April 15, 2009

Hey Mom! how is everything going at home? how has Kaya been doing? i hope that she is doing good. it sounds like you guys had a blast over the weekend and during the holidays. i sure wish that i could have gone with you guys to see all the things that you guys saw. things here have been going pretty good here. i have had a couple more experiences. one interesting and the other amazing. but yeah....that would great if you could get those things sent to me pretty soon, i am really needing them. but i hope that you had a happy birthday and you were able to have a little bit of fun. well this morning my companion went to the mission office to renew my visa but it looks like i dont have to renew it until next month. so it was a little bit annoying going to the mission office and not having to do anything. but things here have been going pretty good. i guess that i could get on to the experiences now.......well last thursday we had the interesting experience and well you have to promise that you are not going to get worried i am not going to tell you......do you promise?.....alright i will tell you then. well we were walking in the street and we had to cross this river thing(igarapé) and under the bridge in the water we saw a headless dead body........and i am not kidding either. i didnt believe it at first, but after the second look i knew for sure. because it had arms and pects and had the shape of a human body, except for the head. and it had been then for a while....it was really white and ugly. so that was the interesting experiences that we had......now for the amazing story. so on saturday....two days after the dead body experience. we were visting with one of our investigators and we were seeing if she had accomplished the commitment that we left with her the day before(i dont know if i worded that right, but i tried. i just dont have the ability to think in english anymore).and the committmet was to read and pray about Joseph Smith, and well she told about the experiences that she had. she told us that the night before she read and prayed before going to sleep. and she didnt just pray but she really prayed to know. and she had an amazing experience. during the pray she described the feelings that she had and they are the feelings that the spirit brings when he is with us, a warm feeling in the chest, goosebumps, and she also started crying. she said that after the pray she still kept crying and she couldnt get to sleep. but after finally getting to sleep she had a dream that is incredible. she dreamed that she was in a forest and she was seated on a laid down tree in the middle of the woods. and right in front of her she saw Joseph Smith enter into the wooded area and kneel down and pray. she then described two angels that came to him and talked with him, she descrbed the first vision. and then after her dream she heard a voice that said.....You have now seen what you wanted to see. Now do you believe?........after i heard that i was astonished. i didnt know what to say. but i just kept thinking about it after the lesson and i started to feel a little jealous. because i realized that i had prayed tons of times to know about the truth of the prophet Joseph Smith but i never had any experience like this. and i thought to myself and then said it to my companion......what the heck? i have been praying about that experience for my entire life and never saw anything like that and she goes and prays one time and SEES it.........i just couldnt believe it at first but it is amazing that she had such a strong answer. she even said that she is confused because she always learned one thing as a child and now that she has received an answer she cannot deny that all she learned was false. she went to church on sunday and really enjoyed it. the next time that we go there we are going to mark her baptismal date. i just am so grateful for the opportunity that the Lord has given me to serve a mission here in Brazil, and to have such amazing experiences like this one. it was awesome to hear her explain the feelings that she felt and the things that she saw. but that was my week. other than that nothing has really happened. we are still teaching and still trying to baptized and also help the recent converts. João who we baptized on the 28th is going to receive the Melquisedeque( i dont know how to spell it in english) Preisthood in two weeks. and if i dont get transfered on the 21st i am going to ask the bishop to let me be the one to give it to him and i know that he will let me. he is just an amazing person and his family as well. they are already planning on going to the temple next year. he was telling us that he hates to go on long bus rides but he is going to have to travel to venezuela in a year to go to the temple. i love this area. i love the members and the investigates and everyone that is here. i am going to cry when i have to leave, and i think that i will cry a lot. it is the worst part about the mission, having to say goodbye. but i love the mission and i am grateful for the time that i have to serve the Lord. and time is now starting to run out. Monday i had a rough day but made it though one more day like that. you know how it is......those days suck but all the others are amazing. but i love you and i have got to get going. i want you also to send this letter to steven taylor, josh pickering, matt mclean, and justin oberg. because i cant write to them by email, but tell them that they can write me and tell me how things are going with them but i cant send emails to them. but things are going really good here. in less than 50 weeks i will be at home looking for a wife!!! yeah!!!! haha jk. but i love you mom and dont cry to much. i love you and tell kaya that i love her too and that i miss her. give her a hug for me too.
love you With All My Love, Elder Jory B. Spotts