Monday, April 23, 2012

So, we baptized this week. A guy named Isaías. Which means Isaiah. He's super legit. He's got alot of difficulties in his life but he wants to follow Christ and be on the right path in his life. And his baptism was a great start along the path of Christ.. Anyways, so this week was kind of slow. My comp was kind of getting everything ready for this week. He's going back to the good 'ol USA on thursday. But anyways, twas a good week. Transfers are up and now my new comp is another American. Elder Davis. So it will be interesting to meet him tomorrow. Also tomorrow is the day of the Special conference with Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles. So that will be really cool to hear again from an apostle of the Lord. The last time we had a special conference with David A. Bednar also of the Quorum of the 12 apostles and that was really awesome. They teach so well and you can just feel that they truly have been called of God as apostles to teach us His gospel and help us to help our fellow man better than we knew how. It's a major blessing to be able to be in the same room and be taught by an apostle of the Lord. I'm excited for tomorrow. Anyways, thats about it for this last week. Until next week,

Elder Bender

Monday, April 16, 2012

So this week my comp and I tried some new ways to contact people. Like setting up a table in front of the church and talking to anyone who showed any interest. We made lots of contacts and some people said we could go to their houses and share a message with them and their families. But, sadly, the ones we went and looked for were not home or the address didn't exist. And then my comp got sick and has been sick for a few days now. Like thursday through today. So that has been fun.......but mostly boring. But we had a man show up at church that we contacted in the street. Really cool guy. Really wants to follow Christ and know the truth. We'll be teaching him tomorrow again. Gunna be cool because he's awesome. Totally an elect of the Lord. But also this next week is transfers. Which means new companion, and also going to the special conference with Quentin L. Cook of the quorum of the twelve apostles on Tuesday. It's going to be really cool to listen to an apostle of God in person. And in english! Anyways, thats about it for this week, hope everyone is doing well. 

Elder Bender 

Monday, April 9, 2012

So this week was a difficult one. Here in Brasil, or maybe just in this particular area, lots of people travel for easter and visit everywhere else. So the city was pretty dead this week. We only able to find one person who was interested in our message. Pretty much everyone else that answered their door was Espírita and wanted nothing to do with us. And for those that don't know what Espíritisma is or ''Spiritism'' Its a religion that was invented by some white dude who basically just wanted money and preached reincarnation and that spirits exist and they can manifest themselves if you do sayance type stuff. Also that you can pretty much do whatever you want as long as you are nice to others and a relatively good person. But then they don't have standards or morals so there isn't anything to really explain how they should be besides that they know they shouldn't kill. It's weird. Because they believe that people who are really bad, are punished in their next life by being reborn as a person with a mental handicap or disability so they can't do anything bad. But because they did nothing bad in that life they are rewarded in their next life with a life full of opportunities and privelage. Also they preach progression of knowledge but they don't remember their past lives so they don't actually progress in knowledge at all. It's weird. But yeah, that was pretty much all that happened this week. Quite the memorable week. Hope everyone had a great Easter and that everyone took some time to ponder on the sacrifice Jesus made for each one of you. And also the events that took place afterwards in which he won the victory over death that we also may do so to fulfill the plan that was made for all of us to return and stand before our maker and be judged according to our works and recieve our just rewards. And also that through the sacrifice of Christ if we repent of our sins, when we stand to be judged, Christ will be our advocate with the Father and prove to the Father that he has taken our sins upon him and that our garments are clean. Remember this sacrifice and seek to be worthy of it through repentance. Love you all and hope you are all well. 

Elder Bender

Monday, April 2, 2012

So, Conference was good and stuff. If you didn't see it, you should watch it. http://www.lds.org/general-conference?lang=eng Go watch it! Anyone will for sure benefit from it. Other than that not much exciting happened. Sad I know. I taught a brazillian that speaks english, in English. That was cool. A little strange because I'm not used to it but cool. And yeah thats pretty much about it. Oh and my comp and I discovered that capybaras do their waste business outside of the water too. Also they run quite fast and are quite expert divers. And that is about it for this week, until next week. 

Elder Bender

Monday, March 26, 2012

So this week was kind of slow. Mostly because we had more downs than ups. But however , we had a baptism! A little girl by the name of Alice. She's turning 11 today. Anyways she is the daughter of a recently re-activated member. They are a really cool family. Also went on a division in the other area here with Elder Braithwaith, that was cool. We had fun and we taught some really cool people. And one guy who was really awesome who really has been prepared by the Lord and wants to know the truth and just get closer to God in his life. So that was a great experience to be able to help him out and answer alot of his questions. It really is amazing how true the gospel is. And how God still speaks to man in our day. He gives us all we need to know and do through our beloved prophet and apostles. To lead us and guide us back to Him because he really loves us more than we can comprehend and doesn't want us to be lost in this world, full of uncertainty not knowing the true path back to his presence though His son Jesus Christ. I love helping people to learn and come to know this for themselves. The spirit is always really strong in those visits with people who really truly desire the truth. These experiences make it all worthwhile. 

Elder Bender