Sending Pictures

Hey!

I´m really sorry about not sending pictures.  The problem here is the sun.  There are so many UV rays here that I´m worried that my camera will get skin cancer, so I try to keep it inside.  Just kidding!  I´ll try to change my habits and take more pictures, sorry about that!  G´s just a little more robber prone, so I started just leaving my camera at home.  I´ll try to get into the habit of taking with me at least on P-day.

The office has already bought my plane ticket.  Just so you know my returns going to be about a month early.  The church sends all American Elders here in Brazil home with about 1 year and 11 months so that they don´t have difficulties with the visas.  Technically my Visa would allow me to stay longer, but the area presidency decideded several months back that there would be no exceptions to the rule.  That´s a bummer!  

I love you guys a ton, and I´ll start sending pictures just like the other missionaries!

Elder Sweet

Skipe for Mothers Day

Falaaaaaaaa Família!   

   

E Esse Calor!

Man, it´s been pretty hot lately!  Brazilian heats on another level, let me tell you!  But the people are great, we get offered water in every house we enter so it´s okay!

   Anywho, what´s up?  This week was transfers, so the beginning of the week was pretty crazy for us.  The last half of the week we were able to do a lot of work in our area, so that was great!  

    We´ve got two investigators that are really progressing well, they´re P. and G.  I still haven´t taken a picture with them, sorry!  It´s a lot of fun teaching them because they read everything that we leave with them, they pray, and the gospel makes sense to them.  

   Yesterday we taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ to G, and he loved the lesson.  He said "of all the churches that I´ve attended up til now, this one makes the most sense by far."  He´s reading the book of mormon daily and has already gained a testimony of his own.  He´s 16 years old, and got to know the church when a friend invited him to seminary.

   P. is also progressing great.  He loves coffee, so we´re working with him on that one.  Yesterday in the lesson he was voiceing his doubts about the fact that he can´t drink coffee, and we explained to him the idea.  Basically, the question is if the Book of Mormon is true.  If it is, then Joseph Smith is a prophet.  If he is a prophet, then this is a commandment from God.  He started to express his doubts about that, and we just listened.  He talked for about 4 or 5 minutes without stopping, and after having finished his process of thinking out loud he said "that actually makes a lot of sense.  Dang.  That´s cool!  That makes a lot of sense, there has to be a modern prophet."  It was a lot of fun seeing him answering his own question!  P. is 15 years old, and we found him doing street contacts.

   We´re hoping and praying that they both are baptized this saturday.  It´s going to be great!  It is such a joy to see the people that you teach learning, seeing how the gospel makes sense, and most important recieving their own testimony of the truth by the holy spirit.

Got to go, but I love you guys!

Elder Sweet

He Was Put In My Path...Again

Hey there, família!  Como está tudo o mundo?  

   This week has been great!  Elder Z. and I have been working hard, and we´re seeing some progress!  We have two investigators that are progressing well!  One is W.  He´s a recent convert´s friend, and is preparing to be baptized on the 30th of April.  He´s reading the Book of Mormon and has already received a testimony that it´s true!  
That´s so awesome!

We´ve also got another investigator, his name is G.  He´s also preparing to be baptized on the same day.  He´s one of those investigators that came ready made out of the box.  I´m not sure exactly how, but he found out about seminary a couple days back and starting attending the classes.

What is Seminary?

 I was on a division with a newer missionary when we went to teach him for the first time this past week.  As we taught the restoration, he lit up and became very excited, especially about the Book of Mormon.  He said that he´d been wondering for some time which church he should join, and which one had the true teachings of Jesus Christ.  When we introduced the Book of Mormon to him as the tool to learn for himself if what we taught is true, he told us "I´ve been wanting to know which church is true for some time.  I started coming here because I thought that this is the one, but I didn´t know how to be certain.  Now I know!"  

It was so neat to see how the teaching of the gospel functions.  
We´re not here to convince anyone, simply to enable and equip them to discover the truth for themselves through the Holy Ghost.

We also went to a Zone meeting this past week in my old area, Ip, where I served with Elder M.  I love that area so much!  The areas in which you work the hardest are the ones that you love the most, it´s interesting how the work precedes the love.  Anyhow, after the meeting we were walking on a large avenue leaving the church, and there I ran into R!  Do you remember him?  He´s the Ex-investigator that I taught with Elder M. that I found again in the bus a few months back.  I didn´t even see him, but he saw me and called me over.  It really is incredible how the Lord guides us!  That´s the first time that I´ve returned to I. since October, and he was put in my path!  The Lord works wonders! (Read about it in the entry titled "In The Middle of a City with 4 Million Inhabitants..." - Dated November 9, 2015)

I´ve got to go now, but I love each one of you!  Thank you so much for your prayers and support!  Until next week!

Love,

Elder Sweet

Increase In Faith

Hey guys!

   Anyway, the mission really is a learning experience.  It´s an environment in which we can apply the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives in a way that, at least for me, I never had been able to do before.  Faith becomes something so much more real as you are put in situations in which it becomes so much more necessary to exercise it.  I´ve also come to truly appreciate the power of fasting.   Early in my mission I asked President K. how I could be a better junior companion, what are the most important things for a junior companion to do.  His response to me was "Fast and the Lord will tell you how to be a better Junior!"  Since then I´ve had to opportunity to apply this powerful principle over and over again.  I still haven´t gotten to the point that it´s easy, but I´m gaining a testimony of it´s power.  Recently when I perceived that my faith was not sufficient to do what was required of me, I fasted and the next day I felt and saw in my work a noticeable increase in my faith.  The fast truly is real, and as we seek to apply this principle in our lives we can be taught by the spirit in truly incredible ways.  

Got to go now, but I love you guys!

Love,

Elder Sweet

Conference was AWESOME!

Hey guys!

   So what did you all think of the INCREDIBLE General Conference that we had?  Man, it seems like each conference just gets better as time goes on.  It´s amazing how much we can learn from the words of the prophets if we´re in tune to the spirit, and how individualized the counsel that we receive can be.

   This weeks going to be pretty busy!  On Wednesday we have the Mission Leadership meeting, so Elder Z. and I are working hard to prepare our training for them, and as always we´re excited to hear what President K. has to say as well!  

   Anyhow, I hope that everyone had a wonderful General Conference and I pray that we all seek the Lord to know how we, individually, need to apply the teachings of his prophets and apostles in our lives.  I know that as we seek him in the attitude of prayer and fasting, pondering on the words that we heard, that the heavens will be opened to us and the Holy Ghost will whisper to us in the quiet moments what it is that we must do.  Let´s not lose this opportunity!

   I love you all, have a great week!

Love,

Elder S.

(I´ll send pics in a minute!)

Dear Sweet Family

A letter from President K. letting us know of Elder S's new assignment serving as a second assistant.