Minha Semana Numa Casca de Noz. (My Week in a Nutshell)

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

On the way to Padre Bernardo

Heading to Padre Bernardo, a new area of the mission that we are opening up.

I love Açaí :)))

World Cup soccer stadium in Brasilia

Sitting where the players sat....dreaming the athlete dream

Red surprised Elder Barbosa and I with a pizza!

Went to the U.S. Embassy and got some American "treats".
Sporting my Texas tie and some red white and blue socks. 

Baptism! - God Desires Our Happiness

Hey fam! 

This week we had Ritchielle´s baptism!!! It was incredible. A really special experience for her, her family, us, and everyone in the ward at church. Her boyfriend got to baptize her and it was great! The Spirit was super strong during the whole service. A great guy named Marcelo who was being taught by the other missionaries in our ward was baptized as well. There was a ton of support at the baptism and everyone could feel the strong spirit there. Some other missionaries visited from other areas and we sang the primary song "Quando Eu For Batizado". The Spirit was very strong!! 

Marcos, Ritchielle´s dad, said the closing prayer and he was overcome with gratitude and emotions. It was great to see how happy this family was and that they are now preparing together to go to the temple and be sealed as an eternal family. Incredible!! 

We had an entire family and one other man show up to church that we have been teaching and it was awesome!! They have been inactive and haven’t attended church for a long long time. Seeing them come was great!! It is awesome being able to visit the less and in - actives and bring the Spirit into their home and help them remember those spiritual feelings and experiences they have had, and when they come back to church it is incredible!! 

Jesus is the Christ, and God our Father loves us so much. I have learned here that God has such a great and unique love for each and every one of us. He loves us all and knows us each personally. 

Grandma Bean sent me a quote that said.  "If you want to see a true measure of a man, watch how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."  -------J.K. Rowling.  That quote really hit me. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are from. We should treat others the way our Savior has taught us "Love thy neighbor as thyself."  We are all children of an Eternal loving God who wants the best for each and every one of us. We all are here on this "path" here on earth which takes us back to His presence. We all have our own individual trials and challenges along the way. When we have faith in our Savior during our trials, we will come back stronger than before and our faith and love in Him will increase and grow. We will become more like Him and come to know Him for who He is - The Son of God and Savior of the World. When we truly love our Savior, we will obey His commandments and choose the right. Heavenly Father loves us all so much and has given us His beloved Son, that through the redeeming and enabling power of the Atonement, we can become cleansed from our sins and errors and change our hearts and become more like Him and have true happiness in this life. God desires our happiness. He has told us how we can have it. It’s our duty to act and use our agency to CHOOSE to follow Him and to have true happiness.

I hope everything is going great with y’all back home!!! 

Have a great week!!!

with love,

Elder Bean

Ritchielle's baptism day

Ritchielle baptized by her boyfriend

Elder Clinger and Marcelo

Heavenly Father Answers Our Prayers

Hey!!

This week was great!! Last Thursday at our family home evening at Scott and Cris´s house with a couple families and 3 investigators, Ritchielle announced to us afterwards that she wants to be baptized!!! On March 7th, so this Saturday!!  It was awesome!! everyone got so excited and the rest of her family was overtaken. It has been an answer to many prayers. Her whole family was baptized in October but she didn’t want to. She wanted to make the decision especially for herself and she sure did!! She is awesome and going to be a strong member of the church. She surprised her boyfriend (returned missionary) at church on Sunday before sacrament meeting! He was completely shocked and he was completely overcome when she asked him if he would baptize her. He has participated with us in most of the lessons, and has done a great job of letting her know how important it is to him personally but not forcing it on her at all. The lesson we had with them on Tuesday was very spiritual and incredible. She had a special light shining from her and we could tell she was really excited and knows she is making the right decision.  She told us how she finally had the courage, to get on her knees and ask God if what we are teaching is true. When she had faith and took courage to do so, Heavenly Father answered her prayer!   She knew for herself that it is all true, and she planned on telling us after family home evening.  It is incredible. Basically all the members will be at the baptism, everyone is so excited and grateful. 

That was definitely the highlight of the week here in Asa Sul. The mission is incredible and it’s so cool how much joy we as missionaries feel when others accept Christ and want to change their lives. As missionaries, we don’t earn any money for being here, we actually pay our way to be here. We don’t get a "bonus check" for a baptism, so many people wonder "why in the world would you want to do that for two years?"   It’s because I know the purpose of this life (Alma 34:32). This life is a preparation to return to our Heavenly Father´s presence. Seeing someone humbly come to know their Savior and be baptized and enter on the straight and narrow path brings more joy than one could imagine. I have been blessed to have this Gospel in my life and to have been born to "goodly parents" who have taught me to follow my Savior and His example. My gratitude for my Savior has grown so much while being here. I don’t believe I am "giving up" 2 years of my life here. I believe that I am gaining my life here! . For all that I have been given from my Heavenly Father, this is the least I can do. And I am so grateful to be here. To help others come to know the truths that I know and cherish. I know Jesus Christ lives and is the Savior and Redeemer of the world. I know He loves us and gave us all the opportunity to Choose to follow Him, leave behind all ungodliness, repent when we fall, and use His grace to change us into the sons and daughters of God that we are meant to be.

Heavenly Father loves each and every one of us. It’s sad that many people go throughout their lives and days not knowing they have a Loving God who loves them more than they can comprehend. And that they have a Savior who knows them and knows their struggles, and is there for them each and every step of the way. I feel it a privilege and honor to be a representative of Christ for these 2 years, and help others come to know of His eternal everlasting love for each and every one of them. 

#GraçasAEle #BecauseOfHim

Much love,

Elder Bean

Click here to watch: Because of Him video. It's one of my favorite Mormon Messages.

Happy Valentines to me :)

Barbosa and I sporting new Texas shirts!

Elder Clinger and I 

Isaque, my friend from my first area, he just got a mission call to Columbia!

The Brasilia airport at midnight

Just got Grandma Bean's Christmas package after it went around the world two times!

Stress reliever!!

Eating burgers at an awesome food trailer by our apartment.

Waiting for the bus

On Saturday the family that was going to feed us had to go out of town so they gave us
 money to eat out. We went to American Prime Steakhouse...soo good!!

Our apartment is third floor 5th window from left.

My desk in the office

The office

Note the AC unit, we keep it at 18 degrees celsius all day.  It's the only time we get AC

Elder Batista, new in the office

Elder Duarte, Clinger, Barbosa, Me, Batista, Leme

Redson "Red" pronounced "Hedge" in Portuguese