CALLED TO SERVE IN THE BRAZIL VITORIA MISSION

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Week 95

Monday, October 7, 2019

So this week was insanely busy and finished in the best way with getting to hear the prophet. It was really cool because There were two apostles that speak portugues who instead of having a translator, recorded their talk before and played it at the same time so we could hear their real voice in portugues. It was Elder Christofferson and Soares that did that for us. And we had a few investigators in the sessions that really felt the sprit. One of my favorite moments was the change regarding baptisms and testimonies. Now that women can act as witnesses, we have a few baptisms that will be better to have the families participation. This week we should be baptizing Ayza and Rogerio.

Ayza: So her mom finally signed the paper. She has been difficult these last few weeks. But bringing her a cake helped a little. kidding... what helped was us getting the whole extended family coming to testify and show that she was fighting something good for her daughter. She finally decided to sign and everything is all good. Ayza was so excited to tell us! She almost exploded! We are very excited for her. Please pray that all works out for her.

Rogerio: He was progressing but not as fast as we were hoping. He was fighting his addiction to smoking. But God knowing everything helped him out by breaking his foot. The only place he smoked was at work where he is a guard in a store. But one night at work burglars entered and he fought them off but when kicking one of them he broke his foot. He will stay 30 days in house and can’t leave. We got there to share the video of the gardener and how god loved him enough to cut him back. He has completely changed his attitude and is all on board. We will also try to baptize him this Friday with Ayza.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media-library/video/2012-01-014-the-will-of-god?lang=eng Here is the video we shared that helped Rogerio

Larah went to conference but she is super busy and will be traveling this week. So unfortunately because of my time limit I might not be here to be a part of the baptismal service. But she is progressing and loving to learn the true gospel of Christ and his powerful atonement.

So that’s basically it for this week. I really fighting the fact that there are people here who I won’t be able to baptize but I’m learning to trust in God and the next elders that pass here after me to continue. I love you all tons! Hope you all received revelation during conference. Have a great week! See ya all here in a little!

Elder Joshua D Lee

Week 94

Monday, September 30, 2019

I didn’t have a title so I just left what was there.

So this week was very interesting. First of all we went to Nanuque a city 3 hours away for a zone conference. The weirdest part was it was my last. So I had to give the last missionary testimony. It was such a weird feeling because every transfer you watch others and even your friends give it and think it will never be your turn. Well... as we say in portugues... Já era... (i don’t know how it translates. ) But the conference was good and very uplifting. After, we went out as a district for acai.

We taught Larah this week about the plan of salvation. It’s one of the lessons that the mission has most difficulty teaching but it’s one of my favs. We get to focus on the logistics of the gospel and how the atonement functions. Also its one of the lessons that defines our church separate from others and everything is even backed up in the bible. Point is that Larah loved it and had great questions that will lead to her progression and baptism.

Fun service story was walking home from a lunch. We had to walk about 7-8 kilometers and then coming back. We felt to go a different path that had more hills. During the return we found a sweet old lad who couldn’t open her door to get inside. It was heavy and old and a little broken. After about 10 minutes we got it open for her and she could go inside to rest. I don’t know what she would have done if we hadn’t passed by. Glad my comp and I were on the same page.

Anyways that’s about it. Love you all tons and hope you’re all doing well. Have a great week and prepare for conference. It’s not every day we get revelation from 15 prophet, seers and revelators. Love you all!

Elder Joshua D. Lee

Week 93

Monday, September 23, 2019

Hey everyone! The end is near and I’m running out of weeks to send you all letters. Good news is I’ll be home to keep you all updated. This week was pretty cut and dry standard work. We found a few new people with potential and Sunday we had four people visiting church with us. They all have pretty good potential. Azya is amazing and her mom is getting a little less difficult every day. Her date is Oct 11th. We also started teaching Laura who is 18 and very happy and excited. She is catholic (but the kind that actually goes to church) but she is very excited and open. We will teach her about the book of Mormon tonight. She went to church with us and I had her write and note all the questions so we could get them answered faster. Other than that everyone is doing well. Unfortunately we had to cut a few families for a time to get them to appreciate the sprit and our lessons. But we will return here in a few weeks. Any ways sorry for the short letter but here’s a spiritual thought from Dallin H Oaks

The World teaches us to know... the gosple of Jesus Christ teaches us to become... What will you become?

Deep stuff. (this was in portugues and I’m translating so I don’t know if its exact...) Through the atoning power of our Savior we can literally become as him and God through our obedience and efforts to follow him. Its power goes way beyond forgiving sins. I love you all and hope we are all striving to learn to use the atonement in every aspect of our life. Love you all!!!!

Elder Joshua David Lee

Week 92

Monday, September 16, 2019

It’s crazy to think that I’m entering into the last transfer... The call came in and we discovered yesterday that I will stay here in Teófilo Otoni with my best friend and fav comp Elder Aguilar. We were overjoyed because we have a great number of people here we need to see enter the waters of baptism.

Speaking of baptism we had the chance to teach a less active family and help the 8 year old son be baptized and his family return. The mom was the first missionary to serve from this city... But with lots of things happening she went in-active. The situation in the family is very hard. But the example of 8 year old Bernardo helped wake up the family. He was baptized by a member in the branch that will be responsible for ministering to the family. That was the definite highlight to the week.

This week while walking through the park to an appointment we met a real life sloth... just like the movie Zootopia. (haha the nephews and nieces would have loved him so this pic is for them) His name translated into English is literally Lazy... Matches pretty well.

Sunday I got to give another talk and I chose to discuss about the parable of the sower and the seeds in Mathew 13. The end point was that we could make our branch into fertile and good soil to produce 100+ and grow. But the best part was participating in the youth class with a few investigators. 12 year old Ayza who we are going to baptize gave such a deep and profound answer that the entire class stopped for a few minutes to appreciate the answer. One of those proud elder moments.

Anyways I hope you all have a great week and look for missionary opportunities. A gente fala mais aqui em 6 semanas! Amo vocês!

Elder Lee

Monday, September 9, 2019

Week 91

Monday, September 9, 2019

So this week went really good in our search for new people. The Transfer is ending and we have one week left. But this week we will baptize the 8 year old of a less active member on Tuesday. Then we should have another on Friday. But we are in over drive trying to get everything down in the case that we have to leave. I have one more transfer after this and I'm hoping I stay one more here with my comp Elder Aguilar. He is the best of the best.

We had Independence Day here in Brazil on the 7th and everything was crazy. Everyone makes organized bands of only drums... interesting I know. So my little city exploded with drums and shouting. But after all the chaos and noise we were able to work for the rest of the day and found a few new people with great potential. The work is moving along well and we are excited to see how the branch is going grow. It was two little branches that combined and so now we have more members to work with.

Here there is a sweet member who has 94 years. She is 6 months younger than the prophet and is active as ever. She has such a deep love for the gospel and savior. She really is such an amazing example to us all. When we asked her to give us council after having lunch with her she looked and thought for a second and said, ´´You are on the path. Just keep walking forward. Don’t ever abandon the path you’re on.´´

Anyways I love you all tons. Next week should have pics in white. Hope you all have a great week!

Love Elder Joshua David Lee

p.s. This week I got to cook a lot... I’m excited to come home and cook Brazilian food...

Week 90

Monday, September 2, 2019

This week was a very special week for Brazil as it had the privilege to host the living seer and revelator prophet Russel M. Nelson and apostle Quinton L. Cook. They were also accompanied by their wonderful inspiring wives. We had the privilege to watch a broadcast Friday for the missionaries and it was powerful. One of the highlight quotes for me was from Mary Cook. She said,

No one can be perfect... But we can do perfect things everyday...

We may not be able to be perfect but how nice and comforting to know we can follow the savior every day. She also taught about the importance of hymns and primary music. She did great. At the end of the conference the prophet gave a blessing to all the missionaries and it was truly powerful. He also held a conference for the members here in Brazil where he ended with a blessing and bearing his testimony in Portuguese. He is one powerful servant of God. This was definitely a highlight of the week and mission. You couldn’t be in the room and not feel the power of the spirit shaking every part of us testifying of the divinity of his sacred calling.

Another fun development was getting to teach our 11 year old investigator. We are helping to re-activate her family and baptize her in the process. She really understands the gospel and is super intelligent. We are only waiting for her mom to sign the papers and she will be baptized. When I asked her what she wanted from us at the end of the first lesson she responded that she only wanted to learn the commandments so that she could follow them. So please pray for Ayza. She is fantastic!

On a trip to visit the family of Vinicius we were in his car when his tire exploded... He skillful was able to pull over and we were stranded in the middle of nowhere. But he was prepared and we were able to change the tire. Ha-ha the jack gave a little bit of work but after no time we were able to get going on our way.

Other than that a normal cram packed week. I love you tons and hope that you all are well. Thank you for all the letters and support and prayers you’ve given. May god bless and keep you until we meet again!

Elder Joshua David Lee

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Week 89

Monday, August 26, 2019

It’s weird that the ten week count down has started... (By the way in my defense my back area button doesn’t work so I can’t return and correct my errors... freaking enternety cafe in Brazil)

This week we got to start teaching the family that recently moved from Sao Paulo. Rogerio the husband who isn’t a member is great! His difficulties are Coffee and smoking. But he really has a desire to stop and we are going to bring him some great candy to trade for his cigars. Ha-ha Works like a charm. But he and his wife who are members have a 14 year old son who we are going to start taking out to get him excited for seminary and eventually a mission. And as an added bonus, it just so happens that she makes fantastic cake ;)

We marked a baptismal date with a few people this week on being Richard a 16 year old that’s a little confused and feels abandoned. His family situation is a little hard and he openly expressed his desire to find peace. Mathew 11 does as great job teaching that. We were able to promise as representatives of Christ that by following his commandments (one being baptism) he would find the living water and indescribable peace. He was very excited to try.

We also finally got to teach Gabriel our 11 year old with a date marked. It’s marked for this Saturday but we still have to get on his dads good side and teach him. He is very catholic... But it’s going to work out.

This week we had a special meeting and the two small branches were finally able to combine and will continue as one. It will be a little confusing at first but it’s going to be able to help us create Zion here in the city of Teofilo Otoni. I’m super excited to see the miracles the Lord has in store for us! I hope to finish the mission here. I have one and a half transfers to go.

Any ways I love you all and hope you all have a great productive week! Always look to bless the lives of those around you! Love ya all!

Elder Joshua David Lee

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Week 88

Monday, August 19, 2019

Hey everyone how’s it going! It’s been a while sorry... But everything is going great and I’m in a hurry trying to get everything done that God needs from me. It’s weird to think that this week starts the ten week count down... I tried telling mom that Becca will be sending big beautiful letters but she said I need to send them too ;)

This week we had a conference with our zone and president and his wife. Sister Mazzagardi (the wife) is truly amazing! Every training she gives is truly a blessing for our mission. This last was about Tools that we have in a mission and tools that Satan has. It’s great to take a few moments to appreciate all that God gives us to be successful in our lives and missions. I also had an interview with President about what the branch needs and we are resolving to combine the two here in the city to prepare it to become a ward and eventually here in a few years turn the district into a stake. So it’s super exciting to see the work advance in a real big way.

The secretaries of the mission called to ask what airport I'll be returning... I responded Dubai... So that should be a fun mini vacation ;) (Just kidding mom) I also had to take out some documents to liberate other documents that will allow me to leave the country. Almost didn’t work but in the end we found a way. I never know all this stuff was so complicated. They say it will take 3 months to be approved... I hope not because my tickets are for here in 2 months... but we´ll see what happens. Luckily my pres has a big influence.

The work here is going good. We are finding new people every day. The other day we found a family from Columbia and Venezuela. I’ve been training my Spanish to teach them. I’ve already had the chance to teach and baptize a sweet refuge from Venezuela. We also found a woman from Sao Paulo who is the only member in her family and moved here recently. We are going to start teaching her husband Rogerio and Josef (pronounced Joseph) this week. Vinicious is also doing very well. I’ve really found a true friend in him. Over all I’m excited to see what these next few weeks will bring.

I miss you all tons and hope you all are doing well and taking advantage of every opportunity God gives to spread the good news of salvation. Have an amazing week!!!!

Love Elder Lee