Get on the BUS!

Oi bom dia!  

Okay, so this email will encompass a week and a half because last week P day changed to a Monday and then it changed back into a Wednesday.  Welcome to the Rio De Janerio North Mission right now!  

I'd like to start this out with my gratitude that I am serving a mission right now, at this point in time with the Rio de Janerio Temple.  It's such a unique time that I have to be here as a missionary, so it really is such a gigantic blessing.  

But along with that very unique time, comes a lot of interesting difficulties and challenges!  So, let's dive right in!  

So, we have the temple, which we have 4 buses that are just circulating Downtown Rio to take people to the temple for free.  We got a schedule last Thursday about all the days we would be working, they are taking the 4 cloeset zones, and everyone is working a "shift" basically where they are just working to invite people to get on the buses and go to the temple.  So, Saturday was the first shift....Me and Elder Johnson, along with the rest of the mission quickly realized that this idea was not as easy as we thought.  No one was actually there to go to the temple, and they said they were always late, or had another commitment or....etc.  So we had all these gigantic buses leaving just empty to the temple.  It was kinda very discouraging, but as part of it, at the end of our shift we got to take the bus to the temple!  That was a well needed break I needed to recover from 5 hours of contacting with no one being interested or going on the bus.  

The temple in Rio is BEAUTIFUL!  It's actually pretty small too, which is interesting, but the size or the grandeur of a temple means nothing compared to the spirit inside.  Because the spirit is indescribable.  It's literally, indescribable, and it's open to EVERYONE!!  What a wonderful time, and a unique and short time.  So, as we came home, our President sent out a mandate that every night after 9PM (Our proselyting hours) we would have a meeting with all the Zone Leaders, which typically ends up being another hour or so.  

And thus begins the learning process.  We added another bus stop to hope that would get more people on the bus.  We changed schedules.  Originally we were going to work in Rio for 2 days, and then it suddenly became 4 days and then Friday last week was the actual first day to work in our area.   We were spending a lot of money on transport.  We were changing the shift schedule every single day.  Some missionaries were going like 10 days without a P-Day.  CRAZY!  I was very very very very tired.  But I understood why things were changing.  It was because we couldn't prepare completely, because we didn't know about the problems with the bus, or the fact that we needed the missionaries to work more than we planned.  And it's all because we hav about 30 days for everyone to feel the blessings of the temple.  Because normally, only members can go in, and so this time for everyone to come in, of every religious denomination and background is so unique.  

So, in short, we worked 4 days in Downtown Rio contacting people and Elder Johnson and I were completely exhausted, we slept to and from Rio every day.  

But!  Let me tell some fabulous miracles that happened in the mission.  

-DAY 1 of the open house, 3 people were in the celestial room, and asking to be baptized out of the blue.  

-Our 3rd day we actually got people we contacted on the bus!  About 2.  But they want to go again and bring more people.  

-Our friend Junior went to the temple, and his sister who is a member, said he was like a kid at Disneyland.  She came up to us and said that he is literally stressed out that he isn't baptized yet. Why he isn't?  He's got some legal marriage things he needs to get done before he can....so we are just waiting on that one.  

-President and Sister De Oliveria will do anything to get people to the temple.  They'll go to an area and personally drive them if they can't take the bus.  

-A member in our ward planned 8 buses for local schools here, full of non members to go this upcoming month.  

This is Junior.  We love this guy. 

That's just a few of the miracles.  

In terms of other things.  General Conference was this week, it was my first in Portugeuse!  I still prefer in English, but it was quite unique.  I loved hearing the messages about Mission Work.  It is quite near and dear to my heart, but I loved the message that everyone should be a missionary, for the youth, service or full time, or just to be a member missionary!  It's how we show God we love him, we share His truths!  

It was also Elder Johnson's birthday yesterday!  So we went to a buffet for lunch and had a surprise party at night at a members house!  It was great!  We all got fun ties from this member to be able to compliment the party! 

I'd like to share my thoughts, that though this week and a half has been exhausting, I know it's for a good cause.  I know the Lord is helping in his work.  I know the Temple is the House of God, and Families can be sealed there.  I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World and he is everything.  I appreciate you all and for all your messages!   Thank you for all your prayers and support at this time!  

Elder Moss

RJ, Brasil