Elder Shawn Spencer

Welllllllll transfers were last night. good old transfers! i am staying here in embare but stokes left to go be a zl. so my new comp is elder chase. i havent met him yet... im still with stokes until like 2 today. but yeah. i have mixed feelings about it... im excited to stay here in embare. kinda. idk.. i just feel dull about all of it. i didnt know what i wanted to happen but i wanted to stay with stokes. we had a lot of fun together. i dont really know anything about chase either. so we will see how it goes. we are going to be living wtih 9 people in this freaking house. so kill me. that is so awful! so many people. but ill stay with maughan and the two new assistants to the president which is awesome. its a blessing to be able to watch and learn from the leaders of the mission! so i am excited about that. and i didnt have to pack up all my stuff. i think i will probably stay one more transfer here too. i think this is the area where i will learn portuguese. something crazy is elder roy johnson my mtc comp is with elder lindsy. that blew my mind. first of all lindsy has one transfer on us here in brazil ( he served one transfer in the states). but he and johny were BEST friends back home. like it would be like me and pat or al being comps... so i thought that was very bold. we are in the same district though so itll be cool to see him a lot.

 

ummm my week was good! it was just a normal week in the mish i guess. we walked a lot. then we walked some more. i had a VERY hard time with one of the sisters this week. but i have repented and humbled myself dont worry.  everything she did bothered the heck out of me and the things she would say, her voice (really high), and how she tells everybody what to do and it infuriates me! then one day we were all going to lunch and we stopped at an pesquisadors house and i saw her and her comp from cape verde teach a lesson. that is when i completely changed my opinion. i dont really have a problem with her anymore. and i knew i needed to change. she brought the spirit so strongly and it really hit me. sisters are good. sisters are good. so that was a humbling and good experience that happened. 

 

another day it POURED rain again and today i will send pictures :) so woo woo (thanks for the hint erin). and another amazing experience was our district meeting this last week. we went to the zoo and and found a quiet place and had 45 minutes to study the first vision and have a personal experience with it. so we did and then met back up and all bore our testimonies about joseph smith and the first vision. it was SO powerful. i felt the spirit soooooo strongly. just pondering that experience that joseph had. he saw... he literally saw our father and our savior face to face. he was told to restore the gospel and all the responsibility would be his. and he did it. despite everything that happened to him. and then in the final moments of his life spent with 3 other men who truly knew with all their hearts that he was a prophet of god and that he restored His truth to the earth again, and together they died. and i can only imagine the smile on christs face when joseph returned to him. i imagine it something of the atonement of the savior when christ returned to heavenly father and said well done my son. well done. i think that is what happened to joseph. well done joseph... well done. it has so much power.. the first vision. i know... i truly know with all my heart that joseph was a prophet of god. he truly saw god the father and his beloved son. he truly restored the gospel of jesus christ to the earth in its fullness. i know its true. and because of the one man we have the church and gospel being spread to all the world. and satan has lost. we are the dispensation that will succeed.

 

not much else happened this week that i can think of. stokes and i were pretty good friends- and i made this idea up. im hesitant to do it because idk if it is... yeah. well this is my idea. sometimes doing contacts is anything but fun. so like shawn spencer i want to introduce my companion like this! oi tudo bem? meu nome e  elder sharp e isso e meu compeheiro elder 123clap your hands and then just keep rolling with it! and think of all the good ones that shawn did from psych! i think it would be sooooo funny! and so fun! so well see if im brave enough to do it.

 

mom you will be happy to know that my bathroom time is a joke here as well. this week sister emacura said elder sharp you live in the bathroom! and at first i was slightly embarassed... then i just accepted it and said sister... i have three homes okay- the utah home, here, and the bathroom. im sorry but that is just the way it is. i am officially too comfortable with the sisters.

 

last night was sister cabrals bday and so our zone went over to their house. i LOVE pres and sister cabral sooooooooo much! oh my gosh! so much!

 

one more thing i learned this week is that we will be held accountable at the last day for people who dont accept the gospel. we, as missionaries, stepped into something very serious. we are the ones to give them the option of accepting the gospel. we have to do everything in our power to get them to accept it and have a testimony of it. if we do not do everything we can... than we will be held accountable. so that is why we work our hearts out here. that is why we give 100 percent every single day and are 100 percent obedient. the only way to have the spirit is to be pure. and we are purified through repentace and obedience. 

 

the mission is hard, there is no doubt about that. but i love the lord. i love the people here and the opportunity and priviledge to represent the savior jesus christ and do his work. the work will never slow down. so here is to another week of the mission. 

i love you all

 

 

All my love,

Elder Sharp

Brazilian Rain

After a down pour one afternoon. Soaking head to toe. Good times!

Big League Boys

Well dearest family from heaven- i love your freaking guts. 

 

Officially going on week 12. yup the big league boys. i miss all the wonderful fun phrases i once said and that i no longer can because they dont translate... however good news ladies and gents: eu faço que o quero! ooooh yes, yes. that would be the phrase "i do what i want" in portuguese. youre welcome. 

 

so anyways i guess ill tell you about my week. well it was good. transfers are this next week!  so im nervous.. but i want to stay here in embare. i love this ward! they are so awesome. so i think i have a spider bite on my leg... its massive and red and doesnt feel like a normal mosquito bite.. idk. ummm we walked a lot this week but that is NOT new news. ive had a lot of stomach pains... so i started taking those pills again. but ive felt better now. one day i literally have never in my life been so close to crapping my pants. you think this is a joke but it is not. i almost threw up it hurt so bad. stokes was laughing and i started crying. it hurt soooooooo badly. it was starting to prarie dog ( just think about it and youll understand what that means) but i couldnt do anythng cuz we were in the middle of the road. we hauled to the office and i almost didnt make it. that was the first and only time i havent put toilet paper down first. i barely got my pants down when the movie dumb and dumber came to life to me. i now know exactly how he felt and it is not something to laugh about. i would put that up with child birth. yeah... so i started taking those pills agian. and i apologize everyone for the details and vulgar words but yeah.

 

mom i want to know how to use the oils... please tell me how. like a description of the ones i have. 

 

so my talk went pretty good. it was like a solid 4.5 minutes. but hey... i was proud of myself. it was terrifying. my studies were freaking awesome this week! oh soooo good! sooooooo so so good. also, this week i was reading the liahona in english during aula de ingles (english class) and it was INCREDIBLE!!! I started crying! oh so good. i am sending clay a talk from it. dont worry its short. but this other talk just hit me like a brick wall of spiritualness! it was by elder holland and he said ´´ the eyes of god and all the holy prophets are watching us. this is the great dispensation that has been spoken of ever since the world began.´´ the talk was just amazing. the prophets of old are watching our every move and they kept going for us. they new that there would be one dispensation that would live to spread the word of god to all the world.. one that would not fail. that is us. FREAKING YEAH!!!  oh it's so stinking sweet! then i read this talk by sister cabral- that woman is one of the greatest most intelligent and spiritual people i have ever met in my life. the talk was INCREDIBLE and burned so bad. she just calls you out man! talking about our temple covenants and missionary work and breaks down the ten commandments and explains how we are breaking each one of them and the reason for the sacrament and ohhhhhhh my heck! so good!

 

hmmmm elder stokes is doing well! his birthday was yesterday so elder thurgood, maughan and i made him breakfast and it was a really good day. we have stuck with darcio. gosh i love that man! i want him to stop smoking! so freaking badly! then he can be baptized! that is all he needs!! my gosh! and he is filthy rich. oh man. darcio is a good guy. our lessons with him are soooo powerful. so powerful. he just needs to have faith in himself. he should be dead right now. this is his last chance at salvation and if he doesnt take it he will suffer and regret that decision for eternity... it just kills me. we dont really have any other pesquisadors.. we do but ehh... yeah idk. so the work continues. i am soooo excited for tomorrow and this lesson with this guy! i  think he will get baptized! i hope so badly! 

 

mom i am a okay. doing my thing here in santos. living life and taking it day by day trying my hardest to not be trunky. that is a very difficult thing. but i am safe and doing well. i am really really tan- the tannest ive been in my life. its hotter than freak still but hey thats brazil. im worried about my shoes.. we walk sooo much. and other than that my stuff is doing fine. i love love love all the pictures i have. i write im my journal every single night. every night. so feel free to be impressed mother! and to answer your question yes, i think you and dad prepared us as best we could for this. but there isnt anything that can truly prepare you for this life style. nothing. so keep up the good work. make clay just go walk for two hours and that will help him. and make him cry a lot... and go ahead and yell and scream at him in a made up language... throw stuff at him... just some things he will get used to before he comes out here hahaha. no but just keep up the amazing work mom.

 

clay- hahahahaha that comment was hysterical... that was clever mom. its no secret that you wrote that. thats what makes it so funny. classy. 4.0000000000 THAT IS WHAT IM FREAKING TALKIN GABOUT CLAY!!! HECK YEAH MAN!!!  heck freakin yeah!!! that is soooo awesome!!! i miss singing with you! i sang again in church yesterday. i miss you pal. keep with the play stuff! we will do one again when i get home.

 

quince- hey pal! that party sounds AWESOME!!!! why didnt i get invited?? seriously though bud! that is sooo awesome! what a man for doing all those things! the weather here is hotter than the sun itslef. so be grateful. love ya pal.

 

linc- hey big guy!!! hows my man?? herriman won huh??? hahaha yeahhhhh! that is awesome buddy! i love the johnsons so much!!! does cart play for herriman? have a good week pal and BE SAFE!!! I LOVE YOU!!

 

until later today... all my love and prayers! i miss you all and pray for you all! god speed.

 

Elder Sharp

Public Humiliation?

Well hello there my beloved and dearest family and friends. This week has been a difficult one- work wise. but i will start off with the usual. alrighty so i have this lil notebook that i carry around with me everywhere to write down funny things to email because i think the emails are important. anyways so to start off one day we were just making street contacts and while elder stokes was talking i look down and his belt is just hanging there. i lost it. i was laughing soooo hard. his belt had broken mid sentence and so his pants were like falling down and it just was hysterical... much funnier in the moment obviously. so i carry the pictures of my family everywhere bec people love to look at our pictures. anyways so all the sisters are totally obsessed with spencer and preston. hahah i think it is hysterical. and then i tell everyone that spence is the next josh groban. people just want to be in our family so badly! they want to date spence and preston but i told them they cant. we marry americans... its a family rule. ;) haha and everyday we leave our house we pass this house with a demon dog who, with out fail, scares the poop out of me and runs to the fence and starts barking like crazy. well one day i decide to run back at it and shout mean things about the stupid dog in  portuguese. then i see the owner stand up and start walking to the fence... the one flippin day. i said boa dia and hauled outta there laughing. oh and guess what... i freaking have to talk next sunday. its sad. these people are just cruel. lets pick the kid who looks like he is fourteen to go in front of the entire ward ( and pres and sis cabral) and give a talk. puplic humiliation people. its not right. so i am freakin nervous for that. so wish me luck and pray your guts out that i dont look like a moron. mom i will tell you something else in your email because i dont want abby to know hahah... oh darn... sorry abbs... i forgot this is going to you too ;) teehee!

 

anyways so we had another lesson with good old Darcio- probably the most spiritual experience of my life. literally. we talked about his purpose here on the earth. we told him it isnt a secret that he is on borrowed time and that he is here for a second chance at salvation... but this is his last chance. it was just so spiritual. we made him promises that if he went to church this sunday he would have the power to quit smoking completely. and i promised him that if he continued this path and get baptized he will make it to the celestial kingdom. now... we are representatives of jesus christ. literal representatives of Him. our comission is to say what he wants said and to do what he wants done. i learned that missionaries have an endless potentail. we are literal and living representatives of Jesus Christ, the savior of the world. we have the priveledge to call upon the powers of heaven. we are literally saving souls. but... these children have their agency. Darcio didnt come to church yesterday. it broke my heart... and now we have to drop him. his lack of faith. anyways so yesterday was really hard. 

 

we have been working our BUTTS off... ( and that is a lot because you all know that if my butt is one thing... small isnt it ;) hahahah just kidding. but seriously we have just been giving 100 percent. and it is hard... because we have been gettting nothing but no no no and doors slammed in our face. BUT.. i remember the video i watched in the mtc. its about how salvation was never easy. we will face disappointment a lot here on the mission. and we will be shoved down and just exhausted form the work... from being turned down when all we are trying to is let them drink the cup of salvation. but we will get a taste... a small glimpse of the path the savior walked for us. we get to know... in a way that nobody else can- to walk shoulder to shoulder with the greatest life this world has ever known. President Cabral made us a promise that we have the ability and power to see the savior here in santos. to see the savior of mankind. we CAN know the savior is real and lives as well as an apostle. Though it is hot, though some days just SUCK, and its hard... just so. stinking. hard. this is the greatest blessing i have. and brazil santos is the best mission in the world. 

 

i absolutely LOVE president and sister cabral. there is zero doubt in my mind they are called of God. so... let the battle with satan continue. and here goes one more week in the mission. keep it up Spencer and Preston! you guys are literally the two most amazing missionaries in the world. i love love love my family. they are perfect and elect. i am so blessed to be a part of the Sharp family. Mom and dad have a good week. Im crossing my fingers that clay gets straight A´s!!! GET BETTER!! you are not allowed to be sick! goodness! i love you guys sooooo much! so much! and linc.... you da man!!! you da man lincy! that space looks dang good in your mouth! congrats on the tooth buddy.. just dont grow up okay... i miss you pal. i cant believe you are almost 9! and quince! what is up with you man!? sharp boys (clay linc and q)- you are not shy. stop pretending you are! if there is one thing we are not... its shy!  make friends in our new ward okay! you guys are awesome! so keep it up! just be yourselves and everyone will be your friend. thats a promise! anyways... the B Train is setting sail for a baptism this week. lets gooooooo!

 

 

All my love and prayers,

 

Elder Sharp