Caros pais, segue o jornalzinho da missão de janeiro de 2018, o Maningue News. Tenha um excelente mês e obrigado por incentivar seus filhos!! Eles estão fazendo muito bem.
President Senna
Mozambique Maputo Mission
The Best Place to Be Today!
Wednesday, January 31, 2018
Monique Noticias January 2018
Good evening from Mozambique (here it is 9:30 pm), here follows the Maningue News of the first Transfer of 2018. We do not have a translation as we had a change in the Mission Office this transfer. We'll get it right next time. A Mozambican ´Good Night´ to all.
Caros pais, segue o jornalzinho da missão de janeiro de 2018, o Maningue News. Tenha um excelente mês e obrigado por incentivar seus filhos!! Eles estão fazendo muito bem.
President Senna
Mozambique Maputo Mission
The Best Place to Be Today!
Caros pais, segue o jornalzinho da missão de janeiro de 2018, o Maningue News. Tenha um excelente mês e obrigado por incentivar seus filhos!! Eles estão fazendo muito bem.
President Senna
Mozambique Maputo Mission
The Best Place to Be Today!
Monday, January 29, 2018
Life without a comp
So things are going really well here but also things have been equally as crazy. We had transfers, and I will finally be receiving a NEW companion, emphasis on the new part, from Portugal!!! I am so excited!!! I don't know his name yet.... and he wont get here till about next week..... hahaha so looks like i am going to be enjoying the compless life here in Palmeiras a little bit more. This entails walking with more members and missing out on a lot of time in the area. Super awesome way to start out the transfer;) haha but its all good. I love it right now. At least i have water.
This week we didn't have any baptisms but i do want to share a quick story about one of our new investigators this week. So we taught him the restoration this week and then later we went to teach him about prayer and see if he actually did (i don't remember how to say this in ingles so bare with me for a sec) complete the invite that we left with him to pray about this church. So when we asked him he just looked at me for a second and then smiled and said " Yeah i got an answer" just beaming and then I asked what did it feel like and he said "i don't know, like you said something so different it is nearly impossible to explain but He was there, next to me, i felt it. A presence." wow. Those words touched me so deeply I just started crying.... hahaha super weird feeling just breaking down in the middle of Africa but it was amazing to see the hand of the lord personally touching the lives of our investigators.
When we do things with an open heart God can realize miracles through us. In this case im talking about my investigator Adilson, he prayed with an open heart and received a miracle. A sensation, confirmation of an existence beyond our capacity to understand. To me that's a miracle right there, to know personally that I know that this church is true, is a miracle that I wont ever forget.
Hope y'all are doing super well. No pictures this week but next week com certeza. Love you all. until next time(hopefully with a companion...)
#ElderThorntonlonewolf
This week we didn't have any baptisms but i do want to share a quick story about one of our new investigators this week. So we taught him the restoration this week and then later we went to teach him about prayer and see if he actually did (i don't remember how to say this in ingles so bare with me for a sec) complete the invite that we left with him to pray about this church. So when we asked him he just looked at me for a second and then smiled and said " Yeah i got an answer" just beaming and then I asked what did it feel like and he said "i don't know, like you said something so different it is nearly impossible to explain but He was there, next to me, i felt it. A presence." wow. Those words touched me so deeply I just started crying.... hahaha super weird feeling just breaking down in the middle of Africa but it was amazing to see the hand of the lord personally touching the lives of our investigators.
When we do things with an open heart God can realize miracles through us. In this case im talking about my investigator Adilson, he prayed with an open heart and received a miracle. A sensation, confirmation of an existence beyond our capacity to understand. To me that's a miracle right there, to know personally that I know that this church is true, is a miracle that I wont ever forget.
Hope y'all are doing super well. No pictures this week but next week com certeza. Love you all. until next time(hopefully with a companion...)
#ElderThorntonlonewolf
Monday, January 22, 2018
Just trading comps
Wow, this week was crazy..... just crazy..... I got my new comp and his name is Irmao Macanige..... we were working really well together and he is a returned missionary that was helping me out but apparently his family got way sick so he had to go back home to help them out. So then I was without a comp again.... but then I got my new companion Irmao Fernando. He is super awesome and just got a call to serve in Portugal Porto mission. He won't be leaving until April but for now he is staying with me and helping me out.
This week we were lucky to have another baptism and we baptized Irmao Nordino, a super awesome guy that I have loved teaching. Just to tell you a little bit about him, after I got here in Palmeiras we passed his house and taught him the restoration, after the lesson we challenge him to baptism and he accepted. Then the next Saturday we had a baptism for some other people and Nordino showed up thinking it was his baptism and he was way excited. It was probably the hardest thing I have done to tell him that it wasn't his baptism yet. But finally we arrived at the day of his baptism and it was awesome!
Also this week we had a family home evening with the Stake president whose name is President Freeman. Wow, I love his family, and they fed us well but the thing I love most about his family is that they actually do family home evening!!! hahaha that is so rare here and it felt like I was back at home... literally because all of their kids speak three languages, Portuguese, english and some dialect that i have no clue about.
But yeah its been really good here in Palmeiras. The work is going well, but it has been hard without a companion and the changes and craziness that is going on but without a doubt the work continues. Love y'all and I'll talk to ya next week!!
Love Elder Thornton
P.S. And yes I did get super roasted if anyone couldn't see the extreme redness in my face
This week we were lucky to have another baptism and we baptized Irmao Nordino, a super awesome guy that I have loved teaching. Just to tell you a little bit about him, after I got here in Palmeiras we passed his house and taught him the restoration, after the lesson we challenge him to baptism and he accepted. Then the next Saturday we had a baptism for some other people and Nordino showed up thinking it was his baptism and he was way excited. It was probably the hardest thing I have done to tell him that it wasn't his baptism yet. But finally we arrived at the day of his baptism and it was awesome!
Also this week we had a family home evening with the Stake president whose name is President Freeman. Wow, I love his family, and they fed us well but the thing I love most about his family is that they actually do family home evening!!! hahaha that is so rare here and it felt like I was back at home... literally because all of their kids speak three languages, Portuguese, english and some dialect that i have no clue about.
But yeah its been really good here in Palmeiras. The work is going well, but it has been hard without a companion and the changes and craziness that is going on but without a doubt the work continues. Love y'all and I'll talk to ya next week!!
Love Elder Thornton
P.S. And yes I did get super roasted if anyone couldn't see the extreme redness in my face
Irmao Fernando, Irmao Nordino and Jonny with red face
Irmao Nordino
Monday, January 15, 2018
Oh the life of a lone wolf
All is well here in good ol Mozambique, the only problem is that my companion left for the MTC in Brazil and left me alone.... for the whole week..... Well not completely alone, but i was chilling with the Zone leaders and trying to walk with members in my area the whole week. Wow was that stressful.
Also we had a Health Conference where the area doctor Elder Johnson came and talked to us about all the great health problems that we need to avoid. I found that conference very educational.
So, what went on is Elder Da Costa left and I didnt, so I had to run around all week with the Zone Leaders doing all the little jobs they had and that made working in my area super hard. But I still was able to walk with couple members for a couple hours so that I could keep up on the investigators that are progressing.
This week I was able to baptize 5 people, 4 girls from my area that are super cool and an Irmao Luis who is 18 and i had the opportunity to interview him and give him some blessings during his time as an investigator. It was a super beautiful baptism.
To talk about the girls we have Metija who has 16 years, Juli who has 13 years, Fausia with 11 and Maria with 14. Juli and Fausia are sisters of an Irma that was baptized years ago and apparently they had been coming for church for a long time but just were never baptized so I had the opportunity to do that. Then we have Maria who is really good friends with the other two and so they invited her to come to church and talk with us so that was really awesome to. All three of them are super sassy but super shy also so it took some time for them to warm up to me but now they are all just super strong members.
Metija is the sister of Jose, an irmao that we baptized a couple weeks ago that was living in some land far far away to study but came back to live with her mom. She told us that when she was little she actually went to the church and primary because she loved so much but when she moved she forgot about the church. After she was baptized she bore testimony about the reality of the Holy Ghost and how she knows he is real and that he has helped her to know that this church is true and how excited she was for the next day to receive the Gift of the holy ghost. That was a pretty special moment for me.
But right now things are going well.... I went to church alone.... super weird.... hahaha where i received 5 references which was super super needed. So the work continues and it looks like I am receiving my new companion tomorrow so I am way stoked about that.
Love yall and thanks for all the thoughts and prayers, they really are making a difference.
-Elder Thornton
Also we had a Health Conference where the area doctor Elder Johnson came and talked to us about all the great health problems that we need to avoid. I found that conference very educational.
So, what went on is Elder Da Costa left and I didnt, so I had to run around all week with the Zone Leaders doing all the little jobs they had and that made working in my area super hard. But I still was able to walk with couple members for a couple hours so that I could keep up on the investigators that are progressing.
This week I was able to baptize 5 people, 4 girls from my area that are super cool and an Irmao Luis who is 18 and i had the opportunity to interview him and give him some blessings during his time as an investigator. It was a super beautiful baptism.
To talk about the girls we have Metija who has 16 years, Juli who has 13 years, Fausia with 11 and Maria with 14. Juli and Fausia are sisters of an Irma that was baptized years ago and apparently they had been coming for church for a long time but just were never baptized so I had the opportunity to do that. Then we have Maria who is really good friends with the other two and so they invited her to come to church and talk with us so that was really awesome to. All three of them are super sassy but super shy also so it took some time for them to warm up to me but now they are all just super strong members.
Metija is the sister of Jose, an irmao that we baptized a couple weeks ago that was living in some land far far away to study but came back to live with her mom. She told us that when she was little she actually went to the church and primary because she loved so much but when she moved she forgot about the church. After she was baptized she bore testimony about the reality of the Holy Ghost and how she knows he is real and that he has helped her to know that this church is true and how excited she was for the next day to receive the Gift of the holy ghost. That was a pretty special moment for me.
But right now things are going well.... I went to church alone.... super weird.... hahaha where i received 5 references which was super super needed. So the work continues and it looks like I am receiving my new companion tomorrow so I am way stoked about that.
Love yall and thanks for all the thoughts and prayers, they really are making a difference.
-Elder Thornton
Juli (13), Metja (16), Jonny, Fausia (11), Maria (14)
Elder De Costa leaving at the airport
Sister missionaries, Jonny, and Irmao Luis
Monday, January 8, 2018
Oh how the turntable turns
Things are a changing here in good ol Africa and man oh man does that mean a lot of work for me... hahaha. so Lets start with the beautiful week that we had.... So last week we baptized those two teenagers and this week we baptized all of the references that the two of them gave to us. We baptized Jaime, Paulo, Gabriel, and Marcilio. They are a way fun group of jovens and I am way stoked for the way that they are changing.
This week we did a lot of visits with members. Being super new in the area with a completely new companion makes it slightly hard to work with ward leaders because A) We don't have all their numbers and B) if we have their number their name is way African and super hard to remember, but i'm writing all of these things down and we are starting to get somewhere!
WE received a ton of references. Right now we are experiencing a lot of rain mixed with blazing heat. The heat isn't a problem but wow the rain really stinks especially because no one wants to welcome in some white dude into their house when their house is the only dry thing they own at the moment and that white dude is definitely anything but dry.... so that's a struggle but besides that the mission is dope.
I passed 6 months officially this week and also found out that me and my comp have matching ties... super dope. I also convinced him to let me do the dishes once.... and then after i got done.... he did them again.... Whatever. hahaha it happens, what can you do.
Then at the end of this week found out that my awesome comp Elder Da Costa is leaving me this week probably without a companion for a couple of weeks.... meaning I have to find a member with whom I can walk in the area every day so we will see how that will go.... Don't know who the next companion will be either but no problem life goes on.
Also we are experimenting a new program to create registries for new converts and boy oh boy is there a lot of confusion. Hope everyone is still alive.
Lately i've been thinking about commandments a lot and how commandments really are opportunities not restrictions... opportunities to utilize our agency and thus receive blessings. I love this work and I love the opportunities to serve the lord in different ways this week. PEace out til next time.
-Elder Thornton
This week we did a lot of visits with members. Being super new in the area with a completely new companion makes it slightly hard to work with ward leaders because A) We don't have all their numbers and B) if we have their number their name is way African and super hard to remember, but i'm writing all of these things down and we are starting to get somewhere!
WE received a ton of references. Right now we are experiencing a lot of rain mixed with blazing heat. The heat isn't a problem but wow the rain really stinks especially because no one wants to welcome in some white dude into their house when their house is the only dry thing they own at the moment and that white dude is definitely anything but dry.... so that's a struggle but besides that the mission is dope.
I passed 6 months officially this week and also found out that me and my comp have matching ties... super dope. I also convinced him to let me do the dishes once.... and then after i got done.... he did them again.... Whatever. hahaha it happens, what can you do.
Then at the end of this week found out that my awesome comp Elder Da Costa is leaving me this week probably without a companion for a couple of weeks.... meaning I have to find a member with whom I can walk in the area every day so we will see how that will go.... Don't know who the next companion will be either but no problem life goes on.
Also we are experimenting a new program to create registries for new converts and boy oh boy is there a lot of confusion. Hope everyone is still alive.
Lately i've been thinking about commandments a lot and how commandments really are opportunities not restrictions... opportunities to utilize our agency and thus receive blessings. I love this work and I love the opportunities to serve the lord in different ways this week. PEace out til next time.
-Elder Thornton
Elder DeCosta, Jaime, Paulo, Gabriel, Marcilio and Jonny
Jonny with 6 month cake
Jonny and Elder DeCosta with same ties
Also in our house I found a dvd of the 2008 general conference and found little me singing in the choir, hahaha all the members love that
Tuesday, January 2, 2018
Entering my only full year of Missionary Service
2018... wow ... just super crazy that 2018 came after the year 2017, just super weird how that works..... hahahaha in all reality it was just a super normal experience this new years celebration, the only difference that I really saw was the amount of drunk people that wanted to receive lessons from the missionaries. Hahaha
Anyways this week has been super crazy! I got my new companion ELder Da Costa who is waiting to go to Angola, and we also moved to the new house... which just happens to be the best house on the mission right now, complete with two bathrooms and three bedrooms, a huge kitchen with a dinning area... what?! super big transition from Dondo... haha
The work here is going super well! we had two baptisms, Castelo and Luis *( castelo is the one shorter). They are super awesome and the cool story with them is that when we started teaching them they invited a ton of their friends to receive the lessons and they should be baptised this week if everything runs smoothly.
Right now I am a little bit overwhelmed with a new area, training, and learning this whole district leadering thing but The mission is still just the greatest hahaha the only problem is that ELder Da costa loves to cook and i have a feeling that I might be gaining some weight... not only that he wont even let me touch the dishes.... so i don't know what the heck i am supposed to do.... hahaa
but just wanted to talk a little bit about callings, at times we receive a calling or an assignment that we really don't feel prepared or capable of fulfilling to the fullest extent and I am here to tell you guys... that you are probably completely right! in all reality the work of the lord is something almost completely impossible to complete using only our own power, for that reason exactly we have Jesus Christ and we can use his atonement to reach the things that we cant even dream of reaching without his help. I know this work is divine and that as we seek to use the atonement we will start to realize the burdens of life and the stresses of underperforming will slowly begin to disappear. And when this happens we cant forget that these feelings didn't just magically disappear but that The Christ is bearing the load for us. Happy new year and I hope that people can remember their new years goals for more than a week this time.... Love you all!
Anyways this week has been super crazy! I got my new companion ELder Da Costa who is waiting to go to Angola, and we also moved to the new house... which just happens to be the best house on the mission right now, complete with two bathrooms and three bedrooms, a huge kitchen with a dinning area... what?! super big transition from Dondo... haha
The work here is going super well! we had two baptisms, Castelo and Luis *( castelo is the one shorter). They are super awesome and the cool story with them is that when we started teaching them they invited a ton of their friends to receive the lessons and they should be baptised this week if everything runs smoothly.
Right now I am a little bit overwhelmed with a new area, training, and learning this whole district leadering thing but The mission is still just the greatest hahaha the only problem is that ELder Da costa loves to cook and i have a feeling that I might be gaining some weight... not only that he wont even let me touch the dishes.... so i don't know what the heck i am supposed to do.... hahaa
but just wanted to talk a little bit about callings, at times we receive a calling or an assignment that we really don't feel prepared or capable of fulfilling to the fullest extent and I am here to tell you guys... that you are probably completely right! in all reality the work of the lord is something almost completely impossible to complete using only our own power, for that reason exactly we have Jesus Christ and we can use his atonement to reach the things that we cant even dream of reaching without his help. I know this work is divine and that as we seek to use the atonement we will start to realize the burdens of life and the stresses of underperforming will slowly begin to disappear. And when this happens we cant forget that these feelings didn't just magically disappear but that The Christ is bearing the load for us. Happy new year and I hope that people can remember their new years goals for more than a week this time.... Love you all!
Jonny and Elder DeCosta who loves to cook
Jonny, Elder DeCosta, Irmao Luis and Irmao Castelo with a member
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