E aí,
We had an awesome week!! Last Thursday, we had an
incredible lesson with Chris and his wife Marisa. Chris is from the Caribbean
and speaks English and is learning Portuguese, and Marisa is Brasilian but
speaks fluent English too. They are in their late 50s early 60s and are
awesome!! Marisa is a member of the church and Chris is not. They bought some
really good pizza for us before the lesson. We always have a great time with
them and they treat us like family. Chris always has great questions. We talked
basically the whole time in English which was cool! ha. We prayed a lot
before we visited them to seek guidance from Heavenly Father to know what we
could teach to help Chris. Chris is a good Christian man and really wants to
follow the Savior and studies the bible a lot. We felt prompted to talk
about Eternal marriage and about the Book of Mormon. It was awesome and the
Spirit was so strong! It really strengthened our testimonies and Chris was able
to feel the Spirit as we testified of the things we taught. Marisa told of some
of her personal experiences and how it is her dream to be sealed in the temple
with Chris someday. Marisa went to the temple a few weeks ago and Chris went
with her for the whole week. While she was inside, Chris stayed outside but
felt a special spirit there and said people always came out to talk with him
and help him feel welcome. He loves his wife so much which is why we really
want them to have the chance to be sealed someday. Chris told us he would read
the Book of Mormon and pray to God to know if it is true. As we left,
Chris told us how much he loves us and how important we are to his family! Which
was great.
Marisa is a diplomat so she has lived all over the
world working in Brazil embassies. They will be leaving this summer to live in
the Middle East where she will work in an embassy there. The church is small.
Just a group (not even a branch) with just 12 people including 5 little kids.
We know that Chris could be such a strong leader to the church up there. I know
he will be baptized someday!
This week, we went to visit a new area in the mission
that is opening up, "Padre Bernardo". It is a town that reminds me a lot
of Santo Antonio do Descoberto where I started my mission. It has a special
spirit there and the work will flourish so much there! There are just 6 members
of the church living there so it’s just a group but will grow a ton and fast.
We talked with some people there and are really receptive to the Gospel. It was
cool being able to go see that area and get things ready for the missionaries
that will serve there.
We got to visit the soccer stadium "Mané
Garrincha" where several of the 2014 World Cup games were played at last
summer. Inside, the stadium is pretty sickk. We got to have a tour and it was
really cool!! That night we ate McDonald´s for dinner with an awesome
less active member (Hedson) who we are helping come back to church and has been
for a few weeks and his son. His son (Matheus) is 15 yrs old and active in the
church and loves basketball. He is awesome. He knows everything there is about
the NBA so it was cool getting some updates and talkin with him.
This week, Scott and Chris invited us over to teach a
referral they gave us! Her name is Tere and she and her husband just moved here
to Brasilia. Her husband is American and works in the US embassy and she is Brasilian.
She is awesome!! They were living in Chicago. We didn’t get to meet her husband
yet since he was traveling but we had a great lesson!! Scott and Chris are
really open with people about the gospel and always invite them to get to know
us which is awesome! We taught the Restoration and the Book of Mormon.
She is super cool and said that she could feel somethin touch her heart durin
the lesson and felt really good. We had a great time and lookin forward to
future visits. Tomorrow we are going to visit the US embassy for lunch with
them and buy stuff from the store at the embassy (American food/stuff for American
prices).
The weeks keep going by faster and faster. The mission
is incredible and I’m so grateful to be out here and having these life-changing
experiences. I have been listening to a lot of inspiring church talks lately in
the mornings and it’s been a great way to start the day right after I wake up.
I know my Savior lives, and it has been a blessing to help others come to know
Him, and also for myself to come to know Him even more as well.
Much love,
Elder Bean
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| On the way to Padre Bernardo |
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| Heading to Padre Bernardo, a new area of the mission that we are opening up. |
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| I love Açaí :))) |
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| World Cup soccer stadium in Brasilia |
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| Sitting where the players sat....dreaming the athlete dream |
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| Red surprised Elder Barbosa and I with a pizza! |
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| Went to the U.S. Embassy and got some American "treats". Sporting my Texas tie and some red white and blue socks. |
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