Bryndee Down South: Happy Post- Mothers Day!

This week kicked off with zone training, which was incredible. We focused a lot on a talk called the 4th missionary, which is something I would recommend that everyone and anyone read, Missionary or not. I also had to teach a training with Sister Houston and Sister Gardner about 'enduring to the end', or how to build a convert instead of just a baptism. I feel like the Lord is reeeealy making me stretch with this sister trainer leader assignment, because a huge part of the calling is public speaking, something that has always scared me to death. I am perfectly content to sit at the back of the class and let everyone else do the talking, but the Lord is not a fan of comfort zones. I’m so humbled and grateful for the opportunity I have to become good at something that is hard. Every morning, we quote "I love tough things! I'm first to do tough things! I do tough things first! I'm a finisher! I LOVE being a missionary!" and I can honestly say I'm starting to love tough things!

A miracle from this week: We were walking in one of the less-sketchy areas of Thomson, on the left side of the road where we could see the oncoming traffic. We were just walking along, when we hear a car right behind us, driving on the wrong side of the road! We turn just in time to see a big silver S.U.V., speeding by at something close to 100 mph, coming right towards us. It was maybe 10 yards away, when it swerved into the grass next to us, barely missing us, then swerved back onto the road and kept going... this all happened within the span of a few seconds, with no time to react! We stood there, dumbfounded, for a good 5 minutes, when the car came back and rolled down the window, revealing a cute little old lady:

"Did I hurt anybody?"

Us- "no, but what just happened?!?"

Faith Die (we found out her name later.... not at all ironic, huh? :)) "I fell asleep at the wheel, and next thing I knew, something woke me up and I saw I was about to hit somebody, so I swerved into the grass! I’m just so glad y’all are okay!"

Yeah, me too...

I know the Lord spared my life that day... My companions and I could have easily been killed, if the Lord had not kept me safe and had faith wake up at just the right time. Plus, guess who's investigating the church now? :D

You can see the girls walking and off to the right are the tire marks in the grass!

Miracle Numero Dos: Sisters Gardner, Houston, and I taught a lesson on Wednesday, completely in Spanish!!! The Gift of tongues is a real thing! It was really cool, because Reymundo (the investigator) would say something In Spanish, I would be able to understand exactly what he said, tell Sister Gardner, and she would be able to remember vocab from her BYU Spanish class, and teach him. When there were words that sis. Gardner couldn't remember, Sis. Houston would know the Portuguese word, which would be very similar to Spanish and Raymundo could understand! We taught him how to pray, and he said a beautiful prayer at the end... We referred him to the Spanish missionaries in Augusta, and he's super excited to learn more :)

Speaking of Portuguese, It's so fun! Sister Houston is a fantastic teacher. Here's a (very simple) testimony in Portuguese:

Eu sei a igreja de jesus cristo dos santos dos ultimos dias, è verdadeira. Eu sei que jesus cristo è o nosso redentor e salvador. Eu sei que thomas s monson e joseph smith são profetas. è nome de jesus cristo, amèm.

:) cool huh?!

The main people we're working with this week are Luther and Tatiana. They are a couple who have been living together in the projects for a few years, and have three darling kids (who LOVE to braid hair... have you ever had a black person braid your hair? impossible to get out....) we've taught them the restoration, the plan of salvation, and the law of chastity. I’m excited to announce that they are getting married on the 17th! It’s so stinkin' exciting! They’re also set to be baptized on the 25th of May, and I'm so excited for them... I just love them so much!

Well, I hope everyone is having a great week, and sharing the gospel like crazy!!!

Have a blessed day, y'all!

Sister Derrick