Email 7-21-14

Hello Everybody!

 

So, I guess I´ll start out by talking about my new ``son``. His name is Elder Pinheiro.   He´s from Manaus!!   Did I ever tell you that I always wanted a companion from Manaus!?   He´s so legit.   He´s 21 and came to the mission SUPER prepared!   He´s getting used to the mission life and what not but he´s doing very well so far.   Elder Monteiro from Cape Verde, Africa lives with us too and is training a missionary from Bolivia.   Four different nacionalities and four different accents at home. It´s been pretty fun so far.

 

We´ve gotten to know alot about the ward and it´s awesome.  This is the first ward that I have been in during my time here that talks about doing things, then actually does it.  They work!  It´s awesome.  We already have marked for this next week two people to leave and teach with us.  One in the afternoon, and one at night, for every day except for Saturday, due to a ward activity.

 

We had a ward activity, a ``festa junina`` Saturday with like 300 people there.  There were TONS!  Because it with both wards that go to the chapel that we frequent.  Out of nowhere, they asked me to give the message like five minutes before it started. That´s the first time I gave a message in front of so many people.  There were members, non members, inactives, recent converts, and investigators..   It was nuts, but it worked out.  It went well.

 

We met a 17 year old kid that uses drugs and does absolutely nothing in life.. He cried as he told us that he wants to change.  He´s waiting to turn 18 to be able to get his card to be able to get a job.  But in the meanwhile he just hangs out with his friends that are a terrible influence.  We set some goals with him and we´ll help him to have a better life.  It depends very little on us, and alot on him.  We´ll see though.  With faith, everything is possible!!  He understood the Restoration, and accepted baptism.  We left, visited his neighbor and as we passed his house again he was inside smoking weed......... We´ll teach the word of wisdom and it´ll work out! Ha ha ha

 

Everyone in the ward was telling me and my companion that we are the ``nice`` companionship, just based on the way we look.  It´s funny.  They all walk up and say.. ``olha aí, são os Èlderes simpaticos!``  It´s funny.  This ward is great!  We´re all enjoying it a bunch! 

 

I´m hoping I finish the mission here, but I won’t get my hopes up just in case it doesn’t happen! Ha ha..

 

Love you all!!

-Elder Kyler Blane Farr

 

Also:   

He gave his message about keeping the commandments, and the blessings we receive.. using Mosiah 2:41.. and said they were going to do an awesome game thing but there were no knives there…

 

He loves the Manaus accent!!  (Manaus is in the Northern Brasil, in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest and also the area where Sam Poulton and Trent Palmer served their missions)

 

He wasn’t sure how the card works but will let me know next week.

 

Google translation says that ``olha aí, são os Èlderes simpaticos!`` means “looking around, the elders are friendly”   

 

He reminds us to “Have fun, and remember to smile.. :) <---like this!”

Email 7-14-14

Okay.. so transfers was today!!

But before talking about that..

 

We were walking to lunch this last week and Elder E shut his eyes and said, ``you will have to guide me to lunch`` And it was pretty far too. S o I told him when to go up, down, to turn, to duck and all that good stuff.  At one point he could hear people talking and got embarrassed cause his eyes were shut, but I told him that he just had to keep going until the end.   At another point a motorcycle was coming passed us and he got scared but I assured him that he was in a safe place, (on the side of the road!) ha ha ha.. we finally got to lunch and we said, ``wow that was awesome..`` We ended up sharing that as our lunch message and related it to how I was acting as the spirit.  Sometimes the spirit tells us to do something and we get embarrassed..but we have to keep on going, because the spirit knows better than we do. Sometimes we get scared, but the spirit is there to comfort us! It was a cool real life experience that we related to the Gospel.  The Sister that we shared it with liked it so much she gave us a high five.. so it must have been pretty dang good! ha ha..

 

So speaking of transfers.............I left.. Elder E stayed there.  I was kind of mad after only staying there for six weeks during the world cup.  It didnt even give enough time to do hardly anything.. I would tell you more about my new companion, but I don't know who it is!   He´ll get into the mission field tomorrow!   I´m district leader too.  So I spent 6 months of my mission as a Zone leader, and when I'm done training this missionary I will have spent 9 months training. I´ll get another ``son`` tomorrow!  ha ha. Tomorrow will get here 2 missionaries from Bolívia, 1 from colombia, 2 brazillians, and 1 from Cape Verde, África!   I´ll let you know next week which one I get.

 

I´m back in Caucaia too. My área is Parque Albano. It´s in the same Zone and Stake that I was already in. Our area has basically nothing.. we have to go out of our área for basically everything..but that´s okay.   I know I'm here for a reason.

 

I can´t believe it happened how it did... I think I'll probably end my mission here.. Training is 2 transfers and then I'll have one more.. crazy.. I don't even believe it..

 

I´m well! And I heard we have some good investigators too!!   Love you lots,

-Elder Kyler Blane Farr

Email 7-7-14

That was fun!

 

We just got home from going to the mission office to pick up materials for our zona for the week.. There was alot.. like alot alot.  So we took a taxi to get home. The taxi driver started asking questions about the church, and what we do and how much money we make.   (ha ha ha ha ha) and things like that.  We explained everything to him and he likes everything we said.  He said he was sitting in the (I forgot how you call the Catholic Church service) and he said he felt like something was missing.  He went on to talk about how he didn’t know his purpose in life and  he wanted to know where we go when we die, and why so many churches spend half of the meeting talking about money..  The car ride was about an hour and we taught him the restoration, the plan of salvation, and tithing.  It was awesome because my companion was in the front and I was in the back seat and we were switching off talking, and reading scriptures and what not.   He said, `` I know you guys work in Conjunto Ceará, but I want you to give my phone number to the missionaries where I live so I can go visit your church.``  We got his info.. ;) and he´ll be a great member of the church some say!

 

He started out the conversation bearing his testimony about how God exists, and how he loves us and he talked about the experiences that have happened in his life that are proofs that we have a loving Heavenly Father that just wants us to be happy. We spent quite a bit of time at home again this week.  But I was thinking…. There´s a sketchy taxi system here in Fortaleza that are normal people with normal cars that take people around and charge like half the price. My companion said, ``let’s just call taxi amigo``.   But I felt that we needed to go in the road and flag down an official one.. It´s more expensive, but.. oh well..   So we did, and we met this awesome man with a desire to learn the truth.

 

It´s funny how The Lord puts people in our paths that we can share the truth with.

We met a boy this week also that has been to church a ton and his mom didn't let him get baptized,  now she´ll let him.  He wants to wait a bit, but we told him to pray about getting baptized this week.   We’ll go there this week and talk with him.   He´s awesome.

That was the highlight of this week!!

 

I made a year and seven months yesterday! That´s NUTS!! Time is moving and moving..  it´s crazy!

 

I love this Gospel. Don’t be afraid to live it, and share it with your friends, and family, and enemies!   And everyone!  Okay??  Okay!

 

-Elder Kyler Blane Farr

 

PS -- his parting message to me that I'd like to share:)

Have fun at work!!

Remember who you are and what you stand for!   Be obedient okay!?   and always wear your seatbelt! ha ha ;) love you guys!

Email 6-30-14

This week was good!

 

We were actually able to go out and work quite a bit this week, besides the Brasil games, because it´s so crazy in our area during.. During the next game I’ll send some pics of how our street gets so you all can see it. ;)

 

I was able to meet some investigators here for the first time this week. There are some really good people with alot of potential with just some little problems that are easily fixable with a little bit of faith!  We had combined with a bunch of people to go to church, but only a few went.. I´ve noticed a huge lack of faith even within the members of the church.

 

Our church in our area is getting reformed so we have to go to the other church like 30 minutes away walking. SOOO many people don´t go.. just because it´s a little bit further away.  They think it´s a sacrifice to go..  I can´t really think of very many things that would make me not want to renew my baptismal covenants with my Heavenly Father. 

 

We have been talking alot about Faith recently, me and my companion.. One thing I learned from a previous companion is this.. but it makes more sense in Portuguese. 

 

Faith..(Fé) has two letters.. F and E.. F is for ``fazer``-TO DO and E is for ``ESPERAR``- to wait.. so we do something.. then we wait for the blessings to come.. for example, I want to find a new job.. I’m not going to sit at home and wait for someone to contact me.. I am going to go looking for a new job.. There are so many examples that exist.. Like, if we want a better life, (who doesn’t want a better life??)  We need to do the things that will help us to make that happen.. We need to LIVE the gospel!   Mosiah 2:41..   It´s so simple!   We can be happy because we get blessed, because we keep the commandments.. Material blessings.. and spiritual blessings.. Just do it..   It´s so annoying to me when people complain about things, when they aren’t doing what they´re supposed to!   Ha ha.. I’m kind of ranting on.. just putting my thoughts onto paper!

 

Anyways.. our old mission president left!   He´s home.. and the new one (Presidente Bonini) is here!   I haven´t met him yet though.. we´ll have a mission conference this Wednesday with him and it´s like a ``meet your mission president`` conference. It´ll be cool!

 

I´m about to make a year and seven months here in like 5 days or so! That´s scary... but I’ll do what I have to do while I’m here!!

 

Loves!

-Elder Kyler Blane Farr

:)     I’m not trunky or anything.. I’m just SSOOO excited to see all you again,.....

Email 6-23-14

Soo, 

this week will be pretty short unfortunately. Today Brasil plays this afternoon so everything will shut down and the LAN houses will be shut so we wont' be able to go. But as Zone Leaders we have to also pick up the materials for our zones in the morning... So here I am! ha ha

 

Anyways, this week was kind of a repeat of last week.   Everyone keeps traveling, and the people that stay home just sit in a chair on their sidewalk and drink and drink and drink... 

 

We ended up with a really good lesson with a lady that we are preparing for baptism about keeping the sabbath day holy. Her mom was super doubtful because she used to go to the seventh day adventist church, but after we explained everything the kept saying that the would start buying stuff on Saturday and not Sunday.   Her daughter is the one we usually teach and we ended up teaching both of them.  Unfortunately the lady,(her mom) got sick that night and had to go to the Hospital and was not able to go to church. She has already gone once, so we should be able to have her baptism this sunday ainda. 

 

We´re both good, we´re trying to work even under these super annoying circumstances. 

Next week I promise I'll have better things to write about! ha ha ha

 

The US played yesterday and alot of people watched that game, Brasil plays today and EVERYONE will watch that game too, so the rest of this week we should be able to make miracles happen once again!

 

Thanks for everything! You´re great!

-Elder Kyler Blane Farr 

Email 6-16-14

This week was good.. NOT.

SO, because of the world cup games, and some of them being here in Fortaleza, it´s super dangerous for us to be in the street because there are tons of excited crazy people and others are rioting...

We still leave to teach when the games are not happening, but during the games the streets are full of drunk people that just want to yell or talk to us about the games, or fight us because we´re…. well at least I am white.. ha ha

We deep cleaned our house, studied a bunch.. normal things.

President said we had to stay at home and get to know our companions.. I basically know everything about Elder Espinal now! Ha ha ha

There is a new Missionary couple serving here now.   Elder and Sister Evans! They´re awesome, just met them today when we went and got materials from the office. 

I ate sushi for the first time in Brasil this week.   We went the other night and got it.   It was good, but not like AMAZING.

We´ll probably go back more just to eat something besides rice, beans and chicken every once in a while.

There´s not a whole lot to write.. But I hope everyone is well and happy, and ready for Brasil to win the cup! ;)

-Elder Kyler Blane Farr 

Email 6-9-14

ELDER KYLER                                      9 JUNE 2014

Okay, so last week after I sent my e-mail my companion went home and said he wasn't feeling well, had a fever and what not.. So we didn’t end up leaving that night.  He woke up at nine At NIGHT and was suppeerr sick and we called Sister Souza and she called a taxi for us to go to the Hospital.  We got there and stayed until midnight, taking tests and what not.   We slept there at the secretaries house because it´s near the Hospital and the next morning we went back to the Hospital to get the tests..   Just to make a long story short, we spent this whole week at the Hospital and getting tests done and we didn’t leave to work until Saturday night.   He´s better now but had a fever for like 7 days, was coughing a ton, was throwing up and getting dehydrated. so.. yeah it was interesting. 

I have only met like two of our investigators and very few members.   But from what I’ve seen it´s a good area, just super small.   They´re reforming our chapel here in our area so we have to go like half hour away walking.  But we´ll do work here, and it’ll all work out.

In sacrament meeting this man told a story. 

There was a working man that was working for his boss. His boss told him he needed to build a bunch of houses.  So the man built them.  Then the boss told him to build more houses, so he built them.  He got done and the boss told him to build more houses.  The mas was tired but built them anyways.  At the end the worker went to his boss and showed him the work that was done.  He said, ``well done, but now I need you to make one more house, a GREAT house. and you can build it however you want, it just needs to be good, and money is not a problem, do whatever you need to.`` so the man went, super tired and built a house that was very very very simple, but a good house. With nothing special or anything, because he was tired.  When he finished, feeling accomplished, he took the house key and gave it to his boss and said, it´s done!  The boss took the key, and gave it back to the man and said, ``it´s yours´´.  The man felt terrible because if he would have spent more time, and made a better house, he would have a much better house.  But he was ´´tired`` and did the minimum, and now he´s stuck with the minimum.

This story can be interpreted many many ways, so I’ll just leave it for you to interpret it how you want.  This man that gave the talk was awesome.  THE best talk I have heard on my mission by far. He´s hilarious too!

Have a great week. Love yuuhh! Ha ha

-Elder Kyler Blane Farr