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.

Baptisms, Stake Conference, and...Happy Halloween!

(Sent 10/31/11, but nobody received it, oddly...)

Churrascaria (Brazilian Steak House)

Happy Halloween everyone!

Today we went to the church and watched "Hocus Pocus" with one of the members. Then Elder Brody & I went to a churrascaria (steak house) with one of the members of his old area. It was really really good. Never eaten so much meat in my life! That is about it for Halloween. They don´t celebrate it here. 

This week went by really well. We found a few great people. All friends of members. Also we had the baptism of Reginaldo this week. We were able to complete a family with his baptism! They were all so happy. Also yesterday we had another baptism: Marlucia. She is Wanderson´s mom who was baptized a few weeks ago. She is an amazing person! I am thankful for her example. She has gone through so much in her life--even barely having enough to eat for years so she could feed her children. She is very blessed and is watched over by the Lord. She has been looking for the truth for a very long time. She said that she never wanted to join a church until she had a certainty that it was the right one. Well, we taught her and little by little she had a testimony that this is the true church of the Lord. 

Also this week was stake conference. Two of the Seventies came, because there was a change in the stake presidency. It was great to hear them talk. Even my mission president was there! One of the Seventies talked about the eternities...as in, this time is such a small time compared to the rest of eternity. We just have this time to prepare and get ready to live with the Lord. And how it is our choice to choose eternal life or eternal bondage. It is good to think about.

Well have a good Halloween! You can send me candy if you want...

-Elder Castagno

Uniting Families & Shenanigans with Photos

 The following e-mail was received today:

Hello everyone! This week was very busy as usual. We are focusing on a few certain families and people. There is this one family in the ward, Assis and Arriza. We had lunch at their house about a month ago. They are members, but they went inactive. We talked to them a little bit. We found out that they were not even married! Also that they had a daughter that hadn't been baptized yet. So we talked to the daughter, Gabi. She wanted to be baptized. Also the father wanted to baptize her. So we made the arrangements to get them married. Also, we passed by their house many times to teach Gabi. Arriza would sit in on the lessons many times. She said she never really had a great interest in the church until now. Each week we would go and teach them. I could see all of their testimonies growing. Then Assis and Arriza were married! Then a few days later, Gabi was baptized. About an hour before the baptism, we were at their house. They were all so excited for this new chapter in their life. They said that they felt a happiness in their home when we were there. Something I never really payed attention to. It made me realize again how important this work is. How as missionaries we really are servants of the Lord. I took a step back to look. There was such a big difference in their lives in so little time. Once a broken family, now a happy family strong in the gospel. That is our purpose: to bring familes together. I don´t think they could have been any happier. I don´t think I could be either. 

Also this week we are helping another family be completed. It is just the dad that is left to be baptized. Other than that, things are going well. It is hot as usual, and there is a lot of work to be done.
Until next time.
-Elder Castagno

Surrendering to the monster under his bed.

4 Month Mark (P.S. Send Snow!)

The following e-mail was received today:

Well I've hit my 4th month mark! Each one just goes by faster and faster. This week we were very busy.We had a bunch to do and a bunch of people to teach--which is good. It makes the time go by faster when there is lots to do. 

Earlier this week we went to the center to do interviews with president. The same day we had to go do two weddings for families that were getting baptised. We also set up a wedding for this week. It´s hard to find people that are actually married here, so we have to do it. Anyways we got that done. They seemed really happy and now they could be baptised. One was from area Esperança. It was a mom and a dad. The rest of their children were baptised weeks ago. So we were able to complete a family. 

Yesterday we had three baptisms! One was Cristina, which is the mom of that family. Unfortunately, the dad went back to drinking so he could not be baptized. The other two are these two really good friends that we have been teaching: Wanderson and Henrique. They are awesome! Wanderson is basically a missionary already! He invited his friend to church last week, and the next day he said he wanted to be baptized! They are really good friends with the youth in the ward. They have this dance group that they put together--haha. 

Also yesterday we had a fireside. I gave a talk about Joseph Smith. I [said] that even he had to be prepared to be prophet. It is not easy. It went pretty well. 

I´ve been hearing that it is starting to get colder over there...well, it´s still blazing hot over here! Feel free to send me snow.

With love,

Elder Castagno