June 15, 2015

Hey Everyone!!

When people say that time flies by while you are on the mission they aren´t kidding. It seems like just yesterday I was sitting down writing another letter to all of you guys. But I have had another busy and productive week with Elder Tibbitts.

This week we had a bunch of service projects with members, everyday, except for Sunday and Friday. It is an awesome opportunity to give service to the members of our ward to gain their trust and show them that we are willing to work hard, but it also made me gain an appreciation for scripture study. Because we did all of the service projects in the morning before lunch we missed out on our daily study almost everyday, and I could definately tell the difference. On the mission I have the blessing of being able to have 3 hours of my morning devoted to studying the scriptures, the language and practice teaching with my companion. And without that this past week I could really feel the difference. Being able to study the scriptures in the morning is a catalyst for growth. Ammon and the Sons of Mosiah, were some of the greatest missionaries ever, and it was because they had given themselves to much fasting, prayer, and study. They waxed strong in knowledge and like them we can do the same if we have effective daily study. This is a habit I hope to keep after my mission as well.

We also made some good progress this week with one of our investigators, Edson. The first time that we visited him I felt really good. He had a desire to learn about the gospel and how it could bless his life. In fact during the lesson he said, ``I want to check out your church, I´ll go there tonight to see what its like``. Which was awesome but we don´t have church on Monday nights so we just explained to him about family home evening and that we only had church on Sundays and made sure to keep this day holy to show reverence to the Lord. He said he would come to church the following Sunday, and he did! In the Sunday Schoool class we talked about prophets and how important it is to have a living prophet today, during the whole lesson Edson was just shaking his head in agreement and afterwards told me about how he liked the lesson. It was so great to see him have such a postitive experience and if he starts getting involved in church I know the rest of his family will follow suit as well. We just need to get him and his wife married so they can be baptized, this is always a problem in Brazil.

We also had a good lesson with Janaina and her husband. We were able to find out the root of his doubts about joining our church and now we know how to better help him. Even though he doesn´t have a desire to be baptized he is willing to support his wife in her decision, so we hope to help get them married as well and then baptize Janaina. And who knows perhaps in the process of helping Janaina prepare for baptism Samuel´s heart will be softened as well. There is a lot of work going on here in Pedra Noventa and everyday seems like a new blessing! I love you all! always remember to look for the good all around you. No matter what the situation you can always learn something about how you can better yourself!

Love,

Elder Rice