Hey Everybody!
It has been another good week here in Brazil! Elder Tibbitts and I have been trying to find some people who are ready to accept the Gospel. Right now we don´t have any progressing investigators and some people who we had found that seemed really interested in our message, now seem indifferent. This is something that can be really difficult at times. The only reason that Elder Tibbitts and I are here on the mission is to help others be happy. That is honestly all it is, we just want everyone to be happy. You´d think with a purpose like that people would be lining up to hear what we have to say. Unfortunately though others don´t quite understand our purpose.
This week we have really just been trying to find people. We have been working a lot with less active families. Its kinda crazy how many less actives there are. Just in this ward here in Pedra Noventa there are probably 150-200 less active members and only 50 that are active. We like to work with them less actives because we hope to be able to bring them and all of their friends back to church haha! But sometimes the less actives are just as indifferent about coming back to church as our investigators. I am hopeful for this next week though, Elder Tibbitts likes to work hard and is determined to find those who have been prepared by God.
This morning I was reading in 1 nephi 15 and I found a verse that i really liked. It is verse 24. Nephi explains the significance of the iron rod as the word of God, he then tells his brothers that those who hold tight to the word of God will never perish and the fiery darts of the adversary cannot bring them to destruction. I love it when the scripture talk simply. If we hold to the word of God we will never perish, and the Devil will have no power over us. So lets hold to the word of God and make the Devil powerless!
I love you all and hope you have a great week!
Love,
Elder Rice
Monday, May 25, 2015
May 18, 2015
Hey everybody!
This week has been awesome! My new companion Elder Tibbitts is great! He works hard and effectively. That is something that I am learning more about now. You could be a hard working missionary, go out and knock doors all day, but it wouldn´t be the most effective thing to be doing all day. During different hours of the day there are different activities that are best. Also it is important to always try and involve the members in the work that you are doing. This is something that we are striving to do now. I think will help to bring miracles for us! Members are the key to keeping converts in the church.
This week we had a few really cool experiences. One of them was with a man named Benjamin. He is a little bit older and lives with a lot of other members of his extended family. We met him while we were trying to find a less active member. We explained who we were as missionaries and asked if we could come back and visit him. He was really happy and said that he would love for us to come and visit him. So we left him with a Book of Mormon and told him to read from it. The next time that we saw him he said that he read and really enjoyed it. He told us he felt good while he was reading and we explained to him that it was the Holy Ghost testifying of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. Benjamin just has a humble soul and is so open to learning about our message. It feels so good to be able to teach people who are willing to listen and accept the word of God.
Yesterday and today I was thinking a lot about forgiveness. There is a less active member who had many horrible things happen to her and her family and she harbors so much hate and resentment about these actions. It is so unfortunate to see, becuase as terrible as the things that happened were, she will always carry it with her until she learns to just forgive and turn everything over to the Savior. These things happened about 5 years ago, but when she talks about it, it sounds like it was just the other day. You can hear the pain she has in her heart when she talks about it. I wish that I could just take the burden away from her and make her forget all the pain. But she is the only one that can do that. Even though she was wronged in the past now she is just hurting herself but holding on to these feelings. She needs to forgive and let these feelings of hate and anger leave or she will just continue to suffer. It is so difficult to see someone like this. But we must do as Christ commands and love everyone even our enimies Matt 5:43-45.
I love you all and hope that you have a good week!
Love,
Elder Rice
Hey everybody!
This week has been awesome! My new companion Elder Tibbitts is great! He works hard and effectively. That is something that I am learning more about now. You could be a hard working missionary, go out and knock doors all day, but it wouldn´t be the most effective thing to be doing all day. During different hours of the day there are different activities that are best. Also it is important to always try and involve the members in the work that you are doing. This is something that we are striving to do now. I think will help to bring miracles for us! Members are the key to keeping converts in the church.
This week we had a few really cool experiences. One of them was with a man named Benjamin. He is a little bit older and lives with a lot of other members of his extended family. We met him while we were trying to find a less active member. We explained who we were as missionaries and asked if we could come back and visit him. He was really happy and said that he would love for us to come and visit him. So we left him with a Book of Mormon and told him to read from it. The next time that we saw him he said that he read and really enjoyed it. He told us he felt good while he was reading and we explained to him that it was the Holy Ghost testifying of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. Benjamin just has a humble soul and is so open to learning about our message. It feels so good to be able to teach people who are willing to listen and accept the word of God.
Yesterday and today I was thinking a lot about forgiveness. There is a less active member who had many horrible things happen to her and her family and she harbors so much hate and resentment about these actions. It is so unfortunate to see, becuase as terrible as the things that happened were, she will always carry it with her until she learns to just forgive and turn everything over to the Savior. These things happened about 5 years ago, but when she talks about it, it sounds like it was just the other day. You can hear the pain she has in her heart when she talks about it. I wish that I could just take the burden away from her and make her forget all the pain. But she is the only one that can do that. Even though she was wronged in the past now she is just hurting herself but holding on to these feelings. She needs to forgive and let these feelings of hate and anger leave or she will just continue to suffer. It is so difficult to see someone like this. But we must do as Christ commands and love everyone even our enimies Matt 5:43-45.
I love you all and hope that you have a good week!
Love,
Elder Rice
May 11, 2015
Hey Everybody!
This week was pretty crazy! I was able to celebrate my birthday, have a baptism, send a missionary home and have an awesome exchange with one of my zone leaders.
This week was the last week of the mission for my companion Elder Machado. He was a great companion for me. I learned so much from him. He was such a genuine and loving person, All of the members felt like he was a part of their family and were very sad to see him leave. He taught me the importance of loving others and getting to know them personally so you can teach them the Gospel in a way that will help them the best. Last night we said a final goodbye and he left to stay in the mission home for the night. It was a little strange to be sending someone home when it feels like I have just started my mission.
This Friday, on my birthday, we were able to have a baptism! It was a great experience and i think that Marcos really enjoyed it. Unfortunately though there were no members at the baptism. One thing we need to help the wards with is welcoming new people and making them feel at home. But the baptism was good and afterward I went on exchanges with Elder Rocha. Elder Rocha is awesome! He is one of my zone leaders and is such a great example of a good missionary. A lot of the missionaries here in Brazil use the laid back culture as a little bit of an excuse to be relaxed about studies, work and rules in general. But when I am with him we work hard, and I can feel the spirit so strongly. He is also super nice. He found out it was my birthday so for dinner he took me to this all you can eat pizza place. Because it was my birthday my meal was free! I had 14 pieces of pizza... it was so good. And as we were about to leave some of the workers came out and started singing happy birthday to me. They were shouting and beating drums it was pretty crazy! It was nice to have such a good birthday while I was on the mission and the best part was just working hard with Elder Rocha!
Last night we found out about transfers. My new companion is Elder Tibbetts and I will be staying here in Pedra Noventa. I have heard that he is a hard working and obedient missionary, so I hope that this next transfer will be a good one! I love you all and hope that you all have a good week!
Love,
Elder Rice
Hey Everybody!
This week was pretty crazy! I was able to celebrate my birthday, have a baptism, send a missionary home and have an awesome exchange with one of my zone leaders.
This week was the last week of the mission for my companion Elder Machado. He was a great companion for me. I learned so much from him. He was such a genuine and loving person, All of the members felt like he was a part of their family and were very sad to see him leave. He taught me the importance of loving others and getting to know them personally so you can teach them the Gospel in a way that will help them the best. Last night we said a final goodbye and he left to stay in the mission home for the night. It was a little strange to be sending someone home when it feels like I have just started my mission.
This Friday, on my birthday, we were able to have a baptism! It was a great experience and i think that Marcos really enjoyed it. Unfortunately though there were no members at the baptism. One thing we need to help the wards with is welcoming new people and making them feel at home. But the baptism was good and afterward I went on exchanges with Elder Rocha. Elder Rocha is awesome! He is one of my zone leaders and is such a great example of a good missionary. A lot of the missionaries here in Brazil use the laid back culture as a little bit of an excuse to be relaxed about studies, work and rules in general. But when I am with him we work hard, and I can feel the spirit so strongly. He is also super nice. He found out it was my birthday so for dinner he took me to this all you can eat pizza place. Because it was my birthday my meal was free! I had 14 pieces of pizza... it was so good. And as we were about to leave some of the workers came out and started singing happy birthday to me. They were shouting and beating drums it was pretty crazy! It was nice to have such a good birthday while I was on the mission and the best part was just working hard with Elder Rocha!
Last night we found out about transfers. My new companion is Elder Tibbetts and I will be staying here in Pedra Noventa. I have heard that he is a hard working and obedient missionary, so I hope that this next transfer will be a good one! I love you all and hope that you all have a good week!
Love,
Elder Rice
May 4, 2015
Hey Everybody!!!
This week has been good! We are helping to reactivate a family and we will hopefully baptize their son this Friday! The parents/ names are Cilianne and Wendell unfortunately they are not married and Wendell isn´t a member but that will change. Right now they just have one son living with them, Marcos, he is 8 years old. Every time we go over there they tell us that they want to get back in to the church and change their habits. They are such an awesome family and we always feel good with them.
This week though we had an interesting lesson with them. Since we are preparing their son, Marcos, for baptism this Friday we planned on focusing on him and making sure that he understood everything. We said a prayer and then we asked Marcos to get the pamphlet that talks about the Gospel of Jesus Christ so we could talk about it. Marcos didn´t move and then he just started crying and wouldn´t stop. And I just thought, ´´oh wow, what just happened´´ we tried to talk to him but he just wouldn´t listen and kept crying. then Wendell said to Cilianne, ´´why are you making him get baptized he doesn´t want to´´ and she said ´´yes he does we talked about it´´ and they argued a little more and he kept crying. so I kind of just felt like everything was falling apart. but I just stood up and went over took Marcos and tried to talk to him in broken Portuguese. I showed him a picture of Christ and asked him how he felt when he looked at it. he calmed down a little bit and I told him to follow me. then I had him stand in front of a fan as we taught him about faith and how even though we can´t see the wind we can still feel it. just like we can feel Christ in our lives. After this Cilianne took him aside and talked to him about what was bothering him and he was all better! The rest of the lesson went well and I felt so good! I was so glad to be able to have this teaching experience, becuase most of the time I just sit there and listen to what everyone says and have no idea what is happening. Sometimes it feels like I don´t really contribute so it felt good to know that I helped Marcos a little bit.
Then this Sunday Marcos and Wendell came to church and they both enjoyed it. It felt so good to know that they liked it and wanted to come back to feel the spirit. I also had the chance to bear my testimony, which was awesome.
I feel so much love among the people here and they need a lot of help so they can be guided to the right path. I think it is important that we remember what Christ says in John 8:29 ´´and he that sent me is with me: the father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him´´ just as Christ we were sent here by the Father as well, we have a different purpose but we too have not been left alone. We have family, friends the support of the church and most importantly the Holy Ghost. We never have to feel alone in this life if we just do those things that please our Father. I love you all! Have a great week!
Elder Rice
Hey Everybody!!!
This week has been good! We are helping to reactivate a family and we will hopefully baptize their son this Friday! The parents/ names are Cilianne and Wendell unfortunately they are not married and Wendell isn´t a member but that will change. Right now they just have one son living with them, Marcos, he is 8 years old. Every time we go over there they tell us that they want to get back in to the church and change their habits. They are such an awesome family and we always feel good with them.
This week though we had an interesting lesson with them. Since we are preparing their son, Marcos, for baptism this Friday we planned on focusing on him and making sure that he understood everything. We said a prayer and then we asked Marcos to get the pamphlet that talks about the Gospel of Jesus Christ so we could talk about it. Marcos didn´t move and then he just started crying and wouldn´t stop. And I just thought, ´´oh wow, what just happened´´ we tried to talk to him but he just wouldn´t listen and kept crying. then Wendell said to Cilianne, ´´why are you making him get baptized he doesn´t want to´´ and she said ´´yes he does we talked about it´´ and they argued a little more and he kept crying. so I kind of just felt like everything was falling apart. but I just stood up and went over took Marcos and tried to talk to him in broken Portuguese. I showed him a picture of Christ and asked him how he felt when he looked at it. he calmed down a little bit and I told him to follow me. then I had him stand in front of a fan as we taught him about faith and how even though we can´t see the wind we can still feel it. just like we can feel Christ in our lives. After this Cilianne took him aside and talked to him about what was bothering him and he was all better! The rest of the lesson went well and I felt so good! I was so glad to be able to have this teaching experience, becuase most of the time I just sit there and listen to what everyone says and have no idea what is happening. Sometimes it feels like I don´t really contribute so it felt good to know that I helped Marcos a little bit.
Then this Sunday Marcos and Wendell came to church and they both enjoyed it. It felt so good to know that they liked it and wanted to come back to feel the spirit. I also had the chance to bear my testimony, which was awesome.
I feel so much love among the people here and they need a lot of help so they can be guided to the right path. I think it is important that we remember what Christ says in John 8:29 ´´and he that sent me is with me: the father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him´´ just as Christ we were sent here by the Father as well, we have a different purpose but we too have not been left alone. We have family, friends the support of the church and most importantly the Holy Ghost. We never have to feel alone in this life if we just do those things that please our Father. I love you all! Have a great week!
Elder Rice
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
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
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
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