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