Picture: Us teaching the lost sheep.
Família,
HAPPY FATHERS DAY OR FELIZ DIA DOS
PAIS!
Another pretty good week here in
Itaqui! Some good things happened, as well as some bad things. Like in every
week. But every day is a blessing!
Monday we had a great P-day. The
Elders and I are building a strong relationship! We really are so close to a
lot of success! This night we met a new family. Crisiani is a member but her
husband isn't. They are both super nice and the husband speaks fluent English.
He was practicing with me for a long time and it was pretty rough speaking English
for me, ha-ha. But this family is super cool and they have potential to be
baptized. We will return tonight and teach them the restoration of the gospel.
We also had a family night with a few less-active families here. It went super
well and the spirit was strong. They fed us dinner as well, which always is
awesome! The members here are starting to really like my companion and I!
Tuesday we had district meeting and
it went super well! The elders here are awesome! We then had a great lunch with
a member who has been a member for 5 years and only him and his daughters are
active out of the whole family he has. His wife is a little tough to
communicate with. Don’t know why yet. Later in the day we taught Ari, Silvia
and family about the plan of salvation! They loved it! A few months ago I made
a little cut out of the POS in Portuguese and I should it to them and the whole
family was in Awe! Ha-ha! Very clear that they believed in the Plan and want to
follow it. The whole family was very excited for baptism the 28th of this
month and we left shooting a few rocks with their sling shots! :) We then had a family night with Paulo,
Isabel, Sandro, and a few other members as well as Isabel’s sister and
boyfriend who aren't members. We shared the "Mormon Message" about
the better women in our lives or something like that in English. It went super
good! The spirit was very strong and the members bore strong testimonies! This
family night helped Isabel, Paulo and her sister’s boyfriend realize the
importance of women and the importance of marriage.
Wednesday, today we taught some great
lessons. Of course the lesson with Ari and family went very well, had a great
lesson with Maria and had a family night with the family of Cesar and a few
members. Maria was very confused about which path to follow. She has been
visiting another church almost every day and I believed this is what was
confusing her. Like always, the spirit is very strong when we taught her. I
wanted to invite her to stop going to this other church, but I was a little
afraid it would be too bold. I prayed more about it during the lesson and I
asked her if she believed her home is a special place where she can receive
revelation and feel the presence of the Holy Ghost and I invited her to stop going
to the other church and stay in home reading the BOM and praying for answers!
Surprisingly she said yes, like it was a relief to her. Elder Cotrim and I were
very happy that she accepted the invitation!
Thursday, today we had an amazing
lesson with Paula, a less-active member that is having some difficulties. Her
mom was there with us and we shared a message. The spirit hit very strong and
we all felt it in that home. Paula usually is very closed-off, but she opened
up to us. Our words that we said were not our words! The spirit was firmly with
us and we were inspired to say, ask, and do what was needed to help her resolve
problems and concerns! Many tears were cried, but in the end Paula was a lot
more happy. She has depression and said that the depression was starting to hit
before we got there, but when we got there it started to go away and by the end
of the lesson she was full of joy and the depression stopped! This was a real
testimony builder! I love the Spirit that we receive when we are righteous!
Friday we had exchanges. Elder
Rodrigous and I were comps. and my son (Elder Cotrim), and Elder Saregent worked in the Golden
Area (My area). Ha-ha. I had many plans of how I could help Elder Rodrigous and
their area and I think I was able to fulfill those plans. We talked a lot about
where they are using their efforts and how we can be better. The whole day went
very well and we found some good success. The Elders here are awesome! I hope
you all have good missionaries in your wards and stakes there.
Saturday, we taught Maria and Nina, a
new investigator from a part member family. Maria was in a motorcycle accident not too long ago and broke 8 ribs. We gave her a blessing last Sunday and she
said it helped! We shared a lesson with her and as well as her friends and it went
very good! We then arrived at Ari´s home and the whole family was sad...I was
scared that something very bad happened and they wouldn't want to follow Jesus
Christ in the True Church. Ari was fast to say, “My children will follow your
church, but my wife and I will not. We will follow the church that our parents
followed.” This made no sense too us because the past 2 weeks they have been
agreeing with everything we say and they also said they will stay together as a
family and follow Christ in His church (our church). We tried hard to resolve
the problem, but Ari and Silvia were blinded by pride. The kids all have a
strong desire to follow Christ still and actually as we spoke with the parents
and expressed our love for them, it strengthened the children’s desire to be
baptized. We will see what will happen. I believe they will all be baptized in
the true Church, maybe not all of them right now, but soon, yes.
Church went super good and we had 7
investigators there, including the 4 kids of Ari and Silvia! :) Irmão Joâo, our
ward mission leader is improving a ton with new great ideas! When I first got
here he was a little lazy, but now he is super excited to work!
Mom, the investigators we are working
with are progressing mainly through their efforts to reading the Book of
Mormon. The ones that don’t read the BOM and pray (Ari and Silvia) are the ones
that don’t progress! A BOY!!!!!!!!! No way! I am so excited for Amanda and
Shaye! I love them soo much! Maybe their family will be Girl, Boy, Girl, Boy, Girl
like our family! Sounds like Amy´s talk about Dad was awesome! I am glad you
liked my letter from last week! Cool that the whole family was together for a
bit Sunday!
Dad, YOU ARE A STUD! I hope you have
a great week! Remember that you are an awesome Dad and I have always looked up
to you! You helped me change to be the man I am today. I love you so much, Dad! Thank
you so much for your letter, Dad! The mission really is an amazing time of life.
I don’t know when I will renew my visa. I heard that I only can renew it once
it expires. You are right about the weather being more cold and humid here. I
like it a lot more compared to the sweat dripping in my food weather I had
before. Dad, I hope you had a great Fathers Day! :) Love you and sweet pictures
man!
I love you ALL!
Elder Brad Hauck
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