3-24-14
That's
cool you guys already got the new house picked out! Seems like that happened
real fast. And it was important actually that you told me the new address
because I have to inform the mission that the address was changed which I've
already done so thanks!
That's
way cool that the temple is so close! I don't know for how long I'll be there
when I return but I have certainty that I'll take advantage of the close
proximity of the temple
How
was your week? This week has been good but also disappointing. We've been
helping the ward to clean up its list of members that moved, died, or don't
want anything to do with the church to help our ward qualify for benefits form
the church and also to invite people to come back to church and so we've already
had some good successes with that which is good! A bit disappointing because
not even Rosa went to church yesterday :/ None of our investigators went to
church. I think it's because she went to São Paulo but we told her to call us
if that ended up happening. Not even Delia and Francisco went to church which
made me sad as well. The member that they usual get a ride with didn't go and
they didn't have money to take the bus. I talked with her about guarding money
for moments like this and she said she'll try.
Will
you watch conference in English or Portuguese? If they have it in English
then English I think. We'll see.
How is
the missionary work going? The missionary work is going alright, it could be
better. Elder Cosme usually doesn’t want to leave to work before leaving for
lunch unless we have an appointment with someone so that limits our time but
I'm hoping to start visiting less active members before lunch to get us going.
How is E Cosme? He's fine, it's been a bit colder lately which he doesn't like
but I love haha
What
did you do for fun this week? Fun? During the week of missionary work?
True fun doesn't happen very often. My fun happens on p-day. Our district
leader invited us to play Frisbee today and so that'd be fun! We'll see if we
go or not.
Do you
still study the language every day? Nope, I hardly even studied the
language when I was with Elder Steele. Maybe I studied 10 times in our whole 2
transfers together. I already knew the grammar rules I just needed the vocab
and the application
What’s
your favorite food lately? It's been stroganoff since I've gotten here. I love
churrasco here as well :) very very good.
This
past week we were with Rosa and her family preparing to teach them and the
power went out! So we taught them anyways with my little flashlight and the
light from our cellphone and so that was a first for me that was pretty cool.
We ended up staying there for about 3 hours or so because it was also storming
and I hadn't brought an umbrella (almost forgot the word for umbrella) and then
we took the bus home instead of walking for 1 hour.
Claucio
and Taís. We received Taís as a reference from the other elders and the same
day we went there and we talked with her and her father which was cool. The
father, Claucio was way interested and curious to know but also willing to
debate his side and that the Book of Mormon shouldn't exist. Elder Cosme
brought out the scriptures that counter this idea but I could see that it
wasn't affecting him and they were just debating and we were losing the spirit
so I decided that I needed to change the subject. So I testified of the Book of
Mormon and that it's proof that Joseph Smith was a true prophet and that the
Church of Christ really has been restored on the earth today. And so you have 2
options. Either, all that we spoke is true, or all that we spoke is false and
our church is like any other. We challenged him to read the book and pray to
ask God if the book was true and he and his daughter accepted. He's a big fan
of the Holy Ghost and so he liked the role of it in him receiving an answer.
We've only taught them once but I have good hopes for them.
Anyways
that's about it for this week I think....Nothing else big really happened. I'm
happy it's colder! And I'm wearing my jeans with my Brazil belt! So I’m happy
:)
The
church is true.
Elder
Horton
Some advice that he (Chase Fowers) asked and I
gave…
My good friend. I wanted to let you know that I have been called
to serve in the Argentina Buenos Aires West Mission, leaving July 2 for the
Provo MTC. I have never had a moment more excited in my life than when I opened
that letter.
Also, my life is wonderful. I have decided recently that I have
never been happier with my life than I am now. Between school, skiing,
friendships, and serving in my capacities within the ward, I have felt more
peace than ever before.
I don't expect an immediate response from you because I know
that you are working hard, but when you get a chance, shoot me an email about
Brazil. If you can, try and include a pearl of wisdom or experience that I can
share with the missionary preparation class that I teach on Sundays during the
second hour.
I hope that you are doing well and allowing the Lord to use you to touch the lives of your investigators. I love you, Garrett, and I am excited to see you again in a few years.
Godspeed,
Elder Fowers
Chase, soon to be
Elder Fowers
My parents told me that you were
called to serve in that mission! The same mission that Jonathan served in,
maybe you could talk with him as well for any advice or questions.
I'm happy to hear that you’re
truly finding happiness in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm a bit sad that
none of our time at BYU overlapped! That would've been way cool.
So you want to know about Brazil
and you want a pearl of wisdom or experience? I'll tell you 2 things that are
essential to be a successful missionary:
The first, as you will be a
representative of Jesus Christ and will wear his name just below yours, you
should prepare yourself to act as Jesus Christ would act in all situations and
seek to have His attributes. Love, charity, patience, hope, faith, diligence,
obedience and the others which can be found in Preach my Gospel. Study these
attributes and try to build them now and ask for help in building them. As you
ask for help to have these attributes, God won't just give you patience, He'll
give you trials where patience will be required of you. And actually this is
the purpose of trials. Because if we didn't have hard times in our lives or
annoying situations we would never learn faith or love or patience or obedience
and so remember this in your life and always try and think "What would
Jesus do in this situation?" and "What is that God wants me to learn
from this situation?" Thinking and preparing like this, you will see
yourself grow to be more like Christ until you shall be like Him (Moroni 7:48)
The second, is the importance of
having the spirit with you at All times. As you serve, you don't know these
people, you don't know their hearts, their thoughts, their feelings. But God
knows and He can help you to know through the Holy Ghost. And so as you live
worthy of the Holy Ghost through obedience to the commandments, mission rules,
and seeking constantly His guidance, you will guided to do the will of the Lord
and you will find true happiness in your 2 years and you will find yourself
wanting to serve more. (That's when member missionary work comes in After the
mission ;) )
There's an amazing talk given by
a mission president to his mission. I found it for you! It's amazing. Read it
now and decide to be the fourth missionary. It will change your mission.
I know that you will find
the first and second missionaries in your mission. There will be a lot of
disobedience to the mission rules in your mission. You should decide now to
obey all the rules but at the same time love your companions into the ground
and sacrificing for them. That will be important as well. It will be difficult
for you to know what to do but just seek the help of the Lord and everything
will be okay. Some of your biggest converts on the mission might be your
companions.
Always have faith in your mission
president and in the Lord and in the fact that you were called by a prophet of
God to serve in that mission and that God has a marvelous work and wonder for
you to perform in Buenos Aires.
I hope
that you find my words helpful and I hope that you can help others as you study
and try to be a better person and missionary.
Elder
Horton
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