Happy New Year! #2018 (Week #41)

Happy New Year Everyone!

This last week went pretty darn well!

Christmas was a pretty normal P-day, outside of having the chance to speak with our families which was awesome! My companion, Elder Medina, he started skyping, and was already crying! We all were watching thinking ´´aw man this is gonna be a rough one´´, but he actually got it under control really fast, and was talking normally until his dog came on the screen. Then he started crying way harder than when he saw his family! Were all teasing him about that now, but it was good to have all of us talk with our families.

Sunday was a day of mixed emotions because in the morning was probablyone of the most spiritual sacrament meetings Ive attended. The branch here had just gotten back from a Caravan to the Temple last week, where everyone stayed in Recife participating in temple sessions every day for the entire week. President of the branch invited everyone who went to bear their testimonies in sacrament meeting and oh man we were all sobbing! Then after sacrament meeting we had the baptism of our investigator, Kauã. It was really good, and he loved it and is super excited to be confirmed next Sunday! It was the first Baptism of Elder Medina and he was pretty darn happy with it.

The only other notable thing from this last week way yesterday itself. First of all, its weird here because New Years is a bigger holiday than Christmas!?! Literally everything was closed! We wanted to cut our hair, take out money at the bank, buy food for the week, but Litterally everything was closed so we couldn’t do anything! So this is why you are all receiving this email on Tuesday and not Monday!
Anyways. I hope everyone there in the good US of A is doing well! Happy new year to you all! Its gonna be a good one! And now I can start officially saying….I´ll see you all next year!!!!

Love,

Elder Ferrell

Nobody Talk about Star Wars Please! (Week #39)

Hello all

This last week was busy but good!
We had Leadership counsil in Fortaleza last Tuesday, and our Christmas Conference the day after, so I basically passed the whole week in Fortaleza last week, which was cool but also a little frustarating because we wanted to work!

President showed us the Disney Christmas Carol for the christmas Conference. It was weird to watch a movie! 

Sorry for the short emails, hopefully time will improve! In the future! Have a good week, Merry Christmas, and also my moms Birthday is this Friday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Love you all,

Elder Ferrell

NOTE:  No letter the week of December 11... Too busy!

God is my companion...But really (Week #37)

Hello All! This last week was a week of miracles to be sure! 

This last transfer was difficult because of my companion Elder Brandao. It was an excellent learning experience, but he needed a lot of help, and last week was probably the worst week of the transfer as far as working with him. We got to be friends after a lot of work, but he was struggling with his testimony a lot. He always had a hard time with obedience, and I learned a lot of patience and understanding because of that, but the last few weeks he didnt want to work, and when we went to teach lessons there were a lot of times where he refused to talk in the lesson and left me to teach alone. I honestly was struggling and praying a lot for God to still bless our area and help us find a way to still help the people here. God definitly answered my prayers, as last week was miracle after miracle. To sum it all up: Yesterday we were blessed with 4 people to baptise. God litterally handed us these incredible youth on a silver platter. Almost all 4 of them had a spiritually impacting dream throughout the week that left them with a strong desire to be baptised. 

Also Yesterday our Recent Convert from last week received the aaronic priesthood. The only words I have are that god is real and he works miracles demais!

Although it was difficult at times, I honestly came to be good friends with Elder Brandao, so today was a bit difficult as he was transferred for a new area. It was a lot of work to get to be friends with him and as soon as our relationship as companions improved he left, but thats how a mission goes! 

This week I will go to Fortaleza again to meet my new companion. I am training a new missionary again!!! I am very excited about it! 

I hope you all are doing well, and I wish you the best!

Until next week,

Love,

Elder Ferrell

1 Yesterdays Baptisms! Gabbi, Daniel, Jwalis, Monoel

2 Baptism of Marciano from last week

3 Daniel and Monoel from yesterday

4 Ana Marcia, investigator from Quixeramobim who married and got baptised last week!

Water Works the Week (Week #36)

Hello All!

This week was CRAZY!

We had zone conference on Thursday so passed the day in Fortaleza. Conference was good, and it was awesome to see my ´´filho´´ of the mission, Elder Passos. He is still in Pedregal training a new missionary! We talked a lot, and had lots of opportunties to learn from president Leite. The most interesting part about Conference was that at lunch they ran out of food. Elder Passos, Elder Tozin, and Elder Koster and I were the last ones in the food line and didnt get any, so President had Sister Leite drive us to a Restaraunt and eat there haha.

We returned to Quxada Thursday night, and Friday worked all day long until 5 PM when we went to Quixaramobim. This was incredible, I had the oportunity to see Ana Marcia, the investigator I discovered with my first companion Elder Paixao, finally get married so that she could be baptized. When I was teaching her with Elder Passos, she wanted to be baptised so badly but her husband didnt want to. I remember promissing her that one day he would change his mind, and am so truly blessed to have had the oportunity to actually see it!

Then Saturday morning I interviewed her for her Baptism, and that was probably one of the most powerful interviews Ive ever seen. Her testemony was incredible, and her desire to see her family change and also decide to follow her on this path, and how much these things already have changed her life and the life of her family! And after she asked for me to Baptise her! The whole thing was a true blessing!

Saturday after the baptism of Ana Marcia we litterally ran here in Quixada, and ended up closing a baptism of our investigator, Marciano. He is a young man of 16 but incredible. He told us he was going to be baptised and also bring all of his friends with him to be baptised. I thought of President Neslon and his experience teaching about the book of morman to a King, and the king said he would bring his whole tribe with him. At first we thought it was funny but Marciano is making good on his promise! He was baptised yesterday, and next week he will be confirmed and receive the Aaronic priesthood, and after church he will baptise 2 of his friends who visited church yesterday and attended his baptism!

Truly was a week of miracles.

I testify to everyone that Jesus Christ lives. That he truly is our lord and Savior. 

I hope you all had a wonderful week this last week with your families and friends, and I hope everyone is excited as us missionaries are for Christmas! But dont forget to try and be the light in sombody elses world this holiday season!
Love and miss you all!

Elder Ferrell

I will send pictures of the baptisms next week, this computer is having difficulties!

Hello All! (Week #35)

This last week was crazy but the good news is that we finally moved houses! We now live in an appartment that I dare to say resembles  an apartment in the United States!! Today is full of orginizing and cleaning because I hope that I will stay here for a little while at least! ( Now that I said it I´ll probly be transferred)

This next week we have zone conference, and An investigator I taught in Quixeramobim when I was there will get married on Friday and Baptised after! Very Exciting!
Happy thanksgiving to you all! Until next week!

Elder Ferrell

Busy Week! (Week #34)

Hello All!

I hope this email finds you all well!

This last week was busy! 

Last Wednesday I went on a Split with Elder Tozin, the elder in Quixeramobim right now. He was an assistant to the President who is finishing out his mission training a new missionary there. It was an awesome experience and I got to learn a lot from him! It was also incredible because we had an opportunity to teach a lesson with the Couple I baptised there, Isidio and Cristina, that was incredible! 

Thursday I came back to Quixada to work like normal, but before we had a chance to finish our afternoon studies, I got a call from Elder Tozin, and they had an emergency baptism that they needed help with because their investigator was about to leave town to travel, but wanted to be baptized beforehand! So Elder Brandao and I went to go set up for the Baptism and found that there was a problem with the water system to fill the baptisimal font, so we spent the entire afternoon filling the baptisimal font by hand one bucket at a time, until 5 PM when we had to litterally run to a neighborhood far away and close the baptism of our investigator, Bia, and after run back to the church to help finish preparing for the baptism....

It was a busy day for sure, but it was cool because everyone in the district came together to help with the baptism, and after I bought pizza for everyone to thank them! After That day, everyone started getting along really well and being a lot more united!

Friday and Saturday we worked a lot, and Yesterday we had the Baptism of our investigator, Bia!

She was a friend of a member who we got to know because she was already visiting Seminary! We started teaching her less than two weeks ago, but after the first day she wanted to be baptised! 

It was a true miracle! 

Hope everyone there is doing well,

until next week!

Love and miss you all,

Elder Ferrell

A Blessed Door (Week #33)

Just a quick email this week guys!

This week was busy! We had Mission Leadership meeting in Fortaleza last Tuesday which was good! It was all the zone leaders, the assistants, and...me. Haha but I learned a lot!

We are still living in an appartment above a bar because they are having difficulting renting a new appartment, and Saturday night something funny happened.

The bar didnt close until 5 AM, but i remember waking up at 2 am, and at first being angry because I woke up. But then I started laughing because it was a drunk lady who was blessing our door for close to 30 minutes!

´´May god bless this door. What a door of god´´

Same thing over and over....

The next day I told elder Brandao that we dont need to lock our door anymore because its sacred. He didnt get it but it was funny

Hope you all had a good week! 

Love you all!
Elder Ferrell!