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
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