Hi! So this week was transfers and I am staying in Altoona with Elder Knight. This is his last transfer then he goes home. I actually thought I would be transferred but I guess not. It should be a good transfer though. Our zone had 5 baptisms this week which was exciting. Two of them were with two guys I taught in Indiana while I was there. It was really cool to see them be baptized and how happy they were afterwards. Also someone I taught way back in my first transfer in Hersey got baptized too this week. So it was a miracle filled week. We have a busy week ahead and things have been going good. Pretty short email this week, I’m pretty tired. Anyway have a good week! Read the Book of Mormon. Have fun! Love, Elder Souza

Hello! This week was a grind. Things slowed down a little this week for not just us but the whole zone. We think the holiday had something to do with that. A lot of people were out of town and had plans and things. But we were still able to stay busy. We were able to start teaching this family of 6 this week!! That was so cool. They are really great and just already have a really solid foundation. Some parts of downtown Altoona are really rough and run down so we were really surprised at how clean their home was. Please pray for them. The Gospel would be so good for them! Also our zone is doing really good right now. We should have 6 baptism this coming week just in the zone! Usually our mission averages about 8-14 baptisms a month. So people are obviously not flooding to the font but it’s on the rise. So 6 this week from one zone would be awesome. The mission is hoping to have 20 every month as a goal to work towards. Also today we played golf again! Haha. We got permission to play with some elders that are about 45 mins away from us. The course we go to is pretty much right in between us so it worked out well. They are the Elders in Philipsburg, one of my old areas. It was a good time. Only one of them has ever played golf before. He also played in high school, likes basketball and rides dirt bikes. So we pretty much have everything in common which doesn’t happen a lot, haha. But the very first swing one of the other elders broke our 8 iron on the down swing and it flew out of his hands!?🤣 The shaft snapped in half! So the rest of the day was played with a putter, 6 and 7 iron, and the bottom half of an 8 iron🤦‍♀️ It was a good time. Yesterday we got to go to a 4th of July party with a member family. They had a lot of their family there who aren’t members so we had some good conversations going. It felt kinda weird because we didnt have to wear masks and it’s been a long time wearing them haha. Anyways happy Independence day! We are so blessed!

Some “4th of July” scriptures:
Ether 12:2 “Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written.”
Alma 46:12-14 “12 And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it—In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children—and he fastened it upon the end of a pole. 13 And he fastened on his head-plate, and his breastplate, and his shields, and girded on his armor about his loins; and he took the pole, which had on the end thereof his rent coat, (and he called it the title of liberty) and he bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren, so long as there should a band of Christians remain to possess the land— 14 For thus were all the true believers of Christ, who belonged to the church of God, called by those who did not belong to the church.”
Have a good week! Read the Book of Mormon. Have fun. Love, Elder Souza

Howdy! So this week was kinda crazy. Tuesday we did exchanges and I had an Elder with me in Altoona for the day. It was a lot of fun and the whole day was just one lesson to the other. Then on Wednesday that Elder and I went back to his area in Ridgway for their District Council. After that we went to this super good food place called Devil’s BBQ in Brookville, PA. It was kinda funny to see 8 missionaries in a place named that but it was a really cool place and super yummy.😋Then the rest of the day Elder Knight and I spent in Philipsburg, one of my old areas. Then the next day we had Zone Conference out in Williamsport which is about 1hr and 45mins from Philipsburg. That was a really good meeting and my comp and I had to give a few trainings there. I got to see a lot of the missionaries I know pretty well throughout the week so that was awesome. Then finally we made it home that night. It was a lot of driving and scheduling but it was a good time. Today PA officially lifted the mask mandate so we finally don’t have to wear masks! It was really weird to go to the store and stuff today without them just because we have been wearing them for so long over here. It’s been pretty hot here but then I looked at the forecast for Medford and didn’t feel so bad🤣 Hope you all have a good week. Thanks for being awesome! Read the Book of Mormon. Have fun. Love, Elder Souza

Hello! This week was quite the week. We have been trying to get out every day to knock on a few doors while we can. It’s only about 1.5 hours per day so not too much time but twice this week we were driving and we saw a dude walking alone so we pulled up next to him and said, “hey do you believe in Jesus?” Both times we did it, we ended up pulling over and talking with them and now we’re teaching both of them! Haha, pretty fun, huh? It doesn’t usually go that way, People usually like to call us funny names and are always busy doing stuff.

Anyway, on Wednesday we did an exchange and I spent the day with an Elder on the Penn State campus. It was fun. then on Thursday we went to a town called Johnstown to do a baptismal interview but also worked with the elders there. Johnstown is a pretty sketchy place, you can look it up sometime if you want. Pretty much everyone in Altoona bags on Johnstown. But our zone is doing really well and our mission as a whole is doing awesome. We are finding as a mission, about 120 new people to teach each week now which isn’t a whole lot compared to some other missions but it’s the best our mission has done in the last 2 years. Yesterday we had the amazing opportunity to give a man a blessing in the hospital in Altoona. When we got there they said only one of us could go up because of covid, no exceptions. So we got permission from our mission pres. to split up. About 10 mins later the lady we talked to downstairs got a phone call and said that I could go up. It was a cool miracle and Elder Knight and I were able to minister to him together.
Also, I hit 18 months last friday! It is crazy to think I made it this far. It’s been quite the ride and like nothing I could’ve ever imagined. I’ve learned so much about so many things and I am super grateful for the opportunities and experiences I have had here.

I want to share a quote: “The Gospel of Jesus Christ is specific because God cares specifically for each of us…A vague creed is fitted only for a vague God. We have a Father who loves us specifically and gives us things to do and, because he loves us, will cause us, at times, to have our souls stretched and to be fitted for a better world by coping with life in this world.” – Neal A. Maxwell

I think one of the most important things to me that I have learned is what this quote talks about. The first and most important is that God is the loving Heavenly Father of all of us. He knows perfectly of what we can become. Because of his love, like the quote says, he has given us things to do to help us become what it is we have the capacity to become. That “becoming” is not always easy or fun. It takes effort and work and sacrifice. But it’s worth it. That becoming brings joy. It brings light into your life. It brings an increased understanding of why we are here and where we are going. That becoming has the power to change our nature. It is only possible because of Jesus Christ. He is the only way to lasting joy and peace. I promise you that, there is no other way whether you think there is or not, they will all fail. It is not in Christ’s nature to fail, we will always be supported when we follow him and walk in his way. He has the power to heal and to change lives. But all this doesn’t just come by sitting still and waiting for something to happen. We have to act. Faith is a principle of power and of action! President Nelson says that everything good in life of eternal significance begins with faith. And that faith unlocks the power of God in our lives. You don’t need perfect faith, you just need to believe. Christ and His Church will never fail us. I invite you to think of something you can do to increase your faith this week and to do it. I promise the Lord will bless you! I still have much to learn but I know I am not alone and I have time! I know who I am and I know God and his Son Jesus Christ love us. You can know for yourself if you don’t already. Its starts with one act of faith and eventually that witness will come. Have a great week! Read the Book of Mormon. Have fun. Love, Elder Souza

Hola!
This week felt kinda long but it was good. We had our mission leadership council this week and it was a really good meeting. A lot of goals and ideas that my companion and I came up with for our zone were talked about at MLC so it felt pretty good knowing our ideas were actually good, haha. We golfed again today and it was again a lot of fun. Elder Knight is getting better. Highlight for today, I made like a 20ish foot putt, lol. I don’t have very much to write this week. I’ve been pretty tired and we are working hard and having fun👍 I thought I’d share two of the talks I’ve been studying that you should all study. They are really good! One is by Elder Dallin H. Oaks and the other is Russell M. Nelson. Our goal for the zone and the mission this transfer is to increase our faith and to become disciples of Jesus Christ. Pretty simple but I think is not always easy and is so important. We’ve been trying to motivate the missionaries to do all they do out of love for the Savior and to act with great faith. I’ve been striving to get better at that. So if you want please read/watch the attached conference talks and this week I invite you to seek to always remember Him! Have a great week!

The Challenge to Become

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2000/10/the-challenge-to-become?lang=eng

Christ Is Risen; Faith in Him Will Move Mountains

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2021/04/49nelson?lang=eng

Read the Book of Mormon
Have fun
Love, Elder Souza

Hi everybody! Well to start off the week we had transfers and said goodbye to Elder Hansen. It was a lot of fun serving with him. This week was also just as busy as ever. We taught a ton of lessons this week and had almost no finding time but still managed to find new people. He had 4 to 9 lessons everyday. That is quite a lot for this mission. Today for Pday Elder Knight and I went golfing! It was this cool little 9 hole course. It was 5 bucks and all we had was a putter, an 8 iron and a 6 iron. A few highlights: no lost balls, one birdie putt and came 2 inches from a hole in one!!? It was pretty crazy especially cause I haven’t played on a course since before by mission!
Also, this Sunday we had a pretty amazing day and I thought it was a good day to show how much variety there is in missionary work. Here was our Sunday in a brief summary: wake up, get ready, studies at home, went to church, blessed the sacrament, gave a blessing, had missionary correlation to talk about the work in the area. Gave a chapel tour, visited a member family and the husband is a recent convert, went to visit a member’s son who is not doing to good from cancer, found a family to teach and set up a time to go back and help with some yard work, taught a young guy who has lived one of the hardest lives of anyone I’ve ever met, finally came home and had a short dinner after a long fast Sunday, had a lesson over the phone, called a bunch of people, talked to a lady who recently lost both parents, her husband and her son, set up some lessons with people on social media and then lastly had call-ins with the district leaders in the zone to talk about their areas and their missionaries. It was quite the day and that was a fairly normal day. Days like these show me how important it is to always have personal study and to plan. If we don’t study and prepare and plan then we won’t be prepared to help these people in any way that we can. I wouldn’t know what to say or what to do. It’s just so important. These days also are a testimony to me that this really is a marvelous work and a wonder. I hope you all have a great week! Read the Book of Mormon. Have fun. Love, Elder Souza

Hi everyone! So this week was the last week of the transfer. We had a really busy transfer and a lot has been happening here in the zone and in Altoona. We actually found a lot of people to teach last transfer which was cool. Elder Knight and I are staying in Altoona and Elder Hansen is leaving. It is going to be weird going back to just a companionship of 2 again. It will be my first in a while. I think since last September or October. PA has finally lifted the mask mandate and as of July 1st we won’t have to wear them to church. We don’t really know what will happen for us as missionaries. We will most likely have a mission wide meeting this week to talk about the new guidelines. It would be nice when we don’t have to wear masks anymore, we’ve been pretty restricted over here for a while now haha. We’re starting to see more and more people without masks and it feels weird because I’ve got so used to people wearing mask everywhere. So we will see what happens this week. So back when this was all started, the missionaries who were out of the country came home and had the option to either get reassigned as soon as possible or they could stay home for a year or so and then be sent back out. So we are going to get the first wave of those missionaries this week, the ones who just waited about a year. It will be kind of interesting because they have been missionaries already for a few months or so but haven’t been missionaries for over a year?! Hopefully I can have cooler stuff to share with you next week. There is a lot of cool things that happen each week but then by the end my brain doesn’t work very well and I forget what happened. Have a great week though, thanks for being awesome! Read the Book of Mormon. Have fun. Love, Elder Souza

Hello! This week was really fun and really busy. We had the mission tour like I mentioned last week with Elder Nash of the 70. Wednesday was the first day of the tour and we just watched it over zoom. Same deal on Thursday. Friday was in person for us and he attended our zone conference. We went a little early because my companions were doing musical numbers so they were practicing those on the piano. So I was just hanging out and got to talk with my mission President for a little bit. Then Elder Nash showed up and I said hi. About 5 mins later I had to go to the bathroom so I went in there to go “numero uno” and Elder Nash was in there. He started talking to me asking where I was from and stuff haha. It was kinda awkward cause I was a little busy but definitely a funny experience with a general authority! Then like 5 mins after that me and a couple other missionaries, along with my mission President and Elder Nash were messing around on Family Tree to see if we were related at all. I was the only one not related to anyone haha. The meeting that day was really good though and it was just cool to observe how Elder Nash “operated” throughout this week. He is so intune with the Spirit and is always trying to listen and act on his promptings. On Saturday we had a mission leadership meeting with Elder Nash and he gave a really cool training on setting goals and helping our missionaries. Very cool experience for sure. He works right along side Elder Uchtdorf and the Quorum of the 12. We started the meeting late a few times because he would get a call from Elder Uchtdorf sometimes! I guess that’s a good excuse. Read the Book of Mormon. Have fun. Love, Elder Souza

Hi everybody! This week we were all over the place again! We blitzed Indiana and Philipsburg which are 2 of my old areas. It was really cool to go back there. On Tuesday we went to Indiana and I got to do service at the community gardens again. It was cool because we started that when I was there and the garden has grown a lot since I left. I also got to see Patterson, which is a guy we baptized when I was there. He is doing so good and his testimony has grown so much. It was good to see him again. Then on Wednesday we went to Philipsburg. I was there a year ago this time. It was really cool to go back and see those areas again. It is cool to think I had a little part in teaching and working with the people there and it is still progressing. The rest of the week was pretty busy as well so our companionship is pretty tired haha. Sunday we almost didn’t get to eat because we had so many meetings lol. It has been fun here and actually is going by pretty fast. This coming week will be really cool. Elder Marcus B. Nash from the 70 and executive director of the mission department is coming to our mission for a 4 day mission tour and he will join our zone conference. It will be cool to learn from him. Anyways, hope you all have a good week!Read the Book of Mormon. Have fun. Love, Elder Souza

Hello! Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms! This week was packed! We recently got the okay to knock on the doors of formerly taught people. So they are familiar with who we are and we’re not just knocking on random doors. That had been a pretty big step toward normalcy. We still can’t tract but every few days we will go knock on 5 or so doors of people we can’t get ahold of by phone. On Tuesday we were coming back from doing that and just got home. We got a call from a companionship of sisters who were making an exchange with some other sisters in our area. They had hit a curb pretty hard and got a flat tire. They took a bit of a chunk out of the wheel and there was like a 3 inch hole where they pinched the tire😬. Luckily, they were safe, and I was actually really excited they called us to change the tire haha! They ended up making us thank you cinnamon rolls, which were really good! On Wednesday we blitzed some elders in our zone near the Penn State campus. A blitz is when we work in their area for the day with them instead of exchanging an elder. We had some cinco de mayo tacos! Friday I went on another exchage in an area that is still in our zone but about 2 hours away. I spent the day with an elder named Elder Graff. He is a cowboy from St. George and he taught me how to rope! It was pretty fun, I definitely enjoyed that🤠. We drove a lot this week but it was a good week. My companions and I were super tired every day. And we are fixing to do the same things this week👍. Its been fun being here as a ZL. We’ve been really, really busy but it always keeps things exciting. Have a good week! Read the Book of Mormon. Have fun! Love, Elder Souza