August 4, 2014

We did FHE again and I taught more people how to make cookies!! Before you know it ALL of Brazil will know how to make cookies! haha it was super fun! And of course my companion had to take a picture of me eating!! We are thinking about getting a gym membership here... Its super cheap and its way safer than running on the road!

 

Anyways, HI everyone! 

 

This week was super great! We had soo much fun with sooo many families! We didn´t have a baptism this week but we have some that are preparing for that super special day! I usually make brownies for that day! lol This week I got to answer the hardest question ever! 

We went to the house of that super lovely family I was telling you all about and they told us that their friends were saying some things about the church. Like Baptisms for people that already died.. The funny thing is that I had just been studying about that this morning. And I really wanted to just ignore the question and save the response for another lesson. But, they ended up directly asking if we had something like baptizing people that already died. And I looked at my companion, who is a newbie and looked at me like, "I don’t know the reference for that". So, I told Gizele, our investigator, that we have an ordinance which is really special that only happens in the temple! Thank goodness we already talked about temples with her and Valdir. They both started to shut down when I said that. And I told them my testimony and my companion shared hers. Then we opened up in 1 Corinthians 15. This chapter talks a lot about life after death. There is one verse, I think its 29 that asks why the dead need to be baptized. It talks about resurrection and I bunch of stuff. But, most importantly it talks about the dead needing to be baptized to enter into the kingdom of God. All those who are baptized can enter. So, what about those people that didn’t have a chance to hear the word Christ? Or those people that weren´t invited to be baptized in this life? Christ is fair, right? So, why wouldn´t he give everyone the opportunity? I really didn´t think that I could answer that question directly and look what happened! They ended up loving the idea that they could baptize their family members that didn’t have a chance to be baptized!

Then, on Sunday I got to bare my testimony and Gizele and Valdir were there. I bore my testimony about how I wanted to know EVERYTHING before I served a mission. I wanted to the answers to all the questions. And I remember on day when Dad told me that, that would never happen. It isn’t possible to know everything. But, he told me that I only needed to know one thing, that the Gospel is true. And with that I can testify to every aspect of it. I then talked about when I was little and mom always told me I could go up there to the front and bare my testimony which always started with, “I know this church is true". This Sunday I really began to think about why everyone says that. And how each person got to that point where they KNOW it’s true. Each person said it wasn’t just one moment but it was learning something new each day. People start with that because they really do know that The Gospel is true. How beautiful is that! The next Fast and Testimony meeting listen to each person as they start with that phrase! It truly is beautiful! Thank you daddy for telling me that all I need to know is that The Gospel is true. And thank you mommy for always helping me realize that there wasn’t a moment that I didn´t know if it was true! I love each and every one of you soo soo much! Thank you all for being a part of my life and helping me grow up to be who I am today! Especially you boys! yall are who I look up to! Never forget that there will always be someone looking up to your examples!!

 

Sempre com amor,

                 Sister Taylor