World Cup Life in Brasil!

Well hello there my absolutely favorites! How in the world are you doing?  It was nice to hear from all of you this past week. I love you all so much and I am so grateful for each and every one of you!

So this past week was pretty sweet as Brazil WON!!! WAHOO!! This place seriously like shuts down when the cup is on... especially when it is Brazil. I took a picture of a pretty busy road this past week during the game and you would be shocked. Not one soul in the street. It is nice though because I can feel that "gameday feeling" that I get as my Utes are playing at home and we are walking to Rice Eccles. The only difference is it is never ending... literally the whole country is into the game and gets so pumped and so crazy when they score!!! The city like erupts. Brazil is crazy! I need them to keep winning... because the more they win, the more happy people are….and the more happy people are... the easier they will be open and be willing to accept our message... and when they are open and willing to accept our message... they accept our message and are converted to the Gospel... and when they do that... Elder Abel is super happy! So in all... it is just a cycle of complete happiness. So in other words...... VAI BRASIL!!!!! Everyone will be happy... (:

Traffic during World Cup!

Not a whole lot of crazy is happening here in the Bosque. Last week I broke a 10 month streak of not eating veggies in the house of the members. NOBODY serves veggies here and it is such a craving I have (I am so weird) haha! Like a few weeks back I went and bought veggies and cooked them up and ate them... it was amazing!!! Yesterday a member made some yummy food with veggies. It was delish!! Also... she made Apple pie. IT.WAS.AMAZING!! Dang... I miss America!

So how about the work. Well the work has been a bit slow We may have a baptism this week. Her name is Fatima. She is really cool. A really neat lady and she has a desire to be baptized, but we shall see what happens this next week with her. The people here are literally seeing so many miracles in their lives... but not following them. It is so sad!! You can just tell that their hearts are so cold right now. I just hope and pray that one day they will accept the Gospel... it is hard to watch people reject the Gospel like that. But... it makes those that accept it so much sweeter!! (:

I would like to share a neat experience that I had as I was able to give a missionary a blessing this past week. My comp was fighting with me, and I straight up told him that he needed to leave because the spirit needed to be present. When I started this blessing my mind was completely blank. I couldn't think of anything. I could only think of the words that I need to say as I start. literally blank... like nothing... it is indescribably crazy!! I decided to just go forward with faith and once I started it was like the dictionary in my mind was opened and I was just going. It was so cool and I used words that I never used or even heard here in Brazil. It was such a neat experience and really humbled me to the importance of the Spirit and the importance of the Priesthood. I feel so blessed to be a holder of the priesthood. I feel blessed to work in the hands of the Lord as He uses me like an instrument. Heavenly Father loves and cares about us. I really do feel of his love and his awareness as I am here in Brazil. He is aware of me and aware of the things that His children need. This was definitely something that I needed.. as well as the missionary that I gave it to. Priesthood is such an amazing power and authority that we have on the earth. Without the priesthood... God would have no way to reach out to His children and bless them. Also... it is all based on the faith that we have. It is based on the faith of the person who asked, received, and will act in faith... as well as the faith on the person who is giving the blessing and the people in the room. Blessings without faith are practically pointless. I really liked what President Nelson said in one of his talks on Gen Conf about the difference between blessings and prayers. It is a blessing to have the priesthood and to be able to be an instrument in reaching out to God's children. I am grateful for all of the priesthood holders who are in my life and the examples they are to me. I am also grateful for all of the women who honor the priesthood holders in their life as they support them and help them to strive to stay worthy.

I love you so much and i miss you like crazy! Thank you so much for all that you do and the examples that you are! I hope you have a wonderful week and enjoy the blessings that God grants you each day. I miss you so much... in fact... I miss you more than I miss a good ole' butterbeer from Fizz. Go get yourself a butterbeer this week and send me a pic!! Have a wonderful week! Ü

Love, your favorite Sky! Elder Abel! Ü

Bosque has been good to Elder Abel

Missionary Life in Bosque 2018

Mission Life in Bosque

Well hello there my favorites!!! Oh how much I love you all and how much I appreciate the wonderful things that you all do for me!

The highlight of the week was receiving a surprise package?!?! Soo... I don't know how many of you know but Kaytlin sent me a package in NOVEMBER from the Dominican Republic and I have been praying and waiting to finally get this package haha. I never lost faith that it would get her... and it finally ARRIVED here in the good ole´ São Paulo Brasil!! It seriously was such a blessing and made me so happy! It was just what I needed, even despite that it was 7 months late and the candy may expire in the next 20 days haha. 

Another highlight of the week was the brotherly love from my buddy Elder DeYoung. He gave me his last gushers this past week and didn't tell me until about 3 days after. Now that's some brotherly love right there... Gushers are life! Also... I met `The son of the road` this past week haha. It was some drunk dude that started battling us about who God is and who Jesus Christ. He then rambled on telling us how he is the `son of the road` and how we aren't allowed to walk in the road haha. Pretty classic!!! And I thought the craziness ended in Ubirajara... but it is alive here in Bosque.

This past week was quite interesting. There are just some weeks that don't seem to pass here in the mission.. and this was definitely one of them. I am happy and healthy and pretty dang blessed, but the work just doesn't seem to be moving here in Bosque. Everyone seems to lie to us or go on vacations for months upon months!! There wasn't a whole lot of success with the people that I mentioned last week... but I know and can just feel that it is part of God's Plan for me and the people here. For some reason I feel like I was put here to be rejected time and time again... and to not have a whole lot of success.. so that in the end I can become more humble and have a stronger testimony of the Gospel. I am learning so much and in all it is strengthening my testimony on the truthfulness of the Gospel and the important role that it has in my life. Because it is a lot harder to have a desire to serve and teach the Gospel when the work is just not moving, people aren't progressing or going to church, and nobody wants to hear the message. It makes it hard and sometimes I struggle and lose the desire to even share this wonderful Gospel.. but it is in those moments that I ask myself if I actually have a testimony of the Gospel or if I am teaching something that doesn't mean anything to me. I am happy to say that the Gospel of Jesus Christ really means a whole lot to me and I don't doubt the importance that it has in my life, and the potential that it has to change the lives of others. 

I had quite the experience kind of getting in a heated argument with a Dad this past week. We have been teaching his 18 year old son and helping him with some of the problems that he is having as far as addictions and struggles. This Dad answered the door this past week and just started yelling at me and how he doesn't want us to come around anymore. He went on to tell me how he has `his faith`and `his own religion` and that he doesn't need `my message, my faith, or my religion`. The difference is... it isn't `my faith, religion, or message` but it is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it is the Church of Jesus Christ, it is a lot more than what he was thinking. I explained to him (in the nicest way possible) that `his faith` isn't helping his son and the struggles that he is having and then bore my testimony on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Doctrine of Christ that has blessed my life immensely and shared my witness of how I know that it can change his life, his family´s life, and especially his son's life. Unfortunately his heart was too hard and he just wasn't having it. He told us to never come back and that we don't have authorization to talk to his 18 YEAR OLD son. Pretty ridiculous, but I know that his day will come. 

My point to this e-mail and this story is to share that I KNOW that the Gospel is truly for everyone!! Whether you have addictions or trials... whether you are struggling with family, a relationship, work, or just the daily life... the Gospel can heal you and WILL heal you if you let it. It is the perfect cycle that truly does lead to an eternal life. It is our purpose here on Earth and the only way back to our Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for the Gospel and the blessing that it is in my life. I know it has changed my life, is changing my life, and will change my life as I just continue to let it. It is a cycle to perfection and I am so grateful to have it and this knowledge in my life. I hope you all feel the same way and I know that you do. 

Thank you for all that you do and please know that I miss you.  I love you all so much!! Have a wonderful week and let me know if there is anything that I can do for you!! Ü

Love, your happy and healthy Sky... Elder Abel! Ü

Elder Alcorn

Temple Blessings

HAPPY JUNEE!!!! Can you guys even believe that it is June? It is crazy!!! I am shocked that we are about half way through the year.. time is picking up! Wahoo... (;

This past week I had splits with Elder DeYoung!!! Wahooo! I will be honest with you... It was AMAZING!!! English is such a blessed language and it is so nice to just be able to express EVERYTHING without even having to think or try very hard. Plus... we just get along so well and we have the same type of interests and goals. We had a pretty neat experience as we were knocking doors. We weren't having very much success because Bosque is just that way and NOBODY wanted to hear our message. We were kind of getting frustrated, but didn't lose our hope or faith. I said a little prayer in my head asking for just one person that we can talk to and that we can help a little bit. (Later I found out that Elder DeYoung did the same thing in that very moment) We continued to knock doors on that street and 5 seconds after I finished my little prayer or plead to the Lord... someone turned the corner and I instantly got the chills. I could just feel the Spirit so strong... `Talk to him... talk to him...` I looked over at DeYoung and he had the same feeling. You could just see it in his eyes. We talked to this man and he was amazing!!! He has been looking for the truth and we shared with him the Restoration. He said that he remembers this lesson. He went on to tell a story that two missionaries shared that same message with him awhile back and he could just see a light above their heads. He said that it was so powerful, but that they never returned. He said that as we were sharing that message with him he saw that same light and felt that same feeling. He made sure to give us the right address and even gave us his phone number. It was so powerful and it was just what Elder DeYoung and I needed. Soo cool! We will be working with him and I have faith that all will work out. 

Elder DeYoung

José (from last week went on vacation so that will be interesting to see when he gets back. Oswaldo has been out of town as well because his daughter is have twins, but he calls us like every 3 days saying he wants to get to know the church and receive the messages of the Gospel. So we are having success and all, but it is just coming slowly. The other Oswlado will be praying for the first time about baptism this week and we are hoping and praying that he will choose to follow the Savior. Also we found another lady named Eunice who was our other miracle with Elder DeYoung as we were walking home from a long day and saw her and were prompted to pray with her. There are miracles happening... so we will see what happens this week. Ü

So to end... we had the wonderful privilege to go to the beautiful São Paulo Temple this past week. Wow... I can't even describe to you guys how much I love the temple. It truly is such a blessing and has EVERYTHING that we need. I am so grateful for the blessing that it is in my life and the opportunity that we have to attend the temple and partake of the many blessings that it has for us. It is so much more than a building and it is fair to say that it really is a `piece of heaven.´ What I love about the São Paulo Temple is that it is placed on a busy road full of craziness. It is pretty loud outside and it is placed around the `things of the world`.. like malls and crazy people and really just craziness in general. But as you walk into the Temple you can't hear any of the craziness. You can't hear the cars passing... the crazy people yelling.. or anything that would take away from the spirit. It is so peaceful, it is so calm, it literally is the House of the Lord. I am so grateful for the temple and the love that I feel as I am inside. I always wonder who is more blessed... the people that we serve in the temple or us that are doing the ordinances. Every time that I walk in to the temple I am reassured of the truthfulness of the Gospel. I am assured that the Spirit is real and I am assured and made aware that God lives and that we have a Savior. Just by entering the temple you get a little piece of what Heaven is like. My testimony grows and expands each time I go to the temple and I know that it is the same way for everyone. It is such a sacred place that is full of the love, peace, comfort, and Spirit of the Lord. 

Elder Bingham

 President and Sister Acosta

I know that we are a part of the only true and living church on the earth today. If you guys have a doubt or question (which I know we all do) I invite you to take it to the temple and I know without a doubt that you will receive your answer and that you will be reassured of the truthfulness that we are a part of. I am grateful for each one of you and the sealed and eternal family that we are. I look up to you all so much and I hope you know how much I love and miss you!! I definitely wanna go to the temple as a family when I get home... there is no better place to be, especially with those that you love, than inside the House of the Lord. (: I love you so much I hope you know how grateful I am for you guys and how much I appreciate the things that you all do for me. I miss you more than I miss a dryer and the perfectly scented dryer sheets that make all the difference. Just 14 more months (or 13) until my clothes will actually have a GOOD scent haha. Thank for everything and let me know if there is anything that I can do for you! I love you so much... (:

Love, your weird, tired, but happy Elder... Elder Sky Abel! (:

Elder Tobin Smith