Happy Birthday!

Its an awesome birthday!!! We are having a party with hotdogs cookies and mango juice in the church while we write email with the other sisters in the district. :) And they learned how to sing Happy Birthday in English for me. But their accents are awful! And... tomorrow we will have a mission council... So that will be a long day! Also my novinha (greenie) is Sister Bonfim and she is the cutest person in the world.

Ok the Adventure of my week:

It is Friday. We finished weekly planning and were headed for our first lesson, when all of the sudden BAM. The Spirit said "Stop." So. We stopped. And the Spirit said "Go visit Jorge." So we went. (And no they didnt get married). We arrived in his vila and a woman stopped us from entering. "Do you girls do prayers for people?" "Yes! We are representatives of Jesus Christ!" So this woman starts listing people who want us to visit them. Then another woman walks up and asks if we can help her find Christ because she is a macumba (pagan) and she broke her foot during a ritual and so she knows that God doesnt want her there anymore. So we are in the middle of praying for her and setting up a return appointment and another woman runs up to us, desperated. She invites us into her house because her sister is almost in a coma and needs help. So we enter the house and try to talk to Celia and she doesnt respond. So we kneeled in prayer. And the floor was a little wet so i pulled my skirt up a tad. When the prayer ended I glanced over and saw a huge open cut on Celia's leg with flies all over it. And her foot and leg up to the knee was black. So we tried to give her a little water mixed with salt and sugar to drink but she wouldnt take it. So we tried to help her move to the sofa and not the chair to wait for the ambulance. But she didnt have the strength alone. So Sister Bonfim secured her under the arms and I secured the leg. Which was wet. When we moved her, Sister Bonfim commented that there was a lot of pus leaving the wound.... Thats when it hit me.... The floor, the leg, the cut.... Celia peed herself.... And its all over my legs and hands and I dont want to know where else....


So I rinsed of the best I could in her kitchen sink *sorry*, and then just prayed that I wont get any diseases. When we got home that night i showered better than any other day of my life..

This is the pee pee lady. We went back and she is wayyyy better so now the whole neighborhood knows that our prayer healed her :)

Some More Catch Up...

(From March 21):

More Q and A:

Q - What is your favorite thing about the Brazilian culture?

Malorie - Brazilian culture is wonderful and annoying at the same time:) I love how families are all close together. You have a street with just cousins aunts uncles and everybody is friendly enemies.

Q - Funniest moment this week?

Malorie - ummm. I dont know we laugh a lot but i dont really know how to explain it.... For example. In our house somos eu Sister Bond, Sister Nascimento, Sister Cruz and Sister Jesus. So at lunch the other day the Brother looks at us and says all seriously... "Did you know that between His Nascimento (birth) and the Cruz (cross) Jesus rode the Bond (a type of bus) ....? badum tst.

Q - Happiest moment this week?

Malorie - Raina got baptized!!!!!!!!!! YEAHHHHH!!!! :)::):):) The pattern of excellence each week is to mark 20 baptismal dates, have 20 invest. in the church, and 60 new invest..... its a real struggle. This week we(FINALLY) got 20 dates! 7 in the church and 63 new invest!!!! So we are super happy!!!

Q - Struggles?

Malorie - Patience. Im not patient. at all. Also I cant handle it when i see people suffering. especially when parents start hitting their kids. I get pretty close to giving it to the parents....

Love you all!!
___________________________________

(Excerpt from Mar 28, '16)

Service Projects are highly encouraged. The problem is that the rich dont need them, the poor dont want them, and the really poor are out of my capacity to help.... So em fim I love service projects but we dont get a lot of doable things.

Playing a Little Catch Up....

Editors Note: [Okay, this is Malorie's dad writing for a moment. As you probably know, Malorie sends us emails and I put excerpts from them onto this blog. Well, I've shirked my duties for several months now. Shame on me.

So, I'm playing catch up, selecting a few things from emails over the past several months. It wont be everything. I'll just pick enough to give you a snapshot of her life as a missionary. I'll probably play catch up over several posts instead of one long post.]

(From Feb 29, '16):

Ill try to write more but seriously Im trying to do my best.. I have stories but its awkward because:

1.  I dont want to complain
2.  I dont want to brag
3.  I dont want to scare mom 
4.  I just dont know what to say

It was a good week and im happy and healthy!

Love you
Mal

_______________________________________

(From Mar 7, '16 - responses to my questions in a previous email):

So you got the memo that numbered questions are better too eh?

haha

Q -  Who is your companion right now? Do you like her? Where is she from?

Malorie -  Sister Cruz- see moms email

Q -  As a sister training leader or whatever the real title is, do you go on exchanges with all sisters in the mission or only in your zone? or district?

Malorie: Im responsible for 5 duplas in 3 zones

Q - How is the member missionary work there?

Malorie: depends on the week.... but what i need hepl with more than anything is somebody to help us bring investi to church. Sacrament starts at 8 am so we are getting up at 5:30 and this week was the first week of success!!! HALELUJIAH. So ya the next step is somebody with a car to agree to help us out

Q -  Are the congregations large enough to be wards or are they branches or does it depend upon the area?

Malorie: The focus right now is to fortify wards. So its all wards and stakes but the attendance yesterday was 92 if that gives you an idea

_____________________________________

(A few excerpts from March 14, '16):

Im starting to see how the Lord calls people to the places where they will grow the most. But also where the talents and attributes that He gives us can be used.

I received a LOT of personal revelation on the things that I need to be better at. And it was super cool to see how the Lord helped me fix them just a littrle at a time. So tender mercies:)

Facebook Post from October

Note: This was a Facebook/Instagram post from Sabrina Nascimento (a young woman Malorie taught), posted back in October, 2015.

Foi incrível ter conhecido vcs! E tudo q eu aprendi com vcs com certeza eu irei aplicar na minha vida.#sisterbond #sistermacedo #sisternascimento :)

Google Translation:

It was amazing to have known you guys! And everything I learned with you with absolute certainty I will apply in my life. ‪#‎Sisterbond‬‪#‎sistermacedo‬ ‪#‎sisternascimento‬ :)

Sabrina Nascimento, Malorie, Sister Macedo (left to right)

Sulacap!

January 4, 2016

This week was adventurous:)

We had the baptism of Rita, a wonderful woman with a big heart!

We had an emergency transfer and I got moved to Sulacap! My new companion is Sister Nascimento. She is from Rio and only serving a practice mission- for 3 months. She is amazing and has a lot of faith!!

The reason for the emergency transfer is that I got called as a Sister Training Leader. So thats gonna be an adventure!

And my first night in the new house I locked myself in the bathroom and couldnt escape. So I yelled for my companion and after 15 minutes I finally managed to leave the dark and dreary prison of Brasilian bathrooms....

Bam.

Feliz Ano Novo!!! Ether 12:4

Love
Sister Bond

Arquivo da Missão Maravilhosa

December 2015

Rio de Janeiro Mission

Malorie is 3rd row from bottom, 18th from left (just right of center) in light colored shirt

Batismo de Evangelista

December 28, 2015
















I love being a missionary!!!!! Batismo de Evangelista :) He really loves the Savior and is so happy!! Its just the photo thats awkward...:)

Favorite Scripture right now- Alma 26:30

Happy New Year!