Transfer Week and Miracles

We had transfers yesterday night. Nothing changed in my district, so no new news. I get to terminate training my comp, woohoo!!

My companion and I are working REALLY hard using our new technique of finding. While applying this last week, I decided I would start praying for miracles in finding. I never thought to pray for miracles in finding. I had always prayed for miracles with the investigators we have now. Then I remembered the promise that every righteous thing we ask for will be given us. We just need to do our part. So, I decided to align my will with the Father's and pleaded for miracles in our finding efforts. 

I thought that maybe it would retard (demorar is the word in portuguese, no Idea how to express this in english) a few days; however, after that same night, we recieved miracles! We have over 10 first lessons planned for this week and established 3 baptism dates in this last week alone. The Lord has seen our efforts and our true desire to do His will and His work and has guided us to find His children that are waiting for this glorious message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And these miracles continue to occur. Our area is considered "difficult" in my mission because the people are less receptive, but nobody can deny the Spirit when the right words are said to touch their hearts. I have never loved a people more than I love these people now. Never have I felt so strong a desire to spread this message of the Restoration.

On saturday, a beloved investigator decided to drop us... She told us that she no longer wanted to be baptized but I felt it had much more to do with her parents (whom are very catholic) because the day previous she was excited for the baptism and was loving the Book of Mormon and the Church. She "changed" her mind and her attitude in less than one day. After a night of sorrow and tears, we tucked her Relatorio de Progresso (Progress Paper thing to keep track of the lessons taught) into the Area Book for future missionaries to visit her.

God is not dead. He is our Father and is working miracles before our very eyes. The very earth trembles in humble submission to His will. We are not to align His will to ours but ours to His. After all this, we will see the miracles blossom in our lives and multiply our joy knowing that we have a Father who loves and cares for each one of us. We are literally His children. He cries when we cry, He laughs with our joyous laugh, and He is happy when we find His Eternal Gospel and when making the right choices.

I love you guys!!

Elder Zinn.

Well That was Fast/Changes are Necessary

This week was FAST!! Wow, I blinked and it ended. Serious, if the mission is always like this, I will be home in less than 100 blinks (Let's not think of that, it scares me to think time is moving that fast).

So, we made pancakes today with vannila syrupe because the stores here don't sell maple, so it tasted pretty interesting. Not bad but different. I will definetly have to work on that recipe. Haha, I feel bad for my companion eating the food I am trying to cook. Haha!! I just thought of something else, after we ate, my comp said something that was weird at first. He said, "Your accent doesn't make sense. Your American but you don't sound like one." He explained how my accent wasn't American but also wasn't completely Brazilian and he was wondering why. Back story: Most of the people here think I am from Europe (Usually, Germany or Sweden), I thought they thought this because of my hair and eyes, but my comp said that my accent is because everyone thinks I must be from there. So, that was interesting.

Our investigator Vinicius is progressing but wasn't at church yesterday. We only had two investigators at church. We are hopeful this next week will be better attendance wise. 

We had an awesome experience with a brother of an investigator. His name is Rafael. He was interested in what we believe, so, logically, we taught the First Vision. When we got to the point of Joseph Seeing God and Jesus, the Spirit FILLED the room completely and it seemed like noise didn't exist. After I recounted Joseph's experience, I paused and let the spirit testify. This moment was more powerful than any other moment during the lesson. At the end, I said to him, "If this really happened, then the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the very true Church of Christ, and we MUST be baptized into His church." He agreed and accepted the invitation to be baptized and pray to know if these things are true. Which they are.

I know, with every fiber in my body, without any shadow of a doubt, that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is His church. He lives. He atoned for us. He is the Christ and we must follow Him.

Love you all!

Elder Zinn.

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Hello!! This week was filled with a LOT of normal activity and learning. Let's get this show on the road!!

So, first things first; we were working out the kinks in our new technique and we have refined to the point of finding more new investigators. So far, we haven't gained any investigators progressing, but we have some first lessons the week to come. So we are hopefull. To expand on what this technique means number wise, we made more than 50 lessons because of this, shutting down any commentary about us being new to the mission and thus showing our ability to work hard and get things done, and expanding our new investigators to more than 25 people. Statistically, this means more souls will be brought to Christ!!

The teaching pool is "smaller" but has more potencial as we have refined our technique. In my opinion, our teach pool has grown because of the potencial we have found but "numerically" it has shrunk (If that statement made any sense at all...).

We had Zone Conference on Thursday, so that was pretty awesome recieving counsel and training to apply in our areas. I am pretty ecstatic to bring more people to Christ!! At this Zone Conference, President Acosta banned the use of hangouts in the emails, so I am pretty bummed but I know the that he recieves inspiration from the Lord and I want to recieve all the blessings I can get to help my investigators better!! 

Vinicius didn't go to church yesterday, we are pretty worried because we know for sure that he REALLY wants to be baptized but he is starting to not progress... We will teach a lesson really firm this week with him in order to give him the strength necessary to brighten his fire. 

Love you guys! I attached a video of us singing our Mission Hymn!! See if you can find me.

Elder Zinn!!

(Found my look a-like on the mission, haha)

A Bishop's Outreach

David received this email today from a loving bishop in Brazil:

Hi Mr. Zinn
I am Bishop Gomes from Santo André third ward where Elder Zinn is currently serving.
Elder Zinn is a great missionary and he is working hard here with us. He is very well. I would like you to know that we love him.
Thank you for sending us this wonderful boy.
If you need something in relation to Elder Zinn, please contact me. I will be very close to him.

This email brings a lot of comfort to me. Knowing that Steven is around people who care and love him makes it easier for me to be at peace with him being so far away. 

A Week of Retraining/Melted Ice Cream Surprise

So, this week my companion and I decided to "retrain" a little. Seeing how both of us have less than 6 months on our mission, our level of experience is really low. This week was filled with finding ways to find more people and have more lessons. So, it worked but had a different effect than I thought.

What did we do:

We decided to teach people RIGHT when we found them, without asking permission to see how it would work. The goal in mind is invite the spirit immediately. This worked surprisingly well. We had a record of 42 lessons in one week and diminished the number of false addresses by A LOT. This also means it diminished the number of new investigators. But now we are ONLY finding the people who will progress.

We are still working out the tweeks but we have flattened out most of the awkward parts to make it smoother.

The COOLEST PART!!

We have an investigator named Vinicius. He is SO excited to be baptized but has to wait a little because he is living with his girlfriend. So, they are seperating so that they can be baptized. We are very excited for them! He brought us milkshake today before we came o send emails. He is super awesome and excited to follow the will of the Lord.

BUT yeah, until nexy week!! TCHAU!!

Elder Zinn.

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This last week was cool. Trying new techniques and finding new people. A cool experience happened yesterday. 

We were walking to Lunch and my companion pulled out a pamphlet of the Restoration. He then looked at me and said, "I have no idea why I pulled this out but... ok?" And we just laughed and continued walking. Right when he was about to put into back into his bag I saw a man sat on the bus stop and I felt the Spirit tell me to talk to him. So we went. We talked to him and when he saw the pamphlet of the restauration he got really excited and said, "Oh! I know your church! Missionaries already stopped by our house and left a message" With this, we have a new investigator!!

I taught my companion bread with cinamon and sugar. It is really good and be also ate some ice cream to close our Sunday. Video attached.

Tchau!

Elder Zinn

"TALKING ABOUT GOD AT THIS HOUR!!?" *SLAM*/It's Good to be From CA

This week was MUCH better than last week. We actually had lessons and found a lot of new people to teach. Sorry again for the lack of photos, we are not allowed to take pictures while proselyting.

We have a family that is really AWESOME. The mother is not really interested but is fulfilling all our invitations minus the invitation to church. But her children are REALLY interested. The two oldest want to be baptized this week. Let me rephrase that, the two oldest wanted to be baptized this week. Except... The father (seperated from the mother) told them that he dosen't want them to be baptized in this church because he raised them in the catholic church. The mother already authorized the baptism but the two of them are pretty torn now because the decision is on them. They don't want to disapoint their dad but also they already recieved a witness of the truth, so I invited them to fast with us this next week and we made a couple inspired promises with the family. We'll see what happens.

We have an other kid (Luis) he has the same age as us. He is also very interested in the church, his problem is motivation to recieve a witnesss from the Spirit. We are going to make a invitation realy firm with him to go to church this Sunday and see what happens. We made a goal with him to be baptized the week to come.

One night we were knocking on doors (915ish because it is a rule we cannot return to house until 930) and one guy answered. My companion began the usual routine "Hi, good evening, we are missionnaries of th...", the man, "No no no, I don't want to hear from you guys." After which he went to inside the house and I said, "Falou" This translates to "Said" but here it means bye. He responded with, "Falou nada (Bye nothing [weird in english], talking about God at this hour?!" And slammed the door. We had a good laugh with this but it is really sad that this man has a time set for God in his life.

Made me think a lot. Am I willing to allow God in my life at whatever time during the day and night? For sure here on the mission this is necessary but I need to remain willing for after as well.

That's all for now, folks!

Fim!

Love you guys!

Elder Zinn.

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This will be short because I am a little pressed with time. So only a short, funny story.

We were knocking on doors one night and everything was going as expected. That is, we were being rejected by everyone. We came upon one door and I rang the bell. A lady walked out timidly and asked who we were, normal. We explained we were missionaries and had a really important message with her and her family. I then asked for her name, she said, "Regina". I did not believe her one bit, I could tell she was lying. But I continued with a small message about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. At the end a pizza guy pulled up and handed her her pizza. She left the pizza inside, came back out and asked me where I was from, still really scared. I explained I was from California.

All of a sudden, her moood changed from scared tovery excited and she told us about how she loves CA and even visited there for 15 days. She told me she visited San Jose and went to a park. She described the park and it was the very same park where I ran almost everyday!! She said she loved the park and wants to visit San Jose again. Anyway, at the end I asked her name again this time with more success. Her real name is "Vanessa" and she wants to here more from us. WOOHOO!!

Love you guys!

Elder Zinn

Slow

Yeah, this week was really slow. Unfortunately almost all the addresses that we recieved this week were false ones. Almost everyday, all of our apointments fell through and we were left scrambling to find new people but no one wants our message. 

This week was pretty without anything new or exciting so this letter will be a little short. But let's go:

TWO weird experiences that we had here:

1. It was after 6 pm and we were going to a solid family of investigators. We arrived there and left a solid message with part of the family and they said they wanted us to return to go with them to a game of volleyball at the church. So, we went to make contacts with people on the street until the whole family arrived. My comp made a contact with a woman walking the opposite direction and right when he said "Boa Noite" she quickly said, "I dont need your religion." And awkwardly ran away from us. Directly after that, I saw a man alone, sat on a park bench. We walked to him and started conversing with him about his religious backround. We then started teaching him and invited him to be baptized. He accepted the invitation. So we tried marking a day to visit him but he asked why we wanted his address. We explained to teach him more. He then asked why we wanted to teach him. He apeared extremely nervous and was sweating and looking on his sides. I then felt the spirit tell me to look behind. I looked behind and saw a man walking toward us. At the very moment the Spirit was almost yelling at me that this situation was about to become REALLY bad if we did not leave at the moment. So I calmly ended our conversation with the man and I forced my comp to walk really fast away. 

We looked behind us after I felt we were a safe distance and saw the man talking to the man on the bench. I dont know what would have happened if we stay there, but I am confident it would have beenm nothing good.

2. An other day we decided to spend most of our day in a spot we usualy never visit to do contacting. After a little time there, we were walking down a street and of nothing I felt like something was following us. I turned around and saw no one there. But I was sure there was a presence. Anyways, we continued walking, making contacts, being rejected when all of a sudden, I started feeling the Spirit telling me to move out of that area. So, I explained to my comp I was feeling bad and he said he was feeling the same way, so we moved out of the area to proselyte more close to our house. There we found much more success and were calmed.

A lot of times we have no idea why we feel prompted to do something, but we need to remember to only have faith. Doubt not, fear not. Only trust in the knowledge of the All Knowing, All Powerful, and All Merciful Father in Heaven. He cares and thinks about us each and every second of the day, but we need to be willing to do everything He commands in order to recieve that help that He gives. This is something I taught an investigator recentely. A lot of times we don't recognize the promptings of the Spirit because we have fear of the truth or fear to change. But the scriptures and prophets are clear, where fear resides faith does not exist. Doubt not, Fear not. Only trust in your Lord.

I love you all!

Elder Zinn.

A Chicken with no Head

My new companion is my son or, in real world terms, I am a trainer. His name is Elder Alexandre and he hails from Rio Grande do Sul. He likes drawing, writing, and joking around. So yeah, legal. He is really awesome! Ready to work and baptize the whole world!

We were walking down the street one day when we deided to talk with a bunch of guys we found on the street. They were not interested... But one of them was kind enough to "correct" us. How you may be asking? Well, he told us that our work is like a chicken without a head. So, that is cool to think about.

On other news, we had a baptism!! The baptism of João! He is awesome, had been attending (Thank you Bishop Black for this word) church for quite some time now so he had alrady been integrated well. For sure he is an eleito. Wohoo!!

First Week of Transfer 2!

What is up people of earth! 

This week was straight fire! As well, however, our train ended up crashing and burning a little at the end...

We started out pretty strong, finding a bunch of people and even had 5 investigators lined up for baptism. Then, all of a sudden, our STRONGEST investigator cut contact with us almost entirely and was not at the church this last week. We are very worried but are praying that there was a good excuse for no contact and not being at church. 

But anyways, this week was good.

Interesting experiences:

Almost all our lunch apts with members fell through so we ate at home quite a bit this week. Well that actually isnt that interesting, sorry. This week actually didnt have a lot of interesting parts. On saturday we were stopped by 3 different drunk guys each wanting to go to church the next day. We gave them the address and even taught a lesson with one of them. One guy asked me about 4 different times how old I was and another one of them asked me if I served in the military abut 5 different times. Each time I responded with no the guy would act like he is in a turret and start shooting at me then at people walking by. So that was interesting. 

We passed by a potencial investigators house only to be told by the investigator, face-to-face, that she wasnt home. I wanted to say, "Thats weird, I must be seeing the spirit of you, then." But I restrained myself. Finally got a new camera after my old one was broken by a 6 year old. Bought it from a potencial investigator. 

Elder Zinn

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Well, my companion finally has his fire back! I was filling out reports one day and he was not helping me. My hand was hurting so I stopped to take a break. I looked up at my companion and told him that I needed help and that he needs to focus. He got mad a little but snatched a report and started filling it out. Once finished we did our weekly planning and all of a sudden he started making goals for himself and for us as a companionship. And now he is on fire! And we are getting along a lot better because of this!

This week was hard but fulfilling. We gained a lot more new investigators but, sadly, our strongest investigator (Adrielly) has not been answering the phone and did not show up to church yesterday. We are very worried because she was very excited, was talking about going on a mission, and being baptized this week. But NOW!! Yeah... I dont know what happened.

But anyways, Life is moving still. We are working hard and I know the Lord will bless us for the work. From what I heard, the US is under North Korean rule (thanks father for this useful information). Stay safe and remember to get the approved haircut ;p

Love you guys!

Elder Zinn.

The boy who broke my camera.

 This photo was featured in the mission newsletter.

1st Transfer in the Field

WOHOO! My first transfer while in the field! I cant believe how fast these 7 weeks have gone! I will write this email a little different. First I will give my resumo (Yes, I forgot the translation for resumo) of this week then after I will give a brief resumo of the things I learned from this transfer period.

This weeeeeeek we had awesome expierences. First things first, I baptized a young woman named Esther yesterday and my companion baptized a young man named Lucas. These two are siblings and were investigators of Sister Missionaries (Sister Centurion and Stister Erikson) in our district. Since my companion is the district leader he interviewed them. E aí, after the interview they asked if we could baptize them. Obviously we agreed! We said paraben to the Sister missionaries for the awesoe work in finding these awesome youth prepared. 

Yesterday another awesome expierence happened, our progressing investigator Adrielly asked us how she could be a missionary as well after she is BAPTIZED!!!!!!! I almost fell over in surprise! We explained to her that she will need to wait 5 years (As she is 14 years old) and then she can start the process. She will be baptized next week! WOOOHOOO!!

The friend of Adrielly, Leandra, is beginning to progress as well. We ran into her on the street while walking home after a long day and she began asking us about the Pre-Existence and The Fall of Adam and Eve. It was very spiritual and fantastic. She agreed to go to church this week and has been praying almost every night.

Finalmente!!! An update on the man I talked about last week that we found on the street when asking about the potencial investigator. His name is Filip and he is... AWESOME. He has a huge desire to learn and follows through with every invitation! 

Things I learned from this transfer:

1. Everyone here already knows my name. The motive for this: Because I appear and even have a slight accent of a german (in portuguese Alemão) and I am small. Combine these two things, the brazilians here call me = Alemãozinn... Very times here random people have called me this without even seeing my name tag or knowing about me. It was really confusing at first.

2. Always look where you are walking or you will walk into dog poo.

3. Lots of words and phrases that are considered bad in english are perfectly acceptable in portuguese.

4. I am allergic to cilantro for sure.

5. My stomach does not agree with the milk here. Not. at. all...

6. When learning a new language, pay attention to how they use words and phrases. Because more often than not, the phrase or the way they use a word will not make sense in english but yet makes perfect sense in said language.

7. I AM VERY EXCITED FOR THIS TRANSFER!!!

Me and my companion, no surprise, will stay together this next transfer! 

Until next week!

Love you guys!

Elder Zinn. 

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Vamos começar uma outra transferência! 

This transfer was both AWESOME and, sadly, lazy... My companion will die this next transfer and is being really lazy. He makes close to zero contacts cada dia now and doesn't have the will to walk long distances when required. This is getting really anoying for me. I even found out he downloaded some rock music for the flight back home already. I dont know how I feel about that because  fear it will be a temptation for him. I am having to babysit him this last week. I am praying this week will be better after a good rest today.

Buuuuuut! I have been having some awesome experiences with my testimony, language, and investigators. I have felt the Lord work miracles within my heart, mind, and body that I have never felt before. It brings me sorrow that the time here is already flying by and I am afraid that I will blink and my time will be up here. 

A funny experience, we were walking on the REALLY long road. We came across a street sign that said "Texas". I took a picture of it but I forgot my camera today... It was funny joking around about it.

Until next week, I love you guys!!

Elder Zinn.

1st Pioneer Day Away From Home

Honestly, I totally forgot about pioneer day till right now. So, nothing realy feels different. But as I write this email I am reminded of sitting down as a family to make butter, rolls, and playing games that the pioneers themselves played. AAAAaaaaannnnnnnddddd, back to focus.

This week was pretty sick for two reasons:

1. I was literally sick Sexta to Today (Only a minor cold this time)

2. WE FOUND SOME AWESOME PEOPLE!!!!

Yeah, this week was definetly better. We started the week sprinting with an AWESOME and spiritually filled lesson with our most progressing investigator (Adrielly) and her friend Leandra. We taught about the Restauration of the Gospel and by the time we reached Joseph Smith seeing Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, Adrielly was in tears because the Spirit was so strong and present. Needless to say, she recieved inspiration that A. Joseph Smith was and is a prophet called by God, B. The Church of Jesus Christ has the Priesthood Authority of God, C. The Book of Mormon is true, and D. (She told us this herself) we are disciples of Christ and hold the authority of God. It was an awesome lesson!!!

Next, me and my companion were on a road looking for a potential investgiator but we couldnt find the apt number anywhere. It was nonexistent. My companion said we should leave to find the next investigators house but I felt that our work wasnt yet done on that street. I saw a guy standing outside a shop on that same street and felt we needed to ask him about the investigator. So, I walked over (my companion a little frustrated with me - as he disclosed to me laughing after this expierience - for not wanting to go when he said we should leave) and asked aout the address first. The guy didn't know the address but asked for the name. Guess what, he is friends with the potencial investigator! So, he gave the new address of his friend and even agreed to meet with us to learn more about the church!! Woohoo! We hunted down the investgigator and found yet another potencial investigator in the process!! 

Ok, one more awesome experience to close this email. Two days ago, we were searching for yet another potencial investigator, but she was not at home. I saw a man standing on a roof, making so repairs and felt prompted to talk to him. At first I didnt want to because he was working. But, I decided to follow the promṕting anyway. I called him, he climbed down from his house, and me and my companion talk him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Faith, Repentance, Baptism by Immersion, Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End) and he wants to be baptized. It was amazing, because all ov a sudden, the Holy Ghost loosened my tongue and I was saying words I didnt realize I knew during the short lesson. What a miracle! I am extremely thankful for that awesome opportunity to feel th words just flow and feel what the man needed to hear.

We truly are God's children and He loves us very much. This Church is true, Joseph was and is the prophet of the Restauration, we have a prophet today (his name is Thomas S. Monson), the Book of Mormon is true, and we have the Priesthood Authority of God on the earth again.

Love you guys!

Elder Zinn.

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What up Fam!

I will respond to the question of the week right now: no, the doctors still don't know what I contracted. But I am normal (As normal as I always am).

This week, as you probably read in the mass email, we worked really hard and reaped many miracles and blessings. The Lord has smiled down upon us this week as we fasted and prayed for eah of our investigators. Each one with different needs. 

My camera broke. It does not focus on anything so I will be without pictures for a little while (sorry). Suspect it broke when a little child decided to throw it on the ground for no apparent reason. So, that was interesting, haha! He's a funny kid, he has only 6 years of age. Relatively new to life. He thought, I guess, it would be interesting to see what would happed. His theory is still unknown but the camera reacted exactly how I thought it would after I saw him do it. That is, it broke. But, what can you do, this is what I signed up for.

To my dismay, I am once more sick. This time, only a minor cold so work progressed as normal. My companion cotnracted the sickness first and I guess the germs just really hate Americans because they decided to torment me once more. But all is well. I am filled with allegria because of the success of this week. My companion and I had a rough patch yesterday but things are sorted out now. We are nearing the ended of the transfer. We begin our next (and my companions final) transfer next week. 

Untl next week!

Love yall!

Elder Zinn.

Dor!!

What a week. Very tiring for a couple reasons:

Reason 1: I was really sick for three days (to the point I was sent to the hospital)

Reason 2: Despite the delay, we worked hard and were rewarded!

And my week went like this:

P-Day was great. We played bowling with our zone leaders and hung with them for the rest of the day. I finally recieved a violin. It looks beautiful and even sound really nice. It was only about 300$ USD but the quality is pretty nice. 

Terça-feira: Starting to feel sick. A minor headache but advil was sufficient for the day. We found a new investigator and taought him about the pĺan of salçvaction. He was very interested! We will return next week.

Quarta-feira: I began expieriencing a LOT of pain of the head and the body. Me and my companion stayed in side for  most of the day. But I was determined that an appointment would be made that evening. So, I took a few pills until the pain was light enough to bare and we taught an investigator and he LOVED the message. Huge blessing.

Quinta-Feira: Basically dieing at this point. That night my fever broke 102. The pills are not doing anything.

Sexta-Feira: I developed red bumps on my chest and my fever was still high. We called the wife of the mission president who told us to go to the Hospital as soon as we could because I probably had dengue. At the hospital, the doctors took two tests of blood (TWO PUNTURES INTO MY ARM!!) and found that I did not have dengue. So, the doctor said to me, "We are going to try a couple medications and see what happens." With that, they punctured me YET AGAIN and pumped my body with a liquid medication. Nothing changed. They tried a different medication YET ANOTHER PUNCTURE. This one caused my bumps to disappear and my headache was almost non-existent. I was sent to home with multiple bandages, tylenol, and a very tired body.

And now, because of our patience in time of pain, we have been blessed with two solid investigators who, we believe, will progress quickly and firmly. I am fine now, normal (Well, as normal as I usually am), and ready to work hard this week. We are VERY optomistic!!

Love,

Elder Zinn.

Toca bonita!/Festa

Whats up!

I am feeling much better this week! I am still sick, but better, so there is some great news.

This week is my last week in the CTM (WOOHOOO) so me and my comanions are working hard this home stretch. Trying to speak only português to each other. That becomes difficult because our vocabulary is focused around teaching the gospel. But we improvise!

We went proselyting this last Saturday where we met a guy trying to trade us american currency for brazilian currency (drug money) since he cannot use the currency exchange place (again, because it is drug money). We quickly tried to change the topic to the church and tried giving him a Book of Mormon. Instead he called us crazy and walked away.

We also met a guy who was really impressed that we left our homes in america to come to brazil to teach people about the gospel of Christ. He declined the Book of Mormon at first, but after we bore our testimonies about it and promised him many different blessings (all guided by the Spirit) he accepted it and even wants to have the missionaries over. 

The weather here has been pretty bipolar. It can't decide whether it wants to be cold, rainy, or warm. One thing it is sure on is it MUST be humid. I love it though. This place is a beautiful place filled with beautiful people who are ready to hear about why Jesus Christ came on this earth and why there was a need for His church to be restored.

Love you all!

Elder Zinn (new names, Elder Zinnho, Brazileiro, and DIABO -- OH funny story about this. I over heard brazileiros talking about how every time you speak english the devil gets closer to you. So, me being me, I walked up behind them and whispered "eu sou Diabo..." They got a good laugh from that)

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Tis the season to be ready! 

This week is my last week. I depart from the CTM next Terça-Feira. My comanions and I keep saying "I feel ready, but not prepared". This language is beautiful, but the grammar is impossible. It doesn't make sense to english speakers. I spend an hour each morning dissecting sentences trying to figure out why verbs are conjugated as they are and why the sentence is formed as it is. But, no matters. The Gift of Tongues is real. I will keep working hard.

I finally got the violin! I played for the chior this last Sunday for devocional. They had me play an impromptu solo after hearing me play before hand. Elder Snyder (can't remember his position in the CTM but I know he helps the Presidente Grahl) walked up to me after and asked me if I wanted to order a violin for my mission. Apparently! The violins here are AMAZING and super cheap. We are talking 350$ american currency. He said they are considered advanced violins. I told him I am interested. So he is going to see what he can do. Very excited!

Elder Rezende left this week on Terça-feira... It was really sad to see him go but we exchnaged emails. I am posotive this will not be the last time I will see and hear from him. He was an amazing example of an Outstanding missionary for me. 

Congrats to Dave-o on fasting for the first time! I am sure it was a little difficult for him but I am proud he is making these steps. Congrats to the Warriors on a great season!

Got my three of my dress shirts stolen this week. I was a little mad at first but if it was stolen then it must be needed (of course this does not mean it was right to steal in the first place). So that was a little strange. This is why we are given locks to put on our closets. But I left my shirts in the dryer for an hour or so because I had class, so that was my own fault.

Glad to hear graduation was a success and that Kirsten got to sing in a chior (did she get in Zion's Chior?). Sounds like there is a lot going on with the kitchen!

Not much else to report on, time is short here.

Love,

Elder Zinn. 

It's Official

Steven's seminary graduation certificate was given to us tonight at a graduation ceremony. This was well earned. I'm proud of him for finishing; and early at that. 

The Power of God

Hello yall!

Been cruising through this past week. Went really fast. This last night I got, unfortunately, very sick and only slept about 1 hour. So, please excuse me if my thoughts are not totally coherent. We'll see how this goes, haha! 

First, let's start with the point of this title. The Elder that tore ligments in his foot last week (Elder Saunders) was told that he was going to need surgery and will most likely have to go home for recovery. However, he decided to get a Priesthood blessing last friday. During the blessing, he was promised that he would serve a full two year mission here in brazil and that his foot would heal. After these words were spoken during the blessing, I felt the power of the Holy Ghost rush over me and testify that these words were from God.

Fast forward to Monday. He is now walking (with a brace) and no longer needs surgery. He left for the field yesterday morning. This miracle testifies to me, as many previous experiences here in the CTM have, that this church is the only church on earth that holds the power and the authority of God. This church is truely the Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latterday Saints. If this church is not the same church that Christ instituted while on earth, then this is the single biggest lie the world has ever seen. 

I have gotten to the point with this language that I can listen to a devocional in full Português and actually understand 90 percent of it. This is a huge miracle and I am so grateful for the Gift of Tongues.

Not a lot happened this last week, that I can remember. My stomach is no longer having issues with the rice and beans. Now it is having issues with their hot dogs... So that's pretty interesting. 

Read the Book of Mormon, it is the untampered word of God. Read, Ponder, and Pray to know the truth of the Book, by the power of the Holy Ghost. Moroni 10:5 "E pelo poder do Espirito Santo podeis saber a verdade de todas as coisas." Which means "And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye shall know the truth of all things". 

Love yall!

From Elder Zinn (new name given to me this past week, Elder Legalziiiiinnnho).

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Just Chilling and... Dying

What up!

The point of this title is to show how my body has reacted to this sickness. I feel like someone put metal in my brain and nose and started scrubbing my throat with a metal brush. Don't worry, though, I am still running (on top of gallons of nasal spray and ibprofen - however you spell that word). After I am finished writing this email, I will be going out into the "wild" to buy some peanut butter we saw last P-Day at a super sketch store. They only had opne brand and one can last time. Hopefully it's still there. 

Three times a week we have splits with Brazilian missionaries. This last week, I was assigned to labor with Elder Rezende. He is my favorite person. His past was really hard for him. His brother died and he supported himself and helped support his family by being a mechanic. Now on the mission, he is the kindest, loving, and most Christ-like individual I have ever met. He and I get a long super well. He calls me his Favorite Brazilian and American. His dream is to go ice skating in America and attend BYU I after his mission. Seriously, I want to adopt him as my brother. 

Oh, yeah, and I ended up slipping and falling (as expected) about three times in one day then one other times another day. My right side hurts. But all is well. I got my left side still feeling good. 

We got new brazilian roomates. These guys are the quietest brazilians I have ever met.  They're both really chill though. We all get along really well.

My companions are doing great. They haven't fallen due to my illness... yet. We'll see how long that takes. I didn't realize I often I use Português frases until new american's got here. I was talking to them and every other sentence I had to translate what I said. I just don't realize that words/frases like: legal, todo bem/bom, eí e suave, tranquilo, and bunch of words like that are not in the English language. It's alright, they'll be like that within a week.

Well, currentely, the ibprofen is starting to kick in, so now the throbbing has been brought down to a minimal. That is a relief! 

Love yall!

From, Elder Zinn (Legalziiiiiiinho).

Ui, Chavoso!

Oi! Todo bem!

Everything here is going great. The days are long but the weeks are getting faster. Some interesting news, the Americans here are dropping like flies. Elder Kotter, Saunders, and Sister Barry all have fallen due to bodily affliction. Elder Saunders is in a wheelchair because he fell down the stairs (everyone thought I'd be the first to fall because I am clumsy). Elder Kotter REALLY badly rolled his ankle while playing Basketball. Sister Barry has some kind of unidentified illness that is causing a bunch of mumps to appear. She has been quarantined.

Other news, my portugues is improving immesnely, I can actually understand a brazilian when they talk at normal speed (mostly). I tried listening to a devotional without an english ranslator and was succesfully able to actually understand most of it. I am have been very blessed by the Lord because of my diligence.

We went proselyting for the first time this last Saturday. It was pretty awesome! My companheiros were not comfortable walking up to people and handing out Book of Mormons so I was the lead for the whole time. An awesome experience happened, We were wandering around, stopping everyone we could to share the Book of Mormon, when I had the impression to cross the street. So we did. I decided I would continue following the prompting, until, it took us into a little park where I saw a man, sitting on a bench, with his headphones in. I felt the Spirit whisper to me that he was prepared for us. I convinced my companions to follow me. We walked over and all of a sudden, I introduced us this way: "Nós somos discipulos de Jesus Cristo, o Filho de Deus. E nós temos um livro chamado o Livro de Mormon para você que vai ajudar você ser mais perto para Jesus Cristo." (We are disciples of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and we have a book called the Book of Mormon for you that will help you be closer to Jesus Christ.) Never had I rehearsed this in my head. The whole tiome I hade been introducing us as missionaries with a quick message. But as I said these words, I saw the man was touched and listened to us. As we left, I turned around to see him already reading the Book of Mormon.

My testimony in the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon has grown immensely as well as the Gift of Tongues. As we study this sacred book, we become closer to our Savior and can feel the influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Oh!! Before I forget, the title of this is a slang song sister missionaries taught me and my companions before they left.

Até mais!

Elder Zinn.

_______________________________________________________________________

Oi! Boa Tarde de São Paulo!

Happy birthday to Dave-o! Glad to hear he had an awesome Birthday! Tell him I say happy birthday please!

Our brazilian roomates left this week. Pretty sad, they were AWESOME! Elder Cruz (one of the roomates) one time put on my sunglasses and started humming the mission impossible theme song while rolling around the dorm room until he ran into the bed. To which, we all fell on the floor laughing. It was quite the sight.

Yeah, seems I fit in pretty nice over here. I love the Brazilians! They are so humble, kind, quirky, and ready to hear the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

My companions are doing great. Elder Kotter is having a hard time walking due to his ankle, but we're hanging in there.

I know enough protugues to be thrown into the field, but I definetly need the last couple weeks here. The lessons with our investigators have been going a LOT better. We have moved past the pre-written lessons to being able to teach the investigator rather than the lesson. It has been exciting to watch our improvement!

I am bummed out a little right now, because I can't play the violin here because another Elder has been hogging it this whole time. Once he leaves, I will only have a week to play it... I am not sure if I ever will get the chance at this point.

Mother and father: Any news on whether I got into BYU Provo? Also, could you please apply me to Utah State, just in case? I prayed about it, and for some reason that school has been sticking out in my mind. I want to follow the prompting. I have a feeling I maybe won't get into BYU Provo.

My new names of the week, Elder Estranho and Elder Chavoso (inside joke that I am not allowed to share). 

Boa Sorte!

Elder Zinn (Estranho, and Chavoso).

Well, that was fast...

Whats up yall!

This email will (hopefully) be a bit more not all over the place.

Sleep is hard to come by here in the CTM. My companheiros and I eat our meals fast so we can quickly run to our room and sleep for like 15 mins. Nonetheless, the CTM is great. We are teaching 2 lessons a day in only português  to a couple roll play investigators. Generally we are prepared, but they screwed up our schedule by accident one day, giving us no time to plan any lessons. So, we wung it. Went surprisingly ok.

Last P-day we were sent into the *wild* (the city) around the CTM to do whatever we wanted to do (except proselyte). Turns out, there´s not a whole lot to do when youre out of the CTM while being a missionary. We walked around and went to a couple stores, bought a couple cookies from a shop that bgives missionaries a discount, and just chilled.

The weeks are getting faster. I can´t believe its already P-Day today! It was a pleasant surprise when I found that out yesterday! The classes are becoming more intesensive and language a little bit easier. We are working hard.

The brazilians are awesome people. I got to film a brazilian missionary imitating jack sparrow running in our dorm room and witnessed, again, a brazilian missionary, put on sun glasses and start humming the mission impossible theme song while rolling arund the floor before bed. Lot´s of fun., but I am ready to leave the CTM. Just four more weeks...

On other news, I told the brazilians my last name meant tin in english, so now, I am elder estanho, osh, brazileiro, and zinn. Good times!

Thanks everyone! Boa Tarde!

Elder Zinn (Estanho).

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Sup bru (quote from my instrutor)!

My comanheiros are awesome! Both are being patient with me and are fun to be around. I can´t send any pictures or take pictures outside of the CTM. Only when I leave the CTM for good am I allowed to take pictures outside of it.

My português is getting a lot better. I can have better conversations now and explain church doctrine fairly well.

Father, mother, did we know a family in Houston with the last name Hill and/or Bangeter?

P-Day really isn´t all that it is hyped to be in the CTM. We are constrained to a fairly small boundary outside the CTm and there are not many shops to go to. Nonetheless, it is nice to rest from language classes for a day.

Our instrutor (Irmão Oliveira) is hilarious. He tries saying slang in Ingles such as: *gotcha bru, sup bru, cool beans*... We fall on the floor laughing every time! He came into class one time and said good day in some philipian language that sounds EXACTLY like *my booty*. EASILY that funnist thing to happen inside of ou class room! He was so confused as to why we were LITERALLY on the foor, curled in a ball, laughing. He said it so casually! Once we explained the humor for us he joined in our laughing.

That brazilians love my humor. I will start singing in português about whatever comes to my head and they eat it up. Today I sand about not being able to feel my fingers: Eu não sento o meo dedo e meo dedo tem um brato por mim! They loved it. My companheiros think I am so weird.

Anyways, my time is up in a few mins. Congrats to Dave-o! I am so excited for him! Make sure your teach him to say Susse (Means sweet in german). The brazilians love when I use german slang, they try saying it and it is really funny to listen to them! Good times, good times. Love the people, love the Lord, love the work.

Boa Tarde!

Elder Zinn (Estanho).

Primeira Semana! (Death Week)

What up everyone!

Before I start, I am going to do my best to go through my frist week in  chronological order but it may not be entirely in the correct order due to the fact this first week felt like a whole month. Everything is kind of blurred together. Vamos!

First day at the MTC I was placed in a trio companionship and we did nothing the whole day (except eat rice and beans - an sleep). It was pretty calm, we were heavily welcomed with BEM-VINDOs which translates to WELCOMEs. The brazillians are the nicest and goofiest people I know, it is awesome! The next day was followed by heavy orientation training and language studies. That day was the single longest day of my life... No joke. I am pretty sure I died inside a little. It was SUPER fun and exciting, but it was crazy. The rest of the days leading up to this point I can not remember. I just recall some cool experiences. So, here we go!

My district is really small, we only have 3 members in our district (those three members being me and my companions). We started with a sister missionary (Sister Hill) but she was switched to a different district since she didn´t have a companion. I was made guia de distrito (district leader) on either thursday or friday. Already my english has started to fail me as I have immersed my self in the Brazilian Português language.

The rice and beans every meal is getting to me. I have been farting quite a bit, which has been fun. I can say a prayer, bear my testimony, and even teach lessons in Português. Having everyday conversations is hard, but doable. OH! The brazilians LOVE my name. Whenever they see me they always exclaim *ZZZZZEEEEEEEEENNNG* (That´s how they pronounce it). So funny, I am starting to introduce myself as that now.

Other than the rice and beans, this CTM is AWESOME! I bear my testimony now. Sorry for spractic messige. My thoughts are everywhere.

Eu sei que Jesus Cristo vive. Ele é o nosso Salvador. Quando nós acreditemos em Jesus Cristo, nós podemos ter a paz.

Até mais!

Edler Zinn

_____________________________________________________________________________

What up fam!!

Bom Dia!

I am writing this email assuming you have read my todos email. So, I will not be going over the same thing I wrote about last (Is there a shorter way to say that?).

I just want to let you know that I am doing awesome. I have not gotten home sick at all. My testimony has definetly been strengthened and my ability to speak in my favorite language has increased due to my seeking out the Dom de Linguas (the Gift of Tongues). The week felt like an eternity, the most tiring part is not being able to go outside. We stay inside all day learning the language.

I cannot remember if I talked about this, so I will talk about it now. On both my flights to the CTM I had missionary experience. The first one, I discussed what the Book of Mormon was and why it is important to us now. I invited the man I discussed this with to read a Boom of Mormon he had recieved earilier and shared some scriptures inside of it. The next flight to São Paulo, I was sitting next to a lady who only spoke Português. I introduced myself as a missionary in very broken português and gave her a Book of Mormon and wrote instructions (in português) on how to get one in Português. She said she would read it, so, I am excited!

Learning the language has been a really miraculous experience. I have been blessed with an ability by the Lord to quickly learn and recognize ´patterns and have been able to apply this while learning. It has made me learn a lot faster than I would have been able to.

Today I went to the São Paulo templo. It is awesome! Very beautiful and small. I did an entire endowment session in português. I didn´t understand a lot but it was fun. I met a worker there who was german and spoke with him a little in german. It was pretty fun to speak two languages I love.

Nice to hear Bayern beat Leipzig and warriors beat the spurs!

As for Elder Zinn...

Elder, você é muito gordo. Eu sou o melhor!!

Até Mais, a minha familia!

Elder Zinn o melhor.