A Volcano Erupted

I hope you're all praying.

Love,
Elder Ortega

P.S. Just kidding. We get a lot of rash burnt here, and this time it looked interesting. That is the real story. Have a great week. I love letters! And emails!

President Hart

This past week, we had a special training. Because I'm serving so far from the mission home, we got to eat lunch with President and Sister Hart. I got to sit at the table with them, and I learned a lot more about their lives. He went to BYU, they got engaged after two weeks, and the engagement lasted a year. Her father was his stake president, but wasn't upset about the engagement. Rather, when she came home and told him they were engaged, he said that he had a feeling that they would be married. Many years later, everything is still working. Moral of the story: The spirit always tells us the right answer. Also, a diamond ring hidden in a lump of coal is a great idea for a Christmas present.

-Elder Ortega

How to make an Elder happy

So, this past Sunday was quite special for me. We had an investigator in church who used to be someone I was afraid to see on the road because he... was different. But now he's our best candidate for baptism this week! It was amazing to see the change that the gospel brought into his life. He's responsible and friendly. He even puts off work (which he can, being the boss) to wait for our lessons. I'm so excited to be working with him now. What's more, if we get everything set up right, President Hart will be doing the interview personally this Saturday. Which is great. He'll becoming to Barreiras at the end of this week. I'm quite looking forward to that, as we've been needing something here. Go, work of the Lord!

Lovies!

Elder Ortega

News!

New companion! New other companionship! New areas to work in! New force of mind among the members with regard to missionary work! Same wonderful city of Barriers! Transfers brought Elder Alves, Elder Hale, and Elder Larson. Elders Hale, Larson, and I are all Americans and together have less time on the mission than Elder Alves has in the field. It's fun! We're already good friends, and it's just a nice change of pace. And, we have a clean apartment, thanks to Elders Lund and Perez who stayed here last p-day waiting for new Elders. Yay, everything! I miss my old friends here, but I'm excited to meet new people and work hard. Also, if the church wasn't true, we'd have killed it by now. Yeah!

-Elder Ortega

First Baptism!

June 26

So, this week was very happy. She is Josefa. She is 81 years old. She likes to cross-stitch. She has some problems with her knees. She has a large family, but most of them live far away. She has a husband whose mind is becoming weak. She has been reading the Book of Mormon every day, at least one chapter, for weeks now. She has a testimony that it is true, that it was translated by a true prophet, and that we are God's servants today. But most of all, she is happy. And that is enough for me.

-Elder Ortega

Happy Birthday

June 21


Not many missionaries receive 10 envelopes within 24 hours. Congratulations, Elder Ortega fans, you rock. Thanks for making my birthday super happy. I feel loved. Also, gold stars to Kenyon for including pictures and Jon for getting a bucketload of other people to write. It really was so special. Some missionaries seemed a bit bitter that I received so much, but the ones who I know were just happy for me. Also, I'm happy for me.

So, the day of my birthday was special. Elder Emmett (District Leader) and Elder King (his companion) worked very hard to mke it special for me. We had a ward party that night and a lot of food. During the party, they ahd a little slide show to honor me. It was funny. The branch here is so wonderful, and I'm glad they got in on much of it also. But the best part was thinking about my family. They we at Disney World, and the thought of my sister having that much fun really made me smile. Family is the best!

-Elder Ortega

A clean apartment is a happy apartment

May 29, 2012

We finally cleaned the apartment today, which was quite necessary. We've been having water troubles (which seemed to be resolved now, thankfully), so it didn't get cleaned for a while. But now, it's cleaner that it was when we arrived seven weeks ago. I think, with our mindset and with the good start, we might be able to maintain it this way. So, why am I blogging about cleaning? Really, the Spirit likes order and cleanliness. It is so much easier to concentrate in a clean apartment, and emotions are less tense. It's something I've known for years, but we can always use reminders. If you've been having trouble concentrating or feeling the Spirit, take a look at your surroundings. Maybe you just need to clean something out, whether it be physical or spiritual.

I love you all!
-Elder Ortega

P.S. You can all e-mail me! I just can't e-mail back unless you're family. My address is nicholas.ortega@myldsmail.net. Tchau!

Mormons, Sir!

Sometimes, I get to go on the LDS website while I wait for my companion to be done with e-mail. This last time, I saw something that made me the happiest: Jason stood with Tommy Monson. So, this is a shout out to Moore Door: Ya'll rock. I hope things are the awesomest for you. Also, thanks to Lucille for letting me know about Moore Door. Oh, you clever James.

Love,
Elder Ortega

A rushed blog post

May 15


Lovies!

-Elder Ortega

Adail, the Fisher

May 8

My prime investigator is Adail. He is almost 70, and he keeps saying that he wants to go to the United States, meet with me, and there we can walk together. In our last lesson. I told him that I like that idea, that we could have many good times together there, and that it really had become a desire of mine (If he gets to the U.S., I'm making a lot of time for him). But I have a stronger desire - that he and I walk together in the Celestial Kingdom. I've found that my testimony of the Plan of Salvation is one of the strongest things I can share with the people here, and I love it.

Footnote: Adail continues to tell us that he will be baptised next Sunday, because he wants to get it done before Elder J. Gomes or I could be transferred, which is next Tuesday. So. Cool.

Barreiras

The area in which I'm currently serving is called "Barreiras". This, in Portuguese, means "Barriers". While the people here are amazing, and the branch is very strong, there are indeed some "Barreiras" here:
-the Church has only been here for four years
-much of the people live far from the church, some without cars
-there are only four Elders to work an area about as big as Provo and Orem combined, without a car
Despite these "Barreiras", I love the work here. As I said, the people are great. They are so willing to help one another and the branch exemplifies this. There are some members who will stop us on our way to give us food or just words of encouragement. The Church is just starting here, but I know it will overcome the "Barreiras" and grow into a great work.

A Great Fireside

Sister Degn, the CTM President's wife, gave the fireside last Tuesday. In it, she acted like an investigator and asked the missionaries to answer her questions or statements by testifying of revealed truth. I got to say the following: "I know that Jesus was more than any man. He had divinity in Him, because He was the Son of God. And I know this by prayer and by the Holy Ghost."

This is my conviction. This is what I'm here to teach. I hope all men can accept Jesus as our Savior, and feel of His love.

Spiritual Treasure

Our lessons are going great. Both the "investigators" I have are starting to try to be tough on us. I guess they figure we know enough of the language now to stir things up. Which is fine, I like the change. There is so much to learn, though, I know that I won't really be able to do everything right without the Lord's help. And, that's really great, as I know the source of my strength.

Personal study has become much more meaningful for me. I've found that using Preach my Gospel really helps in learning the basics, or gaining a firmer testimony of them. I was reading about faith, and the spirit just washed over me so strongly. It's funny, because I had been trying to study faith just from the scriptures, and it didn't work so well, but then the passage in Preach my Gospel just gave me everything I needed, including the right scriptures.

Getting Settled

Hello Blog friends,

I have three minutes left. So, this week was great, again. The neighborhood here is fun to go around in, which those in the Provo MTC can't do :) I got a free cookie last week for being on my first week.

Also, the language is a lot of fun to learn. Of course, you already know I love learning. But it's better because I get the help of the Lord as I learn here, so it comes so much faster than anything I've done before.

Also, the gospel still rocks, in case you've forgotten. I know that my Savior lives, and that through faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end, we can all return to live in His presence again.

Bom dia!
     Elder Ortega

First Taste of Mission Life

     My companions are Elder Winn from central Utah and Elder Ferreira (Pronounced "Feh-hey-rah") from Anaheim. The first is a pro-rodeo'er and the second surfs. Well, they did anyway. Both are great companions who want to live the mission rules and are willing to work hard, which you know is just what I like. We also get to spend a lot of time teaching lessons, in Portuguese. They aren't super great, but they're very instructive and our teacher is amazing.
     I can't put everything in that I want to, as I don't have a lot of time, but I also want to say that I've acclimated quite well (we'll see about the heat in Salvador, though); the food is good, the weather is fine enough, and I really enjoy the people. Also, I have a superb district. We have a great time together, I've learned to enjoy basketball more, and we all work quite hard, which is a welcome surprise.

Welcome!

Welcome to my mission blog! I'm not gone yet, but I will be soon. Tuesday is the day. My sister will be updating this as often as I send her whatever ends up being posted. I give no guarantee of consistency, as I will have other priorities, but I will try to spare time for updates here. Also, my sister will be checking comments, so questions you have about or for me can be passed on through here. Thanks for checking in on me, and I'll see you in a couple years.