Itapetininga

So yes, the name of the city I'm currently in is a little difficult to

say, (We asked him to say it about 8 times when we talked to him on Christmas and are still not positive how to pronounce it!) but you get used to it! I've had another awesome week as a

missionary here, and I just want to share a little about my area with

all of you!

Itapetininga is an interior city. It's almost in another state,

Paraná, and about three hours from the center of São Paulo. it's by no

means a little town. It's rather large. This isn't subdivisions spread

out from the main city like my last area. This is a city! My

definition of city has changed a little since coming here. City here

is all one story. They don't have many tall buildings. Lots of times,

you have a shop and live above it. We live above some guys sound

system shop (luckily he closes early every day, so we don't hear

anything!). You have some big shops, department stores, and smaller

personal shops. Getting out of this central part is just one story

houses, one packed in after the other. In the typical Brazilian style,

you don't have front or side lawn. You have a driveway of three feet,

which connects to your neighbor's driveway. Your side wall is usually

the same wall that your neighbor has. Everything is packed in tight,

and for this there are TONS of people. This is a city of about

100,000. It takes about two hours to walk from one side to the other,

and is roughly circular. The closer you live to the center, or

downtown, the more money you have. Lots of people closer to the center

have cars and slightly larger families. The roads are nicer, but are

usually still cobblestone that may or may not be covered by

disintegrating asphalt. It's also flat here! Which means my legs

aren't dead at the end of the day.

The people here are definitely different. It's harder to find people

who really want this. Lots of people just believe that any old

religion will get you to heaven. They like to go to church without

having responsibility and are often afraid of change. The people

progress a lot slower and have a harder time coming to church and

deciding to be baptized. We can teach lots of lessons in a day, but

usually they just want to have a prayer with us, not learn about the

stuff we have to teach. The people here are a lot less educated as

well. They don't understand everything and the weight and

significance. They are truly a good people though, and I have lots of

love for them. We've found some people now who are better and more

willing to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it, which is good.

They just come slowly! 

We've been working with one man, Alberto, since

my first day in this area, and he finally came to church this Sunday,

and guess what! He liked it! Who'd a thunk, eh? We're hoping he

decides to get baptized this Saturday, and working with him lots. The

best investigator we have though, is Vera. The missionaries here have

been working with here and her "husband" João (John) for months.

They're not married, but have been living together for over thirty

years and have a nice family. They're Catholic, about 60, and very

reluctant to try new things. João has had a harder time, and likes to

leave to go walking when we have appointments. He doesn't want to go

to church or try out these things. He's open though to the idea of

Vera doing whatever. Finally two weeks ago, the Spirit managed to

touch the heart of Vera enough that she decided she would for sure

come to church on Sunday. She came last week, and had an AMAZING time!

We visited her this last week, and she said we were going to get tired

from seeing her face at church from now on. She loves that in the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, you don't just listen,

but learn. The people work with you and help you learn about God and

Jesus Christ. She said she learned more in that one Sunday than in all

her years of being Catholic. Her attitude has changed as well. She

starts talking about baptism being the key to happiness without

prompting. She has a desire to serve the Lord and follow his

commandments. We see her heart changing before our eyes! It's SO

amazing to watch someone change and want to follow these things.

Definitely my favorite part of a mission is seeing this change. We

hope she decides to get baptized soon, but she needs to get married

first. We're working with her lots, and she loves all the good this

church does. That she can help people in the community and around the

world. She truly has this desire to follow the cammandments, and even

prays promising that she will from now on.

This church truly has the power to change hearts and return people to

their Father in Heaven. I know this church was established by them to

help everyone. And we can! It's our job to share the good news with

everyone. I love Christ so much, and am incredibly grateful for His

church on the Earth. I pray that everyone will be able to know this

one day, and be able to return to live with our Heavenly Father. I

hope that everyone has a good week and remembers to always stay strong

and help others. Sending lots of love to everyone!

Elder Ashford

What's In A Day!!

So I've been asked to write about a typical day in the mission field.

That kind of sort of doesn't exist as we are constantly trying new

things. But I'll do my best! For example of new things here:

We just changed our address!! The old mission home was outside our

mission, so they had to move it. Here is the new address!

Elder Michael Ashford

Missão Brasil São Paulo Norte

Avenida Nova Cantareira, 1146  fundos

Tucuruvi

São Paulo - SP - 02330-001

So that's super cool, but not all. We also found out about an even

BIGGER change just today! We've been knowing this was going to happen,

as our mission presidents service ends in June, but today we found out

who our new mission president will be as of July 1st! Their names are

President Timothy Farnes and Sister Linsey Farnes of Bountiful, Utah.

He served in Brazil farther south over 30 years ago, so that's

exciting! We are all super excited for this, but sad to know that our

mission president now will be leaving us soon.

So yeah. But a typical day goes more or less like this:

6:30-8:00

Wake up and start praying! Afterwards, I start exercising for about 30

minutes. As soon as I can't do more exercising, I hop in the shower

and get myself ready for the day. I cook some breakfast, which can

vary from a sandwhich, eggs, toast, home squeezed orange juice, milk,

various freah fruits, crackers, and mixing a fruit (usually

strawberries, avacado, or banana) and milk in the blender to make a

very yummy "vitamin shake".

8:00-12:00

Study time! I have three hours of study time at a minimum. One hour of

personal scripture study (Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and

Covenants, Pearl of Great Price) and study of our missionary manual,

Preach My Gospel, as well as whatever other church articles or

magazines we have. I always study in Portuguese, because it's actually

a TON easier to understand. The second hour, we share what we learned

with our companion and then study something together, or practice

giving lessons. The third hour, I study Portuguese! Each of these

hours is accompanied by an opening prayer and a closing prayer. The

last hour is additional study, if desired. Here, I read books that are

not scripture or the words of modern day prophets. Right now, I'm

reading an AMAZING book about our Savior Jesus Christ, appropriately

title, Jesus the Christ. It is awesome. If I'm not studying during the

last hour, I'm getting ready to head out for the day, stocking up with

materials, and then heading out to do some early work before lunch.

Talking to people in the streets, sharing our message of the restored

gospel of Jesus Christ. Then we walk to lunch!

12:00-1:

This is lunch time! Lunch is the biggest meal here, so it's always

lots of food. Usually, we eat with the members and talk with them,

leave a scripture message with them, and ask them who they know who

would accept a visit from us. If we aren't eating with a member, we're

eating in our house and cooking for ourselves.

1:30-9:00

And this is where the real magic happens. The time varies depending on

the day, but it's about 8 hours of just working! We talk with people

in the streets, we go in their houses and teach lessons, we pray with

them, we chat with them. We just go around and spread the word of

Christ's church being back on the Earth for all to benefit! Sometimes,

no one wants to hear, which is sad. Others, we teach tons of lessons

and find tons of people with interest. It just varies. And we do this

every day!

9:00-10:30

After the day, we plan for the next one. We plan everything we're

going to do, and then relax a little bit and chat before bed. We make

sure to go to bed on time, because trust me, the rest is needed.

This all changes a little from day to day. Sundays we have church and

my companion is a leader so has to check up how everyone in our area

is doing. Tuesdays we have a meeting in the morning with some other

missionaries nearby and we learn how to improve our teaching. Friday

mornings are when we plan out everything for the entire week, in

general. Every day is new and exciting and I love this work!!

I hope everyone is doing well and having fun! Keep strong and carry

on! Sending lots of love and good wishes as people head into another

semester of school!

Sincerely,

Elder Ashford

Merry Christmas

And Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday season and

is settling back into normal things with ease!

We passed Christmas very well here in Itapetininga! I got to open all

my awesome presents, including my UT pajamas for Christmas Eve, and

spend the day with some awesome missionaries! This Christmas really

taught me a lot about the true spirit of Christmas. Being a missionary

brings a whole different meaning to it. About the love for other

people and the love for our Savior Jesus Christ! We went and had a

nice big lunch at the house of a member, and then I spent a little

more than 3 hours (whoops) talking with my family over Skype! It was

super cool and I was so glad to be able to talk to them for that

amount of time. I know other missionaries had troubles with Skype and

internet, but I was blessed to have everything work perfectly. It was

definitely hard to get off at the end and to say goodbye. This goodbye

was a lot harder than even when I left to start my mission! But all is

well and afterwards the members gave us some nice gifts and we

returned home. We had bought a lot of food and feasted on some

delicous meat, rice, and salad! It was awesome to have that time with

my missionary friends.

I hope everyone is doing well and having fun! 

I love everyone and am loving the work here! Keep safe!

Elder Ashford

Itapetininga and a Merry Christmas!

FELIZ NATAL EVERYONE!!

Christmas is almost here and that's super exciting! Especially for a

missionary who gets to Skype his family!! Christmas here is VERY hot.

Like, in terms of the temperature. It's just about summer here. So

super weird for me. Unfortunately, Christmas isn't nearly as decorated

here. People don't have lights up or decorations in the street and

there's a lack of Christmas carols. But it's okay! We had a ton of

stuff happen this week!

Firstly, I got transferred. I am now in Itapetininga, São Paulo. It's

a fairly "small" city in the interior of the country, closer to the

Amazon. There's less pollution and lots more people! I got a new

companion, Elder Agnelli, who's in the picture with me. This is his

last transfer before he leaves to go home, so I'm hoping to learn a

ton from him! 




The work here is a little different. The church isn't so

strong here, but I plan to help change that! We spend lots of time

finding new people, because people here aren't very good about keeping

commitments and promises to attend church and stuff. But we'll get

some good work in before Elder Agnelli leaves! Itapetininga is an

actually city, unlike my old area which was more of the outskirts of a

city, the poor section. This is city stuff. We live in the center of

the city, and it's super fun because we live with two other

missionaries! Our city is split, and one missionary pair gets one half

of the city, and the other the other half! It's definitely fun.

This past week was full of Christmas stuff. We had a Christmas

celebration for both halfs of the mission, the interior and the

capital. We learned a lot from President Martins, and then had a giant

hundred person White Elephant before a giant lunch. No joke. White

Elephant took FOREVER. But it was awesome! We've been giving lots of

Christmas messages to people. And I'm super excited to see my family

Christmas evening! (Morning for them!)

I'm so happy for this time of year and the wonderful family and

friends I have in my life. Thanks for all your support! Sending love!

Merry Christmas and have fun and be safe!!

Elder Ashford

The Adventure Continues

I'm thinking that this will be a headline that will continue to be

used for the next two years. Actually, less, because I've been out for

FOUR months! Pretty crazy. I'm practically fluent in Portuguese as

well, so awesome!

The work is moving forward, and we are pushing hard for baptisms this

week! My companion is awesome and got me a Brazil soccer jersey for my

birthday! Brazil is awesome as well and I'm extremely grateful for the

opportunity I have to be here and work with these people. Brazil is

beautiful and the people are awesome. They're simple, but they love

their way of life. 

As a missionary, I meet a lot of people with

problems. People with addictions that are super hard to overcome.

People who just want their child to believe in God and go to church.

People who have disfigurations and mental problems. All kinds of

people. Some people speak very well, others speak very little

Portuguese, despite it being the only language they know. The streets

are full of people of all kinds and types. People live in the streets,

others in one room houses in an alleyway, others live in nice, big

houses that they made with their own hands. But these people all have

at least one thing in common. They are all children of our Heavenly

Father.

I thought that I loved everyone before my mission. Was kind to

everyone. Gave everyone their chance to talk and share their opinion.

But it's a lot harder here. I automatically think that these people

aren't as smart or special, because they don't speak English and

weren't born in the US. It's a natural reaction that I've been having

to overcome. But the people here are all special. They are all

children of a loving God who wants all His children to return and live

with Him some day. They all have problems, just like any other human

being. They're simply in a different situation. Look at people not as

who they are, but what they can become.

Charity is the pure love of Christ. I'm pretty sure it encompasses all

other of the attributes of Christ as well. It's kind of like all the

virtues of Christ rolled into one giant characteristic. This Christmas

season, remember everyone. Help the people that are in need. Search

for people that need YOUR individual help. The beauty of Christ's

church here is that we are given opportunities to act, and not simply

believe. To show our faith and not solely say it. So use the programs

you've been given, or make up your own to help someone. I'm working

hard here every single day to give people hope in a crazy world. To

say that Christ really restored His church to the Earth, and that all

mankind can come and partake of eternal life through God's plan for

us. Remember to help lots of people. Follow the example of our Savior

Jesus Christ this Christmas season and find someone to help.

I'm sending lots of love back home to everyone. Thanks for the letters

and love and support to me, and I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas

and has fun and remembers Christ! Stay safe and work hard!!

Elder Ashford

Happy Birthday to Me

WOOOOW this week has been awesome!!! I honestly don't know how much

I'll be able to write before I have to get off, but I'm gonna try to

relate everything I can!!!

I want to say a big Thank You to Marcilia. None of you know her, but

she's a lady in our ward that really helped me out this week. If you

take a look at the last photo, that's here. She's the mother of

Vinicius, my very first baptism in the mission field. We had the

tremendous honor to have lunch with her this past Sunday, on my

birthday. She made a truly fantastic, big feijoada feast for us. We

ate a ton, and it was delicious! She also prepared a cake, complete

with candles for my birthday yesterday. She and her family and my

companion sang Happy Birthday to me and I felt truly blessed to be

right here right now with these people. Afterwards, we were talking

about things a little, and she said she really wanted my to feel at

home on my birthday, especially since I was so long from my family and

my home in Texas. I couldn't help but start to cry a little. It was

super touching, to know that this lady, who lives in a little one room

house down an alleyway, who struggles for money would do all this for

me. It was an act of total and complete charity and I thank her very

much for making my birthday spectacular, despite being long from home.

This week was truly phenomenol though. I had the opportunity to have

my interview with my mission president this past week. It was awesome

to be with him and hear some of his wisdom and get help. I also

participated in my first zone conference. I learned a TON and am

excited to work harder, smarter, and help more people! It's been a

little rough will no baptisms this week, but we're prepared and

determined! I know just how true this Gospel is and how much it can

bless the lives of everyone! I wish everyone a great week! Work hard

and have fun!

Love,

Elder Ashford

São Paulo Temple--11/25/13

 SORRY THIS IS LATE--I WAS IN CHICAGO

Geez Louiz. This has been a crazy few weeks! The temple in São Paulo

is beatiful, and I'm super grateful for the chance I had to visit! I'm

sorry as well if these come at weird hours of the morning. We have

daylight savings time as well! Except it's opposite here because the

seasons are flipped. So Texas is 5 hours behind me, and Utah is 6

behind me. Crazy stuff.

I'm sending a picture of the São Paulo Temple. It's absolutely

beautiful. It was an amazing experience to have everything in

Portuguese. We had fun going through the Temple and then eating lunch

at a restaurant. We also walked through a super fancy Walmart which

had multiple stories and moving sidewalks. But the Temple was

definitely the highlight. You can feel the Spirit of God there like

nowhere else. To be a missionary and visit is even more special. I

know that this church is true and was restored to the earth by Jesus

Christ himself, and that these temples are houses of God. Through

them, we can be sealed for time and all eternity with our families.

This is a huge thing, especially for people in Brazil. They hear about

how they can live with their families in heaven and want to have a

part in it. It's a wonderful work we are bringing about. We've been

having some difficulties lately, but we'll overcome. We have tons of

people who are ready to join the Church of Jesus Christ.

The work is going well, and I speak Portuguese really well now. I can

understand everything that people say and I can speak really well too.

It's amazing how fast you can learn with God's help. I'm working hard,

and the next time I write you, I'll be 19!! Have fun everyone, stay

strong, and remember to keep Christ in your hearts as we head into the

Christmas season!

Sincerely,

Elder Ashford