#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

"Marcia e Sandra realizou um grande passo na vida delas!"

Helping a family move!



Sister Isabel gave us the best Brigadeirão in the world!!


Cleaning mold off my ceiling.

Hey everybody! Man the mission is amazing. I dont know how to describe it. I had my first baptisms. They were awesome, i was so nervous about dropping them but i prayed and they felt as light as a feather! I am so grateful for the power of the priesthood and the grace of Jesus Christ. My friends, Marcia and Sandra, took a large and probably the most important step yesterday in their lives. All of their sins were erased and they made a covenant with the Lord to keep his commandments in this life. Through this covenant made by the priesthood power of God and because of the example of Jesus Christ we all will have the opportunity to return to our Heavenly Father. Heavenly Father sent us here to this earth to obtain a body, to make covenents with him (like baptism), and to demonstrate our willingness to submit our will to His will so that we can esperience celestial joy now and in the future. If you would like to know more about this, go to www.Mormon.org or www.LDS.org or contact the missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in your area and they will do all they can to help you!

Love all of you! You all are amazing people doing amazing things. Continue learning and growing, the time on this earth is short. Take advantage of it! I am especially grateful for my parents and the power of their example in my life. Stay strong and remember you are a Child of God. He loves you and knows your worries and supports all of your righteous desires!

Elder Sanchez​

2 Letters

Oxe!!! Uma grande Mudança e muitas beijas para todos vocês! 10/10/2016

So guys! I accidentally deleted all my photos (i need to develope patience with the computer haha)... but you guys already have most of the good ones. I´ll just have to start fresh again. And next week you will have some fresh pics of brasil.

A lot of things happened this week. Last week of the this transfer ended... i had a division with Elder Castro (the assistant to the president)! It was awesome, i slept in the mission office and learned soooo much with him. How to teach, how to contact, how to plan and more! We even did a bus contact, instead of just a few people on the bus we contacted the whole bus. He talked while i handed out pass along cards of the Book of Mormon! It was nerve racking drawing the attention of all the people on the bus but went well. Now i feel obliged to do it everytime i´m on the bus because i know how now! I only have two years to help people come unto Christ, gotta do whatever it takes!

I also had a division with Elder Uchtyl, he is american and is going home tomorrow. He is an awesome missionary. I taught with him on his last day of working. His testimony was so strong and he told everybody we talked to to take advantage of the opportunity to visit with the missionaries! It was an awesome experience, i want to be like him when i end my mission!

So tomorrow is transfer! We recieved word on the detailes yesterday! I will stay in Jardim Catanduva, Elder M. Silva will go to serve in Zona Osasco! And the scary part is that i will be a trainer starting tomorrow. I will recieve a greenie fresh from the CTM! Brazilian, at least i wont have to teach him Portuguese! But i am learning quick how much more i will need to trust in the Lord to fulfill my purpose in this area.

Right now the work is going well. We have two investigators that will be baptized this month on the 16th and 23rd. They are awesome and both very intelligent so its so cool to be a part of their conversion. Marcia and Sandra are their names! We found a family this week!!! An entire family and the parents are married and everything! the first lesson with them was awesome! It is rare to find a traditional family in São Paulo but we were blessed to come across one!

So if you are in brasil and walk through the exaust of a car and it smells like a burning bar, its because the driver is being economic haha. They use pure alcohal if they cant afford to pay for gas and it smells sooooo bad haha! I always wonded why some exhausts smelt worse than others but my comp finally told me it because the fill the tank with alcohal which is way cheaper.

I learned a lot from my trainer, I will miss him. I am still in my first area which is a good thing, i dont want to have to learn more street names yet haha. We got a missionary couple in our ward this sunday, Elder and Sister Anderson! They are from Texas. During the week they work with the church´s webcasting program and establishing it in Brasil but on the weeked they will help my ward with the less active members. I am going to help them by putting together lists of less active families for them to visit! They only have two months in Brasil! its wierd being out here longer than other people! This past saturday marked 4 months on the mission. The time is passing so fast! I love all of you guys! I know that God is real, and i know he hears and answers prayers. Not because i learned from other people but because it happens in my life. If you are not a praying person, your Father in Heaven is waiting to hear your concerns, needs and wants. There are many blessings that depend on our asking! Love all of you guys! My Americans!! If any of you have questions about Brasil or the work i do on my mission, please feel free to send me an email and i will try and answer in the best way i can!

Com Amor,

Elder Sanchez

General Conference 2016

This is my new companion fresh from the CTM! Elder Pittella! He is from the very south of brazil. Everyone calls him a Vaqueiro (brasilian cowboy) because of his accent haha. It is nothing like a cowboy accent in english but i understand it really well. He is freakin awesome! He served for a year as the executive secretary of his home ward before the mission and he has all the ideas to ramp up the Jardim Catanduva Ward! Yup, i´m still in Jardim Catanduva. I figured out that i will be here at least six months, two tranfers to be trained (already done) and two tranfers to train.

My companion´s first pizza on the mission!!! Chocolate Border and all!!!!

"Estou treinando um novinho!" I am training!! 10/17/2016

So this week was awesome!! My companion is soooo good, Elder Pittella! I swear he already served a mission, he basically knows how to do everything and teaches very well and by faith. We have been walking alot and it is starting to get pretty hot here in just the past week. We have two baptisms coming this weekend. Marcia and Sandra will be baptised on the 23rd after church! I am so happy for them and their progress! It is so cool to be a missionary. A large part of my happiness on the mission is from seeing the joy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ change other people and to learn more about the nature of our Heavenly Father. So many times we teach the first lesson about the Restauration of the Gospel to people and my favorite part is in the very beginning when we get to talk about the love of God and how he blesses families! The truths are simple but have so much power. I love to tell people that God is our Father and that we are His children and that he loves us more than we can imagine. Everytime i say it or my companion says it, the spirit confirms the truth of it in my heart and in the hearts of those we teach. Its freakin awesome!

I got so many emails from friends this week!! Thank you sooooo much! I read all of them and dont have a ton of time today to respond but i will soon enough dont worry! Things are changing here, all the differences in the brasilian culture are normal to me now and i´m forgetting all of the concepts  and commodities of your average american lifestyle. I love being a brasilian! I am also kind of glad that i am out of the country during this election. I hear it is a bunch of junk. It sounds like two pastors of different churches arguing about what the apostle Paul said in the bible regarding marraige. Good luck with that vote! I am exempt this time!! 

I read the testimony of the Prophet Abenadi in the Book of Mosiah in the Book of Mormon. He was the man. He was testifying before the wicked King Noah and his priests about their wickedness and how if they dont change then God will destroy them and how Jesus Christ will come and redeem the righteous and not the wicked. They tried to kill him in the middle of his testimony but by the power of God he commanded them to give him more time to finish relaying what God had to say and they stopped until he finished. Abenadi changed the heart of the King for a moment but the peer pressure of his priests hardened his heart in an instant and they burned the prophet of the Lord at the stake. The death of the prophet Abenadi serves as a witness that Jesus Christ is our Savior, that only through obedience to his comandments, we can live again with our Father in Heaven! I love this story and his sacrifice for Christ!

Love you guys!

Elder Sanchez!

"Conferencia Geral esta vindo!!" General Conference is coming!!

... #VN#LivinTheLegend#Churro#Pimpedmyride
Someone got angry and burned this car. :)

I learned something about the underground communication. I thought that hanging shoes from the power lines was a cultural thing or a practical joke but it is really how the drug dealers mark territory and trade points.

Oí, todo mundo! Só tranquilidade nos Estados Unidos e Peru? (shoutout to Elder Fife! love ya bud!)

Thank you for all of the happy birthdays and personal emails. In time i will respond to all! My birthday was great. It was a hot day and then the day after was freezing. This weathering is so unpredictable. Its the climate of a rainforest with out a forest... just concrete and the mix wacks things up sometimes. I guess we can call the climate, raincrete! haha so cheesy! But really i am so thankful for the pillow case, the spiderman pillow case. my spidy senses are up all night long now!

This week was interesting. We helped a lady carry her groceries to her house and up the stairs and then we were talking trying to set up a time when we could visit to share a message and she grabbed my companions arm and started rubbing her face on his shoulder like a teddy bear. My companion freaked out but we both could help but crack up at the situation. He fleed from her grasp but she held on tight. He went behind me and i kind of pushed her off. She doesnt have very many teeth (the word for that in portuguese is "Bangela" someone who doesnt have teeth). After he broke free we booked down the stairs and out of the door! Some people are just strange. 

Anybody can guess what i ate this week??? Rice and beans baby. Still going strong every day. I love it. But really i am lovin the fried banana... nothing gets better than fried banana for dessert!

We were so blessed this week and found more people who are ready to be taught about the restored gospel. I love the Lord and how he works. Truly this mission experience is marvalous and lifechanging. The title of this post is in English "General Conference is coming!". Two times every year we have the opportunity to hear from the prophet and the 12 aposltes of the world. October 1st and Second they will address us. If any of you want to know why The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is different from any other church that preaches about Christ, listen or watch this conference. We have a living prophet today. God worked through prophets in the bible, book of mormon, and all throughout time. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I invite all of you to listen to the words of the prophet and apostles today and focus on what you feel. Pray and ask if these men are men of God. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. I love you all! Have an amazing week!

Com Amor,

Elder Sanchez

See how to secure your vehicle!

Walking through a park at night.




Secured vehicle! ha ha

So this week was great! We have people that actually want to learn about the gospel! And i had a few strange/ funny experiences! The first is the van... i sent a pic with the caption "if you dont want someone to steal your van... chain it to the ground". Whats really funny is that these voltwagon vans here are like the most common utility vehicle and i dont think anyone would try and steal this one. Unless he has something valuable inside that led him to chain his van to the ground. then it would make sense. My companion and i were laughing so hard. There was a DJ across the street playing like Black Power rap from the 60s and 70s that same day too. I taught my companion how to say "Lets have a Black Panther Party" from Forest Gump! 

There is a song that i really love that my companion has and it is called "Closer" by Kyle Thorn. Look it up and listen, it describes how i feel on the mission every day.

It is getting hard to formulate sentences in english when i talk, writing is easy but when i talk its hard. I was on a phone call with my mission president and we were speaking english and i couldnt talk as fast as normal haha.

We were contacting last night in road and i walked up to this person and said "O Senhor (Mister)" to call his atention but he replied right back and in the moment he replied i saw the makeup and the hair and then heard the voice, "Não, é a Senhora (No, its Miss)". I realized that it was a tranny. I didnt know how to respond for a second then i just talked about the church with him and asked if we could visit and share a message about the Savior. He accepted, he has family that are mormon. Turns out he doesn't live in our area and he said that he wants to go to the United states... I made the mistake of asking why. He said to marry his husband. Nothing against him/her, but it was just an awkward contact, i´ll tell ya.

So my spiritual message this week is what we have been sharing with all the members the we eat almoço (lunch) with. Elder Neil L. Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve apostles said that when we pray for missionary experiences and for who we should share the gospel with that the names and faces of the people will come to our mind, the words will come to our mouth in the moment we need them, opportunities will arise and our faith with surpass our doubt. (i couldnt quote directly because i only have in portuguese haha) but this is the message. I invite all of you guys to pray for opportunities to share the gospel. I have a testimony of this. It is something that i tried to be dilligent with the year before the mission and it was amazing. I found opportunites at school, work, and with friends to talk about the teachings of the savior! Do it and you will see this too!

Love you guys, this time next week i will be 19 years old... just think about how cool that is for a second!

Elder Sanchez

A regular pizza with chocolate filled crust. So amazing!!
This is Elder Souza, my zone leader.


This picture is with my companion and with a member of the ward.
He is awesome and put on his old elder badge with us.

This week i had my first division with the zone leaders! It was awesome!! I dont have much time for my blog, today i´m gonna try to respond to some individuals! But here are a few things... I´m learning the soundtrack of the Prince of Egypt in portuguese from my companion (Emily Mitchell, i hope you are reading this haha). And this week i was studying in second Nephi in portuguese when he quotes Isaiah! It was awesome but i learned so many words about destruction of the wicked and the end of the world, fire and brimstone, type of vocabulary haha. I dont know when i will ever have to use this on the mission. I hope never! But then i arrived at the final chapters of 2nd Nephi. He testifies of before the coming of christ, the coming of christ, christ in the americas, and christ in our era today. It is some powerful stuff. I know that my testimony of the truthfulness of the book of Mormon grew from reading his testimony! Good stuff! Yesterday in church one of our investigators finally made it to church. I have never been more happy in my life than  to see her walk in the chapel sunday morning. She has a difficult life, her children have difficult lives, but her faith is strong and it is a blessing to be apart of her time coming to know the Gospel of Jesus Christ! I also played piano in sacrament meeting again... i didnt butcher it this time like the first time haha! A few final words... Jesus Christ is real, he is our brother and our savior. The Book of Mormon testifies of the reality of his ministry and gospel in the Bible. A testimony of the Book of Mormon can change one´s life for better. God works through prophets. It is a demonstration of his love for us. Today we all have a prophet of God, his name is President Thomas S. Monson and if we heed to his council and the council of the prophets in the Bible and Book of Mormon, we will recieve the maximum joy in this life and in the life to come!

Love you all so much! GO DAWGS and GOOOOO COUGARS!!

Elder Sanchez