10/24/16 - Leaving it all on the field

Well this week was transfers and I am staying here in Miratejo for another transfer!  I am happy with this because I like my companion and the ward is so good here! This week I wanted to start doing street contacts on my own so we can talk to double the amount of people. My comp would be on one side of the busy street and I on the other and we would just work our way down talking to every person!  Though we got rejected the entire time, it felt good for me to speak and testify of Jesus Christ and his gospel in Portuguese. I get this jolt of energy every time right before I talk to someone! I tried this week to make every person I talk to smile at least once! Sadly, some of them just would not smile but man it was amazing seeing someone smile and light up after we talked to them even if they weren’t interested in the message. They say it takes on average about 7 contacts with the missionaries for a person to finally say yes to a visit, so I look at it as planting the seeds! One morning contacting there were 40 people at a bus stop so this missionary from another area and I decided to soap box preach!!!  So we just went up there and got everyone’s attention and shared a quick message! It was cool even though some people laughed and no one wanted to know more. 

This week we got in some heated discussions with Jehovah Witnesses which my comp loves to do.  But I don’t like it, because the Spirit is not there and when the Portuguese are arguing they talk sooooo fast and I get lost and don’t know what to say. 

On the encouraging side, we contacted a family and shared a message with them! There are 3 of them, a mom and 2 sons both over the age 12. One of the sons name is Ericson and he is really good at soccer so I can hopefully bond with him over that.  They are an awesome family! It’s crazy how I can know a family for such a short time and already love them so much! I want them to be happy and I know how much joy this gospel brings...not happiness but JOY…everlasting joy!!!  I want them to find it so hopefully they accept our message!

A funny thing happened this week when a guy came up to me and shook my hand. I felt him put something there only to only find that he put drugs in my hand.  I was so shocked I just froze and didn’t know what to do or say. I was just like uh um uh but he then started laughing, grabbed it and ran away. Also there was a drunk guy in the streets, who is an inactive member who said, “Elders!”  So we talked to him knowing that he was drunk but asked him to meet with us at 10 AM on Sunday for church! Then on Sunday he actually showed up and we had no idea how he remembered!! But one problem was that he was still drunk... it was the most interesting sacrament meeting I’ve been too. He was saying, “Thank you lord!” out loud in the prayer and stood up to take the sacrament. 

I learned a lot this week in personal study.  I want to share this quote especially for my friends and family and future or present missionaries. The quote is, "You had all eternity to prepare for your mission, and have all eternity after to reflect on your mission, but your mission is only two years! So make it count!" In sports language I want to, “leave it all on the field!” I want to have no regrets and be happy with my work so I am going to work even harder than I did before!! I love this gospel so much, it is a foundation for a happy life.  If you are looking for goodness and happiness and meaning in your life turn to the gospel, but more importantly turn to Jesus Christ because he will always be there for you. Fica Bem!! 

Elder Herrmann

10/17/16 - First BAPTISM!!

This week was crazy, Eder got baptized!!! I was a little worried though because the day before and the morning of the baptism he wasn’t answering any of our calls so we went to his apartment and he wasn’t there.  I figured he bailed again but right when we were leaving we ran into him. Apparently he lost his phone and he was not at home because he was buying a white shirt for the baptism!! He was so excited for his baptism!!  So I was pumped but the night before Eder said, "Elder Herrmann I want you to baptize me!” And all I could think was, "Wait, I don’t speak Portuguese!" I started freaking out because I had to say the baptismal prayer in Portuguese! So I said it in my head probably 300 times. While I was walking up to the font my head smacked against the mirror thing at the top in front of everyone! Next, I messed up the baptismal prayer by saying filho (son) before pai (father) so I had to say it again. Then when I baptized him his hand was out of the water so I HAD TO DO IT AGAIN!!!! 3RD time is the charm, right!?  I was thinking about it and that is how I pictured my first baptism to go. It was truly an amazing experience! I had the same nerves that I always got right before football games and, believe it or not, it’s the best feeling in the world!! Afterwards we went and celebrated at McDonalds because that is high class food when you are on a missionary budget!

This week I learned a lot!! My comp wanted me to gain more confidence with Portuguese so we would go into big apartment buildings and start at the 12th floor where there are 4 doors on each floor and we would work our way down knocking every one! He would run down to the other floor right before me and ring the door bell and then run away so I would have to go up and talk to them by myself.  It was fun and I got a lot more confident and loved it! On one of the floors he hurried and rang all 4 doors and then ran to the next floor so I stood in the middle and 3 doors opened. I tried to teach all 3 but they just slammed their doors!

I got a ukulele and love playing it at night!! My trainer knows how to play so we jam out and it’s so fun! This week there was a lot of rain and when it rains in Portugal it’s something else!!! I love the rain and told my comp I was excited for the rain...he said that he thought that too when he first got here but told me that I will get sick of it fast because it rains every day in the winter!

I’m learning about what the Savior expects of me. I was reading in Alma chapters 20-30 this week and I love the story of Ammon and King Lamoni!  I love how Ammon was always looking for times when he could share the gospel and how he testifies with such power and authority! Ammon is the missionary I want to be.  I read a talk by Elder Holland where he answered missionaries who questioned why missions are so hard and shouldn’t they be easier through the Lord’s help.  He responded, "Missionary work is not easy because SALVATION IS NOT EASY!” That hit me hard, I need to stop thinking about how hard it is and realize that this work will be hard if I want to bring salvation unto others!!!  I know it is worth it.

I love you all so much! Tem um boa semana! Fica bem! E lembrem sempre de Deus! 

Hahaha!  Life as a greenie is fun.

Elder Herrmann

10/10/16 - Learning patience

This week was strange to say the least!!  So first off, we were planning on Eder’s baptism for Sunday but being a lazy guy and very relaxed he cancelled at the last minute!! It broke my heart. We kind of saw it coming though, he really needs to develop a desire for himself not just his girlfriend, Ana.  She is a returned missionary and so strong.  He does much better when she is at our lessons and she missed the last few.  After he bailed, we had a lesson right after church with both of them.  It was really awesome and the Spirit was definitely there but Eder was being kind of a punk so Ana really questioned his sincerity. I felt like I was in couples counseling for a minute. We’ll see how things go and if he really gets baptized on Saturday! I learned the POWER OF WOMEN this week--they are awesome! 

Other than that is was a really frustrating week! We had 0 lessons taught and 0 new investigators. This work is so hard when you have no lessons to teach and just do contacts for 9 hours a day with no one wanting to talk to you! But we make it fun and are trying our hardest to find the people that the Lord has prepared to hear our message! My spiritual radar must be off because I get this prompting to GO talk to someone, that he is ready for the gospel, and then when I go talk to him, I get shut down! But yeah, we are talking to everyone and anyone, trying to find someone to teach!! 

I am slowly learning things about the people here through lots of observation. They always seem like they are arguing about something. If you didn’t speak Portuguese you would think everyone is yelling at each other but it isn’t true--that is just how they talk. Also, they love pointing and using their hands in exaggerated ways when they speak. 

I am having lots of experiences with the Jehovah Witnesses.  I’ve seen that they don’t go up to people, instead they set up a stand and have people come up to them. Later if someone doesn’t accept their teachings they put a big X on their door like a sign, "nope they won’t have salvation." When we see them we say, “Hello brothers or sisters,” but they don’t like it because they don’t think we are children of God. Our interactions make me want to UP my game as a missionary!

SO for some reason our ward is awful at singing! We sound like a bunch of moaning dogs, hahaha!  I was getting ready to pass the sacrament during the sacrament hymn, and this old lady behind us did not know how to sing at all, she was so loud and bad that my comp and I got this weird look on our faces and looked up to the bishopric who just smiled and shrugged acknowledging how bad it was. It was my first Fast Sunday here and I was really nervous that no one would bear testimony and it would just be an hour of silence.  But no, EVERYONE spoke and we went 15 minutes over and it was so powerful!  I loved it and felt the Spirit so strong! 

One great experience that happened was on Saturday night when I started my fast with a prayer. I just totally opened myself up to the Lord. It really felt like a conversation, and I could feel him listening to me. It sounds so simple but it was such an amazing experience. Talking with God, the power of prayer is so great…to bless others and our own life--that is so cool! The things I use to think were little like prayer and scripture study have come to mean so much to me on my mission!

I am really learning patience here, which everyone knows is definitely not one of my strengths--so this is a good mission for me. Something I do is at the end of every day is look back and identify 5 blessings or miracles so that I can see the hand of the Lord in my daily life.  It helps me so much especially when it has been a really rough day.  Try it, I promise it will works.

I hope you all have a great week!! I love you all!! Tem uma boa semana!! Um grande braço!

- Elder Herrmann

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