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

Pics of Elder Maynez

Here are some pics of Elder Maynez having a grand ol' time in his mission. 

Work hard. 

Play yard. 

Amiright? 

14/01/13--Shout Outs and Highlights O' the Mish

Ay oh!  this week was crazy.  I have never been so excited for a pday.  I am getting some much needed rest. well let me enlighten you about my week.  I´ll go day by day and pick out the interesting stuff.  But first I´d like to give shoutouts because I know for a fact the majority of you don´t read the whole email so i feel like i should give you some shoutouts at the beginning.  

       

CONGRATUFRICKNLATIONS TO THE MISSIONARIES IN THE HOME WARD
              CAM MCGINN - GERMANY!!!

              BRYSON NICKLE - ITALY?!?

              MADI BORUP - ARGENTINA!!!

       

START YOUR STUDIES, BE STOKED, GO FORTH AND REAP!  Im so excited for you guys the mission is such a priviledge and blessing.  Im sorry you guys werent called to the true mission, PORTO ALEGRE SUL, but you know those other missions are kind of cool haha joke jokes. go and kick satans butt :)

 

SPECIAL SHOUTOUTS: i only get mail once a month so here we go.  Thanks for the letters, packages, and love! It means alot!  Im so thankful for the time you put into sending what you sent :)

    Grandma Maynez                                                        Mrs. Junior

    Grandma & Grandpa Solis                                            The Hinckleys

    Primary Kids                                                               The Parkers

    Sister Sanders                                                            Sister Turner

    Omar Jackson                                                             Brother McAllister

    Gary, Bachi, Kathryn, William, Hannah Smith

    The Heatheridge Stake Presidency

    Amber C. 

    Heather B

7.01.13

          a Pday.... something i wrote in my journal was "Faith isn´t faith until it has been tried."  that statement right there describes the following week.  Then I also wrote that "miracles are wrought via Faith and Prayer"  I´m a fan of miracles so i´ve been do all I can to make sure they are wrought.... The highlight of my Pday is that I caught a frog.... yaaaaaa if any of you really know me then you know I love catching animals haha. its what i do #aceventura #steveirwin 

8.01.13

          I´ve made it a goal to read the Book of Mormon in a month.  in english.  Then I want to read it in portuguese.  So I started 25 Dec.  Im in Helaman now.  I´m cruising.  I love it.  I have such a love for the Book of Mormon now.  I love doing contacts.  I love talking to a total stranger and telling them a story that relates to them.  Somehow I always read something that can be applied that same day.  Today we taught a mother and a daughter... the daughter loves us.  She gave us some pictures she drew.  I love that family.  We taught and the mom was super interested.  SO that was good. We made plans to go back and do a follow up.  We had tried contacting this family so many times.  They were never home.  The reading I did this day was Alma 17.  In the 11th verse it reads 11 And the Lord said unto them also: Go forth among the Lamanites, thy brethren, and establish my word; yet ye shall be^apatient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good ^bexamples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls.

So i thought "yes finally after all these attempts the Lord is finally blessing us with the opportunity to teach them!" . . . haha we did everything we could to be able to teach this family.... finally the time came.  The Lord blesses in His own timing.

9.01.13

          So the coolest thing I found in the scriptures this day was when Alma is counseling his sons.  HE tells one of them TO LOOK TO GOD AND LIVE.  Ahhh cool beans.. Im definitely gonna turn that into a church talk one day.  Haha just need to ponder a little bit more on that phrase.  WEll the highlights of today were,  new pavement was poured and we walked on it and all the black rocks stuck to our shoes (ya my fun standard is going down i know... or im finding joy in the little things idk which) I found a flower that looked like a real mustache.,... so naturally I grabbed it and put it on my upper lip.... forgot the picture but its all good.  

10.01.13

          Got mail!  Again thank you!  The highlight was a hawaiian themed family night.... That was fun, i threw my IZ cd in and we ate pork, rice, and beans.... hahah but ya I taught the elders here how to do a haka,,, that was mean, maori mean.  There was a pineapple drink that looked really good, but it wasnt... i almost choked on it haha...

11.01.13

          Cleaned our apt.  its spotless.  We went to a members house and he made me sit down and listen to brazilian reggae... haha i liked it! but ya... We found a new group of people to teach.  We literally found 17 new investigators.  none of them are progressing.  I just wanna shake them like a dog. (CYGZ that was for you) Well i met an elderly woman that has a 40yr turtle... wow... it could be my dad.  haha but thank goodness its not. haha

12.01.13

           Bible bashed with a Grandma .... she knew how to get under my skin.... i didnt lose it but my comp did.  We walked away after he burned her and asked why i didnt say anything.  I said the spirit wont give me the words to say when theres contention.  haha.... well we´ve been doing a ton of walking and contacting.  I know the members help the most, but they havent been help at all.  We´re working on that right now too.  Well anyways as we walk theres a lot of rocks on the dirt roads so we try to peg eachother with rocks... its fun haha.... I caught a big hairy caterpillar ha... that was cool too.

13.01.13

           So the lesson learned today was, PUT YOUR TRUST IN THE LORD.    because when everyone says "yes I´d love to go to church and see what its all about" dont trust them.  Trust the Lord!  SO i´ll be here inviting teaching and testifying, but as for the trust... thats going to the Lord.  I sincerely thought I was going to see at least 4 or 5 investigators at church.  We walked to their houses to get them so we could walk together... No one answered.  I was honestly so upset with them.  They dont get it.  They can be so blessed! I tell them that but they just dont listen!  I was so bummed.  We had lunch after church and then we went home.  I hate how the people here force feed us... If i eat alot instinctively I will want to nap after! after lunch is when we work the hardest! haha i cant work hard and be sleepy haha.... well we ate a lot... we were basically fainting going into food comas, but I said "the Lord is trying our faith... lets go work instead of relax" so we worked... until 9pm.  Every single person I talked to was rude, closed, and didnt want to hear anything I had to say.... I was so bummed.  But we got home and planned... I busted out the uke and sang my heart out... im so glad I brought the uke... shoot.... if i didnt then i wouldve sat there and marinated in my sorrow.... but dont worry peeps im alive and im happy. :) i know how hard i can work now.... i know how to deal with rejection, just work harder.  No worries here.

  

I love the mission, I hate the rejection, I love the Lord, I hate the blindness of these people.  Im learning everyday.  Its amazing... Elder Holland said "pelo menos tem um converso.... você"  At least have 1 convert,,,, you.  I know that im being converted everyday... I love it.  This was my week :) I hope u enjoyed the small adventures.... I know i do... welllllll tchau

             MUCH LOVE FROM ELDER MAYNEZ & BRAZIL

First Email of 2013!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

   2013..... wow I cant believe i´ve actually been alive for almost 20 years!  Never knew i´d make it this far haha... well PARABENS to me.  

 Well as a tradition I made some resolutions.... I guess I´ll share them with you people.... 

                  1. do a good turn daily

                  2.  Always smile

                  3. Count my blessings every week

    Well we taught a few investigators this week.  Its hard because they all are ready and qualified for baptism, but for one reason or another they will not accept the invitation.  I just wanna shake them like a dog. physically no spiritually yes.... we´ll see what happens. 

                So the first investigator is an elderly woman.  She´s been to church at least 7 times.  She loves it.  She´s received all the lessons.  She knows baptism is the only way to enter the kingdom of God.  she knows that via baptism her sins may be made like scarlet again.  I just dont understand why she wont be baptized.  its driving me crazy.  It was the first time i had taught her.  I had met her in church and all the jazz soooohooo ya..... We´ll see what happens.  NExt time I see her Im gonna say some stuff that i mean... give her a piece of my mind.  hahaha that sounds bad but she does need a little shove.  

                So the second investigator is another elderly woman.   Don´t ask why we teach so many of those... trust me i´m looking for families too haha.... anyways shes receiving the lessons really well. The other day I took the lead for teaching her.... We taught the Plan of Salvation.  I taught the premortal life.... then I got excited because everything was going well.... I skipped to why we´re here.... totally skipped adam and Eve... whoops.... haha But I was teaching by the spirit and started making up these cool thoughts (*cough* NERD!)  haha ... The first one was that Christ was the only perfect one on this Earth and He´s the only that deserves a perfect body.... Yet He kept the scars to show people that He has had been resurrected.  So the only perfect man to ever live is the only one who has an imperfect body after this life?  not fair for Him.  But he loves us so much it doesnt matter.  The other thought i had was that (teaching about why we need to be cleansed from sin)  I said that we have perfectly white shirts, everytime we sin we have a stain appear..... just imagine the shame we´d have when we appear before God with a dirty shirt.  We wont even have to say anything our shirt will say it all.... So thats why when we´re baptized our sins are gonezo... God remebers them no more.  

               The last story is cray cray . . ..  we had a reference from a member so after a delicious lunch we went to talk to the family.... The member said that moms says that her son sees spirits... im like whaaaaa? well whatever... so we went and she just straight up fled from us hahah .... but we managed to get her back .... so she answered the door.... we gave our speel she lets us in and we sit down outside.... We are sitting under some bamboo sticks, that supported a clothesline.  We sit down and this demonic dog starts barking up a storm.  It was scary not gonna lie.  She calmed the beast down and said calmly, "this dog bit a chunk out of the last visitors leg..." uhhhhh ya i wanna go do something else.... but no we stayed... So we were introducing ourselves and then the son comes out.... he starts screaming im like "what is going on?"  i was confused.... then he calmed down and sat with his mom and then he started to chew his fingernails.... so we continued to teach.... then all of a sudden he sprang up and cornered a cat and started hissing at it.... i was so lost.... never had i encountered this so i had no idea what to do.,... so i just kept teaching what can u do? haha then the lad found a pen and pretended to stab my companion in the back.... while making the chuckie face.... wow.....  then he disappeared... he had gone and started cutting the clothesline so it would fall and take out my companion.;... this is when i started to think this child is possessed! what do i do? ha luckily it started to rain so we went inside........ we picked up where we left off then after 8 min the child ran in and screamed at the top of his lungs I hate the magro and the gordinho! haha i was just like.... uhhhhh man .... so we continued teaching then he popped in a dvd and watched it.... while we were trying to teach.   It was really crazy... he says ay tio turn around and watch this scene... so i did... he was watching ABE LINCOLN VAMPIRE SLAYER.....  well at least the child calmed down while watching blood and gore.... i must admit that the movie looked cool... buuuuuut i was there to teach not to watch a movie... so i would teach and then the boy would say "ay watch this" hed grab my head and turn it towards the tv... then the spirit said no! then i would turn back and it was just a back and forth dealio.... Long story short Abe Lincoln as a vampire slayer is a ludacris idea.... and that the mom was really interested in our message and that the boy loves us now... he just needed attention i guess..... they werent there when we returned.... buuuut i hope this next time we will be able to teach more.... We´ll figure something out.... we were able to win the friendship of the kid and so thats always good.....  Well thats good...

                     That was my week... it was crazy.... oh ya fast sunday was good too... this ward has so many faithful people... all they do is bear testimony... i couldnt do it because we ran out of time!  haha not a minute of awkward silence.... i love the mission... Im glad to be working with so many awesome people!  Well the things written were the highlights of my week......... oh ya 

PS Leaders and especially my family---- we had a meeting with the ward mission leader (hes a mighty man... reminds of ammon when he teaches) anyways he said thank you to you people who have affected me in any way... he knows that my service here in brazil is as a result of your help.... thanks!!! he also said something really cool "eles que não servem, não servem"  those who dont serve, dont serve.... in other words youre useless unless youre serving... See Mosiah 2:17.... welll thats all!

Be good I love you all.

   special shoutout to Bradley Jarvis.... Hope to see you soon!  this place is awesome!!!!!

              Much love from Brazil and Elder MAynez!

A Pic is Worth a Thousand Words...

Here are some pics from Elan's recent adventures in Brazil: