Waiting on the road to Damascus

Waiting is part of life. We all wait in all moments. I had to wait to be born, to get old enough to go to England alone, to travel to the US and see my dreams come true...
Now I am waiting again... For my mission call.

I have been a short time missionary for a small period of time during this semester. Six weeks of what seemed to me to be a lifetime of sorrows, joy, outbursts of laughter and tears. All of that came together to teach me something real: I am not alone in this world and there are more people out there. People who NEED a Savior, a helping hand, a glimpse of hope and a shoulder to cry on. People who need angels to light up the way. The word "angel" means messenger. What better messenger can there be than a missionary preaching the best news of all, the Gospeal of Jesus Christ?

The first few days were dificult. I had a hard companion to live with. We had distinct personalities and could not seem to get along. For one week this went on. Finally, I got transferred to a diferent area. Now, I was in a trio with two amazing girls. But somehow halfway I realised that I HAD LEARNED something really precious with my first companion. Something my other companios lacked and I was missing. Now I knew how important it was. Anyway, I was teaching, learning and growing. The first thing I noticed is how amazingly simple the Gospel of Jesus Christ is. We try to make it harder by going through deep douctrine and thoughts, but it actually is quite simple and it should be simply taught. We need to stick with the simple things so we can understand the great... all in the Lord´s time and not ours.

After another week, I got transferred again. This time I had only one companion. She was the best. She was there for me from the start. She helped me reach for my goals and believe I could be able to overcome and reach. I spent one month with her and when the time came to say good-bye, I was quite sad that it was over. But we had had so much fun together, that I did not even care about not having that anymore. I have my memory to help me remember the good times.

In a nutshell, I can say that I am a better person today than I was in the past, before that short time mission. I am still waiting for my call. It´s closer than ever and all I have is a felling of gratefulness. The Lord has put in my way people who could care, lead, embrance, comfort, guide, inspire and love me.

I don´t know what the future holds for me, but I know it will all be well.

I love my Savior. I love His Gospel. I love God and I love being a missionary.

O exemplo ecoando através dos anos

No Livro de Mórmon, no capítulo 24, lemos sobre a história de um povo chamado Anti-Néfi-Leitas. Eles foram Lamanitas convertidos pelos filhos de Mosias. Pela missão fervorosa dos filhos de Mosias, esse povo influenciou mais tarde para o bem 2000 de seus filhos, que se tornaram um exemplo de "grande coragem jamais vista entre todos os nefitas", Alma 56:45.

Pois bem, vejamos como tudo começou.

O relato em Alma 24 nos diz que sua conversão fora tão grandiosa que "não havia uma só alma, entre todo o povo que se convertera ao Senhor, que quisesse pegar em armas contra seus irmãos" (versículo 6). Eles aceitaram Cristo como seu Salvador (versículo 10) e, convencidos de que suas manchas tinham sido apagadas, resolveram não mais manchar suas espadas com o sangue de seus irmãos, os Lamanitas que queriam lhes atacar (versículo 12). Assim, guardaram suas espadas, convencidos de que se as manchassem novamente, talvez não pudessem ser lavadas novamente pelo sangue do Filho de Deus, que seria ainda derramado para a expiação dos pecados (versículo 13). Assim, os Anti-Néfi-Leitas ENTERRARAM SUAS ARMAS DE GUERRA NAS PROFUNDIDADES DA TERRA, como testemunho e convênio de que NÃO DERRUBARIAM MAIS O SANGUE DE NENHUM DE SEUS IRMÃOS. 

Isso é algo magnífico. Um convênio feito ao Senhor. Esse povo estava tão certo e convencido da importância de guardar esse convênio, que "preferiram sofrer até a morte a pecar" (versículo 19). O relato que segue é, em minha opinião, inspirador. Os lamanitas vinham-lhe ao encontro e os Anti-Nefi-Leitas somente "prostraram-se por terra diante deles e começaram a invocar o nome do Senhor; e estavam nessa atitude quando os lamanitas começaram a atacá-los e a matá-los com a espada" (versículo 21). Uma demonstração de fé, coragem e fidelidade ao Senhor. Esse povo mostrou INTEGRIDADE. Essa integridade serviu mais tarde para influenciar alguns de seus inimigos. De fato, "mais de mil chegaram ao conhecimento da verdade; e assim vemos que o Senhor trabalha de vários modos para salvar seu povo" (ler versículos 23 ao 27 para maiores detalhes). Também seus filhos foram influenciados por essa mesma integridade, 30 anos mais tarde, em Alma 53.

Quando chegou a vez de pegarem em armas mais uma vez, para defender seu povo, os anti-Nefi-Leitas não podiam pegar, pois tinham feito convênio de NUNCA MAIS PEGAR EM ARMAS PARA COMBATEREM SEUS IRMÃOS. Assim, essa tarefa foi incubida a seus filhos, que eram todos muito jovens. Vamos que tinham feito convênio de "lutar pela liberdade dos nefitas, sim, de proteger a terra, ainda que com sacrifícios de sua própria vida (...) Ora, eis que havia dois mil desses jovens (...) e eram todos muito jovens e muito valorosos quanto à coragem (...) eles eram homens fiéis em todas as ocasiões e em todas as coisas que lhes eram confiadas. (...) Haviam aprendido a guardar os mandamentos de Deus e a andar retamente perante Ele" (versículos 17 a 21).

Notamos que esses jovens haviam absorvido, pelo exemplo a mesma coragem, fidelidade e integridade de seus pais. O exemplo perdurou através dos anos e, quando chegou a hora, eles estavam PREPARADOS pois já haviam aprendido com seus pais. 

Em Alma 56, no versículo 45, vemos que Helamã "nunca havia presenciado tão grande coragem, não, nem entre todos os nefitas". Eles "não temiam a morte, (...) haviam sido ensinados por suas mães que, se não duvidassem, Deus os livraria." (versículo 47). 

Qual foi o resultado? "Nenhum deles havia caído por terra, sim, a haviam lutado como que com a força de Deus" (versículo 56).

Que possamos lembrar que o exemplo fala mais alto que palavras. Ele ressoa através dos anos. Ele influencia nossos amigos, inimigos, filhos e até mesmo quem nem conhecemos. Os Anti-Nefi-Leítas foram integros. Seus filhos foram íntegros. Que esses exemplos possam nos lembrar do valor da integridade. 

Conversion for Life

Yesterday we learned in Relief Society about "Conversion For Life". But, what does that actually mean? The first question you have to ask yourself is: "Have I been converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ? The obvious answer would be, if you are baptized, is: Oh, yeah! But are you REALLY? And if you are... HOW converted are you to Jesus Christ?

As we leaned this sunday at church here in Brazil - I don't know if the curriculum is the same for the rest of the world - is that we need to "keep going ahead in the principles of truth". That, my friends, is REAL conversion. Conversion is not a one time thing, but a process that takes on for a long time. In fact, we must live in a way that everyday means conversion for ourselves. 

President Lorenzo Snow taught that "we must be men and women full of strength and faith, besides being doers of good work". That is one way for true and constant conversion. There are another ways that I would like to write about.



President Snow also said "it is virtually impossible that someone can remove their religion like it were a piece of clothing or a suit". That means we must imcorporate our religion in such a way that it becomes impossible to put it aside. That's another way for true conversion or that's the consequence of true conversion. I CAN NOT BE A ONE TIME CHRISTIAN. That's when we remember we must be "witnesses of God at all times, in all things, in all places" Mosiah 18:9.

My favorite example of true conversion is Paul. We read about his conversion in Acts 9. On verse 29 we read that "he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus". Conversion for Life produces boldness. That boldness comes from courage and testimony. Courage and testimony come from faith and "faith cometh by "hearing, and hearing from the word of God" Romans 10: 17.



Reading the scriptures is a sure way of converting for life. President Snow continues on teaching us about that when he said that "we are in danger when we are satisfied with superficial progress. (...) We must delve into the things of God". 



" There is no such thing as a man laying off his religion unless he lays off himself. Our religion should be incorporated within ourselves, a part of our being that cannot be laid off. If there can be such a thing as a man laying off his religion, the moment he does so he gets on to ground he knows nothing about, he gives himself over to the powers of darkness, he is not on his own ground, he has no business there."

Little Of Stature

I am a short girl. Less then 5 feet. Shameful? Yeah, it was. But now I am okay with it. In fact, I see myself nowadays better because I don't rely on my height to realize how loved I am. I think that's exactly what happend to this short man called Zacchaeus. 

In Luke 19 we find the story of this short little man who wanted so much to see Jesus, but because of the press, he could not take a glance at the Savior. What were him to do? 

Sometimes I feel like - and I think YOU, dear reader, might relate to that - Jesus is not looking down on me. Sometimes I feel like He does not care or is not aware of my problems. That's when I feel the need of calling His attention to me. 

In Luke 19:4 we see that Zacchaeus climbed up into a sycomore tree. That was His way of calling the Lord's attention to him. That was his way of making himself noticed. 

How can we learn form Zacchaeus? How can we also call the Lord's attention to us? 

My first immediate answer would be prayer. Through prayer we can make ourselves heard and noticed. It is our channel of communication with the Lord. Prayer opens the doors of heaven. Knowing we are God's children makes a great difference in the way we pray. We know we will be heard and aswered. We also know our problems and afflictions will be taken in consideration. We climb our sycomore tree when we pray with faith. 

We also climb our tree when we fast. Fasting is a key step into making ourselves and our problems noticed. It's a way of making the Lord look down on us. Our sacrifice will bring us the heavenly help we need. We will feel closer to the Lord. The Holy Spirit will comfort us during our trials. 

Coming back to Luke 19 we see that the Savior did notice Zacchaeus. Verse 5 tells us Jesus saw him and told him to come down. My favorite part in this verse is when Jesus tells him "for to day I must abide at thy house"

It does not matter how small we may feel. The Lord is aware of our condition, our trials, our burden. He will lift it up for us and help us along the way. But of course, we should not just lay down and expect Him to do it all without us CALLING Him. Prayer is not to be taken for granted.  Faithful prayer can perform miracles when it is combined with fasting. That's how we climb our sycomore tree. The Lord wil look at us and bless us and abide with us. 

Verses 9 and 10 show us what happenned to Zacchaeus and what can happen to us if only we look for the Savior:

"And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and save that which was lost."

The impossible becomes possible

  How many times have we found ourselves in a situation where we really needed something that seemed impossible? Well, I have seen myself in those kind of situations many times.

But we need to realize that actually the word impossible does not exist in the believers' dictionary. Actually, the scriptures are full of examples which tell us about "impossible" events that came to happen. Let's take a look at some of them:

Jesus walks on waters: Mathew 14:22-31

That account is very important for me because it shows us how we can make the impossible possible. The apostles recognized Jesus walking on the water. They were really scared and feared. That's what happens to us when we find ourselves in a situation we never pictured before. We tremble and become afraid of the consequences. We start to imagine the unthinkable. That's what happend to the apostles. They thought it was a ghost. Then, when they were about to fall into more despair, Jesus shouted at them saying: 

"Be of good cheer ; it is I; be not afraid." 

That's the answer of God to us when we find ourselves in an extreme tight situation. He tells us not to be afraid. We have no reason to be afraid, because He is there for us. Peter knew Jesus had the power to do everything POSSIBLE, so he did not hesitate to ask Jesus:

"Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water."

Then, with no fear in mind, Peter did what was asked of him: He steped on the water. How many of us know what to do but are just too afraid to take that first step out on the water? Well, when we exercise our faith, we just take that step. We move on. We do not think about what may or may not occur. We trust the promise, we follow the Savior's promise and we just go for it.

But something happened to Peter while he was on that water:

"But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was ^aafraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me."

He feared! He might have thought: "Hey, what am I doing? I am walking on water... That's just not POSSIBLE". So He started to sink. Then he cried and asked Jesus to save him. Why did Peter fail to keep walking? Because he did not accept he could be doing something that - in a fisherman's perspective - was just not POSSIBLE. He did not think about the Savior's power to make him accomplish the impossible. He simply feared and failed.

That is something we must be careful about. Let's not be taken by fear! Fear is the opposite of faith. When there's fear, faith can not prevail and we don't trust the Lord. We forget about how mighty He is and how He can do the impossible. 

The impossible is a matter of perspective too! Actually, there is no thing such as the "impossible". The scriptures don't lie. If they tell us "I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me", why do we doubt?

It does not matter if it is in this life or in the life to come. We CAN achieve EVERYTHING we aske the Lord. Let's not doubt Him and His power. Let's have faith in His words. So that He does not have to ask us the same question he asked Peter: "O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"