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

Surprise Mission Tour

Last Friday we had a surprise Mission Tour. One of the general authorities of Brasil, Elder Godoy the first councelor in the Brasil area Presidency and his wife Sister Godoy, visited our mission. We were advised a week in advance. Which was short notice in comparison with the last one, which we had a month to prepare. So, I had to scramble to get my hair trimmed. Wednesday morning, Sister Dias (the President´s wife) called me and asked me to prepare a musical number to sing on Friday. It was short notice, but I managed. I sang "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing," I added a Portuguese translation, and corrected the translation so that it would have a better meaning. It was fun. There wasn´t time to find an accompanist so I sang a'capella. It went well. The conference went well, and I learned a lot. Right before the conference, Elder Godoy had a meeting with the leadership of our zones. We got to have a small training, a little more intimate, with Elder Godoy. It was very rewarding. The thing now is to put everything that I´ve learned into practice. Which is a little challenging. Also, today I made sushi with the help of my district and some members. It was delicious. (good sushi filling - tuna[from a can], cream cheese, garlic, and carrot. also deep fry it like tempura.)

Recently, I´ve been thinking a lot about the importance of obedience. Especially obedience to the commandments. I started thinking about obedience because of something I read in the book of Alma in the Book of Mormon, as well as something I read in the book "Jesus the Christ." There was a scripture I read in Alma, somewhere in the first 1/4 of the book that made me think a lot about the importance of keeping the commandments. Unfortunately, I left my notes at the house, so I´m not sure exactly where it´s at. The part in Jesus the Christ led me to a reference in the Pearl of Great Price in the Book of Abraham 3:25. Which says the following,

25And we will ^aprove them herewith, to see if they will ^bdo all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;

It refers to the importance of obedience to God's laws during our life. Our life is a test. Our success in the life depends on our obedience to God´s commandments and His gospel. If we truly live the commandments and apply them in our lives, we will be greately rewarded in the kingdom of our Father. Life is kind of like the olympics, and the three kingdoms that God has prepared for us are like the medals Gold, Silver, and Bronze. Let's all aim for the Gold and do our best to be obedient to will of the Father. Remember,

Alma 34:32-33
32For behold, this ^alife is the time for men to ^bprepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of ^cthis life is the day for men to perform their ^dlabors.

33And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many ^awitnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not ^bprocrastinate the day of your ^crepentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the ^dnight of^edarkness wherein there can be no labor performed.

The prophets have spoken, and still to this day speak. Let´s do our best to earn our great reward. I hope you´re all well.

Love,
Elder Samuel H. Chiba

Graça

I went to Teresina this past week after Carnaval for another leadership training. It was good, I learned a lot. I was able to meet up with some really good friends also.

God´s mercy is not something we can earn, nor is it something that we deserve. But it is His to give us freely. No matter our circumstances, mistakes, sins, and difficulties, He is always waiting to receive us. Our Father in Heaven sent His Only Begotten Son into the world to suffer and die for us.

John 3:16
16¶For ^aGod so ^bloved the ^cworld, that he ^dgave his ^eonly begotten ^fSon, that whosoever ^gbelieveth in him should not perish, but have ^heverlasting ⁱlife.

17For God ^asent not his Son into the world to ^bcondemn the world; but that the world through him might be ^csaved.

He suffered every kind of pain and affliction, felt every heartache, every guilt, and took upon himself the sins of the world, so that we might be saved.

Alma 7:11-13

11And 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.

12And 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.

13Now 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.

We truly don´t deserve what our Savior, Jesus Christ, did for us. But because of His love, He extends His mercy to all those who repent and believe on His name.

Alma 7:14

14Now I say unto you that ye must ^arepent, and be born again; for the Spirit saith if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the Kingdom of Heaven, therefore come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye may be washed from your sins, that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, who is mighty to save and to cleanse from all unrighteousness.

Mosiah 26:30

30Yea, and ^aas often as my people ^brepent will I forgive them their trespasses against me.

As we may all be aware of, there have been disasters happening frequently all over the world. The most recent in Japan. These are all signs of the second coming of the Messiah. We all need to take a look at our lives and see if we are living in harmony with the gospel. We all need to repent of our sins so that we might be lifted up in that great and terrible day. In the book of Alma we learn the importance of repentance.

Alma 34:32-33

32For behold, this ^alife is the time for men to ^bprepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of ^cthis life is the day for men to perform their ^dlabors.

33And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many ^awitnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not ^bprocrastinate the day of your ^crepentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the ^dnight of ^edarkness wherein there can be no labor performed.

Let´s not procrastinate our repentance. Because tomorrow we too could die or lose a loved one. I testify to you that the Atonement, the sacrifice of our Lord, Jesus Christ, allows us to be clean from our sins. He lives, and will come again. I love you my dear ones.

-Elder Samuel H. Chiba