Chasing Down Investigators

Well, I don´t have too much time but I’ll try to tell you guys everything that happened this week.

First off we have Fabrissa. We met her two weeks ago knocking doors and she accepted our visits. So when we went back to visit her, her sister had an emergency and she had to go help. Then we went to go visit her again and her tooth broke so she had to go to the dentist. But finally, deu certo :) So we got to visit her this week and it was so good! She told us right in the first visit that she wants help to quit smoking so we have been setting goals with her and she has been smoking less. She accepted to be baptized as well on the 19th of December! So we are super excited about her! When we taught her the first lesson the spirit was super strong and she new right away that is was all true! And she was so excited to receive a Book of Mormon!

Then we have Raianne and her family. So here is everyone, Edvania the mom, Raianne 18, Fabianna 16, Natalia 12, I think, and Anderson the cousin. So this week we stopped by a few times and we were able to teach all of them. Obviously they weren’t all together every visit but we have been able to help them all progress which was really good! Sometimes its a little difficult to teach them because we show up and its different people every time and some of the family members have heard more messages then others. But they are all reading the Book of Mormon! Anderson we met this week. He heard about our visits and wanted to participate so one morning when we went to go visit Raianne she went and woke him up and he participated so that was cool! And..... they finally went to church!!!!!! We were super happy about that and they loved it!!!!! But it may take them awhile to get baptized because they have a few commandments that they need to keep before.

One day as we were walking down the street, after all of our appointments fell through, we saw a man sweeping and we thought lets make a contact with him. But then he went inside and started to close his garage door and I thought oh crap...... but then he stopped half way. So we ran and talked to him. And it was so perfect! He asked us a bunch of questions, questions that hardly nobody asks, but questions that every missionary wants to hear! So we talked to him a bit then marked to visit him the next day. So we went back the next day and he wasn’t there. So we tried to call him, and out of nowhere he came running down the street, ha. He was caught up at his work and couldn’t leave to meet with us so he ran really quick so that we wouldn’t think that he forgot. So we set up to meet with him again this week. But, I’ll tell ya, he was definitely prepared by the Lord. So I’m super excited about this week!!!

Yesterday in church we FINALLY had some luck! We had 7 investigators in church!!!! We finally got to see the fruits of our work! And yesterday we broke the record here in Paracatú of the number of people. Normally we have like 28 but yesterday we had 40!!! And most of the people were investigators! So we are extremely happy about that! Now we just need to keep up with them so they continue to progress!!

Lately I have had the chance to teach the Plan of Salvation a lot and I have loved it! Never before have I realized how important it is to know the plan that the Lord has made for us. I always think of the movie Alice in Wonderland when she comes to a fork in the road and the cat appears to her. And she asks which path she should take. The cat replies saying that it depends on where she wanted to go, and she didn’t know. So the cat tells her that any path will do. This is very similar to our lives. In many moments we come to a fork in the road and we aren’t sure with way to take. But knowing our final destination (the Celestial kingdom) we are able to figure out which path will be better and take us to there. This path is Jesus Christ. If we follow him everyday and live his teachings, we will reach our destination. But only through him it is possible. Thus, we must always be searching for him, always reading the scriptures to know what we must do to stay on the path, praying for the strength and protection of the Lord to stay on the path, and being worthy to have the spirit with us to help us stay on the path. And by doing this, we will reach the gates of heaven and there we will meet our Heavenly Father with his arms out wide to take us in. I’m so eternally grateful for the Plan of Salvation. I am so grateful for my Heavenly Father. He knows me personally and loves me. He loves each and every one of us. He wants us back, but he gave us our agency to choose. So I challenge each of you this week to do a self-evaluation to see where you are. Where on the path you are at and what you can do to continue? If you are not on the path, I invite you to return. He will help you make it back. Seek our Savior Jesus Christ. He will take your hand and guide you through.

I love this gospel. I love my mission. I love my Savior.

Have a Fabulous week!!

Com Amor,
Sister Steadman

A Week of the Chills

Well it has been really chilly here in Cristalina. It has rained every day, and when it rains, it rains!! But we’ve enjoyed it and were able to keep dry for most of the part, :) But we’ve been doubling up on our clothing and blankets at night! But updates for this week:

First off, our investigator Pedro Henrique is doing sooooo well!!! We are super excited with him! We visited him on Friday and taught him and his family the plan of salvation and they loved it! Pedro has been participating a lot in church and does a lot with the members here. We are always hearing good things about him from some of our members! But we asked him how he received his answer and how he knows that this church is true and every time he simply says “I know it’s all true because I feel a spiritual peace. I feel so good about all of the activities in the church and I feel so motivated with your messages!" so basically he is the perfect investigator and will be baptized this Saturday!!!!

Second, Raiane and Diego. This week we visited them with Gilton and watched the first vision with them and Diego loved it! He was freaking out and was like oh look I’ve got the goose bumps! Then another minute he was getting the chills. And he finally read the Book of Mórmon!! He read the chapter we marked and more, and explained all of it to us after!  It’s a miracle when the people remember what they read, ha! But we were super excited for him! They weren’t in church yesterday so we went to visit them and only Raiane was home. We asked her what happened and got talking to her, and she hasn't really been reading the BOM, she hasn’t really been praying so we asked her why. She told us that she was missing her catholic traditions and was wanting to return. She told us of all the good things that have happened since we entered in their lives and how much things have improved. So we sat there and bore our testimonies and told her why these things were happening. So we invited her again to read and pray and if she was still wanting to learn more to call us and we would stop by. It’s just so sad to see all of these little miracles in the lives of people but they aren’t willing to change. So it was really hard leaving their house last night.

But last night we had an awesome family night with a bunch of our recent converts, Pedro and Ruth!! We shared some conference talks and talked about missionary work. They all loved it! They all of such a desire to help with our work and tell everyone about the gospel! So we wrote down all of the missionary lessons on pieces of paper, then we each took turns pulling one out of a bucket and talking about the subject, but we had to try to link our paper with what the person before us had! It was so much fun! And they loved it!!

Saturday we had a stake relief society activity! And it was so good for our Irmãs here!! They finally got to see what a real chapel looks like and learn a little bit more!  Also this week we were able to find one of our investigators... finally!!! We taught her the first lesson and showed her the Book of Mórmon and she was like, “I’ve been wanting to read this book!!” We were taken by surprise! I guess one of her friends is an investigator of the Elders and showed it to her. So she was super happy to receive it! And she was in church yesterday so we have a lot of hope with her!

Well that’s about it for this week! This next week we are going to try really hard to find new people to teach and strengthen our members! I love you all! Remember to read your scriptures daily!!! Have a Fabulous week!

Sister Steadman

Mãos que Ajuda (Helping Hands)

This week has flown by so fast!! And crazy to think that this week I will hit my 9 month mark :( Don’t really know how I feel about that. I try not to think about it ha. First off, I would like to thank my wonderful family and grandparents for the wonderful package I received! I truly am blessed. :) And I know that the lord will bless you all for helping me. :) But thank you so much and I love you all. :)

Well I don’t remember a ton that happened this week but I will try, ha. On Wednesday, we traveled to Brasilia for a zone conference and it was exactly what we needed! We focused a lot on what we need to do to improve as a mission. And being here in Cristalina, it’s kind of hard to get ideas from other missionaries because it’s just the 6 of us all the time. Every now and then it’s nice to get some ideas from outside of our area so we can continue the work here so this meeting was so perfect for us! Our mission president changed a few things which I think will help us a lot! 

Our investigators are doing really well! We got cut by a few this week, but we’ve got some others who are really progressing!

First off, Pedro. He was a reference of Irmã Joice and straight from the beginning he has been perfect! He is reading the BOM and attends church. He knows the church is true and is preparing to be baptized on the 28th of this month!!!!!! We are super excited for him! His mom and sister still have questions but we are hoping to get them progressing as well. 

One of our other investigators, Raiane, is doing really well. We were able to sit down with her husband more this week and teach them together. She was in church yesterday with her son and is reading as well. It was so cute in church yesterday, at first, her son Arthur didn’t want anything to do with anyone! So I did my best. I got some little toys for him and tried to distract him so Raiane could focus. In the end it worked! During sacrament he sat on the front row with me most of the time and we colored together! It was perfect because Raiane was able to really focus and participate during the classes! 

In church yesterday we had 66 people, a new record for us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Now Saturday, we had the wonderful opportunity to do a service project with the church organization, helping hands, I think it is called, ha. So we went to a retirement home and fixed up the walls, painted them and cleaned up the area for them. It was a really cool experience! 

Well that’s about it for this week! Thank you all for everything! Have a fabulous week! Love you all!

Sister Steadman