Oi, tudo bem?
This was an incredible week! Mi and her children Ch and Little
Ja will be baptized on the 15th of this month! Ni also committed to baptism on
the 15th! Talk about prepared people!
We are also teaching a girl named An, can't remember if I
mentioned her before. She basically referred herself to be taught by the
missionaries. She is from LA and wants to be around people who don't smoke or
drink, and she had seen Mormon ads before, and she remembers that Mormon people
have always been very friendly to her. In the people we are currently teaching,
there is so much evidence of the importance of member missionary work! Whether someone simply sees you and your life
style and associates it with the LDS church, or whether members are at lessons
with them and friendshipping them! Missionary work is the greatest!
The experience I wanted to share today happened on Friday.
We were knocking on potential investigators' doors...but
nobody seemed to be home! Even though it was beautiful outside! It was rather
strange. As we drove to a different
area, we passed a huge park where there were several people. We pulled over and
decided to get out and make some phone calls, and enjoy the weather, and be somewhere
where people could see and approach us. After
finishing that, we decided to walk into the more concentrated park area, where
the playground was. There were so many people! We were terrified. As we got out
of the car, I laughed a little as I remembered the verse we had shared with a
family the night before. 1 Nephi 4:6 "And I was led by the Spirit, not
knowing beforehand the things which I should do." So we went! We talked to
a man with a nice white dog and his daughter. He was friendly and catholic.
Some of the first people we saw who we kept passing while at the park were a
man in a wheel chair and a woman beside him with dark curly hair. We also kept
seeing a blonde woman with her dark haired teenage son. We talked to a man
sitting on a bench. He was very friendly, and served at a nondenominational
Christian church in our area. He kindly
told us that we had different beliefs. Sister
S then talked in Spanish with a mother pushing her son on a swing. They were
really friendly! We talked to a couple people as we made our way around the
park. After making the rounds and heading to leave, we noticed we were behind
the woman with dark curly hair and the man in the wheel chair again. He was
rolling himself up a steeper little area, and Sister S commented that he was
very strong! He (Jo) and the woman (Di)
smiled but didn't seem to hear/understand. As we got closer to the parking lot
and were near them again, I said something like "It's a beautiful day!
Have a nice one!" They just smiled, very friendly. Finally Sister S asked
"Habla espanol?" Do you speak Spanish? Di smiled and said
"Brazil." I spun around and said "Brazil??!!" I asked
"Fala Portuguese?" Do you speak Portuguese? She got excited and
started speaking to us in Portuguese! It
was my first time hearing Portuguese from a native speaker! It was so
beautiful! And a little bit more difficult to understand! It was so wonderful!
She was so excited to hear I was going to Belem. She said "ha muito
quente" (it's really warm/hot) and when I told her my mission was the
whole state of Para, she said the whole thing is “super quente!” Soon, the
blonde woman (Si) and the dark haired son (Lu) joined us too! Turns out they
were all from Brazil. It was the neatest thing! They were the kindest people!
After we had gotten in our car and were sitting there, the
woman with the curly hair came to the window with another woman, Ma (who spoke
more English). Ma said that Di wanted to invite us over some time. So she gave
us their address and phone number.
We called them the next day, and went over that night. They
told us about Brazil. Di and Jo are from Rio de Janeiro (Sister A is going
there!), and Si and her son Lu are from Sao Paulo. Ma and her husband live here
in Texas, and the others were just visiting. They are returning to Brazil on
the 5th. They asked us about missionaries and told us all about Belem and the
giant mosquitos and the rain and humidity, and the fish and the people! Before we left, we shared the message of the
first vision. It felt incredible to be able to teach them in Portuguese and to
share the first vision in Joseph Smith's words. We showed them the Portuguese
Book of Mormon online. Di said her dad has one in Brazil! Di and Jo especially
were very receptive it seemed. Di and Si are both in the navy. After the first time Sister S and I had met
Di, we had asked each other, "Did you SEE the light in her eyes?? She is
ready!!" They really did have an incredible light in their eyes. We sang
"Grandioso es Tu" for them (How Great Thou Art).
I feel so blessed to have met them! As I first met, and then
got to teach them, I felt a huge love for these people! The Spirit testified to
me that God has work for me to do in Brazil! I love these people so much! And
the feeling of meeting Brazilians for the first time and hearing their
Portuguese is hard to describe! It was a tender mercy of the Lord that taught
me that I am in the right place right now, and someday will also serve in
Brazil!
I love being a missionary! I love the people here! And I
love the people of Brazil!
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true!
Hope all is well!
Com amor, Sister Greenall
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