Week #22 "Teaching Haitians"!

     Hey Mom - - I use the carbon monoxide detector, it's plugged in. Dang I can't believe that dog bit his ear off.  Super awesome about Andrew's call!

     I have good news and bad news. Bad news - - we didn't baptize Felipe this past Saturday, his dad shut it down.  His dad thinks he's too young to handle something like this. Good news  - - we are baptizing him this week!  We got the dad to finally come around, through a lot of prayer.  The dad signed off and it's all good!  So this Saturday it's on!

     We started teaching a bunch of Haitian people this week, there is this neighborhood that is straight Haitian.  So weird with the Schroeder's fireside!  We are teaching like 6 of them it's super cool!  It's kind of hard cuz only two of them speak Portuguese so they have to translate for the rest. They speak Creole. It's super cool. 

Me with my Haitian peeps!

     Being in Brazil there are still like a bunch of people that speak Spanish and so we do a bunch of contacts in Spanish.  I can understand everything.  Speaking it is different, but I can understand everything so it's pretty cool!   My companion talks to me in Spanish in the house.

The Haitian people are very friendly and welcoming. 
We love teaching them!

     I messed up this past week.  We went into house and there was this family and I asked the mom, if this was her son.  She said, no that is my husband.... and it just went silent in the room for like 20 seconds.  I didn't know what to say . . .  but guy looked like he was 17.  It was bad and I felt horrible.  My companion will never let me live it down. 

     Love you lots Mom.  Please ask the family to write me letters so I can read them on non- "P" days when I can't get to the computer.   Take care - - your Favorite Elder 

English Class banner on the meetinghouse

Elder Elias - - he rocks!

Week #21 "Are you from China?"

Hey Mom,

     The search for the rat continues, still haven't got him. 

     We have a baptism this Saturday with Felipe, he's 14 - - we're pumped about that.  We're also teaching this lady Marliza and a man named Carlos.   We teach a bunch of peeps, it is going good!   I use the object lesson book that you made for me - -  I taught one this week that worked really well.  

All smiles!

      3 other elders and myself teach an English class in the church!   A bunch of people come, it's sweet because everyone here in Brazil kills to learn English!  So it's a good way to meet people because everyone we invite to the class will come.

    We have interviews this week with President.   Has anyone else gotten their call besides Baylor?  Andrew?  

This green racket is my mosquito slayer, it's electric and sweet!  
I've taken countless lives with it!

     We were teaching a lesson this week and it was going good - - you could feel the spirit and everything; and she was being like completley silent which was weird.   When we  finished and asked her, "do you have any questions?"  She was quiet for like 30 seconds - - then looked at me and said,  "Are you from China?".   My companion and I just put our heads down like seriously!?  Ha - - ha frustrating when people aren't focused Lol!  I'll send pictures.   Love you all.  Tchau - - Elder Akina

Fernandez and I doing exercícios in the house

 

Week #20 - - 5 Months in the Field

Eyyeee Hazzit,
         

    The work is coming great!  My companion and I have 2 baptisms coming up on March 14, which is my companion's birthday.  A 14 year old named Felipe and a 10 year old girl Monique.  We're still working on the parents, but the kids are committed and everything.  We took Felipe to Mutual Saturday night and he loved it, he was like, "you guys have this every week?!"  He was pumped  - - ha ha!  It was funny, our church here in this area is two stories and has an elevator.  Felipe was like, can we pleeease go up in the elevator?   I said, "Dude there are just classrooms on the second floor, it's nothing special."  He responded, "No, I just wanna go in the elevator!" I said, "why?" and he said "I've never been in one before!"  At first I thought he was joking, then I realized he was serious.  So we took him up and down twice, ha - - ha!  It made his day!   He loves the Young Men's program and all the young men so he's super pumped. 

 

Birthday Pa'ina

     This week we got invited to one of the guys in our ward birthday party dinner.  He wanted us to come, he thought it would be a good for his family and friends to meet the missionaries since he was the only member in his family. So we went, we ate and talked to people.  Then we had to leave so he got like everyone in the living room (like 20 people) so we could share a message.  Usually for these types of messages we share a scripture or a talk  and bear our testimony.   My companion and I had a feeling that we needed to teach the first lesson, A restauração (The Restoration), so we taught it!  The lesson was quick, 15 or 20 minutes, but before we left we had 8 referrals!  None of them lived in our area, so we had to pass them on to other missionaries, but that is ok!  8 of them wanted to know more about the church, it was cool.      

Members Ohana

     My companion and I found a rat in our house, we tried to kill it but it was to fast!  It ran into this hole in the wall in our kitchen, I think there is a colony of them in our ceiling.  If you're quiet at night you can hear a bunch of tiny little sounds in the ceiling.  I'm going to buy a mouse trap today.

 

     Remember the couple that we were helping get married and baptized this month?  They dropped us.  We went by their house Sunday morning to get them for church and they just told us, we don't want anymore - - we're good where we are right now.  My companion and I couldn't belive it.   3 days ago they were on fire, progressing, praying every night, and then just like that.  We were very disappointed, but we're not going to give up on them.   We'll still pass by, but when it comes down to it, people have agency.   As missionaries our job is to invite, not force.

 

This week was cool.  Love you guys lots :)  Elder Akina 

Week #19 Sickness & Details

Hey Mom,

 

     This week was good, it went by super fast. Here are some fun facts:

 

THINGS DIFFERENT ABOUT HERE THEN AT HOME:

1. You don't knock on doors, you clap in front of the house.

2. You don't throw your toilet paper in the toilet, you put it in a seperate trash can thing.

3. There is this buffet by us,and if you leave a lot of food on one of your plates they charge you extra.

4. You dont speak English - -  ha ha!

5. The cockaroaches are huge man and they're black - - not brown.  So that makes them   like 2x freakier!  We have some in our house some times and I'll say, "Fernandez kill it dude!"  He tells me "why?" and I say,  "it's a cockroach that's why!"  He says, "just let it go", and I have to tell him, "No, you don't understand I won't fall asleep  tonight until I know that thing is dead!"

6. Milk isn't refrigerated, it's like sold in boxes. 

7. There is no peanut butter and no syrup - - ha - - ha!  Cravings!

8. Guarana... it's the name of this soda, it's like THE soda here, it's from the Guarana fruit.

9. DOGS.... everywhere.. but me and Fernandez have been here so long we've started naming some of the ones we see on the streets regularly.

10. Everyone wears slippers... I get so jealous sometimes, there is this brand of slippers called Havaianas , they're like the "Locals" of Brasil - - everyone wears them.

 

     I got sick this week, felt like crap for like 3 days, still worked tho, but it was pretty bad - - getting over it now.

 

     I really like it here, the people are super cool and it's very green everywhere.  We're having some problems with the marrigae of that family, they're missing a lot of stuff, documents.   So we are waiting for them to be sent down here.

bom semana para voce, Love you guys tchau :)  Elder Akina

It's so green here!

  Elder Akina and his Mom writing back and forth in Portuguese:

Favorite part of my Monday. If I happen to catch Elder Akina on line we get to chat for a few mintues back and forth.  I use my translator option on my e-mail at work!  It is so fun - - although Elder Akina responds very quickly in Portuguese - -

I have to translate in order to respond! 

MOM: Cole Dean, Baylor Romeny, Elise Machen e Andrew Stuart aguardam missões.  Vai ser emocionante ver onde vão!

Cole Dean, Baylor Romney, Elise Machen and Andrew Stuart are waiting for mission calls. 

Cole e Baylors deve estar de volta na próxima semana.  A chamada não tiver sido atribuída da Igreja HQ ainda.  Elise só mandou nos jornais na semana passada, Andrew enviará neste fim de semana.  Deve ser em breve e muito emocionante. Um do nosso filho TREK acaba de abrir sua todos ontem à noite, Arizona, Scottsdale

ELDER AKINA: quando eles vou receber o chamado deles

When will the calls come?

 

aahhh intende, vai ser muito legal

Ahhh, it's going to be so cool!

 

e que sobre Braxton

And What about Braxton? 

 

 

Week #18 Transfers - - Staying Put

Hey Mom,

     I haven't gotten any email from Ben, I think he has the wrong address - -  if you give me his I can write him.  We had transfers, I am staying in Portal Bordon, and with the same companion - - should be a great next 6 weeks.  We have got some really good working going on, I want to see it through.  We are working on helping Marcelo & Dedise get married.   

     This week it rained a butt load down here, which is good.  When we go knocking doors (if they have a door) people let us in way easier, they feel bad for us out in the rain yada yada.  My Ecco's are handling all the weather and walking great.

     I'm so pumped to know where Baylor's going on his mission.  Be sure to go when he opens his call.  Andrew too - - dang Mesa isn't going to have a Priest quorum left!  Oh mom  - - I hit 4 months yesterday!  I passes off all my new missionary training materials in Portuguese - - I am no longer "IN TRAINING"!  I am anxious to have my shot at being a trainer.

      I will continue to work hard this week.  We have a lot to follow up on.  I am not too big on the soft stuff - - just know I am more humble.  The work is what matters - - although I did see some Nike Elite socks on a dude last week and my heart ached for just a minute!

Tchau - - Love you Mama, Elder Akina

Elder Sosa cutting Elder Diaz hair.  We cut each other's hair.

Week #17 Vitor's Cousins are Baptized

Hi Mama,

     This week was good, and hot. We didn't have water for about a day and a half, were in a drought - -  right now.
 

     2 of Vitor's cousins got baptized this past weekend, they live in Portal Bordon A.   The other set of missionaries got them, but it was super cool, we are continuing to teach his Mom and Dad. Very exciting!

 

     Oh - - I got two packages,  1 from Auntie Tiare and 1 from Tutu! Ha ha - -  Tutu sent me Mountain House stuff, I was super stoked!  Thank you much.  Oh and I shared the Mochi Crunch with Irmao Parques, our neighbor, and it was a mistake.  He pretty much like ate all of it, ha ha!



Irmao Parquez with my mochi crunch..... brah go get your own!!

     I finish my training this week, I'm about to get tested on like a bunch of stuff on Tuesday.  PMG (Preach My Gospel) topics, lesson topics, inspired questions, missionary purpose D and C: 4, like a bunch of stuff I have to recite to the LZ (Zone Leader).  I'm feeling pretty good about it. 

 

     I got both your letters mom, the original one and the one you wrote "this is an extra copy" just in case I didn't get the one you sent to our house.  The spirit was very strong when I read your letter in Portuguese - - I feel it strong when I act, when it testifies to me.  I got mail this week cuz our Zone Leaders went down to Piracicaba for some meeting or something.  So yeah, that was pretty sweet!

 

This picture is special to me - - it is for Daddy Kanani.  He will know.

     How is your investigator lady?  It's super cool that the Sisters taught with you, I can't stress enough how important the role of the member in this work.  One of the most important things that members do is acompanhamento (fellowship). So invite her to a FHE that you and Dad have, have the missonaries over when you do it too.  Call her 1 day out of the week see how she's doing.  I know you probably do all of that but just in case - - he - -he.

 

Well that it for the week  - - tchau.  Love you Most, Elder Akina

P.S.
Daaaaad! Haaazit :)  
     This week was a milestone for me, I had your infamous spaghetti, the noodles with ketchup. I took a pic of it, don't worry they didn't see me, but yeah like they cooked a thing of noodles and put it in like this bowl, and put it on the table with a bottle of ketchup next to it,!   I was like noooooo this is it, I'm getting the ketchup spaghetti!    It was actually not that bad. It's amazing what people give, I knew that's all they could afford to feed us, but they don't think twice about it.  If it's the Elders they will do anything for them, so humbling.
     
     When we all die and make it to the celestial kingdom, we're going to make guava chicken and potato salad - - the works... and we're going  to have them over to our celestial house so we can feed them!   

 Love you lots, will work hard this week, and like your uncle says Live Aloha :)

Week #16 Rain

Mama - - This week was good, it rained super hard.  We did a lot of service this week, worked from 8 until about 11 everyday this week - -  in the yard of this guy clearing it so he can plant stuff.  It literally took forever. 

 

     We had stake conference this week and our mission President spoke, it was good.  I really don't know what else to write for this week, was pretty normal.... Oh we have a family that wants to be baptized.  The family we made pumpkin cookies with - -  remember?  The problema is that they were only married in the Catholic church, not by the law.   For us to baptize them they need to be married through the law.  So we set a goal with them, to be married in the cartorio in two weeks.  Not like a real wedding,  really small scale just so we can have the marrige certified and what not, should be good. 

 

     The Bishop got mad at me this week.  He got was upset because in my talk last week when I started,  I said,  "Aloha.. and everyone said aloha back."  Afterwards he was like, remember this is sacrament meeting and we have to keep the spirit here and all this stuff. Everyone loved it, especially since everyone in the ward knows we're from Hawaii. Frustrating!  Ok, I will do what he wants.

 

     I got the Romney's Christmas card!   What do people say about me back home? Am I missed ?  :) He he!  I would love more letters!

 

 But yup - -  I'll hit you up with some pics right now, love you lots!!  Elder Akina

Providing service so a member can plant his garden.