Had a great week down here in Brazil :). On Monday night we had a family home evening at Patricia's house. We brought Elder and Sister Rowe with us as well and Marcelo went too. Patricia and Marcelo are both recent converts. They are incredible and awesome examples! The light of Christ shines from them and it has been so great to see their progress since before their baptism until now. It has been so great having Elder and Sister Rowe here! They work in the office with us and attend our ward at church. They are awesome. Elder Rowe is hilarious and Sister Rowe is so sweet and kind. They treat us like their own grandchildren and it has been great getting to know them.
We went to two more zones this week with President so he could do interviews and we could talk with each individual district and see how they are doing. We have just one more zone to visit this week and then we will have finished. On Thursday, me and Elder Duarte went on a road trip with President to the state of Minas Gerais. We went to "Paracatu", it is over 3 hours from Brasilia (It is 5 hours away from the city where Jared Eaton is serving in a different mission). It is a city of about 100,000 people and the church isn’t there yet, and President is planning on opening it up to missionary work in a month. It was an awesome experience to be able to go visit. We stopped first in a city called Unaí (an hour from Paracatu) where there are four missionaries and a church branch. We picked up a member from the branch and took him with us to Paracatu. When we got to Paracatu we visited 3 of the 4 members of the church that live in the city. They are incredible! One is a lawyer, one teaches school, one is at medical school, and the other is an incredible lady with a powerful testimony of the gospel. She has been driving an hour every week to go to church in Unaí. When she discovered that there was a returned missionary who had recently moved to Paracatu to study at medical school, she decided to get into contact with him. She only knew that his name was Tiago and that he studied at medical school. So she camped outside of the medical school for three days, talking with everyone until she found him! She is so awesome and treated us like her own kids just right after meeting us. The members there have been praying that a church group could be started in the city and that missionaries would be sent. They have such faith and are willing to go over and beyond to help spread the gospel and to help the missionaries that will end up serving there. We stayed for just a day but it was great. Got to see another part of Brasil and meet some super faith building people.
On Friday I had so say goodbye to my bud Elder Preator who returned home. (Dallas, TX). It was hard saying bye to him but its great knowin that I’ll see him after I get back home. I’m so grateful for the opportunity that I have had to gain some incredible lasting friendships here on the mission with people from Brasil as well as other missionaries. Their testimonies have strengthened mine and has made this two year experience even better!
The Gospel is true! I know Christ lives and loves each one of us. Faith in Jesus Christ is the first principle of the Gospel. When we have faith in our Savior, we will desire to choose the right, keep His commandments, and Follow Him. Our desire to serve others will grow and we will reach our divine potential as sons and daughters of a loving Heavenly Father. I am so grateful that we have a Savior who is always there to help us along the path and that we are never alone!
Much love to you all from Brasil!!! :)
com amor,
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| Working late at night getting all the numbers for the week. |
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| With Elder Hoese |
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Elder Duarte had fun taking pics on the drive to Paracatu,
sometimes you just have to catch up on sleep. |
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| On the way to Paracatu |
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| Just cold enough for a sweater |
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| Brasil m&ms Elder and Sister Rowe brought the office from the U.S. |
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Goodbye lunch for Elder Preator, with all the office missionaries,
President & Sister Lundgren and their son Wade. |
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| Goodbye for now Elder Preator |
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| Family Home Evening at Patricia's house |
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| Visiting Marcos and Raimunda's family, ate pão de queijo (cheese bread), sooo good!! |
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| Sunday dinner |
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