Bom Pastor - Week 2

  So last week was a bit crazy and I got to learn my new area a bit more! It rained a whole bunch so ALL of my shoes are wet still. We saw a wicked spider in our house. As we got home after a long work day the other elders in our house were like " DID YOU SEE IT?" lol I will send you all a video of this... needless to say we all screamed like little girls!! I also found out that Elder Ferreira looks like frozen from the Incredibles "honey, where is my super suit?" 

  We started teaching Kauã which is Maicom´s friend that is learning about the church. Kauã told us yesterday that he has an answer. He told us that he knows the Book of Mormon is true and he is set to be baptized on the 16 of March! Also, Jaque told us that she is excited for her baptism in March too! Even though I was not expecting to be in a new area just for 6 weeks I know that I had to be here for a reason. I am loving the Bom Pastor Ward and all the members and people we are teaching. Yesterday we went to the Temple to bring people we are teaching to see it for the first time. They all loved it and want to go again!

  I am excited for this week! I will have my last conference in my mission tomorrow and that means my last testimony before I go home. I am very anxious but also very scared. Maybe that is normal? But I am super happy here!

Love you all!

Élder Bryson D. Hammond

Missão Brasil Curitiba Sul

2017-2019

Bom Pastor- Week 1

Bom Dia Y'all!!

So now I am in an area where the Bishop is from Houston Texas so we just speak English and he lives 3 doors down and has an English company where he teaches English so that is pretty cool! Also, my area is the airport so every 10 minutes we see an airplane going off which is the plane I will take lol. I will take a picture one day with the plane taking off over my head. Also, we got into a bus today that had all the flight attendants so not only am I always seeing airplanes I see the attendants too! Lol the area is super cool as of now and we have some really cool people that we are teaching already!

 Besides of all that, our area is actually pretty small but there is a lot of room to see growth. We are teaching Edinea and she will be going to get a date marked to get married this next month so she is super excited! Also, there is Jaque that is about 22 years old and she is preparing to be baptized soon. She already has gone to church two times from only being taught for 2 weeks. She is loving the church and has some friends there already. She has a daughter so we are focusing a lot on eternal families and she understands it all. 

 As of now its been a rush to see how the new zone is going and already next week is my last Zone conference so I am getting really nervous with everything happening all at once and so quick! I have not been home literally all day so I don't have pictures to send because I don't have my camera but I will have lots next week! Love you all and talk to you all on the next week!

Elder Bryson D Hammond

Missão Brasil Curitiba Sul

2017-2019

Jardim Do Sol - Week 13

 Transfers were today and i was transferred to my last area for just one transfer. I kind of had an idea that this would happen but i was not sure of how or where i would be going. I was transferred to the Bom Pastor area with a prior companion Elder Zanni from Argentina. We served for a transfer together last year and now again this year so i am super excited to be werving with him again.

  Mara is progresing a whole lot this last week! She has gone 3 days without smoking as of yesterday and is preparing to be baptised. She is not feeling to great due to not smoking anymore but that feeling will go away soon. We went to the temple with her on Wednesday and on friday she stopped smoking with a plan that we have for her. She is very determined to stop smoking and follow Christ. She already got rid of the coffee and soon she will be free from smoking too! 

  Friday we did splits in my second area so i got to see more of the recent conversos from when i served there. It was so great to be able to see them continue to grow in the gospel and see their son that is having his 1 year old birthday today! Time flies so fast and sooner then they know it he will be going on a mission! 

  I will miss the area Jardim Do Sol so much but i know that the lord has a plan for me to be here in Bom Pastor for 6 weeks so I am glad that i can be here for this time that i have left! Its such an opportunity to serve! 

Elder Bryson D Hammond

Missão Brasil Curitiba Sul

2017-2019

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