August 31, 2015- week 52- Happy 1 year anniversary serving a mission in Brazil!

WHAT!!!!! Have I really gone through a whole year of being a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? And all this in Brasil? That's incredible. Now, I've only got some 11 months left before I come back home. I have a feeling that from this point onward, it'll zoom past like a roller coaster. I have learned so much these past 12 months that will bless me for my entire life. Being my first time to live by myself, I've had to learn a lot of self responsibility. Being a gospel teacher, I've had to increase my knowledge and understanding of God's plan. Being in Brasil, I've had to learn the language and use it to help others come unto Christ. I cannot even explain how grateful I am to have come on a mission. 

To those who are thinking of serving missions: Do it. Of course it's tough. But, it is the most rewarding thing you will have done in your life. I promise. Also, it is a lot different than what most people think. At least that's how it was for me. I had no idea what being a missionary really was. You learn so much. I promise, if you stick to the decision, you will not regret going on a mission. It will help you for the rest of your life.

So, this past week was a good one. I got sick in the beginning and couldn't really do much because I was feeling so weak, but by Tuesday, I was already feeling pretty good again. Tuesday, we had the last District meeting of the transfer and this week we will have our Zone conference over in São João da Boa Vista. I've really enjoyed this past transfer. It was the fastest one yet. Elder Stone is so awesome. I remember that I went on a split with him a couple of transfers ago and thinking how cool it would be to be his companion. Well- look where I am now.

Anyway, it also rained a lot this week. It's been almost 2 months since it has rained here in Poços de Caldas, so that was really nice. We switched up where we work some, so we found some new people that we are teaching. We found this really cool family and taught them about the Restoration. The mom absolutely loved it and told us that she was feeling something very very different that she really liked. That was a great opportunity to tell her about the Holy Spirit. She said that we were different from other churches that she had gone to. She said that the other churches (including hers) always talked about Satan. And how Satan that and Satan this, but that in our message, we only talked about good and pleasant things. Nothing about hell or evilness or Satan. That was interesting to hear. 

Also, we are working with this one woman. Her children have been members for a while, but went inactive. We started visiting them and the mom really has showed a lot of interest. We've been teaching her for a while, and she's told us that she would like to go to church as much as possible and that she would like to be baptized. We're working with her for a date, but I'm thinking in 2 weeks. The only problem is that she works every other day so that means she can only go to church every other week. 

Well, that was a little bit about my week. I guess for a scripture that I liked a lot this week was John 13:15. Jesus was the perfect example for us all, so we should follow that example. 

Have a great week y'all!

Love,
Elder Collins

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