Proselyting in Brazil

I am in Brazil again! We were given permission to go to different cities to preach. Because our area is the biggest in Rivera and because it's just me and my comp we get to spend time going to different cities that have not had missionaries before. One city that we came to was called Masoller. It has a border with Brazil so we contacted a house that was on the other side of the border line so now it's official: I have preached to 3 nations now! ;) 

My spansih is coming really well. There are times that I just cry it's so hard but I stay with it. I have come farther then I can see. My portugese is coming along well as well. I can read almost perfectly but I can't speak or hear it. But I can read it- so I am content with that. 

The people that live here are very very uneducated. No one goes to school. The high school that they have here is a joke. So it's hard to get people to read the scriptures. No one has teeth, so its super hard to understand them but I can understand people with no teeth better than I can understand people with only one tooth. So sometimes I think, "dude, just get rid of your one tooth, you are not useing it anyways."

I have my first real baptism for the 17th. His name is Filipe. He is 16 and I am so so excited. He has a friend named Diego that is taking the lessons. He really wants to go to the temple, but does not want to be baptized so we are working with him. Now that Filipe is getting baptized we will see if he will get baptized with him. We also have a 80 year-old (really she is 45 but people look so so old here ) that is for the same day if she will just go to church. The 17th is a stake baptism day so if we get them to be for sure to be baptized we will go to the stake center in Rivera to do the baptisms with about 20 other people who are getting baptized in the stake. I am so very excited. It's the first baptism that Tranqueras has had in about 6 months so I am glad things are starting to change. ;)

Montevideo

Me in Montevideo. I am not an Uruguayan,. I came down to the city to sign my residence papers, so that was super fun. Me and Nelson and Clark took an adventure to the coast. It was freezing like no other.

Tranqueras

OK, here is an update on me, in the small corner of the world called Tranqueras. I am doing well enough. I have been working on my Spanish, so that is coming along nicely. I spoke in church this past week, it was my 3rd in 6 weeks. So by this you can see the pool of people they have to choose from of who to call on to speak.  But I spoke of the story of the prodigal son. Because missionary work is so hard as it is, let alone with a branch that just does not care about church anymore, we have focused most of our efforts on the less active. This past week we had 40 people which is huge! The garage that we have church in was bustling with people so it was awesome. ;) The more we strengthen the members both active and less, we can then use them as a base for missionary work, bringing members to lessons and that kind of deal. Last week we took the youth to the cerro. The hike took about 6 hours, but it was totally awesome. Yes it is just a hill, but it was huge. Mirador means telescope or lookout. It was a look out tower that was at the top. What took so long was that it was about 5k outside of town and the kids walk slow. But it was awesome. I spent the whole time telling stories in very bad Spanish, but the excitement was there and I believe they understood me more than I think they did. I can't understand very well when kids talk, but I can understand when adults talk. Adults have a hard time understanding me, but kids understand me perfectly. It's weird, but its cool because I get to tell stories.

It's getting colder and colder. Humidity bites at you like no other. It's really just when the sun is gone. In the morning you can hardly get out of bed and at night, that's all you want to do. Sunday night we had a legit Uruguayan BBQ.  Because I was new I got to eat the food from the fire first. I would explain better with pictures, but my card for my camera was stolen. I took it out of my camera which is good, but the pouch that I had my card in is gone. It is only my card but I still have everything else. Luckily I had already put all my pictures on a flash drive before hand, so really I only lost a weeks worth. Still not very happy about it, but such is life I guess.

Today we got another group of people together to play soccer so we stayed in town again. People won't come to church but they will come out to play soccer, so we will entertain them today. The president's wife is super less active, but when I met her at the church just before she was about to leave, I told her that I was giving a talk and would like her to stay and listen. She was not happy but she stayed. President came up to me and said thank you, I don't know what for. I was just practicing my Spanish. ;) I said I wanted a big family here, and that in order to have a big family we needed to fill all the chairs with people. So in the past three weeks, we have had increasing and increasing numbers. One family that is coming back is a part member family and the girl is wanting to get baptized now that the family is coimg back. Them and a boy we are teaching is getting baptized next week, so I am super excited about that. He is my favorite right now because he has 7 brothers and sisters but no dad, and he is the only worker. He dropped out of school 3 years ago and he is only 16. The mom loves us because we are doing all of this for him, but really he is such a strength to me.

That's about it for now, more letters are coming so keep your eyes peeled for them. I pray all is well with everyone. and just know that I pray and think of you all always. I love your letters and the pictures help incredibly.

Love you all,

Elder Brewer

me on the Mirador del cerro de Sausal

Pictures Only

Me in Brazil

Posing by a barn

More Brazil

First Week in Uruguay

Well I have tons of pictures but this computer is retarded so, sorry. I am happy to hear it's getting warmer; here, its getting colder :) But I like it. I am in a logging town, literaly just down the Street is a log mill, one of those old ones. No use of new equipment or anything like that, very classic. I like it, hundreds of acres of trees are planted in straight rows, and every 5 years or so, they go and cut them all down for lumber. So they have thousands of acres of trees at diffrent stages, so it is really cool to see, both up close and from a distance. There is a STHIL shop here, so grandpa and dad would like that. Tons of CAT equipment as well. I truely am at home here. My comp is Elder Lamb from Canada. He is really young, he is only 7 months in the mission. Him and one other are the youngest trainers. It makes it hard for them and for us. He dose not know what he is doing, nor do i, so yeah ;) Living arrangements are somewhat sad, very humble. I have pictures but you will have to wait till next week when I go to Rivera.  Now the new experiences. I am about an hour from the stake center. The stake center is in Rivera. So every Tuesday we have to go there for district meetings. But for P-days we go down there on Monday, stay the night and go to the meeting the next day then come back home. So in Rivera, you can go into Brazil. We go shopping there, and eating, and it is awesome. I have pictures but alas they won't work. So just picture me in Brazil. So on this mission I got to go to tres countries!!!aaawesome! no? But we stayed in town this week. There are lessons that we miss on Monday nights, so we stayed for them.

 

I can't wait to see all my new cousins y sabrinos! This is just so awesome, so long as a new brother in law is not in the picture right now, I will be ok with new cousins only ;)

 

Thank you for the letters they do truly help.- I emailed grama and grandpa, I wonder if they got it.

 

Love you tons! and I can't wait to see everyone in 22 months!

 

Elder Brewer

Letter from the Mission

Dear Brewer Family,

We would like to inform you of the arrival of your son to the Uruguay Montevideo West Mission. He arrived here safe and sound this morning and met President and Sister Heaton. He will receive some training in the mission home to help him get to know the mission and feel comfortable in Uruguay. The missionaries will have lunch with the Heaton Family and, afterwards, he will meet his trainer and leave for his new area. It is such an exciting time for him, and we wanted to share it with you. We have included a picture of your son with President and Sister Heaton. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to get in contact with us. 

We thank you for all you have done as parents to help your son reach this point in his life.

Elder Noel Lopez

Executive Secretary

Uruguay Montevideo West Mission

CCM departure

I am leaving Tuesday morning for Uruguay around 4 or 7 I am not sure yet. The word on the street is that I will be able to call home. Whenever a missionary is traveling (distance) they get to call, so since we are flying we get to call.  Since we have been proselyting the time has gone by so fast, but I am definitely ready to leave. I have a solid ground in Spanish, and I know that the more I just talk in it the better and faster I will grow.  Every group of Latinos that come in I try to talk with. The first group, there was no talking; the second, more but nothing solid. This last group is awesome. I stayed up two nights ago just talking to a Peruvian about his life and I understood it all! That was awesome! So I know that I will get it, I just have to get there. Yesterday we got to go see Elder Q. L Cook, it was the first and maybe last time these Latinos would see an Apostle, and  the spirit in the meeting was just awesome. We got to meet him and shake his hand, it was just awesome. In Buenos Aires there are tons of riots going on, and so yesterday they got so bad that most of the highways were shut down. No one was allowed to go anywhere, so we left 4 hours early and took the crowed back streets in this HUGE!! bus to go see him at the South mission home. So because of that not all the missionaries got to go see him, but we were lucky enough to. It's a lot colder than you would imagine, but I am getting by. I only have 4 more days then the real work begins. While I have been here I have realized something, that I was called to the Buenos Aires CCM mission for a reason. There were people here that only I could teach, like my companion. I was the only one that he could have had to teach him. He still has a long way to go, but I believe that if he keeps doing all that he needs to that he will be blessed with the opportunity to fulfill all of what God needs him to do. I love and miss all of you so very much and pray for you always. 

Elder Brewer