The Story of How We "Broke" the Pastor's Legs

Here we go....

Last week i mentioned that we found a family ready to be baptized... bad or good news first? bad news?  well a pastor lives right next to them and he baptized them.... hes been visiting them forever.  Well the good news is we broke his legs.  haha 

we woke up and Elder Bordolli showed me a scripture..... D&C 71:7.  "wherefore confound your enemies; call upon them to meet you both in public and in private; inasmuch as ye are faithful their shame shall be made manifest."  The night before E. Bordolli called the family to comfirm our appointment with them.  Something was wrong... 6pm after our pday we went to the family´s house.  It was raining a lot. mud was sloshing everywhere.  A car splashed us.  Lightning was tracing the clouds.  IT was cool.  We arrived.  We clapped our palms.  Then the daughter showed up with a man and another woman.  We introduced ourselves as servants of the Lord and we went inside and sat down and talked.  The man and woman were pastors..... 

I wanted to sit down and just listen then set him straight.... but my comp isnt like that. he lost control.  haha .   the pastor tried to confound us.  He said Joseph Smith died of AIDs.... That we worship images of CHrist if we have paintings in our chapels.  The Book of Mormon isnt scripture.  and that we´re spiritually blind and need to pray more.  All i know is that no one prays more than us missionaries.  We "broke his legs" like crazy.  

Every time he tried to pin us with something we cornered him and slapped him in the face.  He kept running and running from point to point.... it was crazy..... He finally had enough that he got up and said he had an appointment.  Then we said alright .... we talked a bit more and he said something about ppl dont need to be baptized to be saved.  Thats when we cracked down on him.  He couldnt handle the truth.  HE rain out in the rain.  he literally fled.  He gave us a false number and told us we need to visit him so he can teach us.  Poor man.  Blinded de mais.  He tried to use his age against us.  39yr pastor vs a 20yr old and 19 yr old (neither are fluent in portuguese) hahaha welllll that was the highlight.  its whatever.  I know bible bashing is not good but it had to happen this time.  

I Love the mission. every minute of it.  I know that this is the work of the lord and that he helps us every step.  Sometimes i go home and sit on my bed and dont even know how im gonna wake up at 630 the next day.   but somehow i do and then i walk all day the next day.  idk how it happens.... its all good and its all because Im embarked in the service of the Lord.  Well times up and i hope all is well in the 801. 

#churchistrue #dontgiveup

Love Elder Maynez

2.11.13 Missionaries Grow Up So Fast...

Wellllll this week was crazy....

 

The week started off amazing.

  

 We found a family that is prime for baptism.  We taught them and commited them to baptism.  THey said yes and committed to go to the church the next day.

We received a celestial reference.  This woman is ready for baptism.  Ive never seen someone so stoked to be invited to be baptized.  She accepted.  

We did lots of contacting and found many people who want to hear our message.  When we contact we always invite them to church.  So ya we had tons of people committed to come to church ...

   Then the week sort of when downhill...

                Not a single one of our appointments were there.  

                Not a single phone was on.... no one accepted our calls

We got burned by a member.... never seen an old lady so mad in my life.  The other missionaries decided to leave the area and go eat in another area and they never told us.  The woman had prepared lunch for 4 missionaries.  We arrived to eat lunch.  The other missionaries never showed up. never told us. never answered their phone.  We got burned bad.  The worst part was that she was right.  Why didnt we confirm lunch for 2? she had prepared an amazing meal for 4.  She got even more livid when we would apologize so we stopped and just ate.  We tried to eat the most we possibly could so that food wouldnt be wasted.  So ya it wasnt our fault at all, but we ended up paying for it.... lame sauce.  In further news fry sauce is good with potato salad and rice and pork.... haha 

Sunday came along and no one showed up to church..... 

The only thing i can do is keep smiling.  Im not gonna lie but i liked satans plan better where everyone would be saved.  sometimes i just wanna take them out in the morning and throw them in church,,, haha  im just kidding.  It wouldve defeated the whole point to Gods plan.  But ya its all good.  Vai dar certo.  All will be well.  I just gotta testify and do what i do to find those who are ready.  haha well thanks for the prayers and support.  Support the local missionaries in your areas via references. 

Write me. keep me updated with your lives.  If you want me to forget about you dont write me. haha jk but seriously.... i almost forgot my first name the other day

Love,

 Elder Maynez

Hey My Peeps!

E AÍ MINHA GENTE (Hey My people!)

   let me just start off with saying that Im so happy. 

   Well i got a new companion, Elder Bordolli.  He´s from Mar Del Plata, Argentina.  His small claim to fame is that his friend trained David Archuleta.... ya i know I´m a big deal.  He is a really great missionary.  In these last 5 days I´ve learned so much from him.  With Elder Bordolli I´ve learned that we need to teach with patience, love and kindness.  We´re teaching God´s children.  They all learn in different ways at different paces.  When we sit down and talk with the investigators we gain their trust and love.  I´ve also started doing a lot more work here, the ward, Três Vendas is amazing.  All the members think about is baptisms.  Im so stoked for this transfer.

   We´ve been doing a lot of contacts lately.  Ive met a lot of people who say, oh the Mormons, one of you got really mad at me because I didnt want to hear the message.  I stood there and thought wow... is that what people are remembering?  THats not good haha... I´ve been learning to be positive. ALWAYS.  When we contact someone and they say something like, I dont want to mix religions, then smile and be happy!  AT least they have faith in God!  haha Its the concept of taking what they already have and making it stronger.  

WEll my hour is up.... I want you all to know that Im loving my mission, theres nothing else I´d rather be doing with my life.  Each day my companion and i wake up at 630 am to an alarm on our cellphone saved as "para suas familias, você é um herói." (for their families, you are a hero) Well Im here serving a mission not for me but for the lord.  

THe lord is so gracious that he blesses me more than I can imagine.... I think the scripture im thinking of is D&C 78:17-18.   Its honestly not fair that I´m giving two years of my life to the Lord because I´m really the one gaining.  I am blessed every day.  My family and friends are blessed every day..  I am blessing families here in Brazil with the message of the gospel.  I am learning so much and growing so much.  I wouldnt have these experiences anywhere else in my life.  I know this church is true.

My most sincere condolensces go out to the Griener family. We´re all going to be reunited again with our families with perfect bodies in heaven.  I know that is going to happen with all my heart.  We´re so blessed with the Book of Mormon. Another testament of Christ.  IT truly is the word of God.  We are also blessed with prayer.  Direct communication with our HEavenly FAther.  He lives, he loves us, he knows us each personally.  I know these things to be true without the slightest doubt in my mind. I leave this with you in the name of Jesus Christ 

AMEN.

MUCH LOVE 

    ELDER MAYNEZ