5/18/15

week 70 

So this first week of transfers was pretty good! My companions name is  Elder Costa. Like almost every other companion of mine, he is from São Paulo. He is super cool and he has  1 year and 2 months on the mission. He is super excited and we will have alot of success together! 

One of the best things about this week was English Class. During this class the students asked about why  im here on the mission. and  what we beleive.  So i was able to teach  t he restoration lesson only in english for the first time on my mission... There was a man named  Jair who is about 40 i think.  He said that im helping him find God. He said that he is really reall ythankful for the opportunity to meet me. I am so grateful  for him! He is awesome. I invited him to church, and guess what, he came!!   There we 2 english students that went to English class saturday, i invited them to go to churhc yesterday, and 2 came!! and they reall y really liked it too! I was so happy to see them there!! So jair will go to THe US i think in july but maybe not until  Dezember. But he is a really really cool man. I like him alot. 

This week we also made a goal to teach  a bunch of lessons with members  to help us. ANd we were able to teach  12 lessons  with members this week.  and the results of these member lessons will be s een  thes e next couple weeks. 

 

So in our zone we have 9 Elders and Sisters that were or are currently AP, ZL, SLT (sister leader  t reinar) . So we hav e alot  of   experience and we know we  can do alot this t ransfer. We are going to set our goals high and use faith, fast, and  the members to help us reach this goal! 

And in my house its us 2, Elder Yezzi   and Elder S. ROcha. Me and 3 brazilians again. haha im starting to tell  people im from Santa Catorina. ... one state from brazil that the people there are the mostly looking like am ericans. haha some people believe me some dont. haha but all is well here!

  Oh and we might baptize a 8 year old girl this  week. 

I love you mom!

Te  amo!

Com Amor,
Elder Marstella   

5/11/15

week 69 

HAPPY MOTHER´S DAY!!!!! The best part of the week was yesterday for sure! I loved talking with my family once again... it´s crazy to think that that was my last time to talk with my family on Skype... Because i should be coming home before christmas!! Time flies when you are doing the Lord´s work. But i am so thankful for my mom and my family. I love them so so much. I can´t wait to come home and hug each one of them, but for now i need to focus on the people here. haha I love the people here too. As you teach and help people they become family to you, so i am so thankful for all of my family here in the Brazil Cuiabá mission. I dont have much time to write today and i said about everything i could yesterday with my family, so there isnt much to write. 

We got transfers yesterday. My comp Elder Albuquerque is getting transfered tonight and my new comp Elder Costa will come tomorrow morning. 

I love you mom!! Feliz Dia das Mães!!

Com Amor,

Elder Marstella 

5/4/15

Week 68

Hello my beloved family and friends! I cant beleive that its almost Mothers day already!! It feels like yesterday i talked with my family, and now im doing it again!! I love my family so so much!! 

Anyways, my week was pretty good! There is a young man in our ward thats 19 and he has recieved his mission call to the  São Paolo Interlagos mission. His name is joão and we are trying to help him prepare for his mission! He is super cool and we love him!! 

We are teaching two 18 year olds so João helps a bunch. We are teaching Carlos and Lucas. We were able to teach Carlos a couple times this week with João. Lucas didnt come to church yesterday but we´ll teach him again this week with Joao to help him go to church  Sunday. Carlos´ nickname is gordo, which means fatty. hahahah he is super skinny so its super funny! haha we taught his sister and her friend as well, so we well focus on them this week! 

We also taught George Terra with Joao. We taught the Restoration and George Terra said, ´´I wanna pray in a place more reverent, just like Joseph Smith did. When im ready, im going to go into the forest, kneel, and ask God if this church is true.´´ He was serious as well. Ive never heard of that response, but i loved it! haha 

This week i did an exchange with Elder Garcia from Ecuador. He is a good friend of mine, so we had alot fun but we worked hard as well. 

ohh and this week  we had a Less Active family make us dinner Tuesday night. It was super good and we are so grateful for them! 

We invited Carlos to be baptized this Sunday, so we will see what happens!

To all the mothers in the world, i wish you a happy mothers day. The calling ´mother´ is the most important title somebody could have. Mothers have the biggest  influence on their kids lives. and in my life i know thats true! Im so thankful for my family and am so eternally thankful for my mother! Happy Mothers day mom!! Eu te amo!

Com Amor,
Elder marstella

4/27/15

Week 67

Hello family and Friends... this is another week that flew by!! I´ll start with yesterday... Yesterday Elder And Sister Clayton from the Presidency of the 70, and Elder And Sister Mazzagardi from the 2nd Qourum of the Seventy visited the Stakes here in Campo Grande. Zonas Campo Grande and Monte Libano. The members here loved it and there were a bunch of people there! I think every room in the church was used to watch because there werent any more seats in the chapel! Elder Mazzagardi talked  about how we need to keep the Sabbath Day holy. he said we should do geneology work on Sunday as families and talk about what you learned at church. Sister Clayton talked about how we need to use Technology for good, not for bad. She talked about Super food, Regular meals, and junk food. She said Super food are the food that make us strong, and in this case the sites that make our spirits strong. She talked about how there are a lot of things new things on the church websites made for kids, teenagers, and adults. The regular meals are things like email and communication tools, and we all know what junk food would be. Then Elder Clayton talked about the growth here in Brasil. He said that it has been growing really fast here in Brasil, but its nothing to what it will be here in the future. He said the members here are making the foundatino for the future. He said here in brasil the church still is a small church, not everyone knows about it. But he said, the growth we have know is nothing like what the growth will be like here in the future. He said the Church will be one of the biggest churches in Brasil in the future! Then he talked about the sabbath day as well. He says we dont need a big long list of things to tell us what we can and cannot do on the Sabbath day. He said, just ask on question to yourself ´´If i do this on the Sabbath Day, is this the sign i want to show God of my respect for him?´´ Then he said Show God that you love him. 

So we have a couple progressing investigators. An 18 year old brought 2 friends to church last week and they really liked it. We visited them on Friday and taught about the Book of Mormon. After one asked, ´´So how can i be baptized?´´ That was the perfect question! haha so we will mark a baptismal date this week with him for sure!! 

Roger and Jackoline. So we held a FHE at Bishop´s house with Roger. We taught about the Restoration and how families can be together forever. His wife wasnt able to make it, but it was awesome that Roger came! He says he feels really good at church and that he beleives thats an answer that the church is true. He says he needs to talk to his wife becuase he wife is the boss. haha i loved that.

George Terra. We visited him this week again and he says he knows the Book of Mormon is true. We invited him to pray to ask God, but he said ´´I already know its true!´´ haha so we invited his daughter and his wife to start reading it as well, then ask God if it is true. We will try to mark a baptismal date with this family as weel this week!! 

Thats all the time i have for this week! Time is truly flying! I love yall!

I love you mom!

Com Amor,

Elder Marstella 

4/20/15

Week 66

Hello Family and friends, this week we had Zone Conference on Wednesday. Zona Monte Libano and Zona Dourados were part of this conference. It is the last Zone Conference of President and Sister Reber. They gave a really good training and President Reber had his ´last´ interview with us. Before a missionary goes home, President Reber always has one last interview with them to give them advice about marriage and things like that. But since President Reber is going home, he gave a last interveiw to all of us at the same time. haha  He shared a scripture with us, D&C 75 2-5. Verse 54 says  this: And thus, if ye are faithful ye shall be laden with manysheaves, and crowned with honor, and glory, and immortality, and eternal life.

President Reber said if we are faithful for this whole mission, we will recieve glory. Pres Reber bore his testimony that his glory is Sister Reber. And of course it was emotional. President Reber than asked Sister Reber what was her glory, and before she said anything she just started crying with joy and she said something like ´´My wonderful kids, and my husband. Without them, I am nothing.´´ I love their examples for me. President Reber said ´´Elders, your wife has a list of things she wants in her husband. And that list isnt short. I tell them to accept nothing but the best. Let God shape you into the man you need to be to fit your wife´s list.´´ And he said the same thing to the Sisters but opposite. He said ´your wife isnt going to accept anything but the best. And you shouldnt either.´´ 

I still have 8 months left before i come home, so right now im just focused on becoming the man God wants me to be. His message was, that if we are faithful, if we really mold into the man God wants us to be, we will be crowned with honor and glory. Which is our future wife and family. Im going to stay strong until the end and give all my heart, mind, might, and strenght every day so i can recieve these blessings! 

Yesterday, we had a Less Active family go to church. We have been working with them for a couple weeks and they finally came!! We loved it. And Rodir brought his wife and his 2 kids to church. They are absolutely amazing! We love them. 

Thats all for this week! I love you mom! 

Com Amor,

Elder Marstella

Pictures!