The Book of Mormon

Oi família!

So, things are going along.  We had some ups and downs this week, just like every week as a missionary.  We went to contact a referal we had received and it turned out to be a member who hasn´t been to church in over 20 years.  We passed by and started talking with here and we invited her to church.  She said, "Alright, I´ll go to see how it is again."  She came yesterday and really enjoyed it.  She just began talking to everyone and getting to know everyone and it was awesome.  Yesterday was the Primary Program and it was great. Altogether, it was a cool little miracle that we had this week.

We had an exchange this week in house with the other élders who live with us.  They work in the same ward, just on the other side.  I stayed on our side with Élder K. Oliveira who´s from the state of São Paulo, but another city within the state. We went to teach an investigator we have named Victor.  Victor´s family and friends are unfarmiliar with the church and what we believe so they generally have a lot of questions for us.  This particular day we had a number of questions about the Book of Mormon.  The explanation went really well.  They understood very well what is the Book of Mormon and how it came about.  But the biggie was at the end of their questions.  They all enjoyed the explanation but the end reaction was something like "well, that´s cool.  We have the the bible and we don´t really want anything more.  The book is cool I´m sure, but we´re good where we are."  Then Élder K. Oliveira bore his testimony.  Élder K. Oliveira has a great love for the Book of Mormon and said without hesitation "As declared by a prophet of god the Book of Mormon is the most correct of all books on earth and any man will grow closer by reading and abiding by it´s precepts than by any other book.  I know this because I´ve read and I´ve prayed to know that what this book teaches is true.  I love The Book of Mormon and if you pray and ask our Father in Heaven if it´s true, you will know."  It was a very spiritually powerful moment.  There in the middle of an obscure street in Fortaleza, there was no denying that the Book of Mormon is true. 

I think about these things a lot.  The more and more I serve as a missionary, a representative of our Savior, the more and more that I study and learn, it becomes an undenyable fact that what we teach every single day is true.  Scriptures both ancient and modern will show that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the Lord´s true and restored church on the earth.  Are there ways to prove it?  Absolutely.  But the best proof we can receive is an answer to a simple prayer.  Like our Heavenly Father answered Joseph Smith´s prayer in 1820, He still responds to people each and every day.  Every time I have prayed He has responded to me without fail. I know that He will always respond to you.  Don´t forget to ask Him, because He is the one with all the answers.

Amo vocês.  Até o próximo!

Élder Evans