Jardim Ipe- Week One

Hello World,

These week was crazy. The new area I am in is called Jardim Ipê in São José dos Pinhais. It is close to Bom Pastor and Afonso Pena which are booth areas I already served. The area is really good. The people that live here are really humble. However, we have been able to teach a lot this week because of this. The people are really open, loving, and receptive. In the short time I have been here, I have already made some friends. The members here are really hard working and actively help us. 

On Thursday, we had a ward mission activity, where we played Pictionary and ate hot dogs. There were over sixty people at the activity and 20 ish were not members of the church. It was really cool to see so many people come out. A big challenge we have here is that the chapel is about two hours walking from the neighborhood where everyone lives. It makes it hard for a lot of people to be at church because a lot of people do not have cars. On Sunday, it is harder because our sacrament meeting starts at 8:00 in the morning. It is a big sacrifice for a lot of people to get up that early to walk or get the bus to come to church. Despite that, the sacrament meeting was filled with people. 

On Saturday, I learned how to build a house. We had a service project where we were helping a single Mom with five kids to build her house. We spent the morning carrying brinks and mixing cement. It was really cool.

All in all, everything is going really well. Hope you all have a great week.

Com amor,

Elder Pinkney 

Jardim Ipe- Day One

Hello World,

I got transfered today to my last and final area. It is called Jardim Ipê. It is near Afonso Pena and Bom Pastor, which are two areas that I have already served before. I am pretty familar with the region and the missionaries that are serving in my zone, so it will be a good transfer. My companion´s name is Elder Capistrano. He is from Forteleza and he has six months left in the mission. I have enjoyed that last four hours that I have been with him. 

I am doing well and I am excited for these last couple weeks. Just to let everyone know, my P-day is going back to Monday so if anyone needs to get in contact, usually on Monday afternoon I will be here.

Love and miss you all lots,

Elder Pinkney

Mission Office- Week 33

Hello world,

This week was incredibly rainy. On Thursday, my companion and I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of thunder and hail knocking against our window. It was pretty scary. I got up and rain to the living room to make sure all the windows were closed. We usually leave the windows open a little at night to let the wind pass in the apartment. Lucky, all the windows were close. However, the next day we found out that there was a lot of flooding in the city and lots of homes were completely destroyed. Really sad. 

Basically, I got soaking wet every single day this week because of the rain. My shoe were extremely grateful....... With all the rain, the chapel also lost power three times this week. It was really horrible actually because we had a ton of things to do to get ready for the transfers tomorrow, but lucky we got it all done last night. 

To make the week a little bit better. I grabbed a pancake recipe from online and we made pancakes at night. A member in our ward also hand given us so homemade Maple syrup that went along perfectly with our pancakes (It was not really maple because they don´t have it here. It was made from maple extract).

On Tuesday, we had a special breakfast with all the missionaries that have district meeting at our chapel. It was really fun and ended out saving us because the Sister that was suppose to give lunch couldn't´t so we just went on gas from the big lunch we ate. 

Anyway, the week was good. Lots of good memories. I have lots of photos this week so I hope you all enjoy. 

Com amor,

Elder Pinkney

Mission Office- Week 32

Freezing Rain, Wind, and Dominos

Hello world!!!

This past week, I felt like I was back in Virginia with the cold temperatures and cold wind. Almost every day this week was cold, rainy, and windy, but those are signals of the coming winter weather here in Curitiba. This past week was pretty normal in terms of routine. We did, however, have a Family Home Evening with a family in our ward. We had invited a less member to come too but he ended up not being able to come since he had just had a fight with his wife. He ended up separating with her on that very night and that became the reason why he could not come to the Family Home Evening. We felt really sad, but made the best of the night. We are planning to get back in contact with him, and we will try a second take on our Family Home Evening. Also, the Family Home Evening provided me the opportunity to try pepperoni and cream cheese pizza from Dominos. (It is as good as it sounds). 

On Wednesday, I went on split with my zone leader Elder Searcy. It went really well. We had a day full of visits and I go to know Elder Searcy a lot better. He is from Utah and was going to BYU Provo before his mission. We chatted a little bit about that. Over all, it was a really great division and we had a good time. I learned a lot from him in the way that he teaches and talks to people. 

Elder Herd and I decided to go on a little adventure today. We went to WAL-MART. Our area is the only area in the whole mission that has a Walmart so we took some extra time to walk over and see what they have different. Sadly, it is basically just any other Brazil market, but it just feels and looks like a Walmart. 

All in all, I had a great week. I am learning a lot and I enjoy being a representative in Christ. I know that this is His work and that we are working to bring His children an eternal happiness. Love and miss you all lots.

Com amor,

Elder Pinkney

Mission Office- Week 31

Hello World,

This week was really good. It was a week a lot more slow pace, which was good. We were needing it after all of the crazy work we did last week. Elder Herd and I got to work in the field a lot, and we had some really good experiences. For example last week, we were knocking doors at night (not one of my favorite activities) and a gentlemen answered. He came out to the gate and he said, "Hey, Elder I am a member of the church but it has been a while since I have gone to church." We started talking a little with him and we marked another day to go back and leave a message with him. We went back yesterday and had a great visit with them. The less-active told us his whole conversation story and he starting tearing up as he spoke. The spirit was really strong in the room, and we were able to invited him to come back to church. He paused and thought a little. He shared that he wanted to come back, but that maybe it would take a little time. We agreed to help him, and we are going to have a Family Home Evening with him tomorrow. It was a really great experience that strengthen my testimony. 

The rest of the week was really calm. I had an brief interview with President that was good too. I had not had an interview in a long time.

All in all, I am doing well. Hope you all have a great week. Love and miss you all.

Com amor,

Elder Pinkney

Mission Office- Week 30

Hello World,

This week was really good. We worked a lot and we had a lot of trials, but I am seeing the hand of Heavenly Father in the little miracles every day. Elder Herd and I are getting a long really well. He is a really chill guy and we have a lot of things in common. I am grateful that Heavenly Father let me be companions with him and he is helping me be a better missionary. 

This week we also had zone conference with President and Sister. It was really good. We learned a lot about the importance of the Atonement in missionary work and how we can apply that in our lessons. We did a lot of practices and we read a couple scriptures. All in all, it was very upliftings. Also, it was sad to think that this was my second to last zone conference and the next conference will be my last......I promise that I´m not trunky kkkkkkkkk

I want to also this weekend give a shot-out to my wonderful Mother, who through all this time that I have been away from home, is still talking care of me and inspiring me to be a better person. Love you so much Mom and thank you for all you do. Happy Mother´s day. 

Hope you all have a great week and Happy Mother´s day to all.

Com amor,

Elder Pinkney

P.S. Highlights this week. We went to a restaurant that has all you can eat chocolate pizza. That was a good day.

Mission Office- Week 29

Hello World!!!

This past week was really really busy. We had all the crazy running around of transfer and the new missionaries arriving. I got a new companion, Elder Herd!! He will be the new Executive Secretary. He is from Orem, Utah. We are getting a long really well. He got thrown into the action right from the start, but he is picking things up really fast. This past week, we were on the grind of getting everything done. 

Also this week, my good friends Elder Arscott, Eddington, and Cappi went home. I am going to miss them all lots, but I know they are in a better place now.

We had a funny experience yesterday. Elder Herd and I were knocking on doors last night; just doing our thing. We then knock on a door and this older gentlemen answered the door. He looked a little bit like Santa Claus. He came to the gate to talk with us and we started talking about our missionary purpose. We were going, but then he cuts us off and asked where we are from. We said that we were from the United States and answered out of now where. "I hate Americans!" Elder Herd and I just stopped and looked at each other for a moment. The gentlemen went to say how all Americans are prideful and lots of other stuff. Elder Herd and I just listen for a few minutes and then I switch the topic to ask him if he believed in God. He said he did and we went on to have a good conversation for thirty minutes. He shared with us some life experiences that were really touching. All in all, it ended up being a really great, impactful experience. He did not accept a second visit, but I believe that he has a better impression of Americans now.....lol

All in all, things are going great. I love and miss you all lots. I am so grateful for the experiences that I am having. Hope you all have a great week.