September 20th Email

I cant wait for this weekend, to watch General Conference! (I am hoping I will be able to hear it in English! It is weird, when the Prophet has a different voice!)
We were able to assist the general broadcast of the Relief Society. It was amazing! I LOVE hearing from our leaders, and the Prophet. I am always amazed at how everything I need to hear.. is said!

So... we had the baptism of Thalison! He is a 12 year old boy, and his parents are separated but both are members. His dad is active, and his mom inactive. He was so excited to finally be able to be baptized! We had a few complications on Saturday, and ended up doing it on Sunday morning. But it was still special and a great day!

Other than that, we have still just been knocking a lot of doors. We were with a member one day, and he was all, "hey I have a friend that lives on this one street that is a little far away, do you want to go?" We said sure! And he led us there. We ended up in a part of this subdivision, that we didnt even know existed! It was funny! SO... we have been working there a little bit, and have been able to teach the Restoration a little bit more, but most of the people already have a church, and don't want to visit the true church! It is frustrating, and I wish I could do more... but I will have to just keep doing my part, and planting the seeds :)

Lets see... it is almost officially summer again... can you talk about HOT?? It is getting hotter and hotter each day... I seriously am going to be a popsicle when I show up at the Salt Lake Airport! Yikes! Anyway... I love you all and hope you are having a great fall!!

Love, Sister Porath

Kiley's September 20th Email

Sarah here.... Ky asked me to start posting her weekly emails on her blog for people to read, Here is her email from last week:

Well... I will send a quick update of the work! We are still... knocking a billion doors. BUT are having a little more success!
A member, Raul, came up to us and said that he has 2 sons, with his ex-wife, and he wants them to be baptized. So we went to talk to his ex (who also is a member, but inactive) and she supports them to be baptized, as long as they choose it, and will be dedicated to the church. The boys are 10 and 12 years old! The 12 year old, really really wants to be baptized and he knows that the church is true and wants to go each week soooo... his baptism will be in the next couple of weeks! His name is Thalison. Leandro, his little brother, is a little scared of committment (yes... a little strange, cuz he is only 10!) But his parents are leaving it toally up to them and letting them know the responsibility they will have when they are members of the church. So Leandro is going to wait a little longer. But it ws really neat when we went to share a message with them. Ana, the mom, really felt the spirit and was so happy, she teared up, that we went to visit her. We are hoping she can return to church too, but not asking for all these miracles at once!

We also returned to visit an old investigator, who works with, and is a friend with a member (a stake high counselman... or something like that.) She isnt keeping the Word of Wisdom, but she said she wants to. She said she wants to be baptized and knows that she can quit smoking, and drinking coffee so that she can be baptized! It was another neat experience. Eliene is her name, and we are now visiting her a lot and trying to help her quit. She is slowly inproving.. and her baptism will arrieve sooner or later!

The members of this ward have woken up. They have realized that missionary work, isnt only the missionaries! It is for them to do too! They are starting to help us a lot more. It is such a blessing! After one day in the past couple weeks, where I almost started crying in the middle of the street, after knocking a billion doors, I have really started to rely on the members. We told them that we cant do this work alone. The youth have really stepped up to help us. They go out and work with us everyday, they introduce us to their friends and neighbors... it is great!

I know that the Lord puts us in the right places at the right time! I also know that "Anything easy, is most likely not worth it!"

We can all lose ourselves, for our Savior, and we will all gain eternal life! (Mark 8:35)

I am soooo grateful to be here in Maceio on a mission! I love the people, and I love this gospel! I love and miss all of you.. but the time is passing quickly... I hope you all have a great week!
Love, Sister Porath :)

Update!!

Its been a little slacked here... we will try and get it up to date :)

Date: Wed, 2 Jun 2010 18:41:18 -0300
Subject: Its JUNE!!!
Hard to believe it is June already! On Saturday... I will hit my 10 month mark! And I know I keep saying this... it is winter now, but, it really isnt any different at all! It isnt even raining like it should.. I think all the moisture is heading to the northern hemisphere with the snow that you guys got last week!

This week, I want to write about Adriana. She is a 22 year old woman who is really really neat. She is living with a man, the dad of her son, but they need to get married. She has been going to church and reading the scriptures and she said ever since the first lesson, things in her life have gotten better! Her and her husband get along better, she has more patience and peace in her life. She is amazing! She wants to help her little sister and already has a testimony of the church.

We are also teaching a young woman named Patricia. She seems really interested, but she was sick on Sunday and didnt go to church. She is 1 6 and has already lived with a man, not to mention he was 40, but it didnt work out so she moved back home. She is in a rush to get married it seems like, so her and her boyfriend are going to come to church on Sunday she said. I really hope they do! She always has questions about everything... it is good!

We taught a lady named Angela... but she was a little creepy. In the middle of the lesson, she stopped me and asked if she could tell us about her life. We said sure! So.. she started talking and told us that... she sees things. And hears voices.. and we kinda got really freaked out! We hurried and finished the lesson, so that we could leave. When we were about to say the closing prayer, her husband showed up. So we waited for him to come in and get settled, then we prayed. We stood up to leave and they offered us cake and soda... but we kindly said no thanks and ran as far as we could!! It was crazy!

Speaking of crazy... I think I have lost a lot of my smartness I had. So we were walking down the street and I saw a low hanging power line. I have ALWAYS wanted to touch one... but word to the wise.. never touch one!!! I let my curiousity get to me and I touched it super quickly. Nothing happened, so I touched it a little bit more. Still, nothing happened, so we just kept walking. A few seconds later I felt this sharp pain in the back of my head. I asked my companion if there was a bug or something in my hair, she checked it and said, "No... why??" I explained to her that it was hurting... still... and then it clicked. The electric current had gone through my whole body and I got the shock in my head!! It was a weird feeling... But I offer a bit of advice...Listen to what you have always been taught and never touch a power line!!

On a more serious note, there was a recent convert that we talked to this week. It was really sad, she didnt go to church on Sunday, so she was telling us why. She had gotten in a fight with her husband, and it was a bad fight. She is now trying to decide if she should stay with him or not. I am praying for her everyday, I know she would be better of without him. She already has such a strong testimony (she has been baptized for 2 months now) and she is only 22 with a 5 year old daughter. She promised she wont stray from the church, and she reckognizes that all of these trials are the enemy trying to get her to not stay stong in the church. She is amazing. Her name is Nil. After she told us all that happened, we prayed with her. I started crying because I really felt the pain that she was feeling. I want to be able to help people have a better life and not have to deal with so many problems like this. Next my companion started crying, and then Nil cried. It was a good moment, the spirit was there too. I think she is doing better now, and I know she will stay strong and not let anyting get in the way of being a faithful member of t he Church of Jesus Christ.

I hope that we can all remember the importance of all the little things that we do. The church really is true, it is perfect and Christ is the head. He leads us each and every day.
Elder Cook said this this last conference,
"If we want the inspirationof the Holy Ghost, we need to slow down , listen, be worthy, and follow the promptings. "

I am so grateful to be here and to be able to help these people have better lives, recieve the blessings of the gospel, and eventually return and live with our Heavenly Father. :)

I love and miss you all! Have a great week!!

Love, Sister Porath

P.S. CONGRATS to the grads!!!! Kinsey... my sister is graduating from high school!!!! Also my cousins... some friends... :) Parabéns!!!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

We had a great family night last night. This lady, Antonia, is an inactive member. Her husband and oldest son were killed in their house one night a few years ago. Her sister, Margarita, and her family are active members of the church. The elders that work in our ward too, just happened to knock on Antonia's door and invited her to come back to church. I know she needs strength and help so we all went there to have a family night. She chose my companion to give the message. She shared the scripture 2 Nephi 27:23. It says that God is a God of Miracles. The spirit was really strong. I know she was inspired to talk about that. Then each of us missionaries bore testimony. I had a feeling I needed to talk about Gods perfect plan for each one of us. I have a really strong testimony of this because of the things that have happened in my life. Antonia said the closing prayer, and almost cried. It was amazing. I know she will return to church, and be able to have strength to continue to go and to rely on the Lord. I know God works in mysterious ways, but everything happens for a reason. I am so grateful for my testimony and the fact that I am here to help people gain trust in the Lord and gain a testimony also.
Love you all!
I also have a new email address. It is kiley.porath@myldsmail.net Hope to hear from all of you!!

Kiley and her first family she baptized!