Monday: Once p day ended we knocked a few doors and met this guy who has a ton of potential! We´re gonna go back and teach him tomorrow night and I´m super excited! He knows a lot about religion but never studied ours, so I´m excited to see what will happen! After that we stopped and saw Tatiane. She visited the ward where Cristielen will be attending and found a house there. They will probably be moving in the next couple of weeks! Of course I´m sad to see them go, but I´m really excited that it will all work out so Cristielen can be baptized! After that we had family home evening with Igor. It was his 17th birthday and all he wanted to do was have family home evening with a bunch of his friends and us, the missionaries! There aren´t many 17 year olds in the world like Igor...that's for sure! After that we had one more family home evening with the family of Irmão Antoni and Neto! It was awesome because Antonio´s nephew gave the lesson and I think it helped him (the nephew) gain a stronger testimony so that was cool!
Tuesday was one of those days where you just walk. and walk. and walk and walk and walk....and don´t teach much! BUT the lessons we did have were awesome, so I will count my blessings! In the morning we taught a lesson with 2 ladies. One has been acting uniterested since her family started saying stuff about the church. But on this day she told us she's just been upset at her families reaciton to the church because she wants them to have the truth too. She said she's been trying to share what shes learning with them, but they won't accept it. It was good to hear that she still wants to be baptized and knows this is true. We talked to her about how she can be an example to her family through her actions. In the afternoon we taught a lesson with a person we have been teaching for quite a while. It was funny because we taught him about missionary work and how we should all preach the gospel. We asked him how his life has changed since we started teaching him and he said that before he littered a lot, but now he doesn't like to throw his garbage in the street. Haha! Good to know he´s learning something from us...Another funny story from a lesson this week is that we were trying to tell a man what he needs to wear UNDER his clothes for his baptism, but we didn't know the words in Portuguese. So Sister Downs used the word she thought was underwear but it turns out that there is a word for boxers and a word for little girls underwear.Sis Downs used the word for little girls underwear so he just started laughing at us. Oh the joys of speaking Portuguese.
Wednesday started out a lot like tuesday. We kept trying to visit people but weren't having much luck! But like always, a miracle happened and everything worked out amazingly! We knocked this door and a lady answered. Without even asking who we were she opened her door and let us in. Within the first few moments I just knew she was a special person! Her name is Net. She knows a few people that she works with who are members of the church, but she doesn´t know much about he church itself. So we taught her the Restoration and she told us how she knew God sent us because that morning she was listening to the radio and a pastor was talking about baptism. She felt like it was God reminding her that she needs to be baptized. So when we showed up that night inviting her to be baptized, she knew only God could have sent us! She is seriously amazing!! She has a really crazy schedule so we can't teach her a ton during the week, but she has set a baptism date of September 28 now so we will see what happens!!
Thursday was awesome! In the morning we taught Lucas who was baptized recently. It was an awesome lesson! We are helping him prep to be a missionary so we started a new thing where we leave a part of preach my gospel with him to study and the next time we come back, he will teach it to us! In the afternoon we taught a mom and a son we met the other day. They are really cool and receptive, but they aren´t the most willing to act, so we will see what happens! We marked a baptism date with them, but I´m not sure if it will happen when we planned because they didn't come to church Sunday. We also taught Neto that day and prepped him for his baptism interview! He was so excited to be baptized! That night we ended up visiting a lady in the Ward. It was really good because she shared some stories about her life and the struggles she's having right now. We set a goal for her to go the temple. I´m excited for when that will happen!!
Friday was seriously unlike ANY day I´ve had on my mission thus far...I went on exchanges to another area with one of the Sister Training Leaders. literally the whole day, ALL of our appointmentsts fell through. EVERYTHING!! It was ridiculous!! I´ve never had such terrible luck! We had a member with us who knows ALL the Sisters in this mission and is very blunt about who she likes and doesn´t like. I don´t think she liked me very much. The whole day I felt like the third wheel while she talked to the sister I was with. It was pretty miserable. I was feeling a little sad because this member didn´t seem to like me much and I was just thinking about how it's hard for me to really befriend the members here because of the language and culture barriers and everything. But we went to the last lesson of the night it was the only one not to fall through. We taught the restoration and it was SO powerful. I got to share the first vision and I felt the spirit so strongly as I taught about Joseph Smith´s experience. As we were leaving, the lady we taught told me that I have a special spirit of calmness about me that is unlike any other and she was so happy I shared it with her. It was, honestly, exactly what I needed to hear and be reminded of! I just need to be me and fulfill my calling and the rest doesn´t matter! There will be people who don´t like me, but if I change for every person that doesn´t like me, who would I be? So that was really cool to learn and see one of the gifts that God has given me and how it is helping someone here! Even though the rest of the day wasn´t the greatest, I at least learned a ton and had that spiritual experience!
Saturday was awesome! In the morning we taught english class which is always a ton of fun! Saturday was especially great. During the class, Neto was interviewed for his baptism and everything went perfect for him. So that was awewsome! In the afternoon we met up with our ward mission leader and planned stuff for the baptism. He is so awesome! He continues to learn about his calling as he goes. He has never served a mission or anything so this was all new to him. But he is so humble and teachable, so he's great to work with. He was doing everything possible to make this baptism great for Neto and I´m so glad we have him in our ward! In the evening we taught a family. We brought along a member and he was the perfect person to bring with us. Then we taught this lady and her family who we met in the street the other day. Their house is on top of another house, and they were all hanging out on the deck. It was so perfect because it was night time and their house doesn´t have lots of street lights nearby so the stars and the moon were sooo pretty! We taught the restoration and the whole time the entire family was just full of great questions. It was an amazing lesson!
Sunday was seriously the BEST!! Tiago, our investigator whose real name is florencio, (we found out we´ve been calling him the wrong name the last 2 months..not sure how we got Tiago haha!) came to church, as well as Alberto. Alberto bore his testimony haha! It was awesome! After church we had 2 awesome lessons and then had Neto´s baptism! I honestly think this was my favorite baptism on the mission. Maybe it's just because it was most recent, but really everything went so perfectly!! It was so awesome to see him in all white! His jumpsuit was huge and he looked like a little kid wearing his dads clothes, but it was one of the most beautiful things I´ve ever seen! He was so happy!! His Aunt, Grandma and Cousin were all there with him and TONS of ward members were there to support him too! The talks were amazing and I got to do a musical number! I was so nervous because I´ve never sang in public in Portuguese, but before I sang, I prayed that it would bring the spirit and when I finsihed, I looked up and Neto was crying! It was so sweet and I´m so happy he was able to feel the spirit so strong! The spirit was strong during the whole baptism and I just felt rejuvenated and ready to help more people change the way Neto did. It is such a good feeling when you are helping someone you love SO much grow closer to God! There really is no greater joy I´ve felt than this, and I want to fill my final months here with more experiences like yesterday!
Here is a picture from the Baptism:
Here is a picture from the Baptism:
This is our Ward Mission leader withNeto, his Aunt, Grandmother and Cousin
This is Igor, Neto and Antonio
So that was my week. Our plan is to keep on doing the Lord´s work! I feel so blessed to be here and to be helping people out as well as learning so much myself!
So that was my week. Our plan is to keep on doing the Lord´s work! I feel so blessed to be here and to be helping people out as well as learning so much myself!
Love you all!!!!
Sister Pehrson
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