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

December 21, 2015

Hey everyone. So this week was very special for me. We saw many miracles  and felt spirit very strongly. To start off the family that we have been teaching for a few months got married on Wednesday. we went to the cartorio and the Judge legalized there married.(picture included) It was such a great event. After living together for 13 years together they were finally able to make the right choice and follow one of Gods commandments. It was so great there 2 kids went wearing tie and everything. It was a privilege to be a wittiness for their wedding. 

  Then the same day at 7:30 was their baptism. Victor and Lorenna didn´t know if they should ask their son Author if he would want to baptized also. They were in doubt because he had just finish a major achievement in the Catholic church.  I called Author over and explain about baptism and how it needed to be done. I told  him that his parents were going to be baptized and ask him if he wanted to be baptized also. He responded without a doubt,

I want to.

   It was very spiritual for me because I had the honor to do the 3 baptism ordinances. There were so many people at baptism. I was so happy that the ward is getting excited and coming out to support this new family. I love this family so much. I know that they will help the church alot and I can already imagine there 2 sons going on missions one day. I know that Victor is a great Dad and that he will be a great Priesthood holder when he receives it. They were ready for that special day. 

  Anderson our recent covert received the Melchizedek priesthood this week. after 2 and half months. Also Moisés and Helena we confirmed this Sunday. Moisés couldn´t stop asking  about when he was going to receive the Priesthood and how it works. He loves the church so much. 

  This week passed by really fast. I can´t believe that it is already Christmas. We are working hard now it find new people to teach. It is just a little complicated because everyone is traveling or doesn´t want to receive visits because they have so many things to do this time of the year. But the Lord always finds a way. 

Merry Christmas!! 

Com Amor,

Elder Seth

December 14, 2015

So this week I was showing the area to Elder Josephson. He met a lot members and the recent converts. He was stunned because he has been serving in really humble areas where everyone has little money. I think he is going to love this area a lot. 

  We had the ward Christmas dinner this Saturday. The entire week the members were telling me that it was going to be full of non members. I was think how in the world am I going to get contact information of all these people at a 2 hour dinner. Then we came up with the idea to do a raffle of American Candy. It was a success. Everyone filled out the papers we made that asked for name, number and address. Now we have a lot more people to teach!

  This week we focused a lot on updating the members list to see if there was a less active or if they had moved. There was this one house we visited were the member had moved away. But another member who moved from São Paulo had moved to the same house just 15 days before we knocked on his door. He said that he had stopped going to church and that he wanted to return. His wife and 2 kids aren´t members yet! I´ll keep you guys posted on how it goes. What ia miracle

  

  This Sunday was the baptism of Moisés and Helena. It was fantastic. I have never seen so many members at a baptism in my entire life, the ward really showed up and gave them support. Gabriel the first Counselor baptized both of them. It was perfect because we really worked hard on the integration before they we baptized and it paid off. I love  this family so much. Moisés is one of the smartest people I have ever met. He has a college degree in physics, administration, and law. They are really going to help the church a lot. They are really involved and ready to serve.

  When we were finishing up the baptism we announced the baptism of Vitor, Lorenna, and Author. A family that we have been teaching  for awhile submitted their papers  to get married and this Wednesday. They will be baptized and married! It is going to be a really special event. I can´t wait till it happens.

 Thanks Mom and Dad for the Christmas stuff! loved it. Miss everyone. time is passing by really quick.

My last Christmas on the mission is coming up. I have never felt such mixed feels of happiness and sadness. I love the mission so much!

Com Amor,

Elder Seth

December 6, 2015

Hey everyone!

This was my last week with Elder Montes sadly. Love that kid. He was one of my best comps and we work hard and well together. I know that he will do great things on the mission and in his life. I´m really grateful for the things he taught me, including the love and patience he had with everyone. He will be missed but I´m super excited because my new comp is Elder Josephson. He was in the MTC with me and we have always been buddies. This was inspiration from God to President without a doubt. I can´t wait to learn from him and become a better missionary.

 This Sunday Rose was baptized. She caused us to stress out alitle bit because she was more than ready. We had already taught everything she needed to know. Then she went through the baptismal interview and she passed. But she said ´´I don´t know if I have desire to baptize right now.´´ We told her to pray about it and see what God has to say about this. The next day she pulled us aside and told us she recieved here answer. She was baptized Sunday right after church. It was awesome and she was crying the entire time. We are so grateful for her and the spirit that helped her be baptized.

 Update on our elect family Moisés and Helena. This family is amazing. They are the family that said they want to be baptized and enter in the kingdom of God. They are loving the church. This Sunday we all went over to the house of the 1st Counselor and ate lunch. They opened up and said they feel the changes happening in there lives. Then we left a message about temples. They were super interested and asked a lot of questions, gladly we had 2 families there that was able to share there experience they had when they were seal in the temple. The only thing they didn´t like was that they are going to have to wait 1 year after the baptism to be sealed! This Sunday will be there baptism!

I have never been so busy in my entire life. We are help people be baptized, visiting the people that were recently baptized, finding new people to help, taking care of 30 missionaries, and helping member return to church. I love this so much. At time I stop and think about it and get sad because everything is happening to fast that I can´t even take advantage of each special experience I and having.

The mission is awesome. Love this scriptures, love prayer and love the presence of the Holy Ghost.

Com Amor,
Elder Seth