June 4, 2018

You probably need a translator lol, his English is getting much worse - good sign for the Portuguese though

it always makes me so happy to talk to you all every week!! I am doing super great and so is my companion! He really looks and talks like an italian and its awesome hahaha. I think it is one of the coolest/hardest things because he askes a lot of things! This week was super spiritual for me and i have never had a week of revelation like it ha! I am glad that you are all doing well! I am excited for emma too! And how are Mckays papers?  

Our investigators that we have are Gian, Flaisa, Jane, Guillerme, and Renan pray for them they are all so awesome! Especially Renan and Gian because we want them to be baptizd this month! This week was super crazy and something really weird happened haha i thought that it would never happen to me but it did. One day i was doing a contact in the street and it was with this young girl about christophers age, and we were talking about the gospel and how it would bless her life ha, then when i shoke her hand to say goodbye she pulled me closer and tried to kiss me..... how weird was that haha. I stopped her imediately and said, sorry but we cant do that or anything like that ha. She tried to make up some excuses saying that it is a custom here in Brasil, but i dont buy it. It was really funny afterwards because my companion was just frightened ha. But that was a funny experience this week. After that my companion and I stopped a family in the street and we discovered that the husband is less active! We taught him and his wife and child this week and his wife and her son have a date for baptism!! It was a lesson so powerful and i loved teaching them because they all want to come back to church!! They werent able to come yesterday but we have an appointment with them tuesday!! On sunday i had two experiences that were amazing. The first one was during testimony meeting, we were with Gian and there was that one member who was going on and on and wasnt really a testimony and the spirit told me to ask Gian what he thought was a testimony. I thought it was a little strange and ignored the first time he told me to do it. Then the second time was a lot more stronger and I decided to obey. I asked on a piece of paper and he responded. And when i saw the answer, the spirit told me to go up and bare my testimony on what he wrote, because what he had written was true. And so i bore my testimony saying that one of my brother and friend told me what he thought was a testimony some time ago, and he told me that a testimony is proof of something that happened that you know is true. I said "I know that what he said is true, and i have had so many proofs that Jesus Christ lives." It was so powerful and Gian almost started to cry of happiness for what I did. Wow was it so cool, the spirit testified to me and I have no doubt that it was him! Then later on in the day i was reading in Jesus the Christ and afterwards i rested my eyes for about 20 minutes and during those 20 minutes I had a narrated dream about Jesus Christ and his life. Wow it had never happened before and I know for a fact that the Lord had answered my prayers. God is always willing to talk to us and provide miracles in our lifes. If you cant see the miracles of God in your life then look again, because they are right in front of you!

I love this gospel so much, the mission is super hard but so worth it and i love it so much here! Even when i miss you guys so much i cant help to think more about my savior and why i am here. I will miss you all in the family reunion and i hope you all have so much fun! I am excited to see the pictures ha! I loved what President Nelson and Sister Nelson said, i wasnt able to watch it because it was only on at 9 oclock here in Brasil during the night and so it wasnt possible ha. But i love what he said and he is a prophet of god! Sorry that i have taken out money from my account, we have to travel this week and we dont have a bank for our card on the mission here in our area haha. And i need physical money to catch the bus! Oh and the address for the mission did change ha! Love you so much!!! We made cookies with an investigator and an Elder preparing for the mission ha! 

Address for the mission office! 

R. Levindo Lopes, 214 - Funcionários
Belo Horizonte - MG, 30140-170 Brasil

May 28, 2018

Hey!!! Wow was this week a challenge hahaha i had to learn so much patience because my companion is so much different than i am. But other than that i know that the lord called me to train him for a purpose! I have been super stressed out lately with numbers, training, the district, baptisms, and basically everything ha but the lord has comforted me a lot! My companion is from São Paulo and he has an accent super different, he speaks like an italian gangster but in Portugues! Other than that he is older than i am and is 21 years old. He has been a member for 7 years and is the only member in his family. Its been fun this first week but it definitely has been one of the hardest weeks of my life. But he is super excited and i need to be too! I will definitely learn a lot of patience and faith in this transfer ha! But i am glad that everyone is ok and that Christy and her family were protected! 

But I think the highlight of the week was the conference that we had with Elder Quentin L Cook, and wow was it absolutely amazing. First of all i got to shake his hand so that was super cool. But it just got so much better. The power that comes from his words is hard to describe. I also loved what his wife shared too! She talked about christ like attributes and how we can find so many in all of the hymns in the church, I had never thought about that before and i thought it was super cool. She also told us to Glory in the fact that we can do perfect things every day and that our very first convert needs to be us! She had a lot of power and you could feel the spirit. And then Elder Cook talked to us about so many things. He taught us a lot about faith, joy, and happiness and how those things can lead us to salvation and exaltation. Wow you can just tell that he is called of the lord and is a SPECIAL WITNESS of the lord Jesus Christ. Everything he told us was just amazing. He told us that what we are teaching can bring joy and happiness right now and salvation and exaltation in the world to come! He told us to share that with everyone we find. He also said that the mission is about strengthening your testimony and learning about the spirit. We can have faith to find the elects and we need to deepen our testimonies and love of the savior and then share it with everyone we find. It was amazing. He also said that the mission isnt all about the number of baptisms that you have, but it is about the faith and the effort that you put in. Then he gave us a blessing that only 15 people on this earth can give and it was just so powerful. Wow i love the gospel! I know that his is one of the lords apostles and i know that President Nelson is a prophet of god. This is his work and his glory and this is where we can find Joy and Happiness. I know the book of mormon is true and i know that my savior lives and loves us!  I love you all!

May 21, 2018 Training and a baptism!

How are you!? This week was so amazing and i will never forget it!! Wow was i just so happy ha!! But other than that i am doing great too!!! The work went super well this week and we definitely saw a miracle of the Lord. 

This week Simone was Baptized!!!!! It was so awesome. It all started on Wednesday when we had splits with the other elders from our district. I went with Elder Lujan who is the senior companion/trainer of the other pair. We we teaching simone and we were helping her understand more about the plan of salvation. And we wanted to put her date for baptism for the 2nd of june but we were feeling that something was missing with our plans. She hadnt been taught much but Elder Lujan looked at me and said, "I think she is prepared and you know she is too. lets challenge her for this saturday." And so we did and she accepted!!! We literally taught her everything in two hours on Friday morning, and then she had her interview Friday night. It was absolutely amazing. She accepted everything we taught and she passed on the interview. On Saturday there were a lot of problems that arose that basically could have stopped her to be baptized but Elder and I we did not give up. We fixed everything that was going wrong and combined with the members to have a great Baptism. And she chose me to baptize her, wow was it so amazing. The feeling that comes to you when you help someone to enter the kingdom of God is not possible to describe. When i Baptized her i could just feel the spirit and the love so strong that God has for her., and I felt the Spirit so strongly during the confirmation. the spirit testified to me and i could feel the love and his power! I loved it so much and i just wanted to cry. We did what you said too dad! We turned the work over to the Lord and he did the rest! It was so amazing and i know that he blesses each one of his children!!I was so so so happy after the baptism and then on Sunday i was able to Confirm her a member as well. The spirit was so strong this week and i just wanted to cry these last couple of days because I have seen the miracles of God and I have seen how much Heavenly Father loves us and loves his children. What a feeling. For those of you that have the chance to see a baptism or try to understand more about the covenant we make with him, take that chance!! Because it is one you will never regret. She was so happy and ofcourse we are going to continue visiting her and her daughter that is 4 years old. 

And the Joy didnt stop there. Transfers came and sadly Elder Alonzo is being transfered, but i was called to be a TRAINER.... WOOH! I am so excited and nervous but more excited. I will be a district leader training a new missionary! hahahah it is going to be awesome. Our other investigators are doing good but we didnt get to talk to them as much this week. We are going to try harder this week to find new people and to help them. But still pray for them! 

I am excited to see Elder Cook and feel the spirit this Saturday, it should be so amazing. It will be!! And the other elders live about 30 minutes from us but in the same city, it is just a different area. And it is the same thing with the sisters! They are close to each other but it is usually one couple in every ward! I dont have any training from the zone leaders or anybody hahaha i am learning by experience. But it is awesome. That is so cool about the other missionaries who got their calls! That is an awesome place to go Jace ha! And i am happy to hear about the others whose testimonies have grown so much. As has mine! I love this gospel so much and my feet are doing good! They dont bother me as much so that is awesome. The lord has so many blessings for each one of us, and i love to be able to feel and see his love for each one of his children. Could you also send Beef Jerkey in my package if you can? if not just send it later! There are some elders that want to try it haha.  I am so happy you had a great week and i hope you have a great one this week! Love you so much!!! 

Elder Bestenlehner

May 14, 2018

If you look closely, you will see monkeys in the last two pictures. Halli, you requested those so here you are 😊

Since so many of you have asked, I combined David's email and mine this week.  It was so great talking to Andrew. He is so happy serving the Lord in Brazil!

 Happy Mothers day again!! Hahahah I loved talking to you all too! It was amazing to see everyone together and i was happy that i got to joke around and talk with each one of you! I Loved everyone joking too! Because it reminded me of old times, but i am glad that i was able to talk to you all!
Thank you so much for sharing those things with me dad! i loved what you said about kneeling and turning the work over to the lord. I am going to try that with my companion this week and i know that he will use us in HIS work. I love the gospel so much and i know that the gospel will bless the lives of our investigators. We have Gian, simone, Flaisa, and Ivanilton and i know that the lord will bless each one of them according to their needs.
I loved the scripture that you used!! I know that the lord will provide miracles in our lives and i know that he will provide the people who are needing this gospel and who need to feel his love!  what Elder Alonzo said is true. I talk about you all the time because of the example you show me everyday. You are the best dad that any kid could ever have! I am always praying for you too and i know that the lord is blessing all of you because of the work i am doing for him!

I know i can be an instrument in his hands and i know that this gospel is true. The book of mormon is really a treasue that each of us need to keep with us and ready every day so that we can strengthen our testimonies and our knowledge!! I also know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of god and that Russell M Nelson is a prophet of god! the lord guides his church and directs it today. And we can all grow more to be like him.! I loved talking with you and i wish we had more time. But i know that the lord needs me here in Brasil, my other home!

I love baring testimony about the book of mormon too because it is so wonderful. I think i have asked "what lacks yet?" many times but the Lord is showing me time and time again what more i need to do! But thank you so much for what you shared. I loved what you said and that we can all be more obedient to the lord and then he will give us the blessings that are waiting for us! I love the scripture D&C 98:2-3, because the Lord is going to answer our prayers but it will be in his time and acording to his will! That is so cool that Nick Rimando got his 200th win! I wish i could have seen that video! I miss watching real salt lake! Elder Alonzo is super awesome. I love working with him because he works so hard and is super funny. We are very much alike. He loved the tie that he got and dont worry i will use the money only when i really need it. I think i will have to use it today ha! We literally have no food at home! And i will be looking for epsom salts here soon, dont worry i will find them and start using it!

This week was super cool for me because i was able to do two Baptismal Interviews. Anderson, who was baptized in Progresso. And Artur who was baptized in Alvorada with the sisters. Each interview was super spiritual because we read Mosiah 18 and we talked about the importance of Baptism, and then i asked them to bare their testimonies about the gospel and the book of mormon and i could feel that each one of them was prepared to be baptized. They were both baptized and confirmed and the spirit was super strong for them! I think it is amazing how the gospel really changes lives and how each one of us can find happiness through this gospel! I love being able to tell people that and ask them if they want happiness in their lives and its sad when they say no to us, but amazing when they say yes! Simone is doing great and she is understanding more about Baptism, we didnt get to see her this week which was sad but she went to church close to her work and we are planning on seeing her today. Gian is getting home today from his trip and we hope that he is still wanting to continue with this wonderful gospel. Pray for Ivanilton so that he can be married as soon as possible because he wants to be baptized!! And we have a couple of other people that want to learn more! Flaisa is super cool and she is going to be praying about the book of mormon and she really wants to know! I love it when people have real intent because it makes the experience so much better!! I love the gospel and i know that it is true!! I know that this is the true church and i know that because i have felt it in my heart! The spirit testified to me and i can not deny it!!! Love you all!!!

The notebook depends on when it will get here... because she goes home here soon and if you will send it with my package then she wont get it in time, but if that is the case you can still send it for me haha. If you are almost over weight with the package and then you dont need to put more things in!! But thank you so much for everything and tell everyone in the family that i love them! I wish i could have talked with each one a little bit more, but i hope you all liked talking with me!!! Love you so much !! I am so grateful to have you in my life. I wouldnt want anyone else for a mom because i know you are the best!! Thank you for everything you have done for me in my life. Really i didnt doubt for my mother knew it! LOVE YOU

Elder Bestenlehner

May 7, 2018

! My toes are doing a lot better! I had to go to the Foot doctor again this week and she has helped me a lot haha. I forgot the word in English but i know it in Portugues! But i am doing a lot better regarding my toes! I am taking care of them to the best of my ability. I think next week or today i will have time to write him! I will definitely do that and you can include what i said at my Eagle Court of Honor. We are probably going to Call on sunday! Chris works on sunday? Hahaha But i will talk to my companion real quick and let you know! I havent hear much about renewing my vista, i have only heard that i will renew it on june 4th! and so they havent told me much about what will happen or what i will have to do! But I have heard some rumours that maybe i will have to travel to Sao Paulo and renew it there! I am glad that everything went well with Jessa and i am sad to hear that Brielle got sick but i am sure she will get better really quickly! 

This week we worked a lot! But also this week we experienced a lot of rejection. It was basically the definition of Missionary work in one week haha. But we also found some awesome people to teach and Simone, Gian, and Ivanilton are progressing a lot! This week in sacrament meeting we had 6 investigators!! It was so awesome and it felt so good! Gian, simone, and Ivanilton all went and then we had Weberson, a man who we taught on saturday, and two other investigators who are new and wanted to get to know the church! It was so cool because testimony meeting was so powerful and the return missionaries in the ward helped so much. I was also able to bare my testimony and i always love to bare my testimony. I have kept my promise i made with the lord that i would bare my testimony every sacrament meeting, and i have been doing that for almost a year now! It is so awesome and helps strengthen your testimony too! But we were able to teach Simone this week and she loved the lesson! She has been reading a lot about the plan of salvation and we are hoping to teach her on thursday!! Gian is doing good to and he is waiting super paciently for an answer about all of the things we teach. Pray for him! He is awesome and he needs the gospel in his life. Ivanilton has also been progressing but he has a problem with smoking and he also isnt married but lives with his girlfriend.... So we are helping them a lot and praying that everything can be fixed! But i know that the lord will provide miracles!! This week i am going to do four baptismal interviews and so that should be super fun! I am excited! The other two couples in our district are going to be baptize, now we just need our couple to batpize hahaha. But i have no doubt that the lord is preparing these investigators and more for the ward National! OH and Fabio is super excited to return to the church and he came on sunday again! He is super awesome and is participating a lot! I am learning more and more to listen to the Holy ghost, it is so cool because this week we talked with a women who was crying on her doorstep and i felt the impression beforehand to talk to her! She was super happy when we started to talk with her and we gave her a book of mormon. We are going to call her tomorrow to set up a time when we can teach her! It was super cool! I love it when we can share the gospel and it makes someones day! That is one of the best parts about the mission. The only bad part is when so many people reject you and talk bad about you, but those are the people who need the gospel the most! I love the gospel so much and i know that the lord is always with us! Pray for Gian, simone, Ivaniltonl, weberson, nataniel, and Valternei!!! Love you all! This church is the church of Jesus Christ here on the earth!!! 

Love you so much mom!! I am so happy to hear that you are helping everyone and that everything is going good! That is funny that chris is working at sonic but i am glad he is working! We were thinking that about 7 oclock here in Brasil we are wanting to skype!! And we will be skyping from a member called Thales!! what is the email that i need and is that a good time for you? Oh and two members asked me about something in The US that they said they would like you to send if you could and that they could pay for it. One is called Joao vitor and he is awesome, he is 17 years old and he wants a BYU cap haha. But the other wanted to ask you how much is Dr martins shoes! But love you so much mom! Thank you for everything you do for me and for the example you always show me!

May 1, 2018 I am not sure I get the car pictures but oh well.

Dear family and friends,

That is so cool that Brandon received his mission call and that Mike left already!! The missionary field is receiving some great missionaries here soon! He will basically leave when i will have one year on the mission! Hahah how crazy is that. I am glad that the soccer kids are focusing on their missions and getting ready to go! It is always so amazing to see that!! I love the work even though you have weeks that are sad! 

I think the title of this week is basically.... Return of the ingrown toenails, Part 2. Hahahaha because once again i have ingrown toenails and they are super swelled. But i have to wait three weeks to take them out.. But thats ok!! I like being able to walk and trust in the lord just like the pioneers did! Nacional doesnt have as much hills as Gutierrez did but thats ok! I am totally fine with that!! But other than that we had a week that was very sad and frustrating, but had its moments too!! This week one of our investigators told us that he doesnt want to continue with the gospel... it was super sad. Tiago... he is super awesome and i dont know why he doesnt want all the blessings in the world but all we can do is pray for him! Gian is doing good, the punk didnt come to church sunday so we have to remark his baptism date. So that has been hard but he has been progressing and we are going to see how he is feeling about everything. Pray for him and for us so we can help him and find others too! Andressa also didnt come to church and she has been struggling with depression... we had a spiritual lesson with her and it was super cool to promise her that god is always with her and loves her so much! We are going to visit her almost ever day this week! Other than that, we have a couple of more people that have potential to progress! Ivanilton and Simone are awesome. They are two seperate investigators but we are going to visit them this week! They are getting to know the church! This week i was able to see Brother Marcio from Gutierrez!(Elder Da Best!) it was so cool because he was visiting Nacional and we took a picture together! Then we were also super happy to see that Fabio, the member who was excomunicated, came to church and it was such a great experience for him! It was super cool! Other than the hard things that happened this week, this week was also full of miracles and full of the love of Christ! I Felt his love so much and i know he is always with us! I love this gospel so much!!! Our district is doing great and the sisters are doing awesome! They have another baptism this week and it will be my first interview!! I am excited and i know that the lord will guide me! And our district is super excited to work hard and be diligent! Missionary work is the best!

April 23, 2018

How are you and how are things at home? I am grateful to hear that everything is going well and I hope that Jessa will be ok! I am sure she is doing great. But i miss you all but i love this place so much! Even though it is super hard it is one of the coolest places on earth. But I am happy to hear that Brae keeps chris out of trouble ha she needs to keep that going for a while and it will be all ok. That is cool that they switched the missionaries but strange that they pulled out two at the same time. Usually that doesnt happen, well at least not in our mission. But i am sure they are doing great work there! Emerson and Betania are doing great and it was hard to say goodbye to them and to Pirapora and to everyone i met there, but i know that one day i can see them all again. I am sure that Elder Alves is taking good care of them. But my new area Nacional is super awesome!! I love it even though it is full of hills and super huge ha! My new companion Elder Alonzo is super awesome to and he basically is a great missionary already and knows how to work! Its going great and this week was super good! 

I met a lot of new people this week and it was cool to serve my district! I am the district leader in BH east and so it is super cool! Gutierrez is in the same stake as Nacional. Elder Alonzo has been on the mission almost 4 months now and he is doing awesome. We have some great people that we are teaching and we are praying so much to find those who will accept this wonderful gospel. We have an investigator whose name is Gian and he is so cool. He loves to learn so much and he loves all of the videos on Mormon Canal, on youtube. He told us that it is one of his favorite things to do is watch those videos ha. We also have Andressa, José, and John Vitor. They all have a date for the 12th of may and we are praying so much that they will continue on this amazing path. I love each and every one of them and i want them to experience this joy! My district is made up of two more elders and two sisters! Elder Lujan, Elder Perez, Sister Dutra, and Sister Silva. Sister Silva and Elder Perez arrived on the mission this transfer. But it has been awesome to serve and follow up with them. They are doing great and the sisters had a baptism this last week! We were also able to meet a man who returned from his mission but sadly was excomunicated from the church and he is so awesome. We want to help him to be rebaptized and to want to come back to Gods Fold. He told us that he wants to and that the best time of his life was when we was on the mission. We also met a less active whose name is Felipe and he has left the church but he knows that it is all true. We are helping him too. There is a lot of work to do and i  know that the lord will help me and help my district to fulfill his work! I love this gospel so much and i am so happy to be here serving the lord. I know that he will provide people for us to teach and lives for the gospel to bless! 

 My area does have a part of Contagem! But it is farther away! It is about an hour from the center of BH. But oh can you send Maple exract too? I forgot to ask that a couple of transfers back and then i just forgot completely haha. And one of the sisters asked if you could get her one of those journals of Joseph Smith. I am doing great! Just pray for our investigators and the work here because it needs to be done!! Love you so much  and Have a great week! Here are some pictures!