Week 47

Aug 25

This week, I officially recovered! Saturday I put on shoes for the first time in about a month. It´s good to be back to normal! My foot healed really fast after I was transferred to the mission office. The new transfer started today, and I will actually be staying here for the next transfer as well. So my new schedule more or less, is to go to the mission office first thing in the morning, do studies there, work in the office until lunch time, come back to the office for a little bit after lunch and then we work in our area like normal for the rest of the day. It´s kind of annoying because our area is about a 25 or 30 minute walk from the office. But I guess its just that much more exercise for us! Like I said, I only started working normal on Saturday, so our teaching group right now is really small. But we have one really good investigator right now, whose name is Randall. He is 18. He is a really good guy, and he really wants to have a better relationship with God. He has had some problems with drugs, but we are helping him to quit, and he has made a lot of progress already. We had a really good lesson with him Sunday night, and he also went to church and really liked it. We had to go to his house and wake him up, and it was kind of a struggle, but he ended up in church! 

I'm very comfortable with the Portuguese language, I can say pretty much whatever I want now, but I'm still trying to learn as much as I can! I'd like to learn another language when I get home as well. I feel like a third language will be relatively easy to learn, now that I have already learned one. 

te amo,

Elder Poulson

Week 46

Aug 18, 2014

Dear everyone,

So like I mentioned a week or two ago, I have got a legendary case of athlete´s foot, and I have been going to the podologist the last few weeks trying to get it taken care of. But it hasn´t really been improving, and I have been using flip flops EVERYWHERE for probably close to a month now (which is what the doctor ordered). So on Tuesday, the 12^th, President Fusco came out to do interviews with all the missionaries in our zone. Sister Fusco was there too, and she didn´t like the sight of my foot. So after my companion and I had our interviews, she took us up to Fortaleza to see a dermatologist. The dermatologist gave me a prescription, (don´t worry mom, I am still taking juice plus!) and some creme or something to pass over my foot and said that I couldn´t walk around in the sun for two weeks. As a missionary in Brazil, walking around in the sun is what we spend about half of our time doing….so President Fusco transferred me to work in the office for these next two weeks of “vacation”. I got here in the office on Wednesday, and my new companion is Elder Marrey, from São Paulo. He is the secretary that takes care of all the contracts for the houses that the missionaries live in. What my job is right now is to take care of the referrals that go through the mission office. So basically I’m working a desk job for the moment.

Elder Marrey and I live in the same house as the two other office elders, Elder Silva and Elder Rowell. Thursday night, we all got home, and found that the power had been cut. Somehow, the bill hadn’t been paid and the power company shut everything off. Unfortunately for us, the company wouldn´t send someone to turn on the power on Friday because it was a holiday. If you think America has a lot of random holidays, you don’t know what you´re missing down here. So we were without power from Thursday until today. Luckily, we all had flashlights, so it wasn’t too bad.

Every week, our mission president emails us all a talk or a spiritual thought for us to read. I really liked the message he shared with us last week, from a talk by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, one of the counselors to President Monson.

“Once again the Savior revealed the way. When asked to name the greatest commandment, He did not hesitate. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,” He said. “This is the first and great commandment.”  Coupled with the second great commandment—to love our neighbor as ourselves —we have a compass that provides direction not only for our lives but also for the Lord’s Church on both sides of the veil.

Because love is the great commandment, it ought to be at the center of all and everything we do in our own family, in our Church callings, and in our livelihood. Love is the healing balm that repairs rifts in personal and family relationships. It is the bond that unites families, communities, and nations. Love is the power that initiates friendship, tolerance, civility, and respect. It is the source that overcomes divisiveness and hate. Love is the fire that warms our lives with unparalleled joy and divine hope. Love should be our walk and our talk.

When we truly understand what it means to love as Jesus Christ loves us, the confusion clears and our priorities align. Our walk as disciples of Christ becomes more joyful. Our lives take on new meaning. Our relationship with our Heavenly Father becomes more profound. Obedience becomes a joy rather than a burden.”

Something that I am trying to learn here on my mission is to do the things I know I should do, not because I feel like I have to do them, but to do them because I love the people I am doing them for. I know that the Savior has a perfect love for each of us, and one of the things that will make us happy in life is to try and emulate that love the best we can. We will all fall short sometimes, but He will make up for what we lack. I know that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world, and that he loves us.

I

 hope you have a great week, and thank you so much for all your thoughts and prayers! You are in mine as well.

Um abraço,

Elder Poulson

Week 45

Aug 11, 2014

So this week was actually a little discouraging for Elder Dias and I. Like I said before, our area is very tiny, only 12 streets.  Sometimes we feel like there is no one left to teach - haha. But the thing that frustrates us the most is when we find someone, teach them, the lesson goes well, the person likes it, we invite them to church, they say they'll go, and then Saturday or Sunday, we pass by their house to confirm with them and they avoid us, or send a friend to give an excuse. I would rather have a door slammed in my face than be lied to. But this isn't all that happend this week, good things happened too. There are a lot of good people here. One woman we met and started teaching, Yuli, was really great. But she was also very very pregnant when we met her on Friday, and she had her baby this weekend, so she has been in the hospital and we haven´t been able to visit her again. We will see her this week though, and continue teaching her. She is a very grateful person, even in trying circumstances. Like I said, she just had a baby, but her husband died just a couple months after she got pregnant, so she is living with her sister´s family. Something she said really impressed me....my companion asked her in our first visit there if she believed that God loved her. She said yes, and my companion asked what ways that she sees God´s love in her life. She responded by telling us about her husband dying, and she was sad about it, but she is immensely grateful for her soon to be born child. It was humbling for me to see such an amazing attitude in such a difficult situation. I know that God lives, and that our family relationships don't have to end with death, that if we keep the commandments and live the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then we can be with our families forever. 

I hope you have an awesome week!

um abraço,

Elder Poulson

Week 42

Jul 21, 2014

So like I said last week, I was transferred from Quixadá to Maracanaú. My new area, Jereissati 1, is SUPER tiny. It's only 12 streets, but it's super cool here. There is a mall close by and a whole bunch of cool shops. The ward here is awesome, every missionary who has passed through here says that it's one of the best areas in the mission. So far, I agree!

My new companion is Elder Dias, from Minas Gerais, a state in southern Brazil. He is crazy energetic, and loves American music. He's always singing haha. I like him, he's a good guy and an awesome missionary.

I spent this week pretty much just getting to know the area. It will take some getting used to, coming from an area like Quixadá where everyone wants to talk to you. Here, it's a little different. The chapel that this ward usually meets in is having some reformations done, so we are meeting at another chapel thats waaaaay out of our area until ours is ready, which will be at least three months. It will be a little tougher than usual to get visitors to church, but we'll do what we can. 

Something that our mission has started to do is teach family history. We have pamphlets that have family trees and stuff to give to people for them to fill out, and we tell them about familysearch.org, where you can do your own geneology. I started filling out my own pamphlet to show as an example to people, and its really cool, it's one of my favorite lessons to teach now. 

Thats about all I got this week...I hope you are all enjoying your summer! 

Moroni 7:44-48

um abraço,

Elder Poulson

Week 41

Dear Family & Friends,

 

I'm super pressed for time this week because I was transferred, and my bus to leave for Fortaleza leaves soon, so I have to do everything super fast. This week was a little disappointing because we had 4 baptisms lined up, but a whole bunch of stuff happened at the last minute so that they didn't come through.  I won't be here to see the baptisms next week - I'm super sad about that, but there will be lots of people to teach in my new area! (hopefully). I'll be going to a city called Maracanaú, which is a little closer to Fortaleza. I'm excited for a new transfer! I'm doing well with everything.  Tell everyone I love and miss them! 

love you! um abraço!

Elder Poulson

These are pictures from the Cedro, which is this big dam and a reservoir that was built a long time ago by slaves.. 

 

 a big rock that looks like a chicken 

Eating a snack with Eliane, one of our "moms" here

We got caught in the rain coming home the other night

Neide, our other "mom"

Week 40

Dear Family & Friends,

 

This week was another slow one....we had to go to Fortaleza on Monday, we came back Wednesday. Thursday, we had an unexpected visit from President Fusco. He, his wife, and daughters had come to Quixadá to see how we're doing, get us a few things we have been lacking in the new house, and most importantly, dedicate the city of Quixadá for the preaching of the gospel! It was a really cool day, President took us elders, plus the sisters to lunch, then we all drove up to a really high mountain outside the city. We walked around for a little bit, admiring the view, and then we all gathered and President Fusco offered the dedicatory prayer. It was a really cool experience. The Spirit was very strong there. 

Friday was the Brazil vs.Columbia game, so we all stayed in the house. It gets really loud during the games - people are lighting off firecrackers, yelling, and blasting their over sized stereos. So we just chill and try not to go crazy.  There are only a couple more games left, and all this madness will finally be over haha. Despite not being able to work too much during the week, we had a really good day of work on Saturday. There were a ton of new people that we met and started to teach. At one point, we were teaching a group of 11 or 12 people out on the sidewalk. It's really cool for me to see the progress I have made with speaking Portuguese. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing all of these new people progress and make positive changes in their lives!

thank you for all your thoughts and prayers!

um abraço,

Elder Poulson

Some scenery from the top of the mountain where we hiked with the mission President

a mall in Fortaleza all decked out for the cup

missionaries of Quixadá and President/Sister Fusco

me and Elder Padial, who met the grandparents Nelson while they were on their mission here in Brazil! he lives in the same house as me right now. 

 

Week 39

Dear Family & friends,

This week was also a little slow...there was a Brazil game on Monday, so we were confined to our house. We had to travel to Fortaleza on Tuesday, and we had a mission conference on Wednesday so we weren't able to do much work until Thursday and Friday.  On Saturday was ANOTHER Brazil game, so we had to stay home. Sunday was good, we had four baptisms, and the other missionaries in the city had 3, so there were a total of 7 baptisms in Quixadá.

We also hit a milestone in our sacrament meeting attendance on Sunday....50 people!!!!  That was a big thing for us and we are really excited about that. Anyway, sorry this email is so short, but as you can see, we spent several days doing nothing, so I'll spare y'all the details of how I organized my suitcases and what I bought at the store. Anyway, have an awesome week, and thank you so much for all your thoughts and prayers!

um abraço,
Elder Poulson