04.01.13 - More Miracles in Rio‏

Olá Queridos!

So, miracles are still happening here in Rio. We had another baptism, a woman who is absolutely wonderful. Right now we are working in an area that borders another area that is HUGE but doesn't have missionaries, so we get to work in both. And we are having sucuess! I am so happy. I am seeing the Lord change my life and the lives of others daily. There is no better work than this - to help our brothers and sisters get back to our Heavenly Father. Also, this week I had a multitude of people on various occasions ask if I was Brazillian, and couldn't believe I am American. So the great obstacle of the language is coming along. 

Well, I love you guys all so much. I pray for you. You motivate me to work harder than I ever have in my life. I am so glad we have a Heavenly Father who knows and loves each of us, and who gives us everything we need. I felt very alone in the beginning of my mission, but now I really don't ever feel alone anymore. Even with the difficulties here, I am often brought to think of my life as Nephi thought about his. 

"I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days" 1 Nefi 1:1 

This really is my story. I was born of goodly parents, and they greatly helped me learn the ways of my Father. I have certainly seen many afflictions, but the only thing I feel here is joy. Our pains often hurt quite a bit, but they arte all temporary. I am filled with joy knowing that only that which is pure and joyus will remain. I love my Heavenly Father, and I love my Savior. 

Well, time is up! I love you guys. Hang in there, and stay strong! I'll catch up with you all about life here in a little while when I return. 

All the best! 

Elder Viglione

03.25.13 :)

SO, I have like no time right now, I just want to let you all know that I am doing great, we had another baptism, and I am as happy as could be. Heavenly Father is so good to me :) I love you guys! I will write more this coming week! Promise!

All the best!

Elder Viglione

03.18.13 - I can email you all now!!!‏

Olá Queridos! 

So, to explain teh subject line, I can now use email to communicate with everyone! Please please please send me your emails, and the emails of anybody you know that I know, especially people on missions!! You don't have to send a letter that will take a long time now, and I can write back super quick!! :D

SO, all of you should be writing a quick one-line or more email so I can have you email addresses. :) 

Well, the miracles have not ceased here in Rio. This last week we had yet another baptism of a woman who is absolutely perfect. Her name is Marilene, and she is one of the most humble people I have met in my life. I am so happy I don't know how to tell you all. Despite the lack of experience of Elder Alves and I, we are having much success. I love being a missionary!

Well, my time is running out. I love you all so much! Never forget just how much you mean to Heavenly Father. When we put Him first, He makes us better than we could ever hope to be alone. 

All the best!

Elder Viglione 

03.18.13 - About my new callings

Anthony asked about my callings, so I'll send you guys an explanation too. Copied and pasted! :) 

My new calling is as a district leader, and a trainer still too. As a trainer, I received a new missionary and it is my job to help him learn everything he needs to know about being a missionary so that he can be completely self-sufficient. This includes all kinds of things from how to keep the rules to how to teach the lessons to how to feel and follow the spirit to how to cook. haha. Not so much how to cook, but pretty much every other aspect of life. Being a trainer is considered one of the biggest challenges in the mission, and normally people are only called with a good amount of experience, due to the trying nature of the call. Also, your mission president has to really trust you. I got called as a trainer immediately after my training ended, which is almost unheard of for native speakers of the language, and unheard of for foreigners. I don't know of a single other American that this has happened to. haha nobody could believe it.

My second call is as District leader. This means I am responsible not only for my area, but also for the other areas in my district. My district includes me, my companion, and two other areas with four other missionaries. To be a district leader in the mission is also hard, and it is even harder to receive the call if you are training. I am both the youngest trainer and youngest district leader in the mission. I plan training sessions for the other missionaries, hold weekly meetings for them, collect their numbers each day (the key indicators) and conduct baptismal interviews. All in all, a lot of work, but pretty awesome! I'm wondering what President Lima will give me next... haha. 

03.11.13 - Another Call to Serve!‏

Olá Queridos! 

So, first news, I received a new calling here in the mission! I am now a trainer, and a district leader! My district has six missionaries, one of which is also training now and also our two zone leaders. Every transfer everyone is surprised, including me, because to date I have received more responsibility with each one. It is hard to see someone rise this fast here, let alone an American who is learning the language. Even the leaders in the mission have wondered what President Lima is trying to do. I have been just as surprised at every turn as has been everyone else. At first I worried, maybe feared a little. I doubted if I could do it. But I have seen miracles happen here, and now I have no doubt that I am of myself very weak, but with God's help quite strong. I am glad that whom He calls, He qualifies. I am learning more and more everyday. If it was just me here, I really wouldn't be too well off. Thankfully, Heavenly Father always helps when we do our part. As for Portuguese, it isn't too difficult now. It is actually getting hard to speak English. I still have a lot more to learn, but thankfully Heavenly Father is helping me learn the language too, and helping me overcome all the obstacles here in our way.

We had a few more baptisms here recently, I'll try to send photos next week! I absolutely love the people here. Part of my heart is going to remain in this small, humble place. I can hardly believe it felt so foreign when I arrived! I feel at home here now. My heart is full. Life as a missionary here is difficult, but so rewarding. I love being a missionary!

Once more I am brought to reflect on how good Heavenly Father has been to me. To this day, I realize that my life has been easy. Not because I am anything special, but because I see how true it is that Heavenly Father prepares a way for us all to do everything He needs us to do, even when it is more then we ourselves think we can handle. I am learning that Heavenly Father has a lot of faith in each one of us. I am learning that He trusts me. He believes I can do it. Why then should I doubt? It is so nice to have a father like Him, who can literally enable us to work miracles. 

I feel, as Nephi wrote, that I too have been born of goodly parents and exceedingly favored of the Lord. I love my family. Nobody is perfect, but my family is perfect for me. And Heavenly Father gives me all I need.

I love you guys and pray for you! 

All the Best! 

Elder Viglione 

03.04.13 - Miracles in Rio de Janeiro!‏

Olá Queridos! 

So, some have wondered what it is like in Rio right now, so I'll explain. Right now Summer is beginning to end (Which is a funny thought because it is March) and it is normally about 115 degrees during the day with a lot of humidity. Occasionally it cools off in the nights, but sometimes they stay at about 80 or 85. Oddly enough, my body doesn't notice much and I usually fair better in the heat than a majority of the Brazillians here. One of the blesseings of living in a desert for 10 years to be sure. We are well taken care of here, and never go too long without anything we need. I am really enjoying being here. I already feel at home among all the trees and vines and grass. Everything is so green and beautiful! I don't know what I'll do when I no longer live in a tropical climate! I absolutely love it! I wouldn't mind a few degrees cooler, but no complaints. 

As for me myself, the sun and heat have had the effect of lightening my hair and eyes (which are now quite green!), my skin has darkened a fair bit (sometimes I am surprised when I see my hands and arms), and I think I grew another half an inch or two. Outside of this, nothing new.

Well, time for the miracles! The part I love! So, the first miracles came in the form of miraculous healings. 

Being summer here, there are a lot of mosquitos. Here in Rio there is an especially large number of an odd looking mosquito with black and white stripes like a zebra that causes a sickness called Dengue. Dengue is pretty bad. If you get it, there is treatment, but you have to go to the hospital. If not, you can get pretty sick, and it kills people every year. Dengue has several symptoms that are very unique that make it easy to identify, like pain in the eyes and a dry mouth. 

Well, one day Elder Alves and I were at lunch and he started to not feel very good so we went home. By the time we arrived, he had no energy and was in a lot of pain and had a fever. He also had body aches, a dry mouth, pain in the eyes, and all of the other symptoms of Dengue. I called our District leader and informed him, and he contacted our mission president. We got a call a few minutes later and our Mission President told me that if he didn't start to feel better soon to call him and he would tell us what hospital to go to. Needless to say, I was a little worried for Elder Alves. That night our Zone Leaders came to our house and gave Elder Alves a blessing, and by the next day he was back to normal, without even going to the hospital! We all kept a close eye on him to make sure it was gone, and sure enough, he didn't get sick again.

A few days later, one of our neighbors, who is also our bishop, told us he wasn't feeling too well. A few hours later, we ran into him in the street heading home. He said he had gone to the hospital but that it was full and he couldn't get any help there. When we arrived home that night, his wife called us and we went to give him a blessing. He was in bed and didn't look too good. He was still cheerful in his normal way, but we could tell he wasn't doing well. We were almost sure it was Dengue again. Well, we gave him a blessing and left him for the night, telling his wife that if anything happened to call us. The next day was Sunday, and he made it to church. We talked to him afterwards, and he told us that he felt almost completely better. Today, he went about as if nothing even happened. 

Well, there have been so many more miracles, but my time to write is almost up! I am writing a lot of letters today, and already have a bunch to send. So be expecting them to arrive here in a few weeks! I love you all so much. I am so glad to be a missionary. Write me and I'll send you more stories!

I love these people. I love this work. I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior. I don't know how I deserve so many blessings, but They give me them anyways. 

All the best!

Elder Viglione

02.25.13 - A New Mission!‏

Olá Queridos! 

So this week our mission president called a surprise meeting with all of the missionaries, and everyone was wondering what was going to happen. He had never called a meeting like this before, and it is hard to gather the far-spread missionaries all to one place. Everyone thought he was going to notify us of a new mission rule or tell us that we needed to work harder. I was really wondering what he would say, but I didn't think it was bad news. Well he arrived, and started talking about the announcement thaqt President Monson made in conferenc about missionaries being able to serve at a younger age, and then told us that our mission is going to divide! 

So, on July 1st of this year, the Brazil Juiz de Fora Mission will be opened, and roughly half of the missionaries here will go there and both missions will recieve many more missionaries. So, I might end up serving in two different missions. The Lord is hastening His work. Saturday 58 new missions were announced around the world. Nothing like this has ever happened before all at once. And I have the chance to be part of it all! The world truly is being prepared for the Lord's return, and I am so glad to be part of it. But, in reality, we are all part of it. Just by living the gospel, we are sharing it. We are the lights in an ever darkening world, and we all have the responsibilty as members of God's Kingdom on Earth to help however we can. 

My family, my friends, I just want you all to know more than anything how much I love you all. How much I pray for you and truly desire that you find the same happiness in the gospel that I am discovering more and more every day. It is hard for me to describe the gratitude I feel towards my Heavenly Father for having given me all that I could possibly desire. Not that it is easy, but it is so good. Whenever I feel like I can't go on, I realize that He has already taken me further than I ever dreamed possible. Whatever it takes, I will not give up. I will not lose the battle. We all have what it takes to wage the war against the evil of this world. If we were alone, I might fear. But we are not alone. Our all-powerful Father is on our side. Whe then can stand agaisnt us?

Sorry for the short letter this week, I will write more the week to come. Thank you so much for your help, your letters, your emails, and your prayers! They strengthen me! 

All the best!
Elder Viglione