Oi,

 

If I'm a cat, I have 5 lives left (apparently cats in Brasil only have 7 lives).  It's really starting to get hot here. Wednesday started as probably the hottest day yet, but after a quick visit to the church for water and a meeting with Bispo, we walked out into a storm. We had 15 minutes to get to an appointment up the valley, so we made our way through the rain. We arrived to an empty house and the rain getting really heavy. We decided to wait a minute for the storm to pass and watch the lightning come down through the valley. I looked over to my right when all the sudden a lightning bolt struck the ground about 6 meters away, bursting our ears and illuminating our view. It literally scared the Português out of me. I couldn't tell if it was the heat from the lightning bolt or the pee in my pants that instantly warmed my body, we didn´t stay around long enough to find out.

 

I've been asked what my apartment it like.  Its not for American eyes to see.  Even though it has become my loved sweet home, it is like something you would see in a horror film. We have 2 lights that work in the house, and a washing machine that often likes to make clothes dirtier than they were before. Last week I found a bag of vomit under the stove.

 

This week was one of those strange and rough weeks. Appointment after appointment fell through, and we struggled to find people to teach. Friday was a holiday (Brasil has many random holidays) and everyone but the wild dogs went to the beach for the weekend. Our area was like Disneyland after 9/11. But strangely enough, it was still a very rewarding week. We have a miracle with an inactive family that is coming back to the church. If you are looking for someone to pray for, Leonardo and Renata can use it. Renata has brought their 4 children to church for the last 3 sundays , and she and Leonardo have a great desire to do what is right for themselves and their family. Leonardo works every day of the week and taking Sundays off would be the difference between barely feeding the large family and not being able to feed them at all. This Sunday he came to church for 2nd hour! It is inspiring to see his willingness to make sacrifices for the Lord.

 

We have an exciting week ahead of us. Our zone has a goal for 10 baptisms this month and so far we have 4. Elder Medeiros and I have 3 people that can be baptized this week: Kauã, Vinicios, and Bruna. We are fasting, praying, and working hard for a miraculous week.

 

That's it for now. Hope you all have a good week. God be with you! 

Élder Hamilton

Missionário de A Igreja De Jesus Cristo Dos Santos Dos Últimos Dias

Ala Barreto - Missão Brasil Rio De Janeiro

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mudança

Bom Dia!

Well, my first transfer in Brazil is over. Already. Looking back, it´s amazing to consider all the experiences and miracles Elder Medeiros and I have participated in this transfer. And there is so much ahead. Luckily, Elder Medeiros and I are staying in Barreto and we are so excited for this next transfer! There is something about it that we can't explain, but we know it will be a great one.

 

And so begins A Transferênçia de Milagres/The Transfer of Miracles.

 

 

Leonardo was baptized this week! We´ve been waiting for this moment for too long. Leonardo (age 28) has been investigating and attending the church for over 2 months and has a great testimony of the gospel. But when we would talk to him about baptism, things would get crazy. Doubts would arise, excuses would be made... and it just didn´t make sense. We have been praying for a change of heart and well, it happened! He called us and told us that he was ready to be baptized. And within 3 days, we had a baptism.

Brasileiros crack me up. The baptism was scheduled for 7:30pm, Leonardo showed up at 8pm and by 8:30pm we had a full house and beautiful baptism. Leonardo was baptized by his best friend Gustavo. Gustavo is 16 and a convert of 2 months.  He comes with us to appointments and is already planning on serving a mission; he is my hero. When Leonardo came out of the water, he stopped in place for a moment and started to weep for joy. It was a moment I will never forget. It's amazing that God has restored his Priesthood power for us to enter the waters of baptism and find the love and joy He has in store for us.

 

I am learning that the mission is all about change and repentance. As missionaries, we invite people to come to Christ; we teach what our Heavenly Father has in store for His children and show the way to a better life with faith in Jesus Christ. He invites us to change for the better and become more like Him. And the ONLY way we can do this is through repentance. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can come to the Lord, become clean, leave behind the old us, and be like Him. Repentance is something that I've feared and never truly never understood until now, but as I repent every day, I feel the peace and happiness Heavenly Father wants us to have. I am so grateful for this opportunity to change.  I know that I can become the missionary and the person the Lord needs me to be.

 

Com Deus Irmãos, 

Élder Hamilton

 

"So let us go to the place of penitence. If going there is what it takes to make us truly penitent and to enable us to lay claim to the gift of mercy, then we have to do it. I know it isn´t easy to go back and undo and make a new beginning, but I believe with all my heart that it is easier and surely more satisfying to begin anew than go on and try to believe that justice will not take its toll." - Elder Jeffery R. Holland

Olá amigos e famílias,

So I´ve been thinking a lot about family this week. Don´t worry, I don´t miss you... well I do... but I´m not homesick. I´ve just had a great week with experiences that reminded me how grateful I am for my family and the importance of families in this life.


 

This Saturday (dois de Novembro) was "Dia Dos Mortos". It´s a brazilian holiday, comparable to the mexican traditional holiday "Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos? I don´t remember spanish so don´t judge), where everyone gathers at the cemeteries to visit loved ones. Lots of singing, lots of praying, lots of incense, lots of tears. And lots of fun! We had a mission-wide activity from 7am until noon visiting big cemeteries throughout Rio and sharing five minute messages on the plan of Salvation with anyone who would listen. We joined a group of 100 missionaries at a HUGE cemetery in Caju. It stretched out for miles and even had maps and signs to help people get around. This may sound weird, (well, it doesn´t if you know me well enough) but being in the cemetery made me feel like I was at home. It was amazing to be with people at their family member's grave testifying of God´s wonderful plan of happiness for us and sharing that we will be with those we love after this life.

 

Many of you are probably wondering how the Português is coming. I can happily say that I'm encouraged. Last Monday, we found a new family on the street. We met with them a couple days later, and they are just awesome! The family consists of a young couple, Rodrigo e Areta, in their mid 20´s, and their son, named Caiu, just over a year old. Before this week, I never believed in the "you are sent to meet specific people on your mission" thing, but I think I´ve changed my mind. When I sat in the living room of that beautiful family, I had the strongest feeling that they were ready of the blessings of the Gospel. We had a great lesson on the Restoration, and for the first time on my entire mission, even including my time in Colorado, I felt that I had expressed everything I wanted them to know. The Spirit was so strong and they are now committed to learn for themselves about the truth and to be baptized! They are leaving town for work until December... but that's alright. I´ve made it a goal to have fluency by the next time we meet with them. Time moves so fast out here, they will be back before I know it.

 

Well that´s it for now. Bom dia!

 

Com Deus,

 

Élder Hamilton

Missionário de A Igreja De Jesus Cristo Dos Santos Dos Últimos Dias

Ala Barreto, São Gonçalo - Missão Brasil Rio De Janeiro

 

 

Poder de Oração (Power of Prayer)

Happy Halloween everyone! I hope you are enjoying it for me, because they don´t really have Halloween in Brazil. Eu terei falta pelo Halloween... Tanto faz.

 

So I almost died this week. Elder Medeiros and I got 2 referrals from members in the ward this week that were in the favelas. Because they were referrals we were permitted to go. So Friday, we went and looked for the first one. We were greeted by a kid (probably 17 or 18) with a walky-talky sitting on a wall in the alley. Elder Medeiros asked the kid if he knew a Carlos and where house number 105 was, and the kid responded "sei não, sei não" (I don´t know x2). So we kept walking to look for Carlos. I would´ve shared a quick summary of the restoration to let him know that we are legit, but it was too late. We found the house and were answered by a different man. While Elder Medieros talked to the man to see if Carlos was there, I happened to look back and made eye to eye contact with the kid while he was in the middle of a handoff. He then talked into his walky-talky and a motorcycle came racing down the hill. As the bike got closer, me, Elder Medieros, and the man we were talking to turned around to see what was going on. As I turned around, I stuck my chest out a little bit to make sure my name tag well seen. There was one guy driving and another guy on the back with a pistol checking us out as they were passed.... Luckily, he didn´t shoot and they drove away. Carlos wasn´t home, so we were happy to leave.

 

After that experience, I was a little reluctant to go into more favelas the next day. But I was so glad we followed up with that second referral, because we found a beautiful family of 3 who we are now teaching! All of our investigators recently have been either single or widowed and we have been praying to find just ONE family to teach, and how many new "legal" families do we have now? Four! The power of prayer is so awesome! I love how, Nephi teaches that as we have true righteous desires, the Lord will "consecrate our prayers". I am so grateful for that truth. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God". He is always there, He is always listening to the prayers of His children, and He is ready to pour out the blessings unto us. I am reminded of that every time I open my mouth here.

 

Ser Mórmon é ser feliz.

 

Élder Hamilton

Missionário de A Igreja De Jesus Cristo Dos Santos Dos Últimos Dias

Ala Barreto - Missão Brasil Rio De Janeiro

 

 

Just a quick note this week. I have a busy day today and wanted to let everyone know I am doing great! Here are a couple pictures:

 

Foto um: I love the views here. Although my área is a little sketchy. My mom would not approve of it. Quite a bit of crime and violence around me here. We hear "tiros" quite often and saw a bomb explosion from across the street this week. I love Barreto:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Foto dois: Élder Medieros and I made a new friend!

I´m really happy. So happy that its really bugging me. I should be more frustrated, desperate, and stressed because I am really struggling with the language and am practically of no help. I have the faith that I will eventually learn the language, and am praying for the patience to endure until that time. I wonder why am I the one who actually got a visa and what my purpose is right now.

 

Hope all is well. Love you all!

 

Tchau

  

Élder Hamilton

Missionário de A Igreja De Jesus Cristo Dos Santos Dos Últimos Dias

Ala Barreto - Missão Brasil Rio De Janeiro

Bom dia!

 

This has been quite the week! Full of lessons and invitations, sweet and stressful and tranquilo and joy and all that great stuff.

 

I wish I had time to talk about all the great investigators we have right now, but that simply wouldn´t be possible. We have so many! It´s awesome. 15 mais o menos. We picked up 11 new investigators this week.  Brasileiros are the bomb! They are the nicest people I´ve ever encountered. They think with their hearts and are sensitive to the influence of the Spirit. They are open minded and willing to serve God. They also like to talk. A LOT. And they talk very fast. They are such fun people and I am falling more in love with the country and the people as I am better able to understand what they are saying.

 

The language has been quite killer. Practically no one here speaks English, and if they  aren't missionaries, they don´t like to speak it. With all the confusion and awkward encounters, I have had a lot of doubt floating around in my head. At the peak of my discouragement, I received a miracle. Stake conference was this weekend and guess who was there? Elder Steven Snow!! (of the 1st quorum of the Seventy.) He gave such amazing talks. And he spoke English! And strangely enough, he talked about learning a language on his mission! He served in Germany and struggled with the language.  He talked about how much compassion he has for missionaries learning a language. He said that through patience, faith, and diligence, he was able to learn German and that he was ready when he was needed. It was a struggle that was well worth it and has blessed his life. So I´m stoked now!! I feel revamped and ready. I know that I am one of thousands of missionaries who the Lord can trust to endure this challenge, and I know that no matter how hard it will be, it will be well worth it.

 

Well I´ve got to go... Até logo!

 

Élder Hamilton

Missionário para A Igreja De Jesus Cristo Dos Santos Dos Últimos Dias

Barro Vermelho - Rio De Janeiro

 

 

Niterói Zona (best zone in the mission)

 

 

 

Oi tudos!

 

I hope everyone had a great conference weekend! If you haven´t watched conference yet, go watch it! I suggest watching Elder M. Russell Ballard´s talk on missionary work. We are in an exciting era of the Hastening Of The Work and time is more than ever for us to share the Gospel. It was a very inspiring conference and it gave me the comfort and direction I need to get through this time in my life that is even harder than I expected it would be.

 

So for those of you who don´t know yet, I´m in Brazil!!! I received my visa a couple weeks ago and am going on my 7th day in Rio. Out of the wave of 24 new missionaries (well at least new to the Rio de Janeiro mission,) I am one of the five lucky Americans that came this week.

 

My new companion is Elder Medeiros, and he is so legit! He has only been on the mission for 3 months (two less months than me!) and he is training me while taking on the responsibilities as district leader! He is an amazing missionary and I am learning so much from him. We are serving in the Ala Barelo in Barro Vermelho. I feel like I´m living the dream. I get fed the most AMAZING food and I can eat all that I want because by the time I get home from a long, fun day of hard work, I´ve already sweated all the weigh off! Yeah, doesn´t get much better than that! Rio is so pretty and fun and crazy and exciting! I have a feeling it will be hard to go back home at the end of my two years.

 

But great as this all is, Português is really hard right now. My companion is a Brasilheiro so we don´t talk a whole lot right now. And the people of Rio are so hard to understand! They talk a million miles and hour and add a "shh" sound to everything! Sounds like people are just telling me to be quiet. As slow going is the language is, I can´t help but to smile and be happy. One because that is about all I can offer right now, but I have so much to be grateful for right now! Through my patience and faith, I am witnessing God blessing me with the gift of tongues. I am so grateful for everything I currently can offer already as a missionary, and I look for to the rest of my time here in Rio!!

 

Because I am in the new mission now, here is my new address:

 

Elder Alexander James Hamilton

Rua Dois de Dezembro

78 Salsas 703/704

Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro-RJ

Brasil 22220-040

 

I love hearing from you all. So if you´d like, please write to this address, and I will right you back! Remember to use international stamps or 3 american postal stamps. While my email time is limited, also remember that you can always email me at alexander.hamilton@myldsmail.net.

 

Well I hope all is well! I love you all and godspeed!!

 

Amo,

Élder Hamilton

Missionário para A Igreja De Jesus Cristo Dos Santos Dos Últimos Dias

Barro Vermelho - Rio De Janeiro