September 30, 2009

Hi family!!So this week was great we had a baptism and everyone in the ward is loving us! I am so grateful for the Lord helping us in this work, it´s all about faith. With a little bit of faith, believing it´s possible, anything is possible. Blessings are pouring down upon us. It´s funny because my bishop here of the ward is going to conference also there in SLC!! He has a son that lives there. Haha. If you see any brasilians, Bryce, it´s my bishop and his wife. Hahaha. Give them candy corn to bring to me--I am missing all the Halloween goods! So, we are good, I don´t know what else to share this week, we are surviving. It´s official, I hate my clothes and I hate wearing skirts all the time. It´s the little things in life we take for granted like Jeans!!! Hahaha. We are teaching some amazing people and are planning to do a tour tonight with some pesquisadores at the temple. It´s such a blessing to have a temple in the mission. It´s our zone's turn to go through the temple next p-day!!!Hurrah!! I am glad to hear life is good at home. And boring and tranquil. Hey do you know if BYU-Hawaii has master programs and portugues classes?? I want to study there with Bryce!!We´ll be going to the stake center to watch conference with our investigators and ward--it´ll be great!!I love you all!!Rachel

September 23, 2009

The mission is good. I wasn´t transfered. Sister Santos and I are still together in this place... We are the first missionaries to acheive baptisms in this city. It´s crazy... The Lord has really blessed us. We found a family and taught them Monday. The mom cried as I taught about Joseph Smith and they accepted to be baptized. They´re catholic so it´s going to take some time to change. The family is beautiful, the mom is an english teacher. It´s really neat. During the lesson Sister Santos was astounded I didn´t make any mistakes in speaking portugues. It´s such a crazy feeling how the Spirit uses you as a tool. It´s like you´re out of your body and you just talk... words are placed in your mouth. It´s definitely the missionary mantel and power that we are ordained with. So the Spirit can convert people to the gospel. That´s why it´s so important to obey all the rules and live a higher law to be worthy of the Spirit. 6 more weeks in this place. I can´t believe the more part of my mission has been here in Campinas. We are helping another couple get married to be baptized. They marked the wedding already October 10th!! The guy is already a member and ready to be bishop. He comes to church in a white shirt and tie already. It´s really cool to see how he has changed so fast, it was a night-to-day change. The Lord prepares people for us to find. It´s like a giant easter egg hunt except we´re hunting for the Elected people. It´s great to be part of the Lord´s work. I love being a missionary. It´s all about loving to sacrifice everything to deserve the Lord´s blessings. Serving a mision is definitely the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I love you thanks for always writting!!love Rachel

September 16, 2009

I have totally changed, Mom. I feel like I can finally say I know Jesus Christ. I know Him and love Him. He is my light and life. With Him all things are possible. I look at portraits of Him differently I feel His love and his spirit with me. We need to learn to confide in Him more. To be more humble and realize we are totally dependent on Him. I have always fought for independence in my life, you know that. And I have always wanted the pride of being self suffcient. But I know it will never happen. I will always be dependent upon someone because I am imperfect and make mistakes. I understand more with clarity why, it´s to make us humble. It´s amazing... I stand in ah a lot of time at how simple and wonderful the truth is. I love searching for truth and teaching it to others. Everyday is a battle to do what is right and it all depends on our descions. We are here on earth to be happy and to prepare to meet God. Our daily descions on how we choose to spend our time should reflect on these purposes. The mission is great I am learning a ton and can´t wait to see you all again. To hug you and cry of happiness because God is merciful and sent me to a wonderful family, an eternal family. Love, Rache

September 2, 2009

Hello minha família, So I found a man on the street this week who dosen´t speak portugues, he´s from Florida and I kept on tripping over my words and wanting to speak portugues and it was embarrassing as I couldn´t speak English directly. Two more baptisms this week the Lord has really blessed us. And we continue to fight for this great cause. If people could just understand there is something greater than life and there is something that will help us all with our problems and difficulties and that´s the Gospel and Atonement of Jesus Christ. We humans can be so blind to the bigger picture, eternal life. Every day I feel dumbfounded at the simplicity of the truth. People are looking for answers, searching for angels to appear, the earth to quake, a huge explosion to yell this is the TRUTH. They want it to be harder to achieve eternal life. But when it all comes down to the truth it´s faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring until the end. The way is clear, easy to understand, possible and simple and it´s unique that it manifests through the quiet whisperings of the Spirit. A mission changes a person. Here´s a description of the change… People ask at times what you would do if Jesus Christ was in front of you? Before the mission I said I would give him a hug and now on the mission I would fall to my knees crying in gratitude. This is how the mission is changing me. In the beginning of the mission I felt there is something bigger than me. There is something more than life, than school, than possessions, than anything. And it´s true there is something more, I have finally placed my finger on it and found it; something that is greater than life itself and encompasses everyone is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It´s Him and the life he gave for us all that is worth giving everything for. I love you all!!Rachel