July 30, 2012

So I got the package...and you will never guess when. Exactly on the 6 month mark! saya WHAT??? hahaha :) I really liked that it was super fun! Thanks so much for everything! It was exactly what I was looking for! Thanks so much for the peanut butter!!!! and it turns out I'm staying here for one more transfer....so that was super cool! i don't have to pay to send the peanut butter to the mission office! I would have too! it's SOOOO smooth!! I about died I was so happy! haha thanks mom! :) and tell Sister McGregor thanks so much for the TIES!!! LOVED IT! and the towels were the bomb.com too! :)

So this week was AMAZING!!! I'm attaching the evidence of this right now.....we had a baptism!!!! Susana Maria de Sousa finally made the decision to make a covenant with Heavenly Father and become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!! Oh my goodness I was so excited!!! I'm SO happy for her! If you could all say a prayer of gratitude to the Lord for this incredible blessing that would be amazing! It has been such a fun ride with her, and to see the difference in her life and her attitude and her vision....it's sincerely been incredible. Susana has had such a hard life. Her husband cheated on her, and caused all sorts of legal problems with the finances and stuff like that. She bent over backwards for him, and then he treated her horrible. When we first met her, it was at church. She's friends with some of the members, and they knew she was passing through some hard ties, so they invited her to church. She started hearing the lessons, and the members had talked to her a lot about the church and stuff like that. She really loved church and learning so many things that she hadn't ever heard, seeing as she was raised Catholic. She started talking to us, and she was making great progress. and we invited her to be baptized. She prayed with us, and she said she felt like she should be baptized, but she felt like it should be in July. So we said ok. We wanted her to be baptized in June, but the Lord knows SO much more than the missionaries :) So we kept talking to her and she kept coming to church and everything was good.  Then July rolled around. She had started having a few doubts about Joseph Smith and if really he had seen Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. She said that people doubted that the Virgin Mary appeared here in Portugal, so she thought maybe she should doubt Joseph Smith's story. She didn't know what to do. She had been confused. She had already received a witness about the Book of Mormon, but was still doubting Joseph Smith. So we talked about what the Book of Mormon is, and that it really is proof. If the Book of Mormon is true, then Joseph Smith really was a prophet, because a small town farm boy with a 3rd grade education couldn't have written it! :) Then we told her the only way to know, is to read it, and ask Heavenly Father, if really Joseph Smith was a prophet. So she did...and there were no doubts! SO COOL! so we met with her again and we invited her to be baptized again. We prayed with her about the day July 14...the spirit was SOOO strong and she said em nome de Jesus Cristo, amém, and then said.....yep. I will. It was AWESOME! we were so pumped! then a member called us and said she changed her mind she didn’t feel ready. We called her back and talked to her and she said she just didn't know. She wasn't really sure. It was a super weird situation. So we kept going and kept going. Kept teaching her and talking to her and helping her see that she was prepared. We had some really incredible lessons. Then she started realizing that July was coming to a close and that we couldn't have a baptism on Saturday because a member of the Area Presidency was coming and having a meeting, so she was like....well....i guess it will be August 4th. And we told her, look Susana....we love you to death. We really love you so much. and as missionaries, we're here to fulfill the Word of God. The Lord told you that you should be baptized in the month of July, and as His servants, we're here to tell you that nothing is impossible for him! and......that there is nothing wrong with a baptism on Sunday! haha. it was funny :) then she said that she would pray about it and that we could call in the morning to find out what the answer was. So we called and she was like....yep. I'll do it. Why should I keep waiting!!! YEAH!!! PART-AY!!! it was so fun!! and everything ran smoothly and all the Elders in my district love her so they agreed to sing her favorite hymn with us at her baptism and it was SO cool!! man I love her to death!

So yeah I'm pretty sure I missed some parts of that story, so if some part of it doesn't make sense...just tell me and I fill you in next week! :) But it was just amazing to see how the Lord knows so much better than us. He knows exactly what we need, and when we need it. This was such a testimony builder for me that it's not our timing. It's His. Even if our intentions are good, it's His timing. We wanted her to be baptized in June, but the Lord knew what would happen. He knew everything that would lead up to the baptism and the experiences she would have. And know it's so amazing to see the difference in her. She's so happy now, and she jokes around and she's always smiling and she's been recognizing the MIRACLES in her life. The night before her baptism. Her nephew who has diabetes got really really sick. Super sick. He had a really high fever and wasn't eating and everything. But she prayed so fervently that he would be ok. She prayed so so hard,  because they didn't have the money to pay for the hospital. She called the members to pray for her as well. and then she just waited and she KNEW that Heavenly Father would bless him. And He did. Her nephew got better and better throughout the night, and be the morning his temperature had gone down, and he was eating again and everything was ok. What a miracle! The Lord answered her prayers on the eve of her baptism, and it just fortified her testimony even more that what she was doing was right. And it also helped her family (who is incredibly Catholic). It was such an amazing experience! I love her so much and I'm SO grateful for the Gospel in her life. and mine.

Elder Jordan Brady