The Elect of Caixas
Bom dia para todos! Espero que estejam bem!
Okay, so these last two weeks will be interesting to write! As I said in my last email, President asked me and my companion to seperate to go visit other areas until the end of the transfer. I have been switching and doing exchanges with the elders of the city Duque de Caixas. So, I wanted to use this email to share all the miracles that have been happening here. I have been so blessed to see so many. A lot of these people I have only known for a few days, but their lives, testimonies, and experiences have changed my life.
Let's go!
By the way when we got to the church on Sunday to prepare for the baptism, we found a giant opossum that fell through the roof and trapped itself in the relief soceity room!
Now that Sunday was special!!
Next was our lesson with Bruno. The above photo is me, Elder Zúñiga and Elder Doller. For those of you who remember, Elder Doller is from my MTC district and we finally got to spend some time together teaching! We have been waiting a long time for this. This photo was taken right before we went to a lesson with Bruno, who was an elect, but was always hesitant about the pressure of baptism. During companionship study, we felt that he needed to learn and understand better Jesus Christ. We gave him Mosiah chapter 3 from the Book of Mormon to read, and when we got to the lesson, we read it again. We also had a family of members present in the lesson, and we dedcided to dedicate the "lesson" to be a testimoy meeting about Jesus Christ. Even Bruno bore his strong testimony about Christ and how he has felt going to church. We shared a video from the church, and simply invited him to take upon him the name of Christ. He happily accepted, saying that he had zero doubt in his mind that this was the right thing, and the right church. He will be baptized this Sunday!
MIRACLE!! Do you all remember Farhad and his family? If you don't, go look at my last blog post and read about him. I received a call this week from Elder Reis and the elders in Jardim Botânico who told me that they have been teaching Farhad and his family and they all accepted a date for baptism on the 27th of Novembro!! I literally jumped for joy in the middle of the rainy street!! And President confirmed that me and Elder Reis will be able to return back to our area and participate in the baptism!! Miracles are real!! thank you for your prayers for him and his family. They are very very special to us.
Alright, so then I moved to Saracuruna, which is a little further south. Here I stayed with Elder de Oliveira and Elder Doller, in his actual area. On Saturday we had an open house at the chapel to try and bring in non members to get to know the church. Only us, the bishop and one other sister in the ward showed up. We stood in front of the church handing out pamplhets for Ward Conference the next day, but no one was really interested in coming in. We got 2 people to enter, but they weren't super psyched or interested. Then we met Gabriel! I saw him with his bike and started talking with him. I immediately asked him if he wanted to enter the church and he agreed. We showed him around, and we showed him the baptismal font that was being filled (more on that later) and asked him if he had already been baptized. He said no. So we invited him. He said yes, and the elders had their first formal lesson with him yesterday and they told me that he is super elect!! Above is a picture of him and the bishop of Saracuruna.
First off, it was Ward Conference, and the stake leaders had made a goal for 110 people in Sacrament meeting. They put in a lot of efforts to have the members bring friends and less active members. It all worked out, because the chapel was literally and completely full with members and non members. It was cool to see the amount of less actives and friends who came and enjoyed it.
Also, there was a baptsim of Guilherme. I had the privlege of interviewing him for baptism, and he is very special. He is a great example of faith. As I talked to him, I realized that his knowledge is still quite limited and he is learning (as any recent convert is) but he is continuing with faith to do everything in his power to receive more and more light and truth in his life! One more elect!
Also, that Sunday we returned home post sunday post lunch to do some planning, and our big lesson fell through, so we didn't really know what to do. We prayed, and knew we needed to leave the house, but the natural man part of us wanted to stay in and just called people. We overcame that natural man and walked down the street. I felt like we should knock a random door in particular, and met a couple that are interested in our message. Then we tried to visit a media referral, and we met Pablo, who is an immigrant from Colombia. We called our good old friend Elder Zûñiga to speak spanish with him and teach him about the book of mormon, and he was quite interested! The blessings of leaving the house.
Now I'm currently on an island! The Ilha do Governador to be specific. I will be here until Saturday, and I am ready to see the new blessings that will happen here in the near future.
I know there is a lot of small things that I shared, but know that that isn't even half of the miracles I have seen these last few weeks. My testimony has been strengthened that God hears prayers, and he blesses the faithful.
I wanted to share a video with you all!! This is my all time favorite video of the Church, and it was the same video we showed to Bruno to invite him to baptism. Enjoy the video!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKxepqky6Zg
What can you do because of him?
Elder Moss
Brasil, RJ
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