Elder Michael Youd

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Week 85: Raindrops keep falling on my head, and because of that I wont go to church today - March 30, 2015

Hey everybody!!

So, this week was a little bit tougher for us. We did everything that we could to help people, but in the end, everybody bailed out on going to church with us. It unexpectedly started raining on Sunday morning, and because of that, nobody wanted to go to church with us. Even though we were with a ride for them, so theyd only have to be in the rain for, like, 5 seconds. But, we'll get them this week!!! Here are some basic things about our top investigators:

Alex: Hes still a bit hesitant to get baptized (hes more afraid of what his family will think if he gets baptized), but he passed the baptismal interview and accepted a date for this weekend. So we'll work with him and see what happens.

Eduardo, Ninja, Kelly: Yes, the father of Eduardo calls himself Ninja. They are actually a pretty receptive family. So we'll keep on working with them. I mostly just wanted to include this because the father refers to himself as Ninja. Hes 40 years old.

Luciano: Stopped drinking, stopped smoking, but hes still afraid to be baptized and then mess up afterwards. So, we'll help him this week as well.

Marcelo (new!): The husband of a member, and co-worker of somebody thats now a mission president. Hes afraid to accept a date, but hes super receptive and super rich, so we'll work with him. And, he has an Old English Sheepdog, which is awesome!!!!! :D

Other notes:

This week is General Conference!! Im super excited to hear the words of living apostles and prophet! Its gonna be awesome!! (This Saturday and Sunday, I dont remember what times theyll be at in the US.)

Alright, thanks for everything! I hope that all of you have a great week! Love you!!!

Elder Youd

Week 84: The 3-baptism week of a crazy transfer!! - March 23, 2015

Hey everybody!!

So, as the subject states, we have had a very successful first week of this transfer, including...3 baptisms!!! I dont think Ive explained about any of these people before, because they were all surprises, so here they are:

Ana: Shes been an investigator for a long, long time. (NOw I remember that Ive talked about her before.) So yeah, she was baptized on Thursday, confirmed on Sunday. It was super super good!!

Elder Farias, Ana & me.

Nilton: A friend of Etevaldo, the older man that Elder Carr and I baptized. Etevaldo had brought him to church in the past, wanting to help him out. ANd this week, he finally decided to stop drinking! Hes been sober for about a week now, and we baptized him on Sunday! It was a very special experience, and he was happy. Actually, when we invited him to be baptized this Sunday, he said, "Eh, well I guess IM trying to stop drinking, so...yeah, that sounds about right to me. Thats fine." Very casual, but still the right answer!

The picture is fuzzy, but from left to right, its Elder Farias, Silvana, Nilton, and me.

Silvana: We found Silvana this week, on Thursday. Until a few months ago, she had been going to church for a few months, but just was afraid to be baptized. But, this week we found her, had a super spritual lesson with her, and she finally accepted baptism as Gods will for her, so she was baptized on Sunday night with Nilton!! Miracle!!

Other notes:

We had 8 people come to church this week. ALso, we were back in our own ward this week!! Our trainings are finally over! We gave a training in Itú this week, and it went really well. And now, its back to work as normal! FINALLY! But, it was a really good experience to do these trainings, and to see everybody's point of view on how to make the work of the Lord be more effective.

Alright, Ill send some pics of the baptisms!! (Sorry about one of the pictures, the person that took the picture of us doesnt know how to hold a camera still, so its kinda fuzzy. But its teh baptism that counts, right?)

Alright, thanks for everything! Love you all!! Have a great week!

Week 83: And the transfers are in again! Only 3 more of these! - March 16, 2015

Hey everybody!!

So, its been a really light week for us this week. Elder Carr got a
super bad flu, so weve been working when hes been able to do stuff.
Which wasnt much, because he kept on doing sick people stuff, like
puking and other sick person stuff that I wont put here. But, alas, we
still have some good stuff going. Such as:

Ana: Shes been an investigator for a while now. Like, months and
months, before I got here. She was going to church every week, but
wasnt able to get baptized because her husband refused to marry her
(hes a VERY angry Atheist that doesnt believe in marriage.) But, this
past month her husband sadly left her for another woman, leaving Ana
in shambles. Weve been waiting until he moved out officially, as to
avoid any sort of situation, but now that things are calmer, we went
to her this week. We had an incredibly powerful lesson with her,
showing the curing power that the Atonement has in peoples personal
lives, and how through the ordinances and principles of the Gospel,
that she can have comfort through this devastating time of separation.
And, she wants to be baptized! She has plans to be baptized this
Thursday, so please pray for Ana!!

Luciana, Mary: Are reading the Book of Mormon and asking good
questions. Still havent gone to church because of Diogos work
schedule, but we're getting progress with them, so it should be good.

Other notes:

The transfers came in! Elder Carr is going to be transferred to a
place called Caripicuiba, and Im going to stay here one more transfer,
with an Elder Farias, from Maceió! Weve actually already done
divisions together, and hes a super nice and easy-going guy, so it
should be a good, fun transfer! Itll likely be my last transfer here
in Itú, and then Ill go to my last area for 11 weeks, and then Im
home!!!!! :D

Listen to the voice message for my list of American things that I
experienced this week. It was a weirdly American-ish week.

Alright, thanks for everything! I love you all! Have a great week!

Elder Youd

Week 82: Sweet Chili Doritos - March 9, 2015

(Sweet Chili Doritos have become my new obsession, and I can only find
them at the bus station on the other side of Itú. Lets just say that
weve been using the bus a lot this week. THeyre so good.)

Hey everybody!!

(Sorry, this week will have no pictures, nor voice recordings. Im
using a computer thats going through a lot of malfunctions, so I dont
want to take the risk. Dont worry, the voicemail didnt have anything
interesting on it. Just me rambling.)

So its been a pretty uneventful-but-good week for me here in Itú!!
WEve been working to try and find some new investigators, this week
with nobody that has a ton of interest. (Its easy to find new people
that are willing to accept your message, but its harder to find
someone thats active enough to keep commitments.) So, heres the top
info:

Alex: Hes just afraid of getting baptized right now because he doesnt
know if he wants to commit to keep the commandments. Which is silly,
because hes already keeping the commandments. He just doesnt want to
put a name on it. Hes still reading and praying, but we dont know
exactly why hes acting so silly. We'll keep on working with him.

Luciana, Mary, Diogo: We finally talked to this whole family, and
theyre really good. Theyre looking for more peace and unity in their
family, so we're giving them some tools for them to become happier.
THe only difficulty is that Diogo works a lot, so its hard to find and
teach them together, which will be key in helping them. But, here we
go.

Other notes:

Congrats to my brother, Jon, on getting engaged!!! That is awesome!!

These emails will be shorter today. We're gonna go to the mall on the
other side of Itú! Its super fancy, so if possible I'll take some
pictures.

Alright, thanks for all your love and support! Love you all!!!

Elder Youd

Our Leadership Council with President and Sister Farnes

Ward Integration Night with lots of little kids.

Me and Elder Carr with our medallions. Note that mine is a girls soccer medallion.

Week 81: Wow, that week had nothing interesting!!

Hey everybody!!!

So, its been a pretty uneventful week here in Itú. Seriously, I spent all of Sunday night/this morning trying to think of cool things that have happened this week, and Im kinda blanking! I have a few basic things. Here are our top investigators:

Alex: Almost was baptized. He accepted all of the commandments and is super good, and we dont know exactly what happened. Sunday at 11:00 AM, he sent us a text asking for forgiveness because he said hes not ready for this committment, but we dont know why. So we'll see whats happening today.

Eduardo: He went to our integration night with Etevaldo and his family, and liked it. He says that his mom is cool with stuff, so we'll see what happens.

Other notes:

We're still working with Rogério, our reactivation, to get him to baptize his 8 year old kid. Hes cool with it, so thatll be a nice, fun baptism. Theyre a super good family.

I'll send a pic of this, but our friend Etevaldo decided to give us medallions because he likes us. It was random, but it was cool. Mine was a girl's soccer medallion.

Man, I am so sorry that this letter is so short! Ill try and get more stories next week! Love you all! Have a great week!

Elder Youd

PS- For any of you that are trunky, 135 days :)