October 24, 2011

Well this last week was another good week.

I don't have a lot of new things to tell you, but I wanted to share an experience that happened at lunch one day this week. It was with a man in our ward that I love. He is almost 80 years old, and he literally has a twinkle in his eyes. I love him very much and I always give him a big hug when I see him. All of his daughters are married in the Temple, and the last one is engaged and will be married in the Temple. For some time now, his wife hasn't been going to church. She has only been one time in all of the time I've been here. I see this man, who is so faithful, working in the Temple, doing visits. The man who passed away in our ward was one of his best friends. After we ate lunch I was giving a message, and I told him and his wife how much I love them and being at their house. We always joke and play and laugh together. His eyes welled up with tears and I knew his heart was very sensitive that day. After we prayed his wife said, stay here talking, I'll do the dishes really quick. We began talking and I asked him what was wrong and he began to cry and cry. He expressed some of his feelings and he asked us to give him a blessing. The words came to my mind from the Lord and I believe that he was comforted.

I am trying, and I will continue to try to be the best man that I can be. I feel like I'm watching things fall apart, but I'm grateful that I could comfort one man this week. I don't know what it is the Lord wants me to learn right now. Maybe this is the humility that Morgan was describing, but I feel so amazingly weak. Transfers are this next week, and I don't know what is going to happen.

I really need your prayers. I love you.

Love, Spencer

October 17, 2011

Elder Lew is one of the Assistants and he will go home at the end of this transfer. It ends in two weeks, on November 2nd when I will have been here 1 year and 5 months. Time is flying by. You asked me to share some of the work with you. This has been a large struggle this last transfer in our entire zone. I am striving to help improve the work we are accomplishing, It is often on my mind. We did have an experience this week that really touched me and taught me a good lesson. Actually two. The first is about the importance of acting without delay. We were calling and following up with each companionships and seeing about the updates about references they have been receiving. One companionship was unaware of two references they had received from church headquarters. They went by there the following day and called us to say that the man passed away a month ago. I don't know what the situation was, but inside of me settled sense urgency. Not a sense of running faster then I have strength, but a sense of urgency and purpose in our work.

The second experience that really touched me was a man named Marco. In between the sessions of conference Elder Macfarlane and I (my friend who lived next door, is in the same group as me and is now in my zone) were talking outside of a pizza restaurant. We were talking in English and Marco began talking to us. We talked for a while and we said we would call this next week. Well I forgot. But when I remembered we decided to pass by his house. He looked out the window and said in a Brazilian accent with a huge smile, "just a minute guys". He has a very pretty well kept house and his wife is very sweet. Her name is Renata and they have a 2 year old son named Thiago. We talked for a long time and got to know them well. Marco told us about his first contact with missionaries, which was the experience that really touched me. He said that a few years ago the missionaries had marked to go by his house, but when they came he didn't answer the door because he had heard bad things about the church. After a new coworker talked about the church with him, he learned that it wasn't anything like he had heard, and when we talked outside the pizza place he was so kind. He went out to his car to get a picture of his son to show us. What I learned from this is that no act goes unrecognized. Whoever those two missionaries were that talked to him, I am so grateful to them for because of that initial contact, he was opened to our contact with him. Because of the example of his coworker, he learned that members of the church are not crazy. I felt the Spirit so strong, and as I talked about Eternal Families, Renata began crying. We didn't teach much, we just talked about the importance of what we do, and how we leave our families because we want to bring the happiness we have to others. It was a very sweet visit .

I'm going to try to send you a picture of this morning. I spent many hours just writing letters! Love, Spencer

October 10, 2011

This past week was a good one, and a tough one. Wednesday was Mission Counsel and I stayed over night in the office because Thursday I had to go to renew my visa. I was together will all of the members in my group and it was a good time to talk. I got to talk to Elder Knoblauch a lot and he listened and discussed my thoughts and feelings. He is a wonderful friend, I'm excited for you to be able to meet him. Wednesday night I went and worked near the Temple in an area with the Executive Secretary. We found a lot of new people and it was a great experience. An appointment fell through and we decided we were just going to find someone to teach, so we said a prayer to find someone to serve, or find someone who is ready to hear our message. Upon ending the prayer, we opened our eyes and saw a woman walking down the street. We talked to her and she was very opened and accepted to hear our message the next day. Thursday I went to eat lunch with Elder Lew and another Elder at a house near the Temple. I recognized the man as I walked in as a Temple worker. Brother Darci was the 2nd Stake President in São Paulo, and his wife Sister Marlene is a wonderful artist. They told stories about buying the grounds for 5 Temples to be constructed. I was very amazed as Elder Lew was giving a scripture message after lunch. He thanked them for all of their service and I saw something different in their eyes and quiet nods of thanks that they had some confirmation of their faithfulness beyond that man can give. The Spirit in their home was such that I lowered my voice when I walked in after I said, "I recognize you!" It was a sweet experience.

Well those are some thoughts from this week. Friday, my companion is having an endoscopia, so I will just be studying that entire day. I will be fasting as well so if you could remember to pray for me so I can find answers to my questions, I would love it. I love you with all my heart.

Love, Elder Calvert

General Conference- October 3, 2011

I wrote down 6 questions before conference started, and every question was answered. It seemed as thought those who were chosen to speak gave their talks based on my needs. I loved Elder Ian Ardern of the seventy who talked about planning and using our time effectively. He said how time flies on the wings of lightening and I am feeling that as I only have 8 months left to serve here in São Paulo. I watched the first session in Portuguese but the rest in English. I loved watching the children sing in the second session. I'm sure the woman who worked with them told them a million times not to look at the camera's, but it was so very cute to me to see them glance, realize they were on the screen, and see their various reactions. Some got nervous and smiled embarrassed. Some stopped and got serious. My favorite was a little girl who stopped singing, as it seemed like she recognized someone on the screen, and when she began seeing again she got a really excited face because it confirmed to her that it really was her singing. The music was beautiful. I love when it is just the voices, without the organ. I remember singing in the conference center, and ending a note in unison, and hearing the sound go to the back of the room like a powerful wave.

Elder Godoy came to our mission a few weeks ago, and he said that when you are working hard, and not seeing the results, that your blessings are going home. I will do my best to be proactive and worthy in my service. I love our family. I love God. I will do my best everyday. I hope that you can be blessed by the Lord to recognize any blessings He sees fit to give you because of my service. Know I love you and am praying for you daily.

Love your son, Spencer

September 26, 2011

The first picture is with my companion Elder Andrade. The last one is with

Elder Wilkinson who does gymnastics at the Air Force Academy and

everyone thinks we are blood brothers, like from the same parents.

He is a really good buddy of mine.

Well saying goodbye to Elder Galvão was quite the experience. I cried because I miss him so much. I use his pillow, his towel, his conditioner, his umbrella and many other things just because I want to feel close to him. My new companion's name is Elder Andrade. I am still in Santana and I am feeling very happy. I really, really love Elder Andrade. He is from Recife and he is really funny. He has( lost or gained?) 30 lbs since I last saw him, and I want you to get to know him a little bit. He likes longboarding, pyscology, languages, collects coins, lives by the beach, and is very laid back. We are laughing the whole day, and he is very good at conversations. We get a long very well and I am happy. He is very different from Elder Galvão and I thought it was going to be very hard, but my heart just seems to get bigger and bigger as I love more and more people. No one is replaced, my heart just grows.

We are going to work with a lot with members. I think about all of the doors I have knocked, and all of the contacts I have done. Many times I feel like I am searching for a needle in a hay stack. I know that the Lord can guide us to His elect, but I also know that the Lord gave us our intelligence to be used. Many times, we missionaries knock doors, because that is what missionaries do. We schedule time to do this, but all the while we hear that we have to work with members. I believe that it would be well worth my time to invest in the testimonies of the members, so that they can learn how to do missionary work according to Preach My Gospel. Please pray for me and these efforts. I don't want to give all I have to something that has such a high risk factor ( working and walking and knocking doors and contacts all day) and possibly not make a difference. I want to help here.

I bought new shoes that are awesome and are very strong. Thank you for putting money on the account. I also bought two new ties and two for my companion Elder Andrade.

All my love to you.