7 Semanas de Milagres

 Olá!!
This week, I got cleaver and decided to coordinate my email to pictures. Lets go!

 

Foto 1 - Família Dias (Left to right: Eduardo, Pedro, João Vitor, Liliam; in the front: Maria Eduarda)

This is why I´m on the mission: for families like this. Teaching João and Pedro was awesome and their baptism actually happened on the day that was planned from the beginning and to a full house. They brought a ton of friends and because we scheduled the baptism conveniently before a ward activity, we had many members there too. The baptism also brought Liliam and Eduardo to church for the first time in about 12 years.

Foto 2 - Left to right: Elder Hamilton, Pedro, João Vitor, Elder Fernandez = It was the pleasure of my companion to baptize Pedro and my pleasure to baptize João Vitor. Everything went perfectly. The talks, music, bem-vindos, everything. It was a baptism that I will never forget. I am so grateful for these two young men and the great example they are for me to simply follow the example of the Savior.

 

Foto 3 - Saturday was the birthday of both me and my companion (what are the odds we scored that?) I got lots of emails this week, so thank you everyone who wished me a happy birthday! If you forgot, arrependai-vos. Tô brincando. It was a great day. If you know me well, you also know that I can get myself into much trouble with my over-eating. What if I said that Saturday I ate the most food I've ever eaten in one day? Imagine that.

Foto 4 - Tomorrow morning, I say goodbye to this man. He's going home to Chile. My new companion will be Elder Cassimiro (another Paulista). This has been an incredible transfer. I have learned and grown so much and as a result seen so many miracles these 7 weeks with Elder Fernández. I will miss him. I have so much to thank him for, he has been such a great example of how I want to serve the rest of my mission. I am grateful for the great friend I have made, and I wish the best for Javier in the big world!

 

Até mais!

 

Élder Hamilton

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

Ala Barreto - Missão Brasil Rio De Janeiro

Tantas Coisas..

Wow this week was intense! So much to say and so little time today. Where to begin? Oh, batismo.

Jaci was baptized this week!! It was quite the crazy day too. After a late start to the day in Niterói, we passed by the church to check if the member we asked to fill the baptismal font did so. We found the water running, but no plug in the drain. After putting the cap on and turning the water back on, we rehearsed a musical number and ran to the store to buy some refreshments for the baptism. But when we returned, the font was overflowing into the church! We started draining water bucket by bucket and cleaned up the disaster just in time. Despite the poor support from the ward (a grand total of six people at the baptism), it was a beautiful ceremony. Jaci is the father of one of our great friends and recent converts Bruno. Jaci is an awesome old man, very funny, full of so much life, my Brazilian Grandpa Hamilton. He was baptized by Bruno. It was so great to see the joy after he was baptized; he truly was born-again. Woohoo!!

The miracles keep rolling in with the new family we found last week. João Vitor and Pedro have come to all the activities this week, they are loving church and the lessons, and are beyond excited for their baptism. And they are great missionaries. EVERY TIME we go to their house to teach, they have a new friend with them waiting to be taught. And everyone on the street is asking about us. Liliam (the mom) said that there are about 15 other kids that are asking to hear our message. We have already handed our about 7 Book of Mormons to their friends. It's weird to walk on that street and see kids walking around with Books of Mormon. So many miracles happening. There is a new rule for all of the missions in Brazil that requires anyone who is 16 years or less to attend church for 3 months before they are eligible for baptisim.  Although the policy is well intended, it has led to several challenges and dissapointments. João and Pedro's best friend Vitoria has participated in all of their lessons and is just as prepared for baptism as the boys. Knowing the rule, we avoided talking to her about baptism, but she came to us and asked if she could be baptized with João and Pedro. She even brought her mother to the bishop to see if she could get approval. After explaining the situation with President Lima, we still didn't get approval. We will work and pray that she will be even more prepared at the end of 3 months.  I am so excited for the work we have ahead working with these 100 meninos and their families!

That's it. Bye. Love,

 

Élder Hamilton

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

Ala Barreto - Missão Brasil Rio De Janeiro

 

 

 

Magica de Referências

This week the miracles are rolling in! I have an awesome story of the magic of help from the ward and referrals. Are you excited? Vamo la!
 

Wednesday, all of our plans dropped early in the day. We passed by the lanchonete of the coolest new converts João Vitor and Suhellen to buy açai and ask for referrals. João Vitor told us about a family he encountered the other day and the awesome discovery he found when talking to the mom, Liliam. The missionaries found her and her boyfriend about 14 years ago. She received the missionaries very well and they helped her to decide to get married. Liliam and Eduardo were married in the church. Before Liliam decided to be baptized, she had troubles concieving children. She made a promise with God that if she could have children, she would raise them to become missionaries someday. Shortly after her baptism, her first child João Vitor (age 12) was born. They now have two others, Pedro (age 11) and Maria Eduarda (age 3). Liliam and Eduardo stopped going to church about 11 years ago, simply due to their work schedules. This family is golden! Liliam still has a great testimony, and has continued to live gospel principles and provide a home of peace and morality. João Vitor and Pedro are very receptive and excited about the church and they even brought a friend to church yesterday. We have the baptisms for João Vitor and Pedro scheduled for January 30th!! We are so excited for them and the blessing of finding this great family. This is a family that certainly will become eternal.

 

Élder Hamilton

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

Ala Barreto - Missão Brasil Rio De Janeiro


 

Resgatada

Going into the mission, I expected the work to be focused on finding and baptizing people who are searching for the truth. It has been a blessing to be a part of that. What I didn't anticipate was the opportunity to work with less active families.  This has been extremely rewarding for me. They are children of God who are in need of  just as much help and light as those who haven't discovered it yet. And luckily in this mission, we are blessed with the charge to set goals and work on "rescuing families".

I have worked with Bruno and Angela since the first day I arrived in Rio. They are recent converts and are the greatest people. Angela is our second mom here: always worrying about us and making sure we are in good health, and on occasion makes delicious homemade ice cream:)   While she has always warmly welcomed us into their home, she had distanced herself from the church. We have visited them once a week, every week of my time here, inviting and inviting them to church. While Bruno generally comes, Angela continues to make excuses. This Sunday, after working with and begging her, she came to church!! It was so rewarding to see her participating and having the opportunity to partake of the sacrament. And she brought her crazy and awesome brother Vladimir! It was such a miracle for us and a reminder of the value of families here in this life.

 

Élder Hamilton

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

Ala Barreto - Missão Brasil Rio De Janeiro

 

 

Início das Milagres

Feliz Ano Novo!
 

Hope everyone had a good New Year's holiday! New Year's Eve here was pretty crazy awesome. Parties and funk music throughout the day with all sorts of weird traditions including men in short skirts and dyed hair, people running around with giant garbage bags, and what not. We were woken by the beautiful sound of explosions, so we joined the people in the valley for the countdown and the mayhem that followed.
 

This new year is starting out quite well. We had a strange lesson with Vinícios this week. When we first started teaching him, he was only 17 years old, and when he gained the testimony and desire to be baptized, his mom didn't approve. He recently turned 18, and has started to question his testimony, but after reading a scripture with him about agency, he looked to us and said, "Ok, I want to be baptized. How about tomorrow?"  We have planned the baptism for this coming Saturday!  The ward is very excited that this day is finally coming!
 

The work here is really starting to pick up. Despite last month's trials and disappointments for us and our district, we kept working hard. And now the baptisms are coming, the families are returning to the truth, and miracles are beginning to happen. It's such a blessing and a confirmed truth that after the trial of faith, the Lord rewards us with the righteous desires of our hearts!
 

Tenha uma boa semana, e bom trabalho!
 

Vos Amo,
 

Élder Alexandre Tiago Hamilton

 

 

 

 

Vamos Aperfeiçoar

Oi oi oi!

 

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! My Christmas was great: lunch with a big part member/non member/inactive member family, an awesome Skype with my family (vos amo), some contacts, a lesson with a drunk family, and some overeating with some members.

 

Today is a busy day with limited email time (working with the mission office to get permission to move).  It's great being a missionary and inviting people to start the next year strong and make goals to more fully follow Christ in their lives. I certainly want that for myself. I'm planning for a year of aperfeiçoamento - a year of improving as much as I possibly can. Overall that is our purpose here in this life; to learn and become as much as we can like the perfect being, our Father in Heaven. It's my prayer that we all set goals and prepare ourselves to "aperfeiçoar".

 

Feliz Natal e um bom Novo Ano!!

 

Élder Hamilton

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

Ala Barreto - Missão Brasil Rio De Janeiro

Olá gente!

I have a new companion. His name is Élder Fernández. He is from Chile and this will be his last transfer. And he is EXACTLY 3 years more than me! We will have quite the party on February 1st. He is a great missionary and I am learning so much from him. At the beginning of the transfer, I was missing Élder Medeiros (which I probably always will) and was a little annoyed with the change in work style, but I have quickly gained an appreciation and am so grateful to have him as a companion and look forward to the miracles ahead.

 

Natal (Christmas) sure is different on the mission. A little less candy, a lot more walking, and somehow, a lot more soda. It's weird not to be making rocky road and to be singing Christmas songs in a different language. But I couldn't ask for a better Christmas season. The opportunity to share the gift of the Gospel this time of year is so special and we have met many people this time of year who need to know the source of this light.

This week I was blessed with an opportunity that I've been waiting for since the second day in Brasil, although I never anticipated it would unfold the way it did. Happily, I can finally say that Kauã dos Santos is a baptized and confirmed member of the Church. It was a great gift to be able to participate in these ordinances. Both of those experiences helped me realize the true meaning of Natal.  It is not found under a tree or inside a box. It is found when following the great and straight path of our Heavenly Father's plan of happiness.

Feliz Natal!!

Vos amo, 

Élder Hamilton

Foto 1 - With Eduardo and Maria Helenahe

Foto 2 - Me and Kauã

Foto 3 - We fount this beautiful Christmas Tree and daughter of God