You guys are such rock stars! I´m so glad
you both have so much enthusiasm about the work! Not very missionaries
can have the privilege of a whole family that´s strong in the church,
let alone a family that really does understand because their doing it!
Full-time missionaries AND members need to consecrate themselves more.
Just think on what it means to give all of your time, talents and possessions to do the will of the Lord. He loves you and the more you
learn to trust Him, the more freely He will pour out blessings you never
even thought were possible! Your mission will be exactly what you
need.
So this week was incredible. Ask and ye shall receive!!! Since we moved our focus to families, the Lord answered our
prayers and we found the most SUPER elect family that ever lived. We
contacted Helena, the grandma, first, who was sitting outside her son´s
house. I asked her what we does on Sundays and she said ´´I go to the
hospital and visit the sick´´, so I shared Mosiah 18 with her and she
accepted the invitation to be baptized the 9th. So we went inside and
met her son, Pedro, his wife Marinalva, their 9 and 2 year-old sons
Douglas and Jorge Enrique. THEY ALL ACCEPTED BAPTISM ON THE 9TH.
Except for Jorge Enrique because he´s 2.. Pedro´s sister Joanadarque
was also there but she said she couldn´t go to church because she´s
already Evangelical.
So we come back the next morning and it´s just
Joanadarque taking care of Jorge. We came in and chatted with her and
said she had been hoping for a very long time that her brother´s family
would start going to a church. She then said that she likes to visit
other churches but the Evangelical church puts you in a disciplinary
chair if they found out you went to another church and the
´missionaries´ there chastise you. (that explained SOOOOOO MUCH about
SO many people) But she told us she still would go to church with her
family.
That night we came back to teach everyone and it was
like nothing I´ve ever seen in Brasil. This may not seem like a big
deal, but they all came and participated, turned off the TV, everyone
stayed in the room, and they LISTENED. We talked about the first
principles of the gospel and about the atonement and the Spirit was
there so strong and every single member of the family was totally
getting it, everything they said showed they were prepared. There was a
moment when Pedro was saying how he needed the guide of the spirit to
help him raise his family and he was so excited when we told him about
the gift of the Holy Ghost. I just couldn´t believe this family. Still
can´t. He told us he knew God sent us here to help his family and his
wife told us she wanted us to come back to their house if we visit
Brasil after the mission.
I KNOW. MISSIONARY WORK SHOULDN´T EVEN BE LIKE THIS
BUT IT IS!! So Sunday morning came and unfortunately Pedro and Marinalva
had to stay and take care of sick Jorge, but Helena, Joanadarque and
Douglas came and LOVED church. This whole family is getting baptized,
guys. The church is true.
I´ve learned so many things this transfer already,
but one is that we need to focus on the people who can be baptized now.
It seems at time a little rigid, but with Marcos´ brother Sandro, he´s
just not ready right now. We know he will get baptized and that this is
what he needs, but he needs to take the first steps and go to church
and keep his commitments. Just look at the families who are out there
waiting NOW! That´s how this mission works. You just have to have
faith, follow the spirit, and you will never know what your influence
will be on members, companions and just people who watch you pass by.
Even if you don´t see the results now, or even if you never know, the
best missionary work you can do is always just being like Christ. You
never know what members you inspired, what investigators you prepared
that never progressed but will be found again someday. I just know I
want to love my mission, be remembered by every ward, and just enjoy
being a part of the best mission in the world!
I hope I get to stay in this ward for a long time.
I feel like I just got here and we only have three more weeks. I
noticed that people in this ward are a lot more musical. I had the idea
to start a choir, which received sudden and unexpected support. One of
the counselors announced it at the pulpit while I was sitting up front
to play the piano and he was very excited and a few members looked at me
and smiled who I know will participate. I´ll let you know how it goes
:) Apparently they had one in the past but they stopped. This ward
needs to get excited and united!! And I must say, ward choir director
was a calling that really worked out for me :)
I feel like I have SO much more to tell you, about
our crazy ward mission leader Valdemir who´s going to baptize the world
(or make everyone afraid of the Mormons) and Gabí, a recent convert who
wants to serve a mission and is so excited to have Sisters, but I guess I
have eternity to tell you all about it! Just know I´m super stoked,
I´m finally feeling completely better now, our house only doesn´t have
water sometimes but taking showers with water bottles or rain is cool,
I´m really used to cockroaches now, and my calf muscles are awesome.
I love you all so much!! You are such batizadores. That´s really embarrassing about the Broncos.
Um abração,
Sister Moore
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