What is Faith?

Well it sure has felt like this week has flown by!! So crazy! And this transfer! This transfer was a little different because it was only five weeks so it flew by way too fast! And I’m basically 100% sure that I will be transferred next week. So I’m working as hard as I can to leave everything set and ready for the next sister :) But this week was a really good week! 

On Monday, Alessandra and Edson finally got married!!! Investigators of the Elderes. But they have been waiting for months now! So they were finally able to get married and then they were baptized that night! It was so exciting!!! 

Our investigator Nivaldo is progressing so well!!! He seriously was so prepared by the Lord! This week we taught him the word of wisdom and at first he was a little nervous because he drank a lot of coffee throughout the day, ha! But we gave him cevada (it’s like coffee but a lot healthier and it’s not against the commandment) and he’s been drinking it every day! He said he’s had a few headaches but by the end of the weekend he was perfectly fine! So this week we are just going to finish teaching him everything and he will be baptized this Saturday!!!!! We are extremely excited!! Also, the other day when we were teaching him his friend walked in and we could tell that he had drunken a few.... so Nivaldo started teaching him why it was bad to drink, haha it was so funny! But we are extremely happy with him :)

We weren’t able to visit our family as much as we wanted to this past week but they aren’t progressing as well as we expected. They weren’t in church yesterday and one of the girls is avoiding us.... So we will see what happens this week. 

We were able to find a couple of new investigators that we think have a lot of potential so hopefully things work out this week! Also Thursday night we had a surprise birthday party for one of our members, Mariano, who helps us with everything! 

But today I had a little bit of time to reflect on my time here in Cristalina and it has been one of the best experiences of my life. I have been so amazed by the members and I have learned so much. But one thing that I am so impressed with is the Faith of these members. Faith. It’s a simple word. Just five letters. But it’s a word with so much power. It’s a word we here often, but do we truly understand the meaning of faith. But through the scriptures we learn that faith is believing in things we can’t see. Faith is having hope, and faith is acting upon what we believe. Through faith, we can have miracles in our lives. Through faith we can accomplish just about anything we want, as long as it is according to the Lords will. But, this short amount of time I’ve had here in Cristalina, I’ve learned more about faith then I ever have in my life. The people here have so much faith. But it’s easy to tell who really believes and who just says that they believe. Those that have faith are in church every single Sunday. Our church may be small and simple, In fact it’s just a little house with a few benches and chairs, but they people who really believe and have faith, are there every Sunday to learn more and to renew their covenants with the Lord. These are the people that amaze me. The pathway of the Lord isn’t an easy pathway. Its straight and narrow. It’s full of hardships and trials. But it’s the only pathway that will give us true happiness and that will lead us to our Heavenly Father. The members here now this. They know it’s not easy. They tell us all the time that the pathway of the world is a whole lot easier. But that’s not where they find true happiness. That’s not where we will receive blessings. The world may say it has many promises and wonderful things, but they are only temporary. The pathway of the Lord has blessing and promises much greater than anything else this world has to offer. And the only way we can stay on this pathway is through our faith. By walking with our eyes of faith.

I am so extremely grateful for this gospel in my life. I am so grateful for my Heavenly Father and everything he has prepared for me. I love this church and this work.

I hope you all have a wonderful week! And happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful Mothers out there! And a special shout out to my wonderful mother! If it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t be where I am today! But seriously... If it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t be here on the earth, hahaha. But I love you so much mom! Thank you for everything! And Happy Mother’s Day to my wonderful sisters and sister in law! I love you all so much and am very grateful for your examples! I can’t wait to talk to you guys on Saturday! Have a Fabulous week!

Love,

Sister Steadman