Week 21

Hey Everyone!

This week was set to be just another normal week here in Julio de Mesquita until I was asked to baptize a boy, Gabriel, in our ward whos family is coming back to church! Even though he's only 8 and it wasn't counted as a baptism for the mission, my joy was just as great as any of my other baptisms. He was so excited and after the baptism he  exclaimed that he felt so clean and like his life was going to be so much better. It was an awesome experience and I'm glad that I had to opportunity to be a part of it.

My portuguese has gotten pretty good, so much so that when Elder Sepulveda was in  the bathroom at church and I opened the door to say something to him, he thought it was a member and asked me later, "Did you see who was talking to me while I was in the bathroom?" Now I just have to learn to conjugate all the verbs correctly.

Our electricity came back on later that night, so that was good, but we are still without beds and desks.

Also, because of the change in mission offices, any packages that have not already arrived that have the old address will be sent back to the sender or lost in the limbo of the mail system. It's unfortunate that we were not notified until last week and that no arrangements were made to receive the packages, seeing as the building  will still belong to the church, but yeah, that's the scoop if any packages or letters are sent back or never get here.

The work here was pretty slow, but its picking up and we're concentrating on finding new investigators and helping the people that we are teaching realize the importance of the things that we are teaching them: Families can be together forever through the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know it to be true!

Love, Elder Carr

Week 20

Hey everyone!

This week was a tough one here in Julio de Mesquita. Our baptism date fell through again and we had a hard time finding many new people to teach. The people here are a lot less open as the people in Itapetininga. There it was rare to be turned down, but here we'll go the entire day just trying to talk to people and only teach 1 or 2 lessons. But we'll keep working hard to find the people that are willing to receive us!

In other news, we should be getting our beds and desks today, so I'm excited for that! You dont realize how nice it is to have a bed and table until you eat, sleep, and study on the ground every day for 4 weeks. Another blessing that I'm becoming very greatful for is electricity. Our power went out yesterday and has yet to come back on, so its been flashlights, no iron, microwave, no fans, and no washing machine for the last 24 hours. Last time this happened in this area it was out for 3 days, so we're praying hard for it to come back on! The worst part of this is the no fans part because it's been ridiculously hot this last week. It was more than 100 outside and 90 inside because air conditioning doesnt really exist here. Basically you just dont ever stop sweating. I'm still trying to figure out who chose to build a city here. But as usual, the heat is a blessing and most people are willing to bring us a cup of water and will usually ask us what in the world we are doing out in the sun. But as always, Heavenly Father is mindful of our trials and so it's been raining all morning so hopefully things will cool off a little.

Thats all I've got for now, ate mais!

Love, Elder Carr

Week 19

Well, it happened! This week I passed my first "mission milestone!" Elder Nielsen bought me a pizza to celebrate! Looking back, it seems like it's been a lifetime, but everyone says that these next couple months pass by the fastest, so we'll see! I got several Christmas cards from the wonderful members of Vacaville 3rd ward as well as others. Thank you all for your thoughtfulness and love!

This week was, as usual, hot and uneventful. Our baptism for next Saturday fell through because he didnt go to church, so we're going to pass by today and teach about keeping the Sabbath Day holy again and hopefully we'll be having a baptism soon!

We had a cool experience yesterday about the power of the Book of Mormon. We were speaking to a woman that had received the missionaries in the past and I began to get frustrated with her. We had been talking to her for several minutes and she didnt want anything to do with us. She told us that she would never leave her church, even if the same exact church that Jesus Christ established was on the earth today. I was shocked and this and asked her if she had read the Book of Mormon, and she said that she hadn't and that she never would. At that moment it started pouring rain and we asked if we could step inside for a moment to escape the down pour. She said we could, and once we were under the overhang I asked if she could get the Book of Mormon that the missionaries had given her. Thinking that we wanted it back, she went and retrieved it. I silently thanked Heavenly Father for the opportunity He had given us, and when she returned we read a couple verses with her. Her entire demeanor changed and she accepted to read a part of it and pray about it. My arguments and logic had absolutely no effect on her, but the power of the Book of Mormon opened her heart to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. While I can't promise that I won't ever try to convince someone of the  truthfulness of this gospel again, I can promise that I have seen firsthand the convincing and converting power of the Book of Mormon.

Ate mais!

Elder Carr

Week 18

Hey Family!

It was great to skype with you guys this week as see your faces! As far as celebrating Christmas, we had dinner with members Christmas eve and lunch with members on Christmas day. Christmas isn't that big of a holiday here, and was pretty low key.

This week was tough because many people didnt want to receive us and those who did didnt want to mark return appointments until mid January.  But we were able to teach several awesome families. One man, Marcos, told us that he had no idea why he invited us in, but that he just had a strange feeling that he needed to hear what we had to say. This week I learned what the words "hot" and "humid" really mean. I had already heard a lot about how hot it gets here in Sorocaba, but you dont understand until youre actually here. Imagine walking in a greenhouse/sauna at noon and then throw in a couple of space heaters and wear a shirt, tie, and long pants. But when we are out in the heat we are blessed! Yesterday we were walking down the street and one of our investigators, Paulo, that we had lost contact with pulled up in his car and said that he was running some errands but to meet him at his house later that day. If we had been in our house napping or enjoying some shade in the nearby park we wouldn't have had that opportunity!

It's so sad to hear about Ashton Riley. I'll keep him and his family in my prayers.

Ate mais!

Elder Carr

Week 17

Hey Everyone!

This week was transfers! I said goodbye to Itapetininga and hello to Julio de Mesquita, which is a neighborhood in the city of Sorocaba. Julio de Mesquita is a tiny area and it's strange to switch from one of the largest areas in the mission, that had several cities in its limits, to one of the smallest with only a couple neighborhoods. And to make things even smaller, Julio de Mesquita had 2 missionaries in it, and now it has 4. My companion and I both arrived together, so neither of us knows the area or the investigators, so its almost like we are opening the area. My companion, Elder Sepulveda is from Santiago, Chile and has been on the mission for about 9 months. With live with Elder Anastacio, from Tres Corações, Brazil, with 3 months on the mission, and Elder Nielsen, from Granite Bay, California! I didnt know him before the mission but he knows some of the same people that I know (the Riley's cousins and Daniel Flinders) He's been on the mission for a year and a half and he was in the mission office as the financial secretary for the last 7 months.

Because the house here only had 2 missionaries before, we've encountered some difficulties: Elder Sepulveda and I dont have beds, drawers, or desks, so for the moment we're sleeping and studying on the floor and living out of our suitcases.

But despite this we have been blessed for our sacrifices! In just a couple days of being here we have taught tons of great people and we have a baptism marked for the beginning of January! The members here seem to be really helpful and missionary-minded and the meals here have been great! The first best way to help the missionaries is by supporting them and giving references, the second best way is by giving them consistant meals!

Well, I'll see you all soon!

Até mais!

Elder Carr