Another good week here in Manaus. This has definitely been a week of learning and patience. Things are not going very well with our investigators and I can feel myself losing patience with everything, investigators, companion, roommates, myself... I think it must be the sun or something :). But I have learned some really important lessons this week about love, patience and faith. I am learning as time goes on during the mission, my love and hope for people are increasing. It is becoming harder for me to hear “No I didn’t have time to read or No I didn’t pray, but I know your church isnt true.” The list can go on and on of all the excuses I hear everyday. My purpose as a missionary is not to convince anyone that this is the true church of Jesus Christ here on the earth; it is to invite EVERYONE to pray and ask God if this church is true. If they don’t feel it is true, that is their choice, but I am doing my part by inviting them to read and pray. Sometimes I feel like Jouzuete and her family are the reason I was sent to Brasilia and that I won’t baptize anyone else. Haha I know silly me!! But my Faith is growing stronger with everyday that passes and I KNOW there are people in this area we can help. We just need to find them!!!
To be honest we have only four solid investigators at the moment. Bruno’s mom wouldnt sign the baptism form. So he will have to wait one more year until he turns 18. Joelma and Samon are not doing very well. She is pregnant and is having horrible morning sickness. We can’t really relate to her, but we just keep trying to cheer her up. Nothing has changed with the divorce, but I think something good will happen this week. We have decided to give them a little space lately because I feel like we are giving 100% and they stopped reading as a family. So we are going to stop holding their hands so much and give them room to really think about things. I know this family will get baptized it will just continue to take time. But I’d rather have them stay strong in the church then get baptized for the wrong reason.
We have a new (well she was taught by the other sisters) investigator name Patrica. She is really cute and is 23 years old. She lives with her boyfriend who is a member so we are helping them get married and she wants to get baptized too. So we set the date for the 17 July. We just need to help her stay excited and positive!! We have been making lots of contacts this week so hopefully we will teach more investigators this week!
So I was studying in Alma 24 today. This chapter talks about the Anti-Nephi-Lehi! I love this story! It talks about the Lamanites that were converted to the gospel and they changed their names to this. Well of course the hard hearted Lamanites were upset because they decided to follow God’s commandments. So the people swore that they wouldnt take up arms against their brethren. I really love verse 19 . It talks about how once they knew the truth about the gospel they were FIRM and would suffer death rather than commit more sins. One thousand and five of them died because they refused to fight against their brethren. Interesting because this chapter talks about how the Lamanites noticed that their brethren wouldn’t fight them so they stopped killing them and more than a thousand were converted to the gospel. I really love this story because it shows that once we are truly converted to the gospel we will be FIRM and nothing will shake our faith. They sacrificed their own lives rather than yield to sin. Sometimes in life we sacrifice many things, but we have never sacrificed our own lives for this gospel. Everyone always says a mission is such a sarcifice, but for me it is a privilege that I will remember for the rest of my life! It is a privilege to serve my Heavenly Father and help His children understand that God really exists. Há I hope you can understand what I am trying to say! I just think we all need to realize that not all sacrifices are really sacrifices in this life, rather they are opportunities and privileges.
My testimony of this wonderful gospel is growing stronger with each passing day. I love being able to study the scriptures everyday and teach people about our Heavenly Father’s plan. I don't know everything about the gospel, but one thing I do know is that it is TRUE!! I have prayed many times to know if this gospel is true before the mission and during. Every time I pray I feel peace and I know that I am following the right path. I know my testimony will stay this firm after the mission if I do my part to follow the Lord’s commandments. I love you all so much! I hope you all have a wonderful week and see the Lord’s hand in everything!
Com Amor
Sister Poole
All the sisters in the mission!
Sister Poole and Sister Read. HA we look like Spirit children!!
Joelma's kids!!
The lovely party throwers!!
Elder Mackay and Sister Poole, both USU Aggies!
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