Final Thoughts

Well, this is it. My last week in the mission field. I have been trying my best to push until the end and truly tried in Nova Odessa. I was transferred to Campinas to be the Assistant´s companion so that I did not stay in the other mission when they divide today. I made many great friends there and had many great memories that I will always cherish. This week I was able to literally save a baptism and helped resolve problems that a companionship was having in my district. I am just a big ol´ mix of emotions right now. I am so very sad to be leaving the mission behind because of the wonderful friends I have made and the wonderful experiences I have had. The mission literally changed my life and I am so immensely grateful for that. I don't know who I´d be or where I´d be if it was not for these extraordinary two years in the service of the Lord. I have truly come to know the gospel to be true for myself. I have been able to have so many spiritual experiences that I have come to the sure knowledge that God loves and Christ lives. It has stopped being personal belief and has become actual fact that Joseph Smith truly was a Prophet and really did see God and Jesus Christ. I testify that Book of Mormon is the word of God. I am grateful for what I have come to know. I am so glad that I have been able to help many others come to know the true church and gospel and through doing so I have been changed. When I think about my mission, tears of joy and gratitude come to my eyes. As I lost myself in the work, I came to find who I really was. I feel as Enos that ´´I soon go down to my grave, having been wrought upon by the power of God that I must preach and prophesy unto this people, and declare the word according to the truth which is in Christ. And I have declared it all my days, and have rejoice in it above that of the world.´´ I was wrought upon by the power of God and changed, and have done my best to preach unto the people of Brazil. When it appeared to many that I lost everything when I came on a mission, I truly gained everything. With so little, I have never felt I have had so much. I, as Lehi, can say ´´I partook of the fruit thereof it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy; wherefore, I began to be desirous that my family should partake of it also; for I knew it was desirable above all other fruit.´´ The gospel is true, and through it and the love of God, I have felt such immense joy as I can not describe. It is more desirable then anything the world can offer. I invite each and everyone to truly come and partake of the fruit so that you can feel as I do. Life does not become perfect, but the joy becomes lasting rather than temporary and the hardships serve to refine you rather than break you. I desire what Lehi desired, my family together forever. My honest hope and prayer is that when we meet again, are meeting might be as that of Alma and the sons of Mosiah for ´´Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the truth; for they were men... therefore they had the spirit.´´ I love each and everyone of you and anxiously await to see all of your lovely faces. I share these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. The end nearly, Elder Healy

Second to Last

Hello everyone! This is my second to last email home and it will have to be a short one. I am traveling today and time is short. I hope that you arent mad. We will baptize this week! Come on really, Elder Healy

Hello

I am shoppping today. Does anyone want anything from Brazil? If anyone wants shoes, sent me your size. Love you! I´ll get back on after.

Winding Down....

Dear People, My second week in Nova Odessa has come to an end and what a week it was. We had stake conference and we had a bunch oif investigators go. Hopefully we will see some baptisms this week. We reactivated like two families as well and had divisions almost every night! I am kind of tired because of the rush he have been in, but whatever. I have been studying the commandments this week and have realized there are a lot more than I thought. I love being a missionary and I love this work. I can see the difference the gospel makes in my life and the lives of others everyday. I truly have come to love the people of Brazil and will be sad to leave. Endure to the end is the phrase that has become the most important to me as of late and I know I will. I love you all! Come on really, Elder Healy

Final Area

Hey yall! So I'm officially in my last area on the mission and I am doing my best to work until the end. My comp has 3 months on the mission. I'm having to kind of re-train him b/c he has some teaching problems, but really wants to learn. The area hasn't had baptisms for 4 months, but the ward is really excited and seemed to like me. We already marked an activity for the ward and will have divisions every night. I am excited to be a district leader again and help one of the most struggling districts on the missions. I wish you all the best and God be with you until we meet again. Come on really, Elder Healy

Final Week in Jacare

Dear Family and Friends, My final week in Jacare has come to a close and I am off to my last great adventure here in the mission field. I truly enjoyed the time I spent with Elder Dyas and we were able to help three people be baptized this week. We stayed in a three-some because one Elder in our zone had his comp go home early. That was pretty fun, but the week wasn´t that productive. I think my last area will be a toughy, but we will see what happens. I love you all and look forward to trying my hardest for this last month of my mission. I hope you all the best. Come on really, Elder Healy

Belated but Updated

Hello everyone! I am so sorry for my lack of letters as of late. But here´s a quick summary of what´s been going down. The most important, we had two baptisms on Saturday! One was a man whose wife we reactivated and whom we married. He is such a gone man and was so excited to be baptized and married. The other is a now deacon who stopped us on the street multiple times just to talk and then asked to visit the church with us. He showed up at 8am in the best shirt he had! How cool is that! We are now working to help his mother, aunt, sister, and friend all be baptized! We were able to bring 9 people to stake conference on Sunday. But they had a hard time focusing on 2 hours of talks so we had to try to talk to and entertain them a bit which was a little of a challenge. The zone is doing pretty good. People are baptizing but fault a lot of techniques and scriptural knowledge so I have really been trying to work with them on that. We have had 8 days of divisions in the last 3 weeks which is really draining on me. I will have another today which should be interesting. I am going to enter my last transfer here in a little and look forward to hard work. Come on really, Elder Healy

Still Here!

Dear people, This week was fun as we kicked off another transfer together here in Jacaré. We were able to find a couple of new people and brought a good amount to church. We have two marriages and baptisms lined up and several other people we are teaching should eb baptized here in a little as well. One family we are teaching is really amazing. They are from across the country so know no one around here. They walked quite a distance to activities and church and are really excited to learn more. We just dont know if they are married... Hopefully so. We also did a division this week with my step-son Elder Alencar who is now a district leader trainer! He is so nervous but will do great. The zone got really shaken up. One area was being opened and they marked 14 baptisms in a week! Wow! I can´t beleive how fast the time is flying by, but i will endure to the end. Love you all! Come on really, Elder Healy P.S. feel free to shoot me an email at weston.healy@myldsmail.com because I can now talk to pretty much everyone!

Fireside

So we had a different week because we actuallt got to work in our own area and didnt have to travel. We found a bunch of new people and a couple of them went to church this week. We have 2 definites for this transfer and a big ol´family as well. So I think i will be getting soaked here in a little again! We had President come for a fireside which real has inspired the ward. I am great and bought some clothes this P-Day to change things up. love you all a ton. Come on really, Elder Healy

Busy!

Hello! Well let´s get down to it. I just wanted to let you guys in on my last week. Like I said last time we had a zone activity last Monday. We just ate lunch together and played soem board games which was fun. We then gave a doctrine on Wednesday about the Holy Ghost and the importance of prayer and revelation. Everyone seemed to really have liked it and I learned a ton about personal revelation. We then had a division on Friday with one of our district leaders and his companion. I stayed in the area with the junior companion who is one of the most powerful missionaries here, he just faults desire to work. But I was able to see how he has change already and how he his trying to work before he goes home. We had a really cool activity on Saturday. It was a talent show and my talent was having my teeth brushed by my companion. We also started a new ward mission plan whcih will hopefully bring lots of new refences and get the ward involved. Thanks so much for all the letters and packages! Come on really, Elder Healy

Conference!

Hey yall, So I know it´s onyl been 5 days and not that much has happenend, but I will give you the low down. Thursday was our only real work day this week because Friday was a division and Saturday and Sunday were conference. So that stunk. WE were able to help a teenager be baptized after 3 years of wanting to. We taught him and his aunt and uncle and after much prayer and effort his mother finally let him be baptized which was awesome. This letter is short, I´m so sorry. We had a zone lunch which ran long. Love you all and really hope to get an email from you by next Monday because now I can. Come on really, Elder Healy

Moved

Oh heh! So the big news for the week is that we finally moved from our bad house to a good one. Weasked around and one member in the ward has a friend who has a moving truck. And guess what, he did it for free! So now we are in a pretty good sized apartment with a new fridge, a new oven, a microwave, and a new washing machine! Booyah! It is so much better! This week we had a lot of meetings and a lot of divisions to animate our zone and help them baptize. It was graitifying this week to help other missionaries learn how they can improve. We will baptize Sunday and I am so excited for conference! I am sure I will have many insights by next week! Love you all! Come on really, Elder Healy P.S. It is now liberated for me to communicate by email with anyone that does not live within mission boundaries. So I really hope to chat and write many people I haven´t talked to in a while! Im usually on Mondays roughly between 8 and 12.

California Power!

Hello Folks! I am pretty pumped up and happy today. A bunch of cool things are happening here in the area and a bunch of funny things as well. We had two baptisms this week which was pretty sweet. And we hope to have three more this week. Yeah! The work is great. We are working close to the church and have a big teaching group. My new companion is a Californian from Sacramento. We are besties already. We got free gym membership as well so are getting ripped, very slowly. So we had a bunch of funy contacts this week. One guy literally got off the couch, took off his shirt, and then answered the door and said he was taking a shower. Another one was with a kid and we asked if her parents were at home. The parents shouted quite audibly, no just tell them I am really busy. We were eating at a members house and there was a little kid that was watching a movie about Christmas. We asked what the film was about and he said 创Papai Nohell.创 The correct way to say that would be Papai Noel which would be Santa Claus or Father Christmas. But 创No创 means in the. So it became 创Father in Hell创 and my comp and I just busted up laughing. Well thats all folks! Come on really, Elder Healy

Perfect Week

Hello, This week flew by and was one of the best weeks I have had thus far. We had divisions pretty much every night and all of our investigators are progressing. We passed the mission goal for people in sacrament meeting and we have the wards support. We are going to do a super funny talent show which I will be happy to send you photos of when it happens. My companion is going to be transferred to another zone and I will stay here to hold down the fort. He was not to happy with that, and I will be sad to see him go. But I am excited to get cracking with a new comp.Who knows if he will go to the gym with me ^^ Through study and prayer, I have become so thoroughly convinced of the Great Apostasy and the Restoration because of the abundance evidence that can be found, the sense it makes, and the spiritual witness I have received. I invite everyone of you to study the scriptures, to here the story, and to pray and ask God if it is true. And you, like me, can receive a spiritual confirmation. Come on really, Elder Healy

Family Completed

Dear People, I am feeling kind of tired right now so I hope you bear with my probably lack of focus. We had a pretty good week this week and the zone had a great week. We were able to baptize a youth whose family we reactivated and do interviews for other missionaries in the zone. We also recieved 20! references this week from the members. We are going to be busy busy in the week that comes. I was on dvision 3 days this week which really helped me to help others. I love sharing what I know and learning from other Elders what I can work on. I also made cookies for the baptism which everyone loved. Said they were they best any Elder had done. Making my Mother proud. It rained in the house again so a couple of pictures got glued together... that was fun. Also, I dont have diabetes. Come on really, Elder Healy

Busy, Busy

Sorry I didn´t write yall on Monday, I was in a leadership meeting and did not have time. But I am writing now. This last week was interesting and one of growth. We had the opportunity to finally have a solid week of work in the area and the results showed because of it. We were able to teach many people and leave with many members. We had a two-member division like 3 or 4 times last week and were able to visit a bunch of people. My companion knows how to teach extremely well and is very confident in his abilities. We will baptize on Sunday! Woohoo! We reactivated a family that had been sealed in the temple but went away from the church a couple of years ago. We have helped bring them back to church and stop working on Sundays and there son will be baptized at 4 with all his member and non-member family in attendance. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to go on a division to an area that is struggling in our zone. He stayed with the Senior companion there. He had not been doing his contacts, lessons, or new investigators and I went there to find out why. He knows how to work well and we were able to mark 4 baptims, find 5 news, and mark 6 people for church in the course of a couple of hours. I showed him why we need to work and how we can do it. I love being able to help others realize their potential. We also had some interesting encounters. One person we marked to visit tried to avoid us by turning her head and looking off into the horizon when we saw her sitting in a chair in the front. We just stood there looking at the same point to make it awkward. Then we taught her. All the members think I have high blood pressure because of a faulty blood test I did. So now we are eating like rabbits. That´s a good thing, however, because I had some blockage problems recently. I haven´t been drinking as much water as I should so things have been a little drier to say the least. Then I started feeling a extreme pain in my stomach after lunch so President order me to go to the Doctor. They did an X-Ray and discovered that my large intestine was so stuffed up that I had a gas pocket that couldn´t escape which was causing pressure. A couple Lax and I was good to go. I feel more and more each day the presence of God in my life and less and less desire to sin and do anything contrary to his will. I know that I am doing the work of the Lord and know that anyone can recieve the same testimony I have. I love you all. Come on really, Elder Healy P.S. Go Warriors!

House Hunting

Hi. This week was pretty interesting. So our house is not so good. Its got faulty plumbing, mold, slugs, leaky roof, broken stove, etc. So we have been doing our best to find a new house and get new things. So our mission President came to our area today to get new stuff for us and to resolve the housing issue. So we spent a good 5 hours driving around with President and Sister to find a house. We found a couple of sweet ones and they got us a new stove, refrigerator, microwave, and cabinet. Then we went for Pizza! Pretty dang sweet to ride around in an air conditioned car and talk about the zone. We will be moving in a little hopefully. When we opened the area, my companion and I encountered a zone with a little rebellion and fault of desire to work. So my companion and I conducted the whole meeting to show them how it should happen. I laid it on pretty thick about the importance of obedience to receive the blessings of the Lord. Things improved this week. Yesterday we had the opportunity to teach a family that we have helped bring back to church. Two weeks ago, just the father and one son went. This week, the father, the two sons, and the mother went. We had a touching lesson on the importance of church attendance and eternal families. Everyone was tearing up and feeling the spirit. One of their children is not baptized and we hope to baptize him in two weeks. We will see how that works out. One phrase that stuck in my mind is 创My Eternal Family.创 This truly has becoem my goal and my dream. To have those I love with me for all eternity. I would give so much to have that. It gives me more energy to do everything when I think this is what I am helping others achieve. I love you all and hope for your best. Come on really, Elder Healy

Alligator!

Hey! So like yall know I was transfered! Now I am in a district called Jacare which means alligator in Portuguese. My companion and I are opening the area so to speak because both of the missionaries there before were transfered. They did not leave a very big teaching group nor a much in the area book so we are looking to an uphill battle. But the members are excited and we are as well. The people so far have been receptive and we have been able to get into various houses to teach. Lots of funny things happened. I am so bad at time management... Come on really, Elder Healy

Let the Good Times Roll

Well its that time of the mission again! Transfers! So I was caught by surprise and transferred from Vinhedo while my companion stayed and they opened another area. I had some mixed feelings about this mix up, but I will go where he wants me to go. I feel as if I was able to make an impact for the better in this city. On Sunday we were able to bring a whopping 13 investigators to church. We had plenty of members leaving with us and plenty of references this week. There are a good 12 baptisms that could be had here in the future. I sincerely hope to have a similar teaching group in my next area! I am as happy as can be other than this transfer business. I feel like I am fulfilling my purpose as a missionary, helping others to truly come unto Christ. I feel inspired to talk to others and share my testimony. I want to help my companion and other Elders improve. I have been thinking a lot about faith recently and have done my best to study it as thoroughly as I can. What I have learned is that faith is much more complex than what I had believed from a quick glance. I originally understood it as confidence and belief in the unseen, with a willingness to act on said belief. But it is so much more than that. The Prophet Joseph Smith dedicated an entire book on faith called 创Lectures on Faith创 that has given me many an insight. From quotes I have read, I have learned that to truly have faith in Jesus Christ, 1. You must believe he exists 2. You must have a correct understanding of his character 3. You must have the certainty that your life is in line with his teachings. But it is further than that. Mere obedience and diligence does not guarantee divine help. Most people have faith unto action. If I act now, something will happen later. But the faith we must develop is faith unto power. That through our righteousness and desire to do the Lords will and our utmost confidence in him, miracles happen. In Ether 12:14 we learn that it was the faith of Nephi and Lehi that changed the hearts of the Lamanites. It was there faith that changed another. I hope to develop this kind of faith. I love you and pray for you. Come on really, Elder Healy

World!

I´m super sorry that I havent been writing you like I should. I was just a little busy with apps and the like. But I am here and writing now. Much has happened since I last wrote you and I will do my best to sum it all up. This week is the last week of the transfer so we will see what happens. We have 4 couples to marry which would be a grand total of 11 baptisms. Keep your fingers crossed. We divided up the ward and opened a group in another neighborhood. The group had 51 people Sunday! My companion and I are getting along great. I hope to stay in Vinhedo next transfer, but who knows. I have been tired lately for some reason and getting sick, but I hope to get better. We have been able to bring a bun ch of people to church in the last couple of weeks. Hopefully these fruits pay off. I feel myself improving each day as I search the scriptures and try to apply them. I love you all. Come on really, Elder Healy

Food Poisoning... Dun Dun Dun!

Hey Yall! So today was super awesome thus far. Last night we ate some supper at some investogators´ house who are just waiting for a marriage to get baptized. It was some kind of corn and shrimp sauce with rice and hot sauce. Pretty tasty. But when I woke up at 4 am and was blowing out of both ends I wasn´t too happy. I threw up three times today and all of it was that dang shrimp sauce. I´ve brushed my teeth like three times already... But then I bought some medicine and popped some pills and I have been stable for about three hours. Let´s see how I hold out. So that was fun. It rained a whole ton this week so at one point we stayed in a garage for about an hour and a half which slowed things down. We have a new rule on the mission where you can´t teach lessons on the street anymore so that we can teach people in their houses with more quality. So everyones numbers dive bombed. Also, we had another baptism! YEAH! It was super awesome, the room was full. Only problem was that the font drained a little bit so it was really low. And the woman did not close her nose. So I had to put her down real low and she came out sputtering, but other than that it was all good. We will have another one this week as well. A 16 year-old who wants to go on a mission! We just need to teach him a little more and do a family night and it´s a sealed deal. I think that we are having enough success that they will put another dupla here, but let´s see. This week I will be traveling until Friday to do divisions with other Elders to help give them training. Let´s see if I can get them animated and back to work. I´ve come to the realization this week that I have a solid knowledge of some pretty useless deep doctrine and have neglected my study of the New Testament and Doctrine and Covenants. I am trying to do ariel kicks without first learning the basic punch. So that´s something that will change in my free time study. That´s about all. Until next week! Come on really, Elder Healy

Bring the Rain

hello, Hello, HELLO! How are you doing on this wonderful day? I am excited you are reading and learnign along with me. We had another interesting week here in Vinhedo with successes and heartaches, triumphs and failures, so keep tuned in! Our New Year´s was uneventful with missionaries over for district meeting and a big ol´ fest of BANG! the best Wild West Game ever made. That combined with fruitcake and powdered juice made for a good time before district meeting the next day. I then gave some doctrine about the how we qualify to have the Spirit, that is much more than keeping the rules and praying. I then talked about how we must invite the Spirit to our teaching and allow him to touch the hearts of our investigators. So we practiced the First Vision and the Atonement which, for me, bring the Spirit so quickly to the lesson if presented correctly. The Restoration and the Atonement, with the Fall, are the most important events in history and thus leave a significant impact on the investigators. After that it was just work until now. We have been hitting doors, doing contacts, visiting inactives, and asking references all to increase our teaching group and we have had mixed results. Because the area is so large and we are in charge of two wards and I only have two feet we are trying to decide exactly how to focus on one specific area to be effective. We finally decided on two neighborhoods and have found many elects. It´s raining. We´ve been in the investigator´s house for too long so decide to book it. I recommend we go to a member´s house. My comp forgets so we end up under a bus stop. We call the ward mission leader to send someone to give us a ride (because we are drenched). He says Geraldo will stop by in a little. A car pulls up and tells us to get in. We do and tell Geraldo thanks. Dun, Dun, Dun! It´s not Geraldo, but Aginaldo. He was taught four years ago and went to church for three months straight. Now we are marking his marriage and he will be baptized next month! Yeah! Stuff like that just doesn´t happen everyday! We are being so blessed as we do our part. This next week we will have 10 members leaving with us and a bunch of references to receive. I love you guys and hope you really know that and feel that. I think about you and pray for you and hope you too can fell this love for the gospel! This work is true. This is not something relative to me and what I feel. It does not vary from one person or another. As a ward missionary put it so eloquently in his testimony on Sunday, ´´Joseph Smith saw God the Father and his son Jesus Christ. This not my belief, but actual fact.´´ Come on really, Elder Healy