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. 

Week 66 Obidos

 

Hey Y'all! Tudo bem!? 

This week was very busy and very tiring but I'm loving it! We literally had one day that we left our house ready to work (dressed in missionary attire and all) at 7 am and didn't get back to our house until 9:30 pm! It's busy work but it's well worth it! 

We had a wedding this week which was fun to see a Brasilian reception, they are definitely very creative. And we had a baptism of the same family! Woot woot! So I am feeling pretty grateful for all of the blessings God has given us! There are so many in all of our lives and sometimes we just need to sit down and make a list of everything we are grateful for and realize that they are all blessings from a loving Heavenly Father! 

This week I found a scripture that really stood out to me! It is in the Book of Mormon in Helaman 3:27-28 which says:

27 Thus we may see that the Lord is merciful unto all who will, in the sincerity of their hearts, call upon his holy name.

28 Yea, thus we see that the gate of heaven is open unto all, even to those who will believe on the name of Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God.

God will really forgive us of all of our sins, mistakes, and shortcomings! And I know that that might not sound like huge thing, and I didn't think it was either until I had acted on this promise and called upon His name and asked for forgiveness! And the feeling that we get is irreplaceable! There is no greater feeling than the peace we can all feel after repentance! I know that God is merciful and that repentance is a necessary part of His plan for us! 

Now the pictures! 

1. A lizard I caught while cleaning the chapel for the baptism. We were filling the font and we went to check to see the depth of the water. And this guy was just big chillin in the middle. So we got a stick and got him out and after that he didn't want to leave! 

2. A cute puppy that fell asleep at my feet during one of our lunches! 

3. Fun fact, Pará is sooo hot because there are actually two suns here on the equator. It is a little known fact but it is confirmed. 

4. The magnificent Zona Santarém! 

5. This sweet bamboo-like food/juice here in Pará 

6. O Casal! The wedding couple! 

7. More photos of the wedding 

8. Their baptism! I am sooo happy for them, they have been working so hard for this and have had so many difficulties but they have definitely persevered and started their journey with Christ! 

9. The wedding reception! 

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 65 Obidos

 

Hey Y'all! Tudo bem!? 

This week was a fast one but good too! We didn't baptize anyone but we marked 4 dates for baptisms in the next two weeks! So yeah I am pretty pumped for the next few weeks! 

This week my comp and I were in the "Centro" neighborhood where all the older buildings are and it was pretty sweet to see all the old stuff here in this little town! There is a portuguese castle here, it has a wonderful site of the river. They built it here because this is the most straight part of the Amazon river, also the skinniest, or something like that. So it was cool to see a little of the history of Óbidos! And also it is always cool to think that we are soooo close to the Amazon River! So I took a lot of pictures of the river when we were passing it! 

This week I loved a scripture that is in 1 Nephi 15:27. This is talking about the vision of the tree of life! It is talking about the river of filthiness that a lot of people tried to cross but they ended up drowning in it! But it said that Lehi (a prophet that saw the vision) didn't even the filthiness because he was so focused on other things, like other people looking for the tree of life and his own search for the tree of life! And I think we can all apply this example to our own life! There is so much filthiness in our world, so many bad influences to focus on! How de we stay out of the filthiness and help our family to stay out? We can follow the example of Lehi and look to the tree of life! I believe another scripture says that the fruit is love of the God! So focuus on this! Help yourself to feel this love and help your family to feel this love too! And like Lehi, he was so focused on other things things, so focus and spend your time doing uplifting things, like learning music or some other talent to bless the lives of others! 

Now the pictures! 

1. The amazon river! With a huge barge way on the river too! 

2. And on the left there is the portuguese castle! 

3. My comp and I and the amazon river 

4. Another pic of my comp and I with the river behind! 

5. Some wonderful fish that we got to eat! 

6. And my comp and I almost finished one of the fish! Just a little more left. I know it looks weak to not be able to finish the fish, but we also had rice, beans, feijoada(its like beans bit a little different) salad and these fish! And after a little dessert! But it was all sooo good! 

7. Us hiking to the house of one of our friends! He lives pretty far and he speaks spanish, not portuguese but its still worth it to go visit him. 

8. I don't know if I have talked about this, but the thing in my cup is Açai! And it is sooo good! And here in North Brasil they make it a little different and they are prideful of the fact that it is different and better than anywhere else in the world.  

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.