The time is starting to go by faster and faster, pretty soon here ill be at five months in the mission and i can hardly believe it. This week i learned a lot of amazing things and had some really spiritual experiences that ill remember the rest of my life. Heres just a few i want to share with you today:
Zone Conference: To kick things off we had Zone Conference in central curitiba about 20 minutes awasy fromn my area on this last tuesday. It was an amazing meeting and we had some fun activities including shooting archery and learning from the President of the mission about the Book of Mormon. I met some new elders and made friends immediately and we had the opportunity to engage in different firms and activities that really strengthened our outlook and testimonies here in the mission.
Lesson Impossible: French
So one of the craziest tories i have this week was with teaching some recent converts in our area. The husband speaks pbroken portuguese and fluent creol (dont worry i dont know what language that is either) and is fromn Haiti. His wife and him are here in Brazil for work and he speaks only fluent French. I had a moment where i wanted to call up Elder McDaniel in France for some help. Shortly into our lesson on "babtism for the dead" and "temples" (Which even in english or portuguese is hard enough for me to explain) the brother stopped up lnot understanding. I saw that they had a French Book of Mormon and immediatley asked to borrow it. I searched in the "Guide to the Scriptures" which exists in every foriegn language scriptures minus english for "Babtism for the dead" i miraculously found it, scriptre references and more, and had him read it, in French, for the lesson. He and his wife understood and were so happy and the gift of tongues was amazing. My testimony has grown so much on the gift of tongues.
Divisions: This past week i had the opportunity to have two divisions with Elders from our area, Elder Bazzoro and Elder Duran. We worked our tail ends off the two days we had divisions. We found people everywhere you could go. I want to hare a little about Elder Duran. He is from Salvador here in Brazil. He is the most hardworking and humble guy i have met here. He is an amazing Elder. With his we had the busiest day yet for me in the mission. It was amazing and despie being exhausted at the end of the day it was well worth it.
Blessings and Nicknames: This week i gave my first priesthood blessing in Portuguese to an elderly gentleman in our ward struggling with health. It was really amazing despite i am not fluent yet but thats okay, haha. I also have aquired permanent nicknames here in Brazil. In the protuguese language you cabnt pronounce the -ott in "Arscott" so everyone calls me "Arscotch" like Scotch tape. Or i get called just "Scotch" and sometimes I hear "Airsoft" and the bishop in the last ward had trouble pronoucing my name so everytime he would announce who was playing the piano he would say: " And our organist today is.... Elder.. Ostridge.. and with other buisness!" And would move on really fast, probably one of the funnier things to happen in my mission. The "Marscott" nickname looks like its taking its place just in my hometown Hurricane.
Splits with Members: This past week as well we did splits with the members because we had two appointments at once. My companion so graciously sent me to the appointment in the jungle, a 6 mile walk from our location and 12 miles from our house, a 1 1/2 hour round trip all walking and you need to walk fast to make that time too. So on the way we prepared to teacht about the restoration and all that amazing stuff. The member was excited, his name is "Irmão M". Upon arrival the lady of the houe came outside and very sternly expressed "We dont want more" very boldly and i got the door slam. My spirits dropped instanly and i felt a tinge of guilt for dragging a member so far out at 8:00 at night for a shut down of a house. The member immediately related to me his conversion story, speaking about how he went through 6 missionary duplas before being babtized. He shared his struggles with substances and drugs. His life is now changed and i wouldnt have been able to even tell said he hadnt said a word about it. We arrived back at home and as we were almost back to our point of Reundevoú we met a friend of Irmão M's who then set up an appointment for us. Miracles work is the most mysterious ways and i learned so much from that member that night.
People we share our message with: We have one investigator who is preparing really rapidly for babtism, she is sacrificing lots, including giving up drinking and smoking which she has already done. paying tithing on what very little money she earns, and trusting in god with everything. It is the most amazing conversions i have seen in my mission yet first hand. We have a good friend in the ward, a recent convert, who cant find work here in south brazil, he is returning today for the north, and stopped by last night to say goodbye. I will send pictures next week because this week the computer here in our internet cafe doest have access to my camera.
Spiritual Thought-Love and Charity: "Amor" in Portuguese. This word i not only learned about but experiened first hand this week through the help of the lord. One of my favorite scriptures exists in Matthew Chapter 22 verses 36-39. A pharasee asked the savior "What is the great commandment of the law". Many of us already know the answer. "Love thy God... and love thy neighbor" Love. This is what all other commandments and our eternal salvation with that is based off of. Charity is the "Pure Love of Christ" and we need to "Pray unto the father" with all our might for it (Moroni 7:47-48) I have learned that Love is the motivating esence of the divine mission, the substance of everlasting life and the key to eternal hope abnd peace, and the binding power of the relationship between god and his children. God loves us with this perfect love i spoke of, charity, and we are to love him as i referenced in matthew with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength. the gospel of jesus chirst is founded upon the principle of enduring love. It constitues obtaining the divine nature of Christ through faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, and godliness with all humility and diligence (see D&C 4:6) This pure lov of Christ is total and complete and enduring characteristics of the divine being. When we are possesed of this love our desires are likened unto the saviors, to bless and serve mankind. So what exactly makes up the key essences of this love? 1.God (moroni 7:13) 2. Obedience (D&C 6:20) 3. The attonement of jesus christ (Alma 5:9) 4. The bridling of passions (Alma 38:12) 5. The Holy Ghost (Romans 5:5) 6. The teachings of gods worthy servants (Mosiah 2:4) and 7. The word of the lord (Alma 26:13-15). These seven key point make up what is the essence of pure love. I love the quote given of Henry ward beecher: "In this world, it is not what we take up, but what we give up, that make us rich" for "Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile" (Albert Einstien) through these chritlike attributes i teach each week, we lift others up and meet their needs both temporal and spiritual. For "Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see" (Mark twain) and "To ease abnothers heartache is to forget ones own" (Abraham Lincoln) Think of a candle, one candle that lights another loses no light itself. One thing i have learned most in the mission is Love. Love for a language, a new culture, a people, and most importantly, love for an eternal family and my Father in Heaven. Therefore, this reason i have learned exist two kinds of people in this world: Those you love, and those you dont know yet! So do your part today i encourage you because kindness put off until tommorrow is only a bitter regret. I close with the words of president Spencer W. Kimball: "God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs." May we be that "other person" is my prayer. In the name of jesus chirst, amen.
And until next week, i love and miss you all! The church is true! Until next week:
-Elder Matthew Ar-Scotch
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