Bom dia para todos!!! Good morning to all of you wonderful people. Here is yet another log into the Elder Moss blog.
Okay, so these last few weeks have been very interesting and as always, plenty of stuff has happened! Alright, but I want to start with the big one, the baptism of Natasha and Artur!! Oh my goodness it was so good!
So Natsha and Artur are two people very special to me and Elder Reis. They were always ready from the start to be able to do the right thing, and even when they didn't fully understand, they still did what we asked them to do, and they received a lot of amazing answers to their prayers! For example, two weeks ago Artur went to sacrament meeting alone, and watched another baptism happening in the ward. He watched the confirmation and the other person receiving the gift of the holy ghost, and he felt such a deep impression in him about the truthfulness. He immediately sent a message to Natasha and said, "We are in the right place." They both continued to pray and receive the answers that they should be baptized, and they were quite blessed for their faith.
The baptism itself was super special, and me and Elder Reis both got to participate!! I love them so much, and they have already invited me and Elder Reis to participate in their marriage when they will be sealed in the temple in the future. When? I don't know, but I do know I will be making my return to Brasil for that one!
We also had another gigantic miracle that happened this week. So, as I stated in my last blog, we receive some media referrals, and now they have started to be a lot better and more interesting. About two weeks ago we received a refferal by the name of Farhad Faranhi. This name clearly isn't brazilian, and the sisters who did the first contact told us that he is a Muslim who wants to learn more, and he only speaks in ENGLISH! So we called him and marked a time.
Let me tell you, Farhad is literally the best. But it was fascinating, because as we talked to him, we began to learn things about him. Farhad is from Iran. He left Iran with his family because of the political tension there. Because he lived in Iran, he followed the laws there. In Iran, it is illegal to talk about Jesus Christ. He knew NOTHING about Jesus Christ. Bible, Book of Mormon, The Atonement, Our Savior, you name it.
I was quite shocked to hear that, as I have been very used to everyone claiming that they already know Jesus Christ and who he is. We shared with him Alma 7 in the Book of Mormon because it talks a lot about the prophecies of Jesus, who he is, what he will do, etc. He ended up loving it, and we got to bring a friend on our next lesson. We brought Jose!! José is a recent convert from my ward in South Jordan, and just by gigantic coincidence, he was in Copacabana when I was serving here. He came to our lesson and bore his testimony. His testimony was so strong and focused, and Farhad absolutely loved it!!
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| Me, Elder Reis, and Jose after our Rodizio Lunch |
So much that he brought his whole family to church on Sunday! Only, one more complication, his family speaks very little English and no Portuguese. Hmmm, they only speak Persian (which I will put an example of persian at the end to show how difficult it is.) So we got a translator for them, but obviously only Farhad was really understanding. Then came the second hour, where everyone divides into other classes. I asked them if they were wanting to stay, and they wanted to! Their young son went to Primary, the wife to Relief Society and I translated the Elders Qurorm class.
At the end of church, I asked them what their experience was. Farhads wife said that she felt very good at the church, and enjoyed it, even though she didn't understand anything. And their young son that went to primary? Apparently ever since they arrived in Brasil 2 months ago, he has almost never left their side. NEVER. This was the first time he willingly left their side for a whole hour.
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| Exchanges in Macaé |
I spent some time this last week thinking about these two experiences and how they relate to the Holy Ghost. For example, Natasha and Artur are two very intelligent people who know a lot about the church. But they are still learning a lot, and they are two kinds of people that need to know things before fully trusting. Yet, they learned from the Holy Ghost, and acted in faith to be baptized even before knowing more.
And Farhad, I know he doesn't fully understand. I can't even imagine trying to learn about a Savior and the concept of Christ without being completely boggled. He is learning a little, but he is being taught by the Holy Ghost. His family who didn't understand anything at the church, is returning and liking our message because of the Holy Ghost.
Here is one of my favorite scriptures about the Holy Ghost.
26 But the aComforter, which is the bHoly Ghost, whom the Father will send in my cname, he shall dteach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
27 aPeace I leave with you, my bpeace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be ctroubled, neither let it be afraid.
I wanted to share my testimony that I have felt the joy and comfort of the Holy Ghost this week. I pray that you can all search for ways to keep the Holy Ghost closer and stronger in your life.
To finish off, President has asked me and my companion to leave Jardim Botânico until the end of the transfer to visit other areas. I will be doing a lot of exchanges in one of the zones farther north until the end of the month. So in the month of November my P day is on Wednesdays, if you ever want to talk or shoot an email!!
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| We ran 7.5 km one P day. It was harder than I expected. |
Here is an example of Persian....
اسم من بزرگ ماس است
(My name is Elder Moss)
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| Starting the Book of Mormon AGAIN!! |
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