Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 

Hey everyone, this week was awesome. I gotta talk to the best people in the world!! I got to talk to Hermana Stilson! I am surprised at the change that has happened with her. I love you to death sis and I am excited to hear from you every week. It was great talking to my siblings and parents, Grandma and Grandpa and Nan and Bomp!!!! I love you all so much and thanks everyone for all of the amazing support that I receive from you all!! Hermana Stilson, you are such an amazing example to me! Thank you for all that you do and for the beautiful light that comes from your spirit.  Even if the smile was a little chubby;) hahaha I LOVE YOU SIS!!! This is a Hermana de Poder!!!

 

This week was a little slow because of people traveling or doing other things like drinking. So we had to go to members homes and luckily we have a few investigators who we are teaching in members homes so we were able to teach a little and get some things done. We are really excited for the people who we have getting ready for baptism. Ones name is Oseias. Oseias is the brother of a member in our ward. He has some problems in his life that he wants to change and he knows that it is only through our Savior that he can do this. He has a true desire to change and we are going to help him

with whatever we can. He is reading the Book of Mormon and is understanding what he needs to do. This week we gave him the book of Enos to read. This book tells about a man who had heard all of the words that his father had taught him and he knew that he could not be saved unless he changed his life and repented of his sins. He prayed nonstop for one day and when the night came he did not cease to send his voice into heaven. His repentance was real. He knew that this is what he needed to do before he died and NOW is the time for men to repent. I love this chapter that explains exactly what we need to do and the peace and comfort that comes after repentance. I know the blessings of repentance and hope that after the mission I can still stay a firm disciple of Jesus Christ. I love the saying which says "Be slow to sin but quick to repent!" As we use this in our lives we are blessed. I love you all and can't wait to talk to you next week. Enos Chapter 1:1-12



1 BEHOLD, it came to pass that I, Enos, knowing my father that he was a just man—for he taught me in his language, and also in the nurture and admonition of the Lord—and blessed be the name of my God for it—
2 And I will tell you of the wrestle which I had before God, before I received a remission of my sins.
3 Behold, I went to hunt beasts in the forests; and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart.
4 And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.
5 And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.
6 And I, Enos, knew that God could not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away.
7 And I said: Lord, how is it done?
8 And he said unto me: Because of thy faith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen. And many years pass away before he shall manifest himself in the flesh; wherefore, go to, thy faith hath made thee whole.
9 Now, it came to pass that when I had heard these words I began to feel a desire for the welfare of my brethren, the Nephites; wherefore, I did pour out my whole soul unto God for them.
10 And while I was thus struggling in the spirit, behold, the voice of the Lord came into my mind again, saying: I will visit thy brethren according to their diligence in keeping my commandments. I have given unto them this land, and it is a holy land; and I curse it not save it be for the cause of iniquity; wherefore, I will visit thy brethren according as I have said; and their transgressions will I bring down with sorrow upon their own heads.
11 And after I, Enos, had heard these words, my faith began to be unshaken in the Lord; and I prayed unto him with many long strugglings for my brethren, the Lamanites.
12 And it came to pass that after I had prayed and labored with all diligence, the Lord said unto me: I will grant unto thee according to thy desires, because of thy faith.
Love,
Elder Stilson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas.... ALREADY?!

Hey everyone! Sorry I don't have much time but I hope you are all doing good. I was transferred back to the city of Cariacica! I am going to the same Chapel that I was the first time that I passed here 6 months ago. It was really cool going to Church and seeing everyone there. I am in the area of Itacibá. I am really liking it. I still don't like the morros but we have found a lot of people that we can work with. I'll tell you guys more about them next week. I am with Elder Nascimento from Fortaleza here in Brasil. He is a good guy and works hard. He has a super strong testimony of the Gospel. Everything is going good. We are helping Sabrina and Viviane who went to church this week and who want to be baptized. They are awesome!! I really hope that their whole family can be baptized. There are more than 15 people in the family and I know that if the whole family goes and is firm they will all go to the temple. Sabrina also has a huge potential to go on a mission as well. Then we have Cristian and Oseias! Oseias is a brother of a member who is ready to turn his life around. I am really excited to work with him. He really wants to have a true conversion. His son is a really good kid. I am excited to talk to my mom on Thursday but it doesn't seem like its Christmas. I am not very home sick and its going by so fast. I feel like I barely have time to breath!!! I love the mission and I love you all!!! The Book is Blue and the Church is true. I challenge you to share your testimony of the Book of Mormon with someone this week. Take them to church. Give a Book of Mormon. God Lives and this is the proof of His love.

Love you all!
Elder Stilson

PS I get home March 18th at 1 in the afternoon! Ready or not here we go!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

Well this week was amazing! We had so many things that happened, First off three of our investigators that we have been working with, Gabriel, Laysla, and Lislia, for the last 5 weeks were finally baptized!!! These 3 were referrals from members. It was an amazing experience being able to see them baptized and the members baptize them. It was awesome! It truly is going to be a "White Christmas" Here in sunny Brasil!!!! Unfortunately I won't be able to participate with the other people who we have been working with. They should be baptized here in a few weeks and I am super excited for them!! The investigators that we have met in Linhares are awesome can't wait to hear when they are able to go to the temple. Gabriel has been HOOKED with indexing with the member who gave us the referral!! Rikelmy and Gabriel asked us after the Priesthood meeting what indexing was and if we could show them how it works. We went over to their house on Tuesday and taught them about it and they have already done about 100 records. They are both young men and are loving the help that they are giving to the Lord when they do these things.
 

Then Laysla and Lislia were baptized and it was way cool but we had a bit of an adventure. Gilvano wanted to sing a song with Elder Torres and I and Elder Gonçalves... So we have it planned and when it was Gilvanos turn to do a solo. He started dancing and singing and who knows what.... Oh my gosh... THERE GOES THE SPIRIT! It was funny... Inappropriate for the moment but funny. But it all worked out and we were able to get the spirit back until I opened up the door to the baptismal font and smashed my finger and yelled "Aaaiiii!!!!!" Yeah a lot of people laughed.... Haha oh well. I tried to hold it in and act like nothing happened unfortunately I was
a little louder than I realized.

But other than that there were just a whole lot of blessings that the Lord gave us this week!!! It was a great week. Can't wait to tell you all about the adventures that I have next week. Thanks to everyone for the presents and the money! Rachel and Chad, last Monday I was able to get some good ol Brazilian BBQ!! Thanks for everything that ya'll do for me.

Love you all to the moon and back!!!!

 

Elder Stilson

 

 

He is the Gift!

 

Hey everyone! I don't have a lot of time so I am sorry! But this week was amazing! So for the past few weeks the 8 missionaries serving in the city of Linhares along with the Branch have been preparing to do something really big with the new "He is the Gift" project that the Church has put out! Just a quick hint.... EVERYONE GO TO christmas.mormon.org , watch the video, send it to your friends (Especially non-members), share it on facebook, GET THIS THING ROLLING!!! It is so cool! It is just like the video that the church put out for Easter "Because Of Him". I love

these 2 short 2 min. videos!! It shows the real meaning of Christmas. Just as my amazing missionary moms send gifts to us missionaries, the video talks a lot more about the gifts that truly matter and less about the worldly things. Gifts of this world are great and really let us express our love. But why do we celebrate Christmas? It truly should be this great party that everyone talks about. It's a birthday party. It is the best birthday party in the world!! Our Savior was born unto Mary in Bethlehem John 3:16 For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son. I know that He was born to give us eternal life.

Without the Savior, death would be the end, there would only be sadness and there is no hope. I know that Christ is my Savior!! I need him every hour and everyone needs him. He is the King of kings, He came humbly into the world, he suffered FOR US, he died FOR US, he was resurrected FOR US, HE LIVES FOR US!!! His love is greater that we can even imagine. Let us give back. Let us repent of our sins. Let us use the blood that he freely spilt correctly. Let us become His Children. Christ paid the price. He became the Father of our souls but we have to choose to accept this great blessing or not. I do not want

to suffer as he did. I am not perfect and won't be until I am glorified, but I can have an everlasting conversion and be slow to sin but fast to repent. He is the Gift! Let us discover the Gift, let us Embrace the Gift and let us give back and thank Him for all of the Gifts he brought into the world.

 

Love,

Elder Stilson

Let it RAIN, Let it RAIN, Let it RAIN!!!

Hey everyone!! So this week went by so fast. It was awesome!! So it started out with making a good old Thanksgiving dinner on Monday. It was awesome! I made turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, 100% homemade pumpkin pie, green beans, corn and rolls. Too bad the computer isn't allowing me to get my pics off my camera. But anyway, this week was really good. We met so many amazing people and had some amazing blessings. So we found and taught Layzla, Kessia, and Eliana again and this time we taught about the Plan of Salvation with these 3 ladies. It was a really

good lesson and Eliana even read more than 20 chapters in the Book of Mormon. It was crazy!!! She knows all about the story of Lehi and Nephi and all of their trials and blessings in the wilderness. We were able to mark baptismal dates with all of them which was really cool. Please pray that the 3 of them can receive an answer to their prayers that this is the true church before the 12th of December. They have so much faith. I am sure they will receive these blessings. After that we went and talked to a referral named Lucas. Lucas is an awesome investigator! He went to church last week and cried during the sacrament meeting and begged us to go to his house to make a visit with him and his family. We were able to go and visit with him and his family and we taught the 1st lesson about the Restoration. We asked him if he would pray and ask God if these things were true. The next day we went and talked to him and he said that he knew that this is the Church of Jesus Christ. It was amazing to hear about his experience! We are going to mark a date with him tomorrow for hopefully this next week he will be baptized too. Then we went and talked to a young man named Gabriel and taught him about the Book of Mormon and about the need of being baptized. He is 15 and we are excited to teach him and his family, to get them all baptized and to get them to the temple to be sealed in a year. We also have been teaching Gisele who has a lot of questions but is finding answers. So Eliana, Eliana's daughter, Lucas, Gabriel, and Gisele went to a conference yesterday that was held in Colatina. It was an amazing conference with President and Sister Young. The talks really helped all of our investigators about the amazing blessings that they can receive being members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was a great experience and they want us to come and teach them more about the Gospel.

Last night around 5:00 the skies closed and the clouds opened up and it rained for about 4 hours. Yep we all got soaked!! It was probably the funnest day we had. We all were playing in the rain because it was such a drag to be walking in the rain but we all seemed to make the best of it!!!! Haha it was super cold and we were all DRENTCHED!!! The only happiness that it brings me is that this is my last rainy season sooooo... LET IT RAIN, LET IT RAIN, LET IT RAIN!!! The good things is that it doesn't flood too bad here in Linhares! Well it was an amazing week. I know that through diligence, obedience and finding the Lords hand in our lives this life can be the best thing in the world. I love my mission and I love the people with whom I serve! I love the Lord and I am serving him the very best that I can. I love you all and pray for you all!

LOVE YOU, HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!

Elder Stilson

 

A week of Thanksgiving

 

Hey everyone! So I had another amazing week here in Missão Brasil Vitória! This week started out a little funny. So spent a lot of time running around, going to meetings, appointments but we didn't have a lot of time for our Language, companionship, or planning session study. And with all of our running we didn't have anyone who wanted to hear our message.  We walked across our entire area and the area next to ours where the sister missionaries work. It is so much walking!! People would schedule appointments and then not be there. It felt like we were just running in circles. It was so stressful and by

Friday I was frustrated. We walked for about 3 hours and nothing was happening, appointments kept falling through and my knees were killing me. Feeling a bit defeated, I stopped and prayed. I thanked the Lord for all of the blessings but told him of my needs. I was so grateful to just be able to stop and talk to him on the street, and I was grateful for my companion being patient with me. After a few tears I asked God what we needed to do at that moment. I got the impression to call a contact that we met last week. I called and she didn't answer. When she didn't answer I thought we

should have gone to another bairro to look for someone else. But Elder Gonçalves said that we should pass by just to see if she was at home. We went there and a different young lady answered the door and allowed us in to teach her parents and her. What a huge blessing. It was such and an amazing lesson! Then Saturday morning we got to teach 4 references in one lesson. They were all very attentive and really wanted to learn. They loved the Book of Mormon and when we made the baptismal invite I will never forget the response of one of the ladies. We asked when God answers your

prayers and you know that these things are true, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized by someone who holds the authority of the Priesthood. She said " I wouldn't think twice!" What if all of our responses were this way? What if we were as obedient as Christ? We would all live in a peace that is needed for all. I love you all and know that when we are obedient we will be blessed. I love you and hope you know that you are all in my prayers. Huge Shout out to Elder Stilson, thanks for  being such great example of obedience and dedicated, diligent service to the Lord. Your service is blessing me. Thanks for your faith and the love you have for me!! Love you Cuz!!! Congrats to Hermana Stilson on her first baptism!! LOVE YOU SISTA!!!!
Love you all,

Elder Stilson

Holy cow! What a week!!

Hey everyone! So, I feel like it has been FOREVER since I have emailed. I had so many things that happened this week but a lot of it was just traveling. Tuesday I was transferred. We had to catch a bus in Campos to go to Vitória then another to go to the chapel. We got there and I found out that I was transferred to Linhares!! Ever since my first area I really wanted to serve in Linhares. It is a really nice city. The only thing that would make it better is if they would have the streets organized. They haven't figured this out yet in Espírito Santo. It is a beast to work with. There are many houses without numbers and then the rest are all out of wack! It will take some time figuring it out and getting used to but that's ok. So Tuesday night we traveled to Linhares which is a 3:30 hour drive from Vitória but the traffic was so bad that we didn't get out of VITÓRIA until a hour later. There was also a big accident so we didn't get to our house until about midnight. By the time we got there we were all exhausted!! We woke up and went to work at 6:30 on Wednesday. 

Thursday morning we had to get back on a bus to go to Colatina, a city another 3:30 hours west of Linhares to have a "Mission Conference" with half of the mission. We were able to hear Elder Mazzagardi from the 1st quorum of the 70 and the 1st counselor in the Area presidency. Elder Mazzagardi is so funny and he is awesome!!! I learned many many things from him. One thing that he talked about was a "Neutral Zone". He told all of the missionaries that there is no such thing as a "Neutral Zone" after baptism and conformation. And even more after you enter the Temple. He said that a neutral zone is where we can stay safe from any type of gun fire but once we leave and make that decision to follow Christ, the bullets start flying and if we take time to rest, look back, or anything else than focusing on the real prize and what we are fighting for, we will get hit! And it is SO hard to get back up and back on the right side. He quickly stated that this doesn't mean that you can't come back, this is why Christ died for us, but it is hard. It is so much better and so much easier if we don't fall. We can get through this in many other ways than taking a bullet! He talked VERY direct with us. As humans we will be sealed. EACH OF US!! Either we will be sealed to Jesus Christ, or to Satan. Everything depends on what we do here on this earth. This is why the angels are noting everything that we do. It is to try to help us return to our Savior. It was an amazing conference and I am so glad I was able to hear him speak. He went way over because of the things that he taught us. He is such an amazing man of God!!

After that it POURED in Colatina! It was SO BAD!! So I am trying to herd cats to try to get our district out of the Chapel and get everyone back to the Rodoviário. We left and it started to rain a little while we are walking super fast. Then we get a call from the LZ saying that the bus is at the station and is ready to leave and to run. We sprint and it starts to POUR!!!!!! Everything is flooding and there are 4 missionaries sprinting in the middle of the city asking how to get to the station. They all tell us wrong so we have to run back where we came from and at this time I thought we lost and that were too late. We get there and the bus is just leaving!! WE MADE IT!!!!!! Soaking wet but we made it! Then we had a bus transfer and waited in another station for SO LONG! Because of the rain many buses were stopped and didn't get there so everyone is cold and wet but again right around midnight we got home. But everything is good! I love the mission! I love where I am serving and who I am serving with! What a good week!!!!! Can't wait to tell you more about this week here on Monday! I love you all!!!

 Love

Elder Stilson

This is Elder Stilson & his companions beds

 Elder Stilson calls this his Narnia Door, Narnia Hallway and the Garbage shoot that leads to Narnia!

 

 It's not often Xavier sends home pictures of his apartment.