6. MY BROTHER MY BROTHER

Oi como vi

Can you believe it was been another week in the CTM!!!!? The time has gone by so fast!!! This is the last email I will be sending to you all while I am in the CTM!!!! Crazy!!!! This week has been a complete miracle. Our daily schedule was about the same as the typical week. Gym in the morning, study, prepare for our lessons and then time with the instructor, but the thing that has changed is the time when me and my companion get to teach our investigators here at the CTM.

Before this week I was always so terrified to practice the lessons with our investigators here because I always felt that I could never say the words that I wanted to say to them. But this week that changed. I have seen miracles in my life but never like the one that I am living in now.

As I read my patriarchal blessings I am seeing some of the promises come true. My mouth is being fulled with words to say at the exact time I need them. This week Me and Elder Brogan were teaching a lesson and in the middle of the lesson the investigator asked me to bear my testimony on the power of prayer. (We were teaching her about prayer) At first I did not understand what she was asking my, my companion had to mouth the words to me. I finally understood that she wanted to know how I knew that God answers our prayers or something like that. When I realized what she was asking me I was not afraid because I had been thinking in my mind about 5 minutes before what I would say to bare my testimony of the power of prayer. I told here that I know God will answer her prayers and that God can help you with all of the things that you are going through in your life if your ask him for help. It took me awhile to get the words out but they did come, and I know it was because of the Lord and the power of the Holy Ghost that she understood what I said.

Even though the investigator is not real yet I know that the power of the Holy Ghost is and it is amazing what happens when you have the faith to follow its promptings.

After that lesson I have been able to say more things without having to read them off a paper!!! Just shows me once again how much my Father in Heaven loves me and has a plan for me.

So I have to tell you about one of my best friends here at the CTM. His name is Elder Tanchiva. He speaks Spanish and a lot of Portuguese and has claimed me as his brother! haha. He found out about Andrew and now ever since then every time he sees me he yells MY BROTHER MY BROTHER SEMPRE SEMPRE. YOUR BROTHER NOT,  I'M YOUR BROTHER!!!!  He then makes me say,

eu sou elder Jacobson, eu sou um missionario da igreja de Jesus Christo dos santos dos Ultimos dias. Nos temos um mensagem sobre jusus cristo e O Livro de Mormon. ( Hello I am Elder jacobson, I am a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint. We have a message about Jesus Christ and The Book of Mormon.)

All of the Brazilians on our floor wait in a group for me to come up and say this each night. It repeats when I go into the bathroom to brush my teeth. hahha!!! And I have to say I love it. I love the people here and I have found that if I just smile they are really nice and open. In my classroom I am the class greeter. Every time someone comes in I yell, Oi, como vi? ( Hi, how are you). It it so much fun.

So I have time to tell you one more thing. I bought a book of Mormon from the temple store for 1.50R (.75$) Me and elder Brogan are going to mark it up and give it away on the bus ride on the way to our first areas!!!!! I'm so excited!!!! Its going to be awesome. Everyone in our district has 4 hour plane rides to get to their areas but me and Brogan could only have a 45 minute bus ride!!!!! just think In 5 days i will be in the field doing it for real!!!! so pumped!!!

well I'm out of time.

I love you all so much. I will  get to send some pictures next email!!!

Talk to you all next week

                                                      CHAO CHAO!!!

                                           Love,

                            Elder B. Jacobson

5. "I Need Thee Every Hour"

Hello Family!!!!

I'm so excited to tell you about what has happened this week. First off, I went proselyting in the streets of Brazil!!!! It was so awesome! I could hardly say a word but the Spirit was still so strong with me and Elder Brogan. We handed out four Books of Mormon!!!! So many people here are interested about the church and they know that the CTM missionaries come teaching on that same street often. So one of the people we gave a Book of Mormon to was sitting in a chair by the side of the street holding a sign. We told him about the Book of Mormon and then I bore my testimony to him in Portuguese. haha I don't know if he understood a word I said but when we passed him on the way back to the bus stop we saw him reading it!!!! haha.

Next our district sang "I Need Thee Every Hour" in front of the entire CTM!!! It went really good and I have grown to love that song as I have realized just how much I do need the Lord every hour of my life.  So this Sunday I was asked by our district leader if I would bless the sacrament. It normally would not cause me any stress to bless the sacrament except for the fact that I had to do it in Portuguese. I was terrified!!! Me and my companion practiced the prayer over and over again trying to get me to say the words right. I thought I had it down and then when I said it for real I couldn't get the words out of my mouth the way they should have.

I was kinda embarrassed and just tried to remind myself that I have only been here for 4 weeks. Just as I was feeling better the president presiding over our meeting got up to announce who would be speaking. 

(btw, they don't tell you  who is going to be speaking until you get there, everyone has to have a talk ready to go each week just in case.) Well I had convinced myself that I was safe from speaking since I had blessed the Sacrament.  hahah wrong. My name was called last!!!!

I got up and shared my thoughts on the atonement the best I could. I read Isaiah 1 18 and then shared some thoughts that I had about the atonement written down on a piece of paper. I was planning on sitting down right after that but then I was prompted to bare my testimony and the words just came out. It was simple but it was enough for me to learn that the Lord truly will fill my mouth with words when I need them. I just have to put my trust in the Lord.

Today we went to the temple and after the section Me and Elder Brogan talked to some missionaries that are serving in our mission. They work in the mission office or something like that. They talked to us about the mission and about the mission president (btw, I forgot to mention I saw my mission president at the temple last week).

Yesterday 88 missionaries left the CTM it was so cool!!! And I get so excited that it will be me in just two short weeks. I am going to miss the people at the CTM  however. There is a Brazilian Missionary named Elder Tanchiva, he has adopted me and is now my new twin. Every time he sees me he yells JACOBSON MY BROTHER BROTHER, SEMPRE SEMPRE which means ALWAYS. HAHA  then he gives me a hug and demands that I tell him the name of the church in Portuguese. hahah!!! Its so great!!

I am so excited to go out and do all that I can to share the message with others.

I love you all!!!!!

Ill send you some pictures soon!!!!!

                                                                                love,

                                                                           Elder B. Jacobson

4. Half way done with my time in the CTM (MTC in Portuguese)

Hello Family,

Another sweet week in the CTM. I can't believe how fast it is all going. I am half way done with my time in the CTM and it is hard to believe that I will be teaching on the streets in just a few more weeks!!!! This week I chocked out my first prayer in Portuguese in our class. haha it was cool! I couldn't believe how many words came to my mind right when i needed them. It has been the most amazing thing to see the lords hand in my life each and everyday. I know that he is watching over me and each day my testimony grows stronger that I am were the lords wants me to be.

So the other day I went to the police station with the rest of my district to get out visas finished up. We spent the entire morning getting our finger prints taken and signing paper work. It was kind of nice to get out and see some more of Brazil. As I sat in a chair waiting, I started watching all of the people walk by I pictured myself sharing the gospel with every single one of them. I thought about how God knows about every single person and he cares for them just like he does me. As I thought about this I felt this strong desire to learn the language faster so that I could share my knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Never have I realized what a blessing the Gospel is and how important it is to share what we know with others. For some reason I have always been afraid to share the gospel with my friends and the people around me except for when we were at pageant. But know that I am here and i have nothing for worry about but missionary work I have realized that sharing this message is something that I could and should have done more often.

So many people are ready to hear the message of the restored gospel and we just have to open our mouths. For that is the true purpose of why we are on this earth. We don't have to teach a lesson to share the gospel either. This week I have been thinking about how I can share the gospel when I am unable to speak the language. As I  thought about this I realized that I don't need to speak to love and help the people here. I decided that until I can put my testimony into words I will share my testimony through my actions and through my face. I know that as I do all I can the Lord will bless me and provide the way. I have been so blessed and the Lord is so willing to pore out more blessings to me if I have faith and do the things that he wants and needs me to do.

                   Eu sei A Igreja De Jesus Christo dos santos do ultimos dias verdadeiro. Eu amor Jesus Cristo. A nome de Jesus Cristo amem.

I love you all so much and pray for you every day! 

3. Can't believe it has already been another week.

Hello Family!

Can't believe it has already been another week. I got to go to the temple again today! It was a wonderful experience. The spirit is always so strong. This week me and my companion have been working diligently every day trying to learn new words in the language. With endless practice some of the stuff is making a little sense! haha I am feeling vary hopeful that when the time is right and if I do all that I can do the lord will bless me.

      While listening to the conference this weekend I felt that every single talk had to do something with missionary work. It was the most amazing thing to feel like every word coming from the speakers mouths were meant just for me. One of my favorites was of course by President Uchtdorf, when he talked about his skying trip and how he fell and could not get up alone. It reminded me of the time when I was at the park and I couldn't get up the ladder to get to the slide and I kept falling over and over again. I think back on that story and the words of President Uchtdorf and it brings me hope to know that no matter how many times I fall down I will only fail when I quit.

      So I am determined that no matter how hard I fall i will get back up and try harder the next time. Just about everyday me and Elder Brogan have the opportunity to teach a lesson to an investigator, and although it is not real I have found myself feeling this great desire to convert them to the church again! Our last lesson was the best we have taught yet. All we talked about was God being our Heavenly Father and Families, but as we taught I felt the spirit so strong even though I could not say the words to make the message perfectly clear. But from that experience my testimony of the power of the holy ghost has been strengthened. I truly know that if I am going to be a good missionary I am going to have to rely fully on the Holy Ghost.

      If you get the chance you should try and find a talk by Elder Holland given to the missionaries about the atonement. watch the video! It is the most powerful talk I have ever heard in my life and motivates me to give all I have to the lord. Whenever I am feeling tired or unmotivated to keep studying I think of this talk and all that my Lord and Savior had to do for me so that I could have the chance to return to him. I love my Savior so much and I know that he knows me more then I know myself. I just have to put my trust in him and let him work through me.

      So I met sister Cummings I think was her name, she said that she was in your cast team a few years ago. Does that name ring a bell? 

      Lets see, our district is singing I need thee every hour in Portuguese on Sunday during sacrament meeting this Sunday. haha. The CTM Presidents wife found out that we had people in our district that could sing so she hunted us down. haha it does sound pretty good!

     Well I'm about out of time. I hope to get some pictures to you as soon as i get out into the field.

    I love you all so much!!!!!!

 I know that this gospel is true. It is the coolest thing to be devoted to the one thing that truly matters in this life time. For so long i have worried about school and so many other things that I thought were so important, but now that I am here I have come to realize that there is nothing on this earth more important then sharing the message on the gospel to others. This gospel is truly the only thing that matters and I am so grateful that I am so fortunate to be apart of it.

        I love you all so much and I love looking at the picture of us in front of the temple. I know I have been blessed greatly to have the family that I have. love you again!!!!!!

                                                Elder B Jacobson

My MTC District (or class)

2. First Week in the MTC!

Hello Family!!

So,  I can finally tell you the second story of what happened on the plane on the way to Brazil!!!!  So I was sitting on the end seat in the middle section and there was a couple sitting next to me. When we got settled down in our seats I decided to start talking to them because it was a late flight and I knew that if I waited too long, all they would want to do was sleep. So I said hello. They did not speak very much English but I could make out just enough of what they were saying. After about 5 minutes I remembered I had my Portuguese Book of Mormon in my carry on bag, so I pulled it out and told them a little bit about it and Joseph Smith and Jesus Christ. I let them read it. Oscar and his wife read the entire introduction and a little bit of the first chapter of Nephi. 

They seemed very interested and so I gave them the pass along card that I had in my bag. Oscar, the husband, looked up the website right there on the plane TV thing in front of him. I told them that if they wanted I could send someone over to their house so they could learn more. Oscar gave me his families home address, home phone, and cell phone that the missionaries could call.

Oscar then showed my on my mission map were he lives, But unfortunately he is right outside my mission. Haha oh well.

Now that I have been in the MTC a week I am starting to get used to the busy schedule. We had to teach a lesson in Portuguese the second night!!!!!!! It was so scary. As I thought, the language does not come naturally, but I just have to remember that the Lord knows me better than I know myself. I know this is were I  am supposed to be and I have faith that when the time is right I will be able to share my testimony with the people. Today as we walked down the streets for the first time just from smiling at the people made me so happy and my desire to share what I know about this gospel grow. I already feel a love for them that I can't describe.

So my companions name is Elder Brogan! He is the best! I am the only one in my district that did not take 4 or more years of Spanish so it has been so difficult for me. I feel like I am being left behind in the language. haha But the biggest lesson I have learned is that I am not here to learn the language, I am here to learn how to follow the spirit.  And I know that as I do that, the Lord will bless me and my mouth will be full of the words that I need to say.

This was confirmed to me as I sat in the temple and felt the spirit so strong.

I have come to the strong realization that this life is the time to become like God and Jesus Christ and I have learned that this task is not an easy one. I have come to the realization that I must go through the bad to truly enjoy the good. I have gained a stronger testimony of my Savior's Atonement and I know that like my Savior, I to can do hard things. 

I see Andrew almost every day! We play volleyball together most mornings!! And he is in the classroom next door to mine.

I would love to send you some pictures but we were just informed that we cant send them. Sorry.

I love you all so much!!!! I look at the picture I have of us at the temple everyday. It makes me so happy. I love my Savior and I am so grateful for all that He has done for me. I know I am here today because of Him. I know that without Him I would to totally lost. I love this gospel and I pray everyday that I will be able to share it from my heart soon( instead of reading it off a paper) haha. I know without a doubt that this gospel is true and I am so grateful for the chance I have to be a part of this great work.

I love you all once again and I pray and think of you daily.

                                                                               Love,  Elder B. Jacobson