Email 02/27/17

 I am doing well. The Language is coming better. I have been having trouble with the grammar, but the Lord is helping me preach and teach. Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet five in one house. On Saturday I had the opportunity to meet a very intelligent man named Max he was nice and gave me and my companheiro cookies and water. Please thank the Snarrs for the donation (toward his mission). Awesome that Jaylen had his birthday and reached double digits.  It´s good to hear that Jeffrey gave a talk in sacrament meeting. He´ll need the practice if he wants to be ready. Oh, something I forgot to tell you last week. I gave a talk in the local Capella (Church House) last week on Sunday. They asked me to talk on Faith. I think that it went somewhat well, because the members of the ward told me how much they liked my talk afterwards. I am doing better now that I am starting to take no thought for my life. The holy ghost reminds me of scriptures when I need them. That is awesome to hear that Jonah is so close to becoming a deacon and receiving his Faith in God award as well. Would you please dad that he can have and use my laptop. I know I should have taken care of this before, but better late than never. Tell Jonah that I am having fun sharing the Gospel and doing other Missionary Work. Thanks for the jokes. I wish you all well. I had the opportunity to move to a new house this last Friday. This house is much better. I am grateful for the blessings the Lord has given me.  Tchau.

Email 02/20/17

To start off please tell Jeffrey that I am sorry for neglecting to give him my password to Starcraft through email, but I hope you were able to get it anyway. I am thinking that you are talking about my companion in the field, if so; he doesn’t speak a lick of fluent English, but he knows many words and knows about the History of the United States a bit. He also knows about Trump. Trump is very unpopular down here. At least it looks that way. Other than Elder Novaes there are four others Elders Soares, Aravena, Silva, and Gomez in our house. Aravena is Chilean. Silva is Peruvian, but has Brazilian ancestors. Meu Portuguese é ótimo. Mies ou Menos. If you are interested I am gaining much light and truth here. The Lord is being merciful to me. Without this light and truth, the Lord is giving me I would have a lot of trouble surviving. I have difficulties giving you examples now, but I may be better able to later on.  Oh yeah I forgot that it was Valentine’s day. I am glad to hear that you all enjoyed Valentine’s day. I wish Jeffrey luck with his friend who is a girl. Awesome to hear that Jaylen is going into scouts maybe he will be able to do better than I did. I like that Jemma is giving not only you, but also Brin a break. Mom, you went to the Dentist, ah that bites. I hope Julia and Jemma keep being happy. It’s good to hear that you are having opportunities to attend the Temple. Wow, Jeffrey must be really good at Science in order to be able to go to the District Science fair. I am glad that members of the ward are staying busy. Excellent joke from Dad. I miss Jemma as well. Tell Jonah that I am trying to always do some form of Missionary work (See Missionary Work in the Guide to the Scriptures) but if he was referring to what most people use to refer to missionary work, which is of course Proselyting; I eat, sleep, study, listen to the music that my house members have and my own when possible; as well as doing most anything else that is needful. I try not to waste a minute. I have seen many different types of birds and other animals, if that is what Jostan is referring to; but I do see hundreds of different types of cookies when I am at the grocery store; but seriously I did get to visit an investigator who used to or is still operating a Circus here in Rondonopolis. He showed us pictures of Lions and acrobats in his Circus. Thank you for the thought about judging, but I have one of my own about it. In this life we have to judge. We can obey the scripture, Go ye out from among the wicked without judging. The key to judging correctly is doing it righteously; see true to the Faith under Judging others. Don´t get me wrong I agree with President Uctdorf one hundred percent. Judging others incorrectly and unrighteously is wrong, but judging righteously is right; when justified. I am doing fine thanks to the help Heavenly Father gives me through infinitely many sources. I love you all. In the name of Jesus Christ amen.

Email 02/13/17

Hey everyone. It´s great to have time to update you all today. This week was a little weird we did very little proselyting. Mostly because of a complicated situation with a few of the members of my district in my house. I ended up being in a trio for three or four days while the other three in my house went to Cuiabá. We were able to enjoy going to each other’s areas. Although it was annoying to have to take three buses; one to go to Almoço (Lunch), a second to return to the first bus stop and a third to go to a pesquisadors (investigators) house. Other than that it was a pretty normal week. I am happy to hear that Jostan is working on his driving. I am glad Mom is having time to relax and enjoy time with her sister-in-law. Speaking of rain, it is raining off and on here in Rondonopolis. I am grateful mom had me buy that umbrella and rain coat. Thank you for the Jemma humor. Ah, that was good. Dad’s joke was even better. I do want to tell you I met a return missionary here in Rondonopolis. His name is Ben. He is from Oregon State and went on his mission here. I am guessing he met his wife here or somewhere else in his mission. He was an awesome help and gave me some respite from Portuguese, because I could speak English with him. He also gave me a few pieces of paper with a bunch of helpful tips, such as slang and common phrases that would not normally make sense without knowing the language already. One example is Beleza which means alright, Fica de Boa means chill out. E aí means what’s up. Negócios means stuff. A lot of the language depends entirely on context. Para can mean by, to, for, etc. I did accidently forget to tell you all about an experience I had on the plane coming to Cuiabá. I sat next to a man that was lives in Matto Grosso somewhere and he started to talk and inquire of me concerning the church, and wouldn’t you know it; he was fluent in English. His name was Marcos and he asked some simple questions like what is the difference between your church and protestants for example. I didn’t have resources, except for the Articles of Faith in my scriptures; to answer his question. So I used that.  He read a few and said that the second one made a lot of sense. After that point he didn’t talk much, but I did have the opportunity to give him the church website LDS.org as a reference for more information on our church. Sorry I forgot to tell you this story before. Concerning souvenirs, I need a list from mom or dad of souvenirs you want. All I really need is some ideas. Mostly because I don’t have a lot of room in my suitcase for a lot of stuff, and I don’t know what you’d really want. Concerning what Jeffrey said about Third Nephi 11, I happened to have already read that scripture this week in Portuguese, but nonetheless I will still read it. Tell Jonah that I am enjoying my time here. I am learning more and more about how to be a real missionary. If any of you have questions just ask. Till next week, Falou.

Jarrek and his companion Elder Novaes.

Jarrek's companion and other elders in his house.

Sao Paulo, Brazil Temple.

Email 02/06/17

My week has been a good week.  I am keeping very busy and learning quite a lot. I am learning a lot of Portuguese and plenty about the culture here in Brazil. I am liking my first area here in Rondonopolis. It rains every so often, so I am grateful for my umbrella. Me and my companion are teaching at least two people a day, depending on the day. We usually always tract. I am doing better with the language. God is helping me understand them and speak to them and teach them. Are the names of the Sisters in my district named Sister Kahr and Sister Atkinson? I am sorry you were in a minor accident, but I am glad to hear that you and Jemma are alright. I am also happy to hear that Jemma is healthy. It is good that Jeffrey is staying busy. It is great that Jeffrey is participating in plays. I am happy to hear you obtained pictures from my mission president. It is good to hear that Jemma is developing more and more. Thank you for the scriptures and the thought I will try to use it well in my mission. I would update you all with how many Books of Mormon I have given out, but I don’t exactly know how many. We don’t really record that here; but I do know at least how many lessons we have taught. It’s around thirty-three. If you want my mission pictures just go to box.com and you will find them there. If you need the password, just ask. On another note, the members and people in general here are very nice. Last week, when my district and I left for that conference about the schedule change for missionaries; I had the opportunity to meet an inactive member in the street. I was just singing a Portuguese hymn and he was walking along by me. He then started to sing along with me. I found out that he lives in Curitiba, but would be in Rondonopolis for a little while. My companion and I talked with him for a while and he left, I probably will not see him again, but it was nice meeting him. Concerning the conference, I liked the changes that were made to the missionary schedule throughout the world. My mission president adjusted the schedule for us and we now get up at seven and our time is more free for us to choose what we do. I am very grateful for this and I hope to use it to its full potential. Well until next week. Tchau.

First Pictures from Cuiaba

Jarrek with his President and Sister Oliveira after his arrival in Cuiaba.  Also picture with other missionaries who arrived at the same time.

Email 1/30/17

I have traveled from Cuiabá to Rondonopolis (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rondon%C3%B3polis), my first area (looks like it is Southeast of Cuiaba); I have already proselyted for 50 hours. My new companion’s name is Elder Novaes. He is good so far as I can see. He is from Bahia, Brazil.

The wards here are massive. It takes me and my companion thirty minutes of walking to get to one of the members houses. I have already given three Books of Mormon to Pesquisadors (Investigators). I am sorry to hear that Jeffrey was sick, and on such an important day as well. I hope that he gets better soon so that he can enjoy his time in student council. I am glad that Jostan is practicing driving. ´´Cookie dough makes her strong. ´´ Oh that is pretty funny. I am glad Jemma still has her wonderful sense of humor going. Tell Jonah I am doing alright. I have adjusted for the most part with Missionary life, but I still have many things to learn as I am the Junior companion. I miss Julia and you all and I am glad I have the opportunity every week to email you. I haven’t seen any Jaguars yet. I hope to see them when I go to the North, but not in the wild. I would probably have to see them in a zoo or something. I have seen many birds and dogs, otherwise not much yet. I have spent most of my time in cities. If you all are interested, my new companion’s name is Elder Novaes. I live in a house with 5 others. I hope to be able to adjust to my situation quickly. Thank you for the thought and for your prayers. I hope to email you all again soon. If any of you have any specific or general questions about my mission or area, please ask and I will do my best to answer them.

My typical day is hot and humid, and I usually walk several miles a day if not more. We proselyte most of the day in neighborhoods with members and Pesquisadors. I have not yet received the new rules, but I am going to receive them today at the zone conference I am going to in Cuiabá, but from what Grandma Nelson told me my schedule will be changing for the better. Otherwise, I don’t know the changes in the rules. I am adjusting to the food and culture slowly, but surely. The food is generally good. The weather is either really hot or rainy or cloudy either way it is usually always hot. I do like my companion; he is an enthusiastic missionary for proselyting. He follows the spirit well and knows what he is doing. I love the people and they are interesting. It (the culture) is almost the opposite of ours in many aspects. They have no right to bear arms for citizens and so everything needs to be locked up tight. I hope to be able to learn a lot about the culture as I go on. So far, I like the food.

Mission home address:

Elder Jarrek Spencer Nelson

Brazil Cuiabá Mission

Av. Hist. Rubens de Mendonça, 1731

Sala 10, Bairro: Consil

CEP: 78050-975 Cuiabá – MT

Brazil

Quick Note from Cuiaba

I am safe and sound in Cuiabá. I left the CTM at 7:00 am this morning. I hope to be able to update you all when I have my first P-day on Monday. I may be able to send you all pictures at that point. I hope Mom and Dad are feeling better. Love you all. Tchau.