It was a great and humbling week. Unfortunately, we didn't have any investigators at church yesterday and Geralda wasn't baptized. But we are continuing to work and improve and we will bring these investigators to church next week. I am really humbled and grateful to be a missionary. This week Elder Sloan had a leadership conference with Pres. Fortunato and the other district leaders so I got to study and work with the Zone Leaders for part of the day. Elder Cerutti from Rio Grande do Sul is one of our zone leaders and I really learned a lot from him about my desires and purpose as a missionary. With all the excitement about the age changes for missionaries, anyone who wants to better understand missionary work, all you have to do is pick up Preach My Gospel and start studying. Pres. Fortunato said that Preach My Gospel was written on the other side of the veil and I can really see why as I study and learn everyday from it. I am very grateful for living prophets and apostles that guide us and help us to understand this wonderful gospel.
Inspiring story - There is a 10 year old girl who attends church at the branch here every single Sunday. Her family isn't baptized and don't go to church but she goes every single Sunday. How neat is that? Also, there is a family that attends the ward next to the branch here that spends 50 reais every Sunday to go to church by bus. It is a family of six and they all go to church every week. These are just some of the many examples of faith that I am seeing here in Brazil. I am really grateful for the dedication of the members here.
I am doing well and officially am done training! That doesn't mean much though because I am going to be learning bastante for the rest of my mission. Elder Sloan has taught me many great things and I am very grateful for his leadership.
I was reading in Jesus the Christ about the tempatations of the Savior - how Satan always used the word IF to tempt our Lord. He said If you be the Son of God, If you have all power, etc. I was struck by one of the ways Satan gets us is by making us forget who we are. Who are we? We are children of the Most High, intelligences given great power and blessings. We are the work and the glory of God and we cannot fail if we turn to Him. The Savior didnt forget who He was when He was tempted to be less than His potential and neither should we. This idea has helped me to stay true to the gospel even when it was hard. So if you are discouraged or down, just remember who you are and that you are entitled to the Lord´s help.
I loved the Lord of the Rings quote by the way. Until next week!
Elder Jacob
No comments:
Post a Comment