New companion, larger area, & baptisms

The following e-mail was received today:

 Hello everyone! Well one more transfer has gone by. Today was transfers and a lot has changed. First of all, I have a new companion! His name is Elder Brody. He is from South Jordan, Utah. He´s pretty cool. He likes a lot of the same things that I do. 

Also, I am staying in my area, but the next area over is now combined with mine. We look over Esperanca and Mondubim. Esperanca is a very large area, but the members help a lot. We look over two wards now. It´s going to be a lot of walking. It´s just me and Elder Brody that live in the house now. It is kinda strange. One elder went home and the other was transferred. 

So this last week went by pretty well. We had two more baptisms on Saturday! One was Manuel and the other Jessica. It is amazing to see the change in Manuel´s life. He had many problems and at first he didn't want to have anything to do with the church. But now he is a member. I´ve really learned a lot throughout my training period here. Things I´ll take with the rest of my life. Thank you all for your prayers and for all that you do.

-Elder Castagno

 

Tries, Cries, and Fries

The following email was received today:

Well one more week 'til transfers! This week went by well. It was much harder than the other weeks though. Why? Because I was made senior for that week. It´s part of the training of new missionaries. Now I really know what it is like to be a senior. It is tough. There are definitely much more responsibilities and pressure. I planned every day out and had to make all of the appointments. Also, I had to take the lead in teaching everyone. It was hard, but I was able to pull through it. It for sure taught me a lot about being a leader. 

 

This week we focused on a number of people. We were getting them prepared for baptism. And we were able to baptize two of them Saturday and Sunday! One was Michelle. Unfortunately she separated from her boyfriend, but she was able to get baptized. We are planning to baptize him though this week. He said he wanted to learn more and to support Michelle. Not to mention they already have kids, so it would be easier if they could just be a complete family. We also marked a wedding date for them. Won´t happen till next month though. Also one of the member's sisters was baptized! We taught her, then the next day she told us she already received an answer! We are preparing for a few more baptisms this next week. 

The Lord really has blessed us in the work we are doing. The most important thing that I learned this week was about being meek and humble. I had to cry unto the Lord every day so I could have help. At times I wasn't sure what to do, and I would be in despair. I just relied 100% on the Lord. He really did bless me and helped me out a lot. It really strengthened my testimony in knowing that He is there helping me at all times. 

Brazil's version of burgers and fries.

Love you guys and until next time,
Elder Castagno

The work is hard, but the blessings are rich.

The following e-mail was received on September 12, 2011:

 This week was interesting. It went by pretty well. We taught and found a good amount of people. We also had many miracles happen. One of these miracles was a reference that just dropped out of the sky...well...the mission secretaries gave it to us. This person lives way at the end of our area. Her name is Jessica, and she´s the only person we are teaching out there. We went to her house expecting it to be just another lesson like the rest of the day. When we sat down, she said that she already knew that all these things were true and she already read half of the Book of Mormon! She wants to be baptized already. She just has to go to church a few times and she can. 

Also this week we were having problems teaching Gilberto. He´s a really cool guy, and we´ve been teaching him for a while. He always said he would go to church, but he never did. And he was rarely home. We also had problems with a couple, Michelle and Manuel. They live together but are not married. Michelle wants to be baptized and Manuel wanted nothing to do with it. Sadly they decided to split up because of some reasons...My companion and I did a fast from Saturday to Sunday for these people. On Sunday, Gilberto went to church and he liked it! We also had several others come. Michelle then told us that Manuel wanted to know more about the church. After church we went to their house and had a talk with him. He said that he wanted to change and that he wanted to keep their family together. He also really wants to hear what we have to teach. This really strenghtened my testimony in fasting. I know that miracles can happen because of it. I´ve seen it with my own eyes. 

 

The work is hard, but the blessings are rich. I know that God lives. He watches over us and helps us when we show our willingness to obey. Love you all and have a good week!

-Elder Castagno

Taking the lead & knocking on doors

The following e-mail was received yesterday:

It´s amazing how these weeks really just pass by like nothing. I've already been out for about three months, and I feel that I left yesterday. I've already learned so much, but I still have much to learn. This week was interesting and somewhat of a challenge. This last Friday me and my companion had a division. I stayed in our area, and I was made senior companion for a day. I wasn´t sure if I was going to be able to do it, but I actually did pretty well! We went to all of our appointments, and I took the lead in speaking and teaching. I was able to remember all the things I needed to say to the investigators. We even taught a new family! It was for sure not easy. My mind never stopped. I was always thinking on where we needed to go next and what to teach. At the end of the day I was very very tired, but it was worth it. I learned a lot from that experience, and I feel that I´d be ready if I was called to be senior.

This week was full of good lessons that we taught to people. We have two families that we are teaching: Flavia and Francisco, and Michelle and Emanuel. Both of the men in the families want nothing to do with religion, but the women already know that these things are true. We met these people by knocking doors, amazingly. The Lord has been very kind to us in this way. All of our baptisims and lessons have been taught to people that we knocked doors on. This is usually very rare. Anyways, they are ready for baptism, but they both need to get married. This will be a hard task to overcome seeing that the men don´t really want to. But I have faith in the Lord and I know he can do all things. 

Yesterday we made a churrasco, a.k.a. B.B.Q., in our front patio. My companion made a really good seasoning and we cooked it. This is Brasil. Love you all and until next time!
 
-Elder Castagno

The Sun is Shining in Fortaleza

The following e-mail was received today:

E-mail Subject Line: The Sun is Shining in Fortaleza

Hello once again! It´s strange to think that another week has already gone by. It feels like I was writing you guys yesterday. So this week went by pretty good. Things are starting to look up. I went through a lot of experiences this week. Most of which strengthened my testimony and myself in general. 

But first, I must say that I found an amazing sushi restaurant last Monday! It´s called Wasabi and they have a sushi buffet...A SUSHI BUFFET! It was awesome. I don´t think I've ever eaten that much in my life. They even had a dessert sushi with strawberries and chocolate. Yes. 

So this week was our zone conference. Our zone and a few others met up in downtown Fortaleza for a meeting with the President of our Mission. He talked and trained us about many things. How to improve our work, and how we can do that. We talked a lot about diligence and the importance of it. Without diligence, missionary work wouldn't, well....work. Diligence is working hard, but also working smart. President said to work with our heads more than with our feet. I agree 100%. Throughout this week I´ve been working on how to use the Holy Ghost more in my teaching. I´ve decided to completly rely on the spirit, but to do my part in studying and talking to people. It was amazing to see what happend. My teaching skills went up a bunch and I felt the Holy Ghost more in my life. I know that it is very important to rely on the Lord in all that we do. The Lord gives us faults so that we may be humble. But when we trust in the Lord, He will help us strengthen our faults and ourselves. I know that diligence is an important aspect in this work and in life. Love all of you and hope you are well!
 
-Elder Castagno

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"I know that miracles can happen..."

The following e-mail was received today:

Hello everyone! This week went by pretty good for the most part. All of the work that we have done has really payed off. This last Sunday we had a confirmation and another baptisim! Yes! Her name is Erislania. 

The way we found her was very interesting, and it proves that the Lord really does prepare people to accept the gospel. About a month ago, we were walking down the street and my companion had inspiration to knock on a certain door. A guy answered it, and he let us come in. About halfway through the message, his sister came in, Erislania. She was just passing by to pick him up to go to the gym. We left a pamphlet with her, and we didn´t think much of it. A few days later, she called us and said she had dreams about what we were teaching and about the Book of Mormon. We taught her for a few weeks, and then she accepted baptism! 

I know that miracles can happen and that the Lord does labor in his vineyard with his servants. Read Jacob 5 in the Book of Mormon. I know that this work is important and that this is the only true church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Love you all!
 
Elder Castagno