November 10, 2014

Minha nossa... another week has literally flown by.  This is already my 4th week in Guabirotuba!

Like always we had lots of ups and downs... but as always more positive than negative.

We had been working closely with R_____, the man we brought to church last Sunday.  We marked a baptismal date, and a lot of things to help him quit smoking (oranges, Listerine, Vitamin C to fight the nicotine - the church has a super cool 7-day program).  He was a little nervous, but had a LOT of faith and by the end of our visits, he was determined to quit, and determined to be baptized this Sunday.  Unfortunately, his mother in a different city got sick and he had to leave, and will be staying with his dying mother for the next few days or weeks.... so... we'll see where this road leads with our friend, R______.

Because our baptism fell through, we were working frantically to find someone to bring to church.  Someone who had been searching, someone prepared by the Lord to accept us.  For three days, we had no success and not a single person let us to teach them.  Discouraged, Saturday arrived, and we left to work, praying praying praying that God would bless us with someone we could bring to church.  Then, we knocked a door, and some lady came right out to greet us, let us in immediately, and told us that she had been praying to God to send her someone who could help her and her family.  We talked with her, and she was crying and told us she'd come to church with us.  She came!  And brought her sister with her too.  Haha, M_____ was SO excited to come to church!  We'll be working with her closely this week to see if we weren't the answer to her prayer.  Cool how Heavenly Father works, right?

We were asked by the bishop to teach an 8 year old boy who is part of a part-member/recent-convert/less-active family.  Haha, complicated, right?  It was so fun teaching him the lessons and hearing his sweet, simple answers.  I LOVE the Gospel because it is so beautifully simple.  Children and adults alike understand, and yet we always have something more to learn.  So neat!  I'll include a picture of his baptism. :)

God is good.  The church IS true. The Gospel changes lives.  I am so so so happy and thankful to be a part of it.

Have a fantastic week!

Love forever,
Jason

Pictures! 

- Arthur's baptism

- Elder E. Silva and I found some "hipster" glasses in the chapel, so of course we had to take some pictures

- WE HAVE MCDONALDS IN OUR AREA!!!!!  Holy cow.. I almost cried when we discovered it!  It's hilarious.. here in Brazil, onlyreeeeally richy snooty people eat at mcdonalds.  It was funny when we walked in, and the only people were super rich, professional people who thought they were something because they were eating McDonalds!  crazy!  THANKFULLY, some member was there and bought our food for us... $80 later, we were still hungry and went to Subway... haha

November 3, 2014

Howdy Family!

Another week flown by... I can't believe it!

Lots of ups and downs, as always, but it was a good week.  We brought a could-be elect to church this Sunday who really liked it!  R_____, who has already been visited by other Elders, never went to church before, and never really progressed, but I think something is different with me and Elder E. Silva.  He accepted all of our commitments and today, I think, we'll invite him to be baptized.  Pray for us!

Unfortunately, that sweet little family decided that our church wasnt for them.  The kids LOVED it, but the mom got scared and decided to stay in her comfort zone.  It broke our hearts!  But Heavenly Father is SO good at opening new doors when others shut, so I'm not too worried.

Our ward here in Guabirotuba is SO fun!  Haha there are only about 100 members, but they always have some sort of activity going on in the chapel (in our front yard, haha).  This week, I made a bunch of "American Cookies" for them to sell at auction to raise money for the youth to go to EFY, and they sold for $40!  Funny how "American" will raise the value of something simple like cookies!  It has been a neat experience getting to know these members and trying to help a few that have fallen off the path.  Something that I've noticed in the Retention and Re-activation program, is that generally, people turn away from the church simply because they have a doubt or a question that no one has answered... I've seen time and time again in our visits and with the other Elders that a simple 15 minute visit of resolving questions and confusion can literally be the key to re-activity.  THATS WHY CHURCH LEADERS ARE ALWAYS TALKING ABOUT HOME AND VISITING TEACHING!!  Just do it!  If we can't manage to do a simple 20 minute visit each month, how could we manage exaltation?  Would couldn't!  So go do your visits!

I'm still loving Elder E. Silva.... Haha he has been a blessing.  This week will have lots of door knocking, and lots of visits.  Should be good!

I love you all and miss you like c-r-a-z-y!!

Have a super week!

Love forever,
Jason

Pictures!

My last day in Tamandaré with some of our Recent Converts and the other Elders in our area.

OUR FILTHY MESS IN OUR TINY LITTLE HOUSE!!  Haha but I love it!