Gone With the Wind of Guanabara

So first off, Guanabara is the charter bus company that our mission uses to transport missionaries from place to place. After 6 days of being together, one of the assistants called us and told us that Elder Paz was to be transfered the following day. So, that´s what happened. The day after I received my new companion Elder Bezerra (remember a double "rr" makes an "h" sound). He´s pretty small and feisty. He´s from Manaus which is the capital of the state of Amazonas. If you are wondering, he´s never seen a native before because Manaus is a huge city and people there are normal. (they just eat a lot of fish and exotic fruit, well I suppose if you live in the area it´s not exotic, so let´s go with tropical fruit) He´s also had a pet monkey and has been trained in several martial arts. My Portugués is definitely going to improve with him, he doesn´t hesitate to correct me (which I think is a blessing from heaven because I´m not the best at studying the language). I say the words correctly and never really had an accent to begin with, I just don´t speak normally. He´s a good teacher, especially for having only one transfer in the field.

Things are going well. The people here are great. I baptized two people on Saturday. It was amazing. Really, it´s truly amazing to be a part of someone´s eternal progression. I was telling my district at our district meeting that "Everytime we invite someone to be baptized, we invite them to have Eternal Life." That was one of those profound moments that the Holy Ghost taught me the instant that I spoke. Ít´s true though. Teaching and studying the gospel is amazing. In St. John 3:5 says "5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God."

In order to inherit eternal life we need to enter the kingdom of God, and in order to enter the kingdom of God we need to be born of water and of the Spirit (which is being baptized and receiving the Holy Ghost). But the thing is, there are many people that will say that they´ve been baptized and received the Holy Spirit or that they can baptize, but unless they have the proper authority it´s not valid. Jesus Christ set the perfect example for us to follow. Matthew chapter 3

13 ¶ Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be ^abaptized of him.

14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

15 And Jesus answering said unto him, ^aSuffer it to be so now: for thus it ^bbecometh us to ^cfulfil all ^drighteousness. Then he suffered him.

16 And Jesus, when he was ^abaptized, went up ^bstraightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the ^cSpirit of God descending like a^ddove, and lighting upon him:

Why did Jesus search out John the Baptist? It was because John the Baptist had the proper authority of God to baptize. John knew that Jesus was the Son of God because he was a servant of the Lord who had the authority of God and that´s why he said that he need to be baptized by Jesus. So, why was Jesus Christ baptised? Did he not live a perfect and sinless life? Why was it that he needed to be baptised for the remission of sins? What does he mean to "fulfill all righteousness"? Here is the answer in the book of 2 Nephi chapter 31 (located in the Book of Mormon)...

5 And now, if the Lamb of God, he being ^aholy, should have need to be ^bbaptized by water, to fulfil all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy, to be ^cbaptized, yea, even by water!

6 And now, I would ask of you, my beloved brethren, wherein the Lamb of God did fulfil all righteousness in being baptized by water?

7 Know ye not that he was holy? But notwithstanding he being holy, he showeth unto the children of men that, according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the Father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be ^aobedient unto him in keeping his commandments.

8 Wherefore, after he was baptized with water the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the ^aform of a ^bdove.

9 And again, it showeth unto the children of men the straitness of the path, and the narrowness of the ^agate, by which they should enter, he having set the ^bexample before them.

10 And he said unto the children of men: ^aFollow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we ^bfollow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?

11 And the Father said: Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son.

12 And also, the voice of the Son came unto me, saying: He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father ^agive the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, ^bfollow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do.

Jesus Christ was baptized to show us the example that we need to follow. My dear friends and family. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true. I know that the Book of Mormon is true, for many reasons. But I know the Book of Mormon is true because it teaches of Jesus Christ. I love you my dear ones and I invite you follow Christ´s example. Let´s all try to be more like our Savior every day.

Elder Samuel H. Chiba

Sião Luís

So, I´m in the capital city of Maranhão, São Luís. Which just so happens to be on an island. But, it´s pretty big. This is my third area. I´m serving in a really big ward with my new companion Elder Paz (his name means peace). Just so you know, Sião means Zion, so I´m in "Sião Luís." Get it? My companion Elder Paz is almost the same height as me, and quite a bit bigger than I am. He´s 25 and joined the church 4 or 5 years ago. He´s pretty cool.

There is this awesome soda called "Guaraná Jesus" it´s pink, and it´s tasty. It only exists here in Maranhão. On the bottle it says, something like "the flavor of living in Maranhão."

I don´t have too much time today, but I want you to know something very important. The Gospel of Jesus Christ truly blesses lives and families. In my last area, there was a family on the brink of separation, until we helped them learn about the gospel. When they truly applied the principles of the gospel, there was a miraculous change. In the beginning the man and woman were sitting on opposite sides of the room. But now they want to be baptized and sealed in the temple for eternity. So, what I learned is that if your marriage is falling apart either one or both parties are not living the gospel. Don´t pass blame to others for your faults. Do what you can to live the gospel and invite others to live the gospel also. Don´t give up. A family can be together forever, but remember that we all have to fight to stay on the right path. A marriage can last forever, but you have to live selflessly. I know the gospel is true because I see it changing lives. It´s truly something amazing. I know that Christ lives. I know the Book of Mormon is true and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church of God. I love you my brothers and sisters.

-Elder Samuel H. Chiba

(A Little Background on Sião Luís)

Hello Dear readers of Elder Sam Chiba's Blog! This is a message from the sisters behind the screen:

Here's some information found online about Sam's new city & photos of that city. Click on the links below.

About the city
pictures

Tchau Camoceu

Well, today is kind of bittersweet. More on the sad side of things. We´re being transfered and the mission here in Camocim is closing for now. I´ll be going to São Luis in Maranhão and Elder Braga is going to Teresina. But you know, I´ll go where the Lord wants me to go. So, São Luis it is. I´m excited to experience more of the mission though. I´ll be training another missionary and I´m going to be the District Leader in my area as well. So, I guess that means I´m expecting.

If anyone gets the chance to come to Camocim, you should. It´s a little slice of heaven. That´s why we call it Camo-ceu (ceu meaning heaven). I don´t have much time today because we need to pack everything and clean the house before 2 am.

But, I love you. The gospel is true. The Book of Mormon is true.

-Elder Samuel H. Chiba

From Ireland?

So, today, we went to buy our bus passes to go to Sobral tomorrow for our district meeting. I saw some caucasion people at the bus station that were trying to get to Parnaíba, and I thought I heard english. But Brasil is kind of a confusing place, because there are also caucasion people here that are native Brasilians. Also, because Elder Braga and I speak a mixture of english and portuguese to each other I get kind of confused if I am hearing english or portuguese. So, I proceeded to ask them "Vocês são da onde?" And they said "sorry, we don´t speak portuguese." in a very timid kind of way. So, I asked them "where are you from?" And guess what, they are from Ireland. I think they´re on an 8 month adventure exploring South America or something like that. They were going to take a taxi, which would have been very expensive, but they decided to take the bus instead. (good choice). I asked them if they wanted help with buying their tickets, and they gladly accepted. Then we pointed them in the direction of the bank and some places to eat. I´m not easily recognized as an american. They were appreciative. Also we told them a little bit of what we do, which was way weird to try to explain missionary things in english. I had to think really hard. That made my day though.

Camocim is a touristy kind of place, but until today, I hadn´t met anyone english speaking. It was fun, and we helped some weary travelers. I remembered later though that I should have explained the difference between a motel and a pousada. Don´t ever use a motel if you come to Brasil. It´s only a place to go to "hook up".....gross. Pousadas are good though. It´s like an INN or something quaint like that.

Anyway, our job is to preach the "Restored Gospel." Restored, because after the time of Christ, simple and precious truths of the gospel had been lost and/or distorted. The Gospel of Jesus Christ consists of 1. Faith in Jesus Christ, 2. Repentence, 3. Baptism, 4. The Gift of the Holy Ghost, and 5. Endure to the End. For this purpose a restoration was needed. In fact, the gospel can be found in the Bible, but it´s difficult to put it all together because of all of the translations the Bible has gone through. So, God gave us the Book of Mormon as a means to restore the fullness of the gospel of Christ. I know it is true, and my job right now is to share the good news with everyone. It's so wonderful. The gospel blesses my life everyday, and it´s amazing to see it changing lives here in Camocim. I love you my family and friends.

Elder Samuel H. Chiba

Did you know cockroaches fly?

Did anyone know that cockroaches fly? Because I learned that this week. My companion and I went to the market at centro to buy some fruit. There was something that landed or fell on my head. Then in fell onto my pants. I saw it, but I didn´t quite realize what it was. It was a cockroach. Like the size of my thumb. Mind you that my hands are somewhat big. Then it fell to the ground then flew away. I asked the girl that was attending us what that "bichu" (creature/thing) was. She said it was a barata (cockroach). I proceeded to ask her, "Baratas voam?" (Cockroaches fly?), she was surpised and kind of laughed at me and responded 'You didn´t know that?!'. That same day I saw another cockroach fly and I was still in shock from what I had learned. Needless to say, people were laughing at my naivety that day.

Also, this time of the year the weather is getting hotter, and apparently the big spiders leave the fields and enter the houses. Fortunately, our house was bug/spider proofed not too long ago. Also, I have a goal to make real P.O.G. (passion, orange, guava juice) because I have access to all three fruits. So, we´ll see how that goes. I´ll try to remember to keep you updated on how that goes.

As far as preaching the gospel goes, things are picking up here in Camocim. We´re working all day long and we're double booked a lot of the time. We have to do divisions/splits a lot to cover all of our visits. The thing that is amazing though is to see the changes in people. We´ve been working with a family lately that had some relational problems, but as we´ve been teaching them about the gospel and teaching them how to apply the principles of the gospel to their family they have changed dramatically. At first they were having some problems, then the problems got worse to the point of them almost splitting up, but then they applied what we had been teaching them. It is truly amazing, the healing power of The Gospel of Jesus Christ. It´s a testimony to me how real the gospel is, and how important it is to live it´s teachings. I know that what I am teaching is true. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is truly Christ´s church. There is no possible way for it not to be. I love the gospel of Christ, I love my God and my Savior, and I am so happy to me an instrument in His hands to serve my brothers and sisters. I love you my friends and family.

-Elder Samuel H. Chiba

What?! Sushi?!

Hey Everybody!

Things are well here in the great Northeast of Brasil. Nothing really exciting happened this past week except for the training in Teresina that I went to. The training was for all of the leaders in the mission (Assistansts to the President, Zone Leaders, District Leaders, and Trainers). So, technically, I´m still training, so I went. It was fun. Teresina is a nice city, but it´s very hot and the buses are kind of scary. The nice thing was, I went to this restaurant place and they had sushi. I was thinking to myself that sushi in Teresina probably isn´t that good. And because I am recognizably Japanese, the Elder I was working with in Teresina asked the sushi guy if I could try it because I´m a real Japanese person (which is very uncommon here in the Northeast). So, I tried the sushi, and it was delicious to my surprise! So, I bought some. It was a little expensive, but oh so worth it. I think my love for sushi has increased. You know, distance makes the heart grow fonder right?

When I got home to Camocim there was some sad news. One of the members´ husband had died. So, the day that I got back was dealing with funeral things and trying to be a force of support for the sister.

My friends, death is a hard thing to deal with for anyone. And many times it catches us off guard. But, I know that there is life after death. Our Father in Heaven has a marvelous plan for us, and the knowledge of God´s plan for me is truly comforting.

If you have ever lost a loved one, if you feel lost or without purpose, you will find comfort in Heavenly Father´s Plan of Salvation. So, if you have ever wondered where we came from, if you have ever wondered what the purpose of life is, or if you have ever wondered what happens to us after we die, just talk to a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and they can help you meet some missionaries who will explain everything to you. Because Jesus Christ lives, we all will live again thanks to His atoning sacrifice for us. I know that Jesus Christ lives. I know that God loves us, and it is because of His love for us that we are here. It´s because of His love for us that He sent His only Begotten Son to save and redeem us from sin and from death. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is His true church. I encourage you to meet with the missionaries to learn about God´s plan for you. I love you my dear friends and family.

-Elder Samuel H. Chiba

We are doing a service project at the Branch President's house.

that´s my hammock