Elder Spencer Christofferson: "The Lord always fulfills his promises if we keep the commandments!"

Elder Christofferson and his BRAND NEW Missionary Elder Machado!

Hi Everybody!!!

How are you all doing?! Wow, this week has been crazy and wild and tiring and full of miracles and a whole bunch of other things! With the transfer, trainer meeting, a new companion, Elder Machado, who I will write about in a little bit, leadership council and everything else we had going on, I have a ton of stuff to write about. I hope that I can get my whole message across in this email!

So Monday night we headed over to Ingrid and Jefferson's house for Elder Estevam to say goodbye to them! He gave them their last English class with him as teacher and we ate the coxinhas that they make which are so good. Ingrid asked Elder Estevam and I to give her a blessing because she had been really sick that week. It was so awesome and I love to feel the Spirit working through me. I am so grateful and humbled that I can help people because I have the Priesthood! Even though it was sad we had a fun night. Sister Alves also got transferred to a different area and she had become like a sister to Ingrid so it was sad to see them crying. But that is the life of a missionary, right? Getting attached to the people in our areas, only to have to leave, but it's all good because hopefully we help them grow closer to the Lord while we are with them. And there are always more amazing people in the next place we go.

So, Tuesday morning we woke up early and Eddy (the taxi driver who's the best) picked us up and dropped me off at the mission home. I had to say goodbye to Elder Estevam, which was sad and hard. I love that guy and am so grateful for the time I had with him. After they dropped me off, Eddy took Elder Estevam over to the place where the missionaries who are leaving stay for the activities they have at the end of their missions and I headed up to the mission apartment. The trainers had to be there at 7 but I got there at 6:20 and I had to wait outside for a little while because I was so early and President and Sister Bangerter weren't even dressed yet, haha!

Tuesday was a fantastic day though. I saw so many old friends and made new ones! All the trainers were there and we spent the morning in trainings with the Assistents while President and Sister Bangerter were at the airport picking up the new group! The new group got here and they are AWESOME! 11 missionaries in all and only one American haha! His name is Elder Rust and he is cool. But the new group walked in and they were just so happy and full of energy. And WOW did I feel old. I don't know why but I felt so old as a missionary! I rememberd the day I got here and all those missionaries who were in the mission home the day I got here. And all of them are now home from their missions. It is crazy! Anyway, after a whole day of trainings and food we also got to go out and do contacts with the newbies. We just got to choose randomly but the APs put me with Elder Rust because he doesn't speak a lot of portuguese yet and they needed someone to help him. It was awesome and it reminded me a lot of my first day. At the end of the day President finally announced the companions and areas for everyone! My new companion is Elder Machado. He is from Fortaleza, Seará, Brazil. It is a state north of here and is known for its pristine beaches haha. Elder Machado is the man! He is a little quiet but is warming up and he has such a fire for the work! He loves to talk with people and is not afraid at all. We have had a great time together so far and I am looking forward to the future!

So Wednesday we got to work! I was pretty tired because I had woken up at 5am the day before but I pushed through and it was all good. We had a great day and we found this awesome lady named Michelle. We were looking for a less-active and stopped to ask her for information. She was working at this little place that sells glasses. It is the most randomly placed thing ever but it was a blessing. When we went to ask her I felt a strong impression to teach her right then. So we did! We sat down and had a great lesson. I was a little worried because it seemed like she wasn't paying attention but I was wrong! She was listening because at the end of the lesson we asked her to say the prayer. She hesistated but agreed. In her prayer she said, "God please help me to know if the prophet, Joseph, that these missionaries told me about really was a prophet of God. He had the same questions as me and I need to know because if it is true, I want to be a part of it." It was amazing!!! We were so excited and she said she would read and pray again. We left so excited about her future!

Thursday we had to wake up early again because I had to go to leadership council. On the way I dropped off Elder Machado in Imbuí with the Elders there and then headed over to the mission home for the third time in the week haha! We had a great council and I learned a lot and am excited for the changes that are going to come to the mission! I also found out that I am not the only single Zone leader! There is one other Elder that is and he is training too. So we kind of stuck together that day because we didn't have companions there with us, haha. All the other zone leaders are in companionships together. I loved hearing and learning from President and Sister Bangerter, as usual. They are the best and so amazing. I am so grateful that God blessed me to have them as my leaders here.

Friday was another great day of work. We went back and visited Michelle! She said she had prayed and felt like she hadn't gotten an answer yet. But then we asked her how her Thursday was and she said it the best day of the week for many reasons! She then said, "Well maybe God is trying to show me something." it was really great and then we had an awesome lesson with her about The Book of Mormon. The only sad thing is that she wasn't able to come to church this week. But she is progressing well and we will meet with her again this week!

Friday we also went and visited Marlene and her girls. Elder Machado seemed a little frightened because they are crazy and wild and it was his first time meeting them haha! But it was all good. We had a nice visit with them and I shared a message about the Brother of Jared. It was cool because at the end Marlene said, "that is exactly what I was needing." I loved that because I love how the Spirit prompts us to say exactly what others need to hear. That is one of my favorite parts of being a missionary.

Saturday was tough, I won't lie! It was just one of those days. EVERYTHING we had marked fell through. Like everything. It was tough but we made the most of it and did a lot of contacts and found some great potentials. We had a cool experience that night. We were walking by this building and out of nowhere Elder Machado stops and knocks on the door. This tall kid comes up and we contacted him normally. And from behind walks up this girl and before we could really see her she says, "is that the Elders?" We were shocked and asked her how she knew us and she explained that she had just moved from Fortaleza, (Elder Machado's city) and that she was a member. She is 12 and was baptized last April and is now living here with her aunt and cousins! It was so awesome and we are excited to visit her this week. I am grateful that I have a companion that is so in tune with the spirit!

Sunday was also a great day! We had a great sacrament meeting and Evely came with Marlene. It was sad though because it was the Cunhas last sunday! They are the family I have gotten closest too here and now they are moving to Michigan! The double whammy; first Elder Estevam and Sister Alves leave, and now them, haha!

Sunday afternoon we had a lot of great lessons with some new people. But one of the most interesting was Sunday night. We were looking for this man who we had contacted days earlier. We finally found his house and he was home and let us in to teach him! We had an awesome lesson about the Restoration. The man's name is Ricardo. He is a little interesting. He has had a pretty tough life but we are going to help him. I don't know what will happen but I felt really good about him during the lesson!

So that was my crazy week! It was a lot more than just this but these were the highlights and it was a great week. I am so happy to be a misisonary and I love serving the Lord. I know the Lord always fulfills his promises if we keep the commandments!

Love you all! Have a great week!