Pics Sept

Sept 24

Anyway about the week.  The week was pretty good.  We walked around a lot.  Unfortunately didn´t find a lot of news.  Cristiane was supposed to be baptised this week.  Everything was ready to go for sunday and at 7:01 in the morning we got a text from her saying that she got called into work again and she said she feels like god doesn´t want her to be next to us.  I was suprised how hard I took this text.  This is like the most prepared investigator that I have taught on the mission.  She is already in Alma, wants to be baptised, but she always has to work ( works at a hospital ).  I couldn´t hold back my tears.  It was a pretty silent morning for me and Elder Barreto.  I hope she gets baptised this week though.  I hope she doesn´t have to work.  Please pray for her, that would help out a lot.  

As for the rest of sunday it went pretty good.  We had 6 investigators at sacrement with the possibility of getting baptised.  Our mission made the challenge of 6 baptisms in the month of september.  We have only gotten 1 until now, but we have been praying every night that we can reach that goal.  It appears very possible.  We are going to give our maximum to hit this goal.  

Cool experience or an observance that i´ve seen in my mission until now.  We were teaching cristiane and she always has questions ( good questions ) about the gospel.  And we respond.  She asked one this week and after we responded she said "wow I think you guys have studied all your lives for this huh??"  I started thinking and realized that i´ve never been able to not answer a quesiton.  The promise that is found in the Doctrine and Covenants holds true that you will "not be confounded before men".  I shrugged and pointed to the sky and said "it´s all him" haha.  I absolutely love the gospel.  And it´s even better to have the spirit.  The knowledge that I have has grown at least ten fold since i´ve got here.  It´s all because of the promise.  ITS AWESOME!...  Jesus is the Christ

Anyway that´s about it for the week.  Gotta go but I LOVE YOU!

Elder Diamond

Sept 17

Dear mother,

Good day.  One more week already came and went.  This letter is going to be kinda lame because not to much new happened this week haha.  But i´m doing great as usual :)  Good to hear everything is ok back in the U.S.A.  I don´t think i´ll ever hate the cold.  It´s so good I love it.  Can´t wait to dance in the snow when I get back haha.  

 

As for finding people to teach.  It´s going good.  We should have at least two more baptisms before the end of the transfer.  Cristiane still hasn´t been baptised yet because of work but this week she is going to be.  She is really excited.  She has a difficlt time understanding why god lets people suffer.  The other baptism will be aurelio.  He is 25ish and he is geetting married to a member (less active)  they are so special.  I love them!  The best moment on my mission.... That is a difficult question.  I have a lot mom but probably when we have baptisms and I recieve spiritual confirmation that I KNOW isn´t my imagination.  My testimony of the Gospel has grown Mile stones.  I still have the same mission president.  He actually gave me a call yesterday.  It´s funny I can understand everything he says now.  Even with his funny portuguese accent.  I make him laugh.  I think he likes me.  I´m pretty obedient mom ha.  I don´t sleep in, I study, I go out and STAY out all day.  Yeah, don´t really have any thing to bad haha.  I´m not toooo trunky.  Like I love the mission it´s great.  But I don´t think i´ll ever be that kid that like LOVES the mission and never wants to come home.  I won´t lie, I miss you guys and I miss the things i´ve had.  But I will never, ever regret doing this.  It´s been and always will be a privelige to bring souls to the master. 

As for the week it was great. 

We walked around a bit more then usual.  Our numbers are going up which is good.  Hit a bit a wall recently but we are getting past it.  I feel as if we all hit walls in our lives, in EVERY aspect.  Work walls, family walls, hobby walls... Just everything ha.  The important part is to just keep going and keep your eyes on the prize:)  

Teaching is great.  Got a family that we are teaching.  Vagner, marta, and vernaciou.  They are great but vagner and marta have drug problems and vernaciou LOVES to leave with his friends and go drinking.  They have so much potential to be happy, they just need to put down the substances.  It´s more with vagner and marta.  They are brother and sister or cousins or something, but yeah it´s kinda sad how drugs and substances can stop ones progress so much.  I´m so thankful for the word of wisdom haha.  

Anyway good memory this week i´ve been thinking about was Beaus wedding.  How cool it was.  It´s weird to think that one day i´ll be having my marriage.  Hope it´s as cool as my brothers wedding haha.  

Love you mom, until next week

Elder Diamond!

Sept 10

As for the week.  It was good and bad at the same time.  These last two weeks have been like pulling teeth out to find people at home to teach.  I go crazy when we mark with people and it falls through.  We taught very little this week and I get frustraited when i´m working but not seeing results.  We had a baptism though!

Zilda was baptised this week :D.  She is totally awesome.  Very very prepared,  unfortunately Cristiane wasn´t baptised because she had work :/  ..   Oh well we are going to try tomorrow.  Went on a division with my buddy from my district back in the MTC this week.  That was pretty fun.  We talked about memories and how fast time is going by.  I feel like I was there yesterday learning.  It´s all just a blur for me haha.  Anyway that is about it for the week.  

 

I find the little experiences with the spirit through out the day help me keep going. 

With love,

Elder Diamond

Sept 3

As for the week, 

This week was pretty good.  My body is officially accustomed to the heat...  I don´t remember the last time i´ve actually felt cold haha.  Me and Elder Barreto are walking around, doing contacts, and teaching.  No baptisms this week unfortunately but we should have two this week.

1. The first is Cristiane.  She is 24 and is the sister of a member.  She is AWESOME!  Already is in the last part of second nephi.  She reads and actually does the things we ask her to do.  She is excited to be baptised.  She tells me that she thinks heavenly father has abandoned her family due to her mother being in bed 24/7 due to cancer.  It´s hard to answer questions as to why heavenly father would do that.  I answered it how my stake president answered it in church this sunday when he was bearing his testimony.  He said that "certainly heavenly father can take away our trials in a heartbeat.  He can do what ever he want, he is god.  But I know that he won´t, he won´t take away our trials because he loves us. He knows that the reason we are here is to learn and grow and I believe that each one of our trials is an oportunity to grow."   I really liked that and found a lot of peace knowing that although their are times when I don´t feel my best.  Or even when I´m at my all time low.  Heavenly Father still loves me and he is there.  I know without doubt he exists!
2.  Cool this comp went haywire and now it´s listing numbers >.>  oh well.  The second possible baptism is Zilda!  She is 18 and was a reference from a returned missionary!  She is also really progressing well.  She went to church this week and she really liked it.  I´m pretty sure she will be baptised this week.  She believes that the book of mormon is the word of god but she feels that 2 weeks is pretty short time of preparation to be baptised.  So if you guys can please pray for Zilda to make the right descision!  

Anway, that´s about it this week.  Had some great spiritual experiences and I feel like i´m growing.  I´m still the same old Rourke (wow haven´t said my name in a while haha).  Just my priorities have changed.  Love you all have a good week!

Elder Diamond

Aug 27

Good to hear all is well back in the united states of america!  I love my country.  Brasil as well but nothing can compare to the land of the free and home of the brave haha.  Tell the family I said hi and give everyone a big hug for me.  Yourself included.  I felt something this week that I haven´t felt before in the mission.  That i´m truly away from home haha.  It kinda hit me when I was talking with a member that i´ve been out for 10 months.  It doesn´t feel like that.  I feel like i´ve missed a lot but I really haven´t.  My growth and development has skyrocketed since i´ve been here.  My intelligence is growing each day.  Not just with spiritual things but temporal and physical.  Português is going great.  My companion is awesome.  We are really confortable with each other.  At times to comfortable.  Almost like a brother to brother relationship.  We are hitting each other and things like that ( all joking ) .  We realized it this week and we are trying to  be less mean to each other haha.  We love to play around.  But yeah....

 

The week was pretty good.  A little frustrating but good.  We didn´t teach a lot of lessons this week due to the fact that no one was ever home and our planning just didn´t work out to good.  We are also trying to filter our investigator list and find new investigators that have potential.  It´s quite a fun thing.  I love doing contacts and talking to people.  First couple of times you get a little nervous, but if you just open your mouth the words appear.  

No baptisms this week unfortunately.  We have  a really good investigator whose name is Cristiane though.  She is 24 and she is progressing wonderfully.  She went to church the other day and enjoyed it.  She is already in 2 nephi and has already recieved an answer about the Book of Mormon.  I´m excited for her baptism.  I love teaching people that actually do the things the lord asks of them.  Makes everything that much better haha.  

Zone conference is this week.  Excited for that.  We will be receiving training from president and the assistants.  It´s always good to better your teaching:)  .  

Unfortunately nothing to new came out of the works this week.  I´ll keep you all updated though.  

The gospel is awesome and it is perfect.  I´m so thankful for the support that I recieve and the people praying for me.  Christ lives and this is HIS church.  Until next week

With love,

Elder Diamond!

Aug 20

Was teaching a group of kids that were 18-21 years of age this week.  They were of some evangelical church and they just didn´t understand anything even about there church.  The knowledge of what is god they couldn´t answer.  They didn´t even know who they were worshipping.  One of the kids said she didn´t think any of the things of Joseph Smith were true and she heard that we are a "cult".  I could tell that she didn´t seem to be moved by anything.  We answered every single question they had without fail.  I asked one question and they couldn´t give me an answer.  As I walked out I became really sad.  It suprised me actually...  It hurts when people reject the invitation to pray and ask god with real intention.  When they would rather stay blinded than try and find light.  

The rest of the week was good though.  We have some new investigators that have LOTS of promise.  I´m so excited for next transfer.  I´m becoming more and more focused with each transfer that passes by.  My testimony has become something completely different than it used to be.  The gap of doubt and knowing is shrinking.  God is real.  His priesthood returned.  The blessings are available to all who want.  The only begotten gave a perfect attonement to the father.  Eternal life is within the reach of everyone.  

Have a good week family and friends

LOVE YOU :D

Elder Diamond

Aug 13

So the week

The week was good.  We hit our goal for lessons this week (woo!), Teaching and finding, teaching and finding.  I love teaching I decided.  It´s fun to hear peoples problems and beliefs and try to help them understand the true and living Christ.  It´s a blessing and honor as well.  To feel the spirit work through you.  It´s quite a sensation! 

 

I can finally say that I haven´t fallen asleep one time during personal study this transfer (hands in the air!) .  I think my body has gotten used to the routine!  I love personal study.  The revelation that you can recieve when you study the scribetures is endless!  I love it!  The mysteries of heaven are being unfolded each day to me.  I started to study the book of mormon this transfer and not just read it.  Helps out a lot and you learn lots of spiritual truth when you study and not just read.  Only in 1 nephi 17 though >.>  Kinda a slow process but its all good!

 

So Beatriz was confirmed this sunday.  And yesterday (sunday) was fathers day.  They celebrate it in august.   During the meeting the speakers were talking about how awesome fathers are and heavenly father.  Bea started to cry and left the meeting.  Come to find out her dad died saturday.  Me and Elder Barreto left the meeting to see what we could do.  It´s pretty dificult to find the words to say when someone lost a loved one.  It generally happens in the blink of an eye.  And you can´t really do anything about it.  She was crying a lot and was worried that her Dad was going to go to hell.  I thought what it would be like if we didn´t have the restored gospel.  What would I have said?  But thankfully we have the answers to these things.  We taught her a little about the plan of salvation and had her talk with the bishop.  Even with that it´s still difficult.  After church went to lunch.  We were walking home when we passed the funeral of Beatrizs dad.  Was pretty sad.  I saw lots of people mourning and saying why why why.  Not knowing an answer.  One more testimony builder that i´m so blessed to know where i´m from, why i´m here and where I´m going.  As an apostle of the savior said (forgot which)  We live to die and die to live. 

 

I testify that this life isn´t the end.  That Christ lives.  And because he lives, we will live.  I don´t have a doubt about this, and I know that everything, in the end, will be alright.  That God exists and he loves us.  Death will not have the last word. 

 

Have a good week, and count your blessings.

 

Elder Diamond

Aug 6

This week went by fast.  I´m working lots as usual.  Trying to work out heh.  But yeah the week was really good.  Thanks for the letter (as always)  I liked reading about your thoughts about the plan of salvation.  Good to hear.  We are so blessed to have the restored gospel in our lives.  As our prophet said last conference "it answers all of lifes biggest questions!" 

 

As for the question about if I drink any soda. . . . . Unfortunately yes haha.  We have lunch in a members house everyday and we generally get coke.  I freaking love coke.  It´s so delicous.  But yeah they only have like 4 types of sodas in brazil.  First they have sprite, fanta orange, fanta grape, guaraná antartica, and coke.  Not to much.  But they have a lot of good fruits that you wont find the the americas.  Me and my comp drank some açaí today.  It´s seriously the best fruit drink i´ve had in my life.... You would love it.  Did you know they don´t have lemons here?  Kinda strange huh?  They just have limes and lemon is the same word as lime . . . .Limão.  Lemonaid is really great!

 

 

So about the week.  The week went by WAY fast.  I think the fastest week in my mission.  I can´t believe the transfer is coming to a close.  We taught and walked a lot this week.  Found some good people that have potential to be baptised...  Then comes sunday.  6 houses we passed and each one gave a sorry or they weren´t there haha.  Oh well always have next week.  BUT the good news is that Beatriz was baptised!! :D  Was a great reunion and I can tell she is going to be great in the church.  Well all people are great in the church.  I love fast and testimony meeting now. (used to hate it)  But now I take the opportunity to reflect on the month and how my relationship with god is.  I think it´s pretty good at the moment.  It´s kinda funny how much i´m constantly talking with him.  I pray ALOT during the day.  Makes me think if I am praying this much how much do you think the savior prayed each day?  Must have constantly been communicating with his father.

 

Thanks for the support family and friends I love you all! 

 

Elder Diamond