This week was crazy with the
two futebol games. The first game was
plain torture with Germany scoring four goals in the first 10 minutes. It was so sad to see Oscar and David Luiz
crying after the game. In his interview
David Luiz, with tears streaming down his face, told Brasil that he just wanted
to see his people smile and that he was so sorry for losing. I heard that after the game, some Brazilians
tried to set fire to the Brasil team bus.
After this game people were
taking down all of the beautiful World Cup decorations (flags, banners, etc.)
outside. It was kind of sad to tell you
the truth. A lot of people didn't even
want to watch the second (Brasil vs. Holanda) that decided who would get third
place. I was talking with the other
proud American missionaries here about how I am proud to be an American because
we are very patriotic and stand by our country at all times, whether we win or
lose.
Sister J. Silva and I wanted
to watch the last game, but Presidente Soares told all of the missionaries that
we have to watch the games with a church leader (Bishop, counselors, etc.) and
none of the leaders in our Ward had a desire to watch it (sad). We finally called our zone leader, and he
said that we could watch it anyway. It
was also a bit torturous, but we made it to the end. I personally, think that if Neymar Jr. had
not dislocated his spine in the Brasil Columbia game, we would have had a
really good chance of winning. Without
him and Thiago Silva (who received a yellow card and didn't play in the Brasil
Germany game, our team lost its confidence and was a mess.) We can't be afraid to STAND ALONE as long as
we're standing in HOLY PLACES! :)
I wasn't feeling very well
Saturday and Sunday. I found that
whenever I moved I felt a sharp pain in my chest. At first I sort of brushed it off, but Sunday
it was bugging me. I twisted my ankle
Sunday when we were racing off to find our investigators Sunday morning to
bring them to church (in the end I couldn't walk so we had divisions and Sister
J. Silva went with Sister Do Carmo to find our investigators while Sister
Arzani cared for me), but the pain in my chest was bugging me more than the
pain in my ankle. After church yesterday
we went to lunch and I spent most of it lying in bed on my stomach. The Elderes finally called me and told me
that I needed to call Sister Soares!
They were very persistent and called every five minutes to see if I had
already called Sister Soares or not.
I was finally able to call her
and she told me that she didn't know what it was but it might be gás and I
should go into the bathroom and try to "eliminate the gas" (Didn't
work really well). Elder Ferreira
(district leader) and Elder Sabin (zone leader) finally told me that I needed
to go to the hospital. I was kind of
stubborn and said that I would be fine but they kept insisting (to the point
that both of them called me by my first name "ASHLEY DYER!!!").
They finally told me to give
the phone to Sister J. Silva (my baby daughter). She later told me that Elder Ferreira told
her that she was now my senior companion and that he and Elder Sabin were
putting their trust in her that she would take me to the hospital today. Wow!
We ended up going to the hospital.
They took an ECG. My heart was
normal. I don't really think the doctor
knew what was going on but she gave me a prescription for medication. Today I'm feeling fine, so I don't think I'll
end up needing it though. I think it
might have been gas like Sister Soares said, seeing that I've been burping a
lot - weird. It's never happened to me before.
I'm fine though. Don't worry
about me.
We received an amazing
referral this week from a member. Rita
is the wife or the nephew of Irma Mercia and recently she has wanted to pay
tithing. However, she doesn't want to
pay it to a church that has a leader that will receive all the money. The other day Rita remembered Irma Mercia's
church and asked her if she could pay tithing.
We went to Rita's house with Irma Mercia this week and spoke with her
about the blessings of tithing and taught her the first lesson.
It is really beautiful finding
a child of God with such a pure intent to follow our Savior. Often times, tithing is something that
impedes many people from following the example of the Savior and being
baptized, but in this special instance it was what motivated Rita to learn more
about the Church.
Yesterday we were trying to
mark some baptisms with our investigators over the phone and my filinha (Sister
J. Silva) called one of our investigators with the intent of marking a baptism
with him. Surprisingly, someone else
answered the phone. Sister J. Silva was
kind of confused but ended up talking with the stranger, named Pedro (20
years-old), she taught him about baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost and
asked him if he would follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by
someone holding the proper priesthood authority.
She later told him that we
were missionaries from A Igreja De Jesus Cristo Dos Santos Dos Últimos Dias and
asked him if we could set a goal for him to be baptized by a certain date. He then asked us if he could be baptized this
Sunday. Wow!
Although this man told us that
he lives in another part of Mossoró (a diferente área) he told Sister J. Silva
that he would come to the chapel in our area on Sunday and then the phone cut
off because we ran out of battery (que droga!)
After the phone call, Sister
J. Silva was looking at the telephone number of our investigator and the
telephone number she had called and realized that they were different. She had accidentally called the wrong
number. It is amazing that this man
lives in Mossoró so near us.
I have accidentally called
wrong numbers before and have been able to make contacts in Salvador Bahia and
other parts of Brasil, but what a miracle it was to realize what happened. "Faz parte do plano de Deus!" In the end, Pedro will probably be a referral
to the Elders in the area in which he lives, but I think he will be one Golden
investigator.
Amo vocês!!!!
Sister Dyer
Marriage of Fransisca and Uerle (Ashley Dyer in middle)
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