Aniversários das Sísteres!

Olá!

In the house of the Sisters of Maiobão, August is a very special month, due to the fact that 3/4 of us have BIRTHDAYS! And this past Tuesday was the day of Sister Quespaz and Saturday of Sister Espinola. :) So needless to say, we had lots of cake this week, including cake at a suprise party/ Family Home Evening on Saturday. It was great fun!

Speaking of Family Home Evening, our FHE last with with M and L and their family was AWESOME! N and F, the newest Recent Convert couple of our ward, came with us and we had an awesome lesson on eternal families. Everyone loved it and we have another FHE with them tonight! haha They are progressing SO MUCH and even though there are a few challenges to overcome before baptism, they are so ready to make changes to follow the Savior and become members of His restored church! 

Another family who is progressing a ton is the family of M, his wife F, and their son P. We taught them about the law of chastity, which was a great lesson, especially because they are already married! (Its pretty rare to find MARRIED COUPLES who are interested in listening to our messages.) M came to church yesterday and became instant friends with the Elders Quorum president, and he is excited to come to stake conference next week. So many miracles! Working with members makes life so much better! Yay for members!

Another miracle this week was J, the next door neighbor of a family we are teaching, She wasnt too interested when we talked, but we felt really strongly to give her a copy of the Book of Mormon and invite her to church. She said she'd try, which usually means "No thank you" but guess who was in Relief Society yesterday? J! AND shes reading the Book of Mormon! :D

Yesterday we were also able to go with some members and meet some references that they gave us: FIVE different famlies who live in the same two streets! Along with contacting a lady I met on the bus last week, we now have what we call "A quadra de ouro": The block of gold! Looks like we're going to be working in that part of the neighborhood for a while! :D

This week I was also able to work in Maiobão with Sister López (a new sister that my past companion Sister Lima da Silva is training) and Sister Patrocínio. I love being STL because I get to go on exchanges with other sisters! We had lots of miracles in those two days, but Im going to share my favorite which happened with Sister López. We went to teach a family and when we got to their house, they were busy decorating for a birthday party for their son. We helped them decorate a bit and they asked us if instead of teaching them now we could come back that evening and teach everyone that would be at the party. Um YES YES WE CAN. So we went back that night and when we got their, J (the father), invited us in and announced "The sisters are here and have a great message! Everyone listen up!" He had everyone put their chairs in a semicircle and we were able to teaech about the Restoration to not just one, but FOUR different families. :) It was pretty great, especially because when we talked about the apostasy everyone started not paying attention, but when I was able to share about the First Vision and bear my testimony, it was silent. Everyone paid attention and in the end everyone accepted the invitation to pray about what we shared. So many miracles in Maiobão. :)

Fun culture fact for the week: here in Maranhão everyone is obsessed with a soda called Guaraná Jesus. Its bright pink and when I got to Teresina, a Sister gave me some to try and I thought it was the NASTIEST beverage on planet earth, with a flavor between bubble gum, cinnamon, and Childrens Tylenol. But here in Maranhão there is no way to escape, and I have come to love this interesting drink. Its quite funny though, because people ask when we visit a house "Do you like Jesus?" and usually theyre talking about the soda. :) But either way, I love Jesus! And as great as the soda is, the Jesus I love more is my Savior, Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for His Atoning sacrifice, that through Him we can be cleansed from sin, that all mistakes can be forgiven and we can become pure and perfect and able to return to the presence of our Heavenly Father with our families for eternity. I am so grateful to be able to share the message of His Restored Gospel with my brothers and sisters here in Brasil and truly, there is no place Id rather be. <3

Have a wonderful week!

SIster Knapp

B-day party for her companions

P.S. Yesterday we had an exciting event in our ward: Bruno, a recent convert, opened his mission call! He is going to be serving in Brazil Goiania! :)

The famous soda!

Bruno and his mission call!