Elder Spencer Christofferson: "Love can be shown by any person no matter the country, race, or language"

Zone Conference and the Americans in our Zone

Hi Everyone!!

How is everybody doing? I hope you all had a great week and are doing well! This week was awesome for us and it is looking good here for the future. I can't believe how fast time is going! It just reminds me every day to make the most of the time I got here!

So last p-day we went bowling! It was so fun. Bowling here is the same as it is in the states. It was funny because a ton of the elders and sisters here had never bowled or only had a few times in their lives so I was the best one, haha! I am really not that good at all but compared to them I was! It was a blast! It made me think about the universal feelings and things of this Earth. Laughing doesn't have a language, fun isn't confined to one place, love can be shown by any person no matter the country, race, or language. It truly was amazing. I am here in a different country, speaking a different language, with people I barely know and I still had a blast. BTW I am re-reading this and that sentence up above might need to be made into a famous quote by Elder Spencer Christofferson. LOL! But it was a ton of fun! And I am sending lots of pictures of it.

Tuesday was a great day! Elder Bitencourt and I were faced with a situation. We had no lessons marked for that afternoon so we decided to try a different way to find new investigators that we hadn’t tried before. We have this thing here in our mission called "suas opiniões," which translates to "your opinions." It is a type of survey thing we do that has religious questions and when we do contacts we can use it with people. I actually do not have much experience with it, but Tuesday we decided to try it. Elder Bitencourt and I grabbed a bunch of the surveys and headed for a street. We said a prayer for guidance and then started. We wanted to focus on what Elder Rasband said in Conference about listening to the Spirit the first time and not questioning it. We started to knock doors with our "survey." It was so cool because we saw some miracles happen from our efforts. We marked 4 lessons for later in the week. It was awesome because the “prize” we gave to people who participated in the survey was a pass-along card. The pass-along card had a number on the back that they could call and get a free DVD about Christ. The other prize was the opportunity to have us come and teach a lesson about the questions from the survey. It was awesome.

After knocking on one street for a while I got the prompting that we needed to go to the next street down so we did! We got to that street and as we were knocking on a door this guy came walking up. He lived in the house we were knocking. His name was Douglas and he is about 25 years old. He is way cool! He already knows the missionaries because when he was living in São Paulo his mom and sister were receiving the discussions. He never really listened intently but he invited us in and we taught him the 1st lesson! It was really cool and he liked it a lot. And we found him all because we followed a prompting! I LOVE it!

Wednesday we had a Zone Meeting. It was sooooo awesome! One of the best I have had on the mission. Our Zone leaders are really good right now. Elder Johnson and a new zone leader Elder Brito. I know them both well and they are so good! It was fun to see the whole zone get super excited about this transfer just because of our great zone leaders. One thing they focused on was "giving our all." We all promised to do that and blessings are already coming because of it!

Thursday night we went back to teach Douglas. It was another good lesson but he seems to be a little unsure. He didn't want to make any big commitments and seemed to be scared about something. It was still a great lesson and we for sure won't give up on him anytime soon. Who knows, maybe someone else in his house needs to hear our message. Or he has a great reference for us. Only Heavenly Father knows.

So this week we taught two girls, Andreza and Estefany. One of the members here is neighbors with them and she had brought them to church the week before General Conference. They are 13 and 15 and are both awesome and hilarious. Friday night we went to Irmã Nilza's house (the member) and had an awesome first lesson with them. They had a thousand questions and were very talkative. It was cool to see, like usual, what happens when we talk about the First Vision. I started to talk and they kind of realized that the part I was teaching was important. The Spirit was so strong in the room and we all felt it. Then Elder Bitencourt challenged them to baptism and they accepted. If all goes well they will get baptized this week or next!!

Sunday was a great day too! We had 5 investigators at church! It was awesome and my first sacrament meeting in this new ward even though I have been 2 weeks here. At first I was really sad about not being with the branch. I love those members SO MUCH it is crazy and I got a little sad. But as soon as our meetings started I felt really happy and saw that these members too, are amazing. They care so much about the missionaries and it truly makes it feel like we are not to far from home. I hope you can all show that love for the missionaries in your ward because it helps us more than you know.

So that is about it! We should have some baptisms this week. The two girls and Mercia too! She is the daughter of the lady who passed away in the car accident last transfer. We have still been visiting her a lot and will again tonight! Pray for them please!!

Next week we have a big meeting. President Costa, the Brasil area President, is coming to our mission. He is going to visit Zone by Zone to talk to everyone. Everyone is getting prepared for him as he is super strict and speaks his mind whether you like it or not. It is going to be interesting and I am actually kind of excited. LOL!

To answer a few of your questions:

What was your favorite General Conference Talk?

Elder Rasband's (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/04/let-the-holy-spirit-guide?lang=eng) or President Uchtdorf's (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/04/the-greatest-among-you?lang=eng) in Priesthood Session. Both talks were so good.

What is your favorite scripture RIGHT NOW?

It always seems to be changing but right now it is Alma 37: 36-37-

36 Yea, and ^acry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy ^bdoings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy ^cthoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.

37 ^aCounsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for ^bgood; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the ^cmorning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

It’s SO COOL to hear about Tagg’s mission call to Portugal. I seriously am so excited!!!!! He will speak Portuguese way different than me but we should still be able to talk to each other. I’m so excited for him!

I love the Lord, I love you guys and I love my mission!

Have a great week!

Elder Spencer P. Christofferson

P-DAY BOWLING