1-29-08

Subject: We Thank Thee Oh God for a Prophet ...

Hello everybody!

The passing of President Gordon B. Hinckely is felt very strong here in Brazil. Most of the members of the church here in Brazil haven´t known any other prophet because the majority were baptized while President Hinckley lead the church. Even I was baptized after he became the prophet. Now our prophet is continuing to serve the Lord on the other side of the veil with his beloved wife in the midst of prophets of old.
My Patriarchal Blessing gave me instruction to testify of Gordon B. Hinckley on my mission. The last chance I had to testify of Gordon B. Hinckley as a living prophet of God was Sunday afternoon, 27 Jan 2008 to someone with whom we were talking on the street. I am also instructed to testify of future prophets, and because of our understanding of the restoration of priesthood authority, we know that there will always be a prophet to guide the church until the Second Coming of the Lord.

The highlight of this last week was a last minute mission conference we had on Wednesday. Elder Russel M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles came to Brazil that day to speak at a fireside to Young Single Adults in São Paulo. Because President Teixeira has his connections and because the grandson of Elder Nelson is serving in our mission and just became assistant, a special conference of our mission was put together. Elder Nelson, his wife, and President Didier (President the the Brazilian Area) spoke to us in the stake center next to the São Paulo temple. Each of us got the opportunity to shake Elder Nelson´s hand. The night before, I asked the Lord a specific question, and got my specific answer through His apostle.

Hopefully this week we are going to baptize Cida (I think her name is short for Maria Aparecida). On Sunday, I went on a split with one of the bishop´s counselors to pick her up for church. On the way to church in the car, she told us that she asked the Lord for a sign, and then everytime she opened the Book of Mormon, she felt as if her heart were on fire and her body was completely filled with love. She said that this feeling returned each time she opened the book, and that she had this feeling with us then in the car. I told her that this was her answer. This was the Holy Ghost telling her that what we taught her was true.

Friday night I saw a cockroach climb down the wall behind my bed. After moving my bed, and finding more, I had to result to extinguishing of some life. The funny thing is that cockroaches are one of the few things to which I´m not allergic.
I was able to succeed in purchasing bottled water, so I haven´t had to boil any drinking water lately.

Well, Goodbye for now.
-Élder Allred