October 28, 2019

Nephites and Lamanites

I am liking the Spring here! The sun is hot but there is normally a good breeze and it cools down at night and in the morning. Also, my tan is coming back so that is nice.

Shout-out to my really incredible cousin, Sofia, who celebrated being cancer and fungus free after a very long, difficult 5 year journey. She is an example of strong faith, resilience, and strength in the Lord. She really exemplifies the verse ´´I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.´´

Last week Sister Costa and I said farewells as she returned home and I received my new companion, Sister Conceição! She is awesome and very funny! She is from a state close by called Meninas Giras and she talks a lot and is always very positive about life, she is great.

We worked a lot this week and one day we were able to talk to 45 people! Only about 10 people were interested in hearing more about the Book of Mormon and Sister Conceição calls these people ´´Nephites´´ while the others ´´lamanites´´. Hahhaha it is so funny because she will ask in our morning prayers that the people we meet will be Nephites, their hearts open to hearing the gospel. So we end up having days where the people are more like Lamanites and days where the people are more like Nephites. 

We were able to meet some members that haven´t been to church in some time and one of them is Yasmin, who is 15 years old and wanted to come back to church. Sunday we went by her house to walk with her to church, and after church when we were walking back with her she was super happy and was already planning to wear a skirt next Sunday. The Lord truly knows our hearts and and desires and He wants to bless us.

 A group of member missionaries in our ward went and visited a less active and his family to see if they were needing anything. The father said he felt uncomfortable coming to church because he was still not married to his girlfriend but that they are living together. He wants to get married soon so that he can worthily partake of the Sacrament and be more faithful to the Lord. I am so grateful that we have a loving Heavenly Father who is preoccupied with each one of us and wants us to sincerely thrive and grow in this life as it is a time to prepare to be worthy to live in His presence one day.

I invite each of us to think of new ways to serve those we minister to and pray to our God to know what they are needing, so that we can be better instruments in His hands this week and show that we want to follow His commandments with faith and love.

My week was really great!! my companion is super great and we laugh a lot! She has a strong accent with the ´´r´´ so I am learning how to say ´´r´´s with more force, it is cool. We made a ton of contacts and visited our couple that will get married next Saturday and be baptized the day after so they are excited! We got a new missionary leader who is excited to work and plan activities so that will be super helpful in helping our ward grow! I had to jump over a cockroach that almost tried to climb up my leg Thursday night as we were walking home, but other than that I was bug free. I am not an STL this transfer but Sister Miller told me I will be one soon...... We met a man yesterday that had visited the church one time and liked it but it had been awhile since he went. We gave him a book of Mormon and asked if we could visit him and his family and he agreed and as we were walking away, he started reading the book. it was so neat to know how much peace will come into his life because of that book. I know that it is the word of God and is an instrument in this great work!

Love you all! 

-Sister Giles


fotos: one week for the kittens! and there is a really delicious fruit here in Brasil called Jabuticaba and it looks like a giant blueberry but you only suck out the insides....it is super fun and good!