12.16.19: Chaves Caíram no Buraco /:

{"chaves caíram no buraco" according to trusty Google translate= keys fell into the hole! haha.}

So our keys fell into this ditch on the side of the road that's like a drain thing but it's covered with these pieces of cement and there's little cracks in between each slab of cement. So my companion accidentally dropped the keys and of course they fell right into the crack that's big enough for keys but not my arm (shoot). So I literally started pulling on the piece of road, aka cement and we just ripped out the cement and grabbed the keys and put it back. it's right in front of our house and we always look it at and laugh so hard bc we just tore up the road. 

My comp reading the BOM in English looking at these words:  

"righteousness...that´s hard" 

"Withersoever...não vai não" 

I am with my new companion now and her name is Sister Chaves. She is from Fortaleza which is the NE of Brazil. She came speaking Portuguese which is so easy! it´s like when a toy comes with batteries included. She hasn't even been on her mission for a month but she teaches wayyyy better than me. She went on splits with the missionaries before so she's already got the missionary voice down. (that's totally a thing, even in a diff language.  people tell us that we all have the same rhythm of our voice). 

so something really sad happened this week. We had this investigator that was totally ready to get baptized and he had a baptismal interview and everything. also here they baptize in a blow up pool which they had already mounted up and everything. but he literally just didn't show up. we even made brownies...(like come on dude) so we all just waited around for an hour and a half and the president even went to his house but he wasn't there. It was a bummer. 

I know where he works so we literally went there at night before going home. He works in the back of a grocery store and we literally went in and asked for someone to go get him in the back for us. He just said a bunch of random stuff that didn't make sense but I think it's bc his parents are from a diff church and they convinced him that he needs to go to their church. We invited him to read Alma 7 and say a prayer and we left. 

After all that, I realized that I felt so sad that he was denying everything that we had taught him. He had so much potential and he loved reading the BOM. When we choose to let the gospel bc an extra part of our life or choose to let it go completely, God feels so sad that we are denying what we know is good for us. I realized that I needed to have this experience to understand how sad it is for God when we knowingly choose to do something that goes against the commandments or the standards of the gospel. I am definitely learning to have patience and trust that God's plan is always gonna work out way better than mine...even if the blow up pool was already filled with water. 

*at least I have "Acai" in my contacts and we ordered açai that night instead of wallowing in self-pity (that's from the Grinch I think). 

merry christmas 

sister barton

Pics:

Feliz Natal! 

The keys and the hole!
The blow-up pool/font