Everyday I love you more and everyday my gratitude for our happy, crazy family grows. It's nice to know that I've got my best friends to be by my side for the rest of forever. Thank you for your support and prayers. I strengthen daily by your love. :)
This week was a little hard. And hard is not a bad thing, it's just hard. I remember talking to Micail one time and we decided that our lives could never actually be "bad" because we have the gospel in our lives. If our lives are centered on Jesus Christ, nothing can really be bad. :) And hard things are good for us. They stretch us and make us grow as we ought to and need to.
I had my first experience in a doctor's office here this week.... I woke up one day feeling awful and with what seemed to be the start of strep throat and then neglected it for a few days, kept working, and then I got even more sick. When I couldn't even swallow anymore, we decided to call Sister Hart and she told us to go see a doctor. Let's just say that I will not be going back, even if my leg is dangling by a few ligaments. We lost a lot of our work time at the doctor's office and I had to come home early one day and I am still bitter about the time we lost. Being sick is a pain but it is just plain AWFUL as a missionary. You don't have time for that kind of jazz. :) But I am getting better now. The elders in our district gave me a blessing and I am feeling better. I am so grateful for the priesthood. :)
Sister Melonakos took good care of me. One day she made a smoothie with frozen mango and yogurt. IT WAS SO GOOD. I just love her. We work so nicely together. We do a pretty good job at only speaking Portuguese to each other, but lately we have found it very funny to talk in English with Portuguese grammar. For example:
I am with so many rabies. (I am very mad.)
Everything is gold jewelry! (I am doing great!)
I am with cold. (I'm cold.)
That is dough! (That is awesome!)
Ha ha! It's so fun. We laugh a lot. :) I am so grateful for Sister Melon-Tacos! :)
Despite the time lost, we still saw miracles! A family that we have been working with came back to church after 2 years of being in-active! It was wonderful to see them at church. And our dear investigator, Ailton, who is 85 or so was at church as well! And we had an amazing lesson with a member at Edson's house and he said he can go to church this coming Sunday! :) The Lord blesses us very much.
I love Bahia! I am still in awe at how open and warm the people are here. The other day we passed by some who had given us directions two weeks before and they said, "Hey! Did you ever find that road? We are having almoço right now. Are you hungry? Do you want some feijoada (black beans stewed with all the parts of the pig)?" They are so loving and giving! They are instantly accepting and believing. Almost everyone here is Christian and they are very open about it. The stores have names like "God is Loyal" and "Jesus Saves". Anywhere else it would probably be inappropriate, but here in the Bahia, it's just fine. :) Sometimes it's a little shocking how chill everything is. For example, the other day I invited someone to be baptized and they paused for a second and replied, "Sure! Why not?" Ha ha! I appreciated their faith, but I don't think they knew that I was really inviting them to make a covenant with God and promise to abandon all sin. Little by little. We'll get there. :)
There is a popular attitude of "God is one and any church that talks of Jesus Christ is a true one and you only have to believe in Christ and you'll be saved!" But Our Heavenly Father doesn't want us to just say we love Him; He wants to see it! He want's us to grow and progress and gain our salvation, not just claim it. I've been thinking a lot about this lately and I have decided to call more people to repentance and not just say nice things that make everyone feel good. For example, usually when we get up on the city bus, I say things like, "In the church we feel the love of our Heavenly Father and our families are strengthened." And while that is very true, I decided to change what I say and truly invite people to do something more. I got up and said, "I know you all have faith in Christ, but how are you going to show it? We show our love not by our words, but actions! If you love God, you will go to His church and do what he asks." It feels good to invite people to change. I just want to give it my all.
Sometimes we invite people a thousand times, we teach them by the spirit, we bring the most faithful members to their homes, we pray for them, fast for them, but when it comes right down to it, they have their agency to choose. And sometimes even when you do your best and give your all, they still choose to not accept. It's kind of hard to accept that, but it's part of a perfect plan.
This week I felt so much love for my Savior, Jesus Christ. I can't even imagine how someone could give everything, even their own life, to those who He knew would not accept His sacrifice. He gave everything, knowing there would be some who would not accept. That is love. Real love. Pure love.
I love you, family. So much. Have a beautiful week and know I pray for you always.
All my love,
Sister Mann
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