Whoo! What up família!?
THis week was fun. I´m SO tired. I´m
pretty sure this area is killing me. Haha we have such a big area and so
many people to teach that live on the exteriors of the map. I know I´ve
said this before, but I walk SO SO SO SO SO SO much. But it´s a
blessing. I´m not SUPER fat right now, and my shoulders are getting nice
and strong from carrying around my scriptures.
Finally Maria went to church! I was so happy! She didn´t show when
Sacrament meeting first started and I was thinking we would have to wait
another week, but right as the sacrament ended, she came in! I haven´t
been able to talk to her yet, but I think she loved it... We´ll find out
tonight. She could get baptized before I leave here
THis city is just so screwed up. Religion is a big part of life
here. I see dozens of pastors everyday. Some try to fight but others are
cool. The whole city is stuck in the Jospeh Smith, Spiritual Revival
Period.
ANyway, I love you all. Next time I write you I could be anywhere in
Ceará! I´m unexplicably excited to get some cool new area that I
haven´t seen before.
Talk to you soon.
Love,
Elder Hodson
Next Letter...Transfer #1!
Hey Family!!!
What up! I´m so happy! Especially after reading all your e-mails and
hearing about all the good news from home. And I don´t know why but I
just seem especially happy this week! I´m so happy to hear about
London! I think that´s so cool that she is getting baptized! When I
heard I just couldn´t stop smiling! I wish I had been a better
missionary before the mission. To see that my friends are makes me
very happy. Let me know how it all goes.
And.................................. I was transferred!!! Finally! New
area! I´m so happy! I loved the old one and was pretty sad saying good
bye to so many people that I love, but it was time.
Haha but I´m living with Elder Smith now (who was in my room with me
at the MTC) and we´re going to start running like we used to. I love
Elder Smith. He´s one of my favorite people in the world. He´s with
Elder Conseção and I´m with Elder Receveur (yes another American.)
He´s fantastic! He´s got 2 months less time on the mission than I do
and we´re gonna kick some Brazilian trash out here.
Oh! Also, I´m District Leader now. I get to do interviews for the
elders in my district and do trainings at District Meeting, as well as
pass numbers and whatnot. I´m pretty excited.
In all, the mission is just absolutely fantastic. I think this next
transfer will be terrific and I´m just excited to meet new people. I´m
very close to the mission center as well so I might be seeing a lot of
President. We don´t have a chapel here though. It´s a house-chapel.
But from what I hear it´s got a swimming pool. I´m thinking baptism in
the swimming pool... does that sound cool or what?
Anyway, thank you for the love and support and care and all that good
stuff. I´m happy and healthy and highly blessed of the Lord in all
things that have any importance. Thank you for getting the package
off. They make my week. Thank you for all the letters from everyone
who´s writing. I´d love to hear from anyone else out there as well!
I know that the church is Jesus Christ´s and that His Eternal Gospel
has been restored in it´s fullness again on the Earth. The battle that
was waged before mortality continues today. As we know it is not a
battle of swords and steel but of testimony. The battles are growing
each time more violent and intense. The enemy knows his short season
of power and dominion is coming to an end. But we are the soldiers. it
is us who have to act. To put on God´s armor and take the final steps
to complete the victory. We must share our testimonies with everyone
we know and shine light through the dark clouds of deceit and
ignorance. When the Spirit is our weapon there does not exist any
power on earth or hell that can withstand our testimony of truth and
righteousness. I know that you always read my e-mails, but are you
actually acting on the words that I share? I know that we must share
what we know with those in the world around us, through example and
testimony. So talk to your friends. Share your light and testimony.
There are many that are searching for the blessing of God but know not
where to find them. You do. Help them learn about the restored Gospel
of the Eternal and Endless Jesus Christ. I promise that as you do, you
will feel the Spirit more fully in your life and reach a higher level
of joy and happiness that can only be enjoyed by the ´´truly penitent
seeker of happiness´´ (Alma 26, 27, or 28 verse 17, 18, or 19.)
I love you all and can´t wait to hear about all of the people you know
who are being taught by the missionaries through your references! Let
me know how it goes. Talk to you next week.
com muito amor,
Elder Hodson
Monday, April 23, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Easter
Hello Family!
Thank you as always for writing me. One of my favorite parts of every week is remembering you guys and everything that´s going on at home. I can´t believe that Josh made Jazz Choir. Like, I literally don´t believe it. I don´t think it happened. He´ll have to prove it to me with his voice this Mother´s Day (which is getting close.) I´m excited to talk to you guys again. I´ll probably be in my new area.
We had one investigator at church and she lives in a different city were the church doesn´t exist yet. We gave her a Book of Mormon though and I´m hoping that some miracle happens out in that far away city.
So some fun things that have been going on lately. This week was Semana Santa so we saw a lot of interesting things. They eat a lot of fish and burn Judas. That´s probably the funniest part. People stuff clothes and make life-sized dolls of Judas. Then they burn him. It´s not very Christ-like but I guess it´s more the spirit Peter had when he cut the soldiers ear off. Whatever it is... it happens. Also, we saw donkey races. A bunch of kids got on donkey´s and raced them right down the middle of the street. Oh! and I´m on Google Maps! The guy drove right by us twice. Check it out because I haven´t seen it yet. It´s in the neighborhood of João 23 or maybe Bonsucesso. Street Aristóteles Gondim
next to Theogenes Gondim and also on Bias Mendes next to the same first street. It´d be cool if you say me there.
We got ovos de Pascoa (Easter eggs) too. They´re super expensive but some people we know shared with us. I know SOOO many people in this area.
And congrats to Alex! That is honestly one of the coolest things I´ve heard in such a long time. It´s lifted my spirits and I´m honestly feeling a lot better now. That is the Gopsel of Jesus Christ in action. I can´t wait to come home and see him bless the sacrament with my own eyes. The Gospel literally changes lives.
My time is up and I have to go. I know that the church is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. I am so grateful to our Heavenly Father for restoring the fullness of His Gospel and Plan of Salvation in these days. I´m especially grateful for the role that Jesus Christ played in that plan and for fulfilling the role that no one else could. Through Him we may be resurrected to Eternal Life but only through obedience. Love you all.
Elder Hodson
Thank you as always for writing me. One of my favorite parts of every week is remembering you guys and everything that´s going on at home. I can´t believe that Josh made Jazz Choir. Like, I literally don´t believe it. I don´t think it happened. He´ll have to prove it to me with his voice this Mother´s Day (which is getting close.) I´m excited to talk to you guys again. I´ll probably be in my new area.
We had one investigator at church and she lives in a different city were the church doesn´t exist yet. We gave her a Book of Mormon though and I´m hoping that some miracle happens out in that far away city.
So some fun things that have been going on lately. This week was Semana Santa so we saw a lot of interesting things. They eat a lot of fish and burn Judas. That´s probably the funniest part. People stuff clothes and make life-sized dolls of Judas. Then they burn him. It´s not very Christ-like but I guess it´s more the spirit Peter had when he cut the soldiers ear off. Whatever it is... it happens. Also, we saw donkey races. A bunch of kids got on donkey´s and raced them right down the middle of the street. Oh! and I´m on Google Maps! The guy drove right by us twice. Check it out because I haven´t seen it yet. It´s in the neighborhood of João 23 or maybe Bonsucesso. Street Aristóteles Gondim
next to Theogenes Gondim and also on Bias Mendes next to the same first street. It´d be cool if you say me there.
We got ovos de Pascoa (Easter eggs) too. They´re super expensive but some people we know shared with us. I know SOOO many people in this area.
And congrats to Alex! That is honestly one of the coolest things I´ve heard in such a long time. It´s lifted my spirits and I´m honestly feeling a lot better now. That is the Gopsel of Jesus Christ in action. I can´t wait to come home and see him bless the sacrament with my own eyes. The Gospel literally changes lives.
My time is up and I have to go. I know that the church is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. I am so grateful to our Heavenly Father for restoring the fullness of His Gospel and Plan of Salvation in these days. I´m especially grateful for the role that Jesus Christ played in that plan and for fulfilling the role that no one else could. Through Him we may be resurrected to Eternal Life but only through obedience. Love you all.
Elder Hodson
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
General Conference
Hey family!
How´s everyone doing? Did you like conference? I thought it was fantastic! I was able to watch all 5 sessoins. And in English! It´s so much better in English. We had investigators that came and watched too and they loved it! There is nothing like prophets and apostles to help in the conversion process.
This week was super fun. We taught a whole lot and had interviews with president. We have many people preparing for baptism. I always want to find more though. It´s so much fun bringing people to church.
This week we found a new family. Well, really only two people live there in the house. An aunt and nephew. The rest of the family lives off in interior. The people from interior had never heard about the church but really enoyed our message. I love it when people ask, ´´Does your church like the Catholic church?´´, because there are many churches which attack the beliefs of others. I always answer, ´´I love the Catolic church!´´ and people love us so fast!
Anyway, with conference this week I feel very renewed and remotivated. I loved many of the talks and hope everyone was able to watch. The priesthood session was fantastic too. It seemed like they talked a lot about families. I remember one in particular, I think Elder Ballard, that talked about how famillies are sealed together; and so even if they are on the other side of the veil or the other side of the WORLD we are still a family and we can always have the hope of a glorious reuniuon. I´´m glad that our reunion right now is in the near future and that I don´t have to wait decades to see you all again. But, even if it was a little farther, we will always be a family throughout the eternities. Dad will always be OUR dad and Mom OUR mom. And I ALWAYS get to be the bigger, smarter, faster, more attractive, older brother. How good it is to know that! Haha but for real, that really is the goal that we all need to have. It´s not a right to any child of God. It is a gift and a reward for those that keep their estates. For those of us that honor our second estate, we will recieve and even more glorious family unit. But that really is what joy and existence are all about. That is what God Himself lives for.
I kow that it is through living the Gospel of God´s Son, Jesus Christ, that it is possible to attain this exaltation together. How perfect is the plan! We have the path, but more than that we have other etertnal inteligences here that are walking that path with us. Other eternal beings that love us and will do anything to help us make it down the path. No one will be left behind. Because no one in this family will allow it. So let us continue along the path, steadfast and immovable in charity and good works. Ands let´s bring others along the way with us so that we can have joy with them FOREVER. No sacrifice is to great to bring even a single soul before our God and Father blameless and sanctified, ready to recieve glory and progression from one eternity to the next.
I love you all so much. Read the scriptures and know our Father´s words of Eternal Life. Pray to Him to know His will. have the courage to do the portion of the truth that He shares with you through the Holy Ghost. Love others and share with them what God has given you. And in ALL things, remember Jesus Christ and do that works which you have seen Him do.
Love,
Elder Hodson
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
8 Months
Família!
Oi, tudo bem? Eu acho que eu só vou escever em Portuguese hoje. Nevermind...
Well, reports for the week - it was a good one. We worked (honestly could´ve worked harder this week though I was pretty exhausted) but next week we´ll work even harder. We´ve got a wedding to restart and interviews with President, not to mention all the training studying everyday, but it should be a fun one.
We had a baptism for a man named Marcos. It was fantastic! Ha after he passed the baptismal interview I called the rest of his family in to invite them to the baptism. His mom, on hearing he would ´deny´ their family religion, flipped out. The man´s 28 years old though. It was funny. Anyway, I explained to her how no one can get baptized without an answer from God and that they were welcome to come see what the church is like ( a lot of people have weird ideas about the church because a lot of supernatural things go on here and they ´re fairly normal.) His parents and sister ended up going to church and watching the baptism! It was awesome! The service went really well too! We´re going there tonight to teach the rest of the family.
We´re also teaching an older woman who´s been Catholic her whole life. She has many family members in the church and is now going every week. She is also preparing for baptism. I´m excited for her. She used to hate the church and kicked out her daughter years ago when she decided to serve a mission. It´s amazing to see how the Lord prepares people - and it doesn´t always happen right away. But we can have faith and trust Him because He knows His children and what they need for their happiness. We just need to do everything we can and then leave it up to Him.
Well, this week I´ve been thinking a lot about the great men of the world and of God. There is a man here known as President Cabral. 20 years ago he was the stake president here. He´s a legend. The church grew SOOO much when he was serving. At the time he was called he had been a member for 2 years. He´s now on the high counsel and working with our weaker ward. I´m so excited to have him here working with us. Things should start happening now. He´s very practical in his thinking. W e have to act. It´s that simple. Work. I t´s something that I´ve come to realize in my short time in the field. We can change things. We can change the world. We are children of God with so much potential. If we just do it in accordance with His will, anything and everything is possible. We just have to act in faith. I thought about how Napoleon and Alexander the Great must have felt realizing that they could change civilizations and nations. The same power is ours. But we fight for good. We fight for righteousness. It is amazing to see the power and potential we have. I am realizing it as my 19 year old companion and I build up, not our kingdom but God´s here in this part of Brazil. The capacity to work and do is real. We just have to have the desire to do it an then JUST DO IT. So, work hard and accomplish things. Change the world. It´s more possible than you think. That´s why you need to be an influence for good to everyone around you.
Love you all,
Elder Hodson
Oi, tudo bem? Eu acho que eu só vou escever em Portuguese hoje. Nevermind...
Well, reports for the week - it was a good one. We worked (honestly could´ve worked harder this week though I was pretty exhausted) but next week we´ll work even harder. We´ve got a wedding to restart and interviews with President, not to mention all the training studying everyday, but it should be a fun one.
We had a baptism for a man named Marcos. It was fantastic! Ha after he passed the baptismal interview I called the rest of his family in to invite them to the baptism. His mom, on hearing he would ´deny´ their family religion, flipped out. The man´s 28 years old though. It was funny. Anyway, I explained to her how no one can get baptized without an answer from God and that they were welcome to come see what the church is like ( a lot of people have weird ideas about the church because a lot of supernatural things go on here and they ´re fairly normal.) His parents and sister ended up going to church and watching the baptism! It was awesome! The service went really well too! We´re going there tonight to teach the rest of the family.
We´re also teaching an older woman who´s been Catholic her whole life. She has many family members in the church and is now going every week. She is also preparing for baptism. I´m excited for her. She used to hate the church and kicked out her daughter years ago when she decided to serve a mission. It´s amazing to see how the Lord prepares people - and it doesn´t always happen right away. But we can have faith and trust Him because He knows His children and what they need for their happiness. We just need to do everything we can and then leave it up to Him.
Well, this week I´ve been thinking a lot about the great men of the world and of God. There is a man here known as President Cabral. 20 years ago he was the stake president here. He´s a legend. The church grew SOOO much when he was serving. At the time he was called he had been a member for 2 years. He´s now on the high counsel and working with our weaker ward. I´m so excited to have him here working with us. Things should start happening now. He´s very practical in his thinking. W e have to act. It´s that simple. Work. I t´s something that I´ve come to realize in my short time in the field. We can change things. We can change the world. We are children of God with so much potential. If we just do it in accordance with His will, anything and everything is possible. We just have to act in faith. I thought about how Napoleon and Alexander the Great must have felt realizing that they could change civilizations and nations. The same power is ours. But we fight for good. We fight for righteousness. It is amazing to see the power and potential we have. I am realizing it as my 19 year old companion and I build up, not our kingdom but God´s here in this part of Brazil. The capacity to work and do is real. We just have to have the desire to do it an then JUST DO IT. So, work hard and accomplish things. Change the world. It´s more possible than you think. That´s why you need to be an influence for good to everyone around you.
Love you all,
Elder Hodson
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Times Flies!
Hello Home!!!! February 20th
Stuff here is progressing. I'm never content and always want more but I'm learning to recognize my limits while still working as hard as possible. Training is a blast though! My comp is great. The only down side is that we study for 2 extra hours everyday which results in a loss of 2 working hours. But that down side comes with the upside of 2 extra hours of study! I honestly cannot emphasize how much I study. I love it. I finished Jesus the Christ and I'm reading teachings of Joseph Smith right now (but that's just in my spare time.) When I finish that I'll go back to Jesus the Christ but this time in Portuguese.
You all keep being amazing and remember that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was restored to the earth by a prophet. The more I study about Joseph Smith the more I learn about revelation and just exactly what it means to be a prophet. It's a lot simpler and less magical than a lot of people think. And very real. I've found that many people imagine that spiritual gifts are cool powers that the ancient saints enjoyed but the fact it they are very simple gifts that God grants to the faithful TODAY. They are real and not a distant event to be enjoyed in the future. We have all the rights to the powers of heaven right NOW based on our own obedience to each law placed. Be worthy. Seek for the powers of heaven. We have all the rights as the patriarchs of old to knowledge, power, intelligence, and all the mysteries of God. The Church is Jesus Christ. We have covenants that bind us to Him.
See you all soon,
Elder Hodson
Family! February 27th
This week was fantastic! We are working hard and the Lord is blessing us greatly. I am loving my companion and the work he puts in. We are very busy and teaching and finding many people right now. At first I was a little intimidated with the senior companion role but I´m loving it more and more everyday. We are having the faith and courage to talk with everyone about the gospel - and striving to do it in a not overbearing, proud, selfish kind of way. We are meeting some very faithful people who are ready for greater light. It´s exciting!
I can see it in a woman here I know. I´ve known her since I got here 5 and a half months ago. She wouldn´t look at me or talk to me for the first 2 months because she thought we worshiped the devil. We baptized her husband and she opened up to us a little bit more. We baptized her grandson and she sees how he likes church. We talked to her this past week and she´s going to go to church with us on Sunday! It´s what happens with patience and a Christ like example. I´ve been here for such a long time that I´m getting to know a lot of these people and it´s having a very strong effect.
We also baptized a young woman this week who was just shining after the baptism. Her sister will probably follow her and her mom might too. I´m loving the renewed excitement in the area.
I love you all and know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. It is the path to eternal life and happiness. We should help as many as we can along our path reach exaltation with us. Think of how much sweeter it will be if we lead others onto the path! There is no greater reward that we can receive or happiness that we can attain. Serve others. BE examples of Jesus. Be obedient. Help the missionaries. Give them references and go teach with them. Especially Ben. I went many times with the missionaries and loved every minute of it. I wish I had gone more. Don´t miss any opportunity to go with them. Above all just follow the Spirit and seek to hear it whisperings.
See you soon.
Elder Hodson
This week was super fun. W've teaching a lot. I love how down my comp is to work hard. We start working at one in the afternoon and just go until 9 30 at night. It's awesome. The Lord is putting so many people in our path as we learn how to plan and look for new investigators using Preach My Gospel as a guide. Sometimes I wonder why President made me a trainer when I still have so much to improve on, but then as we rely on the Lord, He does His work through us.
Anyway, this was the end of another transfer. It marks the start of my last transfer here. At least I think it will be my last here. I've been here since the beginning. Now, I just stay one more and finish training and then I think I'm leaving.
The end of the week was good though. We baptized a young man that we met about a month ago. He'd been going to church with his neighbors and loves the church. After the baptism he started to cry and I thought maybe something has gotten in his eyes but he told me he just felt really, really good. It's sweet to see the Spirit bear witness to others that the church is true. It's a testimony builder for me to see.
Haha filling up the font was fun before the baptism. I had talked to the bishop of Parangaba (where the baptism would be) likle three times. They meet in the morning but wanted to have the baptism at night after Joquei. I saw him get there during the sacrament of Joquei so I figured everything would be alright. I went to check with him the 3rd hour of Joquei and he said he hadn't started filling up the font yet. I went in to check it out and it was pretty dirty with dead bugs and had only two feet of water. The plug also wasn't in. That's when I remembered "If you want something done, do it yourself." I rolled up my pant legs and went to go put the plug in. Unfortunately, I forgot about the phone in my chest pocket. It fell into the water along with my missionary handbook and was soaked. Luckily, it's rock solid and still works. But, the font was full on time and everything went smoothly.
Remember that the church is true. Remember that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was restored in it's fullness by a prophet. Remember that obedience brings protection from all the powers of evil. Remember that God loves each and every one of us and wants what's best for us. All things really do work together for our good. Joesph Smith taught that those who receive ALL things with a spirit of gratitude will receive Eternal Life. Be grateful for your blessings and trials. Study the scriptures. The give THE correct perspective that we need to be successful in this life. Life, light, and truth are NOT relative. They are REAL. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and through His grace will we be resurrected and receive our eternal reward.
Love you all and see you soon,
Elder Hodson
Stuff here is progressing. I'm never content and always want more but I'm learning to recognize my limits while still working as hard as possible. Training is a blast though! My comp is great. The only down side is that we study for 2 extra hours everyday which results in a loss of 2 working hours. But that down side comes with the upside of 2 extra hours of study! I honestly cannot emphasize how much I study. I love it. I finished Jesus the Christ and I'm reading teachings of Joseph Smith right now (but that's just in my spare time.) When I finish that I'll go back to Jesus the Christ but this time in Portuguese.
You all keep being amazing and remember that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was restored to the earth by a prophet. The more I study about Joseph Smith the more I learn about revelation and just exactly what it means to be a prophet. It's a lot simpler and less magical than a lot of people think. And very real. I've found that many people imagine that spiritual gifts are cool powers that the ancient saints enjoyed but the fact it they are very simple gifts that God grants to the faithful TODAY. They are real and not a distant event to be enjoyed in the future. We have all the rights to the powers of heaven right NOW based on our own obedience to each law placed. Be worthy. Seek for the powers of heaven. We have all the rights as the patriarchs of old to knowledge, power, intelligence, and all the mysteries of God. The Church is Jesus Christ. We have covenants that bind us to Him.
See you all soon,
Elder Hodson
Family! February 27th
This week was fantastic! We are working hard and the Lord is blessing us greatly. I am loving my companion and the work he puts in. We are very busy and teaching and finding many people right now. At first I was a little intimidated with the senior companion role but I´m loving it more and more everyday. We are having the faith and courage to talk with everyone about the gospel - and striving to do it in a not overbearing, proud, selfish kind of way. We are meeting some very faithful people who are ready for greater light. It´s exciting!
I can see it in a woman here I know. I´ve known her since I got here 5 and a half months ago. She wouldn´t look at me or talk to me for the first 2 months because she thought we worshiped the devil. We baptized her husband and she opened up to us a little bit more. We baptized her grandson and she sees how he likes church. We talked to her this past week and she´s going to go to church with us on Sunday! It´s what happens with patience and a Christ like example. I´ve been here for such a long time that I´m getting to know a lot of these people and it´s having a very strong effect.
We also baptized a young woman this week who was just shining after the baptism. Her sister will probably follow her and her mom might too. I´m loving the renewed excitement in the area.
I love you all and know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. It is the path to eternal life and happiness. We should help as many as we can along our path reach exaltation with us. Think of how much sweeter it will be if we lead others onto the path! There is no greater reward that we can receive or happiness that we can attain. Serve others. BE examples of Jesus. Be obedient. Help the missionaries. Give them references and go teach with them. Especially Ben. I went many times with the missionaries and loved every minute of it. I wish I had gone more. Don´t miss any opportunity to go with them. Above all just follow the Spirit and seek to hear it whisperings.
See you soon.
Elder Hodson
Dear, dear family, March 5th
How is everyone? I´m sorry to hear that Sam was sick. That is always super lame. My comp and I haven´t gotten sick yet at all together, which is a blessing here in the field. President told us at a leadership meeting this week that 10-30% of missionaries, either specifically in our mission or Brazil or South America, are sick on any given day. Those stats where pretty unspecific and lame but they´re kinda somewhat reliable.
On Sunday, we went to church a little disappointed and very tired. At church we had one of the best fast and testimony meetings I´ve ever been a part of. It was over an hour and a half long. Just mentioning it I can feel the Spirit of the meeting. No one wanted to leave. The best and most touching part for me was that almost everyone mentioned ´´the elders´´ in their talk. I saw I man who was so far gone, drinking and indulging in the vain things of the world, go to the front and bear his testimony of the church, the restoration, and his desire to take his family to the temple.
I felt so at peace and comforted. God showed me that I need to have more faith and stop getting disappointed when things don´t work out the way I wan them to. That God has a work and He does it through us, and that we are having much success. One of the young women from this giant family who we´ve helped come back to church, literally almost brought me to tears. It was her first time bearing her testimony ever and she was so nervous but she did such a good job. I don´t know if all the love we received was deserved but it made up for the whole week of disappointment.
Then the ward poured so many references of their friends onto us. This week is going to be so good I know it. I´m so happy to be here in these wards. I´ve already been in this area for 5 months and I only have 1 1/2 left. I´ll be sad to leave but I hear they´ve got good plans for me after.
Anyway, training is a blast. My companion is a champ. He loves to work hard and helps me stay clean at home. He´s a good example for me.
Also I´d like to give a special shout out to Wall E. He´s awesome and speaks English. Eric too. They are fantastic men and very open to light and truth. And would love nothing more than to see them progress in the church and become the men of God that I know they can become. They have already been blessed with so many talents and skills, making covenants with God would only magnify and sanctify those God-given talents.
I love you all. I know that the Church was restored through a prophet. I know that the church is lead by a prophet. I know that God loves us and that His thoughts are higher than ours. I know that He has a perfect plan for the salvation of His children and that that plan was wrought out through the sacrifice and Atonement of the Only Begotten of the Father, Jesus Christ. I know that as we receive everything in our lives with gratitude (including the difficulties and trials through which we pass) we will become sanctified and exalted.
I love you all. Don´t sin. Write me letters (that´s a part of not sinning.) Help the missionaries in our ward. Talk to your friends about the gospel and INVITE them to partake of what you have.
Elder Hodson
Hello Family, March 12th
This week was super fun. W've teaching a lot. I love how down my comp is to work hard. We start working at one in the afternoon and just go until 9 30 at night. It's awesome. The Lord is putting so many people in our path as we learn how to plan and look for new investigators using Preach My Gospel as a guide. Sometimes I wonder why President made me a trainer when I still have so much to improve on, but then as we rely on the Lord, He does His work through us.
Anyway, this was the end of another transfer. It marks the start of my last transfer here. At least I think it will be my last here. I've been here since the beginning. Now, I just stay one more and finish training and then I think I'm leaving.
The end of the week was good though. We baptized a young man that we met about a month ago. He'd been going to church with his neighbors and loves the church. After the baptism he started to cry and I thought maybe something has gotten in his eyes but he told me he just felt really, really good. It's sweet to see the Spirit bear witness to others that the church is true. It's a testimony builder for me to see.
Haha filling up the font was fun before the baptism. I had talked to the bishop of Parangaba (where the baptism would be) likle three times. They meet in the morning but wanted to have the baptism at night after Joquei. I saw him get there during the sacrament of Joquei so I figured everything would be alright. I went to check with him the 3rd hour of Joquei and he said he hadn't started filling up the font yet. I went in to check it out and it was pretty dirty with dead bugs and had only two feet of water. The plug also wasn't in. That's when I remembered "If you want something done, do it yourself." I rolled up my pant legs and went to go put the plug in. Unfortunately, I forgot about the phone in my chest pocket. It fell into the water along with my missionary handbook and was soaked. Luckily, it's rock solid and still works. But, the font was full on time and everything went smoothly.
Remember that the church is true. Remember that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was restored in it's fullness by a prophet. Remember that obedience brings protection from all the powers of evil. Remember that God loves each and every one of us and wants what's best for us. All things really do work together for our good. Joesph Smith taught that those who receive ALL things with a spirit of gratitude will receive Eternal Life. Be grateful for your blessings and trials. Study the scriptures. The give THE correct perspective that we need to be successful in this life. Life, light, and truth are NOT relative. They are REAL. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and through His grace will we be resurrected and receive our eternal reward.
Love you all and see you soon,
Elder Hodson
Friday, February 17, 2012
Training Now
Family!
Well this week had a little change up. I sent you the e-mail on Monday telling you that Elder Call would be my comp. Well about the same time that I sent that e-mail, President called the house. I called him back and he asked me if I would be a trainer for one of the new missionaries coming in the next day. So I have a brand new comp fresh out of the MTC and I love him! He just loves to work! I´m actually getting pretty tired because at this point I do most of the talking but he already speaks really well and in a couple weeks he´ll be fantastic! . Super good guy.
It seems like one of the big themes going around with the general authorities is that we are children of God and He loves us. The Liahona this month was super good. That is always such a huge comfort to me.
So this week we worked our butts off. I talked to one off the elders here. He has a step counter. He walks about 15 miles everyday. His area is a little more confined than mine. I wouldn´t be surprised if we walked 20 miles a day this week. We are teaching a lot of really good people. The problem is that we´re getting so spread out between the two wards.
But we´re baptizing a little girl this next week. We´re helping her family get baptized but we have to wait for her parents marriage which will take a little time.
Something else that was pretty cool. We´ve been working to bring a less active family back to church. We baptized a few of their kids and the mom saw how happy they are now. She is dating a man and breaking the law off chastity. She told me she wants to be baptized too and be as happy as her daughters. She already gave up coffee and talked to the father of her daughters. If he won´t get married and move in she is willing to stop having a relationship with him. I love finding these people who are willing to sacrifice everything to follow Christ and keep the commandments. It makes all the other heartaches worth it.
Elder Hodson
P.S. Tell Alex thanks for the singing Christmas card. I love it
The Next Weeks Letter:
Hey family!
I磎 glad everyone is doing great! Keep up the fantastic work!
Ha ha first off all, what is Valentines day? They don磘 have it here. All they have is Girlfriend磗 day in June. Actually, I think it磗 right after my birthday. What we have this week is Carnaval. I am not excited at all for it. Everyone goes insane. All of our investigators are going to out of town. Quite literally almost everyone travels. I hear that kids like to throw eggs and flower at people in the street too. That should be fun... Anyway, we磖e just gonna have to turn it up a notch this week. I just love being here though. I love speaking Portuguese and making these friendships that I have with all these people here in Brazil. I磛e spent a long time in this area and know everyone here in this area. By the time I've finished up here it'll have been 7 and a half months here. I'll leave here in April.
Anyway, spiritual experience of the week. We were following up on a 17 year old girl who we taught a couple weeks ago. We asked her if she had prayed about the message and she said yes. I asked her if she felt anything and she said yes! I was so stoked because it's been so long since someone has just known after praying. Usually we have to teach more and try yo get them to church or they forget to read and pray or something. Anyway, we gave her a Book of Mormon and by the next appointment she had read to chapter 10 of 1 Nephi (that quite literally NEVER happens, its usually half way through chapter one b/c the people aren't super fast readers). Anyway, we were teaching her again and her boyfriend dropped her off. He drove off on his motorcycle and we talked a little about him. She called him and he came and listened and loved it too! He went to church and we're meeting with them this week! They are just golden. I love it went stuff goes right.
The church is true!
I know that The Church of Jesus Christ is literally Christ's chosen covenant people here on the earth. That in it resides all the power and glory of the ancient prophets and holy saints. The priesthood and ordinances of the Gospel of Jesus Christ are again her on the earth! We have so many reasons to be happy! God and angels have spoken with man once more revealing the mysteries of God that were lost. Today, we have prophets and apostles that lead us in truth and righteousness unto the overcoming of darkness and sin. The missionaries are spreading this light today in the world to fulfill all the prophecies of the prophets. But the missionaries really need the help of every member to get this work done.
O love you all. See you soon.
Elder Hodson
Well this week had a little change up. I sent you the e-mail on Monday telling you that Elder Call would be my comp. Well about the same time that I sent that e-mail, President called the house. I called him back and he asked me if I would be a trainer for one of the new missionaries coming in the next day. So I have a brand new comp fresh out of the MTC and I love him! He just loves to work! I´m actually getting pretty tired because at this point I do most of the talking but he already speaks really well and in a couple weeks he´ll be fantastic! . Super good guy.
It seems like one of the big themes going around with the general authorities is that we are children of God and He loves us. The Liahona this month was super good. That is always such a huge comfort to me.
So this week we worked our butts off. I talked to one off the elders here. He has a step counter. He walks about 15 miles everyday. His area is a little more confined than mine. I wouldn´t be surprised if we walked 20 miles a day this week. We are teaching a lot of really good people. The problem is that we´re getting so spread out between the two wards.
But we´re baptizing a little girl this next week. We´re helping her family get baptized but we have to wait for her parents marriage which will take a little time.
Something else that was pretty cool. We´ve been working to bring a less active family back to church. We baptized a few of their kids and the mom saw how happy they are now. She is dating a man and breaking the law off chastity. She told me she wants to be baptized too and be as happy as her daughters. She already gave up coffee and talked to the father of her daughters. If he won´t get married and move in she is willing to stop having a relationship with him. I love finding these people who are willing to sacrifice everything to follow Christ and keep the commandments. It makes all the other heartaches worth it.
Elder Hodson
P.S. Tell Alex thanks for the singing Christmas card. I love it
The Next Weeks Letter:
Hey family!
I磎 glad everyone is doing great! Keep up the fantastic work!
Ha ha first off all, what is Valentines day? They don磘 have it here. All they have is Girlfriend磗 day in June. Actually, I think it磗 right after my birthday. What we have this week is Carnaval. I am not excited at all for it. Everyone goes insane. All of our investigators are going to out of town. Quite literally almost everyone travels. I hear that kids like to throw eggs and flower at people in the street too. That should be fun... Anyway, we磖e just gonna have to turn it up a notch this week. I just love being here though. I love speaking Portuguese and making these friendships that I have with all these people here in Brazil. I磛e spent a long time in this area and know everyone here in this area. By the time I've finished up here it'll have been 7 and a half months here. I'll leave here in April.
Anyway, spiritual experience of the week. We were following up on a 17 year old girl who we taught a couple weeks ago. We asked her if she had prayed about the message and she said yes. I asked her if she felt anything and she said yes! I was so stoked because it's been so long since someone has just known after praying. Usually we have to teach more and try yo get them to church or they forget to read and pray or something. Anyway, we gave her a Book of Mormon and by the next appointment she had read to chapter 10 of 1 Nephi (that quite literally NEVER happens, its usually half way through chapter one b/c the people aren't super fast readers). Anyway, we were teaching her again and her boyfriend dropped her off. He drove off on his motorcycle and we talked a little about him. She called him and he came and listened and loved it too! He went to church and we're meeting with them this week! They are just golden. I love it went stuff goes right.
The church is true!
I know that The Church of Jesus Christ is literally Christ's chosen covenant people here on the earth. That in it resides all the power and glory of the ancient prophets and holy saints. The priesthood and ordinances of the Gospel of Jesus Christ are again her on the earth! We have so many reasons to be happy! God and angels have spoken with man once more revealing the mysteries of God that were lost. Today, we have prophets and apostles that lead us in truth and righteousness unto the overcoming of darkness and sin. The missionaries are spreading this light today in the world to fulfill all the prophecies of the prophets. But the missionaries really need the help of every member to get this work done.
O love you all. See you soon.
Elder Hodson
Thursday, February 2, 2012
6 Months Down!
Family!
Wow! This week is my six month mark! I never thought it would come so fast. It scares me a little how fast it´s gone by. The time out here has literally been some of the best, most fulfilling time of my life. I´m just gonna keep working as hard as I can until the end.
This week has been great. We helped a bunch of families and had interviews with president. It all went super well. It was one of those happy, good, almost nothing goes wrong weeks. I like them.
A lot of people like the church and the Book of Mormon, and believe that they´re true, but don´t want to go to church every week or don´t want to leave their church. One family in particular has this problem. They live in one of the favelas around here. The mom died a couple years ago and the father is taking care of three daughters, ages 17, 13, and 4. But, the daughters are inactive and going to an evangelical church. The dad wants everyone to go back and be reunited. We got there one night and it was super obvious that they had been in the middle of an argument. The daughters go to church every night and don´t get back until super late. Well, we sat down in their one room and talked about the gospel. We talked about the Book of Mormon and the restoration and nothing really special seemed to be going on in the room. I had the impression to talk about the temple. So I did. Why it´s important. I asked them why their parents had sacrificed so much to go there. We talked about eternal families and the potential that they have. The Spirit in the room was so strong. The oldest daughter had tears in her eyes. They promised to come back to church and strive to get to the temple.
The story is still going. They still have problems and Satan is super trickery. It really is a battle everyday. Free agency is one of the hardest things to accept. I just wish sometimes that everyone would be obedient to the commandments of God. But, there are many people who choose not to.
There´s another couple that we´re teaching. It´s in our new area that we inherited 5 weeks ago from today (just before Christmas when we started taking care of both the wards.) The other missionaries had done a fantastic job preparing the husband. He loves the church and loves the scriptures. He says the Bible (which he´s studied since he was 8) makes a lot more sense now. He doesn´t feel good if he doesn´t go to church. He´s stellar. The wife, when we got there, did not want to go to church or get baptized. She is Catholic, like the rest of the world down here, but said the only two churches she believes will go to heaven are the Catholic church and the Church of Jesus Christ. We spent two hours at her house teaching, very firmly, that this is the ONLY true church that has a FULNESS of the gospel. When we went back the next week she was a little more receptive, She´s listening to her husband read the Book of Mormon to her - that was a big point we used. The next week she told us she wanted to get baptized and sealed in the temple. She said it was out of love for her husband but now she´s going to church and preparing to be baptized. We should start their marriage process this week so I don´t know if I´ll still be around for the wedding and baptism but it was sweet to see her change.
We heard about a family that had been baptized a few months ago. The mom and son were still going to church. The older sister is married and her and her husband had fallen inactive. We went to their house and first taught the wife. She was pretty stubborn and scared at first but she has such great desires to do what is right. We talked about faith (how it´s dead without works), and how we only have two paths to follow in this life (2 Nephi 2:27). Those are some of the scriptures I use the most. It´s so simple and true. The scripture that really got her was 2 Nephi 32: 8-9. She hadn´t wanted to pray so ELder Henrie used it at the beginning of the lesson to motivate her a little. At the end she didn´t want to go to church so we asked, ´´Whpo doesn´t want us to pray?´´ ´´The enemy...´´ ´´So who doesn´t want us to go to church? Who will you follow?´´ She´s back at church and super strong. We´re helping her husband stop drinking and find his faith right now.
See ya soon,
Elder Hodson
Family!!!
Well this is the after six months mark and I would like to start it
off by thanking everyone for the love, letters, packages, and suppoirt
up until this point. With that, I also here that after 6 months
everyone forgets you so I guess now I can consider myself forgotten.
IT´s cool. I understand.
But, the mission is going great.
I´m with Elder Call now in my same area. He´s cool.
Righteous living is so much better than wickedness. We´re helping a
man return to church, get married and baptize his family right now. He
said he hates the sin that he´s in. Do what´s right.
Love you,
Elder Hodson
Wow! This week is my six month mark! I never thought it would come so fast. It scares me a little how fast it´s gone by. The time out here has literally been some of the best, most fulfilling time of my life. I´m just gonna keep working as hard as I can until the end.
This week has been great. We helped a bunch of families and had interviews with president. It all went super well. It was one of those happy, good, almost nothing goes wrong weeks. I like them.
A lot of people like the church and the Book of Mormon, and believe that they´re true, but don´t want to go to church every week or don´t want to leave their church. One family in particular has this problem. They live in one of the favelas around here. The mom died a couple years ago and the father is taking care of three daughters, ages 17, 13, and 4. But, the daughters are inactive and going to an evangelical church. The dad wants everyone to go back and be reunited. We got there one night and it was super obvious that they had been in the middle of an argument. The daughters go to church every night and don´t get back until super late. Well, we sat down in their one room and talked about the gospel. We talked about the Book of Mormon and the restoration and nothing really special seemed to be going on in the room. I had the impression to talk about the temple. So I did. Why it´s important. I asked them why their parents had sacrificed so much to go there. We talked about eternal families and the potential that they have. The Spirit in the room was so strong. The oldest daughter had tears in her eyes. They promised to come back to church and strive to get to the temple.
The story is still going. They still have problems and Satan is super trickery. It really is a battle everyday. Free agency is one of the hardest things to accept. I just wish sometimes that everyone would be obedient to the commandments of God. But, there are many people who choose not to.
There´s another couple that we´re teaching. It´s in our new area that we inherited 5 weeks ago from today (just before Christmas when we started taking care of both the wards.) The other missionaries had done a fantastic job preparing the husband. He loves the church and loves the scriptures. He says the Bible (which he´s studied since he was 8) makes a lot more sense now. He doesn´t feel good if he doesn´t go to church. He´s stellar. The wife, when we got there, did not want to go to church or get baptized. She is Catholic, like the rest of the world down here, but said the only two churches she believes will go to heaven are the Catholic church and the Church of Jesus Christ. We spent two hours at her house teaching, very firmly, that this is the ONLY true church that has a FULNESS of the gospel. When we went back the next week she was a little more receptive, She´s listening to her husband read the Book of Mormon to her - that was a big point we used. The next week she told us she wanted to get baptized and sealed in the temple. She said it was out of love for her husband but now she´s going to church and preparing to be baptized. We should start their marriage process this week so I don´t know if I´ll still be around for the wedding and baptism but it was sweet to see her change.
We heard about a family that had been baptized a few months ago. The mom and son were still going to church. The older sister is married and her and her husband had fallen inactive. We went to their house and first taught the wife. She was pretty stubborn and scared at first but she has such great desires to do what is right. We talked about faith (how it´s dead without works), and how we only have two paths to follow in this life (2 Nephi 2:27). Those are some of the scriptures I use the most. It´s so simple and true. The scripture that really got her was 2 Nephi 32: 8-9. She hadn´t wanted to pray so ELder Henrie used it at the beginning of the lesson to motivate her a little. At the end she didn´t want to go to church so we asked, ´´Whpo doesn´t want us to pray?´´ ´´The enemy...´´ ´´So who doesn´t want us to go to church? Who will you follow?´´ She´s back at church and super strong. We´re helping her husband stop drinking and find his faith right now.
See ya soon,
Elder Hodson
Family!!!
Well this is the after six months mark and I would like to start it
off by thanking everyone for the love, letters, packages, and suppoirt
up until this point. With that, I also here that after 6 months
everyone forgets you so I guess now I can consider myself forgotten.
IT´s cool. I understand.
But, the mission is going great.
I´m with Elder Call now in my same area. He´s cool.
Righteous living is so much better than wickedness. We´re helping a
man return to church, get married and baptize his family right now. He
said he hates the sin that he´s in. Do what´s right.
Love you,
Elder Hodson
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