Elder Joshua Sheffield

June 24 2019 Mission Office Things this week Some answers to questions The phrase "Opa beleza" or "Opa tudo bem" or "Oi prazer" is a greeting. The formal or informal Portuguese really depends on the person and you change a lot how  you talk depending on who you are talking too, but I think I have a pretty good range of formal and informal Portuguese. But it's pretty much the same just some vocabulary that changes or really slang words . We wake up 6:30 am. I don’t know if I’m a morning person but it’s easy to get up at that time, with a purpose or with something already planned to do like exercise  or district prayer.  haha You asked if I’m still good at puns. I’m still making jokes ya, but I think my companions think they are  "muito Ruim" (really terrible) but I think he’s just laughing on the inside.  Fewer people are asking what country I’m from and instead ask what part of Brazil I’m from. So my accents getting better!!!!  ...

June 17 2019 Feliz dia dos Pais (Happy Father's Day)    We had branch conference and it was great! We had ties made for all the men that sang with us in the choir. Hahaha .  We sang “Faith in every footstep”, “miricale” and “We’ll bring the world its truth”. We had a family there with us, Junior and his wife and their two kids. We had marked to visit them tonight with a member family, but it turns out we are going to catch a bus at 6:30 to go to another missionary house so that we can make it to zone conference tomorrow. President has been sending a lot of emails and texts to us. I think he wants to do everything he can to make us the best we can be before he leaves the mission in a couple of weeks. I wish you guys could know president Lascerda. He is such an example . M an, he’s a great guy. We also had divisions on Friday with Elder Shorts. He a great district leader . I learned a lot while I spent time with him. We have taught a lot with member...

We worked our butts off this week and it was great. We are in a branch here but it has a lot more members than my last area. And we eat lunch with members every day. This week we spent so much time looking for people. I’m helping my  companion get over his fear to start a conversation with strangers . H e is a great guy. Just quiet. We are trying to visit all of the less active members and updating "The LIST". We visited some people that hadn’t been to church in months. Some haven’t been in almost a year. I said to my companion that I would ask one guy to help us get to know the neighborhood and find some friends here. My companion said, “there is no way that he will want to help us”. But when we gave him a short lesson, shared testimonies and then asked him to come with us for the day, he said: “for sure”. We met a bunch of people and he bore his testimony of the church and the Book of Mormon and prayer. As a missionary, you have to be bold you have to invite with c...

Helping missionaries at the bus stop Oiiii familia, What a week I left my area Tuesday and there was an accident along the road so the I couldn't get to my connecting bus to get to my area of Três Corações . So I stayed in the bus station for the day helping with transfers, helping missionaries catch buses and helping buy tickets for the other missionaries . It was great getting to talk to all the missionaries as they were coming and leaving .  We taught some people at the bus station and had good discussions. It’s like a 6-hour bus ride to my new area. I finally got there and got to work . The city is Três Corações. You’ve probably never heard of it, but it’s the birthplace of "O Rei Pele" , the king of soccer so there are some statues and streets and buildings named after him . My new companion is Elder Costa from the Federal District of Brasil , called “Brasilia the Capital of Brasil”.  He’s great, really responsible and a good missionary ...