Ferraz De Vasconselos

I had an amazing oppertunity to visit Ferraz De Vasconselos yesterday which was my old area and where I passed about 7 months of my mission.  It was fun walking the same roads and visiting members.  There were two kids that I helped out and their faces were priceless when they opened the door.  We had a family home evening at night and it was amazing to hear the testimonies of some recent converts and how much they have grown in a short amount of time.  I honestly had such a great time and was really happy to be able to see all my friends.  A lot of times we do not understand the difference that we make in the lives of others.  Sometimes it may seem like nothing is happening but people are always watching us and that is why we need to be examples with everything that we do.  It is a blessing to be on a mission and serving the Lord.

Love Elder Visser

A great temple trip

We had a great experience to go to the temple this last Tuesday.  We had to wake up at 5 in the morning to get a bus, then a train, and another train, then we walked a good 30 minutes.  It was totally worth it.  There are a lot of others who sacrifice a lot more than this to go to the temple.  It was so peaceful there and honestly made the week so much better.  I’m super excited to go to the temple whenever I want and also to be able to visit other temples.

We also had a devotional last night that was broadcasted to all of Brasil.  They had it in the MTC here and talked the whole time about serving a mission.  They talked a lot about how much your life will be blessed for serving a mission.  That sometimes its a sacrifice but its also a privlige and a blessing to be able to serve the Lord with all of your time.  We never know how many seeds we have planted during our mission.  You are able to count the number of seeds in an apple but its impossible to be able to count the number of apples that will come from one seed.  I love serving the Lord and I know this is where I am supposed to be.

Love Elder Visser

Just a few thoughts to share

I always get emails from my friends in the mission and it surprises me how much they write every week.  I’m not too good at writing and talking but I’m a pro at sitting and listening to someone talk.  My emails may not be long but I hope you can understand what I’m trying to get across.

This week we had the chance to have interviews with our mission president.  We have personal interviews with him once every 3 months or so.  President Silcox is my fourth mission president.  He has a lot of love for the missionaries here and you can feel that everytime you talk with him.  He talked about how satan and his angels are watching our every move.  They watch and wait until they find that chink in our armor.  A lot of times we fall but whats important is whether or not we get back up and try again even harder.  Every Sunday we have the blessing of taking the sacrament.  Every Sunday we can be completley clean of our sins.  The message the Savior brings is of peace and hope.  As a missionary we see a lot of people with a lot of problems, we even see a lot of members or less actives.  Whats important though is that we do our best and put the Lord in first place and in the end we will be happy.  Serving a mission is a privilege and a blessing.  Thanks for all the love and support.

Love Elder Visser

Another week has flown by

Another week has flown by here.  This week was a hot one with a ton of walking.  When Sunday came around it seemed like everyone we invited did not show up but I was extremley happy to see a couple less active families show up and a recent convert invited his brother who after a few months of inviting finally showed up.  I was happy with the results and know that the Lord is happy with our work as well.  We also had an activity this last Saturday.  In our ward we did 40 day fast to help out the missionary work here and to end the 40 days we had an activity here.  We watched the movie Joseph Smith the prophet of the restoration and we made popcorn.  We planned to start at 7 but at 7 oclock no one showed up.  I was pretty sad but after about half an hour a group of people ended up showing up which made it all worth it.  I love being on my mission and being able to help out other.  It is interesting how much confidence people have in two kids who are 20 years old.  I’m grateful for the time I have and for everything I have learned.  I know this next week will be even better and we have the chance to have interviews with the mission president which are always great experiences.  Thanks for all the love and support.

Love Elder Visser

General Conference was GREAT!

I really enjoyed conference.  I won’t lie, after the sessions on Saturday my brain was pretty fried.  The preisthood session started at 9 and ended at 11 PM and watching in portuguese you have to pay a little bit more attention.  Everyone here was expected that we would have a Brazilian apostle but turns out they are all American.  They are apostles for the world and they love everyone.

Our week was pretty hectic with transfers and meetings and conference.  We spent a lot of time on the bus and train.  The week passed by fast and I really enjoyed it.  I am staying with my same companion which made me happy.  We are excited to work even harder and help more people.  This week we talked with a lot of people in the street and knocked some doors.  At the begining of the week we had a lot of great people to teach but at the end no one was interested in our invites.  We our doing our part though and we will be blessed for it.  It’s a blessing to be able to invited people to change their lives and to invite people to be baptized.  I love my mission and everything that I have learned.  Thanks for all the love and support.

Love Elder Visser

What is it that we need to learn?

This week was one of those weeks.  We worked super hard but it seemed like we did not have a whole lot of success.  We did our best visiting our investigators, calling them too, but it seemed like no one was home or wanted to answer their phones.  It is pretty interesting and I was talking with my companion, it seems like the transfers that you work the hardest are the transfers when you see the least sucess.  I think this happens because we need to learn somthing, it could be that we need to learn humility or hard work.  I have grown a ton this transfer and honestly I am not sad at all because we did our best and our part.  We worked hard everyday and I know that this next transfer we will be blessed for our hard work.  I am super excited for conference this Saturday and Sunday and whatever question or doubt that we have will be answered.  It is a huge blessing to be able to hear our Prophet and Apostles talk.  Thanks for all the help and prayers.

Love Elder Visser

How much do we really understand?

We had a great week.  We were able to do an exchange with the assistants and I was able to work with one of my old companions for a day.  We found a lot of new people to teach this week.  We taught a family who had a son pass away a few months ago in a car accident and we had the privlige to share a message with her.  We bore our testimonies that she will have the opportunity to see him and live with him again.  The spirit was super strong and was an experience that will stay with me for a long time.  Something I have been thinking about a lot lately is how many people do not understand our message of the restoration.  There are times when we explain it so clearly but it still does not make sense to them.  I know that God prepares people for us.  There are a lot of people who do not understand.  It makes sense to me and I have a testimony and that’s why I want to do everything to help others, it is worth the sacrifices to help others really understand that families can be together forever.  I love this work and I know it is true.  Thanks for the love and support.

Elder Visser