Personal Revelation

This week flew by!! We have investigators who are progressing, others who slammed their door in our face, and found many new families to teach (yes!) Douglas amazingly changed his hours, so he starts work at 2:30, which means he’ll go to church this week! Also, a member in the ward named Irmã Peach told us some exciting news. Everyone assumes that her husband is a member, but to our surprise, he just attends every week with his wife. Irmã Peach told us they want to get cealed in the temple, which means baptism first! We are going to start teaching him this week. On Sunday, Elder Soares and I were clapping doors, when we found an awesome family of 3. We start to talk and Elizane (the mom of the fam) explained to us how she had a Book of Mormon, LDS bible, and had gone to church 2 times! She also explained how her sogra/sogro (mother/father in law), who live across the street are members, and how almost every day she goes over to get a priesthood blessing. My jaw dropped, and I’m super excited to teach this family.

Sunday, there was a general conference in Brazil. Jeffrey R. Holland spoke, and everyone was amazed as he started his talk in Portuguese. He spoke how we need to bring the spirit of the temple into our house, and to show the importance of fast offerings/tithing to the rising generation. The most powerful part was when he bore his testimony off script in Portuguese. The gift of tongues is real, and the spirit was incredibly powerful. Many tears were shed in that congregation. One of my favorite comments was from Elder Maynes of the Presidency of the 70. He explained how we need to remember. Remember the laws of God, that we are children of God, that we have an eternal Savior, and that one day we can be like him (Moroni 7:48). Most importantly, he explained how we need to pray to remember our spiritual experiences. If we can remember those experiences that helped our testimony grow, our testimonies will be solidified. This hit me pretty hard, and I can only hope to remember my testimony builders.

After church, we did Divisão. I was with the LZ Elder Karchmarsky. I had some of the most powerful spiritual experiences with this elder. We were in my area, and I honestly had no idea what to do, so I prayed and followed the spirit. We received many personal revelations throughout the afternoon. One that I want to share happened at the house of um novo (1^st time in their house). We were teaching this 40 year old man, and honestly he had little to no interest. At the end of the lesson, Elder K decided to give him a Book of Mormon. He told him it was a present, and immediately, this man lit up. He got us water, bread and an orange, was searching the pages, and told his sister and niece to come hear our message. He was completely different…He had felt the light of Christ. Sunday, I learned the importance of personal revelation, and how it is the best way/tool to help the investigator to feel the spirit. We have the gift of the Holy Ghost, and everyone has the Light of Christ. Our job is to find this personal revelation through the Holy Ghost and apply it/follow it to help the investigator feel this peace, tranquility, and happiness of the light of Christ. Elder K and I decided there are 4 ways to prepare yourself to receive personal revelation. 1. Pray daily (every morning, every night, when you walk down the street, eating lunch. Always pray for opportunities to receive personal revelation). 2. Diligent Scripture Study (don’t study to say you study…study with a purpose. All of us have needs and know others with needs, so finding this purpose shouldn’t be too difficult). 3. Never disobey the spirit (if the spirit tells you to do something, we must follow. Through following, we build trust, increase our ability to recognize, and experience the spirit more). 4. Believe (believe with all your heart that you can receive personal revelation, and miracles will happen).

The best part about this is we can use personal revelation in any aspect of our lives. Now that I know the steps, I’m going to try with all my heart, might, mind and strength to find personal revelation for my investigators. Sunday, I had many spiritual experiences that I can all contribute to personal revelation. I love this work and the opportunity I have to grow closer to my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ everyday. Thank you for all your love, support and prayers.

Love, Dave

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