Week 75 - July 9, 2018

"E ao terminar nossa grande missão, descanso teremos na bela Sião.... Adeus, ó Babilônia, nos vamos partir, sagrada missão precisamos cumprir."

English Translation:  And at the end of our great mission, we shall have rest in beautiful Zion .... Goodbye, O Babylon, we are going to leave, sacred mission we must fulfill

(Lyrics to Elders of Israel in Portuguese, makes me cry when I sing it, super beautiful, go look up what it means if you don't speak Portuguese.)

Sisters Amazonas and Coleman

Well, folks, the end is near, two more p-days after this one. I don't know how many more of these public updates I'll be able to send, because it seems that everyone who neglected to write me for my whole mission is now trying to make up for it, so I don't have as much time to write everyone. Therefore, I think this is the second to last update I'll be sending. I would like to thank all my faithful readers (even if you are just one of my cousins whose parents forced you read it every week) for sticking with me to the end. I've not been able to express even a portion of what I've learned and felt and experienced on my mission, but I hope you've been able to feel how much I love these people, this country, this mission, this gospel, and most of all, my Savior. I've come to know Him and love Him more than ever, and little by little, I'm learning to be more like Him, which is, after all, the purpose of all this.

With Pres. & Sister Souza, new mission president.

A quick update on what's happened the past few weeks: two of the daughters from that Native American family we're teaching got baptized, Natiele and Natiane (17 and 16 years old). We're still working with the parents and other two siblings, but it looks like the family will be moving to another part of Porto Alegre in a few weeks, so I hope the missionaries there will take good care of them, because I feel so strongly that the whole family will be baptized and one day sealed, because they truly deserve the blessings of an eternal family. 

Natiane's Baptism

The baptism of Natiele was an especially touching experience for me. She told me afterward that, as she entered the water, all of her sins and mistakes were running through her mind. And in the moment the bishop (who was baptizing her) started the prayer, she started saying a prayer in her mind, really asking God to forgive her of everything and let her be clean and free. As she prayed, she started crying, and as she was lifted from the water, she says she felt better than she'd ever felt in her life. Clean, pure, light, forgiven. 

Natiele's Baptism

This was a great reminder to me that what we do in the church- get baptized, take the sacrament, go to the temple- doesn't have any meaning or magic in and of itself. It all depends on us, on our attitude and understanding and obedience and how we act to fulfill those covenants we make. The baptismal waters aren't magical, it's just water. And the sacrament is just bread and water. And the church is just a building. Unless we choose to make it something more, unless we humble ourselves and make that baptism, sacrament, church meeting, etc., something life-changing and significant. Natiele became a new person, she was born again, because she was willing to take the necessary steps to abandon her sins and mistakes. Do we go through that same thought process every time we take the sacrament or perform another ordinance? That girl really is a great example to me.

Young Women at Ward Activity

Some other things that have happened: everyone's sad because Brazil lost the World Cup, but I'm low key happy about it because it means people won't use "watching the game" as an excuse for not letting us in their houses anymore. We had a conference with our new mission president last week. They're both very spiritual and excited to be here, I like them both a lot, even though I won't get to work with them for very long. 

View from the top of a hill near the
Native American Villiage is located.

Hope you all have an excellent week :)

Sister Coleman