Hey
people!
okay first off, i sent
you guys a letter about a month or so ago, so if you didnt get it then houston
we have a problem and ill have to send letters from a different envelope pouch
thing. also package update in case i ever get one here, for christmas it’ll need
to have arrived in maceio by december 10 because thats when we have
christmas conference in maceio and when id be able to get anything like
that.
but back to the good
stuff. this week was kinda sad tbh. we are teaching lots of people that learn
of gospel truths like god loves them, the book of mormon is true, we have a
living prophet, they need to keep the commandments and go to church every week,
but then use their agency wrongly and choose to not act on the witnesses they receive.
i sure am not a fan of agency this week. but sister barbosa said something in
our lesson with katia who is a single mom all ready to be baptized but her
member bf kinda messed things up. she said that we cant put in her heart all
the feelings and inspirations the spirit has given to us. and even if we could,
we wouldnt because we fought for this spirit and knowledge of the spirit that
we have. we fight for it every single day as we study for 3 hours every
morning, as we choose to not follow temptation, when we chose to serve a
mission, we literally fought against the adversary to have the level of
conversion we do and she wouldnt give that up for anything. i was in amazement
because that is exactly true. the gospel is something you have to experience
for yourself and feel, no one can convince you of it!
im also learning about
how really amazing and great the book of mormon is. it changes peoples lives!
its amazing because sister barbosa taught me, you dont need to put your hand in
the fire to know that it burns, because someone before you put their hand in
and it burned. just like in the book of mormon, we already have examples of
what happens when you doubt the power of the lord, or murmur against him, or
need guidance and turn to the lord, or your family needs to be strengthened. we
already know what happens so we dont need to pass through the same afflictions
to know the result. and we can take strength from the stories in there because
we know the good results too! that book is great. What’s sad is that we teach
every single day, almost every single lesson the power of reading every day and
praying morning and night. thats what we teach to people investigating the
church but then we go to all the members house for lunch and ask if they’re
doing those things and they say no! it just breaks my heart! theres about 3
youth in the ward that go to seminary every day, and the one girl thats the
firmest in the branch said shes never read the book of mormon ever... i was like
are you for real. (but she also said shes embarrassed to wear a skirt that goes
down to her knees but thats a whole separate can of worms that is an issue
here). its like the smallest things can make or break your testimony of the
gospel and the strength you gain every day.
But on a happier note,
today is Dia das Crianças! (Kids Day). everyone gives presents to their kids
and theres little trampolines and balloons everywhere. but somehow i got jipped
because i definitely sat at the 1 foot tall kids table every year for christmas
eve dinner but no one gave me a present today... Oh and big news, i started the
bottom pinching tradition during fotos here in brasil so that is a win for the
walkers. zinger.
update on maycom: he
is ready to be baptized but now his dad doesnt want him to be, so that put a
damper on things. but his dad works all week except sunday and on
sundays he is lets just say less than capacitated to have a coherent chat
with... we are praying for him. its still so funny to me how different things
in brasil are. the people here, especially in the northeast, are SO trusting.
we meet people in the street and within 3 minutes we have their name, address,
phone number, age, marital status, days they’re at home, and their favorite
color. everytime we do it i think of when mom accidentally put our address on facebook
and everyone freaked out at her hahah. and i think of dad always freaking out
saying not to give personal info out to anyone *cue dad saying ´´oh im sure,
freak out *crinkled finger movie arm quotes**
its also funny with
the language, because I’m pretty good at understanding what people say now. i
just dont always have all the words i want to respond. but people can actually
have a real conversation with me now and dont just look at my companion the
whole time. but its funny theres one lady in the branch who still thinks i dont
know a word of portguese, so she always talks with big hand motions and makes
her eyes really big when she talks to me and talks really loud like that will
help me understand better haha. sometimes i play dumb and make her do lots of ridiculous
arm movements until I ´´understand´´. then i repent.
but things here are
going pretty well! we´re hoping this week the lord will help us meet lots of
new people to teach because most of the people we were working with have
reached some sort of bridge and got stuck progressing. but i know there’s other
people here ready for us. the people here are so open! We just have to have the
courage to talk with everyone. i love you guys. I’ll talk to you next week!
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