HEY!
I cannot even believe that I have arrived at the end. This is the last week of my full time missionary service. Set apart from the world. Set apart from all that is vile. Set apart by the laying of the hands, by a man that holds His divine priesthood. I was called and sent by the authorization of a living prophet that holds all of the priesthood keys necessary in these latter days to bear testimony of the Great Jehovah, invite others to come unto Him, put their yoke on Him, that they may be a alleviated from sin. I have been called to preach Faith and Repentance for the remissions of sins, making a sacred covenant with the Lord to be baptized and be sanctified by the Holy Spirit; ordained to teach by the Spirit; a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ and His church. Is there any greater call? It’s no wonder they call this the best two years. I can see that this will be the ending of divine calling, but the beginning to eternity. What I have learned is difficult to describe in words, and hard to write. I have gained a real and living testimony that God lives and that redemption is possible through the merciful sacrifice of His Beloved Son. I have witnessed the Atonement take effect in mine own life and those I teach. I testify that no matter how far we think we have gone, however lost we think we are, there is ALWAYS a way back to our Father. These were truly the best 2 years of my life. I can’t describe to you the pure love that I have for this people. What a magnificent blessing it has been to love and serve these Children of God. They are all His children. I am here as just an instrument to bring His children to know the truth.
I’m having mixed feelings about going home. I am truly going to miss Cape Verde. I love each and every person that I have known here. They are truly a humble and meek people. It was really tough saying bye to our recent converts and members in Santa Maria. We got to sit down with Judith and Jezidel. They are both so incredible and I love them both so much. After going to a District Conference, Judith asked us ´´What do i need to do to get to the temple?´´. We explained exactly what she would need to do. She said that she would do everything in her power to get there. Jezidel was quite immature when we started talking to her, but she has grown up a lot and now will be a part of the Young Women’s presidency. I have come to be very, very close with a less active member that we have recently brought back to the fold. His name is Octavio. He is my best friend. I gave him a pair of my shoes, a shirt, pants and a few little things. I will never forget him. Since he has started to come back to the church, he has started to get his life together. The gospel blesses and transforms lives.
God is our Father. Jesus is His Son. This is His work. I am immensely grateful for all that the Lord has done to strengthen me and help His children come back to His fold.
Love,
Elder Rice
D&C 4:2
"Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day." (D&C 4:2)
Monday, September 29, 2014
Monday, September 22, 2014
Dear Family and Friends:
It’s so unreal. I thought this day would never come. Literally, I can’t even imagine a life other than this. For the last 2 years I have been in the service of the Lord. I can tell that these will be the most influential years of my life. I can’t stop thinking about it. If really I am ready to come home. I honestly want to stay. I can’t imagine going home yet. I could barely sleep last night. I set out to invite others to come unto Christ. Most importantly I was sent to bring myself unto Christ. Of all that I have learned, most important is that Jesus Christ is the Savior of this world. He was sent by the Father to do His will, to be lifted up on the cross that all men may be drawn unto Him. All other doctrines and principles of this gospel are simply appendages of this fact. It is only through the Savior Jesus Christ that we may clean of our sins. We can bring free of guilt, shame, sadness and we can experiment the miracle of forgiveness. We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, so that our children might know the source of the remission of our sins. I testify that He is the Son of God and He lives.
We have been working a lot with a less active named Octavio. Over time we have become great friends. He has once again started to read in the Book of Mormon and now has arrived to 1 Nephi 12. After receiving an interview with our branch President, he decided that Octavio would be the branch secretary! Octavio is very excited and because of this he has decided to be fully active in the church.
We have been also teaching a young man from the island of Sao Vicente. His name is Elvis. We marked him about 1 month ago to be baptized on the 27th of September, but unfortunately he has not been able to come to church because his work did not permit it. We taught him the importance of keeping the day of the Lord, and helped him know that he would never be able to be baptized without keeping the day of the Lord. He said he would do everything possible. About 2 days later, on Saturday, he told us that without saying anything, his boss randomly called him in to talk to him and told Elvis that his day off would now be on Sunday, she asked if that would be ok. He exclaimed ´´of course´´! That is a miracle. Certainly the Lord heard his prayers and granted him according to his faith. Because of that he was able to come to church this week and will be baptized this Saturday. That is all that he wants.
As we were walking on the street, we saw a young man sitting on the road, and I felt inspired to talk to him, so we went up and sat down with him. His name is Vando. He is 19 years old and he is from Praia. He is living here with his family. He had a unique smile, there was something different about him. We marked the next day to talk to him. The next day, we didn’t find him, but we did find the rest of his family. His mom, dad and little brother. Apparently the father had studied before with the Elders and knew quite a bit about the church. We had a great lesson with them. They said they wouldn’t be able to come to church this Sunday, but they said their son Vando would go. So we passed by on Sunday and picked him up and he came!
Waking up on Sunday morning was a great surprise. All of the streets with flooded with water and it was pouring down rain. Even like this we went around walking and passing all of our investigators to bring them to church. None of the 3 other Elders had rain gear so I gave my umbrella to others. And then gave my rain jacket to Vando, because he didn’t have anything. We came to church all soaking wet and the power had also gone out, ha-ha. Because of the mass amount of rain only 13 people showed up this Sunday. A little sad, but the spirit still manifested.
It’s been a great week, I hope that this week is even better. We will work with all of our heart, might mind and strength. No impure hand can impede the work of the Lord. This is His work. I pray that I may be a worthy and useful instrument in His hands.
Love,
Elder Rice
It’s so unreal. I thought this day would never come. Literally, I can’t even imagine a life other than this. For the last 2 years I have been in the service of the Lord. I can tell that these will be the most influential years of my life. I can’t stop thinking about it. If really I am ready to come home. I honestly want to stay. I can’t imagine going home yet. I could barely sleep last night. I set out to invite others to come unto Christ. Most importantly I was sent to bring myself unto Christ. Of all that I have learned, most important is that Jesus Christ is the Savior of this world. He was sent by the Father to do His will, to be lifted up on the cross that all men may be drawn unto Him. All other doctrines and principles of this gospel are simply appendages of this fact. It is only through the Savior Jesus Christ that we may clean of our sins. We can bring free of guilt, shame, sadness and we can experiment the miracle of forgiveness. We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, so that our children might know the source of the remission of our sins. I testify that He is the Son of God and He lives.
We have been working a lot with a less active named Octavio. Over time we have become great friends. He has once again started to read in the Book of Mormon and now has arrived to 1 Nephi 12. After receiving an interview with our branch President, he decided that Octavio would be the branch secretary! Octavio is very excited and because of this he has decided to be fully active in the church.
We have been also teaching a young man from the island of Sao Vicente. His name is Elvis. We marked him about 1 month ago to be baptized on the 27th of September, but unfortunately he has not been able to come to church because his work did not permit it. We taught him the importance of keeping the day of the Lord, and helped him know that he would never be able to be baptized without keeping the day of the Lord. He said he would do everything possible. About 2 days later, on Saturday, he told us that without saying anything, his boss randomly called him in to talk to him and told Elvis that his day off would now be on Sunday, she asked if that would be ok. He exclaimed ´´of course´´! That is a miracle. Certainly the Lord heard his prayers and granted him according to his faith. Because of that he was able to come to church this week and will be baptized this Saturday. That is all that he wants.
As we were walking on the street, we saw a young man sitting on the road, and I felt inspired to talk to him, so we went up and sat down with him. His name is Vando. He is 19 years old and he is from Praia. He is living here with his family. He had a unique smile, there was something different about him. We marked the next day to talk to him. The next day, we didn’t find him, but we did find the rest of his family. His mom, dad and little brother. Apparently the father had studied before with the Elders and knew quite a bit about the church. We had a great lesson with them. They said they wouldn’t be able to come to church this Sunday, but they said their son Vando would go. So we passed by on Sunday and picked him up and he came!
Waking up on Sunday morning was a great surprise. All of the streets with flooded with water and it was pouring down rain. Even like this we went around walking and passing all of our investigators to bring them to church. None of the 3 other Elders had rain gear so I gave my umbrella to others. And then gave my rain jacket to Vando, because he didn’t have anything. We came to church all soaking wet and the power had also gone out, ha-ha. Because of the mass amount of rain only 13 people showed up this Sunday. A little sad, but the spirit still manifested.
It’s been a great week, I hope that this week is even better. We will work with all of our heart, might mind and strength. No impure hand can impede the work of the Lord. This is His work. I pray that I may be a worthy and useful instrument in His hands.
Love,
Elder Rice
Monday, September 15, 2014
Hi:
I received some of the most joyous news this last week, my heart is filled with so much joy. About 1 year and a few months ago I served in Assomada on the island of Santiago. Assomada has to have been one of my favorite areas I have ever served in. I loved my companions, I loved being a zone leader, and I loved the members. We worked really hard with the members. We had the chance to teach and baptize 2 young men named Wilson and Hernani. They were so incredible. Wilson used to come out and proselyte with us even before he was baptized. They both developed very strong testimonies and loved working with us. I just received a call this last week that they both have callings, Wilson is the secretary and Hernani the ward mission leader. Both of them have officially put in their papers to serve a mission. They should be receiving a call any week now. And also another young man, named Edy in Mosteiros, has also started his mission papers. I was so happy to hear this news. I know that they will be great missionaries.
Our recent convert Chidi is doing great, but he is going through a bit of a rough time. As I have probably already mentioned, he has been stuck here in Cape Verde for 17 years and has not been able to save up enough money to return home. He just wants to go home. This week he couldn’t help but break down. He shared with us how he was feeling. He really doesn’t even like Cape Verde at all. His dad is sick and he wants to see him before he may die. Some fellow Nigerians have been able to contribute for his journey to Nigeria, until this point about 73,000 escudos has been donated, which is probably around 900 dollars. He needs 20,000 more escudos (like 300 dollars). He had received a few let downs and just about lost hope, but we have been stopping by every day, sharing scriptures, praying, we did a fast and now he seems to have much more confidence. I gave him my English quad (Book of Mormon, Bible, D&C, Pearl of Great Price) and it was pretty much the happiest day of his life. He said he wouldn’t give up those scriptures for a thousand dollars.
This week was party week. This ginormous party was called ´´Festival´´. It went on from Friday to Sunday. It started at like 8 o clock at night and they would stay out until 7 o clock in the morning. Everyone just drank a bunch and it had a very negative effect on our teaching at church. During the day, everyone was sleeping.
We have been working with a man named Immanuel for a quite a while now. The only problem is that he is constantly going to the island of Santiago for business and we haven’t had very much time to teach him. However the lessons we do have with him are always awesome! This guy is probably one of the smartest men I have met and he is exactly what the branch here in Santa Maria needs, a mature adult that can lead. I know we didn’t find him by coincidence. The Lord needs him on His side. He has really sincere intent to know the truth and I am positive that as he reads and prays he will receive an answer from God, just as I have read and prayed.
I studied a very powerful story this week in the scriptures, one that will forever change the way I see God. In Moses 7:23-37 tells the story of a vision that the Lord let the prophet Enoch see. Enoch saw Satan with a great chain covering all the face of the earth and he laughed. What a disturbing image. Satan is taking more and more control over the earths habitants. And when a man succumbs to his carnal desires against the nature of God, he pleases the enemy, and he laughs. While all of this iniquity and wickedness is happening, God look to his people and he wept. Enoch asks, how is it that you weep? The most holy, the most eternal the most superior being, how is it that you weep? The Lord explains that we are the work of His own hands, he sent us to see if we really love Him and would keep his commandments, but we hate our own blood. We are children of the most high, we are His special and His priceless children. This story demonstrates to me the love that God has for each and every one of His children. Just think about the Prodigal son. The prodigal son left his father and took a part of his inheritance to a far land and ended up losing it all. When the son finally came to his senses, he returned to his father. And what did the father do? After all of that time of his son being wayward, he saw him, he RAN to him, threw himself on his son and kissed him. That is the Love that God has for His Children, that not even 1 of his children should be lost. How great the joy in the heavens, when just 1 is repents!? When we sin, we please the enemy, he is laughing at us, while our loving heavenly father, that only wants our eternal happiness weeps. Think twice before you want to do something that is cool, or feels good or what everyone else is doing.
God loves us, we are His children, and our value is infinite. Our bodies are temples, gifts of God, let us show are love for our Heavenly Father and do what he asks with a humble heart. We should be willing to sacrifice everything for Him, thing about who He sacrificed for you.
Love,
Elder Rice
I received some of the most joyous news this last week, my heart is filled with so much joy. About 1 year and a few months ago I served in Assomada on the island of Santiago. Assomada has to have been one of my favorite areas I have ever served in. I loved my companions, I loved being a zone leader, and I loved the members. We worked really hard with the members. We had the chance to teach and baptize 2 young men named Wilson and Hernani. They were so incredible. Wilson used to come out and proselyte with us even before he was baptized. They both developed very strong testimonies and loved working with us. I just received a call this last week that they both have callings, Wilson is the secretary and Hernani the ward mission leader. Both of them have officially put in their papers to serve a mission. They should be receiving a call any week now. And also another young man, named Edy in Mosteiros, has also started his mission papers. I was so happy to hear this news. I know that they will be great missionaries.
Our recent convert Chidi is doing great, but he is going through a bit of a rough time. As I have probably already mentioned, he has been stuck here in Cape Verde for 17 years and has not been able to save up enough money to return home. He just wants to go home. This week he couldn’t help but break down. He shared with us how he was feeling. He really doesn’t even like Cape Verde at all. His dad is sick and he wants to see him before he may die. Some fellow Nigerians have been able to contribute for his journey to Nigeria, until this point about 73,000 escudos has been donated, which is probably around 900 dollars. He needs 20,000 more escudos (like 300 dollars). He had received a few let downs and just about lost hope, but we have been stopping by every day, sharing scriptures, praying, we did a fast and now he seems to have much more confidence. I gave him my English quad (Book of Mormon, Bible, D&C, Pearl of Great Price) and it was pretty much the happiest day of his life. He said he wouldn’t give up those scriptures for a thousand dollars.
This week was party week. This ginormous party was called ´´Festival´´. It went on from Friday to Sunday. It started at like 8 o clock at night and they would stay out until 7 o clock in the morning. Everyone just drank a bunch and it had a very negative effect on our teaching at church. During the day, everyone was sleeping.
We have been working with a man named Immanuel for a quite a while now. The only problem is that he is constantly going to the island of Santiago for business and we haven’t had very much time to teach him. However the lessons we do have with him are always awesome! This guy is probably one of the smartest men I have met and he is exactly what the branch here in Santa Maria needs, a mature adult that can lead. I know we didn’t find him by coincidence. The Lord needs him on His side. He has really sincere intent to know the truth and I am positive that as he reads and prays he will receive an answer from God, just as I have read and prayed.
I studied a very powerful story this week in the scriptures, one that will forever change the way I see God. In Moses 7:23-37 tells the story of a vision that the Lord let the prophet Enoch see. Enoch saw Satan with a great chain covering all the face of the earth and he laughed. What a disturbing image. Satan is taking more and more control over the earths habitants. And when a man succumbs to his carnal desires against the nature of God, he pleases the enemy, and he laughs. While all of this iniquity and wickedness is happening, God look to his people and he wept. Enoch asks, how is it that you weep? The most holy, the most eternal the most superior being, how is it that you weep? The Lord explains that we are the work of His own hands, he sent us to see if we really love Him and would keep his commandments, but we hate our own blood. We are children of the most high, we are His special and His priceless children. This story demonstrates to me the love that God has for each and every one of His children. Just think about the Prodigal son. The prodigal son left his father and took a part of his inheritance to a far land and ended up losing it all. When the son finally came to his senses, he returned to his father. And what did the father do? After all of that time of his son being wayward, he saw him, he RAN to him, threw himself on his son and kissed him. That is the Love that God has for His Children, that not even 1 of his children should be lost. How great the joy in the heavens, when just 1 is repents!? When we sin, we please the enemy, he is laughing at us, while our loving heavenly father, that only wants our eternal happiness weeps. Think twice before you want to do something that is cool, or feels good or what everyone else is doing.
God loves us, we are His children, and our value is infinite. Our bodies are temples, gifts of God, let us show are love for our Heavenly Father and do what he asks with a humble heart. We should be willing to sacrifice everything for Him, thing about who He sacrificed for you.
Love,
Elder Rice
Monday, September 8, 2014
Hi,
This last Sunday a member, named Maritsa brought one of her friends name Zito. He really liked church, so we got to talk to him this week. He was very open to our message, having been invited by one of his friends. He accepted our invite to baptism on the 20th of September. Investigators that are introduced by members are 100% more effective than other ways. If we really want to bring more souls unto Christ, members must work together with missionaries, there is no other solution. There is nothing better than having a friend there to answer doubts, bear testimony and guide them through this path.
At family home evening this week we got to try something a little different out. As we are all brothers and sisters in the Lords plan, it’s as if we are a family within the church. Each person was able to share a little bit about how was their week, what was good and bad, if they needed help with anything. It was just like a little family council. I think it was a great way to open each other up create more union within the branch members. We got to bring Chidi and he loved it.
Chidi is doing so great. He literally just glows now. We taught him about temples and it just blew his mind. Not only that, but he has the luck to have a temple in his country that is like a few hours car drive. He was really excited about that. He asks us almost every day if he will be able to participate in missionary work when he gets back, all he wants to do is share the gospel with others, he is so awesome! We have also found that there are a ton of chapels very close to where he lives. He is actually planning to probably leave this week to head back to Nigeria, which will be really good for him. I love him so much! I’m going to miss him, but we will definitely stay in contact.
We have had some really great success this week with less actives. The church has been here in Santa Maria for right around 10 months to a year, there are already 30+ less actives here. There is a lot of work to do with less active members. We have been working with a man named Filipe that has recently returned to the church. And also this week we met with a less active man Oitavio. He has been a member for like 8 months. He told us that when he was in the church he has direction in his life and he was on the way to fulfill his dreams. But once he stopped he lost that orientation and started losing his way and getting frustrated with life. I shared with him one of my favorite scriptures in 3 Nephi 14, where the disciples were worried about what they would eat, drink and what they would dress. Christ replied Don’t worry, because your Heavenly Father knows what you need, Search first for the Kingdom of God and these things will be added unto you (paraphrased). I told him that the solution was very simple. Trust in the Lord, put Him in the first place over everything else and he would gain more than he could ever imagine. He came to church this week, it was awesome!
We also started to teach another less active, named Pablo that baptized a few years ago in Praia. He actually has the Melchizedek priesthood. We shared with him the story of Enos and his fight to obtain remission of his sins. This story really touched Pablo. We challenged him to try pray fervently and talk with the Lord as Enos did. He wasn’t able to come to church yesterday, but he said he would come this next week!
Another cool miracle, is that at testimony meeting yesterday, Judith shared a really cool story. Since the day we met her (4 months ago) she has struggled financially and to find a fixed job. We have promised time upon time that God would bless her as she continued to be obedient. It was hard to see her struggle so much and be so obedient, but I had a surety that God would fulfill his promise. The branch members have been a huge help to her in her need. She said that the week before, she had thought that it was the 1st Sunday of the month (actually the last of the month). She did a fast with the purpose that she might find work. To her surprise the very next day, some random lady had offered her a fixed job. Not only that, but some branch members had also found her another fixed job, now she had the problem of deciding which job she would take, she prayed and she made the decision. Judith is so great!
We found a few investigators this week while we were knocking doors. I’m pretty sure they were stoned, but we still taught them a little bit. One of them, named Steve really appeared to have interest. He had told us that he had talked to missionaries before and that he knew about Joseph Smith. We visited him again yesterday, inviting him to be baptized on the 4th of October, he said ´´yeah, I’ll be baptized on that day, I’ve already been baptized in your church, can I do it twice?'' I asked ''You have been baptized in this church?!?!'' He replied ''Yeah''. Not sure why he didn’t tell us that ha-ha. However he does have desire to come back to church, so that will be good!!
Oh yeah, another thing. We were passing some people to bring them to church. At one house they had a dog chained up. I went to pet the dog’s head, but then I decided not to. Then my companion said ´´just pet him, he want bite´´. Well I went to pet and the dog just about bit of my finger. I got blood all over my nice tie and my white shirt ha-ha. I didn’t want to look at my finger, because I really thought the dog had bit it off. It didn’t end up being that bad, ha-ha.
Also this week we had the visit of a 70 of the area, his name is Elder Moreira, and he is from Portugal. It was absolutely incredible. His words were very inspiring, he just made me want to repent and change and be better. Well that’s actually the Spirit that brings a change in our heart to want to do good continually. That’s how you I can tell if a talk or training was good, if I feel enlightened and want to repent.
I love the gospel, I love sharing it with those that are lost, so that they may experience the unexplainable joy that I feel every day. I’m grateful for my parents that showed me a great example of how to live the gospel!
Love,
Elder Rice
This last Sunday a member, named Maritsa brought one of her friends name Zito. He really liked church, so we got to talk to him this week. He was very open to our message, having been invited by one of his friends. He accepted our invite to baptism on the 20th of September. Investigators that are introduced by members are 100% more effective than other ways. If we really want to bring more souls unto Christ, members must work together with missionaries, there is no other solution. There is nothing better than having a friend there to answer doubts, bear testimony and guide them through this path.
At family home evening this week we got to try something a little different out. As we are all brothers and sisters in the Lords plan, it’s as if we are a family within the church. Each person was able to share a little bit about how was their week, what was good and bad, if they needed help with anything. It was just like a little family council. I think it was a great way to open each other up create more union within the branch members. We got to bring Chidi and he loved it.
Chidi is doing so great. He literally just glows now. We taught him about temples and it just blew his mind. Not only that, but he has the luck to have a temple in his country that is like a few hours car drive. He was really excited about that. He asks us almost every day if he will be able to participate in missionary work when he gets back, all he wants to do is share the gospel with others, he is so awesome! We have also found that there are a ton of chapels very close to where he lives. He is actually planning to probably leave this week to head back to Nigeria, which will be really good for him. I love him so much! I’m going to miss him, but we will definitely stay in contact.
We have had some really great success this week with less actives. The church has been here in Santa Maria for right around 10 months to a year, there are already 30+ less actives here. There is a lot of work to do with less active members. We have been working with a man named Filipe that has recently returned to the church. And also this week we met with a less active man Oitavio. He has been a member for like 8 months. He told us that when he was in the church he has direction in his life and he was on the way to fulfill his dreams. But once he stopped he lost that orientation and started losing his way and getting frustrated with life. I shared with him one of my favorite scriptures in 3 Nephi 14, where the disciples were worried about what they would eat, drink and what they would dress. Christ replied Don’t worry, because your Heavenly Father knows what you need, Search first for the Kingdom of God and these things will be added unto you (paraphrased). I told him that the solution was very simple. Trust in the Lord, put Him in the first place over everything else and he would gain more than he could ever imagine. He came to church this week, it was awesome!
We also started to teach another less active, named Pablo that baptized a few years ago in Praia. He actually has the Melchizedek priesthood. We shared with him the story of Enos and his fight to obtain remission of his sins. This story really touched Pablo. We challenged him to try pray fervently and talk with the Lord as Enos did. He wasn’t able to come to church yesterday, but he said he would come this next week!
Another cool miracle, is that at testimony meeting yesterday, Judith shared a really cool story. Since the day we met her (4 months ago) she has struggled financially and to find a fixed job. We have promised time upon time that God would bless her as she continued to be obedient. It was hard to see her struggle so much and be so obedient, but I had a surety that God would fulfill his promise. The branch members have been a huge help to her in her need. She said that the week before, she had thought that it was the 1st Sunday of the month (actually the last of the month). She did a fast with the purpose that she might find work. To her surprise the very next day, some random lady had offered her a fixed job. Not only that, but some branch members had also found her another fixed job, now she had the problem of deciding which job she would take, she prayed and she made the decision. Judith is so great!
We found a few investigators this week while we were knocking doors. I’m pretty sure they were stoned, but we still taught them a little bit. One of them, named Steve really appeared to have interest. He had told us that he had talked to missionaries before and that he knew about Joseph Smith. We visited him again yesterday, inviting him to be baptized on the 4th of October, he said ´´yeah, I’ll be baptized on that day, I’ve already been baptized in your church, can I do it twice?'' I asked ''You have been baptized in this church?!?!'' He replied ''Yeah''. Not sure why he didn’t tell us that ha-ha. However he does have desire to come back to church, so that will be good!!
Oh yeah, another thing. We were passing some people to bring them to church. At one house they had a dog chained up. I went to pet the dog’s head, but then I decided not to. Then my companion said ´´just pet him, he want bite´´. Well I went to pet and the dog just about bit of my finger. I got blood all over my nice tie and my white shirt ha-ha. I didn’t want to look at my finger, because I really thought the dog had bit it off. It didn’t end up being that bad, ha-ha.
Also this week we had the visit of a 70 of the area, his name is Elder Moreira, and he is from Portugal. It was absolutely incredible. His words were very inspiring, he just made me want to repent and change and be better. Well that’s actually the Spirit that brings a change in our heart to want to do good continually. That’s how you I can tell if a talk or training was good, if I feel enlightened and want to repent.
I love the gospel, I love sharing it with those that are lost, so that they may experience the unexplainable joy that I feel every day. I’m grateful for my parents that showed me a great example of how to live the gospel!
Love,
Elder Rice
Monday, September 1, 2014
Hey,
I have come to realize the utter importance of our communication with our Heavenly Father. Just as real that we may be speak, ask, beg and plead to Him, He can very well communicate with us through revelation. Revelation is communication from God to his children, this communication comes by the Holy Ghost which prompts us, gives us impressions, and fills our heart with inspiring thoughts and feelings. We ask the Lord for so many things every day, but how often do we pay attention to what He is saying to us. If the God spoke to you would you give so little importance to it, to forget it within moments or days? The voice of the Spirit is gentle and subtle and can often be overlooked if we are not paying attention. I have tried to pay more attention to these revelations that the Lord has given me. I have even started a small journal to record this things. I encourage you all to do the same, the messages that God gives us are essential to our earthly and eternal progression.
I gave a training in District meeting this week about Faith. I shared the story in Matthew 14, 22-33, of Jesus walking on the water. Christ called to Peter that he would walk toward him, having faith in Christ and seeing the perfect and unfailing example of Christ, Peter stepped out and walked on the water. 1st of all proving that maybe to man, some things may be difficult or impossible, but with God, all things are possible, likewise as we have faith in Him. As we come unto Christ we can do miracles. But later, the wind came. I like to think of this wind as weaknesses, temptation, trials that test our faith in Christ. It is inevitable that we will fall. But it is how react against these winds that matter. Will we let our trials get the best of us and weaken us, or will we do as Ether counsels (Ether 12:27), as we come unto Christ, he will show us our weaknesses, and he shows us our weaknesses that we may be humble. We must humble ourselves and recognize our dependence on the strength of the Lord, that we cannot do this alone. And the grace of Christ is enough for all those that humble themselves, making it possible that weak things become strong. I know that through the Savior Jesus Christ and only through Him may we overcome our weaknesses and errors and become stronger than we have ever been, to become true disciples to the Lord. I have felt impressed to share this story, it was revelation that the Lord has shown to me that I will never forget.
This week was incredible! What a joyous and beautiful day to see Chidi follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized. Chidi was a lost man. At times close to suicide. He was addicted to drugs and has been stuck hopelessly in this country for 17 years without seeing his family. And then one day, the Lord led us to Him. I have a surety that it was the Lord that led us to him. He realized it was exactly the gospel that he needed and he even exclaimed ''I have found what I have been searching for''. Chidi has transformed. He used to wear these ragged and dirty clothes. He cut his hair, shaved his beard, cleaned his clothes and now I can see the light that he has. As he came out of the water he couldn’t help but just laugh and smile. I gave him a hug and i knew by the power of the Holy Ghost that that baptism was indeed performed by the divine authority of God. As we walked back he couldn’t stop saying. I just feel so different, I feel so happy, I feel like a different person. Yesterday he received the gift of the Holy Ghost. What a miraculous and wonderful experience it has been to work with him and help him come unto Christ. He is now closer than ever to return back to his home country. I know that as he continues to keep the commandments of the Lord, He will prepare a way.
One night as we were standing on a street corner, a young man of about 21 years came up to us and told us that he wasn’t from Sal, he was from Sao Vincent and he had gone to our church. For a while it seemed like he was a member, but we came to find out that he was not yet baptized. His name is Elvis. He works with horses and does excursions around the island. We got to teach him at our branch president’s house and it was a great success. He has accepted to be baptized on the 27 of September. He is going to be a great member, i can see it.
For the first time ever here in our small branch in Santa Maria, we had 3 hours of church!!! We started at 9:30am, until 12:30pm. It ended up being a huge success. Our branch president, President Rodrigues is so awesome, I love him. He is doing such a great job, even with such little time in the church, he is doing everything to magnify is office we are working with him always!!!
I love the work, I love the gospel. There was a quote that I loved by Elder Jeffery R. Holland, I will paraphrase. He said ''There once was a young man that came up to me and asked 'Elder Holland, would you give your life for the church?', I knew what he was trying to ask, if I would be willing to die for my beliefs. Well that would be the easy part, to die for our beliefs. The harder thing is to live for the church, live your beliefs and serve Him until the end. Not a very easy task''. I am both willing to die and live for the Lord. I have no doubt that these things that I teach and preach every day are true, I have seen it transform lives.
Love,
Elder Rice
I have come to realize the utter importance of our communication with our Heavenly Father. Just as real that we may be speak, ask, beg and plead to Him, He can very well communicate with us through revelation. Revelation is communication from God to his children, this communication comes by the Holy Ghost which prompts us, gives us impressions, and fills our heart with inspiring thoughts and feelings. We ask the Lord for so many things every day, but how often do we pay attention to what He is saying to us. If the God spoke to you would you give so little importance to it, to forget it within moments or days? The voice of the Spirit is gentle and subtle and can often be overlooked if we are not paying attention. I have tried to pay more attention to these revelations that the Lord has given me. I have even started a small journal to record this things. I encourage you all to do the same, the messages that God gives us are essential to our earthly and eternal progression.
I gave a training in District meeting this week about Faith. I shared the story in Matthew 14, 22-33, of Jesus walking on the water. Christ called to Peter that he would walk toward him, having faith in Christ and seeing the perfect and unfailing example of Christ, Peter stepped out and walked on the water. 1st of all proving that maybe to man, some things may be difficult or impossible, but with God, all things are possible, likewise as we have faith in Him. As we come unto Christ we can do miracles. But later, the wind came. I like to think of this wind as weaknesses, temptation, trials that test our faith in Christ. It is inevitable that we will fall. But it is how react against these winds that matter. Will we let our trials get the best of us and weaken us, or will we do as Ether counsels (Ether 12:27), as we come unto Christ, he will show us our weaknesses, and he shows us our weaknesses that we may be humble. We must humble ourselves and recognize our dependence on the strength of the Lord, that we cannot do this alone. And the grace of Christ is enough for all those that humble themselves, making it possible that weak things become strong. I know that through the Savior Jesus Christ and only through Him may we overcome our weaknesses and errors and become stronger than we have ever been, to become true disciples to the Lord. I have felt impressed to share this story, it was revelation that the Lord has shown to me that I will never forget.
This week was incredible! What a joyous and beautiful day to see Chidi follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized. Chidi was a lost man. At times close to suicide. He was addicted to drugs and has been stuck hopelessly in this country for 17 years without seeing his family. And then one day, the Lord led us to Him. I have a surety that it was the Lord that led us to him. He realized it was exactly the gospel that he needed and he even exclaimed ''I have found what I have been searching for''. Chidi has transformed. He used to wear these ragged and dirty clothes. He cut his hair, shaved his beard, cleaned his clothes and now I can see the light that he has. As he came out of the water he couldn’t help but just laugh and smile. I gave him a hug and i knew by the power of the Holy Ghost that that baptism was indeed performed by the divine authority of God. As we walked back he couldn’t stop saying. I just feel so different, I feel so happy, I feel like a different person. Yesterday he received the gift of the Holy Ghost. What a miraculous and wonderful experience it has been to work with him and help him come unto Christ. He is now closer than ever to return back to his home country. I know that as he continues to keep the commandments of the Lord, He will prepare a way.
One night as we were standing on a street corner, a young man of about 21 years came up to us and told us that he wasn’t from Sal, he was from Sao Vincent and he had gone to our church. For a while it seemed like he was a member, but we came to find out that he was not yet baptized. His name is Elvis. He works with horses and does excursions around the island. We got to teach him at our branch president’s house and it was a great success. He has accepted to be baptized on the 27 of September. He is going to be a great member, i can see it.
For the first time ever here in our small branch in Santa Maria, we had 3 hours of church!!! We started at 9:30am, until 12:30pm. It ended up being a huge success. Our branch president, President Rodrigues is so awesome, I love him. He is doing such a great job, even with such little time in the church, he is doing everything to magnify is office we are working with him always!!!
I love the work, I love the gospel. There was a quote that I loved by Elder Jeffery R. Holland, I will paraphrase. He said ''There once was a young man that came up to me and asked 'Elder Holland, would you give your life for the church?', I knew what he was trying to ask, if I would be willing to die for my beliefs. Well that would be the easy part, to die for our beliefs. The harder thing is to live for the church, live your beliefs and serve Him until the end. Not a very easy task''. I am both willing to die and live for the Lord. I have no doubt that these things that I teach and preach every day are true, I have seen it transform lives.
Love,
Elder Rice
Monday, August 25, 2014
Hey!
For the first time in like 1 year and a half we had a zone activity ha-ha. Usually there is absolutely nothing to do here in Santa Maria, we usually just listen to conference talks, or watch church movies. But today the Elders and Sisters from Espargos came down here and we played kickball and soccer and stuff, it was pretty fun! For the first time in all my 2 years here I got sunburned ha-ha. Santa Maria is a basically just a giant sand dune. We were in the sand all day and I think it was reflecting and burnt me up. That’s alright though!
We have been working a lot with a less active member named Filipe. He is a very smart man. He understands the doctrines of the church very well, the problem was just putting it into practice. We had worked quite a bit with him in the past and he always, always promised to come back and participate but never did anything. Our visits always had a very strong spirit, and it was hard to really tell what he needed. But, it so happens that this week he called us and told us to come over. At the end of the lesson he actually invited us to continue to pass by every day until Sunday, so we could help him return to church. So we passed every day. Every day the spirit testified stronger and stronger until finally his heart was softened. We spoke about what he was missing, the sacrament. The sacrament is the emblem by which we can enjoy the blessings of the Atonement. We make a sacred covenant to serve God in baptism, but the blessings of this covenant are only unlocked to those that worthily take the sacrament. We then started to teach him about the importance of laws and ordinances. Not just by the commandments are we saved, but the ordinances performed by the Lord´s divine authority. We taught of the Priesthood and then of the temple how we receive other ordinances of salvation there like eternal marriage. Just seeing a picture of the temple brought so much light into his eyes. I have never seen him like that. I could feel that the Spirit of God was in that room with us. Filipe´s entire outlook has changed. His entire vision is to be able to arrive in the House of the Lord and participate of the ordinances there. He knows that he needs to come back to church to get there. And as a matter of fact, after months and months of not returning to church, Filipe came with his wife Katiza to church this week. Now we are helping him to be able to receive the priesthood.
I was able to download a really cool video of the temple. It is the Curitiba, Brazil temple. It actually shows some pictures of some of the rooms in the temple and it has some good music. We were able to show this video to some of the members in the branch, including our branch president. Many of them have not heard much about the temple, so we had a great opportunity to help them to open their eyes. After watching, they just admired what they had seen. We talked about how only he that has clean hands and a pure heart may enter into the temple. This will be a great motivator to strengthen these members and keep their eyes fit on the glory of God.
I have gained such an incredible love for the temple. I really do miss going to the temple so much. It is the House of the Lord. Everything just makes so much sense. The Lord has commanded that His prophets construct temples from the beginning, even with Adam and his altar. They are the most sacred place that exists on the face of the earth, where we can receive ordinances for ourselves and loved ones. We are truly so lucky to have a temple so close to our own homes.
We have been working a lot with Chidi, passing by his house every day. He is having some pretty difficult times, especially with getting all the money together to go back to Nigeria. He was sad when we first arrived, but after reading just 1 or 2 scriptures his entire countenance just shines. We shared the story of Joshua and how the Lord had promised them a promised land, but it was not very easy to get there. The Lord gave Joshua some counsel and this same counsel brought so much hope to Chidi. The words of Christ can do marvelous things, the spirit comes in so strong. He is marked to be baptized this week. I hope everything goes as planned.
Yesterday as we were walking a lady called us over. We were in a very poor part of town. She was smoking and explained to me that she was pregnant and that her boyfriend didn’t want to stay with her anymore and she doesn’t have a job or any means of raising a child. She wanted me, a ´´man from the church´´ to talk to her boyfriend to get permission to get an abortion. I just sat there and thought. I then explained to her in very few and simple words the plan of salvation, that God has granted us the power to create life, he does not want us to abuse this power, he expects that when we use this sacred power that we will take care of the Lord´s precious sons and daughters that He sends, every person is a precious son or daughter of God, the worth of souls is great in the sight of God. By the end of our 4 minute conversation, she concluded that she would not do the abortion, she wants us to teach her now. We explained as the mother of this child, she must take complete care of her baby, especially by stopping to drink and smoke. A very sad case, I know that we can help this woman and her child.
To man it may be impossible, but to God nothing is impossible. I have absolute surety that if we have enough faith we can literally perform miracles in the Lord’s name. Doubt is the opposite of faith, no progress will ever happen where there is doubt or negative thinking. I know Jesus Christ is my Savior and I will dedicate all my life to His work.
Love,
Elder Rice
For the first time in like 1 year and a half we had a zone activity ha-ha. Usually there is absolutely nothing to do here in Santa Maria, we usually just listen to conference talks, or watch church movies. But today the Elders and Sisters from Espargos came down here and we played kickball and soccer and stuff, it was pretty fun! For the first time in all my 2 years here I got sunburned ha-ha. Santa Maria is a basically just a giant sand dune. We were in the sand all day and I think it was reflecting and burnt me up. That’s alright though!
We have been working a lot with a less active member named Filipe. He is a very smart man. He understands the doctrines of the church very well, the problem was just putting it into practice. We had worked quite a bit with him in the past and he always, always promised to come back and participate but never did anything. Our visits always had a very strong spirit, and it was hard to really tell what he needed. But, it so happens that this week he called us and told us to come over. At the end of the lesson he actually invited us to continue to pass by every day until Sunday, so we could help him return to church. So we passed every day. Every day the spirit testified stronger and stronger until finally his heart was softened. We spoke about what he was missing, the sacrament. The sacrament is the emblem by which we can enjoy the blessings of the Atonement. We make a sacred covenant to serve God in baptism, but the blessings of this covenant are only unlocked to those that worthily take the sacrament. We then started to teach him about the importance of laws and ordinances. Not just by the commandments are we saved, but the ordinances performed by the Lord´s divine authority. We taught of the Priesthood and then of the temple how we receive other ordinances of salvation there like eternal marriage. Just seeing a picture of the temple brought so much light into his eyes. I have never seen him like that. I could feel that the Spirit of God was in that room with us. Filipe´s entire outlook has changed. His entire vision is to be able to arrive in the House of the Lord and participate of the ordinances there. He knows that he needs to come back to church to get there. And as a matter of fact, after months and months of not returning to church, Filipe came with his wife Katiza to church this week. Now we are helping him to be able to receive the priesthood.
I was able to download a really cool video of the temple. It is the Curitiba, Brazil temple. It actually shows some pictures of some of the rooms in the temple and it has some good music. We were able to show this video to some of the members in the branch, including our branch president. Many of them have not heard much about the temple, so we had a great opportunity to help them to open their eyes. After watching, they just admired what they had seen. We talked about how only he that has clean hands and a pure heart may enter into the temple. This will be a great motivator to strengthen these members and keep their eyes fit on the glory of God.
I have gained such an incredible love for the temple. I really do miss going to the temple so much. It is the House of the Lord. Everything just makes so much sense. The Lord has commanded that His prophets construct temples from the beginning, even with Adam and his altar. They are the most sacred place that exists on the face of the earth, where we can receive ordinances for ourselves and loved ones. We are truly so lucky to have a temple so close to our own homes.
We have been working a lot with Chidi, passing by his house every day. He is having some pretty difficult times, especially with getting all the money together to go back to Nigeria. He was sad when we first arrived, but after reading just 1 or 2 scriptures his entire countenance just shines. We shared the story of Joshua and how the Lord had promised them a promised land, but it was not very easy to get there. The Lord gave Joshua some counsel and this same counsel brought so much hope to Chidi. The words of Christ can do marvelous things, the spirit comes in so strong. He is marked to be baptized this week. I hope everything goes as planned.
Yesterday as we were walking a lady called us over. We were in a very poor part of town. She was smoking and explained to me that she was pregnant and that her boyfriend didn’t want to stay with her anymore and she doesn’t have a job or any means of raising a child. She wanted me, a ´´man from the church´´ to talk to her boyfriend to get permission to get an abortion. I just sat there and thought. I then explained to her in very few and simple words the plan of salvation, that God has granted us the power to create life, he does not want us to abuse this power, he expects that when we use this sacred power that we will take care of the Lord´s precious sons and daughters that He sends, every person is a precious son or daughter of God, the worth of souls is great in the sight of God. By the end of our 4 minute conversation, she concluded that she would not do the abortion, she wants us to teach her now. We explained as the mother of this child, she must take complete care of her baby, especially by stopping to drink and smoke. A very sad case, I know that we can help this woman and her child.
To man it may be impossible, but to God nothing is impossible. I have absolute surety that if we have enough faith we can literally perform miracles in the Lord’s name. Doubt is the opposite of faith, no progress will ever happen where there is doubt or negative thinking. I know Jesus Christ is my Savior and I will dedicate all my life to His work.
Love,
Elder Rice
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
HEY!
We had transfers last night, Elder Turner and I are staying for 1 more! I was already 99% sure that we were staying, it wouldn’t make much sense to transfer me on my last transfer. Yes. My blasting last transfer. The words don’t even seem real. I can’t even explain how weird it feels. I feel like I have only been here for a short time, like a few months. I honestly don’t even really miss America (except for maybe carpet and a few other things). The time has gone by so fast. I have had the most incredible opportunity to serve the Lord and work miracles in His name. I’m glad that I have kept a journal my entire mission, so that I can ponder about these things I have passed through to share with future generations.
We have been training President Rodrigues about the importance of doing interviews with the members. These interviews are essential, they are a way to verify worthiness, prepare to give callings and strengthen each and every member. Also we have discussed with him the importance of motivating the members to participate more actively in missionary work. Missionary work only done by Elders will never lead to true baptisms, conversion and retention. It is only when the missionaries and members work together, that true growth can happen. He agreed with this. He has agreed to talk about this in a meeting that we will be holding this week for all of those that hold a calling.
We got to find a really awesome investigator this last week. His name is Steven. He does not work at the moment, and he lives with his girlfriend and their daughter. It turns out that his girlfriend is a member of the church, apparently she was taught and baptized like 12 years ago in Praia. Her name is Monica. They are a really nice family. They even invited us over for lunch today, should be sweet.
Our branch president has designated Judith (our recent convert) to give a talk this next Sunday, so we will be helping her out a bit with that.
I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way to true happiness, being edified on his doctrine brings long lasting and eternal happiness, as opposed to the ways of the world. Wickedness never was happiness. It is by the commandments that the Lord protects and makes the pathway that we may become as He is.
Love,
Elder Rice
We had transfers last night, Elder Turner and I are staying for 1 more! I was already 99% sure that we were staying, it wouldn’t make much sense to transfer me on my last transfer. Yes. My blasting last transfer. The words don’t even seem real. I can’t even explain how weird it feels. I feel like I have only been here for a short time, like a few months. I honestly don’t even really miss America (except for maybe carpet and a few other things). The time has gone by so fast. I have had the most incredible opportunity to serve the Lord and work miracles in His name. I’m glad that I have kept a journal my entire mission, so that I can ponder about these things I have passed through to share with future generations.
We have been training President Rodrigues about the importance of doing interviews with the members. These interviews are essential, they are a way to verify worthiness, prepare to give callings and strengthen each and every member. Also we have discussed with him the importance of motivating the members to participate more actively in missionary work. Missionary work only done by Elders will never lead to true baptisms, conversion and retention. It is only when the missionaries and members work together, that true growth can happen. He agreed with this. He has agreed to talk about this in a meeting that we will be holding this week for all of those that hold a calling.
We got to find a really awesome investigator this last week. His name is Steven. He does not work at the moment, and he lives with his girlfriend and their daughter. It turns out that his girlfriend is a member of the church, apparently she was taught and baptized like 12 years ago in Praia. Her name is Monica. They are a really nice family. They even invited us over for lunch today, should be sweet.
Our branch president has designated Judith (our recent convert) to give a talk this next Sunday, so we will be helping her out a bit with that.
I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way to true happiness, being edified on his doctrine brings long lasting and eternal happiness, as opposed to the ways of the world. Wickedness never was happiness. It is by the commandments that the Lord protects and makes the pathway that we may become as He is.
Love,
Elder Rice
Monday, August 11, 2014
HEY EVERYONE!
Its been a super sucessful week! We have been really praying and looking to find the Lord’s elect, and those that are ready to receive the restored Gospel. More than anything, we need leaders here in Santa Maria. We need strong men and women that are willing to dedicate their life and serve God. I believe the Lord has been answering our prayers.
In this process we have found 16 new investigators this week. Our most effective form of finding has been knocking on doors. Not only knocking doors has helped us to find new people, but actually we have found a lot of people that have really great potential. We are usually used to just contacting people on the street and getting their number, but that leaves too much room for error. They could give us the wrong number, or we could never find their house. But when we go directly to their house, we have the chance to sit down, testify and teach the restored Gospel in a few moments so that they can feel by the power of the Holy Ghost that the things that we are teaching are true. This gives them much more desire to have us come back again. For example, we knocked on a door and found a man named Immanuel. Immanuel is an incredibly smart man. He is working on a business idea to start up a taxi center that would revolutionize taxis here in Cape Verde. He sat down very willing and open to hear our message. As a result he has already read 3 Nephi 11 and has committed to a baptismal date. I see a great leader in him. He is around 30 years old. He is intelligent and has leadership qualities. He is direct. I know the Lord helped us to find him.
Also, we have recently started to teach a family. The husband and wife are named, Dada and Soraya. Soraya was actually baptized in the church, but later fell away. Her husband was preparing for baptism but had some problems with some commandments and also distanced himself. I actually got to meet them last week as we did the family home teaching visits. Since that day we have returned and been teaching them. We shared the story of 4 Nephi 1, of how the people of Nephi were immensely blessed because they were converted and lived the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They didn’t have fights, or lies, or contentions, they were the happiest of all people. This was possible because of there obedience. Soraya expressed how they have been having some problems between them. We applied this story to them. Through obedience to the commandments of God, our families and our home can be a place of refuge, peace and joy. We have challenged them to be obedient, reading in the scriptures and praying together every day. They have started to do this and I can already see a huge difference. They have smilies that they didn’t use to. And it appears that Soraya has even stopped drinking. not only that but their entire family came to church this last Sunday and they loved it. Now we working on helping Dada prepare to be baptized. The Gospel truly, truly blesses families. There is no way that a family can have this happiness without practicing the principles of the Gospel.
Chidi is passing a pretty difficult time in his life. He came here to Cape Verde to find work to send money to his family. In the process he has fallen into some pretty bad habits. At one time he was in prison here in Cape verde for 6 years, he has been here for a total of 17 years without going home. This was never his plan. He wants more than ever to go back home to see his parents, especially his dad who is sick. One day when we passed by this week, Chidi just looked really down. He told us that he had even though about taking his own life. Trying to think what he needed to hear, we bore the most profound testimony that he is a child of God, and that God loves him. The most wonderful thing about the gospel is that even though we are imperfect and we have done many terrible things, we can forget of these things and be completely clean, being born again. We read Matthew 11:28-30 about how we can come unto Christ and find rest for our souls. We then shared the story of the sons of Mosiah. In Mosiah 27 they did many terrible things, but by coming unto Christ, they were able to abandon their carnal selves, and be born again, becoming a new creature. The light returned into Chidi´s eyes. That was what he needed to hear. he is planning to go back to Nigeria at the end of this month, but before he goes he wants to be baptized. Miraculously, the church is super big in Nigeria and their is actually a chapel in his hometown where he would be returning, what a blessing!
One of our recent converts Jezidel had the opportunity to go to EFY (FSY) here in Cape Verde. They traveled to an island called Santo Antao and they stayed there for 5 days. She absolutely loved it. She said when she first got there she wanted to go home because she didnt like it, but by the time she left she was crying. The day that she came back she gave us a call and she asked if we could come over. We came over and she asked if we could give a priesthood blessing to her sister who has liver (or maybe kidney stone) problems. Her sister, Jezilene, had to go to the hospital. So we sat down with Jezilene and explained that the same power and authority that Christ and His Apostles had to cure and raise the dead is the same power and authority that we possess. Just as Christ, his miracles and blessings were brought about with accordance to their faith. I assisted my new companion Elder Turner in the annointing and I performed the sealing. It was a beautiful experience. Afterward we got to talk a bit. She has 3 kids and is a single mom. We testified that the Gospel will help her raise her kids in the right path. I could tell that she has passed through a lot of afflictions as a single mom, the gospel is the light that she needs. She agreed for us to talk with her the next day. Before when we would talk to her she wouldn’t show any interest. I think that giving her this blessing really opened up her heart. Yesterday we got to teach her the Restoration and mark a baptismal date. In the middle of the lesson, her boyfriend came to visit the house. He also happens to be a member of the church, less active. He is a priesthood holder. He is exacltly what we need her. The Lord is truly blessing us.
This work is literally impossible without the Spirit. Despite how much talents or capacities someone thinks they may have, if they do not have the Spirit and do not teach by the Spirit, they will never have real sucess. I feel the Spirit testify through me, its a wonderful thing. I am not the greatest teacher, but I know the Spirit makes me stronger.
I testify that God is our Father and that He loved us in such a way that He sent His son, Jesus Christ to take upon him the sins, enfermities and pains of all inhabitants of all the Earth. I have felt my sin and my burden be lifted, and I have seen this same aliviation in my investigators and recent converts. There is no other way or name that a man may be saved if not by the name of Jesus Christ.
Love,
Elder Rice
Its been a super sucessful week! We have been really praying and looking to find the Lord’s elect, and those that are ready to receive the restored Gospel. More than anything, we need leaders here in Santa Maria. We need strong men and women that are willing to dedicate their life and serve God. I believe the Lord has been answering our prayers.
In this process we have found 16 new investigators this week. Our most effective form of finding has been knocking on doors. Not only knocking doors has helped us to find new people, but actually we have found a lot of people that have really great potential. We are usually used to just contacting people on the street and getting their number, but that leaves too much room for error. They could give us the wrong number, or we could never find their house. But when we go directly to their house, we have the chance to sit down, testify and teach the restored Gospel in a few moments so that they can feel by the power of the Holy Ghost that the things that we are teaching are true. This gives them much more desire to have us come back again. For example, we knocked on a door and found a man named Immanuel. Immanuel is an incredibly smart man. He is working on a business idea to start up a taxi center that would revolutionize taxis here in Cape Verde. He sat down very willing and open to hear our message. As a result he has already read 3 Nephi 11 and has committed to a baptismal date. I see a great leader in him. He is around 30 years old. He is intelligent and has leadership qualities. He is direct. I know the Lord helped us to find him.
Also, we have recently started to teach a family. The husband and wife are named, Dada and Soraya. Soraya was actually baptized in the church, but later fell away. Her husband was preparing for baptism but had some problems with some commandments and also distanced himself. I actually got to meet them last week as we did the family home teaching visits. Since that day we have returned and been teaching them. We shared the story of 4 Nephi 1, of how the people of Nephi were immensely blessed because they were converted and lived the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They didn’t have fights, or lies, or contentions, they were the happiest of all people. This was possible because of there obedience. Soraya expressed how they have been having some problems between them. We applied this story to them. Through obedience to the commandments of God, our families and our home can be a place of refuge, peace and joy. We have challenged them to be obedient, reading in the scriptures and praying together every day. They have started to do this and I can already see a huge difference. They have smilies that they didn’t use to. And it appears that Soraya has even stopped drinking. not only that but their entire family came to church this last Sunday and they loved it. Now we working on helping Dada prepare to be baptized. The Gospel truly, truly blesses families. There is no way that a family can have this happiness without practicing the principles of the Gospel.
Chidi is passing a pretty difficult time in his life. He came here to Cape Verde to find work to send money to his family. In the process he has fallen into some pretty bad habits. At one time he was in prison here in Cape verde for 6 years, he has been here for a total of 17 years without going home. This was never his plan. He wants more than ever to go back home to see his parents, especially his dad who is sick. One day when we passed by this week, Chidi just looked really down. He told us that he had even though about taking his own life. Trying to think what he needed to hear, we bore the most profound testimony that he is a child of God, and that God loves him. The most wonderful thing about the gospel is that even though we are imperfect and we have done many terrible things, we can forget of these things and be completely clean, being born again. We read Matthew 11:28-30 about how we can come unto Christ and find rest for our souls. We then shared the story of the sons of Mosiah. In Mosiah 27 they did many terrible things, but by coming unto Christ, they were able to abandon their carnal selves, and be born again, becoming a new creature. The light returned into Chidi´s eyes. That was what he needed to hear. he is planning to go back to Nigeria at the end of this month, but before he goes he wants to be baptized. Miraculously, the church is super big in Nigeria and their is actually a chapel in his hometown where he would be returning, what a blessing!
One of our recent converts Jezidel had the opportunity to go to EFY (FSY) here in Cape Verde. They traveled to an island called Santo Antao and they stayed there for 5 days. She absolutely loved it. She said when she first got there she wanted to go home because she didnt like it, but by the time she left she was crying. The day that she came back she gave us a call and she asked if we could come over. We came over and she asked if we could give a priesthood blessing to her sister who has liver (or maybe kidney stone) problems. Her sister, Jezilene, had to go to the hospital. So we sat down with Jezilene and explained that the same power and authority that Christ and His Apostles had to cure and raise the dead is the same power and authority that we possess. Just as Christ, his miracles and blessings were brought about with accordance to their faith. I assisted my new companion Elder Turner in the annointing and I performed the sealing. It was a beautiful experience. Afterward we got to talk a bit. She has 3 kids and is a single mom. We testified that the Gospel will help her raise her kids in the right path. I could tell that she has passed through a lot of afflictions as a single mom, the gospel is the light that she needs. She agreed for us to talk with her the next day. Before when we would talk to her she wouldn’t show any interest. I think that giving her this blessing really opened up her heart. Yesterday we got to teach her the Restoration and mark a baptismal date. In the middle of the lesson, her boyfriend came to visit the house. He also happens to be a member of the church, less active. He is a priesthood holder. He is exacltly what we need her. The Lord is truly blessing us.
This work is literally impossible without the Spirit. Despite how much talents or capacities someone thinks they may have, if they do not have the Spirit and do not teach by the Spirit, they will never have real sucess. I feel the Spirit testify through me, its a wonderful thing. I am not the greatest teacher, but I know the Spirit makes me stronger.
I testify that God is our Father and that He loved us in such a way that He sent His son, Jesus Christ to take upon him the sins, enfermities and pains of all inhabitants of all the Earth. I have felt my sin and my burden be lifted, and I have seen this same aliviation in my investigators and recent converts. There is no other way or name that a man may be saved if not by the name of Jesus Christ.
Love,
Elder Rice
Sunday, August 10, 2014
HEY!
So last Monday we planned a family night at our recent convert´s house, Judith. The only problem is that she lives in a very small dark house that doesn’t have light, water and very few chairs. We told her not to worry, we bought a bunch of candles and some cookies and invited everyone!!! There ended up being 22 people in her house. I don’t think I have ever seen Judith so happy. She is a very shy woman, and through the church she has made so many friends. She is always smiling now. She even gave the spiritual thought about obedience, it was great. We played some games in the candle light. Judith absolutely loved it!!! It had so be one of the best family nights that we have had.
We have started to teach a Muslim man. Usually, they won’t even talk to us. In some extreme cases they can be threatened to be killed if they leave their religion. But this man we found named Brym is a really nice guy. He is showing sincere interest in what we are teaching and even agrees and believes that Jesus Christ is our Savior. He said he would like to come to church. He couldn’t come this week because he had work, but hopefully in the future he will be able to come.
We have been having Priesthood classes for the few priesthood holders that we have here in Santa Maria, taught by me. I teach them the essential lessons needed before recieving the Melchizedek Priesthood. I have been sharing a few things from the Priesthood session of General conference that I have been reading lately. I literally cannot stop reading the General Conference talks. I have probably gone through 2 to 3 general conferences. Thats what I like to do during lunch. I know that these men are chosen and inspired by God. Their words are so applicable in our lives. They have such relevance. The words of these prophets, apostles and 70´s make me want to be better. They motivate me to be better. What a HUGE blessing it is that we have a living prophet on the earth that posseses the keys to guide us in this last dispensation. I am so grateful for General Conference. I cant wait until the next one in October!!!!
During the priesthood class I have had the chance to teach them a bit about Family Home Teaching. President Rodriguez was able to draw up a list and make some companionships to visit all the members of the branch. Because there are so few worthy priesthood holders, we did a 4 way division. 1 member went with 1 of the 4 Elders here in Santa Maria and we visited 4-5 people each. It was a HUGE success. I really believe that a consistent plan to do this every month could really help a lot in this branch to demonstrate love and to rescue those that have distanced themselves from the church and strengthen those that are active. I went out with our branch mission leader, Alex. He is a great young man. He is 19, he actually has more time being less active than being active, but he has made a great transformation and now he is even preparing to serve a mission, we are going to help him to fulfill his dream.
Elder Turner and i are doing great, we are having a lot of fun! There truly are not words to describe for the love I have for the Savior and his gospel. I wish everyone could just understand the incredible message that we have to offer. We sound and even look crazy to the world. We are the minority, but there is truly nothing more sweet on this face of this earth than partaking of the fruit of the Tree of Life. I love this church.
Love,
Elder Rice
So last Monday we planned a family night at our recent convert´s house, Judith. The only problem is that she lives in a very small dark house that doesn’t have light, water and very few chairs. We told her not to worry, we bought a bunch of candles and some cookies and invited everyone!!! There ended up being 22 people in her house. I don’t think I have ever seen Judith so happy. She is a very shy woman, and through the church she has made so many friends. She is always smiling now. She even gave the spiritual thought about obedience, it was great. We played some games in the candle light. Judith absolutely loved it!!! It had so be one of the best family nights that we have had.
We have started to teach a Muslim man. Usually, they won’t even talk to us. In some extreme cases they can be threatened to be killed if they leave their religion. But this man we found named Brym is a really nice guy. He is showing sincere interest in what we are teaching and even agrees and believes that Jesus Christ is our Savior. He said he would like to come to church. He couldn’t come this week because he had work, but hopefully in the future he will be able to come.
We have been having Priesthood classes for the few priesthood holders that we have here in Santa Maria, taught by me. I teach them the essential lessons needed before recieving the Melchizedek Priesthood. I have been sharing a few things from the Priesthood session of General conference that I have been reading lately. I literally cannot stop reading the General Conference talks. I have probably gone through 2 to 3 general conferences. Thats what I like to do during lunch. I know that these men are chosen and inspired by God. Their words are so applicable in our lives. They have such relevance. The words of these prophets, apostles and 70´s make me want to be better. They motivate me to be better. What a HUGE blessing it is that we have a living prophet on the earth that posseses the keys to guide us in this last dispensation. I am so grateful for General Conference. I cant wait until the next one in October!!!!
During the priesthood class I have had the chance to teach them a bit about Family Home Teaching. President Rodriguez was able to draw up a list and make some companionships to visit all the members of the branch. Because there are so few worthy priesthood holders, we did a 4 way division. 1 member went with 1 of the 4 Elders here in Santa Maria and we visited 4-5 people each. It was a HUGE success. I really believe that a consistent plan to do this every month could really help a lot in this branch to demonstrate love and to rescue those that have distanced themselves from the church and strengthen those that are active. I went out with our branch mission leader, Alex. He is a great young man. He is 19, he actually has more time being less active than being active, but he has made a great transformation and now he is even preparing to serve a mission, we are going to help him to fulfill his dream.
Elder Turner and i are doing great, we are having a lot of fun! There truly are not words to describe for the love I have for the Savior and his gospel. I wish everyone could just understand the incredible message that we have to offer. We sound and even look crazy to the world. We are the minority, but there is truly nothing more sweet on this face of this earth than partaking of the fruit of the Tree of Life. I love this church.
Love,
Elder Rice
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Hi:
On Tuesday after a series of our lessons and back ups fell through, we decided to knock on a few doors. We were rejected by four houses and then I saw a man reading his bible on the street. Usually you would think, ´´oh this man must already have his religion´´, so we went up to him and talked to him. I asked him why he liked to read the word of God, and what changes it had brought in his life. I asked him if he knew who wrote the Bible, he did not know. We then proceeded to explain that the Bible was written by men called and inspired by God, prophets. I testified that God loves us, and that just has He had called prophets anciently to guide his people, he has called a prophet today! This man became more and more interested as we spoke of these things. We sat down on the curb with him. His name is Chidi He is a shoe repairman. People bring him their shoes and he fixes them right there on the side of the road. We began to teach him the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the story of Joseph Smith. A light entered into his eyes. Right after telling him about the first vision and bearing testimony, Chidi said ´´I have been searching for the word of God, I have been searching to come closer to Him, and now I have found it´´. He had told us earlier that he had attended other churches before but many of them just wanted his money and they did some pretty hypocritical things. He didn’t agree with these things and he left these churches. This was a perfect proof to me of the absolute need for a Restoration. It was necessary that God called a prophet to reveal his perfect, and pure doctrine and restored the power and authority necessary to open up the gates to the kingdom of God. This man was prepared by God.
We had another really cool experience this week. We were teaching one of our recent converts, Judith. We are reteaching her all of the missionary lessons. When we found Judith, she was alone, single mom, without work, sad and without purpose. She sold alcohol to survive. As we taught her the gospel, changes started to happen in her life. She began to understand her purpose and received many blessings for keeping the commandments. A few ward members, Tia (Relief Society President) and Katiana have been a huge help to her. When Judith didn’t have enough money, they lent her money, when Judith was sick they brought her medicine that she didn’t have enough money to buy, when she looked lonely they talked to her. We explained that the way Tia and Katiana were serving is how all members of the church are promised to act. When we are baptized we promise to comfort those in need, weep with those that weep, and help others through their difficulties. I asked her ´´How do you feel having received this service from them?´´ She couldn't help but just cry. And cry. She said she felt such a great joy. Judith is a very shy woman, but to have felt such love from a fellow member, helped her to know that she matters. This is how we should act. We must serve God with all of our heart, might, mind and strength. When we are in the service of our fellowman we are in the service of our God. Their is nothing more sweet to help someone out of the pure of love Christ that we feel in our heart.
We had a few scheduled lessons yesterday that didn't go through, but whenever that happens we just do our best to find a lesson in that very moment. We happen to see a man sitting in a chair. his name is Mario. He is a fisherman of 30 years. We bore testimony to him that he was a child of God and that God has created a plan for his eternal happiness. the man became more interested. We weren’t even at his house, but we entered into his friend’s house and taught him the Restoration. He explained that he had already quit smoking and drinking and that he really wanted to come closer to God. He accepted to be baptized. The only question he had was ´´how will I be able to find you again and talk more about these things?´´ Well that’s easy. We took his number and headed out. The Spirit testified to his heart the truthfulness of our message. Only the Gospel of Jesus Christ can solve the doubts of our souls.
Only the Atonement of Christ can free our lives of guilt and shame and sorrow. I know that this Gospel is the only path on the face of the earth that can bring us true, everlasting and eternal happiness. Peace in this life and eternal life in the next. I will dedicate every day for the rest of my life to this work, nothing could ever seperate me from the love of Christ.
Love,
Elder Rice
On Tuesday after a series of our lessons and back ups fell through, we decided to knock on a few doors. We were rejected by four houses and then I saw a man reading his bible on the street. Usually you would think, ´´oh this man must already have his religion´´, so we went up to him and talked to him. I asked him why he liked to read the word of God, and what changes it had brought in his life. I asked him if he knew who wrote the Bible, he did not know. We then proceeded to explain that the Bible was written by men called and inspired by God, prophets. I testified that God loves us, and that just has He had called prophets anciently to guide his people, he has called a prophet today! This man became more and more interested as we spoke of these things. We sat down on the curb with him. His name is Chidi He is a shoe repairman. People bring him their shoes and he fixes them right there on the side of the road. We began to teach him the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the story of Joseph Smith. A light entered into his eyes. Right after telling him about the first vision and bearing testimony, Chidi said ´´I have been searching for the word of God, I have been searching to come closer to Him, and now I have found it´´. He had told us earlier that he had attended other churches before but many of them just wanted his money and they did some pretty hypocritical things. He didn’t agree with these things and he left these churches. This was a perfect proof to me of the absolute need for a Restoration. It was necessary that God called a prophet to reveal his perfect, and pure doctrine and restored the power and authority necessary to open up the gates to the kingdom of God. This man was prepared by God.
We had another really cool experience this week. We were teaching one of our recent converts, Judith. We are reteaching her all of the missionary lessons. When we found Judith, she was alone, single mom, without work, sad and without purpose. She sold alcohol to survive. As we taught her the gospel, changes started to happen in her life. She began to understand her purpose and received many blessings for keeping the commandments. A few ward members, Tia (Relief Society President) and Katiana have been a huge help to her. When Judith didn’t have enough money, they lent her money, when Judith was sick they brought her medicine that she didn’t have enough money to buy, when she looked lonely they talked to her. We explained that the way Tia and Katiana were serving is how all members of the church are promised to act. When we are baptized we promise to comfort those in need, weep with those that weep, and help others through their difficulties. I asked her ´´How do you feel having received this service from them?´´ She couldn't help but just cry. And cry. She said she felt such a great joy. Judith is a very shy woman, but to have felt such love from a fellow member, helped her to know that she matters. This is how we should act. We must serve God with all of our heart, might, mind and strength. When we are in the service of our fellowman we are in the service of our God. Their is nothing more sweet to help someone out of the pure of love Christ that we feel in our heart.
We had a few scheduled lessons yesterday that didn't go through, but whenever that happens we just do our best to find a lesson in that very moment. We happen to see a man sitting in a chair. his name is Mario. He is a fisherman of 30 years. We bore testimony to him that he was a child of God and that God has created a plan for his eternal happiness. the man became more interested. We weren’t even at his house, but we entered into his friend’s house and taught him the Restoration. He explained that he had already quit smoking and drinking and that he really wanted to come closer to God. He accepted to be baptized. The only question he had was ´´how will I be able to find you again and talk more about these things?´´ Well that’s easy. We took his number and headed out. The Spirit testified to his heart the truthfulness of our message. Only the Gospel of Jesus Christ can solve the doubts of our souls.
Only the Atonement of Christ can free our lives of guilt and shame and sorrow. I know that this Gospel is the only path on the face of the earth that can bring us true, everlasting and eternal happiness. Peace in this life and eternal life in the next. I will dedicate every day for the rest of my life to this work, nothing could ever seperate me from the love of Christ.
Love,
Elder Rice
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
HEY,
It has been a crazy week here in Santa Maria. There is a lot of work to be done here. The church is so young here that it is really on our shoulders. There have been quite a few baptisms that have happened here in the past, but they were not very converted and fell away. The church is literally down to two worthy Melchizedek priesthood holders. Our success as missionaries determines the organization and functioning of the branch. Obviously we don’t want it to be like that, we want the members to run the show, but we literally have to train every member, including the branch president because they literally don’t know. Every member here is a recent convert, with exception of a few. We are working as hard as we possibly can to maintain order and find leaders that can take the lead when we are gone. It’s not easy, but the Lord will surely help us. This is a different type of missionary work, I love it.
Elder Turner and I are getting along great. He is a super humble guy. He is a big guy, so I have to make a bit more food than I made in the past. The work is going great though.
President Mathews (new mission president) and his wife came to Sal this week. I got my first interview with him. It was a great experience. He taught me some things about leadership that I really believe can be used for the rest of my life. He is a wise man, a man of God. He even came out to teach with us. It was a great experience.
We are working quite a bit with our Branch President. We are training him how to administer in the church. There is still a lot to learn. At church we had a frequency of about 50 people attending, but unfortunately it was one of them more irreverent meetings we have had. Sometimes I feel like we are making great progress in the branch, and then the next week. It’s like we are back in the same place where we started. We are not going to let this get us down, we are going to work harder than ever to strengthen these members and really work to get more references.
There is a young woman in our branch named, Maritsa. It has been a good 5 weeks that she hasn’t came to church. We got to sit down with her this last week and she expressed a strong desire to serve a mission. We got to read a little in Doctrine and Covenants Section 4 about how we qualify ourselves for the work. She understood that to prepare for to be missionary she needed to strengthen some attributes. 1 of the most primary things is she HAD to come back to church. She accepted this invite and came back to church this week. Super cool.
I know that wickedness never was happiness. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way that a man may be saved. One thing about the gospel that I love is that it is impossible for me to be sad. It doesn’t matter what we may pass through, difficulty, financial troubles, death or trial. Nothing can take away the hope we have of our heavenly home. With our foundation built strongly on the rock of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we cannot fall. Times may be tough, but its all part of the plan.
Love,
Elder Rice
It has been a crazy week here in Santa Maria. There is a lot of work to be done here. The church is so young here that it is really on our shoulders. There have been quite a few baptisms that have happened here in the past, but they were not very converted and fell away. The church is literally down to two worthy Melchizedek priesthood holders. Our success as missionaries determines the organization and functioning of the branch. Obviously we don’t want it to be like that, we want the members to run the show, but we literally have to train every member, including the branch president because they literally don’t know. Every member here is a recent convert, with exception of a few. We are working as hard as we possibly can to maintain order and find leaders that can take the lead when we are gone. It’s not easy, but the Lord will surely help us. This is a different type of missionary work, I love it.
Elder Turner and I are getting along great. He is a super humble guy. He is a big guy, so I have to make a bit more food than I made in the past. The work is going great though.
President Mathews (new mission president) and his wife came to Sal this week. I got my first interview with him. It was a great experience. He taught me some things about leadership that I really believe can be used for the rest of my life. He is a wise man, a man of God. He even came out to teach with us. It was a great experience.
We are working quite a bit with our Branch President. We are training him how to administer in the church. There is still a lot to learn. At church we had a frequency of about 50 people attending, but unfortunately it was one of them more irreverent meetings we have had. Sometimes I feel like we are making great progress in the branch, and then the next week. It’s like we are back in the same place where we started. We are not going to let this get us down, we are going to work harder than ever to strengthen these members and really work to get more references.
There is a young woman in our branch named, Maritsa. It has been a good 5 weeks that she hasn’t came to church. We got to sit down with her this last week and she expressed a strong desire to serve a mission. We got to read a little in Doctrine and Covenants Section 4 about how we qualify ourselves for the work. She understood that to prepare for to be missionary she needed to strengthen some attributes. 1 of the most primary things is she HAD to come back to church. She accepted this invite and came back to church this week. Super cool.
I know that wickedness never was happiness. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way that a man may be saved. One thing about the gospel that I love is that it is impossible for me to be sad. It doesn’t matter what we may pass through, difficulty, financial troubles, death or trial. Nothing can take away the hope we have of our heavenly home. With our foundation built strongly on the rock of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we cannot fall. Times may be tough, but its all part of the plan.
Love,
Elder Rice
Monday, July 14, 2014
Hi,
So I got my new companion this week. His name is Elder Turner, he is from St. George, Utah. He´s a big guy. He used to do rodeo and did a bunch of weight lifting. We have been getting along super well and having a lot of success together. I can’t wait to see what else is in store.
We had a family night at Adilson´s, a less active member who is recently reactivated. He has a very small house, but somehow we managed to fit a good 15 to 20 people. We had the chance to invite some of his friends as well and they loved it. We have now gained a good 11 to 12 new investigators that were references from Adilson. They are all men over the age of 18. A few of them are showing extreme desire and will be vital leaders here in the Branch.
Fabricio is easily progressing the fastest. He used to be a very strong member of the Nazarene church, so he has a lot of knowledge of the bible and doctrines. He is more excited than ever for baptism. He is already thinking of ideas that we can put into practice to help strengthen the youth. He is reading in the Book of Mormon and repenting of a lot of sins. He is making great progress to be baptized on the 26th. I could see him being the 1st counselor of the branch or maybe Elders Quorum president, he is incredible. He is really helping others come to church as well.
We are also teaching Adilson´s brother, Jozemar. He came to church yesterday for the first and he liked it a lot. He doesn’t know how to read, so we have started to teach him the alphabet and are going to teach him how to read so he can read the Book of Mormon. He is also progressing for baptism on the 2nd of August.
For a few days, as we walked to our area. I always saw this white house and felt an impression that I should get to know the family there. Because of my foolishness I didn’t listen to the spirit and I just passed by. But the other day I decided to listen to this prompting and go there. As we knocked the door, the man, named Joao, instantly said, I’m going to work, but you can come back tomorrow at 10. So we did and had a fantastic lesson. We then got to know his step daughter. He had work this Sunday, but his daughter ended up coming to church, that was super cool. I know that the angels prepare the hearts of these people.
At church this week we had 47 people, it was super great!! The quality of the meeting and the reverence is getting a lot better.
I know the God is our Father and He loves us. I know the Christ is the only means of salvation. His doctrine is simple and pure. I know that Joseph Smith restored the fullness of His Gospel with the power and authority necessary to open the doors to the Kingdom of God.
Love,
Elder Rice
So I got my new companion this week. His name is Elder Turner, he is from St. George, Utah. He´s a big guy. He used to do rodeo and did a bunch of weight lifting. We have been getting along super well and having a lot of success together. I can’t wait to see what else is in store.
We had a family night at Adilson´s, a less active member who is recently reactivated. He has a very small house, but somehow we managed to fit a good 15 to 20 people. We had the chance to invite some of his friends as well and they loved it. We have now gained a good 11 to 12 new investigators that were references from Adilson. They are all men over the age of 18. A few of them are showing extreme desire and will be vital leaders here in the Branch.
Fabricio is easily progressing the fastest. He used to be a very strong member of the Nazarene church, so he has a lot of knowledge of the bible and doctrines. He is more excited than ever for baptism. He is already thinking of ideas that we can put into practice to help strengthen the youth. He is reading in the Book of Mormon and repenting of a lot of sins. He is making great progress to be baptized on the 26th. I could see him being the 1st counselor of the branch or maybe Elders Quorum president, he is incredible. He is really helping others come to church as well.
We are also teaching Adilson´s brother, Jozemar. He came to church yesterday for the first and he liked it a lot. He doesn’t know how to read, so we have started to teach him the alphabet and are going to teach him how to read so he can read the Book of Mormon. He is also progressing for baptism on the 2nd of August.
For a few days, as we walked to our area. I always saw this white house and felt an impression that I should get to know the family there. Because of my foolishness I didn’t listen to the spirit and I just passed by. But the other day I decided to listen to this prompting and go there. As we knocked the door, the man, named Joao, instantly said, I’m going to work, but you can come back tomorrow at 10. So we did and had a fantastic lesson. We then got to know his step daughter. He had work this Sunday, but his daughter ended up coming to church, that was super cool. I know that the angels prepare the hearts of these people.
At church this week we had 47 people, it was super great!! The quality of the meeting and the reverence is getting a lot better.
I know the God is our Father and He loves us. I know the Christ is the only means of salvation. His doctrine is simple and pure. I know that Joseph Smith restored the fullness of His Gospel with the power and authority necessary to open the doors to the Kingdom of God.
Love,
Elder Rice
Monday, July 7, 2014
HEY,
So I have been with my mini missionary for about 2 weeks now, I should be receiving my greenie on Wednesday. I’m super excited to train again, that was definitely one of the highlights of mission, training Elder McKissick. I cant wait to do it again. I get to show him everything I have learned during my whole mission!
It was a solid week. We are cleaning out our inventory and really trying to focus on those that have real desire to continue to talk to us. Many of our really awesome investigators kinda fell off because they had things they really didn’t want to repent of. We are going to continue to pass them but just with less frequency.
We have been working quite a bit with a less active named Adilson. When i got here he wasn’t going to church at all. We started teaching him and now he has came back. The thing is that he has a pretty bad environment of friends. They all like to party, do drugs. They are a rougher crowd of Cabo Verdians. However, we are picking his friends off one by one and teaching them. Teaching them all at the same time would be setting ourselves up for a disaster. We have been talking to a few friends like Fabricio, Caritson, Kukuk and his brother Jozemar. They have actually started to come to church, and Adilson is really helping them We trained Adilson about being a ´´Watchmen´´, to look out for his friends and help them keep the commandments. Yesterday at sacrament meeting, one of the friends, Fabricio (an investigator), went up to the pulpit and declared ´´I KNOW that this is a true church, i prayed and asked God and he answered me. Before i knew the Elders I had a bunch of problems with my family, but now everything is being resolved. I feel these things are true. Amen´´. It was super powerful.
We had a super sweet Integration Night with all the members. We do a spiritual part and then we do some games. The game we played this time was where you put a piece of candy in a plate of flour. The first one to find the candy with your mouth wins. Iit was super hilarious, everyone’s face was covered in flour. I did it as well haha. We also do a film night every Sunday night. We watched the film “Ónly a Stone Cutter´´ and a bunch of small Mormon messages. After each film we have a little discussion of the principle that was taught and how we can apply it in our lives. There are some really cool Mormon messages on the Mormon Channel, you should definitely take a look at them. They are super good for youth and firesides and stuff.
The two biggest things I have learned on my mission are the nature of God and the absolute necessity of the Savior’s atonement for all mankind. I know that God lives and He loves us. I know he sent His only Begotten so that through Him and His name all men could be purified and redeemed from our fallen and carnal state. Jesus Christ is the head of this church, everything else in the gospel is an appendage of His Atonement.
Love,
Elder Rice
So I have been with my mini missionary for about 2 weeks now, I should be receiving my greenie on Wednesday. I’m super excited to train again, that was definitely one of the highlights of mission, training Elder McKissick. I cant wait to do it again. I get to show him everything I have learned during my whole mission!
It was a solid week. We are cleaning out our inventory and really trying to focus on those that have real desire to continue to talk to us. Many of our really awesome investigators kinda fell off because they had things they really didn’t want to repent of. We are going to continue to pass them but just with less frequency.
We have been working quite a bit with a less active named Adilson. When i got here he wasn’t going to church at all. We started teaching him and now he has came back. The thing is that he has a pretty bad environment of friends. They all like to party, do drugs. They are a rougher crowd of Cabo Verdians. However, we are picking his friends off one by one and teaching them. Teaching them all at the same time would be setting ourselves up for a disaster. We have been talking to a few friends like Fabricio, Caritson, Kukuk and his brother Jozemar. They have actually started to come to church, and Adilson is really helping them We trained Adilson about being a ´´Watchmen´´, to look out for his friends and help them keep the commandments. Yesterday at sacrament meeting, one of the friends, Fabricio (an investigator), went up to the pulpit and declared ´´I KNOW that this is a true church, i prayed and asked God and he answered me. Before i knew the Elders I had a bunch of problems with my family, but now everything is being resolved. I feel these things are true. Amen´´. It was super powerful.
We had a super sweet Integration Night with all the members. We do a spiritual part and then we do some games. The game we played this time was where you put a piece of candy in a plate of flour. The first one to find the candy with your mouth wins. Iit was super hilarious, everyone’s face was covered in flour. I did it as well haha. We also do a film night every Sunday night. We watched the film “Ónly a Stone Cutter´´ and a bunch of small Mormon messages. After each film we have a little discussion of the principle that was taught and how we can apply it in our lives. There are some really cool Mormon messages on the Mormon Channel, you should definitely take a look at them. They are super good for youth and firesides and stuff.
The two biggest things I have learned on my mission are the nature of God and the absolute necessity of the Savior’s atonement for all mankind. I know that God lives and He loves us. I know he sent His only Begotten so that through Him and His name all men could be purified and redeemed from our fallen and carnal state. Jesus Christ is the head of this church, everything else in the gospel is an appendage of His Atonement.
Love,
Elder Rice
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
HEY!
It has been another sweet week here in Santa Maria. The work of the Lord continues to accelerate. What a blessing it is to be a part of this marvelous work.
As in the past weeks we have been focusing more than ever on strengthening the branch members. We need to create a more mature and converted members and leaders. We had a total of 13 lessons with recent converts and less actives. As a result, we witnessed the most successful week for the branch that I have ever seen and heard of. We had the most spiritual and reverent church meeting this Sunday that I have ever seen. The members were quiet, the Gospel Principles class ran well (we trained the Gospel Principles teacher). We had a total of 52 people in sacrament meeting. That is the highest the frequency has been for months.
This week, we had a change in the leadership of the branch. President Jacinto was released and President Rodrigues was called. President Rodrigues is a recent convert of 1 and half years. He was baptized by Elder Bruce, before the group was established in Santa Maria. Unfortunately a few years ago, President got into accident was paralyzed from his waist down. He uses an electric chair to move himself around. He is doing physical therapy, but there are not very good resources here in Cape Verde, so he has gone to Portugal to do rehab. Pres. Rodrigues is incredible; he has a great love for the scriptures and a strong testimony of this restored Gospel. He has admitted that he is a bit scared and overwhelmed, but surely with his obedience and diligence the angels will be around him to bear him up and help him magnify his calling.
Our recent converts, Jezidel and Judith are doing fantastic. We are really working to help them become more integrated into branch and get to know all the members so they can maintain themselves strong in the gospel.
We have been teaching a young man named Steven. Steven was actually a reference from President Rodrigues. Steven had been invited to church a few times and then just decided to come. Ever since we talked to him he can’t stop reading in the Book of Mormon, he loved reading about Christ's ministry in the Americas. He has a great desire to follow and to be baptized. Just that he is currently living with his girlfriend, and they have a kid together. His girlfriend wants NOTHING to do with us; she won’t talk to us or anything. So until this point we have just been talking to Steven. We taught him about the Law of Chastity on the 3rd visit and went right into marriage. Apparently, they both want to be married, so that’s a plus. We marked a goal for them to be married on the 25th of July. With faith and diligence, this goal can be met, they can be married and Steven will be baptized on the 26th of July!
Just the other day as we were walking on the street we heard someone shout from a bar. We didn’t really think much of it, but then we decided to go back. Turns out it was a woman calling us. Apparently we had contacted her on the street and we never passed by her house. We started teaching her, she came and watched the baptism and came to church and now she wants to be baptized. What a miracle. The only small difficulty is that she is the owner of a bar that is her only work. However, I know that if she has enough faith in the Lord, if she is obedient and abandons that type of the work, the Lord will bless her immensely in all things, spiritual and temporal. I have a certainty that the Lord would protect her. I know that she will be able to do it.
The work is going great, I love Santa Maria, I really hope I finish my mission here!
Love,
Elder Rice
It has been another sweet week here in Santa Maria. The work of the Lord continues to accelerate. What a blessing it is to be a part of this marvelous work.
As in the past weeks we have been focusing more than ever on strengthening the branch members. We need to create a more mature and converted members and leaders. We had a total of 13 lessons with recent converts and less actives. As a result, we witnessed the most successful week for the branch that I have ever seen and heard of. We had the most spiritual and reverent church meeting this Sunday that I have ever seen. The members were quiet, the Gospel Principles class ran well (we trained the Gospel Principles teacher). We had a total of 52 people in sacrament meeting. That is the highest the frequency has been for months.
This week, we had a change in the leadership of the branch. President Jacinto was released and President Rodrigues was called. President Rodrigues is a recent convert of 1 and half years. He was baptized by Elder Bruce, before the group was established in Santa Maria. Unfortunately a few years ago, President got into accident was paralyzed from his waist down. He uses an electric chair to move himself around. He is doing physical therapy, but there are not very good resources here in Cape Verde, so he has gone to Portugal to do rehab. Pres. Rodrigues is incredible; he has a great love for the scriptures and a strong testimony of this restored Gospel. He has admitted that he is a bit scared and overwhelmed, but surely with his obedience and diligence the angels will be around him to bear him up and help him magnify his calling.
Our recent converts, Jezidel and Judith are doing fantastic. We are really working to help them become more integrated into branch and get to know all the members so they can maintain themselves strong in the gospel.
We have been teaching a young man named Steven. Steven was actually a reference from President Rodrigues. Steven had been invited to church a few times and then just decided to come. Ever since we talked to him he can’t stop reading in the Book of Mormon, he loved reading about Christ's ministry in the Americas. He has a great desire to follow and to be baptized. Just that he is currently living with his girlfriend, and they have a kid together. His girlfriend wants NOTHING to do with us; she won’t talk to us or anything. So until this point we have just been talking to Steven. We taught him about the Law of Chastity on the 3rd visit and went right into marriage. Apparently, they both want to be married, so that’s a plus. We marked a goal for them to be married on the 25th of July. With faith and diligence, this goal can be met, they can be married and Steven will be baptized on the 26th of July!
Just the other day as we were walking on the street we heard someone shout from a bar. We didn’t really think much of it, but then we decided to go back. Turns out it was a woman calling us. Apparently we had contacted her on the street and we never passed by her house. We started teaching her, she came and watched the baptism and came to church and now she wants to be baptized. What a miracle. The only small difficulty is that she is the owner of a bar that is her only work. However, I know that if she has enough faith in the Lord, if she is obedient and abandons that type of the work, the Lord will bless her immensely in all things, spiritual and temporal. I have a certainty that the Lord would protect her. I know that she will be able to do it.
The work is going great, I love Santa Maria, I really hope I finish my mission here!
Love,
Elder Rice
Monday, June 16, 2014
Como que bzot sta?
It has been a super nice week here in Santa Maria. This place is not like any other part of Cape Verde. There are hundreds of tourists and Europeans from all sorts of countries here it’s super weird ha-ha. I really hope that I finish my mission here, there is just so much work to do and I’m really starting to like it. I am loving my time here with Elder Welch, he is an awesome Elder, we are getting along super well.
The enemy (the devil) tried really hard this week to impede the work of the Lord. Obviously it didn’t work. On Sunday night, our investigator Jezidel had a dream (more of a nightmare), where the Devil appeared and told her that she shouldn’t follow this church and shouldn’t be baptized. It was like a threat. The only purpose of the Devil is to do everything to impede the work of the Lord, to take people away from the truth, so that they become as miserable as he. We told Jezidel that this dream was literally a proof that this is the true church. If this wasn’t the true church, the Devil wouldn’t try to take her away from it. She understood that, but she just felt super paranoid after the dream, especially when she was alone. She was worried that the devil would continue to make her feel like this after her baptism. As long as we are obedient, reading in the scriptures, and praying every day, the Holy Ghost will be our constant companion to counsel and comfort us and to give us peace. We promised that if she continues to keep the commandments, she would be safe.
Jezidel and Judith were baptized this Saturday. What a beautiful sight. We got to go to the beach and baptize them there. They were both overwhelmingly happy as they came out of the water, they couldn’t stop smiling. I felt by the power of the Holy Ghost that those ordinances were in fact performed by the power and authority of God. They both received the Holy Ghost yesterday, they are great. We are in a young branch of the church so we are going to do everything to train them to be leaders. They need to become saints.
We have encountered a fairly big problem. There are quite a few youth members here in the branch. I’m not exactly sure what the past Elders taught them, but many of them are not very converted to the gospel. They just show up to church to mess around, and they never participate. Unfortunately, these distractions and irreverence they make is taking an effect on the rest of the branch, on our recent converts and investigators. We are going house to house, member by member to strengthen their testimony of the restoration, and teach them specifically about reverence, so that they show a more profound respect for sacred things.
Also another fairly large obstacle we have encountered is our branch president. He was less active only a year ago and was called as the group leader, then the branch president. He is still a very young leader. He doesn’t really know what’s going on. His wife as well is not doing too well in the gospel. As the leader he has the keys over the spiritual and temporal well-being of the ward, the branch president must be a great example. Just as Captain Moroni who sought to prepare his people for the battle by preparing them spiritually. The leader must be a spiritual giant that can inspire, elevate and bless the members. His family must be the first priority to show the others how the gospel should be lived within the home. A leader must be full of faith and nothing doubting to lead his troops courageously to the battle. If we ever want to create something great here in Santa Maria, we must start with the Branch President. We have decided that we are going to teach his whole family all of the missionary lessons again to strengthen their testimony and live the gospel in the home.
On the bright side, we are having a lot of success with the less actives we are teaching. We had 3 less active members come back to church and another 3 that are progressing, that will surely be at church this next week.
We have a great vision for the branch of Santa Maria, to create strong leadership, to create saints and help the branch become self-sufficient. We are going to find, teach and baptize more Melchizedek Priesthood men. We are going to meet the church together frequently in meetings to create union. It won’t be easy, but with the strength of the Lord nothing is impossible.
Love,
Elder Rice
It has been a super nice week here in Santa Maria. This place is not like any other part of Cape Verde. There are hundreds of tourists and Europeans from all sorts of countries here it’s super weird ha-ha. I really hope that I finish my mission here, there is just so much work to do and I’m really starting to like it. I am loving my time here with Elder Welch, he is an awesome Elder, we are getting along super well.
The enemy (the devil) tried really hard this week to impede the work of the Lord. Obviously it didn’t work. On Sunday night, our investigator Jezidel had a dream (more of a nightmare), where the Devil appeared and told her that she shouldn’t follow this church and shouldn’t be baptized. It was like a threat. The only purpose of the Devil is to do everything to impede the work of the Lord, to take people away from the truth, so that they become as miserable as he. We told Jezidel that this dream was literally a proof that this is the true church. If this wasn’t the true church, the Devil wouldn’t try to take her away from it. She understood that, but she just felt super paranoid after the dream, especially when she was alone. She was worried that the devil would continue to make her feel like this after her baptism. As long as we are obedient, reading in the scriptures, and praying every day, the Holy Ghost will be our constant companion to counsel and comfort us and to give us peace. We promised that if she continues to keep the commandments, she would be safe.
Jezidel and Judith were baptized this Saturday. What a beautiful sight. We got to go to the beach and baptize them there. They were both overwhelmingly happy as they came out of the water, they couldn’t stop smiling. I felt by the power of the Holy Ghost that those ordinances were in fact performed by the power and authority of God. They both received the Holy Ghost yesterday, they are great. We are in a young branch of the church so we are going to do everything to train them to be leaders. They need to become saints.
We have encountered a fairly big problem. There are quite a few youth members here in the branch. I’m not exactly sure what the past Elders taught them, but many of them are not very converted to the gospel. They just show up to church to mess around, and they never participate. Unfortunately, these distractions and irreverence they make is taking an effect on the rest of the branch, on our recent converts and investigators. We are going house to house, member by member to strengthen their testimony of the restoration, and teach them specifically about reverence, so that they show a more profound respect for sacred things.
Also another fairly large obstacle we have encountered is our branch president. He was less active only a year ago and was called as the group leader, then the branch president. He is still a very young leader. He doesn’t really know what’s going on. His wife as well is not doing too well in the gospel. As the leader he has the keys over the spiritual and temporal well-being of the ward, the branch president must be a great example. Just as Captain Moroni who sought to prepare his people for the battle by preparing them spiritually. The leader must be a spiritual giant that can inspire, elevate and bless the members. His family must be the first priority to show the others how the gospel should be lived within the home. A leader must be full of faith and nothing doubting to lead his troops courageously to the battle. If we ever want to create something great here in Santa Maria, we must start with the Branch President. We have decided that we are going to teach his whole family all of the missionary lessons again to strengthen their testimony and live the gospel in the home.
On the bright side, we are having a lot of success with the less actives we are teaching. We had 3 less active members come back to church and another 3 that are progressing, that will surely be at church this next week.
We have a great vision for the branch of Santa Maria, to create strong leadership, to create saints and help the branch become self-sufficient. We are going to find, teach and baptize more Melchizedek Priesthood men. We are going to meet the church together frequently in meetings to create union. It won’t be easy, but with the strength of the Lord nothing is impossible.
Love,
Elder Rice
Monday, June 9, 2014
Hi:
This week was pretty interesting! On Monday we received a call that we would be going to a district leader´s meeting on the island of Sao Vicente, in Mindelo. I am serving in Sal. So on Wednesday afternoon we got on the plane and headed there. We stayed with the Zone Leaders of Sao Vicente, Elder Montes (who was in my MTC district) and Elder Nymeyer). The next day we went to a meeting with the Assistants and President Oliveira. It was a great meeting, we talked a lot about how our role as District Leaders is to inspire and elevate our districts. We also talked about making inspired goals and using our faith to achieve them. If we have prayed and received inspiration by the Holy Spirit of the things we must accomplish, surely these goals can be met. The question is if we have the faith sufficient to perform miracles and fulfill what the Lord has sent us to do.
Before we left to Sao Vicente we asked a few members to visit our investigators to see how they were doing and also we called them to follow up with their reading and praying. It went really well. We ended up coming back to Sal on Friday night with Elder Bruce (who was heading out to Sao Nicolau) and President and Sister Oliveira, who were coming to make a visit in Santa Maria.
This last week we were planning the baptism of Jezidel. She is 17. She was doing really well and keeping all the commandments and making great progress, but her mom wouldn’t let her be baptized. We fasted, we prayed, we talked to the Branch President to go and talk to her mom. We even went to her house at 11:00 am and waited for three hours to talk to her mom, but her mom was just avoiding us and didn’t want to talk to us. She knew what we wanted to talk about. We did everything we possibly could, but nothing seemed to work. On Saturday, President Oliveira called us and he said, ´´Elder, what are you going to do to help this girl that doesn’t have permission?´´ I told him everything we had done and told him that we were going to visit another time that day at 3:00 pm to see if we could find the mom. He said: ''Elder, before you leave, you need to read a few scriptures, pray and prepare yourself spiritually to get this done.'' The first story that came to my mind was Nephi and his brothers when they were commanded to get the brass plates. Getting the brass plates was not easy, not even close. When Laman went in for the first time, he was nearly killed. Nephi´s brothers wanted to quit and go back to their father in the desert. But Nephi knew that God doesn’t give an order without preparing a way. He told them that they wouldn’t go back to their father until the Lord´s order was fulfilled. So they tried again and they failed. Then Nephi said, ´´Let us be faithful, let us be strong, let us be as Moses who had such faith that he parted the Red Sea.´´ Compelled by the Spirit, not knowing what would happen, Nephi went in alone and succeeded. This story was perfect for our situation. If we just trust in the Spirit, believe and don’t doubt the Lord will prepare the way. On the way to Jezidell´s house I had no doubt that the Lord would prepare the way, I repeated in my head ´´Let us be as Moses, let us be faithful´´. We showed up sat in their living room waiting for Jezidel, literally five seconds after we sat down, Jezidel´s mom came out, she was dressed up in her work clothes and she was in a rush. This was the first time we have seen her. We asked if she had one minute to sit down, she said no, I have to go. Clearly the Lord put her in our path, we couldn’t fail. In a bit of shock and not knowing what to do, we said, can we walk with you to work? She hesitated a bit and didn’t say anything, we just got up and started walking with her. She was walking fast and was a bit surprised that we were going with her. We just started to converse with her about her life. We were super friendly and just became friends with her. We asked about her family, her background, where she was from, what is her work, what she likes to do and made it super natural. Soon enough we started talking about the importance of families and how the Gospel of Jesus Christ blesses families. We let her know that the reason we were teaching her daughter was to help her to follow Jesus Christ, stay far away from the temptations of world, keep the commandment and become a better person. She respected that. We told her that the only way for a person to follow Jesus Christ is through baptism, where we make a covenant with the Lord to always follow him. We asked her if she would let her daughter follow Jesus Christ, she said ´´Well, it is her choice, so if she wants to. “ The Lord truly prepared the way, the Spirit guided our words and now Jezidel will be baptized this week. Jezidel’s mom agreed to sign the baptismal form. That is a miracle.
At church this week we had 42 people. Our goal for the next coming weeks is to really strengthen the members, we are going to start training members every day.
We only had like three days in our area this week so we didn’t have too much happen, but this week, Jezidel and Judith will baptized. They are both progressing great, reading in the Book of Mormon every day and keeping the commandments, it’s gonna be super sweet!
Love,
Elder Rice
This week was pretty interesting! On Monday we received a call that we would be going to a district leader´s meeting on the island of Sao Vicente, in Mindelo. I am serving in Sal. So on Wednesday afternoon we got on the plane and headed there. We stayed with the Zone Leaders of Sao Vicente, Elder Montes (who was in my MTC district) and Elder Nymeyer). The next day we went to a meeting with the Assistants and President Oliveira. It was a great meeting, we talked a lot about how our role as District Leaders is to inspire and elevate our districts. We also talked about making inspired goals and using our faith to achieve them. If we have prayed and received inspiration by the Holy Spirit of the things we must accomplish, surely these goals can be met. The question is if we have the faith sufficient to perform miracles and fulfill what the Lord has sent us to do.
Before we left to Sao Vicente we asked a few members to visit our investigators to see how they were doing and also we called them to follow up with their reading and praying. It went really well. We ended up coming back to Sal on Friday night with Elder Bruce (who was heading out to Sao Nicolau) and President and Sister Oliveira, who were coming to make a visit in Santa Maria.
This last week we were planning the baptism of Jezidel. She is 17. She was doing really well and keeping all the commandments and making great progress, but her mom wouldn’t let her be baptized. We fasted, we prayed, we talked to the Branch President to go and talk to her mom. We even went to her house at 11:00 am and waited for three hours to talk to her mom, but her mom was just avoiding us and didn’t want to talk to us. She knew what we wanted to talk about. We did everything we possibly could, but nothing seemed to work. On Saturday, President Oliveira called us and he said, ´´Elder, what are you going to do to help this girl that doesn’t have permission?´´ I told him everything we had done and told him that we were going to visit another time that day at 3:00 pm to see if we could find the mom. He said: ''Elder, before you leave, you need to read a few scriptures, pray and prepare yourself spiritually to get this done.'' The first story that came to my mind was Nephi and his brothers when they were commanded to get the brass plates. Getting the brass plates was not easy, not even close. When Laman went in for the first time, he was nearly killed. Nephi´s brothers wanted to quit and go back to their father in the desert. But Nephi knew that God doesn’t give an order without preparing a way. He told them that they wouldn’t go back to their father until the Lord´s order was fulfilled. So they tried again and they failed. Then Nephi said, ´´Let us be faithful, let us be strong, let us be as Moses who had such faith that he parted the Red Sea.´´ Compelled by the Spirit, not knowing what would happen, Nephi went in alone and succeeded. This story was perfect for our situation. If we just trust in the Spirit, believe and don’t doubt the Lord will prepare the way. On the way to Jezidell´s house I had no doubt that the Lord would prepare the way, I repeated in my head ´´Let us be as Moses, let us be faithful´´. We showed up sat in their living room waiting for Jezidel, literally five seconds after we sat down, Jezidel´s mom came out, she was dressed up in her work clothes and she was in a rush. This was the first time we have seen her. We asked if she had one minute to sit down, she said no, I have to go. Clearly the Lord put her in our path, we couldn’t fail. In a bit of shock and not knowing what to do, we said, can we walk with you to work? She hesitated a bit and didn’t say anything, we just got up and started walking with her. She was walking fast and was a bit surprised that we were going with her. We just started to converse with her about her life. We were super friendly and just became friends with her. We asked about her family, her background, where she was from, what is her work, what she likes to do and made it super natural. Soon enough we started talking about the importance of families and how the Gospel of Jesus Christ blesses families. We let her know that the reason we were teaching her daughter was to help her to follow Jesus Christ, stay far away from the temptations of world, keep the commandment and become a better person. She respected that. We told her that the only way for a person to follow Jesus Christ is through baptism, where we make a covenant with the Lord to always follow him. We asked her if she would let her daughter follow Jesus Christ, she said ´´Well, it is her choice, so if she wants to. “ The Lord truly prepared the way, the Spirit guided our words and now Jezidel will be baptized this week. Jezidel’s mom agreed to sign the baptismal form. That is a miracle.
At church this week we had 42 people. Our goal for the next coming weeks is to really strengthen the members, we are going to start training members every day.
We only had like three days in our area this week so we didn’t have too much happen, but this week, Jezidel and Judith will baptized. They are both progressing great, reading in the Book of Mormon every day and keeping the commandments, it’s gonna be super sweet!
Love,
Elder Rice
Monday, June 2, 2014
Hey!!!
Santa Maria is INCREDIBLE!!! I love this place, i want to finish my mission here for sure!! Santa Maria is new just like Maio. There are a lot of things going on here that I learned how to do in Maio, so it should be really good. There have been a lot of missionaries that have passed here since it has opened and many people have been baptized but few have stayed active. We are here to create leaders. We are here to find the Lord’s elect, help them to develop their own testimony that helps them to endure to the end, independent of the missionaries that are here. One of the first priorities I made when I got here was to get know ALL of the members and their homes. That is so essential in missionary work, to gain the trust of the members. Know their kids, their family, their cat their dog, just get to know them and show them that you love them. We passed by and shared a short message with a scripture to help strengthen their faith. The results were instantaneous!! I can already see that the members have a greater trust in us and are more willing to help us in this great cause. Our vision is to help the members be more spiritually mature, to help the branch become, a family! That is what we did in Maio and it gave great results, we will do it again.
Here in Santa Maria I am serving with Elder Welch, he is from Orem, Utah. He is a super awesome and funny Elder. I have loved serving with him, I know we will work in union and have great success here. When I got here in the beginning we were a triple with Elder Otterstrom. Elder Otterstrom was my trainer in Fogo, we served together as zone leaders in Assomada and now we are serving together for the third time here in Santa Maria. I didn’t know that it was possible to serve three times together, but I have loved each time more than the other. Elder Otterstrom is a righteous, just, diligent and obedient missionary, he is a great example. We had a great week together. Yesterday we flew out to Praia, because his mission has ended and he will be heading back home. He had a great mission.
During the last two weeks (the week before I got here and the week I was here) we have found 36 new investigators. We have been talking to everyone and in the process we have found many people that are prepared for the Restored Gospel that are taking the steps of repentance to come unto Christ and preparing to be baptized.
We have been working with a woman named Judith. Judith is a single mom, with four kids living in a small house without lights or water. The only work she has is to sell alcohol and donuts. We taught her about the Word of Wisdom and about how harmful these substances are. She said that she would immediately stop selling the alcohol. What faith!! Not having a husband to provide money or any financial support, just knowing that it is a commandment of God that will bring numerous blessings. She is preparing to be baptized on the 14 of June. One day while we were teaching Judith, her sister, Shinea walked in the room, she was coming to pick up her kid. We offered for Shinea to sit down, even though we were at the end of our lesson. She sat just as we were talking about baptism. We invited her to be baptized when she knew that for herself that this was the only true church on the face of the earth, she agreed but she was a bit shaky. We invited her to church and she said, I know if it’s going work this week I have a lot of things to do. We taught her very simply the Day of the Lord is the day we have to worship God and nothing else. She said she would try. We passed by early on Sunday morning and saw that she was putting some washed clothes on the line to dry. We helped her and she managed to prepare on time to come to church. She came to church and LOVED it. We took Judith and Shinea to a film night yesterday and now they are both preparing to be baptized on the 14th of June.
Our baptismal goal for this week is Jezidel. Jezidel is 17 years old and she wants to be baptized, just that her mom will not let here. We had a super great lesson about 1 Nephi 3:7, that the Lord will never give us an order without preparing a way that it may be fulfilled. We testified that baptism is a commandment of God. We asked her if she believed that God would prepare a way for her to be baptized, she said ´´yes´´. Without a shadow of a doubt, we will get the moms permission and she will be baptized. As representatives of Jesus Christ, speaking by the power of the Holy Ghost, she will not have power to deny our words. We are going to talk to her mom, be her friend and figure this out.
At church this Sunday we had 43 people!!! What a blessing! We will never drop below 43 people attending church that is our goal. Each week we will bring someone new and continue to increase the frequency. I’m so excited to work here.
Love,
Elder Rice
Santa Maria is INCREDIBLE!!! I love this place, i want to finish my mission here for sure!! Santa Maria is new just like Maio. There are a lot of things going on here that I learned how to do in Maio, so it should be really good. There have been a lot of missionaries that have passed here since it has opened and many people have been baptized but few have stayed active. We are here to create leaders. We are here to find the Lord’s elect, help them to develop their own testimony that helps them to endure to the end, independent of the missionaries that are here. One of the first priorities I made when I got here was to get know ALL of the members and their homes. That is so essential in missionary work, to gain the trust of the members. Know their kids, their family, their cat their dog, just get to know them and show them that you love them. We passed by and shared a short message with a scripture to help strengthen their faith. The results were instantaneous!! I can already see that the members have a greater trust in us and are more willing to help us in this great cause. Our vision is to help the members be more spiritually mature, to help the branch become, a family! That is what we did in Maio and it gave great results, we will do it again.
Here in Santa Maria I am serving with Elder Welch, he is from Orem, Utah. He is a super awesome and funny Elder. I have loved serving with him, I know we will work in union and have great success here. When I got here in the beginning we were a triple with Elder Otterstrom. Elder Otterstrom was my trainer in Fogo, we served together as zone leaders in Assomada and now we are serving together for the third time here in Santa Maria. I didn’t know that it was possible to serve three times together, but I have loved each time more than the other. Elder Otterstrom is a righteous, just, diligent and obedient missionary, he is a great example. We had a great week together. Yesterday we flew out to Praia, because his mission has ended and he will be heading back home. He had a great mission.
During the last two weeks (the week before I got here and the week I was here) we have found 36 new investigators. We have been talking to everyone and in the process we have found many people that are prepared for the Restored Gospel that are taking the steps of repentance to come unto Christ and preparing to be baptized.
We have been working with a woman named Judith. Judith is a single mom, with four kids living in a small house without lights or water. The only work she has is to sell alcohol and donuts. We taught her about the Word of Wisdom and about how harmful these substances are. She said that she would immediately stop selling the alcohol. What faith!! Not having a husband to provide money or any financial support, just knowing that it is a commandment of God that will bring numerous blessings. She is preparing to be baptized on the 14 of June. One day while we were teaching Judith, her sister, Shinea walked in the room, she was coming to pick up her kid. We offered for Shinea to sit down, even though we were at the end of our lesson. She sat just as we were talking about baptism. We invited her to be baptized when she knew that for herself that this was the only true church on the face of the earth, she agreed but she was a bit shaky. We invited her to church and she said, I know if it’s going work this week I have a lot of things to do. We taught her very simply the Day of the Lord is the day we have to worship God and nothing else. She said she would try. We passed by early on Sunday morning and saw that she was putting some washed clothes on the line to dry. We helped her and she managed to prepare on time to come to church. She came to church and LOVED it. We took Judith and Shinea to a film night yesterday and now they are both preparing to be baptized on the 14th of June.
Our baptismal goal for this week is Jezidel. Jezidel is 17 years old and she wants to be baptized, just that her mom will not let here. We had a super great lesson about 1 Nephi 3:7, that the Lord will never give us an order without preparing a way that it may be fulfilled. We testified that baptism is a commandment of God. We asked her if she believed that God would prepare a way for her to be baptized, she said ´´yes´´. Without a shadow of a doubt, we will get the moms permission and she will be baptized. As representatives of Jesus Christ, speaking by the power of the Holy Ghost, she will not have power to deny our words. We are going to talk to her mom, be her friend and figure this out.
At church this Sunday we had 43 people!!! What a blessing! We will never drop below 43 people attending church that is our goal. Each week we will bring someone new and continue to increase the frequency. I’m so excited to work here.
Love,
Elder Rice
Monday, May 26, 2014
Hey,
Well, it’s been another super crazy week. There are so many things to do, the Lords work never stops. If it weren’t for the Spirit and the strength of the Lord I’d probably dead right now. I do love being busy and working!!
So this week in Lem Ferreira, Elder Camargo and I didn’t have any planned baptism, but in district meeting, Elder Wells told us he knew someone lived in our area, that he already previously taught all the lessons and was about to be baptized in Fogo, but came to Praia. So we took his reference and went to contact her that night. We arrived to her house, her name is Indira. She seemed pretty surprised to see us. We met her mom, who actually is also an inactive member of our church, baptized in Fogo like 20 years ago. We talked and invited Indira to come to church. She said, ´´No, it’s not going to work´´. We didn’t give up, we kept insisting. Finally we said, we are going to pass tomorrow at 8:30am, see you tomorrow. She accepted. We passed by, and brought her to church. We taught retaught her some things she had forgotten and she was baptized this last Saturday!!! The Lord truly blessed us.
On Wednesday we had zone meeting with all 34 missionaries in our zone. Elder Camargo and I had noticed that the morale and excitement and enthusiasm of some missionaries had diminished during the past weeks. We planned a super inspiring meeting about ´´Sacrifice´´. We showed some videos that were super cool, the first was a talk by Elder Jeffery R. Holland, called ´´The Atonement and Missionary Work´´ (on youtube, i highly recommend you look it up right now). It talks about how missionary work is not easy, it never has been, nor will it ever be. ´´Salvation is not a cheap experience, salvation was never easy´´. How can we expect that work to be such an easy experience when it was NEVER easy for the Savior. Rejected, beat, spit upon and crucified, the Savior passed through everything. If it wasn’t easy for Him, it won’t be easy for us. We then showed another film of a film ´´The Bridge´´ (on youtube), of a dad that made a sacrifice to save others. We challenged the missionaries to think of what they were willing to sacrifice to bring the salvation to souls of mankind. We then let each companionship of Elders give one another a priesthood blessing to reach their highest of goals to make a covenant with the Lord to give this work all they had. It was a truly wonderful experience.
This Sunday, Bishop Valdir had a really fantastic idea to do ´´Rescue Visits´´. All available members met at the church at 4:00pm to do divisions with the missionaries to visit less active families to edify their faith and make an invite to come to church. It was a HUGE success! We found some really incredible families that actually had a lot of desire to return to church that just needed a little encouragement; it was a really cool experience. I’m sure that many of these people will return this next Sunday to church. Not only that but it really increased our relationship with the members and our union with the Bishop. This was a brilliant idea.
Sunday night was transfer night. I received a call from President Oliveira that I would be transferred to Santa Maria on the island of Sal. President said ´´My dear friend, I need you to strengthen this young branch´´, I told him I wouldn’t fail. Santa Maria is a young branch that was opened about 1 year ago. There have been quite a few problems that have happened and the missionaries there do not have a good relationship with the members. I am here in Santa Maria now. There is a lot of work to do. I have a lot of experience with new branch´s, since I just left Maio. I have some really good ideas that could really bring union and success between the members and missionaries. I am very excited, I am going to have to put all of my trust in the Lord, I know through Him I can work miracles. I will not stop working until the area becomes better than when I found it.
I can’t believe it. I have been transferred again. I only had 1 and half weeks with Elder Camargo, but some of the experiences we had will never be forgotten. I learned SO much within just a short amount of time. Elder Camargo is a great leader and I learned some very important qualities of a leader. The Lord blessed us immensely in those 1 and a half weeks. I love Elder Camargo. He is one of my best friends and favorite companions; I would do anything for him. I’m ready to work, I can’t wait!!
Love,
Elder Rice
Well, it’s been another super crazy week. There are so many things to do, the Lords work never stops. If it weren’t for the Spirit and the strength of the Lord I’d probably dead right now. I do love being busy and working!!
So this week in Lem Ferreira, Elder Camargo and I didn’t have any planned baptism, but in district meeting, Elder Wells told us he knew someone lived in our area, that he already previously taught all the lessons and was about to be baptized in Fogo, but came to Praia. So we took his reference and went to contact her that night. We arrived to her house, her name is Indira. She seemed pretty surprised to see us. We met her mom, who actually is also an inactive member of our church, baptized in Fogo like 20 years ago. We talked and invited Indira to come to church. She said, ´´No, it’s not going to work´´. We didn’t give up, we kept insisting. Finally we said, we are going to pass tomorrow at 8:30am, see you tomorrow. She accepted. We passed by, and brought her to church. We taught retaught her some things she had forgotten and she was baptized this last Saturday!!! The Lord truly blessed us.
On Wednesday we had zone meeting with all 34 missionaries in our zone. Elder Camargo and I had noticed that the morale and excitement and enthusiasm of some missionaries had diminished during the past weeks. We planned a super inspiring meeting about ´´Sacrifice´´. We showed some videos that were super cool, the first was a talk by Elder Jeffery R. Holland, called ´´The Atonement and Missionary Work´´ (on youtube, i highly recommend you look it up right now). It talks about how missionary work is not easy, it never has been, nor will it ever be. ´´Salvation is not a cheap experience, salvation was never easy´´. How can we expect that work to be such an easy experience when it was NEVER easy for the Savior. Rejected, beat, spit upon and crucified, the Savior passed through everything. If it wasn’t easy for Him, it won’t be easy for us. We then showed another film of a film ´´The Bridge´´ (on youtube), of a dad that made a sacrifice to save others. We challenged the missionaries to think of what they were willing to sacrifice to bring the salvation to souls of mankind. We then let each companionship of Elders give one another a priesthood blessing to reach their highest of goals to make a covenant with the Lord to give this work all they had. It was a truly wonderful experience.
This Sunday, Bishop Valdir had a really fantastic idea to do ´´Rescue Visits´´. All available members met at the church at 4:00pm to do divisions with the missionaries to visit less active families to edify their faith and make an invite to come to church. It was a HUGE success! We found some really incredible families that actually had a lot of desire to return to church that just needed a little encouragement; it was a really cool experience. I’m sure that many of these people will return this next Sunday to church. Not only that but it really increased our relationship with the members and our union with the Bishop. This was a brilliant idea.
Sunday night was transfer night. I received a call from President Oliveira that I would be transferred to Santa Maria on the island of Sal. President said ´´My dear friend, I need you to strengthen this young branch´´, I told him I wouldn’t fail. Santa Maria is a young branch that was opened about 1 year ago. There have been quite a few problems that have happened and the missionaries there do not have a good relationship with the members. I am here in Santa Maria now. There is a lot of work to do. I have a lot of experience with new branch´s, since I just left Maio. I have some really good ideas that could really bring union and success between the members and missionaries. I am very excited, I am going to have to put all of my trust in the Lord, I know through Him I can work miracles. I will not stop working until the area becomes better than when I found it.
I can’t believe it. I have been transferred again. I only had 1 and half weeks with Elder Camargo, but some of the experiences we had will never be forgotten. I learned SO much within just a short amount of time. Elder Camargo is a great leader and I learned some very important qualities of a leader. The Lord blessed us immensely in those 1 and a half weeks. I love Elder Camargo. He is one of my best friends and favorite companions; I would do anything for him. I’m ready to work, I can’t wait!!
Love,
Elder Rice
Monday, May 19, 2014
Hey:
Its been quite the interesting week! Elder Ernst and I did a sweet Family Night at the Relief Society President’s house. Her name is Fatinha. We brought our investigator, Romila with us. We gave a super sweet spiritual part about the story of David and Goliath, about how if we put our trust in the Lord, we cannot fail. The power of God is much more powerful than any armor, or sword or arm. If we just forget about ourselves and trust completely in Him, we can perform miracles.
We had a super incredible Zone Conference this week. There were three zones: Praia West (us), Praia East, and Assomada. Elder Ernst and I training topic was “The Role of the Holy Ghost in Conversion.” It was awesome. We really focused on how the Holy Ghost is the ultimate teacher. It is by the Spirit that we receive revelation from God, it is the Spirit that bears testimony of the Father and the Son. We are only required to be worthy vessels, so that the Holy Spirit can inhabit in us and bear witness through our words. This aspect will forever change my life as to the way I will teach and lead. President Oliveira shared some incredible powerful words as to reaching our highest potential. He showed a video about an eagle and a chicken. The eagle had a huge potential to fly, but he just walked on the ground with the chickens. The eagle had been so accustomed to being with the chickens, that he didn’t even realize his full potential. The same is with us. We are sons and daughters of God with an eternal potential (I am a missionary of God with the potential to be an effective instrument in the Lords hands), but there are small habits, comfort zones and sins that stop us from reaching our potential. We must identify these impeding factors and eliminate them, by repentance. Super sweet!
On Wednesday morning I received an unexpected phone call from President Oliveira. He said: “Elder Rice, I need you to do me a favor for the next two weeks until transfers. I need you to pack your bags, you are going to Lem Ferreira with Elder Camargo. We are making Praia into one zone (instead of two). You will be the zone leaders.” That was a bit unexpected, considering the fact that I have only been in Varzea for two weeks. Not gonna lie, that was kinda sad. I was just getting used to the area, I had just gotten to know all of the members and their houses and I loved my companion. Elder Ernst was an incredible companion, we got along perfectly and we taught powerfully by the Spirit. However, the Lord has something else planned for me.
I met up with my companion Elder Camargo. He is from Brazil. He is the first companion I have had that his native language is Portuguese. But he actually speaks really good English. I love him. He is an amazing companion. He is a great leader and has done some incredible work on the mission. I am super excited to work with him and take on the zone of Praia. There is a lot of work to do. When I got to the area, they had no one. The area was basically dead. However in about three days, we have managed to find like six new families and a less active couple that was married and baptized in the church. It’s going to be super awesome to work here!!
Even though I left Varzea, I got to see the baptism of Romila. She was baptized on Saturday. She has made so much progress and has learned so much. She looks so happy. I’m so glad that I got to be a part of it.
We have been working non stop for the last 78 hours. It’s taking a toll on the body, but I’m not quite sure when we will be able to rest. Its completely worth it though. The work of the Lord is moving forward and I get to be a part of it. What a blessing.
I love you all!!
Elder Rice
Its been quite the interesting week! Elder Ernst and I did a sweet Family Night at the Relief Society President’s house. Her name is Fatinha. We brought our investigator, Romila with us. We gave a super sweet spiritual part about the story of David and Goliath, about how if we put our trust in the Lord, we cannot fail. The power of God is much more powerful than any armor, or sword or arm. If we just forget about ourselves and trust completely in Him, we can perform miracles.
We had a super incredible Zone Conference this week. There were three zones: Praia West (us), Praia East, and Assomada. Elder Ernst and I training topic was “The Role of the Holy Ghost in Conversion.” It was awesome. We really focused on how the Holy Ghost is the ultimate teacher. It is by the Spirit that we receive revelation from God, it is the Spirit that bears testimony of the Father and the Son. We are only required to be worthy vessels, so that the Holy Spirit can inhabit in us and bear witness through our words. This aspect will forever change my life as to the way I will teach and lead. President Oliveira shared some incredible powerful words as to reaching our highest potential. He showed a video about an eagle and a chicken. The eagle had a huge potential to fly, but he just walked on the ground with the chickens. The eagle had been so accustomed to being with the chickens, that he didn’t even realize his full potential. The same is with us. We are sons and daughters of God with an eternal potential (I am a missionary of God with the potential to be an effective instrument in the Lords hands), but there are small habits, comfort zones and sins that stop us from reaching our potential. We must identify these impeding factors and eliminate them, by repentance. Super sweet!
On Wednesday morning I received an unexpected phone call from President Oliveira. He said: “Elder Rice, I need you to do me a favor for the next two weeks until transfers. I need you to pack your bags, you are going to Lem Ferreira with Elder Camargo. We are making Praia into one zone (instead of two). You will be the zone leaders.” That was a bit unexpected, considering the fact that I have only been in Varzea for two weeks. Not gonna lie, that was kinda sad. I was just getting used to the area, I had just gotten to know all of the members and their houses and I loved my companion. Elder Ernst was an incredible companion, we got along perfectly and we taught powerfully by the Spirit. However, the Lord has something else planned for me.
I met up with my companion Elder Camargo. He is from Brazil. He is the first companion I have had that his native language is Portuguese. But he actually speaks really good English. I love him. He is an amazing companion. He is a great leader and has done some incredible work on the mission. I am super excited to work with him and take on the zone of Praia. There is a lot of work to do. When I got to the area, they had no one. The area was basically dead. However in about three days, we have managed to find like six new families and a less active couple that was married and baptized in the church. It’s going to be super awesome to work here!!
Even though I left Varzea, I got to see the baptism of Romila. She was baptized on Saturday. She has made so much progress and has learned so much. She looks so happy. I’m so glad that I got to be a part of it.
We have been working non stop for the last 78 hours. It’s taking a toll on the body, but I’m not quite sure when we will be able to rest. Its completely worth it though. The work of the Lord is moving forward and I get to be a part of it. What a blessing.
I love you all!!
Elder Rice
Monday, May 12, 2014
Hey,
It was so nice to see all of the family for Mothers day. I have come to learn just how important families are in the Plan of Happiness. Families can be forever, if sealed by the Priesthood authority of God in His sacred temples. There is nothing more beautiful than that. There is no better place for the Gospel to be taught than in the home, the best place to learn and apply the teachings to help one another return to our heavenly home. Thank you for the wonderful examples that you have all set for me!
We had a super Family Home Evening at a recent convert’s house named Jacinta. A few days before the family night, we had taught her and her boyfriend about Lehi's tree of life and about the desirable fruit that would make someone happy, being that the Atonement and Gospel of Jesus Christ. We invited them to think of people they knew that they would want to share that with. They thought of a few names and we invited them to invite their friends to come to the Family Night. The house was packed!! The room was full until people were standing outside. Jacinta invited a few of her neighbors and they came! We started to teach few of them, and its going really well. Jacinta is more excited than ever to missionary work.
We have been working quite a bit with a young woman named Romila. She doesn’t understand very well (doesn’t understand Portuguese very well, just Creole) she is still progressing super well. She is coming to church, she came and watched the baptism this last Saturday. She is marked to be baptized this week. Can’t wait!
We found another young woman (17) named Lavia. Apparently she has been coming to church for the last like four weeks! She isn’t baptized yet. Apparently she had been taught in the past by Elders but her parents wouldn’t let her be baptized. So, we decided to do a fast and pray to soften the heart of her father so he would give her permission to be baptized. Right before entering in the house we said a prayer. We saw him playing cards and called him over. By the power and authority that we possess we declared our selves representatives of Jesus Christ and help him to see exactly what we were here for. We spoke with power and at the end he said ''No problem, she can be baptized''. It was a very strong spiritual experience. Lavia will be baptized on the 31 of May.
We received a reference from the President of the Elders Quorum (Samiro). Her name is Rosy. Samiro showed us her house and we started teaching her. We had an incredible Restoration lesson where you could really tell the Spirit touched her. She accepted to be baptized if God responded to her that it is the true church. She was still a bit shaky. On Sunday, she came to church with her daughter. We taught her yesterday and she said that during church, she felt that this was the true church and that she should follow. We testified that the Spirit spoke to her. She accepted a baptismal date for the 07th of June.
The Lord has truly prepared the hearts of the people here. What an honor it is to be an instrument in His hands. This work cannot be done without the Holy Spirit that guides, teaches and changes hearts. I’m trying to learn to trust in the Spirit and have Him always with me, so that i may help in bringing souls unto Christ. I know that the Gospel blesses families more than any other thing that exists I will dedicate my life to His work.
Love,
Elder Rice
It was so nice to see all of the family for Mothers day. I have come to learn just how important families are in the Plan of Happiness. Families can be forever, if sealed by the Priesthood authority of God in His sacred temples. There is nothing more beautiful than that. There is no better place for the Gospel to be taught than in the home, the best place to learn and apply the teachings to help one another return to our heavenly home. Thank you for the wonderful examples that you have all set for me!
We had a super Family Home Evening at a recent convert’s house named Jacinta. A few days before the family night, we had taught her and her boyfriend about Lehi's tree of life and about the desirable fruit that would make someone happy, being that the Atonement and Gospel of Jesus Christ. We invited them to think of people they knew that they would want to share that with. They thought of a few names and we invited them to invite their friends to come to the Family Night. The house was packed!! The room was full until people were standing outside. Jacinta invited a few of her neighbors and they came! We started to teach few of them, and its going really well. Jacinta is more excited than ever to missionary work.
We have been working quite a bit with a young woman named Romila. She doesn’t understand very well (doesn’t understand Portuguese very well, just Creole) she is still progressing super well. She is coming to church, she came and watched the baptism this last Saturday. She is marked to be baptized this week. Can’t wait!
We found another young woman (17) named Lavia. Apparently she has been coming to church for the last like four weeks! She isn’t baptized yet. Apparently she had been taught in the past by Elders but her parents wouldn’t let her be baptized. So, we decided to do a fast and pray to soften the heart of her father so he would give her permission to be baptized. Right before entering in the house we said a prayer. We saw him playing cards and called him over. By the power and authority that we possess we declared our selves representatives of Jesus Christ and help him to see exactly what we were here for. We spoke with power and at the end he said ''No problem, she can be baptized''. It was a very strong spiritual experience. Lavia will be baptized on the 31 of May.
We received a reference from the President of the Elders Quorum (Samiro). Her name is Rosy. Samiro showed us her house and we started teaching her. We had an incredible Restoration lesson where you could really tell the Spirit touched her. She accepted to be baptized if God responded to her that it is the true church. She was still a bit shaky. On Sunday, she came to church with her daughter. We taught her yesterday and she said that during church, she felt that this was the true church and that she should follow. We testified that the Spirit spoke to her. She accepted a baptismal date for the 07th of June.
The Lord has truly prepared the hearts of the people here. What an honor it is to be an instrument in His hands. This work cannot be done without the Holy Spirit that guides, teaches and changes hearts. I’m trying to learn to trust in the Spirit and have Him always with me, so that i may help in bringing souls unto Christ. I know that the Gospel blesses families more than any other thing that exists I will dedicate my life to His work.
Love,
Elder Rice
Monday, May 5, 2014
Hey everyone!
After not being told where I’m going for like 4 days, in the middle of Missionary Leadership Council, Elder Campbell, announced, ''Elder Rice, stand up, you will be transferred to Varzea with Elder Ernst!!'' Even though it was very sad to leave Maio, I have gotten very lucky to have the opportunity to serve with Elder Ernst. Elder Ernst is from Georgia, he is super nice guy and we get along great. I am currently serving here in Praia in a zone called Varzea. I was missing Maio pretty bad for the first few days, but now I’m getting used to it. Its super weird to have to get to know a whole new area, get to know and remember all of the names of members and start from scratch. But it’s going super well.
When I first got here the house was a mess. Cockroaches EVERYWHERE! Super dirty, I didn’t want to touch anything. I decided I couldn’t live like a pig, so today for P day, we did A SUPER DUPER MEGA clean. It took like 4 hours. But now the house is the cleanest it’s been... ever. The members here are super friendly and I have got to know all of the leaders of priesthood and auxiliaries. That is the greatest key in missionary work - knowing by name, caring for and loving the members. Missionary work cannot have success without the members working together.
Elder Ernst and I made some goals and plans for our zone for the month of May. We focused on using our time wisely. In our lessons with investigators and also less actives, the most effective time is spent when focused always on our purpose, declaring faith and repentance. We talked about how Jesus Christ should be the center of EVERY message and that our goal is help others gain more faith and repent of their sins, making necessary changes to keep the commandments of God. It was a really good training.
We had two baptisms this last week, two teenagers named Ronny and Omar. They are friends of the Bishop's son, Igor. Bishop Martins is a super cool guy, I haven’t got to know him super well, but we are going to work a lot with him. This week we will also be having the baptism of a man named Jailson. Should be awesome!!
I’m still getting to know my new area, investigators and members so it should be fun as I learn more information next week. I’m so grateful to be here in Praia, I will work as hard as I possibly can to bring souls unto Christ, there is nothing better.
Love,
Elder Rice
After not being told where I’m going for like 4 days, in the middle of Missionary Leadership Council, Elder Campbell, announced, ''Elder Rice, stand up, you will be transferred to Varzea with Elder Ernst!!'' Even though it was very sad to leave Maio, I have gotten very lucky to have the opportunity to serve with Elder Ernst. Elder Ernst is from Georgia, he is super nice guy and we get along great. I am currently serving here in Praia in a zone called Varzea. I was missing Maio pretty bad for the first few days, but now I’m getting used to it. Its super weird to have to get to know a whole new area, get to know and remember all of the names of members and start from scratch. But it’s going super well.
When I first got here the house was a mess. Cockroaches EVERYWHERE! Super dirty, I didn’t want to touch anything. I decided I couldn’t live like a pig, so today for P day, we did A SUPER DUPER MEGA clean. It took like 4 hours. But now the house is the cleanest it’s been... ever. The members here are super friendly and I have got to know all of the leaders of priesthood and auxiliaries. That is the greatest key in missionary work - knowing by name, caring for and loving the members. Missionary work cannot have success without the members working together.
Elder Ernst and I made some goals and plans for our zone for the month of May. We focused on using our time wisely. In our lessons with investigators and also less actives, the most effective time is spent when focused always on our purpose, declaring faith and repentance. We talked about how Jesus Christ should be the center of EVERY message and that our goal is help others gain more faith and repent of their sins, making necessary changes to keep the commandments of God. It was a really good training.
We had two baptisms this last week, two teenagers named Ronny and Omar. They are friends of the Bishop's son, Igor. Bishop Martins is a super cool guy, I haven’t got to know him super well, but we are going to work a lot with him. This week we will also be having the baptism of a man named Jailson. Should be awesome!!
I’m still getting to know my new area, investigators and members so it should be fun as I learn more information next week. I’m so grateful to be here in Praia, I will work as hard as I possibly can to bring souls unto Christ, there is nothing better.
Love,
Elder Rice
Monday, April 28, 2014
Hey,
Its been a fantastic two weeks with my new companion Elder Acord, we really get along and are working super well This week wasn’t exactly how we thought it would be. This Thursday we received a phone call that Elder Acord and I were invited to go to a mission leadership council, which was a bit odd because we are in Maio and we are just district leaders of 2 sisters. We thought it was something fishy. Then on Saturday night the assistants called us again and told us that they had some news for us. They said Elder Rice, pack your bags and bring them to the council. We thought they were joking, but they said, seriously, pack your bags. They wouldn’t tell us why.
After 6 months of working, preaching, teaching, baptizing and everything, my time has come to an end on Maio. I have learned more than I ever thought i could learn. I discovered who is God and that he really does live and love us. He is merciful; he is a God of miracles, forgiveness, love, goodness, justice. God doesn’t forget us. He knows each one of us and permits that we face difficulties and trials so that we learn and REMEMBER him. When life is going smooth and there are no problems, how many times have we recognized His hand? Its during our trials when we remember that we are nothing. Just as the Lord tested the Children of Israel in the desert, we too must be tried so we don’t become prideful and forget Him, our Loving Father in Heaven. We had 30 people in sacrament meeting. EVERYTHING is ready for the branch. I know I have given that island everything I had. The Lord cut me down when I was high and strengthened me when i was weak. What an enormous blessing it has been to establish the Lords Kingdom on such a blessed land. Saying bye was tough, I couldn’t help but just cry as I gave our beloved group leader Ta one last hug. I have gone through so much there, I will NEVER forget that experience, nor will I ever forget the incredible members that came unto Christ, took up his cross and follow him.
We are in Praia. We are going to Mission Leadership tomorrow. I will find out who my new companion and my new area tomorrow. I don’t think it will be anything like where I came from, but I will do the will of the Lord with all my heart, might, mind and strength. This is His work and being ordained by His only Spirit to declare these eternal truths, we cannot fail.
Love,
Elder Rice
Its been a fantastic two weeks with my new companion Elder Acord, we really get along and are working super well This week wasn’t exactly how we thought it would be. This Thursday we received a phone call that Elder Acord and I were invited to go to a mission leadership council, which was a bit odd because we are in Maio and we are just district leaders of 2 sisters. We thought it was something fishy. Then on Saturday night the assistants called us again and told us that they had some news for us. They said Elder Rice, pack your bags and bring them to the council. We thought they were joking, but they said, seriously, pack your bags. They wouldn’t tell us why.
After 6 months of working, preaching, teaching, baptizing and everything, my time has come to an end on Maio. I have learned more than I ever thought i could learn. I discovered who is God and that he really does live and love us. He is merciful; he is a God of miracles, forgiveness, love, goodness, justice. God doesn’t forget us. He knows each one of us and permits that we face difficulties and trials so that we learn and REMEMBER him. When life is going smooth and there are no problems, how many times have we recognized His hand? Its during our trials when we remember that we are nothing. Just as the Lord tested the Children of Israel in the desert, we too must be tried so we don’t become prideful and forget Him, our Loving Father in Heaven. We had 30 people in sacrament meeting. EVERYTHING is ready for the branch. I know I have given that island everything I had. The Lord cut me down when I was high and strengthened me when i was weak. What an enormous blessing it has been to establish the Lords Kingdom on such a blessed land. Saying bye was tough, I couldn’t help but just cry as I gave our beloved group leader Ta one last hug. I have gone through so much there, I will NEVER forget that experience, nor will I ever forget the incredible members that came unto Christ, took up his cross and follow him.
We are in Praia. We are going to Mission Leadership tomorrow. I will find out who my new companion and my new area tomorrow. I don’t think it will be anything like where I came from, but I will do the will of the Lord with all my heart, might, mind and strength. This is His work and being ordained by His only Spirit to declare these eternal truths, we cannot fail.
Love,
Elder Rice
Monday, April 21, 2014
Hey,
I’m here with my new companion Elder Acord!! Super weird to have a different companion. he is super awesome and we get along really good, i know we are going to have a lot of fun and success here in Maio. On Tuesday we got on the plane from Praia to come to Maio, it took a grand total of 7 minutes, wow!!
We had some really incredible miracles this week. For example, we have been teaching this woman named Ilizia. We have taught her for a good 3 months or more. She has promised, and promised that she would come to church every week, and never came. She had hid from us, ran from us, made up excuses, BUT, this last week she came. On Tuesday, we passed by to teach her and she had been transformed. She said that when she came to church, she felt like a different person. She was happy and joyful. She said that she couldn’t really even understand anything from the Portuguese translated Conference Talks, but she still felt incredible. We had a great lesson about the Plan of Salvation and now she has a SOLID baptismal date for the 10th of May. I know that by the power of Holy Ghost, ANYONE can change. The Spirit brings a change of heart.
This week we followed the counsel of Elder M Russell Ballard to start helping our members study Preach My Gospel. During one of our classes at the church during the week we studied the 1st chapter of Preach My Gospel, My Purpose. This chapter explains that our purpose is to ''Invite others to come unto Christ, helping them receive the Restored Gospel, through faith in the Jesus Christ and in his Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and Enduring to the End.'' We had a great discussion about how every member is a missionary, and it is their duty to bring others unto Christ. We challenged them to memorize "Our purpose". We have been focusing more than ever about the importance of members and missionaries working in union, it is the only way to bring success in an area.
We have been working a lot with Nino's (our recent convert) son, Fernandinho to help him prepare for baptism this week. he is reading, praying coming to church and even coming to the classes at the church by himself. We are working to complete Nino's family by also working with her husband, Boi. For a while, Boi didn’t want anything to do with us. He drank hard alcohol like nothing, probably one of the hardest drunks i have ever seen. Nino has refused to buy him anymore alcohol or tobacco and has been a great example to him. Little by little, Boi has gained more and more desire to come unto Christ and be born again. The only thing stopping him from coming to church, is that he works in the morning on Sunday. This week we had a break through. We asked him "why is it so important that you come to church?" He didn’t know. We then went into the Day of the Lord. I don’t think I fully understood the utter importance of this sacred day before. The Day of The Lord is not just a day to go to a meeting a church. The day is a day designated that rest from our labors and praise the Almighty God. So that we conserve ourselves clean from the stains of the world (sins), we go the Lords Holy House to feel his Holy Spirit and purify our soul. Our attitude on the day of the Lord is a manifestation of how dedicated we really are to the Lord. We have the sacred opportunity to partake of the Sacrament to offer our sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit, delivering our life to Him to receive and enjoy the infinite blessings wrought from the Atonement of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If we didn’t have this chance to rest and sanctify our souls, we would be stained with sins and wickedness. Personally I am so grateful for this day that makes me better than I was before. It’s not just a meeting, it’s an opportunity to take more fully upon us the name of Christ and renew our covenant to serve him until the end to be accompanied by the constant companionship of His holy Spirit, one day to enjoy the greatest gift of all, eternal life. We went on to describe the Day of the Lord something like that, and I think it touched Boi. He decided that he would talk with his coworker to see if he could change his schedule. He changed his schedule and he showed up to church, the Lord has blessed us immensely.
Also, a few weeks ago there was this man that called us over "Elders! Elders!" We talked to him, contacted and tried to mark an appointment, but he didn’t mark... strange. We found him another time, tried to mark, didn’t work, so we invited him to come watch General Conference. He accepted and showed up. Then we lost contact with him and found him on a 3rd occasion, this time we said, come to the class at 7:00pm and we will talk after. He showed up and taught him. He said he wanted to get baptized so we marked him for the 17th of May. Sweet.
Our group leader, Ta, is doing an INCREDIBLE job. He is really magnifying his office. We have been having meetings with him to show him exactly what are the responsibilities of his calling (he only has 3 months in the church). In the process I have been reading a ton of Priesthood books, Manual 2, a lot about church organization, leadership, callings, i have learned so much. We have been showing Ta all of these things and he has been assuming all these responsibilities, he is incredible! These things I have learned will surely be a huge help for me for the rest of my life concerning church organization. We also talked to him about a goal for frequency in sacrament meeting. We made a goal to have 40 people in sacrament meeting on the 25 of May, 2014, the day of transfers. He was excited. At our film night, we watched a short film about "hastening the work", showing how easy, simple, and natural it is to share the gospel and work hand in hand with the missionaries. Ta testified to them of the importance that the members work with us to bring souls unto Christ. Then super epically, Ta went to the board and wrote our goal to have 40 people. it was super awesome and now the members are a part of the goal that we made. it should be a huge success.
We have once again beaten our record of the frequency in sacrament meeting. We had 29 people!!!! We had some really good talks about Easter, about the Resurrection of Christ and also the sacrament. The group is growing more and more. We will surely break a frequency of 30 people by this next week.
I know more surely more than anything on this Earth that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only path by which man may live happily and reach Eternal Life. The works of man will bring joy for a time, but soon will reach its end. When we construct our life on the Rock of Jesus Christ, the gates of hell will never prevail against us. Jesus Christ suffered for us, died and resurrected. He lives. Seek to fill your life with his redeeming love.
Love,
Elder Rice
I’m here with my new companion Elder Acord!! Super weird to have a different companion. he is super awesome and we get along really good, i know we are going to have a lot of fun and success here in Maio. On Tuesday we got on the plane from Praia to come to Maio, it took a grand total of 7 minutes, wow!!
We had some really incredible miracles this week. For example, we have been teaching this woman named Ilizia. We have taught her for a good 3 months or more. She has promised, and promised that she would come to church every week, and never came. She had hid from us, ran from us, made up excuses, BUT, this last week she came. On Tuesday, we passed by to teach her and she had been transformed. She said that when she came to church, she felt like a different person. She was happy and joyful. She said that she couldn’t really even understand anything from the Portuguese translated Conference Talks, but she still felt incredible. We had a great lesson about the Plan of Salvation and now she has a SOLID baptismal date for the 10th of May. I know that by the power of Holy Ghost, ANYONE can change. The Spirit brings a change of heart.
This week we followed the counsel of Elder M Russell Ballard to start helping our members study Preach My Gospel. During one of our classes at the church during the week we studied the 1st chapter of Preach My Gospel, My Purpose. This chapter explains that our purpose is to ''Invite others to come unto Christ, helping them receive the Restored Gospel, through faith in the Jesus Christ and in his Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and Enduring to the End.'' We had a great discussion about how every member is a missionary, and it is their duty to bring others unto Christ. We challenged them to memorize "Our purpose". We have been focusing more than ever about the importance of members and missionaries working in union, it is the only way to bring success in an area.
We have been working a lot with Nino's (our recent convert) son, Fernandinho to help him prepare for baptism this week. he is reading, praying coming to church and even coming to the classes at the church by himself. We are working to complete Nino's family by also working with her husband, Boi. For a while, Boi didn’t want anything to do with us. He drank hard alcohol like nothing, probably one of the hardest drunks i have ever seen. Nino has refused to buy him anymore alcohol or tobacco and has been a great example to him. Little by little, Boi has gained more and more desire to come unto Christ and be born again. The only thing stopping him from coming to church, is that he works in the morning on Sunday. This week we had a break through. We asked him "why is it so important that you come to church?" He didn’t know. We then went into the Day of the Lord. I don’t think I fully understood the utter importance of this sacred day before. The Day of The Lord is not just a day to go to a meeting a church. The day is a day designated that rest from our labors and praise the Almighty God. So that we conserve ourselves clean from the stains of the world (sins), we go the Lords Holy House to feel his Holy Spirit and purify our soul. Our attitude on the day of the Lord is a manifestation of how dedicated we really are to the Lord. We have the sacred opportunity to partake of the Sacrament to offer our sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit, delivering our life to Him to receive and enjoy the infinite blessings wrought from the Atonement of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If we didn’t have this chance to rest and sanctify our souls, we would be stained with sins and wickedness. Personally I am so grateful for this day that makes me better than I was before. It’s not just a meeting, it’s an opportunity to take more fully upon us the name of Christ and renew our covenant to serve him until the end to be accompanied by the constant companionship of His holy Spirit, one day to enjoy the greatest gift of all, eternal life. We went on to describe the Day of the Lord something like that, and I think it touched Boi. He decided that he would talk with his coworker to see if he could change his schedule. He changed his schedule and he showed up to church, the Lord has blessed us immensely.
Also, a few weeks ago there was this man that called us over "Elders! Elders!" We talked to him, contacted and tried to mark an appointment, but he didn’t mark... strange. We found him another time, tried to mark, didn’t work, so we invited him to come watch General Conference. He accepted and showed up. Then we lost contact with him and found him on a 3rd occasion, this time we said, come to the class at 7:00pm and we will talk after. He showed up and taught him. He said he wanted to get baptized so we marked him for the 17th of May. Sweet.
Our group leader, Ta, is doing an INCREDIBLE job. He is really magnifying his office. We have been having meetings with him to show him exactly what are the responsibilities of his calling (he only has 3 months in the church). In the process I have been reading a ton of Priesthood books, Manual 2, a lot about church organization, leadership, callings, i have learned so much. We have been showing Ta all of these things and he has been assuming all these responsibilities, he is incredible! These things I have learned will surely be a huge help for me for the rest of my life concerning church organization. We also talked to him about a goal for frequency in sacrament meeting. We made a goal to have 40 people in sacrament meeting on the 25 of May, 2014, the day of transfers. He was excited. At our film night, we watched a short film about "hastening the work", showing how easy, simple, and natural it is to share the gospel and work hand in hand with the missionaries. Ta testified to them of the importance that the members work with us to bring souls unto Christ. Then super epically, Ta went to the board and wrote our goal to have 40 people. it was super awesome and now the members are a part of the goal that we made. it should be a huge success.
We have once again beaten our record of the frequency in sacrament meeting. We had 29 people!!!! We had some really good talks about Easter, about the Resurrection of Christ and also the sacrament. The group is growing more and more. We will surely break a frequency of 30 people by this next week.
I know more surely more than anything on this Earth that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only path by which man may live happily and reach Eternal Life. The works of man will bring joy for a time, but soon will reach its end. When we construct our life on the Rock of Jesus Christ, the gates of hell will never prevail against us. Jesus Christ suffered for us, died and resurrected. He lives. Seek to fill your life with his redeeming love.
Love,
Elder Rice
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