I am SO glad to hear the great news
over in Washington. It's just what I needed to kick off the new week. Lemme
tell you, so Sister Vilhena got her new companion on Friday and she is AMAZING.
I'm a little jelly of Sister Vilhena but I'll get to that later. First,
lemme tell you about MY week:
Monday night was the best FHE ever!
We went to Arlete (Vilhena’s investigator) to teach a lesson. We taught about
Peter and walking on water and how he sunk because his eyes weren’t on Jesus.
We had a great time laughing and then we somehow switched to gratitude and the
atmosphere was wonderful!
So Tuesday after a few trials and
errors, my companion arrived in one piece. A little shaken, but in one
piece. We then went to the grocery store really quick to get her
groceries, then retreated to our fortress/kitchenette to study. It was eerily
quiet and we heard lots of screaming so we were afraid Brazil lost
but we heard that it was a tie. Boo how boring!
Wednesday was really a hump day. The
night before, Elder M. Santos (DL) thought it would be a good idea to call at 10:25pm
and see if we could make a cake, and none of us can make a cake. He kept
insisting that we needed "faith and works" to make this cake so we
just bought a cake at the market near their chapel and we ended up having
to switch chapels to make it to the meeting. It was stressful also because
our lunch got switched to someone who lives REALLY FAR and I lost my umbrella
so I was praying for a miracle and my umbrella was found and we got a ride to
lunch. But we had to walk back to our area after that.
 |
| I am not amused... |
We met a 7th day Adventist
along the way who only let us in to bash our beliefs on Sunday being the Sabbath,
blah boring stuff, no spirit blah. Then we met a man named Marcio in
the plaza downtown. I had an impression that we had to talk to that man
specifically so we taught the first lesson BAM! Wonderful! He had lots of
questions, all was great till we discovered that he "doesn’t know his
address, new in town" and he "got mugged, no cell phone" so we hoped
he would show up to Church except he didn't... oh well, a seed planted as they
say! I was so happy after the lesson and excited and so was Sister Vilhena, but
my new comp was more focused on what we could do better rather than to rejoice
in the goodness of the Lord... okay.
Thursday was another great day! We
had a division and I went with Thais while Vilhena stayed with my new comp. Lunch
was really good because Priscila and Arlete showed up and everything was great.
They bought fruits for dessert so it was perfect for me. We also had an
FHE with Gabriel and some other members. He really wants to be baptized but he won’t
until he talks to his dad, which his dad refuses to talk to him. We are going
to see if we can stop by his dad's house and talk to him... It's all in
God's time, I am not worried because Gabriel is very strong and does go to
church. I continue to pray for him :)
Friday was hard. It was Vilhena's
last day with me so we made the most of her company before her new comp
arrived. We did contacts prior, and some of it went well and some didn't, but
we did our best :) Sister Gonçalves came with President and Sister
Reber, which was perfect. It turned
out that interviews were the next day so it was such a blessing to have
President and Sister Reber in town!
Saturday and Sunday were
particularly challenging, but I know this is a new part of my mission life that
I need to face. I love my companion, but she is very dry, sarcastic and perhaps
rough around the edges. Very quiet if you will. She has been a little rough
with me, which gave me some anxiety and left me heart-broken because I don't
feel much love from her. But she did tell me that I was an answer to her
prayers since she had a VERY rough area. I want to do my best to give her the
love she needs (and perhaps lacks) so that we can work together in harmony.
She's obedient and willing to work but I don’t know if she has love for the
people. If she does, she doesn't show it so I feel it a personal duty to show
more love than ever before...
Sorry I got carried away. I am gonna
wrap up here. This is not going to be the easiest transfer I know, but
President and Sister Reber helped me a LOT with what I need to do this
transfer. I am grateful they came here this weekend, I know that the Lord has a
plan for everything and that He knew what I needed and how to help me. Sister
Reber was so kind and loving. She said I can call her whenever I need to. Also,
we went out and bought supplies together (the sisters with Pres. and Sis. Reber)
and we fed some monkeys! I will send photos later. But I have all of the
resources and love I need to face this new chapter of my mission. I am a little
nervous, but I won't let my nervousness get the best of me. I feel a lot better
now and I can face this!
I have to get going but I love you
guys very much. I am going to conquer this week!
Thanks for everything! I pray for you guys always and I know I need this in my
life now, a hard comp, new responsibilities, etc. I need this to grow and I am
not looking at this situation in a bad way. Just harder, but it will mold me to
become a better person.
Lots of love to you
all!!
-Sister Mariana
Espiritu
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