This week flew by soo fast, but I feel like this is one of the weeks that I learned the most and that I grew the most as well! Heavenly Father is so perfect! He knows me so well!
The week started out with a lot of walking..... in the hot sun. Its soooo hot here! But we use the heat as an excuse to talk to people and enter the houses so it’s been a blessing as well :) We are starting to get more comfortable with our area now. We have also been able to get to know the members a little bit more this week and help strengthen their testimonies. We have started doing personal progress with some of the young women here and they were so excited to start! The elders had a baptism yesterday of another young women! So we are super excited to get working with them :)
But this week was full of miracles! We have been working so hard trying to find the people that the Lord has prepared for us to teach! And in the beginning it was a little tough. But this week, we felt like the Lord was really blessing us for our efforts. So first we met Rosa. Who was just a contact we made on the street one night. So we went to her house and visited her. And it was a very simple, short lesson. But the spirit was so sweet. And she had the look in her eyes that she was feeling something. That something would be the spirit :) I love watching the spirit work with our investigators!
But, it gets better. Then the next night we met Isabella; another contact in the street. One night we were looking for an address and ran into her. So we went and visited her Saturday morning. And I´ll tell ya, the devil definitely didn´t want us to visit her. He was working really hard with us that day. First off we almost forgot about our appointment with her because we were busy doing some planning. So then we hurried and ran to her house (its a good thing that she lives close to us). We missed her husband by a couple of minutes, but we were able to teach her. And once again, we had such a good sweet spirit during the lesson. But Isabella has visited many churches but still hasn’t found what she is looking for (this is probably one of my most favorite things to hear!!!!) But she doesn’t exactly know what she is looking for. But she is a very spiritual woman. So we started the lesson. And it was going really well. We shared the restoration with her. And first off her son kept walking in and interrupting us. Then her sister showed up but luckily her sister joined in on the lesson. Then her dad came, and think of a man who likes to talk!!! I´ll tell ya, some of these Brasilians just like to hear themselves talk! But we were able to get back to the lesson and he was able to hear a bit of it. Then the Elders called us (I forgot to put our phone on silence). But the part that was amazing to me was that every time we went back to teaching, the spirit came back and he taught the lesson. It was so cool to feel that! Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to go to church yesterday because she had to take care of her siblings. Because her mom died of cancer recently and she has a brother in the hospital with a broken knee. But, she is super excited for our next lesson. And so are we :)
Then, yesterday we had another cool experience! So during the week we were just walking down the street and saw a lady in front of the store and we felt like talking to her. So we went up and started talking to her and ended up visiting her yesterday. Her name is Eridan. So when we showed up at her house she was surprised because she didn’t think we would actually visit her because she lives kind of far away. But she was so excited! Like super excited, ha. But it was really cool to get to know her! She told us that she has already visited many churches but felt like none of them were true. So now she just visits the churches close to her house but she is super excited to visit our church! We had just a very simple lesson with her where we talked about faith and repentance. And she really loved it. She kind of had a wake up call during the lesson because when we talked about faith we said that we have to act upon our faith and do things to strengthen our faith. And she was like, wow that’s what I need to do. Just sitting here at home reading and praying isn’t enough. I need to go to church. So it was super good with her :)
Well sadly, this week I received the death call. The call where the Elders call and asked me what airport I will be landing in when I go home........ sadly, all good things must come to an end. But they come to an end to better things can happen! But it was really weird.
This week I was reading a lot of conference talks from conference in April and I feel like I have learned so much. I’ve also been studying a lot in 2 Nephi and I love the BOM! It seriously is the best! But this week I feel like I really understood what it takes to have a successful future. And this week I read a lot about Nephi and the blessings he receives and the blessings he is promised. The lord constantly tells him that if he is obedient, he will prosper. And what does prosper mean? Its means that he will be blessed spiritually and materially. And it is the same thing for us today. If we really do our best to obey, give it our all. The Lord will bless us. And we see this so many times in the BOM. When the people were obedient, they were blessed and had many riches. But the moment they became prideful, the Lord took it all away. But it all depends on our obedience. If we want to be successful, we need to obey. Just trust in the Lord and obey.
Well I hope you all have a fabulous week! Prepare for conference! But don’t tell me anything because I wont be watching it this weekend. Only the next. But prepare! Remember to always read your scriptures and say your prayers! Love you all!
Com Amor,
Sister Steadman
Monday, September 28, 2015
Monday, September 21, 2015
Over the Hill.....
Well, I´m not really sure where to begin with this week. But it was a good week that’s for sure! Our journey here in Paracatú started out really well and so far I´m loving every bit of it! Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures this week, but I´ll be better this next week :) But, here in Paracatú just about everywhere you look, there is a hill. And they aren’t just little hills here, they are big steep slopes. So by the end of our time here, we will probably have the legs of an athlete, ha! But seriously, they are sooooo big! We ask everyone where certain things are located and they always say oh over that on hill..... it’s getting better :)
But Paracatú is a really big town! It’s got the small town feel and doesn’t really have any big towns close by, but it’s freakin huge!! So it has been a bit of a challenge working our way around here, but so far we have managed :)
So we arrived here on Wednesday with our President. He was nice enough to give us a ride :) And the Elders showed us where some of the converts lived, and then we were on our own :) So just like opening any other area, we started knocking doors and making contacts. And the people here are super open! Which is very helpful! And the members here are so willing to help as well! So this week we were able to find a few people to teach :)
Our first investigator here was Gloria :) It was just a simple contact in the street that we made. But so far we have only taught her the first lesson and about the BOM. She wasn’t in church yesterday because she already had some plans, but we are hoping for next week!
Also yesterday we visited a woman named Marcia. And our lesson with her was really good! She told us that a couple of years ago she realized that her church that she was attending wasn’t right. So she went out to search for the truth. She found another church and chose to stay there. But this church sent through some changes and now she isn’t liking her current church. She feels like it isn’t true. So we taught her the first lesson and she sat there in her thoughts. And she thought that it was very interesting that we found her the other day and that we felt like we needed to share this message with her. I think it was kind of like a wake up call to her, but she really liked it. So we will be visiting her again this week so see how she feels and to continue teaching her.
But that’s about it for this week. This next week will be better and I´m sure that I will have more stories :) So far our group here has only about 35 people going to church every Sunday, but that will be changing soon :)
But I hope you all have a great week! Remember to always read the scriptures and say your prayers! And know that Heavenly Father loves you!
Com Amor,
Sister Steadman
But Paracatú is a really big town! It’s got the small town feel and doesn’t really have any big towns close by, but it’s freakin huge!! So it has been a bit of a challenge working our way around here, but so far we have managed :)
So we arrived here on Wednesday with our President. He was nice enough to give us a ride :) And the Elders showed us where some of the converts lived, and then we were on our own :) So just like opening any other area, we started knocking doors and making contacts. And the people here are super open! Which is very helpful! And the members here are so willing to help as well! So this week we were able to find a few people to teach :)
Our first investigator here was Gloria :) It was just a simple contact in the street that we made. But so far we have only taught her the first lesson and about the BOM. She wasn’t in church yesterday because she already had some plans, but we are hoping for next week!
Also yesterday we visited a woman named Marcia. And our lesson with her was really good! She told us that a couple of years ago she realized that her church that she was attending wasn’t right. So she went out to search for the truth. She found another church and chose to stay there. But this church sent through some changes and now she isn’t liking her current church. She feels like it isn’t true. So we taught her the first lesson and she sat there in her thoughts. And she thought that it was very interesting that we found her the other day and that we felt like we needed to share this message with her. I think it was kind of like a wake up call to her, but she really liked it. So we will be visiting her again this week so see how she feels and to continue teaching her.
But that’s about it for this week. This next week will be better and I´m sure that I will have more stories :) So far our group here has only about 35 people going to church every Sunday, but that will be changing soon :)
But I hope you all have a great week! Remember to always read the scriptures and say your prayers! And know that Heavenly Father loves you!
Com Amor,
Sister Steadman
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| McKell and Other Sister Missionaires |
Monday, September 14, 2015
Paracatu......:)
Well you’re probably all wondering, "What a strange word that is. Paracatu." Well that would be the name of my new area!!!! And I couldn't be any happier :) I am sad to leave Guará. After two transfers of working our butts off, we were having results and we really had people preparing for baptism. But I´m leaving them in good hands with Sister Alves there. It will be sad not doing splits every week with the sisters, but I´ve got a new challenge to face and I couldn’t be any more excited :)
So Paracatu is more of a smaller town. So I´ll be headed back to the small town life which I´m super excited about! I´m not really into the city life, ha. But it is about an hour after Cristalina. So about 4 hours away from Brasilia and is in the state of Minas Gerais. So after this area I will have passed in all four states of our mission :) But two transfers ago, President opened up the area and started a group there. So my companion and me will be the first Sisters there! So we are opening an area! (Yes, once again, I am opening an area, ha). My comp, Sister Aldana is from Guatemala! And I´m super excited to work with her! I don´t really know her but everyone says good things about her so it should be fun! But in the meanwhile, we will be staying with the sisters in Nucleo Banderante because they have to put all the furniture in our house. So Wednesday, president will be taking us to our new area. So we won’t be stuck on a bus for 4 hours :) But I´m super excited :)
But about this week.... it flew by way too fast! I will try to remember it all!
Wednesday we had the wonderful opportunity to have a mission conference with Elder Costa, the area president here. And it was probably the best conference I have had here on my mission! Never have I learned so much before! He spoke to us for 4 hours but it was the best 4 hours! It went by too fast. He gave us a lot of tips on how to better our missionary work; a lot of good tips that I have never thought of before. It seriously was the best thing ever! Then he gave the leaders of the mission a quick training after which was also really good! I absolutely loved it!
But because of the conference, our week was super short! But here’s a quick update on Ian! So Wednesday he called us to tell us how his reading went in the Book of Mormon. If you all remember, we visited him the Monday before and he answered all the questions in the back of the pamphlet. So we gave him the book of Mormon, marked a part for him to read. So he called us to tell us that he believes that it is all true! ( I couldn’t believe what I was hearing) and that it made perfect sense to him the Book of Mormon and that he always knew that there was more then the bible. Seriously he is unreal! So we went to visit him Thursday morning and he had read all the way to 2 Nephi.... so unreal! And he told us exactly every little detail of what he read. Then we visited him Saturday again and it was another great lesson. And he was already reading 2 Nephi and really liked it! But unfortunately he wasn’t in church because he had to take a test. But I’m sure of it that he will be baptized :)
Well that’s about all I remember that happened this week. Ha, I know I’ horrible but I’ll be better next week!
But I hope you all have a wonderful week! Keep reading the scriptures and saying your prayers! Love you all!
Com Amor,
Sister Steadman
So Paracatu is more of a smaller town. So I´ll be headed back to the small town life which I´m super excited about! I´m not really into the city life, ha. But it is about an hour after Cristalina. So about 4 hours away from Brasilia and is in the state of Minas Gerais. So after this area I will have passed in all four states of our mission :) But two transfers ago, President opened up the area and started a group there. So my companion and me will be the first Sisters there! So we are opening an area! (Yes, once again, I am opening an area, ha). My comp, Sister Aldana is from Guatemala! And I´m super excited to work with her! I don´t really know her but everyone says good things about her so it should be fun! But in the meanwhile, we will be staying with the sisters in Nucleo Banderante because they have to put all the furniture in our house. So Wednesday, president will be taking us to our new area. So we won’t be stuck on a bus for 4 hours :) But I´m super excited :)
But about this week.... it flew by way too fast! I will try to remember it all!
Wednesday we had the wonderful opportunity to have a mission conference with Elder Costa, the area president here. And it was probably the best conference I have had here on my mission! Never have I learned so much before! He spoke to us for 4 hours but it was the best 4 hours! It went by too fast. He gave us a lot of tips on how to better our missionary work; a lot of good tips that I have never thought of before. It seriously was the best thing ever! Then he gave the leaders of the mission a quick training after which was also really good! I absolutely loved it!
But because of the conference, our week was super short! But here’s a quick update on Ian! So Wednesday he called us to tell us how his reading went in the Book of Mormon. If you all remember, we visited him the Monday before and he answered all the questions in the back of the pamphlet. So we gave him the book of Mormon, marked a part for him to read. So he called us to tell us that he believes that it is all true! ( I couldn’t believe what I was hearing) and that it made perfect sense to him the Book of Mormon and that he always knew that there was more then the bible. Seriously he is unreal! So we went to visit him Thursday morning and he had read all the way to 2 Nephi.... so unreal! And he told us exactly every little detail of what he read. Then we visited him Saturday again and it was another great lesson. And he was already reading 2 Nephi and really liked it! But unfortunately he wasn’t in church because he had to take a test. But I’m sure of it that he will be baptized :)
Well that’s about all I remember that happened this week. Ha, I know I’ horrible but I’ll be better next week!
But I hope you all have a wonderful week! Keep reading the scriptures and saying your prayers! Love you all!
Com Amor,
Sister Steadman
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| McKell and Amanda |
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Raining Miracles
Well today we woke up to a little bit of rain and I couldn’t be happier! I love it when it rains! Monday was Independence Day here in Brasil so we switched our P-Day to yesterday. We spent the day in the apartment building of a member just hanging out, ate lunch then went bowling! It was a lot of fun, :) But this past week has been such a wonderful week! It was such a testimony builder! So here’s what happened.....
First I will start with Ian. So about a week ago we got a referral from the mission of man whose father received a pass-along card of the BOM. So he called and asked for one. So we stopped by his house and no one was home. So during a split, Sister Alves stopped by, met a girl there who didn’t know the man we were looking for but she marked a day to return. Due to our busy life here we weren’t able to stop by the day that we planned but on this Sunday Ian called us and he was a little mad, ha. He was mad because when my comp stopped by and talked to the girl she just left a pamphlet of the restoration and not a BOM, ha. So we stopped by Monday morning and we had the wonderful opportunity to teach him. Ian is a man with 27 years. He saw this pass-along card with a book that was another testament of Christ and became curious so he called. He told us that he has already visited many churches but he still hasn’t found what he was looking for (seriously so perfect!!!) Then he saw the pamphlet of the restoration and read it and answered the questions in the back!! Nobody does this!!! So I was soooo excited! So we sat down in front of his house and taught him and it was such a good lesson! We invited him to be baptized on October 4th and he accepted. After we invited him he said, “I sure hope this church is true”, ha. Oh he is so perfect! So we are super excited about him!!!!!!
As well we found a woman named Ana. This past week we spent Tuesday and Wednesday with a young women Diane who is preparing to serve a mission so she spent the two days with us and it was a lot of fun! But she was the one who actually found Ana for us. We just found her in a bakery as we were buying a snack. Sister Alves always says that our stomachs lead us to the best people and that is so true! We always find good people to teach at the bakery, haha. But we went and visited this woman, started talking about the plan of salvation and she told us the story of how her father died. I just thought it was super cool because we knew nothing of her father but felt like we needed to talk about the plan. Another cool experience:) But we also invited her to be baptized on the 26th of this month and she accepted. Unfortunately she wasn’t in church Sunday but we will visit her this week :)
Then there´s Edivaldo. So one night all of our visits fell through so we decided to turn to the Lord to see what we should do. So we pulled out a list of names that we had prayed, and looked at the list. The first name I saw was Edivaldo so we went to visit him. He is an older gentleman. The first time we visited him I think he was a little drunk so we marked another day to visit him. Then when we stopped by the second time he didn’t want to let us in because his wife wasn’t there. But the third time, his wife still wasn’t there but we taught him anyways. We taught him the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and it was a really good lesson! We left a Book of Mormon with him and he was so excited to receive a BOM. He told us that he didn’t think he deserved it but he took it anyways. We invited him to be baptized and he looked at us and said, "I think I’ve reached the point in my life where I need to make and change. And I think now is my moment. So if I know this is right I will be baptized." I was sooo excited I just sat there and smiled. I was so happy! So he went to church on Sunday and he loved it! The members received him so well! I was so happy about that!
This week has been full of little miracles. I am so grateful to be a part of this work. This week has been proof to me that the Lord is aware of everything little thing that happens in our lives. He loves each and every one of us dearly and if we turn to him in sincere prayer, he will give us the blessings and help that we need. I am so eternally grateful for my Savior. Without Him, none of this would be possible. In our lives, we pass through so many hardships, but through him we can overcome everything. We can see the sunlight again. We can feel at peace again. We can be happy. Never in my life have I been happier. I am so grateful for this gospel. I don´t know where I would be without it. I know that this church is true. I know that today we have a living prophet and that he receives revelations from God. I know that my Heavenly Father loves me and I love Him.
I love you all and I hope you all have a wonderful week. Remember to always read your scriptures and say your prayers because He is waiting to hear from you :)
Com Amor,
Sister Steadman
First I will start with Ian. So about a week ago we got a referral from the mission of man whose father received a pass-along card of the BOM. So he called and asked for one. So we stopped by his house and no one was home. So during a split, Sister Alves stopped by, met a girl there who didn’t know the man we were looking for but she marked a day to return. Due to our busy life here we weren’t able to stop by the day that we planned but on this Sunday Ian called us and he was a little mad, ha. He was mad because when my comp stopped by and talked to the girl she just left a pamphlet of the restoration and not a BOM, ha. So we stopped by Monday morning and we had the wonderful opportunity to teach him. Ian is a man with 27 years. He saw this pass-along card with a book that was another testament of Christ and became curious so he called. He told us that he has already visited many churches but he still hasn’t found what he was looking for (seriously so perfect!!!) Then he saw the pamphlet of the restoration and read it and answered the questions in the back!! Nobody does this!!! So I was soooo excited! So we sat down in front of his house and taught him and it was such a good lesson! We invited him to be baptized on October 4th and he accepted. After we invited him he said, “I sure hope this church is true”, ha. Oh he is so perfect! So we are super excited about him!!!!!!
As well we found a woman named Ana. This past week we spent Tuesday and Wednesday with a young women Diane who is preparing to serve a mission so she spent the two days with us and it was a lot of fun! But she was the one who actually found Ana for us. We just found her in a bakery as we were buying a snack. Sister Alves always says that our stomachs lead us to the best people and that is so true! We always find good people to teach at the bakery, haha. But we went and visited this woman, started talking about the plan of salvation and she told us the story of how her father died. I just thought it was super cool because we knew nothing of her father but felt like we needed to talk about the plan. Another cool experience:) But we also invited her to be baptized on the 26th of this month and she accepted. Unfortunately she wasn’t in church Sunday but we will visit her this week :)
Then there´s Edivaldo. So one night all of our visits fell through so we decided to turn to the Lord to see what we should do. So we pulled out a list of names that we had prayed, and looked at the list. The first name I saw was Edivaldo so we went to visit him. He is an older gentleman. The first time we visited him I think he was a little drunk so we marked another day to visit him. Then when we stopped by the second time he didn’t want to let us in because his wife wasn’t there. But the third time, his wife still wasn’t there but we taught him anyways. We taught him the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and it was a really good lesson! We left a Book of Mormon with him and he was so excited to receive a BOM. He told us that he didn’t think he deserved it but he took it anyways. We invited him to be baptized and he looked at us and said, "I think I’ve reached the point in my life where I need to make and change. And I think now is my moment. So if I know this is right I will be baptized." I was sooo excited I just sat there and smiled. I was so happy! So he went to church on Sunday and he loved it! The members received him so well! I was so happy about that!
This week has been full of little miracles. I am so grateful to be a part of this work. This week has been proof to me that the Lord is aware of everything little thing that happens in our lives. He loves each and every one of us dearly and if we turn to him in sincere prayer, he will give us the blessings and help that we need. I am so eternally grateful for my Savior. Without Him, none of this would be possible. In our lives, we pass through so many hardships, but through him we can overcome everything. We can see the sunlight again. We can feel at peace again. We can be happy. Never in my life have I been happier. I am so grateful for this gospel. I don´t know where I would be without it. I know that this church is true. I know that today we have a living prophet and that he receives revelations from God. I know that my Heavenly Father loves me and I love Him.
I love you all and I hope you all have a wonderful week. Remember to always read your scriptures and say your prayers because He is waiting to hear from you :)
Com Amor,
Sister Steadman
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| Splits this week. |
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| Irmã Edina |
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| Picture taken right before I got hit with a wave of water. |
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