I'm a Real Missionary!!!

I feel like Pinocchio when he announced he was a real boy. I am about that excited.
A couple of weeks ago, I walked out of our building to take out the trash. There are no trash cans and no dumpsters here. You just put your bags out on the street. But there is a trick to it. You have to put them up high or the dogs will help themselves to them. I was walking across the street to put our bag on the wall of what looks like the beginning of a house that was never completed. While doing so, I saw a young woman trying to get her bag there too. She didn't have any shoes on so I volunteered to take her bags the rest of the way as there are some rocks and briars on the ground there. To my surprise she thank me IN ENGLISH. It was broken English but still! Then she pointed to my badge and said, "I know who Joseph Smith is. I have friends in your church. Anytime you want to talk of it, come over." To my surprise she lives two doors down from us. Well the last couple of weeks have been insane so I never made my way over there. Then last Monday while Robert and Holden were working on a project I decided it was time. With a bit of concern for our language barrier, I ventured down the street. She welcomed my into her home and I meet her little two year old daughter. We talked in broken English and Portuguese and somehow managed to communicate with each other. I asked her if I could bring the missionaries with me next time I visited as they speak better Portuguese than me and Creole, which she prefers. She said, yes, and to my surprise when I asked her when, she said, "Today at 4."

Well I rushed back to the office and told Robert and President what had happened. My concern was that the missionaries assigned to this area do not speak Creole well, and that is what she really understands. President suggested I go with the three sister missionaries that are in the next area. One of them is a native and speaks Creole! Well four o'clock came and off we went.

The lesson went well in spite of the fact we were speaking in three different languages. I actually understood more than I thought I would, but I wasn't the only one really trying to understand. Creole is a tough language to crack. The native, Sister Barros, understands 100%. Sister Graca, who has been out the longest, understands about 75%. The brand new sister, Sister Thembo, from Portugal understands about 30%. Me, nada. I really don't follow any Creole. So the Sisters spoke in a mix of Creole and Portuguese and she answered in the same mix. I spoke English when I said anything and she understood. And the crazy thing is I knew when to say something! I actually only said two things but they were applicable! I can follow the first discussion fairly well in Portuguese so that was not too hard, but she had a list of questions that I got a bit lost on, but the sisters did great. I didn't know what they said all the time but I could feel the Spirit and could see Sandra's reaction. They touched her.

At the end, Sandra told us she had been taught a first discussion by missionaries, when living on the other side of Praia several months ago. That is how she knew of Joseph Smith. She had been thinking about it and religion in general. One morning she took a notebook out and started recording her thoughts and praying for answers. Right after she had done that, she come outside and ran into me. She told the missionaries I was her angel. I had no idea about this. Isn't the Lord amazing how He hears and answers our prayers, and He can do it even when we are taking out the garbage. 

Well we set up another appointment with her for Wednesday. I spent two days preparing my testimony of the Book of Mormon in Portuguese. And at the end of the discussion, I was able to say it. She even understood it. (trust me my Portuguese is not that great) She committed to read the Book of Mormon, and we will be visiting with her again next week.