Let the Spirit Speak

Well time is flying by so fast I just can’t catch my breath! Literally, climbing these hills everyday is really getting to me, ha! But this week was wonderful!

This week was an adventure! We had cut a lot of our investigators so this week we explored our area a little more and found some way awesome people to teach! First off, we found Ana Paul. We had the Sister trainers come and spend a little bit of time with us this week so one morning me and Sister Alves went out and made a bunch of contacts. And we came across Ana Paula and her daughter Rafaela who is 4. So we sang them a hymn and marked the next day to visit them again. So I went back with Sister Aldana the next day and we taught her the Restoration. And it was a super good lesson! She made comments and participated and even said the closing prayer! Usually with people here we have to bribe them a bit to get them to say the closing prayer, but she willing said it!

These past few weeks we have been doing personal progress with some of the young women and this week we were really seeing the fruits of the work! They are turning into such beautiful women! In the beginning it was a struggle to get them to pray, but now they fight over who will pray, ha! But they are so excited to get working on the next experiences! We also split classes yesterday in church! We were going to start this week with just splitting the youth and kids from the adults during Sunday School because we don’t have a lot of members to help teach all the classes. So we showed up yesterday and they decided to do all three hours so I gave the lesson in Relief Society yesterday. But from what is was told I will now be in charge of the YW and one of our members here will take on the Relief Society! So I’m super excited about that!

One struggle that we have here in Paracatú is that no one goes to church! Nor wants to! So it’s been a challenge, but yesterday Alsirene showed up! So we visited her a couple of times this week just helping her out with her kids a bit and teaching her little bits of our lessons. And one night we caught her husband as well so we sat them down and read the Book of Mormon with them and it was perfect! The spirit was so strong! So we passed by quickly Sunday morning before church and reminded her because we had an hour change here so everyone forgot. So we passed by and she ended up going to church by herself. But she really liked it! So our plan this week for her is to set a date for baptism! Please send some prayers her way!!

Last night we visited Leo and Bella. So we got there and he told us that he had 2 questions that he wanted to ask. So we said a prayer and we let him do the talking. So he pulled out his bible and started to read it to us. He has been struggling a lot with the fact that Joseph Smith saw God and the Son. And every time we visit him we invite him to do the same thing, to pray and ask God personally. But he always turns to the bible. So he spent about 40 minutes explaining to us that God doesn’t appear to man and that Jesus was the last prophet here on the earth and that there couldn’t be another. We have showed him all the scriptures before, but scriptures just weren’t what he was needing. He needs a personal answer from God. So we sat there quietly listening and when he ended we asked him 1 question. If he had asked God if Joseph Smith was a prophet and Bella said that she has but Leo no. So we sat there and bore our testimonies of the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. We quickly said a prayer and booked it out of there to let the spirit do his work. But we are going to give them time to see if they really will seek for God or not.

Well that’s about it for this week! I hope you all have a wonderful week! Remember to always say your prayers and read the scriptures! For in the scriptures, you will find peace and answers :) I love you all!

Com Amor,
Sister Steadman

The Mission Life

Well folks, I wish I remembered everything from this week, but I don’t remember much, ha. But I will try to remember the more important stuff :)

Leo and Bella are very curious and want to know everything!! So that is a difficulty we have with them. But we have been focusing with them on trusting in God and having faith. But Leo, he knows everything in the bible and wants to know where everything that we teach is in the bible. So we are trying to help him gain a testimony of Joseph Smith and the BOM. Then we visited them last night with the Elders and that helped a little bit. But we are still working with them. It will take a little bit longer then we want, but that’s ok. Everything will work out for them:)

This week we also found a family super close to our house! So her name is Alsirene. She has 5 kids and her husband is always traveling. So when we got there its always a little crazy. But I love it! Reminds me a bit of my childhood :) But we were able to meet her husband, which was a miracle because he was supposed to be traveling) and we taught them the first lesson and it went really well! But they didn’t go to church yesterday. But we feel like they have a lot of potential! So our time there will be spent helping her out a bit around the house and teaching them at the same time!

This week we had to drop a lot of our investigators because none of them were progressing. So we are on the look out for new ones! And we were able to find some good people to teach! But every time we go back for the second visit, it always goes wrong..... Satan really knows how to get to people sometimes. But we are still on the hunt and will keep hunting until we find "Os Eleitos"!!! I know they are out there :)

Well that’s about it for this week. Sorry it’s not much but I need to pass the time over to my comp now so she can email her fam :) But I love you all and hope you all have a wonderful week! Keep reading the scriptures and saying your prayers!

Com Amor,
Sister Steadman

A Happy Feeling

Well, sorry but I don’t really remember much that happened this week, ha. But there were a few highlights!!

So first off, Isabella and Leo!!! I just love them to death!! We spent some times teaching them some simple things this week and it went so well! It still amazes me to find people that the Lord really has prepared! It just seems way too easy to me! But that just means that they truly are ready :) But we talked a lot about families with them this week. We shared the proclamation to the world and we invited them to talk about getting married. But right as we invited them Leo turned to Isabella and was like "Embora!" which is like saying lets go! Lets do it! So I’m pretty dang sure they are on the same page and will get married! We didn’t get a chance to talk to them about it again, but they were in church yesterday and they loved it! In the middle of gospel principles, Leo asked one of the elders (who was giving the lesson) how can we know what church is true? So the rest of the class they were sharing scriptures from the Bible and talking about the church. It was kind of funny but really cool because some of the recent converts got talking and were helping as well!

Also, Saturday we got to watch conference and it was the best conference yet!! Never before have I felt the spirit so strong during conference and I got all the answers I needed! The whole time i just had a sweet, happy feeling :) I love how the spirit works with us!

But today for p-day we traveled to Brasilia and spent the day with our zone. So we just hung out at one of the apartments buildings of a member and we got to watch a movie!!!! We watch the Minion movie!!!! And Holy Crap I love that movie!!! Its one I definitely could watch everyday! But it’s so funny!

But this week was also a good learning week for me. I continued my preparation for conference and I took advantage of the time to ask the Lord some questions. Sometimes I’m just in awe with the Lord. He knows each one of us so well! But when I made a decision and presented it to the Lord, I would get just a good sweet feeling. A good happy feeling. Sometimes in life, I feel like some of us expect our answers to come in a form that is extremely overwhelming, and that isn’t always the case. We wont recognize the spirit if we stay around waiting for something big. But if we pay attention to how we feel, we will know what is right. The spirit gives us our confirmation in our hearts. The feelings that have no words. I love these moments. I love feeling the warm feeling inside of me. I love that I can receive answers from God. I just love my Heavenly Father so much :)

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful week! I hope you all have time to reflect on the things that were said in conference and apply the things you have learned in your lives. Always remember to read your scriptures and say your prayers! Have a fabulous week!

Com Amor,
Sister Steadman

Getting ready to watch a movie

McKell and Sister Fidelis eating Din Din

The Secret to Being Rich

This week flew by soo fast, but I feel like this is one of the weeks that I learned the most and that I grew the most as well! Heavenly Father is so perfect! He knows me so well!

The week started out with a lot of walking..... in the hot sun. Its soooo hot here! But we use the heat as an excuse to talk to people and enter the houses so it’s been a blessing as well :) We are starting to get more comfortable with our area now. We have also been able to get to know the members a little bit more this week and help strengthen their testimonies. We have started doing personal progress with some of the young women here and they were so excited to start! The elders had a baptism yesterday of another young women! So we are super excited to get working with them :)

But this week was full of miracles! We have been working so hard trying to find the people that the Lord has prepared for us to teach! And in the beginning it was a little tough. But this week, we felt like the Lord was really blessing us for our efforts. So first we met Rosa. Who was just a contact we made on the street one night. So we went to her house and visited her. And it was a very simple, short lesson. But the spirit was so sweet. And she had the look in her eyes that she was feeling something. That something would be the spirit :) I love watching the spirit work with our investigators!

But, it gets better. Then the next night we met Isabella; another contact in the street. One night we were looking for an address and ran into her. So we went and visited her Saturday morning. And I´ll tell ya, the devil definitely didn´t want us to visit her. He was working really hard with us that day. First off we almost forgot about our appointment with her because we were busy doing some planning. So then we hurried and ran to her house (its a good thing that she lives close to us). We missed her husband by a couple of minutes, but we were able to teach her. And once again, we had such a good sweet spirit during the lesson. But Isabella has visited many churches but still hasn’t found what she is looking for (this is probably one of my most favorite things to hear!!!!) But she doesn’t exactly know what she is looking for. But she is a very spiritual woman. So we started the lesson. And it was going really well. We shared the restoration with her. And first off her son kept walking in and interrupting us. Then her sister showed up but luckily her sister joined in on the lesson. Then her dad came, and think of a man who likes to talk!!! I´ll tell ya, some of these Brasilians just like to hear themselves talk! But we were able to get back to the lesson and he was able to hear a bit of it. Then the Elders called us (I forgot to put our phone on silence). But the part that was amazing to me was that every time we went back to teaching, the spirit came back and he taught the lesson. It was so cool to feel that! Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to go to church yesterday because she had to take care of her siblings. Because her mom died of cancer recently and she has a brother in the hospital with a broken knee. But, she is super excited for our next lesson. And so are we :)

Then, yesterday we had another cool experience! So during the week we were just walking down the street and saw a lady in front of the store and we felt like talking to her. So we went up and started talking to her and ended up visiting her yesterday. Her name is Eridan. So when we showed up at her house she was surprised because she didn’t think we would actually visit her because she lives kind of far away. But she was so excited! Like super excited, ha. But it was really cool to get to know her! She told us that she has already visited many churches but felt like none of them were true. So now she just visits the churches close to her house but she is super excited to visit our church! We had just a very simple lesson with her where we talked about faith and repentance. And she really loved it. She kind of had a wake up call during the lesson because when we talked about faith we said that we have to act upon our faith and do things to strengthen our faith. And she was like, wow that’s what I need to do. Just sitting here at home reading and praying isn’t enough. I need to go to church. So it was super good with her :)

Well sadly, this week I received the death call. The call where the Elders call and asked me what airport I will be landing in when I go home........ sadly, all good things must come to an end. But they come to an end to better things can happen! But it was really weird.

This week I was reading a lot of conference talks from conference in April and I feel like I have learned so much. I’ve also been studying a lot in 2 Nephi and I love the BOM! It seriously is the best! But this week I feel like I really understood what it takes to have a successful future. And this week I read a lot about Nephi and the blessings he receives and the blessings he is promised. The lord constantly tells him that if he is obedient, he will prosper. And what does prosper mean? Its means that he will be blessed spiritually and materially. And it is the same thing for us today. If we really do our best to obey, give it our all. The Lord will bless us. And we see this so many times in the BOM. When the people were obedient, they were blessed and had many riches. But the moment they became prideful, the Lord took it all away. But it all depends on our obedience. If we want to be successful, we need to obey. Just trust in the Lord and obey.

Well I hope you all have a fabulous week! Prepare for conference! But don’t tell me anything because I wont be watching it this weekend. Only the next. But prepare! Remember to always read your scriptures and say your prayers! Love you all!

Com Amor,

Sister Steadman

Over the Hill.....

Well, I´m not really sure where to begin with this week. But it was a good week that’s for sure! Our journey here in Paracatú started out really well and so far I´m loving every bit of it! Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures this week, but I´ll be better this next week :) But, here in Paracatú just about everywhere you look, there is a hill. And they aren’t just little hills here, they are big steep slopes. So by the end of our time here, we will probably have the legs of an athlete, ha! But seriously, they are sooooo big! We ask everyone where certain things are located and they always say oh over that on hill.....  it’s getting better :)

But Paracatú is a really big town! It’s got the small town feel and doesn’t really have any big towns close by, but it’s freakin huge!! So it has been a bit of a challenge working our way around here, but so far we have managed :)

So we arrived here on Wednesday with our President. He was nice enough to give us a ride :) And the Elders showed us where some of the converts lived, and then we were on our own :) So just like opening any other area, we started knocking doors and making contacts. And the people here are super open! Which is very helpful! And the members here are so willing to help as well! So this week we were able to find a few people to teach :)

Our first investigator here was Gloria :) It was just a simple contact in the street that we made. But so far we have only taught her the first lesson and about the BOM. She wasn’t in church yesterday because she already had some plans, but we are hoping for next week!

Also yesterday we visited a woman named Marcia. And our lesson with her was really good! She told us that a couple of years ago she realized that her church that she was attending wasn’t right. So she went out to search for the truth. She found another church and chose to stay there. But this church sent through some changes and now she isn’t liking her current church. She feels like it isn’t true. So we taught her the first lesson and she sat there in her thoughts. And she thought that it was very interesting that we found her the other day and that we felt like we needed to share this message with her. I think it was kind of like a wake up call to her, but she really liked it. So we will be visiting her again this week so see how she feels and to continue teaching her.

But that’s about it for this week. This next week will be better and I´m sure that I will have more stories :) So far our group here has only about 35 people going to church every Sunday, but that will be changing soon :)

But I hope you all have a great week! Remember to always read the scriptures and say your prayers! And know that Heavenly Father loves you!

Com Amor,
Sister Steadman

McKell and Other Sister Missionaires

 

Paracatu......:)

Well you’re probably all wondering, "What a strange word that is. Paracatu." Well that would be the name of my new area!!!! And I couldn't be any happier :) I am sad to leave Guará. After two transfers of working our butts off, we were having results and we really had people preparing for baptism. But I´m leaving them in good hands with Sister Alves there. It will be sad not doing splits every week with the sisters, but I´ve got a new challenge to face and I couldn’t be any more excited :)

So Paracatu is more of a smaller town. So I´ll be headed back to the small town life which I´m super excited about! I´m not really into the city life, ha. But it is about an hour after Cristalina. So about 4 hours away from Brasilia and is in the state of Minas Gerais. So after this area I will have passed in all four states of our mission :) But two transfers ago, President opened up the area and started a group there. So my companion and me will be the first Sisters there! So we are opening an area! (Yes, once again, I am opening an area, ha). My comp, Sister Aldana is from Guatemala! And I´m super excited to work with her! I don´t really know her but everyone says good things about her so it should be fun! But in the meanwhile, we will be staying with the sisters in Nucleo Banderante because they have to put all the furniture in our house. So Wednesday, president will be taking us to our new area. So we won’t be stuck on a bus for 4 hours :) But I´m super excited :)

But about this week.... it flew by way too fast! I will try to remember it all!

Wednesday we had the wonderful opportunity to have a mission conference with Elder Costa, the area president here. And it was probably the best conference I have had here on my mission! Never have I learned so much before! He spoke to us for 4 hours but it was the best 4 hours! It went by too fast. He gave us a lot of tips on how to better our missionary work; a lot of good tips that I have never thought of before. It seriously was the best thing ever! Then he gave the leaders of the mission a quick training after which was also really good! I absolutely loved it!

But because of the conference, our week was super short! But here’s a quick update on Ian! So Wednesday he called us to tell us how his reading went in the Book of Mormon. If you all remember, we visited him the Monday before and he answered all the questions in the back of the pamphlet. So we gave him the book of Mormon, marked a part for him to read. So he called us to tell us that he believes that it is all true! ( I couldn’t believe what I was hearing) and that it made perfect sense to him the Book of Mormon and that he always knew that there was more then the bible. Seriously he is unreal! So we went to visit him Thursday morning and he had read all the way to 2 Nephi.... so unreal! And he told us exactly every little detail of what he read. Then we visited him Saturday again and it was another great lesson. And he was already reading 2 Nephi and really liked it! But unfortunately he wasn’t in church because he had to take a test. But I’m sure of it that he will be baptized :)

Well that’s about all I remember that happened this week. Ha, I know I’ horrible but I’ll be better next week!

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

Com Amor,

Sister Steadman

McKell and Amanda

Raining Miracles

Well today we woke up to a little bit of rain and I couldn’t be happier! I love it when it rains! Monday was Independence Day here in Brasil so we switched our P-Day to yesterday. We spent the day in the apartment building of a member just hanging out, ate lunch then went bowling! It was a lot of fun, :) But this past week has been such a wonderful week! It was such a testimony builder! So here’s what happened.....

First I will start with Ian. So about a week ago we got a referral from the mission of man whose father received a pass-along card of the BOM. So he called and asked for one. So we stopped by his house and no one was home. So during a split, Sister Alves stopped by, met a girl there who didn’t know the man we were looking for but she marked a day to return. Due to our busy life here we weren’t able to stop by the day that we planned but on this Sunday Ian called us and he was a little mad, ha. He was mad because when my comp stopped by and talked to the girl she just left a pamphlet of the restoration and not a BOM, ha. So we stopped by Monday morning and we had the wonderful opportunity to teach him. Ian is a man with 27 years. He saw this pass-along card with a book that was another testament of Christ and became curious so he called. He told us that he has already visited many churches but he still hasn’t found what he was looking for (seriously so perfect!!!) Then he saw the pamphlet of the restoration and read it and answered the questions in the back!! Nobody does this!!! So I was soooo excited! So we sat down in front of his house and taught him and it was such a good lesson! We invited him to be baptized on October 4th and he accepted. After we invited him he said, “I sure hope this church is true”, ha. Oh he is so perfect! So we are super excited about him!!!!!!

As well we found a woman named Ana. This past week we spent Tuesday and Wednesday with a young women Diane who is preparing to serve a mission so she spent the two days with us and it was a lot of fun! But she was the one who actually found Ana for us. We just found her in a bakery as we were buying a snack. Sister Alves always says that our stomachs lead us to the best people and that is so true! We always find good people to teach at the bakery, haha. But we went and visited this woman, started talking about the plan of salvation and she told us the story of how her father died. I just thought it was super cool because we knew nothing of her father but felt like we needed to talk about the plan. Another cool experience:) But we also invited her to be baptized on the 26th of this month and she accepted. Unfortunately she wasn’t in church Sunday but we will visit her this week :)

Then there´s Edivaldo. So one night all of our visits fell through so we decided to turn to the Lord to see what we should do. So we pulled out a list of names that we had prayed, and looked at the list. The first name I saw was Edivaldo so we went to visit him. He is an older gentleman. The first time we visited him I think he was a little drunk so we marked another day to visit him. Then when we stopped by the second time he didn’t want to let us in because his wife wasn’t there. But the third time, his wife still wasn’t there but we taught him anyways. We taught him the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and it was a really good lesson! We left a Book of Mormon with him and he was so excited to receive a BOM. He told us that he didn’t think he deserved it but he took it anyways. We invited him to be baptized and he looked at us and said, "I think I’ve reached the point in my life where I need to make and change. And I think now is my moment. So if I know this is right I will be baptized." I was sooo excited I just sat there and smiled. I was so happy! So he went to church on Sunday and he loved it! The members received him so well! I was so happy about that!

This week has been full of little miracles. I am so grateful to be a part of this work. This week has been proof to me that the Lord is aware of everything little thing that happens in our lives. He loves each and every one of us dearly and if we turn to him in sincere prayer, he will give us the blessings and help that we need. I am so eternally grateful for my Savior. Without Him, none of this would be possible. In our lives, we pass through so many hardships, but through him we can overcome everything. We can see the sunlight again. We can feel at peace again. We can be happy. Never in my life have I been happier. I am so grateful for this gospel. I don´t know where I would be without it. I know that this church is true. I know that today we have a living prophet and that he receives revelations from God. I know that my Heavenly Father loves me and I love Him.

I love you all and I hope you all have a wonderful week. Remember to always read your scriptures and say your prayers because He is waiting to hear from you :)

Com Amor,
Sister Steadman

Splits this week.

Irmã Edina

Picture taken right before I got hit with a wave of water.