Oi fam!
A semana passada foi maravilhosa! Literally a week of miracles.
The biggest miracle week was the mighty change of heart that Alison (it´s a guy´s name) had. We have been teaching him from quite some time now, and were almost ready to give up. He´s an awesome guy, 20 years old, studying law, and loves studying stuff on the internet. That last part led to a lot of doubts, a lot of questions. A lot of times he seemed a lot more set on believing in Greek gods, then in believing in God and his son Jesus Christ. Slowly but surely he started reading the book of mormon. He started going to Church every once in a while, and he started believing in the gospel. But he kept looking for something else. We took him to the temple about a month ago and he told us that he felt a strange energy there. But then he had some problems with some members he didn´t like, and stopped going to church for a couple week. He also had a lot of questions about the commandments, especially the law of chastity. He kept trying to justify his way out of living up to God´s standards. This week during a split, one of our zone leaders taught him with us, and after that lesson we had all lost hope that he was going to make the changes in his life that he needed. But we prayed and went back on Friday, and as soon as we finished the opening prayer, he told us, `The only thing that lacks for my baptism is to understand better the fall of Adam and Eve` So we read two chapter of the Pearl of Great Price with him to help him understand, found out he was keeping all of the commandments, and marked a last minute baptismal interview for him to be baptized on Saturday. When the Zone Leader did the interview, he told us, `That isn´t the same person I taght on tuesday`
It was so cool to see such a mighty change of heart. Now we´ll keep working with him. Who knows. Maybe in a year or two he´ll be a mission of his own.
Alison´s story reminds me a lot of one of my favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon. Mosias 5:1-5
1 E então aconteceu que, tendo o rei Benjamim assim falado a seu povo, mandou investigar se seu povo acreditara nas palavras que lhe dissera.
2 E todos clamaram a uma só voz, dizendo: Sim, acreditamos em todas as palavras que nos disseste e também sabemos que são certas e verdadeiras, por causa do Espírito do Senhor Onipotente que efetuou em nós, ou melhor, em nosso coração, uma vigorosamudança, de modo que não temos mais disposição para praticar omal, mas, sim, de fazer o bem continuamente.
3 E também nós mesmos, pela infinita bondade de Deus e manifestações de seu Espírito, temos grandes visões do que está por acontecer e, se fosse conveniente, poderíamos profetizar sobre todas as coisas.
4 E foi a fé que tivemos nas coisas que nosso rei nos disse que nos levou a este grande conhecimento, pelo que nos regozijamos com tão grande alegria.
5 E estamos dispostos a fazer um convênio com nosso Deus, de cumprir a sua vontade e obedecer a seus mandamentos em todas as coisas que ele nos ordenar, para o resto de nossos dias, a fim de que não recaia sobre nós um tormento sem fim, como foi anunciado pelo anjo, e não bebamos do cálice da ira de Deus.
Always remember that people can change. That God can change us.
Elder Grandberg was transferred. I am going to miss him. We had a great transfer together. I found out that I will be training again. The 9th transfer I will be studying the first 12 weeks training program. Excited, but a bit nervous at the same time. New missionaries always have some surprises up their sleeves. I know I did. But I´m excited. I´m guessing he will be my last companion unless something goes really wrong ;).
Love you all!
Abraço,
Evan
A semana passada foi maravilhosa! Literally a week of miracles.
The biggest miracle week was the mighty change of heart that Alison (it´s a guy´s name) had. We have been teaching him from quite some time now, and were almost ready to give up. He´s an awesome guy, 20 years old, studying law, and loves studying stuff on the internet. That last part led to a lot of doubts, a lot of questions. A lot of times he seemed a lot more set on believing in Greek gods, then in believing in God and his son Jesus Christ. Slowly but surely he started reading the book of mormon. He started going to Church every once in a while, and he started believing in the gospel. But he kept looking for something else. We took him to the temple about a month ago and he told us that he felt a strange energy there. But then he had some problems with some members he didn´t like, and stopped going to church for a couple week. He also had a lot of questions about the commandments, especially the law of chastity. He kept trying to justify his way out of living up to God´s standards. This week during a split, one of our zone leaders taught him with us, and after that lesson we had all lost hope that he was going to make the changes in his life that he needed. But we prayed and went back on Friday, and as soon as we finished the opening prayer, he told us, `The only thing that lacks for my baptism is to understand better the fall of Adam and Eve` So we read two chapter of the Pearl of Great Price with him to help him understand, found out he was keeping all of the commandments, and marked a last minute baptismal interview for him to be baptized on Saturday. When the Zone Leader did the interview, he told us, `That isn´t the same person I taght on tuesday`
It was so cool to see such a mighty change of heart. Now we´ll keep working with him. Who knows. Maybe in a year or two he´ll be a mission of his own.
Alison´s story reminds me a lot of one of my favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon. Mosias 5:1-5
1 E então aconteceu que, tendo o rei Benjamim assim falado a seu povo, mandou investigar se seu povo acreditara nas palavras que lhe dissera.
2 E todos clamaram a uma só voz, dizendo: Sim, acreditamos em todas as palavras que nos disseste e também sabemos que são certas e verdadeiras, por causa do Espírito do Senhor Onipotente que efetuou em nós, ou melhor, em nosso coração, uma vigorosamudança, de modo que não temos mais disposição para praticar omal, mas, sim, de fazer o bem continuamente.
3 E também nós mesmos, pela infinita bondade de Deus e manifestações de seu Espírito, temos grandes visões do que está por acontecer e, se fosse conveniente, poderíamos profetizar sobre todas as coisas.
4 E foi a fé que tivemos nas coisas que nosso rei nos disse que nos levou a este grande conhecimento, pelo que nos regozijamos com tão grande alegria.
5 E estamos dispostos a fazer um convênio com nosso Deus, de cumprir a sua vontade e obedecer a seus mandamentos em todas as coisas que ele nos ordenar, para o resto de nossos dias, a fim de que não recaia sobre nós um tormento sem fim, como foi anunciado pelo anjo, e não bebamos do cálice da ira de Deus.
Always remember that people can change. That God can change us.
Elder Grandberg was transferred. I am going to miss him. We had a great transfer together. I found out that I will be training again. The 9th transfer I will be studying the first 12 weeks training program. Excited, but a bit nervous at the same time. New missionaries always have some surprises up their sleeves. I know I did. But I´m excited. I´m guessing he will be my last companion unless something goes really wrong ;).
Love you all!
Abraço,
Evan
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