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