If I listened to secular music, I would have Beyonce on repeat these past two weeks. Because...
I survived Carnaval.
I survived transfers.
I survived getting assaulted.
Allow me to start from the beginning... :)
My beloved
trainer Sister Marcon got transferred and I got a new companion here in
Osasco! Her name is Sister Castro and she is from Porto Alegre.
We started off the transfer excited and pumped and ready to work.
Our first day together we walked and talked to everyone we saw, and
walked some more, and made some visits and then walked and walked and
walked. We walked until my whole body hurt. We stopped for a minute to
make a phone call, and long story short, we got assaulted by two guys
on motorcycles. It was awful and we were left with nothing. No phone,
no map, no keys to home, no contact information of anyone. Simply
nothing.
Both of us shaken, we walked to a main street and did not know what to do. I just prayed and prayed for help.
And
exactly when we were praying desperately for help, our friend Maria was
walking down the street and saw a cell phone lying on the ground in
three pieces. She almost didn't pick it up, but something told her she
should. So she put it back together, turned it on, and saw that it was
our phone. THEN she ran into someone else we know who had seen us
earlier that day. She told Maria the direction that we went. Maria
then sent her daughter (are you following this?) to try to find us.
Mid-prayer, I heard someone yell my name, and then saw my
friend Jamili running up the hill shouting that she had found our cell
phone.
What.
The bandits left so
fast that the cell phone must have flown off of the motorcycle. And
only God could have placed someone we know in its path.
And with that miracle, we were able to contact help.
And we also got a ride home in a cop car, so that was fun :)
To
reassure any worries, I am okay, I am alive, and I am happy. I do miss
my bag, and literally only have a dollar to my name, but I know there
must be some bigger purpose to all of this. So Sister Castro and I are
all smiles, determined to press forward with unshakable faith. Because
we know that God is looking out for us, and that another miracle is just
around the corner
beijos for all!
Sister Burch
