Week 9: O Primeiro Batismo
Hello family and friends,
I was informed last week that my introduction to these emails has become outdated and needs to be updated. I'll start off with where. I am currently serving as a missionary in the Osasco ward of the Osasco stake in the city of Osasco in the state of São Paulo in the country of Brazil on the continent of South America on Earth in the Solar System on the outer edges of the Milky Way Galaxy of the Local Cluster of galaxies, located firmly in the center of the known universe. (If you try to visit, remember that the big yellow one is the sun.)
Now, what. Instead of the typical list of three events with no explanation, I will give actual descriptions of two things that happened this week.
First, I had my first time doing companionship splits. This is where two companionships trade companions for a day and experience a new companion and (for two of them) a new area. I got to go with Elder Rodriguez in the Jaguaré ward, which is a bit east of Osasco. I got to experience having a brazilian companion, which was good for improving my accent. During that day, someone laughed at my accent and then talked to me in English, saying something like "You're not from here, are you?" ("Double stripe!") (Now I have two completely unrelated pop-culture references!) Afterwards, I asked Elder Rodriguez about it, and according to him, my accent is somewhat french, with lots of breaths and huffing after vowels. People still understand me, though. It just sounds a bit weird. (Except the word "Colorado". Almost nobody understands when I say that, which is generally a few times a day.)
The other important thing that happened this week was a baptism. This was the eight year old daughter and granddaughter of active members, so I had never met her previously, but it is still a good thing to happen. Also, it was the first baptism in Osasco in several months, so the one counselor of the bishopric who was there to run things didn´t actually know what all needed to happen, so my companion helped him get the font filled and hymns chosen and people assigned to talk about baptism and things like that. I played the piano. It was good.
Yesterday we did get Johnny and Michael to agree to mark a date to be baptized, and we plan to invite more people to be baptized later on this week, so convert baptisms will probably be coming within the next few weeks. We started with almost nothing, so the work is advancing.
(I also planned a few more completely unrelated pop-culture references, but I didn't take the pictures I need for that yet, so it will have to wait.)
This is the end of my third week in Osasco. I have been here about half as long as I was in the CTM, and things happen. We walk a lot, and sometimes we find a person who is at home and will let us in to teach a lesson. The people here are very nice, even the ones who will talk to us for twenty minutes about how it's good to preach the word of God, but that we shouldn't be inviting people to our church because all churches teach the same things and this just puts more money into ours. That isn't why we do this. Our purpose as missionaries is to invite all to come unto Christ, following his example through faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. Not all churches teach the same things. They preach of Christ, but faith in Him alone cannot save us. As written by James, faith without works is dead. Faith must lead to actions, to actively follow the example of Jesus Christ by becoming clean of sin through repentance, being baptized by immersion by one who holds authority, and receiving the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, and continuing to live like Him throughout all of life. This is the path that has been declared, and we invite all people to follow it. Only though this path can people receive salvation and exaltation, eternal life in the presence of God. We know this, and we want everyone to know this as well. This is our purpose: To invite people to come unto Christ and be perfected in Him. This is what I'm doing here in Osasco. This is the purpose of missionaries all over the world. This is God's work, and we will complete it.
And the scripture for his week:
Alma 5:26
E agora, eis que eu vos digo, meus irmãos, se haveis experimentado uma mudança no coração, se haveis sentido o desejo de cantar o cântico do amor que redime, eu perguntaria: Podeis agora sentir isso?
Alma 5:26
And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have helt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?
Essa pergunta, "Podeis agora sentir isso?", é muito pessoal. Portanto, cada um de nós deve aplicar essa pergunta pessoalmente.
This question, "Can ye feel so now?", is very personal. Therefore, each of us must apply it personally.
Podem sentir a mudança no coração? Podem sentir de cantar o cântico do amor que redime, que é o amor de Deus?
Can you feel a change of heart? Can you feel to sing the song of redeeming love, which is the love of God?
O que é essa mudança no coração? O que é o cântico do amor que redime? E como podemos sentir esses em nossa vida?
What is this change of heart? What is the song of redeeming love? And how can we feel these in our life?
Essa mudança no coração e arrependimento. Arrependimento e a mudança do coração e do mente para ser melhor e mais como Cristo. Ele não é castigo ou dor, mas escolha para abandonar o pecado e seguir o exemplo de Cristo.
This change of heart is repentance. Repentance is a change of heart and mind to be better and to be more like Christ. It is not punishment or pain, but a choice to leave sin and follow Christ's example.
Com arrependimento vem perdão, e perdão nos permite sentir o amor de Deus.
With repentance comes forgiveness, and forgiveness allows us to feel the love of God.
Portanto, essa escritura é uma lembrador que precisamos nos arrepender e ser melhor.
Therefore, this scripture is a reminder that we need to repent and be better.
"Podeis agora sentir isso?" Vocês têm arrependido? Se não, eu lhes convido a arrepender-se, e ser mais como Cristo e mais perto de Seu perfeito amor. Podem sentir o amor de Deus que Ele tem sem fim cada dia, se vão arrepender.
"Can ye feel so now?" Have you repented? If not, I invite you to repent and be more like Christ and closer to His perfect love. You can feel the love of God which he was without end for each of us every day, if you will repent.
Eu sei que Deus nos ama, e que Seu amor é perfeito. Sei que se vamos nos arrepender, podemos sentir esse amor sem fim.
I know that God loves us, and that His love is perfect. I know that if we will repent, we can feel this love without end.
Vamos arrepender, e ser melhor cada dia. Eu lhes deixo essas coisas em nome de Jesus Cristo, amém.
Let us repent, and be better every day. I leave you these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Thank you all for receiving my emails and reading them. This one was longer than normal, but probably better too. If you have anything to say to me, or know someone who would like to receive these emails (like my brothers, maybe) you can contact me at john.hiatt@missionary.org. I would love to hear from you. Also, if you didn't get my previous emails, they are posted at https://johnhiattmission.blogspot.com/ (for those of you who aren't also missionaries and can follow that link.)
Thank you,
Elder Hiatt
I was informed last week that my introduction to these emails has become outdated and needs to be updated. I'll start off with where. I am currently serving as a missionary in the Osasco ward of the Osasco stake in the city of Osasco in the state of São Paulo in the country of Brazil on the continent of South America on Earth in the Solar System on the outer edges of the Milky Way Galaxy of the Local Cluster of galaxies, located firmly in the center of the known universe. (If you try to visit, remember that the big yellow one is the sun.)
Now, what. Instead of the typical list of three events with no explanation, I will give actual descriptions of two things that happened this week.
First, I had my first time doing companionship splits. This is where two companionships trade companions for a day and experience a new companion and (for two of them) a new area. I got to go with Elder Rodriguez in the Jaguaré ward, which is a bit east of Osasco. I got to experience having a brazilian companion, which was good for improving my accent. During that day, someone laughed at my accent and then talked to me in English, saying something like "You're not from here, are you?" ("Double stripe!") (Now I have two completely unrelated pop-culture references!) Afterwards, I asked Elder Rodriguez about it, and according to him, my accent is somewhat french, with lots of breaths and huffing after vowels. People still understand me, though. It just sounds a bit weird. (Except the word "Colorado". Almost nobody understands when I say that, which is generally a few times a day.)
The other important thing that happened this week was a baptism. This was the eight year old daughter and granddaughter of active members, so I had never met her previously, but it is still a good thing to happen. Also, it was the first baptism in Osasco in several months, so the one counselor of the bishopric who was there to run things didn´t actually know what all needed to happen, so my companion helped him get the font filled and hymns chosen and people assigned to talk about baptism and things like that. I played the piano. It was good.
Yesterday we did get Johnny and Michael to agree to mark a date to be baptized, and we plan to invite more people to be baptized later on this week, so convert baptisms will probably be coming within the next few weeks. We started with almost nothing, so the work is advancing.
(I also planned a few more completely unrelated pop-culture references, but I didn't take the pictures I need for that yet, so it will have to wait.)
This is the end of my third week in Osasco. I have been here about half as long as I was in the CTM, and things happen. We walk a lot, and sometimes we find a person who is at home and will let us in to teach a lesson. The people here are very nice, even the ones who will talk to us for twenty minutes about how it's good to preach the word of God, but that we shouldn't be inviting people to our church because all churches teach the same things and this just puts more money into ours. That isn't why we do this. Our purpose as missionaries is to invite all to come unto Christ, following his example through faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. Not all churches teach the same things. They preach of Christ, but faith in Him alone cannot save us. As written by James, faith without works is dead. Faith must lead to actions, to actively follow the example of Jesus Christ by becoming clean of sin through repentance, being baptized by immersion by one who holds authority, and receiving the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, and continuing to live like Him throughout all of life. This is the path that has been declared, and we invite all people to follow it. Only though this path can people receive salvation and exaltation, eternal life in the presence of God. We know this, and we want everyone to know this as well. This is our purpose: To invite people to come unto Christ and be perfected in Him. This is what I'm doing here in Osasco. This is the purpose of missionaries all over the world. This is God's work, and we will complete it.
And the scripture for his week:
Alma 5:26
E agora, eis que eu vos digo, meus irmãos, se haveis experimentado uma mudança no coração, se haveis sentido o desejo de cantar o cântico do amor que redime, eu perguntaria: Podeis agora sentir isso?
Alma 5:26
And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have helt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?
Essa pergunta, "Podeis agora sentir isso?", é muito pessoal. Portanto, cada um de nós deve aplicar essa pergunta pessoalmente.
This question, "Can ye feel so now?", is very personal. Therefore, each of us must apply it personally.
Podem sentir a mudança no coração? Podem sentir de cantar o cântico do amor que redime, que é o amor de Deus?
Can you feel a change of heart? Can you feel to sing the song of redeeming love, which is the love of God?
O que é essa mudança no coração? O que é o cântico do amor que redime? E como podemos sentir esses em nossa vida?
What is this change of heart? What is the song of redeeming love? And how can we feel these in our life?
Essa mudança no coração e arrependimento. Arrependimento e a mudança do coração e do mente para ser melhor e mais como Cristo. Ele não é castigo ou dor, mas escolha para abandonar o pecado e seguir o exemplo de Cristo.
This change of heart is repentance. Repentance is a change of heart and mind to be better and to be more like Christ. It is not punishment or pain, but a choice to leave sin and follow Christ's example.
Com arrependimento vem perdão, e perdão nos permite sentir o amor de Deus.
With repentance comes forgiveness, and forgiveness allows us to feel the love of God.
Portanto, essa escritura é uma lembrador que precisamos nos arrepender e ser melhor.
Therefore, this scripture is a reminder that we need to repent and be better.
"Podeis agora sentir isso?" Vocês têm arrependido? Se não, eu lhes convido a arrepender-se, e ser mais como Cristo e mais perto de Seu perfeito amor. Podem sentir o amor de Deus que Ele tem sem fim cada dia, se vão arrepender.
"Can ye feel so now?" Have you repented? If not, I invite you to repent and be more like Christ and closer to His perfect love. You can feel the love of God which he was without end for each of us every day, if you will repent.
Eu sei que Deus nos ama, e que Seu amor é perfeito. Sei que se vamos nos arrepender, podemos sentir esse amor sem fim.
I know that God loves us, and that His love is perfect. I know that if we will repent, we can feel this love without end.
Vamos arrepender, e ser melhor cada dia. Eu lhes deixo essas coisas em nome de Jesus Cristo, amém.
Let us repent, and be better every day. I leave you these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Thank you all for receiving my emails and reading them. This one was longer than normal, but probably better too. If you have anything to say to me, or know someone who would like to receive these emails (like my brothers, maybe) you can contact me at john.hiatt@missionary.org. I would love to hear from you. Also, if you didn't get my previous emails, they are posted at https://johnhiattmission.blogspot.com/ (for those of you who aren't also missionaries and can follow that link.)
Thank you,
Elder Hiatt
Comments
Post a Comment