Poetry

Hey everyone,

It's the World Cup in Brazil. It's nuts. I feel like I might enjoy it if I could watch the games or something, but as it is we have to stay at home while Brazil plays. Studying. Or at least trying to study while it sounds like the world is ending outside with the screams and explosions. We can't watch the game, but we always know who wins.

1) I Think I Know- This week we worked a lot with people who are working on developing testimonies of the Book of Mormon and the church. I have never prayed so avidly nor tried so fervently to help my investigators receive an answer. There is a particular couple that, for lack of a more creative word, is golden. They understand everything perfectly--the wife read Mosiah 18 through once and remembered how many people were baptized initially by Alma and how many left with him at the end of the chapter. That just doesn't happen here. After attending church once, their 5-year-old daughter asked her parents why her friend was being baptized, if she wasn't eight yet. I pray for them constantly. On Thursday we promised an answer, and they weren't sure if they could go to church. They ended up coming from a different city where they were visiting the grandmother, just to attend church, and then went back. I think they must have felt something.

I think I know that they know. I know that I know. That's called faith.

2) Promises to Keep- This week, as I mentioned, we've been focusing on testimonies of the Book of Mormon. We are teaching about it in a relatively new way, focusing much less on the origins and history of the Book of Mormon, and far more on the blessings. I begin by explaining that it testifies of Christ, and finding out what they are most looking for in life, how they feel when they learn of Christ, etc. Then I explain that the Book of Mormon is a proof of the prophet Joseph Smith and the truthfulness of the church. I explain that they can know the Book of Mormon is true by the Holy Ghost, and that the answer will be by the same feelings that the investigator already recognizes/desires. I promise that they will receive an answer.

Then I leave it in the hands of the Lord. And this week I saw the promises, all of them, if the investigator did their part, fulfilled:

• A couple that was fighting incessantly stopped completely after they read and prayed.
• A young man felt calm and peace at heart while reading.
• Another young adult from a battered and destroyed family came to church and assured us "I know that it is true."

3) Miles to Go- Another transfer week come and gone. And, to my relief, no changes were made. Not only in our companionship, but in the entire zone. That just doesn't happen. I don't know exactly what the Lord and President Fortunato are expecting of us, but there is certainly a work to be done in Ipatinga, and it won't be done until there is a stake. We're close. But there's a way to go yet, and I guess I'm supposed to be a part of it.

I love being a missionary. I learn so much every day. I see miracles every day. I am a witness of the goodness, the power, and the love of the Lord. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. He lives. This is His church. How blessed we are. How heavy the responsibility to share what we have.

Much Love,

Elder Burt