16. Richard made it to church!

This week we had 7 investigators committed to come to church. We had several of the ward members helping us get them to church. Sadly only one investigator, Richard made it to church, but it was so cool to see him come!!!! he said afterward that he had some doubts after going so me and elder Ahmed are praying everything goes alright tonight in our lesson. 

i just continue to pray that i will have the Spirit and be able to help Richard understand. This week i have had the opportunity to remember just how much i need the lord. When me and elder Ahmed practice the lessons i can get nothing to come out of my mouth. I feel it should be so easy to explain these things but they would not come out. It was very frustrating, but then i remembered a scripture that i have read many times that says: do not worry about what you will say but ponder the words of life and then shall your tongue be loosed and the holy ghost will teach them all that they need to know. 

i guess the lesson the lord is trying to teach me is that it does not matter what the investigators hear come out of my mouth but what they feel. And when they are  feeling the spirit, the spirit will teach them what they need to know. 

I love you all so much and it was awesome getting to see you on skype. I still hardly believe i saw you it seemed to good to be true. I love you so much!!!! 

love Elder Bryan Jacobson 

15. OI FAMILIA!!!! FALIS NATAL!!!!!

OI FAMILIA!!!! FALIS NATAL!!!!!! I love you all so much and cant wait to see you on skype in a few days. I not going to take to much tie to right all that has happened cuz I have allot to do today. But some crazy stuff happened this week. we committed 3 investigators to baptism!!!! And got an inactive to start coming back to church. the story about the inactive it so cool so ill tell it to you know. Elder Ahmed told be before we went in that he was not going to say a word and i was going to teach the entire lesson. The last time we taught this sister was in my second week and we could not get her to commit to anything. so we went in and I started off. It was very bad at first. I was so scared and couldn't keep my words in order and i felt that i was loosing control of the lesson. Then I stopped and said a little prayer to myself for help. I then felt prompted to share 1 ne. 3:7 and bore my testimony that the lord has commanded us to go to church and that the lord would strengthen her if she did her part. I committed her to go to church and she said she would. ( every other time she said she would and then never showed up.) That Sunday me and Elder Ahmed were greeting the members outside the door like we always do. and just before we were about to go in. We see this sister (maria) walking fast, breaking a sweat, dressed for church!!! she walked all the way. she was in our Sunday school class and the teacher gave a lesson on the birth of Jesus Christ. Maria was crying through the entire thing. The spirit was so strong and I know that the lord gave her strength to do what she needed to do. Once again i know that the lord has an amazing role in this work. He is preparing people everyday to here the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love you all so much and hope that you have a great NATAL. I am so grateful for my savior and his willingness to die for me. And i am so grateful for this opportunity to learn and to serve him. I know that i have been made strong and i know that God will always strengthen me when i turn to him.

14 .what a good, difficult, crazy, exciting week it has been.

what a good, difficult, crazy, exciting week it has been. I just found out i am staying in Vila Maria for my second transfer!!!!! I love it here. I love the ward and i love the people that i am working with. This week we BAPTISED Elida da Silva!!!! she is a 14 year old girl and has just entered young women's!! she loves the church and the ward is so great with taking care of her and making her feel welcome. Never before have i seen a ward that is so involved in missionary work. It truly does make all the difference. On Sunday i had the opportunity to confirm Elida a Member of the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints. My words were choppy and my hands were shaking so bad Elida probably had a headache after the pray:) but the spirit was so strong and i have been so blessed to be a part of this work. The Salvation of Gods Children. Never before did I truly understand how powerful missionary work is and the eternal blessings it brings. I testify that there is nothing that could be more important then this work for i know that I am helping the Lord do his work to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. what a huge and wonderful responsibility it is. so my first week we ate lunch at a members house and this Brother likes to make the Elders eat allot. And i guess the first time i did not eat enough ( i ate so much i thought i was going to be sick, i had to stop by the house to get some Motrin for my headache.) and so he said next time i would have to eat 4 plates piled high. Well we happen to eat at his house again this week. I started fasting a day and a half before this meal drinking lots of water so that i could stretch my stomach out. haha like they do on tv. When we go to the house his wife serves me a piece of lasagna the size of a computer mouse pad!!!!! with a pile of potato salad and a chicken breast on the side. by the time the meal was over i ate 4 mounds o potato salad 3 entire chicken breasts and 2 slabs of lasagna the size of a computer mouse pad!!!!!! I thought i was going to die but i kept playing it off trash talking (i can do it in Portuguese!!!) and asking for more food. when I was done with my food i pushed my plate aside and said, I hope you have desert (sobre mesa). 2 containers of ice cream were brought forth with all the toppings. 3 bowls latter it was over!!! I love the members here! they are awesome and always willing to help me with my Portuguese. I have been blessed to be here. I know that god knows me and i am so excited to stay here here for another 6 weeks. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!! ow and before i forget, i am going to be able to skype you guess. we are going to be at a members house at about 5pm on Christmas please let me know your Skype address and anything else i might need to know to know to make it work. CANT WAIT TO SEE YOU!!! LOVE YOU ALL!!! Elder Bryan, Jacobson

13. We had our first BAPTISM!

oi família, Este semeia foi moito bom!!! On tuesday I had the oppertunity to go on splits with a group of all greenies!!! hahah. their was three of us with close to the same amout of time out in the field. It was realy fun trying to talk to people. I learned a great lesson this day. As I watched these new elders, like myself, talk to everyone they saw not caring that they couldn't speak perfectly. They were such a great example to me because I am afraid to try to do street contacts cuz I haven't figured out all the words to say it but now I have decided to let go of my fears and just do it. Just open my mouth and let the words come out. I have seen in lessons this week that words have been coming to my mouth that I did not think I would be capable of saying. And I have seen that through the Lords help I have been able to be bring joy to peoples lives. I also got to go on splits with Elder Da Silva. He is a Brazilian that has been searving for about a year and a half. It WAS SO MUCH FUN. We found two new investigators and taught them the 3rd lesson, The Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the best feeling to see peoples faces light up when they hear this message. Here in Brazil one of the cool things to do is fly kites!!!! Everyone is always in the strees flying these kites around. Its realy cool. When I was with Elder Da Silva we walked down a street and could see close to 50 kites in the air. One of the boys flying a kite ran unto me and asked me if i had ever flown a kite before and how I would say his name in English. haha. I have a picture of us holding one of the kites that fell inside the gate of the chapel. haha Me and Elder Ahmed are still getting fed so much food. Next saterday we are going to be eating at a members house. The member said that I did not eat enough and that I had to eat 4 plates piled high!!!! In reply I told him I would eat 5. (I dont know what i was thinking) I am going to do a special fast before I go to this lunch appointment. haha And I saved the highlight of the week for last!!!!!! We had our first BAPTISM for Lucas!! Lucas was one of the first people I visited and taught here. He was fellowshipped by the ward mission leader. It was perfect. I know that the Lord was preparing Lucas for this moment in his life because he has been ready for a very long time he just needed to find it. Every day I feel so blessed to have the oppertunity to meet so many humble and loving people. I have never experienced anything like it. People here are ready and waiting. waiting for me to clap at their gate. I love you all so much and I am so greatful for this oppertunity to be here in Brazil on my mission. I am so grateful for the gospel and for all that it was done for me in my life and above all I am grateful that I have the oppertunity to share it with others. Love you so much!!!!!!!!!!!! Elder Bryan Jacobson PS Answer to your questions, Well for our toilet we fill a bucket of water and bump it in to flush it. Clapping at the gate instead of knocing on doors or ringing doorbells is new. All the food I eat is normal:) YAAAH!

12. He has always had a plan for me

oi. familia!!!! Another busy week!!! The work is really picking up this week. We have three investigators with a baptismal date set with 5 more progressing. And on top of that we found 16 new investigators this week!!!!!! The Lord has blessed us greatly. I just continue to pray that the Lord will allow us to say the words that we need to say to get these people to understand and feel the spirit testify to them. It is so cool to see the people we teach show their faith by being willing to follow the commandments of God. Yesterday at church we had 7 investigators attend sacrament meeting. This week has clearly taught me that the Lord has prepared people to hear the message of the gospel of Jesus christ. I have been reminded that everyone on this earth already knows the truth of this message, they just have to be reminded. So somthing realy cool happened last night. It was poring rain and i was soaked . My companion & I went back to our house to drop some papers off before they got wet. Then my companion asked if I wanted to go to our last appointment or stay home and study. Our last appointment was not marked and it was with an investigator that was unsure about us coming. We had gone to his house five times before and had not once gotten in. But I know that I would not feel good about staying in early so I told my companion that I wanted to go and see if we could talk to Migel. So we walked to his house in the rain. But this time we got to talk to him. At first Migel was hesitant to talk to us but after about a minute he opened right up to us and we talked to him about some of his concerns. He had alot of questions about the word of wisdom and the law of chastity. My companion taught a great lesson and Migel understood. We marked a date to go back!!!! I pray that we can keep making progress with him. This story has testified to me that when we do the things that we are supposed to do the Lord blesses us. And that is what this gospel is all about, doing the things god asks us so that we can be happy in this life and in the life to come. I love you all so much. Thank you for your prayers, I have felt at peace this week because of them. I know that my Father in Heaven is looking after me. He has always had a plan for me and now parts of that plan are revieled to me each day. LOVE YOU. Elder B. Jacobson

11. Another great week on the mission!

oi Familia!!!!! 

This has been another great week on the mission. Full of many great learning moments. This week I went on splits with Elder Merker. Haha he is a great missionary. We spent one day in my area going through the appointments that we had. We had two great lessons that day. One to Wesely, we talked to him about the Book of Mormon. He thinks it all makes sense and he feels good when he reads it. We are going to get him to come to church next week. And then we taught a little boy named Ozmor. He is EIGHT years old and wants to be baptized. When Elder Merker and I went to teach him, he said that when he read and prayed about the Book of Mormon he felt good and that he knew that baptism was the right thing for him to do!!!!!!!! It is such a strength to my own testimony when I see an 8 year old read and gain a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He truly has been prepared by the Lord. 

Last Thursday we had our first zone conference. All of the missionaries met in a church building about 40 minutes away by bus. I don't really know where it was. We were instructed by President Martins about how to be better missionaries. It was all in Portuguese so I didn't really get a lot out of it but I did feel the spirit comfort me and I learned once again that I am in the Lords hands. I am looking back on some of the trials that I have had in the past and I am seeing now how some of them have prepared me for the trials God knew I would go through here. He is so aware of me I can not tell you the number of times I have felt the comfort of the Holy Ghost telling me that everything will be okay. And it will because God has a plan for me and he will help mr fulfill that plan. 

Friday night the ward had a ward party!!! It was a great chance to get to meet some of the members of the ward. It was supposed to be a huge missionary effort but only one nonmember was at the party. haha o well, we got her address and are going to talk to her this week. 

Saturday morning, Elder Ahmed and I had the opportunity to go to a convention of non profitable organizations. The Mormon Helping Hands had a huge booth set up and I got to go and talk about what Mormon helping hands was. Hahah it was realy cool. I might show up in the Ensign here. 

Sunday we had lunch at a really rich members house. HUGE HOUSE.  There was so much food holy cow . But it was an exciting lunch because a huge family fight broke out. I didn't understand what they were yelling about so I just kept eating and trying not to laugh to hard. One of these days ill get it. 

I have been watching the district this week and as I have I have found a new excitement to learn the language faster and apply what they do to my mission. I know that god is on my side and with Him, I will be a great missionary. 

Thank you all for your support. I love you so much!!!!!!!! 

Talk to you next week,

                                                      Elder Jacobson

10. Another busy week!!!

oi. familia!!!! 

Another busy week!!! The work is really picking up this week. We have three investigators with a baptismal date set with 5 more progressing. And on top of that, we found 16 new investigators this week!!!!!! The Lord has blessed us greatly. I just continue to pray that the Lord will allow us to say the words that we need to say to get these people to understand and feel the spirit testify to them. 

It is so cool to see the people we teach show their faith by being willing to follow the commandments of God. Yesterday at church we had 7 investigators attend sacrament meeting. This week has clearly taught me that the Lord has prepared people to hear the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have been reminded that everyone on this earth already knows the truth of this message. They just have to be reminded. 

So something really cool happened last night. It was poring rain and I was soaked . Me and my companion went back to our house to drop some papers off before they got wet. Then my companion asked if I wanted to go to our last appointment or stay home and study. Our last appointment was not marked and it was with an investigator that was unsure about us coming. We had gone to his house five times before and had not once gotten in. But I know that I would not feel good about staying in early so I told my companion that I wanted to go and see if we could talk to Migel. 

So we walked to his house in the rain. But this time we got to talk to him. At first Migel was hesitant to talk to us but after about a minute he opened right up to us and we talked to him about some of his concerns. He had allot of questions about the Word of Wisdom and the law of chastity. My companion taught a great lesson and Migel understood. We marked a date to go back!!!! I pray that we can keep making progress with him.

This story has testified to me that when we do the things that we are supposed to do the Lord blesses us. And that is what this gospel is all about, doing the things God asks us so that we can be happy in this life and in the life to come. 

I love you all so much. Thank you for your prayers, I have felt at peace this week because of them. I know that my father in heaven is looking after me. He as always had a plan for me and new parts of that plan are revealed to me each day. 

LOVE YOU.