Lead by the Spirit

It`s definitely getting hotter here in Palmas but the work is progressing! We`ve got a baptism this Friday and I am so excited! Irma Zelia. She is the sister of one of the members in the ward here. It’s been so exciting to see the spirit work in the people here. It’s interesting to look and see which people you know were definitely sent in your path by the Lord. I love it!

The spirit has leaded us so much this week! Its presence has been so strong in all of our lessons. We have had some really good lessons this week. We were also able to find some more people to talk to.

There have been a couple of times this week where all of our appointments fell through so we had no one to visit. So we would say a prayer and just walk. One day we just finished visiting some members and went out walking. We walked past a market and decided to go in and talk to the owner. Usually we come up with a question to ask them. Usually something like do you know where this street is, do you know this person or do you know of any apartments for sell here? So we went and asked her if she knew of any places for sell and she knew of one! We had walked past it so many times but it didn’t have a sign or anything. It was a friend of hers that was selling it. So we looked at it and it’s pretty good! Another day we were in a different quadrant and asked someone the same question and once again they knew of a place and it’s a house. It’s pretty big and cheaper than the apartment. So tomorrow we are going to go look at them and hopefully move this week!

Other times we have been walking to go visit someone and we stopped and talked to someone on the side of the ride. One time we were going to go visit some less active members and ended up having a really good lesson on the side of the road with two ladies. They were so nice and receptive to our message. So we plan to visit them this week again.

Also a couple of weeks ago, a lady asked who we were on the bus and asked if we could visit her and her family. And we were finally able to this week! She kind of has a busy work schedule so it’s been hard but the lesson was so good! We sang I am a Child of God for them and then talked about the song. Her name is Fransica. She has two little girls and a 14 yr. boy. She definitely is in need of something good in her life and loved what we had to say. She wants us to visit again so we will try to visit her with her crazy schedule.

Something fun about yesterday, we had lunch on a farm and it was cool to see the animals that they had. Just a lot of chickens and interesting birds. But they also had monkeys! They were so cute! We feed them a little bit and just watched them climb around! It was fun"

Well that’s it for this week. Not too much. We’ve got a baptism Friday and some great people to teach this week! It’s going to be a great week here!

I hope you all have had a good week! Remember to always read your scriptures and that heavenly father loves you!

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

The Work Continues

I don’t have much time this week so it will be short. But here’s what happened!

We had a lot of good lessons with our investigators. They are progressing and are really liking the lessons! Thursday we had a lesson with Zelia about the plan of salvation and it was so spiritual! Talking about being with our families and seeing our loved ones again. I love teaching the plan of salvation. I asked her to be baptized as well... and she said yes!!! I didn’t know how to respond ha. So we have a baptism at the end of this transfer.

I also got to do a troca* on Friday. I don’t know what it is in English ha. But I went to Palmas 3 with Sister Bennion who is from Kansas and that was so good! It was nice to understand someone completely ha. But we are finally starting to know our way around the area and I and my companion can now have conversations with each other ha. It’s not silent all the time now. I love being here and couldn’t imagine my life any other way right now.

Have a fabulous week!! Remember to always pray and read your scriptures!!

Sister Steadman

*Troca is when you change companions for a full day.