Faithful to the End

Dear Family,

So this week was eventful. It was Hna. Ribeiro´s last week of being a missionary, so we worked SUPER hard, taking advantage of every single minute. We found SO many good future investigators and even invited 3 of them to be baptized! They said they would pray about it and we are going to go see them this week. Also we had a baptism!! It was such a tender mercy because Hno. José, the first thing he said when we contacted him was when he could be baptized! He had been waiting for this chance for over a year and finally he could take this important step and follow Christ. It was amazing because the elder who baptized him, said that when he left the water, Hno. José just stood there for a couple of seconds and said that he felt clean, and pure and he felt so so good! Then, when he was confirmed, he wanted to go shake hands with the whole congregation! It was funny and super tender. The branch president had to finally ask him to sit down and Hna. José just had a huge smile on his face. He is so converted and the other day almost cried when he couldn't read his scriptures. He has some problems with his eyes, but that is understandable because he is 86 years old! It is a miracle he can even walk on his own! We teach him with big pieces of paper and marker. It is amazing to see that even though we don't say anything in the lesson, we can still feel the Spirit! He LOVED the scripture we shared one time, found in DyC that is when Christ asks the Father to forgive us when we sin. I can't remember the reference, but he keeps the piece of paper we wrote on and loves to read it from time to time, because he loves to remember that Christ loves us so much that He is ALWAYS willing to forgive us, if we just repent and stop doing the bad things we do. 

I think that is my favorite part of the gospel too. Hna. Ribeiro and I had a goal to testify more of Christ this week because we noticed that it invites the Spirit super quick. People RECOGNIZE when they aren't doing something good, and deep down they WANT that promise of forgiveness and acceptance after making an error or mistake. Jesus Christ gives us that promise and also the chance to start over everyday if we want!! Really it doesn't matter how many times we fall down, or how hard our fall is, or if we fall into super thick, dirty stinky mud that takes forever to get rid of. NONE of that matters. All that matters is that we get up again. All that matters is that we seek Jesus Christ out and plead for Him to take the mud stains out and make our clothes white again. All that matters is that we keep trying. :) That is probably the biggest thing I have learned here in the mission, and even more than that, I have learned that I need to allow others to also fall down, without judging them. Our only job is to help them back up again, not kick them while they are down. Before, I was super judgmental. And I can see now that part of the process of true repentance, is allowing others to repent as well, and not just that, but to be like Christ, when He not only defended the adulteress, but also consoled her and invited her to start over. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US IS A SINNER. :) Just remember that and this week, reach out to someone that has fallen and offer to help them start clean again. Love is always the answer. :)

Love you guys tons. Have an amazing week!

Hna. McCubbins

This is Hno. José, and this is the crazy fruit he gave us to eat one day!! It looked SO gross! Like brains in a zombie movie! I was trying to figure out how to open it, and Hna. Riberio just slit it open in my hands and I almost threw up! But then I tried it.... IT IS THE MOST DELICIOUS THING I HAVE EVER EATEN!! And that is all :)

This is our crazy district! Our district leader is also ending his mission.