"WE HAVE THE TRUTH"

ELDER HILTON OUT

Hi everyone!! 

How are you all doing?! I am hoping everyone had a wonderful first week of May! Here in Brasil we are in "Fall" but it really doesn't exist so it is still hot haha. Actually maybe that is not all the way true! Here in Eunápolis it definitely feels a lot cooler than Salvador and it is raining here and it makes it colder so I can't complain! But w

e had a fantastic first week of the month here and last week of the transfer! Elder Hilton worked right until the end and we had a blast together during this last week! Last night (Sunday) we got the transfer. I will be staying here obviously and I will be getting Elder Palma! He is from MEXICOOOOOO!!! Haha I actually kind of already know him a bit and we are buds so I am pretty excited for him to be my last companion, my 15th companion. That will bring the total count to 2 Americans, 2 Hispanics, and 11 Brasilians! Haha craziness! But I am super excited and pumped to work my hardest in this transfer with Elder Palma. Maybe he can teach me some Spanish too! 

So we had a good week here in Eunápolis! A part of our week actually was not in Eunápolis. Last Monday we were down in Porto Seguro because we were going to do a division in a different area further south called Mucuri. After email last Monday we headed over to a cool part of the area which is called Arrail D'ajuda. It is like a small super touristy city right next to Porto! We got to take a little boat thing across the bay and it was super fun. We didn't have a lot of time there but we ended up getting lost and had no idea where to go and our cell phone wasn't working. We just started walking and we planned on asking someone for directions. The problem is that there were like no cars where we were! So when we finally saw a stopped car we ran over. We asked the couple for directions only to find out that they were also lost. They were from São Paulo. But they offered us a ride back to the center of the city! We accepted and started talking to them! It was super cool. Their neighbor is a member of the church so they knew a couple of things! They just gave us a quick ride and we got back on track but it was just so awesome! People here are so nice and caring I just love it! So that was a quick little experience! It definitely strengthened my testimony of neighborly kindness! 

That night we got a bus going to a city called Teixeira de Freitas, which has sisters. It is like 5 hours from Porto Seguro and from there Mucuri is another 2 hours. The problem is that we got to Teixeira about midnight and the bus to Mucuri wasn't until 6AM. So we had to go to the sisters house and grab the key to the chapel and sleep in the church hahaha! It was a blast! The funny part is that the chapel in that city isn't an actual chapel, it is a rented house. So there are no benches or couches or anything. So we had to sleep on the chairs! It was definitely an adventure and a fun time. I will send some pictures!

Sleeping on the chairs in the church....not as comfortable as it looks! LOL!

Tuesday morning we got to Mucuri! We met up with Elder Souza and Elder Sobral. During the day I got to work with Elder Souza my old companion! Man it was a blast! I love that guy! We realized that almost exactly one year ago we were companions! Now we are both oldies haha! It was super fun. We had a great day and tried to make the most of the city. Mucuri is a small beach town and is known to be pretty quiet. Tuesday didn't help because it was a holiday! But we had some good contacts and a few lessons. I just love being a missionary. I felt once again a great love for this work on Tuesday! I don't know why but I was just more excited and happy than usual that day. I wanted to talk to everyone and just scream "WE HAVE THE TRUTH!!" It was a fun day! 

 

Wednesday we got back home at about noon after waking up late to our alarm to catch a bus from Mucuri that morning. But we got it and got home safe and sound. We were pretty tired but we still had a great day. At night we headed over to Irmã Branca's house to have a heart to heart with her haha. We went after Iasmin had gone to college so we could have a more personal conversation with Branca. We just sat down and talked to her about everything. She says she is praying to get her answer but says that she hasn't gotten it yet. So we started to ask her how she thinks she is going to get an answer. We talked about that then she said, "and when are you guys going to take my coffee away from me?" Haha we laughed and taught the Word of Wisdom to her. She liked it but has some trouble with the coffee part. She has been drinking coffee since she was a kid on the farm. So we made some goals with her and talked about how she needs to show her faith and stop drinking coffee and maybe that will help her get an answer! She agreed! To finish we watched a mormon message from President Uchtdorf called "Road to Damascus" It talks about us waiting to get answers in big ways but that normally they don't come that way. It was super awesome. She understood and I just really hope she can get her answer. She is such a good woman and we love her so much! She just needs to take a small leap of faith! 

Elder Hilton is "dying" (leaving the mission)

Friday we had a cool little experience! We had lunch far away at this family's house in our ward and it was awesome. The family consists of the mom named Sara, her two daughters, and the husband. We had never really seen the husband because he is never home when we eat there and doesn't go to church. So when we got there on Friday her husband was home too! We were suprised but excited to have a chance to talk to him. We had a great lunch but he had to run to work after a little time. Afterwards Irmã Sara explained how she has been really sad and confused because her husband is going inactive. We talked with her and at church on Sunday we even made plans with the Elders Quorum to go visit him. It was just humbling for me to see her and her two daughters who still are strong in the Church. I love the faith of the members here! 

Sunday was awesome! We had a couple investigators show up. Actually two people that members brought. We had a fantastic testimony meeting! Both me and Elder Hilton bore our testimonies! It was my second to last and his last! It was awesome. The best part of Sunday was that night! We had Branch Council meeting and then after that we were going to do a going away party for Elder Hilton. We thought it was just going to be like some food, pictures, and mingling haha. But the branch did a whole program for him! Like opening hymns and spiritual messages and everything. They asked a few people to give some messages to Elder Hilton and they asked me to as well! I was the second to last and I told some funny stories about our transfer together and how much I have learned from him. Then after me he got up and bore his testimony. Everyone was wanting him to cry and it was super funny but he wasn't going to. He gave an awesome powerful testimony and then for the closing hymn, 4 of the young women were going to sing. They sang, "Ye Elders of Israel" but changed the words to include Elder Hilton's name! It was so awesome and HE CRIED! THEY GOT HIM!! It was so funny and he tried to hide it but we all saw haha. At night we headed over to Israel's house. They had a really busy week and we didn't have a chance to visit them so we went over quickly so Elder Hilton could say bye. Man I love that family! They are awesome! 

Goodbye Party for Elder Hilton that the Branch threw for him. 

Our goodbye visit to Israel and his family! 

So at the end of this email I have two more things to write. First, I wanted to tell you all how grateful I am to have served with Elder Hilton. Sadly we were together for a 5-week transfer but man we had a blast. I learned so much from him and felt the Spirit as he testified of the truths of the Gospel. He has been such a good example to me of a missionary who works until the very end and now I know how to do it in this last transfer! Elder Hilton, you are the man!

And that brings me to my last topic. Ladies and gentlemen, we have made it. My last transfer is beginning. I am in shock and it hasn't really hit me yet but I only have 6 more weeks with a nametag. I can't believe how fast it has gone but I am going to make the most of these last weeks and try to help the maxium amount of people come unto Christ. It is with him where we can find peace! 

I love this Gospel and i love you all! Have a great week! 

#itsalltrue

Elder Spencer P. Christofferson