Monday: I don't know who said it first but as we were walking to the Knight Bus stop, somebody said, "Vamos cantar no ônibus?" Then, before we knew it, everyone was basically saying "Yeah, why not?!" So Sister Barraza, Sister Carazas, Sister Duncan and I chose some simple hymns- Families Can Be Together Forever and I Am a Child of God. My brave companion lucked out when we did the Brasil version of "noes goes" and was chosen to ask the motorist if we could, and to make the announcement. The bus driver gave permission. We stationed ourselves perfectly in the bus.
After a few minutes, my companion stood up, said hello to everyone, told them we wanted to sing for them, and that after we would talk to everyone about our church. So we stood up and sang Families Can be Together Forever. The bus driver turned off the radio. One lady plugged her ears. But then I looked beyond her, and everyone was smiling broadly. So we continued with I am a Child of God. One teenage boy started conducting the music. Which was kind of hilarious. We finished and everyone was just smiling so much, except for the one lady who had her hands clasped fervently over her ears. Then, we set to work, and started talking to everyone on the bus. Between the four of us on that tiny ônibus that didn't have a whole lot of people, and the ten or so minutes we had left, we got 16 contatos. And everybody was like "Why did you stop singing? Thank you so much! You made my day!"
I felt really good about that. It was super fun. And it just.. I don't know how to explain it. The Spirit was there on that crazy knight bus. And even the lady who was grumpy and didn't want to listen couldn't deny that.
We also taught Fabio that night. They invited a bunch of family members over. That cute little house was so crowded. And the Spirit was so strong. I nearly cried when I shared a personal experience I hadn't planned on sharing. We had Fabio and his sister Andreia there. It was pretty amazing.
Plus, they had really good cake.
Tuesday: We taught Cida, who has been coming to church for 14 years with family and still has no desire whatsoever to be baptized. But! We hada good lesson, and she is just adorable, so all is well.
We also taught Fabiana about the Plan of Salvation. During the middle of it, she just got up and walked away. She came back after changing clothes and we finished the lesson, but still doesn't understand why she needs to be baptized again. Between those two lessons, we were feeling a bit frustrated.
Then, we visited Sueli (member) and Carlos, her nonmember husband. We didn't get an actual lesson in, so we left feeling pretty frustrated with our whole day.
Wednesday: We scheduled a lesson with Lucas, but he had to cancel. But! We had a good lesson with Vitor! He has now prayed with us over 5 times now, by the way. Its pretty awesome. And miraculous. Then, we were finally able to have a lesson with someone we contacted in the street! Her name is Auriene. Or something like that. We have been trying to figure out for the past few days exactly what it is, because her accent is a bit different and her name sounds different every time she says it. Oh well. She is awesome! Her family is prepared, and they actually understand what our purpose is. They all gathered to listen, particpated and accepted baptism!
Miracles. They are everywhere.
Thursday: Everyone and their mom's dog cancelled on us or weren't home. We walked from one end of our area to the other, and back again. And then walked some more. We did lots of contacts that day. LOTS. But! Finally, at night, we had another lesson with Fabio about esperança. Hope. It went pretty well, and afterwards we were able to really help Natara as well. I just love them so much! By the way, Natara is going to come visit me. Hope thats okay with y'all. We also had a lesson with Bryan again finally! Sort of. He was being rebellious and sat on the stairs instead of coming into the kitchen and hearing everything. So we didn't really teach him anything. But he told us he listened to a few things.
Friday: Everyone cancelled on us AGAIN. And again we walked back and forth from one end of our area to the other. So that was pretty fun! But! We got to have a sort of lesson with Santa and a bunch of people in her family. It was a bit crazy there, but all is well. We set up to meet with a family in the ward who has a less active son, but he wasn't there. So after talking to the family for a few minutes, we hit the streets again. Walking. This was when I started laughing, turning to Sister Duncan, and I asked, "Why am I so happy?!" Because it made no sense. Looking at our numbers, the week, how much we WALKED, I should have been furious or walking around with tears streaming down my face or collapsed on the sidewalk massaging my feet. But I was just so happy! I can't even explain it. Sister Duncan agreed, said that she was happy too, and we had a good discussion about the Spirit and about happiness.
Saturday: FINALLY, we were able to teach Lucas again! He has a lot of questions about Joseph Smith and prophets, but he is reading and praying. I know that he will get a response. He is just so prepared! We also had a pioneer activity which was super cute and fun. And we got there late because we finally cornered- I mean, found- Marcelo in the street and talked to him for a while. He told us that he is a lost case. We told him that nobody is a lost case, and had a really good chat with him in which I told him that I am stubborn and that we won't be giving up on him. He laughed and told us to come back this week. Booyah! After the activity, we went to see Vitor who had a bunch of family over! It was super fun! We had a neat intro to mormons kind of discussion, sang with them, and prayed with them. The Spirit was strong.
Sunday: Lucas wasn't able to make it to church :( But! We were finally able to have a lesson with Vitoria, who told us her cousin Kailane doesn't want to learn more. But we got to teach Vitoria, who is super adorable, and we got to talk to her family who are members but haven't come to church in a reallllly long time. Oh, and we walked some more. And we had another good lesson with Auriene! It was on the Plan of Salvation, and they all loved it. Another daughter joined us this time, who hadn't been there the other day, and during the prayer at the end (which she offered) she thanked Heavenly Father for the answers to her questions that she had in mind this past week- Why are we here? and Where are we going after this life? Heavenly Father knows all of our needs and questions. He knew that Willi needed answers, that we have the answers, and sent us when she was home to help her. He also knew that Sister Duncan and I needed a good lesson to end our sort of discouraging week.
All in all, I'm just happy.
Happy anniversary to my grandparents!! Parabéns!
E parabéns para meu amigo, Brad, que já terminou sua missão!!!
My faith is so strong as ever.
Love you all!! Next week is transfer week! Can't believe another transfer is almost gone. Time is just flying by soooo fast.
com amor,
Sister Shell
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