September 11, 2017
Oi família e amigos! Realmente, tenho saudades de vocês. Soooo I am back to emailing you all, sorry about the huge break of no emails. I promise I will try to be better from now on! OK, gente, so if I spell anything wrong or if my sentences are alittle funny, I am sorry because it is really hard to think/write in English super fast. I am still in Ceilândia 3, we will have transfers here at the end of this month so we will see if I will stay here again or what. This weekend we had a baptism, of the 13 year old named Rafael, he is a kid to a less active member (that isn't less active anymore, (BTW) WAHOO!!) And his older brother will be getting baptized this Saturday which should be really good. Tommorrow, Laurita will be getting baptized and nossa, it is going to be super awesome.
So I am going to tell you guys about our wonderful house that I live in here. Sooo it has a lot of cockroaches, ants, andddddd LIZARDS!!! (': My comp and I were getting used to the cockroaches/ants and they were begging to be our umm "friends" but NOT the lizards. OK, now I will tell you my first encounter with our lizard, so we got home from a long day and I went into the BR to take a shower and I got in the shower and looked up at the ceiling and he was just freaking there!?? I just hurried up and got out. BUT, listen here, my comp went to go take a shower after me and she got in and all I heard was her screaming and yelling at the lizard saying, "NO, NO, NO. STOP!!!" The lizard fell off the ceiling and on to the ground in front of her!!!! LOL!!! Anywayssss, that is our lives here in Ceilândia.
During my professional life as a pilot, I relied greatly on the precision and reliability of computer systems but rarely had to work my own personal computer. In my office work as an executive, I had assistants and secretaries who kindly helped me with the tasks.All this changed in 1994, when I was called as a General Authority. My calling consisted of many wonderful opportunities to minister, but it also included a great deal of Church office work—more than I ever thought possible.To my shock, the main tool to stay on top of my work was a personal computer.For the first time in my life, I had to delve into this strange, mystifying, incomprehensible world.From the start, the computer and I were not on the friendliest of terms.Able tech people tried to teach me how to use the computer. They literally stood behind me, reaching over my shoulder, their fingers moving quickly and tapping a percussive symphony against the keyboard.“See?” they would say proudly. “That’s how you do it.”I did not see. It was a rocky transition.My learning curve was more like a brick wall.It took a great deal of time, repetition, patience; no small amount of hope and faith; lots of reassurance from my wife; and many liters of a diet soda that shall remain nameless.Now, 22 years later, I am surrounded by computer technology. I have an email address, a Twitter account, and a Facebook page. I own a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop, and a digital camera. And,while my tech skills may not quite measure up to those of a typical seven-year old, for a septuagenarian, I do all right.But I have noticed something interesting. The more adept I get at technology, the more I take it for granted.For a large part of human history, communication happened at the speed of a horse. Sending a message and getting a reply could take days or even months. Today our messages travel thousands of miles into the sky or thousands of meters beneath the oceans to reach someone on the other side of the world, and if there is a delay of even a few seconds, we get frustrated and impatient.It seems to be human nature: as we become more familiar with something, even something miraculous and awe-inspiring, we lose our sense of awe and treat it as commonplace.Taking for granted our modern technologies and conveniences may be a relatively small matter. But, sadly, we sometimes take a similar attitude toward the eternal and sould- expanding doctrine of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the Chruch of Jesus Christ, we have been gien so much. WE are surrounded by such an astonishing wealth of light and truth that I wonder if we truly appreciate what we have. Think of those early disciples who walked and talked with the Savior during His earthly ministry. Imagine the thanksgiving and reverence that must have flooded their hearts and filled their minds when they saw Him risen from the tomb, when they felt the wounds in His hands. Their lives would never be the same!Think of the early Saints of this dispensation who knew the Prophet Joseph Smith and heard him preach the restored gospel. Imagine how they must have felt to know that the veil between heaven and earth had parted again, shedding light and knowlege upon the world from our celestial home above. But most of all, think of how you felt when for the first time you believed and understood that you are truly a childe of God; that Jesus Christ willingly suffered for your sins so that you may be clean again; that priesthood power is real and can bind you to your loved ones for time and all eternity; that there is a living prophet on the earth today. Isn't that wonderful and amazing?Considering all of this, how could it ever be possible that we of all people would not be excited about attending our Church worship services? Or get tired of reading the holy scriptures? I suppose this could be possible only if our hearts were past feeling to experience gratitude and awe for the sacred and sublime gifts God has granted us. Life -changing truths are before our eyes and at our fingertips, but sometimes we sleepwalk on the path of discipleship. Too often we let ourselves be distracted by the imperfections of our fellow members instead of following the example of our Master. We tread a path covered with diamonds, but we can scarcely distinguish them from ordinary pebbles. -Elder Uchtdorf
I hope you all have a good week! I love you all!!!
Love, Sister Menlove
