I'm a Dreamer!

This week was super awesome!!!! Elder Pontual and I were able to have a lesson almost every day which is so great haha! Under the circumstances we are in right now that makes me feel super grateful. They were all lessons with our sweet Gaby. Gaby is going to get baptized this Saturday and is just the sweetest investigator. In fact, her and I both have had neat little experiences that have testified to us that this was definitely God's plan for her to be accepting the Gospel at this time. Before I go into the cool story time quick news updates... 

Sadly, I am being transferred out of my sweet Ibiuna. The Lord is funny, he will not allow me to spend more than 3 weeks in Ibiuna at 1 time. I think it is because He knows I like it too much here and feel too comfortable here. I am learning from family that choosing to stay somewhere that is comfortable is often times cheating us of an opportunity to learn and grow. So yes, I leave this place in a bit of an emergency transfer this week. Our Zone Leader just got called to be AP and President wants me to take his place. So, that is the plan. I will still have Ibiuna in my zone and I will also have my old area Cotia in this zone as well. So if conditions allow, I will be able to visit:) Which is kinda exciting. I will be living in Vargem Grande with Elder Machado for about 3 weeks. Then Elder Machado will complete his mission and I will get a new companion. So... I have got a quick 3 weeks to learn the area and get to know the ward so I can help my next companion. Pretty exciting stuff! Luckily President gave me permission to swing down on Saturday for the baptism of Gaby... so there I will be able to really say goodbyes to these wonderful people again. 

But okay... onto the some sweet experiences that I had hearing the voice of the Lord this week. In fact it was more of seeing the voice of the Lord. In double fact (I felt like I had to put the word double there cuz the previous sentence started with in fact lol idk) it might have been one of the most spiritual moments of my mission. So a little more than a year ago I was in Cotia and I started having pretty vivid dreams about missionary work and other things. In fact one touched me very closely that I even felt prompted to write it down. Only 3 people in existence know about what this dream consists of, haha and it is going to stay that way sorry for getting your hopes up;) But I just bring this dream up because at that time in my mission I was having many dreams about similar things. 

So for everyone to know, this is how I feel about dejavu (idk how to spell it) and how I have mixed feelings about dreaming the future. Or idk not dreaming the future but, I think I've told you before, science explains dejavu as the left side of your brain processes what's in front of you before the ride side of your brain so when you see something and feel like you've seen it before in a dream or something it's just the ride side of your brain making something up as to why it didn't process the event as fast. So I tend to believe more in that theory, more than us really seeing all these things in dreams beforehand. But at the same time if you write your dream down and then it happens oh heck yeah I 100% believe that you dreamed the future. So here's what happened with me this week.

So no, I didn't see the dream I wrote down. In fact that would be impossible because I was married in that dream haha. But I did have an experience with one of the dreams I had at that time over a year ago. So before I hop into the dream let me give some quick background on where I was and situations I was in prior to having this dream. I was a missionary in Brazil again. I was serving in Cotia with Elder Hancock and we were trying to go to a little super market store to try and get this drunk guy to stop talking to us haha. He kept asking for money and wouldn't leave us alone. He literally was like foaming at his mouth it was nasty and spitting on us. We got to the super market place and the guy said "You're going to buy me something right? If not I'll just rob you after you buy what you are going to buy". And I'm just like HOLYYYYYY COWWWWW LEAVE US ALONEEEE.  And then out of nowhere a member from the Ibiuna ward comes onto the scene and takes this drunk man by the shoulders and leads him out and away from us. And the man was of course Kilton! Who I've talked about previously but yes Kilton saved the day haha it was cool. He was in Cotia for work and we were all just in the right place at the right time.(minus the drunk dood geez he needed to go) But so that made me crazy happy to have seen him for a split second so for the rest of the day I was just thinking about Ibiuna life(remember this was a little over a year ago) and thinking about all the members there and stuff. Of course the day wrapped up and I fell asleep. It was either that very night or the night or two after that I had a very distinct dream that I was teaching a Brazillian woman via facetime with Kilton's wife, Amanda. I don't remember ever seeing my companion though I know he was there but I only remember looking at a screen and seeing Amanda and a Brazillian woman. 

Well fast forward to Tuesday of this last week. It was going to be our 3rd lesson with Gaby and we were going to solidify a baptismal date with her. We had taught her first about prayer, then the resto and we were teaching about the Gospel of Jesus Christ in this lesson. Oh also we had invited Amanda to teach with us as well! There came a point near the end of the lesson where I felt my eyes were opened and I remembered my dream I had over a year before. With Amanda, and the Brazillian woman (who I now know is Gaby). And I felt an immense amount of joy. In fact I felt the spirit and I was a little blown away. I didn't say anything at that moment because a little part of me didn't believe that I had really dreamed it a year ago. A little part of me resorted back to science explaining Dejavu. So... we finished the lesson and all was well. But I couldn't stop thinking about this experience I had and could not decide if it was a dream or science Dejavu. Two days later I decided to really pray and ask God if I had experienced science dejavu or if I really had dreamed this a year ago. And I felt so strongly that it was in fact a dream I had and that God can speak to us through dreams. It was a moment of great joy. My heart filled with joy and I prayed again in gratitude to Heavenly Father for speaking to me through this dream and revealing to me one of the reasons I was brought back here to Ibiuna. I know I know this is getting long I apologize! I'll just finish with the next day I relayed the experience I had to Gaby and dang we were all just in tears and she said it was an answer to her prayers and just another confirmation that she was making the right choice to be baptized. What a neat little experience huh? I'm so grateful and so humbled that God uses me, the unlikely, to accomplish the impossible. I'm probably on the more dull end of tools in the shed but my heart is filled with joy that Heavenly Father still uses me despite my many weaknesses. 

Gaby's sweet experience was after she attended an Intro to the Gospel of Jesus Christ class my mission president puts on every week. The day after this class she was thinking back on it and about President Horsley and just started bawling. She said she felt so strongly that she had met him before and that she knew this was another confirmation that she really was making the right choice to be baptized. 

All in all, God is merciful. He ties up loose ends! He can transform our lives into the most joy filled journeys. He can take hard times and show you the silver linings. Of course this is all if you let him! Be more faithful and more repentant and seek to hear the voice of the Lord. Since returning to Brazil I have kept a journal every day of instances where I heard the voice of the Lord that day! It has helped me be in better positions to hearken to His voice. The prophet has already instructed that those who do not know how to receive personal revelation will not survive spiritually. So... this is not a do it if you want type of thing... this is a do it to help you be fit for the Celestial Kingdom type of thing:)

I am grateful to be a missionary and to learn! I am humbled by how much God loves me. Me! Simon Hixon! He loves me despite my short comings. So, I am grateful!!

Love you all!!! Have a great week!!

Elder Hixon 

How Quickly I Forgot!

Hello hello and hello again! 

This last week was a lot slower than the week before. And frankly was a bit harder. I do not know if there is much to recap but there is very personal things I have learned this week. So let me jump into those!

So, with the state of Sao Paulo being in the state of emergency right now due to the Pandemic we are pretty locked up. We can not even have church anymore! It is right back to where we started almost a year ago haha. So, it has made days realllllyyyy feel long and gives me a lot of time to think and think and think. I try to fill my time with useful things like studying or practicing POrtuguese but wow. Sometimes you just need a break. I have looked at the walls of my apartment and have cleaned a lot this week. We share a smart phone here and my wonderful companion loves to be the one who always is on the phone. Which is okay but just gives me that much less to do haha. So the beginning of the week went pretty slow and really not much happened. And it was then that I really started struggling to not complain. In fact, I started complaining a little bit. I am sure Nephi would have called it murmuring so yes, unfortunately this week I was more like a Laman or Lemuel than I was a Nephi. I was pretty upset as to why on earth I am even here. They sent me back to Brazil just to do almost nothing haha. And really, almost nothing. We can not find on our own efforts, only via media or member referrals. So we just wait and wait and try to contact old referalls and things like that. It is pretty hard to feel like a missionary that is for sure. In Iowa under quaratine I had Facebook where I could friend a million people and send off messages to them all day long. Here I do not have that so I am out of ideas haha. SO unfortunately yes, I became a little stinker this week and complained. It almost seemed as if the Lord was waiting for me to complain to reveal His hand and teach me again who is in charge. On Thursday Eduardo decided he was ready to be baptized this weekend. The rest of his family was already baptized and he basically was ready but just did not really want to until Thursday when he told us. It was pretty exciting. The baptism went super well and we are so happy Eduardo decided to make this choice and can now in 1 year go to the temple with his whole family to be sealed to them forever. It was a sweet baptismal service and a little reminder that God was in charge. But of course as God always is, when He wants us to learn something, He makes sure we get ample oppurtunity to learn that thing. It was Sunday morning that we received a call from the sister of a girl we have been teaching. The sister was baptized a few months ago and basically talked to us and told us her sister had finally offered a prayer to God asking about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and our church( we had invited her to do so 2 times already this past week). This girl, Franciele, told her sister that she felt without a doubt that the church was true and she now has a desire to be baptized. Which might just happen this weekend! We were beyond excited and grateful for the work the Lord had been doing with her. We had fasted for her and prayed for her for the past week and a half and finally she decided to pray. So again I learned who was in charge. But then a few hours later we had a very very powerful and Spirit filled lesson with Gaby. She was a member referral we got a few days ago and we taught her the Restoration and she felt very touched and moved by the message. As did we! In fact it went so well she even has a small desire to join  our church! Which we will be extending that invitation on Tuesday for her to be baptized probably next weekend. It was a crazy Spirit filled weekend. After the lesson with Gaby I KNEW who was in charge. In fact I started feeling ashamed of myself. How could I have forgotten so quickly who is in charge. How could I have been so quick to murmur and complain. I had worked so hard 2 weeks ago and when the following week did not go as planned I became a Laman. I complained against my God. Even now I feel a little shame a guilt for how easily I felt sorry for myself and my circumstances. But God is in charge. I never need to feel sorry for myself, and I never need to complain. I immediately went to my room and got on my knees and plead for forgiveness. During that prayer I made promises to be more dilligent and more grateful. I am grateful that my Heavenly Father really helped me to learn this principle this week. I am grateful for that reminder that I really and truly just need to sacrifice what I can, and let God do the rest. I know He is loving and merciful. I know He has a plan for each and every one of us. I know God lives. I know that as I look to Him, and His son Jesus Christ, I can feel more joy regardless of my circumstances. Though I was in the wrong this week, I am grateful God allows me to learn from my mistakes and try and become better. I love this gospel. I love learning as a missionary! If you find yourself complaining because of your circumstances, remember who is in control before He, who is in control, needs to remind you;) You will feel better than I did! 

Another quick thing I learned was that God never asks for a quota(mom did I spell this right?). God asks for sacrifice. He did not ask for me to reach out to 200 people so that I could see someone enter the waters of baptism... No all He asks for is sacrifice. If we sacrifice, He will make it workout in ways that we could not expect. All 3 of these people that I have mentioned in my letter, Eduardo(baptized), Franciele(gonna get baptized), and Gaby(also gonna get baptized)... none of them were of the 200 that we had gotten in contact with. Yet the Lord still blessed us for that sacrifice. If you want the blessings of the Lord to be with you, then you need to learn how to sacrifice. Especially when trying to Gather Israel. There is no other way to do it. If you are not sacrificing, you can not expect any Celestial aid:)

Love you all! 

Recebar Revelacao!

First full week down out here in Brazil. Super super good stuff happening out here. I am grateful for the challenges that have already arrived and also for the love I have received from my God, my companion, and the members here in Ibiuna. Vamos la!

Okay so this week we hit the ground running. The area had not been worked in too much recently so we decided to contact every non member on our cell phone. And so we did. It was over 200 people! Day after day we sent messages and had conversations and tried to invite all to listen to the message of the Restoration. It was an interesting week, we did not leave our house very much nor did we teach a whole lot. 2 things that are VERY odd compared to the last time I was in Brazil. It is actually a whole new ball game here. I found myself reading scriptures, pacing, staring at the wall, and trying to come up with things to do so many times this week. I almost felt a time or two that I was in jail haha. Which is much different than the last time I was here. Last time I was here it was a sin to be in your house from the hours of 10 AM- 9PM haha. So it has taken some adjusting. And on top of the adjustments, this last weekend Sao Paulo returned back to phase red with this corona virus, meaning they are back to similar lockdowns that they were in about 10 months ago. So, basically nothing has changed since I got kicked out last year in regards to Covid. And despite all our best efforts, we ended up only being able to successfully teach 5 new people from those 200. And these 5 since then have decided they did not want to hear anymore haha. So, here we are left with not much to do. 

One thing I am learning so much about when it comes to being a missionary is accepting the revelation that my mission president has for me. As long as I am trying to do what he has asked, i will be blessed accordingly. I have 4 mission presidents in my mission(5 if we are counting President Milder haha) and each one, though trying to do the same thing which is to invite all to come unto Christ, have asked very different things of us. My first mission president focused more on our relationships with other missionaries and how that could help us find, teach and baptize. My second mission president used a lot more of a hands off style approach. Not in a bad way but more in a "I will teach correct principles and allow you guys to govern yourselves" meaning youth leadership really had a hold on how things operated in the mission and president rarely gave mass correction. My third mission president focused SO MUCH on member work. It was integral and in fact was something we had to report each week. We needed to have at least 21 lessons with members each week and then report lessons we had with people being taught that had members in them and such. Very very member focused. My 4th mission president(the one I have now, though chronologically he is number 3 we are making him 4 because I am hoping I finish with him) focuses on 3 things that he believes will help us find, teach and baptize. And okay really quick, when I say these mission presidents, "believe this is the way" I really mean that they have received revelation for the mission and this is how it is to be done. So President Horsley(my current mission president) believes in 3 steps: Ceasing your spiritual rebellion NOW in whatever thing it may be, seeking personal revelation through diligent study, and then teach with power and authority. He has felt strongly that these are the 3 steps we can take as a mission to better find, teach and baptize. Sorry I just took you on a long tangent to basically say that I am learning not every mission is the same and not every mission can function the same because revelation from God to His servants is personal to each and every situation(or in my case, mission). 

And I did not really have this perspective until Sunday night when I was talking with a member, Kilton, about how I was a little frustrated with how I feel like I am just waiting around to teach and am waiting on referrals from the church. He then taught me the principle I just tangented off on. In fact he also had 4 mission presidents in his mission and each one worked differently. He explained to me how if I were to just truly follow and do what my leaders have asked me to do(through revelation), that the work would go exactly as God intends it to. Which brought me a lot more comfort. Because step number 2 on the Horsley Baptism Formula is to receive personal revelation through diligent study. Which now I have AMPLE time to do. So, I have been brought comfort and even clarity and direction as I now go forward in my time here in Brazil.

That was a lot to tell you that I am learning again and again how important is it to listen to, and trust our Priesthood leaders. They have keys, priesthood permission and power, to help us find more joy in this life and do God's work here on the earth! 

That is all for this week:) I am happy here. Life is good! Go pray for your Priesthood leader and try and do what he tells you to do! He has been praying for you and has been receiving revelation for you!   

Love you all! 

Elder Hixon

Voltei!!!

Before I fly into a week recap I want to add this little poem that I wrote a while ago. In fact I wrote it almost 22 months ago! I wrote it in the very place that I am sitting at now. I was reading back through old emails I had sent when I was a new missionary. Like brand new first area Ibiuna kind of missionary. And I had written this poem after being prompted to create one by my family. It goes like this:

Everything has it´s season

All things have a reason

But trusting in a God who knows all

Ensures that we shall not fall

I remember when I wrote this I had already found out that I would be sent home early. I think I had felt some comfort in this poem, but I did not find clarity in it. I did not know what the future held nor did I understand the challenges and trials that were ahead of me. Going home early was only the beginning of the trials. But this comfort is what I needed to start the journey.

And now, as I read this poem 22 months later, I feel the clarity. Looking back I see where God was leading me and in some ways I see why I needed to take the path I did. It has been quite a ride these 22 months. I have boarded 10 different planes since then to go to and from various mission assignments (apologies to church headquarters for potentially being the most expensive missionary), have learned from 3 different mission presidents since and have been able to learn to love 13 different companions. And again as I reflect back and read this poem again I can claim with confidence that as we trust in God, we can not fall. It is Helaman 5:12. Within the last 22 months my plans have changed faster than my siblings ability to have all kinds of babies (I believe in the past 22 months I have had an additional 5 nieces and nephews... Mack, Honey, Penny, Hyrum, Annie). Things have come up and challenges have arisen but by maintaining total trust in the Lord I have been able to walk out of each situation and circumstance with a greater love for my God and for those around me. So now I give thanks to be sitting in the same place where this poem was created and the decision to fully trust God was made. And I do not mean sitting just in Sao Paulo Brazil, but I am back in my very first area, Ibiuna.

Sorry onto the recap... So yes! I left Iowa with a bang. Spent the week with the AP´s and the office elders, Had 2 covid tests (which I passed with flying colors), and did a lot of driving and flying. I remember as my mission president and I were in the airport. 

We had just sent off my luggage and I was heading toward security. I remember for a split second I had reflected and wondered if I had done enough in Iowa. It seemed to me that President Sturm heard my thoughts because he immediately turned to me and said, "Elder Hixon, I want you to know that the work you did here was incredible. You did extremely well. If you feel any different or ever feel any different remember that does not come from the Lord. I want to, as your priesthood leader, tell you the same words the Lord will one day say to you. 'Well done, good and faithful servant". And maybe every mission president says that to every departing missionary but to me it meant the world. I think another thing I have learned to do in these past 22 months is to fully trust my priesthood leaders. When they tell me I am doing okay, or when they tell me I am forgiven, or when they tell me I am loved, I have learned to trust them. I am so grateful for President Sturm and all that he taught me!

Arriving in Brazil was amazing. It felt like a dream. Looking out the window and seeing all the green! Watching the bus driver weave through the insane traffic of Sao Paulo and remembering how much I love this place. I remember when I saw President Horsley we embraced and the first thing he whispered in my ear was, "You are going back to Ibiuna. Do not tell anyone yet. I just can not keep this from you any longer". 

THIS WAS RIGHT OUT OF A DREAM! It was miraculous enough that God provided a way for me to return to Brazil, and now I am in even more awe that the blessings keep coming. The Lord has no cap or limit to the amount of blessings He gives to His servants. To return back to what feels like my home has helped me again to know that God loves me. He cares about me. He knows my heart, He knew my heart 22 months ago. He knew I would come back. He was preparing this grand blessing for me long ago. 

I am so grateful He has been ever so merciful to me while I sloppily, but intently and courageously, stumble down the covenant path.

Sunday was a treat to be again with my beloved friends here in Ibiuna. Brazilians must have laser sharp memory because they remembered me! Each one in that congregation embraced me and showed me love like the Savior would show. 

And hey quick Elder Hixon´s never ending mission trivia question for you... Who was the inactive member with the "story for the ages" that I wrote about in my first general email when I was in Ibiuna long ago? 

It was Danilo! 

He was there and his wife had since been baptized just weeks after I left. He is now firm in the church and even he remembered me. These people did not remember me for some grand thing I did, but only for the love they have for the Lord and His servants. I am grateful to be surrounded by people who love God.

So I am back... my mission should end on August 24th or something like that but who knows. Anything can happen haha! I love this work and am grateful that I have been able to learn so much and be witness to so many miracles during my mission. I know God is a God of miracles!!

Amo voces!!!!

Elder Hixon