Elder Gurksnis Goes to Brazil

Well this week we had an awesome experience with a member being a missionary! So Irmã Cátia is super awesome and has a daughter on the mission in Fortaleza. She invited 4 people from the salon she goes to to eat lunch with us. She made meat with potatoes for me ( ) and after we were able to share the message of the Restoration with them. I think it was probably the most spiritual lesson of my mission. It went super smoothly and i think it blew them away. Two of the ladies got super emotional talking about the affect this message could have on their families. Irmã Cátia gave a super strong testimony in the end as well.  Only one lives in our area, but we made sure to pass on these referrals of gold.  What a special opportunity it is when we share the gospel of Jesus Christ with our friends. I know it will be something I will be much better at when I get home. I challenge you guys to do something simple and just invite some friends to dinner with the missionaries and share your ...

Well we got the transfer yesterday and i'll be staying here with Jairo for one more! Also my district got some new cool sisters and one newbie! Im excited to continue the work here in Jardim Simus. We have a great ward and we found a great new area to work in. So this week I feel like we chased a few people around trying to find them at home, but were mostly unsucessful. João was actually 100% ready to be baptized this sunday, but we finally got to talk to his dad  on saturday  and he said he wanted to talk with João first. If its something that he really wants, the dad will allow it so that is good news! Gabriela was also at church again and is taking steps toward baptism. We even got to introduce her and all our recent converts to our mission president and his wife this sunday at stake conference! So funny story from this week kinda lol... Rafael has tattoos on his back of the names of the first 3 kids, but never got around to getting "Maria" tattooed since she ...

Well the experiences we had with Pamela and Rafael and their family were inexplainable this week. I couldnt ever describe the feelings that were shared and the specialness of this family. The "legal" part of the wedding went well on wednesday and i even got to be a witness and sign the wedding papers haha. The part that was the most special was the ceremony and baptism that our ward did for them on saturday. Even though our goal was 30 people, almost 70 showed up to the baptism!! During the wedding ceremony in the church, Pamela walked down the aisle to Perfect by Ed Sheeran (talk about trunky lol). Good thing Im immune to the trunkyness . Rafael was wiping tears from his eyes and i couldnt decide if i wanted to cry or laugh. What a special moment for their family. Afterwards I was able to baptize Pamela and confirm Rafael on sunday. When I was a little kid and I heard people talk about missions I always imagined what I was able to witness this week. The picture in the baptis...

So great news from this week is I have finished the entire standard works on my mission! (ok thats a lie cause i only read the most interesting parts of the old testament) but what an experience that has been. I seriously am super grateful for the opportunity to study every morning here. My patriarchal blessing says that I will be a man of the scriptures and that I will bless my family with that knowledge and understanding. I can really see that coming true and see my love for the scriptures grow and grow each day.  So literally the day after Felipe was baptized, he had some neighbors talk trash to him about the church. But being the stud he is, he came back with the perfect response. He just brushed it off and testified of the truthfulness and the feelings he has felt. I was able to confirm him yesterday which was a cool experience! We planned on baptizing another couple this week, Raynathan and Lais, but it fell through sadly. We will work with them this week to help with the...

So this week was kinda a crazy week in Brazil. I dont think it showed on US news but the truck drivers here went on a huge strike this week and everyone kinda went without gas this week (especially here in São Paulo). I know it got pretty serious in some parts, but nothing to bad here just strange. I think gas should be returning here in a couple days so thats a good sign! This week our ELITE Felipe was baptized. Such a stud and good example. So the amazing miracle of a story of Felipe- Well a couple weeks ago he was praying to God out of no where to have more direction in his life and for some answers to questions he had had. The next day he typed in "gospel films" on youtube and magically came up on watching the church film of the Restoration! He said he felt the spirit like no other and knew he had to get to know this religion. After, we received a text out of no where from Salt Lake to bring a Book of Mormon to him. He accepted everything we had to say and baptized ye...

So Tuesday we headed to the registry (i think thats the translation...) to mark a date for Pamela and Rafael to get married. We were sent back super quick because one of the documents was missing (reminds me of the Mckinney TX DMV lol). We returned pretty bummed out and they even started to fight a little bit over where this document was. I was pretty down when we got back to their house but decided to just say a sincere prayer in my heart to find this document. We started to turn their little house upside down to find this document and after about 30 minutes we found it! Our ride had already left so me and my comp ran to buy bus passes so we could make it in time before they closed. We ended up being able to mark a date for the 6th of June and I will still be here! I know no baptism is firm and that the devil will really start to work really hard on them now, so we will be visiting them lots to keep strengthening them.  SO many other things happened this week! We recieved a re...

So this week I was able to attend the Leadership Meeting for the mission. I learned a ton and especially loved the phrase that was said "I may not be capable, but God is." There will be many times in our lives when we dont feel like we can do everything that is asked of us. God can wipe away our weaknesses and make us strong with His hands. We may be at point 0 of 100, but our Heavenly Father is always at 100. When we rely on Him and put forth our best effort, we are immediately at 100 as well because 0+100=100! Only through Him are we capable! Our couple Pamela and Rafael are doing great. They talked about how much better their week went after going to church. They have officially commited to being married legally so they can be baptized! We will go with them to the place tomorrow with a member to mark a date for their marriage. Now we just have to hope for an available date as soon as possible. They truly are a special family I feel like I was sent here for. Praying to ...