p-day # 22

dear family,

 

Well, another week has flown by... weird. haha. This week was super strange too, because we had a ton of meetings and traveling to do.

 

I had to go to get my visa stuff done on friday, so we left our house at 7:00, which is earlier than we usually wake up. haha. and it was raining. awesome, right? actually, it really was awesome that it rained, because there were less people trying to get their visa stuff done! The first place we went, I had to get a sticker in my passport that is my visa. I got the address of the woman who was working with me. :) how many missionaries has she worked with and none of them have asked for her address. she was super prepared too. i hope the missionaries where she lives go by soon! haha. Then we went to get a paper that had all of the information on it for my carnet. and then, we went to the last place where they took my picture and got my finger prints. normally, it takes like 11 hours to get everything all done. we finished in 5. haha. It was fun. I got to chat with some elders that I hadn't met before and get to know them. One of the elders told us a story about how he and his companion were contacting in the plaza when they heard a man behind them yell, "hey! you are the missionaries from the church of jesus christ of latter day saints!" they turned around to see a man with a sombrero that said i love jesus on it. haha. and they ended up inviting him to be baptized and putting a date! crazy things happen as missionaries. haha. it reminded me a lot of carlos from when we went contacting in guatemala.

 

Our miracle contact Eliana was one of my favorite lessons of the week. Like i said, she's from brazil, and she doesn't speak very much spanish. we walked into her house to see her bible open on the table. how many houses do we walk in and see that? um... none. haha. when we would ask her to read scriptures from the bible during our lesson, like james 1:5, it was like she couldn't get there fast enough. The spirit was so strong as i shared the first vision and invited her to read the book of mormon. we are looking for one in portuguese because that will be so much more effective for her. But I am just amazed at how prepared she is for this gospel. :) ah. this work is incredible.

 

And our miracle family, Canales Flores, was one of my other favorites. :) as we walked up, all of the little girls were waiting outside for us. It's like we're famous, because they all ran to us from super far away to give us hugs and hold our hands to walk us to their house. I LOVE them. :) The oldest daughter, Belen, is 12 and had a tumor in her lung last year so she missed school and never learned any of the english material. I am trying to teach her what it is she missed. But she did so well on her test the next day, so I am super happy that I am working with her. :) Her mom, Paola is an angel. although, she told us on saturday, as we passed by to see if we could help her with anything in her house, that she's not married and doesn't want to be. It put our dreams of them in the temple a little farther down the line... haha. but we're hoping that her "husband" opens up because we're serving them so that we can teach them as a family. :)

 

Viviana is doing really well. :) she came to church with maureen yesterday without us going to pick her up. and last night, we watched the testaments with her family, and her husband told us that he wants to start receiving the lessons and reading the book of mormon to know what it is all about! ah. To think about where she was a month ago and see her now is like looking at 2 different people. I can literally see a light in her eyes when i look at her now, and I know that nothing could be doing that but the spirit. :) and the gospel filling her spirit. It is incredible to me that people can change their lives when they come to know their savior. :) i love missionary work!

 

to finish, yesterday we went to lunch with a sister in the ward who's husband isn't a member that we've started teaching. and her 3 year old is a FLIRT. haha. he had a billie jean on his mom's phone, and started dancing like michael jackson! it was the cutest thing ever. haha. his name is rafael. we're going to try and have a talent show for a family night soon, so i'll record it. :) pablo, the husband that we are teaching, is on the show "my name is". i've never heard of it, but i assume he must be a pretty dang good singer if he's on there... i can't wait to hear him sing too. :)

 

i just love missionary work so much. :) time goes by way too fast, and there is not enough of it to spend with the people that i love so much here. :( but i am so grateful for the time that i have, and I can only hope that as my spanish gets better and as i become a better missionary that my relationships will get even better. :)

 

muah! i love you family and fans. ,)

 

hermana spencer.