Oi Gente!‏

What’s up everyone!!!

This week has been super awesome!  Had lots of good things happen.

To start,  i did a division with a new American in my zone and we stayed in my area and it was nice to be able to hang out with him and teach him some stuff.  We marked a baptism for that guy Oelton who we met a few weeks back which was awesome.  He went to church yesterday with us and liked it a lot.  It was cool because when we taught him the night we marked his baptism we found out he smokes about a pack a day so we taught him the word of wisdom and he accepted and the next day we went back and he had only smoked 2 that entire day which is a really good improvement so were really happy about his progress and he really likes the church.  I like going over there and teaching him.  He’s a really cool guy. So we marked him for this Saturday.  We got some other investigators who are really cool and have a lot of potential to be baptized this month so we got to work close and hard with them. 

We did a little service project for a member and helped him paint the inside of his house and a little on the outside.  I had no idea what we were in for....we ended painting there for 7 hours and by the time we finished, we were covered in white paint!  It was crazy.  It was so messy!  Because the stuff we put on before is called Car which i guess is like a primer or something and we had to put it on the ceiling which was tough.  But it was nice to get that one over with haha. 

We also had a Christmas zone conference where half the mission goes on one day and the other half goes on the other day.  We went on Friday and it was super awesome!  We got there and the President and his wife talked for a while up til lunch then we ate A TON!  I had a mountain of food on my plate but it was fun to be able to see past companions and friends.  I talked a lot with My last comp from Jardim Atlântico Elder Trindade because he’s leaving at the end of this transfer.  So that might be the last time i may see him which sucks!  He’s so awesome!  I told him he should stay another year with me but i doubt he will.  But after the conference all of the missionaries and president and his wife went to the Recife Temple where we all sang Xmas songs for a group of people which was super fun haha.  It was nice to feel a little bit of the Christmas spirit.  Then after we went  back home and i passed out because i was so tired!  Oh and i got your Christmas package Mom!  thanks!  It was tough hauling it around all day but i was glad to have received it.  So that’s basically my week.  Oh yeah and one day we were buying some stuff at the market by our house and i was waiting outside and this car rear ended this other car and the guy who hit him got out and was stressing out then the other guy who got hit got out and went and looked at the back of his car for about 10 seconds then just gave the other guy the thumbs up and then they both took off like nothing happened....

So this week were really excited about the baptism for Oelton so were going to go over to his house everyday and make sure he’s not smoking.  I’m so stoked to skype with you guys on Christmas!  I will email you the times next Monday.  Have a good week everyone!  talk to you next Monday!  love you all! Tchau!

Elder Erickson

Me and Elder Trindade.  My brother from another mother!

Me. Elder Trindade. Elder Bateman

the result of our paint job....

3 Litters of coke. You jealous Ty???

just a pic of part of our area. i dont know if you can zoom in but its kinda cool to see the houses and how they are set up

a huge scorpion in our house!! so scary!

On the bus to conferance with a kid named Isake.

 

Oi pessoal‏

Whats up everyone! 

Just finished a pretty good week down here.  Elder Alves has been getting to know the area and we have been busy teaching people.  We have a few people that we visit a lot who are really close to baptism.  We have a baptism marked for this Saturday for a girl named Arieli who is the sister of Adalberto who we baptized a month ago so were really hoping everything works out so then we can mark his Dad for baptism also.  I like going over there and teaching them and talking.  Another guys named Aumary who we started recently teaching ( i think i talked about him last week) has been going real good.  He was baptized in the Catholic church a long time ago when he was a baby so were trying to teach him why he needs to be baptized again which is difficult sometimes but its going really good.  We went to this guys house who we contacted on the street named Oelton and we taught him a lesson and invited him to attend conferance which was yesterday and he accepted which was really cool so im stoked to go back and talk with him this week.  And theres a member who lives right next to him and we asked her if she could pick him up and take him to the bus stop where the bus will pass by to take people to  Stake conferance (because it was at a different ward)  and we told her his name and where he lived and she had this really weird look on her face and i was sort of confused and then she told us that this guy (Oelton) 2 brothers robbed her house a long time ago...but she accepted anyways which was nice of her haha.

So we had Stake Conferance yesterday which was really awesome.  We hopped on a bus that the church rented for all the members to take to the other building and got there and met up with the other missionaries and stuff.  Our mission President spoke which was cool too.  And the President of the Recife Temple and his wife and an area 70.  But during the talks there was this lady sitting about 3 rows in front of us and she was acting straight up crazy!!!  I have never seen anything like what happened.  So she had this little portable radio that she kept turning on and she was waving her hands in the air and getting up and trying to pass stuff out to other people and talking super loud to herself and people were trying to get her to be quiet and stuff for about 20 min and she wouldnt listen to anyone.  So finally when everyone stood up to sing, 3 dudes came up and like basically picked her up out of her chair and she started screaming super loud and trying to resist and they took her out of the building.  It was crazy!  I found out later that she attends one  of the wards a lot but isnt a member or anything.  It was pretty weird though.  But other than that conferance was really good!

After we went back to our area and had a super good lunch with one of the members.  Im looking forward to this week a lot!  On the 14th we have a Christmas zone conferance and a dinner and then after i think were going to go to the temple and sing or something but it should be sweet!  Im excited to see past comps and stuff.  But thats about it for this week.  Im getting anxious to skype for Christmas.  Cant believe how fast it has come.  I miss you guys!  Hope everything is going good.  Have a great week!  Talk to you all next Monday.

Love Elder Erickson

Beleza gente!

Well the transfer just came to an end yesterday.  It went by so fast!  Last night we got the call for transfers and i am staying in Lagoa Encantada and Elder Lemos got transferred.  Transfers went really good.  Everyone is always anxious to get their new comps and stuff.  But my new comps name is Elder Alves and he’s from São Paulo.  Its funny because i already knew him from my last zone so we know each other pretty well.  I’m excited to be with him though.  I’m thinking we should have a lot of success this transfer and get a lot of work done.  I feel like i know the area pretty good also so im feeling confident!

But this past week was a little slower but it was good.  We had a little more trouble finding investigators to teach because a lot of people weren’t home or were busy with something so we did a lot of walking which was a bummer but we had some good things happen as well.  Were teaching this older guy named Aumary who we contacted on the street and we have taught him twice but both the lessons have been super awesome with him.  He seems really interested in the church and is really receptive to what we teach him.  The first night we taught him we asked him to pray and he’s a little on the quiet side so i was expecting him to say no or maybe  next time but he accepted and said a prayer that blew me away!  It was a really cool experience so were going to keep working with him this week to visit the church to see what its like and stuff.  Also we had the confirmation for Ivan who we baptized the week before so his baptism is complete! 

Im looking forward a lot to this month.  We have a Christmas zone conference on the 13th which should be sweet.  Also to skype the family and stuff on Christmas!  Cant believe how fast it has come.  But this month should be super good.  More people put up Christmas lights than i thought would here.  Mostly inside their houses but its nice to see them!  This week were going to try and get more investigators to visit church again because that’s been the hardest thing with some investigators so hopefully we can help with that. 

But I’m exhausted now!  Transfers are always tiring.  But im super stoked for this transfer!  I miss and love you guys!  have a good week and thanks for all your support!  It means a ton.  Talk to you next week!

-Elder Erickson

Minha Família amorosa e amigos

Hey everyone!

Just finished a really good week here in Lagoa Encantada (Enchanted Lagoon.)  This week went by super fast.  We have been pretty busy with everything.  But to start off, we had a Baptism for a 13 year old kid named Ivan.  We have been teaching him and his Mom for about 4 weeks and it has been really good.  He started out really timid and shy but hes a really cool kid with a good heart.  It was really nice to see him get baptized because i know and he knows its the best thing hes ever done in his life up to this point.  So we had the Baptism after church this past Sunday.  His Mom came also to watch and support him which was really cool.  So that went really good!  I will send some pics.

We had a split with the zone leaders this past week which was really good.  I stayed in our area and we went out and taught a bunch of lessons and got a few new investigators and i learned a lot which was awesome.  I learned how to teach better and help our investigators more which was sweet.  

This past Sunday we also had ward conferance which was really sweet.  The stake President came and spoke and gave a really good talk that i really liked.  It was a good day.  I was hoping more investigators were going to show up but we will work on that this week.  We got lots of stuff coming up for December.  We have Stake Conferance, Temple, Zone Conferance, Transfers, and Christmas!  Its going to be a super busy month but im looking forward to it all!  Oh yeah Mom i received your xmas package this past week so im going to do my best not to open it until xmas.  Luckily i never opened presents early as a kid so i think i will be able to handle it.  

I cant believe its just about December!  Time is flying.  Its pretty weird.  I dont feel like i have been out the time ive been out.  

I think today we are going to a members house and having Churraso (bbq) which im really looking forward to!  Nothing is better than that.  It should be good though!  We have a few things we need to get done today so hopefully we will have enough time.  Pdays can be pretty rushed sometimes.  But everything is going good!  Im having lots of fun and learning a ton!  Being on a mission is tough but super awesome!   Transfers are next week and im thinking i will probably stay here since my comp has been in this area for about 6 months so we will see!  Thanks again for all your support everyone!  i love you and miss you all!  Talk to you next week!

Much love, Elder Erickson

oh yeah and theres a girl in our ward whos serving down south of Brasil in the mission Santa Maria.  Isnt that the same mission as Elder Hollandsworth?  i hope i spelled that right...

Love you guys! tchau!

oi jente

Hey everyone!

Sorry i wasnt able to get on last week.  We went to Olinda for the day and we got back a little later than planned so we didnt have time to email.  So hopefully i can cover the past 2 weeks in this email.

Alright so these past 2 weeks have been pretty good.  We got some good investigators with a lot of potential which is awesome.  Were just working on getting them to church and all that stuff which is super important and hard for some people.  But i think we should have a `baptism this upcoming Sunday for a kid named Ivan.  Were teaching his family but hes progressing a lot so hopefully everything will work out for that.  Were still teaching the family of Adalberto which is super fun.  His family is so cool and receptive.  His sister seems really interested also.  His Mom has been with the Catholic church for a long time so were just taking our time with her.  She also works a lot so its hard for her to come to church but she really likes talking to us and watching DVDs of the church and she also makes the best fruit juice which is a plus.

We went to the temple this past week with another area from our zone and one of their investigators who is 15 and it was really cool to go with them because he was amazed by the temple!  he loved it so much and didnt want to leave haha it was cool to see the impact on him.  It was really nice just to be there though.  its so relaxing and awesome.  It was a good trip and sent us into the rest of our week with a good spirit. 

We did a little service project for a member on the morning of 16th and i made the horrible mistake of not putting sun protection on my neck since i was wearing a regular shirt so now im paying the price of the Recife sun.  But its all good its starting to not hurt as bad haha.  But other than that the service went good and we cleaned her yard pretty well.  Its getting so hot here though!  Its crazy. 

But this week were really going to focus on getting our investigators to progress and hopefully get a baptism for Ivan.  This saturday is the missions Dia do Batismo (baptism day) so the whole mission is going to try and get a baptism for Saturday to go into December on a good note.  Cant believe December is coming up!  Wait, did Thanksgiving already pass??? I forget the date.  But yeah this transfer is flying by!  So hopefully we should have some good success these next 2 weeks to end on a good note.  Oh yeah i forgot to say that when we visited Olinda last Monday i got to see my last comp Elder Trindade!!! i was so stoked. I love that guy.  Hes going home in January so he is pretty weirded out.  But it was fun to see him for a bit.  So i guess thats the past 2 weeks from what i can remember!  I miss you guys hope all is going well with everyone!  I appreciate all your support.  have a good week and i will talk to you all then!

Com Amor, Elder Erickson

Recife Templo- Me, my companion and Adalberto

Beleza pessoas! 

Man this week had its ups and downs to say the least.  So we had a marked baptism for a teen named Jhonny and we got everything done. all the lessons taught. the baptismal interview and all we had to do is get the signature of his Mom or Grandma since he’s 17.  Earlier in the week he told us he prayed and got an answer and knows the church is true so i was really happy with that and we were all looking forward to the baptism but on Saturday (the day of the baptism)  We went and talked to his Grandma who he lives with and talked to her about the church and everything and it went good but she said she thinks he’s not ready to be baptized because her church looks at baptism differently so she said she doesn’t accept it and wouldn’t sign the paper...so we started getting a little nervous and then went and talked to his Mom.  That didn’t go so well.  We had 2 return missionaries with us (from our ward) and it basically turned into a bible bash the first 15 minutes with her.  But she did not want him to be associated with our church at all.  It was really really frustrating because she doesn’t understand anything about our church and only believes the stuff she read on the internet about our church so we couldn’t do anything else and left and then the next day we found out his Mom told him he cant talk to us or any of his friends who are members of the church so pretty much JÁ ERA.

That was the down side of the week though.  On the upside, we did a little temple trip with some investigators which was super fun.  We went with Adalberto the teen we baptized last week, his Dad and Sister, and a couple members which went really well.  I could tell that Adalberto and his family felt the spirit there.  They really enjoyed the temple and the garden and everything.  It was really nice for me too.  Just super relaxing.  After we went and ate then headed back to Lagoa and we took a train which was pretty fun.  Its nice because you can take 2 buses and a train all for 2 reais for Metro.  Our zone also had interviews with the President which went really good. I really like the President.  He’s a really good guy.  But we’re really going to focus on the family of Adalberto this month so hopefully we can baptize them. 

The weather is getting really hot now.  It keeps getting hotter and hotter!  But its all good I’m sort of used to it.  Looking forward to this month though!  I’m really liking the area and the people.  That’s about it for this week though!  thanks again for all your letters and support! i love you all!  Talk to you next week.

Com Amor, Elder Erickson

Monday, October 29, 2012

 

Hey everyone!!!

Its been a really good week here in Lagoa Encantada!

We had a baptizm for a 17 year old named Adalberto.  He’s a really cool kid and he’s friends with a lot of the members and he loves the church.  He is already talking about serving a mission!!!  Its fun to talk to him and teach him.  We started teaching his family also!  Before his Baptizm we had to get his moms permission (like all baptizms)  and we set a date with her and we went over and she was so funny!  she kept saying i always see you guys walking in the street in the heat and I’ve always wondered about your church!  She was happy her son was interested in our church but she just wanted to make sure were not weirdos pretty much.  So we taught her a lot and talked for a while and she seems really interested so were teaching The Mom Dad and Sister now which is sweet!  They all went to Adalbertos baptizm so hopefully we can baptize them all this month. 

Its really fun talking to people here!  This week we somehow got into a house of a family who attends the Assembly of God church which is really big here!  You can hear the church a mile away because the music is so loud!  But anyways we were talking with these people  (the mom and dad)  and they had all these wrong ideas in their heads about our church because of other people so we showed them what were all about and we ended up having a really good appointment with them.  They told us they would visit our church this Sunday if we visited theirs.  we accepted and called the President after to ask him if we could.  He said it wasn’t a good idea  so we went back the next day and told them, expecting they would be pretty upset but we had another really good appointment with them!  They said it was fine and that they would still visit ours and their pastor guy ended up coming inside as we were getting ready to leave and the Dad was so up beat and stuff because he was telling his pastor how he loves us and loves talking with us because he learns a lot and the Pastor seemed a little irritated we were there but it was fun and we all said a prayer together after and the pastor said it and it was crazy!  It was a little scary but  its all good.  Were excited to back over there this week.

But a lot of people here have the wrong idea about the church so its nice to talk with them and correct them and have them realize we believe a lot of the same things they do.  This week we have another baptizm for a 16 year old kid named Jhonny.  His Mom and Grandma i guess aren’t thrilled about him joining our church and tell him he can make his own decisions so were going to try to talk to them this week and show them were really nice people.  Jhonny seems a little nervous about us talking to his Mom though.  But hopefully everything will go smooth up til Saturday with him. 

We had a churrasco (BBQ) with a member last week which was so good!!!  it was like eating at Tuscanos again in Provo.  It was really good though.  So much meat!  But were really looking forward to this week and the month of November!  Should be really good!  That’s about it for this week though!  Glad everything is going good back home.  Oh yeah i heard the Giants won the world series.  Alright i will talk to you all next week! Thanks again for all your support i love you all!

Love Elder Erickson

Photos from last week

 

here are some pics. BBQ and the baptizm. the people in the pic of the BBQ are me my comp and 2 other missionaries and a lady in our ward who is super awesome!!!

 

Below is a response from Zack on Monday, October 29th.  I emailed him that it would have been Grandpa Erickson’s 82nd birthday and this is what he sent back:

i didnt know that!  i was thinking about him recently.  It was so nice to be able to really get to know him before he died since i went over and helped take care of him in that home he was in.  I have this distinct memory that i wrote in my journal about him.  I never really got to know him growing up because i was always doing stuff with Grandma but i really got  close to him when i would go hang out with him in the summer 2 times a week at that old person home.  It was sad because i could tell it was lonely for him.  But everytime i would visit if it wasnt raining we would go outside and walk 2 laps together around the building and just talk about life.  But one day we went out and i can remember it perfectly.  We walked outside and it was super sunny so we went back and got his sunglasses then we continued walking around the building and i was asking him a bunch of questions about his life and i can remember it was just really fun talking with him.  As we finished out usual 2 laps we headed towards the door to back inside and then he stopped and looked at me and said ´´how about another?´´  I can remember him saying it clearly!  So we walked another lap.  It was a good day!!!!

e ai familia

Whats up Family and friends!

Man its been a crazy week!  I got transfered this past week (1 week before the actual transfer)  which was sort of caught me off guard so i had to hurry up and pack all my stuff up and leave the house to the mission office.  I was a little bumbed to say bye to Elder Trindade because he is the man!  But my new companion now is Elder Lemos from São Paulo.  My new area is called Lagoa Encantada which isnt too far away but its a lot different! 

This week, Elder Lemos has been showing me around and i have been meeting all the members and investigators and getting to know the area.  Its been really fun.  We live in a house and have a lot more space than the apartment in JD Atlantico.  This area has a lot of hills though!  it can be pretty tiring haha but everywhere you go theres a cool view!  The members are all super awesome and welcoming.  Im really likeing it.  Its a lot more poor here also.  Theres a few parts were not aloud to go to because its dangerous i guess.  But overall its a really sweet area.

This week was really good also.  We found 9 new investigators and we have 2 marked baptizms for 2 teenage boys who are pretty cool and fun to teach.  We should hopefully have 2 or 3 more marked baptizms at the end of this week so the work is going really good!  We have lots of people to teach and since the area is so big we have lots of work to do.  Im really looking forward to it though.  This transfer should be really really good! 

We were walking the other day and this old crazy guy on the street starts saying a bunch of weird things like Obama sent us to Brasil and that we were the CIA  and were doing secret stuff and he told my comp. that Obama wouldnt like his pants to be dirty hahahaha it was pretty funny.

But I think thats about it!  Its been a good week and this week should be even better!  Looking forward to it all!  Thanks again for all your support and love!  i love and miss you all! have a good week!

Love Elder Erickson