Earth, Water, Air, Fire - SEMANA OITO
GOOGLE PHOTOS
Olá e bom dia aos meus maravilhosos apoiadores! Thank you all for your prayers and love, I definitely felt it this week!!
Hope you enjoy reading! Sorry it's long, but each day is just FULL of amazing experiences!!
Tuesday
PDay! I was able to talk to Mom, and figured out a good schedule so I could talk to my siblings and see how they're doing!
After speaking with Mom, I opened my Book of Mormon/Livro de Mórmon side by side, and started reading as usual. I first read the chapter out loud in English, listen to it in Portuguese, then read it out loud in Portuguese. I started to read out loud in English and I started choking up, because I felt the Spirit so strongly. Of course the chapter I was reading was 1 Nephi 16. This is the chapter where the Liahona is discovered, Nephi breaks his bow, Ishmael dies, contention arises, and the Lord intervenes. I can't really put it into words, but it was exactly what I needed to hear today. I want to say for the record, no tears were shed, only a big ol' lump in my throat.
Walked a ways to spend some time with Marco e Eliana. On the way we saw a huge fire on the side of the road. These are usually controlled fires, used to burn trash, or to landscape because it grows so fast it's not worth it to cut. (Join the photos to see the video lol)
Anyways, Marco is a member, Eliana isn't. Last time we were there, we taught about prayer and the scriptures, and gave Eliana a Livro de Mórmon e a priesthood blessing. When we arrived, she was super happy to see us because just a couple hours after we left the last time, she felt better!! MILAGRE! And so she was super attentive today as we talked about the Restoration and prophets. Left her with a pamphlet!
Afterwards, Marco was nice enough to give us a ride to our next appointment with Josefa, who is a recent convert. She needed help finding her Membership Record Number in Tools (Ferramentas), because the website was in all English and she didn't know how to change it. Luckily, I'm pretty good with English so I found her number and changed her language.
Wednesday
Woke up and ran
Studied, going over basic Portuguese again because I want to get it down. Ser, Ester, Ficar, conjugations, etc. Imma get this down.
Walked to the Chapel for Elder Silvas online English class, meanwhile I talked with Elder Madsen, who's really cool. Very talented at everything he does, he's been on the mish for about a year now, he is my District Leader. We called a couple online references, had a good time. Felt good to hear some English lol
Immediately after Elder Silva’s class we went to the streets, walking up and down the many hills of Caucaia until about 6pm. So about 5 hours of walking, clapping, inviting. Out of that five hours we got one new person, who we plan to see again on Saturday.
We hustled home and packed because we were staying the night at the Mission home in São Paulo!!
We met up at the São Paulo temple, did some contact with our district and another and walked to the mission home where we stayed in the same room on bunk beds.
Guess what… everyone here plays Magic the Gathering!! Of course I left my deck in our little apartment but it's so cool and fun to know I got people around me that play haha. Definitely gonna buy a good Portuguese deck
We got Kadalora pizza! Best pizza I’ve ever tasted in my life, sorry Barros. Some crusts were full of cheese, some full of chocolate!
Zone Conference tomorrow!!
Thursday
Zone Conference day!
Woke up early, got dressed and walked about 45 minutes to the big Chapel! President Hunt had an amazing lineup for us. I'll drop some notes here, translated from Portuguese.
- What is success (in life or a mission)? A Testimony.
- 2 Nephi 31:19
- Actively and intentionally repeating the steps of the doctrine of Christ helps us grow and reach new levels of spiritual understanding and become part of what it means to "endure to the end."
- President Nelson talk: Cristo ressuscitou; a fé que temos Nele moverá montanhas (amazing talk you should reread or listen to it. --First: Study. The mission is a sacred time to study
--Second: Choose to believe in Jesus Christ.
--Third: Act in faith.
--Fourth: Worthily participate in sacred ordinances. Ordinances release the Power of God into your life. D&C 84:20
--Fifth: Ask Heavenly Father. In the name of Jesus Christ, may He help you. In the name of Christ, may He help you. The Lord loves effort and always answers
- Obedience = doing the will of God
- Conversion = changing beliefs, feelings, and life to accept and fulfill the will of God
I also got the chance to bear my testimony about Jesus Christ, which was an awesome privilege!
After the conference, we were lucky enough to get an uber for the about 2 hour drive back to our little apartment. We both slept during the drive, we were so tired. Got back around 5pm
Our neighbor brought over his friend who had a BUNCH of questions for us missionaries. It was really cool because I could understand what he was saying most of the time, but I felt bad for Elder Silva because he had to talk for like 45 minutes straight to this guy. He had nine questions, some were: Where did Jesus go for the Three days he was dead? Do Mormons believe they can see visions and talk to deceased Persons (Jesus, Peter, James, John), Do we believe in the Trinity, and Where did our priesthood authority come from?
We taught him the Restoration from Jesus's life, to the Apostles, to the Apostasy, to Joseph Smith. I had the opportunity to share the First Vision! After the Restoration, we answered his questions one by one. He was voice recording the whole thing, but we definitely had the Spirit with us and I believe we answered his questions correctly to the best of our ability. He didn't have any objections at the time, and we left him with a LdM and some pamphlets, and the Moroni 10:3-5 invitation. He said he would definitely look over everything, read the Book, and pray about it. Hopefully it's not the last time we see that guy, he seemed to really want to know. A desire is so incredibly powerful, and if he asks in faith, I'm sure he will feel the truthfulness of our words.
We went out to meet up with a recent convert, Karina. She has two little boys who she plans to have baptized when they come of age! What a great testimony she has!! Her boys didn't like me very much, as with some Brasileiros I meet because they don't like my white skin hahah. Eventually, after some Abacaxi cake, some sour cream onion ruffles, and a cup of fermented milk, I convinced the boys to play with me and by the time we had to leave they wouldn't let go of me haha. Hyago and I esqueci the name of the other boy noooo. Anyway, we had a good time even though the boy I forgot the name of was tryna destroy the seeds of my posterity the whole time we were playing hahah. With Karina, we just talked about food the whole time so I didn't have a problem understanding her. She doesn't care much for American food, she says Brasilian churrasco is better than American BBQ. We'll see, lol. Missing Dad's smoker and grill and Mom's burnt hamburgers
Friday
We made Yakissoba!! Just an easy Japanese dish, noodles, meat, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, with Yakissoba sauce!!
Clapped doors and climbed hills for 5-6 hours, because one of our friends, Gabi, has been ghosting us we were gonna visit the Visitors Center at the São Paulo temple, but she never got back to us.
Stopped by a shop to listen to “As It Was” by Harry Styles
We got ANOTHER Online Referral! Blessings!! It's difficult to get them here in Cotia!
Headed to Marco's house to talk with Eliana! She's progressing amazingly, we had the Restoration talk with her and she took it in very well! I gave the Joseph Smith story of James 1:5 and the First Vision! Super spiritual. I also had the opportunity to share Moroni 10:3-5 and invite her to do what it says, accompanied with my own little testimony in Portuguese haha. After, Marcos was nice enough to give us a ride home, which was nice because its a 45 minute long walk and it started sprinkling when we got to the house.
It was only about 8:30 when we got to the house, so Elder Silva and I decided to go to the street and park to contact and buy some caldo de cana again!! So frickin good. I might start a business called caldo de cana when I get home lol. Shred sugar cane and add strawberry (or any fruit) juice, so simple and soooo good. We were able to invite 22 people to church in a 20 minute period. Highly doubtful, but an invitation is better than nothing! Planting seeds!
Saturday
Woke up and headed to the Church to attend Seminary and help clean the building in preparation for the dance we are having tonight!
Went to lunch with the other companionship in our area, and what we talked about
Went home, studied for a while, where it started POURING!! The temperature dropped to 13°C, about 55 for y'all back in the Estados Unidos.
And so, through this rain we trekked about 45 minutes to deliver a Livro de Mórmon to one of our Referência de Média! She was amazed that we walked so far in the rain! The Lord's work never stops!
On the way back, we tried to contact people on the streets but people were either locked up in their homes or homeless druggies. It was SO windy, which is kind of unusual for Caucaia.
Anyways, we didn't talk to many people so we headed up to the church for Casca de Bala! (bullet shell) Funny name. The dance was so fun!! I embraced the culture and went out of my comfort zone and did every single dance, making myself look like a fool, but they loved it!! A lot of people here are skeptical about having a Gringo around their kids but they lightened up when they saw I was a doofus hahah. They served Jell-O cups, onion chip rings, and chips that looked like strips of bacon (it was delicious). They also served Cachorro Quente! I suggested Whip and NayNay cuz apparently it is popular there and they loved it haha. They ended with some English “Just Dance" songs that we cranked out to haha. Oh! Three of our new investigators showed up to the party and I think they enjoyed it!!
We returned home a little later than we were supposed to… and I think we were punished because our shower didn't work and my feet were stained black because my socks seeped after getting wet hahah (don't worry Mom they kept my feet dry)
Sunday
Happy Birthday Dad!
Headed to church, had a wonderful service, and after that we headed to the home of a member for lunch!!
He lived about 25 minutes away by car so he drove us, thank goodness because it was freezing.
Had some delicious pasta and pork that I forgot the name of, and I definitely had the Spirit with me because I could understand most of the conversation, and the questions they asked me! It's still difficult to respond with my limited vocabulary, but it was fine! They talked for forever about the responsibility of parents to teach their children to want to go on missions! I wanna take a sec and thank my amazing, wonderful, marvelous, incredible parents for their efforts throughout my life to make sure I was facing in the best direction I could go!
Played 1v1 Uno with one of their little boys, Diego, who is a little cheater, but I let it slide cuz I kept winning hahaha
Gave a spiritual thought of Éter 12:27, which was great!
Their home is high up in Caucaia, above the jungle, and the humidity and rain we've been having made this EXTREMELY thick fog surrounding the house, we could only see like 10 feet in front of us, it was insane, made us feel like we were in the spirit realm hahah or those cartoons where the characters live in absolute whiteness.
The member drove us back to our area, and dropped us off at Irmã Fatima’s house!! If you've been following the emails you know who this is lol. Anyways, I had a much better experience, I was able to answer questions, help her make herbal drinks for us (not tea), feijoada, etc. She still jabbed at me, because I wore a flower tie to kind of spite her (in a loving way of course), but me and Elder Silva laughed about it.
Was able to talk to family and Dad because it was his birthday, and said wassup to my guy Riggs!! Love y’all so much
Monday
Woke up early and took a bus up to northern Cotia for a Zone Council!! Where we go over numbers and scold each other for not working hard enough (important things) and training. A surprise was President Hunt was there for our Transfer Interviews. He interviews each missionary every transfer, and because we in Ibiuna and Cotia are far from the city of São Paulo, he came this time to get all of our interviews out of the way. Fun time!!
Headed home and studied until our lunch appointment!
Our lunch was amazing, just massa, arroz, feijão, e salada de batata. Muito bom. After, we went on their porch of their second floor (their first floor is all garage) and ate some bolo. During the devouring of the gelatinous bolo, a family of CAPUCHIN MONKEYS appeared out of nowhere, climbing to powerlines and alighting about 6 inches or less from me!! The daughter ran inside to grab a banana to feed them. Holy cow it was so cool. Of the São Paulo West missions, you can only see wildlife like this in like 4 or 5 areas, most missionaries dont get this chance. Incredible!! After the monkeys became uninterested in us they left, and I shared a message about patience, from PMG, Ch 6, and Dieter F Uchtdorf’s, “Continue in Patience” talk where he says, “Patience is not simply enduring, but enduring WELL.” Powerful.
We visited Eliana and Marco again today! We got a ride from one of the Counselors and his wife. They accompanied us during the lesson about the Plan of Salvation! We had an amazing lesson with her, the Spirit was palpable. I was able to share about eternal families and share my personal experience! She is progressing really well! We’ll see her a couple more times this week.
When we got home we made smoothie de Abacate doce! I was hesitant to try because it was literally just avocado, sugar, amd milk blended together. Lets just say I didn't not like it, faz sentido? Like yeah its there its fun to try but if I'm hungry I ain’t choosing Abacate doce smoothie haha.
Oh yeah, and I've been showering out of a bucket for a couple days now, so one mission dream down hahah
SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:
President Russell M. Nelson gave a speech at BYU in 2017, and within it he talked about many different truths. Here is one cool truth and story that I'll just drop right here for ya.
"There is a strong connection between God’s love and His laws. I have come to see the significance of that connection and the power of divine law. Two experiences may illustrate.
The first I see as a parent. I am the grateful father of nine daughters and one son. I love them with all my heart. As our children were growing up, their mother and I established family rules to keep them safe and facilitate their growth. Our children did not always like or understand the rules, but because we loved them, we were willing to do all we could to guide and protect them.
As much as I love my children, I can only imagine how much God loves each of us, because His love for us is infinite! The Apostle Paul taught that “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”(Romans 8:38-39)
Just as the rules that my wife and I developed for our children were motivated by love, God’s laws reflect His perfect love for each of us. His laws keep us spiritually safe and help us to progress eternally.
The second experience by which I came to see the power of divine law came during my career as a medical doctor and scientific researcher.
After graduating from medical school, I pursued advanced education in surgery. At that time, there was no such thing as heart surgery. Then I teamed up with other researchers in the daunting task of making an artificial heart and lung machine. We knew that such an apparatus could possibly maintain the body’s circulation while repairs might be made on the heart. But during that early era, there was much we did not know.
Then one day, two truths articulated in the Doctrine and Covenants spoke to my inquiring mind. These truths were, first, that all blessings are predicated upon obedience to law; (Doctrine and Covenants 130:21) and second, that to every kingdom there is a law given. (Doctrine and Covenants 88:38)
Well, I reasoned that if every kingdom had a law, there must be laws that govern the beating heart. I was determined to discover those laws and obey them. By doing so, blessings would come, and lives could be saved.
In medical school I had been taught that if one touched the beating heart, it would stop beating. However, one of the first laws we discovered in the lab was that we could touch the heart of an animal without losing its heartbeat. This finding opened the door later to uncovering another law that made more complex open-heart operations possible.
We learned that if we added potassium chloride to blood flowing into the coronary arteries, thereby altering the normal sodium/potassium ratio, the heart would stop beating instantly. Then, when we nourished the heart with blood that had a normal sodium/potassium ratio, the heart would spring back to its normal beating pattern. Literally we could turn the heart off long enough to repair it, and then turn it back on again.
Decades later when I explained this to a group of medical students, one prominent professor asked, “But what if it doesn’t work?” My answer? It always works, because it is based on divine law.
Divine law is incontrovertible! The same can be said of the law of gravity, and the laws of foil and lift that allow airplanes to fly. Each is an absolute truth. Doctors or pilots do not have the power to change those laws, but their understanding of them safeguards lives.
My dear brothers and sisters, divine laws are God’s gifts to His children. Just as our family’s rules kept our children safe as they grew to adulthood, just as divine laws governing the heart and the flight of airplanes keep you safe on an operating table or while traveling, abiding by God’s laws will keep you safe as you progress toward eventual exaltation. Let me say it as succinctly as I can: As you abide by God’s laws, you are progressing toward exaltation.
The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that God “institute[d] laws whereby [we] could have a privilege to advance like himself,” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith (2007), 210). God’s greatest blessings are reserved for those who obey His laws, as He explained: “For all who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law which was appointed for that blessing.”(Doctrine and Covenants 132:5) God’s laws are motivated entirely by his infinite love for us and His desire for us to become all we can become."
What an amazing testimony President Nelson has!! Reading and praying about him has confirmed his divine authority for me. I love President Nelson. Be obedient, and it will bring blessings!!
3 Nephi 15:9 "Behold, I am the law, and the light. Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life."
Sorry for the long emails but I love writing them!! Telling you guys about my time just makes me so happy!! Even if you read or just skim thru, or see the notification, or look at the pictures, my purpose is to tell you about my wonderful privilege and duty as a Representative of our Savior, Jesus Christ. LOVE YOU ALL!! 
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