December 8, 2014
Today is a Holiday
Today is a Holiday
I have 10 minutes to write, because this lawn-house closes at 1:00.
IT'S A HOLIDAY TODAY (again- there are many here in Brazil)
This week was incredible!
We are the best of friends, Sister Perez and I. It is wonderful to work together.
We grabbed a bus today, and ended up taking a 1.5 hour-long tour around Campinas and to some surrounding cities. The bus stopped abruptly, and the bus driver asked where we were going. We told him where we "thought" we were going, and he motioned for us to grab another bus, which took us All the way back to the center.
heh
In contemplating about the "finish" my friend told me.... well you know it's kind of like a band-aid. You can pull it off slowly, little by little, or you can just rip it of like a monster. I told her I´d prefer to just rip it off, and feel the pain. So that's the plan. It hasn't registered in my brain that.... I have 10 more days in Brazil. I am planning on not facing the fact until I am literally face to face with my family... We are just working our very best, making the most of every minute, and LOVING this work. but one day, it's gonna hurt. Real bad.
I adore being a missionary. It is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I LOVE these people. Seriously, I can't describe my happiness.
A..... (our recent convert) baptized E..... from Haiti! I died of Joy.
Seriously.
There are no words to describe the happiness from .... this work. It is incredible, inexplicable.
When you dedicate all you are and have to the Lord, He works miracles and changes characters.
I am So Happy!
This week was amazing.
Especially amazing.
My new companion is Sister Perez. I am pretty sure that we were born in the same hospital. Why? I dont know. She is from Tennessee, was born in California, and went to BYU Hawaii! She plays the ukelele, and loves soccer, and running, and healthy things! I don't know how to explain it, but we are already great friends. Today she has completed 11 months on the mission.
A... was baptized. What JOY!. After 2 and a half years of receiving missionary visits and a lot of support from the ward and his family, the righteous guy entered into a solemn and sacred covenant with our Father. His son served a mission, his wife has been a member of the church for MANY years, and I was blessed to be given the opportunity to teach and let the spirit do the work. In another year, maybe next Christmas, they will be sealed as a family for time and all eternity. SISTER SPENCER AND SISTER ASILVA WENT! it was so great (they are comps now at Jundiai!)
Sister Perez and I sang a mix up of "I like to look for rainbows" with the uke. It was so WONDERFUL! I love harmony and music, and the spirit. There were also like five chocolate cakes #BONUS MUAHA
Speaking of cake, this week I think I ate enough cake... to last me a lifetime. I think I ate 12 pieces of cake this week. Oh Brazil and its cakiness.
We have been looking for new people to teach, and one specific day, we kneeled down and asked the Lord to place someone in our path who was ready to hear the message of the restoration. We left, and headed to our next appointment, as we took a turn, a girl crossed the street and turned to us "are you Jehovah´s Witnesses?" we expexplainedat we were missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, she said "do you have a message to share?" inside of me I was crying. outside of me I looked real chill. She led us to her house, let us inside, and we taught her, Iltany. She told us she wants us to come back every single day of the week.
I really believe that the Lord is preparing people in all parts of the world to hear the message of the Restoration, we just have to ask for the Lord's help, and do our best to open our mouths and find those who are ready.
I think we ran/walked 17 miles this week. QUE ALEGRIA! amo correr.
paha em realidade estamos muito felizes juntos. Não estou pensando sobre o fim. (O Senhor faz milagres)
ALSO! we are teaching a man named E.... from Haiti! He is teaching us french! he has already been to church 4 times, and is loving it. He has so many questions (woot!) and is learning Portuguese. I JUST LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY.
it is so exhausting, heart wrenching hurting, but
the most thrilling, intense, happy thing.
Its a different sort of happy. One that fills you to the brim, makes you feel that you can float, and makes smiling impossible. It is a happy that consumes, and leaves you contemplating the goodness of the Father.
If you have the opportunity. Serve a mission.
and from a beautiful chapter here is an excerpt from
Deuteronomy 4.
29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;
31 (For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.
us. teaching a mango on a couch in the middle of the forest. also, we are the latest style ICONS of the day. aaaaand thats our old zooone
Last lil story
we were walking down the dusty street....
"wait, what day is it?"
" its friday, the 29th"
"wait.... yesterday was Thanksgiving?"
"oh.... i guess so."
"happy late Thanksgiving."
"you too."
basically, I love Brazil.
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