Week #73 - Lages - Episode #7- One By One

This week has been pretty good! 

Starting off with Roziane... we having been working a lot and praying a ton to help her. We invited her to read the Book of Mormon every day and she accepted and it has changed her. This week when we went to her house, she was literally glowing and so happy. She has had some problems with depression and we promised her that if she reads every day she will be able to overcome it.  She told us that she has a huge testimony of it and every time she reads it she has a great feeling of peace of happiness. I know that the Book of Mormon helps us in every way. Sadly, she still didn´t make it to church this week :(    But I know she will get there!

We also were able to mark a baptismal date with Bruna. She is 18 and dating a member in the ward. She has been reading the Book of Mormon and praying and said that she feels peace and happiness when she does. She feels like she doesn´t know for sure yet but we bore our testimonies that those feelings come from the Spirit. At the end of the lesson, we all knelt and each one of said a personal prayer. Bruna was the last one and she asked the Lord to help her know that this is the right path. The Spirit was really strong and it was an awesome experience.

Also this week we got to go to Florianópolis for a leadership meeting with all the Zone Leaders which was really cool. On the bus I read a book my mom sent me for Christmas called ´One by One´ by Elder Bednar. It is an amazing book that talks about the worth of every soul. There was a part that talked about inactives and the importance of ministering to them. It made me reflect a lot about what I could´ve done better before the mission to help those straying from the Gospel. It also reminded me of the incredible joy I have felt on the mission bringing some souls back the fold. I know that as members we have a huge role to care for every person. Please pray for and reach out to those who have lost their way, and most importantly, show genuine love for them.

I hope you all have a great week! Much love!

Elder Scheer 

Zone Leader Conference - Florianopolis - 1/12/18

 

Week #72 - Lages - Episode #6

Hey everyone!!

´Twas a great week and turns out I will be staying here in Lages with Elder Almeida. I´m super excited for this transfer!

Honestly not much to tell about this week but Saturday we had a baptism! Kate is 12 and her parents were reactivated so we got to teach her. Elder Almeida baptized her and I got to confirm her on Sunday.

One of our investigators, Roziane, went to the baptism and loved it! She asked us what she needed to do to be baptized haha. We are working to mark a date but she is having a hard time going to church.

It was very sad to hear that President Monson passed away. I´m so thankful for the wonderful example he was to each of us and his incredible teachings that have helped me to be a better person. I´m so thankful to know that we have a prophet to lead us and guide us!

I love you all as always!!

Elder Scheer

Week #71 - Lages - Episode #5 - Feliz Ano Novo!

I hope everybody had a great Christmas and New Years! Super crazy that it´s 2018.

I didn´t get to send an email last week so I´ll talk about a quick highlight. One day we left a Book of Mormon with an investigator, Rosiane and asked her to read Alma 7. We came back a few days later and when we started the lesson, she bore her testimony to us about the Book of Mormon. She said just that chapter answered so many questions and that she felt the Spirit very strongly. So awesome! I know the Book of Mormon contains the answers to the questions we have if we read it with a prayer in our hearts!

So this week I have spent in splits with Elder Bangerter in a city called Vacaria. They were having some problems here so I got to come down and try to help out a little. Elder Bangerter is my grandson in the mish haha, so we had a super good time together talking about good ´ol times in Jaraguá. When I got there I looked at the area book and they didn´t really have a teaching group, so we decided to make our focus building them a solid group. We went super hard for four days contacting and knocking doors and we were able to find 23 new investigators! There were so many miracles and it was so fun. One day Elder Bangerter knocked a door and the lady came out. He said ´´Hi I´m Elder Bangerter..´´ and she cut him off and said ´´Come on in!´´. Haha who does that?

New Years was really nothing this year but it´s all good. We found maple syrup in the apartment so we tried to make French Toast but it was a fail haha. Also last night I woke up at 2 am and

was itching super bad. I took off my shorts and 2 fleas fell out haha we got the fleassssss. 

Well I´ll be heading back to Lages on Wednesday and we shall see what happens with transfers this week. Love you all!!

Elder Scheer

With Elder Bangerter (my Grandson) in Vacaria

Week #70 - Lages - Episode #4 - Christmas Day - Family Skype

Week #69 - Lages - Episode #3 - It Isn't About You

If I have learned one thing on the mission it´s that it´s not about you. Many people think that people serve missions to learn a language or to get to know a new place but if I wanted to do that I would not serve a mission haha.

This week has been super #blessed with finding even more investigators and inviting them to come unto Christ.

Wednesday we had Christmas Conference with 3 Zones and it was a great time.

Thursday was one of those days where you look at your planner and think ´´´this is going to be one of the best days of my mission´´ because you have a marked appointment every hour of the day. But as we went through the day every single appointment fell through... and it was super hot. So we were super discouraged but we still had 2 more appointments at night. It was getting late so we decided to go on splits with two members from the ward. I went to visit an investigator named Roziane with Brother Guto. We taught the rest of the restoration and at the end Guto bore a really strong testimony and she started crying. The Spirit was so strong!! At the end I asked if she had any questions and she said ´´can I be a part of this church?´´. So we put her on date for Jan 6! It´s moments like these that make the mission worth it. 

Saturday we got to teach Bruna, a member´s girlfriend. She accepted everything super easily and accepted to be baptized if she recieves an answer.

Lages is getting more lit every week. Elder Almeida and I are working hard and having a good time. I love you all and hope you guys have a great holiday season!

Elder Scheer

Week #68 - Lages - Episode #2 - Spreading the Light

Another great week in the grand city of Lages!! hahaha

This week was pretty cool. Since we have started from scratch in this area we have been working hard to find people to teach and use the area book. We were able to find 15 investigators which is pretty awesome and contacted a bunch of other people! 

On Tuesday we went to a children´s hospital with a return missionary from the ward and gave out Liahonas (a Church magazine) to those in the waiting room. We were able to contact a lot of people and many wanted us to visit them. 

Although we were able to find a bunch of people this week, we spent the most of every day sweating and being rejected haha, but that´s life. I am super grateful that the Lord has helped us to find many people that are open.

Honestly not much this week but I promise to have more next week! I love you all!!

Elder Scheer

Week #67 - Lages - Episode #1 - His Love

I´m in my new area and I´m loving it! It was sad to say goodbye to everyone in Concórdia, but it´s nice to move on. 

On Tuesday night I had to go to the bus station to catch my bus at 9:45 pm. We took a taxi from the apartment and when we got there, I went to pay with my card but the driver said that they don´t accept cards. I didn´t have any cash and I just looked at my companion with so much hope. But he only had $6 and it was $15. I thought the guy was going to be a good guy and let it slide or let my comp come back and pay the rest the next day, but nope. He decided to make a show and started yelling and it was great. We called Bishop but he couldn´t come in the moment and the driver was demanding the money in that moment or he would call the cops. I know the cops wouldn´t have done anything, but I had to catch my bus and didn´t have time to deal with mad taxi drivers and cops over $9, so I turned and walked up to an older lady and told her my situation. Without any hesitation she gave me $10. What a blessing! I´m so grateful that some people in this world are good!! haha.

Then when I got to the bus station in my new area at 2 am there was supposed to be some Elders waiting for me... but nope. Haha I just got off of the bus and walked around the bus station by myself but they weren´t there. I tried using the payphone to call the Area Pres but nobody answered. Then this guy came up to me and asked if I was a missionary. He told me he was the ward mission leader of my new area!! What in the world was he doing at the bus station at 2am?? Haha he had offered a neighbor of his a ride to the bust station. So I was able to use his phone to call the elders in my area to come get me. When I called they were sleeping hahaha. If he hadn´t been there I would´ve ended up sleeping at the bus station!

I know that Heavenly Father looks out for his missionaries and I could really feel His love.

I am loving the area. This ward hasn´t had a baptism for over a year but Elder Almeida and I are going to work. He has a year and 5 months in the mission, so we know what we are doing. We get along super well and I am so excited for this transfer. The ward is also super hyped to help in the work and grow the ward, so it´s going to be great. I´ll let you guys know more next week!

Love you all!!

Elder Scheer