Hello everyone!
So, I had a pretty awesome birthday. Like I mentioned last week, we had
a branch activity that day and spent a while that afternoon getting
everything ready. The activity went really well, we had quite a few
pesquisadores, a TON of food, and even though the
karaoke machine never showed up, we had a lot of fun listening to music
and singing along in the microphone. Sister Marques and I gave the
spiritual thought, with a message about letting our light shine through
sharing our testimonies with others. And of
course, everybody sang a nice loud rendition of Parabens Pra Você for
me! Afterwards, when Sister Marques and I arrived home, Sister Gomes
and Sister Bullen brought out a tray with some of the leftover food from
the activity (tuna sandwich-type things), with
a few candles stuck in. I was a little surprised, and thought it was a
little strange...but remembered that it must have been a pretty busy
day for them, smiled and thanked them, and blew out the candles. They
started to laugh and brought me into the other
room where we found a FESTA that they had put together for me - cake,
balloons, brigadeiros... it was AWESOME, and so funny.... :) Ahh, those
sisters. They´re crazy. :)
Highlight of this week was our lesson with João. I dont think Ive
mentioned him yet... He is a sweet little old man who has been coming to
church for the past couple weeks. He lives all alone, so I think he
really enjoys our visits, but he was feeling a little
apprehensive about committing to baptism... We were really trying to
avoid being pushy about it, but THIS week, he told us that he´s ready to
be baptized and has already invited his kids to come to the baptism.
Sister Marques and I were so excited! He is
so sincere in his prayers and so accepting of what we teach.
We also spent one day this week working in a neighborhood reeeeeeeeeally
far away from our house. We found quite a few great people there, but
my favorite lesson was with Aparecida. The reference that we had was
for her daughter, but when Aparecida answered
the door, she told us that she had moved out more than a year ago. But
she invited us in, and we sat and visited with her for a while. She
started to tell us about her life, her family...and then told us about
her daughter. Apparently a few years ago she
was going through some REALLY hard times, struggling with depression
and some other challenges in her life. One day when she was feeling
particularly discouraged, she ran into two young men in white shirts and
ties.... :) She gave them her address and later
that day told her mom, ´If two guys show up here, they´re from the
church!´ The elders never showed up, and eventually she moved away...
but this week Sister Marques and I found her mom and were able to share
our message with her. :) Aparecida actually
started to cry a little bit while telling us the story of how her
daughter met the elders. I just felt so excited to be able to be the
one to find her and teach her what she and her daughter had been waiting
for so long. :)
Anyways, time´s up again! I love you guys so much. Thanks again for
all the birthday wishes, for the presents, for the love and ALL that
good stuff. :) Hope you are all getting ready for the Christmas
season, and enjoying the cold for me! I can´t wait
to be able to talk to you all in a few weeks! :)
Love always,
Sister Gee
No comments:
Post a Comment