Good morning Vietnam or wherever else you might be!
I do love that last line about this hastening of the work ranking with the First Vision and The Book of Mormon. This ranks with the appearance of The Father and The Son after 1400 years of silent heavens. Couple that with Doctrine and Covenants 60:2-3, which is speaking to missionaries specifically, and every member is called as a missionary. If we don't open our mouths the wrath of the Lord is kindled against us and what we have will be taken- our opportunities, our covenants, chances of Celestial Glory. What we have. Let's take part in this wonderful "Work of Salvation" and take care of ourselves while we're at it.
Just to make things fair. I haven't exactly had the easiest time opening my mouth here. Let's make this a collective goal. Here in the Porto Alegre North Mission, missionaries are expected to give at least 60 complete strangers the opportunity to hear the Gospel. Actually, that's what M. Russell Ballard said was a commandment of God. Sorry, that's 60 strangers per missionary per week. 120 new people every week and just two people. Imagine what a family of four can do already knowing the people they interact with. The work would truly hasten.
Happenings of the week. Lots of difficulty with lessons and even more getting people to keep appointments. It really is incredible (and incredibly sad) how many times an appointment is forgotten or canceled because of a family problem. They cancel the opportunity to hear the very Gospel that has saved countless families and souls. That's what happened this week, but we did find some interesting people because of it. Very promising.
I've finally decided to spend the money to embrace a little Brazilian culture. I love chimarrão (mate for those of you who know it from Argentina or other Spanish speaking countries.) I'm going to buy a cuia and bomba. That stuff is so good although the customs of how you drink it will probably make my medically minded mother and friends cringe. We kind of stop worrying about germs here. There's really no point.
Oh yeah, we also climbed a large hill/small mountain today. That was fun. I didn't take my camera, but I'll try to get some pictures from the other elders and send them next week. It was very muddy, had lots of moderately sized spiders and felt like a jungle. Vines and everything. I kept thinking about Jurassic Park and knew that if a seemingly harmless dinosaur showed up, I was that guy you always know is going to die. It was fun and everybody survived.
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| Osorio from the top of the hill. |
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| Jurassic Park |
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| The missionaries +1 |
Time is almost up, as always. Time has a way of running out or running faster than you expected. For example, in two days I'll have spent 8 months on my mission. On February 12, I'll have spent three months in Brazil. In just a couple more months it will be winter here.
Don't miss me too much and remember who you are. Just imagine that scene from Lion King when Mufasa appears in the sky. We are children of a King. If we forget who we are, we forget about our Father. That's not really healthy for the soul.
Love you all. Até mais.
Elder Dickson
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| Chimarrão |
Oh yes Chimarrao, my son was a big fan when he got home too haha!
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