We went to this zoo park thing today and it was fun! Elder McCune is with me in one of the pictures.
Look who came to visit!? Adilson
and his wife Camila and his baby Luziane! (See bottom of this post for his story). He was in Namibe and then he
found out that I was the Branch President in Huambo and now he has decided to
move here to Huambo were the church is at. He is here this week to look for a
home and a school to go to, and he will probably move here in December!! Crazy
right!!! He also asked me to be his
daughter´s padrinho, which is basically her Godfather. Nothing really official,
but that meant alot to me!
Elder Chandler and I :) . . . In the Jungle the Mighty Jungle.......!!!!!!!!!!!
1.) People know (about Halloween,
but) no kind of celebration
2.) No I haven’t (gotten package
yet). President was going to come down this weekend, but now he is not coming
until later, so maybe then. Also we are going up to Luanda December 2 because
Elder Kevin Hamilton of the Seventy is coming to Angola, so maybe then!
3.)I don’t think I will be able to give a day by day, but this week
as ben really good, I have had several spiritual experiences. (I don’t know
what kind of detail you want, each day is very similar :) Knock Doors, Teach,
Eat, Sleep :) and a few branch errands here and there :) Sunday Schedule. Have church from 9-12
typically after I might have an interview or two, then we go to lunch and a
members house, Illidio and Tininha. Then we have our Correlation meeting right
after with illidio (he is the Branch Mission Leader) Then maybe some Branch
Stuff or Weekly Planning. This Sunday was so much fun because I got to help
Irmão Benito do some of his Family
History Work. He had the information and so we created and account for him
and put his information in for him, he didnt really know how to use a computer
and so we basically put it all into the computer, but I really enjoyed it and
it made me feel sooooo good and happy afterwards, probably one of the happiest times i have had on my mission was
helping him do his family history work and it wasnt even my family! It was
probably the easiest missionary work I have every done :)
5.) Our main focus is Guilherme
and Florença right now we are trying to get them married, we had a cool
experience with that, but I will try and write becca that experience. we have a
few other people, Leny, Edna, Marciano,
Luisa and her kids, Isabel, João, and Domingos. It is really hard though because
all these people are really cool people, just no body comes to church! It is starting to drive me a little crazy, but
it is all right. that is our main trial right now.
6.) The Cookie Dough was
fantastic (for E. McCune’s b-day), but the cookies were really flat, but
they were good. yeah it was kind of bad (Elder
McCune’s bike wreck), he was not hurt too bad, but he freeked out a little
bit and I think it put him into a really really low level of shock, but he got
over it. We still went out and worked after that. He has a pretty sweet Bruise
on his knee though. I didnt even know he crashed because he was behind me. A
few people had to stop me to tell me that my buddy was way behind me. But when
I looked back he was already on his bike again so I thought it was just a
little fall, but his hands were scrapped up really and bad and was bleeding,
but he is alright.
7.) yep (Elder Chandler) is back for his last transfer :)
8.) No ID is required or anything, so if you just sent me yours that
would probably be fine. If you sent it this week I probably would get it when
we go up to Luanda. I think that would be better.
9.) Ok Thanks :)
10.) If I need anything I call and talk with him (President), and we
email about once a week or every two weeks, so we are still in touch. We
call\text with the other missionaries, but we do get lonesome sometimes.
11.) We got the (General Conference) CDs and we watched most of them
in English but we will watch them with the Branch this weekend, the ones we watched
were really good though! (Exclamation Point!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) That
Seventies talk was pretty funny! I think I will use part of it for a
missionary training that I will be doing in a few weeks! :)
Me with João and Me with Bia
then Illidio and tininha´s kids!
(Bec)
That sounds sick; you guys will have to work your tails off!!
So I wanted to tell you this pretty cool story. So there was
this family that Elder Chandler and his companion found when we was in Huambo
about six months ago (he was here for 8 months and now came back for his last
transfer crazy!) anyways so they found them and guliherme was a heavy
drinker but they helped him to stop, but until now they have not been able to
get married. So I have been pushing them to get married. We had planned for
them to get married on the 6th of December and Elder Chandler leaves on the
12th of December so then I wrote a letter to President asking if Elder Chandler
if he could come down to watch the wedding and baptism before he ended his
mission because that would be an incredible experience for him (any missionary
really, to see a family married and baptized that you found and to see if the
last weekend of your mission! it would be sweet!, but President said no. Since
Elder Chandler could not come down we decided because of other complications
that we would have to do it on the 20th of December. (Also Guliherme´s mom
works in the place where people get married so the process has been alot
easier). So then Elder Chandler got transferred her to Huambo and so we went to
Guliherme´s house to see what he thought about switching the Date back to the
6th, and he thought that would be ok, but we had to talk with his Mom first. So
we went to her house next door and she said that she has been wanting to talk
with us (also this lady is from the Jehovah Witness Church) and they believe
hard core in the Bible! Anyways so she starts talking with us about how she
feels that Florença isnt being a very good Mom and the church needs to give her
training before they get married (funny because they already have six kids and
they have been living together for years now) I don’t know what that even has
to do with them getting married, but I was kind of thinking oh boy, we want to
move the marriage up and the Mom who is our inside connection wants to move it
back. So after she went off on how we should move the date back and started to
speak and started to pull some salesman techniques and I kept saying "well
the bible teaches us..." I knew she believed hard core in the Bible so I
said that phrase probably three times to prove my point that that should not be
a reason that they should continue to break the Law of Chastity, but that they
should get married! And then I said in fact we wanted to move the marriage date
up to the sixth. She then making excuses saying that another cousin was getting
married on the 13th of December and so they couldn’t do it on the sixth (why? I
am 100% why that even matters) in my mind I was thinking wow! There are so many
obstacles that we have to overcome!! And then out of no where Guilherme says
what if we do the wedding on the 6th and then we just to the party for the
wedding a few weeks after. When he said that the Mom instantly agreed and said
that would work out! When I heard that I
was thinking WHAT!!!! it was that easy to get over all those obstacles!!!? I
felt like it was a heaven sent answer. I felt like all these obstacles were
placed in front of us and then the Lord just gave us the key to up the door and
walk right through them it was really cool experience!! So we are just fasting and praying that Guilhereme will get paid by his
work so he has enough money to pay for the wedding by the 6th of December and
baptized on the 7th with his wife and one of his kids! If you could pray
specifically that they will get enough money and that everything will run
smoothly so that they will get married on the 6th and baptized on the 7th and
confirmed on the 8th!? If you could do that that would be great!!!
Love you Sis!
Elder Tilley!
Sparkley Buns Power
Teach
me how Becca t t teach me how to becca!!
(copy of email sent to) President
This week has gone really well for me. I have had some spiritual
changing experiences this week. This week I have been placed in situations
where the Spirit tells me to do something and sometimes the things I was
prompted to do normally I would have been scared and fought within myself
whether I should do it or not because it may have put me into an awkward
situation or made the person I was talking to feel awkward. But for what ever reason I was blessed this week to have full
confidence in the Spirit and I followed the promptings and when I did I saw
huge blessings come from it! They were really incredible experiences that
have really changed my life!
LOve you
Mom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is Adilson's story from past blogs:
January
14, 2013
Also with the other guy who I told you about on
Chirstmas (Adilson). He is doing really well now. He had a period of
time where he started to waiver a little bit, but he is back on track and
hopeful will be baptized here in a month or two.
January
21, 2013
Then
we have Adilson who is doing well also. He was not feeling well on
Sunday, but he ended up coming to Sacrament meeting anyways!
One awesome experience that I had was at Church
I had marked with Adilson to pass by on Monday, but I felt the
Spirit tell me to mark with him that day Sunday, but for whatever reason I
didnt. Then we left Church and that same feeling continued that we needed to
sit with him today, but the problem was that he lost his phone the other week
so I was not able to get a hold of him to switch the day, but miraculously his
Mom texted us and in the end we were able to mark for that day Sunday, which
that whole experience was a Miracle in itself. So we went over and their Family
was having a Family Night with a Preacher from Adison's Mom's Church so
we ended up sitting a listen for a little bit to the preacher until the family
night was over and we were able to talk with Adilson. When the Preacher left
Adison told us sorry because he forgot that his Moms preacher was coming over
so we sat with Adilson and his Girlfriend and during the lesson I felt like I
should bare my Testimony about the Book of Mormon and how much it has helped me
on my mission through some of the hardest times in my life. So I did and the
spirit was really strong! And I pointed out to them how they were feeling when
the other preacher was here and then we were teaching! I was not trying to
bash on that Preacher, but I just told them that that preacher is a good man
trying to do what is right, but there is a different feeling between us and
him and Adilson fully agreed and he said that he felt so much more peace and
happiness and Joy when he is with us and I told him that is because this is the
True Church of Christ here on the Earth and the only one with the proper
authority from God! It was a awesome lesson and the Spirit was so strong!!
Thanks Mom for everything! I am doing well and a lot better and I am on the
upswing I feel of this trial! Please continue to pray for me though!! Thank you
everyone for your Prayers!!
February
4, 2013
Adilson I really hope so. He
lost his phone a couple of weeks ago and so we just have to pass by his house
to see if he is home and he disappeared this week and could not find him at all
and his family did not know where he was either, but on Saturday he called us
from a phone and said he was in the city working. So he came to church on
Sunday and said that he was having a lot of family problems and that his family
was not talking with him partially because of things with our church. So after
church we gave him a blessing and it said that if he put God first in his life
everything would be ok. After the blessing he said that he felt like a burden
had just been lifted off of his shoulders. He said that before he felt like he
had this heavy back pack on but he felt like that heavy backpack was taken off
of him. So we are praying for him especially with his family situation. So as
of right now he is still marked for the 23rd of February, but we will see. But
he will be baptized here in the near future I feel.
March
25, 2013
Adilson and his fiance and I after Adilson's baptism.
April 1, 2013
Also Adilson got the priesthood this Sunday
which was great, but he is in a sticky situation with school and he is probably
going to have to go to Namibe (a city about 2 hours away from Luabngo) for
school and the church is not established there yet and he will be there
for about a year and a half. He tried to get transferred here to Luanda, but it
was denied! We were praying for a miracle experience to happen so he could stay
in Luanda where the church was and I had the thought to call a lady in
Cassquele who works for the government and she pretty much can do anything
(when Pres Thompson was waiting for his visa she went in and pretty much
approved it for him) anyways so I called her and talked with her and it sounded
like she could help so I gave her Adilsons number and they talked about it, but
it just seems like Adilson is not trying very hard to stay here in Luanda. I am
pretty sure that this was an answer to our prayers to call this lady from
cassquele, but I guess you can lead a horse to water, but you cant make it
drink! (Frustrating principle sometimes!) So I think he might have to go to
Namibe for a while.
April
7, 2013 (From Mom)
Any updates on Adilson’s school location before you left? Maybe
after Angola is a mission, you will get to go to Nimbia and open it
and find him and he will become the Branch President or something :).
As Elder Scott and Elder Perry said in General Conference, we need to
trust in the Lord and His timing.
April
8, 2013 from E. Tilley (Adilson) just said
"it is complicated" (typical Angola excuse :) about his school. I am not sure...
April
29, 2013
The area is going
pretty well. We have tons of investigators, but it has
been just really hard to get them to progress. However Adilson (from
Viana) is getting married this week so hopefully I can get permission to go to
their wedding!
