Week Forty-Four

"So this week was pretty good, but i spent almost my entire week away from my area. I learned a lot from my fellow missionaries but my work here with my companion was set to the side. We still had progress though, heres how it went-

Vinicius(not the same person that was reactivated a couple weeks back.... brazilians all have the same name!)- a 16 yr old who was baptised here in Resende. pretty quite kid but a solid guy whos been quite involved in the church for about a year. With the help of lds realtives and friends in the church, he finally decided to be baptised. I wasn´t too involved too much with the teaching part but at least im very grateful that i was here to help him enter the waters of baptism. Were now helping his uncle recieve the lessons as well... stay tuned!

Flávia- A 17 yr olf girl who has been pretty involved with the church as well. Her grandmother is a recent convert whos been helping Flávia to get to know the church. Flávia comes from a crazy background with parents that are ´´less than supportive,`` and has been living with her grandparents because of it. shes a very curious girl though and we´re preparing her for baptism this sunday!

Pedro and Jéssica- Are throwing their marriage party this week!! with all the marriage expenses here they had to put the party on hold untill now, but there should be plenty of food and non members so Élder Santos and I are excited!

Mother asked me to talk a bit about my comp, ive grown used to assuming that you guys already know how my companions are, not sure why! But anyways im getting along great with him, no complaints here. ive been pretty blessed with my companions so far, ive learned something new with every one of them! Élder Santos is a pretty easy going guy, he´s a guitar player and cooks great so naturally i get along with him. we´ve been making pizzas, cakes, and all sorts of brazilian dishes, he´s teaching all about the culinary arts! we even learned how to make brownies together...

Spiritual thought- This week i really dove into the missionary chapters in Alma, starting with Alma 17(when the sons of Mosiah left off to teach the Lamanites). In verse 11 reads that the sons of mosiah fasted and prayed much, so that they could have the spirit to be with them and be instruments in the hands of the lord(see Alma 17:11 for actual wording). that verse worked on me until one afternoon this week i felt impressed i needed to fast and pray. we ran back to the church and not quite knowing why, i got down on my knees to begin my fast... right then i got a text message from a sister in our ward explaining that her father had tried to commit suicide and that he was in the hospital needing a blessing. I quickly began my fast, pleading for the lord´s guidance so that we could be instruments in the lords hands at that time of great need. we ran(literally) over to the hospital to find a broken man, inside and out. i had never seen anyone so hopeless. i dont remember all the things that were said, but the man accepted a preisthood blessing. through the grace of God the man´s life was spared and my companion and i were able to be at his side at a time off great difficulty. I am so grateful to be a servant of the Lord. I love the Priesthood and the power it contains. when we remain humble and look to the Lord through the scriptures, spirit and the words of the living prophets, we truely can be instruments in the hands of the Lord!"

-Elder Kelland Hansen