Dia Das Mães

It was good to hear the family's voices for the Mother's Day phone call home.Yesterday marked my second to last phone call home, leaving only about 8 months until I go home. Time sure is flying by fast. I hope I can make the best use of my time here. [Blog posts may be less frequent] Just be sure to know, that I love you.

-Elder Samuel H. Chiba

Rescue

Well, there is this awesome person we´ve been teaching and she was going to be baptized this past weekend, but there were a lot of problems. She and us did everything we could to prepare for the baptism, but in the end it didn´t work out. We´re going to work some more on this.

This past weekend we had the conference of the District of Parnaiba. It was very good. The speakers spoke a lot about rescuing others. There are actually a lot of members here, but there are a lot of people who get baptized and then stop going to church after a short while. My Mission President, Presidente Dias, and his counselor, Presidente Santos gave some particularly good talks in reference to rescuing others and following the Lord. First Presidente Santos talked about the rich young man in the book of Mark.

Mark 10:17-22

17¶And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?

18And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none ^agood but one, that is, God.

19Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit ^aadultery, Do not ^bkill, Do not ^csteal, Do not bear false witness, ^dDefraud not, ^eHonour thy father and mother.

20And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.

21Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and ^agive to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and ^bfollow me.

22And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.

To this story, Presidente Santos talked about the importance of giving up things that are precious to follow the Lord or submit to His will. Where do our treasures ly? Here or in heaven?

Presidente Dias expanded some more on this subject sharing some scriptures in Matthew chapter 10:37-39

37He that ^aloveth father or mother ^bmore than me is not worthy of me: and he that ^cloveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

38And he that taketh not his ^across, and followeth after me, is not ^bworthy of me.

39^aHe that findeth his life shall ^blose it: and he that ^closeth his ^dlife for my sake shall find it.

He talked about how in following Jesus Christ, we usually have to take the "Right" path rather than the "Easy" path. For example, it´s more easy to stay at home rather than go out to visit someone who is in need. For a married couple with problems, usually the easy choice is to divorce, where the right choice is to work. The easy choice in any case in life is often times not what we should do. Where do we keep our treasures? Work is the correct choice, although it may not be the easiest, it is the correct choice.

I still have a lot to learn. I´m really grateful to have a mission president who is so wise. I too need to work on my work ethic. I hope that I can make the correct choice instead of taking the easy way out. Let´s take up our "cross" and build up zion wherever we are. It may not be easy, but it is the right thing to do. If you know someone who is in need, or someone who was at one time actively involved in the Church but isn´t, I encourage you to take the courage to talk to them. I know that Jesus Christ lives. That is why I am here. I hope you have a great week. I love you.

-Elder Samuel H. Chiba

Elder Chiba and Elder Cameron

Ovos de Pascoa

Jumping off sand dunes

"CHIBA" in Japanese

Pascoa ´11

Well, it was an interesting week. We did a division earlier last week, and while on this division something fun happened. Some guy came up to me and said "I´ve been looking for you! What size are you feet?!" I then told him my shoe size, and he told me he has some tennis shoes that he wanted to give me. He had received some shoes as a gift and they were to big for him. So, he sent someone back to his house to get the shoes for me. He told me "I´ve been looking for someone to donate these shoes to." That´s pretty cool. As far as this past week has gone, there have been a lot of people out of town, which is normal especially for the holidays. We ate a lot of fish, as did the rest of Brasil (I think). And we received Ovos de Pascoa, or in English, Easter Eggs. But here, you usually just get one big ol´ chocolate egg that has more candy or a toy prize inside. So, an Ovo de Pascoa is a big deal.

Recently, we´ve been meeting with a sister who has had some concerns about the spirit world. During the three days while the Savior was dead, He visited the spirit world and taught those that were there. The spirit world is divided in two. There is a Spirit Paradise and a Spirit Prison. It´s a place where our spirits wait until the day that we are ressurrected. Paradise and Prison are more like conditions of the mind, where in paradise you are happy and free of conscience, prison you are unhappy and have a heavy laden conscience. Our Loving Father in Heaven still gives us a chance in the Spirit World to receive and accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I´m truly grateful for such a merciful and loving Father in Heaven. I know He loves us and wants us to be happy. I know that His gospel is the way to happiness. I love you. I hope your Easter was good and that you were able to remember the Savior and what He has done for us. Have a great week!

-Elder Samuel H. Chiba

Semana Santa

This week leading up to Easter is called "Semana Santa" or in other words "Holy Week." I find it amazing that here, people celebrate not only Easter, but the whole week leading up to Easter. It´s a really good idea.

Today was a fun P-day! My companion, Elder Cameron, and I and some other elders went to some sand dunes. I´m pretty sure it was still in my area. It was pretty far away. It was kind of rainy today. Because of the rainy season, the dips in the sand dunes were full of water. It was pretty. We climbed the sand dunes and jumped down them and drew in the sand. It was fun.

This last week we had interviews with our mission president, President Dias. It was a good interview, we had a good chat.

As Easter is arriving, I would like to take the opportunity to reflect upon the miraculousness of this time of the year. During the last week of His mortal life happened that which most effected human history. Our beloved brother, Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, performed the act that only the Son of God could do. This act was the Atonement. It started with His suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, when He took upon Himself the sins and the pains of all humanity. Then to Hill of Calvary where He laid His life down for us. As Jesus Christ said in John 15:13...

Greater ^alove hath no man than this, that a man lay down his ^blife for his ^cfriends.

He is our greatest friend, because He truly laid down His life for us. And on the third day, being the first day of the week, He left the tomb, thus conquering physical death. Because He was resurrected from death, so shall we.

In this one act, Jesus Christ saved us from our sins and redeemed us from the dead. Thus He is called our Savior and Redeemer. In Him we can all live and inherrit eternal life if we have faith in Him and follow His example and live His gospel.

I testify to you that He lives. I pray that we can all remember Him a little bit more this Easter season and throughout the year.

I love you all.

-Elder Samuel H. Chiba

p.s. here is a link of "The Living Christ" written by the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. http://lds.org/study/living-christ?lang=eng

Elefantinho

This past week has not been too interesting. It was good, but not much stood out. Parnaiba is a nice city, I am enjoying working to share the gospel here. The other day my companion,Elder Cameron, and I discovered a good Pastel shop. It´s called Elefantinho Pastel or something like that. Anyway, the pasteis are delicious. I wish you could all try them. I had one that was cheese with guava jam, it was called Romeo and Julieta. There are some other tasty flavors too.

I personally am really grateful that the Lord loves us enough to still give us revelation through a modern and living prophet. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God. I love you and hope you have a great week.

-Elder Samuel H. Chiba

General Conference and Surprise trip to Teresina

This past weekend was great. Honestly, I wasn't aware that General Conference was going to happen this past weekend, and I was kind of caught off guard, but it was amazing. It's always wonderful to hear the council of the prophet and apostles. There were some really inspiring talks and some things that I really needed to hear. It's really amazing that we have a living prophet.

Late Sunday night, I took a bus to Teresina in order to renew my visa! Yay! I'm legal again! It was a very brief trip. I and some other elders arrived early Monday morning, and then we went to the mission office and then to the federal police station. Then at 4 in the afternoon I and another elder took a bus back to Parnaiba and got back here around 11pm. It was a very short yet tiresome trip. But it was also very needed because I was kind of illegal for a little while, walking around with an expired visa. So, yesterday, I didn't have time to send an email home. There was barely time to find and eat lunch after dealing with visa issues. So, here I am.

Anyway, I'd would like to briefly address the importance and the blessing of having a modern day living prophet. Our current prophet is President Thomas S. Monson. If you consider the importance of prophets anciently, and consider the fact that God doesn't change, then the fact of a modern prophet wouldn't be to odd. In our world today we face many challenges that didn't exist anciently. Prophets, anciently, warned and counceled those in his charge. He prepared them for calamities and also taught them how to make it to live with our Heavenly Father again. How wonderful it is to have a prophet called by God to lead us and help us during our day. The heavens are open. God reveals His will to us still. I know that Thomas S. Monson is God's living prophet. It was truly great to hear him this past weekend. (here is a link to the Church website where you can watch General Conference http://lds.org/general-conference?lang=eng ) I know that the Messiah will come, and that if we follow the council of the prophet, we will be ready for when the Savior comes again. I love you, and hope you are doing well.

-Elder Samuel H. Chiba

Parnaiba 1

Well folks at home, last monday was fun. Monday night Sister Lúcia, Sister Nascimento, and I all received a fone call that we would all be transfered. So, Tuesday morning I grabbed my luggage and went on a long bus ride to Parnaiba in the state of Piaui. Currently I´m serving in the Parnaiba 1st branch, and you´d be surprised at the amount of people who know music. It's great! All of the other areas that I passed by, there weren´t any that knew music. I´m excited. Also, I´m still in a coastal town, so I still get to enjoy the nice ocean breeze. My current companion is Elder Cameron, who is from Las Vegas. He looks Brazilian because he is part Philipino. And I am part Japanese. So, by appearance we look like Brazilians, but unfortunately we still have accents. So, that gives us away. Dang it.

So, when we had our meeting with the branch president yesterday morning, he asked me to give a talk in Sacrament meeting that day. So, I did. That´s the life of a missionary. It´s a good thing that we study everyday. I gave a talk about keeping the commandments. It´s really important and something that all the prophets tell us. Unfortunately, us, humans, forget rather often. The scripture that I read in Alma was in chapter 9 verse 13, which says...

Behold, do ye not remember the words which he spake unto Lehi, saying that: ^aInasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper in the land? And again it is said that: Inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord.

If we keep the commandments we will prosper, but if not, the Lord will take away His blessings for us. When we keep the commandments, we will draw closer to God. I know the gospel is true. I know that theChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is His kingdom here on earth. I love you my friends and family.

-Elder Samuel H. Chiba