Oi família!
Tudo bem?!
The week has just kind of flown by. Time just seems to kind of
disappear sometimes, but I guess you just have to make the most out of
it.
So here are some highlights from the week... Actually, I'll think I'll
just tell about Saturday, because Saturday was kind of highlight day.
Saturday morning we were able to take Rodrigo e Elisangela to visit
the temple with us which was really great. They felt the spirit so
strong, and all of us were just renewed by the wonderful spirit that
is there. We taught them about eternal families and temple marriage
while we were there, and the Spirit was so strong so I challenged them
to baptism again. I was almost positive they would say yes, but after
thinking for awhile, they went back to their same answer of wanting
certainty. It goes to show that the real path to conversion is
through the Book of Mormon and personal prayer. They have only read a
litte bit, so we need to really get them started on that. They've
been coming to church for 5 weeks already, and they come to all the
activities and everything. Even the members think they have already
been baptized which creates some funny/awkward moments. But with time
I'm sure they'll come around.
After the temple we had a delicious lunch, made some visits, and then
went to visit Larissa (niece of a member who we have been teaching) to
make sure she was all ready for her baptism, and while we were there
we got a phone call from the bishop that the water in the neighborhood
were the church is had been cut, so that kind put a wrench in our
plans. But we called up some other missionaries and last minute they
were able to go to their church and fill up the baptismal font for us,
and last minute everyone drove over to the stake center, but it all
went smoothly which was good. The only problem was that we were
supposed to have a ward activity after the baptism, and the baptism
got way delayed, and so nobody showed up to our church until 7ish and
it was supposed to start at 6, and we had some investigators that had
gotten their early so it was kind of a bummer for them, but oh well.
Everything turned out fine.
Well I guess that's kind of a sneak peak into a day of a missionary.
Or at least a good day of a missionary :). You have to go through a
lot of hot sunny days to have one of those, but it's definitely worth
it.
Amo todos vocês. Espero que vocês tenham uma ótima semana e que
reconheçam o amor de Deus em suas vidas.
Mosias 2
19 E eis também que se eu, a quem chamais vosso rei, que passou os
seus dias a vosso serviço e, contudo, esteve a serviço de Deus, mereço
algum agradecimento de vós, oh! quanto deveis aagradecera vosso Rei
celestial!
20 Digo-vos, meus irmãos, que se renderdes todas as graças e
louvores, com todo o poder de vossa alma, àquele Deus que vos criou e
guardou e preservou e fez com que vos regozijásseis e vos concedeu
viverdes em paz uns com os outros--
21 Digo-vos que se servirdes ao que vos criou desde o princípio e
vos está preservando dia a dia, dando-vos alento para que possais
viver, mover-vos e agir segundo vossa própria avontade; e até vos
apoiando de momento a momento--digo-vos que se o servirdes com toda a
alma, ainda assim sereis bservos inúteis.
22 E eis que tudo que ele requer de vós é que guardeis seus
mandamentos; e ele prometeu-vos que, se aguardásseis seus mandamentos,
prosperaríeis na terra; e ele nunca se desvia do que disse; portanto,
se guardardes seus mandamentos, ele vos abençoará e far-vos-á
prosperar.
Ele sempre está ao nosso lado para ajudar, consolar, e fortalecer.
Abraço,
Evan
Monday, February 17, 2014
Monday, February 10, 2014
Calor de mais! Record setting heat in Brazil!
Oi familia,
Mais um transferência acabou. Time is just flying by. 11 months has
already passed by and before I know it, I´ll be more then a year old
on the mission. Crazy.
So it´s just my luck that I´m in Brazil during the hottest year of the
century. The heat has been breaking records here, and the country is
in danger of going into a serious drought. The rain has completely
stopped and there are some cities that have already cut the water to
conserve. Something like one day on and one day off. We´re still
good here, but if it doesn´t rain soon, I don´t know what will happen.
The Lord will take care of us though, so I´m not too worried.
So other then the blazing sun, life has been good. The hours after
lunch sometimes get a little bit miserable. Hardly anyone is home, so
we are stuck in the streets trying to find people to talk too. We can
usually get into a house or two and find someone to talk to, but
inside the houses aren´t much better without air conditioning. We
have fans to keep us cool at night, but we´ve ended up throwing our
mattresses outside and sleeping under the stars because it manages to
cool down a bit at night, and that makes sleeping a lot nicer. Kind
of reminds me of camping a bit, just with cement all around me instead
of trees, but I´ll take what I can.
So I´ll guess I´ll tell you a bit about Elder Lybbert. He´s from
Georgia, a city close to Atlanta, and came straight here from the
Provo MTC. He had actually got reassigned to Indy as well, but the
visa came just before he left. He has an older sister on a mission as
well, in Georgia, and I think he has a couple other siblings as well.
He didn´t bring any photos so it´s kind of hard to remember. He´s
huge into BMX, so huge that after he had a really bad crash his Junior
year, and after being in a coma for 5 days, he learned how to walk
again, and then how to bike again, and went right back out. I guess
he´ll be safe for two years here. He lost his hearing in one ear
though, so I always have to stay on the right side, or maybe it´s the
left. I really don´t remember. I think being part deaf makes
learning the language a lot harder though. You learn so much from
listening, and without hearning, it´s hard to distinguish words and
phrases, so everything probably just sounds like a jumbled mess to
him. But he´s picking it up. Slowly but surely.
We are teaching an awesome couple right now, and they are even legally
married! Rodrigo and Elisangela found us walking down the street one
day. Rodrigo pulled over and asked us if we could teach him some
English, and we were like ´Sure, if you come to church on Sunday` We
tried to set an appointment right then and there, but he didn´t want
to give his address, and so we gave them the address of the church and
invited him and left, and didn´t think much of it because usually if
people aren´t willing to set an appointment, they won´t come to
church, but sure enough he came, and brought his wife too! What a
great suprise that was. That was about 4 weeks ago, and they have
been coming every week and really love it. They are such great
people. So fun to be around and so fun to teach. We just need to
teach them more, but it´s kind of hard because they are working and
studying until 9 almost every day, so we can only pass by on the
weekends. But logo logo tudo vai dar certo.
Well that´s about it for now. Hope you all have a great week.
Amo vocês,
Evan
P.S.
E agora, meu amado filho, apesar da dureza deles, trabalhemos
diligentemente; porque, se deixarmos de trabalhar, estaremos sob
condenação; porque enquanto habitarmos este tabernáculo de barro,
temos uma obra a executar, para vencermos o inimigo de toda a retidão
e para que nossa alma descanse no reino de Deus.
Moroni 9:6
Mais um transferência acabou. Time is just flying by. 11 months has
already passed by and before I know it, I´ll be more then a year old
on the mission. Crazy.
So it´s just my luck that I´m in Brazil during the hottest year of the
century. The heat has been breaking records here, and the country is
in danger of going into a serious drought. The rain has completely
stopped and there are some cities that have already cut the water to
conserve. Something like one day on and one day off. We´re still
good here, but if it doesn´t rain soon, I don´t know what will happen.
The Lord will take care of us though, so I´m not too worried.
So other then the blazing sun, life has been good. The hours after
lunch sometimes get a little bit miserable. Hardly anyone is home, so
we are stuck in the streets trying to find people to talk too. We can
usually get into a house or two and find someone to talk to, but
inside the houses aren´t much better without air conditioning. We
have fans to keep us cool at night, but we´ve ended up throwing our
mattresses outside and sleeping under the stars because it manages to
cool down a bit at night, and that makes sleeping a lot nicer. Kind
of reminds me of camping a bit, just with cement all around me instead
of trees, but I´ll take what I can.
So I´ll guess I´ll tell you a bit about Elder Lybbert. He´s from
Georgia, a city close to Atlanta, and came straight here from the
Provo MTC. He had actually got reassigned to Indy as well, but the
visa came just before he left. He has an older sister on a mission as
well, in Georgia, and I think he has a couple other siblings as well.
He didn´t bring any photos so it´s kind of hard to remember. He´s
huge into BMX, so huge that after he had a really bad crash his Junior
year, and after being in a coma for 5 days, he learned how to walk
again, and then how to bike again, and went right back out. I guess
he´ll be safe for two years here. He lost his hearing in one ear
though, so I always have to stay on the right side, or maybe it´s the
left. I really don´t remember. I think being part deaf makes
learning the language a lot harder though. You learn so much from
listening, and without hearning, it´s hard to distinguish words and
phrases, so everything probably just sounds like a jumbled mess to
him. But he´s picking it up. Slowly but surely.
We are teaching an awesome couple right now, and they are even legally
married! Rodrigo and Elisangela found us walking down the street one
day. Rodrigo pulled over and asked us if we could teach him some
English, and we were like ´Sure, if you come to church on Sunday` We
tried to set an appointment right then and there, but he didn´t want
to give his address, and so we gave them the address of the church and
invited him and left, and didn´t think much of it because usually if
people aren´t willing to set an appointment, they won´t come to
church, but sure enough he came, and brought his wife too! What a
great suprise that was. That was about 4 weeks ago, and they have
been coming every week and really love it. They are such great
people. So fun to be around and so fun to teach. We just need to
teach them more, but it´s kind of hard because they are working and
studying until 9 almost every day, so we can only pass by on the
weekends. But logo logo tudo vai dar certo.
Well that´s about it for now. Hope you all have a great week.
Amo vocês,
Evan
P.S.
E agora, meu amado filho, apesar da dureza deles, trabalhemos
diligentemente; porque, se deixarmos de trabalhar, estaremos sob
condenação; porque enquanto habitarmos este tabernáculo de barro,
temos uma obra a executar, para vencermos o inimigo de toda a retidão
e para que nossa alma descanse no reino de Deus.
Moroni 9:6
Monday, February 3, 2014
A semana de milagres
Oi familia!
Como vocês estão?
This week was honestly just filled with miracles, and unfortunately,
due to a ton of phone calls, follow-up, planning, and working, I
didn´t get to record a ton of it in my journal, so I hope I can
capture some of the feelings I´ve had of late in this letter.
Training and being District Leader at the same time can sometimes be
exhausting. It´s go go go 24/7 without much of a chance to stop and
take a breath.
I guess the first miracle I would like to share is Diego (another
Diego) who was baptized yesterday. It is honestly amazing how
prepared he was when we found him. So willing to read the Book of
Mormon, so open to the Spirit, and so prepared to be baptized. I
guess the biggest miracle was just to see the Lord´s promise in Alma
16:16-17 come true.
16 And there was no inequality among them; the Lord did pour out his
Spirit on all the face of the land to prepare the minds of the
children of men, or to prepare their hearts to receive the word which
should be taught among them at the time of his coming--
17 That they might not be hardened against the word, that they might
not be unbelieving, and go on to destruction, but that they might
receive the word with joy, and as a branch be grafted into the true
vine, that they might enter into the rest of the Lord their God.
When I started my mission I had a fairly limited view of what the
mission would be like. I thought if I could baptize 5 or 6 people in
two years I would have done all I could. I thought people would be
really closed and unwilling to listen, and I didn´t have a vision of
what the Lord could do. But as time has gone on, God has really
started to open up my eyes of what his plan is and how we can help
him, and I´ve come to realize that today is the time to harvest the
fruits that have already been planted. Especially here in Brazil.
And I guess Diego is just more proof the Lord has given me to help me
learn that this work will grow and continue to grow until it literally
fills the earth. Right now the gospel has been preached in most
countries, but I´m here to tell you it´s gonna keep on growing until
it fills up all these countries as well. And the Spirit is preparing
the hearts of everyone to recieve this wonderful message! The work
will grow, we just need to decide what role we are going to play.
The other miracle was Luciano. We have been teaching him since we´ve
got here, but he really struggled with smoking for quite some time.
He had gotten down to 1 or 2 cigarros per day for a couple weeks, but
it was hard to take that final step. We had a date all set in stone
for Sunday, but he was still smoking to start the week and a couple
lesson appointments fell through, so I didn´t think it would happen...
but then all of a sudden I got a phone call on Friday night and
Luciano almost shouted for joy and told me `I´ve stopped! I´m done
smoking! Are you excited for Sunday?!` and so of course we went over
there, saw how he was doing, marked an interview, and he was baptized
as well. He´s really made some amazing changes.
Now we have a lot of work to keep everyone firm. Sometimes baptizing
is the easy part, but then you have to follow up with your converts
and do all you can to help them stay firm in their decision.
I hope you all know how much I love you all and how much I love
Christ. It´s really amazing what we can do when we turn our lives
over to the saviour. I still have a long ways to go as missionary,
and a lot to learn, but I know I just need to learn how to give myself
to the Lord.
Love you all and hope you all have a wonderful week. Keep on being
awesome, and always remember the Lord in all you do.
Eu Amo Vocês,
Evan
Como vocês estão?
This week was honestly just filled with miracles, and unfortunately,
due to a ton of phone calls, follow-up, planning, and working, I
didn´t get to record a ton of it in my journal, so I hope I can
capture some of the feelings I´ve had of late in this letter.
Training and being District Leader at the same time can sometimes be
exhausting. It´s go go go 24/7 without much of a chance to stop and
take a breath.
I guess the first miracle I would like to share is Diego (another
Diego) who was baptized yesterday. It is honestly amazing how
prepared he was when we found him. So willing to read the Book of
Mormon, so open to the Spirit, and so prepared to be baptized. I
guess the biggest miracle was just to see the Lord´s promise in Alma
16:16-17 come true.
16 And there was no inequality among them; the Lord did pour out his
Spirit on all the face of the land to prepare the minds of the
children of men, or to prepare their hearts to receive the word which
should be taught among them at the time of his coming--
17 That they might not be hardened against the word, that they might
not be unbelieving, and go on to destruction, but that they might
receive the word with joy, and as a branch be grafted into the true
vine, that they might enter into the rest of the Lord their God.
When I started my mission I had a fairly limited view of what the
mission would be like. I thought if I could baptize 5 or 6 people in
two years I would have done all I could. I thought people would be
really closed and unwilling to listen, and I didn´t have a vision of
what the Lord could do. But as time has gone on, God has really
started to open up my eyes of what his plan is and how we can help
him, and I´ve come to realize that today is the time to harvest the
fruits that have already been planted. Especially here in Brazil.
And I guess Diego is just more proof the Lord has given me to help me
learn that this work will grow and continue to grow until it literally
fills the earth. Right now the gospel has been preached in most
countries, but I´m here to tell you it´s gonna keep on growing until
it fills up all these countries as well. And the Spirit is preparing
the hearts of everyone to recieve this wonderful message! The work
will grow, we just need to decide what role we are going to play.
The other miracle was Luciano. We have been teaching him since we´ve
got here, but he really struggled with smoking for quite some time.
He had gotten down to 1 or 2 cigarros per day for a couple weeks, but
it was hard to take that final step. We had a date all set in stone
for Sunday, but he was still smoking to start the week and a couple
lesson appointments fell through, so I didn´t think it would happen...
but then all of a sudden I got a phone call on Friday night and
Luciano almost shouted for joy and told me `I´ve stopped! I´m done
smoking! Are you excited for Sunday?!` and so of course we went over
there, saw how he was doing, marked an interview, and he was baptized
as well. He´s really made some amazing changes.
Now we have a lot of work to keep everyone firm. Sometimes baptizing
is the easy part, but then you have to follow up with your converts
and do all you can to help them stay firm in their decision.
I hope you all know how much I love you all and how much I love
Christ. It´s really amazing what we can do when we turn our lives
over to the saviour. I still have a long ways to go as missionary,
and a lot to learn, but I know I just need to learn how to give myself
to the Lord.
Love you all and hope you all have a wonderful week. Keep on being
awesome, and always remember the Lord in all you do.
Eu Amo Vocês,
Evan
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)