This was a great snail mail letter from Trenton to Kelsey that she shared it with us. I thought I'd put portions of it here on his blog. This was written in early December while he was serving in Conselheiro Paulino, before being transferred to Caxias, where he is now:
Feliz Natal para voces! So I'm glad you enjoyed teaching the marriage lesson with your (eternal) companion. Yeah, everyone's got their own teaching style, but E Morris and I have pretty much got it down. He's a pro at teaching members and people who will be baptized, but has a hard time helping people see why the commitments we make will help them and their families, where that's something I'm good at. Rooting around in all the excuses they give until we finally arrive at the real reason, and then ... attack. I really should thank Mom for all the training I received from her : ) hehe I wasn't sure what to make of this, but Kelsey assured me "he’s saying you always called him out on his crap”. So that's a good thing, right? and was part of his missionary training : ) And like I said, E Morris has his strengths - teaching to bring the Spirit, which testifies of truth. So between us both we lick the platter clean : )
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... So about the spirit and promptings from our Heavenly Father. They happen often here, and I don't always know to what outcome. Often I'll have a prompting to visit someone that wasn't home only to find out that again, they're not home. And sometimes it seems like we waste 30 minutes walking to their house. But I know that no prompting is a waste of time. And, in fact, yesterday I had one such experience. I had in my agenda that we were to go find a street contact we had done the other day, but I had a flash of a thought to go visit a less active family, whom we knew where their house was, but hadn't made contact with them yet. So we went to their house to see if they were home. They weren't. But as we talked with the neighbors, one said that the missionaries had passed by and given her a book a long time ago. I asked her if she still had it. She said yes, and excitedly went off and brought it out to me. I asked, "Have you read any of it?" She responded that she read it frequently with her son. I asked, "Have you prayed about it?" She said yes, and that she had felt good. This was all within the first 5 minutes of meeting her. We'll teach her tomorrow. As we continued to talk, another neighbor told us that the family (the one they had originally gone to see) had moved 3 years ago, and told us exactly where they lived. We found them last night and they have a son 18 years old whom I would love to reactivate and prepare to be a future missionary. And all that because of following a flash of thought to visit that family. Yes, the promptings of our Heavenly Father and of the Spirit are real. I nkow that, and I try every day to follow them.
And now, something you guys may or may not know about my mission. The Mission Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, out of 27 missions in Brasil, was #26 in the # of baptisms before the current mission president, Presidente Bezerra. We are now #6. Last week we had 91 baptisms in the mission in one week. A bad week is 45. And why do I tell you this? At our last zone conference P. Bezerra spoke about the misconceptions the Rio de Janeiro Mission had before he arrived. "Rio de Janeiro doesn't baptize." "The members are weak, unwilling to help." "Such an idolatrous city doesn't have people that could commit themselves to the Gospel." Often in the CTM in Sao Paulo people would ask, "So where are you headed on your mission?" "Rio." "Do you have your bullet-proof vest?" The general conception of the RJ Mission is that the members are slackers, the members are unmotivated, and that we don't baptize. These ideas, being repeated so often, slowly became true. The missionaries became slackers, the members became unmotivated (still kind of a problem...) and the missionaries didn't baptize. For three presidents before Pres. Bezerra it was like this. In our area, I look at the area book and see that all the old missionaries did was knock doors. Every day, almost all day. Think about how many missionaries go through a mission in 9 years! All those missionaries so happy to plant tiny seed after tiny seed, when they could have done so much more than that. To me, if you've done everything you can for an investigator and they still refuse to be helped, then you say, "Well, I planted that seed. Let's move on," For 9 years missionaries planted seed after seed. And now we are reaping. The RJ is one of the most white, ready-to-harvest fields that exists. It is so sad that the lies and misconceptions hid this beautiful field from the reapers. But Satan's lies do not hold a candle anymore. We are reaping, and will continue to do so. I'm so thankful to be one of the missionaries to turn this mission around. Of all the missions in the world, I was placed here in this mission by a prophet of God (and therefore by God : )) I'm here for a reason -- to help turn around the terrible lies that permeated this mission. Recently Elder Richard G. Scott (who speaks Portuguese) visited Brasil for a mission president conference thing (not sure what the actual title is [obviously]). P Bezerra sat next to him at lunch and Elder Scott said, "Oh how I would love to see a temple built in the Rio de Janeiro area!" Guys, that time is soon coming, and I will not rest until I see with my own eyes and hear with my own ears the prophet say, "We are pleased to announce the construction of a new temple in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil." When that happens, I will throw my arms in the air, rejoicing. I think I might cry. And I will do everything within my power to see it happen.
As I was reading your letter, Kelsey, the distinct thought came to my mind, "One person CAN make a difference." I see you doing it. You are making a difference. Of the almost 7 billion people in this world, YOU are changing the world and lives of those little girls in Africa. In all honesty, I've often struggled with that idea - can I make a difference? I would always look around and see others who served better, taught better, helped better, and just were better. And because of that I would step back and let them do it -- they did it better than me. But the Lord repeatedly says, "Thrust in YOUR sickle with your might," not, "Let your neighbor thrust in his sickle for you because he does it better." WE, as individuals, make a difference when we work. The Lord didn't pick a smart, well-educated, respected man to restore the gospel in these latter days. He picked a 14-year-old boy -- the weakest of the weak. And look at the giant Joseph Smith became -- the mightiest of the mighty. And look at the difference he made in the world. More than any other man, save Jesus Christ.
Guys, I am incredibly weak. But, I am promised that if I go to work and open my mouth, it will be filled. I, too, am a rough stone rolling, but the Lord will bless me as I roll through troubles and toil in this great work. And I WILL roll (and maybe rock as well : )) onward, ever onward, with God as my strength.
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... Often people use the words, "an instrument in the hands of God," but I think they don't really understand the profound meaning of that phrase. We must literally give ourselves to him, put our lives in his hands and we will be that instrument. And though we may be a dinky little hand screwdriver, he will make us a DeWalt Power Drill. And the greatest part is this -- that we never could have done that by ourselves. And the fantastic joy we will receive as a result will be overwhelming. President Hinckley once said that everything good that ever happened to him in his life was a result of his service in the Church. He understood what it meant to be an instrument. Job said, "Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth and put my life in mine hand? Though he SLAY me, yet will I trust in him." Job knew what it meant to be an instrument. Ammon said, "And we have suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that perhaps we might be the MEANS of saving some soul; and we supposed that our joy would be full if perhaps we could be the means of saving some." Ammon knew what it meant to be an instrument. I want to understand that as well. I want to be an instrument; I want to make a difference. Wherever I am, whatever I'm doing. In my family, I want to. In the mission field, I want to. In my ward, I want to. With my friends, I want to. Everywhere, anywhere. And I know that as I give myself tot he Lord, I will.
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...I love you guys. Stay awesome, be excellent to each other, K?
Ate proximo -
Elder McGregor
Wow.
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