Week 5 in Santa Margarida- a week for miracles!
Dear Family,
Man
I love you guys. It’s hard to think about our family while I’m so far
away. I try to limit my thinking
to P-days, otherwise I’d probably cry a lot more. Things are going well – really well. Though my body aches, I’m a little
sunburned, and days are incredibly long, things are starting to pick up. I can feel myself getting more
accustomed to things, more comfortable speaking, and being able to serve and
love my companion with a lot more ease.
We’re getting along great and are able to laugh and work well together.
I even successfully explained FIVE jokes to her last week- including a
Helen Keller joke and a blonde joke.
So I guess my language skills are progressing.
We’ve
had some interesting run-ins with people this past week…se shared a gospel
message with a pastor and said a prayer together. The whole time Sister Z was
praying, the pastor was commenting “amen, thank you Jesus, truth, etc…” It was very distracting, and then he
was REALY friendly with us. As we
were saying good-bye, I shook his hand and then he leaned in as if he were
going to whisper something in my ear…but no, he gave me a big old kiss on one
cheek and then as I was trying to do a backbend away from him while reciting
missionary rules, he kissed my other cheek. This hasn’t happen to me before,
but Sister Z got a kick out of it.
Apparently this man is what we call a “scorpion” – like how Elders have
“snakes” who go after them.
We
also had a street lesson with this 17 year old son of a pastor…Oh my
goodness…he was so confused about the role of a prophet. Sister Z explained, asked questions and
re-explained, but this kid kept asking, “So what is the role of a prophet? Why
only one prophet? What does a prophet do? Why is a prophet important?” All
really great questions ---IF you listen to the answer, but no…instead I watched
as Sister Z patiently explained and re-explained things to him. In the end, the young man was like,
“hmmm, interesting, but so confusing.”
So, when things are going rough, or I mix up conjugations and Sister Z
knows that I need comic relief, she says, “hmmm, interestante…MAIS…confusendo…”
We laugh.
(Augh,
writing and thinking in English is getting harder! I’m going to die when I have
to write applications for graduate school!)
Day to Day Highlights:
Tuesday: We woke up at 4 A.M. (insert groan here) to
ride on busses and train for several hours to arrive at the stake center in
Flamengo for training/evaluation of all the missionaries that arrive in country
with me. It was great!
Everything was in Portuguese, but I understood everything really well. We were given instruction on how to
manage stress and look for signs that our companions are stressed. My “tell” is that my pupils get suuuper
tiny when Sister Z’s “tell” is that she walks a lost faster and
doesn’t sing at all. Realizing
these little things has helped us to understand when the other needs help. We also did several role-plays. I was paired with Sister G.
Santos. She’s in our zone and we
really click – hopefully we get to serve together at some point. Anyways, we were all in the gym and
each set of new missionaries would practice a technique on their trainers. We taught so well! It was an easy transition between what
the other person was saying and then the section that I taught. We even had Elder Superman (what I have
dubbed the VERY handsome AP, Elder W) observing our practice. So that was a huge confidence booster!
I was also able to talk with AND understand many of the other missionaries AND
talk a little bit with President Lima.
It was definitely an awesome training. However, the ride on the train with a gross old man pressing
against me however, was not awesome.
Cherish the beauty of having a car. Public transportation is not my favorite thing here.
Side
note: My backpack is awesome. I’ve adjusted it so most of the weight is on my
hips. Thanks to the awesome hip
straps, and the fact that I’ve been packing a lot light, I haven’t been having
back pain recently.
We
also had district meeting on Tuesday afternoon, which means we didn’t start our
“work” until 6:30 P.M., but man did the Lord bless us. We found a family while looking for a
woman we street contacted. It was
a great lesson. Sister Z and I
used inspired questions, testified strongly, and we were confident in our
message. On our way back from the
lesson we were on a spiritual high – confident that the Lord was listening to
our humble prayers for assistance in this work. We were walking down the street, Sister Z on my right, and I
saw a thin middle-aged man walking towards us, a ways off still. It was getting dark and I don’t really
like doing street contacts with men to begin with, so I was like, “…that’s
fine, I will just keep talking with Sister Z” An then…right as the man walked past us, I felt an intense
immediate pull to talk to him.
Luckily, I quickly heeded this prompting, quickly spun around, walked to
catch up with him, and introduced myself and Sister Z. We taught him the message of the
Restoration, left the pamphlet with him, invited him to church, and marked a
time to return and teach him more.
These are all things that we do on a regular basis, but I just knew that
this time it was different. I felt
this indescribable joy within me, and excitement that I was meant to find this
man. It was a confirmation of this
work. G accepted every invitation
and commitment with conviction and real intent. Our entire encounter was only
about 10 minutes long, but be knew that this was one of the “elect” that we
have been praying for.
Wednesday: We had a great day. We ate lunch at our Relief Society
President’s house. It was just she
and her husband and I was actually able to converse with them about culture,
food, visas, government, and Christmas traditions. It was great!
What wasn’t great was the lack-of-sleep induced pressure headache that
started during our mission-wide fast (for our Saturday activity). I took Motrin with some water and it
was a bit better. The Lord blessed
us with another cool day for fasting.
Still it was rough for me because it is hard to think in Portuguese when
your head is throbbing.
Thursday: This was a crazy busy day. We taught 6 lessons and were on our
feet a lot of the day, but it was great.
Our last lesson was with S and L.
S has been investigation the church for quite some time and has a really
good heart, but need guidance in how the Holy Ghost responds to our
questions. L is her husband
(though not legally married). He
is quiet and Sister Z says he rarely participates in lessons. But we taught the
two of them with love and sincerity.
I hope and pray that we can help them to progress.
Friday: We had a weekly planning and companion
inventory which went a lot more smoothly than last week. Sister Z still doesn’t understand why
I’m happy/smiling/laughing so much of the time. I think that it’s a cultural thing because Sister B and I
laugh and smile even with hardships.
We also found TWO new families to teach and taught 4 lessons, which is a
miracle because we had to head back to our house at 6 P.M., pack an overnight
bag, and ride on trains until 7 P.M., walk for 30 minutes, and then arrive at
the sister’s house near the cemetery for our mission wide activity the next
day. In theory, we traveled on
Friday night so we wouldn’t have to get up as early on Saturday morning.
Saturday:
The woke us up at 4 A.M.!!! QUE ISSO?!? We left the house at 5 A.M. in order to arrive at the
cemetery at 7 A.M…..only we arrived at 5:45 A.M. WHAT?? Sister Z and I were not
too thrilled about that one.
Anyways, for this activity all of the sisters went to Sao Joao Batista
cemetery for a “Dia de Tinados” (memorial day). Our goal was to share a 3-5 minute message of the Plan of
Salvation, say a prayer, and take addresses from people who were interested in
learning more. I was a little apprehensive about approaching total strangers in
what seems to me to be a very private and personal moment, but Sister Z and I
have bee brainstorming powerful questions and phrases about the Plan of
Salvation for the past two weeks. As we expressed our love and glorious message
of hope with people, I could see their hearts soften. Many expressed gratitude
for our message. It was a great
activity (even with waking up at 4 A.M.) Some people really weren’t interested,
but we were able to make 63 contacts and teach 26 lessons in the course of 4 ½
hours. The sun was relentless and
I got burned through layers of 70 spf sunscreen, but it was worth it.
We
had lunch with everyone and I took a picture with Elder A and Elder N. Yeah for district 70-H! Elder A. had
lost a TON of weight!
Another
3 hours of travel later….and we were home. All Sister Z and I wanted to do was drink a ton of water,
turn the fan on, and collapse on our beds, but we still had a 3 ½ hour of work
to do. Miraculously we had 3 lessons with members present. Sister Z and I were
really on a roll Saturday night actually teaching people, not just
lessons. I think preparing for the
cemetery activity and pondering the Plan of Salvation really helped us to
recognize the importance of teaching to help our investigator’s needs.
Sunday: Oh Man. I hope I can write and express my
thought and emotions about yesterday.
First off, we went to bed exhausted on Saturday night. I woke myself up by screaming in the
middle of the night. I had intense
muscle spasms in my right calf that luckily lasted only 10-15 seconds – long
enough for Sister Z to also wake up in a panic. I remember feeling frantic, but as soon as the spasm subsided,
I was asleep again…really weird, yeah?
(Mom – don’t fret. It was just a vitamin and mineral deficiency because
I forgot to take my vitamins for 4 days.
All is well now, thank heavens. Plus I am eating more fruit now.) Anyways, Sister Z and I woke up feeling
like zombies and walked really slowly to church, where we learned that our ward
mission leader wouldn’t be there so we would be teaching the gospel principles
class. With 0 time to prepare, my
stomach clenched as I thought of teaching a non Preach my Gospel lesson in
Portuguese in front of 20 people.
When we walked into the classroom, there was G. dressed in his best
clothes – a plain button up shirt, well-worn dress pants, and scuffed boots. His smile was incredible. He actually came, and he brought his
Bible and the pamphlet that we gave him so that he could follow along. Sister Z and I taught a great lesson on
the life of Christ. There was
great discussion among the members and after we asked everyone to think about
effect of the Atonement in their lives.
G. shared a simple sweet testimony…and I felt that same excitement that
I felt during our initial meeting.
Sacrament
was fast and testimony meeting. I got to sit on the stand because I played the
piano again this week. I was able to
observe the congregation. I had
the impression to bear my testimony again, so I did. Members thanked me afterwards, and told me that my
Portuguese has progressed. After
our lunch appointment, we went to G. house to teach him. We took M. with us – he is a handsome
recent convert of 3 months with a ton of faith and a remarkable willingness to
serve. This lesson was so
special. G. had read the entire
pamphlet, prayed and asked God for guidance, got an answer to read Galatians 5,
and testified of the feeling of calm and peace that he felt afterwards. He then told us how he had washed and
prepared his clothes for church the night before and that he walked 45 minutes
to church and felt badly because he was sweaty when he arrived, but our Elder’s
Quorum President welcomed him and showed him around. He spoke of how he finally felt at peace in this church
after decades of searching. He’s
never joined another church because he hasn’t received and answer like this
before. As he was talking there
was such a brightness in his eyes.
I couldn’t help but feel that THIS is the very reason why mission are worth
it. I felt like an instrument in
the Lord’s hands and I know that He prepared a way for G. to find the
gospel. I shared the Book of
Mormon with him and he promised to “devour” it. I have no doubt that he will. Sister Z then invited him to be baptized in one week. He accepted without a single doubt,
simple asking what more he could do to prepare. M. then shared an incredible testimony of his conversion and
G. said the closing prayer, including, “I pray that everyone may feel the
enthusiasm that I feel right now.”
I shed a few tears in that lesson…and I am praying hard for G. this
week. He is incredible.
In
closing, I’ve been thinking a lot about Mosiah 23:10-11….AFTER challenges and
tribulations the Lord has heard my cries and trusted me to be an instrument in
guiding this special soul. I feel
so humbles, grateful, and “unworthy to boast of myself.” This is the Lord’s
work. We do all we can do, show
our unwavering loyalty to Him, and He will always provide.
I love you all. Thank you for your love and prayers,
Sister Colvin
No comments:
Post a Comment