Thursday, July 15, 2010

Bragança


Hey family and everyone else!

We had another baptism on Saturday. His name is Jean and he’s been coming to church with one of the Sisters in the ward. He’s 12 years old and it’s all good. The baptism was nice, and the Bishop (to the surprise of my companion) asked if he could help us. So, hearts are being softened here.

What else is new? Oh yeah, remember how my companion has been sick lately? Well...it’s gotten worse. She has a really bad cold, complete with issues with nose, throat and coughing. So, we called the new Mission President’s wife...who doesn’t speak Portuguese, and I had my first English conversation in a few months...only problem was, I couldn’t remember all the words in English. YES!!!!! So, Sister Monterio spent all of Monday in bed and so I spent all of Monday cleaning, studying Portuguese, and yeah...this was how bored I got, wrote a play. Yep...complete with stage notes.

And now, Rainy Seattle has come to Bragança! It’s pretty much January rain here, constantly pouring rain. I’m okay with it, well I wish I had one of my comfy sweatshirts and could wear pants instead of skirts...but I’ve got a rain coat and an umbrella. Only thing is, my companion has neither. She has a jacket, but it doesn’t have a hood, and so, she is using my umbrella. So, she’s nice and dry whereas I am the opposite...but whatever, I’ve dealt with worse rain in my life. The weather is not so great for missionaries; tons of us have colds, fevers and sour throats. I have a cold, but it’s not that bad. Our district leader wants everyone to keep working hard through the rain, but that means that most of the sicker missionaries are getting worse, not better, and that includes my companion. Yeah, I’m worried about my comp.

On Thursday though we get to meet our new mission president. Also, to just let you now how Small a World we live in...my companion’s mother had the missionaries in her ward take a picture of Eric (since it was conference) and Eric just sent me an email where he congratulated my companion on becoming an aunt...yes he is "in the know!" Oi Vai.

Now, quick update on the awesomeness of Ana!!! Ana, after praying, told Jilson (the man she’s been living with for three years, but he’s not the father of Gabi, Bella or Carol) that he either needed to marry her, or she would move so that she can get baptized. This kind of freaked Jilson out, so he’s thinking about it. We want to teach him the gospel as well, but his heart is somewhat closed. So, last week we went to the marriage office to get some info. It costs 263.70 Reais (131.35 American Dollars) to get married. Seriously? I was not happy. Ana and Jilson are really poor so we prayed for a miracle. The Elders called us and told us that there is a loophole for poor people, so on Friday we’re going to look into that. Sweet!!!

Also, Talita-Inez´s daughter says she finally wants to get baptized!!! SWEET!!!!!!!! Fingers crossed.

As I have been rereading the Book of Mormon over the last few weeks, I have been very impressed with the later chapters of Alma. I could re-read those passages every day. The people of Ammon, Zoramites and the council of Alma to his sons are so wonderful. Also, when reading Preach my Gospel and some Conference talks, I have realized how everyone says you need faith, hope and charity. It’s a three way stool. I love Elder Uchdorf's talk on hope, on how when faith is eroded, hope is there to lift us up and to keep us standing. It’s those three things that are so important to all of us today. If we all cultivated those three characteristics, the world would be such a better place.

The blessings we get from living the gospel are limitless and I am so thankful to have them in my life. Til next week.

Love, Sister Shannon Stapley

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