Konnichiwa!!
Hey everyone, how are you? Everything's good here, and it's starting to get warm... and muggy, very, very muggy.... haha. It's good, we saw some good things this last week, and I'll share them with you.
The mission has been slowing down a little from December. Baptism and confirmation numbers are a little low, and as a mission, we've been wanting change, but especifically what needed to be changed, we didn't know.
The last Tuesday President Evans, of the Area Presidency came to visit our Mission for a couple of days, and we had the opportunity to listen to him, and learn from him and his experience. It was even more exciting to learn from revelation what we needed to do in order to see success in the mission.
We learned about BOLDLY going forth in declaring the Gospel. And that in order to be bold you just have to open your mouth and God will give you what you need to do. I learned it from experience just yesterday, where I asked a man at the bus stop if he lived in the region and we ended up talking for 20 minutes on the bus! It was great! He actually started by asking me what we did and we talked about his work, life, and although he didn't have much interest, we at least know where he lives, haha!
Then Pres. Evans talked about how we must boldly preach, and not aggressively preach. There's a big difference. And if we just naturally talk to people, and show genuine interest in what they do, they open up to us. It's a change that's need amidst the fast announcement of "hellowearemissionariesoftheChurchofJesusChristandwehaveanimportantmessageaoutfamilieswon'tyoulisten?ok,thanksforyourtime,seeya!"It's pretty much like a robot, and I'm excited to try things out this way instead. It's frustrating when you work your butt off, and nothing happens. But it's where faith is tried that big miracles come in.
And it also starts with small and simple things. We can't expect a big sign out of Heaven that says "it's true listen to them!!" Remarkably, no matter how many baptisms you see, whether it's a big family or one high school student, they each have to individually receive a witness of the Gospel by trying it out themselves. There's no other way. There's no other way to strengthen faith unless you do something. It doesn't even necessarily have to be a big challenge or trial, as long as you're showing the willingness to act. That action is the measure of your faith. And your faith is the measure of your miracle.
I love this Gospel and everything that it does for us. Sure, life is hard, and a lot of times it seems like we will never have a way out. We have unsurmountable odds against us sometimes. But remember that God is on your side! HE watches over you no matter where you are. He loves you and cares for you very deeply. Life isn't meant to be easy. If it was, it wouldn't be a probationary time. But, we have a special promise that endures as far as eternity, and that gives us hope and strentgthens our faith so that we can hold out just a little longer. Then overcome and repeat the same process. It's truly a refiner's fire. It's so true and I love it.
I love you guys and pray for you. I hope all is well and that each and every day your testimony is strentgthened. Christ lives. He is our advocate. He is our best Friend. He will help us. I know so. In His sacred name, I say these things, amen.
Love,
Elder Mourao
