Transfer to M as Zone Leader

Mon 4/30/2012 8:02 AM

HI to all back home! This week has been really crazy; I spent Tuesday through Saturday with 5 missionaries in my tiny apartment in Londrina, 2 of them were sick and had to come here to see the doctor and we had one greenie American that just arrived from the CTM.

  Then we had the visit of Elder Cook on Saturday!!!! It was really excellent; I could feel really that he is an apostle of the Lord Jesus Crist.

 Then, on Saturday we had transfers after the meeting with the apostle.

 My greenie Elder P is going to train this transfer!! I’m really proud of him, he is an excellent missionary.   Also, I’m now here in a city called M, back in the countryside of São Paulo. It’s a nice big city though, not like P where I was like 5 months ago.  And here I’ve been called to be the Zone Leader together with my new companion Elder S.  It’s a lot more responsibility for me, there are 22 missionaries in my zone that covers M and also three small neighboring cities.

 I really don’t feel adequate for the call, but I know that everything will work out just fine. Just now I have even less time, it seems that we are always on the phone trying to resolve some sort of problem or on the bus going to another area. I don’t know when we are going to find time to do proselyting in our own area! But everything will settle down as I get the hang of things. Elder S has been a zone leader for a while so he knows what he is doing.

That’s all the time I have today! I love you all!

-Elder Leete!

Tough Week for Investigators, but I got Peanut Butter & a New Heated Shower Head!

Mon 4/23/2012 8:14 AM

Well I just wrote you all  a nice email but the computer at the Lan house turned off and lost it so you guys are getting another short one today

Transfers were going to be today, but we are going to have a special meeting with an apostle this Saturday so we will wait till then to do it when the whole mission gets together.

This week Satan was working extra hard, of our family that we were going to baptize one tripped and fell hit his head and went to the hospital, and another smoked and so we didn’t have a baptism Sunday. But this week I know they will get baptized!!!

Love you all, I got a package from R last week! That was spectacular! I’ve been having peanut butter and jelly sandwiches again!

 até semana que vem!

-Elder Leete

 O also I’ve bought groceries and a new showerhead and stuff these last few weeks. They don’t have water heaters here; it’s just one of those electric showerheads that warms the water as it passes through.

 I even installed it by myself too, I’m pretty proud of myself.

Love you all

-elder Leete

Pray for everything to go well this week

Monday, April 16, 2012 7:58 AM

This week was a good week, we have been working with B and R, they are a young couple with a little baby boy, J. They, with B´s brother, A are family that wants to get baptized but the husband is having a little bit of trouble with the word of wisdom, they were scheduled to get baptized yesterday but we will have to wait for next week since everyone wants to get baptized together. Pray for everything to go well this week.

Other than that the mission is preparing to receive an apostle, Elder Quentin L. Cook, next week along with the president and another seventy too. We are all really excited to hear the words of the apostles about missionary work. When I was in the CTM it was lame, we didn’t get any apostles to speak to us.

Transfers are next week, I’ll probably get moved to another area since I’ve been in this one for 3 transfers, but who knows, me and Elder P are doing really well here so maybe we will stay one more.

Love you all! Hope you are all well! I feel bad because I’ve been way busy to write hardly anything on p-days but you guys will just have to be patient. Sewing all the holes in my pants and shirts and washing the sweat stain on the collars by hand are more important than writing right now.

Love you all!

tchau!
-Elder Leete

My District:
left to right
Elders G, Leete, T, R, B, & P

Elders T and B are the zone leaders

 G and R work in the ward right next to mine and Elder P´s

11 MONTHS!

I had a great week too, we have been working hard this week and we found a really great family that went to church yesterday and accepted the invite to be baptized next Sunday! There really are people that are ready to be members of the church; the only hard part is finding them.

Congrats for Courtney and her cowboy, it's weird for me to think that everyone from the ward that I've known for so long are getting all married off and spreading out in the world.

What’s been really weird this week is to realize that I’ve been on the mission for 11 months. 11 months!! That’s really, really crazy. The time here doesn’t make any sense, sometimes the day crawls away at an unbearably slow pace but other times it feels like there is just too much to do for way too little time. There are just too many people to baptize! I know they are there! There is just too little time in the day. Sometimes after a day of proselyting and then accompanying the district (oh, I think I forgot to say I’m district leader now) and passing all the numbers you realize you have 5 minutes to shower and go to sleep at 10:30. And then it seems like the blink of an eye later you are awake and doing it all over again.

But I’m happy here, really happy. It’s great to do this work all day, every day. Sometimes you get to P- day and have a couple hours just to lie around and rest and you just are antsy to get back out and teach the gospel.

I know it´s true and it´s found in this church
The Church of Jesus Christ

-Elder Leete

General Conference- Spectacular!

Mon 4/2/2012 8:16 AM

Hello family!

Conference weekend was spectacular for me! Along with learning that everything is all well at home (thanks for the picture dad, that’s the best smile I’ve seen on R in months) The conference talks really were spectacular.

I don’t know if I’m getting more spiritual or if our general authorities are, because I really enjoyed this conference. I got to watch all four normal sessions and will download the priesthood session today to listen to it. I’m learning more and more that really General conference when used correctly is really just one more channel (super powerful one) to receive personal revelation.

As missionaries we try to help our investigators receive personal revelation, they receive through
-Missionary Lessons
-Prayer
-reading the Book of Mormon
-Going to church

when they have a desire, a broken heart, contrite spirit and real intent they receive and answer. Every single one of them.

I’ve found that these same principles apply to us.  Just trade "missionary lessons" with "Family Lessons".

We receive personal revelation through spiritual promptings: they can be testifying of the basic truth (God exists, he calls prophets, Joseph Smith, Book of Mormon, etc.) or enlightens our understanding (gives us "light bulb" moments) or comforts us with the holy ghost to know that everything is okay, or he simply tells us he loves us, and fills us with love to do good to others.

When we learn to seek out these opportunities and record and remember personal revelation is when we become better people and really apply the gospel of Jesus Christ and become happy.

I know this is true in the name of Jesus Christ, amém.

I’m all out of time again! I love you all! Send me the memory card so I can get you guys more pictures, but not to this address where I’m at, it won’t get here in time for the transfers probably.

Love you all!
-Elder Leete