Serra - Week Twelve

So, in response to your letter:

No, I haven't gone to the eye doctor. The secretary will mark for me and then I'll go.

I guess I'm like the black sheep in the family because, I don't really like basketball that much. I'm more of a football and soccer guy . . .
Haha.

BTW, have you decided if you are going to come and get me, or if we'll just come back for the World Cup?

So, talking about standing in holy places, I saw a quote defining what is a holy place. It isn't just like in the church or temple, but a holy place is anywhere that you can feel the presence of the Holy Ghost. SO at home should be a very holy place. Talking about the internet, what you choose to look at, listen to, or the like, could influence very strongly the presence of the spirit. Standing in holy places could also be standing for what you believe in. Holy places are very often attacked, (could use the Book of Mormon for this) and when the people don't have the spirit in the holy places, they lose, and often are destroyed. So, They need to be spiritually ready to defend beliefs or defend against unvirtuous things or even others challenging our beliefs. That's my quick thought on it.

As far as the Plan of Salvation goes, we don't always teach the restoration first. Something cool in the pamphlet about the Plan of Salvation is that it has a little roadmap, and it says, “The Atonement makes salvation possible.”  I usually focus on the Fall and its effects, how the atonement overcomes the Fall, and what we need to do in this life to have access to the Atonement. Because all in all the Atonement is the most important thing, and the youth need to have a testimony of the Atonement.

Speaking about life is like a game, on Sunday, one of the youth totally talked about that. Because he likes video games, so he likened it to that. He talked about how the game master (God) gives us missions (commandments) to fulfill. When we complete them we’re blessed, and we "level up." We can choose not to complete the missions, we don't grow, and our progress is hindered. Really cool.

Anyway, this week went by really well. I get along really well with my comp, he's really cool and I really like him. We are working a lot with Daniela. She is an excellent investigator, and she is the one that is progressing the most. We brought a lot of members there this week, and one we just let a member teach the lesson and we just sat there. It was awesome! She even went to the RS activity on Saturday, and then went to church this Sunday It was really great. I'm pretty sure that she'll be baptized. =D

That's about it I guess for this week. We taught a lot this week. It's awesome.

Anyway, I love this work. I know that this is the right thing to do. I know that it's all true. All of it. I don't have any doubts. I know that this is the work of the Lord to save his children.

Although I haven't found all the people that I have to teach, I know that if I do my part, the Lord will put these people in my way. It's up to me. I know that the Lord will keep his promises.

Thanks for everything mom and dad. I'm thankful for all the things that you have taught me. =) Short this week, but next week will be better.

Serra - Week Eleven

 I bought a new flag.

 My new comp with a zombie dog.  It's the only picture I have of him.

I like graffiti.

Well. This week was pretty good.

Anyway, so my new companion is Elder Blackwelder from Florida. I really like him because he's a nerd too. xD something I found is that it's a lot easier to start getting along with your companion when you don't have a culture barrier. This is only the second American companion that I've had. The only other was my trainer. Elder Blackwelder worked at Universal Studios at Hogwarts, so he has a Gryfindor tie. Pretty cool.

This week went by pretty well. We had some really good work with some members, which helped a lot. I like a lot of the members here. Something that hit me this week, is that some of these members that I consider to be friends, are like a little younger than Drew. haha sometimes it's weird to think that I'm 21. Wow. That doesn't even seem right.

Anyway, something that's really going well is one of our investigators named Daniela. We talked to her on the street and asked if we could come by and she accepted. We went by and taught her about the restoration. It was great! We marked a return visit to also teach her husband, but when we got there he had already left because he doesn't really like religion...yet...but we also taught her the Book of Mormon and she understood, we are going to challenge her to baptism tonight!

We are teaching and planning to baptize a kid named Marrone. He is 14 and his dad is a member. We are teaching him along with two inactive members about his age (I think they are cousins? Whatever, they are family) who are really supporting him and are excited to go back to church again as well. Sometimes it gets a little out of control, having a deacon present is like having Doug from UP! He kind of has problems paying atten . . . Squirrel!! . . . tion. But we are planning on baptizing him this week.

We had a really great experience with Rafaela. She is the daughter of a member, and has only been to church a few times. She's already heard the lessons from a lot of different missionaries. But she likes when we are there. We were trying to discover what is holding her back from being baptized. We were talking about the Book of Mormon with the member, and she started to ask a lot of really good questions about the church and what we believe. While we were there, the home teachers showed up one by one. And the first started to share his testimony about the Book of Mormon and the church. As the second came in the door, she asked him to share his testimony. And he did. It was a really spiritual experience. After we left, me and my companion talked a little about it. We decided that she was like one of the members there who bore his testimony. She knows that it's true, but hasn't asked God yet, and she doesn't want to be baptized because she says she "doesn't have time" when really it's because she knows that if she joins, she won't ever leave. And that is exactly what happened with the member who bore his testimony. He did pray, and he hasn't left, but he was in the same situation. I still think its amazing how much you care for these people. When conversing with me about the church, she always says, but I don't want to be baptized. And I say, "I don't want to baptize you. Someone else can do that.  But I want to do is help you know how important these things are, and I want you to have the joy, happiness, and direction in life that comes from this gospel. And this only comes through baptism and enduring to the end." In the end, I know she'll accept the gospel. I just hope she does while I'm there.

I love the mission. I do know that it's where I'm supposed to be. I've always thought of the mission as tithing on life. You go at the years that should be your best. The two years you give are basically 10% of the years that you've lived so far. So, just like how tithing you get a lot of blessings, I believe that the mission blesses you a lot as well. From what I've heard anyway. =)

I love you guys. Thanks for all the support. I'm glad that you are my family.

The power went out for a minute, so I took a picture of Elder Blackwelder.

Serra - Week Ten

This week really had some ups and downs. Interesting week.

Here's something I know you'll love to hear. So, I’ve been having eye problems for a few months now, I always have red eyes, and stuff. I didn’t know why. This last p-day I went to the eye doctor in Vitoria, and he checked it out. Basically, I need glasses. And because I don’t have them, I’m straining and overworking my eyes, making them be red and having irritation. Just a heads up. He gave me eye drops which are helping with the redness, but this is just a temporary solution, and so I’ll probably need to get glasses before coming back home. So I don’t know exactly how we'll work that out. haha oh yes........

Anyway, we worked well some of this week. We didn’t do well some other parts of this week. Things that we did well, we left with a lot of members this week. It was really great; it helped us out a lot. I think that it helped some of our investigators as well. Another good thing that we did was that we marked a bap date with a young man named Jefferson. He's really cool. He's 17 but he understood our message and without a problem he accepted the invite. He also said that he would go to church without a problem, but, when Sunday came, his whole family was going to his grandma's house so he couldn’t go, and was a little disappointed about that. He promised that next time he will. I’ll keep you updated on him.

We (kind of-not really) got into a Bible bash....The family was really nice, but the man didn’t want to accept Joseph as a prophet because of the research that he had done (he is a historian) but never prayed to ask if the Book of Mormon is true. It was a really cool family; I liked them, except that when I was trying to bear my testimony they kept interrupting. haha Annoying. But that’s okay. When people already have an opinion formed, usually they don’t want to change. And I don’t like the way that so many people idolatrize the Bible. Many of the evangelicals here talk about the Bible like its perfect, and that literally it is all anyone needs. Interesting.

I had a division this week with the ZL Elder Aguaysol, the guy from Argentina that I was with in Linhares. It was really good, he helped me to do a lot of things that I have been forgetting to do. I liked it a lot.

Well, this week I had some more problems with the comp, but not really on my side. I was fine, and again he didn’t want to do a certain thing while planning because he thought it was too far. I tried to help him see the importance of working hard, and shared the mission experience of President Hinckley, "forget yourself, and go to work" but I still couldn’t get him to agree. So, after a day of problem solving and talking with the Zone leaders, we got everything worked out and the end of that day and the next we worked really well. It was excellent. Then yesterday, we got a call that he was being emergency transferred. =( I was kinda disappointed about that. So today I'll get a new comp.

and yeah, Vitoria is sweet. too bad I don’t work there. haha. There is a river somewhere here in Serra. It's not in my area either. Vitoria reminds me of San Diego. =) There is a beach close by to where I am. When we have zone conference we go to a chapel in Vitoria really close to the beach.

Well I guess that's about it.

Interesting that while I was talking with this man who was trying to have a bible bash, its seemed as though he was trying to convince me to stop believing in the things I know to be true. But thinking back at all of the spiritual experiences that I've had throughout my life, there is no way that it's not true. Especially my testimony of the prophet. Something that always comes to mind is Elder Holland's conference talk about the Book of Mormon. Something that I know to be true, and nothing would be able to convince me otherwise. No amount of study could change that. Because God told me that it was true. And so I can't change my mind about that. And that's what I told that man.

Sometimes I think that it's incredible that people don’t believe our message or even do the things for them to know like read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. It's SO much to know, and only requires a simple step of faith. But that’s what separates the elects from those who don’t want the truth.

Thanks for everything Mom and Dad. I've really been able to reflect on the lessons that you have taught me and I'm really glad that you are my parents.

Serra - Week Nine

To answer the questions: No, I did not get the box yet. After Christmas the post office kinda stopped. Yes, it is still super hot. Yes, things are getting back to normal, kind of. Because we live near the beach (and it’s summer here) now everyone is going to the beach every day, which is also annoying.

Anyway, this week started well, was a little bit rough, but then we got back into the rhythm and taught well.

On my birthday, all of the elders in the district came, and we ate lunch and a cake that I bought from the store. It was really good, too.

 My first bday cake of the day.

A Legend of Zelda bomb bag that an Elder crocheted for my birthday.

Then we had to go to Vitoria because my comp needed to get his passport to get money that his mom sent to him. We did take a few pictures at a tourist spot near the office.

That night we didn't really work because a sister in the ward wanted to do something for me. It was only supposed to take an hour, but ended up being a lot longer. She made a huge cake for me, and it was awesome. She also put fireworks on it and I burnt my thumb while lighting it with a lighter.

I'm giving the first piece of cake (a tradition here) to the Sister that made it for me.

Tuesday was really difficult.  Everyone was still recuperating from the excessive partying from the night before. I also woke up at midnight because of the ridiculous amount of fireworks being let off by people in the neighborhood.

We started teaching a young woman named Mayne, who has a kid already, but she lives with her family and also lives close to a member. She is really interested in learning, and I think that the positive influence that the member gives her will make it easier for her to go to church. We were going to teach her again, but when we came at the time that we marked with her, she and the member went job hunting. grrr.

We have returned to teaching Maria da Gloria, her friend who is a member had died recently and she is still really feeling that effect. She is also not happy with many aspects of her life and wants to make a change. That's where I know that the Gospel can help, if she lets it that is.

One of the best (and most disappointing) things that happened this week was Elanio. He came to church with his friend for her baptism, and we started teaching him. We taught him for the second time this week, and talked about the Book of Mormon. He understood, but didn't pray yet to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet. He was saying, “Yeah well I'll read, but I'll probably still go to my church. I think faith is more important than what church you're going to.” Then his friend Tiago came, who was really interested to know more. We gave him a brief overview of the Book of Mormon, and the Spirit was really strong. He wanted us to stay and talk more about the Book of Mormon and about the gospel. It was great, but we had to leave. We will teach Tiago again on Tuesday. We went back to follow up with Elanio yesterday, and he said that he wanted to stay in his church. I asked him if he read or prayed and he said no. He said that he was content with where he is. I tried to tell him that God has much more to give him, and all he has to do is pray with faith and ask Him. But he didn't really want to listen. So disappointing. =(  *sigh*

Another super spiritual experience followed by disappointment was with Julius Caesar. We tried to visit an investigator, but she wasn't there. Her uncle? (I don't remember) was there and we asked if we could teach him. He was a kind of rough looking guy, almost 50. What really helped in this lesson is that we brought a member with us who loves to bear testimony and teach. We taught him the first lesson about the Restoration of the church. He understood everything super clearly, especially apostasy. It was awesome. Something that I've never heard someone say was "so he (Joseph Smith) was the one that brought the church of Christ back to the earth?" YES. It was a great lesson. One of the best I've had in a long time. And the Spirit was super strong testifying to all of us that it was right. But then he said that he was going to work a little to the south and won’t be back for two weeks. Flip, Elder!

Well that was most of my week. And I had some hard times with the comp this week also because he isn't really motivated to work hard, so sometimes I get a little frustrated. But I'm sure as heck a lot more patient.

And I'm really glad for the things that you've taught me mom and dad. Especially with this comp I think at least once a day about things that you have taught me to help me. Things such as, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything. haha. I've also gotten really good at the “forgive and turn the other cheek” thing. haha Something that reminds me of mom and watching football. It's always the guy who retaliates who get the penalty.

Being with so many other people for long periods of time helps me really see and appreciate how I've been "born of goodly parents" and how I have been taught to do what is right. Thank you mom and dad for the example that you have given me, and for being the best parents ever. I love you! =)

I know that this is where I'm supposed to be and that this is the church and the work of Christ on the earth. Thanks for all the support!

Until next week.