I hope everyone had a happy christmas! It was so good to talk with my cute family yesterday. I love you guys so so much. I am so lucky to have the family i have.
This week was good! I will be returning to Camaçari tomorrow for this next transfer! I am happy to go back and see the members and my pesquisadors but I am sad to leave Cabula! It is so hard leaving areas and people. I will also miss all the sisters I have been living with but hopefully i will see them from time to time.
This week i had 2 experinces that i wanted to share with you guys. Both happened while we were teaching lessons in the homes of 2 awesome investigators. So firstly we went to go teach a woman and her son who live in the favela here. Favelas are the super poor areas where the houses are literally stacked on top of eachother. It is very sad to see the way that some people live and it is truly humbling and makes me realize how blessed and fortunate i am. So the woman rita and her son geovan have been speaking with missionaries for a while now. They are both super receptivo and they have a lot of faith but they need a desire to go to church and read o livro de mormon. They told us that they knew that what we taught was true because they felt peace and calm and a light when they received missionaries into their home. We taught them that they needed to pray to gain a desire to read and to attend church so that they could be baptized and recieve the holy ghost and have access to those peaceful feelings always. They said they would and i hope they do. I am sad that i wont get to continue seeing their progress, but i will be praying for them still. They are very humble and very kind and i feel so much love for them. At the end our lesson rita said the prayer and she automatically got onto her knees which i thought was so cool. I guess the first missionaries who ever taught her, taught her to always kneel when she prays so she always does. She prayed and the spirit was so strong. I have a feeling that they will both be baptized someday.
The second experience was while we were teaching an investigator about the priesthood and his mother was sitting in the other room. She lost her leg to diabetes and is very sick and pretty much cant ever leave the house. When we finished our lesson she shouted out asking us if woman held the priesthood too. I thought Oh great we have to have this conversation. We told her no but that woman have many important roles in life and in our church. She went on quite the feminist rant of which i understood almost nothing. When she finished she started to cry. My companion asked what was wrong and she apologized for the rant and said that she was in a lot of pain and was very frustrated and felt hopeless in her life. She then looked right at me and said "I know you dont have the priesthood, but will you please say a prayer for my leg and my heath right now?" I was shocked and almost ralphed on the floor but i said ok and i prayed for her and for her leg and for her to feel gods love. I felt gods love for her as i prayed. I felt the spirit hhelping me to know what to say. She showed so much faith in asking for a prayer. She said she knew the prayer came from God. I dont know if the pain in her leg will go away but i hope she felt the spirit and i hope she will want to feel it again. We taught her alittle bit more about the priesthood and hoepfully shhe can come to understand the importance of it and the amazing roles woman have in our church.
Well, christmas was hot here. Hotter than usual haha. But it was awesome. They dont celebarte christmas here in brazil the same way we do back in america. You never hear christmas music or see decorations or lights but its alright because it makes it easier not to focus on thhat part of it. I was able to experience christmas in a whole new way this year. Yes i missed being with my family and hearing christmas music and seeing the tree all decorated BUT i got to focus alot more on others and on the Christ. and it was really cool. I love my savior. I know he lives. I know he performed the atonement for us so that we could repent and so that wwe didnt have to feel sad or alone or hopeless. I know he was born to save us all i know he was born to give us all anothehr chance. I know he loves us and wnats to help us so badly. HHe wants us to return back to our heavenly home someday. He wants us to be happy. I am so thankful for the ooportunity i have to share this with people who dont know. To bring the light of jesus christ into their homes so that they can feel the happiness i feel.
I apppreciate my home and family so much more now that i dont have it for a little while. I realize that there is nothing more important than family.
I am coming to realize Gods love for all of us more and more each day. He loves these people here in brazil so much and they love him. I am learning so much from theh example of these humble beautiful people.
I love you all so much. I hope christmas was happy and i hope that we can remember these happy feelings all year long.
EU AMO VÔCES MUITO!! tchau tchau
One of my favorite scriptures for Christmas:
Isaiah 9:6
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
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