Obey

When Christ´s desciples asked Jesus what they need to do to enter the kingdom of heaven Jesus told them to become like a child who is submissive, meek, humble, and willing to submit to the will of the father. God has ordained leaders for us that we need to follow. When I first entered the mission field I had the idea that I was a really good missionary and that I knew how to do missionary work better than the others. The past couple of months have been a great humbling experience. I learning the importance of listening to others and trusting in my leaders to lead me in the ways of righteousness. Obey with exactness following the spirit and using discernment along the way and you will be greatly blessed. 

Grow

Everyone on the Earth has something in common. We are all sons and daughters of God who have been sent here to Earth to learn, grow, and prepare to live with God after this life. I have found that similar to plants, the most powerful part of life is growing. Humans basically grow in four different categories: physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. If we don´t continually grow in all four of these areas then we will feel that there is something missing in our lives and we will be wanting something more. Many people look at growing as an accumalation of music in their itunes library, more video games and movies on their shelves, buying a bigger house, getting nicer clothes, getting a nicer job, getting a raise or a promotion, or gaining more recognition. This is growth as to the world. These are some of the treasures of the world. We need to grow as to the things of God such as becoming physically stronger, eating healthy foods, learning new concepts and ideas, reading books, solving puzzles or problems, memorizing new information, developing musical talents, learning to work with other people, learning to see the good in everyone, recognizing your weaknesses, learning from others around you, reading the scriptures, learning moral lessons, being spiritually uplifted, developing your faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement, and more wonderful things. The best times in our lives will be when we are growing as to the things of God. Many people call a mission the best 2 years of your life because missionaries get to take a break from the things of the world and focus on growing as to the things of God. We were put on this Earth to interact with each other. I´ve found that the best way to learn about another person and have fun is to grow with them. Play physical sports with them, Study with them, Solve problems together, Simply talk with them, Share your testimonies with one another, search for media which spiritually uplifts and teaches that you can participate in together. I´ve loved learning and growing with my companion and we´ve had many great experiences together because of it. Grow with the family and friends you have and go out there to find some new people to learn and to grow with. 

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Gratitude and Adapting

Life is full of changes. Either we make the changes are our environment changes without us doing anything. Sometimes these changes are easy and sometimes they are hard. Whatever the change is, we have a promise from God that we can handle. In the Book of Mormon Nephi teaches that we never receive a commandment from God save he shall provide a way for us to obey it. That doesn´t mean that way is going to be easy. That´s means that way is possible. This has given me a lot of comfort as I´m trying to adapt to a lot changes being in Brazil. During this period of change I´ve found 2 things which help the most: gratitude and the will to adapt or change. In every moment there is always  something to be grateful about. If you ever find yourself in a less than happy mood simply write everything you can think of that your grateful for. Don´t stop writing until you´ve written at least 10 things that you´re grateful for. Our minds are constantly thinking, and it´s important to think about the good things, and how the bad things can be better in the future. When our environment changes that is an excellent opportunity for us to change and become better. We must always be open to change the way we do things. It´s ok to study other religions, just don´t belong to or be a member of two churches. By following the promptings of the Holy Ghost and seeing the blessings of this church I have found the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to be the only true church on this earth. That signifies that this is truly the church of Jesus Christ, not of another person, or diety. Always be open to learn something new. Always discern if what someone tells you is of God or of something else. Always evaluate your actions and think of how you can improve. Too often people blame the surroundings for their problems and never change. Things will get better when you begin to change and learn to love your surroundings. Become the person that loves your surroundings. Becomes that person who wants to be more like savior. Forget the bad things you´ve done before and look to your potential in the future. Because of the Savior that potential is always there waiting for you. Life is an incredible journey. Go.


Added by Mom

This past week we did a service project for the family that let me use their computer for skype. I told him a couple weeks ago that I did gardening on the temple before the mission and that I would be willing to do some gardening work for him. He told me to make a list of everything I would need to build a gardern. I gave him the list of materials and this last thursday he bought everything I told him to buy. So we went to house friday and built a garden for him. It was great to do real work again. the project took about 3 and a half hours to complete. He bought about 50 flowers, a tree, and 2 bushes. They let me design the whole garden and let me do whatever I thought was best. Here are some pictures of the service project and the baptism we had this week.

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Look who called for Mother's Day.....

I will be out of town next week so he got to call early.  He is happy and doing well and LOVING the food.  Soo fun to hear him speaking Portuguese to the people around him.

Josh first apartment pictures