Make the Change

So, this week we had our Zone Conference and I also a leadership training. Aside from that nothing especially interesting happened. I was doing hanging my laundry up the other day, but unfortunately the cord broke loose and all of my clean white clothes fell to the wet and dirty ground. But, I wasn´t angry. It was more like a, "Well, that was unfortunate. Oh well. Hahahaha." kind of moment.

But anyway, for a while now I think I was a little depressed. I couldn´t figure out why. So, I talked with my mission president. Basically, he told me that I have to make the choice to change, or just do it. You know. I guess it was something that I had kind of forgotten. But, I applied what he said, and I´m really happy. We all pass through hard times. Whenever life is hard or whenever something bad happens we have a tendency to "give up". We say things like "It doesn´t matter what I do, it won´t work." or when we´re frustrated with someone "Nothing that I can do will make it better." But these responses and feelings are in fact wrong. Giving up never helped anyone. If we want a change in life or with our circumstances, we need to be the ones to make the change first. If life is hard, put on a smile and hope for the best.

Many people claim to be "realists" but in reality they are pessimists and expect the worst. In reality, expecting the worst is not a bad thing because in many instances the worst happens, but not always. For this reason we need to hope for the best but also expect the bad. Each day is a present. You can wake up and think to yourself "Poor me, my life is terrible." or you can wake up and say "Today is a new day, and I will make it good." No matter the outcome of the day we can always look back and laugh, good or bad. The things that have happened are in the past. The future is mysterious.... kind of. If you keep on the same track of self pity, the future is kind of obvious. It will continue to be bad. But that´s why we have the present. Like in the movie Kung Fu Panda, the old turtle said "Today is a gift, that is why it is called the present." What we choose to do today effects tomorrow. Choose to be happy. Choose to make tomorrow better. Make the change.

Dwelling in the past doesn´t help anyone either. The only thing good about the past, are the lessons that we can learn. Other than that, dwelling on it and being sad won´t help you go anywhere. The past will never change. Look forward to tomorrow. Make the change now to make tomorrow better.

In the long run, our life is but a small moment. Do you want to look back and say "My life was terrible." or "I lived a good life."? Sure, there will certainly be moments of trials and difficulties. But there is hope. We can always rely on the Savior to help us through. If we do all we can, the Savior will always be there to help us through our difficulties. Whatever they may be. In the book of Alma in The Book of Mormon, chapter 7 verses 11-13 says this...

11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and ^aafflictions and ^btemptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will ^ctake upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

12 And he will take upon him ^adeath, that he may ^bloose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to ^csuccor his people according to their infirmities.

13 Now the Spirit ^aknoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the ^bflesh that he might^ctake upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.

I know that He knows each of our pains and difficulties. Make the change to rely on the Savior and follow him. He will always be there to catch us when we fall. And He waits for us with his hands stretched out to receive us. We need to reach out to him as well. As we enter this Christmas season, remember what Jesus Christ did for each and everyone of us. Remember the true meaning of Christmas. I know He lives. I love you.

-Elder Samuel H. Chiba

Turkey Week

So, it´s the week of Thanksgiving! Happy Turkey week everyone!

You know what´s funny? In English there is a country called Turkey right? And we think and laugh at how a country can be named after a bird we eat annually. But in Portugués there is also a country whose name means the same animal as turkey. Do you know which country it is? Well, if you haven´t looked into it, the country is Peru! Peru means turkey. Well that´s fun.

As with the rest of the world, there are people here in São Luís that prematurely put up Christmas decorations. It started a week or too ago. On the streets I´ve started to hear Brazilianized tune of jingle bells with a reggae twist. I´ve seen one reindeer made of lights and a few other Christmas decorations. Maybe it´s not premature in Brazil to put up Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving, because as far as I know, they don´t have a Thanksgiving. Fortunately for us missionaries here in São Luís, we have zone conference on Thanksgiving.

I don´t remember what I talked about last week. But there was a marriage at the church this past Saturday. It was nice. I sang with one of the sister missionaries, Sister Hallman from Nauvoo, while the bride walked to the front. The ceremony was nice. I´m actually not to used to witnessing a wedding. I think it was the third time in my life. But that´s because all of the other weddings I´ve been to have been at the temple and I´ve had to wait outside and sometimes watch or take care of the little ones. So, their marriage is a legal marriage. The following morning, the husband was baptized. So, in about a year, they will be able to go to the temple and be sealed for time and all eternity. It´s truly an amazing thing. Eternal marriage. It can only be done at the temple by someone who has the authority of God (the priesthood).

The priesthood is an amazing thing. Long ago, Christ gave the priesthood to his apostles. He told Peter that whatever he sealed on earth will be sealed in heaven. This sealing power was lost for a long time, but thanks to the Mercy of God, He restored the priesthood and the His gospel and His church through His servant, the Prophet Joseph Smith. It was Peter, James, and John that appeared to Joseph Smith to restore this sealing power. Today, we still have this sealing power of the priesthood of God. I know that through the temple and through the priesthood, families can be together forever. I know that any other marriage that is performed here on this earth ends at death, it´s like putting and expiration date on your marriage. But through the blessings of the temple marriages and families can be forever. I know the Lord Jesus Christ lives. I know that His church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. I know that families can be together forever, and that God wants us all to have this amazing blessing. I love you. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

-Elder Samuel H. Chiba

P.S. Here are some other pictures from P-Day last week. It´s pretty cool. There were a whole bunch of old buildings and there was practically no one there because it was a national holiday. So, a lot of things were closed, but we got to explore and have fun and take pictures.

Sushi Night!

A week ago, I made sushi at Waldemar´s house. (Val-deh-mar he´s a member of the church here who takes care of us) Anyway, he has traveled to Japan and other countries because he works with ships, but especially likes Japan. So, he bought some seaweed and kani (artificial crab), and we made sushi. More like California rolls. So, you know in sushi, you need to add some rice vinegar to season the rice, but here it´s kind of difficult to find. So, I used apple vinegar, and it turns out that apple vinegar is a good substitute when you don´t have rice vinegar. Also, you need to use a special kind of rice, but didn´t find that either. Fortunately, I know how to make normal rice into sticky rice.

Also this week, we discovered that the area that we tract isn´t actually São Luís. A small part of our area is, but we discovered that most of our area is actually in the neighboring city, which is São José de Ribamar. We were surprised. We´ve been here for more than a month, but didn´t realize that we were leaving the city, in which we live, everyday.Yesterday, I was talking with some visiters at church. One of them asked me, what is different about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other churches. I told him, "well, that´s kind of a difficult question. but basicially this, we have the whole gospel of Jesus Christ" And basically that really is the answer, we have the fullness of the gospel, when others have parts, or have altered parts, or missing parts. It´s actually really kind of lengthy and difficult to explain in an email. So, here is what I have to say:

1. talk with some local missionaries. They can help you understand better.
2. Visit the Church of Jesus Chist of Latter-day Saints. There you will learn more about the gospel.
3. Read the Book of Mormon, because in the Book of Mormon, you will understand clearly what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is. I know that the things that we teach are true. That´s why I´m here in Brasil for 2 years. That´s why I speak Portugués.

I love you my friends and family.

-Elder Samuel H. Chiba

Lacraia.....

So, I had a near death experience this week. It´s kind of funny. Mostly because, in the moment, I didn´t know I had a near death experience. Maybe I´m being dramatic.

Anyway, I was peacefully taking a shower after I got home, and when I was about to turn off the water, I felt something slithering up my ankle. I looked down and to my surprise, it wasn´t a snake that was slithering up my ankle, but it was a black centipede. It had crawled up from the drain in the floor that I was standing on (I´m really greatful for my current habit, since the beginning of the mission, of wearing sandals in the shower). It wasn´t too big, it was maybe the length of my palm, but nevertheless it was creeping up my ankle. I quickly shook it off and trapped it under the giant squeegy that all bathrooms here have. I grabbed my towel and then yelled to my companion to ask him if he knew what it was. He told me it was called "lacraia" and that they are really poisonous. He then preceded to ask if it had bitten me, (fortunately no), but told me that I need to be careful because they are really poisonous. He said that people who get bitten by one end up in the hospital and some people die. After that, he said that it´s okay to kill the lacraia and that I should, so I did. After that, I threw some bleach down the drain and all over the shower and went to sit down, because it hit me that I could have been in the hospital... WOOHOO!!!! That night and the next I slept in my hammock to stay as far away from the ground as possible. Since then, I take my shower keeping my eyes fixed on the drain. So, good news friends and family! You´re prayers are keeping me safe! I love you SOOO much! Yeah.... only in Brasil... hopefully...

I´m liking this topic of prayer, so I´m going to elaborate some more.

Prayer is how we communicate with God, our loving Father in Heaven. Prayer is literally a conversation with Heavenly Father. The Savior taught us how we should pray. He gave us an example to follow, but right before he gave the example of prayer, he said not to pray using vain repetitions. So, when we pray, we should pray from the heart and express what we tuly want to express. You don't need to speak very beautifully, but humbly from the heart. Be simple, sincere, but also respectful. Also, when we pray we need to have faith in what we ask of God. Like in Matthew 21:22

"22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. "

Remember to take some time to listen. Like when you call someone on the phone. It´s not just you talking, you also have to take time to listen to what the other has to say. It´s the same thing when we pray. It´s something I need to work on. It seems that we are often in a hurry when we do anything, but we need to take time to pray. Slow down a little. Prayer is very important. In the book of 2 Nephi chapter 32 verses 8 and 9 talk about the importance of prayer.

"8 And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.

9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul."

I know that prayer is essential for our growth. We need to learn to rely on the Lord a little more each day. Prayer will increase your faith, and if you pray sincerely and listen, you will be guided to what you need to do. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true, and for this reason, I am here serving a mission to which the Lord has called me. I love you my dear ones. May the Lord bless you until we meet again.

-Elder Samuel H. Chiba

Re-Elections

Well, we started an English course last week. I´m teaching basics and one of the sisters in my district is teaching an advanced class. We put some fliers and things up at a local college/university. So, that´s pretty fun. It´s pretty interesting how much you learn about your own language when learning another language or teaching your own.

This week, there hasn´t been too much excitement, aside from the election for the new president of Brasil yesterday. They had to do a revote a month after the elections occured because there were three candidates for president and none of them got more than 50 percent, so the two with the most votes had an extra month to send out their propoganda and debate. So, yesterday we had to go to the voting place because here in Brasil, it´s a law that everyone has to vote. So, I got to see how it´s done kind of. Actually, all the Brazilian missionaries do a "justification" because they are not able to vote, but you have to go to the location to vote in order to "justify." We went to a local school, and practically all of the classrooms were open to voting. They have an electronic voting system here. I asked one of the attendants if I could look and see what the machine was, and they said I could. Actually, they were confused at first until my companion told them that I was American. So, I got to see a Brazilian voting machine. My companion later told me, that I´m probably one of the only Americans to have seen one of those machines. Apparently, you can´t even look at one if you´re not Brazilian, or if you don´t have all your documents to vote. I´m not sure though. It was pretty interesting. It had a screen with numbers to the side. Then underneath the numbers there are three buttons. White, Correct, and End. 'Correct' if you put in the wrong numbers (there are a set of numbers that represent the people you are electing). 'End' for when you end.... And 'White' which is if you don´t know who to vote for you press white and you vote goes with the majority. Unfortunately, (my companion explained), the people think that when they press 'white' they are just putting in a blank vote rather than voting with the majority. Anyway, the new President of Brasil is the first female president of Brasil. Unfortunately, I don´t like politics. In fact I think that 90% of all politicians are corrupt (and I´m being lenient).

But that aside, some day the world will be a better place. That´s part of the purpose of missionary work. It´s to prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Savior. If you pay attention, you will see the signs of the second coming in the holy scriptures. One of the modern day Apostles of the Lord, Elder Dallin H. Oaks spoke about preparing for the Second Coming. Here is a link,

http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=4845ee9ba42fe010VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

I know that Jesus Christ lives. I know that He will come again. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is truly His church. It´s important to remember not to delay the day of our repentance because no one knows the exact day, month, or year when our Savior will come again. I love you my beloved friends and family. Stay strong and do what you can to stay close to the Lord.

-Elder Chiba