Zone Conference

 

Homemade Cookies!

Bom Dia! Another week has flown by. We had a zone conference this week that was awesome! So the zone conference was on Thursday. We left Wednesday night to get there in time for the next morning. Four hours of driving. We left at 11:00 Wednesday night and got there at 3:15 Thursday morning. When we got there the plan was to just wait until 6:30 at the bus stop. Instead an Elder suggested we go to the chapel to wait. So we walked and walked and walked until we found the chapel. When we got there we all fell asleep on

the most legit wooden benches you could ever imagine. Actually it was alright and nice to get some sleep. But hey!!! I got my packages!!! Thank you so much grandma for the letter that you sent with the package. It really was the best thing that I could have received! I love you guys so much and they don’t have pistachios here so that was THE BEST!!! Thank you again. AND I want to send out a HHHHUUUUUGGGGEEEEE shout out to my MISSIONARY MOMS!!! Thank you so much for my Valentines box, I loved it! Just in time for my birthday ;) But thank you so much to my Missionary Moms, Mama STILSON, LETTS, SHRIBER, WEBB, HARROP, ROBINSON, and GITTINS!!!! WE HAVE THE BEST MOMS IN THE WORLD!!! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! The Elders here are amazed at how awesome you all are. My Missionary moms are the talk of my mission.

Our popped volleyball turned into a Rugby ball

After the training we received, we played sports!!! We started out playing volleyball until someone kicked the ball and popped in on the fence with the "security spikes". haha well some of the missionaries said, “there goes the fun”. Six of us decided to do something, we started playing RUGBY.  The popped ball worked out great! It was awesome and so much fun.  We started out playing 2 hand touch... BORING so Elder Stilson changed it to WRAPPING up, yeah and after about 2 touchdowns it changed again to TACKLE!!! Haha that wasn’t the smartest but it was awesome. We had the whole zone absolutely dead the next day but it was worth it. I am still walking like an old man :)

Sunday we had 2 new investigators at church! It was great, we didn’t have to show up at their house and get them to come they showed up at the church on their own. It is so great to see people who are not just interested in the church but they really want the blessings of the gospel in their lives and are willing to do the work themselves to get it. It was awesome especially because they are 2 young men. They are great young men and we were so happy to hear that they want to be baptized. We are really excited for them and hope to baptize them this week! But that is about all that happened this week. We also learned that they have an uncle that is a member of the church.

The only other thing I want to

share is from the Gospel of John. When the first Disciples of Christ were following Him, Nathaniel was called by Philip to come and see the Master. Nathaniel asked "can anything good come out of Nazareth?" And Philips response was "Come and see". This is found in the second chapter of John. People notice that we are happy. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints have a different glow. We are more happy and people have asked in their minds "is there any place that we can find peace in this world?'” In preach my gospel it says that there are people waiting to receive the restored gospel! OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILIES as an answer to their question "Is there any place that we can find peace in this world?" we must tell and SHOW them "COME AND SEE". We are all missionaries and there are people being prepared for EACH AND EVERYONE of us!!! Just tell them to come and see. Make an effort with their faith and they will find this peace and happiness that we have. I can testify of this and I know that the only thing we can do is to open our mouths and ask them to "COME AND SEE".  In the name of Jesus Christ amen.

I love you all very much, Can’t wait to hear from you all.                                            

Love, ELDER STILSON

 

Angels at our Baptism

Fatima's Baptism

Hi everyone, this week was really special.

I love to see the hand of God at work, it was a good week! So to start out, we had our baptism of Fátima. It was such spiritual baptism and I am privileged to have been a part of. We started the meeting singing hymn # 50 in the Portuguese hymn book! When we started singing, there was certain loudness with a reverent feeling that filled the room. The room was filled with the spirit and the feeling was something that I have NEVER felt in my life. There were Angels at our baptism! There were so many things that happened during this baptism. Until this day, February 27, 2014, I have not

remembered my baptism. But this night I remembered everything! I remember how I felt when I got into the water looking up at my Dad.  I remember looking at my Grandpa's, who were the witnesses and I remember exactly how I felt. I never thought of the significance of a baptism and how CLEAN I felt until today. But it truly was an amazing day. One I will ALWAYS remember!:) Later in the week we started to sing CHRISTMAS hymns again.... Holy cow, Brazilians love their Christmas hymns and YEAR ROUND!!! It drives me nuts at times! Haha but it is alright.

"The BIGGEST SPIDER I have ever seen!!!"

We also came in contact with the BIGGEST SPIDER I have ever seen!!! Something NO ONE wants to see!!! We were walking and it was literally the story of the Itsy bitsy spider! It rained hard one day and we are walking and we see this thing in the middle of the road.... Just look at the pictures in comparison to my foot, hand and my body!! She was a GIANT!! Ask my family how much I love spiders.... NOT AT ALL!!! It was really cool to see but I NEVER wanna see one again. Thanks HEAVENS it wasn’t in my house!!!

Other than that everything has been pretty normal. We are staying very busy teaching people. We had to stop teaching a lady we were working with because her pastor says that he doesn’t want her talking to us anymore. She has a testimony of the Book of Mormon but she has more confidence in her pastor right now. There really is nothing we can do at this point other than continue to pray for her. We left her our testimonies and asked her to pray about it but we haven’t heard back from her. It really is sad.

I just want to end my letter by sharing something that I learned while reading in John this week: In the second chapter of St. John we hear about the miracle of Christ turning water into wine. Here we see that His mother was worried because they were running low. For the longest time when I read that Jesus

called his mother "Woman" it sounded disrespectful, but while studying this it, I realized that he was showing her the utmost respect. She accepted it when He said that is wasn’t his time. She accepted his response and waited for the time having the servants wait with him. When the time came He sent the servants to get water and the governor of the wedding asked why Christ had waited to serve the best for the last. As we look at this we can learn a lot of things if we open our minds and our hearts. For example: why did we have to wait until the last days to have the Book of Mormon, these records hold the FULLNESS of the everlasting Gospel? 1) God and Christ were waiting for the right time when the hearts of men were prepared and 2) because They are saving what is the best for last due to their infinite knowledge of what is to come! I know that we have the Book of Mormon and other revelations in this day and age because they are the BEST! and because God knows the timing of everything!! I love the Lord and am trying my hardest to serve him the very best that I can. 

Thank you all for your letters and emails.  I love you all and can’t wait to hear from you again soon. 

Love,

Elder Stilson 

 

"I went through it"

Hey everyone! Well this is week 4 of this transfer. We have been teaching Fátima and she will be baptized on the 27th of February. She is an awesome investigator and has a super strong testimony! I am excited to send you pictures and tell you all about the baptism.

This week was very interesting. We had 2 drunks tell us that they were going kill us, a lady told us all about her nephew and the crazy life he’s living and a kid who says that he doesn’t believe in God because of the choices he is making. Holy Cow it was a lot to take in! But even though I have had these crazy experiences it is all right!:) We are teaching a 14 yr old girl who is getting ready for baptism as well. She is probably the MOST religious person I’ve met. It is crazy to hear about the things that she believes in and what she loves. We have her marked for this Sunday so we should have another exciting busy week!!:)

Elder Stilson's House in Nanuque

The other things that happened this week were really not worth mentioning. Actually it doesn’t help that I have a horrible memory... I should start bringing my journal with me when I email. Everything else has been alright. I have been learning how to be patient and learning how to be humble. I need to thank all of you that send letters and emails especially my grandparents. I appreciate your advice, encouragement and personal experiences. At times, when I am teaching, It seems like no one is listening. We walk and walk and walk up and down and up and down these morros (hills).  I feel like I am killing myself and the only thing that I am receiving are "Rain-Checks". It is very frustrating and it seems like I am wasting my time sometimes. This week was especially hard and I hate to admit that I thought to myself, "I don’t want to be here, I want to be home with my family. Why can’t these people do things different, what am I doing, why am I here" something hit me and it hit me hard...

"I (Christ) went through this. Yes these people are less fortunate than you! They do not have the luxuries that you have back at home. I went through this. I left MY home next to my father to just try to give them the happiness that comes from a family that can live together and they rejected Me."

After thinking about that I realized that the only thing that I can do, what I NEED to do is help these people, to share a simple message that can change the rest of the eternities for these people.  It made me really look at how small this sacrifice really is. YES it’s hard! Christ NEVER said it was easy and at times he really didn’t want to do it but he did anyway! It is VERY hard but I know that I will be blessed for this. I will help these people and there is ALWAYS Joy in the Journey!!! I thank you all for your prayers and I love and miss ya'll so much but I still have work here that the lord is having me do!:)

LOVE YOU!!

Elder Stilson:)

Another week in Nanuque

 

Bom Dia! This week was another week in Nanuque! Haha thanks for everyone’s prayers on my behalf! Know that it is working and I have been given the strength of the Lord to keep going everyday! My knees and ankles are getting better so thank you all so much!!! But this week again flew by and it is hard to talk about everything that has happened but I will try my best!:)

I can’t remember if I have talked about Fátima or not but she is the mom of 4 members that we have in our ward here and she is almost ready for baptism! She has a testimony and everything and is keeping most of the commandments. But we are really working with her and I am sure she will be baptized this transfer!!! It is great to watch people as they progress in the Gospel! When we first met her she didn’t want to pray and she was very shy, but now she is praying and has a very strong testimony. She tells us that every time she reads about Joseph Smith and when we watched the video of the restoration with her she says "I get goose bumps all over my body!" She has now recognized that she is receiving these answers from our Heavenly Father. It is such an amazing feeling when you sit in a lesson and you and the investigator recognizes and can feel the Holy Ghost. The very best is when they say that they want to feel this all the time and you are right there to help them with the answer!

We have also been working with a young woman whose name is Ester. She is 21 and has really wanted to know why we are doing what we are doing! We have talked to her and have tried to help her and now it is just up to her to let the Spirit talk and answer her questions!! She feels good when she reads and prays but it is a little hard for her to commit because she wants to visit ALL of the churches here in Nanuque (there are more than 100 churches here) before she wants to make a decision. But we are teaching her and hopefully helping her. She really likes what we are teaching and feels that the doctrine is basic and easy for her to understand.

We also have a family who has had their children baptized and now just waiting for them to be baptized and the parents will be as well! They are a great family and I love all of them! We visit them daily if possible and are trying to help strengthen their family.

This week I have really been taking to heart and studying a letter that I received from one of my cousins that talks about a spiritual impression that he had to talk to me about serving a mission. In the letter he talks

about 2 things 1) The importance of being strictly obedient and 2) Just completely giving it your all for those whom you are serving. He told me how he studied the life of Christ and that is what I have been doing as well. I have been looking for those things that made Christ happy when he was serving people who did not accept his teachings. I feel like working with the people here in Brazil has been a challenge, one of the hardest things that I have ever done.  I feel like Brazilians and Americans are completely different in many ways. Even though this may be, I have to

take the example of the Lord who didn’t look at anyone and think less of them. He loved the Rabbis, Pharacies, Priests, Samaritans, lepers, whoever came into his path! In the book of 2 Nephi we learn that if He would have come at any other time to any other people they would have accepted him and His work as the Savior of the world but knowing this he came anyway. He wore himself out by serving those he lived with, never thinking a bad thought, never submitting to the devil. He was the Savior and they didn’t believe him. So at times when we feel as though we are lost and no one knows what we are going through, we need to remember that He has gone through it. He knows how it feels! He suffered in the Garden and on the Cross to know what we have to deal with. I am so grateful for all of the people in my life, like Kam who are willing to talk to me and are always there for me! I love my family and friends so much! You mean the world to me and I don’t know where I would be without you guys!!! THANKS!!!!:D:D:D

Love,

Elder Stilson

Physical Pain, Spiritual Blessings!

 

Hey everyone, first off I want to thank my Aunt Kristin and Cousin Brittney for taking the challenge to become missionaries at home and for my emails. It truly is a blessing to have such a great family that is centered on the Gospel and that are willing to share it with others so thank you all so much and thanks to everyone else who is doing this as well! 

But this week was really good! I have continued to have some physical pain with my knees and ankles but recognize some AMAZING spiritual blessings!!!!! Maria and Julia, the ladies that I talked about in my last email, have been struggling with the Adversary but we visited them every day this week and they has an amazing surprise for us on Wednesday night! THEY WANT TO BE BAPTIZED!!! Not only were they ready but they wanted to be baptized the next day. Thursday night we got everything ready and they were baptized. It truly was an answer to prayers. How amazing it is to know that the Lord will touch the hearts of millions and lead us where we need to go.

This week we also met a new family. Now the parents aren’t married yet but it was amazing to see how interested they are about the Gospel. One of the best parts about meeting with them is that they are REFERRALS from members. Teaching them has been great. The member who referred this family thought it was important for us to teach the principle of prayer, which we did and then we were also able to give the father Deraldo a blessing. It was amazing!! We invited them to church and when we passed by their home on Sunday morning, he was waiting for us ready to go. This week I really felt the Spirit and His love through all of these blessings. Explaining about the blessings that we have the power and authority to give, really was just a small and still voice that I followed and was blessed for it.

There are several other people here that we are teaching but it is hard. Many of the people are not ready to give up their Sundays to attend a church. We have been invited to several people’s homes and then after we have walked all the way there they decide they do not want us to come in.  We have even had the door slammed in our faces many time. It is very frustrating at times but it is alright. I know that I need to just keep working and sifting the wheat from the tares. 

Thank you all for everything you have given me and done for me. You are all a great blessing to me in my life.  Please continue to pray for the people in Brazil.

LOVE,

ELDER STILSON