Above is an excerpt
from a real conversation I had with a real Brazilian adult yesterday during
conference. Oh what a different world Itabainana Brazil is...
Hey!
Summer is definitely
settling in here. Its gets hotter everyday and my shoes get sweatier. But all
is well here in good ole Brasil. This week was kinda long tbh. Im learning
first hand how hard the adversary works against you when you start on the right
path and start doing what the Lord wants you to do. I feel like thats happening
with all of our investigators! They’ll get to a certain point and are really
progressing and then satan will put an obstacle in their path to try and keep
them from pushing forward. And sometimes it does stop them, which makes us sad.
I think I was really dumb when I left on my mission. Let me expound;
When I got to brasil i
thought just because it was brasil, I’d be baptizing all the time, with people
just so eager to join the church. well surprise surprise, because that is not
the case in this area. Apparently the northeast is known for being a little
more stubborn. But that doesnt mean there aren’t people here being prepared and
waiting for us! This week Sister Barbosa and I were praying that we´d be able
to find a new family to teach. And one day we went to Irmao Louis´s house and
there was a 14 yr old boy named Maycom reading the book of mormon to him since
he doesnt know how to read. Turns out Maycom is so excited to be baptized and
have purpose and hope in his life through the gospel of Jesus christ! AND guess
what else, he has 9 siblings. BAM. #miracles #blessed. I am so humbled to be
able to teach the great people here. Their house is probably the size or
smaller of the apartment I’m living in, maybe the size of our living room and
dining room and kitchen put together at home. but the spirit that they have is
just amazing. it really proves it, you dont need anything but the gospel and
your family to be happy.
Maycom told us about
an experience he had this week too. he said one night he was praying to know if
the church was true like we asked him to, and he didnt know why but he just
started crying. we asked him how he felt in that moment and he said like god
was right there beside him. I just wanted to hug the kid, for crying out loud!!
Because god really is with us every step of the way! He said that he even felt
someones hand on his shoulder comforting him but he looked behind him and saw
no one. so cool! i know that our savior is with us during our triumphs and
during our trials. and that makes Him all the more personal. The love our
Savior has for each one of us individually is profound.
And who loved
conference helllooo I did!! I agree with syd when she said that the best talks
are on saturday to stick it to the people who just watch sunday.
we watched Saturday at a members house on their laptop (most people don’t have
internet at their houses or computers). well the members left when it started,
but still. then sunday we took a big sweaty rickety bus with the
whole branch to Lagarto where the nearest chapel is. Can we talk about how many
times they told us to keep the sabbath holy? I guess that means no more granite
flats for you pecadores. jk. kinda. I’m sad that people here really dont
understand the importance or significance of conference. its hard enough to get
them to go to church for 3 hours once a week, let alone 8 hours in one weekend.
most of the members here didnt even know we had it on satuday too... haha. but
i just loved elder hollands talk about moms. it is so true when he said moms
carry us for a lot longer than 9 months. i knew mom was crying during that talk
which made me tear up too. i miss my mom! we really are so lucky to have
parents rooted in the gospel who taught us like the sons of helaman, who
sacrifice everything for us.
my new favorite pastime
is teaching the kids here to say ´´i love you sister walker´´ in english. i am
a great missionary. Sister Barbosa and i are kinda joined at the hip these
days. We laugh alll the time. She says to me ´´if youre this sassy in
portuguese after speaking for 3 months, i dont know if i even want to hear you
in english..´´ true or true? ;)
if at any time you
guys could email me conference talks so i could print them off (portugues or
english) i would love that!! i love you guys!
sis
walker
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