Isaiah 52:7
“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!”
Fun fact everyone, missionaries don’t have beautiful feet. At least, I don’t. Right now my feet have blisters, tan lines, calluses, mud spots, half-gone nail polish, and a dozen or so mosquito bites because they’ve never had American food before and now they’re addicted. This scripture has been in my head all week as I’ve looked at feet and tried to figure out what is so beautiful about them. I realized it’s not my feet that are beautiful, it’s the miracles these feet are taking me to that are beautiful. Let me tell you about one miracle I experienced this week.
This week we prepared and baptized a little boy named Fernando. He is about 10 years old and comes from a convert family. When the missionaries originally found his family, about 4 years ago, they embraced the gospel with open arms. His family consists of a single mom and 4 children all of whom were baptized 4 years ago except little Fernando. He was only 6 years old and we were told by the ward members that at the baptism of his family, Fernando cried because he could not be baptized with them.
Fast forward a year and a half and Fernando is nearly 8 years old, the age of baptism. But, the last year and a half of membership has taken a toll on his family and they have fallen away. Inactive and unreceptive, Fernando’s family doesn’t allow him to be taught or baptized by the missionaries. His family struggles with financial problems, family relationships, and other serious difficulties for the next 2 years, all the while, little Fernando is hoping that one day, he and his family will go back to church.
That brings us to about a month ago, when the sister missionaries here before me, found Fernando and his family in their reference book and knocked again on their door. This time, instead of turning them away, they welcomed them into their home. The sisters taught them all, focusing especially on Fernando, and invited them all to come back to church. They accepted and for the last 4 weeks, they have worked, studied, prayed, and partaken of the sacrament trying to restore their faith in God.
On Saturday, Fernando was baptized! His mom was in tears, he had the biggest smile on his face, and his siblings couldn’t stop hugging him. When he went into the font, he was laughing! What a difference 4 years make, the last baptism he went to, he cried and now here he is laughing with joy.
It’s experiences like this that make me grateful to be here. I’m at a point where I understand what is going on and I want to contribute but the frustration is figuring out how to say things. It can be discouraging when I can sense that a person isn’t progressing or isn’t interested and I worry that it’s because I am not able to fulfill all my responsibilities yet as a missionary. If I could just speak and be understood, maybe they’d be truly converted. But I have to believe that there are people, families, here that I can reach without knowing all the right words.
Sunday night we had a little party for Fernando at his house. There his mom gifted me a little decorative towel with my name on it and as we hugged goodbye, she asked me to find more families to make whole. That is my goal, to bring families unto Christ and I can’t wait to go out and find them.
Some other experiences this week that were just fun or silly:
– A man asked me if I was German and seemed disappointed when I said I was from the USA.
– Members like to ask me what the English equivalent of their name is. It always makes them laugh to hear it.
– A lady grabbed my hair and held it next to hers to try and see if they were close in color. It wasn’t but I told her it was “Quase”=”almost” the same.
– Accidentally told Sister Perri we need to “garden” over the fence instead of “climb”.
– Got used as a jungle gym by a little toddler in a lesson and didn’t know what to do so I just let him. His mom seemed cool with it, she didn’t try to stop him.
– I get called “Sishter Gwache” by almost everybody here. It’s really cute and makes me smile.
Well, that is all for now folks. Gotta go, gotta work. If you feel so inspired, please pray for some new friends we marked for baptism yesterday, that they can keep this commitment. Obrigada. Tchau tchau.
Love,
Sister Alyssa Grace
Bom Conselho, Brasil
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