Pack Your Bags!

Hey everybody! Well this letter isn’t going be very long but I love you all!:)

Yesterday we get a call from our ZL's telling us to pack our bags because me, Elder Martins and Elder Oliveira are being transferred. We were told this around 2:00 and left the city around midnight.  I arrived in my new area at 8:00 this morning. Yes you are right, we just had transfers 1 week ago. I am so sad and a little frustrated because I loved Nuk Nuk and the people there. I feel like there was so much work that we hadn’t finished there. I will now be serving in a city close to Vitória called Caricica. I don’t know much about the area because both and my companion and I are new to this area. Well, we will see how it goes! 

This week we had one baptism of a little girl named Ellen. She is super funny and way cute!! She was baptized and confirmed this week so it was great to see that. We also left a few other people there who are ready to be baptized. I am sad to miss that day for these AWESOME investigators.  It is good for me to have the knowledge that the success on your mission is NOT measured on how many baptisms you have but on how many people you actually help come unto Christ!:) For now the Lord has other work for me to do here in Cariacica. I will try my best to help the people here come unto Christ where they can have the same happiness that I have in the restored gospel!:) Hopefully I will grow to love this area and the people here as much as I have in my other areas.

I have a new companion and he is Brazilian.  Because we just met this morning I can’t remember his name right now but I will tell you all in next week’s email! Haha!;) Well the only other thing for this week is that I want to share with you what I learned studying!:)

In the 44th chapter of Alma is when Moroni has beat Zarahemna in a battle and Moroni tell his people that they beat the Lamanites because the Lord was on their side and that they were truly strengthened with the power of the Lord! Zarahemna then talks to them and says that it was NOT the Lord but it was their Breastplates and their Shields. This is true. But what did Paul teach us about Breastplates and Shields in the Bible? He says that the breastplate is a symbol of Righteousness and the Shield is of Faith. Through the faith and the righteousness of the Nephites they were able to defeat their enemies. This is the promise that the Lord has made to each and every one of His children. If we are righteous and have the faith, Satan has NO power over us! I know these things to be true and I will use MY shield and MY breastplate to make what I can out of this transfer. I know that the Lord lives and looks after His children! 

I love you all so much. I want to thank my Missionary Moms for my Easter Box. I finally got it and I am so excited to have all of these extra missionary tools to teach with. I also want to thank Nan and Bomp for the Institute manual. That has helped me out a ton!!!! Also, thank you all for the letters emails. I am so grateful for all of the things that I have!!! Sorry I am out of time so I wasn’t able to send pictures this week. I will send some next week.

LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!

Elder Stilson

FELIZ PÁSCOA (Happy Easter)

Hey everyone!!! Well, I would like to start by sending out a HUGE shout out to my sister Shealeigh who was just called to serve in the Barcelona Spain mission.  I am sooooooooo freaking proud of her and so excited for her!!!!!!!!!!!! She is going to be an AMAZING missionary! I love you sis!

This week was a good one and there is another transfer gone.... HOLY CRAP IT’S FLYING!!!! But everything here has been going great! There are a lot of stories I’ve got tell everyone but first off FELIZ PÁSCOA or for those who do not speak Portuguese, HAPPY EASTER!!!! The day that we remember our Savior and his resurrection! What a great day to remember. I love a talk that Elder Eyring gave that talks a little about Easter. He says that during this time of year he doesn’t think as much as the Savior’s resurrection but as the work that he did 3 days in the spirit world! The Savior didn’t rest after he died, but continued to work. That really hit me. It doesn’t matter what happens in life, we have to keep working and just trying our best so that we can serve the Lord with everything that we have. These words have helped me keep working when the times get tough. I know that HE NEVER STOPPED!!!!

Making a Brazilian traditional OVO DE PÁSCOA

But this week was great!  Elder Oliveira and I have been making a Brazilian traditional OVO DE PÁSCOA. It is a chocolate egg. They are A LOT OF WORK. It isn’t easy trying to get them right and not messing up and everything. By the end of our baking experience I was done and NEVER wanted to see another piece of chocolate again!!! But we decided to make these for the sisters in the ward who have been feeding us just as a little Thank You. Yesterday we spent time passing out these eggs with a small message of Christ and a prayer with them. It was a lot of work but we were given the best reward in the world! It was so cool seeing the joy of these sisters as we delivered our eggs. The area we are serving there is not a lot of money. There is one major business in the town and most everyone works at that company. If they do not work there then you have to literally sweep the streets for a living. Just as most parents, they give all they can to their children. There is not a lot of extra money left for their selves or anything else. I have always found the greatest joy in my life when I am serving others. Honestly there is nothing better than seeing the look of gratitude and happiness on the faces of those you are serving. One particular sister really made me smile. As I handed her an egg she took it in her hands and started kissing it. There is NO expression for the feelings that I had yesterday. I know that making those silly eggs took a lot of our time. It was long and tiring and after a while I really started to wonder if what we were doing was wasting mine and the Lords time. I was so grateful that we did this! This just goes to show that there is NO greater blessings in the world than serving those you love!!! I am so grateful that I am NOT being transferred yet. I truly have such a great love for the people who I am serving with here in the Ramo NAK NUK!!!! I love this area and the people here. The same love that I have for those in Alameda! 

 

Elder Stilson Showing Off His Mad Soccer Skills

I love everything that I am learning and really this week was AWESOME! Besides this spiritual blessing, we had a lot of material as well. We have an investigator who gave us a TON of green coconuts. AGUA DE COCO!!!!! It was great!!! I also learned that I am beast at soccer.... Ok yeah not really... I tried this week but failed a few times terribly.... DONT ASK! But everything is good! I love you all and can’t wait until next week to hear more about everyone back home.

LOVE , ELDER STILSON!:)

Learning Amazing Things!

This week I would like to start by saying how blessed I truly am. I have to best parents in the world, brothers and sisters who are just such amazing examples to me and grandparents whose love is incomprehensible for me. There are so many blessings that I have to be grateful for! I have great friends and I have been blessed with the opportunity to help and serve others to come unto Christ. The things that I am learning here are truly amazing.

This week was good, a little hectic but good. I have learned some things that I am having a hard time expressing because there are so many of them and I don’t have a lot of time but I am so grateful to be a missionary. This week we had the baptism of a little girl named Vitória. She is super cute and really funny. We were so blessed that her mom gave her permission to be baptized.  It was a great little service even though it was planned on the dime. I love to feel the spirit especially during baptisms. She wasn’t confirmed however due to the fact that she went to her grandma’s house the day after but we have her confirmation planned for this week. We are so excited for her to complete this ordinance.

The rest of the week was basically just running around a lot. We had the traveling assistance come and stay with us for 3 days. That was a little difficult because the plans for our week needed to be adjusted but it good to have them come. I feel bad because they basically just came out of the office to walk the amazing morros of Nanuque!!!! Yeah, unfortunately we just walked them to death because everything we had set up fell through.

This is also the last week of this transfer! This Sunday we will know what is going to happen. Sorry I don’t have much more to say. It was just a different emailing day for me. Something that made me smile and that is what I needed!!! HAHA But I love you all and hope you guys have a great week and I will write more his next week. Thank you all for the love and support you always show me.

Love, Elder Stilson

HOW FAST TIME FLIES!

 

Hello everyone, well the April Conference of 2014 marks my 1 year mark! (What an AMAZING conference it was!) I had a dream the other night that I was getting off the plane and just got home... IN the dream I thought "HOLY COW! That passed WAY too fast!  It seems like I fell asleep when I had a year left and now I am home!!"... I am pretty sure this next year is going to go by really fast. Haha That dream really hit me how fast time flies. I only have a little time left. Just as a member of the 70 taught this conference "We only have 4 mins!" There are 2 mins of my mission gone! I only have 2 more so now I’ve really got to make everything count!!! Time is really

just passing faster and faster!!! I cannot tell you how fast the days, weeks, months and transfers are. Something that I have also thought about is that this is life! After the mission there is just not time to waste!!! Just as all of the prophets have taught, especially Alma NOW is the time to have a remission of our sins! Something that I have been teaching people and have been living is that "One day there WON’T be a tomorrow!!" As hard as this is, we can’t continue putting things off for tomorrow. Now is the time. Now is the time to be Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ! As important as this is for those who are investigating the church to figure out, so is it for those who have already made their convents. IT IS SO IMPORTANT!!!! Something that I have gained a testimony of here on the mission is that Christ LIVES! He loves us! He loves me and he loves you, even if we have fallen away from the straight and narrow path. The sons of Mosiah and Alma the younger have all fought against the church.

They had sinned horribly. They lead the souls of thousands to follow the Devil. They repented and they received a remission of their sins. This is a perfect example of the love our Heavenly Father has for us.  The Lord forgave them and he will forgive us as well as long as we act now and repent. This is a promise and I know it to be true! Do NOT procrastinate the day of your repentance. We have blessings waiting for us here on earth that each of us have seen so why yield to temptation?

Elder Stilson's 20th Birthday Celebration!

I am here serving  my mission because I KNOW the power of the Atonement is real! I still have a lot to learn but just as Enos knew helped him receive the remissions of HIS sins. I love my family and friends so much! Just as Ammon and my Nan, I cannot think about living in the eternities without my family and friends. You all mean too much to me. To know that one day we can all live together in the presence of God forever helps me with everything. I love you all so much and I hope that those, especially who have fallen away, or gone inactive can find the love that God has for each of His Children. I know of His love and that is why I am here serving, to show that anyone can use the AMAZING blessing of the atonement! I would challenge all of you to HEED to the words of Elder M. Russell Ballard and every three months talk to those you have already talked to about the restored gospel and then follow up with the missionaries! There is so much work to be done! It can be with those who are not members but also those who have gone away. If anyone needs a testimony, other than yours, of the restored gospel mine is here for anyone who will read. I know that my redeemer lives and loves me too!

For the update of the week, I don’t have much.

We have a little black kitten living with us. We needed a rat trap and she showed up just in time! Haha She showed up one day and doesn’t want to leave so she has been living in the back yard, free to leave at any time but not sure she will, taking care of all of the rodents.  She is pretty funny. We are just trying to find more people to teach. We have a few references which is Awesome and hopefully we can have a few more baptisms this week!:) Well, I sure Love all ya'll and love the emails and letters that I get. Thanks for everything!

Happy Birthday shout out to NAN who is just amazing! I love you soooooooooooooooo much! I am excited that next year we will be celebrating our birthdays together with homemade ice cream and cake!!!!!!:) Also to the Tater-tot-small-fry who will be turning the GIANT 11 years old this Thursday! Happy birthday DOOBIE!!!!! You are the best! Keep up the AWESOME work in all your sports and everything else that you are doing. LOVE YOU LITTLE MAN!!!!

Até Logo!!!!!! Aqui em sete dias!!!! Sempre Fique Firme!!!!

Elder Stilson!!!