Pizza Sandwich!

So this week flew by again as well!

So there weren´t a whole ton of highlights this week either, so I´ll give a run-down.

Tuesday after District Meeting, I worked in our area with Elder Sampaio and we pretty much just did contacts the whole day just to have new people to teach. We walked up and down the area a ton and my legs were way tired afterwards!

Wednesday, pretty much all of our appointments fell through... Thursday as well, but we managed to visit a less-active and teach a friend of hers as well.

Friday was the day I went over-the-hill, but we didn´t really do anything special to celebrate. It was Independence Day, and so everybody was gone. After wandering around for a ton, we went to Leonardo Brasil´s house, and he gave us lasagna and we marked a day to visit less active young men.

Saturday, we had lunch at home, so we went to the supermarket and got things to make pizzas. We ended up putting sausage and bacon on one pizza, and then putting the other pizza on top, and then cooking it. It was REALLY good, and I could only eat a small piece of it. The rest of the day was full of appointments, but only until about 6:30 we managed to teach. We taught Juliana (the friend of the less active) and her mom, and a friend of her´s as well. After that, we went to the young men´s first counselor, and waited for Leonardo, and we ended up talking a bunch about the mission.

Sunday, we went to wake up Juliana, her mom and her friend Larisa, but it seems the enjoyed the holidays the night before. At church, I gave the lesson in Gospel Principles, which was about Improving our Talents. There are six steps to improve our weaknesses:

1. Recognize our weakness. 

2. Be willing to work to change. 

3. Have faith that the Lord will help you. 

4. Learn and adapt about your talent. 5. 

Practice using your talent, and finally... 

6. Use your talent!

Doing these six things, we will ´´Humble ourselves to the Lord, and he will make our weaknesses strengths.´´ Ether 12:37. In that, I recognized that our weaknesses aren´t weaknesses or anything that prohibits us. It is only a strength of ours that we haven´t learned to us yet!

In Priesthood, we talked about faith. I thought about something an investigator, very catholic, said about our church. She asked why we had so many rules, when the Catholic Church leaves people at will. She also claimed that the people at her church have more faith than most other church-goers. I didn´t have an excellent answer at the time, but on Sunday, the perfect answer came. Someone commented that faith is a principle of action (James 2:something){Allison's note: James 2:14-18}. The matter of fact is, if we have faith, we will change something in our lives, do something with our faith. The proof of the truthfulness of a church is in its members (David A Bednar had a great conference talk about this in the priesthood session, talking about how his father said that the priesthood men in our church should act in a different way if they truly have God´s authority). If a church teaches charity, its members shouldn´t talk bad of other member´s. If a church teaches reverence, its members should not be going to parties the night before church. If a church teaches obedience to the Lord´s commandments, its member´s shouldn´t live in the way the world teaches. In this way, our church truly leaves people ´at will´ in that its members know the blessings of righteous living, and are at will to do it. Not because of Doctor´s orders, not because of work, and not because of parents, but because they know it’s right!

In sacrament meeting, I also learned more new things. A young sister told about how the Lord prepared her to go on a mission. She wasn´t able to hold on to any kind of work, and the Lord spoke to her clearly to go on a mission, but she didn´t have anything to do such. She still put in her papers and went forward with it. The sister´s in her ward did an early farewell party for her, where she received a large amount of clothing to be used on the mission. She didn´t have suitcases, but a new elder was transferred, and he had an extra suitcase that he gave to her. In simple things like that, she was completely prepared for her mission. She related the dream of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel. A rock hewn without hands came forth, or in other words, the lord called a 14 year old boy, unlearned in the ways of the world as his prophet. That rock came to fill up the earth, just as the church is filling the world. The Lord will always provide a way for his work to continue. We can help, or we can hinder, but it will always progress.

Elder Cornwell