Monday, May 2, 2016

Week 2 in Recife!

Bom dia everyone!!
This week has been great! I absolutely love my area. The members in our ward-- Pina Ward-- are so wonderful! I´ve really learned this week the importance of member missionary work. The lessons we have with people who are referrals of members, always go SO much better than lessons with people we meet on the street. This week we had a referral for a woman named Jane (here it sounds more like Johnny haha). The member that gave us this referral was definitely inspired because Jane is definitely one of God´s elect. She has such an open heart and was very sensitive to feeling the Spirit. We talked to her about prophets, how we have a living prophet today, and how God is aware of her and wants her to hear this message, and during the lesson she was so touched by the Spirit that she started crying. It was so wonderful.
We had another referral this week for a family of 5! It´s always fantastic when we can find families to teach haha. But they were also very receptive and I have high hopes that they´ll progress. Another member, Irmã Edla had a family home evening and invited Sister Juarez and I, and a bunch of non-member friends. It was actually more of a birthday party for her son who is on a mission. She went all out with food and balloons and sparklers haha. It was a little interesting haha. But for the lesson, Sister Juarez and I taught the Restoration-- a little terrifying for me because I don´t really speak Portuguese, but God always helps me so much. And the Holy Ghost is the real teacher. I just need to say the words I have and then the Holy Ghost will carry the message into the hearts of the people. 
But anyways, the members are wonderful and so helpful. Because yesterday was fast and testimony meeting in church, we asked the members who had missionary experiences this week to share their testimonies about it. One Sister, Irmã Nelma was super nervous though and so she made Sister Juarez and I bare our testimonies with her haha. I´m pretty sure I spoke Portingles (portuguese and english), but all the members reassured me that they could understand what I said haha. Everyday, we have lunch at one of the members homes-- I´ll send a picture from our lunch yesterday. We had feijoada and it was suuuuper delicious.  
Camila and Fernando marked a date to be married!! June 4th. And so they´ll be married and then baptized on the same day haha. Fernando was without work before, but on the same day they marked a date for baptism, he found a job! God is definitely blessing this family. 
Things are wonderful with Eriko! He´s going to be baptized this Saturday and he is SO excited. This is definitely an answer to many, many prayers for him because he wasn´t really progressing last week. Yesterday, Sister Parraga and Sister Rondon had a baptism after church, and so Eriko went to it with us! I think it helped a lot to get him excited to be baptized. His testimony of the church is really growing. The baptism was super spiritual, but also super funny haha. The man who was being baptized-- Eva-- was really struggling and his leg kept popping out of the water before he was fully immersed. And so on the fourth try, another man, fully clothed in church attire got into the water to hold down his legs. And so as he was holding down Eva´s legs, he slipped and was also completely submerged in the water hahaha. 
I hope everyone had a great week!! Happy Mothers´ Day to all the moms this Sunday-- especially to the moms with missionaries! I´m way excited to skype my family!

Boa Semana!
Sister Anderson