Choose the Right Jersey

The zone after interviews with President Bangerter

Hope everyone had a good week. Our week was good. We had some great lessons with our investigators as well as did a few baptismal interviews for another companionship in our zone. We also had interviews with President this week.

Cooling off with some Acai - Elders Christensen, A.Silva and Hainsworth

Do you guys remember me talking about Washington a guy we met one night when we were actually looking for someone else? I think I told you about him. Well, Tuesday we went and visited him and his girlfriend, Andrea. They are super awesome! We have had great lessons with them right from the beginning. Each lesson I think "this is so awesome it cannot get better than this" because the spirit is so strong and you can see them growing so quickly. Just absorbing and taking it all in. Each lesson gets better. So when we went there on Tuesday we went to his girlfriend's house (they live next door to each other). Anyway Andrea was working in her kitchen (she makes samosas, savories and pizza then sells them to bakeries and other companies) so we went in the back with just him to talk. Washington started talking about some of his scripture studies and we asked how he was doing with some of his challenges, one of which is trying to stop smoking or at least decrease the amount he smoked. He told us about an experience he had that week. He told me that one night he woke up at midnight with overwhelming desires to smoke so he went to the window and got a cigarette. But when he went to put it in his mouth, he started having a lot of nausea and he said "no, you have to be kidding me. .. "then ran to the bathroom and vomited. Then he came back, got out another cigarette to smoke, SAME thing happened. He used to smoke a box and a little more per day, 25-26 cigarettes per day in total. He said that it was asking a lot of him to change himself to quit smoking and he was not sure he could do it. Earlier in the week he had read in Alma 7 in the Book of Mormon and then he prayed for the help he needed. Then this all happened. They came to church this past Sunday for the second time and they liked it a lot. While speaking with the Bishop Washington told him ,"I think I need to mark my baptism day because I have no doubt that this is the right path and the true church and I know that this is what I want." One sad thing is I may not be there for their baptism because the transfer will be this Saturday. But on Tuesday / Thursday we will go to talk to them, have a barbecue with him too, and mark a date of baptism. BUT if they are ready and they want, maybe it will work out to be this week! If not I am happy that it is happening no matter when it happens.

Ana Lucia is another investigator that we have that had a baptismal date for like 2 weeks ago but she got sick out of no where with a severe bacterial infection. Like I told you last week she ended up in the hospital and was actually in a coma for a few days. She now is a lot better. We went to visit her and she is sitting up and talking, moving around too. She should be coming out of the hospital here in a few days or a week. All she talks about is her baptism and going to church! She said, "I havent forgot about my baptism!" Her son, Clayton has been doing well and attending church a lot. So things are going well with them. He also has been challenged with smoking but is making good progress and is down to 5 cigarettes a day which is a huge victory for him!

We also had the great opportunity to interview a few investigators for baptism in Cidade Nova, Sumaré this past friday. I love to see how the gospel can bring so much growth and joy to people when they truly want to follow the truth. Lords work!

A scripture I wanted to share with you guys this week:

Mormon 8:24-26
24 And he knoweth their prayers, that they were in behalf of their brethren. And he knoweth their faith, for in his name could they remove mountains; and in his name could they cause the earth to shake; and by the power of his word did they cause prisons to tumble to the earth; yea, even the fiery furnace could not harm them, neither wild beasts nor poisonous serpents, because of the power of his word.

25 And behold, their prayers were also in behalf of him that the Lord should suffer to bring these things forth.

26 And no one need say they shall not come, for they surely shall, for the Lord hath spoken it; for out of the earth shall they come, by the hand of the Lord, and none can stay it; and it shall come in a day when it shall be said that miracles are done away; and it shall come even as if one should speak from the dead.
In this chapter Moroni is finishing the writings and testimony of his father Mormon. He saw the Nephites destroyed and his father die. And he is now speaking of the saints that have lived in those lands where they are and speaks of how their testimonies and prayers will be remembered and come out of the earth (meaning through the Book of Mormon) and the kingdom of God will go forward. He emphasized that Heavenly Father knew their prayers and knew their faith. I know Heavenly Father also knows our prayers. From the moment that we say 'Heavenly Father' he is listening. He also knows our faith. In His name we can do miracles. They were able to 'move mountains, cause the earth to shake, or tumble down prisons'. We may not see mountains physically move in our lifetime but we will see spiritual mountains move as people change and come unto Christ, The work of the Lord will come to past and no one can stop that from happening. Elder Holland once said in a talk that we know the final score in the game of life - it has already been decided. Jesus Christ's 'team' will win. It will happen. But it is our choice to choose which jersey we are wearing. I think sometimes people think the score is 1-7, in favor of Satan. and that there is no way to come back from that. They think that 'miracles have ceased and are done away' and the world is too far gone. But I want you to know that I know that the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ has happened and His church is here on the earth and will not be ever taken from it again. It is not always popular or easy to wear the right jersey but I know that Heavenly Father knows your prayers and faith and the 'power of His word' will give us strength, we will feel of His love and know the right things to do. Through Him comes happiness, wisdom and power to do good. So everyone choose the right jersey!

Elder Davis

Eternal Blessings

With Ivan and Eduarda at the Campinas temple for their sealing

This week was super crazy. Lots of stuff happened in very little time. We have been soooooo busy. The rainy season is still hanging on and it is REALLY hot - not a good combination! We seem to be constantly soaked! haha But we had a great week. Lots of good things happening.

Someone forgot the umbrella!?!?

On Monday I was able to visit Adriano in Hortlandia and surprise him. We took a bus there and met up with the sisters that are in the area now. We had asked them to mark a family night at his house. When we showed up with the sisters at his door he was so surprised, it was super funny and great to be there with them. We talked and had a great FHE with them. They have shown incredible faith and strength during their challenges. I am so grateful for the friendship I share with him and the opportunity I had to share the gospel with him. I look forward to their sealing next month.

Working with Elders Hainsworth and Christensen

Zone Meeting with APs

Thursday the assistants came to our area and we did divisions. So this time I went with Elder Hainsworth and my companion stayed with Elder Christensen. It was super great to work side by side. Practice a few techineques and learn some new ones as well as teach some people together. Brought back memories from the old days since Christensen and Hainsworth are from my CTM group. We speak a lot better Portuguese now but horrible English. haha. On the division we were knocking doors and we found João. Quite honestly ,he was a little hesitant to let us in. We testified to him that this message isn't just any message. It is a message that changes lives, and really brings blessings into our lives. He broke down and said that he studied in the church for a year and 8 months but had stopped. He let us in and as we entered the living room, we saw that he had a very large picture of the Temple in Campinas framed that was hung up on his wall. He also had a large Book of Mormon that was stored in the book case. We had a great first lesson about the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We invited him to go to church and we marked another appt to comeback another day. He had had some personal challenges that caused him to fall away from going to church but as we talked you could see he was feeling the spirit and refinding the things that he was missing out on/had forgotten. It was a great to see.

Ana Lucia, one of our investigators that was supposed to be baptized this Saturday, ended up getting a bacterial infection and went to the hospital this past week. She is still there but we had the opportunity to go the hospital to visit her. We gave her a blessing and said a prayer there with her. She was sedated but it was a great experience because we could feel the hand of God taking care of her and watching over her.

Clayton is her son. We are teaching him as well. He was really affected by what happened with his mom. On Sunday when we went to pick him up for church he said that he wasnt going to go because he had only gone to sleep at 4 am because of all the worrying about his mom. After we spoke with him about the blessings that come from honoring the Sabbath, he agreed to come. He was only going to stay for Sacrament meeting and the first talk that was given was specifically for him. The person giving the talk told a story about a family who went through a situation similar to his and how the Lord blessed them with strength. It truly was a blessing to Clayton to hear this. We were all very glad he had made the choice to come to church and show his faith. It was a tender mercy from the Lord that he heard that talk and it gave him hope and strength.God truly does know what each and everyone of us need, He is just waiting for us to show our faith and show it through our works. "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." James 2:17.

Saturday we had the privilege to go to the temple of Campinas to see a sealing of a family in our ward, our ward mission leader Ivan and his wife Eduarda. They are awesome and I was so thankful for the opportunity to be there. We do not get to go to the temple very often because it's not in our mission even though it's really close. It was great to have that opportunity. You can truly feel the spirit of the Lord in the temple. It is a great feeling of peace as you are able to learn more about Christ, Heavenly Father and His plan for us. Even being outside in the garden, you feel of His presence. We truly need to attend the temple with frequency and with a pure heart. There are so many blessings we gain there.

Brothers at the Temple together. So happy for Ivan!

The joy of being at the temple!

Rodrigo and Gina were there too!

Templo de Campinas

 Templo de Campinas

A Casa Do Senhor with Elder A. Silva -"Santidade Ao Senhor"

 This week as I have been studying the scriptures I have been thinking about if the Lord returned in this moment, what would be of us, and of me personally. Are we prepared for the coming of Christ? "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night" 2 Peter 3:10 We are not certain when He will come so we need to prepare ourselves spiritually everyday. We do not want to be part of the prophecy in Luke 21:26 that says "Men’s hearts failing them for fear" We need to go forward with purpose and focus on what truly is important and not what is merely satisfying momentarily. As we do the small important things we build that strong foundation and prepare ourselves. So let's read the scriptures, pray, fast, attend the temple, home teach/visit teach and magnify ourselves in the Lords callings so that we may be as Moroni."... this was the faith of Moroni, and his heart did glory in it; not in the shedding of blood but in doing good, in preserving his people, yea, in keeping the commandments of God, yea, and resisting iniquity. Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men." Alma 48:16-17. Even though we have weaknesses, we can fortify ourselves in God that we may protect ourselves, our families, and our beliefs until the last day. We should always respect all people, but we also need to stand up for our beliefs. We need to stand and speak for Heavenly Father, His plan and our Savior Jesus Christ. I want you to know that I know Christ's church is here on the earth. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is directed by revelation through a prophet by the Savior Jesus Christ. It is His church restored on this earth again. If you are not sure of this, I encourage you to ask Heavenly Father through personal study and prayer to help you have that confirmation in your heart.

Thank you for your love and support. Hope you have a great week.

Elder Davis

He Will Illuminate the Path

Multizone with Sumaré, Hortolandia and Americana

Hope everyone is doing great. This week was good. It was a pretty slow week because of Carnival but it was still a week that was edifying. We had a multizone with Sumaré, Hortolandia and Americana. I had the opportunity to give a workshop there with Elder Hainsworth (Assistant to the Pres) on the Role of the Spirit in our missionary work. It was really cool to have the opportunity to teach a workshop and learn together. It was sad as well when we all sang the mission song because afterwards, someone told me that I only have two more of those left... I really loved the training that President gave us. He focused on true conversion as he did in the Leadership meeting a couple weeks ago. We need to make sure we are truly converted before we can help others.

With Elder Simmons & Mansell at Multizone

With Elder Almeida

as

With Sister Cardoso and Sister Perez

Elder Kleinkauff - Love that guy, he was an awesome companion.

We are working with Clayton and Ana Lucia. This Saturday Ana Lucia will be baptized and Clayton will be baptized later. They are really great people that want to follow the truth and the right way. Claudenice was confirmed this week and it was great to see her. She is just the best. We are also

working with the family of Ana and went this week to support her as she performed in a singing competition. She did really well.

At the singing competition with Ana after she received her award

We did another service project this week. Man talk about a killer service project! If that was what a service project should be, I don't think all the ones I have done before count. Wow did I feel like I became a 70 yr old man after that! I was beat! There are before and after pictures. The roof covering for the back part of a members house had collapsed and we had to clear it. My companion and I survived the challenge. haha

Before

After

Winter Olympics are going on right? My parents have shared with me in letters about some of the inspiring stories of people who will be participating in the Olympics. Some who started really young like 4 -5 yrs old to develop their talents and then people who started later in life to develop theirs. They all got where they are through trials and hardwork - not for a day but EVERYDAY for years sometimes almost their entire life. Every day is a perfect time to start developing our gifts and talents - never too early or too late. Those kind of gifts such as sports, musical or artistic abilities are sometimes easier to see but equally or more important are the spiritual gifts like knowledge, patience, compassion, kindness, etc.. Each one of us has spiritual gifts and should work to find and develop them. We will be blessed with many gifts DEPENDING on our faith and our will to develop and use them. If we really focus, we can develop any gift and all gifts that God is ready to give us. Then use these gifts to bless us, our families and others! There is a great quote from Pres. Uchtdorf. He says,

"Let us listen and obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit. As we do so, Heavenly Father will reveal to us things we never knew about ourselves. He will illuminate the path ahead and open our eyes to see our unknown and perhaps unimagined talents."

Thanks to everyone for their love and support.
Elder Davis

Essence of Conversion

I am so very happy for Claudenice!

This week has been good!
We had a baptism this week! Claudenice was baptized this Saturday. I cannot describe to you the happiness that I have felt in my heart to see her take this step. She will be blessed so much in her life and I am sure that it will be a moment in her life that change her forever. She was baptized by Renato, a great member and example in the ward here.

With Claudenice, Renato and Elder A. Silva

She told us a story at the baptism. She got up in the front during the baptismal service and asked for the opportunity to bear her testimony. She said that there was a time that she was really doubting if everything was true, and we invited her to pray and ask God about everything, She received an answer but she was still bugged by something that was always on her mind "Will I be good enough? Will I be able to be forgiven for what I have done? Would God really accept me back into His presence?" She said that we told her that in the moment that she would be baptized, when she came up from the water, she would feel it in her heart as if God Himself was speaking to her in her heart that everything was forgiven and the reconfirmation of truthfulness of this gospel. She then had a dream that night. In the dream she was at a funeral looking on and she came to know that it was her funeral because her whole family was there. But something was very different. Everyone was happy at the funeral and joyful. She was confused until she saw a woman call her family over to the corner and say "I have something here that marked the life of your mother for all eternity. Something that changed her life forever." She then gave a white jumpsuit to them. For the whole day on Friday she didn't understand the dream. But when she was baptized on Saturday and she came to the understanding of the dream. As she came out of the water she realized that this dream had come to pass as if God had told her Himself "Do ye not remember the dream I have given thee?" She said she has come to the understanding that it was her funeral because of the fact her old self had passed away and was buried and the new Claudenice had been born when she was baptized wearing that white jumpsuit. She was so full of joy as she shared this testimony with us all and it truly touched our hearts. The next day she was at the Autosuffiencia course at the Church, as well as doing Family History to start preparing to go to the temple. How great the joy was in my heart that day to see her so faithful and so strong, trusting in the Lord for just but a moment to make the first step into the unknown and then to be guided to the Light. I thank Heavenly Father each day for the privilege I have to be a part of His work and the privilege I have to dedicate my time in His name.

Leadership Council

With Elders Hansen and Simmons

With Elder Craveiro - notice all the bug spray in the background,
Sister Bangerter is doing her best to save us from
yellow fever, zika and dengue.

The one and only Elder Cifuentes

Saw Elder Soares from my old Rio Claro zone.

With Sister Jesus from my old zone in São João da Boa Vista

We also had the Leadership meeting this past week with all the district leaders and zone leaders as well as the sister trainers. We talked a lot about conversion. One phrase that I liked a lot was by Elder Bednar "Knowing that the gospel is true is the essence of a testimony. Consistently being true to the gospel is the essence of conversion." Thinking on this, are we truly converted to the gospel? Or do we just have a foot in and a foot out? Do we sometimes keep the sabbath day holy and sometimes not keep it holy when other distractions pull us away. Do we obey the commandments when it is convenient and not when it is more difficult. The Holy Ghost as a companion as well as the Lords promises/blessings are not like a winter coat or rain coat that we wear on certain days or in certain seasons depending on circumstances. We cannot simply just decide to take it off if it is not "raining" or "storming" in our life. We cannot simply "take off" the Holy Ghost and then expect to "put" Him back on as if nothing has happened when we are need of guidance or blessings. The Lord knows our hearts and knows our doings. We have to be true to what we know is right at all times and be worthy of the companionship of the Spirit. Heavenly Father, is the source of miracles. He is the provider of blessings, the provider of happiness, through His plan we can gain Exaltation. And the price for these precious blessings is never going to be material things such as money. The price will always be sacrifices made in faith and with integrity. We have to be willing to sacrifice all things even those things that are precious to us. A good example is keeping the sabbath day holy. We have to be willing to give up those things like watching the super bowl so we can go to church, study the scriptures, or do our home teaching. Maybe our thinking is its something that comes only once a year and it will be okay just this one time. But through our actions we show what we value and what we love. I know the Lord wants to bless us immensely with miracles that are indescribable and immeasurable. It just depends on us.
Have a great week! Love you all!

Elder Davis