September 26, 2009
Well the difference here in the office from the field is taking its toll, and the fattening of the Thanksgiving Turkey (more widely known as Elder Pettit) has already begun, so in his efforts to combat this undesirable event he wrestled (pretty sure that’s spelled wrong) up a willing friend/Elder and they went running this morning, it was a refreshing experience to say the least and early reports are coming in that the running will become part of a every other day routine.
In other news, the one year package was enjoyed by all in the apartment, the blueberry muffin-gone-cake-mix was a hit and I think if you guys are ever wondering what you might send me again... I think blueberry muffin mixes are a berry good choice (did you catch that one?) Due to the impending expiration of said blueberry product we disposed of it all within 24 hours (though with six missionaries I suppose that’s not such an amazing accomplishment) I thank you all for the creativity and thought put into sending numerous "things of one". One might even say that if this one family of mine had entered into any one competition for one of a kind families in giving things of one for one son's one year anniversary, they would certainly have won... one.
In my studies recently, I've repeatedly been coming upon an interesting principle, that of living up to my privilege as a being a Spirit child of our Heavenly Father who was created to act and not to be acted upon and interestingly enough was that Zone conference had a bit to do with this very subject. Pres. Vecchi started off talking about how there are three kinds of people in the world;
1) those who don't realize the changes/things happening in/or around them.
2) Those who know something is happening, but they may not really know why it’s happening or don't care enough to really do anything about it.
3) Those who are behind the changes in their lives and in what happens around them.
Which of the three would you want to be? Hopefully the third. If we settle for being one of the others, we may very well find ourselves drifting on every wind of doctrine and could one day find ourselves in a situation where we don't really want to be. This idea of actively moving through life is essential to becoming a disciple of Christ, we can't just go with the flow and expect to end up in the Celestial Kingdom, be like Christ or other great people that we come to know in the scriptures or in our lives, the natural man is an enemy to God and so are many of the things we may find we naturally do. Let’s stop just existing and let us start just making those changes in our lives today so we can become the people we want and need to be tomorrow.
Elder Pettit
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Jacob's insights mentioned in his letter
Words of Mormon Vs7:
Imagine how much time it would take to write on plates of gold or brass. Imagine the effort it would take to engrave each and every word in a legible manner, and then imagine why they were doing it. Often times they speak of doing this for a wise purpose, a purpose that they don’t know, but that they trust in the Lord, and have enough faith to know that though they don’t know all things, but that the Lord does and that He knows all that will come. They then press forward in that faith, writing laboriously so that the Lord can work in/through them to do according to His will. In this sense we can truly see how “the Lord worketh not among the children of men save it be according to their faith.” (2°Nephi 27:23) and that God very often does use one of us to bring about good in the lives of so many others, how much could can we be allowed to help in if we try to follow God’s will.
Mosiah 1:3-7
King Benjamin is instructing his sons to read the scriptures and keep the commandments, how does he do it? What techniques does he use?
He starts off telling them how the scriptures have blessed the lives of their ancestors, leading them in the way of the Lord, whereas without the scriptures, he teaches that they would have dwindled in unbelief, giving the example of their brethren the Lamanites. Next he testifies of the truthfulness of the scriptures, giving a brief description of the Book of Mormon (when it was written) and then he exhorts them to “search them diligently” and to keep the commandments of God, that they may prosper in the land according to God’s promise. (Probably citing scripture to them) “Padrão de compromisso”
Mosiah 1:11-12 “Giving a name”
As king Benjamin prepares to give the kingdom over to his son Mosiah, he tells his son to call the people together with the intent to present him as the new king, and also to give the people a name, which “never shall be blotted out except it be through transgression”. What name is this and how is it that it can only be “blotted out through transgression”? A little further on in his discourse, King Benjamin speaks of this to his people. Mosiah 5:8-1 King Benjamin asks of the people if they believed on his words, in response they speak of a mighty change of heart, that the Spirit wrought in them, leaving them without the desire to do evil, butto do good continually. They express that they could prophesy of all things if it were expedient, and they say that it is because of their faith which they have had on the things their king spoke unto them that brought them this knowledge and joy. As a result they are willing to enter into a covenant to do His (God’s) will.
In doing this King Benjamin tells them that they will become the children of Christ and that they will be taking upon them the name of Christ in doing so.
What other aspects are there in taking Christ’s name upon us?
At this point King Benjamin is speaking to the people of Christ, and how it is only through Him and His sacrifice that they can be saved.
Mosiah 2
With great knowledge comes great responsibility, Vs 35-36, When we make a conscious decision to go against that which we have been taught concerning the gospel of Jesus Christ, we come out in open rebellion against God, and we literally are saying to Him that we don’t want His guidance, that our way is the better way, and that even though He made us, gives us air to breathe and strength to live and so many other blessings, we just take it all for granted and move on in our own way. Therefore we become a law unto our selves, an enemy to God and all righteousness, and neither the Lord or His Spirit have any place in us, to guide us in His ways, for He dwelleth not in unholy temples.
Mosiah 3 Vs 19:
19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.
2°Nephi 9:42-43: This has a lot to do with our natural pride, we learn from this scripture that the Lord wants to open to us, and He will, but only if we are humble and are willing to accept His counsel, those who remain in their natural pride, (the spirit of man) can’t learn of Him because He (the Lord) teaches us through the Spirit, and “ the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1Cor. 2:11-14)
D&C 46:7
Ether 12:23-28: One name for the Lord is “the fountain of all righteousness”, makes me think of scriptures that say things like “all good things come from God” and another that tells us we can’t do anything until we are persuaded by one influence or the other (good or bad).
3° Nephi 11
Christ invites all to come unto Him, feel the prints in His hands, feet and side. This could be compared to His invitation to all of us to gain a personal testimony, not a one size fits all sort of deal, but one that is fit to our needs, weaknesses, faith and desires. We could also compare this to the one on one invitation He gives to each one of us to come unto Him through the ordinances of His gospel, that of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, taking out our endowments and eventually having our calling and election made sure. Through the prophet Joseph Smith, God has once again restored these ordinances in their true form, and the authority needed to perform(realize) them. We can know this is true through the power of the Holy Ghost, who will testify through feelings of peace, joy and comfort, but we have to seek it; “Seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you” (scripture reference) After all is said and done, He still leaves us to do our part, God is waiting, wishing and in reality reaching to each one of us, we just have to move forward in faith, take His hand and let Him lift us. We do this as we go forth and are baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, take out our endowments, have our calling and election made sure and continue keeping the associated covenants.
PMG Capitulo 1 (Preach My Gospel)
Como os servos do Senhor se sentem a respeito do trabalho? Como os servos do Senhor influenciam as pessoas a quem servem?
Mosias 28:3 They care for the salvation of others, and keep things in the eternal perspective, realizing that our desires and actions now in this life will affect our eternal salvation and that only those who have been warned/given a knowledge of the way (being the gospel of Jesus Christ) can take the path that leads to eternal life. They realize that they have been given that knowledge and wish to help others gain it with the blessings of God as well.
Alma 8:14-15 They feel connected to the work, it becomes a part of them, it doesn’t become a role that they take on and off as they come and go from their house to the street. They really feel sorrow when the people reject the word of God but they don’t give up, they keep looking for the elect of God walking whatever distance is needed to find them.
Helaman 10:3-5 They ponder in their heart the situations of people, seeking inspiration and guidance for ways to get through to the people. They unwearyingly declare the word of God, not fearing the people regardless of what they might say or think. They don’t worry about their personal affairs at home, they leave them behind and work to know and follow God’s will and the keep His commandments. They don’t ask that which is contrary to the will of God.
3° Nephi 28: 4-10 They want to help others know and live the gospel more then they want anything else, even more then to just ensure their own salvation or that of their families.
Ether 12:13-15 They work in unceasing faith, regardless of the odds against them, the difficulties they are passing through, the opposition or the apparent hardness of hearts, doing all that they can, truly working heart, might, mind and strength to help the Lord bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.
D&C 15:4-6; 16:4-6 They desire to know things of Heavenly Father, they seek for the answers, and they do so with the intent to follow the instructions they receive. They speak the words which the Lord gives them according to His commandments.
D&C 68:2-6 They speak as the Lord gives them words, and as they speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost, their words are scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto Salvation. They don’t fear, are of good cheer and bear record of Jesus Christ.
Words of Mormon Vs7:
Imagine how much time it would take to write on plates of gold or brass. Imagine the effort it would take to engrave each and every word in a legible manner, and then imagine why they were doing it. Often times they speak of doing this for a wise purpose, a purpose that they don’t know, but that they trust in the Lord, and have enough faith to know that though they don’t know all things, but that the Lord does and that He knows all that will come. They then press forward in that faith, writing laboriously so that the Lord can work in/through them to do according to His will. In this sense we can truly see how “the Lord worketh not among the children of men save it be according to their faith.” (2°Nephi 27:23) and that God very often does use one of us to bring about good in the lives of so many others, how much could can we be allowed to help in if we try to follow God’s will.
Mosiah 1:3-7
King Benjamin is instructing his sons to read the scriptures and keep the commandments, how does he do it? What techniques does he use?
He starts off telling them how the scriptures have blessed the lives of their ancestors, leading them in the way of the Lord, whereas without the scriptures, he teaches that they would have dwindled in unbelief, giving the example of their brethren the Lamanites. Next he testifies of the truthfulness of the scriptures, giving a brief description of the Book of Mormon (when it was written) and then he exhorts them to “search them diligently” and to keep the commandments of God, that they may prosper in the land according to God’s promise. (Probably citing scripture to them) “Padrão de compromisso”
Mosiah 1:11-12 “Giving a name”
As king Benjamin prepares to give the kingdom over to his son Mosiah, he tells his son to call the people together with the intent to present him as the new king, and also to give the people a name, which “never shall be blotted out except it be through transgression”. What name is this and how is it that it can only be “blotted out through transgression”? A little further on in his discourse, King Benjamin speaks of this to his people. Mosiah 5:8-1 King Benjamin asks of the people if they believed on his words, in response they speak of a mighty change of heart, that the Spirit wrought in them, leaving them without the desire to do evil, butto do good continually. They express that they could prophesy of all things if it were expedient, and they say that it is because of their faith which they have had on the things their king spoke unto them that brought them this knowledge and joy. As a result they are willing to enter into a covenant to do His (God’s) will.
In doing this King Benjamin tells them that they will become the children of Christ and that they will be taking upon them the name of Christ in doing so.
What other aspects are there in taking Christ’s name upon us?
At this point King Benjamin is speaking to the people of Christ, and how it is only through Him and His sacrifice that they can be saved.
Mosiah 2
With great knowledge comes great responsibility, Vs 35-36, When we make a conscious decision to go against that which we have been taught concerning the gospel of Jesus Christ, we come out in open rebellion against God, and we literally are saying to Him that we don’t want His guidance, that our way is the better way, and that even though He made us, gives us air to breathe and strength to live and so many other blessings, we just take it all for granted and move on in our own way. Therefore we become a law unto our selves, an enemy to God and all righteousness, and neither the Lord or His Spirit have any place in us, to guide us in His ways, for He dwelleth not in unholy temples.
Mosiah 3 Vs 19:
19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.
2°Nephi 9:42-43: This has a lot to do with our natural pride, we learn from this scripture that the Lord wants to open to us, and He will, but only if we are humble and are willing to accept His counsel, those who remain in their natural pride, (the spirit of man) can’t learn of Him because He (the Lord) teaches us through the Spirit, and “ the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1Cor. 2:11-14)
D&C 46:7
Ether 12:23-28: One name for the Lord is “the fountain of all righteousness”, makes me think of scriptures that say things like “all good things come from God” and another that tells us we can’t do anything until we are persuaded by one influence or the other (good or bad).
3° Nephi 11
Christ invites all to come unto Him, feel the prints in His hands, feet and side. This could be compared to His invitation to all of us to gain a personal testimony, not a one size fits all sort of deal, but one that is fit to our needs, weaknesses, faith and desires. We could also compare this to the one on one invitation He gives to each one of us to come unto Him through the ordinances of His gospel, that of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, taking out our endowments and eventually having our calling and election made sure. Through the prophet Joseph Smith, God has once again restored these ordinances in their true form, and the authority needed to perform(realize) them. We can know this is true through the power of the Holy Ghost, who will testify through feelings of peace, joy and comfort, but we have to seek it; “Seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you” (scripture reference) After all is said and done, He still leaves us to do our part, God is waiting, wishing and in reality reaching to each one of us, we just have to move forward in faith, take His hand and let Him lift us. We do this as we go forth and are baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, take out our endowments, have our calling and election made sure and continue keeping the associated covenants.
PMG Capitulo 1 (Preach My Gospel)
Como os servos do Senhor se sentem a respeito do trabalho? Como os servos do Senhor influenciam as pessoas a quem servem?
Mosias 28:3 They care for the salvation of others, and keep things in the eternal perspective, realizing that our desires and actions now in this life will affect our eternal salvation and that only those who have been warned/given a knowledge of the way (being the gospel of Jesus Christ) can take the path that leads to eternal life. They realize that they have been given that knowledge and wish to help others gain it with the blessings of God as well.
Alma 8:14-15 They feel connected to the work, it becomes a part of them, it doesn’t become a role that they take on and off as they come and go from their house to the street. They really feel sorrow when the people reject the word of God but they don’t give up, they keep looking for the elect of God walking whatever distance is needed to find them.
Helaman 10:3-5 They ponder in their heart the situations of people, seeking inspiration and guidance for ways to get through to the people. They unwearyingly declare the word of God, not fearing the people regardless of what they might say or think. They don’t worry about their personal affairs at home, they leave them behind and work to know and follow God’s will and the keep His commandments. They don’t ask that which is contrary to the will of God.
3° Nephi 28: 4-10 They want to help others know and live the gospel more then they want anything else, even more then to just ensure their own salvation or that of their families.
Ether 12:13-15 They work in unceasing faith, regardless of the odds against them, the difficulties they are passing through, the opposition or the apparent hardness of hearts, doing all that they can, truly working heart, might, mind and strength to help the Lord bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.
D&C 15:4-6; 16:4-6 They desire to know things of Heavenly Father, they seek for the answers, and they do so with the intent to follow the instructions they receive. They speak the words which the Lord gives them according to His commandments.
D&C 68:2-6 They speak as the Lord gives them words, and as they speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost, their words are scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto Salvation. They don’t fear, are of good cheer and bear record of Jesus Christ.
Sept 19, 2009
To my favorite mom dad family and friends,
Well we got here to the mission office a bit late today, so I'm gonna have to be brief as well, this week was pretty good stuff, one of the highlights being Mexican food that I made today, the tortillas turned out a bit more like pita bread (or maybe thinking positively, they were gordita-ish, btw I miss taco bell) but all in all it was pretty good stuff, homemade tortillas, refried beans, rice, and some left over sour cream, guacamole and salsa we had from the 1st (and maybe last it was so expensive) order from a Mexican food place here in Salvador. (though I must say, the food really did turn out pretty good to say the least.)
Elder Pettit
PS Attached are some thoughts I've been given this past little bit while I've been reading or studying in the office some are still incomplete, but if any of you would like to discuss any of them with me, or would like to bring up a topic to study, I’d be happy to study/talk about it with you.
To my favorite mom dad family and friends,
Well we got here to the mission office a bit late today, so I'm gonna have to be brief as well, this week was pretty good stuff, one of the highlights being Mexican food that I made today, the tortillas turned out a bit more like pita bread (or maybe thinking positively, they were gordita-ish, btw I miss taco bell) but all in all it was pretty good stuff, homemade tortillas, refried beans, rice, and some left over sour cream, guacamole and salsa we had from the 1st (and maybe last it was so expensive) order from a Mexican food place here in Salvador. (though I must say, the food really did turn out pretty good to say the least.)
Elder Pettit
PS Attached are some thoughts I've been given this past little bit while I've been reading or studying in the office some are still incomplete, but if any of you would like to discuss any of them with me, or would like to bring up a topic to study, I’d be happy to study/talk about it with you.
Sept 12, 2009
Elder T. my trainer of the office was transferred into the field here in Salvador and so officially Elder R. and I are responsible for anything that goes right or wrong here in the office, just in time for transfers :) Transfers are ridiculous here in the office. At the beginning, things were normal, busy, but not overly so, (as in working till 9 or more in the office after going in at 8 or 9 in the morning) but then we had to go buy tickets for people coming from or going to Salvador, take care of getting trainings ready for the "novinhos" and their trainers. Alright not so bad yet, but when we went to grab the tickets at the bus station, there wasn't any room left on the buses (because of a Brazilian holiday and everybody was traveling) we needed, so we went and grabbed some from another bus company and left, thinking the problem was resolved... That was where the real troubles began. After getting back to the office we realized that we were missing some of the tickets we had bought... the biggest problem being that we had paid for them but the lady hadn't printed them off and given them to us. So we went back the next day to straighten it all up, finding that somehow it never registered that we had bought those tickets, but that we had indeed paid the price for them, (still don't know exactly how that worked out) but we got the credits and bought the tickets we needed. Problem solved right? wrong again, we came around missing one more ticket and so we had to go back once again to the bus station and grab it (the interesting thing was that we had confirmed that we had the tickets, but somehow unbeknownst to us at the moment, it disappeared. As it turned out, the ticket had fallen into some dark abyss on the exec. secretary’s desk, only to be found after the day where we could grab the credits from a missed bus) All good, transfers go into action on time, with a couple calls from missionaries saying they didn’t have money to buy their bus tickets for transfers... easy fixes for the most part, they borrowed money from other missionaries who would be reimbursed later or make I made an emergency transfer to their account. Monday night came around and everybody gets off alright, later on (maybe 10 30 or so) we get a call saying that one of the buses with several of the missionaries (trainers and some of the transferred) broke down in the middle of nowhere, and would have to wait for another bus to swing by and pick them up. The poor elders were already uncomfortable as it was on a low class (think school or city bus) bus we had to get them as the comfy buses were all full with vacationers. 3 or 4 hours later than scheduled they get into Salvador, throwing the trainer's breakfast/training that would have started early morning to a brunch of sorts, leaving just the President and his wife free with us to go pick up the new missionaries while the trainers finished getting their instructions. We then took the novinhos to the office dropped off their stuff, walked to the presidents house, picked up the trainers, (leaving the novinhos there for their training) going over a few administrative things with them (the trainers) and then we had lunch at burger kings (I was still full from breakfast, barely ate a thing) only to return to the presidents place a little later to have them paired off with their new companions. That was a cool experience, topped off by an amazing dessert made by the President's wife (how do they all know how to cook so well?) then back to the office, gave a quick unforeseen training on money on the mission, and finally we sent them off to their areas. Quite a relief when that finished up and then there were the missionaries heading home.... needless to say, there was plenty to do.
Another crazy aspect of this whole office life deal is working out housing contracts in Portuguese. The church has done about as much as they can to leave it as simple as possible, leaving a prewritten contract to be used in each case, but when the house owners start trying to change it here or there, bring up the price etc. I guess I'll leave it at this; it’s a lot of responsibility taking care of the money in the mission. I'm learning alot about organizing and getting things done on a bigger scale, with a good bit of accounting for what I do, and I thought Paneras was stressful. It’s good though, I'm learning.
Recently I've had a great experience in watching someone go through a huge repentance process, and I testify through previous experience in my life, and through what I've seen here and what I've felt as I've seen it go on, is that repentance works, relieves, and renews, it’s never easy, but it’s always worth it. It requires sacrifice, trust in the Lord and a great bit of faith, trusting that in the confession that you will be helped, that the Lord never gives up on you, that we just have to meet His requirements and then, only then we can receive the promise of His comforting Spirit. Seeing this go on has brought a greater desire to grow closer to the Lord, do some repenting in my own life and seek to more fully yield to the enticings of the Spirit so that I can let the sacrifice of Christ take effect in my life. I know that is what He would have us do, and I invite each of us to look at what we can do in our lives today to bring us that much closer to our Father's presence. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amém.
Love,
Elder Jacob Pettit
PS great talk I found and want to share with you all, http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=32e62bce258f5110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1 ifice, trust in the Lord and a great bit of faith, trusting that in the confession that you will be helped, that the Lord never gives up on
Elder T. my trainer of the office was transferred into the field here in Salvador and so officially Elder R. and I are responsible for anything that goes right or wrong here in the office, just in time for transfers :) Transfers are ridiculous here in the office. At the beginning, things were normal, busy, but not overly so, (as in working till 9 or more in the office after going in at 8 or 9 in the morning) but then we had to go buy tickets for people coming from or going to Salvador, take care of getting trainings ready for the "novinhos" and their trainers. Alright not so bad yet, but when we went to grab the tickets at the bus station, there wasn't any room left on the buses (because of a Brazilian holiday and everybody was traveling) we needed, so we went and grabbed some from another bus company and left, thinking the problem was resolved... That was where the real troubles began. After getting back to the office we realized that we were missing some of the tickets we had bought... the biggest problem being that we had paid for them but the lady hadn't printed them off and given them to us. So we went back the next day to straighten it all up, finding that somehow it never registered that we had bought those tickets, but that we had indeed paid the price for them, (still don't know exactly how that worked out) but we got the credits and bought the tickets we needed. Problem solved right? wrong again, we came around missing one more ticket and so we had to go back once again to the bus station and grab it (the interesting thing was that we had confirmed that we had the tickets, but somehow unbeknownst to us at the moment, it disappeared. As it turned out, the ticket had fallen into some dark abyss on the exec. secretary’s desk, only to be found after the day where we could grab the credits from a missed bus) All good, transfers go into action on time, with a couple calls from missionaries saying they didn’t have money to buy their bus tickets for transfers... easy fixes for the most part, they borrowed money from other missionaries who would be reimbursed later or make I made an emergency transfer to their account. Monday night came around and everybody gets off alright, later on (maybe 10 30 or so) we get a call saying that one of the buses with several of the missionaries (trainers and some of the transferred) broke down in the middle of nowhere, and would have to wait for another bus to swing by and pick them up. The poor elders were already uncomfortable as it was on a low class (think school or city bus) bus we had to get them as the comfy buses were all full with vacationers. 3 or 4 hours later than scheduled they get into Salvador, throwing the trainer's breakfast/training that would have started early morning to a brunch of sorts, leaving just the President and his wife free with us to go pick up the new missionaries while the trainers finished getting their instructions. We then took the novinhos to the office dropped off their stuff, walked to the presidents house, picked up the trainers, (leaving the novinhos there for their training) going over a few administrative things with them (the trainers) and then we had lunch at burger kings (I was still full from breakfast, barely ate a thing) only to return to the presidents place a little later to have them paired off with their new companions. That was a cool experience, topped off by an amazing dessert made by the President's wife (how do they all know how to cook so well?) then back to the office, gave a quick unforeseen training on money on the mission, and finally we sent them off to their areas. Quite a relief when that finished up and then there were the missionaries heading home.... needless to say, there was plenty to do.
Another crazy aspect of this whole office life deal is working out housing contracts in Portuguese. The church has done about as much as they can to leave it as simple as possible, leaving a prewritten contract to be used in each case, but when the house owners start trying to change it here or there, bring up the price etc. I guess I'll leave it at this; it’s a lot of responsibility taking care of the money in the mission. I'm learning alot about organizing and getting things done on a bigger scale, with a good bit of accounting for what I do, and I thought Paneras was stressful. It’s good though, I'm learning.
Recently I've had a great experience in watching someone go through a huge repentance process, and I testify through previous experience in my life, and through what I've seen here and what I've felt as I've seen it go on, is that repentance works, relieves, and renews, it’s never easy, but it’s always worth it. It requires sacrifice, trust in the Lord and a great bit of faith, trusting that in the confession that you will be helped, that the Lord never gives up on you, that we just have to meet His requirements and then, only then we can receive the promise of His comforting Spirit. Seeing this go on has brought a greater desire to grow closer to the Lord, do some repenting in my own life and seek to more fully yield to the enticings of the Spirit so that I can let the sacrifice of Christ take effect in my life. I know that is what He would have us do, and I invite each of us to look at what we can do in our lives today to bring us that much closer to our Father's presence. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amém.
Love,
Elder Jacob Pettit
PS great talk I found and want to share with you all, http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=32e62bce258f5110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1 ifice, trust in the Lord and a great bit of faith, trusting that in the confession that you will be helped, that the Lord never gives up on
Sunday, September 6, 2009
2 are Elder N.and Jacob in Conquista during the "cold" season,and the other two were taken in Porto Seguro, one is our lovely cooking utensils, and the other a picture on the night I had to leave for Salvador, Elder H. and I went running through the rain to say goodbye to a couple of the recent converts, (Maeco (or Falcão)the kid in black was the one baptized) It was a cool night, but a bit rushed to say the least.
Sept. 5, 2009
This was a pretty good week though unfortunately we haven't been able to do much in the way of work outside of the office, my comp Elder R. got Swine flu.. .just kidding, but he did have a pretty high fever and we had to lay low for couple days, and with transfers this weekend he got pretty busy as well. On my end of things transfers aren't so bad, I just pay the services to move people around here in Salvador, and give a short training to the new missionaries and their trainers.
I guess I'll get to the questions first...
The ward here in Rio Vermelho is pretty good sized, something like 150 in sacrament meeting, and as such is much different than any other ward I've been a part of here on the mission. It’s really quite different the way the missionary work is going here in the ward, the bishop is really in to supporting the missionaries and the recent converts which is pretty sweet, and he is working at getting the inactive young guys active, ordained and working towards going on a mission. The missionary leader in the ward is into supporting the missionaries as well and to top it off, I have never seen so many people trying to feed us lunch as I have here. The only problem is that here in the mission office we really don’t have time around lunch to walk out to the member's homes to eat, and even working in the area falls at times when we have a really busy day. (like what seems to happen around transfers) But I think that once he (Elder R.) and I get into the swing of how to do things we'll speed up the process and be able to get out to work in the area.
The weather here is pretty hot (I think, remember I'm in the office from 9 to 6 these days) and a bit humid to boot.
Yes I do get to meet the new missionaries and those going home as well. I also get to know a good number of those working here in Salvador as well. Another benefit of being in the office is that I'm in the district with the AP's and a good number of older missionaries and as such can learn from their experience, district meetings have been really pretty sweet here.
Am I in the groove of things?... getting there, chances are my trainer here will leave tomorrow night or early next week so I guess we'll see just how much I've picked up the beat here.
Sometimes we look for new places, but generally the missionaries in the field ask around the ward for someone who at least knows someone who is trying to rent out a house/apartment.
Thanks for the stake conference insight, I've been thinking a bit about the same subject here recently, and I was thinking about how in our lives (or at least in mine) we often have ups and downs in our spiritual progress, forward a little, stop moving or move back a little, forward a little more, hold still or move back a little. Times where we really strive to grow closer to the Lord, then we grow complacent/comfortable, or perhaps we let Satan deceive us for a bit, then we repent and move closer to the Lord again etc. In the ideal progression, we would always be moving forward, a constant state of faithful living or what you might call living entirely out of your comfort zone. I was listening to a talk a little while ago where the speaker (Cleon Skousen), talking about his mission and having describing how he thanked God for the wonderful opportunity to go on a mission, and to have, "all these scary experiences", and how you just never know what’s going to happen to you "but if you just keep working vigorously and pushing forward it happens." The changes we need and desire happen, if we focus just always striving to be obedient, make the necessary course corrections, and to always move forward, the Lord will lead us in His way. Perhaps you might even say that the more comfortable we are, the greater danger we are in (in terms of our eternal progression).
I know God lives, I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior.
and my testimony I leave with you all in the name of Jesus Christ, amém.
This was a pretty good week though unfortunately we haven't been able to do much in the way of work outside of the office, my comp Elder R. got Swine flu.. .just kidding, but he did have a pretty high fever and we had to lay low for couple days, and with transfers this weekend he got pretty busy as well. On my end of things transfers aren't so bad, I just pay the services to move people around here in Salvador, and give a short training to the new missionaries and their trainers.
I guess I'll get to the questions first...
The ward here in Rio Vermelho is pretty good sized, something like 150 in sacrament meeting, and as such is much different than any other ward I've been a part of here on the mission. It’s really quite different the way the missionary work is going here in the ward, the bishop is really in to supporting the missionaries and the recent converts which is pretty sweet, and he is working at getting the inactive young guys active, ordained and working towards going on a mission. The missionary leader in the ward is into supporting the missionaries as well and to top it off, I have never seen so many people trying to feed us lunch as I have here. The only problem is that here in the mission office we really don’t have time around lunch to walk out to the member's homes to eat, and even working in the area falls at times when we have a really busy day. (like what seems to happen around transfers) But I think that once he (Elder R.) and I get into the swing of how to do things we'll speed up the process and be able to get out to work in the area.
The weather here is pretty hot (I think, remember I'm in the office from 9 to 6 these days) and a bit humid to boot.
Yes I do get to meet the new missionaries and those going home as well. I also get to know a good number of those working here in Salvador as well. Another benefit of being in the office is that I'm in the district with the AP's and a good number of older missionaries and as such can learn from their experience, district meetings have been really pretty sweet here.
Am I in the groove of things?... getting there, chances are my trainer here will leave tomorrow night or early next week so I guess we'll see just how much I've picked up the beat here.
Sometimes we look for new places, but generally the missionaries in the field ask around the ward for someone who at least knows someone who is trying to rent out a house/apartment.
Thanks for the stake conference insight, I've been thinking a bit about the same subject here recently, and I was thinking about how in our lives (or at least in mine) we often have ups and downs in our spiritual progress, forward a little, stop moving or move back a little, forward a little more, hold still or move back a little. Times where we really strive to grow closer to the Lord, then we grow complacent/comfortable, or perhaps we let Satan deceive us for a bit, then we repent and move closer to the Lord again etc. In the ideal progression, we would always be moving forward, a constant state of faithful living or what you might call living entirely out of your comfort zone. I was listening to a talk a little while ago where the speaker (Cleon Skousen), talking about his mission and having describing how he thanked God for the wonderful opportunity to go on a mission, and to have, "all these scary experiences", and how you just never know what’s going to happen to you "but if you just keep working vigorously and pushing forward it happens." The changes we need and desire happen, if we focus just always striving to be obedient, make the necessary course corrections, and to always move forward, the Lord will lead us in His way. Perhaps you might even say that the more comfortable we are, the greater danger we are in (in terms of our eternal progression).
I know God lives, I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior.
and my testimony I leave with you all in the name of Jesus Christ, amém.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Aug. 29, 2009
Well, it’s been another quick week here in the office (I think it passes much faster here than in the field) and to answer your question, yes I do get a bit of exercising in, exercises in the morning have taken a step up and are happening every day as they should :) and at night we get to work in an area here close to the office and the chapel. Speaking of which we had kind of a ridiculous experience last night, Elder T. and I did a division in our area as Elder R. wasn't feeling to good, (flu like deal) and as we were heading back to the house, a group of guys (16-20 yrs old) called to us and one of them told us that he would go to church, (though didn’t really remember ever talking to him) and then one of his friends who was there started talking a mile a minute using so much slang I understood very little of what he said. At this point on the mission I feel like I understand about everything people say, but now here in Salvador I've run into several situations where I barely understand a word they say, (and that not always because of slang) the accent here in the capital is way different from the interior of Bahia.
Elder R. is from (drum roll) Rio Grande do Sul! and has got practically the whole office drinking chimarrão imagine a bunch of grass thrown into a wooden cup deal, with a crazy looking spooned out strainer straw deal, then add hot water, and pronto, you can drink chimarrão to your heart’s content. (Actually I don’t think it was Elder R. who started it here, but the drink comes from Rio Grande do sul)
The apartment is pretty nice, with probably the best shower heads I’ve seen/used on the mission, and as I think about it, it’s probably one of the best houses on the mission, but we may be moving here in a bit cause the landlord is jacking up the price wit the renewal of the contract. As for the count in the house.... 8 missionaries, but we're looking for another house for some of them, normally there are the 2 secretaries, and those who are too sick to be in the field.
Duties... well about anything that deals with money, allowance of the missionaries, house contracts, bus tickets for transfers to and from Salvador etc. (and no, I most def. won’t be switching over to finance thank you very much)
What a great experience mom, I'm looking forward at going back to the temple for the Spirit that can be found there. I'd not really thought about how cool it is to have temples nearby until I look at the situation of many members here, driving something like two days straight (on a bus)to get to the nearest temple, I think I’ll have a hard time saying I don’t have time to go to the temple when I get back.
This week I was reading in the book of Jacob (great name eh?) and in chapt 4 verse 13 it says an interesting thing about the Spirit, how it tells us how things really are, and how they really will be, and I thought about how sometimes in my life I've let myself get a little muddled up as to what would be good to do, and what wouldn’t, but how I need to remember that things are quite divided, things are either good, come from God and bring us closer to Him, or they aren’t and they bring to us at most a temporary happiness and a greater gap between us and the Lord, and the Spirit comes in and helps us to see that difference, like the GPS in the Puida's car that reads out the directions they should go, letting us take our journey in the fastest way through "the most fertile parts of the wilderness" in this world. The question we could ask ourselves is, "How often do I see things (looking back) that I could have avoided had I only listened to the Spirit and not left His counsel behind?" Then let us go forth with a greater resolution to follow His guidance and promptings, letting us see things as they really are and will be, and leading us to true happiness in this life and the next. I know that God lives, that this is His church, and that the Spirit will guide us if we but strive to follow Him. In the name of Jesus Christ amém.
Well, it’s been another quick week here in the office (I think it passes much faster here than in the field) and to answer your question, yes I do get a bit of exercising in, exercises in the morning have taken a step up and are happening every day as they should :) and at night we get to work in an area here close to the office and the chapel. Speaking of which we had kind of a ridiculous experience last night, Elder T. and I did a division in our area as Elder R. wasn't feeling to good, (flu like deal) and as we were heading back to the house, a group of guys (16-20 yrs old) called to us and one of them told us that he would go to church, (though didn’t really remember ever talking to him) and then one of his friends who was there started talking a mile a minute using so much slang I understood very little of what he said. At this point on the mission I feel like I understand about everything people say, but now here in Salvador I've run into several situations where I barely understand a word they say, (and that not always because of slang) the accent here in the capital is way different from the interior of Bahia.
Elder R. is from (drum roll) Rio Grande do Sul! and has got practically the whole office drinking chimarrão imagine a bunch of grass thrown into a wooden cup deal, with a crazy looking spooned out strainer straw deal, then add hot water, and pronto, you can drink chimarrão to your heart’s content. (Actually I don’t think it was Elder R. who started it here, but the drink comes from Rio Grande do sul)
The apartment is pretty nice, with probably the best shower heads I’ve seen/used on the mission, and as I think about it, it’s probably one of the best houses on the mission, but we may be moving here in a bit cause the landlord is jacking up the price wit the renewal of the contract. As for the count in the house.... 8 missionaries, but we're looking for another house for some of them, normally there are the 2 secretaries, and those who are too sick to be in the field.
Duties... well about anything that deals with money, allowance of the missionaries, house contracts, bus tickets for transfers to and from Salvador etc. (and no, I most def. won’t be switching over to finance thank you very much)
What a great experience mom, I'm looking forward at going back to the temple for the Spirit that can be found there. I'd not really thought about how cool it is to have temples nearby until I look at the situation of many members here, driving something like two days straight (on a bus)to get to the nearest temple, I think I’ll have a hard time saying I don’t have time to go to the temple when I get back.
This week I was reading in the book of Jacob (great name eh?) and in chapt 4 verse 13 it says an interesting thing about the Spirit, how it tells us how things really are, and how they really will be, and I thought about how sometimes in my life I've let myself get a little muddled up as to what would be good to do, and what wouldn’t, but how I need to remember that things are quite divided, things are either good, come from God and bring us closer to Him, or they aren’t and they bring to us at most a temporary happiness and a greater gap between us and the Lord, and the Spirit comes in and helps us to see that difference, like the GPS in the Puida's car that reads out the directions they should go, letting us take our journey in the fastest way through "the most fertile parts of the wilderness" in this world. The question we could ask ourselves is, "How often do I see things (looking back) that I could have avoided had I only listened to the Spirit and not left His counsel behind?" Then let us go forth with a greater resolution to follow His guidance and promptings, letting us see things as they really are and will be, and leading us to true happiness in this life and the next. I know that God lives, that this is His church, and that the Spirit will guide us if we but strive to follow Him. In the name of Jesus Christ amém.
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