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

June 11, 2012

My companion was sick last week so we had a couple days where we stayed home. I took advantage of the time and did some serious studying. I took almost full day just studying the book of Revelation. It was good though because we were pretty worn out and it was nice to be able to relax.

 

The church is doing a Brazil-wide service project. We are packaging rice and beans to ship out to other countries that need the food. Last week we had a day where we learned how to package the food in soda bottles. Yours truly learned how to seperate the bad beans from the good ones. I am pretty much 100% Brazilian now. 

 

The Manaus Brazil temple was dedicated yesterday. There are now 138 dedicated temples in the world, and 6 in Brazil. With number 7 being constructed in Fortaleza. The dedication was broadcasted and we were able to watch. It was awesome. The spirit was really strong. We were able to watch all 3 of the sessions also so it was extra awesome. President Uchtdorf told many stories of the faithful people of Brazil. Manaus is really remote so the area presidency back in the 70s wasnt sending missionaries there. The members of the church kept asking the mission president at the time and he kept denying them. He asked the area presidency many times and finally they told him that he could send 2 missionaries under 3 conditions. 1. The members would have people ready to teach and that the missionaries wouldnt have to spend time finding people. 2. The members would find free air travel for the missionaries. 3. The missionaries would only be there for 4 months. The members asked the mission president again and he told them of the 3 conditions. They agreed and did their part. The missionaries had so much success that they were never taken out after four months. More missionaries were sent. Now there are 8 stakes in Manaus and a temple. This all happened in about 33 years.  

 

While President Uchtdorf was puting mortar on the cornerstone, he invited the other leaders there to do the same, along with their wives. Afterward he invited 4 children to put mortar on the stone also because they are the future of the church. He asked a little girl what her name was and without waiting for the translater she said "my name is Gabriela" in English. It was really funny and really cute. Thats a phrase that every Brazilian knows from school and she responded without hesitation.

 

Well, that was pretty much my week. I hope every had a good one also. Tchau!

 

Elder Siemers

Stake Conference

 

June 4, 2012

 

This last week wasnt too eventful. This upcoming week already has lots of stuff planned. We are doing well even though the heat has returned. Its not as strong as it was but we are supposed to be getting close to winter here so its a little weird.

 

One of our recent convert's mom wants to be baptized. She loved the change she saw in her daughter and is feeling really happy. We are pretty excited.

 

We had stake conference yesterday. It was good. It was a broadcast from Salt Lake city and President Monson spoke.

 

There's not much more to report this week. But I'll send the pictures that I couldnt send last week. Talk to you guys later!

 

Elder Siemers

New Beginnings and Soda Cans

May 28, 2012

This week was good but very tiring. We were able to visit lots of people. On Friday the Young Women organization had their New Beginnings activity. We were asked to help set up. So we went there and set all the benches, made roses, and got in touch with our inner young woman to decorate the room. The church was out of propane, so we ended up cooking the food for the activity in our apartment. It was the first New Beginnings that any of us have been to and it was really nice. The young women leaders were really grateful for the help.

The weather has been cooperating. Its been pretty cool and it hasnt been raining. We have been getting lots of rides from the members of the church which is pretty much the best thing ever for a missionary in Brazil.

We learned how to crush soda cans this week. We visited a member who collects them to sell them for a little extra cash and we spent a little time crushing them. Then it escalated so we were trying to crush two cans at once. Its difficult but can be done. You cant be serious all the time on the mission. =)

Well, I hope everyone is doing well. I wanted to send pics but the computer I am using doesnt want to help me out, so Ill send some next week. Tchau!

Elder Siemers

Middle of May

Post Mother’s Day

May 21, 2012

This last week was really good. We visited a ton of people. We had a baptism and we are seeing lots of miracles. The baptism was good but since everyone went to the temple, there was only the 4 missionaries and the young woman who gave a ride to Fransisca at the church. Elder De Lima baptized her and I got to confirm her.

We had a zones conference the other day that was really good. We learned a lot about goal setting. It was good to see a lot of missionaries that I know there also. There is a sister here who is serving a mini mission and she is from Poços De Caldas so all of the missionaries who have served in Poços took a pic with her.

We are doing really well. The weather has cooled off so it feels like spring. Its actually been pretty nice. We went on a few exchanges last week and we got a lot of work done. We even found a few really good people to teach. Last week really was awesome. It even ended with a barbeque! I think we will eat acaí today also, so Im pretty much in heaven. I hope everyone is doing well. Until next week!

Elder Siemers

Mother’s Day

May 14, 2012

This last week was good. Mother's day was awesome. We bought chocolate bonbons and glued a couple together with a small note and gave them out to all the women and young women at church. They really appreciated it. We were asked to speak in Sacrament meeting. We had to follow a lady who spoke about when her son was on a mission and the primary, which sang a pretty song about mothers. It was all over for us. We all cried during our talks. Its rough having to speak about mothers while you are a missionary on mother's day. It was awesome talking to the family. It was great seeing the nieces and nephews. It was the first time I got to seen Calvin in action. I hope everyone is doing well. Until next week!

Elder Siemers

Last Week of the Transfer

May 7, 2012

So, this last week was crazy. We had all kinds of stuff happen, so we didnt get a lot of teaching in, but we had a baptism! Ingra was super ready and is really awesome. Her family has been taking her to church and teaching her more than us, so we didnt do much.

As for transfers, my entire district stayed. So I will be here for at least another 6 weeks. We had interviews with President Prieto this week also. He is really awesome. He came up with a new rule for our area. When somebody gets to 100 kilos they will be transfered out of Palmares. The women in the ward are always giving us food.

Well, Im a little short on time. I hope all is well. Tchau!

Elder Siemers

Racing Around

April 30, 2012

This week was crazy busy. We were running around everywhere. We went on tons of exchanges and visited tons of people. Our Zone Leaders interviewed a lot of people we are teaching. We had one woman all ready to be baptized but at the last moment her husband did want her to, so our baptism fell through. We are working with them and we should be able to baptize her in the next couple weeks.

The weather has finally calmed down a little. Its been raining the last couple days, which is a little tough, but it hasnt been too bad.

I have been making cheater cookies for Family Home Evenings. They have been a huge hit. I made them this morning for the lady in the ward who was cutting our hair, and I will be making them again for Family Home Evening tonight.

We are tired, but we are excited for the next couple weeks. We have two really good families we are working with who want to be baptized. This week is the last week of the transfer and I am hoping I will stay. This area is awesome. The members are super awesome. We are all wanting to stay here for many more transfers. Let's see what President Prieto has in mind. He's the one in charge.

I hope everyone is doing well. Tchau!

April 16-23

April 23, 2012

Well, not too much to tell this week. This last week we planned on making more contacts. During our planning session at night, we put the names of the streets where we were going to contact. Everytime we visited these streets we found people that were interested. One day we even went to a street where we already contacted a lot of people. We realized that when we got there, but we had planned to do it, so I looked around saw a lady sitting out in front of her house. We went over there and talked to her and she was really interested. She is even looking for a church to join. It was like that all week. We made just a few contacts every time, but we ended up with lots of addresses to visit.

We have been visiting a family, and recently they have been buying acaí, so everytime we go there they pull out the tub and give us some. They know I cant say no to acaí, so its been awesome eating acaí and being able to apease my addiction a little. =)

We had a couple people accept to be baptized this last week so we are pretty excited. So we will be helping them prepare over the next couple weeks.

Well, thats it from Ribeirão Preto. Until next week! Tchau!

Elder Siemers

April 16, 2012

Not too much

Not much to report this week. We had kind of a slow week, but we having been helping a lot of people. We have been dealing with a few challenges in our area, but have been learning more how to rely on the Lord to overcome these challenges. We really need to start finding new people to teach and we have made goals to accomplish that. Our English classes are going well and people are enjoying them. Well, sorry not too exciting this week. I hope everyone is well. Tchau!

Elder Siemers

1st Half of April

April 9 - Referrals

We have had a few trainings on how to ask for referrals. You can't just ask people. You have to do it in a certain way. So we have been trying that for the last couple weeks and we are getting quite a few referrals. Are area is a little small, so we have to work with referalls. Knocking on doors just does not work here. We received quite a few really good referrals last week so we have lots of people to teach this week.

Today is my 13th month mark on the mission. Craziness. Time is passing fast.

Easter was good. The tradition here is to eat chocolate. We ended up eating 3 times yesterday. The women of the ward just wont let us leave without eating a "little" something. We got home last night and started planning for pday. I asked Elder De Lima what he wanted to eat and he didnt even want to talk about food. We are being well taken care of.

Well, I think thats it for this week. Tchau!

Elder Siemers

April 2 – General Conference

General Conference was awesome. We even managed to arrange a ride so we could watch the Priesthood session, which starts at 9pm here. I started watching the conference in Portuguese but its just not quite the same when you see the Prophet and Apostles but their voices are different. So I went to the room with all the American missionaries to watch it in English. The transmission wasnt the greatest so we ended up having to switch between english and portuguese anyway. I cant wait to get my hands on the Ensign to reread the conference talks. Conference was excellent.

Things are going well. I will be staying here in Palmares with Elder De Lima. The other two missionaries in our house are also staying. This transfer is only 5 weeks, instead of the normal 6 weeks. Weve got some really good people to teach and we are working more with referrals, which is way better than knocking on doors.

I got a haircut today from a lady in the ward. I made cheater cookies for her as a thank you and they were a really big hit. Thats pretty much it for the week. I dont remember anything too crazy that happened. Tchau para vocês!

Elder Siemers

Week of Firsts - March 26

This was a really good week. We baptized Ap.. Elder D. L. baptized her. It was his first baptism so we were all pretty excited. The baptism was at 4 in the afternoon with our English class afterward. The other companionship in our area were working with a family, a mom and her daughters. Her daughter, Al., was ready for baptism. Saturday, the day of the baptisms, our zone leaders couldnt come to interview the mom, G. So President P. authorized me to do the interview. It was my first baptismal interview and it was amazing. The spirit was really strong and its awesome to talk to people about their progression towards baptism. Right after the interview we had another baptismal service and the two women were baptized. Elder B., the other american in our apartment baptized the mom, which was his first baptism on the mission. He didnt get his visa for months so he was shuffled around in Salt Lake and didnt stick in one area long enough to baptize all the people he was teaching. So, Saturday was a pretty good day. This is the last week of the transfer, so we will see what the new transfer and the new month brings. Tchau!

Elder Siemers

March 19, 2012

This last week wasnt the best but we are doing well. We have a lady who is preparing for baptism and is really excited about it. She has been inviting all her friends and relatives. We are really excited also. We are working hard at working more with the church leaders here in Palmares. Looks like we will start weekly coordination meetings with all the leaders and not just our ward mission leader. We started teaching a free English class. It wasnt advertised very well and we kept forgetting to invite people so the turnout wasnt that great. But we fixed that on Sunday and announced it in every classroom and meeting. We should have a lot more people this next week. Its a lot of fun and will be challenging because we will have people who have never learned anything about English and we will have people who speak really well. So it looks like we will have to divide the class. Other than that, not much else happened. We are doing well and the heat hasnt been too bad. We are going to get crazy today and watch a Disney film. Watch out Ribeirão Preto, its P-day!

Tchau!

Elder Siemers

Recently

Wednesday, March 14, 2012 Switched pday

This week we had Elder Tobias of the 70 in our area so he gave us a little training on Monday. So this week our pday was switched to Wednesday but will return to normal next week. He was the mission president of the bishop here in Palmares. The bishop asked him when he was going to visit the ward here and he said the next time he was in Ribeirão Preto. This happened this last week and it just so happens that the bishop was travelling for work, so he missed it. The training was really awesome and he focused a lot on not being afraid and having faith.

We had an awesome experience with one of our investigators this week and she received an answer about baptism. We have everything scheduled for the 24th. This family is super awesome and we have become very attached to them.

We are used to the area now and didnt get lost this week. =)

I passed the 1 year mark this last week. It just makes you realize how much you need to learn. This next year is going to fly by. It will be a really awesome year. The mission is completely different than it was a year ago. I have high expectations for things to come.

I hope all is well with everyone. Até mais!

Elder Siemers

Monday, March 5, 2012 Palmares Week 2

Things are going well in Ribeirão Preto. This last week was a lot better than the first week. We have become pretty familiar with the area so we are getting lost anymore. We have another part of our area that we have never visited and we are going to go there and start working. We have a few people who are progressing and we are going to find a lot more people to teach this week. We have a Family Home Evening planned for tonight so that should be good. Its been awhile since we have had a family night. We will bring a couple of our investigators. Well, I had internet problems so my time is short. I will talk to you all next week.

Elder Siemers

Monday, February 27, 2012 Crazy Week

This week was an experience. I went to President Prieto's house for the first time. I came to the field all by myself so we didnt go through the regular routine. We got trained on how to train new missionaries in Presidents house while we waited for our new companions. When they arrived we hid in another room while they toured the house. We then snuck into the living room and when they came back we started singing the hymn 'called to serve'. They then got to stand in the front one by one and open a packet that told them what was their first area and who their new companion would be. As they stood in the front we all started yelling 'he´s mine! he's my companion!'. When the new missionary read the name of his new companion the trainer then ran forward to give him a hug. My new companion is Elder De Lima. He's from São Paulo. He's really cool and excited to work.

I am now in Ribeirão Preto in the Palmares area. We are living with another companionship of missionaries and are working half of the area. This was the first area I have had where my companion wasnt there before me, so we were really lost last week. The church has a new training program for new missionaries so I am learning a lot along with my new companion.

Riberão Preto is SUPER hot. We are drinking water like crazy. The ward his is really big and has a ton of members. This is an area where Sister Dickson, one of my teacher's in the MTC, served. She left some pretty big shoes to fill. Everyone here remembers her and talks very fondly of her. I also hope to be able to make an impact in this area like she did.

My birthday passed last saturday and I almost forgot about it. I only remembered in the morning otherwise I would have gone the whole day not thinking about it. I took a quick picture of myself on my sweet new bed. Anyway, I will talk to everyone later.


Elder Siemers

End of January - Middle of February

Heading to Ribeirão – 2/20/12

I was transferred this week. I will be heading to Ribeirão Preto tonight. I will also be training a brand new missionary! Crazyness. Time for more stress. =) Time is flying fast but things are going well.

We had a really awesome week. A little bit on the emotional side also. We had a lady who has been studying with us for months tell us she isnt interested anymore. We were crushed. Thats always a tough situation.

But life is good. Paula, our baptism a couple weeks ago is thriving in the church. She started studying again also, so she is having a wonderful time. She said some of the sweetest things when I said goodbye to her last night. She said I was always patience and explained things clearly to her. Thats one of the best compliments someone can give a missionary. We were all pretty misty eyed.

Dyego's family threw me a small birthday party. It was really touching. The only problem was that Elder Batista told Giovanna (Dyego's sister) that I love coconut cake and didnt explain afterward that he was joking and I dont like coconut at all. So, she made a coconut cake. It was made with love though and was delicious. Its amazing how attached you get to people. The mission is awesome.

Well, my next email will be from my next area. Até a proxima vez!

Elder Siemers

Long week – 2/13/12

We had lots to do this last week. We helped plan two activities, one for everyone, and a campout for the young men. We also had interviews with President Prieto and a multi zone conference. President Prieto has been bringing every missionary house in the mission a microwave. He wanted to make sure that they were clean and see if they need anything. He and Sister Prieto were quite impressed with our full fridge. I dont think a lot of missionaries buy a lot of food, so they were pretty happy.

Our multizone conference was really good. The focus was on improving our desires and our work through goals and planning. It was Elder Davis'(my trainer) last conference. That was weird. He only had one year when I arrived in the field, and he is going to leave in the next couple months. Im getting old on the mission. =)

The activities were good. The wednesday night activity was to help us be more united. We played games that helped us work together and get to know one another. Friday night, the young men had a campout. I showed them how to make tin foil dinners just like we learned in scouts. I shared a message while dinner was cooking in the coals about how we need to gather ourselves in one place spiritually. This place is the Gospel. I shared 3 Nephi 3:25 and encouraged them to do things to help them stay in the gospel. It was a good night.

The week was long and we didnt teach as much as we wanted, but we are very free this coming week, so we should be able to make up for it. I hope everyone is doing well. Until next week.

Elder Siemers

O mesmo – 2/6/12

Well, this week will probably be another lame email. Not much to report. We have lots of people to teach but not many are wanting to do much. We have been preparing for some activities in the church this week and this month. We are working hard at strengthening the church here and its members with a theme of more unity. We are trying to set up a system of activities and coordination between the missionaries and members that will continue after we leave the area and new missionaries come in. Its important that the ward is actively involved and doesnt need the missionaries to do anything but teach.

Its been really hot this week. Carnaval(Brazilian Mardi Gras) is coming up here soon so we are not looking forward to the lack of sleep we will have. The activities arent very far from our house so we will be able to hear all the shows and people in the street coming and going.

I hope everyone is doing well. Tchau!

Elder Siemers

Changes – 1/30/12

This week wasnt as good as the last week. We had a baptism scheduled but it fell through, so we were all disappointed about that. We had lots of people in church though. We did have a very good training from the assistants. They have been making lots of changes and focusing on improving our teaching. I really like the changes they have been making and things are moving more towards my beliefs and ideas of teaching. The mission should have lots more success in the near future with helping others. Well, thats pretty much it. Until next week.

Elder Siemers

Woot Woot – 1/23/12

We had an awesome week last week. We worked hard and had lots of good results including 7 people at church. We baptized a woman who we`ve been working with for the past 2 months or so. There werent tons of people there, but it was really nice and the spirit was strong there. Elder Siemers himself had the honor of baptizing her. It was a really awesome experience.

We also had a conference with Elder M. Russell Balllard, Elder Neil Anderson, Elder Jensen of the presidency of the 70, and Elder Costa the area president of Brazil. It was an awesome conference and we all got to shake the hands of each church leader who came. The conference was very uplifting and helpful. The focus was on working with church members and working more effectively. I learned a lot and am more commited to work harder.

Elder Siemers

January So Far

Not much – 1/16/12

Pretty good week but uneventful. Elder B. and I are working really hard. Our recenct convert has been visiting people with us so thats been fun. He's a cool young man. We are preparing for a conference we will be having on Saturday. There will be at least 2 apostles and some members of the 70. I am pretty excited. I didnt hear any apostles speak while in the MTC so this is a pretty special occasion. Well, thats pretty much it for this week. Tchau!

Elder Siemers

1^st Transfer of 2012 – 1/9/12

Things are really starting to pick up. We've been receiving refferals from members and more members are making visits with us. Our apartment is spotless. Elder B. likes a clean house also, so its nice to be living in cleanliness. We have been working tons. And walking tons also. It seems like all our investigators live 30 minutes away. Everytime we try and work close to our house and the church we cant find anyone. When we walk through neighborhoods that are really far away people come up to us and talk to us. We arent going to deny people who iniciate the conversation so we visit them. We had a zone meeting last week some of the best news Ive ever heard. Our standard of excellency was changed again. But this time they tossed out a fake key indicator that we were using. It was made up by the mission and to me never made any sense. It was how many families we were teaching. But anyone could be a family, so you didnt actually have to teach a family to count it. It was weird and confusing. We also tossed out firmes and possiveis. Which are people who are going to be baptized this week and those who could possibly be baptized. We were running ourselves to death trying to turn our possibles into baptisms and werent making any long term plans. Our new pattern puts people on a schedule of weeks so we can help them be better prepared for baptism and help them progress and get to know the church and the members. I almost got up in the middle of the meeting and hugged our Zone Leader when he told us the news. I am really excited. We should have a lot more success in the near future. We also got news that we will have a visit from two of the 12 apostles in our mission. Everyone is really excited. I think it will be Elder Ballard and Elder Anderson. Along with a few members of the 70. I am really excited for January and what it will bring. Ive got a hard working companion so we should be able to accomplish quite a bit, especially since the members of the church here and making lots of missionary oriented goals also. Sacrament meeting had two talks just on missionary work and helping the missionaries. Lots of good to look forward to in the next few weeks. Well, I hope everyone is having a happy 2012. Até mais.

Elder Siemers

Feliz Novo Ano!!! - 1/2/12

New Years was good. We live on the second floor so we had a good view of the fireworks. There wasnt really an official fireworks show, just everyone buys their own fireworks here in Franca. So at midnight we just looked out over the city and there were fireworks everywhere. I panned across the sky with my camera and there were fireworks in every direction. It was pretty cool.

There was an emergency transfer last week and my companion was transfered to another city. I received a new companion, Elder Batista. He has less than one transfer in the field, so it looks like I will complete his training. He is really awesome and is super excited to work. Last week we did a lot, even though we missed out on a day because of the traveling to Ribeirão Preto.

We worked hard at finding new people to teach. We've been working a lot with a member of the Bishopric to coordinate the work a little better. This next month should be really good. The Ward is making goals for the year and we put in our input the other day. We'll see here soon what the Ward's mission plan will be.

Life is good in the mission field. Happy New Year to everyone!!!

Elder Siemers

Christmas

Merry Christmas – 12/26/11

Crazy week. Christmas was definitely different this year. We had a mission Christmas conference. That was good. All the missionaries in the mission were all together. President Prieto always has a Christmas Tree full of chocolate in his house and he carried on the tradition here on the mission. It was good to see all my old companions. Everyone is doing well and we had a lot of fun. The mission staff put on a nice Christmas program with lots of music. Afterward, there were quite a few games, including a banana eating contest.

Christmas was good. The members fed us really well Christmas Eve and Christmas. To top it all off we had a baptism on Christmas. We baptized a young man who we found a few weeks ago. He had already talked to the missionaries when his sister was meeting with the missionaries a long time ago. He was ready and wanted to be baptized so we had a good Christmas. I got to use Skype to call home and it was really good seeing and talking to the family. Everyone looked good and happy. Only one more week left in 2011. 2012 will be interesting. 70% of the missionaries in the mission arrived in 2011 with me. There is only 30% that has more than a year on the mission. There will be a lot of leadership positions to fill here in the next few months. Lets see what 2012 brings before the Mayan calender runs out. :p

I hope everyone had a good Christmas, and have a happy New Year!

Elder Siemers

Feliz Natal! – 12/19/11

Another good week in Franca. Another week with un-Christmas like weather. One of our investigators works in an ice cream shop and we have discovered that they sell buckets of10 liters of ice cream for really cheap. That was a good find. Before church yesterday, we went to pick somebody up to bring them to church. At the meeting spot there was a bunch of vulture like birds that were eating a dog that was hit by a car on the highway. On our way back a little puppy came out from under the bridge we were on and started following us. You could tell he was hungry and thirsty but he followed us anyway. We decided to bring him to a church member's house just to feed him a little bit before sending him out to the street again. We were also pretty sure that his mom was the dog that was on the side of the road. The little guy followed us for a super long distance but then he got tired. Just then, a church member pulled up in his car and offered us a ride to church. I couldnt just leave him in the street so we brought the puppy with us. At the church we found some water for him, and a woman gave him some milk. During church he kept coming in the building, but everyone was very good about it. After the second sunday school class I didnt see him again. I heard that a member took him to an animal shelter, but I have no idea if that really happened. I hope he makes it. He was really cute. It was a very Where the Red Fern Grows type of experience. I gave a talk in church about Happiness in our lives. I think people enjoyed it. People were paying attention anyway. =) There is a Sister missionary who is completing her mission. Her family came down to pick her up and tour Brazil. They are from California also, so it was fun to talk to them, and translate for them. They even have been rafting on the Lower Klamath, so they are somewhat familiar with Northern California. They've got family in Auburn, and so I told them Ive got family in Lincoln. Last night was our Ward Christmas Party. It was a lot of fun. We have been filming ward members, and a man in the ward made a video of everyone saying Merry Christmas. At the end of the film, Carolyn showed up. I was in the back, next to the food table, but I ran to the front to watch. Next was Calvin, Sam and Taron. Next Jay and Rachel and the kids showed up, with Mom, Dad, Ty, Tam, and the kiddos finishing up the Elder Siemers segments. It was awesome. Im not going to lie. The Man of Steel almost shed a few tears. It was a wonderful surprise. Thank you very much! I hope everyone is having an awesome winter. And Merry Christmas!!!!

Elder Siemers