Week 25 - July 24, 2017

Well, friends, it's finally happened: I've been transferred. This morning I left São Jerônimo and arrived in Porto Alegre: I'm still waiting here in Porto Alegre because the bus for my new area, Don Pedrito, won' t leave until later. So, I don't know much about my new area, expect that it's a 7 hour bus ride from here and that it's super cold. My companion in the MTC, Sister Pertab, just finished serving there and says it's a great area, so I'm excited!

I'm feeling super good about going to a new area. It was sad to leave São Jerônimo because I'd been there 4 and a half months and had really grown to love the people....but I'm not gonna lie, it was a hard area. I didn't baptize anyone and the brach was super small, but I learned a lot and I know I needed to start my mission there. There was a good amount of tears (mostly on my part) as I said goodbye to everyone, especially this little 4 year old boy named Lucas who started bawling when I told him I would be leaving, so that was super sad. But I'll come back one day and adopt him.

My companion this last transfer, Sister Riberio, stayed in São Jerônimo, and my new companion is Sister N. Souza. She's from São Paulo and has been on her mission for a year and 2 months. Other than that, I don't know much about her, because we just met about 10 minutes ago, but she seems super cool and I'm excited for what lies ahead.

I want to share an experience that I had on Sunday, because it was one of the biggest miracles I've seen so far on my mission. There's a recent convert in São Jerônimo named V., who's around 80 years old and has a load of health problems. It's hard for him to walk more than a few steps without sitting down after. He owns a horse and a cart, which he normally uses to get to church on Sundays, but this week there was some problem with the cart and he wasn't able to use it. Had we known, we would've tried to find a ride for him, but he didn't tell anyone. Instead, he started walking to church at 6:30 in the morning to get there on time (9 o'clock), using a stick he picked up off the ground to help him walk. For us, it takes about 20 minutes to get from his house to the church, but with his pace it took about an hour and a half. When we went to unlock the chapel in the morning and saw him waiting, I almost cried. That man has more faith and more determination to keep God's commandments than almost anyone I've ever met.

So just remember next time you don't feel like going to church, that it's a lot easier for you because you have two perfectly functioning legs and a car!

I love my mission, I love this gospel, and I love my Savior.

Amo vocês, e estou com saudades de vocês também! 

Sister Coleman