Chuva ☔☔☔

 Booom dia!

There has been so much rain up hereeee!! and I think it might just never stop!! I have never once really used my rain coat my whole mission until this week. I love rain but on the mission ela faz com que as coisas sejam um pouco mais difíceis 

Well if you remember from last week, we were supposed to have 3 baptisms this weekend but none of them ended up happening.  On Tuesday to start the week we decided to fast for our friends because we were stressed and scared and wanted everything to work out. and it is true, everything did work out, just not necessarily in the way that we wanted it to. Guilherme and Josue will now be getting baptized in a different ward, the ward they actually belong in (ok it is a LONG story but I'm gonna spare you guys the details and just say that there has been lots of hard convos this week with ward members and sad convos with Guilherme and Josue and their family) and our old portuguese friend Duarte decided that he will not ever pay tithing :/// On the mission, I've been really striving to strengthen my testimony of fasting. I've grown to love the sacrifice. I've learned that as I put off the natural man, my spirit can better yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit (Mosiah 3:19). I saw the biggest difference in my day during this fast on Tuesday. I felt a peace about the week and about the baptisms. I wasn't stressed. The Spirit spoke to my spirit as I was more susceptible to his promptings and comfort. and then by the end of the day and the fast, already all of the baptism had fallen through, but it was okay and we found a lot of peace in Heavenly Father's plan. 

This week we had tons of experiences where we were just in the right place at the right time. On my exchange with Sister Porter we were at the metro station a few minutes early for our lesson and a girl named Angela practically came right up to us and told us that she had been praying to God to know how to come back to His presence and then she ran into us. Sister Nielson and I were calling grey dots and we called Rafael and invited him to church. He told us that earlier that day he had been thinking about how he needs to go back to church and then we called him.

The biggest miracle though was that at church, we were in the hallway in between the first and second hour talking to some members, and I saw a lady about to walk out the front door and the Spirit so clearly put her name into my mind - "Deborah." I ran and caught up to her before she had the chance to walk out and she turned around and I realized that when I was here almost 6 months ago, Sister Larson and I had taught her!!!! Can you believe that?? She said that this was her first time coming back since when Sister Larson and I had taught her. I asked her if she wanted to sit by us during the second hour and she said sim!!! When we taught her before we were so close to marking her baptismal date, but because of her family and her crazy work schedule thinks just didn't work out. But as we were sitting in second hour, I saw that she had been listening to the Book of Mormon on youtube and then after the meeting she was talking about the temple in Fortaleza Brasil (where she is from) and how she really wanted to go to the open house and I was just  I know I came back to Gaia for looots of reasons but Deborah has to be one of them. 

This week we get transfer news on Wednesday night and then transfers are on Friday and then one of our friends we put on date for baptism on my birthday is going to be baptized this Saturday!! Pray for Carlos!! This is my last real transfer news and I'm like 99% sure I'm staying here so não se preocupem. If I do ANOTHER one and done in Gaia  Podem se preocupar. 

I love you guys!!! I can't believe I start my last transfer this week!! I have mixed feelings!!

Sister Menden

Pics!

- it's officially winter now so we can go to the beach!!! Look how pretty

- lots of 0.5 pics on exchanges 

- Guilherme e Joel e Josué! Só faltamos Edmir! ☔☔☔☔