:)

This last week was great! We had 2 baptisms! Priscila, and Janie! It truly was a special experience to able to help them come closer to Christ and help them receive salvation. It is so amazing that we get to help others walk towards the celestial kingdom; and we don’t have to be a full time missionary to do it. I really feel blessed to be able to help my savior in His work to bring our Father’s children back to him. So amazing.

This last week was so amazing! Loved it! The language is coming a lot better than before! It has increased so much! I was looking so hard for the big miracles of my language improving when i was looking past the small simple things my Father was blessing me with! Something Reese taught me before the mission that has helped me more than anything, “look for the small miracles every day, and you will see them compile into great miracles." It is so true! As I’ve looked for the small things day in and day out, I see the Lord’s hand more, and it is Always there!

Special experience yesterday during sacrament. I was thinking a lot about how blessed we are to have His sacrifice, and as i was picking up the bread to partake, i felt so strongly in my heart that i was literally being held by Him. His hand really is Always there, and the sacrament is the key for us to continually be worthy of His love, to receive answers to our prayers. I love this gospel, I know it’s true! I know it!

https://www.lds.org/youth/video/come-unto-christ-2014-theme-song?lang=eng
http://www.mormonchannel.org/bible-videos?v=2859421267001

Love you all,

Gary

Jaine Baptism

Priscilla Baptism

Gary and Jordan Caplin (Gary's cousin's friend) in Indiana

It's...HOT! :)

This last week was great! The language is starting to come a lot more but it’s still hard. I am grateful for my struggles though because without them we wouldn't grow! I love teaching the plan of salvation and especially about how the fall was necessary for our happiness! We are all meant to have our own falls in this life so that we can partake of the true happiness of the gospel! I love this quote,

"Don't you quit. You keep walking, you keep trying, there is help and happiness ahead. Some blessings come soon. Some come late. Some don't come until heaven. But for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come. It will be alright in the end. Trust God and believe in Good Things to Come." - Jeffery R. Holland 

So we had the craziest thing happen this last week! We were walking up this huge hill last week! (it’s like 3/4 mile long and steep) and this lady was stalled on the side of the road and was crying! She was about to get hit and she wasn't moving the car. We found out from her that her car was broken and the clutch wouldn't work. We looked in the back seat and saw that she had a little girl in the back. Elder Mendes and I looked at each other and knew we had to move the car! We had her get in the back and I with Elder Mendes drove her car down the hill so she wouldn't get hit. We then were praying and we asked that Heavenly Father would send someone to help, and that the clutch would be fixed enough for her to get home. Well as soon as we know it, bishop drove around the corner and he was able to get the clutch to work just for the moment! I’m so grateful for the power of prayer! It is so real and powerful! Our Father ALWAYS answers our prayers! 

So I haven’t said any more weird things this last week during appointments...I was trying to say a word and I messed it up and it sounded like a really offensive word! Good thing no one heard but my comps! Haha I’m so glad that I have opportunities to laugh at myself! 
Well love you all! Missing the snow right now!!!!!

 Renato (Mission Leader), Elder Loveless, Elder Mendes

 Elder Loveless and Elder Mendes

Muito Chuva!

This last week was great! We were able to pick up many new investigators, and 2 families! It is so amazing! We have the best Ward mission leader in the zone! We have a meeting with him, and each week when we are with him he calls up his friends, (oh his name is Renato) and tell them he is bringing the missionaries over to share a message about Jesus Christ! He is so amazing! So yesterday we went to a lesson with Renato, and it was so amazing. Renato told us how when he first joined in Recife, he would walk 16 miles to go to church, he is a saint.

So yesterday after that lesson with Renato and the Family we visited, we got dumped on! In a matter of minutes the streets had 6 inches of water! It was legit! I was soaked! We got a Picture, I will try and send it soon!

The language is starting to come a lot more than before. It’s hard still but I know I’m not alone. I’ve received a lot of comfort reading the Book of Mormon. I don’t understand it all in Portuguese, but I know what I feel. I know that it is said, "If we want to talk with God we pray, if we want him to talk with us, we read the scriptures." Sometimes I feel we need to read the scriptures not to learn more of what is taught, but to feel God’s love, and feel him telling us that all is right and he loves us. The Book of Mormon has so much power, I feel bad that I’ve not put more trust in it in the past!

Love you all so much! I can’t thank you for the prayers, and birthday wishes,

Gary

 Elder Loveless and Elder Eller with President Cleveland before leaving Indiana

Elder Loveless and Elder Eller with new mission president, President Perrotti

A Small Miracle: From Indiana to Brazil

Brother DeWees and Elder Loveless

We wanted to share parts of a neat email we received from a member in Indiana, and the miracle he and Elder Loveless experienced.

Hello,

My name is Jim DeWees, I have sent you a few emails in the past, photos of your son here in Indiana.

I have several friends around the world on Facebook.  I make prosthetic limbs here in Bloomington, and have a clinic here.  I also have a clinic in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (where I served my mission a few years ago).  I have amputee friends from all parts of the world, and chat with them online at times.

Last week, I sent a message to a friend in Brazil.  I have not talked with him for about a year probably...we have chatted a lot about prosthetics, and he actually has a really nice leg that was made in Brazil, BUT it costs him a LOT of money, and they don’t have insurance or anything to pay for their prosthetic limbs.  His leg cost him over $20,000 US dollars, which is over $40,000 Brazilian dollars (I cannot pronounce the name of their currency).  But that is a LOT of money.

I sent him a simple message saying “Merry Christmas” and also said something like I hope things are going well. 

Sunday, at church, I was asking Elder Loveless where exactly he was going in Brazil.  I have a Facebook friend who is a member, and was wondering IF by chance this amputee member of the church would be in his mission, and IF he might run into him.  That is when I learned that he was going to Campinas.  I had never heard of this city before, but we looked at it on Google Earth on my tablet, and saw where the Temple is, and the mission home, etc.  It is amazing that we have technology to see these things.

Anyway, on Monday  I got a reply from this other amputee, Vinicious, (he is NOT the member that I was looking to find where he lived....but this is another amputee)  and he told me that things are good, BUT he was sad that his leg is broken, and it is going to cost over $5000 US dollars to fix it.  I chatted with him again and asked what was broken, and he said that the foot broke.  He has NO idea that I do “free” work at times, or that I could possibly have a NEW foot that I could provide for him or anything.  He didn’t ask me for ANY help or anything.

But I then asked him WHERE he lived in Brazil, his profile says Sao Paulo.  And so I assumed it was the city.  I told him that I have a friend who will be in Campinas on Thursday....and he told me that HE LIVES IN CAMPINAS.  We used Skype to chat easier, he speaks perfect English.   We went to Google Earth and he showed me exactly where his house is located.  It is literally 5 minutes from the Temple, and he has seen it MANY times as he passes by it.  The Mission Home is also located right next to the Temple.  That is where Elder Loveless is going to be on Thursday morning.

Vinicuious was SO excited, and could NOT express his appreciation enough!!  I am sending him a foot that would cost him $5000 in Brazil.  He got emotional and kept thanking me.

What are the chances that I would have a foot, exactly what he NEEDS, and then also know someone that is going to the exact same city where he lives!    

So, Elder Loveless came to my office yesterday afternoon, and I called Vinicious again on Skype, and they got to chat for a good while here.  Vinicious also had his father join the chat, he wanted his father to see me, and Elder Loveless, and also express HIS appreciation for me sending a foot and saving them so much money.

Have a great New Year! 

Jim DeWees

I'm Here :) (We updated his address too!)

Welcome to Brazil!

So my first area in this mission is Jacaré! It is so beautiful here! I finally have mountains again! Also not very big spiders! Prayers are answered! Haha! I love the people here! They are so sweet, and humble and their spirit is so amazing! 

My first comp is Elder Mendes from Espirito Santo, and he speaks a little English! I live with Elder Henriques from Brazil and Elder De La Cruz from Peru! No english in our apartment! Haha! But I love serving with them!

The language is hard, I can speak more than I can understand. I had a special experience, we were in a lesson and I couldnt understand everything, but I felt prompted to say something, and it was just what they needed! I am so grateful that there is one language we can all share. The spirit is so amazing! I'm also considered tall here...who would've thunk it! 

 

One good thing about not understanding Portugues very well is I can't tell when we are getting anti-ed! Haha! We were in a house and this lady started ranting off at us and I started to feel the spirit of the adversary the same spirit I felt when I was anti-ed in Indiana, and then I thought to myself, "I think we are getting anti-ed right now...yup! " Haha 

 

I love you all so very much! I cant thank you all for the prayers! I have really needed them! I feel your love! I hope everyone is warm...It's hot here! Haha I love it!

 

Ate mais!

 

Elder Loveless