So my birthday was this week, and it was no different than any other day. I was going to make myself a milkshake, but here, fast Sunday starts after lunch on saturday and ends after church. But Friday was
super cool!
This Friday we planned a huge activity for the Branch, and Elder Young was having a hard time coming up with something. So I brought up an activity that Bishop Mabb had done with me at Scout Camp. The activity involved blindfolding everyone and leading them to a course of strings that led in all different directions. One leading to the end. This represented our life and when we took a wrong path, we were making mistakes. We started upstairs of the church building and I was an angel (my tie around my head and a peice of tape over my tag that read "Elder Anjo") and i led them downstairs and they started. Elder
young was already downstairs and would help people who were lost. This represented Scriptures, or Prophets or church or whatever. Then once everyone made it we had a good devotional and ate lots of ice cream. So that was a good birthday present for me :)
We have a new Elder in our district from Tonga, and he is even newer than me! So I am not the newest anymore! SWEET!
Oh, and one other cool thing I discovered, Thursday was my 100th day of my mission! That was fast! And crazy long... Weird...
As far as Portuguese goes, lets just say I wrote grandma and Grandpa in Portuguese already, and this is harder. I am not fluent yet, still got 13 days, but its definitly less of a problem. Some days are better than others. Saturday my Portuguese was actually pretty bad, but yesterday was awesome! To be honest, the hardest part is hearing them. Just like at home, I can't hear people too well. Language isn't the problem a lot of the time, just hearing.
Anyways, I'm doing pretty good! We've been teaching this kid Alex (18 years old) and hes extremely receptive. So he may be my first baptism this Saturday! We'll see! I love you guys so much! Thanks for the birthday wishes. Talk to you next week!
Elder Biggs
_______________________________
March 9th 2015 Week 16!!!
This week was fairly uneventful to be honest... Found a lot of new investigators, dropped a lot of old investigators (because they weren't progressing), GOT dropped by a couple investigators, and I made pizza!
As far as out of the usual... we had zone conference. Got a letter from Grandma and Grandpa, but not the one from Dad. But this week we have Mission Conference, and I'll get it then.
I did learn a good deal about the Atonement and the Sacrament this week and what it really means to be cleansed through the Savior, as well as just how far the Atonement can stretch.
OH! I gave my first talk in Sacrament meeting... Wasn't bad, but wasn't good... Language wise, it was fine, but our sacrament meetings lack that spirit that church is supposed to have. We had lots of meetings with the Branch and leaders in the branch on how to fix that.
But other than that, a pretty good week. I did discover oatmeal and how its basically like little wheaties, and I eat a bunch of it everyday now. Seriously, my favorite thing right is oatmeal! It's AWESOME! But yeah... this week is sure to be more exciting as Mission Conference is on Thursday, so I promise next week will be more exciting!
Love you guys
Elder Biggs
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March 16th 2015 "Chasing Buses in Suits while Carrying Dinner" - A new song I'm working on
So this week
has been fun! And long.
 |
| Me and E. Young leaving Trindade |
Elder young
is going home today and I will meet my new comp after. I am staying in
Trindade and will probably be here for the next 6 months (which is common
apparently). Yesterday after church Elder Young told one person that he
was leaving and last night we had a "meeting" with this person at the
church which ended up being a goodbye party for him. Its interesting to see how
much the Branch really loves their Branch President. Lots of tears were
shed and even more photos taken. We gave everyone our FB info so they can tag
us (their idea).
In other
news, this week we had (half) mission conference in Juazeiro Da Norte (5 hour
drive). That was really fun and included designing flags and I totally
designed ours! Afterwards, my Zone had to leave and catch the bus heading
back, but Elder Young and I missed it by 5 minutes. So what did we do? We
chased it down. About a mile of sprinting in suits with our bags and I
had dinner for the Zone. We finally caught it at a stoplight and it took
me almost the whole 5 hour drive to recover.
I figured
out how to whistle finally! And am trying to learn how to whistle the Andy
Griffith theme. I only whistle though when Elder young isn’t around
because it is super annoying still.
So that was
my week. Haven’t baptized anyone yet, but there is a family that has
attended church a couple times, has a testimony, and want to be baptized.
But the parents aren’t married. So... They either will get married and be
baptized in about a month, or sleep in different house until they get married
and be baptized this Sunday. They’re talking about it and we'll talk to them on
Wednesday.
Thanks for
all the emails and letters! I love all you guys so much.
Have a good
week
Elder Biggs
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March 23rd Crazy Weird Week!
 |
| The area I have been serving in this week |
Greetings
from Fortaleza! My Companion is
Elder Kreling (Brazilian) and I'm a Zone Leader!!! And I'm only kinda kidding!
 |
| Me, E. Kreling, Micaele, and her brother Bruno |
Ok. So, E
Young and I arrived in Fortaleza on Tuesday to pick up my new comp so we could
return to Trindade. But he wasnt there.
Apparently, President hadn't even done transfers yet. And instead of
waiting around for a week, I worked with Elder Kreling for a whole week, who is
a zone leader. And the best part:
I had no clothes or money. Thinking I'd spend about 2 hours in Fortaleza, I
brought nothing but money enough to return. So every night I washed all my clothes and just ate lunch
and gross old bread. And I'm
leaving today.
But I did
read a scripture (in Mathew I think) when Jesus sends out the 12 for their
missions and tells them not to bring money or "a second coat" and not
worry about food, that if they relied on the Lord, all would be provided. And since this talked EXACTLY about my
current situation, I decided to follow it. That night I was crazy hungry and had nothing to eat or buy
food with and as we were walking through the rainy night, a member stopped us
and invited us in, and fed us dinner.
It was the first time I had ever been fed dinner and I thought it was
pretty cool.
 |
| A long day of walking in the sun, gratefully it poured on us! |
Anyways, my
Portuguese is almost, ALMOST "fluent." Its good, but... you know... still not perfect. Apparently about 80% of the areas are
in Fortaleza, so I'll definitly be serving in the city eventually. This area that I was in, Tamandaré, was
kinda like the Mesa to Phoenix.
Little nicer, really good roads, had a whole stake. Way different than the last 11
weeks. E Kreling "worked"
but only when it was convenient. When it rained, was too hot, or when we passed
by the church, he wanted to stop.
So that was an interesting difference between Elder Young.
It's weird
that while I was in Trindade, all I wanted to do was leave. But right now, I
wanna go back crazy bad. I'm going
to meet my new comp, Elder Rodriguez, at the bus station in 2 hours and head
back!
Oh, and I had my first baptism!!! A little 9 year old girl named
Micaele (Me-Cai-Ellie) who totally reminded me of Ellie. I invited her to be baptized on Tuesday
(her Brother was baptized last week and was confirmed yesterday) and taught her
and she chose me to baptize her!
Was definitly super cool!
Anyways, I'm
glad to hear all the good news from home!
I always read all the letters before writing this, and I'm excited to
hear from you guys next week.
Elder Biggs
_____________________________________
March 30th 2015 New Companion
Directly
after my time on the computer last week (in the mission office) President
called me into his office. He had been doing interviews all day and said
"Your Turn" (he is fluent in English, but the way he talks in English
is kinda funny). He didn't sit down, just closed the door and said,
"Elder, I'm going to say this very directly. Elder Young
didn't care about you. he had lots of things in his head and unfortunately, you weren't really one of them. But he did teach you -by
example- how to work. Your new companion has a very sweet heart, but is a
little negotiable Right now I trust you. I don’t trust you
very much or very little. I either trust you or I dont, and right now I
trust you. And only you can change that. Right now you are in test (he
said 'in test') with this very difficult area and a companion who will rely on
you." He then told me that I'd have an interview with him later this
week, and I left.
After this,
I met Elder Rodrigues at the bus station, and we headed off to Trindade.
He is Brazilian, from Manaus, shorter than I am, has 1y8m on his mission and is
pretty cool. Elder young never talked to me or laughed at anything or
made me laugh, we jst walked. E Rodrigues and I talk, make jokes, buy ice
cream every once in a while, and already are pretty good friends. He is
definitly more negotiable, but has a great love of President.
 |
| This is where we study like bosses! |
Today, I
have been in the feild for 3 months, and it feels like its been 1,000 days, but
not 3 months yet. Weird. But this week has passed by crazy fast,
and I think that might be because Ive been taking initiative and leading.
I have been trying to work just as hard as Elder Young, and follow all the
rules still. Our numbers weren't great this week (granted we had 2 days
less than usual) but still. We decided on a small portion of Trindade to
work in that is close to our house and the church. This way we can be doing
more teaching and less walking.
My
Portuguese has already improved a lot with E Rodrigues. All the members
yesterday at church told me that i seemed different. One even asked me
"What happened in Fortaleza? You left last week and came back completely
different." Even the kids and youth were telling me that my Portuguese
sounded better. But in my journal and even this email, I've thought
"whats that word again?" or "How do you phrase that sentence?" It's fun!
Anyways, I
love you guys very much! We should be baptizing a woman and a 15 year old
boy this Saturday after conference, so cross your fingers! Oh, and only 6
more weeks until morhers day!
Elder Biggs
