Sister Brown in Brazil: Semana 66

Semana 66

By Kristin 8:45 PM

Olá família!!!

So I have officially entered my second to last transfer of the mission!!! This week was transfer week, and as much as I wanted to stay in Caicó, I was transferred back to Natal! But this time in serving in Potengi, Zona Norte (the North Side of the city) which is about 30 minutes by bus from my first area in Zona Sul. Saying bye to everyone was really hard, especially Sister Gallo. She cried and said, "why do I have to say bye to you again?!"

But being back in Natal feels like coming home! Natal was one of my favorite areas and now I feel so close to lots of people that I love, and all my converts. Speaking of, I heard news that Emanoel is elders quorum president! I´m planning on visiting my first area at the end of next transfer, it´ll be so good to see everyone!! As for my new companion, I now have two! There´s an uneven number of sisters in our mission and President put us in a threesome. The other STL is Sister Trage, from Rio Grande do Sul (my 4th companion gaúcha) and we have a junior companion named Sister Barbosa from São Paulo. Everyone tells horror stories about serving in a threesome but so far we are all LOVING it. The only hard part is when it comes to teaching, because we´re trying to find our rhythm and sometimes it´s hard with our junior companion but the Lord turns our weaknesses into strengths :)

This week we worked super hard and had a great turnout at church. We started teaching a member´s parents, and they went to church for the first time yesterday! The dad suffered an accident and broke his leg, and has had troubles recovering, so obviously he always told the sisters that he wouldn´t go to church because of his health. But on saturday I shared with him the Bible story of when Jesus healed the man blind from birth. The man came to Jesus and asked for mercy, and the Lord annointed his eyes and told him to bathe seven times in the river. Imagine for just a second yourself as the blind man, having fought to find Jesus and be cured. It was probably difficult for him to get there, with so many people begging for the Lord´s attention. It truly was a trial of that man´s faith to have heard from the Lord to go wash himself in order to be healed. But the man believed on Christ´s words, and went. And the result? He went, and saw. "I was blind, but now I see." Sometimes in order for the results we want, physical and spiritual healing, we need to DO something first. We need to do what the Lord has commanded us to do! We must keep the commandments and be obedient to His will, and then we will receive.

The dad of this family went to church, together with his wife, and they loved every minute. Even with his leg extremely swollen for walking, he was there. We are going to continue working with them!

As for the other cool story from this week -

yesterday was probably one of the most spiritual sundays of my mission. The assistants called and invited us to a birthday surprise for Sister Soares at the mission home. We scrambled to get a ride all the way from our area to Zona Sul where they live, but it all worked out. We all entered the apartment of the mission home (us, the STLs from Alecrim Sister Hernandez and Sister V. Lopes, the assistants and the secretaries) and waited to surprise her. When she saw us and we started to sing parabéns, she began to cry and hugged every one of us. We spent the rest of the evening eating açai, sharing funny stories, and then having a spontaneous mini devotional/testimony meeting. I playing "Nearer My God to Thee" on the piano and sang together with Sister Hernandez, and then all of us bore our testimonies and shared our gratitude for Sister Soares and her influence and example on the mission. I cried a lot. I felt the spirit so strong and feel so privileged to have been able to take part of that special night with President and Sister Soares. They truly have been the most incredible mission parents, and I can´t believe this is their last full transfer of the mission. I know that the Lord sent me to THEM, and that this mission is my family. I realized that differently, yesterday. It´s surreal to me that the time is coming to a close, but I am so excited to make miracles happen here in Potengi and continue to grow!