Sept 11, 2017

Hello everyone!

Wow, week two has been hard. I think every week two is hard for me. It is a gift and a curse!

On Tuesday we had a zone conference with our zone and Presidente Silcox and his wife. My companion was excited, so I was excited. This was my first zone conference, and I was told that we´d be spiritually filled. so I was pumped. But when we got there and were being taught, I could barely understand anything! I was devastated because I thought that I would understand a little, but it was not so. Week two is always hard because, for week one, you know that your português is bad, and that´s okay. But by the second week, you just want to communicate so bad, and you can´t yet. I still have so much growth to do, which is great! I have 16 months to improve my português, what a blessing! 

This week has also been a blessing because I´ve learned the importance of Christlike love. When I´m feeling discouraged, it is not as easy for me to feel Christ-like love. The adversary knows this about me, so whenever my companion and I would be walking to an appointment and I was feeling inadequate, he would point out small annoyances, things that didn´t really matter. With all of these little things building up to create a big thing, I was overwhelmed. The thing I have to take away from this week is "Calma". Heavenly Father knows that this life is difficult, real people have real problems. But that never means we cannot have compassion for one another. Something I shared with a sister yesterday was 3 Nephi 12:39. It talks about turning the other cheek when someone offends you. For me this week, it meant turning aside my frustrations, taking a deep breath, and continuing on with my day. 

My scripture study has been really interesting this week. I´ve been reading in 3 Nephi when Christ comes to the Americas. I´ve had a couple of questions throughout my study, and I´ve been praying for answers. But the answers have only come through further study and other people. This has been another good lesson for me because I´ve wondered, "Why won´t Heavenly Father answer my prayers?" This was the wrong question to ask!! The real question is "How does Heavenly Father answer my prayers?" I have needed to learn patience this week in receiving answers because it took several days of study until my question was answered. Heavenly Father answers prayers in different ways, through feelings, thoughts, and other people. Sometimes we want a grand voice to come into our heads or our bosom to burn, but most of the time, it´s a little nudge or a passing thought. We need to be attentive to these small things so we can teach with the spirit. 

My strongest experience with this was yesterday when I shared that scripture I mentioned before. We were teaching Taiane, a less active member that is having some personal problems. We were hoping to teach her and her namorado, Vagner, but he was busy. So we asked Taiane what she wanted to study with us. She wanted to study about forgiveness. As my companion was talking, a little thought came into my head. Not the specific scripture, but what the verse was about. So I started to look for it. When I found it, I was madly searching my dictionary so I could explain what I was thinking, and that got my companion´s attention. She asked if I wanted to share something, and even though I hadn´t found the word I was looking for, I started to share 3 Nephi 12:39. As I spoke, I could see that the spirit had touched Taiane´s heart. This was an awesome experience for me because the spirit gave me a thought! And I acted on it! Plus, it was something I had studied earlier that week, which was a huge blessing. It´s a relief to know that I can still be an instrument in the Lord´s hands even when I can´t speak too much português. Sometimes, fewer words can be stronger than many words. 

I think that´s all I have time for! Next week I´ll try to write more!

I love you all!!