Milagres (miracles) happen once in a while...
Ok, so this past week I had so many small miracles happen that it’s hard to start naming all of them- but maybe we can just go for some bullet points of miracles, and other awesome things that happened in my week! (By the way, my brother in law Peter mentioned that my spelling is rather atrocious. my apologies to all... there is no spell checker on this program, but I am afraid that my brain has become rather fried in this constant transition between English and Portuguese! there is my lame excuse! haha)
-We had a miracles baptism! Ok... so I know that every baptism is a miracle, but this one was truly a Christmas gift from God. Fernando is a husband of a menos ativo Luciana, and they came to church last week- out of the blue. I knew that Luciana was baptized last year, but I had never met here in my 5 months here, and hadn’t had a chance to find her. Anyways, they randomly came to church together; they are having a really hard time in their marriage. So we quickly began teaching Fernando, challenged Him to baptism- and promised him that only through the gospel that they can resolve their problems in the marriage. The spirit was so strong in all of our lessons, and I learned that it is truly the Lord that prepares people for us- because the Lord gave him the strength, and the faith, to be baptized.
It was an interesting week, because He really wants them to be reunited, and it is the wife, Luciana, that is having a lot of the problems. We are praying for another miracle that she will have a change of heart this week- On Thursday they have a meeting with the judge that will either be a new beginning for them- or an ultimatum. I have really learned with this experience not to lean to my own understanding and put complete trust in the Lord- and with Him we can have the victory. This really is a complicated story, and I don’t have time to go into details- but lets just say I will never forget the moment when, on Sunday afternoon as we sat with Fernando in the church, (He was determined not to be baptized, even though everything was ready) and we talked about faith. The spirit was so strong, and he suddenly slammed a cup on the table and said- Eu vou batizar!! (I am going to be baptized!) Less then 10 minutes later He was baptized with just a few people there. (Luciana wasn’t even there) I am really not doing this story justice, but it was such a powerful experience- and truly awesome!
Ok that was a huge miracle, and another miracle happened when one of our recent converts- Allessandra was confirmed. It is so interesting to see what happens after baptism- you really have no, no, idea what people will continue firm, and who will have problems. I think that why it is so important to trust in the Lord and invite all. Because the people I thought would be strong, have problems. And the people that I thought would be weak, or strong. It is so interesting. So yes, Allessandra, a lady who was baptized like a month ago, was confirmed yesterday which was a great, great blessing. She was like a different person- like the Allessandra we taught and knew for 2 months. It was a day of triumphs!
-Another small miracle- the Lord has really helped me to know what to say this week. I have learned and given more advice about marriage, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes... this past week then any other time in my life. Highly ironic since I know nothing of all of the above, but it has been awesome- and at times a bit amusing- to hear what comes out of my mouth! Its been quite funny giving marriage advice- we all know I have my own relationship problems (need I remind all of my dating life before the mission? haha) But I really could see how much I have learned about relationships thus far on the mission- when you live with someone else for 24/7, you learn things eh? It has been great!!
-Another small miracle- I heard my favorite song of all time - u2 With or Without you. I was in heaven. We were walking to a neighborhood about an hour away; we walk there about 3 times a week now. But yeah, we stopped to buy an apple, and this song was playing in the supermarket. I about died... and couldn’t move from the spot for a few seconds! :)
The only thing better happened with a lady who works there asked us if we were missionaries. I thought she had said something else- she had a weird accent- and said no. haha! But Sister R. Silva quickly said yes, yes! haha, and we began talking with her, and she said she felt something different when she saw us. The spirit is so strong with this calling, that at times I forget that this spirit is something new to others. It really was a powerful reminder of how great this calling is!
-Ok so this is not a miracle- but something awful, awful that I had to eat this past week. I forget the name of it- but it is stomach lining of the cow. Yes. There are no words to explain how horrible this is.. lets just say its long, really slippery, and feels like you are eating some kind of rubber with mushy things on it.... I have had to eat it twice now, but the other time I managed to escape with only one part. The worst thing is that its a delicacy here- and so my comp. loves it! And the people who give it to us love it, and I know that they made it special for us- its a way of showing love- so I have to pretend that I love it. I hope this isn’t considered lying! haha! But I felt so sick afterwards.
- The good news is that I have about 40 mangas in my fridge waiting for me. Yes, that many- I eat so many! So the fruit is awesome- stomach lining- not so much. blah. But I can’t complain, I was reminded this week that to feed us missionaries is a huge sacrifice for many of these families. They really don’t have money. I learned this past week that a good salary here is less then 1 dollar per hour. So I really can’t complain about anything that the members give us to eat- it really is a sacrifice on their part!
Anyways, I better go, I am hungry! haha.. But I love you all! I can’t believe that Christmas is in 2 weeks- Happy Christmas to all! Boas Festas, feliz natal! Thank you soooo much for all the letters, and emails I received today, I was so happy- letters are so much better then any other present!
com amor
Sister Melanie Monroe
-We had a miracles baptism! Ok... so I know that every baptism is a miracle, but this one was truly a Christmas gift from God. Fernando is a husband of a menos ativo Luciana, and they came to church last week- out of the blue. I knew that Luciana was baptized last year, but I had never met here in my 5 months here, and hadn’t had a chance to find her. Anyways, they randomly came to church together; they are having a really hard time in their marriage. So we quickly began teaching Fernando, challenged Him to baptism- and promised him that only through the gospel that they can resolve their problems in the marriage. The spirit was so strong in all of our lessons, and I learned that it is truly the Lord that prepares people for us- because the Lord gave him the strength, and the faith, to be baptized.
It was an interesting week, because He really wants them to be reunited, and it is the wife, Luciana, that is having a lot of the problems. We are praying for another miracle that she will have a change of heart this week- On Thursday they have a meeting with the judge that will either be a new beginning for them- or an ultimatum. I have really learned with this experience not to lean to my own understanding and put complete trust in the Lord- and with Him we can have the victory. This really is a complicated story, and I don’t have time to go into details- but lets just say I will never forget the moment when, on Sunday afternoon as we sat with Fernando in the church, (He was determined not to be baptized, even though everything was ready) and we talked about faith. The spirit was so strong, and he suddenly slammed a cup on the table and said- Eu vou batizar!! (I am going to be baptized!) Less then 10 minutes later He was baptized with just a few people there. (Luciana wasn’t even there) I am really not doing this story justice, but it was such a powerful experience- and truly awesome!
Ok that was a huge miracle, and another miracle happened when one of our recent converts- Allessandra was confirmed. It is so interesting to see what happens after baptism- you really have no, no, idea what people will continue firm, and who will have problems. I think that why it is so important to trust in the Lord and invite all. Because the people I thought would be strong, have problems. And the people that I thought would be weak, or strong. It is so interesting. So yes, Allessandra, a lady who was baptized like a month ago, was confirmed yesterday which was a great, great blessing. She was like a different person- like the Allessandra we taught and knew for 2 months. It was a day of triumphs!
-Another small miracle- the Lord has really helped me to know what to say this week. I have learned and given more advice about marriage, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes... this past week then any other time in my life. Highly ironic since I know nothing of all of the above, but it has been awesome- and at times a bit amusing- to hear what comes out of my mouth! Its been quite funny giving marriage advice- we all know I have my own relationship problems (need I remind all of my dating life before the mission? haha) But I really could see how much I have learned about relationships thus far on the mission- when you live with someone else for 24/7, you learn things eh? It has been great!!
-Another small miracle- I heard my favorite song of all time - u2 With or Without you. I was in heaven. We were walking to a neighborhood about an hour away; we walk there about 3 times a week now. But yeah, we stopped to buy an apple, and this song was playing in the supermarket. I about died... and couldn’t move from the spot for a few seconds! :)
The only thing better happened with a lady who works there asked us if we were missionaries. I thought she had said something else- she had a weird accent- and said no. haha! But Sister R. Silva quickly said yes, yes! haha, and we began talking with her, and she said she felt something different when she saw us. The spirit is so strong with this calling, that at times I forget that this spirit is something new to others. It really was a powerful reminder of how great this calling is!
-Ok so this is not a miracle- but something awful, awful that I had to eat this past week. I forget the name of it- but it is stomach lining of the cow. Yes. There are no words to explain how horrible this is.. lets just say its long, really slippery, and feels like you are eating some kind of rubber with mushy things on it.... I have had to eat it twice now, but the other time I managed to escape with only one part. The worst thing is that its a delicacy here- and so my comp. loves it! And the people who give it to us love it, and I know that they made it special for us- its a way of showing love- so I have to pretend that I love it. I hope this isn’t considered lying! haha! But I felt so sick afterwards.
- The good news is that I have about 40 mangas in my fridge waiting for me. Yes, that many- I eat so many! So the fruit is awesome- stomach lining- not so much. blah. But I can’t complain, I was reminded this week that to feed us missionaries is a huge sacrifice for many of these families. They really don’t have money. I learned this past week that a good salary here is less then 1 dollar per hour. So I really can’t complain about anything that the members give us to eat- it really is a sacrifice on their part!
Anyways, I better go, I am hungry! haha.. But I love you all! I can’t believe that Christmas is in 2 weeks- Happy Christmas to all! Boas Festas, feliz natal! Thank you soooo much for all the letters, and emails I received today, I was so happy- letters are so much better then any other present!
com amor
Sister Melanie Monroe
posted by Bev at 10:29 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home