ELDER HUNTER BISHOP RETURNS

THIS IS IT!!!

Hello everyone! This past week we had Zone Conference, where I gave my last testimony to the whole mission. That was nuts. Also Erizeldo was baptized on Tuesday. It was a very happy occasion.

Zone Conference was very spiritual and very inspired. I felt very proud of how well my mission has developed. However, the whole time I was feeling pretty sick. I got a fever and a bad headache during the conference, and I was feeling nauseous also. Then all the missionaries that are going home were called to give their last testimonies. And I was almost one of the last to bear my testimony! I was very afraid of going up to the pulpit just to toss my cookies on everyone. That wouldn´t be a very desireable testimony. Fortunately, everything worked out all right, and when it came time to bear my testimony, I felt full of the Spirit. Many of my words were not my own. I know that the Lord works through us to fulfill his great and marvelous tasks. 

Erizeldo was baptized! We were so excited to be able to see his baptism. He asked us a little while ago if he could be baptized on the day of his son´s birthday. Erizeldo wanted to give such a present to his son. Erizeldo´s son, João Erick, is a recent convert of a little over a year, and he has literally brought salvation to his family. It was through the efforts of João Erick that Erizeldo decided to investigate the church again. Erizeldo´s testimony has also come from the wonderful example that his son has given to the rest of the family. So, this Tuesday, Erizeldo walked room in the church where the hold seminary dressed in the baptism clothes. João Erick was very excited. The baptism was full of the Holy Spirit of God, and the testimonies given were very inspired. We all ate cake afterwards.

Well, this is my last email. I hope you all have enjoyed hearing about my mission experiences. It´s been a blast. I´ll see you all soon.

Até a próxima semana! Vai ser bom demais!

Élder Bispo

16 DAYS!!!

This week was great! Elder Arana and I are working hard, and the work is paying off. We found a few families that are less active, and we are working hard to reactivate them. This week, Cadu and Caio were baptized from these two families. This marking event surely will be a great support for these families. We are praying a lot so that these families can enjoy the fullness of the gospel once again.

Cadu and Caio have been going to church every week with their aunt. Elder Arana and I were completely unaware that the two hadn´t been baptized. However, during the lunch lesson we had with their aunt, Maria de Carmo, the Holy Ghost spoke strongly to Maria to talk about these two families. We got their addresses and began to teach them. This was when we met Caio and Cadu. They both accepted the baptimal invite, and their parents supported their decisions. 

Cadu and Caio´s baptism was full of the Spirit. They both expressed such excitement to be baptized, and afterwards they started jumping up and down with joy. These boys are an example for their families. We are very excited to work more with these families to help them establish their foundations in Christ.

This next week will be my last Zone Conference, and an Area Seventy will be there! Go team!

Até mais, pessoal.

Elder Bispo

ZONE TRAINING WEEK!

Weeeellll folks, this week was super normal. However, we had Zone training on Wednesday, which was real great. Our zone is very excited, and they are very eager to apply what they learned in the training. 

Also, this week we worked a lot with a woman named Cláudia. Cláudia is very excited for baptism. She went to church two weeks ago, and absolutely loved it. Last week we followed up on the baptismal challenge that we had established with her, and she was all ready for baptism. However, she moved to a city in the country! So we went to the mission office today to hand in her teaching record. The mission will then send it to  the Missão Fortaleza Leste, and surely she will be baptized there. It was a great privilege to help her along the path of righteousness.

Other than that, our week was normal. But this next week will be the bomb.

See you all later!

Elder Bispo

4 WEEKS!!!

Hello everyone! This week was the bomb. We found some wonderful new investigators that really felt the spirit in fast and testimony meeting. Our members delivered some amazing testimonies this week. There were a few miracles that happened in the ward this past week, and the testimonies shared on these miracles were absolutely perfect for our investigators. These miracles will be shared to those who desire to hear about them... After my mission! You´ll all have to wait four weeks. Haha!

Anyway, Eriseldo (in previous emails, I had spelled his name wrong as Eliseudo) has finally accepted baptism. Elder Arana and I have been working with him awhile now, and all this time he has shown the required faith and repentance in order to be baptized. However he has still not been baptized. This past week, he finally accepted a date for his baptism, and the whole ward is darn excited. Everyone knows him already because of his son, João Erik. This young man is a wonderful example of member missionary work. He is a convert, and is only fourteen years old. However he has been teaching his whole family about the joys of the gospel. It is only because of his good example, and his diligent work, that his family has begun to accept the truths of the Restored Gospel. Hopefully, I will be here long enough to see the baptism of João Erik´s mother and sister.

See you all later!

Elder Bispo

5 WEEKS

This week was great. First week of the transfer and one of our investigators was baptized! We started teaching Samara last transfer, and she has progressed so well over the past few weeks or so. The ward was very excited to see her baptism.

Samara was a result of door to door proselyting. When we taught the first lesson, she told us how many years ago she was contacted by the Elders, and started going to church. In that time, the members of this region congregated in the house that the Bishop rented. The Elders in that time were both transferred, and unfortunately, no one followed up with Samara. She soon stopped going to church.

Many years passed by until Samara found us knocking on her door, and very thankfully accepted our lesson. 

Elder Arana and I are extremely grateful to the Lord, who has prepared Samara over a long period of time. I know that the Lord directed us to Samara´s house so that she could recieve the true gospel once again. God prepares his children here on earth to hear the message of the restored gospel. I have experienced this so many times on my mission that it is impossible to deny.

I know that my Redeemer lives, and that he loves us. He desires to see the eternal happiness of all the children of God, and thus he accomplished the great work of the atonement for us. 

Daqui á pouco!

Elder Bispo

6 WEEKS LEFT

Hello everypeoples! Tranfers came and I will be staying here in Tancredo Neves until I finish my work here in Fortaleza. This is my last transfer, and I´m determined to make it one of my best. We´ve set some pretty high goals, and we´re excited to try and meet them. I sincerely believe that we will see many miracles this transfer.

Last transfer was pretty difficult for us, however this next one has some great potential. Unfortunately, neither Eliseudo or Samara were baptized this week. However, they continue to progress in the gospel, and have accepted to prepare themselves for this first week of the transfer. We are hoping that they both will be able to accomplish this goal.

In our Zone this past week, one of our missionary couples baptized fifteen people. That is quite a feat! I have never seen anyone baptize so many people in just one week. Just when I thought that I had seen everything that our mission has to offer, I was surprised once more. We are extremely happy for these Elders and this remarkable event that they were able to witness. The gospel of Christ truly does have the power to change.

And that was our week. Tchau!

Elder Bispo

A BIG OLE PIG!!!

Hello everyone! So this week was awesome. We accomplished just about all of our goals. And Fátima, the mother of a less active member, was baptized this Sunday. It was quite a miracle. Here´s her story:

So, I had actually taught Fátima with Élder Peressute. However, her husband was really sick and she wasn´t ever able to go to church. She had accepted baptism and everything. However, because she wasn´t able to go to church, she also wasn´t able to baptized. 

Two weeks ago Fátima´s husband unfortunately passed away. Fátima was very sad, but she came to us with the determination to be baptized as soon as possible. We explained more about the Plan of Salvation, and she felt the spirit testifying very strongly to her about the gift of Eternal Families. Her daughter and son-in-law also felt the great need to have an Eternal Family. The three have established a goal to go to the temple to have their family sealed for time and all eternity. In preparation for their visit to the temple, Fátima was baptized. All of them are quite happy and determined to meet their goal. It is wonderful how the Plan of Salvation unifies families in righteousness.

And that is the highlight of the week.

Elder Bispo

P.S.- After the baptismal service I took a really awesome pic with a pig.

RAIN RAIN RAIN

Hello everyone! This week was crazy! We found so many cool people that are super prepared for baptism. Unfortunately, almost none of these people were able to go to church. Mainly because of the rain this last Sunday. 

The culture here in Ceará is different in many aspects, from the culinary spectrum to the warm and inviting people. However, there is one part of the culture that all missionaries fear, especially on Sundays; the people´s reaction to rain. At any sight of rain, the common Cearês will quickly flee to cover, seeking refuge from this disturbance in the generally calm climate. The rain seems to have a strange effect of causing a great slumber over the people. This effect has also been observed while waving a very agitated cat in front of a narcoleptic dog´s face. So, once the day shows any signs of rain, you can be sure that no one will ever leave their home for any reason. So, when it rains on Sunday, that means that absolutely no one wants to go to church. It complicates quite a lot of things.

However, this Sunday, we did have five of our investigators at church. That was quite a miracle. So we´re pretty happy. 

And this week, we will be fighting to baptize Eliseudo! This man is a great example of how well the Holy Ghost carries our messages to the hearts of our investigators.

That´s all, folks.

Elder Bispo

Burgers for training

Hello beautiful peoples! Our week was great here in the lovely city of Fortaleza. This week we gave our Zone Training Session. Everyone in our zone is excited to work and learn more, and we´re excited to teach them what we know.

In our training session we talked a lot about the President´s vision of the mission. He is a very inspired man, and the mission is bound to go forward with his leadership. After the training session, we went on exchanges with one of the missionary couples. The day went real well.

This week we found out that Matheus, Silvio´s son, will now live with the family. We marked his baptismal date already. He´s really excited. He told us that he has a desire to serve a mission also. We are super pumped for his baptism.

One of our recent converts, João Erik, has also been helping along with the conversion of his father. Eliseudo, the dad of João Erik, has also accepted a baptismal date. His testimony is amazing. At fourteen years of age this man was actually baptized in the church. However, due to an anti-mormon group, he was never confirmed a member of the church. We are helping him rediscover the answers that Heavenly Father has already given him. He´s an amazing man.

In church yesterday, we had a surprise visit! We were teaching this real cool family a while back, but they didn´t progress, so we made the decision to stop visiting them. However, they showed up randomly at church, and they loved it! We are going to follow up with them this week. It was great to see them in the true church of Christ.

Also, last p-day we ate burgers. 

AND THAT´S IT!

Elder Bispo

JUNE 2015

Our week was cool. We´re still working our butts off here in Tancredo Neves. This week we found some great new people that surely will progress to baptism. We´re awfully excited to help these new investigators.

This week we had our leadership counsel, and I got to see Elder Imperador. He´s doing great! President Bonini gave a training about following-up with our zones. I thought it was awesome, and definitely something that I will be able to use in work and life and stuff. The mission is cool that way.

I went on exchanges this week with one of the Elders of our zone. We went about to help a few men get themselves prepared for baptism. They both have already showed a lot of desire to be baptized. With our responsibilities as leaders, Elder Arana and I have taken into hand that we need to help our Zone in such ways as this. 

The next day in the area, we ate PANCAKES! With maple syrup! I can´t believe how long it has been since I ate real pancakes. Oh the small joys of the little things in life.

AND THAT´S IT!

Elder Bispo

Change of companions: Elder Arana

Well, my new companion is awesome. Elder Arana is a real worker! This transfer is going to be absolute joy. In our area this week, we absolutely destroyed! We both worked our butts off and ended teaching a ton of lessons! We´ve set pretty high goals for this transfer, so we´re going to follow up with our goals by acheiving the highest standard possible for our companionship. We´re going to test our limits and see what happens! I can´t lie and say I´m not physically exhausted after this first week, however the work pays off. I´m sure I will never regret giving this last push of effort on my mission.

Unfortunately, there isn´t much to report about this week. However there were a few hilarious and crazy experiences. There was one night that we were walking down some badly lit road, and there was this really annoying dog that kept barking and chasing after us. We made this little juke to set the dog running. It actually worked, except that there were about seven other ticked off dogs that came out of nowhere. Stray dogs here are a real pain. All these dogs started barking and growling and snapping at us, so we just started running. And naturally, they started chasing us. I was quite frightened. We managed to escape the mini pack of dogs, and now this whole experience has become a wonderful joke in between Elder Arana and I. 

On a lighter note, we also found a toad the size of a small cat, on the same road! This road is full of strange happenings. I think we are going to stop walking there.

Ward conference was this week. It was real cool to see our stake president talk. I was very glad that he was so attentive to the missionary work. He made sure to make our investigators all feel welcome, and actually socialized with them a little bit. It´s always wonderful to see help from the leadership. 

Our recent converts are all super firm, and I´m happy with their progress. We are going to start teaching lessons with Silvio and his family, as they have developed such a wonderful testimony.

And that´s it!

Até mais!

Elder Bispo

elder

Welp, Elder Peressute will be transferred to finish the training of another Elder. He asked the President to train someone, so he´s super happy. My new companion will be Elder Arana! This will be his first transfer as Zone Leader, so I´m going to have to show him the ropes. I´m super excited to be his companion. I got to know him, as he served in the Ômega ward after I left. He´s pretty awesome.

This week was AMAZING for our zone. Presdent Bonini is really happy with us. Basically, every week all the missionaries have to pass by how many baptism dates they have marked for the week, and it´s our responsibility to help these baptisms happen. This week the zone baptized more than we had baptism dates. So the President is ecstatic. I am super happy with our zone. They´re the best!

I am also super happy with our work! I´m loving our area. We found a new family that appears to be extremely good. They follow up super well with all of their commitments. I´m sure they will accept baptism. We also found a young woman that has accepted baptism and is super firm in her word. However, she wasn´t able to go to church yesterday because she got locked in her home! Her mom left early in the morning and took the only copy of the keys. I am very excited for this transfer.

Our zone has changed quite a lot. Many people in the zone will now be serving as leaders on the mission. So the challenges will be quite new. However, I´m confident that Elder Arana and I will be able to help our zone this transfer. 

Daqui a pouco!

Elder Bispo

Hey Mom! 

The story behind my hair is pretty funny. Although I like how it turned out. Basically, we went to cut our hair, and there´s a less active here that cuts hair for free. I told her to be careful not to cut my hair too short, because of my coulick. Well, I don´t think she took my advice pretty serious. My hair cut turned out pretty awful. So I´m styling my hair like that until everything grows back to normal. However, I´m liking the new look!

Being Zone Leader has brought more responsibilities, however it´s basically the same as district leader, except with more missionaries to take care of. Also, we have a lot more contact with the Assistents and the President. It´s nice to finally get to know my leaders better. 

The public transportation here is pretty easy. You just have to know how to ask directions, and you can get anywhere!

Of course I remember Johnson´s Shut-ins! Full of hillbillies and fun! 

Wow, I miss high adventure! Sounds like they´re in for loads of fun. I can´t believe they´re going to go caving! I always begged to go caving on high adventure, but it was never approved. Great to hear that they´ll be able to cave now.

WOW! Everyone is getting home! Tell Jake and Alex to send me some emails in Portuguese!

As soon as the church pays our itinerary the mission office lets us know, so nothing has happened yet. However, I believe it will come this transfer.

LOVE YOU MOM!!!

Elder Bispo

On Mon, Jun 8, 2015 at 9:08 AM, Stephanie Bishop <sebishopmobile@me.com> wrote:

Dear Elder Bishop.         JUNE 7

What a fantastic picture of Silvio, Luzirene, and Nicole´s baptism. I see such joy, commitment and purity in their faces. I am also amazed at your maturity and growth!! Your appearance has certainly grown and evolved!! You are a very handsome young man with awesome hair!!! I imagine that wearing a FULL suit is rare and that when you wore your suit you were very hot in the 86° weather.

Your duties as zone leader have certainly taught you many things. I imagine that your organizational skills and travel skills have improved due to these responsibilities. Your familiarization with the city is a great benefit to you as you travel and meet with other missionaries and other converts to conduct interviews. Are you able to use the public transportation systems without problems now?  I look forward to some of the stories that you will share of the specifics of this travel.

We are enjoying a rainy summer so far. Each day it has rained for the last month. The trees, flowers, and shrubs and other living things are beautiful and green. We hardly have had to water the plants that I have planted. Carson and Jesse are happy to not have to do that Chore.

This is a busy and fun week for Carson and dad. They, along with seven other young men will travel to southern Missouri and participate in outdoor activities including zip line caving and a outdoor water park called Johnson's shut-ins. Our family went there when you were about 10 years old. Do you remember floating down the river and sliding on smooth rocks into a shallow pool? It is quite a remarkable natural wonder. I hope they survive because the heat will be rising this week and the bugs and the tics will surely be biting.

Jesse and I will enjoy our three days together.  Somehow we will make it through.

Alex Evans arrived home safely this past weekend. We  will look forward to hearing him speak next Sunday. Chaz Suby also arrived home last week to his family in Utah. Jake Hershey arrived home several months ago and is here in Kansas.

When will you know your itinerary for getting back to Kansas?  It would be helpful to know the date and the airline and the timing of your arrival.

We love you and pray for your success and safety each day. We are so proud of our Brazilian missionary.

Love MOM

Stephanie E. Bishop
BLOG:  theanimalshaveescaped.com

I hardly recognize ELDER BISHOP...

Hey family, friends, and future friends! Our week was super duper awesome and jam packed of stuff for us. We were running all around in our zone this week, because there were lots of baptism interviews for us to do. Silvio, Luzirene, Nicole, and Brena were also baptized. Silvio and his family are super happy, and so are we. Brena is also very happy. For those that have not heard about Brena, she is the daughter of a recent convert that we starting teaching two weeks ago.

Silvio, Luzirene, and Nicole´s baptism was great! They were all shining, and the ward was all super excited for them. Everything worked out great, and we are extremely happy that we were able to be part of the conversion process of such a wonderful family. Sunday, their confirmations went real smooth also, and Luzirene´s mom came to watch.

Brena has showed an amazing growth in her road to baptism, and she has really surprised us with her wonderful commitment to all of our invites! We are really happy to have been able to baptize one more member of this family. Our former Assistent to the President is the one that baptized Neide, Brena´s mom. Now Elder Millet (the Assistent) has been asking us for Brena´s baptism pics. It´s great to see everyone´s joy over one more soul that has entered into God´s fold.

See you all later!

Elder Bispo

Mother's Day Phone Call

We got to SKYPE with Hunter for the LAST time on Mother's Day

Brad and Jessie made me breakfast in bed and Brad made delicious SALMON for dinner

Weekly update: MEMORIAL DAY

Well, unfortunately our baptisms this week fell through. We have no idea what happened to Vitor. He just seemed to disappear. And Mikael will need a little more time before his baptism. However, Silvio and Luzirene will be baptized this week, along with their daughter, Nicole. We are also planning the baptism of Neide´s daughter (Neide is a recent convert that our former Assistent baptized). This week we also went on exchanges with the Assistents to the President.

I went to Parquelândia, which is the Assistents area, this past Wednesday. I went on exchanges with Elder Carvalho. He´s from Portugal. He´s the only missionary from Portugal in our mission. I learned quite a lot with Elder Carvalho. Elder Peressute and I are trying to help out our zone the best we can, and the Assistents gave us a few tips. This week will also be our Mission conference, and I´m excited to see what President Bonini will talk about. Our mission is growing in success everyday due to our President´s new counsels and techniques. 

The mission is great, and my time is up here, so bye! See you all soon!

Elder Bispo

Elder Bishop reports this week--Memorial Day

Well, unfortunately our baptisms this week fell through. We have no idea what happened to Vitor. He just seemed to disappear. And Mikael will need a little more time before his baptism. However, Silvio and Luzirene will be baptized this week, along with their daughter, Nicole. We are also planning the baptism of Neide´s daughter (Neide is a recent convert that our former Assistent baptized). This week we also went on exchanges with the Assistents to the President.

I went to Parquelândia, which is the Assistents area, this past Wednesday. I went on exchanges with Elder Carvalho. He´s from Portugal. He´s the only missionary from Portugal in our mission. I learned quite a lot with Elder Carvalho. Elder Peressute and I are trying to help out our zone the best we can, and the Assistents gave us a few tips. This week will also be our Mission conference, and I´m excited to see what President Bonini will talk about. Our mission is growing in success everyday due to our President´s new counsels and techniques. 

The mission is great, and my time is up here, so bye! See you all soon!

Elder Bispo

THE BEACH EXISTS

This week, Elder Peressute and I went to our mission's Leadership Counsel. It was my first, as it is a meeting only with the Zone Leader's and the President. We learned quite a few cool new techniques, and I'm excited to put them into practice. It was also real fun to see all my mission buds. Many of them are also now serving as Zone Leaders.

In Tancredo Neves this week, we have been contacting and teaching a ton of people! As Zone Leader's we have to give a good example for all our missionaries, so we've been working our butts off to baptize! Because of our work, I believe the Lord is blessing us. We have found two wonderful young men that are excited to be baptized this week. Hopefully everything will work out alright with the progress of these two future missionaries. Mikael and Vitor already have friends in the Church, and were super excited when we contacted them and invited them to church. They have both accepted baptism and are steadily preparing for this next Sunday.

Our family that we are teaching, Silvio and Luzirene, are doing great. They are super excited for their wedding, and even more excited with their baptism. 

I went on exchanges this week with Mucuripe, which is an area that is basically just the beach. So yeah, I taught very close to the beach. And I actually got to see the beach. That was crazy! 

Tchau!

Elder Bispo

Meet the newest Fortaleza, Brazil ZONE LEADER

Hello every man, woman, child, and dog. Tranfers have come, and I will now be serving as Zone Leader with Elder Perressute. I know Elder Perressute fairly well, and I´m super excited to work with him. I will be serving in the Tancredo Neves ward, which is actually in the same Stake as Dias Macêdo, my current ward. Basically you just cross this one street and you can get to my new ward. It´s awesome.

This week we had a special visit from Elder Christofferson. He spoke a whole lot on how important it is to read and study the Book of Mormon. He gave us the promise that if we gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon, and if we are able to help others grow the same testimony of it´s truthfulness, then we will never go astray from the path of Christ. As I have made it a goal to always study the Book of Mormon in my personal studies here on the mission, I can certainly testify that what Elder Christofferson said is true. As my testimony of the Book of Mormon has grown and flourished here, I know how much it has affected my personal conversion. Also, I have seen when others began to plant this same testimony in their hearts, and I know how much it means to them. The Book of Mormon is true, and I know it. Many of my converts know it, and I am certain that that knowledge will bring them eternal happiness. I know that anyone can recieve these blessings when they are established upon the principles of righteousness that the Saviour taught. I know that Elder Christofferson is an Apostle called of God.

This week was so amazing here in Dias Macedo, and I´m pretty torn to be leaving this amazing ward. We have found two other families that have shown so much desire to get married and be baptized. Although I won´t be here to share in such wonderful moments with these wonderful couples, I know that I will be able to see them again, whether in this life or the next. 

Well, that was my magical week. 

Elder Bispo

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Lots of BAPTISMS

Woohoo! Our week was great! My district is destroying! In the past our zone has been known as the dead zone of the mission. In the past our zone didn´t ever baptize anyone. Nevermore! This week we met our district goal of baptisms. We also met the Zone goal of baptisms. It´s so wonderful to meet goals. I´m honored to be able to serve with so many dedicated Elders and Sisters. 

Also, in our area this week, we found a bunch of new people that are super interested in learning more about Christ´s restored gospel. This group of people includes two couples and a few single adults who all have a great potential to follow Christ´s example by being baptized.

In the middle of the first lesson of the first couple, Elza and Ariberto, the couple randomly pulled out a copy of the Book of Mormon, and a pamphlet of the temple. A few years ago they were taught the lessons, but it looks like they didn´t progress because Ariberto was deathly sick. Now, in the lesson Ariberto told us how it was miracle that he was talking with us. His illness basically was ending his life, and so he had an emergency surgery done. Miraculously he lived, and now him and his wife want to ´pay back a debt´ that they say they owe to God. Ariberto and Elza were certainly prepared by the Lord to hear the joy of the restored gospel.

And that´s the week!

Elder Bispo

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.