Bus Station Contacting, First Talk in Portuguese, and Really BIG News!!!

Hey family!

I hope you're all doing wonderfully. This week was incredible, mostly because of amazing miracles that happened yesterday at church. First off, Saturday was Maria´s baptism! It was combined with a child-of-record baptism, and it was perfect. When she left the water, she cried and cried for feeling the Spirit so strongly, knowing that she had just been made completely pure again. Yesterday, she was confirmed, and her daughter came to see! We don´t have any doubts that Bianca will be the next baptism we see here :)


Maria´s baptism

Saturday night, Sister Pereira and I decided to do some late-night contacts at the bus station close to our house, and we found a young man and spoke with him a bit. He´s a bit of a lost soul who needs direction, so we invited him to church and promised that his week would improve. And guess who showed up Sunday morning, just 12 hours later? When Sister Pereira and I saw him, we couldn´t stop laughing of shock and happiness. Heavenly Father truly blesses the faithful. In addition to that, Leonardo and André both passed the sacrament for the first time! It was so cool seeing them both in their suit and tie performing this sacred ordinance.

And I gave my first talk in Portuguese! I was oddly calm, and the Spirit definitely spoke through me. So much that Alessandra decided she wants to serve a mission, too! Ever since her baptism, she´s said that she really doesn´t have a desire to serve, but yesterday she told us that during my talk she felt super strongly that she needs to serve a mission. I can´t even express how gratifying it is to see these amazing things happen, people changing their lives. Through the changes that I see in them, I´m changed too. I´ve never been happier in my life.


Cotton Candy!!

And that leads me to the big news. Tuesday last week, one of President Fernandes' secretaries called to offer an extension to my mission. I and some other American Sisters have the option of extending until Feb 23rd, and we need to decide by today. After lunch I immediately began fasting, praying constantly, thinking, and studying the scriptures to know what I should do. I made a list of the pros and cons of staying. After a sincere prayer, I let the scriptures open to Doctrine and Covenants 15:6, and I couldn´t deny in the slightest that it was an answer from Heavenly Father. So, I´ve decided to extend my mission until February. I know I´ll miss the start of school, but I have no doubts that Father will provide a way. Everything will work out the way He´s planned. I only have this time in my life to serve Him with all I have, and I know I would regret it if I let this opportunity pass.

I love you all more than you can imagine. I pray that all is well with you and that you have an incredibly blessed week. Take care, loves!

All my love,

Sister Kashmir Janae Ramsden

The Field is White, Two More Baptisms, and Great-Grandma is Super Firm!

Happy Monday, family! It was good to hear from y'all this week. I love that the ward does the 40 day fast every year. I know that it brings huge blessings! This week was a little bit slower than the other weeks.


The baptisms of André and Andressa, performed by the YM president

We had the baptisms of Andre and his sister Andressa on Saturday which was amazing. Their mom has been less-active for a long time, but their great-grandma is super firm. So we started visiting the family, and Andre told us that he's always wanted to be baptized but his dad never let him. He had been praying for years that his dad's heart would soften so that he could be baptized. And finally it happened! We started teaching the lessons to Andre and Andressa. They always read the chapters we left super quick, understood everything, highlighted the parts they liked. But not only were they baptized and confirmed, their mom started coming back to church. She always sat in on the lessons. She told us that when we started coming, she stopped drinking coffee and she feels the Spirit a lot more clearly now.


Our daughter, Alessandra :)

The confirmations of Andre, Andressa, Alessandra, and Leondardo all took place in sacrament meeting yesterday. The Spirit was so incredibly strong as these individuals received the gift of the Holy Ghost. The blessings they received were beautiful, and I have no doubt that they were led by the Spirit. The testimonies that were borne only intensified the strong spirit in the meeting. I don't have a single doubt in my mind that this is literally the church of Jesus Christ. The organization is flawless, there's no way it could be run by man. Being a missionary and helping people learn these things for themselves is the most gratifying experience of my life, and I will never forget it.

It's awesome to hear of the growth in the ward back at home. It's amazing to see the miracles that happen when the missionaries and members work together. The Lord is seriously hastening His work. I've never felt a greater desperation to help the people prepare for the Second Coming. It's not always easy to be a missionary, there are definitely tons of challenges. But my Father is with me, there's no doubt. I love you all immensely and hope you have a great week! Take care, loves. :)

Love always,

Sister Ramsden