"This isn't our work"

 

 

This work is so true. That is amazing me everyday. Work is slow here and it´s hard, but I´m learning so much, and that´s what I hang  on to. My mission president told me my first week that in Doctrine and Covenants 18:15-16, it says that if we save but ONE SOUL, how great will be our joy, and that one soul can be ours. SHOULD be ours. This is what I remember when nobody wants to listen or change.  I´m changing more than I every thought I would.  One of my teachers in the CTM, Irmão Bakr (He is AMAZING!!!) taught us about "tetos espirituais" or "spiritual ceilings." Many times in life, we grow to the extent of our spiritual capacity where we are in life, and we need to trust, close our eyes, and make that next leap of faith in order to ...apagar....tirar...get rid of (?) that next teto espiritual. For me, I needed to go on a mission in order to grow and learn like I am now. For our teacher, he needed to get married like he did that weekend. We ALL have a change we can make to let the Lord shape us in ways we NEVER EVEN COULD HAVE imagined! I´m learning SO MUCH ON MY MISSION, and if it were to end today, I learned everything I needed to learn. (I expect and pray that it won´t becuase I do believe I still have a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

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OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT more to learn!!!!!!!!!!!!)

 

This week. Holy crazy! Not the best week of my mission. Emotionally, I´m fine. Number wise...we´re not going to talk about that....(let´s just say that when doctor´s appointments, tendonitis, a companion with a migraine, and a MIIIIIIIIIIILLION fallen though appointments happen....on paper, it doesn´t look like you did much.....) I definitely am learning a lot about having patience with myself, others, and situations you can´t control. Mostly with myself and situations. Those seem to be the hardest for me. Just remember that when you aren´t where you want to be, and nothing's working out the way you planned, maybe God has somewhere else for you to be. I trust that even though I can´t yet see why. I trust that with all my heart. I really do. 

OKAY!!! YESTERDAY!!! NOSSA [WOW!]!!! HOLY SCHMANOLY!!!! Okay, church here is backwards (at least it was before this next month-it´s changing). So Relief Society was normal (and I listened to the whole thing this time instead of getting tired and writing in my journal-here, group discussion isn´t a chore to get going, everyone just talks at the same time as everyone else, so trying to understand in another language can be tricky...). Sunday school was also normal until the last 20 minutes. Right toward the end, an Irmã came in and asked if my companion and I could talk to her class about the importance of family and how to defend their beliefs with others. Okay, a little pressure, I´m nervous as we walk down the hallway, but it´s okay...I can do this. We get there and start talking, and then all of a sudden the Bispo [Bishop] is at the door, and asks if he can talk to me. Talk about a spike in heart rate! I go out to the hallway, and he asks if I´ll be the first speaker in sacrament meeting in 10 minutes....yup..."Você está preparada?" "Are you prepared?" ......Yep! (****NO NO NO NO NO NONOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, but I´m not going to SAAAAAAY that!) I go back in panicked (bc the talks I wrote in the CTM were sitting in my notebook at home). We continue talking about family, and then 2 minutes later another person comes to the door, and asks if I´ll play piano for sacrament meeting in 8 minutes. Yup! Go back in again. Bear my testimony about family and how if they simply bear their testimony to others, the Spirit will teach, and that´s enough. We go back to class, I pick hymns (thank GOODNESS they let me pick), and we go to Sacrament meeting. I wrote a talk during the 2 minutes of announcements and about the 7 minutes of Sacrament time. Somehow, someway, I spoke for between 5 and 10 minutes in PORTUGUESE giving a talk, and it just WORKED! The words came, and even though I didn´t have everything I would have said in English, I gave a talk that people said helped them. 

This isn´t our work. I KNOW that!!! If we are willing to take one step, open our mouth, read that verse of scripture, pray to know if it´s true, invite the missionaries into our homes, listen, try ANYTHING, God will bless us to succeed in His way and His time. I´m learning this everyday!

 

Pics this week!

 

I broke 9 eggs this week AS SOON AS I walked in the door from buying them. Sister McPherson and I salvaged 8 of them, so I´ve been reheating scrambled eggs all week. I´ll probably eat the last of them tomorrow. XD

I have matched FIVE DIFFERENT TIMES with people in my house this last week. Totally unintentional. Super funny. (We even have the same necklace in this picture-that was the only intentional part)

This little boy is the SWEETEST!! His name is Alexandro. We visited his family this week. They´re not active, so we´re trying to help them feel supported and loved in the church. I got to play with him for about an hour while my comp visited with his mom. He loves origami, and taught me how to make this cobra!! It´s LEGIT!!! (haven´t used THAT word in a long time!) WE played hopscotch, I tried to ride a tiny bike in a skirt (and succeeded, thank you very much ;D), dribbled a basketball, and taught him how to make little springs with paper. It was the BEST!!! I TOTALLY get little boys!!! Even when I was teaching the message, it was so much easier to teach it for him and adapt it for a child that to try to teach an adult. Much less nerve wracking. He´s nine, and TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTALLY reminded me of Joseph. Super sweet, super creative, makes his own fun, and loves to teach people his things and loves life.

One of my favorite bus rides. Parque da Repreza. SUPER pretty. I tried to get a pic out the window. Mostly succeeded. 

This was my love note from Heaven last night. Heavenly Father sends little love notes for us everyday, and I´m trying harder to remember to look for them. Do that. Look and find out how He speaks with you! It´s a beautiful process, and you´ll realize just how CLOSE He is to us every minute. <3

 

All my love!!!

Sister Little