March 25, 2019

I am doing good!! Elder Holt and I worked a bunch this week but it seemed like no one wanted to hear us haha. It was kind of a hard week but we are going to see what was wrong and do a lot better this next week!  

This week we have been working hard on helping Lorraine, Yasmine, and the other girl we have taught named Elisa. With Lorraine and Yasmine it has been difficult because of the situation with their mom and their dad.. So it has been hard to really teach them about the important things but they said that they have been trying to read the book of mormon and Lorraine came to church with her brother Luis who is a recent convert. So that was definitely a blessing. Elisa didnt come to church with her sister who is a member so that was hard for us.. We thought that she would really come this week.

 But right now we are in the process of finding and teaching more people. We found this one guy named Daniel that has potential to progress in the future. We are going to see on Friday if he read the Book of Mormon or not! Thank you for all of your prayers and for everything you do! Elder Holt and I are getting a long really well and we are striving to be exactly obedient. I was able to do an interview for the other elders in the zone on friday and it was super cool to see how the gospel changed the life of that young man. I love how the gospel can do that and that is why we need to bring the gospel to every family because it really can make the difference in life. Love you all!

March 18, 2019

 Wow your email made me very happy to see how the Lord really does love his children and he honors those who serve him in righteousness. I love the gospel and the scriptures are the source of happiness in our lives. I love this opportunity I have to stay a little bit longer and fulfill the mission that the Lord wants me to have. And I am very grateful that I have this time to be with President Castellano. I love my mission President and this week he told me that he trusts in me a lot and he knows that I will end my mission well! I know that staying  is the right decision. 

So I am serving in a ward called Progresso and it is an amazing area!! We spent the whole week trying to find some new people to teach because we did not have that much on our teaching record. But we found some pretty amazing people and I believe that the Lord has some great work in store for us. We found an incomplete family in the gospel and we are working with two of the daughters that have the desire to be baptized. The only hard part about it is the dad is pretty hard hearted and the mom seems like she is all over the place and cant sit still ha. But we are going to try and teach them all. The daughters names are Yasmine and Lorraine. And we also found a man named Igor that is super awesome. He promised to read the Book of Mormon and we are going to visit him on wednesday and hopefully more throughout the week. There are so many great families here with people that are non members inside the family. We are going to try and teach all of them and do what we can to help these families prepare for the temple and not just for next sunday. I love being companions with Elder Holt! Its definitely different but we are working things out to be able to speak as much Portuguese as we can and help others.  My companion is awesome and and we are going to work super hard to find people to be baptized and confirmed. I am so grateful that I am here in this new area and I know that the Lord will bless the people here!

That is super cool about Ryan! I will write them an email!  I am definitely going to email Bishop, what a blessing that is. It almost made me cry! Hahaha  I love my savior so much. And I am grateful for an amazing ward i have back home.  I love you so much  I love my mission and I want to end well!

March 11, 2019

So now I know for sure about the end of my mission and whats going to happen now!! First off, I am being transferred to Sete Lagoas!! (Seven Lakes) It is a ward called Progresso and I am still going to be a zone leader!! My new companion is Elder Holt! Do you remember him?? He was with me during one transfer and he is awesome. I am super excited! Today I am still with my companions but tomorrow I will already be with Elder Holt in my new area!! I dont know for sure but one of us is going to be the district leader as well haha. But dont worry I will totally tell Elder Cardozo that and Elder Barcelar also!! I am excited for them both and I am excited for what is going to happen at the end of my mission. I talked to President on saturday and it turns out that I am staying until July 10th!! So you will probably have to change all of those plans haha I was worried about it being in the middle of the summer but I know that the lord will bless me. President gave me a promise that if I stay and do the Lords will then he will help me with my desires after the mission. Isnt that crazy that i will stay longer than 2 years haha?! It should be fun! But I think this next area is my last area. I think I dont write that much anymore because I want to tell you all in person ha but I will try to write more. 

Our investigators are doing well!! Sadly Elizabeth is a little resistent and she didnt come to church this week... But a family that we have been trying to teach came to church and Elder Barcelar is going to continue to teach them!! They are super cool and I hope that they can be baptized. Funny story this week in church. We were walking to go pick up an investigator and this lady that I had already known stopped us in the street. I forgot to warn Elder Barcelar that she is a little crazy... ha Because during these transfers she follows the missionaries around and we have already tried to help her but because of the drug use she has developed some mental problems... She is nice but we have to be careful and Elder Barcelar didnt know about that so he invited her to church ha which is a good thing! We thought it would help her out! She went to church and after the first hymn she screamed "Hallelujah!! Praise to Our God!!" haha everyone looked at her and during the sacrament she did the same thing but started citing scripture... and then just got up and left. It was pretty strange but you just dont see things like that every day hahaha. But this isnt the first time that has happened to me in an area. It was just funny because the members teased us afterwards.. But hopefully one day she can search medical help and get better! But other than that we worked hard this week and now I am excited for my next area!! It will be awesome! I am grateful for the time i spent here in this area. Six months and I really learned a lot. I love the lord and I know that he has a purpose for each one of us.  I know that the lord will bless me and will bless our family for this service as I extend!! This week on a division we found a guy that was having a terrible day and our message gave him hope for a better day and a better life! He accepted a date to be baptized after that and the elderes in that area are going to take care of him!! I love the gospel so much and I know that the Lord needs me in this new area and needs me to stay a little longer on the mission to help his children out.

That is super cool about Ms Moulton!! She totally deserves it!  I know with extending my mission I am going to miss lots of things that I love but the Lord will provide! I will miss three fourth of Julys in a row haha my luck! But I love it and i know that someone needs me here. I love you so much and I hope you have a great week

March 4, 2019

This last weekend our great friend Welerson was interviewed by President Castellano and was baptized and confirmed!! Wow how I can testify that the Tender mercies of the lord are real!!! I will forever be grateful for everything the Lord has given me and this last weekend he reminded me once again why I am here. Even though I didnt do much of the teaching with Welerson, I was able to bare my testimony and see his baptism happen. It was amazing. And he was baptized on Saturday, two years on the date after I received my mission call to serve here in Belo Horizonte. The Lord showed my how important the work is here in this city and was able to bless us for our hard work here in Barroca. It was such an amazing day and the spirit was very strong. I love my savior Jesus Christ and I know that he lives and loves us!! This gospel is true and I know that through baptism is how we can obtain a remission of our sins! Wow what a wonderful weekend and also I was able to do an interview sunday morning and we all saw a sweet old lady be baptized sunday afternoon. And now we are going to work hard to find more!! Never give up for the Lord they God is on thy side!! 

 

 I will find out on this coming sunday about my mission, if it will be extended or not ha. Because Sunday we have transfers. I don't know what will happen with transfers next week.. But I know that the Lord will bless this area even if I am transferred. This week we are going to focus on finding more people to teach because we need it ha. But I love the tender mercies of the Lord and I know that he loves us. I know that this church is the true church of Jesus Christ and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, as I read his teachings I can feel the spirit testify to me of his calling. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that President Nelson is a Prophet of God. I love my savior and through him we can be saved.

 I felt the same way you did when I prayed, That i need to do what President feels I should do!! That is super cool about the experiences with Colby and Chris and I know that this will help them to prepare even more for a mission. I wish I could have done more but I am grateful for the journey!! I love you so much! Thanks for everything you do for me. I am so grateful for the blessings that I have in my life because the Lord has been good with me. Have a great week!