Week 3 of Santo Andre' 11-20-12

WHHOOOAAAA

    This week was awesome!!! S. got baptized, and we got a bunch of really cool people to church. We also had 2 really good confirmations. I would have liked to have more in church, but this next week will be even better! A lot of people were travelling on vacation, so we missed a lot of true elects at church. But we are finding a lot of people. Elder R. and I gave talks in church.    

    It was fun, the microphone broke when I was talking, so I had to become a preacher and talk really loud. Haha. But it was good, we worked really hard this week to accomplish our goals. We taught a bunch of lessons, we just need to help those lessons turn into progressing investigators. The work is awesome here, and we are all really excited. The ward is giving us some references to help us out too, so I am really grateful for this. Make sure you guys back home are helping the missionaries out by being examples to your friends and invited them to come unto Christ.

    It was really cold this week. I think every day was a long sleeve shirt for me, except for yesterday, which was a suit. (I almost never use my suit. haha) And it´s supposed to be getting warmer here for the summer!!! São Paulo is alot colder than Jacareí.

    I was able to talk to Elder S. for a bit yesterday. He is doing so good! I felt like I was talking to my brother or something!!! Haha, all that´s missing is Elder M!!! haha, you guys will have to meet them after my mission.

    Wow, there are alot of changes! That is so awesome that Nate is the new bishop!!! I was actually thinking about him the other day, thinking about how great of an Elder´s Quorum president he was. He will make a great bishop. Pray for him and his family, and support them because he is not going to have much free time for the next couple years. haha

    How´s the new house treating y´all? Send some pictures of you guys doing cool things!!! Brazillians like americans that do cool things. I wish I had an action shot of me throwing hay bales around. or building houses in Arizona and Alaska.

   Well this week we are going to the temple!!! Yahhoo!!! The São Paulo temple this time!!!

In closing. I know that this church is true, and that this really is the work of God. We are giving the right and the priveledge to work together for the salvation of the human soul. It is such a sacred gift that we have. We need to be worthy to have the power of God on our side. Do your home teaching, prepare your lessons, ask your elders quorum president who else you can visit. Make goals to help people, get your lives in order to serve others.

   Leave on your missions prepared. I wasn´t as prepared as I should have been when I came here. Being prepared means making sacrifices. Make the sacrifices nessisary to have all your personal affairs taken care off before you come here. There are probably a lot of you who are getting your calls to leave on the mission. Do everything you can to keep the commandments and have the confidence of the Lord. If you do this, you will not have any fear. You will be full of faith. Just as Melquezidek was a man of faith, he was able to preform miracles. If we are obedient, we need not fear, we will be able to have faith to do whatever thing the Lord commands of us. Magnify your callings, don´t be as the unwise servant in the Parable of the talents and bring back 5 talents when you were given 5 to start with. Be a part of the work of the Lord. You are His hands. 

   I love you guys. I am happy here. It is really crazy, there is a war between the police and the mofia, but we are being protected. It´s crazy, people keep blowing up buses. But we are truely protected. This place is very humble. Like nothing I have ever experiance. I thought my last area was humble, but boy was I wrong. Anyway. Like I said, we get fed everyday and we have people to teach baptize and truely watch the conversions in their lives. The true church is here! Read the book of mormon, pray, repent, be baptized (take the sacrament), seek the spirit, and WORK!!!

Love,

Elder Halls

November 12th - Elder Halls 20th BiRtHdAy!!!

Family,

This week has been a great week. I have decided to make some changes in the way I work, and the way I view missionary work. We had interviews with President Ferrin, and he was able to give me a lot of good advice which has helped me out a lot this week. One thing I will focus on changing is to not rely on "the arm of flesh" to have success in the mission, but to be lead by the spirit. I think that for the first part of my mission I really thought that I was going to be the one to teach and baptism people, I would convert them, I would change them. But really it is the spirit. The spirit changes people, the spirit teaches. I hope that I can really put this principle into practice and really be a worthy vessel of the spirit to be able to really teach people by the spirit for the rest of my mission.
This week we taught a lot of lessons and worked really hard, but we didnt get anyone who we were teaching to church, which was sad. But J. got baptized!!! He has been going to church for about 6 months, learning from the missionaries, and going to activities, and now he is baptized. His mom was very supportive (although she wont let us baptize her) and she bought him a suit and about 15 nonmembers came to watch the baptism. He was baptized by a member in our ward who growing up was always like an uncle to him. It was a very emotional time, and he left the water with tears in his eyes. It was a very beautiful baptism.
This week our goal is to teach 60 lessons. I think it´s possible. We taught 43 this week, and we could have done better I think. We are really having fun, I think. I think we can baptize every single week. This area is great, and the members are so helpful. We don”t have to go far away from the church building to find people to teach, so we are able to teach a lot of people really close together, which is great. We have a baptism lined up for this week, so we are focusing on bringing a lot of people to church so we can keep baptizing every week.
I really like being a ''senior" companion. It is a great opportunity to learn, serve and grow. We are having very meaningful studies every morning, and I am learning so much. Its awesome. I learn a lot from Elder R. He is so excited to work and teach and baptize. We are going to do miracles here, I just know it. We are going to rely on the strength of the Lord to help us.
So thank you so much for the package!!! I got to eat delicious Alfredo pasta every morning for breakfast this week!!! hahaha, and I have loved the stickers for my scriptures, the Higley Knights bracelets, and the church magazines. I love the Ensign, new era and friend. I miss it. You guys need to feast upon the writing of the prophets and the scriptures. We live in such a battlefield, we are truly in Enemy territory, and we are the Light houses for the world. As members of the church, you cannot fall, or should not fall. Build your testimony, repent and be your best self, because you don”t know how many people are looking to you, and if you fall, 10 other people might fall. Or people will use your inadequacy to justify their own sins. We are the light of the world. The salt of the world. Be different, be a light.
I just got your emails, sounds like a MILLION changes are happening. haha, from Barrak Obama being president to our house changing, possibly our ward to me in my mission and how I am working. Change is a critical time. It can be good or bad, but we know that with the Lord ALL change can be good. To make change a good thing is truly a Godly quality. Joseph in Egypt passed change after change after change and he always remained true, pure and stalwart to God, and the change always brought with it growth and brought him closer to God. We can make change good, when we are sold into slavery we can overcome it and turn it into a good thing. Just be true. "And should we die before our journey's through, Happy day! All is well! We then are free from toil and sorrow, too; With the just we shall dwell!" Pray for strength, read the scriptures, and be prepared to take the sacrament weekly.

 I love you guys!!! (Its my birthday:))
Elder Halls