Rome Week 25

This week went by super fast but was very good!

There was a Brazilian man who lives here in Italy that we taught in the visitor center. He had actually been to church once and said that he knew it was true and wanted to be baptized but since he mainly speaks Portuguese the other sisters asked me if I could teach him. My companion and I taught him the Restoration and also showed him the little 20 minute video of the Restoration in Portuguese.

He then said that he believes that if God has always called prophets then why would he stop now? He believes that Joseph Smith was a prophet who restored the Church of Jesus Christ back on the earth. It was a very cool experience. We also had a Brazilian couple who are members of the church come in to talk to him. They were very loving to him.

One of the days that we were in the visitor center we talked with a couple from France who spoke some English and they are members members of the church. It was very cool to be able to talk to them and answer their questions regarding the visitor center. Their favorite part was about the statue of the 12 Apostles and we bore our testimonies on these remarkable men who died gruesome deaths. The important thing is to remember what they died for and that was for believing in the Savior of Jesus Christ. They could not deny what they knew and saw to be true so they died those tortuous ways. It is so powerful.

My online teaching went very well this week. I met another Brazilian online who requested for a Book of Mormon so I called him and he had very good questions which were all in regards to the Plan of Salvation. So, in Portuguese, I started teaching him where we as human beings came from. He then got into the Godhead and how we believe they are 3 separate Beings that work for the same purpose. He asked me to clarify... I then mentioned to him that in the Garden of Gethsemane when Christ prays to the Father, He says, "Father, if thou wilt take this cup from me. But not my will but thy will let it be done." I then proceeded to ask him if Christ and Heavenly Father were the same person why would Christ ASK himself to take this Cup from him? Whereas, if he were to be God then He would not need to ASK anyone and He would have probably done it. We can clearly see that Christ is asking someone else higher, more powerful and was in charge of this Plan. The investigator was very intent in listening to more. I then asked him a simple question.... If Christ and God were the same person why would He lie to us and refer to Himself as 3 different people when he could of just have said, "I am God" without causing any confusion. I then bore my testimony saying that I know God is not a God of lies or confusion. He wants all of us to understand His beautiful plan and how we can come back to return to Him.

Out of nowhere the Brazilian man I was teaching online said he had never even thought of the things I had pointed out in the Bible. He was very happy and said that it does make sense and he wasn't confused anymore. After our call I called the local missionaries (in Brasil) to take to him a Book of Mormon for our next online lesson with him and those missionaries did just that - immediately. They even invited him to church and they walked to go pick him up and go with him to church. Yesterday, I called this investigator back to check in on him and he absolutely loved the church and the people. He said everyone gave him huge hugs and he felt loved. He said he loved the feeling there and loved how we try to be like Christ. We now have another appointment with him next week!

So far there are 3 Brazilians that I am teaching; I had a lady online that I have been teaching and now the mane online and the one in the visitor center. So it's just so awesome!

Probably the first time I have been studying a lot of things in Portuguese in order to teach in that language.

Funny moment:

I was in the visitor center helping a Brazilian lady get some information about Italy and the temple. Then an Italian lady in my Branch came up to me and gave me a big hug and she stood with my companion, the Brazilian lady, and I in a circle. Then the Brazilian lady asked me to ask the Italian about when the temple opens. So I did ask in Italian and then I had to translate back into Portuguese. They were going to so fast making me tell one to the other in Portuguese and Italian. And my companion was also there asking me things in English. This took about 20 minutes and I was trying to speak all 3 languages at the same time. I became so overwhelmed that I spoke with my companion in Portuguese and I spoke English with the Italian and I don't even know what I spoke with the Brazilian. My head hurt very very bad. All my force was weakening and I just had to stop. I didn't know what language I was even thinking. The Italian lady laughed at me so hard and said, "poor girl, doesn't even know what language she is speaking". I couldn't even answer because she was right. I understood all 3 languages but at the end I couldn't even tell you what language they were speaking I just understood it. My companion gave me water and made me sit down because I had a small mental breakdown for a little bit ha ha ha; then I laughed and at least remembered English.

Also... a giant group of Brazilians came in to the visitor center and at the moment I'm the only one who speaks Portuguese and it was so cool to give them a spiritual experience in Portuguese about the visitor center. They were very sweet and its just so cool that I am teaching MY other people in ITALY. kind of strange that I teach more Brazilians in Italy than Italians, but I do not mind.

The gift of tongues is real. Heavenly Father loves each and everyone one of us and that's why we are here on this earth and why He sent Christ to reedem us from our sins so we can return to live with God.

Sorella Hyatt🇮🇹

The Group of Brazilians I met