Semana 54
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| Sister Brown and her companion Sister Muria at the Mission Office in Natal |
So this week was
transfers, and I was transferred back to Rio Grande, to Caicó! My area is Vila
do Príncipe, and yes, I replaced Sister M. Baker (so close... may she rest in
peace (AT HOME!) On this note, EVERYONE here thinks that I look exactly like
Sister M. Baker. People didn´t even recognize that I was a new sister until I
introduced myself, super funny). I also received some awesome news with the
transfers... I´M A GRANDMA!!!! My "daughter" Sister Gallo was called
to train and open an area! I am super proud of her - she came to the mission
ready to handle everything!
A little bit
about our area in Caicó - it´s another area interior of our mission, so it´s
real easy to talk to people because everyone´s on the streets and it´s a humble
area. We are covering two areas and it is just us two that live in our
apartment. Yes, there has been RAIN rain rain and we have been soaked these
past few days, but I sure am happy and we can´t complain because the people and
land need it so much.
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| Sister Brown's new district |
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| Caico zone leaders? Not sure what is going on with their hair... |
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| Caico zone |
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| Lunch! Looks like Sister Brown can now make stewed tomatoes! |
I won´t lie, it
was really hard to leave Sousa... it was the area that I confronted my hardest
challenges of the mission, but the area that I grew to love the most. I
learned how to overcome discouragement, have hope when things don´t seem to
work out like you want, how to serve other missionaries, how to motivate others
when you yourself need the motivation. It was a huge transfer of learning and
growing, and I was super sad to leave!
It was hard to adjust to Caicó, I´m
still adjusting. Our area has some huge challenges with bringing people to
church, and yesterday no one came to church with us. I was super disappointed
and felt like our week´s work went to waste, when a ward member came up to me
and said, "Thank you so much for playing piano in sacrament meeting today.
It has been so long since we have had music, and the Spirit it brings makes all
the difference." To me, that was another small reminder that not all acts
are gone to waste, and that sometimes we don´t recognize our influence in the
lives of others.
Funny thing that
happened this week: I got a card from mom in the mail, dated March 2nd of 2015.
One year ago.. it got sent to the CTM in São Paulo after I already made it to
the mission field and it finally got to me!
Tomorrow we have
mission leadership conference in Natal, and the trip is much shorter this time,
only 6 hours! On Saturday the secretaries called me and told me that I needed
to renew my visa in Natal on Monday.. So yesterday after church we travelled to
Natal and today I renewed my visa here, so today I´m in Natal again! Wohoo!
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| Mission leadership conference: Sister J Baker, Sister Hernandez, Sister Brown |
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| Sister Brown and Sister V Lopes |
I don´t have
much to report about the work from this week because it´s been a few days of us
trying to create a new teaching group and adjust to the new companionship. My
companion is Sister Muria, she´s from Rio Grande do Sul as well (my third
companion gaúcha). I have felt a little overwhelmed with our area because we
are starting from zero and have real problems with bringing investigators to
church, but I feel like the lessons I learned in Sousa and the difficulties
that we had there will help me in this area. As I have seen time and time
again, nothing is impossible when it is the will of the Lord! Everything is in
His hands, and we just need to work diligently, follow the Spirit, and do what
is asked of us. I am confident that this transfer will be successful if I
choose to make it so!
One thing that I
have learned to appreciate on the mission is the necessity of water. Serving a
mission in the driest, poorest part of Brazil has been a really humbling
experience. The past few weeks have been an answer to everyone´s prayers as we
have received relatively huge amounts of water. My entire mission I have walked
every day in areas dry, arid, dusty, and brown. No signs of foliage or life.
Everything looked bleak and deserty. But after the rains came, within just a
few days EVERYTHING was dressed in green - the ground became covered with
grasses, trees produced green leaves, and everything became vibrant with life.
It was as if all of those seeds in the ground were dormant, waiting for the one
thing that could awaken them - water. Água. And, as promised, when the water
came, they bloomed!
Sometimes, our
faith is like those dormant seeds. Or, the faith of others. Sometimes people
forget what they once believed, and choose to let their plant of testimony die.
But the faith is always there. The seed rooted in the ground will always exist.
The FACT that we are sons and daughters of an All-Mighty God will always exist.
That is a fact that we all know internally. Some people have just forgotten
that that seed of faith exists! But once we add water, cultivate our plant with
the right amounts of water, sun, and soil here and there, we can carefully see
those seeds bloom and come to live a vibrant life. The gospel truths and
principles will never cease to exist. Even if we are passing a barren desert in
our lives. But we only lack a little something to remind us that we have a seed
that is waiting for water so that it can bloom.
Well that´s it,
love you guys and have a great week!
Sister Brown
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| Sister Brown with her beloved companion (who was done with her mission and traveling around with her parents), Sister S Lopes! |
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