Monday, November 24, 2014

November 24th

So this week was transfers.. and no surprises here, I am staying in the same city with the same missionary. Two weeks ago was an emergency transfer, and so yesterday we had normal transfers. 

Our whole house will stay the same. Which is good, because I really like our house. No one fights, everyone talks and laughs with everyone, and we all follow the rules. 

Speaking of rules, this week elder Alves and I are going to start ´´treinament de poder´´ which takes a week of preparation of studying the miracles of Jesus Christ, and next week we will start going to people houses, asking them if Jesus were in their house what they would ask for, and pray right then and there for those same things. In the middle of the prayer, randomly, you say ´´i say all of these things by the authority of the priesthood´´ and then keep praying.

We have a recording of a mission president in brasil teaching how to do this, how to prepare and be completely worthy (because if your not absolutely completely worth to do this, it won't be as powerful) and apparently its extremely powerful and spiritual. 

So that's my invitation for this week, everyday this week, study the miracles of Jesus and his life. I will let you know how it is going in a week!

So we had a baptism Saturday! it was great. The dad baptized his kid, but the kid was 11 and the dad was a member inactive, so we taught them all the lessons again and the baptism counted for us. Elder Alves confirmed him on Sunday.

Being completely honest, I think we will have 2 or 3 more baptisms in the next 2 weeks. I hope. We will see. I will send pictures!

Nothing really exciting happened this week. I miss you all so much. Yes it is hard sometimes. sometimes I just can't concentrate, but I heard a quote this week that I really like ´´Life doesn't have much mystery, just work´´ so I am really trying to do just that, and work.

Until next week,
 Love Elder Moss

Monday, November 17, 2014

November 17th

Last p day, we were buying lunch, and were almost positive we weren't going to be involved in the emergency transfer, but the secretaries called and now I have a new companion. Not because he was transferred, but because I was. haha He was kind of really mad with that because he has being looking forward to being transferred for a while. And less than two transfers in, I get transferred. 

My new companion is Elder Alves, and he is from Brasil too. My area is called Guanabara (that's the name of the ward) and my town is called Monte Mor. The town is pretty big, so we share a house with two other missionaries. They are really cool too. Our house is pretty new. One of the other elders is from Uruguay. and he is proud of it. haha So basically I am in a house where no one speaks English, and I have to rely on my Portuguese for EVERYTHING. Its a little harder, but A lot easier than i expected. 

The temperature is a little cooler than my last area, which is good because summer is about to start. My companion is obedient to the T with mission rules, and sometimes its annoying, but I feel the spirit a lot more in our lessons, and am just happier in general here. Its strange because He has the same time on his mission as me, and we are companions. Usually you are being trained for the first 12 weeks by a much more experienced missionary, but Right now neither of us have finished being trained and our mission President put us together as companions. That's a lot of trust between us. But its paying off because our investigators are GOLDEN. We have like 3 familys, and people that actually read the scriptures, go to church, and are making a change in their lives for the better. Its a really incredible experience when you go to the same house two times in a week and feel the spirit stronger the second time because the investigator has read the chapter we left, or has done their part. 

I forgot to tell you something... I SAW A TOUCAN!  Its true! Last week right before I was transferred, I saw a toucan flying. It was flippen sweet.

We have a baptism this Saturday too! I know that we are being blessed more and more the more we obey the rules of the mission and are obedient. Yeah we don't agree on absolutely everything, bu I love this new area I am in. I'm just all around happier.

So Bençaos :)

Love Elder Moss


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Monday, November 10, 2014

November 10th

So the first few days we worked and went to a references house that we had never gone to before. We knocked on the door and the woman (the reference) didn't want to hear us at that moment because she was busy, but her daughters rushed to the door and asked us to come in (haha.) They are 14 and 17. We talked a little bit about the first lesson and then watched the restoration with them. its like 20 minutes long. They said they liked it and they agreed to go the ´´capela aberta´´ which is open chapel. It was our service activity for our ward here. Its where people could come and learn a little bit about our church and how its organized, they had inflatable slides in the back with trampolines and food. It was a really good idea, but none of the members told anyone to come during the week, so after like an hour, we had to walk to our investigators houses and walked with them to the capela. So in between the hours of like 9-5, we only had like 8 people show up (haha.) It was still fun though. 

Last p day after emailing, we were walking back to our house and it just started pouring down rain. It was the first opportunity I got to use my waterproof camera! I will send some pics :) 

And finally, there's an investigator named John. He is 19 and his whole family was baptized like 6 months ago except for him. I have invited him to be baptized, my companion too, and he has always said ´´I will pray and let you know this week ´´ but he never lets us know. Next week is the last gospel principles class for Sunday school and my companion and I finally called him on  it. We said ´´You are ready to be baptized. You are about to finish the principle class and you know everything a member needs to know, you are practically a member yourself. You go o church every week with your family, you pray, you enjoy listening to our messages, and you are ready. Will you be baptized this next Saturday?´´ (haha) 
He said yes. My companion will baptize him and we are visiting him and his family every day this week to help prepare him and get all the plans finalized. My companion said that he thinks this is the reason why he has stayed in this city for so long, to be the person that helps convert and baptize John.

My spiritual message for the week is that The Atonement is real. At the open chapel we watched the church bible movies about the garden of Gethsemane and I felt the spirit so strong. I am trying to humble myself and use the atonement in my life every day. Christ took in all of our sins and suffered the pains of the world. It reminds me of one of President Packers talks when he describes how a woman had a wrong done to her and she was livid. She was so mad and she was thinking to her self ´´someone must pay for this injustice´´ when right after she said that a voice came into her head that said ´´ someone already did.´´ When we feel like we are alone and like no one understands us and how we feel, Jesus does. He is the ultimate friend and comforter, and he can always help us. We just need to be humble enough to use it. 

I read a scripture in the new testament this week: Matthew 23:12. I am going to try to put this scripture into use every day this next week and let you know how it goes!

Til next week :)

Love Elder Moss
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Monday, November 3, 2014

November 3rd

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Picture for the week

 I am improving with the language, but I'm not as fluent as I wish I were. 

So for halloween here, some elders and I had a ´´frynight´´ when you take oreos and other candies and smother them in cake batter, and deep fry them in oil. It was so bad for us and so fattening, but it tasted sooooooooooo good :) 

This week was a typical week for a missionary in Brasil. We knocked on a lot of doors, and had a ton of lessons, but I think that only 3 or  4 of them will turn into something (of course I hope for more). 

Yesterday was probably the best day of the week, because we did this special activity for ´´Day of the Dead´´ here in brasil. Its a day that people go to the cemeterys and pay respect for family and friends. There is a park right outside of the cemetery and we set up a little table with free cups of soda, and made contacts with people going to the cemetery. To people that stopped to drink water we talked about the plan of salvation and how This life isnt the end of our journey with our families. It was really a good experience. The other elders were in charge of the table and sodas and materials, and they showed up 30 minutes late without any of the materials like pamphlets and pass along cards. So we just talked to people about the gospel and made appointments to share more. I tried to keep a good attitude through the whole thing though. 

I think that that is the lesson of the week. My companion will be transferred this next week because of an emergency transfer (I think someone serving in the states just got their visa) but he's always talking about the next transfer, about leaving and about going home. I was talking to some of the other elders about this, and I am learning a valuable lesson about being happy where you are. We don't choose what happens to us in this life, and we don't choose the situations we are put into, but if you are always looking forward to the future to be happy, you will miss out on so many experiences NOW. Although it is very difficult some times to keep a positive attitude and be happy, I am trying. As i do this, I am noticing my days are just better, and that the people around me and happier too. Some of the happiest people that I meet and know have very normal lives. 

I have been thinking of more stuff for hristmas / birthday, and the more I think about it, the more emphasis I want to put on socks, and I would like to add home made cookies or brownies to the list (along with a small thing of nutella) that stuff is like liquid gold here. 

Anyways, I am trying to be happier :)

Love Elder Moss