Zone conference this week! It was my first one here in Maceio so it was fun to meet people I didn’t get the chance to see when I was in Aracaju. After the conference, a group of us foreigners had to visit the police station to renewed our visas and afterwards the mission secretary bought us all acai. It was a good day.
Sister Chiriz is still sick... not any worse but not any better. Still have to stay in our apartment sometimes but usually not for too long so we are still able to work. We have another appointment this week so we will see what happens.
Lots of door knocking this week… lots of door knocking but we are so excited because remember the grandkids that Edna has been bringing to church: They want to be baptized! Yesterday we had lunch with them and their families and the bishop of our ward. Afterwards,we talked with Sarah and her parents and Edna and it got really tense because they started arguing and we had to be the mediators. Edna is a gut feeling kind of person so she wants them to be baptized as soon as possible. Sarahs parents, on the other hand, want to wait until she is more prepared. We explained to them that everyone under 18 has to have full consent from the parents to be baptized, and that our job as missionaries is to prepare them not only for baptism, but to teach and help them learn about Christ. We don’t want them to be baptized until they are prepared either! We talked about how we have lots of things to teach and they have to understand before baptism, and that every person is interviewed by a leader in the church before baptism to make sure that they are prepared and understand. Us and their parents have the same goal, and they are 100 percent supportive of the baptism. They are an AMAZING family and I am so excited to keep working with them. It was really cool to feel the Spirit guiding my words as I tried to resolve the situation. The adults were arguing and talking over each other but when I spoke, the Spirit testified and everyone went silent. By the end of the conversation, everyone was laughing and hugging and we set up a couple nights to visit and study with them this week. Lis, the other granddaughter that wants to be baptized, is way more mature and understands a little better the importance of everything. We have yet to meet her parents because they are divorced and it is complicated. But in the end, everyone was on the same page, everyone was happy, and we are going to be able to continue visiting all of them. Both of Sarahs parents said that they feel something different with our church and know it is a good thing for her. I am so excited to teach all of them together and I know their family will become even stronger than it already is.
I am so grateful to be here on a mission and even though we are rejected, a lot, it is so worth it to see the effects of the gospel in the lives of the people here. Ednas husband told us yesterday that since Edna was baptized, there has been a peaceful, more happy feeling in their home that he said has never been as strong as these last few months. I want so bad to just tell them exactly what is right but we have to have patience while they receive their answers and gain their OWN knowledge that the church of Jesus Christ is real, and it is on the earth today. I know without a doubt that it is true, and it is a privilige to be here sharing it with people that I come to love so quickly.
Love,
Sister Lauren Mather
PS. Almost forgot- Edna received a calling yesterday!! She will be teaching the class of children at church every other Sunday and she is SO excited! We are too!
Pictures and videos:
zone conference
our chapel/castle
random old lady in ou apartment building that bought us chocolate
acai with Edna
thunderstorms...my favorite
catholic cathedral at the centro
the only sentence sister maruyama knows in english...
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