3 more emails!
Hey All!
This week was super good. I had a leadrship training in Natal this week. While there I got to meet up with some old friends; Elder Ferreira, and a few others. At the end of the training President invited me to share my last testimony in the mission. It's getting really real now. I'm starting to realize that my mission is really going to end, and I'm going to come home. I feel like the mission has gone by so fast, and I'm going to really miss the work I do here.
I feel like I've fulfilled the goals and expectations I had before I came on the mission. I imagined a lot of people slamming the door in my face, and throwing water and spitting, but none of that happened here in Brazil. The people her are way nicer than that. People told me I'd get assaulted, and would probably get sick with the water, maybe I'd get bit by dogs. Up until this week, I just hadn't been bit by a dog yet, but I finally got my chance on Saturday. When we visted an investigator, she had a big dog that bit my leg :P He didn't break my skin, but I had some teeth shaped bruises for a few days. the dog bit another member on the stomach, and he bled a little bit. I guess I should be a little more careful from now on when I enter peoples houses who have guard dogs that arent chained up.. I'm fine now though :)
I'm glad to hear that Mom Tammy found a place to live now, and that Benjamin survived the MTC. I can't wait to hear how Boston is. I bet the missionaries there have cars and cell phones and bikes. A mission isn't a mission when you don't have to walk to your appointments.. Amber should know.
Tomorrow we'll have a training with the area 70, Elder Masagardi. I don't know how to spell his name.. but I'm pretty excited.
I finally got Mom Tammy's package :) thank you :)
I can't think of anything else thats going on. Elder Dantas and I are getting along great. I'll try to take some pictures with him soon and send them to you guys.
I love you, and miss you a lot. Just 32 more days!
Love, Elder Forsyth
Friday, June 29, 2012
5/21/12
4 more emails!
Hi All!
:) I`m super happy with my new companion. He´s a lot like me and we get along really well. He helps me clean the house, and we go running together, and we eat breakfast together. His name is Elder Dantas, and he´s from a state nearby in the north of Brazil. He´s been on the mission for 3 months now and this is his second area.
When I got back from Mossoró this week, the my area in Assu was a mess. The house was stinky, because we hadn´t taken out the trash, and all the food in the fridge went bad. There was garbage everywhere. Elder Dantas and I went to work immediatly. We cleaned the whole house, and took a huge box of garbage out to the street. There were a lot of things broken in the bathroom, like the shower and the toilet, so we bought some parts and fixed everything there. Now we have 2 working showers and a toilet that flushes. now the only problems are that one bathroom doesn´t have a door, and one of the toilets is still broken, but that toilet is beyond repair, so I´m not going to worry about it.
We don´t have many investigators anymore, so we´re basically opening the area again. In the last 4 days, we taught 26 lessons, and found over 20 new investigators, but none of this investigators went to church on Sunday. We´ll have to go back and visit all these people next week to see who will progress.
With my new comp, I´m really feeling a lot better now. Running in the mornings is helping a lot too. It´s a stress reliever. I´m sleeping great at night, and I´m pretty optimistic about the area. We´re just going to have to work a lot to get a strong teaching pool. I´m hoping we find some people to baptize this transfer.
I love you guys a lot! I can´t believe that in just 39 days I´ll be back with you guys. keep choosing the right. The church is true. I´m certain of that, because I´ve already seen the blessings that the gosple has brought into my life. Have a great week, and I´ll try to send some photos next week. Elder Dantas has a good camera that we can use.
Love you all!
Love, Elder Forsyth
Hi All!
:) I`m super happy with my new companion. He´s a lot like me and we get along really well. He helps me clean the house, and we go running together, and we eat breakfast together. His name is Elder Dantas, and he´s from a state nearby in the north of Brazil. He´s been on the mission for 3 months now and this is his second area.
When I got back from Mossoró this week, the my area in Assu was a mess. The house was stinky, because we hadn´t taken out the trash, and all the food in the fridge went bad. There was garbage everywhere. Elder Dantas and I went to work immediatly. We cleaned the whole house, and took a huge box of garbage out to the street. There were a lot of things broken in the bathroom, like the shower and the toilet, so we bought some parts and fixed everything there. Now we have 2 working showers and a toilet that flushes. now the only problems are that one bathroom doesn´t have a door, and one of the toilets is still broken, but that toilet is beyond repair, so I´m not going to worry about it.
We don´t have many investigators anymore, so we´re basically opening the area again. In the last 4 days, we taught 26 lessons, and found over 20 new investigators, but none of this investigators went to church on Sunday. We´ll have to go back and visit all these people next week to see who will progress.
With my new comp, I´m really feeling a lot better now. Running in the mornings is helping a lot too. It´s a stress reliever. I´m sleeping great at night, and I´m pretty optimistic about the area. We´re just going to have to work a lot to get a strong teaching pool. I´m hoping we find some people to baptize this transfer.
I love you guys a lot! I can´t believe that in just 39 days I´ll be back with you guys. keep choosing the right. The church is true. I´m certain of that, because I´ve already seen the blessings that the gosple has brought into my life. Have a great week, and I´ll try to send some photos next week. Elder Dantas has a good camera that we can use.
Love you all!
Love, Elder Forsyth
Thursday, June 28, 2012
5/16/12
Well it´s only been 3 days since I last talked to you on the phone:) All is well. This week went great with Elder Fonseca. We worked a lot and got a lot done. Now we´ve received the transfer, and I´ll be going back to Assu.
My new companion is Elder Dantas. He´s a Brazilian that has about 3 months out on the mission. He seems kind of shy, but he said he likes to work, so I think we´ll get along great.
I really don´t have much else to tell you guys. I´m doing fine and I´m happy. The church is true.
I´m glad to hear that Ben is having such a great time. Everything for him is so new, and now I´m already used to everything. I'm excited to work hard this transfer, but then afterward, I´m excited to come home :P you guys made me super trunky in the phone call.... just talking about movies and cars and school and vacations....
I´ll email you guys again in just a few days, on Monday. I´ll tell you all about my new investigators, and my new companion, and my area, but until then, I´ll just send you this short email.
I love you guys so much! thanks for your love and support.
Love, Elder Forsyth
My new companion is Elder Dantas. He´s a Brazilian that has about 3 months out on the mission. He seems kind of shy, but he said he likes to work, so I think we´ll get along great.
I really don´t have much else to tell you guys. I´m doing fine and I´m happy. The church is true.
I´m glad to hear that Ben is having such a great time. Everything for him is so new, and now I´m already used to everything. I'm excited to work hard this transfer, but then afterward, I´m excited to come home :P you guys made me super trunky in the phone call.... just talking about movies and cars and school and vacations....
I´ll email you guys again in just a few days, on Monday. I´ll tell you all about my new investigators, and my new companion, and my area, but until then, I´ll just send you this short email.
I love you guys so much! thanks for your love and support.
Love, Elder Forsyth
5/7/12
6 more emails!
What a crazy week!
After talking with you guys Monday I went to district meeting on
Tuesday, but instead of going to district meeting, I went to the
doctor because Elder Silva was still sick (for almost 3 weeks
straight....) they did some blood tests, but we didn´t get the results that day. When we got home we didn´t get to work.
For the past 2 weeks I´ve been calling Sister Hall almost every day because of Elder Silva's illness. She told us to buy medicines, and told Silva to drink a lot, and eat ever few minutes, but he didn´t really obey anything she said. On Wednesday he wasn´t able to work again, so that night Sister Hall and President started calling us a lot and asking about the situation. President told me to take Silva to a hospital the next day in Mossoro, an hour away. He told me to bring clothes to stay there for a few days.
On Thursday I took Elder Silva back to the doctor. He said that the blood tests didn´t show anything, but it would be good for Silva to go to the hospital because he was super dehydrated. We went to the hospital and they looked at his blood tests again. They said he had an intestinal infection and didn´t need to stay in the hospital. They gave him some stronger drugs and we went to the zone leaders house in Mossoro. I worked the rest of the day with another Elder in my district while Silva stayed in bed.
In our zone there was another Elder who was having serious feet
problems, so this Elder came and stayed with Elder Silva on Saturday and I went to this Elder's area to work with his companion, Elder Fonseca. We worked all day together, and on Sunday we went to church in his ward. After church we got a call from the zone leaders saying that our companions were going to Joao Pessoa and we´d have to work together for another week until transfers on the 15th. I don´t know what will happen with Elder Silva now. Maybe he´ll go back home to Sao Paulo, or maybe he´ll just be transfered to an area in Joao Pessoa. Right now he´s eating lunch with the President.
Now I´m going to spend this next week with another district leader, Elder Fonseca, so I don´t have a lot of details for you guys about my Mothers Day call. Elder Fonseca said I should be able to use skype in his area. I´ll try to call you guys in the afternoon, 4pm your time if i can. If I can't, I´ll try to let you guys know somehow... send me your skype names so that I can add you guys on Sunday. President wanted me to send you these rules.
Encaminhem esta parte a seus familiares: Send this part to your families
· A ligação deve durar 30-40 minutos (Manual missionário pág. 39);
The call should last 30-40 minutes (Missionary Handbook pg. 39);
· Não pode haver amigos ou familiares que não sejam os imediatos;
There can be no friends or relatives other than immediate family;
· “Cuidado com esses telefonemas para que seus pensamentos não
se distanciem do trabalho nem causem problemas financeiros a sua
família.” (Manual missionário pág. 39);
“Beware of these phone calls so your thoughts do not distance
themselves from work or cause financial problems to your family."
(Missionary Handbook pg. 39);
· Caso ultrapasse os 30-40 minutos ou não se cumpram tais
diretrizes, haverá perda de direitos do uso do e-mail. (Como na
ligação passada)
If you exceed 30-40 minutes or do not meet these guidelines, you will
lose the privilege to use e-mail. (As we’ve seen with the last phone
call).
Como ligar dos Estados Unidos para o Brasil (para os pais e
missionários americanos):
· Calling from Brazil to USA: 00 (to leave from Brazil area) +
(Brazilian operator caller such as 21) + 1 (USA intl code) + (USA
State code - like 801 for Utah) + local Utah's phone number. For
example: If I had to call to Utah I would dial: 00-21-1-801- and the
local Utah's phone number.
· Calling from USA to Brazil: 011 (to leave from USA area) +
55 (to enter in Brazil - intl. code for Brazil) + 83 (Paraiba area
code or 84 for Rio Grande do Norte area code) + local’s phone number.
For example: If I had to call João Pessoa Mission office from USA I
would dial 011-55-83-3225-2979.
I love you guys and I miss you. I´m doing fine here in my new area
and with my new companion. I´ll probably returnto my area next week,
and I´ll go back to my real work!
Love, Elder Forsyth
The church is true!
What a crazy week!
After talking with you guys Monday I went to district meeting on
Tuesday, but instead of going to district meeting, I went to the
doctor because Elder Silva was still sick (for almost 3 weeks
straight....) they did some blood tests, but we didn´t get the results that day. When we got home we didn´t get to work.
For the past 2 weeks I´ve been calling Sister Hall almost every day because of Elder Silva's illness. She told us to buy medicines, and told Silva to drink a lot, and eat ever few minutes, but he didn´t really obey anything she said. On Wednesday he wasn´t able to work again, so that night Sister Hall and President started calling us a lot and asking about the situation. President told me to take Silva to a hospital the next day in Mossoro, an hour away. He told me to bring clothes to stay there for a few days.
On Thursday I took Elder Silva back to the doctor. He said that the blood tests didn´t show anything, but it would be good for Silva to go to the hospital because he was super dehydrated. We went to the hospital and they looked at his blood tests again. They said he had an intestinal infection and didn´t need to stay in the hospital. They gave him some stronger drugs and we went to the zone leaders house in Mossoro. I worked the rest of the day with another Elder in my district while Silva stayed in bed.
In our zone there was another Elder who was having serious feet
problems, so this Elder came and stayed with Elder Silva on Saturday and I went to this Elder's area to work with his companion, Elder Fonseca. We worked all day together, and on Sunday we went to church in his ward. After church we got a call from the zone leaders saying that our companions were going to Joao Pessoa and we´d have to work together for another week until transfers on the 15th. I don´t know what will happen with Elder Silva now. Maybe he´ll go back home to Sao Paulo, or maybe he´ll just be transfered to an area in Joao Pessoa. Right now he´s eating lunch with the President.
Now I´m going to spend this next week with another district leader, Elder Fonseca, so I don´t have a lot of details for you guys about my Mothers Day call. Elder Fonseca said I should be able to use skype in his area. I´ll try to call you guys in the afternoon, 4pm your time if i can. If I can't, I´ll try to let you guys know somehow... send me your skype names so that I can add you guys on Sunday. President wanted me to send you these rules.
Encaminhem esta parte a seus familiares: Send this part to your families
· A ligação deve durar 30-40 minutos (Manual missionário pág. 39);
The call should last 30-40 minutes (Missionary Handbook pg. 39);
· Não pode haver amigos ou familiares que não sejam os imediatos;
There can be no friends or relatives other than immediate family;
· “Cuidado com esses telefonemas para que seus pensamentos não
se distanciem do trabalho nem causem problemas financeiros a sua
família.” (Manual missionário pág. 39);
“Beware of these phone calls so your thoughts do not distance
themselves from work or cause financial problems to your family."
(Missionary Handbook pg. 39);
· Caso ultrapasse os 30-40 minutos ou não se cumpram tais
diretrizes, haverá perda de direitos do uso do e-mail. (Como na
ligação passada)
If you exceed 30-40 minutes or do not meet these guidelines, you will
lose the privilege to use e-mail. (As we’ve seen with the last phone
call).
Como ligar dos Estados Unidos para o Brasil (para os pais e
missionários americanos):
· Calling from Brazil to USA: 00 (to leave from Brazil area) +
(Brazilian operator caller such as 21) + 1 (USA intl code) + (USA
State code - like 801 for Utah) + local Utah's phone number. For
example: If I had to call to Utah I would dial: 00-21-1-801- and the
local Utah's phone number.
· Calling from USA to Brazil: 011 (to leave from USA area) +
55 (to enter in Brazil - intl. code for Brazil) + 83 (Paraiba area
code or 84 for Rio Grande do Norte area code) + local’s phone number.
For example: If I had to call João Pessoa Mission office from USA I
would dial 011-55-83-3225-2979.
I love you guys and I miss you. I´m doing fine here in my new area
and with my new companion. I´ll probably returnto my area next week,
and I´ll go back to my real work!
Love, Elder Forsyth
The church is true!
4/30/12
7 more emails!
Hi All!
Well, I don´t have a lot to report.... I pretty much didn´t do anything this week :P Elder Silva has been sick almost everyday. I think I´ll need to take him to the hospital today. I don´t know what his problem is. I gave him a blessing, but I told him that the blessing would depend on him being faithful and obedient, and so far he hasn´t been either one. Sister Hall has been giving him instructions on what he should eat, and what medicines he should take, but he hasn´t been following her instructions very well. He´s still waking up at 10:30 every day too.
We had interviews with President this week. My interview was short as usual. He just explained to me that he gives me tough companions because he trusts me. He said that this transfer might be one of the hardest in my mission, but right now I´m not really stressing out at all. I feel like I´ve had harder transfers, like when I was training.
If my mission has taught me anything, it would be patience and temperance. Right now I´m not worrying about anything, and on the contrary, I feel like Heavenly Father already has everything planned out for me in my mission. I´m still learning, and I´m pretty sure that we´ll get back to work next week.
I´m glad to hear that Ben's farewell went well. Happy Birthday this week Ben!!! I love you, and I´m glad that we´ll be able to serve missions at the same time for a few weeks. You´ll be a great missionary, and you´ll learn so many things in the mission field!
Keep praying for me and Elder Silva, but don´t worry about me. Trust me, I´m doing great. I´m happy, and calm, and enduring until the end. (61 more days!)
I still don´t have my flight plans, or any information about Mothers Day. As soon as I know something I´ll let you guys know.
I know that this church is true. I know that sacrifice builds faith, and true faith changes lives and allows us to receive the blessings that God has in store for us. I know that the mission has blessed my life so much!
I love you guys. Keep up the good work. Keep serving one another and keep reading the Book of Mormon. I know that it´s true. I miss you guys!
Love, Elder Forsyth
Hi All!
Well, I don´t have a lot to report.... I pretty much didn´t do anything this week :P Elder Silva has been sick almost everyday. I think I´ll need to take him to the hospital today. I don´t know what his problem is. I gave him a blessing, but I told him that the blessing would depend on him being faithful and obedient, and so far he hasn´t been either one. Sister Hall has been giving him instructions on what he should eat, and what medicines he should take, but he hasn´t been following her instructions very well. He´s still waking up at 10:30 every day too.
We had interviews with President this week. My interview was short as usual. He just explained to me that he gives me tough companions because he trusts me. He said that this transfer might be one of the hardest in my mission, but right now I´m not really stressing out at all. I feel like I´ve had harder transfers, like when I was training.
If my mission has taught me anything, it would be patience and temperance. Right now I´m not worrying about anything, and on the contrary, I feel like Heavenly Father already has everything planned out for me in my mission. I´m still learning, and I´m pretty sure that we´ll get back to work next week.
I´m glad to hear that Ben's farewell went well. Happy Birthday this week Ben!!! I love you, and I´m glad that we´ll be able to serve missions at the same time for a few weeks. You´ll be a great missionary, and you´ll learn so many things in the mission field!
Keep praying for me and Elder Silva, but don´t worry about me. Trust me, I´m doing great. I´m happy, and calm, and enduring until the end. (61 more days!)
I still don´t have my flight plans, or any information about Mothers Day. As soon as I know something I´ll let you guys know.
I know that this church is true. I know that sacrifice builds faith, and true faith changes lives and allows us to receive the blessings that God has in store for us. I know that the mission has blessed my life so much!
I love you guys. Keep up the good work. Keep serving one another and keep reading the Book of Mormon. I know that it´s true. I miss you guys!
Love, Elder Forsyth
4/23/12
8 more emails!
Well, this week was pretty chill.
I´m still having a some problems with Elder Silva, but we don´t fight or anything, so thats good I guess. This week he was having trouble waking up on time. First, on Wednesday I let the alarm ring next to his head for a while, but he just got irritated and turned it off and went back to sleep. On Thursday I woke up and made french toast for us. I gave my maple syrup to Elder Ortega, so I made some special strawberry syrup instead. When it was all ready I went in and woke up Elder Silva with the breakfast, but he just got up, put it in the fridge, and went back to bed. He´s been waking up at about 10:30 everyday, which means that instead of doing an hour of personal study, and hour of comp study, then language study, I´ve just been doing three hours of personal study... I´m not sure of what else I can do to help...other than just continue trying to be an example.
President sent me an email this week, saying that Elder Silva is needing a lot of help, and that I could be the Elder that changes his mission. I´ll keep doing what I can, but until now, the progress has been kinda slow.
I´m doing a lot of contacting by myself and teaching a lot of lessons with new investigators. We had 5 people marked for baptism this week, and 8 people told us they´d go to church, but when we went to go pick them up on Sunday, all of them were sleeping :( No one went to church, so that means that we´ll have to re-mark all of their baptisms, and try again next week. Missionary work requires a lot of patience.
I´m still doing great though. I´m happy and healthy and still excited to do my work. Elder Silva got pretty sick this week. I hope he gets better soon. The members are helping a lot, and in 2 or 3 weeks we should have a few people to baptize.
I´m excited to hear about Elder Reid´s farewell. Send me pictures. I´m looking forward to talking to everyone on Mothers Day, and 9 or 10 more weeks I´ll be back home with you guys. I can't think of anything else cool to write so I´ll let you guys go until next week. I love you, the church is true!!
Love, Elder Forsyth
Well, this week was pretty chill.
I´m still having a some problems with Elder Silva, but we don´t fight or anything, so thats good I guess. This week he was having trouble waking up on time. First, on Wednesday I let the alarm ring next to his head for a while, but he just got irritated and turned it off and went back to sleep. On Thursday I woke up and made french toast for us. I gave my maple syrup to Elder Ortega, so I made some special strawberry syrup instead. When it was all ready I went in and woke up Elder Silva with the breakfast, but he just got up, put it in the fridge, and went back to bed. He´s been waking up at about 10:30 everyday, which means that instead of doing an hour of personal study, and hour of comp study, then language study, I´ve just been doing three hours of personal study... I´m not sure of what else I can do to help...other than just continue trying to be an example.
President sent me an email this week, saying that Elder Silva is needing a lot of help, and that I could be the Elder that changes his mission. I´ll keep doing what I can, but until now, the progress has been kinda slow.
I´m doing a lot of contacting by myself and teaching a lot of lessons with new investigators. We had 5 people marked for baptism this week, and 8 people told us they´d go to church, but when we went to go pick them up on Sunday, all of them were sleeping :( No one went to church, so that means that we´ll have to re-mark all of their baptisms, and try again next week. Missionary work requires a lot of patience.
I´m still doing great though. I´m happy and healthy and still excited to do my work. Elder Silva got pretty sick this week. I hope he gets better soon. The members are helping a lot, and in 2 or 3 weeks we should have a few people to baptize.
I´m excited to hear about Elder Reid´s farewell. Send me pictures. I´m looking forward to talking to everyone on Mothers Day, and 9 or 10 more weeks I´ll be back home with you guys. I can't think of anything else cool to write so I´ll let you guys go until next week. I love you, the church is true!!
Love, Elder Forsyth
4/16/12
9 more emails!
Hey Everyone!
It´s only been a few days since I last wrote, but these last few days have been pretty tough.
My new area is super hot, and I´m starting to sweat a lot more here. I´ve been taking 2 or 3 showers a day, but still I still have the feeling of sweat on my skin. The heat hasn´t been the hardest part of these last few days though.
My comp is a potato. He sleeps late, and just likes to eat and sleep in members' houses. The members area already used to him, and they let him stay after lunch until 5:00, and then have a dinner ready for him at 7:00. I´m basically going crazy this week because I just wanted to go to work and meet our invesitgators, and meet our goals, but he just wants to chat with the members the whole day long. When we finally got out to work I just started doing contacts like crazy. I found 17 new investigators by myself this week. When it comes time to teach Elder Silva gets super quiet and doesn´t talk until I glare at him. I don´t know what to do with this Elder. He´s aready well known in the mission for his lazy attitude.
Now that I´m getting to the end of my mission, the only thing I want to do is work work work. I want to feel the spirit like I did in my last area with Elder Ortega. I´ll have to see what I can do to turn this area around and see some progress here.
I´m trying to do everything I can to stay excited and happy. I feel like I still don´t have any friends here, so I´m just going to keep working hard and finding new people to teach so that my investigators can be my friends.
How crazy that Ben is almost leaving for his mission already!Tell him to send me a copy of his talk that he gives at his farewell.
Keep praying for me here. Even though my companion is kind of difficult, my area is actually really good. Assu is a pretty big city and we have the whole place to ourselves. The members like to help a lot, and they have a lot of goals to baptize more youth and fill up their semanary class. They´re needing a lot of new young women.
I´ll keep you guys updated on the progress here. I love you a lot, and I know this church is true. I know that everything I pass through on the mission will only make me stonger and more prepared for the rest of my life.
Only 9 more weeks left! I´ll probably get home on the 29th-30th of June. I should get some flight plans in a few weeks, but I think you can plan around these dates.
keep up the good work. keep choosing the right. I love you and miss you a ton!
Love, Elder Forsyth
Hey Everyone!
It´s only been a few days since I last wrote, but these last few days have been pretty tough.
My new area is super hot, and I´m starting to sweat a lot more here. I´ve been taking 2 or 3 showers a day, but still I still have the feeling of sweat on my skin. The heat hasn´t been the hardest part of these last few days though.
My comp is a potato. He sleeps late, and just likes to eat and sleep in members' houses. The members area already used to him, and they let him stay after lunch until 5:00, and then have a dinner ready for him at 7:00. I´m basically going crazy this week because I just wanted to go to work and meet our invesitgators, and meet our goals, but he just wants to chat with the members the whole day long. When we finally got out to work I just started doing contacts like crazy. I found 17 new investigators by myself this week. When it comes time to teach Elder Silva gets super quiet and doesn´t talk until I glare at him. I don´t know what to do with this Elder. He´s aready well known in the mission for his lazy attitude.
Now that I´m getting to the end of my mission, the only thing I want to do is work work work. I want to feel the spirit like I did in my last area with Elder Ortega. I´ll have to see what I can do to turn this area around and see some progress here.
I´m trying to do everything I can to stay excited and happy. I feel like I still don´t have any friends here, so I´m just going to keep working hard and finding new people to teach so that my investigators can be my friends.
How crazy that Ben is almost leaving for his mission already!Tell him to send me a copy of his talk that he gives at his farewell.
Keep praying for me here. Even though my companion is kind of difficult, my area is actually really good. Assu is a pretty big city and we have the whole place to ourselves. The members like to help a lot, and they have a lot of goals to baptize more youth and fill up their semanary class. They´re needing a lot of new young women.
I´ll keep you guys updated on the progress here. I love you a lot, and I know this church is true. I know that everything I pass through on the mission will only make me stonger and more prepared for the rest of my life.
Only 9 more weeks left! I´ll probably get home on the 29th-30th of June. I should get some flight plans in a few weeks, but I think you can plan around these dates.
keep up the good work. keep choosing the right. I love you and miss you a ton!
Love, Elder Forsyth
4/12/12
10 more emails!
Wow, I dont know where to start. A lot has happened since I last wrote.
I´m writing late to you guys because of transfers.
One of my investigators that went to conference last week got super sick with apendicitis. She went to the hospital, and took a ton of tests, and while she was waiting for the tests to come back, we went to her house and gave her a priesthood blessing. The next day she got the tests back, and they said she was super sick, and needed to run to the hospital for surgery, but when she got to the hospital, they took the tests again, and she didn´t have apendicitis anymore. :) I thought that was super cool. It's these kinds of things that really strengthen my testimony about the priesthood.
We had a youth conference in the stake this week. Only 2 girls from our ward went, but we invited 4 of the girls that we´re teaching, and they totally dominated the camp. They won all the awards, and made a ton of friends. I was so proud of them :) They´re all excited to get baptized now, but I wont be there to see the baptisms :(
On Sunday night, I got a call saying that Elder Ortega was being called as a trainer, and I was being transfered. On Monday I said goodbye to some people. Some of the investigators made cake, and everyone wanted to keep one of my photos from home. Some of them cried. It was really tough to say goodbye. On Monday night I went to another elder's house to stay the night, and on Tuesday I found out the details of the transfer. I got transfered to Assú. It's one of the hottest areas in the mission, and one of the farthest away areas too.. I was sad to leave Elder Ortega. He was definitely one of my favorite companions. On Wednesday I woke up early and started to travel. I got on a bus at 8:00 am and got to Mossoró at 7:00 pm, which is still an hour from my area. I had to stay the night at my zone leaders house, making 3 nights in a row living out of my suitcases. This morning we had a district meeting, and I had an hour long taxi ride to get to my area. Now I´m finally here, and writing to you guys.
My area is really isolated. My district lives an hour away from me. I´ll be able to call them every night, but I wont be able to interview any of their baptisms. my comp is elder silva. he´s been on the mission almost as much time as me, but is still a junior. i don´t know exactly why. i´m super tired, and want to sleep. we´ll see what happens this tranfer. i think this will be my last area.
to tell the truth, i feel like i got thrown from heaven to heck. campina grande had a good climate. i had a great comp. and my investigators were awesome. i left 6 people ready for baptism, but i know that the Lord has a plan for me in Assu. i´ll just have to discover what the Lord has in store. i´m still content, and excited to work here. i´ve only got 10 emails left, but i´m mon as trunky as you think...
i love you guys. have a great week, and i´ll write some more on monday.
love, elder forsyth
Wow, I dont know where to start. A lot has happened since I last wrote.
I´m writing late to you guys because of transfers.
One of my investigators that went to conference last week got super sick with apendicitis. She went to the hospital, and took a ton of tests, and while she was waiting for the tests to come back, we went to her house and gave her a priesthood blessing. The next day she got the tests back, and they said she was super sick, and needed to run to the hospital for surgery, but when she got to the hospital, they took the tests again, and she didn´t have apendicitis anymore. :) I thought that was super cool. It's these kinds of things that really strengthen my testimony about the priesthood.
We had a youth conference in the stake this week. Only 2 girls from our ward went, but we invited 4 of the girls that we´re teaching, and they totally dominated the camp. They won all the awards, and made a ton of friends. I was so proud of them :) They´re all excited to get baptized now, but I wont be there to see the baptisms :(
On Sunday night, I got a call saying that Elder Ortega was being called as a trainer, and I was being transfered. On Monday I said goodbye to some people. Some of the investigators made cake, and everyone wanted to keep one of my photos from home. Some of them cried. It was really tough to say goodbye. On Monday night I went to another elder's house to stay the night, and on Tuesday I found out the details of the transfer. I got transfered to Assú. It's one of the hottest areas in the mission, and one of the farthest away areas too.. I was sad to leave Elder Ortega. He was definitely one of my favorite companions. On Wednesday I woke up early and started to travel. I got on a bus at 8:00 am and got to Mossoró at 7:00 pm, which is still an hour from my area. I had to stay the night at my zone leaders house, making 3 nights in a row living out of my suitcases. This morning we had a district meeting, and I had an hour long taxi ride to get to my area. Now I´m finally here, and writing to you guys.
My area is really isolated. My district lives an hour away from me. I´ll be able to call them every night, but I wont be able to interview any of their baptisms. my comp is elder silva. he´s been on the mission almost as much time as me, but is still a junior. i don´t know exactly why. i´m super tired, and want to sleep. we´ll see what happens this tranfer. i think this will be my last area.
to tell the truth, i feel like i got thrown from heaven to heck. campina grande had a good climate. i had a great comp. and my investigators were awesome. i left 6 people ready for baptism, but i know that the Lord has a plan for me in Assu. i´ll just have to discover what the Lord has in store. i´m still content, and excited to work here. i´ve only got 10 emails left, but i´m mon as trunky as you think...
i love you guys. have a great week, and i´ll write some more on monday.
love, elder forsyth
Saturday, April 7, 2012
4/2/2012
Hey!
This week went well. I didn´t get to see conference in English, but I still really liked it. Despite the fact that we had to pay to ride the city bus with all our investigators to go to the stake center, we got 5 investigators to church this week. I think our investigatos have a lot of faith. I think they liked the conference.
I got a pleasant surprise when I was there in the stake center. My friend Tony from Mamanguape was there. He and his wife got divorced, and now he´s living in Campina Grande. They were a super great couple. He was the District President in Mamanguape before the divorce and he´s still a really active member. We talked a ton, and took some pictures. I can´t believe how long ago it was when I was starting my mission in Mamanguape. I can´t believe that I´m so close to coming home now... :P
We had a few cool expriences this week. We taught a new investigator named Kelly, and taught her a lot about the plan that our Heavenly Father has for her. We told her that she´d be happier following this plan, and that our Heavnly Father loves her a lot and wants her to be happy. n the end, she started to cry, and said she would need to stop smoking and going to parties to follow Heavenly Fathers plan. We didn´t get a chance to talk to her more during the week, but yesterday we saw her chilling in the bar after she´d refused our offer to go to conference :( I hope we can help her turn her life around.
Another cool experience was with Iaska and Givanilda. We stopped by and watched the restoration with them. In the end of the movie, Givanilda bore her testimony. "I know that he was a prophet! and I know that this church is the right one, because I feel soo good while I´m there, and I´m so excited to go back every week!" Iaska was also crying when the film ended. I think they´re definately going to stay firm in the church :)
I took a ton of good photos with Elder Ortega this week. If I can, I´ll send some, but if not, I´ll just save them for when I come home in a few months. I love you guys a lot, and hope you have a great week. The church is true! the truth was restored!
Love, Elder Forsyth
This week went well. I didn´t get to see conference in English, but I still really liked it. Despite the fact that we had to pay to ride the city bus with all our investigators to go to the stake center, we got 5 investigators to church this week. I think our investigatos have a lot of faith. I think they liked the conference.
I got a pleasant surprise when I was there in the stake center. My friend Tony from Mamanguape was there. He and his wife got divorced, and now he´s living in Campina Grande. They were a super great couple. He was the District President in Mamanguape before the divorce and he´s still a really active member. We talked a ton, and took some pictures. I can´t believe how long ago it was when I was starting my mission in Mamanguape. I can´t believe that I´m so close to coming home now... :P
We had a few cool expriences this week. We taught a new investigator named Kelly, and taught her a lot about the plan that our Heavenly Father has for her. We told her that she´d be happier following this plan, and that our Heavnly Father loves her a lot and wants her to be happy. n the end, she started to cry, and said she would need to stop smoking and going to parties to follow Heavenly Fathers plan. We didn´t get a chance to talk to her more during the week, but yesterday we saw her chilling in the bar after she´d refused our offer to go to conference :( I hope we can help her turn her life around.
Another cool experience was with Iaska and Givanilda. We stopped by and watched the restoration with them. In the end of the movie, Givanilda bore her testimony. "I know that he was a prophet! and I know that this church is the right one, because I feel soo good while I´m there, and I´m so excited to go back every week!" Iaska was also crying when the film ended. I think they´re definately going to stay firm in the church :)
I took a ton of good photos with Elder Ortega this week. If I can, I´ll send some, but if not, I´ll just save them for when I come home in a few months. I love you guys a lot, and hope you have a great week. The church is true! the truth was restored!
Love, Elder Forsyth
3/26/2012
Woohoo! Baptisms!
This week we baptised two of the people who went to church last week. Givanilda and Iaska. Givanilda is in her 50s I think, and Iaska is her 13 year old niece. Usually we have to wait 8 weeks to baptise people less than 14 years old, but we got special permission from the President to baptise Iaska with her aunt, because Iaska's mom doesn´t live at home, and she was pretty much raised by Givanilda.
We have a lot of other investigators who are progressing now. One is Adailson. He´s in his 30s, and is pretty sceptical. When we first talked to him, I just wanted to get out of his house quick, because he kept arguing about everything we taught, but instead of getting out, Elder Ortega taught the Plan of Salvation, and really answered all the questions that Adailson had. The more we came back, the more he accepted our teachings. Last Sunday he went to church, and ever since, he´s been a great friend. He´s always thankful for the time we spend with him, and we´re hoping to baptise him next week. He still hadn´t recieved an answer about Joseph Smith, or the Book of Mormon, so Elder Ortega promissed him that if he read, and prayed at night, then waited to recieve an answer, he would get an answer that he´d clearly recognize. Elder Ortega was nervous the whole day long because of the promise he made, but when we came back the next day, Adailson said, "I got an answer, just like you said I would. So I guess the next step is baptism, right?"
We had 6 other girls that went to church this week. Whenever we go to teach one of them, they go and call the others, and we end up teaching 6 lessons at the same time because they live in 6 different houses. One of them named Gorete said, "When you guys first started to teach us, I just listened because I thought you were cute, but now I really believe in the stuff you say, and I´m going to keep coming to church." Shes only 13 years old, so she´ll still need to come to church 6 more times before we can baptise her.
So, yeah. I´m feeling a lot better about my area now. When I got here 9 weeks ago, we didn´t have anyone who was progressing, and we had to work our butts off to find new people to teach, but now its paying off, and we have a ton of great investigators who are progressing really well.
I love you guys, and hope you have a great week. The Church is true, and blesses our lives when we live its principles.
Love, Elder Forsyth
This week we baptised two of the people who went to church last week. Givanilda and Iaska. Givanilda is in her 50s I think, and Iaska is her 13 year old niece. Usually we have to wait 8 weeks to baptise people less than 14 years old, but we got special permission from the President to baptise Iaska with her aunt, because Iaska's mom doesn´t live at home, and she was pretty much raised by Givanilda.
We have a lot of other investigators who are progressing now. One is Adailson. He´s in his 30s, and is pretty sceptical. When we first talked to him, I just wanted to get out of his house quick, because he kept arguing about everything we taught, but instead of getting out, Elder Ortega taught the Plan of Salvation, and really answered all the questions that Adailson had. The more we came back, the more he accepted our teachings. Last Sunday he went to church, and ever since, he´s been a great friend. He´s always thankful for the time we spend with him, and we´re hoping to baptise him next week. He still hadn´t recieved an answer about Joseph Smith, or the Book of Mormon, so Elder Ortega promissed him that if he read, and prayed at night, then waited to recieve an answer, he would get an answer that he´d clearly recognize. Elder Ortega was nervous the whole day long because of the promise he made, but when we came back the next day, Adailson said, "I got an answer, just like you said I would. So I guess the next step is baptism, right?"
We had 6 other girls that went to church this week. Whenever we go to teach one of them, they go and call the others, and we end up teaching 6 lessons at the same time because they live in 6 different houses. One of them named Gorete said, "When you guys first started to teach us, I just listened because I thought you were cute, but now I really believe in the stuff you say, and I´m going to keep coming to church." Shes only 13 years old, so she´ll still need to come to church 6 more times before we can baptise her.
So, yeah. I´m feeling a lot better about my area now. When I got here 9 weeks ago, we didn´t have anyone who was progressing, and we had to work our butts off to find new people to teach, but now its paying off, and we have a ton of great investigators who are progressing really well.
I love you guys, and hope you have a great week. The Church is true, and blesses our lives when we live its principles.
Love, Elder Forsyth
3/19/2012
What a great week!
We had a conference with President Hall, and learned a lot about
families. They talked a lot about how our mission will help our
families in the future, and it made everyone a little trunky.
They even joked about how finding investigators is like trying to find
a wife; you need to talk to everyone, and ask for references and so
on... just a few more months, and I´ll be ready to apply these
principes in my dating life...haha...
We´´re teaching a really great woman named Morganna. She´s basically a
member already, but she needs to get married before she can get
baptised. She´s been inviting all her family and friends to come to
church, and this week, when we went to teach her, there were 6
teenage girls who wanted to hear our message too. They really just
wanted to flirt with us, but in the end they accepted the invite to
come to church, and read the Book of Mormon etc... they´re all
progressing now, and I think we´ll start to baptise some of them this
week. 9 people came to church this Sunday and we´ll start to baptise
all these people next week.
Yesterday, we were relaxing at home after lunch, when we heard a ton
of fireworks exploding outside our house. When I went outside to see
what it was, there were about 500 horseback riders coming down the
steet in front of our house. It took more that 15 minutes for all of
them to pass. I really don´t know how many horses there were, but it
was the biggest group of horses that I´d ever seen in my life.
That night, we visited Morganna, and she was having a bad head ache.
In church, she´d learned about priesthood, so we offered to give her a
blessing. It was the first time that Elder Ortega had annoited someone
with oil, and then I gave the blessing afterwards. The spirit was
really stong. When I finished the blessing, she looked at me and
asked, "Is the headache supposed to stop right away?" I just said,
"uh...I don´t know..." and then she said, "because it´s totally gone
now! Thankyou so much!" I felt so good when she said that :) I have a
stonger testimony now that the priesthood really is the power of God
on the earth, and that miracles exist when we have faith.
I hope you have a great week. I love all of you guys, and I know that
we can be happy as a family through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I´ll send more photos next week if I can.
Love, Elder Forsyth
We had a conference with President Hall, and learned a lot about
families. They talked a lot about how our mission will help our
families in the future, and it made everyone a little trunky.
They even joked about how finding investigators is like trying to find
a wife; you need to talk to everyone, and ask for references and so
on... just a few more months, and I´ll be ready to apply these
principes in my dating life...haha...
We´´re teaching a really great woman named Morganna. She´s basically a
member already, but she needs to get married before she can get
baptised. She´s been inviting all her family and friends to come to
church, and this week, when we went to teach her, there were 6
teenage girls who wanted to hear our message too. They really just
wanted to flirt with us, but in the end they accepted the invite to
come to church, and read the Book of Mormon etc... they´re all
progressing now, and I think we´ll start to baptise some of them this
week. 9 people came to church this Sunday and we´ll start to baptise
all these people next week.
Yesterday, we were relaxing at home after lunch, when we heard a ton
of fireworks exploding outside our house. When I went outside to see
what it was, there were about 500 horseback riders coming down the
steet in front of our house. It took more that 15 minutes for all of
them to pass. I really don´t know how many horses there were, but it
was the biggest group of horses that I´d ever seen in my life.
That night, we visited Morganna, and she was having a bad head ache.
In church, she´d learned about priesthood, so we offered to give her a
blessing. It was the first time that Elder Ortega had annoited someone
with oil, and then I gave the blessing afterwards. The spirit was
really stong. When I finished the blessing, she looked at me and
asked, "Is the headache supposed to stop right away?" I just said,
"uh...I don´t know..." and then she said, "because it´s totally gone
now! Thankyou so much!" I felt so good when she said that :) I have a
stonger testimony now that the priesthood really is the power of God
on the earth, and that miracles exist when we have faith.
I hope you have a great week. I love all of you guys, and I know that
we can be happy as a family through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I´ll send more photos next week if I can.
Love, Elder Forsyth
3/12/2012
Hey Guys,
I´m trying to send you some pictures, but I don´t know if its going to work.
This week was pretty normal. We worked hard, but no one went to church again... it's kind of hard to get people to church by bus. I think we´ll have a new chapel in a little while though, and maybe things will get a little easier.
I can´t think of a lot that happened, and I´m almost out of time.
We taught a guy this week who had a section of his bible that talked bad about all the other religions. In the Mormom section, it said we don´t belive in Christ as the Son of God, and that we believe that to go to Heaven, you have to have permission from Joseph Smith... I couldn´t belive that someone put those kind of things inside a Bible, lying about us like that.
With another family, they had 2 grandparents that had died in the same day, and we taught the plan of salvation. They were really grateful, and I felt good afterwards.
I love you guys a lot! Have a great week, and I´ll talk to you more next week. I´ll get to play piano at the zone conference. It will be cool.
Love, Elder Forsyth!
I´m trying to send you some pictures, but I don´t know if its going to work.
This week was pretty normal. We worked hard, but no one went to church again... it's kind of hard to get people to church by bus. I think we´ll have a new chapel in a little while though, and maybe things will get a little easier.
I can´t think of a lot that happened, and I´m almost out of time.
We taught a guy this week who had a section of his bible that talked bad about all the other religions. In the Mormom section, it said we don´t belive in Christ as the Son of God, and that we believe that to go to Heaven, you have to have permission from Joseph Smith... I couldn´t belive that someone put those kind of things inside a Bible, lying about us like that.
With another family, they had 2 grandparents that had died in the same day, and we taught the plan of salvation. They were really grateful, and I felt good afterwards.
I love you guys a lot! Have a great week, and I´ll talk to you more next week. I´ll get to play piano at the zone conference. It will be cool.
Love, Elder Forsyth!
3/5/2012
Well, its hard to believe that in 4 months I´ll be back with you guys
again. The past year and 8 months have passed pretty fast, but still,
it´s been a long time since I´ve seen you guys, and I miss you. I´m
still not super trunky, but I am starting to miss you guys a little
more.
This week was pretty successful and we had some hang ups too. On
Saturday, our mission leader wanted to take us out to contact some
people in his family, but we didn´t realy know what he had in mind.
He´s a new member, and doen´t really understand missionary work really
well. He´s super excited to help us, but he really doesn't know how...
At 2pm, he loaded us in his green bug with his wife and grandma, and
drove us over an hour and a half into the middle of nowhere where his
mom and dad live on a farm. He wanted us to share a message with the
family, and give his mom a blessing, who has a sleep disorder. The
whole time we were crammed into that little slug bug, bottoming out on
rocks on the dirt road, I just kept thinking, "How on earth are these
people going to come to church every sunday and be baptised?" It seemed
nearly an impossible feat,but the people liked the message, and said
they wanted to visit the church when they can. Our mission leader said
that maybe he could wake up at 5 and drive an hour and a half to pick
them up, so that they could catch a bus at 8 to get to church at 9.
Then he´d have to drive them all the way back after church. After
giving the message, we drove back home, and got back at 6:30. Our
whole day was spent on that one message, and we didn´t get around to
inviting half our investigators to come to church.
We still did have some investigators at church though. A 14 year old
girl, Mislene, went to church for the second time on Sunday. Her whole
family wants to be baptised now,but her mom needs to get married first,
and her brothers will need to go to church 8 times before the President
will let them be baptised. We´ll see what happens this week.
but yeah... the work is going great. I´m liking Elder Ortega. He´s
23 years old and he´s always super happy, and we get along well.
I´ll send pictures when I can. It´s a little hard in this lan house.
Sorry if my emails get monotanous sometimes. If you want to know more
details about something, send me some questions. Missionaries love
when people ask questions.
The Church is true, and I love you guys a lot.
Love, Elder Forsyth
again. The past year and 8 months have passed pretty fast, but still,
it´s been a long time since I´ve seen you guys, and I miss you. I´m
still not super trunky, but I am starting to miss you guys a little
more.
This week was pretty successful and we had some hang ups too. On
Saturday, our mission leader wanted to take us out to contact some
people in his family, but we didn´t realy know what he had in mind.
He´s a new member, and doen´t really understand missionary work really
well. He´s super excited to help us, but he really doesn't know how...
At 2pm, he loaded us in his green bug with his wife and grandma, and
drove us over an hour and a half into the middle of nowhere where his
mom and dad live on a farm. He wanted us to share a message with the
family, and give his mom a blessing, who has a sleep disorder. The
whole time we were crammed into that little slug bug, bottoming out on
rocks on the dirt road, I just kept thinking, "How on earth are these
people going to come to church every sunday and be baptised?" It seemed
nearly an impossible feat,but the people liked the message, and said
they wanted to visit the church when they can. Our mission leader said
that maybe he could wake up at 5 and drive an hour and a half to pick
them up, so that they could catch a bus at 8 to get to church at 9.
Then he´d have to drive them all the way back after church. After
giving the message, we drove back home, and got back at 6:30. Our
whole day was spent on that one message, and we didn´t get around to
inviting half our investigators to come to church.
We still did have some investigators at church though. A 14 year old
girl, Mislene, went to church for the second time on Sunday. Her whole
family wants to be baptised now,but her mom needs to get married first,
and her brothers will need to go to church 8 times before the President
will let them be baptised. We´ll see what happens this week.
but yeah... the work is going great. I´m liking Elder Ortega. He´s
23 years old and he´s always super happy, and we get along well.
I´ll send pictures when I can. It´s a little hard in this lan house.
Sorry if my emails get monotanous sometimes. If you want to know more
details about something, send me some questions. Missionaries love
when people ask questions.
The Church is true, and I love you guys a lot.
Love, Elder Forsyth
2/29/2012
Woohoo! Investigators came to church this week!
After 3 hard weeks of making contacts, and knocking doors without results, we saw a miracle happen this Sunday. Ten investigators came to church. We had an awesome family there, and they brought their friends and extended family, and other members brought their friends. It was great. About 20 percent of ward was visiting for the first time. Out of this group, there were a lot of people who are possible baptisms for the month, and a super family that we want to help get married, and baptised. I´ll try to keep you guys informed with how everything goes.
We had transfers this week. :P Elder Bueno was one of my favorite comps, but he got transferred to Joao Pessoa, in Geisel were I was last year. I feel bad that he got transferred right when we were on the up swing. Some investigators will cry when they find out that he´s gone now.
My new companion is Elder Ortega. He´s been on the mission for about 6 months now. He´s from Washington, and speaks English and Spanish. I´m excited to learn Spanish from him. I can understand 80% of Spanish already, but I´d like to learn to speak and write a little better. He´s super excited to be here, and we´ll have a great transfer together.
I´ll talk to you guys again on Monday. I can´t think of anything else that happened this week. We found some drunk guys in the street during carnival. We tried to help one, and another one tried to rob us with his fingers pointed like a gun. First he told us to give him our backpack and take off our clothes, and then he gave us a hug and said he was kidding. You've gotta love the drunks.
Have a great week you guys. I´ll try to send more photos when I can :)
Love, Elder Forsyth. The Church is true!
After 3 hard weeks of making contacts, and knocking doors without results, we saw a miracle happen this Sunday. Ten investigators came to church. We had an awesome family there, and they brought their friends and extended family, and other members brought their friends. It was great. About 20 percent of ward was visiting for the first time. Out of this group, there were a lot of people who are possible baptisms for the month, and a super family that we want to help get married, and baptised. I´ll try to keep you guys informed with how everything goes.
We had transfers this week. :P Elder Bueno was one of my favorite comps, but he got transferred to Joao Pessoa, in Geisel were I was last year. I feel bad that he got transferred right when we were on the up swing. Some investigators will cry when they find out that he´s gone now.
My new companion is Elder Ortega. He´s been on the mission for about 6 months now. He´s from Washington, and speaks English and Spanish. I´m excited to learn Spanish from him. I can understand 80% of Spanish already, but I´d like to learn to speak and write a little better. He´s super excited to be here, and we´ll have a great transfer together.
I´ll talk to you guys again on Monday. I can´t think of anything else that happened this week. We found some drunk guys in the street during carnival. We tried to help one, and another one tried to rob us with his fingers pointed like a gun. First he told us to give him our backpack and take off our clothes, and then he gave us a hug and said he was kidding. You've gotta love the drunks.
Have a great week you guys. I´ll try to send more photos when I can :)
Love, Elder Forsyth. The Church is true!
2/20/2012
Hey!
This week was tough... I don´t know exactly why, but yeah...
We had a ton of golden investigators that we went back to visit, and
then they didn´t want to open the door for us. We don´t even know what we
did wrong.. they probably had someone from another church speak bad
about us. Its hard, because we teach, and feel the spirit, and mark
their baptisms, and they sound so excited to visit the church, but
then when we go back to follow up, they don´t want to talk to us
anymore...
This week we didn´t have any investigators at church again.. it's been
about a month since we´ve had a real investigator at church, and when
an invesitgator doesn´t want to go to church, it´s impossible for them
to get baptised.
Other than the troubles with the work, I´m fine. Elder Bueno is kind of
sad though. He really wants to baptise, and he´s getting frustrated. I
don´t get frustrated anymore though, because I´ve realized that
getting frustrated doesn´t help anything. It´s better to just keep
working, and sing a song or something :P
I love you guys a lot. I can´t believe how everyone is growing
up! I feel like the house will be completely different when I get
home.
Have a great week. I can´t think of anything else to tell you guys.
I´ll try to take some photos of me and my companion to send you guys.
The church is true! Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God!
Love, Elder Forsyth
This week was tough... I don´t know exactly why, but yeah...
We had a ton of golden investigators that we went back to visit, and
then they didn´t want to open the door for us. We don´t even know what we
did wrong.. they probably had someone from another church speak bad
about us. Its hard, because we teach, and feel the spirit, and mark
their baptisms, and they sound so excited to visit the church, but
then when we go back to follow up, they don´t want to talk to us
anymore...
This week we didn´t have any investigators at church again.. it's been
about a month since we´ve had a real investigator at church, and when
an invesitgator doesn´t want to go to church, it´s impossible for them
to get baptised.
Other than the troubles with the work, I´m fine. Elder Bueno is kind of
sad though. He really wants to baptise, and he´s getting frustrated. I
don´t get frustrated anymore though, because I´ve realized that
getting frustrated doesn´t help anything. It´s better to just keep
working, and sing a song or something :P
I love you guys a lot. I can´t believe how everyone is growing
up! I feel like the house will be completely different when I get
home.
Have a great week. I can´t think of anything else to tell you guys.
I´ll try to take some photos of me and my companion to send you guys.
The church is true! Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God!
Love, Elder Forsyth
2/13/2012
Hey you guys!
This week has been pretty normal. We´ve just been working super hard.
We´ve been trying really hard to find new investigators, because all
the ones we have don´t go to church on Sunday.
In the last two weeks, we´ve taught over 50 new people, and of these
50 new people, none of them were able to go to church this Sunday. I´m
a little frustrated.
The people where I live are super humble. Everyone lets us in their
homes to teach, and everyone accepts the invitation to be baptised,
but when you give them a commitment, they run away, or they lie. We
work with a lot of deception.
So... this next week, I´ll probably find 30 more new people to teach,
and we´ll try to bring them to church. Part of the problem is that I
don´t have a church in my area anymore. We have to take a bus to
another city now. I hope we can do better this week.
I´m liking Elder Bueno a lot. We joke around a lot. We talk about deep
doctrine. We talk about how our future wives will be. We really get
along great, and we´re both really excited to do our work. He´s one of
the best companions I´ve had in the mission.
I love you a lot. Thanks for all the letters, and emails. The church
is true. I´m glad that I get to stay on the mission for 5 more months,
because that's still plenty of time to make a difference in people's
lives, including my own. I think I´ve changed a lot already. Maybe
you´ll notice when I get back :)
Love,
Elder Forsyth
This week has been pretty normal. We´ve just been working super hard.
We´ve been trying really hard to find new investigators, because all
the ones we have don´t go to church on Sunday.
In the last two weeks, we´ve taught over 50 new people, and of these
50 new people, none of them were able to go to church this Sunday. I´m
a little frustrated.
The people where I live are super humble. Everyone lets us in their
homes to teach, and everyone accepts the invitation to be baptised,
but when you give them a commitment, they run away, or they lie. We
work with a lot of deception.
So... this next week, I´ll probably find 30 more new people to teach,
and we´ll try to bring them to church. Part of the problem is that I
don´t have a church in my area anymore. We have to take a bus to
another city now. I hope we can do better this week.
I´m liking Elder Bueno a lot. We joke around a lot. We talk about deep
doctrine. We talk about how our future wives will be. We really get
along great, and we´re both really excited to do our work. He´s one of
the best companions I´ve had in the mission.
I love you a lot. Thanks for all the letters, and emails. The church
is true. I´m glad that I get to stay on the mission for 5 more months,
because that's still plenty of time to make a difference in people's
lives, including my own. I think I´ve changed a lot already. Maybe
you´ll notice when I get back :)
Love,
Elder Forsyth
Friday, April 6, 2012
2/6/2012
Hi family!
This week was a pretty good one. We didn´t have any rain, so Elder
Bueno and I got to work really hard in the street making a lot of
contacts.
we had interviews with President this week, and the night before the
interview, one of the assistants came to our house to work with us in
trio. I think his goal was to embarrass us by making more contacts than
us in our area. He was chasing people down in the street, and making
us run to catch up. He taught me a lot of things, but he also did some
stuff that I didn´t agree with. With one teenager, the assistant
asked, "Does your family have a few minutes to hear a message about
Jesus Christ?" the boy went to ask his mom, and when he came back he said,
"No, my mom said that we have to leave right now so that I can sign up
for my classes at school". The assitant asked, "Do you think that
signing up for classes is more important than Jesus?" I felt like that
was a pretty retarded question to ask, and it didn´t help us get into
the house to teach a lesson...
The next day at interviews, President didn´t ask me anything. He just
told me that how he knows I´m working, is by the numbers I send him
every week, and that I need to work hard...
I asked him about Elder Kutomi. He said that Elder Kutomi is
progressing; I´m glad to hear that Elder Kutomi is getting better.
I´m really loving my companion Elder Bueno. We did a family night this
week with a part member family. We played the "shock" game. We sent
Alex, an 11 year old boy, out of the room, and we chose one person to
give the shock. When alex came back, he had to touch everyone to see
who had the shock. When he touched the person we chose, everyone in
the room SCREAMED! Alex's eyes got all wide, and he fell on the
ground. I couldn´t stop laughing. I laughed so hard that I cried. It
was the funniest think I´d seen in the mission. Alex couldn´t stop
shaking for 10 minutes.
I love you guys! The church is true! Keep choosing the right, and be happy.
Love, Elder Forsyth
This week was a pretty good one. We didn´t have any rain, so Elder
Bueno and I got to work really hard in the street making a lot of
contacts.
we had interviews with President this week, and the night before the
interview, one of the assistants came to our house to work with us in
trio. I think his goal was to embarrass us by making more contacts than
us in our area. He was chasing people down in the street, and making
us run to catch up. He taught me a lot of things, but he also did some
stuff that I didn´t agree with. With one teenager, the assistant
asked, "Does your family have a few minutes to hear a message about
Jesus Christ?" the boy went to ask his mom, and when he came back he said,
"No, my mom said that we have to leave right now so that I can sign up
for my classes at school". The assitant asked, "Do you think that
signing up for classes is more important than Jesus?" I felt like that
was a pretty retarded question to ask, and it didn´t help us get into
the house to teach a lesson...
The next day at interviews, President didn´t ask me anything. He just
told me that how he knows I´m working, is by the numbers I send him
every week, and that I need to work hard...
I asked him about Elder Kutomi. He said that Elder Kutomi is
progressing; I´m glad to hear that Elder Kutomi is getting better.
I´m really loving my companion Elder Bueno. We did a family night this
week with a part member family. We played the "shock" game. We sent
Alex, an 11 year old boy, out of the room, and we chose one person to
give the shock. When alex came back, he had to touch everyone to see
who had the shock. When he touched the person we chose, everyone in
the room SCREAMED! Alex's eyes got all wide, and he fell on the
ground. I couldn´t stop laughing. I laughed so hard that I cried. It
was the funniest think I´d seen in the mission. Alex couldn´t stop
shaking for 10 minutes.
I love you guys! The church is true! Keep choosing the right, and be happy.
Love, Elder Forsyth
1/30/2012
I´m so happy to hear that Ben got his mission call! He´ll love Boston. I´m sad that I won´t get to see him for 2 more years now, but I know I´ll see him again one day :P
Everything here is going super great. It rained quite a bit this week, but other than that the weather was great. My companion and I get along really well. We joke around in the street, and teach well together. We´ve been working really hard, but this next week we´ll have to work even harder because we´re not finding enough new people to teach. Where we live is a small city, and everyone has already talked to the missionaries. We do a lot of contacts, but no one wants to talk to us.
This week, the ceiling started to fall in our chapel, so now we have to travel to another city by bus to have our meetings. The bus is going to pass through 3 or 4 different cities that are in our area, that we didn´t have access too, so now we can go into these new cities and find a lot of fresh people to teach. We´re really excited. This week should be pretty busy.
I love you guys, and I hope you all have a great week! I´ll try to send some new photos when I can :)
Love, Elder Forsyth
1/18/2012
Dear Family,
I got transfered from Parnamirim today. I knew that I would probably be transferred, so I visited a few members houses to say good bye to them. I grew really close with the members in this area, and I will miss them a lot. I´ll for sure sure sure have to come back and visit them someday. A lot of them told me that whenever I come to visit, I can stay at their house.
I made some maple syrup and left it as a present for a couple of families. Brother Flavio and his family gave me a new soccer jersey as a going away present. I stayed in Pparnamirim for 6 months, and the people there really made a big impact on my mission.
I think Elder Kutomi got pretty nervous once he knew that I was going to leave. This whole week, he hardly spoke to me, but then at the bus station today he almost cried, and gave me one of his favorite ties. I really hope that his next companion is a good one, and that he´ll be as patient with Elder Kutomi as I tried to be. I´ll definitly remember Elder Kutomi for the rest of my life.
Now I´m in Campina Grande. It´s the coldest city in the mission, which means that instead of being 80 degrees, I think it will be 70. That makes me super excited, because now we´re entering into summer.
My companion is Elder Bueno. He´s from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and is really young in the mission. He´s from Elder Kutomi´s group. He appears to be a little shy, but he´s excited to work, and for me, thats all that matters. He was trained by Elder Ferreira, my second to last companion. I think we should have a lot of things in common to talk about.
I was really hoping that I´d get to hear where Ben is going today. I think I´ll have to just wait a couple more weeks to find out. I´m guessing that he´ll go to Santa Maria, Brazil, and that he´ll leave on the 11th of July.
So far, I´m doing great here. I love you guys, and I´m so excited to get to know my new comp and new area and batizar com força! Keep choosing the right, and writing letters to me.
The church is true, and makes people happy.
Love, Elder Forsyth
1/9/2012
Hey Family!
I got your letters and the package this week! It made me super excited. I had forgotten how sweet skittles and starbursts are, and I can´t even eat half a pack of skittles without feeling like I´ve eaten too much.
I really loved the photo book! It's good to see how everyone has grown.
This week, we almost baptised a 19 year old boy. We interviewed him and everything, and everything was going right. We put water in the font, and invited the members, but when the hour arrived, we couldn´t find him anywhere! We went to his house, and tried going to his work. We wandered in the rain for 2 hours, but it didn´t work out. :( He´ll have to be baptised next week.
The good news was that at the same time, a man showed up in Elder Tenney´s ward who wanted to be baptised. He´d already been taught by other missionaries in the past, and everyone else in his family was already members of the church. I interviewed him, and he seemed to be a perfect baptism candidate. He was baptised in the water that I had put in the font, and his family was SO happy that he had finally taken the decision to be baptised in the true church. I feel like everything that happened this sunday happened for a reason.
I can´t think of much else to write, and I´m out of time, but I love you guys! The church is true! Next week I´ll talk to you on a Wednesday because of transfers.
Love, Elder Forsyth
I got your letters and the package this week! It made me super excited. I had forgotten how sweet skittles and starbursts are, and I can´t even eat half a pack of skittles without feeling like I´ve eaten too much.
I really loved the photo book! It's good to see how everyone has grown.
This week, we almost baptised a 19 year old boy. We interviewed him and everything, and everything was going right. We put water in the font, and invited the members, but when the hour arrived, we couldn´t find him anywhere! We went to his house, and tried going to his work. We wandered in the rain for 2 hours, but it didn´t work out. :( He´ll have to be baptised next week.
The good news was that at the same time, a man showed up in Elder Tenney´s ward who wanted to be baptised. He´d already been taught by other missionaries in the past, and everyone else in his family was already members of the church. I interviewed him, and he seemed to be a perfect baptism candidate. He was baptised in the water that I had put in the font, and his family was SO happy that he had finally taken the decision to be baptised in the true church. I feel like everything that happened this sunday happened for a reason.
I can´t think of much else to write, and I´m out of time, but I love you guys! The church is true! Next week I´ll talk to you on a Wednesday because of transfers.
Love, Elder Forsyth
1/2/2012
Feliz ano novo!
For New Years, it was just me and Kutomi in our little house, but we still made the best of things. We bought some of that alcohol free champagne, and chocolate, and played chess until midnight. Usually I always win, but he´s managed to have a few ties with me.
We met a really cool 19 year old guy this week named Edson. He comes from a really humble family, but really has a great attitude about things. He really wants to be baptised, so we took him to church for the first time this week. He lives about 40 minutes to the church walking, so we talked to a member so that we could all go in his car, and he agreed to give us all a ride if we showed up at his house at 8:30. We walked 30 minutes to Edson's house, and then we walked to the member's house who had the car. When we got there, it was exactly 8:30, but he had already left :( I was kind of sad and frustrated, and we started walking to the church. We walked for about a half hour, and while we walked, I taught the 3rd lesson to Edson. When we were about 10 minutes from the church, another member found us in the street and gave us a ride the rest of the way to the church. Edson said, " That's so cool that God was watching out for us, and sent these people to give us a ride! The car was air conditioned and everything!" I was feeling frustrated because of the thirty minutes that we walked, but Edson was feeling grateful, and even excited, because of the 3 minutes that we rode in the car. These are the lessons that I learn everyday here on my mission. I´m learning that I can be happy in any situation. My happiness doesn´t depend on the weather or whats on tv, or what team won the ball game. It doesn´t depend on my companion, or who we´re baptising this week. It depends on my attitude, and what I choose it to be. True happiness comes when you choose to do what you know is right.
I´m out of time now, but I hope you all know that I love you, and I pray for you every night. Keep choosing the right, and being happy :) I hope you guys never worry about me while I´m here. I´m enduring to the end, and really enjoying the journey.
Love, Elder Forsyth
P.S. The church is true!!!
For New Years, it was just me and Kutomi in our little house, but we still made the best of things. We bought some of that alcohol free champagne, and chocolate, and played chess until midnight. Usually I always win, but he´s managed to have a few ties with me.
We met a really cool 19 year old guy this week named Edson. He comes from a really humble family, but really has a great attitude about things. He really wants to be baptised, so we took him to church for the first time this week. He lives about 40 minutes to the church walking, so we talked to a member so that we could all go in his car, and he agreed to give us all a ride if we showed up at his house at 8:30. We walked 30 minutes to Edson's house, and then we walked to the member's house who had the car. When we got there, it was exactly 8:30, but he had already left :( I was kind of sad and frustrated, and we started walking to the church. We walked for about a half hour, and while we walked, I taught the 3rd lesson to Edson. When we were about 10 minutes from the church, another member found us in the street and gave us a ride the rest of the way to the church. Edson said, " That's so cool that God was watching out for us, and sent these people to give us a ride! The car was air conditioned and everything!" I was feeling frustrated because of the thirty minutes that we walked, but Edson was feeling grateful, and even excited, because of the 3 minutes that we rode in the car. These are the lessons that I learn everyday here on my mission. I´m learning that I can be happy in any situation. My happiness doesn´t depend on the weather or whats on tv, or what team won the ball game. It doesn´t depend on my companion, or who we´re baptising this week. It depends on my attitude, and what I choose it to be. True happiness comes when you choose to do what you know is right.
I´m out of time now, but I hope you all know that I love you, and I pray for you every night. Keep choosing the right, and being happy :) I hope you guys never worry about me while I´m here. I´m enduring to the end, and really enjoying the journey.
Love, Elder Forsyth
P.S. The church is true!!!
12/26/11
Merry Christmas!
haha, I loved the photos. I think it´s so funny that Amber gave me Obama hands. I have some good photos from when I burned my shirt. I think they´re on the dvd that I´ll try to get in the mail.
It was so great to hear and see all of you guys with skype yesterday! That made me so happy! These last few weeks have been pretty stressful for me, but talking to you guys made all my stress go away. I don´t ever remember what we talked about anymore, but I still feel happy inside.
So yeah, this christmas has been one of the most different Christmas's in my life. It was weird to wake up in an empty house with just Elder Kutomi. We ate breakfast alone, then went to church, then ate lunch alone, then talked to you guys, then spent the rest of the night at a members house. That was the part that I liked the most.
At this members house, we ate dinner, and read the scriptures, and sang songs and told stories. It was a lot of fun. Definitely a Christmas that I´ll never forget.
Up until now, I´ve recieved a tie and a lightbulb for Christmas. My district will trade the secret Santa presents this afternoon.
I love you guys a lot, and I´m thankful for your examples. The church is true, and Christ is the Savior of the world. Believe it! I know that through the atonement we can change our lives, because that's what I´m doing right now. My life is changing more than I can understand. I love you guys!
Love, Elder Forsyth
12/19/11
Hey family!
I got the details worked out with my Christmas phone call. I´ll be able to use skype, so I need you guys to email me your information so that I can make an account and add you guys this Sunday.
This week we had our Christmas Mission Conference. We had a devotional, food, basketball, soccer, and an xbox. I spent the afternoon playing piano and singing with a few other missionaries. I liked it, but I was hoping that we would be able to see Kungfu Panda 2.
At the end of the day, everyone in the mission got food poisoning, me and my companion included. :P I won´t go into the details.
I really liked the photos of the wedding that you guys sent. It looked like everyone had a lot of fun. I´m excited to hear all the details when I talk to you guys on Sunday.
I love you guys a lot, and I hope everyone has a great week with the Chrismas break and everything.
The church is true!
Love, Elder Forsyth
I got the details worked out with my Christmas phone call. I´ll be able to use skype, so I need you guys to email me your information so that I can make an account and add you guys this Sunday.
This week we had our Christmas Mission Conference. We had a devotional, food, basketball, soccer, and an xbox. I spent the afternoon playing piano and singing with a few other missionaries. I liked it, but I was hoping that we would be able to see Kungfu Panda 2.
At the end of the day, everyone in the mission got food poisoning, me and my companion included. :P I won´t go into the details.
I really liked the photos of the wedding that you guys sent. It looked like everyone had a lot of fun. I´m excited to hear all the details when I talk to you guys on Sunday.
I love you guys a lot, and I hope everyone has a great week with the Chrismas break and everything.
The church is true!
Love, Elder Forsyth
12/07/11
Hey family!
Its been a long 10 days since I last wrote to you. I´m excited that everything is coming together well for Amber and Kyle's wedding. I wish I could be there, but I´m guessing that Amber will put my face on a cardboard cut out or something... haha..
This week I had a wedding of my own. There was a family in our ward that had been waiting for 9 years to get married, and the missionaries had been passing there for 2 years to help them. I went there and told them, "I´m here to help you guys get married in the least amount of time possible". I loaned them the money to pay for the wedding, and they were finally married this past Saturday. They said they´d pay me back, but I´m not horribly concerned. I just felt good that I was able to help them on this special day. The husband was an excommunicated member who is returning to the church, and the wife was baptised right after the wedding ceremony. It was definately a wedding and baptism that I´ll never forget, and it was the first family that I was able to help on my mission.
I didn´t get transferred this week. I´m staying with Elder Kutomi for 6 more weeks. He´s doing a ton better now. His attitude is tons better now, and he´s learning really fast. I feel like this transfer should be a lot better than the last one. Last transfer I learned a lot of patience.
I love you guys. I´ll write you again in just a couple days on Monday. Thanks for the emails, and letters, and I can´t wait to talk to you on Christmas!
love, Elder Forsyth
11/28/11
:D
Happy Thanksgiving!!!!
I didn´t really to anything for Thanksgiving this week, but I hope the day was good for everyone at home. They don´t celebrate Thanksgiving here, and I live with a Brazilian companion, so we didn´t have very much reason to celebrate.
This week I got a little sick. I´ve just been coughing a little bit, but I think I´m getting better already.
Elder Kutomi and I didnt baptise this week, but the other Elders in my district baptised 4 primary boys, and I got to interview all of them. They were super cool, and were all way excited to be baptised together. They were all friends and brothers, and had been going to church for a few months with the Bishop's family. I hope they all serve missions!
Next week, we´ll have a wedding and a baptism. It should be a neat experience. It will be my first family that I´ll help be baptised. The week after that, we should be able to baptise Luciana. She broke her foot, and she´ll have to wear a cast for the next two weeks.
Transfers will be next week, so I´ll write you guys on Wednesday.
I can´t think of what else is happening, but have a great week, and good luck with all the things that are coming up with Amber's wedding and stuff. I wish I could be there, but I´m happy to be here too.. :)
The church is true!!!! e realmente está abençoando minha vida.
Love, Elder Forsyth!
Happy Thanksgiving!!!!
I didn´t really to anything for Thanksgiving this week, but I hope the day was good for everyone at home. They don´t celebrate Thanksgiving here, and I live with a Brazilian companion, so we didn´t have very much reason to celebrate.
This week I got a little sick. I´ve just been coughing a little bit, but I think I´m getting better already.
Elder Kutomi and I didnt baptise this week, but the other Elders in my district baptised 4 primary boys, and I got to interview all of them. They were super cool, and were all way excited to be baptised together. They were all friends and brothers, and had been going to church for a few months with the Bishop's family. I hope they all serve missions!
Next week, we´ll have a wedding and a baptism. It should be a neat experience. It will be my first family that I´ll help be baptised. The week after that, we should be able to baptise Luciana. She broke her foot, and she´ll have to wear a cast for the next two weeks.
Transfers will be next week, so I´ll write you guys on Wednesday.
I can´t think of what else is happening, but have a great week, and good luck with all the things that are coming up with Amber's wedding and stuff. I wish I could be there, but I´m happy to be here too.. :)
The church is true!!!! e realmente está abençoando minha vida.
Love, Elder Forsyth!
11/21/11
I thought since I didn´t have time to write good emails the last two weeks, I´d write you guys first, to be sure that I had time.
I´m uploading some photos too. One is from the dinner with president hall where I picked up Elder Kutomi, another is from playing with a puppy at a members house,
and the last one is Matheus´ baptism!
Matheus' baptism was a really neat experience. We had planned on having 3 baptisms this week, but the wedding that we had planned for one investigator got moved to December, and our other investigator broke her foot, and couldn´t be immersed in the water with the cast. But for Matheus, everything went right.
His parents were really concerned about his decision to be baptised. They didn´t know if he was being sincere with us, but we went to his house with the Bishop, and talked with them about the church, and how it helps the youth, and the parents gave us permission to baptise him. His mom even watched the baptism. It was really great.
Matheus is in a wheel chair because he can´t use his legs, so I held up Matheus in the water, and Elder Kutomi did the ordinance. We both helped immerse him in the water, and then I lifted him up again. It was the first, (and probably the last) time that I´ll baptize someone in a wheel chair :P Everything went smoothly though. We only had to immerse him in the water once.
Training is going ok... sometimes it's hard for Elder Kutomi to get motivated and excited to work, but little by little he´s starting to help me a little more. This week he made toast for me. I thought that was nice :)
Other than that, this week has been pretty normal. I´m working hard, and feeling the spirit really strong. I think that this part of the mission is that part that I´m working the most, and that I´m feeling the spirit the strongest. I´m learning new things everyday.
I hope you guys all have a great Thanksgiving. I´ll have to see what Elder Kutomi and I can do Thursday to make the day memorable.
I love you guys, and I´m thankful for your emails everyweek. Keep doing what is right, and let the spirit guide you.
Love, Elder Forsyth
11/14/11
First of all, I´d like to appologize for the short email last week
but this week its going to be short too...
As a trainer, my emails to President are a little longer now, and I haven´t had so much time to write to you guys.
This week was pretty normal though. We worked a lot, and we´re going to have a wedding and 3 baptisms next week. We´re pretty excited.
Thanks for all of your emails, and prayers. I´m really feeling the support.
love, Elder Forsyth
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