Happy Belated 4th of July

Ola meus queridos!!!

(Again, some accent marks are missing... silly computer!!)

Well, last P-Day was pretty great. We got some sad news after I email y'all- Irmao Durf-Durf is no longer our teacher. Because of some scheudle conflict, he is now teaching a district of newbies. Its alright, though, because they're right next door to us and also in our zone! Plus, our new teacher, Irmao Mummey, is actually Sister Jacobsen's cousin!! He's pretty cool. But it was also awesome because I got a lot of letters, including one from a pretty good friend in Brazil!! .... Guess who?? And I also got one from Sister Barnes (: She's so sweet!! Please make sure she knows how much it meant to me!

Lately almost every night we've been doing a get-to-know-you/sharing-time thing in ur district. Its more like "tell us stuff about yourself and then we'll interrogate you." Its pretty fun. I already did mine and it was super fun (:

Also, last Sunday, Sister Goimerac and I were called to be sacrament meeting greeters!! I'm so stoked, because that means that I'll get to know all the people in my zone so much better! Also, as if that weren't cool enough, Sister SHERI DEW spoke to us in Relief Society last week!! It was so super amazing!!! It was such an awesome meeting. We also watched the Legacy that night. Such a good and inspirational movie.

Monday was our last class with Irmao Durf-Durf :( But it was fun! We committed Jairo, his investigator, to baptism!!!!! It was a really sweet moment (: We took a group picture with him too, but only one of us has it.... I'll try to get it to y'all!! We also did the 6 am workout and it was such a great way to start out the day!!!! We also started teaching other missionaries in our district as our investigators on Monday. So far its going really well, even though one of our investigators, Estavan (aka Elder Morgan) can't read!

Sister Shell and Irmao Durf Durf

Tuesday was an amazing day. We taught Marcos, and basically just went over what we had taught. We asked him about his questions, his doubts that he had. He said he liked the Book of Mormon and felt good when he read it, and said he kept meeting with us because he liked what we taught and our faith, as well as the Spirit we had with us. We had already asked him to be baptized, but he said only if he got an answer. Well, we talked more about  baptism and asked what his concerns were. He explained that when he was 15 he was baptized in the Baptist church and felt like he committed to a church, an organization, and didn't really agree with a lot of the church. I don't know where it came from, but I felt prompted to tell him that in our church, when you are baptized, you commit to following God's commandments and you commit to following the Savior's example, and that you promise with God and not an organization only. Sister Goimerac jumped right in after that and shared her testimony about baptism, as well as a few other things, and then I felt prompted to ask him how he felt. He said that he felt peace, but that he was nervous still. I was again prompted to tell him that the peace and happiness he felt at that moment would be with him continually after he got baptized, and that Heavenly Father would help him. That seemed to help him feel more comfortable. Sister Goimerac asked him to be baptized in 3 weeks, and he said that that was really soon! We promised him God would help him prepare. He asked how, and we explained that God would answer all his questions and prayers, and would bless his life. He thanked us for our faith and agreed to be baptized.
MARCOS IS GOING TO BE BAPTIZED!!!!! OTIMO!!!!!! Honestly, I was so happy. It was amazing.

Wednesday, a bunch of newbies came!! We got 10 (I think...) new sisters in our zone!!! Super exciting. It was fun to see Irmao Durf-Durf greet them in the classroom right next to us and remember how we felt when we first got there (: Tuesday night, he wrote on the board and asked us if we would write them welcome letters since there's 12 of us and 12 of them! It was super fun (: I wrote to a Sister Evans. Hopefully it helped her feel welcome and less overwhelmed (: Also, we got an anonymous gift of Guarana!!!! Even though I never drink soda, I took a few sips. It was very soda-y. But the taste was really good! I just need to get used to carbonation I suppose.
While the newbies were doing their orientation in the computer labs, we passed by and Irmao Durf-Durf was taking one of them back to the claswsroom. He isn't allowed to speak English to them for the first few days, and he told me to introduce myself to the newbie, so I did and asked his name, forgetting he didn't know any Portuguese... But it's alright, we communicated! And I told him what my mission was and learned he's going to Sao Paulo North! So that's cool. ALL OF THAT WAS IN PORTUGESE!!! It was pretty phenomenal. Then, later in the day, Sister Goimerac and I were getting a drink of water and Irmao Durf-Durf's classroom door was open. He called me over and started telling somebody in the classroom that I spoke French. All I could think was "CRAP, I hope they're not French because I can't remember ANYTHING!!" He pointed out a sister and so I said "Bonjour!! Comment ça va?" (oh my gosh it let me do an accent mark!!) and she answered, and she's not French. Thank goodness, because I couldn't think of any more French words!! So I just said that I didn't remember French because speaking Portuguese is more important now. Irmao Durf-Durf said, "And Portuguese is better, right?!" and so I agreed and said, "OF COURSE its better!"
YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW AMAZING THIS IS! THIS WAS ALL IN PORTUGUESE AND I UNDERSTOOD IT ALL AND I REPLIED IN PORTUGUESE!!! IT WAS A GREAT MOMENT FOR ME!!!

So Thursday. HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!! It started off pretty awesome. Irmao Dureden had us all go outside to practice street contacting. He "randomly" picked two missionaries in our district to be the actual missionaries and assigned the rest to be investigators. The missionaries were supposed to go around and talk to all the investigators in our district. Elder Lewis and I were the missionaries. At first I did NOT like the idea and thought it would be scary because, I DON'T KNOW PORTUGUESE....  But I actually liked it and turns out, I do know some Portuguese! I know enough to laugh and talk and have a conversation with people. Every person I talked to I was able to set up an appointment with for the next day!!! Talk about otimo, right???
I would not have changed yesterday for the world. Even though I did miss my y'all, I would not have had it any other way. At 7:40 we had a special Fourth of July devotional. This man whose name I cannot remember spoke about our country and about how the gospel is also a message of freedom. Then, we watched the movie 17 Miracles. I'd never seen it before. It was beautiful. I cried like a baby. So touching and inspirational. The pioneers were truly amazing people! By the time the movie was over, we were all wiping our eyes and noting that it was already past 9:30. Then President Nally got up to conclude the meeting and announced that after the closing hymn and prayer, the missionaries would be allowed to stay up and watch the fireworks from BYU's Stadium of Fire!!! I almost started crying all over again, I was so happy! The closing hymn was Carry On, and the Spirit was so strong. Plus, Sister Goimerac and I hit the HIGH note, the HIGH high note at the end, so it was pretty otimo. Then we booked it out the doors and got the best standing place EVER to see the fireworks! And I wouldn't have changed it for the world. As I sat there watching stuff that was happening at BYU, I wondered if I wanted to change that moment. If I wasn't at the CTM, I probably would have been at Calloway Gardens with my family, or maybe even watching the Stadium of Fire in the stadium with some friends or roommates. I did not want that option for a minute. That was a truly once in a lifetime experience for me. I watched fireworks celevrating the United States of America, celebrating freedom, along with THOUSANDS of other people my age devoting their lives to God and His message of freedom. There's nothing quite like singing the Star Spangled Banner (to the best of your ability) with thousands of the Lord's called and chosen while the finale fireworks go on and then bursting into almost endless applause. I truly love this country!
Oh, some funny things. Some kid, when a bunch of fireworks went off in a row, yelled "YEAH! 'MERICA!!! BALD EAGLES AND STUFF!!" Needless to say, it was pretty hilarious. We also got everyone to start chanting "USA! USA! USA!" Haha, I'm pretty sure there was nobody else ANYWHERE else that was as excited and pumped as all the missionaries at the CTM were last night!

Sisters sporting the Red White and Blue

Watching Fireworks

Wow, time has flown by! My hour is up for today, so I'll try to send out some letters later!! Plus, next week we'll get our reassignments if our visas still haven't come!!! WOOT!!!! :D Plus, only a week and a half left.
Holy cow.

The gospel is true, the church is true, I love my life!! Its beautiful.

love,

Sister Shell

P.S. I'm definitely praying for Grandma that she gets better soon. Also, Collin so his arm will feel better. Sorry it got broken buddy! And tell Zach and Logan parabens (that means Congratulations) on their advancements in the priesthood!!! I'm really proud of them :)