Right Place, Right Time

Family & Friends,

After I logged off of email last week, we decided to go to the grocery store. I wasn’t feeling too great. I thought to myself that maybe my stomach pain was because I had forgotten to eat all day. As I passed close to the open meat section, I had a feeling of slight dizziness. I thought it was just because of the smell of meat/blood. At the checkout, reality hit me hard. My companion handed me a grocery bag and I left the store running, looking for a place not filled with people. Then I remembered that I had to stay in sight and sound of my companion. Oh gosh, so yes, a sister missionary was found throwing up right in the entrance of the supermarket! I was just grateful that I had a grocery bag – until the wind picked up and while I was throwing up, the wind took the bag and wacked me in the face! Anyway, the struggle was so real! I vomited nonstop for the next couple hours. I couldn’t even take medicine without it all coming back up. So against my will, I was forced by Sister Melo to go to the hospital at 9pm. Our ward mission leader and his wife were there for moral support. Actually, they were there to take videos of me getting IVs and being dramatic, haha, but I love them. For the next 7 hours I sat in a chair, with an IV in one arm and my throw-up bucket in the other. It would have been okay if wasn’t for the male nurse trying to “Bible-bash” with us the whole time. I just wasn’t up for that! Then at 4:00am we tried to reach the church member that has a car, because we had made plans with him to get a ride home, and he wasn’t answering. We tried everything, and I thought we were going to have to walk home! Everything turned out okay and I am better now. It was karma, because I have joked my whole mission that if I gained weight on my mission, I would drink the water from the faucet to get sick and lose weight, haha!

Amidst the sickness, we saw many blessings! We had nine (9) investigators in church! Woohoo! I hope to see a lot of them baptized before the end of this transfer. I’m sure there will be many that I will only see photos (#plantingseeds). One of them, Livia, even bore her testimony. She was almost baptized last week, but her husband is in prison waiting to be judged, so it’s a bit complicated. But she will probably be baptized in a few weeks. She said in her testimony that “the sisters told me that Satan will work on me to try to make me give up. When I almost give up, I remember them saying that, and I promise that I’ll never give up!” It was so cute.

One morning this week, we were walking to a part of our area a bit far away. A “moto” stopped and the young woman introduced herself and said, “I have been inactive for years, and I need you to visit me. I am struggling … when can you meet with me?” It was a cry for help. I am so grateful that we were in the right place at the right time. She came back to church on Sunday, and we are working to help her get back on the path of happiness through living and applying the gospel of Jesus Christ.

When we were at the hospital, we started talking to another woman hooked up on an IV. Her name was Maria Jesus, and she was suffering. She had “bleeding” problems for months straight. I remembered the story of Jesus with the woman of “the blood issue”, and how she reached out to him to be healed! We shared this story with her, prayed with her and bore our testimonies and tried to comfort her. We talked to her for hours, sharing our blankets and our life stories. When we were leaving, it was sad to leave her there, but she said, “wow, who would have known that we would have met here; that I would make my first American friend in a hospital in Campo Maior, Brazil?” She was cute and we got her address. It was definitely inspired that we met her, and maybe Heavenly Father even let me get as sick as a dog, just to be able to help Maria Jesus a little through this trial and brighten her day. I know I felt better as I looked for ways to serve her. I have learned that when we give we always gain.

I know that when I am helping others, Heavenly Father will bless me to overcome any trial and tribulation that I may have while I am here on this earth. It is my responsibility to listen to the Spirit, be at the right place at the right time and always be willing to “turn out” when the natural man wants me to do the opposite. I am being so blessed here ... I love my mission because I am given the responsibility to serve and love random strangers every minute of every day. When I think about it, we all have that opportunity every day of our lives.

Love you all!

Sister Vance