Elder Gurksnis Goes to Brazil

Haha so the long wait here in South America may be coming to an end. My cellphone from 2002 is gonna get a little bit better soon! My mission was chosen to do a flight project of more advanced cell phones for missionaries here in South America like they have in the U.S, Canada, etc. Its very slow going and we will have very little access to things but its an exciting step that I know will help us to be more productive and effective and overall help edify even more the kingdom of God here on earth. This week we are really working with some elects. Sadly, Bruno didnt work out this Sunday, but we are still working with him to be baptized this next week. But I am super super excited about the rest of the people we are working with. Sara first of all is way firm for this Sunday. She has made a huge huge progress recently. Its been amazing to see. 2 weeks ago we knocked on her door and her sister answered telling us that Sara had said she didnt wanna be baptized in our church. But we dec...

So i will continue to talk about our Stake President here and that he is literally one of the coolest, strongest men in this church. He is such a stud example to me here in the work. At the seminary graduation for the ward last night he called all the members out to share a Book of Mormon with someone and invite the missionaries to talk with them about it. Im super pumped to work with the ward for these next weeks.  We are finding the Lord's elects here! I did a contact with a 23 year old guy Bruno on Saturday, he went to church on Sunday, and is already preparing for his baptismal date this sunday. We are also teaching a young man named Alfredo who literally has given us some of the best questions while we teach him. He asked the other day, "and what about the people here on earth who never get the chance to hear about the gospel of Jesus Christ?" What an elite question!! Good thing we had the answers(; Finally we are teaching a girl named Sara whos sisters are both ...

Dont have too much time this week, but I wanted to start off and thank you guys for the birthday wishes! I am so grateful to have so much support from family and friends on the mission. I truly am lucky and I know it would be much harder without. My birthday was awesome! I was fed soooo great at lunch with my favorite food and cake by some awesome recent converts! And then we topped off the night at the pizza buffet with some members, recent converts, and even the assistants haha.  This week we were able to go to the registry and mark another marriage!! ONLY MIRACLES!! hahah honestly we havent firmed up this baptism of this couple yet, but we figured we would do a good thing by marrying them either way. But the woman went to church this week and really enjoyed it. Their names are Manoel and Cyntia and they are so receptive of us and love the messages we have of the restored gospel. Right now I can say I am FOCUSED on FAMILIES! I have seen the way this gospel blesses families an...

During the Leadership Meeting of our mission this week President METEU LOUCO lol and did an emergency transfer in the minute. He sent Elder Rodrigues to Guapira and I am now training another new Zone Leader Elder Perigolo. He is a cool guy and we were already good friends on the mission. He's a huge dude from Rio de Janeiro! He eats like Micheal Phelps....lol 1 liter of milk and 6 eggs every day! Dude is crazy. Its sad cause me and Rodrigues wanted to stay together, but just gotta trust in the inspiration of president. But im way excited to get to work with Elder Perigolo.  This week we were able to continue to work with Giovanna, Halley, and Osylea who are all in some way connected with Alessandra and Lucianno. Haha they are our best friends right now and providing a ton of people to teach. They are incredible! Giovanna and Halley are ready and wanting to be baptized, we've just gotta get it authorized by the parents which is being a little difficult sadly. Osylea is Aless...

Wow what a week! But honestly the adventure is just continuing! So much great news! The fiancé of my recent convert in my first area was baptized this week and they will be married this next weekend! My son on the mission (Elder Jairo) will train a new missionary already starting this transfer and I'll already be a grandpa haha!  So this week we had the chance to baptize Alessandra and Lucianno after their wedding on Saturday! It was a super special baptism! The ward was super helpful and has really taken them in as part of the family. They are a couple of gold and I'm super excited to see what will happen with them in the future. The next goal is the sealing in a year! I will put photos in the email as well. The wedding happened in one of the really nice neighborhoods here in São Paulo and the place was super nice.  Also, me and Elder Rodrigues will be staying here as zone leaders in Parada Pinto for another transfer! We were super excited with the news that we are st...

Well this week was crazy busy, but we ended up having some good success. I felt a sincere answer to my prayers on Monday night. We were a little worried about Alessandra and Lucianno and wanted to firm up their baptism. I was praying/sweating during the lesson thinking about what I would say to them in the end. I started to talk about how their marriage would help them obey a commandment from God. Out of nowhere she goes "Oh, is our baptism gonna be on Saturday night?" I felt the spirit so strong in that moment and feel like the Lord was just telling me "I got this one." They are all set for baptism this Saturday!!!! It's gonna be a super special day. Since then, they have been doing sooo great. They talk about raising their family in this Gospel, sealing in the temple, and even serving a couples mission! I am so extremely proud of them and don't know how I was blessed with such great people to help on my mission.  This week, we headed up to the Campinas...

Oh what a week! We were able to baptize 4 people this week! Maria is the daughter of a less active that was baptized over 25 years ago! She is super awesome and a really special girl who has a desire to choose the right in the mids of a struggling family. Wesley, Natalia, and Sarah are brothers/sisters/cousins who have been coming to the English Class for a while now. We went to their house and they have been super receptive about the idea of being baptized in the Lord's restored church. The elders that interviewed all them said they were super impressed with the knowledge they had of the gospel already. It was a very happy moment to help them get on this right path. They all are around 12 years old, so we will already start helping Wesley receive the Priesthood and become a Deacon and the rest get into the young womens program!  In other news I loved General Conference this weekend! I am more and more impressed with President Nelson every time he talks. He truly is an inspired...