Oi!
This week was loads better. It fleww by so like
Dad said, that means things are going well! ;) This week we worked super
hard in the HOT HOT HOT sun and because of it I have 25 mosquito bites
the size of half dollars and a shirt, skirt, shoes, and watch tanline
that is sure to impress all when I return...but also I have stories of
miracles. :)
Monday
we went to the coral in Campinas to play games and eat lunch with our
zone and all the other Elders in Campinas city. It was really fun. The
best part was when we were all on the onibus to go back to the
rodaviaria to catch a bus to Valinhos Elder A. (One of zone
leaders) dared me to stand up on the bus and make contacts (or basically
to shout to everyone on the bus who we are and invite them to talk with
the missionaries and go to church). He is learning English so he spoke
in English and I translated to Portuguese. It was AWESOME. I was super
nervous but I knew how to translate everything and it was a really neat
experience. I was really grateful he pushed me out of my comfort zone
because making street contacts is the hardest and scariest thing for me.
It was fun.
A little bit about some of our investigators this week.
M
and G- An old catholic couple who actually is listening to our
message. M is quiet. She
has a lottt of questions and believes everything we tell her. She is
really special. But it will truly be a miracle if they get baptized
because they are incredibly devoted to being Catholic. Right now she is
talking as if she will apply all of our teachings to Catholicism and
continue at her church because she is a missionary there and has a job
there and everything. But who knows! We believe in miracles! So we will
invite them to be baptized Thursday when we return.
G and AP- A FAMILY! They have a daughter
who is 8 and a son who is 5. They are a beautiful family. G was
the only one home with the kids when we knocked on their door one day so
we taught him about how his family can be together forever. We have yet
to meet AP but he was very positive and said they don't have a
church. They are a very sweet family and we will return Thursday and
hopefully teach them both and if the timing feels right...invite them to
be baptized too.
MA- He is inactive and is married to
sweet I. We visited him this week when he was sober. He was a lot more
closed and distanced. This will be a bigger challenge than we thought
especially since I don't know a thing about alcoholism. Pray we can know
how to help.
L and L- I'm sure that I have already told
you a little bit about them. They are married and have 3 older teens. I
have been teaching them since my first day in Brazil. They were my very
first lesson. For eight weeks we have been teaching them and inviting
them to church and every week they say they will go and then they don't
show up on Sunday. But they've come to almost every church activity. Its
been very frustrating because they are reading the Book of Mormon and
they are praying together and like our message. And we love them soooo
much. I refuse to give up on them. So this week during the district
meeting we passed them as "possibles". (Every meeting our District gets
together and talks about who they are teaching that will almost surely
be baptized and is progressing. And "prometido...or promised" which
means they have a baptism date. Then someone offers a prayer for every
single person for each area. It's really neat.) Anyway we passed them as
possibles for the 5th time. We felt really strongly we should. After
the meeting my district leader told me that him and the zone leaders are
tired of us passing them as possibles because they are "mali" which
means they....are lazy and aren't really interested right now. They
wanted us to pick new people. But we stayed firm. If we didn't pass them
as possibles then we were basically closing our minds and hearts to the possibility that now they are ready. We won't give up on them and we trust
our feelings. We went with our gut and kept them as possibles.
This week we went to their house almost every night
to teach and to see how they are doing. We decided to do something
different and we watched Finding Faith in Christ. L cried. Afterwards
L promised, a very firm promise, that this week they will go to
church. She also told us her husband has been thinking about getting
baptized and is actually really serious. If he gets baptized she will
too. For the first time we left the lesson smiling and happy. Thennnnn
Sunday came...and they didn't show up. AGAIN. It was so frustrating
because we had so much faith they would come. So yesterday night we went
to their house to find out what happened. Their motorcycle had broken
down. -_- L was in the shower so we only talked with L(the husband) a little
bit and he told us we could come teach tomorrow (today lol). So we
left. As we were walking back to our house I felt very strongly that
there was something we needed to do. I can't even describe it but my
heart was aching and aching and I was close to tears and I didn't know
why. I just kept having the same thought...go back. go back. go back. I
stopped my companion and asked if we could say a prayer because
something wasn't right. I prayed to know what to do and afterwards me and
my companion both felt really strongly that we should go back. We had
no idea why or what to say but we almost ran back to their house. When
we got there he was super confused why we were back. We were too. It was
a little awkward because we didn't know what to say. Finally I just
burst out "we felt really strongly we need to come back and talk with
you but we don't know why!". He asked if we were scared to walk back
alone and offered to walk us back home with L (his wife). We said no that that
wasn't it. And then my companion almost bust out the baptism invite.
hahahaha. She invited him to be baptized this Sunday. And then she
started crying. hahaha. He was a little shocked....but he told us he has
been seriously thinking. We could tell he was a little shocked and
unsure so we told him to pray with his wife that night and when we go back
today....hopefully they will have an answer and it will be YES. I then
said a prayer with him in the street in front of his house and choked up
too. The spirit was so strong! He didn't really looked moved....just
scared I think hahaha....but I KNOW he felt the spirit. This is the 4th
time we have invited them to be baptized. But this time is different.
This time I know with all my heart we have done our part. They have
their agency so there is always the possibility that they answer will be
no....but we left last night lightened and happy because we know we have
done our part. If anything it was a really amazing spiritual experience
that we will never forget. Pray for them. Pray they will
accept. They are ready. They are prepared. They only are lacking a
little faith. But we have faith. Pray for them. <3
This Friday we are setting up a both in the park
with the other two sisters here and passing out pamphlets and Book of
Mormons. Yes we have permission. ;) Its legal. I am really excited. It
will be something different!
I am finding it hard to ignore everyone that doesn't believe in us and is
constantly judging us. But my companion helps me a lot by reminding me that the
only opinion we need to worry about is the Lords and He knows we are
working. :)
This transfer is almost over already. I cant believe
it. TODAY I HAVE 2 MONTHS IN BRAZIL! I also cant believe it. haha. Time
is flying by. I don't want to be transfered. But I think I will be. :(
Anyways I hope that all is well with everyone. Thank
you Grandma and Grandpa URen for the emails! I love reading them! Sorry
I don't have a lot of time to write you individually but a letter is
coming. :) I love you all so much and I am so grateful for you in my
life. <3 Have a wonderful week!!!
Love,
Sister Heyer
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