Be good. Do what is right. Be courageous.

Week #95 

Elder Dickson needed his email time today for things other than email. He's working hard and will be home soon. 

           I might not be able to send much of an email today.

           Here's a picture of our baptism this week: 

And here is some great advice he gave to his sister for her birthday:

            Be good. Do what is right. Be courageous. 

Seis Semanas Restantes

(Title translation: Six Weeks Remaining)

Week #94

Rute was confirmed and we brought a lot of people to church yesterday. The Branch President even asked President Wright if Elder Andrade and I could stay here for one more transfer. The transfer email hasn't arrived yet, so I don't know if it will actually happen that way.

We worked a lot this week. We met a lot of new people and the Sacrament Meeting Attendance is slowly increasing. Ivoti seemed such a difficult area when we got here, but neither one of us has a problem with staying here. Still waiting on that transfer email. 

There it is.

The whole district has changed. Of the four sisters that were here this transfer, one is going home and two were transferred. The rest of the zone changed a lot as well. The Zone Leaders were both transferred and many other missionaries are going home. It looks like half of our zone changed.

We're staying here. Ivoti is now officially my last area.

That means I have more time to buy cool stuff and I'm going to leave a lot of not-so-cool, but useful stuff with Elder Andrade.

Until next week.

Elder Dickson

Baptism

Week #93

This was a good week. Baptisms are always wonderful.

I don't really remember all that much that happened. I do need to be a lot better about keeping my journal.

This week, I interviewed one of the Sisters' investigators and we spent the whole week making everything work for Rute's (Ruth) baptism. We're also going to start the process of helping her sister get married. If we get everything done tomorrow, Esdra and Edemir should be baptized on my last Sunday in Brazil. I won't talk about dates anymore. I don't like to think that I have to stop speaking Portuguese for people to understand me.

Here's the picture. 

The Branch Mission Leader was called as Branch President yesterday. I've already seen so many changes in the branch since I got here that I'm really excited to see what the Lord has in mind for Ivoti. I feel like Ivoti is just waiting to explode into a strong ward. We just need more people.

We have to go to Novo Hamburgo today so I can buy some cool shoes. I'll take pictures, but I'll probably only use them when I come home. The shoes I brought with me still have a few more kilometers before they need to be thrown out. Sadly, they will not make it home. Missionary shoes really do take a beating.

The other picture is my district. 

From left to right: Sou eu! Sister Warrik (Cedar City), Sister Filiagi (São Paulo), Sister Oliveira Souza (Ceará), Sister Ribeiro (Portugal), Elder Andrade (Paraíba). Todos batizadores!

Until next week.

Elder Dickson

"Fear Departs When Faith Endures"

Week #92

It's hard to believe that four weeks have already passed in Ivoti. Time really does fly when you're working. This week almost feels like it didn't happen.

This week I didn't get to spend a lot of time working in my own area. We spent most of Tuesday planning for the week and in a service project. We only had enough time at the end of the day to talk to a few people before returning home. Thursday we had a conference in Porto Alegre and used a large part of the afternoon coming back to our area. (the story includes getting the wrong bus, train schedules, stopping to eat ice cream, and a few other difficulties.) Friday and Saturday I spent in the Zone Leaders' area on a companionship exchange during which Elder Andrade and the other Zone Leader met a lot of people and visited almost all of our contacts from the previous week. I came back Saturday night with only Sunday to finish up the week and visit a few more people.

I also spoke in Church on Sunday. It was one of those great moments when you didn't even have a day to do a good personal study session and prepare, so you just pull something you already had prepared (it really is important to "always be prepared") and, when what you had prepared doesn't fill up the time, you just keep talking about what you think needs to be said. I received many compliments afterwards, so I guess it must have gone well. I don't know. I don't remember very well.

It was an unusual experience. When I was still in Canoas, I prepared a talk about members in missionary work. I was only able to give about half of it. (This is the talk where the Bishop kicked me). I wondered why I had felt that I should prepare the other half if I wasn't even going to be able to say it. The funny thing is that what I had written in Canoas was exactly what I was assigned in Ivoti and I had a lot more time to speak.

The story gets better. The closing hymn was #128 "When Faith Endures." It's a hymn I had never heard before, but the lyrics combined perfectly with everything I had spoken about not 30 seconds before we started singing. The lyrics are strikingly similar in Portuguese and English. Very few hymns translate so well. I said many of the same words that were in the hymn. The Spirit really does inspire speakers, music directors and bishops that prepare, in the spirit of prayer, church meetings.

Just a thought that I had during the Priesthood meeting. It sounds a little better in Portuguese, so I'll write in both languages.

"Fazer o que é certo faz muito mais que falar o que está errado."

"Doing what is right does much more than saying what is wrong."

Elder Dickson

". . . If ye have faith, ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true."

Alma 32:21

Week #91

This week we spoke with many people and almost had a baptism. Unfortunately, nobody came to church and our potential baptism is on the verge of giving up. I would like to say we have lots of people to teach, but German descent is something to be proud of here.

I have heard many people deny the opportunity to follow the Gospel in many different ways, but only a few say "I understand what you're saying. I just haven't let God into my heart yet. I know I have all the responsibility for my salvation or condemnation, but I'm going to stay how I am." We heard those exact words this week. Another that's a little more common is, "We're (insert religion) and maybe we're wrong, but I was born (religion), I was baptized (religion), married (religion) and will die (religion). We might be wrong, but we won't change."

Pride is something so simple and common, but can impede so much.

A woman proudly told us this week that she didn't have enough faith to follow the true Church of Christ. She then proceeded to tell us that the Apostles that left their nets did so because they didn't believe (in something already) and didn't have a structured faith. They followed because they just wanted somebody to follow.

Many times I have felt the strong desire to say "Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures." Sufficeth to say that I was more than a little frustrated this week, but we still did a great deal of work and had a wonderful meeting with the Branch Council. We are planning many things that should help a great deal here. If searching out the people doesn't work, we will have to discover what will bring them to us. 

It really is a war and we need to plan and develop strategies. I never thought about a mission like this before I came to Ivoti.

Yesterday was also my birthday. I got a package of bombom, and Guaraná Antartica, and Doritos and I got another cuia! The Sisters in my district even sang over the phone last night. If other people hadn't remembered, I might have forgotten. Thank you all.

Mission Conference this week. They're always great.

Until next week.

Elder Dickson

Ivoti

Week #90

In response to Mom's email:

I'm in a branch. There are some strong members and some that are inactive.

Everybody speaks Portuguese here. There is a lot of German ancestry. That doesn't mean they are German (this is in response to Mom's question if he would be able to use some of his German there.) Many do speak German as well, but everybody reads and speaks and writes Portuguese. If I were to enter a little further from the coast, I would probably hear German in the streets. Here is too close to the big cities.

I really don't think of anything to say this week and I've already used almost all the time I have. (His English is now sounding like his second language.)

This week was difficult. It rained a lot and the nobody's in the city even when the weather is good. When it rains, people are non existent. We walked a lot and had few experiences. The whole city takes about an hour to cross. It's very small. This would be one of those chapters of the Book of Mormon when they cover five years in one verse.

We have already realized that going to the people here doesn't work very well. We need something that can bring the people to us. Family History might help. (Mom had mentioned an interest in family history as a possible teaching opportunity if the area is strongly traditionally German).

Almost everything here reminds me of Vermont. It is very green. Osório was also very green. Vera Cruz as well. If there isn't a city, there is green.

Guten Tag!

Week #89

I'm in Ivoti! It's a small city of about 25,000 people, most of them German descent. Many even learned German before they learned Portuguese and still speak with an accent. There are even people that have the German flag in front of their house.

I'm here with Elder Andrade. He's from Paraíba which is very far to the northeast of Brazil. Almost the other end of the continent. He's been on his mission for almost five months. This is his second area.

We arrived in Ivoti together. I believe that the missionary term for this in English is "shotgunned" or "whitewashed." Figuring out a new area alone is a great experience, but I'm not sure that it's something I want to do again. Ivoti is a relatively rich city with very few businesses, so we spent a lot of time walking this week trying to find where the people are. Everybody works in Novo Hamburgo, which is another area, so, during the week, nobody is home and at night everybody is jogging or walking, so they still aren't at home to be taught. Our only chance of meeting people is on the weekend.

I think Ivoti is the highest concentration of wealth that I've had to work with. It's a rich, German-descent community with very few people. It's hard finding people that want to listen.

Actually, finding people that want to listen has always been difficult, but usually it's because people already have a commitment to their own church. Here, people have a religion just to say they have one. Most of the people we meet don't even believe what their church teaches and couldn't care less about learning divine truth. It's a sad situation.

Now for the good things. The house we have is great. There is lots of wind here, so the heat is bearable. I learned how to fix an electric showerhead. There's a bakery that makes a wonderful "cuca" or, in German, "Streuselkuchen". It's a type of cake that is a lot better than cake that can be filled with just about anything from fruit, cream, chocolate, nuts, and a type of creamy milk product called requeijão. It really doesn't matter what you fill it with, it's always good. Brazilians are great when it comes to adapting foreign foods and getting creative with them. 

Ivoti also has lots of hills. In one week, my belly already shrunk. I was getting fat in Matias Velho.

Here are some pictures and then I have to go. 

Everything that isn't a street looks like this.

Same thing. 

The view from the end of the city.

Until next week.

Elder Dickson