"O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh ... Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh, ... therefore I will lift up my voice to thee ... my rock and mine everlasting God. Amen." (2 Nephi 4: 34-35)

Monday, April 27, 2015

Hey everybody!

So many great opportunities this week! Elder D. Todd Christofferson came and spoke to some of the missionaries serving near Cuiaba. It was such an amazing opportunity to hear him speak in person. Before the meeting he had all the missionaries come up and shake his hand. We also got to hear from the Presiding Bishop and a member of the Presidency of the Quorum of the Seventy. It was basically a mini general conference in Cuiaba! it was super cool!

Elder Clayton (the member of the Presidency of the Quorum of the Seventy) talked about when Christ asked his disciples ´´whom say ye that I am´´ and Peter replied saying ´´Thou art Christ the Son of God´´.

Elder Clayton went on to explain that we too must answer this question, and that we answer this questions through our actions. If we want to be able to stand before Christ and tell him that we know he is the son of God then we too must be able to stand for righteousness in all times and places. Whether that be in the morning or evening when we have the chance to read the scriptures or when we are out in public and we have to stand up for our beliefs. All of the actions that we take answer this question. I really enjoyed what he said and felt the spirit as he spoke.

Elder Christofferson was the last one to speak and to be honest I don´t remember much of what he said but I do remember being impressed with the kindness in his eyes, and the love on his face. As he spoke I felt like he spoke to me and I just felt that he was a man of God.

I love this church and the wonderful men that we have as leaders. It is such a blessing to know that there are prophets who live today and that can reveal the secrets of the lord to his people (Amos 3:7) 

One last things that I would like to share is a parable that I came across this week while I was studying. It is the parable of the two sons and their father found in Matthew 21:28-30. In this parable there are two sons who are asked to go work in the vineyard. The first says that he does not want to, but then repents and goes to work. The second son says that he will go, but then does not go. Out of these two sons the first one did the will of his father. At first it was not what he wanted to do but he repented and went to work. Likewise there are times when we do not want to do Heavenly Father´s will, and this is okay, as long as we realize our mistake and go to work. God does not expect us to be perfect he only expects us to try and correct our mistakes. Heavenly father loves us all very much, I know this and this is why I am so happy to try and share the message of the gospel.

I love you all and hope you have a good week!

Love,

Elder Rice

Monday, April 20, 2015

Hi Everybody,

My week has been really good! This week we found a young man named Lucas who was interested in hearing what we had to say. He seems to really like the message but with Brazilians sometimes it’s hard to tell if they are feeling the spirit or just being agreeable. He came to church and enjoyed the meeting. He gets along well with a recent convert named Adrian, so hopefully they will be able to make a friendship that helps him feel welcomed to the ward.

We also found a less active family who was baptized a few years ago and then just kind of stopped coming to church. It’s sad that so many Brazilians accept the gospel so willingly but then don´t hold to it. The Gospel truly is the one thing in this world that can bring peace and joy to our lives. It doesn’t mean that we won’t have struggles but we will come to know a fullness of joy in this life only through the gospel.

I love the church so much, and the more you give to it the more you will get. Do not hold anything back from God, once we truly give up ourselves and all of our unrighteous desires to him, then we come to know his will and want what he would want for us in our lives. I am trying so hard right now to know what his will is for me. I want to be able to stand before him one day and know I did what he wanted me to. It is not easy but I know if I persist in my efforts to know him he will reward me. Of course I have had struggles as well but they are all helping me to learn and grow. I love Brazil and want to make the most of my time here!

I love you all!!!

 Elder Rice
April 13, 2015

 Hey Everyone!!

So much has happened in the past two weeks there is no way that I can fit it all into one little email! It took about 48 hours of travel to finally get to my new area in Brazil. I am in a small satellite city of Cuiaba called Pedra Noventa. The people here are very, very poor. My companion who leaves after this transfer said that this is the poorest area he has been in.

 Now I want to tell you a little bit about the people. Like I had mentioned they are super poor, the poorest people here basically just live in big wooden shacks that are just two rooms. One has a stove to cook and a refrigerator and the other has a bed to sleep. The nicer houses here are made of brick but are still very small. Despite the financial difficulties of the people they all want to feed the missionaries. They are sooo loving. The sisters argue over who feeds us the most. We get feed for lunch and dinner almost every day. The big meal here is lunch, so we always have that with a member but so far this last week they fed us dinner every night as well. If anyone was worried about me losing weight you don´t need to! Oh and the members try to talk to me but I pretty much have no idea what anybody is saying ever. Occasionally I can pick up on a few words and understand what they are talking about but for the most part I have no idea.... But I can still feel their love.

 My companion is Elder Machado. He is great, I already feel like we are friends and he is easy to talk to about anything. The biggest thing he is helping me to understand right now is to work with the spirit. He is so in tune and it seems like he always knows what the Lord wants us to be doing. I can tell that I have a lot that I can learn from him, and I look forward to the short time I have with him before he goes home. (this is his last transfer)

 There is so much I want to tell you all about but just know that I am loving Brazil. There are some things that take a little getting used to, like not having any water for the past 3 days and electricity that shuts off randomly, but it is great here!

 I love you all!

 Elder Rice
March 23, 2015

 Hey Everyone!

 Only two more weeks until I leave for Brazil! I can't believe that I am finally going to go to Brazil, it’s crazy and I'm not really sure what to expect! But I'm super excited

 So this week Elder Holomon and I have been able to stay pretty busy and we gave quite a bit of service which isn't something we get to do that often. We chopped some wood, helped out a returned senior couple, and lifted heavy stuff! It was great. We also had some great teaching opportunities. While I have been out these past few weeks I have given more blessings than I ever thought I would. It has been incredible to see how they help people heal according to their faith and to see how the priesthood can touch other peoples lives! One of these opportunities was with a man named Gerald Anaya. He is living in extremely humble circumstances and can't work, because of a back injury which he had to have surgery on. The day before the surgery we went over to share a message with him and give him a blessing. He was very excited to see us and couldn't wait to recieve the blessing. After we gave him a blessing he couldn't stop smiling and he said that he felt the spirit in him. I was so happy to see him recognize the spirit like that. He had his surgery and the next day we saw him. The doctors said it would take a week or so to recover but the next day he was up and feeling great! He knew it was because of the blessing and is looking forward to having us return and talk to him.

 It is so great to be able to have experiences like this with complete strangers. The spirit speaks a universal language of love that is easy to understand. I feel so blessed to be able to be a missionary.

 I hope you all have a great week, I love you all!

 Love,

Elder Rice
March 16, 2015

Hey Everyone,

 This has been yet another awesome week! Farmington is so great. Even though I've only been here for a few weeks I can tell that it will be hard to leave it behind. I am starting to love everyone so much and I want to see them all become members of the church. There are so, so many people who are looking for the truth and I want them all to find it. Being out on a mission I look back on my life and see the countless ways that God has blessed me and my family and I am so grateful for that. The Gospel gives me so much peace and hope I could never live my life without it now, I've come to know too much joy with the gospel to ever turn away from it. I really can't express how much I love our church and its teaching. If you ever have doubts just read the Book of Mormon for 20 minutes a day and I promise all those doubts will go away.

This Sunday we had 7 investigators at church! It was crazy and one of them was a guy that we just invited to come that morning and he loved it. He told us he would be back next week with his wife! 

One last thing that I want to share is something that I came across in my personal studies. I wish I could remember the scripture but I can’t... and I don’t have them with me so I can't look it up either. But it is in the Book of Jacob. Jacob is talking to the people and warning them of their sin and how they will be punished if they do not repent and then he talks about a few of the Lamanites who have been converted to the "true faith". And he says that the Lord would not waver because of their faith. In all of our lives there comes a point where we are converted to the Lord and the true faith. It’s not just the social aspects of the church, or that we are family centered, and we give service to others, as good as those things are, if we are not converted to the Lord and the true faith there will come times in our lives where we will waver. I am not quite to that point of conversion yet but I strive to get there every day, and every doubt or wavering thought that I overcome brings me one step closer. If you ever feel like you are wavering or doubting pray and study the scriptures for strength to overcome it and you will deepen the roots of your conversion until you get to the point where you will not waver because you are converted to the "true faith"

 I love you all and hope you have a great week!

 Elder Rice
March 9, 2105

Hey Everyone!

 This week has been awesome! One highlight of my week was when we went over to a part member family’s house. (The dad isn't a member but his whole family is). So first off Anthony (the dad) made some of the best ribs I have ever had, oh my gosh I could not stop eating they were so delicious! So we had an awesome dinner and then we shared a message with him. He has agreed to take the missionary lessons (and a quick cool back story on that. A member of the first quorum of the seventy invited him to take the lessons) and he is ready to hear everything that we have to teach. I think that it has been about 15-20 years since he married his wife and hasn't really been that interested in learning but now he is ready. And he says that he feels very comfortable with me and my companion and like he has just been waiting for us to teach him. Pretty cool. So we just talked briefly about the Book of Mormon and mentioned the restoration because we didn't have much time. But we are going to teach him the restoration on Thursday and commit him to baptism. I know he will accept and work toward being baptized. He is ready.

 All it takes is to pray sincerely to God to know if what we are teaching is true. God doesn't lie and he wants us to know the truth so as we seek it diligently he will give it to us. Often times it isn't easy but I don't think it is supposed to be. The harder we work to earn something the more it means to us. So the more effort we put in to getting a testimony the more precious it will be to us and it will be harder for us to ever turn away from it! I love Heavenly Father and I know that he will answer all our prayers.

 One scripture that I was reading this week that I really like is 2 Cor. 12:7-10. Paul is speaking and he is saying that he glories in his infirmities because when he is weak then he is strong. As we come before God and acknowledge our weaknesses he makes us stronger than we could ever be on our own. Let’s all turn to the Lord and pray that he may be a strength to us so we can be as strong as he wants us to be!

 Love,

 Elder Rice
February 24, 2015

Hi:

This is my first day in the Farmington Mission! it is great. The mission president, president Batt, is one of the nicest people i have ever met. He was so welcoming and made me feel like this was just where i needed to be. My trainers name is Elder Holomon. He is a really good guy and has done a great job of helping me get prepared so far. But i have barely even started yet. Anyway, President Batt told me to send a quick email to my parents to let you guys know that i have arrived safely. I feel good and am very healthy. And I’m not sure if i mentioned this before but when i read that i was going to be reassigned to Farmington New Mexico i felt the spirit distinctly as i read it and i just felt like there is a reason i have to be here, especially since the travel office received my visa while i was laid over in the airport. So after this transfer i will go to Brazil. They told me i would be leaving on April 6th. I'm excited to serve here and i can't wait to go to Brazil.

Love,

Elder Rice