Summer in Brazil

Hello all!

This week turned out to be really good for me. I know this because now that I sit at this keyboard, I'm just really tired, haha. I hope that you are well.

The biggest news is that I'm getting into a really good rhythm in this area such that when the day comes for me to be transferred, I know that I’m gonna be really sad. This week my companion and I received a tour of our chapel-in-progress by the man that baptized my companion as a missionary in Salvador and who is now working n the construction firm that is building our chapel's addition. This experience was really neat and really made me want to stay here even more because if they meet their deadline, the building will be ready in May and I really want to use it in the missionary work here.

Yesterday we had ten investigators at church for the third time in four weeks! We are working with some very special people and for the first time in my mission I'm really feeling that the Lord is giving me success and trusting me that I will do my part. Because we are really being so blessed! I've mentioned before that we are teaching a young man named Alexsander. He is 18 years old and will be baptized this Sunday! One day as we were walking through his "favela" type neighborhood (ghetto almost), he stopped us and told us that he used to go out with a Mormon girl. He said that he already read the Book of Mormon and that he wanted to be baptized and serve a mission in order to marry her. Some that read this might not give him much credit. But as we've taught him, it is apparent that he is a very talented, spiritual, and genuinely nice person. He will be an incredible member and missionary. He has much to learn. But as he showed us pictures of 'Vanessa' last night, I jokingly said, "Now we know your motive!" But he gently replied, "She’s not my motive, I really want this." I was touched. The only difficultly is his schedule as he is serving his one year in the Exercito Brasileiro (Brazilian Army), but we are managing well by visiting with him every weekend. For not having parents that support him, I respect Alex, just as I respect all of my investigators, for the example his is of faith to me.

Also we are teaching a family of a mom, four children (28, 25, 19, and 6) and a few other relatives. We first went to the house in search of a different contact I had made previously. As I clapped outside the house, a strange Maicon (pronounced Michael, 19) whom I had never met before came out and said, "Come in, come in." I asked if my contact lived here and he said no. But it turns out that other elders previous to us had visited them just a few times and randomly vanished, which I'm discovering happens a lot. Maria, Maicon, and a quiet Andrêa (28) received us very respectfully and a little awkwardly. Èder (25) didn't listen as he was already leaving to a social occasion with a cigarette in his mouth and a cool motorcycle under his legs. The visit went well and they accepted the Book of Mormon with an invitation to read and pray. Over the next few weeks, we taught commandments in the midst of really getting to know these people well. As we told stories, talked about the problems of life, and prayed with them, we saw them slowly open up to us well. Maicon always was more religious, and more crazy, and he always agreed to pray when we asked him, but Andrêa was always more shy. We are watching them slowly let go of the addictions of smoking and coffee. And yesterday they all went to church together where after a very wonderful Gospel Principles class, Andrêa volunteered to give the closing prayer. She thanked the Lord for the class, for us being at church, and for two elders who had knocked on her family's door, not asking for anything from them, but wanting to help her family know God.

So, we have some wonderful people that we are teaching. These next weeks to come I hope to be able to send you pictures of baptisms, lots and lots of baptisms! And another day I'll tell you of Ricardo and family, Luis and Claiton and Èlen, and Ingrid and Euvira. But for now, I hope you enjoy this picture of me and Irmão Paulo grilling a galeto, which is a churrasco of just chicken.

Dad, I loved the audio books I’ve been listening to, especially the meaning of the temple by Hugh Nibley that I listened to this week. I don't really need anything in a package. I will love whatever you send me. But if you find the Joseph Smith movie or the Testaments in Portuguese that will work here, send that.

I'm learning more about patience these weeks of my life than I ever have before! My companion's difficult sometimes SUPER difficult [Jason's companion in native Brazilian and a new convert before his mission ANd really trunky and going home soon...:)]. But I know he’s good deep down inside. And it helps to remember that he didn’t have the blessings I did growing up. I dunno. But I know that right now I’m happy. So I'm good.

I love you. Take care. Tchau,
Jason

08 Março 2010

Dear friends,

 

I write to you all from Brazil for the first time in seven months!  I decided I would alleviate (how awesome that I still remember fancy words like this) my mother the burden of ALL friend-and-family-informing by emailing short messages aimed at a wider audience.

 

For a brief summary, in these first seven months, I have made my way through the Brasil Centro de Treinamento Missionário, São Jerônimo, and now am currently serving in Viamão (a smaller suburb east of Porto Alegre).  I have only had two companions out of the CTM (MTC Brazilian style) and in this respect am still rather young in the mission.  My current companion keeps telling me that this next transfer I will become Senior companion.  I'm not too sure about that.  All I know is that when responsibility comes, we are never really ready.  But if we are worthy, the Lord DOES qualify us.

 

The CTM was an incredible learning experience where I made life long friendships and learned and incredible amount.  My first transfer with my 'Dad' was incredible.  I was trained by a small, moreno (brown) from Amazonas.  He was a hard worker with a quiet and powerful testimony.  He wasn't shy or timid.  He taught with power!  But when he gave his farewell testimony, it was along the lines of: "I love my Savior.  I know that the church is true and that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of the Lord.  I am grateful for having been a missionary and love the mission." And as he sat down, he had tears in his eyes and the entire Stake Center chapel was filled with a sweet, sweet spirit.

 

I am currently serving with another missionary this is soon heading home.  He is a very funny short moreno from Bahia.  And here I am today.

 

I have never seen so much rain in my life as I have seen here.  Neither have I seen so many dogs.  And I could never have imagined so much poverty as there exists here.  The way that Brazil socially developed devastated economic equality and created a HUGE lower class.  This lower class lives in home-made houses and always in the muddy river bottoms (very unlike the River Bottoms of Provo).

 

In these places it can be very difficult to find pesquisadores (investigators) with much capacity to progress.  They have just never learned what it means to commit to something.  But when we strike gold, we find a little miracle.  One such poor woman was Renata.  She was pregnant with triplets when I met her, living in a two room patio which actually was part of her parents house.  This house was so humble that the wall hanging, separating her house from her parents half was an old bed blanket!  She had already been learning from the missionaries for quite sometime and when I heard her testify, I had no doubt that this is the restored church of Christ.  But because I have a loving Father in Heaven he gave me yet another special testimony as I took one of her small triplet baby girls in my arms to give her a name and a blessing.  As I took hold of the pure child and opened my mouth Heavenly Father opened up the small amount of my authorized priesthood and used me to channel an incredible amount of pure heavenly love to which extent I could not begin to describe.  But any Elder that reads this, already having given a baby blessing will know exactly how I felt.  (Tyler, I felt like a Sa'angreal!)

 

Anyway, the mission is just a huge learning experience with a small catch that along the way we are able to help our brothers and sisters find Christ.  I know that it is by the basic principles of the Gospel that the testimony of truth finds its way into the heart of man.  I know that humility and obedience have an infinitely larger weight on God's balance than does intellectual formation or economic standing.

 

Every week that I am able to write a message to my blog I will try to post one special thing that I learned.  This week it was definitely patience.  When others falter or say a hurtful thing, a small testimony and the presence of the Holy Ghost have more value than pure gold.  The simple question of "What would Jesus do" has led me to higher trails.  When we hike to higher trails our calves are gonna burn and we may end up short of breath, but the view becomes clearer and ever more beautiful.  If we hold in our hearts the Holy Ghost as our guide, we WILL end up on higher ground.

 

And I know that when I get super deep and make silly analogies that I should soon stop talking, haha.  So for now, I love you and have a testimony.  I hope that soon I will be able to accomplish the Lord's will here among my friends.

 

Tchau,

Jason

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Audio recording from Jason

Thought I'd pass along part of what Jason said today in an audio recording he attached to his email: Some days it is harder than others. I don’t want you to be worried. It is just the work. Studying how long I do, and the expectations, just take a tool emotionally and spiritually. It is a good stress. It is hard to do all these things, but I am sooo glad I am here. I’m just trying to be honest emotionally. It’s not a party. It’s hard. And you really feel like the Lord is molding you into what he needs you to be. I don't know how else to say it, it’s just that you feel his hands around your entire soul, and he’s changing you into who he needs you to be. It’s not always comfortable, but it’s always good, and you always feel his love.

Elder Cottrell at the São Paulo Temple

President and Sister Kirk Steadman (Steadman's Motorcycles in Tooele) are in the Branch Presidency in the MTC in Brazil and took these pictures of Jason and his district at the temple last week. Hopefully, Jason will tell us more about the missionaries and his studies in the email we hope to receive tomorrow!

SLC airport, August 11, 2009. Jason arrived safely at the Sao Paulo, Brazil, MTC. This was a day of mixed emotions! We love you, Jason, and we look forward to hearing from you hopefully today or tomorrow!

Tyler, on the back right, 22, served in Washington DC. Kevin, 18 in November and a senior this year. Eden, 12, 7th grade. Natalie, a Junior and almost 16.

Jason and siblings at the SLC airport

My Temple Covenants (Sacrament Meeting Talk)

As I approach the topic given me to address, I would like to speak to you plainly. I am given the opportunity to present my very personal feelings on a most sacred topic of the restored gospel. President Hinckley said, about temples, that “these unique and wonderful buildings, and the ordinances administered therein, represent the ultimate in our worship. These ordinances become the most profound expressions of our theology.” (“Of Missions, Temples, and Stewardship,” Ensign.) Even given the profound sanctity of temple worship, I hope that I have prepared things valuable for all to hear, regardless of anyone’s age or experience in the gospel.

I have recently been blessed with receiving my personal temple endowment. There were specific things that prepared me for this ordinance. Some were preparatory tasks I had chosen to accomplish on my own, while others were lasting impressions made on me by righteous people. First and foremost, personal worthiness is essential before enjoying the blessings of the temple is possible. It was imperative that I arrived at a point in my life where all sins and misdeeds were properly repented of and that my heart was contrite. This allows me to be literally filled with the Holy Ghost as I enter sacred rooms and make the sacred covenants of temple worship.

After this qualification was met I visited the temple, was washed and anointed, and participated in my endowment session. President Brigham Young defined “Your endowment is, to receive all those ordinances in the house of the Lord, which are necessary for you, after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk back to the presence of the father, passing the angels who stand as sentinels, being enabled to give them the key words, the signs and tokens, pertaining to the holy Priesthood, and gain your eternal exaltation in spite of earth and hell.” (Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young.)

I am coming to realize the eternal impact this ordinance makes on my life. The temple provokes a simple analogy in my mind, allow me to explain. As I look out at you, I ask you to continue sitting there silent if it is safe for me to assume that you like money. You enjoy the safety and comfort it provides. If you provide financially for a family it is likely that you have a bank account where you keep your money. It is also likely that you regularly receive a paycheck for your hard work. Similar to our bank accounts on Earth, each of us has a bank account in Heaven. However, instead of a paycheck, every time we do something that makes Heavenly Father happy, he makes a nice deposit for us. Every time we read our scriptures, say a genuine prayer, bear our testimony, or share some of Jesus Christ’s love through service. Heavenly Father writes us a check and puts it in our bank account. As we grow older and receive more responsibility and capability in the Church, we are able to do, for our Heavenly Father, things that are a little more valuable to Him. But, when we are ready and we go through the temple, Heavenly Father then writes us our endowment check, this time the check is blank.

Our endowments are given us by our Heavenly Father as a covenant. We “promise to observe the law of strict virtue and chastity, to be charitable, benevolent, tolerant and pure; to devote both talent and material means to the spread of truth and the uplifting of [all God’s children]; to maintain devotion to the cause of truth; and to seek in every way to contribute to the great preparation that the earth may be made ready to receive her king,—the Lord Jesus Christ. With the taking of [this] covenant and the assuming of each obligation a promised blessing is pronounced, contingent upon [our] faithful observance of [these] conditions.” (James E. Talmage, The House of the Lord.) For this promise we make to Him, He is willing to then give us all the eternal power, knowledge, and honors of a King or Queen in Heaven.

Having seen the plan of salvation presented in the temple, I know what is required of me to receive this coronation from my almighty God. It has refreshed and expanded my eternal awareness of my soul. A large blessing I gained since receiving my endowment is an enlarged eternal perspective. I now more fully understand that every action I make does have an eternal consequence. Whether great or small, how I choose to live my life actually affects my eternal standing in Heaven. I made a valiant decision in the premortal existence to follow Jesus Christ into mortality. And, now that I am here, this life is the time for me to prepare to meet God again. This is the day for me to perform my labors. I cannot procrastinate the day of my repentance until the end, for if I do I will become subjected to the spirit of the devil and the Spirit of the Lord will withdraw from me, and have no place in me. (Alma 34:32, 35.)

I hope to take my precious temple covenants and have the courage like our Prophet Joseph Smith did. He said “And as for the perils which I am called to pass through, they seem but a small thing to me… Let all the saints rejoice, therefore, and be exceedingly glad; for Israel's God is their God, and he will mete out a just recompense of reward upon the heads of all their oppressors. And again, verily thus saith the Lord: Let the work of my temple, and all the works which I have appointed unto you, be continued on and not cease; and let your diligence, and your perseverance, and patience, and your works be redoubled, and you shall in nowise lose your reward, saith the Lord of Hosts. And if they persecute you, so persecuted they the prophets and righteous men that were before you. For all this there is a reward in heaven.” (D&C 127:2-4.)

To prepare to enter the temple, whether for the first time or the thousandth, I can only say to live the simple life of a Latter-day Saint. Educate yourself; affect those around you for good as an agent of our savior and brother Jesus Christ. Be valiant in attending to the counsel of our church leaders. But always remember that this, our life, extends before and after into the eternities. Take the example of recorded prophets. In writing to the Hebrew people, the apostle Paul asks them to remember Abel, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham. Of them he says “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.” (Hebrews 11:13-16.) How lucky we are to have temples on the Earth today and be able to make sacred covenants, stepping into that city, to catch a glimpse of the eternities and experience Heaven on Earth.

Elder Jason Mark Cottrell