Transfer #7

Hey everyone! So yesterday night, we got our phone call about transfers. It was very exciting news.. everyone is staying here in Conde! Again! All 4 of us! haha

 I'm planning on making goals for Elder Cesar and I to improve on the work that we're doing here in Conde -- we have lots of room for improvement! Oh man.. I have 7 minutes left to email.. yikes.. hah, this always happens

So there was a parade on Sunday to celebrate Independence Day (Brazil), 1 week late, but, it was still awesome! It went on for about 3 hours, and there is a crazy amount of schools here in Conde. They had the bands from each school marching and playing music, and there were other things as well. The Brazilian style of clothing is pretty interesting for parties and celebrations. Oh, and at night, on the way home, the power had gone out in the center of the town, so we walked along the streets and it was completely dark -- I used our cell phone to see where I was walking XD The cobblestone roads and sidewalks like to stick out and try and trip you

I'm excited to have 6 more weeks here in Conde. We have 2 investigators who we've been working with for about a month, and we're hoping that they will feel more ready to be baptized soon. Other than that, we found some new investigators last week, and we're beginning to teach them this week.

I've been studying Preach My Gospel a lot more the past week, and it's helping a lot! I was reading through The Book of Mormon when I arrived in the mission field, and then I read part of The New Testament, and various other things. I realized that I was barely studying Preach My Gospel! I'm planning on reading it a lot more from now on -- it helps a ton with missionary work. Lots of great suggestions and advice.

I need to go now, but, I want you all to know that I love you, and I am so grateful for your letters and emails. I know that the work that I am doing here is true the work of salvation, and I have such a strong testimony of the things that I am teaching people about here on my mission. I love being a missionary, despite the many difficulties and trials that experience here. I am learning so much! I am definitely a different person than I was when left -- for the better. I am still the same person, personality-wise, though, of course! haha

Have a great week, everyone! Keep me in your prayers!

Elder Canto

8-25-14 Update -- I'm an angel!

Hey everyone -- this will be a really short update this week

We had a Zone Conference on Thursday, so I got to see all of my friends (almost all of them -- 2 of the zones that are farthest inland had their own conference)! Matheus was confirmed and received the gift of the Holy Ghost yesterday (Sunday). Oh also, we had some interesting experiences.. haha -- prepare yourself XD So first, we went to someone's house that we had talked to a week before, just to invite him to church, and his dad was home, and said that he said for him to tell us that he wouldn't come to the door, or he didn't want to, or something -- and so then we started talking with his dad, who was drunk, and he kept inviting us to come in, and we were like "Oh, no no no. We have a teaching visit to go to right now! We're going to be late!" and he was like "no!!! Come in! Seriously! I won't hurt you!" XD and he pulled us by our arms and was like "Here, sit on this sofa", and then, he told me to go use the bathroom, and I was like "but.. I don't need to! I used the bathroom 30 minutes ago!" but he kept insisting, so my companion was like "just go and come back..." so I did, and then he was offering to make us food or something, and we were like "no no no! you don't need to do that!" and he was complaining about how his son is 19, and his girlfriend, who's 16, is living with his son in his house -- hah, but anyways, someone showed up at the door, and the guy left for a minute, and we went outside and started talking to them, and then the guy came out and was like "hey! where did they go???" and we were like "we're here!" (he couldn't see us from the door), but we were finally able to leave, and we marked a visit with him for wednesday.. haha! That should be interesting.

Then, yesterday, we sat down on the curb to call someone, and this homeless guy sat next to me, and was counting money in his hand, and eventually, I decided to talk to him, after I got off of the phone, and he was a little bit crazy.. and this woman showed up, and started telling him he should go home (she's his friend), and then she sat down with us, and we started talking to her, and she was like "You're an angel! You're so young! You're my son." and she started crying, and staring at me, and said "You're like an angel!" a few times, and then at one point, she was like "For me, there's God, and then, there's you, close to God" (some sort of ranking system.. XD) "You're special. Isn't he special?? Isn't he an angel??" (to my companion) -- haha! Anyways, we also marked a visit with her, for Thursday. Ten seconds later, we were walking, and this girl called us over to talk to her, and asked what church we were from -- we marked a teaching visit with her for this week as well! This is VERY rare -- for someone on the street to call us over to them -- often, they just lie to us ("Yeah, I'll go to church on Sunday for sure!") or say no, to get us to go away.. haha -- don't worry, we have lots of successful street contacts as well! I was just making a generalization here XD

But anyways, I'm sure some other funny things happened this week, but.. I think I'll end this letter here. Oh -- we had 2 investigators at church yesterday, and one of them, we weren't expecting to show up to church! It was pretty awesome. We had a baptism marked for this Saturday, but the girl who we had marked the baptism for, didn't go to church on Sunday, and she was giving us excuses to not go to church.. I'm not sure what happened, because she was really interested in our lessons during the week! We're going to visit her this week to figure out what's going on.. hah -- oh hey, I guess this wasn't so short after all XD

I would like to bear my testimony quickly here, to close -- I know that this church is true, and I have a strong testimony of the work that Alissa and I are doing on our missions. It is truly the work of salvation. I love being a missionary!

Have a great week, everyone! :)

Elder Canto

All 3 of my companions up until now. I don't know what Elder Anderson was doing.. sorry Elder Anderson! I only have this one photo! haha


My friends who arrived with me on January 14th in Brazil -- Elder Buechele and Elder Wilson


The central part of Conde

Another Baptism!

Hey everyone! My companion Elder Cesar and I had another baptism this Sunday! We baptized Matheus, Jessica's cousin (the girl we baptized 2 or 3 weeks ago) It was really great, and some of his family was able to come. We found a family of 5 to teach this week, and a few other people, and they seem really interested in our lessons. Three people showed up at church yesterday, and really liked it, and said they'll go next Sunday as well! :)

I love being here on the mission, although I do miss my family and friends, and Alissa!!! a ton.. I've been on a mission for 8 1/2 months now -- it's hard to believe! But I have learned so much already, and I am loving it -- as hard as it as at times. I'm getting really good at Portuguese! :) I'm starting to forget words in English now, too! It's really.. scary.. haha!

It's hot -- like always. When it rains, it's for a minute, and then stops. It's not usually constant.. weird.. o.O

My companion and I are getting along for the most part -- it's important that we do, otherwise, it's hard to teach and everything..!

I'm out of time, otherwise I'd write more.. but..

Have a great week, everyone! I love you all!

Elder Canto

Photo from the baptism on Sunday


To be Mormon is to be happy! :D

Fwd: Update - 7-28-14

I almost made it through the whole month of July without writing an update for my blog! Yikes!

Hi everyone! We had a baptism this Saturday! After 6 long months in the mission field.. but, I think I had a lot of things to learn up until this point, and now, this is only the beginning. :D I'm going to baptize everyone! haha -- just kidding. But the person who we baptized, her name is Jessica, and she's 16 years old.

The area that I'm in (the past 5 weeks now), is called Conde, and it's a small town in the middle of nowhere. It's surrounded by forests and hills, hah. It's only 15 minutes away from the ocean though! The beach here is really awesome -- but we can't go on the sand or in the water.. it's nice to look at though! XD

I have learned so much this month -- it's crazy. I also gained a stronger testimony of the power of fasting! When you are fasting, you are more in tune to the promptings from the Spirit -- it's true!

I've been arguing with my companion Elder Cesar quite a bit, but, we're.. surviving. haha! Nah it's not that bad. We do argue a lot some days, but we get along for the most part. I'm not sure what the problem is... I just know that this is good preparation for marriage! We have to resolve our problems and continue working together. If we're not united, it's hard to have the Spirit with us.. so.. we need to work on that! But I'm learning a lot from these difficulties that I've been having with my companion. When we're struggling and things are rough, that's when we pray the most and learn the most! So, I'm grateful for my trials and difficulties -- as hard as they are at times.

I have a stronger testimony than ever of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that it is something that everyone can benefit from, if they study it, and live it's teachings. The gospel allows us to live better and happier lives. It's not just a list of things to do either -- it's a way of life! Jesus Christ showed us the way, he left us a perfect example, through His life, which He gave for us. It was not easy, not in the least. Our part, that we have been asked to do, is much easier than what He went through! We just need to have faith in Him, repent of our sins, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end. And faith, faith is essential here. Without faith, the other 4 things cannot be accomplished! It is important that we not only have faith, but that we show our faith, and allow it to grow, by following His example, and putting our faith into action.

I love you all! Have a great week!!!

Elder Canto

The beach in Jacuma (the other part of our area)


The beach in Tambau (city)


Photo from the baptism (it turned out pretty cool with the sun there like that!)

World Cup this month!!! Update -- 6-9-2014

Hey everyone!

We're actually starting to make some real progress here! Yesterday night, we taught an investigator, who said he wants to serve a mission like us, and he also said that the Mormon church is the most correct church on the earth! This guy is seriously awesome! I hope that he actually follows through with this mission dream that he has! It was really funny, last night, during the lesson, Elder Anderson would say one sentence -- or even half a sentence, and then he would start talking again and interrupt him.. XD We only got through the "Where did we come from?" part of the Plan of Salvation lesson, in about 40 minutes.. XD I think it's already pretty clear that this guy will want to be baptized! :) What a blessing! We met him through teaching our English class, along with another investigator who is really awesome as well. The English class is awesome for getting people more comfortable with the church! Plus, it's just a lot of fun to teach it in general. :)

I realized that I posted a bit of personal information, connected with names, here on my blog.. so, I'm going to be a bit more careful about that from now on! I might use fake names or something. Our investigator that we taught last night asked us not to tell anyone anything that he said, when we were leaving, and it made me realize that I need to be careful about what I say. People are very open with us sometimes, because they trust us.

So yeah, the other investigator that we got to know through teaching the English class, is making some pretty significant changes in his life. His family loves us too, and they forbid us to stop being his friend and trying to help him.. haha! Works for me! We basically visit this guy every day, and it's been such a great experience to get to know him. He's probably my best friend in Brazil at this point. He has made this area that I'm serving in, really special, and really awesome. The other day, after going to church on Sunday, he was dropping us off at someone's house, and he said "Hey, you guys performed a miracle!" and we were like "Huh? What did we do??" and he said, "I went to church!" -- he hadn't gone to any church in about 15 years.. I guess he's right! We did perform a miracle! :D He came to church this Sunday as well. Seriously, this guy is awesome.

We're going to try and pass by all 43 of the people that we have addresses for this week, and see who's still interested and who's not. I went through and counted, and we've only taught 10 of them at least once, and 3 of them 2 or more times.. a lot of them, are just never home! It's difficult, but we're persistent!

Have a great week! I love you all!!!

Elder Canto

We all got Brazil soccer jerseys for the World Cup, which is starting this month! :D We also got permission to watch the Brazil games at member's houses! Oh one more thing, we were told this week, that we're going to start focusing 50% on proselyting, and 50% on helping less-active members return to the church. I'm excited for the experiences that we're going to have, and to be able to be a little more creative with our lessons! :)

Weekly Update -- 5/26/14 - The Book of Mormon is true! :D

Hi everyone!

I actually have time to write an update today! I'm getting less and less emails as time goes on, which is a good thing, because when I started out, I was trying to email way too many different people each week, and having to read a ton of emails as a result of that.

So I just went to the dentist about 30 minutes ago, because one of my teeth has been hurting every time that something cold touches it, ever since my first transfer in Brazil -- I just never got around to going to the dentist! The dentist in Brazil is pretty normal, fortunately. XD The hospitals though.. I'm not really sure. But anyways, so they couldn't find any problems with my tooth with the x-rays they took, but I'll be going back later this week to talk with a specialist about it. They mentioned something about a canal, which I'm assuming is a root canal. I've never had one of those.. but it doesn't sound fun, from what I've heard! Hopefully I won't have to do that, or if I do, hopefully it won't be too bad, or expensive!

So this week, we had one investigator at church, finally! But, unfortunately, he didn't seem to happy to be there. We've been teaching him for a long time, pretty much since our first week in Geisel, and things have just been going South lately.. I'm not sure what's going to happen with him, but we'll probably figure it out this week.

Today is P-day (or, Preparation Day -- once a week, on Mondays, till 6pm), and we're going to be playing volleyball at 3pm, and then we're going to get ice cream afterwards. We're going to have members there, and the other 2 Elders, and an investigator. It should be awesome! We did the same thing last week as well. We're planning on doing this every week, if possible. Maybe not volleyball every time, but we'll see.

This week went pretty well. Yesterday, we met this drunk guy, and we decided that we're going to try to help him turn his life around. After we talked to him on the street, about an hour later, we found him sitting in front of his house, and talked to him again. His brother-in-law showed up, and I'm not sure if he was drunk, or just crazy, but I was asking what his name was, and he was like "I don't want anything to do with your church!", in response to this question.. haha! Then he went inside for a minute, and came back out, and asked my companion a question, and he responded with "Uh huh", and then this guy started making fun of him and repeating "Uh huh" over and over again. He said something about how we don't believe in God, then he got on his motorcycle, and continued to say "Uh huh" a few more times, and then he drove away, laughing hysterically, like a maniac... It was hilarious, to be honest. XD

I am still loving being a missionary, and being here on a mission, as usual. :D We have all sorts of experiences, talking to tons of different people each week. Oh, here's something -- we ate Goiaba with cheese the other day, for dessert, at a lunch appointment. It was probably the most disgusting thing I've ever eaten here in Brazil... haha! Oh and the other day, I saw the legendary weird food -- chicken feet, on a plate of chicken, at a different lunch appointment. I didn't eat it, but, it was there!

I saw this huge spider.. last week? I think it was. That's the first time I've seen one here! We also had a tiny scorpion in our house the other night when we got home! There's monkeys here as well, I saw those the other day in some trees, along with an iguana (I think).

It's hot, as always, and I don't think I will ever like living in heat like this.. but I'm used to it, for now.. haha!

Oh, so I had a few cool experiences this week. One of our investigators told us that his family really likes us, and he also said something that really struck me -- "When they look at you, they feel something different." We really are examples to everyone around us, as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. One way that people are converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ, is by our examples. Keep that in mind, always! Do the right things, and be a good example. Serve others, and show people that you care for them. Don't be afraid to share your beliefs, with anyone. I do it every day! It's not that hard! :)

We also had a cool experience with another investigator. He said that he had prayed about The Book of Mormon, and that he had gotten an answer, that it is true. I feel the Spirit really strongly throughout the rest of the lesson, after he said that. We're going to be teaching him again this week, and I have really high hopes for him! He's awesome! My friend Elder Shields, said something that I will never forget, the other day -- nobody has ever told him that they received an answer that The Book of Mormon was not true. They only say that they didn't receive an answer, or that they did, and that the answer was yes. I myself know that The Book of Mormon is true, and I have a strong testimony of its teachings, which are the teachings of Jesus Christ himself. Anyone who reads this book, and studies it, and ponders about the things that they read, and prays to God, asking Him if these things are true, with faith, and an open heart and mind, WILL receive an answer, through the Holy Ghost. The Book of Mormon IS true -- but I can't convince anyone of this. Only God can, through His holy messenger, the Holy Ghost.

I miss you all so much, and I love you. I hope that you all have a great week! Feel free to send me some emails if you get a chance! :)

Elder Canto

Weekly Update 5/19/14 -- We're teaching an English class!

Hey everyone!

It's been way too long since I've written a weekly update! (once again)

I'm going to try to keep these short for the most part, so that I will have time to write them each week, and so that I can respond to personal emails and read the emails that I get. I know I already promised to try to write more often -- but that didn't happen.. so.. no more promises! But I am going to try to write these more often -- again.. haha!

So I left my first area, Manaira, after 14 weeks, (we had an emergency transfer to my new area, Geisel II), and then after 3 weeks in Geisel II, I once again was not transferred, and did not change companions! Just like transfers #1 and #2! Haha -- So my companion is still Elder Anderson. Unfortunately, a few weeks ago, his girlfriend sent him an email saying that she wanted to take a break from their relationship... it's been rough for him, but he's hanging in there! She also didn't show up to Skype with him on Mother's Day.. oh, by the way, I got to talk to pretty much everyone in my family on Mother's Day, and it was awesome! I was not expecting that! Apparently you can do conference calls on Skype now for free! I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to talk to Alissa on the phone or on Skype or anything on Mother's Day, and I was also a little jealous when I heard that she had talked to my mom and my brother that day.. but, all is well. We are patiently waiting for each other still!

So anyways, I've been learning a lot in the mission field, and I am loving it here. I wouldn't want to live here, mostly because of the heat, but I am happy to be serving a mission here for these 2 years. I am meeting so many people here and making lots of friends -- who don't speak English. XD I actually have met a lot of people here who speak English (somewhat). This lady taught us a few words in French the other day when we were talking with her after knocking on her door -- I asked her to teach us some things, because she said she was studying French, haha! Oh by the way, my companion and I are teaching an English class at the church now! Our first class was on Thursday night, and we taught the alphabet (and the song too, haha!), and a few words. Our next class is going to be tomorrow, and we're going to print out the lyrics to "I Won't Give Up" by Jason Mraz, and have someone play the song, and we're going to teach everyone to sing it. The lyric sheets will have English on one side and Portuguese on the other side. I would encourage all of you to learn a second language if you haven't already.. it's really fun! You can just switch languages whenever you want, haha!

My grandpa keeps asking me if I've had any converts yet -- and the answer is still no, for now. But, I've had quite a few people who I met with a bunch of times, and they listened to all of our lessons. Nobody seems to want to go to church, or they just don't have time (or don't want to make time). It's been about 6-7 weeks since I've had someone come to church -- it's pretty disappointing! Every week, we get all these people who say they'll go, or they'll try to, and then Sunday arrives, and nobody is there! I don't understand it.. but I'll keep trying, until the very end! We are supposed to endure to the end, aren't we? So why not endure to the end of my mission? :)

Right now, we're trying to get to know people better, and have better relationships with the people we teach, because this Elder we were living with in our last transfer, said that the people that you will baptize on your mission, are the people who are your best friends. So we're trying to be really good friends with people, and not just jump right into a lesson every time we visit someone in their house, and just follow the promptings of the Spirit. We're getting to know this guy named Daniel right now, who was best friends with these other Elders about 10 years ago, and he's been going to the English classes every week (Tuesday and Thursday nights at 6pm, until 7pm). He's pretty awesome. He has problems with drinking and smoking, and he said he only believes in things that he can see, but, we have high hopes for him. We're going to start moving more toward teaching lessons this week I think.

I guess that's all for this week. We cleaned our house a ton this morning, because after all of the missionaries who have passed through there.. it was filthy! And we're planning on moving to a place that's actually inside of our area soon -- our president said for us to look for one, so we needed to do some cleaning.

I miss you all, I love you, and I'm always praying for you. Keep me in your prayers as well please, and please write to me! :)

Sempre fiel!

Elder Canto