SLEEPOVERS, DIVISÃOS, e CHURRASCO

How yall feelin!! Trust me, the work is moving along, I'm speaking about, sharing, and loving the Evangelho de Jesus Cristo CADA DIA!! I invite you ALL to be missionaries where you are!! You dont need a mission call to invite people to church, share your beliefs, and change the world. Your comfort zone should be JESUS CHRIST. His Gospel, His Church, His Love is your comfort zone. Sharing these these shouldn't feel strange.

"Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Eu te amo!!!

Here's the deal, I share my week, you tell me about a missionary/spiritual experience you had recently!

Tuesday

Pday!! Took a bus up to our favorite members' houses, William and Juliana, who put on a delicious churrasco for me, Elders Sliva, Madsen, and Reis!! Churrasco isn't really barbecue, its salted meat very, very lightly seasoned that is grilled over a fire and it tastes so good just because it's so simple!! Steak, sausage, and frango(chicken) with (You guessed it) rice and beans!! We ate straight off the grill. They served AMAZING juice, like morangos, melancia e graviola. FOI TÃO BOM. Sheesh I love the juice here, it's so REAL!! We also played volleyball, futebol, and uno with their kids

I was able to call the fam there! It's always so to see them, and to know my Cowboys are doing just fine without me

We returned para casa and Elder Silva promptly decided he wanted to shave His head lol, so I had the pleasure of buzzing it. I've never had experience with cutting hair, so it was awesome and he looks great! We burned his hair after, which was a terrible idea, but he didn't want it in the trash for the voodoo people to find

That night we ordered pizza, there was a deal for two Big Pizzas and a drink for about $20 in US money so it was perfect. We got chocolate crust which I believe is now the only way to eat pizza.

Wednesday

9/11 today, I want to take a sec to thank everyone here and your family members or friends for their service if they served as or are currently in the military, firefighters, police officers, and any occupation that puts their life on the line to protect our country. Thank you and may God bless you and your families. My “Daddy Skylar” was a firefighter himself.

Mosiah 16:7-9

“And if Christ had not risen from the dead, or had broken the bands of death that the grave should have no victory, and that death should have no sting, there could have been no resurrection.

But there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ.

He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death.” We have hope in Christ!! I've had the time to study a lot about The Church of Jesus Christ's beliefs about death, I suggest checking out D&C 42:44-46, 48.

Had lunch at a member's house and she made SO MUCH FOOD even though it was just her and us lol. Had like four plates. (I'm 82.5kg, I weighed myself. I ain't fat). She also made this INCREDIBLE homemade jello from REAL maracujá (passionfruit) oxeeee the real thing is so freaking good.

We waited in the park for our Media Reference, João Paulo, but he never showed up, we waited about 45 min. Que triste.

We returned home because we had an online lesson scheduled with Elisângela!! This was our first time meeting her “face to face” via Video Message and she is already ready for baptism!! The problem is, she lives about 3 hours away. Between us and her is a huge swath of jungle, so to get to her we have to go all the way around. It's impossible for us to walk there, and way too expensive to Uber multiple times for lessons. We will find a way to get her baptized bc she literally can this Sunday if we could reach her. We plan on going to the São Paulo Temple Visitors Center next Quinta-feira with her!! It was kind of awkward talking with her because she was openly breastfeeding her 6 year old daughter during the call sorry TMI.

We spent time with Irmã Josefa, a recent convert, whose granddaughter we have been trying to convert. Sadly, we are gonna have to cut her, and hopefully other missionaries will get her desire to Come unto Christ kick-started.

Thursday

We made Stroganoff again, rice with shredded carrots, chicken in a ketchup and mustard and cream sauce, with slivers of batata frita!!

Literally every single lesson today fell through so we decided to visit some members and inactives that lived very far away. We had missed the ônibus, not because we were late, just because we decided late, and the next one wouldn't be going where we needed to go for another hour. So we walked. About 2 and a half hours later we arrived pretty much in the middle of the jungle. Wasn't super eventful, most people didn't answer so after a while, we started our trek back!

About a third of the way back, this super nice Catholic dude pulls up behind us and offers us a ride!! I'm getting way better at conversations, so I participated haha. When he dropped us off, I gave him a Book of Mormon, and because he was a super-Catholic I invited him to read at least the introduction page. He said he'll have his wife read it to him. Perfect lol. I invite you guys to do the same! Read the introduction and the testimonies, they're super cool!!

Convites estendidos (extended invitations) para o resto da noite!

Friday

Divisões com Líderes de Zona!! I was with Elder Hernandez for the day. He only has a couple more transfers left in his mission so he's the perfect person to learn from! He has three kids (trained three missionaries), two of whom are LZs. He also had extended his mission. He was supposed to leave the day I got to the field! He'll be here until January 3 (max extension)

We walked all around the Cotia 1 area meeting references, talking with members, and clapping doors! Here are some experiences!! (Not in order sorry)

1. We visited uma referência and taught her about prayer!! Elder Hernandez kind of forced me to take over the lesson, and she could tell I was very new here because my grammar is not perfect, but I did alright! Invited her and her sons to church!

2. We clapped the door of a member, but the neighbor told us that they had moved away. So… we taught the neighbor! Turns out she had just lost her husband a month ago, and had just finished praying for help and comfort, put on some Justin Beiber “Baby” and had barely started cleaning when we clapped. WE were her miracle!! She said she would go to church this Sunday, and if she couldn't make it this week, she would go next week!! Great opportunity for the Elders in Cotia 3. We visited a baptized member who has been going to a different church, and we pretty much asked him why he left. He didn't have a reason, so we gave a lesson about the Sacrament, and gave our testimonies of what it means to us. The Spirit was there, and I could feel his heart changing. He said he'll talk with his wife, and invited over for churrasco sometime! He also let us hold his massive sword/machete!

4. On the ônibus to the LZs house with Elder Hernandez we gave a presentation about our purpose and invited everyone to church hahah. We asked them to raise their hands who would come to church and EVERYONE DID!!! jk no one did but it was so fun and I would never see any of these people again.

5. Learned that yelling into people's homes here is normal, por exemplo, you clap your hands then pretty much scream their name into the house. It's super fun.

6. Talked with another reference who has 16 and 12 year old kids! That's a potential three baptisms! And maybe four if the mãe can feel the Spirit and let go of her Baptist tradition!

7. Ordered some Kadalora pizza (chocolate crust, claro) for the night and slept over at the LZs apartment.

Saturday

Rode an ônibus early in the morning back home, and rushed to Seminary where it was just us and one girl with the teacher lol. I love being able to participate now that I'm more comfortable with the language!

On the way to seminary I grabbed a Churrasco Pringles can for breakfast.

Really sad to find out that Churrasco Pringles aren't the equivalent to Barbecue Pringles, Churrasco is so SALTY. They don't have BBQ Pringles here… might be a deal-breaker.

We stayed in the apartment for awhile because Elder Silva felt like he had a fever so he rested. I took the time to read and study through Moroni. Holy cow I don't think I've realized the profound doctrine, warnings, promises, prophecies, love, and authority that is shown in those only 10 chapters. It's scary how familiar Chapter 7 sounds in our day, and how near the Coming of our Lord is. I like that chapter because it's really a final letter from Father to Son. Poderoso. We need to be prepared!! See my Spiritual Thought.

We visited Irmã Fatima tonight! Now that I'm more comfortable speaking, her house isn't that bad. She is satisfied because I can finally pray about all kinds of things and not just the same three or four phrases haha. When we got to her house, the house/store next to it was decorated with balloons for someone's Anniversario!! Irmã Fatima was dancing and eating cake so she was in an alright mood. She took us up to her house and had me sing Hymns in English and Portuguese that were from her baptism years ago. It was actually pretty sweet. I could follow the conversation so she liked that I could participate and not just look at her dumbly if she asks me a question lol. Still working on my vocabulary though, lots of things I want to talk about or explain but just barely can't. We'll get there.

Sunday

In church today, we got a new Bishop!! Irmã William is now our Bishop, the guy whose house we had churrasco!! Que legal!! He's amazing, we wanted him to be Presidente da Missão da Ala, but this is great too!

Had a great lunch with a member and her family and friends, while listening to the same Portuguese band sing one song on repeat on YouTube! Foi muito divertido!!

We embarked para as ruas and met up with some members!!

1. With Antonio, we had some bolo and iogurte and watched the end of a Portuguese dubbed RAMBO hahaha

2. With Maria's family we had so much fun, they loved hearing about Arizona and kept asking how we live in a desert haha. We gave a message about prayer and used an object lesson using a tie! (My family might remember the same lesson Elder Fratangelo and Barrientos, I hope I got those names right) They loved it! Maria’s daughter, Maria, is a member too but she works on Saturday and Sunday so she can't attend church. Her husband, who isn't baptized but is super supportive of the church, takes care of their three children at home on those days. But it is so cool to see their faith. Transfers are next week (you'll hear in two emails because I send these Friday mornings) so I don't know if we'll be able to baptize him, so we'll pass that knowledge along for the next missionaries.

It also rained. “Chuva Preta,” disgusting.

Monday

Went over our week with the other missionaries in my district and was taught so many things today by Elder Madsen. He is incredible.

We planned our week, cleaned the house and packed our bags because we would be sleeping over at Cotia 2 (our LZ)’s house (again) because we have the Temple tomorrow!!

Visited Irmã Karina, a recent convert, talked with her and had an hour long sword fight with her son, who killed me a million times in a hundred different ways. Kid has got a crazy imagination.

Took a bus up to Cotia 2 and hung with them, ate some Kadalora!

Temple tomorrow, and this coming Saturday we hear about Transfer details!

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT!!

Jarom 1:11-12

"11 Wherefore, the prophets, and the priests, and the teachers, did labor diligently, exhorting with all long-suffering the people to diligence; teaching the law of Moses, and the intent for which it was given; persuading them to look forward unto the Messiah, and believe in him to come as though he already was. And after this manner did they teach them.

12 And it came to pass that by so doing they kept them from being destroyed upon the face of the land; for they did prick their hearts with the word, continually stirring them up unto repentance."

Our Prophet, has been preparing the Church for the coming of the Lord!! Everything he does is in preparation for the Coming of the Savior. The Gathering of Israel, building temples around the world, and other prophecies are being fulfilled through him!! I love the phrase "believe in Him to come as though he already was." I believe there is a song about this, something like if Jesus was standing beside you. This is how we should live! Jesus Christ is you companion. He will love and support you through all your trials and tribulations.

President Nelson had this interesting insight:

"Now, my dear brothers and sisters, consider the fact that in these three instances just mentioned, just before the Father introduced the Son, the people involved were in a state of fear and, to some degree, desperation. The Apostles were afraid when they saw Jesus Christ encircled by a cloud on the Mount of Transfiguration. The Nephites were afraid because they had been through destruction and darkness for several days. Joseph Smith was in the grips of a force of darkness just before the heavens opened. Our Father knows that when we are surrounded by uncertainty and fear, what will help us the very most is to hear His Son. Because when we seek to hear—truly hear—His Son, we will be guided to know what to do in any circumstance."

I know that if we HEARKEN our Prophets we will be prepared for the Second Coming of our Savior, and through him we will be comforted and saved!

Love you all so much! Tell me about your day, stuggles, spiritual insights, anything!

Com amor,

Elder Stock