Service Blesses Ourselves and Others

                                                                                                           August 1, 2016

Hi Family!!! So, I really quickly wanted to tell you of the love I have for each one of you. 

Yesterday in church, we talked about how we can keep the Sabbath day holy with our families, and I thought back to when we always went on Sunday walks as a family, or had family home evenings or family counsel Sunday night, and we really tried to put the Lord first and our families first on Sunday. I am so grateful to belong to such a strong, spiritual family. 

This past week we had a lot of opportunities to serve.  We had the opportunity to help serve Sister Thomas and Emily by helping Emily create a little movie about patriarchal blessings for her youth conference  She interviewed us in front of the temple about how our patriarchal blessings have blessed us in the mission. It was a wonderful experience and I felt the Spirit so strongly.

Later, they took us out to dinner for all-you-can-eat pizza.

We have been serving the members more, and asking them if they know anyone who needs to feel of Heavenly Father´s love for them, and they have been helping us with references.

We decided to make chocolate chip cookies (here in this area, we receive chocolate chips from American families because they don´t really have them here), and we made some for a Sister in the ward whose nephew passed away suddenly. We left them in a box with a note and expression of our love for her with the security man of her apartment building, and she later received them and ate them with her husband and kids. Yesterday, she told us she was so grateful to receive the cookies and the sweet note, and we felt so good inside.

We have been able to wash a lot of dishes and find other ways to serve in this area as we have looked for opportunities.
 

We ate lunch with with Irmã Raimunda and her grandson, Adam
and were able to serve her by washing a lot of dishes.

Speaking of service, a member that visited New York served us by bringing us some sweet treats.

This past week, we had an interview with President Thomas, and he told us of how all the missionaries in this mission just need to talk with everyone they pass by as a friend would talk with another friend. They just need to be their friend, and complement them or ask them how their day is going, and then, after being their friend, and expressing their love for them, sharing with them the gospel that is the reason why they´re so happy. He said that when we talk to people on the Street, we automatically present ourselves, saying who we are, and they don´t want to hear that we are missionaries or that we are members of a Church. They don´t have time for that, or they aren´t interested. They need to first see our example, and first look at us a representatives of Jesus Christ full of light and love.

This past week, we applied this in our contacts with people on the street, and it´s been working a lot better. People actually stop to talk with us more, and they end up having a desire to learn more about the Church. We aren´t just robots or ´´crentes´´ (people who are really religious believers), but we are good people who are just trying to follow Christ´s example;

My companion and I this week are creating a goal to just pray to Heavenly Father as a companionship, and ask him where we should go, who we should visit, and how we can do more of his will. 

I love this Gospel, and I know that service makes the world of a difference in someone´s life.