Well,

It was a good Christmas. I talked to a few of you but not all of you. I forgot my camera at the house, so I will send pictures next week.
On the 23rd we had a Mission Christmas Conference. After lunch we had a talent show. Elder Rowley, Elder Hansen, Elder Duarte, and I sang acapella ``Jesus num Presépio``, which is ´´Away in a Manger``. It turned out good. I sang melody, Elder Rowley laid down the bass line, Elder Hansen was Alto, and Elder Duarte sang tenor.
On Christmas Eve we went house to house singing carols and reading Luke 2. When it came to the part where it says ´´I bring tidings of great joy, for unto you....`` after we talked about Christ´s birth and mission we mixed it up by saying
´´We aren´t angels, but we were called of God and we do also bring tidings of great joy...``
Then we talked bore testimony of the Restoration of the Gospel. It went well.
We were filled with an amazing Spirit. It was the best Christmas ever. There were no presents or white elephant gift exchanges, just me, Elder Rowley and the Savior. We were spending our Christmas with Him, and it felt good. When we finally got home we had bought a bottle of apple cider. We popped it open and read some letters from home, wished everyone in the Zone a merry Christmas, told em´ how much we love them, and said good night. We played a cd of Christmas music that Elder Rowley´s brother sent us and then Josh Groban sang us Chrismas songs until we fell asleep.
Then I woke to Josh Groban yelling ´´NOEL, NOEL, NOEL!`` Elder Rowley had awaken earlier than me and made pancakes and eggs for us. He woke me up with obnoxiously loud music, much like my Dad on a Saturday morning of yard work.
We ate, studied, and then the member family of Acácio and Valqueria made us a huge Christmas lunch. We then went to brother Iran´s house, where my family called me. It was good.
The weekend passed and then Monday came.
During study we got a call from the Assistants and Elder Hansen told us that Elder Rowley was transferred. He went to Hortolândia where he is now companions with my good buddy Elder Long. My new companion is Elder Latham. He is a good guy. He is from California. I haven´t got to know him that well yet, but he is a hard worker and a happy guy. I like him. I am training him as a Zone Leader, I have been one for such a short time and I am still learning so it will be a fun experience.
Yep. the mission is the good life. I am living it up out here and loving it.

-Elder Stephen Mathias Nothum

Hey Everyone!

Sorry that I didn´t write last week. It was a holiday here in Campinas and all of the Lan Houses were shut down. I got access to one and then it closed while I was in it, so I didn´t get to write everyone that I wanted to.
Nevertheless, here I am writing another letter to you all.

This week we had a training meeting were we talked about teaching to peoples needs and getting their confidence and trust. Elder Rowley and I started to think about how we are teaching and how we could get better. So we made some plans and after the meeting we were off to our area.
We arrived and went to an address that we were wanting to pass. As we arrived at the house a man answered the door. It was a poor part of down and the house was made of bricks and the only room that was complete was small kitchen. The rest of the house had no doors, no tile, just brick walls. The man looked like he could have been a rough character and I wasn´t to sure if he would accept our message. He looked at us and we told that we had a message about the gospel of Jesus Christ that his son had asked us to come share. He looked at us and then walked away and called someone else to come talk to us.
Soon after there arrived a short, thin, smiling Brazilian woman with braces and her hair pulled back in a unkempt pony tail. She gave us a big smile and told us to come in. Her name was Zeneide. She makes carry out food in her house and then delivers it to local business. Her and her husband Adilson have been together for about two years and they both have two children from their prior marriage. Zeneide has had serious problems with depression and she has had thoughts at times that maybe God forgot about her.
We entered the home and got to know them and found out all this info. They donp´t have any strong religious belief and they were happy to receive us in their home.
Elder Rowley and I then shared the scripture ´´Come unto me all ye that are heavy laden.....`` We shared a message about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and said that there is a way to have a family more happy and united through truths that have been restored by God. We felt a really strong peace in that home and I left that house knowing that we truly helped them.
The next day we arrived a little early and we had a chance to help Zeneide do the preparations for the carry lunches for the next day. We peeled garlic, cut onions, and cut a cucumber-like squash up. As we worked we got to talk a little more and get to know them. We look at them as friends who we care for and love, this helps us to teach with the true spirit of Christ; which brought multitudes to follow after Him.
As we seek to look at people like God and Christ do, or in other words, seek to look at them as people with emotions, desires, needs and emotions we will start to not only look at them as Christ does, but further more, to love them like Christ does. All who have a calling in this church need to love be for they serve, if there be another motive they will receive no gift in heaven and if there be no love the others who they serve and teach will not feel conviction in their words.
But all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them. (Moses 1:35)
Can we say the same about all those whom the lord has given us to care for? We should seek to know them, to love them truly, and then the Spirit will tell us exactly what we need to say to bring them closer to Christ.

The mission is filled with so many great experiences and I would not trade these two years for anything else in the world.

Elder Tyson Fillmore, a good buddy from the Y sent me a letter. He is still as hilarious as ever and his mission is going good. Tell Nelda Krueger thanks for the Thanksgiving and Christmas cards. Tim and Casey too.
Oh, and Casey, the Elder in the baptismal picture you sent me of Allie is from my BYU ward when I was a freshman, or he lived in my dorm building. But, I know him.
NATALIE HOPE NOTHUM IS THE GREATEST LITTLE SISTER!!!!! I LOVE YOU NOODLE AND I HOPE THAT EVERYTHING IS GOOD!!! I MISS YOU!!!!!!!

I and I kind of love the rest of you too, but Noodle gets the majority of my love.

Com Amor no Lar,
Elder Stephen Mathias Nothum

Oi Tudo o Mundo,

      Então, Brazil is great. I am catching on to the language more and more everyday. We started teaching some really special investigators this week; Jessica, Cida, and Clefferson. They read, prayed, and all received answers. It is amazing what the Lord can do for you when you put your life in His hands.
    I have had some rough times when I didn't´t understand anything in lessons.One woman in particular talks really fast and very strangely and then she looks at me and asks me a question and all I can do is nod my head and smile. Well, this week her son went into the hospital.While we were teaching her she began to weep and sob over her son who has drug problems (I didn't´t find all of this out until after the lesson).On top of that her mom and her husband committed suicide in the past. While she was crying and crying I began to say a silent prayer, that the Lord would put words into my mouth that would give her peace. Nothing came. Now at first this seems like it would wound my faith, but it did the opposite.The Lord taught me a powerful lesson on how important it is that I learn this language and fast.I am here to help people, and I can´t do that if I can´t understand them.
    We had exchanges this week also. I went to another area with my Zone Leader, Elder Mendes. We went to an extremely poor area. While there we taught two women. One was sick and she had a disability involving her legs. She could not even carry her own baby boy. Yet, when we taught her the power of prayer and of the perfect love God has in answering our prayers she began to smile and continually nod her head in approval of what we were teaching.
    All the things we have. All of the things we will gain. All of the worldly possessions we can obtain in our lives have no worth if we don´t have a firm testimony of God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. What is a testimony? Is it simply just saying ``I Believe in Jesus Christ and in His Atonement´´ No. A testimony in always growing.Testimony is a labor. In 1 John it says that we are not to worship in word or in mouth, but in work and in truth. Our work is to follow the example of Christ in Keeping the commandments.Love one another  we to often forget true charity, God like charity.If you want to understand why we should give,read Mosiah 4. Share frequently your testimony, for this one of the greatest acts of Charity you can perform. Do you think this Gospel is the most important thing? Do you think that following our Savior is the most important thing? Do you treasure up the words of God? If not, what do you treasure? You may discover that you have been treasuring an idol false God. An object that cannot give you eternal salvation and joy I would presume. Evaluate your priorities and remember Christ´s promise. Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven, and all things shall be added unto you. Any possession we can hope to obtain in this life is a meager allowance when compared to the Kingdoms God has prepared for His true disciples.
     Have patience with all and with everyone, especially yourself, nevertheless,do not deprive yourself your divine inheritance.
     I love it here, the work is hard, so it seems like Saturday yard work everyday, just more fulfilling ( I love the burm and all Dad, but this is better). I love the work and the people.

    My Address is:
                ELDER STEPHEN NOTHUM
                Rua 10 de Setembro, 38 Cambui
                Campinas- SP
                13010-215
                Brazil

      I love you all. Some more than others. Just kidding, but seriously.

   Com Amor,
          Elder Nothum

Hey everybody,

It was a great week here in the mission, as normal. But is had it´s ups and downs.
This past week we had the baptism of three members of a family. Diva, Evellin, and Emellin. Their father will be baptized this next Saturday. The baptism was an extremely spiritual and just all around great experience for me. First Diva was baptized, then Emellin, and last came Evellin. She was the most firm of them all. She is already in 2nd Nephi and she is cruising through the book of mormon. When it came for her to enter into the water they called her full name, but she didn´t come. Then a young women came to us and said that she didn´t want to be baptized. I was confused, Elder Rowley, the Bishop, and I all went to talk to her. When we got there she told us that she had a deathly fear of water and that she would not go in. Bishop Douglas gave the idea to say a prayer, so we did. Then Diva came to the rescue and told her 15 year old daughter that they could enter in together. We told her that she would not have to bend backwards like everyone else, but that she could instead just bend her knees until she went completely under. Diva was at her side and it was a very happy moment to see this young woman baptized. She showed a lot of courage and she was so so so scared, yet with her mom at her side and her desire to follow Christ, she overcame. But, I know for a fact that she would never be baptized again. haha.,
My companion and I are the best of friends. The other day we started talking about our parents and I told him all about how Dad puts on Dixie Chicks to wake everyone up on Saturdays to do yard work. I told him about the last bag of mulch that I ever spread on the berm and then the other bag we found in the garage. I told him about the countless times that my Dad called me during high school at random times just telling me to come home. We talked about how much we loved our parents and the great examples that they are and how much they helped us.
I am very happy right now.
Sunday, five minutes before sacrament meeting I was asked to give a talk. I had no idea what to say or where to start. I wanted everyone to listen and feel the spirit, so I wanted to start with a story, but I wasn´t sure which story or where it would take me. Then I remembered that it is winter in the states and I remembered snow. My talked started out with the story of how when it snowed a ton on Sundays how my Dad would take me out in his truck and we would drive together looking at the snow and he would ask me ``What do you think, should church be cancelled or can everyone in the ward make it through this?`` I talk about how my dad would think about each individual member and how it my be dangerous for the people that live really far out. I talked about love and thinking about others before thinking about ourselves. Everyone liked it because there is never ever snow here, so it was a good attention grabber, haha.
I love my mission and I am sad about the fact that it is already half way over, but I don´t think about it. We are seeing miracles here everyday. I know that the Holy Ghost can lead and guide us to bless and change the lives of others, because I have seen it.

Love,
Elder Nothum

Hey hey hey!


Well family and friends, the mission is the life and it is good. I love my companion and we are having such a good time together. A secret to missionary work that I have been missing out on is love. When I got here I had the attitude of ``I´m not here to make friends, I´m here it work!``
That has probably capped my success a lot of transfers because I am finding out how powerful the Spirit can be when you truly love your companion and the people you are teaching. Elder Rowley is like my best friend and the work doesn´t even seem hard, whenever something goes wrong we just laugh. We are not near perfection, but we work hard, laugh hard, and we love the people here in our area.
We are working in two wards: Ponte and Progresso. So we have a fairly large area and tons of great people to teach.
This last Friday I was on exchanges with an Elder named Elder Aragão. He is a good Elder and a hard worker. We went to teach a family that I had contacted and when we got there it looked like a deserted house. There were only walls built and there were about 10 dogs chained up in very places on the property. We clapped (as you do in Brazil do call the people). We stood and waited on a garage like building and below us was the maze of walls filled with barking dogs. Nobody came. We clapped again. Nobody came. The dogs kept barking and Elder Aragão started to give me the ´´I don´t think that they are home`` look. I felt that we needed to stay and wait. So we did. Five and then ten minutes passed. Nobody. I clapped one more time, then I saw coming from the back of the walls the woman I had spoke with the day before. Her name is Divazette, but everyone calls her Diva. We taught her family and they all accepted to be baptized. We pass by everyday there and they are always so excited. Her daughter Evelin has read the first four chapters of 1st Nephi yesterday. The only rough part is that their father has an extreme coffee addiction. We are working hard with them, but we want them to all be baptized together, instead of leaving the dad out. Heavenly Father is blessing us with so many great people.
The fist picture here is an elderly couple who was baptized this passed Sunday. Esmarina e José. They both have health problems, so Elder Rowley and the Bishop had to go into the water with them to help them go under the water and come back up. They were so excited to be baptized and we already preparing them to go to the temple ans to be sealed.
The other picture is us and our ward mission leader named Iran. Him and his family made lunch for us on Sunday. They love the missionaries and have a giant cardboard paper that every missionary that passes through their house signs, I am now apart of that paper.
This Sunday we were asked by the Bishop from the Ponte Ward to go and bring the sacrament to an Elderly woman who is sick. As our Sunday night came to a close we made our way to her house. When we arrived she came to here front gate and let us in. As we entered I saw the biggest mirror of my life on the wall. As I looked into the mirror, without even noticing, I put my hands on my hips and did the ´´Peter Pan Pose.`` The elderly sister looked at me and said ``Every missionary that comes in here, the first they do is look at that mirror and do the ´´Peter Pan Pose.``
We sat and talked for a while. She told us about her life. Her name is Péty. She has always loved music and when she was ten years old she fell in love with the beatles. She told us of how she would go see concerts and how the last show she saw was Guns and Roses. It was really neat meeting a grandma aged lady who loved to rock out with the Beatles, The Who, Areosmith, and Led Zepplin. Then she told us of how she found the gospel and how it had changed her life. A really wonderful lady.
She has a liver disease and she needs a transplant soon. She loves to active and free to roam, but her illness stops from enjoying that side of life. We sang ´´O God the Eternal Father`` (´´Ó Deus o Pai Eterno``) with her and then we blessed the sacrament and gave it to her. As she received the bread in her hand she began to cry. It was a great experience helping this woman to renew her covenants and we had fun getting to know her.
I told her that I would like a picture of her, Paul, George, John, Ringo, and me. She accepted. It felt to good to lighten up her night. At the end we gave her a priesthood blessing and it was one more spiritual experience for Elder Rowley and I. I am having more of those this transfer than in any other before. I am happy and I am seeing so many miracles and learning so much.
My mission has been the best experience of my life until now and I know it is just going to get better.
I LOVE NATALIE HOPE NOTHUM!!!!!!!!!!!!! SHE IS THE WORLDS MOST AMAZING LITTLE SISTER!!!!!!!!

Happy thanksgiving. Yesterday, Elder Rowley and I celebrated thanksgiving with a McDonald's feast. It was delicious.

Love you all,
Elder Nothum

Hey guys,

I love my new area and my companion is awesome. In the little time of a week w have managed to develop a pretty strong friendship. He is a hard worker and he is a farm boy from Washington state. He played rugby at BYU and he is just a funny guy.
Our area is going great here. The ward has Taekwondo every Tuesday and Thursday and there is always a bunch of nonmembers there to talk to and teach. We are being blessed with a great number of people to teach and they all are accepting very well.
We are teaching a family right now that is great. Zilma the mom and Jefferson, Marcos, and Barbara are the kids. Jefferson is 19 and he was baptized this passed week. Barbara loved the church and she said that she felt an amazing feeling of peace as she participated with young womens. They are a great family and Elder Rowley and I love to pass by there.
Also, I learned how to make my new favorite desert. It is called sweet rice. We are making it quite a bit and I am getting pretty good at it. It is normal rice, cooked, then you put milk, sugar, and this type of condensed milk that they only have in Brazil. It is good. They always eat it rice and beans with every meal here, so I thought that sweet rice with jelly beans would be a good desert, but jelly beans don´t exist here.
Today we are going to play football, Elder Long is here in Campinas from his area that is far away because he did a division with the assistants. I am pumped to play football with my good friends that I have made out here.
Well, we got to go catch our bus. I promise that next will be a big letter with lots of details and cool stuff. ASK ME QUESTIONS AND I WILL RESPOND!

Love,
ELDER Nothum

Hey!!!

Just want to let my family know that I have no personal money and no way of getting it, so it would be good to figure out the debit card situation.
Things are good. We had a miracle this week. We had nobody planned to baptize and then on tuesday night we got a text message from a woman in our ward saying ´´my fried wants to be baptized get over here.´´
So we went and met William. He wanted a change of life and this Sister had let him live in her house and she taught him the gospel and then he asked to baptized. We taught him everything this week and he was baptized on Sunday. The baptism was a very happy and spiritual experience.
We had a bbq today in the home of a recent convert. It was great. We played uno and this game with marbles where you flick them into holes on the ground. Elder Long won.
Well we are going to play soccer right now so gotta go!!!!

love you all.

- Elder Nothum

Hey everyone,


The first picture was taken Monday at a meeting in campinas. It is me and the two missionaries that went with me through the MTC. Elder Christensen and Sister Forsythe. Our district in the MTC was 33E and that is us making the 33E logo (Idea from Elder Christensen). I was scratching my head a lot that day and my hair is lookin´ lumpy in the photo.
Picture number 2 was taken today. I went exchanges with Elder Pezzin and this was taken as we ended the division in our apartment this morning. Elder Pezzin, Elder Rodrigues, Elder Luciano, and me.

Well, it was a good long week. Elder Luciano was sick a lot and we didn´t get to work as much as I would have liked. Then, because of the meeting on Monday, I had to leave my area Sunday during church so we missed another day of work. But, we are meeting a teaching great families who are ready to hear the message of the restoration.
The members here in Jaú are helping so much. We received so many great referrals this last week and members are going out with us to teach the people. It´s amazing and it makes everything so much easier.
About seven weeks ago as we were walking in the street a man came up to me and asked me if I was from a church. I said yes and then he continued asking me in a very loud and straight forward way which church I was from. I told him that I was from ´´A Igreja de Jesus Cristo Dos Santos Dos Últimos Dias``.
´´Oh, os mórmons´´ he responded.
He then told me of how he had no job and no food to feed his wife and 1 and a half year old baby girl and that he was desperate. He begged me for money or food. I had none. I read him that famous verse that everyone knows from Matthew 11 ´´Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden....´´ and I told him that we could help him in the church. He didn´t listen and just walked away.
A week later he came to us again and asked for the same help. I read him the same scripture and told him that I had no money to give. I told him where the church was and when it started. He said he would try to pass by. He was so annoyed by the fact that I walked around in my nice shirt and tie with slacks and polished shoes... and yet I had no money to give him. Yet, I bore my testimony and promised that the church would help him, and he was gone.
Weeks went by. I had forgotten about him. It had never even passed my mind that maybe he would come to church.
Yet, as my companion and I were in the front of the church building waiting for a few investigators to arrive, he came in. Almost crying. He was extremely sad and irritated. He felt like a failure that he could not provide for his family, that they were starving and him too. He told me ``please, just the smallest little bit of money will help me. I am an embarrassment, look at me.´´
He had grown even more thin and he was easy to tell that the lack of food had taken a toll on his body. His face reflected grief and sadness, but after a long time the sadness and grief turned to anger and malice. He felt rejected by all and he had nothing left.
He told me that this Saturday he had met a man that said Sunday morning he would meet him at a park to give him milk and rice to eat. He was fixed on getting the food. When he arrived at the park on Sunday, the man was nowhere to be found. He had promised that food to his family, and now he would have nothing. Then he remembered me.
He went to the church hoping that it would still be occupied by us and I WAS THE FIRST PERSON HE SAW. I remembered immediately, but I had forgotten the scripture that I had shared with him six weeks earlier, but without knowing O opened up Matthew 11 and read it again. He stopped me and then finished the verse himself and told me that I already said that two times. I didn´t want to make any promises about financial help and put the branch president in a sticky situation, but I promised him that Presidente Paulo was a man that would help him. They talked and President Paulo went to his car and grabbed 5 reais. The man became so happy and Presidente Paulo said that we will do more to help.
With determination the man promised to us ´´I´ll come back, I promise``
Half way through sacrament meeting he appeared in the door with a bags of fruits and other foods that he bought. He had a big smile on and he said ´´I was telling the truth I bought food, see!``
Then two days ago Presidente Paulo and ´´Irmão``, Brother, Amilker his counselor went to visit the man. He explained about the church and brought more food and other things for them. Paulo explained about the missionaries. The man, whose name is Luiz, said ´´That annoying kid just talked about Jesus to me when I had a baby and a wife without food. I couldn´t handle that, he was ignorant.´´
Then Amilker explained how we are young men who pay to leave our homes and families to work all day teaching the gospel to others, we don´t receive pay, and the food we eat we almost always get from the church members. And we do it for two years.
Luiz´s expression changed, he felt terrible for having thought that about me and he wanted to thank me personally for having talked with him. Then as they were leaving his two room house he asked if Amilker could buy him some alcohol. Amilker asked why. The man then explained that they don´t have a stove, so to cook he takes a empty can, puts alcohol in it and then puts bricks around the can and puts the pan on top to cook the food.
When Amilker and Paulo heard that, they rushed to their warehouse where they work and took the stove from there and gave it to Luiz.
I am extremely impressed with my branch president here and his counseler. I know that they are changing the eternity of this man who had lost all hope, and to think that my invite to him played a small pert in this brings me great happiness. I invite you al to seek to serve and you too will see miracles. People will see Christ in you and that will give them the desire to have what you have.
``Ye are the light of the world, a city that is set upon a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men leight a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.`` Matthew 5:14-16
If we take this scripture apart we find the greatest tool of missionary work.
``and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.``
What is the Glory of God?
´´For behold, this is my work and my glory- to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man´´ Moses 1:39
We cannot have eternal life if we are not baptized by immersion by a holder of the preisthood.
Therefore, if we show our light to men, serve others, make an honest effort daily to be the light of the world, others will see our works and this will give glory to God, or in other words, help others to follow the first principles and oradenances of the gospel: ´faith, repentence, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and enduring to the end.
´´And again, believe that ye must arepent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in bsincerity of heart that he would cforgive you; and now, if you dbelieve all these things see that ye edo them.´´ Mosiah 4:10

-Elder Nothum

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been almost a year since I have started this journey and I didn´t have any new pictures to send so I sent an oldie but a goodie. This is the shot taken when I arrived at the front door of the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah. A place that I knew very well after my unexpected 3 month stay. The Elder on the far right is serving in the Saint Louis Missouri Mission, his name is Elder Markarian, good guy, maybe you will see him.
Last week in our Zone Conference Elder Ulyssis Soares of the Seventy came to speak with us. As missionaries we use the term ``quemar`` or ´´burn`` to refer when someone calls you to repentance or proves you wrong or reproves you intensely. As a missionary at the end of his speech, I felt very ``burned``. Yet, it wasn´t a in your face do this, this, and this repent you sinner kind of burn. He just stated so blatantly so many things that we need to better as missionaries. I have been trying my best to apply it all and it is working out amazingly. He gave us an ´´Apostolic Blessing´´ that if we did what he said we will see more miracles and have much greater success in our missions, and I have already seen that fulfilled.
This week Elder Luciano has been throwing up a ton. I taught him the word ´´barf´´ in English and he has put it to good use this week. We had to stay at home for almost a whole day one time and then the next day I organized with a few members so that he could stay inn their home during the day with a member and I could go out and work with another member. Because of the sickness of Elder Luciano and the two meetings we had in Campinas our week was looking very bleak and we had not come close to any of our goals. We planned one night I remembered that Elder Soares promised us that if we fill in every single hour of the day with a plan A and a plan B we will show our desire to the Lord and he will bless us with spiritual direction. I wanted to see if that was true. It took almost over an hour to plan our day, but we did it. The next day I went out with a member and in one day we taught ten lessons. So we should pay attention when General Authorities are giving us promises inn their Conference talks.
Also, on Sunday we were doing contacts in the courtyard of a giant catholic church here in Jaú, as we are acustomed to, and I spoke with a certain woman who was seated on a bench with her three children. Her name is Leila and her children are Leticia, Cadu, and Kaiki. Normally my contacts are pretty basic, the good old ´´We are missionaries from the church of ...... we have a message that testifies........ I testify that......... do you live here in Jaú?......can we write down your address so that.... thanks bye.´´ Yet when I began to talk to this family I felt strongly that I just needed to converse with them. They were very interested in what I was doing and they asked a ton of questions and in the end of the contact she said
``yea, pass by any night!´´
I was very impressed with the family, yet I was extremely irritated when I saw where they lived. It is extremely far from where we are currently working and I was bummed. Then we planned to go on splits with two members, one of them being a car owner. So, I planned on going there that night, which was last night. The member who was with me is Brother Robison. He is a great strong member with a firm testimony and he loves to talk to people. We finally went to teach the family and when we arrived Leila wasn´t home, but everyone else was, including her husband, Marinhô. When he came to the front gate to speak with us he appeared to be a stern man and Brother Robison and I became a little worried that he would just reject our message. Yet, i told him of how we had talked with his family on Sunday and his wife had told us to pass by. He let us in and shortly after Leila arrived.
Brother Robison just started talking away and he talked about family and then Marinhô also began to talk of his family. He stated his worries and doubts about the world and what it teaches young people these days. He said he has moved to Jaú, because it is a smaller and better environment for young people to grow and learn. I was very impressed with his thoughts and desires for his family and I felt the spirit tell me exactly what I needed to say. I can´t even remember it all, but I just remember that they were all looking at me nodding their heads with everything that I said. They are truly an elect family and Brother Robison was so enthused with the way they received the message he marked to visit them again on Thursday and this time he will bring his wife. I am so excited and happy about them.
The Lord is blessing us with so many great families right now and the work is prospering here.
In other news Elder Christensen, my mtc comp, broke the record for most contacts in a week in the mission with 801. He only went to 801 because it is the Utah Valley area code. Funny guy, and a hard worker too.
I love you all and I am thankful for everything that you do for me: Packages, letters, emails, and all encouraging too.
Since Christmas is quickly approaching and it takes a while to send packages, I thought I would give you all a wish list of things they don´t have here that I want to share with the Brazilian Elders.
- Jiffy Pop Popcorn
- Macaroni and cheese
- Mountain Dew and Dr. Pepper
- Sour Patch Kids
- Mike and Ikes
- Red Vines
- Andy Caps Hot Fries
- Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal
- Captain Crunch
- COOKIES
- BROWNIE MIX
- Zebra Pens

thats a good list I think.

Love you all,
Elder Stephen Nothum

Hello there,

To start off, a few days ago I went studued an english book of mormon and while reading it I got a head ache because it seemed to make more sense in Portuguese. I´m not sure what that means but, I prefer to read it in Portuguese.
My companion is great. I remember when I was being trained by Elder Freitas. I always thought. ``He is not even teaching me anything, we just work.``
In my mind I said ´´When I am a trainer I will be blunt with the Elder, I will tell him like it is and I will tell him how to work.``
Now that I am here I see the wisdom in the way that Elder Freitas led me. It is extremely annoying to be corrected 24/7 and to be told what to do. I have changed a lot in this two weeks. In situations where usually I would say, ``Elder, that is not the way you do that`` or ´´it is written in the missionary manual that we must do this`` I simply wait for another oppurtunity to show an example without saying a single word. I am started to understand how Heavenly Father looks at our progress. If Heavenly Father looked at always pointed out what I do wrong and always told me a million things that I need to do better I would feel overwhelmed and I would give up on reaching his expectations.
Heavenly Father wants us to always get better and the type of progress he expects isn´t leaps and bounds, it is steady and firm and always getting better. We are always going to flaws and others will to, but if we love them like Heavenly Father loves them we will feel what we need to do. Follow the Holy Ghost in all of your relationships, if you don´t feel peace about something you are about to say, don´t say it.
The Lord blessed us to be able to bring a few more sheep into his fold. The picture of me with the girl is a young woman named Biatriz. When I got here in Jaú I had a meeting with the leaders. They mentioned Biatriz. She had been investigating the church for three years and still had not been baptized. Her boyfriend is a firm member of the church. She had been taught by loads of missionaries and she always said that she would not be baptized and that she wasn´t ready. She knew the missionaries lessons by heart.I decided that I would talk to her. After trying and trying and trying, we finally got the chance to teach her. We sat down and I started asking her questions about her testimony of the church and she has a strong one. She then spoke of all of the difficulties she is having at home and I felt hat she needed now more than ever the gift of the Holy Ghost and she agreed and two weeks later she was baptized.
The Older man and girl are Aldo and Joara. They are family of a member here in Jaú and they accepted the gospel ease. Joara loves the book of mormon and always reads the passages we give her.
The two little girls are Amanda e Ana Carolina. They are the daughters of a couple that we are teaching. They need to get married to be baptized and we have amrked a date for their marriage, but the girls were baptized this week because they couldn´t wait. Their Aunt Neia is a recent convert who loves the gospel and has a wonderful testiomony of the Book of Mormon.
I had a meeting in Campinas two days ago and I went there with another Zone Leader and good friend Elder Russo, a Brazilian. During our four hour ride home, he told me the detailed story of his conversion three years ago. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever heard and I have a great respect for that Elder.
As you can see from one photo here, it rained really hard in Jaú a few days ago. It looked like a missouri flash flood. A nice old man let us in his garage, but he smoked a cigarette and wasn´t to interested when we told him about the temple and eternal families, but at least we were dry. Jinezio was his name.
I love my companion and I am loving the mission right now. It is rough and many times I feel overwhelmed and weak, but I never ever think about quiting. I love you all and I would like some new socks if it were possible.

Com Amor,
Elder Stephen Mathias Nothum

Hello Family and Friends.

It was a great week and General Conference was amazing. During the sessions of Conference I was on an exchange with Elder Long, my good buddy. We watch all of the sessions on a computer in the branch building so that we could watch it in English. It is just better to hear the real voice of the prophet and the apostles. They spoke a lot about how to use our agency and following the prophet, always.
I got a good half of the priesthood session and the MTC choir was amazing. Dad, when they sang ´´Hark All ye Nations``, it was so powerful. The talk that Russel M. Nelson gave about when he loaned the Book of Mormon to his friends was amazing. We always look and listen to the prophets, but never think of them as doing member missionary work. Because his faith and confidence in the Lord´s Gospel a family was baptized and now generations will be affected because he was not afraid to share the gospel and he had confidence in the Lord´s promises. I hope none of you are afraid to share the gospel with anyone. It is the most valuable gift that Heavenly Father has given us and if we do not share it with our brothers and sisters we will have to look Jesus Christ in the eyes in the last day and tell him why.
``I thought they would not except it. I thought that I would lose their friendship. I thought I might offend them.`` You should be worried about offending God. Fear not them which are able to kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)
I invite you all to pray for strength and arose your senses and realize how wicked the world is and how badly God needs YOU to spread the gospel. Don´t be afraid of what any man can say or do, rather be bold and faithful and true and confide in that God who created you.
Yes, I enjoyed conference quite a bit. As you can see from one shot, the re-transmission of the priesthood session wasn´t too popular in the branch. Just me and Elder Long... and Elder Richard G. Scott.
My son is doing good. He is a great Elder and a blessing to train. He has the will to work hard and do what his leaders and Heavenly Father expect of him. The Lord had blessed us with many great people to teach and this week Joara and Aldo, a Dad and daughter will be baptized as well as three other great people that the Lord has blessed us with. If you do your part and have faith, the Lord always does his.
I got a letter from Alex. He is doing good. He sent me two cd´s of classical music, which I am very thankful for.
I have written a bunch of cards and I haven´t sent a single one for over seven weeks. I´M WRITTING!!!!! just not sending. All of the areas in my zone right now are way far away from each other, so it is really expensive to go to meetings and do exchanges with the other missionaries, so I already used all of my personal money that I had and I am waiting on reimbursements.
I am almost out of money to use this computer so I will go ahead and send you guys this great email.
I love the work and I love my companion and this is going to be the best transfer of the mission yet!!!
Love,]

Elder Nothum

the video is the little boy of a recent convert. He is saying over and over again ´´YOU CAN GO TO CHURCH!!!`` His name is Kennedy and he is a really funny cute kid.

Well I couldn´t be happier right now,

Transfers were yesterday. Elder Fa and I were just having such a rough time together. I love him and he is a really funny guy, but he just was always always provoking me and he never accepted any of the counsel I would give him, be it extremely small or big. He just did not accept me as a leader. The last day of the transfer we new someone was getting transfered, just not who. We waited and planned. I gave him a pointer about writting in the area book and he got irritated and went off on me, I was annoyed, but I just laughed because it was so ridiculous, but then he went on and on. Then I had it. I gave him the verbal smackdown and then we received a call from the Zone Leaders saying that he was transferred. He sat there and I went to clean dishes as he got his things ready. I washed and washed, just thinking about how the transfer went and what I could have done better as a companion.
Then, Elder Fa walked into the kitchen with tears in his eyes and said ``This transfer was so bad and ti is all my fault.``
I walked over to him and gave him a big hug with my wet soapy dish hands. I forgave him and told him that it took a lot of courage to say that. I was impressed that he admitted to that and gained a lot of respect for him that day. So, though it took the entire transfer to learn, he finally learned a lesson of humility. He is a good guy and a powerful Elder and I know he is going to do great things here in Campinas.
So I stayed and................I AM TRAINING A NEW ELDER!
Or, as we say in the mission, I´m a dad, I have a son.
His name is Elder Luciano, he is a Brazilian from Guiabá, Mato Grosso. He is a great and humble Elder who wants to work and wants to baptize. His dad was a drunk when his family met the missionaries and he would leave the house when they came to teach. But, two months later he was baptized (Elder Luciano was four when all this happened). His dad is now a Bishop in the ward there and it is great to hear the changes that the gospel of Jesus Christ can bring.
Elder Freitas, the Elder who trained me and my favorite companion of my mission, is also training this transfer. I love that Elder. It is third time he will train. Also, Elder Cavalcante, my companion in Imperial is traning this transfer. It was good to meet up and talk with them about the experiences we have had.
I am so excitied to train and work with Elder Luciano. When I saw him yesterday, I just knew that it was going to be a good transfer.
Well, we are going to work hard and confide in the Lord that he will give us fruit to harvest he and I am just ready to go out and teach like crazy here in Jaú.

WAY TO GO ON YOUR BAPTISM NOODLE!!! GRAN SENT ME THE PICTURES. YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL AND I AM SO HAPPY THAT YOU MADE THE CHOICE TO BE BAPTIZED. YOU REALLY ARE THE WORLDS BEST LITTLE SISTER.
I love you all and hope everything is going good.

Love,
Elder Nothum

Well hello there,

Things are good here in Jaú. This transfer blew by and I can´t believe that it will be over on Tuesday. It has been a great experience working here with Elder Fa. We have had a lot a awesome experiences together. We laugh a lot, which makes the hard times easier.We have not had the success with baptisms that we desired, but we have learned so much together. He has a very good voice and we love to sing to our investigators before we teach them.
There is one woman that we are teaching named Inês. The first time we taught her we sang ´´Careço de Jesus``, ´´I Need the Every Hour´´ in English. When we finishes she gasped and said ´´O My Lord and Our Lady that was beautiful, you two need to make a cd.`` Elder Fa and I couldn´t hold it in. We just started laughing so hard. She asked us why we were laughing, but I was laughing so hard that I couldn´t even talk, I had tears coming out of my eyes. A little later, she too was laughing.
Andrea is progressing well. She said that she still isn´t sure about the baptism. We prepared a lesson about repentance and then ended by asking her if she had already repented of her sins. She said yes. Then we had her read in Moroni where it says ´´The first fruit of repentance is baptism.``
She knows that it is all true and has told us that she believes. We just need to help her understand the importance of baptism.
I really knew practically nothing a year ago. I thought I did. All I had was the base, the foundation that was built thanks to good parents who sacrificed many things to teach me gospel principles. I have taken that foundation and built upon it these last ten months and I can See a great difference in who I am and what is important to me. Iscan´t even explain the transformation that is taking place in my heart. I have so far to go in order to be what the Lord needs me to be, but I will keep striving.
The source of a good life is a life being led by the Spirit. The Spirit comes through keeping our baptismal covenants and also through diligent study and prayer. I have learned so much studying this gospel and I invite you all to do a daily study of the scriptures. Not just reading. But rather, pondering, praying, asking, writing down your impressions and feelings. You will learn things that you will never forget, and you will write them to give yourself and future generations guidance. The source of the Spirit is scripture study, daily.

Love
Elder Nothum

I am in a city called São Manuel right now. We are having a Zone P-day and we are all going to play Basketball here.

My companion is Elder Fa, he is from Mesa Arizona and Tongan origin. He is a BOLD missionary. We have many things in common, yet we work in totally different ways. It makes it a little hard to have unity sometimes, but we both just push forward and remember why we are here.
This Sunday was an experience very uplifting. We had so many people planned to go church with us. We had our list prepared and we passed by all of them, and a very small amount went in the morning, three to be exact. In our mission we have standards for our numbers and three in sacrament meeting is in the RED, which is really bad. I desired more people to go there, not because I wanted some vain number, but because I know that a visit to the church in the right state of mind is a catapult to conversion. Yet, there I sat with three. After church we ate lunch at a members house (Lunch is the main meal here, we rarely eat anything for dinner).
As we sat at lunch I remembered that there is another branch that meetd in our building and that I could bring more investigators there. I started to pray and I began to remember people that we could pass to bring to church. Unfortunatly, lunch took forever. Finally, we arrived pack in area of work at about 3:45, fifteen minutes before sacrament meeting. We passed by one woman and she was sleeping and said she wouldn´t go. Then we passed by another and they weren´t home. Then Elder Fa and I remembered in practically the same moment a woman we had taught a few days ago. We ran there and she said that she had a lot of stuff to do, we were firm and promissed many blessings to her, if she would go to church with us. She accepted and her and her daughter went to church.
As we waited for them to get ready, I noticed a man in a wheelchair behind a gate across the street. I felt that I needed to talk with him. Without a word I went to him and started to talk with him. His name was José, I later learned that six months ago he was riding his bike down a hill and there was a cement divider that he didn´t see. He hit it and the bike stayed and he continued. He spine was knocked out of place and he became crippled. I talked to him about church and he told me that the Lord has a plan for us and purpose for everything. I smiled and invited him to church. He thought and looked at his wife. She said that he needed rest, but I saw the longing in his eyes to get out. He said ``Maybe another day``
I said `` God wants you to receive the blessings now, not another day.``
Seconds later we were on our way to church with three more poeple that we had not even planned on bringing. As we walked pushing José in his wheelchair I felt filled with the pure love a Christ. A pure feeling of joy and happiness that cannot be duplicated. I felt that we had freed him from another day of watching the world go by. It was one of the happiest moments of my mission as we walked with him on that windy afternoon, sun shining. We are going to return to his home to teach him this week and I can´t wait to share the message of the restoration with him.
Well, goodbye everyone. I am in dire need of socks right now, I am an owner of six measly pairs. I love you all and I am thankful for your prayers and everything else that you do and have done for me.

NATALIE HOPE NOTHUM IS THE WORLDS GREATEST LITTLE SISTER AND THE MOST BEAUTIFUL 8 YEAR OLD IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


ALSO, ELDER FA SAYS THAT HE LOVES YOU TOO.

Oi Tudo Mundo,


We are teaching a woman right now named Andrea. She is the type of person that has lots of outrageous doubts and questions that have nothing to do with anything... well, some of them are valid, but the majority just make you twist your neck and think ´´Wait, huh?``
We have been teaching her for about two weeks now. Just to give a few examples of questions that she has asked
- ``Do you belive that everyone has a demon in them?´´
- ``I think in Heaven there will not be man or women, what do you believe?´´
- ``Have you heared that Eve might not have been the first wife of Adam?``
- ´´I think if someone dies and God lets it happen, then it was the wills of God that that person died. What do you believe?``


Well, she was give us all kinds of questions like this and we strived our best and follwed the Spirit to give her Book of Mormon scriptures that wouls respond to her doubts. But they just went on. Then, the other day I remembered a scripture that I use in Galatians to explain a little bit about prophets and apostasy every now and then. It is the first chapter verses 10-12. I explained to her that we cannot learn the things of God in the same way that we learn the things of the world. We cannot not understand the things of heaven if we look at them with our worldly eyes. We don´t receive gospel truths from men, but from revelation that comes only through the Holy Ghost. I told her that if she wanted to understand this message and receive an answer, she wouls have to pay attention very well to her feelings and thoughts that the Spirit would bring to her. After that night she totally changed and says that she wants to read the entire book of mormon to know that it is true. I told her that is great , but I promised her that she would receive an answer before finishing it.
She has her baptismal date set for the 19th of this month. I asked her how she was feeling about her baptism and she said ``Well, who knows?``
I stopped and thought and felt inspired to respond ´´God knows, and he will make it very clear to you that you need to baptized if you just ask him.´´
It has been so great to watch her progress and see the changes that she has gone through.
Life is good, but I have absolutly NO MONEY!!! This city is in the middle of nowhere. and things are more expensive. And, all of the areas in our zone are way far apart, so we use a lot of money for travel, and I am broke. Luckely, there were some members who have lunch place and they gave us free burgers today, or we would have just not eaten anything.
I did an exchange yesterday with my good friend Elder Long. He bought us a fried pizza. It was amazing. When i cut it in to it the grease just oozed out like blood. That is first and last one I will eat. But it was good talk with him.
I LOVE YOU SO MUCH NOODLE-INA!!!!

Amo muito vocês!!!

Elder Nothum

Dear everyone,

Well I passed a long week of training for the new program that the First Presidency approved for every mission in the world and it was great. I learned so many useful things that will change my mission and the rest of my life.
We had an amazing experience last week while I was working with two Elders in Campinas during our training. Elder Ficklin and Elder Steck. We had finished our training for the day and we were off to the area of Elder Steck, Costa e Silva. We taught one lesson and then we hit the streets to find new people to teach. As we walked we saw a shadowed figure below a giant tree. I noticed that he was smoking weed, so when I saw Elder steck going there to contact him I said that that might not be the best idea. Elder Steck said ´´Só vai´´, which is probably the brazilian equivalent of ´´just do it.``
So we talked to him. When we started the conversation the man was licking his blunt and preping it to smoke. Elder Steck spoke of how we were representatives of Jesus Christ, sent to help him have more peace and happiness. The man said that he was getting ready to baptized in another church, but that he started smoking again, so he stopped going to that church. He then said that it he will stop in the future, but that he doesn´t want to right now. He said that he was 17 and he already had a child and another one on the way. I asked him what type of example he would like to give to his children, and he said ´´Surely not this one.``
I told him if he wanted to change and bless the life of his children and wife, he needed to stop now. He looked at me and then ripped his blunt in two and tossed it on the ground, he then removed a plastic bag from his pocket filled with weed and dumped it on the ground too. I then invited him to guide us to his house so that we could teach him. He accepted.
As we walked there we reaccounted the story of how that morning, he had prayed asking Heavenly Father to send someone to halp him because he was feeling so weak. He then said that he had already smoked once that day in that exact same spot. He told us that as he was returing to that same spot to smoke again that night, he heard a voice in his head saying ´´Don´t go there! Smoke somwhere else!`` He said that he recognized the voice as Satan. He said he pushed onn to where he felt he needed to go, where we met him.
That is just one of the many miracles that I see daily as a missionary. I am so thankful for this opportunity.
We are also teaching a women named Andea who always has tons of questions about the plan of salvation, which we are finally going to teach her tonight. I can´t wait.
i LOVE YOU NOODLE, YOU ARE THE BEST LITTLE SISTER EVER AND WAY TO GO ON YOUR BAPTISM!!!!!

-Elder Nothum

Well everyone,

I am in Campinas this week because we are having a special four day training. I am in a companionship of three with my Zone Leader, Elder Ficklin and another Elder named Elder Steck from St.George. The training that we are doing is amazing. I am learning so much. I can wait to get back to my area and to apply it all.
We sing hymns almost everytime we teach people and Elder Fa likes to sing like a Ukalaili Singer, you know with lots of random notes and ``oooohs`` and things like that so it is kind of funny, yet I like him a lot.
Elder Long is once again in my Zone and once again my Zone Leader. This is the third time he has been my zone leader, we basically move around together, yet we have never been companions. We did leave together in a house of four one time. It is good to back with him, we get a long great and we have a very similar view of the work and the same desire to help the people of Brazil.
Today was the first time I went to the temple in brazil. IT WAS GREAT.
When I entered into the endowment I found my Bishop from my last area starting me off. As I stepped in he looked at me and smiled ``Elder Nothum!``. Then he said in english ``miss you``. It felt good to know that he approved the work I did there. I love the temple so much and the Campinas temple is so amazing inside. The Brazilians love the temple and it is always full, always. The people here understand the work amazingly and the church has only been here for around sixty years.
I am enjoying my new area, but it was kind of rough to abandon it for a week, but what can you do. The Lord will bless us.
As I said, my new area is the area farthest away from the mission office and it is very expensive to catch a bus to there, and I was already out of money, so the zone leaders and I were talking on Saturday of how we were going to get to Campinas. We realized that President Tanner would give a talk in my branch Sunday and we decided to ask him if he could give me and Elder Ficklin a ride to Campinas. He agreed and we got to spend a good three hours in the car with the president. It was neat. We all strived to speak Portuguese and not english the whole time, but the president gave in and we started to talk in English. He was totally drained because he had been driving around alll day across the whole mission and he tould us that he yet hadn´t taken a P-day. Sister Tanner then looked at him and said, smiling ``Honey, you need a long rest.``
He shrugged his shoulders and said ``no, I need a big coke``
We all laughed and it was good to see that President Tanner isn´t just our leader, but a comman man with a amazing desire to serve the Lord.
Well, got to go.
GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR BAPTISM NOODLE!!!!!! SEND ME LOTS OF PICTURES!!!!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH AND YOU ARE THE BEST LITTLE SISTER IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!!!!!

Com Amor,
Elder Nothum

Well,

I only stayed for one transfer in Noza Suiça. And it was a good one. We worked and slaved for five weeks straight and we didn´t baptize anyone. Until the very last week. The Lord saw Elder Wilson and I in our afflictions and blessed us with a man named Aluizio. He is a humble man who lives in a one room apartment. He was baptized this passed Sunday. It was the first baptism in that ward for over ten months. The Lord really does bless you always, but sometimes it takes awhile.
Elder Wilson stayed in Nova Suiça where he will be a senior companion for the first time, I´m excited that he is going to have that opportunity to lead.
I was tranfered to the area that is furthest away from the mission office. We took a four hour bus ride to get here. It is a branch in the city of Jaú. My companion is a Tongan named Elder Fa, he is an awesome Elder and we get along great. He works hard and teaches with power and conviction, he has less time in the mission than me, but I am learning so much from him. He had a full ride scholarship to play football for the Iowa Hawkeyes, but he turned it down to go on a mission. He is a dedicated servant and I am excited for the chance to work with him.
I am feeling a bit overwhlemed and excited. I was called as a district leader. I learned form my last transfer, as a senior companion, that leadership opportunities aer only opportunities to serve and that it is more responsiblity and that the Lord expects more from you. It doesn´t mean that you are better than anyone else. I really have no idea what I need to do as a district leader, so I studues today in the missionary handbook under leadership and did an in-depth study that was very fruitfull. I am excited to serve and help the Elders and Sisters in my district and I am going to be learning a lot.
Elder Christensen is training a new Elder this transfer. He is an awesome guy. He will train a Brazilian, that is one lucky Brasileiro.
Today, i did an intense football work out and Elder Fa is going to teach me some Tongan hymns that they only have there. He has a video on the internet of him and his cousins singing this song on youtube, you can watch it so you can know who he is, and to here a really cool song. He said to search for ``How can I be Fa`` on youtube. It will be a video of three tongans singing ´´How can be, like my brother Nephi.....`´ I heared some Tongan Elders sing the song in the MTC, it is really great.
Well, I have a lot to do this P-day, but I am so excited for the opportunities that I am having to grow and I have learned so much out here.
I LOVE YOU NOODLE!!!

Com Amor,
Elder Nothum

Oi Tudo Mundo,

We slaved through he week trying our hardest to find people to teach, and we found them. Then, when we tried to teach them a second time, nobody was home, or the just didn't want to listen again.
I know that the Lord sent us here to Nova Suica to find certain people to teach, but everything seemed to be falling through. Then, Saturday night Elder Wilson felt that we needed to pass a contact that he had done. We went there and didn't find the person he contacted, but a man named Aluizo who accepted to be baptized and is very excited for his baptism this Sunday. Then on the way to church a man stopped us and said "You're church starts at 9:00 doesn't it?"
We responded "Yes" and said that he was going to attend today.
He went to church and we taught him that night, marked his baptism, and Monday night he went to a Family Home Evening with us.
In the hour when it was almost looked that we had worked and sacrificed this whole transfer for nothing, the Lord blessed us with two great humble people as well as another great family that we will teach again tonight. This experience has strengthened the faith of Elder Wilson and I and we gain a greater understanding of why constant diligence is essential.
If we hadn't been working hard the whole transfer, the Lord would not have gave that prompting to Elder Wilson and he would not have put that man in our path.
Elder Wilson is a good guy, even though very nerdy, and I have really learned to love him this transfer. Two days ago I finally traded some of my American bills for good old Brazilian cash and Elder Wilson and I had a night on the town. And by night on the town I mean that two days ago we had McDonald's for lunch and yesterday we had subway.
I had an interview with the new mission president,so he could get to know me. He is a big BYU fan and he graduated from there, so I already have a total confidence in him. He is a real person. He doesn't set himself way above the Elders and talk down to them, he is just another worker in Zion who has been given and opportunity to serve.
He served a mission in Brazil so he already speaks the language, but that isn't the case with his wife, bless her heart. The other day she tried to say "until later!" which is "At'e logo!", yet she said "At'e lago!" which means "until lake." She is an extremely sweet lady. She told me about when President Tanner served in the Navy he was called to serve in Vietnam for one year and this was right after they had their first child, a whole year alone, taking care of a baby being 21 years old... that must have been an experience.
This next week will be transfers, I have no idea what will happen. But you will all find out in my next email.
I am starting to understand more and more how the Holy Ghost whispers and reveals things to us and it is a great experience. The other day I was teaching a woman named Nilda and I literally knew her thoughts, each thing that passed her mind, I knew it. She said in the middle of the lesson, that is exactly how every day goes and that is exactly how I feel. It was a really awesome experience and trying more and more to focus on the people and what the Lord needs me to say to them.
I love this work and I am so thankful for this privilege.
In other news "All Righty Then" does not translate into Portuguese, that is a bummer, but what can you do?
Eu Amo este trabalho!!!

-Elder Nothum

Hello there,

This week has been one of the hardest weeks of my mission, at least until now.
Right now I am living in a house of four missionaries. Elder Lourenço and his companion Elder Moulton, and Elder Wilson and I. Elder Lourenço has become unmotivated about the work and he is staying at home a lot, sleeping during study, not planning, and other things. His companion thus, has become infected with the same illness, saying often ´´I´m a terrible missionary... I don´t know how to teach... there is no way I can have success here.`` He is an awesome missionary and he has the desire to what he needs to do, but he is new in the field and lacks the courage to take a hold of things.
When we arrived here it took only the first day to see that my companion was lacking confidence and that he doesn´t think he is a very good missionary, which is also a lie, he is an awesome humble missionary and he tries his hardest and that is all that that the Lord wants from us. Yet, when things start to go wrong during the day he starts to get unmotivated and down in the dumps. That is hard for me, because I am used to guys like Alex Baker, who when things get crummy he just starts to smile and do ridiculous stuff and you can´t help but laugh and realize how great life is. I hadn´t realized until today how my friends in life have always been people who were joyful in any type of situation, those are the kind of people that I like to be around, people who are naturally happy, people that you don´t need to make them happy every other second.
So, we have so many great people that we are teaching right now. Hugo e Jordana: a young couple from Chile who have one daughter named Martina and a son, Mateus, who was born last week. Roberio, Ivana, Livia, and Luiza: A reference from a sister in our ward. They are great and at the end of the very first lesson, Ivana was crying because of the prayer that her 16 year old rebelious daughter offered. André: A 21 year old with a band that he compares to U2. He understood so clearly the douctrine of the first lesson and saw the need for a modern a day prophet, he accepted to baptized and has read and prayed about the Book of Mormon. Valeria and José: An older couple with an autistic son. They have been to church two time and they are liking it a lot.
So now you are asking: ´´Elder Nothum, you have all of these great people to teach, how was this one of the hardest weeks of your mission, with so many great people to teach.``
Good question faithful email reader.
Well, we love these people and we have seen the progress they are making and we want so badly to continue to teaching them, yet... We passed by each and everyone of their houses time and time againn this week and we didn´t teach a single one of them. People who have already visited the church. People who have already eight chapters of the Book of Mormon. People who have received testimonies of it´s divinity. ZERO. Normally, I can keep myself motivated and I can keep pushing on joyfully until the promised blessings come, but this week has been a long and rough one. I know the Lord is the head of this work and that if I give my all that he will bless us with success.
The house is a spiritual abiss it seems, due to the state of the Elders that live there and I am trying to show love and turn things around, but things just seem to be getting worse. This is my trial of faith and one scripture today during my study made me ponder the purpose of all that is happening Mosiah 7:29-33. I invite you all to read this and think about what your trials are and the christlike attributes that whose fault is the result of this trial. Think of what has become your block of stumbling. If are not walking in accordinance with the statutes and covenants of the Lord, it does not matter how hard we work, our work will be a stumbling block and we will have no true success. God gives us punishments in this life as a proof of our transgressions, if it were not so we would sin, everything would stay perfect and we would just keep sinning until the last day when we will be judged. Yet because of our loving Heavenly Father´s plan, there is a temporal punishment linked with every sin, so that we can notice sin and try our hardest to abandon it. The universal punishment of all sins is the exit of the Spirit. The universal result of true repentence is the returning of the Spirit. True happiness and success in this life as well as the next can only be received through humbly following the will of Him who created all, even when you don´t understand why. Humilty is the fruit of obedience, and it is the greatest invitaiton to the Holy spirit to enter into our mortal temples. The spirit of the Lord will not be the prideful, because he knows that even if he gave them a spiritual prompting, they would ignore it. I invite all of you to prayfully read Alma Chapter 5 and afterwards Mosiah 7:29-33 and think about what you have power to change in your life. I promise that if you prayerfully read these scriptures and apply them to your life, you will receive revelations for your betterment and that you will have a greater abiity to understand the mission of the Holy Ghost in your life.
The Lord will bless us in our aflictions if we are faithful. But those who ignore His will, those will be ignored in their moment of suffering. Why will people go to Spirit Prison? Alma 40:13.
Search the scriptures daily, please. If I didn´t, I could not survive these two years. Don´t lull yourselves into carnal security saying that daily scripture study isn´t a must. Concercrate at least fifteen minutes to earnest, prayerful, scripture study. If you open them with your desires and questions in your mind and prayerfully search, you will find that all you need is written or can be given through the Holy Ghost, but, scripture study is the guide to revealtion. If you are not reading your scriptures daily I invite you to stop pushing away the Spirit of the Lord and to open your arms to him through study and prayer.

-Elder Nothum

Hola Pessoal,

I am still sick, but that isn´t really affecting anything, except the fact that we don´t sings hymns much to start our visits because I break out in a cough attack. Besides that the sickness is something I´m ignoring.
This week, as every week, was one filled with lots of learning and miracles.
While we were teaching a man who had already received a few visits he told us that it says in the Bible that there won´t different sexes in heaven, but that we will all be the same. We told him that wasn´t true, in a nice way, and then he got really defensive. We tried our best to explain eternal families. Then he asked us if we believe that God has a wife.... DEEP DOUCTRINE. Stuff I don´t study much. Well, I said yes. And it was game over, he went crazy and said that is impossible. I asked him what the difference between us as children of God, and Jesus Christ, as the Only Begotten. I asked him how could be the only begotten without a mother. Well he accepted that and we continued on with the normal lesson.
The next day we returned and he said that he didn´t want anymore visits. He said that God and Jesus are the same and there is no Heavenly Mother. We resorted to Bible bashing for a good thirty minutes, which never resloves anything and you just feel miserable afterwards. I pulled scripture after scripture out on him, proving almost everything we were saying, just using the Bible. But I had lost the love, it had become a game of ´´Prove the Guy Wrong´´. We won, and our prize was a lost investigator and walking for thirty minutes in silence knowing that what we had done was wrong. That kind of thing almost never works and you only start to do that if the Spirit is telling you to. Which, I felt several times during our disscusion that we should stop.
Afterwards Elder Wilson and I made a promise that we would never do that again in the slightest degree. The only thing that we give people a testimony is not 8 citations of the Holy Bible, but a Spiritually inspired humble testimony and an invitation to read and pray. That is why Ammon didn´t just show up in the Lamanites and say ´´You´re all wrong, The Great Spirit is Heavenly Father, DUH! That is a no brainer. You are all a bunch of heathens and I´m here to baptize you so you can repent.``
Ammon arrived, served untill he had their trust and confidence, then he bore testimony, and he did it all with love as the motive.
On the other hand yesterday a youth from the ward went tracting and did visits with us. His name is Max, he is sixteen and he is a funny kid. We taught two lessons with him and then I felt that we needed to stop by a member´s house. So we started to walk to their home and as we were crossing the street I saw a man crossing at the same time. Usually I never start conversations with people in the middle of the road, but I felt that I needed to talk with him. So I did.
I told him who we were and what we do and he suggested that we leave the middle of the street to talk more.
After conversing a good few minutes he told ud that he studies gospel theology and philosophy. He said that he had studied a lot and that h believes that Bible doesn´t have the complete teachings of Jesus Christ, I told him that we agreed and he gave me a strange look. He said that God is something different to everybody and he believed in reincarnation, yet he also believed in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Redeemer. He then said that Jesus Christ created the earth and I areed with him again, another strange look. I started to explain how God always calls prophets to teach and administer the Gospel and it´s ordenances and that the Bible was changed because the people caring for it were not living God´s commandments and did not have authority. I then explained he restoration and the book of mormon.
He said ´´This Book could be filled with many truths and great things that could help a person, but that doesn´t change the fact that it was written by a man, and men have flaws.`` He told us ´´I Think what you are doing is inaffective, how many people actually stop and talk to you? Do you really think you can change someone´s life stopping them in the street?``
My mind rushed back to the very first family I baptized, the good I had done, and the impact it had on them. They are so precious to me and to have someone say that what I am doing is a waste of time is to spit on that family and also to spit on the proficied great work in the last days. I was on the verge of getting annoyed and my patience was running thin.
Then I remembered the man from the other day and the promise I had made.
I immideatly began to testify, my bowels filled with love toward that man. I related to him the lonely night after the missionaries had passed by to share a short message and eat dinner. They spoke of Alma 32, and how we gain faith. That night after they lefted I walked down the stairs and into my bedroom, kneeled, and I read that chapter sobbing and praying and in that moment I felt such a great peace and power. I knew that God had revealed to me that the Book of Mormon is true.
He then asked ``Well, how did God show you it was true?``
I said ``Through the Holy Ghost, who is the Comforter and the one who Christ left to reveal truths unto all who seek.``
´´How do you know it was the Holy Ghost and not something you created? What is the Holy Ghost?`` he asked.
``I told him that it was a feeling so pure and good that a man couldn´t put it into to his own mind if he wanted to and that it is a sensation so pure and powerful that Satan could not put into your soul. ´Therefore, it comes from God. And in that moment you know it is God, and you know that you cannot deny what you felt and you have no choice but to testify that it is true. That is why our message is different. We don´t tell you what to believe, we just promise that Heavenly Father will show you as he shows unto all who search and ask.´``
After that I marked Alma 32, gave him the Book of Mormon, and asked him to read and pray. He accepted and said for sure that he would read. His countenance changed and he spoke no more and ceased to question, because there is no way to question a testimony given by the Spirit.
He asked us if we had eaten dinner and we said replied that we had eaten lunch, but not dinner. He then bought food for us all and we ate and talked a little more. He will actually go to Disney World this weekend, which is sad because there are Brazilians going there before me.
I hope he reads and prays. It was such a great experience talking with him, and we all got free food. I looked at max and said, ´´now you see the blessings of helping out the missionaries.``
We are also teaching two great families. One from Chili who just had another child named Mateus two dayd ago. They were a referal from a member and they are excited to be baptized and follow the true and living gospel.
Another family of four is Roberio, Ivana, Alivia, and Luiza. We taught them the first lesson about the restoration on monday and yesterday was our second time visiting them. Monday night, they all read the Book of Mormon together out loud, 3 Nephi 11. After they read each one of them prayed out loud to reeive an answer, and each one of them believe that the Book of Mormon is true.
``And if you keep my commandments you shall prosper in the land.`` I am seeing that Book of Mormon promise filled every day.
The Lord is blessing us so much here and everything, every family we teach, it is all Him.
I am loving the work and I love this area.

Com Amor,
Elder Nothum

Hi everybody,

I am sick right now and the doctor said I need to get as much sleep as possible. Seeing as I am not going to sleep more when I need to work I need to take advantage of P-day and sleep. I was shocked at how many responses I didn´t receive to my last email. It was so long and I slaved to write that thing, detail after detail. Plus, it was intense and probably the best piece of literature I have ever written, yet, what can you do. A crazy man almost killed me, what does missionary have to do to get some attention around here?. Of course I am kidding, but I am going to sleep right now, pray that my health will get better.
I love you all.
I just received an email about how my grandma Varone looks forward to my letters every week and now I feel guilty for cutting it off there, but I do need sleep.

I will give you the quick highlights of the week as if this were ESPN sports center.
##INTRO MUSIC##

``This week was big one down in Valinhos for the team of Elder Wilson and Elder Nothum.``

``Their area isn´t a big one as far as the baptisms go but there are fighting to come out on top, or better come out wet.``

``That joke was terrible Dan and you are the worst co-anchor ever, but lets move on the important stuff. They started the week of good with a great weekly planning session that paved the way for an effective well used week. Look how Elder Wilson carefully noted each lunch appointment with the phone number already written to confirm the meal, very well played!``

´´Let´s just hope that they can confirm investigators like they can confirm lunch appointments and they will be sittin´ pretty on the judgement day!``

`` They slaved all week through rain and illness to bring people to visit the church on Sunday, but it seemed that the labor was in vain.``

´´Key word seemed, they worked and nobody came to church that they were visiting, yet half way through sacrament meeting a family walked in who was invited to go to church by the Rochette family! Bam!´´

``Closing prayer an Elder Nothum is already in front of the family, taking names and markin´ visits``

´´And yes they did pass by their home to teach them that very night, forget about it!``

``Mike that looks like El Libro de Mormón not O Livro de Mórmon?``

``It is Dan, how will he adapt his teaching to a family that is from Chile?``

`` He started off the lesson with putting muy bueno in the place of muito bem.``

`` His confident jokey yet spiritual aura makes them feel very comfortable``

``EEEWWW... and a mean cough breaks out in the middle of the First Vision, could this be the end of a so nicely started discussion?

`` NO SIR! A quick drink of water and it´s out of here!``

``Watch he as smiles as drinks as if he was drinking the water in the middle as it were something normal. COUNT IT!``

``They are going to need about 800 more cups of water because he just marked their baptisms for the first of August!``

´´Yes that is just enough time for two more visits to the church and two family home evenings. BOOM BABY!``

´´An they end the night giving their weekly numbers to the district leader and it´s lights out.``

-----------------------------------

Well, that was all in good fun, The real root of all success is faith, virtue, diligence, and the rest the Lord provides. You can only have success with Him. And you can only have Him with you, through obedience.c


-Elder Nothum

Tudo Bem Tudo Mundo?


This has been a long week, but a week filled with many lessons. As I said before we are working in an area where the two elders were taken out and the bishopric and the members weren´t working with or having confidence in the missionaries. There has not been a baptism here since September of 2009... almost a year. It has been intense week.
To start off last Wednesday, after I sent my email to you all and took my precious one hour p-day nap we started our real work at 6:00 at night, as usual on P-day. We learned that the Bishop is always at the church on Wednesday nights so we headed there to talk with him and look for ways to serve him as well as the ward. Our ward building has three stories. It is a giant, white, beautiful church with a big white steeple also. As Elder Wilson and I entered into the church that night I immediately heard screams echoing down the corridors. My first thought was ´´Why are people watching a horror movie in the church building?``
We shortly learned that that was not the case, somebody was screaming on the third floor.
We ran up the stairs quickly to find an asian man (Bishop Takaki), another woman with a little child, and a man running through the upper corridor screaming ´´I want perfection, you are all perfect, I am full of shame! Oh, Great Brazil give me perfection! Save me Bishop! Call down a miralce upon me!`` and a lot of other strange and creepy things. The Bishop stood there watching him, out of energy, and his posture showed that this had been going on for some time. The man who was screaming is named Alechandre. He is a member of the ward who has a mental health problem, he had not taken his pills for two days, and day three was arriving.
We descended to the other floor and we had no idea what to do. We talked with another member who arrived and explained to us what was going on. Alechandre had been calling the Bishop all day non-stop. So Bishop Takaki went to his house to try to help him out. He took him to the church. Where things got worse.
After we were there for about 10 minutes we started to here loud noises as is someone was throwing stuff around on the third floor. Elder Wilson and I decided to kneel and offer a silent prayer that all would be ok and that the man could be calmed. After the prayer we walked outside of the church to find a bunch of members of the ward waiting outside. As we walked outside a sister from the ward screamed ´´Ele está machucando o bispo!`` or ´´He his hitting the bishop!`` Alechandre is a very muscular man. And as I looked up to the third floor window of the bishops office I saw the silhouette of a giant man beating on something and I heard screams. My heart dropped. We ran into the building and up the three flights of stairs hearing the screams reflect off each wall of what seemed to be an endless corridor. Finally, we arrived at the top. Ran to the bishop´s office to find the bishop perfectly fine and Alechandre twisting and flailling on the floor, kicking chairs, desks, and shelves and screaming more and more loudly. He started to calm down a little bit and the bishop went to side to comfort him and in that very moment he jumped up and threw a shelf (a very heavy shelf) into the wall. Then he ran into the chapel where the strange events of the night continued. It was nothing demonic, we was just crazy because he didn´t take his medicine.
He entered the chapel and jumped from pew to pew screaming ´´I am the patriot of the great brazil!´´ ``I know the true gospel!`` ´´We have the truth!´´. By then, a few other members had entered into the church and the bishop´s wife had called the police because she thought her husband was being killed. The police arrived and an ambulance too and Alechandre continued unleashing mayhem. He came to the pulpit of the chapel and ripped it off and threw it into the pews. Everyone then decided to leave and let the police escort him to the ambulance. We didn´t know that and we stayed in and went to the bishops office to tidy things up and help the bishop out. Alechandre was now on the second floor. Afterwards we took the elevator to the first floor and left. It was an interesting second night in the area.
The weird thing is that Alechandre always went on splits with other two Elders, now, I don´t think I ever will.
Our plan here is to serve the ward members and leaders doing everything they ask to show love and gain their confidence. Like Ammon we have arrived here only to serve. The first week and the first couple of days we did our best to contact people out of the area book, but nobody was interested.
Yet a member named Fabio gave a referral of his friend Vanessa. I went there to teach her with Fabio and Elder Wilson stayed with another member looking for people to teach. The other two Elders had already taught her the first lesson about Joseph Smith and the Restoration and they had also taught the Law of Chastity. Upon arriving I wasn´t quite sure what to say or teach. I said a silent prayer that the Lord would help me to teach her. I started by asking about the Book of Mormon, if sh had read and prayed, she said yes, but she said that she hadn´t received an answer. We discussed a little bit about how she felt while she was reading and I bore my testimony about the Book of Mormon. She then said, ´´I want the conviction that you have, but I just don´t have it now.``
I felt inspired to teach her about the power and doctrine of the Atonement. It was a very spiritual lesson and the Holy Ghost put words in my mouth and the Lord used me as an instrument to bring understanding to his beloved child. In the end of the lesson I read aloud Alma 7:10-12. The Spirit was very strong in that moment and I felt inspired to have us all kneel and offer a prayer out loud, asking Heavenly Father if the Book of Mormon was true.
I went first. In the beginning of my prayer I felt an overwhelming sensation and peace that only a divine being of Love can bestow and I received one more confirmation that this is the true and living gospel. Then Fabio prayed and finally Vanessa. She lifted up her head with a big smile and I told her what I felt in the prayer and then asked her. She responded saying a phrase that doesn´t translate good, but means ´´Very good``. I asked her if she believed that this was a confirmation from God that the Book of Mormon was true, and she said yes. She will be baptised on the 28th of July. The first baptism of the year in Nova Suiça, and all because of the wisdom and power of Heavenly Father.
I am living in four again. The other two Elders are Elder Moulton ( an American from Oregon) and Elder Lourenço ( a Brazilian). They say that this zone is a whole in the mission and that nobody has success here and it is a little bit overbearing. I read today in Mosiah 2 that if you keep the Lords commandments, you will prosper in the land. That applies to missionaries too. The area here is the most wealthy I have seen in my mission and the majority of the members are rich. The work is a little harder and it takes more to find people to teach, yet I know the Lord will visit me in my afflictions and that he will open many doors. Success is not determined by where you are, but by who you are, and who you are willing to be.
The bishop asked us to visit an inactive family. We went there and shared a message with them and asked them if they had any service that we could do. Joking, he looked at his car, which was extremely dirty and said ``you can wash the car``.
I responded ´´ok, we will pass by tomorrow morning to wash it``
He laughed and said ``no no no, you don´t need to``
I said ``I know, but we will.``
He didn´t believe me.
The next day Elder Wilson and I showed up with a youth from the to clean the car. His wife didn´t believe it. We spent two hours cleaning and waxing that car and in the end that black Fiat was shinning and brilliant. It was the first time that I had done physical work in a long time. It felt good. It was a treat to give service and we are trying more and more to do things like that here.
Things are great here and I am learning more in this transfer than any other.
i LOVE YOU NATALIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Com amor e carinho,
Seu amado amigo,
Elder Stephen Mathias Nothum

Dear everyone,


Yesterday was transfers. I was pretty confident that I would stay in Imperial and that I would get a new companion. Elder Cavalcante already had four transfers there. He is tired of the area and he just burnt out on it. Well, 9:30 on Monday night we received a call from the Zone Leaders. As we were hearing the names of the other missionaries who were transferred on the conference call we were waiting, positive that Elder Cavalcante would leave and that I would receive a new companion in Imperial. Well, we were wrong.
Elder Ribeiro told me that I was transferred and that I would be opening an area. So, here I am in Nova Suiça, which translated means ´´New Switzerland``. My companion is an american named Elder Wilson. He is a tall, blond haired, nerdyish Elder, he also has glasses. He is an amazing guy and we work together great. He is from Madison, Wisconsin. He studied math before the mission at Arizona State. The only thing that I haven´t liked about him is that he has a big box of sweets and candy that he doesn´t share and that he conserves to eat a piece every now and then. I receive a backage from gran filled with a bunch of stuff and it was gone in four days, I gave bunch to my companion and I ate a handful every day, yet people have agency, yet charity is a commandment, yet so is the Word of Wisdom, who is right? I also don´t know, I just know that he has mike and ikes in there and that is killing me.
The two Elders that were here in Nova Suiça were taken out because of a few problems. There has not been a baptism here in over six months, which is unheard of in Brazil. At lunch with a member yesterday a member of the ward said ´´I think the other Elders were trunky``. Trunky being missionary slang for someone who thinks more about home and their life after the mission than the work they have to do now. After lunch with that family we shared a message about miracles and faith. I promised that we would have a baptism this transfer and that things would get better here.
It is rough arriving in an area knowing nothing and also having a companion who knows nothing about the area also. We walked a ton yesterday and worked hard talking with everyone in the streets. We looked in the area book and took name after name and passed by house after house, only to find people who were not interested in hearing our message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. After a lot of walking we finally arrived on Rua Itália. There we passed by a few people from the area book who were not home and a few who were not interested. Finally, we knocked on a door to find a woman named Wilma. She lives with four other single women, which isn´t exactly the best local to teach but hey, she was the first person who was listening. So, we couldn´t enter the house because there wasn´t another man with us, so we taught her on her porch. I could tell during the message that she was feeling the spirit very strongly and in the end she accepted to be baptized. The hard part is that she works on Sunday during church. But, we told her that if she prayed with faith and asked her boss to switch her day-off, that Heavenly Father would provide a way for her to go to church. We will pass by her again on Friday to teach another lesson, please pray for her that she can have Sunday as a day-off.
Elder Wilson and I are extremely excited about the work here, we are praying for miracles and direction, we doing everything we know how to do, and learning how to do many other things. I feel that I willl learn faith and humilty in this transfer.
It was sad to leave Imperial so fast. I loved the members there and we were having such a great progression. I left a tie for one of the brothers in the branch, Brother Paulo. On the back I wrote ``Imperial Ward Elder Nothum Mosiah 8:18....(then I wrote the whole scripture). I loved the people there.
God is a God of miralces and he can do all things according to his will, and it is his will that we all have joy. Therefore, pray to have the joy you desire, pray to be happy, pray to be filled with love, have faith, and watch the Lord bring upon you his mighty miracles, as he already has with so many others.
I know that this is the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and that this Church is lead by revelation from God and that it is the kingdom of God on earth. The greatest way to gain a testimony of a gospel principle or commandment is to strive to live it and see the promised blessings come to you, thus you will know it is true and good.

I LOVE MY LITTLE SISTER NATALIE HOPE NOTHUM AND SHE IS THE WORLDS BEST LITTLE SISTER AND I LOVE HER SOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!

Com Amor,
Elder Nothum