Last week of my mission

This week will be my last week on the mission, but as it comes to an end I think of all the cool things that have happened in these two years. A lot of cool experiences. This last week I did a division with the zone leaders, and we visited a lady who can´t walk up or down stairs because of a tumor in her leg.  She told us that on the day of  her baptism she decended into the font and left the font without any help. It was a very cool lesson and living proof that the church is true.  I told the zone leaders about the problems that have happened in our area, and then the zone leader asked me,  "when was the most important week of the Savior?" I thought and realized it was his last week - when he died and resurected to take away the bands of death for ever and ever. I realized then that my very last week will be somthing that I will always remeber.

On Sunday we had three investigators who went to church all by themselves and I had never seen that before in my life! It was a miracle. We taught one of them last night. He moved down here with his family from São Paulo. A very cool family - it was fun to teach them the first lesson. They liked it alot and we are going to return there this Wednesday. I know that the gospel blesses families and that with the gospel in our lives we can overcome all dificulties placed before us. I saw that when I had the oppurtunity to visit a family agian, a family that was struggling to pay the monthly rent and now they have their own pizza buisness and have received many blessing through the gospel. 

November 3, 2015

I´ll be home in like 3 weeks!! Yesteday was a holiday so like all the missionarys couldn´t use email in Brasil.  Im excited to get back it will be cool to see  everyone! Yesterday went to visit some of the families that I  came to know on my mission. I went and visited my very first area on the mission! It was fun talking to everyone people were excited to be able to talk to me because in that epic I wasn´t able to say anthing. But while I was there I was able to relive my glory days. Almost a year and 7 months ago Me and my second companion were walking on a dirt road literally on the edge of town and it was the edge of town becuase on one side of the road were houses and the other were mountains. We talked to many people but no one had alot of interest. We then talked with this boy with 14 years and we teached his family two times but unfortunatly we were both transfered out of the area and sisters were placed in the area. The months passed and when I had a year and 3 months on the mission found out that the whole family was baptized! Yesterday I went and did a surprise visit and the whole family was home we talked for awhile. They are going through alot of difficulties with money but they have stayed true to the gospel and now there oldest son the son with whom we talked to on the street so long ago will be serving a mission in just 2 years! I found out that through my mission I planted alot of seeds many of the people I would teach joined the church later on. Through the small and simple miracles that happened throughout my mission my testimony was strengthened to the limit where it will never be broken. 

Yesterday night with our ward mission leader and his wife we went to a pizza bbq where you eat as much pizza as you want I ate over 15 slices it was crazzy haha! This week were going to have a family night with food at a less active´s house with the youth to strengthen the ward because things are complicated here. But I only got 2 more weeks so it will go by fast. The beach looked cool! Hopefully I´ll be able to go there in the future on day. 

Hope all keeps going well have an aweosme week! Until soon! 

October 26, 2015

Sounds like you guys had a fun week, my week was kinda boring i'm getting ready to come home haha, not a lot to do here i'm excited to get

back. I got my flight emailed to me I´ll arive wednesday morning at 11:15 25th of November 

will be super awesome! Im super tired the end of the mission is the hardest part because it's 

the most dificult to keep working at the very end. Today we will meet up with the other missionary from the zone and do an activity together for pday I think we´ll play soccer or somthing but I'm not quite sure yet.

Yesterday we hung out after church with the ward mission leader and ate cake and watched church movies it was fun. 

Our ward mission leader is crazzy he´s super cool and helps us to 

stay animated because the area i'm in right now has alot of apostacy. Like no one speaks to each other almost everyone that´s been baptized in the last year is gone! No one stays active its super strange Ive never seen such bad retention since i've been on my mission. We tried to do an activity with the ward and the bishop and his wife didn´t support us at all. We called up a bunch of families and announced the activity on sunday but only like 20 people showed up. And one investigator that came as well but he doesn't want to obey the law of chastity. But were going to keep working with the people that have left the church and ask for references from them so we can teach there friends hopefully it all works out. 

I'm excited to get back because I can do normal stuff it will be cool to be normal again. I wonder if I´ll be able to drive? It will probally be weird to drive after not driving for so long. And eat a five guys cheese burger that will be pretty cool too. I miss cheeseburgers. Just 3 more weeks, you guys will only receive 3 more emails from me before I´m back pretty crazzy right? It's finally going to come to an end. I think this next pday im going to travel to an area called Sapiranga it was my very first area on the mission Im going to go there and spend the whole day with some of the members and a family that I taught that later was baptized. THis family sells pizza and have there own pizza business.  If I lived in Brazil I think I´d live here in the south cause i'd get pizza for free whenever I want.  It's one of the benefits of being a missionary haha

Also if I go to Sapiranga I´d go to the mountains again and maybe I´ll get to see another monkey or maybe this time if im lucky a toucan that would be pretty sweet. 

THis week we also found a girl that had left the church and so we went over there with our ward mission leader and her and her mom invited us to have a bbq its going to be awesome.  I'm going to end my mission good here with lots of bbq with the members before I leave. 

BUt hope all keeps going well, sounds like carter is doing alot better with Taekwando and stuff and sounds like mom had fun getting away for awhile. Blake sounds like he´s enjoying highschool, he´s doing wrestling now right? I bet everyone will be a little different when I return. I´ll bring back some Braziian candy as a souveneir.

Love you guys,

Austin  

My last month! October 19, 2015

Well the time is definitely going by fast, I'm now with my last  companion on the mission. He´s from Fortaleza -the part of Brazil with the nicest beaches.  He has a year and 8 months on the mission. I´ll be ending my mission as a district leader which is pretty awesome.  I'm enjoying the area, and on p days I can go to a city nearby called Novo Hamburgo and there there is lots to do. 

This week we are going to focus in going to a different part of our area to see if we can find some new people to teach. 

Its crazzy that Nick already got engaded! It went by fast! 

Thats good that carter is doing better sounds like things are

returning back to normal. Hope all keeps going well. 

I'm going to keep working hard and I know that I´ll be able to find some

more investigators that have a desire to learn more. 

Hope all keeps going well, 

Love,

Austin 

50 days - Oct. 6, 2015

Taking the classes sounds cool because then I would get more credits right? Or if it would be possible for me to just take the test I can do that. Today Im going to the temple so I don´t have a lot of time. THe confernce talks were super cool and the new appostles will be great.

The end is coming soon, Im excited to see you guys! We had a baptism of a girl on sunday conference it was very special. Im going to keep working hard so that the days go by faster! 

Love, 

Austin

The Gospel Strengthens Families - September 28, 2015

Finally after 13 days of constant rain we were able to have some sun, my clothes have finally finished drying. Hear in Brasil there´s no dryers so we have to dry everything on clothes lines. 

We´ve been working on finding new investigators, we had a few families go to church last sunday but they don´t want to keep the comitments. But this week we found a super cool family that went to church this sunday!

We were walking down one rainy day and no one answered the door. Then this lady walks past us and ignoring us starts to enter her house! We asked her if we could share a message she was a little hesitant but agreed, we arrive inside and her husband shows us some religous book he´s reading. Then he asks us ``lets study the bible`` I think to myself great this guy is going to try and bible bash us or somthing he comes out of his room and puts a book of mormon on the table! The guy read the book of mormon until Mosias and had everypage noted with notations and questions. Basically it was one of the craziest things thats ever happened on my mission. He had been given a book of mormon by other missionaries a long time a go but had only started to read it recently,

He told us that he feels closer to god with the book of mormon that with the bible and than he went to church and loved it! He asked tons of awesome questions and for principles of the gospel it was about temple work we explained how this is the only church with the true authority of god he liked it alot. They want to get baptized as well but they have to get married first if I stay here one more transfer I´ll get to see them be baptized for sure. 

In DC 29:7 it talks about the elects those who are waiting to find the restored church it was cool to find some elects this past week. 

We are teaching another family, George and Daniela, they are super cool, they went to church not this week but the last week on the 20th they both liked church alot as well, they were seperated and Daniela was super sad that her husband and her had been seperated due to gossip but we shared with her the gospel and when she told her husband about all that we had taught and shared with her it made him want somthing as well, We met George on a Saturday shared with him a few verses with him from the Book of Mormon and felt inspired to invite him to church and he accepted, he had little knoledge but by his faith he was inspired to go, The whole family George, Daniela, Victoria, and Junior all went to church. 

I know that its through the gospel that chalenges are erased and familes are brought back together again. 

This weekend will be incredible, three knew appostles of God will be called to walk and testify that these things are true that this is the gospel of God.

Know that are doutbs, fears, and weaknesses, our strengthed by General Conference. Ether 12:27

Hope you guys have a great week!

Love,

Austin  

September 14, 2015

We started working alot in an area that missionaries havn´t visited in over a year. We found a woman who told us that she is searching for the true church we taugh her the resoration, and on sunday she went to church and took her mom and her sister in law to church. They liked it alot and they all know that it´s the true church on the Earth pretty cool right, 

then we went and taught a couple Jenifer and Giliermi 

Giliermi is a member inactive but started going to church every week about 2 months ago, on Thursday we had a family night and ate hotdogs and watched a movie called the Resoration, about the story of Joseph Smith and strenghed there testemonies even more that Joseph Smith really was a profet of god.

On friday we had a conference with the president of the mission, President Campos, we learned how we can teach more about the book of mormon in our lessons and how to use the spirt more in our lessons. 

He gave us some cool satistics about the book of mormon

Joseph was 23 

3rd grade education

Prisoned 34 times

was able to publish everthing for free

wrote the whole book in 60 days

And in the end chose to die rather than deny the divinity of the book of mormon. 

THen we watched testimony of the book of mormon by Jefrey R. Holland

On Saturday morning we went to the house of recent converts,

Bruno, Stefeni, and Jenifer they are super active in the church and super cool we hung out with them for an hour and then went and ate lunch. 

We then found this street that had two investigators that are super cool. 

A daniela and a Tuani. A daniela had a lot of challenges in her life she is a single mom, with a daughter and a baby. She has gone to alot of churches but feels like none of them were right for her, we gave her a book of mormon and marked Mosias 23 for her to read which tells of having patience and faith to overcome the dificulties and be lifted up in the last day. She wants to go to church this coming sunday so that will be awesome! 

A tuani lost her brother six months ago and we shared the plan of salvation she liked it alot and how we believe that families can be together forever. 

We left 2 Nefi 2 for her which talks about chalenges and gods plan for us. 

SHe also wants to go to church this coming sunday as well and whats awoeme is that the Tuani and the Daniela are super good friends so hopefully they´ll both go to church together.

Saturday night we had a family night with Lucas and Victoria. They havn´t goten baptized yet becasue they have to get married. Lucas is 18 and Victoria is 15 crazzy right! But they´ve been together for two years already and we ate cheese bread which is amazing and a desert called Torta de bolacha it´s like a cooky cake things it was really good and we watched the resoration movie with them as well, the liked it alot and Lucas went to church with us. Victoria was sick but she usually always goes to church.

Sunday night a cool miracle happened we went and visted a family of menus actives, the mom likes the church but likes to smoke and drink coffe. When we arrived the dad was there as well, he seperated from the wife but happened to be home and told us that he wants to take his whole family to our church! He told us how his children were getting into bad stuff and wants to help them. When we left he walked us to the door and asked for our help in supporting him and helping him take his family to church. 

This week was pretty crazzy but alot of great things happened. 

Well hope you guys have a great week,

Love Austin! 

 Hanging out with recent converts

It's a  gaucho thing