Elder Jonathan Engle 11/10/2014 Fwd:

Fwd:

Dear People of Earth,

Time truly flies. As we truly live our life how God wants us to, time simply flies away. We stop worrying about the trivialities of life and truly learn to live. Without doubt, we exist that we might be happy, but in what form is our happiness. Is it temporary? A mere selfish pleasure that passes and leaves us destitute? Does it make us a better person to feel this happiness? True happiness. Pure happiness comes from God. God makes us happy.

This week we had a lot of special experiences to share, but I´d like to share a funny one. When I was in Cidade Operária in São Luís, my Ward Mission Leader there told me a story about a horse that was stuck in a hole and how he escaped, etc. Anywho, in Portuguêse, it´s absolutely hilarious. There´s a lot more to it than just that, but he told me this story and I loved it. I practiced and shared it some members of the bishopric here in Teresina. Afterwards, my companion explained to me that the story is so funny because it´s basically a well-told story with a punny punch line with a swear word equivalent with our ´b´ word. For me, an ignorant American, I had no idea how many times I swore in sharing this story. Ignorance, to a certain, temporary degree, is bless...

Love,
Elder Engle

P.S. Here is a photo of my beloved companion and a beautiful sunset, along with the scripture of the week to accompany my spiritual thought about the perspective of the Lord.

Isaiah 55:9
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Elder Jonathan Engle 11/3/2014 I´ve Been Dreaming of a White... Baptism!

I´ve Been Dreaming of a White... Baptism!

Dear People of Earth,

I know it´s been awhile since I´ve sent some photos, so this week I thought it´d be great to send the best photos there are.

This last Saturday, Anna Gabrielle and Marcos were baptized. We have a goal to baptize every week. Our Mission President, President Siedschlag, is incredibly inspired by God, and in applying the trainings he´s passed onto us, we´re seeing so many miracles. I don´t even know where to begin. Unfortunately, I didn´t get to watch their baptism. Elder Martins da Silva was sick with a heavy fever, etc. and I had to stay home with him for our first Baptism service here in Uruguai Ward. The other baptism is from Gabriel, which happened about two months ago. I would have sent more photos sooner, but my pen drive grabbed a virus and I almost lost all I have, including all the photos from my Mission. The Lord helped me a lot to fix it, so it worked out.

I wanted to focus on a scripture that opened up my vision this week and truly helped me to resolve some of the problems that I´ve had. It´s all based in the idea of looking beyond the mark. When we look beyond the mark, we permit The Enemy to distort the scriptures in our lives. Instead of letting the scriptures make us more like Jesus Christ, we become students of the law, rather than disciples of the Lord. May we all remember that we live in the world, but we are not of the world. We are of the Lord. We are God´s children and saved by His plan, which is perfect for His designs for us. The joy of this work is indescribable and I´m a very happy person. May we all remember to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ and not just give it lip service.

Love,

Elder Engle

Jacob 4:14

But behold, the Jews were a stiffnecked people; and they despised the words of plainness, and killed the prophets, and sought for things that they could not understand. Wherefore, because of their blindness, which blindness came by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall; for God hath taken away his plainness from them, and delivered unto them many things which they cannot understand, because they desired it. And because they desired it God hath done it, that they may stumble.

Elder Jonathan Engle 10/29/2014 Teresina Arrives!

Teresina Arrives!

Dear People of Earth,

I know it´s a long time since I´ve sent an update. I´m thankful for those who read my updates. I try to keep them short and sweet, because I know how it is to be in a hurry.

Last week I was transferred to Teresina, Piaui, Brazil and called to be a Zone Leader. It´s been a wild ride, but it´s very rewarding as well. Teresina is incredibly hot, often hitting 107*Farenheit daily. The food´s pretty much the same but the streets are a lot cleaner. It´s a great place, but if you don´t like the heat, definitely stay out of the kitchen.

My new companion is Elder Massa, another cowboy from Rio Grande do Sul. He´s awesome! We´re very similar in likes, dislikes, etc. He studied music before the mission on a University level as well. I´ve already learned a lot from him. I´m going to grow a lot this transfer.

A spiritual experience that I decided to highlight was our leadership meeting with last week with President Siedschlag, in which we talked about baptism the entire meeting. It was very spiritual and really opened my eyes to the doctrine of Jesus Christ. 

My funny thought would be my cursed fan that I use. Here in Brazil, you have to use a fan, especially at night, because it´s so hot! We have one without a stand, so we have to prop it for it to work. My first day here, it was on full blast and started to fall. Instinctively, I grabbed it and caught it, but instead of saving my beloved fan, it reciprocated, cutting my finger open and slinging blood on my bed. Last night, I discovered there´s an open wire on it as it electricuted me. It always attacks me when it´s dark. What a blessing!

Anyway, lots of love to everybody. Sorry about the lack of photos. My mission bag was lost for a long time. I know where it is now, but it´s in the bus travel station pretty far from here now, which has all my photos in it.

Love,

Elder Engle

P.S.

John 7:17

 17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine,whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

If you want to know if something is from God, or from Man, you can know for yourself. That is the test of our message. I´m am but a man with words, but the Spirit is what proves my words. If you want to know the truth, try my words, and you shall know that they are true.

Elder Jonathan Engle 10/08/2014 Conference, Bom Demais

 Conference, Bom Demais

Dear People of Earth,

General Conference was an incredible experience to say the least. It´s the closest thing a missionary gets to a vacation. We tried to bring as many people to General Conference as possible, but we had to watch it in the Stake Center here in São Luís, so it was far away from our area. Although, it was really cool to have some recent converts there at least. There was an English room for us, which was really great. It´s not that we wouldn´t have understood in Portuguêse, but I personally prefer the emotion in the voice of the speakers, etc. It was an unforgettable conference to say the least.

My scripture of the week is Joshua 10:12-14. In this story, Joshua literally stops the Sun and the Moon, and the Lord fights with him in battle. All of that was made possible by his faith. Faith is a word and idea of power. I really want to grow my faith, because that´s the key to success in life and as a missionary. 

On a funny side note, I´ve been tripping a lot lately, which has been very entertaining for my companion Elder Caetano (that´s my stab at a funny story for the week).

Tchau!

Love,

Elder Engle