Goooood new week to everyone!
What a week it has been, my goodness. But as always, what I wonderful week it has been as well. Between Christmas, two hospital trips, and 100+ cookies, it's been an adventure to say the least.
Primeira coisa: Christmasssss
First Christmas as a missionary and away from home, but it was pretty great to say the least. A big tradition here in Brasil is to have like the big Christmas meal around 11-12 pm, and then to open their gifts right as Christmas comes around. So obviously we couldn't go to any members houses that evening, so we just celebrated in our house. I made a little Christmas tree for us to put our gifts and whatnot under, and then around 10pm we made crepes and played Skull king, it was a fun night, even if I did loose, Presidente said we could stay up to talk with family and celebrate. Buuut, come Christmas day, it just got better. We ended up making about 100 cookies (and then some), to give out to people that we were teaching, members, new members, and just about anyone we saw on the street. It was wonderful seeing their eyes light up cuz who doesn't love cookies and a message about Christ on Christmas. It was kind of like being like Santa.
Bees?
The very next day, my companion and I did a division with the Zone Leaders, which pretty just means the zone leaders split us up, one of them comes to our area and the other stays in their area and one of us goes there. Soooo, I got to spend the day in São Sebastião with Elder Da Cruz, one of the Zone Leaders, and Elder Porter stayed here in Asa Sul with Elder Oliveria. The sad thing for me though, was that Elder Da Cruz was like dying, he felt so sick. He slept until lunch, then after lunch we spent pretty much the rest of the day in the Hospital, not awful though because I got to study a lot of the Book of Mormon in Portuguese, awesome. Buuuut, while we were at the hospital, Sister Santos, the wife of the mission President, started calling and asking about the other Elders going to the hospital cuz they got stung by bees. And a lot of them. Pretty much a whole beehive of bees went after them and they both got stung a bunch and had to go to the hospital. So, all in all, it was an adventure of a day for the four of us.
The Music Man:
Michael Jackson anyone? Not in Brasil, at least that's what I thought. I got to church on Sunday and there was this member who started talking to us in English, but like with and American accent. Come to find out, he is American, born and raised in Hollywood. He served a mission here way back when, and married a Brazilian. As he was talking about his life as a professional musician, he told us that he had worked on the Book of Mormon cartoons, stuff for Bible videos, and was Michael Jackson's music director. Like just such a random person to meet in Asa Sul, and he had wonderful insights into missionary work, too.
The work:
Speaking of the work it has been amazing. We've been able to talk with and teach so many people this past week, especially because it had been Christmas time. One thing that we told a lot of people, is that we need to keep our focus on Christ and His Atonement throughout the entire year, not just at Christmas or Easter. Those times of year are incredible and the gift to be able to celebrate the significance of these events with family and with loved ones is incredible as well. Just having this opportunity to be a full time servant of the Lord is incredible without description. (More in my spiritual thought.)
People:
So Brasil is like awesome yall. If there's one place I'd live other than the Grand Ol' US of A it'd be Brasil just cuz of the people, some of them at least. One thing that is just awesome about the people here is that no one ever turns away a prayer. If you ask if you can pray with them or for them real quick they almost always say yes, and it's such a blessing to be able to pray so many times throughout the day with so many people. We have this one lady who we've now started teaching just because we asked if we could pray with her. And there's this family we're teaching, who should get baptized soon, who are just always so excited to have us over and the first thing they always ask to do is to have us pray for them. That aside, the other people we've been teaching have been awesome as well, and it's never without a story. There's this one guy, who's not a member of the church but his brother is and the brother who's a member has a daughter serving a mission in Italy and so the brother is excited to have us over because he knows more or less what we do since his niece is serving and he's excited about the church.
Menu:
A lot.
Spiritual thought:
Something that I've really come to realize is just the magnitude of my calling as a missionary and as a disciple of Christ. In light of the passing of Jeffery R. Holland, I had been listening to his talks, and one that really stuck out to me was his talk titled The First Great Commandment from October of 2012. He recounts the story of shortly after the Savior's death, the disciples decide to just go back to fishing, and, after a long night of nothing but water and not a fish in sight, they see a figure standing on the shore. The figure then calls out, "And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find." (John 21:6) With nothing more than a few words from their Master and Savior, they immediately realize who had called to them, and did as commanded. They then were unable to retrieve their nets due to the vast multitude of fishes. (153, they counted.) The Savior then asked to Peter, "lovest thou me, more then these?" Peter was of course quick to respond, saying " yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee." He, the Resurrected all knowing Savior of all mankind, asked Peter again the same question, drawing the same reply. And yet again, He asked, for the third time, and for the third time Peter's response was just the same. In reply to this, Jesus spoke the words, "Feed my sheep." Elder Holland gave his own commentary on perhaps how Jesus may have responded, saying: "What I need, Peter, are disciples—and I need them forever. I need someone to feed my sheep and save my lambs. I need someone to preach my gospel and defend my faith. I need someone who loves me, truly, truly loves me, and loves what our Father in Heaven has commissioned me to do. Ours is not a feeble message. It is not a fleeting task. It is not hapless; it is not hopeless; it is not to be consigned to the ash heap of history. It is the work of Almighty God, and it is to change the world. So, Peter, for the second and presumably the last time, I am asking you to leave all this and to go teach and testify, labor and serve loyally until the day in which they will do to you exactly what they did to me.” Elder Holland later then commented on the fact that nothing ever will be the same, nor was meant to be the same, after hearing and knowing the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is meant to change and to better people, and it is meant to be preached to every human creature on the Earth. It is this following promise given in Doctrine and Covenants section 90 verse 11 that missionaries are called: "For it shall come to pass in that day, that every man shall hear the fulness of the gospel in his own tongue, and in his own language, through those who are ordained unto this power, by the administration of the Comforter, shed forth upon them for the revelation of Jesus Christ." Every person will have a chance to hear the majesty that is the plan of our Heavenly Father for all of His children, that is His promise to us. He just needs disciples, people to feed His sheep. That's why every missionary world wide is doing what he or she is doing, to help this great work move along: they're putting their shoulders to the wheel, and they're pushing along. (Hymn 252.) Because they love their God, and God loves each and every one of them. And you guys too!
With much love and happiness and prospect for a new year to come,
-Elder Hyatt
Elder Holland's talk:
The First Great Commandment
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