A BAPTISM AND A BIRTHDAY

1. BAPTISM!!!!
We finally got that baptism this week!!!! Leno da Silva decided it was his time! He is a good example of good member work, cause his girlfriend brought him to church where he met the missionaries and the rest is history! He has such a kind heart and nothing brings more joy into your heart than seeing that smile on peoples faces after they come out of the water! Makes all the hard days worth it.

2. Birthday Partyyy
Really, it´s just another normal day of missionary work, but the members here showed me to a good time! We had a dinner of churrasco (brazilian bbq), cake, and Andressa even bought me a new tie! Brazilians members here spoil the heck of us, and I´m blessed to have their help!

3. Elder Costa Visit!!!
This week we had a visit from a member of the 70! He´s the Area President of Brazil, and he made some jokes about how during the millennium he will be President over all of Brazil and such. He told us so many stories about when he was a mission president in Brazil 35 years ago when they only had TWO missions in all of Brazil! They have 34 today, so it´s crazy to see the fruit of the labors of the early missionaries! The testimonies of high up Church leaders still make me shiver. He really lives, and He is guiding his Church today in the final days!

4. Finding Elisandro
We took the initiative of visiting a less active family this week that lives at the end of our area, which is like an hour walk, but we felt like he needed our visit! We´re both still new to the area, but I recognized a street like 5 minutes into our walk and the Spirit was like HOLD UP man! You need to go there! So I took us down the street and saw a house I had tried last transfer during splits, and tried it again! Well a lady brings us in and guess who´s sitting in her living room: ELISANDRO and his family! Apparently his family is good friends with this lady and they were here visiting. We were able to leave a message and that was powerful! We had no idea they would be there, but I was so grateful the Spirit took us to the right house, saved us some walking, and testified to a family that needed to hear it!

com amor,
Elder Rawson

 Leno´s baptism day!!!! 

19TH Birthday cake with Elder Ferris

Another Birthday cake made by Rena Silva

A new Birthday Tie

Churrasco, and yes that´s chicken heart that I´m holding. Yum!

CALLED TO SERVE

Time flies when you´re on the Lord´s errand here in the mission field! It´s still crazy to me that I turn 19 this week. Also, happy birthday to my old man and Elder Condie this Saturday!

1. Emergency Transfers!!!
Just when I got settled in for another transfer, President came a calling! I got transferred from Salgado Filho B to Salgado Filho A, so I didn´t even switch beds, but I have a new area and a new compainion! His name is Elder Ferris and he´s AMERICAN! He loves sports so I think we´ll get along just great:)

2. Family night with President Louza
We´re having the area 70 visit our mission this week, so some missionaries in the city got to visit the President´s house to get ready! President Louza gave a small training on using our faith to command miracles in the lives of our investigators, and boy was the Spirit strong! I get the chills every time to teaches us. One day I hope I can become half the man he is! Their house is a 10th story suite in the middle of the city so we got some good pictures too:)

President's House

3. Missionaries before our time
My family sent me a story of my great grandpa, Elder Schumann, who was a missionary in Germany during Hitler's rise to power. The Nazi´s severely restricted his work, and he had to deal with companions who would get drunk, refuse to do the work, and would help get them out of jail at times!! His trials as a missionary make mine look like nothing! He served faithfully for almost 3 years and eventually married my great grandma that he met on his mission, so it just shows if we serve faithfully we´ll be blessed:)

4. The power of agency
I've been pondering this subject as of late, and it´s really a difficult subject. Agency is a missionary's best friend and also our worst enemy. People can choose to slam doors in our faces, missionaries can choose to not follow rules, but it´s through the same principle that people can choose to accept our message and missionaries to be extraordinary! We can´t always control how many baptisms we have, or how many people will accept our message, but we can choose for ourselves to do what´s right! I´ll do my part, and I will do it well. I´ll delight in exact obedience, even when my companion will not. I'll do my absolute best, so one day I´ll be able to stand in front of my Savior and say "I did the Work thou gavest me." I urge you all to decide today to fulfill your individual callings with the same vigor!

Elder Rawson

Splits with Elder Rodrigues

Splits with Elder Fernando

Early birthday party with the one and only Rena

My new companion --Elder Ferris!

Tomorrow the Lord Will Do Wonders Among You

1. Transfers!!!!!!!!
We have transfers this week! That basically just means we will either stay in our area or possibly get reassigned to a new area. I´m blessed to say I´m staying in Salgado Filho! I´ll have the same companion, but we hashed some things out last night during Comp Inventory so hopefully the next 6 weeks will be the best yet!

2. Menos Ative Work
The "less active" work here is pretty strong because our mission is one of the tougher with baptisms, but it´s awesome to visit families who already know a lot about the Church! We've been visiting Eliane Guerra (Names here are wicked hard!) a lot and she's coming back! I challenged her to read the Book of Mormon a couple weeks ago and to my astonishment she´s already 150 pages in! Not all of our prayers will be answered for the people we work with the come unto Christ, but it sure is nice to see when someone does:)

3. Elder Holland is the Man!
I´ve been studying a lot of talks from Elder Holland as of late, and if you want to read the powerfull words of modern day prophets, read the talk Tomorrow the Lord will Do Wonders Among You! Here was my favorite part: "No matter how serious the trial, how deep the distress, how great the affliction, God will never desert us. He never has, and he never will. He cannot do it. It is not in his character to do so. He will always stand by us! WQe may pass through the fiery furnace; we may pass through deep waters; but we shall not be consumed nor overwhelmed. We shall emerge from all those trials and difficulties the better and the purer for them."

4. Why do you gotta be smoking bro??
A huge problem that we have here in Santa Maria is the addiction to cigarettes. I would guess that around 45% of people smoke on a consistent basis, which makes preparing people for baptism difficult, but not impossible! I´m just an 18 year old boy, how am I supposed to counsel people on how to overcome a sometimes lifelong addiction?? Although daunting at times, I have felt the Spirit give me words that I know that I alone could not of come up with! Without the Spirit I would truly be lost, but with him we can do miracles:)


Elder Rawson

S/O to my mom for sending a birthday package, you´re the real MVP!

Speaking of Mom, Carol Beer. LOL

This is a food called "shiz" hahahaha-- bascially Brazilian hamburgers

Planner decorating gets real here! Mine is the one of Jesus curing a woman.

Irma Eva sporting a Hawaiian shirt

Cemeteries here are crazy! They have very elaborate tombs that sometimes look like small houses!

The bunnies that we got last week.

Lunch appointment: 6 more weeks with these Elders will be great!

"You haven't seen nothing yet!"

Daylight savings here goes the other way so I´m 5 hours ahead of Utah time now!

1. Weather Report

I love being here in Brazil with all my heart, but I can´t say the same about the temperature here! While you North Americans are just starting winter, we´re just starting summer here! It gets pretty cooking, and the humidity here absolutely destroys missionaries! Other missionaries have been saying it´s not even bad yet.. But by the time you step outside in the morning and lock your door you already need to go back to take another shower! The rain here is also pretty fierce when it gets going. Sometimes the walls inside our house are moist like after a hot shower, so that´s something to get used to!

2. Day of the Dead

Halloween isn´t really a thing here, but November 2nd is the Day of the Dead! Sounds creepy but it´s just a day to remember loved ones and put flowers on graves and such. We had a Zone meeting at a cemetery and just talking to people about the Plan of Salvation and how people will see their family members again! It was an uplifting experience for sure.

3. Priesthood Blessings

Our member friend, who we got to console last week, is doing a little better this week, and he asked me to give him a blessing (thank goodness he speaks English). I was panicking a little beforehand on what I would say, but then I remembered the scripture about how you shouldn't worry and the Spirit will give you words in the very moment that you need them! During the blessing I felt the power of the Spirit pumping through my veins, it was awesome! The power of the Priesthood never fails to amaze me.

4. The Power of True Repentance

There is a guy in our ward who was ex-communicated some years back who got re-baptized this week! He decided a year ago that he didn't want to live in his shame and he wanted to repent, and he came back to Church and hasn't missed a Sunday since! His testimony in Sacrament Meeting was powerful. It was a good reminder that no matter how dark of a path we have gone on, the power of the Atonement can bring His Light back into our lives!

Love y'all! Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

Elder Rawson

They may not be very photogenic, but they sure do take good care of us! Thanks Irmã Elisiane!

 Açaí cups are the real deal here!

Had a crazy investigator give us a bunny!!! 

Go Cubs!!