MANY MISSION MIRACLES

Olá! The first thing I see on the computer is that my dear Uncle S. died. What sad news. He will be missed. I am so excited to be able to speak face to face with you all in 3 weeks! I want to hear how you are all doing and tell you about Brazil. This time of year is crazy. This week we will have transfer calls. De novo!(again) and transfers are next week with our Christmas conference that same week. Time is flying. I am trying my best to make my emails better, but as a missionary we really don't have time to write everything. After writing the president, punching in the weekly numbers, and seeing who wrote, we don't have any time. A couple weeks ago the timer started beeping that I only had 10 seconds left and I needed to send something to you all, so i just said "love you all" and sent it off. It's tough with the time we have. Any missionary would know. Honestly, I am having a hard time writing in English. I think I want to just write in Portuguese and you can use Google Translate. It would be a lot easier for me :-).

Andando na chuva! estávamos molhadas(Walking the rain. We are soaked!)

Funny things that happened this week:- Whacked my face into a wet tree branch with a ton of people in the street. My companion couldn't breathe she was laughing so hard.

This week was literally a miracle. Every single day had a miracle in it. 

-Visited a less active and talked to her about her family and then I questioned "Sister Magali, "Have you already been working on your tree?" (family history)....she says, "No, she needs help"...comes back with her Christmas tree....hahahaha

T. - she's 14 years old and we've been teaching her for a while now. She reads the Book of Mormon and prays, but won't come to church. We planned on cutting her and moving on so that we don't waste time with someone that doesn't really want to change. But, when we got there we asked her one last time if she had prayed about these things and to our surprise, she said she had prayed and felt a calm feeling that was so powerful that she cried. Wow what a response it was an amazing lesson all of Friday was just a huge miracle

J. - she is so sweet and has such a cute little family. We planned on teaching her about the word of wisdom, but in the middle of the opening prayer the spirit told us that she needs to hear about temples and about eternal families. She told us she wants to be baptized and she received an answer. Miracle.

 

Happy in the street after witnessing a miracle 

L. - we are now as missionaries sharing a Christmas video called "Nacio el Salvador" the whole world is using and we were wondering what to do one day after all of our lessons fell through. So we started tracting and I felt the need to talk to a lady sitting with her dog. We were weren't instantly accepted, but she let us in. We shared a video with her and she said she felt something different. She prayed for us by calling us angels and thanked us a ton. Miracle.

O. - we planned to visit a less active, but he wasn't home. This means God has other plans for us. We started walking down the street and thought of O.. She is the mother of I., the boy who was baptized. We walked by her house and it looked like she had visitors, so we stopped and prayed to know what to do. Immediately, we both had the impression that we needed to visit her. It started raining and so we hurried in to her home. She welcomed us in and we saw she didn't have visitors. Immediately after we entered her home, the rain stopped. God really was leading us to her home. We did not know what to share with her, but a scripture came into my mind – D.&C. 121:7–8. As I flipped to the page, my companion gasped with the look of shock on her face, she said, "I was thinking about the same scripture." We talked about trials and with tears in her eyes she expressed her gratitude for us. Told us she wants to go to church every Sunday, and that she feels calm\alleviated when we visit her. She shared with us the feelings and her heart and the things she is struggling with. We just listened. Didn't say much. But the spirit taught her.

M. – we have been working a ton with her. She believes in everything but doesn't fulfill commitments. But randomly, we felt we needed to stop by her home. We shared a message about Joseph Smith and just as we were about to say the closing prayer, she says, "Sisters, I have been praying a ton and I'm trying to receive answers. The other day I received an answer that this church is true. I miss the church and the feelings I have there and your visits. I have been feeling like something has been missing, and I know it is the church. I want to be baptized, but not yet. I want to go to church every Sunday and soon be baptized." Miracle.

This Sunday was the best Sunday. M. came to church with all of her kids. Two less actives we were teaching came and bore their testimony. We bore our testimonies. I. bore testimony, and shared his conversion story. Everyone was moved. A woman in our area came to church we had never met her but she just felt to come to church and came alone. It was so amazing.

Nossa cappella (our chapel)

 

A cute little girl that dressed up for us hahaha We love her so much!

I love this work. I love these Gauchos more than anything. We are working so much and seeing the spirit work within us to bless those children here in Santiago. Every week when our district leader calls us he is in shock at our numbers and how many amazing experiences we have. Truly this is God's work. He uses his children, who don't know much and blesses lives. I could not be more grateful for the many experiences we have daily, the blessings God gives us as missionaries and members, and for the priceless time I have personally to be a witness of Him. As I look back to when I first came into the mission, I can see how much God changes us and mold us into who He wants us to be. I know He lives. I know His plan is so much greater than we can ever imagine. His gospel and love for us is perfect. Ever since I was a little girl, I always wanted to be a missionary and share with others the knowledge that we have. I can't believe I'm here actually doing what I've always dreamed of. I love Brazil. I love my Savior. This church is true. Remember Him always and He will direct you to what you need to do. I love you all!

Ten um a boa semana! Sister Porter

Bus station on my way to Santiago, it's a way old pic but I thought you'd like.   

 Our view walking to lunch.