This week was good.
We were able to teach some investigators and less active and recent
converts which all went well. Probably the most is exciting is that
Alba is on date to be baptized!!!! Sister Lewis and I found Alba and
started teaching her back in July and she was golden but she had to
get divorced from her husband and marry her boyfriend and it has just
been a long process. I taught her until I left in September and then I
was able to teach her again when I came back in December. She and her
boyfriend are going to get married on February 20th and then Alba and
her 10 year old son, Gio, are going to get baptized on February 28th!!
I am so excited!! And I get to attend her wedding!! It's so amazing.
After she is baptized I will send a nice big email all about her
because it is such a cool story. She is amazing and I love her. Her
boyfriend is super supportive and comes to church but wants to receive
his own answer before being baptized which is great. We don't want to
baptize anyone who isn't ready. Yay Alba and Gio! (: (:
On Friday night we finished a lesson with a less active member at
8:15pm and we are supposed to be out proselyting until 8:30 before
heading home unless we are teaching a lesson then we just need to be
home by 9:30. After the lesson we drove really quickly to a referral's
house. We got there right at 8:30 so we ignored our watches and ran to
the door. The woman, named Margarete, answered the door and let us in.
She is from Brazil and is here with her husband and she speaks
Portuguese and very limited English since she's only been here seven
months. We gave her a Portuguese Book of Mormon and that we
specifically brought and we taught her about the Book of Mormon in
very simple, broken English. She was so sweet and receptive and even
after we were done teaching she had us stay longer just to talk. She
is super sweet. No wonder Brazil has over a million members. There are
some Portuguese speakers in the Ward so we are going to start bringing
them to future lessons with her.
Before we taught Margarete, we visited Sister Bean. She is the one
with the giant iguana and the bearded dragons who roam her apartment.
She also has a tarantula. Thankfully it isn't allowed to roam the
apartment. She's a very sweet, funny lady. I like her a lot. She was
wearing a night gown and I made a comment of how I've always wanted a
night gown and almost asked for one for Christmas but forgot. At the
end of the lesson, she went into her room and then came out with a bag
of four night gowns that she never wears anymore and gave them to me.
I was so super happy and excited. When we got home, each of us four
sisters picked one out to have. I love my night gown, it's so cozy.
Sunday night was Night of Music and Inspiration. My companion, Sister
Busath, was in charge of it. We spent a lot of time during shift at
the VC working on it. The theme was "God is Love." It ended up being a
really great performance. I accompanied four sisters singing "God is
Love" to the tune of "For the Beauty of the Earth." For the very last
song, Sister Hermosillo and I sang, "O, My Father" to the tune of
"Come Thou Fount." We were all about switching tunes. I was really
happy to sing since I don't really get to as much since I play the
piano and even if I do sing it's in big groups so it was nice for me
to just sing my heart out and Sister Hermosillo to harmonize. I loved
the theme of God is Love. I have had my doubts about Joseph Smith and
even Jesus Christ just like everyone else. People who think that we
are brainwashed are sorely mistaken. I have read anti stuff about
Joseph Smith and get it thrown at me all the time and I have had
struggles with the concept of Jesus Christ and His atonement. But I
have always had a testimony of God. I know He is my Father and that He
loves me. I have had countless answers to prayer. If you want a list
then email me and I will literally write a list of every single answer
to prayer that I can remember I've received throughout my life. Maybe
part of the reason is just because I have always had a really close
bond with my parents and so I love and understand the idea that I have
Heavenly Parents too. Also, my faith grows with every answer to
prayer. He has helped me through everything and get me to where I am
today. I love God.
Today we had our zone activity. It was a murder mystery. We had
everyone come and acted like it was a talent show but while the first
elder was doing his talent he got shot and killed. There were 12 of us
involved including me who were on stage and could have been the
murderer and so for the rest of the activity while everyone ate they
questioned us to find out who the murderer was, how he/she got a gun,
etc. My role was to be bipolar and I knew that a sister had a code to
a gun safe and she gave it to another sister who gave it to an elder
who killed the elder because he was going to tell on them for going to
a Super Bowl party that they weren't supposed to go to. However, no
one believed me when I tried to tell them because I was bi polar. I
would give people super obvious hints as I sat at their table talking
to them and they would just be like "she's crazy" and ask if I had
taken my medication. I think me and the other actors had the most fun
because we were just acting out and one minute I would be screaming at
someone and the next being sweet and it was super funny. I thoroughly
enjoyed being bipolar for a morning. No one ended up guessing right
but it was still fun. After that, we went home and sister Busath and I
slept for over 3 hours, shopped, and now we are emailing real fast
before P day ends. It's been a good day.
"For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the word of Christ, which
will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss, as it was for
our fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them
a straight course to the promised land.
And now I say, is there not a type in this thing? For just as surely
as this director did bring our fathers, by following its course, to
the promised land, shall the words of Christ, if we follow their
course, carry us beyond this vale of sorrow into a far better land of
promise.
"O my son, do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the
way; for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them,
that if they would look they might live; even so it is with us. The
way is prepared, and if we will look we may live forever.
"And now, my son, see that ye take care of these sacred things, yea,
see that ye look to God and live. Go unto this people and declare the
word, and be sober. My son, farewell"(Alma 37:44-47).
Stew over that scripture for a while. It's a good one. Let's all be obedient!
Have a happy Valentine's Day!
Love, Sister Black
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