Christmas

This week we had our Christmas on the mission. All the missionaries in the mission got together, prepared skits, carols and many more Christmas festivities to share with one another. The Christmas party went for most of the day and it was a really amazing experience that I had. 

We had a missionary who got transferred into our mission, who was called to the Porto Alegre South mission. He is from Las Vegas and he was transferred into my zone. We talked a little when he first got here but not much. He was nice to talk to, but with transfers coming up I figured I probably would not see him for a while. 

At the Christmas activity, during lunch we started to talk. We talked about the mission, why we were here and the importance of a testimony of the Book of Mormon. He told me he was having a really difficult time re-adjusting to this new mission and felt more or less like he just did not belong. 

My mind was flooded with memories of when I got my visa and was experiencing my first few months here in Brazil. My heart went out to him as I remembered those days where the overall goal was to make it to the next without breaking down. We talked for a good hour about the importance of the gospel and the importance of being Christlike. It was just him and I as we ate and talked about all the things we had seen and learned while we had been here on the mission.

Sometimes out here I feel like maybe I do not live up to my full purpose, in helping others to come unto Christ. I feel like maybe I do not talk to enough people, or don´t teach in the best way possible. I do remember often though the talk given by Elaine S Dalton in April. I remember the phrase ¨Where ever thou art, act well thy part¨ 

Truly I had an oppurtunity to help somone that no one else could have. No one else felt those same feelings that we had gone through when we changed missions. This Christmas I had a Christmas miracle that I will never forget and I made and amazing new friend that because of our trials, we have been tied together. 

I know that God has his hand in all things. We just need to trust it, that it is the best thing. 

Eu amo vocês muito, 

Elder Cooper

P.S. I love Christmas

Sabbath Day

So this week due to the Christmas season, my thoughts have been a little bit more directed on family and home, but more about who I was when I was at home.

Lately we had an investigator ask a lot about the Sabbath Day and I have been thinking a lot about how we can keep the Sabbath Day Holy. I feel that I have kept the Sabbath day and that I have had experiences where I felt that have sanctified it, but it has been hard to understand or describe to people. 

One day in my personal studies I read in True to the Faith about the sabbath day. Many times I think we take the term day of rest a little to lightly and forget that the whole term is a day of rest from OUR labors. 

A quote that stuck out to me in my mind as I read the definition in true to the faith it says:

Because the Sabbath is a holy day, it should be reserved for worthy and holy activities. Abstaining from work and recreation is not enough. In fact if we merely lounge about doing nothing on the sabbath, we fail to keep the day holy.

The time we have on this earth is limited and I know that not only is it a time to prepare to meet God, but a time to prepare to be like God. The time that we have here should be planned out. We should plan to spend time with famalies, friends and loved ones. Plan even on the sabbath day to do activities to strengthen one another and help us to remember Christ more in our lives. I know that this gospel is real and has an eternal effect on us, but it is our responsibility to decide how much of an effect it has. 

I love all of you so much this Christmas season. May your days be bright!

Eu te amo,

Elder Cooper

My Mother

Normally on the mission. We send home emails and stories of all the miracles, faith building experiences, and people that we have seen the atonement work in their lives. Today I want to write about before the mission and the miracle that I have in my life to prepare and serve a mission. This is a tribute to the woman that has helped me become the person I am. My mother. 

Before my mission as every youth has, I struggled with the challenges of living in a wicked world. To say that I made it to the mission would be a lie. I only made it to where I am now through the grace of the Atonement and the love of my mother. 

I remember when I was facing times of finding my way on the path to the tree of life and had to decide if I would fight for Christ or the world. It was the love of my mother that kept me grounded to the teachings of Christ. The primary songs that she would sing to me as I slept would fill my mind as I would determine the person that I wanted to be during my times of temptation. 

I would say that even now in times of difficulty or find that I need to change, it is the memories of my mother help me to do so. The feelings of Joseph F. Smith explain my feelings when I think of my mother. As a fifteen year old by serving a mission he said:

“‘and yet, whenever those temptations became most alluring and most tempting to me, the first thought that rose in my soul was this: “Remember the love of your mother. Remember how she strove for your welfare. Remember how willing she was to sacrifice her life for your good. Remember what she taught you in your childhood...’”

My mother is the person in my life that resembles the Savior more than any other person. I know when I see her hands, they are filled with the love of the Savior. 

Happy Birthday Mom. I love you.

Eu te amo,

Elder Cooper

The Family

This week was really good. I got a little refresher, because we got to go to the temple. The new movie was life changing, and it gets even better I got to see it in English. It is not that I feel that there are languages that are worth less, I just know that receiving the gospel in your own language brings brighter understanding and a further knowledge of God´s plan.

As I sat in the celestial room I really thought about families, especially this week being thanksgiving I have thought a little about the family gatherings and fun that will be going on. I have been keeping a journal of gratitude and realized that probably for the last month I have thanked God for a member in my family, or my whole family in general. Our brothers and sisters, spiritual and physical, truly are the most important things that we have in  this life. 

We have been working with a family whose father and mother split up, and needless to say since they split up it has not been a walk down the yellow brick road. The oldest son, who was a less active member who we helped reactivate, was having a difficult time showing love towards other members. The mother was bombarded with stress of paying for a house, taking care of three children and trying to just stay afloat on the waters of life. The daughter was having a difficult time with whether or not she wanted to follow her mother or father. 

Well what happened was as we worked with them, to get them to sit in the same room together was a struggle, but we tried to help them get into the Book of Mormon. I would like to say that they read the chapters we left them, slipped on their ruby slippers and found there is no place like home. 

Unfortunately It is quite the opposite. We found their mother devistated to find that her daughter was tired of living there and left to live with her father, after a long series of very unfortunate events. 

At this moment in time I have never realized how much in our homes, communities, and countries we need to share the importance of the family. Truly our nations can only be as strong as the foundations of the family in the homes of the people.

I know that the family is the most important thing on this earth and that it is ordained of God. I would march alone against the armies of Hell to protect the family and the standards it holds. I know not all have a privilege to be born or live in a family with the most ideal circumstances. My advice to all is mothers teach your children the importance of finding that person who is ready to stay by their side for eternity. Fathers show all the love you have to your children by the way to you treat their mothers. 

Famalies are forever. This is a truth that has been taught since the begining of the prophet Adam, and I know it is true!

Eu te amo,

Elder Cooper