Elder Bishop reports this week--Memorial Day

Well, unfortunately our baptisms this week fell through. We have no idea what happened to Vitor. He just seemed to disappear. And Mikael will need a little more time before his baptism. However, Silvio and Luzirene will be baptized this week, along with their daughter, Nicole. We are also planning the baptism of Neide´s daughter (Neide is a recent convert that our former Assistent baptized). This week we also went on exchanges with the Assistents to the President.

I went to Parquelândia, which is the Assistents area, this past Wednesday. I went on exchanges with Elder Carvalho. He´s from Portugal. He´s the only missionary from Portugal in our mission. I learned quite a lot with Elder Carvalho. Elder Peressute and I are trying to help out our zone the best we can, and the Assistents gave us a few tips. This week will also be our Mission conference, and I´m excited to see what President Bonini will talk about. Our mission is growing in success everyday due to our President´s new counsels and techniques. 

The mission is great, and my time is up here, so bye! See you all soon!

Elder Bispo

The Week of Much Fruitfulstuff

Wow! This week was great! Elder Brooks and I worked our tails off to get the work in the area running real smooth, which was really hard. It really paid off though. We both got to see some really cool miracles this week.

First off, in the beginning of the week, we were able to get literally lesson after lesson with a huge family that all lived in the same area. The area is very hard to find, because it is tucked tight in this very narrow alley, and it isn't visible from the road. But it has about seven or eight houses all packed quite close together, and every single house had another member of this big family, and many of the members of the family are beginning to start their own families. Our contact with them all started with the youngest brother, Paulo. He's the man! He's super excited to be baptized, and just about every day he talks about where he wants to serve a mission. He's very bright, as is the rest of the family, which makes teaching them quite easy. Also, like many of the people here, they have a lot of faith. I hope a lot, if not all of them, get baptized.

Another miracle we got to see was while we were contacting a referral. No one answered the door of the referral house, so we asked some random neighbor that was standing outside his door if the referral person had left the house. We started talking this guy, and he accepted us into the house to teach a lesson. Elder Brooks saw that there was another person way inside the house, and he called to her to ask if she wanted to join. She came over and started to tell us how she was a less active member from the church, and that she had been praying and waiting for months for someone from the church to arrive at her doorstep to invite her back to church! It was so awesome! This experience is a solid testimony that prayer really does work, and anyone that has the desire to serve God can be a tool in His hand to bring about His purposes, to be the answer to someone's prayer.

And lastly, we made some street contacts on the corner of this one road. Literally every single person that we contacted there accepted baptism, and accepted a date for their baptism. This was one of the coolest things I've seen! So many people, already prepared by the Lord to accept the message of the Restoration! I'm looking forward to working more with these people, and I'm hoping that they can prepare for their baptisms as well. I know that in these last days, God will always strive with men, and that He is still preparing the hearts of men to recieve the truth of the Restored Gospel. I'm really glad that I can be a part of this marvelous work.

Atê mais, gente!

Elder Bishop

Elder Bishop poses with his Idaho Mission Presidents

Callings extended: 3rd Week in MTC

(Jacob Squire and Elder Bishop) Sporting KC--6-12-2013---Hunter left his camera battery at home and we JUST discovered it! MAYBE he will get to take a few shots in the MTC!

This past week in District 4-D, we had four out of eight of our Elders receive a calling. Elder Anderson and Elder Benitez, the Elders that occupy the same residence as Elder Garcia and I, are the new Zone Leaders. They have both stepped up to the calling with a reverence and respect proper for such a call, and because of that they have been very effective in strengthening the zone.

A CHALLENGE is ISSUED:
The other two Elders who received a calling are Elder Garcia and I. We were called to be Sacrament Coordinators for our zone's ward, which is kind of ironic, since both of us are terrible at organization, and now our calling requires good organization skills. The Lord works in mysterious ways!

There isn't much else to report. The language is coming along very well, and teaching is becoming more and more second nature. My ankle is doing a lot better, and within the next few weeks I'm sure it will be completely healed. Not too much has happened this week, besides the callings, but I'm sure next week I'll be able to find some crazy funny or really awesome story to share with everyone. Sorry I have to cut this week's message so short. Chow chow (bye bye)!

2nd week in MTC: sprained ankle

Celestial Floors of MTC:

Before I continue on to the awesome of this last week, I'd like to share a little story. District 4-D resides on, and also is taught on, the "Celestial" floors of their buildings, meaning both their classroom and their residences are on the very top floors. This means that District 4-D has to work the hardest to reach their destination; they have to climb many flights of stairs. But they will be blessed with strength, being able to run and not be weary, to walk and not be faint, to develop calves even as mighty as the mountains that surround them. Truly it is a blessing that District 4-D is so privileged. District 4-D, when on the "Celestial" floor, is also privileged to have the greatest teacher, so they often make haste to be at class on time. But sometimes when they try to ascend too fast they may stumble, losing some of their blessings, because of hastiness. Plus, that can also lead to a sprained ankle. Yes, I sprained my ankle on the stinking MTC stairs. I just wanted it to sound less lame. Hence the whole metaphor with the Celestial Kingdom.

2011

Healing Power of Prayer:

On to the awesome! This week, before the sprain (which is minor by the way, no worries), I was feeling quite sick. I had a splitting headache, and I couldn't eat because I felt nauseous. In the middle of the day, I decided to pray for health. As I was praying, my headache started to ebb, and my stomach started to calm. I felt much better, and I thanked my God for this tiny miracle. What I found most amazing though, was that I could still feel the sickness. It was still there, but it was being heavily suppressed, as if some force were holding it back. I didn't feel pain from it, but I felt a pressure lingering from the sickness. I know that I felt this way because my Heavenly Father needed me to realize that I must always remember His hand in all things. I believe I received this odd miracle as a reminder to always thank Him.

An Apostle Visits:

Elder Dallin H. Oaks and his wife came to speak to the MTC last Tuesday for a devotional. What an inspired man! As he got up to the pulpit to speak, I was struck with a very real impression that this man was called of God. I had never noticed it before, but when one of God's Apostles gets up to speak, if you really pay attention, you can feel the power emanating from the keys they hold, and from the Priesthood that they worthily exercise.

Elder Oaks gave a very structured talk on the three distinguishing principles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, namely that we have the fullness of the gospel, the power of the priesthood, and a unique testimony of Jesus Christ. This part of the talk, because it spoke of the joy of the restored gospel, really was a good reminder of why missionary work is so important, especially in these latter days. Elder Oaks also counseled the missionaries in the work, advising them not to look down on other churches, but to embrace the small truths one could find in all of them, and using those to connect with those of other faiths. His message overall focused on looking for the good in all things, and sharing the joy of our own knowledge. I'm excited to exercise his advice in the field! 

Elder Bishop Arrives: FIRST WEEK IN MTC

I AM HERE!

Yes, my P-day is on Friday, as you now know. The first week here was pretty tough, and extremely humbling too. I've always felt comfortable in my knowledge of the gospel, and of my ability to share it with others, but doing it in a whole different language never struck me until now. I've prayed for the gift of tongues every day! What amazes me the most is that I have begun to see a definite difference in my ability to speak and understand the language, especially when my companion, Elder Garcia, and I teach an "investigator" (they have RMs act as investigators for the missionaries to get a little practice). Our lessons have gone amazingly smooth, considering how inexperienced both of us are with the language. When we take the time to pray, asking God to bless us with the Spirit and the gift of tongues, there is an amazing increase in our comprehension of what we need to teach, and how we need to go about it in our language.

Grade A District:

Now, about my Grade A district. Everyone in my district has very strong ties to the gospel, and we've all learned so much since coming here. The best quality of my district is their good-natured humor. Everyone is so funny! It's been a hard week for us though; one of our Elders, Elder Clark, made the tough decision to go home, so he could work some things out in his life. He is a very good man, and as soon as he got home, he wrote a personal email to everyone in the district, promising each of us that he would re-apply a year from now, with a clean slate, ready to serve. I extremely admire his courage to make this decision. From his experience, among other stories I've heard in the MTC, it's very easy to see how the adversary is trying to slow the work effort, but I do not believe for a minute that all the elders here will not try their best to fight against the threat. God will provide.

FUNNY HABITS of Elders:

The Elders I live with are great! Elder Anderson, from Ohio, is a spiritual giant, and a natural leader. All the elders in our district, including our District Leader, Elder Holmes, will stop to listen to his advice. He has a funny passion for Lego's, because he plans on becoming an architect. He's learned how to build sound structures in Architecture School, but I believe he also builds sound inspiration in the other Elders. He also strangely reminds me of Uncle Jeff. He definitely has his humor, and he laughs the exact same way.

Elder Benitez, from Virginia, is a real fighter, and he has a great desire for knowledge. He must have every important scripture memorized known to the missionaries! He also had some extremely hard trials to go through early in life, and he came through them all the better. He knows how to deal with hard things. Finally, my companion, Elder Garcia, from Pennsylvania, has a profound understanding of the gospel and a unique willingness to serve, because he is the first missionary in his family. His parents converted to the Church before he was born, and raised him in righteousness. He often has very helpful insights on questions that the missionaries have, and he likes to couple that with his hilarious quick wit. Every joke he cracks is so smooth and quick. He has real bazofia (swagger). He is also fluent in Spanish, which is really helping him pick up Portuguese.

Conference was great! It was also the first conference where I was able to stay awake the whole time. My favorite talk was Elder Dubee's talk, not just cause of his awesome accent, but because his message really hit home with me. I often revel a bit too much in my own accomplishments, and his talk about "Not Looking Back" really helped answer one of the questions I had, about how I could attain humility in my mission. I know that if I focus on the work ahead, instead of getting caught up in how many people I baptize (and once you think about it, the people I baptize will not make that decision for me, but for Christ), Heavenly Father will bless me with strength and courage to continue in His work.

My time is about up. I look forward to sharing my experiences in the time to come with all my family and friends. Chow (bye) and boa sorte (good luck)!