Swat Trucks E Floods || Week 23

Bom dia! I'm back with another email and couldn't be more happy to talk with you all! Not gonna lie, this week was kind of just "a week". Nothing too special happened, but still got some crazy stories and cool spiritual experiences so stay tuned!



Also if anyone was wondering (which probably no one is) my health continues to be fantastic in every which way. Only problems right now: I'm gaining weight so fast and I don't like it. My face is bright red 100% of the time no matter how much sunscreen I apply. This work is stressful, so I get a migraine headache about once a week. 



SPIRITUAL THOUGHT



Had interviews with Pres this week and he never fails to give me that "punch in the face motivation" to continue working my tail off. I unloaded all of the problems that we were having with people keeping commitments and losing their desires to be baptized. Lowkey felt bad but hey, that's what he's here for lol.



He gave me one piece of advise that I won't forget. He said, "you're here to teach lessons and bring the spirit, and not to take away people's agency." It's that simple. If I'm doing the first part, with all of my might, mind, and strength, I'm being a missionary for God. And if I'm doing the second part, I'm working on Satan's team. 



In Moses 4: 3 it reads...



Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down;



That's the plan of the adversary. To take away everyone's agency. Without agency, we have no progression. If I take away the agency of our poeple in teaching, they wouldn't progress and would merely be a statistic for baptism. 



This applies in all aspects of live. Leading, parenting, working, and pretty much any situation when faced with decisions to make. Don't get me wrong, we still need to play our part. As a parent, set the example, teach, love, and nurture. But at the same time, people have their agency and we can't control that. If you take away that agency, you're working for the adversary. 



HIGHLIGHTS



- hit 5 months as a missionary. Pretty hype. 



- learning how to make an açaí drink at a local shop. Catch me opening up a business at BYU.



- received a 200 R$ ticket for leaving our aparment door open. These landlords actually really don't like the missionaries. 



- it's been pouring rain for two days and the cobblestone streets are flooding. This made walking a little difficult yesterday.



- said a prayer with an older couple this week. They decided to grab our hands during the prayer, and then after the prayer this dude just starts shaking like crazy and screaming to God, begging for forgiveness. Pretty interesting.



- had 4 people at church. Truly a miracle honestly. One of our friends convinced their boss to let them close work early, come to church, and reopen after church. Such faith. 



- there we were walking down the street, trying to get to lunch, when we spot a motocycle. Nothing crazy about it, until this swat car pulls up and four swatmen roll out carrying shotguns. Dudes on the motocycle throw their hands in the air, one of them casually tosses a small bag of drugs over his head. We casually walk by, say what's up to the cops and go on our merry way. One of those, "I'm in Brazil" moments for sure. 



- Had a couple contacts and lessons where I felt the spirit super strongly this week, so I'll talk about one of them. We were visiting an inactive member who is now part of another church. We felt prompted the share the Restoration lesson with them. (message which talks about the history and restoration of this church through the Prophet Joseph Smith). They were super into it, which was awesome. I then gave the account of the First Vision (pivotal event in the message), and asked them how they were feeling. The first woman says "normal" lol and the second woman said that she was feeling something different that she's never felt before. Her heart was pounding, her body was heating up, and she felt so much peace and happiness! She told us that this is the closest that she has felt to God since her baptism over 20 years ago. It's moments like these that I'll cherish forever. Moments like these are why I'm a missionary and do what I do. We then invited her to church and she said no. So you win some, you lose some. 



That's it for this week, so hopefully you enjoyed. And if you enjoyed, please show your gratitude in the form of an email to me. Would be much appreciated!



Love you all and have the best week!



Elder Ware






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