Jardim do Sol- Week 7

This week pasted by really really fast.

On Thursday at our ward activity, I was surprised by a visit of my friend, Elder Ashworth. Elder Ashworth official finished his mission last week at transfers, but he stayed in the area to visit everyone with his parents that flew in to pick him up. It was really fun the get to meet his parents (who don´t speak any Portuguese) and tried to talk to the members of the ward. I also felt pretty cool to talk in English.... and be a translator.

We have been working a lot. We were blessed to find some really great new investigators. Elder S, my new old companion, is a super great guy. He is not afraid to talk to people and is also keeping things exciting. He also cuts hair really well, l as I am now a personal testimony. 

We are working lots and I can see how in every way Heavenly Father is helping me grow. I have to me humble and keep walking with faith.

Hope you all have a great week. Love and miss you all

--

Elder Pinkney

Jardim do Sol- Week 6

Greetings everyone,

This past week was a very eventful and fun-packed week. We have been working a lot and have been finding a lot of success in the area. This past week (being the last of the transfer) was very busy with activities, visiting investigators, and preparing for what could have happened. 

We were all really surprised and excited to receive transfers. I will be staying in Jardim do Sol with my new companion Elder S. He has one year and two months in the mission and from what I can tell about him already, he is a really energetic guy. We will be living in the same house with Elder S  (from São Paulo) and Elder B  (from Utah).

To recap a little of the week. We had lots of lessons and visits to make but that is a part of regular routine. On Saturday, we had a ward activity. It was the Day of the Friend with Ice Cream. The ward did an open house and invite members of the community to come and take a tour of the chapel, learn a little about each of the organizations, and eat ice cream. It was a super energized activity. There was a lot of members, less-actives, and non-members. It was a good push to help the missionary work in the ward. 

On Sunday, we brought Y , G , and L  to church. Y  is 13, G  10, and L  7. We have been teaching G  and L for a long time now but we recently starting teaching Y  also. She has had some really incredible experiences thus far in the church. She had an incredible response to her prayer when she prayed about the Book of Mormon and she felt that this is the church she needs to follow. She ha been coming firmly to every activity in the church since then. We are planning her baptism in three weeks. I am really excited for her. 

Sunday night, there was a special Brazil Presidency broadcast about the Book of Mormon. We got to watch it in the Chapel. The whole ward was there and we ate cake afterwards. 

All in all, this week was really good. I am really excited for the miracle happening in our area. It is taking a lot of faith, but I know Heavenly Father will help in each step of the way. 

Love and miss you all,

Com amor, 

Elder Pinkney

Jardim do Sol- Week Five

This past week, I had my very first Mission Tour (which is really just a fancy word for zone conference with a general authority). We had Elder Bassett from the Area Presidency of Brazil come and give us a training. It was a super spiritual experience to get to hear from a general authority in person. I got to shake hands with him and everything. He gave a very special training about making sacrifices. During the mission, we make a lot of sacrifices  Some of these sacrifices are simple part of the job and then there are other sacrifices that we actively choose to make everyday. It is these daily sacrifices that make the difference day to day. These sacrifices make us more worth of Heavenly Father blessings and ready to the work that he has ready. Elder Bassett also invite each us to make these sacrifices that will lead to more satisfaction in the mission and in life. It was truly a blessing to get to hear from a servant of the Lord. 

We have been working a lot this past week. I was able to see some real miracles happen. We meet a lady on Saturday. She has two young children and at that moment, the family has going through some financial problems. They did not have a lot of food in their home. In the case, they only had rice and beans and nothing else. We with the help of the ward, were able to gather 15 shopping bags of word to deliver to her home. It was truly a miracle and really heart touching to watch the lady cry when we carried the shopping bags into her home. 

This past week, I turned 8 months old in the mission. I can´t believe how much time has gone by. I feel very anxious because there is so much work to do. I hope that I am here for a little bit so that I will get to see some of the fruits of the seeds I am planting. 

I know that Heavenly Father is directing this work. Nothing would be possible without him and our faith. I know that the sacrifices of the mission are really and there is really no other place I would rather be. Love you and miss you all. 

Com amor, Elder Pinkney

Jardim do Sol- Week Four

This past week, we were back at it again. We had a lot of work to do and we got a lot of it done.

Our zone had the opportunity to go to the temple this past week. It was my first going inside the Curitiba Temple. It is super beautiful and it was a good opportunity to recharge a little after a tough week. I had a chance to see some of my other missionary friends and receive some personal revelation.

A highlight of the week were that we started teaching a gentlemen and a lady from Haiti. (In our area we have a large population of Haitians and they have lots of mini communities.) We were dealt an interesting challenge because neither of them speak really good Portuguese. They only speak the native Haiti language Creole. It was a very crazy experience to teach the Restoration. We are doing our best to help them understand. They awesome thing is they come to church even Sunday, besides the fact that they do not even understand Sacrament meeting or the classes. Imagine sitting three hours of church and not being able to understand. The miracle is is that they come almost every Sunday.

Yesterday, we had a super good Family Home Evening with a member family and a investigator. We ate, played a super cool game, and taught the Restoration and the investigator was pretty excited.

Thank you all for you love and support. I love being a missionary and besides all the challenges we have, there is always a bright side to everything to keep us going. I love being a representative of Jesus Christ, someone who has felt His love and the difference that He makes in our lives.

Love and miss you all.

Com amor, Elder Pinkney

Jardim do Sol- Week Three

This week was another long and rainy adventure in Curitiba. I know that I probable open every email with this, but it rained a ton this past week. However, I was a lot more prepared and brought my umbrella everyday. The protection helped greatly.

This past week, I went on splits with Elder P of California. It was a super great time. We worked a lot and had a lot of success. We celebrated by buying a pizza and Elder P made Root beer!!! It has been a while since I tasted root beer, it was very impressive. 

I was very grateful for this week of Easter. I had a special goal this Easter to spend all my free time studying about the life of Cristo. I focused my study in the New Testament and the book "Jesus, The Christ". The result was super awesome. I can not describe the amount of things I learned and felt through the Holy Ghost. I feel as though I know a little better my Savior.

I was grateful for the members of the ward that brought us some chocolate to celebrate Easter a little. It was definitely a different kind of Easter this year. I did not see one plastic Easter egg.  (See below for photo.)

General Conference was truly remarkable. I was lucky to have a chapel the broadcasted the conference without problems. I was with 9 other missionaries were able to watch the broadcast. (See photo below.)

I am overly joyed to hear announced the Richmond Virginia Temple!!! 

I was particularly touch by Elder Uchtdorf´s talk on the Savior and His atonement. It truly was a powerful talk.

I am grateful for this past week and the incredible experiences I had. I wish you all a Happy Easter and my love. Thank you all.

Com amor,

Elder Pinkney