This week was very interesting to say the least. Let's just say that Brazilians know how to party haha. From Christmas until today it has been non stop music, drinking, and everything else you can think of. It was honestly kind of sad, most of the people we were teaching got caught up in everything going on and none of them wound up coming to church.
However, we focused a lot more on the less active members and part member families, and we had a lot more success!! Last week we only had 6 people (including us) at sacrament meeting, and this week we had 40+. I was so happy when the less active family we were working with showed up, and a couple others came that we picked up before the meeting started. The spirit during the meeting was super strong, it was impressive to hear a mom's testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how it has blessed her family. It was an experience I'm not sure that I'll soon forget.
This week I was studying President Nelson's talk about the Temple from the most recent general conference. He said something that really caught my attention. He said, "To each of you who has made temple covenants, I plead with you to seek—prayerfully and consistently—to understand temple covenants and ordinances. Spiritual doors will open. You will learn how to part the veil between heaven and earth, how to ask for God’s angels to attend you, and how better to receive direction from heaven. Your diligent efforts to do so will reinforce and strengthen your spiritual foundation.
My dear brothers and sisters, when renovations on the Salt Lake Temple are completed, there will be no safer place during an earthquake in the Salt Lake Valley than inside that temple.
Likewise, whenever any kind of upheaval occurs in your life, the safest place to be spiritually is living inside your temple covenants!"
These are some pretty incredible blessings promised to us by a living Prophet. And I know that his words are completely true. We need to remember more often our covenants that we've made and we absolutely need to strengthen our spiritual foundations. I'm thoroughly convinced that if we don't do so, the days ahead will be very difficult.
I love you all!! Have a great week!!
Elder Larkin
