Eternal Friendships

Elder Davis with Samara & Adriano at their wedding

Bom Dia!

This past week was great. Hope everyone else had a great week! So many awesome things happened this week. I have to begin with Saturday because it was Adriano and Samara's wedding! What a super day that was! It was just a few months ago that we baptized him and Saturday I got to witness him take another step forward by marrying Samara. I cannot wait until they go to the temple next year to be sealed for time and all eternity. He is such a great man, really a brother and a friend. I wish him and Samara the best! They are so awesome and I hope that they have such a great life together. I am so grateful for the opportunity and it is definitely a memory that I treasure.

Leadership Meeting

CTM group together at mission wide meeting

Catching up with Mission friends at Meetings

Walking on the footbridge over the Piracicaba River going to our meetings.

Monday night Elder Rasmassen (the other district leader) and I left to go to Piracicaba because we had a leadership meeting on Tuesday morning. President picked us up because we ended up getting in there at 11pm. We left around 8 and its only supposed to be 45 minutes to an hour bus ride but we ended up having to trade buses and then hitting traffic. It ended up being a crazy long 3 hour trip. So President picked us up at the bus station and put us in a h

otel with some other missionaries. :) Man was it good to be in a hotel after living the missionary life! haha Just kidding. It was awesome though! We had a banquet or you could call it a feast for breakfast! That was a "once in a mission" type thing haha. It was awesome. We then went to our leadership meeting and that was great! We talked a lot about making the meetings we do as a district and zone effective as well as the importance of leading by example, which is super important. If we do not show others that we are living the same principles that we teach and believe in, how can we expect them to do the same? We just can't. A great leader or missionary is one who is willing and already doing what he is asking others to do. So that was a great day that started with a lot of food for nourishment of the body and then our spirits enjoyed a spiritual feast! There was a mission wide meeting the next day on Wednesday so we stayed another night in Piracicaba in the hotel. Some of us went out and ate sushi that night for dinner! I LOVE SUSHI. It was all you can eat - that is a missionary's dream! haha I got to see Elder Sander while in Piracicaba which made it even more awesome! Wednesday at the mission wide meeting we received more training to help us work with members as well as more discussion on the importance of being examples. We practiced some more ways to improve our teaching and the way we serve. We practiced and they demonstrated rather than just talked which was awesome! I really loved it. We talked about being guided by the Spirit and how that is essential. We cannot teach without the Spirit. He guides our words and touches the peoples hearts to have that change of heart and confirm truth. Without Him, we are just speaking our words. We need the Spirit to touch peoples hearts and to do that, we need to be worthy of the Spirit and be seeking His presence. It was a super uplifting experience. Thursday and Friday I was back in my area and we visited some people like Liza and Hector. Liza is getting there, we are still working with her on personal study and seeking on her own to know the truth through scripture study and prayer. But she is a great person and I know the Lord will bless her as she puts forth effort. Hector is doing well and he is super excited to be baptized this Saturday. His testimony of Christ and the gospel is growing and you can see him getting a greater light in his life and so much happier. Everything is going well! I am excited to see him enjoying the church and the gospel of Jesus Christ so much! And then the week ended with a bang with Adriano and Samara's wedding on Saturday and Hector coming to church on Sunday! So it was a pretty great week. This next week, we will see Sister Marriott from the General YW Presidency! She is coming to Piracicaba this Thursday to have a meeting with us! WOOO! That will be awesome.

View of Piracicaba from Hotel

At a US hotel you usually find a pool and bball hoop - in Brazil you find a pool and soccer field!

At the hotel with Elder Rasmussen

Dinner after Leadership with Elder Sander and other district/& zone leaders

One last thing I wanted to share. I have been studying a lot in the scriptures and in Conference talks about the attributes of Christ. I know by striving to become more like him I will become a better missionary and better person. That is one of our purposes here on earth, to learn of and be more like Christ. I think in the past before my mission that I may have been a little prideful in some things I had done. So I am striving to learn to be more humble in my life and truly put the glory of God first, knowing all blessings and power comes from Him. What a blessing it has been on me and how I view things differently. In 2nd Nefi 9:28-29 it says,

"O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish.
But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God."

To be learned is a good thing but when we become proud in those things is when it goes wrong. We start to depend solely on our own knowledge when we should be seeking and listening to the Spirit also. Submitting to the will and wisdom of Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father brings great knowledge and growth. "Lean not unto thy own understanding". Good counsel to remember. As we recognize our weaknesses and that they are all knowing in their power we open the door for them to help us grow. In Ether 12:27 it says

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

It is that humility and the strength of Christ I hope we all seek. Love you all and hope you all have a great week!

Elder Davis

Another wedding picture

Important to take every opportunity to let Sister Cardoso know how short she is!