Olá queridos, (hello dear-ones)
So, miracles happen. I've seen them. I've seen miracles before, and I am seeing them now here in Rio. There is so much that it is impossible to include everything here, but I will try my best to note some of the really special ones. But first, I have some good news and some bad news:
Good news: I can recieve emails now, from everyone! So please please send me emails!! If you are doubting wheter or not I have thought of you here, I probably have. Today I wrote a list of all the people I want to write, and Elder J. Lima could barely believe how many people were on it! I love you guys, and I pray for you! So send me emails!
Bad news: I can't send you emails. So, in your emails, include your FULL address please :) And tell me if it is going to change soon, for school or any other reason, so I can compensate when sending letters since they occasionally take quite some time to get to the US.
Alright, now that you all can send me emails, tell me what is up in the world and in your life! I am in a remote part of Brazil, I rode a train 30 minutes to get where I am, and now I send email. So write me! Tell me stories in your life, news, announcements, send photos, tell me about mission calls, everything! I have wondered about you all so much, so let me know :) And some of you already have letters on the way. Also, don't forget your name in the email so I can save it in my contacts.
So, write me an email, and then continue reading this one :) Also! I need the addresses of some missionaries, so anyone who has access to them, please send them to me: Marcos Gallo, Roland Laboulaye, Elizabeth Bown, Karee Brown, Daniel McClellan, and Hope Tuft. Thanks!
So, time for the many miracles happening here. So I flew in a few days ago, and my first impression of Rio - It's beautiful! No wonder so many peopl want to come here! We saw "Christ the Redeemer" looking out over the city, over the clouds. It is a giant statue of Christ with his arms outstretched over the city, and it sits on top of Sugar Loaf mountain. You should google "Christ the Redeemer" and look at photos. It is amazing, and as a missionary here bearing His name to these people, it has a special place in my heart.
Well, it is hard to begin! So much has happened! I am learning Portugués, little by little. First miracle I'll tell you all about - I can understand people and they can understand me. It is a miracle because I've only been here a little over two months, and the people here say I speak without an accent, which normally doesn't happen or takes a while. A whole lot longer than two months. The people I have met could not believe I didn't start learning Portuguese before. So miracle one, the gift of tongues. It's real, believe it. I can hardly believe it and it's happenening to me.
So, we have had our first baptism! It was amazing! I want to talk about something else though. So today I discovered a new way to feel alone in a room full of people: Speak a language none of them understand. Elder J. Lima and I were at a clinic because he keeps having random headaches, and we were seated in a row of chairs with three seats. A lady and two kids walked in, so I wanted to tell him we should move so they could sit down, but I accidentally said it in English, and he is Brazillian and had no idea what I said. He just laughed a little and smiled until I realized what I had done. It is the strangest feeling when you say something that feels perfectly natural, and then realize that nobody will understand, that it will just sound like strange noise to them, especially when it is your native language and you can't speak theirs very well. For a moment it made me feel very alone and far from home. But then it reminded me that we are all far from home, spiritually speaking, and that Heavenly Father is still aware of me, still knows me, and still cares about me. Then I thought about what other people must feel like, when they feel that alone. I don't feel alone often, because I know God is always near, and I often feel Him by my side. What a blessing. I realized that many people feel completely alone, as I did for that split second, always. What a terrible feeling!
This is what we are bringing these people here: Hope; Light; The knowledge that God knows each of us, is aware of us, and loves us. It made me think of an elderly woman we visit often who lives in Jardim da Primevera, in Saracuruna, near the city Duque de Caxias. Her body is frail and crippled, and she can't get out of bed by herself. She met the missionaries, and took the lessons. She was baprized recently. I believe the Elder before me literally carried her into the water so she could be baptized, because she cannot stand. She stays in a small bed, in the corner of a small room, on the side of a small house, off of a side street of a small neighborhood in a small and relatively unknown part of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the whole world, there are maybe 20 people that are aware of her, that even know she exists, and fewer still that love her and care about her. She is practically alone almost always. Despite all of this - suffering so much and being so alone - she is full of light and joy. She is happy, and full of love. She owns practically nothing, can barely move, and can only speak very slowly, yet her she is, living happily, because she knows what is important and that she isn't alone. God knows her, and He loves her, and she knows it and loves Him too. Thinking about her there, smiling, hapilly talking to us despite all she doesn't have, brings tears to my eyes.
I think about how alone I could feel, being a wanderer here in a strange land, so very far from home, with people I don't know and with whom I can barely communicate. And then I think of her - Meneguette - lying in her bed, in the corner of her house, in a relatively unknown city, likely smiling and enjoying the day. Full of happiness and love. She has something noone can take from her: Faith. She knows God and she knows her Savior. When I think of her now, I think of Him too. I love her. I love Him. I think I feel a little bit of His love for her, and just a little bit of His love for me, and for all the people here and everywhere. Just a little bit - but how great and all-consuming that little bit is! I marvel to think His love for each of us is so great! I can scarce comprehend it, yet it exists! It is there! He is aware of us, and He loves us so much! What a wonderful thing to know :)
This is why I am a missionary. I feel this love, and I want nothing greater than to share it with the world! And I've been called to share it here for now. So I will! Being a missionary is not easy. My feet blister, I get eaten by mosquitos, my body and my mind are weak compared to the work I have been called to do - but Heavenly Father strengthens me. He helps me ignore the pain and walk further than I thought I could. He helps me focus, and learn more than I ever thought I could. He helps me speak, better than I ever thought I could. He is here, by my side, every step of the way, and I think of Him often. I thank Him often. It pains me to think of everything our Savior suffered for us - to think that I contributed to that pain too - but it is done, and the way is clear. He accepts all who come to Him. I know it! And I am so glad! This is why I am here, to try to show Him that I do know, that I do care, and that I do love these people. I want them to know Him and be happy too. So here I am :)
My friends, my family, you mean the world to me. Never doubt it. I pray for you. I would do anything for you. But someone even more willing and far more powerful is already waiting to help. Go to Him!
I love you all so much! My time is up. I will tell more as I can. Email me if you have a chance!
All the best!
Elder Viglione
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