Three Months Down

Hello everyone! Hopefully everyone had a good week! Mine was a little different but super good!

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

Crocodiles In Our Lives

Not too much has happened this week, but it has been a good one!

We've got 3 investigators that I think have so much potential! I’m so excited to continue to work with them and help them learn more about their savior!!

First we have a lady named Leila. We met her one day when we were just walking down the street. We shared the plan of salvation with her and her mother and they loved it! We've taught them the restoration as well. She is 30 years old and has been recently divorced and is still trying to get back into the swing of things. Our last visit with her we talked about courage. We shared the Mormon message about Esther. If you haven’t seen this video I would highly encourage that you watch it. It’s mainly for women but I love it! It talks about the courage Esther had, then gives three examples of women today. Super good!! But Leila loved the video and I think it helped her a lot. We are hoping to continue to work with her this week.

Next is Luci, we are still working with her and helping her to feel more comfortable with things. She came to church with us yesterday and participated so much! She loves it! She’s progressing every day. She tells us that she shares our messages with everyone at her school and shares the book of Mormon as well. Ha she isn't even a member but is already a missionary! I love it!

One of our investigators, Val, decided to show more of an interest this week. She is six months pregnant and her husband is away working a lot right now so she gets pretty lonely sometimes. She is neighbors with Luci. We went and talked to her about the book of Mormon again. Ha, it was a funny conversation. I guess there is a group of people that has a name similar to Mormon that did human sacrifices and painted their faces and stuff so she was a little skeptical about the book of Mormon for this reason. She thought we did the same rituals. But we explained everything to her ha. She even came to church with us yesterday and really enjoyed it! So hopefully she will continue to progress!

We have lots of people we've been trying to contact but haven’t had a lot of luck so we just keep trying! We ran into one of the less active members this week which was great! He lives really far out so it’s hard to visit him so it was perfect that we ran into him! He has a really strong desire to return to the church and asked for our help so we are trying out best ha. Our phone doesn’t have any more credits on it right now so it’s a little challenging at times but it’s all working out :)

You’re probably wondering about the title of this email. Crocodiles in our lives. Let me explain. Last Friday we had an activity with the ward. We started off by asking them a bunch or random questions. When they would get them wrong, one person would have to do push-ups to pay for their errors. In the end we talked about the atonement and how Jesus Christ paid for our errors. I told a story that my companion in the MTC told me

One day there was a little boy playing in a swamp near his house. His mom was watching him through the window. When she looked out the window she saw a crocodile on the other side of the lake headed towards the boy. She hurried and ran out trying to get the boys attention before the crocodile got to him. The mother reached the boy the same time the crocodile did. The mother grabbed the boy’s arms as the crocodile grabbed the boy’s legs. She fought for the boy. Not giving up, she was finally able to pull him to safety.

Years later this same boy was on a talk show sharing his story with the world. The host and audience of the show asked to see his scars on his legs, but they boy wouldn't show them. He said the scars on my legs aren’t important. The scars on my arms are what matter. The fact that my mother wasn't willing to let the crocodile take me. My mother fought for me and pulled me to safety. She saved me.

Many times in our lives, we have crocodiles at our legs trying to pull us down and it can be very easy to let him. But we must always remember we have a savior. He is there waiting for us to reach up and take his hand. He is there to pull us to safety. So when life gets hard, look for the scars on your arms. And always remember that there is always someone to help you.

I am so grateful for my savior. I’m so grateful that I am able to repent for my sins and become clean. I know that he suffered for my sins. But he also suffered for our weaknesses, our failures, when we are feeling sad or depressed, when we feel weak and feel like we can’t move on. He knows exactly how we are feeling. He is there to lift us up and get us back on our feet. We should always remember him.

Have a fabulous week!

Sister Steadman

Turning Up the Heat in Palmas

Well it’s been another good week here in Palmas. I can’t believe that August is almost over, which means it’s almost September, the hottest month of the year here! Our district leader suggested changing our schedules around a little bit so we wouldn't be out in the heat all day long. So some days, we go out teaching a little bit earlier, then come back to our apartment after lunch and study then back out at night. We can’t do this every day because our area is so huge and it takes a while to go back and forth, but it’s been working for the most part. 

Last Monday we had a big zone activity and that was a lot of fun! We first had a training from the sister trainers and it was really good. It was exactly what my companion and I needed to hear. Because we have opened up this new area, we don’t have a whole lot of people to teach so some days are tough trying to decide what to do. But in the meeting they talking a lot about how our success doesn't come from our numbers, it comes from our dedication. As long as we are working full heartedly and giving it our all, everything will work out and we will be blessed for our work. So we've been doing our best and trusting that the lord will help us. And he has!! We had a nice breakfast with them then went to go play games with the elders. We played volleyball, ping pong then ended up having a water balloon fight, kind of ha. But it was fun! We had a big lunch then every companionship had to make a dessert and we all tried everybody’s and voted whose was the best. Our dessert was a mess. I had no idea what it was or how to make it so I was no help. But I think it was supposed to be mousse. Then another some chocolate thing with cookies. But the mousse was way too watery so we froze it and put the chocolate on top. Ha it was a mess. But it tasted good! 

We looked at a couple more apartments this week but haven’t had any luck. But the members are helping us now and are telling us every time they see one so hopefully we will be able to find one soon! 

We have a new investigator this week, Luci. We came across her two weeks ago when we went to go teach another lady she lives by. She went to the ward activity and loved it! I was on a split that night so didn't get to go to it. But we taught her this past week with some of the members and she’s loved it. I asked her to be baptized as well and she said yes, but wasn't ready to set a date yet. But she came to church with us yesterday and has made some good friends in the ward. So we plan on working with her a lot this week and helping her feel more comfortable with things. She’s 19 as well and is here in Palmas to study, as is every 19 year old here ha. 

We’ve continued working with Zelia, and we’ve set a date for baptism. September 6th. We taught her the word of wisdom and she’s been so good at following. She drinks coffee but she really wants to be baptized so she’s been trying really hard and hasn’t had a problem yet. She spends a lot of time at her sister’s house, who is a member that we work a lot with, so she has a good example always with her. 

The sisters have been trying to learn English this week and it’s been a lot of fun ha! It’s funny to hear them say some words but I know it’s the exact same for me and Portuguese. Some nights I and Sister Alves will sit there and she is trying to help me say a word, I always have a problem with the endings of some words and we just sit there and laugh. But I'm finally getting better ha! We have been memorizing a lot which helps. The ward is also wanting me to teach an English class so this week I am going to try to talk to the bishop and see if we can set up a time for that. I’m hoping that maybe this will be good for some of our investigators as well. 

Yesterday in church, both Zelia and Luci came. We were so excited and they both loved it! We've been working with a less active member as well, Eduardo, but we can’t seem to get him up in the mornings. So we continue to try with him ha. Yesterday we went to go visit him but he was sleeping so his mom, Fransica taught me how to make their version of pancakes and showed us how she makes pizzas. She makes a huge batch of dough then makes little pizzas and freezes them. It was fun to do that with her!

Things are progressing, slowly but surely. Because we don’t have a lot of investigators we've been trying to talk to a lot of people in the street and this past week was pretty good. We found a guy from Africa and he said he was here because of God. I thought this was perfect. So I explained to him, that we are here because of god as well. We talked to him about our purpose and before we could finish he was telling us that his wife is Christian and he invited us over! So this week we are going to go visit him. Also while I was on my split with Sister Bennion I talked to a lady on the bus and she loves to talk about God. So we went and visited her this week and she was happy to see me! The first thing she said was you came!! But we had a good conversation. She is very curious about our beliefs and realizes our purpose as missionaries but said she wants to continue to talk to us. So we will see what happens with her. The people here are so nice and laid back. Which is perfect! 

Well I hope you all have a wonderful week! Love you all!

Sister Steadman