Friday, August 14, 2015
Thursday, August 13, 2015
AUGUST - final two emails.... :)
On Monday 10 August 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
LAST ONE! I hope nobody expects a really long, elaborate message today. I thought it best to keep it simple, due to the fact that I´ll be home this week and I´ll be able to tell all about this last week and any other stories in person. Really, the only big news is that everything went perfectly with Laryssa´s baptism!! Her brother and sister were present, and a few other close member friends were there. It was very simple, and one of the most spiritual baptismal services I´ve been to. She actually ended up being baptized on Friday morning, and so I was able to confirm her on Sunday! She truly is one of God´s elect, and we knew that right from the beginning. And the great thing is, I was able to give my last talk in sacrament meeting, and all of our recent converts were there! I´ll still be around during these next few days, but it was good to be with all of them in one place at one time.
I know this work is of God, and that the truth has been restored on Earth. I know Christ lives, and that he loves us more than we can comprehend. God is our loving Heavenly Father. I don´t know how many times I´ve testified of this during these last two years, but no matter how much time goes by, the truth will always remain the same.
I pray that I will be able to take all of the experiences, lessons, and miracles back home with me and apply them in my life as I take the next step in this mortal journey. I have a much deeper understanding of the Plan of Salvation, and this will make all of the difference in my life and my future. I pray that the work continues to accelerate, and that I will still be an instrument in the Lord´s hands for the rest of my life.
I know these things are true. I´ll see y´all in a few days!!
Love,
Elder Kamilos
On Monday 3 August 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Once again, it seems like these last weeks and months have just flown on by! But the great news is that I will be ending my mission with a baptism!! Yesterday was Paulo Henrique´s confirmation, and Laryssa has accepted to be baptized on the 9th! She is truly one of God´s elect, and it has been such a great experience and privilege to teach the restored gospel to her. And I say that humbly, because I know that I am simply an instrument in the Lord´s hands, and that the true teacher is the Holy Ghost. She originally had told us that she wouldn´t be able to come to church yesterday, but about 2 hours before the meeting started, she called us and said she would be coming! On the way to church she told us that she had gone to a concert the night before, and while she was out with her friends, she bought a beer, took 2 sips, and then she just lost the desire to drink (we had taught the word of wisdom just a few days earlier). She also mentioned that she hadn´t drinken coffee since that lesson, at first to prove that she wasn´t addicted, but then she told us that she wanted to do what is right. After the meeting, we asked her how it was for her, and she said, "you know how you have those moments when... you just know something? That´s how it was for me today. I was expecting an answer from God in the form of a dream, or vision, or something obvious, but as I was listening to the testimonies, I just felt that... I now know." She absolutely loves reading the Book of Mormon. Her experience reminded us a lot of Parley P. Pratt, haha. She said she just felt no desire to eat or sleep when she started. She just wanted to read, and read, and read! I´m pretty sure she´s already past 2 Nephi. Anyway, I´m really excited for her baptism on Sunday!
As for the suit, it´s in... decent shape. The problem is that it just hasn't been cleaned in a loooong time. It has a good deal of mildew. But I´ll do what I can to clean it up a bit, at least to get the smell out. It really needs to be dry-cleaned, but I just don´t know where to find one around here, haha. It´ll work out. Other than that, it´s in pretty good shape, I think. The problem is that I just hardly ever use it.
So I guess that´s it!! I´m very excited to go to the temple next Saturday! Bro Nock sent an e-mail confirming the 15th.
Until next week! I´m sure I´ll have at least one more chance to e-mail before I get back.
Love,
Michael
Dear Mom and Dad,
LAST ONE! I hope nobody expects a really long, elaborate message today. I thought it best to keep it simple, due to the fact that I´ll be home this week and I´ll be able to tell all about this last week and any other stories in person. Really, the only big news is that everything went perfectly with Laryssa´s baptism!! Her brother and sister were present, and a few other close member friends were there. It was very simple, and one of the most spiritual baptismal services I´ve been to. She actually ended up being baptized on Friday morning, and so I was able to confirm her on Sunday! She truly is one of God´s elect, and we knew that right from the beginning. And the great thing is, I was able to give my last talk in sacrament meeting, and all of our recent converts were there! I´ll still be around during these next few days, but it was good to be with all of them in one place at one time.
I know this work is of God, and that the truth has been restored on Earth. I know Christ lives, and that he loves us more than we can comprehend. God is our loving Heavenly Father. I don´t know how many times I´ve testified of this during these last two years, but no matter how much time goes by, the truth will always remain the same.
I pray that I will be able to take all of the experiences, lessons, and miracles back home with me and apply them in my life as I take the next step in this mortal journey. I have a much deeper understanding of the Plan of Salvation, and this will make all of the difference in my life and my future. I pray that the work continues to accelerate, and that I will still be an instrument in the Lord´s hands for the rest of my life.
I know these things are true. I´ll see y´all in a few days!!
Love,
Elder Kamilos
On Monday 3 August 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Once again, it seems like these last weeks and months have just flown on by! But the great news is that I will be ending my mission with a baptism!! Yesterday was Paulo Henrique´s confirmation, and Laryssa has accepted to be baptized on the 9th! She is truly one of God´s elect, and it has been such a great experience and privilege to teach the restored gospel to her. And I say that humbly, because I know that I am simply an instrument in the Lord´s hands, and that the true teacher is the Holy Ghost. She originally had told us that she wouldn´t be able to come to church yesterday, but about 2 hours before the meeting started, she called us and said she would be coming! On the way to church she told us that she had gone to a concert the night before, and while she was out with her friends, she bought a beer, took 2 sips, and then she just lost the desire to drink (we had taught the word of wisdom just a few days earlier). She also mentioned that she hadn´t drinken coffee since that lesson, at first to prove that she wasn´t addicted, but then she told us that she wanted to do what is right. After the meeting, we asked her how it was for her, and she said, "you know how you have those moments when... you just know something? That´s how it was for me today. I was expecting an answer from God in the form of a dream, or vision, or something obvious, but as I was listening to the testimonies, I just felt that... I now know." She absolutely loves reading the Book of Mormon. Her experience reminded us a lot of Parley P. Pratt, haha. She said she just felt no desire to eat or sleep when she started. She just wanted to read, and read, and read! I´m pretty sure she´s already past 2 Nephi. Anyway, I´m really excited for her baptism on Sunday!
As for the suit, it´s in... decent shape. The problem is that it just hasn't been cleaned in a loooong time. It has a good deal of mildew. But I´ll do what I can to clean it up a bit, at least to get the smell out. It really needs to be dry-cleaned, but I just don´t know where to find one around here, haha. It´ll work out. Other than that, it´s in pretty good shape, I think. The problem is that I just hardly ever use it.
So I guess that´s it!! I´m very excited to go to the temple next Saturday! Bro Nock sent an e-mail confirming the 15th.
Until next week! I´m sure I´ll have at least one more chance to e-mail before I get back.
Love,
Michael
Monday, July 27, 2015
On Monday 27 July 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
As you now know, my time for internet is pretty short now, but I do have enough time to let you know that Paulo Henrique was baptized yesterday!! It was a greatly anticipated baptismal service for
everyone, especially because our ward is in desperate need for good and active youth. The baptism was amazing, and was even better because we had an investigator, Larissa, present.
Cool story about Larissa! Thursday night, we were at a lanchonete (a place that sells snacks. I don´t even remember the word in english) that we go to often, and there was a young, college-age woman in front of us. She gave us an interesting look, and then asked with a big smile, "have you ever seen The Other Side of Heaven?" (that Disney movie about Elder Groberg). We said that we had both seen it, and I mentioned that I had actually met him in real life at a youth conference a few years back. She said that she had been looking for movies online in the religious genre, and had watched that movie. She really liked it, and became very interested in learning more about the "mormons". So when she saw us, she decided to ask! We marked a visit the next day, and we taught about the restoration after answering some questions about our missions. Turns out, she is truly one of God´s elect that He placed in our path, literally. She comes from a good catholic family, but she never considered herself really active. She had some questions and doubts, and when we taught with conviction and with the Spirit, she was completely receptive to everything! She's commited to read the ENTIRE Book of Mormon, and in the moment she is ready, she will be baptized. She has a lot of questions (which, by the way, is my favorite way to teach. We usually challenge our investigators to find a question that we don't know how to answer or how to find an answer). She's very intelligent as well. She's currently studying law at the University in João Pessoa. That also gives me some confidence that she won't have too much difficulty with reading, haha.
Anyway, that's just one more testimony-building experiences that God truly does place those who are prepared in our path. There are many ways he can do this. This time it just so happened to involve a Disney movie, two hungry missionaries, and a tiny snack shack in our neighborhood, about 10 minutes before the end of proselyting hours. Anytime. Anywhere. We must always be prepared to be missionaries.
That´s the news this week! And before concluding, I have a few things to ask. First, I´ll need new garments when I get back. I hope that a few weeks is enough time to order online. If not, I´ll hang on to few pairs to get me through the first few days or so. Just the regular, cotton
material (or if they have that mixed material, that´s good too) with the normal collar, medium-tall shirts, and medium bottoms (if it´s with a number, 30 should be just right).
Secondly, Brother Nock sent me a message and mentioned that Tanner will be receiving his endowment in the second or third week of August. I replied that I´ll be arriving about noon on Friday, August 14, and that I´d be happy to go to the temple the very next day. I´m sure he´ll respond next week, but if they decide to mark it for the 15th, I´d really like to attend the temple with them. I don´t know if there is anything important marked for that day, but if not, I´d like to leave it open to be able to do this with anyone else in the family who would like to go as well. If not, I can always ride with the Nock´s. Or maybe you already have plans to go as well? Any way, just let me know how it´ll work out!
That´s about it, as far as I can remember. The Church is true, see you in two (weeks!)
Love,
Michael
Dear Mom and Dad,
As you now know, my time for internet is pretty short now, but I do have enough time to let you know that Paulo Henrique was baptized yesterday!! It was a greatly anticipated baptismal service for
everyone, especially because our ward is in desperate need for good and active youth. The baptism was amazing, and was even better because we had an investigator, Larissa, present.
Cool story about Larissa! Thursday night, we were at a lanchonete (a place that sells snacks. I don´t even remember the word in english) that we go to often, and there was a young, college-age woman in front of us. She gave us an interesting look, and then asked with a big smile, "have you ever seen The Other Side of Heaven?" (that Disney movie about Elder Groberg). We said that we had both seen it, and I mentioned that I had actually met him in real life at a youth conference a few years back. She said that she had been looking for movies online in the religious genre, and had watched that movie. She really liked it, and became very interested in learning more about the "mormons". So when she saw us, she decided to ask! We marked a visit the next day, and we taught about the restoration after answering some questions about our missions. Turns out, she is truly one of God´s elect that He placed in our path, literally. She comes from a good catholic family, but she never considered herself really active. She had some questions and doubts, and when we taught with conviction and with the Spirit, she was completely receptive to everything! She's commited to read the ENTIRE Book of Mormon, and in the moment she is ready, she will be baptized. She has a lot of questions (which, by the way, is my favorite way to teach. We usually challenge our investigators to find a question that we don't know how to answer or how to find an answer). She's very intelligent as well. She's currently studying law at the University in João Pessoa. That also gives me some confidence that she won't have too much difficulty with reading, haha.
Anyway, that's just one more testimony-building experiences that God truly does place those who are prepared in our path. There are many ways he can do this. This time it just so happened to involve a Disney movie, two hungry missionaries, and a tiny snack shack in our neighborhood, about 10 minutes before the end of proselyting hours. Anytime. Anywhere. We must always be prepared to be missionaries.
That´s the news this week! And before concluding, I have a few things to ask. First, I´ll need new garments when I get back. I hope that a few weeks is enough time to order online. If not, I´ll hang on to few pairs to get me through the first few days or so. Just the regular, cotton
material (or if they have that mixed material, that´s good too) with the normal collar, medium-tall shirts, and medium bottoms (if it´s with a number, 30 should be just right).
Secondly, Brother Nock sent me a message and mentioned that Tanner will be receiving his endowment in the second or third week of August. I replied that I´ll be arriving about noon on Friday, August 14, and that I´d be happy to go to the temple the very next day. I´m sure he´ll respond next week, but if they decide to mark it for the 15th, I´d really like to attend the temple with them. I don´t know if there is anything important marked for that day, but if not, I´d like to leave it open to be able to do this with anyone else in the family who would like to go as well. If not, I can always ride with the Nock´s. Or maybe you already have plans to go as well? Any way, just let me know how it´ll work out!
That´s about it, as far as I can remember. The Church is true, see you in two (weeks!)
Love,
Michael
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
On Monday 20 July 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Good morning!
This week has been a lot of work, as we´re searching diligently for families to teach. This past week was one of the best weeks I´ve seen in the zone in terms of marking investigators to be baptized in the next couple of weeks. We´re seeing a lot of growth not only in the zone, but in the entire mission.
This week we´ll be having a baptism of a young man named Paulo Henrique, who is the younger brother of an active member who is preparing to serve a full-time mission. He´s been coming to church for awhile now, and has made the decision that he is ready to become a member, and take upon him the name of Jesus Christ. He really is a giant, physically and spiritually. You´ll have to see him in next week´s picture!
As for me, I continue to do well in my last weeks. You know, it´s strange. I don´t really feel any different. I´m just carrying on and working like normal!
Also, I heard Tanner Nock got his mission call! Where is he going?? I´m crazy to know. Bro. Lawson said he´ll be leaving about 2 weeks after I get back. That´s cool! I´ll have to get him all pumped up before he goes out.
That´s about it from me for now. Love you all!
Elder Kamilos
Good morning!
This week has been a lot of work, as we´re searching diligently for families to teach. This past week was one of the best weeks I´ve seen in the zone in terms of marking investigators to be baptized in the next couple of weeks. We´re seeing a lot of growth not only in the zone, but in the entire mission.
This week we´ll be having a baptism of a young man named Paulo Henrique, who is the younger brother of an active member who is preparing to serve a full-time mission. He´s been coming to church for awhile now, and has made the decision that he is ready to become a member, and take upon him the name of Jesus Christ. He really is a giant, physically and spiritually. You´ll have to see him in next week´s picture!
As for me, I continue to do well in my last weeks. You know, it´s strange. I don´t really feel any different. I´m just carrying on and working like normal!
Also, I heard Tanner Nock got his mission call! Where is he going?? I´m crazy to know. Bro. Lawson said he´ll be leaving about 2 weeks after I get back. That´s cool! I´ll have to get him all pumped up before he goes out.
That´s about it from me for now. Love you all!
Elder Kamilos
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
On Monday 13 July 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Hi Mom and Dad!
Unfortunately, I don´t have much time to write today, but just to let you know I´m doing well, I´ll send a brief message. I love you so much! And yes, I´m doing all that I can to make this last month the best of my mission and my life. My comp is just great, I love him a ton. I´m happy:)
Hopefully next week I´ll have a little more time!
Love,
Michael
Hi Mary!! Sorry I´ve been bad about sending personal emails to you and everyone. There have been some issues with internet usage in the mission, so now we only get 35 minutes on p-day to use our email. You may have noticed that my recent emails have been a bit shorter, haha, because on top of writing to mom and dad, I have to write to Presidente, and I have to do zone leader stuff (spreadsheets with baptisms and confirmations and all that jazz) which leaves me with about 10 minutes every week to write to the family. But thanks for keeping me in your prayers!
I´ll see in you in a month!! That´s crazy!
Love you!
Mike
Unfortunately, I don´t have much time to write today, but just to let you know I´m doing well, I´ll send a brief message. I love you so much! And yes, I´m doing all that I can to make this last month the best of my mission and my life. My comp is just great, I love him a ton. I´m happy:)
Hopefully next week I´ll have a little more time!
Love,
Michael
Hi Mary!! Sorry I´ve been bad about sending personal emails to you and everyone. There have been some issues with internet usage in the mission, so now we only get 35 minutes on p-day to use our email. You may have noticed that my recent emails have been a bit shorter, haha, because on top of writing to mom and dad, I have to write to Presidente, and I have to do zone leader stuff (spreadsheets with baptisms and confirmations and all that jazz) which leaves me with about 10 minutes every week to write to the family. But thanks for keeping me in your prayers!
I´ll see in you in a month!! That´s crazy!
Love you!
Mike
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
On Monday 6 July 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote...
Dear Mom and Dad,
Okay, first off, I am SO HAPPY to hear about my camera being miraculously discovered after so much time has passed!!!!! That camera has almost all of my pictures from Utah! And just to let you know, I did buy a new camera at Walmart the week before coming to Brasil, so I have been taking pictures. But that really makes me happy. That truly is a blessing. And speaking of the mission, you said new mission office of the Logan Mission?? Was a new mission created there? That´s really exciting if it did!
As for the mission, I´m really doing all that I can to enjoy these last weeks of my mission. Surprisingly, I don´t really feel any different. The work continues to go well, and I´m working hard with Elder Voorhies to make these last weeks the best of my mission.
News of Pres. Packer reached me yesterday during sunday school when one of the american sisters serving in the other ward informed me of his death. Of course, I was sad to hear of his passing away, but I know that he has really endured to the end. It truly was his time, and with our knowledge of the Plan of Salvation, we know that he is now in the paradise prepared for the righteous spirits of God´s children, awaiting the resurrection. I am so thankful for having such a broader and deeper understanding of this perfect plan.
My times about up for now! But I´ll bring more good news next week about our progressing investigators!
Love,
Michael
Okay, first off, I am SO HAPPY to hear about my camera being miraculously discovered after so much time has passed!!!!! That camera has almost all of my pictures from Utah! And just to let you know, I did buy a new camera at Walmart the week before coming to Brasil, so I have been taking pictures. But that really makes me happy. That truly is a blessing. And speaking of the mission, you said new mission office of the Logan Mission?? Was a new mission created there? That´s really exciting if it did!
As for the mission, I´m really doing all that I can to enjoy these last weeks of my mission. Surprisingly, I don´t really feel any different. The work continues to go well, and I´m working hard with Elder Voorhies to make these last weeks the best of my mission.
News of Pres. Packer reached me yesterday during sunday school when one of the american sisters serving in the other ward informed me of his death. Of course, I was sad to hear of his passing away, but I know that he has really endured to the end. It truly was his time, and with our knowledge of the Plan of Salvation, we know that he is now in the paradise prepared for the righteous spirits of God´s children, awaiting the resurrection. I am so thankful for having such a broader and deeper understanding of this perfect plan.
My times about up for now! But I´ll bring more good news next week about our progressing investigators!
Love,
Michael
Monday, June 29, 2015
On Monday 29 June 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote....
Dear Mom and Dad,
Well this week was a powerful week for us in the Santa Rita Zone! We ended the month with all but one companionship having baptized during the month. We're certainly moving forward into the next transfer and month, and speaking of transfers, it turns out that I'll be spending my last transfer here in Bayeux with Elder Voorhies!!! It's funny, actually, because almost nothing changed in the zone, which is really great. I'm hoping to end my mission with fire!
Speaking on the new decision of the US Supreme Court, I don't find it all too surprising. Recently I've been digging into the scriptures and reading a lot of prophecies concerning the last days, and it´s amazing how vivid it becomes when we come to understand what the Savior and the prophets and apostles of the scriptures all warned against. I started reading the book of Isaiah last week, and I actually studied that exact chapter (chapter 5) on Saturday. I marked this scripture, and kept pondering on the present condition of the world. The second-coming of the Lord is swiftly coming. The signs testify of that truth. I've come to know and recognize what "apostacy" really means, and I am so grateful for the Restoration of the Gospel that continues to be realized.
As for me, I´ve never been happier or more content on my mission! As I look back at all that has happened, I realize just how much that I've experienced. These have been the best and most productive years of my whole life, and I'm going to miss Brasil so much. But I still have six weeks to make the most of it!
I love you all!!
Michael
Well this week was a powerful week for us in the Santa Rita Zone! We ended the month with all but one companionship having baptized during the month. We're certainly moving forward into the next transfer and month, and speaking of transfers, it turns out that I'll be spending my last transfer here in Bayeux with Elder Voorhies!!! It's funny, actually, because almost nothing changed in the zone, which is really great. I'm hoping to end my mission with fire!
Speaking on the new decision of the US Supreme Court, I don't find it all too surprising. Recently I've been digging into the scriptures and reading a lot of prophecies concerning the last days, and it´s amazing how vivid it becomes when we come to understand what the Savior and the prophets and apostles of the scriptures all warned against. I started reading the book of Isaiah last week, and I actually studied that exact chapter (chapter 5) on Saturday. I marked this scripture, and kept pondering on the present condition of the world. The second-coming of the Lord is swiftly coming. The signs testify of that truth. I've come to know and recognize what "apostacy" really means, and I am so grateful for the Restoration of the Gospel that continues to be realized.
As for me, I´ve never been happier or more content on my mission! As I look back at all that has happened, I realize just how much that I've experienced. These have been the best and most productive years of my whole life, and I'm going to miss Brasil so much. But I still have six weeks to make the most of it!
I love you all!!
Michael
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
On Monday 22 June 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote....
Dear Mom and Dad,
Happy Father´s Day Dad! I have to admit, I almost forgot, because here in Brasil, Father´s Day is in August, haha. But Giovanna reminded me, because she saw it on facebook. Speaking of that, Joseane and Giovanna were confirmed yesterday! It´s such a great feeling to see converts baptized and confirmed, and start on the path towards a deeper, more profound conversion.
Also, we´re looking forward to a great last week of the month and transfer. Almost all of the companionships have baptisms marked for the 28th, and so we´re hoping to close the month with a great week of miracles! I have the good news next week for sure.
As for me, I continue to do very well with Elder Voorhies. He´s really helping to keep me alive and active until the end, haha.
That´s it for this week! Short and simple. Next week will bring the news of my last transfer on the mission (uh oh!). The time is really passing by so fast. It´s unbelievable. I just tucked away my flight plan because I don´t want to keep my mind of going home. I´m here to endure to the end!
Love you all! I love you Dad! Happy Father´s Day, again!
Michael
Happy Father´s Day Dad! I have to admit, I almost forgot, because here in Brasil, Father´s Day is in August, haha. But Giovanna reminded me, because she saw it on facebook. Speaking of that, Joseane and Giovanna were confirmed yesterday! It´s such a great feeling to see converts baptized and confirmed, and start on the path towards a deeper, more profound conversion.
Also, we´re looking forward to a great last week of the month and transfer. Almost all of the companionships have baptisms marked for the 28th, and so we´re hoping to close the month with a great week of miracles! I have the good news next week for sure.
As for me, I continue to do very well with Elder Voorhies. He´s really helping to keep me alive and active until the end, haha.
That´s it for this week! Short and simple. Next week will bring the news of my last transfer on the mission (uh oh!). The time is really passing by so fast. It´s unbelievable. I just tucked away my flight plan because I don´t want to keep my mind of going home. I´m here to endure to the end!
Love you all! I love you Dad! Happy Father´s Day, again!
Michael
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
May and June....
On Monday 15 June 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad!
Yesterday was a great great day!! Cristina was confirmed, and we had two more baptisms! We baptized a mom and daughter, Joseane and Giovanna! They're a great example of pure faith and trust in the Lord. We worked very hard to help them understand that faith isn´t a perfect knowledge, and that their desire to follow the Savior and their obedience to the commandments is enough, for now, to be baptized. They truly are elect, and we had a lot of help from a family of recent-converts who have a very similar conversion story. Today we'll be having a family home evening with the two families, and we'll be teaching from the fifth Preach My Gospel lesson, specifically about temples and eternal families. We´re so excited to challenge them all to participate in baptisms for the dead in next month's ward temple trip.
Aside from our success, we're seeing a lot of great things happening in the zone. Our goal this month is to have every companionship baptize, and for this week many of the comps that haven't yet had a baptism have investigators marked for the 21st. It's gonna be a great week!
Also, I had quite a testimony-building experience last week when I was on exchanges with one of the district leaders in the zone, Elder Fanzlau. We were headed to visit a recent-convert when we turned around the corner and saw a large group of people on the street side watching a man who was kicking and screaming and rolling on the ground in the mud. People believed he had been possessed, while others thought maybe he had just drunken a little too much. Whatever the case, he was acting unusually strange, even for a drunk. There were probably drugs involved as well. So Elder Fanzlau and I decide in that moment to follow the spirit, and the spirit moved us to give this man a blessing, right there on street. The man stood up, said a few words that didn't really make any sense, and then fell over suddenly and continued to roll around. In that moment, we put our hands on his head, and we gave him a blessing by the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood. As soon as we said, "amen" he stopped, relaxed completely, and exhaled very deeply. There was an immediate change in him, and he pretty much just fell asleep. This was done in front of many people, and we decided that we had done what we needed, and so we stoop up quietly and left. Everybody was silent. The spirit was strong, and as we walked away, we just felt a powerful energy running through us. Part of it was adrenaline, for sure, but there was much more to it than that. We walked away, having witnessed first hand the reality of Priesthood power. Upon returning that same way about 30 minutes later, we asked a few people on the sidewalk if that man was better. They said he was much better, and about a minute later we saw him walking with a couple of people helping him, and he said, in broken english, "thank you, my friend, my brother." Sure, he was still a little perturbed, but in his resemblance there was a light that just moments earlier had been covered and darkened.
The church is true. The Priesthood is real. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer.
I love you all so much!
Michael
On Monday 8 June 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Unfortunately, I don't have much time to e-mail today, but the big news is that our investigator, Cristina, was baptized yesterday!! She's a very special woman about mom's age, and she is just so excited to be a new member of the church. She bore a powerful testimony at the baptismal service yesterday, and it was great because our entire district had investigators there to watch. Many our now set to be baptized this coming Sunday, including two of our investigators, Josiane and Gevona, a mom and daughter. They really enjoyed coming to church, and even enjoyed the testimony meeting! Saturday, Elder Voorhies and I took an entire family of recent converts to their house to teach the plan of salvation, and it was seriously the best lesson I've taught in my entire mission. We left that house on such a spiritual high, and I almost started crying for joy during the opening prayer of the next lesson that immediately followed.
So sorry this e-mail is short, but just know that I have never been so enthusiastic about being a missionary and helping this zone as well. We are definitely seeing a lot of wonderful changes, and the zone is really starting to catch on fire!
I love you all! I know this gospel is true!!
Michael
On Monday 1 June 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
The life in the mission field is great!! Our area continues to go better and better every day, and we´re finding a lot of great families to teach! A member in our ward gave us some outstanding referrals, one of which will be baptized this coming Sunday, and another couple who is really learning a lot with our visits. Elder Voorhies and I work so well together, that it´s really just natural. We´re challenging everyone we contact to be baptized, and the rest of the zone is starting to catch fire as well. On friday, when we set our goals for the month of June, every companionship in the zone gave a high goal, and I have never felt so proud of these missionaries. We´re certainly making some great changes, and we´re hoping to set records in the month of June. The great thing about these numbers, however, is that every single number represents the souls of the children of God. That is why we´re here! To find God´s elect, and to make those who are not yet elect to become elect. Every individual is at a different stage of spiritual growth, but if one has desire, Christ says "come as you are."
I´m sure the news spread quickly of the passing away of Elder Perry. I first heard sunday morning. I was certainly sad to hear, because I really love all of the Brethren as if I knew them personally. Elder
Perry was such a strong witness and voice of the Savior, and I´ll certainly miss him. But then, after thinking about it, he was at such a great age, and with all that he knew, and with such a degree of
faith that he possessed, I´m certain that death was really quite a joyful moment for him. When we know and understand the plan of salvation, it really does give us an eternal perspective of life.
The work of salvation continues to accelerate every passing moment! I know this work is true, and I know that Christ is our Savior, our Brother, and our Captain. He called me to this work through a living prophet, and that is what gives me courage.
I love you all very much!
Love,
Michael
On Monday 25 May 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Hello from Bayeux!!
This week has been extremely challenging! I say that in a good way, because Elder Voorhies and I basically challenged everyone we contacted to be baptized! I don't think I've ever had such an
enthusiastic companion, and the two of us together pretty much makes a dream team, haha. I think I mentioned this, but he and I arrived in Brasil at the same time. We didn't have any contact for over a year, but when I found out we would be companions, I immediately became very excited. If I could describe his personality in a very simple way, I would just say imagine John, haha. Only nobody can ever replace John, of course. But I'm sure these final months will be the best of my mission!
The work in the zone is going much better now. We basically made the goal to just challenge everybody we talk to to be baptized. It's starting to give some good results too!
I am absolutely sure that this is God's work, and that it is hastening as we speak! I know that we are God's children, and that He loves us very very much. Jesus Christ lives, and this is His church.
I love you all very much! And happy birthday to Leah this week!
Love,
Michael
On Monday 18 May 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Transfer day!! I´ll be staying in Bayeux with my new companion... Elder Voorhies!! I was really really excited when I heard we would be companions. We first met in the Salt Lake Airport, when I left the Ogden mission, and he had just left the MTC. We immediately became good friends, and I know this is going to be a companionship of power. He´s from Lubbock, Texas, and is only my third american companion since I´ve been in Brasil. Interesting fact about him? His name is Luke, and not after Luke from the Bible, but after Luke Skywalker from Starwars, haha. He and his dad are huge Starwars fans, and they even had the chance to meet George Lucas and watch one day of the filming
of episode three. He´s very enthusiastic, and he´s an experienced leader in the mission, although this is the first time he´ll be serving as a zone leader. But we´re really hoping to boost this zone a lot this transfer. It´s very likely that he´ll be my last companion as well, so we have to make the most of it! Also, he´s a choir boy just like me, so I´m sure there will be plenty of singing in the house, haha.
That´s really interesting about the change in the mission. But that´s way cool that it´ll now be an "Arkansas" mission! Bentonville really is a great place. Almost as good as Fayetteville, haha. :)
As for the temple, I´m really looking forward to making it back to the temple when I get back. That´s one of the first things I want to do, actually.
So, other than transfers, there´s really no big news from me. The work is going, and I´m sure we´ll really hit the ground running today. I´ll let you know of any baptisms!
This is the work of the Lord. That is something that I know so very well. Christ lives, and is our Savior and Redeemer. The Book of Mormon and the Bible are sacred scriptures and truly contain the work of God. If there is one thing I've gained on my mission, it is a love for the scriptures. That has helped my testimony grow so much as well.
Love y´all!
Michael
On Monday 11 May 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
It was great to see the family yesterday! Bain is really growing up fast! Gavin as well, haha. I'm glad everyone's doing well back home.
It's really hard to believe that I only have three months left here in João Pessoa. I'm determined to make the most of them! I know it'll go by quickly, but I still have plenty of time to bear my testimony and preach the gospel.
As for the work, it's progressing. We've seen a lot of good things happening in the stake among the other companionships. President Nogueira gave a talk in sacrament meeting yesterday, and so we're
hoping that the ward will follow the counsel that he gave.
Transfers will be next week, but since the day of transfers has now changed to Monday, I'll be able to send my weekly e-mail as usual next week. This week will be brief due to the skype call yesterday.
I love you all very much! Happy Mother's Day (yesterday) Mom! I know this work is true, and that God does live. Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world.
Until next week!
Michael
On Monday 4 May 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
First things first! So it seems like everything is set up for me to call home at 8 pm my time. I hope that´s a convenient time for the family. Our sacrament meeting ends at 7 pm, and from there we´ll go
straight to our ward mission leader´s house to make the call. I still can´t believe how fast the time has flied since the last call! I´ll be home before you know it.
Also, that sounds just fine, concerning the core classes. I think that's best anyway. It´s a shame that the last orientation is just days before I come home, but it seems like it´ll all work out just fine.
This last week was really good because we found 3 great families in which the parents are legally married! One family made it to church yesterday, and another will be coming this next sunday. It will be really great, because our mission president and his wife will be speaking in our ward on mother´s day! We´re hoping it´ll give the ward a little boost. We can use all of the help we can get.
I know for certain that this work is true! One of the greatest things about serving a mission is receiving an undeniable testimony of the gospel. Miracles happen every day. I have such a love for the scriptures and for the revelations of modern prophets. It´s been such a privilege to be a full-time representative of the lord Jesus Christ, and I've felt him walking by my side in so many of the hardest as well as the easiest of times. This is something that I wouldn't trade for anything.
I love you all! The church is true!
Michael
Dear Mom and Dad!
Yesterday was a great great day!! Cristina was confirmed, and we had two more baptisms! We baptized a mom and daughter, Joseane and Giovanna! They're a great example of pure faith and trust in the Lord. We worked very hard to help them understand that faith isn´t a perfect knowledge, and that their desire to follow the Savior and their obedience to the commandments is enough, for now, to be baptized. They truly are elect, and we had a lot of help from a family of recent-converts who have a very similar conversion story. Today we'll be having a family home evening with the two families, and we'll be teaching from the fifth Preach My Gospel lesson, specifically about temples and eternal families. We´re so excited to challenge them all to participate in baptisms for the dead in next month's ward temple trip.
Aside from our success, we're seeing a lot of great things happening in the zone. Our goal this month is to have every companionship baptize, and for this week many of the comps that haven't yet had a baptism have investigators marked for the 21st. It's gonna be a great week!
Also, I had quite a testimony-building experience last week when I was on exchanges with one of the district leaders in the zone, Elder Fanzlau. We were headed to visit a recent-convert when we turned around the corner and saw a large group of people on the street side watching a man who was kicking and screaming and rolling on the ground in the mud. People believed he had been possessed, while others thought maybe he had just drunken a little too much. Whatever the case, he was acting unusually strange, even for a drunk. There were probably drugs involved as well. So Elder Fanzlau and I decide in that moment to follow the spirit, and the spirit moved us to give this man a blessing, right there on street. The man stood up, said a few words that didn't really make any sense, and then fell over suddenly and continued to roll around. In that moment, we put our hands on his head, and we gave him a blessing by the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood. As soon as we said, "amen" he stopped, relaxed completely, and exhaled very deeply. There was an immediate change in him, and he pretty much just fell asleep. This was done in front of many people, and we decided that we had done what we needed, and so we stoop up quietly and left. Everybody was silent. The spirit was strong, and as we walked away, we just felt a powerful energy running through us. Part of it was adrenaline, for sure, but there was much more to it than that. We walked away, having witnessed first hand the reality of Priesthood power. Upon returning that same way about 30 minutes later, we asked a few people on the sidewalk if that man was better. They said he was much better, and about a minute later we saw him walking with a couple of people helping him, and he said, in broken english, "thank you, my friend, my brother." Sure, he was still a little perturbed, but in his resemblance there was a light that just moments earlier had been covered and darkened.
The church is true. The Priesthood is real. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer.
I love you all so much!
Michael
On Monday 8 June 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Unfortunately, I don't have much time to e-mail today, but the big news is that our investigator, Cristina, was baptized yesterday!! She's a very special woman about mom's age, and she is just so excited to be a new member of the church. She bore a powerful testimony at the baptismal service yesterday, and it was great because our entire district had investigators there to watch. Many our now set to be baptized this coming Sunday, including two of our investigators, Josiane and Gevona, a mom and daughter. They really enjoyed coming to church, and even enjoyed the testimony meeting! Saturday, Elder Voorhies and I took an entire family of recent converts to their house to teach the plan of salvation, and it was seriously the best lesson I've taught in my entire mission. We left that house on such a spiritual high, and I almost started crying for joy during the opening prayer of the next lesson that immediately followed.
So sorry this e-mail is short, but just know that I have never been so enthusiastic about being a missionary and helping this zone as well. We are definitely seeing a lot of wonderful changes, and the zone is really starting to catch on fire!
I love you all! I know this gospel is true!!
Michael
On Monday 1 June 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
The life in the mission field is great!! Our area continues to go better and better every day, and we´re finding a lot of great families to teach! A member in our ward gave us some outstanding referrals, one of which will be baptized this coming Sunday, and another couple who is really learning a lot with our visits. Elder Voorhies and I work so well together, that it´s really just natural. We´re challenging everyone we contact to be baptized, and the rest of the zone is starting to catch fire as well. On friday, when we set our goals for the month of June, every companionship in the zone gave a high goal, and I have never felt so proud of these missionaries. We´re certainly making some great changes, and we´re hoping to set records in the month of June. The great thing about these numbers, however, is that every single number represents the souls of the children of God. That is why we´re here! To find God´s elect, and to make those who are not yet elect to become elect. Every individual is at a different stage of spiritual growth, but if one has desire, Christ says "come as you are."
I´m sure the news spread quickly of the passing away of Elder Perry. I first heard sunday morning. I was certainly sad to hear, because I really love all of the Brethren as if I knew them personally. Elder
Perry was such a strong witness and voice of the Savior, and I´ll certainly miss him. But then, after thinking about it, he was at such a great age, and with all that he knew, and with such a degree of
faith that he possessed, I´m certain that death was really quite a joyful moment for him. When we know and understand the plan of salvation, it really does give us an eternal perspective of life.
The work of salvation continues to accelerate every passing moment! I know this work is true, and I know that Christ is our Savior, our Brother, and our Captain. He called me to this work through a living prophet, and that is what gives me courage.
I love you all very much!
Love,
Michael
On Monday 25 May 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Hello from Bayeux!!
This week has been extremely challenging! I say that in a good way, because Elder Voorhies and I basically challenged everyone we contacted to be baptized! I don't think I've ever had such an
enthusiastic companion, and the two of us together pretty much makes a dream team, haha. I think I mentioned this, but he and I arrived in Brasil at the same time. We didn't have any contact for over a year, but when I found out we would be companions, I immediately became very excited. If I could describe his personality in a very simple way, I would just say imagine John, haha. Only nobody can ever replace John, of course. But I'm sure these final months will be the best of my mission!
The work in the zone is going much better now. We basically made the goal to just challenge everybody we talk to to be baptized. It's starting to give some good results too!
I am absolutely sure that this is God's work, and that it is hastening as we speak! I know that we are God's children, and that He loves us very very much. Jesus Christ lives, and this is His church.
I love you all very much! And happy birthday to Leah this week!
Love,
Michael
On Monday 18 May 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Transfer day!! I´ll be staying in Bayeux with my new companion... Elder Voorhies!! I was really really excited when I heard we would be companions. We first met in the Salt Lake Airport, when I left the Ogden mission, and he had just left the MTC. We immediately became good friends, and I know this is going to be a companionship of power. He´s from Lubbock, Texas, and is only my third american companion since I´ve been in Brasil. Interesting fact about him? His name is Luke, and not after Luke from the Bible, but after Luke Skywalker from Starwars, haha. He and his dad are huge Starwars fans, and they even had the chance to meet George Lucas and watch one day of the filming
of episode three. He´s very enthusiastic, and he´s an experienced leader in the mission, although this is the first time he´ll be serving as a zone leader. But we´re really hoping to boost this zone a lot this transfer. It´s very likely that he´ll be my last companion as well, so we have to make the most of it! Also, he´s a choir boy just like me, so I´m sure there will be plenty of singing in the house, haha.
That´s really interesting about the change in the mission. But that´s way cool that it´ll now be an "Arkansas" mission! Bentonville really is a great place. Almost as good as Fayetteville, haha. :)
As for the temple, I´m really looking forward to making it back to the temple when I get back. That´s one of the first things I want to do, actually.
So, other than transfers, there´s really no big news from me. The work is going, and I´m sure we´ll really hit the ground running today. I´ll let you know of any baptisms!
This is the work of the Lord. That is something that I know so very well. Christ lives, and is our Savior and Redeemer. The Book of Mormon and the Bible are sacred scriptures and truly contain the work of God. If there is one thing I've gained on my mission, it is a love for the scriptures. That has helped my testimony grow so much as well.
Love y´all!
Michael
On Monday 11 May 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
It was great to see the family yesterday! Bain is really growing up fast! Gavin as well, haha. I'm glad everyone's doing well back home.
It's really hard to believe that I only have three months left here in João Pessoa. I'm determined to make the most of them! I know it'll go by quickly, but I still have plenty of time to bear my testimony and preach the gospel.
As for the work, it's progressing. We've seen a lot of good things happening in the stake among the other companionships. President Nogueira gave a talk in sacrament meeting yesterday, and so we're
hoping that the ward will follow the counsel that he gave.
Transfers will be next week, but since the day of transfers has now changed to Monday, I'll be able to send my weekly e-mail as usual next week. This week will be brief due to the skype call yesterday.
I love you all very much! Happy Mother's Day (yesterday) Mom! I know this work is true, and that God does live. Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world.
Until next week!
Michael
On Monday 4 May 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
First things first! So it seems like everything is set up for me to call home at 8 pm my time. I hope that´s a convenient time for the family. Our sacrament meeting ends at 7 pm, and from there we´ll go
straight to our ward mission leader´s house to make the call. I still can´t believe how fast the time has flied since the last call! I´ll be home before you know it.
Also, that sounds just fine, concerning the core classes. I think that's best anyway. It´s a shame that the last orientation is just days before I come home, but it seems like it´ll all work out just fine.
This last week was really good because we found 3 great families in which the parents are legally married! One family made it to church yesterday, and another will be coming this next sunday. It will be really great, because our mission president and his wife will be speaking in our ward on mother´s day! We´re hoping it´ll give the ward a little boost. We can use all of the help we can get.
I know for certain that this work is true! One of the greatest things about serving a mission is receiving an undeniable testimony of the gospel. Miracles happen every day. I have such a love for the scriptures and for the revelations of modern prophets. It´s been such a privilege to be a full-time representative of the lord Jesus Christ, and I've felt him walking by my side in so many of the hardest as well as the easiest of times. This is something that I wouldn't trade for anything.
I love you all! The church is true!
Michael
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
4 Months of Updates!! :)
A note from Mary: Sorry! I have neglected once more. Hopefully I can do better for the next few months. :)
On Monday 27 April 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Woooaah!!! That´s way awesome that Eric is coming to Brasil!! When does he leave? And which mission in São Paulo?? I know a lot of people that are either from São Paulo, or that served missions there, haha.
Also, sorry for missing last week´s e-mail. I think this is for sure the most stressful time I´ve had on my mission, but after yesterday, I really feel very very positive about this new month that´s coming up. Elder L. Silva and I are starting to really get serious about
obedience and hard work. We're going to make a lot of sacrifices, but we're doing it with happiness and I know it'll pay off! And really, to tell the truth, we really aren't sacrificing anything. Sacrifice comes with the calling, and the one who made the ultimate sacrifice was Jesus. We simply need to follow him, and I know that that´s not always easy, but it´s worth everything.
It´s easy to get discouraged, it really is. When people ignore us, reject us, yell from across the street calling us false prophets, make silly mormon jokes behind our backs, and all of the other stuff that comes with being a disciple of Christ, it´s easy to let our head sink a little. But these are the moments that we are standing shoulder to shoulder with the best missionary that ever lived. These are the moments that we have angels on our left and on our right to bear us up. And when somebody finally gives an ear to the message of the restored gospel, all of the trials seem insignificant. The miracles do come. I have never been more sure that the Church is true, and that the Priesthood has been restored to the Earth, and that God the Father and Jesus Christ live. I´ve spent a good amount of time on my knees these past few nights, and as I offer up my heart to Heavenly Father, he offers me peace and counsel.
Some good news from the ward is that our recent convert, Valdemir, is preparing to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood. He was just baptized in January, but his progress has been phenomenal, along with his whole family. There are also a handful of recently reactivated members who are also on the same path, including our Gospel Principles
teacher, Jonathan. He fell away from the church when he was about 15, and he stayed inactive for 17 years. Just last year he started coming back to church, got married (legally), was ordained a priest, and was called to be a sunday school teacher. Now 33 years old, he’s fully active, and is also preparing to receive the Higher Priesthood. The
change that some people make is sometimes sudden and miraculous. I know that it is possible for everyone, independent of how far we have fallen.
I guess that´s it from me this week. Also, we'll have to work out a time to do our skype call. Here we have church at 4-7 pm. Most likely I´ll be calling at 8 pm our time. What time does the singles ward have meetings there? We can confirm the time next week. Just a heads up.
Love you all!!!
Michael
On Monday 13 April 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Well, we now come to the beginning of yet another transfer! And from now on, the transfers will be on Monday (starting today). I think it´s a great change, because now we can start fresh at the beginning of the week and not lose the first two days.
As for me, transfers didn´t change anything. I´ll be staying in Bayeux with Elder L. Silva, and the other two missionaries Elder Cajamarca and Elder Marin will also be staying. The zone changed a little bit, but nothing significant. I'm sure excited for this transfer though! It´s been pretty challenging and very stressful, but I know the the blessings and the miracles are coming. I never let myself get discouraged, because that is exactly what the enemy wants. I can already feel a difference in the work, and we're going to do
everything to find the Lord´s elect.
I think I mentioned this in last week´s e-mail, but I really liked Bishop Caussé’s talk in this last conference. It really opened my eyes and made me wonder, "is the Gospel still wonderful to me?" That includes my mission. As I now have a year and half on the mission, I stopped to think of all of the blessings and privileges I've had and continue to have as a full-time missionary. I really stopped to ask myself, "is the mission still wonderful and exciting to me?" And as I look back at all that I've done and look forward to what is still to come, I can honestly say that this work is not only wonderful, but it is true! The way it changes lives, brings families together, and helps us realize our great potential, it is impossible not to see the hand of the Lord in this marvelous work. I have a deep testimony that God is our Father, and Jesus Christ is His Son, and our Savior and Redeemer.
I'm looking forward to yet another skype call here in just a month! I can´t even believe that. Christmas was just yesterday! As the work is hastened, so is the time! Haha.
Love you all!
Michael
On Monday 6 April 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
General Conference was absolutely fantastic! Of course, it´s always hard to say which of the speakers were my favorite, but I'd have to say that my favorites this time around were Elders Perry and Christofferson. Elder Perry gave a great talk and shared his
experiences with the multi-religion conference on marriage in the vatican. He also pointed out that although we share many beliefs and concerns, our church stands alone with the belief that families can be together forever. Elder Christofferson also spoke very well on some important doctrines concerning marriage and the plan of salvation.
I did notice that Elder Scott didn’t speak in this conference, nor did I see him present at any of the sessions. I actually became a little concerned, wondering if he’s with poor health. I hope all is well with him. I always enjoy his talks at conference.
Another talk I really enjoyed was Bishop Caussé. Sometimes we really do take for granted all of the marvelous blessings of the gospel. It was also funny what he said about the Eiffel Tower, because afterwards my companion said that he’s lived in Rio his whole life, and he’s never been to the Christ the Redeemer statue, haha. He said that it
really is true that when you grow up and live there, you never really feel the desire or urge to go and visit. It´s something so normal that you really become accustomed to it, as if it wasn't really anything special. He said that when he goes back, he plans on going there.
Those were just a few of the many highlights from conference. Of course, I have many notes that I took, and I´ll have to take some time to review and study them during this week.
That’s about all the news from me this week. I´ll keep you posted on progressing investigators and potential baptisms coming up. This area is certainly full of challenges, haha.
Love you all!
Michael
On Monday 30 March 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Well we have now closed the month of March and are moving into April! This was honestly one of the most challenging months of my mission, but we have high hopes for the month of April. I´m looking very forward to General Conference this week! I've really come to love conference since I've been on my mission. What a privilege it is to hear from living prophets and apostles!
That’s way cool that Mary and Michael will be going out to Utah to watch conference! That’s something I would really like to do someday. I hope to make it out to Ogden to visit my mission as well. Those 3 months were very special for me, and I´ll always have a place in my heart for the Utah Ogden Mission.
As for our work in Bayeux, we´re still having some challenges in the area as far as finding people who will keep commitments. There is so much potential here, and so we’re trusting in the Lord and in ourselves to have a lot of success. We have high hopes for this month!
That's neat to hear about the new missionaries in the ward. You´ll have to let the Young´s know that the new Elder is waiting to go to Teresina. If he gets his visa soon enough, he may have a chance to serve with Brandyn! Apparently it´s even hotter there than it is here in João Pessoa, haha.
But that´s the news from me this week! A hug from me to everyone!
Love,
Michael
On Monday 16 March 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! 60 years?! That´s almost unbelievable! It´s amazing to see how fast the years go by. I think it´s even more unbelievable that I´m 21. That still hasn't sunk in, haha.
Mom, I want to thank you for the many years you've given me, all the lessons you've taught me, and the testimony that you've helped nourish throughout my life. It hasn't been easy, I know! But I wouldn´t be where I am today if it wasn't for you. I love you!
And as for Jessica and the U of A women´s track team, that´s really exciting news! Number ONE! Tell her congrats for me, and that I'm always cheering for her here in Brasil.
I had TWO small world experiences yesterday! The first was when I was talking to one of the Elders in my zone. His name is Elder Leavitt, from Las Vegas. I mentioned that I had a friend (Brandyn) that served in Vegas waiting for his visa. He asked me what his name was, and I said Elder Young, and he said "I know him! He served in my ward!" He
said he went out on exchanges with him and everything, haha. I´ll have to send an e-mail to him and tell him Zach Leavitt is in my zone/district.
And the other experience is even crazier. Yesterday I was in the chapel waiting for church to start, when one of the members came up and shook my hand. He said, "Elder Kamilos... I had a companion with that name!" For about 5 seconds, I didn't even think about it. But then it hit me, Kamilos is a very uncommon name, especially among missionaries. I asked him where he served, and he said São Paulo Interlagos! He was one of Matt´s old companions! I said, wait a second, did he have a blonde spot in his hair?? He said, "yeah! That´s him!" Haha, it was really crazy. We talked for a little bit, and I discovered that his name on the mission was Elder J. Nascimento, so you'll have to let Matt know.
As for the work, we're still working hard to build up our teaching pool. I'm really looking forward to conference though! We'll be able to watch it in our chapel, because it´s the stake center here in the Santa Rita stake. This is actually the same place I watched conference last October.
That´s the news from me this week! Hope nobody gets spring fever with the change in weather! For me, that´s pretty hard because the weather doesn't really change here, haha. Occasionally we have a rainy week here or there, but that's about it.
But have a great week! Love you all!!
Love,
Michael
On Monday 9 March 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Well, transfers always bring a lot of challenges, such as getting to know the area, ward, members, companion, and all. But from what I've already seen, this is going to be a wonderful experience serving in Bayeux. Of course, I also have new responsibilities as a zone leader, but from what I can tell, it doesn't seem to be all that hard. The most important responsibility is to be the example for the other missionaries in the zone. The zone I'm in, the Santa Rita Zone, is one of the smallest in the mission, with only 9 companionships. I´m very excited to do all that I can to lift this zone/stake to a new level! My companion is way cool too. He´s from Rio, and he has a great balance between diligence and obedience, and also being fun and laid-back. I know we'll be just fine together, haha.
As for the new stake presidency, I know the Lord has called these men to be great leaders. I’m sad to see President Bradford released, especially since it was he who set me apart as a missionary. But I'm also looking forward to returning to report to President Gauldin. But that´s still a good way in front of me. For now, my focus is dedicating all my time and efforts to serving in Bayeux!
Also, one thing crazy about this week! It´s been very rainy, but what surprised me one night at about 4 in the morning was a loud clap of thunder!! It was the first time I've seen lightning and thunder since I´ve been here! It made me think about springtime in Arkansas a little, haha.
I know this is the Lord´s work. The church is true and is God´s kingdom upon the earth. Christ lives and is the head of this church, and Thomas S. Monson is His prophet, seer, and revelator. Joseph Smith was a prophet, and was chosen to restore the Gospel of Jesus Christ in its fulness.
I love you all!! Have a great week!
Michael
On Wednesday 4 March 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Transfers have come and gone once more!! This one has brought me back to the Santa Rita Zone, in a city called Bayeux. And I´ve been assigned to be a Zone Leader! My new companion is Elder L. Silva from Rio de Janeiro! He´s one of the best. I actually had never known him before, but he has the same amount of time on the mission as I do, and everyone says he´s excellent. I`m very excited to work and learn with him.
This will surely be a transfer of many blessings, but also of many challenges. This zone has a lot of potential, but it´ll take a lot of work to reach it. I´m very eager to see what happens this month.
As for the family of three back in Paratibe, the baptism will take place this saturday. I´m sad that I won't be there for it, especially since Eliane mentioned that she wanted me to baptize them, but I know it´ll all work out alright. My companion Elder L. Lima stayed in the area, so he'll be able to take care of them. Also, the Elder that will take my place is an outstanding missionary, so I´m not worried. I already left a note for them with everything they need to know.
The weather is hot as usual, but fortunately Bayeux has a lot of tall trees that create a lot of shade. I came here one time before on an exchange when I was in Municípios, so I´m familiar with the area a little bit. Also, this area has the João Pessoa Airport, so I´ll see a lot of airplanes landing and taking off, haha. I hope that doesn't have too much of a psychological effect on me, that is, "trunkiness" haha. Just kidding, I´m sure it´ll be fine.
But that´s the news from me! Hope all is well back home! Send a hug to the family and the ward!
Love,
Michael
On Monday 16 February 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
This past week was really really great! My birthday was amazing at the bishop´s house. His wife made a huuuuge chocolate cake with chocolate and passion fruit frosting! A few of my favorite members in the ward were there as well.
Our family of three, Eliane, Amanda and Adrian are marked to be baptized on Saturday this week! They truly are an elect family. They´re reading the Book of Mormon together, and Adrian (the 9 year old son) is very excited and keeps saying he´s gonna be a future
Elder, haha. But what really made me proud was when Eliane (the mother of the family) told me that he suddenly started helping her wash dishes/clothes, and do chores around the house without even being asked! I told her that he´s already preparing for his mission, haha. But I really love this family. I´m sure I´m gonna keep in contact with them for the rest of my life.
Sounds like the admission process is going well. And I´m sure the date shouldn’t be a problem. From what the transfer dates look like, I believe I'll be headed home on August 12th. That gives me a little less than two weeks to get back into the groove of things, which I hope is enough!
Know that I love you all and I always pray for the family and folks back home.
Love,
Michael
On Monday 9 February 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Thanks for the birthday wishes!! I´ll be celebrating at the bishop’s house tonight with a few members of the ward. His wife makes birthday, wedding, and event cakes for a living, so I´m way excited about that! I´ll send a picture next week :)
The work continues to go on however! We're looking forward to the baptism of a family of 3 that´s marked for the 21st of this month. It´s a family very special, and so I´ll tell more about them in next week´s email. Today I spent a good amount of time responding to other emails, and so I don't have much time. But thanks for the picture! That´s great that nana and papa visited the family this weekend! I miss them a lot. I hope I´ll get to see them soon after my mission.
I love you all very very much!!
Love,
Michael
On Monday 2 February 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
I´ll be brief today. The news from Brasil this week is one more baptism! Jonas was baptized on saturday, confirmed on Sunday. We have 3 more baptisms planned for this week as well! The work is going very well here in the ward.
Love you all!
Michael
Here are some of the pictures from the baptisms I´ve had in the Paratibe ward!
On Monday 26 January 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Well my new companion, Elder L. Lima, and I are working really hard together, and it´s paying off! We had 5 investigators attend church yesterday, and they are all preparing to be baptized. It´s not set in stone yet, but with hard work, fasting, prayer, and lots of divine assistance, there’s a great chance that they will all be baptized sooner rather than later. This ward is truly a special place to be. I've never served in area like this, and it truly is a privilege. I´m gonna have to make the most of my time here, because more than likely this will be my last transfer here.
If I'm not mistaken, I believe I completed about 30 credit hours, if not more. But it was for sure more than 24, so if that´s all you need, than I can give that certainty. One thing I know for sure is that there will be a drastic change in my study habits and dedication to
school than I had before my mission. The mission has taught me so much about planning, effective study, and work ethic, on top of all of the spiritual benefits it has brought to me. I see my future very positively, and with much hope!
That´s about all the news from me this week, but we'll see what we get done here in Paratibe this week!
Love you!
Michael
On Wednesday 21 January 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
First off, say FELIZ ANIVERSÀRIO to Matt for me! 25 years right? It´s so hard to believe that my 21st birthday is approaching as well.
Well, today is transfer day! But Elder Pechel and I ended the transfer with the baptism of Claudiene! Claudine is a woman that we met at the beginning of December when she called us and asked for a copy of the Book of Mormon. Now that doesn't happen every day! During this time she has been looking for a job, which has taken up a lot of her time and so our visits were really pretty infrequent. But she also loves to read! In fact, she’s already read Gospel Principles, and is now reading the teachings of President Benson. She´s one of those people who was just prepared, and we just opened the door for her to step in all by herself. But she’s becoming very involved with the ward now.
Speaking of the temple, we made a challenge to one of the recent converts in the ward to go on the next temple trip to Recife in February. She´s going through some hard trials in her life, and we were inspired to promise her that going to the House of the Lord would help her in ways that she couldn't even imagine. We made some other specific promises concerning her current situation, and she accepted! We're also teaching her nephew, who has accepted our invite to be baptized! I´ll keep you updated on his progress, because he´s a great 19 year old young man who’s also making some changes in his life to follow the Savior. I love this Gospel so much! Being a missionary
really is about being a witness to all of the blessings and changes the Gospel brings into the lives of God's children.
And the transfer! I stayed in Paratibe!! I have a new companion, Elder L. Lima from Minas Gerais (a neighbor state of São Paulo). He has about 9 months on the mission, and he’s absolutely great. He seems to be very dedicated, and pretty laid back (in a good way). I'm confident we'll have much success together. Also, both of the zone leaders were transferred, and so everyone in the house is new. The new zl´s are
Elder Guzman from Argentina, and Elder Quirino from Belo Horizonte, also in Minas Gerais. So I can say that I'm pretty used to being the only American in the house, haha.
But I hope all is well back home! And that sounds like a great plan, sending in an application to the U of A. I'm pretty sure that that´s where I´ll end up going. I've had many thoughts and confirmations during my mission that I need to stay in Fayetteville. I feel that the Lord is preparing a path for me there, at least for the few years after my mission. Also, it´s close to the family, which is another important reason, other than my education of course. As for the transfer/application process, is there anything I need to do? Or do you have all of the information and access that you need? Just let me know!
I love you!
Michael
On Monday 12 January 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
This past week has been a week of reflection for me. I´ve spent many sleepless nights reflecting on my mission and how I can make the most of my last 8 months. I've been very preoccupied with our investigators and how I can help them progress. I'm pretty sure I'm going to start going bald due to all the stress that comes from being a leader. But it’s all worth it!! Last week, our entire zone along with one other zone had the opportunity to go to the monthly mission council that usually only the zone leaders go to. It was a great learning experience, and certainly full of loving correction. We were all able to see some of our errors, but also the positives of our work. I'm extremely proud of my district, because we were the only district in which every companionship had a baptism. When all of the district leaders stood up to represent, I confessed that our success had nothing to do with me, but that it really is due to the self-sufficiency of each missionary. That, along with developing Christlike attributes and good work habits, has been the key to our success.
But I know that we're capable of so much more! I said that we could double our numbers with a little more effort and focus.
This morning, we had a little adventure. We went with one of the recent converts in the ward out into the woods and we brought back a huge bag of mangos and a jaca (a large fruit that doesn't exist back home). We saw some GIANT ants, and we were chased by a huge wasp-like insect. But we're all safe! And the mangos make it all worth it.
Hope all is well back home! I guess people are getting back into routine after the holidays.
Love you all!
Michael
On Monday 5 January 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Happy New Year!! In Portuguese it´s Feliz Ano Novo! I can´t believe it’s 2015! Even more incredible is that I've been in Brasil for a year now! I'm starting to pick up on the accent a bit more, and the mission is more challenging than ever! But with the challenges come great opportunities to learn and grow. Recently I've gotten a lot of comfort from Doctrine and Covenants 121 and 122. There are a lot of powerful promises and counsel from the Lord, especially concerning the Priesthood.
My testimony of the Savior is strengthened every day. It is a blessing to know that he has already walked in my shoes and felt every feeling that I have. It is also my testimony that He called Joseph Smith as His prophet to restore the Gospel in the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times. I am simply carrying on the work that was given to him, and that was given to all prophets and saints in every dispensation. It was never easy for them, why should it be easy for me? That´s something I've really learned (through experience) over and over again. But it is worth it.
One of my New Year resolutions is to follow the counsel of President Hinckley´s father: to forget myself and go to work. I can't afford to lose a single moment of this last part of my full-time mission. And really, I'm beginning to understand that my full-time mission will really never end. I take off the nametag, but I´ll always have one engraved on my heart.
But that’s just a quick thought from me! I hope everything is starting to roll back into routine for y´all. I'm glad the ward council is working with the Elders back home. It´s essential to hasten the work.
I love you all very much!
Michael
On Monday 29 December 2014 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I enjoyed seeing the whole family together, and getting to see the new nephews! I hope it was a good Christmas for everyone. I enjoyed our christmas lunch with our relief society president, and we spend the rest of the day with some of the members, and we played some soccer at the church. Some of the customs here in Brasil are going to the beach (which obviously we can´t do), throwing parties, lots of drinking, panetones (which is a type of cake) with fruits or chocolate, along with some of the same customs in the U.S. Here they have christmas lights, Papai Noel (Santa Claus), and all that.
As far as any other news, the work goes on as usual. We´ll see how New Year´s day is here, probably a lot more drinking. But I´m excited to see what 2015 brings! I can´t believe 2015 has already arrived!
And during the skype call you asked about plans for school. Lately, that´s been on my mind, and to be honest, I still don´t know exactly what I´ll do. It´s something I´ll need to pray, ponder, and fast about sooner rather than later. I´m sure I´ll need some help as well. I´ll try not to worry too much, for I know the Lord will help as well, but one thing I´ve learned is that sometimes Heavenly Father lets us stress out to a certain point. It´s how we learn and grow. We can´t always just "leave it in God´s hands" and wait for a miracle. We ARE His hands, and not His puppets. The miracles come only after the trials of our faith.
But I will always look towards the future with hope, faith, and a positive attitude. Things will work out!
Happy New Year! I love you all!
Love
Michael
On Monday 22 Decmeber 2014 Elder Kamilos wrote:
So I only have 10 minutes to email today because our "p-day" will be Christmas this week. I just needed to advise that I´ll be calling a bit earlier, at 10 a.m. my time (7 a.m. in Fayetteville). I´ll be
calling from our Bishop´s house :)
I´m sure Gavin´s blessing was a wonderful experience for everyone! I´m excited to see the new nephews!
Concerning the package, I´ll be going to the post office tomorrow to pick it up! There´s some kind of complicated process that I have to go through, but it´ll all work out, so don´t worry, haha.
I´ll see you all on Christmas, 7 a.m.! I hope that isn´t too early.
Love you! Feliz Natal!
Michael
On Monday 27 April 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Woooaah!!! That´s way awesome that Eric is coming to Brasil!! When does he leave? And which mission in São Paulo?? I know a lot of people that are either from São Paulo, or that served missions there, haha.
Also, sorry for missing last week´s e-mail. I think this is for sure the most stressful time I´ve had on my mission, but after yesterday, I really feel very very positive about this new month that´s coming up. Elder L. Silva and I are starting to really get serious about
obedience and hard work. We're going to make a lot of sacrifices, but we're doing it with happiness and I know it'll pay off! And really, to tell the truth, we really aren't sacrificing anything. Sacrifice comes with the calling, and the one who made the ultimate sacrifice was Jesus. We simply need to follow him, and I know that that´s not always easy, but it´s worth everything.
It´s easy to get discouraged, it really is. When people ignore us, reject us, yell from across the street calling us false prophets, make silly mormon jokes behind our backs, and all of the other stuff that comes with being a disciple of Christ, it´s easy to let our head sink a little. But these are the moments that we are standing shoulder to shoulder with the best missionary that ever lived. These are the moments that we have angels on our left and on our right to bear us up. And when somebody finally gives an ear to the message of the restored gospel, all of the trials seem insignificant. The miracles do come. I have never been more sure that the Church is true, and that the Priesthood has been restored to the Earth, and that God the Father and Jesus Christ live. I´ve spent a good amount of time on my knees these past few nights, and as I offer up my heart to Heavenly Father, he offers me peace and counsel.
Some good news from the ward is that our recent convert, Valdemir, is preparing to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood. He was just baptized in January, but his progress has been phenomenal, along with his whole family. There are also a handful of recently reactivated members who are also on the same path, including our Gospel Principles
teacher, Jonathan. He fell away from the church when he was about 15, and he stayed inactive for 17 years. Just last year he started coming back to church, got married (legally), was ordained a priest, and was called to be a sunday school teacher. Now 33 years old, he’s fully active, and is also preparing to receive the Higher Priesthood. The
change that some people make is sometimes sudden and miraculous. I know that it is possible for everyone, independent of how far we have fallen.
I guess that´s it from me this week. Also, we'll have to work out a time to do our skype call. Here we have church at 4-7 pm. Most likely I´ll be calling at 8 pm our time. What time does the singles ward have meetings there? We can confirm the time next week. Just a heads up.
Love you all!!!
Michael
On Monday 13 April 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Well, we now come to the beginning of yet another transfer! And from now on, the transfers will be on Monday (starting today). I think it´s a great change, because now we can start fresh at the beginning of the week and not lose the first two days.
As for me, transfers didn´t change anything. I´ll be staying in Bayeux with Elder L. Silva, and the other two missionaries Elder Cajamarca and Elder Marin will also be staying. The zone changed a little bit, but nothing significant. I'm sure excited for this transfer though! It´s been pretty challenging and very stressful, but I know the the blessings and the miracles are coming. I never let myself get discouraged, because that is exactly what the enemy wants. I can already feel a difference in the work, and we're going to do
everything to find the Lord´s elect.
I think I mentioned this in last week´s e-mail, but I really liked Bishop Caussé’s talk in this last conference. It really opened my eyes and made me wonder, "is the Gospel still wonderful to me?" That includes my mission. As I now have a year and half on the mission, I stopped to think of all of the blessings and privileges I've had and continue to have as a full-time missionary. I really stopped to ask myself, "is the mission still wonderful and exciting to me?" And as I look back at all that I've done and look forward to what is still to come, I can honestly say that this work is not only wonderful, but it is true! The way it changes lives, brings families together, and helps us realize our great potential, it is impossible not to see the hand of the Lord in this marvelous work. I have a deep testimony that God is our Father, and Jesus Christ is His Son, and our Savior and Redeemer.
I'm looking forward to yet another skype call here in just a month! I can´t even believe that. Christmas was just yesterday! As the work is hastened, so is the time! Haha.
Love you all!
Michael
On Monday 6 April 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
General Conference was absolutely fantastic! Of course, it´s always hard to say which of the speakers were my favorite, but I'd have to say that my favorites this time around were Elders Perry and Christofferson. Elder Perry gave a great talk and shared his
experiences with the multi-religion conference on marriage in the vatican. He also pointed out that although we share many beliefs and concerns, our church stands alone with the belief that families can be together forever. Elder Christofferson also spoke very well on some important doctrines concerning marriage and the plan of salvation.
I did notice that Elder Scott didn’t speak in this conference, nor did I see him present at any of the sessions. I actually became a little concerned, wondering if he’s with poor health. I hope all is well with him. I always enjoy his talks at conference.
Another talk I really enjoyed was Bishop Caussé. Sometimes we really do take for granted all of the marvelous blessings of the gospel. It was also funny what he said about the Eiffel Tower, because afterwards my companion said that he’s lived in Rio his whole life, and he’s never been to the Christ the Redeemer statue, haha. He said that it
really is true that when you grow up and live there, you never really feel the desire or urge to go and visit. It´s something so normal that you really become accustomed to it, as if it wasn't really anything special. He said that when he goes back, he plans on going there.
Those were just a few of the many highlights from conference. Of course, I have many notes that I took, and I´ll have to take some time to review and study them during this week.
That’s about all the news from me this week. I´ll keep you posted on progressing investigators and potential baptisms coming up. This area is certainly full of challenges, haha.
Love you all!
Michael
On Monday 30 March 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Well we have now closed the month of March and are moving into April! This was honestly one of the most challenging months of my mission, but we have high hopes for the month of April. I´m looking very forward to General Conference this week! I've really come to love conference since I've been on my mission. What a privilege it is to hear from living prophets and apostles!
That’s way cool that Mary and Michael will be going out to Utah to watch conference! That’s something I would really like to do someday. I hope to make it out to Ogden to visit my mission as well. Those 3 months were very special for me, and I´ll always have a place in my heart for the Utah Ogden Mission.
As for our work in Bayeux, we´re still having some challenges in the area as far as finding people who will keep commitments. There is so much potential here, and so we’re trusting in the Lord and in ourselves to have a lot of success. We have high hopes for this month!
That's neat to hear about the new missionaries in the ward. You´ll have to let the Young´s know that the new Elder is waiting to go to Teresina. If he gets his visa soon enough, he may have a chance to serve with Brandyn! Apparently it´s even hotter there than it is here in João Pessoa, haha.
But that´s the news from me this week! A hug from me to everyone!
Love,
Michael
On Monday 16 March 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! 60 years?! That´s almost unbelievable! It´s amazing to see how fast the years go by. I think it´s even more unbelievable that I´m 21. That still hasn't sunk in, haha.
Mom, I want to thank you for the many years you've given me, all the lessons you've taught me, and the testimony that you've helped nourish throughout my life. It hasn't been easy, I know! But I wouldn´t be where I am today if it wasn't for you. I love you!
And as for Jessica and the U of A women´s track team, that´s really exciting news! Number ONE! Tell her congrats for me, and that I'm always cheering for her here in Brasil.
I had TWO small world experiences yesterday! The first was when I was talking to one of the Elders in my zone. His name is Elder Leavitt, from Las Vegas. I mentioned that I had a friend (Brandyn) that served in Vegas waiting for his visa. He asked me what his name was, and I said Elder Young, and he said "I know him! He served in my ward!" He
said he went out on exchanges with him and everything, haha. I´ll have to send an e-mail to him and tell him Zach Leavitt is in my zone/district.
And the other experience is even crazier. Yesterday I was in the chapel waiting for church to start, when one of the members came up and shook my hand. He said, "Elder Kamilos... I had a companion with that name!" For about 5 seconds, I didn't even think about it. But then it hit me, Kamilos is a very uncommon name, especially among missionaries. I asked him where he served, and he said São Paulo Interlagos! He was one of Matt´s old companions! I said, wait a second, did he have a blonde spot in his hair?? He said, "yeah! That´s him!" Haha, it was really crazy. We talked for a little bit, and I discovered that his name on the mission was Elder J. Nascimento, so you'll have to let Matt know.
As for the work, we're still working hard to build up our teaching pool. I'm really looking forward to conference though! We'll be able to watch it in our chapel, because it´s the stake center here in the Santa Rita stake. This is actually the same place I watched conference last October.
That´s the news from me this week! Hope nobody gets spring fever with the change in weather! For me, that´s pretty hard because the weather doesn't really change here, haha. Occasionally we have a rainy week here or there, but that's about it.
But have a great week! Love you all!!
Love,
Michael
On Monday 9 March 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Well, transfers always bring a lot of challenges, such as getting to know the area, ward, members, companion, and all. But from what I've already seen, this is going to be a wonderful experience serving in Bayeux. Of course, I also have new responsibilities as a zone leader, but from what I can tell, it doesn't seem to be all that hard. The most important responsibility is to be the example for the other missionaries in the zone. The zone I'm in, the Santa Rita Zone, is one of the smallest in the mission, with only 9 companionships. I´m very excited to do all that I can to lift this zone/stake to a new level! My companion is way cool too. He´s from Rio, and he has a great balance between diligence and obedience, and also being fun and laid-back. I know we'll be just fine together, haha.
As for the new stake presidency, I know the Lord has called these men to be great leaders. I’m sad to see President Bradford released, especially since it was he who set me apart as a missionary. But I'm also looking forward to returning to report to President Gauldin. But that´s still a good way in front of me. For now, my focus is dedicating all my time and efforts to serving in Bayeux!
Also, one thing crazy about this week! It´s been very rainy, but what surprised me one night at about 4 in the morning was a loud clap of thunder!! It was the first time I've seen lightning and thunder since I´ve been here! It made me think about springtime in Arkansas a little, haha.
I know this is the Lord´s work. The church is true and is God´s kingdom upon the earth. Christ lives and is the head of this church, and Thomas S. Monson is His prophet, seer, and revelator. Joseph Smith was a prophet, and was chosen to restore the Gospel of Jesus Christ in its fulness.
I love you all!! Have a great week!
Michael
On Wednesday 4 March 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Transfers have come and gone once more!! This one has brought me back to the Santa Rita Zone, in a city called Bayeux. And I´ve been assigned to be a Zone Leader! My new companion is Elder L. Silva from Rio de Janeiro! He´s one of the best. I actually had never known him before, but he has the same amount of time on the mission as I do, and everyone says he´s excellent. I`m very excited to work and learn with him.
This will surely be a transfer of many blessings, but also of many challenges. This zone has a lot of potential, but it´ll take a lot of work to reach it. I´m very eager to see what happens this month.
As for the family of three back in Paratibe, the baptism will take place this saturday. I´m sad that I won't be there for it, especially since Eliane mentioned that she wanted me to baptize them, but I know it´ll all work out alright. My companion Elder L. Lima stayed in the area, so he'll be able to take care of them. Also, the Elder that will take my place is an outstanding missionary, so I´m not worried. I already left a note for them with everything they need to know.
The weather is hot as usual, but fortunately Bayeux has a lot of tall trees that create a lot of shade. I came here one time before on an exchange when I was in Municípios, so I´m familiar with the area a little bit. Also, this area has the João Pessoa Airport, so I´ll see a lot of airplanes landing and taking off, haha. I hope that doesn't have too much of a psychological effect on me, that is, "trunkiness" haha. Just kidding, I´m sure it´ll be fine.
But that´s the news from me! Hope all is well back home! Send a hug to the family and the ward!
Love,
Michael
On Monday 16 February 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
This past week was really really great! My birthday was amazing at the bishop´s house. His wife made a huuuuge chocolate cake with chocolate and passion fruit frosting! A few of my favorite members in the ward were there as well.
Our family of three, Eliane, Amanda and Adrian are marked to be baptized on Saturday this week! They truly are an elect family. They´re reading the Book of Mormon together, and Adrian (the 9 year old son) is very excited and keeps saying he´s gonna be a future
Elder, haha. But what really made me proud was when Eliane (the mother of the family) told me that he suddenly started helping her wash dishes/clothes, and do chores around the house without even being asked! I told her that he´s already preparing for his mission, haha. But I really love this family. I´m sure I´m gonna keep in contact with them for the rest of my life.
Sounds like the admission process is going well. And I´m sure the date shouldn’t be a problem. From what the transfer dates look like, I believe I'll be headed home on August 12th. That gives me a little less than two weeks to get back into the groove of things, which I hope is enough!
Know that I love you all and I always pray for the family and folks back home.
Love,
Michael
On Monday 9 February 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Thanks for the birthday wishes!! I´ll be celebrating at the bishop’s house tonight with a few members of the ward. His wife makes birthday, wedding, and event cakes for a living, so I´m way excited about that! I´ll send a picture next week :)
The work continues to go on however! We're looking forward to the baptism of a family of 3 that´s marked for the 21st of this month. It´s a family very special, and so I´ll tell more about them in next week´s email. Today I spent a good amount of time responding to other emails, and so I don't have much time. But thanks for the picture! That´s great that nana and papa visited the family this weekend! I miss them a lot. I hope I´ll get to see them soon after my mission.
I love you all very very much!!
Love,
Michael
On Monday 2 February 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
I´ll be brief today. The news from Brasil this week is one more baptism! Jonas was baptized on saturday, confirmed on Sunday. We have 3 more baptisms planned for this week as well! The work is going very well here in the ward.
Love you all!
Michael
Here are some of the pictures from the baptisms I´ve had in the Paratibe ward!
On Monday 26 January 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Well my new companion, Elder L. Lima, and I are working really hard together, and it´s paying off! We had 5 investigators attend church yesterday, and they are all preparing to be baptized. It´s not set in stone yet, but with hard work, fasting, prayer, and lots of divine assistance, there’s a great chance that they will all be baptized sooner rather than later. This ward is truly a special place to be. I've never served in area like this, and it truly is a privilege. I´m gonna have to make the most of my time here, because more than likely this will be my last transfer here.
If I'm not mistaken, I believe I completed about 30 credit hours, if not more. But it was for sure more than 24, so if that´s all you need, than I can give that certainty. One thing I know for sure is that there will be a drastic change in my study habits and dedication to
school than I had before my mission. The mission has taught me so much about planning, effective study, and work ethic, on top of all of the spiritual benefits it has brought to me. I see my future very positively, and with much hope!
That´s about all the news from me this week, but we'll see what we get done here in Paratibe this week!
Love you!
Michael
On Wednesday 21 January 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
First off, say FELIZ ANIVERSÀRIO to Matt for me! 25 years right? It´s so hard to believe that my 21st birthday is approaching as well.
Well, today is transfer day! But Elder Pechel and I ended the transfer with the baptism of Claudiene! Claudine is a woman that we met at the beginning of December when she called us and asked for a copy of the Book of Mormon. Now that doesn't happen every day! During this time she has been looking for a job, which has taken up a lot of her time and so our visits were really pretty infrequent. But she also loves to read! In fact, she’s already read Gospel Principles, and is now reading the teachings of President Benson. She´s one of those people who was just prepared, and we just opened the door for her to step in all by herself. But she’s becoming very involved with the ward now.
Speaking of the temple, we made a challenge to one of the recent converts in the ward to go on the next temple trip to Recife in February. She´s going through some hard trials in her life, and we were inspired to promise her that going to the House of the Lord would help her in ways that she couldn't even imagine. We made some other specific promises concerning her current situation, and she accepted! We're also teaching her nephew, who has accepted our invite to be baptized! I´ll keep you updated on his progress, because he´s a great 19 year old young man who’s also making some changes in his life to follow the Savior. I love this Gospel so much! Being a missionary
really is about being a witness to all of the blessings and changes the Gospel brings into the lives of God's children.
And the transfer! I stayed in Paratibe!! I have a new companion, Elder L. Lima from Minas Gerais (a neighbor state of São Paulo). He has about 9 months on the mission, and he’s absolutely great. He seems to be very dedicated, and pretty laid back (in a good way). I'm confident we'll have much success together. Also, both of the zone leaders were transferred, and so everyone in the house is new. The new zl´s are
Elder Guzman from Argentina, and Elder Quirino from Belo Horizonte, also in Minas Gerais. So I can say that I'm pretty used to being the only American in the house, haha.
But I hope all is well back home! And that sounds like a great plan, sending in an application to the U of A. I'm pretty sure that that´s where I´ll end up going. I've had many thoughts and confirmations during my mission that I need to stay in Fayetteville. I feel that the Lord is preparing a path for me there, at least for the few years after my mission. Also, it´s close to the family, which is another important reason, other than my education of course. As for the transfer/application process, is there anything I need to do? Or do you have all of the information and access that you need? Just let me know!
I love you!
Michael
On Monday 12 January 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
This past week has been a week of reflection for me. I´ve spent many sleepless nights reflecting on my mission and how I can make the most of my last 8 months. I've been very preoccupied with our investigators and how I can help them progress. I'm pretty sure I'm going to start going bald due to all the stress that comes from being a leader. But it’s all worth it!! Last week, our entire zone along with one other zone had the opportunity to go to the monthly mission council that usually only the zone leaders go to. It was a great learning experience, and certainly full of loving correction. We were all able to see some of our errors, but also the positives of our work. I'm extremely proud of my district, because we were the only district in which every companionship had a baptism. When all of the district leaders stood up to represent, I confessed that our success had nothing to do with me, but that it really is due to the self-sufficiency of each missionary. That, along with developing Christlike attributes and good work habits, has been the key to our success.
But I know that we're capable of so much more! I said that we could double our numbers with a little more effort and focus.
This morning, we had a little adventure. We went with one of the recent converts in the ward out into the woods and we brought back a huge bag of mangos and a jaca (a large fruit that doesn't exist back home). We saw some GIANT ants, and we were chased by a huge wasp-like insect. But we're all safe! And the mangos make it all worth it.
Hope all is well back home! I guess people are getting back into routine after the holidays.
Love you all!
Michael
On Monday 5 January 2015 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Happy New Year!! In Portuguese it´s Feliz Ano Novo! I can´t believe it’s 2015! Even more incredible is that I've been in Brasil for a year now! I'm starting to pick up on the accent a bit more, and the mission is more challenging than ever! But with the challenges come great opportunities to learn and grow. Recently I've gotten a lot of comfort from Doctrine and Covenants 121 and 122. There are a lot of powerful promises and counsel from the Lord, especially concerning the Priesthood.
My testimony of the Savior is strengthened every day. It is a blessing to know that he has already walked in my shoes and felt every feeling that I have. It is also my testimony that He called Joseph Smith as His prophet to restore the Gospel in the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times. I am simply carrying on the work that was given to him, and that was given to all prophets and saints in every dispensation. It was never easy for them, why should it be easy for me? That´s something I've really learned (through experience) over and over again. But it is worth it.
One of my New Year resolutions is to follow the counsel of President Hinckley´s father: to forget myself and go to work. I can't afford to lose a single moment of this last part of my full-time mission. And really, I'm beginning to understand that my full-time mission will really never end. I take off the nametag, but I´ll always have one engraved on my heart.
But that’s just a quick thought from me! I hope everything is starting to roll back into routine for y´all. I'm glad the ward council is working with the Elders back home. It´s essential to hasten the work.
I love you all very much!
Michael
On Monday 29 December 2014 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I enjoyed seeing the whole family together, and getting to see the new nephews! I hope it was a good Christmas for everyone. I enjoyed our christmas lunch with our relief society president, and we spend the rest of the day with some of the members, and we played some soccer at the church. Some of the customs here in Brasil are going to the beach (which obviously we can´t do), throwing parties, lots of drinking, panetones (which is a type of cake) with fruits or chocolate, along with some of the same customs in the U.S. Here they have christmas lights, Papai Noel (Santa Claus), and all that.
As far as any other news, the work goes on as usual. We´ll see how New Year´s day is here, probably a lot more drinking. But I´m excited to see what 2015 brings! I can´t believe 2015 has already arrived!
And during the skype call you asked about plans for school. Lately, that´s been on my mind, and to be honest, I still don´t know exactly what I´ll do. It´s something I´ll need to pray, ponder, and fast about sooner rather than later. I´m sure I´ll need some help as well. I´ll try not to worry too much, for I know the Lord will help as well, but one thing I´ve learned is that sometimes Heavenly Father lets us stress out to a certain point. It´s how we learn and grow. We can´t always just "leave it in God´s hands" and wait for a miracle. We ARE His hands, and not His puppets. The miracles come only after the trials of our faith.
But I will always look towards the future with hope, faith, and a positive attitude. Things will work out!
Happy New Year! I love you all!
Love
Michael
On Monday 22 Decmeber 2014 Elder Kamilos wrote:
So I only have 10 minutes to email today because our "p-day" will be Christmas this week. I just needed to advise that I´ll be calling a bit earlier, at 10 a.m. my time (7 a.m. in Fayetteville). I´ll be
calling from our Bishop´s house :)
I´m sure Gavin´s blessing was a wonderful experience for everyone! I´m excited to see the new nephews!
Concerning the package, I´ll be going to the post office tomorrow to pick it up! There´s some kind of complicated process that I have to go through, but it´ll all work out, so don´t worry, haha.
I´ll see you all on Christmas, 7 a.m.! I hope that isn´t too early.
Love you! Feliz Natal!
Michael
Friday, December 19, 2014
"I love you all! Stay well, and Feliz Natal!"
ON Monday 15 December 2014 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad
Toni was BAPTIZED yesterday! His brother-in-law performed the ordinance, and it was such an emotional and spiritual moment for all of us. The progress this brother has made since we first met him is incredible! He´s very very shy and was pretty indecisive at first, the Spirit of the Lord entered his heart, and when he made the decision to be baptized, I could literally see the difference in him, with his confidence and faith. His prayers became so sincere, as he thanked Heavenly Father for the revelation he received concerning baptism (he actually used those words!) and for the changes he´s made in his life.
This week, we´re really hoping for a miracle, as one of the couples we´re working with is really progressing! Ricardo and Carla are legally married, and have been investigating the church since October. They even went to General Conference! This past week, we taught about the living prophets and apostles, shared The Living Christ, and gave them a conference issue of the Liahona. At one point, Ricardo asked us what we believed concerning the prophecy of the prophet Elijah coming
in the last days. I said "GREAT QUESTION, WE´LL EXPLAIN RIGHT NOW!" I got really excited about this, because it brought us into the subject of temple ordinances, sealing power, and ETERNAL MARRIAGE. I put that in all caps, because the spirit literally fell upon us, and the moment
we started explaining how Elijah restored the keys of the power to seal on earth and in Heaven in the House of the Lord in Kirtland, the Spirit began talking and I realized I was just a mouthpiece, haha. But when we stated that when one is married in the temple by one who holds sealing power, that marriage lasts FOREVER. For all eternity. This was a new concept to them, and they got excited! Especially Carla. At one point, Ricardo even said, "we´re gonna be sealed in the Recife temple!" So basically, we just need to mark their baptism and get them on the path to the temple right away! I am SO excited for this miracle. Ricardo is a man very well learned in the scriptures, has a lot of faith, and is certainly a future leader in the kingdom of God. I keep telling my companion that we´re on the brink of baptizing a future stake president, haha. Of course, all have the same potential in becoming like Heavenly Father, but I just feel that this couple has a big role to play here on earth.
So I´ll keep y´all updated on their progress! Also, I´m thinking I´ll probably do Skype in the morning, 11 a.m. my time (8 a.m. Central Time) on Christmas day. I´ll confirm everything next week.
I hope y´all are enjoying the holiday season! It´s a little different for me here, because it´s about a thousand degrees always, haha. But it´s a great experience.
I love you all! Stay well, and Feliz Natal!
Michael
Dear Mom and Dad
Toni was BAPTIZED yesterday! His brother-in-law performed the ordinance, and it was such an emotional and spiritual moment for all of us. The progress this brother has made since we first met him is incredible! He´s very very shy and was pretty indecisive at first, the Spirit of the Lord entered his heart, and when he made the decision to be baptized, I could literally see the difference in him, with his confidence and faith. His prayers became so sincere, as he thanked Heavenly Father for the revelation he received concerning baptism (he actually used those words!) and for the changes he´s made in his life.
This week, we´re really hoping for a miracle, as one of the couples we´re working with is really progressing! Ricardo and Carla are legally married, and have been investigating the church since October. They even went to General Conference! This past week, we taught about the living prophets and apostles, shared The Living Christ, and gave them a conference issue of the Liahona. At one point, Ricardo asked us what we believed concerning the prophecy of the prophet Elijah coming
in the last days. I said "GREAT QUESTION, WE´LL EXPLAIN RIGHT NOW!" I got really excited about this, because it brought us into the subject of temple ordinances, sealing power, and ETERNAL MARRIAGE. I put that in all caps, because the spirit literally fell upon us, and the moment
we started explaining how Elijah restored the keys of the power to seal on earth and in Heaven in the House of the Lord in Kirtland, the Spirit began talking and I realized I was just a mouthpiece, haha. But when we stated that when one is married in the temple by one who holds sealing power, that marriage lasts FOREVER. For all eternity. This was a new concept to them, and they got excited! Especially Carla. At one point, Ricardo even said, "we´re gonna be sealed in the Recife temple!" So basically, we just need to mark their baptism and get them on the path to the temple right away! I am SO excited for this miracle. Ricardo is a man very well learned in the scriptures, has a lot of faith, and is certainly a future leader in the kingdom of God. I keep telling my companion that we´re on the brink of baptizing a future stake president, haha. Of course, all have the same potential in becoming like Heavenly Father, but I just feel that this couple has a big role to play here on earth.
So I´ll keep y´all updated on their progress! Also, I´m thinking I´ll probably do Skype in the morning, 11 a.m. my time (8 a.m. Central Time) on Christmas day. I´ll confirm everything next week.
I hope y´all are enjoying the holiday season! It´s a little different for me here, because it´s about a thousand degrees always, haha. But it´s a great experience.
I love you all! Stay well, and Feliz Natal!
Michael
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
"Feliz Dia de Ações de Graças! That means Happy Thanksgiving in Portuguese!"
On Monday 1 December 2014 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Feliz Dia de Ações de Graças! That means Happy Thanksgiving in Portuguese! Even though it´s not a holiday here, I still thought a lot about the family and some of the things I´m grateful for. Then I
remembered President Uchtdorf´s talk from April, and I realized that I really am grateful, not just for what I have, but for who I am and the opportunity to be a servant of the Lord.
So this week we had a baptism!! It was a mother and son, Lucimar and Joab. I won´t be able to send a picture right now, but I´ll get one to you real quick! She´s 30 years old, recently separated from her
"husband" (they were never actually married) and was really prepared by the Lord to hear and accept the Gospel. She was so receptive to the message and to the Spirit, and accepted to be baptized very quickly. Her sister in law is a recently reactivated member as well, so she helped with fellow shipping a lot! Joab is a young man of 14 years, and has actually been involved with the young men for a while now. He went to the ward youth campout a couple weeks ago with his cousins, and had a blast. Our goal now is to get them to the temple to do baptisms in a couple of weeks. The stake will be taking a caravan to Recife on December 13th, so we´ll see if that gives us enough time to get them ready. We´ve already shown them pictures and explained about the temple, and that´s actually one of things that really got Lucimar interested. I told her that she could go visit the temple shortly after being baptized, with the help of the bishop and the missionaries.
Our investigator family of 6 is progressing as well. The first time we went to teach them in their home, we explained all about the Book of Mormon and some of the basic doctrines of the church, concerning the Godhead, Priesthood, and Missionary Work. It was a great lesson because it was completely based on their questions, which I love. It means that they´re actually interested and are ready to learn! The real miracle is that they´re married and they have a strong family unity, and surely this family is prepared to receive the restored gospel.
It´s hard to believe it´s already December! Christmastime is near, and 2014 is coming to an end. Time flies by sooooo fast on the mission. Also, transfers are coming up once again on December 10th. I´ll
probably stay here in Paratibe, but who knows? Oh! And the news from the area is that the ward will be split this month, and the newly renovated meetinghouse will also be dedicated! We´ve actually been meeting in the Valentina chapel (my old area!), so it´ll be nice to have our own chapel again. It's built to be a new stake center, so it´s big and has air conditioning. :)
That´s the news from Brasil for the week. I look forward to the upcoming Skype call! Love you all very much!
Love,
Michael
Dear Mom and Dad,
Feliz Dia de Ações de Graças! That means Happy Thanksgiving in Portuguese! Even though it´s not a holiday here, I still thought a lot about the family and some of the things I´m grateful for. Then I
remembered President Uchtdorf´s talk from April, and I realized that I really am grateful, not just for what I have, but for who I am and the opportunity to be a servant of the Lord.
So this week we had a baptism!! It was a mother and son, Lucimar and Joab. I won´t be able to send a picture right now, but I´ll get one to you real quick! She´s 30 years old, recently separated from her
"husband" (they were never actually married) and was really prepared by the Lord to hear and accept the Gospel. She was so receptive to the message and to the Spirit, and accepted to be baptized very quickly. Her sister in law is a recently reactivated member as well, so she helped with fellow shipping a lot! Joab is a young man of 14 years, and has actually been involved with the young men for a while now. He went to the ward youth campout a couple weeks ago with his cousins, and had a blast. Our goal now is to get them to the temple to do baptisms in a couple of weeks. The stake will be taking a caravan to Recife on December 13th, so we´ll see if that gives us enough time to get them ready. We´ve already shown them pictures and explained about the temple, and that´s actually one of things that really got Lucimar interested. I told her that she could go visit the temple shortly after being baptized, with the help of the bishop and the missionaries.
Our investigator family of 6 is progressing as well. The first time we went to teach them in their home, we explained all about the Book of Mormon and some of the basic doctrines of the church, concerning the Godhead, Priesthood, and Missionary Work. It was a great lesson because it was completely based on their questions, which I love. It means that they´re actually interested and are ready to learn! The real miracle is that they´re married and they have a strong family unity, and surely this family is prepared to receive the restored gospel.
It´s hard to believe it´s already December! Christmastime is near, and 2014 is coming to an end. Time flies by sooooo fast on the mission. Also, transfers are coming up once again on December 10th. I´ll
probably stay here in Paratibe, but who knows? Oh! And the news from the area is that the ward will be split this month, and the newly renovated meetinghouse will also be dedicated! We´ve actually been meeting in the Valentina chapel (my old area!), so it´ll be nice to have our own chapel again. It's built to be a new stake center, so it´s big and has air conditioning. :)
That´s the news from Brasil for the week. I look forward to the upcoming Skype call! Love you all very much!
Love,
Michael
Monday, November 24, 2014
"I made a promise with myself and the Lord that this week I would be as perfect as I can possibly be, haha. I don´t want anything on my part to keep this family from progressing and entering into God´s kingdom."
Dear Mom and Dad,
That´s great to hear about your inspired dream. It´s amazing how the Lord speaks to us in so many ways. The Plan of Salvation is now my favorite lesson to teach. At the beginning of the mission, I always thought that the Plan of Salvation was the most complicated and difficult lesson to teach, but I realized rather recently that it can be a turning point for people. After all, it is the exact same plan that was presented to ALL of us in the pre-existence, and our purpose in this life is to make a choice: to accept and live the Gospel, thus fulfilling God´s plan, or to reject it and never reach our divine potential. Eternal life and happiness, or eternal damnation and misery. The choice is ours, and we make that choice through faith and repentance expressed by good works, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.
As for the work here in João Pessoa, we had great success this week! We had ten of our investigators attend church yesterday, including a family of six (and the parents are MARRIED!) We found them on saturday, and we will be working with them this week and doing everything to mark a baptismal date. This family has 3 teenage sons and a pre-teen daughter, so they are for sure future missionaries. I made a promise with myself and the Lord that this week I would be as perfect as I can possibly be, haha. I don´t want anything on my part to keep this family from progressing and entering into God´s kingdom. On top of that, we have a mother and son who (with a lot of faith) are preparing to be baptized this week. The son is absolutely ready, he even went to the youth campout last weekend. The mother has a few things to work out, but it´s nothing the Lord can´t help with. I hope to have great news in next week´s email!
How ´bout them Hogs, eh? Sounds like they´re starting to climb back up the ladder! We´ll see what bowl they´ll be going to in a couple of weeks now.
Happy Thanksgiving!!! Make sure to send a hug to all the family! People down here are putting up Christmas lights already. It´s really weird, because as long as I´m being broiled in this Paraíba sun, I
just can´t get used to the fact that it´s the Holiday season, haha. Oh, and one more big news! Last week, my MTC companion, Elder Beavers, finally arrived in Brasil! So now, all 8 of my MTC group are here in the mission! And his "trainer" is my former companion, Elder Castro, haha. I´m sure he´ll adapt quickly, he´s a great Elder.
That´s it from Brasil this week! I love you all! And Christmas is just around the corner! Looks like I'll have to start working out the details for the anticipated skype call. It all depends if I stay here in this area next transfer or not. Transfers will be December 10th, in just over 2 weeks.
Com amor,
Michael
That´s great to hear about your inspired dream. It´s amazing how the Lord speaks to us in so many ways. The Plan of Salvation is now my favorite lesson to teach. At the beginning of the mission, I always thought that the Plan of Salvation was the most complicated and difficult lesson to teach, but I realized rather recently that it can be a turning point for people. After all, it is the exact same plan that was presented to ALL of us in the pre-existence, and our purpose in this life is to make a choice: to accept and live the Gospel, thus fulfilling God´s plan, or to reject it and never reach our divine potential. Eternal life and happiness, or eternal damnation and misery. The choice is ours, and we make that choice through faith and repentance expressed by good works, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.
As for the work here in João Pessoa, we had great success this week! We had ten of our investigators attend church yesterday, including a family of six (and the parents are MARRIED!) We found them on saturday, and we will be working with them this week and doing everything to mark a baptismal date. This family has 3 teenage sons and a pre-teen daughter, so they are for sure future missionaries. I made a promise with myself and the Lord that this week I would be as perfect as I can possibly be, haha. I don´t want anything on my part to keep this family from progressing and entering into God´s kingdom. On top of that, we have a mother and son who (with a lot of faith) are preparing to be baptized this week. The son is absolutely ready, he even went to the youth campout last weekend. The mother has a few things to work out, but it´s nothing the Lord can´t help with. I hope to have great news in next week´s email!
How ´bout them Hogs, eh? Sounds like they´re starting to climb back up the ladder! We´ll see what bowl they´ll be going to in a couple of weeks now.
Happy Thanksgiving!!! Make sure to send a hug to all the family! People down here are putting up Christmas lights already. It´s really weird, because as long as I´m being broiled in this Paraíba sun, I
just can´t get used to the fact that it´s the Holiday season, haha. Oh, and one more big news! Last week, my MTC companion, Elder Beavers, finally arrived in Brasil! So now, all 8 of my MTC group are here in the mission! And his "trainer" is my former companion, Elder Castro, haha. I´m sure he´ll adapt quickly, he´s a great Elder.
That´s it from Brasil this week! I love you all! And Christmas is just around the corner! Looks like I'll have to start working out the details for the anticipated skype call. It all depends if I stay here in this area next transfer or not. Transfers will be December 10th, in just over 2 weeks.
Com amor,
Michael
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
"My responsibilities include...."
On Monday November 17, 2014 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
So I´m almost out of time! This email will be pretty short this week.
So my district has 12 missionaries: 8 elders and 4 sisters. The zone leaders are also part of the district, so that´s just wonderful, haha. My responsibilities include speaking to all of the senior companions
by phone every night, making sure they´re reaching the standard of excellence, and helping with any difficulties they have. Sunday night is when we close our numbers, and so I have to get all of the numbers from the district and pass to the zl´s.
As for accents, I can certainly tell the difference between the regions of Brasil. It´s usually definable by the way people say their "r´s"
And my time is up! Sorry to cut short. Next week will have more details!
Love you all!! Stay warm!
Dear Mom and Dad,
So I´m almost out of time! This email will be pretty short this week.
So my district has 12 missionaries: 8 elders and 4 sisters. The zone leaders are also part of the district, so that´s just wonderful, haha. My responsibilities include speaking to all of the senior companions
by phone every night, making sure they´re reaching the standard of excellence, and helping with any difficulties they have. Sunday night is when we close our numbers, and so I have to get all of the numbers from the district and pass to the zl´s.
As for accents, I can certainly tell the difference between the regions of Brasil. It´s usually definable by the way people say their "r´s"
And my time is up! Sorry to cut short. Next week will have more details!
Love you all!! Stay warm!
Monday, November 10, 2014
"I'm assigning you as District Leader, okay? You need to go as quickly as possible to your new area..."
On 10 November 2014 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
So as you know well, this mission is just FULL of surprises, haha. So this morning as I was studying, I get a phone call from one of the Assistants, and so I answered the phone wondering what the news was. When I answered, I realized that it was NOT Elder Moraes (the assistant) but that it was President Nogueira!
So after spending a week and a half with Elder Bezerra in José Américo, I´m now in Paratibe with Elder Pechel from Curitiba, Brasil, my NEW new companion! And I´m actually really excited, because this area is a neighbor to my old area, Valentina. I already know the Bishop and some of the members here, so I´m sure it´ll be a great experience working here.
As for the work this past week, it was an excellent week as far as finding and teaching, but it didn´t close very well because our investigators didn´t go to church. But the work goes on! At least Elder Bezerra knows the area very well, and we left a good area book all up to date. The Elder that took my place is Elder Gannaway, who was one of the Assistants until the switch today. I´m absolutely confident that he´ll do some great work in that ward, he´s an excellent missionary.
The temperature there is falling, while here it´s rising and rising! 35 degrees sounds wonderful, haha. But I´m used to the heat here, so it´s bearable. People are already putting up Christmas lights, which
is strange to me because it´s at least 100 degrees here. I´m definitely not in Utah this holiday season!
So that´s the news from me! Emergency transfers and all that. Hope all is well back home! I´ll have the news from the new area next week!
Love you all!
Elder Kamilos
Dear Mom and Dad,
So as you know well, this mission is just FULL of surprises, haha. So this morning as I was studying, I get a phone call from one of the Assistants, and so I answered the phone wondering what the news was. When I answered, I realized that it was NOT Elder Moraes (the assistant) but that it was President Nogueira!
President: "Elder Kamilos, how are you doing today?
Me: Uhh, great President, I´m fine.
Pres: Good, good Elder, and how are you doing with the commandments,
are you keeping the commandments? (At this point I was shaking, thinking What in the world did I do now??) But I answered honestly and
simply 'I´m keeping the commandments President!'
Pres: Wonderful, Elder. So today you´ll be going to Paratibe (another area in the same stake), and I'm assigning you as District Leader, okay? You need to go as quickly as possible to your new area.
Me: Uuuuhhhh, Okay President! I´ll be ready as soon as possible!
Pres: Thanks Elder, good work!
End call.
So after spending a week and a half with Elder Bezerra in José Américo, I´m now in Paratibe with Elder Pechel from Curitiba, Brasil, my NEW new companion! And I´m actually really excited, because this area is a neighbor to my old area, Valentina. I already know the Bishop and some of the members here, so I´m sure it´ll be a great experience working here.
As for the work this past week, it was an excellent week as far as finding and teaching, but it didn´t close very well because our investigators didn´t go to church. But the work goes on! At least Elder Bezerra knows the area very well, and we left a good area book all up to date. The Elder that took my place is Elder Gannaway, who was one of the Assistants until the switch today. I´m absolutely confident that he´ll do some great work in that ward, he´s an excellent missionary.
The temperature there is falling, while here it´s rising and rising! 35 degrees sounds wonderful, haha. But I´m used to the heat here, so it´s bearable. People are already putting up Christmas lights, which
is strange to me because it´s at least 100 degrees here. I´m definitely not in Utah this holiday season!
So that´s the news from me! Emergency transfers and all that. Hope all is well back home! I´ll have the news from the new area next week!
Love you all!
Elder Kamilos
Monday, November 3, 2014
"This is gonna be a great transfer!"
On 3 November 2014 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
So it was a smooth transition from one area to another. I´m settled into the new apartment, and for sure it´s the newest and cleanest residence I´ve been in since I´ve been in Brasil!
The only news as far as the work goes is our one progressing investigator, Adriano. He´s 46 years old, and is REALLY searching for the true church. He always keeps his commitments as far as reading and praying, and he always asks really great questions. With the way things are going, it looks like he´ll be baptized this week or next week. Prospective priesthood bearer!
But other than that, there isn´t much, haha. The area book wasn´t very well put together when I got here, and so we just met a lot of dead ends. But we´re going to be doing a LOT of work this week to get a new teaching pool built up. Our ward mission leader is very very well organized, and he helps a lot with the work. We have SIX ward missionaries as well (WOOHOO!), so I see a lot of potential in this area. We actually have correlation every week, and on top of that our ward mission leader has weekly meetings with the ward missionaries to do lesson training straight from PMG. Our Bishop is really great too, and he has a good sense of humor. He encourages all of the members to give us references, and he even told us we can use his name to bug the members, haha.
I´m sure I´ll have more to talk about next week, concerning the work. But I´m doing really well here! Elder Bezerra is a great companion. He´s obedient, low-stress, and helps me a lot with learning the area and getting to know the people. He has 18 months on the mission, which at first I thought would make it hard for me to be senior companion, but he´s way humble, and he knows how to work, teach, study, and everything else. This is gonna be a great transfer!
Exciting to hear about Jessica and the team! And it sounds like fall is settling in nicely. The summer is starting down here, so the weather is going from hot to hotter, haha.
Love you all!
Michael
Dear Mom and Dad,
So it was a smooth transition from one area to another. I´m settled into the new apartment, and for sure it´s the newest and cleanest residence I´ve been in since I´ve been in Brasil!
The only news as far as the work goes is our one progressing investigator, Adriano. He´s 46 years old, and is REALLY searching for the true church. He always keeps his commitments as far as reading and praying, and he always asks really great questions. With the way things are going, it looks like he´ll be baptized this week or next week. Prospective priesthood bearer!
But other than that, there isn´t much, haha. The area book wasn´t very well put together when I got here, and so we just met a lot of dead ends. But we´re going to be doing a LOT of work this week to get a new teaching pool built up. Our ward mission leader is very very well organized, and he helps a lot with the work. We have SIX ward missionaries as well (WOOHOO!), so I see a lot of potential in this area. We actually have correlation every week, and on top of that our ward mission leader has weekly meetings with the ward missionaries to do lesson training straight from PMG. Our Bishop is really great too, and he has a good sense of humor. He encourages all of the members to give us references, and he even told us we can use his name to bug the members, haha.
I´m sure I´ll have more to talk about next week, concerning the work. But I´m doing really well here! Elder Bezerra is a great companion. He´s obedient, low-stress, and helps me a lot with learning the area and getting to know the people. He has 18 months on the mission, which at first I thought would make it hard for me to be senior companion, but he´s way humble, and he knows how to work, teach, study, and everything else. This is gonna be a great transfer!
Exciting to hear about Jessica and the team! And it sounds like fall is settling in nicely. The summer is starting down here, so the weather is going from hot to hotter, haha.
Love you all!
Michael
Thursday, October 30, 2014
MASSIVE UPLOAD UPDATE June - October! :)
A note from Mary: I apologize for getting so behind on updating this blog! I will keep up with it from now on! :)
On 29 October 2014 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad, Family, and Friends,
Transfer day has come once again! This transfer has brought me back to the Stake/Zone where I started here in Brasil! I´m in an area called José Américo, in the Rangel Stake in João Pessoa. My new companion is Elder Bezerra from São Paulo! I´m way excited to work here this transfer! I love the Stake President, President Fabrício, here as well. We were neighbors back when I was in Valentina, haha.
So I didn´t get the chance last week, but now I can tell all about the baptism we had a week and a half ago! His name is Daniel, 22 years old. He was an ex-investigator years back when the Municípios Ward had Sisters. We knocked on his door (he lives very far away from the chapel) and we talked with him and taught him the lessons in the following days and he was baptized! He´s a great guy, and will be a great addition to the Elders Quorum, which is something the ward is needing a lot. It´s always hard to say goodbye to an area and all of the members and other people. But we put together a great Area Book with lots of work for the new elders to do!
That´s exciting to hear about the new Bentonville Stake! Now there just needs to be a Fayetteville Stake. It absolutely has the potencial to become a stake in the near future. I´m confident that with
concerted effort, that goal can be reached in no time! But it´s gonna take work, and it is not just the work of the full-time elders. The missionaries are instruments in preparing people to enter into the
waters of baptism, but the work goes much beyond the first covenant. There is also a lot of reactivating to do, not just there in Fayetteville, but in the entire world. The church, and consequently, the world, is shifting into a NEW ERA. The work of salvation is accelerating. There is nothing more true and more right than the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a path we all must follow, and we all have an important part to play.
I testify that Christ lives. He is our Savior. God is our loving Heavenly Father. These are eternal truths of which the Holy Ghost bears witness.
So be happy!
As for the package, I can´t think of anything else at the moment. There was something I thought of, but I forgot, haha. Actually, some new socks would be great! They don´t have to be expensive or anything. Just a pack of normal, long black socks would be good. A lot of my socks are starting to have holes in them.
Send a hug to everyone for me! Especially the new nephews!
Love,
Michael
On 20 October 2014 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Dad
Samantha sent me some pictures of Gavin and Bain. They really are adorable! I look forward to meeting them next year!
Also, thanks for sending some highlights from stake conference. President Bradford is correct in that we can do all things when we put our trust in the Lord.
Exciting to hear that there will probably be a few changes in the neighboring stakes. With Elder Bednar there I´m sure a division or realignment of some sorts is due.
I don´t have much more time this week due to a few emails I sent to other people, but just know that I love you very much! I testify that this work is true, and that the Restoration is advancing and filling
the Earth more and more, and at a quickened pace, than ever before.
Love,
Michael
On 13 October 2014 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
That´s exciting to know about Gavin and Leah and Tyler! I´m sure it´ll be great to visit out there in Idaho.
Also, Dad will have to tell me about anything new concerning Stake conference. Even I was thinking about how some changes maybe are due. But who knows!
I´m hoping I´ll get to watch "Meet the Mormons" sometime soon! Sometimes when we have mission conferences we get to watch a church or gospel related movie. But I don´t know if there is a portuguese translation yet. I guess we´ll see!
As for the work in the Lord´s vineyard here in Brasil! This past week was certainly a week of trials. I got to thinking that it seems that the more obedient and diligent I am, the more pressure the Lord
applies and the more trials of faith he sends. To be honest, I´ve felt a lot like Job this transfer, haha. It seems like every week brings a new plague. Week one, I had a terrible rash all over my body, and I
was itching like crazy! Luckily, I´m better now. Week two, the water tank in our house had a problem, and so the water was contaminated and had this reddish brown color to it. Week three, it rained a looooot and the part of the gutter outside our bedroom is broken, and so our room was flooded, which was quite a headache. Week four, our house was infested with cockroaches, and we discovered the hive under our bookshelf where we keep our proselyting materials. We´ll see what this
week brings us! I just hope that this transfer doesn't end with my companion dying, because he is the firstborn son in his family.
Needless to say, life isn't always easy! But I've learned through many trials that it is important to always be grateful in our circumstances, regardless of the trials or even the blessings.
I hope all is well back home! Send a big hug to Gavin for me! And always I think of Bain and everyone else as well!
Love you all very much!
Michael
On 6 October 2014 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Firstly, Happy Birthday Dad!! I forgot to mention it in last week´s email, but I remembered this week, haha. Also, say Happy Birthday to Mary for me, I forgot to tell her a couple of weeks ago as well.
Gavin is adorable! And SUPER blonde, although I already expected that. :) What day was he born exactly? That´s cool that it´s close to your birthday Dad (or maybe the same?)
I enjoyed conference very much! I was hoping to watch in English, but due to technical difficulties it didn't work out. But I was able to understand everything just fine. I really enjoyed President Eyring´s
talk in the Sunday morning session. I´d have to say that that was my "favorite", although they were all excellent as always! Sister McConkie´s talk was also outstanding. I noticed that many of the talks were directed towards trusting in the Prophet and in the revelation that the leaders in the Church receive. Maybe because that´s something that's faltering in these latter days. I can say for certain that my personal testimony of the living Prophet and Apostles has been strengthened. Also, I really like the new element they introduced that allows speakers to speak in their native languages. It was really cool to hear Elder Godoy speak in Portuguese! I know that everyone here was very excited about that, haha. It was basically the first time that these people were able to hear a conference address without having a translator. It´s easier to concentrate when what the speakers are saying and what their lips are doing match up, haha. And it was an excellent talk as well! Elder Godoy asked an inspired question that I noted: "Will the promised blessings in my patriarchal blessing be fulfilled in the manner that I´m living?" That made me think a lot about my patriarchal blessing, and last night I reviewed my blessing to remind me of all of the blessings that have been promised to me.
Another topic that was discussed multiple times took me a bit by surprise, but now that I think about it, is really essential. That is the law of the fast and of fast offerings. It was powerful the way Elder Holland reminded us of the blessings promised by the Savior to the poor and needy, and also how those who are capable are commanded to serve and to give of ourselves to those who are in need.
I hope you received many inspiring revelations from this conference as I did! I look forward to the November Liahona so that I can reread and study more the talks that were given.
As for news from me and the work, we had another baptism on Saturday! It was of a woman named Maria! We´ve been working with her for a few weeks now, and this past week we were able to help strengthen her testimony of the restored gospel and prepare herself to make the first covenant of baptism! She was so happy during the baptismal service! I know she´ll be a great member in the Lord's Kingdom. I´ll attach a picture with the email.
That about wraps it up for this week! I´m really looking forward to this week. Our new bishop has a lot of new plans to forward the work in the ward. We´re looking at starting a new group by November that could potentially be a branch by February! I hope I stay for one more transfer to see this all work out, but we´ll see about that!
Love you all!!
Michael
On 29 September 2014 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
This past week was very busy as far as the work goes. We´re working very hard, and we´re starting to see a lot of progress with the ward leaders and the members. The sacrament meeting attendance in the past month has been increasing rapidly! Just three weeks ago it was about 90, and then it went to 116, 125, and yesterday was 137! Our goal is to have a weekly average of 150 by the end of the year, but it looks like we´ll be able to accomplish much more!
As far as cultural experiences, this is election week here in Brasil! And it´s really pretty crazy to see all of the huge groups that form in the park with all of the loud speakers and music and fireworks. But
it´s an experience to say the least, haha.
I do have an oil vial! A member got me a new one when he went to the temple a few weeks ago. I thought of one more thing that I´d like, by the way! A roll of duct tape, because it´s impossible to find here, but it would really come in handy. It would certainly help keep our room from flooding every time it rains, haha. Also, I need more pictures of the family! Especially now that we have new members of the family!! The members here always like to ask me to show pictures of my family :) Exciting to hear about Leah! I´ll need some pictures of new baby Gavin!
You´ll have to tell me about the movie, Meet the Mormons! I read about it in the Liahona, but I didn't know it would be coming out in normal theatres! That´s way cool! I´ll have to watch it after the mission.
I guess that´s about it from me. I´m looking forward to conference this weekend!! I´m sure it´ll be a great refresher to hear from our living prophet and apostles. I sure am grateful for the modern revelations that come directly to us from Heavenly Father!
Love you all!
Michael
On 22 September 2014 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Sounds like fall is starting to settle in back home. It´s pretty much the same here in Brasil, haha. Hot and hotter.
So I can tell that this transfer will bring a lot of changes and progress! Elder Lowe and I are working very hard and diligently to help the work here. And the Municipios Ward has a new Bishop as well!
I think I´ve already mentioned a few times in past e-mails about Sergio, who was our young mens president and who helps us a whole lot with the work here. Well now he´s Bishop Arruda! This was sort of a surprise to everyone actually, but I´m very excited to see how things get going and what new changes are made. He´s very young too, being no more than 30 years old or so. But he has a lot of energy, he´s a very very active member and Priesthood bearer, and I know he has a lot of support from the ward members. I have a personal connection with him as well, because he actually lived in Ogden, Utah for 4 years where he graduated from High School. I told him about some of my experiences from serving in the Ogden Mission, and he actually still has family that lives there!
I´m very excited for this transfer! Also, since we have 2 american missionaries again in the ward, we're going to start teaching an english class on saturday nights! I love doing english classes, it´s
always a lot of fun. Also, I´m getting to the point now that people are saying I´m starting to speak more like a Brasilian! They say my accent is really coming along, and that my portuguese is almost
"perfect", so that´s very encouraging to me! After many months of struggling, I´m in the threshold of fluency now. I´m excited to see what a whole other year brings along, beyond just the language!
Sounds like the Hogs soundly defeated Northern Illinois. I´m beginning to think that the Razorbacks must be in the top rankings for offense and points scored, because every game is a high score! We´ll see what happens with Texas A&M...
As for letters, it seems like it takes about a month or so to get into my hands. But I recently got your July letter, and so the August one should be coming soon!
Love you all very much!! Have a blessed week!
Love,
Michael
On 17 September 2014 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Well it seems like this past week was a great week! That´s exciting to hear that Elder Young will finally get to Brasil! He´ll do great when he gets here, I´m sure. And the Hogs won again!! Sounds like they´re doing much better this year.
I´m sad to hear that Brother Greenwood passed away. I have a lot of pleasant memories of visiting them and offering the sacrament in their home. But 94 years is a long long time! I´m sure Sister Greenwood is staying well.
As for me, WE HAD A BAPTISM!!! Her name is Jessicka (yes, with c AND k in the name, haha), and her story is quite interesting! She´s 25 years old, and she started investigating the church eight years ago, but quickly lost interest. Her then-12-year-old brother, William, however, ended up being baptized, and was soon followed by their younger brother, Wendyl. Five more years passed by, and then their mother was baptized too! Then about 3 weeks ago, William left on his mission to Curitiba, BUT due to some problem with the university he was attending, he had to return after only spending 10 days in the MTC. When we saw that he´d returned we felt a strong impression that there was a great purpose, beyond just going back to school til the end of the year. It was when we were at lunch at their house that we brought up Jessica and how we felt that William had returned to baptized his
sister who introduced him to the church! And when she came home, we asked her (as we always did) when she would be baptized. She laughed a little, and she said, nooooooo I don´t think so. She entered the house, and literally two minutes later, she came back and said, no...I´ll be baptized. What day can we do it? We were a little caught off guard! But we quickly responded next saturday!! She had already been to church many many times, had already taken the discussions, so we just topped it off with a revision, did the interview, and she was baptized AND confirmed this past weekend!
So this experience just goes to show that some people are prepared for many many years, and when the right time comes, it´s miraculous how immediately people can change.
As for the transfer, I´ll be staying in the Municípios ward for another transfer! And my new companion is Elder Lowe from Washington (state)! He´s an excellent missionary! I´m excited to work with him!!
Anyway, that´s it from me! Love you all very much!!
Go Hogs!
Elder Kamilos
On 8 September 2014 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Happy Grandparents´ Day! I didn´t know there was actually an official holiday for that, to be honest, but now I know!!
I´m so glad to hear that the work is starting to move forward significantly in the YSA ward! I get excited every time I think about the work of the Lord back home, and how much I´m going to want to
continue being a missionary when I return. But right now, I am very concentrated on the work here in the Municípios ward! To be honest, it´s been quite a struggle here for the past two months. But I can
tell that it´s beginning to move forward slowly. Our young men´s presidente, Sergio, is helping us very much, and yesterday he gave an excellent lesson during priesthood, which was quite a wake up call to say the least. It was exactly what everyone needed to hear, and now I feel more motivated, personally, to work more diligently.
As far as news, I think all I have to say is that these past two days have been the wettest since I´ve been on the mission. It started raining saturday night, and it hasn´t stopped since! I´m currently
sitting in the lan house, completely soaked from the walk over here! But I have to admit, the rain is still much better than the Paraíban sun!
Great to hear that the Hogs stomped Nicholls State this weekend! Sounds like they´re making progress! I hope they have a good year, at least a decent bowl game at the end.
And as far as Christmas requests, I´ve thought about a few things I´d like, if possible. One, is another jar of peanut butter, haha. Any brand is fine. Some american candy would be great too! Skittles,
Starburst, Jelly Bellies, Mikenikes, Sourpatch Kids, any kind of candy of that sort. Also, a common snack that american missionaries like to get is Beef Jerky, and it´s popular with all of the brasilians as
well, haha. Aside from candy and snacks, I realized some time ago that I didn´t bring an english hymnal (one of those pocket ones), so if there´s any way to get one of those, I´d really enjoy singing some hymns in english from time to time! I have a new favorite hymn by the way! Number 217 (I think), Come Let Us Anew, especially the third verse. "Oh that each in the day of our Savior may say, 'I have fought my way through; I have finished the work Thou didst give me to do.' Oh that each from the Lord, may receive the glad word, 'Well, and faithfully done. Enter into my joy and sit down on my throne.'" These lyrics honestly brought me to tears as I envisioned standing at the final judgment, and hearing those words from the Savior.
That´s really about all I could think of as far as Christmas goes. No wait! I thought of one more thing! This is optional, because I don´t know how available they are, and I don´t know how much they cost. If you find a Pitch Pipe (one of those round metal harmonica type things that have all of pitches. I´m guessing you´re familiar with them already) it would be really useful to use at lessons, family nights,
mission meetings, and in the house. Only if you run across one at some time!
That´s about it from me for this week! Send a hug to everyone in the family and the ward! Also, I just received Elder Jackson´s e-mail that brother Lawson forwarded to me! He looks and sounds great down in the Chile MTC! That´s exciting for him.
Love you all very much!
Elder Kamilos
ps. I almost forgot! HAPPY ONE-YEAR MISSION ANNIVERSARY TO ME!!! I´ve been out here for a YEAR?!?! That´s incredible! And very hard to believe! The time surely is flying by, haha.
On 1 September 2014 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Football season is headed off then, eh? Hopefully the Hogs have a more successful year!
This past week, I came to the realization that I had almost entirely forgotten about one thing. And I am sure this attributes to the lower rate of success we´ve had in this area. I had forgotten to use my
spiritual gifts. I haven´t been singing! This realization came to me when we left with the young men's president in our ward, Sergio, last night. We were with him for about an hour and a half, and we simply sang hymns to people! 100% of the people that we sang for accepted a visit during this week. So to start off the week, we have 7 new investigators, and 2 families, just from singing! Music really has a powerful effect on people, and it invites the Spirit so well!
This week I´m sending e-mails to a few more people, so this e-mail will be a little bit shorter. But I just wanted to share that testimony building experience! And it certainly reminded me to use my
gifts!!
We´ve made a little progress on the cleanliness in our house, which means Elder Kamilos is a little less stressed, haha.
All in all, this week was good, and I know this week will be even better!
Love you all!
Elder Kamilos
On 25 August 2014 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Well this past week was Mission Conference, where my mission president, President Nogueira, and his wife spoke, as well as President Carboni, who is a counselor in the mission presidency. We also had the Santa Rita Stake Conference!! It was there that we had Elder Leal, an Area Authority Seventy, speak, as well as some leaders of the Stake, and President and Sister Nogueira! I´d like to share a few highlights from both conferences in this weeks e-mail!
From the mission conference: President Carboni spoke on some of the lessons he learned from his
full-time mission. Some of those lessons related to unity in the missionary companionship. He mentioned how the missionary companionship is in similitude to one of the fundamental doctrines of
the Gospel, the first Article of Faith, being The Godhead. He pointed out that how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one in purpose, we too, in our companionships, should always have the Spirit, and be united in purpose.
Sister Nogueira spoke mainly on some of the temporal needs of the missionaries, specifically CLEANLINESS. And I am SO happy that she spoke very clearly on this subject, because I am generally the only one in the house that cleans, does dishes, organizes my clothes and personal items, etc. But she made it very clear that cleanliness is a part of the mission, and that in a sense is also a commandment. God is a God of order, and in order to have the Spirit with us, me must be clean spiritually (i.e. Worthiness) as well as clean temporally. How grateful I am for Sister Nogueira!
President Nogueira gave an inspired talk on the importance of working with and strengthening recent converts and less actives, as has been the focus of the mission for awhile now. He discussed the importance of Lesson 5: Laws and Ordinances in Preach My Gospel, and how sometimes this lesson gets overlooked. Many missionaries prepare the investigator for baptism, but afterwards let go and neglect this important lesson. He pointed out that this is one of many reasons why the retention rate is so low in many areas of the Church, and that the teaching of lesson 5 WILL help to improve this problem, along with the cooperation of the members in integrating recent converts and other members.
From the Stake Conference: Sister Nogueira directed her talk towards the members of the stake and
emphasized the importance of the members´ role in the work of the Lord. She said "Missionary work is not only the 'work of the missionaries.'" And how correct she is. She said the we must not be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, and that we must share it in every instance. Also, another phrase that she says often that I love, "Every church speaks of Christ, but it is of only one Church that Christ
speaks!" One Lord. One Faith. One Baptism.
President Nogueira again addressed us during Stake Conference, and he spoke to the members about their very important role in helping to retain new converts. He used an example given in PMG of a letter that President Hinckley received from a recent convert who had not been received so well into the Church, but after seeking guidance from the mission president in that area, became firm in the Gospel. It was from this letter, as well as other instances, that President Hinckley gave the inspired message about the three things a recent convert needs: a friend, a calling/responsability, and to be nourished by the good word.
And finally, Elder Leal! There are many things that he spoke on, but for the sake of time I´ll just include some of the things that I noted down. I think the most impactful lesson that I learned from him is the importance and sacredness of the family. He spoke of the importance of making our home a place where the Spirit always resides, and when we keep our covenants and obey the commandments, our home can be a sanctuary from the world. As it says in True to the Faith, the home is the only place on Earth that is compared to the sacredness of the temple.
I´m just about out of time, so I´ll cut it there! As for the peanut butter, I still have about 2/3 of the jar left! I´m being extra careful, haha.
I love you all very much!! Until next week´s news!
Love,
Elder Kamilos
On 18 August 2014 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
So this week was honestly a bit slow. We´re having a lot of challenges with finding new investigators, for it is a fairly small area and there have been missionaries here for a pretty long time, so the area has been pretty well "burned" as we say here. But there´s still two investigators with whom we´re working with for some time now that are are getting close to being baptized. One of them is Ana. She´s dating one of the recent converts in the ward, and recently she´s started investigating the church because she feels like there are so many unanswered questions in her life to which she would like answers, and she said that she´s already received many answers since she´s been investigating the church. Of course, we´ve already made the invite to be baptized, and seeing that she´s making a lot of progress, I have hope that she will be baptized very soon.
So you got the email from Brother Williams already! It was quite a surprise to see a whole family of Americans in our ward yesterday, haha. They were easy to spot, because they´re all very blond and pale compared to the brasilians here. I went up to introduce myself, and I found out that they were with their son who served in this area some time ago. They were super nice, and I had the opportunity to orally translate for the first time during sacrament meeting! It was very hard, and not because of the portuguese, but the english, haha. I just am not accustomed to speaking english, and so I stumbled quite a bit as I tried to think of the right words to say. But I managed, and it was a cool experience! And when they told me that they brought peanut butter for the american Elders, I got SOOOO excited!! So now I have a brand new jar of peanut butter, and I am very happy because of that! I never knew how much I love peanut butter, until it became unavailable to me. I think there´s an important lesson in that! Haha.
I forgot to mention this last week, but Happy Father´s Day!! That may seem VERY late, but actually Father´s Day is the second Sunday of August here in Brasil, so it was last week! That being said, I´d like to thank you, Dad, for being such an outstanding example to me as a father and as a worthy priesthood holder. I know that´s had a deep effect in my life, especially now as I´m serving a full-time mission. I know that your example of being a member missionary in the YSA ward is helping the work of the Lord progress back home as well. I love you Dad!
Time is running out for me, so I´ll end my e-mail here. I hope all is well back home and that Bain is growing up healthy and strong and happy!
Love you all!
Elder Kamilos
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On 11 August 2014 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
This week has had a few challenges to say the least, but I´ll start with some of the good things! The Book of Mormon challenge is going very well. My question is, "What can I learn from the examples of Book of Mormon disciples, and how can I apply what I learn as a missionary?" It´s a mouthful but I´m hoping for a lot of great and specific answers. I already have received much revelation as I´ve been doing it!
As for a few of the challenges. We were stuck at home for a couple of days due to some health problems that Elder Vieira has had, but we´ll be going into João Pessoa tomorrow to go to the doctor and get things worked out. I had the opportunity to give him a priesthood blessing, and we know everything will work out just right. He´s okay, it´s just a few minor issues and shouldn´t give us any problems from now on.
We did leave to work yesterday evening however, and it was one of the best nights since I´ve been here! We left the house, and to be honest we were feeling a little bit lost. We began to walk up the street, when suddenly the high priest group leader in our ward came walking up behind us. He asked us if we had any plans, and we told him that we actually didn´t have any marked appointments and were planning on visiting some less-active members. He said "great! i know a few people we can visit, if you want to accompany me" so we agreed and went with him. First, we visited a member with whom we´ve had a harder time trying to come back to church. He´s a former bishop, but has been inactive for quite some time now. We sat down, and we shared a message related to King Benjamin´s address and the importance of growing in the gospel united as a family. At the conclusion, he said that he had been thinking a lot lately about the story of Kind Benjamin, and that in the moment that we were sharing our message and discussing the principles of the address, he had felt a desire to return to church. He said that he has a testimony of the church, and that he knows it´s
true, but he hasn´t been doing what he needs to do to keep it. He stated, quite resolutely, "I´ll go to church this sunday." And there wasn´t the slightest hesitation when he said it. I felt so touched by
the spirit, and I realized the stark difference it makes when we have a willing member at our side to help us.
This is one of the many fruits of missionary work! Seeing and helping inactive or less-active members return to church and come back into the loving arms of the savior. There are many, many lost sheep out there. We have the responsibility as disciples of Christ, to help those who have strayed from the path back into the fold of God.
In our Zone Conference this past week, I was introduced to a scripture that beforehand had never caught my attention, but now it´s impossible to forget. Jacob 1:19 (and I´m translating, because I don't have my english scriptures with me right now) says "And we magnify our office to the Lord, taking upon us the responsibility to answer for the sins of the people if we do not teach them with diligence the word of God; thus, working with all of our strength, their blood shall not stain our garments; on the contrary, their blood would fall upon our garments and we would not be declared spotless at the last day." It might vary a tiny bit in english, but it gets the point across. This scripture opened my eyes dramatically to my duty as an ordained priesthood holder and set-apart missionary. If I do not work diligently to help bring the people in my area to repentance and to hear the gospel, I shall be held responsible at the last day for what I could have done but didn´t do. This is a wake-up call to me and to all holders of the priesthood, to magnify our callings and do all that we can so that we may stand spotless before God at the day of judgment.
I pray every day to do better than the previous. And I can feel the Holy Ghost working along side with me as I fulfill my duty.
I love you all so much!! Until next week!
Love,
Michael
On 6 August 2014 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Happy Transfer Day!!! I will be staying in Municípios with Elder Vieira this transfer, and that means I´ll be his last companion on the mission! He told me that what he needs me to do is not let him die,
haha. So I´ll be working a little extra hard this transfer to keep my companion alive! But it´ll be great. I really love this area, and the work is going well. We may not have a large pool of progressing investigators (yet) but we have a great relationship with the members and leaders of the ward, and we're having a lot of success with helping less active members get back to church and also strengthening the recent converts. A vast majority of the recent converts are youth here, so it´s a lot of fun building relationships with them. Our principal goal is to work with their family members that aren´t baptized so that we can complete their families and get them on the road to the temple.
I get so happy everytime I get an email about Bain and Tom and Lacey, and also Leah and Tyler and their son on the way! It´s exciting to know that the family is growing. I have so much to look forward to when I get back!
I´m really loving my mission more and more everyday. And today I´ve made a few personal goals! It relates to a challenge given by Elder Bednar in a devotional he gave at the MTC a few years back. The challenge is this: Ask a specific question concerning the Gospel, grab a standard, missionary copy of the Book of Mormon, write the question in the front of the Book of Mormon and then read it cover to cover, marking every scripture that relates to this particular question. By the end of the reading, he promises that not only will the question be answered, but we will receive much additional revelation concerning that specific topic. He then said to repeat the process with another question. My goal is to read the Book of Mormon cover to cover, in portuguese, by the end of the transfer. That means aproximately 6 chapters a day, but I believe that I can do it! I have my hour of personal study, as well as another hour or so at night before bed. I have faith that I will be blessed and that I will receive much revelation to help the Municípios Ward grow.
That being said, I´d like to extend this challenge to you, Mom and Dad, as well as the family and anyone else that you may invite! Not the part about 6 chapters a day, but the principal challenge, reading the Book of Mormon with a specific question. I promise that you will receive much revelation as you do this!
That´s about all from me this week. We have a new missionary in the house! His name is Elder Costa, from Bahia, Brasil. Elder Melo (from São Paulo, Interlagos Mission) was transferred today. I'll miss him a lot, he was a lot of fun. But Elder Costa seems super cool too! I´m still the only american in the house, which is great, because I almost never speak English, except a few words here and there with my companion when he wants to learn or practice his English.
Love you all!!! And stay warm! Low to mid 50s sounds freezing to me now, haha.
Love,
Michael
On 28 July 2014 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Bom dia, boa tarde, boa noite!
Dear Mom and Dad,
Transfers are (already)next week, so you won´t hear from me until next Wednesday, August 6th.
Things are starting to pick up here in the Municípios ward! We met with the ward council yesterday and set some great goals to work with each organization. We´ll be dedicating time every day to find less actives and recent converts to help strengthen them and keep them going to church. Along with that, we have three new families that we are working with now, and one of the couples is legally married! Matt could tell you that that´s a miracle in itself, haha. But one of the other families has plans to marry in august. So we´ll be really focusing on these families from now on! I´ll let you know of any baptismal dates and all that. Also, I really hope I stay here with Elder Vieira, especially considering this next transfer will be his last in the mission. I absolutely love my companion, and I think it would be really cool to be his last. He told me that I need to help him not die early as far as just running out of steam. So part of me is hoping I´ll stay with him, but another part of me is hoping for a leadership or training position, but really, I´ll be happy with whatever happens in the transfer. I just want to fulfill my missionary purpose every day.
I have a testimony of this work, and it grows every day. I love you all so much! I hope all is well back home!
Until next wednesday!
Michael
On 21 July 2014 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
So I just got word that 2 former investigators that Elder Castro and I began teaching in Valentina were baptized this week! Cecilia and her son, Lazaro. That makes me happy to know that although we don´t always see immediate success, we can have faith that many of the seeds weplant will one day blossom.
I´m glad that Leah and Tyler´s apartment wasn´t flooded! We´ve been getting some pretty good rainfall here as well. It rains most nights, and about every other day, more or less.
I´ll make sure to check my bank account soon. I don´t want it to stop working or something.
Love you all so much, the church is true!
Love,
Michael
On 7 July 2014 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
So this week comes with quite a twist! We received a phone call last night that Elder Loveland would be emergency transfered to Mamanguape (another zone) today, so my time with him was limited to less than two weeks. I was very sad to see him go. He´s one of the mission´s best missionaries, and we were getting things started really well in this area. This area is super good, and I know he was really enjoying it here. I stayed in Municípios however, and my new companion.... is ELDER VIEIRA!!! Hahaha, I don´t believe it. I don´t know if you recognize the name, but he was my District Leader a few transfers ago, and we lived together for that transfer. We got along super super well, so I´m really excited to work with him this transfer. It´s possible that I´ll be his last companion, as he only has 2 transfers left, including this one. He´s very active and positive, and he´s a ton of fun.
Unfortunately, our caving adventure will be pushed back one more week due to the tranfer this morning. But I´m determined to explore these caves! From the description, it sounds absolutely amazing. The biggest cave has a room that´s 10 meters high, with a waterfall and a crystal clear pool of water.
I´m super excited to hear all about baby Bain!! We´ll have a new little member of the family! I´ll need some photos or something so I can see him, haha. :)
So we had our first baptism in the area on Saturday! It was a young woman named Amanda. Her sister was recently baptized, so we all helped her prepare to follow that example. It was a great moment, especially because her mother, who is not a member, was able to attend. We look forward to having much more success in this ward.
I certainly have a testimony of the Lord´s hand in our lives. It seems that things always turn out the right way when we do what is right and follow God´s will. Also, I have a testimony of the importance of the members of the church in missionary work. It´s very clear that when the members work with the missionaries, success comes much more readily. Our young men and women programs our very strong here, and I know it´s because the presidents of those organizations are truly magnifying their callings.
HAPPY 4th OF JULY TOO!! It was a great day here as well. Brasil beat Colombia (which gave us a good fireworks show to celebrate) and after the game we had a ward party to celebrate São João! There were a ton of people there, including non-members and less-actives. We had some good old Forró music (which is like the folk music of the northeast), and it was a lot of fun.
Hope all is well back home!
Love you all!!
Michael
Dear Mom and Dad,
I love Municípios!!! The ward here is absolutely wonderful, and the members are just the best! Our ward mission leader, Marcelo, already has a vision for the work here, and has already come up with some excellent plans that we´ll jump on board with right away. We picked up ELEVEN references all at once from a member here yesterday, so that´ll help fill our schedule here real quickly. Not to mention that the missionaries before us baptized 12 people in the last three months, most of them being youth around 16 years old or so. The youth program here is very strong, and just from experience I know that they had so much success with youth because the presidents of the young men and women are magnifying they´re callings. That´s how it is in missionary work. The wards that have the most success are the ones who have members and leaders who are doing they´re part. One could be the greatest missionary in the world, but without unity between missionary and members, it´s very difficult to have success.
Also, I feel like my English is starting to deteriorate a little bit, as far as the grammar goes, haha. Please excuse any errors. One thing I´ve realized this week is that blessings come much more quickly when we act willingly. There seemed to be a large leap in my language skills with this transfer. I thought about why this might be, and I realized it´s because I have an American companion, and yet we are willingly speaking ONLY portuguese. And the gift of tongues has been so abundant because of it. I remembered something I heard Elder Bednar say about fasting when he came to North Little Rock to speak to YSA´s He recounted an experience he had in Africa, when a recent convert bore her testimony in a church meeting. This sister said "brothers and sisters, a fast is more than just going a day without eating. That´s quite common for us. True fasting is when we HAVE food, and we CHOOSE not to eat it." I realized that this applies to the Gift of Tongues. Elder Loveland and I have the ability to speak English all day long, but the fact that we´re only speaking Portuguese all day, every day, has brought so many blessings. I´ve already gotten more compliments for my Portuguese in 5 days here than I have my entire mission up til now. One recent convert we talked to for about 20 minutes straight said I seem like I´m from the south (of Brasil). That´s the first time someone´s said that!!! Needless to say, I´m gaining a lot more confidence, and it´s much more easy to open my mouth, and I have absolute certainty that I´m very very blessed in many ways.
The World Cup is going great! Brasil is still in, and the US plays Belgium today or tomorrow (I don´t remember when). The Cup doesn´t bring any problems here. President Nogueira gave us permission to watch the games of Brasil, so we have a ton of fun watching with members. The next game is this Friday, July 4th!! That´s going to be an awesome day, because we have the game at 5, and then a ward party for São João at 7! So we´ll be "celebrating" independence day in our own Brasilian way, haha. I forgot to mention São João!! São João is one of the major holidays here in Brasil, or at least in the Northeast. The actually holiday was on the 24th of June, but the festivities are still going on. Some of the traditions include fires in the streets (yes, FIRE), fireworks, and lots and lots of corn.
There´s a ton of corn foods, and I absolutely love it! There´s one called canjica, which is kind of like corn pudding with cinnamon on top. It´s sweet, and really really good. I´ll have to send some pictures of some of the festivities!
I´m super excited for the work here! I have a feeling this is gonna be an amazing transfer with lots of success! Also, there are some caves nearby that we´re planning on exploring with our Bishop next p-day. Adventure time!! Sounds pretty cool.
Love you all!!! And I look forward to next week!
Tchau!
Michael
On 25 June 2014 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Transfer Daaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!
In contrast to the last transfer, where virtually nothing seemed to change, it seems that just about everything changed this transfer. I´ve left Valentina, along with all of the other 3 missionaries that were with me. Elder Wisner ended his mission and goes home early tomorrow morning. And I have been sent to serve in the Municípios ward in the Santa Rita stake/zone. My companion, Elder Loveland, is the district leader here, and he´s also the first companion that I´ve had that is younger than me (19 years old). He turns 20 this transfer though, so we´re definitely gonna celebrate, haha. Our whole district is actually very young, in terms of mission time. Elder Loveland has the most time and he´s just barely over a year. Elder Melo also has about a year, and then there´s me and Elder Perkins (one of the Elders from my MTC group!!!) who each have 9 1/2 months. The rest have months or less. As far as companionships, Elder Loveland and I have the most combined time, and it's still less than two years, haha. But everyone I´ve talked to has said that he´s an excellent missionary and a batizador (baptizer!). I´m way excited to work hard and learn a lot this transfer! Funny thing is that people say that the Santa Rita zone is kind of the "whirlpool" zone, because once you get in, it seems impossible to leave, haha. But I´m anticipating a wonderful next few transfers here in Municípios, so I won´t want to leave.
Well it seems that everyone is just all over the place back home! Mary and Michael in Europe, Samantha and Matt and Jessica in California, and of course, I traveled a little bit on the transfer as well. I´m glad that Mary and Michael didn´t get their passports and credit cards stolen, that´s a blessing.
So the highlight of this last week was the wedding and baptism of the couple that Elder Wisner and Elder Landro taught. There was such a great feeling, and although it rained the entire day almost nonstop, it was really quite a wonderful evening. The ceremony was very simple, and I know that they know they´ve made the best decisions of their lives.
Also, when is Lacey due?? Should be any day now right? I´m really looking forward to the news of my first nephew! Meu primeiro sobrinho!! Estou muito animado! And Leah as well! I´m eager to find
out the gender of their baby, as I´m sure they are as well.
All is well with me here in Brasil! We´ll see what adventures Municípios brings around this next week!
Until Monday!
Love,
Michael
On 16 June 2014 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
I´m sorry you didn´t get my e-mail from last week. It appears that maybe it didn´t send. I´ll double check to make sure you get this e-mail!
Brazilian Carrot Cake is SOOOO good! That sounds exactly like the carrot cake they have here!
So this week was a little different, haha. But the big news is that Carol, our (former) investigator, was baptized yesterday!!! Woohooooo!! Só batiza! Also, Elder Wisner and Elder Landro, the other
missionaries in our ward, baptized a man named Leandro last week, and they have an elect family that will be married and baptized next Monday! All of this, along with Mateus being baptized three weeks ago, is (hopefully) really lighting a fire in Valentina, and I hope it´ll animate the members and missionaries alike. Elder Wisner is super excited, because he goes home this transfer on the 25th, so he´s ending his mission with a marriage and baptism on the 23rd, just two days before he leaves. Great way to go out of the mission field!
That all being said, it´s crazy to believe that ANOTHER transfer has flown by! The next e-mail from me will come next Wednesday, the 25th. We´ll see where this next one takes me! All of the Elders that I live with are guessing that I´m going to be made exec. secretary, because the current secretary has already passed 4 transfers, and because they say I look like Jim from the t.v. show "The Office" haha. That, and my trainer, Elder Gilliam, was exec secretary, and also because Matt was secretary in São Paulo, so they say it´s in my family AND mission heritage. To be honest, I really hope I´m NOT made secretary. It sounds like a tough gig, haha. But I´ll go where I´m called!
Hey, so Elder Borges will send you pics from the baptisms of Mateus and Carol! You may notice that Mateus isn´t in baptismal clothes...that´s because I forgot to take a picture at his baptism, so I took
one with him at Carol´s, haha. I´ll have to get you all of the other scores of photos I have.
Jessica´s an All-American!!!! That´s exciting news!! Parabéns pra ela! I hope everything is going well with everyone else too!
As for interesting experiences, this week I´ve witnessed two accidents, one being a car and a dog, and the other (this morning) a car and a motorcycle. Thank goodness the man was wearing a helmet and
was able to get up and walk, but it was startling nonetheless. The car hit and run, but the people nearby picked up the license plate number. The crazy thing is that the car happened to be an alternative (sort of like a taxi but just runs the bus routes and at the same price), and had dropped off Elder Wisner and Elder Landro just 20 seconds before he made an illegal u-turn into oncoming traffic. Needless to say, we´re very grateful they weren´t IN the car during the accident. That could have made things a lot more complicated for all of us.
Good experiences include watching the game of Brasil and Croatia on Thursday! It´s amazing how Brasil turns 4th-of-July every time they score a goal, haha. It was a ton of fun, and Brasil won 3-1!!
Out of time, yikes!
Anyway, I love you all!!! Have a wonderful week!
Elder Kamilos
Pictures sent by Elder Kamilos' companion, Elder Borges:
On 9 June 2014 Elder Kamilos wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Bom p-day! This week´s email time is cut short by 15 minutes due to the lanhouse closing, so I´ll be brief!
Well this week was quite an outstanding week! We were able to confirm Mateus, and we found two more elect women, Carol and Rafaela, to be baptized this week and next week respectively. They are both very receptive, and have accepted to message of the restoration as true. They are progressing very quickly, and we´re very excited for them! It´s amazing how fast this next transfer is coming up here on the 25th. The mission really is starting to go into hyperdrive, haha. Here in two more transfers I´ll hit the year mark.
One thing I´m really looking forward to this week is the English class I and the other two American Elders that I live with, Elder Wisner from Georgia and Elder Landro from Maryland, will teach. We've been teaching English every other wednesday night this transfer, and it´s a ton of fun! I´m gonna make pancakes and maple syrup (with that extract yall sent me) so the people can get a taste of "american" food.
President Nogueira received a lot of revelation that he received from a conference with Elder Russell M. Nelson and Elder Neal L. Anderson down in São Paulo recently. We are now shifting the mission focus to 50% proselyting and 50% reactivation. We have a new vision, and it feels completely right, and I know it´s inspired and will lead to many miracles.
Also, the world cup starts this week!!! And it was announced that we are allowed to watch the games that Brasil plays! With the purpose of integrating with members and inviting less actives and investigators.
Times up! I love you all!!
Love,
Elder Kamilos
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