"I have been transferred to a city in the country called Crateus!"

OI FAMÍLIA E AMIGOS, COMO VOCÊS ESTÃO??

Well, as you know I have been transferred to a city in the country called Crateus!! It's so great here but also way different.

So, the first missionaries were sent here 1 year and 6 months ago, so the church is super young here. EVERYONE is a recent-convert. 3 months ago, it turned from a Group into a Branch!! We meet in the house of the Branch President every Sunday. We also have mutual, integration activities, and our english class that we started up this week. It was super fun to lead an english class, lots of games haha. They use missionaries a bunch, the missionary I replaced was the old first counselor of the branch, we teach gospel principles, we bless the sacrament, we do a whole lot here to help.

Also, the city is pretty dang huge and they are only 4 missionaries in the entire city so we walk a bunch. The church is 40 minutes from our house so we spend a lot of our time working close to the church. BUT, they're working on getting a "casapela" or a house rented out to be used as a chapel in the center of the city to help the branch grow a bit more.

Also, saying goodbye to all my friends in Palmares was really hard. So many good memories and it was good to look back and see what good work we did there and how the Lord guided us. One experience stood out when I was saying goodbye on Monday to Dayanne, our RC. as we said goodbyes she said, "I just want to thank you for never giving up on me. I promise you I will stay firm always. Thank you for bringing this gospel to my life. I've never been happier. These have been the best 2 months of my life." Words can't describe how grateful I was to her for her example to me as well. The Spirit filled the room and lots of tears were shed. I'l never forget that experience.

There are so many people here in Crateus who are humble and ready to receive the restored gospel. We found a family of 15 on Friday and we brought 5 of them to church!! 15 PEOPLE. So many miracles are happening in this city.

I know that I was sent to Crateus for a reason and I am determined to find that reason. One thing that I have been studying a lot about is the Spirit and how it is the most important piece of missionary work. The spirit is what guides us, gives us what to say, and guides what we should do. I can certainly tell the difference between a lesson with the Spirit and a lesson without the spirit. A lot of times, we don't always have the best atmosphere to bring the spirit. A truck goes by, people playing immoral music, and a whole lot of things that distract the spirit during the lesson, but when I get to bare my testimony, I don't feel the distractions any more.

I feel the Spirit testifying through me to the investigator. Some times, they don't listen or they don't know how to recognize His voice, but I know they feel it. They are a chosen few, who hear his voice and run to his call, the elect. Those are the ones we search for and those are the ones that the Lord is preparing and trusting in me that I will find.

LOVE YOU ALLLLLLLL

Abraço forte,

Elder Eliason

"I can say that I did my best here in Palmares."

HELLO FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!!

We got our transfer emails today and I'll be headed to CRATEUS!! Crateus is interior (very far away from the city). 7 hours away from Fortaleza. This area is the farthest away in the mission! I'll be headed there with Elder Taylor!! My first American companion haha. 

That also means, I will be leaving Ala Palmares. :( After 6 months here, I'll be heading out. This area is where I grew and learned the most by far. I was thrown here to train as a greenie, and I had no idea what I was doing. I barely spoke Portuguese, and I was super stressed in how I would train a new missionary when I only had 4 months on the mission. Day by day, I learned. I learned how to serve my companion, how to train a missionary the right way, and how to put all of my trust in the Lord. I learned that I don't have to be a perfect missionary, but one thing I can do is have perfect trust in God. 

I can say that I did my best here in Palmares. That's why I'm even more excited to see what Elder Taylor and I can do in Crateus. I will use all of what I learned here and take it with me alllllllllll the way to Cratues.

It will be so hard to leave all of the members, all of my RC's, and all of the marvelous people that I met here. This was the best part of my mission by far. But there's so much time left to enjoy!!! I'm excited to make new memories and new lifelong friendships.

10 Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;
15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!
16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!
I can testify of the pure joy that comes from saving souls. There is nothing like being a missionary of Jesus Christ. There's no other work that brings such lasting and true happiness like Missionary work. I've never been happier. :)

VALEU GENTE!! BOA SEMANA PARA VOCÊS!!!

Abraço poderoso,

Elder Eliason

I paid for pizza...

Poop Week

HELLO FAMILY!!! Como vocês estão?

This week was a difficult one, full of struggles and a lot of disappointments. We had a whole bunch of people to teach and they were progressing so well until Friday, when almost all of our group that we were teaching, out of nowhere, said they didn't want to hear us anymore. I went home, asking myself a whole lot of questions, what did i do wrong? What could I have done better?

As a missionary, you're always looking to improve yourself. Improve how you can teach, how you interact with others, how you can teach with the Spirit. I went home that day, and I couldn't stop thinking about what I did wrong. We had put so much time and effort into these kids and all of a sudden they didn't wanna see us anymore. Few times I've felt so low in the mission as I felt after we left that lesson. Funnier than that, as we were leaving that lesson, 3 more of our investigators ran us down on their bike and said they wouldn't be able to go to church because they had planned to go to the beach on Sunday. After that, we hit the low point. 

 After thinking all night, I came to a conclusion that the Lord wanted to humble me. To show me that success is never easy, no matter what the circumstance. It's never easy to save a soul, or for someone to be converted. If it was easy, the entire world would be converted already preaching in the street singing hallelujah. If it was never easy for the Savior, how could we think, as His representatives, it would be any different? To be His follower it takes a little bit of hurt, a little bit of pain, and it takes a whole lot of sacrifice. I've learned so much in these past couple days from the failures we've had. I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to fail and to get up and try again.

I'll close with one of my favorite quotes that I learned growing up playing basketball:

"Winners aren't afraid to lose, but losers are."

- Unknown

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Abraço,

Elder Eliason

"...a good missionary doesn't work with his legs, he works with his head."

HELLO FAMILY!!!

This week was a great one!!!

We started off talking with Eduardo and Erik to get them ready for Wednesday when out of nowhere their mom runs up to us and says that she won't let them be baptized because their step-father talked bad about the Church to their mom. It was a little sad, because they were so excited but everyone has their agency. 

We are teaching Valeria as well, a referral from Dayanne (our RC). She is super cool. She is super happy all the time, and is super interested in our message. We had Dayanne guide us to her house and that's when I realized I had already contacted her in the street with Elder Eiras. She said she accepted the invitation and actually went but didn't see us there and got nervous and left. She's the first contact I've made randomly in the street that went to church on Sunday without us passing by later in the week or go with her to church. She has a date for this Saturday but she works ALL DAY EVERY DAY, so we have to talk to her at her work.

I had my first Stake Conference here in Fortaleza in Stake Bom Jardim!! President and Sister Chamberlain gave talks, and it was great to see some of our RC receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood!! The Stake President talked us up as well. He said that just this last month in August we baptized 53 people in this stake!! The entire zone Bom Jardim is doing awesome!!

One thing that I learned in my Interview with President this week was about how much we have to rely on the Lord. Early in my mission, I wanted to do everything on my own, talk with everyone I could, work as hard as I could. I wasn't relying on the Lord as much as I should have to guide me to where I should go or what should I say. I was always "diligent" but a good missionary doesn't work with his legs, he works with his head.

Sometimes, we want to do everything on our own. Sometimes we forget to ask God if this makes part of His plan. God is all-knowing. He knows much better than us. As a missionary, I don't know what my investigators need, but He does. It's my job to get the answer and relay it to them through the Spirit. The more we acknowledge him and include him, he will guide us:

5 ¶ Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Don't forget to include God in all of your decisions, whether it be day-to-day or the biggest decision you'll ever make.

LOVE YOU ALLLL

Abraço,

Elder Eliason