This week we were faced with two difficult missions. Normally, I start the week saying, man that passed by fast. This week it was kind of the opposite. Luckily, time stood still. Maybe you’re thinking why is that a good thing?? Well, it is because I have two weeks left on the mission, and I want to take advantage of every single second. I love Porto Alegre and this states people. I don’t know what I’m going to do without this people, their culture, their food, and their language. The other day, my comp, Elder Shell, and I wanted to speak some English. In all honesty, it is easier for me at this point to just speak Portuguese. Haha. I guess I can say that I will miss Brasil. But, I still got 2 solid weeks left, and you best believe they are going to be the best 2 weeks!!!!
We started the week off with a surprise. Honestly, I didn’t think that I would get to work with my comp in this transfer because we are always on splits. Then last Monday, Pres. arrived and told us we would open an area. Open an area means that the city or neighborhood doesn’t have missionaries, and you and your comp open or reopen the area. So we reopened the city of Esteio. Pres. Campos told us that the ward had a list of 30 referrals for us to visit. This meant that I would be working with Elder Shell for an uncertain amount of time. Pres. told us if we found investigators who would be baptized to stay in the area. So I was thinking that I would be there until the end of the mission. We got to the small city of Esteio, which is located in between Porto Alegre and Canoas, and the ward was stoked to have missionaries once again. We had an amazing lunch, got a tour of the city, got keys to our house, and finally got the Golden list of 30 referrals!!! Man I was thrilled, foaming at the mouth, 30 referrals is a missionaries dream. We then started to visit the families 1 for 1. Unfortunately, we quickly realized that these were not the type of referrals we’d be hoping for… so after 30 visits, we only saw a couple of people with potential. We called for Pres., and he gave us a new assignment. He decided to send us to Caxias. We were a little disappointed with the results, but had one amazing lesson with a less active family. They felt the spirit super strongly and decided that they needed to start reading the Book of Mormon and go to church. It was a lesson based on Alma 5:38. Christ is our good shepherd, and we must be on his team when he calls out in the final day. It was strange returning to Caxias for a couple of days. We stayed in a neighborhood called Cinquentenarice. Caxias is huge. It’s the 2ndlargest city of the state. So I wasn’t able to visit some recent converts, but Elder Tate sent a hi to all of them. We did splits with Elder Costa de Portugal and Elder Layton from Utah. The split was awesome and ended with 3 baptisms. Let me tell you it was a challenging but rewarding week. This week I wanted to give one counsel to all you missionaries because everyone is a missionary. It doesn’t matter how tall you are, or how pretty, or the eloquence of your words. Effective missionary work happens through the spirit. It is my prayer that we always invite the sprit when we teach, talk, or present the gospel to others. Through the spirit all will be converted (Corinthians 2). The Lord told Oliver Cowdery in Doctrine and Covenants 68:4, “And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon the (spirit) shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of the God unto salvation.”
What a promise that is!!! For this reason, I crave to teach with the spirit. The spirit changes us and lifts those around us. If you aren’t feeling the spirit in your life, you must search for it! If you already feel it, let it influence you to feel it more and help others feel it. It is my promise that through the spirit we will be converted, and those we serve shall be converted as well.
Love, Dave
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