Good Week

Bom Dia, 

Good week. Shocking, right? Bad weeks don´t exist here in Brazil. 

We had a really cool activity at the church Saturday night that had to do with the plan of salvation- good reminder that we need to do good things every day and focus on what matters most. 

Saturday was Pedro´s baptism- another of Paulo´s boys. I love helping families find the church- we are so blessed to be working with them. Our next project is Mauricio- the second oldest in the family. We are also working with a lot of people we found on the road these last 2 weeks. 

We are changing it up a bit. Street contacting just isn’t the best missionary method. We know what is- it’s the members. This week our focus is less-actives, again. I think it is going to help a lot. Alma 31 talks about less-active work. Cool, right? Less-active work has ALWAYS been a huge part of our job as representatives of Christ. And.... so to those of you in Utah, where almost everyone is already a member, thats my challenge to you this week. There are a lot of less-actives. There are even MORE members whose testimonies are hanging by a thread. Reach out to someone this week. I promise you that someone needs you. I think I already told this story, but I am going to summarize, again. One day all of our appointments fell through, so we picked up the less-active ward list and went to work. The first house we stopped at was Elisangela. She invites us in immediately and we begin the ``small talk``. She asks a lot of questions- why we are here, eagerly prodding to find out who exactly it was that sent us.( Ha ha ha. Little did she know- It was God Himself. ) 

Then, she began to cry... saying she had been in her house, alone, bitter and sad, praying for help when we knocked at the door. She said she had been wanting to come back to the church for a really long time and that she was so grateful we came- that she wanted the missionary lessons again. 

We didn't know her. But God does. We didn't know she felt alone- that she was struggling. But God did. I make you this promise again, that someone needs you. Reach out to those around you. More often than not, the people that need you are the people who don't even look like they are struggling at all. 

And if you don’t believe in my words, prophetic promises were always cooler, weren't they? Gordon B. Hinckley said, ``Believe in yourself. Believe in your capacity to do great and good and worthwhile things. Believe in the nature within you, the divine nature, that you are in very deed a son or a daughter of God. There is something of divinity within you, something that stands high and tall and noble. Get above the dark and filth of the earth and walk on a higher plane with your head up, believing in yourselves and your capacity to act  for good in the world and make a difference.``

I love you all. Don’t give up- ever. Stay strong, firm in the faith of a living God who has never left your side. 

Love, Sister Seal

This is a very troublesome boy. I didn't realize he was making that kissing face until after I took the pic- but he was the boy who was baptized Saturday.