Choices and Temple Blessings.

Crazy to think that I have been out on the mission for four months. Time seems to be flying by that's for sure. We had a companion split this week and I stayed with Sister Pollard in our area, Cursino. She has had about three days in the mission field, so I had a lot of responsibility to follow up and help our investigators in the best way possible. I found out that she is from American Fork, Utah. What a small world. She is super sweet! We were in the house of two investigators named Sergio and Graça. Graça thanked me because she said that when Sister Pollard and I passed she wanted to call out to us for help and to leave a message but was too shy and nervous to call out. We passed her house and I felt the need to turn back around. I talked with her and her husband and I know that the Spirit was guiding me. Sergio had gone to our church a few times but was not ready then for baptism, but now I feel that they are both ready to receive the messages with an open heart and a desire to follow our Saviour. Kind of funny though because we were sitting there giving the lesson and all of a sudden I look on the oven and I see two mice close to the food. I tried not to draw attention to it but they both looked over where I was looking saw the mice and did nothing.  My mind doesn't comprehend why they let that happen. 😃 After we left, Sister Pollard was in shock by what had happened but I was just laughing. Memorable first lesson!

This week we were trying to visit a contact referred to us and that we had received yet we ended up finding out that they had lied about their address. While in the same area, a thought came to me to visit a contact that we had made on the street with a man named Nelson that lived near the original contact reference. Luckily we bumped into him as he was leaving his house that night. We left a message with him about baptism and the word of wisdom. He committed to stop drinking alcohol, using drugs, drinking coffee, and only eight cigarettes each day. All this he committed to do in one day of teaching him and talking with  him! We have followed-up with him everyday this week since the day we found him home and he  is down to only three cigarettes - and working on completely stopping smoking. He has been an amazing example to me of strength. He has not used drugs or had any alcohol or coffee since we asked him to stop. The light that has now come into his eyes and the peace and happiness he continues to feel makes all of the hard days in the mission field well worth it. He is twenty-seven years old. Because of  Nelson's willingness to make correct choices, the influences and the help of the Savior may have saved him from possible cancer, an overdose  and other spiritual and physical dangers. He will be an amazing and powerful member of the church with a future of light, I have no doubt.

The following is a video of early Brazilian saints' commitment and sacrifices in hopes of receiving temple blessings.

My mission president, President Pedro Acosta is featured and interviewed in this video (President Pedro Aurelio Mendes Acosta and Sister Glicia Maria Menezes Dos Santos Acosta,  from the Glória Ward, Manaus Brazil Rio Amazonas Stake - Mission President, Brazil, São Paul South Mission).

[ The following text is an introduction for the video from lds.org's media library and is used here. ]

In the 1990s, Church members in Manaus, Brazil, were 4,000 kilometers from the nearest temple, which was in São Paulo. The rain forest, half the length of the Amazon, and most of the Brazilian coast lay in between, and yet their leaders dreamed of helping as many Saints as possible reach the temple. In 1992, they planned a six-day caravan by boat and bus that would make the dream of reaching the temple a reality for many.

In the temple, the Saints were sealed to their families and ancestors. Through the journey, they also developed spiritual strength and unity that laid a foundation for the future growth of the Church in Manaus.

Sealed Together: The Manaus Temple Caravan

[ LDS Media Library: https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2015-04-01-sealed-together-the-manaus-temple-caravan?lang=eng ]