Mission Letter 21

10-17-11

Hello dearest Mãe (e o resto da família ;),

No problems! Everything is going quite smoothly out here in Brasil. Thank you for your prayers, they help us incredibly. Don´t worry about the BoM Cd, I forgot that they have the audio online. And the strike ended! I will be getting a ton of letters on Friday hehehe. And did you already send the package yet? If you didn´t, please make sure there is a drybag in there. If you just sent that to me, I would be super happy. These days it´s been POURING rain-I like it a lot, it´s just I freak out all the time that my scriptures and all my other stuff in my backpack would get soaked.

Today we had an awesome P-Day! We went to central São Paulo, in the middle of the city to a street called 25 de Março. Which is a famous place with small shops where you can buy a bunch of small things like shirts, electronics, etc. It was really fun. And we also stopped by the biggest market place in Brasil! I already forgot the name, but we had an awesome lunch there, and apparently they have every single kind of fruit you could ever imagine. I love big cities-São Paulo definitely is one of the biggest in the world, and it was cool walking around in a huge city with a bunch of people everywhere. But while we were passing by in the bus, we passed by the São Paulo Zoo and it looks AWESOME! I am definitely going to visit there one of these p-days.
My companion is awesome-Elder Meacham (or as the Brazilians call him, Elder Weasely). He has a very kind heart and a caring disposition for all people-not in a creepy way, but he is a specialist in baptizing children. Really no wonder why, he is a very pure guy. He is incredible.

I think that´s awesome Grandpa got a laptop! I can imagine him getting tech savvy hahaha. Can´t wait to get e-mails from him!

So just wanna let you all know I am surviving quite well out here in Brasil. Working our...legs and our mouths off hahaha from all the walking and talking everyday. And definitely working our hearts off for the people here, I feel so much love for the people we serve. Antônio, Vitória and Victor were all confirmed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints yesterday. They really are heroes in my mind! They are just full of the Spirit of God, it really inspires me to try to be a better person. I got the chance to confirm Antônio and Victor, my first priesthood blessings in Portuguese! At first I was a little nervous, but it went smoothly! This week we found a great family that I hope will get baptized. They really are receptive, and Neide, the wife of José Carlos (the family) reminds me a lot of Cristina Miola. Which definitely is a good thing hahaha. Let her know I am doing well, want to know how the Miola family is doing.

I still can´t believe Chahngoo got his call super close to me! I doubt we will have the chance to serve together, but maybe by freak chance we will see each other at the temple. That would be mind blowing.

So I guess I could talk forever about what´s going on here, but I also wanna know how life is back home! Ingoo Mingoo, dying to hear from you! How is school? XC? Dad, how is work? How is the Flash? I miss that dog hahaha. And how is College Football?!?!??! Haven´t heard anything!

So the spiritual thought of the week. We had an awesome Elders Quorum lesson last week about signs of the Second Coming. Guess what? Just because China and the Middle East still didn´t have the opportunity to receive missionaries does NOT mean the Second Coming is far away. The manual says that missionary work will CONTINUE during the Millennium. So, not everyone has to hear about the Gospel before the Second Coming. Food for thought! And if this is wrong, it is probably because my Portuguese needs to improve and I heard wrong hahaha. But speaking about this, we must remember never to procrastinate repentance. Many times repentance sounds like a harsh process that people don´t want to hear about. Many people become offended if you were to call them to repentance. Yes, it can be painful, but in reality it is a wonderful opportunity to turn worldly and sinful ways, and leave a heavy, loaded, and dark past forever, and really change your life to follow Christ with all your heart, might, mind and strength. How can we follow Christ with all our hearts if we are carrying secret guilts and burdens in ourselves? That is why Christ always tells us that His burden is light, and His yoke is easy-not only will He help you carry your burden, He will take ALL of it for you if you just let Him. So why wait?! There is no reason to wait! Repentance is only hard if you have pride. If you worry more about what the world and men think, not what God thinks. So, I invite everyone, including myself, to repent! None of us will ever be perfect, maybe except the first few seconds after baptism. We all have to make our lives in accordance to our Heavenly Father´s will. So there is no reason to wait to repent and ask for forgiveness from God and from whoever we may have hurt. I can promise all of you, as a representative of Jesus Christ, that you can never find a relief more soothing and calming than for asking forgiveness and abandoning an old life full of sin. No reason to wait! Especially when we know that we are living in the last dispensation of times, in the twilight before the morning of the Second Coming. Remember that in Moroni 8 that the first fruit of repentance is BAPTISM. So, for those who are members of the church-prepare weekly to take part of the sacrament worthily and renew your baptismal covenants weekly. I know that great blessings and strength comes from partaking of the sacrament. And for those who aren´t members of the Church, there is no reason for you to not follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by one holding the only priesthood authority of God. Ephesians 4:5 says that there is only one faith, one Lord and one baptism. I know that this Church is the only true church on the face of the earth-what Church can be more correct than Jesus Christ´s OWN church? There just can´t. I know Jesus Christ lives, and only through His merits and grace can we live forever with Heavenly Father and our families for time and all eternity.

Whew, long email, but I hope you are all doing well, and can´t wait to talk to you next week!

Love,

Elder Kahng