. . . and many were the words which he spoke unto us.

Elder McCombs gets a new blanket

Elder Thiago (zone leader from Iguaçu) drinking LOTS of açaì juice

Olá!

At the moment, I’m quite dead. Elder Cavalcanti and I, just got back this morning from a zone leader meeting in Londrina. The bus was nice, but the ride was horrible. It stopped every 20 minutes, in every little city, causing the trip to take 9 hours!! We left last night at 8:30 PM, and drove all night, and most of the morning. I got the last seat on the bus, right next to the bathroom, of which everyone and their mom used, consequently, I didn’t sleep very much.

BUT, the meeting was good. We were with Elder Araujo, of the Seventy. He was on special assignment from the First Presidency. He talked about how us zone leaders need to step up our game and not focus so much on doing divisions, unless our area is exemplary first. He also told us how leading by example is a lot more important than leading by words, because we´ll be able to show our zones that it’s possible to meet the goals of the mission . . . and many were the words which he spoke unto us.

At the end, he shared a story about when President Kimball came to Brazil. Elder Araujo was a missionary at the time. President Kimball was there to dedicate the Sao Paulo temple, and Elder Araujo was chosen to help escort President Kimball. One day, President Kimball was at the mission president’s house, taking a nap and the mission president had to leave, so he asked the missionaries to keep an eye on Presdient Kimball, and check up on him every now and then. Elder Araujo said that he went to check on him and he carefully opened up the door and saw President Kimball sleeping on the ground due to his back problems. He said that he had the greatest desire just to hug him and kiss him, but finally just shut the door. He went back outside and fell asleep on a chair. A while later, he was awakened by President Kimball, as he put his hands on Elder Araujo’s face. Then President Kimball hugged him and gave him a kiss, and then said “Lets go study the scriptures Elder.” He told him to open up to Alma 29:4, which reads “I ought not to harrow up in my desires the firm decree of a just God, for I know that he granteth unto men according to their desire, whether it be unto death or unto life; yea, I know that he allotteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable, according to their wills, whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction.” Then President Kimball said, “Was it not your desire to hug me and kiss me?”

Crazy. Then Elder Araujo told us that we need to have “just*" desire in our lives, and the Lord will grant them unto us.

Tchau,
Elder Titus

*just: morally correct (done, pursued, or given in accordance with what is morally right)