This past week we had a training that I participated in in Teresina. It was a 12 hour bus ride there, and 12 hour bus ride back. Not fun. But that's besides the point.
I enjoyed all of the training that we received. President gave some very good insights on what it means to "take upon thyself the name of Christ". We notice that in the sacramental prayer (the prayer said to bless the sacrament, the bread and water) it mentions this. In fact, as we take the sacrament, we promise to do exactly that, take upon ourselves the name of Christ. We explored several scriptures to be able to understand more of this. In Exodus, Moses is talking with God and asks him what he should tell everyone his name is. God responds by saying that he should tell them his name is I AM. It's interesting that as Christ ministered during his earthly life, he declared his divine heritage and eternal existence by saying "Before Abraham was, I am" which is exactly how he identified himself as we read in Exodus.
President Dias talked about how in Portuguese we have two verbs for to be, ser and estar. The difference between the two is that estar is more temporary, and ser is permanent. So we see how it reads in Portuguese, by using the verb ser, his eternal identity is reinforced. By using the verb to be, it shows that the name of Christ is all of His attributes and characteristics, which make up who He is. Christ has some 38 titles applied to Him in various scriptures. They serve as a definition of these attributes and characteristics, and as we come to know His various titles, we come to know who He really is, or in other words, what Christ's name really means and what it means to take upon that name.
Beyond these titles, Christ's name is also associated to several things. In Mosiah we learn that His name is the power to cure. It was very interesting to learn this, and study more about this. I know that as I study these things, I will come to know Jesus Christ as my personal Savior and Redeemer.
I hope everyone had a great Mothers' Day! I'm thankful for all you Moms out there and all you do to help us learn and grow!
Love you all!
Elder Rackham
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Monday, May 2, 2011
Another week!
It's been a good week.
Like I said we're trying to create a ward here. We trying to focus on
families but it's been a little difficult these past couple of weeks.
However, this week we've had several experiences with fasting and
praying that have strengthened me and my desire to find families in
order to create a ward. We want to have a strong leadership here in
the ward, otherwise the new ward won't be able to sustain itself.
This is how it would work:
The ward of Açailândia will divide and the ward here in Vila Ildemar
will be created. The ward will then rent a place in the Vila in order
to hold meetings here. Then it needs to up it's frequency to 125
people and then mantain it for 9 months in order to have a chapel
built. If we don't create a strong leadership, then the ward will
degress after it's created, instead of progressing and getting a
chapel. So we're very worried about this.
But like I said we had some good experiences that have helped us get
closer to our goal.
I hope everyone finds themselves in good health and happy. Mother's
day is before next P-Day, so I wish everyone a happy Mother's Day!
Mothers are so important, especially in the family. I am so grateful
for all the the moms out there that work hard to take care of their
children and their families. I pray that they are all blessed by the
Lord.
Until next week!
Elder Rackham
Like I said we're trying to create a ward here. We trying to focus on
families but it's been a little difficult these past couple of weeks.
However, this week we've had several experiences with fasting and
praying that have strengthened me and my desire to find families in
order to create a ward. We want to have a strong leadership here in
the ward, otherwise the new ward won't be able to sustain itself.
This is how it would work:
The ward of Açailândia will divide and the ward here in Vila Ildemar
will be created. The ward will then rent a place in the Vila in order
to hold meetings here. Then it needs to up it's frequency to 125
people and then mantain it for 9 months in order to have a chapel
built. If we don't create a strong leadership, then the ward will
degress after it's created, instead of progressing and getting a
chapel. So we're very worried about this.
But like I said we had some good experiences that have helped us get
closer to our goal.
I hope everyone finds themselves in good health and happy. Mother's
day is before next P-Day, so I wish everyone a happy Mother's Day!
Mothers are so important, especially in the family. I am so grateful
for all the the moms out there that work hard to take care of their
children and their families. I pray that they are all blessed by the
Lord.
Until next week!
Elder Rackham
Monday, April 25, 2011
Vive la vida!
So another week has gone by and another week enjoyed here in Açailândia. The weather has been great this week. Mostly rainy which means that it was very nice temperature wise. The afternoons were bearable because the sun was covered by the clouds! The only annoying thing with the rain is that a few streets get all messy and filled with water. Oh well, it's worth the lower temperatures.
It was an interesting week. We had an exchange with our Zone Leaders. Our Zone Leaders work in Imperatriz, which is a completely different city that is an hour and 15 minute bus ride. So... Thursday we plan it all out. I was going to stay in Açailândia, and my companion Elder Yorgason was going to stay in Imperatriz. Elder Wells was going to work with me in Açailândia and Elder Pimentel was going to work with Elder Yorgason in Imperatriz. All we had to do was do the switch. So Elder Yorgason and I travel to Imperatriz. First problem, it was Semana Santa which translates as Holy Week in English but I don't think the holiday is known by that. It's the week of Easter basically, with Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Because of this, and since it's a national holiday here, EVERYONE was traveling. You'd think that the bus company wouldn't sell more tickets then they had seats, but that's not true. So we get on the bus to find out we were going to have to ride over an hour standing. Not fun. Then the bathroom decided to leak it's toxic fumes from past users. The windows can't open because it has air-conditioning, but that's actually another lie. The air-conditioning didn't work.
We survive though and get into Imperatriz. We make the switch and Elder Wells and I are waiting for another bus to get back to Açailândia. We get one no problem. Halfway home though, I realized that who had the keys to our house? Not me! Yeah, so... it was a moment to laugh it off. We get to Açailândia, but Elder Wells had to do our baptismal interview so we got that done and ran back to the bus station. Our plan was to just end the exchange early. That way we wouldn't have to waste time going back and forth again to end the exchange the next day. We get to Imperatriz with enough time to get a bus, but due to miscommunication it didn't work out.
I slept in Imperatriz.
I had nothing with me, toothbrush, deoderant, extra clothes... nothing. It was all locked in our house.
We didn't have enough sheets for everyone, I just had one to cover the mattress, but to keep me warm, nope, didn't have one!
We weren't able to make it back to Açailândia before lunch so we went straight to lunch, it started a little late because they had to get things ready to travel, and then afterwards we walked home (a 30 minute walk). At 3:00 we were finally able to take a shower and change clothes.
Basically, I think I got the key point!
:)
Until next week!
Love,
Elder Rackham
It was an interesting week. We had an exchange with our Zone Leaders. Our Zone Leaders work in Imperatriz, which is a completely different city that is an hour and 15 minute bus ride. So... Thursday we plan it all out. I was going to stay in Açailândia, and my companion Elder Yorgason was going to stay in Imperatriz. Elder Wells was going to work with me in Açailândia and Elder Pimentel was going to work with Elder Yorgason in Imperatriz. All we had to do was do the switch. So Elder Yorgason and I travel to Imperatriz. First problem, it was Semana Santa which translates as Holy Week in English but I don't think the holiday is known by that. It's the week of Easter basically, with Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Because of this, and since it's a national holiday here, EVERYONE was traveling. You'd think that the bus company wouldn't sell more tickets then they had seats, but that's not true. So we get on the bus to find out we were going to have to ride over an hour standing. Not fun. Then the bathroom decided to leak it's toxic fumes from past users. The windows can't open because it has air-conditioning, but that's actually another lie. The air-conditioning didn't work.
We survive though and get into Imperatriz. We make the switch and Elder Wells and I are waiting for another bus to get back to Açailândia. We get one no problem. Halfway home though, I realized that who had the keys to our house? Not me! Yeah, so... it was a moment to laugh it off. We get to Açailândia, but Elder Wells had to do our baptismal interview so we got that done and ran back to the bus station. Our plan was to just end the exchange early. That way we wouldn't have to waste time going back and forth again to end the exchange the next day. We get to Imperatriz with enough time to get a bus, but due to miscommunication it didn't work out.
I slept in Imperatriz.
I had nothing with me, toothbrush, deoderant, extra clothes... nothing. It was all locked in our house.
We didn't have enough sheets for everyone, I just had one to cover the mattress, but to keep me warm, nope, didn't have one!
We weren't able to make it back to Açailândia before lunch so we went straight to lunch, it started a little late because they had to get things ready to travel, and then afterwards we walked home (a 30 minute walk). At 3:00 we were finally able to take a shower and change clothes.
Basically, I think I got the key point!
:)
Until next week!
Love,
Elder Rackham
Monday, April 18, 2011
Another good week!
I forgot to tell you all about our goal for Açailândia last week.
We had our interviews with Presidente Dias. He talked to me about the
area and his vision for the area.
Here in Açailândia we have a bus that takes everyone from the area
where we live to the chapel, because it's just over an hour to walk
there or it's 4 reais to get there and back. One person can pay for
himself or herself, but families can't afford to pay that much every
week. So the bus is helping a lot.
The only problem is that the bus will stop running by December. So by
December we want to have 100 people from Vila Ildemar (where we work)
going to church. That way, when the bus stops running, we have enough
people to have our own congregation in Vila Ildemar. We need 20 men
to form the leadership necessary to have a strong ward. We're really
excited to work. I hope I'll be able to stay a long time to help
reach this goal.
Anyway, I'll let you know how it goes!
Until next week!
Elder Rackam
We had our interviews with Presidente Dias. He talked to me about the
area and his vision for the area.
Here in Açailândia we have a bus that takes everyone from the area
where we live to the chapel, because it's just over an hour to walk
there or it's 4 reais to get there and back. One person can pay for
himself or herself, but families can't afford to pay that much every
week. So the bus is helping a lot.
The only problem is that the bus will stop running by December. So by
December we want to have 100 people from Vila Ildemar (where we work)
going to church. That way, when the bus stops running, we have enough
people to have our own congregation in Vila Ildemar. We need 20 men
to form the leadership necessary to have a strong ward. We're really
excited to work. I hope I'll be able to stay a long time to help
reach this goal.
Anyway, I'll let you know how it goes!
Until next week!
Elder Rackam
Another good week!
I forgot to tell you all about our goal for Açailândia last week.
We had our interviews with Presidente Dias. He talked to me about the
area and his vision for the area.
Here in Açailândia we have a bus that takes everyone from the area
where we live to the chapel, because it's just over an hour to walk
there or it's 4 reais to get there and back. One person can pay for
himself or herself, but families can't afford to pay that much every
week. So the bus is helping a lot.
The only problem is that the bus will stop running by December. So by
December we want to have 100 people from Vila Ildemar (where we work)
going to church. That way, when the bus stops running, we have enough
people to have our own congregation in Vila Ildemar. We need 20 men
to form the leadership necessary to have a strong ward. We're really
excited to work. I hope I'll be able to stay a long time to help
reach this goal.
Anyway, I'll let you know how it goes!
Until next week!
Elder Rackham
We had our interviews with Presidente Dias. He talked to me about the
area and his vision for the area.
Here in Açailândia we have a bus that takes everyone from the area
where we live to the chapel, because it's just over an hour to walk
there or it's 4 reais to get there and back. One person can pay for
himself or herself, but families can't afford to pay that much every
week. So the bus is helping a lot.
The only problem is that the bus will stop running by December. So by
December we want to have 100 people from Vila Ildemar (where we work)
going to church. That way, when the bus stops running, we have enough
people to have our own congregation in Vila Ildemar. We need 20 men
to form the leadership necessary to have a strong ward. We're really
excited to work. I hope I'll be able to stay a long time to help
reach this goal.
Anyway, I'll let you know how it goes!
Until next week!
Elder Rackham
Monday, April 11, 2011
Success in Jurasic Park!
So this week we had a combined baptismal service for all 6 of us
missionaries here. This is the only place in our mission that has 6
missionaries. So this ward is really special.
It was a crazy end of the week, running around getting baptismal
interviews done for all of the baptismal condidates. Our Zone Leaders
work in Imperatriz, so they have to travel about an hour to get here.
That combined with limited schedules of the baptismal condidates meant
a very slim window of opportunity for us. But it worked out!
We had a very spiritual and uplifting baptismal service. We sang a
hymn together (in parts!) and it went well enough I believe. David
was telling me before my mission how his singing has improved as he
learned Spanish. I would say the same thing. As I've been learning
Portuguese, my singing has also improved. Anyway, it went well.
I'll be making once again chicken lasagna here. Last week it went
okay, it tasted fine, but it can be better. This week I'll be using
the other half of the leftover ingredients. It's going to be good!
I'll make it for ya'all when I get home :)
Love you all!
Elder Rackham
missionaries here. This is the only place in our mission that has 6
missionaries. So this ward is really special.
It was a crazy end of the week, running around getting baptismal
interviews done for all of the baptismal condidates. Our Zone Leaders
work in Imperatriz, so they have to travel about an hour to get here.
That combined with limited schedules of the baptismal condidates meant
a very slim window of opportunity for us. But it worked out!
We had a very spiritual and uplifting baptismal service. We sang a
hymn together (in parts!) and it went well enough I believe. David
was telling me before my mission how his singing has improved as he
learned Spanish. I would say the same thing. As I've been learning
Portuguese, my singing has also improved. Anyway, it went well.
I'll be making once again chicken lasagna here. Last week it went
okay, it tasted fine, but it can be better. This week I'll be using
the other half of the leftover ingredients. It's going to be good!
I'll make it for ya'all when I get home :)
Love you all!
Elder Rackham
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
An amazing week!
So Elder Yorgason and I had our first full week here in Açailândia. For those who do not speak Portuguese (or think that they can but don't *cough* David *cough*) Açaí is a fruit (aw-sai-ee). It's healthy and delicious. Also, it's a natural engery booster. So the city means land of Açaí! However, due to some unfortunate amount of harvesting, there is hardly a açaí tree in sight. Apparently though, this place was covered with Açaí.
Well, I told you of our suspicions last week, of dinosaur activity in the region. It looks to much like Jurassic Park. On friday we go to lunch on Friday, and the sister, Vane, tells us that she has two types of meat prepared for us this week, so she tells us to eat one at a time, because mixing the two together might make it taste weird. I open up the pan to take a peek and get me some meat, one is beef and the other was fish. So naturally I go for the beef first. As we're eating, I notice that her husband is pulling out some pretty darn big bones from the fish (usually their a lot smaller). I didn't think too much though. I finished the beef and went for the fish, preparing myself, because I'm not a huge fan of it. I get some good pieces and I sit back down to eat. I had already mentioned to Irmã Vane that we think Açailândia is Jurassic Park, so I taste the fish and I'm surprised to be tasting chicken! Well something similar to chicken. So I ask her, is this really fish? She says no. Of course, I remember the bones and jokingly say, there really are dinosaurs here! They laugh and say well, it's close to dinosaur. It turns out, I ate jacaré which is alligator! Oh was it delicious! That I can say is the strangest thing I have eaten on my mission.
Well... until next week!
Love,
Elder Rackham
Well, I told you of our suspicions last week, of dinosaur activity in the region. It looks to much like Jurassic Park. On friday we go to lunch on Friday, and the sister, Vane, tells us that she has two types of meat prepared for us this week, so she tells us to eat one at a time, because mixing the two together might make it taste weird. I open up the pan to take a peek and get me some meat, one is beef and the other was fish. So naturally I go for the beef first. As we're eating, I notice that her husband is pulling out some pretty darn big bones from the fish (usually their a lot smaller). I didn't think too much though. I finished the beef and went for the fish, preparing myself, because I'm not a huge fan of it. I get some good pieces and I sit back down to eat. I had already mentioned to Irmã Vane that we think Açailândia is Jurassic Park, so I taste the fish and I'm surprised to be tasting chicken! Well something similar to chicken. So I ask her, is this really fish? She says no. Of course, I remember the bones and jokingly say, there really are dinosaurs here! They laugh and say well, it's close to dinosaur. It turns out, I ate jacaré which is alligator! Oh was it delicious! That I can say is the strangest thing I have eaten on my mission.
Well... until next week!
Love,
Elder Rackham
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