May 27, 2009

Wow, it´s such a weird feeling to sit down and try to write about my week on the mission...I feel like I can explain what I did day to day but that is pretty standard and doesn´t vary much if I were to just write about it but in the another sense I feel like there is no way I can explain the feelings and experiences that my weeks, days, and minutes are full of! This is the Lord´s work! He loves each of His children so much...I can feel that love for these people here so apparently! I am so grateful to be a small part of this great work! Everyday I am in awe at the humility and dedication to Christ the Brasilian people express and at the same time I am in awe at how lost so many of them are. I also learn something new everyday through the experience of acquiring a second language. I thought that learning another language would just...happen...so many missionaries leave not knowing a language and return speaking fluently...it´s easy right? Honestly Portuguese isn´t too bad and I really do feel like I am learning more and more everyday and I can express what I need to. But the hardest part is the feeling of almost being a different person at times. I have moments when I am completely stoked because I realize`I am conversing in a different language´ sweet! and I have moments of feeling completely discouraged! Ha! I have formulated about 1000 analogies about the language learning process and how to apply it to life in general. I am grateful for a patient companion and I am grateful that the Lord is blessing me with patience as well! This week was awesome! We have been blessed with some amazing investigators! We are teaching a couple named Danielle and Sergio who we met my second day in the field. They readily invited us in and have and many questions since day one! They have also kept their commitments since day one and have progressed quickly! When we met them we recognized right away their great faith and desire to find the truth. They both smoked `de mais` (a ton) and are not married but we knew that all that could change. We had a family home evening at their house on Sat with 4 members of the ward and it went really well (it has been a miracle how much the members have been helping us and it really makes a big difference!)...we watched the restoration and had an activity. The have begun to quit smoking and are down to one pack between the two of them per day! It is incredible to see through faith and help of the Lord lives are changed. They are so excited! On Monday we invited them to be baptised and they accepted and we talked to them about the need to be married first and they accepted with excitement and enthusiasm in living the way the Lord wants them to! We also marked a baptismal date with another investigator of ours Maria who is also not married to the man she has been living with for the past 16 years but she has great faith and desire to be baptised and is ready to do what she needs to. It´s somewhat of a crazy thing inviting people to totally change their lives but it´s an amazing feeling because I always know that it is the right thing no mater how they react. The invitation really isn´t from us it is from the Lord. I feel extremely blessed to be a part of this great work. Life is good! I am learning a lot from the Brasilians they are so open and loving! I hope you are all doing great! Have an awesome week!!!
Muito Amor!
Sister Chelsea Dawn