WEEK 45: April 22, 2019 "MIRACLES GENTE"

Capão do Leão

OIIII PESSOAL

This week was really good, Actually miraculous!! I don't know if I told y’all but we are trying to open a group in Capão do Leão!! But, we didn't have a place to hold the meetings. So this week we prayed and fasted and talked to the city government and then, out of nowhere, and INVESTIGATOR offered his house to use. And it just ran from there. The stake president called priesthood holders to help us and everything. Our stake president is AMAZING!!! He got chairs, a pulpit, everything. Our first official meeting will be THIS SUNDAY!!!!

The second miracle was Gladys! I will confess, when I met Gladys, I thought she would not progress. She goes to the church, "Universal." (I think she means an “eternal investigator”) She accepted a baptismal date like, "well if God appears before me and says that this is the true church, I will be baptized." So I didn't have a lot of faith. I got humbled BIG TIME!!! So we returned to follow up with her and asked if she prayed to know about the plan of Salvation. She said she prayed but didn't feel like she got an answer, so we asked how she felt after the prayer and she said, "Actually, I had a dream the night after you guys left. I was walking on a road that for some reason I knew led to heaven. I met an angel and he told me that I had to find the path that had bread and water. I didn't understand so I asked my pastor and he said that God doesn't answer prayer through dreams and dreams don't come from Heaven. But I know that dream was from God. But I don't understand." GENTE I felt like Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Interpreting dreams.

So we explained to her about the Sacrament (bread and water) because in her church they don't have the Sacrament and we explained about a few other details that she told us about her dream. We told her that everything she dreamed is what we believe in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! Everything in her dream is what we believe and live. She got very excited and said that she knew that her dream was important. She wants to follow!! It was a huge miracle and spiritual moment.

The other miracle was BRUNO!! So. Bruno is not one of our investigators. He is an investigator of the other Sisters. BUT. WE had exchanges. Bruno is 21 years old and super ready to be baptized. BUT DID NOT WANT TO BE BAPTIZED! He was so scared. So. Exchanges. We visited Bruno; sat down; and asked how he felt about baptism, and he said, "not yet. I am not ready. I won't be baptized." When he said that I felt a prompting super strong. Like a stop sign. I felt Christ saying, "Sister Hammond. Let me speak." And so I said a prayer and asked, "okay. What do you want to say?" and just like that I felt the spirit super strong say, "Mosiah 18."

Sister Pulice and I on exchanges

And so we read. And I told him (Bruno) that this was Christ talking to him. We got to verse 10 when it says, "and what would impeding you from being baptized?" (It says in English, “...what have you against being baptized…?”) and he just started repeating that phrase. "and what is impeding you from being baptized?" And he said, "Now when I think about it; there's nothing that should be stopping me from being baptized...." and I said, "So Bruno. Will you follow these words and be baptized tomorrow so that God can pour out his spirit upon you?"  And he said, "Something inside of me is saying that yes. I will be baptized tomorrow." Then Sister Pulice shared a super powerful testimony in her minimal Portuguese and he was baptized on Saturday!! It was amazing because I really felt like I was an instrument in the hands of God.

I am sorry for the long email. I just had a lot to say!!

This week I want to challenge all of you to write down your testimony. I had a bad experience this week with a recent convert saying that she doesn't want anymore of the church and I understood the importance of recording what you believe and WHY you believe it.

I love you all!!

Com amor,
SIster Hammond

Me and my sheep friend. Look he's looking at me with love. 

DETONATION