Hey guys sorry it's been a minute since I've written an email! But first of all Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of yall! 2023 will always be a special year to me because it's the year I spent every single day trying to serve the Lord as a missionary. I've learned a lot in the last year and have had many experiences that have shaped who I am and strengthened my testimony of Christ and His restored gospel.
A couple weeks ago we had transfers and I am now serving in a city called Volta Redonda that's in the state of Rio de Janeiro. I've served in every zone in my mission except for this one and I honestly didn't have any desire to come here haha. It's ugly, hot, and super polluted because there's a gigantic steel factory in the middle of the city. This factory employs more than half of the around 275,000 people that live here. But I'm excited to be here because the people are nice and the work is going well. And above all it's mostly flat! I really don't think I've adequately communicated how hilly it is in Minas Gerais...
But what I'm most happy about is my comp Elder Reis. He's from Bahia here in Brazil and anybody that knows a bit about Brazil knows that that in itself makes him a legend. Before being his comp several other missionaries had said the following about him:
- He's an angel and my current area is heaven.
- He is one of two people in this mission that should be seriously considered to become Catholic saints.
- if he had long hair Elder Wirick would marry him.
Let's just say that, after 2 weeks, I completely agree. He's 27 and a recent convert and came out here on the mission without hardly any knowledge of the gospel. Now he's got around 18 months in the mission and it's incredible hearing him teach and bear testimony. I got put through the wringer with my last 3 comps so im super thankful to have him as a comp and to be able to feel the spirit more while teaching.
Leaving my last area, Muriaé was one of the most difficult goodbyes I've had in my mission. Me and my comp gave talks in Church and when I said that I was gonna leave some people cried 😶. I love serving in branches because they have the most dedicated members and Muriaé is a special branch because it's been through a lot of trials but the few members that are there are firme. Also said goodbye to my boy Adão. He was very thankful for my friendship and for introducing him to the church and him along with the sisters from the relief society presidency gave me a goodbye/pep talk/blessing speech.
We had our Christmas conference a week ago and it was super dope cause they got the whole mission together and I was able to see all my old comps and friends. The mission made a few videos and there was one of President and Sister Becegato talking about what it's like for them serving as mission leaders and it was awe inspiring to see how dedicated they are to serving the Lord and how seriously they take this calling. I have come to realize that they are the exact leaders that I, and the mission as a whole, needed.
Recently because of the Christmas "light the world" campaign I've been studying about light. I love that Christ is called the light of the world and how the symbolism of his birth reflects that. The hymn "Joy to the World" in portuguese has a verse that says "he was born bringing the light" and he literally did! A new star appeared to testify of his birth and on the western hemisphere there was a night without darkness. But what is most important is the spiritual light that is given to each of us because of His sacrifice. During the Christmas conference President Becegato gave an awesome talk about this but he said that there was one thing that he wanted all of us to understand very clearly. He said "com Cristo, não há escuridão" or "With Christ, there is no darkness". That doesn't mean that things won't get hard but it means that with Christ there is ALWAYS hope things will be better. And as we strive to walk with Him we walk in His light. I hope that in this New Year all of you have made resolutions to better walk in Christ's light because that is the only way to be happy forever!
Love you guys!
I have no idea what order these pictures will come in but some are from Muriaé and some are here. One of them is from when my comp interrupted a JW visiting one of our friends (he didn’t realize).
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