We must experience pain and suffering in order to experience joy and happiness!

                                                                                                                 Dec. 7, 2015
Dear Family,

 

I´m really excited to know that everything went well with the German market, and that Theo, Bekah, Reuben, and Jade will be able to reunite as a beautiful family in Wisconsin!!!

I want to tell you all that I sent Christmas gifts for each one of you with a Sister in my ward!!! BE EXCITED!!!!! Hopefully Hilary will be able to pick them up in Orem before the 18th of December so you can all have a part of Brasil with you this Christmas!!!

I want to share just a few pictures of our multi-zone activity.

 

 

 

This past week Sandro accepted Baptism!!! At the beginning of the week, we taught him a lesson about baptism, faith, and repentance, and Sister Bezerra and I knew that the Lord touched his heart because he normally bible bashes, but this one night he chose to just listen, and let the Spirit sink into his heart. He hadn´t been reading the Book of Mormon, so we read with him in 2 Nephi 31, and he thought it was beautifully written. He is preparing for baptism on the 19th of December, Natal Branco (white christmas), the day when all the missionaries are scheduling baptisms for their investigators in order to have a great huge number of people baptized for Christmas in the mission. He didn´t attend church this past Sunday unfortunately because he had to take a test for college, but pray that he will this next Sunday!! A little bit about Sandro: Sandro is an investigator who is always smiling! He has a strong desire to learn more about Jesus Christ, and knows that repentance is a gift, something that is exciting and joyful, something to be cherished, and not something that is sad and burdensome. He always makes Sister Bezerra and I smile, and I remember at the end of the lesson, Sister Bezerra and I walked back home at night, jumping up and down with a huge grin on our faces because he had finally accepted baptism, and finally accepted the Book of Mormon!

This past week we also taught Kleber about the Plan of Salvation and about the Book of Mormon. It was really cool when he re-explained to Sister Bezerra and I the importance of having a plan of salvation and happiness in this life, and seeing the gears click in his head while teaching us what the plan meant to him. During the lesson I felt the Spirit testify to me of the importance of experiencing pain and suffering in order to experience joy and happiness in this life. Kleber has some fears about what other members of his congregation will think of him if he attends The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but I told him that it is more important to have a love for God than a fear of man in this life. His testimony will depend on his answer that he receives if the Book of Mormon is true, and so we are going to follow up with him this week to see if he received an answer from Heavenly Father. 

As for Karina...we finally contacted her one night because a member was able to give us a ride afterwards in Colinas. She read parts of the Book of Mormon we left for her, and she handed us the book of mormon at the end, thinking it was something that she simply borrowed. She was shocked to know it was a present, and was extremely happy to know she could keep it! We are going to teach her this next Sunday because her work schedule recently has been more busy than usual. It was meant to be that we couldn´t find a ride in Colinas at night in order to teach her these past few weeks because her work schedule had changed to go past 10 o clock recently at nights. We are going to invite her to be baptized this next Sunday. 

This past week I had a few scary rejections while making contacts on the street. One lady was cold-hearted one day, and she asked many questions just to trip me up as to why I was here in Brasil when in the united states we already have the Church there, why brasilians need an american to come to Brasil to preach to them, and so on...She said that there wouldn´t be any day that the missionaries could share a message with her and her family, and at the end of the contact, I almost cried because I was so offended by some of the things she said. I soon said a prayer in my heart, however, thanking my heavenly Father for letting me experience rejection in order to see the goodness of acception in Brasil. Many people here love Jesus Christ, and are very accepting of missionaries, and I am sure grateful right now that I have the opportunity to serve here and find God´s elect amidst a crowd of people who are searching for a Savior. 

I love each and every one of you. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve. Every time I testify of the Atonement, I feel of the reality of it. I am so grateful for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It is the only sacrifice that allows us to approximate closer to our Heavenly Father--to speak to Him, to return to Him, to Remember Him. 

Know that He is always listening to the thoughts and intents of your heart, and He knows each one of you personally--your strengths, your weaknesses, your deepest feelings. He can strengthen you in times of trial, and He is always there with open arms, ready to embrace us when we have success or fall on our knees in failure. 

I LOVE EACH ONE OF YOU!!!!!! TCHAU TCHAU!!!

BOA SEMANA!!!

Sister Harris