Bom Dia from Brasil!!

Elder Pierce's desk-  about the work of Salvation

11/24/14
Bom dia! from down here in Brasil. It's not even summer yet but it's been getting hotter down here, the holidays will be super weird switching climates like that. In all of the Christmas advertisements there are people in t-shirts and shorts and stuff, wrong. And Thanksgiving this week! Its called Dia de Ação de Graça (Day of Free Acts)(dee-a dee assao dee grassa) in Portuguese and it isn't really a thing here so it´ll be a bit sem graça (without grace, or not the same)(sen grassa) this Thursday, but eat a bit more turkey for me! 

I really enjoy working with Elder Araújo he is a great missionary and I feel like we are just working together. No one is just along for the ride and we don't have to force one another to do what we should and that means the spirit is right along with us, yea! But it's funny because I have an English mode and a Portuguese mode. When we start speaking in English it takes about 20 minutes to stop starting phrases inadvertently in Portuguese rather than English and then when we make a contact or something in the street (and have to switch into Portuguese mode again) it makes for some funny language moments. But maybe this practice of switching language modes will make it less difficult come Christmas skype time (t-minus 1 month!). 

This week we had some great teaching experiences and even met a family that we are starting to teach who are awesome! We had actually already received the reference to go visit this family a month or so ago but the husband made it very clear that us visiting his family was against his religion- which was no religion. But they have gone through some difficulties these past weeks and have moved into another house and the mother told her friend (member of our ward) that she and the two kids were going to look into the church whether the husband wanted to or not and when she brought it up with him he said... yea, alright let's look into it. So that was super awesome and we had a great lesson with them about the restoration. I really was able to see the literal difference in the man that I had met before and the man who we taught. The power of Christ to change the hearts of men is true and can apply to everyone. And the mom went to church on Sunday!!! which is a miracle because the parents of the husband came to visit Saturday night from another city.  That's why he didn't come but it would have been so much easier for them just not to come, but they came!  And she had a great experience and they will come to a ward family home evening this week and the kids will already participate in the primary program next week, woohoo!  

I know the Lord answers our prayers and that this really is His work that I have the privilege to take a part of.

Love you all so much and have a great week and Thanksgiving back home!

Elder Pierce

This is our neighborhood behind me.

That's our apartment building in the middle/top. We are the 2nd floor on the right.

We switched rooms in our apartment because it turns out that missionaries a couple transfers back switched, so its a bit weird after 3 months of sleeping in the other room.