HAPPPPPY BIRTHDAY JENS!!!!!! Don't worry I didn't forget, on dia 29 I thought - Oh it is Jens Birthday. I hope it is
was the best birthday ever with lots and lots of cake and ice cream!!!
Whoohooo, American cake and ice cream that is. Here they make salty cakes
which is basically stacks of bread and chicken salad with a mayonnaise
frosting and tomato flowers and strips of peppers for decorations; kind
of weird I know.
But let me tell you about this family. They are so
amazing, I felt like that little kid on "David goes to the Dentist" ... "is
this real life". [she is talking about a YouTube video about a boy-David-that was filmed after going to the dentist and was just coming off of some sort of medication that made him very loopy. He was saying crazy, funny things while his eyes kind of rolled around like he was spinning and then he said, "Is this real life?" ha ha--very funny!] They are the family every missionary dreams of.
So here is the complete story. Way back to the beginning of
the transfer, Sis Z passes out and I left her in a members house and
grabbed Antoerh Irmã and went off to work for the day. The day was
filled with lots of flaky people but our last visit was Natanael,
Angela, Lu, and Natalia. They were headed off for church but stayed to
hear what I had to say and it was the perfect first lesson any
missionary could have wanted, the spirit was present, they asked the
perfect questions, and they understood!!! Thanks to the spirit. After
several more visits I was noticing things were going kind of slow with
them, they wanted to read all of the BOM and learn everything they
could, but we were creating a really strong friendship. I knew that I
needed to invite them to be baptized but I started getting scared that
they would stop being interested or think that we just wanted them to get
baptized etc etc etc. Also, our baptisms for this week fell through and when that happens, it always leave you feeling really bummed. So this week, I was kind of
bummed and I was praying and fasting--a lot! I read the story
of Alma and Amulek. Alma after being rejected by the whole city of
Ammonihah, left but was commanded to return and he found Amulek, and
together they began a great work. I took comfort knowing that every city
has an Amulek, I was praying to find our Amulek. So we went back
for another appointment with this family and Angela said that she had
lots of questions, but that she noticed that the members that I was
bringing with us were weak (we do visits with a lot of recent converts
that are new to the church to help strengthen their testimonies) and
she didn't want to ask questions in fear her questions would make them question their own testimonies. I thought wow - I
can't believe she noticed that. But it was good because we were with a
member who served a mission etc etc. She asked all of her questions she
had a ton of questions about elders, and missionaries, and Preach my Gospel, what it was etc. We answered her questions and watched the
restoration film. We ended the lesson and after, the family was chatting
with sis Z and the member. Angela pulled me aside and she said sis P, I
want Preach my Gospel, I want to be a missionary. I gave her a hug and
blurted- "Do you want to get baptized?" and she said, "Yes". Then I kind of
started freaking out a little bit because I was so happy. But she said
she didn't want the others to know because she didn't want to influence
their decision, so we are teaching her undercover. She came to church
yesterday and she told me that she (quick background - she is way evangelic - way churchy) grew up/was raised by missionaries, and
she had already done a seminar on Joseph smith and she already knew his
story, but when I taught about first lesson, she said that the things I
said made her tremble, she said that before, she knew him as only a man,
but now she knows him as a prophet. And she said when I asked her to be
baptized the spirit touched her heart and she knew that was exactly what
she needed to do.
I cant explain how hard I have prayed and the number
of times I have fasted just to be an instrument in the Lords hands and to
be a conduit of the spirit. My happiness is so big it feels like it can't
quite fit inside me. Angela, and her daughters are people that will
help the kingdom of God grow. They will make amazing members. And
amazing leaders in the church! Thank you for you prayers for them as
well. It helped.
Ah!!! I love the mission!
Know that I love you all soo much and I hope you are enjoying your labor day weekend. Be safe, and eat a Reeses cup for me!
amo vocês muito
sis p
ps.
we realized that Quissamã is a no stop light town. you know how there
is one stop light and two stop light towns, well there isnt a single one
here. Just to get a jist about this little town
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