Monday: P-Day was great as always! We also got to talk to Luci and it was so funny! I can’t remember what scripture she read but it was one in the bible talking about only serving one God and not idols or something like that. But the word it uses is close to the word Mormon so she was super worried about that and thought it was bad that she was reading the book of Mormon ha. But we cleared things up with her and she is actually reading the book of Mormon now!! We are super excited!
Tuesday: President Lundgren came to visit today and it was so good! We had interviews with him and got to talk with his assistants which were so nice! We are struggling right now with trying to find some new investigators and they had some really good ideas so it was perfect and just what we needed! So we spend the afternoon making contacts and trying to get to know more people who live close to the church and our quadrant.
Wednesday: President Jairo Mazzagardi from the 70 came and visited us today and it was so good! He is like a little version of Elder Holland. He gave us a lot of great advice and had some super cool stories! It was the perfect motivation for us! And we even got to eat in a Chinese restaurant with him! But it was so good! We left the chapel around 3 in the afternoon with a little sprinkle, but when it rains here it doesn't stay as a little sprinkle, ha. So for the rest of the night it was on and off rain but it was so nice! It’s so dry here so it was nice to get a little bit of rain!
Thursday: My 3 month mark!! So weird to see how fast time has gone by! But I’m loving every minute of it!! We celebrated the birthday of one of the investigators of the other sisters today. We went to a restaurant with a member in the ward and spent a little bit of time with him. He got baptized on Sunday. We also had a lesson with one of our neighbors today and boy was it interesting ha. The people here are extremely religious, which is great because they are very open to hearing our message. But with some people when we start talking about the book of Mormon and Jesus Christ visiting the Americas they get so defensive and say that the bible doesn't talk about either one of these things all it all goes downhill from there ha. Oh it made me so mad! But we have to remember that people have the gift of agency and we have to respect that.
Friday: Today we did another split and I had Sister Carranza from Peru come and stay with me! Sister Alves was so worried about me ha. I’m not sure why because I know the area now and understand people better now but she made me review my day with her like a million times ha. It was funny. But I loved my time with Sister Carranza! I learned so much from her! We had a lesson with a lady who lives in the apartments buildings across the street from us and it was interesting ha. Sister Alves and I came across her the other day when we were making contacts in the street. She was super friendly and wanted to hear our message, so Sister Carranza and I started teaching about the restoration. The beginning was really good and she was super receptive to our message. Then her friend walked in..... We got the part about Joseph Smith and she had a hard time with the idea of God and Jesus Christ appearing to Joseph, not because they are separate beings. Then Sister Carranza talked about how Joseph got the priesthood from the apostles and she did not like that. In her religion they don’t believe in a spirit world and they believe that when we die our bodies turn to dust and stay here on the earth with our spirits. So I went on to explain how our bodies and spirits are separated but she did not like that and her friend was starting to fight us on this. So we moved on to the book of Mormon. They didn't like either. We tried to show them scriptures in the bible and invite them to pray about it and read the book of Mormon but over and over again they told us the bible is sufficient and they don’t need anything else.... so we left a little disheartened. But I now have plenty of scriptures in the bible to use if this happens again ha. We got Luci to set a date for baptism finally! Now we are just trying to make her feel more comfortable and making sure she understands everything. She has a really hard time concentrating on one thing at a time so we have to work slowly with her sometimes ha.
Saturday: We spent the afternoon at a member’s house having a family home evening with the sisters and their investigators and it was super good! It was exactly what their investigators needed!
Sunday: Today was Bruno’s baptism! The investigator of the other sisters. It was super spiritual and he was so excited! I love seeing how happy and excited they get! He bore his testimony at the end and sang a song. It was so beautiful!
I sure love the work here and the people. It’s hard seeing people not accept this wonderful message but we have to respect there agency and hope that one day they will accept it. I've noticed how strong the spirit is when I testify to people. It’s such a good reminder for me that I know this church is true. I know that we are children of a loving heavenly father. I know that Jesus Christ is our brother. I know that he lives. I know that because of him and his sacrifice, we can repent of our sins. He knows how we feel. He knows our weaknesses, and is here to help us. I know that because of him I can return and live in the presence of my heavenly father. I’m so grateful for this gospel and the role it plays in my life. I’m so grateful for this wonderful opportunity I have to be here, teaching my brothers and sisters about this gospel. I love this church and I know it is the only true church on the earth today!
Sister Steadman
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