Dear family, friends, fellow Canadians, Americans and Brazilians,
How are all of you doing? This week was an interesting one. One week which I hope, not to repeat, but it did lead me more to Heavenly Father than other weeks. It is sort of like when Lehi said to Jacob, that all these afflictions are for your benefit. These week we meet some very interesting people... and those people are the cause of my woos.
One woman that we meet is kind of... strange... I lack a better word. She believe Spritism, which is a common religion down here in Brazil. I am not sure if you all know who Allen Kardec is, but he is the founder of that religion, who believes that in stead of resurrection there is reincarnation. It is kind of a strange thing, but anyway she begins to talk about that and then she stops me in mid sentence to say... " I have the book of the Aliens, and I believe it to be true." Which begs the question, What does it say? It says that Mary had "relations" with an Alien, who is God, and that Jesus is the son of an Alien, and that the star that guided the three wise men, was not a star but a UFO which was God's spaceship. That was a difficult day. The next day we went to a guy, who we had been teaching for a while now. He became crazy. He also was talking a lot like Satan when he tried to tempted Jesus Christ in the desert or Moses when he was at Mount Sinai. He invited my companion and I to be his disciples and to follow him, and that we needed to prepare ourselves for a life of trials and pain for his cause. Oh, and he was also inventing words which my companion wrote down, but in the process of all this he stops and asked me a question which I did really understand because he really does not ask questions. When I said that I did not understand him, he said that I had already sown the seeds of my own damnation. Then stopped in mid sentence and began to put his hands in the air and pray to himself quietly. This is when my companion and I decide to leave. We leave, and he noticed, so he follows us talking nonsense and says that if we follow him, anything that we want will come true. He said, if you want to health of you parents to improve follow me. If you have enemies, they will be gone. If you want money, or women just say it, it´s yours. Then he said that I was more prepared to follow him because my companion has too much Karma, and that I had less because I am white, and white people are closer to God than darker people. Yeah... that was the down side of my week, but the good side too all this was we now know that we ought not return to that mans house.
Also the good thing about this week was we had good numbers including one baptism. It was great. The kid is Gabriel. He is 13 years old, and a good kid. He has friends and family that are members of the Church, and they brought him to Church a couple of weeks ago. He liked what he felt and saw there, and we brought those same feelings into his home. It was quite an excellent feeling. I think that maybe after a short time we might be able to teach his parents and they to can know the truth.
Also another thing that happened was an answer to a prayer. I had been praying for some time now, for a family to go to Church. They are Miguel, Gladez and Gabrielle and Grazielle. They are good people. I love them to death, but the only thing that was lacking was church visits. They have already gone three times before, but it had been more than a month since they had gone. My companion had the great idea about making breakfast for them so that we could help them go to Church. It worked. We made pancakes. Which they do not have here in Brazil. They really like it. It was something excited and new for them. I loved it because it has been almost a year and three months since I had pancakes in the MTC. It was a good thing. They went to Church, and I had a prayer answered. I almost cried during sacrament meeting because of the stresses I was having, and that they had been taken away from me and I was left with just comfort and peace. As it says,"Ask, and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you." I have gained a testimony of the Law of the Harvest as my mission president calls it. If we want something me must asked for it, and try to make it happen, and if we are obedient to the commandments that Heavenly Father gave us it will come to pass. I am a proof of that.
Love,
Elder Caleb S. Carriere
