July 8, 2019 Elder Bestenlehner's last email...... I can't believe it has finally come!

1. The District 2. Hawaiin night all together 3. The district at hawaiin night (We put it all together! It was sweet.) 4. President Julio and his family 5. Elder Barcelars recent convert and her sister that made a cake for us! 6. Ricardo and his wife!! 7. The District (a picture sent to mom by Sister Eunice of the branch - dinner at her home)

 Wow what an incredible journey.... This last week was amazing and as I think back on my whole mission I cant help but sing and rejoice for the love that God has shown me. Through out my whole mission I have been able to feel his love and experience so many incredible things. God has shown his mercy towards me and has given me opportunities to come closer to his son Jesus Christ. How incredible is that and I feel so grateful that he did that for me. I absolutely love this area Jardim Canadá and I love the people that I have met here. It has been amazing and I love my Heavenly Father for this amazing experience.

This week was incredible as well! Sadly Elesbon didnt come to church and that was kind of hard but near the end of the week we got a reference from Washington DC! Her name is Paula and she came to church with us! We are teaching her about the Book of Mormon and the restored Gospel and she is loving it!! Also we were able to do a Hawaiin activity to strengthen the members and I was able to speak a lot to the members on Sunday!! I also gave sunday school class on sunday ha! I did it with Elder Barcelar. 

But Yes I am kind of overwhelmed and I am mostly sad by the fact that I will have to leave this wonderful place. Wow how incredible has it been here in Brasil and I love this country so much. It is going to be hard but I am super excited to see everyone and  the family. I love you all so much and I am super excited to be with you all again. Oh and dont worry about my Feet!! They are doing better!! My toe is actually healing up and I am feeling a lot better! But what is funny is that here in Jardim Canadá it is super cold during the morning and the night and actually I got a cold hahaha I can barely speak out loud because my throat is so bad!! How funny is that... But it only started last week and my voice ended today haha.

When I think of the time that I spent in this wonderful country I think about all of the amazing people that I met. Brazilians are some of the greatest people on earth. Everyone was so welcoming and kind to me even though they did not know me. They would offer me food and even if they didnt have that much to give, they would give it. What a great example of Kindness towards everyone. All of the people that I had the privilege in teaching them about the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ strengthened my testimony ande helped me know that God lives and loves each and every one of his children. This country has taught me so many important lessons about loving others and being happy no matter what the circunstance. The Brazilians are so happy and they love God and Jesus Christ so much! When I think of the many situations where Brazilians decided to be baptized or gave us lunch or even talked with us on the street because they thought we were German, makes my heart swell with joy!! Brasil is such an amazing country with so much potential to grow and be a strong nation. The nature here is incredible and the beauty is amazing. They trust in God and all they need is to keep the commandments and live in a way that all mankind have the right to be themselves and obey God! The friends that I have made here I will never forget. I love each and every one of my friends and my brothers here in Brasil and I know that I will be able to see them again. My love for this country and this wondeful people is great! Even though many of them rejected me and did not want to hear about the True Gospel of Jesus Christ, they still showed love and did it nicely. I love Brasil so much and I know that someday Brasil will be stronger than ever, flowing with righteousness just as in old times recorded in the Book of Mormon. In their national anthem it says "Brasil let eternal love be a symbol." May God bless this Wonderful country and bless those who need the truth!

I would just like to bear my testimony to all of you of the things that I know for sure. I know without a doubt that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of all Mankind. He lives and loves each and every one of us. That is why he suffered for us. I know for a fact that he knows what we are feeling and he has felt and experienced each of our pains. Through his Atonement we can be saved and we can be forgiven of our sins. Repentance is real and through daily repentance we can become the people that God wants us to be! Each of us needs to obtain a personal testimony of the Savior´s Atonement. He wants it that way. I know that he guides his church today through Prophets and Apostles. I am grateful for the cousel of those who speak with the Lord. I know with all of my heart that our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove. The gospel of Jesus Christ, the pure gospel was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Jesus Christ organized his church once again upon the earth and it is important that we all follow his church and his teachings. I really do know that Joseph was called as a Prophet and that Russel M Nelson is a prophet! He is the president of Christ´s church upon the earth and listening to his counsels we listen to the Lord´s Counsels. I know all of these wonderful things because of two main reasons!! Through the Holy Ghost God testified to me that they are true and also testified to me that the Book of Mormon is true. If any of you want to know the truth about these things please read the Book of Mormon and ask of God. He will answer your prayers just as he answered so many of mine here on the mission and before. I know that through the gospel of Jesus Christ we can all prepare ourselves for the second coming of the Lord and we can prepare ourselves to live with God again. Priesthood Authority was restored and is here upon the earth! Families can be sealed for time and all eternity in sacred Temples where we make Covenants with our Father in Heaven. The love of our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ is real!! I have felt it in my life and through out my mission I have gained a testimony of each of these wonderful truths. I love my savior so much and I love my Heavenly Father. They live and will always be by my side!! I bear this testimony to you all and I do it in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. 

July 1, 2019

That is super cool to see Kobe!!  He definitely looks taller haha But he looks great. I am excited to see him! 

I am so grateful for the Lord and everything he does for me. This week was absolutely incredible. Mainly because everything led up to Sunday. We didnt have that much luck with finding new people but our main focus for the week was Gabriel and Guilherme! And ofcourse Elisbom and his family. But through out the week we were able to teach Elisbom and his family. It was incredible. We taught about the Plan of Salvation and he loved that message. He said that it makes so much sense and that he thought it was interesting how we talk about the fall of adam and eve as a part of God´s plan. He is reading the book of mormon and when he and his family came to church on sunday he told us how God showed him through the Book of Mormon how he can get an answer. He read 2 Nephi 32 that says that the Holy Ghost teaches a man that he should pray! And that is how he found out that he can get an answer from God. I gave a talk on sunday about the Great Apostasy, and Elisbom asked me a couple of things but loved the talk and loved Elder Barcelars talk as well. He is really progressing and we are going to visit him through out this whole week! I hope they will be baptized after I leave!! 

The Lord showed us this week that by his hand he will perform miracles!! We had faith through out the whole week that everything would go well for the boys baptism. But still they didnt come to one of the lessons we marked with them so that worried us. But we still had faith that everything would go fine. Sunday came and during sunday school Gabriel and Guilherme came running towards us and we were able to teach them right before their interviews!! Elder Barcelar interviewed them and they passed. They were both baptized and confirmed Sunday afternoon. It was a complete miracle and what was even better was that the Dad was able to confirm them. Wow was the spirit so strong and I know that the Dad and the two boys will remember this experience for the rest of their lives. I will tell you all more about it when I get home because it is an incredible story. But I just want you all to know that God lives and loves us so much. He is with us and has not forgotten us. I love him so much and I am grateful that through Jesus Christ we can all be forgiven of our sins!! These two boys will grow strong in the gospel and I will follow them all the way!!

June 24, 2019

This week I was still waiting for my toe to get better but it is still drying up and the cut is closing!! But we were able to teach a great lesson to a great family on Saturday! His name is Elisbom and he has two daughters named Yasmine and Ariane! The understood the lesson and they accepted all the commitments!! So we are going to follow up with them on wednesday! This last wednesday I had my last Zone Conference! I was able to bear my last testimony and I was able to sing with Elder Barcelar! We sang Abide with me tis eventide!! It was a spiritual conference. Sadly we were not able to see the boys this week because it was stake conference and they did not come... But the baptism is still going to happen and we hope that everything will go well! On tuesday we are going to try and visit them! But dont worry I was thinking about it this week and I am so grateful that I was able to stay a little bit more time than that which was planned. I have been able to meet these wonderful people and my testimony has definitely been strengthened!! These last two weeks are going to be amazing!!  I am excited for them!! I really want to finish well and I know that these last two weeks we will be able to see miracles!!

June 17, 2019

Three of the pictures are of a Come Follow Me Sunday night study session that the missionaries do for the branch members. The other is right after his toe procedure and the hiking picture must have happened before it.

I have been able to walk around the house and stuff and I am hoping this week I will be able to walk more after taking out the stitch! My health has been kind of down, I think I am getting dehydrated or I am losing weight from being on the bed for so long haha. But other than that I am doing fine! Elder Gardner is doing great as well so its all good! I am going to try and drink more water so I can get hydrated again.

Sadly no one came to church this week and it was actually a hard day for the whole branch. The frequency was down and we were missing 30 members that usually come. We would have been up to 70 if they had all come!! That is what we want to do is strengthen the members and help the members to do the work as well!! That is truly how a Branch can become a ward! I actually have not done that yet. I am going to offer Ricardo a blessing to help him with the word of wisdom.

I love the fact that our Father in Heaven helps us to see the things that matter the most. As I have spent my time in this last area with Elder Gardner and with the members here I have come to love this area and these members so much. My joy is imense every time that we have an opportunity to talk to the members and help them learn about the Restored Gospel. We learn so much from the Branch President and from his counselor and it has been an amazing ride. I am super excited for these last couple of weeks where I can focus on the Lord and focus on serving the people here in Brasil. Wow has it been incredible. We are working hard to unite this family that we are helping and the two sons, the twins, now have a date to be baptized!! We are hoping that everything works out fine and that the Lord will help the Dad to realize how important the church is and how important his Savior is as well! He will remember the feelings and the times he had as he grew up in the church and I hope that he will want that for his two sons. They are both ten years old and both have the desire to be baptized! As I was studying the scriptures this week I was able to notice some great examples and some great verses in the Book of Mormon. Alma teaches us that every time he saw one of his brothers or sisters coming back to the Lord he would remember his own conversion story and how the Lord was merciful with him. In Alma chapter 17 the sons of mosiah tell us that we need to be examples of patience in our hard times. So that we can come out stronger. I love the scriptures and there are so many teachings in both the Book of Mormon and the Bible that we can learn. This weeks come follow me is about when the savior was rejected and whipped and beaten and how he beared it all thinking about us. What a great opportunity we have to be able to see his example and show our love for him by repenting and being better every day! I love the gospel and I love my savior!! Have a great week!!

Thanks for everything mom!! Dont worry about me too much. I will be fine and I am starting to learn to be happy with what the Lord gives me. I think I have always been happy with what he has given me but this time it is different. And I am excited to seek the Lord in everything I do. My mind will stay focused on this last part of the mission and I am excited for this next week to come! What you wrote me is completely true! I am grateful that the Lord has shown me the important things on my mission and I am excited for more to come!! Have a great week!

June 10, 2019

This week was definitely a great week in the fact that we had some really great activities and on Sunday we were able to teach Gabriel and Guillerme!!! And that is crazy that next week Aunt Michelle is moving to Austria.. It will be weird to not see them for a while. But I know that we will be able to use technology and talk to them. So yes I did go to my doctors appointment and on tuesday I am going to have to do a procedure to fix the part of my toe that is swollen and has something wrong with it. So wish me luck!! And I dont think I will have to rest for this procedure so it wont be anything too big. But Dont worry about me. These toes cant stop me from doing the Lords work! 

And Yes Jardim Canadá is super cold hahaha. But its cold for me because I am used to hot weather! I have been in hot weather for almost 2 years and so when the cold here hit me I got a cold... But thats ok I am taking medicine. We try to keep as warm as possible because usually it is just super cold in the morning and at night. But this week we were able to participate in two activities and it was so great!! Thursday night we had an activity that was called Dessert Night. Lots of people brought desserts and we had a contest to see what was the best looking, the best tasting, and the most creative desserts! We made cheesecake, and I made some snickerdoodles! The cheesecake won the best tasting and the most creative. It was super funny because the Brazilians loved it!! But actually it didnt taste that much like a cheesecake.. hahaha but thats ok. The members loved the activity and Ricardo and his two sons came too!! It was such a great night. Then we had another activity on Saturday that the relief society did. It was a class to make Bread!! Lots of people came and we were able to learn a lot. I shared a message on thursday night about the fruit of the tree of life and Elder Barcelar shared a message in the Bread class. It was a great week to help strengthen the members and the missionaries. On sunday we taught Gabriel and Guillerme about Joseph Smith, Baptism, and the word of wisdom!! They drink coffee because it became natural in the family and so we challenged them to stop and to help their parents stop as well!! They are twins that are ten years old and so they are kind of crazy but really great ha!  On sunday nights we are helping some members start their weekly come follow me study and that is going super well!! We are excited and we want this branch to become a ward!! I am praying every day for my companion and that the Lord will help us in this work as he already is!!

 This week I was able to give a talk in sacrament meeting about the sacrament. I am grateful that through Christ´s Atonement we can be forgiven of our sins every week if we take the sacrament worthily!! I love the gospel and I hope that this week everything will go well!! Pray for Gabriel and Guillerme and pray for their dad Ricardo so that he can talk to his Family and mark their baptism for here in a couple of weeks!! 

 Thank you for everything you shared with me and especially your testimony!! I love hearing others testimonies and it always strenghthens my testimony! . I trust in the Lord and I know that he will be with me until the end. I know that he will provide these miracles here soon and that he is already doing it! Thank you for your prayers and for your faith. I know that what the Lord said will come true.

I know that this his is true church and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. Jesus Christ guides this church today and I know that if we all endure to the end we will be blessed!! Pray for us so that we might be instruments in Gods hands for the salvation of these two boys and even more

June 3, 2019

This week I was able to learn many things that will help me in the future and it was an interesting week to think and work! As funny as it is ha, Daniela and Otavio were not home like the whole week!!My companion is doing great and he is super excited about the work. We have been working harder and harder and we found some people this week that have some potential! We invited all of them to read the Book of Mormon and be baptized when they received answers to their prayers. We were able to teach this man named Heverson and we actually saw him a couple of times through out the week. He came to church on Sunday and afterwards he told us that he  liked it but he simply could not accept the fact that we use water instead of wine in the sacrament. He told us that we are going against everything that Christ said in the Bible. As he talked to us after church and as we tried to explain to him what he could do to know if it is true, he hardened his heart and did not want to hear it. Elder Gardner and I were sad that he did that, but happy that we defended the truth and testified of what we know! I pondered a lot about that and I have asked the Lord why people do this. He is responding to me line upon line and I know that He will answer my prayers!! We found a small catholic family and we invited the dad to read the Book of Mormon! I hope that he will read it. I was also able to learn more about humility and charishing the truths that God has revealed.With Kelly and Lucas we were able to talk to them about Marriage and we challenged them to do everything they can to get married in the beginning of July! Lets see if they will. We were also able to talk to the dad of those two kids who arent baptized and we challenged him to think of a date where his kids could be baptized. But mainly I was able to appreciate the truths that we have in the true church of Jesus Christ and the commandments we obey. The Lord showed me many times through out the week how I can be a better person and how the Lord always gives commandments to his people. He doesnt stop. May we all follow the Lord and his will!!

It is so crazy how there are only 5 weeks left in my mission.... Its weird how time goes by so quickly and I havent registered that I will be going home haha which I think is a good thing. As for my big toe it is still the same and not that great ha but today I am going to a doctors appointment and lets see how that goes. I love everything you shared with me mom! We talked about that as well in Sunday School and our testimonies and our preperation for the second coming is so important! I love you so much 

May 27, 2019

I am sorry this is so late. That's what happens when i go to Idaho, and spend time with my sister and brother and their families. 

This week was very interesting. I learned a lot about myself this week just pondering about what has happened in the past transfer and how I can learn from it. But as I have thought about everything the same thing comes to my mind and it is a lesson that God wants me to learn so he keeps teaching me every transfer. God´s will is very different from our own. We can never understand why some things happen in our lives but what we can understand is how we can come out of it even stronger. The lord is calling his elect and he needs us to be stronger than ever. The experiences that we all have are proof that God needs us to be qualified for his work and for his Kingdom. Talking to my companion, Elder Barcelar, or even the Branch President here in Jardim Canadá I have learned more and more about the Gospel and what needs to happen at the end of these six weeks. I am prepared to give it all I have right now so that i can leave this mission with the same loving spirit that missionaries have. We were able to teach two new people this week that have potential to progress. One is a 18 year old girl named Daniela and she is a great person. We taught her about the restoration and invited her to come to church but sadly she didnt come. We will see her again on Wednesday. And we taught this man named Otavio and he has potential as well. As for the other people it has been hard to talk to a lot of them this week but something really cool happened for the other elders on sunday! President Castellano came to church here in the branch and invited their investigator to be baptized after Lunch. I was able to do her interview and it was such a spiritual experience. I am so excited to help the members and the people here in Brasil these next six weeks and I know that the Lord will bless us!

Sadly on Friday I spent the whole day taking care of my big toe and finding out the problem with it. Because it is swollen in the bottom right corner of the nail and it shouldnt be like that because of the surgery I had. So I went to the doctor who did my surgery and he told me to buy this medicine and I will go back there next monday. So lets see what happens. It is ok to have to deal with this because I am grateful I  actually have a body and I prefer obeying God then the natural man, so I will trust Him.

I I am so grateful for the knowledge and testimony that I have. I strive every day to strengthen my testimony of the gospel and this work and I will keep doing that forever!! I love you all so much and I hope you have a great week!!

May 20, 2019

Things are going good here in Jardim Canadá!!! This week was a little rough for us but we also had some good experiences through out the week!! That is super cool that Chris won the Daniel Gurr scholarship!! I remembered how I wanted to get that scholarship too! And I am sure that things are crazy back home. I cant believe that Chris graduates this week haha I am just shocked. I feel like I have been here in Brasil for a long time because of that but I love this place and I love the people here as well.

This week we were not able to follow up on with a lot of the people that we found last week. Maria José we were able to teach her on thursday and we challenged her to pray about if she should be baptized. Its hard for here to understand the things we teach and so I hope that the Lord will open her heart and her understanding. But she hasnt come to church yet so we might have to stop going there if she never comes to church. Laís was super busy this week and so she didnt have time to see us and the other people as well were never home. It was kind of frustrating for Elder Gardner and I and so we spent the whole week finding new people to teach and hopefully this week we will be able to follow up with the rest. We taught a family on wednesday and it was a mom and her two sons. Sadly the mom is one of those people that believes that she is a prophet ha but the two sons were very interested in our message. Only one of the sons lives with the mom and his name is Weberson. We will see on tuesday if he read a part of the Book of Mormon!! We were also able to visit a couple of less actives and we are planning on working with some of them!! So there is a lot of work to do here we just need to find the right time that all of them are at home!! Elder Barcelar and Elder J. Perez are having a lot of success with this one lady named Cida! She is going to be baptized next saturday, not this one but the next! So that is super cool!! I know that the lord will bless this area and bless us as well! He helped me see and recognize the importance of Humility and how we need to take our pride away. Those who are righteous will have true happiness. The zone conference this week was super good as well!! We learned a lot about 1 Nephi 17 and how the Lord wants us to build ships just like Nephi but in a different type of way. We can do hard things with the Lord on our side!

Thank you so much for putting our names in the temple and I know that the prayers of so many are having their effects. We are trying to seek the Lords will in everything we do.  I love the Lord and I know that through him we can be cleansed of our sins and we can strengthen our weaknesses. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that God and his son Jesus Christ appeared to him and restored the true gospel through him. I can feel it burn in my bones and my testimony grows every day. I love you!! Have a great week!!

May 13, 2019

The cinnamon rolls were his first attempt. He didn't have all the ingredients so he improvised, they look pretty good to me :)

This week we were able to teach the first lesson to a lot of people and we had the opportunity to testify of the Book of Mormon and the Restoration of the Gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith. My companion is awesome and he is doing great!! He will be such a great missionary here in the future and he already speaks really well portuguese. The people that we are teaching are doing great but one of the families did not read the Book of Mormon sadly.. But we are going to follow up on them and follow up on the people that we found this week too!!

 We are excited to teach two girls that we found! One is named Laís and the other is named Clesia!! Hopefully they were able to read the Book of Mormon. I was able to give a blessing this week to a member that was really needing it and her husband is coming back to church recently so he couldnt help us. But it was amazing to be able to help her and see how much she needed a blessing. We are working very hard and we are searching for opportunities to teach more people and involve the members in everything we do!! 

 I know that Christ lives and that he directs his church here upon the earth!! I know that through Christ we can be forgiven of our sins and that if we read the Book of Mormon and ask God if it is true, God will respond!! It was such an amazing week and every time that we teach about these principles, I can feel the Holy Ghost testifying through me and I know it to be true! Those who do not know or even do not believe, I invite you all to ask of God once again. The Lord wants us to be happy and his blessings, the fulness of his blessings, come from following the Holy Ghost and obeying his true commandments. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a wonderful opportunity for all of us to repent of our sins and become better than who we are right now. I love the knowledge that I have that we have a living prophet today here upon the earth and that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can all be purified and cleaned of our sins. We can become the people that God wants us to become. Now is the time to leave all of the things that dont matter behind and Follow the Savior Jesus Christ. We were able to teach these wonderful principles to Maria José, Laís, Clesia, Fabiana, Kelly and Lucas, Nadila, and a couple of other wonderful people. Pray for them so that they might come to know for themselves if all is true and if they should follow the example of Jesus Christ as we all should do!

A member sent this to me yesterday - totally made my day!

May 6, 2019

I am so grateful that I can work here and that I can help the members and the Branch President in everything they do here. This branch has so much potential to become a ward and I know that the Lord sent me here for a reason.  

This week I had an interview with President Castellano! It was such a spiritual experience and by the end of the week I could see the importance of what the Lord needs of all of us and how we need to be more open to his point of view. Which is the best point of view. President told me in the beginning that he knows that I may have been confused, mad, or upset about what happened with the first week of the transfer but he said that he trusts in me and knows that the Lord has a work for me to do. He said that he wanted so many times to send another missionary to come and work with me but the Lord wont let him. It was a conforting conversation and as he spoke to me about the trust and the work I need to do here in Jardim Canadá with Elder Barclear and Elder J. Perez I could only feel the power of the Holy Ghost testifying to me the truth of his words. It excited my heart and I knew for many reasons that I need to be here. And yesterday talking with the Branch President, because we work with him like the whole week, I was able to feel the love that Heavenly Father has for his family and for the sacrifices of this small Branch. We had a frequency of 56 this sunday and that was a great blessing. I know that the lord calles us all for specific things and that he has a purpose for me in this area and in this very moment. I love the Lord and I know he lives. I had problems with my toes again through out the whole week, it was the smaller ones. And every time i went to the center of BH to cut them I could feel the Saviors love for me and that helped me to endure the pain. My toes were not getting better and so finally I asked my companions for a blessing. Elder Barcelar blessed me with the ability to get better quickly and that I would be able to be a testimony of Gods power and waking up on sunday and today my toe has gotten a lot better. I know that through the savior our weaknesses and pains can be healed if we only have Faith and do our part. 

  There is a family that lives in another city that is close but far away for us that we are planning on helping out. The dad and the mom are members that are mostly active but inactive sometimes and they have two sons that are ten years old that arent baptized. And we are teaching another small family that has potential to come to church and join the church as well. I hope that they read the book of mormon and do everything they can to know if it is true

 I love the Lord and I love his gospel. I love this area that I am in too along with the members. Everything makes me feel joy here and it makes me appreciate the love that my Heavenly Father has for me. I know that the Lord will reveal to me even more why I am here and what I need to do for him. I really do love my mission even if it is super hard. But I know that if it wasnt hard than it wouldnt be able to teach me who I really need to be!  It is another testimony to me that God lives and loves us all! I love you so much!! And this lady in these pictures is 94 years old and originally from Portugal, her name is Mary and she is super funny and has a great accent ha and she goes to church every week!! She was baptized about twenty years ago!  

Love,

Elder Bestenlehner

PS (this email came two hours after the first one)  So good news but sad news as well haha, I will have a companion tomorrow! His name is Elder Gardner and President felt like it was necessary. So lets do this haha