A Crazy Week

Well this week sure flew by so fast! So many things happened! But, best of all it was so good to talk to my family :) But here’s a load down of my week here in Cristalina :)

Last Monday we did an activity for our district here. We planned on walking to a club that has a beach so we could visit it and take some pics. Well in the end, it turned out to be about 12 kilometers away so we ended up walking for six hours that day! We were all dead and by the end we could even walk straight, ha. But we spend the night in a pizza place and ate a good dinner, ha. 

Wednesday morning I set up an interview for Maciele and Elder Todt (leader of my district) because we really felt like she just needed to talk to him to feel better. So we sat there while they had the interview and she came out and was like well, if I’m going to get baptized I’ve got to be baptized soon! So she was like let me grab my planner. So she grabbed her planner and looked at us and said, "Can I be baptized today at 4:30?" haha, we said of course! So we hurried and ran home and got everything ready! It was so cool! 

This week my comp wasn’t feeling too good so we took it a little slower so she could recover. Friday night we were in our house making some cookies for a surprise birthday party for one of the Elders when she got super sick. The Elders started freaking out and told me that I had to run her to the hospital because they thought she had dengue. So I ran her to the hospital and we ended up staying there for 7 hours...... until 1 in the morning. But in the end she just has a little cold. So we’ve been laying low so she could get better and she is doing a lot better now :)

Saturday I got to talk to my family!!!! And Nivaldo was baptized that night! Ha, he was so scared to go under the water but it all worked out! He only has one leg so he was super nervous about that but two elders helped him. But when he came up from the water he freaked out because he was so scared, ha! But he was so happy after :)

Well today is the transfer and I’ll be staying here with Sister Costancio and we only have one Elder that was transferred. The new Elder is Elder Barker, I worked with him when I was in Asa Norte so I already know him a little bit! But we are all super excited! And this next transfer is going to be great :)

Well I hope you all have a wonderful week! Keep reading the scriptures and saying your prayers! Love you all! 

Love,

Sister Steadman

Nivaldo's Baptism

The Power of Words

This week we had a ton of success in finding new people! On Thursday, the sister trainers came and helped us out. They spent the day with us, visiting our investigators and helping us find new ones and they helped out so much!

This week we got to sit down and talk to Maciele a little bit more. We helped her set some goals on what she needs to do to be baptized. She’s doing everything right! She just needs to figure things out with her "husband". Whether they need to separate or get married. So we've been praying like crazy but hopefully soon she will know what she needs to do, and then she can be baptized :)

Also this week we met the brother of André, one of our members. So we’ve been teaching him and right from the start he was praying and reading the scriptures! So he told us he wants to be baptized this weekend so we are going to finishing teaching him everything this week and he will be baptized this Sunday!! We are pretty excited :)

The last Sunday in Relief Society we talked about the power of words and some of the women in our group mentioned all the things people say about the church. So we just talked to them about using their testimonies to help others know the truth about our church and by doing so they won’t have any doubts. This week in a couple of lessons I really felt how powerful our words are. Just simple little words can have a huge impact on people. In a couple of our lessons, I could feel the power and the spirit so strong while my companion and I were teaching. Just lessons very simple and basic, but so powerful. It’s amazing how much a simple testimony can have such a huge impact on people.

Yesterday in relief society we talked about Joseph Smith. I tried really hard to stress how important this message is. Just us who have been members for a while, this message is just another message to us. But do we really understand what really happened in this moment? I encourage each and every one of you to really study the first vision and gain a stronger testimony of Joseph Smith. I am truly grateful for the sacrifice he made of us, so in our days today we can have the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

I am so grateful for this gospel and my Heavenly Father. I hope you all have a fabulous week! Remember to read the scriptures daily :) Love you all!

Sister Steadman

10 Months on the Mission

General Conference Fever

Well this week was pretty good! We are continuing to grow and progress here in Cristalina :)

This past Saturday was the baptism of Pedro, :) He seriously is the best!!! This past week we finished teaching him everything and it was so easy with him. He didn’t have any problems and he understood everything really well!! He was definitely prepared by the Lord and we found him in the perfect moment :) So he was baptized and Saturday and he was super excited! Even before he became a member he was out making visits with our other recent converts and participated in the family teachers this week. He was basically already a member, :) But I’ve loved being here in Cristalina! Pedro and our other recent convert, Gilton, have progressed so quickly and so well! They are helping our group so much and are going to make great leaders one day!! I love this church!!!!

Next, we have another investigator, Maciele who was in church the last Sunday. So we went to visit her this week and her daughter Dhiully (Julie), who is 10, came up to us and said she wanted to be baptized!!! We were like of course! So we visited her quite a bit this week to get her ready and she seriously is like the smartest little girl I have ever met! She understood everything so well and was reading the book of Mormon! And Maciele is all for her getting baptized! And Maciele one day will be baptized as well :) but we were so happy!!!! So Dhiully will be baptized this Saturday :)

And now, General Conference!!!! We are super excited!! I can’t wait to hear what our prophet has to say to us :) We are trying to invite as many people as we can and really get everyone excited about it :) Saturday we will be watching the sessions here in Cristalina in a members home but on Sunday, the church rented a bus for us so we will be traveling to watch conference in the church! Our recent converts are so excited! It will be so good for them :)

Well that’s about it for this week :) next week is transfers so we will see what happens :) But I hope you are all preparing for conference! Remember to pray and read the scriptures everyday :) Have a fabulous week! Love you all :)

Sister Steadman

McKell & Sister de Paula