FOURTH AREA: Christmas and Zone Conference

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

"This week was great. We had our Christmas zone conference in Pelotas on Thursday and it was great."

We got to talk to Max on Christmas morning. Mom got a speakerphone so we could all listen and talk together. He sounds so great and just so excited to be preaching the Gospel.

Here we are talking on the phone. We were all there, except Emily and Russel who were on the cell speakerphone.

"The weather hás been weird here cuz usually this time of year it is already scorching hot, member last year on Christmas? It was like 100 F... it hás been rainy and cloudy and cool lately so i have been enjoying it, i prefer pouring rain and bein soaking wet rather than sweating and the scorching Sun so its been good, há há, but Elder Horrocks hates the rain, há há, its pretty funny cuz I Love it"

"I gave a talk in church yesterday tôo and it was great, há há, theres something about giving a talk that I Just Love now, but i talked too long, like 20 minutes! Há há and didnt leave any time for the next Guy, oops.. but the Bishop asked me to talk about the birth of the Savior and Christmas and it was great cuz i was able to share experiences of Christmas’s at home and my first Christmas on the mission and how it really helped me see the true meaning of Christmas and feel more of the Christmas Spirit through remembering not only about the birth of our Savior, but his whole life and especially his atoning sacrifice.. I AM so grateful for the opportunity that i had to give this talk.. i talked about the importance of serving others and about how we always made donuts and the other dang good twist cream cheese thing  há há.. and i talked about the Christmas Carol and how Ebenezer Scrooge found the true meaning of Christmas and i talked about how Grandpa would always read Luke chapter 2 and we would always complain, há há, but how i AM so Grateful for him and for always reading it to remember the true meaning of Christmas.. "

"I absolutely Love to study and it seems like we never have enough time to study and it goes by so fast in the morning.. there is always so much more to learn and it is great"

FOURTH AREA: Two baptisms for Thanksgiving

Max was called to be a district leader in Rio Grande do Sul "because of his enthusiasm for the work and his dedication to the Gospel, the Lord has extended this new call. He has already shown that he knows how to teach by the Spirit and to let the Lord lead in His work. Now he will have the opportunity to influence others by his example of obedience and humility."

"We had such na amazing baptism on sat. Night.. this week was crazy but all of the stress and everything was worth it, há há.. of course it was, it was amazing.. we had the baptisms of Jelguer and Diogo together and they are amazing.. one of Pres. Swenson’s counselors came from Pelotas to interview them on fri and they both passed and he sat us down after and said they were ready and was impressed how far they have come.. theres no way he can be as impressed as I am.. they have come so so far and completely changed their lives and are so amazing and i am just so grateful for the opportunity that i have to teach them about the Gospel and share my testimony with them, we all have such a strong friendship.. I had the opportunity to baptize Diogo and a ward missionary, Elder Oliveira, or irmão Rudi baptized Jelguer and it was so great and such a spiritual baptism.. Jelguer had to be baptized twice and Diogo only once so it was great, há há and after the baptism all of the men together with Jelguer and Diogo sang Elders of Israel and it was so amazing.. for the first time on my mission, both of the converts bore there own testimonies after the baptism and it was so so amazing and so spiritually powerful.. "

"I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true and living and we are so lucky to have the fulness.. i know that our Savior lives and we have a loving Father in Heaven that lives.. i love you all so much! have a great week!! "

FOURTH AREA: Service and Baptisms

"I found Norman’s twin Brazilian sister, ha ha, almost identical, she's awesome and reminds me of Norman and loves me just like Norm, ha ha.. She is Iraci’s dog"

(I think she looks WAY more like Milo, though)

Iraci's dog

Milo

Norm & Howard

"the baptisms were two from the ward that were 8, named Dionatan and Mariane, the daughter of Irmã Iraci, and also the other elders baptized a 14 year old boy named Diordiani and hes great and the baptism was amazing and almost the whole ward was there and Mariane wanted me to baptize her and so I was so grateful for the opportunity and it was great."

"so we ate lunch and taught Emilia and her fam this week and it was great.. its so amazing to see how far she has come and how much of a change I have witnessed in her and how the gospel and blessed her life so so much, she is amazing and already talks about serving a mission, I think I already told you guys. It makes me so so happy"

Max's Zone

Making cookies

FOURTH AREA: A Rainy Week in Rio

Another regular week as a missionary.

November 2-6, 2009

It's going to get hotter as they move into summer, but this week it rained almost every day.

E. Max and E. Horrocks are still working with some choice investigators and eating!

"we ate at a great churrascaria ( a restaurant with Brazilian barbecue) and it was by far one of the best meals I have had in my life""I also sent a pic of our area, just one of the roads so you can see how it is."

FOURTH AREA: Mission Conference

MISSION CONFERENCE WITH ELDER SCOTT IN PORTO ALEGRE

October 31, 2009

"This week was amazing and this weekend was probably the most amazing experience I have had in my whole life. We went a day early on Fri morn for Porto Alegre cuz I had an appointment with the doctor, but we missed it (it’s a long story) and so Fri night in Porto Alegre we just helped the secretaries out to get ready fo the conf. and we slept in the office and it was good to be with Elder Watts again for a night and see how he's doin. (He's still the financial secretary) So, yeah, we woke up on Sat. and we had to be seated by 8:10 and Elder Scott came about 8:30. He came with Jay Jensen of the Presidency of the 70 and Ulysses S. Soares, the Brasil Area Pres.

It was so amazing.. it was the entire mission for the first time and it was so good to see all of my comps. Especially Elder Bischoff! Man, I just love all my comps and they were all there and this is Elder Jones’ last transfer! Crazy..

As soon as they walked in we all stood and the Spirit just became so much stronger and a completely peaceful feeling came over my whole body, I cant explain it really.. so we all took turns and we all shook his hand and told them our names and where we are from and as I shook his hand and introduced myself, he just looked me right in the eye and with his soft voice that I love he just paused and said, “ wonderful” and gave a lil smile.. then we had a training with him about how to best present the BOM and use it in our teaching and then Pres and Sister talked followed by Pres. Soares and Pres. Jensen and they were all amazing and Elder Scott ended and it was the most amazing experience I have ever been a part of.

He bore his testimony as a living apostle of the Savior and bore his testimony that Jesus Christ lives and he ended saying that he knows because he knows the Savior personally.. wow.. at that moment the Spirit sort of just took hold of me and my whole body trembled and I was almost brought to tears.. I cant put it into words.. then we went right to the closing hymn which was I Know That My Redeemer Lives, and the Spirit was just so strong and so amazing and I am just so so grateful for the experience.

My testimony was strengthened so much more and continues to grow each and every day.. there is no doubt in my mind that Jesus Christ lives and is guiding this, his true church on the earth this day through living prophets. I know that the BOM is true and contains the fullness of the Gospel and all that we need to do to find happiness in this life and to return to live with our Father in Heaven and our family forever and ever.. for this I am so grateful and so grateful for my testimony and the true Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life.."

They also had a chance to go to the Temple while they were in Porto Alegre.

"Um abraço! Tchau!!" 

FOURTH AREA: *Rio Grande with E. Horrocks 10/14/09

NEW COMPANION

E. Horrocks from Pocatello, ID!

"[My new companion is] Elder Horrocks and he has 5 months on the mish and he reminds me a lot of how i was.. it is so great to work with him and i am so grateful for the opportunity.. He's from Pocatello, Idaho and wanna know somethin crazy? His older bro served on the same mission and i remember seein pics of him and his name on the records in the the area book in Cavalhada.. its so cool.. he finished about 2 years ago so it hasnt been long.. but hes awesome and a great comp and great missionary already and we are already such great friends and we get along great and i feel that we work great together."

THREE STORIES FROM RIO GRANDE
#1 "So, we were walking down a street in our area the other day this last week and these two teenage boys on their bikes stopped us and asked if we are "Mormons" and we started talking to em and they were really interested and we taught them the 1st lesson right there in the street and it was amazing and they were so surprised to hear about the restored church and gospel and that there is a living prophet.. the problem is they said they would come to church yesterday and didnt along with everybody else except one.. Rogerio finally came to church and he loved it! "

#2 "So, it was dang funny on sat. we were walking to an appointment in the afternoon after lunch and we could here this really loud religious music and we turned the corner and in front of a church there was a ton of ppl out front and all in the street and there was a guy yelling and preachin in a microphone with huge speakers and a choir singing and ppl dressed up in all sorts of costumes and we just walked right right threw the middle and just thinkin about how is looked makes me laugh, ha ha.. imagine, two white as can be american mormon missionaries walking right threw a convention or something of another church, ha ha.. man, i cant lie, i felt really cool and it was dang funny how every single person was staring at us and the looks that we got.. and i swear that as we passed by the preacher dude yelling, he got even louder and he was just staring right at me and i just smiled back and kept walking, ha ha, it was so awesome, i wish you all could have seen it.."

#3 "So, yesterday I had an amazing spiritual experience - we taught Nilzair and her parents listened together for the second time (member they're not members) and the spirit was SO strong with us and it was one of the most spiritual lessons i have had on my mission and i KNOW that they all felt it and it was just such an amazing experience and they cant deny that spirit that they felt.. afterwards, Nilzair asked me to give her a blessing of comfort and that sweet spirit guided me completely and it was a miracle and an amazing experience.. we left running for home completely filled with the spirit and i cant even explained how i felt."

Max will be Max

"So, the food is just amazing here, ha ha, just so ya know, i love eating and its so weird that i'm not huge, i eat SO much for lunch everyday and it is just so good, every single day.. i love beans and rice and all of the food here.. this week we 2 huge chickens that were SO good and all spiced perfect and we had potato salad thats amazing and the desserts are amazing too, man, yesterday we had one of the best cakes i have ever had.. ha ha it was 2 layers of chocolate and two layers of white with choc. mousse in between the chocolate and this coconut frosting in between the white and with frosting on top, wow, i cant do it justice, ha ha, just know that the food is amazing and i am loving eat.. so it is officially spring here and heating up.."

PICTURES FROM ELDER MAX & HORROCKS IN RIO:

FOURTH AREA: Service Project

OCTOBER 12, 2009

"So, today hás been awesome.. this morning we had a huge service project. It was the “Helping Hands” thing and so there were so so many ppl there to help and we were at this place that is like an old fokes home and a homeless shelter I think and there was ppl working in all different parts. I started out in this yard pullin weeds and cuttin grass and it was sweet to get to work with my hands again for a change, it took me right back to before the mish as a gardener, há há, remember that?! So yeah, it was sweet, we just worked in the yard the whole time and there were ppl fixing wheelchairs and weeding and doing recycling things and it was so sweet to be a part of and maybe we’ll be in the Ensign, há há, that’d be sweet.. "

FUNNY

"There's this old guy that comes to church alone every week and hes been a member for abour 10 years but fell away and recently returns but the problem is that every single month he bears his testimony but its not really a testimony – he just goes up there and every time ends up yelling almost and preaching to everybody about how they need to pray more for the poor and needy.. yeah, its really weird but the Bishop talks to him almost every week and he just doesnt change.. há há, sorry i just had to tell ya bout him.."

FOURTH AREA: Working Hard

Max is working hard with Elder Bischoff in Rio Grande.

SEPTEMBER 28, 2009

"So we had Suelma's baptism on Saturday (Sept. 26, 2009) and it was so amazing.. after such a stressful week, it was a miracle to see it happen and to be a part of it.. i had the opportunity to baptize her and i was so grateful, it was such a spiritual baptism.. her daughter Jessica came too!!! but she didnt come to church yesterday!! man!! nobody else in the fam came to the baptism or church, [but] it was such a spiritual baptism, i think the most spiritual on my mission so far"

OCTOBER 5, 2009

He was able to go to General Conference (Oct. 3-4, 2009) because a lot of his investigators went, this is a list of who went:

Saturday morning: Jelguer & Iraci ("He’s getting married to a member of the church that fell away but they are both going together now and we are teaching her daughter and granddaughter too, they all live together.. it’s a really long story, ha ha, but he is great and progressing and they are ready to get married and so here in about a month they will be married and he will be baptized along with the lady’s 8 year old daughter, she is so cute and so smart – her name is Mariane and the moms name is Iraci. Her granddaughter lives there too – her name is Eduarda and she is 7 and so cute and smart too, ha ha.. so yeah, sat. was great cuz Jelguer and Iraci came)

Sunday: " We had a bus to pick up everyone in our ward and guess who came?! Jessica!!!! Ha ha, finally!! Remember, Suelma’s daughter? She loved it too and Suelma came and also remember Emilia? Shes 16 and was baptized a while ago.. she is so strong in the church now and her mom isn’t baptized yet and her older sis too and they all came to conf. together! Jelguer went again and also another one of our investigators named Rogerio. We stopped teaching him cuz he never came to church but we thought we’d stop by and invite him to conf. on sat and Sunday he showed up!! He loved it too!!! So as you can see, so many miracles have been happening in our area and it was a great week! "

"[This is] me on the roof of a brother’s house in are ward – we did a service project at his house sat. morn and it was great. We fixed a leak in that big water tank on the roof and then we moved a bunch of bricks from his front yard to back and also moved a pile of rocks, it was sweet and nice to help him out and to work with my hands once again for a change."

"[This is] me with the two young dudes is sweet huh? Ha ha, between conf. sessions we had a mtg. with the zone leaders and we left with those two guys to do contacts in the street and it was sweet and on the way back, Elder Bischoff took this pic and its sweet, ha ha.. "

"I'm also sending one of me and Elder B. with the daughter of the guy we did the service project for, her name is Flavia and she is so cute and funny."

FOURTH AREA: Pictures

A couple of random pictures

FOURTH AREA: Zone Conference

3 Zones Conference in Pelotas

Max saw Elder Jones, Elder Piccin AND Elder Headley!

"Man, it was so great to see all of them again, especially Elder Headley cuz it had been about 7 months! It was weird to see them and be with all of them at the same time"

The 4 American missionaries that live together in Rio Grande.

"So, another dude came to church with us named Éderson and he is so sweet.. its amazing to hear about the change that He made with his life.. it was the 1st time He came to church and He loved it and we marked his baptism for the 10th of October and he’s great.. E. Bischoff and his last companion started teachin him before i got here and the 1st time they talked to him He was usin all kinds of drugs and He was possessed.. Elder B and his comp gave him a blessing and He started grunting and so they expulsed the evil spirit, man i never knew how real and dangerous this stuff really is until i came to Brasil cuz it happens a ton here because theres a lot of the batooki.. but they kept teachin him but He was still usin drugs so they stopped.. we started teaching him again this week cuz He went to get treatment and stopped usin all of the drugs and is completely clean now and only wants to do what is right and He hás made a complete 180 degree turn in his life, it is amazing to witness..."

"We have been trying and trying to talk to Suelma’s husband and the whole fam together but He doesnt want to ever talk to us about the Church and always leaves as soon as we get there.. He says that he’s happy for his wife and that she is goin but its not for him.. man, it hás been so frustrating.. and to add to the stress, Jessica didnt come to church yesterday once again! Man, but suelma was there of course and church yesterday was great and the Spirit was so strong throughout all of the mtgs and suelma loved it and finally stopped drinking coffee and so we think she’ll be ready for this Sat!  she is amazing.. we Just want more than anything to help out the whole fam together cuz they are so amazing"

FOURTH AREA: Blessings and Miracles

A week full of blessings and miracles.
"Us on the beach last week with the kids from our ward and the other ward here close, it was so sweet, we played american football and chilled all day on the beach and it was a beautiful day - not too hot, not too cold. The weather has been heaten up this week, and fast! Ha ha, i think winter is officially over here but we will see"

"Our baptism on Saturday with all of us together, it was amazing.. We had our baptism together with the zone leaders at the stake center in the center of the city and it was amazing.. Emilia and Guilherme were baptized from our ward and they baptized the other boy.. It was a miracle - Emilia's mom, Tuca, came back from her trip on wed night and so we werent plannin on it until we found out thurs. morn that she was back in town and they were ready for the baptism. Elder Bischoff baptized her and had to do it twice cuz of her knee and Guilherme's friend, Douglas baptized him and had to do it 3 times cuz it was the first time he baptized, ha ha, but it all turned out perfect and it was so amazing.. Guilherme is amazing, he already wants to teach with us and bear his testimony about the Book of Mormon and how it changed his life! How amazing is that? :) He is such a smart kid and yesterday in church, i had the opportunity to confirm him and it was amazing because i was completely guided by the Spirit just as i was in my first area with Igor"

"So this week we had two divisions.. the first, i stayed in our area with Elder Almeida and it was great and then the very next day i went to another city close to here called São Jose Do Norte with my buddy Elder Cézar - he's in my group and got here from the CTM with me.. it was so sweet.. the coolest thing is is that the only way to get there from Rio Grande is by boat! ha ha and so we picked up a boat thats just like a bus on the water and its just like a half hour to there and i took lots o pics and will send some next week. There in that area, we taught a guy named Sandro for the first time and it was a great lesson, he accepted everything and is great.. there in São Jose, they dont have a ward, just a branch and not a real chapel so its harder to get ppl to church, but it is a great area with so much potential.. "

FOURTH AREA: One Year Mark

ONE YEAR - HUMP DAYSEPTEMBER 17, 2009

Areas Elder Kirschman has served in:

1. Brazil MTC with E. Watts - 9/17/08-11/19/08

2. Cristal with Elder Jones - 11/19/08-12/31/08

3. Office with E. Fernandes - 12/31/08-2/4/09

4. Cavalhada with E. Headley - 2/4/09-3/24/09

Cavalhada with E. Piccin - 3/24/09-6/9/09

Cavalhada with E. Romeiro - 6/9/09-7/21/09

5. Rio Grande with E. Biscoff - 7/21/09-Present

What the rest of the Kirschman's did on Max's year mark. . .

Braza Grill Brazillian Cuisine in SLC, UT

FOURTH AREA: Work and Rewards

Ola from Rio Grande, BRAZIL

(no mission "fat face" to be seen! )

(Max ordered a special-made leather scripture case. It turned out beautiful!)

August 3, 2009
"There is just so much work to be done and we are killing ourselves doing it, ha ha, our area is huge and we just walk all day cuz we don't have money for the bus but it is good cuz i hopefully wont come home like the plum girl on willy wonka, ha ha.. so am I officially mission weird yet? Ha ha, jk.. so the mission is just going and it is so amazing. I feel so so blessed and lucky to be a part of this most important work on earth and to witness miracles each and everyday."

"We ate lunch with an investigator and after, the lesson was one of the most spiritually powerful lessons I have had on the mission so far, it was amazing. We taught about baptism and confirmation and the lady smokes a ton so we're helping her but her daughter's baptism is marked for the 15th of August and she's great."

The following is a story that happened in Cavalhada with E. Romeiro around July 4, 2009:

"I want to tell you the story that I have waited so long to tell. So, when I was in Cavalhada about a month ago with E. Romeiro we were teaching one night and almost left an area but felt to try a few more addresses that we had and ended up teaching a girl that's 21 I think named Denise and it was amazing and the Spirit was definitely there. So towards the end of the lesson she told us that right before we showed up she was crying in her room beggin Heavenly Father in prayer for help and just as she finished she heard our clapping.. it was crazy cuz I have heard so many stories like this but its the first time that it has happened to me and it was amazing and strengthened my testimony."

Tchau!

FOURTH AREA: *Rio Grande with E. Biscoff* 7/21/09 to 10/14/09

Max finally got transferred from Cavalhada on July 21, 2009. He's in a new area called Rio Grande, which is about four hours south of Cavalhada. His companion is Elder Bischoff from Rexburg, Idaho.

"So, I finally went south and left Porto Alegre. I am in Rio Grande, the city, and its completely different, a whole new world once again, ha ha.. so its crazy cuz i'm with another american, his name is Elder Bischoff and he's from Rexburg, Idaho, but his fam moved to salt lake while he was already on the mish.. he's way cool and teaches so well. He has about a year and 4 months here so only about 6 months ahead of me. Man, its been hard and frustrating cuz hes kind of lazy so i've gotta help him out a lil bit.. but he is such a great missionary, he just needs a little push"

"We are in the center of Rio Grande right now and its a pretty cool little town and i will be sure to take lots of pics :) Our area is just south of the center of the city and now the biggest area in the mission - its about 33 miles long! ha ha! look it up on google earth and it'll be sweet :) so i heard that Rio Grande has the longest beach in the world! Can you believe that? I also heard that its pretty ugly in the winter and i havent been there yet but we'll go one p day and get pics. Its freezing here! Ha ha, it has been a really cold week but its always better cold than hot i say :) and i'm from Logan, UT so i'm used to it :)"

"We were greatly blessed with a baptism this week. Her name is Tuane and she is a 16 year old girl. She's way sweet and so nice and quiet and it was such a spiritual baptism. She cried after with her friend and I felt the spirit so strong during the whole meeting. We are teaching her older brother, Tiago and he's 17 and way cool too. We are teaching his friend too, Anderson and hes 18 and Tiago came to church yesterday and went last week too and so his baptism might be this saturday.. so i'm gonna send a pic of the baptism :) This area was two but they joined and now it is just us in two areas and so we have a ton of great investigators and it is such a great area with a ton of work to be done so we are just running now all day and i am lovin it and excited for the challenge" Tiago, Anderson, Tuane (in purple coat), E. Biscoff (in all white), E. Kirschman, and mom

THIRD AREA: Last Week in Cavalhada

Last Week in Cavalhada.

Max is being transferred out of Cavalhada. After six months and many friends, investigators and converts he is leaving to see new places and meet new people.

"Oh man i haven't told you yet, ha, i just found out that i'm getting transferred tom, but i already knew it pretty much so it wasnt much of a surprise, but still it'll be hard gettin used to a new area, but part of me is excited too because i think i'll be goin to another city in the mission cuz with almost 11 months i havent left Porto Alegre yet, but you know how much i love it here.. so thats all we know, i have no idea where i'll be goin until the bus station tom (Tuesday July 21, 2009), crazy huh?

Thanks to the Kerns' for being Max's "family"! For all of the churrasco and fun! What a great area.

(Lulu Kerns)

"Our churrasco that we had last week with Isabel and Volnei. . . . . . and the young guy with me is Viniscius, our investigator and it's not a gang sign he's doin, it means peace"

"Raquel's baptism (her name is pronounced Hakel) she is so cute. . . . . . and look at the baby boy, he's so funny and so dang cute! His name is Artur which is Arthur in english I think." "A pic of Brasilian money, "the real", pronounced Hay-al.. and then check out my first pair of shoes, they are down to the insole, worn all the way threw! Sweet as huh?! I stopped using them a while back and I'm already way into my 2nd pair :) ha, but dont worry cuz i can find dang cheap shoes here in Brasil, so dont worry about sendin them"

"There's us with another fam in our ward, André and Cristiane and their lil boy, Pedro."

This picture is a mystery)

Adeus. Foi um experiance maravilhoso.