Elder Spencer Christofferson: "My LAST big letter as a Missionary!!!"

Elder Palma and I at my goodbye party thrown by the Ward!

Hey everybody!!

Well well well.... I can't believe it, but this is my last big letter as a missionary!!!! I am still in shock and I don't think it has really hit me yet that I will back in the good ole' USA this week!! But I am also sad to have to leave my amazing Brasil!! But I will get to all those crazy details at the end of this email! For now I will just do the normal and talk about our week! Man it was a crazy one! And one full of miracles! We had a baptism on Saturday!!!!! Amazing right?! On my last Saturday as an Elder! But I will get to all that later too haha! Gotta start from the beginning of the week!

So this week started kind of on Tuesday because that was the last day I wrote an email! Because of our zone conference last monday we had the first half of Tuesday as time to use email! That afternoon was normal work day! And man it was a busy one! We had Elder Gomes, one of the assistants, with us that day! It was crazy because we had to walk again! After the crash we got the bikes back on Sunday from the lady and took them home. We didn't use them at all on Monday. And Elder Gomes was here on Tuesday and we don't have a third bike so not tuesday either! So that meant we were on foot! It was so weird to work like that again! We had a blast the entire day doing fun contacts and teaching. We had a cool moment in the afternoon. We were looking for this one street and couldn't find it. So Elder Gomes walks up to a house, with its door open (that is super normal here) and asked the lady inside for info. She didn't really know how to inform us but we used that as an excuse to talk to her! She was an older lady and was washing dishes when we got there. We started talking to her about our message and asked if we could come in to share it with her! She accepted and we went in to teach her and her husband who was watching tv in the other room! We sat down and started talking to the husband. It was awesome because the people here are so friendly! The second we sat down they asked if we were okay and wanted water, fruit, anything to eat, etc. I kind of chuckled to myself because I just love it! We taught them the Restoration and it was great! The Spirit that we feel every time we talk about the restoration just strengthens my testimony more and more! The whole day Tuesday was just great!

That night we headed over to visit with Branca! Irmã Branca is doing great but it had been a while since we had not seen her! She had been super busy and we just never seemed to connect. But we finally got a hold of her again Tuesday and went to visit her that night! It was actually Elder Gomes' second time there because the other time he was down here on a division, we visited her too. Tuesday night we had a great visit. We had originally planned on reading a chapter from the Book of Mormon with her but we started to talk and just kept going. We were using a technique that President trains us on. We asked her what could stop her from getting baptized this week. She started to talk about coffee and then some other stuff. But the cool thing about this is that we say, "okay so take that problem and pretend it doesn't exist. What else could stop you from getting baptized?" So we did this with Branca because we have gotten to that point with her that we just don't really know what else to do. But for some reason I have had the strong impression this whole time to not give up on her! Anyways, Tuesday night we had a great conversation and she pretty much bore her testimony about the Book of Mormon! She really believes that it is the word of God! That was so great to hear! But we finally discovered that there is still something that she has doubts about but hasn't told us yet and doesn't feel comfortable with yet. So that was nice to find out what was really going on. Something is still bugging her, the sad part is that she still doesn't feel comfortable sharing that with us so we can help. But she is an awesome lady and I have no doubt that she will be a member of the church one day!

I don't really remember what happened on Wednesday but I did get my bike chain fixed first thing so the bike is all good now! And I may be walking on the hills now haha!

Thursday night was awesome because we had another noite de integração! It was kind of a last minute activity but the members wanted to do it still so we did. We played volleyball in the front garden of the chapel which was super fun and then we had a spiritual message from our ward mission leader, Lenini. And let me tell you, it was pretty funny for me. Lenini started out by talking about apostles and what that means and we read scriptures and all discussed it. Then we talked about how the apostles are special witnesses of Jesus Christ and are His special advocates on the Earth. Then Lenini showed a video, and who would've guessed it? He showed Elder D. Todd Christofferson's (uncle Todd) testimony video from the Sacred Grove! After the video he talked about how our testimonies are important and then said, "now can you imagine bearing your testimony to an Apostle of Christ? Well we are going to do that!" So he gave everyone paper and pencils and told us all to write our testimonies and that he would find a way to deliver it to Uncle Todd! I kind of raised my hand and said, "uhh... I know you were probably planning on me saying this but I can probably deliever it to him." Everyone laughed and accepted. It was super cool and actually the first time in two years that anyone has tried anything like that haha! So I got a super special envelope titled to Elder D. Todd Christofferson, with some very special testimonies and a picture of everyone there that night! It was awesome!

So now for the baptism story! Friday morning we were having some trouble with confirming our lunch for the day so I called the branch president and asked him to help. After talking about that he said, "Oh Elder I need a favor from you guys." He went on to explain about a Sister Vilma from our branch. She lives in a small town about half an hour from Eunápolis but is a member and has just started coming back to church. Sometimes it is hard for her to come because it is far but she is trying to come as much as she can. She has a daughter named Emilly who is 9. And this Emilly wanted to be baptized! President Almir asked if we could help with that. Of course we said yes! We actually didn't know yet if it was going to be a baptism for the mission or count for the branch. After talking more and reading the church manual to confirm we found out that it would count as a mission baptism because Emilly is already 9 and was never registered as a child.

So on Saturday we taught Emilly and then President Almir did the baptismal interview for her and then she got to be baptized! I was lucky enough to do it too! It was so awesome and she reminds me a lot of Avery and was so cute the whole day! She was SOO excited to get baptized it was awesome! It was a fantastic day and the baptism went perfectly. I got to do exactly what every mission dreams of, baptize on the last week! The Lord really did bless us though. He saw that we had like THREE baptisms this transfer that fell through and blessed us with Emilly! It was fantastic to see her so happy. That was our miracle baptism of the week! And it was amazing!

Sunday was awesome too! Emilly got confirmed and I had to give an on the spot talk! I had blessed the sacrament and after I went and sat in my seat. The counselor announced the speakers and he said my name! I looked up in shock! So for the first time ever, I had to give an on the spot talk! It went great I think but it was funny because I was super nervous. Later that night the branch here did a "going away party" type of thing for me! It was awesome! I got emotional when I bore my testimony at the end. And I am going to finish this email doing the same.

I have grown in these two years more than I could have ever imagined. I have experienced the highest highs and lowest lows. And the entire time I have seen God's hand helping, and supporting me. I have grown to love this country and the wonderful people here with all my heart and soul. I have gotten to know so many amazing people that have blessed and will bless my life forever. I have seen miracles and been lucky enough to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord to bless the lives of others. I have seen so many tender mercies that show me that Heavenly Father knows me, personally. He knows all of us personally. It is almost impossible to comprehend, but it's true. He knows and loves us more than we can imagine. I have felt that love during two years preaching His word. I have come to love and appreicate the scriptures. I know that they are our iron rod in this life journey. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. The book has a power that is tangible. I know that Joseph Smith was and is the prophet of the Restoration, and that he really did see God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ that morning in a little town in New York. I know that today we have a living prophet, and that President Nelson is really lead by the head of the church, Jesus Christ.

And that leads me to my last topic. I have gotten to know my Savior Jesus Christ during my time as his representative. I am going to miss having his name on my chest everyday, but I know that from our actions we can still have his name on our chests, even if there isn't a nametag. I know that He lives. I think my mission can be summed up by a scripture. 2 Nephi 25:26, "And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." In these two years I have talked, rejoiced, and taught about Christ more than ever. And I have really loved it. And I hope to continue it! I know that He suffered for our sins and because of His Atonement we have a way to get back to our Heavenly Father. I cannot thank God enough for everything that I have passed in these two years. Being a missionary is the best thing in the world, hands down. I will never forget this experience. I love you all, thanks for the support. I love Brasil and all the people here. And most importantly I love my Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ. See you all soon.

THE END

-- (for the last time)

Elder Spencer P. Christofferson

#itsalltrue