:)

I´ll apologize right now because this email may not be very long because I don´t remember a whole lot of what happened this week but I will do my best,:) 

First off, I´ll start with Eduardo......... This week was a little tough with him. We spent a lot of time going over the restoration because he had a lot of questions and was super confused. So we had a lot of lessons with the members with him which helped him out a lot. But he still had the other pastor visiting him a lot because the other church is literally right in front of his house..... tough to compete with. But Eduardo has a very strong testimony of the BOM. So we are focusing a lot on that. But I´m almost 100% positive that he was baptized in the other church last night. We haven’t had a chance to visit him yet but we are going to continue to visit him because he really wants to know which church really is true. So wish us luck and keep him in your prayers!

This week we didn’t see Raimundo at all. He was working a lot and wasn’t home. But he called us a couple of times during the week so that was good. We visited him yesterday and he is still reading the BOM and everything and still wants to be baptized. He just needs a little bit more time. So we set another goal with him to be baptized on the 29th! So cross your fingers that everything will go right!!! 

This week we tried really hard to find some new investigators but we didn’t have much luck. But, we found a ton of less active members!! We really did see some miracles this week finding these people. My highlight of the week would probably finding Irmã Edina, :) So one day we were just walking down the street trying to find some people to teach and we had made a list of less active members and ex-investigators to try and visit. So as we were searching for a house this man walked by and we decided to make a contact with him and talk to him. So we got talking to him and he started saying, "Ya, I know about your church. The men would pass by my house all the time and my wife used to make lunch for them!" I turned to my comp and kind of gave her the look of well this isn’t normal. So we asked if we could meet his wife. So he took us to his house. On the way he explained to us that his wife has lived here for about a year. He still lives in the other city for work. But she moved here about a year ago because she had a stroke and came here for treatment. So we walked in and introduced ourselves to her and she just started crying. She was so happy to see two missionaries in her house! So she explained her situation to us and that she hasn’t been to church since she moved here because it’s too far for her to walk. So we were instantly like well we can have a sister pass by here on Sunday to give you a ride to church. She agreed to that and was so happy that she started to cry again! But then we got talking a bit and my comp was talking to her husband when she turned to me and was like, "How did you find my husband?" So I just explained to her that we were searching for some people close to her house and met him in the street. Then she turned to me and said, "Well, you found who you were looking for." And I lost it. We were all in tears at that point. We truly found who we were supposed to find. The spirit was so strong in her house. It truly was a miracle for us. Up to this point it has been a little difficult for us here in Guará. It’s a richer area so it’s harder finding people who are open to our message. So we haven’t been having a ton of success and vie been really questioning if I have been doing my part and if I am making a difference here. And in that moment with Edina, I knew that it would be ok. I knew that we were doing our part and the lord will put people into our paths. Just my tender mercy of the week, :)

This week I also got to see some of the members that I met while I was in Cristalina so that was really cool! We also went to the old area of Sister Alves and she got to watch one of her old investigators get baptized so that was also really cool! Well that’s about it for this week! Love you all! Hope you all have an awesome week! Remember to always read your scriptures and say your prayers!

Com Amor, 

Sister Steadman

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

Growing in Cristalina

Well I feel like this week has flown by! Can’t believe it’s already Monday again! But here’s a quick recap of my week!

I’ll start with Gilton. It’s been such a good week with him! He seriously progressed so much! He reads every day and enters the church website and reads from there too. We talked about a mission with him and he wants to serve! So we are going to start preparing him to serve! And he was baptized this past Saturday! He was so excited! And this next week he wants to take us to visit his sister and some of his friends! So we are super excited to get started working with him!

Irma Carmen helped us a lot this week! We don’t have a lot of investigators right now, but when we visited Carmen she went out with us and we visited some of her neighbors and they came to church with her! She is amazing! She is 63 and has so much energy! She is always ready to serve and is so willing to help! I hope I have that much energy when I'm old, ha!

This week we met a women named Maria de Conceicao and she is awesome! We’ve already taught her the first 3 lessons and some commandments and she tells us every time, I know this is all true, I don’t even need to ask, haha she is so funny! But we were able to meet her daughter and are going to start teaching her daughter as well.

This week we tried really hard to find a family and we were praying super hard. But Sunday came around without any luck. So as we were walking to a members house we walked passed a park and bam! There, sitting on a bench was a family. Like picture perfect kind of family! So we talked to them and they were super interested. So we are going to get working with them! So hopefully it all works out well!

Well thank you all for your love and support! I hope you all have a wonderful week and remember to read the scriptures! Love you all!

Sister Steadman :)

Cristalina

Well my first week in Cristalina has been absolutely fabulous!!! First I’ll explain a little bit about this town.

Cristalina is in Goiás, and I have been told that it is the crystal capital of the world..... So there are little crystals everywhere! So we are always on the look for them. :) We are here with two sets of elders because this town is pretty huge! It’s got the small town look and feel but it’s big! There are farms on the outsides, we’ve got a nice center and there’s a good mixture of a bunch of different people here. But I’m absolutely loving it! The town is a little bit more elevated so everyone told me it would be a little bit cooler here..... Hahaha wrong. It’s super-hot here and the sun is so close to us so it’s super bright. But we have spent most of our time in people’s houses teaching this week. In such a small amount of time, we have met sooo many awesome people! This town is full of miracles!

So to start off with some of the investigators we have. One days as we were walking around with Elder Dias (Sao Paulo) and Elder Noyes (some super small town in Utah) a lady came up and asked if we could visit her dad and say a prayer for them. Her name is Iracema. So we went and visited them and they were super nice and receptive! She has an older lady that helps takes care of her dad and her niece and the niece’s daughter live with her. So it has been really good visiting them this past week. The little girl, Thalita is five and she is the cutest! She loves it when we are there! But they believe in everything we have taught them so far..... Which is good but we are more concerned about them really gaining a testimony about these things and knowing for themselves. So that’s one of our biggest challenges with people here. But some of them were in church yesterday and they loved it!

We’ve also worked with a less active member, Andre and he has progressed so much this week! He made a ton of visits with us and was in church yesterday!

Since we don’t have a ward here we as missionaries kind of run everything ha. Man it is quite the experience but we are loving it! Me and my companion taught relief society and it was really good! And we have 37 people in church yesterday, 17 of them being investigators! So we are slowly getting bigger. We are receiving some help from the stake that is closest to us and they are sending us some people to help us grow a little faster. So it’s going to be so cool to watch this area grow!

We’ve got a lot of activities throughout the week. I’m now teaching English on Wednesdays which was really cool! I have never taught it before so it will be super interesting but I’m super excited :)

Well that’s about it for this week :) I’m loving my comp and I’m loving this area! I’m so grateful to be a part of this work! We always say that we feel like the pioneers, ha. Starting from the ground up :) Of course it’s got its struggles but they miracles are so amazing! truly a blessing to be apart of this :)

Well I hope you all have a fabulous week!

Love

Sister Steadman