February 12, 2012

February 7, 2012

Well good news I’m here!! :) I arrived safely in the field so don’t worry! This place is insane but I love it! A quick rundown of today:  we left the CTM at 7 and that was oddly really sad, it should have been just pure joy because to be honest I was beyond ready to get out of that place and finally get in the field but I really loved our district and so there may have been tears shed. I am gonna miss them all but good thing I know this work is true and this is exactly where we are all supposed to be! So first off we went to President and Sister Tanners house and they seem absolutely amazing. We talked a little bit about Grandma and Grandpa and they said to send their love so pass on this message because I don’t think I’ll have time to email Grandma and Grandpa.  I’m actually in a little internet shop now and we get kicked off exactly at 30 minutes so I don’t have much time... but ok so after we had all the first interview stuff we went to a chapel and had lunch which was amazing and turns out the food in the field is even better than the CTM :)  We had a little practice teaching thing and then met our new comps for the first time! His name is Elder Carston Pederson and he is from Pennsylvania. He seems like a way solid guy.  He has only been out for 3 months and has great Portuguese, is a trainer and a district leader so he must be doing something right ;)  I know I’ll learn a ton from him!  After we met our comps and took the last pictures, off to the field and whoa was that quite the ride.  Our ZONE is called Diadema and our AREA Inamar it is south of São Paulo city and to be completely honest is straight up the slums. Our apartment is essentially up some stairs in-between a meat store and another store so needless to say this is gonna be quite the humbling experience. The apartment is absolutely rancid so that’s a blast but to be completely honest I’m loving it! It’s gonna keep things interesting and make me realize how truly blessed that I and we are all are. I also love knowing that there is someone here that is especially for me. I’ve only been actually in the field for probably an hour and I realized that I don’t know half of what I thought I kind of knew and that this is gonna to be much harder than I made it out to be but hey I know this is where I am supposed to be and I know that this gospel is true so that can hold me over :) Also don’t worry about me. I may be in a slum but I know that I am protected and that God is watching out for me and for all of you. I feel it in my prayers every day. Like I said I have only been at my apartment for the past hour and a half or so that is essentially my run down for today.  I know it’s probably not as exciting as you would have liked but hey next week I will have plenty to ramble on about so don’t worry :)

A little run down of this week, you’ll never guess who showed up to the CTM... another Elder Gubler. It was INSANE and I definitely didn’t see that one coming... he is from Baton Rouge and I don’t remember where he is from because I may be a little flustered after today but he was quite the character I tell you haha.  I got plenty of pics too so when and if I can ill send you pics of some highlights but hopefully you got the pics I sent 2 weeks ago by now.  I sent them the "Brazilian" way so it was cheaper but I bet it takes longer too so keep me posted on when those show up and especially on Oliver's mission call. It will be fun to hear all about when he gets out in the field! Also another highlight is I bought a Brazilian flag and had everyone in my district and the other district I was over in the CTM sign it. I’m gonna have all the people I baptize sign it too so that should be way cool to come home with that! 

Give everyone my love and I really am proud of everyone I love you all.

Elder Gubler

January 31, 2012

Today is my last P-day in the CTM and it is totally INSANE!! I can’t wait to finally be out in the field! We got to go proselyting yesterday and it was absolutely amazing :) If your average day in the field is anything like that then oh I am definitely in for a treat.  The people of Brazil are unbelievably kind and loving! We had 3 hours and 4 Books of Mormon or Livro De Mórmons to do our thing in São Paulo and it was something I will never forget! We only got to talk to 7 or so people just because people are so friendly and apparently chatty. Don’t get me wrong we did get turned down a couple times but even then they let us do our opening speal and then would just say "my husband is a priest" (yes that happened) and whether it’s true or not they are so kind about it. Another reason it was so interesting was that everyone around the CTM has a Book of Mormon so they know exactly what to do to get us out of their hair.  The first guy we talked to took the Book of Mormon from my hands, answered everything how we wanted him to and sent us on our way.  The likelihood of his reading that probably his 3rd Book of Mormon was slim to none but hey I was having the time of my life!

The second lady, Maria we talked to was amazing! She was absolutely hilarious and even if we didn’t understand all of what she was saying we could still laugh and shockingly feel the spirit. She lived right on the corner of our boundaries so maybe that why she hadn’t talked to the missionaries before but she was catholic and was extremely interested! We talked for probably 40 minutes or so and she was asking questions and asked us to come back tomorrow! It was great I tell you :) Sadly we can’t go back but we gave her the BoM and the address to the church and she was very satisfied along with us. The last guy we talked to is also worth mentioning... I don’t remember his name but he was all over the place. Along with how to tract I also learned that CTM Portuguese and "real" Portuguese are completely different things.  He was slurring his works and cramming 3 words in one syllable so needless to say there was definitely a huge struggle understanding him. It’s to the point that I can talk about any gospel related thing I want so luckily I just ramble on about the 5 words or so that I understood out of his speal but it was interesting. Elder Bodily is struggling with understand even in the CTM so I’m sure it was quite stressful for him but I would always try to explain what I understood to him to keep him on the same page and he is one of the most optimistic people! He always manages to stay happy and positive which is such a great quality to have especially when we are tracting!

Another thing is even if we did struggle to understand everything, when anyone found out that we have only been learning Portuguese for 8 weeks they are amazed! It really is amazing how fast that we have picked things up. I can testify first hand that the Gift of Tongues is real and that I wouldn’t be even half this far if I didn’t have it. If I were taking Portuguese in college we would still be learning colors and numbers so we are so blessed to be learning with the spirit.

I’m running out of time a lot faster that i thought so on to the next story! We got to hear two apostles from the 12 this week, Elder Neil A Anderson and Elder Ballard. I have met, heard, and shaken apostles hands before but when you are on a mission doing the Lords work it is a completely different experience! I didn’t wash my hand for like half the day and the spirit that was in that meeting was amazing! They could have just sat in the room for an hour and a half and the spirit would have testified that they are men of God. The gospel is just amazing and I’m so lucky that i can be a part of it!

Elder Gubler

January 24, 2012

It has been raining like CRAZY for the past two and half weeks, it still manages to be absurdly hot... the weather here is almost as temperamental as Utah’s, except when it rains here the rain drops are like as big as my eyeballs and the thunder and lightning is insane too! The power goes out every other day and get this the CTM got struck by lightning on the power rod! Great right? I just realized you’re probably all panicked now but I really am more than fine! I love this work, the language is really starting to come and I know I’ve got God on my side. I read the story of Helaman and the 2000 Stripling Warriors a couple days ago and I realized that I may get hurt or injured a little by not learning the language right off the bat but the Lord will not let me anything happen to me. This is His work and I’m so glad I get to do it!  I hope the ward is all doing well and it’s crazy to think that Quentin will be home in like what 6 months or so?? That 6 month wait just about killed me... ha but anyways this week I have gotten into studying the Book of Mormon so much!! That book is like my best friend now and is my outlet and escape from studying Portuguese all day! I have never been this into reading the Book of Mormon in my life and I love it! I feel like I have been missing out on so much for 19 years of my life because you can literally apply anything to us in the modern days! It really is the word of God and I’m in love. I made my own little time line of who had the plates and at what time and all this stuff and have been looking up talks and all this stuff (We get lab time every day and when I’m writing this emails I’m in a lab in the CTM not an internet cafe in the streets of Sao Paulo ha-ha.  It’s not that bad down here ;)) but if you find any good study material or talks I would love it if you sent it to me! But remember if you do decide to send me anything please send it to the Mission Home address in the last email I sent you! :) I am really missing Grandpas Book of Mormon Study books right now!

Oh and more mega exciting news! Elder Neil A Anderson and Elder Ballard are both coming to the CTM tomorrow!!!! :) WOOOO! You’re never supposed to get to see General Authorities when you are in Brazil but we get two in one sitting! We essentially get to listen to them for as long as they want to talk tomorrow and I am extremely excited! :) More exciting news is in our TRC (it’s like a practice teaching thing with Brazilian members who pretend to be investigators) but me and Elder Bodily nailed it this week. The language really is coming! My knowledge outside of Gospel related topics still needs some improvement but we will get there and if God has helped me this much I can only imagine what else is in store the rest of my mission! Also next Monday we get to go out and proselyte in the streets of Brazil! Each companionship gets four Books of Mormon to hand out and I’m extremely excited but also nervous! It’s a whole other ball game outside of our little shelter where everyone talks nice and slow in the CTM ha-ha but we will get there!

That is essentially it for this week and hopefully I made up for last week’s because it was written way bad and was kind of short but remember I love you and you are in my prayers every day! I love this gospel, the people of Brazil and my district!

Oh and I’ve got some homework for you too!  Read ALMA 60:6... I need me some letters!! :)

January 17, 2012

This week overall was pretty great! im still waiting on the watch and your letter but they will probably be here tonight or tomorrow so we should be good there and great news! we had our first "baptismal commitment"!! our "investigator" who is actually our teacher accepted baptism and is going to be baptised on the "29th of January"! pretty exciting right?? especially since they play the investigator role pretty tough so we had to work for it but i just cant wait to get out into the field cuz if a fake baptism commitment from a fake investigator feels this good then i cant imagine how amazing it will feel when you really bring a family unto Christ and His Church. This work is not easy at all but i realized im not doing this for me im doing this for the people of Brasil and if i put in the effort than God will cover the rest. The language will come, the leadership skillls will continue to grow and exact obedience will get easier. He has a plan and it´s our job to bring people into His perfect plan.

On another crazy note you will never guess who i met this week in the CTM. Nate Jeese. As in the Jeese's that grew up and sugarhouse!! it was asbsolutely insane cuz i had seen him a couple of time cuz he just came from prove for three weeks and got here as of last wednesday but didnt recognize him but as soon as he said his first name was Nate cuz the whole only last name thing makes it really hard to feel like you know people on a personal basis. that is one of the things i miss the most is my first name. haha jk but yeah we were talking and it was insane! he is serving in Santa Maria and it reminds me when is Oliver gonna get his call?? cuz im gonna want to hear as soon as he gets his calll!

PS i dont have time to email dad this week cuz im out of time....:( but can you please mail me my line of authority and Dads ancestory? cuz that would be really nice to have :)

i love you all and remember that youre in my prayers every singe day. I hope michael is doing ok and carly can get those grades up. I hope everyone is doing ok and dont worry about me cuz im doing great! i love this work and the opportunity i have to serve for the Lord. and i do kind of miss the personal emails from the kids and letters would be nice too so i mean i definitely wouldnt mind that ;) eu amo todos vocês.

Seus Filho, Elder Gubler. 

Mailing & Email Addresses

Mailing Address:

Brazil Sao Paulo South Mission

Rua Dr. Luiz da Rocha Miranda, 159

8° Andar

Parque Jaaquara, Sao Paulo, SP

Brazil 04344-010

Email:  Jacob.gubler@myldsmail.net

January 10, 2012

January 10, 2012

We went to a real Brazilian grill today for Pday with our two instructors and the teacher Irmão Zambonie the one that I love! The food was amazing there, it was essentially a Rodizio grill or Tucanos but real Brazilian food :) I thought I would have at least gained a little weight by now thought because we eat a TON of food every meal and I may have gotten hooked to dipping bread in oil and vinegar, amazing I tell you! Probably not the healthiest thing to be eating 3 times a day but its keeping me going so that’s all that counts right now!

This week we got to talk to an American guy that served in Brazil 3 years ago but came back to work here for an internship. It was so nice to just be able to talk to an American and know that no matter how bad you are struggling the Lord will help you and it all works out in the end. You are exactly right that I really am struggling with the language hardcore and it’s hard to not compare yourself to others but I’m just trying to be diligent as repetitive and tough as things get I know that I can do this...

This Sunday was the first fast Sunday that I had here and it was amazing! for one of the first times ever fasting wasn’t a total burden haha fast and testimony meeting was amazing and my first leadership meeting I conducted as AP (I’m actually more like a Zone Leader because I’m just over my district and 2 others it’s just called that in the CTM) and it went really well! I bore my testimony during sacrament meeting and of course may have shed a few tears because the spirit is so strong! The spirit in this place is really just amazing :) I can’t wait to actually get out into the field and teach real investigators and just have the spirit triple even if I still don’t know the language. haha today during P Day an elder in our district gave out a book of Mormon and it was the coolest most inspiring thing I’ve seen in a while! He was conjugating things right and the spirit was there even if we were just in that Rodigio grill place. I’m not even close to that point of comfort to give out a book or Mormon because the language really is extremely hard. I don’t mean to be a total downer here and it really wasn’t a bad week at all! I love my district and definitely had some good teaching experiences so don’t think I’m going into to depression or anything like that! :) I know I can do this and the Lord really will make it all worth it and will help me when I need it.

Just FYI when it comes down to two weeks before I leave, don’t send letters here anymore because they apparently wont make it in time before you leave for the field so in two weeks start sending stuff to the mission home address! Tell Tara thanks for the watch and she better not have just bought a new one!! haha I love you all and I know that I can do this! I hope everything is going good at home, I cant wait to get the thought letter from you because those really are just amazing to get but I’m always thinking of everyone, always praying for you and fasted for you on Sunday.

Eu te amo, seu filho Elder Gubler.