Faith, Prayer, and Tender Mercies of God.

My first transfer here to Cursino to serve with Sister Lara we were teaching a young man named Vinicius. He was almost ready to be baptized but he and his family had to move all of a sudden. As a result we lost contact with him. During a recent missionary "blitz" the Sister missionaries from Maria Estela made a contact with a woman. She passed the missionaries what we thought was her address, however, she ended up giving them an erroneous address; it led us to the house that Vincius lives in now. Amazing! As Sister Linhares and I passed by another day to talk with Vinicius, his brother, João Victor opened the door. He is about twenty years old. As we started talking with him he began to ask questions that connected with the discussion of the Plan Of Salvation or the Plan of Happiness. We stayed there and answered all of his questions and bore our testimonies. He then looked directly at me and asked, "What makes your church so wonderful? ...and what is one bad thing about your church?" I answered him with a few scriptures and bore my testimony! After we visited him, he said,  "I will go to your church."  He said that maybe one day he might serve a mission like us!

Yesterday, we felt a need to pass by the house of a teenage boy named Guillherme. We went there in the moment that his mom needed us. Her marriage is very difficult as her husband doesn't let her go to church, it makes life very difficult for her. She said that we brought a lot of joy and peace to their house. Her husband was also there and we are working with him to help him. I told her that everything has a purpose and I knew she and her husband needed our message. She said that she knew it was God that helped us know they needed help and to hear our message.

Sister Linhares and I being goofy.

I have thought of this recently, we will have trials, darkness, and "bumps in the road"; so we aren't always going to be happy but that living after the pattern of happiness we will eventually lead us to that true joy found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

As the Savior, Jesus Christ taught, “I am the light which shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not.”

On a sad note, our house got flooded with all the rain that we recently had here. Also, there was an emergency transfer so two additional Sister Missionaries will be staying with us and working in our area this week. Mission transfers are this coming Sunday the 23rd;  so we will see what happens. All the Best!

"Your Heavenly Father knows that you will make mistakes. He knows that you will stumble—perhaps many times. This saddens Him, but He loves you. He does not wish to break your spirit. On the contrary, He desires that you rise up and become the person you were designed to be.

To that end, He sent His Son to this earth to illuminate the way and show us how to safely cross the stumbling blocks placed in our path. He has given us the gospel, which teaches the way of the disciple. It teaches us the things we must know, do, and be to walk in His light, following in the footsteps of His Beloved Son, our Savior."

(The Hope of God’s Light, Talk By President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, April 2013 General Conference)