Not Planning is Planning - but for Minimal Success

Our "call of death" day - the call you get telling you what day you will be going home from the mission. Elder Torres and I are in the same group.

It was a good week. It started well! Like I said in my email last Monday we went to the center of Hortolandia and had lunch with Adriano and Samara! Little did I know how great a decision that was until later in the week. I will tell you about that later. He is doing well! They are truly family to me. We spent some time there and then we came back to have a FHE with Milton and Elaine's family! We ate some Mexican food in honor of Elder Torres! We had chili as well as guacamole! It was a great throwback haha.

Always happy - love these people!

FHE with Milton Cirineus family and Elaines family

FHE - a great night!

Tuesday we had the opportunity to go to Hortolandia A's Area to help Sister Davila and Sister Ferreira find some new people to teach as well as help them with some people they are teaching. Jefferson is one of the people they are teaching. He is a really good guy. He is 18 yrs old and has an open heart to find what the Lord wants him to do. He was hung up a bit about his age and making such an important decision. He wanted to make sure now was the right time to follow the Lord- it is sometimes difficult to change for people. But we spoke with him about the importance doing what is right when you know it is right. So we had a good discussion and he marked a date for baptism for him for the 7th of April!

With Elder Simmons on splits doing interviews for the Sisters

Going to miss the killer juices here in Brazil

Wednesday was Multizone! We talked about a lot of things but mainly it was focused on planning and small/simple things that we need to do daily. Through small improvements good becomes better and then best. It is always great to see everyone again!

Thursday, Elder Torres and I were able to get some good visits and lessons in. We also found some new people to teach as well. We visited Fernanda and her parents (Reinaldo and Sonia) and taught them the last lesson about Tithes and Offerings. It went well and she marked her baptism for Saturday! Our zone is doing so well we have 12 baptisms scheduled for this week and next.

Friday! We were on splits. I was with Elder Simmons and Elder Loureiro was with Elder Torres. We visited some other people to say goodbye (I will explain a little bit after) and also went to visit Wendrell. Unfortunately he is not ready for baptism right now but hopefully later he will be ready to accept. We talked to Juninho. He will be baptized on the 7th of April. Amanda as well will be baptized that day. Then we went to Fernanda for her interview. Everything was on track for her baptism Saturday! We also had "Noite de Integração" in the Ward. Its an activity to create fellowshipping in the ward as well as integrate new people into the church to get to know the gospel! It was great! I am glad I got to see a lot of the members.

"Noite de Integração"  in the Ward

Saturday. Elder Simmons and I did another split. We went to Interlagos and did some interviews as well as went to Horto A and interviewed Maria who got baptized this week! We then went home and I got my bags and left the city to be transferred. Wait...what? Yep. I was transferred during the middle of the transfer. President had a few problems with some areas and some people were transferred. I ended up being transferred too so I could possibly help with some of the things that were going on in one of the areas. So after only 3 weeks I left Saio (Zion) Hortolandia to go to Rio Claro 4 in the Rio Claro Stake. I can't lie I am going to miss Hortolandia and the great people there. They are the best. My new companion is Elder Theodoro. I was transferred 3 hours before Fernandas baptism happened ! :( But she was baptized and confirmed so I am happy for her!

With Fernanda and her parents Reinaldo and Sonia

The spiritual thought I wanted to share is about planning and how we need to plan with God. When we keep the eternal things first in our mind as we plan we are more likely to end up where we need and want to be.We have to involve the Lord and our Heavenly Father, we need to know their will for us. Because they know what is not only good for us but what is the best for us. It is through the small and simple things that we do daily that helps us know their will and will help us continue forward on the right path and get to the destination we want. It is also important to realize that by not planning we are planning but for minimal success and achievement. Righteous daily choices, the small and simple things such as being true and honest, genuine in our prayers with our desires and thoughts as well as in our fasting, scripture study and our daily interactions with our fellow men. All of this is what really helps us become who we want to be and should be. It also brings happiness. We become who we want to be by making choices and doing the things the person we want to be would do. Then little by little, day by day we become more and more that person we desire to be. Becoming like Christ and following him requires a lot of consistent righteous choices and righteous actions. We have to work towards perfection daily, step by step, relying on the Lord to guide us in our decisions and become better disciples of Him. I know Christ lives. I know He was resurrected. May we seek Him and realize all is possible through Him.

Love,
Elder Davis

Have Ye Inquired of the Lord?

Some of my favorite people in the world - Adriano and Samara

E aí galera! Been a great week. Today has been busy so I literally have about 5 minutes to write this. Things are great here in Hortolandia. I love being here. Today we were able to go see Adriano and Samara which was super cool. They have been through a lot lately with some pretty serious trials but are so very strong in their faith. They are moving forward and trusting in the Lord. They are still planning on getting sealed soon so that is something for them to look forward to. I am super excited about it. Teaching is going well. We working with a lot of great people right now. Seeing them grow in their faith and make changes is one of the best things I have ever experienced.

Saying our goodbyes to a good friend and missionary - Elder Sander

Elder Torres and I with Sister Sander

Brothers

Dinner with the Sanders

I saw one of my trainers go home last Tuesday - Elder Sander. His parents came from Uruguay to pick him up and then they went to all the areas where he served to meet the people and his old companions. They are great people and it was a privilege to meet them. He is like a brother to me and an eternal friend. Soon it will be me - hard to believe I have about a little over 2 months left. It's coming too fast.

Leadership Council

I want to share a scripture with you from 1Nefi 15:8-11. This is Nefi talking to his brothers who are murmuring because they do not understand the vision their father has shared with them.
"And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord? And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us. Behold, I said unto them: How is it that ye do not keep the commandments of the Lord? How is it that ye will perish, because of the hardness of your hearts? Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?—If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you."
This is a great scripture that reminds us that we are responsible to seek out the knowledge that we need. Answers do not come without asking and without working to find the truth and the guidance we need from the right source. Spiritual questions deserve spiritual answers from God. We all need those answers in our lives and the answers we need come through Him. If we are not willing to inquire we will not get the answers we need. So the challenge this week is whatever the questions are that you have right now in your life, turn to the scriptures and sincerely talk with your Heavenly Father and ask. I know He will give you an answer as you show faith in Him.
Hope you all have a great week.
Elder Davis

Hortolandia = Sião

Hortolandia Zone = Sião 

E aí galera-

This week was a good one. Will have to give you guys the quick lowdown because we have leadership in Piracicaba tomorrow. Don't have too much time. It has been a great week being back in Hortolandia. I saw many members from Jardim Amanda 1 - my old area where I was a year or so ago. Man did it bring back a lot of memories from the old days here in Hortolandia! Elder Torres is a great companion. He is pretty funny. We are both from the same group. So we both end in two more transfers. I am excited to continue working with him. He is awesome. I love the zone here too. We call it Sião Hortolandia (Zion Hortolandia) - it's a pretty cool zone.

With Elder Torres & Maria Diogo

We are teaching a lot of people right now. Wendrell just set his baptism date for next Saturday. Juninho is another guy we are teaching and this week we will be setting a baptismal date for him, probably the last week in March. It has been great because his cousin, Mateus just got back from the mission a month ago and has gone with us on visits. We also have Reinaldo, Sonia and Fernanda. We had some great visits with them and a really great lesson on the plan of salvation. They also committed to come to church and they have all set dates for baptism. Reinaldo and Sonia will have to get married first so it is going to be a little while but Fernanda has a baptismal date for the 25th! We are also teaching Amanda. She loves church and has been attending and loves learning about the gospel. She really really wants to be baptized. She has a few things that we have to get worked out and some hard decisions to make regarding her boyfriend but she is moving forward. We have been teaching Elaine also but she is in a difficult situation. So we will continue working with her and moving forward. On Friday we did splits with some missionaries in the zone and I went with Elder Loueriro who is in my old area. It was very crazy because we visited a lot of my investigators that I had when I was in Jardim Amanda almost a year ago. We have been able to contact many and make appointments with them. We also taught some of their current investigators and confirmed them to go to church this past Sunday. On Saturday the guy I was teaching in Sumaré , my old area, got baptized...by me! It was great. He really wanted me to baptize him so President let me go back and do it. Washington and Andrea came and got me & my comp here in Hortolandia and then we went to Sumaré did the baptism and then they brought me back to Hortlandia. The Bishop baptized Andrea. I am grateful I had the opportunity to do that. It was a privilege and blessing for me. He is awesome and I am so happy for him and Andrea.

Washington & Andrea

Baptism of Washington & Andrea in Sumaré

I have been studying Alma 32 in the Book of Mormon where it compares the gospel/ the Word to seeds that if we plant and nourish it, it will grow and bear fruit. That is a parable or analogy a lot of us have studied and know pretty well. But I also think that most of us once we have planted the seed and see the first fruit sometimes we think we are okay and have no need to worry anymore. It is easy in the beginning when the seed first starts to grow, we are excited and we nourish it and take care of it. But then once it is growing we become casual and may not fertilize or water it or care for it like we did in the beginning. We start to take it for granted and think it will be okay and it will just maintain. But as we all know it will eventually die if we neglect it. Just like the plant, our testimonies are fragile and need to have regular nourishment. We need to treat them as a living thing that needs nourishment to grow, spiritual nourishment. When we nourish the plant, we get the fruit (blessings and spiritual experiences) and then can use it to become even stronger. We need to seek spiritual moments through prayer, scripture study, fasting and living the gospel every day. Then use those experiences to become better people and disciples of Christ. I am grateful for the "fruit" of the gospel that I have been given. I cherish the spiritual feelings and experiences that I have had that have strengthened my testimony of Christ. I am thankful for the opportunity to be a missionary. I know we all can have those daily fruits of the spirit in our lives when we nourish our spirits and testimonies.

Have a great week.
Elder Davis

"I am the Bread of Life"

This week was good. It was the week of transfers! So I will be leaving Amizade Sumaré unfortunately...I love the people of this ward and area. It will be tough to leave, it is like leaving family. I have been blessed while serving here by many great examples and people who honestly strive to follow Christ in all they do in their lives. I will miss them. I know there is always a reason for why things happen so I am excited to see what that is in my next area. So guess where I will be going? I will be going to Jardim Amanda 2 in Hortolandia! I spent 6 months in Jardim Amanda 1 Hortolandia as DL. It was the second area of my mission. Now I am going to the area right next to it and the ward I will be in attends in the same building as Jd Amanda 1. It will be super cool to see everyone again and see recent converts! My companion will be Elder Torres. He is from Mexico and is from my group.

Carvalho Family- I love this great family!

With Renato, Gina and their incredible family. I love them!

Paulo & Aline with their kids -another great family of Sumare!

We had a great week teaching this week. We were able to talk with Washington and Andrea! We went there on Thursday and talked about his baptism. He will be baptized this coming Saturday, the 10th. And Andrea will be baptized the 17th. It will be great! I wish I could be here but I am so excited for them! When we were talking about how far he had come and how much he had grown he said that when we had first invited him to be baptized he was scared to talk about it or commit to it. He said it was like when you are a kid and you really want something but you say no anyway just because you are scared to say yes. Then you feel the opportunity has passed you by and you are scared to ask for another and then it just stays in your mind and that is all you can think about - that you let that opportunity go by. But now he is taking the opportunity! He thinks about the gospel all the time and the opportunity to be baptized. He said he goes to work and he is sometimes just sitting there daydreaming. His boss passes by and says "Washington! What are you doing! Are you working?" He responds "Yeah, yeah. I am working. Just sat down to think about my baptism. I want to be baptized, how do you think it will be and when?" hahahaha He is so funny. He thinks about his baptism a lot and the changes and growth in his life he is working toward. He is pretty awesome. I am going to miss him a lot.

With Washington and Andrea

Leandro (one of our recent converts) passed the sacrament this past week (yesterday). He also got a calling as the secretary of the young mens presidency! Its so great to see your recent convert progress and begin to serve the Lord and others. I love seeing him come to church with his white shirt, tie, and everything! He is such an awesome guy too. Its such a great feeling to see them progress. Claudenice is still doing great since her baptism. She is still doing family history and has started attending the addiction program classes so she can begin to help with those with addictions. She also loves to share the gospel and is always doing missionary work and going on splits. She is pretty incredible.

With Leandro and Caroline

We had a ward family night this week! A ward activity called Noite do X. Its night of the x (cheeseburger)! haha We made cheese burgers and had a spiritual thought talking about how Christ is the 'bread' of our lives and the 'living water'. If we follow Him, we will never have hunger or thirst but be satisfied always.

The Awesome ward of Amizade - Sumare

With Paulo, Rodrigo, Ivan and Eduarda

Wonderful members of the Amizade Ward

"But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." John 4:14
"And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. John 6:35

It was Elder Mansell's birthday this past week so He was "King" that day! haha It's the best we can do on a missionary budget.

Sumaré Zone minus one companionship - going to miss this zone. It was Mansell's birthday so the zone gave him pica pau (the Brazilian Woody Woodpecker thing he is holding) because he looks just like the kid Reginaldo on the cartoon!

It was a great time to talk with everyone and feel the spirit as we shared our testimonies of Christ and the blessings that come from following Him. I love this ward and these people. I am thankful for the opportunity to know them. I am grateful for Jesus Christ my Redeemer and Savior. I know He lives and I know that true happiness and joy comes only through partaking of Bread of Life, drinking the Living Water and living as He did. I hope you all have a great week.

Love you all,
Elder Davis