Its a great day here in the jungle, today officially starts WINTER! *the crowd roars I feel so lucky and blessed to be spending my time here in the colder part of the year, last summer it got so hot that the sisters couldnt see the road straight-only heat waves and were told to go home during the afternoon. People are pulling out scarves and coats for the 50 degree nights we are having and Sister Miller and I from our Rocky Mountain origins are just soaking it all up!
Lots of great things happened this week. Our great convert Marcos got the Aaronic Priesthood and makes a fine addition to our Bethânia branch. Our cute store church has more finishing touches everyday, putting up announcements and finishing the classrooms. Church Sunday was really spiritual and I love to be the organist.
Then was the miracle of Leticia! We worked really hard last week and found lots of new investigators and were planning on the baptism of Andre. However he decided he just wanted to keep waiting. We returned home a little sad, but knowing that we did everything we could have with him.
Just a few weeks ago we redivided the area with the sisters and now have a new part of the city that is called Celestial Village(Vila Celeste) which is where Maria do Carmo lives, an almost deaf woman that I got to teach a few times my first week in Ipatinga months ago, she was baptized in March. She is amazing. Anyways Thursday we decided to visit her and her 7 year old grandaughter Leticia. Leticia is a girl full of spunk. Her mom wants nothing to do with her and her dad died years ago so she has been raised by her grandmother her whole life, she plays the role of interpreter often for her grandmother when she isnt able to hear what people are saying. When I first met Leticia she was rude and did not approve of our english accents. Anytime we would try and talk to her she would say, "Não entendi NADA" I didnt understand ANYTHING. But after a few months of going to church with her faithful grandmother she has soften up to the Sisters and we have grown to love each other! We decided to pass by Thursday to ask her when her 8th birthday was, we knew it was coming up, and lo and behold her 8th birthday was Friday! We asked her if she wanted to be baptized and because the church is true she said yes! Because her parents arent members she is in our sphere of baptisms so we quickly called the bishop and ward leaders, made her a cake, got her interviewed by the district leader and she was baptized Saturday!
Clearly, I have learned that when you work hard and do what God asks, he is bound to bless you and it says in D&C 82:10. No, it surely was nothing in the way we expected our weekend to go, but we achieved our baptismal goal for the week and another cute soul will be joining us in the Celestial Kingdom! Many missionaries like to joke about the general type of people they baptize, drunks, women, crazies, young men and I am a child baptizer! And I sure love it! Kids have such faith that is unparalelled in adulthood and they will all be serving missions!
I have learned a lot here on the mission about what really matters most in life, granted many of th lessons have been painful to learn but now I can truly testify that the gospel is the only pathway to real happiness. Material things just do not matter, nor do they bring the type of lasting joy that living the gospel can, and when our lives are centered around people, especially Christ we are led to the very same place we came from-heaven!
Here is our cute Leticia, and an ENORMOUS orange(ipod for comparison)
Sister Holmes
Lots of great things happened this week. Our great convert Marcos got the Aaronic Priesthood and makes a fine addition to our Bethânia branch. Our cute store church has more finishing touches everyday, putting up announcements and finishing the classrooms. Church Sunday was really spiritual and I love to be the organist.
Then was the miracle of Leticia! We worked really hard last week and found lots of new investigators and were planning on the baptism of Andre. However he decided he just wanted to keep waiting. We returned home a little sad, but knowing that we did everything we could have with him.
Just a few weeks ago we redivided the area with the sisters and now have a new part of the city that is called Celestial Village(Vila Celeste) which is where Maria do Carmo lives, an almost deaf woman that I got to teach a few times my first week in Ipatinga months ago, she was baptized in March. She is amazing. Anyways Thursday we decided to visit her and her 7 year old grandaughter Leticia. Leticia is a girl full of spunk. Her mom wants nothing to do with her and her dad died years ago so she has been raised by her grandmother her whole life, she plays the role of interpreter often for her grandmother when she isnt able to hear what people are saying. When I first met Leticia she was rude and did not approve of our english accents. Anytime we would try and talk to her she would say, "Não entendi NADA" I didnt understand ANYTHING. But after a few months of going to church with her faithful grandmother she has soften up to the Sisters and we have grown to love each other! We decided to pass by Thursday to ask her when her 8th birthday was, we knew it was coming up, and lo and behold her 8th birthday was Friday! We asked her if she wanted to be baptized and because the church is true she said yes! Because her parents arent members she is in our sphere of baptisms so we quickly called the bishop and ward leaders, made her a cake, got her interviewed by the district leader and she was baptized Saturday!
Clearly, I have learned that when you work hard and do what God asks, he is bound to bless you and it says in D&C 82:10. No, it surely was nothing in the way we expected our weekend to go, but we achieved our baptismal goal for the week and another cute soul will be joining us in the Celestial Kingdom! Many missionaries like to joke about the general type of people they baptize, drunks, women, crazies, young men and I am a child baptizer! And I sure love it! Kids have such faith that is unparalelled in adulthood and they will all be serving missions!
I have learned a lot here on the mission about what really matters most in life, granted many of th lessons have been painful to learn but now I can truly testify that the gospel is the only pathway to real happiness. Material things just do not matter, nor do they bring the type of lasting joy that living the gospel can, and when our lives are centered around people, especially Christ we are led to the very same place we came from-heaven!
Here is our cute Leticia, and an ENORMOUS orange(ipod for comparison)
Sister Holmes