Elder Benjamin S. Smith

Some of the missionaries were having trouble so we did a bunch of exchanges this week to figure out how we can help. Lots of people were staying in the habits of the pandemic. They were staying inside calling people and not visiting anyone in person. They weren't moving forward. There are also a few new Americans that were feeling discouraged and stressed. The problem is that when you arrive in Brasil, you are being acted upon. You aren't acting. You can't talk, you don't know what's going on, so you basically just follow your companion around. This can start a negative cycle because you start to blame your circumstances for everything. Blaming your circumstances for failures or weaknesses makes people miserable. So, they end up miserable and discouraged and if something doesn't change soon they don't stay in Brasil for very long. The key is simply to start acting and start taking responsibility for your progress, the results in your area, even the cleanline...

Conceição and Val --> their son's friend stopped missionaries on the road and asked for a visit. They couldn't visit the house of the friend, so they visited the house of Conceição and Val. They were having a tough time because their son was killed a couple of years ago and they still hadn't found peace. After almost two months of missionary visits, they are anxiously awaiting getting married, baptized, and going to the Rio temple after it gets dedicated in May!! Ana --> the daughter in law of Conceição. The missionaries met her while teaching Conceição. She felt like she made a few decisions in the past that distanced her from God and now she wants to get back on the right path. Yesterday she told us that her strongest desire is to be baptized. Dayane, Kaique, e Yasmin --> An awesome family in a tough financial situation. In Brasil, you can get a "family scholarship" which gives a little money to help buy food for children. She was able to get the schola...

I was transferred to Madureira with Elder Pinho and it's been an absolute blast here. There's a side if a mountain with a million houses and we work there all day every day. So basically we are walking up and down the mountain (they have stairs) visiting people all day and it's the best. Elder Pinho is also the perfect companion. My English has been getting worst... And I am having trouble talking to the new Americans in English these days. This week we had 3 or 4 people stop us on the street and ask us to visit their homes. These people are in complicated situations. And the gospel of Jesus Christ is simple. But it helps. It's hard to understand how something so simple can help in such complicated situations but it really works miracles in the lives of everyone. Elder Smith