The Flute pt.1

Hey whaddup folks!!

This week has been a rollercoaster. Sometimes I wanted to scream,
others laugh, and even at one time throw up. I´ve been learning alot
with Elder Happypants. Last week we had interviews with the President
(which I always love) and I finally got to talk to the Prez frankly
about what´s going on. I learned some very important things from the
Prez that I´ve been trying to implement in our daily grind. As far as
my comp goes, even after the interviews it dosent look like anything
has changed for the better, and it´s even gotten a little worse.

But!

I´ve got a new atitude now. Lately it seems like everything has been
falling apart. Family, mission, myself, everything. It feels like the
world is just imploding. And, I still think it is. But it´s amazing
the difference a change of mind will make in any situation. I believe,
very strongly, that if I did not have the knowledge of the Atonement
that I do, I would have crumpled. I pray every night, and I thank
Heavenly Father for the Atonement of His Son. The only thing that
keeps me going through all of this is the knowledge that Someone has
been through this before, and knows EXACTLY how I´m feeling. Jesus
Christ knows exactly what I´m passing through. Because He took upon
Himself all of my sins, all of pains, my weaknesses, He knows EXACTLY
how to help me. The Atonement is in action in my life right now, right
at this instant. I´ve learned that you can read and read and read and
study and hear millions of other people talk about something, but
until you yourself actually experiance it, it wont have the same
meaning, the same effect. I know, now more and ever, that Jesus Christ
is the divine Son of God. He is the Savior, the promised Messiah. For
us to be able to use this marvelous gift in our lives we have to be
humble, we have to repent, and we have to have faith. I´m learning so
much out here it´s unreal. I tried to imagine where I would have been
right now if I hadnt served a mission, and to be honest, it scared me.
To continue on the way that I was would have only lead to more
heartache, more pain, more sadness. But, with the tiny changes that
I´ve made, I´ve learned a better way. And I´ve still got such a long
way to go. I´m nowhere near. I havent even scratched the surface.
Freak, I´m not even on the surface to scratch it.

But I know I´ll get there.

And I´ll be able to, if I continue on the way that I am. All of us
have such great potencial. We are all Sons and Daughters of God. We
literally have royal Parenthood. There are so many better things in
store for us if we just turn to Heavenly Father and show our love for
Him. The next life is so much grander, so...gah I cant even describe
it. And yet, we are so wrapped up in this life that we cant see the
forest through the trees. We are here to prepare for the next life.
This isnt permenant by any means. Crap, just look around, we get
around 80 years and then *fwop* Mr. Death jumps from the 15 foot
highdive and does a bellyflop on you.

I guess what I want to say is, prepare today. Prepare right now. This
very instant. You literally do not have the time to waste. It dosent
matter what circumstance you find yourself in, you need to make the
best of it. Let the Atonement function in your life. Let Jesus Christ
do what He does best, let Him heal you. Let Him ease your burdens.
He´s alot stronger than anyone of us. And it´s alot harder to lift
that piano when someone put Crisco on the wooden floor. Just stop
being so gosh darn prideful.

I love all of you. Come unto Christ and be perfected in Him. If you
havent read the scriptures yet today, may I suggest a couple of my
favorites -

First, some Old Testament lovín´-
Ezekiel 36:26
Isaiah 1:16,18
Now for some of that New Testament -
Matthew 11:28-30
John 14:18
Romans 12:2
Cant forget the New World stuff-
Mosiah 3:19
Alma 7:11-16
And last, but not least, some of that more recent scripture -
D&C 19:15-19

But, as far as things that happened - I had a b-day. It was only saved
by the fact that one of the other Elders that we live with, Elder Shaw
recieved his, and my favorite cake mix. So, while I was in the shower,
they made the cake super fast. It made a crappy day awesome. They also
bought me grape fanta. I also recieved an umbrella from a member when
she found out I had been walking in the rain with no umbrella. That
almost made me cry... *sniff*
And, Mom, this one´s for you - on Sunday there is the little 9 year
old girl that played the recorder flute. This is the second time and I
couldnt NOT write about it. I thought of you Mom the entire time.

Peace out homies,
Elder Standard

--
Missão Brasil Londrina
Av. Higienópolis 1100 sala 61
Londrina, PR
CEP:86020-911

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It´s hard out here for a pimp...

Hey folks, just some new updates -

 

P-day is officially moved to Monday. So, I´m hoping this will be better for ya´ll since you can write me on Sunday.

 

Also - my mission address never changes. It will always be the same unless the mission office moves.

 

But, enough of all of that! This week had it´s ups and downs. More downs than ups, but it´s cool, life is like that. My new comp is proving to be alot worse than I thought. It´s gotten to the point that I will talk to the President of the Mission about some changes that need to happen. I´ve never complained to the President about any of my comps, I´ve always tried to do my best and just deal with it, but this is hurting the work and endangering my reputation. I do not want people to link me and him (my comp) together. I do not want to be forever remebered as "that one Elder" here in Cascavel. I came here to help people, not to tear them down. I feel like I have to clean up after his messes during the lessons and that´s not the way a companionship is supposed to work. Maybe all of this is just amplified since I came from an awesome area, with awesome members, and a truly amazing companion. Elder Bower is the best companion I´ve had, and it will take alot to top that. I got closer to what I want accomplish here on the mission with him than anyone else. We worked well together, we had the same goals and the same ideas. It´s hard going from something like that to someone who stays mad at everyone all the time and only looks for ways to point out your flaws. But, if the Mission President feels like I should stay with him then I will, and I will not complain and you will not hear anymore about it. It´s just one of the harder times here on the mish. I´m grateful for it though, and I know I will come out the other side a better person. I´ve come to realize the worth of a good companionship, and how you have to work together to accomplish that. You can not be divided and win. It just does not work. You´ve got to be one in purpose. I guess that´s what I´ve learned this week. I´ve also learned that Faith is literally dead without works. I´ve seen miracles happen because of my actions and the actions of others, that, if not for the actions taken, would have resulted in nothing. Just really quick and then I´ve got to write my President -

 

A couple of weeks ago I was needing to catch a bus with some other Elders in their area. We were literally on the other side of the city, and it was a 30 minute walk to the bus station from where we were. We really needed to get on that bus to head to their area, because they had apointments at a certain time and the next bus would have screwed everything up. So, we started running. Just imagine three white guys in white shirts and ties running through the middle of a town populated by little brown people who wear flip flops and tank tops. We had about 5 minutes to get to the bus station before it left, and it seemed like it was the impossible. About halfway through the run we all lost our breath and had to stop. I was praying to God to help us regain our strength or to bless us with a miracle. We were still about 10 minutes away. I heard a voice clear as a bell that said to me "if you do not run right now you will miss the bus". I looked at the other two Elders and I knew that they had heard the same thing. We all took off and kept running. We had to help each other because we were already dying. I felt like I wanted to collapse when we we turned the corner and the bus was there, maybe 125 yards in front of us. We kept running until 75 yards, and the doors closed and it started to pull out. We yelled and waved and the driver saw us and waited for us. Now, the crazy thing is is that the bus system here is really good, and the drivers always leave on time. This certain time though, the driver was leaving 10 minutes late. I know that if we hadnt ran when we did we would have missed it. It truly made me see how much God loves us and how if He will help us with the tiny things such as a bus, then He will certainly help us with the bigger things.

 

Gotta go - I love you all!

Elder Standard

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Of two things I was certain....

One, Edward was a vampi.... Ha, Just kidding, but here´s the other thing -

Brasil is frickin Hot!!!! Holy crap. And the worst part is that we havent even hit the "hot" part yet. The girls always get excited because they think it´s Edward Cullen sparkling in the sun, but it´s really just Elder Standard glistening with sweat. All they see is this pale white guy walking down the street trying to dodge the sun and stay in the shadows.


So yeah, I got transfered again. This time to the southern part of the mission. In a town of about 300,000 people. Cascavel. It´s awesome because most of it just looks like south Houston, so I feel right at home. We stay in this awesome apartment with a hot shower and a pull up rack, even the fridge keeps things cold. And! The best part is that there´s a brand of milk here called Lactobom. It´s supposedly got a taste similar to American milk, I havent found it yet, but I know it exists. We taught this dude yesterday that already has like a year supply of Ensigns and the BYU student manuals for the BOM and D&C. I dont know how he hasnt been baptised yet, but we´ll get around to it shortly ;) My new comp is Elder Alves. I´ve worked with him in other areas before so I already know how he is. I´m only going to say one thing - I will have learned a good deal of patience by the time we part ways. It´s all cool though, I´m sure I´ll survive.

Conferance was awesome, and if you missed Elder Hollands talk repent really quick and then look it up on LDS.org. I was a big fan of Elder Christofersons talk on consecrating our lives (great minds think alike Presidente Alva). Recentely I´ve been trying to do more or less the same thing, and so his talk and others were literally an answer to prayers. I´ve learned to always go to conferance with questions because I always recieve exactly what I´m looking for. I know that those men are called of God and inspired by His Spirit to lead and guide us. There´s really not any doubt anymore. This is the exact same church that Christ established. There´s not a single thing amiss. And if anyone suspects I´ve been drinking the koolaid a little too heavy, then may I add that if that is the case, if indeed there has been a great deal of koolaid consumed by one named Elder Standard, then it is because he has recieved an answer from God Himself. I cant deny it. I would be afraid to. This work is true. I´ve said it once and I´ll say it a thousand more times. I´ll say it untill I die, and then I´ll preach it to those after this life. I hope to continue to do this work even after I´m released from my calling as an Elder in the service of the Lord. There are no ex-missionaries, the only thing that´s changed is our area. It´s just another transfer. Like Lehi, I keep in mind the importance to make these things known to everyone, so that all can have a chance to fulfill their purpose here on earth and be clothed with glory in the kingdom of God. I love you all.

Elder Mate Ricardo Martins Gonzales dos Santos Standard

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