Oh Gloria!

 I had a friend send an email and said that it is socially acceptable to send emails more frequently than once a month, so I will try to be better with the emails that I am able to send out over the next few months of my mission!  But I am quite excited to write about this one!  

The title of this weeks blog is "OH GLORIA" which is the catchphrase of Moises, our good friend who was baptized on the 18th of February.  He always says it in a slightly southern accent, so it always sounds like a southern pastor in a church calling out "Oh Gloria."  But it's so fun.  

The day of Moise's baptism was very special!  We got to have a lot of the ward members there, and even some less active members who came out to support him.  These less active members came to church yesterday as well, so hopefully they were able to feel the spirit strongly during the baptism and they are going to come more frequently.  Moises chose me to baptize him, but he was always referring to me as his murderer, and presenting me to the members as the person that was going to kill him.  When the members showed a concerned look on their face, he quickly joked and said "No, because I will kill the old me, and I will be born again!"  After the baptism, he began to present himself to all the members a second time, announcing that he was a new man.  It was quite a special experience, and he is already working with the elders quorum president to receive the priesthood next week.  OH GLORIA!

These last couple weeks I have been blessed with experiences with the Holy Ghost.  I am astounded to see how the Holy Ghost works in other people, especially because I as a member of the church have the gift, but not everyone does.  This means that we exude a light, or have a different feeling about us to those who are not members of the church.  

Me and Elder Serafim were doing a second exchange, and a young man passed us on a bicycle, and then after 30 seconds came back. He asked if we were Jehovah's Witnesses, and we replied no, and then he asked what message we had for him.  We taught him about the Book of Mormon, and the blessing of prophets.  He accepted our challenge to read, and at the end I asked him why he came back, and why he stopped us, seeing that we hadn't even stopped him.  He replied and said there was something different about us.  He said that even though we only called out 'Good Afternoon' to him, he could tell that it was different from any other person.  We testified of the Holy Ghost, and are now actively teaching him.  Please pray that Kauan can understand better the message of the Restoration and the need for a restored church.  

This last week here in Brasil was Carnaval.  It was the first official Carnaval since the pandemic in 2020, so they were pulling out all the stops.  Luckily for us, here in Macae it was pretty chill, and we didn't really have many difficulties.  The only hard part was the quantity of people who were travelling, or knew full well they would not be in a coherent state to receive the gospel, so they kept on marking lessons for the next week.  We hope that we will be able to recapture some of those people this week.  

This last week was also transfers.  Sadly Elder Luke was transferred, and in return I received my new comp, ELDER SERAFIM!!!!!!!!  Oh I was so happy about this transfer.  For those of you who don't know, Elder Serafim began his mission in Sao Gonçalo, when I was living in the same house.  Then we I moved to the office, he moved as well.  So we ended up living together for about 9 months straight, and then he got transferred to Macae.  Basically since the beginning of his mission we have wanted to be companions, and now it's all come true!!!  

Me and Elder Serafim went to Rio this last Thursday for transfers, and I took advantage of the chance to visit Farhad and his family.  To recap what happened to them, shortly after their confirmation, they received news that Farhad's father had passed away.  They quickly went to Iran to resolve everything.  While in Iran, the Iran government discovered that they had been baptized, and were practicing Christians, and from my understanding, they froze all the goods of Farhad, didn't let him work or leave the country for a few months.  He might have even been thrown in prison for a period of time.  By good fortune, they were able to return to Brasil 3 weeks ago, and were received by members of the Jardim Botanico ward and President De Oliveira.  When I saw him for the first time since they left, my heart swelled in gratitude to see him there.  In my mind, I wanted to ask all the questions about what had happened, and know the details of his story.  However in the moment,  I felt the most important thing to do, was to hug him, and tell him that I was happy he was back.  I did, and I am so grateful for that experience that I had.  

After sleeping in a house with 14 elders that night, we had leadership council and returned back to Macae!  Now we are excited to work this transfer.  I am so grateful for this work, and the blessings that it brings.  Please keep the missionaries in your prayers.  They need it.  They need all the help they can get.  

I was studying a talk this last week by Truman Madsen, and he was talking a little bit about how we gain testimonies.  He shared a quote I found particularly poignant, because it is how I have built my own testimony.  

He said the following, 

"Brigham Young once said, 'More testimonies are gained on the feet than on the knees'-by which he meant that when you are on record and in the presence of others, and are trying to be truthful, and you consult the depths of your own soul, you yourself may learn how profoundly you know."  

I know these things to be true.  I have a testimony of this work, of this church, and of my savior Jesus Christ.  I have a testimony that we have a purpose in our lives.  I would love to share this testimony more with all of you, and I continue to share it every day with the Brazilian people.  I love you all, thank you for your support.  

Elder Moss

RJ, Brasil