2.Amanda
3.Taylon
4.Daniel is the one standing
Oi!
I know you have questions, so first of all, I want you to remember that Im not dying. Ok. That being said, you can open that first picture..... Openned it? Ok, so Sister Petersen got to experience the wonders of Brazilian hospitals. I have really been up and down this last weeks, and Sister Taylor has been worried about me, expcially since we found out how much weight I had lost. And I had been getting dizzy during the day and completely lacking energy and animo... So the Zone Leaders and us took a trip to the hospital (which I wasnt very happy about) and we got to wait half hour and watch The Incredibles in portugues until I was finally called in. And bascially I just havent been taking care of myself. Apparently stress can heighten your metabolism, too, which I am sure didnt help. They put people on IVs for everything here, so Sister Taylor and I got to wait for two hours as I got some sort of medicine in me. And then we did nothing that day and the next day. Which just about killed me. But, you will be happy to know that I am eating three or more meals a day now, and I have also been ordered by Sister Vecchi to drink 2 liters of water every day and my Zone Leaders have forbidden me from fasting. I am feeling great =]
And let me tell you about a miracle. A week ago Saturday, we had a long day of not a lot of nothing, and I was tired. We were headed back to our neighborhood to try to talk to a reference we recieved few days before. But this reference lived in an apartment building thats locked at the front and doesnt have an intercom. We already were let in one time, but our reference (Daniel) wasnt home. Well, no one was there to let us in, and I was sick and tired of doing nothing. So I knocked on someones window and asked them to let us in (a very un-Sister Petersen thing to do) and thankfully, the lady did. And Daniel was home. And we taught him the first lesson, invited him to church the next day, gave a baptism date, ect. He is 16 and has been living in Belgium until this past year, which means he speaks French and Dutch and will pray for us in French (because he feels more comfortable with his French) and it is the neatest thing ever. The first miracle is that he showed up the next day for church, and he stayed talking with people until the church was locked up for the afternoon. We met with him again Monday and Tuesday, and Tuesday we invited him to be baptized the following Saturday because he was completely and totally ready. He was a little surprized, but said yes, if we thought he was ready he would be baptized. Wednesday I was in the hospital, but Sister Taylor called him and he said he wouldnt be baptized Saturday. Thursday we found out that he didnt want to because someone in the church told him that our only goal as missionaries is to baptize as many people as we can, and afterwards we basically abandon these people. So we tried to explain about that, taught a lesson... Friday we couldnt talk to him, but Sister Taylor and I still felt like he should be batpized Saturday. So we showed up Saturday all prepared to explain the importance of baptism, explain why it would be good for him to be baptized earlier rather than later (we prepared for this lesson a LOT). We show up and he says that he and his family are going out of town that night but would return in the morning. So we said we would like for him to be baptized in the morning. He thought for half a second and said `Tão bom´ which basically means ´ok´. Sister Taylor and I were a little startled, but we called the Zone Leaders who showed up 5 minutes later and interviewed him. And Sunday morning he was baptized =D I am a very happy sister =D Amanda was also confirmed this Sunday, which is amazing, too. Our two elect teenagers =]
We have also been working with another teen, his name is Taylon, and I love that kid. He is a little punk - he likes to joke around with us and will give us a hard time about our accents - but he is such a good kid, really honest and very willing to keep the commandments. now we just need to work with his mother a bit more so shell let him be baptized... =]
Thank you so much for your love and your prayers - they have made such a difference, I know. This week was really difficult, but we also were so very blessed to see the hand of the Lord in our work. He really does make up for what we lack.
Love you! Até mais -
Sister Petersen
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