FINAL EMAIL!!!

June 7th

Well, this is it! My last email out to everyone.

This week was tough with a lot of things not going as planned with our investigators and stuff, but at the same time it was full of small miracles. Elder Niedert and I were out in our area and all the investigators we had planned to visit weren't at home. So we stopped and decided to say a prayer to know where we should go, because we were out of ideas! Right after that, we just decided to knock on the door across the street from where we were, and we ended up finding a man named Paulo. He lives alone and his house is also super close to the church building. The first thing he said was "I've already gone to a bunch of different churches, but in every one I find something a bit different. Shouldn't there just be one right church?" How cool! Yesterday, the exact same thing happened, and so after we said another prayer we were walking down the street and I felt like we should knock on a specific house. Right after I slowed down to go, Elder Niedert stopped and said that we should knock on the same house. So we went over there and we were answered by a 20 year old guy named Marcos. He said he used to be super active in his church and has always been super into religion and had even done missionary work, but recently he had fallen "back into the world" and had desire to get back on the right path. He knows the Bible a bit and is smart so it was a super cool lesson. It's cool to see how fast the Lord answered our prayers this week with these two experiences. It doesn't always happen like that in life though, and I'd say that the majority of the time it doesn't! It's always in the Lord's time, He does things knowing perfectly when in order to bless us the most. But, when it does happen immediately I'm grateful!

So we're going to have Milton's baptism tomorrow! After not being baptized last week because of smoking, it was a miracle that he is ready. Even though we had to travel this week, we used the ward to keep him ready. We had members go to his house every single day in the morning to help him not smoke! It was so cool to see how the ward helped him, and now he's more than ready for his baptism. His conversion taught me that really anything is possible if it's God's will. After smoking almost his entire life, he was able to stop in just 3 weeks and give up all of his old habits to follow Christ's example and be baptized. I also say the importance of doing it as a team, without the ward I don't think he would be ready by now. When we have problems in our lives, we need to get help from those around us! It's much easier going through the journey of life with as many people helping us as possible.

So, to end, I'd like to thank everyone so much for all the support I've received over these last months. Every prayer, thought, all made a difference. When times were tough for me, it always brought a lot of comfort thinking about all my family and friends praying and rooting for me back home. During these 2 years I've had the opportunity of a lifetime to learn and to give everything to do the will of the Lord. Although it's impossible to write down every little thing that I've learned, one thing that I feel like sharing from what I've learned is that life is what we make of it. No matter what the situation, if we sincerely want to we can get something out of it. Something that my Dad told me over a year ago that changed my perspective is that "The Lord gives us all the opportunities we need". And it's true! God knows us perfectly and because of that everything that happens in our lives can possibly be something that we can use to grow and become more the person that He wants us to be, but it depends on us and if we really want it. I'm grateful for everything that I've experienced on the mission, especially the hard moments. I'm grateful for knowing that I can always trust in the Lord and knowing that it will turn out okay in the end. And I'm especially grateful for the opportunity He gave me to serve a mission and be His representative, they really are the best 2 years! Once again, thank you all for everything! And well, see you soon!

Elder Odom

Banana Bread, Travel and Splits

June 30th

Hey there!

So this week we had some ups and some downs. We spent a lot of time traveling again which was a lot of fun.  Our first stop was in a city called Jaboticabal. It was cool to go there because I've already sone spits there 2 other times! I was able to spend the day with and Elder named Elder Do Carmo. His story is actually really cool. He's from a state called Rodônia and is the only member in his family. He used to be super active in his old church and even played in the band there! Then a friend of his started to talk to him about the Book of Mormon and so he started to read it. He actually read the whole thing in just a month! He said that after he finished it, he knew that the church was true and against his family's wishes he decided to get baptized, and just 1 year later went on a mission. Whenever I hear about stories like his, I just get so grateful for everything that I've been blessed with. If the start of the mission was hard for me, imagine someone who's only been a member for only a year!

On Wednesday, we went with President and Sister Scholz to a city called Araraquara because interviews for the missionaries started this week. It's always super cool traveling in their car in the morning with them because Sister Scholz always makes us banana bread! Sooooo good. I was able to do a split with Elder Leão. We had some cool experiences together! One of them was with their recent convert that's 15 years old that has stopped going to church because of other members/drama in the ward. We went to her house and just talked about the importance of reading the book of mormon daily. We also asked her what has changed in her life since she has stopped reading everyday and going to church each week, and then she started to recognize the difference the gospel makes in her life. She said she'd go to church this week, so let's hope she does!

Reeally early next morning we had to wake up to get the bus to get back to Ribeirão Preto, so we woke up at 3:30 am, got a taxi at 4:15, and left in the bus at 5:00 and at 7:45we were going with Pres and Sis Scholz to Franca in their car again, and with more banana bread. We got there and then from there I got to do something that I've never done before on the mission! We decided to do splits in a city called Passos, which is actually outside the state of São Paulo in a state called Minas Gerais, so I got to work in another state which was really cool. The people there aren't too different or anything, but it's greener there and the people have a slightly different accent. I was with a missionary named Elder Alan, I was actually his district leader when he got to the mission. We had some really cool experiences that day. We were on our way to a lesson when an older lady stopped us and asked what we do. So, we took advantage of the opportunity and taught her! She was there with her husband and they talked about how their son is in a lot of trouble with drugs and now he's currently in a rehab facility. It was funny, because as we was listening I kept changing my mind about which lesson we were going to teach. First I pulled out the Restoration pamphlet, then the Gospel of Christ one, and at the end I just had a feeling to give them a book of mormon. But instead of explaining about it and where it came from I just told them that it would help them get through all their challenges, the blessings they'd get from reading it, etc. The lady who stopped us's reaction was really interesting. She got the Book of Mormon and held it to her chest as if it were something super special to her and she thanked us so much for coming. How cool! We sometimes get caught up in the little details, but in doing so we often times take focus away from the main point. Then later in the day, we went to contact a referral they received from a member. We actually stopped by the member's house and had her come with us to the lesson, which was just down the street. When we got the house, Ana Paula (the referral) answered and said that she was actually on her way to the hospital because she'd had severe stomach pains all day. Her life is super tough too. She's a mom on 3 kids and her job is really hard and she gets paid very little, and on top of that her husband is in jail. So we offered to give her a blessing on the spot and then we had a little time to teach. We had a very spiritual experience talking about the importance of daily prayer, scripture study, and weekly church attendance. We had the member bare her testimony about how the church has blessed her life. It was super cool and Ana Paula promised she'd go to church on Sunday!

So, something that Elder Niedert and I have studied about is the brazen serpent that Moses used to cure the Jews, and how lots of them didn't look to be cured just because it was too simple (in 1 Nephi 17:41). Sometimes we think "Wow, I can't believe they just didn't look! How could they not do something like that!" But when we stop to think about it, we are the same way with small and simple things that the Lord asks of us. Whether it be doing our visits, reading daily from the scriptures, or whatever it may be, these are the things that we often times don't do because maybe we don't believe it will make that big of a difference. But as we learn from the scriptures, it's these very things that can save our lives!

But, that's it for me. This next email will be my last because on my last saturday I'll be in a few trainings for returning missionaries. It's all gone by so fast! But, I love you and until next saturday!

Elder Odom

Zone Conference and pray for Milton

Okay, another week!

This week was just a lot of zone conference stuff. Not sure if I've already mentioned it in the past, but we have 3 of them per transfer so we had them on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Here we have a tradition of letting the missionaries who're heading home bear their testimonies, so I got to do that during each conference. It was a really cool experience but a little hard too, trying to summarize everything I've learned during these past months. One thing that I realized though saying  goodbye to all the missionaries is that even though I'll really miss being a missionary, one of the hardest parts of leaving will definitely be all the cool people I'll have to leave behind! It's been so cool getting to know so many great missionaries.

So we have one investigator, Milton, that's really progressing, and he needs your guy's help!! He is the dad of a returned missionary and is super super cool. He knows the church is true, but the only thing holding him back is smoking. He's gone down to only smoking 1 to 1 1/2 cigarettes per day, but he needs to stop TODAY so that he can get baptized on the 30th! So everyone please pray for him!!

Other than that, we'll be traveling a bunch this week again. I'll be going to a city called Passos, which is actually in a different state called Minas Gerais, so that should be cool!

During my personal study this week, I was reading Mormon 9 and found a verse that I've been thinking about a lot. it's Mormon 9:21. "21 Behold, I say unto you that whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, whatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him; and this promise is unto all, even unto the ends of the earth."

How cool is this promise! Anything we ask for in faith will be given to us. This is something that I know is true, I've seen it time and time again on my mission. I'm so grateful for the scriptures and the guidance we can receive from them.

Sorry for the short email, but until next week! I love you!!

Elder Odom

Be careful with q-tips and don't just sleep on any old mattress

June 16th

One more week, man it goes by fast. Well this week was another of traveling and going on splits in other cities, it was a lot of fun!

So I had a pretty interesting experience during my first division. We had mission leadership council on Tuesday, than we got in a van with the leaders that are in other cities and went to do some splits with them. So on Wednesday morning, I was getting ready and decided to clean my ear with a q-tip. But, out of nowhere, I went almost deaf in my left ear! I was super confused and tried to rinse out my ear with water, but nothing worked. Turns out that a piece of cotton came off the q-tip and got lodged in my ear, basically blocking off my hearing. So we went to a district meeting and after that I decided I wouldn't be able to work without hearing all the way. I was really surprised at how hard it was for me to understand people and hear what was going on with only one ear! I got ahold of Elder McLean who took my spot as secretary and had him send me an address to a hospital. So after the district meeting, we went over there. It was pretty lame because it was during splits and that's that last thing I wanted to do, but if I didn't it would be really hard to work effectively. So after going to the address that I got, we say that it was the wrong one somehow! We ended up having to go to another hospital and after waiting to get seen, they sent me to another specialist because they didn't have to tools necessary to get it out. So we went to the specialist, had some confusion because of my health card and my foreigner document, and finally I got in to see the doctor. He just got this special tool that blasted water in my ear and got out the cotton. But wow, I learned this week to not take anything for granted! It's really bad to not be able to hear!

But, then we went to another city called Mirassol and did a division. We chose to go there because it's been a really long time since the assistants have gone. So we got there at night and slept. The plan was to go and sleep there for 2 nights and in the morning of the second day take an early bus back to Ribeirão, but then we had another interesting experience... We got there and the missionaries there puled out 2 mattresses for us to sleep on that are probably at least 10 years old and threw on some sheets over top. Then in the morning as were were studying, we started noticing little tiny bugs crawling on us. At first the other Elders said it's normal, but then we started seeing more and more... Elder Niedert couldn't take it anymore and took off his shirt and found like 6 under his collar and a few jumping down his leg. So yeah, the old mattresses we used were infested with little bugs... So during that whole day we were kind of itchy and we just felt gross. We also decided that we couldn't sleep another night on those mattresses, se we sacrificed our sleep to do some late traveling go go back to the other city and sleep there and then travel early in the morning. 

So 2 lessons I learned this week; be careful with q-tips and don't just sleep on any old mattress. 

Next week we won't travel as much because we have zone conferences, so it'll be another good opportunity to see all the other missionaries from around the mission. Thanks for everything! Love you!

Elder Odom

All in the LordsTiming

June 9th

This past week was another good one. We started by sending the returning missionaries off on Monday. It was a really good group of missionaries that went home, a lot of them were great leaders on the mission! One of them that went home was Elder Vilas Boas, who I stayed with for so long as secretary. It was really sad to see him go, but I'm grateful that I got to be companions with him for so long and for everything that we learned together. At least we'll have social media to keep in touch! But then on Tuesday we got to get the new missionaries from the airport, give a few training's to them and to the missionaries that will train them, and had lunch at Presidents house with the new missionaries. That's probably the best part of that day honestly because when we eat at President and Sister Scholz's house it's always american food! I mean don't get me wrong, I like rice and beans but sometimes it's nice to get a break every once in awhile. From there we took the van to the other side of the mission with the new missionaries and their comps. We went to a city called Birigui to do splits with the zone leaders there. I stayed with a new zone leader named Elder Schezoski from Curitiba. From there we went to Araçatuba and did splits there. Elder Niedert and I went to different areas than we normally do, and I got to do a split with Elder Wilkey, who is from Ty's grade and went to Jordan High too! We had a fun day and were able to find a lot of cool people for him to teach.

While I was there though, I had a really cool experience. We were planning and i was looking through the area book and was asking about ex-investigators. Then I found a name that Ithough looked familiar. Elder Wilkey told me a little about the family and then I realized that I knew them! So at the very beginning of my mission I gave english classes every week, and there was a girl and her mom that always went. But, they'd had some really bad experiences in aonther religion so they didn't want anything to do with the church, they just wanted to learn english. I remember thinking "Are we wasting our time teaching?" because only they would go and nobody else. But I just kept teaching during my 18 weeks there and after I was transferred I never heard more about them. Well it turns out that about 9 months ago the girl, Milena, decided to go to church. She immediately noticed that it made a positive difference and after 2 months decided to get baptized! Now her mom and older brother are going to church every week even though they haven't been baptized yet, but someday they will be. Another cool thing is that Milena was barely starting to study english when I was there and spoke very very little, but she always studied really hard. But now, she speaks fluently and she's super firm in the church! It was a super cool experience for me and taught me that no effort is useless. President always says that we are "planting seeds" everyday here on the mission and someday, someone will reap them! It's all in the timing of the Lord.

That's it for this week though. Have a great week!! 

Elder Odom

Heading into last transfer!

June 2nd

One more week down! This week was a bit more relaxed because it was the last week of the transfer, so we didn't do any traveling or anything. This week our main focus was getting everything ready for the transfer coming up on monday. We went to President Scholz's house on Tuesday night to talk to him about who he'd picked to become leaders, where the missionaries are going to serve, etc. What's cool is that Sister Scholz had made cookies and ice cream for us! She's the best! 

In our area, it was a bit tougher with a few things that happened. We've been really focused on a 14 year old kids named Johnny, and he was progressing really well. He even said that when he prayed he felt something in his heart, like a feeling he can't describe . He said that when he got his answer he thought "wow! God really is responding to me!" He was excited for his baptism tomorrow, until this week. We taught him about the Word of Wisdom and he didn't really understand the whole coffee part. And we found out yesterday that his dad and a few other people are telling him that it's "too early" and that if he gets baptized he won't be able to do a bunch of stuff, like date. So, for now it looks like we'll have to keep working with him. We were also teaching Edson and Gustavo that I think I already mentioned, but after we had to travel for a week and we weren't able to follow up with them during that time, they totally lost the desire to be baptized. We don't know what happened! But, we'll give them a little time and then we'll see where they are in a little bit. Right now we're trying to re-build up our teaching pool again. We have a few investigators that we're teaching, but nobody super solid as of now. But, it'll all work out! We just need to be patient and keep doing our part! 

This next transfer should be a really busy one. It's going to be 6 weeks and this time we're planning on doing a lot of splits with other missionaries around the mission, so we'll probably be traveling around a lot! We don't have everything figured out yet, but it should be a great last transfer!

Well, that's about all that happened this week. Until next Saturday!

Elder Odom

Racing to catch the bus and more travel

May 26th

This week we basically just spent the whole week traveling. We left on monday night and got back at around 2:00 in the afternoon on friday! So we had a few adventures this week, the first one was in a city called Araraquara. We got there monday night, worked all day Tuesday, and left Tuesday night. We had to catch our bus at 8:45 pm, and we were going to meet up with the other Elders at the missionaries' house. We got there at 8:10, a little behind schedule but still good to go. We had already called a member and he was going to give us a ride to the bus station, but on the way we had to pass by this pizzaria that is famous among the missionaries for having some of the best pizza on the mission! As we were walking to the members house, I asked the missionaries that stay in the area how long it takes to get to the bus station, and they said about 20 mins in a car. So we went to this members house but when we got there, we told him we were ready to go but he just kind of paused and said "uhh, dude, I don't have a car". Turns out his wife had taken his car without him noticing! He called her and she said she was getting back. When she finally pulled up we all hopped into the car and took off flying at 8:35 pm. We then asked the member how long it would take to get to the bus station. He said "15 mins, but I can get there in 9". I've never gone so fast in a car on the mission! He was literally almost flying! I don't know how, but we got there! We even passed by the pizzaria and got 2 pizzas that we had ordered. We went in, bought our tickets and got there just as the bus pulled in. But, after we got to the next city (São José do Rio Preto) it was already pretty late, and neither of us knew how to get to the missionaries apartment. We had called them before and only knew which city bus to take. So we got on the bus and talked to the bus driver. What's funny is when we were getting close to where the apartment is, the bus driver and some random other guy started to talk about where the missionaries live. "I think they live on this street." "No, I'm pretty sure it's the next one." And it turns out they were right! They knew exactly which apartment building was the right one. Pretty funny that the bus driver and some random guy knew where the missionaries live!

But, the time we spent working with the zone leaders was awesome. I got to work in my last area with Elder Vilas Boas! He's actually heading home on the 3rd, so it was our last opportunity we had to work together. I'm super grateful that I could get to know so many cool people like him on the mission! 

But, sorry for the short email. I'm a bit short on time today! Until next week!

Elder Odom

Trainings and Travel

May 19th

Hey! Another good week!

We had Zone Conferences this week, and so we got to give trainings and travel around which was a lot of fun. In our training, Elder Niedert and I focused on the importance of working with members. It turned out really good and we're looking forward to see the results in the mission!

This week in our area, we had it a bit tougher because a lot of the people that we had been teaching lost interest and said that they didn't want to learn more. There were a lot more people than normal and it was pretty sad to see that they can't see the importance of the gospel. Like I've said before, I think this is one of the hardest parts of being a missionary, but it gives me an idea of how our Heavenly Father feels when we don't keep the commandments. This is something I'm really grateful for that I've learned on the mission. It seems like now I have a clearer view of what's important. But, the Lord was still able to bless us with a really cool couple to teach, and they said they're excited to go to church this sunday!

We also did splits with the zone leaders in a zone in Ribeirão Preto. I was with Elder Molinari who is one of my good friends here on the mission. He's heading home on the 4th of next month, so it was our last chance to work together! We focused on finding new investigators that would progress. We had a cool experience with this. We sat down after lunch for him to pass me all the appointments they had marked, and then right as we were about to end someone in the house close to us went in and out of their house. We said a prayer during the prayer I felt like we should talk to the person, and then as I got up I said "let's go talk to that girl who just went into that house" the Elder Molinari said "I just had that same feeling during the prayer!" So we went and taught her and her boyfriend, and they were super interested! They really understood the message, especially about the importance to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet or not. It's so cool to see how the Lord guides us in all we do!

But, that's about it for this week. This next week we'll be traveling almost all week again, including to my last area! It should be full of great experiences. I love you, until next week!

Elder Odom

Visiting Araçatuba and Bus issues

May 12th

Hey there!

Wow, it was a great week! This past week we basically just spent traveling around to other cities to do splits with the zone leaders. On Wednesday I got to go back to Araçatuba and work in my very first area again! It's been a year and 4 months since I've been there. I ran into the bishop at the church building and at the end of the day I got to see my very first baptism, Eunice! She was super excited to see me. It was funny, because at first she didn't recognize me because it was dark outside. But once we got inside she turned and saw me then gave a little scream! But it really was such a fun time to catch up with her and see that she's still going strong at can be in the church.

The next day we headed to another city called Birigui, and I got to go out with Elder Cleverly from my group, one of my best friends on the mission. It's kinda funny because even though we've been on the mission this whole time together, we've never gotten to work or teach together! So it was a blast to spend a day with him. We taught a family of 5 that he's teaching and I was super impressed with them. In the family there is a mom, her sister, and 3 little girls. The mom has gone through a lot of hard times in her life but now is super excited for her baptism. She's already totally converted and hasn't even been baptized yet! We taught about temples and they already got super excited to go to the Campinas temple to do baptisms for the dead for their ancestors. 

After the day was over, Elder Niedert and I were planning on taking an overnight bus to Ribeirão Preto because we needed to be here early friday morning to plan for zone conferences. So we headed out but once we got to the bus station at 11:15 at night, we realized that the ticket booth had already closed... Dang! But we knew we'd still be able to pay the bus driver in cash, but the problem was that we only had money on our cards! So we went to a restaurant to see if they would let us pass R$100 on our cards and give us cash back, but they said they couldn't. As we were looking of anther place to take out money, a member puled up out of nowhere and asked "Elders, what are you guys doing? Need help?" We explained our situation and he told us to jump into the car. We zoomed to a bank to take our money, but the door was locked. We went to another one and even though the door was open, all the atms were broken! So we went back to the bus station and found out from a homeless guy that the bus had just left 2 mins before... So, we went back to the other missionaries apartment and and then ended up taking the bus the next morning. It was a funny experience!

It's been a really good 3 weeks so far here in the office again. My comp Elder Niedert is a great missionary and I'm learning lots everyday. I'm so grateful to be here and for everything that happens out here in the mission field! Until next week!

Elder Odom

What!? Back in the office!

May 5th

Hey!

Wow, sorry for not writing for the last 2 weeks! it's been super busy for me! But a lot has happened... 

So to start, I was called back to the mission office! This time as an assistant though. But by the end of my mission I'll have passed 1 year in the office. A lot of time! I couldn't believe it when I found out, I never would've guessed I'd go back! But, I'm looking forward to the new opportunities that I'll have to learn in this new position. So a few of the cool things that happened this last week...

When I was still in my last area with Elder Silva, we were walking on the street at night and we say a family coming up the street. I leaned over to Elder Silva and said "go make a contact with them!" and so he did! The family turned out to be super interested and we were abe to go back and teach 6 people that same week, and 3 of them went to church that same sunday. The mom of the family has already talked to the misionaries 20 years ago but her ex husband didn't let her go to church, and she basically bore her testimony during the relief society meeting that she knows that the Lord sent us to find her after all these years. How cool?! It was a little hard to follow up with them during the next week though, we only got to talk to them once. But, this week I got a call from Elder Silva saying that the mom in the family got an answer to her prayers that he church is true, and if her boyfriend doesn't want to get married she'll leave him! Man, I can't believe how many blessings just keep coming!

We also baptized Larissa and Jó last week! They were so happy, they even cried when they bore their testimonies. Missionary work is awesome!

My new comp is awesome, his name is Elder Niedert and he's from St. George. I only have 5 more weeks of mission time as him. He's a great missionary and is super funny, so it's going to be a blast working with him during these last 2 transfers! What's cool is that we have an investigator that we're also going to baptize this week. Her name is Patrícia. I'll send pics next week!

But I'll let you know about more cool stuff that happens this next week. Love you and until next week!

Elder Odom

Just keep on teaching

April 16th

Hey! So this week was another busy one. I went with Elder Pinheiro to another city to help some other missionaries out and it was a lot of fun. It seems like we've been spending a lot of time out ouf our areas doing stuff like that, but it's been so cool to see how the Lord has blessed us. It seems like people literally come out of nowhere for us to teach! This week the assistants came to our area to work with us as well. I was with Elder Niedert from St  George. He's a super cool guy and he actually has 1 less transfer than I do so pretty much the time time on the mission. We were on out way to an investigators house, but when we got there nobody was home. So we were talking outside of the house and then out of nowhere a lady comes up to us and asks if we're pastors. We told her we're missionaries, and then she starts crying and says that she needs direction in her life and she needs Christ. We went right to her house and taught her a lesson then and there! It was a really cool lesson and she was able to understand super good. Not sure if she'll progress or not, but it still goes to show that miracles happen everyday!

Jó, Larissa, and Augusto are still looking for for their baptism. We actaully had to push it back 1 week to the 28th because Larissa had to travel to São Paulo for some reason, but she still really wants to be baptized. We have a few other families and people we're working on. The tricketst part of the area is bringing people to church becuase it's pretty far away, but we're making it work!

This week something that I've really focused on is patience and not letting things out of my control get to me. We've been having a few problems with some missionaries and it's been stressful at times. But really, sometimes there's nothing we can do! We just have to do our part and let go up the rest. What I can control is how I react and my own work. I've seen soooo many times here on the mission when people get offended, annoyed, hurt, mad, etc over things they cant control. it happens with missionaries, members, investigators, everyone! But it's really not necessary! I still remember something that President Nelson said in the General Conference of October 2016; "Latter-day saints have the ability to be happy in ANY situation!" It's true!! We really can! It just depends on us. We choose our own happiness.

But, that's my week. Have a good one!! 

Elder Odom

Miracles in the Field

April 9th

 Well, this week was a busy one. We really stayed busy. So in our area, we've been getting blessed a ton! In a few weeks we've been able to get a pretty good teaching pool together and we have a good amount of investigators that have lots of potential, especially Jó, Larissa, and Augusto! All 3 of them went to church yesterday and they said that they loved it! The ward did a great job of welcoming them and making them feel good. When we went back later that day to talk about what they thought about church, Larissa, who's 14, said that during testimony meeting she really wanted to go up there and bear here testimony, and it was her first week at church! Jó and Larissa are super excited about their baptism that's coming up in about 2 weeks. They said that ever since they've been learning about the gospel, they feel "as light as a feather" and "like wind". Then Larissa said that next fast and tesimony meeting she will bear her testimony. She said "I'll be up there in front of everyone, you can be sure about that!" Elder Silva and I are just so grateful to be a part of their conversion. We are also teaching a family that has a mom, Marlene, and 3 kids. The mom has had a really rough life and she's even involved with drugs now. But she said that ever since she started praying to know if what we are teaching is true, she's had more energy and strength to do things, and she's even seeing a different reaction in her kids! They're being more obedient and are happier.

It's so cool to see how quickly the gospel blesses the lives of those who don't have it. The Lord is anxious to bless us, and if we do our part He will! Marlene's family is cool because it's the 2nd time I've met someone here in Brazil that has actually blonde hair. Her 3 kids all have blonde hair and her youngest daughter who's 5 or 6 yearsold has super blonde hair and blue eyes. When you aren't used to seeing people like that it really takes you by surprise! They also like to talk to me because of my light colored hair and eyes haha so that's cool.

 Another family we're teaching is Juliana's family. Well, we actually haven't met her husband yet but she's already gotten an answer to her prayers and is recognizing it more and more each day. She also has 3 kids. They didn't go to church this week and we aren't sure why, but we'll keep following up with them. So like I said the Lord is really blessing us. It's not because we're super good missionaries that know all the right things to say, but it's because the Lord puts us in the right places at the right time to meet the people that he wants us to. It's been such a cool experience this transfer back in the field seeing miracles happen everyday.

I don't have much more time to share, but I'm looking forward to another great week!
 I love you guys, until next Pday! Elder Odom


 

Time is Going By Too Fast

April 2nd

 This week was a good one! I always love watching general conference. But we got a Brazilian apostle!!! How cool is that??? That's actually going to help us in our teaching now, people will feel better about the idea of having living prophets now that there is one that's from their country, so were all super excited about that. I really liked all the talks during general conference as usual. One of the ones that was really cool though was from Elder Larry Y. Wilson. I don't have my notes with me right now, but I'll have to re-read it a few times for sure! And how crazy are all the changes that happened? No more visiting/home teaching, the Melchizedek Priesthood quorums are together now, etc. They're really cool changes that I feel will really help the church. I like the more personal focus in ministring to induviduals. The prophet and President Eyring also gave great talks about receiving personal revelation and listening to the Spirit.

 This week we had our Leadership Council in Ribeirão Preto, and it was super cool. Elder Pinheiro and I were asked to give a training about how to follow up with both our investigators and with the missionaries in our zones. But, we didn't have much time to prepare the training... Training new missionaries and trying to help the zone and keep track of al lthe missionaries has been a lot busier than we thought, so when we got to Ribeirão we didn't even have the whole training planned out. We did our best to seek revelation and help from the Lord in the small amount of time that we did have to prepare. So we made an outline of what we wanted to say and trusted in the Spirit. It was super cool to see how it worked out! We really felt the Spirit putting questions into our minds and things we could say during the training. In the end, it ended up being more of a council than an actual training, the other leaders really helped us out and gave great insight! We were all able to learn a lot and we were very grateful that the Lord helped us out even though we didn't have a ton of time to prepare. It was just one more confirmation to me that if we do our best, the Lord will make up for us!

 In the field, we're making some good progress with our investigators. We have 4 people that have lots of potential, Jó and her granddaughter Larissa, and a couple named Marcos and Denizete. What's cool is that during the first week here we tried really hard to become friends with the members and show them that we're here to help, and after that they gave us referrals for these investigators! Members can make our work so much more effective. Marcos and his wife Denizete said that they've never really listened to anyone who wants to talk about religion, but for some reason they just open up to us and tell us about their lives, problems, etc. They also said that they know it wasn't coincidence that we started to teach them. How cool! We've only been able to teach them twice, but we're going to follow up with them more this week.

 Our other solid investigatos, Jó and Larissa, are really cool as well. A member invited Jó to church and she went and then we started teaching her. She's super interested and she's already told a bunch of her friends and family that she really like the "mormon church" and said that she wants to invite people she knows to listen to our discussions! She has an ex-husband that's been in on 2 of our lessons now and he understands really good and askes really good questions. We're really being blessed!

 My comp Elder Silva is doing great. I really love his desire to work. Not sure if I mentioned it already, but he doesn't have a super good knowledge of the gospel but he's willing to learn, and really for me that's the most important thing. I was just commenting with Elder Pinheiro the other day that with everything we have to deal with, we really got good comps. There are some new missionaries that have lots of problems, so we're grateful we got who we did!

 Well that's my week. I'm looking forward to another busy week, it seems like we never stop! Time is going by too fast! Sorry no pics... I forgot my camera at home. I'll send them next week. Love you guys! Elder Odom

First Week Back in the Field!

March 26th

 First week back in the field!! It was a super cool week full of miracles. So, about the area. Just after a week of being here I think that it will probably be my favorite ward. The members here are are awsome! It's a reeeaally big area, and it's been a pretty long time since there's been 2 companionships so the ward is pretty happy about that. We're taking the bus almost everyday to get to where we work, but we received a lot of blessings this week and we were able to have success. We got to know some of the members as well and they are all willing to help. It should be a great transfer!

 So my new comp. He's awesome!! He's probably one of the most humble people I've ever met. His name is Elder Silva (pretty common name) and he's from the city of São Paulo. He's 21 years old and really likes to work. I'm super happy about that! He also is really ready to learn. He's always asking about how he can improve and then looks to put into practice what I say. He comes from a family of members, but right now only his mom and his sister are active, but his whole family really supports him in serving a mission. He actually was inactive for 5 years and in November of 2016 he decided to go back to church. During these 5 years, he was reeeally inactive. He got caught up hanging out with the wrong crowd and his friends were all in the gang and stuff. Even though he never directly participated in bad stuff, he was around it all the time. But he said that in the back of his head he always thought "Is God happy with what I'm doing?" When he decided to go back to church, no believed that he was there. He said that everyone thought that he was a lost cause, but man he's completely changed! From the hood to the mission haha. I'm super grateful to be able to help him out at the start of his mission.

 I'm living with 2 other Elders, Elder Pinheiro (my zone leader comp) and Elder Flores. I was really happy to be ZL comps with Elder Pinheiro. Hes super funny and a great missionary. His son's (companion that he's training) name you won't believe though.. He's from Laredo, TX, on the border of TX and Mexico. His parents are both Mexican, but he was born in the States. But his full name is Antonio OBI-WAN-ABINADI Flores. How sick is that!?! He said his dad is a die hard Star Wars fan, and he is too. He actually has a brother named Anakin and a sister named Asohka. But he's a cool guy and I'm looking forward to getting to know him better.

 This week we really focused on finding new people to teach, and we were blessed with quite a few! We've started to work in an area that the missionaries haven't been to for awhile, and it's been paying off. The people are super prepared there and we're started to get our teaching pool together! We don't have any investigators that I know super well, but I'll keep you guys updated on how it goes though. 

Super grateful for the area, my companion, the ward, and everything! I need to take advantage of every moment here for sure!
 Love you guys, until next week! Elder Odom

Heading to São José do Rio Preto

March 17th

 Well, this is my last week in the office. Can you believe it? I was cleaning my stuff out of the office this week and counting my daily planners I realized that I have had 7 here in the office. 7 transfers in the field (including the MTC) and 7 in the office, half of my mission I've been here! I have to say though, even though my whole mission has gone by really fast this second half of my mission has definitely gone by faster than the first part! I'm so grateful for the opportunities I've had and the things I've learned during my time here.Even though at first I didn't understand exactly why I was called to work in the office, I can see now that there were things I needed to learn, people I needed to meet, and experiences I needed to have, and I wouldn't have had all these things if I didn't get called to the office. Getting to know President so well and working close to him has been a huge blessing for me, and the things I've learned from him I know I'll never forget. I'm very blessed to have such a good mission president like President Scholz!

Even though it's over and there will for sure be people and things I'll miss, I'm looking forward to these last 4 months I'll have in the field. This week has been pretty busy with finishing up everything for the transfer and with Elder McLean's training. He's ready though, he was able to pick up everything pretty fast. It was a great transfer with him, we got to be pretty good friends over the past 6 weeks. In the field, it was actually a bit slower as we had to stay after hours in the office getting things ready.

For my studies I focused and thought a lot about faith. I decided to study the Book of Enos again, and this time where I studied it I got more out of it than I ever have! Verse 8 is really interesting: "And he said unto me: Because of thy faith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen. And many years pass away before he shall manifest himself in the flesh; wherefore, go to, thy faith hath made thee whole." But the interesting part is the last part when the Lord says "made thee whole". In Portuguese, the translation says "wherefore, go, thy faith hath saved thee". Because of his faith, Enos was saved! He then tells Enos later on that "Whatsoever thing ye shall ask in faith, believing that ye shall receive in the name of Christ, ye shall receive it." I think that is one of the hardest things for us a lot of times, actually believing that we'll receive. It goes back to that quote I shared by Elder Antunes; "Do you have the faith that The Lord can do miracles or will do them?" Knowing, as Enos did, along with doing our part is when the Lord will grant unto us what we ask for. I'm very grateful for the scriptures and all that we learn from them.

 Last Thursday, we got the transfer and I found out where I'd be going. I'm going to a city called São José do Rio Preto, and the area/ward I'll be serving in is Anchieta. I've been to the city before, but never have served there! I'll be "opening" the area, which means that neither me or my companion have served in the area before, so we'll be starting from scratch learning the area, we won't have too many investigators, etc.

Also, I'll be training a new missionary! His name is Elder Silva (if he doesn't decide to change his name when he gets here on Tuesday) and he's from São Paulo. I'll also be serving with Elder Pinheiro as a zone leader which should be fun. He's from Fortaleza! We'll split the area once I get there I think. I'm really looking to put into practice my faith with this assignment that President has given me, I know there are people in this next area that are ready to hear the gospel, and the Lord will lead us to them! There's my week though, last P Day on Saturday!

Thanks for all the support I get from back home, I'm really grateful for it! Love you guys! Elder Odom

 

Last Week in Mission Office

March 10th Hey! I hope you guys had a good week! So because I didn't have enough time to write last week, I'll talk about an experience we had 2 weeks ago. Elder McLean and I were out on the street and all of our appointments had fallen though. We came to a spot in the street where we could go left or right. I wanted to go right, and he wanted to go left. We had said a prayer a few minutes ago asking to be led to the people that need help or the people that would accept us. So then Elder McLean said "Well, let's just play rock paper scissors real quick to decide which way to go. Let's use revelation." I decided why not! I ended up winning and so we went right. Less then a minute later we were passing a little square with benches and trees, etc. and we heard someone say "hey, help me, help me..." It was pretty quiet but we both looked around to see where it was coming from. We saw a lady laying on the ground in the square and she was in a super weird position. Normally we don't pay a ton of attention to people laying/sleeping on the streets, but this time we both looked at each other and went over to see what was going on. She was just looking up without blinking. We made sure she was still breathing (she was, phew) and asked her name, but she was pretty out of it and wasn't really answering our questions. I went to call an ambulance when all of a sudden she started to have seizure and foam was coming out of her mouth! It was crazy! I called and then we gave her a blessing. Right as we got done someone driving by stopped to help us out. In the end, the ambulance got there and took her to the hospital. Another lady that was working in a building close by said that she'd been there for about an hour but didn't do anything because there are always people sleeping in the square. But my comp and I were super grateful that the Lord was able to put us in the right place at the right time in order to help her out. This week I got to go back to the last city I served in, Franca. It was good to be there again! On Wednesday morning, President called and said that Elder Cardoso (financial secretary) and I needed to go there to give a cell phone chip to the zone leaders there because the assistants forgot to bring it on splits. So, we got to spend 4 hours on a bus just to bring a tiny phone chip! Haha pretty funny but that's what president wanted us to do. We also had a service project to help a member move which was cool. Our investigator Cesar is still a work in progress. If he goes to church on sunday, he's going to get baptized the next saturday! It all depends on if his daughter goes. We fasted this week so that she would go and everything would work out, so keep them in your prayers! But that's about it for me. I'm entering my last week in the mission office!! It's been such a great blessing and experience working here over the last few months. I'm excited for what the next part of my mission brings as well! Until next week! Elder Odom