Olá todo mundo :)
Things went really great this week, just like every
week. I LOVE being a missionary. Have I said
that enough? Anyway, this week I've been listening to all the conference talks
in English and it is so fantastic. I
understood it in Portuguese but it is just more personal
to hear it in your own
language, in their own words. I
also couldn’t pay much attention
to the sessions on Sunday because I was thinking about
a million things at once, with
finding rides for investigators and
worrying about the ones we couldn’t get in contact with. So I am happy now to
listen to all the talks in peace :)
I have also been listening to some songs in Spanish a lot
this week. I still want to learn Spanish! I will once I get home. But I got the song Glorious by David
Archeleta in Spanish and I love it! My comp and I also decided to 'ponderize'
(reference from gen conference, Check it out!!) scriptures in Portuguese, English,
and Spanish every week. Challenge accepted! This week we ponderized 3 Nephi 5:13
"Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called
of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting
life." Good stuff.
This week a sister in the ward gave us money for lunch and we
made Lasagna! It was mostly Sister C. Lima who made it but I helped out. Now I
know how to make Brazilian lasagna, so be excited for that when I get home. ;)
Something else delicious we ate this week was tapioca with
chocolate filling. YUM! It’s sad that we don’t have this type of tapioca in the
United States.
We had a Family home evening with some less actives that was
fantastic. People here are so amazing. We watched the Mormon Message by Elder
Christofferson called the Will of God. We may not know why certain things
happen to us, but we need to remember that it is all a part of God's plan for
us. We just have to trust in Him and keep moving forward in faith.
Sister C. Lima asked
Carlos, the father of the family to say
the closing prayer and to everyone’s astonishment, he got right up to say a heartfelt prayer to our Father in heaven. Later, his
son Gerson, who's preparing for a mission, told us that he had never heard his
dad pray out loud before. Gerson wants so much that his family comes back to
church, and I know that his prayers are being answered. Maybe not as quickly as he would like, but it
is all according to the time of the Lord.
Other people that we are teaching and that are progressing
are Val, William, Karol, and Diego. William was a miracle who went to
conference with a friend and loved it. He also had already downloaded the Book
of Mormon on his phone and had read it before we taught him! Miracles! Val is
another miracle that we are teaching and helping a lot. She knows that church is important and that
she needs to go every week. She has two little boys who are a little crazy. One
primary teacher called Junior 'Pimentinha', basically little fire ball, or
little pepper. So that makes church exciting. I love her and I know that she was
prepared by angels to hear the gospel.
Finally, there's Karol and Diego. Karol is doing fantastic.
She always talks about the church as 'her church' and wants to follow its
teachings. She says prayers like she has been a member for years and is reading
the Book of Mormon and listening to general conference. The ONLY problem is the
law of chastity. It’s been hard to sit down and talk with Diego because he was
running from us for a bit, but we finally sat down and talked to him a couple
times this week. Slowly we have seen the change in him. He came to church the week before conference
and liked it, but he still needs to pray about the Book of Mormon. Karol wants
Diego to be coming to church before she gets baptized or commits to living the
law of chastity. It’s difficult to accept but I know that it’s all in the Lords
timing. We just have to trust in him and keep praying for guidance.
Whoa super long email. Alright, just to finish, this week we
heard a lot of people tell us "Jesus é bom.'' Jesus is good. A lot of
people from evangelical churches say that phrase or 'Paz no Senhor" when
we pass by or say Good morning. So it’s kind of a passing comment between
members of the church, almost like 'What would Jesus do?" But I got to
thinking about that phrase Jesus é bom. Really, truly Jesus Christ is good. He loves us and will help us with whatever we
need. Heavenly Father made this beautiful world for us with all that we need to
eat and survive. Have you ever thought about how amazing watermelon is? God
made watermelon! And it is so delicious :)
Thank you all for reading
Love ya, Sister Berry
