Batismo de Yvens 🤗🤗

 

Hi!! 

Cutie Yvens got baptized this week!! YAYAYAY!!!

Every week on Tuesdays, we do service!! Real life service! We go to this place called Refood that everyday, takes all the leftover food from all of the pastelarias that would normally be thrown out and we divide it all up and put it into containers for people's families. Kind of like Brainfood in AZ. Service makes my heart happy 

Our aula de ingles this week was sooo good. I almost peed my pants hearing this guy with all of his might try to say elephant without a Brazilian accent. These people are so tender. Sister Cornell had this convo with this old man who speaks literally no english.

"Do you have any pets?"

"Yes, I have a cow."

"Oh really?"

"Ya. Milk forever." 

I'm sorry? Where did he learn that??

We had a video call lesson with this old Portuguese man or as Sister Oliphant calls em, creeper time-wasters, and bro the whole time he was just trying to one up us. We started our lesson with a prayer and then he asked if he could pray and gave us a good little Pai Nosso, one of the memorized Catholic prayers. We would read a scripture trying to explain what a prophet is, and he would would open to a random page in the Book of Mormon and make sure we read along as he preached a scripture about Ammon that he had never read before.  Me praying for patience during that lesson so hard. 

You know it's a good day when you wake up and it's a UV index of 7 and you have a division with Sister Cornell  Best day ever!! It was so fun to see how much we both have grown!! Unfortunately all of our lessons fell through, so we hit the rua and it was just like the good old days  

And the highlight of the week for sure, Yvens baptism!! Guys preparing someone for baptism is actually a lot of work!! and then teaching them after baptism is also a lot of work!! I don't think I ever realized that before the mish. Well there's lots of things I didn't realize before the mish, but this is one of them.

His baptism was on Saturday, starting at 16h but homeboy didn't show up until 16h45  That was not the most awesomest thing ever you should've seen my nervous sweats but we made it!! We had a cute little program, I played a muscial number on the piano, and after I finished and sat down, Yvens said to me "Uaaau tocou divinamente!" So tender ugh. After the ordinance of the baptism Yvens shared his testimony and he is amazing. I wasn't here yet, but after his first lesson with Sister Larson and her old comp, he texted them saying he wants to be baptized. He said that he knew the gospel was true and that it was (and is) something he wants to be a part of for forever. Like I said a couple weeks ago, it really is just so amazing to see someone discover the joys of the gospel, and to make their first covenant with God!

Na verdade, as part of my new year's resolution to be more intentional, this transfer I'm focusing on being more intentional with my covenants that I've made!! Guys I love my covenants!! I started tearing up talking to Sister Cornell this week because I miss doing endowment sessions in the temple. Our baptismal covenant, the covenants we make in the temple, are sooo important.  Sometimes I sit and pray and thank our Heavenly Father for the growth that I've seen in myself on the mission. I had a testimony of this gospel before the mission, but I am so grateful for my understanding now of my covenants and of the doctrines of the gospel and my relationship with our Savior. In the guide to the scriptures in the back of the Portuguese Book of Mormon, under covenant it says, "The Lord's people are a covenant-making people." I love the simplicity and power of that statement. Here is my faaavorite scripture as of right now!

1 Nephi 14:14

"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory."

I love how it says the literal power of the Lamb of God is upon the covenant people, and that those people, are scattered upon allll of the face of the earth. From the covenant people of the Lord in Gilby az all the way to the covenant people of the Lord in Portugal, and they are armed with righteousness and the power of God in such great glory. Suuuch a happy day to see Yvens enter into the fold of God and start on the covenant path. 

Claro que amo vocês,

Sister Menden

It's a great day to live in Europe look at those prices on the bread