Tuesday, December 30, 2008

FELIZ NATAL

Sorry I didnt update this week, but im updating now.
So, i think Im just gonna stop guessing about transfers...like my mom said, i was wrong again.....the thing is that the Zone Leaders do this thing called indicaçoes that tells president what everyone should do for transfers...and since ive been in the district with the Assistants, nothing has happened as the zone leaders have said. They have been saying for 5 transfers that i should go Zone Leader...but i dont think the assistants like me cuz i treat them like normal missionaries, and not the gods they think they are haha. but Im staying here in Campo Pequeno. Elder Wilson is leaving to one of dad´s areas, Estoril. My new comp is going to be Elder Watkins. Hes a transfer older than me and....not many missionaries get along well with him from what ive heard....but we´ll see. I wasnt really expecting this at all and already said my goodbyes to everyone. Everyone is going to be surprised when I show up to church again on sunday haha.
This whole week, nothing really exciting happened. Christmas was good, we just spent the day with other elders, it was fun.
Christmas eve we were invited to a members house to eat. We didnt start eating till late, adn we had already eaten at chilis a few hours before so i wasnt hungry. First they brought out shrimp(still in the shell with eyes legs and everything..thats how they eat it here) and bread and cheese, I didnt really eat much, I dont really mind shrimp but i dont like taking it out of the shell and it looks disgusting. Elder Wilson LOVED it. he ate soooooo much, probably a couple pounds of shrimp. Then they brought out Cod Fish (which is traditional christmas food here) Elder Wilson didnt know there was more. But he loved it and ate tons of cod fish. I usually like how they prepare the cod here, but this was just grilled and it was really chewy and boney and yuck...it wasnt that good. Luckily it was late so we used the excuse that he have to be home on time, so we left. and went to the other elders house, slept there and had christmas in the morning.
The rest of the week I visited lots of members cuz i thought I was leaving....it was fun though.
Elder Wilson has been freaking out all week, first cuz i was leaving and he was scared of how he was gonna be when I left...then even more when he found out he was leaving and didnt say goodbye to people. This morning he packed....it was one of the most funny and enjoyable things ive ever seen just watching that kid pack. It was a mess! i just sat back and chuckled to myself as he frantically did everything.
We taught a lesson with pepi to another investigator (cuz pepi is a member now so he helps out with the missionaries) He teaches REALLY well. I was just sittign there thinking, "wow...i never taught him how to do that" or "I dotn remember teaching him that" but he teaches better than me, i was very impressed. Then we went to his house and taught his girlfriend via webcam in brazil. He was very sincere with her, he really wants her to get a book of mormon and read it and he really wants to marry her in the temple. it was cool, shes a good girl too, I think she wont have a problem finding out the truth.
And thats about it this week.
I hope everyone has a good new year! I dont really have any plans but...meh
Tchau todos!
-Elder Rhett
PS. I hope my christmas presents got to everyone...and there is more christmas on the way! ;)

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

1 week to go

hey everyone! so......im done with another week cool huh! Its crazy, I hit my slump day in 3 days....Ive been on the mission for 18 months! whoa!
But.....
The week was good. Its been cold here....not as cold as there, but its humid and im used to the warmer weather here now so im always freezing. It stays around 9ºC. and its been raining nonstop for about 1.5 weeks.
Elder Wilson LOVES the cold and wet weather and is always like making fun of me for not liking it....and that gets annoying....Its been a very annoying 2 transfers. I love the kid, and hes a very nice kid and we get along alright, just every day I wake up and want to hit my head against the wall haha just kidding. One particuarly rainy and cold morning we had a streetmeeting schedueled. (streetmeeting is where we get together as a zone in one area and contact people) well Elder Wilson was estatic that it was raining and said he had been praying for it, but because of the rain, the streetmeeting was canceled right before we had to go out after our studies and we didnt have anything else planned that day. So needless to say i wasnt too happy. Cuz i didnt want to go get soaked in the rain trying to contact people on the street that wouldnt listen cuz it was raining or knocking doors that no one would open cuz its morning. But i decided to visit this guy named Arton that we passed by a week or 2 ago and left a christmas message. Hes a nice guy from Sao Tome Principe, and has a friend named Cristino that lives with him, and also a daughter named susana. So we went over there and i was getting annoyed by everyhting Elder Wilson was doing (which is not normal for me to do with anyone else....he just knows how to hit all my buttons wrongly) but we went to this guys house and luckily he was there. So we went in, waited for him to finish somethin in the kitchen and while we were waiting, his friend Cristino comes in and starts talking with us. He said hes feeling sickwith his back and leg. and wanted to know if we did prayers for the sick. We told him we could give him a blessing after the lesson.
Arton came in and we taught them a good 1st lesson and watched the restoration. They both had really good questions and his daughter was in there to watch the movie! they were really interested and after the lesson we gave Cristino a blessing, and it was really cool, the spirit was awesoem. Then we left and went to a ward party and dinner at Pepis (which was really good. We go tto teach his mom and his moms boyfriend) At the party Elder Wilson realized he left our keys at Artons house....so that night we had to go back to get the keys, we got them and invited him again to church the next day. He said maybe. Well at church the next day, durring sunday school, arton shows up. and then in sacrament it ewas the primary program, he loved it. then just last night he showed up to aulas to ingles!
And then on division the other day, Elder Wilson and Smith stayed here and went and taught Cristino again cuz he wanted another blessing. And things could be really good with this family, im excited. So it was a good ending to a day that started off really bad haha.
Also we have an investigator named Laurinda. A really old lady that has been coming to church for years but doesnt want to be baptised and is kinda senile. But she loves the Elders and has started warming up alot to us. I think she likes me alot. But yesterday, she committed to be baptised finally! She still needs to understand about...everything cuz its hard for her to grasp all the contents of the lessons, even when we teach them simply. But at least shes making progress!
We had a good ward christmas party. We put on the nativity and I was an angel! haha. Me and Elder Wilson and Pepi also performed the Little Drummer Boy song in portuguese! it was awesome! I played the Bongos, Pepi played guitar and elder Wilson sung. sadly, we didnt get that on camera....but it was awesome. Pepi is an awesome member.
Lets see...what else happened.....
Oh I got a letter from that brazilian family that I taught in Olhao, Juliane Gessyca and Manuela. (gessyca is the one that looks like sister sister) that was really cool! they said that they are all reading the book of mormon and listening to the elders. I dont know if they jsut said that to make me feel good, but at least they are thinking about it haha.
Well.....next week is christmas, so everyone prepare...i would not decline any letters or packages sent to me :D haha jk
(Elder Rhett Hildebrandt
Rua Jorge Barradas 14.c
1500 Lisboa
Portugal) haha

Th-t-th-thats all folk!
-elder Rhett

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

I never want to get hurt in portugal

Its been a crazy week this week. believe it or not....Wilson did it again, We were moving furniture around in our room and he goes to lift a little night stand thats by his bed...and a window....he lifts and his shoulder goes through the window...shattering it. So now wilson has a grand total of 2 windows broken, and he still doesnt ahve any personal money....Luckily he sent for his card last week and should be getting it soon....and ill make him pay me back...there is no way im leaving without money cuz ive been jipped lately. Wilsonºs a good kid, and a really nice kid, and he doesnt try to be malicious in his doings...hes just kinda......doido (dad will know what that is) This week he also broke an old oil lamp that was in our house cuz he hit the coat rack it was on really hard and it fell and shatterd the glass and broke the metal...ANd he broke a chair at Pepis house just by touching it...and pepi was sitting on it...wilson touched the chair and pepi fell cuz the legs came out under him and broke....AND our neighbor (this old lady) on the 1st floor has a broken window cuz she said glass fell from our window, hit her window and broke it. That one im not buying at ALL. 1st of all its very unlikely that a piece of glass could break a window, and 2...the window that was broken on her isnt the one directly below the window wilson broke....its to the left and AROUND a corner...so she just wants money or something, i already told her that it wasnt our fault and not paying....but wilsons bad luck is INTENSE.
Something else exciting happened yesterday, I was on a division with another elder in my district and we were walking home, I passed a parked car and thought I saw something, i stop and walk back and theres an old man laying on the ground with his coat over his head...right onthe street, not moving. I looked up and there were 2 girls and some other people gathered around. I asked what happened and they said that they think he fell and heºs bleeding from his head. I asked if they checked his pulse and they said hes been moving a bit and that they called an ambulance about 30 minutes ago. I think and im like well, we need to keep this guy awake. I look at the guys head, and its hurt and bleeding, not bleeding really bad but his forhead had a nice bang on it. Then i start talking to him, tell him to stay awake, dont sleep. One of the girls said that he only responded to her in english, so I started talking to him in english, telling him to stay awake, asking his name but he wouldnt say anything. But he did move around some. Turns out its an old Ukranian guy that lives around there. Finally after a few minutes, the police show up, a female cop gets out of the cop car and comes over, she takes off the guys coat and starts asking him questions. The girls say that he doents respond to english, then the girl cop puts the coat back on the guys head and starts asking what happened and stuff. The girls says and then she just stands back and tells everyone not to touch the guy cuz no one is a registered medic. and then the cop doenst do anything,
Then an old lady from the window comes out and says "oh that guy is still there, i saw him get knicked by a car and fall down about an hour or so ago" and then one of the girls snapped at the old lady "and you didnt tell anyone or call the ambulance!?" then the cop tells the girl to calm down and the girl is like "sorry, its just a stressful situation" then takes out a cig and starts smoking. Then another old lady comes walking by and is like...oh an ambulance already came and looked at this guy about an hour ago... and the girl was like "and they didnt do anything? thats unbelieveable" and lthe cop is like "well if he doesnt have any documentation, they cant do anything". Well then the girl cops partner comes...and he is the BIGGEST jerk ever. he goes over to the guy and takes off his coat and starts just joking with him and poking him. then puts the coat back over his head and was like "oh just let him sleep, hes just drunk" and then the whole time he was just making fun of this guy...then he starts brutally rummaging through the mans pockets for ID and the man starts freaking out. I keep him calm and the girls start yelling at the cop cuz hes hurting the man more. He finds a wallet and starts going though it, while im still trying to talk to the man, keeping him awake. Then i realize that this guy is in shock and hes shivering....so me and Elder Smith decide to go get a blanket from our house cuz the ambulance isnt showing up. So we run home (it wasnt far) get a blanket and run back, but by that time, an ambulance had already shown up and was taking the guy in. The police officer came over and thanked us, but still in avery lighthearted way.
I never want to get hurt here in portugal. It was RIDICULOUS! they could have cared less about that guy...except for the girls that were there. It was horrible. I hope the guy is alright, I wish i did more, thinking back there is tons I could have done that i didnt. It was really an eye opener.
Well....on to better stuff, A few days ago, we had a conference with Elder Causee of the 70. He gave a talk in last general conference. The french guy. He was really good. I enjoyed it alot and i learned alot.
Our investigators are doing well, Milton (the nephew of a member) told us yesterday that he knows the book of mormon is true and hes scheduled to be baptised on the 3rd! the only problem is that his mom is against it. So hes going to have to talk to his mom. We cant talk to her cuz shes still in Cabo Verde. So weºll hope that his mom permits him.
Pepi is still doing awesome....weºve found a couple of families and taught them, they might have potential, weºll see. But the work is going relaly well.
Oh and a little post mission stuff... I was talking to some people about rooming with them at BYU after the mission, we have me and 3 other people that want to start a turtle house. Have an apartment or smaller house and weºre gonna decorate it with turtle stuff and then also each of us have a turtle...so itºll have to be soemthing that allows small pets. its gonna be awesome!
And that was my week!
Keep it real!
-Rhett

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

28 days later....divided by 4....

So my week was pretty cool. heres what happened!
Thanksgiving went REALLY well. I cooked a turkey, ham, stuffing, candy yams, apple pie (all of which i had never made before), mashed potatoes, gravy, jello, salad, pudding, and I think thats about it. But it all turned out DELICIOUS! there were 14 people i cooked for and everyone loved it. Everyone played soccer while I cooked then we all came in and ate and shared stories and stuff. it was a really good traditional feeling thanksgiving.
Sorry, i dotn really have any big Elder Wilson stories....he always starts very awkward situations....like we (me and a couple elders) were talking about old people and funny stuff they do and then randomly he says he grandpa died a year ago....talk about a conversation kill...stuff like that happens often lol. Oh and the other day we were leaving from Pepis house and it was dark, pepi lives on the 3rd story so we have to go down stairs and when we were leaving pepi says "Elder Wilson, be careful going down the stairs" cuz Pepi knows how clumsy he is. well sure enough weºre going down the stairs, elder wilson slips on a stair and twists his ankle. haha, it wasnt anything bad, he walked it off and was fine but it was funny.
As for the work, we had a lesson with this inactive member we found from cabo verde named Maria. and we thought her 12 year old daughter was a member, but shes not, but shes really cool and really funny....a perfect girlfriend for shea hahaha :P but we taught maria and her daughter and maria invited her boyfriend over and we watched the restoration video and they all liked it. So we got 2 new investigators through maria!
Also on sunday when we were waiting for the bus to go to church, a guy came up to us and asked us where an address he had written down on a paper was, we looked at it and it turned out to be the address of the chaple. WE were like, ya, weºre going there right now. Then he recognised us as the elders and he came with us to church. hes an inactive member from brazil who moved here, never really went to church, he and his family were baptised when he was 12 (hes 26 now) but he never really went to church, but randomly he came back and really liked it. His names Rinaldo.
Pepi got to pass the sacrament at church last week, it was amazing. He didnt own any white shirts or ties, but the 1st councilor gave him a white shirt and 2 ties and then he went and bought slack and new dress shoes. He looked sharp. It was really cool. Before his baptism he asked about wearing white shirt and tie. I told him it wasnt NESSECARY but he always should try and look his best. And he really didtn want to wear it cuz he doesnt like it. but after his baptism he really wanted to wear a white shirt and tie...it was cool, hes also been trying to share the gospel with people. Hes been calling us up with doubts people have that he doesnt know how to respond. Its really cool seeing him progress. WEve been teaching him about the temple and hes really excited togo when possible.
I had to do something I didnt like doing last monday at district meeting. I had to lay into my district and repremand them, cuz we have to report numbers every week, like lessons taught, new investigators, baptisms, people marked for baptism, etc. one of the things we have to report is the number of hours of prosylliting we do int he week (time outside of lessons when we are knocking doors, making contacts on the street etc) normally in a week a companionship gets around 15 hours. well last week, my district got 10.5 TOTAL. and me and elder wilson got 8 of those hours. So I had to really lay into my district cuz they were slacking off, especially the assistants to the president. Theyre supposed to be the example for the mission and they didnt do anything last week. I didnt like doing that but it needed to be done.
Hmm....i cant think of anything else exciting that has happened. So that was my week.
Talk to yall later!
-Rhett
PS. Keep Smilin´ or whatever else you feel like doin! haha