I felt like this week i went through a huge whirlwind and finally just got out of it!
This week I had my first baptism! I am pretty sure that I mentioned her name before but it was R. The beginning of the week leading up to the baptism was just straight hectic though, R of course has been trying to stop drinking her coffee but it was super hard for her to do since she has to take care of all of her grandchildren,clean,cook and which just seems like everything. You know being a mom haha. Well when we would go over each day she would tell us that she just couldn't do it and it was literally impossible. I knew R was strong so we really challenged her this week to stop. Then the next visit was the day she was getting interviewed for baptism.
Sister Wood and I were sitting down after a long day of fasting and R's daughter called us and told us to call R ASAP. When we got on the phone she said to us " I am giving up on the baptism". Our hearts dropped because we knew that she could stop drinking coffee with some help from the Lord. We told her we were coming over right then. Long story short, she felt super overwhelmed as she had the elders coming over and the house was a mess. She found out about some more family problems and really we just had to take the pressure off her shoulders. We knocked some sense into her and she realized she was just stressed. After we talked, we helped around the house and got her ready for the interview. Oh man she was lit up like a light she was so happy after the interview. She is one special woman! Afterwards we then had to leave and go to a bunch of lessons and make treats for her baptism, call people to come and join us for her special day. It's just really tough because the only church building with a font was the one 20 minutes away, so getting people there was tough.
The day of the baptism we walked in her house and she stopped and told us to come look in her kitchen, we had no idea why. She said for us to "look" and all we saw were dishes and food. What she then said was amazing...She said she prayed how we taught her to pray, sincerely asking for help, for comfort. As soon as she ended the prayer, she went in her kitchen and threw her coffee maker out the window. (Faith without works is dead! You got to take that first step and the Lord will bless you) We were all laughing so hard and really proud of her.
The day of her baptism was hectic/amazing. Her 20 year old daughter came and brought her 2 children along. During the baptism she leaned over to show us her goosebumps and she was crying. We knew she felt the spirit during the baptism. Huge tender mercy is that N (R's daughter) is moving back in with R! So you can keep her in your prayers we are going to try and start teaching her as well. I am really so stoked for this family!
Besides all of this, I have never felt this tired in my whole life. I felt like this week I didn't even stop once. I don't mind that feeling at all. Today I got to look back on everything that happened... we had accomplished all of our weekly goals and everyday we met our daily goals. We had 12 new people this week and that was huge for us because we had a baptism to prepare for.
Another fun fact... a new investigator (someone who wants to learn about the Gospel) we are teaching, his name is J and he used to be a pro. soccer player for the team her in Portugal called "sports". I am stoked to talk to him and all about his career! As of right now he is in his 60s and only has one leg. He said he would tell us all about it in our next visit. I am really excited!
The Lord is providing for the area of Vila Franca! Much love to you all AND HAPPY Birthday to Austin!!!!!! The big 22 i hope you had a good one.
Till Next Week!
-Sister Elliott
This week I had my first baptism! I am pretty sure that I mentioned her name before but it was R. The beginning of the week leading up to the baptism was just straight hectic though, R of course has been trying to stop drinking her coffee but it was super hard for her to do since she has to take care of all of her grandchildren,clean,cook and which just seems like everything. You know being a mom haha. Well when we would go over each day she would tell us that she just couldn't do it and it was literally impossible. I knew R was strong so we really challenged her this week to stop. Then the next visit was the day she was getting interviewed for baptism.
Sister Wood and I were sitting down after a long day of fasting and R's daughter called us and told us to call R ASAP. When we got on the phone she said to us " I am giving up on the baptism". Our hearts dropped because we knew that she could stop drinking coffee with some help from the Lord. We told her we were coming over right then. Long story short, she felt super overwhelmed as she had the elders coming over and the house was a mess. She found out about some more family problems and really we just had to take the pressure off her shoulders. We knocked some sense into her and she realized she was just stressed. After we talked, we helped around the house and got her ready for the interview. Oh man she was lit up like a light she was so happy after the interview. She is one special woman! Afterwards we then had to leave and go to a bunch of lessons and make treats for her baptism, call people to come and join us for her special day. It's just really tough because the only church building with a font was the one 20 minutes away, so getting people there was tough.
The day of the baptism we walked in her house and she stopped and told us to come look in her kitchen, we had no idea why. She said for us to "look" and all we saw were dishes and food. What she then said was amazing...She said she prayed how we taught her to pray, sincerely asking for help, for comfort. As soon as she ended the prayer, she went in her kitchen and threw her coffee maker out the window. (Faith without works is dead! You got to take that first step and the Lord will bless you) We were all laughing so hard and really proud of her.
The day of her baptism was hectic/amazing. Her 20 year old daughter came and brought her 2 children along. During the baptism she leaned over to show us her goosebumps and she was crying. We knew she felt the spirit during the baptism. Huge tender mercy is that N (R's daughter) is moving back in with R! So you can keep her in your prayers we are going to try and start teaching her as well. I am really so stoked for this family!
Besides all of this, I have never felt this tired in my whole life. I felt like this week I didn't even stop once. I don't mind that feeling at all. Today I got to look back on everything that happened... we had accomplished all of our weekly goals and everyday we met our daily goals. We had 12 new people this week and that was huge for us because we had a baptism to prepare for.
Another fun fact... a new investigator (someone who wants to learn about the Gospel) we are teaching, his name is J and he used to be a pro. soccer player for the team her in Portugal called "sports". I am stoked to talk to him and all about his career! As of right now he is in his 60s and only has one leg. He said he would tell us all about it in our next visit. I am really excited!
The Lord is providing for the area of Vila Franca! Much love to you all AND HAPPY Birthday to Austin!!!!!! The big 22 i hope you had a good one.
Till Next Week!
-Sister Elliott