Letter #92

Dear Family and Friends,

This letter´s coming in late, as today we went to the world famous chocolate factory Garoto. I think the tour was even better than Hershey´s and my mind was admittedly impressed by the equipment and machinery. Cost 20Reais, but after just smelling chocolate for an hour, at the end, they put us in a room, with all the types of chocolate they make and let us go at it. A chocolate buffet. I´m not wanting to eat any chocolate today, but I´d recommend making the trip. It is, or is one of the biggest employers in the state of Espirito Santo.

This weekend we had stake conference. Notable as it was the last of the stake president before he is released, the last for Pres. and Sis. Young, and we were visited by Moroni Torgam, an Area Seventy who will also be released this fall. This Moroni is not quite the Mitt Romney of Brasil, but close to it. He´s a famous politician (senator) from Fortaleza, Ceará. And in the church he´s famous as a scriptorian. He had someone writing down all the scriptures he quoted on the blackboard for people to study later. And without notes, or scriptures must have rattled off fifty during his Sunday talk.

 

Sis. Young talked about tithing and how it has blessed her life. Its a subject that she often teaches and I never get tired hearing about it. Just one story, shortly after marrying, Pres. Young and Sis. Young unexpectedly received family visitors into their house, and were only able to feed them rice and lettuce, as they had nothing else. Nevertheless, they paid tithing and were abundantly blessed. And, one blessing that Sis. Young has seen in her life as she pays tithing, is her wants diminish. She doesn't have to have a new car, but instead is happy with what she has.

During the morning while getting ready for the day, I like to listen to discourses. I listened to one by Pres. Hinckley called  "Seven pillars of wisdom. While not explaining here in detail anything, I would like to share his seven pillars:

1. God lives and the door of heaven is open to you
2. Life is forever
3. The kingdom is here
4. The family is divine
5. Obedience is better than sacrifice
6.  God is bound when you do what He says
7. He that loseth his life, shall find it.

I know that these are eternal truths. I need to do better to live by them. I am so grateful for prophets, seers, and revelators who reveal the mysteries of divinity and teach is how to live. They are men of God, and I can´t deny it. Let´s always follow them!

Love,

Elder Schenewark