Oi familia!
Well, this week has been very interesting, to say the
least. I´ve learned a lot, and in turn I´ve grown a lot. I´ve seen a
multitude of miracles pour out of my own mouth and I´ve been able to see the
power of concecration in my life.
The last e-mail I seem to recall mentioning something about
how I missed Kansas terribly. Well, to be real, I was beyond missing it
terribly. I wanted to go back. I was seriously considering calling
President Souza and asking if I could return. I was seeking for some
consolation or comfort or something to help me understand what was going on. My
companion and I returned to the apartment and he went to take
a nap. I chose to remain awake and study a little, trying to
understand why I was so down on Brazil and why I wanted to return to the US so
bad. I was seeking guidance in the conference Ensign and felt to go
back to my place in the Saturday Morning session and begin
reading. I read ´Do we know what we have´ by Sister Stevens, but I
still felt nothing. I continued onward to Edward Dube´s talk `Look Ahead
and Belive` and the Spirit filled me. ´Look Ahead and Believe´ begins
with an experience Elder Dube had when he was a child how his mother told him
he must always continue looking forward, not back. The talk continues to
describe how we need to look back and learn from the past, but not live in
it. The Spirit testified very strongly that I had fulfilled my purpose in
Kansas, that I was in Brazil now, and I have a work to do. I had turned
inward and focused on myself and the fact that I was
struggling but ignored that there are people here who are strugging as
well. The difference? I´m here to help these people who are
struggling. I have the gospel, and these people need it. I was
focusing far to much on my own desires rather than how I could help these
people. I turned my head down in prayer and asked for forgivenes
from our Father with a solemn promise that I would dedicate myself 100% to the
work of salvation. We went out that night and instead of
sitting tight-lipped afraid to say anything, I opened my mouth, and
suddenly I was able to speak freely. I wasn´t concerned if these people
thought I sounded uneducated and like I can´t speak Portuguese. I
have a message, and I needed to share it. Many times this past
week I´ve had to overcome fears and open my mouth, despite every time the
natural man said that I shouldn´t do it. It has been amazing to see
the miracles that have come as the Spirit has filled my mouth in times of
need. At times, when I understand what I need to say, the Spirit
strengthens me to be able to say it, but there have been amazing times when
I´ve had out of body experiences when I´ve realized I´ve been talking, but it
wasn´t me. It was the Spirit. Truly amazing blessings. This is the
Lord´s work. In addition, we had some amazing lessons this week, where
the Spirit filled my mouth and cleared my mind. We´ve seen miracles
in so many ways. Lessons, baptisms, investigators, and some far more
simple. A word here. A word there. A powerful scripture in
personal study. A feeling of love from the Spirit. Truly even in
´The Valley of the Shadow of Death´ there are sparks of sunshine to
light the way. What a blessing.
Now, on a more serious matter, Grandma has
been weighing on my mind heavily lately. Her passing has been
difficult for all of us, I know. In addition, yes, this will be the
first Christmas without her. As I mentioned in my remarks with
her death, Grandma was truly an exaple of charity at all times and was
always giving of herself. So, I wish to offer us a
Christmas challenge. From when you read this e-mail until Christmas,
I want each of us to do a charitable act each day. It doesn´t have
to be anything big, just a little something to help someone else out each and
every day between now and Christmas as a way to remember Grandma. As we
do this, I feel to promise that as Malichi said ´the windows of heaven
will open and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to
recieve it´. Though I don´t know what the blessings will be, I
know they will be real. I love Grandma and at times I miss her
more than I can believe, as I know many of you do as well. But, as I
once told Sister Noland (awesome less-active lady in Wellington) I think
the Lord takes people from us so we can remember what they would
do, so we can follow their example. May we ever be filled with
the Spirit of Charity that Grandma always exemplified is my hope and
prayer.
Vós amo!
Elder Evans
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