First Transfer Tomorrow

Hola Senoritas, I know that is Spanish but who cares.   Haha, so this week was good.  I am pretty much 100 percent sure I will be getting transferred to another area this week, not only because I have been here for 3 transfers but I live with the APs and I question the crap out of them every transfer to “practice” my Portuguese and get answers that I want.  Haha, it never really works but I definitely get ideas.  I will find out Tuesday, it will be hard to leave but I know that there are people out in other areas that need me.  I think of this area as home because all the members and investigators took me in like I was their son.  I never thought in a million years that saying goodbye to them might be as hard as it was saying bye to my real fam.  But it might be, we will see.  

So about my week.  The week was really fast.  We had a lesson with this girl and me and my companion switched up the way we teach so I would learn how to teach about other things and in different styles.  So it was my first time teaching this subject with this girl, I studied the crap out of it so I could teach it perfect for her.  Like 12 hours this week of studying this subject and only this subject.  So we were teaching her, I am over here thinking it’s going perfect.   We finished and I was like “oh, ha baby, that went well” and then she said “to be real, I didn’t really understand a word you said”.  If you wanna know what getting hit by a semi truck, and then getting your heart ripped out feels like, this circumstance is exactly what it feels like.  Studying almost 6 months straight, never stop and then having someone tell you that hurts.  But it’s cool I know the devil wants me to quit and give up.  But I won’t, haha.  I know there are people that need to hear my words.  Even if they can’t understand me they can feel my love and that’s what’s most important.

So later that night me and the Chilean AP went out on splits teaching and I explained to him my frustrations about what happened and he told me it still happens to him to this day and he has been here for 1 year and 11 months.  Haha, I didn’t believe him.  So we were sitting there teaching this lady and he said a few things for like a minute and after she literally said to him “I don’t understand the language you’re speaking, it’s hard for me to understand.”  That moment I was like OK I feel better, we know the language it’s just the people need to listen better.  Anyways it was a really refreshing experience for some weird reason.  

I love the people with all my heart even though sometimes it’s frustrating.

Elder Meyer

Chaos In Brazil

What’s up peeps.  This week was good a little different but definitely good.  So I guess Natal is pretty dangerous right now, I don’t know if you have seen the news yet, but check it out because yes our mission is right in the middle of the “chaos”.  So most nights this week we had to end our days early and go home at 6 every night.  Normally I would be pretty freaked out.  But I have no fear whatsoever because I know God is watching over me and my mission right now.  I will tell you more about the week now.

So the lady and 2 cute little girls that we took to church last week, this week she cut us off and told us she doesn’t believe in Joseph Smith and she doesn’t believe in our church.  It hurt cause I wanted so bad that her and her 2 little girls to join our church and find true happiness.  But I guess not any more.  It’s cool, hopefully one day she will realize we got the truth.  Her telling me that our church isn’t true only boosted my testimony, I don’t know how but it did.  My testimony of Joseph Smith now is out of this world.  

Me and my companion this week found 2 awesome ladies to bring to church.  One is about 50 and the other is like 95 and blind.  Any they wanted all their friends and neighbors to come so we got all the neighbors to commit to going to church because the two ladies we found were super excited and told everyone about our church.  It was amazing to see about 2 new investigators actually excited to go to church.

I read this week in the Liahona about praying and getting answers.  Because I was having a hard time believing in prayer.  So I read it and prayed with real intent after to find a 17-18 year old boy to bring to church and baptize the next week.  About 3 hours later our last contact of the day was a 17 year old boy named Eduardo that committed to go to church.  At that moment I realized my prayers really do get answered but you just need to seek for an answer, and have faith that your answer will be responded to.  

Oh ya, we also helped a family move out and into another house for 2 days straight.  I love service!  But I am so dang tired, haha.  Because on top of moving them out, we still proselyte, teach, study, and do all the same stuff.  So it’s tiring but it’s amazing.  

Well, this week was great and I can’t wait to see what this next week has in store for me.

Love yall!

Elder Meyer

(attached is a news article)

Brazil deploys troops as prison riot spreads, town erupts in violence

NATAL, BRAZIL – Stick-wielding inmates hurled stones and lit fires Thursday in a Brazilian jail where dozens were previously massacred, as authorities struggled to contain a wave of gang violence.

Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to try to separate two groups of inmates as they fought a pitched battled in the courtyard of the Alcacuz prison, AFP reporters overlooking the facility saw.

Unrest also erupted overnight in the town of Natal near the jail, prompting the government to order the armed forces to deploy to the town.

“The troops will reinforce the patrols in the streets of Natal after the riot in Alcacuz prison,” President Michel Temer’s office said in a statement.

Globonews television channel showed pictures of injured inmates being evacuated from the jail.

Rioting had also broken out overnight in six towns in the state, a spokesman for local authorities told AFP.

Rioters set on fire 21 buses plus other vehicles and seven people were arrested in that unrest, the spokesman said.

One person died and five were hurt during another prisoner uprising in the nearby town of Caico, he said.

On Wednesday, elite officers entered the Alcacuz prison near the northern city of Natal and transferred 220 inmates to another jail.

In the town, groups allied with the imprisoned gang members “attacked buses in revenge for the decision to separate the prisoners,” state governor Robinson Faria said.

“The situation got much worse last night.”

The Alcacuz facility was the scene of gruesome violence between two rival gangs last weekend when 26 inmates were massacred, most of them beheaded.

That was the third major mass killing in a Brazilian prison this year.

So far this year 134 people have been killed in prison violence, according to the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper, citing justice ministry figures.

Authorities are accused of allowing gangs to run the overcrowded jails.

Defense Minister Raul Jungmann called the situation a “national emergency.”

Brazilian police had stormed the Alcacuz prison early Sunday to halt the bloodbath, but were still not in full control four days later.

Rival groups of prisoners remained loose in the courtyard, sheltering behind barricades of mattresses and furniture.

The prison was built for a maximum of 620 inmates but currently houses 1,083, the state justice department said.

Experts say the violence is part of a war between drug gangs battling for control of one of the world’s most important cocaine markets and trafficking routes.

Brazil shares borders with Colombia, Bolivia and Peru, the world’s three biggest cocaine producers. It is a key route for trafficking the drug to Europe.

At Alcacuz, inmates from the country’s biggest gang, the Sao Paulo-based First Capital Command (PCC), faced off against allies of their rivals from the Rio de Janeiro-based Red Command.

The Natal massacre raised fears that the wave of violence could spread across the country—- including to the crime-plagued metropolis of Rio de Janeiro.

Matthew 16:25 got me through the hard times during the week

What’s up again.  A great week yet again.  Weeks seriously fly by, its not OK.   Obviously sometimes I want it to go by fast and there are other times I don’t want it to end.  That’s kind of how this week went.  But it was still a good week.  

We committed one of my favorite families in the world to get married.  So I think in about 20 days they will have their wedding then be baptized after.  To be real I didn’t think two 19 year old boys could commit a couple to get married and baptized cause marriage really is such a big commitment.  Buy hey God wanted it to be done so he made it happen through us.   He works in mysterious, beautiful ways.  I love it.  This family is amazing, and their life is only getting that much better through our Gospel.   And we got most of our key investigators to come to church with us Sunday so that was great of course.  We met a single mom that just moved here that has 2 girls 8 years old and 10 years old, and yes they are adorable and loved church.  

Other then that the week was pretty normal.  We still ate at McDonalds and Dominos.  We pretty much have a routine, it’s great.  We work our butts off then go enjoy food and acai.  But I want to share a scripture that helped me get through some of the hard times during the week.  It’s in Matthew 16:25, it says “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”  This scripture is the most real scripture.  I love it and I thought about it every time I was walking down the hot street dripping sweat, getting turned down, not understanding a word people speak.   It helped me get through those times.

Well, until next week.

Elder Meyer

New Year On The Roof

January 2nd- 

Another good fast week.  This week was New Year's Eve, and I'm not going to lie, Natal loves New Year's Eve.  Everybody and their dog go to the beach to either party, drink or watch fireworks.  So literally no one was home so we got to go back to our house and make dinner and try to make it the best New Year's Eve as possible.  And we did, we made hot dogs, listened to music (church music of course) and then went up to the top of the roof of our condo to watch the fireworks.  

We ended up staying up there for a long time talking about the mission and stuff, and how important it is and how much we will miss it.  We talked about this because I live with two people who have been out for 10 months and the other has 1 year so they all were super real and kind of emotional about the mission.  I only have 4 months but it started to kind of hit me.  Never in a million years did I think I would be sitting on a roof at midnightin Brazil with 4 people I didn't know a few months ago that I now consider my best friends.  It hit me and I realized how cool it is and how special a mission is.  You're not only finding and bringing people eternal happiness, you're creating memories that you will cherish forever.  I will remember that night for the rest of my life.

January 1, 2017 we shared our New Year's goals, played the ukulele and enjoyed fireworks.  This week was a hard week for contacts so we tried our hardest and worked our butts off but it just wasn't there so we made the best out of the week.  It was an amazing week, but without success.

Love,

Elder Meyer

January 9th-

This week was dope, I made divisions.  For the whole week in a neighborhood, or like a little city called Felipe Camarão about an hour or so away from Cidade Verde.  I learned so much in one week it's crazy.  I will tell you about it now.  

First of all the district here is an all boy district cause sisters aren't allowed to do work here cause it's "dangerous" or something so it was definitely more of an adventure.  And I now know why sisters don't work here.  But anyways, I learned so much in such little time.  I learned how to teach a different style, I learned ten times more about how important obedience is, learned more about how the Gospel actually changes lives.  I learned how to grow a pair and actually make contacts on my own and literally talk to everyone in sight, learned how to memorize the area faster because I was literally only here for a few days and on day 4 my companion that I was with here made another division with the people we were living with, so I was left with all his investigators and another new companion that didn't know the area.  It was stressful but dope because I relied on the Lord for help and he led me everywhere perfectly without mistakes.  And the Lord helped me so much with the language this week that I made about 12 new friends that I will never see again after today.  They wanted me to remember them so they gave me a ring to wear to remember this week with them for the rest of my life.  

I made friends with this mom that worked in this little acai building on the side of her house that she hooked me up with some free stuff cause I made her laugh a lot.  It was such a good week.  I had my most spiritual moment here on my mission.  I was teaching this mom and her daughters the third lesson and at the end of the lesson we asked her to pray to see if what we taught her was true.  She said "I don't need to pray because I already know it is true because of the change I have seen in my mom and dad's life because of this religion."  By the way, her mom and dad recently accepted the lessons and changed immensely.  I loved when she said that because it was literally our first time with her and she told us that.  My testimony was raised out of the roof.  It was so amazing.  

Oh yes, we were teaching a guy and after we finished teaching him he told us he had a pet monkey, so ya, I got to play with a monkey, ha,ha. 

This week in Felipe Camarão was a week I will never forget.  

Love you all,

Elder Meyer