Family, Faith,...and Horses!

The following e-mail was received today:

Well another week has gone by here on the mission. This next week is the last week of the transfer. I´m guessing that me and my comp will stay, but we´ll see. 

Earlier this week we had leadership training in Aldeota. It´s the center of Fortaleza where the mission office is. A bunch of things were said. Missionary work is changing. President had a meeting with some of the area seventy. They said that now is the beginning of when the church will grow the most in all of history--here in Brasil and also the world. For this to happen, we are to find and focus on families. Our missionary purpose is now "achar, ensinar, resgatar"--which means to find, teach, and save. Baptism is still important but not necessarily number one on the list--which is strange, but things change. We are going to be working with a bunch of members and non-actives to find these families. But I do believe that the church will truly grow this way. The family is the basis of this church. Without our families, we cannot have eternal joy. . .  For that I can say that I love my family. All of you. On the mission I've truly learned about the importance of the family. Day by day we´re trying to bring this same happiness to other families. 

Never give up!

This past week was a bit tough. Wasn't necessarily very many people to teach. Juggling two very large areas is difficult at times. At the end of the week we had a blessing though. The whole day the Lord answered my prayers almost instantly. We found several people to teach and the whole day just...worked. Something that doesn't always happen. I've been pushed several times to the barrier of just wanting to give up....but I knew it was just another trial of my faith and that if I stayed strong 'til the end, things would turn up. And it did. 

On a crazier note, the other day we were walking to an appointment and we almost got ran over by some stray horses. My comp jumped over a fence, and I ran the other way. Luckily they calmed down and then we scared them off to the other direction. Have a great week!
 
--Elder Castagno

Faith: "Easy, right?"

The following e-mail was received today:

Hello once again! Well, it hasn't been too long ago since I e-mailed, so there isn't too much news today. But I can sure say that I can finally see some blessings after a long struggle these past two weeks with finding people to teach. We've really been trying to have a good group of people to teach, but there just has been no one. I wasn't sure what to do anymore. We used all of our resources, and we were out of ideas. I just put faith in the Lord and told Him that I needed some help. It worked. Yesterday during church, about ten members came up to us giving references of people that we can teach. People that were family and friends, and they offered to come with us! Also, there were members that brought their friends and family to church that weren't members. A miracle! Now we have a great group of people to teach. All we needed to do was to prove our faith....that´s just how it is. For sure was a great testimony builder. 

Nephi, ancient prophet from The Book of Mormon

Not sure if I said this in one of the other e-mails, but I relate this experience, and the mission as a whole, like Nephi´s experience in the beginning of the Book of Mormon. When he is sent out to get the plates. He didn't know how to get them. He even failed the first few tries, but he didn't give up hope. He had faith in the Lord, and the Lord basically delivered the plates into his hands. He knew he wouldn't let him down. If the Lord commands us to do something, there is a way. Just show faith, and the Lord will do the rest. Easy, right? Sometimes not so much. But the more faith we show, the easier it is to trust in the Lord and not to worry if things will go right or not--because eventually they will. 

 Other than that everything here is going fine. Raining a lot. Enjoying it though. Wish all you guys a great week.

With love,
Elder  Castagno

Week of Carnaval--"Satan won't stop, so we can't stop either."

Carnaval Musicians

The following e-mail was received yesterday:

(VERY modest Carnaval costume)

Sorry everyone for the delay! This week was Carnaval here in Brasil--a huge party that lasts for a few days. Everything was closed for about a week...so it´s been hard to do just about anything. Everyone went to the beach, so it´s also been difficult to teach people. I always seem to run into some type of trial. At the moment we have no one to teach. We have been trying to work in both of the wards, but there are no references...and the people that we talk to on the street don´t want everything. Really nothing is working at the moment. But I just have to keep on going. Satan won´t stop, so we can´t stop either. 

I am very thankful for my companion. How it makes a difference to have a great companion. Sure the work is very difficult at the moment, by my comp helps me stay animated and happy, so all is well. It´s been raining a bunch lately--giving us a little break of the sun, but not of the heat...ha. Lately I've been learning a lot about the nature of God--what He is like and who he is. It is something very interesting and something that everyone should try to do. The more we learn about Him, the better we can become--and also trials and life seems a little easier. We can be in a very difficult moment in our lives but still have gratitude for all of our blessings. Hope that all of you are well. 

 Sending my love,
Elder Castagno

The Sunshine After the Storm

The following e-mail was received today:

Well, I have some interesting news this week. This last week I have been through a lot. I've prayed a lot and have really depended on the Lord to help me. I was destined to do what I could to make these six weeks the best I could make out of them. [My patience was tried, and I did my best. Some things happened], so [my companion] got transferred out. And now I have a new companion who is awesome! . . .

My new companion is Elder Rocha from São Paulo. He is really cool. He has about ten months on the mission. He was home for the last five months though because of a knee surgery. Now we can really concentrate on the work at hand. I´m excited for these next weeks. Yesterday we had a baptism. It was a kid from a recently baptized family. It was great to see the family united together to see his baptism. We were supposed to have a few others, but sadly they fell through. This week we are going to do our best to help them. 

 I learned this week that the Lord will give us trials of our faith from time to time. He does this so we can grow. If we just have it easy, we won´t learn anything. If we support it, well then the blessing will come. It´s a promise. Whenever there is a storm there will always be flooding after...but then after that the sun will shine through. Love you all and until next time...

Elder Castagno

"I don't think I've prayed more in my life than this week."

The following e-mail was received today:

So this week was a tough one. One of those weeks that you look back on and say, "Man, that sucked." But also one that you learn a lot from. So within this week I had to be worrying about my area, my district, [among other things.] At times, [my companion] wants to do things way different than the way that I do things, so we end up hitting heads at times. 

 

 I can say that I gave it my all this week. Trying to find news, talking to everyone . . . I had to rely a lot on the Lord. I don´t think that I've prayed more in my life than this week. As always, the Lord pulled through. I did my part, and He did His. 

We talked to many recent converts to try and find references, and I did my best to invite everyone to hear a message. Also, I put in a lot of faith. In the end it worked out. We were able to teach a good handful of people and had two baptisms yesterday . . . Other than that I did some interviews for my district and will do my first training tomorrow. 

I've really learned a lot about faith this week and about how much God loves us. He´s helped me so much this week--it´s amazing. And I have a firm testimony that He will never give us more than we can handle. If it gets to be too much, He´ll fix it. We just need to show our faith and willingness to obey and serve. 
 

Still hotter than fresh baked cookies out here.

With love,
Elder Castagno

New responsibilities. New companion.

The following e-mail was received today:
 

Well another transfer has come and gone. This last one was great. I will for sure miss Elder Redd. Right now he is on his way back to the United States. 

This next transfer has brought a few changes. I stayed in the area but I have turned senior companion. Also, I am now District Leader which means that I take care of a few other missionaries, and I do baptism interviews for them. Also I give trainings every week, so it´s pretty cool. A little more work but all good. My new comp is a Brazilian from Porto Alegre--Elder Baptista. It will be an interesting transfer. 

Other than that this last week went great! We visited a few of my companion's old areas to say goodbye. It was cool to see all the success he had within these two years. Also, we had a baptism on Saturday--Roberto. We've been working with him for a few weeks. He was for sure elect. Just waiting for the missionaries to invite him to baptism. 

I´m sure this next week will be pretty crazy. Now is my time to show the Lord what I can do. I ask for His help and also for your prayers. Love all of you and wish you the best.

Until next week,
Elder Castagno

One of the best weeks ever!

The following e-mail was received today:

This week ranked well on the Awesome Meter.

Well, this is the last week of the transfer. In one week, my companion, Elder Redd, will be on his way home, and I´ll be here with who knows who. 

 
















This last week went great. We spent most of the time visiting our recent converts, but we still had a baptism on Saturday! Probably the best one I´ve had on the mission so far! The baptism was of a guy named Pedro. He is nineteen and one of the coolest kids I've met. He lives in one of the richer parts of our area. He was a reference from the other elders. He was going to a different ward with his girlfriend, but to be baptized you have to be baptized in your area. So we marked a few days to go to his house and teach him. He knew everything! We talked for a bit and found out that he lived in France for the last six years...way cool. Anyways the baptism went perfectly. All of his friends were there, the baptismal font didn't give us problems, and me and my comp played the guitar and sang a hymn as part of his baptism. It just was great. The Lord has his elects ready, we just need to find them and help them. This week and this transfer couldn't have gone any better. 

Hope that all is great with you guys back home.

-Elder Castagno