Week Thirty-Five

"this week was... well i´ll explain!

 

No one showed up to our intregration night for the second time in a row. No one! integration night is a lot like a cottage meeting, only no ones willing to host it so we do them in the chapel. we organized everything elder moraes and i, using our own money and proselyting time to inspire the members and fellowship the investigators. it was pretty upsetting that we but so much effort into something that ended up in the dirt!

 

But we keep on working. in response to the lack of enthusiasm here in the ward, we coordenated with the ward mission leader an event called ´´missionary sermon.`` we really advertized for it, and thankfully more people attended. we did our best to explain the responibiliy that we have as members of the church of jesus christ. they appeared to have gotten the message but we´ll see what the results are this week!(side note- its incredible how comfortable you get talking in front of people as a missionary, i could stand and preach for hours no problem, the gifts of the spirit are incredibe when we rely on them!)

 

Françoar- unfortunately wasnt baptised as we hoped, we weren´t able to sit down with him and his girlfriend like we wanted(she lives in Maoá, just one of the 6 cities in our area...) but he´s still progressing so hopefully some good news will come!

 

Lais- an older single lady with the humor of the humor of a 12 yr old... shes the funniest little woman ive ever met! she has a ton of questions about religion, of which we´re happy to answer, but because of all the random questions its hard to teach a more focused lesson. We havent quite found out what her needs are but she loved church so theres great potential there!

 

Bruno- the son of our ward mission leader. hes ready to be baptised, the only thing he lacks is the desire to be baptised! he explained to us that he wants to be debt-free before he is baptised. even though we told him he didnt have to, he´s still firm in his decision! he should have it all payed off by the end of february, hopefully i´ll be here to see him enter the water!

 

Vinicius- what a difference between this week and the last! his mission prep is going great, we´ve been grabbing him almost everying day to do visits with us; he´s learning a ton! at first he would just sit and listen attently, but as the week progressed his small forgotten testimony strengthened a ton as he testified with us. He´s reading the book of mormon for the first time, and hes blown away by how much he loves it! He´s even putting down the video game controller to read another chapter, its incedible to see such a great change in him! hes so outgoing and fun to work with, he´ll be such a great missionary!

we´ve picked up some other great investigaotrs this week but im short on time... untill next week then!

spiritual thought i had this week happened when a sister who´s going through a tough time asked me,´´why is it that everyone outside the church recieves more blessings?`` her question threw me off balance a little, but i found the answer in the talk given by Neil L. Anderson this past october-

 

With faith, comes trials of faith, bringing more faith.

 

We are here on earth to grow(alma 34:32-34). God knows every one of us, especially our capabilities and our weakness. those with faith are often tried a lot more more than those without. just look at Job! i absolutely love the testimony he gives in Job 19, even after all that he went through! how did he become the great man that he is? through trials of faith. This life will push us to the edge, but with faith centered in Christ, we can do all things! a great chapter to study is the legenday Ether 12 in the book of mormon. if you´re feeling as if you faith is being tried, read that chapter and the lord will strengthen your faith. i know it because im living it! im incredibley in love with this work. im grateful for my trials, im becoming a man with faith that ive never known!"

-Elder Kelland Hansen

Week Thirty-Four

This week was good, just like every other week theres ups and downs! ups-we discovered that theres a burger king in our area. downs- its 30 reis a meal! the trials of a poor missionary...

 

Investigators:

 

François- Progressing a ton!! Turns out this guys gold. we went to his house this week and really felt impressed to teach him about repentance. as we talked, i could see the spiritual weight being lifted off his shoulders. He wants more than anything to be baptised, every time we teach him the spirit fills the room to the brim! we were actually preparing him for baptism when we hit a wall... apparrently he has a long time girlfriend(lame, i was about to send him off to marry my sister) who he really wants to be involved with his change of lifestyle. she sounds pretty open but we have yet to meet her. we´re pushing back his baptism untill next week to give us time to establish a relationship with both of them, hopefully you guys will be seeing us in white clothing next p day!

 

Rafael- we had to drop him. he´s really involved in his church and doesnt have the faith/testimony to follow the spirit rather than his pastor...

 

Daniela- rapidly becoming an ´´eternal investigator.`` Sprirtually speaking, she´s ready for baptism, but we haven´t been able to sit down with her all week. shes working a ton now that the holidays are over, which has been impeading her progress with the book of mormon. her husband hasnt been wanting to visit us either so we´re giving them a bit of breathing room this week.

 

Vinícius- a less active we contacted in the street this week. he´s 16 and hasnt been to church since he was baptised, which was several years ago. He lives with his sisters(baptised as well) and with his parents, both of whom have never been to church. We passed by his house almost everyday this week to get him to church on sunday. on saturday he told us,´´being a missionary sounds like the best job ever, how do i be one?`` we set up an appointment for him with the bishop, and now my companion and i have the privelige of helping him start the prep for a mission. maybe we´ll be able to get his parents to be baptised as well!

 

This week has been filled with spiritual guidance. the spirit has been working with me in ways i´ve never witnessed! its once we really start looking that the Lord shows his hand, im so grateful for the gift of the holy ghost!

 

To finish i wanted to share a qoute from a national hero/champ in my eyes(missionaries dont take political stances so i wont say who said it, but dad will probably know who it is!), who said this-

 

Dependance is death to initiative.

 

I thought a lot about that qoute this week, and how appliable it is! No wonder the church believes in the word of wisdom. if we are too dependant on ANYTHING else besides Christ(government, girlfriend, booze, parents testimony) and what he teaches, we hurt ourselves spiritually! and anything that hurts us is NOT from god. God blesses us with experiences to help us grow, not to make us dependant on some substance/community/belief. ive really been analyzing on the things that im dependant on that dont fall under the category of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and unfortunately the list is long. im not saying we have to become hermits, but every time we throw of the natural man we become more like Christ. thats what we´re here on earth for! lets use this time here to get to know christ, and throw out our lazy dependance on earthly things!

Week Thirty-Three

"Christmas was great, after delicous churrasco we hit the streets and continued the work, the work of the lord always continues! it was extremely hot on Christmas which was a change for me, i knew i wouldnt get a white christmas but i was at least hoping for a wet one!! we recieved some christmas packages from the ward, mostly filled with sweeties but hey thats not too bad!

 

this month i recieved TONS of letters. thanks to everyone for their support! I´ll let you guys know that i recieve more letters than anyone else in the mission... i recieve more than ZONES combined. While im really grateful for everyones mail, i´ll ask that everyone be patient with me as i try to respond to everybody. keep up the mail of course, its missionary fuel, just remember that its one missionary fighting against an army of supporters in this mail war! i spend most of my pdays just writing mail haha, i´ll do my best to get to everyone!

 

perhaps the most rewarding part of this holiday season was teaching a young man named Artur. He´s completely deaf, and because of this, it easy to see how enstranged he feels. My companion took the time to sit down and talk with him, it was incedible to see how open and excited he got when we show him we were willing to listen an learn. In a small amount of time, we were able to learn a pretty good amount of sign language. we were able to teach him about Jesus and invite him and his mother to the church christmas party, which they happily excepted.

 

At the party we helped Artur get out of his comfort box. at first he was very hesitant, but pretty soon he was running around with all the other kids. we then had the opportunity to talk with his mother for a while, she expressed deep gratitude for our efforts to make Artur´s christmas a great one. as a single mother raising a deaf child we could see how much she needed this gospel in her life. i could see the spirit working within her eyes, thanks to the loving warmth of the members, beauty of the chapel and the spirit of christmas itself. it crushed us to learn that she lives in São Paulo, and that she was just passing through. at least i know that she was permantely impacted by that christmas night, and i hope that one day she and Artur run into the church again someday! (she probably will, another way to spell São Paulo is Southern Provo...) Im so glad i could play a part in someones joy this Christmas season, and to bring this joy and much more to people all year round!"

-Elder Kelland Hansen