Dear Family,
Well how the heck are you guys doing? How is the summer heat doing? I hope you all are doing really great. I was sorry to hear about the water line breaking at Ben and Jessica´s house, just get some duct tape on that puppy and patch her up.
So this week was pretty good. Elder Magno´s parents were still here. One cool thing that happened this week was that we had a talent show. The missionaries do all the planning and everything and it turned out really good. There were 90 people there! Me and Elder Gomes and Elder A Mendonça did this theatrical peace skit type thing that was really funny. Elder Warn played guitar and sang Aint no sunshine when you´re gone for Elder Magno. Elder Nascimento played guitar, Elder Magno sang, and there was a young man here that played the drums, and their little band was awesome. Everybody loved it.
Every Thursday night we have a ward activity called Integração. They have it in almost all the wards in Brazil and its to let people have fun and integrate the investigators. Usually when there are a lot of people at Integração, a lot of people will come on Sunday also. And at Sacrament meeting this week there were 100 people! That is exciting because every Sunday this transfer the frequency has gone up. It started at about 46 and yesterday was 100.
So we had transfers and it was hard because its like this. Elder A Mendonça was a secretary in the mission office for 7 transfers and so like he has a bunch of connections and is really influential with the President. So like everyday this week he knew what the current transfers were. But the president always changes them and tweaks them until Friday. So it was really hard not killing Elder A Mendonça and trying to firgure out what was going to happen. So the transfers are like this.
Elder Magno is being transfered to Sao Paulo to his house and his companion will be his girlfriend that waited faithfully for two years.
Elder Warn and Elder A Mendonça will continue to be companions here in Barbalha.
Elder Gomes will be transfered to Fortaleza, Nova Aldeota, and will be companions with Elder Boyer
Elder Nascimento is the new district leader and will train a new missionary.
And me. For the first time in my seven months as a missionary I will stay! And my companion will be Elder Oliveira Santos who I already know. He is from Sao Paulo and is the man. He is 1 transfer younger than me. So this will be his 4 transfer and my 5th. I am a little nervous to be senior companion so you guys gotta pray for me that I dont screw everything up!
Oh yeah and yesterday we baptized one girl named Teresinha. She is the younger sister of Dariane who we baptized this transfer. She is really cool because she always came to church with her sister and really wanted to do all the right things. I think yesterday was her 6th time coming to church and also she always comes to church on Thursday´s also.
So yesterday I went with Elder Gomes and he said goodbye to everyone and I swear everybody loves that man that we call baby. Everyone cried when they were saying goodbye to him. And I felt like a jerk because I swear I was the only one that didnt cry. But then I was talking to Elder Warn who saw Elder King in Juazeiro (because Elder Warn and Elder Mendonca had to go leave baby at the bus station in Juazeiro) Elder King said that same thing happened to him. His comanion was leaving and everybody was crying except for him. Are we bad people? I think so.
So I think I am going to burn all my pictures on a CD or DVD and send them to you guys. I think that would be a good idea. Yeah I am going to do that.
Well I know that this church for which I am a missionary is the church of the Savior Jesus Christ and I know that we can be forgiven of our sins no matter which they may be.
Much Love,
Elder Willoughby
Friday, August 13, 2010
{July 2, 2010}
Dear Family,
How are things going there? I hope really good. So I was helping
another elder send photos so now i dont have very much time but quick
recap of the week. it was good. elder magno´s parents are here and
yesterday elder magno and i went to crato because he has cousins and
an uncle and aunt there and we had lunch with his family and this is
his last week! This week was good we baptized Jairo and Andrea. Both
stories are cool. Like the first Sunday here we were brining
investigators to church and we were already really late when this one
lady stopped us in the street and asked us to talk with her son, and
we were like we are really late we cant talk right now and she was
like no it will just take a minute, so we went and marked a day to
come back. Jairo is cool and is 23 years old. At first he had a lot of
doubts and he started asking really weird questions and he had been
reading anti stuff online and so we were like great thats too bad we
will just cut him, but then he started reading the book of mormon and
knew it was true and he said he used to go to a bunch of different
churches but our church was the only one he felt good at. he is
basically the man. he has already read to alma in the book of mormon.
Andrea we met like this. Elder Magno had to do an interview with an
investigator of Elder Nascimento and Elder Gomes. But we kinda wanted
to stop by Nei so we had to do a division Elder Gomes and I went to
see Nei and Elder Nascimento and Elder Magno went to do the interview
(Elder Magno and Nascimento are cousins and they do a lot of divisions
which is cool for them so Elder Gomes and I spend a lot of time
together) well anyway we were coming back to meet our companions and
this girl yelled elder and we went back and she said she had already
been taught and so we got her name and number and adress and stuff and
said we would stop by and we just started to teach her and she
accepted everything and was baptized yesterday. She is 18 and we are
teaching a lot of her friends and family members too.
Alright gotta go, love you, the church is true,
Elder Willoughby
{July 26, 2010}
Dear Family,
How are things going with you guys?? I hope everything is going super well. Is it really hot there right now? So this week has been pretty good, I am trying to think of a story I could tell you guys. Well the worst thing that happened is like all six of us missionaries got sick.It started on Tuesday Elder Mendonça got sick and then on Wednesday I got sick and then on Thursday Elder Nascimento got sick and on Saturday Elder Magno got sick. And Elder Warn was sick before that so the only one that didnt get sick was Elder Gomes so we are pretty sure he poisoned our food.Jking. So yeah that happened, what else, we are teaching this one guy named Jairo who is the man and will be baptized this next week. Yesterday we were just passing by the church at like 8am just to fill up the baptismal font and he was already there at church which is awesome. So we had to fill the baptismal font because someone was baptized! Someone opened the door to heaven. The man that was baptized is named Luan. He is 19 and is the man. At first we were teaching his brother Marcondes who is also in the picture. Also Nei, the man that we baptized last week, had been bringing Luan to church so that is totally awesome. One cool thing that Luan told us is that like that first Sunday that he went to church, after church some people asked him if he wanted to go out drinking and he was like no I dont, and when we heard that we were like ELECT!!!!!!!!!! SO yeah, but on Saturday the ZL´s were coming here to interview him to be baptized and he wasnt there he had left for a soccer game or something so we were all worried, but he talked with him later that night and it just so happened that the next day, Sunday, was the Barbalha Branch´s first branch conference and a counselor to President Batt, President Cabral, was coming. So we just had Luan come to church and he was interviewed by Pres. Cabral and was baptized and everything was alright. Oh yeah and in church Nei told another São Paulo story. What else....here they have really big avocados, and there is a picture of me with one. I made suco de abacate, or avocado juice. It doesnt sound very good but it is. Alright remember I love you guys and thanks for all you do for me and know that I am doing good. I know that this is the work of the Lord.
Elder Willoughby
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
18 July 2010
Dear Family, Well everything is going good here in Barbalha. How are you guys doing? I hope you are doing really great. Its so cool here in Barbalha. Its really has been growing since we got here. The first Sunday there were like 48 members, the next there was like 64 and then yesterday there was like 84. I feel like I am in a movie here. The church is so young in this jungle town. You never know what is going to go wrong at church. For example, this Sunday someone was going to give the closing prayer in sacrament meeting and they got up and started saying something like this, Brothers and Sisters I would like to give you a warning, that next week we would like all the married brothers to be here...and then the branch president cut him off and told him to just say a prayer. I really would like to know what he was going to say. I think I will ask him later. Also it is funny because whenever you say Good Morning brothers and sisters they always say good morning back....always!! So this week was good. One thing we did was go work at the ExpoCrato thing where the church had a tent. IT was kinda lame because last year the missionaries talked with like every single person that passed by and they got all their addresses and stuff, but a bunch of the addresses were wrong and stuff, so this year the president was like just sit back and if someone walks into the tent and is interested then you can talk to them and stuff. THey also had a bunch of animals there which was kind of cool, I got to touch a goat and a sheep. They have these really big cow things with big hump back things, almost like a camel, its called a BOI. So this week we baptized one man named Nei. He is the kinda crazy guy, yet so cool. We found him when we were knocking doors, and he let us in before we even said anything (which alot of people do here). He always speaks what he thinks which is kinda cool. So he is basically the man. So I got 5 letters which is awesome, thank you guys, but I have given up hope of getting the one package that you guys sent in April. Is that the last one you sent. You shouldnt worry about me here, I am doing fine, but thanks!! I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the church that Jesus Christ established, again on the Earth. One thing that annoys me is that a lot of people think that it doesnt matter what church you belong to, it doesnt matter if you are baptized or not, because God´s love is so great that he will save us all. Not everyone that says Lord Lord will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that does the will of God. I know that all of us have to repent and be baptized in the true church.
Love,Elder Willoughby
Dear Family, Well everything is going good here in Barbalha. How are you guys doing? I hope you are doing really great. Its so cool here in Barbalha. Its really has been growing since we got here. The first Sunday there were like 48 members, the next there was like 64 and then yesterday there was like 84. I feel like I am in a movie here. The church is so young in this jungle town. You never know what is going to go wrong at church. For example, this Sunday someone was going to give the closing prayer in sacrament meeting and they got up and started saying something like this, Brothers and Sisters I would like to give you a warning, that next week we would like all the married brothers to be here...and then the branch president cut him off and told him to just say a prayer. I really would like to know what he was going to say. I think I will ask him later. Also it is funny because whenever you say Good Morning brothers and sisters they always say good morning back....always!! So this week was good. One thing we did was go work at the ExpoCrato thing where the church had a tent. IT was kinda lame because last year the missionaries talked with like every single person that passed by and they got all their addresses and stuff, but a bunch of the addresses were wrong and stuff, so this year the president was like just sit back and if someone walks into the tent and is interested then you can talk to them and stuff. THey also had a bunch of animals there which was kind of cool, I got to touch a goat and a sheep. They have these really big cow things with big hump back things, almost like a camel, its called a BOI. So this week we baptized one man named Nei. He is the kinda crazy guy, yet so cool. We found him when we were knocking doors, and he let us in before we even said anything (which alot of people do here). He always speaks what he thinks which is kinda cool. So he is basically the man. So I got 5 letters which is awesome, thank you guys, but I have given up hope of getting the one package that you guys sent in April. Is that the last one you sent. You shouldnt worry about me here, I am doing fine, but thanks!! I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the church that Jesus Christ established, again on the Earth. One thing that annoys me is that a lot of people think that it doesnt matter what church you belong to, it doesnt matter if you are baptized or not, because God´s love is so great that he will save us all. Not everyone that says Lord Lord will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that does the will of God. I know that all of us have to repent and be baptized in the true church.
Love,Elder Willoughby
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
{July 5, 2010}
Dear Family,
Well everything is going really well. I have lots of things to say so I hope I dont forget anything. Alright to answer one question Elder Porto has 2 more transfers and he will end in 21 September.
Alright so when I was at the office one thing that made me feel good about myself was president batt pulled me aside and told me that because I worked well this last transfer he was sending me to Barbalha. But he kinda of scolded me and told me that I have to be perfect here. The missionaries call this the Celestial Kingdom. The two other cities close to here that have missionaries are Juazeiro do Norte and Crato. So the church has been in Juazeiro for 10 years but in Barbalha for only 10 months. In the past 6 months there have been over 100 baptisms. Everyone here is a recent convert. The only one that hasnt been baptized in the past 10 months is the Branch President Silva. He moved here from Rio de Janeiro and is a member for like 15 years. My companion Elder Magno is the Branch Secretary.
What else? So this is the only house in the mission that has 6 elders. Its crazy 6 missionaries for 1 branch. So this week there were just like 45 members at church, 6 missionaries, and 23 investigators. And we had a baptism!! It was an awesome young woman named Márcia. She´s 18 years old. I think they found her through this awesome family that the missionaries before me baptized.
So Elder Magno is awesome. He is from Sao Paulo. He is working hard still which is awesome. I knew him when I was companions with Elder Lopes, he was training Elder Redd. Elder A. Mendonça also lives with us. He was the secretary of finances of the mission. He is really funny and awesome and I love him because he is so cool. He is from the State of A Lagoas. He is training an American named Elder Warn who is from California and cool. Also there is Elder Nascimento who I knew before. He spent the night at my house my first night in the mission field. He saw me being born. He is really cool too. And his companion is Elder Gomes who is cool also and from Sao Paulo. THis is just his second transfer.
SO the busride here was good. We left from fortaleza at 10 pm and got to juazeiro at 6 am and then took a taxi to barbalha. Oh yeah and one cool thing is that Elder Carvalho, my trainer, was one of the missionaries that opened this city. What else???
So Elder King and Elder T Larsen who are both from my group arein Crato so I see them every Tuesday for District Meeting.
Barbalha is cool. So there is this dead guy here named Padre Cicero and everybody loves. him. You can look him up. The cajuina factory Sao Geraldo is close by. The sky at night here is incredible. Here is more like a jungle, and for the first time this week I taught straight up in the jungle, with mosquitoes, palm trees, pigs and all.
For some reason I am not being able to send pictures right now so I will send them later. Oh yeah and here the Zone Leaders only get the mail like every 3 weeks so stuff will take longer to get to me here.Well thats it and tell people to send me letters!
With all the love that my heart posseses,
Elder Willoughby
Well everything is going really well. I have lots of things to say so I hope I dont forget anything. Alright to answer one question Elder Porto has 2 more transfers and he will end in 21 September.
Alright so when I was at the office one thing that made me feel good about myself was president batt pulled me aside and told me that because I worked well this last transfer he was sending me to Barbalha. But he kinda of scolded me and told me that I have to be perfect here. The missionaries call this the Celestial Kingdom. The two other cities close to here that have missionaries are Juazeiro do Norte and Crato. So the church has been in Juazeiro for 10 years but in Barbalha for only 10 months. In the past 6 months there have been over 100 baptisms. Everyone here is a recent convert. The only one that hasnt been baptized in the past 10 months is the Branch President Silva. He moved here from Rio de Janeiro and is a member for like 15 years. My companion Elder Magno is the Branch Secretary.
What else? So this is the only house in the mission that has 6 elders. Its crazy 6 missionaries for 1 branch. So this week there were just like 45 members at church, 6 missionaries, and 23 investigators. And we had a baptism!! It was an awesome young woman named Márcia. She´s 18 years old. I think they found her through this awesome family that the missionaries before me baptized.
So Elder Magno is awesome. He is from Sao Paulo. He is working hard still which is awesome. I knew him when I was companions with Elder Lopes, he was training Elder Redd. Elder A. Mendonça also lives with us. He was the secretary of finances of the mission. He is really funny and awesome and I love him because he is so cool. He is from the State of A Lagoas. He is training an American named Elder Warn who is from California and cool. Also there is Elder Nascimento who I knew before. He spent the night at my house my first night in the mission field. He saw me being born. He is really cool too. And his companion is Elder Gomes who is cool also and from Sao Paulo. THis is just his second transfer.
SO the busride here was good. We left from fortaleza at 10 pm and got to juazeiro at 6 am and then took a taxi to barbalha. Oh yeah and one cool thing is that Elder Carvalho, my trainer, was one of the missionaries that opened this city. What else???
So Elder King and Elder T Larsen who are both from my group arein Crato so I see them every Tuesday for District Meeting.
Barbalha is cool. So there is this dead guy here named Padre Cicero and everybody loves. him. You can look him up. The cajuina factory Sao Geraldo is close by. The sky at night here is incredible. Here is more like a jungle, and for the first time this week I taught straight up in the jungle, with mosquitoes, palm trees, pigs and all.
For some reason I am not being able to send pictures right now so I will send them later. Oh yeah and here the Zone Leaders only get the mail like every 3 weeks so stuff will take longer to get to me here.Well thats it and tell people to send me letters!
With all the love that my heart posseses,
Elder Willoughby
{June 28, 2010}
Dear Family,
Thanks for all the emails and the letters. Well I am kinda of in a hurry right now because I am at the office because I was transfered and there are a lot of missionaries are waiting for the computer. Well this week was good. I am going to Barbalha which is close to Juazeiro do Norte and Crato which is a 12 hour bus ride from here. We leave tonight! My companion will be Elder Magno who is on his last transfer. Sorry its such a short email. Tchau!
Elder Willoughby
Thanks for all the emails and the letters. Well I am kinda of in a hurry right now because I am at the office because I was transfered and there are a lot of missionaries are waiting for the computer. Well this week was good. I am going to Barbalha which is close to Juazeiro do Norte and Crato which is a 12 hour bus ride from here. We leave tonight! My companion will be Elder Magno who is on his last transfer. Sorry its such a short email. Tchau!
Elder Willoughby
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