Once I was 20 Years Old
Thank you all for the
birthday wishes and all the support! It's still pretty nuts to me that I'm not
a teenager anymore. Elder Lima and I are both going to be staying in
patriots for another transfer. Elder Lima jokes a lot that soon he'll be a
member of the Patriota ward because he's been here for so long. We've also
concluded that President Pinto wants us to get fat, so much cake from the
members this week! I'm definitely not complaining; these people are
amazing.
On my birthday, we did
an exchange with our zone leaders, so I was with Elder Kenda for the day. He
was born in Angola but grew up in England, but I hardly needed to speak English
with him the entire day! That definitely showed me how much the Lord has
blessed me with the gift of tongues, a confidence booster for sure. Even though
we didn't have a lunch appointment, 3 different members gave us food that day.
Elder Kenda served in the Patriota ward 9 months ago, and he definitely misses
it. We did a lot of walking in Dengareux and he showed me some people he used
to teach, and other people stopped to ask us about our church, which is always
amazing. A big miracle: I was able to talk with all my
family on my birthday! Usually they would be in school, but I
guess it snowed in Virginia on my birthday, and school was cancelled,
so that was a big blessing, I'm so grateful for my family and for the
opportunity to bring other families the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
It rained a lot this
week finally, which was a blessing and a curse. A blessing because the inferno
of Angola calmed down a bit, but we weren't able to teach as many people
because lots of roads became rivers that we couldn't pass. Adriano and Joao are
doing awesome, it was a little hard to get to their houses this week, but don't
worry, Elder Lima and I are always working. Since we didn't have lunch on my
birthday, the Ribeiro family invited us for lunch the next day to celebrate.
Irma Ana is an amazing baker, that chocolate cake was the best I've had
here so far, leftovers did not last very long.
Here we always have
people to teach, but generally they look at us as preachers or they don't want
to go to church or do things for themselves. I was talking to Elder Lima about
the younger brothers (Mauro,10, Cerjo, 12) of a recent convert, and he
told me they needed to show more desire, or we wouldn't start teaching them
again. The very next day they saw us in the street and begged us to
come to their house again. They said they read all the pamphlets that
we gave them, and their sister and they want to be baptized! The next day they
brought their friends to a church activity, and then to church on Sunday. Many
miracles happening all the time here. Seeing people light up because of the
gospel and wanting to share it brings me so much joy.
Something Elder Lima and
I have been able to teach people a lot recently is the relationship between the
Book of Mormon and the Bible. Many people think the Book of Mormon is different
from the Bible, but in reality, the Book of Mormon testifies that the Bible is
true, and the Bible testifies of the Book of Mormon as well! I'll leave a few
Bible scriptures that testify of this, I invite you all to read them for
yourselves. They are both Testaments of Jesus Christ and his personal
ministry.
Bible:
I'll share from the Book
of Mormon in 1 Nephi 13:39-41:
39 And after it had
come forth unto them I beheld aother bbooks,
which came forth by the power of the Lamb, from the Gentiles unto them, unto
the cconvincing of
the Gentiles and the remnant of the seed of my brethren, and also the Jews who
were scattered upon all the face of the earth, that the records of the prophets
and of the twelve apostles of the Lamb are dtrue.
40 And the angel spake
unto me, saying: These alast
records, which thou hast seen among the Gentiles, shall bestablish the
truth of the cfirst, which are of the dtwelve
apostles of the Lamb, and shall make known the plain and
precious things which have been taken away from them; and shall make known to
all kindreds, tongues, and people, that the Lamb of God is the Son of the
Eternal Father, and the eSavior of
the world; and that all men must come unto him, or they cannot be saved.
41 And they must come
according to the words which shall be established by the mouth of the Lamb; and
the words of the Lamb shall be made known in the records of thy seed, as well
as in the arecords of the twelve apostles of the Lamb;
wherefore they both shall be established in bone;
for there is cone God and one dShepherd over
all the earth.
Being able to see the Bible and the
Book of Mormon testify of each other together has been such a blessing as I have
studied them both so much more as a missionary. I invite you all to
read them both for yourselves, and to think about what these verses mean to
you. The Bible is the word of God, but many churches and
interpretations exist because of the Bible. The Book of Mormon helps us
to have all of the doctrine of Jesus Christ and to have a surety of God's
plan of happiness and love for us. I testify that reading the
Book of Mormon will bring peace and joy into your life that you have never felt
before, and that you will find answers to questions you've never had before.
The Book of Mormon has changed my life and so many others, as missionaries we
are simply instruments in God's hands to bring the world these restored truths.
I invite you all to study the word of God for yourselves this year and see how
it blesses your life.
Ate jaja
Eu amo vocês!
Elder Madsen
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