Week 70 - June 4, 2018

This week was FULL of miracles. First, through a lot of prayer and fasting and A LOT of walking, we were able to bring a sizable number of investigators to church, despite the fact that it was FREEZING this Sunday morning (and usually, the ward attendance- of members and investigators- significantly drops in the winter here, because no one wants to get out of bed). We also had a ward activity on Thursday, a ward family night, to which we'd invited all of our investigators. Well, the majority of them said they wouldn't be able to go, but one family (that one that lives in the neighborhood where everyone is of Native American descent) said they would. The three sisters and their mom showed up, but the surprise was that they all brought their boyfriends and some friends and aunts and cousins. We ended up having 14 investigators at the activity! It was so COOL. 

We also started teaching a golden investigator this week. His name is Júlio, his girlfriend is a member, but had been inactive for a few years. He had had some serious problems with substance abuse a few years ago, but his family helped him go to a rehab center that focused a lot on God and religion. When he left rehab, the first thing he wanted to do wanted to do was search for a closer relationship with God. When he told his girlfriend that, she knew it was time for her to come back to the church and bring him with her. And now we're teaching him and they're so cute and I love them so much. I love seeing how the Lord prepares His children to receive the gospel, I think that's been my favorite part of serving a mission.

Oh, also, included in the photos I sent: We found this CRAZY wall of graffiti in our area. Just look at the picture and you'll understand why it's crazy. We think that the artist somehow ended up with a pass-along card and decided to repaint it, but we're pretty sure that he/she had no idea they were painting a scene from the BoM.

The not-so-good part of our week: the trucker strike continues. Luckily it's not affecting us personally, but Jean Bingham (Primary General Pres.) was gonna come to our zone conference, and now she's not because of the food/gas storage :( And apparently the truckers are letting a little bit of gas come into the city so that people can still get to work and such, but there's not enough for everyone, so cars are waiting in lines stretching for like 10 blocks to get to the gas station. A member told us that she stayed overnight for 12 hours in a line to get gas. 12 HOURS YOU GUYS. This really is the apocalypse.

But, it really was a great week. I still love Brazil! I love my mission! I love all of you!

Sister Coleman