Jardim Do Sol - Week 12

  Wow! I am super light now! If the scale is correct here in the pharmacy I have lost about 15 kilos which is about 30 pounds... Lol I am eating a lot so that is weird!

  We had so many blessings this past week! We had everybody that planned to go to church went yesterday, We are starting the process of some weddings this year and family has had some questions answered from daily prayer and scripture study! On her own, because of the questions being answered, she looked into the process of getting married so they are super stoked to do that and understand more!!   

  Lol We were teaching the plan  of salvation to a little 8 year old girl, her name is Julia, and she was like "so before i lived here on earth i knew and met Jesus?" We just replied yes and she said quietly " I knew I shouldn't of washed my hands..." lol we about died laughing when she said this. She wants to be close to our savior it's so sweet! Lol she told her mom "I just want to jump in the water to be baptized!" She wanted to be baptized this week but her mom said that the 9th of February is better to go with her to church and to bring her sister back to church too.

  Mara will have to move to Santa Caterina which is another state so she will move there after she is baptized. Her grandson is paying her rent so she needs a cheaper rent so he will move her closer to him and her daughter. She was super sad that she has to move but will continue with us until she has to move. 

  This is the last week in the transfer so let's see if I will stay here or go to another area for my last before I am home! I told President Cuvelier that I will go wherever the Lord wants me to serve for my last transfer or I will stay if He wants me to stay! Either way, i will be happy!

Love you all!

 Élder Bryson D. Hammond

Missão Brasil Curitiba Sul

2017-2019

Jardim Do Sol - Week 11

So this last week was crazy! Went to Quitandinha which meant waking up at 5:40 am and so that meant I was super tired till Thursday like at the point till teaching standing up was better because I would of fallen asleep on a couch lol. The next day we had a meeting with the Steak President and in my old area I learned that they will have their own chapel starting in March! Also when I was in my second area for splits I visited 2 families that I taught and Willian and Ana and their son Samuel (11 months old)! I was so happy to see them and get to talk to them for a little. I have missed these families so much so I was super happy to see them.

 Mara is progressing a lot !! She went to church and has lowered her smoking habits a lot already! She loved the church and is already in 2 Nephi in the book of Mormon! She is already excited to come next week too! She is truly having a conversion now! Also, we are in the process of helping Rafael and Danieli get married. We need to go to the Cartório Wednesday to start this process! So there is a lot going on here and that is good because it keeps us busy!!!

The Church is True!

-Elder Bryson D. Hammond

Jardim do Sol - Week 10

This week was super tiring with a lot of splits, family nights and a ward activity that we as missionaries did!

 Mara is an older lady that we found when I was on splits with Elder Groves (from Alaska) and we just taught her outside on the first visit. We had been looking for somebody to teach and she answered the door out of 4 houses. 

  When we did splits and Elder Cavaco stayed in the area he went there to see if Carla ( Maras grandaughter) was home but who answered was Maras other grandaughter which let them in. Mara told us the other day that she didn't want her granddaughter to let them in but did so anyway. Mara said that one month ago she was praying to have God send her an answer about what is Christ's church and she had a dream that 3 angles passed by her house. So returning to the other day the three of us My companion, Raquel (a member) and I visited her. She confirmed this as an answer for her prayers. She has had a lot of challenges in her life with some daughters in jail and she had some personal problems too. BUT she wants to change and quit smoking and she was really happy that we passed by when we did. The reason we got to meet her is because about a month and a half ago Elder Haight and I taught her at her mother in laws house and we got her address to pass by. What I got from this is that we ALWAYS need to follow the Holy Ghost because if we didn't we would of not found Carla which lead to finding Mara who was praying to find a church around the same time we found Carla in the street one day! The Church is true and I know that the Holy Ghost is a tool for us. If we didn't have the Holy Ghost we would not be teaching and helping Mara prepare to be baptized! I love the mission! I hope that all made sense!!

Other news is that I got my plane schedule for my return!!

Love you all!

Elder Bryson D. Hammond

Missão Brasil Curitiba Sul

2017-2019

P.S. As you all can see it's been really hot here in Curitiba theses days!

Ano Novo!!! Week 9 - Jardim Do Sol

Well, this week was fun! Started with the new year being home early and not being able to sleep because of the bombs that everybody uses on the new year. Yes, they don't use really fireworks but its more like a really big bomb that they launch into the air. Thanks to our lovely neighbors I was up till 1 am haha. Last year I didn't even wake up when it was new years for 2018 so it was different this year. 

 This week we also had a chance to do a lot of splits and see some more progress in the area! More people are going to church and we planned and confirmed with a family that we will start their wedding process this week right now!!! This is a family that we care for so much and we are happy that they are in the process of getting married. Another family we found this week told us that they believe the Book of Mormon is true and that the church was restored through Joseph Smith !! That is the best feeling when somebody can say that they know that the church is true with just 2 weeks being taught!! They really are reading and praying to keep knowing more! In these last 3 weeks, we have seen a change in the area without a doubt. For sure there is more work to be done but we are happy with the changes already!! 

 As for this new year, I have to set my goals for the last bit of my mission and for after! I received a sad and yet good phone call today with a confirmation of when I will be home and what airport I will arrive at. On the 19th of March I will leave my mission. I am truly sad to have to leave in such a short time but I am excited how much we can accomplish until then. I just have a couple of months left but I am so happy for what I have learned and seen until now! I know that the church is true and I know the Book of Mormon to be the word of God and that through reading and prayer we can know that the Church is true. I know that trough prayer and study we can know that God truly loves us and that the Atonement of Jesus Christ really is a power that cures us physically and spiritually! 

Love you all!

Élder Bryson D. Hammond

Missão Brasil Curitiba Sul

2017-2019

Jardim do Sol - Week 8

Hello, 

  So this last week we have seen a huge change in our teaching group which is a good thing and also hard to hear people say that they don't want to receive us anymore. We have been able to see some of the people we found last week also go to church in the first week we taught them. we are able to see the progress of everybody because of the way we are teaching the first lesson (the restoration). We teach it in 5 specific topics. 

1. God is our Heavenly Father. 

2. Jesus Christ is our Savior 

3. they talk to us through a Prophet 

4. god restored his gospel through His Prophet Joseph Smith and 

5. The Book of Mormon is how you can know if this is all true. 

  We have found that combining this with 3 Nephi 12:48 helps show people that through this message they can strive to be like God and Jesus Christ through following the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is helping a lot of people from what we can see until now!  

 Such a great and hard experience working on Christmas but it was so cool to be able to share the gospel with so many people and try to help them with their challenges and difficulties through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

  I want to wish you all a Happy New years!  Sorry, this email is short but I will have more next week for you all! 

 We played Volleyball with the youth today! 

Until next time!

Love you all!

-Elder Hammond

Feliz Natal Jardim do Sol - week 7

SAAANNNNNTTTTTTAAAAAAA ( Buddy the Elf - Elf Movie) 

  This week was crazy with a new companion and being the last week before Christmas! We had our Christmas zone conference on Wednesday which some of my companions were there for a little bit so I got to see them before they went home! We got to eat a lot, play games, sing Christmas songs and then we got training about the nature of Jesus Christ that our President Cuvelier had prepared for us. 

  Yesterday we had a really cool experience of going to peoples homes to sing Christmas songs for them. We visited some homes especially but a lot of the neighbors came out and we were able to introduce ourselves and now we will be returning another day (today and tomorrow) to visit them and to share a Christmas message with their families. I was not feeling like it was Christmas until we had a chance to do this so I am grateful that we got to participate with the ward! 

  Also this week we have been praying to find some people to teach because we now have 4 missionaries so the area is now split. We have been searching for a lot of people and we were blessed to find some families that seemed really excited to receive the message that we have. We talked with one lady and her daughter last week in the street and she said I have worked at my office for 10 years with your church in the front and I always wondered why nobody has talked to me yet. Lol We laughed and said that it took an elder from Portugal and an elder from the United States to talk to you. She accepted us to visit and as of now she is really excited to read the book of Mormon and know if the church is true! 

  This week was awesome with so many great things that happened! I want to wish everybody a Merry Christmas! Remember why we truly celebrate Christmas and not about the things! I know if we focus on the real meaning of Christmas you will feel the spirit in another way! 

Love you all!

Elder Bryson D. Hammond

Missão Brasil Curitiba Sul 

2017-2019

Jardim Do Sol - Week 6

Well, the mission is hard in many reasons! The closer I get to going home means the closer my friends in the mission are all leaving. Today I had to say goodbye to a lot of friends that I served with, did splits with or just lived in the same house or the same district. it hit a little close to heart this last 2 days realizing that the mission Curitiba Sul will always be the same but I as a missionary and representative of Christ have forever been changed by the experiences, people and with those, I have served with. It is really hard to say good-bye to those that I don't know when I will be able to see again. As for now like Elder Bezerra says " after its done are only left memories!" Is very true and not so easy! As I am in y last 3 months I have to focus more than I have focused and soak it all up! I am so happy that I chose to serve a mission and be a representative of Christ for such a short period of time. It's not easy but its worth it!! At whatever time or place we are at in life we need to soak up the moments and try to remember them because they fly by super fast!! Basically, I LOVE my mission and I would never trade it for anything! I know the Church is true!!

 As for memories here is one picture from a Zone Conference that we had this last transfer!

 I won't be able to send other pictures because I don't trust this computer lol. I already lost pictures on this computer ... I will send more next week!   

Love you all!

Elder Bryson D. Hammond

Missão Brasil Curitiba Sul

2017-2019