Moroni 9:6

Date: Mon, Oct 14, 2013 at 10:22 AM

Sounds like a great week! Oh I thought mom said that you and Jake went hunting! My bad! But that's awesome you can see the streets of Sousa. My address is djaci marques pinto #16 - centro. I think if you put this in you should find it. It is a nice apartment complex. or put in ''ribeirão hotel'' because my house is right next to it. I am excited to get some of those pictures. 

Well I haven't seen any dinosaur footprints yet. They have a cool historic site about the dinosaurs here but i haven't found the time to go there yet. And yes I have been traveling for leadership things like interviews and mission conferences and other assignments that President gives to us. But it is fun. Sometimes i think i get more tired traveling than walking on the street all day. They pack a whole bunch of sweaty people in the cars and take off on the freeway. it is weird because even some of the cars that have air conditioning it seems like the brazilians here don't like it because it is too cold or something and they prefer just rolling down the window. I always get so sweaty. I think the record of sweaty people we have had in a car with us is 14. and the cars have about 9 seats. Good times!

 We have had a few dificulties lately with the work. I have learned that the work of salvation is not easy and never will be. But we cannot let up because it is our obligation to do our part and invite everyone to come unto Christ. ''Moroni 9:6'' But I love meeting new people and seeing the desire of the people we teach to learn more and be better. 

This last week the sister here in Sousa asked if Elder Paul and I could give one of their investigators a blessing. Before the blessing he was telling us about how he is bothered by the past and how when he has free time he keeps thinking about the things he had done in his life and how he just wanted relief. My companion gave the blessing and it was perfect. I know he is on the right track to feel free from his sins and return to Heavenly Father. I love being a missionary and helping people repent and feel clean again through repentance and baptism. Also in sacrament meeting a recent-convert said that when he entered in the church he felt relief. he felt like the scripture that says if you are burdened, Christ can make your burdens light and carry them for you. He told about his conversion and about how now he is on the right path. It was really a powerful testimony and he was baptized about two months ago. 

Well I love being on my mission and I know that this is where i need to be right now. I love you and miss you all. Thank you for everything you do. I feel so grateful to have the family that I have.

Love,

Elder Smith

P.S. Hey thanks for the package! I got it this last week and i loved it! 

"I love waking up everyday with a great purpose to be fulfilled..."

Date: Mon, Oct 7, 2013 at 7:23 AM

Hello family,

Dad went hunting! That is awesome! Did they get anything good? This last week was really crazy here in Sousa, I actually only worked three days in my area and I will be traveling again today at 1 PM to Natal. Lots of traveling and lots of work to be done but we are staying busy and the work is rolling along. Thanks for checking into the license for me. 

Conference was awesome. I really loved how they focused on missionary work. I agree with President Monson that it was one of the best conferences I have seen. I think almost all of the speakers cited Preach My Gospel and talked about how the members can be more involved. The members really felt inspired here and I could see a desire to work more. We had a meeting with the district presidency and they talked about ways we can work together to rescue some of the people who have fallen away and baptized those who have not yet accepted the Gospel. I love this work and I can't imagine anything better I could be doing right now in my life. I love waking up everyday with a great purpose to be fulfilled and big obstacles to overcome. Every day I meet new challenges which help me grow and become what the Lord wants me to be.

I was reading an awesome talk by Elder bednar about the atonement and how through the atonement we can become who the Lord wants us to be. I realize that as I  gain a greater understanding of the Atonement, my desire to do more and be better increases. I loved President Utchdorf's talk about how we should not be hypocrits and critize other leaders or members of  the church. It is so easy to find faults in other but usually we fail to find faults in ourselves. I also loved a talk from the preisthood session that said we need to humble ourselves, be obedient and listen to the Spirit if we want to have success in missionary work. It is so true and I have seen so many examples of this on my mission. I feel a desire to be more humble, obedient and willing to act on the promptings of the SPirit because I know if I do, i will be able to help more people become converted to the gospel.

Well I hope you all have a great week. I miss you and love you! Time is flying by way too fast, I can't believe I will be 21 here in less than a month! 

Love,

Elder Smith

"I almost don't like air conditioning anymore..."

Date: Sep 30, 2013 7:18 AM

Hello Family,

I am glad you got my box! Ya the juices are really tasty, i love the brown sugar candies too, they are so good! My tastes buds have really advanced Dad, you will be so proud of me when i get back! I eat mushrooms, cabbage, lettuce, onions, beets, and whatever you put on my plate! I feel like I really missed out on a lot of tasty foods over the years because of how picky i was. 

Nat seems like she is doing great now, she said she is playing volleyball and is loving seminary and everything. and thanks for the pictures of the kids, they look way cool in their costumes! I think we are going to have a halloween thing here at the church. 

Well it has been heating up here in Sousa! This was the hottest week it has been here, and there is no escape! I feel pretty used to it now though, I almost don't like air conditioning anymore because it is really cold! We had interviews with our mission president and a district conference this last week. They reorganized the leadership here of the district. I think it will be good for them here. We are pretty close to turning into a stake and so we just need to continue working hard so that our dream can become real!

Our mission president spoke at the conference and said that 50 years when he was baptized, there was only one small branch with 23 active members in the whole northeast of brasil. Now, there are over one hundred stakes and a temple in that same city where he was baptized and had that small branch. It is so great to see how the church can grow and how miracles really happen when we work hard and follow the promptings of the Spirit. These 100 stakes that were created are certainly due to lots of efforts of missionaries and members. 

We are teaching a young man who has changed his life completely. He went to church with his friend who was also an investigator and ever since that first day he has changed completely. after the first meeting that he went to he asked us,''how can i get baptized in this church?'' and ever since that day he has made huge changes in his life and very quickly. I know that anyone can change and follow the gospel if they will just be humble and have a desire.That desire I know comes from the Spirit and I have seen the Spirit work on this young man during these few weeks we have been teaching him.

Well we are working hard and constantly looking for more people to teach and convert. I love it here in Sousa

I love you all and hope you are having a great week.

Papá, voy a hablar mucho español contigo cuando yo llegue en casa por que quero hablar perfectamente. Estaba assistindo una pelicula de la iglesia en español e estaba compreendiendo cuase todo!

Hey Mom,

 Well my license expires on my birthday and so do you think you could check into that to see if you can renew it or get an extension for like 6 months until i get back?

Eu os amamos! Tchau for now!

Elder Smith