April 16

Hey everyone!

This week has been a lot of fun! On Tuesday, Keith B. McMullin, of the previous Presiding Bishopric spoke at the devotional. His talk was about the importance of the Holy Ghost in teaching. He also told us not to be afraid of bearing our testimonies. He told a story about an Area 70 in Africa who was riding a bus with a bunch of Evangelicals. One lady starting yelling about how awful Mormon's are. Soon, she had the whole bus in an uproar. Instead of keeping his head down, and trying to stay out of trouble, the 70 started reading 2nd Nephi 25:26. After the first line, the lady yelled, "Amen!" After each line, more of the bus got involved, until everyone was cheering their agreement. After he finished the verse, the lady asked him if he was a preacher. The 70 told her he was reading straight from the Book of Mormon. She was baptized a little while later. It just goes to show how powerful the Book of Mormon can be. If people will just take the time to read it, and pray about it, they can't deny it's truthfulness.

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful until Friday. My companion, who is also going to Brazil, received his visa, and travel plans. He is leaving this Tuesday, along with the rest of my district. I turned in my visa application around the same time as my companion did, so I am hoping mine will arrive any day now. On Wednesday I will probably be assigned a new companion, and I will be placed into Portuguese classes. I am really excited. I don't know exactly what I will be doing on Tuesday though. My whole district will be gone by 8:00 am, so I will probably be attached to one of the other districts in my zone until Wednesday. I haven't gotten any information from the MTC about this yet, so I'm just guessing with all of this.

For the Sunday night devotional, M. Russel Ballard was here! He talked a lot about the development of Preach My Gospel, and how powerful a tool it is. He also told us that we shouldn't get involved in really deep doctrinal discussions with investigators. In most cases, the only things we should be stressing is the Doctrine of Christ, which is faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. If they understand that, everything else will follow without issue.

I'm having a great time here, but I can't wait to get to Brazil. I know there are people there that are just waiting for me to share the gospel with them, and I hope that I can do my best! I love you guys!

Sincerely,

Elder Day