19. There was a long pause....then he said yes.

Wow mom that was such a cool story about the lady. I know that you are going to do so many great things with the knowledge you have gained about EPT. I know that as you continue to follow the spirit the lord will give you more opportunities to serve Him. 

God is really in control of our lives and when we put our trust in Him He provides a way. 

This week Me and Elder Ahmed have had a really cool experience.

  

 We taught a part member family, every one is a member except for the dad. The ward and other sets of missionaries have been trying to get him to be baptized for quite awhile now but he never thought he was ready. This week me, Elder Ahmed, and the stake president went to talk to him. We gave a spiritual thought and felt prompted to talk about baptism. Then we asked him if he would follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized. There was a long pause....then he said yes. His wife was crying and then bore her testimony. The spirit was so strong. He is going to be Baptized next Sunday after stake conference!!!!!!!! 

This week i had the opportunity to go on another split in Vila Medadus. I love serving with the elders there. One on them, Elder Youd is the funniest Elder i have ever met. He has such a strong testimony of the Gospel and is very good at connecting with the investigators. I have learned so much from him the few times i have had the opportunity to serve  with him. 

this picture is my on divisions!!!!! 

18. New mission president in July

Just wanted to thank you for your wonderful emails. They bring me so much comfort. 

Every day I am being taught new things about myself and about how the lords woks. It is so amazing to see how my mission plays out in the next couple of weeks. My trainer goes home in two weeks which means  I am going to be in charge of Vila Maria. Scary thought! I feel so inadequate. 

But I have faith that the lord has called me here and that he is going to provide a way for his work to be done. I know that he is helping me every step of the way.

Every morning during companionship study I have the hardest time getting the words to come out of my mouth. I never liked role playing very much. its hard and awkward for me I don't know why. Every time I can never get the words to come out, I feel frustrated and wonder why the words will not come out in a clear manner. BUT then we go and teach an investigator, we start with a pray and follow up, and when it is my turn to speak or when  feel prompted to speak, the words come out. They always do and the spirit is strong. Every day I seem to forget that I am not here to teach but i am here to invite the spirit so that it can teach. I have to always remember that god is going to provide the way. 

I have always loved 1 ne. 3;7 

I used to read this scripture and know that god would provide a way for me to speak but I have learned that that might not be the case this scripture also means that God will provide a way for the people to understand, understand through the spirit that the message is true and gain the desire to follow Christ. 

We are getting a new mission president in July. we just got sent a picture in our weekly report. i'll see if I can send it to you guys. 

I love you all so much!!!! 

                                     

                                                       love 

                                              Elder B. Jacobson 

17. FALEIS ANO NOVO!!!! 2014!!!!

oi Familia!!! 

Eu amo você moito!!! 

FALEIS ANO NOVO!!!! 2014!!!!  

It has been another great week out in the mission field. 

One of our investigators Abram, COMMITTED TO BE BAPTIZED and he cam to church for the first time yesterday. He AWESOME!!!! Ever since we met Abram he has been so excited to learn more about the gospel and to read the Book of Mormon. He reads the Book of Mormon and asked us for the church website so he could find out more about the church. We are teaching the rest of his siblings but they are not as receptive. I have a feeling that Abrams family might be a little problem for Abram but i know its nothing the lord can't handle. 

We also had Ana Maria at church this week for the first time. She loved the church. She also has a baptismal date marked for the end of the month. 

Along with them we have 5 other people marked on the calender for baptism. I just have to tell you that these people were truly prepared by the lord. They are ready before we even knock on the door. 

Everyday i am reminded how much the lord is in control of our lives, and when we trust him, everything works out. 

AND HERE ARE THE PICTURES OF THE WEEK. 

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