November 1, 2011

Oi Família!

This last week was a great week. We were able to teach 24 lessons which is really good for one week in our mission. The only sad part is we couldn´t get any investigator to go to church. We also tried to mark some dates but they didn´t want to mark a specific date to be baptized. On wednsday we had alot of things planned but a majority of them fell. We were able to teach 3 lesson but we also had one of our investigators tell us he didn´t want to hear more because he decided to start going to another church. On thursday it was raining and was really cold. We had a hard time finding people to teach and we ended up only having 2 lesson. It was looking like the week wouldn´t be so great but we were wrong. On friday we found 4 new people to teach including a family that almost got baptized but didn´t because they didn´t feel it was right at the time. We started teaching them and the dad asked for another copy of the Book of Mormon because they already had one but he wabted another one for himself to read. They seem to be excited to be taught by the missionaries again. We also found an older lady that has children who are member but her kids are less active but she told us we could teach her. We also had dinner on friday with a really great family who is less active. Then on saturday we also taught 4 lesson and found 3 new people to teach. It was a rain and thunder storm the entire morning and most of the afternoon. The sun didn´t come out until 5:00 PM and it didn´t stay out for very long. We were able to teach a lady who is older but really wanted us to visit her. She almost fell asleep during the lesson because she didn´t sleep very well the night before. She also keep saying Halleluia Jesus during random parts of the lesson. She said it a couple times while we were telling about Joseph Smith and the First Vision. We were able to teach a less active member who went less actvie because he started reading antimormon books and so he had alot of doubts. We tried to help clear up some doubts but he dosen´t want to go back to church. We were going to visit a 8 year old boy who had went to church last week but is not a member. We got to his house and realized how huge his house was. It is one of the biggest house i have seen here in Brasil and also one of the nicest. At first we were thinking that the parents wouldn´t want to hear anything and that they wouldn´t let us in. To our suprise the mom was quite interested and let us in. We taught about the Restoration and she was really interested and asked us how our church works so we explained all the meetings. She said she would have to go one of these sundays. She also marked for us to return next sunday to talk more about the church. We taught Vanda like we do about everyday. She was planning on coming to church and was also smoking less than usual. The reason she didn´t go to church is because on Saturday night when she went to sleep a spider (we say it was from the devil) bit her on the lip and she woke up with a huge lip so she felt embarassed and didn´t go. On saturday night we also finished planning our activity that is going to happen tomorrow. It should be alot of fun. On Sunday we were able to teach 4 lesson and find 2 new people to teach. We sadly didn´t have any investigators in church although we offered a couple of them rides and everything. Elder Nagliati gave a talk and i gave the closing prayer in sacrament meeting. We had a really good lunch with was made quick because the sister forgot we had lunch with her family. It was really good for how fast she cooked it. She put in the DVD "On the Lord´s Errand" which talks about President Thomas S. Monson´s life. It was a really good movie. On sunday night we were passing a house of a potential investigator and we passed because we saw they had a visit. We were walking and looking at a bunch of fireflies in the woods and we had the feeling we should go back to the house and talk with the potential investigators. We went back and she invited us in and told us her husband was sick and in bed and he needed a prayer. We went and i offered the prayer and they thanked us. She is a cousin of one of the members named Paulo França. We were talking about blessings and he said he already was given a blessing by Paulo França but he would like another one. Elder Nagliati wanted me to do it but this time i told her to do it. He was scared but it was a great blessing. He thanked us very much. They told us we could come back this week. Yesterday we spent the afternoon visiting members and reminding them about the activity we are going to have tomorrow. We also visted a couple investigators (Mareci, Vanda, Jairo and his family) and invited them to the activity. Vanda, Jairo, and his family said they would go. We had another dinner with a less active family. There family is a great and always does great things for the missionaries, it is too bad they are less active. The dinner was really good and she also made natural juice like she always does. This week was really great and busy. We are going today to look at a house and we might be moving for our tiny apartment to this house if President Pavan approves of it. Well love you all and hope all is great back at home.

Love Elder Cefalo

Oi Família

Well this was a pretty good week. I am enjoying it here in Bosque. We planned an activity here in the ward that is going to be alot of fun. It is like a game show. There is going to be alot of things that the members have to do like races and treasure hunts and quizzes and puzzles and etc. On wednesday we were searching for a recent converts house that was outside of our area, but has permission to go to our ward. While we were searching for his house a man about 23 years old offered to help us. While he was helping us he said we had to give him money because he was helping us. All i had was a 20 but he said we would go into the market and trade it. Well he ended up stealing the 20 reais because he kept saying the market would trade him. We tried to convince him to give it back but he wouldn´t. He didn´t even help us find the street we had to ask another man who helped us with his GPS. Then we didn´t have time to go there because we had an appointment so we had to take a bus to get back close to our appointment. Our appointment was with Terezinha and she ended up telling us she didn´t want to hear about the church anymore and also she said she wouldn´t go to church again because her husband doesn´t want to go. She said she knew the church was true but if her husband didn´t want to go then she wouldn´t either. Then we visited Vanda and we talked about preisthood blessing and we offered to give her one to help with the smoking habit and she said yes. She picked me to give it although my portuguese is still not the best. Then we had to go and help and brother in our ward, Paulo França, pick up a glass door and some windows. The door was huge and very heavy we needed 5 people to carry it and load it in the truck. Elder Nagliati ended up loosing his name tag and we went back but the family was no longer home. Then that night we had dinner with Mareci which was really good especially dessert. Luckily for Elder Nagliati his new name tags arrived the next day. Thursday not much happened and we were trying the whole day to get lessons but no one was home or didn´t have time. On thursday night i made pancake mix (homemade) and also made some homemade bread. We ate the bread that night and pancakes the next morning and they both were really good. On Friday we spent most of the day finding new people to teach. We found alot of people with potential. We also ended up going outside of our area without knowing because we don´t have a map of our area and all the areas in Passo Fundo are close. How we found out we were outside of our area is that while we were doing a contact with a family the son who answered the door asked us if our message talked about Joseph Smith seeing God and Jesus Christ and translating the Book of Mormon. We were shocked at first but then he laughed and told us the were members of another ward. The boys name was Joseph and his brothers name was Hyrum. It was funny. But their dad told us the boundaries between our ward and theirs. That night we ended up going back to the families house where Elder Nagliati lost his name tag and they had it and we asked to share a message. They were really interested when we were talking about the Book of Mormon and told us to come back. They are cousins of Paulo França. On saturday we were able to teach quite a few lessons and also Jussara who told us she didn´t want to hear more about the church let us teach her again and she said she received an answer that the Book of Mormon is true and she also wants to go to church this next week. We also found a less active member who was a Sister and served a mission in Brasil. She went less active because here husband doesn´t believe in any religious type thing. We were talking to her and her daughter, who is not a member, but the dad came home and wanted us to leave. On sunday sadly we had another week without investigators at church but a member brought 3 of her friends (all 14 and younger) and we set up times to visit them this week. We also got a new ward mission leader. I had to give my talk about the blessings of fasting. While i was giving my talk it got really hot because i was using a suit and it was a hot day. I was in the middle of my talk and i almost fainted so i hurried and bore my testimony and sat down. It was a bit embarrasing but at least i know have a good story about my first talk in portuguese. On monday we were able to find 3 new people to teach. At lunch the mother had to leave but asked that i give a blessing for her 3 year old daughter. In the middle of the blessing i forgot what the problem was and she wouldn´t stay still so i had to make iot quick but it went well. Then we met a friend of one of the members here and she said she would love to hear more and also that she is going to try to go to church this week with Mara (the member). One of the people we found to teach knew quite abit about the church because her ex-husband was a member and her son who lives with her parents-in-law goes to a different ward. We ended up teaching about the Plan of Salvation because she was asking all the questions that the Plan of Salvation answers. She really liked it and even cried. She asked us to give her a blessing because she was having heart problems. I had to give a blessing again because for some reason Elder Nagliati didn´t want to give the blessing. It was probably the best blessing i have given in portuguese altough it was only my 4th time. Yesterday we also got good news the Vanda finally want to go and visit church this sunday. She won´t be able to be baptized this month but it is still possible this transfer. Yesterday was raining alot but lately it is really hot here. I am having to use Sunscreen everday so i don´t get burned. Well this week seems like it will be another great week. All is going well here in Brasil and i am loving it here in Bosque. Love you all.

Love Elder Cefalo

October 18, 2011

Oi Família!

We had a really good and successful week this last week. This is a really good area and i love it. Last week we were able to get alot of lessons taught more than i have taught in one week since i arrived here in Brasil. We are planning to have even more this week. We also are planning on marking quite a few baptismal dates this week. Vanda is still on for being baptized on the 30th she just has to go to church and stop smoking. She has a goal to only smoke 2 cigarettes a day this week and next week 0! She is a great lady and knows the church is true her only problem is smoking. Sadly Terezinha and Valdir still have to get married along with quite a few of our investigators. We also are having problems getting our investigators to church so we are going to focus on that this week. Last week on Wednesday we found out that two of our new investigators were actually less active members, which was crazy. We also found a less active member who owns her own church now. Also on Wednesday we went and helped the Alves family build onto their house. The are adding a couple rooms and also making the kitchen bigger. It was a holiday (Dia das Crianças= Children´s day but the real holiday is Nossa Senhora Parecida=Celebrating the virgin Mary they just came up with another reason to celebrate because not everyone is catholic) so they didn´t have work. We had to help made cement and a bunch of other things like sift rocks out of dirt to make the stuff the use to but bricks on top of other bricks. It was alot of work. It was fun and everything but the next few days i was feeling really sore. On my one year mark when we were going to visit an investigator we were passing a rest home and we saw an old man just pull down his pants and start peeing. It was funny and luckily we didn´t see anything. That night we did a missionary tradition here in Brasil and burned an old whit shirt. It was alot of fun. It was raining off and on all week. On friday we were doing a fast for our zone and it ended up being our best day of the week. We were able to teach 6 lessons and find some new people to teach. On Saturday it was really hot in the morning and while we were in the middle of teaching a lesson about 5 o´clock it just started pouring rain. It stopped for a bit so we left and started walking and it started pouring rain again. We had nothing with us and the house was far away so we had to walk in the rain and we got soaked until we got back to the house. It rained from about 6 o´clock until 10 o´clock nonstop. We were soaked from head to toe. On Sunday we only had one investigator at church and it is a little girl named Ana Vitoria whose grandma is a member but she hasn´t been baptized because she has a fear of water. The bishop gave me an assignment to speak this Sunday and it will be the first time i am giving a talk here in Brasil in Portuguese so that should be fun. Tonight we are going to visit a family that we have been teaching, that really liked when we talked about the Restoration, and invite them to be baptized. The are a great family and the mom is already a member she is just less active but she is interested in returning to church with her husband and 3 daughters. Well we are having alot of success and i am loving it here in Brasil. All is going great as i hope it is at home. Love you all.

Love Elder Cefalo :)

Oi Família,

This week was a great week. We were able to accomplish most of our goals for teaching and passed some of our goals. I do not have alot of time to write so it will be a quick e-mail. This week we taught alot of lessons to many people and found 7 new people who want to hear more about the gospel. Sadly the problems we keep running into in our area is people not being married and people smoking,drinking, etc. We also are having a hard time getting people to church. But we are going to work on all those problems and hopefully get them resolved. The problem is getting people married is hard in Brasil because of the process they have to go through to get a marriage certificate. We also had a couple of service project oppurtunties this last week, one was helping put an older lady into a chair so that the other lady could give her a bath and then having to put her back into the bed. The other was helping a couple people with pushing their car out of the road because it died. It is getting really hot here and i am wishing the Brasil had air conditioning in their houses because all the have are fans that barely help at all. Luckily on Saturday and Sunday it rained a bit so it cooled down. Akready today it is really hot. Today we had a churrasco with a family here in our ward it was alot of fun but we spent so much time there that we don´t have as much time to write e-mails. Vanda who has a baptismal date is slowly getting rid of cigarretes, she was smoking 8 or more per day but now she is only to 4 and sometimes 5. We just have to help her stop and get her to church and she will be baptized. Terezinha and Valdir are still not too certain about marriage but we offered to help and they said they would pray about it and tell us the answer this week. On friday we met a family that had just moved into a less actives house. They were there to help the less active old lady because she has problems with her ankles. Only the wife is a member but she also is less active. They have 3 girls who are older than 8. We had a family home evening with them on Sunday and it went really well and the husband was asking alot of questions and was really interested in learning more. It looks like things will go well we just have to find out if they are married or not and also get them to chuirch. We had some really good cake that night.Yesterday was a good start to the week because we were able to teach quite a bit of lessons and also mark times to visit other investigators. We are going to work on getting the ward more involved in missionary work so it starts to go even faster and better. Today we went to go and take showers but our apartment didn´t have any water so we weren´t able to take a shower and we have to wait until tonight to take a shower. We also went and got our hair cut by a lady in the ward. Church was really good on Sunday and the bishop had me stand up in sacrament meeting to be introduced to the whole ward. He is a great bishop. The day before he was really sick and we had lunch with his family but he didn´t even eat but just layed in bed. He came out and asked us to give him a blessing. I got the oppurtunity to give him a blessing. It was great for it being my first time giving the blessing in portuguese and not just annointing with oil like the other times. On sunday i got to try a juice that had beats, carrots, and oranges, it was weird but good at the same time. I love this area and all is going well and we have many people to teach that i don´t even have time to describe them all and what we are teaching. Well i love you all very much and hope all is well back at home.

Love Elder Cefalo

October 4, 2011

Oi Família, As you all know i got tranfered. I am now in a city called Passo Fundo (Deep Step) my area is called Bosque (Grove) because there are 4 areas in the city of Passo Fundo. It is a great area that has mostly just houses and small markets and no banks. We have to go to the main city (out of our area) to use the bank and send e-mails. Luckily the small markets are usually cheaper than the big markets so it is not too bad to have small markets. Our are is small and our apartment is way small. My companion is Elder Nagliati (Na-glee-ah-chee). He is from São Paulo and only has 2 months on the mission, and since this is only his 2nd transfer i am technically his 2nd trainer. Our area is great and we have alot of people to teach. Right now we have 5 people with a marked baptismal date (Terezinha Valdir and their 2 kids and also Vanda). The only problems with the family is marriage which they need money for and Vanda just needs to stop smoking. We have many more people to teach we usually don´t have time to think of what to do next which is great. The lunches here so far have been really good. We have already had a couple family nights which are alot of fun. Not way too much happened this week other than getting to know the area and the people we are teaching. I have a felling it will be a great transfer. I am already loving this area and it has only been a week here. I hope i am still in the area for Christmas which is only three transfers away including this transfer. It is crazy how fast the time passes here on the mission. On saturday and sunday we got to watch Genral Conference all except Preishtood session. We got to watch a little bit of priesthood session on Sunday morning. Some weird/crazy things that have happened here in our area: Yesterday while we were walking to an appointment there was a random pig´s head laying on the sidewalk, that is also an idea of how clean this city is outside of the city part. It is not a dirty city but it is not clean like my last area.On Sunday when we were at the stake center before conference we turned on the piano to play it and it just started smoking and smelt like coffee in the church. Another crazy thing is i didn´t get to see our church (where our ward goes) until yesterday because we had to go and write down where all our lunches are. It is older than the one in Lajeado but alot bigger with a soccer/basketball court. On Saturday between the two sessions we were trying to visit a bunch of people and get back to the church. During that time we were able to visit 4 people and do a couple other things and get back to the church but we were basically running and doing quick visits the entire time. Also on Saturday a bunch of drunk people kept stopping us and having us do prayers with them it was kinda weird. I can barely understand what the drunk people are saying other than that i understand about 90% of what people say. I am starting to learn alot more Portuguese again since i have a Brazilian companion. He speaks pretty well in English and he understands alot of it. Oh another thing is the first day i was here our shower was broken so i had to take a cold shower and it was not fun at all. It is really hot here and our area has alot of hills so i am dying when i am climbing up all the hills. It is really hot already and it is only spring here. I will probably die during the summer. I hear that the South of Brasil is the hottest during the summer but also the coldest during the winter because of the humidity. Well i am loving my area and my companion and my mission. It is crazy it has almost been a year. I love you all very much and hope all is well back at home. Love Elder Cefalo

September 26, 2011

Oi Família,

Everything is well here in Brasil. I just got over a fever and sinus infection, i still have it a little bit but it is not too bad at all. I am not sure why i had bad luck with health the last two weeks of the transfer but i did. Well the big news for this week is that i am finally leaving Lajeado and will go to my second area in Brasil. I am not sure where it will be or who will be my companion but i am excited to go to a new city and see other things. As for what happened last week. . . On wednesday we got a big huge pot of carreteiro from the party on monday. We did a bit of cleaning on our house because it needed it. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon trying to find people. We found a couple people with some interest. Then we got a map from a member of how to get to a referral from him. We also found more less actives who moved or their house didnt exist. Then we went and visited Marroni and found out that he was no longer interested in learning about the gospel so we had to drop him. On thursday we had our district meeting like usual. Then we had a really good lunch at a members house that has an amazing view of the city of Lajeado. It was one of the best lunches i have had. Then we spent the afternoon making a mapa da vizinhança, which would be the map of the neighborhood. What we did is marked where all the members and investigators lived and also some potentials. It will help out alot so we can know where to go to do the best finding with members help. The we tried to visit a few people who weren´t home. Then we went to the market to get some things we needed at home. Then we went and had english class. We taught about how to talk about time using verbs. Then i got to teach the class how to sing "Once there was a Snowman". I looked really funny doing it but it was funnier to see the Brazilians doing it and singing it. It was alot of fun. We sadly didn´t have any investigators there so we talked about them getting investigators there or we will have to stop doing it. Then we had a meeting with our ward mission leader. Then on friday morning i woke up feeling absolutely horrible. I had a really high fever that started the night before and i was sweating really bad just sitting there although it was cold outside. We got money from a member for lunch because the forgot and we went to a churrascaria (bbq restuarant). Then i decided to try and do a couple visits so we visited Gessy and Lorena and taught them once again about baptism and then invited them to be baptized on the 15th of October and they accepted. It started raining and we didn´t have any rain supplies but Lorena letus borrow her umbrella. I almost passed out a couple times just wallking so we decided to go home and i took some medecine and slept. At night we were supposed to have family night with a investigator but they couldn´t come but we decided to go and have it with the members anyway. It went really well and they were glad we came. I still ws not doing to well so when i got home i took some medicine and tried to sleep but i couldn´t fall asleep because i wasn´t feeling to great. The next day we had to get a bus to go to lunch because it was far. Then after lunch we found a lady named Liane who seems really inerested. Then we got a ride back to the church to do an activity with the young men. It went well and we just talked about missionarys and mission things. Then we went and visted Gelci, a less active, and she said she was coming to church. Then we went and visited Vanderlei and Viviane and talked about church and they also said they were coming to church. I was still not doing to well so we went home early and i slept very well. Then on sunday i woke up still feeling horrible. We went to church and had 8 non members there including Thayla, Cleber, Vanderlei, Viviane, and their kids and also a couple people who don´t live in Lajeado. It was good and they all liked it. Then we went to lunch and it was churrasco, with a couple families from the ward. It went well but i was still feeling horrible so we went home and i just took medicine and slept. I also decided to fast for my health and so far my health is improving since yesterday so i know that fasting really helps in our lives. Wel that is it for this week. Love you all very much.

Love Elder Cefalo

September 21, 2011

Oi Família,

Not too much news for this last week. Last tuesday we had the baptism of a little girl in our ward named Camila. It went really well and we had a couple non members there including her dad. It is always great to see baptisms because it means another person who opens the gates to the Celestial Kingdom and will make it to the Celestial kingdom if they do what is right with all their force until the end. On wednesday we tried to visit a bunch of less actives to help with the ward attendance. We found out that alot of the houses didn´t exist or the people moved. We visited Marroni at night and he seemed like he was not very interested in baptism anymore we tried to get him excited again but it didn´t really work too much. We also visited Vanderlei and Viviane and their kids were there as well. Vanderlei said he started to read the Book of Mormon as well as their 9 year old daughter Kauane. It was great and the only sad part of the lesson is that we found out the need to get married before they can be baptized, which getting married in Brasil takes a long time to get paperwork and everything done. But they definately are progressing and i am sure one day they wil be baptized. On thursday we went to a churrasco (BBQ) place in Estrela with one of the members. It was really good. We also had English class at night, which was really fun because we taught them the song "head shoulders knees and toes" and had each of them do it individually in front of everyone else there. Then we had our meeting with our ward mission leader and he gave us alot of really good ideas to try working with the ward. As for friday we had lunch with the Bishop and his family, it was really good. Sadly that day my toe was hurting really bad. It had been hurting a little bit for awhile but i thought it was just because of walking so much. I found out it was another ingrown toenail and on the same toe. So i had to go looking for a foot doctor, we had to go to Estrela to find one that had time for us. He took it out and it was about 3 times bigger than the last one. He cauterized it so that i supposedly should not get another ingrown toenail and also gave me some cream to be putting on top of my toenail. He also put a bandage/cast on it to keep it protected. I had to stay in the night, saturday, and sunday and until there was no pain according to Sister Pavan. I had to use sandals on Saturday to got to lunch but luckily we got a ride there and back from members. On sunday we had church and i wore regular shoes but it was killing my toe. Cleber, Francine, Thayla and a friend of Camila who was baptized were at church. Then we had lunch and luckily it was close to our apartment so i didn´t have to walk to far. The whole time staying in the house all i did was read scriptures and watch The Testaments and Preach My Gospel DVD´s. On sunday night we visited João and Camila and we watched The Testaments with them and tlked a bit about the Book of Mormon. On monday my toe was still not doing to great so we didn´t do anything until the night. We went and helped with a ward activity since it was a holiday yesterday and they were celebrating it the night before. It was Gáucho day which is the day when all the people from Rio Grade do Sul (the state that my mission is in) celebrates for being a state and no longer being owned by Portugal or something like that. The celebrate it by having a big party the night before and then spend all day at home on the holiday. At the ward activity they had a dinner, and a dance group came an did a bunch of dances. It was alot of fun but we didn´t get to stay for it all because it went past 9:30 which is our time to e home. It was alot of fun. Yesterday everything was closed since it was a holiday and that is why i am e-mailing today. Well that is about all that has happened this week. Love you all.

Love Elder Cefalo

September 13, 2011

Oi Família! Another pretty great week this last week. On last wednesday we went to Estrela and had to help Cleber, a member from our ward, move the Wizard. (The Wizard is a place where the teach English and it was created by a returned missionary here in Brasil, they supposedly are the best at teaching English). We moved it from a small office space to a big house that was a couple blocks of way. It was alot of work but fun. We had churrasco (BBQ) for lunch which is always great to have. Then on thursday we got invited to a local school to teach about the United States and our culture and also American views on Brasil. It went really well other than people kept asking weird questions. Then we also had English class at night. We had a couple more people there this time but it was still just all members so we told them they need to invite their friends soon or we might have to hold it off for awhile. We taught them about the alphabet and all the pronunciations, it is really fun to teach others how to speak English but they sound funny for the first few tries on one word. On Friday we had to go to Santa Cruz to have a special meeting with President Pavan and the assistants. It went well. We all recieved one portable DVD player to use for companionship study because we have Preach My Gospel DVD´s that teach about a bunch of missionary techniques like planning teaching with the Holy Ghost and a bunch of other things. It is kinda crazy that we have DVD players but they are just for studying not for having fun except on P-day we can watch church movies but only after we get everything done like cleaning, e-mail, etc. On friday i also got my package that had the new shoes and candy and shirts. It was great to finally get the package. The shoes fit great and they are really comfortable, way better than the other ones i had. Well on saturday we did a bunch of walking with plans falling left and right and having to come up with plans as we go along. Sunday went pretty well. Cleber and Thayla came to church. It was testimony meeting since last week was stake conference. Cleber got up and bore his testimony about how he knew the church was true. He sadly is still not baptized but it is because he doesn´t want to get baptized until his mom wants to get baptized as well. It is alot of work trying to get him baptized but he definately will someday. We also found out there would be a ward baptism today and so we are having to help out with a bunch of things. Yesterday we had to walk an hour to lunch and it was way hot like it has been for about a week now. We went and walked about another hour and taught the girl that is going to be baptized today since she is 8 and the bishop wanted us to go and explain about baptism and everything. Then we taught Francine at the church and it went well but she is still not 100% ready to accept baptism. Then at night we had dinner with Paloma and Evandro and it was really good. Well this week was long and crazy and we were running around alot but it went really well. Love you all very much! Love Elder Cefalo :)

Tuesday September 6, 2011

Oi Família!
This week was pretty good. It was a busy week but definately it went good. We were able to finally teach Thayla at her house and she asked alot of questions about our church and we just made sure she didn´t have anymore questions or even any doubts. She ended up asking how she could become a member and we talked about baptism. She seemed really interested so when we visit her again tomorrow we are going to try and mark a baptismal date. We finally got to teach english class this last week. It went pretty well but it was just 3 people and they all were members. We taught them how to pray in English. It went pretty well but was funny to hear them try to speak English. On friday we taught Marroni about Baptism and he told us he was reading the Book of Mormon and praying about it. We invited him to be baptized and he accepted to be baptized on the 17th. He is doing really well and progressing. On saturday we basically didn´t get anything done because there was a party and parade all weekend because tomorrow is Independence Day here in Brasil. We ended up getting home early and cleaning the house. As for sunday we had stake conference in Montenegro which is about 1 hour and a half away. We had to ride on a bus with all of the ward members. We had Thayla and Cleber come with us. It was really good and the temple president and President Pavan were there with their wives and they talked. It was really good. Well i know this is short but not too much more happened and also we don´t have much time today because we are in estrela at the Wizard and it only has two computers to share for 4 Elders. Just know i love you all and that all is going well.
Love Elder Cefalo
P.S. I will send some pictures next week since i don´t have time today. :)

Tuesday August 30, 2011

Oi Família,This week was a good week other than the rainy and cold weather towards the end of the week. Last P-day at night we had a family home evening type of thing with Paloma and Evandro. It was really fun and we played a couple games and had popcorn because Brazilians love to eat popcorn with seasoning for meat or with sugar or just a bunch of other things. Then on wednesday we had meetings at night and set up thursdays, starting this thursday, to do English class at night. The ward is really liking that idea since we have two american missionaries. Then we also set up a program called Book of Mormon program which is where every sunday we bring 2 copies of the Book of Mormon and two members from a specific group dedicate a Book of Mormon and give to us to take to that person. Then on thursday we took a bus for my first time inside the city of Lajeado. We went to an area that is an hour and a half away. We visited a lady that called us and wanted us to visit but it was kind of a waste of time because she didn´t want to read the Book of Mormon or even go to church. But we visited her because we promised we would. Then at night we went to the church and taught the young women how to make cookies. They wanted to see an american do it so that they didn´t do it wrong, because they don´t make cookies here in Brasil they just buy them from the store. Then we also visited Marroni and got him to start reading the Book of Mormon. Then on friday we did alot of finding and found a new lady to teach named Noeli, she seems pretty interested but it is going to be some work. Then we also visited Cleber and Vali, his mom, and taught about the gospel of Jesus Christ and the importance of baptism. We invited them to be baptized and Vali said she was not ready because she is not sure if her husband will be alright with it and etc. She said if Cleber wanted he could be baptized but for some reason he still doesn´t want to be baptized. We told him to write down his doubts or questions and next time we come by we can dicuss them all. On saturday we did alot of finding as well and we found a couple potential investigators, one of them was a referral that the Azevedos gave us and we are going to visit them tonight. On sunday only Cleber came to church but that is because Francine got in a small motorcycle accident so she couldn´t really come but she is planning on coming this week although it is stake conference in another city. It also was raining all day and night on sunday. At night we visited João and Camila and had dinner and talked, the Elders from Estrela were also there. We also met a man who speaks english and was talking to us mostly in English it was funny. Yesterday we got 3 referals from members and also visited 2 others that we had recieved from last week. It is going good in the ward and we are starting to get a few referrals and also finding other people through their help which is great. Well that is about all for my week except i don´t remember what day exactly but i hit my back while i was trying to get onto the bottom bunk bed and i scratched it up pretty good and it was hurting the whole next day while my backpack was rubbing up against it. Well that is it i believe. Love you all vey much. Até semana que vem.Love Elder Cefalo

August 23, 2011

Oi Família!

This week was really good. I got my new companion on Tuesday which was Elder Lomas from my MTC group in Provo. It is crazy to be in a companionship with someone from the MTC. I am also now senior companion on the mission which is another crazy thing. On tuesday before the transfer, Elder Dowden and i spent the day in Santa Cruz with Elder Jensen waiting for our companions. We went on a hike up to a cross on the mountain. It was really windy and my nametag ended up flying off and breaking after hitting th big cross. So now i am using another nametag until i get a new one. The next day after getting things settled in with Elder Lomas and Elder Steele, the new missionary for Estrela, we went out and did some visits which was really tiring because it was alot of walking. Then on thursday we tried to visit a bunch of former investigators and find new investigators since Elder Jacques was sick basically all of last transfer and we didn´t find many people to teach. We found a great family that has Vanderly, the dad, Viviane, the mom, and Kaun, their son, and Kauane, their daughter. They showed alot of interest and said that we could come back and also that the would come to church this next sunday. It is great to see the blessings of God from doing his work, it may be early to say but it will lead to something good. They really like to ask questions but they are good ones that help them to learn the truth. Viviane kept reading parts of the Book of Mormon while we were talking about it and she really liked it. That night the Elders from Santa Cruz came since they had a leadership meeting in Porto Alegre the next day. It was crazy because there was 6 Americans in one Brazilian apartment. The next day went pretty well although it was very tiring from all the walking. We ended up teaching a lesson in English because a member´s sister-in-law who is from Ireland was here, it was weird to talk about the gospel in english without wanting to use portuguese words. She really liked it but her husband who is from Brasil but lives in Ireland is a less active member so they didn´t come to church on sunday. That night we also taught a really good lesson at family home evening to a girl named Francine. She is a friend of Taina one of the young women in the ward. We talked a little bit about the Restoration and the watched the Jospeh Smith movie. Then afterwards she asked some questions about the Plan of Salvation so we also taught the plan of Salvation but quickly. She really like everything we said alot and dais she would go to church and she did. Saturday was more of a tiring that successful day but it wasn´t too bad, we found a couple potential investigators to teach. Then on Sunday Francine, Thayla (a friend of Daltrei) and Cleber were at church. We had lunch and Francine was there and told us she really liked church and was coming back next week and also that she was coming to an activity on friday. Later we visited Vanderly and Viviane and they became even more intrested in our message. I accidently left our cellphone at lunch and so we had to go back and get it. Yesterday was a good day because we got to visit Francine and her mom. Her mom loves that she is going to church but her mom isn´t too interested. Then we visited the Bishop and set up things that will help the ward but he wants to talk to us more at a meeting tomorrow. We also found a couple potential investigators in that area while we were trying to visit less active members. Then at night we visited Marroni and we set goals for him to read the Book of Mormon so he can find out the truth for himself. Well it was a pretty busy and long week and i am sure i have missed a couple thing that have happened. Just know that i love you all and that all is well. Keep buliding your testimonies and stay strong in the gospel.

Love Elder Cefalo

Oi Família!

First thing to tell you is about transfers. Nothing too big. . . I will saty in Lajeado for at least one more transfer. The crazy news is that i will be getting a different companion other than Elder Jacques. Elder Jacques is going to an area closer to Porto Alegre due to his eye and health. It is definately better for him. Well as for the week. . . Not too much happened because Elder Jacques stiil was not doing to great and this week he was throwing up because of one of the medicine tablets he has to take. We visited Cleber on wednesday and invited him to be baptized and he said he wouldn´t be baptized until his mom accepted baptism as well, so me and my companion will have to work on that. Also we decided to stop visiting Gisela because she is not progressing and always has other visits over when we try to visit. It is always sad to lose a investigator but it happens. We also visited Marroni a couple times this week and he seems to be progressing but didn´t come to church this week. We are starting to get quite a few referrals from members lately, mostly the young men and women and also Irmão Pércio. On thursday we had to go to Porto Alegre and get things checked up on Elder Jacques eye. We went to the office and i got a package from my family, that made me really happy because it had peanut butter and oreos. :) We also had a really good meeting with our ward mission leader and things are really starting to progress here in Lajeado with missionary work, which is really good. Then on friday we had a district meeting at a park here in Lajeado. It was really good since it was hot basically all this week. That night we got to meet a friend of one of the members here who is really interested in learning more, we marked a time to talk with her at the members house and have a little family night. Then at night we had a churrasco with a couple of the members since Elder Anderson was leaving to go home after the end of the transfer. It was really good like always. :) Then on saturday we had to help the Estrela Elders with preparing for a baptism and i ended up having lunch in Estrela with a family there that is really great and basically half of the branch. Then we helped set up for the baptism and the young men were playng soccer outside with a couple non members. The people being baptized asked that Elder Jacques and I stay so we did. Cleber was there and watched, i am hoping he starts to make a decision to be baptized with or without his mom wanting to at the same time. Afterwards we had ice cream and cake. It was realy good. Then yesterday Daltrie, the bishop´s son brought a friend named Thayla to church and she is really interested in learning more. I got the "oppurtunity" to bless the sacrament with Evandro. It went pretty well and i didn´t mess up but everyone said i had an American accent. One of the little kids said they like my prayer. It was funny and good. Later after lunchwe helped Elder Anderson get things ready to leave for Porto Alegre to meet his parents in the airport today. His parents came here to Brasil and are going to go arond with him visiting places for a week. For last night and today and part of tomorrow we are in a trio (Elder Dowden, Elder Jacques, and I). Well that is what happened this week, it was a long but good week. Love you all very much. Até mais.

Love Elder Cefalo

August 9, 2011

Oi Família!

This was a pretty good week. We had to go back to Porto Alegre again on thursday. We found out that Elder Jacques has something called traxoplasmosi (i am not sure on the spelling) but it is something you get from either a cat, eating bad meat, salad, and a bunch of other ways. He now has to take a bunch of different medicines and it keeps him up alot of the night and sometimes me because i hear the alarm go off for him to take his medicine. Well it is now getting better but we have to go back to Porto Alegre on thursday again. On thursday night we had a family home evening with the Cecconello/Langr Family and with Marroni and Irmâ Claides (Marroni´s mom). It was really good and we talked about families and the gospel being the greatest treasure we have in our lives. Then we had hot dog´s Brazilian style, which is hot dogs with mayo, ketchup, corn, peas, and basically other things you want to put on it.

Sorry I didn´t mean to send that so soon. But the family home evening was good and Marroni liked it alot and he is progressing, we are thinking about challenging him for baptism for this sunday. On friday Elder Jacques was not seeing very well and felt like throwing up so we stayed in the house and i read basically all of 2 Nephi in portuguese, I am now in Jacob. It is harder to understand the Isaish chapters in portuguese. Then for my birthday we first had Churrasco for lunch, my favorite thing to eat here in Brasil. It was at the house of a family that has a missionary serving in Recife Brasil. Kelson, who was serving in Recife, can over and had lunch with us. It was really good. Then we visited Marroni and just talked for him for awhile and he showed us a bunch of pictures, he is progressing alot because before he would barely even talk to us but now he talks alot. The later that night we had a family home evening with the young men and women. It was great because there were more non members than members there. We talked about faith and the importance of strengething our faith through works. Afterwards we had cake that one of the young women made, since they all knew it was my birthday there was a big 20 on the cake. It was chocolate cake with coconut, it was really good. Then at night one of the families that the Estrela Elders are teaching found out it was my birthday and invited us over for pizza. It was a really good pizza and a good way to end my birthday. On sunday we sadly had no investigators at church and barely anyone was there because it had rained a bunch in the morning. But during the day it was really hot. On saturday and sunday it was really hot but fot the last two days it has just rained the entire day and by rained i mean alot. They are thinking it might flood here again like it did a couple weeks ago. Yesterday we had to walk an hour to lunch and within 15 minutes we were soaked an stayed soaked the entire day. Yesterday we invited Gessy, an older lady to be baptized and she said she would pray and talk to her son and then make a decision. We are going to try to challenge Marroni and Cleber for baptism this sunday. I hope it goes well. Well that is basically it for my week. Next week is already transfers, which is crazy. That also means P-day on Monday. :) Well i love you all very much and hope all is well.

Love Elder Cefalo

Oi Família!

Well today i am having a memory problem. . . I cannot remember all that has happened since the last e-mail so i will have to look in my missionary planner to remember everything. We visted the Faustino´s, a family that lived where the big flood happened, and we asked them if they needed any help and they told us that alot of there things got ruined especially food and clothes. They said their washing machine had got ruined as well. So we talked to the bishop and he went and visted them and the ward is helping them out the best they can. We also visited Carla, who is doing really good and is way active in the church, it is great to see one of the people i baptized are doing great and living the gospel to it´s fullest. We also set up a family home evening withe the youth this saturday, to talk about missionary work and everything, that should be good. On thursday we had to go back to the eye hospital in Porto Alegre and we found out that everything is going well with Elder Jacques´ eye and that it should be good in no time. We also visted Gisela and she told us that she had received an answer that th church was true and that she was reading the Book of Mormon. The sad part is that she is not coming to church, if she would just come to church then we could get her baptized. On friday Elder Jacques had to go to Estrela to do a baptismal interview for the Elders there. We ended up spening most of our day there and visting a couple people. One of the families we visited kept saying i was really white and thati was a vampire and for about the 50th time i heard that i look a little bit like Edward. The people here in Brasil think alot of Americans look like superstars, I have heard Dean from SuperNatural, Edward, and Harry Potter. That same night we had a little party because Kelson a former missionary had gotten home from his mission. It was sad because while they were on the way to the church his dad crashed his motorcycle and broke his collar bone. We still had the party but we weren´t able to stay for too long because it was getting late. Marroni came to the party and really like it alot. The next day Elder Jacques and Elder Dowden were not feeling good so I went to Estrela with Elder Anderson and we spent the day visting a bunch of people there. Then on sunday we had 5 non memebers at church. There was Cleber, Marroni, a friend of Marroni, the girlfriend of one of the young men, and the cousin of one of the young men. It was all youth but that is alright because it is good for the future. It should be good to do the family home evening with the youth and talk about the importance of missionary work. We had to help the Estrela Elders get ready for their baptism since they had to stay there until the baptism. We filled up the font and got it all ready for their baptism and then they asked us to stay. Before the baptism we went with Irmão Pércio to visit a less active young woman who had gooten in a motorcycle accident. We gave her a blessing that all will go well in her surgery and that she will get better. It was good to see his baptism, he was baptized by the branch president. Then we went and visited João and Camila and talked to them about small and simple things. He is becoming more promising for coming back to church and also her getting baptized after they get married. Then yesterday Elder Dowden was still having problems with his eye and Elder Jacques decided he would stay home and Elder Anderson and I went to Estrela again. It is crazy because i feel like i have been in Estrela more than Lajeado lately but it is good to help people in both areas. At night on the bus back to Lajeado some lady bumped into me and said desculpe=sorry and i accidently said de nada=your welcome/it´s nothing. It was embarrasing but it happens. Also some young men there was made fun of and part of the way they made fun of him was saying that he had no future because he would become a missionary and all missionaries do is eat, the other boy said we were locos de fome = crazy of hunger. It was funny to hear that as one of the new anti-Mormon things. He is really strong and the church and he knows just as all other members that no matter what anyone says . . . This is the one and only true church! Well that is what happend this week. I am glad all is well back at home and i love all of you very much!

Love Elder Cefalo

Oi Família!

Another crazy week! The day after i e-mailed last we had a zone conference with an Area 70 named Elder Itinose. He was a mission president in Manaus, Brasil. He was really great and gave us alot of good ideas to try new in our work. He talked alot about being more bold in our commitments with our investigators, it was good to learn new things about missionary work. The next crazy thing that happened is the next day after we got back from the zone conference we had heard there was a flood in Lajeado and other cities surronding it. It had rained so much that the river, Rio Taquari, overflowed and had filled streets and houses. It was so crazy to see. It had flooded so much that in some areas the flood had reached to the second floor of some houses and buildings. Luckily it was no where close to where we lived but it was pretty bad. We had some investigators that lived in the parts where there were floods so we couldn´t go visit them. The day after we went to Estrela to do a division and ended up helping a couple people. We got this one old lady in their branch food because it had all got ruined during the flood. We also had to ride a boat to try to find some kid named William who was supposed to get baptized in their branch this last Saturday. When Elder Anderson and I reached his house, it was completely under water, his neighbor told us where he was. They ended up moving the baptism until next week. Sad news is we had a baptism planned for Marroni for last saturday but it ended up falling through and he no longer wants to be baptized or even come to church. We are now going to try to help Cleber the 13 year old boy be baptized some time in August because he is out of town right now. The work of course has been slow with me being sick, then having zone conference, then having the flood, and now Elder Jacques has something wrong with his eye and also he is a little sick. We actually spent almost the entire day on sunday, after church, in Porto Alegre with President Pavan going to the eye hospital to get Elder Jacques eye checked. We found out he has some infection in his eye and he has to put some eye drops in it. We have to go back to Porto Alegre on Thursday for them to check on his eye again. It was great to spend time with President Pavan, he is a great guy and really cares about us missionaries. That is about what happened this last week, it was crazy and i felt like we were running around all week and trying to do a bunch of things. I am glad because this week it will be a normal week other than going back to Porto Alegre on thursday. I am happy to get back to work, it really is no fun to not work. :) I am glad that the Lord blesses each and every one of us with what we need in our lives. I know that the Savir Jesus Christ suffered for all of our pain and affliction and sicknesses (Alma 7:11-13) and we must rely on Him to receive healing in our lives. I love all of you very much and hope all is going well. Até proximo e-mail! :)

Love Elder Cefalo

July 19, 2011

Hey Family,

This week not much happened so this will be a short e-mail. Shotly after e-mailing on tuesday i was not feeling the best so that night when we had soccer with the young men i didn´t play. Then i woke up wednesday morning and was not feeling the best but we still went out and did a division with Taina and Evandro and visited a couple people. It started to rain ad my umbrella broke so my head was getting wet but i didn~t think to much of it. Then the next day i woke up and my throat was absolutely killing me and my head was hurting and i had a fever and there was no way i was getting out of bed. We called Sister Pavan and she had the mission doctor call. He said he thought it might be strep so i needed to go visit the doctor. I went to the doctor after lunch and ended up having to wait for over 2 hours. Finally he looked at my throat really quick and said i had an infection and that i needed to take some medicine. So we went and checked how much the medicine was and bought it. It ended up being 50 Reais. Then Sister Pavan said to stay in that night. Then the next day i was feeling a bit better but Elder Anderson was really sick and it was raining so after lunch i came back to the house and just slept like Elder Anderson. That night i couldn´t sleep and was up all night coughing almost to the point of throwing up. The next day we were supposed to help with people moving. Elder Dowden and Elder Jacques ended up helping while Elder Anderson and I stayed home again, which is good because it started to rain again. Then on Sunday i was feeling alot better and we went to church and then lunch and things were going good. Then we were out visting pople and it started to rain really hard and no one was in there house so we ended up going to the Bishops house since it was close and spending a bit of time there warming up and drying off. We tried this weird drink that was oranges cinnamon ginger and some other thing. Then we ended up going to the house early because i was not feeling good and i was getting rained on all night. Then yesterday i was not allowed to go out because it was raining all day and Sister Pavan didn´t want me to go out and get more sick. Elder Jacques and Elder Dowden ended up doing visits in our area and also in Estrela. Right now i am in Santa Cruz because we have a Zone Conference tomorrow with a 70. I am not sure who it is going to be. It is going to be in Porto Alegre which will be good. I am doing better health wise i just have a bit of a headache and have allergies for some reason. Well that was about my week. Sorry it is short. Thanks for all of you prayers and support i definately need them and they helped me get over this sickness faster. Thank you all and love you very much.

Love Elder Cefalo

July 12, 2011

Oi Família,

What a crazy week but yet also not so crazy. I went to the Bus station in Porto Alegre to meet my new companion and also say bye to Elder Marcondes, there i met a bunch of other missionaries and also caught up with some other missionaries i knew. My new companion is Elder Jacques (Jacks). He is from Curitiba, Brasil. It was funny because i was tlaking to Elder Persinger from my MTC group and he was talking about only having americans and once i got Elder Jacques I told him I have only had Brazilian´s. It is good because i still have to use portuguese to communicate things and cannot resort to english because he only knows a little. Elder Jacques only has 2 more months than me on the mission which seems crazy but it is good. It was a tough week as far as plans falling through basically every day. I do not like being the one who knows the area better and having to make most the plans but it is good practice for being senior which is most likely to happen next transfer or the transfer after. We found some good new investigators this week which could be relly good and could end up being baptized at some time in their lives. We almost got into a bible bash with a jehovah witness at a investigators house but she ended up leaving because we were answering everything right so that she couldn´t mix us up in our words like she wanted to. On one of the days this week we witnessed a pretty bad motorcycle accident. We were leaving to go visit another investigator and this car pulled in front of a motorcycle, the person on the motorcycle tried to stop so they didn´t run into the car and ended up flying of the moto and it landed on her (we found out it was a girl). The back was full of paint which spilled all over the road. It ws crazy, Elder Jacques grabbed the phone and called the ambulance. A crowd started crowding around her and it was getting crazy. After cleaning up the paint cans off the street and making sure everything was alright we headed off. It was crazier than i can explain through e-mail. That same day we were walking to go visit someone and my nose just started bleeding like crazy. I got blood all over my hands and a tree next to us. We ended up having to go to a moto shop and using their bathroom to stop the bleeding and clean it up. Saturday was actually really hot this week, the weather is starting to warm up her. On saturday we were walking to go visit some less actives and we saw some lady who was strugglng with hands full of bags. We offered to help. She was so thankful that we helped her that she wanted to give us money but we told her it would be good enough if she would listen to the message we have to share. She loved the message of the Restoration, it was probably one of the best lesson I have taught in portuguese. She also wanted to pay us for the Book of Mormon and a pamphlet we gave her but we told her we do not receive money for our work. Her name is Gisela and she speaks better German than portuguese. (I am not sure if I told you but there are alot of people from German or Italian decent here in the southern part of Brasil, there are actually people who only speak German.) She is an older lady but she already promissed that when it warms up a bit she will definately come to our church. :) Things are starting to improve with the ward here, they are starting to get more into the helping missionaries spirit. It is important that we are getting help from the ward memebers because the work goes better. Well that is about all that happend this week. It sure was crazy but also a good week. Love you all very much and wish you well.

Love Elder Cefalo