Off To Bacuri!

Hello Everyone!

This past week was crazy! We got transfer calls on Wednesday and I was told that my new companion will be Sister Ongaro, and I was really excited because she lived with me in Parnaiba and is awesome. I also found out that I would be transferred to Bacuri, Maranhão … as a Sister Training Leader! Bacuri is 14 hours away from Teresina and in a whole different state of Brazil. When I got the news, I was so excited, but then flashes of the faces of so many people that I have come to love in Teresina went through my mind and I was brought to tears. It was one of the only times I can remember crying on my mission because I was sad. Jose Ramundo had his baptism planned for the end of the week, and I knew I would miss it, and have to stop teaching so many of the people who were progressing. But that’s mission life, and I am happy that Sister Bagatoli (aka, the best sister in the mission) is taking my spot in Teresina and will continue to work miracles there! I was able to do exchanges with her and introduce her to some of the best people in the area and we were just so happy working together. Of course, we were late again and we were running through the streets at 9:25pm to make it in our house on time. We were just way too happy about being late and it brought back so many memories of Parnaiba. None of my companions have been as crazy as her and I, haha!

My new area is a lot different than the more urban feel of Teresina, but I am already loving it. President Melo called us out in the leadership meeting on Thursday, and said he was worried about this area because they haven’t had a baptism in quite a while. We are going to do our best to turn that around. We spent the whole day at the leadership meeting and it has been so cool to work with the president in a smaller group and hear his inspired teachings that he has for us. He is awesome, and always takes a story from the scriptures and applies it to us and totally breaks it down and brings the scripture stories to life. The following day, we had a mission reunion with the whole mission. It was AWESOME. It was such a good day and we had a Seventy come to the reunion. Sister Melo spoke and told the story about seeing the video of me opening my mission call and how she loved me from the minute she saw that video. It was so cute and I remember my first day when she ran up and hugged me, and said that she just wanted me to know they have been anxiously waiting for me … that they we saw my video and love me already! I love President and Sister Melo, and so many of the missionaries I serve with here, shoulder to shoulder.

The reunion was a bit stressful, with nearly 30 sisters with suitcases in the same house trying to get ready; and me trying to pack to leave right after the meeting. But we made it out alive. I am so grateful for the people and other missionaries I have met in my mission. We are all such good friends, especially because the mission is smaller. A new American sister finally came and she knows my sister-in-law’s family and is in their ward! It’s such a small world … Sister Freeman! I literally prayed for the gift of tongues to try and speak English with her... I speak so weird in English these days. We then rode a bus through the night for 14 hours, got here Saturday and that afternoon the bishop asked me to give a talk in church the following day! Life has been crazy.

Earlier in the week, I was working with Sister Lucas and we were teaching a man in the front of his house, and out of nowhere two grown men showed up and interrupted our lesson. We soon recognized them as Jehovah’s Witnesses, as they opened their bibles and tried to prove us wrong and attack our beliefs. We did our best to try to have a normal discussion with them, but they wanted to argue with us. We took a deep breath, as they wouldn’t let us talk, and I raised my hand and waited for him to call on me, and then bore my testimony. My companion then bore her testimony too and we politely asked them if we could finish our lesson with this man. They left and we looked at this recent convert that we were teaching and testified to him about how important it is to take out doubts that he has right now. We told him that he can’t risk ever being in the middle, and should always focus on strengthening his testimony, so that when the day comes that he is tested or something is thrown at him, he won’t be knocked off balance. It was so powerful, and I am so grateful for my testimony of the goodness of Christ and the truthfulness of His gospel. In the great conflict of good and evil, there is no middle ground.

Love you,

Sister Vance