Week #62

Olaaaa mãe!

This week we worked so hard with our investigator Luiz to prepare him for baptism. Unfortunately, he doesn't want to be baptized. When the investigator makes this decision, there's not much else you can do. You can't force them to get in the water and hold 'em down. So that was pretty sad. Sometimes I really hate agency. 

 

I've been neglecting to write that we've been visiting the members and asking about their conversion stories to help them remember why they joined the church and why they should share the gospel. The power in which these members bore their testimonies was so strong. One young woman that comes out with us talked about how much she loves this gospel and the things it has taught her and the way it has changed her. These members may not know everything about how the church works, but they do know, without a doubt, that this is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I love the members here. I was thinking yesterday about how I didn't even know these people even existed! I mean if you think about it, we always talk about other countries but it doesn't become real that there are other people in the world, until you leave your own country. When I arrived here after being in Ohio for so long, it was really hard to love the people here because I felt like they weren't "my people". Oh please. How wrong I was. They may not speak English, and they may not be American, but I still feel the same immense love for them and I look at them as my people because they're my brothers and sisters. They are children of God. Literally. It's been such an eye opening and amazing experience to serve here. 

Let's talk about what happened yesterday because it was just the best day ever. First off, our investigator Gabriel is preparing for baptism this Saturday! He LOVES church and the reverence in the chapel and he believes Joseph Smith really was a prophet. Also, we have a family we're working on and the wife was determined to go to church this Sunday. The whole morning I was praying and praying that they would be ready when we arrived at their house. We showed up a little bit later than we said and guess what we saw? Fatima was standing in front of her house, baby in her arms, with her other 2 kids and their neighbor. READY FOR CHURCH! I've never seen a more beautiful sight. I was so excited! She said she thought we were'nt going to show up because we were late. But we all went to church and everyone loved it. We went by later last night to talk to her and she was just super happy. Also she said that she and her husband took our challenge to pray to together. They're praying as a family now! I need to stay one more transfer here! We talked about marriage with them and they're totally on board. They have 8 kids together and have been living together for 18 years. It was so funny. They both looked at each other and Rege said "do you not want to marry me?" and she said "do YOU not want to marry me?" After he said, let's get married then! They have changed so much since the first time we met them. They just seem so much happier. 

Well that's basically what I wanted to share today. This week went so fast and we only have 2 weeks left of the transfer. I don't know if I'll stay or go because next transfer is Sister Oliveir's last. 

Love you!

Sister CLark