Hello Lovely Family! :)
I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. It was so lovely to hear from you all this morning! Hearing how my family is doing is like eating cuz-cuz (a corn mash that I love). It makes you feel all warm inside and fills you all up, taking away your hunger. :) I loved hearing about Micail's talk at Stake Conference. Love her! Like Micail, I also HATED talking on the phone in the mission because of the language barrier, but now I don't even think about it. You just have to do it and do it and do it and do it and be brave and eventually it becomes natural. :) I just have a question. Who is that handsome young man standing next to her in the photo? Surely that could not be my kid brother. Not Little Luker Squeaker. I'm just going to live in denial while I can that he truly did not grow up that much. :) I hope prom rocked, Luker. Love you forever, family! :)
Sadly, I am saying goodbye to Senhor do Bonfim today.
Just writing that sentence made tears swell up in my eyeballs. Ha ha :) My heart is a little bit hurty today. No one will ever know how much I love this area, these people, the time I have spent here. I wish I could get on a giant microphone and shout, "THANK YOU, BONFIM! I LOVE YOU SO!!!" I owe so much to this area. It is here that I discovered not only the kind of missionary that I want to be, but the kind of person I want to be. I feel like this is where I grew up. And while I feel so sad to leave, I feel good about leaving because I know with out a doubt that I am leaving this area better than I found it. When I first got here, the ward was so cold towards the missionaries and now the members and the missionaries are BEST FRIENDS. I love the members here so very much. I have seen miracles upon miracle here.
Heavenly Father blessed us with one last grand miracle yesterday. This week we found a young man named Filipe. He attended church as a little kid, but his parents separated and he moved with his mom to another state and started going to another church. Just this week, years later, he moved back in with his dad and started coming to church again. It was our privilege to teach him and help him into the waters of baptism yesterday. He truly was a miracle. He loved all the lessons and accepted everything in the moment. His family, who I love so dearly, is already active and firm in the church and are helping him every step of the way. I have full faith in him and know he will be a great leader in the church one day. :) I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to unite that family and help them all accept the gospel. I could not have asked for a more beautiful way to leave Senhor do Bonfim.
I will miss Sister B. Sousa, my first trainee, so much. I learned so much with her and am so grateful for her love and example to me. I completely trust her and I know she will take good care of this area. She is a wonderful missionary and I am so proud of her and the progress we have made together. We had so much fun together and so many miracles! It was an absolute delight to train her.
And I am thrilled to be training again.
I am headed to Mangabeira, my new area, where I will be finishing the training of a new sister. I forgot her name... Sorry. :) Mangabeira only opened up to sister missionaries last transfer and was opened up by Sister Villaroman (who I love love love!) and her trainee. But Sister Villaroman has finished her mission and will be going home this transfer, so President has asked me to go to Mangabeira and finish the new sister's training. I am super excited for this new opportunity! I am absolutely clueless about my new area as it has only been recently opened to sisters and I have never even seen my companion, so this will be an awesome adventure! :) I trust the Lord completely and I know He is with me. I know that He will give me challenges, tests, and trails, but I also know that He will be with me every step of the way and will fill me with love and light where ever I go. :)
Please be praying for me as I head into the unknown and know how much I love you and pray for you. Family, you are my everything. I love you, I love you, I love you! :)
All my love,
Sister Mann
No comments:
Post a Comment