Hump day week and post birthday

This week was a busy week. We taught tons of people and have been working super super hard. Our zone leaders have thrown out challenges every day to help reach the mission goals and they have been challenging for sure. But we worked super hard to accomplish a few of them. This week we had one day where we taught 8 lessons. It was pretty difficult to accomplish for us because lots of times its hard to find someone that wants to listen to a message, but we trusted in the Lord that we would be able to do it (the goals was 7) and we were able to do it! Made us super happy. 

Now I want to give you all an update on Eduardo. We taught him this week and it went super good. As I have said before we are reteaching him all the lessons to help feel better prepared for baptism. He has already had like 4 or 5 dates for baptism but every time he has said the same thing ``very early´´ so thats why we´ve been reteaching. And friday was the day we´d finish all the lessons for the second time. I planned it out well and the last lesson was The Gospel of Jesus Christ that teaches about faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy  Ghost, and enduring to the end. We taught each topic and made sure he understood asking after each one, ``what does this mean to you?´´ and ´´how will you apply this/improve in  your life?´´  And at the end of the lesson I asked, ´´what is stopping you from being baptized?´´ and he said ´´I don´t know.´´ and I asked if he feels prepared for baptism now and he said that he feels a lot better about it. Right then I just said, well, you know that we are here to help people follow Christ and do all the right things in life to make it back to our Father in Heaven, and we want to finally help you do these steps and hold your baptism next sunday. And finally after months of teaching he said ``it´s not early anymore´´   It made me so so so happy to finally hear him say that! He finally made the decision to be baptized and is doing it for himself. It was one of the most spiritual lessons I have had. I could feel that all the words we were saying were guided by the spirit. And I know that this week will still be a battle to make sure the baptism finally happens because Satan is a tool and tries to mess up our work. But pray for Eduardo that he can have the support of his family and finally go through with it!!

Our next lesson that is noteworthy is of a woman named Valeria. Don´t know if I have already talked about her or not. But we planned a lesson with her and planned to visit her with Priscila (my recent convert). We weren´t sure if it was going to work out and we almost cancelled due to time, but we went through with it and everything worked out perfectly! Priscila got home from work just in time to make the visit and Valeria and her kids were all there. We watched The Restoration with them and it was super spiritual. Even the kids watched and payed super close attention! At the end we all bore powerful, strong testimonies and so did Priscila. She even said the last prayer! It was such a great moment to see new investigators progressing but as well as Priscila. So yeah, I learned from this experience that making plans for every lesson is super important and we need to trust in the Lord that if we truly planned with the spirit, we are supposed to execute that plan. And with our faith, everything worked out perfectly! loved it.

This week was super awesome and I had so many spiritual experiences where the precious truth of the gospel were once again confirmed to me through the holy ghost. I am forever grateful that i am here in Luziania. I have found my purpose here in this area and am learning the things the Lord wants me to learn.

BUT this week also had some fun times as well because I did turn 20 and all :) So I will tell you all what I did for my birthday... So I woke up and made myself some brownies of course and for E. M. Santos trainning we got to watch The District so we spent the morning eating brownies and watching ``a movie.`` haha. After we ate lunch at the bishops  house and it was a normal, delicious, brasilian lunch, rice and beans! haha :) But she did make a cake for dessert that I love. After lunch we went to work visiting people and teaching! The work never stops. We made some really good visits in the afternoon and then at night we waited for the elders from Jardim Inga to get here. Once tthey got here we heading to Arte Com Sabor. My favorite pizza place in the world. We all ate soooo much and I ate 11 pizzas. I enjoyed every second of it :) Then we went home! After I had got ready for bed and I was writting in my journal I got some phone calls from some of my favorite people ever (funny thing, every time the phone wrang saturday I thought aunt michelle would be on the other side singing to me! hahaha so great.) But I got a phone call from Elder Nordfelt and Elder Goodsell! Goodness, it was so great to talk with them and it ended the day perfectly! haha. I really loved my birthday and will never forget it. And it didn´t stop there...

Yesterday, after church we didn´t stop eating cake. After lunch, we ate cake... We went to a family night with the bishop and his wife to a members house and she made me a huge delicious cake. And after we went to another family night (I should have known something was going on with all the family nights the members were wanting to do) where I taught about the prophet and after they brought out two more cakes! Nossa! I was so sick of eating cake yesterday! hahaha. But it was so great and I really love all the members here. They all love me as well. I thank my Heavenly Father everyday for the people He has allowed me to meet, serve, and love here. 

So that basically sums up my week! it was sure a week and a birthday to remember! Thanks again for everything that you all do for me! Have a great week! 

com amor, Elder Patterson

Elder Patterson is turning 20!

Playing capture the flag....

Wow! I can´t believe that this week is my birthday! Thanks to everyone that wished me a happy birthday :) Makes me feel loved and appreciated. But yeah, 20 years already! No longer a teenage punk... All grown up now. haha :) The members here are all really excited for my birthday and I will probably receive some cakes :) so no worries. And the only candles I they have here are those stupid trick candles that don´t go out when you blow on them! Its hilarious. 

So this week I have a few fun things to tell all yáll! First I will start with the lessons and spiritual stuff because. So we had a zone meeting and we learned about a technique of teaching that we applied that very day and had success. What we did was before a lesson started was that we taught about the holy ghost and how we can know what we are teaching is the truth or not. We shared a few scriptures and explained clearly what the holy ghost can feel like and then we started teaching. We taught this lady and her kids the restoration and during the lesson, especially after the First Vision we asked what they were feeling and then explained that they were feeling the holy ghost testifying to them that what we were teaching was true. It was a super spiritual lesson and even though we may not have taught perfectly or explained everything in the most simple way, the spirit was there and makes up for anything we lack. But after the lesson we invited them to be baptized and they accepted and we set a date for them in August. I am excited to see if they progress and how the gospel will bless their lives because they definitely need the blessings.

But I don´t know if I have given an update on Eduardo in a little while. We are still teaching him and working hard to help him progress to baptism. Its sorta hard to teach him and lots of other people because its like ´´summer break´´ here and everyone is travelling and going on trips. But we are reteaching him all the lessons and he is understanding a lot better and writting down questions super interesting that normal investigators don´t ask. He is super smart and will be a great leader in the church one day if he´s baptised. 

But this week we also had a baptism in Jardim Inga and an activity after. We took Luiz Fernando with us and he was super excited and loved the baptism. We played capture the flag after and it was super fun and tiring. Needless to say I think I am out of shape... 

So a few things that are super interesting and fun here is that in the late afternoon here, you can look up in the sky and see 50 kites flying. A big thing about the culture is to have kite fights. Kids and adults of all ages fight kites. It is so awesome to watch and see. Yesterday we passed a kid and stopped to talk to him because he was prepping his kite. And what they do is take glass and break it up into powder and mix it in a mixture of glue and water and then apply it to the kite string to make the string a thing of death. ha. But they fly the kites super high and its awesome to see how much control they have over the kites. The kid yesterday flew his kite into another neighborhood and chased down a kite and cut the string of it. It was pretty legit. The power lines here are full of ´kite bones´how I like to put it. I will try and take some pictures for all of you if I can. But something really crazy is that people actually die because of these kites that have string with glass. Its rare, but happens with people that drive motocycles and stuff... Flying kites seems like such a weird thing but a cultural thing super cool all the kids that do kite fights.

But yeah, I am planning to each a pizza buffet this week for free on my birthday :) Its free for the birthday boy and I am going to celebrate my brasilian birthday by eating the delicious pizza here! ha. And I will make myself some brownies or something as well on Saturday. I am super excited because I have been saving one of the brownie packages for a while now ;) But don´t worry, my birthday is going to be awesome and to be honest I had forgotten about it until I read the emails wishing me a happy birthday :) Love you all! have a great week! 

com amor, Elder Patterson

July 13, 2015

Goodness, this week got sooo cold! I couldn´t believe it. We had one day that was pretty hot and the next it was as if Santa was coming. SOOO cold (and when I say sooo cold it was probably only 50 degress, but I have become brasilian blooded :0 haha!). But really, one day it was all just dark and cloudy and had a breeze that made the soul cold. It was also raining and just all stormy. I loved it! I think all of you know how much I love this type of weather. Big dark storm clouds that just make you want to bundle up and watch a movie :) I just want all of you to imagine the nice weather I am having while St. George is super super hot! hahaha. But yeah, this week was difficult to find anyone in the streets because of the weather. And even when it was raining people didn´t even open the gates for us because they didn´t want to leave their houses, freaking meanies. ha

So wow! another week has come and gone! It seems to be going by so fast and I don´t know how. The one year mark is coming up and its all downhill after that! Sheesh! 

I will highlight a few major points from this week. Friday was a really fun day because we were able to go to Jardim Inga and participate in an activity us missionaries all did. A night of integration with investigators and members. We shared a little message and played charades. It was super funny. I got the card to act out cake pan... Like seriously, how on earth do you act out cake pan??? ha, anyways, that activity was really fun and everyone loved it. The members really came through as well and brought lots of food for everyone :P ha. Its not a church activity if there is no food involved! But after we stayed the night in Jardim Inga and its always such a blast to stay with other missionaries for a night. 

Then Saturday morning E. Benedetti and E. Figueiredo came back with us to Luziania to help a member of the church move her house. And it was a very difficult day. We spent 10 hours moving her house and at the end of the day we were all exhausted beyond belief. It was a circus as well trying to get her fridge out of the tiny apartment. We had to take the doors off the fridge and doors off the apartment to get it out! and not to mention it weighed like 200 pounds or something. But we were finally able to do it. And we ate lunch with her and she started crying blessing the food because she was so thankful for our help. It made us all feel so good that we were able to help her. She is a single mom and had no one else to help. Serving others is really so gratifying and truly brings us closer to Christ. <3

This week was a very difficult week as far as lessons and finding new people. I don´t know exactly why some weeks are harder than others when we are working our tails off and following all the rules, but these weeks I seem to always grow more and learn more. And trusting in the Lord, because it truly is His work, is the only way to get through the times when no one wants to hear about the gospel. But it is amazing to be here doing His work and trying to help our fellow bretheren learn about and accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. I studied a lot about our premortal life and the plans Satan and Christ presented. I have never studied much about this topic but I am so thankful that all of us here chose to follow Christ. Christ´s plan truly is perfect and I am learning more and more each day about it and how I can help not only others reach salvation, but myself as well. The church is true people!

I love you all and hope this week is the best for all of you :) Don´t forget to read the scriptures daily and say personal and family prayers! The little things are the things that are most important! AMO VOCÊS, FIQUEM FIRME! 

com amor, Elder Patterson

Luziania Goias

Goodness the weeks pass by so fast...

So this week was way rushed and just full of twist and turns for me. Lots of good and exciting news for sure :)

Monday after I finished emailing we received some news about the other dupla in our house, elder Labrada and Elder ramos. The news was that Elder Labrada would stay in asa sul tuesday night and tuesday elder ramos would be transferred! We all thought another missionary would come to replace Labrada but that wasn´t the case. We were all super suprised and we stayed up pretty dang late monday night going over every investigator of the other elders. So as of Tuesday I inherited another area to take care of and visit! It has been insane this week visiting all of our people and all of their people. We have seriously got home everyday exhausted and crashed. We plan and have gone to sleep at like 9:45. It has been amazing to be so tired from working so hard.  

So to explain a little more about my current situation is this... E. Santos and I are the only missionaries in the biggest area of the mission with just tons of people to visit and most likely new missionaries will get here next transfer, August 3rd. And if you think about it, I have a super high probability of staying here one more transfer after this one because ´training´´ of a missionary lasts two transfers and if new missionaries get here they will be all sorts of lost and I´d be the only capable of showing them the area. ha! So that means I will have about 8 months in one area! haha! its insane but honestly so great. I love it here. Luziania is amazing and I love the members here. They all love me a lot as well and are planning my birthday already... Goodness. ha :) But yeah, looks like my mission packet should be changed to Mission Luziânia Goias! :) hehe.

But this week was also really good and way fun and way spiritual. I am learning so much and have progressed more these last few weeks than any other time on my mission. I have truly felt the Holy Ghost speaking through me and gift of tongues is really real. This week we taught many lessons and it has been so cool because as I am the trainer, my comp doesn´t know how to do anything basically so I basically teach everything but when I am teaching I feel that it isn´t really me that is teaching. I have received so much help from my Heavenly Father as I have been called to bear these loads here in Luziania. I know that I couldn´t do it without Him. Christ´s enabling power of the Atonement is amazing and I have truly witness the power of it these few weeks.

Now a few exciting things that happened this week was that Elder Labrada finished his mission but he was released here and his mom came to pick him up. While they were here we had a family night with them and the members of Luziana. It was sooo cool and so weird to see Elder Labrada as a normal person hugging women and stuff :) But the family night was super special at the bishops house and very spiritual as everyone bore testimonies. E. Labrada also left some shirts and stuff for me to use as well so I was excited about that. 

So I will tell you about a few investigators now before I sign off, the first is Luiz Fernando. He is 10 years old and a little brother of a less active family. He is super legit and we started teaching him. He is super smart and loves the gospel already. He watched the restoration video and memorized the first vision! ha :) so cool. And we asked if he wanted to go to church with us even if his brother was working and he said yes. So we passed by his house yesterday morning and he was waiting for us already! He loved the church and wants to be baptized really bad, so we are helping him prepare. He is a stud and I know he will really help reactivate his family. Good things to come with him.

Also, Eduardo, he is still super prepared for baptism but still says he thinks it is to early. We are going to give him a few weeks and reteach some stuff. I don´t doubt that he will be baptized.

Something else that is exciting is that I played the piano in sacrament yesterday! hahaha. I only played the prelude and the closing music because the dude was begging me. So I did! I only played with one hand but I brought everyone to tears ;) hehe. I enjoyed it. It was a fun experience. 

Something else interesting that I think all of you will love is that I had a conversation about the Wright Brothers this week! haha. We have this investigator that is like 25 years old and is super into the PBR and he knows all about the Wright Brothers and I shared with him that family is all basically from the same small little town of Milford where they grew up and stuff. He thought it was so cool :) ha! So that is just a small fun thing to end with this week :) Anyways, love you all. have a great week and remember to read your scriptures and say your prayers!

com amor, Elder Patterson.