8.25.08

This week came and went. We are struggling to find new people to teach. Two Sundays ago a few members brought their friends to church and we are struggling to contact them during the week to teach them, but they went to church last week as well. Saturday we had an awesome service project with the ward. We were building up the foundation of dirt around a few members homes. One members cant live in his home because when it rains his house floods with two feet of water because the street is higher the house, so the ward is trying to fix that problem by building up dirt around the house.
Take Care
Elder Spencer

8.18.08

Tudo Bem,

this week was another tough week but i am still living. Lisa asked me to write a little bit concerning how members can be involved in missionary work. because she listen to the homecoming talks of Jared and Jason Leber (you guys are living right) and she liked how they stressed the importance of members and the success they had when the members work with the missionaries. Tá certo. at times in the life of missionary work it is easier for me to contact a reference than to knock on a door. anyway, yesterday at church Pres Hoggan gave a talk about the members in the work. it was really good, i didn't think to much of it but it jump started or gave more fuel to one member. he knocked on doors after church on his street

and gave us 3 references on Sunday night as we were walking to our apartment. it feels so sweet to me not to have to ask the members for references. last night we only had to walk up the door of our apartment and we had 3 refs without having to ask for them. :):):) this same member befriends people when they come to church. the first time the time i saw him talk one our investigators i thought they were friends and already knew each other.they laughed and talked, that's a big help. as well this member is willing to go on splits with and share his testimony.
references
befriending
splits( testimony)
tchua
Ryan Spencer

8.11.08

this week was not every good teaching wise. we are only working with one family that is progressing but is a long way from baptism. but the family is awesome and i love to teach them. i just love that family. they always have the best questions. they already bought a triple combination and the bible. the members are starting to give us more refs to work with. just trying to stay focus and work hard. this morning at 5 o´clock i was thinking about my worth as a son of god and the worth of other people as well. i read about the potential all people have because we are sons and daughters of god.(romans 8:17(?) e 3 nephi 12:48) eu acho.estás escrituras são muito boas.
remember who you are and who you are going to become,
Ryan Spencer

8.4.08

hello,
i am doing fine. things are rolling along here in the area. finishing up an other transfer. were teaching one family who are super excited about the gospel. at church they are practically members of the ward. Franicso, Aline and victor. the ward is really good and they are trying to give us as much support as they can.its tough being here and knowing the Olympics are about to start. anyway four more years. the bishop here is really great and he really generous. we have 6 ward missionaries. Cody baptized some one the other week. that's great. i just need to keep pushing on to the front and get some work done.
love you all, take care
Ryan

7.28.08

tudo bem,
this week went by super fast . i have little time to write because we had a zone activity and that ate up my p-day. the first time i played soccer with Brazilians. it was different playing with people that all can play, very well. they said that I played well for a American, because i scored one goal. the area going slowly but going we had about 5 people in the capela domingo. so it was a good day. I went on a spilt with my district leader this week and it was a great learning opportunity. elder da silva is awesome and he knows the Scriptures really well and has a grande testimony.
sorry for the short letter,
hope everyone had a great week.
Ryan Spencer

7.21.08

Well another week, went really fast. We had one investigator at church, Germano .his first time at church yesterday I am pretty sure he enjoyed even tough elders Quorum was an interesting experience. Gave my first talk in Portuguese yesterday at church. The 1st counselor in the bishopric lives across the street from us and ask us at 7 o´clock in the morning to give talks in church because one of the speakers fell through. So I had a grand total of 20 minutes to decide what I was going to speaking about and what scriptures I was going too used. I talked about the love of Christ and the importance of the sharing the gospel with others. A grand total of maybe 4 to 5 minutes. It was fun and an awesome experience. It doesn’t help that I am not a big talker. I am trying my best to change that. Anyway the members starting to help more in the work and the Bishop is all fired up to make the ward a missionary´s ward. He called two ward missionaries yesterday and plans to call 4 more.
take care you all. (hey I am from Norco)
Ryan Spencer

7.14.08

Well, i am still adjusting to a new companion and the new area here in Entroconmento(?). we are teaching one family that´s really excited about our message and they went to church yesterday but in a different ward. Franciso, we contacted on the street, is the father and He is Just crazy, but in a good way. He Always has something to said, some little joke or some little piece of commentary to add to the lessons.
One Day this past week all of our appointments fell through and we had to knock doors from 7 to 9 pm. Instead of walking around until we found a street to knock doors, We pulled out the map and Elder Gimenes and i took turns looking at it and writing down names of 5 streets that we each thought we should go and batar portas. After my turn we compare lists to see if we had a street that was the same. And the Lord always delivers. We had only one that match. So went there and knocked on two doors. We tracked into a Young woman with 25 years of age that lost her son when He had 4 months. So we taught the plan of salvation to her. It was awesome. She seemed excited after the lesson but she didn't make to church yesterday.
I hope everyone is doing well. Sounds like Jared is home from Chicago by now and his brother Will follow in his footsteps, in the comming weeks.
Stay healthy, everyone.
Ryan Spencer

7.7.08

Hey,
Well I am in a new area. Two areas over from Telegrafo. And I have a new comp. he is from Campinas. He is a good guy. the area is three or four times larger than telegrafo. So there is a lot more walking here. Today was my first day washing my clothes by hand. New experience!!!!!Anyway, we had two new investigors at church Sunday. Which was awesome. They really seem to enjoy church, even though it was fast Sunday, which is generally different than a regular Sunday meeting. Francisco, the man at church, said that he is going to go out a buy a Bible so he could have is own to read at church instead of using mine. There are a lot less members here than in telegrafo, which was weird at church because I am used to seeing all the chairs full, but here one fourth of the chapel is full.
Love you all,
ryan

6.30.08

Oí,

Well I am being transfer out of the wonderful Telegrafo. Where to, I don’t know of as of yet. I find out Wednesday at the transfer meeting.This week has been frustrating with the Language but its coming. And that’s all I can ask for.

There was a party at the church Friday night and Elder Wasden took a bunch pictures, that I will send to Lisa, some day, to put on the blog. It was fun to see all the little kids and some adults dressed in funny clothing.

So that pretty much all for the week. Had my interview with Presidente after pizza hut on Tuesday and it was awesome. He always pumps me up.Going to miss the people here in Telegrafo

Tchua and thank you for the all the support,

Ryan

6.23.08

Hello,
I have had a pretty good week. It´s been hot and muito chuve. Which is normal. The investigators are keeping up again which is what we want. Nobody is ready for baptism for a couple of weeks but we have people that want to learn about the gospel. Thanks to the help of the members. A couple of Sundays ago the ward called a new ward missionary leader. He is a convert of 2 years and he is 20 years old and preparing to serve a mission. His got a huge desire to fire up the members again. The staff want to move the staff house closer to the office so that means that I will have to move from here in a week or so. They want to move before the transfer is over in a week. So I will be changing houses in a week, regardless of being transferred out of Telegrafo. We will see what happens.
This morning I was reading in alma 32 sobre fé. The parable of a seed. I love the language that was used to describe how a good seed grows. A swelling of your soul. First we have to try out the gospel then it takes time for the seed to grow or not to grow. If it’s a good seed it will grow and your soul will swell. If it’s a bad seed then it wont grow. Anyway about the good seed. We need to nourish that seed in our soul so it will become a tree. And continue to nourish the tree that we can one day partake of the its fruit, eternal life. Matt 7 has a similar parable, with the same idea about faith. Developing faith is an ongoing process, just like the other principles of the gospel.
Take care all,
Ryan Spencer

The Weekly Report From Telegrafo

Hey family,

I had p day on Tuesday this week as you have probably already guess. We changed so we could go to the Bosque which is closed on Mondays. It was awesome and well worth the change. The Bosque is a Forest in the middle of Belém, that was set aside so that you could enjoy the rain forest in the big city.(just my guess) It was nice to walk around at a slow pace in shade and to enjoy the animals that where there. Mainly birds and moneys, and one manatee(?).

This past week was tough , i wasn´t able to work at full speed because I was a little sick. But I talked to Sister Hoggan and everything is going to be alright. Just a new American adjusting to the food here in Brazil. The ward is starting to die on us with the help in the work and we are trying to re jump start them. We have very few investigators right now and we are trying to help the ones we have out in every possible way we can.

Something one of the A.P.s stresses in his teaching, that i would like to share, is the reality of Satan. That he does exist. When we don't realize that he exists that's when we run into problems in your life and when He has the most control over us . But at the same time we must remember that there is a Savior and realize His reality and what he offers for us for us. We have a lot of investigators and even some recent converts that don't realize the reality of both beings. The work is not going as fast as it was in the first couple of weeks that I was here. We are getting into a cycle that we don't want to be in. This week one of our goals is to not do anything without a member. Simply because it is easy with the help from the members than spending all day knocking on doors.

Well, congrats Cody on graduating Thursday, I was thinking about you. Quinn the new born, welcome into the family, and parabéns to everyone on becoming a great grandparent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or a parent this week. Bridget went to Europe, Steele went to CA , Grandma to Hawaii and Becky stills has Toby that's awesome.

take care,

Ryan

6.9.2008

Hello,

This week I went on my first splits with a member for more than one lesson. it was from 4 in the afternoon to 9 at night. I loved it because it was easier to speak Portuguese knowing that the person you are with doesn’t know any English and i felt that teaching went a lot better being. I am trying to step up in teaching situations a lot more by trying to cut off my companion when I can. Doesn’t always work as smoothly I as I would hope. (when I ran out of words to describe my thoughts or when I know know whats being said) Well this week we have hit a point when we don’t have any one prepare for baptism in the near weeks. We were going to baptize Thallyson the son of a recent convert this next Saturday, but they weren’t able to make it to church last week. So we need to wait a while for him to be ready. We took one night to teach a couple that are progressing really well, the only problem is that we never can teach them, because of their job. Hourou owns a pastel stand down by the docks where the cruise liners drop of the passengers, apparently he is pretty successful. The night that we went to their home to teach them they were ready to go the work. So we went with them and got free food at The King of Pastels( but in Portuguese Rei de Pastels). The food was good. Anyway they been to church three times and are really excited about getting married and being baptized if Hourou can find his birth certificate and find more ways to teach them. It was awesome at church yesterday because a lady in the ward gave a talk about eternal marriage. It was perfect for them. We were able to teach them one other time during the week and while I was talking Hourou told me to stop and told me that I was speaking better and that he could understand what I was saying. That was a good moment. Then told me to carry on with what I had to said.Well I have included some pictures of eating açcí and not really eating sharky.(sharky is a gross meat(s) and I am pretty sure ill never try it )

Take care all and enjoy the beginning of summer

Ryan

June 2nd 2008

Hey,This week we had all the zone leaders at the house for the transfer meeting. 25+ missionaries makes for a pack house. I am still in telegrafo with my trainer. I went to the templo yesterday. Yes i did. I attend the dedication for the curitbia temple. I bore my testimony yesterday in sacrament mtg at church because their were few people there. all 8 missionaries in the ward bore their testimonies. This week we have found a lot of people to teach. A lot of men. But the biggest problem with the people here in Brazil is that no one is married . they will say they are married but that doesn't mean they are legally married. Its tough for a lot of the people to see the importance of marriage here. One it doesn't mean much to the government and people generally don't have the money to get marry. The women dream of a big wedding and all that stuff, but people generally don't have the means to get marry. This week i hear the reason why one person wouldn't get marry is( from a man) because my parents and my grandparents are not married why should i be married. (following the traditions of their fathers). Anyway everything is progressing here. This transfer is going to be really good and really fast. Only 5 weeks. I have started to go the gym this past week. We jog to the gym for about 2 to 3 minutes and my heart races. It was a tough jog. But it felt great.
Take Care,
Ryan Spencer

May 26th 2008

We are rolling right along:

Oí,

Thanks for all the letters. I wish I could respond to them all. I type too slow and time is limited. I hope all is well back home.This week as been weird and rewarding. My first transfer within the mission happens on Wednesday. I am pretty sure that I am staying put in Telegrafo but you never know. What makes it hard is that I live with the guys that make and know the transfers for the mission a week ahead of it actually happening.And weird because one of the aps left for home this morning. I went on splits with him many times in the past 6 weeks and now he has left for home. It's like I just start and why are you leaving in a hurry? So that was different and now there is a new guy to fill His spot. I have never been one to like change but I am finding that I need to change and become accustom to things faster to make for a smoother transition.

We were in the waters of baptism last Saturday. The lady that we baptized was going to be baptized two Saturdays ago but ran into to some problems. But she made it through it.Turns out that she has a 9 year old too. So we are going to teach him as well. We had 11 people at church yesterday which was rewarding because the work is finally paying off. The aps said that they are going to create 5 new stakes in the belem area here in a little awhile. You need 10 stakes for a temple to be built. So I am not sure what the total would be after the new 5 stakes are added. The work is progressing in belem.

Take Care Ryan Spencer

May 19th 2008

Oi,

Well this week has been an interesting one. I went a whole day a senior in a way on Thursday with Elder McCombs. He was my trainer comp in the CTM. Anyway my comp was sick with pink eye and stayed home with another elder who was sick also. Elder McComb is not familiar with the area or the people that we have been teaching, so I had to make all the decision's on where to and what to. It was different and definitely a lot more stressful.


The baptism for this week fell though on us, which is disappointing. the mission pres challenged us this week not to knock a door, unless it was a reference. So everything that we did was through names that members and investigators gave us. Friday night we went to one reference and there was 10 people waiting to hear our message it was great. Too bad only one person showed up to church Sunday but she did say that she really enjoyed it. So well see what happens there. People are more willing to hear and listen to you when you have a friend of theirs with you at the door step.

Thanks for the emails and the pictures.

This week I added a picture of a baptism two weeks back and pictures from the president house, which has a great view of Belem. As well the river at ver o rio. This morning we went to the pres house for breakfast and had pancakes and blueberries muffins. I am definitely being spoiled because I live with the office staff (and gaining weight which everyone says I'll loss it soon).

tachua, and take care

Ryan Spencer

May 12th 2008

oí,
sorry but this week i could not get pictures to attach
to the email. maybe next week. anyway, we were in the
waters of baptism this past weekend. that's where we
want to be. we baptized a Young women who is about 20
and she has a desire to serve a mission. it was a great
week. we have two more investigators progressing
towards baptism this next Saturday. a 15 year old Young women
that lives with the family that we baptized two weeks
ago and then an older lady that works for a member.
so i hope all goes well with all of them.
it was a good to hear for my family yesterday on the
phone. it was really quick but wroth it. its good to
hear that every one is doing so well. it was really hard
to hang up at the end.
well happy mother´s day, and happy birthday to those
that are having a birthday this week. you know who you
are.
até logo
Ryan Spencer

A Phone Call Home

Since today is Mother's Day, Ryan got a 40 minute phone call home. Here are some of the highlights:

Cody:
-"Cody what was the highlight of your phone conversation with Ryan" Lisa
-"it was like 2 seconds and everyone else wanted the phone...ugggghhhhh.....i don't know" Cody

Mom:
- Ryan bearing his testimony in Portuguese
- Hearing him say "I love you Mom"

Lisa:
- The Parrot Story: Ryan was holding a parrot at a members house and he was "looking at it quietly" and it bit him! I asked if he got hurt and he said "umm... yeah"
-Miguel or Nigel: The Portuguese word for Awesome!
-Noah's Ark :a game they play with the members after they eat lunch with them. They sing a song and the members write down referrals for them to contact then that afternoon they contact the names. He says the referrals are usually really good.

Laura:
- To hear him and know he's okay.

Aaron:
- Ryan telling him he saw a monkey.

Dad:
-Finally getting through to him
-Listening to Lisa talk to him (apparently I drilled him with a hundred questions!)
- Just hearing him.

Can't wait til Christmas!

May 5th 2008 (First Baptism)

Oì,

Well this past Saturday i had my first three baptisms. Niaha, the mother of a family that we have been teaching, ask me to baptism he(The only one i performed). It was nerve cracking because my Portuguese is as bad as my English. so it took me a couple times to say the prayer exactly right. It didn’t help that she was trying to tell me what to say as I was saying the prayer(which wasnt the prayer at all) . But in the end everything turned out great. I said it the right way. Its was an awesome experience, reflecting back on it as I walked to the house. It was like WOW I just help someone open up the doors to heaven tonight by using the power of Priesthood of God . AWESOME. Right now we have about 5 or so people progressing towards the waters of baptism. The members are wonderful here. they are Always willing to give help and to teach with us. The members are KEY. You can see difference when you teach someone that was contacted through a member or a member is involved and a person that was not contacted through a member or doesn’t have the support of member.

Thanks for your support and love,

Ryan Spencer

Elder Hinsdale and I

April 28th 2008

oí,
well its been a crazy week here in Belém. we are always working and walking to and from appointments. there always seems to be some to teach. last night i had buffol meat and açai(fruta here in brasil). the açai made mine whole mouth purple.i´ll send pictures of that another time. the irma that was serving us was putting food on my plate everytime i was about ready to call it quits.that was a good lunch. theres a saying in the mission that in branches you dont eat but in wards you eat all the time. i am in the biggest ward of the mission. we are still working with that one family towards thier baptism, which is going to happen this saturday. i´ll hope that it all goes through and they make it through the week. thanks for the package it arrive two or three days after i did. all the mail goes through the mission office so if any one was wondering that thats the address to send it to for the rest of my mission. here in belem i will get it the day it arrives because i live with the office staff, but anywhere else ill had to wait for the next transfer( which is every 6 weeks).
take care
ryan spencer

April 21 2008 (in Belem)

oí,
well i got to belém about a week ago. the ctm was great, but i am out and about walking around and teaching with my new comp.( mainly he teaches and I try to follow along), whose been in the feild for 7 months and on a mission for 9 months. he´s great and a hard worker. He is from chico, ca. he is a great elder and i think well get a long just great. i am inbelém. i am serving in telegrafo, a burro if you will of belem, sort of downtown belem. the mission office happens to be my area, so i am in the nicest house of the mission. which is kinda of nerve racking for where ill be sent to next, but i wont worry about that to much. theres eight elders na casa . the aps and the office staff and then my comp and i as full time teaching elders. i been on spilts with the aps every night expect one so far. their are great guys and harder workers. the ward here is the biggest of the mission and they want to spilt it soon. the reason that i work with the aps so much because they are assinged to work in our area all the time, when not traveling around the mission or in the office. i hope i am making some sense. I came into belem from the ctm with eighteen other missionaries. all the americamns stayed in belem except one sister who went to macappa(?). I belive all the other sisters stayed in belem . the braizilans elders went all over the place.The work is hard but there is always someone to teach here. We have one familiy progressing towards baptism, which will be exicting. The people are all great and loving and willing to hear our message. Its be a shock of how they live here. I am not in the jungle by any means but some times you wonder how they make ends meets here.
Até logo,
Elder Spencer
p.s. happy to birthday to anyone that has had a birthday recently or will have one soon

April 9th 2008

i have no time to write. long story. power went out, computers wented down, in line at the post office for an hour. i leave to belem tuesday morning. this is my last week in the ctm and my last p day in the ctm. ill try to catch everyone on my next pday. oh i tried cheicken heart today, didnt care for it much but it wasnt bad either. went to the templo in são pualo, love that place i cant wait to go again in two years. all is well. i just wish i had more time.
love you all,
Elder Spencer

April 2nd 2008

Oí,
yea i got the all the info from alb. but i havent gotten my pin number for the debit card yet. and yesterday the post office down here in brasil went on strike so i am not sure how long that will last for. apparently it has happen twice in the past two months and didnt last longer than 5 days. so i hope for the best. as for the transfer to belem i dont know of my plans until the day before we are to leave. early a tuesday is my best guess. the last group to belem left at 430 in the morning to the airport and and had a laid over in brasilia and then a flight to belem. i do know that there will be about 6 americans and another 6 brazilians going to belem the same time i do. i also know that i leave on a tuesday so ill go a week without a p day. its kinda scary to leave the ctm because i know that the ctm is nothing like belem. i am doing alright with the language but we will see how much i really know we i get in the campo. last night i was reading in alma chapter 14 and it really hit me hard the things that we can overcome through faith in christ and the power that he bestows upomn us when we exerse faith in him.
LOVE
Ryan Spencer

March 26th 2008

hey,
well i wasnt able to write last week becuse the server for myldsmail.net wasn´t working. and the week before that myldsmail.net sent my email back, so i hope it works this time. well i went to the campinas templo today. long drive but it makes for a well needed nap. i have less than three weeks left in the CTM and i am off to belém. i am strating to count down. the ctm as been great but i cant wait to get into the campo. scripture for the week is form isaish chapter 64:8. it was shared in sunday school on easter sunday. i really like it. i go proslyting this friday again because we werent able to go last week. the worldwide director of the mtcs had a meeting with all the teachers when we were supposed to go. my district had a large group meeting with him about finding, teaching by the spirit.everything going well
talk to you later,
elder spencer

On Behalf of Elder Spencer....

My mom and I thought that starting a blog to post all of Ryan's pictures and letters would be a fun and easy way to catch everyone up on his mission. So here we go...

Ryan left for Belem Brazil on February 10th and stayed in the CTM (Brazilian MTC) for about two months. He was recently transferred to his mission in Belem (pronounced Belang) roughly two weeks ago. But thats enough of me trying to tell you about his mission. I'll let his letters and pictures tell the story.

This the first email we recieved from the mission telling us of Ryan's safe arrival.

Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 10:45:43 -0700>

Dear Parents,


We are happy to send the good news that your missionary has arrived safely at> the Brazil MTC. What a great joy and privilege it is to greet each missionary> as they come through the front door of the MTC for the first time.> > They now have companions and are settled into their rooms. They are assigned> to a district with capable and caring instructors for language and lesson study.> The branch presidents and their wives, who are usually a senior missionary> couple or mature Brazilian couple, will soon give them a second greeting. These> couples are rewarded in their callings through the love they always develop as> they embrace and watch over the missionaries.> > The MTC has a full time live-in physician to care for their health needs. He> is assisted by his able wife.> > We are also happy to report that the Cafeteria food is abundant and very good.> > Your missionary will be able to e-mail home on Preparation Day after a morning> at the Temple. This will be either Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on> individual assignments.> > Important information is attached for communicating with your missionary> through letters and other mail while at the MTC. Your missionary's mailbox # is> 38 and their district is 7 B. Too many packages are arriving after the> missionary has left to the field, so we ask that you send a package only in the> first 4 weeks and after that send any packages to his or her mission home.> > We are also parents of children who have served as missionaries. And we have> been missionaries who have left family. Please know that we are mindful of you> and know of your love for your missionary.> > Your very important young person is about to make an eternal difference in the> lives of others. We hope you will be encouraged and comforted by this quote by> President Lorenzo Snow: “There is no mortal man that is so much interested in> the success of an elder [sister] when he is preaching the gospel as the Lord> that sent him to preach to the people who are the Lord’s children.”> > Please accept our love,> > President and Sister Woodward> Brazil MTC


These are the pictures Ryan sent of the CTM. Ryan apparently being attacked by a Brazilian reptile.



Ryan called this the smallest track he ever ran.

We are all of course very proud of Ryan's decision to serve a mission for the church for 2 years and hope you all enjoy reading about his experiances!
Lisa

Also here are a few pictures from the sunday before he left. Speaking at his farewell was his brother in Law Derrick Webb and Ryan!