Learning about the Atonement

Hey everyone, I hope that everyone has had an amazing week. First off I have to tell Big old JACK JACK HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are awesome little dude, I hope that you have a good Thursday and a Happy Birthday.  Love you buddy!!!

This week was amazing  but I don't know where to start!! We had to go to back to Quissamã to help the Sisters with a baptism. I had to interview Felipe and then Felipe and Gabriela asked me if I could baptize them. It was an awesome experience. It was way legit!!! But everything here was amazing! I don't have much time but Elder Freire and I are working hard and well together. There are lots of blessings. Few people are allowing us to come back and teach them again but we aren't getting unexcited and we are just continuing to work hard. Leide Sônia is running from us but we will get in contact with him. This week we had 7 people who were supposed to go to church but they all slept in or just didn't want to go.... It was hard but we know that we are doing all we can.

I have been studying a lot about the Atonement and how important it is. If we truly understand the Atonement and want to be grateful for such an amazing blessings, we must share this with other people. The Atonement was given to all freely and when we know the blessings of this we have to share it with others. I love the savior and I love what I am learning on the mission. Please study the Preach my Gospel and learn how to give more referrals to the missionaries. If we love our Savior we must love and serve others. We need to help those who don't understand the blessings of the restored gospel. I love this gospel and I am getting closer and closer to my Savior every day. I thank all of you who email me and help me every week with your experiences. I love my Baby Sister, Hermana Stilson and for her example of being a disciple of Jesus Christ. Keep up the good work sista!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love you all and can't wait to email with you next week.

Love, Elder Stilson

Birthday Shout Outs!

 

Hey friends and family, I hope you all are doing good. I am doing great! I am learning so many things while helping others come unto our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To start out I have a lot of BIRTHDAY SHOUT OUTS that I need to give.

 

Happy Birthday Makhai and Happy Birthday Josie!!!! You are both so cute and such special girls!!! I LOVE YOU BOTH SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Uncle Davin! Thanks for the love and support that you have given to me and for being like a second dad to me!

Happy Birthday Uncle D!!! Thanks for all the things that you have taught me as a coach along side with my dad and as my friend! 

Happy Birthday Conner! Hey man, it's been awhile but thanks for all the support. Thanks for being such a great friend and even a better brother. Thanks for taking care of my family while I am gone. My siblings and parents love you and you are a great example to them. Thanks man!

Well this week has been really good. There have been lots of flecks of gold. As a missionary we are here help others come unto Christ. Elder Freire and I are working hard to find those who want to change. This week we only found people to teach out of the MANY people we talked to. The power of the Atonement of our Savior is here and given to everyone freely but a lot of these people aren't ready to accept it yet. I pray every night for these people that they will have another chance to accept this amazing Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

We did find an amazing family that we have been able to teach. Their names are Leide Sônia and Camila. These 2 amazing sisters have a great spirit and really want to learn more about the Gospel and to do what the Lord wants them to do. They are very open and have a TRUE desire to learn. This week  we taught them about the blessings of the Atonement in the Plan of Salvation. There was such an amazing spirit in the room that testified to their hearts that these things are true. They truly believe and want these blessings. This week we get to go back and teach about the commandments and how we can all repent. How commandments are given because of the great love that the Lord has for us. They are not restrictions to anything but a way to use our free agency to its best ability. We know that alcohol, drugs, pre marital sex and other things take away our great ability to think straight. Once we are caught into one of these things it is VERY hard to get out of. Satan knows what is pleasing to the carnal mind and knows how destructive these things are. Each and every one of us can be free from these things as long as we have a desire to change. 

Other than this family there really aren't many other investigators that are willing to continue to hear the teachings we have. We teach many lessons during the day and testify to many people about the divinity of our loving Heavenly Father but many reject because they don't want to listen to the sound doctrine because many times it is hard to follow. We are working hard and are striving to be exactly obedient to receive the blessings that our Heavenly Father has for us.

This week President Young asked us all to take a questionnaire about Preach My Gospel. As I took this, I realize that there are many things that I need to work on. Things that I wish I would have learned at the beginning of my mission are coming to the light. For those of you who are planning or not planning on serving a mission, obtain a Preach My Gospel and start studying it now. Those of you who are just members should study it too. It has so many things that can help in your lives as well. We need to know these blessings and promises if we live worthily. Study it cover to cover that way you don't get to your year and a half mark and wish you would have! The best time to plant a tree is yesterday! Go! Plant your tree!!! Members find out how you can help your missionaries serving in your ward or branch. I know the power of preach my gospel. We need these teaching established in EVERY HOME. I am learning more and more every time I read the passages. I am so grateful for the opportunity to Serve the Lord. I love being a missionary. Thank you all for the love and support you give to me.

Love you!!!

Elder Stilson

Physical and Spiritual Protection

Hey everyone! I would like to wish a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Grandpa Stilson. Thanks for everything that you have done for me Grandpa! I am studying Portuguese really hard so that when I get home way we can talk back and forth along with Taeten. I am excited to come home and see how much you have learned. It is an awesome language. But I love you Grandpa!

But this week was kind of crazy really good. It started out a little rough and slow but I know that the Lord is aware of our needs and anything that we need. Thursday afternoon we went to Quissamã again and did 2 more baptism interviews with these 2 kids, Gabriela(14) and Felipe(15). Because they are minors we have to have permission from their parents to be baptized. Their dad is from the "7th day" church and he really doesn't accept the church especially because he doesn't think that Sunday is the Day of the Lord but that Saturday is. But I fasted for them before we went to the interviews and they turned out really good. Felipe has the same questions that Joseph Smith had. During the interview he said he was still looking for an answer that touched his heart. He wasn't expecting to see Christ but he wanted a feeling that helped him know it was true. I promised him, in the name of Christ, that if he would pray and ask God if the church was true, if Joseph Smith was a prophet, if the Book of Mormon was true, and if President Thomas S Monson was the prophet of today, he would receive an answer that he would feel that it was true. That night he prayed but didn't feel anything. He went to sleep and dreamed that he was walking in front of the church and someone called him to enter. He went in and saw Christ. He was so surprised that he woke up and then remembered my promise. He knelt down and prayed. With every word that he said, with everything he asked if was true he received the feeling he was waiting for. He received the answer to his prayer and HE KNOWS IT IS TRUE!!!!

We also have 4 other really good people we are working with who we are going to try to mark baptismal dates with. LeideSônia, Felipe, Fabrício and Edson. They are all way awesome and we are working hard with them. They are planning to go to church with us this week and are excited to learn more.

Well, we also had a very scary incident happen last night. We were walking down a dark street and a car pulled up next to us and the driver of the car yelled "Pass your cell phones!"and had a gun pointed at us through the passenger window. We look at the man a little scared, not really knowing what is going on. The passenger jumped out of the car and blocked us so that we couldn't run out on the main road. He also had a gun and he held it to my companions stomach. He was looking at Elder Freire and tells him to hand him his phone. Elder Freire shows his empty pockets and says "I don't have anything!" and then looks at me. Quickly the guy puts the gun on me. I am taking out the phone and remembered that I had my memory card in the phone. I am trying to pull the memory card out of the phone and take the phone out at the same time. Then I say to him "Brother can I say something?" I don't know why but I was going to ask him if I could please keep the memory card but before I could say anything else he says "Wait, are you guys form the church?" At that point I finally got the memory card out and was ready to hand over the phone. When I answered yes he puts the gun back in the car and sticks out his hand. I go to put the phone in his hand and he says "NO! Give me your hand!" He then shakes our hands and says "Have a good night" Then he gets back in the car and drives away. We were a little shaken but so grateful that we were protected and nothing else happened.
 

Later my companion and I were joking a little and we talking about the 3rd Ice age movie when the opossums asked Buck "GASP!!! DID YOU DIE!?!?!?!!" Buck responds "Sadly YES..... BUT I LIVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
 

 

We have made it through again!!! Ya, I'm sure my mom doesn't think that is very funny!

I know that the Lord gives us protection if we are obedient! I have seen this! He will give us physical and spiritual protection that way Satan does NOT have power over us. I know that this is the true Church of Jesus Christ! I love you all and hope you have a good week!

 

LOVE YOU!!!! 

 

Elder Stilson

My last General Conference here in Brasil!

 

 

Hey everyone, so this has been hard week but I learned a lot! With General Conference this week I think Satan worked SUPER hard on the people here in our mission. It didn't help that everyone has to vote in Brasil and it is only held on Sunday. It was really hard to get anyone to church but this week will be better and we are going to strive even harder to get 3 people marked with a baptismal date this week. 

This week not a whole lot happened. We went and visited some of the less actives in the ward so that was good. We met with one sister whose name is Creuza. Creuza has a lot of problems in her life. She is struggling to just survive at times. But when we went over she accepted us with open arms! She was running but let us come in and share a message with her. We talked about the importance that we as baptized members have to go to church and partake of the sacrament to renew all of our covenants. She has been through the temple and has an amazing spirit. As we talked to her she said that she knows that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true church on the face of the earth but she is going to a Baptist church which is much closer to her house. I promised her that if she would go to The Church of Jesus Christ again she would receive so many blessings but this last Saturday and Sunday she didn't go. This week we will go and talk to her again and try to get a member to bring her in a car.

One day I prayed very hard that I would be able to listen to the promptings of the spirit. As we walked and were working I had a feeling to knock on a house. We knocked and a man came to the door. He asked our names and what we wanted. As I told him we were missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ he nodded his head, and cut me off. "You have passed here before and I told you to never come here again. I will tell you one more time don't EVER make me get out of my chair to talk about 'Religion' again!!" As he said this there was sadness. Why do people reject their only Savior even Jesus Christ?? We left his house and I thought that I was listening to a wrong spirit but then I heard it again with a house whose door was open. I was determined to follow the spirit so I knocked. We then met Amaro and he let us in and we gave the message of the restoration. He is very Catholic but respectful. My companion started pulling the "Authority" card which helped him close personally. We went in and started from the beginning. During the lesson he seemed to lose a little interest and my companion was ready to go. We taught about Joseph Smith's first vision and my companion invited him to be baptized without talking about how we have the authority and without the Book of Mormon. After he ended I felt like we needed to go back and teach about authority and the Book of Mormon. As I did he changed. He accepted to read and to pray about the Book of Mormon and even accepted our invitation to be baptized if he received an answer. We then asked him to give the closing prayer. He said the Lord's Prayer and during it he started to cry. As he said "Amen" I asked him if he was alright. In his words he said "I have never felt something like this in my life". He felt the spirit! I know that if we would have just left without teaching the Book of Mormon he would not have had such an amazing experience. I think with the first man the Lord was just trying to see if I truly would follow His voice to see if he could trust me before we met someone who could be more prepared. We will go back to Amaro's house on Tuesday to teach him again and see his answer to his prayer.

I have seen so many amazing blessings from the lord though. Some HUGE and others small. Just to share my testimony with ANYONE who will let me into their house is a blessing. We have a message that we can share with everyone that allows all to Come unto Christ! As members and missionaries we need to this! IT IS ESSENTIAL!!! I love the time that I have here on the mission. I miss my family, I won't see my baby sister for 3 years, I miss sleeping;), driving a car, playing sports and going to the gym, but none of this matters at this point. I have a mission that is to bring souls unto Christ. I will have plenty of time to do those things after the 2 years of dedicated service. This is the time that I have to become a MAN and to learn how to listen to the spirit more in my life. The Lord lives, he has called prophets in these last days. President Thomas S Monson is his prophet today. I know these things to be true. If you have or haven't heard the missionary lessons, listen to them. They could change your life as they have changed mine. And if you already have heard them, hear them again and ASK GOD if these things are not true. I know they are and that is why I am in Brasil for 2 years. In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

I love you all and send you all a HUGE "X"-Sized hug!!

LOVE,

Elder Stilson

 

 

Hey everyone, so I don't have a lot of time today and my time is already almost up. Sorry this isn't longer. We are super excited about the baptism we had of Coutinho. He is awesome!! He has gone to meetings in other church buildings about family history which we will help him prepare for his baptism and he has marked a family home evening this week with everyone in the church and a lot of his friends! I am so excited for him. He has sacrificed so much to be baptized. This week  Elders Bean and Alarcon also baptized Isabela. We are super excited for both of these new members. Both of them have the faith to do whatever the Lord asks them to do. I know that the power of the priesthood is real and it is such an amazing blessing. It is here to bless all the children of our Father in Heaven. We, as priesthood holders, need to ALWAYS be ready to be worthy and in tune with the spirit to use this power to give blessings when they are needed. It is such a great an honor to use it. I love serving our Savior Jesus Christ!!! I need everyone to know that I have a testimony and have gone through an amazing conversion process that everyone can have! I know that my Savior lives and LOVES me. I love you all and will send more next week.

 

Elder Stilson!!:)

 

Flecks of Gold

Hey everyone, this week the Lord has again just piled up blessings to where I don't have enough space to receive them all!!! I know that a lot of this is due to my Sister serving in Spain!!! Super excited for her and I love her to death!!! But this week was great. First off I made it through the week without slitting open my head. I know that my family is happy about that but this week started out with another member calling us and telling us that he has a friend that wants to take the missionary lessons. We went there and it was kind of funny, he said he is related to that "awesome family of 6" that we met the other week. Well, turns out that they really aren't and that we are not going to go back to the house. It is very dangerous because they are all tied up in Drug Traffic and making pornographic videos. We are getting out of that craziness haha But anyway back to a perfect investigator!!

This investigator has been prepared for a long time, long before we met him. He is awesome!! He came in contact with the Book of Mormon many years ago and last year he went to a Stake conference and absolutely loved it. now that he has separated from his "wife" (never legally married) he is now able to allow the missionaries come into his home. He knows everything! He is studying, repenting, and getting out of the way of temptation. He is one man who really wants to be converted unto the Lord! Yesterday at church he picked up the tithing slips and got it ready so that next week he can pay tithing. He also put himself on the Missionary Lunch calendar. He is awesome and we are really excited to work with him.

We also had our Zone Conference with President Young on Thursday which was amazing! He is changing a lot of things in the mission. He is trying to help us see that there is more to our purpose than to just baptizing. He explained the Gospel of Jesus Christ as is explained in 3 Nephi 27. There are many truths that are explained clearly that the people who are preparing to be baptized need to know before and after they enter the waters of baptism. Through his training we saw the importance of this more clearly and are excited to start using these changes for the better.

President also taught us to not over look the little flecks of gold that are in our area that are waiting to be collected! I know how true this is but there are some that are so worried about the nuggets they miss the amazing flecks that can be collected and be of SO MUCH WORTH!!! Just as a prospector looks for flecks and Nuggets that is what we need to do. Elder Morgan emailed today talking about how he is serving many people. What a blessing it is to see that he is collecting those flecks. He will gain the trust of the members and also help the lost sheep come back into the fold of God. Elder Freire and I have been better at looking for those tiny moments to serve as well. Last night the lights went out in the city. We heard a little old lady crying. She needed help with getting into her house. We were so blessed to find someone who needed our help so we could show our example of being servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I know that the Savior Lives. I  know that the Book of Mormon is TRUE. READ IT, look for the blessings and promises that it contains. I know was written by Prophets of God.

I LOVE YOU ALL, I can't wait to talk to you guys and see you all again but for now I am focused on the work.
Elder Stilson

I have not abandoned you!

Mom, I need to tell you something but don't freak out...

 

Hey everyone, first off..... WE NOW HAVE 2 ELDER STILSON'S in the mission field and our FIRST EVER SISTER STILSON!!!! My little sister was set apart to be a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints last night. I am so proud of her!!! I also heard that my little cousin Drayten was baptized on Saturday, Congrats little dude!!! I am so proud of you Dray, keep up the good work!!! Holy cow I didn't even know that he was turning 8. But what an amazing experience. So many things are happening at home right now. I am so proud of my amazing family!!!

This week was alright. I kind of freaked out my mom this morning but it is ok!;)

• LAST email From Mom... "Hey have a great week and don't do anything stupid!!"

 

• A few hours later... I ended up with 3 stitches in my head and it wasn't until after I got back from the Dr that I remembered that she had sent that... oops:/

So long story short, I did a pull up and the bar I was using came off. I knocked the back of my head on the cement that was behind me and split open my head. Yeah that was stupid but not my fault! Haha, it wasn't really funny. But everything is good now. I will take them out here on Wednesday, no biggy;)

The rest of the week was kind of slow. We did get in contact with the lady who has the referalls but the family hasn't had time so we are going to work hard to get in contact with them this week. We are excited to teach them. Tuesday Elder Thomas was transferred and Elder Bean came in.  He has been out for 14 months but just got his visa to Brasil. And he already speaks `Portuguese like a BOSS, The gift of tongues is real!!!!!!!

This week we also tried to get in contact with that family of 6 but they don't want to change their religion because the church is further away from their house. It is so frustrating and we don't know how else we can help them. We will keep working with them and try to get them back into the fold. We are just trying to help anyone who will open their door but that is very few. We are working really hard and trying to work with the members but it is hard! But this week I have done a few more fasts (which is easy when your money starts running out and you don't have a ton of food in the house hahaha, just kidding) and I was getting kind of bumbed out... We have tried to stay focused and positive but it has just been so frustrating.  My comp asked me what we were going to do on Saturday but he himself was getting frustrated because I had run out of ideas and he didn't have anything either. I explained to him that I had been fasting and I was lost and didn't know what else to do. The next day we walked over 5 miles just tracting. There was nothing. It is Saturday in Center where everything is just running around. I just kept praying to teach anyone! Then we sat for 5 

Elder & Herman Stilson

mins to just rest and figure out what we were going do next and I said a pray "Father I need help! I don't know what to do. PLEASE help us find someone to serve, or teach, or even just pray with. I NEED YOUR HELP!" After I said the prayer we started walking again and the first road we found an old man and helped him take a closet up to his house. We were able to sit and teach him and we ended with a prayer. It was everything that I had prayed for!!! Then the still small voice of the Holy Ghost whispered to me " I have not abandoned you" I know that the Lord knows what we want and what will be the best! I don't understand why we can't get people to church and don't have more people progressing but I know that if I keep doing what is right with a good attitude and trying to be the best that I can he will do what is best for me. I KNOW HE WILL!!! We just cannot jump off the boat when the storm comes as what the Lord taught in Mark 4 when he and the apostles were crossing the Sea of Galalee. I know that my redeemer lives!!!! I am so happy that the Lord has the trust in me to help people learn the gospel! This is something that I know and that Hermana Stilson will learn when she gets to Spain. I love you all and thank you for everything that you do!!! Keep a good attitude and serve the Lord the VERY BEST YOU CAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love you all!!

Elder Stilson