Faith

Well this week was absolutely wonderful! I am having so much fun with my new companion, Elder Borges, and we work together really well. He is new in the mission and has really high expectations. For example, we will be walking down the street during a normal day and he will say, ``We dont have enough lessons this week! Last week we has tons of lessons and it was so easy and this week we dont have alot!创 I just look at him and say, ``well than, lets go teach some lessons!创 Within the next hour we were able to knock on some doors, get a few lessons, and get 3 new investigators! I really like that he has high expectations because it motivates me to do better.

My companion and I are also trying to work hard on inviting the spirit into our lives and letting him inspire us to do better. Heres another example. We were knocking doors and we ended up talking to this guy thats from the 7th day Adventas. He was trying to tell us that his church was the only true church because their holy day is on Saturday (even though they have meetings every day of the week??). He was really annoying and didnt listen to us. At the end he told us that we needed to study better because we were being lied to. I asked him what priesthood ment and he didnt know, so I told him that we were representatives of Christ and had the authority from God to do his work. Than I invited him to come to church where we learn about priesthood and authority. haha.

Anyways after we talked to him we didnt feel really good. He said some really mean things to us and we felt that the spirit was gone. We decided to say a quick prayer and it really helped us. After that moment we were able to continue working. Ever since than, if we feel that we are having a bad day, if we dont know what to do next, or if we dont feel the spirit, we dont hesitate to say a prayer and ask for guidence from the spirit.

This week was really good but at the same time wasnt so great. Our baptism for the 8th fell because she is sleeping with her separated husband. Its a bad situation but I hope that through the sprit, things will get better.

Last night, we had an activity of the Stake hosted by the missionaries. The zone leaders, Elder Cox and Henderson, worked really hard to prepare and it turned out good. FIrst we had testimonys from others about missionary work and stuff. Than we watched a mormon message about sharing a Book of Mormon with a friend. After, the other district in the zone gave a training on how you can use pass along cards. My district and I gave a training on how you can use missionary pamphlets to teach your friends. Than we watched another short video about teamwork and ended it. It was a really good sucess and at the end, everyone was really excited to do missionary work and invite their friends to church. I felt the spirit really strong and think that the members will do lots to help us baptise!

Well today will be fun. We are going to the park after this to play around a bit and than do some chores in the house. I got my suit drycleaned for R$40,00! Thats 20 bucks! Its so dang expensive but I needed to get it cleaned.

Have a good week everyone!

Love,

Elder Horst

Elder Horst cleaned the kitchen

Elder Horst and his new companion, Elder Borges

Elder Borges sweeping the floor in the two room building the church bought to have Sacrament meeting, in the afternoon.  Trying to get a branch established.  

Elder Horst and Elder Henderson are pretending to be rivals :)

Their district, minus one companionship

Elder Horst made Elder Borges pancakes with homemade maple syrup.  It is Elder Borges first time eating them!

It looks like Elder Borges likes the pancakes :)  Good job Elder Horst!

It's Cold Outside!

Well its always good to talk about the weather. My oh my has it gotten cold! Around Wednesday and Thursday it got way cold and the wind was blowing really hard, enough to wear a sweater and a jacket. It has warmed up a bit but its been raining which doesnt help the problem! Everyone in the house is getting sick with a cold. Its HORRIBLE waking up in the morning cause I cant breath at all and my head hurts (and its always cold) but it gets better as the day goes on. Im actually excited for the cold weather. I love wearing lots of layers and being confortable and seeing my breath when I talk.

Its also been really dark lately. When we wake up its pich black, and around 6 it starts to get dark again. Last night, my companion and I were knocking doors around 7:30 and I had to use a flashlight to write down my contacts. It was kinda weird haha but we didnt have anything else to do.

Tuesday night at 11pm my companion arrived from Porto Alegre. He is brand new on the mission and has lots of greenie fire! Elder Borges is from S鉶 Paulo, 19 years old, and really funny! He loves speaking english and he doesnt know that much but its really funny when he talks! I have been really enjoying his company lately and best of all.... he took a year of learning how to cook in college.. so im sure that he will be making alot of good stuff for us in the future!

This week we worked really hard and ended up having alot of sucess. We invited a new lady named Maria to be baptised. Maria is around 40 years old with 4 kids. On the first lesson, we invited her to be baptised on the 8 of June. She accepted but was a little nervous that she wouldnt have time to prepare! On saturday, we brought Marcia, (the girl who was just baptised) to come and teach her. We taught Maria and after Marcia talked about how she was able to prepare for baptism. She shared a wonderful testimony that touched my heart and made me feel so good. Marcia truly has a strong testimony.

The next day, the bishop and I went to her house to take her to church. She couldnt go because her 2 year old daughter was sick. We gave her a blessing and just talked for a bit. It turnes out that Maria is way good friends with the bishops wife! So this week we will get them to meet together.

Sunday night, we brought another member named Carmen to talk with her and it turnes out that they already new eachother! It turned out to be a great lesson. So basically, Maria already has alot of friends in the church. She is preparing to be baptised on the 8th and she has a desire and alot of support from her friends. Im really excited to see how things go from here!!!!

I had a really cool experience yesterday at church. In the morning Marcia was confirmed a member of the church. She has told me that ever since she has been baptised, she hasnt been able to get the smile off of her face! In the afternoon we went to the other church in our area and it was really great. Marcia was there too with her friend Pabla that wants to get baptised(Her mom wont let her but were trying to convince her). Marcia said the prayer in sunday school and made sooo many comments about the lesson and everything. I felt proud:)

So Sunday it was really rainy and dark. The house that we bought for sacrament is really small and humble. There are two small rooms (primary and youth) and we use the ``garage创 for the sacrament room. The garage doesnt have a light yet and yesterday it was really dark because of the rain clouds. My new companion gave a talk and had to use my flashlight to read the scriptures.

While he was reading I was thinking about light in the middle of darkness. Sometimes we can have hard times and feel that we are stuck in a dark, cold room with no way out. But by the strike of something as small as a match, it can light up the whole room and help you find the door into happiness, a way out of darkness. Light overpowers Darkness. The warmth of light always takes away the cold feelings of darkness. When we are faced with hard times, we just need to invite the light of Christ into our lives and let it show us where to go next. When we do this, our lives can be filled with warmth and the love of Christ.

Sometimes we need to be the light for others that are lost in the darkness. Through our example and testimony, we can help others find the way out and share the same life of happiness that we have.

Love you all,

Elder Horst

This is their zone before transfers last week.  What a happy looking group of Elders :)

Happy Mother's Day!

My mother’s job is sometimes hard, and I have heard her say,

“The hours are long, and if I could, I’d like to change the pay.”

Her profession has variety, and I will tell you now

About the many hats she wears—and why and when and how.

1. My mommy’s a nurse who fixes and patches

All of my hurts and my sores and my scratches.

2. My mother’s a chef who fixes each dinner

Fit for a king—a blue-ribbon winner!

3. My mom’s a chauffeur who drives pretty slow

But gets me to places where I need to go.

4. My mom’s a detective, and no one is greater

At getting the truth from me sooner or later.

5. My mommy’s a gardener and works really hard,

Planting and weeding and grooming our yard.

6. My mother’s a maid—at least that’s what she said—

‘Cause she cleans up the house and makes every bed.

7. My mother’s an angel—a queen in disguise—

Who teaches the gospel with tears in her eyes.

Today take these hats off, and please wear no other.

Let me do your work, to show I LOVE YOU, MOTHER!

P.S. I didnt write this... I got it from LDS. org

So Happy Mothers Day! I talked to my mom on Saturday and it was a really special thing. I miss her so much and I cant wait to be with her next mothers day.

I dont have any time to write so ill just fill you in on a few notes. The baptism of Marcia was so awesome! I was able to baptise her and it was really special for me. I sent a few photos!

My companion is getting transfered! He leaves for Porto Alegre and I am really sad that he is leaving. So more big news.... Im training again!!! I am so excited!! I will be leaving for Porto Alegre to pick him up! I dont know where he is from or who he is but I am dang excited for this opportunity again!

Love,
Elder Horst

Mom, I have to go to get bus tickets ready for everyone here in the city. IF I have time later, ill get back on and send this letter again with more detail.... so dont put it on the blog until tomorrow!

love ya!

Baptism this Week!

Well that is my very favorite subject line to write. I love the week of a baptism. Its so fun visiting the investigator every day, inviting the members, and just doing all the preparation. Saturday Marcia will be baptised! If you remember Marcia than you will remember that she is just an Angel of an investigator. She has had her doubts and fears, just like all good investigators do, but she has worked so hard by praying and reading the scriptures. She has received so many answers that the Book of Mormon is true. When you know that the book is true, everything else seems to fall into place.

We also had the baptism marked for Marco Antonio but he has just a small problem with the word of wisdom. After we gave him a blessing for strength, he stopped drinking beer and coffee. He went from 60 cigarrets to 4!!! Thats definitally a miracle, but he still has a bit of work to do. I can see him getting baptised in another month or so. He is crazy to get baptised but he understands that its a big commitment and needs to stop smoking.

Well Thursday, my companion and I took a trip to Pelotas. It was a really expensive bus ride and took 3,5 hours. My companion had to have a interview with the president. It was all good in the end. We got home at 9 so it took the whole day but it was kinda fun. Im a big fan of road trips. It was also nice to get a bit of sleep!

My companion and I decided to start running in the mornings. Its been kinda fun but we have only done it for two days now. Its really nice to do exersise in the mornings cause its a good start for the day, but at the sametime it makes me really tired haha. We are planning to keep on doing it though.

This is the last week before transfers. My companion and I are both possitive that he will get transfered to Porto Alegre. Thats okay though cause ill get to stay here!! Its always fun to get a new companion. It keeps you out of the comfort zone. The comfort zone isnt good for missionaries. I plan on having a handful of baptisms the next transfer... so be ready:)

Im really excited for Mothers Day this week. Its gonna be so great to see my family!

Love,

Elder Horst