#SejaALuzDoMundo (#BeTheLightOfTheWorld)

We got to sing in a mall.

installing a fire alarm.

Baptism of Vinicios

Found some canned food a the store.

Peanut butter and sugar sandwich!

 "Elder Neilson veio visitar! (Elder Neilson came to visit!) Nov 14

This week was great! Packed with the spirit! Now that portuguese comes a little easier, i am actually listening to the lives and situations of the people that we visit and it is helping with descerning their needs. Elder Neilson visited with his wife. He is one of the seventy of the church and his designation is President of the Missionary Dept. of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The devotional he gave was awesome! I learned so much that i can apply. We had the opportunity to see the Christmas video of the church this year early and it is awesome. All of you will have the opportunity to see it here in a little bit. He gave a statistical report of the missionary work in the world. Every month there is an average of 25,000 baptisms in the world. This reminds me that this is the work of the Lord and cannot be stopped or slowed by man. The world is being prepared.
I heard from a few brazilians that Donald Trump won and i am excited to see how he will help the nation. Regardless of who is the President of my country i will support him. This country was founded by the hand of God and will be guided today if we pray and support our leaders.
My companion got really sick, so we have been in the house since after church yesterday. I´m using all the skills that i learned from my mom to take care of him haha. One sister of the ward brought soup for him!
It has rained all this week! São Paulo weather is the wierdest on the planet. It is literally a concrete jungle. It heats so fast with the sun and cools so fast with the rain.
This past week marked 5 months on the mission. I feel like i arrived yesterday and i am still serving in my first area. I asked my president if i could stay one more transfer here because we have so many amazing families right now and i would love to see their progress in the Gospel.
Every day is an adventure. I know that many of you my friends would like to hear of the crazy things that happen here in Brazil. One day you will here them! I promise.
Love you all,
Elder Sanchez

Eu tinha que dar um discurso em Portugués! (I had to give a talk in Portuguese!) Nov 21

This week was awesome! Things are warming up here. My companion and i were both sick this past week but we continued to work. I lost my voice and regained it, portuguese was a struggle with a raspy american accent but i made it through. We had the opportunity to participate in the baptism of Vinicios. He is a great guy and i am so grateful that he made this change in his life. He stopped smoking and drinking before we even taught him it was wrong. The big search for new people has begun again. I dont know what i am going to do with Thanksgiving this year. Maybe i´ll eat some more rice and beans that day haha. I had to give a talk on Sunday! It was so cool. I was nervous but it was great. I used an analogy of how when David and I built a Lego spaceship we needed to have the same vision to arrive at the same result and i compared it to us and Jesus Christ. We have our vision and he has His. We need to make our vision the same as his vision. His vision and focus is our Joy and our salvation. We gain his vision in our lives through obedience to his commandments and through making covenants with him.
Love you guys. Have a wonderful turkey dinner this week!
Elder Sanchez

#SejaALuzDoMundo (#BeTheLightOfTheWorld) Nov 28

This week was great! We had some really great days and met some really great people. We are starting to teach faster to get more lessons in one day. It is starting to get really humid here... its like Georgia humidity but in Brasil haha. I had a great thanksgiving! I worked like normal and ate rice and beans! Oh man when i recieved that box with regular american deodorant and peanut butter i dont think i have ever been filled with adrenaline of happiness so strong before! I ate one entire jar of peanut butter that morning because i was so happy!! First time in six months, it was a moment to remember! Right now my companion and i are running every day! I am feeling so healthy, we also starting buying a lot more fruit. I love this thing we make that is milk with mango and sugar. It is delicious and smooth. We had the opportunity to sing in the mall next to the São Paulo temple! It was so cool! I got to sing a solo of Jingle Bells in english over the mall speakers!! Everybody, Christmas is coming! A time to help more, hope more and love more! Everybody go to the site Mormon.org to watch the video of this year. Every day you can watch a new video to see of how Jesus Christ help someone and how we can follow his example to spread His spirit this Christmas season. I testify that Jesus Christ is our Savior and i promise that if you choose to participate in this campaign to be a light to another. You will feel a little of the love that God feels for His children and you will be blessed this Christmas season! You guys have a wonderful week in the land of the free!!
Com amor,
Elder Sanchez

"O poder da Restauração!"

Everyone here drives a manual car. They are just now buying automatics and don't know how to drive them yet. Someone broke off the gate with an automatic car. Ha ha

I don´t have a lot of time today. This past week was amazing and i would like to share two experiences with you guys. We were sharing the message of the restauration with an atheist named Kelvin. We arrived at the part when we recite the First Vision of Joseph Smith and the spirit was so strong. Then we continued talking but only a few moments passed and Kelvin´s brother Josué entered the room and said, "Can you say that again?". I said, "Say what again?". He said, "Vi um pilar de luz (I saw a pilar of light)". And so my companion and i stopped where we were and returned and i recited the First Vision again. The spirit was so strong again, and then Josué said, "I know this is true. I know this happened. I was in the other room listening to you guys and when i heard these words, i knew that they were true." It was amazing. The spirit was so strong there that when we arrived Kelvin was athiest and when we left he was a Christian. I know that it was not because of me, nor because of my companion. But because they paid attention and let the spirit touch their hearts through the words and testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith. My testimony grew was strengthened as well. We had another experience with a family. I got to know the parents because of their food truck. It is always parked in front of the Catholic Church across the street and we wave to each other every day. We were knocking doors on this one road and i saw their food truck and knew that they lived there. So i went and called them and clapped my hands. They arrived and we sat with their family. Two young parents with two teenage boys (reminded me of my family). Before we even started the Dad started to cry and the spirit was so strong. They live a hard life and were so grateful that we had a chance to meet with them. They pray often as a family and read the bible together. I could feel the power of love in their home. We shared the restauration to them and it all made sense to them! It was amazing! They were truly prepared. We started to explain about the Book of Mormon and the Mom of the family said "This is it! This is it!" I asked what she was talking about and she said, "This is the sealed book that is spoken of in the Bible!" We were all so happy and i said yes! Then i showed to her the passage in the bible because she had forgotted where it speaks of the Book of Mormon. And they were so happy to recieve the Book of Mormon and to hear that we have a living prophet today.

I am grateful for these experiences. Sorry if they dont make a ton of sense, i was typing pretty fast and struggling to think in English. I love all of you guys and am so grateful for you all. Jesus Christ is our Savior and God is our Father and one day everyone will know of they truthfulness and glory.

Com Amor,

Elder Sanchez