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Semana 35

By 11:18 AM

Olá todo mundo!
Today I hit 8 months on the mission - almost halfway there! Sorry but I really don´t want to come home any time soon... thank heavens ;)
So this was the last week of the transfer - we hit the second mile and I think barely made it to the finish line.. however with some success. Tomorrow, the day before transfers, we will baptize TWO people! First, Daniel passed his interview, but he didn´t want to be baptized because his mom wouldn´t let him go to church anymore.. so we spent the week trying to assuage her fears and worries, and turns out she´s just a crazy lady and thinks he´s a demonic child.. the poor thing. But we finally got her to sign the baptismal form and he will be baptized on tuesday! The other, was a miracle... Saturday morning during our studies our ward mission leader Claudio came to us with some news.. Karen´s mom is going to let her be baptized! I haven´t written home much about Karen, because we didn´t work with her much this transfer because of the mom. Karen is a young woman who has been meeting with the missionaries for like 5 or 6 months, and this whole time she has gone to church, seminary, and mutual every week. But the mom would never let her be baptized. This week something happened, and her heart was opened and we jumped at the opportunity. We filled out her baptismal form, the mom went to church yesterday, and Karen will be baptized on tuesday before the transfers! It was a real miracle for us.
As for progress with Moalisson this week - after we taught him the Restoration and assigned a part in the Book of Mormon, he hadn´t read it. But we asked him how he felt about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, and he said that he knows it´s true, but based off of rationalization. He said that just by the size of the book it "probably" is true.. so we spent the night talking about the importance of receiving a personal witness from God, and having a testimony. I remembered the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13, that talks about the seeds planted in different earths, and how the seeds planted that sprung up quickly were burned in the heat of the sun because they didn´t have roots. I frequently stop to do a self assessment - am I deeply rooted in the gospel? Do I have a testimony of what I´m specifically teaching? And if I ever have a doubt, I know that I can study and search for myself, because I know that the Lord answers our prayers. So we talked to Moalisson about that, and continued preparing him for his baptismal interview this week. Everything went well, except he told Elder Quiroga our district leader that he didn´t want to be baptized, just frequent the church. Ughhh que raiva. We were super frustrated. But, without fault, he was there at church on sunday! So this week will be a week of challenging him to be baptized.
Sundays on the mission are usually the most stressful days - and yesterday I decided to stress less on sunday morning. So when we picked up Daniel and he was our only investigator at the start of church, I didn´t freak out. When Moalisson didn´t show up at 9 am, I also didn´t freak out. I actually enjoyed the classes - and by sacrament meeting we had 5 investigators at church. The Lord works miracles when you trust in His work!
So this week finally took a toll on our bodies - Sister Alarcón and I sort of neglected our bodies this transfer and didn´t worry much about feeding ourselves - which ended up making us pretty sick this week, without energy, headaches, lack of focus. So I realized it was because I was just neglecting to care for the companionship in terms of food (which I never had to worry about being junior companion so no wonder this transfer I lost weight), so we went to the grocery store and I spent 60 Reais in just fruits and veggies and I started making fruit blends like you, dad! Hahah it was super funny because I would put bananas, apples, oranges, tomato, carrot, and beets all together with some yogurt and oats and when I gave it to the sisters they liked it, but once I told them what was in it they didn´t want to drink it anymore. Hahaha now I understand how you felt dad, all those years of giving me sketchy morning shakes haha! Now I like them a lot better :) And don´t worry, my nutirent levels have risen this week. Maybe it´s because the fruit here in Brazil is amazing...
Anyway. Tomorrow we´ll find out what happens with transfers - Sister Alarcón will be transfered without a doubt, she´s been here for 6 months. And 11 new missionaries are arriving this transfer, which is a ton for our mission so we will see what happens.
Other side note - yesterday Sister Pinheiro called me from my old area, and Matheus from the ward opened his mission call to Curitiba! The best part was that I got to talk to Emanoel my recent convert and a bunch of members and heard about what was going on! Adriano is preparing to receive the Melchezidek Priesthood, and Emanoel is super firm in the church too. I think about them almost every day - I love the people of Natal and miss them so much, but I have grown to love it here in Mossoró as well! The mission is the best. I love where I am and what I´m doing. I could be doing lots of great things at home, but nothing better than this.
I love you guys, and I´ll talk to you soon!
Sister Brown

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