Elder John Hiatt's Mission Blog

Hello family and friends, This is Élder Hiatt, still serving in the Osasco ward of the São Paulo Oeste mission with my companion, Élder Bulkley. We've been together here for almost three transfers (one more week), and things have been pretty good between us. We struggle to have normal conversations sometimes, since one of us talks too much and the other doesn't talk enough, but we are working and getting things done. This week, we got a reference from the Visitor's Center next to the temple. Apparently Magda was looking for the truth, looked up some information about the Book of Mormon, and found the missionaries who work in the Center, who passed the reference on to us. We met her last night, and is truly seeking God. We gave her a Book of Mormon and confirmed that we can come back to continue teaching her. Cláudio, who I've mentioned a few times, came back to church this week. We taught him the last of the missionary lessons this week, so he is officially ready to be

Hello family and friends, Welcome back to Elder Hiatt News, direct from Osasco, São Paulo, Brazil. First up this week: Wednesday morning, Elder Hiatt went with his companion, Elder Bulkley, to the Zone Conference which took place in the chapel located to the side of the São Paulo Temple. There, trainings were given by President Horsley, president of the São Paulo Oeste mission, concerning the importance of Joseph Smith as a prophet, seeker of knowledge, and example for missionaries and investigators. Additional discussion was given concerning inviting investigators to act and repent of their sins to become more like Christ. Exclusive interview: We have received word that during this conference, Elder Hiatt had a private interview with President Horsley himself, in which he was given a small amount of information about the approaching transfer. He was not given any names, but is confident that at the end of two more weeks he will be relocated to a different area in the mission with anot

Hello family and friends, So, this week we did some stuff. It rained a bit. We taught a few lessons. One investigator came to church for about the eighth time without agreeing to be baptized. Normal stuffs. As I was reading in Preach My Gospel this morning about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I thought about why we teach these things. What is the purpose of what we do? And then I found the answer: John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. We receive many blessings from God. Health, knowledge, and even life itself come from Him. In this scripture, we learn of one of the greatest blessings that God has given us: His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Because of the Atonement of Christ, we can receive the blessings of forgiveness and eternal life, which is life with our Heavenly Father for eternity. God doesn't need to give us these blessings. He didn't have

Hello, family and friends, In the mission, you get to hear some weird things sometimes. Here are a few conversations that happened this week, transcribed as accurately as I can remember. Conversations in Portuguese have english translations provided. Conversa 1: Andando com o meu companheiro Eu: Eu ouvi falar que essa outra ala da missão fecharia. O que você conhece disso? (Me: I heard that this other ward in the mission would close or something. What do you know about this?) O Élder Bulkley: Provavelmente não fechará. Eles não gostam de fechar completamente. ... (Elder Bulkley: It probably won't close completely. They don't like to close areas completely. ...) Mais 15 minutos ... (15 more minutes...) ... Por isso sou grato que não preciso bater meu cérebro. (... For this I'm grateful that I don't have to hit my brain.) During those 15 minutes, my companion continued talking, explaining the inconveniences of closing a ward like that, and how his ward at home was split u