This Past Week

Well this past week was a little slow. I feel like we are starting over again, ha. But it still was a wonderful week!!

We spent our last few moments with Eduarda this week and it was so sad! I can’t believe I’ve only known her for about 3 weeks now but I feel like I’ve known her forever! We spent some time with her explaining personal progress. She’s so awesome! She going to be such a great example to her family!

We visited Jose again.... and he just isn’t progressing at all. So we finally just cut him for good. It’s so sad but we need to visit other people and help them. He has the desire but doesn’t want to do anything about it. So we will see if he keeps coming to church. Maybe one day.

As we were making visits in Varjao this week, we found out one of our investigators was moving :(  We were so sad because she was doing so well! But in the process we met one of her friends Maria. She is so awesome! She has a lot of faith and has such a strong desire to help others to come unto Christ, and she isn’t even Mormon! So I told her we could help her serve a mission and she was all for it! So I’m super excited to so where things go with her :)

We finally were able to visit Luis this week, a reference from some of the young men here. He lives in Granja do Torto. He’s about 21 and teaches dance. But as we were talking to him the other day he told us he feels so good in our church and is so impressed by the young men. He came to church yesterday and as he was leaving, he told us it was amazing and he felt so good! He told us he was excited for our next visit. So I’m super excited for him as well! He is so ready for this gospel!!

Well that’s about it this week. I hope you all have had a wonderful week! As Christmas is approaching, try to remember our savior. For he is the reason. Help others have his spirit and help them to feel of his love. I love you all and thank you all so much for your love and support! Have a wonderful week!

All my love,
Sister Steadman

Coincidences and a Pit Stop in Águas Claras

Well this week was sooo good!!! And I am officially staying here in Asa Norte with Sister Brito :) We are extremely happy!

First off I’ll start with Eduarda! We set the date for baptism last week then ended up visiting her on Tuesday. We didn’t have her planned in our visits but we just thought we’d stop by really quickly and see how she was doing and finish teaching her the lessons. It was funny because right as we were walking to the door of the apartments, she was walking out to walk the dog, the first coincidence. Turns out she was having some major doubts. She had stopped reading the Book of Mormon and was afraid of all the changes that were going to take place in her life. So we walked with her for a bit and right as we were up to an apartment building it started to pour so we quickly ran underneath it and talked to her some more. It turned out to be so perfect for her. We were able to answer all of her questions and help her feel more comfortable about things. And because of the rain, our FHE for that night got cancelled so we were able to spend more time with Eduarda. Second coincidence. Her baptism was Saturday and it was absolutely beautiful! We were afraid that people wouldn’t come and support her but people ended up coming and it was so great! She was so happy and excited! The spirit was so strong and it was a really good meeting :)

This week we also came across a girl named Julianna. But first I will tell about our lesson with President Lundgren. We hopped on the bus to Lago Norte and got talking to people on where we needed to get off because we still haven’t worked a whole lot in Lago so we don’t know the area very well still. But we found a girl who just happened to need the same stop as us to we stuck with her and she helped us out. So we arrived in the president’s house and then headed to his friend’s house. It was a really good meeting with them, ha. I guess you would call it a meeting because it wasn’t really a lesson. But we got there and got to know them for a little bit. Their names are Roberto and Silvia. They are both super smart and have the biggest hearts. And he sure loves to talk! So we talked about a whole lot of things and just got to know them. It was really good and he wants us to return! So we will be returning there with the president! I’m not exactly sure when yet because he is super busy with work right now but we will return! But after our visit with them, president gave us the address of his mission president so we walked to go meet him. On our way there I had to use the bathroom really bad! Typical.... So we made a quick stop in the gas station. We gave one of the workers a pass along card and as we were walking away a girl said to us, "hey I’m a member of your church.... Julianna". So we met Julianna Wednesday night. She has been less active for many years now. So we sat there in the parking lot and talked to her for a while and she told us her whole life story, ha. She was a ballerina in the USA for a while and studied at Julian arts, got baptized there, married, divorced and returned. She now is here as an event manager. But it was so good to meet her and she has such a strong desire to return back to the church! So we are going to start working with her. And she happened to give us a ride to the president’s house :)

So we had a nice little trip to Aguas Claras yesterday, ha. As of right now I haven’t been in my apartment for 28 hours, ha. So during one of our lessons here in Asa Norte yesterday it started to rain really hard. So after we headed to the bus stop. As we were walking across the road we saw a bus sideways and one part of the road was completely flooded. So none of the buses were able to pass by. We had no idea what to do. But a lady on the other side of the road asked for help so we went and talked to her and she ended up giving us a ride. So we ended up in Aguas Claras for the night because that’s where she lived. So we stayed there for the night and returned this morning to Asa Sol for the transfers. So it was crazy but we are happy we made it here this morning safely and that we are staying here in Asa Norte. The Lord truly watches over us and puts things in our path for a reason. I know for a fact that everything happens for a reason. We just have to take it as it comes and trust in the lord.

I love you all and hope you all have a wonderful week! As you’re preparing for the holidays, remember the reason for the season and help spread the true love of Christ to everyone!
Sister Steadman