6/24/19 - The last 12 weeks

Thank you for all your prayers and messages of support! This weeks was a lot better.

Living close to President is awesome. He invited me to the mission home this week and we had a really good talk in his office. Of course I cried até o pó. Nothing new there. He taught me the principle of the campacitating power of our Savior. He taught me how the purifying power is there to make bad men good. We use the purifying power of Christ by repenting and excercising faith. No one who is a bad person would willingly make all the sacrifices it takes to serve a mission. So pretty much we're all good people, but we're still lacking so much. This is where we need to let the campacitating power take affect in our lives to make us excellent people. The campacitating power starts to work when we repent, excercise faith, sacrifice, are consecrated and use the gifts God has given us. I'm excited to let the campacitating power take affect in my life and allow Christ's grace to make up for what I lack.

President gave me a much needed blessing that helped me remember how excited I was to serve, how I worked so hard to prepare, and how I felt when I got my call to Brazil. In this blessing I was told that in each area I've passed through I've left a legacy. I'm so grateful for the time I've had here. Every up, every down, every baptism, every hill I climed, I'm thankful for all of it because each experience has pulled me closer to Christ.

President hugged me because he said he knew that's what my dad would do if he were there. Tantas saudades!

After President, Sister Ribeiro, Sister Almeida and I sat in their sun room overlooking all the tall apartment buildings in Santana. We talked for a little bit eating homemade cheese with doce de leite, (a tradition from Minas Gerais, their home state). I was thinking about the blessings of the mission and wondering if all the sacrifice would really add up to something. Without telling them about that question in the back of my mind, Sister Ribeiro told us that the mission is the MTC for life. I never realized that before, but I know it's true. The mission helps all of us with the rest of our lives. It's all worth it. 

The rest of the week was packed with splits and preperations for a few trainings we're going to be giving here in a bit. I went to Alphaville with Sister Letner and Sister Parededa. That was a major throw back to Aldeia da Serra since they're similar areas. We also had splits with Jaçana. I think we were able to help these sisters out a bit.

Today marks the end of another transfer and we have all the sisters who are going home staying in our house for a few days. It's been crazy around here, but that's part of it.

I enter into my last 12 weeks today. My last 2 transfers! President used the example of a race and talked about how at the beginning all the runners stay together but as the race goes on they push themselves to the max until the make it to the finish line. The end of the mission isn't the time to slow down and be moley, it's the time to speed up and give it everything I've got. So here we go! The last 12 weeks! The end of the race.

With lots of love and gratitude,

Sister Barlow

1-3) Horto Florestal with the sisters in our house to celebrate our last pday together before the transfer. Agua de cocô and murals.

4) Split with Alphaville