Okay Sunday was definitely the CRAZIEST DAY OF MY LIFE.
Honestly the whole week in general if I wrote describing every small and huge
thing that happens every week, my email would literally be 10 pgs - the mission
is BEM CORRIDA (well run). I wish I could sit
and tell you about all of the people and experiences I am having, but just know
this little taste doesn't even do them justice.
Yesterday, we left early in the morning for a compromisso (commitment/appointment) and this week we were a
little behind our metas (goals) because
literally EVERY lesson that we have been having with people are often more than
an hour long - PACKED with amazing discussions and spirit crushing doutrine (doctrine), these people are actually engaged and
asking questions and really listening. So the quality of our lessons is OFF THE
CHARTS, but the quantity... yeah a little low this week.. but priorities right?
:) So we leave the house early in the morning to finish our numbers and
contacts, and boy WHAT A DAY. It was like I haven't been serving in the same,
low key, smallest area of the entire mission - Cidade Verde - EVERYTHING was
completely unexpected and different, it was the weirdest thing.
- I found not one, but TWO mango trees that I never
knew about, I had an encounter which started with 2 VERY cute and curious
(perhaps uncomfortably curious) monkeys but soon escalated into 5 or 6 staring
down from the tree exactly over my head. They start off cute but when there
starts to be enough monkeys for every leg, arm, AND CABEÇA (head).. you start to fear for your life a little -
not going to lie.
- So we have this little side street/alley that we literally
walk EVERY DAY about 4 or 5 times because it has a lot of people, but they all
know and recognize the missionaries because we have been here forever right.
But they always have this same group of men that are always drunk even at 10 in
the morning and we usually just smile and say "bom dia" (good morning) and pass by right. BUT yesterday we
just pass by and these two are together and call out "hey where's MY
convite" (invitation) (for church right)
and we just respond yep today at 3, you are all welcome! Which turned into this
conversation where my companion is talking to one and I am talking with the
other, and somehow I end up leaving with his fresh caju (cashews) and tangerine he just bought (I still don't know how),
but we are about to leave and Alexandro goes "Hey I want to be
taught". Ok beleza, (beautiful) marked a
time with him later on (which don't stress because we're bringing Jóse our
recent convert, but then he leans in really close and goes "If anyone
messes with you guys, ele vai VIAJAR." (he will
travel) Which means exactly what you think it means. XD And apparently
he is in some type of gang and everyone knows him, (he is completely drunk this
whole time so I am still a little unsure how much of this is reliable), but hey
I sure slept more soundly last night let me tell you!
- Ok this one I still DIE, IT'S SO FUNNY. We meet the cutest
little kitten on the street and I kid you not, I really don't like gatos (cats) but this guy was PRECIOUS, black and white and
rugged and TINY. But of course we become the greatest of friends and coax him
through the gate of our condominium and he follows us all the way to our
building, with us dangling our keys in front of him and making cat sounds. I
don't really know how this happened but we are going INTO the elevador and
everyone is still coaxing and joking around, but then he actually ENTERS THE
ELEVADOR and the door closes and I am still not believing what is going on but
everyone is dying. We reach our floor and coax little Friend, out the door, into
the hallway, INTO OUR APARTMENT. Oh my lanta folks it was seriously the
funniest thing in the whole world. I was like guys we can't keep him here and
they all just said, only for one night our apartment allows animals! Soooo what
happens? We make him a little bed out of a basket and towel, cut up some
sausage that Hernandez had and some water, the whole time he is just meowing
and doing little cute summersaults IT WAS THE FUNNIEST THING. We lasted about
15 minutes and then let him back out into the wild. Ahhhh what a good 15 minutes
though.
And then we had an opportunity to teach Fatima, who is the
aunt of one of the most amazing people I have met on the mission Jessi. She was
one of the first people who really embraced me and showed me such love when I
came into the mission. We are always over at her house, eating couscous or
singing songs as she plays the guitar, and she is really like an older sister
to me that I really needed. But her aunt has been living with them for some
time, always accepting but never really interested in the church or anything,
but had an experience that really touched her and asked to have us come over to
teach her. Wow, I can't even begin to describe how tender of a spirit this
woman has or how the Lord has been preparing her. I will tell you more about her
next week because I am low on time, but with every scripture that we left, she
read them MULTIPLE times. So we entered the lesson prepped with this lesson
that we had been preparing but, in the beginning of the lesson, she starts
telling us about her life and the hardships that she has gone through. And soon
we are all crying, sharing scriptures and basking in the felicidade (happiness) that our Heavenly Father never leaves us
comfortless, that when we are at our most humble we are really the most happy
because we have the clearest of perspectives. Our lesson soon switched to one
about the plan of happiness that God has specifically for her and Jessi bore
her heart about how grateful she was that we can live with our families for
eternity. It really is a profound truth that we take for granted. Imagine it,
really. Never being alone, surrounded for all eternity with those you love more
than anything else. It was a moment when the spirit came in and filled the
cracks of every corner of our hearts and souls. I am infinitely grateful for
the beauty of the gospel.
This weekend is literally one of the most AMAZING times of
the year, when we really get to hear the words that our Heavenly Father wants
us to hear, counsel for questions and doubts we never even realized we needed,
and to really witness the greatest tender mercy of having a living Prophet that
has been called of God to guide us. Please ponder and really come with an open
heart ready to learn, because sometimes we really think we already know
everything there is to know in life when really we are all still children in
the sight of God you know?
I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH AND THANK YOU FOR ALL THE LOVE. HUG
YOUR MOM
SAY YOUR PRAYERS
Muito amor!!
Sister Staheli
