Week #1 - CTM (MTC)

Boom!
So the keyboard I have is broken so I cannot add paragraphs or anything, so this letter is going to be one big long paragraph. Man, this first week has been such an amazing and spiritual experience. From the moment I left till right now, I feel the spirit constantly. There are a few reasons for that. One: my companion! Elder Rex is my companion here at the MTC in São Paulo and he is the man! His prayers are so amazing and I feel like I've got the best companion in the whole MTC. He keeps me on track. Its way cool to be with him because we are the only ones in our district! So for classes we are the only two in our class with the teacher. It is like having a personal tutor. Two: my classes are the best! My teachers are Brother Vilas-boas and Israel. Both of them are really young and Brazilian. Vilas-boas went to Provo on his mission, and he loved it! I always thought of Provo as the weirdest mission possible, But i have a new perspective now. For many who have never been to the States it can be a real blessing. (Sorry about my spelling, Portuguese is messing with my english skills.) Three: Portuguese is freaking hard! Wholly cow, I am totally lost. It makes Spanish look like a breeze. I can read relatively well already but the Brazilians speak so fast it sounds like mumbling! They slur all the words together and I don't know what anything means! I was really having a hard day on Friday, but I feel a lot better today. Trials are a way for the Lord to bless your life, so Portuguese will eventually be a blessing.

So I have to tell you about yesterday and how amazing it was. We were assigned to study and talk about Hope next Sunday. So yesterday, Tuesday, we decided to use some study time to prepare. Wow, me and my companion learned so much about hope, faith, charity, work, and obedience. Eventually all of it lead up to me reading about how Mormon says he has the power and authority to speak to us. Abinadi says the same thing. It made me think about how if you if have faith enough to ask and receive, like Enos does, how great must be your faith to be able to have the direct authority and power of God to not only ask, but do the lords will. Well that was so amazing to me, but what really touched me was the devotional last night. We listened to a devotional from Elder Holland and he said elders suck at studying, planning, and having the power and authority. He said we all are given the authority when we are set apart, but too few missionaries have the real power to touch the hearts of everyone. With the command and conviction only Elder Holland has, he told us that we had to have that power. That this is outright war between the powers of the universe, and as volunteer, enlisted soldiers of God we must have that power. That hit me like a ton of bricks. I was basically told by an apostle of the Lord that my purpose as a missionary was not to be anything less than Moroni, or Mormon, or Abinadi, or Ammon, or Nephi. I was told that nothing less than my full faith, hope, and obedience of God was completely required of me so i could truly be a tool for the Lords work. That was huge!! Anyways, I forgot to say before I left PDX I got to watch the F-15s take off in front of us. Way cool. Love you all!!!! Elder Laws