I am staying in Rio

Hey everyone, this week was really good. I am staying in Rio in Campos and just loving what we are doing!! I was put back with one of my old comps, Elder Freire!! haha it was super funny! I was sitting on the phone waiting to know who was my new comp and he was sitting in the Transfers and they call my name and then his and everyone starts laughing and screaming and I couldn't hear his name and he said that he didn't hear his name either. So everyone is looking around to see him stand up and it was his old comp who had to send him to reality and tell him that it was me that was his new comp... AGAIN!!! Haha it was funny!!

But we are working really well together and everything is going good. We have a few potential investigators but I don't remember a lot about what happened this week. We spent some time at the Dr. getting a few things checked out so that has taken up a little bit of time but we have been running around trying to get more people to teach. A few of the people we have taught have been really progressing and it is awesome!!! We are really excited to go back and teach them again and see what we can do to help them receive the gifts of the restored gospel. We met one man named Bruno who really wants to find the right church and then wants to be able to preach the gospel. He wants to be a MISSIONARY!!! ha ha 

The only other thing that really happened this week was my studying! I found a lot of comfort in these few scriptures!!

D&C 64:33-34

D&C 78:6-7

D&C 76:22-23

These scriptures really helped me out this week!!! 

Well sorry it's so short but I gotta go but I will write more next week.

Love you all,

Elder Stilson:)

The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ

 

Hey everyone!! This week has been awesome!!! There are SO many great blessings that I have seen this week!! And every day that goes by there are more and more miracles! I KNOW THAT GOD AND JESUS CHRIST LIVE!!!! 

Yep, they chopped off Xavier's head again!

This week first off I have to say HHHHAAAAAPPPPPYYYYY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST MOM IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I won't get to celebrate it this year with her but next year we are gunna party HARD right Mom;) ha ha Yep she agrees!!! Well this week was amazing!! And I have to start off with Monday! We were watching a movie called Ephraim's Rescue. The main Character has a blessing from God due to his faith in God which was demonstrated through his obedience and diligence. So after the movie and the miracle that was shown, I really wanted to have that kind of

faith. I studied and prayed that God help me gain that kind of faith. Well again that means trials on your faith to make you stronger. We left the house and started knocking doors because the people we have been teaching haven't been progressing all that much. Alice and her family cut us this last week. I am really sad that we didn't get to teach them more. They are family that is so special and has so much potential!! So we had nothing and Jessica was

traveling. So the first couple of doors were just slammed on our faces and it wasn't all that good. At abou7 ish we knocked one door and a lady answered it. She is a member of the Jehovah's Witness church. As we talked it turn into a "Who is Right" Contest. We then asked her what she thought about Prophets. She said that the Calling of Prophets had stopped when Christ had died and that the Bible was the only religious book that she needs in her life. I then asked "Well, what about the people here in the Americas? Don't they deserve to hear Gods voice as well?" She said ABSOLUTELY!!! Then it got into "Well then, where are those scriptures?" She said that only God knows and that she would like to know one day.   ( I GOT REALLY EXCITED AT THAT POINT, Like a missionary who has been out one day!!!:) I told her that we have those records and that we have a message that explains about this. She then went back and said "No I only believe in the Bible!" Then she ran because she had to go and finish cooking her dinner and give it to her kids... OOOOOH, SO CLOSE! We are going  to try to go back and at least give her the Book of Mormon so that she can pray about it.

 



Visiting the city of Vitoria for a Doctors appointment!

After that, Elder Rosário and I walked around a corner and knocked another door. This time they had a doorbell with a camera and an intercom. I really didn't want to just ring the door bell so I clapped my hands and stayed way away from the camera hee hee ;) The lady started talking on the intercom asking who it was. I stood really close to the camera so that she could just see my belly button;) I told her that we were from The Church of Jesus Christ. She asked ..."of the Latter-day saints?" OPPA YEP! She then started to say how she was form the Baptist church and that we should go and find someone who doesn't know the word of God. I then said "Sister are here with a message that is super special for EVERYONE! It doesn't matter if you have a religion or not. It is not to take away your faith but to allow it to grow!" Somewhere during that she hung up the intercom. Yeah , I really don't like it when people are

disrespectful. If you don't want to talk to me TELL ME STRAIGHT UP that you don't want to talk to me! DONT HANG UP ON ME!! So I Bent down and Just looked into the Camera and waited for her to pick up the intercom again!:) And she did! While I was just looking, smiling at the camera, I think she might have gotten a little scared because she send her husband out to talk to us. She picked up the intercom right as her husband answered the door. Long story short, this man is a Pastor of a Baptist Church (Another church that doesn't believe in Prophets or Miracles). He started to BIBLE BASH with us and say just things that aren't in the Bible. I called his bluff one and opened up the bible on one which was WAY out of the air.. We kept talking to him JUST WANTING TO SHOW THE TRUTHES AND NOT BIBLE BASH! We both kept our heads as he kept trying to see if we really knew what we were teaching and we stopped him at every turn.

It truly was through the spirit that we talked to him. Then at the end we did the same this as we did with the Jehovah Witness and started talking about the Book of Mormon. But this man was a little more intelligent and FELT THE SPIRIT! I explained simply about The Book of Mormon and how this is LIVING PROOF that we have PROPHETS TODAY!! This pastor really wasn't ignorant and had ideas that were good. And when we showed the truth he kept COMPLETELY SILIENT!!! I once heard that "If the Book of Mormon had legs there would be NO NEED for missionaries". I know that this is true. A lot of the Leaders of this mission here a few transfers ago had a training on how we as missionaries are here "To convince people to be baptized"... When I heard that I did NOT agree. My purpose is to INVITE and the Spirit is to convince! The Book of Mormon is TRUE and there are so many great blessings that we can receive from it! This pastor promised to read it and pray about it and go to church next Sunday. I am only two legs of the Book of Mormon and I know that if we as missionaries or as MEMBERS talk more about this book to more people we will bless their lives as well! My dad send me and email this morning talking EXACLTY about this. He said " I came across a quote by Wilford Woodruff about the book of Mormon. " All the ingenuity of all the men under heaven could not compose and present to the world a book like the book of Mormon. It's principles are divine, they are from God. They could never emanate from the mind of an imposter, or from the mind of a person writing a novel. Why? Because the promises and prophesies it contains are being fulfilled in the site of all the earth."  That's why it's so important to teach from it, to read and study it and learn of it. It will bless your life and those that read it.   

 

 

I know just as my dad that the blessings of the Book of Mormon which invites all men to read the messages that it contains and then to ask God the Eternal Father if it is True. I have done this many times throughout my mission and I know that if any of you are struggling with anything in your life ESPECIALLY about the church to read The Book of Mormon and ask God to reveal it to you! THE CHURCH IS TRUE! THIS IS THE WORK OF THE LORD! What an amazing privilege it is to have the confidence of the Lord to be able to teach these things with other people who, Like the pastor, have a greater knowledge of the scriptures than I do. But 

I KNOW that what I am doing is true and I want everyone else to find this out for themselves! I am not here to convince anyone of anything. That is the purpose of EVERY OTHER church here on the earth. To get you to have confidence in a MAN rather than GOD.

 

2 Nephi 9:41 says:

O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.

I am here to teach about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith was not a Messiah but a Prophet of the Lord. And Now Thomas S. Monson is his LIVING prophet; a mouth piece to show us what we need to do. I know that everything that I am teaching people about is TRUE! I love the Lord and am trying to serve him the VERY BEST THAT I CAN!! I KNOW THAT CHRIST LIVES!!!
In His name, even Christ Jesus, amen.

Elder Stilson

To Love the people

 

 

Hey everyone!! So this week was another great week. This is the last week of another transfer. It is going by CRAZY FAST!!! It is nuts!!! Everything here is going great. We are serving a lot of people and the new mission President is helping us have a lot of success. Yesterday we confirmed Nair as the newest member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the True church of our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ who governs this church. It was amazing to see her change and she still hasn’t even had 1 drop of coffee since the week before her baptism. I am super happy and super excited for her.
We have also been working with a lot of less actives. We are trying to get them back to church and to help them receive the blessings of an eternal family. One member we are teaching is an 77 year old man named Amaro. He is super funny. Unfortunately he lost his wife 2 years ago. When we visited him on Saturday he told us he would go to church but asked if there was a Single adult class. Ummm… well, my comp told him yes.. Then the man asked if the church prayed for people to meet wives. Ha ha, Thank heaven my comp said no to that one but now he is coming back to church to find him a pretty little lass! Ha ha this man is super funny!!!

We have also been meeting with some younger people. One is a less active named Marcelino. He is the most amazing person. He is so Christ like. If he sees or hears of someone who doesn’t have a shirt he will take his own off of his back and give it to them right then and there. He is awesome but he has a few issues. Here in Campos Rio de Janeiro they do not enforce the law that Marijuana is illegal so he is kind of a pot head. We are teaching both he and his girlfriend Jéssica. They are awesome people but we got to try to help them get off of this crap.. Oh and Jéssica is pregnant. She said that on ONE site on the internet it said that marijuana helped with morning sickness and that it doesn’t affect the child….. I was so surprised to hear her say that. I talked with her and tried to help her understand the dangerous risks. Hopefully she will listen. But they are awesome and we are working hard to help them.

 

This week we were walking in one neighborhood and got a little lost. We couldn’t find one road we needed to take. Well at the corner of the road there was a pastor of the Assembly of God church and I had a weird impression to go and talk to him. (I HAVE NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT ASKING A PASTOR OF THE ASSEMBLY OF GOD FOR DIRECTIONS). I went and asked him for directions but he didn’t where the road was but he told us to talk to the lady in the little mini market across the street. As we turned to walk away he said

 "Yeah I was part of the church 5 years ago!" OPA, so we turned around and talked to him. He told us about his life and about what happened. He said that he was the Ward mission Leader and Elders Quorum President and 1st counselor in the Bishopric. He even went through the temple and made the covenants with God but then went inactive. While he was talking I felt so bad. We talked about the Book of Mormon with him and gave our testimonies. We tried to help him remember the things he knew. After we talked with him for a while we could see he was firm in rejecting all the doctrine I felt such a deep sorrow for him. It was the first time on the mission that I have REALLY seen how much I love the people here. It is hard to love some people you just met on the street but you learn it and the work is so much easier and much more worth it because you realize that "The worth of EVERY SOUL is GREAT in the eyes of God"  and that we are the children of the same Heavenly Father!!
 
Love you all!
Elder Stilson

 

 

 

 

The power of prayer and fasting

 

 

Hey everyone so this week was really good! Besides the bloody humidity of Brasil everything is awesome! J   I have been learning more and more and have had amazing experiences this week!

 

But first off.... Happy Birthday Shea!!! LOVE YOU!!! I can’t believe you are 19!!! And that here in 42 days you will be going into the MTC to start serving the Lord!!! I am so proud of you!!! LOVE YOU SIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

This week we had the baptism of Nair. She is the 75 year old lady who completely gave up coffee and was able to change her life around. It was an amazing opportunity to see this little old lady accept the blessings of Baptism. She is super special and it was amazing to see how she has changed her life.

 

We are also met an amazing family. There is a 16 year old girl who has so many questions about the church and the doctrine. It has been awesome being able to teach them and see how much, especially the 16 year old, wants to learn. They have been reading and praying and hopefully this family will accept baptism. We love them so much!!!

 



Above the drying laundry is the only window in Xavier's apartment. Yep, that little hole cut out in the wall, that's their window!

The window from outside looking in!

I don’t have much more time so I am running but this week was great with studying!! I read something that really gave me a better prospective on things.

1 Nephi 1:1  I, Xavier, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days.

 

 

Due to the things that my parents taught me, I have learned to be a better person and I can really see the blessings of having people in my life who care about me and want what is best for me! Love you Mom and Dad!!!

 

I have also seen the power of prayer and fasting with the blessings that happened with my little brother Tyce after being in the hospital this past week. With the seizure that he had and the test that they ran we will be able to find out what they can do to help him with his epilepsy. I know that the Lord lives and loves each of us and I know that he listens to our prayer and helps us when we need it!! Thanks to all of you who prayed for Tyce with us. I love you all.

 

Elder Stilson

This elder is Ironing his sheets because they didn't dry!