Hey Mom! …. I'm doing great and I'm feeling great. So many new things are happening. My new area and calling are incredible. I love the people here and the trainings that I gave this week went really well. Its awesome to be closer to President because he is so inspired. We ate lunch at his house yesterday and I shared a message with him and Sister Lima after lunch. I'm really excited to go to church tomorrow. President said that our Bishop sings classical music so I'm excited to meet him and sing with him. I'll need to practice for sure. Not all of our area is beach and big buildings but some of it is. Leblon (which is right next to Ipanema and Copacabana) is the most expensive place to live in South America and its one of the most expensive in the world! How crazy is that? I'll be sure to take tons of pictures. How are you doing? How was your week? How was Adam´s birthday? Jordan turns 19 Monday! I'm excited for him. I'm not sure what else to say right now but I hope you're great and happy and doing well. I love you so much and am thankful for your wonderful example and for your testimony and conversion to the gospel. I love the Lord. "In Him my soul delights." These are lyrics to a song that they made other lyrics for the Hymn Be Still My Soul. They took many ideas from 2 Nephi 4. I absolutely love this hymn. Its sang by the BYU mens choir and its incredible. Read 2 Nephi 4 and then listen to this song. I promise that the Spirit will testify to you that the things you read are true. I know that the Book of Mormon is true because it has caused a mighty change in my heart. This is conversion. I have received a testimony but to be converted is to give all of my heart, might, mind and strength to defend, preach and testify about the wonderful truths that the Spirit has taught me. I love the Lord. In Him my soul delights.
I'm inspired and am very pleased with your wonderful experience and how you are sensitive to the Spirit! Keep going!! These ideas come from our Heavenly Father and He is using you as a tool in His hand. I have a part of my Patriarchal Blessing that talks about my mission and how if I work with the Spirit, the Lord will use me to do His work. Keep going Mom! Pray for opportunities to bear your testimony and spread the Gospel. These people desperately need you... So much more than you think they do. … the Lord has made many promises that He will seek for His lost sheep. He knows where they are and when they are ready and He sends us, imperfect people, to find them and heal up their wounds and cure their hearts. They need our help. Run to their rescue. I imagine the Savior running to save me when I fall. He picks me up and carries me in His arms. He is gentle and loving in deed and in thought. The Savior wants to help us and is coming to our rescue. Mom, the Savior is asking you to fulfill your baptismal covenant and to run to the rescue of the hurt, the suffering, the sad, the depressed and the lost ones. I promise you as a representative of Jesus Christ that as you run daily to the rescue of the Lord's lost sheep, that He will heal your wounds, comfort your heart, strengthen your weaknesses and He will run to your rescue. You will feel your Savior's love in all the world around you. I know this is true because I also feel it. You're never alone. God knows you and loves you so much and He is proud of your sacrifice and service. I love you so much and can’t wait to hear from you next week!
Élder Jared Knotts
Hey Mommy!Sorry I didnt send an email last week. This week was really great and today is the last day of the transfer. I will be transfered to a new area (and probably my last area in the mission). My new companion is.... Élder Maciel again! I'm really excited to work with Elder Maciel again! This time though I wont be Zone Leader. I'm the new Assistent to President Lima. Out of the, more or less, 150 or 160 missionaries, There are 22 Zone Leaders and 2 Assistents to the President and now Elder Maciel and I will be the Assistents. ........ I wont be working as much in the street and knocking doors and stuff like that. I will still work and teach and baptize but now I will travel A LOT over all of Rio and I will be giving tons of trainings for other missionaries and also I will do a lot of number and technical work. My new area is called Jardim Botânico which would be Botanical Garden in english. My area includes Copacabana, Ipanema, Le Blaun and several other parts of the South Zone in Rio. Its incredible. I'm gonna go there tomorrow. President Lima and his family will be members of my new ward. I cant believe it! Its really exciting and now I'm even more excited to work hard and teach and give everything I have for my last 3 months in the mission. Its gonna be incredible. ..... Its gonna be awesome! I'm so glad that Mia ate with you at home and went to church. We gotta do everything we can to help... And dont wait! Serve people and you will see miracles happen. In our ward, the 2nd counselor of the Primary was called to be the Relief Society Presidetne and she said something really interesting in the Ward Counsil yesterday. SHe said that in the Primary, you feel close to the Savior because the children are pure and innocent but in the Relief Society you learn to serve and be like the Savior. I thought this was really special and essential in our callings and in our duty as members of the Lord's church and as His disciples. As we serve others every day, we will grow to be like the Savior and truly come to know Him. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ and I want to be more like Him. I feel His love for me and this love motivates me.... To lift up the hands that hang low and to strengthen the feeble knees. I am constantly reminded of those simple words in the Primary Hymns. Especially in "Im trying to be Like Jesus", "try to show kindness in all that you do, be gentle and loving in deed and in thought!" Reflect through out the day. Am I showing kindness for others? Am I being gentle and loving in my deeds (what I do) and in my thoughts? I hope you're doing great and I hope to hear from you soon!
Elder Knotts
Hey Mom!This week went really well. We're probably gonna move tomorrow afternoon for our new apartment. Tomorrow morning will be an interview with President Lima. I'm excited to see the new house. This week was really hot again but thats not new. I'm doing well and yes I'm using sunblock. Thats great that you gave another talk in Sacrament Meeting. Its been a long time (maybe 5 months) since I've given a talk at church but we talk so much that I think the members get tired of it haha. I've been reading more General Conference talks as usual and am impressed by how much I learn sometimes. I read a great talk about the Atonement this morning by Elder Scott. "It is a fundamental truth that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can be cleansed. We can become virtuous and pure. However, sometimes our poor choices leave us with long-term consequences. One of the vital steps to complete repentance is to bear the short- and long-term consequences of our past sins."
This made a lot of sense for me because of another talk that I read this week that Sister Oscarson says, "We live in perilous times, and the decisions which you are called upon to make on a daily, or even hourly, basis have eternal consequences."
With these two quotes in mind, we are able to feel a deep hope and gratitude for the Plan of Salvation. Our choices today are vitally important for our eternal progress. When we sin, we can be forgiven but it is still necessary to deal with the good and bad consequences of our actions. This helps us to set goals, make priorities and be disciplined to choose the right. A loving Heavenly Father has provided a way to return to His presence and independent of how many times we fall we can always get back up. But just to be safe, let's be cautious and careful to lessen the frequency of our falls.
I'm doing well and I'm happy. I'm gonna get my hair cut today. I'm also gonna buy new contact lenses and maybe do some other chores. I love you and pray for you often.
Jared
from Jan 13 2014Mom!This week was absolutely great! Laurindos baptism was awesome! We got there with two members that have known him for several years. We shared a message about the Plan of Salvation and it was great. When we started to talk about baptism he said that maybe not this week but next week. We said that there's no more time to wait. One of the brethren that was there with us has known him for 45 years. He said that it was his birthday that day (no one else knew that it was his birthday so that was completely unplanned) and that he wanted him to be baptized. Laurindo said, "Well let's go then. I'll be baptized today." His wife (who has been a member for 13 years) started to cry and the Spirit was really strong. When we got to the chapel, we started calling several people and we filled up the baptismal font. We were so excited! When Laurindo got to the chapel he had an interview with another missionary and then he asked who would baptize him. I said that he can choose whoever he wants. There were several people there. He asked me if I could baptize him and I just gave him a hug. There were so many people that could have done it that he has known for years but he asked me. It was great! I've got some photos that I will send you another week. I've got so many photos!
I absolutely loved the experience that you had with Courtney's dad. I met him one time about 4 or 5 years ago at his house out in the country. What an amazing experience! You felt the Spirit and saw the Spirit touch and change her heart. I am 100% convinced that people just need help. No one is lost or impossible or too hard. Everyone just needs help. Some more than others but when you search for people's needs and do everything to meets those needs, the person will feel your love and the Spirit will change their heart. Never forget these spiritual experiences. Search every day to have spiritual experiences. If you feel the Spirit every day of your life, you know that you're doing something right.
We had several other things this week that were really great but this was the high light. The day of Laurindos baptism, I made 1 year and 8 months on the mission. It was a great day and a great week. I love you mom and hope to hear from you soon!
Jared
from Jan 6 2014Hey Mommy!Thanks for the pics of snow. Dad told me that they canceled church and that its like negative 8 degrees at home. That's crazy! Its super hot here. Several days its getting up to 106 or 108 degrees but they say that you feel 125 degrees. Extremely hot! They want us to drink 5 liters of water per day. That's almost a gallon and a half. So much water. I'm fine though. This week was awesome and this next week willl be even better. Saturday was my companions birthday and I love him. He's awesome. He turned 20 years old and I bought him a milkshake. Saturday we had a baptism and it was wonderful. Sorry I dont send many pics right now but I've got tons of pics on my camera that I will show you afterword. Sunday we participated in the Ward Counsel and it was the most productive ward counsel I've had so far in the mission. It was awesome and the ward is excited to work more with us. We're gonna start giving English and Spanish courses at church on Saturday mornings for an hour and inviting investigators. We're gonna have a big FHE at a members house on Sunday. Tuesday is our Leadership Counsel of the Mission with Pres Lima and then Wednesday morning we will give that training for our missionaries in our stake. Thursday, a sister missionary that's serving at Temple Square in Utah will come home and on Friday night she's gonna have a big presentation at her Aunts house and she's gonna invite tons of non members so that they can learn about what she did for a year and a half. I'm gonna sing this song in English and in Portuguese at this presentation of her homecoming.
https://www.lds.org/new-era/1997/04/faith-in-every-footstep?lang=eng
Its called "Faith in Every Footstep". Then on Saturday there is a wedding at church that will also have a bunch on non members that we can meet. The best part of this week will be something that we planned with the Ward Counsel. There is a sister in our ward that was baptized almost 20 years ago and now she's a counselor in the Relief Society. Her husband was never baptized and tons of missionaries have already taught him but he never got baptized. We planned with the Ward counsel to go to their house on Thursday night with some members (one man being the member that baptized this sister almost 20 years ago) and now they're going to invite this man to be baptized Thursday night. My companion and I are fasting for him and the Bishop is going to call the temple and put his name on the prayer role. I know that this will work. His name is Brother Laurindo (thats his first name and its pronounced like Lauw-reen-doh) Its kinda tough haha. But its gonna be a miracle and we're praying every day that the Lord will bless him and help him. He is 70 years old and doesn't hear very well but he's known the church for years and now is the time. I feel it. This sister, Sister Juracy (pronounced Jew-rah-see) deserves an eternal family and we're gonna do everything we can to make it happen. There are so many things going on and I can see the miracles coming. When you have an attitude of hope and faith, you search for the miracles. Don't just wait for them to happen or fall on your lap. Miracles happen and when we are obedient and diligent and do everything we can, the Lord will bless us. He wants to help us. I love you Mom and am glad for all of the miracles that have happened in my life. I hope to hear from you soon!
Jaredhttps://www.lds.org/new-era/1997/04/faith-in-every-footstep?lang=eng
from December 30, 2013 3:18 PMSubject: Re: Happy New Year!!Hey MomSorry I dont have any time to write emails today. We had a super busy Pday and went to the secretarys office. Oh well. Doesnt matter. But it was great to talk to you this week and with the family. It was great to meet Kiki and I hope that she and Adam are doing well. ... Is Jordan dating someone? I'm not haha. I'm so glad thatyour talk went well. I think what happens is that sometimes we say things that we think we ought to say or say things that we think other people want to hear. But sometimes we just need to say what comes from the heart and what the Spirit guides us to say. Its your testimony. It'd be useless to read someone else's testimony. Just continue to read the scriptures and the inspired words of our church leaders and with your increased knowledge, you will know what to say at the right time. Testify! Bear your testimony. That's what the Lord asks us to do. I love you and am grateful for your testimony that strengthens mine. I hope to hear from you soon!
Jared
from December 23, 2013 9:00 AMSubject: Re: two days!Hey Mommy!Sorry I have such little time to write you today but I will talk to you on Christmas. I will send you an email when I'm getting ready to call you. ..... I loved the Christmas package that you sent me. Sorry that I'm a bad boy and opened it early but the other missionaries wanted to see what it was also. The book by Pres Monson is sooo cool! I really liked it! I havent started reading yet but I'll let you know. I also loved the small pic of you. I carry it with me everywhere and sometimes I show the members so that they can see my favorite person back at home! I read that talk by Elder Bednar this morning and I loved it. I learned so much and am extremely grateful that you taught me to pay my tithing. I am 100% determined to diligently pay my tithing at home. I know that the Lord may not bless me with money but he will help me to study and learn and do well at school so that I can get a good job and work well and do well for my family. Start writing questions and stuff that you wanna talk about on Christmas. I love you and cant wait to talk to you soon!
Jared
