-We all got daffodils yesterday for Mothering Sunday (March
18th. So St. Patrick's Day wasn't the ONLY reason everyone was out yesterday.
I'd never seen a Dr. Suess hat with "Carlsberg" written on it...)
-Lora (my soul buddy in the YW) has a friend who is coming
to church in the next few weeks. Apparently he's not much of a spiritual
person, but he ran into the elders and now it's tooooo late...
-We got to see Lina every single day and she always tells us
she's been waiting so long to see us (24 hours) and that she feels so happy
when she reads and prays. On Sunday we taught chapter 2 of Gospel Principles
and listed the attributes of God, and already her Buddhist background is
diminishing--she said God is happy and caring. It was so sweet to hear.
-Carla and Bruna are doing so well. A family in the ward had
us all for tea and after we talked about Mosiah 18:8-10 and everyone crying,
they promised to consider baptism. Then we taught them tithing off the cuff,
and she wasn't totally against it. Miracles! I was concerned that her financial
problems would make it difficult to live, so we focused on the blessings and
how tithing makes miracles happen.
-Sister Paulsen is amazing! We've had some really funny
moments--we had to walk home in the dark one evening (before Brother Hamilton
miraculously found us and gave us a lift) and she declared that she knew karate
and demonstrated how she would protect me. I died laughing. She's rearranged
the flat all feng shui and put vases (bottles of Schloer) of flowers everywhere
and just decluttered a decade's worth of missionary wotsit in preparation to
move.
-Breakfast smoothies: milk, mango, lemon juice, linseeds,
coconut oil, raspberries, banana, protein powder, ginger and mint. It tastes
like heaven and yet my stomach says I just ate like three bran muffins. Lasts
all day :) Also I've learned how to make guacamole. I shall purchase a blender
for my own evil purposes come winter semester.
-Our district went from 2 baptismal dates to 8 in a week.
It's so cool to see the timing just work out. Sometimes you teach and they
vanish or get anti'd or whatever (visit www.fairlds.org) and it breaks your heart.
But the timing has got to be perfect for all the elements to come together. In
many cases here I've seen the result of many missionaries and members and
prayers come to fruition--some are still cooking. No worries. No effort is
wasted. It's tough because the stories in the church revolve around the fruits
of your labors, and most of the time you won't see those fruits, even in this
life. I think that's why we often feel like failures when our friends don't
accept to come to church or our parents don't reactivate or whatever. But if we
pray with trust in the Lord and His timing and do everything we can to invite
His spirit to act, then magic happens and we will find peace.
It's been a really rewarding week. I feel so tired all the
time. I guess your body just breaks down after a while, you hear ominous cracks
in joints you didn't even know you had, and you try to stay safe and not play
rugby with the elders so you never have to enter an NHS hospital...I wonder
what the hospitals are like in Brazil?
Anyways, things sound really fantastic at home :) Keep on
keeping on, give those elders referrals, and tell me when graduation is!
Love from,
Sister Willard
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