Skittles and UNO???

Hello family and friends,

How is everyone doing? As for me, I am doing just great. I had a pretty crappie week last week , but I am sure that this week will be a good one.  I just know it.  But you do know why it will be a good week?  Because we have a baptism coming up on Saturday.  Good thing too.  It has been a while for me, and that always excites people into action.  I will have pictures ready the next time we chat. 

It has stopped raining, which is a good thing.  Today is really bright and lovely.  A little chilly, but all the same it is a very good day. 

I had my last zone conference with President Myrrha.  It is a shame to see him go.  He is such a cool guy, but I have faith and all the confidence in the world for our new President.  His name is President Ribeiro.  He is from Brazil as well, and when President Myrrha was a stake president President Ribeiro was his first consoler and he also served a mission here in Rio Grande do Sul, so he already knows the people and the culture. I think that he will do a really great job.

Isaias De Oliveira Ribeiro, 46, and Soni Maria Barbosa Ribeiro, four children, Brazil Santa Maria Mission; Londrina 1st Ward, Londrina Brazil Stake. Brother Ribeiro is a stake president and is a former counselor in the Brazil Londrina Mission presidency, counselor in a stake presidency, bishop and missionary in the Brazil Porto Alegre Mission. Institute director, Seminaries and Institutes of Religion. Born in Maringá, PR, Brazil, to Pedro Celestino and Leardina Almeida Oliveira Ribeiro.

Sister Ribeiro is a former ward Primary, Relief Society and Young Women president and Sunday school teacher. Born in Maringá, PR, Brazil, to Moacir Da Silva and Ana Ribeiro Da Silva Barbosa.

Other than that I am have nothing more to report. I got a group of letter from the Singles Ward.  That was a welcome surprise. I did not know that there are so many new people in our ward.  It will be interesting to get to know everyone when  I get back.

Well that is it for me. I hope that everyone will keep in touch.

Com Amor,

Elder Caleb S. Carriere

  ps

If anyone can send me a big bag of Skittles and a deck of Uno that would be great. I thank you all and love you all very much. 

Tchau!.

Not loving Divisions

Hey everyone,

It has been a weird, but good week.  I had my first division with my zone leader where I got to to stay in my area.  It was nice, but at the same time stressful.  I really have to say I do not like doing divisions very much. They interrupt the flow of how you can teach and also seem to be fruitless at times, but I still learned a lot. 

I really do not have much to say.  It was really hot this last week, but the rain came and it is now cold once more.  It reminds me of Indiana.  The weather is always odd and does not make sense half the time.  It is supposed to be winter, but was up in the 60´s or 70´s last week.  I am at a lost for words. 

 I am enjoying my calling, but at the same time, not very much.  I think that my zone leaders like to listen too themselves talk.  We waited almost 15 minutes on one subject where he said the same thing over and over and over again, and each time  I said, " yes I understand, yes, aha, yes,  I understand."  It was a little bit ridiculous. 

Anyway, I am glad to hear from you all and I hope you are all going well.  I will talk to you all later. 

Love,

Elder Caleb S. Carriere

Santa Rosa is on Fire!!!

Everyone,

 

I am going really well. My companion and I are lighting Santa Rosa on fire. We taught 34 lesson this past week and we have found some really great families that I think that will progress really well.  There might be a baptism as well this week, so keep Marilei in your prayers so that she can continue to kick her smoking habit in the pants. 

 

I really do not have much to say today.  It is raining like the dickens and it has been continually gray for the last week or so.  It does not snow here so I think I might get the winter blues. That sucks but you do what you can. 

 

I am so grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost.  My companion and I have had many expriences this week that comfirm that we are guided by a force outside of use.  It is funny we found so many people that when we knock on their door they just say come on in before we have time to say anything.  We have also had an exprience that we were in an area that seemed off.  I have been there at night many times and have never felt in danger or anything of the sort, but this night my companion and I both had this eary feeling that stayed with us for a while. Eventually we left and felt better, but it was strange.  I am sure nothing would have happened, but when you have a feeling like that it is hard to not notice.  Especialy with two people.

 

Well I have got to go.

 

Tchau!!!

 

Elder Caleb S. Carriere

Ele é gente boa

Hey everyone,

It was great hearing for all of you, even though it was kind of a chaotic mess trying to talk to all of you at once. I also want to say sorry if I seemed a little angry. I was really tired that day and I was a little bit cranky.  But all is well now.  I am alive and as you all could tell, doing well.

I really do not have much to say other than that my companion and I get along great.  He is as they say here, "Ele é gente boa." He is literally a good person.  He is from Minas Gerais, which is a state that is just above São Paulo.  They call it the land of cheese and milk.  Everywhere we go, everyone asks him why is the cheese there so good. Evidently it is the Wisconsin or California of Brazil, because everything dairy is better there.  But I do not know. 

Oh his name is Elder Bruno, and he looks like Barak Obama.  It is kind of funny. I will talk a picture of him.

Alright, I will talk to you guys later,

Com Amor,

Elder Caleb S. Carriere

Staying in Santa Rosa and a New Companion

Dear family and friends,

This weekend was very emotional for everyone involved. First off, that family that was having troubles are better than ever. They came out of their adversity with flying colors. I gave them my testimony about the trials of our faith and told them that I loved them and I hated to see them fall into unbelief like I once did, that with the frequent prayers of my companion and I,  they went to church, she did not turn down her calling as primary president, and they are stilling looking forward to their sealing in October.

It was also difficult to see my companion, Elder Griffin, off. I will quote the words of Freddy Mercury who said, "Mama, I just killed a man." I really did not kill him, but that is the terminology that is used when they you are the last companion of someone who is leaving. So I killed him, but not reallly. I also got to meet his parents. They came and picked him up for our little town. It was really something. They are great people. I think mom that Sister Griffin is going to call you sometime to talk about how great of a young man I am or something on those lines.

Alright here is the skinny. I have some news for you, I was called this morning to be the District Leader of Santa Rosa. I am staying, but I am moving up in the world. My new companion is Elder Bruno, and he is Brazilian, beyond that I know little to nothing about the guy save that he has had less time on the mission than I have so it is going to be interesting to say the very least, but I know that I am going to be fine. If my mission president thinks that I am capable to do this, than God does as well because my Mission President is inspire of God and of that I have no doubt. But all the same continue to pray for me, I am going to need all the help I can get.

Other than that I am here in Santa Maria waiting for my new campanion to arrive. I was told not to bring a suit case or an extra change of cloths because I would go home last night then when I got to President's he told me oh no you will be staying until tuesday. So I am still in the same cloths that I came in, and I am unshaven because I do not have a razor here. I am grizzly looking. But all is well otherwise.

I love you all and I will keep you posted about my life.


Elder Caleb S. Carriere

Tchauzinho!!

Dear Family and Friends,

How is everyone doing?  I myself and doing okay.  This last week was a strange one and I spent a lot of it being really sad and I will explain why.  I now know that it is really important that we keep working with recent converts, and for that matter anyone who has made themselves a part of this church, for it is a shame to see people fall in unbelief of that which they know to be true.  I myself have done that once and I know for a fact that wickedness never was happiness as the prophet Alma once said.  (Interesting fact, the word Alma in Portuguese means soul.) 

But we have a recent convert family in Santa Rosa, who I consider to be family.  I love them.  Truly I do.  My companion and I visit them almost on a daily basis and we help them with doctrinal things and them give us references and good conversation.  They had a pretty terrible week.  First off, they are not the richest people I have meet.  In fact they are very poor, but they have a nicer home and better food them most people I have meet here. Then they had a motorcycle accident on last Monday, then on Tuesday the father of the family is a furniture repair man and was working with a cutting machine with a plainer and disc sander and a circular saw all in one and he managed to cut his pinky really badly.  They started to fall into unbelief because of that, thinking that they have been doing all that they can to live rightly and that Heavenly Father was being unkind and unjust with them.  They made all sorts of claims of not going to Church or reading Scriptures.  The wife even made a claim of asking to be released from her calling as the primary president.  My companion and I spent a lot of time in there house keeping them from making a knee jerk reaction.   It evidently worked because they went to Church and they also said that they have a feeling that this week is going to be better. 

I am glad to hear that.  I just hope that they continue to see truth in the things which we said to them.  

Other than that I´ve got nothing to say.  This past week was uneventful.  It got colder and it rained a lot.  I am working on Portuguese and keeping my companion from becoming completely crazy because this is his last week on the mission and his parents are coming to pick him up, so on Saturday I will meet Brother and Sister Griffin and play translator for a while.  I will let you all know what happens with that.


Tchauzinho!!

Elder Caleb S. Carriere

LAU!!!!!!!! TCHÊ!!!!!!!!!

Dear family friends, brasileiros and anyone how reads English,

Primeiramente quero dizer que nós tinhamos mais um batismo.  LAU!!!!!!!! TCHÊ!!!!!!!!!

Alright that is your Portuguese for the week.  That says, "Firstly, I want to say that we had one more baptism."  And the words LAU and TCHÊ are just like saying Yeah and WOW. 

Here name is a Elena and I think I have already spoke a lot about her already, but if not I will recap.  She is 19 years old, when we first meet her, she was dating a 40 something year old low life who is wanted for murder.  Then she broke up with him, because he tried to kill her, then she placed a restraining order on him, and he is not allow to be with in such and such a distance from her.  Her friend Irmã Jaque said, "Hey, I know two guys that you should meet who will change your life, and also move in with me and my family and go to church with me."  So she did as was suggested to her and we baptized her on Saturday and confirmed her on Sunday.  "Shake and Bake!!!" to quote a really terrible movie about Nascar racing.

We are having a lot of progress with a couple of other families.  Now we have just got to get them to quite smoking and being lazy.  They all say, however, that they want to get baptized, so I cannot complain too much, and they are good people as well. 

That is it for me.  The weather is finally cooling down, although the last couple of days here were really hot and muggy, but I have been told that is kind of normal.  It gets really cold then it gets hot again for a couple of days then the temperature really drops like crazy, but then again.  It was like 60 F the other day and everyone was in winter jackets and cold weather gear and my companion I were still sweating buckets.  So yeah.  Also I am sorry Erynn, I forgot to say Happy Birthday, and I still have not gotten your package yet, but Zone Conference is this week, so more than likely I will get it then. 

I love you all and I hope you are all doing well. 

Tchau!!! 

Elder Caleb S. Carriere