Sunday, August 26, 2018
Monday, August 20, 2018
Ola Family and Friends!
Ola family and friends!!
This week was probably my favorite in the field so far!!
Monday, for our p-day, our district(8 other missionaries in Aracaju) got together and played sports all day. We mostly played soccer and it was so so fun. I really like everyone in my district and they have made my transition here much easier. After playing all afternoon we all got coxinas(?) for dinner- see picture below :) Very grateful for all of them.
Tuesday, I got robbed...by the bank. We went to withdraw our weekly allowance and the ATM said it was dispensing money but nothing came out. In all the records, it shows up as a withdrawal though, so there is nothing anyone can do. Apparently it is pretty common here. Gotta love Brasil :)
Thursday and Friday was zone conference! Basically all the missionaries in this part of Sergipe make up our zone and we all get together for a conference/training/interviews with the president of our mission and his wife. Both of their messages were exactly what I needed to hear and it is very evident how much they both care about every single one of us. I also got to see Sister Seumanu again!! I love her so much and am SO glad she is in my zone, along with 2 other missionaries I was with in the CTM. It was so fun to catch up with them and get to know some other people in this mission.
Saturday- my first baptisms!!!! First off, I want to let you guys know it is impossible to write everything we have taught and every time we visit these people. Through an email once a week, I know that sometimes missionaries come across as impersonal, as if they are just here to baptize people and move on. One thing we talked a lot about in our zone conference was that it is not about numbers. What's important is the people you teach and their own personal relationship with God and Christ. I have loved seeing that relationship develop with Alexandre and Junior, the 2 people who chose to be baptized on Saturday. Alexandre already had a date set when I got here, and their family feels like mine now. Junior, on the other hand, has been a little more difficult, so seeing him baptized Saturday and confirmed on Sunday was something I definitely will never forget. We have been meeting with him every day and I can already see him becoming a happier and happier person. The church members here have welcomed him and Alexandre with open arms and I am so grateful. At the baptism, my compánion asked me -on the way there- to share a message. I was SO nervous because my Portuguese is not that great at all, but I felt the Spirit guiding my words. I shared Alma 7:14-15 and bore testimony on the opportunity baptism is, the Holy Spirit, and the Atonement, which they now can use every single day to continue to draw closer to Christ. Like I said earlier, I can't put into one email everything that happened or everything I felt but I am so incredibly happy for both of them.
Still loving it here, and I continue to see tender mercies every day that let me know I am right where I am supposed to be. It really is incredible to see the miracles that God works through us. We're nothing but tools in His hands.
Love you all so much and hope you guys know how much I appreciate your prayers and support.
Love,
Sister Lauren Mather
This week was probably my favorite in the field so far!!
Monday, for our p-day, our district(8 other missionaries in Aracaju) got together and played sports all day. We mostly played soccer and it was so so fun. I really like everyone in my district and they have made my transition here much easier. After playing all afternoon we all got coxinas(?) for dinner- see picture below :) Very grateful for all of them.
Tuesday, I got robbed...by the bank. We went to withdraw our weekly allowance and the ATM said it was dispensing money but nothing came out. In all the records, it shows up as a withdrawal though, so there is nothing anyone can do. Apparently it is pretty common here. Gotta love Brasil :)
Thursday and Friday was zone conference! Basically all the missionaries in this part of Sergipe make up our zone and we all get together for a conference/training/interviews with the president of our mission and his wife. Both of their messages were exactly what I needed to hear and it is very evident how much they both care about every single one of us. I also got to see Sister Seumanu again!! I love her so much and am SO glad she is in my zone, along with 2 other missionaries I was with in the CTM. It was so fun to catch up with them and get to know some other people in this mission.
Saturday- my first baptisms!!!! First off, I want to let you guys know it is impossible to write everything we have taught and every time we visit these people. Through an email once a week, I know that sometimes missionaries come across as impersonal, as if they are just here to baptize people and move on. One thing we talked a lot about in our zone conference was that it is not about numbers. What's important is the people you teach and their own personal relationship with God and Christ. I have loved seeing that relationship develop with Alexandre and Junior, the 2 people who chose to be baptized on Saturday. Alexandre already had a date set when I got here, and their family feels like mine now. Junior, on the other hand, has been a little more difficult, so seeing him baptized Saturday and confirmed on Sunday was something I definitely will never forget. We have been meeting with him every day and I can already see him becoming a happier and happier person. The church members here have welcomed him and Alexandre with open arms and I am so grateful. At the baptism, my compánion asked me -on the way there- to share a message. I was SO nervous because my Portuguese is not that great at all, but I felt the Spirit guiding my words. I shared Alma 7:14-15 and bore testimony on the opportunity baptism is, the Holy Spirit, and the Atonement, which they now can use every single day to continue to draw closer to Christ. Like I said earlier, I can't put into one email everything that happened or everything I felt but I am so incredibly happy for both of them.
Still loving it here, and I continue to see tender mercies every day that let me know I am right where I am supposed to be. It really is incredible to see the miracles that God works through us. We're nothing but tools in His hands.
Love you all so much and hope you guys know how much I appreciate your prayers and support.
Love,
Sister Lauren Mather
Wednesday, August 15, 2018
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