Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Week 12: ChChChanges!


Oi por tudo mundo! Wow I am so happy it's Monday again, eeeee!

Well lemme tell you why I am happy to start a new week... last week was perhaps one of the most stressful so far. We had a LOT of changes. The beginning of my week was rocky.  We taught a lesson to two girls that don’t feel ready to leave the world and to follow Christ... sadly they like their baladas, booze and hookahs. We gave them the warning and they don’t want it so it’s kinda their loss...

Tuesday we were all packed to go to Campo Grande for divisions except it got cancelled due to an emergency transfer... and you know who got transferred to Cuiabá...? NOT ME! ahahahah it was Sister X, the bully sister! She was SO nervous to leave and I couldn’t help but to feel bad for her, really. But her companion Sister Vilhena is with us now and we are working in a trio until June 15, the end of the transfer. :) It's been a pleasure working in three. At first I thought it would be hard, annoying, etc. but I really learned that it is FUN to have a third companion. We work really well in threes and even though some people can't understand Sister Vilhena's accent, she teaches really well. (did I mention she is from PORTUGAL?!) We also taught 15 year old Gabriel that evening and it wasn’t easy. For some reason he refuses to make eye contact with us now and it was hard... but the three of us did our best. When I presented the question to Gabriel "Do you have the desire to follow the savior" he didn’t answer for a while and he was about to cry... then Irmão João Luiz hugged him and we all bore our testimony!

Wednesday we were still gettin' in the groove of things yet we worked as hard as we could and devised many plans for working in a trio now. Our companionship studies just got spicier and even more spiritual! Through trial and error, we learned what we must do to use our time to the fullest.

Thursday was another hard and amazing day of work. It was odd to have a weekly planning session in a trio, but we did super well with making goals and finding ways to uplift one another and helping each other reach our fullest potential! We also knocked down a LOT of lessons, met a few elect people who are anxious to read the Book of Mormon and did a gnarly division with some members. I was with Thais (I LOVE HER she is so amazing!) and we taught Gabriel with the Big Bad ZLs (I say that because they’re both short yet they are intimidating) and we taught Gabriel at his house since he couldn’t come to the church. It may or may not have been one of the most stressful lessons in my life... He refused to make eye contact once more and my awesome lesson that I planned on following Christ's example was crushed when the ZLs took charge and pushed baptism on Gabriel. His heart was really hard and his parents kept walking in the living room, it felt more like they were stalking us missionaries like prey... the atmosphere was strange cos at times I felt the spirit and at other times, it seemed to leave completely. Gabriel is SET on visiting his dad in São Paulo and then making a decision. I only hope he is led to do the right thing. Then Thais and I taught one more person who isn’t really elect but we both had an enjoyable time teaching together! 

Friday was another great day of work! We went out with the YW president to meet some inactive YW who seem to not actually be members or know what the church is... We are gonna teach two of them tonight, they seem to have much potential. :) Also we saw this really cool abandoned hotel, but I only saw it in the car, maybe one day I'll get a picture of it. We also had a lot of our lessons cancelled, which is sad and not cool but we ended up finding a few people to teach.

Saturday was probably one of the best lunches I had so far! We went to Arlete's apartment, which is really chic and she knows how to cook. We actually ate there Tuesday since she was really close to Sister X (the one who left) and yep she's our investigator now. Priscila is her daughter and she’s really cool and sweet, but going through a lot of changes and trials right now. She doesn’t know if she should marry her boyfriend that’s like 25+years older (she is like 31 i think) and is having a rough time. Also we taught their friends living in the same complex, but they were not interested in the gospel at all. I'm sure it would have been more productive to teach the walls but it was good practice for the three of us :P

Sunday was awesome because we had stake conference! WOHOOO! I LOVED LOVED LOVED the talks given :) my favorite was perhaps the one about not putting labels on others. It’s hard cos it’s easy to label people but labels make us more distant from the people around us. Also once we remove labels on people we can see their full potential the way Heavenly Father sees them. So I encourage y'all to remove the labels and see people in a positive way, to their fullest potential!! :)

Aaaaaand that was my week! Also, I am thankful for working in three now. Sister Vilhena told us Friday night that she is really thankful to be working with us because she can teach (her comp talked a LOT and never let her teach or do anything really) and also she feels the spirit with us more than she did her whole mission so far (we were in the CTM together) so it really warmed my heart to hear that from her. Plus she has opened up a LOT more to us! Before we didn’t know her well and I knew there was something wrong. She was much different in the CTM than she was in the field and we are seeing the regular Sister Vilhena at play now! We were in the same district and all and I am glad that she is back to her old self again! We also heard from members that Sister Vilhena’s companion got sent home from her mission. Since she talks a lot (Sister X) she told the members that she got in a physical fight with one of her former companions and both were sent home. It makes me want to be way more obedient. The president has NO room for people who don’t want to obey... 

I see lots of little friends (hummingbirds) everyday :) they make my day much better (even though my days are usually great... God knows how to make me smile) I know I am in the right place, as I always say and I will work hard with my two companions and dominate Dourados! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Love you!!

-Sister Mariana Espiritu

 

No comments:

Post a Comment