Elder Cory Vernon is transferred to Santa Maria

July 6, 2015
Ollo  :) This week we got transfer calls and I am being transferred to serve in Santa Maria in the Itaimbé ward. My mailbox will be the same address that I had when I was in São Pedro. Also there was Irmão Alex´s baptism and confirmation. It came as a bit of a surprise because we had invited him to prepare for his baptism on the 11th, but Elder Souza Silva felt that we should invite him for this week so he did. It turned out really great and spiritual at the baptism and confirmation. It was the 4th of July so I gave Irmão Alex my little American Flag. The stake president bore his testimony at the end and remembered his own baptism. Also on Sunday after his confirmation Irmão Alex bore his testimony about the Book of Mórmon and shared a scripture that had been an answer to his prayers. I also started bidding farewell to everyone. It is sad to leave when there is a transfer, but I know that the Lord sends us where we need to be to bless his precious children.

July 13, 2015
This week I have started to get to know my new area and my new companion. His name is èlder Albuquerque and is from São Paulo and he played soccer professionally as a goalie before the mission. My new area is in the Santa Maria Stake in the Itaimbé ward, and we got a new bishop and bishopric this week so everybody is excited to work and invite everyone to come unto Christ. One cool thing in Sacrament meeting was that the stake presidente talked about John 2 in the bible and how the Lord gives us blessings that we do not recognize, that we need to do our part to receive blessings, and we need to ask the Lord for help because when we cannot do something The Savior can. We need to ask him to do stuff for us. I liked it. One of our investigators really loves the church and is super excited for her baptism. My first full day in the new area we went to her house and gave her a blessing.
Com muitos Sorrisos! :) :) :) Sincerely, Élder Vernon :)

June 22, 1015
I will be officially old when I turn 20 this week... :) Thanks for all the birthday wishes everyone! :)

This week Presidente Parrela came and interviewed us. It was cool because I was reading in 3 Nephi about how Nephi approached the lord when the savior visited the Nephites and felt the spirit strongly. I am grateful that the lord lets us know when we are doing his will and how we can always do better. President told me that my plane ride home will be on September 29th, so it looks like I will get to serve 2 years and a still little bit more.

Also this week lots of the people that we invited to come to church came. It goes to show that the lord really is doing his work and helping his restored gospel fill the earth. We found some new people to teach doing contacts and also went to the cartório to help people get married. One of the coolest things we saw as well was that some of the members were doing their home teaching visits which made us super happy (new home teaching companions and route were assigned in the ward). We also taught Irmão Nilo and Irmã Gladecir about the plan of Salvation and some of the commandments. Com muitos sorrisos! :) Atentamente, Élder Vernon :)

June 14, 2015
Oi estou bem e come vocês estão? :)
This week was stake conference. Some of the stuff that was talked about in the meeting was how we need to live the small and simple things of the gospel like reading the scriptures, praying, and going to church every Sunday and that if we pay our tithing, have family home evenings, read the scriptures as a family and pray as a family that our families will be protected. We are doing a joint English/kung Fu class to find new people to teach. Élder Souza Silva teaches the kung Fu and this week there was 6 non-members that we invited to go to stake conference. I do not think any of them went but they all really liked the class and are getting to know a bit more about the church now.

Teaching Rinato´s family is going well because they all went to stake conference! :) This week we were talking with them about how they want Rinato to stay firm in the church (Rinato´s the only member in his family) so we taught about the plan of salvation and how the Lord wants us to do things as a family. We also read john 3:5 and talked about how reaching the celestial kingdom is more than just faith but also obedience and doing what the Lord asks of us.

We also had some good family home evenings; on Sunday we had a family home evening where we talked about the articles of faith and watched Elder L Tom Perry’s last conference talk-- I am grateful that the Lord inspires good people to lead us and teach us by the spirit. We are running back and forth to try and teach everybody about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ! :)

A little bit about Alegrete is that it is about 100,000 inhabitants and is a stake with 5 wards; however it is more like a district with 5 branches because the wards have about 20 to about 60 that go on Sunday. My ward is kind of funny because it has nearly all of the stake callings. Our apartment is good and we have a microwave and a gas oven and stove. Love ya family! :) Com muitos sorrisos! :) :) :) :) :) :) :) Sincerely, Élder Vernon :)

Note from Tina. .Elder Vernon actually got his birthday package BEFORE his birthday. All mail takes about a month to get there and packages usually take longer but this one only took about 3 weeks! He always likes Flaming Hot Cheetohs, I think that is the food he misses most from the U.S.

Elder Cory Vernon's 20th Birthday is coming!

Pictures in Alegrete, Brazil May 18, 2015

Penguins Cereal

 My MTC Companion lives in our same house

Family Home Evening!

In my personal study I made a list of scriptures that we can use to invite people to follow our savior´s example and be baptized. It was cool because I realized that in 3rd Nephi there are whole bunches of scriptures inviting us to follow Jesus´s example so that we can be happy with our families forever. Another cool thing that a member showed us was that with the book of Mormon in Portugues the book cover spells the invitation to pray ´´orem´´ (O livRo dE mórMon).

Members help in Alegrete

May 11, 2015

Ollo family! How is life going? Well I know it is going well because we talked with each other on Mother´s day, but I still like to ask, you know, it is a little bit polite.

This week it was interesting because after district meeting I had an exchange where I went to Elder Cardoso´s area where we worked. A cool thing that he had in his area was a little box with pictures of our savior that they use to ask for referencias. Also we went to Irmão Nilo´s house with Bishop Aldemir a few times. It was really great because when we talked about some of the commandments that the Lord asks us to live Irmão Nilo was happy and talked about how it makes sense that the Lord helps us out by giving us commandments. It is also amazing how much the testimony of the members of the church brings the spirit. When Bishop or other members bare their testimonies it brings in the spirit like an eagle swooping down to eat a fishy. Well life is good and there is lots of work to do! ;) :) I will try to write better letters with more stories, normally I forget everything that happened in the week when I am writing about it! :)

May 4, 2015 It rained this week. The weather is just funny that way. Anyway, when it rained we visited people with Bishop Aldemir. One thing that makes the missionary work easier is when the missionaries and the members share the gospel together. One cool thing that I re-learned this week is that when one of our investigators asked why he needed to be baptized is that one of the main reasons to be baptized is the remission of sins. When he asked the question I started to talk about how we qualify for the celestial kingdom, we get happier, we are obedient, etc, but it was the member that said to be cleansed from our sins. I liked it! :)

Sun in Alegrete

Member family that let us Skype home on Mother's day

A Rainbow!

Mother's Day Skype

Skyping on Mother's Day with our missionary, this is his new companion with him.

April 13, 2015 Hello! :) This week was great! We had Zone Conference on Wednesday in Alegrete. The focus of the meeting was how we need to find people to teach so that they can get baptized and thus be prepared to go to the celestial kingdom with their families. As missionaries and as members we cannot have fear to share the gospel; there is even a scripture that says that those who have fear will not enter into the kingdom of God (I think it was Revelation chapter 4) Sister Parrela also gave a training about Jacob 5 which is about the tame and wild olive tree.  It is an allegory that shows the Lords love for us and how he keeps working with us. (and Irmão Alcir during the week was reading Jacob 5!). Irmão Cézar and irmão Luis and Irmão Alcir are all learning everything super fast. I like it! :) One thing that I recognize is hard for lots of people that investigate the church is that after their baptisms they need to keep changing and improving. Even though baptism is the first step, it is a step that people need to be prepared to take. After being baptized the people have a commitment with the Lord to always remember Jesus Christ, to serve our neighbor, and live the commandments (especially go to church and partake of the sacrament). One of the times that I felt the spirit this week was during fast and testimony meeting a returned missionary bore her testimony about how one of the people she taught on her mission made it to the temple. The testimony then explained that the worth of even one soul to our heavenly father and Jesus Christ is worth all of our work during the mission and more! Com muitos sorrisos! :) :) :) Atentamente, Élder Vernon :)

Another one bites the dust!

Capybaras run wild.   It is the only time I have seen them when they are not meat on my plate. 

A bus ride to zone conference!