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.

THIRD AREA: New President

"The one pic is of me in Gaucho clothing, ha, member the Brasilian cowboys? and the other is of me on Rodrigos brand new motorcycle, sweet as huh? Rodrigo is the husband of the couple that will be married on the 20th of July and baptized on the 22nd!! Member them? They are a part of the whole fam that will be baptized and the two baptisms we had last week. Rodrigo and Fernanda have a son thats 10 too named Murilo and i just love the kid :) They will all be baptized together with Rodrigos younger sister Analise too. So we are really excited for them, they are an amazing family. And I really want to come back here in a year for the sealing of the entire family, it would be absolutely amazing. Missionaries are usually allowed to do this I guess so i'm super excited. We're doin all we can to help them make that their ultimate goal altogether here in a year."

"So new pres this week and he's so awesome! ha ha, hes so dang funny and seems way cool. He got here on Wed. morn and Friday we had a zone conference again for him and his wife to introduce themselves. He hugged every missionary right at first, ha ha.. He served in the exact same chapel that we have conferences in 35 years ago on his mission, crazy huh? He hasnt spoken portuguese for 35 years but he already speaks better than me! ha ha, dang it! :) jk.. his wife is awesome too and so so nice - she just started learning port. a month ago and so doesnt speak alot but speaks really well for only a month. They have 3 sons that are all married and one daughter that is at BYU-Idaho and they said that she'll come here for Christmas and stay for 5 or 6 months with them. So yeah, they are just here alone for now and have a grandbaby on the way and they are really funny but know when to be serious too and their testimonies are so powerful."

THIRD AREA: Two more baptisms - June 28, 2009!

Max and Elder Romeiro are working hard in the mission field and are reaping the blessings of the scriptures: "Seek and ye shall find" (Luke 11:9), and "the field is white all ready to harvest" (D&C 33:7). The field truly is white and ready to harvest. . .

"So we had two suprise baptisms yesterday, ha ha, can you believe it? It was amazing.. so this is what happened: ya know the fam we're teaching? So we were teachin them this last week and we decided beforehand to invite the young son, junior thats 10 and the husband of the daughter, Stefano thats about 35 to be baptized on the 4th of July because we felt they were ready and after talking with them, we found out that the best day would be Sunday for Stefano because of work and so they said, why dont we do it this sunday night?! ha ha! and after talking some more we figured because of the confirmation, to do it in the morning before church and so we did at 8 in da mornin and it was great. I had the opportunity to baptize both of them and it was such an amazing experiece for us all :)"

Max and Elder Johnson

Elder Piccin, Sister Evangelista, and Elder Kirschman

THIRD AREA * Cavalhada with E. Romeiro * 6/9/09 to 7/21/09

Max got a new companion on June 9, 2009. He is STILL in the same area, Cavalhada, now with Elder Romeiro:

THIRD AREA: Last week with Elder Piccin

Max and Elder Piccin have been working in Cavalhada together since March 24, 2009 - Here are some pictures from their last week together:

"I sent a pic of my zone - Porto Alegre South"
"I also sent a pic of us with Isabel and Volnei so you can finally see what they look like."
"Me and Elder Piccin and Guilherme at Guilherme's baptism. It was on Sat. morn (June 6, 2009) because the primary had an activity right before and so we planned it together right after and so the whole primary was there and the Young Women were there too so there were a lot of people and it was amazing. Guilherme is so awesome and has so much knowledge about the Gospel already :) I was lucky enough to get to baptize him and the water heater was fixed so the water was warm this time :)"
"I also sent a pic from our FHE mon. night. We had it at the Kern's house with Glaura and Alex and it went great!"

"We were walkin down a road and asked a lady if there was a road that connected the one we were on and another one that we had an investigator and she told us yeah and so we took it and it ended up bein so far away and so we lost about an hour just walkin and thats were i got that pic was at the top of this hill but we got our street contacts done on the way and it all worked out because the lady, her name is Nelí was still at home and it was a very spiritual lesson."
"I also sent some pics from the temple! Oh man it was so amazing, there is no better place on earth than inside of the temples. We went last wed., just me and E. Piccin and it was absolutely amazing and we got to go again today with our zone and another zone and it was so amazing once again!!! It is such a beautiful temple and i just love it."