New area...FINALLY! (and Merry Christmas!)

The following e-mail was received today:

 Merry Christmas everyone! Well...it will be soon enough. Anyways I have news to tell....I´ve been transferred! Finally! It´s been a bit of mixed feelings. Back in Mondubim and Esperança there were some really good friends that I made. But I am sure glad for the change. 

My new area is Cidade dos Funcionarios. It´s HUGE. Almost like all of Salt Lake City. The area is a city within Fortaleza. They have everything here, which is great. They even have Subway and McDonalds! My last area had nothing. My new companion is Elder Redd. He is from Blanding ,Utah. He´s also going home at the end of this transfer. I just keep scaring these missionaries out of the mission I guess...haha. 

So this last week went well. Just about everyday we had to go somewhere. One day we went downtown so Elder Brody could do is interviews, and the next day we went to Maranguape. We even went to the hospital...I was sick, so I went there. Nothing serious, I just had a type of flu. I´m much better now. 

Today was Elder Brody´s last day. He´s already on the plane out of here and will get home tomorrow. He was a great companion. This week is already full of things to do. It will be interesting working within a city. I´ve been so used to neighborhoods in the middle of nowhere. Can´t wait for Christmas! It´ll be great to hear from home. 

The most important thing I learned this week was that the blessings come after the trials. If you endure the trial well, the Lord will bless you for your effort.

With love,
Elder Castagno

6 Month Mark & Ups and Downs

The following e-mail was received today:

Well another week has passed, and in a few days I´ll hit my six months mark! 

So this next week is my companion's last week on the mission. He´s made it! We have a going away party planned for him later this week. He´s been a great companion, and I've learned a lot from him. Today we went to the center to make his last purchases. 

Everyone here is getting ready for Christmas. At church they are going to do some fun activities. I´ll probably end up playing some Christmas songs on the guitar. 

Ups and Downs

This last week had its ups and downs. The week started out pretty bad but got better by the end. The first three days of the week were really hard. Everything fell through, and I mean everything--even our lunch. It was tough, but with some adjustments to the people we were teaching, we made it better. These areas right now are pretty dry--as in there is no one good to teach. Just about everyone we have talked to doesn´t really care, or they don´t really do much about anything. But that´s how it is, and it´s okay. There will be some family out there that is waiting for the gospel, and I can´t wait to find them.  

Other than that....it´s still pretty hot over here. Not like that´s new--haha. Hope you´re all doing well. Have a good chilly week and keep me in your prayers.

-Elder Castagno

A boost, a baptism, and a life-changing experience

The following e-mail was received today:

So this week was interesting--better than the week before. During district meeting this week, I learned a lot. I heard many things that I needed to hear. Our zone leaders told us on what to do when everything in our planning falls through. Basically to not be stressed! To take a breather, and to look at all the options we have and to replan before we go out to teach. When we are stressed we don´t have the Spirit, and without the Spirit, we can´t teach. It really gave me a boost. 

Yesterday we had a baptism! Fernando. He is a neighbor of one of the members. He knows that all of these things are true, and he really likes the church. He´s just...well...a little strange. He told us of when he snuck onto a cruise liner and how Cristina Aguilera sang to him. The cruise liner went to the North Pole and then to Ireland. From there he went to Romania where vampires are real. But then he unfortunatly got deported back here, as he says. He´s a good guy. 

Also this week we were hired to carry a huge wedding cake to a member's wedding. We hopped in the car with the cake and went all the way to the reception at 100 MPH. God was truly on our side for that trip. 

A few days ago our friend from the ward came to our house in the morning. He said that he needed a blessing of health. He sat down, and I started to give him the blessing. Something happened to me that had never happened before. The Holy Ghost completely filled me, and I heard with my own ears the voice of the Spirit. I was trembling. It wasn´t anything that I thought up, but the Spirit told me to tell things to this member that he really needed to hear. It was hard to speak at times. But the voice of the Spirit was as clear as the noon day sun. After the blessing, I was completly exhausted. I have a true testimony of priesthood power. It is real, and it is from God. It really is a blessing.
Love you all.

-Elder Castagno

Optimism on a Rough Road

The following e-mail was received today:

Elder Claudio R.M. Costa

So this week, well, was a bit tougher than others. But still went well for the most part. We didn't do anything for Thanksgiving, seeing that it´s not a holiday here. But the same day we had a meeting and got to hear from Elder Costa. He is the area Seventy for Brazil. He went into great detail about the calling of an apostle and of a Seventy. He told us everything that they do and the process of everything. All of the Elders here now know information that 98 percent of the rest of the church members do not....ha! He also talked about many other interesting subjects: ways to teach, how to use the Spirit, and what not. 

Also this week we had an "integration." Basically a talent show at the ward. Everyone was invited. Me and Elder Brody played and sang a song. It was great. 

Sadly we´ve been having a tough time with our investigators. It´s hard to find new people, and many of the people we have have many problems to overcome to be baptized. But we´re trying. For example, Viviane. She is a mother of three girls that are all members. She wants to be baptized but the only thing that is holding her back is smoking. She was good for a week, but then we came back Saturday night and we found her smoking--and singing loudly to forro in the dark (forro is the typical music here--a.k.a. the worst music you´ll ever hear in your life.) She was doing that because of an even bigger problem happening in her life. We talked to her, and we´ll shoot for next week. 

Our zone is baptizing zero this week. Which has never happened. We had a baptism for Sunday....but he left in the middle of church so he could go eat somewhere and refused to come back until next time. So we have a bunch of problems we need to try and fix. But as long as we trust in the Spirit and do our part, things will pull through.

Elder Castagno

Visit from Elder Bednar!

The following e-mail was received today:

Future temple of Fortaleza, Brazil

Well the Fortaleza Temple is now under construction! Elder Bednar was here along with other General authorities to open the site. He also talked to us the day before. His method of teaching was very different from anything I've seen before. All in all, it wasn´t even him that taught us anything--it was the Holy Ghost that did. He would talk about something and then ask a question. Anyone that wanted to could respond. From that he would talk and explain things in a way that really made us think. It was the best talk I have been to in my life. He explained about teaching people. About caring for them. He said that a missionary's success is not on how many they baptize, but if they did their best to help the people. That really spoke to me. Sometimes we as missionaries get into the routine of just trying to baptize as many as we can. But that´s not it. There is no use in baptizing a bunch of people that will fall away from the church within a month. I had to stop and think. I also had to change a few things/ways that I teach and ways that I would find people to teach. Through that I can focus more on the needs of the people. Only the Holy Ghost can truly convert someone. When there is more room for the Holy Ghost to talk in a lesson than me, then I have done my part. So that´s what I learned. 

Come on, it's funny.

Other than that, it is still blazing hot here. Also after Bednar´s talk, my  comp and I went to a place called Maranguape. This place is beautiful! We stayed there over night with the other elders. It´s super calm, and the people are very nice. Reminded me of home a bit. A great week to all.

-Elder Castagno

The following e-mail was received today:

So this week was pretty busy. Seeing that my companion is district leader, he has to do interviews for any investigators that are ready for baptism. Towards the end of this week, we went to an area called Maranguape. This place is beautiful! It´s all green fields and farm land. It´s much cleaner and peaceful out there. It is also close to some small mountains. It takes a while to get out there, so we spent most of our day just on the bus. 

Thanks for the packages!

Cool news...in about an hour we are going to a talk with Elder Bednar. So I have to be kind of quick. Also, last Friday we had a fireside with Elder Evans and Elder Costa. I learned a lot of new interesting things. First off, Elder Evans' wife talked about The Book of Mormon and how it teaches about families. The Book of Mormon is about family and shows how to work through problems to have a good family. They wanted us to explain this to our investigators so they would have more interest in The Book of Mormon. He also talked about tithing, and how our investigators need to understand this commandment better. The main reason why people fall from the church is because they do not pay their tithing. He explained that the windows of heaven will open up to those who pay their tithing. As in, when we pay our tithing, we will have revelations on how to manage our money better, and also, there will always be enough. He then said that we should help many be reactivated back into the church. There are 50,000 members here...but only 15,000 are active. There is a lot of work to be done. Well, gotta go.
-Elder Castagno
 

The Book of Mormon is True

The following e-mail was received today:

Hello everyone! Well this week went by really well. We have been teaching this one girl named Erika. She is a friend of one of the members here. She recently moved here from SãoPaulo. We came by day by day to leave her a message. We gave her a Book of Mormon to read and she started to read it little by little every day. A few days later I then asked her if she read, and she said yes. I then asked her how she felt about being baptized this last Sunday--her response was also....yes! Once more a confirmation to my testimony that The Book of Mormon is true. No one can walk away after reading that book and say that is not true. Her baptism was on Sunday, and all of her friends were there to give her support. 

So I´m staying in my area again for this next transfer...and probably will stay for the next one seeing that my companion is going home after this transfer. It´s bitter sweet. I love my comp and am super glad I get to stay another transfer with him, but at the same time, I am a bit worn out from this area. It will be a total of about eight months of walking through the same neighborhoods. 

Elder Bednar

Anyways, I have some pretty cool news! They are opening the temple grounds for construction on the 15th of November! Elder Bednar is coming down for the dedication and will talk to all the missionaries on the 14th. I´m very excited for that. We also have a few from the Seventy coming to talk to us also. It will be great. Hope that all of you are enjoying the snow! I sure do miss it.

-Elder Castagno

The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us of His ministry in the Eastern Hemisphere while The Book of Mormon tells us of His ministry in the Western Hemisphere.