Monday, August 4, 2014

Semeando

Hello Everyone!

The Church is true!

So this week we almost felt the rains down in africa, but that will probably happen this week or next.  It was blowing water this morning, but it hasn´t started to rain yet.  The rainy season is almost here though.
This week was full of many experiences.

The first is that we are working to prepare 2 men for baptism.  One struggles with coffee and alchool, and isn´t married and his women that he has a kid with who lives on another island is visiting him, and lives in his house, so he is working hard to never break the work of wisdom and law of chastity, but is winning! Please pray for him.  His name is Nilson.

The other is a guy named Santinho.  He has a gift.  He doesn´t speak portuguese, and can´t read, but he has a gift of speaking.  He is the most eloquent speaker I have ever heard that doesn´t try to speak eloquently.  It is incredible.  I wish I understood every thing he says, but I understand most of it.

So this week, President Mathews came to visit us.  He is reminding us of mission rules, and adding some other ones and a lot of missionaries aren´t super happy, but it is going to be a great experience to seek revelation in the near future, to be able to do the same kind of stuff we were doing before with a few more restrictions!  I´m glad that I have a bit of creative juices in me.

Also, President Mathews came out this week to our meeting to let on of my friends and fellow missionaries know that his mom passed away on Saturday.  After he found out, he talked to his dad and had some alone time for 2 hours, and every single person in the whole zone, even those who had to get a car to go back to their area an hour or 2 away stayed to be with him and support him.  Please pray for him.  I love you all, especially my family.  What a blessing the plan of salvation is.

So we had the most people in church yesterday since I got here in this area.  39!!!  It used to be in the 50s, but right before I got here the branch invested 5 young men to missionary service, and so the number of people dropped.  We are hoping for 42 next week.  Give me your ideas about how to help more people come to church!

Well, that was pretty much this week.  Not super eventful.  We have a zone conference this week, so the week should go by really fast.

This week´s spiritual thought comes from the Sermon on the Mount that I was studying this morning.

Everyone is invited to read the sermon on the mount this week in conjunction with chapter 16 of Jesus the Christ which talkes about the sermon on the mount.  I love reading the responses of Christ, because the way he does everything is so powerful.  Every answer to every persecution.  He truely is a perfect being.  I like 3rd Nephi 13:12 which mostly says (during the Lord´s Prayer) (mostly because I am translating it from portugese and don´t know for sure what the english verse says) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. (okay, I looked it up in english).  When we pray for help to avoid sin, like we should sincerely, and not vainly repetitous, we MUST do everything we can to avoid things and situations that lead us to sin.  If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out!  It is better to live without than with sin, and we must act to avoid sin, not just to be rid of it.

That´s it.
Avoid Sin

Love,
Elder Sampson

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