Week 72 Obidos

 

Hey Y'all! Tudo bem? 

This week was another good one! It is now rainy season here! It has been raining almost all week! It is either raining from like 5 am to 2 pm or 1 pm to 11pm. Every day! It reminds me a bit of Louisiana in rainy season but I think it rains a little more here. I have heard that rainy season starts about now and will end in May or June! So thats pretty exciting! 

This week we heard about a family that lives pretty far away that has someone who wasn't baptized, so we went there and the mom was like "only me and my oldest doughter weren't baptized." So we are now teaching the rest of the family!  

Something that I have loved about Óbidos is that a lot of people have such a focus on families! Families are sooo important to God! He loves our families and intends for our families to be eternal, not only a part of our life here! And here the focus is definitely on families! 

This week an apostle of the Lord, Elder Soares, did a devocional online for all of Brasil! Woot woot! It was pretty exciting! My comp and I live pretty far away and so we got to join the zoom call with just us. Normally it was a group of missionaries but it was just us on our screen. So that was a little bitter sweet cause its also nice meet with other missionaries! 

Something that Elder Soares spoke a lot about was faith! That the answer to many of our difficulties is simply increase your faith! He quoted a scripture that I think was really interesting. It said "And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me." This is in Moroni 7:33 in the Book of Mormon. Like I have said recently, God is still a God of miracles! And the only thing lacking is our faith! Now this is sometimes hard to hear, that we really need to increase our faith, but to me that is also the expectation. I do not expect perfection from or anyone else, and neither does God. We are still a work in progress here and no one is going to be perfect. So don't expect perfection and don't expect to stay the same. The Lord is just asking for our honest efforts! 

Now the pictures! Sorry, but I don't have a ton this week! 

1. Elder Caldeira and I waiting for a member so we can do visits with them. 

2. Uncle Iroh because hes awesome. 

3. Our little set up to watch elder soares 

4. A hamburger that we got that was actually pretty good! 

5. Zona Santarém! Now there are 3 other Americans, including 2 others from my group! 

6. A delicious dessert that a member made for us! 

7. A fruit salad some members made! 

8. RIP elder Caldeira's shoes. 

This is about all for this week! Feel free to email me if you would like or if you have any questions! Hope y'all have a great week! 

I love you all! 

Elder Sant 

Acreditar. Amar. Fazer.

Week 71 Obidos

 

Hey Y'all! Tudo bom? 

This week was another fun week. We had a good week of work like normal and we stopped teaching a lot of our friends that weren't progressing very much. But also the members here are helping a ton and we got some referals that are pretty awesome!

We also got the transfer deets and I will be staying here! Woohoo! I have been loving my time here in Óbidos! And Elder Caldeira will be staying here too! So that will be fun to stay another transfer with him! At the end of this transfer I will be about a week shy of 18 months on the mission! I cant believe how fast it is going! 

So yesterday we were leaving one of our lessons which lives pretty far away. And on the way back it started to pour rain! Like one of those good ol' Louisiana rain storms. And my comp and I were walking in the rain with my little umbrella to try to cover us from the rain. The entire right side of my body is soaking wet and the left is dry. And out of nowhere we saw a flash and some sparks in a tree in front of us and a huge "BOOM" the lightning had struck like 20 feet in front of us. So we run to a covered pavilion. And about 10 minutes later we see another flash and hear another "Boom" pretty close to where we had been walking! But luckily we weren't hurt, just very wet afterwards! 

This week I wanted to share a story from the bible that I love and think is a little funny. It is found in Matthew 8. So Jesus and his disciples got on a boat and were in the middle of the sea when it started to storm! And it was getting pretty bad and the apostles were starting to worry! I imagine that they were trying very hard to save the ship, especially because many of them were experienced fisherman and had probably been through a few storms. But Jesus, yeah he was just sleeping. He was perfectly calm, he had such little doubt that he just slept. And when the apostles woke him up and he called them men of little faith and then rebuked the storm. And I think that our life is like this a lot of times. We have a lot of storms, a lot of problems that we are worried about so often, but the Lord is never worried. The Lord has hope in Gods plan. The Lord had the faith to calm the storm then and He has the power now if will act with faith. The Lord is always there to help, but he is often waiting on us to ask. 

Now the pictures! 

1. Açai! It is seriously the best! 

2. One of our lunches this week! Lunch here in Brasil is the best! I swear the only reason I am not getting fatter is because I am walking like 10+ miles per day 

3. Us walking down the street last pday 

4. Walking down the street Sunday 

5. Thay same day but during the storm 

6. A cool arrowhead from an arrow that a member made. He said he likes to hunt wild pigs, fish, and turtles with his bow. 

7. The Zone! 4 of them will be going home next week and we will be getting 6 new missionaries here in the zone! It was a pretty big transfer here. 

This is about all for this week! Feel free to email me if you would like or if you have any questions! Hope y'all have a great week! 

I love you all! 

Elder Sant 

Acreditar. Amar. Fazer. 

Week 70 - Obidos

 

Hey Y'all! Tudo bem? 

This week was a little bit rougher, but we still ended with some success. To start off the week my companion was sick, so we didn't have many opportunities to work. But despite this we were still able to find new people and help others to understand a little more about the restored gospel! 

This week I had the opportunity to go visit a little rural town that has some members there. A member drove us in his car and it was sooooo amazing to see all the beuatiful greenery! I really have never seen a place quit like this! So we drove there, had some wonderdul visits, found people to teach over the phone, and had a pretty good and miraculous lunch. And then we had to return home. But we had almost no money for gas. On the way there it took almost R$70. On the return we had about R$30. So feeling pretty depleted we said a prayer and went on in faith. And it started pretty good. We made it pretty far when the car stopped working. It just stopped. And the moment the car stopped the rain started. And keep in mind we are in the middle of the amazon rain forest. There is no cell connection or internet between cities. So there we were, thinking about having to hike to some farmer and ask to stay the night with him. We stayed in the car for about 30 minutes just trying to think of another way. We ended up saying another prayer and the car started again! And we were on our way in the pouring rain. And occassionally the car would working again, but it always restarted and after a really long and slow drive we made it back to Óbidos. And we never refilled with gas!

 I just want everyone to know that this was the second time on my mission that our car stopped working while we were really far away from our house. I don't know many pwople that can say that! The first time we were about 45 minutes from home with missionaries less than an hour away. The second time we were about 2 hours from home with the closest missionaries probably 24 hours away! So it was quite an experience, and it is one that I will never forget! 

So speaking of this experience, it is kind of obvious that there some miracles involved in this! A car that stopped working, was able to start back up again almost without any problems and we made it back with half the amount of Gas! And there were more miracles that happened while we were visiting the city! All of this reminded me of a scripture from the Book of Mormon, in Mormon 9:11, it says "But behold, I will show unto you a God of miracles, even the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and it is that same God who created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are." There is still a God of miracles here on the earth! He will still do miracles for rhose that have faith in Him! I testify that God loves eaxh and everyone of you and the moment you turn to Him in faith He will show his power in your life! Also, I invite all of you to read this chapter in the Book of Mormon, Mormon 9. I know that you all will feep the spirit more abundantly in your life if you read this chapter with an attitude of what you need to change! Here is a link to this chapter:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/morm/9?lang=eng

Now the pictures! 

1. The views from the highway were great! This is when we stopped one time 

2. Our zone in a meeting this week! 

3. Another view from the highway! 

4. Another view from the highway! This place is so special! 

5. Last photo, but I have a ton more! 

6. Leaving our house very early so that we could go visit Curua! 

This is about all for this week! Feel free to email me if you would like or if you have any questions! Hope y'all have a great week! 

I love you all! 

Elder Sant 

 

Acreditar. Amar. Fazer. 

Week 69 Obidos

 

Hey Y'all! Blz? 

This week was good one! We finished our exchange this week and it was pretty fun! We saw a lot of miracles this week, although two of our baptismal dates got canceled because their mom doesn't want them getting baptized! But she accepted hearing our messages, so we are gonna start teaching her! 

This week at the end of the exchanges Elder Azevedo and I waited on my comp and his comp to get back. They were supposed to be on a boat that would arrive in Óbidos at 3 pm, so we got there at like 2:30. And the 3 pm boat comes and goes but they don't get off! So we thought that we mistaked the boat. But after an hour of waiting we starting thinking that they fell asleep and were halfway to another city! And after another hour, at 5 pm we started to get worried that there was a problem with their boat. They were riding a boat that goes super fast! Like more than 100 kilometers per hour. But there is a lot of debris in the amazon river and it is very easy to hit the debris if someone isn't watching. And to hit debris at that speed would sink the boat. So we were starting to get a little worried, but it all worked out. They arrived on a whole nother boat at 5:30. They said they traded boats at the last second but they didn't warn us and thats why they were two hours late. 

Besides that it was a pretty regular week! We had some good lessons and a lot of service again and all good things! 

This week was also general conference! I loved it so much! It was pretty interesting watching in another language but, to me, the fact that they translate it to many other languages is just another testament that this is the Church of Jesus Christ. And it is a worldwide church which is also something so special! But at this conference I felt that there were 3 main  themes : 

       - God loves us perfectly and we have a purpose! 

       - Joy is about the focus of our life, not our circumstances 

       - Look to the future to stay on the covenant path 

I feel like all of these things are so important in our day to day life! We need to remember these things as we strive to become a better disciple of Christ! If you have any questions about General Conference I would be happy to answer them! Or if you would like to share what you learned from conference I would be happy to hear! 

Now the pictures! 

1. One of our service projects 

2. After said service project 

3. Açai with the elderes! 

4. The return of Elder Caldeira 

5. And here is our zone/district! I have loved serving in this zone soooo much! 

6. So quick funny story. So Elder Azevedo and I payed our boat pass to travel between Santarém and Óbidos. And because of this we had no money. Not even enough to buy clean water. So we started boiling our water this week to clean it as best we could. But two days later our bank account refilled and we bought more water so were good now. 

7. A little more of the delicious brasilian food I get to eat here! 

This is about all for this week! Feel free to email me if you would like or if you have any questions or people to pray for! Hope y'all have a great week! 

Com muito amor, 

Elder Sant 

Week 68 Obidos

 

Hey Y'all! Blz? 

 This week was another great one! We had a visit from one of the leaders of our church here in Brasil and it was such an amazing thing to be there with him! 

So this week we took a boat to Santarém and because we didn't have any luggage we slept in hammocks on the boat. And I slept surprisingly well. I might even say I slept better than in a bed! And so thursday we had our big meeting with Elder Koch and it was super special! Normally in these meetings its me and at least 100 other missionaries so there isn't a lot of one on one interaction, but in this meeting with him it was my, him, and 12 other people! It was sooo amazing to talk with Him and learn with Him! 

Afterwards we started a divisão. So one elder came here to my area and is gonna be working with me for one week while my comp works in his area for a week. And it has been an absolute blast! I have been working with elder azevedo and ele é o mito! We have been working pretty hard and having a lot of fun! We found a lot of new people and marked 2 baptismal dates! So I am pretty stoked for all of this!  

This week in our training the area seventy asked us what is our ultimate goal in this journey of life? And there were lots of answers but one of them is happiness. Not just happiness, but eternal happiness! There is a difference, and of that I am certain. Football brings me a lot of happiness, but the happiness I feel when I am living the commandments, or when I am in the temple, or when I get to witness the miracle of someones life changing because of the Gospel of our Savior, Jesus Christ, is a different kind of happiness and I honestly haven't felt anything equal! There is definitely a path to happiness and God is preparing each one of us to feel this Happiness in our life! I know that God loves us and only wants whats best for us, even if we have to change, its all for our eternal happiness! 

Now the pictures! 

1. On the boat in the morning before the meeting.  

2. Os elderes de Santarém! 

3. Zona Santarém! Vem que vem! 

4. The goofy photo 

5. Some more brazilian cowboy hats! 

6. Yesterday one of our friends grabbed a huge stick, like 3 meters long and knocked a cocunut out of his tree. Actually 4 coconuts. He cut open the first 3 and we drink the water inside, which was really good! And then the 4th, which had already dried, he cut open and we ate the meat inside! It was honestly a great experience! 

7. Elder Sant e Açai! This is one of Brazil's biggest producers of Açai 

8. The açai plant! 

9. And this is Açai when you eat it! It's honestly sooo delicious! 

10. This is pure açai!  The liquid! The only eat it this way here in the north, and its also very good! 

11. Óbidos is the best area I have yet seen on my mission! Its soooo great here! 

This is about all for this week! Feel free to email me if you would like or if you have any questions or people to pray for! Hope y'all have a great week! 

Com muito amor, 

Elder Sant 

Acreditar. Amar. Fazer.

Week 67 Obidos

 

Falaaaa gente! Beleza? 

Just another good week here in Óbidos. We had abother wedding and baptism! This week was sooo miracled filled! We saw the hand of God working directly with the lives of the people that were willing to work with him! 

I could honestly write for days about the miracles we have seen! It sometimes seemed like it was miracle after miracle after miracle! So I'll just say that yes our friends have had a lot of problems! But they have also had a lot of miracles in their life! If you want the details, send me an email and I will try to write a little part of what happened. 

This week I was thinking a lot about General Conference, when the apostles of God will talk to us! It is really such a special opportunity to learn! I remember at the last conference we learned from President Nelson about faith! I think that it is amazing that of all of the things He could have talked about He chose the first principle of the Gospel. God really is a God od miracles! Miracles have not stopped, they continue to happen to this with faith in Christ! I would like to invite all of you to read President Nelson's talk before conference! If you have any questions about this, let me know! 

Now the pictures! 

1. A cool monkey we saw this week! 

2. I forgot to send this but this was after a service project last week. We were helping one of our investigators build a house! We'll just say I got super sweaty and super sandy! 

3. Another wedding celebration! 

4. And the wedding! 

5. BATISMO!!! 

6. Baptism of Lucineia 

7. Baptism of Deuzarino 

8. Peeping over my comps shoulder at a ward activity! 

9. So Friday we walked like 30-40 minutes to the wedding at 7:30 am, and we resolved all of the problems and after we had a meeting online at 9 am so we had to run for 30 more minutes to get to the chapel for the meeting. And well by the end of the meeting we were starving, so we baught nascau, the brazilian equivalent of coco puffs! 

This is about all for this week! Feel free to email me if you would like or if you have any questions or people to pray for! Hope y'all have a great week! 

Com muito amor, 

Elder Sant 

Acreditar. Amar. Fazer.