Weekly Letter

Olá Família!

    This last week went by fast. We got a phone call Thursday morning that Friday we would have a zone conference, and that we needed to take the bus that night. So we ran around a little bit to visit some people before having to take the bus to Três Rios, and then to Petropolis. We got there around 9 o´clock. We slept in Zone Leader´s house with 8 other missionaries. We ran out of mattresses so I slept on the ground, and used my towel for a blanket. haha. Needless to say it was one of the longest nights of my life. haha. But it is good for character. The Zone Conference was good. We focused a lot on baptism and our focus on the ordinances. We got done around 5 and started the journey back home. We stayed in the Elder´s home in Três Rios, and got home Saturday morning. We hurried and ate lunch, then left running to the Church to watch conference. It was a great opportunity to watch and learn. President Nelson was quoted a lot of times, about the importance of personal revelation, and the importance of doing and keeping covenants. That the little things that we do in our lives without faith are useless, we need to keep all the commandments with faith and hope. Conference was really good, and I am excited to read and listen to the talks more times. So that I can comprehend and put into practice the doctrine in my life. I love you guys! Glad to hear that everyone is well!

 - Elder Child 

Weekly Letter

Olá Família,

   This week was good. As a district we fasted to find the people that are ready for the gospel. The next day we found Flavia and her sons. They have been taught by the missionaries 10 months ago. Flavia wasn´t baptized then because she didn´t feel ready, but now she told us that she is needing a change. She wants to be baptized ASAP! So we are super excited to teach her a little more and get her baptized soon. She also has two sons with the age of baptism too, so we will try to baptize the three of them the same day. We also have been able to find some new people to teach. The biggest problem that the people have is depression. I don´t really know why, but every other person we talk to is depressed. So we are working to get the people off the medication and into the scriptures. We are able to testify of the power of scripture study, and the strength it gives us. We explain that life is made for ups and downs. We have the choice to go with the groove or fight and try to find happiness. One thing that I have learned is that happiness is a choice we make. It comes from the inside - out. Not from things that we buy or receive. It comes from righteous gospel living, and our attitudes! I´m glad everything is going well! Love you guys!

 - Elder Child

Weekly Letter

Olá Família!

    This week was really good. We have been receiving a lot of referals, so we are pretty busy. We will start up a english and spanish class this week to get more people to visit the church. We have started to work in some other neighborhoods and have found quite a few people to teach. Elder Ornelas has worked in only 3 neighborhoods in his time here, and so we have been exploring a bit and found 16 more people to start teaching this next week. We also had splits the other day with the Zone leaders, so that was good to learn some more ways we can help the members teach the gospel. One way is giving them a Book of Mormon and challenging them to give it to one of their friends. I sent some photos of some funny things. One is a bridge that we have to pass every other day or so. There isn't a sidewalk but there is a rail that we can walk on to cross. It takes about 4 minutes to cross, Elder Ornelas doesn´t like it very much because he is scared of heights, but he is more used to it now. The other one is a fruit that I forgot the name of but it is good. It is like a mix between a jack fruit and a pear. haha. So good to hear that everything is going well and baby Kinley arrived safe and sound! Love you guys!

- Elder Child