FIFTH AREA: Testimony

MARCH 8, 2010

"I love the gospel, its so amazing! how lucky are we all to have the truth in our lives.. i think about my life before the mission and how so very blessed i have been my entire life and for how easy it was for me.. living and serving in Brasil for this time has opened my eyes so much and to see how there are so many ppl lost in lies and apostasy and so many ppl searching and wanting the happiness that our family has always had :) man, its so amazing, i just love it and i love you guys!! My testimony continues to be strengthened each and everyday :)"

"There is a lady in our ward that bore her testimony of the power of the priesthood and it was amazing, a great miracle happened with her this last week.. so about a month ago her and her family were sealed in the temple in Porto Alegre because it was a lil more than a year that her husband was baptized and they are such a sweet fam, we ate lunch with them last sat. and she told us she had to have surgery and yesterday in church she said it was to see the problem that the doctors didnt know why it was happening.. they told her she could have cancer or something else but her husband gave her a priesthood blessing before the surgery so that everything could go great and when the doctors opened her up they found absolutely nothing wrong with the part where the problem was and she was completely cured - wow, it was an amazing story and i was so happy to hear it! :)"

"Then after church Leonã received the Aaronic Priesthood as a priest and it was awesome and we did a division with a kid named Alison and i taught with Leonã.. it was amazing.. i have witnessed a complete change in his life in only about a month of time and how eternally grateful i am for this and for the opportunity. The first time we finally taught him, he didnt really believe in God and this was about a month ago and last night he was bearing his testimony and teaching the complete 1st lesson to strangers in the street and in their houses, it was so amazing!"

(Pres. Swenson had a hernia on a disc in his neck i think but he already had the surgery there in Salt Lake and is just recovering and will return soon)

FIFTH AREA: Leonã’s baptism on 2/27/10

Leonã’s Baptism with Sandra and Wilma February 27, 2010

MARCH 1, 2010

"So this week was great and I just sent the one pic of Leonã’s baptism, it was amazing. Finally a pic of their amazing family.. so it all started with the mom, Sandra and then her mom, Wilma and this last Saturday, Leonã.. it was so great.. we had the baptism together with the other elders in our ward and they baptized a sweet old lady named Ana and it was such a spiritual baptism.. It was planned a lot better and so there was a lot of members there to participate and it was great. Leonã is awesome.. this week he bought all new church clothes for Sunday and he looked great yesterday.. church was great and everything is just going awesome.. I love my comp. and we are such great friends and I love working with him"

FIFTH AREA: *Pelotas Areal Norte with E. Bangerter 2/22/10

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

"My new comp. is Elder Bangerter and he is the man just as i had heard and we get along great and already have such a strong friendship, it is awesome.. i am so grateful for my comps, i have been so blessed my whole mission.. so i will tell ya'll about this crazy week, ha ha, aight? So when i wrote you last week i was in Cavalhada cuz i stayed with the elders there until tues. morn and we had FHE with the Kern fam and it was so great to see them all, i am sending a pic :) so then we had transfers on tues. morn at the bus station in Porto Alegre and it was great to see so many friends.. i saw Elder Horrocks there and he was happy to be transferred because he was with a brazilian slacker that doesnt even want to work so i hope his new area will be great.. so then we waited there and the bus station and i got my new comp. Elder Bangerter and we went to stay with the zone leaders in a city about a half hour from Porto Alegre called Guaíba because we had a mtg. with pres. and all the zone leaders on Wednesday morn.. so we had an amazing experience tues. night in Guaíba.. Elder B. and i went out to just do our contacts in the street and Elder B. talked with a lady who has 5 kids that are members of the church and she invited us to her house to talk so we walked home with her and taught her and her husband and it was amazing and they both accepted to get married and be baptized here in a lil over a month.. it was amazing and i know that thats the reason we stayed there just for one day, it was amazing.. so on wed morn we had the zone counsel with pres. swenson and he had to leave for SLC that afternoon so our new pres. was there too and it was great.. his name is President Gershwandtner and he lives in Porto Alegre and was already the mission pres. of the João Pessoa mission in northern brazil and he was already an area authority so hes great and it was an amazing mtg. with the Spirit so strong and it was great.. so we ate Dominos pizza after and it was amazing and then we went to pick up our bus and came back here to Pelotas and got here in our area around 630. So we lost alot of our week for proselyting but it was a great weekend and we are teaching Leonã and he will be baptized this Sat. and he is just about ready, we just have to help him with some things but he is great and we taught his friend this week too and his name is Stefan and hes 15 and the next day we talked to him and he read 3 Nephi 11 and he asked God if the BOM is true and received an answer and his baptism is marked for the 13th of March and hes great but he couldnt come to church yesterday but he will this week.. we played bball this morn with them and another kid in our ward and it was great"

The Kerns

New Companion Elder Bangerter

FIFTH AREA: Baptisms and a new companion

FEBRUARY 8, 2010

Companion: Elder Pourre

"Do ya'll wanna know how hot is got on Tues. afternoon, ha ha.. 105 degrees farenheit with a humidity of even more! ha ha, so i guess you could say that its been pretty hot lately, ha ha!

"So the work is going awesome and my companion is the absolute man and we are the best friends ever. He's gonna try and get into Utah State to study with me after the mission! I love him and he is an amazing missionary and helps me out so so much everyday."

"Yesterday was stake conference and our stake is huge and you should see the chapel, its bigger than the Porto Alegre temple!"

"So this week two more women are going to be baptized and it will be amazing.. I think i told you about Andreia, she is a single mom that is in her 30s and a lot of her family are members but less active except her dad that is active. Her son is about 11 and was baptized too and she has been investigating the church for a really long time, ever since they were baptized and was almost baptised herself but she never believed in the BOM and was really into the Bible and just the Bible ya know, with a really closed vision and a few weeks ago we had one of the most amazing lessons that i have had on my mission all about the BOM and reading scrips together from the Bible and the BOM and we basically just read with her and the spirit testified to all of us that the BOM is true and she could feel it and new it and it was an amazing experience and she read a part that we marked and she prayed and received an answer and knows that the BOM is true and it completely changed her life because now she has the desire and testimony to keep the commandments and she is great and came to conference yesterday and loved it, she is great.."

"Conference was amazing yesterday, so many great talks and the testimonies of a few returned missionaries, it was alot about families and it was great and the spirit was so strong there with so many ppl.. the other lady that is going to be baptized this week is Sandra's mom and do ya know how old she is? 84! She is so sweet and amazing and her daughter was baptized two weeks ago and now she came to church again so is ready to be baptized. We had an amazingly spiritual lesson with her talking just about our Savior Jesus Christ and we ended with the hymn, "The Lord Is My Light" and when we got done she had tears running down her cheeks and told us that for 84 years she has been searching for the true church of Jesus Christ and she is so grateful to have found it :) she also received her own testimony of the BOM, she is such a sweet old lady and it is amazing and i am so grateful to see the changes in her life and her happiness that she hadn't had for years"

FEBRUARY 15,2010

Max's e-mail has had a small change: max.kirschman@myldsmail.net
NEW COMPANION: Elder Bangeter from Boise, ID (Elder Pourre was called as the A.P)

"So another transfer has already come and gone and my comp. got transfered and he is the new AP, hes the man and i love him and am sad that its over but i will get a great new comp. and believe it or not, another american! ha ha.. his name is Elder Bangerter and he's from Boise, Idaho and we've only really ever said hi to each other but I have only heard great things about him and that he is a hard worker and so I am excited.."

"So guess where i am right now? I am in my old area in Porto Alegre, Cavalhada, remember?! We just passed by the Kern family and it is so good to see them and we are gonna have an FHE with them tonight! It will be great :)"

"So we found out last night that Elder Pourre would be the new AP and we had to leave Pelotas to come to Porto Alegre at 9 and so we got here a lil after 12 and he had a mtg. with Pres. and the secretaries and i came here until transfers tomorrow morning at the bus station. Isnt it a great coincidence that i am passing here today? I think Pres. did it on purpose :)"

"Sat. we had the baptism of Andrea and Wilma.. It was so amazing and they both wanted me to baptize them and so i was so honored to be able to do it for them and it was so great. Andrea is a single mom thats in her 30s and Wilma is 84 years old.. i already told ya bout them huh? They are so great and guess who came to the baptism and to church on Sunday? Leonã! Remember I told ya bout him, Wilma's grandson and his mom was baptized two weeks ago. He seemed so much happier after and was all smiles and loved it and is going to be baptized on the 27th! Hey, Kyle's bday, ha ha! So yeah, they are an amazing family and will be an eternal fam here in a lil more than a year! :) Wow, i am so grateful for the gospel in my life and for my eternal family! I love you all,

FIFTH AREA: *Pelotas Areal Norte with E. Pourre 1/11/01

Max in in a new area - Pelotas Areal Norte, with a new companion - E. Pourre and got called as a Zone Leader

January 11, 2010
"So my new comp is awesome and we are already such great friends.. his name is Elder Pourre (pronounced por) and he’s from Rio De Janeiro but before the mission he lived in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, and hes so awesome and such a great comp and a great missionary.. He has the coolest accent cuz everybody from Rio de Janeiro has an awesome accent.. so this week was so much different from the whole rest of my mission and it is a whole new aspect to missionary work for me. My new area is in Pelotas and its called Areal Norte and our ward is called Areal and it has 4 missionaries and so it is a pretty big ward and our chapel is really big and beautiful."

Lots of time on the bus:
Tuesday- Rio Grande to Porto Alegre (4 1/2 hours) and then to Pelotas (3 hours)
Thursday - back to Porto Alegre for a meeting (3 hours), then back to Pelotas
Friday - we went to another city called São Lourenço do Sul about an hour and a half from Pelotas to do a baptismal interview, then back to Pelatos

January 25, 2010
"This morn I found out Samira and her fam were baptized on Sat!!!


"So yesterday was a great Sunday. I gave a talk in Sacrament Mtg. about being a missionary through example and the two old women that came to church last week came again and are going to be baptized this Sat! They are amazing and both are ready for their baptisms and we are still working with both of their families. . ."


"We taught a guy named Patook that is from Thailand and he married a Brazilian named Bruna and they speak English and he speaks very little Portuguese so we taught in English and they are great."

February 1, 2010
"We had the baptism of Marlene and Sandra on Sat. January 30, 2010 and it was amazing and Marlene choose me to baptize her and so i was so grateful for the opportunity, it was another very spiritual baptism and yesterday church was great and they were confirmed members of the church and i was also able to bless the sacrament and it has been a long time."

FOURTH AREA: New Years and a Transfer

Max is transferring to Pelotas which is just about an hour north from Rio Grande. His companion is Elder Pourre who is Brazilian and Max has only heard great things about him!

"P-day was New Years Day so New Years Eve we stayed up for the new year playing this new card game thats the Best called Monopoly Deal and we banged pots and pans Just like russ baby! Há há, it was the Best and new years Day was great – i ate i think the most i have ever eaten in one meal.. we had Churrasco with Nilzair and her fam and it was so so good, wow.. and we stayed there and played Monopoly Deal with them pretty much all afternoon."

"Oh man, one of THE funniest thing ever happened this week a few days ago.. oh, it was New Years Day and we were going home from teaching and stopped by Cadu’s house and Elder Horrocks started feeling sick cuz we ate SO much and when we left it got worse and the entire walk home He was struggling to hold his diarrea in and was SO close to crapping in his pants and it was like a half hour walk home and He had to stop from time to time and i dunno IF i have ever laughed harder in my life.. He barely made it home and when i laughed He would start laughing and have to stop and fight to hold it in! HÁ HÁ.. oh man, it was the Best.."

"I AM excited for a lil change and to see what great things the next área holds for me, everybody have a great week, I Love you all!!!

- Elder Max Aaron Kirschman"

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"