So yeah, Vitória! I got to see Sister Richards and it was glorious! Seriously made my life. We had to go to make sure we had all of our paperwork taken care of because apparently we've been living here without proper identification for almost a month (it was really busy when we arrived since it was right before Christmas so we didn't have a chance to do it then like most of the American missionaries). But, speaking of almost a month here...Can y'all believe that this week is my one month mark in Brazil? I can't...It's all going too fast!
I don't have much time so I'll just talk about people who came to church because that's important (even though so many other things happened this week). We had one of our investigators come to church, Luiz Fernando. He always comes and he has kind of been an eternal investigator (6 years) so that was normal. But, during Relief Society, two other people showed up who we weren't expecting to be there. We had only talked to Felipe (10 years old) and his mom a couple of times and they had never really been lessons. We had just invited them to church. Well, they actually came. We talked to the mom after church and we found out that she might actually be a member. She says that she was baptized in our church a long time ago and that she recognized the meetings when she came to church. We let her know that we'd try to find her records, but that she might have to be baptized again if we don't have any records. We met with them yesterday and invited Felipe to be baptized next week and he said yes! We just need to start teaching them and they said they're planning on coming to church this Sunday and they might even come to an activity tomorrow. So awesome!
Also, random thought but this week I was thinking a lot about fear. During one of my personal studies for the week, I reread the conference talk "Which Way Do You Face?" from Elder Lynn G. Robbins. So like every time Dalin emails me or writes me a letter and gives me advice, he always tells me to be more bold and to not have any fear. That has really stuck with me recently because I've been struggling still with my Portuguese and with my ability to speak and teach. I learned this week that all I need to do is open my mouth and not have any fear. I have to be bold with my invitations and commitments. I can't dwell on how badly I'll mess up every time I speak; I just have to do it and have the faith that I will be guided because ya know, I will. I love the scripture that Elder Robbins shared in his talk, Moroni 8:16. It states: "Behold, I speak with boldness, having authority from God; and I fear not what man can do; for perfect love casteth out all fear." I'm learning how to develop a perfect love for God and for the people that I'm teaching. And I always have to remind myself that I am a representative of Jesus Christ and I can speak with boldness because I have the authority from God to teach and preach this gospel that I love so much!
Sorry I wish I had time to tell y'all more!
Also, sorry no time for photos :( Maybe next week!
Eu amo vocês!
Com amor,
Sister Alia Yun Earls
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