Not Quite General Conference, but still Great

Yesterday we had stake conference here in São Luís. It was great! After the conference we went to our lunch appointment, but during our lunch appointment it started to rain. (it´s starting to be winter here. there are too seasons rainy winter [remember winter here is not cold, just wet] and hot dry summer) But the Lord´s work was not immediately put to a stop. We still went about doing some visits in the pouring rain. We were in our suits because of the conference, which was good because the rain made it a tad chilly. But we were still drenched. After a couple visits we decided to go home because our shoes were filled with water, and we didn´t know what else could be in there with the water. So, we went home to dry off. My shoes are still drying from yesterday. Unfortunately my companion only has one pair, so we´ll see how that goes. I hope that they are dry... Anyway, back to the conference yesterday.

It was more of a northern part of Brasil conference. It was pretty cool. There was a transmission from what seemed to be Salt Lake. President Uchtdorf, Elder Anderson, Elder Ellis and Sister Dalton all spoke. It reminded me of General Conference because it was a broadcast. It was all in Portugués. (of course) Elder Anderson and Elder Ellis both gave their talks in Portugués while President Uchtdorf and Sister Dalton spoke in English with a translator. It was a really good conference. I learned a lot and other things were brought to my remembrance. All of the speakers were good, but I got the most out of what President Uchtdorf said. He spoke about a lot of things. He spoke about building our own testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (which we should all study in chapter 3 of Preach My Gospel). He also spoke about the importance of member missionary work.

We should pray for the wisdom that we can know how to touch the hearts of others. Keep friendships and reach out to others. Remember the people in your ward who have special needs (ex. alone, no friends) and reach out and love them. Don´t be ashamed of the church and gospel of Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:16) Some things that we can do to keep ourselves safe are 1. strive to be worthy of a temple recommend 2. study the word of God daily and 3. speak with your Father in Heaven Daily. (I took notes in Portugués, and I noted the things that stood out to me, so sorry if any of it doesn´t make much sense).

I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and am so happy to be one of His servants, serving and looking for His lost sheep. I know that Christ lives and that He will come again. I love you.

-Elder Samuel H. Chiba

(p.s. I tried two new fruits this week. Cupuaçu and Jambo)

{note from the mysterious sister behind the blog: here are some images off of 'google image search' of the fruit that Sam tried this week.}

Cupuaçu (above)

Jambo Vermelho (below left) Jambo Rosa (below right)