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!!