Conference and Brazilian Apostle

Alô meus queridos!

So this week was spectacular! So first off we visited a lot of new people but also our mission made a goal of doing 500 contacts this week and.... we did 614! BUT mainly because I did the math wrong but it was really cool! We were able to talk to a lot of new people that we wouldn’t have normally and I think we will do a lot more of that. Alright so I won’t really talk about a lot of other things I will just talk about General Conference. So first off, it was great to see all of these new changes and I am glad that we have a living prophet that can receive revelation for God’s people! It was amazing to see the differences in the elders and high priests quorums and the change from home/visiting teaching to just being called Ministering. I think it is important to note that now our goal (as it always should be) is focused on people. I think the brethren saw that there needed to be a bigger focus on that. Also, I heard "Prepare to meet God" about 15 times so I think that we should prepare haha. But I would just like to finish by saying that I love and support the new prophet, President Russell M. Nelson and I am glad to support the new apostles, Elder Gong, and Elder Soares (who is Brazilian! WHAT UP go Brazil haha). I love you guys and hope that everyone has a great week! 

Amo Vocês, 

Elder Kupferer

Baptisms Just Keep Coming

Hey how is everyone doing?! I am great because there were some baptisms this week!

The people that were baptized were Rita and Samyra. Rita is the sister of Luis André and she was really excited to get baptized. She was really ready and she said that she feels really light now and really happy. So that was amazing to help her. Samyra actually said about the same thing. She was super excited during the whole week and on Sunday when she was baptized you could really see the light in her eyes. She was so happy and it is always great to help people make these saving ordenances becuase you can see how their lives really change for the better. It is never for the worst unless they choose to leave the path. But this week was fun. Sorry this email is short I just really wanted to get this across. Have a great week!

Amo Vocês, 

Elder Kupferer

Know the Savior

Alô! Tudo Ótimo!

This week has been really good!  So first off, our washing machine broke so we were washing our clothes by hands until we got a new machine on Wednesday. Man I have never been so happy to see a washing machine in my life. You never know what you are taking for granted until it’s gone. So I am using my new machine a lot recently.

Second, we had a Zone Conference that was amazing! We talked a lot about being focused on Christ and having fire in your bones, which is fed and kept by your testimony. I have learned that we need to continue to grow our testimony, especially in Christ and that we need to KNOW THE SAVIOR.

Third, because of that conference, everyone was really excited this week and on Sunday we resolved to do three baptismal interviews, two of which were in our area. So the first one was Samira, who I taught before I went to Teresópolis but when I got back, she was still going but no one invited her to be baptized. So we just invited her, and Elder Ricks did the interview and she passed! So she is prepping for this Sunday to be baptized. THEN later that night I went to Rita's house with Elder Western, (she is the sister of Luis André) and he did her interview. When she left the interview, she was crying a bit.... BECAUSE SHE PASSED!!! Man, Elder Western said that she was the person mais pronto (More ready? Most ready? something like that) that he has seen. So she is getting ready for Saturday. AND THEN it went a little downhill hahaha. I went to do an interview with Luis, the investigator of the other elders and when I went to do the interview, he started to talk a lot about the other church that he was involved in. So he wasn’t really ready to be baptized this week but he will continue to work with them and if he does, he definitely will be baptized.

And this is something that I have learned that all that we need to do is to ask of God. So I will do a goal with everyone of you. I want everyone to read James 1:5-6, and then ask if the Book of Mormon is true. I promise as a representative of Christ that you WILL receive an answer.

Amo Vocês, 

Elder Kupferer

James 1:5 -6  

5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

Starting New with the Old

What up pessoal!!! How is everyone doing?

So this week has been an adventure. So on Tuesday I went to the bus station to get my new companion. AND I got an American!! His name is Elder Ogden and he is from.... Draper Utah, not Ogden (man that would be cool). He only has four months on the mission but is already talking really good.

So when he showed up we started to get to work. This week didn’t have many really cool things that happened. BUT, Elder Ogden had a birthday so we celebrated with pancakes, cake, and work haha. We then invited some people to church, and three people came, which were all amazing. Two of them are some people that I, Elder Western, Elder Kzescik, Elder Arroyo, Elder Davis, and many more tried to get to go to church and he finally went yesterday!!! Man was I surprised haha. Oh other really cool thing that happened, we had ward conference and the chapel was PACKED!! We actually showed up late and couldn’t even find seats! They had to open the back. Man was I so happy. I have been with this ward for about 8 months now and that was the first time that is has been that packed. I am glad that I have been able to see the ward grow that much. So there was one more person that showed up and her name is Rita. She was one of the people I was teaching before I left (the sister of Luis André) but she wasn’t baptized because she never went to church. But she went this time and that night we went and we marked a baptism date with her! It was a really great day. Well I have to go I hope that everyone has a great rest of the week!

Amo Vocês, 

Elder Kupferer

I Can't Leave this Place

Hey how is everyone doing?

So this week has been an adventure. First off, I hit my one year mark!! I can’t believe how fast that has happened. It feels like yesterday that I got on the plane to come here and now I am one year in Brazil. But something happened in the middle of the week.... I got transferred. It was a bit of a bummer because it didn’t have any time to say goodbye to everyone but I packed everything and left Thursday morning. And this would be the end of the story getting to Juiz de Fora but no, there was a good amount of other stuff that happened.

So, when I was trying to pay my ticket, I had to show my Brazilian identity, but the paper I had expired. I already renewed my VISA but the problem was that I would get a card to replace the paper but it never showed up. SO the lady wouldn’t let me buy a ticket. And with all that, I and my friend that was being transferred with me, Elder Bledsoe, did not have a cell phone. SO we tried to buy a card to use the public phone but there weren’t any left. Then we went to the information desk and they said that the best option is to go to the police. SO they kindly watched our bags as we went to the military police (the normal police there) and asked if we could use their phone. One of them let us use their personal phone, we made the call, we got a copy of my passport to see if that would work, and we returned. BUT THAT DIDN'T WORK EITHER. So we just used the phone of a guy that let us use his phone in the bus station to call for our president, who said go to Três Rios then go to Juiz de Fora. Oh and the whole problem was that I can’t travel across state borders unless I have my identity so we went to try to cross the state border in Três Rios (which is still the state of Rio) AND.... IT WORKED!!! Man that was one of the longest days and was one of the happiest times of my life when I arrived in Juiz de Fora. 

What happened next is that we helped a bit in the staff and then we received our new assignments yesterday and I will go to....... BAIRU!! DE NOVO! I will return to the same area that I served before I went to Teresópolis but I am excited because my new companion, Elder Ogden is really cool, and my district will be amazing. But seriously, I can’t leave this place hahaha. Anyways, I hope that everyone has a great week!!

Amo Vocês, 

Elder Kupferer

Running Around Doing Interviews

Monday, February 26, 2018

Opá! Tudo bom!?

Dude so this week was one of hard work, miracles, and one of the most tiring weeks of my mission. 

So, President sent a letter out that said that CADA DUPLA DE FÉ VAI BATIZAR (Each companionship with faith, will baptize) this week. So I used this in the district meeting and we just talked about faith and it was one of the most spirit filled meeting of my mission. It was really powerful, and then that day.... nothing happened. haha 

But then Wednesday, we did splits, and I went in our area and... we marked two baptismal dates! I didn’t believe it! Actually everyone in the district marked a date for Saturday. 

Also, in the district meeting, I said that I wanted to run from place to place, doing interviews for everyone and that is what I did haha. On Friday, I started in the São Pedro area and.... the guy sumiu (disappeared) he wasn’t there. So we waited a little longer but he didn’t show up. So, we went to the next one, Wagner, and he passed! That was really cool. That is one of the things that I like the most is to see all these people in the interviews is to see that they are ready to serve the Lord and to make this big step. So after Wagner, I crossed the city to do the interview of Roberto, who passed also! So there was one more thing that went bad, none of our investigators passed or the mom didn’t sign the paper. So out of 5 dates, only two were baptized. But I learned something. I learned that if you do your best, it doesn’t matter if you baptize. Yes that is our focus, but I knew that I did my best and everything will happen in the Lord’s time. 

I hope everyone has an amazing week!

Amo Vocês, 

Elder Kupferer

Walking All the Way to Petropolis (Almost)

Monday, February 19, 2018

Alô!!!

So this week was amazing and full of adventure. So first off, we did splits on Wednesday with Elder Cruz (my group) and Elder Souza. So I took Elder Souza to the country just to knock on doors, do contacts and just start more work out there because there are a lot of good people there. HOWEVER, when we got to the first neighborhood, Imbiu, I felt a distinct impression to go visit Maria Gouveia. Only thing about that is that Maria lives in Vale Alpino which is more or less 2 hours walking. But I have learned to follow the Spirit so.....off we went.

So as we were going, we did some contacts, taught a lesson to a new investigator Sandro, and continued to walk. As we were walking we would just pick goiaba (guava) and acerola (that’s the name, like a cherry) on the way. Oh, and on the way two dogs thought it would be cool to follow us so that was pretty sweet as well. But anyway, we continued walking until a bridge that had a right (to Vale Alpino) and a left and I went.....left. I continued to walk and walk, I passed an ice cream factory, one more dog, and just kept going until a motorcycle pulled up next to us and asked if we were lost. I said that we were trying to find Maria Gouveia and he said, "Uau, você está muito ferrado" (You are really screwed). So he apparently is an inactive member that told us that we picked the wrong road that would lead to Itaipava, which is in Petropolis, and that we only had time now to take the bus back to the city. So, I felt pretty down about myself when we were heading back because I felt we wasted our time but then a miracle happened. We were waiting and a car pulled up asking if we wanted a ride. We said of course (now, alright I know this might not sound the best but I already have seen them in church so I thought we were safe) and we hopped in. It turns out it was a sister of the church that usually gives us money for lunch, but now she told us where she lives so that we can visit them and that next time we will eat all-you-can-eat pizza. So I learned that we should always follow the Spirit, even though the outcome won’t be the same as you thought.

So I ran out of time because I wrote this story so I will just leave one thing that happened on Sunday. I was walking to the stake center (I was about 20 minutes away still) and it started to pour! I also thought that I didn’t have my umbrella (but it turned out that I had one haha) so I walked the rest of the way to the stake center just getting poured on and I was SOAKED by the time I got there. I didn’t dry off completely until I got home, and this was because I got out of the wet clothes. So that was fun.

I hope everyone has an amazing week.

Amo Vocês, 

Elder Kupferer