We have the greatest message in the world!!

                                                                                                          Dec. 12, 2016

 

Hi Harris Family!! So, I´m super excited for this Christmas season!! It´s pretty hot here in Brasil, and it rains a lot, and I´m pretty tan, so it´s not my ideal Christmas season with a lot of snow and ice on the streets, but I´m loving it.

This past week I had the opportunity to go to the temple, and Heavenly Father told me that I had to be more unified with my companion and with the members in our Ward. This past week, I tried to see from the perspective of my companion. We decided to work more as a district to share messages with the members at lunch, asking them if they could strengthen less actives in the ward because we have been noticing that the visiting teacher program and home teacher program hasn´t been functioning as good as it should be, and that many less active or completely inactive members aren´t being visited by members, but only by missionaries. We are trying to change that.

This past week, I shared a message with a woman in our ward named Alessandra after lunch, who has been helping Aurea (bruna´s mom) come back to church, and has been integrating her more, being her friend, and always sending her invites to conferences/church.

I shared a message about service and how it is our responsibility to take upon us the name of Jesus Christ and serve as he would as members of the church, and then invited her family to think of someone who is less active in the ward, or who sits alone in the ward without talking to anyone, and is just going through the motions. I then asked them if they knew anyone who was going through difficulties staying on the strait and perfect path to eternal life, and they mentioned some names. The mom, Alessandra, grabbed pieces of paper, and had her children (her son and teenage daughter) write down some names on a piece of paper, and she invited them to send them a message on their phone that same day, saying how much they missed seeing them in church.

In that lesson at lunch, I learned a great lesson. We have to encourage one another, in unity, to unify our Wards and Stakes and world as members of the church. Enduring to the end, as Aurea told us this past week, is one of the hardest steps because it includes a sincere desire to change, and it includes the courage to stand up for what is right in a world that stands for what is wrong.

This past week, we had a mission tour with Elder Aidukaitis, one of the members of the quorum of the seventy, who is working here in Brasil. He visited our mission, and told us what we could do to improve. He focused a lot on just having courage and being bold. We have the greatest message in the world--that one day, if we follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and accept His restored Gospel, we can have eternal life and enter into the Kingdom of God. We can´t be afraid to open our mouths on the bus, or in any place we may be in. We have to be courageous in all that we do, and we have to stand for that which is true. This is the only true church on the face of this Earth, and I know it because Heavenly Father has told me so, numerous times through the Holy Ghost.

I love you all!! Fun fact: I´m preparing to participate in a talent show this Christmas in our mission Christmas activity! I´m going to sing with another Brasilian sister, Sister Pereira (who lives in our house here in Vargem) a medley of the two hymns, Come Thou Fount, and If You Could Hie to        Kolob. Our Christmas activity is on the 21st, and our ward Christmas dinner is this Saturday. So many exciting events going on!

Also, Ernest and Eder are preparing to be baptized on Christmas Eve. We are trying to work hard with them so that that can happen.

LOVE YOU ALL!!! Never forget I pray for you all often!!