January 25, 2016

This week was awesome. My new Comp is really great. Finally I have a comp that has more time than me. We are on the same page and just going to work. He is from São Paulo but has been living in Minas Gerias for 5 years. He is 25 and did college before he served a mission. I´m loving every second with him. I learning a lot with him. 

This week we were learning the area. The other missionaries didn´t leave alot but we worked with what we had. The ward is great. It has an average of 120 people going to church every week. The Stake has made a goal of making a new ward with Santa Maria Sul and Norte. We are need to find more priesthood holders to help make this divide happen. 

  

Biggest difficulty is that our ward has to travel to the chapel Sunday morning. Few people have cars and the rest have to take the bus. Sadly a lot have problem with money so the sacrifice is big. As a missionary it is also hard to bring people to church after a long Saturday night of partying. But we trust in the Lord that we will be able to find elects. We have already found many great great people. 

We worked like dogs this week to find good people to teach. We talked to everyone and it paid off. We have a great group that we are teaching and we will also have a baptism this weekend. We are praying and working so that we can find more people help come unto Christ. 

Its raining cats and dogs here everyday. The worst part is that it comes out of now where. We were tracking down a less active when out of nowhere it starts pouring rain. We retreated to a wall to avoid the side ways rain. Then we heard an old lady calling us to enter in her house. As we entered we thanked her as started to talk to he son Ronnie. We explain the book of Mormon and he accepted a baptismal date. Then as we were testifying he started to cry. He explained that he was needing this. He had recently been kicked out his house because of his addiction to drinking. He has been suffering and the Lord sent us to help him get his life back into order. It was a miracle how we found him! I love this work.

The mission is passing by really fast. I can´t believe it. Love my mission.

Com amor,

Elder Seth

January 18, 2016

sadly I was transferred from Aguas Claras. It was a great run. Loved every second of it and the people I met. I´m confident that I will be able to return and see the 4 families be sealed in the temple. Each family we baptized took the picture of the Temple of Campinas and bought a big picture frame. Then they put it up in the living room. They kept saying one year can´t pass fast enough.

I attached a few picture of the 3 men we baptized in Aguas Claras who recently received the priesthood. Then another picture at the going away party the ward did for me. I love them so much!

 My new area is Santa Maria Sul. I´m returning to my old zone! President made some big changes in the zone.

My Comp is Elder P. Lima. he is from São Paulo who has being living in Minas Gerias for the 4 years. In 3 months he is going home. I´have never sat down and talked with him before but I have only heard good things about him. We are really excited to pick up the zone and get to work.



All I have to say is that I´m excited to get to work. Excited to serve the people in my new area. Next week I will have a lot more to say and tell.

Com Amor,
Elder Seth

January 11, 2016

Well this week was really great. To start off I have officially been in all four of the Brazilian States that are in my mission boundaries. Distrito Federal, Goias, Tocantins, and Minas Gerias. We did a trade with one of our districts that was getting alittle down. So we hopped on the bus and went to Unaí, Minas Gerias. The first few hours on the bus ride I was passed out. Then I woke up and we were in one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. We were passing through the green mountains that were covered is a fog. I felt like I was heading up to the Zion Ponderosa and that Utah finally receive some rain. I was completely amazed by the beauty and how well of a job God had done to create it.
 When we finally got there we divided into 2 groups, planned our day and went to work. It was one of the best days of the mission. We were able to put everything we had to give this missionaries something to look forward to. The hard work paid off. Each pair was able to find many people to teach, taught alot of lessons and we topped of the day eating pizza. We saw alot of miracles for sure that day. That night we talked a lot with them to keep working hard and a few strategy that would really make a difference in there work. It was great to visit them. I learned a lot from them. This is what I love about the mission, it doesn´t matter how much time you have on the mission you can always learn from others. Before we left we had to eat some of the famous things of Minas Gerias. Pão de quejo and doce de leite. Lived up to its expectations
 Then we got back to our area and we went to one of our favorite members wedding, Tiago. He is awesome and helps us so much. He was a great missionary so he is always giving us tips on how we can improve and have more success. Congrats to him and his new journey ahead. The wedding was great and made my comp and I excited for this moment in our lives. Also so we were able to get alot of references from his friends and family members at the party.
  In our area we have a part that is super rich with builds and the other part is alittle more humble. Since all of our investigators are traveling in the richer area, I thought it would a great adventure to get to know the other part. Lets just say it was a workout and half. We walked down this mountain and after we found some great people to teach we had to hike out of it. (picture included)

we are working hard to prepare a few people. This week Victor and Julio are going to receive the priesthood! We are so proud of them that they are making all of these sacrifices to follow the Lords commandments. I feel like this is my last week in Aguas claras since we have transfers but who know!

Love my mission

Com amor,
Elder Seth

January 4, 2016

To Start off Happy New Years to all. 

This past year of 2015 was one of the most interesting years of my life. Without a doubt it was the year that I feel I grew the most  as a person. Looking back at the people I have met and experiences I have had it was incredible. The moments of happiness and moments of sadness were all part of this journey that I am having here in Brasil. Before I started my mission everyone said through the difficulties we pass through on a mission, we are developed in a magnified form at a faster rate. I learned that this year for sure. I am truly grateful for this opportunity to be a servant of the Lord. At times, when we finally achieve a goal in life, the real achievement is the attributes that we gained in process of achieving that goal. 

Although I am really happy with the progress I made in this past year,  I am far from satisfied. This New Year I was able to reflect and pray about goals that would push me to my limits and help me improve everyday. I challenge everyone to make yearly goals so that they can focus on things that are truly important in life.

This week was great. Everyone is returning home from break and they are want to make changes in their lives.  We have an investigator who told us to pass by one day. When we entered his house I felt like we had just entered in the lion's den. His parents had a event for their church in their house. It was jam packed with members of their church. Everything was calm for the first two minutes.  Then we started getting pelted with questions from the Pastor who didn't want to hear the answers. We asked him him if was interested in arguing or did he want to learn? Then we just went off and explained everything. He tried to prove us wrong, but we just kept going. At the end everyone was listening to every word we were saying. When we were done, We told them that we had to leave and everyone begun to ask "Where is your church?" The Pastor yelled, you´re not going there! When he stormed out we passed around a paper where many put their names and contact information on the paper to receive a visit.  I am so grateful for the spirit and the help it gave us. At the beginning I was super nervous but I said a little prayer and the Lord did the rest. We were able to stay calm and show the people we are truly God's Representatives.  

We are working hard and finding a lot of great families. We are so grateful for the Ward. They are helping so much. They are giving a lot of references and doing what they can to help. Transfers are coming up in 2 weeks. I wouldn't mind staying herefor another 6 weeks, but it is not up to me, it up to the Lord. One of the many things I have learned is this work is inspired.

Thank you everyone for the support and love. Time is passing by so quickly!!!

Com Amor, 

Elder Seth