Elder Oaks is coming!

January 14, 2013

Bom dia!

Im glad to hear that things are going well! I was a little worried when I didnt get an email last week but I know that the Lord is protecting you all. I love you so much!

We had a rough week this week. A lot of walking and not a lot of getting into peoples houses to teach. Its hard when you have weeks like that but you just gotta keep going. We had the zone leader counsel and learned a few things. First, ELDER DALLIN H. OAKS IS COMING TO OUR MISSION ON THE 26TH!!!!!!!!!! I am soooooooooo excited. He is coming with President Claudio R. M. Costa and Bishop Stevenson. They are coming only to visit our mission and then go back to the USA. No one knows exactly why they are coming, even President Cordon, but they are going to talk to us all and it is going to be amazing. There are rumors going around that they are coming to tell us that our mission is going to split. Thats very very possible but we will have to see what happens. I cant wait. Its going to be an amazing day. And... We will be going to the temple that very same week on the 23. Nothing better to prepare to meet an apostle than going to the temple. Next week is going to be the best week ever. We also learned that there are a lot of missionaries doing a lot of bad things in our mission and we are going to have to crack down on that. Want to see me get mad? Go on a mission and break the rules. Theres no excuse. We promised to keep these rules when we signed our mission call.

I am glad to hear that my Christmas presents made it home safe! I hope you enjoy them! I got a lot of letters this week and I just want to thank everyone that wrote to me. I will write each person back but i just wanted to thank you all as fast as possible. Please tell our ward thank you so much for the christmas cards that I got and the letter that I got from the stake young men and young women.

We had a really cool experience this week. We were walking home at night and this homeless man stopped us in the street and wanted food. I thought he was going to rob us but he looked at us with tears in his eyes and said that he used to be a branch president and worker at the temple. He got into some bad habits and broke some commandments and ended up in the street. He opened his backpack and the only thing that he had was the scriptures. He started crying and I remembered that I had some apples in my backpack that we had forgotten to eat that afternoon. So I gave them to him and he looked at me and said, You can give me much more than this. I thought he was talking about food but then he said, You can give me a Priesthood blessing. So we did. We knelt down right there in the street and gave him a blessing. It was an incredible moment. I really do know that the Priesthood is real and that it can be used to bless the lives of other people. I am so grateful that I was worthy in that moment to use my Priesthood to give him a blessing. We ALWAYS need to be worthy to use the Priesthood. You never know when someone might need your help.

I love you all so much and I hope that you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Big T

BAPTISM!

January 7, 2013

Bom dia!

Well, Im not sure what happened but I didnt get an email from you this week. I hope everything is going well. I got three of Syds and maybe you meant to send it with them. Who knows. But i hope you are all doing well and had a Happy New Year!!

This week was amazing. Want to know why? We had a BAPTISM!!!!!!!!! Saulo was finally baptized and it was so so so good. He was so happy and he kept telling us that he was sorry that he didnt get baptized earlier haha but the baptismal service was very good and I got to sing a solo of I Know That My Redeemer Lives in English and Portuguese. It went really well and Saulo loved it. I love that song. Its one of the only hymns that I like to sing powerfully haha

We had transfers today and Elder Joás and I will stay together for at least 6 more weeks! Our zone didnt change very much. But both of our district leaders were transferred so we will have to see what happens there. Im excited to stay here and to keep working with Elder Joás. He is great and the area is getting better. We are finding new people and marking baptismal dates. The only problem is that the members dont want to help us out. Its hard to help a ward that doesnt want the help. But we will change their attitudes about that.

My foot is doing a lot better. But now Elder Joás is the one with foot problems. We usually wake up a little earlier than usuall to go play basketball at the church and on Saturday he rolled his ankle really bad and is now on crutches. We still need to go to the doctor to see what happened. Its not broken but its pretty swollen. He has a hard time getting around so we are walking really slowly now haha but he will get better soon and be back to 100%

We have a member in our ward that has a very bad disease and he is dying. The doctors told him that he has less than a year left to live. He is amazing and loves the missionaries. His whole family abandoned him a few years ago because of the disease and he lives alone. We bought a cake and visited him this week and he said that one thing that he would love to eat is beef jerkey. Dad if you could send some to me to give to him I think it would make his life. I love him and I just want to see him happy.

So, Im about to cry about this one but can you all tell Lincoln good luck for me and that I love him so much. I forgot what day that he leaves but I know that its coming up soon. Please tell him that he will be a great missionary and that he is going to change so many peoples lives. I know that the people of Missouri are going to love him. The mission is one of the greatest times and I am so glad to see that he will be out here. Give him a huge hug for me!

Well, I love you all and I hope that you are all enjoying the snow!

Love,
Elder Big T

                                                           Saulo's Baptism!  Awesome!

                           I love pasta salad!  But, it wasn't as good as mom's.  I can't wait to eat that!

Happy New Year! Feliz ano novo!

December 31, 2012

Happy new year! Feliz ano novo!

First I just want to say that it was soooooo good to talk to all of you and see all of your happy faces. I love you all so much and you all mean so much to me. Sorry I got my cry face on so much. I just cant tell you how much I love all of you. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. Sorry I got you all so worried about my foot. It is feeling a lot better now. I still have a little pain in my ankle but its a lot better than it was last week. Thank you so much for your prayers. I know that they are being answered.

This week was good and we did a lot of teaching and contacting people. We had more sucess with finding new people to teach and finally someone accepted a baptismal date!
Actually two people! We should have a baptism this Sunday. His name is Saulo and he actually lives in my last area haha but he works in our apartment building and he is here every weekend. We have been teaching him for a while and finally accepted a baptismal date for this Sunday!

We were teaching one lesson this week and we were sitting outside under a tree because it was too hot to stay in their house. Well, we were just about done with the lesson and I felt a big SPLAT on the collar of my shirt. I thought it was just water so I tried to brush it off but when I looked at my hand I saw that it was bird poop! I wanted to run in the house and wash it off but we kept teaching and finished the lesson. It was really cool because we were teaching this married couple and the lady saw what happened. The cool part was that at the end of the lesson she said, Wow. This lesson must mean a lot to you that you waited until the end to clean yourself off. I was able to bear my testimony and tell her just how much this gospel really means to me. Who thought that getting pooped on could be so spiritual?!

Dad, Elder Joás loves you. He said that I talk about you all the time haha and its true. Dad you are my hero. I am so lucky and proud to have a dad like you. We were talking with the Bishop this week at the church and a lady came up and got mad at him. When she left he looked at us and said that the most hated man in the ward is the bishop haha I thought about that for a while and I dont remember hearing anyone say anything bad about you. I am so grateful for your example and the love that you have for everyone. I really do want to grow up to be just like my dad.

Mom, I love you and you look amazing. You dont look like you have aged at all. There is this lady that we are teaching that is pregnant and I always thought that she was at least 50. Well, I found out that she is 43 this week haha mom and dad you both look very young and I love you both so much.

I am so excited for 2013! Can you believe that tomorrow I will be able to say, Im going home this year.? Crazy huh. Time is flying. I hope you have a happy new year full of peace and joy. I love you all so much. One thing that I want to do this next year is to develop more patience. i think I spelled that wrong but I still want more of it haha I just want to tell Scott that I am so sorry for all of the times that I got mad at him or yelled at him. Scott I love you and I know that you will be an amazing missionary. I know that everyone will love you because they already do. I know that this is the Lords work and that you will be a great instrument in the Lords hands.

I love you!

Love, 

Elder Big T.

Nativity scene at the Curitiba temple

                                             Narrating Christmas play and Christmas conference!

Everything has my name on it.  Trevo in portuguese means four leaf clover. 

So, my name pretty much means good luck!!

December 24, 2012

December 24, 2012

I will call tomorrow at 6 o clock in the afternoon. Thats curitiba time. I think it will be 1 o clock your time but you need to make sure. And you need to have Skype ready! Be sure to tell Natalie. I am sooooooooo excited to talk to all of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Go Cougars! and FELIZ NATAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bom dia!

I am so glad to hear that mom was so spoiled on her birthday! She deserves it. Shes the best. I love you mom.

I havent gotten any Christmas packages yet but they should be getting here shortly.

This week was quite eventful. Syd and I have been out for one whole year! Thats so weird to me. I was walking with my companion on Wednesday and I thought to myself, I have been wearing these same clothes every day for the past year haha It was pretty funny. I am so gratful for the past year and for the next year to come. I have learned so much and I love being a missionary.

On tuesday I got to be an assistant for a day! We did a division with the assistants and I got to go to their area and work there. It was good and I learned a lot. We got to go buy a few things for President Cordon. Assistants have a lot of things to do haha but it was really good. Tuesday and Saturday we had our CHristmas performances. It was so good. I dont know if you have heard of The Brighams but they are a band here in Curitiba and their lead singer is in our ward! They performed with us and it was really good. Saturday was at the temple and there were tons of people. I saw a lot of people from my other areas and I got to talk with them for a while. I love the people that I have met and the ones that I have helped here.

So I still dont know what time I will call on Christmas but I know that I will use Skype and that the call will be in the afternoon for me. Its a 5 hour difference here so it might still be morning for you. I dont know if I will be able to email you on the 24th so just be ready to answer the call at any moment on Christmas so that you can see my beautiful face :) I AM SO EXCITED TO TALK TO YOU!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday I received my first gift of Christmas. We ate lunch with a family and they gave us both a big box of chocolates. I was so happy haha well, we then got a call that one of the ward members needed us to go to the hospital to give a blessing to a girl who was going into surgery. We had already been there once before this week so we ran and gave her a blessing. This girl is handicap and the last time we went she was really angry. THis time she was laughing and smiling. It was so fun. The whole time that we were there I had the strongest feeling that I needed to give her my box of chocolates. I tried to fight off the feeling haha but it wouldnt leave. So right before we left I gave it to her and told her Merry CHristmas. SHe was so happy and then I saw here mom crying. SHe said that she didnt have enough money to buy her daughter anything for Christmas and she thought that she wouldnt get any presents. I cried with her and she thanked me so many times. I now know that giving is so much better than receiving. I was so happy to get the candy but soooooo much happier to see the girls mom crying when I gave it to her. THats what Christmas is all about.

I love you all and I cant wait to see all of you on CHristmas!!!!!!!!

Love,

Elder Big T

Bom stinkin' hot dia!

This week has been one of the hottest weeks of my life. Its been 95 degrees or more every single day. One day this lady told us that on the news they said that it was 36 dgrees C which is about 97 degrees F. Well, she said that with the humidity and everything that the feeling outside was as if it was 51 degrees C which is 123 degrees F!!!! They said that it was the hottest place on the earth if you can believe that. I dont think I have ever sweat this much in my life. But its good :)

FELIZ ANIVERSÁRIO MÃE!!!!! I hope you have a great day and that you still feel like youre 29. Even though your waaaaaaay older than that ;) i love you so much mom. I really cant even tell you how much. You mean the world to me.

We had our monthly zone leader counsel this week and it went really well. Its fun to be one of the top dogs now and to get to know everything that is going on in the mission. Pres. Cordon said that in the next transfer we will be getting 18 new missionaries and the one after that we will get 20 more. Our mission is probably going to split next year. That would be so cool. The work really is growing and things are getting crazy here. The leaders have a lot to do and we are always running around like chickens with our heads cut off. I dont think I have eaten at night in the last two weeks haha but I love it!!

We are singing in a choir for Christmas and our first performance is tomorrow night! Wish me luck. Friday we get to sing at the Temple and its going to be amazing. I love Christmas!!

Nat, I still havent gotten your package. Im starting to think that you never sent one.....Just kiddin :) I think someone stole it. Thats not good. I need to teach this person a lesson. The lesson I would teach him would be the 10 commandments haha

I really want to use Skype to call home for CHristmas. Yes Nat you are invited :) I dont know what time I will call you but I will let you know next week. Our P day was changed for Christmas week so it will be on the 25th. So the 24th I wont be able to send you an email. Just be ready for me to call on CHristmas haha

I love you all and I hope that you have a wonderful week. I know that Christ was born to save us all.

Love,

Elder Big T.

Welcome December

Bom dia!!!

I am having a hard time today with all of the people that are passing away. We learned of one more that I will tell you about a little later in my email. But their families are all in my prayers and I hope they all know that I love them.

This was a very crazy week. I am still trying to get used to being a zone leader and all of the things that we have to do but it is going well and I am happy. The area is very different. We are right in the center of Curitiba and we take care of two wards so our area is huge. We dont have a lot of investigators so we do a lot of walking a talking to people in the streets. Its been kind of a hard week for me but I know that God answers prayers. Thursday night I just felt like giving up. I wanted to be home and not have to be here in this area where I dont know anyone. So that night I knelt down and just poured myself out to the Lord. I prayed for about 40 minutes. I needed help and I needed it fast. I knew that He was the only one that could help me and I think that was the first time that I have really let out all of my feelings to the Lord. Well, I went to bed and just trusted that the Lord would help me to get up and going in the morning. I woke up in the morning and had more energy and spirit than ever before on my mission. I know with all of my heart that God answers prayers. I know that he loves each one of us and that He wants us to be happy.

I dont have a lot of time but I just wanted to share one thing that happened this week. We were visiting some less active members yesterday and we went to this one apartment building and the lady said that we could come up. Neither of us knew who she was but we went up and she opened the door and it was a family from my first area! Their aunt lives there and they were there visiting her. This family is very nice and me and Elder Clift visited them two or three times a week to help them to come back to church while we were there. Well, the first thing that the girl told me was that she had some bad news. She is about 20 and she has been married for almost two years. The first blessing that I ever gave in Portuguese was to her daughter. Well, she told me that three weeks ago her husband fell on the train tracks and was hit by the train and died. I couldnt believe it. It was very hard for her and we talked about the plan of salvation and everyone was crying. After, we gave her a blessing and I was able to give it to her. I cried through the whole thing but I had the biggest feeling the she would see him again one day. I just want you all to know that I know that the plan of salvation is true and that we really can be together forever. 

I love you all so much and I hope Abbey as a great birthday this week! I will write to you today abs :)

Love, 

Elder Big T

                                                            Eewww!  What is it?

                                                              Elder Taylor & Elder Poe

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