptism and also i will travel to Teresina tomorrow! i was super surprised when i found out :) we were also pretty proud at the end of the week because we were able to arrange a small dinner for ourselves every night in the houses of members/less actives/investigators :) 

monday-we had a very crucial lesson with charles he stopped progressing and we explained very clearly that he is denying the answer that he received about this church. we also explained that we have done everything that we can and now he has to do his part if he wants his life to change. he opened up and said that his parents are the problem and is showing lots of hope. we will plan a family night or something with his family. we also figured out that Rosángela stopped showing up for work at irmã alzira´s house and that she stole some things...

tuesday-i had my first district meeting as the district leader! it was fun conducting everything and giving the training. i taught about how to begin teaching and related it to when aaron was teaching king lamoni's father. the zone leaders really liked it :) i have a feeling that i will run out of ideas really fast though. elder bastos arrived to be companions with elder black, i really like him. we showed up at emanuel´s house and he said that he decided to stay with the JW´s, but we taught a lesson to him that he really liked and he asked us to come back saturday :) we did a family night with an active family in the house of a less active family. it was really fun.

wednesday-sadly, lots of plans fell through, but that's kinda normal. we taught a less active youth about the importance of the church for his future and he said he returned, and he did! we also planned a family night in alzira´s house friday.

thursday-we taught fellipe which was just so-so, but we met his mom who is super cool. we will start teaching her too. we passed by another less active family to help them with some problems.

friday-today was the independance day of brasil! i was a little disappointed because nothing exciting happened. not much goes on here in sobral :) lunch was super super good and i ate about 100 pounds of meat :) it was so delicious. at night we passed by alzira´s to do a family night that she really liked. when i got home, i read a book that my mom made for me last year. for a year she wrote down something good that i did that day for every single day! 364 things! i read all of it and i love it so much. its really funny becasue at the end it mentioned how in about another year id be on the mission, and here i am!

saturday-we had an awesome lesson with emanuel. he was shocked that we walked all the way from our house just to teach him. we watched the film of the restoration and he really liked it. it cleared up alot of questions that he had and he felt the spirit while watching. we set a baptism date with him for the 29th, 1 day before my birthday! after we left, he chased us down and tried to give us R$5 to take a taxi back to our house. we didnt accept, but he is super cool :) we visited some more less active people in our ward. pretty much all of brasil is baptized, but nobody is active...

sunday-we brought emanuel to church again and he loved it. he said that he was reading the book of mormon and feels that its true! his parents seperated and left the church when he was 7, so he doesnt remember anything, but we sang ´i am a child of god´ in the sacrament meeting and he got really excited because he remembered the song :)

monday-we cleaned the whole house agian which was great and i dont think we will do anything very exciting for the rest of the day... 

i love you all and i will keep you updated on my adventures! i hope you have a great week! :)

-Elder Lambert

Week 32

hello my family!

this week was a very interesting week and i will explain why. we will also find out about transfers today!!! this should be very interesting! it sounds again like the president is a little slow so we might find out tomorrow... i'm dying to know! i love transfers :) also, i met someone named Pedro Lima (in the other ward) and he said that he served with Brian Briggs! that was kind of fun and interesting! his name on the mission was elder lima. 

monday-we went to teach bruno and his mom ended up giving us a bunch of food, so that was really good :) pretty much thats all that happened!

tuesday-we woke up and discovered that elder G Silva was being transfered to teresina to be the secretary of finances! he packed up fast and had to leave. he was transfered a week early because the secretaries have to receive a week of training with the old secretary. because he left, it meant that we got to stay in a trio! it was really fun actually working with elder black, but the problem was that we had to switch areas and lunches everyday and it just got really confusing. our numbers were pretty low this week because our area only got worked three days! seminary had lots of people which was good; charles, lucas, and fellipe went. after we taught a quick lesson with charles, but sadly he stopped progressing :(

wednesday-we worked in elder blacks area and we walked a ton! everything was falling through and his investigators live really far apart. the lessons that we did get to teach were good though! we were able to mark a baptismal date with a guy who has already recieved 22 sets of missionaries! it wa amazing that everyone has their time and after 22 companionships the spirit touched his heart and he accepted!

thursday-we worked elder blacks area again today. we went to a super rich doctors house and he bought pizza and coke for us! it is super amazing if somebody buys a pizza for you because they are R$25. its ridiculously expensive...  i also made a fantastic dinner with sausage, hamburger, onions, peppers, and many other things. i am becoming quite inventive :) ALSO, i recieved a call from elder iverson!! it was sooo cool! he finished his misison and was visiting some places with his dad here in brasil. he passed sobral and used the LZ´s phone! i was so happy to talk to him and he was so happy to be returning home :)

friday-we worked in my area and some of our plans fell, but it was still an alright day. at night, our ward had a BBQ and invited us :) the food was amazing!

saturday-we waited to recieve a call from someone in our ward to do a service project in his house, but sadly he never called. the guy in elder blacks area passed the baptismal interview and will be baptized the next saturday! sadly, our meal before the fast was really little :( something very crazy happened at night. we were teaching a family and watching the video of the restoration and someone in the street started shooting at somebody. there were a bunch of gunshots and a guy passed the house with a handgun in his hand. it was really interesting because the family was just locked in watching the video. they loved it and the spirit was way strong with them. 

sunday-only 2 investigators came to church. we had meetings all throughout the night and i taught a lesson to the young women on how to conduct music. it was really funny and interesting. its a hard thing to explain in portuguese...  as we were leaving the church, a big soccer game had ended and people were going nuts. a bunch of police chased down someone and later they were looking for something close to the church. they ended up finding a handgun outside the gates of the church! this was another interesting thing...

monday-we are just waiting to hear about transfers! i hope we will find out soon!

i love you all, and i hope the week was splendid for everyone! if you dont have anything to do, write me a card for my birthday! :) i keep all my friends and family in my prayers!

-Elder Lambert

my district + Bruno (a young man in the ward)

Week 31

e ai família!!

i dont even remember how many weeks i'm at, but i made 7 months this week! time is flying by sooo fast. its crazy. i also found out that my buddy jeff returned from brasil this last week too!!! it will feel like 3 weeks and i will arrive there too. i'm glad to hear that everything worked out with nat and all that exciting stuff that has been going on. the portuguese is really going! i can pretty much say whatever i want to say now. some people still have problems understanding me, but that wont change much :) in the apartment we speak mostly port. but at times english. my companion knows a few words and phrases in english that he will say every once in a while, its really funny to hear him speak english. seminary here is at night tues-fri. they get one extra day off... going to seminary again makes me want to do it all over again. i wish i had paid attention a little more..... some other random things about brasil: when i get home i will have a very very strong desire to buy a motorcycle and put a huge sound system in my car. all the people who have come here to brasil will understand. rosángela and  charles are still ready to be baptized, but wont accept for some reason. still we are trying to figure out their needs. bruno still is going to church and loving it! here in brasil, almost the whole ward are members, but inactive. the other ward got a report that they have 500 something members, but only 18% are going to church still.... i think bruno will stay, he was a good baptism. also, we met some good people this week that i am excited to work with!

monday-we visited rosángela in her house this time and she loved it. she got really excited to see us. we got to talk to her daughter also because she was there.

tuesday-i bought a DVD to transfer all my photos to and send home! BUT i got a bad computer that wont recognize my camera, so my family will have to wait one more week for me to send the disc. we went to somebodies house to dedicate it because lots of weird stuff has been happening there. he and his family have been seeing spirits and all sorts of things (also, this is normal here). rosángela oficially knows the church/book of mormon are true, but for some reason doesnt have a desire. she understands very well the influence it would have on her and the blessings she would recieve, but she has no desire. i dont know how... we brought Lucas to seminary and he really liked it, but sadly we havent been able to contact him during the week. i dont really know what happened to him... some of the youth from our ward went to go visit bruno. i was really excited when i found out, but he wasnt home :(

wednesday-today was a bit rougher. we had lunch and found out that a woman in our ward fell off her motorcycle, so we went there to give her a blessing. all of our plans failed and we were walking around trying to find something to do and we found someone really cool. we will stop by her house this week. i also almost got hit by a motorycle because i fell asleep while walking in the road. ALSO, i found a tarantula! it was super ugly and i kicked it and it crawled into somebody´s house... oops.

thursday-we made a small journey to a neighborhood on the other side of the world and made it this time! it was super super hot and i was just day dreaming about water the whole time. again, all of our plans failed, but it was still really fun to go there. we were on a mission to find someone to give us water, but nobody was in the street. there was also a plot of land that had a big sign posted that said ``VENDE-SE ESTA MERDA.´´ for the people who speak portuguese, they will understand, but in english it said ``SELLING THIS CRAP.´´ we contacted a reference with a member and it went well. he is a youth named fellipe. he had a really cool dream of him being baptized with his family, maybe it was a revelation! we taught the law of chastity to charles and it was a little difficult for him to accept, but he understood really well and i think he will change.

friday-we played a really funny joke on elder black, again, and he bought it. i think this is the third time that we have played a joke that he is being transfered because of an emergency. everytime the joke is getting better and better so he is still believing it. this time was midnight and he started packing his bags and everything. it was pretty funny :) he loves us alot. 

saturday-i made 7 months! we met a youth (emanuel) whose parents were sealed in the temple and separated and fell away from the church. he knew very little about the church but recieved us very well. his mom wasnt there, but i hope that through him we can reactivate her. he is looking for the right religion and has been accepting the JW´s for a while. he went to church with us and loved it. our ward gave us more food again which was awesome! i really really like the members in this ward, they love us so much too :)

sunday-one of the members brought emanuel to church and he really liked it. he agreed with everything and he knows alot of doctine stuff. he will go to seminary tuesday and we will plan another visit with him then. also we have a less active woman who is returning to church and she brought her non-member husband. he loved it alot and im really excited to work with him. maybe we will be able to complete the family and baptize him! sadly, rosángela and charles didnt go :( BUT a guy who we are helping with an alcohol problem still has not had a drink in 3 weeks! also this was his third sunday in a row going :) at night, we had some meetings and after we met a really cool girl named lucilene. she really liked our message and she was really interested. we will return tomorrow to talk to her. she said that she wants to go to church.

alot of this fell through this week, but we are teaching alot with members and helping alot of less active people. i have a feeling that this week will be a very very good week for us :) the church is true and the mission is great :) congratulations for the return of jeff and matt, and good luck for the people leaving!

com amor,

Elder Lambert

Week 30

ola meus amados amigos e minha família!

area: Sobral    Companion: elder albuquerque

so this week was interesting. our numbers for the week were numbers that you could get in one day if you worked hard. BUT, i am not discouraged because we baptized! i will talk more about this later. tune in to the day saturday to hear more. but all the lessons, though few, were very very good. this was a very exciting week with lots and lots of adventures. and my mother asked about the address of the mission changing. the new address and the old address go to the same place, but they dont want us using the other address for letters, just to mail stuff to the secretaries (baptismal forms, receipts, etc.) so they will still accept stuff for a while, but its best to change :) next week i will make 7 months in the mission!!!! it is so crazy to hear that my friends are starting to return, and still some of my friends are leaving....

our day without power

zone conferece!!

monday- this day had some bad news. elder albuquerque found out his dog died with 12 years and it was really hard for him. i was so sad for him. luckily he is better now and we are back to working hard :) also, our power got cut at 4 PM and everything turned off. we were really confused and called the power company and they said that we never paid the bill. we checked with the secretaries and they said that they paid. we called the company again and they realized they duplicated our bills... we stayed 24 hours without power and it was probably the worst night of my life. i never realized how valuable a fan is here. i was sweating the whole night and was getting attacked by bugs. usually the fan blows them away or sucks them up and kills them. i only slept from 4:30-5:30 then woke up again. it was horrible because i was super tired, but couldnt sleep. during the day, bruno passed his interview to be baptized saturday!!

photos- baptism of bruno!! he isnt smiling, but he loved it.

 tuesday- we have been passing by a recent convert who has had big problems with alcohol everyday and still he is good! he is trying so hard and loves the progress that he is making. he is so happy that we stop by and it makes me so happy also. we taught Charles and finally discovered the question/doubt that he had that has been bothering him. he didnt really understand the whole part about joseph smith. we will plan really well to better inform him. also, we started planning the baptism of bruno and i think that it will work out really well!

wednesday-we cleaned the WHOLE house. seriously everything. it took the whole morning but it is super clean. we cleaned every tile, wall, shelf, shoe, dish. we passed by bruno and he is really excited for his baptism. also, we passed by charles and explained about joseph smith a little better. we just need to clear his questions little by little.

elder albuquerque´s birthday!

thursday- we had a zone conferece! it was way good and very fun to see every body :) the zone leaders and the president gave some really good training and the practices were fun. this night, we brought bruno to seminary, but left him alone in the class with the other people. a school payed to practice soccer at the church, so we went out to talk to the kids. we met some really cool kids that we will visit in their houses. we met a kid named lucas that i am really excited to teach. we gave him a book of mormon and he is way excited to read it. also, the girls did a very good job of taking care of bruno - they talked to him alot and made sure he felt included. 

friday-we had a great lesson with rosángela. she feels that the book of mormon is true and that the church is true also. we just need to work a little more with her because she knows these things, but she wont act with her knowledge... we taught lucas and it was way way good. he loved our message and was asking if he can go to seminary and all sorts of things. i think he will be baptized in not too much time. we also went to the baptism of a girl with 8 years and it was super cool. we brought 2 investigators to watch also.

BBQ with the master :)

saturday- saturday was a perfect day! we made a small journey with some girls in the ward to visit a friend of theirs. it was way good and her mom asked TONS of really funny questions. we will definitely schedule alot more time for the next lesson. we were almost late to the church to meet Bruno for his baptism. the baptism was super super good. there were lots of people/youth there and he loved it. the program worked out really well that we put together. it was also elder albuquerque´s birthday so we returned after and ate a huge maracujá cake :) it was so so good and really fun. he turned 19. 

 BBQ and trying to lift huge cement weights...

sunday-another perfect day! we went to get lucas to bring him to church, but he was sleeping and said he would meet us there. always this means they wont go, but he showed up! he loved it so so much, he is so cool. bruno went also and was confirmed and received the holy ghost. also, charles went, but after he told a friend that he didnt want to be baptized anymore, so we will have to figure that out... rosángela didnt go :( there was also a meeting for the birthday of president monson that was super good. there was alot of music that was fun to hear in english. they sang the song ´lillies of the field´ and it made me think of mom. also, a family invited us to eat dinner at their house. it was really good and they love us so much :) we have such an awesome ward! ALSO, during church, a member who is running for a political position was giving out propaganda in the church... it was a very stupid thing to do and he got in big trouble...

monday-we went to a big BBQ at somebodies house that was super tasty. i ate sooo much meat and drank soo much coke. it was perfect - this ward is seriously the best!

thanks for all the love and support. i love you all so very much and keep you in my thoughts and prayers!

-Elder Lambert

Week 29

Area: sobral      Companion: elder Albuquerque

so this week was just a normal, typical week in the mission, which means it had some random adventures!! some important things is that my address switched! right now if you want to send me a letter (and you should want to) send it to:

Missão Brasil Teresina A/C Elder Derek Romney Lambert

CPX:2321

Teresina-PI

CEP:64001-973

they will accept letters to the old address for only a little while, so it is important that you switch! so if my dearest mother and sister could change it on the blog and church program it would be fantastic. also, tell some people too :) also, it seems like everyone keeps moving houses, especially family, so you might lose some cards! i sent some to family, but they are always moving houses. i sure hope that nothing was lost! it seems like everyone is doing well, i hope it stays this way!!!

monday- we went to subway which was awesome, but also my money is disappearing... when we got home we built card towers to see who could built it the highest! i was kinda sick all throughout the day, so that was a bummer :(

tuesday- lunch this day was the craziest thing ever. i think this was the most dangerous moment of my mission which is pretty sad because it was lunch in the house of members. they have this child (6 years old) who was having some temper problems and he kept leaving the table and throwing food and other things, ripping stuff apart, and all sorts of stuff. he left for a while and came back frowning like crazy, grabbed a knife from the table, yelled TOMA (translates to TAKE THIS), and threw the knife with all his might at his dad. luckily it hit a plate and not his dad and also that it didnt bounce off and kill somebody. my heart stopped for a couple seconds. it was pretty crazy...during the night we played a really funny joke on elder G. Silva. i wish i had recorded it, but sadly i didnt.

pudding and jello!!! thanks mom!

wednesday- we taught rosángela and she accepted a baptismal date for the 25th! she is so great and i really hope that everything will work out. we brought Bruno to seminary again and he really liked it. he has never done anything religious before, but he really likes our messages and learning about the Bible. he is starting to progress alot!

thursday-we spent alot of time looking for new families to teach. the focus is really big with families right now. sadly, this just resulted in us walking around for alot of time finding nobody. nobody here lives as a couple, everyone is separated. we brought bruno to seminary and he liked it yet again. it was really funny because secretly, the night before he studied the chapters that they would read, so he knew all the answers :) he is a funny guy. im really starting to believe that he will be baptized the 18th! Charles regonized an answer from god that what we have been saying to him is all true. it was so relieving, but still he is having a difficulty adjusting to the differences between our church and the catholic church. we will try to get him ready for the 18th!

friday- we tried to make the journey to a really far away neighborhood to contact a couple of references, but halfway there something very bad happened to me. it was one of those experiences where you have to use the bathroom right then. To make it worse, we were in the middle of nowhere... we turned around and started walking really fast back to the house about three different times. then we passed a members house and he had served a mission so i knew he would understand :) i used the bathroom there which was quite an experience... their toilet didnt have water in it which was kind of gross, but i got everything fixed. it was very close to being a very very bad situation. On a lighter note, Rosángela agreed to live the word of wisdom and stop drinking coffee!! also, a church member gave me a watch :)

a dog named peach loves to press against my legs and leave tons and tons of hair

i started making lots of hamburgers with lots of grilled peppers, onions, and black pepper. it is very delicious :)

saturday- we worked during the morning which was way awesome. the guys we contacted were really funny. they are music teachers and they played some music for us. one played the recorder and one played the guitar. we finished all the lessons with bruno and he agreed to live all the standards of the church! we set up an interview for him to be baptized monday!

sunday-we didnt have to bring anyone to church which was really nice. we had some members inactive come back that we worked with through the week which was really good! we will continue working with them to help them stay. Bruno came also, but charles and rosángela didnt still. i dont know what happened with rosángela... during church i scored a pen for almost being a father! it was fathers day here in brasil, was it in the US too? also the primary sang some songs that were super duper cute in portuguese for the dads. i also had a very strange dream during the night that i was home again. it was really wierd and super real. i was so confused when i woke up in brasil..

i love you all and i hope all is well. i am praying for everyone in my 134 prayers a day! i would love some addresses to mail cards, so send me your address, or better yet send me a card! 

-Elder Lambert

a little friend who snuck in our house..

Week 28

minha amada família e meus amados amigos!

area: Sobral      Companion: Elder Albuquerque!

so i think the pictures will work to send this week!! woooohooo! BUT i have so so many that i downsized them so i can send more and send them faster. i hope it will work. this week was a pretty darn good week. it is getting hotter and hotter every day and i am suffering more than slightly, but hey, more blessings for me :) its not too humid so im getting really dried up, i will come back home looking like a raisin (black and wrinkely). also, we received letters!!! i also recieved a package from my dear parents which was like the coolest thing ever. it included a pepper grinder, pudding, jello, koolaid, a mitt romney poster, washington state flag, and some other goodies. everyone loved it, especially me. my companion received 11 cards because it is his birthday soon, he got really happy also. to respond to some questions... the people here are both blacks and brasilias, and some random people who look white... what i eat normally: in the house, lots and lots of hamburgers and ramen and oranges. i have developed a deep love for oranges. in members houses: soda, rice, beans, noodles, and some kind of meat :) the tie that i burned was from jobe, so it isnt that important. the silk ties are starting to fall apart. where it has stitching, the holes have swollen so they are coming undone. 

monday-we didnt end up teaching any lessons after p-day, but we developed a new game plan and charles (good investigator) called for us to visit the next day. also, a bird pooped on my head :)

6 months pizza

 6 months cake

burning my tie

BBQ

tuesday- today i felt really happy which was awesome :) we also had our first distrct meeting of the new transfer and we met some of the new guys. i like all of them and i think we have a really powerful zone right now. we taught another really good investigator (Bruno) and he said he believes the book of mormon is true. he hasnt prayed yet but just from reading and the fact that we are very far from our houses to tell people - this touched his heart. he accepted a baptismal date for the 18th and his mom gave us juice and cookies! i hope that this baptism will work out because it has been a while since my last and i want elder albuquerque to get one. 

wednesday- lunch fell through for the last three days, so it has been a couple days of ramen :) we taught charles and it was way good. he asked alot of really good questions. he really likes the lessons, but also has a strong desire to KNOW for himself that the things we are teaching are true. he has alot of faith, so i hope he will recieve the answer he is awaiting! we also had a family night in the house of a family that has 1 year as members. we taught the plan of salvation and how families can be forever through the ordinances of the temple. they really loved it and are preparing. it was such a fun lesson and i really really love working with the families of the church.

1 counselor of the mission president (president Barros)

Family Night

Sunset in Sobral

PINK Ties!!! (thanks anne!)

thursday-we watched the restoration with rosanglea and she really liked it. she is also reading the liahona alot and loves it. she agrees with all the teachings and stuff. we brought bruno to seminary and he seemed to like it too, i hope that he will integrate with the members. he has a difficulty of talking to lots of people. and the most important thing, we will receive letters tomorrow because the zone leaders went to teresina!

friday-i went to a training with the zone leaders and it was really good. it was all about families and how we can serve the families of the church and outside the church. i received letters from my family, tanner pax, and kember! its so fun getting letters :) also my mother and father mailed me a wonderous package! we watched the restoration with charles and it cleared up some questions, but still he is seeking an answer. he accepted a date for the 18th if he feels ready then.

saturday- we stayed really busy today which was nice because it means less time in the sun. we contacted a boy who is less active and he is really cool. he knows charles and we will help him prepare to baptize him. we prepared for our fast and i dont think i have ever eaten so much.. i ate four hamburgers, ramen, and some oranges :) it was delicious!

sunday-church was really great. we had 4 really important investigators come to church, and some guy from another area brought his extended family who arent members (15 people). the chapel had alot of people this day :) the testimonies were really good for our investigators to hear.

monday- we went and played ping pong with the boys of the church which was way fun. after this, i will cut my hair and we will go to subway again :)

i love you all and i hope you are all in good health!! i will keep you in my prayers :)

 com amor

-Elder Lambert

SUNSCREEN!

the stuff in the package i recieved :)

ping pong!