August 25, 2014

This week was so awesome for us! We taught the most lessons this week and found some really amazing people to teach! We had transfers today and me and Sis Downs will stay together for one more transfer! I´m really glad! I´ve learned a ton from her and I know I´ll learn even more these next 6 weeks!! On Monday when p day ended we taught this girl we met her a few weeks ago. Shes 13. We taught her and her mom and it was a good lesson! After that we had family home evening with Tatiane and her family, Cristielen, and the Sampaio family! It was awesome! We played memory and my team won. I learned that I'm still pretty competitive when it comes to games :) Afterwards we had another family home evening with a family in the ward and Neto. It was cool because after the lesson the member was talking with Neto and telling him how he served a mission 1 and a half years after joining the church. he showed Neto his old nametags and I think it made Neto more interested in serving a mission! It was sweet, he left their house with  a huge smile on his face, just super happy!!

 

Tuesday we taught Luiziane.  After that we visited Fabricio, another recent convert who isn't able to attend church much. We talked with him about the priesthood which was great! We then went and taught Neto with a member. It was Neto's 21st birthday that day so we brought him some cake! He was super happy. and he told us that ever since he received a blessing he hasn't had any temptations. So awesome! We taught him about the preisthood and how that is the power that was used to bless him and how after his baptism he can have that power and help people the same way he was helped. It was a great lesson. We then taught Francisco and Rizangela. they are doing really well! They are reading from the Book of Mormon and praying and they said if they knew the church was true they´d be baptized for sure. They are travelling the next 2 weekends so they won't be able to come to church, which is a bummer, but we´ll see what happens! We ended the night finding this really cool family! The girl's names all start with Rose haha. One of the daughters knows a member and has visited the church before! One of the sons is about 8 or 9 and I dont think he's ever seen Americans before because he couldnt stop staring at us. When his mom came into the room he was like ´´look mom! 2 Gringas!!!´ haha it was great! 

 

On Wednesday we worked in a part of our area that we have never worked in before. It's farther away than the other parts of our area but we need to start working there more because there are tons of people and they need to be taught too! We knocked on this one door and hesitated because it looked like an apartment complex or something. But this guy answered the door and told us it was a house. He told us he worked there. So we explained who we were and he told us hed always wanted to visit our church but he didn't think he was welcome and he didn't want to enter such a beautiful building with the clothes that he has. It was so sweet! We told him that he definitely can and should visit and got his address for the missionaries in his area!! We taught Neto later that night and it was great! He's still staying strong, and I think he will be baptized in 2 weeks as planned! 

 

Thursday we took a member to our lesson with Carolina and it went perfectly! She shared her conversion story with Carolina and her and Carolina just became friends instantly. It's good that she will have a friend to come to church with! In the afternoon we knocked this door and were teaching this family. The mom asked us if we would like to try a dessert. We said sure! I´m not sure what I ate, but it was not sitting right with me...I literally thought I was going to throw up!!! I think it was made with figs...seriously, traumatizing! That night I lost my planner which was really depressing because it has everything I need to know in it! But i still have Sis Downs who has all the info too so all is well! We had a lesson with Raimundo and Susana in the evening and it went well. It's just hard because he works a lot on sundays and he just doesn't understand the concept of why authority is important. So we will see what happens. We ended the night teaching this guy, Alberto. we met him on Wednesday night. He saw us in the street and asked if he could buy one of our pamphlets. We told him he didn't have to buy them. We gave him one and set up an appt with him.

 

Friday was an awesome day! In the morning we helped Lucas, a recent convert, make plans to serve a mission. We used the church website and wrote down all the stuff he will need to do and when he can do it. He promised us he will serve a mission! Afterwards we taught Claudiana. She is still doing really well and still wants to visit the church. We left her with the book of mormon to read, so we will see how that goes! In the afternoon we taught Cleviane again. She was baptized about 3 years ago but didnt understand a lot of what she was taught. So we watched The Restoration with her and talked more about the book of mormon with her and how it compliments the bible. She really has a lot of potential to be a strong member! Afterwards, we taught Neto. Great news,  he found a new job where he won't be working on Sundays! Then we passed by the house of another investigator and he told us he left his job and will not be working Sundays anymore so now he can visit the church! This is a really big challenge here so its awesome that the two of them can for sure come to church now! 

 

Saturday was great as well! We taught English class which is always a blast! This member brought us some candy they have here called paco quito and its almost like peanut butter! I will definitely be bringing some home with me for you all to try :) He also brought us this fruit called tamarina. It's the weirdest fruit ever...it has a shell like a peanut that you crack open, and the fruit is really chewy and sour like a sourpatch kid, and in the middle it has a big seed. I definitely tried some interesting food this week! In the afternoon we found a really cool family that we are going to go back and teach this week! We also taught Cristielen. she invited her family to church on Sunday which was awesome! I really believe that they will all be members some day. Later in the night we were going to an appointment and we were passing this house and I was thinking I wanted to talk to the person who lived there, but we were running late and so I didnt say anything. The appointment fell through and we were passing the house again so I told Sis Downs we should knock it. We met this guy, Joao. He's not religious but believes in God and prayer and the bible. We had a really powerful lesson with him. He has a ton of doubts because he's been let down by a lot of people in different churches, but he promised he'd pray to know if what we shared is true. As we were leaving Sis Downs told me she wanted to knock the door the first time we passed too! So we will see what happens, but Heavnely Father definitely wanted us to knock that door and meet Joao! 

 

Sunday was the best day ever!! wW had lots of people at church. Tiago came, Neto came, Alberto came, and Cristielen and her family visited as well! It can be a little stressful having lots of people at church, but everything worked out well! In the afternoon we taught Cristielen and talked about her baptismal interview and made plans for her baptism. There's a member here who has a guitar so I'm going to sing and play at her baptism! Later that day we met a really sweet mom and her son. The dad was at work so we didn't get to meet him. But we asked them if we could start our visit with a prayer and if they needed anything special that we could ask for. Turns out the husband went to the doctor the other day for something in his eye and the doctor told him he needed a biopsy, so they are really worrying about that. We prayed and had an amazing lesson with them. its interesting, we teach A LOT of people here, but there are certain people that you teach that you just feel something special when you´re with them. I felt that way with this family. The son is 10 and is so cute! They don't attend a church but he knows a ton about God and religion. I'm excited to teach them more!! 

 

I'm really happy to be staying in this area with Sister Downs! I feel like the last 6 weeks I'ive learned more about being a missionary than any other transfer! I'm excited to keep learning and meeting new amazing people here in Brasil! I hope you all are doing well! I miss you guys tons but I'm so happy to be here right now! Every day I have moments where I think about how blessed I am to be doing what I'm doing!

beijos!!!

amo voces!!

Sister Pehrson