Feliz Natal!

DECEMBER  2, 2013

Yay for my family! I love you all so much!

Anyway, this week was pretty dang good. I´ve been speaking more and for the most part, I can understand what people are trying to say to me. I still need them to explain it a couple of times, but it´s coming! I love it! And when I talk with my companion, I would say that I understand about 80% of what she says. This past week she would say stuff to me and without even thinking I would respond in Portuguese. How cool is that?!? And it is all totally form heavenly Father. There is no way I would be able to learn this fast without His help and your prayers. Thank you so much.

So, a request has been made to know what my days are like. The general routine begins at 6:30am. We get up and "exercise", but not really. Mostly we just stretch, and we definitely need it from all the walking we do. After that it´s shower time. The shower is super sketchy, but I´m slowly getting used to it. 8am is personal study, 9 is companion study, 10 is training, and 11 is language. I love studies! They help so much with lessons. We have lunch at 12 and it´s kind of a big deal. It´s like thanksgiving everyday (which btw, we didn´t celebrate at all here, so I got no turkey). We usually have it at a member´s house and we eat a ton because they´re all offended if you don´t. Oh yeah, I eat tomatoes now. Yuck, but i love these people so much that I do it for them.

Then it´s time to go out and work. I wear a ton of sunscreen because it is so hot here and we are always outside. I love it though! The neighborhoods in our area are awesome. And we have government housing in our area so the people are really humble. Plus, I get to walk everywhere and back. Awesome!

Usually, we see 4 people for lessons a day and then have unexpected encounters. Usually with less actives. They are my favorite because we get to help them rediscover the love they have for the church and the knowledge that this is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This week was really awesome with lessons. My favorite was with one of our investigators, Joel. He has a million hard questions and I´m so grateful that Sister Lopes has an awesome knowledge of the gospel, because I don´t understand everything yet and sometimes it´s hard for me to talk. I really like Joel though because he is searching for the truth and he knows that God will help him find it. Anyway, we were talking about the plan of salvation and his son came it and started asking questions in a hostile way. Sister Lopes answer each of his questions, but he wasn´t satisfied. He turned to me and asked how I could prove to him that Joseph Smith saw God. I don´t know what happened, but i just started talking. I told him that I knew for myself that Joseph Smith saw heavenly Father and Jesus Christ because I had prayed about it and had received a powerful witness from the Holy Ghost that Joseph Smith DID see God the father and the Son. It was super simple, but the Holy Ghost was definitely there, helping me speak and bearing witness of the truth.

Afterwards, it was quiet and Joel´s son didn´t have any more questions. I think they were kind of shocked that I could talk. I was a little shocked myself. And the best part was that Joel was crying and I know that he felt the Spirit testify of the truth.

From this experience, my testimony that God makes weak things strong grew. I can barely get points across in lessons sometimes, but with the Lord´s strength, I was able to say what Joel needed to hear. How amazing is that? I am so grateful for my mission and the change it has rendered on me.

 

Anyway, I hope that you all have a great week. And if there is ever a time when you feel that you can´t do it, school, relationships, life, just remember that the Lord makes weak things strong and with His help, YOU CAN DO HARD THINGS!!!!

Com amor,

Sister Whitney