January 21, 2013

HELLO AMAZING FAM!!!

I would LOVE some snow so if you want to switch places that sounds good to me.  All is does here is rain every day and it still manages to be hot so you get soaked from the rain and sweat due to the heat.  But I feel like I’ve already said this but tomorrow we get to hear ELDER BEDNAR, yes the Apostle. Pretty much President and Sister Tanner are just the greatest so all the apostles just want to visit our mission and this will be the forth that I’ve seen which is kind of EXTREMELY rare in Brazil :)

But a little about my week! First off my beloved son Elder ____ has officially "opened up" and the kid is insane!  It’s pretty funny because I thought he was gonna be super quiet and stuff like that but well now that he has fully let himself come out, shy is definitely not the right word to use so that has been pretty fun/interesting. But this week was freaking SICK for us! We found TONS of new people and well almost everyone accepted baptism and we are finally getting some divisions with members and we got a new LMA this Sunday so its game time baby!!!! I will be a little pissed if I get transferred again though because once I whipped the Bertioga ward into shape and we started finding the elects I got transferred.... and now I’m whipping this area into shape and I have a feeling that I may get transferred this next one.....UGH!  Let’s hope that I can stay to actually reap the fruits that I planted if I had time I would tell you all about the people we found this week because they are all amazing but well unfortunately an hour on the computer wouldn’t allow that so I few highlights, the package I’m gonna send home is almost ready! It’s SUPER MEGA heavy so I’ll probably end up dropping some major cash but it’s necessary because my suitcases won’t be able to handle all my stuff for another transfer.  But don’t get too excited because there really isn’t anything too cool in the package, just p-day clothes that I can’t use anymore, a few books, etc.  I didn’t have enough money to get everyone soccer jerseys when we went to 25 de Março and you don’t accept credit cards there so I’ll make sure that I come home with jerseys for everyone but be patient! A few funny stories of this week though, Elder ____ got kissed by some girl because that’s how everyone compliments everyone here and it was pretty funny!  He turned like bright red but well I just kind of kept on teaching and tried not to laugh haha.  Oh I’m learning Korean! I totally know how to write my name now and everything.  Someone told us a story about some famous UFC fighter that is winning like crazy and so in some interview they asked "where is his strength coming from" or something like that and apparently he showed a Book of Mormon and said how his strength comes from that book and he talked about the missionaries and man I just LOVE this mission! I’ll see if I can find some famous people to baptize too.  We had a lunch this week that didn’t have beans or rice, the first time I haven’t eaten beans and rice with lunch in over a year.....weird. It was killer good lasagna but without my beans something just didn’t feel right! But well since I don’t have time to talk about all the people we found and the people we are teaching, that is kinda it for the week! ____ has his baptism marked for this Sunday but I’m not sure if it will go down because he still "doesn’t feel ready" but he is MORE than ready and I love the guy so a couple more power lessons and we should be good to go for this Sunday but keep your fingers (or I guess I should say arms) crossed.  But well I love you all! Thanks for all the support, I know this church is true and this is EXACTLY where I’m supposed to be! Read your scrips, say your prayers and write me letters! :)

com amor,

ELDER GUBLER

January 14, 2013

HELLO FAMMY FAM,

Well sounds like there has been some crazy weather back home, it has been raining the ENTIRE week here if that helps and it is the most annoying thing ever. I still can’t decide if I would rather die from the insane heat or be soaking wet from rain all day.  Without further ado...HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANNAH!  I’m gonna send home a package mostly full of clothes and crap that I have collected on the mission but I’m gonna send a few little things home so that can be my present! Dont expect anything big and I’m sorry fam but I don’t have enough money to buy everyone soccer jerseys.  They don’t accept credit cards at 25 de Março (essentially Brazilian china town) so I had to use my money which ran out fast so hold strong for the soccer jerseys, I’ll make sure to bring PLENY when I come home!  This week was pretty packed but here are a few of the weekly highlights.

Tuesday:

-had MAC AND CHEESE for lunch! Yes you read that right!  Elder ____ and I found it at the Wal-Mart here! It is a legit Wal-Mart, great value straight from the US stuff. It was one of the most delicious things I have eaten on my mission.

-taught some killer good lessons with our elect investigators that we found out are moving this week....que maravilha.

-had an appointment with ____ at the church and we were on the other side of our area (a 45 min walk from where we were to the chapel) and well when we left it was POURING rain. Umbrellas have no use whatsoever seeing as we were SOAKING after five minutes in the rain so we just bailed on the umbrella and started booking it in the pouring rain to get to the church and well after 20 minutes of sprinting in the heaviest rain I’ve ever experienced in my life, we got to the church and it stopped raining…killer timing. But I took out the phone of my backpack to call ____ and it was raining so hard that the parking lot at his apartment complex was flooded and he couldn’t leave so needless to say that fell and since we were soaking wet and it was 8:30 at this point we started the dripping trek home but when we left the rain had totally stopped but as soon as we got a block away from the church, what happens? INSANO RAIN: Round 2, perfect right? That was definitely a record for the most rain I have taken on my mission and lefts hope I don’t ever break that record.

Wednesday:

- interviews with the president and house inspection. Our fridge got fixed by Elder ____ a senior couple we have on the mission.  Elder fix-it as I like to call him.  I passed my interview so that’s always nice.

- had some sweet lessons in that day, taught a new gospel lady that is a friend of ____ ____ and she just happen to speak in tongues during the closing prayer.  My poor son (Elder _____) all this crazy stuff is happening right when we got here and this is his first area, ha.

- was pouring rain the whole day again.....gotta love São Bernardo.

Thursday:

- district meeting: we got three talks from Elder Bednar to study because turns out he is coming to visit the mission on the 22!  I’m freaking pumped as can be so I’ve been studying up a storm about his talks that we got and he will be the third Apostle that I see on my mission! For a Brazilian mission that’s super rare! It’s just because we have the greatest mission President and sister ever! 

- did a division with Elder ____ and I went to their area to do a baptismal interview but that meant that my son, Elder ____ brand spanking new on the mission and Elder ____ son, Elder _____, also brand spanking new on the mission were gonna stick together so I may have been a little nervous about that and besides a little apostasy that they taught in one lesson haha it sounds like it was a sweet day and they really held their own!

- oh and one more umbrella down on the mission. That marks the fifth umbrella that I have gone through, either broke, lost, or given away. 

Friday:

- taught a hippie that was essentially atheist. We had done a contact with him forever ago and _____ taught his sister in a division one time but he was never home. We finally found him home and well he said that he would love to learn about our church but whenever I said anything he would question it and doubt it and well when he said that he preferred to believe in something he can see (mother earth) than a "fantasy" (being God) and well at that point we were out of there. I tried but when we pulled the fantasy line I couldn’t handle it anymore so I guess we’ll see if mother nature can save him.

- had a nice street lesson and visited some less actives!

Saturday:

- HANNAHS B-DAY!

-taught a guy that was taught 10 years ago by the sisters and he said he still believes in the BoM so we just gotta get him to actually come to church and já era!

- found out I had to give a 20 min talk on Sunday....mmmmm

- helped a family move and like the whole week we had the lovely rain coming down the whole time but I love me a good service project :)

Sunday:

- my talk ended up being solid, but we started sac meeting a little early and Elder ____ was super nervous because it was his first talk on the mission and our LMA (ward mission leader) talked for 10 minutes spot on, it left me with a solid 30 minutes to cover and well since I barely had anything prepared in the first place for my 20 minute talk, 30 minutes didn’t go down. I got it to a little over 20 minutes but after that I called it. It’s funny how before the mission I could barely handle a five minute talk that I had to whole week to prepare for and well on the mission you get less than 24 hours’ notice, don’t have time to prepare anything and well frankly your speaking in a different language. The mission is sweet! :)

- got a call from ___ ___ in Bertioga and man I miss everyone down there! Elder _____ is down there and it seems like everything is coming along greatly but talking to her was sweet! She may have started crying but being able to talk to "meu povo" in Bertioga was pretty great! :)

Today:

-we hit up 25 de Março and I am EXHAUSTED so frankly I’m outta here to prepare my training for tomorrow! I love you all, read your scrips, say your prayers, and get these letters coming :)

beijos e um abração......XOOXOXXOXO

ELDER GUBLER 

January 7, 2013

So if you don’t know or have forgotten, I’m TRAINING!!!! WOOOOO.  My beloved son is Elder ____ and he is from Rio Grande do Sul, he is 19, he was born in the church and he is a little shy.  With me he talks just fine but whenever we get in a lesson or at a members house he stays pretty much in his shell which is normal for the first week of your mission because you essentially just feel lost for 24/7 but I’m trying to make sure he always knows what we are doing, where we are going, who we are gonna teach and all that good stuff but about the teaching real fast! I essentially teach alone which I don’t want to do because its practicing with real people when you REALLY learn so he always throws his testimony in there and as of now since we practiced and studied together like CRAZY this week he knows all the main points of the first lesson, now I’ve just gotta get him to talk more about the points but we are getting there and already in this first week we has improved a TON.  Here in two weeks I think he'll improve another 200% so that’s what I think is gonna be the coolest thing about training, seeing my cute little son grow in the gospel and in his teaching.  We had some really good lessons this week and now that my comp doesn’t really know how normal lessons go its helping me trying and make sure that EVERY lesson is super spiritual and I really teaching everything in a super clear way so that the investigator and my companion can both learn. This training is helping me and my teaching as well. After a year you know everything that you "should" do in a lesson but sometimes we get in the habit of just teaching lessons instead of people or relying more on yourself that the spirit so it’s helping me keep myself in check as well and frankly I’m just lovin it! It’s a lot more work because I’ve still got my district to take care of and now I’ve gotta a baby on the mission too but I really am loving and as far as I know, he is too! It’s funny though because I am literally teaching him EVERYTHING to do with a mission; how to tie a tie, use a washer machine, how iron clothes, etc.

I put our first pic together, one of all the newbies and trainer and one of me eating jaca mole this week which was my first time and it was pretty sick, as in good.  It felt like you were eating slimy bananas but só vai because it tasted really good! We are hoping to get ____ and ____ ____ in some water ASAP so I’ll keep you posted on them! If everything works out, within the next couple weeks, we'll have Elder ____ first baptism in his mission, good memories.  I love you all and thanks for everything! Read your scrips, say your prayers, and write me letters :)

COM AMOR....

ELDER GUBLER

December 31, 2012

HELLO FAMILY,

Since I talked to you all on Tuesday, I feel like there really isn’t much to say but the BIG NEWS for the email is definitely TRANSFERS and I told you on the Skype call that I thought I was gonna stay for sure but then when I did a division with the Zone Leaders I was asking them what they thought and well they said I’m going to be a ZONE LEADER too so then I have been panicking since Friday trying to figure out if I really was gonna be a ZONE LEADER or not.  I may have been praying more for the not and well...prayers are answered!  The transfer came this morning at like 10:30 so it was late and super nerve wrecking waiting for it but I survived and got a call from the President at like 10 asking me to be a trainer and it was EXACTLY what I wanted to happen! I’m not leaving, and I get to TRAIN!!! :) WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Now I’m hoping I get an American so I can not only help him with his Portuguese but because it’s always fun to mess around with the new Americans, hehe I won’t be mean! But anyways so I am freaking pumped about that! I have always wanted to train and never wanted to be ZONE LEADER so prayers are definitely answered.  If one day in the future I am SUPPOSED to ZONE LEADER of course I’ll accept it but personally if I could have it my way, I would train for the rest of my mission. I’m gonna train with Elder _____ so that should be sweet! My district is now gonna have 2 newbies so well see how that turns out.  Either way I’m super anxious for the transfer and am for sure bummed that _____ is gonna leave but I’m glad it’s not me.

This week was a little rough because it was the week of Christmas so no one was here and if people were here, they were with family and didn’t want to talk to us but we still worked our butts off and ended up getting in some solid lessons and finding some new people to teach for the next transfer.  On Wednesday as usual we had our district meeting and after my training we gave out or "secret friend" presents. We all picked a name of someone in the district and gave a present from 10-15 reais and well I ended up spending 20 after you guys told me to spend money on Brazilians so I got Elder ____ some Q-típs (inside joke), farofa (which is this flour stuff that Elder _____ put on rice and beans and its actually super good) and then a sweet hot wheels so over all I spent the most out of everybody and what did I get as my present, Elder ____ gave me a baby rubix cube on a key chain for 2 reais.  FREAKING Americans are always so cheap. so that was the greatest.  Thursday was just a day of knocking doors and trying to contact contacts and well nothing went down and we only talked to one guy so that wasn’t the best day either but Friday we did a division with the ZONE LEADERSs and I did an interview for a girl in their area and well she was super ready! She just needed to take out all of her piercings and well they left that for me to handle but after a little pushing I got her to take those out.  For the rest of that day everything fell too.  We did get one lesson in with a SUPER humble lady that lived in almost a cardboard house but still had a huge flat screen TV but anyways it was a super good lesson because she connected all the dots herself, the apostasy and the need for a restoration to the Book of Mormon. That is the best way to teach, let them teach themselves. On Saturday some highlights were our lesson with ____ ____ because her newest doubt/excuse out of baptism was that she didn’t want to be baptized in a font because the sins of the other people that were already baptized there stay there.... so we watched finding faith in Christ a little 20 minute movie about His life but we watched because I remembered there was a part that showed his baptism and someone was baptized before Christ and they are in a dammed off part of the river and well it may not be doctrinal but that helped. I know that ____ ____ will be baptized; it’s just a matter of time! I have tried everything I can think of so frankly it’s just patience and trust in the Lord at this point. Then we had some other really good lessons that day too and that night we had a little pizza party at a members because we didn’t know which one of us was gonna leave but it was pretty great except for the fact that me and three other people got sick after, still not sure it was worth it.

Well that wraps up the week! Yesterday we just said goodbye to everyone and today we will say goodbye to the other half that we didn’t hit yesterday, gotta love transfers! But well I love you all! I hope new years is sick back at home but just know that the fireworks here will probably be a little crazier... vida loka.  Keep the emails coming, I’ll be waiting for these letters but either way I love you all! Thanks for everything and I’ll talk to you next week and tell you all about my first (of hopefully many) newbie.

COM AMOR E CARINHO

ELDER GUBLER

Mission President Christmas Message

December 25, 2012

Dear parents of missionaries,

During the week before Christmas we met with each of our missionaries in wonderful Christmas Conferences.  We had missionary training, a scriptural Christmas program with amazing musical talent, a delicious lunch and other yummy treats, and a service project.  It was a joy to be with these delightful missionaries.  We always marvel at their great abilities, their many talents, their willingness and diligence in this work, and the goodness of their lives.

We love this sacred season when we remember the birth of our Savior.  Our hearts are filled with gratitude to be able to serve together with your sons and daughters, sharing our testimonies of Jesus Christ and the restoration of His gospel to the earth. 

We hope you have had a special Christmas and that you will have a wonderful new year.  We pray constantly for our missionaries and for you, their families.

With love and gratitude,

President and Sister Tanner

December 24, 2012

This week was pretty solid! We had our Christmas conference, sang a little Feliz Navidad, ate a nice bbq, played some Christmas songs with bells and great times were had! We also had a baptism of woman who isn’t our investigator, she is one of investigators of the Elders of Batistini and well since their chapel is super sketch they had the baptism like usual in our chapel and I was the one that interviewed her and well she is super good!!!! It may have taken the new place as my favorite interview but so we did a division this week, did some great interviews and I’ve actually have more to do today so that should be fun, then we have some HUGE party at a members house tonight! It’s funny because Christmas Eve is much bigger than actual Christmas here! They all open the presents and stuff on Christmas Eve and I think Christmas is just kind of a laying around day but well I guess we’ll find out tomorrow! But well todays gonna be super busy and I’ve got tons to do so I’ll SEE YOU ALL tomorrow ;) WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I love you and cant freaking wait for tomorrow!