Jardim do Sol- Week 10

This past week was simple amazing. 

We had transfers this today. Elder S get transferred and I am going to be staying here in Jardim do Sol with Elder G  from São Paulo. Elder G  has three more months in the mission, so there will be lots I can learn from him. 

This past Thursday, I got to teach an English class again. We had a super cool family that we found show up at the chapel to take this English class. I had told them to be at the chapel at 7:30 for the class. Right before this, we were cutting the hair of another investigator and it ran long so we had to run like crazy to the chapel to start teaching this class and it was super cold. We ended up being pretty late, but the investigators liked the class a lot and they are super excited. 

On Saturday, we had the pleasure to receive Elder Holland in our mission. We had a special mission conference with the other mission in Curitiba, as well. Can I just say, Whoah?! It was a amazing privilege to get to hear from Elder Holland in person. He is incredible. Some of the highlights were when I got to shake his hand, when he strange one of the Sisters in the front row, and when he told us that we are apostles too! I learned a lot from him and I felt truly inspired. You could feel the Spirit really strongly in the room. One of my favorite things he said was this poem of two men talking.

Come to the edge he said,

No I said, I´ll fall,

Come to the edge, he said,

No, I said, I´ll fall,

Come to the edge! He said,

So, I went, and he pushed me,

and I flew.

Elder Holland compared this to us and Heavenly Father. A lot of time we as humans stay in our comfort zone. Heavenly Father invites us to follow him, step outside of the comfort zone, and when we do he pushes us and helps us fly. It was a truly special and powerful story. I know that Heavenly Father has help me to step outside of my comfort zone. There have been so many new things that I have gotten to do. He has been with me at every step of the way. I am grateful to be on a mission and to have this time to do the work of the Savior. 

Love and miss you all lots. 

Elder Pinkney

Jardim do Sol- Week 9

Hello Everyone, 

This week was really chill and relax. We are getting a little bit into that routine, but I am doing well.  I asked my mom to post the answers to some questions she asked me for this week's blog... 

1. What was the highlight of this week?

The highlight of my week was that we did a special mutual activity with the young men. We took all the young men out on splits to talk to people in the street. It was a big success. We ended up meeting a lady and we helped here move. Some of the young men were just walking down the street and they saw this lady moving things around outside her house. The stopped and went up to invite her to come to church. The lady said that she would if they helped her in her move. The young men ran back and got all of us together to go help. We all want and after about 20 minutes we had basically completed the move. It was a super cool experience to see the young men using their Priesthood to help random people in the community. The only sad thing was that the lady did not show up for church on Sunday.

2. What is one struggle you are having?
I am struggling on not beating myself up for my weakness. I have an image in my head of the perfect missionary that I want to be and in many ways I feel like I am way below of where I should be in my spiritual progression.

3. Did you learn anything new this week?
I learn this week a little bit of how to plan better. I think I figured the magical formula for how to spend the day being productive in the best way possible.


4. What is the funniest thing that happened to you this week?

My companion, Elder S, is a really funny guy. Almost everyday is something new and funny with him. The funniest thing that maybe happened this week was that Elder S cuts hair, like professional. He offered to cut the hair of one of our investigators. So went over to his house and Elder S  cut his hair. He ended doing this crazy design in his hair and I just sat there and watched this happen. I had my doubts. I will send some photos. 

Jardin do Sol- Week 8

Hello everyone,

HAPPY MOTHER`S DAY!!!! 

This past week was very very eventful. We had a lot of things going on. I basically just tried to keep up this week.

On Thursday, we had our weekly ward activity. This week was our responsibility to plan the activity, so we planned a big competition of "Minute to Win it Games". We did a bottle thing, rely race, and opening a bar of chocolate with a knife in the mouth. It went really well and everyone was super excited and involved. 

On Friday, we had splits with the assistants. I got to spend the day with Elder E from California. We had a good time working together, but I will be honest that at the end of the day I was missing my companion Elder S . 

On Saturday, we had the baptism of Y  (the young women that we had been teaching). We had a super big baptism for her. Almost the whole ward showed up to support her and the had a huge reception. Y ´s family came too to watch and it was a very spiritual event. I was super happy.

On Sunday of Mother´s Day, we had church with the special Primary musical number. They sang a song I had never heard before in the US, but it has two parts. One part for the kids and another for the Moms to sing in response. It was asked to play the piano. It ended up going really well. For lunch, we had a super big BBQ at a non-member´s house. We were surprised that when we arrived, she had a band at her house with a small group of friend all smoking and drinking. We thought this situation was going to go badly, but it didn't. We ate and talked with everyone and we got a couple references. Go team!!

It was a super great week and it was super cool to Skype the family. It helped kill a little bit of missing home. Oh and included below is a special photo for my most amazing Mother. I love you lots, Mom and miss you.

Happy Mother´s Day! 

 Com amor,

Elder Pinkney

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