August 20, 2012

Tuesday:  My whole left leg was itching like madness because it been eaten alive by crazy Brazilian bugs, it’s scabbed over right now.  We got some new investigators!  I’m nervous about one and the other is a referral from a member that my companion and I activated.  I’m still adjusting to teaching with my companion.  He is a REALLY good teacher but doesn’t really follow the lesson plans so I’m never sure what he wants me to talk about it when it’s my turn. I’m getting much better at listening to the spirit and just going off that.  I thought I had money to get home so I bought some coxinhas but soon after found out that he didn’t have money for the bus home. So we called our "mom" in the area and she sent someone to save us since it was 9:00 PM and it’s a two hour walk home along a mega sketchy highway.  But right before our ride showed up my companion found 3 reais that would have been enough to get us home...oops.

Wednesday:  Our money FINALLY went up! We used to get 170 for two weeks but now we get 200 so that should help A TON!  I think our Mission President felt bad seeing as we had NO food when they came to our house to do interviews and inspections.  We got some more new investigators that seem really promising.  Out of six new investigators we got for the week only one of them went to church, ugh.  We got a pizza, which fell on the floor but good thing I worked my butt off cleaning the floor so we blessed the thing and just went for it :) 

Thursday:  We had zone conference, it was pretty great!  I got to see my trainer and someone from my district in the CTM and a ton of other people that I haven’t seen in forever. We had a MEGA spiritual lesson on using the Book of Mormon and we watched Elder Hollands AMAZING talk on the Book of Mormon, it gets me every time.  We won a ribbon and 20 reais for having the cleanest house when the President came to visit and got a box of expensive cereal for my birthday! Can you say good day?  I tried some coconut water for the first time, turns out its pretty gross as refreshing as it looks. It doesn’t taste like coconut at all.  We had a solid lesson with an investigator so hopefully it will whip him into shape.

Friday:  Not much went down.  We had tons of appointments fall which means plenty of walking.

I talked to an American from LA, man I love speaking English more than ANYTHING! I miss you all too.  We had a couple lessons and got some dinner that night.

Saturday:  We went to Riveira for lunch and WOW, every house there is more than 2 million, everyone was very good looking and no one wears clothes.  No biggie.  I found a Kit Kat bar, American chocolate is unbeatable.  We saw plenty of VERY expensive cars and had a great BBQ. We had a Stake Priesthood meeting that night and saw the video of the last time Gordon B Hinckley bore his testimony and wow I love and miss that man. That may have got me too. We are SO lucky to have the knowledge that we have a prophet living. I love this church and I love President Thomas S Monson. 

Sunday:  We had a baptism of a little eight year old that is the daughter of some members. It doesn’t "count" for our mission but she asked me to baptize her and wow there is no way you don’t feel the spirit baptizing someone!  We sung in the ward choir and I was holding the tenors alone...a little rough.  We finally got to eat lunch at 4:00 because of the baptism and choir it took FOREVER but we had a really good FHE that night!

Well that wraps up the week here in Bertioga! I miss you all but I know this is exactly where I am supposed to be! Keep the letters and emails coming, say your prayers, read your scriptures and don’t forget about me!

com amor,

"O grande" ELDER GUBLER

August 13, 2012

Tuesday:  Just your average day, my body was BROKEN after p-day but that was expected and was well worth it.  Since we were both too tired to walk we took the bus a lot which meant a ton of waiting for the bus so we only taught two lessons.

Wednesday:   We got a call from the Mission President in the morning and found out that one of the Elders there had a married woman after him so we had an emergency transfer and he was transferred Bertioga with me.  My companion went to fill his place and I have a new companion.  I was a little nervous about becoming accustomed with his teaching style but I really like the kid!  He is from here in São Paulo so he isn’t far from home, he is 23 and is finishing his mission in October (the next transfer) and he really likes to work which is a very nice change because usually when people get down to the last bit of their mission they are kid of worthless but he really is a worker so I’m loving that!  We paid 14 bucks to go to our district meeting and then go to lunch, the we went back and packed up my companions stuff and then back on the bus, another 14 bucks and another 2 hours on the bus and then another 3 bucks to get to the place where we switched comps so I spent a solid 32 bucks in one day, sat on the bus for four hours and got home mega late so needless to say it was a VERY long day! 

Thursday:  We visited some new investigators way out in the boonies of our area and they are quite the little old couple.  We also had to buy all the stuff for our activity on Friday

Friday:  It turns out that my new companion served in Guarujá and knows a few families here so when he passed through it was kind of crazy when he was calling everyone by name.  I also talked with some Europeans that had awful Portuguese and WOW I am seriously forgetting how to speak English.  We then had a Ward activity that rocked; we did a treasure hunt using the scriptures.  I also got bit by a crazy dog.  My new companion is huge; he knows all these crazy fighting styles and was in the Brazilian Marines.  He is a MEGA powerful missionary!  I hope I can learn a lot from him!

Sunday:  We had church as usual but had a MEGA powerful lesson on the Priesthood for our Principles of the Gospel class and I essentially had the goose bumps for 45 minutes straight. We are so lucky to have the Church and that amazing power in our lives.  That night my new companion and I did a little wrestling, wow the kid could snap me in half. I know this email may be a little small this week but I still love you all so same so keep the emails and letters coming! Say your prayers, read your scriptures, and write me! 

COM TODO O AMOR NO MUNDO, ELDER GUBLER

August 6, 2012

Tuesday:  Interviews with the President and house inspections, quite the day! It’s so nice that Bertioga is in the middle of nowhere, they didn’t show up at our house until almost three so we really got the house pretty perfect, especially because we spent our p-day cleaning the it.   We got a new iron because ours had an infestation of ants living in it.  We have been working in a lot of different areas instead of just staying in the central part and we were in "mague seco" knocking doors and someone walked past us and I could tell he recognized us so I jumped on that as fast as I could and went and talked to him.  We found out that he was baptized when he had 8 years and stayed active until 19, ended up not going on a mission, got a girl pregnant and fell away.  Well most important and most sad, he had just returned from the burial service of his 37 year old daughter that morning.  He said that he always missed the church but felt like he couldn’t come back but he said he prayed for help and 5 minutes later on his way home he passed us.  Wow, don’t ever forget the importance of prayer and don’t ever forget who we are able to talk to. He listens; ALWAYS.  It was such a testimony builder for me because he said he had never seen missionaries there and we haven’t been working there for very long but it all worked out, just because of a little prayer. We ended up giving him a Book of Mormon because he had lost his and marked to go back to talk to his wife because she isn’t a member.  But wow again, I love my mission.

Wednesday:  District meeting as usual and lunch with a less active family.  We also talked to another investigator and found out that he hasn’t been going to church because he "is embarrassed because he doesn’t have nice clothes" but he is always disappearing for our appointments so I’m thinking he is just making stuff up.   

Thursday:  We had 2-8 marked with set appointments so we thought it was going to be full of lessons but well out of the 6 appointments we had marked, how many actually worked out…two. Fake addresses, people not home, we heard it all. Ouch, rough day. 

Friday:  A pretty solid day! I won a mega cheap watch.  One of our investigators has a little game with a paper with scratch off numbers and if you scratch one of five numbers you win a watch and well I WON!  I probably spent more on the stupid game than the watch was actually worth but hey I won so it was worth it.  I also found out that fireflies (or vagalume) exist in Bertioga!  That night our ward mission leader (LMA) had a barbeque for the ward and some politician so that meant free and food and plenty of contacts.  We even got to take home some meat. 

Saturday:  We did a division with our District Leader and his companion and I went up to Boa Esperança!  Wow, I miss normal sized areas!  They had a little favela in their area so I missed Inamar!  The Elder that I was with, a Brazilian,  said my Portuguese was better than a lot of Americans with a year and six months so that was nice to hear.  Missionaries always tell me I speak good Portuguese because they can see the process that we suffer through trying to learn this beast of a language but non members sometimes have a hard time understanding me because of my accent.

Sunday:  I taught the principles of the Gospel class and well it turned out pretty smooth!  Other than that it was a normal fast Sunday, bore my testimony and I bear my testimony every single day but standing in front of everyone and bearing it still isn’t easy.  We had a baptism marked for a little girl in ward that asked me to baptize her but she has epilepsy and heart problems and well she got too excited about her baptism and her heart rate got too high and then crashed so she ended up in the hospital.   It breaks my heart to see the things that she has to put up with. But people that have problems like hers can really feel the presence of the Spirit so much stronger because they are so close to God.  I love you all so stay safe and keep the emails and letters coming! 

com amor e caridade, ELDER GUBLER

July 30, 2012

Tuesday:  As usual district meeting and as usual we get to lunch mega late which makes the whole day nice and late, especially because we took a different bus this time and it took a solid 2 hours to get to lunch and then after we finally got to lunch, finished eating, and took another bus to get to our appointments, it was nice and late but we taught a few new people there and then walked back to Bertioga and all the way to the church, had a ward meeting but ended up leaving and doing a division so that was sweet.

Wednesday:  A normal day.  We talked to our investigator about why he didn’t go to church on Sunday because it was supposed to be his baptism and well the rest of our appointments fell through.

Thursday:  At lunch we had some cane which is essentially just like a giant reed that you cut off the outside shell and chew on the center part and it’s really sweet! I’m like hooked on the stuff.  The rest of that day we stayed in an area and knocked a ton of doors and marked appointments for this week!  One of our investigators is a street vender and he was trying to sell us all this stuff after our lesson because they made us dinner and well I gave in and bought three of those beach straw hats that are actually pretty nice for 5 reais so that’s $2.50 for 3 mega nice beach hats, oh gotta love Brazil!  I’m just not sure how I’m gonna get them home.  I bought a hair clipper for my birthday present for myself because getting a haircut here is very expensive so I just have to cut my hair six times with the thing and its already worth it!  The only problem, you all know how I LOVE cutting my hair and well I cut it WAY too short but well good thing I’m not trying to impress anyone and everyone has gotta have an awful haircut at least once in the mission...right dad?  I hope so because everyone in the ward is already giving me a ton of crap for it.

Friday:  just another regular day! We did our usual route and well besides cranking out some solid contacts, not much else went down.  There was a birthday party of someone in the ward so we hit that up real fast, got some brigadeiro and salgados and then we were out of there.

Sunday:  Not much went down on Sunday either! We taught some less active families and got home and started the process of cleaning the house.  The president is coming tomorrow to do interviews and to see the house and well it’s gonna be a fun night tonight.  We decided that we are just gonna have to throw away some of the dishes because they have had food in them for the past 4 months and never been opened, gotta love the mission!  I‘ve been keeping track of how many steps I take every day and well I hope you are ready for the weekly grand total…47.84 miles baby! Pretty impressive right, HECK YEAH!   

SEU FILHO, IRMÃO, E MELHOR AMIGO

ELDER GUBLER 

July 11, 2012

So just to get all the transfer stuff straight, I’m in Bertioga, THE BIGGEST AREA IN THE MISSION,  and well it seriously is absolutely huge! It is about as big as all of Diadema and well it’s just me and Elder De Assis holding down the fortress of salvation here.  I love my comp!  It has been raining like nobody’s business here! Like we are talking lakes of water in roads and well cement doesn’t really exist on any of the side roads here because we are pretty close to the beach so my shoes are taking a BEATING!  They’ve gotta last at least a year and I’ll break out the other ones but a really quick rundown of the week goes as follows.

TUESDAY:  The day of transfers.  We left at 1130 and didn’t get to my area until three hours so it really is kind of out in the boonies of our mission!  In fact we are going to the temple tomorrow and it is gonna take the whole day to go to the temple, do a session and then come back!   But after we finally got in the area, I unpacked which was really nice and then we met the Pres of the Relief Society that night and she is the greatest!  We are getting tons of help from the ward already!

WEDNESDAY: The first district meeting in Guarujá and we have some solid people in the district!   I just love the ward! I SAW THE BEACH!

THURSDAY:  It marked six months and well that was a little crazy!  Time really is just insane on the mission! It feels like it has been a while but at the same time it has FLOWN.  A few other highlights, my companion found some cockroaches in his shoes at lunch, I gave my first blessing, it was raining like crazy and well ya know I burned a tie that night!  Six months on the mission baby!

FRIIDAY:  Still raining like crazy and at this point, every single road was a lake!! I decided to bring dry soaks and swap out during the day because it gets really annoying having soaking wet soaks ha but well they didn’t last longer than 30 minutes dry and they were already soaking again!  Welcome to Bertiágua.  Thank heavens a member in the ward bought us some new umbrellas so that was mega nice because I lost my small one and the extra that was laying around the house was awful! I don’t know why everything seems to fall apart 5x faster on the mission but it really does!

SATURDAY:  We got money for lunch and we bought a little pizza and some bread and ham so that was lunch.  Luckily had 30 bucks in the bank that finally showed up for me to survive here because well we are ABSURDLY poor! The area is so huge that we have to take the bus from appointment to appointment and it’s a solid 14 reais to go district meeting and the stake and just to give you a little idea of how much stupid money has gone to the bus. I saw our chapel here and it really looks like a temple!  The thing is under a year old and is sick; it’s a little different that Inamar h our graffiti covered rented building. 

SUNDAY:  We got to see the dedication of the temple in Manaus and well that was our church! It really was so cool to be able to see it.  Another example of how amazing our ward is, one of the counselors in the relief society gave us 100 reais, so 50  a piece for us to be able to pay for going to the temple and to be able to go dedication!  Well that brings us to today, sitting at a members house playing pool, pinball and having a barbeque! oh i love Brazil.

com amor e caridade, ELDER GUBLER :)