dear family and esteemed fans,
another week has come and gone like crazy! haha. But what comes with an exhausting week is lots of miracles. :)
So our golden investigator from Brazil, Eliana, is reading the book of mormon! and last week, when we went to teach her the plan of salvation, her daughter was there and participated in the lesson as well. It still just blows my mind that she has been searching her whole life for this church, and we are the missionaries that knocked on her door. ah. I invited her to be baptized... really lamely... haha. and she said that she wants to be baptized. :) we need to explain what it means to be baptized, and that it is making a covenant with God and that she needs to know that this church is true before she can be baptized. But she is a miracle every time we see her. we have a couple of sisters in our ward that speak portuguese, so hopefully we can get them involved and she can come to church with friends already. .)
So... i'm embarrassed to say this, but i have a huge fear of talking to men on the streets. i can talk to them in their doors, or in cabs or whatever, but to stop them and talk to them in the street is way hard for me because i don't want them to flirt with me, and every time i do it, that happens. haha. well, this week we were passing by a man who always speaks english to me when we pass him, and my companion decided to stop him. obviously, i was horrified. haha. and of course, he was high. haha. but he told us that he lived in new york! and that the missionaries were visiting him there! so he told us we could come over sometime. we're going to take someone with us... haha. but he's way cool! i need to find a way to get over this fear of men flirting with me... cause men are cool too. haha.
Maureen told us that she wants to be baptized, but that she can't do it yet because she's not reading her scriptures like she should be and she drinks sometimes when she is out with her friends... we are currently fasting that she can understand that she doesn't have to be perfect to be baptized. just trying to follow christ, and doing her best. she has an incredibly strong testimony of this gospel and this church, and last night as we started teaching her dad, she once again bore it and told him that she knows these things are true. gee whiz! it's like teaching with a member! haha. her mom, viviana is still doing so well. :) still progressing towards her baptism at the end of september, and still so strong in her resolve to conquer this addiction. yesterday, at church she was just beaming! I am so lucky to be teaching her. this is the kind of miracle that every missionary prays for on their mission. I have the strongest testimony that EVERYTHING can be conquered with the gospel because of her. Looking at how much she has changed in the past month blows my mind. I LOVE THIS GOSPEL!
One of the little girls that i am teaching english told us this week that the mormons are weird... i don't think she knows that's what we are. haha. we asked her why she says that, and she told us that they sing in the streets... like for christmas, they knock doors and sing at people's houses... haha. i didn't know caroling was a mormon thing... ;) we laughed so hard after we left her house.
On saturday, we went to another sector to do a mini mtc with the members in their ward. we went on splits and i was paired with a 40 year old woman who has been a member for a little over a year. and it was incredible! one, because i understood her and could talk to her and get to know her and be confident in what i was saying. :) my spanish is coming! and 2, because as i listened to her talk about how she was converted, I was just so overwhelmed with a gratitude that i am in the same work that brought her to her life how it is now. :) It was such a rejuvenation, and I have so much more confidence in myself after that experience. :)
then, as hna cantero and i were leaving to go back to our sector, there was a man standing outside the church on the corner. hna cantero started to talk to him, and he was like, "did you guys just come from this church?" we were like yes... and he was like i want to go to this church. do you know when i can come? we were like well actually there are people inside right now, if you would like a tour! he agreed, and we took him inside, introduced him to his missionaries, and bishop, and he told them that he was going to go to church yesterday! can you believe that? haha. i am so bummed that it didn't happen in our sector! well, the elders there are really awesome, so i hope things go well for him. haha.
i'm out of time, but i want all of you to know how strong my testimony is of this gospel. I know that it is only through this plan that god has made for us that we can return to live with him, but perfectly. and that jesus christ is the only way we can do it. i know that this work will roll forth until it has touched every end of the earth, and i am so grateful to be taking part in just a sliver of it. This is what true, eternal happiness is. :)
hermana spencer
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