tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55412281309040546022024-03-05T02:55:14.576-08:00It's a Little Chile Down Here...But Kinda Warm in BrazilThe Missionary Experiences of Two Brothers, Elder Nate Schwartz in the Chile Santiago East Mission, and Elder Andrew Schwartz in the Brazil Sao Paulo South Missionkurtpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16275106272265621635noreply@blogger.comBlogger170125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541228130904054602.post-5011270885917581052015-04-16T20:37:00.000-07:002015-04-16T20:37:18.885-07:00March and April in Vila das Mercês with Elders Diaz and Elder MoroniNote from Elder Schwartz's parents: Elder Schwartz will be finishing his mission soon. In May he will be returning home to the USA. Expected arrival will be around the 18th of May. We'll update as we get final details....<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo2z4VaIfB1CjwTQsxPSbzoR7-Tin-pSiQPO7MXQvhxrMfjYmAyMkm_-Lve3oXwgTHMsw0ykNL6Ttd1RHoZk3u2ULBNu1fcsVa0nwYoj5521Go77mHjdrjF8SuX14lgx5SkkxgAFw91Cd-/s1600/IMG_0097%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo2z4VaIfB1CjwTQsxPSbzoR7-Tin-pSiQPO7MXQvhxrMfjYmAyMkm_-Lve3oXwgTHMsw0ykNL6Ttd1RHoZk3u2ULBNu1fcsVa0nwYoj5521Go77mHjdrjF8SuX14lgx5SkkxgAFw91Cd-/s1600/IMG_0097%5B1%5D.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Schwartz with his new haircut</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRsO5zKKl9CnG6EoaNb72nlIoz5nZn3IvjRCWR9U4VD_YowfxY7IHZnMWM9yPgrgCLo6-N-S5ETKSbBzseMpRgKu7say70qr56IsGZRn7YS8NgQu0LcOseLhvAA6HWHcZKr20g0WZtzl_2/s1600/IMG_0093%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRsO5zKKl9CnG6EoaNb72nlIoz5nZn3IvjRCWR9U4VD_YowfxY7IHZnMWM9yPgrgCLo6-N-S5ETKSbBzseMpRgKu7say70qr56IsGZRn7YS8NgQu0LcOseLhvAA6HWHcZKr20g0WZtzl_2/s1600/IMG_0093%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">District with Elder Diaz (down in front center)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRVNOXyRHBFBgemGuBnUb2ZDW5_Ks2AAeZbQszKstspmFC9md-5eWnvc9l7i6iyjNmVD_KzkhHGswLRQeK-n3ldBSCG9WRiADY_1hOEfOoLPNepdasaLnwcqPAZkx24H_rzjKAsZhsw3wQ/s1600/webcam-toy-foto1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRVNOXyRHBFBgemGuBnUb2ZDW5_Ks2AAeZbQszKstspmFC9md-5eWnvc9l7i6iyjNmVD_KzkhHGswLRQeK-n3ldBSCG9WRiADY_1hOEfOoLPNepdasaLnwcqPAZkx24H_rzjKAsZhsw3wQ/s1600/webcam-toy-foto1.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With Elder Moroni</td></tr>
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March 2, 2015<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">Hey family,</span><br />
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I can't believe that it is Monday again. It is passing by wayyyyyy too fast for me. This week literally flew by. But it was a really good week for us. I'm glad to hear that you guys are doing well with everything. With all the callings and work and what not. And it's good to hear that Phil is liking his work for Habitat for Humanity. Good stuff is happening at home and that makes me happy. </div>
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So everything here is going good. The area is amazing. The members are awesome. The only down side is that the area is one big hill so it's a bummer for my knees, but I'll hold through, and as we tell our investigators, "endure to the end" -- hahaha. Elder Diaz is good. I'm not sure where in Peru he's from but he doesn't live in Lima but more in the countryside. We actually went to a doctor this week because of the stomach problems I told you guys he was having, and it turns out that he has a stomach virus that is causing ulcers, which really stinks. So he was prescribed some medication that he's gonna take for about a month, then he's gonna take a few tests afterwards to see how it is. So I'm pretty positive we'll at least finish the transfer together, which I'm pretty excited for. He's a good missionary. He is really diligent, which is what I like. As for the other Elders in the house -- they're not in my district, but actually Elder Starr is another district leader in the zone and he's got like a year and a half on the mission. He's from Spokane and he actually know's Dusty Bonkemeyer which was a crazy small mormon world coincedence. And Elder Frost is from Georgia and he's got a nice Georgia accent and he's got a year and 4 months. I love the house and I know that I'm where the Lord wants me to finish my mission.</div>
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So as for the work week -- ohhh, did we work. We are constantly trying to find new investigators and this area is small and has a lot of people so we've been doing a lot of street contacting and marking appointments. Some appointments fall through. Others we have small lessons, but overall we are having successes. We found a new family this week that came to church. Their names are Rodrigo and Vanessa, they're not married (yet) and they have 3 little children from 4 years down to 7 months. We had really great lesson and the spirit was super strong. Raiza and Barbara didn't make it to church because of some crazy confusion with the parents but they are going next week and we managed to teach them this week. It's going well. And I think I told you guys about our other investigators such as Enzo who's brother Junior is a member that we are reactivating. We managed to bring only Junior to church but we taught them and their mom this week which was a good lesson. The mom goes to another church and has another philosophy but we had a good discussion and we taught her some truths from the restored gospel. But all in all we are working hard and loving it here.</div>
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Today for P-day we went to Parque de Iberapuera again but there we had a two-zone activity where we played sports and games and hung out. It was fun. Unfortunately I don't have any photos for the week but next week for sure I'll have some. I love you guys lots and miss you guys. I hope you all have a good week!</div>
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Love,</div>
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Elder Schwartz<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our House</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRPA5bPc3D7TVu2N7bPzKrjyGL-Sz8y82KJAGmQkZHJzPrNdykm21kIDo8-Hu8hDIKiI6-Xl3JJ_P1REHw0xmdtSO9vLCfRCbgkJ43h2tpqplVmWWeLtOzoiFdMDNKgRDk83PuH1pP8mIW/s1600/IMG_0095%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRPA5bPc3D7TVu2N7bPzKrjyGL-Sz8y82KJAGmQkZHJzPrNdykm21kIDo8-Hu8hDIKiI6-Xl3JJ_P1REHw0xmdtSO9vLCfRCbgkJ43h2tpqplVmWWeLtOzoiFdMDNKgRDk83PuH1pP8mIW/s1600/IMG_0095%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Area</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO00P1OMYrxdvhl4gifK7O7lBAccs6fGPxqPATuc60LgeUPx80LrMvOmO70p-unmZc0WwahKCLY1_JfDlpcyj0AXmm5xM379sHkuYsi_PbvpA1WK-buDVRpY_TPQgcROY6O2fw8YdU87qG/s1600/IMG_0096%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO00P1OMYrxdvhl4gifK7O7lBAccs6fGPxqPATuc60LgeUPx80LrMvOmO70p-unmZc0WwahKCLY1_JfDlpcyj0AXmm5xM379sHkuYsi_PbvpA1WK-buDVRpY_TPQgcROY6O2fw8YdU87qG/s1600/IMG_0096%5B1%5D.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More of our Area, including the "hill"</td></tr>
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March 9, 2015</div>
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Dear FAMILY!!!<br />
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So, I literally have no time at all to write about the week. We have district meeting in 20 minutes, so I gotta jet already. I love you guys! This week was fanatastic! Rodrigo and Vanessa are doing great -- they came to church and are well integrated in the ward, We're just waiting on them to start the paperwork process to get married -- we are excited for them. They were our only investigators that came to church. This week we learned new teaching technique that is teaching a lot more clear and direct in teaching the principles of the gospel. It is changing the way we are working and I really like it. So more efficient and clear. We also had interviews with President which was good, but kind of trunky for me, because he just talked about home stuff -- but I'm staying focused and working hard. </div>
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I LOVE YOU ALL AND I KNOW THAT THIS IS GOD'S WORK!!!</div>
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Love, </div>
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Elder Schwartz</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7jxiWF3qnpUN8gbdiCGD_94PtmOKpIGZl6s8fBrIPE8sA9VQGAR_yfjUUdn6nksozrSvN1qTpxbY_UdjlD0aF0_zBvhZ_n_7Bqq47mNm5xFMMXHiuM6f3-AQubFOZAiIPmEb4Plzmc125/s1600/Foto0173.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7jxiWF3qnpUN8gbdiCGD_94PtmOKpIGZl6s8fBrIPE8sA9VQGAR_yfjUUdn6nksozrSvN1qTpxbY_UdjlD0aF0_zBvhZ_n_7Bqq47mNm5xFMMXHiuM6f3-AQubFOZAiIPmEb4Plzmc125/s1600/Foto0173.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful Sao Paulo</td></tr>
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March 16, 2015</div>
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My dear beloved family,<br />
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How good it is to hear from you guys. I feel bad because I have been bad at writing back and sending pics, but today is a lot more calm so I'll give you guys a good report on the week.</div>
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THE MISSIONARIES ARE TEACHING A BRAZILLIAN!?!?!? I want in. I'll help. Tell the elders to put the teaching on hold til I get there hahaha. But that's good to hear. It sounds like there are a lot more brazillians than I though back home, but that's not super suprising either because almost everyone here says they have a cousin or something in the States working there, but they're more concentrated in Miami, Boston, and New York. </div>
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But that's good to hear that everyone is doing great. I liked Nate's throwback pic :) -- the good ol days. </div>
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As for us here, this week was a rush. I feel like I spent most of the week out of my area. Well that's because I had to do two divisions in a row, to do some baptismal interviews. One for the zone leaders and two for the elders in my district. It was crazy. For both of them, I was out of my area, but Elder Diaz held it down strong. The first division I was with my Portuguese ZL Elder P. Ferreira and then I was with Elder Barros da Silva, a freshly trained greenie who is in his second area. Both divisions were good. I learned a lot from each Elder and we managed to get some good work done. I enjoyed doing the baptismal interviews as well.</div>
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We spent the week evaluating our teaching pool and finding new investigators. Idk if I told you guys but in this ward I'm serving in, there's a member family that bring a lot of primary children to church that aren't members, so we started this week to contact and work with a few of them and their families. This was during the division so I don't know the story of each one too well, but I met two -- Vitor Hugo who's 11 and Evelyn who is 10. There are about 8 that have been going for over a year. So this week we are going to follow up with each of them. As for Rodrigo and Vanessa, they are doing great. They are really progressing well. This week they said that they are going to buy the fiancé rings and go to get everything marked up at the registry. We even had a FHE with them at a members house last night and it went by super well. </div>
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As for my comp he is still having some struggles with his health but he is being a good sport. He is trying really hard and working diligently, for all the pain he is feeling. He's finishing up the treatment and I think in two weeks he'll be doing some more exams to see if he is getting better or not. Also there is only two weeks in the transfer left. I'm not really sure if he'll be staying in the mission for the next or if he'll even be my comp, if one of us gets transferred. We're just stoked to be working together for these final weeks. </div>
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Anyways I'm excited for this coming week. I'm excited for the opportunities that we are going to have to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm so grateful for the family I have and all the blessings the Lord has given me and all that he has done to bring me to this point in life. I know that through his divine authority, our families can be together forever. I love my Savior and I am so grateful for the privilege to represent Him and His church here in Brazil. I love you all and I hope you guys have a good week. </div>
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With Love,</div>
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Elder Schwartz </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha9TY7UxarMeWo6XZ27abmNF6MYOpgWX5DGBdsy4Pgi3cu0XGHexwef65jL-tP7MCo-btj7g0QzB4nmApQsrDiqSVHFi42FaeG5NOfNnSUuufFPvQ_OU5ilXxEzliUqgBbb-_NS123d5qX/s1600/Foto0178.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha9TY7UxarMeWo6XZ27abmNF6MYOpgWX5DGBdsy4Pgi3cu0XGHexwef65jL-tP7MCo-btj7g0QzB4nmApQsrDiqSVHFi42FaeG5NOfNnSUuufFPvQ_OU5ilXxEzliUqgBbb-_NS123d5qX/s1600/Foto0178.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doing a baptismal interview. Nice Sister Missionary made soup for the woman who was not feeling well.</td></tr>
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March 23, 2015</div>
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HELLO FAMILY<br />
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First off, I want to wish for my dear older brother a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! 27!!!!! soooo ooooolllldddd! I got a special present waiting for you Phil ;). But it's good to hear that you guys had a good week this week. And what is this about closing down Pine meadows!?!?!?! That's my course!!!! They can't close it down on me!!! Vote against it!!!</div>
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So I got some kind of sad news for you guys. My comp, Elder Diaz, went home on Saturday, he was still having some difficulites so he went home to get a better treatment and now I have a new comp. My new companion's name is Elder Moroni and he's from Rio de Janeiro (the state, not the city). He's got about 7 months on the mish but he actutally started like 10 months ago but he had to go home to get a surgery and he just got back and now he's with me. He's a good missionary and I'm pretty sure he'll be the one to kill me (translation: he'll be my last comp when I finish). </div>
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SO as for the week and the investigators and everything; well, we got the phone call on Tuesday from the mission doctor that Elder Diaz was going home. It was kind of a rush for everything. We also had zone conference on Thursday which was really really really goood. I learned a lot from the conference and it motivated me to take advantage of every moment for these last six weeks. AS for our investigators, Rodrigo and Vanessa are still super solid. Really good family. We are going to the registry this Wednesday with them. Everything is all marked and set up, so they'll probably get married the last Saturday of April or something. As for the primary children we started to work with, they are good but none of the ones that we are working with went to church this week. We are going to go to a family home evening at the Primary presidents home this week and we'll start our work there. This week we had a good experience finding a really huge family through a reference from other missionaries. We thought that they were just investigators but we found out that they are a part-member family when we took a member there. We are going to start working with them this week. It's like a house of 15 people so I'm not really good with all of their names yet. </div>
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This week I also got to do some more baptismal interviews for a few areas in the zone which is always a good experience. I got to do an interview for a woman that is 99 years old... it was a good interview and she passed. It was a little hard for her to hear me but as I spoke up, she could understand. She was baptized on Saturday. </div>
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And that's about it for me. I've been sick since Friday nights so I haven't been feeling too well. It sucks to be sick on the mission. But I'm feeling a little bit better today and I'm hoping that these next few days I'll be at full health to be able to work hard. I know that this is the Lord's work and we have to do it His way. I'm really going to do my best this week and yoke myself to Him. Thanks for the scripture dad (Matthew 11:28-30). It's one of my favorites. I'm grateful for Christ, and His Atonement. I'm grateful for the privilege to share His gospel with others. I love you guys and hope you guys have a good week! </div>
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With Love,</div>
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Elder Schwartz<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbPMc2sJC4lM0QBTm2EsvGoW-QaNqi0Q1_wIPJ-nswhLE9vXi06INLcr9ywvrkwovxQGnLBIU6x6yJ0lOyKXRiiK0joB27b0Ium8HhrFbD1MSPVbighDqpSgWxecA9Xr0kzMphvsxwQkWC/s1600/Foto0197.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbPMc2sJC4lM0QBTm2EsvGoW-QaNqi0Q1_wIPJ-nswhLE9vXi06INLcr9ywvrkwovxQGnLBIU6x6yJ0lOyKXRiiK0joB27b0Ium8HhrFbD1MSPVbighDqpSgWxecA9Xr0kzMphvsxwQkWC/s1600/Foto0197.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nice Scripture covers....hand made here....</td></tr>
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March 30, 2015</div>
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Hey Family,<br />
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First off, It's good to hear that all of you guys are doing so well. Like I said, I'm stoked to meet all the brazilians you have met over all this time. I want to keep the portuguese up when I get home, so that will be good. It's so weird to hear that Mitchell is already home. I'm glad to hear that he had a wonderful mission experience like I'm having. So we literally just got the transfer calls, and it turns out that I'm going to stay with Elder Moroni here in Vila das Mercês and I'm not going to be District leader anymore but I'm going to just be Senior Companion. So it looks like I'll be dying (finishing my mission) in peace -- hahaha. I'm stoked because now it's just me, my comp and our area and we're going to work as hard as possible for these next 5 weeks. </div>
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So this week was probable one of the hardest weeks that I've had on the mission. It was hard. Really hard. We worked a lot, but it seemed that nothing that we were doing was working. All of our appointments were falling, no one was really listening to us. Just one of those weeks. The adversary is working hard, but that's the thing, I'm working harder. We didn't let this get us down nor will we let a hard week get us down. The lesson I keep learning is that the adversary has real power, but he wins only if we let him, if we choose not to act. And even with all the setbacks and difficulties, this week we found a few really good and firm investigators to start teaching. </div>
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Other events of the week, I got to do another baptismal interview with a woman who had been taught for over a year and finally decided to get baptized. And we also had a little celebration here for Elder Starr's birthday, so we ate a lot of cake and pizza this week. So my diet from now on is more of good all rice, beans and the amazing fruits they have here in Brazil.</div>
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Anyways all in all everything is going good. I'm stoked for this upcoming transfer period and all the good that we're going to do. I love you guys and I'm excited to see you guys here in a few weeks. I know that we are God's soldiers out here and we're doing his work. It's hard sometimes, but I'm so grateful for the privilege to go through challenges as Christ's representative. I love you guys and I'll talk to you guys next week!</div>
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Love,</div>
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Elder Schwartz</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxmuP-pdbKueNxrjws5E85j9M6-aAk8WytjKOXJqFipcFPqiEnL8SX0h4KrNPXrSE2l7sN1lFVf4jNLzpu8u8QtWwZ5D-Bvzmrl_i8AOy3sISQNAWGCrtR9sNbT458a7EjHQS45F0yTRGx/s1600/Foto0182.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxmuP-pdbKueNxrjws5E85j9M6-aAk8WytjKOXJqFipcFPqiEnL8SX0h4KrNPXrSE2l7sN1lFVf4jNLzpu8u8QtWwZ5D-Bvzmrl_i8AOy3sISQNAWGCrtR9sNbT458a7EjHQS45F0yTRGx/s1600/Foto0182.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Starr's Birthday -- he got "egged"...maybe, a brazilian tradition</td></tr>
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April 6, 2015</div>
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First off before I forget,<br />
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Elder Barreto asked me if you guys can bring a jar of peanut butter down here so he can bring it home and give his mom. So if you guys can just get a jar and put it in the suitcases, you'll make a little brazillian elder happy. </div>
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Anyway.....</div>
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SO HEY FAMILY,</div>
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How about that general conference? I really really really really loved it. It was SO good. I always love conference because the Brethren always seem to be able to articulate what I am always thinking or feeling, but in a much better way and really open my eyes on how I can become better. Love it! I'm glad that you guys had a good week with the family all together. </div>
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So this week was difficult but blessed. Difficult, really difficult but we're not giving up. and looking at the bright side of things we have actually found a lot of really good new investigators this week. A lot of people with a lot of good potential. We're going to keep working with them and I'll let you guys know how they progress this next week. As for the primary children, we went to the family home evening this week at the Primary presidents house and we left a message with them about how they can follow Jesus. They are actually very smart kids and they understand, but they're hard to get and keep calm during the lessons. We are going to keep following up with them and try to talk to them and their families together. </div>
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So that was pretty much the week. For general conference I watched the sessions in english with all the american elders. I think my favorite talk was Elder Ballard from the priesthood session -- since he directed it to basically my age group it helped me know better what I need to do when I get home and how to keep up the spiritual strength. But honestly, I loved every single talk. I already put them on a memory card to start listening to them today. This next P-day we'll be going to the temple (for the last time :( ) so I'm not sure if I'll email you guys next Monday or Tuesday. But I'm glad to hear that everything is going alright and that you guys are doing well. Thanks for all the love, support and prayers for me, my comp, and our investigators. I know that this is the Lord's work and that His church is on the earth. He leads it through His chosen prophet Thomas S. Monson. I'm grateful to God to be living in this era and to be born in a family so amazing and wonderful to have brought me up to learn and know these truths. Have a great week!</div>
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With love,</div>
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Elder Schwartz</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzEhCQ44V2_5WaxpuRdYdyrddgvRwl_7tJzFEvwDw5lU97-RdSKV62xKLj08_tcfEVF_ogpjT909SBJl1_sXK0PFg2kGdejNsihLigqquXV9Ct9_D4w_68ETb1VK1XDpw1pbauvs5Wq8-9/s1600/Foto0199.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzEhCQ44V2_5WaxpuRdYdyrddgvRwl_7tJzFEvwDw5lU97-RdSKV62xKLj08_tcfEVF_ogpjT909SBJl1_sXK0PFg2kGdejNsihLigqquXV9Ct9_D4w_68ETb1VK1XDpw1pbauvs5Wq8-9/s1600/Foto0199.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Members of the ward have a picnic between conference sessions</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNhryHXmgUGMr-11JZiF8dGgiz4bCD5NBhkFz2OtteOsXkeDhIuYYGZdwJ-2wQgum86Ok2e7dVFkkHkpO5HpHulOj3BQV3FrpgnkBbIDcMcVUh43vtpzy2-PewsHhJjGnmBf7csmdNhOFh/s1600/Foto0198.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNhryHXmgUGMr-11JZiF8dGgiz4bCD5NBhkFz2OtteOsXkeDhIuYYGZdwJ-2wQgum86Ok2e7dVFkkHkpO5HpHulOj3BQV3FrpgnkBbIDcMcVUh43vtpzy2-PewsHhJjGnmBf7csmdNhOFh/s1600/Foto0198.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some yummy fish! (even with the head still on...)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_ZzpFEwHuXGdZq8Q75dw1qSSGKGsRtIjkB6obZTIMjjXNaOrmXTRZfOwiCQBm9XpKBQCZZZen7iRzqjPlCJ4APxRg8-d_KgKPTlwWlgfczzroPNK0-2fC12aq0aQ_zj6vBQigR87afmjX/s1600/IMG_0083%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_ZzpFEwHuXGdZq8Q75dw1qSSGKGsRtIjkB6obZTIMjjXNaOrmXTRZfOwiCQBm9XpKBQCZZZen7iRzqjPlCJ4APxRg8-d_KgKPTlwWlgfczzroPNK0-2fC12aq0aQ_zj6vBQigR87afmjX/s1600/IMG_0083%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yummy "star fruits"</td></tr>
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April 13, 2015</div>
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Dear Family!<br />
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So I'm going to write you guys a little message today and maybe tomorrow as well. So like I said last week, we are going to go to the temple, so they let us write a little today and tomorrow. But it's good to hear that you guys had a nice camping trip and that you guys had a some sweet adventures down by Monterey. A really beautiful spot and some great scenery. </div>
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So for us this week was good. It was hard, but we were blessed this week. It was hard because we had a lot of difficulty finding the new investigators that we found last week, at home. We had a lot of appointments fall through, and this week the majority of the days were all full. But we didn't give up and the Lord really blessed us with investigators that are progressing. We started to use our area book and we decided to visit some of the investigators that were taught previously and had progressed but weren't baptized for some reason. So through that we now have two investigators that we are preparing to be baptized. They may even be baptized this coming weekend. Their names are Jessica and the other is Jefferson. Jessica had been to church a lot, we got in contact with her this week and she expressed that she really enjoys the church and the things that she learns and how it is calmer and more peaceful than the other churches that she had been to. She is really intelligent, really the only thing that holds her back is to make the decision to be baptized. So we are going to follow up with her today and if she is prepared we'll arrange an interview for her this week for her baptism. And as for Jefferson, we found him before conference, we actually found him because missionaries had already taught his sister, so we went to find his sister but she wasn't home and he said that we could leave a message with him. He's shown great interest in the church and the Book of Mormon. He and Jessica both came to church yesterday and they both had good experiences.</div>
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We had other good experiences this week. I'll try to send another email with the rest of the details of my week tomorrow, but this is pretty much the big highlights of the week. I love you guys. I'm loving this mission and the opportunity to serve and represent Christ. Thanks for all the love and support.</div>
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xoxoxo,</div>
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Elder Schwartz<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidtl1AMwcYt6doTdeKMyBnCYVuq0F_-mbLxMi2Ln5SkOSr4d1H4-L4yJsikiENftB-MtLTM3NrGiwNnl6nEyesCFhO561qzGgeZu0lImoJWLRegBXPyU7hTee8Wc94Rvkc51av-zJecQCs/s1600/new+pic+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidtl1AMwcYt6doTdeKMyBnCYVuq0F_-mbLxMi2Ln5SkOSr4d1H4-L4yJsikiENftB-MtLTM3NrGiwNnl6nEyesCFhO561qzGgeZu0lImoJWLRegBXPyU7hTee8Wc94Rvkc51av-zJecQCs/s1600/new+pic+2.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the BK with a clown and a giraffe</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrx3dsjqYQOgIrTpyH5yrC6ZSGyU2RSbWv1VYXKylGKZPWfAUI4OXDgTOxIDZcC-sNLv-WBVOggviZqbdQoYtd_-XGuLa6DMUyoIAQYtkaiRNRny65NbO8K8Z_qg7ok_zlU9fUJ_ZiAJ2k/s1600/new+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrx3dsjqYQOgIrTpyH5yrC6ZSGyU2RSbWv1VYXKylGKZPWfAUI4OXDgTOxIDZcC-sNLv-WBVOggviZqbdQoYtd_-XGuLa6DMUyoIAQYtkaiRNRny65NbO8K8Z_qg7ok_zlU9fUJ_ZiAJ2k/s1600/new+pic.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With our district....</td></tr>
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kurtpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16275106272265621635noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541228130904054602.post-8607015372049310012015-02-25T09:47:00.002-08:002015-02-25T09:48:40.873-08:00January and February -- Olavo and Maxwel's Baptism, P-days, and Transfers...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTaD56woCi33o9lVmqudQaqH3wQiZLayG-kRJ6qKkdPXVIUt0-TJ0vc3IX0y5a268ym6KOeTDnTLnZbxR3bN1CHZnnU6O-GomODlAMph5FBn1vxdEAOHkrNjZt4v8nCcw1VGIyaCJpULOS/s1600/IMG_0037%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTaD56woCi33o9lVmqudQaqH3wQiZLayG-kRJ6qKkdPXVIUt0-TJ0vc3IX0y5a268ym6KOeTDnTLnZbxR3bN1CHZnnU6O-GomODlAMph5FBn1vxdEAOHkrNjZt4v8nCcw1VGIyaCJpULOS/s1600/IMG_0037%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Olavo's Baptism</td></tr>
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January 26, 2015<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;"> So I guess the most exciting news of the week is that Olavo got baptized! He was interviewed during the week, and had all the lessons taught, and we held the baptismal service an hour before church, and he was confirmed on the same day. He chose me to baptize him which was a great honor, and he chose Elder Maits to do the confirmation. It was a really special service. We had good member support there, and even those that didn't know about the baptismal service, got to see it as the room that has the baptismal font, is also where the relief society meets. </span><br />
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So this week started out great, as we had a meeting with all the district leaders in the mission again to learn some new techniques and practices that I feel are really going to help this mission grow. I'm so happy I have the privilege to be a part of the best mission in the world :). It was a really edifying meeting. </div>
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This week I also had the opportunity to go on a division with the zone leaders. This time I went into their area, which is the area in the mission with the worst hills, but my knees are doing fine and I handled it. I got to work with Elder Polatis, who is from Idaho. It was a good division. We got a lot of good work done, all the while Elder Maits was with Elder Frost doing Olavo's interview. </div>
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We have been finding new investigators and we are starting to work with a family where a young woman is a member who is coming back to church, and we are teaching her mom and husband. This week is going to be starting off well as tonight we are going to be having a family home evening with them at another member's house. I hope that you guys are getting excited to see all the wonderful things that I'm experiencing here in Brazil. I love you guys and I'm grateful for all the things you have done for me to get me here. I know that this really is the Lord's work and it is a privelige to share the blessings of the restored gospel with all these good brother's and sisters. I hope you guys have a good week and I'll look forward to hearing from you again on Monday!</div>
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Love,</div>
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Elder Schwartz</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA2BhXoZ46y3YTD97Ramhy_AlSqEvD23iAeHg5NndfPM5j6d_bnFEQf6VHdUQwkY2-xfHSJ5E_uF5rYMFtPVMklr2I_iLMY9IE1hHfQgpEORqkBD9DnyLn4mGouOGip3-z5k_d4eh000Mx/s1600/IMG_0036%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA2BhXoZ46y3YTD97Ramhy_AlSqEvD23iAeHg5NndfPM5j6d_bnFEQf6VHdUQwkY2-xfHSJ5E_uF5rYMFtPVMklr2I_iLMY9IE1hHfQgpEORqkBD9DnyLn4mGouOGip3-z5k_d4eh000Mx/s1600/IMG_0036%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Olavo's Family</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maxwel's Baptism with Elder Maits</td></tr>
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February 2, 2015</div>
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So the Patriots won the super bowl huh? That's good, anything so that those seahawks don't win than I'm happy....hahaha.</div>
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Well for Elder Maits and me this week went by well. We are working with Maxwel and Olavo to firm them up a little bit and to get them better integrated, and we are also starting to focus more on helping their families go to church now. Maxwel has a younger sister named Giovanna that is 10 years old who we have started teaching. And we are trying to get Olavo to bring his other family members too. We also found an awesome family who actually have one member that is a member of the church and served a mission but he lives in the interior of the state. And the kids are adolescent and don't know anything about the church. So we had a really sweet first lesson with them and we are going to keep teaching them during the week. Also, at church this Sunday, a recent convert brought a lot of family members to church, some cousins and her mom. Her mom even got up to bear her testimony during sacrament meeting. It was a miracle too because we weren't able to bring any of our investigators to church. </div>
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So that was pretty much the work week. This P-day we ate barbeque together and now we're about to go to play some sports at the stake center as a zone. Elder Maits is dong well. He understands basically everything and is really self-sufficient in portuguese now. Next week we're going to go to the temple so I think I might be emailing some other day but be prepared on Monday. </div>
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Well, I love you guys. I'm doing great out here. We're working hard and doing our best. I'm going to give it all I got for the time that I've got left. You only serve a mission once, right? I know this is the Lord's work. I know that He is preparing people for us to teach and baptize. I know that His Church his on the earth and I'm so thankful for the restoration of the gospel. Until next week!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbsJBIn9kHVJiI47bJVdzrMquZpGmODl9s5yA0-o8ttHGnEkN3CZbPNObPGD138YI0egSabhgjrCEpBZRRbWjkEfsSM5DsIdYTBH8wzZAGZnwVW8qIEzBYPodFajdhVzwlNfSF8ayf6tiw/s1600/IMG_0051%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbsJBIn9kHVJiI47bJVdzrMquZpGmODl9s5yA0-o8ttHGnEkN3CZbPNObPGD138YI0egSabhgjrCEpBZRRbWjkEfsSM5DsIdYTBH8wzZAGZnwVW8qIEzBYPodFajdhVzwlNfSF8ayf6tiw/s1600/IMG_0051%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH4xPMXgwjX062zcLglXJfMPONGpbIeAz6O7wBI-A4AQWGzDfSpUhAvlI0djkn-NVk_bhrZOhCOkLg99Lu1WQTxcNHxDMbdbijbH1E1NRMF3YSMM92fiiIpPLUHqqDBz_ynjktX_Bp0v1k/s1600/IMG_0055%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH4xPMXgwjX062zcLglXJfMPONGpbIeAz6O7wBI-A4AQWGzDfSpUhAvlI0djkn-NVk_bhrZOhCOkLg99Lu1WQTxcNHxDMbdbijbH1E1NRMF3YSMM92fiiIpPLUHqqDBz_ynjktX_Bp0v1k/s1600/IMG_0055%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">P-day Barbecue. Yum!</td></tr>
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February 9, 2015</div>
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I think this is the first time I write you guys before you guys write to me! Haha, probably because of what I said last week concerning the temple. So yeah we are going to the temple tomorrow, but because our area is far away we don't have time to do email tomorrow so we are doing it today.<br />
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Well I hope you guys had a good week. I got Mom's picture of Phil back at home which was good to see. Our week was really good here. Well, it's always good when you on the Lord's errand. This week we had a few days that were hard on us, because we started doing a lot of contacts and finding new investigators and when we went to the appointments we marked, the address didn't exist, or the person wasn't home, or was busy or something else. So that was kind of frustrating for us but we worked hard and we had success. We started teaching Maxwel's sister I think I said in another email and she is ELECT. She's 10 years old, but still for a 10 year old, she's super firm. She understands the lessons, she is keeping commitments. Even when we challenged her to read a chapter of the Book of Mormon each day, and she asked "Instead of just reading one chapter, can I read two?" YES. and even though Maxwel wasn't able to go to church because of work, a member who lives close by picked her up and took her to church. She has a date for the 22nd of this month. We have transfers next tuesday as well so I don't know If I'll be here for the baptism but we'll see what happens.</div>
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We spent the week following up with Olavo as well, teaching him the lessons again. And we also got some good work done with less-actives and managed to bring a brother named Sebastião who hadn't been to church in a long time, come back this Sunday. He has some physcological issues and depression so he has to take some pretty strong medicine but he remembers a lot of people and loved going this Sunday. </div>
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Another investigator that we have that is close to baptism is the mother in a part-member family. Her name is Lindaura, her daughter, Jaqueline, is a member and we have been working with them for the past few weeks. A really good family and we are planning on the 22nd as well for her baptism. </div>
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And all in all, the work is going well here. Elder Maits is doing fine. We're working well together and we're both pushing to have success and build up the Lord's kingdom here. I really know that this is His work. We do it His way. I know that He has His hand in everything that we are doing. I know He knows and loves each of us individually and blesses us. We just have to act to receive those blessings. I love you guys and hope you guys have a good week. </div>
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Love,</div>
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Elder Schwartz</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4GFpH2spY01Lk_qFU4aiJ7JUgcCg4U6Y4W5u8bzepmFHForW7_KWy_HDiZnhJYaWsXY-Alcer4TUVTwNZ-J2wfgU5evFCMJ33FfofDnwNkgbVDM9Dagz4CzpGeO2VO2rOKxESswj05cal/s1600/IMG_0024%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4GFpH2spY01Lk_qFU4aiJ7JUgcCg4U6Y4W5u8bzepmFHForW7_KWy_HDiZnhJYaWsXY-Alcer4TUVTwNZ-J2wfgU5evFCMJ33FfofDnwNkgbVDM9Dagz4CzpGeO2VO2rOKxESswj05cal/s1600/IMG_0024%5B1%5D.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">P-Day</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_v7kkFlReiPSKuKX45THy91uXvFmxBIWToWMO6ardkqEWZ84mmcIrCmGa8QdwQXeN7A8uRvNoFPDvORpKslRqKe5M9Sg0m135IRanJyMNrqtOFB8YpveOB0loUp7cLQ8HkzbeA4jAEhUl/s1600/IMG_0028%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_v7kkFlReiPSKuKX45THy91uXvFmxBIWToWMO6ardkqEWZ84mmcIrCmGa8QdwQXeN7A8uRvNoFPDvORpKslRqKe5M9Sg0m135IRanJyMNrqtOFB8YpveOB0loUp7cLQ8HkzbeA4jAEhUl/s1600/IMG_0028%5B1%5D.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still Reppin' our boys in Orange....</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsbrwy36QamTzrbN6wCNtLrXKrdArDp0vWFqIIbpik_kpJDTSWO-ofDy2kMv8ny1G3WAy3fH4CP8mVviIIiyPUrydp-v2l9XrDa14iWCrnlplTCR6F2Oi-vN6GarEAWsqB_99Psz_-eKLy/s1600/IMG_0030%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsbrwy36QamTzrbN6wCNtLrXKrdArDp0vWFqIIbpik_kpJDTSWO-ofDy2kMv8ny1G3WAy3fH4CP8mVviIIiyPUrydp-v2l9XrDa14iWCrnlplTCR6F2Oi-vN6GarEAWsqB_99Psz_-eKLy/s1600/IMG_0030%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">District on P-day</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh673fiBX7CWuolH9etYrIltR_AdavL03M-BR4-FBso6jH3bRMMQoCDtYWkNslRDx7N-vq8hsjuomQ0ROPs7_Beu8A8etLx2RTWPD165NpbrZLEWE-wh3o-llucanZ_fqZLVWYbYbuoY3mV/s1600/IMG_0031%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh673fiBX7CWuolH9etYrIltR_AdavL03M-BR4-FBso6jH3bRMMQoCDtYWkNslRDx7N-vq8hsjuomQ0ROPs7_Beu8A8etLx2RTWPD165NpbrZLEWE-wh3o-llucanZ_fqZLVWYbYbuoY3mV/s1600/IMG_0031%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great Views of P-day</td></tr>
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February 16, 2015</div>
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So I'm writing once again before you guys ahah. Well I hope that you guys had good week this week. Well the reason that I'm writing early again is because President called me and Elder Maits in to the office to talk with us so we're going there in a little bit. So it was the last week of the transfer for us. We still don't know what's going to happen because they haven't made the transfer calls yet but if anything I'll find out later today and you guys will know next week what happened. </div>
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So for us this week we kept working with Geovana and Lindaura and firming them up for baptism for this Saturday. They both came to church and they have interviews marked this week. Also Maxwell got the priesthood yesterday and he's going to be the one to baptize his sister. We're really excited for all the success that we are having. The Lord really has been blessing us. We haven't really been able to see that family that I told you guys about this past week but we are going to keep trying. This week we actually found a few more families that we are going to start teaching. We're pretty excited. I'm going to be sad if I get transferred because the work here is going really well. But I'm willing to do whatever the Lord expects of me. </div>
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So this past weekend was Carnaval weekend and there was a huge carnaval parade going on in front of the other Elder's house. So we had to take a few precautions but it was pretty much the same as last year. There weren't a lot of people on the streets and it was hard to get some lessons in because everyone (I guess) was at the parade. Nothing too crazy happened. </div>
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Anyways Family I hope you guys are doing well and that you guys are getting ready to come to the best mission in the world. I love you guys!! Until next week!</div>
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Love,</div>
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Elder Schwartz </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZjDqF5b_gyU8T1cDBrpmwOEXeklYQ_CeHlP4DHqtrNaGDoZVsIq2WivOUPso0ggObbEXH03eJ_Y0f6-WmtjZf4w75CCMbIBr3l55my85NYtkc8-KEj_iEH0mO8N7dRlCzKZs9QOjUCbW2/s1600/IMG_0066%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZjDqF5b_gyU8T1cDBrpmwOEXeklYQ_CeHlP4DHqtrNaGDoZVsIq2WivOUPso0ggObbEXH03eJ_Y0f6-WmtjZf4w75CCMbIBr3l55my85NYtkc8-KEj_iEH0mO8N7dRlCzKZs9QOjUCbW2/s1600/IMG_0066%5B1%5D.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mom and Dad, are you sure you want to travel by public transportation?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfEM55-o0GkjEbe30ir0aSBb70cTE21VPHplsixhY5eHIQvGyOpbB8ZUDSyAZLgA0C0FGhDYQVRQ_6vivLT7798449Ge-6wJAMSNTOs2gQSjmzkMRtIhEKacyFPKAJPr882RZAF7TaDPna/s1600/IMG_0065%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfEM55-o0GkjEbe30ir0aSBb70cTE21VPHplsixhY5eHIQvGyOpbB8ZUDSyAZLgA0C0FGhDYQVRQ_6vivLT7798449Ge-6wJAMSNTOs2gQSjmzkMRtIhEKacyFPKAJPr882RZAF7TaDPna/s1600/IMG_0065%5B1%5D.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our District</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaeo5zSYElJfAm3bcvprnojKXvd0lbdajOe2NQV8mIY3vZcI5YH0-BxLtxmwZX_AD1S64LvS2ANrlSEjTJU7YevYBXMvOoqv8XNOLsSUVfOTzDZrqczJr98z4VYOeJX13Mxj291g9vuynO/s1600/IMG_0060%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaeo5zSYElJfAm3bcvprnojKXvd0lbdajOe2NQV8mIY3vZcI5YH0-BxLtxmwZX_AD1S64LvS2ANrlSEjTJU7YevYBXMvOoqv8XNOLsSUVfOTzDZrqczJr98z4VYOeJX13Mxj291g9vuynO/s1600/IMG_0060%5B1%5D.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great time at Family Home Evening activity....</td></tr>
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February 23, 2015</div>
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My dearest family and friends!<br />
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Well I guess you guys are curious about the whole transfer news and interview with President. So first off, I got TRANSFERRED! And Elder Maits stayed in Jd. Pilar as a Junior companion. And I got sent to be a district leader and open an area with Elder Diaz. Elder Diaz is from Peru and he is an awesome missionary. He as about a year and 8 months on the mission so he's already an experienced missionary. So by open an area, I mean that they had a companionship here and one went home at the conclusion of his mission and the other got transferred, so we're here basically starting with very investigators or families to work with in the area. But we had a really great first week. I'm serving in a ward called Vila das Mercês and I'm in Zona Parque Bristol. So I'm back in the big city. My area is relatively small compared to my last area and it actually has some pretty steep hills but I'm taking better care of my knees so I'm not to worried for these last two transfers. As for the interview with President, we just talked about how I can reach my potential as a missionary, so that we can reach our goals as a mission. It was good. It really pumped me up for the transfer and the new area. </div>
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So we had transfers on Tuesday, and we were lucky because our new bishop showed up to transfers to give us a ride and bring our bags to our house. His name is Julio and he is amazing and has been helping us out a lot since we got here. So the Elders that were here before actually had a baptism the Sunday before transfers of a kid named Anderson. He's 22 and he's a stud. We met him this week and we started teaching him and preparing to receive the Holy Ghost and then the priesthood. Anderson actually played a key role this last Sunday because our chapel is pretty far to travel for most of our members, so all the members with cars stop by other members' and investigators' houses to pick them up and Anderson has a car and he helped bring some investigators to church. </div>
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As for the work week, we spent most of our time doing street contacts and getting new investigators. We also have been working to get in contact with the investigators that the other elders left for us. We managed to get a young woman named Raiza and her friend Barbara to church. We also managed to bring a less active young man named Edson and his nonmember younger brother Enzo. We had some pretty good success for our first week and we are going to be working with these people and finding others to teach and baptize. </div>
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So we're living in a house of four missionaries. The other two missionaries are Elder Starr and Elder Frost (a different Elder Frost) and they're pretty sweet. They are serving in Jardim Botânico which used to be the old assistants' area. </div>
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And as for me, I'm pretty excited for this transfer. This is most likely going to be my last area so I'm going to work my hardest and do everything I can to bring our Heavenly Father's children to the joy of His gospel. I'm glad to see that everything is going great with you guys and Phil at home and Nate tearin it up at BYU. AND WHEN DID JACKSON GET SO BIG?!?!?! Seriously that's crazy....I'm old now..... </div>
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Anyways my dear family. I love you guys and I'm praying for you guys. I know that this is the Lord's work and Elder Diaz and I are working to be instruments in His hands and so He can bring forth MIRACLES. Thanks for all the prayers, love, and support.</div>
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LOVE,</div>
<div>
Elder Schwartz </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ruRtHCBWsuKEAch6URPUxZNzZbQAlTXrcOoPDIJovT1op2YgjTvRk_FRHkr6__gJqIYii5tc0jWKXyr0egjxPwjZ1kC_3aXiDl5sxf7GYHjZLw_pj7kwU3in-0ZxsM0nX8swqMOxsbB9/s1600/IMG_0072%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ruRtHCBWsuKEAch6URPUxZNzZbQAlTXrcOoPDIJovT1op2YgjTvRk_FRHkr6__gJqIYii5tc0jWKXyr0egjxPwjZ1kC_3aXiDl5sxf7GYHjZLw_pj7kwU3in-0ZxsM0nX8swqMOxsbB9/s1600/IMG_0072%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New apartment with Elders Starr, Frost, and Diaz</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOdzdq7n2Dszh0OcfFtcNyQjPBddom8rF73grl6xMWdQlJXgoukceLDk7MQystePQZebH9fDiy9U-D9MRFxe4ZRA4eiVafQyYxsENoXEcdb82HJm1e7V7BrO6sth3ypHXITtQZQ0g7hv6m/s1600/DSCN1207%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOdzdq7n2Dszh0OcfFtcNyQjPBddom8rF73grl6xMWdQlJXgoukceLDk7MQystePQZebH9fDiy9U-D9MRFxe4ZRA4eiVafQyYxsENoXEcdb82HJm1e7V7BrO6sth3ypHXITtQZQ0g7hv6m/s1600/DSCN1207%5B1%5D.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zone picture - prior zone....</td></tr>
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kurtpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16275106272265621635noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541228130904054602.post-43920185001980632452015-01-21T09:15:00.001-08:002015-01-21T09:15:57.152-08:00Christmas, New Years, and Beyond.....in Brazil<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6OSTaRiVnJUYeB4q-Qr8WqbHtR8V5BCrabgVA4Qaz_njWOwLBWW2_8zCKeh4yTilCFEfmsdP8GP2zPGtorbZuUpBofJhQR-E6JCodfRvRHXrR_31t4i2Fv9G87P14uJ1k8sfv7Fl72CIn/s1600/photo+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6OSTaRiVnJUYeB4q-Qr8WqbHtR8V5BCrabgVA4Qaz_njWOwLBWW2_8zCKeh4yTilCFEfmsdP8GP2zPGtorbZuUpBofJhQR-E6JCodfRvRHXrR_31t4i2Fv9G87P14uJ1k8sfv7Fl72CIn/s1600/photo+2.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Merry Christmas from Elder Schwartz</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">December 15, 2014</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">Dear Family!</span><br />
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So we just made the song for the christmas album here in the LAN House. Sorry if the quality isn't that good. We sang, "O Come All Ye Faithful," which I think no one else in the family did. So, I hope you guys like it. <i>(Schwartz Family Christmas album, volume 2 was being produced for Christmas 2014, so even Elder Andrew participated -- for the full album, go to the iTunes Store....just kidding)</i>. </div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUREEST_xdM" target="_blank">Click here to see the video of Elder Schwartz and Elder Maits singing a hymn in Portugese.</a></div>
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I'm also pretty much out of time, because today actually isn't P-day. We're going to go to the temple tomorrow, which is exciting. It will be Elder Mait's first session in Portuguese. It's good to hear that you guys are doing great, and are getting ready for Christmas. We'll plan to talk/Skype on Christmas Day around noon your time.....</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGS_B70hgunJr9KzPI5js6K0fgn8oIKAy82ngo7ZZLEeC-08EHJtdSa66TuadVoP-m52sJ2k7o2CPc8BcvTKq5Dw2EUqvpD4wq2oLECeZmkZxXAu1d5LFyBZkwigsgFaYDOtBgLL1Pp4fS/s1600/IMG_0041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGS_B70hgunJr9KzPI5js6K0fgn8oIKAy82ngo7ZZLEeC-08EHJtdSa66TuadVoP-m52sJ2k7o2CPc8BcvTKq5Dw2EUqvpD4wq2oLECeZmkZxXAu1d5LFyBZkwigsgFaYDOtBgLL1Pp4fS/s1600/IMG_0041.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Maits and Elder Schwartz at the Temple</td></tr>
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Anyways the week for us was good. We got a visit from Pres. Mazzagardi (Regional Church leader) and it was amazing. I learned so much. Our investigators are doing well. Jefferson went to church! But he won't be able go in the next few weeks because he's going to another state for Christmas. But all in all, things are going great. I miss and love you guys. I'm super excited to talk to you guys next week. Prepare yourselves!!!</div>
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Love,</div>
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Elder Schwartz</div>
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December 23, 2014</div>
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Hey Family!<div>
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Update. Yes I got the package. THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU.</div>
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I'm just writing a quick email to confirm the skype time.</div>
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Glad to hear that you all are having a good time in Palm springs. Here, it's raining like crazy. I'll give you all the latest updates on Christmas Day :)</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuh3tRASICPxnFy0pJyZCQjpM2M3qMatOJImW8qaUJBPRSjw6RS9vqry4W6MPmMPWIC8XvhvlMF8BY1_nFq6FwEatB7eEjNEiyP3ne3019PLYEsjz7HKWyu7zfMmTGevgJoDEAzNSLHzTw/s1600/IMG_0006%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuh3tRASICPxnFy0pJyZCQjpM2M3qMatOJImW8qaUJBPRSjw6RS9vqry4W6MPmMPWIC8XvhvlMF8BY1_nFq6FwEatB7eEjNEiyP3ne3019PLYEsjz7HKWyu7zfMmTGevgJoDEAzNSLHzTw/s1600/IMG_0006%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christmas Stuff Elder Schwartz got in Brazil</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmNf9TqC3OyYbaXXvnaJAgCFMK9Spf2kowc5_sWWYMoq9hEVZ71DeAT66xwcsZtGe9vOL6N1pMHCtZxb35A52uPACaBrlqXQZYLpnN8PQSSRWNB9Qjb3dRCkA65FOC59ef83bQkHnhBy5s/s1600/IMG_0010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmNf9TqC3OyYbaXXvnaJAgCFMK9Spf2kowc5_sWWYMoq9hEVZ71DeAT66xwcsZtGe9vOL6N1pMHCtZxb35A52uPACaBrlqXQZYLpnN8PQSSRWNB9Qjb3dRCkA65FOC59ef83bQkHnhBy5s/s1600/IMG_0010.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christmas Package from Home</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcipNDn2CbBe3PqeqZZ4bRoRgV_J7AYyizi_-kUj14BCqjD_GmyREk2owBEdtI4vjTLVgxxB4cVGNUQ6RyiMS0SKHuef_pnByRs2ZUB4Ox7RmWaO6jwu2MRoXTkdpqWHabSkwc9Oic6ZNY/s1600/IMG_0011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcipNDn2CbBe3PqeqZZ4bRoRgV_J7AYyizi_-kUj14BCqjD_GmyREk2owBEdtI4vjTLVgxxB4cVGNUQ6RyiMS0SKHuef_pnByRs2ZUB4Ox7RmWaO6jwu2MRoXTkdpqWHabSkwc9Oic6ZNY/s1600/IMG_0011.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More from Home....</td></tr>
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December 25, 2014</div>
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<i>It was a wonderful Christmas Day for the Schwartz family. A long, thoroughly enjoyable visit with Elder Schwartz. He looked good and sounded good, and we loved talking to him. Here are some snapshots and a short video of the our visiting....</i></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwY9u7GpnekNYmMITcDB4pJRDDmkkrlaserYaxmZ3JDDTsxEixb8LXPaeOJWpnlKDYqFEdRUiW9_r3dGbsv3JiGL6AHc1I8U_neovVOaC9Rctyx1iZ6fbrsD3W4u0E5lHVo0P0gEhck6Pl/s1600/photo+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwY9u7GpnekNYmMITcDB4pJRDDmkkrlaserYaxmZ3JDDTsxEixb8LXPaeOJWpnlKDYqFEdRUiW9_r3dGbsv3JiGL6AHc1I8U_neovVOaC9Rctyx1iZ6fbrsD3W4u0E5lHVo0P0gEhck6Pl/s1600/photo+4.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Family gathered around the laptop, visiting with long lost brother/son....</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEuvORzgysAbZuNcKRqIpvbovRy3KH3Ku2xDewMbvUkz8-GfX7YE8gN1S2qULpiRaBZfhKm-4cRv67I7qB0iYE9RtBHnzTh3e6LanIdUAnqcbGfAKnPRFwyADC7lYce_nc2rfF2VT5oGuG/s1600/photo+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEuvORzgysAbZuNcKRqIpvbovRy3KH3Ku2xDewMbvUkz8-GfX7YE8gN1S2qULpiRaBZfhKm-4cRv67I7qB0iYE9RtBHnzTh3e6LanIdUAnqcbGfAKnPRFwyADC7lYce_nc2rfF2VT5oGuG/s1600/photo+1.JPG" height="640" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes, he did look a bit sunburned...</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgfdxJR-tLffvuBcHu25XHoyvgD2Xm9S6JLKpzmQxezQg_B300IVSSQ6b7ZIMRzNDF623zfjrz0x8J5rKxbB3bu3x6NugqoV0yxsrAgm3SrN_r59D17WruAZ8sNwSrgpvw3FGqKeNP2Chl/s1600/photo+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgfdxJR-tLffvuBcHu25XHoyvgD2Xm9S6JLKpzmQxezQg_B300IVSSQ6b7ZIMRzNDF623zfjrz0x8J5rKxbB3bu3x6NugqoV0yxsrAgm3SrN_r59D17WruAZ8sNwSrgpvw3FGqKeNP2Chl/s1600/photo+3.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can see how happy we are...</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyFFFmMF6jaB_9hlkO9WFEadfR2qpCxHvrOJJLZw_qgjKgiSa5ASiJT32UehwWUfN0_tep1_h8bkdUH_Ny4yg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw8F8Lpa5fxQjUpNA6i87F2cmk_afqVXXUKf-Ijc603DPWkQX5p9UZA-bFjATLgfIbzjbO7ASbnCvX1A7cKkKn93OqGipDLkd51XKHvaMHUopPbO_4HqP6DCy5oQrhy47tAz4sTT8qxx1k/s1600/brazil+mission+christmas+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw8F8Lpa5fxQjUpNA6i87F2cmk_afqVXXUKf-Ijc603DPWkQX5p9UZA-bFjATLgfIbzjbO7ASbnCvX1A7cKkKn93OqGipDLkd51XKHvaMHUopPbO_4HqP6DCy5oQrhy47tAz4sTT8qxx1k/s1600/brazil+mission+christmas+pic.jpg" height="640" width="546" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mission Christmas Card...hard to spot Elder Schwartz</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjO4G_lUBi-311ErTZrq4-8Y_mV4dfHVf6C6BEyuuZnUnaWcFiNRj7Q51a729f-Kj-TvBlxV2qPmHwJQT02EajuE7DcdYIRLjgX1pLRVHctGroOy3LQ2LaiPRYGtHNINuP7U6SuI_sX1nv/s1600/IMG_0050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjO4G_lUBi-311ErTZrq4-8Y_mV4dfHVf6C6BEyuuZnUnaWcFiNRj7Q51a729f-Kj-TvBlxV2qPmHwJQT02EajuE7DcdYIRLjgX1pLRVHctGroOy3LQ2LaiPRYGtHNINuP7U6SuI_sX1nv/s1600/IMG_0050.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mission Christmas Activity</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAYch4n9m5Jsno7Y4e55cOOedWzW_oKmLJiTbJtL3_22Y7xGBLzPh72oC-aDRKBvVRPtzz-GSpr0PQ8By21hCv1IC5Qc-oIqWNJkOFkBMHUGJxuBWJ9A7Iq1c0eu1EHqfJdlKzqBOrhWQb/s1600/IMG_0052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAYch4n9m5Jsno7Y4e55cOOedWzW_oKmLJiTbJtL3_22Y7xGBLzPh72oC-aDRKBvVRPtzz-GSpr0PQ8By21hCv1IC5Qc-oIqWNJkOFkBMHUGJxuBWJ9A7Iq1c0eu1EHqfJdlKzqBOrhWQb/s1600/IMG_0052.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who knows what is in that Pineapple</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFxhSUMCnsNhWSCj-49LMgSFJEcj13QHNNUvZ7WRKFgK5vGWkFhK6VQyRApPRBbnfu0e9Vpli1-Z29Xfr7bmu4ymRbPS2tWa6z6WvpYfPVGqxeeW8NYzUMnEbENJHU7X42ajdJSNUc15ak/s1600/IMG_0059.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFxhSUMCnsNhWSCj-49LMgSFJEcj13QHNNUvZ7WRKFgK5vGWkFhK6VQyRApPRBbnfu0e9Vpli1-Z29Xfr7bmu4ymRbPS2tWa6z6WvpYfPVGqxeeW8NYzUMnEbENJHU7X42ajdJSNUc15ak/s1600/IMG_0059.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Merry Christmas with President and Sister Broadbent</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZBPERU85bGEdFxDy-3JMuoFHIYJUnKkjpH3QWt-tkJ5j5xJiw8-LPMz78DTOBTaE3Yy-H0CqCJK2MG3vdtJ8CeAexYS_xERNIs8_-_Hvc-JJzVbDPHzs9toWxb95AdtdmcQe0ZVaIDgjJ/s1600/IMG_0060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZBPERU85bGEdFxDy-3JMuoFHIYJUnKkjpH3QWt-tkJ5j5xJiw8-LPMz78DTOBTaE3Yy-H0CqCJK2MG3vdtJ8CeAexYS_xERNIs8_-_Hvc-JJzVbDPHzs9toWxb95AdtdmcQe0ZVaIDgjJ/s1600/IMG_0060.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Merry Christmas with fellow missionaries</td></tr>
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December 30, 2014</div>
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Dear Family!<br /><br />Sorry, I didn't email you guys yesterday... we went to the mountains to get a view of São Paulo yesterday on P-day. And the train broke basically causing us to lose our whole P-day. So I'm going to just write you guys a quick note to say that I'm okay and I loved talking with you guys this last week. It was soooo good! </div>
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This last week was good for us. I'm probably only going to be able to send pics next week because we are at a different Lan House today which is being super slow and I have like no time. Well, the work is going good. We were able to get two investigators to come to<br />church -- Maxwell and Olavo. It looks like Maxwell is the most firm so<br />far. He's already qualified for baptism in almost all respects. </div>
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Anyways, family, my time is almost out, BUT I PROMISE SO MANY PHOTOS FOR YOU GUYS NEXT WEEK. I already filled up the card that was in the camera :) I love you guys and I know that Christ lives and that His Church is here on the Earth and we need to share His Gospel with everyone!<br /><br />Love,<br />Elder Schwartz</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQplPWW8yJRi41b3xzwwxMMOje9-bhQmfbmhGDataIQnp28su6nlsAe4KLsn7nTtYiSaZU-jFYXTySFDZU3krwFOBx1Mfu4gFept-NbZCNNdhK3GK0IfAg_sskx0K08c46T28ByLAor2Xt/s1600/IMG_0017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQplPWW8yJRi41b3xzwwxMMOje9-bhQmfbmhGDataIQnp28su6nlsAe4KLsn7nTtYiSaZU-jFYXTySFDZU3krwFOBx1Mfu4gFept-NbZCNNdhK3GK0IfAg_sskx0K08c46T28ByLAor2Xt/s1600/IMG_0017.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Overlooking the City</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirXLYRGGbr9uk12pVS0l5icWBa8YBc_U_47Kuds85hlE4dbJ4XyLxsXB7I_8IiMsG-01qwy4sSXrRy5fouuRHIa8F7DkwFBDMXGxqW0lbWUhqWNShAutP7ITItDJLaIJej6SJxGBMRLOdW/s1600/IMG_0019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirXLYRGGbr9uk12pVS0l5icWBa8YBc_U_47Kuds85hlE4dbJ4XyLxsXB7I_8IiMsG-01qwy4sSXrRy5fouuRHIa8F7DkwFBDMXGxqW0lbWUhqWNShAutP7ITItDJLaIJej6SJxGBMRLOdW/s1600/IMG_0019.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful City Street Art</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ9jj0WHli-AoTGfEuJKg90p8edTv4OeKLoTfFuNd3wQ1cFJL4pofJNI6a3I9OHV87AGLzzuiEk9JpWKlPgytMUIC_Svjl-etRwDOyPdFlbxPKFnVCGMeySG3SVahZyR1apatoyR89NQio/s1600/IMG_0001%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ9jj0WHli-AoTGfEuJKg90p8edTv4OeKLoTfFuNd3wQ1cFJL4pofJNI6a3I9OHV87AGLzzuiEk9JpWKlPgytMUIC_Svjl-etRwDOyPdFlbxPKFnVCGMeySG3SVahZyR1apatoyR89NQio/s1600/IMG_0001%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zone Getting Together....<br /></td></tr>
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<div>
January 5, 2015</div>
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My Dear Beloved Family!<div>
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<div>
WOOWWWWW...... I can't believe that you guys did that (<i>New Years Eve activity</i>) for the missionaries.... I hope they had a good time, haha. This week was good for us here. The end of the year is always pretty difficult, because everyone goes to the beach and goes and visits families in other states and basically only the elect of the elect are at home to receive us. But this week we managed to get some really good work done. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
So for us New Year's was way different than a typical missionary's day. We worked on New Year's Eve and we had to go in a little earlier than normal. So we got in at 8pm. And for New Year's day we had to start the day cleaning everything in our house, literally everything to prepare for future inspections. We later went to lunch, taught a lesson, and then we had to be in at 6 that day to do our weekly planning session. SO yeah, it was a little different than for us than for the missionaries at home. But all in all, it was good. We had really big lunches with the members but we didn't do anything super special to celebrate the new year.<br /><div>
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<div>
Elder Maits is doing well. I'm really lucky to have missionary who knows what he's doing because he's really been helping me a ton. His Portuguese is getting better and we're making plans to really get this ward on fire about sharing the gospel message. We are getting really close to baptism with a few of our investigators. Maxwel, for example has been going to church and reading the Book of Mormon and is super close to baptism. He has his baptism interview today.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We also did a better job this week contacting on the street. We focused to literally try to talk to everyone and the Lord blessed us. We have this week pretty much filled up with appointments with new investigators. And even cooler is that we are going to have a Ward activity this Friday to help members and investigators get to know each other, and we're pretty excited for that. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Oh, and in other news, we got the transfer calls on Saturday. Elder Maits and I are going to stay here in Mauá together another transfer. Some missionaries are thinking that I might die (<i>stay until time to go home</i>) here but I'm not sure. If I'm not extending my finish date, then I'll probably finish here, but if I extend, then I'll probably finish off somewhere else. We'll see...</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Well that's pretty much the week Family! Thanks for the note and all the love, support and prayers! I that this is truly the Lord's work and we are here to help others to follow our Savior. I know that he loves us and he guides us continually. I know that if we follow His example and keep His commandments we'll be blessed. I love you guys!</div>
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<div>
Love,<br />Elder Schwartz</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrb0ohO6ZO5ZtX_oqdpFFNAqODAU9I_C9AhFeaSwo3WJ-fDxDXmEmJrRg0-8YfMWvAf-rkPP1RjtwXrrTUM9FJCLnmQ0WZjrjGEWN8mw23-CggJzmAOjuFmlipjG7Lxo3FJUYG1AMyt6ih/s1600/IMG_0028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrb0ohO6ZO5ZtX_oqdpFFNAqODAU9I_C9AhFeaSwo3WJ-fDxDXmEmJrRg0-8YfMWvAf-rkPP1RjtwXrrTUM9FJCLnmQ0WZjrjGEWN8mw23-CggJzmAOjuFmlipjG7Lxo3FJUYG1AMyt6ih/s1600/IMG_0028.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Schwartz's Area Map</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipljrmbmSIkNLgmpt4WtsHhUfjfvZMMIhM8fUT1PyJ8gxHFUj77ZNUdDLgjvoTrZyggr6EZfmzh2adKLUTnDQk7I0Un_8Uxt56BgcG23Ea0cQVQeTVjM-6qHjynPafdoQAzzpWZhQ-znvA/s1600/IMG_0044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipljrmbmSIkNLgmpt4WtsHhUfjfvZMMIhM8fUT1PyJ8gxHFUj77ZNUdDLgjvoTrZyggr6EZfmzh2adKLUTnDQk7I0Un_8Uxt56BgcG23Ea0cQVQeTVjM-6qHjynPafdoQAzzpWZhQ-znvA/s1600/IMG_0044.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ward Activity</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGoY8yFJQ3PE1w3l37jYBi5KTZUGPleZ0dO54srnZb9bi7TPM3df61x_IJErOLAEqXkQC56oBXNoB0J3CGU_DQuu2iKoPo3sO1asMcl4qR2WOR7Yj-i3yWik7aPElaSpod3uUJtBtuXnTu/s1600/IMG_0048.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGoY8yFJQ3PE1w3l37jYBi5KTZUGPleZ0dO54srnZb9bi7TPM3df61x_IJErOLAEqXkQC56oBXNoB0J3CGU_DQuu2iKoPo3sO1asMcl4qR2WOR7Yj-i3yWik7aPElaSpod3uUJtBtuXnTu/s1600/IMG_0048.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cutest Ward member ever!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbJ9ekc-PLhWdgZMcQh-LdEOqHwjmDlVotDr2VfdF2j2fqF8nNQhP4s0mgRe2IppeeEja7U0sOMptNOx9Fjw7JWUxht657cUhK4P8X8LDhms0sL84Ddf83syu189ijE3OFryqaAfKNSrKn/s1600/IMG_0049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbJ9ekc-PLhWdgZMcQh-LdEOqHwjmDlVotDr2VfdF2j2fqF8nNQhP4s0mgRe2IppeeEja7U0sOMptNOx9Fjw7JWUxht657cUhK4P8X8LDhms0sL84Ddf83syu189ijE3OFryqaAfKNSrKn/s1600/IMG_0049.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Good Friend from Maua Ward</td></tr>
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January 12, 2015</div>
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<div>
Hey fam!<div>
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<div>
So this week was really good for us. So I guess the most exciting news is that Maxwel has passed his interview for baptism and has a firm date for this Saturday! He is so firm right now, we have been having some really good lessons with him and ward members. He's making friends with members in the ward and he even went to a ward activity that we had this week. I guess I kinda wanted to start with the most exciting news ahaha. </div>
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<div>
Let's see, well, this week we had a lot more member lessons and we did have many new investigators because of our hard work last week. Some of the appointments we marked fell through, which was kind of annoying, especially since this past week I thought I was literally going to be burned alive in the hot sun of Brazil. Seriously, we walked a lot and it was soooo hot. Only just a few moments ago, however, we got a huge downpour on the way to the Lan House, which is nice, because now it's a little cooler. But anyways, we managed to have sucess and endure the heat, haha. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
For example, one of the people that we went to go visit, wasn't home, but we were greeted by a nice lady named Francielle, and she accepted to hear our message. We shared about the Restoration and there was a sweet spirit in the lesson. Elder Maits and I noted how she was really paying close attention as we taught her. She wasn't able to come to church on Sunday, but we are going to be able to follow up with her and most likely have a member go with us. Lot's of miracles are happening here. </div>
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And like I said a little earlier, this week we had a ward activity. It's a new program that our ward mission leader is putting on to motivate our ward and bring their friends to activities. Our job was to share the spiritual message. And for the spiritual message I was inspired by my dear older brother Nate and we did the activity where we give out candy and each time a piece of candy was given out, I had to do push-ups, and the members liked to see me suffer at first so they all started getting candy until it got to the point where I was really struggling and even they started telling the other elders to stop giving out candy but they kept it up and I kept doing push ups. All to show how Christ suffered for something so sweet. </div>
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I need to end my message right now because I'm out of time, but I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. I know he lives. I know that His church is on the earth and that after being lost, it was restored by a prophet, by Joseph Smith. I love you guys and miss you guys. Thanks for all the love and support. I'll be sure to take lot's of pictures for you guys to see my area/investigators/adventures. Thanks for everything. Until next Monday!</div>
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Love,</div>
<div>
Elder Schwartz </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZKVgnwfU_TwnIWTJ7YCP0szl5-YLn94dLHUpWPpKvjOJQWcPEwR3C2o2dwrLTodYegQNI7FLdXHl1v_JK6mshzPOSs3b7a1zRiumWdHifZRHhqbn88eYVlHjBEMY8jQ10QqJdfH7_QfUf/s1600/Facebook+COVER+PHOTO.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZKVgnwfU_TwnIWTJ7YCP0szl5-YLn94dLHUpWPpKvjOJQWcPEwR3C2o2dwrLTodYegQNI7FLdXHl1v_JK6mshzPOSs3b7a1zRiumWdHifZRHhqbn88eYVlHjBEMY8jQ10QqJdfH7_QfUf/s1600/Facebook+COVER+PHOTO.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Go Giants!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0fwQ5sAjR56y-iOC-_xxHRkXafDdxdDdH6n0D2Xw9UnP_wzVQFfaHgjfYpMYn0F92uPDncRtRIRYVdRu59sYm3t3Ka9bPIvd0a6j9z116RbFg2eqDqsHKQeh6bVmNVxhiO-X-o4_ZCAMK/s1600/FACEBOOK+PROFILE+PIC.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0fwQ5sAjR56y-iOC-_xxHRkXafDdxdDdH6n0D2Xw9UnP_wzVQFfaHgjfYpMYn0F92uPDncRtRIRYVdRu59sYm3t3Ka9bPIvd0a6j9z116RbFg2eqDqsHKQeh6bVmNVxhiO-X-o4_ZCAMK/s1600/FACEBOOK+PROFILE+PIC.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Temple Day!</td></tr>
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January 19, 2015</div>
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<div>
Dear Family,<div>
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<div>
This week was fanatastic, Maxwel was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday! It was such a good service! The other elders in the ward, Elder Gillming and my ex-comp Elder Barreto also baptized Carla, who was the daughter of another recent convert that I taught when I was with Elder Beers. There was a lot of ward support at the service and we even had some investigators attend it. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In other news I got my "trunky" email from the mission office, which has confirmed that I am going to extend but the transfer that I am extending is going to be only a 5 week transfer -- I complete my mission on May 5th. I already forwarded the email to you guys and I already filled it out with the necessary information, and sent it back. So start preparing, and let me know when you get the information on the trip. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This week was good, we taught a lot of good lessons in and some really good finding opportunities. We also are continuing to get member support and we are firing up this ward. We are going to have another activity of integration this friday so we are excited for that. I'm kind of short on time today, so sorry if this email is short, but we went to Paranápiacaba again today with my district, and we got back just in time to shop, clean, write the "fam", and now we're going to be headed off to district meeting. Pray for us and our investigators. If everything goes right, we are going to have another investigator ready for baptism again this coming Sunday -- it's a man named Olavo that we have been teaching and he has been going to church with us regularly. I'll be sure to send you guys pics of the baptism and p-day adventure and activity and everything next week. Elder Maits is doing well. We're both really fired up and doing everything we can to have success here. Sorry for the short email. I love you guys and hope that you all have a great week.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Love,</div>
<div>
Elder Schwartz</div>
</div>
</div>
kurtpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16275106272265621635noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541228130904054602.post-56498102408463195072014-12-13T12:36:00.001-08:002014-12-13T13:09:12.953-08:00November, December in Maua<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtnYQImblsVoxz_D-MUXCXs0SIYfD74xYrsvdzH0pZb1nCCB_HFfmQMjyIoKzsN8bcORTny5hSCfp2nbakmerUp-7E7_Td28pwLXgk_CPy9t3Xi4puJcl_8ukqyY89_0OEd0pVyc6oRdAZ/s1600/SAM_0637.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtnYQImblsVoxz_D-MUXCXs0SIYfD74xYrsvdzH0pZb1nCCB_HFfmQMjyIoKzsN8bcORTny5hSCfp2nbakmerUp-7E7_Td28pwLXgk_CPy9t3Xi4puJcl_8ukqyY89_0OEd0pVyc6oRdAZ/s1600/SAM_0637.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset in Maua</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5drSh3sCeWgAAzV-q39CT3toq-66NhvGFROj3zoj4bdi9vN0tU_Y9OzlnomYhwRFYMTXeOawoXKVhcaZKhStmz4ZjEDdtAIwnnrMydeq84oNxGl91sDz84sU85Fku61P92jP51CRM4pno/s1600/SAM_0641.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5drSh3sCeWgAAzV-q39CT3toq-66NhvGFROj3zoj4bdi9vN0tU_Y9OzlnomYhwRFYMTXeOawoXKVhcaZKhStmz4ZjEDdtAIwnnrMydeq84oNxGl91sDz84sU85Fku61P92jP51CRM4pno/s1600/SAM_0641.jpeg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maua</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXKZktcl7ZLla2kgCysR7enGpxzwGAEuaBOBWJC_omgY1BkyxaSp38uaWS5dh4WTyICVh44nakDfhJgIEjj1TPqulebs1KbwFUfgpLMJZs-MSRDTN-H0bIya-rzXwgYGa99qthwwej4_Sz/s1600/SAM_0657.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXKZktcl7ZLla2kgCysR7enGpxzwGAEuaBOBWJC_omgY1BkyxaSp38uaWS5dh4WTyICVh44nakDfhJgIEjj1TPqulebs1KbwFUfgpLMJZs-MSRDTN-H0bIya-rzXwgYGa99qthwwej4_Sz/s1600/SAM_0657.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Closest Elder Schwartz can get to a World Series Celebration in Brazil</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">November 3, 2014</span><br />
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All I have to say is....GO GIANTS!!!! I didn't hear about the results until I read your email because no one here pays attention to american baseball. BUT WOOOHOOOO!!!! That's so excitning to hear. Does that mean Giants' presents for Christmas from Grandma again? hahaha. </div>
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That's cool that you guys had a little visit from Nate this weekend. By the way is he married yet? I want neices and nephews......</div>
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So the week here went really good. I guess the most exciting news happened right after I emailed you guys last week. We got a phone call from a member family that invited us to a family home evening. And at the family home evening they invited a girl and her family. So it turns out that this girl, Nicholy, has been investigating the church for almost a whole year, and she has decided to be baptized a long time ago but her parents didn't give permission. And about a month and a half ago she got hospitalized and the family passed through a lot of difficulties. There were a lot of prayers and fasting for this family and finally she got out and last Monday I finally got to meet them because Elder Beers already knew the situation. So the parents are now letting her be baptized and they are now starting to investigate the church. How cool is that?</div>
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Let's see this week we also had our interviews with President Broadbent, which went really well. He talked to me about what he expects me to do in training this new missionary and how I'm going to help him adjust to a new mission and things like that. So the official date my new missionary comes will be the 11th of November. So Happy Birthday Mom and Dad, I'm having a son (missionary speak for new missionary)...hahaha! He also talked about the possibility my group having the opportunity to extend our missions beyond March 31st, but he said that it isn't a sure thing yet, so I'll keep you guys updated. </div>
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As for our other investigators, Demetrius is doing good. We had a really really really good lesson with him about the plan of salvation and he had a lot of good questions and really has a desire to learn more.</div>
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That is pretty much everything. I'm loving the ward here. OH, I remember now, we actually got a super good referral from a member. A guy who is going to help us out with the Mormon Helping Hands project that we are going to have this Saturday. His name is Osmar and he is a Mason (whoa!) and he is basically the King Lamoni of the area. He's into politics here, he even ran for City Council and amost won his first time running. Anyways we got to meet him this week as we gave him invitations to pass out for the Mormon Helping Hands activity and this week we're going to see him again to give him more invites and share a message with him. If everything works out. We got ourselves the conversion of the Lamanite people here in Mauá -- hahah.</div>
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<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">
I love you guys. I miss you all. Keep firm, keep the faith. Keep smiling and be happy. I learned another lesson this week. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has all the resources and tools that are necessary for God's children to apply the fullness of Jesus Christ's Atonement. What a blessing to be apart of and to share this with others. I love you. Until next week!</div>
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<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">
November 10, 2014</div>
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<div>
Well firstly I wanna tell you guys that I made my decision. So the extension thing is not a sure thing yet, but if I'm asked to, I'm going to do it. I've prayed and meditated and gave a lot of thought to it and I feel that it would be best for me to extend if I am actually asked to do so. I figure that I only get one chance to be a full-time missionary, one chance to focus 100% on the things that matter most, so why not? So I'm not really sure if it is going to happen, but if it does, I'm going to extend. (It will be extending from March 31 until possibly mid-May, if it happens).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Let's see, so this week was really good for us here. We saw a lot of good progress and we had some awesome fruits as we had six investigators at church this Sunday. What a blessing right?!? It's awesome, because half of them came from what is going to be my area. So me and my son (new missionary) are going to be hitting the ground running. This week we actually worked a little more in my area than we have been so I got to know it a little better and started establishing a better teaching pool. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So you liked the little messages I posted on Family Search? haha! Well, the whole story with that was that we were in the Stake Center and Elder Beers was doing a baptismal interview for the sisters in our district and there was a brother that was head of the family history center of the stake there so he asked me if I wanted to check out my family tree. That's when I started looking at the pictures (of Grandpa Schwartz and Uncle Charlie, and pops and your brothers and grandpa) and other memories of ancestors and things like that so I decided to make a little comment ahahah. It was cool to look at the tree. I tried to see how far back I could get with known ancestors. I got all the way to an ancestor born in 1510 but I don't know if that's the farthest yet. It was a pretty cool expereice.</div>
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Also this week we had that Mormon Helping Hands activity that I told you guys about. So we particpated with that on Saturday. Elder Beers and I helped out teaching in the English class that was being offered. It was a cool expereince, a lot of the students were people that normally go to the English classes offered, with a few other new people. It seems that it was a good sucess and we even got a few investigators to go and check out what the church offers. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8M60wTqUyYUXfbUYH0ptEF45WgPZTmVXLUchHKsJxZ5yTVMIKF-dMntp0phDcBsl8FKbce_WJUXmaf1Am4pAiBTCCIDzv-rFocYmL9NEjoFtZ5fGyQ31CtbF1M5_7BNAcEv98kakIoROR/s1600/SAM_0658.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8M60wTqUyYUXfbUYH0ptEF45WgPZTmVXLUchHKsJxZ5yTVMIKF-dMntp0phDcBsl8FKbce_WJUXmaf1Am4pAiBTCCIDzv-rFocYmL9NEjoFtZ5fGyQ31CtbF1M5_7BNAcEv98kakIoROR/s1600/SAM_0658.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">English Class</td></tr>
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So tomorrow on your guy's birthday, my new missionary comes and I'm super excited to show him all the wonderful things that Brazil has to offer. It will be a good experience. This upcoming week we are also going to have zone conference which will be a good experience to hear from President Broadbent and see what direction we will be taking here in the best mission in the world....haha. </div>
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Well, thanks so much for the update on everything and the prayers and the love that you guys send me. I'm grateful for you guys and all that you do to support me. I'm grateful for the priviledge to serve the Lord here. I know that he is helping my constantly and that he really loves me too. Thanks for everything that you guys do for me!!! Have a great week and know that I love and miss you all!!</div>
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November 17, 2014</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">P-day in <span style="font-size: 18px; text-align: start;">Paranapiacaba</span></td></tr>
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So my time is really short today becuase we went on a cool p-day trip to a place in the mission called Paranapiacaba which is like a small tourist village that has some cool hiking places. Elder Beers and I and our two companions went there for their first P-day in our area here in Sao Paulo. So I guess you guys want to know about my new comp. Well, his name is Elder Maits. He's from Arkansas and he was serving in the Ogden Utah Mission for 14 months before getting his visa. I'm just so lucky I didn't have to wait that long, it must be really hard to start over again in a new mission. But he's adapting really well and his Portugese is at a good level. He's understanding a lot better than I did when I got here and he's already teaching really well. We're just gonna work with the language because he's already a really good missionary and knows why he's out here.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nicholy's Baptism. Elder Maits is at the far right.</td></tr>
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So this week was really good for us, given that now the area is split between the two companionships, and Elder Beers and his new companion Elder Gillming are now in the half that has basically all of our investigators that we were teaching. So we basically are opening the area and the Lord is already blessing us for our dilligent efforts. We have a good teaching group going. For example, Vanda, who went to church last week out of the blue, we started to teach. She's got a lot of difficulties in her life right now so we are trying to help her out and also answer all of her questions about the church. She didn't go to church this week because her daughter was sick. Actually we had only one investigator at church, which I personally have never taught. Her name is Sabrina, and she's the bishop's second cousin. She was supposed to be baptized before I got here but it turns out her mom, who is an inactive member, didn't allow her to be baptized. This week we're going to teach her for the first time and finally talk with her mom. And we have many others that we are teaching and we are going to find many more this week. We also had Nicholy's baptism yesterday. The baptism counted for Elder Beers and his area because his area was the one that was teaching her before I got here but Elder Maits and I are going to be doing the follow up lessons with her, and we'll start teaching her parents. So the work is going well and it's going to get even better. I'm really excited for the upcoming weeks because we are going to really have success here. I can feel it!</div>
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Anyways, thanks for all the love and prayers from you guys. The Church is true and this is His work. Until next week my family! There will be pictures!!!</div>
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November 24, 2014</div>
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Dear Family and Friends!!!<br />
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Thanks for the email, and also it was good to talk to you guys on Saturday. I'm still a little shocked about what happened. For me, it really came out of nowhere. Make sure to give my love to Anthony's Family and that I'm praying for them. I did get a chance to talk with President Broadbent and he gave me some really good counsel that has been helping me understand a little more. Anyways, it was good to talk to you guys though and hear your voices and hear that you guys are okay. </div>
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As for me, we had a good week here. Unfortunately, we didn't have any investigators go to church this week :( and on two days, all of our appointments fell through, but besides all of this, many good things happened. We found a lot of new investigators this week, three different families both on Saturday and Sunday which is really exciting. We also had a lot of good member involvement this week as a few of the young men of the ward went out with us to do some visits. And it turned out to be a success because this coming week we not only marked with young men to do visits with us, but a lot of the older men from the ward, too, which is really exciting. This week our ward also called a ward mission leader (we haven't had one since I got here) and he was a former counselor in the bishopric in the ward where he lived, so I feel like we are about to be getting a lot of progress here in Jardim Pilar. </div>
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As for our investigators, Sabrina is doing awesome. We FINALLY got to teach her and her Mom who is a less active. We had a good lesson with them, we talked about the requirements of baptism and also our motivations in doing what is right, for other people or the Lord. We formed a good relationship but it seems like the authorization to baptize is going to take a while.</div>
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Just two more things, then I need to conclude. We got our transfer calls yesterday morning and everyone is staying and I got called to be a district leader once again. It will be cool because now I have the whole vision because I've been pretty much everything on the mission except sister or assistant, so I feel like it will be a fun opportunity to serve other missionaries again. Also, they announced that President Jairo Mazzagardi of the Area Presidency is going to do a mission tour here in two weeks. So I'm pretty stoked for that. I love it when general authorities come. </div>
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Anyway my family. Just know that I love you guys and I hope that you guys have a great Thanksgiving week with Phil, Nate, missionaries and others. Send them all my love and support. I know that God loves us and has a plan for us. I'm grateful to have the opportunity to share that message with others and I'm loving this work. Until next week!</div>
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December 1, 2014</div>
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Hey Family!!!<br />
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This week you guys will be happy with me. I totally got pictures now of all the adventures I've been having for the last month or so. I'm glad that you guys all had a great Thanksgiving. I'm jealous of the turkey covered in bacon. But then again Brazil already made me fat, so that's ok.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_E7bwPGLjXhdlwghyphenhyphenj4QKWFyGwBY-ojGKk3Y9uebuVNuCr7icV0v48td91rDAv-856z1dmSxPRFuostm5gM3KyXJ2EIX_xvdjRPn4z8EuCI4D9fBerb6CkAhCaXTe6HFNwXQYOje0rc8D/s1600/turkey+before.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_E7bwPGLjXhdlwghyphenhyphenj4QKWFyGwBY-ojGKk3Y9uebuVNuCr7icV0v48td91rDAv-856z1dmSxPRFuostm5gM3KyXJ2EIX_xvdjRPn4z8EuCI4D9fBerb6CkAhCaXTe6HFNwXQYOje0rc8D/s1600/turkey+before.jpeg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Above referred to "bacon covered turkey" -- pre cooking</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdvNU7W3621OOqVtd0K8tlxSAWyFE2JcfiQbJ_V3w7eFGxQFWispyVZ_6L_an4fIIE3ckDgxkI0Chi_9fz9_jyZtPyCdorhBqXM54wsE7p5V7sJ8bp9hWFPrDmGVxINUf0YiMFIFBDwQ4J/s1600/turkey+after.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdvNU7W3621OOqVtd0K8tlxSAWyFE2JcfiQbJ_V3w7eFGxQFWispyVZ_6L_an4fIIE3ckDgxkI0Chi_9fz9_jyZtPyCdorhBqXM54wsE7p5V7sJ8bp9hWFPrDmGVxINUf0YiMFIFBDwQ4J/s1600/turkey+after.jpeg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"bacon covered turkey" -- post cooking</td></tr>
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Everything's going good here with Elder Maits and me here in Mauá. Lots of heat and lots of rain. But it was good because we got a lot of really good work done here. As for Sabrina, she went out of town this week. Christmas time is coming so everyone loves to go traveling :(. </div>
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But this week we managed to get an investigator to church named Mauricio. He's a simple guy. He really likes us because we're Americans. He's also going through a bit of a hard time with his family so he's living by himself in a house that he is remodeling. He really wants to change his life and develop stronger faith. So we started teaching him and he came to church this week and loved it. I don't think anyone I've ever met here has said that they didn't like church when they visited. So Mauricio is now in the focus group and we're going to start working better with the ward to help him progress to baptism. </div>
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And also we are going to start working with the family of our recent convert, Nicholy. Her mom came to church yesterday because she got confirmed and we are going to teach them today which we're really excited for.</div>
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Let's see, also this week we had a training for all the district leaders in the mission with President Broadbent and the assistants. It was really good, there was a lot of emphasis on the importance of our role in changing the mission and making it better. We talked about a lot of things, such as district meetings, and interviews, and overall leadership. They also presented to us the new initiative that the missionary department is doing this Christmas season about helping others recognize the true meaning of Christmas and how we are going to be participating. If you guys wanna make you missionary really happy, go check out <a href="http://christmas.mormon.org/" target="_blank">christmas.mormon.org</a> and start sharing it on social media because I know you guys are hip and cool now. :)</div>
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So I bet you guys are wondering how my Thanksgiving was? Well, ever since Elder Maits, got here, he has been dying for some chinese food. So for Thanksgiving we went to a place called China in Box and we got some take out. It's not the same as we get back home, but it wasn't that bad -- ahah. It's probably the most random Thanksgiving in the world: Chinese food, in Brazil, but it was a good memory. Anyways, Family, I'm glad you guys had a great week and that everyone is doing well. I hope that you guys are getting ready, only 24 more days until we Skype again :) I know that this work is truly God's work and that he is preparing the path for us to have sucess here. Thanks for all the love and support!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHIGlCtm1k_zOyBuglMfUBh_9ygFN19-2qJPbs-sO5CLBD_Se5UTwNPvamoB6aNJ8LVAcu1WO4-bx2hGM7p-pifziOkOU7M7kif9eqVuIZwKKogkM5UhAMkjQCJV5SP-H7JwAGH_ss6an0/s1600/SAM_0096.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHIGlCtm1k_zOyBuglMfUBh_9ygFN19-2qJPbs-sO5CLBD_Se5UTwNPvamoB6aNJ8LVAcu1WO4-bx2hGM7p-pifziOkOU7M7kif9eqVuIZwKKogkM5UhAMkjQCJV5SP-H7JwAGH_ss6an0/s1600/SAM_0096.jpeg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zone Picture -- Elder Schwartz, partially hidden.</td></tr>
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December 8, 2014</div>
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Thanks for the sweet letter! It sounds like everyone is getting really excited for Christmas! Everyone over here is getting really excited too. Especially Elder Maits and I cuz we're gonna talk to our beloved families! </div>
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Elder Maits is doing good. He's getting better at the language and I'm letting him take more control of the lessons and contacts and even letting him out to dry (not sure what this means -- maybe "hanging out to dry"), which is always my favorite part of training -- hehe. Well we had a really good week this week. The weather has been a little crazy. Heavy rains and then the hot sun. Today is especially hot, but it looks like it's going to rain every day this week. But all in all, we had many good experiences. Mauricio is doing great. He absolutely loved church. He also loved the Gospel Principles manual. He can't really read that well because he's getting old, but he said that he read the first four chapters before our lesson and he loved it. He said that he wants to start studying seriously so he can prepare to be baptized. However, he also got a new job as security so his work hours are going to make teaching him difficult, but we are going to find time. </div>
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As for Nicholy's familly, we had a good Christmas lesson, talking about the initiative that the church is doing and how they can discover "The Gift" for themselves. It was pretty well recieved but we didn't even have time to get a good discussion with them. We are going to keep working with them. </div>
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So this week we found a lot of great investigators. I got to do a division with Elder Frost, who was one of my district leaders when I was first a zone leader, and now I'm one of his district leaders and he's my zone leader. It was a good division. We found lots of people and we taught good lessons. It's funny, in this area, we seem to be finding a lot more families. It's interesting because we have set a high goal for baptisms for the next two months and the lord is really blessing us. </div>
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This week we had stake conference which was excellent. There was a great focus on member missionary work. President and Sister Broadbent spoke at both sessions of the conference. We had some investigators at both sessions too. One that we started teaching named Francisco, who is one of our english class students. He's crazy, but he's cool. And Maxwell, who we have been teaching for a while, came to a session as well. </div>
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So a cool finding experience we had this week was when we did a contact with a kid, about 14 years old, named Jefferson. He said we could come by another day, so we showed up and the family was there, and it turns out, that Jefferson's mom is a member. She was baptized at 8 and went less-active at 16. She got really excited talking about all of the wonderful things she learned when she was little and she was telling us how she wants Jefferson to be baptized. And it seems like a good part of that family is less-active so there is going to be a great re-activation. And the best part is that another part of the family is very active in the church, so we are going to bring the members there this week and teach.</div>
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So you guys are making a family Christmas album again? I'll do what I can to get a recording to you guys. Can I do it on a camera and send you guys a video? you might need to open some sort of Dropbox for me or something so I can send it, cuz the emails don't hold much memory. Just tell me which songs everyone is doing so I can make sure not to copy anyone. And if anything I'll be doing something that's in the Portuguese Hymn book. </div>
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Anyways, my family, I love you guys! Thanks for the weekly update. I know that this Christmas season is going to be a great one as we remember what is the real purpose of Christmas. I know we have the knowledge of this Gift our Heavenly Father gave us and we need to discover it, embrace it and most importantly SHARE it with everyone. Have a great week!</div>
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Love,</div>
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Elder Schwartz </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRoSsZkBsx4pmgAgmsm9pJ_k2RTfCIyzUbTFFyqdJMKAcz1GhbH11iKErtErjSv9vguLFWVnl3_dpx49GysaivoWp6N6wBWsl2UkVur6aIKXzNauhDN4MslaYHI2hvC-BsIFjd29lvPxvm/s1600/SAM_0669.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRoSsZkBsx4pmgAgmsm9pJ_k2RTfCIyzUbTFFyqdJMKAcz1GhbH11iKErtErjSv9vguLFWVnl3_dpx49GysaivoWp6N6wBWsl2UkVur6aIKXzNauhDN4MslaYHI2hvC-BsIFjd29lvPxvm/s1600/SAM_0669.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bus Trip to P-day Village</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cool looking church in P-day Village</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking for an altar...</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wow! There actually is some jungle near Sao Paulo.</td></tr>
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kurtpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16275106272265621635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541228130904054602.post-46619769052737820712014-10-29T08:59:00.000-07:002014-10-29T08:59:07.640-07:00Botanical Gardens, October, and Transfers...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From Mission-wide Activity in Botanical Gardens of Sao Paulo</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">October 13, 2014</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">HELLO FAMILY!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First off, for the big news...TRANSFERS!!! So we got told about transfers Saturday night, which is a little earlier than usual, and both Elder Lago and I are getting transferred out, and we both are going to open areas and train (by open area I mean that they took out the companionship that was there and they put two new missionaries in) I'm actually going to get a companion temporarily for 3 weeks because I'm going to be training a new american missionary that waited for his visa for awhile and finally got it and got sent to the Brazil MTC for a language refresher. I'm kind of sad that I have to leave this area and Elder Lago, because this really came as a surprise for us, but the Lord has another plan for us, and now I have a new opportunity to do some good and to help others that need me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So let me give you guys the update of the week. So this past Tuesday we had the mission-wide p-day activity at the botanical gardens and it was amazing! It was a really pretty place to walk around and a good opportunity to see everyone that I have gotten to know earlier in the mission. So, there were a few activities that were zone versus zone put on, such as tug of war (our zone won one and lost the other), and other fun activities. We had hamburgers and hotdogs for lunch. There was also a sort of talent show where a few missionaries sang and played instruments and did other fun performances. And to close it, President gave a few words about how hard the adversary is working to impede the Lord's work and how we need to do our best to prevent him from disrupting our efforts to bless the lives of our brothers and sisters here in Brazil. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tug-of-War</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More Games...</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Best Zone Ever!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So on that note, we did our best to help Mylena get baptized and everything worked out. She was baptized yesterday and it was a really beautiful service. Johnson and his family went and the Spirit was really strong there. I know that the missionaries that come to replace us in this area are going to have a lot of success with this family now. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mylena's Baptism</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today for P-day, we had a little get together with the district we are part of and had a little brunch and said our goodbyes and everything. I am so grateful for the chance I had to be in this area and with Elder Lago -- I really learned a lot. I'm really excited for this new opportunity and new area and companion. I'll be sure to tell you guys everything this next week. I know that this is truly the Lord's work and I know that when we do our part, he blesses us. Thanks so much for the updates/support/love/everything. Have a great week!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Love,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Elder Schwartz</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">October 20, 2014</span></div>
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Well that's exciting news to hear about the Giants making it to the world series. Just know that there is at least one Giants fan here in São Paulo, Brazil. </div>
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SO FIRST OFF, here's what happened with me at transfers. So I got transferred to a city called Mauá, which is farther from the city of São Paulo than São Bernardo. I'm serving in the ward, Jardim Pilar, and my companion for these three weeks is Elder Beers from Washington. He has the same time on the mission as me and the same time in Brazil as well. In fact, we were in the MTC together, just in different districts. He's really cool. He's the district leader here. So he'll be with me for these three weeks until we get our new american "greenies" (in the sense that they'll be new to Brazil, not the mission). </div>
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So basically I'm really loving this area and working with Elder Beers. The ward here isn't big but we have a good amount of members. But the chapel we have is the smallest I've ever seen in Brazil....it's a little more cosy but I like it. The members here are pretty sweet too. It seems like they have had some problems with leadership in this ward in the past. So what my plan is, is to basically make the ward happy. And what makes a ward happy? BAPTISMS. So the plan is to baptize everyone here in Mauá. Good plan, right?</div>
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So this first week here was good. Since Elder Beers was already here and had investigators, we spent most of the time in his part of the area. We did get to spend a little time in what is going to be my part, but we mostly focused on helping the investigators that we have to start progressing. We did have some really good first lessons with new investigators as well, but none were able to come to church :(. The only investigator we had at church is a 9 year old son of a member family. He is going to be baptized when his dad gets home from a long work trip :D. There's an investigator named Demetrius,that we have who seems to be progressing well and preparing himself for baptism. He's a man about 50 years old, with an 18 year old son, Thiago. Demetruis has an interesting background, just like the man that you met when you went out with the missionaries, dad. He had a past with drugs and alcohol and never really believed in God, but now he is in a search for the truth, believes in God, and he seems to have been well prepared by the Lord. We're working with him now to help him quit smoking, and getting him prepared for baptism. He's a great guy!</div>
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So a cool little thing that happened this week was that I called to give a 10 minute talk basically on the spot for sacrament meeting. They asked me to speak about missionary work (of course). It was shocking, but I really am grateful for the Lord's help, because I talked about all the things that I had learned on the mission in respect of doing to Lord's work. I'm grateful for all the learning experiences the Lord has given me that I was able to share in the talk. I felt the Spirit really strong and I hope that the things I said had some sort of impact on the members of this ward to help move the Lord's work forward here in Jardim Pilar. After sacrament meeting a lot of the members came up to me and Elder Beers, telling us how they needed our help to share the gospel with someone or bringing someone back to church. So it seems we are really starting to gain the trust of the ward members. Pray for us that we will have success in our efforts. Thanks for the sweet update on everything dad. Just know that I love you guys and I pray for you all. I miss you guys!!! HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!</div>
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With Love,</div>
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Elder Schwartz </div>
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October 27, 2014</div>
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Man thanks for the exciting Giant's update. That's really good to hear that we're on top. It's also good to hear that everything is going good with everyone and that everyone is happy with life and things. So to answer your questions: Mauá is way smaller than São Bernardo but there are still a lot of people. It's definitely a lot greener here and a lot colder. For example, this week was pretty foggy and it even rained on Sunday. It's weird though because today is super hot, but that's the weather of São Paulo -- hahah! And, yes, we are working in both the areas of the ward, actually we have been spending a little bit more time in the area that Elder Beers has been working in, but we are managing to find people in what is going to be my area here in a little bit. Yes, I've gotten to know the ward leadership here, and a lot of really good members. At the moment we don't have a Ward Mission Leader, but in the Priesthood Executive Meeting, Bishop said he is going to be calling one here shortly, which will be really helpful to us. </div>
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Well, family, this week was a good week for us. It was a little rough on the finding new investigator, in part, because this week we had a huge service project that the whole zone was involved in, and we also had a meeting with the stake president and the whole zone. But at least we kept up with those that we found last week :). So, for the activity we all went to a home for the elderly and mentally ill and we took out a bunch of old furniture that they didn't want and we did a little bit of maintenance and clean up in the area. It was pretty fun and there was a good spirit of service as we worked. Then the next day we had that meeting with the stake president at his house (he lives in our ward which is nice), and we talked a lot about how we need to be working in unity as a stake and a zone, and how we can work better together with our ward leaders and how the stake president can help us. It was a good meeting and I'm happy to be serving here this stake because we have good support from our stake president. </div>
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We also had a ward activity this week put on by the young women's organization for the whole ward. There was food and drinks and dancing (don't worry, I didn't dance), but there was also a neat presentation about the history of this ward and how some of the current members of the ward were here when it was originally organized years ago. How cool is that? It was a good activity and we had some investigators there. </div>
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So as for the investigators I was talking about last week: I talked about Samuel, who is the 9 year old son of a member that we are going to baptize when his dad comes home from work. He's doing good. He's firm and learning well. He's pretty much ready but His mom wants to wait for his dad to come back to perform the ordinance, which won't be until the end of November. As for Demetrius and his son, we couldn't catch him at home this week so we havn't been able to help him out like we wanted. But there are a few other cool families that we are helping out. For example there is a young couple, Rudolfo and Vivian that we met my first week that have been really receptive and really interested in our message that we are teaching. And also a young single mom named Rafaella that also we taught this last week that has been really receptive and really showed interest for the Book of Mormon. And of course there are other people that we are teaching but if you guys could, please pray for these people. </div>
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Well my time is running out. But thanks for the update on everything, It's good to hear that everything is going good with everyone. Have a great week and I'll talk to you guys next monday. THE CHURCH IS TRUE!</div>
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Love,</div>
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Elder Schwartz</div>
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More Photos.....</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our great group!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mylena's Baptism</td></tr>
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kurtpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16275106272265621635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541228130904054602.post-53504642827551287492014-10-06T22:45:00.000-07:002014-10-06T22:45:24.938-07:00Lead up to General Conference<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9/22/14</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">Dear Family!!!</span><br />
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It looks like the fiesta that you guys had went well too! That's cool that you guys visited with the Brazilian couple as well! Definitely take advantage of their offer for a real Brazilian bbq. It's the best.... we actually had ourselves a house bbq this week for lunch...SO GOOD! I love the bbq here. </div>
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Everyone here is doing good. Elder Lago is doing great. We're working hard and having fun doing it. Our investigators are also doing really well. Jessica brought her mom, Fatima, to church this week and she absolutely loved it. Next week the whole family is going to go! Woohoo! We had a really good lesson with Johnson yesterday. He's a really good man. It's just some difficulties with the family that they are having that's impeding him from getting married but we are giving our counsel and support to him. I feel like this week things are going to change for the family. As for Milena. Pretty much the same thing. We talked to her yesterday and we marked a baptismal interview for this week. Seriously she is so ready. Even in the lesson yesterday, Johnson was asking her why she hasn't been baptized yet. She couldn't come up with an answer. So we are going to do the interview this week. The plan is to baptize her this Sunday if God gives us this miracle.</div>
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We are going to go to the temple tomorrow and we are going to have zone conference which is always exciting. Oh and other news is that here in a little bit, there's going to be a Mission P-day in the Botanical Garden of São Paulo which we're also really excited for.</div>
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But other than that the week has been pretty normal. I'm doing my best out here. I'm so happy for the opportunity I have to serve my brothers and sisters here in São Paulo. This next week is going to be amazing, I can feel it. Give my love to all the family and friends. I know that this is the Lord's church. I know that this is his work. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ truly blesses lives and that Heavenly Father has many blessings prepared to give us when we are obedient to him. I love you!</div>
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Until next week!</div>
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9/29/14</div>
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It's good to hear that you're going out visiting with the missionaries. Keep helping them! You will be greatly blessed and that ward will really grow! Keep up the good work!</div>
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So I guess a highlight of the week was I got surgery on my toe this past Friday. So the toenail was ingrown on both sides of the toe so they shot me up with some anestesia and they cut on both sides of the toenail and took out the sides. Then they put in some stitches to hold it together. It was weird because I was watching the whole time but I wasn't feeling the pain. It kind of freaked me out a little bit but it's all good now. The doctor said I have to stay in and recover for 4-5 days so this weekend I had to stay in while we did divisions with the other elders of the house so that our area wouldn't go unworked. But this week I'll be able to start working again. </div>
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So this week we also had zone conference, which is basically just a big conference with about 4 zones and that is directed by President. The zone leaders don't really have a special part in the zone conference, but there was a good amount of participation from the missionaries. Usually what has happened in the past is that President and the assistants would give trainings to the missionaries but this conference included a few missionaries giving talks on various subjects of the work. It was a good and uplifting experience and I learned a lot. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our District</td></tr>
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As for our investigators, we had an interview for Milena this week and she passed and we set a firm date for the 11th of October. She's super excited and is already telling everyone.</div>
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This week we also went to the temple which was a huge blessing. I love going to the temple here! It's far away from where I'm serving right now but the trip is worth it. It's such a great opportunity to feel peace. So good. It's something that the people here of São Paulo here really need, because everyone here is always in such a rush. But that's why I'm here :) to help them out with that.</div>
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10/6/14</div>
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So how about General Conference!!! WOW!!! I was blown away. It was sosososssososososo GOOD! I absolutely loved it! All of the talks were so inspired and the spirit was so strong. Now it's just up to us to apply the things that we learned and move forward. I'm glad that you guys had a good conference experience as well -- sometimes, even from the comfort of your bed, hahaha. I watched conference in English with Elder Buenrostro in the ward secretary's office on the computer. It was just us two there. But I did, however, watch Elder Godoy (from Sao Paulo) when he spoke in Portugese because I wanted to hear him in his native toungue. I think that's an amazing feature to conference today, that the speakers are all speaking in their own language. </div>
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As for a favorite talk.... that's a really hard one. I loved Elder Bednar's because at that session we had investigators there which made it way better. But for me, I personally liked the talk Elder Robbins gave talking about where we are facing, and I also loved President Uchtdorf talking about the truth. A lot of the talks I feel spoke to me personally in some sort of way. As part of a preparation for conference I took a piece of paper, and divided it on two sides. One side titled, "what the lord expects of me for these last 6 months of my mission" and the other side titled "How I'm going to do it" and I'm happy to say that I got a lot of inspiration from the Lord that I know will help me as I'm on the final stretch of my time here in Brazil. It's going to be a great 6 months. </div>
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So as for the investigators. We are preparing for Milena's baptism this week which is going to be this Saturday. We're going to work out the details this week with her and follow up with her to make sure everything goes right and that the adversary doesn't mess this up for us. Jessica is doing good. This week we haven't gotten a good follow up with her because of various meetings, mission council, and some hospital appointments (I got my stitches out <img alt="<349.gif>" class="Apple-web-attachment" goomoji="ezweb_ne_jp.349" src="cid:B2EBD707-5EF0-4CCF-9D74-FADD2037160A" style="margin: 0px 0.2ex; vertical-align: middle;" />) so for that we weren't able to get her to conference :(. OH and I forgot to tell you guys that here in Brazil it's election season, and political system here in Brazil is kind of crazy. There's not only two main parties and candidates like we have in the US, but rather there are many politcal parties and many candidates, so everyone here is kind of revolted with that too, because they are forced to vote. So voting day was also the day of conference on Sunday. Even Elder Lago had to go to declare he couldn't vote because he wasn't home. But we did get a new investigator, Douglas, to go to conference and he absolutely loved it. I'll give you guys his story next week. </div>
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Anyways today actually isn't P-day, but we are doing emails because tomorrow is going to be a Mission wide P-day Activity in the Botanical Garden of São Paulo. So we're pretty stoked for that. Anyways I just want you guys to know that I love you all and that I'm praying for you all. Thanks so much for the love, support and prayers for me. I'm so grateful for the privelege I have to be a missionary here in São Paulo. I'm so grateful for the Prophets and Apostles and the fact that today we have the opportunity to listen to messages from God's living messengers. I hope you have a good week!</div>
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Love,</div>
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Elder Schwartz </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With Elder Amon</td></tr>
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kurtpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16275106272265621635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541228130904054602.post-60721881507783127382014-09-20T16:14:00.001-07:002014-09-20T16:14:27.704-07:00August and September in Sao Paulo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apartment before transfers...Good bye Elder Provoste!</td></tr>
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8/25/14</div>
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So this week we had a special zone leader training with President Broadbent where we got a chance to talk about some of the problems that the mission is having and how we as leaders are going to lift this mission up through our example. He wants us basically to do everything better than we are already doing. It was weird because a few of the missionaries there including myself, were thinking that we are teaching the best we have ever taught on our mission and that we are working our hardest. But the Lord requires more and we are going to give more. I'm raising the bar for myself, and Elder Provoste and I are going to bring Rudge Ramos to a whole other level of excellence. </div>
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As for miracles this week: we had an amazing one with our investigators, Jair and Aureni. I think I already talked about Jair who is an elderly man that has been coming to church and Aureni is his girlfriend. They don't live together and they're living the commandments so they can be baptized. So this week we had a lesson with them and Aureni started asking about qualifications for baptism and things like that. Until that moment, she had been more resistant to baptism than Jair was and wasn't really sure if it was what she wanted. We started to explain about the qualifications and she began to tell us about she had been praying and reflecting really hard about baptism and she felt in her heart that this was what she needed to do. We invited her and Jair for August 31st, this coming Sunday and they accepted. So this week we are going to have the interview and if everything goes as planned, they are going to be baptized. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father had comforted Aureni's heart about this decision. I know that this wasn't something that we did, but what He did. It's truly His work and His vineyard and we missionaries are just the tools that He uses to bring people back to His presence. I'm so happy for this great opportunity I have to see these miracles and to be here serving the people of Brazil I know that this church is Christ's true church and the path we need to become perfected in Him. </div>
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It truly was a special week, As well I got to do a division with Elder Buenrostro who is already doing super awesome work for the short time he's here. I learned a lot from him and he helped me become a better person. And as for this coming week, it's the last week of the transfer. I'm hoping that Elder Provoste will stay with me for one more transfer because it's probable that he might leave since the next one would be his 4th transfer. I'll be make sure to update you guys on what happens. But that's all for now! Until next week!</div>
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9/1/14</div>
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transfers came..........</div>
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So My dear Chilean companion Elder Provoste got transferred :( and I'm going to stay here in São Bernardo :) and get another Zone Leader. I'm sad that Elder Provoste is leaving me because we got a long really well and we worked really well together too. He taught me a lot too and I wanted to stay one more transfer, but it's all part of the mission. So next week I'll be sure to send pics with my new comp. </div>
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But it sounds like you guys had a good week. Thanks for all the pics of the golfing trip Pops. It's been so long since I golfed. Father-son golfing when I get home? hahah but it's good to hear that you guys made it to Provo safe and sound. And Dakota sent his papers in? Tell me where he's going when you guys know. Oh and Mom, I know you would love to hear that our ward is starting to offer Zumba in the chapel every Tuesday and we have some investigators that are going to go. Haha.</div>
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So I'm short of time, and I won't have pictures this week, but I do have great news! Aureni and Jair got baptized this Sunday! It was such a marvelous service. Aureni's son is a member in another stake, so he performed the oridinance for her as the rest of the family came and watched and a young man from the ward who has been visiting Jair and Aureni with us performed the ordinance for Jair. And these two bapisms were truly a miracle. When they arrived at the chapel that morning Aureni was set to be baptized, but Jair said that He wasn't going to be baptized. So we went through Sacrament meeting and Gospel priciples and Elder's quorum and just before the baptism started we sat down with Jair alone in a room just to ask what happened? It turns out that he didn't want to be baptized because he didn't understand about temple baptisms, and it really worried him. So we sat down and explained the doctrine, and he understood everything perfectly. We asked him if he believed that the church was true. He said he didn't have a doubt in his mind that it is. We then re-invited him to be baptized and he accepted. Truly a miracle. It was such a wonderful service. I'm out of time, family but next week I'll give updates on the mish, my new comp and our investigators. Sorry for the rush. I love you all and the Church is true! </div>
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9/8/14</div>
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So I guess you guys wanna know what happened to Elder Provoste and know a little bit about my new companion, huh? Well, Elder Provoste got transferred to São Paulo to open a new area and train at the same time (WOW), which, by experience I know isn't easy to do. So that's what happened to him. As for my new companion, his name is Elder Lago, he's Brazillian, from the Bahia (the same state as Elder Barreto) but he has been living in Manaus, which is close to the Amazons over there. He has a year and 9 months so he has only two transfers left, so probably, as we say here in mission terms, I'm going to "kill" him. Which will be cool, I've never "killed" a missionary before. So that means I'll probably be in this area for probably a total of 6 months, which I'm excited for, because I really love this area and the people here. </div>
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Soooooo for us here in São Bernardo here, everything is going good. We had two really powerful lessons with two investigators that we have been working with. One was with Jessica (the one that went to Zumba class), and for Jessica, she has started to really read the Book of Mormon, and she is really enjoying it. She has been telling us how she has been seeing changes in her life, that she has been happier and has been feeling a lot closer to God. We testified that it truly was God testifying to her that these things are true. We invited her to baptism for the 21st this month and she said that she's going to really think and pray about it. And we had a really similar lesson with a lady called Sandra. She also has been seeing differences in her life, since we started to visit her and as she has been keeping the commitments that we extend to her. Pray for our investigators that all will go well with them and that we can get past some of the little barriers and challenges they are having. Seriously, we have a lot of investigators that are so close to baptism, but just have one little barrier, such as marriage, or other things that impede them from being baptized. We are going to work to get passed these difficulties and reach our goals! </div>
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I'm so grateful to be a part of this work. It's truly gratifying and rewarding. Other than the minor difficulties that we are having with some that we are teaching, I'm seeing lots of wonderful blessings. For example, the progress that Jair and Aureni are making. They were confirmed this week and are doing awesome. Aureni especially is really on fire and she has a really strong testimony. I love this gospel and the joy and happiness it brings to me and to all people that accept it. Thanks so much for all your love and support! I love you guys and I'll talk to you next week</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Lago and Elder Schwartz</td></tr>
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9/15/14</div>
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Man what a week! Seriously the mission is flying by wayyyy too fast for me. I feel like there is so much to do and so little time.<div>
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Its good to hear that your week went by well. I'm glad that everything went all right with working in the spanish ward. I'm also really happy to hear about Mom's new calling in the Primary, I'm sure she'll do great. But most off all I'm stoked that you are going out visiting with the Elders and helping them out. Members really do make the difference! So keep it up and you'll really be a blessing to those peoples' lives! </div>
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As for me and Elder Lago, we are doing well. Yes, Lago also means lake in portuguese as it does in italian haha. This week was pretty rushed for us. We are spending our time focusing on those who are progressing and have potential and getting our investigators to church. It has been a tiring week but I'm keeping a smile on my face and moving foreward. Jessica is doing well. She came to church this week and even brought a friend from her old church to see "the mormons". As for baptism she said that she wanted to wait a little longer :( but she is totally recongnizing the spirit and changes that are being made in her life. We are going to keep following up with her and helping her progress.</div>
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As for another adventure of this week. We went to the hospital. Don't worry I'm fine. I just have an ingrown toenail that started to get pretty ugly. I was doing what the mission told me to do to take care of it with soaking in water and with cotton and whatnot, but it wasn't improving, so we told the secretaries to mark an appointment for me but I guess they forgot or something because they never marked anything, so this week we took it into our own hands to go to the hospital. So when we got there they wanted to do surgery that moment, but my toe was so inflamed that anesthesia wouldn't work, so they told me to take anti-inflammatory pills and they are going to do the surgery this Friday. But I'll be ok. They told me to start wearing sandals instead of shoes, so I had to go out and buy some. And I'm not going to lie, I'm diggin the sandals. It's way better to walk in. My feet feel so free hahahah. </div>
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Well my family, that is pretty much the update of the week. I know that this is the Lord's work. I'm out here to help others to come unto Christ, because I know there is nothing else that will truly bring lasting happiness. I'm so happy to be out here. I love you guys and I pray always for you guys! Until next week!</div>
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Love, </div>
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Elder Schwartz</div>
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kurtpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16275106272265621635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541228130904054602.post-76969963802362940612014-08-24T22:11:00.000-07:002014-08-24T22:11:10.327-07:00Winter in Brazil....(Or Catching up Over the Last Two Months)Here is Elder Andrew Schwartz's snail mail address:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Elder Andrew Schwartz<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Rua Dr. Luiz da Rocha Miranda<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">159, 8 Andar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Parque Jaabaquara<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">04344 - 010<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">São Paulo - SP;Brazil </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Email: andrew.schwartz@myldsmail.net</span></div>
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I have been a bit behind on keeping the blog updated with Elder Andrew's emails home. Here is a summary (short excerpts) from the last couple of months:<br />
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6/30/14<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">So let me give the update of my week. So I guess the first big news is that President and Sister Tanner left and we got to meet President and Sister Broadbent this week. They are amazing! They are such a great couple for this mission and I'm super excited to work with them. I could tell that they are really loving and that they are really humble. They seemed a little nervous about their portuguese but they both actually speak really well.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Schwartz with President and Sister Broadbent</td></tr>
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We have been teaching this family where the daughter is actually dating a returned missionary and she and her sister came to church this week. Their names are Jenifer and Beatriz. They were really well recieved at church by the young women and they even went to an activity with them that night. We're going to be following up with them this week and try to get the whole family to church this next Sunday.</div>
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Other than that, everything is going well. I am so glad I decided to serve a mission. I know that this is truly Christ's church restored in these latter days. I know that this gospel is a gosple that changes lives. Probably the most special moment this week was during the passing of the sacrament and after I partook of the bread I looked up and I saw Antonio take the sacrament for the first time in 13 years. I recieved a spiritual witness of the importance of this work and how there are many who are still suffering because they don't have the fullness of the gospel in their lives. I love this work.</div>
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7/7/14</div>
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If you were wondering, we totally celebrated the 4th of July here. Well, at least I did by wearing my american tie. And we called all the missionaries that are americans in our zone and sang the national anthem to them. AMERICA! but it was weird being here in Brazil for the 4th of July, and of all things I did the most brazillian thing I could do...watch Brazil beat Colombia in soccer. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brazil beats Colombia in World Cup</td></tr>
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So this past week we had our first mission council with President Broadbent. It was amazing. It was an opportunity for all of the leaders of the mission to vocalize our opinions about how we can help the mission become better and how we could better help the missionaries. We talked about some changes in the mission and with the culture of our mission.</div>
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Jenifer and Beatriz are doing really really well. We had a super sweet lesson with them where we were able to bring the Young Women's President and her husband to meet their mom. This lesson was a great opportunity for the mom to get to know some of the members who are helping to take care of her daughters.</div>
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7/14/14</div>
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We had a zone p-day at a park called Parque de Iberapueira that ate up pretty much all of P-day so here in a little bit we are going out to work. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the Park</td></tr>
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So this week was really good for us. Well, I know I say that every week. But on the mission every week is a good week. And it was good in the sense of that we got to go out and do missionary work and help people, and not in the sense that Brazil totally got destroyed by Germany in the world cup and everyone here is really upset and embarrassed that they lost 7 to 1. Seriously, everyone is devastated. Not to an extent of starting a riot but everyone was pretty bummed out. Everywhere we went people were talking about it. It was a really exciting time here during the world cup, but I'm glad that it's all over so the work will go back to normal. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGsKkcbADMHBCu1WrcIo7topQu1DCACNcUVShbDdzPBosnbwBTSBT2Y6KH69p1w60UGxukgx4WsiQta-_bCmm36kN7e3Xw6iE1766qgAzTk7ssxDhaPPpgp0mels187XTzT2EmXWE1M2x9/s1600/IMG_0488%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGsKkcbADMHBCu1WrcIo7topQu1DCACNcUVShbDdzPBosnbwBTSBT2Y6KH69p1w60UGxukgx4WsiQta-_bCmm36kN7e3Xw6iE1766qgAzTk7ssxDhaPPpgp0mels187XTzT2EmXWE1M2x9/s1600/IMG_0488%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brazil loses to Germany 7-1 in the Coppa Mundial</td></tr>
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I'm doing fine. This week is the last week before transfers so I'm going all out. I literally have no idea if I'm going to stay or go. But whatever the Lord wants, I'm going to do it. I know that the God lives and that this is truly his work. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve the Lord and the people of São Paulo. I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ truly blesses those that are willing to do His will.</div>
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7/21/14</div>
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SO it came! The dreaded transfers finally came. So the word is finally out on me.... I'm getting TRANSFERRED. I'm getting transferred to another area and I'm staying as a zone leader. I'm not sure if I'm sad or happy. I'm sad because I love this area so much and I love all the members and the area and the people and everything. but on the other hand I have been here waayyyyyyyy too long and I need a change so I can find other people that I can connect with. I learned so much being here in Cidade Leonor and with all the companions I had. I'm gonna miss Elder Vargas. He's a really good missionary and he taught me a lot. But that's how it is on the mission, you get transferred and you keep giving your best and learning more each day. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtwjNwNf95cCX-5n9Falcz6yNuI9WcWzAa0iTeEcOBKrqGE5r1pqUX0nECca1-cszkCn83-Pcy3Z8gaYWjrc4bnGQk2TcFF635rukNZOgxqWI93uJVmB3WsWb0fK3UxmbevTghlgFSaKRr/s1600/foto+6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtwjNwNf95cCX-5n9Falcz6yNuI9WcWzAa0iTeEcOBKrqGE5r1pqUX0nECca1-cszkCn83-Pcy3Z8gaYWjrc4bnGQk2TcFF635rukNZOgxqWI93uJVmB3WsWb0fK3UxmbevTghlgFSaKRr/s1600/foto+6.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Good Bye Elder Vargas and Zona Sul<span style="font-size: 18px;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCPQ4xrKjBuyRx3141HjqYI7ABEpHSEmKap6Bb8PAFb0IFwUKsWxFqozrEzR_Fz0aASz2X_HprPcS1tNkv8ga-zyqTh8GAl-Pp6x1hds7pif2rbyaHe2KHREU3FtUEDEJoVjizGHkrIXoZ/s1600/IMG_0481%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCPQ4xrKjBuyRx3141HjqYI7ABEpHSEmKap6Bb8PAFb0IFwUKsWxFqozrEzR_Fz0aASz2X_HprPcS1tNkv8ga-zyqTh8GAl-Pp6x1hds7pif2rbyaHe2KHREU3FtUEDEJoVjizGHkrIXoZ/s1600/IMG_0481%5B1%5D.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mmmmmm! Tapioca makes saying good bye easier....</td></tr>
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Our investigators are well. This week we had seven investigators go to church and 3 Less-actives. It was a miracle. Jenifer and Beatriz went and also this investigator that we have been working with named Alba and she brought her friends and neighbors and all of them loved it and said that they are going to come back next week. Oh, another update! This week Camilla went to the temple on a youth temple trip to perform temple baptisms and her dad, Antonio was called as the 2nd Counselor in the Young Mens presidency of the ward. They are such an awesome family and I'm really going to miss them. </div>
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I'm excited for this upcoming week. New transfer, new companion, new area, new zone. It's gonna be sweet. Wherever I go, I'm going to do my best. I know that this work is His and I'm just an instrument.</div>
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7/28/14</div>
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So let me tell you all about what happened with me at transfers. SO, I left Cidade Leonor and Zona Sul and I got transferred to Zona Rudge Ramos again! So I'm in the same stake that I was in before Zona Sul but i'm in São Bernardo 3rd Ward which is the Zone Leader área. So I'm in the city of São Bernardo do Campo again and the coolest part is that I get to do divisions in both Planalto (my first área) and São Caetano (my second área) and I'm super stoked to be here again. So my companion's name is Elder Provoste and he is from Chile! He super funny and he's an amazing missionary. I already love the guy! I'm really excited to be able to work with him.He's got a year and 5 months in the mission, so just a little bit more time than me and he's been in this are for 3 months already So this ward has three sets of missionaries and we live in a house that should have 4 missionaries. I say "should" because actually we are working in a trio for right now. My other companion is Elder Amon and he is from Curitiba which is the Southern part of Brazil. He's got done being trained and he is our district leader and he is going to be training here in a few weeks. So the reason we are in a trio is because the american missionaries that waited a long time to get their visa are now going to the MTC here in Brazil for three weeks to get retrained on portuguese. So Elder Amon will be getting his companion here in a few weeks but for now, we are taking care of both of the areas. So we live actually in a members house but there are like 3 different houses. So the whole house is owned by one member but he lives in the downstairs part with his Family and upstairs is house where another member lives and then there is our house. It's weird because there's not a lot of that missionary privacy, but its cool.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKC6hM79WT8TCYjLph_MWiwM4Nod1hyphenhyphenjm5t89E1znBtvQI5gZk_0MJMB_8bstFv7kPp1svCgBPVnHTCXHnhyV1w0paPZt9ZNqUfoNsgLl8gDY-kYzn9k80IBtg5PtIs4WmmUtba5AhUJ-2/s1600/DSC05139.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKC6hM79WT8TCYjLph_MWiwM4Nod1hyphenhyphenjm5t89E1znBtvQI5gZk_0MJMB_8bstFv7kPp1svCgBPVnHTCXHnhyV1w0paPZt9ZNqUfoNsgLl8gDY-kYzn9k80IBtg5PtIs4WmmUtba5AhUJ-2/s1600/DSC05139.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Provoste, Elder Schwartz, and Elder Amon</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmlKQO48UZFQJeLdW4bFx9go1JH4xVdgAyzB5LN42jTv8SUv6M7Eu0LYHDuHNjmNQesfujBZF0qFConRpymdLUU3xgf_C0_kaoh1VOO2R5UBDD5W0Rcz5qxaLTWo6rX5sLKEotWaybXQ-M/s1600/DSC05151.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmlKQO48UZFQJeLdW4bFx9go1JH4xVdgAyzB5LN42jTv8SUv6M7Eu0LYHDuHNjmNQesfujBZF0qFConRpymdLUU3xgf_C0_kaoh1VOO2R5UBDD5W0Rcz5qxaLTWo6rX5sLKEotWaybXQ-M/s1600/DSC05151.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New Trio at Ward Party</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqYdrGZSnBcFtuvlhMV4vnhmQH22UK-Ih46VXya0ILKxZRO9SOXIGR1jWXGuCOqi7BMmK93Np9jpkn5Gu3FSuqZmdo-C-ITVc0CYEBx-xHtXy16hHd0w_z8NgH95IGaBXBW-W3GOKwWHNz/s1600/DSC05156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqYdrGZSnBcFtuvlhMV4vnhmQH22UK-Ih46VXya0ILKxZRO9SOXIGR1jWXGuCOqi7BMmK93Np9jpkn5Gu3FSuqZmdo-C-ITVc0CYEBx-xHtXy16hHd0w_z8NgH95IGaBXBW-W3GOKwWHNz/s1600/DSC05156.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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So this week I got to meet a lot of people. They have a really good teaching pool here. It was really cool to meet all the different people but we had to walk a lot to go from area to area. But this week was really good. One of the highlights that we had this week was a Ward party that we had on Saturday. In brazil they have a tradition here to have a Festa Caipira or "Redneck Party" where they have a lot of food made of corn, they play a certain type of music, and they wear plaid with cowboy or straw hats and the ladies wear dresses and do pigtails. And there was dancing and lot's of good food. We had a few investigators come and members brought their friends and it was a really good time. Then Church the next day was really good. The Ward is really big so there were a lot of people there. We also had 6 investigators at church, one Family of 4 and two other investigators. I'll fill you in more next week....</div>
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8/4/14</div>
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This week I got to do a division in my old stomping grounds of Planalto. It was awesome because I got to see a lot of people from the time I was there. I worked with Elder V Ferreira who is a missionary from the North of Brazil who just got done with his training. It was good working with him and learning from him. This week we also had our zone conference and I got to see a lot of old comps like Elder Steil and Elder Vargas and I learned so much too. President Broadbent is getting a lot more comfortable now that he's been here for a little more than a month and he gave a lot of good counsel for us to help our investigators become better prepared for baptism so that they can stay firm. It was a really good conference and I learned a lot. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxOGzKu4RHPG5OyCgmwKeaxKHHq1kiGae9VJQAsVNHcJGBIk4tcjdUnSqgDX-OP9xQjBhTrtw37va9J4SMv85mkVtJMo_2E7c33E6b2fVKeisaVMqhHdvIlE1cLJfeUd-tj5Y2Ql16KrGt/s1600/SAM_6850.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxOGzKu4RHPG5OyCgmwKeaxKHHq1kiGae9VJQAsVNHcJGBIk4tcjdUnSqgDX-OP9xQjBhTrtw37va9J4SMv85mkVtJMo_2E7c33E6b2fVKeisaVMqhHdvIlE1cLJfeUd-tj5Y2Ql16KrGt/s1600/SAM_6850.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barbecue!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQrGyZcq689nAja-QU-TedRsJ9ZIzDn8Sb4zObAcAwSEeAAXyh0vHuaRQW8x6FejlO7P2a4Bgg8mOUwDCtN2Ij6ImdpwSjo2Uhj-823C1IQonk_bzXc1G9FIVRtiR3VNWJCl1LGy_0JK_D/s1600/SAM_6877.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQrGyZcq689nAja-QU-TedRsJ9ZIzDn8Sb4zObAcAwSEeAAXyh0vHuaRQW8x6FejlO7P2a4Bgg8mOUwDCtN2Ij6ImdpwSjo2Uhj-823C1IQonk_bzXc1G9FIVRtiR3VNWJCl1LGy_0JK_D/s1600/SAM_6877.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lion King......</td></tr>
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That's so cool to hear about your new calling! I'm super super excited for you guys. I know that both of you will do an excellent job and help so many people. I'm so grateful for the example that both of you have given me in always accepting a calling from the Lord and being so great in magnifying your callings. That's why I always try to do my best in the callings that the Lord gives me, no matter how hard it may be. Thank you so much for being amazing parents! I love you!!!!</div>
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8/11/14</div>
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We had our mission council with Pres. Broadbent and it was probably the longest council in the history of mission councils. Although it was long, I enjoyed it because we got the chance to address the problems that the mission is having and work together as a council to solve them. President is making a lot of changes but I know that these changes are what the mission needs right now because he's the one with the keys.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhynjibX4djdk153TZFZ3uDhknEbIkLn4pyHzipQOgZ3ul0L4it73HAO9Jl-XY2JnY5eA9GVY7ymH9iVNvgLQ2dhvlVnGvfYUfuJuIDX1rYTqq9fjFfVcAXli_5WGk23dRRimkXYFLSwjrL/s1600/SAM_6901.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhynjibX4djdk153TZFZ3uDhknEbIkLn4pyHzipQOgZ3ul0L4it73HAO9Jl-XY2JnY5eA9GVY7ymH9iVNvgLQ2dhvlVnGvfYUfuJuIDX1rYTqq9fjFfVcAXli_5WGk23dRRimkXYFLSwjrL/s1600/SAM_6901.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zone Activity</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEcV1oIBURNofM1q19tSBnRpjKMU8wDSUeMUpbGObIJM191hUlt69l554oMHSbLQhcokywKn4LS6qEsGJxRoeGOf4B7Z218CcWrn0q1wfQMtM6QyQtd_ODIhs909I1bsYF1oDrs_rVpbfW/s1600/SAM_6908.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEcV1oIBURNofM1q19tSBnRpjKMU8wDSUeMUpbGObIJM191hUlt69l554oMHSbLQhcokywKn4LS6qEsGJxRoeGOf4B7Z218CcWrn0q1wfQMtM6QyQtd_ODIhs909I1bsYF1oDrs_rVpbfW/s1600/SAM_6908.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Zona....</td></tr>
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So this week was the last week we had to work in a trio, Elder Amon's comp gets here tomorrow. But it was good while it lasted. It was definitly harder to take care of both areas but I feel we just got used to teaching in a trio that it's gonna be weird to start teaching in two again. But our investigators are doing well. Johnson and his daughter Milena came to church again this week, as well as Jair. We had a really good lesson with Milena this week. It's been hard to be able to teach the two of them so we had to teach her at mutual at the chapel.Today we have a zone activity so I'll be sure to get lots of pictures for you guys and of a bunch of other things too. I love you all and I know that this is truly the Lord's work. Something I'm perceiving more and more is how fundamental it is to follow the Spirit. I've seen in various lessons and other occasions where I have been inspired to say something or do something that has truly had an impact on someone. I know the Lord is guiding us in this work and I'm doing my best to be worthy and prepared to have His Spirit guiding me. I hope that you guys have a good week and good luck with your new callings mom and dad!</div>
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8/18/14</div>
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So this week we recieved our new missionary. His name is Elder Buenrostro, from Texas. If you guys wanna hear something crazy, Elder Buenrostro has the same amount of time as me on the mission, he waited a year and 4 months to get his visa. I bet that has to be super difficult. But he's loving it here and he actually speaks really well already because he speaks spanish too. But since he arrived, Elder Provoste and I are now working in our area and are now able to focus on just our investigators. So the week overall was good. It started with Monday, where we had a Zone P-day and we had a barbeque at one of the chapels with the whole zone. It was really really fun and after P-day ended we had our zone training where Elder Provoste and I gave a training about better preparing our investigators for baptism, preparing from the first contact on the street. It was a good training, I felt, and it really helped get the missionaries excited. This week we also got a chance to do a division with the Assistants. I got to stay here and work in our area with Elder Myers again. It was good and I learned a lot. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz7TI3T14TzTXZq9IOQX6YHdmdjhUKyyJGn09IUa0w2ZO2NinWfh9cRdntHRes_XapnEwAPQVDXhHndIYWb_dInjTOR0n5YXeIO49GrZLC-Wyeq2Rh9GZmeJnoO-7QENxi2KY7jf3W5_KN/s1600/SAM_6951.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz7TI3T14TzTXZq9IOQX6YHdmdjhUKyyJGn09IUa0w2ZO2NinWfh9cRdntHRes_XapnEwAPQVDXhHndIYWb_dInjTOR0n5YXeIO49GrZLC-Wyeq2Rh9GZmeJnoO-7QENxi2KY7jf3W5_KN/s1600/SAM_6951.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Buenrostro, Elder Schwartz, Elder Amon, and Elder Provoste</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdZsZ1o5lXANfL3p6cbko7y3kTYrYCnBDJaBIZ-1cxM_-oB6qnZnA0y6oGXp0e8_wCXB53o-aAO9TmQuzptVMDsm5WVne1krcEA3X7gvOSsqYDaUR9SL-RRRD74h1QyRrjgD_11DxA-AKZ/s1600/SAM_6941.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdZsZ1o5lXANfL3p6cbko7y3kTYrYCnBDJaBIZ-1cxM_-oB6qnZnA0y6oGXp0e8_wCXB53o-aAO9TmQuzptVMDsm5WVne1krcEA3X7gvOSsqYDaUR9SL-RRRD74h1QyRrjgD_11DxA-AKZ/s1600/SAM_6941.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Captain America and Thor</td></tr>
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I wanted to share a cool finding miracle that we had yesterday night. So Provoste and I went to an appointment with an old investigator that told us to pass by his old house (he since had moved to another area) so as we called for him, a man that lived in the back told us he moved so then we decided to start to talk to him. He told us that the night before he said a prayer which he hadn't done in years asking for some sort of direction and then the next day we showed up. It was an amazing and spiritual conversation we had, and he was really interested in our message.</div>
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kurtpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16275106272265621635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541228130904054602.post-87202835355781315562014-06-25T22:27:00.003-07:002014-06-25T22:27:43.405-07:00Weddings and Baptisms....and Service<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful Wedding, followed by...</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful Baptism</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">Dear Family!!!</span><br />
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Wow!!! I can't believe it. Doug actually did it. Who would've thunk? Hahah, just kidding. Send him and Jessica my best wishes. <br />
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(I was totally there on the first date). That's awesome that you guys had a fun little getaway in Vegas. That's cool to hear too that Doug's dad did the sealing. It was cool to hear about the inspiration you received while you were in the temple. When we went to the temple last week I had the opportunity to do a lot of reflection and think about how I could be a better missionary and a better zone leader. I love that we get the chance to go to the temple every three months. When I get home, I'm making a goal to go to the temple as often as possible.</div>
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So Elder Vargas has a year and six months on the mission. He's a stud of a missionary and he's freaking hilarious. He speaks pretty good English, but he's trying to get to a better fluency so I'm helping him with a few things. Before the mission he was working as an internet cafe manager and he worked as a churrasqueiro (barbecuer). The other two in our apartment are both hispanics; Elder Ramirez from the Dominican Republic, and Elder Ballestero from Columbia. Elder Ramirez is training Elder Ballestero, so he's learning Portuguese, but he has it pretty much down by now. We all live together and it's a great time for all of us. Seriously, I love living in a group of four. Wayyyy better than living in just two. </div>
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So this week was the wedding of Antonio and Vanilde, and the baptism of Vanilde and their daughter Camila. It was such a special experience and a sweet spirit was felt by all who attended. There was a really good support from the ward and there were many visitors too. I'm so grateful to have been able to take part in such a moment in the lives of this family. I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ truly can change lives and make people deeply happy. It was definitely a landmark experience of my mission and a family that I'm never going to forget. </div>
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Unfortunately, Fernanda wasn't quite ready for baptism, but we're going to keep working with her and we set a goal with her to be ready to be baptized here in two weeks. This week we also got a lot of good references of people who attended the wedding and expressed interest in the message,so we are going to be working with them these upcoming weeks. Also, we got the chance to do a little service project for one of the sisters in the ward and help her paint her house. I'll send some pics along. </div>
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Today we had a P-day with all the zone together, and we played some volleyball, and some ping-pong, and the sister brought a lot of food so we got a little fat too. It was some good zone bonding and a pump up for the week ahead of us. OH, and we got word today that we get to watch the Brazil World Cup game today (Monday June 23rd)! And our ward has been putting the games on a big screen at the chapel, so we're going to be cheering on the home team with our ward today, but then we have to go directly home afterwards because of the potential danger. So basically, this P-day is an actual whole day today. WOOHOO!</div>
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This Friday, President and Sister Broadbent arrive and assume their new position as mission president. Everyone has been saying that a lot of things are going to change. Whatever it will be, I'm excited to be able to work with our new mission president. I'm sad that President and Sister Tanner are leaving though. They are such amazing people and they have helped me and this mission so much. I'm so grateful for all the things that they have done for us as missionaries and especially for me personally. They have helped me to become a better person, and I will really miss them. Nevertheless, I wish them the best with their new calling -- General Sunday School presidency -- how cool is that!</div>
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Well, I love you all and I hope that you all have a good week. I'll be sure to give you guys the update on President Broadbent and the week went! I know that this is the Lord's work and that this is His church. I know that he lives and loves each and every one of us and knows each and every one of us personally. I know that miracles are real and that if we have faith, we can truly work miracles.</div>
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LOVE YOU ALL,</div>
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Elder Schwartz<br />
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Service Pics</div>
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More Wedding and Baptism Pics</div>
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kurtpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16275106272265621635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541228130904054602.post-3777159332196831342014-06-25T08:17:00.002-07:002014-06-25T08:17:36.044-07:00Yes, A New Companion....Elder Vargas<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With Elder Vargas in front of the Temple</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">My beloved Family and Friends,</span><br />
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First off, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, DAD!!!!! I hope that your father's day was awesome and that you had a lot of wonderful memories! Unfortunately, Father's day doesn't get the same treatment as Mother's day here in the mission, so the Skype sesh, will have to wait until Christmas. But I'm glad that you guys had a good week, and that everyone is staying busy with your various activities and such. It sounds like Nate is staying busy in the MTZ which is good to hear. RM's gotta stay busy. </div>
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So I guess that you guys want to know what happened at transfers. Elder Barreto got transferred to another zone here in São Paulo and he's a zone leader there. My new companion's name is Elder Vargas and he's from Goiania, Goias and he's a freaking boss, and I freaking love him. Our house also changed up a little bit. Elder Camarena left and Elder Ramirez is training a new missionary named Elder Ballestero that's from Columbia. The zone changed up a little bit too, but I'm super excited about this upcoming transfer. Vanilde and Antonio's wedding is this Thursday and the baptism of Camilla and Vanilde will be right after the wedding. They had their interviews yesterday and they are super prepared.</div>
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We also had a really cool ward activity this week. It was a "festa junina" which is a type of cultural party that they have with diffrent little activities and food and such. A lot of our investigators and less active members were there. Paulo even brought a lot of family members and friends. In our lesson with him this week he asked what he needed to do to be able to baptize people. We told him that he needed the priesthood first and for that he needed to have an interview with the Bishop. He wants to baptize everyone on the street so we got him marked (scheduled) with Bishop for an interview this week to recieve the Aaronic priesthood. (Oh, and I told Paulo that you guys would most likely come to pick me up, so he already marked for us to all have lunch together on that Sunday. He also said if you guys need a place to stay, you can stay at his place).</div>
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So here it's been both crazy and normal for the World Cup. During the days where Brazil is playing, we have to go home at about the time of the game and we can't leave that night, but for the rest of the games we are working normally. I'm stoked that my teams are doing good. USA (of course), Brazil, and Germany. If any one of them wins I'll be happy. I tell everyone here that I'm cheering for the United States to win it all just to mess with everyone, cuz it probably won't happen, but hey, who knows what could happen. </div>
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Anyways, I'm going to have to sign off here, but just know that I'm stoked to still be in this ward. I know that I'm here for a reason and that there is someone out here who needs me and I'm going to do my best to fufill my purpose here. I know that this is Christ's true Church and H<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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e is the one that leads it. I know that we have a living prophet today and that he receive's revelation directly from Him. I know that this is His work and that He loves each and everyone of us. I love you guys and I'll talk to you guys next week!</div>
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Love,</div>
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Elder Schwartz</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2NRa1snTqIXNIBjaQjOP3cucsdMyADtBv4wurDt6u3375wyVFt4XomZ1ZJmApDPWFQalGVaR-5crKUyhlf2oF_KQ04c8YUj8UBoPwIxA4qJQssS3_Gy2MTDKu4v8JDVh8GrZtw45Kqeye/s1600/IMG_0419%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2NRa1snTqIXNIBjaQjOP3cucsdMyADtBv4wurDt6u3375wyVFt4XomZ1ZJmApDPWFQalGVaR-5crKUyhlf2oF_KQ04c8YUj8UBoPwIxA4qJQssS3_Gy2MTDKu4v8JDVh8GrZtw45Kqeye/s1600/IMG_0419%255B1%255D.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Town decorated for World Cup</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit_2ev3qMAx_VhT1sOZw6jeJhyphenhyphenyX6IeBoYtAW6KAUBdsxrsmXvg_tNzjLCmKGYRDLY0ty3nxymGBtJ-DaF5yJiOodYexF8ObwVrzkh8QW5gCyE0cajGUpzeA67sT8kSWkWG7-GzuZdsuyj/s1600/IMG_0431%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit_2ev3qMAx_VhT1sOZw6jeJhyphenhyphenyX6IeBoYtAW6KAUBdsxrsmXvg_tNzjLCmKGYRDLY0ty3nxymGBtJ-DaF5yJiOodYexF8ObwVrzkh8QW5gCyE0cajGUpzeA67sT8kSWkWG7-GzuZdsuyj/s1600/IMG_0431%255B1%255D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Vargas and Elder Schwartz</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZb5Jk6n4OeG5z6CKs8ZV3fjt-clTSysvk7VdGOJtku5iB2BboyrOlS_YwDS8bDrfSyZvs-kIBKEfvYlnKkpyxROa9rOCUV3r9uRTZPPRMewbhi2hOq23cVRn_AnV6S_PL5StBawC_6fg6/s1600/IMG_0437%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZb5Jk6n4OeG5z6CKs8ZV3fjt-clTSysvk7VdGOJtku5iB2BboyrOlS_YwDS8bDrfSyZvs-kIBKEfvYlnKkpyxROa9rOCUV3r9uRTZPPRMewbhi2hOq23cVRn_AnV6S_PL5StBawC_6fg6/s1600/IMG_0437%255B1%255D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Ballestero, Elder Vargas, Elder Schwartz and Elder Ramirez</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5UmRmzEbvd5wVQjpxjcejKimz8VUDGlBVB1ZHW5CeSn_mtKMNyCaRm15bz23fYHHTIzqVmK3AoN9SHAe1vZE1ua7ipp8YiVlbV1rcnwEQG1WPwBPBAx6QlL5m_P5lGU99bcrEafN_H-ir/s1600/IMG_0435%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5UmRmzEbvd5wVQjpxjcejKimz8VUDGlBVB1ZHW5CeSn_mtKMNyCaRm15bz23fYHHTIzqVmK3AoN9SHAe1vZE1ua7ipp8YiVlbV1rcnwEQG1WPwBPBAx6QlL5m_P5lGU99bcrEafN_H-ir/s1600/IMG_0435%255B1%255D.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Focus</td></tr>
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kurtpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16275106272265621635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541228130904054602.post-42846998839071941932014-06-15T19:48:00.001-07:002014-06-15T19:48:38.456-07:00Transfers......?????<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18px; text-align: start;">One more transfer in Cidade Leonor!</span></td></tr>
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Dearest Family!!!!<br /></div>
Thanks for the update and this pics. I feel like everything is SO different back at home. Seriously, the first thing that blew me away is how big Cole is. Is he taller than Hannah? So weeeiiirrrd..... BUT HEY, so we got our transfer calls today and you guys are not going to believe what happened. So, I'm staying here, and Elder Barreto is getting transferred. This is going to be my fifth transfer in this area. SO MUCH TIME. Obviously, the there is something that I need to do here, or someone that I am supposed to help come unto Christ that I haven't found yet. So I'm stoked that I get to stay one more here because I like this area, and I get to see Antonio and Vanilde's wedding all the way through! And see the baptism! So cool!<br /></div>
Let's see, soo this week was a really good week for us. Paulo is doing really well. He's already being a member missionary! He's inviting everyone he knows to go to this ward activity we are going to have on Saturday night. Antonio and his fam are doing well, also. They all went to stake conference with us yesterday and seemed to really enjoy it. This week we found a lot of new people that have huge potential. For example we found a girl who is dating a returned missionary and lives in our area so we are going to try to get in contact with that returned missionary to get him to take her to church here.<br /></div>
So the stake conference that we had this past weekend was amazing. Everything on Saturday was about member missionary work and we got a live satellite transmission from Salt Lake City for the Sunday Session. On Saturday, I gave my talk, which I hope went well. It was about how members and missionaries can work together in the work of reactivation and I cited that book The Power of the Everyday Missionary. However, the Temple President came and gave a talk at that session that was amazing! It was so good and so spiritual and he gave lots of fun and practical ideas for the members to get involved in missionary work. And for the Sunday session, the Brazil Area Presidency spoke, as well as a members of the relief society presidency, and Elder Richard G. Scott (who gave his talk in really good portuguese, I was surprised) and Elder Ballard. Elder Scott talked a lot about prayer and the blessings we recieve as we are in communication with our Heavenly Father. Elder Ballard talked about three things that are really hurting the saints, not just in Brazil but everywhere. He talked about the use of technology (texting, social media, etc) while members are attending church, and basically burned everyone. He talked about the perils of pornography, and he spoke about defending the family and the doctrine of the family. They were amazing talks and I was really spiritually uplifted.<br /></div>
Well family, my time is running out and I can't send pictures today from my camera because we're using an internet cafe today but I'll send some that a member sent me today. I know that this is truly the Lord's work, and that He directs it through revelation. I know that I'm here for a reason and I'm going to work with all my energy to help as many as my brothers and sisters here in Cidade Leonor as I can.<br /></div>
Love you all!</div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">Elder Schwartz</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With Elder Baretto and Friend</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7AzyjyZoV5p5AF1lXibZVBe4i9XsvJ_RSw-zWRHewmwgzvdeG-lYAKXinb1Ne509d_ASX2UH5JIbbHdrrwkyCdHeV9Vvnqv9_L9ndTiaryX3eeWbM9Twuh04li2R5d7RJgVxbwoGxdMaH/s1600/foto+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7AzyjyZoV5p5AF1lXibZVBe4i9XsvJ_RSw-zWRHewmwgzvdeG-lYAKXinb1Ne509d_ASX2UH5JIbbHdrrwkyCdHeV9Vvnqv9_L9ndTiaryX3eeWbM9Twuh04li2R5d7RJgVxbwoGxdMaH/s1600/foto+3.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Selfies....</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;"><br /></span>kurtpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16275106272265621635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541228130904054602.post-9888270441277527262014-06-08T16:57:00.000-07:002014-06-08T16:57:46.450-07:00President and Sister Tanner's Last Zone Conference<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmi4TKn5iWfQDnIuUqqwMQZxiCsUXiWMkOvgXGZuRa8jursdiOKsXtfbxuID1guc3WTvqcSGCGfdrs2azS29KVeUODHxhBCfyJtv5aEhl3cSl7RK7aLU1krLd2jokpbD72uSrodgxMq18R/s1600/IMG_0387%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmi4TKn5iWfQDnIuUqqwMQZxiCsUXiWMkOvgXGZuRa8jursdiOKsXtfbxuID1guc3WTvqcSGCGfdrs2azS29KVeUODHxhBCfyJtv5aEhl3cSl7RK7aLU1krLd2jokpbD72uSrodgxMq18R/s1600/IMG_0387%255B1%255D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">President and Sister Tanner will be released at the end of June. Elder Schwartz will miss them....</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">Dear Family!!!!! </span><br />
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Wow you guys are looking goood! I'm diggin the beard pops! The only one that's left is Nate -- hahaha! It's good to hear that you guys had a good Memorial day and had a nice little vespa adventure. That little scripture that you shared with me about the garner representing the temple was something that Elder Evans shared with us when we had a devotional with him. Inspired and sooo true that the more people that have been to the temple will be better safeguarded. We actually were trained this week at zone conference talking exactly about what I said last week. Since we didn't get a chance to hear from Elder Anderson, President Tanner did get a chance to hear from Elder Nelson, and he just passed on to us what Elder Nelson taught. It was really good stuff. There was a lot about working with members to strengthen and reinvigorate them. We're now authorized to do 50% proselyting and 50% re-activation. We also focused on how we can strengthen our new converts through helping them have a focus on the temple, that they need to "endure to the endowment." Lot's of good stuff! It's been a lot of the same stuff that we and the stake presidency have been trying to focus on here in our stake, and we're going to keep on doing it.</div>
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This week was actually a really good week for us because we found two really good part-member families who we are going to be strengthening, and helping to complete the family in the church. In one family, the daughter, Natialia, is active but the mom, Taís, is not and the step-dad, Roberto, isn't a member. They were really excited to see us and Taís was especially excited and wants to go back to church. In the other family also, there are two kids active, one that isn't a member, Fernanda, and the mom is inactive. Both are really good families and we are super excited to start working with them and inviting the members to participate. It will be good because this is an excellent opportunity to make miracles happen and experiences that I can share at stake conference. The work is going really good here. Antonio and his family are doing really good. Paulo went to church this week and is starting to share the gospel with his friends and neighbors like a boss. Regiane also came to church this last week and we are working with a member family to work on integrating her back into activity. We also have two more investigators that are going to church now that I've actually only taught once because of the divisions; Mirtes (I think that's how you spell her name) and Sonia. This week we're going to have to coordinate really well with all of these people to help them get to the stake center for conference, but it will all turn out ok. </div>
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Like I mentioned, this week I got to go on a few divisions. I went on one with Elder Camarena (who lives with me) and took him to work with me in our area. It was a really good division and I learned a lot from him. He's got about 8 months on the mission and 4 months here in the country but he's already doing super well. The other division I went on was with one of the assistants, Elder Myers. I got the chance to work with him in his area and do a few baptism interviews for them. He's a powerhouse missionary and I learned so so so much from that division. The kid truly follows the section in Preach My Gospel: "Talk with everyone," because we talked with so many people and taught a lot of lessons in the streets. It's something that I have been slacking on a bit lately, so this next week Elder Barreto and I are gonna work the crap out of this area. Transfers is this coming week, so if I get transferred, I want to say I held nothing back.</div>
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Today we spent the morning with a member, Richard (eu sei que você está lendo isso fubeca!), who is a member in our ward who just got off of his mission, and he took us around São Paulo and showed us some sites. We went up a skyscraper and got to see the whole city of São Paulo and we also went to Parque de Iberapuera which is this super big park in São Paulo. And that was pretty much my week, family. I'm stoked for this upcoming week. We have a lot of awesome people that we are going to visit and Heavenly Father is going to keep putting the elect in our path as we continue to do our best and work diligently. I know that He loves me and each and every one of his children. I know that His gospel changes lives!</div>
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Til next week!</div>
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Love,</div>
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Elder Schwartz</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px; text-align: start;">At a churrascaría with Elder Camarena</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbDm3CZXWgKCYpT7oyAskifvlNTmcxSKg24UpvlToZSztvGckCwDYqkoFMRYmGPeMLs6xjASr8yUvUyPs_B9Ya19EX_ie7bZQgKr5SQeSbvaCP8sWKMHcBPQ9r8kPyySwH86aXmHbVkW3x/s1600/IMG_0380%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbDm3CZXWgKCYpT7oyAskifvlNTmcxSKg24UpvlToZSztvGckCwDYqkoFMRYmGPeMLs6xjASr8yUvUyPs_B9Ya19EX_ie7bZQgKr5SQeSbvaCP8sWKMHcBPQ9r8kPyySwH86aXmHbVkW3x/s1600/IMG_0380%255B1%255D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So full afterwards....</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRdcLd9kctRemfOB_MSHl1nOMJLy-k5LIAJ7rbKXeEUJ3-tDkmrtD-5VKKKgiez4_NkxqhJgq96jB3RJQ3owb9jpSY8MZy6lebC9ipodqKvz1NmVJt0cyfTySEpNpktDGxDmv23BgJ8uKy/s1600/IMG_0389%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRdcLd9kctRemfOB_MSHl1nOMJLy-k5LIAJ7rbKXeEUJ3-tDkmrtD-5VKKKgiez4_NkxqhJgq96jB3RJQ3owb9jpSY8MZy6lebC9ipodqKvz1NmVJt0cyfTySEpNpktDGxDmv23BgJ8uKy/s1600/IMG_0389%255B1%255D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Bond (companion from MTC) finally made it to Brazil</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGZzAEzrKpeQEzK7J3_6BEdfYLBJBpzK9wklqV2vvCcKY_LfA-4TRsbntWbod16Ypf1gZ4IBeI1s3SNcdCBQS73xqnDbZIZGEJVv-ghnItyY355alQteA6Wc5gU_G8281SSnMZ9mNmshOL/s1600/IMG_0392%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGZzAEzrKpeQEzK7J3_6BEdfYLBJBpzK9wklqV2vvCcKY_LfA-4TRsbntWbod16Ypf1gZ4IBeI1s3SNcdCBQS73xqnDbZIZGEJVv-ghnItyY355alQteA6Wc5gU_G8281SSnMZ9mNmshOL/s1600/IMG_0392%255B1%255D.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On divisions with Elder Myers....</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY8HiavnljmKLZ9BvGrC63McQhPzE1W-Ly_T4GLcmDnihPU2kk7ZhIAVXMfCkOaO4dMfruDERQFDKWdvHD0YR_vthWCSzOKhL6tv8y2XiW1v5ts6J5VVge3vRo72hFTR-O5n0fDIVlt3pS/s1600/IMG_0393%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY8HiavnljmKLZ9BvGrC63McQhPzE1W-Ly_T4GLcmDnihPU2kk7ZhIAVXMfCkOaO4dMfruDERQFDKWdvHD0YR_vthWCSzOKhL6tv8y2XiW1v5ts6J5VVge3vRo72hFTR-O5n0fDIVlt3pS/s1600/IMG_0393%255B1%255D.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...eating Toddy and peanut butter</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2T_20a9emWyjafRVyfYywUBajTG4QgByKikQqoqvRS7anTOFEAziifV-xnBqPztkgRA5ENAxXaPcrEtVx1fqC_9i0Xggs5HtE39VlZh9l_30Tw7ZZKqhDSGXeUk36lsgjlCEEHKcEZyyJ/s1600/IMG_0398%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2T_20a9emWyjafRVyfYywUBajTG4QgByKikQqoqvRS7anTOFEAziifV-xnBqPztkgRA5ENAxXaPcrEtVx1fqC_9i0Xggs5HtE39VlZh9l_30Tw7ZZKqhDSGXeUk36lsgjlCEEHKcEZyyJ/s1600/IMG_0398%255B1%255D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Corinthian's Stadium</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijHPOFnVD0SPItuMadu2WLr6dx3EsgEMJ648mfclUYwJR_hCY_-Dq3oCaRwzvRRs1mST2GeXRex31n4ecLf_9S34Z8D0-JIf22k7Ils8bzP8_ikdXf3Vp0OM_8e72VqLQnupgJ37l29KeM/s1600/IMG_0402%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijHPOFnVD0SPItuMadu2WLr6dx3EsgEMJ648mfclUYwJR_hCY_-Dq3oCaRwzvRRs1mST2GeXRex31n4ecLf_9S34Z8D0-JIf22k7Ils8bzP8_ikdXf3Vp0OM_8e72VqLQnupgJ37l29KeM/s1600/IMG_0402%255B1%255D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sao Paulo from above</td></tr>
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kurtpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16275106272265621635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541228130904054602.post-50556601066545004962014-05-26T20:27:00.000-07:002014-05-26T20:27:10.138-07:00Elder Andrew's Past Two Weeks in Brazil......<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeXrjFoDP7QSfjPp8V9As1voYLSl2vqzcPtyytvcLH-pW2xQppUmyjBvT7CEVf70oUwwcOLqyuweF_WuJUuXBwlgbOgRsbuGotMXPjRsSJzric9BFUOr_DJ19ClRZmKKh8I83ICGkPXtLX/s1600/IMG_0378%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeXrjFoDP7QSfjPp8V9As1voYLSl2vqzcPtyytvcLH-pW2xQppUmyjBvT7CEVf70oUwwcOLqyuweF_WuJUuXBwlgbOgRsbuGotMXPjRsSJzric9BFUOr_DJ19ClRZmKKh8I83ICGkPXtLX/s1600/IMG_0378%255B1%255D.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Birthday/Easter Package finally arrived!!!!!!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">Here is last week's email, followed by this week's.......</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">Dear Family!</span><br />
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<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">
Man I feel like I was just writing you guys yesterday. This week flew by so fast. That stinks to hear that the Honda broke down on Nate and Phil in Elko, Nevada. (What's there to do in Elko anyway?) I guess I'm not so jealous that Nate got the Honda anymore. But I'm glad that they made it safely to Provo, and are moving on with things. It's good to hear that you guys are getting back into the normal routine of work, callings, and exercises, etc. I'm glad to hear that you are helping fellowship your friend. I read this book called "The Power of the Everyday Missionary" and it's a fantastic book that helps members become better at sharing the gospel in everyday settings. It talks about the idea where sometimes we go to people and say what the gospel can do for them; but the book suggests that instead of just explaining the blessings of living the gospel, we should help them experience it for themselves with opportunities to serve others. People will feel the Spirit more powerfully when they have opportunities to serve others. So whenever you are doing something for your callings, invite a friend or less active member to help out. That way they feel what it's like actually living the gospel. </div>
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We had a good week this week. We got to the registry with Antonio and Ivanilde and got everything sorted out with only a limited number of set-backs. But Heavenly Father knew it was important so he helped us overcome the little issues. When we got to the registry they asked for Elder Barreto's and my ID's because we were the witnesses. Unfortunately there is a date on my visa paper that I carry around that says it's only valid for 180 days so they thought my visa expired and didn't let me be a witness. But we were so lucky because that same day there was a mini-transfer at the chapel nearby for the american missionaries who got a refresh course at the MTC here in Brazil, after waiting for the visa for a long time (Elder Bond my comp from the MTC was in that group; he finally made it). So we went there, grabbed another elder with a current ID to be the witness, so everything ended all right. We set a date for the wedding on the 19th of June, which I probably won't see because transfers is the 10th. But I'm happy that everything is working out and I'm so happy for the progress of that family. This week we also worked on finding new people and working on our teaching pool. We're trying to see who's progressing and who we need to leave for a little while. Also, this week we got in contact with Paulo again. He said that he couldn't go to church last week because he had unexpected visitors the past two Sundays when he had planned to attend. But this week he came to church, and we have a lunch planned with him this week. Paulo is the kind of person that I was talking about earlier. He want's to help and he want's to serve and if he gets that opportunity, he will feel more of the Spirit and seek it more by coming out to church. I talked with Bishop about immediately giving him some sort of responsibility, so we'll see what happens. </div>
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Other than that the week was pretty normal. Work, work, work. This next week we get to see Elder Anderson, so I'm super excited for that. I'll let you guys know how that goes. Oh, and just a heads up. I'm starting to have a little knee trouble. Nothing serious at the moment, but I'm taking precautions. I think I was getting the problems because both of my shoes were basically destroyed (see pic), so today we went to 25 de Março and I bought two new pairs of shoes. I'm also doing knee excercises that President and Sister Tanner gave us to keep them from getting worse. I'll keep you guys updated if it starts to get worse. </div>
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Anyways I'm glad that everything is going well for you guys. I'm so happy to be here in Brazil helping my brothers and sisters come closer to Christ. Until next week!</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">
Love,</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">
Elder Schwartz</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxt5jryXvuOy-09ey3i8axjMDM-1ivIvjL7oWI8QMF_xkonRLsTyUbqF7vtfoXKtFXgG3x9uJizl3lRGbcHom9ufNVtl3sTtsI5KgvgQmDkJBcJKIXW2x4e5bRlzIg0BY4ZGTOcw1ptzSV/s1600/IMG_0369%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxt5jryXvuOy-09ey3i8axjMDM-1ivIvjL7oWI8QMF_xkonRLsTyUbqF7vtfoXKtFXgG3x9uJizl3lRGbcHom9ufNVtl3sTtsI5KgvgQmDkJBcJKIXW2x4e5bRlzIg0BY4ZGTOcw1ptzSV/s1600/IMG_0369%255B1%255D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Badly worn out shoes -- 2 year warranty???</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxW0tMeLKPUXXjV92rRxiKJ1F0bz-MaSgDYv2IzyixVp5QywN4skBaaM3TA6TNmhF73aQdNEXzoTteAR1WrUtvJp4dyixoKzIy4yD0Z2kR8TzD-wKDD8yWHnxVIBltHJUnybk8-VpWMiM7/s1600/IMG_2214.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxW0tMeLKPUXXjV92rRxiKJ1F0bz-MaSgDYv2IzyixVp5QywN4skBaaM3TA6TNmhF73aQdNEXzoTteAR1WrUtvJp4dyixoKzIy4yD0Z2kR8TzD-wKDD8yWHnxVIBltHJUnybk8-VpWMiM7/s1600/IMG_2214.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18px; text-align: start;">Rua 25 de Março - Big Shopping!</span></td></tr>
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<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">Dear Family!</span><br />
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<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">
Well, it sounds like you guys had a good week this past week! It's good to hear that you guys have fun plans for Memorial Day. So, the package that you guys sent to me finally came! Thank you so much! I loved all of it, and everyone in our house loves it too! I'll make sure to share the love with everyone. Ahah! </div>
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<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">
So remember when I said we were going to get to see Elder Anderson? Well......about that..... so apparently all of the bus drivers and police of São Paulo thought it would be a good idea to go on strike on Wednesday, so the devotional with Elder Anderson got cancelled, because it became too dangerous to leave our houses, so we had to stay inside most of the day. Everyone in the mission was so upset. Apparently, this whole World Cup thing is wasting a lot of Brazil's money, so a lot of people are deciding to go on strike and protest. It's all over with now. The strike and protesting stopped that night and we got out to work normally, and we got in a few appointments. Here in my area it's not particularly dangerous, so there really weren't any problems with the strike and everything, so just to let you guys know -- I'm safe and you don't have to worry about me. But I think this won't be the last strike because the World Cup is coming soon, and many people aren't really too happy. We'll see... I'll be sure to keep you all updated. </div>
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<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">
Other than that major let down, the rest of the week was good. We had a meeting with the stake president which was awesome as always. We got to correlate with him and he gave us a mission. He gave me the assignment to give a talk at stake conference about how missionaries and members can work together in reactivation, and then for us to focus on these next two weeks to reactivate someone together with the members. So for these next few weeks that is going to be our focus. We have already started by talking with various members and making plans with them to work with people like Regiane or Paulo or other less-active members. Our bishop did something really inspired yesterday, which was awesome. There was a lot of empty space in the pews yesterday at sacrament meeting, and a lot of people that should have been there, weren't. So bishop got up to the pulpit after the last speaker, and invited all the members to think about these people that didn't come and to immediately go and visit them and tell them that they were missed. This theme carried on into the Elder's Quorum, as we talked about the people that didn't come and made plans together to go visit these people. It was sad that so many people didn't go to church yesterday, but there was a great spirit that was felt, when the ward came together in unity to find those lost sheep and bring them back to the fold.</div>
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<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">
I'm running out of time today (I'm always so rushed), but thank you so much for all the letters and love! I'm super excited for this upcoming week and all the good Elder Barreto and I are going to get to do! Thanks for all of our prayers and support! I know that this is God's work and I know that His priesthood keys are here on the earth and that these keys are real! I love being a missionary and I love this opportunity I have to help as many people as I can here in Brazil!</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">
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<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">
Love you all!</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">
Until next week!</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">
Elder Schwartz</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4DFnUitPH0BUR1QZQrAfuMHqWcB4-OjIrESYGIM2823nrqfhhcf03NMuURrQzPVEANe0By67nQNrz7o-nyJfRDIRuO0oxv9UdAGW6P7hW5Pm86a24roeJNJh2J4LWWhQ6WgswMs_UCE87/s1600/IMG_0370%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4DFnUitPH0BUR1QZQrAfuMHqWcB4-OjIrESYGIM2823nrqfhhcf03NMuURrQzPVEANe0By67nQNrz7o-nyJfRDIRuO0oxv9UdAGW6P7hW5Pm86a24roeJNJh2J4LWWhQ6WgswMs_UCE87/s1600/IMG_0370%255B1%255D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With two brother's from the ward who are leaving on their missions now....</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtwC-cug8BZ2vVjmtxS77zXvKoIurm4ufCo360jv4GqVQ6YJEx6oBW6mAZgC7DFtCpphJ67mFeDYrix7S6zVEoBjzdpPjdojMrtAn65qm5eYBl5_7wLQ_HgkqcfE1v7ts-qP_80OuLQPvf/s1600/IMG_0371%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtwC-cug8BZ2vVjmtxS77zXvKoIurm4ufCo360jv4GqVQ6YJEx6oBW6mAZgC7DFtCpphJ67mFeDYrix7S6zVEoBjzdpPjdojMrtAn65qm5eYBl5_7wLQ_HgkqcfE1v7ts-qP_80OuLQPvf/s1600/IMG_0371%255B1%255D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Text message that Elder Anderson's meeting had to be cancelled</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyhrPyAjLG2GQ0dyvq6BRVAosCK9kaG8boR7HMv6e6ti1MHdZLr453-b5yA4Z3A-X-wYlBxk6_GUj_st5nDLJbgjtyTD0DcUDc4cv2zft2cu2dKcMQdOG-Jpb3WyKUb2YBPj94wnOz8I8q/s1600/IMG_0377%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyhrPyAjLG2GQ0dyvq6BRVAosCK9kaG8boR7HMv6e6ti1MHdZLr453-b5yA4Z3A-X-wYlBxk6_GUj_st5nDLJbgjtyTD0DcUDc4cv2zft2cu2dKcMQdOG-Jpb3WyKUb2YBPj94wnOz8I8q/s1600/IMG_0377%255B1%255D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Schwartz's invitation to speak at his stake conference meeting</td></tr>
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kurtpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16275106272265621635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541228130904054602.post-82306667750650882772014-05-18T19:22:00.003-07:002014-05-18T19:22:43.283-07:00Happy Birthday, Elder Andrew Schwartz!<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjJkfCLPfaaUwwnQmRG6mltopEUWDWjaKEObUbMi02GEbjgx4BPhDqh8VpZZG5GmoXyA1rRuFICilyJRkN9CWrYjoq0Vi0Uus9C6Gdh4lh471hrT7kUoxknzyzEGy7XFc8PB3FKL7c5lPB/s1600/IMG_0357%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjJkfCLPfaaUwwnQmRG6mltopEUWDWjaKEObUbMi02GEbjgx4BPhDqh8VpZZG5GmoXyA1rRuFICilyJRkN9CWrYjoq0Vi0Uus9C6Gdh4lh471hrT7kUoxknzyzEGy7XFc8PB3FKL7c5lPB/s1600/IMG_0357%255B1%255D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Surprise Birthday Party at Antonio's</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinIdkfM49VREKymbRCAd-QxyWWWgXeQflzZGov56_jfeBLe158w-QyZ63JJp-4LYNpptYafVZbUYiAIK78fj0priaZv5FYZzyvL5r1vyN5r8iLgExLSY_Lrcis5QYLa1PoogNJ1IHR51NG/s1600/IMG_0351%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinIdkfM49VREKymbRCAd-QxyWWWgXeQflzZGov56_jfeBLe158w-QyZ63JJp-4LYNpptYafVZbUYiAIK78fj0priaZv5FYZzyvL5r1vyN5r8iLgExLSY_Lrcis5QYLa1PoogNJ1IHR51NG/s1600/IMG_0351%255B1%255D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Birthday Lunch</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgO98zn-lCBbJRv_qETZLl_A2t1GZ05I-D1rVF6orDLRCVBXaB9D99EY4kr_LjpXMKV2jqeoUtvPbu2HzUlVNB-90zc2_r3NbtqmHVJGyOrxkz6MLgl0_s2TEsd9ROt7-pR0yygpSVpQkt/s1600/IMG_0341%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgO98zn-lCBbJRv_qETZLl_A2t1GZ05I-D1rVF6orDLRCVBXaB9D99EY4kr_LjpXMKV2jqeoUtvPbu2HzUlVNB-90zc2_r3NbtqmHVJGyOrxkz6MLgl0_s2TEsd9ROt7-pR0yygpSVpQkt/s1600/IMG_0341%255B1%255D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The elders serving in the other ward got me pizza for my birthday....</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">Dear Family!</span><br />
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Man, it was sooooo good to talk to all of you guys yesterday (last Sunday)! I'm glad to see that you guys are all doing well and that you guys had a great Mother's Day, too. I hope that you guys had a good week all together. This letter is gonna be kind of short, but I have lots of good pictures for you guys. </div>
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So this past week was good, like I mentioned when we talked. It was full of work as usual. We have been working with a lot of people, and we're always busy, but unfortunately our investigator pool has not been progressing very well, so we're getting to the point to reevaluate who we are going to keep focusing on, and then spend some time working on finding more of the Lord's elect. We're still working with Antonio's Family. Yesterday they threw me a little surprise party with cake and purim. It was awesome. A lot of people wished me a happy birthday at church and a lot of the missionaries and President and Sister Tanner did too, so it was a great birthday. Earlier this week, we had a monthly mission council with President Tanner which are always excellent. I always learn so much from President and Sister Tanner. They are a powerhouse couple! This week on Friday, we had a really special and spiritual experience that I forgot to tell you guys about. We went to the hospital because one of the members in our ward was there due to a problem in her kidney. We visited a little bit with her and shared a little spiritual message with her to try to lift her spirits. She thanked us for the message and as we were leaving she said something that really struck me: She asked us if we would be able to bring her a tithing slip so that she would be able to pay her tithing. I was moved by her faithfulness to keep Heavenly Father's commandments even as she was passing through an extremely difficult health trial in her life. I know that we all pass through hard times and we have lots of difficulties. But if we just keep firm in our faith and be obedient to Heavenly Father's commandments, we will be blessed. </div>
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I loved talking to you guys last week and I'm so happy to be here in Brazil, preaching the gospel to my brothers and sisters. This truly is His work and I know that through the gospel of Jesus Christ and living his commandments we can live truly happy lives. I hope you guys have a good week and I'll talk to you guys next week!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Love,</div>
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Elder Schwartz</div>
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More pictures.....</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVq6ryLqZwFrc4XPQarA9bAnvW7AVCDGGhgN_uxAsP1I7Urt6UxtKLrRNe9H0ozG-NH_UyZGqb4lk-i23N6_4Tqs9Sqhh5obMyyWtQeomQ0VkvOluNnDejJdpdFiGwU1b0PLSWC5WpTTDH/s1600/IMG_0356%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVq6ryLqZwFrc4XPQarA9bAnvW7AVCDGGhgN_uxAsP1I7Urt6UxtKLrRNe9H0ozG-NH_UyZGqb4lk-i23N6_4Tqs9Sqhh5obMyyWtQeomQ0VkvOluNnDejJdpdFiGwU1b0PLSWC5WpTTDH/s1600/IMG_0356%255B1%255D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy, Happy Birthday, Elder Dear!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6K-bVa-1CNl0EZ_3P26jM2p-cFV0HqxapQnwWhtGJPAc5pDn56VTw1bYSgoi9pXxuE9KFbNe2EaCZzTE4jd6j3Zbd65LierBxirFFxpK7_MxSbhgnHDALsw3oZJygc-nJRiTd1UYr4uax/s1600/IMG_0343%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6K-bVa-1CNl0EZ_3P26jM2p-cFV0HqxapQnwWhtGJPAc5pDn56VTw1bYSgoi9pXxuE9KFbNe2EaCZzTE4jd6j3Zbd65LierBxirFFxpK7_MxSbhgnHDALsw3oZJygc-nJRiTd1UYr4uax/s1600/IMG_0343%255B1%255D.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cool street art ramping up to World Cup time</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiARi-EDzDshH_dOwpUAsMqrK_Q2TdPaTS_0gIVkKHF9rJtmB0a5cfjuQLC30r4Gnvlw17-EuIieLghrToRXXG4_H95vBYPwNgwRzQgRrAkqCz7weJPmz-nH2kjsIl-OXW14X_jF5GnPShb/s1600/IMG_0344%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiARi-EDzDshH_dOwpUAsMqrK_Q2TdPaTS_0gIVkKHF9rJtmB0a5cfjuQLC30r4Gnvlw17-EuIieLghrToRXXG4_H95vBYPwNgwRzQgRrAkqCz7weJPmz-nH2kjsIl-OXW14X_jF5GnPShb/s1600/IMG_0344%255B1%255D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We know who these guys are rooting for.....</td></tr>
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kurtpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16275106272265621635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541228130904054602.post-79315980337869232912014-05-04T23:08:00.000-07:002014-05-04T23:10:21.118-07:00Antonio's Family<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizj5nLw9LFhWKWA7O4xYMdGBz3CMoiAkYY_Yp2hiIpn_ww1O3cK3NpIzo1hp7fBsqdcUm6d_lmEaXIVCSuq4ea7td2VFCfLUW_ylt4V1YGuukMBqUoPu4qPwgikDv1oyWcij1hslpjIDBf/s1600/Antonio's+family.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizj5nLw9LFhWKWA7O4xYMdGBz3CMoiAkYY_Yp2hiIpn_ww1O3cK3NpIzo1hp7fBsqdcUm6d_lmEaXIVCSuq4ea7td2VFCfLUW_ylt4V1YGuukMBqUoPu4qPwgikDv1oyWcij1hslpjIDBf/s1600/Antonio's+family.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Antonio's Family</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">My Dear Family!</span><br />
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I'm glad that your week here in the south side was good, and you guys did lots of exciting things! You guys will get a chance to know the other side of the continent a little more down the road. So we got transfer calls this morning, and I'm going to be staying here in Cidade Leonor for another transfer with Elder Barreto, which makes me super stoked because most likely I'll see Antonio and Ivanilde's wedding and the baptism of Ivanilde and Camilla! So I'm happy. Oh, and so for Mother's Day Skype I'm sure I'm good for any schedule. Since it would be best for you guys a little bit later in the day like 5 pm my time 1pm your time, that's when we'll do it. We still haven't asked a member yet to use their Skype, but I'll get it all worked out this week and I'll let you guys know exactly a time next week. I still haven't gotten your package yet but I think I'll get it if not this week I'll get it next week. </div>
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So this past week was really good. I got a little bit of a cold these past few days because the temperature dropped, but now I'm a lot better. Like I said, Antonio's family is doing awesome! We went with them to the registry this week to get the marriage papers all ready, but unfortunately Ivanilde only had a copy of her birth certificate and lost the original so we weren't able to start the process quite yet. It's going to take a little longer to get everything together because Ivanilde is from another state so she had to call a family member to go to the registry there and get an original birth certificate and send it here to São Paulo. We should get it either Wednesday or Thursday, so Friday we should be at the registry to get everything started up, and then about 30 days later we'll have a wedding! But the whole family is doing well; they're loving the church and the members love them, and they are progressing so well in the gospel. Ivanilde even wants to start paying tithing now before she gets baptized.....</div>
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We had another miracle happen this week though! So remember when I said that we started working with that list of all the members? Well on Friday we planned on visiting one that lived on the same street as the church but we didn't have time to visit him that day. The next day we went there and knocked his door (actually we clap here in brazil because everyone's house is enclosed by a gate), and this old man opens the window of the second floor, looks at us, and comes down to let us in. We do the normal greeting thing as he lets us in, and we sat down on his couch. He sat down and said that the day before he was doing some reflection and that the church really had been on his mind a lot lately, and that he even commented to his non-member wife that he wanted to go that Sunday to church. The spirit was really strong and we knew that our going to his house to visit him was confirmation to him that he needed to go back to church. His name is Paulo and he's a retired lawyer who was baptized in 1973. He was a member when the first stake was organized. We left a short message with him about the Atonement and he went to church that Sunday and loved it. Now is the part where he needs to get fully integrated with the ward members, and we're going to do our best to help with that. He didn't stay for the whole block of meetings, but he stayed for sacrament meeting and gospel principles. So, in Elder's Quorum we had a good discussion about how we can help him to feel welcome and needed, and we marked to visit him this week with a member of the Quorum. I know that Heavenly Father is aware of all of his lost sheep, and I'm so thankful to be an instrument in the Lord's hands to help bring Paulo back to the fold. </div>
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Those were pretty much the highlights of the week. I'm glad that I get to stay here another transfer because there is still a lot for me to do here in Cidade Leonor. I hope that you guys have a good week this week and that you help Elder Nate make the transition smooth. Give Nate, a big hug and a welcome home from me!</div>
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Love,</div>
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Elder Schwartz</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs64OTCL90tThxFHqOuPXFkWGrqVOpEY2IR_IExy8Y11XY84BrRwumejqWlrxxBnuMG7cKQsK4-uY2Mt0O2kDWW0OQnTDcJx-VfpOpEmOdFehF3gcwRWRGs5VLZY7rSWnhIrwcd4g4BZct/s1600/IMG_0306%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs64OTCL90tThxFHqOuPXFkWGrqVOpEY2IR_IExy8Y11XY84BrRwumejqWlrxxBnuMG7cKQsK4-uY2Mt0O2kDWW0OQnTDcJx-VfpOpEmOdFehF3gcwRWRGs5VLZY7rSWnhIrwcd4g4BZct/s1600/IMG_0306%255B1%255D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px; text-align: start;"> O São Paulo, São Paulo,... how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! <br />Matthew 23:37</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIWwCiHD2KL_1EOFwIGFrjcodxbq0wNC29oLxthK5p1OYX5ybiSwGmMWI8bjAC2_vBavTA6MdaB0Km5N-dZFsgfa-IKqQNvZFTl5WFfqPXChjK87IP0Z-Xg01_QSnduhczGOqbQFtwx2xc/s1600/IMG_0307%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIWwCiHD2KL_1EOFwIGFrjcodxbq0wNC29oLxthK5p1OYX5ybiSwGmMWI8bjAC2_vBavTA6MdaB0Km5N-dZFsgfa-IKqQNvZFTl5WFfqPXChjK87IP0Z-Xg01_QSnduhczGOqbQFtwx2xc/s1600/IMG_0307%255B1%255D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fastest way for missionaries to get around in Sao Paulo</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG4hul_a3moRo393a5kkYMsbsePg76BParv1Z4mkRfdS7Jr_qE8lmxb3OXZS1FMA8CVxixzhNeDsx7BCHhTNyCIAKYWd95jF094KnCO_k3Q7wYYvJWa3v7oMgRWZV1gsbj5pq_9QpvH0bD/s1600/Zona+Sul.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG4hul_a3moRo393a5kkYMsbsePg76BParv1Z4mkRfdS7Jr_qE8lmxb3OXZS1FMA8CVxixzhNeDsx7BCHhTNyCIAKYWd95jF094KnCO_k3Q7wYYvJWa3v7oMgRWZV1gsbj5pq_9QpvH0bD/s1600/Zona+Sul.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zona Sul</td></tr>
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kurtpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16275106272265621635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541228130904054602.post-3933406243025437192014-05-04T23:07:00.002-07:002014-05-06T23:50:57.287-07:00South America Visit to Pick Up Elder Nate<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVNw7FGC4VxcEcBve0IGtTPKzGtSL8a-fNPa5d-2Iu6zEvWK0uo1K5UG9pp7dR7Z4YIKeviCs9WaHUiV2gOw8wrx642Rn4uUqN5IMwqotUQTtyTh5WmeYlTsEr5vFLpoGP4PLKrEdbHHWf/s1600/IMG_1916.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVNw7FGC4VxcEcBve0IGtTPKzGtSL8a-fNPa5d-2Iu6zEvWK0uo1K5UG9pp7dR7Z4YIKeviCs9WaHUiV2gOw8wrx642Rn4uUqN5IMwqotUQTtyTh5WmeYlTsEr5vFLpoGP4PLKrEdbHHWf/s1600/IMG_1916.png" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We were greeted in Santiago by the Dolls, our good friends from Concord Stake. They are serving a two year mission over the missionary training center in Santiago.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-oS1GpCqnGmHGqqTskdS3jzolf3fpT4fd6rf7X3i7laNa05cVhJCuazOuDncN7dRpLGT9XU7EeYXjn6lB3J-m523BANGpJjPnwhnSBcsDx6SF11VcgflemPWBDrjQcStLzqCGldS_-6qg/s1600/IMG_1914.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-oS1GpCqnGmHGqqTskdS3jzolf3fpT4fd6rf7X3i7laNa05cVhJCuazOuDncN7dRpLGT9XU7EeYXjn6lB3J-m523BANGpJjPnwhnSBcsDx6SF11VcgflemPWBDrjQcStLzqCGldS_-6qg/s1600/IMG_1914.png" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We were able to see Elder Schwartz on the last full day of his mission in the ward where he was serving. He gave a great talk on the Atonement on Easter Sunday. No, I don't understand Spanish, but as a parent, I'm sure it was great.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqyNqUY7UM1ceJX6_XU_MBj5cazUSabZSfM4hvvppZeEqhJ1kCgU7e258pVdlF3SpQt5iquvfBPKhwVCq2Au_uzX2d7SLjEGuPrznThY86Hui-dyk7G6lgPHscXaFiNq_wN42cHghFQrXz/s1600/IMG_1925.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqyNqUY7UM1ceJX6_XU_MBj5cazUSabZSfM4hvvppZeEqhJ1kCgU7e258pVdlF3SpQt5iquvfBPKhwVCq2Au_uzX2d7SLjEGuPrznThY86Hui-dyk7G6lgPHscXaFiNq_wN42cHghFQrXz/s1600/IMG_1925.jpg" height="476" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On Monday, the group of elders leaving the mission field, want one farewell picture together.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3l8WGzermxM5cqW0tcw-O-DFKssvlpie1oX8sV8I0hHuEwSsZEzfsp6Zi9cI0L6e9gZCZBhfGsZD_o1bJNdVRaogtUYoZtPzLFKbhyphenhyphenUxleyLukBBKS9aFIkOofcEd_Tv5S8kHG0v4LF7a/s1600/DSC06107.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3l8WGzermxM5cqW0tcw-O-DFKssvlpie1oX8sV8I0hHuEwSsZEzfsp6Zi9cI0L6e9gZCZBhfGsZD_o1bJNdVRaogtUYoZtPzLFKbhyphenhyphenUxleyLukBBKS9aFIkOofcEd_Tv5S8kHG0v4LF7a/s1600/DSC06107.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After picking up our elder, at his request, we drove off up into the Andes to see this beautiful lake and beyond it, a park with towering peaks and an area of hot springs....</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPowS3QPi4FmzpnagIg-VOH8gE8TALG0-Uyh_n5e_80RRMQ_uMINIW9bnHLWgxJ0RTn7l1-dQ-vuIcudRRGc-emupva5ng3rBYsxCvHoIH5EIz0BY4Hkkjv0AJOIshnQ_ouOyC66qcKSW9/s1600/DSC06114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPowS3QPi4FmzpnagIg-VOH8gE8TALG0-Uyh_n5e_80RRMQ_uMINIW9bnHLWgxJ0RTn7l1-dQ-vuIcudRRGc-emupva5ng3rBYsxCvHoIH5EIz0BY4Hkkjv0AJOIshnQ_ouOyC66qcKSW9/s1600/DSC06114.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the park and the peaks in the background. Later we learned that we were only a short distance from the Argentine border.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhHX8vYM78cTvygm3vysq9e5e-Ncql6Vu7TUuhKOKSN3D5V6_EPzDFNc1Ji5dhiRFd124KLFCCDFo0dCGxQDf_8fa7LQJu7dmzN9VHwFNOHMSL8iTJv6yDfQ7xPbP4mObjFU4slggajkVo/s1600/DSC06150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhHX8vYM78cTvygm3vysq9e5e-Ncql6Vu7TUuhKOKSN3D5V6_EPzDFNc1Ji5dhiRFd124KLFCCDFo0dCGxQDf_8fa7LQJu7dmzN9VHwFNOHMSL8iTJv6yDfQ7xPbP4mObjFU4slggajkVo/s1600/DSC06150.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On our way back into town we stopped in a small town, San Jose de Maipo, and enjoyed some Helado (ice cream), and watched the street dogs chase each other around the town.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ_vxAQdSkyUZwqwmmVQXdfnm3NtQNnX9ZR-t0wC_FS_zrZYW735Cq-dEHn0Tr392UYAFceoTVfN9FFDR0wTyrSSeuiSA_m0o1Vk5RvocSVnlTXNzoWyBljqehC01Q8zG_cUnJvCEVPLbT/s1600/DSC06156.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ_vxAQdSkyUZwqwmmVQXdfnm3NtQNnX9ZR-t0wC_FS_zrZYW735Cq-dEHn0Tr392UYAFceoTVfN9FFDR0wTyrSSeuiSA_m0o1Vk5RvocSVnlTXNzoWyBljqehC01Q8zG_cUnJvCEVPLbT/s1600/DSC06156.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After a nice visit with Pres. and Sister Wright, we stopped by two member families (Paula and Adrian and their kids, Fabian and Benjamin, and also Eduardo and Ivonne) from the Geronimo ward that Elder Schwartz was very close to. We loved to meet these wonderful friend, who, we could tell have great love and appreciation for our son. Gracias for the lovely evening of food and company.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ5Y0FLl8Scpc_dBxpINFVAfv2lFPydZB_FvKkPt-QScHP5TlOD6q7qscwsl0UZ4t-t81SJHq-zItHPQOZ2VcSb2ezwCb5vMAdP9PEBRTo8mW4ObHDQ6ZL0mQAOMByN_2xhJPWoMYU3MPd/s1600/DSC06261.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ5Y0FLl8Scpc_dBxpINFVAfv2lFPydZB_FvKkPt-QScHP5TlOD6q7qscwsl0UZ4t-t81SJHq-zItHPQOZ2VcSb2ezwCb5vMAdP9PEBRTo8mW4ObHDQ6ZL0mQAOMByN_2xhJPWoMYU3MPd/s1600/DSC06261.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The next day we took a great tour with the Schade family to Valparaiso and Vina del Mar. Here Elder Schade and Elder Schwartz pose in front of the famous flower clock of Vina Del Mar.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje52g8EuQWgVO5JrCB_srw_Nk8H3GMJ8I9aO1eSJHrX3x78TV2riBd3YubdCJk5rXIqIGi0DCEwkLIxU6vyRLnuymHbKqlfnTuL14sT_ai6s8voi9bWB05lsXjcUIDoAIRAKfo_Zxjxgku/s1600/DSC06313.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje52g8EuQWgVO5JrCB_srw_Nk8H3GMJ8I9aO1eSJHrX3x78TV2riBd3YubdCJk5rXIqIGi0DCEwkLIxU6vyRLnuymHbKqlfnTuL14sT_ai6s8voi9bWB05lsXjcUIDoAIRAKfo_Zxjxgku/s1600/DSC06313.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Later Tuesday evening we stopped by to see Daniel and his mom, Edith. They served us a wonderful dinner and share some wonderful uplifting stories of faith and blessings of answered prayers.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpYlFx7Hav2YcxOJf6mu1zvFJ-ZTgbJGvWD1diuTC0-VIt6ViQJFKEennzmuHtaUGKC_u-kBSAQ91o7beu0mwEftyXpCEH5pnYKiPtUqYk_-f8CetADSCOKGoSs5f-9RNnUdtJSIe64TBq/s1600/DSC06315.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpYlFx7Hav2YcxOJf6mu1zvFJ-ZTgbJGvWD1diuTC0-VIt6ViQJFKEennzmuHtaUGKC_u-kBSAQ91o7beu0mwEftyXpCEH5pnYKiPtUqYk_-f8CetADSCOKGoSs5f-9RNnUdtJSIe64TBq/s1600/DSC06315.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The beautiful Barraza family shared dessert and drinks with us as the evening grew late. Thanks to their wonderful hospitality.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTUDT3VhYzkSksKSQsRtGv1NS3WLF48I_elnjFTkJQQr0779c84rza7pJKury0fao0fhEP9cqqF5Dqjm_KhUawMP5foGc-vHQkwvClUgr7Bi6A15Kwyjtx866yMcJgddzBHcU7IjCk-E7j/s1600/DSC06338.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTUDT3VhYzkSksKSQsRtGv1NS3WLF48I_elnjFTkJQQr0779c84rza7pJKury0fao0fhEP9cqqF5Dqjm_KhUawMP5foGc-vHQkwvClUgr7Bi6A15Kwyjtx866yMcJgddzBHcU7IjCk-E7j/s1600/DSC06338.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wednesday we shopped in downtown Santiago and visited the Santa Lucia park which takes you high up a hill to the top of a tall tower where you can view all of city. Later that evening we flew to Peru, stopping in Lima, then on to Cuzco (at 11,000 feet high up in the Andes).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ2MJVxMGG8zspgyQRqTEmarF6nPdCtGxvDx5udHU-DQZ_ck-hQmXu_yPDnTdyiX7kYGFD7hrb2X1ETzQQB3apEc0ojdoNwQ1XQS46jopMegV-Sthh2KKlyqXJJia1wexNPs9OSR1ljFZ3/s1600/DSC06363.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ2MJVxMGG8zspgyQRqTEmarF6nPdCtGxvDx5udHU-DQZ_ck-hQmXu_yPDnTdyiX7kYGFD7hrb2X1ETzQQB3apEc0ojdoNwQ1XQS46jopMegV-Sthh2KKlyqXJJia1wexNPs9OSR1ljFZ3/s1600/DSC06363.jpg" height="452" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In Cuzco, we met Elder Joe Sercovich (he was released from his mission and from his last companion, Elder Schwartz, just 6 short weeks ago) and his mom, Jeny, and his uncle, Victor. What wonderful people and great new friends! We enjoyed seeing many sights in and around Cuzco with them. This was a large Incan site in the hills above Cuzco.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnvIt65Ck0Pa1gQMI5_hpZX1_gp60ab-eZeN22OkwfqTT17N1Qyp-DRfRNwOprLA842MDq6Mwd6NnqeDKqa1LEz0ArEkdwZ93utsaahmbgA0eNat9eZ37m1PBNidyXHp5VgYI0tieOQQhC/s1600/DSC06372.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnvIt65Ck0Pa1gQMI5_hpZX1_gp60ab-eZeN22OkwfqTT17N1Qyp-DRfRNwOprLA842MDq6Mwd6NnqeDKqa1LEz0ArEkdwZ93utsaahmbgA0eNat9eZ37m1PBNidyXHp5VgYI0tieOQQhC/s1600/DSC06372.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Traceey and Elder Schwartz at the Incan site. The stones in these walls are huge and no mortar was used. The stones fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjor1aZ52GiXnt7DasBq-GayfnuxkMz29Uwila81WJEhAL8K7bqJBq2q7b8iLjkr2w3NTLSAdpirAmcb9PNveVXvbYcqVAL62SAuA-tEuDetxkSa05bfvhm7MhpKNYvUw8wT-U_CcnzsCex/s1600/DSC06428.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjor1aZ52GiXnt7DasBq-GayfnuxkMz29Uwila81WJEhAL8K7bqJBq2q7b8iLjkr2w3NTLSAdpirAmcb9PNveVXvbYcqVAL62SAuA-tEuDetxkSa05bfvhm7MhpKNYvUw8wT-U_CcnzsCex/s1600/DSC06428.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The three of us in the hills overlooking Cuzco. After touring several other sites around town, we had a nice dinner at a place that specialized in chicken dishes.</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs0-88j2gMw9CtjJI2RihRZCIQt2KWHXI1X9cMSwekD-KOe5g5ufoYMyuRp9Er6MfouEMZnkGh6gbzysfSCNMlUypa7DBv7erlowPEn0oyBY_GMZk-JXtK97Fams6n9fc0vFyuFJRVBtuI/s1600/IMG_0056.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs0-88j2gMw9CtjJI2RihRZCIQt2KWHXI1X9cMSwekD-KOe5g5ufoYMyuRp9Er6MfouEMZnkGh6gbzysfSCNMlUypa7DBv7erlowPEn0oyBY_GMZk-JXtK97Fams6n9fc0vFyuFJRVBtuI/s1600/IMG_0056.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tracey had to find some cute baby animals -- in this case, baby alpacas. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA-1RDDnzjcWl_1ov9Kvmyq6lkW27VU3d6HsCJAYPOdp4V5qZvCc1-UxUWlkjHKuRAI_QBX7MRKr1ZBqTnujnoTTRHugYK28Q-Alwl0ibyrDQr_xBwOEXkyK_cTP4yZDSHrs6LbWxqE6kL/s1600/DSC06682.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA-1RDDnzjcWl_1ov9Kvmyq6lkW27VU3d6HsCJAYPOdp4V5qZvCc1-UxUWlkjHKuRAI_QBX7MRKr1ZBqTnujnoTTRHugYK28Q-Alwl0ibyrDQr_xBwOEXkyK_cTP4yZDSHrs6LbWxqE6kL/s1600/DSC06682.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The next day, we headed out towards Machu Picchu. This is the two elders with the Sacred Valley area in the background.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKD9EaMEl4HmMPxyZHdeyqBB6vfXhvNt1fpakim8_9L11GmBtemgjOImnspqPYBC-o3jqoV1vdcU9A2o_TO1wakPkKd2WkCLgEX8CMHyEtHnLr5Ji569PipudM4zDnAWfGaLW3_jMRRUqg/s1600/DSC06830.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKD9EaMEl4HmMPxyZHdeyqBB6vfXhvNt1fpakim8_9L11GmBtemgjOImnspqPYBC-o3jqoV1vdcU9A2o_TO1wakPkKd2WkCLgEX8CMHyEtHnLr5Ji569PipudM4zDnAWfGaLW3_jMRRUqg/s1600/DSC06830.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Saturday morning we were at Machu Picchu. It was cloudy and rained a bit, but what a wonderful place. Massive and Impressive and two of the words that come to mind describing this wonder of the world. Here we are at the Sun Gate, the traditional entrance to the city. It was a bit of a hike to get here, but well worth the effort. Kurt even found a geocache nearby in a rocky outcropping.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh_hx8uIRNzwze-YWusn0eHEtxlhIdIVXQdbc7Tvj6hyphenhyphendipmTLr7SUTKPFpwXlPcqS35s8rxDXy9GmR-SN7LX2fi8Pw8KeMhIm3T2zMR0s2PQoALN3gqSYY2JyN7lw5Ea5-pAIbt7RmyaL/s1600/DSC06831.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh_hx8uIRNzwze-YWusn0eHEtxlhIdIVXQdbc7Tvj6hyphenhyphendipmTLr7SUTKPFpwXlPcqS35s8rxDXy9GmR-SN7LX2fi8Pw8KeMhIm3T2zMR0s2PQoALN3gqSYY2JyN7lw5Ea5-pAIbt7RmyaL/s1600/DSC06831.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It rained a bit on the way back down from the Sun Gate</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjso8j1YvdlM8cpkkfiPyinavrqLNjeisYHvxEUcaLUgY_Y6f46wCijxiYnkJNwTGct8VmaH-tb4vKrvmqjvFFWiKypbn1BQdDQsMjBDqJ80JXRvKANXSFTFmnHqpk3iDOrK-_M6tuGuI2L/s1600/DSC06894.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjso8j1YvdlM8cpkkfiPyinavrqLNjeisYHvxEUcaLUgY_Y6f46wCijxiYnkJNwTGct8VmaH-tb4vKrvmqjvFFWiKypbn1BQdDQsMjBDqJ80JXRvKANXSFTFmnHqpk3iDOrK-_M6tuGuI2L/s1600/DSC06894.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We enjoyed a great tour of the area and just being there was a moving experience.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm1oq7N3cA_g9R25k2gAmCQXUuNviHT47BoSR8-sWMvFMb7ISyA60WV_2NQv59FbzbPmOoF6YwyEW-dj7U7DadxKHj1ZEMYLqWzEaV0ZmYApzadxpTGmoknxgypyaQuYtzL7nmeWniHeqW/s1600/DSC06957.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm1oq7N3cA_g9R25k2gAmCQXUuNviHT47BoSR8-sWMvFMb7ISyA60WV_2NQv59FbzbPmOoF6YwyEW-dj7U7DadxKHj1ZEMYLqWzEaV0ZmYApzadxpTGmoknxgypyaQuYtzL7nmeWniHeqW/s1600/DSC06957.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We were so pleased that the Sercovich family joined us and made us feel so welcome in Peru.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFI8qYYvk2pjaAQlJlLBayfkq14JrEzsEVoy-7oqq_rpMdYsgL0vF4kI5cEgg6euctd7Ql37asFy65b3BEsc2A7xwVh_DirXZgoyRkzFx7DslSdDlT6lMSTXh31W8MBm8ZuobISDsxIz0T/s1600/DSC06979.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFI8qYYvk2pjaAQlJlLBayfkq14JrEzsEVoy-7oqq_rpMdYsgL0vF4kI5cEgg6euctd7Ql37asFy65b3BEsc2A7xwVh_DirXZgoyRkzFx7DslSdDlT6lMSTXh31W8MBm8ZuobISDsxIz0T/s1600/DSC06979.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finally, later in the day, the clouds started to part and we could see the famous peak called Huyana Picchu behind the Machu Picchu ruins. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfM-NflJWAQtvnTjTZvMYv_Q7fAlGFI2LJTqx7JyLi3G06rnTVgccAj04A9z9otn5Mn6WaIIwUjAb-pGxbjH3C-z1tGxeTI27NXrwMhk72XFFfJn5dx1kJDZozbC4V7eMXPgFPi5-l1prP/s1600/DSC07038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfM-NflJWAQtvnTjTZvMYv_Q7fAlGFI2LJTqx7JyLi3G06rnTVgccAj04A9z9otn5Mn6WaIIwUjAb-pGxbjH3C-z1tGxeTI27NXrwMhk72XFFfJn5dx1kJDZozbC4V7eMXPgFPi5-l1prP/s1600/DSC07038.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunday we attended church in Cuzco. A large group of doctors and family and friends from the Salt Lake city area showed up in sacrament meeting. Among that group was a former BYU professor of Tracey's named Paul Warner. What a small world!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir1EUJo-l6kVvEyatXGxj0BHISREYYmNRq8HaxfCzcmVnKLCHR5BLa9pLAlTvucxuw45Kurz-20lzbsxKNg8TQGzQOyqL6RsA_tnhD8huT0b3b76vfRtk6VKJQeNUgM6dTLOMespX4aZqn/s1600/DSC07097.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir1EUJo-l6kVvEyatXGxj0BHISREYYmNRq8HaxfCzcmVnKLCHR5BLa9pLAlTvucxuw45Kurz-20lzbsxKNg8TQGzQOyqL6RsA_tnhD8huT0b3b76vfRtk6VKJQeNUgM6dTLOMespX4aZqn/s1600/DSC07097.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tracey in Plaza de Armas, the central square in Cuzco, a truly beautiful city.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1PXfKoKNjSbjEfGD-z5xyc58pClzujzo7t6mUOvfgETwfqmwvFz-fipfMJnMqZyssHyjnS6v3EcJEmb_ycb4FPuDWvxq2qVEMdjNUFkyqeHq1S-gGkKle_8a6QFgd7lzjwjOuMftvMK4S/s1600/DSC07135.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1PXfKoKNjSbjEfGD-z5xyc58pClzujzo7t6mUOvfgETwfqmwvFz-fipfMJnMqZyssHyjnS6v3EcJEmb_ycb4FPuDWvxq2qVEMdjNUFkyqeHq1S-gGkKle_8a6QFgd7lzjwjOuMftvMK4S/s1600/DSC07135.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The two young women in this photo were from the ward in Cuzco and happily showed us around the downtown on an informal walking tour. Such sweet young ladies!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Schwartz and Pops with their Peru shirts and matching beanies. We departed Cuzco later that afternoon and 30+ hours later we arrived home to see Elder Schwartz released by our stake president, President Score. Now he is Nate or Nathaniel again.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigJBGTTSsFGRnKfc-h-U-CbtCDnC3YwwD761FbSQXwfY2Zj9rpkDLI1p66AkSoAXEZGhJ-gLTmcl3HBp3DIFR9djuzrzubJOgHpkWc-j04qgNKXo-BIsQQEpp88RhMiH7gvwthJr40_HwG/s1600/report+to+high+council.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigJBGTTSsFGRnKfc-h-U-CbtCDnC3YwwD761FbSQXwfY2Zj9rpkDLI1p66AkSoAXEZGhJ-gLTmcl3HBp3DIFR9djuzrzubJOgHpkWc-j04qgNKXo-BIsQQEpp88RhMiH7gvwthJr40_HwG/s1600/report+to+high+council.jpg" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After a few days at home we went over to the church on Sunday, so Nate could give a report on his mission to some of the leaders in our stake. Mom and dad were proud to listen as he gave a great report. We loved picking him up and seeing the land and people of his mission service. It is an experience that we won't soon forget.</td></tr>
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<br />kurtpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16275106272265621635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541228130904054602.post-14699729432587557892014-05-04T16:07:00.001-07:002014-05-04T16:07:08.719-07:00Happy Easter!<div dir="ltr">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Andrew loves Easter!</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Dear Everyone!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Wow! I can't believe that you guys are in Chile with Elder Nate! That is so strange for me. I hope that you guys are having fun over here in the south side of the Americas and that you guys are staying safe as well. Make sure to take a lot of pictures for me! But it's good to hear that you guys are enjoying your time so far seeing the Dolls and going with Elder Nate to church. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This past week for us was really good. Antonio and his family are doing really good. They came to church again yesterday and we have family home evening with them tonight. We also marked to go with them to the registry to get the marriage all set up this Thursday. They are such an amazing family. They are getting well integrated and we are going to continue working with them. Transfers are next week so I may not be here for the wedding and the baptism but I'm so thankful for the opportunity to get to know them and work with them. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This week we are using this new approach to find more people to teach that Elder Barreto has been implementing, and has so far been bringing good results. We got ourselves a copy of the entire ward list and whenever one of our appointments fall through, we just find the members that live on the street, being active or inactive and visit them. That way, if we visit an active member, we strengthen them and help them with the family missionary work, but if it is a less active family, we work on reactivation and helping that person come unto Christ. And usually with the less actives there are always some kids that haven't been baptized. Some have been inactive for years and have married, had kids, etc. so it has been a good approach so we don't waste time just knocking on doors of people who we don't know and who don't know us. Later in the week we had district meeting as usual, but we had a nice breakfast with the zone. Then the next day we had inspections for the zone and interviews with President Tanner. Our Zone passed and now our whole zone won pizza that we are going to buy for the next district/zone meeting. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This week we did a division with the office elders and I worked in Cidade Vargas with Elder Batalla. The office elders have limited work time so they have some difficulty finding people to teach, so we worked a lot on finding new investigators, and teaching people in the streets. I felt kind of bad for Elder Batalla because all of the plans for the day fell through, so we spent a good time on the streets and not really in the homes of people. As we were walking in front of the chapel, though, I was prompted to talk to this man that was sitting on a park bench on the other side of the road. We started talking and it turned out that he was a member from another stake, and was working around in the area. I don't know if he was active or not, because he seemed like a members with a bit of a grudge against the general church member culture, but he shared with us some amazing experiences that he had from when he served a mission and he gave us some great advice. He basically told us to not knock doors because it doesn't bring the best results, but if we want results to be different, we have to do things differently and let the Lord lead the way. It was really good and the whole time he was talking it made me feel that this new way of finding that Elder Barreto and I are implementing is going to really help Cidade Leonor grow. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I'm so thankful for the opportunity to serve a mission. It's such a wonderful blessing! I'm being converted daily of the importance of this work and this gospel. I know that it's true and changes lives and brings lasting happiness. Here, everyone seems only to think about the easter eggs and getting a lot of chocolate -- not the true meaning of Easter. It's something that made me a little sad to see -- that people don't really understand the true meaning of Easter with Christ's Atonement and Resurrection, and are more focused on the worldly celebrations. I'm thankful for the knowledge I have of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how much it has helped me grow and will continue to make me a better man. I love you all and be safe!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Love,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Elder Schwartz</span></div>
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kurtpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16275106272265621635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541228130904054602.post-71100198820069523882014-04-21T04:39:00.001-07:002014-04-21T04:39:24.561-07:00Lunch At Habib's<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQQ2rz3A0oTYaMkZb9fd1TXTA8eZG9-wWQ5J2Ykug_shYJAOjgGwH7BziikSzasoFQgglJE5VaJQbPFEQ_1UfGWUhUz8W7mOeD4zqHLRh2T5YnW9-2-fDQqVz3q7iqsFv-qNA4lDVxDT9T/s1600/IMG_0279%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQQ2rz3A0oTYaMkZb9fd1TXTA8eZG9-wWQ5J2Ykug_shYJAOjgGwH7BziikSzasoFQgglJE5VaJQbPFEQ_1UfGWUhUz8W7mOeD4zqHLRh2T5YnW9-2-fDQqVz3q7iqsFv-qNA4lDVxDT9T/s1600/IMG_0279%255B1%255D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Habib's is a fast food restaurant chain in Brazil</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">Dear Everyone!</span><br />
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It's good to hear that you guys had a good and busy week with all of your various activites and meetings and exercises. So you guys are already prepping to pick up Elder Nate over on the west side...so weird. Oh by the way BIRTHDAY SHOUT OUT TO ELDER NATE SCHWARTZ!!!!!! But seriously, this is so weird for me that Nate is going home and that I already have a year out. It literally feels like it was yesterday that I saw Nate off at the airport. But I hope that you guys have a fun and safe trip. I don't know when you guys will get there but give Elder Nate a hug for me. </div>
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BUT FAMILY! This last week was such a fantastic week! We had such a wonderful miracle happen! Through a street contact, we found a man that has been inactive for 13 years that has been dying to come back to church, but just had no idea where it was. While I was talking to a member, Elder Barreto did a street contact with a 12 year old girl named Camilla. She commented that her step-dad was baptized in the church and we gave her a pass-along card with the mission office number on it and marked a visit for later that week. The day of the visit we got a call from the office elders saying that they got a call from the family that we were going to visit that day just to make sure if we were really coming. When we showed up for the appointment, we were greeted by Antonio who gave us the biggest hugs and said that he had been waiting for us. We shared a message with him and his daughter and marked to come a again later that week. We came with Bishop João and we met Antonio's "wife" (not married legally), Ivanilde, and his other two childeren, Henzo and Sofia. We shared a message about The Family: A Proclamation to the World with them, and set a goal for them to read the Book of Mormon as a family every night and to have a family prayer. The whole family came to church yesterday and they loved it. We marked with them to get them legally married and if the timing works out, Antonio will baptize Ivanilde and Camilla on May 11th! Heavenly Father truly knows each and every one of us and he knows our circumstances. He is aware of everything that we go through and in His time and His way, He blesses His children the best way possible. I'm so thankful for the privelege I have to serve a mission.</div>
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That was kind of the big highlight of the week. We actually found a good number of less active members that we are working on reactivating now, and we are continuing to work with our investigators and finding new people to teach. Normal missionary stuff. This week I also got a sweet letter from cousin Cindy, formerly Stephens but now I guess it's Oswald (and not Singh or Neuman). Cindy I just want you to know that your letter Spirit smacked me in the face. It talked a little about not getting caught up in the whole mission culture thing and to teach people, not lessons, count souls and not numbers sort of deal. I felt bad because lately that's kind of how my mindset has been, but thankfully I'm repenting and I'm going to do better. </div>
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So this week we also started to implement the FHE in the members houses. Unfortunately, we didn't have one with any investigators because of scheduling conflicts but we had great opportunities to spiritually uplift the members and help them get a vision of how they can do missionary work in their own homes. I hope that you guys are helping the missionaries back in the MTZ. Mom I know that you are super hip now and use facebook and have lot's of new Zumba friends (Dad sends me the pictures every week) so take advantage of this wonderful opportunity Heavenly Father has given you guys to share the gospel! Dad you too! I know you guys can do it! I love you all and pray for you guys always!</div>
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Until next week!</div>
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Elder Schwartz</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi71OvKOaHGV9cy3Wvl5Mfhic6HqBY5Kfcetj4r-_AZmiJ7xFxkLWAIKlyauouGd_CSvv4yBSPejNOdn6vy1ZgLF4eB80I-U0aDLYf8w_nMvcr4JaS9HwMoT7RsSMM9VdgXjK51RlQLpN5_/s1600/IMG_0280%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi71OvKOaHGV9cy3Wvl5Mfhic6HqBY5Kfcetj4r-_AZmiJ7xFxkLWAIKlyauouGd_CSvv4yBSPejNOdn6vy1ZgLF4eB80I-U0aDLYf8w_nMvcr4JaS9HwMoT7RsSMM9VdgXjK51RlQLpN5_/s1600/IMG_0280%255B1%255D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Baretto seems to like Habib's as well!</td></tr>
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kurtpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16275106272265621635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541228130904054602.post-31847352461511738912014-04-21T04:39:00.000-07:002014-04-21T04:39:15.965-07:00Happy Birthday, Elder Nate!<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Birthday Cupcakes from the Sister missionaries</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">Dear Mom, Dad and everyone,</span><br />
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I would just like to start this email off by thanking you all for your love and support and birthday wishes. I can feel your love all the way from down here. It's great to hear that everything is going well up there in North America and that you're all doing a good job staying busy.</div>
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This week was a really nice and busy one for Elder Guerrero and me. There were lots of meetings, lessons, and so forth. One of the highlights of the week is that we were able to go on a couple of visits with President Wright on Wednesday evening, and its always a lot of fun doing that. He also came to church with us on Sunday. We'll be seeing each other a few times this week, because there are lots of meetings and things that the missionaries need to do in their last week -- exit interviews, the day with the president, seminars for occupation preparation, and stuff like that. It's actually going to be a really weird and hectic week -- Elder Guerrero and I won't have the proselyting time that we want, but we are going to need to make the best with what we have. </div>
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My birthday was wonderful -- the sister missionaries in the zone made me cupcakes to celebrate during district class on Wednesday. Sunday (actual birthday) was actually a really busy work day for Elder Guerrero and I, but we ended the day with a Noche de Hogar (Family Home Evening) with a less active family that we are teaching, and they bought a little cake and sang me happy birthday. So did all of the missionaries that I had to call for stats -- it was a very pleasant birthday.</div>
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Today was p-day -- we had a little zone bbq and played ping pong (I still got it, so you better watch out, dad!)</div>
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Elder Guerrero and I are teaching a lot of lesson -- I personally feel like we have been working hard to make the most of this short time that we have together, and that the Lord has been blessing us so much. I feel like we have found a lot of new people recently. It makes me sad to think that this is my last week to labor here in this vineyard, but just like you said Dad, I just need to work as hard as I can and run to the paint. Elder Sercovich sent me an email saying that this is my last opportunity to thrust with my sickle, so I better do it with all my might. I am going into this week focused -- I know what i need to do, now it's just the time to do it -- I don't have any time to waste.</div>
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I love you all -- thank you for your love and support. I know the Church is true, and you are in my prayers. Keep the faith!</div>
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with love from Chile,</div>
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Elder Schwartz</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our District</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmsOfkvmK1trwxGk3djLwvGCBhU5PCHmAOPL-AUuNsOuy-Av1MN6qAf9sBFMqKtL8QbuZt_sorBCo1Z71z8T7sC85o9xHvLkFdLvoXJyuP1J2OCD1qoBER3oaF9lmGa24eUKvuA2XttH5H/s1600/zone.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmsOfkvmK1trwxGk3djLwvGCBhU5PCHmAOPL-AUuNsOuy-Av1MN6qAf9sBFMqKtL8QbuZt_sorBCo1Z71z8T7sC85o9xHvLkFdLvoXJyuP1J2OCD1qoBER3oaF9lmGa24eUKvuA2XttH5H/s1600/zone.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Zone</td></tr>
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kurtpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16275106272265621635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541228130904054602.post-56038597517227275552014-04-13T14:58:00.000-07:002014-04-13T14:58:31.094-07:00Earthquake was Far, Far Away!<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">Dear Everyone,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">Sorry that this is going to be the worlds shortest email, I have been spending all of my internet time trying to figure out BYU stuff, and I had to email deptarment heads and stuff like that so it`s been kind of hectic, and I had no clue how to navigate around MyMAP so, its been kind of a rough hour... ahaha, but Phil is going to help me out so I am not stressed.</span><br />
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WOW, GENERAL CONFERENCE WAS AMAZING! There were lots of talks that really stuck out to me -- my favorites were Elder Holland and Anderson`s from the Saturday Morning Session, and Pres. Uchdorf and Bednar`s from the Sunday Morning Session. But I think Elder Uchdorf`s was my favorite. We were able to watch the conference in the stake center in an English Room with all of the other gringo missionaries and Elder Guerrero (he knows English really well so he just watched it in English with no problem).</div>
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Lots of miracles this week, maybe too many to count. Highlights -- we had our monthly leadership council with President Wright on Tuesday, and I gave my last Zone Class on Wednesday, that was a kind of rough moment. Elder Bushman (Todd's cousin) and I went on divisions -- we`ve become good friends during these past several months together. </div>
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Anyways, sorry that this has been such a short email. I just want you all to know that Elder Guerrero and I are doing a great job keeping busy, as there is lots to do here in the sector. Thank you so much for your prayers and support. I hope that you all have an excellent week and I PROMISE some photos for the next email. I love you all so much!</div>
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THE EARTHQUAKE WAS REALLY FAR AWAY FROM SANTIAGO SO EVERYTHING IS GOOD HERE -- didn't feel a thing!</div>
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Love,</div>
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Elder Schwartz</div>
kurtpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16275106272265621635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541228130904054602.post-19158184834953107832014-04-13T14:45:00.000-07:002014-04-13T14:45:40.836-07:00Temple Visit<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From Last Week's Temple Visit<br /><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;"><div style="text-align: left;">
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Dearest Family!<br />
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Well how about that General Conference! I think this might have been the first time where I absolutely loved each and every one of the talks given. SO GOOD! I got to watch it in English this time so I probably got a lot more out of it than I did at the last General Conference in October. It was good, they set up a room for all the people that wanted to watch in English. All of the English speaking missionaries in our zone were in the room as well as some members that speak English, including our Bishop (he served his mission in New York). It was such an uplifting experience and I learned so much. I think everyone picked up on the major themes from which the leaders of the church were teaching us. I basically understood that as the world is becoming worse and worse, it's going to be a lot more challenging to be a strong member of the Church. We all need to live our faith to the fullest, be obedient, and defend our beliefs. But we also need to show love, kindness and respect for all of our brothers and sisters. </div>
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It's good to hear that you guys had a busy week and really enjoyed conference too. We also had a full week here in Cidade Leonor. I don't know if I told you last week, but it's obvious that we had a chance to go to the temple. It was a really sweet experience, but it also made the day a little rushed. We also had our mission leadership council which is always fun and exciting. The efficiency in the mission is kind of down, so we discussed a lot about the quality of our finding and our teaching. I learned a lot, and we passed that instruction along to our zone when we gave a zone training this week. This week we also had a great meeting with President Tanner, our Stake President, and the Sister Leader Trainers of our zone to talk about the work in the stake. It was a really great meeting and we were able to improve our relationship with the stake leadership and also carry out some new plans that the Stake President has to help this stake flourish. This led to another meeting that we had with all the missionaries in our zone to meet with the stake president and the high councilor over missionary work. President Piros layed out his vision for us to start having our lunches in the homes of less active members as a way of helping them return to activity. He also wants us to start getting the members involved by asking them to have Family Home Evenings in their homes with our investigators. I'm really happy with the leadership here and the willingness they have to work with us. </div>
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Unfortunately, none of our investigators made it to General Conference, but thankfully we have the internet and we are going to be incorporating some of the talks into our lessons. I really loved all of the talks, but I think that they started with the best. Elder Holland's talk was soooooo gooood! I wish everyone here in Brazil would watch that talk. He threw down on all the false doctrines and beliefs and testified straight truth. I also loved President Monson's talk about love being the essence of the gospel. It made me reflect about my motivations. I really want to develop the Christlike attribute to have charity and Christ-like love for everyone -- I want to show my love for others through how I treat them. I KNOW that this Church is Christ's Church and that he is the head of it. I am so thankful to have the privilege to receive Heavenly Father's direction every six months at conference and every day through personal revelation. I love you all and I hope you have a great week. </div>
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Until next week!</div>
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Elder Schwartz<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFCcHkdrAF77vHtlnEskKT9LqRTaIzbgyXBLjxVgapaNuB-D2_DRQSmv9X1NhtB_cVxokGkHTwJJxRZgJ0cOVyXwD-VwDeBYmXTFpSP1B6oDh1vYMl7Y8pXriCocpxJaEi86OKyafdcWyC/s1600/IMG_0262%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFCcHkdrAF77vHtlnEskKT9LqRTaIzbgyXBLjxVgapaNuB-D2_DRQSmv9X1NhtB_cVxokGkHTwJJxRZgJ0cOVyXwD-VwDeBYmXTFpSP1B6oDh1vYMl7Y8pXriCocpxJaEi86OKyafdcWyC/s1600/IMG_0262%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Baretto</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjRIX8vWpXIcdhnXnhX3QlzBgyyCWofkMPEFZFr_9qTXCdE5kwZ-J6tH49_g-OeIEdPbwkhmbZFsps1WlT0-Hog-of2KzLIP5ZTsvR9MydJTZ8dDtWMJLJasb_-2gwGLhfnwfQ8dTaZvGE/s1600/IMG_0264%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjRIX8vWpXIcdhnXnhX3QlzBgyyCWofkMPEFZFr_9qTXCdE5kwZ-J6tH49_g-OeIEdPbwkhmbZFsps1WlT0-Hog-of2KzLIP5ZTsvR9MydJTZ8dDtWMJLJasb_-2gwGLhfnwfQ8dTaZvGE/s1600/IMG_0264%5B1%5D.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sushi and Pizza</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9RoOjczo_CBm_iv34dXhpa80YKpaU_33NCTlTemgGkS84M4upkhQ8TE-xhz_ThB0APpG4wQZ2Rd9WRvM67QFRbNtv13cxt_b6AhSTpHifj83nbQ8096qfeKszJD5zj93H2VKQTvakOaJv/s1600/IMG_0269%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9RoOjczo_CBm_iv34dXhpa80YKpaU_33NCTlTemgGkS84M4upkhQ8TE-xhz_ThB0APpG4wQZ2Rd9WRvM67QFRbNtv13cxt_b6AhSTpHifj83nbQ8096qfeKszJD5zj93H2VKQTvakOaJv/s1600/IMG_0269%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Very Funny!</td></tr>
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kurtpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16275106272265621635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541228130904054602.post-54522471040848055632014-04-06T14:05:00.001-07:002014-04-06T14:05:55.591-07:00Elder Barreto from the Bay<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1cPXSadgEvLPzPx_4NFhHLrHSMvdKEMAfyPR_wi3sj3Wn-Vyup6MGfBiHrEoUdH7uTxeazGsxIYx39Il9w02p6rXNCk2l24obFnfTNpk7XvABdAEXWsBmhmKWhM4Bj_PNDGLEX9W-pzPo/s1600/IMG_0256.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1cPXSadgEvLPzPx_4NFhHLrHSMvdKEMAfyPR_wi3sj3Wn-Vyup6MGfBiHrEoUdH7uTxeazGsxIYx39Il9w02p6rXNCk2l24obFnfTNpk7XvABdAEXWsBmhmKWhM4Bj_PNDGLEX9W-pzPo/s1600/IMG_0256.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Barreto and Elder Schwartz in front of Sao Paulo Temple</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">Dear Family!</span><br />
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First off all this letter is going to be short so forgive me. And also forgive me for not writing on Monday. The reason for all this was that we had a temple trip today, so today is our P-day and it's been super rushed for us. Well, I guess I better start out with the most important news. My new companion's name is Elder Barreto. Yes, he is a Brazilian and he is from a state in the north called Bahia (which in portuguese means "bay," so we're both from the bay), and he is a powerhouse missionary. He is so good! I'm supposed to be training him as a zone leader, but it is more like he's training me. I swear he is such a stud of a missionary, and I'm super stoked to be comps with him. He is the only member of the church in his family (still) and he is in the middle of 7 brothers and sisters. He is 23 years old and he actually came out the same time that I got here so we have the same time out here in this mission. This transfer is only 5 weeks long so I might not be able to stay with him for as much time as I want, but I'm hoping that I get to stay for one more transfer. </div>
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It's good to hear that you guys are staying busy with everything. I feel like this past week that so much has happened and that I've been so busy. I really liked that scripture you shared, though, because it does really show that staying busy isn't really a bad thing when we are filled with charity towards others. (D&C 88:124,125 Cease to be idle; cease to be unclean; cease to
find fault one with another; cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to
thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your
minds may be invigorated. And above all things, clothe yourselves with
the bond of charity, as with a mantle, which is the bond of perfectness and
peace.)<br />
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<!--EndFragment-->So this week for us was great. I got the chance to do a few divisions with each of the assistants, Elder Myers and Elder Huxford. I learned a lot from both divisions and I really feel they both helped me grow as a missionary. This week we spent a lot of time visiting investigators that I had been teaching with Elder Watt, and we have been meeting a lot of new people as well. I was really happy this Sunday because we had many investigators come to worship with us at church. Also, a woman who has been less active for 13 years who returned to church the prior week brought her daughter and her daughter's friend to church this past week, so that was an awesome surprise. </div>
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Sorry I'm basically out of time right now, but just know that I love you all and I miss you all, too. I'm so thankful for this privilege that I have to serve a mission, and I'm going to take advantage of every moment of it!</div>
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Love,</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">
Elder Schwartz</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggXPPywEBahCWvGIG86NatcNWnQoh5TU35cDygu9VFDoD5XBLkW3Oq3mYZDeLjYk90aAhibP_S59QnlmfNJIKsIody6h67l0wjUGdmuWE91K_SUQAR2_M5MbVAQkLKww5X5bzw8XSYeQW3/s1600/IMG_0255%255B2%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggXPPywEBahCWvGIG86NatcNWnQoh5TU35cDygu9VFDoD5XBLkW3Oq3mYZDeLjYk90aAhibP_S59QnlmfNJIKsIody6h67l0wjUGdmuWE91K_SUQAR2_M5MbVAQkLKww5X5bzw8XSYeQW3/s1600/IMG_0255%255B2%255D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With President and Sister Tanner (Pres. Tanner just got called to serve as counselor in General Sunday School Presidency of the Church -- he'll start when they are released from the mission in July)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoNw29Gj9d4TFFVN7N2mhadEmayqzrpyMJQgMM8ThO0az58nG5fy6CAFfTtp9TqqcT9ppou66bTfYNX3w-Yv3XYW00FhN0Rgwka6SJzxEj3sY8M1ON3OtAL3da-epeloAys_yr6lNdllI/s1600/IMG_0244%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoNw29Gj9d4TFFVN7N2mhadEmayqzrpyMJQgMM8ThO0az58nG5fy6CAFfTtp9TqqcT9ppou66bTfYNX3w-Yv3XYW00FhN0Rgwka6SJzxEj3sY8M1ON3OtAL3da-epeloAys_yr6lNdllI/s1600/IMG_0244%255B1%255D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px; text-align: start;">Elder Camarena, Elder Watt, Elder Huxford, Me</span></td></tr>
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kurtpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16275106272265621635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541228130904054602.post-71884702380454362472014-04-06T14:05:00.000-07:002014-04-06T14:05:44.384-07:00A Package from Elder Andrew!!!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvxeRFbwAmOJ7L-HC1lpx7Vq_8I8jVcXdiKNTd40V4EnJFjzgcqlph07IbgMgGdpSNuAQO-FsR9q3nfk6bdNp0N2oyLymtiY1aOmUBBgfRjJn91hP5tfKvDINy_FOtT6hgktfA5L3BE6Vt/s1600/package+from+Elder+Andrew.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvxeRFbwAmOJ7L-HC1lpx7Vq_8I8jVcXdiKNTd40V4EnJFjzgcqlph07IbgMgGdpSNuAQO-FsR9q3nfk6bdNp0N2oyLymtiY1aOmUBBgfRjJn91hP5tfKvDINy_FOtT6hgktfA5L3BE6Vt/s1600/package+from+Elder+Andrew.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Package from Elder Andrew</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">Dear Family,</span><br />
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<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">
This is going to be another short email. I feel like Elder Guerrero and I are just getting busier and busier! But like you BOTH said in your emails to me, being busy is a very good thing, and it has been helping me out a lot to stay focused. Elder Guerrero is from the northern part of Mexico City. His parents are both converts -- they got baptized when he was 1, so he has basically spent his whole life in the church, but he is the first missionary in his family. He has four siblings, and in his family there are two sets of twins -- he and his twin brother are the babies of the family, but he is two minutes older than his twin. He has been on the mission for about nine months, and he spent the first part of his mission in Puente Alto. I am his first companion who is North American.</div>
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It was a really good week, a really busy week. Elder Guerrero and I have set lots of goals, and for the most part we are reaching them. We are finding new people to teach and we are trying hard to work with the ward leaders. At the beginning of our companionship we set the goal to improve our relationship with the bishop, and that had been helping us out a ton. We are making major strides with the bishop now -- I feel like we are getting on the same page. Actually, yesterday we had a big meeting with all of the bishops and stake presidents in the mission and all of the missionaries came together to talk about the importance of our unity. We learned that the the bishop and the missionaries need to be best friends. We´re getting there.</div>
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We actually had lots of really good lessons during the week, and on Sunday too -- we had a really fun family home evening with a less active family. It was cool because when I was with Elder Sercovich we were just teaching and visiting one member of the family, but now we are teaching the family as a whole -- one by one they decided to join in, and last night we had a family home evening with all of them. We are helping them to start reading the Book of Mormon as a family. And then we met their neighbor, who is also a less active member and we were able to teach and have onze (dinner) with him and his family who aren't members.<br />
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Today we spend the morning doing studies and then we went to a little artesanía fair and bought a couple of souvenirs. Then, we went to a mexican restaurant for lunch, where we ran into President and Hna Wright. It was the fiurst time I have ever run into them on P-Day. It looked like they were enjoying their P-day too, aha. </div>
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Dad, thank you for the scripture, i actually kind of feel like i have not been taking care of my mind and body as well as i should, as of late. I have been DRAINED over these past few days. But your scripture helped me to understand that if i really do love and care for these people, i need to take care of myself so i can be at my 100% to help them out. (D&C 88:124,125 Cease to be idle; cease to be unclean; cease to
find fault one with another; cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to
thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your
minds may be invigorated. And above all things, clothe yourselves with
the bond of charity, as with a mantle, which is the bond of perfectness and
peace.)<br />
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I love you all so much. I know that the church is true. Thank you for your love and support. EVERONE WATCH GENERAL CONFERENCE. We have a prophet today just like in the times of Noah and Moses -- What a blessing!</div>
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have a great week!</div>
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with love,</div>
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Elder Schwartz<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg87Rb2FsDDMptcv0WIEXqVlfpmS0jYdkqJtrDpfPkm_8ul4vV5OhrnAqf8nR91YvGzeB7epNBrXMPAWss2A0gLzmMiRKD1Rm9iy-Oj1IypVUypB554td85Xx3XO5DvFHP70pxXpojsIwr9/s1600/lunch+in+the+chapel+with+Elder+Guerrero.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg87Rb2FsDDMptcv0WIEXqVlfpmS0jYdkqJtrDpfPkm_8ul4vV5OhrnAqf8nR91YvGzeB7epNBrXMPAWss2A0gLzmMiRKD1Rm9iy-Oj1IypVUypB554td85Xx3XO5DvFHP70pxXpojsIwr9/s1600/lunch+in+the+chapel+with+Elder+Guerrero.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lunch in the chapel with Elder Guerrero</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigQiVghVwQ8AgeuePMRiMlInnfBzyjJEhXBrd3dyGf2Uu6H0hQQ7SLOVQniUMZzv48cXkE1iGdqcZ73X5zVWFd-fRkv-p6WvmPbhVILOPnxwJDI4HGSj-FL3CIeToq7pVwoufhDpAPKoHf/s1600/Elduh+Lima.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigQiVghVwQ8AgeuePMRiMlInnfBzyjJEhXBrd3dyGf2Uu6H0hQQ7SLOVQniUMZzv48cXkE1iGdqcZ73X5zVWFd-fRkv-p6WvmPbhVILOPnxwJDI4HGSj-FL3CIeToq7pVwoufhDpAPKoHf/s1600/Elduh+Lima.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Lima, from Elder Andrew's mission</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSVJnP3dewJdkQHLT33M7SuOhYof_Hc1xqZTZC1NZ0gvW0peg1GrFuwbtL1LZfhhjh_qQHN4NRPD8ZwyoNdF71NCWnhypxZm2wiWOT_qbJ2q4g58jgA8vJ4Rruf9m7PNnXUfBa4ie6U1V1/s1600/sopaipillas.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSVJnP3dewJdkQHLT33M7SuOhYof_Hc1xqZTZC1NZ0gvW0peg1GrFuwbtL1LZfhhjh_qQHN4NRPD8ZwyoNdF71NCWnhypxZm2wiWOT_qbJ2q4g58jgA8vJ4Rruf9m7PNnXUfBa4ie6U1V1/s1600/sopaipillas.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sopaipillas with someone's name on them....</td></tr>
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kurtpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16275106272265621635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541228130904054602.post-41298377976320278362014-03-30T14:05:00.003-07:002014-03-30T14:05:46.155-07:00Ward Conference and a Visit from Eduardo<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDO59UV0VieayKAQeRmB4nuHupqpYdUlo7YdVbb4US4yJ1R3-caLcISXYXbN0YO7ieKOXnTxRlkLyvKumk_pj1kZaTYMVr7reqvOPY275fUU1Tu1sWRymezvecbtQw0yCfKHt5GSge9Sq-/s1600/with+eduardo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDO59UV0VieayKAQeRmB4nuHupqpYdUlo7YdVbb4US4yJ1R3-caLcISXYXbN0YO7ieKOXnTxRlkLyvKumk_pj1kZaTYMVr7reqvOPY275fUU1Tu1sWRymezvecbtQw0yCfKHt5GSge9Sq-/s1600/with+eduardo.JPG" height="640" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A visit from Eduardo!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">Dear Family,</span><br />
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Wow! It sounds like you all had a really nice and busy week.</div>
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We had a pretty busy one here too, seeing how it was ward conference out here in Tobalaba, which was actually a huge success for everyone! Elder Guerrero and I got to give a presentation at a fireside on Tuedsay night about how we can all be more effective at sharing the gospel with our neighbors and loved ones. It was a success, I feel.</div>
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Elder Guerrero and I have been working a lot these past couple of weeks trying to win over the trust of the leaders, especially the Bishop, and I feel like ward conference helped us out a lot in doing that. As part of ward conference, there were activites in the Chapel every night of the week, so we brought as many investigators and less active members as we could. Elder Guerrero and I actually met a whole bunch of less active members this week. We have been recieving lots of references from members, and that has helped us out a lot. </div>
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We were able to meet up again with the family that we found last week -- they are doing well. We are doing what we can to help get the members of the ward involved to take them under their wings.</div>
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It really was kind of a miraculous week because a lot of new people just kind of fell into our laps. We are now teaching the little sister of a less active member that we have been teaching for several months now, so we are excited about that. Nevertheless, I feel like we are struggling in helping these people recieve the blessings that are waiting for them in the chapel on Sunday, so Elder Guerrero and I are working on what we can do better to help them get there on Sunday. </div>
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Something really cool that happened this week is that Eduardo, thats right, Eduardo from La Florida came to church HERE in Tobalaba on Sunday to give me a surprise visit -- THAT WAS AWESOME! It made my day, seriously. It had been forever since I had last seen him, so I was really happy. And on Sunday we had a big ward lunch after our church meetings to finish off the week of ward conference.</div>
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I am sorry that this email is kind of short and scatterbrained -- there is just a TON of stuff going on that needs to be taken care of right now.</div>
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Anyways, I just want you all to know that I love you, and that I am very thankful for your love and support -- I can feel it, I really can. I hope that you all have an excellent week. Say your prayers and read your scriptures!</div>
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with love,</div>
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Elder Schwartz</div>
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kurtpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16275106272265621635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541228130904054602.post-26780017878317040662014-03-30T13:51:00.001-07:002014-04-06T08:36:45.916-07:00Transfers : (<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Watt (on right) will be leaving for another area. We'll miss him</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18px;">Hey Family! </span><br />
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Soooooooo we got transfer news..... Elder Watt is leaving me to be a ZL (zone leader) in another area :( but at least I get to stay, right? I get to train a new zone leader, so that will be a fun experience. I'm happy that I'm staying, though, because I love this area so much. </div>
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Sorry I haven't really been too detailed in my letters in the past, so let me give you guys the rundown on my area, Cidade Leonor. So this area that I'm in is one the first areas that the Church was established here in Brazil. So the church has a good strong presence here. Our area is pretty mixed when it comes to social/economic class. We have a good sized favela (which is just like a dense community of houses built upon each other with tight walkways and drug deals going down). We also have your normal middle class neighborhoods, and then we have the closed apartment buildings like when I was in São Caetano. We are working more right now around the favela/in the favela, but we have a few references for people that live in the apartments so we are going to be visting those as well. </div>
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The members here are really good! They help when they can with the work and we have a lunch provided almost everyday, but sometimes we'll do it at home. But as with members in most areas of the church, it's hard to get good solid references (referral of friends to teach). (By the way, how are the references going for the sisters back in Martinez Ward?) It's a struggle for a lot of church member here, because they have work, families, other activites, and they are not spending every moment on missionary work like we are. </div>
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It's been starting to cool down here for the past few days. We usually have days where it is super sunny in the morning and then rains a little throughout the day that gives that kind of muggy humid feeling, but for right now it's cooling down. </div>
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For P-day we do a variety of things. We usually get our normal preparation done. In this area we live in a house in the back of an Irmã's house, and she does our laundry for us (she's an angel). Then we will usually relax at home, nap, or if we planned the night before, we go to this place called "25 de Março" which is the best place to buy things super cheap. This last P-day though, we had a sweet activity with our zone where we played ping-pong, ate hot dogs, and designed zone shirts.</div>
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This past week for us was a fight. We weren't able to catch sensei this week but when we do, I'll be sure to let you guys know. We have been teaching a quite a bit, though, and we have been having some really awesome and spiritual lessons. And our work payed off because we were able to bring a few investigators to church with us, and a few more that we taught in the past came without us knowing beforehand. We also brought a girl who has been inactive for 13 years of her life, back to church for the first time. It was so good to see our investigators at church and it seemed like they all really liked it. </div>
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I'm glad to hear that you guys are staying busy and everything is going great at home. I'm still freaking out that Elder Nate goes home soon. So trunky. Anyways,<br />
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I can't wait to hear from you all next week!</div>
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Love,</div>
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Elder Schwartz</div>
kurtpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16275106272265621635noreply@blogger.com0