February 23, 2015- week 25- New companion- Elder Maxwell, in Brazil!

Familia!

This week was TRANSFERS! Sorry for the short email last time, btw. But!! I am still here in Sumaré, but this time with Elder Maxwell! He was in my District at the CTM and he's from American Fork, Utah!  Elder Arnson is also in my house as the companion of Elder Firmino. Arnson is from Gilbert, Arizona. Firmino is from Recife, Brazil. 

This week was fast, but we didn't too much. It was more of a "let's get you used to this area first" kind of week. We were able to do a lot of contacts with people and did teach some too, but this week should be better. 

The house is a lot different with two American buddies and only one Brazilian. I'm actually pretty proud to say that it's mostly been Portuguese in the house. I thought we would transition to English "faster than I would run to hug mom upon returning home" hehe (which would be pretty fast btw). But no, we're doing pretty good with speaking Portuguese. It's still going to be a little hard to get that accent down though...

Anyways, this past week was Carnavale, but nothing big happened over here in the Interior of Brazil. If you wanted to see the action, you had to watch tv or go to big cities. The only thing I saw here was last Sunday when this huge trail of people/kind of parade go through Sumaré. There were some fireworks, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Included with this email is a picture of Elder Maxwell and I with some of our investigators. They definitely would not look like the ideal investigators, but they love having us over and hearing what we have to say. They're all tattoo artists, and their names are Kevin, Artur, and Diner (like dinner haha). They're super cool.

Hmm, I think the scripture with the most significant impact that I read this week was probably James 2:19-20.  It really caught me by surprise. Faith, alone, is not enough. Just believing is not enough. Remember, as the scripture says- even the devils and demons believe in Christ; they know of his power, they know who he is and why he's important. But that doesn't mean they're saved. Remember to put your faith into action and do the things that will help us come closer to him.

Well, that's it for this week. Until the next one! Thank you all for the emails! Love you lots!!

Elder Collins

FOTOS!!!

A Photo taken on Sunday by the Ward Mission Leader, Eduardo, in Sumaré Ward, Brazil.  From left to right- Elder Firmino, Elder Collins, Elder Arnson, and Elder Maxwell.

Lago: This cool lake in the other Elders' area.

Noiteda: Every Thursday, the Sumaré Ward has "Noite da Amizade", "Night of Friendship", an activity to get to know the members.

Pesquis: Some of our Investigators- Kevin, Artur, Diner

Saudade: One of the members here loves us and also goes to the states from time and time and returns with goodies!

The CTM gang: Getting the gang back.

February 16, 2015- week 24- New companion in Sumaré, Brazil!

Hey Family!!

I don't have much time today, so this email is gonna be a quick one. TRANSFERS HAVE HAPPENED. And......I stayed! Just that I'm getting a new companion!! Can you guess who? ELDER MAXWELL!!!!! The one I always take pictures with at conferences! He got here the same time as me, he was in the same District at the CTM, and this transfer is going to be so awesome!!! Also, Elder Arnson is moving to my house to be companions with Elder Firmino!! We're getting the whole gang back!!! Elder Holder and Elder Chipana were transferred to different areas. 

I am so blown back by this transfer, you have no idea. Also, another Elder from my CTM District, Elder King is going to come to our Zone, just a different District!!! I guess it looks like we're having our reunion before the mission ends haha.

Anyways, this week was pretty chill. Just a nice way to end the transfer. We worked hard and did our best here in Sumaré! I also took some more pictures this week! I went on a division with my District Leader Elder Sanchez! It was really cool, and although some things went wrong during the day, I learned a lot and feel more confident in my work. 

Well, here goes for the next Transfer here in Brazil Piracicaba! Love you all and have a great week! Sorry for not being able to respond to all the emails and questions, but next week should be better! (It's Carnival over here in Brazil, so they're closing the LAN house really soon)

Love,

Elder Collins

FOTOS!!

THE LAST DISTRICT PHOTO

Return date maybe?

Ladybird?

Elder Arnson (left), Elder Maxwell (center- My new companion!), and me.

With Perry- Elder Sanchez!

February 9, 2015- week 23- Will find out about transfers next week!

Hey family and everyone else!

This week went by pretty fast again! This week is the last week of the transfers too! I can't believe its already passed by so fast! I don't know if I'll stay or be transferred, but I have a feeling that I'll get a new companion at least. We'll see. There wasn't too much that happened the past week, but we did have quite a hard start to the week. We met up with some really hard investigators that were quite against us, but at least we still have a friendship with them. Needless to say, I studied the scriptures a lot, accompanied by prayer. The rest of the week went by pretty smoothly. I think Sunday was my biggest success. We had this family come to church who we just found in the beginning of last week. They said they would come to church and they did! They said it was a lot different and that they liked the teaching a whole ton better.

We met this guy a couple of weeks ago who gives guitar lessons and is just super chill. We lost contact for a while when we weren't able to find him until last week. He gave us a car ride to the church because it was pouring out, and then we gave him a tour of the chapel. He also said we could go and visit him, so we did. He's 21, but he definitely doesn't look it. He said he would go to church with us next week!

Anyways, this week we're gonna try to go out with a bang to end the transfer. We're gonna work as hard as we can to meet all of our goals and the zone's goals. It's always a very anxious week, the last week of the transfers, because you don't know if you're going to stay or leave and so it's kind of weird working.

Like I said before, I've studied the scriptures a lot this week, mainly the Bible, but I've also read some of the Book of Mormon. The one that probably impacted me the most was in the book of Alma when he is talking to his three sons. The middle son's counsel is minimal, but his last words have really struck me. It seemed like they were meant for me. I can't remember what chapter..

Well! Thank you everyone for all the emails! Talk to you next week! 

Love,

Elder Collins

P.S.  Hey, also really quickly, I wanted to tell you guys about a missionary who was in my District at the CTM. He has a blog too, and in the beginning, he's got a lot of photos of me and the gang. Check it out! http://elderderekjaydynarnson.blogspot.com.br/

P.P.S.  Yes, of course my feet get tired. We walk all day, every day. Well, today has only just started for me, but I finally cleaned up my room and it looks pretty nice now. There's been tons of ants, and they always crawl up on my arm and bite me. They're tiny ants, but it gets annoying after an ant bites you every 10 minutes.

FOTOS

My favorite juice- Caju!  (Cashew nectar)

This annoying lizard that would not leave the bathroom

Elder Firmino and Elder Chipana

February 2, 2015- week 22- P-day in Sumaré, Brazil!

Hey!! 

This week went by so fast! There wasn't anything really big or special that happened this week, just the usual. On Sunday, there was a Stake Conference that we all went to. It was really cool! President and Sister Canuto were both there and talked. There was also an Area Seventy there. Everyone gave really good talks. 

It was really hot this week too, good thing people are nice enough to offer us water. I guess my favorite part of the week was when we were stopped by some young adults and they asked us a lot of questions about what we believed. They also asked us a lot of questions about the United States, because we're American. They were really funny too, and wanted to meet up with us again. They wanted to know when they could see us in regular clothes too haha. We told them that to be able to see us in regular clothes outside of our house, we had to be doing a service project, so they were trying to see if they could get us to paint one of their houses haha. They were pretty cool. 

We also decided to order pizza and have it delivered to our house (the pizza place opens up late and we have to be in our house by 9pm, so delivery is the best option here). It was kind of expensive, but it was pretty good. Doesn't compare to American pizza, but hey what else are we gonna do here?

As for things I've learned this week- I've learned a lot more Portuguese vocabulary. I decided to actually study some words to increase the amount of words I know, and so I'll share with you the word I've used most this week- Pipoca. It means Pop Corn. On all the pop corn bags it says pop corn, but everyone just calls it pipoca. Now you know! 

Well, there isn't too much to tell. I forgot to take more pictures this week, but I'll really try this week to take more. Thanks for all the emails! Talk to you soon!

Love,

Elder Collins

P.S.  My week has been pretty normal, but the next transfer is in two weeks. I have a feeling I'm going to stay here in Sumaré, but with a different companion. I dunno, we'll see pretty soon I guess haha.

P.P.S.  For lunch today, we decided to go to McDonald's. It's pretty expensive, but it was pretty good. 

This one tree Elder Holder told me to climb. haha

Whoops- photo for Sarah