4/24/17 - Prayer & Fasting

Another great week here on the island of São Miguel! Our week started off with divisions on the other islands which are close to each other so it’s only about a 30 minute plane ride.  But because they are so close the planes are tiny, little ones and I think I will die every time we take off.  We went to the island of Terceira to do some divisions and give a presentation about teaching techniques. My first division was with Elder Day (my comp in the MTC)!  It was so fun to see him and work with him again after 8 months!  We traveled to the other part of the island the next day to give this presentation to all the missionaries on this island, it went really well and the Spirit was super strong. After the presentation we went on another division and it went great. We arrived back home in São Miguel on Thursday afternoon. I’ve been in this transfer for 2 weeks and we’ve only had 5 days to work in our area so that was kind of frustrating but also good because Elder Nogueira and I knew that we had to take advantage of our time to work so we got a lot done in a small amount of time.

I like my comp a lot, he is a really hard worker and we get along very well.  We are always laughing yet being obedient and working really hard. He is a convert to the church for about 3 years now and his conversion story is sweet!

I see why people say the Açores is a hard zone in which to baptize.  We got a lot of rejection this week but we knew if we kept working something would happen. We decided to fast on Friday to receive an answer on where we should work in our area (our area is really big). We decided to go to this area that is a little far away and the first woman we saw talked with us and let us it. Her name is Lordes, she has red hair and is about 66 years old. We taught the plan of salvation and the Spirit was so strong! At the end of the lesson she came over to us and gave us this big bear hug and a kiss on our cheeks.  We tried to explain that we couldn’t hug and kiss but she didn’t care. And this after only 40 minutes of talking to her, she is just a loving person.

That experience was a real testimony builder about the power of prayer and fasting. When we sacrifice and do all we can, he will answer our prayers. In studies this week I was reading a talk that basically said that the way you serve your mission can determine how you will live your life. Through learning and applying the attributes of Christ, I can choose who I want to be after my mission. I have learned that Christ is our absolute leader and we just try to lead as he would.  I need to do the will of Christ and not my will! 

I hope you all have a great week! CONFIANÇA NO SENHOR E TUDO VAI DAR CERTO!

-Elder Herrmann 

The pictures are from p-day and the dogs are an Açorian type of dog.  Their tails are cut off and their ears are rounded so they look like bears!!!

4/17/17 - "Go to the Açores as a boy, return as a man."

Well I’m here in the Açores on the island of São Miguel in the capitol of Ponta Delgada. (The Azores are a group of nine volcanic islands spread over 370 miles in the Atlantic Ocean about 850 miles west of Portugal.)  I love it here so much. We left for the airport to fly out Thursday night and it felt weird being in an airport and on a plane as a missionary. But on the plane I started talking with this guy and we are going to teach him later this week! When we arrived it was pouring rain... I’ve never seen anything like it... a really nice warm welcome to the island! The Carters (great missionary couple) picked us up in their car and took us to our house. 

I have never seen a more beautiful place in my life. The colors here are insane--the green mountains with the blue ocean and sky and the white clouds!  Truly, it’s so amazing! I want to take pictures every moment because it is so pretty. The island weather is way bipolar. It will be sunny and not a cloud in the sky and you are loving life then 10 seconds later you are drenched in the rain, and then it’s back to sunny 5 minutes later. It rains on an average of 3 times a day but still can be a beautiful sunny day! The Açores are known for their cows and therefore milk. There are literally cows everywhere so you see these really big green mountains with white spots all over them because of the cows!

While I was waiting in the mission office earlier this week everyone was telling me about how the accent on the island I was going to is crazy... I didn’t really think it would be that different and boy was I wrong. When I started talking to everyone I looked over at Elder Nogueira and said, "Are they speaking French?" I have never seen anything like it... it was so hard to adjust to this accent.  Even my comp who is Brazilian doesn’t know what they are saying. 

Our area is really big—like half the island. There were sisters in our area but something happened with a stalker so they had to leave the Açores for a couple of transfers. It’s good that we have the Carters here because without the car we would be walking for hours. It’s really weird being a zone leader for the Açores because most of our missionaries are on different islands. For example, this next week we are going to do divisions or splits with the other Elders so we are going to fly to the other islands. We will be going on 5 flights this week--feels like we are running a business always on the plane.

We have a family that is investigating the church and they live in a place called Sete Cidades. It’s in the mountains next to these two grand lakes and to be honest I’ve never seen anything like it. Apparently this site "sete cidades", is known worldwide for its views. While driving to an appointment the Carters stopped there to show me all the pretty views and let me take some pictures! Then they stopped next to this big abandoned hotel and told us to go in a look around--they are such cool missionary couple. We taught the lesson with this family and it was so amazing. I really like my companion, Elder Nogueira, and we are already great friends and we teach really well together. We are both so anxious for someone to accept our message and be baptized and are working like crazy.

We have this recent convert named Jose who is 16 years old and loves the missionaries. He works with us every day and wears a white shirt and a tie and one of our name tags.  He is a punk and kind of reminds me of myself when I was 16. He proselytes with us and is starting to gain a love for missionary work. He will become a great missionary someday!

On Sunday we meet with our branch in the morning and we take care of them, then at 4pm we go to a small town on the other side of the island to an area named Vila Franca Do Campo. There is a small group of Saints there so we go and give talks and bless the sacrament for 4 people. One of the guys who always comes is Calros and he is always hammered drunk, like you can smell the alcohol. He gave the closing prayer and I was trying so hard no to laugh because it was literally the funniest thing I have ever heard!

Before we came to the Açores this week, we had a mission counsel- all of the zone leaders, the AP, and President & Sister Tavares have a meeting talking about how we can fix problems in our mission. It was like the Jedi counsel.  They are all so wise and it was a great experience! President Tavares talked about the difference between faith with hope and faith with surety. He told us how we can gain this faith with surety.

I already love the Açores and have learned so much. I am excited to get to work! In this mission there is a saying, “Go to the Açores as a boy, return as a man." I hope I can really learn here and become a better person! Today we are going to a place called "Fire Lake".  I am freaking pumped! I love you all--have a great week! Vamos Batizar!!!

- Elder Herrmann

On the plane

In front of our house

Sete Cidades

SaveSave

4/10/17 - "Are you afraid of planes?"

What an amazing week--so busy!  We ended our transfer this week and I thought for sure I would stay in Alverca. But on Sunday afternoon President Tavares called me and said, "Elder Herrmann, are you afraid of planes?" I said, "Uh, no President." He said, "Good, because you will serve in the Açores as a zone leader!" The Açores are these groups of islands in the middle of the Atlantic ocean! I will be flying out on Thursday! My new comp is a Brazilian who is ending his mission after this transfer and is a way good missionary! I am so excited to serve with him! I will be serving on the island of St. Miguel in the area of Ponta Delgada! Something cool is that the ZL's get to do divisions on all of the islands so  I'll see it all! 

This week I did divisions Tuesday in Vila Franca De Xira and we met this guy named, João.  He was really cool and we taught him a lesson about faith, it was awesome! On Wednesday we had another division with the zone leaders and we taught this Portuguese family again and it was amazing.  I learned a lot! On Thursday we went to the mission office and my comp had his "school of the dead" where he learned about what to do after the mission.  While I was in the office President said, "Elder Herrmann are you ready to be transferred?"  I thought he was joking with me like always. On Friday we worked really hard and we were in the street and I was playing with this dog and it jumped up and bit my mouth and now my front tooth has a little chip in it--oh well, it builds character. Saturday we got some bad new that the Portuguese family decided that they didn't want to hear our message anymore so that was a bummer. 

It was a crazy week!  When I found out I was leaving I felt really sad but also happy because I am excited for this opportunity.  I  just really love this ward!! I said all of my good byes and it was so sad.

I am excited for the new experiences I will have this summer in the Açores!  Love you guys, boa semana!!!!

-Elder Herrmann

4/3/17 - General Conference is better than Christmas!

This week was good! We met this family of 3 who are sweet! The mom is Maria and we taught her along with her son who is 21 years old and her daughter who is 16. We taught them the plan of salvation and they liked it a lot.  Maria is very catholic and wants nothing to do with our church.  She believes all missionaries took a class in psychology and are there to trick them. But the two kids are really interested and want to learn more. 

I did SEF this week which basically mean YA BOI is finally LEGAL here in Portugal!! I had zone conference this week and it was so good.  President Tavares taught us what it really means to be a disciple of Christ. He taught us from Mosiah and Alma how we can “know” Christ:

"For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?"  {Mosiah 5:13}

"Yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God. But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God."  {Alma 17:2-3}

SO this week I focused on doing those 3 simple things—studying, praying, and fasting with more of a purpose. Literally the small things make such a big difference. After the conference we did TRC’s where we do a fake lesson and we learn where we need to improve.  Of course with my luck I got set up to teach President Tavares.  I was so nervous but it went well and I learned a lot of things I could do better. 

The highlight of the week was General Conference. We still haven’t watched all of it because of the time difference.  We still get to watch the afternoon session and a little of the Sunday morning session. But man, General Conference is better than Christmas here on the mission!! It’s just so good and everything they said really was inspired of God.  I felt such gratitude for being able to serve. I am so thankful to be on a mission and to really change my life.  Also, I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon.  I found it interesting that our prophet, Thomas S Monson, said something so simple yet so powerful--if we read the Book of Mormon EVERYDAY we will see a difference in our lives and our testimony will deepen. We all need to make time to read the scriptures in our busy lives. I also loved the talk given by Yoon Hwan Choi.  His experience that one person accepting the gospel can pass down happiness to future generations.  And that same happiness can go to generations that have already passed on through temple work.  I loved the idea that when we are feeling down we do need to "look up”. I feel a great responsibility to bring the gospel of Christ to people in Portugal to bless not only them but future and past generations as well. There was so many good things to write about! It was an amazing conference!

I love this work and am proud to represent our Savior and His church every single day. I know this gospel is true! Have a great week!!

- Elder Herrmann