Querida Família!
Bom Dia! Transfers are next week. After 6 months of my first area I had the feeling that I would be transfered. I was right. We had interviews with our mission president and he told me my guess was correct. He also told me that last transfer he had planned to transfer me. He put me in 3 diffrerent areas but the Spirit told him to keep me in Maringá. He didn't understand why since I had already been there for 3 transfers. But he obeyed the prompting and left me. I know that what he did was inspired because all that I have experienced this transfer was meant to happen. I have learned sooo much!
I am leaving Maringa. Only one week and I transfer. It is very sad to say goodbye to the people I have come to love. And they have been so good to me. What a blessed area this has been. There are so many faithful saints in Maringa. I will be forever grateful for coming here and living among such blessed people.
Now the time has come and I am moving on. Change has been a hard thing for me, but I am learning what joy it truly brings. I can't stay too comfortable or I won't grow! I need new challenges. Wow, I think I am pep talking myself right now. Leaving my area here is going to be really hard! I love these people. I have lived here as long as I lived with my first roommate, Becca Proper! CRAZY! Time passes really quickly.
This week we had a HUGE storm! I was at the other side of the city when it happened. Where I was it didn't hit too hard. It just seemed like a rain storm that we have had. We luckily were inside teaching and stayed completely dry:) But as we got near our neighborhood we discovered the strength of the winds. There were several tall old trees that we blown over, some taking down powerlines, one fell into a house. There were 3 roads blocked off near our house! When we got into our apartment we realized we had left the windows open!!! The rain and come in and soaked our floors. My companions bed was completely drenched in rain water. The wind was so strong it blew the covers off our beds!!! What more IT BLEW THE DOORS OFF OUR WARDROBE!!!!! It looked like we had been robbed hahaha. But it was the storm. Luckily....(blessings and protection!) our study room was unharmed. Scripture and paperwork was all dry and safe. Today while I was sweeping the apartment I swept dirt and leaves haha. But all is good, safe and cleaned up. Now I am packing my suitcases! Next week I will be able to answer to what city I will be transfered!
This week I have been learning and studying a lot about the gospel of Jesus Christ. The simple 5 steps to an eternal life: Faith in Jesus Christ, Repentance, Baptism, Gift of the Holy Ghost and Endure to the End. (Man that took a while to type as I had to think how to say it in Inglés haha) Anyways, I love that this gospel is really so simple. If we do these things we will be blessed. It is really neat to see how this gospel, pure and simple, applies and fits in to the plan of salvation.
The Lord's plan is PERFECT. One of the most crucial parts of the plan is our Free Agency. We use our agency to choose everyday, how we will endure this life. I have been studying the talks from the past general conference and Elder Richard J. Maynes said something that I just love! He said: "Our ability to endure to the end in righteousness will be in direct proportion to the strength of our testimony and the depth of our conversion. When our testimonies are strong and we are truly converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ, our choices will be inspired by the Holy Ghost, they will be Christ-centered, and they will support our desire to endure in righteousness. If our testimonies are weak and our conversion superficial, the risk is much greater that we will be enticed by the false traditions of the world to make poor choices."
It is so true! Everything we do will show how strong our testimonies are and what we do also will determine what happens to our testimonies. It is so important to nurture and care for our testimony, our faith and conversion. It is something that beinginning small and need care. As it grows and becoming stronger we need to reach out and help others in their growth. The best part about the plan of our Heavenly Father is that we are NEVER alone. We have our wards and stakes and families and friends. All of us are here, with the same ultimate goal. No one is better than the other. We are all children of the same God. This life is not a race. What good would it do to race to the celestial kindom, arrive there and look back to see that you are along and left everyone behind? This is not what God wants. He wants us to be there with our families, those we love. Equally yoked with our spouses, sealed for eternity with our children. I looooooove family reunions! They remind me of what Heaven will be like:) In our families (in our homes and wards) we need to join together and help one another. Our testimonies our precious and powerful. Lets us them for the better, and share them allowing them to grow!
I pray you all have a great week and challenge everyone to share a truth you hold dear to you heart, whatever part of the Gospel you know to be true, share it with one another and with someone who has never heard. I love you all! Boa Semana!
Love, Sister Edwards
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