Sunshine From Brazil

April 7, 2014

BELEZA!
Hey there Fam!
So this was quite the week!! I’m not sure if I will ever have a week like it again. First of all... it was the week leading up to General Conference. I don’t know if you still remember, but Conference is one of my favorite things here on the mission. Everyday we testify of a living Prophet that God has called, and it is very rare that we can actually SHOW them as well. So this entire week I was reading many Conference addresses from last Conference, and in every moment we were preparing people to hear the Prophet’s voice. My companion was impressed and often testified about my excitement for Conference. It was great because we actually found 3 less-active members/couples who were excited to come back and hear. So that was very fun, and it was also incredible how we can learn much more when we study the Conference talks in the Ensign in personal study. These talks are really meant to help us for the next 6 months and not just the beginning of April. I challenge you all to read at least one Conference talk each week.

The second special thing was with the interviews we had with President Souza. For everyone it was the last interview that he would have with them before he leaves (Except for me... hee hee I have a Final Interview to do with him) Something that is funny, usually my interviews with him have been very short because I don’t like to be selfish because I don’t have any problems and I know that there are other Elders that need it. But this time, I got a little greedy and I didn’t let it slide. Recently I have been studying about Virtue, and I have seen how President Souza is one of the great examples of virtue to me. In things such as Excellence, Order, Respect, Trustworthiness, Punctuality, Concentration, and Cleanliness. So I asked him what virtue means to him and how it has served him. Interestingly... he really didn’t talk about any of these things. He told me how we as humans are the Spiritual Nature of a God, but have the weaknesses of mortality. And how there are many things attractive to our eyes, but we must look out with the eyes of faith, so to avoid the dangers. The best was when he told me how he raised his family in virtue, and it really inspired me to do the same. It’s great to have him as my President, I couldn’t ask for better.

Then we had the leadership council. I really liked the training that was given because it was focused on working with the members. Something I have been wanting to help here in the mission... well for about my whole mission. Our Assistant Elder Dustin Young I met in the MTC, we were in Juazeiro together, we became Zone Leaders together and he has been my leader since November. He is the perfect example of kindness, and he is coming home at the end of the month. 

And of course the actual Conference was good. I always say that General Conference is the closest thing we have to a holiday..... Ha sadly though, this wasn’t the case this Conference. My companion wanted to organize to watch the Conference in our own chapel instead of the Stake Center. It was a bright idea to really help our investigators come and watch Conference but from the beginning I didn’t feel really good about it. I said that it would be a lot of work and I don’t want to worry about it especially during a time to receive revelation like in Conference. I told him we shouldn’t do it unless there was a member behind it and organizing it for us. Sadly my warnings came to pass. We invited A LOT of people as well as the other 3 duplas to this chapel. It was all going smooth but at the last minute everything fell through. Basically there was a problem in someone presiding. Anyways, Saturday and Sunday was mostly spent cleaning up that mess. But thanks to my companion’s sacrifice and taking the heat of it all, I got to watch Conference still. Just a little bit more stressed, but Conference calmed me down, and I have been able to continue forward positively.
Alrighty, So it was a good week. Pray for the couples I am teaching. Two of them are having serious marriage problems and they aren’t even married yet. The Lord will help us though.
Thanks for not counting down the days as well!!
Cya!

-Elder Zac Cetraro