The Raleigh Family

 

Posts From May, 2012

Week 11 - It’s sweet that you bought kayaks! 

Wednesday, May 30, 2012 10:12:00 AM Categories: Letter's Home

Dear mom,

That’s awesome that you guys bought kayaks! It sounds like you guys had a good day at Lake Redmond. I’m kinda jealous haha. It’s crazy that Maddi’s done with school! If it hasn’t hit her yet then it’ll probably hit her hard when she goes to college next year and not school haha. I know it was weird for me for the first few months that I was just working at Powell steel and I would see people walking to school and stuff.

This week has been pretty good. We met 3 different people who are very good and I think they’ll all be baptized. One is a girl in college and another is a guy who’s 26 and lives with his wife (which is kinda a big deal b/c no one in brazil gets married before living together) and the other is a guy in his 30s and he has a few kids and a wife as well so I think we could have a lot of baptisms soon!!

I think I’ve heard that quote before! I’m not sure when, but I know it was in the MTC. We visit a lot of inactive people hear. The other week we were visiting with one that we had visited with a few times before but she hadn’t come to church. It was my turn to share a message and so read in 3 Nephi about when Christ established the church in America and how one of the first things that was done after he established the church was institute the sacrament and I asked her if she a had a testimony of sacrament and to bare it, and the spirit was strong and then I bore mine and invited her to come to church and to grow her testimony of sacrament. It was a very good lesson. I think a good way of reactivating people is asking them to share their testimony. B/c when you share your testimony it makes you stronger, and for less actives it reminds them of their original conversion and begins to grow their desire to return.

Anyway I gotta go. I love you and pray for you guys every day.

 

Love,

Elder Raleigh


Dear dad,

Here is a picture of me and my current companion.

Me and my companion

It’s sweet that you bought kayaks!! We should take a river trip when I get back.

So I’m not so sure about the family of José, they all are kinda soft. But the kids are all super excited when we come and are always wanting to pray and stuff and they read the BOM but I think the parents didn’t cause when we asked what they read all they could say is words of god. But chapter 11 of 3 Nephi is pretty memorable. So I don’t know how that’s all gonna turn out. But we found three new people this week who all seem very promising. And they are all very interested. I wrote about them in my letter to mom so you’ll have to read that. It’s sweet that you guys are having baptisms in the ward!

Sounds like everything’s going well with work and stuff. I pray for you guys every day. I gotta go now.

 

Love you,

Elder Raleigh

Week 10 - the work was going kinda slow until this week 

Tuesday, May 22, 2012 9:15:00 AM Categories: Letter's Home

Dear mom,

It’s sweet that Maddi got a hundred bucks! That’s sweet! And that’s sweet she gets to go to the beach! I miss the beach a lot cause the weather here is always perfect for swimming! Haha I’m definitely going to the beach when I get home! It’s cool that you got to visit with Ally. That’s awesome she’s sharing these experiences.

The house is gonna look way different when I got home! It sounds like it’s gonna be tight though!

Good to hear that you made everyone cry in relief society. It sounds like it was an amazing meeting. And hearing about all that good food that people brought makes my mouth water! Haha I’ve had banana bread once while I’ve been here, but pretty much all the desert foods here are way different.

I liked that quote. Especially the part about having an eternal perspective. Cause whenever we have an eternal view it makes life seem so simple and easy to just to do everything right all the time, but the hard part is to always remember to have this perspective. This is really hard for us because we are human and the world is full of distractions. Luckily we have the atonement of Christ to save us, and that is what we are trying to share with the whole world as members of the restored Church of Jesus Christ. Every week we have the opportunity to be redeemed again.

Everything is going good here. I wrote to dad about the work I’m doing right now so you’ll have to read that. Anyway I gotta go. I’ll pray for your health and I’m sure Trek this year is gonna be sweet! Just have faith and everything will work out.

 

Love,

Elder Raleigh


Dear dad,

That story was pretty funny! Haha the work was going kinda slow until this week. We got a man named José to come to church. We thought he was soft until he just showed up this Sunday. It was very exciting. We went to visit him last night and there was another man there in addition to the ten other people who are normally there. (they’re all family but I’m not sure how they’re all related exactly) but he started talking to us and we invited him to be baptized as well and talked a little about why you need the proper authority for baptism or else it is no good and he agreed and before we could even invite him to church he said he was gonna visit and he’s gonna bring pretty much everyone in the house with him haha it was awesome! We’re going there tonight to teach the first lesson to all of them and were gonna invite them all to be baptized. Also while we were talking to José one of his family friends came up and we talked to her and invited her to be baptized as well and were going this week to teach her. It’s very exciting! If all goes well, we will baptize about 10 people.

That’s sweet you got to visit all those people in Texas!

Serving a mission is one of the best decisions that you can make in your life. I can already see how it is going to benefit my future life. As it is with all other commandments and sacrifices that the lord asks of us, you really are getting a lot more than you give. I don’t know anyone who regrets being here.

I’ve been in the field for about a month now, and my language is really starting to come. I can understand, most of the time, everything people are saying. And I can teach people on the spot according to the questions they have. And people are starting to be able to understand me a lot better. It’s been a while since someone told me they don’t understand what I’m saying haha. But everyone still knows I’m an American, which isn’t bad cause about 90% of people here like to talk to Americans for some reason.

Maddi looks good at prom, I can’t believe she’s gonna be graduating in like a week or so! And henrys boy looks good! He starting to grow! It’s crazy that his gonna be able to talk when I return!

Anyway I gotta go. Love you. Keep praying and I’m sure everything will go well for Trek.

 

Love,

Elder Raleigh

Week 9 - what way does water drain there? 

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 9:51:00 AM Categories: Letter's Home

Dear mom,

 

It was good to see you guys the other day. Not much else has happened since then, but one thing I forgot to ask when I was on Skype was what way does water drain there? Clockwise or counter clockwise? Cause I always had this theory that water drains opposite here cause were on the southern side of the planet. Let me know?

Yesterday we started a new area closer to our house and I learned how to teach the first lesson in three minutes and commit people to baptism on the spot. It goes pretty well usually. And we usually get a return visit. People here are so excepting! They’ve really been prepared to receive the gospel.

Also were teaching this couple that’s not married but they live together, and last night they told us that they’re getting married. It was pretty cool. We had a video that had tons of different videos about the church and they wanted to watch the one about temples and after it was over they asked about temple marriage and they seemed very interested in it. They’ve already received a testimony of the book of Mormon so they know it’s all true and they’re really progressing, it’s amazing to see people’s lives change as they act in faith on the things we testify to them.

My language is really starting to come along. Yesterday I talked to a lady and invited her to church but she has another church she attends and I was able to ask about it more and find out when it started and ended and it turned out that the times were different so I told her she could come after and I testified that she would feel the spirit and it would bless her life and she said she would come. I was able to understand pretty much everything she was saying so it was pretty cool.

Anyway I gotta go. I love you guys and hope everything is going well. I keep you guys in my prayers every day.

 

Love,

Elder Raleigh

 

Week 8 - I had a pretty cool experience this week with prayer and getting an answer 

Wednesday, May 9, 2012 9:29:00 AM Categories: Letter's Home

Dear mom,

This week was a little less hard than last week haha. I can Skype you guys this next Monday around 6:30 pm my time because the internet house closes at 8 pm. I told Ally to set up an account and email it to me since she is pretty computer savvy and then on Monday night just be on your email at the same time in case there are technical difficulties. I also told ally 7pm so just let her know that it is 630 now please. I hope that everyone will be able make it.

So the day before yesterday I was having a difficult time with the language and so I was praying about it because I just want to be able to teach people. So then yesterday we were knocking doors and the first door I knocked there ended up being a daughter of the family that has been studying English for 6 years and so the father (who answered our clap) ran and got her and she was really excited to speak English with me and I was able to teach her in English and just translate a few words for her and she understood and was very grateful for the message and we are returning this Saturday to teach more. It was definitely an answer to my prayers. After that I was feeling very happy and I could speak and understand Portuguese much better after that. It was a very cool experience.

Then later that day we were stopping by our apartment and there was a guy leaving and he asked me if I was an American and where I was from. It turned out that he actually lived in York, Pennsylvania for 2 years! He’s a teacher and he wants to help me with my Portuguese. It was a very good day yesterday, and its days like that that makes it all worth it to be here. I know the lord is always looking out for me.

That’s pretty funny that no one recognized your hair haha. I’m looking forward to seeing your hair this Monday!

I’m sorry to hear about Jay Pfeiffer I know who he was but I did not know him very well. He must have been an amazing person though because I have never seen or heard of Brother McBride getting emotional.

That’s cool that Mike came over and fixed the radio. He’s a good person for sure. He’s always trying to fix things haha.

That’s sweet that Maddi’s getting a scholarship for her painting! I’m sure she’ll get a decent amount for it. So will it be hanging in the school then? Or where will it be displayed?

The baptism was good. I don’t know Wesley to well but he seems like he’s really into the gospel and he will stay active for sure. So I’m sure I’ll get to know him. There were like 20ish people at the baptism so it was good. I guess the water was super cold though but all was well.

I like that quote it is very true that we all have talents and abilities that are limitless but also they do wither away if we don’t use them. And what better way to use them then to bless the lives of the people around us. They are just like our testimonies. We are ether growing them or we are losing them. I hope that my bag of talents and abilities will bless the people of Campinas.

Hope everything keeps going well. Say strong and trust in the lord

 

Love,

Elder Raleigh

 


 

Dear dad,

It’s awesome that you got to visit family in Utah. And it’s good to hear that jess is gonna get some teaching experience. I’m sure everything will be fine moneywise. All she has to do is pay her tithing and trust in the lord and she´ll be taken care of.

This Monday I can Skype home at 630pm my time. I asked ally to set up an account for me and to email the password and username to me and then you guys just gotta be on your emails in case there are technical difficulties.

So the other day we were in our apt and my companion had this song that was English and he wanted me write the lyrics and while I was doing it he was just like ´oh fetch´´ and stood up and I looked at him and when I did I felt something crawling up my arm. It was a cockroach! Haha I jumped and it fell off my arm and on my lap and then I tried to get away and tripped over my chair and then over my companions chair. It was kinda funny. But now I know there are live cockroaches in my appt.

Sorry to hear about your food poisoning. That’s like the worst sickness I’ve ever had and it was terrible. It’s good that you’re okay now.

I think that I will learn Portuguese in less than a month. I’m already able to have a broken conversation with someone and I can teach the whole first lesson which we timed and it takes about 17 mins so I can talk in Portuguese for 17 minutes. It really is a blessing to have a Brazilian companion. And when were one the streets I can usually understand what people are saying when I ask them if I can share a message with them.

It was kinda funny the other day we were contacting people on the streets and normally people stop to talk to us but for some reason not a lot of people would stop to talk, in fact it seemed like they would speed up so after a while I just started to walk with them and talk. It was effective on one person who was kinda laughing at me when I was walking and talking poor Portuguese with her but she gave us her address and were gonna visit her house another day.

My companion saw those numbers that are your budget and he thought that it was your salary when I tried to explain it to him. Haha he thought I was a millionaire for a second. But that is awesome that you get to use that much money!

That’s sweet your training for a marathon! It’s funny cause Ally is actually going to do that too. But I will hold you accountable. I want to do a marathon when I get back. I don’t think it would be that hard. I walk like at least a marathon every day and sometimes we have to run and it’s not as hard anymore. So when I get home well have to do one together.

I had a pretty cool experience this week with prayer and getting an answer, but I sent it to mom so you’ll have to read her email. Hope everything goes well for Maddi in the talent show. It will be an awesome experience for sure.

Anyway I gotta go. I love you and keep you in my prayers.

 

Love,

Elder Raleigh

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Elder Ian McKay Raleigh
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