OI AMIGOS.
So the week was packed yet again with many different and
interesting friends, many tender mercies and personal miracles that leave me
dumbstruck at the goodness of our loving Father in Heaven, heartfelt prayers
answered, and unexpected tchau's (goodbyes).
 |
3 flight plans pra São Paulo
#stillwaitingmine
|
I found a scripture that has really marked the week for me:
Ether 12:12
For if there be
no faith among the
children of men, God can do no miracle among them;
wherefore, he showed not himself until after their faith.
ok now read it again.
So while you are thinking a little about that, let
me tell you a little about Elaine.
Elaine is a 17 year old girl who comes from a ridiculously
strong religious family that we met on the street and who we have had the
amazing privilege of teaching for the past month. In the first lesson with her
and her entire family (3 siblings, and both of her parents who are #marriedlegalmente
#quebenção (married legally, what a blessing))
which was about the amazing and awe-striking plan of happiness our Father in
Heaven has for us - she, her younger sister Yasmin, and her mom all ended up
crying during the closing prayer. The
power of the spirit was just palpable in that small, crowded living room. It
has been inspiring because every time we ask her how she felt after praying or
reading the Book of Mormon, she just goes - it was amazing or I felt it in my
heart. And I know that every time that she prays that she has a personal experience and knows that she is actually talking with her Father in
Heaven. So she had received an answer.
She had felt in her heart MULTIPLE times that the Book of Mormon and
everything that we had taught her is true, but she still didn't feel like she
had received an answer to be baptized. She said if it was God's will, she would follow,
but until now she really hadn't felt an answer. This comes also from the fact
that when I say her family is pretty religious, I mean like they go MULTIPLE
times a week, Yasmin and their younger brother are little helpers to the
pastor, and they go like every Sunday to church. So this wouldn't just be a -let's-be-baptized,
but an actual wow I will need to change an entire lifetime of habits and
culture. #TougherRight?
The elders came with us and we had an
opportunity to really, once again, bear our testimonies for them and share how we
know… We KNOW, without a shadow of a doubt that this is Christ's church and
that it's all super real, and how we knew and once again invited her whole
family to come to church with us (only the two girls had already gone). Her mom
still has a lot of doubts and started making excuses for why Sunday wouldn’t
work for them. but Elaine (sitting behind me) just cuts her off and says "yeah
but Yasmin and I will go".
MAN YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN HER MOM'S FACE. #uhhh #nowWhat
And I KNOW that could not have been easy for her to do. But
she took a leap of faith, she stood up for what she had been feeling in her
heart, and she put all of her fears behind her.
She realmente mostrou sua fé (exercised
her faith) in something that she maybe still didn't have complete
confidence or knowledge in but felt it was right. During the last prayer, I hear her
start to sniffle and shake and when we open our eyes, Elaine is just bawling
her eyes out. She squeezes us tightly in the most heart-warming embrace and
just whispers 'obrigada. obrigada.' (thanks, thanks)
And I knew that she had received her answer.
Ether 12:12
For if there be
no faith among the
children of men God can do no miracle among them;
wherefore, he showed not himself until after their faith.
Put your faith in God and there's nothing that He is not
able to do, no miracle that He is unable to accomplish. I know that God listens
to our prayers and is willing to give us the answer, but He can't do it if we
still haven't been able to prove just how much we want it or how much we are
willing to trust in His timing.
love you all folks
GOD IS STILL A GOD OF MIRACLES.
just have a little faith.
<3 Sister Staheli
Found out that things as basic as how we have always drawn houses or trees as kids is different here in Brasil!! |
 |
