A Obra

Another week! This week was full of miracles. Even amidst the chaos of the world, the Lord still has a work to do and it still needs to be our top priority. It is all that matters and all that will matter. His work is the sole purpose Jesus Christ was sent to atone for our sins. His work is the reason we have been put together into family units. His work is the reason every prophet has been called and every apostle has testified. Once we gain a focus on the work, our fear of the chaos of the world will fade. And the things that matter most will become more apparent in our own lives. I am still working on focusing solely on the work but I have found great joy as I refocus on the work. DO IT!

It was another week of Facebook finding. I think I'm getting pretty good about it. I friend request every person that lives here. Which is much like knocking on every door of every person that lives here. It's a much more efficient way to do the work. At first Facebook finding really discouraged me. I wasn't seeing success and I was always bored and my head hurt from being on a screen all day. But when I began to compare it to the missionary work I'm used to, it got more fulfilling. And in some ways more appealing. I can friend request 50 people in 5 minutes. I could never knock on 50 doors in 5 minutes. In some ways it feels like I've upgraded to a much quicker way of reaching out. Bringing the two aspects of the work, the tracting grind of Brasil and talking to anyone and everyone about the gospel, and then being on social media and uplifting and thinking of creative ways to catch people's attention has been miraculous! And yes I use the word miraculous because miracles have been seen. We are so grateful for our God who blesses us with miracles. My companion and I re-evaluated how our work ethic was and looked at our goals, made new plans to do better and have fulfilled our goals each day. No matter how tired or boring it was. And the Lord has already blessed us with 4 new people to teach. All of which of course have families so we are excited. One is a Brazilian! I called him and he answered in English and I may have surprised him by responding in Portuguese ha! He wants to make us Brazillian strogonoff and is excited to talk with us! He didn't seem very thrilled at first but I explained my situation of being in Brazil and now being here because of COVID and how excited I was to be speaking Portuguese and then he started getting excited. People will become more engaged as they learn why you're engaged. They will care more if you show them how much you care! It was a little miracle and a sign of the hand of the Lord in my life!

One of the highlights of the week was getting ice cream with some good friends.Turns out the Layton's have family here in Iowa (maybe Illinois... it's confusing because our area is 10 minutes into Illinois and not Iowa so I can't always tell who lives where haha) and they bought us good ice cream and we talked in a socially distanced manner with them for a bit. It was so energizing to have interaction with members and also have them feel like close friends. As missionaries we love now more than ever to be in good contact with the members. You guys are almost all we have right now! It was a tender mercy to receive a call from them wanting to come be with us. My heart is grateful for wonderful people.

(The sweet Pawlowski's showing us some good ice cream and much needed conversation)

Also, due to the riots and things that have been happening fairly close to us, the bridge over the Mississippi was closed down. So my comp and I were closed off from the rest of the mission as we live in Illinois and not Iowa. It was crazy. But I'm also being dramatic. The bridge was closed for maybe 12 hours and I was asleep during about 10 of them. But still, kinda cool.

All in all this week has been fantastic. Perspective is everything. And I'm grateful to be a missionary! The Lord is real and is with us. I know that to be true.

Love y'all! Keep on keepin' on

Elder Hixon 

Elder Forrest and Elder Hixon