Well....its finally happening, Im coming home. Funny, cuz it seems like Im leaving home. (stolen from the other side of heaven) haha. But actually.....my feelings about coming home arent really anything. It hasnt really hit me I guess. Like Im sitting here typing my last email, but it seems like Im just going to wake up tomorrow and do missionary work as normal. So to answer your question...i feel normal.... I did say my goodbyes, but it really didnt feel like i was saying goodbye. Just seemed like a goodbye when i get transfered or something. So maybe it´ll really hit me when im actually LEAVING the country. but I dunno.
This week was a really good and busy week. It kinda sucks but we just got a bunch of new elect investigators....right as Im leaving! Why couldnt they have come a transfer ago!
But we have this one girl that came to church 2 weeks ago named Ema. Shes 14 and was invited by a member to come to church. she loved it and came back the next week and brought her boyfriend and brother. Both of them loved it. and just yesterday we taught the 1st lesson and they enjoyed that. They freely expressed their questions and understood really well
Then we have Marisa. Shes this new investigator that we got last week. I think i mentioned her in my email last week about how her daughter was explaining everything to her in the lesson, cuz the daughter was understanding but she wasnt. Anyway, last sunday Marisa came to church and LOVED it. she made a bunch of friends and then there was a baptism after church at 4:30 and she came to that too and LOVED it. she stayed around after and helped clean up and everything. Then later that day we saw her daughter on the road and talked to her and she said how much her mom loved church and now the daughter next week wants to go. yesterday we taught both of them again and we talked to Marisa about church and she said "i really really like your church, but the members...." and i was like "great...she already has a complaint about the members" she continued "they dont do enough missionary work! if they were out doing the stuff you guys are doing that church would be HUGE. so you need to tell your members to start preaching the gospel!"
it was awesome. Shes really elect, same with her daughter. We left the Restaration DVD with them the saturday before and she watched it 3 more times...the daughter watched it 2 times in portuguese 1 in english and 1 in german (cuz she speaks all 3 languages)
so ya...then we have this one couple that has come to church the last 2 weeks in a row. the wife had quadruplets 2 months ago, but lost 3 of them...and now owes the hospital alot of money. so she went seeking help and talked to our bishop and now they´re coming to church and we're teaching them. its cool.
We also had a streetmeeting where I grafittied the plan of salvation! We got a bunch of paper a sheet of 4x2 meters and I grafitied it! it was really cool, drew lots of attention!
But this week was really good....my last time at church we broke the record for investigators at sacrament. we had 11 there! SO my last week as a missionary ended VERY well.
THe mission was awesome! Definately a good choice! haha. It sucks that Im leaving but it has to happen.
My testimony has grown a ton! I know that God really does live and he works everyday in our lives. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that he died for all of us. I know for a fact that Christs church. his true and living church is on the earth at this time and is lead by a prophet that talks and communicated directly with God. I know that on that spring morning, Joseph Smith saw God the Father and the Son and that he was called to restore the church of God on the earth again.
of this I testify with love for the last time as a missionary in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Love,
Elder Rhett Dustin Hildebrandt
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Walkin the green mile
1
So...this is my last week. Im walkin the green mile. its kinda like ripping off a bandaid really slowly....like i know it has to come off...and it will feel good once it does...but its painful....
anyway...update
We got some new investigators. Marisa and her 19 yr old daughter. we contacted Marisa on the street and then we went by her house to teach and her daughter understood everything really well, and even had to explain it to her mom who wasnt getting it very well. it was really cool. I could see them progressing alot.
Then we 3 new people come to church that members brought! its way cool that the members are catching onto the fire of missionary work. we´ll meet with those people soon
Then as far as our other investigatores, Afra, she isnt progressing that much so we kinda had to go over and tell her if she doesnt start reading and going to church more often, theres other people who are waiting to hear this message and we cant waste our tiem. Hopefully that will knock some sense into her.
Then we also had an interesting experiece come Armindo. This caboverdian we are teaching thats lonely and sick and away from his family to get medical treatment for diabetes here. But he doesnt pay attention in the lessons much and always has excuses for not doing stuff. But elder Thomas has a greenie puppy dog love for him and its like one of his fav investigators. Anyway, the other elders had a baptism this saturday and we invited him and told him we would meet him close by the church at the bottom of soem stairs 15 minutes before 5 (cuz thats when the baptism was) well we later find out that the baptism isnt untill 7, but it was already almost 5 so we wait at the bottom of the stairs just to tell him that its not at 5, but at 7. So we wait and wait and he doesnt show up. so Elder Thomas wanted to walk ALL the way up to his house to tell him it was at 7 even though he didnt show up at 5 (when he thought it was) so reluctantly i agreed and we walked up this huge hill to his house and told him we would meet him in the same place at 6:45. he agreed and we go back. well 6:45 rolls around and we go wait...and wait and wait. Elder Thomas with his puppy dog eyes looking up the stairs, waiting. It gets to be almost 7 and i was like "lets just go." So elder Thomas starts running up the stairs toward his house. Im like "no, back to the church" then he started complaining and wanted to go to his house to get him. I was like "he didnt come the 1st time...didnt come the second time...hes not gonna come if we go up there". but he insisted so we went ALL the way up there again. We get there and.....hes not even home. I could see Elder Thomas´s heart break. but we went back to the church, the baptism had already started. We walk in and who do we see, none other than Armindo sitting there! it was pretty cool. Elder Thomas was happy. but then we invited him to church the next day...and he didnt show up :( oh well.
And.....thats about it since friday!
well......ttyl!!!!! or soon!
-Rhett
So...this is my last week. Im walkin the green mile. its kinda like ripping off a bandaid really slowly....like i know it has to come off...and it will feel good once it does...but its painful....
anyway...update
We got some new investigators. Marisa and her 19 yr old daughter. we contacted Marisa on the street and then we went by her house to teach and her daughter understood everything really well, and even had to explain it to her mom who wasnt getting it very well. it was really cool. I could see them progressing alot.
Then we 3 new people come to church that members brought! its way cool that the members are catching onto the fire of missionary work. we´ll meet with those people soon
Then as far as our other investigatores, Afra, she isnt progressing that much so we kinda had to go over and tell her if she doesnt start reading and going to church more often, theres other people who are waiting to hear this message and we cant waste our tiem. Hopefully that will knock some sense into her.
Then we also had an interesting experiece come Armindo. This caboverdian we are teaching thats lonely and sick and away from his family to get medical treatment for diabetes here. But he doesnt pay attention in the lessons much and always has excuses for not doing stuff. But elder Thomas has a greenie puppy dog love for him and its like one of his fav investigators. Anyway, the other elders had a baptism this saturday and we invited him and told him we would meet him close by the church at the bottom of soem stairs 15 minutes before 5 (cuz thats when the baptism was) well we later find out that the baptism isnt untill 7, but it was already almost 5 so we wait at the bottom of the stairs just to tell him that its not at 5, but at 7. So we wait and wait and he doesnt show up. so Elder Thomas wanted to walk ALL the way up to his house to tell him it was at 7 even though he didnt show up at 5 (when he thought it was) so reluctantly i agreed and we walked up this huge hill to his house and told him we would meet him in the same place at 6:45. he agreed and we go back. well 6:45 rolls around and we go wait...and wait and wait. Elder Thomas with his puppy dog eyes looking up the stairs, waiting. It gets to be almost 7 and i was like "lets just go." So elder Thomas starts running up the stairs toward his house. Im like "no, back to the church" then he started complaining and wanted to go to his house to get him. I was like "he didnt come the 1st time...didnt come the second time...hes not gonna come if we go up there". but he insisted so we went ALL the way up there again. We get there and.....hes not even home. I could see Elder Thomas´s heart break. but we went back to the church, the baptism had already started. We walk in and who do we see, none other than Armindo sitting there! it was pretty cool. Elder Thomas was happy. but then we invited him to church the next day...and he didnt show up :( oh well.
And.....thats about it since friday!
well......ttyl!!!!! or soon!
-Rhett
Friday, June 12, 2009
Only 1 more full week!
2
Man, its ending sooooooo soon. CWAZY!
Anyway, onto this week.....
it was really good. Pday last week we went to the Zoo and I got kissed by a sealion :) it was really fun. Then this pday we went to Quinta de Reguleira....it was the 5th time that ive been there haha. but its a really cool place.
Elder Thomas had another greenie moment this week. It was raining and we were walking home for lunch and i was walking under the cover of the buildings cuz we didnt have umbrellas. He was in the middle of the road a little bit a head of me. I looked over and he was walking toward soem people at a cafe that were motioning him over, with a big smile on his face. One of the people was teasing him, asking him where he was from...and Elder Thomas stood there with a confused look on his face. didnt know what he was saying. I finally went over there to save him and the guy just was just messing with us. Making fun of us. So we left. I was laughing cuz i thought it was funny and Elder Thomas still didnt know what was going on and what the dude was talking about haha.
Also on sunday we were talking with one of our members named Irma Felix. And she´s a little crazy but she was saying how she gave out 10 book of mormons to her neighbors. So we set up with her so that we could go with her and she could present us to them. Anywho, we go over there and she takes us from door to door. I didnt expect many people to be interested cuz shes crazy and they probably just took the book out of sympathy. We knocked on the doors and the people that answered all said that they were busy and didnt want to hear anything. So we went to the last house, which is the house of her cousin. (and they actually lived in houses, in this neighborhood) We knock at the gate, and her cousins daughter comes out whos about 20 years old. Irma Felix tells her that we´re here to talk about Christ. The daughter pulled her aside and started talking to her quiet but sternly that she was sick of her coming over and talking about Christ and how she didnt want to hear of any of this and stuff like that. Then Irma Felix started yelling and saying that God was gonna curse the house and how everyone that lives inside is going to be cursed, then she X´d the house number. THen the daughter started yelling and SLAPPED Irma Felix across the face. the started attacking her! Pullign her hair, ripped her blouse, tore off her necklace, etc. it was crazy. We broke up the fight and she briskly walked away. We pulled Irma Felix off the ground who was crying now and walked her over to the other side of the road where the neighbors were watching. then the daughter came back and slapped her in the face again. She fell to the floor and cried again and the daughter ran off. One of the neighbors called the police and we waited until the police came. then the police talked to the daughter and Irma Felix. and we waited and waited and waited, thinking that they were gonna ask us for our testimonies or info or something. We finally just went up to them and asked and they were like "nah, we dont need it, if we need it in the future we´ll be in contact" so we said bye and left. It was really crazy. Then just 2 days ago, we saw another fight between 2 portuguese punk teenagers. it was hilarious cuz they couldnt fight at all. their punches were SOO weak and it was really funny just watching them try and fight haha.
In other news, we marked one of our investigators for baptism. Armindo. Hes a really a humble dude. So I hope it all goes well for him. We also got a new investigator that seems really golden. Her name is Teresa. Shes 40 years old, used to be a model or something, but now she has Multiple Sclerosis. When she was diagnosed her husband left her and now shes alone with a 10 yr odl and a 20 yr old. Its a really sad situation, but she has a really positive attitude and was really excited to read and pray about the BOM. we´re going to be passing by again on monday and giving her a blessing.
We still havent talked to the people whos friend died. Stuff keeps on coming up and they have to cancel the appointments.
But everyone else is doing about the same. Im sprinting until the end!
Man, its ending sooooooo soon. CWAZY!
Anyway, onto this week.....
it was really good. Pday last week we went to the Zoo and I got kissed by a sealion :) it was really fun. Then this pday we went to Quinta de Reguleira....it was the 5th time that ive been there haha. but its a really cool place.
Elder Thomas had another greenie moment this week. It was raining and we were walking home for lunch and i was walking under the cover of the buildings cuz we didnt have umbrellas. He was in the middle of the road a little bit a head of me. I looked over and he was walking toward soem people at a cafe that were motioning him over, with a big smile on his face. One of the people was teasing him, asking him where he was from...and Elder Thomas stood there with a confused look on his face. didnt know what he was saying. I finally went over there to save him and the guy just was just messing with us. Making fun of us. So we left. I was laughing cuz i thought it was funny and Elder Thomas still didnt know what was going on and what the dude was talking about haha.
Also on sunday we were talking with one of our members named Irma Felix. And she´s a little crazy but she was saying how she gave out 10 book of mormons to her neighbors. So we set up with her so that we could go with her and she could present us to them. Anywho, we go over there and she takes us from door to door. I didnt expect many people to be interested cuz shes crazy and they probably just took the book out of sympathy. We knocked on the doors and the people that answered all said that they were busy and didnt want to hear anything. So we went to the last house, which is the house of her cousin. (and they actually lived in houses, in this neighborhood) We knock at the gate, and her cousins daughter comes out whos about 20 years old. Irma Felix tells her that we´re here to talk about Christ. The daughter pulled her aside and started talking to her quiet but sternly that she was sick of her coming over and talking about Christ and how she didnt want to hear of any of this and stuff like that. Then Irma Felix started yelling and saying that God was gonna curse the house and how everyone that lives inside is going to be cursed, then she X´d the house number. THen the daughter started yelling and SLAPPED Irma Felix across the face. the started attacking her! Pullign her hair, ripped her blouse, tore off her necklace, etc. it was crazy. We broke up the fight and she briskly walked away. We pulled Irma Felix off the ground who was crying now and walked her over to the other side of the road where the neighbors were watching. then the daughter came back and slapped her in the face again. She fell to the floor and cried again and the daughter ran off. One of the neighbors called the police and we waited until the police came. then the police talked to the daughter and Irma Felix. and we waited and waited and waited, thinking that they were gonna ask us for our testimonies or info or something. We finally just went up to them and asked and they were like "nah, we dont need it, if we need it in the future we´ll be in contact" so we said bye and left. It was really crazy. Then just 2 days ago, we saw another fight between 2 portuguese punk teenagers. it was hilarious cuz they couldnt fight at all. their punches were SOO weak and it was really funny just watching them try and fight haha.
In other news, we marked one of our investigators for baptism. Armindo. Hes a really a humble dude. So I hope it all goes well for him. We also got a new investigator that seems really golden. Her name is Teresa. Shes 40 years old, used to be a model or something, but now she has Multiple Sclerosis. When she was diagnosed her husband left her and now shes alone with a 10 yr odl and a 20 yr old. Its a really sad situation, but she has a really positive attitude and was really excited to read and pray about the BOM. we´re going to be passing by again on monday and giving her a blessing.
We still havent talked to the people whos friend died. Stuff keeps on coming up and they have to cancel the appointments.
But everyone else is doing about the same. Im sprinting until the end!
-Rhett
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Three more weeks
3
Sooooooooooo.....my week.......
Elder Thomas and I are getting along good. he still has all that greenie fire but hes getting more used to how everything goes here.
We had a really cool experience a couple days ago. We went and passed by this one brasilian lady that we had contacted on the road a couple weeks ago. and we knocked on the door and asked for her. The girl that answered the door went to go get her and inside i could see that there was alot of people. kinda like a party or something so i thought that our contact would just say to come back later cuz she had company over but she came to the door and was like "ya, sure, come in." so we went in and sat on the couch and started talking to her. There were about 4 other peopel in the room around a table talking and the contact (marlinda) told me that she had company over today cuz a good friend of theirs had just died suddenly. I told her that we could share a message that could help and asked if we could start with a prayer. One of the people around the table heard that and was like "hold on a sec, let me go get everyone." so he went and gathered everyone up in the house to hear the message. 8 people. We prayed and shared a message about the plan of salvation. Everyone was crying the whole time and they invited us back again. We´ll go there tomorrow.
But it was a really cool experience.
Also later that night we went by a member´s house thats from Sri Lanka to eat dinner. We actually went to his Indian neighbors house. and they cooked us some AMAZING indian food. it looked weird but it was really good. We ate with our hands and used these scone type things to eat the stew type thing that was made with chicken. also they brought out these full little fish that looked like they were chared, and you had to rip of the head and just eat it, it was actually really good. but the indian guy there kept on putting food on our plates! we were there witht he Zone Leaders and it was getting time to be home and the ZLs still had to catch a train, we were already stuffed, but the guy kept on putting food on our plates. it got to time to be home and we were ready to leave and they were like "but we have dessert!" and the member is like "you have to eat dessert or they´ll be offended" so we gobbled down the dessert and walked briskly home. i was STUFFED oh man....i almost threw up but it was really good. there was also a Bollywood movie playing. it was way funny. i loved it! haha
Our investigators are doing really well. We have a new investigator named armindo that came to church! hes this caboverdian thats here cuz of medical problems. hes a really humble guy.
Afra is about the same but doing good. the brazilian families we were teaching are doing good, except for one, Elizete. Her member freind said that we should back off for a little bit...so we are, but Alba is doing really well!
Then last night something interesting happened. We went over to a recent converts house Familia Agues and we got invited in Eneida (the wife) broght us into the kitchen and told us how her husband (whos a member) has been drinking alot lately and how hes ruining hte family. We had her call the bishop and he dropped everything and came over. Then the husband came in and he was so slobbering drunk he couldnt even function. it was way sad. I hope things get better for them.
and thats about it!
Tchau!
-Rhett
Sooooooooooo.....my week.......
Elder Thomas and I are getting along good. he still has all that greenie fire but hes getting more used to how everything goes here.
We had a really cool experience a couple days ago. We went and passed by this one brasilian lady that we had contacted on the road a couple weeks ago. and we knocked on the door and asked for her. The girl that answered the door went to go get her and inside i could see that there was alot of people. kinda like a party or something so i thought that our contact would just say to come back later cuz she had company over but she came to the door and was like "ya, sure, come in." so we went in and sat on the couch and started talking to her. There were about 4 other peopel in the room around a table talking and the contact (marlinda) told me that she had company over today cuz a good friend of theirs had just died suddenly. I told her that we could share a message that could help and asked if we could start with a prayer. One of the people around the table heard that and was like "hold on a sec, let me go get everyone." so he went and gathered everyone up in the house to hear the message. 8 people. We prayed and shared a message about the plan of salvation. Everyone was crying the whole time and they invited us back again. We´ll go there tomorrow.
But it was a really cool experience.
Also later that night we went by a member´s house thats from Sri Lanka to eat dinner. We actually went to his Indian neighbors house. and they cooked us some AMAZING indian food. it looked weird but it was really good. We ate with our hands and used these scone type things to eat the stew type thing that was made with chicken. also they brought out these full little fish that looked like they were chared, and you had to rip of the head and just eat it, it was actually really good. but the indian guy there kept on putting food on our plates! we were there witht he Zone Leaders and it was getting time to be home and the ZLs still had to catch a train, we were already stuffed, but the guy kept on putting food on our plates. it got to time to be home and we were ready to leave and they were like "but we have dessert!" and the member is like "you have to eat dessert or they´ll be offended" so we gobbled down the dessert and walked briskly home. i was STUFFED oh man....i almost threw up but it was really good. there was also a Bollywood movie playing. it was way funny. i loved it! haha
Our investigators are doing really well. We have a new investigator named armindo that came to church! hes this caboverdian thats here cuz of medical problems. hes a really humble guy.
Afra is about the same but doing good. the brazilian families we were teaching are doing good, except for one, Elizete. Her member freind said that we should back off for a little bit...so we are, but Alba is doing really well!
Then last night something interesting happened. We went over to a recent converts house Familia Agues and we got invited in Eneida (the wife) broght us into the kitchen and told us how her husband (whos a member) has been drinking alot lately and how hes ruining hte family. We had her call the bishop and he dropped everything and came over. Then the husband came in and he was so slobbering drunk he couldnt even function. it was way sad. I hope things get better for them.
and thats about it!
Tchau!
-Rhett
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Lost Son
Its so crazy that I have less than a month left! after today Iºll only have 4 more Pdays! Yesterday I had my last zone conference and i gave my last testimony. I think it went over well. I quoted Lion King, Mulan, and Boy Meets World. haha. :D
It didnt feel as weird as i thought it would be. It felt like a normal zone conference. I guess the reality hasnt really hit me. Hopefully its like that until i get home.
Oh, so last pday. I lost my greeny. We were hiking up to this castle and we decided to go off the trail like we have done before and hike up the face of the mountain. Well...i was trailblazing and then i decided to stop and wait for everyone else. And one other set of missionaries catch up then the companion of another missionary (elder smith) in my district that is training also. But my kid (elder Thomas) and elder Smiths kid (elder Bryant) werent theree. I asked where they were and they said that they decided to go on the trail to the castle. Well thats all cool, except for 2 reasons. 1, it would take us 4 times as long to get there as them (it would take us like 40 minutes and them 10) and 2, they didnt have a phone. so we get up to the castle and spend an hour looking for them, to no avail. we decide to go down the trail cuz maybe they´re waiting on the trail head. we go down and theyre not there. we got a call at that moment from Elder Bryant. He said that they went back to the chapel and were waiting there. So they hiked all the way down the mountain, caught the train and walked to the chapel to use the phone. We climbed down the mountain, got some lunch then met up with them.
So that was an adventure.
Then yesterday we were coming back from Zone conference and we got into our building and went into the elevator. and teh elevators here are a little different than the states. here they dont have a door that closes, so you open the outside door and the elevator goes up and you can see the wall passing by, even touch the wall. And elder thomas is a jumpy guy and is petrafied of the elevators. So I was wearing a backpack and i get in with my back to the door of the elevator and we start going up. I act like i get my back stuck in the elevator and start getting dragged down and elder Thomas FREAKS OUT. it was hilarious. I did that with elder gray and he just laughed......
Our investigators are doing really well. We are teaching a couple of brazilian families that are all friends. Their kids are awesome and coming to church every week with soem member friends. the parents are doing well but need to come to church. We got invited to one of the kids birthday parties and we played tag with them and ate cake and shared a message with TONS of people there.
Then Afra is doing really well...except she wont pray to know its true..sadly.
Elizabete and Edivaldo are doing well also and we´re finding lots of new investigators :D
Things are doing really well here and i´m keeping going untill the end!
Have a great week everyone!
-rhett
It didnt feel as weird as i thought it would be. It felt like a normal zone conference. I guess the reality hasnt really hit me. Hopefully its like that until i get home.
Oh, so last pday. I lost my greeny. We were hiking up to this castle and we decided to go off the trail like we have done before and hike up the face of the mountain. Well...i was trailblazing and then i decided to stop and wait for everyone else. And one other set of missionaries catch up then the companion of another missionary (elder smith) in my district that is training also. But my kid (elder Thomas) and elder Smiths kid (elder Bryant) werent theree. I asked where they were and they said that they decided to go on the trail to the castle. Well thats all cool, except for 2 reasons. 1, it would take us 4 times as long to get there as them (it would take us like 40 minutes and them 10) and 2, they didnt have a phone. so we get up to the castle and spend an hour looking for them, to no avail. we decide to go down the trail cuz maybe they´re waiting on the trail head. we go down and theyre not there. we got a call at that moment from Elder Bryant. He said that they went back to the chapel and were waiting there. So they hiked all the way down the mountain, caught the train and walked to the chapel to use the phone. We climbed down the mountain, got some lunch then met up with them.
So that was an adventure.
Then yesterday we were coming back from Zone conference and we got into our building and went into the elevator. and teh elevators here are a little different than the states. here they dont have a door that closes, so you open the outside door and the elevator goes up and you can see the wall passing by, even touch the wall. And elder thomas is a jumpy guy and is petrafied of the elevators. So I was wearing a backpack and i get in with my back to the door of the elevator and we start going up. I act like i get my back stuck in the elevator and start getting dragged down and elder Thomas FREAKS OUT. it was hilarious. I did that with elder gray and he just laughed......
Our investigators are doing really well. We are teaching a couple of brazilian families that are all friends. Their kids are awesome and coming to church every week with soem member friends. the parents are doing well but need to come to church. We got invited to one of the kids birthday parties and we played tag with them and ate cake and shared a message with TONS of people there.
Then Afra is doing really well...except she wont pray to know its true..sadly.
Elizabete and Edivaldo are doing well also and we´re finding lots of new investigators :D
Things are doing really well here and i´m keeping going untill the end!
Have a great week everyone!
-rhett
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
And his name shall be know throughout his life and upon the record of the church as...
5
My new comp...my new son is named Elder Thomas from huric´n (hurricain) Utah. Hes pretty cool. Quiet. but I think hes warming up though. Hes pretty green too, like the other day the zone leaders called and one of our zoneleaders is brazilian and doesnt speak much english. So he answered the phone and the brazilian was on the other line so he was talking to him in portuguese. And i was in the bathroom taking a shower so he wanted to tell the Zone Leaders that I was in the shower so he said Elder Hildebrandt...uhh....eu.....uhh...limpar seu corpo. (which is to be interpreted Elder Hildebrandt.......uhhh....I.....uhh.....clean his body) he brazillian laughted and laughed and laughed and i got outta the shower and got on the phone and they told me...it was pretty funny. But hes getting better and hopefully at the end of the transfer, he´ll be a pro!
Last week, we went to Fatima. Which is where a few decades ago, 3 kids claimed Mary appeared to them. And now they have a HUGE sancuary there and when we went was on the aniversary of the appearance of mary so there were TONS of people there! it was insane. Everyone was staring at us. We saw people burning candles to have their sins forgiving, people walking on their knees for blessings and people with bloody shoes who have been walking forever to get to fatima to show their faithfulness. It was all in all very apostate.
But as far as the work this week, it went really well. Elizabete´s kid is marked for baptism for the 18th of July (she wants him to wait till schools out) and Elizebete says that she has recieved more answers...but is really quiet about her answers that shes recieving. but she says they are good.
We had a lesson with this investigator named Ester and a member named Sergio was helping us. Hes this really humble type guy, really simple, big african dude. anyway, we go over to her house and her Aunt who lives wiht her said that she wanst home but went to go visit a friend. and she said that her friend lives in building Nº48 on that road. We said thanks and left, we got to building 48 only to realized we didnt get the floor or door number. and there were 7 floors with 3 doors on each. So i was like....well....we can guess. I asked sergio to give me a floor number and right away he said 5. then I asked for the door, and he said left. So i rang it. and it opened. WE went up and knocked on the door that let us in, while we were knocking Sergio said he doesnt think it is that one but the one across the hall. Someone answered the door, she wasnt there, so we thanked him and left to go try the door across the hall. We knock on the door, and some lady answers. We ask for Ester. and who comes to the door, none other than ester! i was shocked that sergio guess like that.....i think hes psycic. But we had a lesson with her and it went really well.
Oh and the other day, we went and had a lesson with that one brazilian family again. We went over there and they had a friend over that was giving the mom a pedicure. We talked about the plan of salvation and it went really well. Everyone understood VERY well. then we invited them to church. they all came up with excuses except for hte friend that wasgiving the pedicure. And then on sunday. She came and broght her whole family! Shes way cool and i think has alot of potential.
Then just 2 days ago. All of our appointments fell through...even the ones that NEVER fall through. So we decided to go by this romanian guy that we contated a couple days ago and give him a romanian book of mormon. WE called him up and he said he was home and for us to come over. We go over and ring his bell from outside and no one answers. We try calling again and he doesnt answer. Then i just though....Ill just ring his neighbors door so we can get in and knock straight on his door. So i ring it. his neighbor opens. We go up and start talking to the neighbor. I just did a very bland door approach so we could leave a pamplet or a card or soemthing and just move on to see this romanian guy. but surprisingly, this younger african man let us in. We entered and taught him the 1st lesson. We were showing him scriptures from the book of mormon that lots of the time are hard to understand. like from the isaiah chapters. But he was understanding very well. And at the end he prayed to know if it was true! it was really cool!
Umm.....and thats about all that happened this week that was exciting. We went to the Japanese restaurant yesterday and Elder Thomas tried sushi for the 1st time and almost threw up.....oh well...his loss...more for me :D
Oh and about the family of the boy, we found out that the house that was for sale was actually their neighbors house. But we went by a couple days ago...and no one was home. we´ll keep on trying.
Well......i´m gonna keep on running on the home stretch!
-Elder Rhett
My new comp...my new son is named Elder Thomas from huric´n (hurricain) Utah. Hes pretty cool. Quiet. but I think hes warming up though. Hes pretty green too, like the other day the zone leaders called and one of our zoneleaders is brazilian and doesnt speak much english. So he answered the phone and the brazilian was on the other line so he was talking to him in portuguese. And i was in the bathroom taking a shower so he wanted to tell the Zone Leaders that I was in the shower so he said Elder Hildebrandt...uhh....eu.....uhh...limpar seu corpo. (which is to be interpreted Elder Hildebrandt.......uhhh....I.....uhh.....clean his body) he brazillian laughted and laughed and laughed and i got outta the shower and got on the phone and they told me...it was pretty funny. But hes getting better and hopefully at the end of the transfer, he´ll be a pro!
Last week, we went to Fatima. Which is where a few decades ago, 3 kids claimed Mary appeared to them. And now they have a HUGE sancuary there and when we went was on the aniversary of the appearance of mary so there were TONS of people there! it was insane. Everyone was staring at us. We saw people burning candles to have their sins forgiving, people walking on their knees for blessings and people with bloody shoes who have been walking forever to get to fatima to show their faithfulness. It was all in all very apostate.
But as far as the work this week, it went really well. Elizabete´s kid is marked for baptism for the 18th of July (she wants him to wait till schools out) and Elizebete says that she has recieved more answers...but is really quiet about her answers that shes recieving. but she says they are good.
We had a lesson with this investigator named Ester and a member named Sergio was helping us. Hes this really humble type guy, really simple, big african dude. anyway, we go over to her house and her Aunt who lives wiht her said that she wanst home but went to go visit a friend. and she said that her friend lives in building Nº48 on that road. We said thanks and left, we got to building 48 only to realized we didnt get the floor or door number. and there were 7 floors with 3 doors on each. So i was like....well....we can guess. I asked sergio to give me a floor number and right away he said 5. then I asked for the door, and he said left. So i rang it. and it opened. WE went up and knocked on the door that let us in, while we were knocking Sergio said he doesnt think it is that one but the one across the hall. Someone answered the door, she wasnt there, so we thanked him and left to go try the door across the hall. We knock on the door, and some lady answers. We ask for Ester. and who comes to the door, none other than ester! i was shocked that sergio guess like that.....i think hes psycic. But we had a lesson with her and it went really well.
Oh and the other day, we went and had a lesson with that one brazilian family again. We went over there and they had a friend over that was giving the mom a pedicure. We talked about the plan of salvation and it went really well. Everyone understood VERY well. then we invited them to church. they all came up with excuses except for hte friend that wasgiving the pedicure. And then on sunday. She came and broght her whole family! Shes way cool and i think has alot of potential.
Then just 2 days ago. All of our appointments fell through...even the ones that NEVER fall through. So we decided to go by this romanian guy that we contated a couple days ago and give him a romanian book of mormon. WE called him up and he said he was home and for us to come over. We go over and ring his bell from outside and no one answers. We try calling again and he doesnt answer. Then i just though....Ill just ring his neighbors door so we can get in and knock straight on his door. So i ring it. his neighbor opens. We go up and start talking to the neighbor. I just did a very bland door approach so we could leave a pamplet or a card or soemthing and just move on to see this romanian guy. but surprisingly, this younger african man let us in. We entered and taught him the 1st lesson. We were showing him scriptures from the book of mormon that lots of the time are hard to understand. like from the isaiah chapters. But he was understanding very well. And at the end he prayed to know if it was true! it was really cool!
Umm.....and thats about all that happened this week that was exciting. We went to the Japanese restaurant yesterday and Elder Thomas tried sushi for the 1st time and almost threw up.....oh well...his loss...more for me :D
Oh and about the family of the boy, we found out that the house that was for sale was actually their neighbors house. But we went by a couple days ago...and no one was home. we´ll keep on trying.
Well......i´m gonna keep on running on the home stretch!
-Elder Rhett
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Hey my fellow blogguers
Theres not much news....umm last week Elder Tucker stayed with us for a few days cuz of Zone Conference. So he came up last wednesday and stayed untill saturday morning. That was fun seeing him again. Also on thurday we had a bbq with the new brazillian family we´re teaching. They are way cool. We played tag with the kids for a long time! it was a blast! we have an appointment with them on friday, im really excited for them.
We went by the families house of the little boy that died. When we got there, we noticed a for sale sign on the window. They had already moved out :( We´re planning on going back and talkign to the neighbors and maybe seeing if we can find out where they moved to.
We had a good lesson with Elizabete and her son Edivaldo yesterday. We asked her if shes recieved an answer from the fast she did with us on friday. and she said she did on sunday. We asked her about it but she kept really quiet and just said it was good........so hopefully it is good. but then her son, who we asked to think about baptism said he wanted to be baptised!!!! Hes been reading in the book of mormon and loving coming to church. So maybe we can get him baptised and then hopefully elizabete and her bf will be more willing to be baptised.
We also had a baptism this week. Kinda. Its this 8 yr old boy and his parents wanted us to teach him the discussions. so we did and he was baptised last saturday. It went really well and they invited alot of non members who LOVED the baptism. And after we had a ward party and the people stayed for that. it was fun. I got my groove on! haha. It was a good day.
And thats about it for the week. Today we´re going up to fatima. Its this city where like 80 yrs ago, 3 kids claimed they saw the virgin mary, who told them 3 secrets that they cant reveil. And now every year there is a huge migration of people the crawl on their knees to pray to Mary. And today is the migration day. so it should be pretty crazy!
Ill take lots of pictures!
Have a great day!
-rhett
We went by the families house of the little boy that died. When we got there, we noticed a for sale sign on the window. They had already moved out :( We´re planning on going back and talkign to the neighbors and maybe seeing if we can find out where they moved to.
We had a good lesson with Elizabete and her son Edivaldo yesterday. We asked her if shes recieved an answer from the fast she did with us on friday. and she said she did on sunday. We asked her about it but she kept really quiet and just said it was good........so hopefully it is good. but then her son, who we asked to think about baptism said he wanted to be baptised!!!! Hes been reading in the book of mormon and loving coming to church. So maybe we can get him baptised and then hopefully elizabete and her bf will be more willing to be baptised.
We also had a baptism this week. Kinda. Its this 8 yr old boy and his parents wanted us to teach him the discussions. so we did and he was baptised last saturday. It went really well and they invited alot of non members who LOVED the baptism. And after we had a ward party and the people stayed for that. it was fun. I got my groove on! haha. It was a good day.
And thats about it for the week. Today we´re going up to fatima. Its this city where like 80 yrs ago, 3 kids claimed they saw the virgin mary, who told them 3 secrets that they cant reveil. And now every year there is a huge migration of people the crawl on their knees to pray to Mary. And today is the migration day. so it should be pretty crazy!
Ill take lots of pictures!
Have a great day!
-rhett
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
A series of interesting event
This week was a great week. I bought my suit! its really cool, right now a member is fixing it for me (sleaves and pant legs). I really like it.
Also, something really interesting happened this week. On friday night, we were teaching a member and as we were talking, we heard a commotion outside. We looked out his window and saw a bunch of people grouped around on the sidewalk. A few of them were crying and yelling. We went outside to see what was happening, only to find a little african boy, about 3 or 4 years old, laying on the ground, not moving. He apparently had fallen out the window of the 4th floor, and was dead. He was at his aunt and uncles house and his aunt was screaming and crying and his sister (prolly about 16) had to be held back by 2 people cuz she wanted to go to him... The whole neighborhood was gathered around and then the amublance came. They tried recessitating him for like 5 minutes...to no avail. THey put the sheet over his head and it seemed like all hell broke loose. the sister started crying and going crazy again, same with the aunt. His uncle just fell to his knees and sobbed. His brother (maybe) who was prolly about 20 turned violent and started pushing people around trying to get to his brother, people tried to hold him back but couldnt. He was violently flailing around, they eventually pulled him away and he just sobbed. It was a very different experience.....very sobering. It was interesting how everyone reacted to death. His mom finally showed up, and she saw the body and lost her mind, litterally. went into shock and wasnt there in the head...she kept on just muttering and stuff. I went and talked to the grandfather, who was probably the only one who was sane at the time and expressed my condolances. I told him if there was anything we could do, they could call us. We have plans to visit them next saturday. But it was a very very different experience. I feel bad for the family and wish everyone could know the beauty of the plan of salvation....but I guess thats why Im here.
But onto more light matters. We tried the sidewalk chalk idea again where we draw out the plan of salvation in a more secure place. and it worked AMAZINGLY. in 1 hour we talked to probbaly 30 people or more and set up a bunch of appointments. it was really cool
Also we put the Kites that you sent to good use. We flew them in the park and invited kids to coem fly (because they are a rare thing here in portugal) and then we talked aobut how if we cut the string of the kite, it wont fly away but fall and related that to obedience to the commandments, about how some people think that the comandments keep them tied down, but really its what keeps them flying up.
We also got a really cool new brazilian family as investigators. They are friends of a brazilian family that moved into our ward. We went over to their house and they were really receptive. Then their 2 9 yr old twin daughters came to church! we have a bbq with them tomorrow :D
As for the rest of our investigators, they are doing great. Afra came to church and she and her 3 little kids LOVED it. so shes doing really well. And all the rest of our investigators are still doing really well.
and thats it.
ttyl todos!
-Rhett
Also, something really interesting happened this week. On friday night, we were teaching a member and as we were talking, we heard a commotion outside. We looked out his window and saw a bunch of people grouped around on the sidewalk. A few of them were crying and yelling. We went outside to see what was happening, only to find a little african boy, about 3 or 4 years old, laying on the ground, not moving. He apparently had fallen out the window of the 4th floor, and was dead. He was at his aunt and uncles house and his aunt was screaming and crying and his sister (prolly about 16) had to be held back by 2 people cuz she wanted to go to him... The whole neighborhood was gathered around and then the amublance came. They tried recessitating him for like 5 minutes...to no avail. THey put the sheet over his head and it seemed like all hell broke loose. the sister started crying and going crazy again, same with the aunt. His uncle just fell to his knees and sobbed. His brother (maybe) who was prolly about 20 turned violent and started pushing people around trying to get to his brother, people tried to hold him back but couldnt. He was violently flailing around, they eventually pulled him away and he just sobbed. It was a very different experience.....very sobering. It was interesting how everyone reacted to death. His mom finally showed up, and she saw the body and lost her mind, litterally. went into shock and wasnt there in the head...she kept on just muttering and stuff. I went and talked to the grandfather, who was probably the only one who was sane at the time and expressed my condolances. I told him if there was anything we could do, they could call us. We have plans to visit them next saturday. But it was a very very different experience. I feel bad for the family and wish everyone could know the beauty of the plan of salvation....but I guess thats why Im here.
But onto more light matters. We tried the sidewalk chalk idea again where we draw out the plan of salvation in a more secure place. and it worked AMAZINGLY. in 1 hour we talked to probbaly 30 people or more and set up a bunch of appointments. it was really cool
Also we put the Kites that you sent to good use. We flew them in the park and invited kids to coem fly (because they are a rare thing here in portugal) and then we talked aobut how if we cut the string of the kite, it wont fly away but fall and related that to obedience to the commandments, about how some people think that the comandments keep them tied down, but really its what keeps them flying up.
We also got a really cool new brazilian family as investigators. They are friends of a brazilian family that moved into our ward. We went over to their house and they were really receptive. Then their 2 9 yr old twin daughters came to church! we have a bbq with them tomorrow :D
As for the rest of our investigators, they are doing great. Afra came to church and she and her 3 little kids LOVED it. so shes doing really well. And all the rest of our investigators are still doing really well.
and thats it.
ttyl todos!
-Rhett
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
I dont like the cold...
So i have good news, especially for my Dad. Last saturday, i went and had lunch with Sergio Torrão and his family! (my dad baptised their family when he was on his mission) it was really cool seeing them. He actually married one of the Martin´s (another person my dad baptised) and they have 3 kids...and live in the building that used to be the old chapel in Amadora! Also they invited over the Grilo´s (my dad baptised the wife of that fam). So it was really cool seeing them too. Patricia lives above them, and i went and said hi to her as we were leaving. Shes pretty inactive....and seemed like she didnt want to talk much :S But Sergio says she still knows the church is true.
This week was a...different week. I wasnt in my area for 3 days, last pday we stayed at Rio De Mouros house cuz on thurs morning Elder Gray has to go to lisbon to renew his visa. So i stayed and worked with Elder Willardson and the other Elder Gray. He got back at like 8:00 and soemthing had gone wrong so he had to go back on friday too. So i stayed at Rio De Mouro again...and he was gone all day friday. Then we stayed the night friday night cuz he got back so late, and went home on saturday. It was crazy.
On friday, we had an appointment with our investigator named Afra. Shes doing really well....so i really wanted to go to the appointment and not cancel it, but rio de mouro had a dinner appointment at the same time....so i called up a member and took the train to Cacem alone, met up with the member and we had a lesson with her. It went really well. But then i used the members phone to call up the elders in Rio De Mouro. THey said they were finishing up wiht dinner and could meet me at the train station in like 15 minutes. So i hopped on the train and went back to Rio de Mouro....where I waited, and waited and waited and waited. I waited for almost an hour for them....finally they show up and were like "sorry but they talked alot" it was kinda annoying waiting there for so long...and it was cold and i didnt have a sweater..... but oh well.
Also, i have finally beaten the flea invasion i was having (i dont even know if i mentioned it) for the last 2 weeks....i kept on getting flea bites. I washed my sheets everyday,a nd my quilt and all my clothes and sprayed the house with bug spray thats supposed to kill fleas and put baby powder all over which is supposed to kill the eggs....and i still kept on having fleas. So i had to spray the whole house again and use baby powder...and did that about 3 times...but im happy to say that the last 2 days i havent gotten a new flea bite! I HATE fleas.......gah!
Also, something really cool happened on thursday. Our old investigator Dias moved to Rio De Mouro´s area...but he didnt give us his address and right when he moved his phone stopped working. so for 3 weeks, we had no idea where he was and couldnt contact him. But on thursday, when Elder Gray was comming back from Lisboa, he sat ont he train and who happens to waltz in, none other but Dias! Elder gray talked to him, got his address and then me and the Rio De mouro elders went over and taught him on friday. It was really cool. He was kinda depressed and the light he was developing was deminished cuz he hadnt talked to us or read in 3 weeks....hopefully they can reignight the fire.
Our other investigators are doin really well. Elizabete and her son Edivaldo are loving church and loving our visits. Were gonna be fasting wiht them on friday to help them figure out what Elizabete should do with her boyfriend situation (cuz shes living with him)
Also, theres a member in our ward whos a bee keeper and the other day, after he helped us out with an appointment, he randomly took us to see his bees. It was really cool. 10 honeycombs are worth 160 Euros! that would be a good side job to help me through school i think....and help me fund Turtle Kabab :D
And....thats about it.....
Ate proxima semana!
-Rhett
This week was a...different week. I wasnt in my area for 3 days, last pday we stayed at Rio De Mouros house cuz on thurs morning Elder Gray has to go to lisbon to renew his visa. So i stayed and worked with Elder Willardson and the other Elder Gray. He got back at like 8:00 and soemthing had gone wrong so he had to go back on friday too. So i stayed at Rio De Mouro again...and he was gone all day friday. Then we stayed the night friday night cuz he got back so late, and went home on saturday. It was crazy.
On friday, we had an appointment with our investigator named Afra. Shes doing really well....so i really wanted to go to the appointment and not cancel it, but rio de mouro had a dinner appointment at the same time....so i called up a member and took the train to Cacem alone, met up with the member and we had a lesson with her. It went really well. But then i used the members phone to call up the elders in Rio De Mouro. THey said they were finishing up wiht dinner and could meet me at the train station in like 15 minutes. So i hopped on the train and went back to Rio de Mouro....where I waited, and waited and waited and waited. I waited for almost an hour for them....finally they show up and were like "sorry but they talked alot" it was kinda annoying waiting there for so long...and it was cold and i didnt have a sweater..... but oh well.
Also, i have finally beaten the flea invasion i was having (i dont even know if i mentioned it) for the last 2 weeks....i kept on getting flea bites. I washed my sheets everyday,a nd my quilt and all my clothes and sprayed the house with bug spray thats supposed to kill fleas and put baby powder all over which is supposed to kill the eggs....and i still kept on having fleas. So i had to spray the whole house again and use baby powder...and did that about 3 times...but im happy to say that the last 2 days i havent gotten a new flea bite! I HATE fleas.......gah!
Also, something really cool happened on thursday. Our old investigator Dias moved to Rio De Mouro´s area...but he didnt give us his address and right when he moved his phone stopped working. so for 3 weeks, we had no idea where he was and couldnt contact him. But on thursday, when Elder Gray was comming back from Lisboa, he sat ont he train and who happens to waltz in, none other but Dias! Elder gray talked to him, got his address and then me and the Rio De mouro elders went over and taught him on friday. It was really cool. He was kinda depressed and the light he was developing was deminished cuz he hadnt talked to us or read in 3 weeks....hopefully they can reignight the fire.
Our other investigators are doin really well. Elizabete and her son Edivaldo are loving church and loving our visits. Were gonna be fasting wiht them on friday to help them figure out what Elizabete should do with her boyfriend situation (cuz shes living with him)
Also, theres a member in our ward whos a bee keeper and the other day, after he helped us out with an appointment, he randomly took us to see his bees. It was really cool. 10 honeycombs are worth 160 Euros! that would be a good side job to help me through school i think....and help me fund Turtle Kabab :D
And....thats about it.....
Ate proxima semana!
-Rhett
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
B=?UTF-8?Q?=C3=B3fia!?=
10
This week was kinda a calm week. Nothing too exciting happened. Kinda same old same old. Besides yesterday I got in trouble with the police. That was fun :S We went to Sintra to do a street meeting (make contacts with my whole district in one location) and we decided to do something that our ward mission leader did on his mission, that is to draw out the plan of salvation on the ground with sidewalk chalk. So we started doing it and we were contacting tons of people. We drew about half of it (it was detailed so it was a good 30 minutes of drawing) and a police car comes driving up the street, sees us, turns on his lights and comes over. He was cool about it though, just said we cant be doing this here and that if we want to weºd have to go to the City Center and get permission. So we prolly will do that later, and do it again, cuz it was really fun.
Also, our investigator Afra came to church last sunday, with her 3 little kids. It was cool. I think she liked it.....even though we we asked about it she just said it was different.....But i could tell she had a good time.
We had a heart to heart with Elizabete (the lady who has been progressing alot, going to church and everything, but lives with her boyfriend so she cant be baptised) she said that shed pray and fast about getting married and gettign baptised. Hopefully everything will go over well.
All of our other investigators are doing really well and slowly progressing. Most of our investigators are really new so it takes some time for them to warm up.
But last week, my district had the best numbers theyve had in years. it was really cool. as a district we got 27 new investigators! cool huh! so things here really are going well.
Well....have a great week everyone!
-Rhett
This week was kinda a calm week. Nothing too exciting happened. Kinda same old same old. Besides yesterday I got in trouble with the police. That was fun :S We went to Sintra to do a street meeting (make contacts with my whole district in one location) and we decided to do something that our ward mission leader did on his mission, that is to draw out the plan of salvation on the ground with sidewalk chalk. So we started doing it and we were contacting tons of people. We drew about half of it (it was detailed so it was a good 30 minutes of drawing) and a police car comes driving up the street, sees us, turns on his lights and comes over. He was cool about it though, just said we cant be doing this here and that if we want to weºd have to go to the City Center and get permission. So we prolly will do that later, and do it again, cuz it was really fun.
Also, our investigator Afra came to church last sunday, with her 3 little kids. It was cool. I think she liked it.....even though we we asked about it she just said it was different.....But i could tell she had a good time.
We had a heart to heart with Elizabete (the lady who has been progressing alot, going to church and everything, but lives with her boyfriend so she cant be baptised) she said that shed pray and fast about getting married and gettign baptised. Hopefully everything will go over well.
All of our other investigators are doing really well and slowly progressing. Most of our investigators are really new so it takes some time for them to warm up.
But last week, my district had the best numbers theyve had in years. it was really cool. as a district we got 27 new investigators! cool huh! so things here really are going well.
Well....have a great week everyone!
-Rhett
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