His Hand is Stretched Out Still

Another week down and out in the Cruz. This week flew by. We had meetings in Porto Alegre, so we lost a couple of days in the area. But overall super edifying week. I don’t know about other missions, but here in Porto Alegre Norte, every single house that I’ve passed through always has a stack of at least 100 Ensigns/Liahonas. This week, I was looking through the magazines, and I found a General Conference Ensign from 1976. Man are the talks awesome. There were 2 that I read that really stood out to me.  The first is called “There is the Light” by John Groberg. Man I love John Groberg because of his captivating stores of his mission in the Pacific Islands. In this talk, he shares an experience of a trip he made with a sick missionary to a main island. On their small boat with 7 people, they sailed into a storm in hopes to arrive at the main island hospital. With no sign of light or direction, the passengers began to panic and quickly lost hope of arriving to the main island in one piece. In a moment of chaos, hysteria and darkness, Elder Groberg looked to the captain who calmly took control of the situation. Without fear, he scanned the horizon looking for the light. As others panicked, the captain said, “Ko e Maama e (There is the light).” Although Elder Groberg couldn’t see the light, he believed in the captain’s words because Elder Groberg knew of the captain’s experience, wisdom and perfect sight. Although we might have experiences and vision, there will always be leaders who have more sight. Elder Groberg lets us know that no matter the trial or spiritual storm, the prophets will show us the road to our destination of light and happiness. I know that the leaders of our church are definitely chosen to show us the way to the Celestial Kingdom. Study their teachings, and trust in them and all will be well. I also loved Gordon B. Hinckley’s talk entitled, “Everything to gain - Nothing to lose.” Here in Brazil, as a missionary, I have the privilege to see many come unto Christ, being baptized, and become members of this true church. Unfortunately not all exert themselves to gain testimonies, or get offended, or face trials, which result in becoming less active in the church. In Pres. Hinckley’s talk, he invites all members inactive to come back. He claims that they will be welcomed with open arms, and that literally, they have absolutely nothing to lose and only many blessings to gain. He promises peace, knowledge, love and forgiveness for all those who need to be welcomed back. This talk gave me much hope for those who have stepped away from God’s gospel. I truly believe and know that there are many waiting for those less actives to rejoin with more happiness and spirit than ever. Truly they have nothing to lose, only bencaos (blessings) to gain.

The week was a little slow, but we had the wonderful baptism of Nelci, mother of our recent convert Alberth. It was awesome to see them both so happy with the baptism. They are an awesome fam and want to invite everyone in the fam to let us teach them. Also, Helena, our other recent convert, testified of the miracles of her baptism and her desire to have an eternal family. She closed her testimony with the words “I baptized my son and now he baptized me.” This struck me so let me explain. Helena baptized her son in the Catholic Church, and her son, Bruno, who has been the only member in his family and is preppin for the mish, baptized Helena in October with the authority and power of the priesthood. After Helena bore her testimony, Bruno testified of his daily choice to stay strong and never give up on God’s eternal plan. No matter the difficulty, trial, or burden you are passing, never give up!! Your leaders and prophet will guide you and even if you feel as all is lost, you’ve given up, or the darkness has no escape, many extend their hands to pull you out of your misery. Christ extends his hand always; we just need to accept it. I know these things are true. Families are forever. Christ’s hand is stretched out still!

Love, Dave

Batismo de Nelci

Sunday lunch churrasco e pudim sorvete

Halloween

Farmer's tan

because every missionary needs to have a graffiti photo

New military cuts

100% Worth It

This week is done and a new transfer has started. My fave comp Elder Rocha Neto parted ways and left for São Leopoldo. I’ll miss the dude. He tried to get President to leave him one more in Santa Cruz, but it didn’t work out. My new comp arrived on Tuesday night. His name is Elder Queiroz from the Bahia. He is 25 years old and six months on the mish. He is super serious, but funny at the same time. Should be a solid transfer with him.

Well this week I was thinking about what could be my spiritual focus. On the mish, I have come to know that obedience is the first rule of the heavens. To obey God, we must do his will. On the mish, obedience in all aspects of our work/life brings numerous blessings. (Doctrine and Covenants 130:20-21) One thing I have noticed on the mish is that there exist those who love to be obedient and those who are obedient with negative attitudes, thoughts and actions. Everyday I strive to love being obedient. Sometimes it’s not easy, but I have learned that obedience is always worth it. Many rich blessings I have seen in my and other’s missions have occurred because of obedience. Strive to be obedient and miracles will happen.

This week was rather slow in the Santa Cruz. But there were some highlights. We were knocking doors (not my fave activity) when we started to talk with an old man. First thing he said was, “I’m catholic.” Shocker. I thought for sure he would reject us, but he let us in so we started to teach. By the end of the lesson, he was in tears and told us his spiritual eyes had been opened. After Sunday when he didn’t show up to church, we decided to pay him a visit. When we arrived at his house, he gave us a hug and told us sorry about 10 times that he didn’t show up to church. He had had a family health emergency and couldn’t attend. At first I thought he was just making excuses, but then he showed us how he was in the pages of 2 Nephi. He began to describe details of Lehi and his family, Lehi’s dream and the tree of life, and the church of the devil. I literally was in shock. Never had I seen a 72 year old catholic with so much interest in the Book of Mormon. Overall, fantastic experience.

Also, the cousin of Deonaton, Sabrina, was baptized. There was a lot of opposition for her not to be baptized, but she followed firmly trusting in the Lord. Her baptism was great, and Deonaton received the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Deonaton has an incredible light to him. Moments like these make every difficulty, trial, slammed door, unslept night, hot day and non stop rain kind of moments worth it. Thank you for your love and support and prayers. Know that every missionary moment is absolutely 100% worth it. The Gospel is true, and we gotta learn and love it.

Love y’all, Dave

Sabrina's baptism

 baptisms of the ward

Morning run destination

model shot 

Photos!

Innumerable blessings

My mom just sent me an email saying that my readers (lol) are amazed by the reception of the people we teach here in Brazil... Well let me tell you about Deonaton (sounds like Jonathan in Portuguese) . Remember my last email about being observant... well the family that we found when we went to try and find a couple on that list I found in the house is amazing. The fam is made up of Adriano, Rosimara, Sabrina, e Monitelli. Their nephew Deonaton lives in their house as well. We also taught Maria who is a great friend of the family the first day we were there. Well we are now teaching Maria´s grandson who is crazy to get baptized, her daughter, son in law, husband, and neighbor (family of 5). Deonaton has already invited his girlfriend who lives in another city to come to church (she went!) and be baptized. We also are teaching Adriano´s brother, father, and sister... From one door knocked there has been innumerable blessings.... Well I don't have much time to write, but I want to tell you a little more about Deonaton. 

Deonaton is 19. When we met him, he told us that Christ was in his heart and for him that was sufficient to get back to his kingdom. We then declared his opinions and beliefs of God and Christ. We had one of the most spiritual lessons of love I have ever taught on my mission. We began to teach on Love... and how he showed love for his Savior. By the end of the lesson, he was in tears and showed us that he had learned that his original statement was wrong, that he needed repent, go to church, and be baptized in the Lord's church. Deonaton was smoking 40 cigarettes a day, was addicted to coffee, was breaking the law of chastity, and had never been to chruch. In the matter of a week, he was completely clean of all these carnal desires. He showed for us his desire to follow Christ. Never have I seen a person more committed to follow Christ. The best part is that everyone in his family wants to baptized. Adriano and Rosimara need to get married (they have already stopped smoking) and Sabrina is prepping to be baptized next week. Maria also needs to get married but Erick is so stoked to be baptized. Next week, he will give a talk in the primary. Let me tell you that I have never had a time in my mission with so many blessings, so many people willing to follow Christ. Truly it is amazing. I wish I could write about the dozens of other people that we are teaching. For example Alberth who was baptized last week has reactivated his girlfriend, and now wants his whole family wants to be baptized. Man I wish I could talk all day about our amazing investagators.... But honestly I would like to thank you all for the prayers. Most importantly I would like to thank my Father in Heaven for humbiling me and making me a better person. I love you all and have an awesome week

dave

The district

Batismo de Deonaton

That picanha though

All Out

The mission is pretty dang sweet because every moment brings growth. I feel like every week has a take away. Whether it be faith, courage, or trials, God puts purpose in our path. This week was one of the most physically and mentally tiring of my mission. And the take away was being observant. This take away has always been a strong point for me. If you know my dad, then you know where I learned of being observant. But on the mish, I’ve had to fine-tune my spiritual observancy. I love Doctrine and Covenants 103:7 in which we learn that observing all the words or teachings of Christ, we shall always prevail. Of late, I’ve been making a real effort to observe spiritual impressions which cause miracles.

When I got to Santa Cruz, I was able to organize my desk which was cluttered with dozens of useless papers. As I almost threw away the stack of papers, I felt a need to look through them. Upon observing the papers, I found an old, small spiral paper with a list of names, addresses, and crazy math/numbers. I grabbed the paper and stored it in my folder. This week, I came upon the paper feeling a need to visit the listed families. With our planning completed, my comp and I went out to contact. The first couple names on the list didn’t turn out so great. Finally, we went to contact one of the last families on the list: George and Franchesca. We got to a crazy address and entered a tiny alleyway. We got to the end and asked about the names. The boss or owner of the crazy apartment complex told us that they had moved 8 years ago. At this point, I was a little confused, but we decided to leave. As I turned to walk out, I observed an open door just outside the complex fences. When I looked, I saw a little girl and felt an undeniable feeling to go and teach there now! So we left the alleyway and took another alleyway until we found the house. We clapped and a woman and the little girl appeared. Without saying a single word, they let us in. We asked if they had previously met missionaries, and they replied nope. We shared a wonderful lesson with Adriano, Rosa, Sabrina, Jonaton, e Monitelli. They also had a visitor in house named Marici who heard the message. We got her address and were able to teach her husband Adolf, who calls me alemaozindro (little German), and their grandson, Eric. From one observance, 8 people or 2 families went to church alone without us picking them up. All are crazy to get baptized but first need to be prepared with more lessons, living commandments, and gaining testimonies.

Another experience with observance came from a morning run. When my German running buddy and I left to run at 6:00 am, we observed that all of the doors were open. When we got back, all of our money had disappeared. At first, we thought it was a joke, but then we realized we had been robbed. In total, we lost 600 reais (about $197), but the robber left our cameras, credit cards, and Ipods. I was happy and thanked the Lord that we were protected, and our most valuable items were left. I learned that we needed to be observant in locking doors, hiding money and protecting ourselves.

The last experience I had with observance was kind of funny but had awesome results. One night we had a family to visit who lives way in the boonies of our area. My comp wanted to walk to save the 1 dollar bus ride, but I was like no, no, no and said that I’d pay for his bus ride. So we took the bus and took the different route to the center. When we passed Walmart, a woman called us down and asked, “How do lessons/teaching work with you guys?” She explained how her family has all of the necessities of life, but they were always fighting about money. She said she had been praying that we would feel the spirit and knock at her house. When she said that I felt a little disappointed that we hadn’t knocked there, but later, I realized that maybe she was the one who needed to take the first step in calling us down. When we went to teach, she asked if I was American. I replied yes, and she said that 13 years ago an American and Paulister (a native or inhabitant of the city of São Paulo, Brazil) had taught her about the restoration of Christ’s church. She had almost been baptized, but in the last moment, desisted. She told us that the things we had taught her were the things she had been taught 13 years ago, but this time things were different. This time, she was married legally, has no addictions, and this time she is passing a family need. Her only wish is to have a happy family. We promised her many blessings and she accepted to be baptized.

Overall, the week was amazing. In total, our branch had 28 visitors. The gospel principles class was lotado or filled with so many people that we had to teach in the cultural hall. All of the missionaries in the branch gave talks, and we finished the reunion with 6 baptism. 5 of the other companionship and 1 of ours, Alberth! We have been teaching him for 4 weeks now, and he has made big changes in his life. He wants to serve a mish in a foreign country. Overall amazing week! I’m dead tired, but I know being observant to the spiritual whispers of the spirit brings miracles. Have an awesome week. Thanks for the prayers.

Love, Dave

Baptisms in the district this week

Alberth in the white suit

 P-Day Parque da Gruta (Cave park)

Lunch

The Fruit Salad life is REAL