All is Possible through Him

The beauty of Avaré where we serve

This past week was pretty busy and good. Started it off in Porto Ferriera with Elder Kay and Mitchell. On Monday we played basketball with a member called Rodrigo and Ramon (his brother) and some of their friends. It worked out well we were able to get to know their friends and even got to teach them a few things about the gospel. We were later able to go visit them with members and teach them a little more. It was a great experience for them and us. It definitely had been awhile since I played basketball!

Loved working with these guys the last week !

Wednesday I left Porto Ferreira and went to Avaré in the Botucatu zone. Wow, that was a long trip! Finally got here after 4 hours on the same bus! It definitely is out in the middle of nowhere haha. My companion is Elder Ruiz. We get along great. He is from the Honduras. He is a friendly, awesome missionary and hard worker. He is pretty much always talking and laughing. I am looking forward to continuing working with him throughout this next week. His companion, Elder Azi got here today. When he arrived in the mission he was sick so he stayed in Piracicaba but now he is well again and finally was able to come to his first area. So now we will be in a trio for this week.

The church building here is a renovated house.

Avare Branch has about 25-30 members that attend on Sunday

Church hallway upstairs

Avaré Branch Building

With Elder Frietas, Simmons, Ruiz in the Avaré Building. You got to love the sink mounted on the wall in the room!

Elder Ruiz and I had a good week last week. We worked with several people. We have been teaching Stefanie, Vilma and her family, and last but not least Pedro and Paula. One of the people we are teaching is in her 20s - still young and sometimes still struggles with things. She is all ready to be baptized but she needs to get over one challenge- tattoos. She loves to do tattoos. We have explained to her about how our bodies are temples for our spirits and gifts from God. We have asked her to pray to God about it and see what He says. She said she would do it but has been hesitating about it because I think she is scared of getting an answer. She doesn't want to ask because she does not want to stop. She doesn't want to receive a response from God because she knows what it is going to be. She is awesome in everything else. She goes to church every Sunday and keeps all the commandments. I know the Lord will help her understand this if she will just let Him! We are also teaching a son and mom. He wants to be baptized but the mom now is kind of not so sure. It is a hard situation because he has opened his heart and she has kind of closed hers. He wants to be baptized but he lets himself be influenced by other people. He wants to follow Christ but also does not want to upset his mother or family. We are trying to help him understand that you always put God first and then everything else falls into place. God above all other things. He has set a baptismal date for the 2nd of June. So this week we will continue to work with him. We are also teaching a mother and some of her kids. She is a lady that struggles with some addictions but also has a good heart and wants to learn of Christ. We are working with her in trying to stop her her addictions - smoking and drinking. I believe she wants to stop but she has such a strong addiction it is so difficult for her to fight against years of abusing her body. It has been a wild ride for her entire family. They need Christ in their lives. Her husband hasn't really supported her in the past in trying to change. But this time as we were leaving he came up to us with tears in his eyes and said how he feels hope and feels different when we are there teaching his wife and kids. He feels the spirit speaking to his heart and it makes him want to change. That was the first time I didn't see him drunk and because of that he recognized the spirit. It was a great experience for us all as we saw him feel the spirit and have the true desire to feel it more. This is what I am going to miss the most in the mission. It is the privilege to see the gospel of Jesus Christ take people from the depths of unhappiness, trials or sin and bring them to the light and hope that comes through the gospel. Watching people change 180 degrees from what they were to what they wanted to be and what Christ intended them to be has been one of the greatest blessings of my mission. All is possible through Him. I am really going to miss being able to spend all day every day sharing that message of hope and truth. How thankful I am for the gospel of Jesus Christ and His Plan of Salvation. I love my Savior. He is my Redeemer, Brother, Friend and Counselor. Through Him we gain true happiness and joy.

With Stefany, Elder Simmons, Elder Ruiz and Elder Frietas

With Elder Simmons and Iuri (a member here)

Have a great week. Next Monday I will be back in Piracicaba preparing to go to Sao Paulo temple with our group on Tuesday. Still cannot believe it. #9daysleft

Talking to my Family on Mother's Day!

Elder Davis