December 31, 2018

Wow I loved Christmas Day and I loved seeing you all. It made me want to cry so much but I held in the tears. I think one of the best things on my mission is that I have developed an even greater love for you all my family!!! It was amazing and my mind reflected on it a lot through out the whole day!! But thats ok that the package hasnt come yet. It would have been nice to use those new shirts but I think i will make it ha! 

This week was awesome!! On friday we had divisions with a District Leader and he and I went to Visit Kevin and his family!! We taught them about the gospel of Jesus Christ and how much it blesses us if we have faith, repent, be baptized, receive the gift of the holy ghost, and endure to the end!! It was such a powerful lesson and Kevin and his brother accepted a baptismal date! The mom still wants to pray about it and pray about what she should do. She loves her church and so it is hard but she already received and answer about The first vision!! It was super cool and if people will actually talk to our Heavenly Father he will answer!! But this week we found out that Tatiane and Nilda still have some doubts about reencarnation! They believe that it is possible and so we challenged them to read a part of the Book of Mormon and ask God about the subject. They didnt come to church and so we are praying about what we can do to help them out. We want to help these people so much and I know that the lord will bless us and them for our service! As I was thinking about this last year, I thought about how I was expecting to have more success with people accepting the gospel but when i really thought about this last year so many people did accept it even though they werent baptized and i realized how i wouldnt trade this last year for anything in the whole world. I love my mission so much and I love my savior and I am happy that it is hard, I wouldnt want it any other way!! On sunday I gave a talk about how we can have christlike atributes and I said that we need to 1. follow the savior 2. serve him and others 3. Love him and think of him in all moments! It was such a great experience! I love this gospel so much!!! 

 Tell Mckay and Steve that I said Congrats and Tell Aunt Michelle that the lord will provide ha!! I Love you so much mom and thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve this mission and to learn more about the lord throughout all of my life! You and dad worked miracles in my life and I love you both for that!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! 

December 24, 2018

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Samara and her family traveled to their hometown this week so we only could teach them once this week but it was a lesson where we read 1 nephi 14 with them about how there are only two churches here on the earth. The church of the lamb of God and the church of the devil! It was an interesting lesson and the all promised to seek more to know if this is the true church of Jesus christ! We were able to find and teach two new families this week!! Erica and her son Israel and then a family that are not members but have a son on a mission! Kevin, Marcia and Moses!!! So they are all really awesome and have a lot of potential but sadly they didnt come to church this week. We were super sad about that but other than that we are happy because Christmas is coming and we are excited to do some service. I was able to talk a lot with Elder Cerda this week and serve him the best ways that I could. I did recognize that at some points i was being prideful too in our companionship and so I am trying to change that so hopefully  things will go well now between us. And yes I did spend that money at the supermarket here to buy things for Christmas and for the other elders! We are hoping to feel the Christmas spirit together on tuesday night and we want to have a great night where we can remember our Savior Jesus Christ. I know that he lives and loves us and that we need to seek him. He really was born to save us all and I am grateful that through his Atonement we can all be purified and cleansed of our sins. I know that he restored his true church in these latter days and that we can all feel his love and know that this gospel really is what will bless our lives!! I love my savior and i will always follow him because he is the light of the world and who follows him will never walk in darkness but will walk in the light!!!

And also I am probably going to spend a little bit more money  today because the Açai will be ready today and we are going to let the sisters in our district meeting tomorrow have some too!! But other than that I dont think I will spend any more money unless I really need something. But if you dont want me to spend money at all and save I will do that too!! I love you so much mom! I miss you like crazy and I miss the family but I know that I need to be here and I am grateful that I am here right now. This christmas maybe i dont know whose life I will bless but I am grateful that  i can spend my time losing my life for the savior! Love you so much mom and Tell the family that i love them!!! 

December 18, 2018

I am doing well!! I am still recovering from the surgery and I had to stay out of everything again this week but I learned a lot of new things and I learned a lot more about Patience ha. I was able to take out the stitches with the doctor this week and he said that I can start to walk a little bit but I have to use sandals ha. So i had to buy some sandals. Tuesday we have our Christmas conference and I think i will get the christmas stuff then!! 

Our investigators were super busy this week and we havent been visiting Arthur and Vitoria that much because they havent been progressing, we are going to continue to help them out but for now we will only pass by once in a while. It is sad that we have to do that now but I know that one day their mom will see what is the truth and that she should have let them be baptized. Elder Cerda left a couple of times during the week with other elders to work and he found some new people to teach which was a huge blessing. But Sunday was the only day that we got to visit Samara Nilda Tatiane and kenia. None of them came to church and we were super sad about that so after lunch on Sunday, I did everything I could to walk to their house and see what was going on. They told us everything and how these two weeks were super busy and they also expressed a feeling they have had towards Baptism. They want to be baptized but they told us that they feel pressured to be baptized with the dates and feel as if every time they arent baptized on that specific date they feel like its because of them. So we are going to help them out more on recognizing the Holy Ghost and we challenged them to read the Book of Mormon every single day from now on and they accepted!! So we were super happy about that. Elder Cerda is going to stay with me for one more transfer now, thats going to be three together and he was super sad that he didnt get transferred. We have had our difficulties during the other transfers and we are doing fine right now but I think he wanted change hahaha. But now I know that I do not understand what the lord understands. I think the lord has a purpose to keep us together one more transfer and maybe it is to strengthen our relationship and do something even better. Lets see how everything turns out. Something awesome I learned this week "God can only be known unto man by revelation. Otherwise he must remain uknown to mankind" So for us to know God we need to seek him and the Holy Ghost!! So if you want a strong testimony of God and his son, seek them and learn to know if they exist!! 

But I know things will get better this transfer and I hope that Elder Cerda can open his heart so that we can work together as one! I love the lord and i love his gospel and thats why I want to see those amazing miracles in the lives of others through his Atonement. 

Those who have the most difficulties, develop the greatest souls!

David's email

 I am doing a little bit better now!! It is definitely hard to stay in bed all day doing nothing... I had to do that this whole week and it was super annoying ha. But I was able to study the gospel so much and I was able to study more about the Pioneers and their sacrifices!! I love them for what they did and how they were willing to give everything for the gospel of christ, just to be able to step foot in Zion. It was a cool experience that I had. I know how you feel too ha because that is basically what is happening here and I know that on your mission it was probably hard but you learned a lot from it. Elder Cerda is going to be with me for one more transfer so we were nervous about that because in past times we havent gotten along so well. But we get along in other parts too. I know that the lord has a purpose for eveything and I know he will bless us. I was able to take out my stitches with the doctor on thursday and now I can start walking with sandals but only a little bit. I hope that my toe will heal quickly and I know that the lord is going to give me strength. We visited samara and her family on sunday because they didnt come to church and we challenged them to read the book of mormon every day. They told us that they dont want to feel pressured by a baptismal date and they want to be baptized but they want to decide when, what can i do to help them?? But I love you so much dad and I am grateful that you are my father. Having you as my dad gives me the strength to continue and carry on in the hard times. Because in all of our difficulties is where we will develop our souls!! I love the gospel so much and I know that it is true and that the book of mormon is another testament of Christ our savior. I love him and I know he lives! Love you so much dad! Have a great week! 

December 10, 2018 Surgery!

This week was very interesting and this surgery was definitely harder than the last one hahaha. But I will tell you about that in a second! I hope this last week of the transfer I will be able to work some more! I have to stay out of working for about a week so that is hard. So maybe on wednesday or thursday i can get back at it again! But I am glad that you had some great experiences this week and it makes me happy to hear about Chris and Mitch too!! But yes sadly i have definitely had to stay home but thats ok because I am learning more about Patience! 

So this surgery was definitely different hahaha. Because he took out the sides of my toenail and then he took out the part that makes it grow. So it will only grow in the middle now! But it was cool for me because i was awake the whole time and i honestly could have watched it If i wanted too haha but i decided not too and he just showed me the things that he did. IN the end he sowed up the two holes with stitches and from thursday and on I had to keep my foot in the air and rest all that I could. I still have to do that haha as i am typing this my foot is in the air. Friday was hard because we had our mission tour with Elder Parrella but i couldnt benefit from it as much as I wanted because I had to leave every fifteen minutes to go "empty my stomach." And that was because I had taken the strong medicine they gave me in the morning but I forgot to eat something with the medicine and you know how the rest goes ha. But something cool about that experience was that I finally got that blessing from President Castellano and he was by my side the whole time that I was under the weather.  The blessing was very beautiful and I could feel the Holy Ghost comforting me through out the whole time. I was able to strengthen my testimony this week a lot about how the Lord is with us when we really need him. And I want him to be with me all the time because its a comforting feeling. Especially when you are in pain he is there with you until the end. I am definitely still recovering from this surgery because I believe it was a lot more intense. But I know that the lord will bless me and help us out with our investigators. Sadly Arthur and vitorias mom has not let the be baptized still and we are still waiting to see if this week Samara and her sister will be baptized. We have worked so hard and I trust in the lord that he will help our investigators to use their agency in the right way! 

I got the first package you sent for christmas but i dont think it has their presents inside.... I havent opened it yet but from what i have seen through the ziploc bag it looks like it isnt the package with their presents too. But Thanks so much mom for everything you do for me! You are the best mom in the world and tell everyone who has prayed for me or fasted for me thank you so much!!

David's email

This week was definitely a trial of my faith!! This surgery that i had this week was definitely more painful than the last one! But I know that the lord was blessing me and i know that the blessings I received from you and others helped me so much!! But After the surgery on thursday I was feeling a lot of pain because the anestesia wore off and I was feeling the effects of what he did in no time ha. But on Friday I threw up a lot because I took the strong medicine without eating and so that definitely destroyed my stomach and that was during our mission tour with Elder Parrella. It made me sad that I could not watch all of it through because I had to leave so much to go to the bathroom, but I definitely felt the spirit as he taught us and when President Castellano gave me a blessing! But Other than that I had to stay home with my foot in the air and just rest the whole time. It was definitely a challenge But I know that the lord blessed me for my patience and I know somehow the lord will bless us for our work here in Barroca even if we havent had a baptism yet. I feel like in these last six months I will be able to work my hardest and say that I have fought the fight. That is super cool the experiences that you had this week with the temple and with the temple interviews! I hope to have those type of experiences when I get home so that I can keep the same spirit with me that i have right now. I was able to strengthen my testimony on the book of mormon and how he came to help us strengthen our testimony of Jesus Christ. I love my savior and I know he felt the same things that I felt. Transfers are coming soon and I think that Elder Cerda will be trasnferred and I hope that my next companion will work just as hard or even harder than Elder Cerda so that we can have success here and bless this ward in Barroca. Thanks for your prayers and Blessings Dad. I love you so much and I hope you have a wonderful week!! I sent mom the description of my surgery in portugues its called Cantoplastia with another type of procedure! 

December 3, 2018

Hey, Dont worry about me too much!! I am doing good but actually I found out some pretty big news this week!! I am going to have surgery on thursday! The first thing I went to was just a check up and now this week I am going to do a surgery on thursday so wish me luck haha. But I am doing fine! I am working hard, having a great attitude and giving it my all!!! I am jealous that you got to go and see those speakers talk!! I love all of them and I am sure it was super funny ha! But that is so cool that Emmas Farewell is on your birthday and I hope that you will be able to make it to Mckays Wedding! I cant believe I am missing it all but I love being here. 

But this week was actually pretty normal! We were able to follow up with Samara and her family and we taught them all about the importance of the Sabath day!! They all accepted to live it but this sunday none of them made it to church because they got sick and Samara traveled for the weekend! But at the end of the night on Sunday we had our Christmas Devotional here in our Stake and Nilda, the mom and Tatiane one of her daughters came to watch it! It was such a spiritual experience and Afonso did great! He sings so well and I wish I had musical talent in my life! Ha I regret quiting piano so long ago! We were also able to talk to Vitoria and Arthur but their week was super busy and their mom isnt open that much to letting them be baptized yet! But we believe that this month the lord will provide miracles because during Christmas season the Lord always provides miracles! I am excited to help people Light the world too! I love that campaign and I wish it was a lot stronger here in Brasil. But This week i have been studying a lot about the saviors atonement and wow has my testimony grown so much knowing that Christ did that just for us and to save us from our sins!! We found some new people to teach but mostly everyone is running from us!! This week we have a Mission Tour with Elder Parrella and the rest of the Brasil Presidency so that should be exciting! Also The leaders have a meeting with him on Wednesday so wish us luck!!! 

Thank you so much for what you said!! I am trying to find Happiness in everything that I do and I love it so much. I think I wouldnt have made it this far if I hadnt been doing that. I dont worry too much about the number of baptisms that I have on my mission, I worry more about if I am teaching the right way so that my investigators can make the right choice. I think I just think about it too much but I know that the Lord will bless me. He already is blessing me so much and one important thing is that everyone has your own agency and I just pray that these people will use it for the better!! I love the gospel so much!! I love you so much too! Oh and by the way the shoes came and I love those shoes, but they fit and dont fit. When I walk with them they pressure my toes and sometimes my foot slips... So i might have to buy new shoes here that I found that are pretty good!! I will save these ones for Chris!!

David's email

Hey dad!! how are you doing?? I love you so much and I am grateful to have you as my Father!! I am excited to be a dad just like you have been to us!! This week was interesting and we were able to teach Nilda and her family about the sabath day!! They all accepted to live the Lords day and to do everything they can to obey gods commandments!! They are so ready for Baptism and we are hoping that Samara and Tatiane are baptized this month!! Nilda is super ready to be baptized too but she needs to get divorced from her husband first off because she seperated from him but is dating another guy now. So she needs to do that first but we are helping her!!! Arthur and Vitoria are still doing great but the mom is still hard hearted!! We need to do another fast with them this week!! And I will have my surgery this week actually. So we will have to see how it goes. I believe that the lord will help me in everything and it can be a way that he is going to bless me because of my service!! We found some great people to teach this week also and we are trying to visit so many people! This week will be harder because of the surgery, but before the surgery we are going to have a mission tour with the Brasil Presidency, of the seventy. It is going to be awesome and on Wednesday the leaders are going to talk to them too!! I am super excited!! This week I learned so much about Christs Atonement and my testimony grew so much stronger! I love Christ especially because he did that for us!! He is amazing. I love you so much and I hope you have a great week! Tell Mike Jones dad I said Hi and thank you too ha! Love you

Two weeks worth

 Nov 26, 2018

I am going to find out later today at my foot appointment what will happen!! So I hope that they can resolve some things!! And Tell Grandpa and Grandma that I love them and to not worry about it!! Oh and our investigators are wanting to learn more!! We still are having a hard time with arthur and vitorias permission... so we are praying super hard that the lord will soften their moms heart!! But besides that things are good!!! It is raining a lot here hahaha. 

This week was really interesting but it just seemed kind of slow with the work! But I was able to help out another elder that is in contagem and we had such a spiritual lessons with their investigator! I went on divisions on wednesday with Elder Almeida and we taught their investigator Paula. She is super cool and she is catholic!! We taught her about the importance of going to church and we read Moroni 6 with her. But aparently the spirit had a different idea because what she told us had nothing to do with what we wanted to get done. But it helped us discover why she hadnt gone to church. She told us that she doesnt beleive in Gods love..... and that she doesnt beleive that God is just with everyone of us. It was such a spiritual moment because the spirit touched her heart and she decided to tell us. I told her about the time when I had felt the same way and how I had felt that God didnt care about me, and then I testified to her with all of my heart that I found a way and that God loves me and loves her more than anything in the whole world. God will always be with her and love her every step of the way. We challenged her to read the Book of Mormon and to do everything she could to find out why God loves her. It was such a cool lesson. Then we were able to teach Samara, Nilda, and Tatiane about tithing and fasting! They all accepted to live those commandments and they came to church yesterday to see the Primary Program. Obviously one of my favorite days when we can see how God loves the little children! It was a cool week and we are trying to teach the other people we have found but it was slow with them too! Arthur and Vitoria are doing good and we gave him a shirt and tie! This week will be his Birthday so that should be exciting!! But I love God so much and I know that he loves us. He wants us to have everything good in this life and the next, all we need to do is live to keep the commandments!!!

But I love you so much!! I missed you all a lot on thanksgiving but it was fun preaching the gospel and helping other people feel gods love!! I hope you all had a great day and I hope you have a great week!! 

Dave's email

 I am doing good and today I will find out more about my toes!!! I am glad to hear that you are doing well and that everything is ok!! I think the spirit is amazing and helps us to teach others and direct our own lives!! This week we were able to teach Samara Nilda and Tatiane about Tithing and fasting!! They accepted to keep those commandments and they came to church!! It seems like they are getting closer and closer to baptism and they are reading the Book of Mormon! Nilda is reading it on her phone so that is helping her! Sadly kenia is not reading and she is out of the house a lot. so it is harder to teach her. Arthur and Vitoria are doing good and are trying to show their mom that they are ready, but their mom is still a little hard hearted... We have been praying so much and we hope that the lord softens her heart! Vitoria is planning on moving to Portugal next year so we hope that they can get baptized soon and before she leaves so the church their can find her!!! But other than that the other investigators we have just ran from us. Raimundo doesnt want to accept our invitations to Pray to God about what we have taughten, he says he beleives that God could have inspired him but he mainly believes in another prophet that is a false prophet.... But who knows if one day the Lord will soften his heart as well! On a division that I told mom about the spirit really helped us discover an investigtors problem with going to church and she told us how she doesnt believe in Gods love.... So we told her that God really does love her and she can discover that through the Book of Mormon. But we are working super hard to help these people and we are praying that the Lord testifies to them that Baptism is the right thing to do!! I love the lord and I know for sure that this is his church and that Jospeh was a prophet of god. He really gave his life to the gospel and I want to do the same thing!!!  I love you so much and Have a great week.

Nov. 19, 2018

 Happy thanksgiving!!!! I love you so much and i think some of the best things in my life that i am most grateful for is definitely my family, my friends, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. How through the atonement we can all be saved and forgiven of our sins! I love thanksgiving and I am going to celebrate it on my own this week!! But we actually got new news and sadly i only have one hour to use the computer now... So it will be kind of tight hahaha 

So this week was super cool!! We actually were able to teach Samara and her family two times and we were able to teach Arthur and Vitoria!! The lessons that we had with them were super spiritual and we were abl to teach some of Gods commandments this week!! We taught them about The word of wisdom and about the law of chasity. Wow were those two spiritual lessons and Samara and her mom Nilda accepted to live them both! Pray for Tatiane and Kenia because they are having a hard time right now and are a little depressed. So we are hoping to help them with that!! Arthur and Vitoria went to church in another city today but they said that they loved it and that they love church so much!! It was cool to see how our investigators are progressing and learning more! This week we are hoping to help Samara to be the first one baptized. Because she is the one who is closest and the others need to resolve some things before they can get baptized. We are hoping that the spirit testifies to all of them that Baptism is the right thing to do!!

 We also found some great new people to teach!! Claudia, Tatiana, and her sister. I forgot her name right now but they are some great peolpe and have a lot of potential!! Also to our surprise, Raimundo and his wife came to church so it was definitely a spiritual experience!! I like what President shared with us on Friday. He said that we should raise our hearts and rejoice, for the time of our mission has come!!! I love the mission and I know that the lord will bless these people so much and i hope that they can use their agency to choose what is right! We also learned a lot about obedience and how exact obedience really does bring blessings!! I love the lord and I love his church!!!! 

Yes that paragraph did make sense haha but i am going to print it off just to help me through out the month when the packages come! But thanks so much, you really didnt have to do that! I love you so much for helping me and others on my mission! I am so excited to serve others this week! And for this christmas season! We were able to clean the front of the church before sacrament meeting yesterday because it was super dirty and it was so awesome!! I absolutely loved the experience chris had. Fasting really provides miracles and I love those two for doing what god wants them to do!!!! I love the gospel and I love you! Share my love with the family and Have a great week!! LOVE YOU!! Oh and i can only respond one more time after you respond and dont worry too much about the music, if you can find it and put it on a drive i will be happy either way!! 

David's email

THis week was super good dad!!! We had success in teaching a lot of our investigators and they seem to be progressing! Samara and her mom Nilda are reading the book of mormon and they came to church this last week!!! So that was cool and we were able to teach Arthur and Vitoria! They are doing good and we keep inviting them to read the book of mormon and be example for their mom so that they can be baptized! But we found some new people to teach too and they seem like they are willing to do what god wants them to do and read the book of mormon!! I learned a lot this week about how we as zone leaders  need to be examples and we need to be exactly obedient in everything that we do!! It was a great lesson learned and i am ready to do everything the lord wants me to do!!! I love the mission because of that!! The lord loves us and I know he will bless those we are teaching. I was also able to give a member a blessing with our stake president and it was such a spiritual experience as well!!! That is so awesome that you are going to Rome!!! I wish i could go to that with you but it is a couple of months before I get home... How sad is that hahah but i am glad you are going to help those people out instead of you going for your own purpose!! But I am happy for you and it will be such a great experience!

November 12, 2018

This week was good because we were able to teach Samara, Nilda, and Tatiane and it was such a powerful lesson. We had a single adult with us in the lesson who also bore testimony of his experience in the church and it was such a spiritual lesson. We taught about the plan of salvation and how amazing it is to have Jesus Christ in our lives. I mean just thinking about the Atonement makes me want to scream with joy. Because if not we could not be saved. Samara reminds me of Halli so much because in almost all of the three lessons, actually all of them, haha she has cried. It was so amazing to see her love for the savior of the world. I love Jesus Christ and it makes me happy that I can testify of him every day. They are reading the Book of Mormon and they really want to know the truth! They are progressing a lot and we are hoping to prepare them even more so that they can be baptized. They are all waiting for answers and I know that God will speak to them and has already spoken to them for sure!

 We also found some new people to teach and it was cool because they look like they have potential. Ciran and Celma is a married couple we found this week and we found a girl who has two kids and her husband is in jail so we taught her a little bit about trusting in God. It was a great week! I went on splits again with Elder Jones hahaha that guy is super funny, but it was hard those two days because for two days straight it just poored rain! So we had to walk in the rain all wet and tired ha. But it was awesome because we still were able to find people to teach and share our testimonies of the restored gospel!!!

Dave's email

 I love the gospel so much. I love the Plan of salvation as well!! This week we were able to teach Samara and her family about the plan of salvation. They definitely loved the lesson because the mom became even more excited to read the Book of Mormon and Samara started to cry during the atonement. It was such a great experience. I think members have an important role in our lessons because their testimonies are what help others have the desire to know the truth! We have challenged them to be baptized so many times and they have accepted the fact of being baptized. But they said that they want to feel really prepared to be baptized and so we are hoping they ask god if they should be baptized on november 24th, that was the date we wanted to place with them. It was cool because Samaras sister asked me about being baptized again, if it really was necessary. Her name is tatiane and I thought about Acts 19 in the moment when she asked me! I explained to her that some of the people needed to be baptized again because they had not received the Gift of the Holy Ghost and she told me that her real desire is to know if she should be baptized once again! I love the priesthood and I know that a man needs the authority to act in Gods name. It wouldnt make sense for God to create a mess here on the earth. We didnt get to teach Arthur and Vitoria this week but Arthur came to church and so did Samara! Her mom got sick and her sister was still taking the test... but this next week will be even better! Also pray for a man who came to church, his name is raimundo. He wants to create his own church so we are trying to help him know the truth. But Dad I have passed through so many hard things on the mission and I have seen so much. And there is no doubt in my mind that I can not deny the truths that I know. That Jesus Christ lives and loves us, and that his church was restored once again upon the earth. That the book of mormon is true and that Heavenly father talks to his prophets. Love you so much dad! Have a great week!! 

November 5th, 2018

 I am doing great actually!! My feet are doing ok and they arent hurting that much! But Sister Castellano said that if they dont get better then i will have to do that surgery on november 26th! Who knows but i was actually thinking a lot about my toes this week and when i heard a testimony on sunday, it made me think so much more about my toes. Something that i had already thought,but now it came clearer than ever! I will definitely try to look for a nativity, i remember last year not seeing one, but then again i was in Pirapora haha. But yesterday we got the transfer calls and we are going to stay the same! But actually both of the elderes in Gutierrez got transfered and now we are going to get two elders who are finishing their missions and have had some problems! But it should be good and we are excited to receive them tomorrow!!!


I loved what you said about the song you wrote and I loved the lyrics! It reminds me of how so many people have trusted in the Lord and he has provided for them because of their sacrifices! I love the story of Alma and Amulek. They truly were great missionaries and did everything they could. When a lady in sacrament was baring testimony about her car acident, it made me think a lot more about the trials that we have and the things we pass through... For example, in her car accident she was shocked and panicked and the doctor told her "Hey I dont know what you beleive in and i know you are not supposed to be here, but dont worry because I will take care of you." She said that imediately she felt Gods love more than anything and she knew that in that moment, it was Christ that was taking care of her. Sometimes we blame God for the bad things that happen in our lives, but we really should be thanking him. Why? Because these experiences are what bring us closer to him and how he felt in his life. Every time I have had to feel pain because of my toes, I have tried to think about the Saviors sacrifice and how he would have felt. And every time I feel the saviors love for me. So I was thinking about the surgery and I thought... what if the lord is wanting me to get closer to him and feel his love, maybe thats one of the reasons why we have these trials. Even Joseph Smith asked God why we has going through those things, but in that moment was when He became closer to God, and knew even more that God would provide a way. How amazing is that?! I love how putting a different aspect on things can help us out so much in our lives. I learned that today when all of us were arguing about something and it was so simple that I was blinded by my pride and they were blinded too. But when the savior came in and the spirit, thats when the point of view changed and we were able to resolve the problem. I think it is one of the best things we can learn in life. How to think a different way, the way that the savior of the world would think. This week was hard because of the test taking they have here and everyone was busy but this week should be easier for us to find new people and teach more! We found a couple of new investigators that have potential and thank you for praying for Samara and her family and for Arthur and Vitoria!


David's email


This week was kind of hard because it has been super busy here in Brasil... Lots of people had to take a giant test this week so that stopped us from seeing our investigators. But that doesnt mean that this week will be the same!! It was cool because Samara still came to church even if her other siblings couldnt. She came alone and it was super cool to see that. And We are doing good! We are a little worried about this next transfer but we are also excited too!! We know that the lord will bless our work!! But other than that we spent this week resolving problems, going on divisions, and finally finding new people to teach! We found a couple of new people to teach and we hope we can visit them again and share these wonderful messages! we are still teaching our investigators its just that this week was harder for us. But we will definitely do better this next week but we definitely tried our best!!


That is one of the coolest experiences i have ever heard (Dave told him an experience he had giving a blessing). It must have been one of the greatest feelings ever. That is one of my strongest desires, is to have the savior of the world by my side and I can feel his presence. What can i do to feel his presence like that? I want to do everything right so I can have an amazing experience like that. I love Jesus Christ so much and I just want to feel his spirit and know him even more. I have been trying so hard to change who I am and to be better, so that I can feel his presence in my life. Stronger than ever is what I want to say. But I would have loved that and I know it must have been such a great experience. I think I would start crying so much ha. But I am grateful for you dad. You are truly the best example I have in my life besides the Savior. I know that this gospel is true because you taught me and I asked Heavenly Father for myself. I love you so much! I love the priesthood and I know it was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith. I am excited to magnify my priesthood and learn how I can do that. I know that the lord will help us bring souls unto Jesus Christ and I know that he is always with me when I have to suffer the small things I have in my life. Through my toes, i can become closer to him! I can grow closer to him and through him I am made strong! Love you so much!!