Week 64 (Week 18 Back in Brazil!)

 

At the temple of the Lord!

"Wherefore, ye may also have hope, and be partakers of the gift, if ye will but have faith." (Ether 12:9). I just love the Book of Mormon. It is filled with so many good scriptures and principles that I am constantly finding new awesome verses like this one. I found that this scripture really rang true for me this week. The first few months I was here, things were really hard, and I feel as if my faith was really tested, to see if I would really continue to work and do the things the Lord asked me to. But now, I feel as if we are finally starting to see the fruits of our labors here in Brás Cubas. 

Earlier this week, a few Elders working up in Lorena (a part very far distant in our mission) sent us a message, saying they had 5 referrals for us, 3 from the same family, living in our area. After a Bible study over the phone, we scheduled a meeting in person, and the next day we had a wonderful lesson with our new friends Patricia and Dirce, as well as their kids Ellie and João or Tin-tin as they nicknamed him. Patricia in particular is hilarious, and very open to speaking with us and learning more about our church. This Sunday, Patricia and Ellie came to church, along with their cute dog too. Their dog was completely silent, and super polite, but it was very funny to see peoples' reactions at the site of a dog laying down in the middle of the chapel. But it seemed like they really enjoyed themselves, and we were able to schedule 2 family home evenings with Patricia, her family, and a couple of other families as well. So we are so excited for them!

On Friday, we also had the privilege to visit the São Paulo temple along with 2 other pairs of elders, a pair of sisters, and our mission president and his wife. My companion Elder Costa hadn't yet received his endowments, so we were all able to accompany him for his first time at the temple. It was just so nice to see the temple again, and feel the indescribable peace there as well. And don't worry, we took lots of pictures outside! The trip there and back was rough, but worth it. It was about 2 hours on a train there, and 2 hours back. But I remember just over a year ago, before the pandemic, I was at the São Paulo temple with our friend Tiago, and so coming back for a second time a year later was super weird, but awesome!

Pictures at the temple of the Lord!

This week, I was also practicing the piano every day for a special musical number to be performed on Sunday. Saturday night, the sister who coordinated the musical number told me that she also gave the music to Junior, another man in the ward that plays the piano, and that if he arrived, she would ask him to play. I was a little confused why she had asked me to play if she ultimately preferred the other, but I didn't dwell on it too much. Then, Sunday morning, Brother Junior didn't even play the piano. Instead he played a karaoke version of the music on his phone using the Sacrament microphone, but since he was using YouTube, it kept buffering until finally he just stopped playing the song, and the choir continued on to the end singing acapella. I was quite frustrated after, since I had practiced hard that week, and could have played for the choir. But I think it was just a bunch of miscommunication and confusion. Oh well! I honestly wish I could have sang in the choir if anything. I miss so much getting to sing in a choir! Maybe next time haha.

But nonetheless, this week was so wonderful, and filled with blessings from the Lord, and I pray that the rest of you can likewise see the Lord's hand in your own lives this week. Take care everybody!

~Elder Kasey Lightheart

Selfies before District Council!

Super good chili Elder
Costa and I made