Tuesday, June 14, 2016

The Coldest, Cup of Tea, Compass Week!

Well as you can see I was able to cram three events of my week in the title. Lemme explain. This week was very chilly!!

Transfers started off great with that. I got to show Sister Harris around Ferreira a bit and have some great adventures. This week we also had Conselho (or the leadership meeting training thing) on the church’s recreational site in Caucaia do Alto. Wednesday morning we made our way there at about 7:30 and got there at 9ish. We were so blessed to have a bunch of sun that day :) There we talked about May and how it went and how we can better prepare to receive our new President who should be getting here on the 29th of June! We have a new calling system with accompanying the sisters/district etc. and have a few other changes so we can be more efficient for President Thomas. Another activity we did was with a compass. The whole instruction thing that the military man gave was going over my head (but that’s not completely true, I understood some of it but it’s been a while since I have talked about math and such and I haven’t really studied Portuguese terminology like that!) Anyway, we were put in a group as STLs so the Elders could do their thing in their groups. He gave us maps with coordinates and said get going! I was designated as the compass holder person which was fun! We ran around, found some targets before others, got lost, but we remained together and finally made it to every spot. Obviously we came in last but we stuck through and were able to complete it together. After we were able to talk a bit about the activity and how it relates to the scriptural compass we have or about the guidance we receive from the Spirit. But like in the activity, we forget to take our time, find the right coordinates, stick it through but rather just start running around like crazy the minute we know the direction. We have all the proper tools in front of us but are we asking the Lord for the direction? Are we running too fast to see that, yes, we had headed in the right direction but have already passed our destination? It’s fascinating to me that the Lord has put everything we need to properly navigate our lives correctly, but we constantly lose our way. He's even there patiently waiting for us to cry out for help so He can give us the answer or the needed direction once again. I loved that activity not only because I got to wear normal clothes (which by the way was a miracle that I had jeans that fit...barely) but that I could be reminded in a simple recreational activity of the simple eternal truths the gospel contains. This life is meant to be fun, and meant to be navigated properly through the compass God has given us. Find north and get going :) I loved that day! 



So some other fun things this week were having an FHE with a family and getting to invite them to leave a book of Mormon with a friend of theirs, and we totally got a referral out of it! Blessings :) Then one day we decided to go to the really far neighborhood in our area to try and find new people and increase our teaching pool. Even though everyone was basically at Festa Junina, (this awesome cowboy, cowgirl activity they celebrate every June, with corn, dancing and peanuts etc.) We found some new people! We had some lessons! The blessing of that day was C! We were about to head back after teaching a couple of people cause we were getting very cold and it was getting dark (it gets dark very early here around, 6:00 it’s already very dark) but we passed C and her beaming smiling face just made us stop to talk with her. She immediately said, "I have a nephew doing what you’re doing!" We were surprised! Really? She invited us in to have some cinnamon/ginger tea, and chat about how she knows the church. Turns out she already had a BoM cause of her two sisters (one lives in Brasil and the other in Australia) and that they’ve talked to her about it a lot but she had no idea that girls could be missionaries too :) It was so wonderful to sit there with her, drink her nice warm tea, eat goiaba cookies, and discuss a little more about what our message contains. We were able to leave her with a part to read in the BoM and we marked a day to come back :) How wonderful it was of the Lord to put her in our path right when we were about to leave! That experience warmed our souls not just cause of the "Chá" or tea but because of the sweet spirit we felt as we testified to her. 




I love my job :) Yes it has been freezing but I’m loving it all. I’ve started wearing tights....woah. I know. Can’t believe it myself! But this weather is askin for it! Anyway, this week has been great! We also got to pop in and leave a few BoM gift packets with some of Sister Del Guerso's (Mission President’s wife) mother’s friends (don’t know if that made sense). Sister Del Guerso's mom is moving and they threw a party and President invited us to come to his house and leave a few BoMs for them. It was very nice of President to include us with something like that and very funny to see him behind the scenes cooking, baking, and wearing an apron.  



Let’s just say it’s been a great chilly week. Thanks for everything you do! Every day should be a blessing because it’s a new start, and a new opportunity for God to show His Existence. Open your eyes, step out the door, and just soak it in. He's there. Can you see Him? 

Love,
Sister Oldroyd 

The chilled to the bone but spiritually warmed sister :)

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