Wednesday, August 10, 2011

PARABENS MEU IRMÃO E CUNHADA AMADOS. It is so exciting to see (hear) the joy, love, challenges, success, of your engagement and marriage.

This week has been great! We had the baptism of Adriano and he is truly elect, he was prepare to reacive and live the gospel with are the people that really desire to be baptised. We found another elect family that came and watched Adriano be baptised, and they are learning, and living the gospel. We taught the word of Wisdom yesterday and even though they have some problems with café, fumo (smoking) they sincerely accepted to live this mandamento.

The Mission is exciting and what we do helps share the gospel. My companion is a little energetic and gets excited and works hard with that, and the people we teach feel this excitement and have desire to do but a little lack of the rules of the mission. This is the balance I am trying to find and Improve, to have that excitement, fun, and being friendly but also be 100% obedient, humble, kind, loving and powerful when teaching. The best example of this is Joseph Smith, in the film “Joseph Smith, The prophet of the Restoration”, is perfect to explain this. He had the power and authority and power of a prophet but still played with the kids, had that fun with his fellow brothers, lived with that Christ like optimism and excitement, and joy of the gospel. Many missionaries are fun to be around, are excited, but have a distaste for the rules, and there are missionaries that are completely serious who work hard but don’t make those friendships and the atmospheres of trust that are so very important with working with the members and helping people be baptised. Many people only think you can be one or the other, but there is a balance that is necessary to find. Like all thing I am improving on this. Teaching with love power, conviction, and excitement is also so thing I am working on too.

But one thing that I am learning with Elder Martins is that rules are important and are here for a reason, Missionaries that don’t learn to not only do them, but love them they will not love to keep the commandments when they return home, all things, I am learning, has a time a place, but we have to find those times place and method to use them.

It is so wonderful and excited to see many people in the stake serve missions, this is the joy the gospel brings.

If anyone would like to write me and has a Washington Quarter to please send it with the letter. A brother here has many US Quarter and need this one to complete the collection.

Tchau, tchau

Elder Sands