Miracles are Real!

                                                                                                                   March 14, 2016

Hi family!!!

Last week we celebrated Sis. Cellurale's 8 month mark in the mission field!
We love our missions!! 



There are so many funny things that have happened to me this past week that I want to share.

First, a less-active member named Maria we were teaching won´t stop talking about an elder who taught her in the past that she thinks I should marry. She says that we are practically the same person--the same personality, but he taught her in the far past, so it is very likely that he is married right now. haha, she is absolutely hilarious.



Another funny experience: We are teaching Donna Ester, who is 79 years old, and we also found another elderly man this past week who is 81 years old named Luiz, and has much interest in the gospel. He is the cutest old man who wouldn´t stop smiling while we were teaching the lesson. Anyway, we asked Ester if she would be interested in dating, and she beamed from head to toe, and said YES!! Why NOT?? We are going to see if Luiz would be interested in dating as well, and pair them up haha.. Match making isn´t a part of the mission, but if it brings families together and makes others happy...WHY NOT??
 

GUESS WHAT???? Maria Luisa accepted baptism this past monday!!! She chose the date of April 10th to be baptized (Abby´s birthday), and her grandson, Rafael, who she admires very much as a young man with a strong testimony, is going to baptize her.



At the beginning of the conversation we had with her, she was really sad, and we asked her what she was lacking in her life. She said, Peace, and we testified of the power of baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost to be our constant comforter. We told her that we had talked with her grandson about him being willing to baptize her, and how excited he was to have the opportunity to baptize her. She began to cry, and immediately said, ´´vou´´--in other words, I´m going to be baptized. She chose the date because she wanted her baptism to be near Easter, and right now we are going to help her quit drinking coffee. She has been sick these past few days, so we haven´t been able to teach her.



This past week I served with another sister for a brief split in another area.

I went on splits with Sister Rodrigues, my "aunt" in the mission

 

 

Although I enjoyed teaching with Sis. Rodrigues, I missed seeing Maria Luisa. She has such a sweet spirit, and just wants to do what is right in her life, and we are so relieved that she accepted baptism.

 

Thank you for your prayers!! 




 

Donna Ester went to church yesterday (Stake Conference), and she loved it. She always talks about ´´her baptism´´ but won´t accept a date to be baptized yet. Hopefully we will be able to mark her for baptism this week, and her heart will be open to being baptized soon. 

WE FOUND AN ELECT FAMILY!!!! Miracles are real! One night, a man about 45 years old was walking his dog, and I decided to talk to him, and ask him if he already was familiar with the Church. He basically flipped around the conversation, and asked us how we could mark a visit with him and his family. He really wanted his children to be a part of the lesson, so we scheduled a time when his entire family could be there. He and his wife have two children--Gabriella, who is 12 years old, and has my SAME birthday and Gustavo, who is almost 9 years old in April. The husband´s name is Ricardo, and the wife´s, Eliza. I have never seen a family pay more attention in a lesson than this one. They are truly those prepared by Heavenly Father. Tomorrow night we are going to teach them with another family from the ward. Heavenly Father is really watching over us in this area. 

There are days that we rarely find people in their homes, and we are often rejected on the street because people don´t want to talk to us, but we persevere. What gets me through each day is prayer. I don´t know what I would do without Heavenly Father in the mission. He is at the head of the work, and when we recognize His hand in all things, we see the heavens open, and we find true happiness. Losing Himself in the service of others is the role of our Heavenly Father. We can be happy like our Heavenly Father when we, too, lose ourselves by serving others. 

I want to share a few more pictures:



A sister named Vitoria, (a member who might serve a mission) worked with us one day.
She is planning on studying at BYU or BYU Idaho pretty soon.



Sis. Cellurale and I with the Bishop's wife, Sonya 

Picture of an adorable family in our Ward.
Sis. Isabel and her two children.



Sis. Cellurale and I having fun with her kids

 

Yesterday, after Church, I was reading an article from this past General Conference, and learned that it is essential to repent every day in order to feel the Spirit. When we forget about the Savior´s ability to make it possible for us to talk with our Heavenly Father and ask for forgiveness, it is very difficult to be happy in this life and to feel the love of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ by way of the Spirit. We need to recognize our faults each day in order to prepare ourselves to partake of the Sacrament each week, and not just wait to change/repent each Sunday during the passing of the Sacrament. 

I know that Christ lives, and loves each and every one of us. I am counting down the days until General Conference, because I am anxious to feast on the words of our Prophet and chosen Servants of the Lord.

 

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Thank you for your prayers, your kind words, YOUR TESTIMONIES, and your love!! 

Sister Harris