Oh Gente, what a week!
This week was significantly meaningful as for the first
time in my life I truly developed a personal understanding and empathy with
those divinely blessed with piolho. (lice)
Or in other words – I got hit with head lice this week! #ITCHY-WhyAmIItchy?
So yeah, picking those little buggers out of my hair made
for a pretty great time, and also a shower WAY longer than is necessary. (roughly 40 minutes) But I think I cleared a majority of them
out. All thanks to our little amiga
Selena (the 4 year old menina who likes her chicken only when smothered in
bright red lipstick). Who I SWEAR I
NEVER TOUCHED, but to whom I will forever be grateful to for having given me
this new and quite invasive empathy.
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Other funny thing that happened this week…we’ve been
teaching this family that has 3-4 little primas (cousins)
around the ages of 9-11 who have really become our little buddies. Every time we get to their house, they come
out screaming, hugging us and giggling.
Completely normal right? (Man if
I had a Real (the Brazilian currency) for how
many hugs I’ve had from little children I’ve never met. Wow do I love being a missionary.) But one day, we got there and found that they
had played “house” (that takes me back to the dandelion salad days – Rachel and
Bethany J) and
they had each picked one of us 3 sisters to be 'mom'. I just died.
You don’t even know! Also, wow, I’m
just hit so often here with how pure, loving and Christ-like children are.
This week I also managed to be once again challenged,
molded, blessed and humbled with the power of God’s perfect love and gospel
applied in the lives of his children. We
have been teaching Lucimar and Jacki, maei e filha, as well as Lucimar’s sister
Ania. We had just finished grabbing acai
on PDay when we crossed paths with Wedson, a member in the ward, and as we
walked by, he greeted his neighbors and took the opportunity to present us and
invited them to learn more from us. What
really struck me was the sincerity and urgency on how he talked. He said “You can’t even imagine how their
message will come to bless your life and your family’s lives. You need to hear what they have to say.” When he was a teenager, he was the type who
had hair way down his back and didn’t give a hoot about anything, let alone
anything related to God. But when the
missionaries stopped him on the street, something pounded him in the chest and
said exactly what he repeated to every person we stopped on the street….”You
need to hear what they have to say.” So
powerful was his conviction and testimony that I marveled again at how powerful
and merciful the gift of repentance is and God’s promise that if we are truly
willing to change, that He will forgive and help us leave our old self
behind.....becoming day after day a little
bit stronger and a little bit more Christ like, purified by the infinite love
and sacrifice of our humble Savior.
Lucimar and Ania were one of the neighbors we had stopped
(literally NEXT DOOR neighbors whom he had never met), and who were touched by
the spirit Wedson brought by bearing his testimony. We have really begun to see the promise of
his words being fulfilled this week, by applying God’s perfect gospel in their
family, reading the Book of Mormon and praying as a family. They feel “cheia de luz” (full of light) and relieved of the oppressive weight
on their shoulders. They are beginning
to recognize the peace that the spirit brings.
And keep in mind these are normal, everyday people – People who struggle
to know how to take care of their teenagers, who live in a family environment
that’s not perfect, who are seeking more meaning and wanting to understand
their purpose in this life. The
blessings of the gospel are not limited to a certain type of person – how can a
loving Father only want to bless and be a part of the lives of a select few?
And imagine after all this, Wedson thanked US for having
given him the desperately wanted opportunity and excuse to share his testimony
with his neighbors. But always remember
that you don’t need the sisters at your side to share what is in your
heart. God will always be at your side
to help and give you the words to say.
It is good to know you are never alone.
You know?
Enfim (finally), and once
again, I LOVE MY SAVIOR and although I am blessed with piolho (lice), I am FEELING BLESSED GENTE.
Amo Voces (I love you)
Sister Staheli
found a liscense plate that was almost the EXACT same one that my mom used all through highschool before being totaled by a snowplow! #NowYouKnow
almoço com o distrito!!
(lunch with our district)
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| every day is a happy day with Nayara |
