Thursday, January 4, 2018

The Keystone of Our Religion

Happy New Year Everyone,

I can't believe 2017 is over; it was a great year filled with so many things! When I think back, I will always remember 2017 as the year I was a missionary for the entire year!

This week was so, so busy. Christmas night my companion and I traveled to Teresina for the leadership council, but we had to travel a day earlier because of the holidays. I won't lie, I wasn’t upset about it one bit, because I had the opportunity to visit my old area! It was cool because I showed up at Irmao Batisita’s and he started crying and said that he had been thinking about me that afternoon. We drank his specialty, mango juice, and I left with my mouth hurting because I was smiling so much. We also visited Irmao Gerry, a recent convert, and we went in to say hi to his mom, who I had had a few interactions with when I was there. She is very Catholic, but is grateful that we helped Gerry, and always offered food for us, but was never interested in the church. We walked in to surprise her, not thinking much of it, and when she saw us she buried her hands in her face and burst in to tears. We hugged her and then she explained that she had left her house in the hot sun many days, walking in the roads, looking for us and she had just missed us so much! I was shocked … I thought this women wouldn't even remember us. It was such a testimony builder to me of the work we are doing here. Sometimes we feel like we don't make a difference, and then go back and realize that these people are changed, and their hearts are softened through the work we do.

This week we also had zone conference, and we talked a ton about the Book of Mormon and the power that it has. It is the most powerful tool we have to bring us closer to Christ. I LOVE THAT BOOK. I have really come to realize how confused people are without the Book of Mormon. Churches that only use the Bible don’t have the complete answers about the Plan of Salvation and so many other things; we need them both … the Bible AND the Book of Mormon! Who wants to complain about God talking MORE to us through the Book of Mormon? Not me! Anyway, I could talk all day about that book, but let’s just leave it at this … it is the greatest!!!

One last thing … Irmao Barretto was baptized and married! Woohhoo!

Love you all,

Sister Vance

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