"We have to walk a small part of his path, in other words, we have to have trials."

FELIZ NATAL/FELIZ ANO NOVO!!!!

Hello family and friends!!! I hope all of you had a great Christmas. I know all of you are going to knock 2018 out of the flippin' park.

It was so great to be able to skype you guys on Christmas, I was worried that seeing you guys would make me miss home. I prayed so hard that I would be able to focus on the work after. Even though I did feel a tad bit trunky after, seeing you guys on skype helped me realize my purpose here. You guys looked great too.

This week, Roberta got baptized!!!! She is so amazing. Right before the baptism, we found her in her room just bawling. Me and Elder Momesso had a moment of panic, but we were able to calm her down. We taught her a very important Gospel principle, that "there is opposition in all things". Many times, when we are about to make an amazing decision, like baptism, the adversary whispers in our hearts and tries to pull us away. The quicker we realize this, the quicker we shut off that voice and turn to God, the happier we are. Right after that, Roberta got up, brushed herself off and we went to the Church. We asked her earlier in the week who she wanted to baptize her. She said, "Elder Eliason". I said "Why me?". She replied "Because you need the practice". Lol she was right, I need as much as practice as I can get and I was able to baptize her!! 

We had a zone party on Christmas Eve in the church, it was so fun. We had all types of candy, soda, and weird Brazilian cakes that are the best thing I have ever tasted. We were able to watch the Christmas Devotional which was really cool. I couldn't understand a lot, but one thing that I got out of it was that we should have the Spirit of Christmas always. Like the great "Buddy the Elf" said, "The first rule of Christmas is to treat every day like Christmas." What a movie.

We had another party on New Years day, where we had Basketball (Me and Elder Welling dominated the Brazilians), Futbol, all you can eat chicken, we watched the Saratov Approach. It was so much fun. The reason we had these 2 parties is because we didn't have a lot of time to proselyte because President wants to keep us away from all the fireworks and the bebedos (drunk people) haha.

One thing that I wanted to share is a quote from Jeffrey R Holland, "I am thoroughly convinced that the reason missionary work is so hard is because it was never easy for Jesus Christ.... Salvation is not a cheap experience." Missionary work is hard, life is hard too. Sometimes we wonder why is it so hard to find a job, why is it so hard for me to forgive, why is it so hard for me to keep going? A prerequisite in order to be like Christ, is having to feel a sliver of what he felt in the Garden of Gethsemane when he paid for our sins. We have to walk a small part of his path, in other words, we have to have trials. Trials are a part of Gods plan for us, they are necessary for salvation. The way we react to those trials and hard times is the true test of our character, but we don't have to be perfect. That's why Christ suffered for our sins, he loves us so much, he wants us to be like him. 

1 Nephi 19:9 "...wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men." 

LOVE YOU ALL

-Elder Eliason

Roberta's baptism 

Zona Oeste Festa de Natal!!! 

Me, Elder Welling, and the worst basketball player I have ever seen Elder Santos. He wanted to be in the picture haha. I also didn't know we were smiling haha.

Christmas Skype with the family!