4/11/12

Feliz páscoa!

So I am in Aracaju Sul in a place called Grageru II  and it is awesome. It's the other state in our mission, which means I am no longer in the poorest state in Brazil= so much cleaner, safer, and more organized. My new comp is Elder Bradshaw who leaves the mission after this transfer. I am "killing" him in the mission. I am in the Grageru II ward and there are three cities in my area. So what I was working in the past 6 months of my mission, is now tripled so there is tons more to do. The difference is more walking. about 1 hour and a half to get to the one side of our area to another. Long I know but so worth it!  We should have a lot of success in this area, we just have to work hard and help the most people we can. My trainer is my zone leader! I still haven't left his side since we got transferred. He is the best influence to me and I will never forget him.
haha Thomas is still preparing to go on a mission hilarious! but tell him the he should read the scriptures at least 5 minutes every day too!

So I got here in this area and we already had two investigators at church. More than I had my entire last area! I am pumped to work here.
I can print the emails that you send, the problem is that I don't have much time to read them. Today I read the entire book "our heritage" it isn't very long but I finished it in 4 hours or so. I have never done that in my life.
So in Brazil they have these giant chocolate eggs. That is all that they do for Easter haha.

That is awesome that Bob and Linda are serving a mission!

so I don't have anything that cool to say this week. It was my comps birthday so I made him a dessert, and he had to visit Maceió to get his passport renewed so I am in a threesome until he gets back. Next week I will have more to say and baptisms to talk about!

eu amo vocês e espero que vocês lembrerem sobre o salvador jesus cristo durante este feriado. sempre tenta fazer seus melhores para que possamos viver com Deus novamente.

LOVE ELDER JAKE LANGLOIS

 

4/2/2012

Hello!
 Conference was awesome! and we got to hear every single session
 including the one that starts 9 at night here, the priesthood session.  Like you said, just listening to the
prophets and apostles speaking shows that our church is true. The
awesome feelings of peace and joy that we get show that the things
they speak are true. Also Richard G. Scott speaks portuguese so he
recorded his talk and they played that instead of the translation. It
was awesome and the spirit is so much stronger when you hear the real
voice of the apostle.
My birthday presents were awesome, they dont have to be on the day for
 it to good. I just had my birthday a little early this year.
 That is soooo awesome that you talked to the vollyball team! I am so
 jealous! Do Josue's parents speak english? Are they members yet? haha
 That is cool that they are winning almost every single game now. Maybe
 this is the year. Tell Taylor that I say hi.
 So I have to explain the pictures that I sent this week. This isn't my
 baptism, but it is in my old area in benedito. So 3 people that Ialways joked with and talked with got baptized! yesterday I got to see
 one of them get baptized and it makes me realize that you dont have to
 do the work to be apart of the work. iIwas just always joking with
 them trying to teach them, but they didnt want anything at that
 moment. The other missionaries got here and they opened up and receive
 the missinary lessons. how cool is that!
 That book sounds really fun, you don't have to send to me on the
 mission, I can wait till I get home to read it.
So I got transfered! tomorrow I find out where I am going, and who is
 my new comp. Next week I will tell you everything that happened during
 transfers. everything here is peachy, excited to leave my area and get
 to know more of brazil. eu estou muito feliz estar aqui no brasil. eu
 sei que isso é o trabalho que eu preciso fazer neste momento. eu penso
 sobre voces muito e sempre estou orando para ajudar voces.
 LOVE ELDER JAKE LANGLOIS

3/26/2012

hello!
 So I got both packages this week and I already opened them both! and I already used the new shoes! haha everything I got is so cool! especially those straws that make milk chocolate and vanilla milk shake. So weird but so fun!
I wont pay for a box, I will just let it go back to you guys and I am needing more q tips, you can just put them in the next box. No rush and I will never need a new shirt again. I already have 12 haha. Also you can stop with the deodorant at the moment too but thank you!
  I don't think I want anything from the bookstore, maybe the spring addition to the BYU magazine and if they have a book called defense day. I think, in Portuguese its (dia de defesa) try to find it for me:)
What the heck! I cant believe that the girls golf team is going to Hawaii! why did we never go to Hawaii! I am mad at you Yellum haha.
We had one investigator at church! and it looks like he will be baptized this Sunday! finally and its the last week of the transfer. I think I will be leaving this time. Maybe to Sergipe the other state in our mission. I checked the wells fargo card, you guys need to do something and change the info.
That missionary that got hit by a train is the other missionary's (that is living in my house) comp from the mtc. Crazy how small the world is, hopefully he is alright.
so... some stories. We had a meeting this week with our district and we did a practice. 30min to do whatever possible to find people to teach. We talked with 22 people in 30min and opened my mind. Realizing that I can do so much better than I was doing before, and we had an investigator at church because of this!
also that cheesecake in the package was amazing. First thing to go haha
So we did service and I took pictures of my hands after. This old lady cut down her tree, so we had to move the giant branches from one side of the house to the front. It was soooo hard and everything was so heavy. We also had to cut one in half with an axe which is why my hands are jacked. Also i almost died. I was untying a rope and I touched something that felt like string. I looked and it was a spider web, but it wasn't a normal one! it was stronger than thread and the spider on it was humongous! it was a sliver backed one, and for sure was poisonous but it didn't bite me and I am alive:)
 That's all for the week, I love you guys and hope everything is going well!
todos vocês devem praticar seu portuguê para que cuando eu voltar podemos conversar!
amo vocês
LOVE ELDER JAKE LANGLOIS

3/19/12

Olá!
So it might have been the weight or something like that because I had to pay,a but the mission office didn't get me the paper until it already was sent back:(
I already got one of the packages! It was awesome and has everything that I could ever want. Peanut butter, ties, cheesecake! ping pong what the heck! ha
Elise is serving in the Salt Lake Temple! that is so cool. I heard that mission is really fun, and you can visit her.
So unfortunately we had no one at church again but we taught 17 new people this week so at least we are keeping busy. Everyone we talk to is flaky even the ones that say we are answers to their prayers. It's hard but we know we are doing our best.
Please say hi to the BYU team for me! and happy birthday to Sara for me when you get there.
I got the Easter card too! which was funny and I got a card from Aimee Whitmarsh. I read it in an Australian accent to my roommates haha.
We had an activity this week that was an adventure to the three kingdoms of heaven. Everyone started in an airplane and we had sounds and special effects and everyone died. We then took them to telestial which was in the baptismal font. It's creepy in there when it is dark and empty. Then to the terrestrial which was the relief society room then to the chapel. When we brought them through the cultural hall we made towers of chairs like giant gates, and I dressed up in all white because I am the only white missionary so they said I had to be the angel hhahaha.
and something else hilarious that I thought would never happen in my life. Some guy from Chile came to our ward asking for money on Sunday. I got to practice my Spanish which was AWESOME! I can almost carry on a whole conversation, but my comp had to help me out. Anyway that's all here. I love you guys and hope everyone is doing well!
LOVE ELDER JAKE LANGLOIS

If you want to respond to this email with a letter for Jake, we will forward it on and he will respond back through email when time permits.
He would love to hear from all of you at anytime.  Letters from home are priceless when you are on a mission so far from home.  THANK YOU!

If you want to send a letter through US mail, one piece of paper with an envelope is $.98.


Elder Jake Langlois
Brazil Maceio Mission
Av. Dom Antonio Brandao, 333 Sala 402
Ed. Work Center, Farol
Maceio-AL   57021-190  Brazil

3/12/12

Hello!!!

Wow. Tons of missionaries are coming back, but don't worry I am too! I finish 1/3 of my mission tomorrow. It's getting closer and closer ha. The postal system here is definitely not the best in the world. Everything is getting lost or sent back to you guys  but, it happens, part of the mission in Brazil.
So bad news, we had 0 at church AGAIN, but we cant stop working. I have never had this before, and it is really weird how we aren't able to get people to church. It's alright though because we are working for the blessings not just here but when I get back home too. Really, if you try hard every day and trust in the lord, your mission will be a success.  Everything is a little harder right now, as our ward is falling and they are revolting against the missionaries. Just put the blame on them! haha but president Gonzaga will burn them so hard this week for talking to us like that. I am excited to see what happens.
So there are two other missionaries living in our house now, because they don't have a house yet. They have been living here for 2 weeks, but our house only fits two people. It's tight, but fun and is always good when we get back home and we can forget about the bad things that happened that day. We were lucky that they came. 

That is awesome that Thomas is playing on the volleyball team! he is going to dominate! I hope he remembers everything that we taught him. 

yeah so we moved that entire house without anything, and yes I am getting muscular not to brag or anything. We are doing a Canadian army workout that the presidents wife gave us. 6 pages of workouts increasingly harder. We jumped to the third page and are now waiting the 4-6 pages haha. It is fun, but it is getting ridiculously hard. My clothes are the same though, no problems.

Something hilarious that happened this week was something that a lady said to us when we were knocking doors. We were talking about baptism and what makes a baptism real (Christ's baptism) she said that the only way we could have a true baptism was if we got baptized in the River Jordan in the same place where Jesus was baptized! hahaha it was really funny. She was totally serious, and I might have laughed.... but in the end she laughed too after we explained it a little. 

oh, the English classes are going awesome. We are teaching every Friday, and everyone is liking it. Maybe they aren't learning that much but they are happy haha. 

 Love you guys a ton and know I am here for a reason. I am doing everything that my heavenly father wants me to do here!

LOVE ELDER JAKE LANGLOIS

3/5/12

Hello everyone!

So... I looked up the package and it was sent back to the US. Usually they should try three times to send the package but that didn't happen. so... the secretary of the mission called and he tried to find out what happened, but I think it has to be you that complains. It's sad:(

So it seems like this area is a lot more difficult, but the first one was worse haha. The problem is that no one wants to go to church. We have gone 6 weeks without anyone there and every week we have at least ten people that say they will go! it's so sad.

That is so cool that Taylor came back! he is actually playing now! I think he will be fine, as long as he doesn't get a huge block with his hand. Now our team has a better chance with him., 

Yes... I know you said that I would need piano one day in my life, but it is so boring. I am trying to learn while I am here because I can focus a lot better. We will see what happens. 

That is so cool that Dylan is coming to my mission! I want to train him so bad! that would be so cool! don't worry about me going to the Catholic church a lot. It just strengthens my testimony that the church of Jesus Christ is the true church haha.

So some things that happened this week-

We met a catholic girl this week and she seemed so perfect. She read the Book of Mormon and did everything we asked, but she ran away on Sunday. We knocked her door for 15 minutes hoping she would be there haha. so sad I know. We had a zone conference too which went really well, and we learned a ton about how to teach better and find people easier. There is a picture attached of our mission.

So one day I was studying and I heard a familiar song. Guess what it was? Grease!!!!!!!!!! I thought of Sara instantly and started to sing along with my comp. Did you know that Grease was a big hit in the entire world? cool huh?

the funniest story was something that I like to call the power move. We had to move somebody to a different house this week. The houses were about a half mile apart. We didn't have a car or a truck, or anything to put the stuff in to transfer to the other house. We moved every piece of furniture,  every piece of everything to the other house walking! it was ridiculous. It took 5 hours to move them in and every ounce of our strength. Seems ridiculous I know, but we will be blessed for that. Just thinking about it makes me tired...

anyway that was my week. I know that everything we do in life that is good will have a blessing that will come later in life. I am starting to see that in my life and in lives of other people. Love you guys a ton!!!!!!!!!

LOVE ELDER JAKE LANGLOIS

2/27/12

Família e meus amigos!

My week was good once again, but a little disappointing on Sunday. None of our investigators went to church. We tried to pick up 5 to go to church with us and no one came... we are trying everything! anyway....me and my comp are really tight, we get a long great.  I know that is just a tool of Satan and we will receive the blessings soon.

I still haven't gone to a post office, but I might today and if not i will see if the mission already received it Thursday when we go to a zone conference. If not, next p day I will go to the post office for sure. Does it matter what post office?
The BYU volleyball team seems like it is struggling without Taylor. I hope he gets better soon so they can actually win this year. That is crazy that his hand broke, I still don't believe it. 

Can't believe that Rachael is already coming home. It seems like she just left. Grandma and grandpa too haha. Time is flying by for me too. Every week is like a blink of an eye. Almost to the point it feels like we don't have enough time to work. 

The Spanish Book of Mormon is for me of course! I am learning a ton of Spanish, and I prayed the other night in Spanish hahaha. It is awesome.

Carnaval finally ended and without an injury to the missionaries. There were +/- 100 deaths on the day of Carnaval and there was a fight against the judges of the floats and samba schools. it was crazy. Everything is fine now. 

so guess what? I am the pianist of our ward! I am learning how to play piano too! I can sight read the right hand on almost every hymn, and I can actually play some of them but the pianos here come with all of the hymns in them and I just touch one key and it plays. haha so I am almost the pianist. 

and we went to the Catholic church this week! we have an investigator that invited us to go there. It was... different. Everyone was staring at the Mormons in the Catholic church, and there was a time when the "father" asked that all of the people that were visiting for the first stand up so we did and it was like everyone was judging us (all 800) at once haha. I felt so awkward but just smiled the entire time. There wasn't one person that greeted me either. It was fun haha but if any of you that are catholic and haven't gone to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Saints, then you definitely should visit there. I went to your church... now you get to visit the church of Jesus Christ! 

I'll write a little in Portuguese for you guys alright?

entaõ, tudo está bem aqui em brasil. estamos trabalhando demais e eu sei que Deus vai nos abençoar pelos sacrifícios que estamos fazendo. eu amos todos vocês e quero que vocês visitem a igreja dos " mórmons" só para provar. eu sei que isso vai trazer felicidade em suas vidas. 

Até mais!!!

ELDER JAKE LANGLOIS