Oi family and friends!!
This week has been crazy! Let me start off with some interesting
things here in good ole Bahia. So the bugs are insane here. I swear
they all look like they are from another planet and i could cry
everytime i think about it. I wake up with bugs on me every morning
and swatting bugs off my face and arms and legs is becoming very
normal haha. The heat is also seriously intense here. I have lost
weight from all the sweating and walking in the heat. I have mais
freckles than before and even tan lines! who wouldve ever thought i
would have tan lines?! Its so hot here that everyone is half naked and
i rarely see a man actually wearing a shirt. So thats fun. There are
randomly horses walking around here and at first i thought it was the
weirdest thing but now its pretty normal haha. OH i had my first
experience with black magic yesterday! There was an old woman crying
in the street so me and my companion went over and asked if she needed
help. She started talking and talking about who knows what and about
how she had been involved in black magic and her brother died or
something and then she grabbed me and whispered something about death
in my ear haha so i might be cursed. So far ive been ok though. Black
magic is a big problem here in Bahia though and its pretty dark stuff.
But its ok i know i am being protected so i dont feel scared of it.
Something else that scary here is the Ônibus. Which is just the public
bus. I hate public transportation with a passion so it has been rough.
The buses are disgusting and i feel like im risking my life everytime
i get on one. Imagine the indiana jones ride at disneyland without the
seatbelt and thats a pretty perfect description of what its like
hahaha. Its funny now but let me tell you its not funny when your on
one.
This week we visited with our investigator Antonia and her 2 sons and
nephew. They are 10 11 and 12 years old. Antonia is awesome and is
ready and waiting to be baptized but has to wait until she is legally
married which is super expensive here. NO ONE is legally married here.
It makes baptism really difficult. Anyways, while we wait for her to
be married we have been teaching her and these boys. We had a really
awesome experience with them this week. So they dont have any laws or
restrictions on how loud you can play music here. So people literally
sit outside of their houses with a massive stereo just blaring music.
So we were in Antonias house and out front there was a group of men
doing just that but also drinking and yelling. It was so loud and im
not even kidding i could not hear myself talking. So here we are
sitting in their house trying to teach them about baptism and
confirmation and we are literally yelling the lesson at them haha.
They acted like it was totally normal and just yelled back at us. So
it went like this: We said DO YOU WANT TO FOLLOW JESUS CHRIST BY BEING
BAPTIZED? and then they said WHAT? and then we said DO YOU WNAT TO
FOLLOW JESUS CHRIST BY BEING BAPTIZED and then they said (SOMETHING IN
PORTUGUESE THAT NEITHER OF US HEARD OR UNDERSTOOD) and then we all
looked at eachother really confused and that about how the lesson
went. At one point Sister Lund looked over at me and said "Sister
Lytle, pode prestar seu testemunho sobre batismo?" (Can you bear your
testimony about baptism?) and then i probably looked at her like she
was crazy and maybe thought about punching her for a second haha and
the the craziest thing happened. Even though all around us was
absolute chaos and my head hurt so bad from trying to figure out was
everyone was saying and from the music, suddenly this calm came over
me and i knew exactly what i wanted to say and i said it. It was like
for a minute, i was in this bubble where the music didnt exist and the
nervousness of not understanding was gone. The reason I share this
story is because I know that the spirit can be anywhere. The spirit is
such a powerful presence- even more powerful than Reggae music turned
up the loudest it can go. What a blessing and comfort that is to know
that no matter the chaos and loudness and wickedness of the world
around us, the spirit is stronger and more powerful. The light ALWAYS
overcomes the dark.
Antonia and the boys have accepted the invitation to be baptized and
are currently preparing. I love meeting with them. Yesterday i gave
the boys CTR rings and we explained the significance and how they can
always choose the right no matter what. (THANK YOU sister snyder for
the CTR rings:) They were super excited and kept saying obrigado
obrigado. Ill send a picture of them wearing them.
Okay and lastly a MILAGRE (miracle) happened this week! So at the
beginning of this week our district leader called us and said that for
us to meet our baptism goal for the month, each companionship in the
area would have to have a baptism by Saturday. Well that pretty much
seemed impossible because our investigators who had accepted baptism
would not be ready until next month. So we fasted and prayed and
prayed and prayed that we could find someone who was ready. Well on
Wednesday night my companion felt like we should visit a man named
Voltar who was the brother of a woman in the ward. Voltar is 63 and
has like 4 teeth ahha. The elders who were in this area before us had
taught him most of the lessons but had kind of given up because he was
never home when they came by to visit. Haha long story short we
taught him about baptism, invited him to be baptized, and set a date
for Saturday. He clapped his hands and had the biggest smile. Fasting
and prayer works miracles and my testimony of fasting grew so much
with this experience. Voltar was baptized on saturday and confirmed on
sunday and my joy is FULL! God is preparing so many beautiful humble
people for us and its so cool to see them understand, accept, and act
upon the things we teach them. I feel like my contribution to finding
Voltar was small but i am so happy that i was able to witness his joy.
Everytime i think of him i just see his big toothless smile and
clapping hands. I now see where the joy in this difficult work comes
from.
This week was difficult and long and amazing and full of miracles. I
cry alot because of the language. I cry alot because im always outside
of my comfort zone. I cry alot because my feet hurt or because i miss
my family. i cry alot because im an emotional person hahah BUT i also
cry alot because i have never felt so much love for people in my whole
life. I cry alot because i feel the spirit. I cry alot because i cant
even count all the blessing i have. There is SO MUCH GOOD in between
the tough stuff. So much to be happy about so much to be thankful for.
I love it here. I love the people. I love the food. I love the flowers
and rain and laid back way of living. I am so happy that i get to do
the lords work here in camaçari.
I love you all!! Its officially the holiday season so crank up the
christmas music and put up the decorations and be a little extra
giving and kind. I am going to try to do the same. EU AMO VÔCES MUITO
MUITO MUITO. Tchau tchau
A good scripture that i used alot this week: alma 38:5
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