Bull Liver, Monster Burgers, And Mighty Miracles

Opaaa! Tudo Bem everyone!! It feels like I wrote one of these emails yesterday, but oh well, can't complain, it's p-day again! 

 

 

This week was so amazing! I saw so many miracles, and I'm finally starting to be able to contribute to these lessons!

 

 

I'm writing this one early this week because I literally have no clue what we're doing today. The language barrier is still real! 

 

 

But I just read the Book of Mormon and I'm in the spiritual mood, so I'll start this off with a spiritual thought.  

 

 

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT

 

 

Please read!! I'm praying these words can help at least one of you!

 

 

The other day, we met and taught a boy named Aleff. I have never seen the spirit so visually strong through anyone in my life. As we read a scripture to him, he folded his arms, closed his eyes, and concentrated on the Words of the Lord. Afterwards, he was so excited to accept our baptismal and even wanted to receive the Priesthood (power of God on the Earth given to people to act in his name) on his birthday! My heart was so full for this young man!

 

 

Well... we went to his house again yesterday, and he seemed to forget who we were. He didn't want to come with us to talk to his dad, didn't want to hear a lesson, get baptized, or even talk to us. It was like he had forgotten all of the things that we had taught him, forgotten the feelings that he had experienced, and forgotten the Spirit that he had felt. 

 

 

This has been someething that has been on my mind a lot recently. Rememberance. I don't know if it's because of all of the nostalgia I've been having recently or my lack of remembering literally any portuguese? But it's actually a pretty interesting idea to think about. 

 

 

The word "remember" is thrown around a lot in our church and in the world. Each week we promise to "remember" Jesus Christ through the ordinance of the sacrament. Teachers and Professors constantly urge us to "remember" this fact, or "remember" this assignment. 

 

 

The act of remembering could mean a lot of things. But for me as a missionary, to remember means to put a greater emphasis on. I'm learning a million new words each day, but I only choose to "put an emphasis on" the words which I'm likely to use on a daily basis.  

 

 

Rememberance is also a common theme in the Book of Mormon. It seems that every time a city is destroyed in this book, it always stems off of the peoples' lack of rememberance. Rememberance what the Lord has done for their ancestors, rememberance of their promises with God, etc. Laman and Lemuel (two brothers in the Book of Mormon) literally saw an angel of God and still had "forgetten what they had seen" and turned wicked! 

 

 

In our lives, remembering is probably the most important thing we can do. And I'm not talking about my portuguese or your homework assignment (although those are still very important), I'm talking about remembering your feelings. 

 

 

In this day and age, it can be so easy to get caught up in the lastest new drama or trend that we can often forget ourselves. Mental health is a serious issue that often goes unaddressed. 

 

 

As a missionary, trust me, there are days where it's so hard to keep going. Days where it's just so hard to feel like I'm actually helping in this work. But what gets me through these tough times is remembering. Remembering the times where I killed that lesson. Remembering how I felt after calling my family. Remembering the times where I truly felt so happy. 

 

 

It's so important to write down your toughts, your feelings, your experiences. And turn to these when you're feeling down, because it's very possible and very probable to feel these feelings again. Oftentimes, our past experiences are what carry us through the future. So whenever you feel sad, remember when you felt happy. Whenever you seem to be stuck spiritually, remember the last time you saw God's hand in your life. 

 

 

Write down your experiences, put an emphasis on and remember them!! Because like in the case with Aleff, these feelings can either determine your day, or your salvation.

 

 

HIGHLIGHTS

 

 

Sorry for the long spiritual thought. My brain is literally always on spiritual mode out here in Brazil. 

 

 

- Last week after I sent my email out, we went to a zoo! It was a pretty big zoo, but literally all we did was look at four birds and get some burgers at the snack bar. These burgers were massive! Contained two patties, chicken, egg, ham, bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomato, sausage, and some other stuff I don't really know. Picture included below. 

 

 

- We had splits the other day (Where we switch companions for the day), and this one went so much better than last time! I was paired up with Elder Caires. He's 26 and literally felt like my dad. We taught a bunch of lessons, and I learned so much from him! He taught me to have fun and not be so serious with our friends that we're teaching. He also taught me how to actually stay safe in Brazil. Stuff like what food and water is safe, where to walk on the roads, and how not to get mugged. I'm so thankful for him!

 

 

- Funny story: so Elder Caires and I were at a restaraunt for lunch. Our usual restaraunt. It's self-serve but we get one plate and two meats. I would always get a piece of chicken and this spoonful of meat. The meat was always decent, but I always got it because they would give me extra. Well, when I asked for it this time, my companion laughed at me and said, "are you sure you want that?" (in portuguese of course). I thought nothing of it and ate my chicken and mystery meat. Well, after I finished, he pulls out google translate and it turns out that I've been eating bull liver this whole time!! Honestly not the worst food if any of you wanted to try. 

 

 

- We had lunch with this family and their backyard was literally a jungle. Probably about the size of a bedroom, but they literally have every fruit tree you could think of. Coconut, Mango, Acerola, Grapefruit, Guava, etc. Trees on top of trees on top of trees!

 

 

- We had a few really cool lessons this week, but I'll talk about two. The first lesson was with a man named Glauber. We meet Glauber at the train station. This man was incredibly smart, gave some insanely cool life lessons, and knew German! I was able to brush up on my German and have a small conversation! Anyways, we gave him one of our pamphlets, The Plan of Salvation. (A little picture book that explains where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going after this life). We wrote our number on it and asked him to give us a call and schedule a time for us to teach this. Well as soon as we get in the train, he hands me back the pamphlet and tells me (and just me) to teach the entire lesson right then and there. Eveyone on the train slowly packed in to hear the American teach about Christ in portuguese. It was my first time on my own, and I honestly think it went pretty well. Definitely one of the most stressful moments of my life!

 

 

- Last night we were teaching this man on the street in front of his house. As I start teaching about The Resoration of Christ's Gospel, literally 15 people (ages ranging from 8 to 60) flock towards us and circle around us. Again... extremely stressful. After I gave the account of Joseph Smith's first vision (when Joseph saw Christ and God), the spirit was insanely strong in that street. My companion then taught about baptism and asked "who here has a desire to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized?" I kid you not, every single hand shot up in the air! I probably had the biggest smile that you have ever seen! Let's just say, there might be a couple new members of our church very soon. 

 

 

That's it for this email. I literally have a ton more content from this week, but very little time, so if you want to hear more, please send me an email! I would love to hear all about your weeks!! 

 

 

I love you all!! 

Elder Ware

 

 

1) some kids playing soccer. Sorry for the poor quality, these phones are toasters.

2) our new profit picture on WhatsApp

3) a giant bread, cream, donut thing that I had yesterday. Only 40 cents and was amazing! 

4 & 5) the monstrosity of a burger that I had at the zoo

6 - 9) some of our friends that we teach. The 7th pic is with some of the people that we taught in my last story

 

 

Also peep my new Brazil jersey in the 8th pic. I'm officially Brazilian now!