July 4, 2011 (First Letter)

Dear Family,

Thank you for the advice. Something that has shocked me is how young the church is here. There are members, and it is growing, but it is so young. A lot of the members don’t have strong testimonies and fall away often. A lot of people believe also that every religion is correct, that they all lead to God. This to me is the biggest challenge that they could have. Because we have several members in our ward that believe the church is true but so are all the others. I showed an investigator with this belief Ephesians 4:5 which states that there is one Lord, one faith and one baptism, but when someone’s mind is set upon its own traditions, it is hard to break through. We now have 4 investigators, a family of 3- Marcel, Bianca-and Mateus who is about 11 years old. Bianca is late teens and the mom is single and is pretty set in her own ways, but that just means it will take time, or the spirit will touch her sooner. I guess we just have to wait and see. The last one is Vito- he is a cool guy in his 50´s that was a referral from a sister in our ward. He has
a large family and I can see us going far with him. I am really excited about him.

We have a area book now, our area was split with the sisters and we took half of their book. So this is good news. Tracting-we have been tracting all over the place, but sometimes i feel like that is all we are doing… walking. My companion is awesome- love him.

As I said before, the Church is very young here. I remember what you said to me before I left and I believe this to be true. I was raised in the church watching responsible missionaries; I had the best examples in front of me every day. I believe I am partially here to, through example, show how things should be, this feels right to me and the spirit testifies of it. I am so grateful for the opportunity and know who the Lord calls, he qualifies. And most importantly, he will help along the way, it seems daunting right now, but then i remember my Savior, and that He knows what is happening here, He has experienced this and will bless us through the spirit, prayers, and diligence.  Sometimes we just need to take a step back and look at the big picture and see what needs to be done. We need to get in and out with the members, say hi, share a message, set up a family night with referrals, and leave, starting and ending with prayer of course. I am thinking about asking the Bishop if i could speak on missionary work and get some excitement in our ward. Thank you for all the ideas and reminders.

There are two Ipanemas in Brazil, the famous one in Rio de janeiro and one in Porto Alegre .

I love you and am so grateful for you, Dad and Mom in my life.  I still have your father’s day letter; we don’t have a post office in our area. In my blessing it says I have been blessed with you two so that i could learn from your examples. I see that more now than ever. Still loving the work and especially my personal study.

Love,

Elder Dawson

June 27, 2011

Querido Família!  

I have had one busy week, that is for sure, but every moment has been joyfully and I've kept a smile on my face. So as you heard, I am in the Ipanema Norte area, which is technically in Porto Alegre, but not central. We are a city in the midst of jungles and hills. I love it. My companion is Elder Araújo from Salvador, Brasil. He has been out a year and 3 months and is the man. I love this guy. He knows how to have fun while working. This is a great thing. We get along great. Unfortunately we haven’t had a chance to teach together yet...I will get to this in a little bit.

Yes we are right on the water pretty much! Very humid which makes it very cold, winter started the day I arrived (Tuesday)? And there are hills aplenty, but worry not, my legs and feet are fine, not a blister or anything, a blessing I guess. It is totally green everywhere. It is really beautiful too. A lot of the streets are kind of like cobblestone with green green trees everywhere. And according to my companion, our area is huge, we do a lot of walking. There is the rich rich above us and the poor poor below us. One thing I love though is that all the families stay together. Someone gets married and has kids, they build onto the land. We have some members, which are awesome, that have 4 houses deep into the jungle. By the last house it looks like you are in the middle of the rain forest. But it is not hot; in fact it is getting pretty cold. But cold is better than hot for a missionary, then again I didn’t go to Philly or Russia so I don't know. It has been overcast everyday with rain some days; this is to be expected here. But when it rains the dogs bark less! I think having Toby was just preparing me for my mission ;).

Oh and my comp speaks a little english... :)

Our house! I like it and apparently it is really nice for the mission! We even have a bbq thing in the back! We have a washer, a line to hang clothes, a shower, fridge, stove, water, a roof, 2 desks, and a dog that likes to sing us lullaby’s when we are going to bed! Ha! I do love it though, funny story- Elder Araúju and I were walking home last night and he mentioned taking a hot shower, I laughed and asked what he was talking about(I have been taking cold showers every day) He started laughing and laughing and laughing! I thought that i would be taking freezing showers for the rest of my mission but he showed me how to have hot water...this morning was a good morning.

So our ward is awesome and big too! A lot of part family members and they are great, they love to feed us. Oh and I get fed everyday too. There is a list for the month and it is full :)! We live about 10 minutes from the capela. But the food couldn’t be better! I have rice, black beans, and some type of meat every lunch and I love it. I actually crave it! I think I am going to get a little big...nope! I am using those 30 minutes in the morning to the max! But it is great! And they will occasionally have coke with a little lime in the cup, sooo good. I recommend it, except with orange limes...good luck with that part.

Sounds like Ashley is having a blast with her summer off! Wow you are going all out with the missionary deco huh...hear that brothers?  Everything else sounds wonderful there!

The work here is moving, slowly, but moving. I can feel the spirit in our lives but the people and addresses that we just attained are just not cooperating. When we arrived our area book was empty and we are both new to the area. I haven’t been able to teach a real lesson yet, and we are doing all we can. It is a test of faith, patience for sure, My companion says this too. We will find our success here, just patience and prayers...hint hint.

And you mail to the mission office, I will receive letters every so often from them. Wow you are talking to my friends more than I did! Send them my love and tell Cafe Rumba that I can now make better food than them! Not the bosses of course...I am so glad you are feeling better mom, you will keep recovering for sure, let me know how this is going please, with more details perhaps... :)

Much love from Brasil!

I love you all and look to your examples daily,

Ciao

Elder Dawson

PS.  Oh! and today 8 elders and 2 sisters from our zone came over and we had a fiest! gaucho style churrasco, rice, and the works! It was delicious and I was sure to get pictures, 2 elders travelled 3 hours to come to our apartment for this. I guess we are one of the only ones with a bbq! We had a great time. Much love!