We all need to be Missionaries

Hey everyone!! So this week a lot of things happened bun unfortunately I don't have a lot of time to write about it all.

Monday we went to a family home evening at Sabrina's and Daniel's house. These are amazing members who help the missionaries in everything. They are awesome! We went there with 4 investigators, Talita ( who was baptized yesterday) her mom, Elza, and her sister, Danielle. We also had Chrystyan there. We have Chrystyan marked with a date for this Saturday and Elza and Danielle for this Sunday. We were able to integrate the investigators and helped them all out. I can't tell you how much working with the members helps.

The people can see that there are NORMAL people living the gospel and not just weird missionaries!  MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH, PLEASE HELP THE MISSIONARIES!!! Give referrals! Have the courage to share your testimony of the restored church. We need to stop being selfish about keeping these blessings to ourselves. This is exaltation and we need to share these blessings so that everyone have the blessings of an eternal family.

D&C 18:11-18

11 For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him.

 12 And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance.

 13 And how great is his joy in

the soul that repenteth!

 14 Wherefore, you are called to cry repentance unto this people.

 15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

 16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!

 17 Behold, you have my gospel before you, and my rock, and mysalvation.

 18 Ask the Father in my name in faith, believing that you shall receive, and you shall have the Holy Ghost, which manifesteth all things which are expedient unto the children of men.

The Lord has called each of us. President Ezra Taft Benson said:

“We are commanded by God to take this gospel to all the world. That is the cause that must unite us today. Only the gospel will save the world from the calamity of its own self-destruction. Only the gospel will unite men of all races and nationalities in peace. Only the gospel will bring joy, happiness, and salvation to the human family”

We need to help others come unto Christ! There are millions of people on the other side of the veil who are waiting anxiously for their  descendants to receive the message of the restored gospel. Many of you know missionaries in the field. Ask them what the best way to work in a mission is. They will all say member referrals. You have nothing to lose. If you think that you will lose your friendship you are wrong! Have the courage to do what is right. Help your brother. These people need our help. In Alma 29 Alma it talks about how our, and everyone's, fathers are waiting for these ordinances.

 8 For behold, the Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation and tongue, to teach his word, yea, in wisdom, all that heseeth fit that they should have; therefore we see that the Lord doth counsel in wisdom, according to that which is just and true.

 9 I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy.

 10 And behold, when I see many of my brethren truly penitent, and coming to the Lord their God, then is my soul filled with joy; then do I remember what the Lord has done for me, yea, even that he hath heard my prayer; yea, then do I remember his merciful arm which he extended towards me.

 11 Yea, and I also remember the captivity of my fathers; for I surely do know that the Lord did deliver them out of bondage, and by this did establish his church; yea, the Lord God, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, did deliver them out of bondage.

 12 Yea, I have always remembered the captivity of my fathers; and that same God who delivered them out of the hands of the Egyptians did deliver them out of bondage.

 13 Yea, and that same God did establish his church among them; yea, and that same God hath called me by a holy calling, to preach the word unto this people, and hath given me much success, in the which my joy is full.

 

 

Everyone needs this. We have to help people get to the temple. It is so  important. The captivity of their fathers are those who are in the spirit prison waiting to get out of the spiritual torment. We need to love God in all things, For this is the great and first commandment. As we learned in the last conference that we must realize which way we need to face. Where is our trust? We have work to do! There are signs of the second coming in every country. He is coming and he will come in all of his glory. I love my Lord and the way I am showing my love in serving him. Bringing back my brothers and sister to him that way we can become sons and  daughters of the most high God. I love this work and I know that it is important. I love this gospel. Only the Book of Mormon and the Bible together can help us understand our purposes in an eternal prospective. Read the Book of Mormon, ponder in your hearts the message that it contains, and share your happiness with others. Jesus Is the Christ and he needs our help in this great work.

I love you all and hope that you have a great week!!! 

Love,

Elder Stilson

Another Great Week!

Hey everyone! Sorry but this email is going to have to be cut short because of the little time that I have.  This week we had another baptism. So Dhyemerson has a cousin who is basically his sister because his mom takes care of her. She went to Dhyemersons baptism and he said that she, Talissa, needed to be baptized. He asked us if we could teach her and then she asked if she could be baptized. Cátia, Dhyemersons mom, said that she would be responsible to take her to church every Sunday so this week Talissa was baptized and we are working to baptize the rest of their amazing family. We have another baptism this week and possibly three more the next week. We are working super hard and are really excited about these people who are ready to be baptized. We are running like crazy and I love it! We wake up at 6 to do crossfit and other workouts at the church, study, eat and go to work. We are excited about all the progress here. I can't wait to see what is going to happen these next few weeks. Study of the week was Mormon 9: 1-14

1 And now, I speak also concerning those who do not believe in Christ.

 2 Behold, will ye believe in the day of your visitation—behold, when the Lord shall come, yea, even that great day when the earth shall be rolled together as a scroll, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, yea, in that great day when ye shall be brought to stand before the Lamb of God—then will ye say that there is no God?

 3 Then will ye longer deny the Christ, or can ye behold the Lamb of God? Do ye suppose that ye shall dwell with him under a consciousness of your guilt? Do ye suppose that ye could be happy to dwell with that holy Being, when your souls are racked with a consciousness of guilt that ye have ever abused his laws?

 4 Behold, I say unto you that ye would be more miserable to dwell with a holy and just God, under a consciousness of your filthiness before him, than ye would to dwell with the damned souls in hell.

 5 For behold, when ye shall be brought to see your nakedness before God, and also the glory of God, and the holiness of Jesus Christ, it will kindle a flame of unquenchable fire upon you.

 6 O then ye unbelieving, turn ye unto the Lord; cry mightily unto the Father in the name of Jesus, that perhaps ye may be found spotless, pure, fair, and white, having been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, at that great and last day.

 7 And again I speak unto you who deny the revelations of God, and say that they are done away, that there are no revelations, nor prophecies, nor gifts, nor healing, nor speaking with tongues, and the interpretation of tongues;

 8 Behold I say unto you, he that denieth these things knoweth not the gospel of Christ; yea, he has not read the scriptures; if so, he does not understand them.

 9 For do we not read that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and in him there is no variableness neither shadow of changing?

 10 And now, if ye have imagined up unto yourselves a god who doth vary, and in whom there is shadow of changing, then have ye imagined up unto yourselves a god who is not a God of miracles.

 11 But behold, I will show unto you a God of miracles, even the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and it is that same God who created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are.

 12 Behold, he created Adam, and by Adam came the fall of man. And because of the fall of man came Jesus Christ, even the Father and the Son; and because of Jesus Christ came the redemption of man.

 13 And because of the redemption of man, which came by Jesus Christ, they are brought back into the presence of the Lord; yea, this is wherein all men are redeemed, because the death of Christ bringeth to pass the resurrection, which bringeth to pass a redemption from an endless sleep, from which sleep all men shall be awakened by the power of God when the trump shall sound; and they shall come forth, both small and great, and all shall stand before his bar, being redeemed and loosed from this eternal band of death, which death is a temporal death.

 14 And then cometh the judgment of the Holy One upon them; and then cometh the time that he that is filthy shall be filthy still; and he that is righteous shall be righteous still; he that is happy shall be happy still; and he that is unhappy shall be unhappy still.

Here Mormon tell us that God is the same yesterday today and forever. I know that this is the restored church and we can be happy here and in the world to come but it all depends on what we do to listen to the spirit of God after praying and asking God if these things are true.

Read the Book of Mormon.  I know that it is true and that it is proof that God still lives and shows his Love to the world. Don't lose faith by not reading the scriptures and by not praying. God lives and loves his children. I know this because I asked and he answered my prayer! He loves each of us. In the name of Jesus Christ amen.

Elder Stilson

God's Love

 

Hey Everyone,

These past 2 week I have learned a lot of things. This week we had the baptism of Dhyemerson. This kid is so awesome!!! We went to his house almost every day this week and asked him about what he's been learning. We  asked him if he was drinking coffee and he said no. Then his little friend, Daniel, said "No he hasn't been drinking because I tried to give him some and he said that a prophet said that it's against Gods will!" Because of what Dhyemerson said, Daniel stopped drink coffee and has been teaching his family that they can't drink coffee and has been explaining exactly why. It is amazing what they have been doing!! His baptism yesterday was Awesome! His Grandma bore her testimony and told him how proud she was of him. The primary even presented a hymn to him. It was really special for him and his family. His family is coming back to church and they are being blessed in so many ways. When we were in sacrament meeting I sat behind their family and watched and thought about an experience I had last Sunday. Knowing that the love of God is bigger than we can even imagine. It was an amazing blessing just being able to see them all together knowing that this is really what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is really about! Seeing them sitting as a family partaking of God's love! God has given us so many things that we need in our lives.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was also had the opportunity to give a baptismal interview with the young man named Wesley. Wesley's interview was great. The spirit helped me in so many ways to know exactly what I needed to say to help him understand Gods love for him. As we talked, he had committed a few sins a little while ago and wasn't sure if God would ever forgive him for his sins. While we talked I was able to share some scriptures that I had found and the experiences that I had knowing that Gods Love is greater than anything we can imagine. He has the faith of Peter knowing that these things are true without having to see. That after he begins to let his faith grow he will have experiences to know that God gave his Only Begotten Son so that all men may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. I now know what God's love Truly is. God's love is sending his beloved son to suffer for our sins so that each and every one of us may return to live with him in the unit of an eternal family! I know that my Savior lives and that his arms are stretched out wide to embrace us as we repent. The only picture that comes to my mind when I think of standing before my maker is him smiling , arms open, and in a whisper saying "Welcome home my son!" This is the true love of God. Which is shown through his Son Jesus Christ. I know that this gospel is true!! Lets learn more about how we can love our Heavenly Father back. In the name of Jesus Christ amen.

Elder Stilson

Elder Paez fell asleep before he got all the way in bed!!

Happy 2015

 

Hey everyone, this week was a little slow. With it being the New Year here in Brasil everyone is  doing something. People were either at the beach or at home with their families celebrating. Last Sunday we had a less active family go to church who have not been baptized. So after church we went their home with a member and we were able to teach the family. It was really good and their youngest son, Dhymerson (Jemerson) really wants to be baptized. He is studying super hard is reading the Book of Mormon. He is an awesome little kid! The mom also hasn't been baptized but they aren't married so we are working with them to do the things  they need to do to be baptized. I am super excited for this family. Unfortunately we they didn't go to church yesterday so we will have to check on them this week. We have another investigator who really isn't progressing which is really disappointing. We are doing everything that we can but he is very dependent on his addictions so it's getting very hard for him. We are praying and fasting for him  and we will keep doing everything that we can to try to help him and his son. 

 

Sabrina and her family haven't been home this week but they were planning on going to Church but we didn't see them either so we will continue to work with them and hopefully they will come this week. We will just keep working with these investigators and hopefully we will find some new people to teach so that we will have a busy week.

 

This week I have been really studying the Book of Mormon. Today I was reading about the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi who were under the king Lamoni The

and king Lamoni's father when Ammon Omner, Himni and Aaron visited the land of Ishmael. The Anit-Nephi-Lehites were a people of little understanding of God and who were people who absolutely hated the Nephites. It wasn't until Ammon went in and SERVED the people and helped them understand what their purpose was in life that they were able to change and become 100% converted to the Lord. This people decided after their conversion that it was better that they die than to pick up their weapons of war and fight against

any people. They buried their weapons of war deep in earth and covenanted with their Lord that they would not pick up the weapons of rebellion again. When the Lamanites came to destroy them they prayed to their God and did not do resist being slain by their enemies. They would have rather died than have sinned. This made me think a lot about my life. How many times do we repent and burry out weapons of war but when temptation comes again we unbury them and commit sin. We need to be as the Anti-Nephi-Lehites and rather be humiliated, spit upon, and whatever other thing that Satan

tries to use against us, EVEN DEATH, than to sin after repentance. We can decide to do this today with this 2015 to be 100% converted unto the Lord. God loves us and wants to bless us and I know that he will if we keep his commandments.

I love you all and hope to hear from you guys next week.

 

Feliz Ano Novo!!!!

 

Elder Stilson