It’s been another
great week here in Cachoeira do Sul. We
had a quiet, relaxing P-day. The Sisters
didn’t come to our place this week. We
missed them. It’s kind of boring around
here without them.
President Castro sends
out a message each P-day. This week it
was from a talk by David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles about
“sweeping the earth as with a flood”. It
applies to all of us. We are cautioned
to see clearly both the possibilities and the pitfalls of the remarkable
technologies that are available to us today, and to use those tools
appropriately that we may help sweep the earth with a flood of truth and
righteousness. That is a scary and
humbling task to make sure everything that we post or “like” is appropriate and
will not be interpreted in a way that gives a wrong message. He specifically cautioned us about the
pictures we post on Facebook. Hopefully,
what we post will always be edifying and uplifting. We know that technology is changing the
nature of missionary work. We live in a
truly distinctive dispensation. We are
blessed in many ways and where much is given, much is required. It is a humbling challenge!
As if to reinforce the
message about flooding the earth, we had an afternoon thunderstorm that same day. Mid-afternoon, the sky darkened. It felt like it was night. The winds and the rain and the lightning and
thunder came. It was another one of
those storms that drove the rain in around the closed windows. We had puddles of water under every
window. We decided it was best not to
venture out that evening. But wouldn’t
it be cool to flood the earth that way with the gospel message?!
President Torres,
president of the District, gave us a unique opportunity this week. Jussara, the wife of the former mayor of
Cachoeira wanted a blessing of comfort.
She is not a member of the church and was not interested in having
missionaries visit. But she felt the
need for a blessing. She has many challenges in her life right
now. She lost her father, who was her
hero. Her 38 year old son has been
diagnosed with cancer. She feels like
she has more than she can handle in her life.
We think that she was willing to try anything to help her family and
herself. She speaks some English. President Torres asked us to meet with
her. It was a great experience for
us. She was very nice, very gracious, very
emotional and very receptive. We
explained about the power of priesthood blessing, where the power to bless
others comes from and the part that faith plays in the blessing. We discussed our families, hers and ours, and
the challenges that come to each of us in life.
Basically she got the first discussion. She said that we were
“angels”. She even agreed to come to
church the next Sunday. We were excited.
However, she called later saying that her swimming pool was being
cleaned on Saturday and Sunday and she would be unable to attend Sunday
services. We were disappointed. But hope that she will continue to think
about the gospel message. We hope good
things come to her. It was a wonderful
opportunity for us.
We met with the other
young missionaries for our last District Meeting before transfers. We all brought treats. It was a good time with lots of good stuff to
eat. We hate to think who we might lose
on transfer day!
We made our usual
visits to Artur and Jose this week. And,
as usual, they were really good visits.
Artur is still contemplating his baptism date. He did ask us this week if he had to start
paying tithing after he was baptized.
Maybe this is why he has been postponing baptism. Maybe we need to talk more about tithing with
him. And the visit with Jose felt more
like he had prepared a lesson and was teaching us. We loved it!
He has a hard time getting to church.
He lives a long ways away. The
branch can no longer afford to send out a bus.
It is too far for him to walk with his health problems. But he has a testimony. And we surely enjoy our visits with him.
The real highlight of
the week was two more baptisms for Elder Hoopes and Elder H. Silva. These guys are really “on a roll”! This week they baptized 15 year old Joao
Pedro and his mother, Eleine Machado.
This baptism was a result of a follow-up on a referral card that someone
filled out in Sao Paulo. The Elders have
been working with them for a few months now.
They consider it somewhat of a miracle.
It was an awesome baptism.
One afternoon we got
to visit at the apartment of the three Sisters so Elder could give them blessings. We also took ice cream. How can you beat that? Blessings and sorvette! Better than a movie and ice cream any day! We love these Sisters!
Saturday morning, we
helped Elder Buhler and Elder Soares again with English class. We had more there this week. If we remember right, there were about 10
there to learn English, counting two Sister missionaries and one Elder. We were impressed with Elder Buhler’s
teaching. We assisted too! It was a fun time!
We made other visits,
like to Nelson, the pan-maker again. He
was out cutting the grass in his gorgeous yard.
It was a hot day and his place has tons of trees. It really was like a little paradise to us on
such a hot day! He really takes pride in
keeping a nice yard.
When it rained this
week, it rained hard. But we have also
had a lot of hot, summer-like days. So
we appreciate the rain when it comes. We
don’t enjoy the humidity as much though. And there has been a lot of that, on
sunny as well as rainy days. Elder has
taken to carrying his little “towel” to mop up the sweat when we are out
walking. We haven’t had to do that since
last summer!
Presidente Glauber
called Saturday night and asked Elder Shirley to speak in Sacrament meeting in
the Marina branch. (Artur was there
again! Yay!) Elder talked about the Holy Ghost and
faith. He told lots of personal stories,
complete with sound effects. It was a
fun talk, although slightly embarrassing!
(Not really!) It was such a fun
talk! He really did a great job!! We ended up attending sacrament meeting in
Uniao also. It was good to be there
again.
We love that we have
so much variety in what we do. We try to
plan out our days, but we never know what each day will hold in store. This really is an amazing experience for
us! Next week is filling up fast with
appointments. Elivelton wants some more
follow-up lessons. If you remember, he
was baptized last June. We had the
privilege of teaching him. He has been
faithfully attending church ever since.
He and Bruna plan to be married next month. Fortunately, they will still live in the
Marina branch. We really like this young
couple! We plan to teach them this
week. We have had a few requests from
others to visit as well. There is also
some “gaucho” dance instruction on Tuesday in the Cachoeira branch and another
Baile in the Uniao branch on the weekend.
It will be interesting to see how it all goes.
Hope all is well
there! You are in our thoughts and
prayers continually! Love you all!
Eu te amo!
I hope Brian will pass this on, I typed a whole bunch of stuff already and of course I hit some button and it all disappeared. If not you'll get two posts from us. Just wanted to wish Cathie, or sister. as you guys like to be so formal, a very happy birthday! We like to read your missionary experiences and glad you are doing so well. Scott's foot is healing but slowly; we are getting ready to go to Indianapolis for Thanksgiving. That's where Brandon is and I can't wait. Glad you are feeling the heat there as we are not! It's 2 degrees as I speak and I seem to just go huddle from one heater to the next. Crazy Idaho! Well be good. Love, Scott & Jan
ReplyDelete