New Area, New Missionaries, New People!

Hey everyone!

This week has been, man, I´m trying to think of a good analogy to describe this week. 

Its been crazy, hows that? 

With a brand new area, new companions and new work styles, things have been quite interesting. It feels like undergoing waterboarding simultaneously while riding Space Mountain.

But anyways, to the good stuff! What is happening?

My new companion is a way cool guy. Really friendly and good to talk to! He wants to train to become an Army Ranger when he gets home which is after next transfer. We sometimes like to play basketball in the morning even though both of us are awful. 

We have a couple of people on our radar right now. We have been visiting a part member family. They are from Cabo Verde I think? The household has so many kids I'm not sure who is actually her children and which kids are cousins. We have been helping this nine year old towards baptism in the family and working on reactivating some of the older teenagers. There are two young adults, one who is very interested and one less so, however this one seems to have a ton of history according to the area book with the missionaries and the lessons. We are trying to get them to come to church and want to set up a time to talk with them individually without the entire family. We showed up at their house early this Sunday to help them come to church. The mother came with three CRAZY kids. Almost terrifyingly crazy. As well as the daughter (neice?) who is in a wheelchair and has some mental issues. The older kids didn't come because they didn't want to go to church with the crazy young kids. One, the more enthusiastic one, really wants to but doesn't seem willing to have to deal with all the kids. We'll work on something to get them to come. Working with that wheel chair and the cobblestones and the bus was really hard. Apparently she comes every week doing this. My respect for her rocketed. She is truly incredible to be able to do that. Her patience is great.

We have a member who has provided food for us and has come to teach with us once. When we arrived some Jehovah's Witnesses were already there! It ended up that in one room was my companion, the husband, and I and in the other room was the member, the wife, and the two Jehovah's Witnesses! A house divided indeed! We had a good talk about the Word of Wisdom with this man, Eduardo. The couple (we are working on getting them married) are awesome and pretty set on the church and good friends with this member we were working with. At the end of our lesson with Eduardo we went into the other room to save our member who was doing all she could do to be kind and patient with the Jehovah's Witnesses but were throwing all sorts of scriptures at her. We carefully bore testimony of Christ and our Heavenly Father and left when we could. We will return to teach the Namy, the wife. She only had them over because they had asked if they could come by when they met in the street and they were to kind to say no. They are great people! Very humble. We had to explain why the sun changes color throughout the day and moves from one side to the other and disappears to him. Very interesting discussion.

Funny story, we are standing on the bus and standing with us is a bit grungy looking man and sitting down next to him and the door is this old lady. We are all just standing when the bus arrives at the bus stop; not ours. He looks outside, looks at the old lady (who is looking out the window), he looks back outside, casually lifts up his leg and kicks the lady in the face and walks out. We were taken back! What just happened!? The lady felt her face and looked around agahst. She wasn't hurt or anything, just got a fat lip. We were all like, "Do you know him?" And she's like, "No!" Then all the old Portuguese people on the bus start gossiping about what happened talking all sorts of things about crazy people. The old lady starts going off about "If my leg wasn't as it is I would go running after him and blah blah blah, let me tell you about this one  time, I was somewhere and this guy came..." and she goes off telling a story and all the people are all throwing in whatever word of wisdom comes to them. It was really funny to hear all the Portuguese people going off on something. The kick itself was less funny. The whole thing was super random. The guy hardly thought about it it seemed.

We were talking to an older member outside of her house as she was leaving. Elder Dayton simply introduced me and as we were leaving I had the feeling that I need to ask her for references. I shook it off and kept walking. Soon I couldn't ignore that feeling. I turned back and called for the member and asked her if she had any references or anyone that would be willing to hear about the gospel. Low and behold she rattled off a list of everyone in her street and who would be willing to listen to the gospel! We are going to try to set up a time when they can meet with her in her house and we can talk to them as well. Friends I've decided is the way to get past the hard shell a lot of Portuguese have! Follow the promptings of the spirit!

Also, for preparation day we went to this sweet castle! The Castle of Saint George I think its called. Then, after that, we went to a sweet old Catholic church. Usually you have to pay to get into the cloister but I think the guy saw our name tags and just let us in. In the back they have this massive archeological dig! It was super neat! Elder Jones was really thrilled. That was his element. I'll send a photo with him there!

Anyways I have been doing a whole lot more studying then ever! Lots of insight and lots of learning experiences! The mission is good at putting you out of your comfort zone I'll tell you. It will push you and pull you in every direction! All of your guys' support means so much! You guys are great!

Love,

Elder Cordon

Zone Conference Aug 2015

Elder Jones at a historical site

Baptism, Transfers, and Zone Conference Oh My!

Things change at the flip of the switch!


Well, first item of business is the baptism!

Last Sunday we had a girl who wanted to be baptized and had been hoping to be baptized for a super long time. She is sixteen now and has been wanting to be baptized since she was eight! Her parents are less actives and wanted her to wait until she was older to make this kind of decision for herself when she could better understand what she was doing. She has tried to be baptized several times in the past years but each time her father stopped any progress in performing the actual baptism.


She expressed to us and the bishopric her desire to be baptized but the biggest obsticle we could see
was her father so we had a member, good family friend and young women leader of the ward who volutunteered to ask the parents. I hadn't expected anything hurried so I don't believe I made any mention of it. But, out of the blue, we got a call from the ward member who told us that both parents had given their permission and were super excitied! We were shocked! She wanted to be baptized that coming Sunday! To do that we would need to teach all five lessons to her within a period of three or so days! So Friday we taught her two of the lessons, Saturday two of the lessons, had her baptismal interview, and Sunday we taught her the last lesson after church, came back a couple hours later and baptized her!


She invited a ton of people and as a result their was about the same amount of people as we would usually have in sacrament meeting! In the closing prayer we had an older member of the ward say it. "Eu esperei nove meses para ser batizado, ela esperou oito anos...Por culpa de alguem!!" The bishop nearly died trying to hold back laughter at such an accusatory remark. However, if that was the only thing strange about the baptizam then it was a very successful meeting.


She is very prepared and very dedicated to the gospel. She accepted everything very quickly and learned extremely fast. She is the kind of person who will stay active. This experience really increased my understanding that this work isn't my work, my companion's work, or the mission's work but the Lord's. He prepares these people. We just need to find them and tell them what they are already ready to hear.

Second suprise, TRANSFER!


Elder Davis hung up the phone with the assistants on Saturday, looked over at me and said you're getting transfered. Wait. What?? There was an issue elsewhere, details unnecessary, but I was going to be transferred to Tejo, across the river back in Lisbon and I was leaving later that day! I had to pack and be ready. This was as we were taking the Zone Leaders to our investigator for her baptismal interview! Later that day as I was packing I heard Elder Davis call back to tell me to stop packing because they were going to have me leave on Monday so I could go to the baptizam on Sunday. So I am now currently in Tejo!

We had Zone Conference!


President Tavarez talk was straight fire. Awesome. He talked about how his priority was us as missionaries and our personal salvation. He said he worried that many were not taking their salvation seriously. As missionaries we are jeopardizing our salvation by being comfortable with the chains of hell. How do we escape the chains of hell? 2 Nephi 1:13, 23. We need to WAKE UP, realize our sleep, and run. He gave the story of a man traveling through the snow in the dead of winter. As the man decided he deserved a rest he sat down and began to feel relaxed, he started to feel warm and comfortable, he might even be able to take a nap. Suddenly he heard a voice that said "You are dying." Man. I got the shivers just typing that. The man got up and began to run, Not just walk, dead sprint. He ran and ran and blood started flowing again and he eventually made it to his destination of safety.


He told other stories as well such as the training of the Arabian horse. Other things were taught. The same way we keep the Sabbath day holy, we must keep the mission holy.The Terrestrial Kingdom is for those who become comfortable on their missions.

So, fun things, remember that fun and delicious Chinese buffet from last week?


Not sure if I mentioned it or not, ya, I threw up. That was less fun and less delicious. I think it wasn't that it made me sick I just...overflowed from eating too much.


We had a division where Elder Marques and Elder Paiva switched so we got to be with him for the day! That was fun to experience teaching with another Elder. I also saw this man who had more swag than any other man I have seen previously. He had dreadlocks that went to or past his knees. On his head he wore a dish cloth tied to his head with a rubber band. He wore glasses of some sort, crocs on his feet, and a bath robe. The smell that followed this man was unlike anything I have experienced. It was so awful it was impressive, perhaps even laudable.


Nearly got mauled by two dogs running in the plaza on Saturday, luckily the owner called them off. I was ready to unleash my inner wolverine and destroy but fortuanately for the dogs and for my clothes such bloodshed was not required.


Sorry about the lack of pictures from last P-Day, I didn't have my card reader with me :/


Thats all for now, lets see how this new area goes!!


Elder Cordon

In Almada on the banks of Tagus River

Companions  in Almada..Three Amigos

Bishop of Almada and His Family..Served as a missionary with Dallin's Grandpa Hillam

Love the  Paralelepípedos

Elder Jones and The Bridge..Looking from the Almada Side

Week Two, AKA I Should Start Coming Up With Sic Week Titles.

Hey everyone!

Missions are crazy. For all you preparing for missions, keep it up! Are they hard? Yes. Are they exauhsting at times? Yes. Are they fun? The same way running is fun. But the amount I have grown within the past couple weeks is incredible. It is no wonder they say that a mission brings you closer to the Lord than anything.

Lets start from last Preperation Day with the shower, taken from my journal:

"Hopefully next week I can have enough to buy some Drain-O. Ya thats right, Drain-O. We cleaned today and I was all "I ain't doin' no wimpy 'sweep here' and 'organize there'." I grabbed a sponge and rag and what little cleaning materials we had and went to town first on the sinks. Not too hard. Those babies were clean pretty quick. No yellow, just celestial white. Then the mirrors. I got all those toothpaste styains out. Then came the shower. Its a good thing I worked at the Rec Center. That was my MTC for cleaning. THis shower however was something else. Sludge, blak bold, hair, and goodness knows what else. This was part one of my assault. I dumped all my cleaning materials into that place and began to scrub, to rinse, and to beat justice into that shower, all while carefully keeping my white shirt, tie, and slacks emaculate. I made progress, but this beast still lives. I've only injured it. I doubt I'll even be able to slay it next week. This shower will be clean though. It will be so clean it won't know what hit it. We did have a casualty however. That sponge is a goner. ONe look and you know, you don't need an ambulence you need a mortician. He was brave. He fought the fight.l He gave it his all. Many more shall fall before this beast is eradicated but we continue on. Our cause is just and such sacrifice is necessary. For cleanliness is next to godliness. We shall convert this infernal wyrm to a celestial being."

May we all be as that sponge. Willing to give every last ounce to the fight. Ready for part two? Well, either way this week I couldn't find Drain-O nor did I have the opportunity to fight but it will come. It shall be cleansed.

Lets see some fun things that have happened here. I touched my first cat in Portugal on Wednesday, we went to teach a man and his friend showed up and told this massive story about a person with three loaves of bread and some advice and not killing people and being curious about long journeys. It probably went for half an hour and he would let us talk. It was half frustrating half hilarious because everyone was like, where are you going with this?? I have had some experiments with cooking and am slowly becoming a master at eggs. Still figuring those out. We found a stalled car and pushed that in the road amidst full traffic, we had pancakes one night, and then there is church. All sorts of fun things happen there.

Anyways, some cool experiences, quote from the journal: "We wound up around the same area about a half hour later. We passed a woman on a 1/2 floor balcony and I just knew we should talk to her. We went into a building to find someone and came back out to see her still there. I finally overcame something and said, 'Can we go talk to her?' In portuguese ovbiously. We went to talk to her to find seh was sick with something serious. She didn't tell us what (mayber cancer?). She said she believed in God before but found it hard to believe now. We shared with her that God loves all of us, including her and that He knows what she is goin through and is there to help us if we turn to Him. We left her with a restauration pamphlet, our number, and the church website. She wouldn't mark a day because, with her medical and other things she does, she never knows when she will be home." It was awesome to talk to someone and help. We should never be afraid to open our mouths.

We have one lady. She was married some time back when she lived in Africa but this husband was, well, there is a reason she is in Europe now. She is amazing and is completely ready to be baptized. She prays and reads almost daily. She currently lives with a man and has a daughter but they aren't married. Apparently before I came my companions had a lesson with her about the importance of marriage and all of that time in Africa came back. She told them that she did not want to get married again and that she was done. She was done with it all. However this time, when we talked with her, she said she could not forget what the Elders had said about marriage and finally she realized she had to stop looking to the past and look to the future with her daughter and realize things can change. She is planning on continuing with the process of getting married! Unfortunately, we are currently waiting for the papers to come from Africa that finalize the divorce from before. Official documents are hard to get from Africa and its apparently a big mess to get legal things done. But we think that it should be done soon and then she can be baptized finally!

The Lord is always preparing people. Trust in him and be not afraid. And then work.

I love you all

Elder Cordon

1st Week in the Mission

Hey everyone!

Well, here it is, first week in the mission field! Not exactly what I expected but then again hardly nothing ever is right? It was good to sit and talk to Elder Easton (Kyle) on the plane and meet the other people going to Portugal! When we got there, President Tavares seemed suprised to see me, I laughed when he said they werent expecting me but then I realized, he wasn´t kidding! They thought I wasn´t coming! They had been told I was going to New Mexico or something. So we went to the mission office and I was put in a trio with Elder Marques and Elder Davis, neither of which have been trainers before, Hooray for firsts! We went to the mission home so that President could show me where grandpa had lived and mom and such.

My area is called Almada. Its across the river from Lisbon. It has bits of everything. Some regular, brazil looking city area, some old portugal looking streets and some in between and some not at all. We do a lot of walking! So far the shoes are good! We end up going to a lot of people´s houses that aren´t expecting us. So lots of walking and lots of turning around. I keep thinking that if we call these people ahead of time it would be a lot more effective but my companions keep saying that many times when they call they don´t let us come but if we show up its more likely. I say that it isn´t worth the time to wait and walk all that way to find out. I feel like there is a lot we can do in this area. I´m not sure what or how, and neither do my companions but we will figure it out.

Lots of fun things have happened. Lots of people here are from Angola or Cabo Verde and one of these people told me I had witch eyes. We also met an old man who was extremely old and extremely poor but excited to show us that he had 20 cents and a pocket stock full of cigarretes! We told him that that was bad for him and he should try to find better things than cigarrettes but he just smiled and kept going. We need to give more commitments in our lessons. We also need more lessons in general. I found a guide book written by an Elder from february about all the members in the area, all the inactives, and all the important investigators and everything about them and history and such! It was awesome! Written by Elder Sorenson! I think we can use that a lot. Its called the Almada white wash guide. The other elders seem to know about it but don't pay much attention to it. they dont tell me a lot about the people so I get my information from there.

We have had lots of good experiences and lots of learning experiences. I myself have learned tons. I love the story of the sons of Mosiah, how if they would be patient with their trials they would be blessed with success. Alma 17:10-11. Also in Alma 26:27 even the sons of mosiah became sad and wanted to go home but the Lord promises that if we work hard and and bare sorrows with patience they will have success. We can all see the results of their patience.

I am glad to be here and can´t wait to serve more effectively and work harder to always be obedient! The people here are awesome.

Love you all!

Elder Cordon

Dallin's First Mission Companion

Dallin received his first mission companion, Elder Souza from Manaus, Brasil.  Elder Souza is going to the Ft. Lauderdale, Florida Mission speaking Portuguese.

First P-Day - Elder Cordon, ESL for you!!

Well, this is it! I'm not even really sure where to begin so I guess I'll begin from the start. I was kind of sad to leave everyone but that went away after about the first fifty steps. Then the car left the parking lot and it seemed like the same sort of feeling I would get with Footlocker. You miss your family but there is so much else occupying your mind that family is far from your mind. No homesickness yet. I hope we can keep it that way. Since that first day I've already seen James Gilbert, Chris Harden, Elder Alves, along with some other kids from Woods Cross like McKay Woodwell and such.

Right after I was given my badge and a massive yellow bag of books and language materials I was taken to my classroom where my district was at. Plot twist, I'm speaking English! In the MTC that is. All of our teaching is in English because my district is with the Elders and Sisters that speak English as a second language (but already speak it) and are going to the field in two weeks (most of them speaking English but a few in their native tongue). Apparently its pretty rare for an American to be put in this district. The people in my district are awesome, Elder Souza is from Manaus, Brazil and learned all of his amazing English through listening to music. He is also my companion. Elder Ho is companions with Elder Falute. Elder Ho is from Vietnam, his parents were converted to the church when he was eight and learned about the gospel in Australia. He has lived in the US since he was 16 and went to school and BYU. He worked at the MTC in fact in a curto prazo before he actually came on his mission. Elder Falute is from Samoa. He's a great guy but he sometimes gets distracted by the elder Samoans on our floor and forgets to stick with Elder Ho. Elder Souza is going to Fort Lauderdale, speaking Portuguese, Elder Ho is going to Santa Rosa, California speaking Vietnamese, Elder Falute is going to Billings, Montana speaking English. We also have two sisters. Sister Rocha from Campinas, Brazil going to Fort Lauderdale English speaking, and Sister Sanjaa from Mongolia going to Billings, Montana speaking English.

So far the schedule of things has been weird. We don't really know enough about where we should be going and sometimes our teachers and zone leaders don't really explain about what we should be doing and are relaxed about things which is a bit frustrating to me. Usually we figure things out though and its fine. So far each day has been different which is probably what makes things confusing. Our first day was, well, our first day, second day was different from the first in the fact that it was the second day, and the third day, today, is P-day so, so far nothing has been the same in scheduling but that doesn't stop me and my companion from attempting to plan out the day each night.

Our first night we were able to go as a large missionary group to a group role play with some 'investigators' and we could raise our hand and ask questions or tell statements. The first two investigators were all over the board topic wise. The last one was great though and we were really able to figure out what he needed and managed to keep the entire group focused on a single topic without straying. That first night I don't think I slept at all. I kept looking at my watch every twenty minutes until three in the morning and several times after that.

I was able to go to President Packer's funeral broadcast today with the rest of the MTC which was great to hear. One of my favorite things in there was what Elder Ballard said, "He wore out his life in the service of his Savior, the Lord." It made me think about how I want to serve my mission. I would love that statement to be true for me, that Elder Cordon wore out his two years in the service of his Savior, the Lord. I learned that we need to live as we teach. We need to teach by example. How can you invite others to Christ if you yourself have not trusted and turned to the Lord yourself? How can you expect a missionary to follow the rules of you do not?

More things I've learned over the past three days:

We need to be able to effectively communicate with the investigator to teach why they need the gospel.

Christ taught in parables, so we likewise need to find ways to make the gospel simple to understand through analogies.

Personal testimonies bring the spirit and are powerful. Never underestimate the power of your testimony.

While teaching, don't forget your purpose. Why are you there? To talk? No, to invite them to come unto Christ.

It is more honorable to be trusted than loved. Hence, "many are called but few are chosen." That first sentence helped me understand that scripture so much more. The Lord can love everyone, but to be trusted by the Lord, that is something.

Teaching is not talking, listen to your companion and your investigator. Hear what they are saying.

Also, last night I became Zone Leader. Ya, it was a shock. We went in to have a district meeting with our branch presidents and they assigned my companion to be senior companion and district leader and me as Zone Leader. They told us this comes into affect Sunday but gave us tons of things to study, prepare, and memorize. We have a ton to get done before Sunday but he promised us that the Lord will expand our time if we work effectively and we will find the time we need to get everything done. We still aren't really sure what our roles will entail but there will be a leadership training this Sunday. Also, Elder Souza is in charge of getting the mail for our district so we get that lunch and dinner time.

Well, its been great so far, the days are long. I can see why people just want to leave. Its my third day and I feel like I've been here forever. I can't wait to get to the field.

I think that's all for now. I know the church is true, I feel like my testimony is big but it keeps getting bigger and bigger. The level and speed of learning at the MTC if you are willing to listen is huge. I love it but also can't wait until I can go to Portugal.

I love you all, good to hear what you all have been up to! Even when its really common things. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TANNER!! I can't get you anything so sorry.

Thanks so much! Love you!

Dallin

Sorry, it's Elder Cordon now.