Week #83 - Lages - Episode #17

I have officially survived 2 summers in Brazil! It´s starting to cool off and I am extremely grateful.

This week has been great! But starting off with a story not so great... 

So we found the Stake President´s cousin knocking doors last week and she seemed super interested so we left a Book of Mormon with her and told her to read 3 Nephi 11. When we went back to visit her this week, she told us that she had received an answer in the Book of Mormon that she needed to be baptized so that week she was baptized in her church :((((( We helped her get baptized in another church!!!! So we taught about authority and the Restoration and she is going to pray so we will see what happens haha. 

But a huge miracle of the week was Debora. She is a 14 year old that we have been teaching but always stays behind the wall because she is shy. Also she has been having doubts about the Book of Mormon. On Friday I fasted that she would have the desire to be baptized and when we went to visit on Saturday she came and sat in the room during the lesson! At the end she said ´´I know that the Book of Mormon is true´´!! It was so awesome. We marked her baptism for this Friday. The only problem is that she has a huge fear of water, she couldn´t even watch the baptism we had last week so pray for her! But we gave her a blessing of comfort and everything will work out. 

This week we had a really cool lesson in Elders Quorum. The teacher made a really cool comparison about the Sacrament and sacrifices in the Old Testament. As they would sacrifice animals in remembrance of Christ, we take the sacrament in remembrance of Him and we put our natural man (the animal inside us) on the altar of sacrifice. Always remember that the Sacrament is something very sacred that we should always take seriously.

Hope y´all have a great week!!

Elder Scheer

​​​​Capoeira pants that I got as a gift. Capoeira is a type of martial arts from Brazil

Week #82 - Lages - Episode #16 - Uma mudança bem mudada

First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAUREN!!! Thanks for being the best sister ever!

Not a ton of news this week but Lauane was baptized! She has changed so much in such a short amount of time it´s incredible. The Assistants were on splits with us that day so we sang Come Unto Christ and I played it on the uke. It went really well! The Spirit was super strong as always as she entered the waters.

We have been working a lot with Amanda who is 13. We found her because a missionary in another area contacted her sister! She is going to seminary every day! We marked a baptismal date with her for April 14. It´s really cool how much I relate to her situation and I try my best to express to her how much the Gospel will impact her life. I´m so grateful to have the gospel in my life!

Love you all!!

Elder Scheer

Week #81 - Lages - Episode #15 - Motorcycle Dreamin'

Hey guys, it´s been another great week. I feel like the weeks are gradually getting shorter. They pass by so fast.

Lauane, our investigator that will be baptized this Saturday,  stopped smoking! She had no problem stopping and it´s already been over a week.  She is changing so much it´s crazy. She has tattoos  and has had some difficulties,  but now she wants to be baptized and serve a mission. So cool!

Another cool experience: Last week we taught Jeferson and Janete and they have been having some financial difficulties. We promised them that if they would go to Church and keep the commandments, they would prosper as we learn in the Book of Mormon. They went to Church on Sunday and on Monday they both got jobs. Here in Lages it is so hard to get a job because the economy is kind of rough so that was an absolute miracle.

We are having some success with some other investigators and hoping to mark some other baptismal dates!! 

Have a great week!

Elder Scheer​​​​​​

Week #80 - Lages - Episode #14 - Helping Others Feel God's Love

Hello world! It’s been a really successful week!

So this week we have started teaching a 20 year old named Lauane. Her dad is an ex-missionary but he is inactive and she has a 16 year old sister that is inactive as well. She was never baptized and now she wants to be. She is really looking to change her life for the better and it has been really cool to see how much she has already changed. We marked her baptism for March 17th and she is super excited!

Miracle of the week was that 9 investigators came to church! Super hype! We focused this week on getting everyone to church and it worked out. There were still a few that said they would go and didn´t show up, but we are hoping to work with these people during the week and help them progress even more.

I also got a surprise visit on Saturday from Alessandro and Vanessa, a family I taught in Florianopolis. We went to dinner and it was a great time. Love them so much.

Today we woke up early to climb the biggest hill in Lages and see the sunrise. Sadly it was super cloudy and we didn´t see the sunrise, but we took advantage and took some sweet pics.

Yesterday I was reading a book called the Power of Every Day Missionaries. He told a story that really stuck with me. He was a professor at Harvard and he felt that he needed to make his classes better because of how much the students were paying to be there. He was praying for guidance to know how he could because there weren´t any mistakes in his teaching. Soon after, he met an Indian who gave him the advice to help his students feel the love he has for each of them. He decided to pray every day before his classes that he would be able to change the spirit in the class by simply teaching with love. He decided to take it even one step further to his personal life, praying that everyone with whom he interacted could be able to feel the love he has for them and the Love that God has for them. I thought this story was really cool and I will definitely apply this in my life. 

Love y´all!

Elder Scheer