Week #102: "1"

I guess a picture says a thousand words, and I´m really at a loss for words right now. Hope you all like the pictures.

-Elder Tenney    

 

Elder Brasil
26 July 2011

Elder Eca and Elder Tenney
26 July 2011

Elder Feuz and Elder Tenney with Elder Laws back left
26 July 2011

Elder Tenney and Elder Owens
26 July 2011

Elder Johnson and Elder Tenney
26 July 2011

Elder Brasil, Gabriel and his father Rivelino, Elder Tenney
30 July 2011

Training @ Staff
02 August 2011

The Elders of Nova Cidade
21 August 2011

Gabriel and his mother, Karina
26 August 2011

Rivelino and Karina
Wedding Day
26 August 2011

"One Ring to Rule Them All"
Karina and Rivelino's Wedding
26 August 2011

Elder Silverio, Leonidas, Rivelino, Karina, Maria, Elder Tenney
26 August 2011

Gabriel's family with Elders Barbosa, Brasil and Tenney
26 August 2011

Week #101: "2"

Well, another amazing week. The zone conference was pretty good, and we had quick interviews afterwards with President Klein. Mine was quick. He asked how I was doing and if the amount of time left was getting to my head. He seems to know what sort of dilemma I am in right now. He just gave me a pat on the back and said just keep going and the stress of what´s going to happen will all go away. Something like that. I noticed the picture he has of me is one in a blue tie and I sat there thinking, "where on earth did I use a blue tie on the mission?"... then I remembered it was the pic that I took with shorts on and the suit coat to send out to the mission and I think with the calling as well. Funny how that picture stayed with me throughout the mission. Take a good picture of yourself! President will be using that the rest of your mission. Elder Brasil was going to be staying with me until the 29th, so basically my last week I would get my last companion... but yesterday there was another mix-up and Elder Brasil and Elder Barbosa, the other short time missionary at our house, went home yesterday. Now I am companions with Elder Rangel Silvério from Riberão Preto, São Paulo. He is a crazy cowboy. This should be a fun last two weeks. I got the whole ward as my area again as well, so things should be interesting. Update on Gabriel´s family: Wedding papers are in and it´s all systems go. We are so super excited for them. I´m so grateful the Lord gave me the opportunity to get to know them and teach them and lead them to the path of the tree of life. They grabbed onto that rod of iron like it was the last Krispy Kreme donut in the world. Soon they, too, will be partaking of that wonderfully delicious fruit, which amazingly they have here in the Amazon as well. Ok, maybe I´m a little hungry right now with all the food references. :p I am losing weight quickly for some reason. = not happy camper. I was all excited to come home and not get blown away in the wind and suddenly I just can´t manage to eat more than one plate of food at lunch. I think I've lost a little more than 5 kilos {11 lbs} the last couple of months. Well, hope you all are doing awesome, and doing what´s right.

Love y'all tons.

-Elder Mitchell H. Tenney

Missão Brasil Manaus

Week #100: "3"

So, the highlight of my missionary labors during this time is Gabriel´s family and the amazing faith and progress that they are having. This last week we had 3 marvelous visits in which we discussed the 3 pillars of personal revelation: Prayer, Scriptures, and Church Frequency. When we are doing these 3 things, it is more likely that we will be led to do what is right and to truly perceive the whisperings of the spirit. We basically get there and I just ask a few questions and they teach themselves. Who do we pray to? Why do we pray? When should we pray? Just simple questions and I get amazed by the amount of knowledge that Rivelino, Gabriel´s dad, has about these subjects. They truly are an elect family who were prepared to hear the Lord´s message. I don´t think I taught anything really... I just ask questions and they answer! I´m so grateful that the Lord led us to such an amazing and elect family. This ward is truly amazing here. I´m excited for it because the stake will split here in a bit and then the ward. We went to go help clean out the chapel building on Saturday morning and Gabriel was there with the other young men and the Bishop already helping. Gabriel should be getting the Aaronic Priesthood here in a little bit. He will be a teacher for a while, but soon a Priest. He is already going to seminary and everything as well. :) On a different note, my companion, Elder Brasil got his mission call, as well as the other short-time missionary that lives in our house, Elder R. Barbosa. Elder Brasil will go to the Brasil Belo Horizonte mission, and Elder R. Barbosa is going to the Brasil Campinas mission. Elder Brasil was super crazy excited when he opened it and the first words from him were, "Dude! I´m going somewhere cold! I´m finally leaving this burning rainforest!" I got it on film. Good stuff. kkkkk We have another zone conference tomorrow. This is the one where I get to "bury" my last testimony to the mission. I always thought it was funny how the younglings say "bury" instead of "bear." :p

Mmm... blueberry muffins.... mmmmmmmmm.....

Love you all tons!

-Elder Tenney

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!

Week #99: "4"

Well, I´m still alive. The jaguars are getting kind of feisty, and the neighbor's anaconda keeps crawling over the wall and almost ate all our chickens. No, I´m kidding, it's not like that here in this part of town. At least the anaconda part... and the jaguars... but there are a lot of chickens..I´m in this strange stupor right now of just keep working one day at a time but I feel like I know when the millenium is and there is just this void of what's going to happen after such and such day... will life be the same? Who is going to be there? What am I going to do? But, I got another month before I deal with that, so we just keep walking in the dried up heat of Manaus. I don´t remember it being so hot here..I think last August I was still in Acre and it was getting a cold front. But for now, we have a couple weddings in the makings. One is going to be on the 26 of Rivelino and Karina, who are Gabriel´s parents, and his sister Maria is also going to get baptized. The other couple is Nente and Gibson, but they are being a little difficult with me right now and won´t mark an exact date. They are leaning between 3 September or 30 September. I don´t know what´s taking so long but they won´t give me an answer. We already have their papers all set for the wedding, it's just do it now. Other than that it's just tudo de boa. {"all good"} Have an awesome week! Smile!

-ElderTenneyInBrasil

Week #98: "5"

Well, I guess I´ll write a letter to you all, seeing as how I have so little opportunities to do this during the week. :p So my not so exciting transfer suddenly got a vortex of twists and changes and crazy mad cow disease h1n1 stress action. Basically I got my comp changed to Elder Brasil, and late that same night a 2nd missionary pair got sent to our house and then one of those two got switched out again a couple days later. I spent my week showing the area around and then had a few stress attacks at the lack of attention my area was getting and we went into overdrive to get it all caught up. Spiritual Experience of the week besides another encounter with satan's demons: Gabriel was baptized and confirmed. I think I´ve told his story, but his parents are just starting a most fascinating adventure. Karina, G's mom, went to church the other day and said it was exactly the type of church she was looking for. Baptism- her in tears, confirmation- still crying, Sunday night visit with Bishop Robson- crying again and both parents basically asking us when they can be baptized, too. Their wedding is marked for the 27 of August, but there is a slight problem with one of their birth certificates, so pray that we can get it all settled quickly. I feel like suddenly I don´t have enough time to do all that I´m wanting to do to help all these here peoples in my area. It really is a strange feeling. I know I´m where the Lord wants me to be, with who I need to be, teaching who I need to teach. I just hope I can keep going and find some more people for the ones who come after me to teach, too. It´s like when Elder Gannon left, he left a bunch of people for me to teach, and during 2010 I saw basically all of them get baptized. I´m hoping the same for the people I´m teaching now, and also that they can all continue going strong and prepare for the wonderful temple being built on the margins of the Rio Negro. It really is starting to look amazing!

Love you all tons! Buckets of love for y'all.

-Elder Tenney

P.S.  Moroni is in town now. Any day now to set him all up on his new home. :)