Last Emails

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February 18, 2013

Last one

Well this will be my last email on the mission. This last week was good with lots of special experiences. We were able to help a family that is really special. Im really grateful for all my experiences these last two years. Ill be seeing everyone tomorrow at the airport! Love you guys! This is Elder Siemers signing off. 

February 11, 2013

Last Week

Wow, I cant believe its the last week of the mission. This last weekend was good we had 3 baptisms. It was awesome. We are now just getting everthing ready for the next transfer. Im excited to see everyone next week. Tchau!

Elder Siemers

February 4, 2013

Getting close

Only two weeks left until I'm home. Crazy. This last week was good. We had a few investigators progress quite a bit this last week. Things are going great. Not much to report this week. I hope everyone has a good week. Tchau!

Elder Siemers

January 28, 2013

End of January

Things are going well in Poços. We found a few new people to teach this last week and we've been working lots. We are helping quite a few people and I feel like lots of people are opening up to us. We made it on the local news during a report on the new parking laws in the city. So we'll be able to use our fame as a conversation opener. =) We're on the home stretch now and Im trying to keep really busy so I dont get trunky. I hope everyone has a good week. Until next week!

Elder Siemers

January 21, 2013

It has been great being back in Poços de Caldas. The work is moving right along. We already have most of this week completely scheduled. That has never happened to me before. We've got a few people who are excited and getting ready for baptism. We have quite a few other people that could progress to baptism in the next few weeks also so we are excited. I ran into Leonardo(my first baptism on the mission) in the street the other day. It was awesome. He is doing great. We are going to his house today for lunch. We will spend the afternoon and evening visiting people in my first area. Its without missionaries right now so we get to work there also if we need to. Well time is short but Ill write again next week. Im including pics of our zone tshirt from São Carlos. You guys might be able to see my influence in its making. Tchau!

Elder Siemers

January 14, 2013

Return to Pocos

Things are going great. Today was transfers. I am heading to Poços de Caldas! I wont be in the same area that I already served in but I'm really excited. My last 5 weeks of the mission are going to be awesome. Our zone t-shirt in São Carlos turned out super awesome. I will send pics next week. My last day in São Carlos was really good. I was there for a short time but I made some really good friendships. I met some of the best people I have ever met in my entire life there. I hope everyone is doing great. I'll be seeing everyone really soon. Tchau!

Elder Siemers 

January 7, 2013

2013

Well, we're in 2013 now. Last week was super busy and really tiring. As I look back it seems like it lasted 2 weeks. This week is the last week of the transfer so we are preparing everything for any possible changes. We went to a zone leader council last week. It was really good. We had some good training from the assisstants, President Prieto, and all the zone leaders. We all came away with ideas to improve our work and how to help our zones. Thats pretty much it for this week. I will talk to everyone later. Tchau!

Elder Siemers

November 19 - December 31

December 31, 2012: Happy New Year!

This last week was great. I was awesome talking to the family on Skype. I was great seeing everyone. Im glad its snowing a lot too, hopefully you guys save some for me. Christmas was good. We had a baptism this week. Monica. We contacted her a few weeks ago and she has gone to church for the last month. The other elders in our ward baptized a senior couple and their granddaughter it was a great baptism. Monica had a dream of her baptism and she dreamed that there was a red carpet and a choir singing. So, when the real day of her baptism came around we put down a red carpet for her and had a choir singing when she came in. The elderly lady has respitory problems and has a fear of water so it was a little bit of a challenge to baptize her. I went into the font also and the two of us held on to her to help her feel secure. But beforehand the man that was going to baptize her showed her how it would be done with me as the person being baptized. When we got home all the missionaries congratulated me on being baptized again. =) So I am now the cleaning missionary in the world. I hope everyone has a happy new year. Até mais! Tchau!

Elder Siemers

December 24, 2012: O fim do mundo

So this last week was good. Our Christmas conference was a blast. It was great seeing everyone, well those who havent already gone home. There were a lot of new faces at conference. The program was really good and everyone enjoyed it. Our zone did a secret santa gift exchange which turned out great. My poor comp is pretty short so the other elders are always joking with him as if he was a child. His present was a toy airplane. I told my zone that I am the most handsome elder in the world and the Sisters got all worked up. So when I drew one of the sisters' names I knew exactly what I had to give. It was the the most beautiful present ever. So the end of the world was last week. The 21st of December. So on the 20th of December we all put on our Rexona deoderant because it has 48hr protection. Somebody called all the missionaries in the zone late at night around 11:30pm to ask them if they had Rexona deoderant. Some people claim it was the zone leaders but this is an umconfirmed rumor at this time and should be regarded as false. We had a barbeque with the Stake President with the whole zone. That was another great night. We finished the week off with a night in bethlehem. It wasnt quite the same as the night in bethlehem we have at home, but it was good. It was definitely Brazilian. Well, I hope everyone has a great Christmas. I will write again next week. Feliz Natal!

Elder Siemers3

December 17, 2012: Bejo

Week 2 in São Carlos was good. We found some new investigators which we were despretely needing. We have a few preparing for baptism of the next few weeks. The ward is going to do a Night in Bethlehem activity here this saturday so it will be a little like home. There is a lady here who makes american dinners for the missionaries. She said she'll make me some mashed potatoes and gravy. The gravy wont be as good as Brian's wake up at 4:30 am make it from scratch gravy, but it should be good. We have our Christmas Conference tomorrow. That will be a lot of fun. The whole mission gets together it will be great to see everyone I know. If they are still around. I'm getting pretty old on the mission. Most of the people I know have already gone home. Things are going well here. I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Elder Siemers

December 10, 2012: Sao Carlos

Well, my first week in São Carlos was good. Im still trying to get to know the area and the members, but things are going well. The ward is really big so we should have lots of help in the work. There is a super good ice cream shop right next to our house. The ice cream is really good and really cheap. That is going to be a huge temptation during my time here. =) My companion is a really awesome and words really hard. We should have a good transfer. Well thats pretty much it. I will talk to you all next week. Tchau!

Elder Siemers

December 3, 2012: LZ

Well, I got transferred. I'll be heading to São Carlos. Its fairly close to Ribeirão Preto. But any area is closer than Ilha Solteira. My 

last companion Elder Magno will be training. I had a good last weekend in Ilha Solteira. The people there are super awesome and a few people shed some tears. I'll be a zone leader in São Carlos.   We'll see how that goes. Ive only got two transfers left so it will be quick. Im doing great. My new companion served in Palmares in Ribeirão Preto also. Well thats pretty much it for this week. Until next week. Tchau!

Elder Siemers

November 26, 2012: Turkey Day

I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving. Our week was good. Elder Miller and I decided to do thanksgiving in style and made a huge dinner for everyone. We went all out. We made chicken, mashed potatos, cheesy bread, corn on the cob, various puddins jellos, brownies, cookies, and much more. We couldnt find any turkey so we bought turkey flavored potato chips. We then made leftover sandwiches with them the day after. The rest of the week was good. Until next week!

Elder Siemers

November 19, 2012: Excuses

this week was pretty good. we got a lot of lessons in. there are a couple holidays right now so we were able to find lots of people home. we lost a couple of investigators this last week but we still have great people to teach. we heard some pretty good excuses this week. we have heard pretty much all of them but this week we heard some new ones. heard and saw a lady in the window when we knocked and she hid really fast and sent a young man to make up an excuse. he came to the window and said 'she's not home, shes sleeping...' it was great. I was about to tell him we just saw her in the window but I was so shocked that he combined the two that I didnt even respond. we are doing great. november is flying by. have a happy thanksgiving everyone.

elder siemers

October 15 - November 12

November 12: Clowns and Cakes

This last week was good. We got a couple of rain to cool things off a little. On Saturday we went to a birthday party for the daughter of one of our investigators. Afterward it was off to Pereira Barreto to watch a play that the branch there wrote and presented. It was in the classic Pereira Barreto style and was great. It was definitely from the heart. We also travelled to Araçatuba this last week for some follow up training for our new program. It was great. It was 9 hours on the bus round trip for a 2 hour training but it was good. Time is flying by. Its super hot and its only supposed to get hotter but we are surving. Until next week! Tchau!

Elder Siemers

November 5: SW

The new transfer started well. The Elders of Tres Lagoas arrived so our district is back up to full strength. We are doing well. We had quite a few people at church yesterday. We are getting lots of referrals so the work has been moving along lately. We are teaching lots of great people. Nothing too exciting to report this week. But I just got the update that there will be 3 new star wars films! The blessings of the mission! May the force be with all of you...

Elder Siemers

October 29: End of the Transfer

The transfer ended and our entire district stayed. Nobody has been here for very long so it wasnt much of a surprise. There are two elders that are arriving to take over Tres Lagoas so we wont have to work there anymore. It will be nice to focus on one city again. We had branch conference yesterday with a special musical number by the branch members. There were few men at church so we sang the men part with a young man in the ward. Things are going well and we are getting lots of referrals. The weather has been super hot. A man told us yesterday that he has lived here for 36 years and never seen hot weather like we are having. So we are drinking lots of water and getting into lots of doors because people invite us in out of the sun. =) Thats it for this week. Have a great week! Tchau!

Elder Siemers

October 22: New Program

This last week was crazy yet again. I only was in my area for 2 days. I went on a division with Elder Miller to Pereira Barreto to do some baptismal interviews. On wednesday we went to Araçatuba and received some training on the new program the mission is now using. It involves a few new things but mainly its the same thing we are doing with a different introduction to the gospel. This way people can start to feel and see God in their lives a lot sooner. We are all pretty excited for it. We finished up the week with a trip to Três Lagoas which is the hottest city on the mission. We are still covering that city until the next transfer, which was moved to next week instead of today. Things are going well. We had a surprise birthday party for a lady in our branch last night. Its awesome serving in a branch. It feels like everyone is a family. Until next week!

Elder Siemers

October 15: Out of Time

Sorry folks, I ran out of time so this week there wont be an email. Love you guys!

Elder Siemers

September 10 - October 8

October 8, 2012

Conference

General conference was great. it was my last conference of the mission. The next general conference I will be home. Craziness. Things have been hectic here. We have been running back and forth between Tres Lagoas and Ilha Solteira. This week we are going to travel a ton too. We have a zone meeting in Araçatuba so we'll be travelling for 2 days. I am doing great but I am super tired. I cant wait for the new transfer when the new elders of Tres Lagoas arrive so I can rest. We had a barbeque today and were able to relax so I am ready for the week. I hope everyone is doing well. I will talk to you guys next week. Tchau!

Elder Siemers

October 1, 2012

Busy Week

Crazy week this last week. We planned an activity at the church on Saturday night and we ran around all week inviting EVERYONE. The activity turned out great even though all our inviting was in vain. We had an Elder in our district get sick and he and his companion were transferred out this last week. So we will be covering two cities again. Just until the next transfer. Things are going well. The weather cooled off a little with a little rain but the heat is coming back. We'll see how hot it gets when we get into summer... Not much more to report this week. Im excited for General Conference. Até mais pessoal!

Elder Siemers

September 24, 2012

Advertising & Parties

Another week that wasnt too eventful. We've been looking for houses for the elders in Pereira Barreto. We've got a couple options. President Prieto is coming this way to see some of the houses and to do interviews with my district today. 

Elections are coming up so there is lots of advertising in the streets. People drive around with giant speakers blasting annoying campaign music. It was unbearable a couple a weeks ago and it is only getting worse....

We found a couple new families this last week. We've got lots of people to teach but we are having trouble getting people to come to church. There seems to be a party every Saturday night here in Ilha Solteira, so everyone is sleeping in on Sundays. We are starting to do lots of activities with the members here. Things are starting to move along. 

Well, that's pretty much it for this week. Talk to you all later. Tchau!

Elder Siemers

September 17, 2012

Crazy Transfers

This last week was super busy. The transfers lasted all week so we were doing exchanges like crazy. One elder didnt arrive until friday. I was only with my companion for 2 days last week. The new elders that will work in Pereira arrived and they are really excited. I went there one day with them to help get them oriented. They are going to have lots of success. Other than the craziness, not much happened this last week. There was a party at the beach on saturday so everyone was sleeping on sunday morning so we didnt have any investigators at church. But things are going to get better. Since we dont have to worry about working in two cities it will be easier to focus on the people here and plan activities. We are going to be doing lots with the members over the next few weeks.

Have a great week!

Elder Siemers

September 10, 2012

Surprises and Weddings

This last week was crazy but really good. Sergio, the dad of our golden family, was baptized on Saturday. We planned it so nobody in his family knew until we started the baptismal service. It was neat. We then did the official wedding ceremony for them later that day at the church. It was a nice ceremony and had amazing food afterward. Things are going great.

Today is the first day of the new transfer. I stayed in Ilha Solteira. My companion was transferred to Ribeirão Preto. We all thought he would stay in Pereira Barreto. President is sending two new missionaries there. I will have to orient them for the first week or so because they arent familiar with anything here. One of them is arriving in the misison field this week. We dont have a house for them yet so they will be staying with us for the time being. Im looking forward to this transfer. We have lots of people to teach. I hope everyone at home is doing well. Talk to you all later.

Elder Siemers

July 30 - September 3

Getting Ready

September 3, 2012

This week wasnt too eventful. We have been getting lots of referrals from the members and have been contacting them so we have a whole new group of people to teach. We spent pday last week at the hydro electric dam here in Ilha Solteira. It was a cool tour and we got to see how the power plant works. There is a new area opening up in Pereira Barreto so we have been getting ready for two new missionaries in the district. It will be nice because its hard when you have two areas to work in. Now we will have missionaries just for Ilha Solteira and just for Pereira Barreto.  Now we just need to find a house in Pereira. Well, thats pretty much it for this week. Até mais!

Elder Siemers

Lots of Water!

August 27, 2012

We started off the week with a trip to the beach. It was a lot of fun throwing the frisby around, playing uno, and volleyball. We had a pretty busy week and married a couple so they could be baptized. We had 5 baptisms on Saturday. It was awesome. The family we are teaching is really special. We hope to baptize the rest in the next few weeks. Sorry this email is short but I'm out of time. Hope you guys enjoy the pics!

Elder Siemers

August 13, 2012

Week 2 was great in Ilha Solteira. We went on exchanges with the zone leaders and did some batismal interviews. We had a baptism yesterday after church. We have a lot of people we are teaching in Pereira Barreto so we were over there almost all week. We have another baptism lined up for this week, and a family for next week. Things are going really well. This week we are going to travel to Araçatuba twice. So we are going to be in the bus a lot. Well, thats pretty much it. Im having a blast here in Ilha Solteira. Tchau!

Elder Siemers

Ilha Solteira

August 6, 2012

Things are great in my new area. My new companion is from Recife, Brazil and has been on the mission for 5 months. Ilha Solteira is awesome. Its a small town and the people are really friendly. Its really well organized and clean. We serve here and in another city called Pereira Barreto. Each city has a branch. We received a referral in Pereira Barreto of a family of 8. One of the young men in the family was invited to go to church and he went. He came home almost jumping for joy. He loved it and said he is going to go every week. This got the family interested and we visited them a couple times this week. They are awesome. A really humble, sweet family. One of the daughters has already read and prayed about the Book of Mormon and is super happy about everything. I am really excited to work in this area. We are super far away. It took 10 hours in 2 buses to get here, but it was worth it. It looks like we will have a lot of travelling to do this month for zone meetings and stake conference. There are only two districts in our district. Us and two Elders in Tres Lagoas. Things are going great. I hope everyone is having a great week. Tchau!

Elder Siemers

Miracle Week

July 30, 2012

This last week was awesome. President Prieto challenged our zone with a goal of 15 baptisms. We ended up having 18 I think. 4 of them being from our area. It was awesome. We have been working with a family and even the dad was baptized, he being a little reluctant. He was even able to get work off and come to church so he could be confirmed and receive the gift of the holy ghost. It was awesome. 

I was transferred. I am on my way to Ilha Solteira which is near Tres Lagoas. Tres Logoas is the farthest city in our mission. My new area is right next to it, so it looks like letters will be pretty scarcein the near future. Ive got a long bus ride today. I will be the District Leader there. I was transferred and so was Elder Murakami, and our companions are now companions. Our old area will just have one set of missionaries instead of two. 

Things are going well. Yesterday was awesome. It was hard saying goodbye to everyone and there were quite a few tears shed. I am super fortunate to have spent time in Palmares. I hope everyone is doing well. Have a good week!

Elder Siemers

July 2 - July 23

Finishing Up

July 23, 2012

We are coming in to the last week of the transfer. Last week we worked hard even though my companion was sick(which I ended up picking up also but not bad). We had a bunch of people at church yesterday and we are working with a couple really awesome families. We have a few baptisms lined up for this Saturday and we are really excited for that. One of them is the granddaughter of Aparecida a recent convert. We have been working with her for 5 months now, so we are really excited that she accepted to be baptized. This being the last week of the transfer we are going to work hard to finish up everything we need to do just in case somebody gets transferred. We had a service project on saturday. It was nice picking up a shovel and getting to work. We clean up a members yard and helped build a gate. I have been looking at my hands lately and they are started to get pretty soft, so it was nice being able to do some physical labor to toughen them up again. I only got one blister though, which was a surprise. I thought 3 hours of shoveling would destroy my hands. I guess they still havent forgotten all the shoveling I did at the ski park. Things are good here. I hope they are good there also. I will talk to you guys next week. Tchau!

Elder Siemers

Elder Costa

July 16, 2012

Well, not too much to report this week. We have been running around like crazy.  We have been working in a neighborhood thats on the outskirts of our area. 

At the end of the week we had a conference with Elder Costa, who is the area president of Brazil. It was awesome. We learned a ton. He is really awesome. He has been everywhere and has spent lots of time with the 1st Presidency and the 12 apostles. He is very knowledgable. He told some amazing stories about some of his experiences in life. He did a bunch of firesides and trainings over the weekend and we wanted to watch them all, but unfortunately after our conference we had to work. =) We all came away with another vision of what we should be doing here in the mission and later in our life. 

Other than that, not much more too say. I hope everyone is having a good week. Until next week!

Elder Siemers

Happy 4^th of July!

July 9, 2012

I hope everyone had a happy 4th of July. Amazingly, there were lots of fireworks here also. The Corinthians won their Libertadores championship. I was just drifting off to sleep when it sounded like a war broke out. There was lots of celebrating. And we live in a pretty quiet neighborhood.

Things are going well. We have 3 weeks left in this transfer and we are pretty sure that at least one of will be going to a new area. So we are trying hard to help the people we are teaching while we are still here.

We will have a Mission Tour this week with Elder R.M. Costa. He is the area president of Brazil. It should be really good. Last year Elder Godoy did the mission tour and it was a really awesome training for missionaries. We always come away from these meetings with more excitement and enthusiam to work.

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying summer. It should be about the same weather there as it is here even though we are in "winter". Actually its been cooling down at night so thats been nice. Have a good week!

Elder Siemers

Not too much…

July 2, 2012

This last week was pretty uneventful. I renewed my visa, so I am once again a legal visitor. We are a little low on people to teach right now so we are hoping to find quite a few people this week. We went to Wal-Mart today and I found some peanut butter, so I will have to find some jelly so I can party it up hard on the 4th of July. I keep asking people how they are going to celebrate but it doesnt seem that important of a holiday here for some reason... There will be a soccer game the same day though. The Corinthians are going for their first Libertadores championship. If they win its going to be a huge deal. The new elder in our house is from Bolivia, so I am trying to pick up a little Spanish in my spare time.

I hope everyone is well. Things are going well here in Ribeirão Preto. Tchau! Até mais!

Elder Siemers

June 18 and June 25

Monday, June 25, 2012

Festa de Junina

This last week was a pretty fun week. There was the festa de Junina which is a country-ish party they have here in Brazil. There was tons of food so that was good. Unfortunately as missionaries we couldnt join in with the square dancing type dance they were doing. It made me miss Clint McBroom and his fiddle.

We've also been doing lots of Family Home Evenings with the ward members. Which is a great opportunity to spend time with the members and our recents converts and investigators.  

Yesterday President Prieto gave a fireside to the ward. It was awesome. He talked about how we can do more. We are doing well, but we can be helping a lot more people. He showed us some inspiring video clips and stories. Our life is so short here on earth compared to eternity. We have such a short time to determine where we will be in the eternities. President Prieto is super awesome. All the missionaries love him.

Well, I hope every has a great week. Tchau!

Elder Siemers

Monday, June 18, 2012

So the end of the transfer came and both my companion and I stayed here in Palmares. Actually only one of the other elders were transferred. So 3 out of the 4 in our house stayed.

We had a good week. I picked up the cold that has been going around but luckily it hasnt been bad. Ive just had a little bit of a cough. Our zone made a zone t-shirt and I will include all of us wearing it. One of our investigators, Camila, who is 11, competes in Judo tournaments. We got to go watch her one day in the morning. That was a lot of fun. Liandra, who is 6, got to fight also, but unfortunately we didnt get to see it. They are the granddaughters of Aparecida, the lady we baptized in March. They are a really special family.

Well, I am completely drawing a blank now. I know more stuff happened this last week, but who knows what it was. I hope everyone is doing well. Until next week.

Elder Siemers