Monday, December 29, 2014

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM BRAZIL

Chrismas has passed in Brazil! Now we just have to survive the New Year! 

This week was really great. DUH. Christmas is the best, and even though we´re pretty far away from our families, as missionaries we still can feel that special spirit of Christmas. It does help that our Ward gave us a ton of chocolate. 

But seriously, Christmas was great! We got to talk to our families over Skype, eat a ton, and over everything else we were able to remember the birth of Christ, the Savior of all mankind. On Christmas day, every Zone got together (under the President´s directions) to host a special Christmas meeting. It was awesome.

Christmas Eve, the Bishop of our ward invited us to dinner, where we had a great time. At the end of the dinner, the Bishop and his family shared with us something very interesting that they did this Christmas. Starting at the beginning of the month of December, each family member sought to do acts of Christlike missionary service. With each act, the family would write out a description of the act on a piece of paper, and put it into this box. The box was then wrapped up on Christmas Eve (before we got there), and labeled as a Gift to Christ. And so we watched the Bishop´s family open the present and read these acts out loud. It was awesome to see the family remember about all the good things they had done this Christmas season. I feel my Savior was pretty happy with that.

Also, I FINALLY got to see the Christmas video made by the Church, ´He is the Gift,` so that was fun! It was wonderful to be able to remember the simple beginnings of the most important Life that ever Is. Based on my experiences here in Brazil, and in the teachings and guidances of my parents during my childhood, I could truly say this Christmas that I know that my Redeemer lives. I know with all my soul that He lives and that He loves us, and most importantly, that He, even God, suffered all pains, sins, and afflictions so that each and everyone of us here on earth can gain a life after death. Also, I can say that I know that if we live the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we can experience the greatest life after death, which is Life Eternal. I am here in Brazil to share these wonders with everyone I possibly can, with the hope that they can accept these eternal truths and come unto Christ.

And that is it. Happy Holidays, everyone.

Elder Bispo









Monday, December 22, 2014

EMERGENCY TRANSFER SUCCESS

Merry Christmas everyone! Last week, when I recieved the message that I would be serving here in Dias Macedo, our p-day had already almost ended, so I had to run and pack my bags quick! However, my first week here in Dias Macedo has been great! My area is part of the Aerolandia ward, which is the oldest ward here in Fortaleza. It´s where it all started here in lovely Ceará! Our Bishop literally lives two doors down, and we have a few awesome recent convert families that are our neighbors. However, we all live really far from the Chapel. And so, the plan is to split the ward and start a branch here in Dias Macedo. Hopefully I´ll be able to help with this!

My new companion is Elder Calisaya, from Peru. I actually saw him arrive here on the mission, as his first area was in Estaca Litoral, in which Ala Ômega resides. Unfortunately, my poor companion was basically melting with fever the whole week. However he´s doing a lot better.

I am now the District leader of six Sisters, and the Zone Leaders here in Estaca Aldeota! It´s pretty cool. The Zone Leaders are actually serving in the Aerolandia ward also, only they live a lot closer to the chapel. We eat lunch with them everyday.

Also, this week we had our Mission Christmas Conference! It was pretty awesome.I FINALLY got to see Elder Brooks again! I haven´t seen him since he left Ala Ômega! Also, I got to see Elder Imperador. He´s doing great! Then every other Elder that I know was there, so it was pretty awesome.

And that´s it for my week! FELIZ NATAL!!!!

Elder Bispo



Monday, December 15, 2014

EMERGENCY transfer

Well, this was quite unexpected. I will be transferred to another zone, because I will. However its not even tranfers yet. So this is what happened.

This transfer, because some Elders and Sisters wanted to make it home to spend Christmas with the family, today was marked as an Emergency Transfer day. The thing is, though, is that two Elders left, which means just two other Elders would be tranferred in the whole mission of 100 or so Elders. I wasnt exactly expecting that I would be one of those two. So Im kind of freaking out right now. Whoo!

And that is really it.

Monday, December 8, 2014

TWINS!


Hey everyone! We got a fridge! I don't think I've ever mentioned it, but it's been five weeks since our fridge broke, and we just got a new one today. I thought you would have all liked to know. It's really nice to have a fridge.

Anyway, this week was pretty cool. We are contacting like madmen, and we are starting to develop a lot of techniques and suchlike so people don't run away from us (just kidding, that stopped happening). We also have a free baptism this week! Let me explain.

There is this kid in the ward, whose family is all members, and who recently turned twelve. So the Bishop of the ward went to search for his member record in the registers of the Church, so he could be ordained a Deacon, and guess what?! This kid doesn't have a member record! It looks like the Elders that baptized this family must have misplaced his membership document thing. And you know what that means? The Church basically doesn't recognize him as a member! So we have to baptize him again. Whoo!

Also, our investigators are progressing well, and we are expecting a lot of success in the future. 

That's the week! Tchau!

Elder Bispo






Monday, December 1, 2014

No turkey in Brazil.......

This week was SUPER packed! We are starting to really kick up dust in our search for baptisms in this ward, so we are working even more than ever! It's pretty awesome, because now we get to see a whole bunch of miracles and that stuff. I feel in my experience here in Brazil, that the harder you work, the more miracles you will see.

First off, our President set a new Standard of Excellence for our mission, which means that of all the work we do, there is a minimum of work allowed, and then there is the "Excellent" range. Elder Andersen and I have made it a goal to always be in the excellent. One of the numbers, however, is something that I think this mission has never seen. The "Excellent" for contacts is 20 per day, which is proving to be very fun. This week, we were able to meet that standard 5 out of 7 days! I was pretty excited. 

So basically, we had all these weird/funny/great experiences in our contacts. The first thing we thought was really funny was that we actually managed to scare some people off, on accident. In our zeal to complete our goals, we actually had about five or six people this week that literally ran away from us during the contact. Whoops. 

We also contacted some guy that knew a lot about the church, and in the middle of the conversation decided to try and speak Hebrew with us. Then he was all like "What?! You guys don't speak Hebrew?" It was awfully confusing. 

Lastly, while we were with a member named Borges (remind me to tell you all about him later) we contacted a middle-aged man, named Edvalder, that was sitting on the sidewalk, who then began to share that just the other day his sister had gotten into a big fight with him. She kicked him out of the house, called him a bunch of names, and stabbed him a few times for good measure (nothing serious though, just wounds on the arms and back). He had already gotten medical treatment, and he was very grateful that we had stopped to talk to him. We then felt inspired to say that God had sent us to him in his time of need, and then left him with a quick but powerful lesson. He promised that he would go to church the next day, and was very excited to see the results of the prayers and blessings that we left with him. 

The next day, when we got to church, we were very excited to see him there, and he was very excited to tell us that he had found a place to stay temporarally. He then said that he knew that his prayers, and ours, had been answered, and he then stayed to participate with all three hours of church. It's a little funny though how well he understood everything in church, considering that he had shown up to church a little drunk. However, the Atonement is the best thing to get someone back on his feet again!

Also, Lusyleine's husband, Alfredo, came to church yesterday. We were extremely excited to see him! He is a great guy, and we have been a little frustrated with him because he until yesterday he hadn't ever gone to visit the Church. By the way, if some of you don't remember who Lusyleine is, she's our super active recent convert that I'm really proud of. I know that the only reason Alfredo came to church was because he has begun to realize the change of spirit of his wife. This family is about to be very blessed because of the leading example of this great woman. 

And that's really it. See you all later!

Elder Bishop

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

ward Sponsored FHE: a Brazilian tradition

Hello everyone! This week was pretty sweet. A bunch of people went to church yesterday, and we are hoping that even more come this next week. In our area, we have been having a lot of trouble with people commiting to coming to church. For this reason it has been really hard to baptize here. However, this week seemed to change things.

First off, we found three amazing families this week. Also, every family has more than six people in it. So that was cool. Let´s talk about how we found these families.

Our first family, I got to admit, it was pretty awesome how we met them. One of our recent convert families was having a little trouble staying active, and the birthday of the wife was coming up, so the we, the missionaries, and the ward marked a Ward Family Home Evening with them. This is actually quite common in Brazil, because many families of the church aren´t all members. So the ward sponsors Family Home Evenings when they need to. Anyway, this family showed up to the Family Home Evening, and we got their addresses, and taught everyone (Members, Non-members, and our Recent Converts) about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We then ate cake.

Later in the week we passed by the house of this family, and it turns out that we were actually really late for our appointment. I feel it´s pretty cool how different the Lord works with time and how we try and make use of it. This time, the Lord made much greater usage of our time. Let me explain why. We showed up at the house, just in time to catch the family leaving. They then randomly invited us to go with them to a surprise birthday party, which was the cause for their leaving the house. This may sound a little rediculous and like it would never happen, but people in Brazil are cool like that. And so we went to the surprise birthday party, wished happy birthday to the surprised birthday partyist, and taught the Restoration to this family and two others. We then ate more cake.

Later in the week we decided to stop by and buy pastéis with the other Elders. Pastel (singular form of the word that flipped your brain in the previous sentence) is a fried food that is super good that they have here. While waiting for the order to arrive, the other Elders started a staring contest, which began to weird some customers out. Apparently this game isn´t common in Brazil. However, we got some contacts off of their staring contest! We explained to a few people what they were doing, and then explained about the Church. Weirdest contact ever. However we managed to find our second family in this way. We then ate pastel.

And then, at the end of the week, we were contacting less actives from a list we got from the ward, and found our third family. They were pretty cool, and there´s like ten of them. However we didn´t get in much to say this week because they live on the limit of our area. We did teach them about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we invited them to be baptized, which they accepted. We then ate.... actually we didn´t eat anything that day. Oh well.

And that was my super awesome week everyone! Enjoy!

Elder Bishop

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Teaching in English

Our week was pretty cool. We had a really awesome/ funny/ strange experience that I'll tell you all about.

First off, though, I have to say that here in Brazil, it is quite common to hear people trying to speak English. All the schools teach it. However, it is VERY hard to find someone that actually speaks English. Mabye because the schools teach it wrong. The point is, is that everyone pronounces English as if it were portuguese. For example, when a kid wants to say "Good Night" it'll sound like "Goodgey Nichey!" and so on and so forth. However, I've thought awhile and it's like the same thing in the US with spanish. I feel like many tidbits of spanish that are said by Americans are mispronounced. Mabye. Is that a thing? Actually I have no idea, because it's been awhile since I've been in the States. Anyway, this is English in Brazil.

HOWEVER, this week we were walking in the streets like any other normal day. Then, out of the blue, some guy turns the corner, sees us, and starts yelling at us in perfect English. That was quite a weird thing. Besides my first companion here in Brazil, Elder Dup, I've never heard someone speak such good English. Anyway, this guy starts talking to us, and it is quite apparent that he is a little bit drunk. However, his English is still solid. I literally thought this guy was American, and so I asked him why he was here in Brazil. Then he was all like "Well, I'm Brazilian, why wouldn't I be in Brazil?" Good question.





And so, the slightly drunk guy starts to talk to us, invites us to his house, and treats us like we're old friends. I decided that it would be fun to try and teach him in English, because it's been a long time since I've taught anything or rather said anything in English (outside of the emails). So we went to his house, met his family who was a little annoyed that he was drunk, and then he ordered pizza for us. And we taught him. I've got to say, I don't think I've ever seen a smarter drunk guy. He understood very vividly all of the things we had to say, and took the message very well. He said he's been looking for truth in his life, but not being able to find it, he sort of fell into a little depression and every once in awhile he drinks away his depression. We left him with some materials to read and ponder, because I was thinking that there's a possibility he would forget all that we taught since he was a little drunk.

And that was my first lesson in English here in Brazil. Until next week!

Elder Bishop

Monday, November 3, 2014

Elder Bishop is missing his camera.....

This week was quite interesting. For example, our house was robbed. That was quite interesting. 

So yeah, that happened. However, the guy didn't take much. It looks like he just took three cameras (which included mine) and left. We haven't found anything else missing, which I suppose is a blessing. Also, he left us his hat! It was kind of torn up though. I think the poor guy must have got a little frustrated, because he probably thought there would be all sorts of expensive stuff in the house (everyone here thinks that all Americans are rich). Unfortunately for him, we're missionaries, and we don't have expensive things. I guess he missed out on that memo. 

Basically, the house's security is going to need a look over. It appears like he entered into the tiny window up top (our house is the second story). This guy must have been pretty skinny, because I didn't even believe that a stray cat would be able to fit through that window. 

On a happier note, we found a family of four (a mom and three sons) that are really excited about learning more about the Church! They have really shown commitment in searching out personal revelation about the truth of the restored gospel. I'm excited!

The work goes onward! See you all later. Tchau!

Elder Bishop

Monday, October 27, 2014

Bringing Joy to Man

This week was pretty awesome, but also pretty down right rough. We had so many odd experiences that I don't even know where to start. However, I would like to say that we are continuing to see miracles. Mabye they aren't the type of miracles most convenient at this time, but they are miracles nonetheless.

Instead of telling you all the stuff that happened, I would like to tell all you guys a wonderfully and joyfully funny story that basically sums up all of our experiences of the week. 

On Thursday, we were teaching an old couple along with a man that was very well-versed in the bible, way on the outskirts of our area (I say outskirts, but it's not actually very outskirty, because the area is small). And so, we taught the restoration, in accordance with the prophecies and revelations that the bible has of a "restoration of all things." During the lesson, randomly, the old man asked us "Do you guys believe that Christ will come again?" And I said "Sir, I don't believe that Christ will come again, I know he will!" Yeah, kind of corny. But you can get away with it as a missionary here in Brazil. Anyway, he said "Well I don't believe he will, because the world is just awful! Why would a perfect Man come to such and awful world?"

Well, that question was a little funny to me, because that's exactly the reason that Christ promised to come back, which is to purify the earth and to initiate a perfect reign here on the world for a period of time. Before I was able to say anything on the matter, the well-versed bible guy (who previously had tried to bible bash us) was all like "Well, hey! It's right here in the bible that Christ will come back! Don't you believe in the bible?" And the old man was all like "Oh, I forgot. That's right. You guys are right." And so we continued.

Later on, this old man gets really excited to ask us another question, once again completely unrelated to the subject. This time, the question was a little more personal. He asked us "Do you Elders believe in life after death?" And again, I said "Sir, I don't believe there is life after death. I know there is." This time the response was much different than the first question and answer. The old man stood up, and started to leap and shout for joy, and I quote "I knew it! I knew it! There's life after death!" Then, turning to his wife "Sandra, there's life after death! This dumb ole' earth isn't the end!" Then, turning to random citizen in the road, "You there! Do you believe in life after death? Because I sure do!" It was all me and my companion could do to keep from laughing. 

And so, this week I'd like to say that we got to see the gospel truths bring joy into the hearts of men. Until next time, everyone!

Elder Bishop

Monday, October 20, 2014

Galliton, Missouri: Elder Andersen's family lives here!!!!!!

Well! This week was... well... it was downright amazing! With all of our hard work here in Ala Autran Nunes, it seems like everything is starting to pay off. We found a bunch of awesome people this week, and I'm quite excited to start teaching them. 




First off, we had an amazing lesson with this one guy, Iago. He's unmarried, but he lives with his girlfriend, and he's been extremely receptive to the gospel. Unfortunately we haven't had the time to teach his girlfriend. Actually, last week it was hard to talk to either of them, because they got into a fight and the girlfriend, Carol, ran away to a different state. And then Iago chased after her, and so they were gone for awhile. Well, we found Iago in his house this week, and Carol wasn't home. We talked to him and it seemed that they had resolved their differences. We got to talking with him, teaching a little about how God gives us certain situations to learn to grow, and then I felt the impression to share about marriage. Iago took it all in very thoughtfully, and then he shared with us what he had been going through the past week. He said "I was extremely depressed with the big fight that Carol and I had, and I just really didn't know what to do. Everything is good in between us now, but in the moment I felt lost. I felt that everything was slipping away, and that our relationship was about to end. I really love Carol. So I decided to kneel and pray. I asked God what I should do. I told Him that I knew He could do all things, and I asked Him if He could help my relationship. Finally, I ended saying that above all I would accept whatever His decision would be, even if it meant ending my relationship. After the prayer, I sat in thought, and as I was thinking, I felt very strongly that God wanted me to ask Carol in marraige. I did, and everything is going strong with us now. I'm really happy with my answer." 

Iago then declared that he knew that we also were sent to bring the same message to him and Carol. We then testified about God's law of marraige and Chastity that was created to form the great power of a family unit, established here on earth with an eternal potential. The Holy Ghost testified to our hearts and to the heart of our investigator about the sacred role of the family here on earth. It was pretty awesome.

Also, we had many other small miracles here and there, and it was basically the best week I've had in a long time! I'm quite excited about the work here in Ala Autran Nunes. 

So until we meet again! Tenha uma ótima semana!

Elder Bishop

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

A "normal" week

ELDER ANDERSEN:  lives 30 min from OP


Well, this week was quite... normal. Except not really. Elder Andersen and I are doing great, working a bunch, and struggling a little bit with the people in our area. However, things are really starting to look up now. Our district has shrunk down to just the four of us Elders, all in the same house. Also, the rules changed in the mission about the district meetings and the movies. On P-day, we won't be able to watch movies anymore, which actually frees up some time for us to play basketball or do other things like that. Also, the district meetings now will be only our district, which means that there won't be any more training session things that I will give to the whole zone. 

Elder Lustosa was transferred also, and now it's all Americans in Ala Autran Nunes, which is really strange. I've never had a house full of Americans. I know that all of you are probably thinking "Why, I live with Americans. It's not strange." However, I am in Brazil. It's strange. 

Anyway, this transfer Elder Andersen and I hope to really get this ward excited about the missionary work, and we really hope to see the work explode here. Personally, I think it's going to go great. A few returned missionaries showed up here in the ward, and they are going to be able to go teaching with us. The work goes onward!

Until next time everyone! Tchau!

Elder Bishop

Hunter found WALDO





Monday, October 6, 2014

Hello everyone! Our week was a rush! Elder Andersen and I had to go to the mission office twice to get everything resolved with the legalities and such of entering Brazil. And now, I'm proud to say, Elder Andersen is absolutely one hundred percent legal in Brazil! 

Anyway, this week went by very well. We were able to talk to a lot of people this week, and we found a few people that were very excited to hear about the Gospel. I'm not going to lie though, working in a bigger area is a lot different than what I've gotten used to. For those of you that don't know, my last area was extremely small. And this area is extremely big. So, it's been pretty different this tranfer in terms of the work. However, I'm starting to get the hang of it, and the work should pick up pretty soon. 

Conference! That was awesome. I hope everyone liked how many of the talks will be in the native languages of the speakers from now on. That part blew my mind. The coolest was when Elder Godoy of the Seventy spoke, because he's Brazilian. Also, I watched all of Conference in Portuguese, which was quite different but really cool at the same time. 

Well, during conference, one of our investigators, with Elder Bednar's talk in the Sunday afternoonsession, started to cry. That was pretty awesome. Unless they were tears of sadness. However, I think that the talk really spoke to him. His name is Marcos, and he is completely ready to be baptized, however he's a little afraid of his Catholic mom. We've talked with him that he doesn't have to fear, because blessings will always follow a trial of faith, however he hasn't worked up the courage to make this decision on his own. I'm really hoping that Elder Bednar's talk changed that. We are going to talk to himtonight to see how he's doing. 

And that was my crazy awesome week! Tchau!

Elder Bishop

Monday, September 29, 2014

Week of joy

Hello everyone! Elder Andersen and I are pressing forward with the work and all that stuff. And the week was good.



This week we were able to work a bit more than the last week, and we found some pretty awesome people! Also, I interviewed one of the Sisters' investigators to be baptized. First time! But let's get to that later.

We were blessed this week to find two people that really have desires to be baptized. The first one, Venicius, flat out stopped us in the road and asked us if he could get a Book of Mormon, and if we could teach him more about the Church. And the second is an even cooler story.

Hortência, a past investigator of the Elders in Ala Fernandes Távora (neighboring ward) recently moved to our area. The only problem was that she moved very suddenly, and the other Elders had no idea about the move. So we were walking in our area one day, on Hortencia's road, and she stops us to talk. She says to us "Hey, I was taking the lessons from the Elders in another ward, and they marked a baptismal date with me. I was wondering if that date will still work here." I then had to restrain my inner instinct to randomly dance and shout for joy. She will most definitely become a good and strong member of the church, however, she has a few things that the President says she needs to resolve first, so her baptism will have to be set up for a later date.

And my first baptismal interview! Sister Lucas and Sister Pinche, of our district, found a wonderful family of a less active member that had served a mission, and his wife that had already been taught all the commandments (and was keeping them when the Sisters found her). And so, the Sisters invited the two to church, to which they both accepted and fulfilled, and from there marked the baptism! Which means that I, as the District Leader, would give the baptismal interview. Thankfully, this first of my biggest responsibility went very well. This woman was very well prepared for the next step in her progression, that of the baptism, and so it was quite easy to ask her the needed questions, and talk about the needed commandments. In fact, in the actual interview I think that I must have been a little more nervous than her. However everything went well, and I'm very happy that this woman, whose name has quite slipped my mind, was able to recieve the ordinance of baptism, and to be confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

And that was my week. Tchau!

Elder Bishop

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Doing the work of Salvation

First off, my new companion is Elder Andersen. He's actually been on the mission the same amount of time that I have. Unfortunately, his passport didn't get approved until now, and he just got here in Brazil. His portuguese is actually very good for the amount of time that he has here, and he is learning amazingly fast. It's sort of cool to see someone go through the same process that you did in learning a different language. I'm liking it a bunch.

So anyway, Elder Andersen has been serving in the Vancouver, Washington mission, where he was working his tail off. Now that he is here in Brazil, he is also working his tail off. I like him a lot.

Also, the Sister that arrived in our district speaks amazing portuguese. She studied a lot when she was serving in the states, apparently. Unfortunately her name has completely slipped my mind. I should probably work on remembering the names of the missionaries in my district.

Well, this week was a bunch of chaos, with the new missionaries coming in, so nothing really happened in terms of the work here in Ala Autran Nunes. However, with all the going in and out of the mission office, I got to see and talk to a bunch of Elders that I've gotten to know. I was also able to talk to the Elders that are serving in Ala Omega, and I learned something awesome. Everyone remember that one golden family that we found the last week there in Ala Omega? Well, Rafaela, the wife, was baptized recentely. Her sister was also baptized in the neighboring ward. And the husband, Mailson, is on date now to be baptized as well. I was super happy to hear about that.

And that's my week. Tchau!

Elder Bishop

Monday, September 15, 2014

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

Well, I just learned (literally I learned 37 minutes ago) that the mission is sending two more missionaries to our house. I also learned that I will language train one of these missionaries, which means that Elder Lustosa and I will no longer be companions. However, all four of the missionaries will be serving in Ala Autran Nunes, so the area will be divided between the two missionary couples. 

Also, there is a possibility that the trio of Sister missionaries will be divided, because there's a slight chance that one more Sister will be sent to their home. Which means that in one week, my district will have grown to twice the size than it was. Also, my companion will most likely know absolutely nothing in Portuguese, so almost all the work rests with me. To sum it all up, the mission is going to get a little harder. Challenge accepted.

This week we had the baptism of Lusyleine. She is a saint. The rest of her family has also been investigating the Church, but she has been the most active and the most diligent in her search for the truth. Also, she is an amazing cook, and likes to bake for the missionaries. Added bonus.

The actual baptism of Lusyleine didn't run too smooth, as we found out that the baptismal clothes of our ward disappeared. However, we were able to borrow some from the other wards, and everything worked out fine in the end. Mabye the baptism started a full hour late, but Lusyleine was all fine with it. 

We are hoping and praying that the rest of Lusyleine's family will follow in her example. We have grown to truly love this family, and it's really hard to see a family that is partly in the truth, while the other part is out of it. So, we are going to need a lot of prayers on everyone's behalf to really help this family out!

Until next week!

Elder Bishop

Monday, September 8, 2014

Happy Birthday,--from Carson

September 8, 2014
Happy Birthday Hunter!
I hope you're having a great time on your mission, teaching people the gospel like a BOSS. So a lot has happened since I last wrote to you (and before that as well), so I’ll try to get through it all as fast as I can.
First off, a week or two before going to EFY, I gave up my vow to not play Skyrim again, and I started a new game, naming my character Ymbert Phillips III (Ymbert is a legit Middle Ages name trust me the internet told me so it has to be true). I haven’t gotten very far in the game due to having a crap ton of work, but it’s pretty fun. While we’re on the topic of videogames, I must also add… You know that old game, Odd World, that we lost a long time ago, then we found it again, then lost it a second time? Well, I was wanting to watch Shaun of the Dead, but we couldn’t find it, so naturally I was reminded of Odd World, which I had also spent countless hours searching for. In my search for Shaun of the Dead, and partly Odd World, I found all the old ps2 game cases, along with our old ps2 that broke. Naturally, I was really excited. I took the box with the game cases in them, and sure enough Odd World was in there! Yaaaaay- wait a minute… I took the case out of the box, unable to quell my excitement…… AND THE CASE WAS EMPTY. It was like the game was just mocking me at this point. I frantically searched through all the other game cases, but alas, Odd World was not among them. I thought of looking in the old ps2, but decided it would probably not be in there, and I didn’t want to be let down again. Then a few weeks later (after we had bought a new copy of Shaun of the Dead and I watched it with dad), Brandon and Alison came to visit. I had sent a text to Brandon when the incident had occurred, so he knew about it, and I decided to show him the box so he could share further in my pain. When I mentioned the old ps2 and how I thought there was a teensy chance it was in there, he was like, “Well, why don’t you check it?” I told him the same reason I wrote down earlier, and Brandon just said, “If there’s a chance, you should exploit it” (note: not a direct quote). So I took his advice, found the cable for the old ps2, plugged it in, opened it up, and guess what was inside? FREAKIN’ ODD WORLD, SUCKA!!! I was overjoyed! Since Brandon and Alison were over and we were doing stuff, I had to wait to play it, but boy was it worth it. That game is AWESOME! It’s even better than I thought it was.
            Another thing I just wanted to mention: quite a while ago, I discovered Ryan Higa via Landon telling me to watch his videos, and he is now one of my favorite YouTubers. Just thought you should know.
            Getting off the subject of electronics, I finally read Ender’s Game after all these years. I’m actually glad I waited, because I wouldn’t have understood the moral dilemmas in it had I continued reading when I first started reading it. I just wish I hadn’t watched the movie first, because it totally ruined the plot twist. Same thing with Speaker for the Dead, except it was Orson Scott Card himself who ruined the plot twist in that book for me. Note to self: if you see an introduction in one of Card’s books, don’t read it. But yeah. Those books are pretty dang awesome. And I am not ashamed to admit that I may or may not have cried a little at certain points in both stories (aka when Ender writes the Hegemon and Marcão’s speaking). But you would probably enjoy re-reading at least Speaker, if not for the fact that there’s a lot of random Portuguese scattered around the book. And the fact that it’s an amazing book. I wanted to get Xenocide and Children of the Mind, but I get the feeling dad doesn’t want to buy any books, so I just checked Xenocide out of the school library, and I didn’t even get to the 8th page before a character who had been introduced at the beginning of the book was dead. It was rather sad.
            I almost forgot! School! I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this, but Doc retired last year (the horror!), so we have a new assistant band director now (her name is Mrs. Wells), and Mr. Freeman is the new band director. So I have band first hour, algebra 2 second hour with Mr. Phifer, Spanish third hour with Mrs. Trigg, history of the western world with a new teacher name Mrs. Cornell, Health fifth hour with Mr. Attig, ELA sixth hour with a new teacher named Mrs. Klote, and Field Biology seventh hour with Mr. Ollig. Speaking of Field Biology, we had to catch and identify an animal that was not a vertebrae from a grassland. I ended up just going to Summercrest Park and catching my bug there. I caught a differential grasshopper and named it (though further research has shown that it is female) Lord Hoppington of Summercrest. Deep thought and consideration went into that name. But this project has once again made me want a pet, as Lord Hoppington of Summercrest is a pretty awesome individual. If only I could convince mom and dad to get us one… Aw well.
            So last Friday there was a rock concert sponsored by the radio station The Buzz. The title of this concert was Buzz Beach Ball (due to the fact that there were about 3 or 4 beach balls being hit around the audience). It was held at the Sporting Stadium, and featured 12 alternative bands, the most popular of which were The Mowglis (who were pretty awesome), The 1975 (the lead singer was WAY too profane in between songs for me to enjoy them), and (brace yourself) THE ARCTIC MONKEYS AND WEEZER!!! Dad bought tickets for him and me, we went, and it was AWESOME! And, also the first rock concert I’ve ever been to. I also have a bunch of new bands to look up now; it’s pretty sweet. Well, have a great birthday (that is, if you're able to read this today), and keep baptizing everybody you see! Your bro,
Carson

First DISTRICT Leader Training

So, this week was quite exciting. Two weeks as a District Leader and crazy things have happened.

First off, it's hard. But it's also fun. I am the district leader of four sisters. Well, I was. Now it's just three. One of my sisters got extremely sick and had to go home. I really hope the district was able to help her feel alright. It was really hard for her.

Also, I gave my first training! For those of you that don't know, the "District Meetings" is actually with our Zone, which is made up of about 14 Elders, and 7 Sisters. The district leaders conduct the meetings, give trainings, and that sort of stuff. The Zone Leaders give counseling from the President, and share other tidbits of stuff. And this week, I got to stand up in front of everyone and teach how to effectively teach and preach the Gospel. Now, before the mission I would say this sort of thing would've been impossible for me. Normally I'm very nervous in front of large groups of people. There's nothing like the mission to get rid of stage fright! Anyway, I taught about the role of prayer in the conversion of the investigators, and the future members. The training was well recieved, and it went pretty smooth. It was actually pretty fun.

This week, we will be preparing Lusyleine and Desirre for baptism! They are really great. Unfortunately, Lusyleine's husband hasn't been taking the challenges to go to church, and hasn't been progressing. Hopefully the baptism of his wife and daughter will stir up some motivation for him to seek the truth!

Also, we found a really great family, and they're married! I see great things for them in their search for happiness.

And that was my week!

Elder Bishop

Mom!!!!

Thanks so much! I never thought I'd be a missionary that felt trunky, but it's inevitable. I miss you all so much! Having a birthday on the mish is really leaving me a sorry sop.

It will be a little hard to buy something cool for me, because only dowtown has cool stuff, but I will most definitely get something so I can say that I did!

I love you so much, Mom! 

Elder Bishop

Monday, September 1, 2014

NEW AREA: STRAY CATS

Well, this week felt extremely weird. I guess I had really grown accustomed to Ala Ômega. However, my new area is full of work, and I'm really excited to dig in.

The first thing that is flat out awesome in this area is that we already have about seven people that will be able to be baptized in a few weeks. The members here are very strong in giving us pointers about friends or family, and they are very excited about the work.  We will be recieving a lot of references here. 

The second thing that is really great here is my companion, Elder Lustosa. He's absolutely hilarious. We're going to have a good time.



The third thing is... Well, actually the third thing is just plain fun. Our house, for some odd reason, is the center of all devious plots of the stray cats in our area. Everytime we enter the house, as well as when we wake up, there are darn cats sitting on the ground, sleeping on the kitchen table, etc. It's a good thing I have a water gun.








Well, that's it for this week. Talk to you all later!

Elder Bishop

P.S.- Yes, I have a water gun.

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

LENEXA KS missionary video

A member of our Lenexa, KS stake put together this beautiful and touching video of missionaries from our Stake Opening their mission calls:


elder Bishop is included:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B13wAqrxF89KSVJEZEVwSkpzV0E/preview

Monday, August 25, 2014

Meet the Newest DISTRICT LEADER and a TRANSFER--His FIRST

This week was amazing, and I've got some really cool stories to tell, but first let's talk about change. Tranfers have brought on some big changes. I've been tranfered out of my beloved Ala Omega, and I will be serving with Elder Lustosa in the Autran Nunes Stake, Ala Autran Nunes. One thing that's new though: I'm going to be district leader! Also, this stake is basically a five minute drive from Ala Omega, but the area is about five times larger. Also, Elder Imperador was also transfered. He will be serving in Caucaia.
First off, about my time with Elder Imperador. I'm extremely happy with my "son's" progress in the missionary field. These past two transfers were really a good learning experience, although I'm afraid that it wasn't what I expected it would be, and neither was it what Elder Imperador wanted it to be. Despite the fact that we worked so hard that at the end of the day our feet would steam (figuratively, of course; steaming feet would be nasty and most definitely is a health concern), we saw almost no results with our investigators. Not even the less active members that we were working with showed a lot of results. However, this past week definitely made up for all the rest. We found a family so amazing that I don't even have words to describe them. 

Alright, mabye I could describe them a little. Mailson (the husband) and Rafaela (the wife) are married, and were extremely impressed when we taught them about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For those of you that do not know about the Restoration, I would implore you to look into it. There is nothing that will bring more certainty to your life that God loves you than the lesson of the Restoration, and the message it contains about the eternal Atonement that Jesus Christ suffered for all of us. Anyway, when we invited this family to pray at the end of the lesson, to ask God if the things we had taught them were true, Rafaela said "But I already know that these things are true. Before I met you, I prayed to God to show me the true way, and he sent you two. When you both talk, I feel happy and I feel that you two are speaking the truth." The family both are very excited to attend The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This past Sunday, Rafaela went with us (unfortunately Mailson couldn't go because of a mandatory course he took for his job), brought along her sister (who is also a very amazing person), and while we were sitting in the chapel during sacrament meeting, asked us when she could be baptized. 

I know that the Holy Ghost works through those that we teach, testifying of the truth. It was a blessing to see a family so open to the promptings of the Spirit to the point where they testified of their own knowledge of the truth. Unfortunately, I won't see the baptisms of this wonderful family, but I will be waiting to recieve the good news from them both about their conversion!

And that was my amazing week. See you all later!

Elder Bishop

Monday, August 18, 2014

Week of August 18

Well, this week I don't really have much to say, because we were stuck in the house most of the week. Elder Imperador was really sick, and President ordered him to rest in the house for a few days. We did find a pretty cool family, though!

So basically, this week passed by really slow, because we had nothing to do in the house. So I read a bunch, and ate a bunch, and read a little more, and so on and so forth. 

Oh yeah, and Cleiton drove us to the hospital when Elder Imperador needed it. He also came to pick us up when it was about 11:30 PM. I love that man. 

So the head of the family that we found is the nephew of the First Counselor, and he's already been to church many times in the past. His wife (yes, they're married!), Erika, has never really gotten involved with any sort of religion, but after the first lesson, she appeared very excited! Their son was just recently born, and they both said that they were searching for a good solid foundation with which to raise their kid. I love opportunities like this! I told them that I knew that there was nothing better to construct a family with than the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We then taught how the Gospel was restored to the Earth, and how they now have the opportunity to learn more and understand the great Plan of Happiness that God made for us. I'm really excited for this family.

Well, that's it for this week. Until next time! 

Elder Bishop














Monday, August 4, 2014

LEDA and NELDA

This past week, Elder Imperador and I were able to teach Leda and Nalda a bunch, and we are hoping to baptize them this week. They have both given up so much in their willingness to be baptized, and I'm super excited to be able to help them along the path of Christ.

Seeing the great happiness that this family is sharing in the Gospel really struck a note with me this week. To start, Leda hasn't exactly had the best past with her family. I won't get into details, but she, along with her two kids, have suffered a lot because of this. When we first came in contact with them, they were in a very tough situation. After the baptism of Lucas, however, they found the joy that the Gospel brings, and after having gone to church just two times, have expressed the desire to be baptized, as Lucas already was baptized. 

Speaking of Lucas, this kid is a boss. Everytime we teach Leda and Nalda, Lucas helps us teach. He remembers everything. Also, one of his greatest desires that he has shared with us is that of serving a mission. This little guy just turned 12, and he already wants to start the mission process! He's told me that he wants to serve in the good ole' States, which just about made me cry. Plus, he's already asked the Bishop what he needs to do to pass the sacrament. I love this kid.

Also, Cleiton has recieved the call of Ward Missionary, and so he has been teaching with us. He's taught with us everytime with Leda's family, and so she wanted him to baptize her. I swear, Cleiton one day is going to a Bishop.

Also, this week we found a new family that's married (whoo!) and I'm really excited to begin teaching them. 

Regina's wedding is still stalling, but I know that the Lord will provide a way! Last week, we had a break through with Regina's spouse, Epitacio, and it's all looking good. He asked us to give a blessing to his child that had a seizure, and so we did. When we gave the blessing to Regina's baby, I felt the Holy Ghost very strongly, and the next day the child was fever free and healthy as ever. Epitacio has started to trust us a lot more.

Well, my time's up. See you all next week!

Elder Bishop

Monday, July 28, 2014

BISHOP THIRD COUSIN IN BRAZIL

This week, we had interviews with President Bonini. Our President is a boss. His view on the mission is to "start with the end result in mind," or in other words, to teach investigators with the goal of getting them to the temple. His desire is to change the work of the mission to become something more than just baptism. 

Also, while we were in the mission office, I learned that Sister Evans (married to Elder Evans; a senior couple in our mission) is my cousin! Third cousin, really. Something like that. She's actually Grandpa Bishop's cousin. However, Sister Evans knows a ton about our ancestors and stuff like that, so it was really fun to hear about that. Also, it was Pioneer Day, so it was the perfect day to learn more about that.

In our area this week, we had a few cool things happen, and we had some scary news. First, we had quite a shock when we went to visit Regina. We got there, and only her kids were at home, and all of them were crying. We learned that Regina's toddler, Adele, had a seizure, due to a very high fever, and that they had to race to the hospital. The look of fear and pain written on the faces of Regina's kids that day will never leave my mind. I offered to say a prayer, and I was able to calm the kids down, but it was still pretty intense. That was definitely not the best day of my mission. Fortunately, the three-year old is doing well now, and she's back at home, so everything ended up alright.

On the other hand, the awesome came the next day! We were struggling to find a man from our ward to go with us to visit Leda and Nalda: the family of Lucas. For those of you that don't know, we cannot enter a house that doesn't have a man over the age of sixteen. It's a rule. But this week we absolutely had to visit Leda and Nalda, because we had to try and get them to church. Since the baptism of Lucas inspired them to investigate the church, we were betting on this visit to work out. We probably visited half of the ward (which wasn't too hard, since our area includes about 14 streets) to find someone to come with us, and no one was at home! We almost gave up on our visit, but as we were walking away from what we thought was the last member that would've been able to go with us, we heard someone call out "Elderes!" We turned around, and I had to look for who called us, because I didn't see anyone I recognized. Some guy that I never met before in my life walks up to us, shakes our hands, and tells us a beautiful story. This guy said that he was a member that had just moved into the ward, that he had just got back from a mission, and that he would love to teach with us sometime. So we asked him if he could go with us right there on the spot, and so it was. What a miracle! And lets see the results! We were able to teach Lucas and Leda and Nalda, and all of them went to church. Most likely, we will be able to secure their baptisms now, and Lucas won't be the only one in his family that is from the Church. Out of nowhere our little problem was solved, and the greater question of the Salvation of Souls has begun with this family. Isn't it awesome how God helps us out?

And that was my week. Aproveita.

Elder Bishop