Deus Vos Guarde - Presidente e Sister Lima

Thursday was President and Sister Lima's last mission conference with us. Of course it was nothing short of spiritual mind blowing. I will have to admit, saying goodbye to President Lima was really hard, I bawled like a baby. President Lima lead an epic effort of missionary work here in Rio full of baptisms, reactivation, retention, and leading the way for temple construction. Our new President, President Cabral, and his wife  arrive here the 27th.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                           

 

Élder Hamilton

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

Ala Bangú - Missão Brasil Rio De Janeiro

 

 

 

As Famílias Poderão Ser Eternas

So much to say and of course so little time...

It's been my privilege to receive lots of good news from home, about my family and friends and all the great progress that is happening there. I hope to get the time to individually respond, but until then, I want to let you all know that I love you.

Sounds like everyone is curious about how the world cup is going. Well it´s been pretty crazy here. So many parties. It has resulted in many slow days, but we are working around all that. Unfortunately, we aren't allowed to watch the games and our mission president has directed us to stay home during the games. He said, "missionaries are set apart from the 'world', and as so we must not participate in the 'world' cup." Outside of actual game times, we are bombarded by 24/7 recaps everywhere. GO BRAZIL!!

This week has been great with Tiago and Louise. Tiago was baptized and confirmed a member of the church this weekend!!  It's been incredible to see how he has changed line upon line, precept upon precept and the impact that his baptism has made in his life. And he already has an interview set to receive the priesthood, and he and Louise have set a goal to be sealed in the temple. The path with this family has taught me so much and has helped me realize the importance of families in this life and the necessity of the Gospel to help us through.

There is no doubt in my mind that this is Christ's church. His priesthood has been restored, and families can be together forever.

"e em ti serão abençoadas todas as famílias da terra, sim, com as bençãos do Evangelho, que são as bençãos de salvação, sim, da vida eterna."

- Abraão 2:11

 

 

Élder Hamilton

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

Ala Bangú - Missão Brasil Rio De Janeiro


 

Rellow!

News Report:  Elder Fonseca and I are keeping it rolling here in Bangu.  People here in Rio view people from southern Brazil the way most americans view people from the southern states, wild and weird accents.  Now I'm picking up my companion's accent and weird uses of the language.

This transfer is off to a good start.  We have been determined to work more with families in our ward and have found a great part-member family.  Luise has recently returned to church and we have started working with her husband Tiago.  They are an awesome couple.  We have scheduled Tiago's baptism for this Saturday!  Tiago is setting a great example for his father-in-law who hasn't been active in the church for many years.

This weekend was stake conference.  Sunday was a special broadcast to the stakes and branches in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.  We also had training from Elder Scott and Elder Ballard from the quorum of the twelve and leaders from the church general relief society and Brazilian members of the seventy.  I've become accustomed to watching church conferences and video with english being translated into portugese.  It was cool to see a mixture of that and straight up portugese from the general authorities.  I was waiting to hear the translation when Richard G. Scott started to speak, but he spoke in portugese!  Yeah, Elder Scott is fluent in portugese.  It was a great and inspirational conference.  I'm grateful for the guidance and direction we receive from God's servants. This is his church.

Tchau,

Elder Hamilton

Agora, To Caindo

I planned to write a nice long letter for my one year mark, but due to an assignment from President, I am low on time and have to make this fast.

It's official, I'm on the downslope. It is hard to believe that I have actually hit the year mark. It's a great time of reflection: where I've come from, what I've accomplished, what I have ahead of me, and what I need to do. I'm am so grateful for the success the Lord has granted me and the experiences that have changed my life. I feel like I don't deserve all this, but I know that I have so much more to do, and more responsibilities ahead for me. It's my prayer that this next half can be even better than the first and that I can leave Rio better than I found it. This is the work of salvation and happiness.

Só isso,

Élder Hamilton

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

Ala Bangú - Missão Brasil Rio De Janeiro



 

O Livro de Mórmon

Oi,

 

So you all know, I am safe and sound here. Made it through the police strike and chaos and all is back on the up up.

It took longer than I planned or would have imagined, but certainly happened perfectly on the Lord's time: I have read the Book of Mormon in Portuguese from cover to cover!! It's been incredible to look back and see my language progression. Started with looking up everything other word to ripping through understanding what I needed to understand to struggling to finish reading it in the end because I was getting distracted with new understanding of some of the doctrine. As promised by President Hinckley, it has helped learn Portuguese better than any teacher or person. I have learned soooo much during this reading and it has given me the help I have needed through the roughest times of my mission. It's the word of God. I have no doubt in my mind about it.

 

Queria prestar meu testemunho de que O Livro de Mórmon é verdadeiro. Ele contem a plenitude do evangelho e é uma testemunha do grande amor de Deus e a fieldade que tem para Sues filhos. O Livro de Mórmon é nosso guia nestes últimos dias, ensinamentos dirigidos especificamente para nós. Ele tem mudado minha vida pelo melhor e irá me ajudar enquanto eu buscar por orientação em minha vida. (It is my testimony that the Book of Mormon is true. It contains the fullness of the gospel and is a witness of the great love God has for his children. The Book of Mormon is our guide, lessons specifically tailored to our time. It has changed my life for the better and will help me as I seek for guidance in my life).

Photos: Zone activity, Now that I've read in Portuguese, I'm ready to go on to the next language
 

That's it. Love y'all!

 

Élder Hamilton

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

Ala Bangú - Missão Brasil Rio De Janeiro

Fotos

Olá,

It's been a while since a computer has let me send me pictures, so I thought I'd take advantage of that real quick. Hope all is well and have a good week!

The zone

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Morris and I found Rua Missionário (Missionary street)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Foreign coins

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Left to Right) Me, Irmão Joel, Elder Fonseca, Irmão Jairo

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amo vocês,

 

Élder Hamilton

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

Ala Bangú - Missão Brasil Rio De Janeiro

 

 

 

 

 

 

Minha Alma Hoje Tem A Luz

Oooooooooiiiiiiiii.

This new transfer has started off quite different and really great. I'm here with my new companion Elder Fonseca. He's from Rio Grande do Sul, he's 20, he was serving in the military before coming on the mission, and overall is a legit guy. He's a hard worker and we are off to a good start exceeding our goals.  We had 214 street contacts this week. It is great to know that when we are diligent in doing our part, the Lord helps with the rest and we are able to find many "eleitos".

Our gincana (ward activity) was this week. I was a little nervous to carry out what was mainly Elder Alves' idea without him, but it went really well!!  Lots of fun mayhem, just how this ward likes it. We had many guests attend. It created some good energy in the ward, and I am excited to see how the next two gincana will develop.

Escritura inspirada da semana: "Jesus chorou" - João 11:35

That's it for the week. Love you guys!

 

Élder Hamilton

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

Ala Bangú - Missão Brasil Rio De Janeiro