Milagres e paciência!

Olá!

This week has been pretty great, as usual! haha Last Monday was basically the best birthday ever: Sister Espinola and I ate sushi and saw the worlds largest collection of Barbies (great way to celebrate turning 20 right? :) haha), we taught Marcone and his family with the Elders Quorum president and his family AND the Relief Society president and her husband where we talked about eternal familes and temples, AND then (the best part) we had a FHE dinner with half the ward and some investigators and recent converts. I basically cried the whole lesson because it is such a privilege to have my wonderful second family here in Maiobão. The friendships we make as missionaries are wonderful! :)

This week we also had a miracle with M L (a less active member who hadnt been to church in years) and her nonmember husband who we visited on Saturday and came to church on Sunday, and they are excited to come next week too! Woohoo!

Funny story of the week: Sister Espinola and I were talking about an investigtor who had been so excited to come to church the first time we taught her, and she showed up to church  few weeks ago and said she loved it, but then started asking if we could give her money and when we explained that we couldnt she didnt come to church anymore and wasnt ever home.... Anyway, we came to the conclusion that we need investigators with real intent and not "real" intent (seeing as "real" is the currency in Brazil) :) haha Okay, I thought it was clever, hopefully it made someone smile :)

Our baptisms for this week of D and M fell through, but we are praying and working hard for a miracle and trusting in the Lord's timing. This week I was able to study a bit about patience (there is a WONDERFUL article in the August Liahona/Ensign about patience that helped me a ton). I love that patience truly is an attribute of Christ, and that as we are patiently doing our very best and trusting in the Lord's time, everything works out for the best as we watch His hand work miracles. <3

Lastly, I wanted to share a quick miracle of the week. I wrote a few weeks ago about J, right? The contact we found and who came to church? Basically, she is amazing. She has SO much faith and desire to learn about the gospel and come closer to God. When we first taught her I felt really strongly to give her a copy of the Book of Mormon, and I am sure glad I followed that prompting!
J LOVES the Book of Mormon and says that it is truly the word of God and that she feels so good when she reads it. Seriously, she is progressing so much! More updates on the miracles of Maiobão next week!

Alright, I'm out of time and we have to run to the bus station now because Sister Espinola and I get  to go to Teresina (7 hours bus ride) for mission council! :) Have a wonderful week!

Muito amor,

Sister Knapp

Barbie ... missionary?  Well, she's a doll!