Elder Keller & Elder Phillips in Sao Paulo

Elder Keller & Elder Phillips in Sao Paulo

Saturday, May 28, 2016

#90 May 28, 2016 Pray for James

Alright Mom and Dad I saw you guys wanted to know about James so I will start off with him.So this last Saturday night James had to go to São Paulo to help his brother out. He had an electricity accident a while back and was having some bad effect from that accident so James went there by bus to help him out so he wasn't able to go to church. But he is still doing awesome! We had 4 visits with him this week one of which was this morning at the church so we were able to show him around.

He told us that he wants to get baptized and he feels that he is ready for it so we explained that we have a lot of lessons that we have to pass to him before the day that he gets baptized and so we marked a date for June 11th. That is in two Saturdays. But just to show you that there is opposition in all things (first off the thing with his brother and him going to São Paulo) a friend of his came into contact with him this week that is a Jehovah's Witness. He received visits from them back in Haiti and this friend of his was one of them. She is here in Chapecó and told him that he can't get baptized in the church until she can come to Florianópolis to talk to him.
But the best part about it was that he just told her that he prayed and got his own answer that this is Christ's church so he is going to follow that answer. Then his godmother called him again and he talked to her about it and she said he had to get baptized as soon as possible and forget what his friend was saying haha.

Satan doesn't want him to be baptized that is for sure so please pray for him! Pray that he can remember always the answer that he got and be able to become a member of the church when the Lord wants him to. We have a lot to teach him in just 2 weeks so pray that he can understand everything as well! The members here have been really awesome and they have been coming with us in all the lessons so that is going really well.

We taught James this morning about President Monson. He wanted to see the Prophet in action so we showed him one of his talks online and printed it off for him in French. We couldnt find it in Creol.
But he is doing great so far and I am so thankful for this blessing to be able to participate in teaching this guy.
God has been just giving us so many new people to teach and it has been amazing! Every day he has helped us to find new people to teach. And that has never happened before. But we have all decided to up our efforts here and literally just talk to everyone.

What I have learned is that talking to everyone, and that means everyone shows God your will to do his will. That week that I got frusterated after 2 days and talking to 71 people and not a single one wanted anything to do with the church really taught me a lot. Not a single one of those people became an investigator but after that all of the people we started talking to were willing to here the message of the Restoration.

We learned this week that Elder Aidukaitis is going to come visit the mission in June! Super awesome! This week we get to participate in the neighboring stakes conference and Elder Mazzagardi is going to be there so we will get to see him as well. I will be able to see the whole area presidency of brasil before my mission ends! What a blessing! I heard Aidukaitis and Mazzagardi are super tough though! They tell it like it is and don't hold anything back.

With Elder Aidukaitis visiting as well President will probably have to cancel the Zone Conferences in June because we have no money in the mission! But I'll will take a General Authority visit any day!
But my time is up. I love you all so much and hope you have an awesome week! Pray for James! Fly (Fleurisner, James calls him Fly cuz its easier) is doing good as well. He isn't like James but he is reading the Book of Mormon and  a really good guy.

Until next week!
Love, Elder Keller

Saturday, May 21, 2016

#89 May 21, 2016 Meeting James & Fly

This week probably had some of the most spiritual lessons that I have ever been a part of on my whole entire mission. 
I think it was Sunday and we went to visit a man named Fleurisner, (no i didnt spell it wrong) a man from Haiti, his wife Milaine and their friend Peniel. The people from Haiti are the most humble people on this planet. Many live here because of the earthquake that happened a few years back. They usually don't have a lot of money because they are having to learn Portuguese and have to work manual labor jobs. So they usually live in groups. 
We got to this house on Sunday and a different person answered the door. He said his name was James and he went to go get Fleurisner. But when we saw this guy there was just something really different about him. I just had this overwhelming feeling like if we didn't talk to that guy the world would end or something! Looking back it is really easy to see that it was the Holy Ghost trying to get us to talk to this guy. 
Anyways Fleurisner came and let us in and James ended up leaving before we could get the chance to talk to him. But we went back on Tuesday and James was there! So we invited him to participate in the lesson with us. We started talking and got to know James a little bit better. Then we came to the subject of the Book of Mormon. Keep in mind these guys are native speakers of French and Creol not Portugues so this is all broken portuguese here. Then James asked if the book talked about a Moroni and a Joseph Smith. 
He then told us that he has quite a few family members that live in the States. One time his Father had came back from a trip and brought a box of books back to Haiti. This was 7 years ago. In the box was a copy of the Book of Mormon in French. So he started reading it. And at that time he asked God if the Book was true and felt that it was but he couldn't find the church or any members. He didn't even know which church it was. He ended up having to leave there and left the book behind. And he has been praying for a long time to find members of the church that used that book. So that day we left him a copy in Portuguese and invited him to pray again. 
We go back Thursday. James said he wouldn't be there so we marked to visit him today, Saturday. But James was there and after the opening prayer he said he wanted to tell us something.
He said that Tuesday night he started reading and that he prayed. And after he prayed he said that a man appeared to him in white and told him that this was Christ's church on the earth today. He then told us that he always knew that Christ's church had to exist. He said many people have invited him to tons of churches here in Brazil but he knew that all of them were false. And he has been praying to know which church that he needed to join. He said he went to bed so happy that night because he had finally gotten his answer! 
But that isn't the best part. Wednesday was his birthday. James has a "madrinha" or a "godmother" that lives in the U.S. His mother, the godmother and he all went to the same church back in Haiti. His mother was killed in Haiti 7 months ago and it has been really hard for him lately. So his godmother called him on his B-day the day after our visit, wednesday and said she had to tell him something. She said that the church they had been going to was not the true church and that she had just been baptized in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She said that that was the true church. 
Can you believe that kind of answer? But that's not all.
So after this we invited him to be baptized. He said yes but he wanted to pray about it. This morning we went there with a Haitian member from the ward and another Haitian investigator that is going to church that Moore is teaching.

He started the lesson off telling us that he prayed about being baptized and that night he had a dream and in it he saw himself with Salomão and I in a baptismal font and he was getting baptized.
This all happened without him even going to church! He is so amazing! And Fleurisner is awesome as well! I don't have anymore time but if i did there would be a lot more I could write!
But the elect hear the voice of the Lord and they don't harden their hearts. God is preparing people. And we gotta find them! 
Thank you so much for all of your prayers. It was those prayers that helped us find this guy! Keep it up!

I love you all so much! I hope everything is going well back home! Share the Gospel so that the Spirit of missionary work may be shared with you. Have a great week!
Elder Keller


Saturday, May 14, 2016

#88 May 14, 2016 Sacrifice

This week has really been full of blessings! God has been giving us new people to teach like crazy. Almost everyday he has put us right in the perfect spot to find someone new! And the best part about it is that when we knock on the door the person doesnt even really ask anything, they just say, come in. 

Elder Moore is our District leader here and just rocks with his district meetings! I dont know if i would be able to give trainings every week with his work he has to do as secretary as well! But he has been the one that has been trying to get us all finding new people to teach all the time. So we all have a goal to get out of the comfort zone as much as possible. And we have been trying it and it is working! 

We went back to Josiane this week and found out why we couldnt get ahold of her. She has been in Chapecó all week for work. They take care of pharmacies all around the state here so they travel 9 days of the month. But we marked to go back there tonight. 

But I got something really interesting out of my Dad's email from today about building our foundations. He said, "You have to work,... you have to pay,... and you have to sacrifice for that type of foundation." That type of foundation being one that is solidly built upon Christ that can not fall. 

One thing President has taught us is to grab the verbs from scriptures and analize them to know what do we have to do. And these three verbs, work, pay and sacrifice are keys. 

To try to make more sense my mom sent me an awesome email about service back in December I think. She told me a story about our Aunt Sarah. I don't remember it completely but basically Aunt Sarah really wanted a new stroller. So she WORKED and saved up her money for a really good amount of time to go and PAY for the stroller. 

Then one day she found a lady walking home from the store with kids and it looked like she didn't have a car or anything. So she SACRIFICED something and went and just gave the lady the stroller. The point of my mom's e-mail was that service requires sacrifice and it was an awesome e-mail! 

But in life, sometimes working and paying isn't enough. We can work and pay for something and it will seem just. It is fair. We worked for that. But then sacrifice is when we have to do something that may not seem fair to us. 

You really have a great opportunity to see that a lot on your mission with companions. No companion is perfect and you guys gotta work together to get over your weaknesses and loose yourself in the Lords work. 

Maybe you might get a comp that can't get out the door on time so you decide to iron his shirts for him to help him be a little faster. Is that fair? Why can't he do that for himself? We both have the same time in the morning? 

It isn't really fair but that is why it's called sacrifice. It wasn't necessarily fair for Christ to have to suffer for each one of OUR sins. But that is why it is the greatest sacrifice that has ever been made and will ever be. And that is what enables us to become better and perfect and what is going to get us back to our Heavenly Father.  We may have to loose something sometimes to gain something greater. Sometimes we can't see that "greater" part though right now so we don't want to put in the sacrifice. 

I don't know if that made any sense but it did in my mind! haha 

But we will see what happens with these new people that God is giving us! They are all pretty cool people because most of them are from the North and Northeast of Brazil so they are a lot warmer than the people from the South. 

But I love you all so much and hope you have an awesome week! Mom I love you so much! It was awesome talking to you! Hope you had an awesome Mothers Day! 

Elder Keller 

Saturday, May 7, 2016

#87 May 7, 2016 Let the Spirit be the Teacher

I love you guys so much! Dad I loved that letter from G-ma Keller! That letter was so awesome! I love how you gave it to kevin because i gave it to moore right afterwards to read but i didnt even realize that until after haha. But man Grandma Keller is just awesome!

I have been so blessed in my life with the family i have been given. And not just immediate but aunts and uncles, grandparents and everyone. I really have been given so much in this life so i know a lot will be required.
But I loved seeing a little bit into your mission dad! I am going to keep that letter for my own kids! As well as many letters from both of you guys! Lately I have been keeping the important ones in my journal.
The best part about that whole letter is the fact that 30 years of here life Grandma was not a member of the church. And she just became a powerhouse! And that is why you all turned into such champions in the kingdom of God

But anyways to answer a few questions.
SKYPE. Alright so there will be 8 guys here trying to skype in the office with 3 cameras tomorrow. So i was thinking maybe the best time would be 6 PM here. Which would be 2 PM there right? You guys said the ideal time would be 4:45 for your guys. Do you think I should try to go earlier? It sounds like all of them are going to be talking between 3 and 5. We will be here in the office so it shouldnt be too much of a trouble.
As well as for the trip if you guys want to stay in joinville/guaratuba saturday and sunday night i am cool with that as well. It is getting cold and rainy here so i dont think there will be that much to do. I just want to visit the families in joinville as well as the people in guaratuba.
But i thought it was super cool that Natress was called! When you guys went to Jim with Mcstraw dad did you go with natress? i was looking him up here in the office after the call and he looks awesome!
But anyways let me know if the skype works out! i love you guys so much! You really are the best family i could even imagine! thank you so much!
Love Elder Keller


This week was full of great experiences!
Tuesday we had a leadership training council. And it was awesome! We have been focusing on Elder Bednars part from a missionary transmission from January that was put on. President printed it out for everyone into awesome little books so we have been using it a lot and it is packed with great stuff!
So we have been focusing a lot on how we can better let the Spirit be the teacher in the lessons. And it has been awesome. If there is something I have learned from President Silva it is how to teach. The guy just has a gift and I want it! So President told us some of the key points that he wanted us to hit and then we started planning it last week and it was super cool to see how the spirit taught there.

One thing I see are that there are two different kinds of teaching.
The first is to fill up time, have a good presentation and make everbody happy in the end and its low risk. Then you have the second which is called, "jumping out of the boat" as Elder Bednar likes to call it.  Which basically means constantly getting out of your comfort zone and doing what you dont wanna do. It isnt comfortable following all the teaching techniques that you learn. But if you do it, it enables the spirit to teach. And you let others learn things for themselves instead of just trying to cram everything you know down their throat. 

So we have been preparing a lot for this council and trying to do the harder things and it ended up working out great!
The 3 pincipal points we wanted to pass in the training were: To invite is not to convince, Simplify: To teach does not mean to speak, and how to be more worthy instruments. One of the biggest things we have wanted to get across is invite people to be baptized in the first lesson. We are here to invite. Our missionary purpose is "invite" others, not "convince" others to come unto Christ. The elect will hear the voice of the Lord and will not harden their hearts.

And a big problem we have in our mission is we stay with these families who looks like elects but they arent. They are so close but they are not ready to progress towards baptism. And we waste all of our time. So why do we invite in the first? To find the elect. That doesnt mean someone cant be that at a different time in the future but right now maybe they aren't.

So we didnt an awesome practice with the nerf basketball hoop my parents sent me and used Matthew 19 with the story of the rich young man that Christ invited to leave everything and follow him. If you study just the verses 21 - 24 and look at how the greatest missionary, Christ invited people, you can learn a lot! And so we did that as well and we learned a ton with what the other missionaries were getting out of it as well.

That was a little part but the best part of the training was when a sister said, "now i get it! Now i get why we have to invite them! I didnt understand why before but now it makes sense!" and that was just so awesome to me! When you see that the spirit has taught something to someone and it clicks in there mind is one of the most satisfying things ever! I love teaching so much! It is the best! There are very few other things that bring such a good feeling as learning and teaching. And I am going to miss so many opportunites to constantly do so like we have out here on the mission.

But another awesome thing that happened this week was after all the trainings. We lost monday and tuesday because of the council but wednesday and thursday we had time to work after leaving the office both days. In those 2 days we talked to 71 people on the road and knocking doors and not a single one wanted anything to do with the church! And thursday night I was just kind of frusterated! Like thinking, arent we putting in the work??? What are we doing wrong? We have been here for two weeks and getting no where. Moises is awesome but he is like the rich young man. That guy looked like an elect. He came to Christ asking what he needed to do to progress but then couldnt do what needed to be done. He couldnt make it all the way. And that happens all the time as missionaries. We think we found a golden family and it ends up they are not.

So Friday we start doing the same thing. This day we had the less active list and we started trying to find anyone. We went to one at the top of a huge hill. It was like 7 at night and raining and we started clapping at the door and the next door neighboor comes out and told us that she wasnt home. But then she just randomly tells us to come in.

She lives there with her son, brothers, and mom, She and her son participated. We asked her why she let us in and she told us that her husband passed away one month ago because of a heart attack, (she is 40 and her kid is 12). She told us that a week after that an armed man broke into her house in the middle of the night and tried to rob them.

Then she told us that she started praying to God to try to figure out what church she needs to be going to. She was born Catholic but never believed it could be true. She has gone to a few church's in these past few weeks but wasnt finding anything.

The lesson was just awesome! But impatient Elder Keller cant just wait one day sometimes! haha.
She accepted the baptismal invite and said she wants to know. But we will see what happens. We are going back there tonight with a member to see if she read the pamphlet. We are going to invite and try to be as convincing as possible. She seems totally awesome! Her name is Josiane and her son is Eduardo.

But I love my mission so much! Like Elder Holland said in the MTC this is the closest we will ever get to real life (talking about the celestial kingdom) in our mortal lives!
I love you all! Hope you have an awesome week! Happy mothers day! Cant wait to talk to you guys!
Elder Keller