Olááááááá! Bom dia! Tudo bem?
Well things are really starting to settle in here, 4 months on the mission and I'm so blessed with the language already. I am amazed that I can understand all that I can! The gift of tongues is real and such a blessing. I hope that I can keep learning more and more Portuguese everyday. This week was definitely quite the experience. Everday we had appointments marked almost every hour, and literally EVERY one of them fell through (and pretty much all of our back up plans too)! It was quite the experience. But needless to say, we are working hard here. This week I think we will be changing our tactics a bit, and continue to pray that we can find the people here that are prepared to hear the gospel. Vamos conseguir!
For last P-day we went to Parque Ibuiapoera (sp?) with our investigator, P. She is 17 years and has become one of our really good friends here. This park is a huge park full of trees and people and walkways. People rent bikes there (but we weren't allowed to). It was so refreshing to be away from all of the hustle and bustle for a few hours and just soak up the green and sunshine!
Other news, who knew that Brazillian bees could be so viscious?! Sister P and I took a trip to the hospital after she got stung by a large brown, flying thing. Her arm got pretty big and hot. But it's practically all better now. Also saw my life flash before my eyes this week at one of our lunches. We were sitting there eating and started to smell smoke. But they didn't think anything of it because their neighbors burn stuff all of the time. Well luckily the little boys spotted the flames and started screaming "FOGO! FOGO!!" We opened the front door to find all the stuff on the porch on fire. The only thing I could think of was, "that's the only exit, grab our scriptures and run!" but Sister P was more concerned about the tanks of gasoline that were heating up right there. Thanks to the quick action of the irmã, we put out the fire quickly and nothing blew up. And lunch continued as normal. Another encounter with fire later in the week...I call Sister P "Our Little Town Hero" now. She spotted a fire on the side of the road and we put it out with our waterbottles. Just call us the next "Bombeiras."
This week, I'm really string to develop the attribute of Charity. It is essential in life. This pure love of Christ is one of the greatest gifts we can seek for. I hope and pray that I can develop it cada dia mais. My testimony has been strengthed yet again that we are led by the Lord. When things fall through and we say a prayer, we seem to be led to someone.
Well that's about a week in the life of a missionary! All in the day's work. I know that this gospel is true, that Jesus is the Christ and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. How blessed we are to have a loving Heavely Father always watching out for us.
I love you all,
Fica firme, fiel, e feliz!
Sister Bierman
Monday, January 16, 2012
Monday, January 9, 2012
Can you say GOOOAAAAALLLLLL!
That's right everyone, we killed a lot of our goals this week! We've been really struggling with our goals this last month, so the first week of the year, we weren't going to let that continue. So what did we do? We made some really great goals, prayed really hard, and then worked until we crashed. Oh what satisfaction comes from putting your mind to something, working really hard, and improving! Needless to say, this week was full of experiences, good and bad. We visited a less active of 10 years this week, and when we showed up he not only had read the chapter we assigned but 12 more! And then he taught us the lesson. He has a great spirit, I hope that he can continue with this desire. On the other hand, we had a less active that we've been visiting for a while now who refuses to do anything--read, pray, hope, believe--really frustrating. It's so sad to see how people's attitudes can be scarred by experiences in the church. But we need to look past the fact that people are imperfect and remember that the Lord is perfect and we can always put our trust in him. One of the lessons that we learned this week, is how important our purpose is. As missionaries, it is our responsiblility to help others increase their faith in Jesus Christ by INVITING them to repent and make committments. The work really changes when we are focused on our purpose and always inviting the people we are visiting to change their lives for the better. And the guidance of the Spirit is SO essential. Don't hesitate to follow the promptings and guidance because you never know if missed opportunities will be made up.
Among other things, this week I've been especially grateful for my family, their strength, support, and for teaching me right from the start. I've been so disappointed with some of the fathers here. We are visiting one less active family where all but the 16 year old daughter is inactive. And the father has started drinking again and is in denial that he isn't living right. And while we were there this week, he threatened to take away church (the thing she most loves) from his daughter because she was staying up really late watching TV. While most 16 year olds are out roaming the streets doing who knows what, and he has an amazing daughter firm in her faith and living right. I can't believe that anyone (especially a member) would take away church as a punishment. It's so wrong. Another one of our investigators, a mom and a daughter, are really doing great! They are reading and praying and coming to church. The only problem is the dad. One night he saw his daughter reading the Book of Mormon and he threatened to burn the book. But she is staying strong and true. Oh it makes me so sad. I am so, so grateful for a loving, righteous father who shows me the way and helps me to live it--thanks Dad!
Other great things this week. We continue to make american breakfast for people here, which is quite fun. Everyone is loving the Danish Pancakes (I think). One sister,Simone, has even started making them for herself on her own. I saw my first banana tree this week...really cool! We found some really great families, I know that the Lord is leading us and guiding us to people here. One day we were trying to find a person that we contacted in the street. I wrote down the address "RC" and we were close so we went there. The house that we thought was hers, wasn't but there were two nice ladies that tried to help us. I invited them to hear our message as missionaries of Jesus Christ and this sweet lady accepted immediately saying who's to say that the Lord didn't lead us to them and that they were meant to hear the message we had. It was really neat. Looking later at what Sister Petitta had written for the address...it wasn't even close to RC. I know that the Lord led us to this family and that he is always aware of and watching out for his children. He knows you individually. He loves you. Trust in Him.
I love you all,
Sister Bierman
P.S. Who'd have thought we'd be hearing all the hype about Mitt Romney all the way in Brazil?
Among other things, this week I've been especially grateful for my family, their strength, support, and for teaching me right from the start. I've been so disappointed with some of the fathers here. We are visiting one less active family where all but the 16 year old daughter is inactive. And the father has started drinking again and is in denial that he isn't living right. And while we were there this week, he threatened to take away church (the thing she most loves) from his daughter because she was staying up really late watching TV. While most 16 year olds are out roaming the streets doing who knows what, and he has an amazing daughter firm in her faith and living right. I can't believe that anyone (especially a member) would take away church as a punishment. It's so wrong. Another one of our investigators, a mom and a daughter, are really doing great! They are reading and praying and coming to church. The only problem is the dad. One night he saw his daughter reading the Book of Mormon and he threatened to burn the book. But she is staying strong and true. Oh it makes me so sad. I am so, so grateful for a loving, righteous father who shows me the way and helps me to live it--thanks Dad!
Other great things this week. We continue to make american breakfast for people here, which is quite fun. Everyone is loving the Danish Pancakes (I think). One sister,Simone, has even started making them for herself on her own. I saw my first banana tree this week...really cool! We found some really great families, I know that the Lord is leading us and guiding us to people here. One day we were trying to find a person that we contacted in the street. I wrote down the address "RC" and we were close so we went there. The house that we thought was hers, wasn't but there were two nice ladies that tried to help us. I invited them to hear our message as missionaries of Jesus Christ and this sweet lady accepted immediately saying who's to say that the Lord didn't lead us to them and that they were meant to hear the message we had. It was really neat. Looking later at what Sister Petitta had written for the address...it wasn't even close to RC. I know that the Lord led us to this family and that he is always aware of and watching out for his children. He knows you individually. He loves you. Trust in Him.
I love you all,
Sister Bierman
P.S. Who'd have thought we'd be hearing all the hype about Mitt Romney all the way in Brazil?
Monday, January 2, 2012
Feliz Novo Ano!!!!!!!
Oláááááá!! Feliz ano novo para todos de vocés!
I hope that the holidays treated all of you well and that you also had the opportunity to reflect on all the blessings that you have and how you can improve. Sister Tanner wrote about her New Year's tradition to wake up early New Year's morning and write down all of the blessings and good things of the previous year, and view not only the progess, but the things to improve as well. I really like this, oftentimes we try to make these ridiculously grand goals and dreams for the following year but end up forgetting or giving up a little ways in. Rather, it is better that we count our blessings, thank the Lord, and constantly strive to be better everyday. So for this new year, I am recommiting myself to be better every following day.
As far as the work goes for this week, it was definitely a lot different. With Christmas and Sister C leaving, we essentially had three P-days in a row, and of the rest of our four days of work, two were holidays! Needless to say, the work was different, but Sister P and I really kicked it into gear this week, despite it all. On tuesday we got to go to the temple for Sister C's last day. It was a special treat. I'll also call this week American week, because we went to Walmart and Subway! It almost felt as if we were back in the states! We definitely sense a lack of Sister C in our companionship, but at the same time, we have a new spirit and determination, especially with this new year and new transfer.
With the whole world travelling for the month of January, finding new people is a little difficult, but we are being blessed everyday. We continue to find less actives everywhere it seems, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to help them endure to the end and improve their relationship with Heavenly Father. I am amazed at the casualness of people concerning these things here. And how little people realize the importance of the Gospel in their lives! We can't afford not to have it! I really hope that we can help the people here find their faith again and enjoy the blessings of peace and joy that come from living the gospel.
This week it has also been really neat to see how the Lord prepares us for the work. Our training for the week was on the role of the Book of Mormon in conversion. And it seemed that the majority of the lessons we taught this week focused on exactly just that! A testimony of the Book of Mormon is essential in our lives. When we have a testimony of the book of mormon, we have a sound and sure testimony of the rest. If you have yet to gain this testimony of the Book of Mormon. I testify to you, like I did to so many this week, I know that this Book is true. I know that it not only contains good things, but contains the word of God. I came to know this through faith and the power of the Holy Ghost. I challenge all of you to take the challenge found within the book: Read the words, think about the things they are saying, and with a sincere heart ask God if they are true. If you have faith, desire, and patience I know that you too can come to know with a sureity that this book is true.
May the Lord bless all of you with peace, joy, and prosperity this new year.I love you all and am praying for you.Fica firme, fiel, e feliz!
I hope that the holidays treated all of you well and that you also had the opportunity to reflect on all the blessings that you have and how you can improve. Sister Tanner wrote about her New Year's tradition to wake up early New Year's morning and write down all of the blessings and good things of the previous year, and view not only the progess, but the things to improve as well. I really like this, oftentimes we try to make these ridiculously grand goals and dreams for the following year but end up forgetting or giving up a little ways in. Rather, it is better that we count our blessings, thank the Lord, and constantly strive to be better everyday. So for this new year, I am recommiting myself to be better every following day.
As far as the work goes for this week, it was definitely a lot different. With Christmas and Sister C leaving, we essentially had three P-days in a row, and of the rest of our four days of work, two were holidays! Needless to say, the work was different, but Sister P and I really kicked it into gear this week, despite it all. On tuesday we got to go to the temple for Sister C's last day. It was a special treat. I'll also call this week American week, because we went to Walmart and Subway! It almost felt as if we were back in the states! We definitely sense a lack of Sister C in our companionship, but at the same time, we have a new spirit and determination, especially with this new year and new transfer.
With the whole world travelling for the month of January, finding new people is a little difficult, but we are being blessed everyday. We continue to find less actives everywhere it seems, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to help them endure to the end and improve their relationship with Heavenly Father. I am amazed at the casualness of people concerning these things here. And how little people realize the importance of the Gospel in their lives! We can't afford not to have it! I really hope that we can help the people here find their faith again and enjoy the blessings of peace and joy that come from living the gospel.
This week it has also been really neat to see how the Lord prepares us for the work. Our training for the week was on the role of the Book of Mormon in conversion. And it seemed that the majority of the lessons we taught this week focused on exactly just that! A testimony of the Book of Mormon is essential in our lives. When we have a testimony of the book of mormon, we have a sound and sure testimony of the rest. If you have yet to gain this testimony of the Book of Mormon. I testify to you, like I did to so many this week, I know that this Book is true. I know that it not only contains good things, but contains the word of God. I came to know this through faith and the power of the Holy Ghost. I challenge all of you to take the challenge found within the book: Read the words, think about the things they are saying, and with a sincere heart ask God if they are true. If you have faith, desire, and patience I know that you too can come to know with a sureity that this book is true.
May the Lord bless all of you with peace, joy, and prosperity this new year.I love you all and am praying for you.Fica firme, fiel, e feliz!
Monday, December 26, 2011
We wish you a merry christmas, we wish you a merry christmas....and a happy new year!!
Olaáááá!!Merrrry Chriiiiiistmassss!!
I hope that all of you had a very wonderful Christmas; full of love, peace, and joy. Christmas has always been my favorite holiday and this year it didn't change one bit. In fact, it will probably be one of my most memorable Christmases. On Friday, we had a Christmas conference with President and Sister Tanner. We put together a program of music and spoken word, which was really neat.This was our gift to ourselves. For our gifts this year, President asked that we memorize a scripture in our non-native tongue (I chose Alma 17:11) for him. And for the Savior, we decorated a Christmas tree with photos of our baptisms. It was really a special conference. At the end we watched the film about John Tanner (he's the great (something) grandfather to President Tanner) and I couldn't help but think of that family home evening when we watched it together and of course little Tanner :)
On Christmas Eve, our day was full of appointments with investigators and a family night.The day started out nice and sunny, but then the downpour began. It was quite the adventure trying to navigate the flooded streets as fast as possible to visit everyone. I don't even want to think about what I walked in all day. And despite the fact that we showed up to everyone's house soaking wet, we enjoyed sharing Christmas messages and the love of our Savior. The people here are so generous and kind!
Our family night with the Bishop and his family and other members was quite the event. We had a feast fit for a king and enjoyed their company and friendship. The day was full of much laughter and joy.
And on Christmas, we started out the day with Sacrament meeting, which is a great way to commemorate the Savior's birth. Irmã Meire invited us over to her grand house for lunch, they have a pretty big family, it was fun to visit with them. Then we all got to call home. It was so great to see everyone on skype! Irmã Raquel had also made lunch for us, so we stayed and ate dinner at her house and had a really special evening with her. Then we rushed off to the Bishop's house again to make "Breakfast for Dinner" American style for them. A Christmas isn't complete without Danish pancakes! Needless to say, this Christmas was one to remember. Christmas is a time for family, and although we were far from home, I felt right at home with all of the members and wonderful people here. The love of Christ spans across all nations, languages, and traditions. I couldn't think of anything better than sharing in this love as a missionary of Jesus Christ. Now, more than ever, I feel like I have a greater understanding of His life and Atonement. How blessed we are to have this special knowlede in our lives!
Other news for the week, A.B. moved back with her mom, and we miss her a lot, but hopefully everything will workout for her. We have started teaching some really great families this week and hope that we will find many more. Sister P and I will be staying here in Diadema Centro for one more transfer together! I'm so excited that we get to stay together and continue the work here! I love the people here.
While Christmas is coming to a close, don't lose that special spirit that you felt! This spirit is the love of Christ and is something that we can have with us everyday, if we keep it. Always strive to live in such a way that you can keep this spirit with you. Share your testimore with someone, even if it's just to your Heavenly Father, do a kind deed, lend a helping hand, and share those beautiful smiles!I love you all so much, thank you for your love, support, and prayers. You are always in my thoughts and prayers.Until next year ;)
I hope that all of you had a very wonderful Christmas; full of love, peace, and joy. Christmas has always been my favorite holiday and this year it didn't change one bit. In fact, it will probably be one of my most memorable Christmases. On Friday, we had a Christmas conference with President and Sister Tanner. We put together a program of music and spoken word, which was really neat.This was our gift to ourselves. For our gifts this year, President asked that we memorize a scripture in our non-native tongue (I chose Alma 17:11) for him. And for the Savior, we decorated a Christmas tree with photos of our baptisms. It was really a special conference. At the end we watched the film about John Tanner (he's the great (something) grandfather to President Tanner) and I couldn't help but think of that family home evening when we watched it together and of course little Tanner :)
On Christmas Eve, our day was full of appointments with investigators and a family night.The day started out nice and sunny, but then the downpour began. It was quite the adventure trying to navigate the flooded streets as fast as possible to visit everyone. I don't even want to think about what I walked in all day. And despite the fact that we showed up to everyone's house soaking wet, we enjoyed sharing Christmas messages and the love of our Savior. The people here are so generous and kind!
Our family night with the Bishop and his family and other members was quite the event. We had a feast fit for a king and enjoyed their company and friendship. The day was full of much laughter and joy.
And on Christmas, we started out the day with Sacrament meeting, which is a great way to commemorate the Savior's birth. Irmã Meire invited us over to her grand house for lunch, they have a pretty big family, it was fun to visit with them. Then we all got to call home. It was so great to see everyone on skype! Irmã Raquel had also made lunch for us, so we stayed and ate dinner at her house and had a really special evening with her. Then we rushed off to the Bishop's house again to make "Breakfast for Dinner" American style for them. A Christmas isn't complete without Danish pancakes! Needless to say, this Christmas was one to remember. Christmas is a time for family, and although we were far from home, I felt right at home with all of the members and wonderful people here. The love of Christ spans across all nations, languages, and traditions. I couldn't think of anything better than sharing in this love as a missionary of Jesus Christ. Now, more than ever, I feel like I have a greater understanding of His life and Atonement. How blessed we are to have this special knowlede in our lives!
Other news for the week, A.B. moved back with her mom, and we miss her a lot, but hopefully everything will workout for her. We have started teaching some really great families this week and hope that we will find many more. Sister P and I will be staying here in Diadema Centro for one more transfer together! I'm so excited that we get to stay together and continue the work here! I love the people here.
While Christmas is coming to a close, don't lose that special spirit that you felt! This spirit is the love of Christ and is something that we can have with us everyday, if we keep it. Always strive to live in such a way that you can keep this spirit with you. Share your testimore with someone, even if it's just to your Heavenly Father, do a kind deed, lend a helping hand, and share those beautiful smiles!I love you all so much, thank you for your love, support, and prayers. You are always in my thoughts and prayers.Until next year ;)
Monday, December 19, 2011
Feliz Natal!!!!!!!!
Olá!!Tudo bem?
I hope all of you are enjoying the wonderful winter, Christmas weather! If you're not, just imagine showering in your own sweat everyday. It's nice and toasty and humid here, summer is really setting in. My feet are getting wonderfully strange tan lines lol. I call them "Zorro."
So, news for the week...A.B.. Met with her last week and pushed back her baptism date to Christmas :) But, you guessed it. She was out of town this weekend, so she didn't come to church...She's so great, I really hope that things will start working out. We'll pray for New Years. But we did have some really great lessons with some families this week! We taught a lot of lessons on Christmas from the December ensign. I love the talk about "O Vinde, Adoremos" (O come let us adore Him). For it doesn't matter the distance we are from the Savior, He remains the same and is always waiting for us to come to Him. Like the shepherds who were close or the wise men who were far, Christ beckons for all to come unto Him. May we learn from the shepherds and "go with haste" and from the wisemen who studied and watched for the signs. The Savior and the gift of His Atonement is ready for all to come and partake, all we need do is unwrap the gift and apply it in our lives. We do this by praying and studying the scriptures everyday, serving those around us, keeping the commandments, and everyday trying to be more like the Savior. I know that all of you are feeling His love, especially this week before Christmas, even more in your lives. It is my hope and prayer that all of you will keep this Christmas spirit of love and service not just this week, but everyday of your lives. Come, let us adore Him.
Other events for this week, our zone has been working on music to sing at our Christmas program with the President. Elder B composed some special renditions of some of the hymns and asked me to do some solos. The music is gorgeous, we missionaries, don't do his work justice. I'll be singing "What Child is this?" in portuguese, and I can't help but think of Grandma Eilers everytime. Last night we went to the area Villa Niguera and sang our song in the road. While there weren't lots of people there, the spirit of Christmas was overpowering. I love carolling, it always brings the love of Christ more into our hearts. I sent a photo of all of us with our santa hats. Enjoy singing those Christmas hymns, pay attention to the words, they are really powerful.I love you all and wish you a very merry christmas. May you feel and share the love of our Savior even more this week.
I hope all of you are enjoying the wonderful winter, Christmas weather! If you're not, just imagine showering in your own sweat everyday. It's nice and toasty and humid here, summer is really setting in. My feet are getting wonderfully strange tan lines lol. I call them "Zorro."
So, news for the week...A.B.. Met with her last week and pushed back her baptism date to Christmas :) But, you guessed it. She was out of town this weekend, so she didn't come to church...She's so great, I really hope that things will start working out. We'll pray for New Years. But we did have some really great lessons with some families this week! We taught a lot of lessons on Christmas from the December ensign. I love the talk about "O Vinde, Adoremos" (O come let us adore Him). For it doesn't matter the distance we are from the Savior, He remains the same and is always waiting for us to come to Him. Like the shepherds who were close or the wise men who were far, Christ beckons for all to come unto Him. May we learn from the shepherds and "go with haste" and from the wisemen who studied and watched for the signs. The Savior and the gift of His Atonement is ready for all to come and partake, all we need do is unwrap the gift and apply it in our lives. We do this by praying and studying the scriptures everyday, serving those around us, keeping the commandments, and everyday trying to be more like the Savior. I know that all of you are feeling His love, especially this week before Christmas, even more in your lives. It is my hope and prayer that all of you will keep this Christmas spirit of love and service not just this week, but everyday of your lives. Come, let us adore Him.
Other events for this week, our zone has been working on music to sing at our Christmas program with the President. Elder B composed some special renditions of some of the hymns and asked me to do some solos. The music is gorgeous, we missionaries, don't do his work justice. I'll be singing "What Child is this?" in portuguese, and I can't help but think of Grandma Eilers everytime. Last night we went to the area Villa Niguera and sang our song in the road. While there weren't lots of people there, the spirit of Christmas was overpowering. I love carolling, it always brings the love of Christ more into our hearts. I sent a photo of all of us with our santa hats. Enjoy singing those Christmas hymns, pay attention to the words, they are really powerful.I love you all and wish you a very merry christmas. May you feel and share the love of our Savior even more this week.
Monday, December 12, 2011
TRIO! E lição da semana: nunca esquesci sua guarda-chuva!
Olááááá vocês!!!
First things first, to all of you that wrote me a special Christmas ornament note, THANK YOU. From the bottom of my heart, I loved hearing from each one of you and laughed and smiled and cried. Merry Christmas, everyone :)
Second, I have a new companion! We are now in a trio! Sister C will be staying with us until she dies(heads for home) on December 27th. She is from northern Brazil. It's so great to have a Brazillian companion. She is definitely helping Sister P and I with our goal to only speak portuguese. We can't really speak english anymore and I can already feel the difference in my portuguese. It's so much easier to speak it when we speak it all the time. It' fun to have 3 again, i'm excited for the rest of this month that we have together.
Third, NEVER forget your umbrella. Even on a beautiful day, you never know. The one day we did this week...you guessed it...it started to POUR and we were soaked for the rest of the night! Oh goodness, it was quite the adventure! On the upside, people let us in :)
Fourth, NEVER try to go over a sidewalk with an overflowing sewer...you guessed it again. Sister C and I tried to walk over this flowing nastiness and what do ya know? It ended up filling my shoes with loveliness. I was (and still am) mortified. Hopefully I won't die from any strange diseases, I washed my shoes out with soap, so we're as good as new! (I hope...)
Fifth, it's been quite the roller coaster this week with A.B. Last monday night we showed up to her house and gave us this super sweet notes about how we are angel sent to her by the Lord and that she felt so alone before we found her and how much she loves us and is grateful for us. Yay :) Warm fuzzies...until...the end of the note has an address and phone numbers and talks about how much she will miss us. Yep, she's moving back home to her mom, out of our area. This next week. So we talked to her about what she would have to do to be baptized still and she decided to stay til Christmas to be able to be baptized here and then move. Yay! Warm fuzzies...we taught her most of the commandments and she is pretty much perfect, already! Golden, elect, amazing. So we arranged to pick her up for church this week...yep, you guessed it...we walked that hour and a half, up giant hills (BOTH ways) to no avail. We are super sad. Now she can't be baptized on the 18th. But we'll see what happens tonight when we go visit her. The miracle of this sunday was how many unexpected less actives and investigators we had. It was certainly a blessing! We are loosing investigators this week, we need to find more!
Sixth, the Sister's got to have a special meeting at the mission home this week with President and Sister Tanner. it was AMAZING! Loved every minute of it. Sister Tanner is an amazing woman. They taught us about our special gifts as women and how we have an amazing power to change lives with our gifts and love. She talked about how she wrote the new relief society book "Daughters in my Kingdom" as a special calling from the 1st presidency, with the intent :"This book needs to get the women of the church where they are to where they need to be." Sister Beck originally wanted it to be a manual, but the first presidency wanted the book to be given to each woman as a GIFT. And Sister Beck, herself, asked Sister Tanner how many sisters were serving in her mission and she sent a speacial copy of the book for each one of us! Sister Tanner signed it and gave it to us as a gift. It is so touching. One thing that really stuck out to me that sister Tanner said was that "We can't let the amusements fo the world divert our attention!" So during this wonderful season of Natal (Christmas) don't get too caught up in the amusements of the world. Remember what is most important and all that our savior did for us :)
First things first, to all of you that wrote me a special Christmas ornament note, THANK YOU. From the bottom of my heart, I loved hearing from each one of you and laughed and smiled and cried. Merry Christmas, everyone :)
Second, I have a new companion! We are now in a trio! Sister C will be staying with us until she dies(heads for home) on December 27th. She is from northern Brazil. It's so great to have a Brazillian companion. She is definitely helping Sister P and I with our goal to only speak portuguese. We can't really speak english anymore and I can already feel the difference in my portuguese. It's so much easier to speak it when we speak it all the time. It' fun to have 3 again, i'm excited for the rest of this month that we have together.
Third, NEVER forget your umbrella. Even on a beautiful day, you never know. The one day we did this week...you guessed it...it started to POUR and we were soaked for the rest of the night! Oh goodness, it was quite the adventure! On the upside, people let us in :)
Fourth, NEVER try to go over a sidewalk with an overflowing sewer...you guessed it again. Sister C and I tried to walk over this flowing nastiness and what do ya know? It ended up filling my shoes with loveliness. I was (and still am) mortified. Hopefully I won't die from any strange diseases, I washed my shoes out with soap, so we're as good as new! (I hope...)
Fifth, it's been quite the roller coaster this week with A.B. Last monday night we showed up to her house and gave us this super sweet notes about how we are angel sent to her by the Lord and that she felt so alone before we found her and how much she loves us and is grateful for us. Yay :) Warm fuzzies...until...the end of the note has an address and phone numbers and talks about how much she will miss us. Yep, she's moving back home to her mom, out of our area. This next week. So we talked to her about what she would have to do to be baptized still and she decided to stay til Christmas to be able to be baptized here and then move. Yay! Warm fuzzies...we taught her most of the commandments and she is pretty much perfect, already! Golden, elect, amazing. So we arranged to pick her up for church this week...yep, you guessed it...we walked that hour and a half, up giant hills (BOTH ways) to no avail. We are super sad. Now she can't be baptized on the 18th. But we'll see what happens tonight when we go visit her. The miracle of this sunday was how many unexpected less actives and investigators we had. It was certainly a blessing! We are loosing investigators this week, we need to find more!
Sixth, the Sister's got to have a special meeting at the mission home this week with President and Sister Tanner. it was AMAZING! Loved every minute of it. Sister Tanner is an amazing woman. They taught us about our special gifts as women and how we have an amazing power to change lives with our gifts and love. She talked about how she wrote the new relief society book "Daughters in my Kingdom" as a special calling from the 1st presidency, with the intent :"This book needs to get the women of the church where they are to where they need to be." Sister Beck originally wanted it to be a manual, but the first presidency wanted the book to be given to each woman as a GIFT. And Sister Beck, herself, asked Sister Tanner how many sisters were serving in her mission and she sent a speacial copy of the book for each one of us! Sister Tanner signed it and gave it to us as a gift. It is so touching. One thing that really stuck out to me that sister Tanner said was that "We can't let the amusements fo the world divert our attention!" So during this wonderful season of Natal (Christmas) don't get too caught up in the amusements of the world. Remember what is most important and all that our savior did for us :)
Monday, December 5, 2011
Dezembro? It can't be!
Oláááááá :) Bom dia!
So last week was full of fallen appointments and a bigillion references, this week was almost the complete opposite. We've finally have a few more progressing investigators, yay! And....we have an investigator with a baptism date marked! It was really cool, we found her cousin contacting on the road and taught her and her cousin the first lesson. A.B. started to cry during the lesson, she was so prepared to hear it. We came back for the second lesson and had a really neat lesson about the atonement and how we can become clean again through faith, repentance, and baptism. After I invited her to be baptized, she immediately said " I accept" with a smile of hope and relief on her face. It was such a neat experience. We went to pick her up for church this Sunday though and found that she got called into work :( Muito triste. We left our apartment at 7am to make the 45 minute walk to her house and back in time to pick up another investigator for church. It is so devistating to put all that you have into this work, give up all that you have (and them some) for investigators to feel a portion of what you feel about the gospel. You give up meals for them, sleep for them, walk hours (literally uphill (and down) bothways) and they don't even realize it. It sure puts it into perspective how important this message is to the whole world. We sacrifice so much to help them partake of the redeeming love of Jesus Christ, all for the hope that we can "bring just one soul unto Christ." Good news is we had 3 nonmenbers at church this week!
Other neat experieces...one night we were walking a good half an hour from our house to an appointment and I just felt really bad about going up there for some reason. I kept waiting for the feeling to go away, but it never did. So we decided to turn around and go visit some other investigators close to our home. It's hard to listen to those subtle promptings when you never know "what if" or "why" but I'm glad we did. When we passed by the house of our missed appointment the next day she told us that no one would have been there anyway. I'm so grateful to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost to lead and guide and protect us. Who's to say what would have happened if we hadn't listened to that prompting, but I was grateful that we were safe and watched over. Our Heavenly Father is always watching over us, anxious to lead, guide, and help us. All we need to is turn to Him and LISTEN.
The people we are teaching and our ward is so wonderful. They love the sisters :) They always ask us to sing for them, my companion and I make a great blend, so it's a fun blessing everyday. My voice seems to be more soprano now than ever, interestingly. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father has blessed me with a voice that can invite the Spirit and soften the hearts of our investigators. I hope that you all have a wonderful week and strive to invite the Savior into your life every day. Never forget Him and what He did for you.I love you all!
So last week was full of fallen appointments and a bigillion references, this week was almost the complete opposite. We've finally have a few more progressing investigators, yay! And....we have an investigator with a baptism date marked! It was really cool, we found her cousin contacting on the road and taught her and her cousin the first lesson. A.B. started to cry during the lesson, she was so prepared to hear it. We came back for the second lesson and had a really neat lesson about the atonement and how we can become clean again through faith, repentance, and baptism. After I invited her to be baptized, she immediately said " I accept" with a smile of hope and relief on her face. It was such a neat experience. We went to pick her up for church this Sunday though and found that she got called into work :( Muito triste. We left our apartment at 7am to make the 45 minute walk to her house and back in time to pick up another investigator for church. It is so devistating to put all that you have into this work, give up all that you have (and them some) for investigators to feel a portion of what you feel about the gospel. You give up meals for them, sleep for them, walk hours (literally uphill (and down) bothways) and they don't even realize it. It sure puts it into perspective how important this message is to the whole world. We sacrifice so much to help them partake of the redeeming love of Jesus Christ, all for the hope that we can "bring just one soul unto Christ." Good news is we had 3 nonmenbers at church this week!
Other neat experieces...one night we were walking a good half an hour from our house to an appointment and I just felt really bad about going up there for some reason. I kept waiting for the feeling to go away, but it never did. So we decided to turn around and go visit some other investigators close to our home. It's hard to listen to those subtle promptings when you never know "what if" or "why" but I'm glad we did. When we passed by the house of our missed appointment the next day she told us that no one would have been there anyway. I'm so grateful to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost to lead and guide and protect us. Who's to say what would have happened if we hadn't listened to that prompting, but I was grateful that we were safe and watched over. Our Heavenly Father is always watching over us, anxious to lead, guide, and help us. All we need to is turn to Him and LISTEN.
The people we are teaching and our ward is so wonderful. They love the sisters :) They always ask us to sing for them, my companion and I make a great blend, so it's a fun blessing everyday. My voice seems to be more soprano now than ever, interestingly. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father has blessed me with a voice that can invite the Spirit and soften the hearts of our investigators. I hope that you all have a wonderful week and strive to invite the Savior into your life every day. Never forget Him and what He did for you.I love you all!
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