Family,

Tudo Bem?

I am in my new area and with my new companion, Elder Lacerda. He is from Ponto Grosso, Paraná. We are in Vlia dos Cabanos, or in English village of the cabins. I like it here. It is by far the quietest area that I have been in. It´s nothing like Telegrafo, Imperatriz or Castanhal, Vila dos Cabanos is part of a city called Barcarena, which is a 45 minute boat ride from Belém. There used to be Sisters in the area so the house was clean and the area book was really helpful. Vila dos Cabanos is huge, I have been here a week and I still don’t know where everything is. But that doesn´t stop Elder Lacerda and I from working hard. The members are excited to work with us and they want to spilt the branch before the end of the year to help form a stake in the area. The district has only three braches and you need 5 wards to create a stake. But like I said everyone is excited to work so I am excited to see the church grow here in the Vila. I am hoping that president will put another dulpa of missionaries in this area next transfer.My companion is great and he has a huge testimony of the Church. He has been a member for about 2 and half years. He has a strong desire to work. So we are working like animals in the area. We have a baptism marked for the 5 of September. The husband of a recent convert, his name is Maicon ( micheal in english ). Something that I learned from last transfer, that I am trying to apply this transfer to always be speaking to someone about the church. I can see the lord help us in all that we do because of our efforts.

Elder Ryan Spencer

P.s. I hope my English is not too bad.Love you all.Truthfully I love you all it´s not a joke. Stop laughing Lisa. It´s true. Stop it, Lisa. Lisa, why would you think I would lie to you. I really do Love you.

Happy Birthday LIsabeth!!!!!!

Love you.

thank you laura wright for letting me copy this pictures off your blog for your son.

This story is part of a letter from laura's son Adam who is serving in Belem as well.

"elder spencer told me another story that was pretty funny. we were at the church talking with some members and there was this kid who i swear was a devil child cause the kid was just horrible. he punched elder spencer where its not the best place to be punched and then gave him the finger and the kid was like 5 years old and then the kid grabbed my name tag, because i was sitting down and he chucked it across the parking lot. oh boy was i ticked and i said, onde esta seus pais? where are your parents? and he said, eu não gosto de te, i dont like you! so yeah elder spencer and i were just like who is this kid! so that was a pretty funny story because elder spencer got beat up ha ha"

8.17.09

(beware in this letter ryan uses text speak and I couldn't understand it to translate it! If your better at this give the translation a try!)

Hey family,
This is my last r-day in castanhal. I Will be tranfer this Wednesday. To wh=ere, i=C2=B4ll let you guys know next week. This last Sunday was wonderfu=l. I watched one man that i taught pass the sacrament for the first time=. And i wacthed another recievce the priesthood. I tesfoed that the i did=in this area was worth it. It was the first in my mission that i wacthed=a man that i baptized get the priesthood. And i saw two in Just one tran=sfer. It was awesome.Like i Said i Will be transfer, i Will recieve a com=C2=B4panion straight o=ut of the CTM. I AM exicte beacuse new missionaires always are funner to =work beacuse of thier spirits and thier desires to serve the lord. Positi=on of leaderships dont even enter their minds. All they want to do is wo=rk for the lord.I know that the church is true and this is the work of the lord to brign to=p=C3=A1ss the immortially and eternal life of man. I AM grateful for the=oppurtinty that i have had and Will have.
Elder SPencer

Catching up...

6.22.09

FamilyOnce again this we work very little in our área but we worked alot in the área of other Elderes and sisters. It was a tough week. Our only investigor and her three sons didnt GO to this Sunday. They are reading the scriptures and praying everyday to gether but hey Will not make a visit at church. It sad but its the choice that she made.Like i Said we worked in Just about every área but ours. Which means we trveled a lot this last week. We left to Brangança on Friday and came back Sunday morning Just before church here in Castanhal. Its been a long and trying week. We were blessed on Sunday. an inactiuve showed up with her boyfriend on Sunday so we Will start working those and baotize the boyfriend.Thanks for the Picture of the blue cross. Im not sure to think about that. The pictures of mom´s trip were cool. Especially the one with mom and her closed eyes. I know where i get it from.
Com amor
Elder Spencer
P.s. did you guys get the package that i sent. I hope it gets there.


6.29.09

Hey family,How are things going? Well? I am going great. This last week we were able to work in our area a lot more. We are starting in a new area of the city called the milarge. I am feeling good about the area. I feel like i am at home when are working there. I good to know that elder mccombs feels the same way as i do. We are trying to make an area of force with the inactives that we are finding the church membership list. I am really excited for the area and I am going to wait for the milagres to happen here.This last week as Edler mcCombs and I were walking home Saturday night we were blessed with the opportunity to serve a family who car was stuck in the mud. The family probably should not have been driving down that road beacuase it always fills up with water and its super muddy. We were walking down the road because it was a short cut to get to another area of the city. To be honest elder and I were not sure if we should get a bus or walk. We didnt feel that the bus was necessary and it was an opuutrinty to save a couple of reis. So as what most missionary would do walk. We walked down a super long road. In the middle of it we found this family and there car in the mud. There had been trying for one hour and wasn’t able to get pout the mud. After 15 minutes of our arrival we were able to help them and their car. What I learned that sometimes the spirit its not as loud as we would like to be, that why we did to be in tune all the time. If through I didn’t feel like i needed to walk or take the bus the spirit leaded my comp and I to that family to help them in their time of need.
I LOVE BEING MISSIONARY!!!!!
Elder Spencer


7.6.09

Hey familyWhats happenig this week inyour lifes? This last week flew by.my companion Elder Mccombs left to the states and I AM in trio with Elder Hart and Elder Charles till Wednesday. I enjoyed my time with Elder mccombs. Great Guy.The new mission president arrived this last week ,pres campos. He seems to be a great Guy.i´ll meet him this week.I AM good and i AM happ.pushing forward.Have a good time in new York and take pictures for me to see, mom and dadand good luck with the the family history search i hope it Will give results. And alot of work.
Love you all
Elder SPencer


4.13.09

Hey,
Alot of questions about the fourth of July, so lets starts there. Their were some fireworks in the middle of the city but nothing like home. But they were realy fireworks that you could see when they were in the air. It was quite the sight. The morning of the fourth i was in an área doing a baptism intreview and at the chapel there were kids of an american family and they told about the celebration that they had that morning. They atcully were the ones that remined me that it was The fourth of July.My new caompainion is Elder Stadnicki from statna catriana(?). He is cool. The new president is Pres campos from Teresinha. He is not like pres hoggan, alot younger and alot more virbrant.I like him. I also liked pres hoggan as well. I do feel that i Will learn missionary and life skills with Pres campos. Pres Campos is really exicted to work and that pass to us the missionaries.I am exicted to see the pictures of mom and dads trip to new York, it sounds like it was a blast. And without a doubt i want to get to know Quinn. I cant wait to see her.Things that i am learning this week and the next 1000 weeks of my life. How to work and recongize the holy ghost in my llife.
LOVe you all,
Elder SPencer


7.20.09

Hey family and friends,It sounds like everyone is enjoying their summer. For some is a vacation and others work time. Here in brasil summer vacation is only one month, and that month happens to be now in july. But the working in flying. My new companion loves to make contacts, so i just follow his lead. We have a few people with date of baptism on the first of agust. YES!!!The elderes that i live with now are awesome. President Campos visited our branch Sunday. He loved it. Things are comimg along quite well here. I loving life. We are aorking hard to the region turn into a stake before the end of the year. President campos goal is to get a temple dicitst before the end of his mission in three years. Fire in the bones. Fire in the bones.
ELDer spencer


7.27.09

Hey,Working hard and hard work, the way it should be.(WITHOUT ANY DISTRACTIONS LIKE TIME).Lets keep it that way please. This week we had a meeting with President Campos. His is different but I like it. He is a lot more in your face. We are working hard to get a stake in the region. It’s coming fast. Yes, yes. We have a baptism this next week, Flavio. He is firm. It will happen.I had an interesting experience this week on a city bus. I started to make a contact with a man on the bus and as I am explaining to him where the church is and I heard another man, on the other side, explain to me how it is like. So I stop talking to the first and I made a contact with the second man. Afterwards my companion asked why I stopped talking to the first man and turned to the other. Then I explained that I heard the man explained what the church looked like. Then my companion said that he heard nothing. Afterwards thinking back on it the second really didn’t know where the church was or that it existed in castanhal.Sunday I gave a talk in sacrament meeting about missionary work. It went well.Loving the mission.Elder SpencerBythe way i got the package and the letter from Quinn it was awesome. The letter from was the best email get of my mission. I am still laughing about it. Thank You


8.3.09

Hey family,How are the troops? The duck, the gesse, the goats, the grankids, the married people, the students, and the many other type of BIRD live in our backyard.( i didnt get dad´s weekly report how many eggs did you get each of the week.)Everything is Just peachy with me. We had a baptism last Saturday and it was wonderful. I Love watching baptism of people. The Best part of the mission is the feeling that i get we i see someone enter the water with someone else that has the priesthood to realize baptism in the name of Jesus Christ. I am unable to explain how i feel . i Just know that it is the Best feeling that i have ever felt. The name of the man that was baptized is Flávio. He is really humble. he can´t read but he is working his but off to learn. Since we have him a lesson about the gifts of the spirit, He has had such a storng desire to learn how to read and write. I gave him the the Book of Mormon on Cd so He could listen to the book of mormon.( so thanks to the guys that sent it to me, it´s blessing the life of another.) now we are working with the rest of family.I know that the church is true and that the work that i am doing is the work of the lord. I am so grateful of the opportuiny to see the lifes of people change through the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
Elder Spencer


8.10.09Oí,

Tudo bem, tudo bem.this weekend i traveled alot in the zone because of a meeting that we gave with President campos about missionary work. It was awesome. We left castanhal Friday afternoon to Bragança. We had a meeting in Bragança with the two branches there. Saturday morning at 5 in the morning we went back to castanhal to work in our área in the afternoon. About 5 we went to another city called capenama for another meeting. We arrived late about eight thrity and missed a good part of the meeting. That same night we went back to castanhal. Sunday we had the meeting here and it was awesome. We did na aprestantion of the tree of life with the president belo, the district president. Then pres campos gave his training to the members, and it was awesome. Pres. Campos uses alot of vídeos to make his points. I know that is the mission president and was called by God. Yesterday our baptism from last week week given the priesthood. Way cool to see his progress in the gospel. He Will be a missionary. I know He Will be.
love elder spencer