Houston, we are cleared for departure!!

That's right folks! In case you haven't heard yet, I, Sister Anna Kirsten Shell, have obtained my visa!! I'll be headed to Brazil on April 29th! Miracle of miracles :'D Haha, I'm pretty excited. :D

Monday: At FHE, we got to talk to Sandra who had some pretty AMAZING experiences during General Conference!! We talked about them and what they meant, and she agreed to pray about a baptismal date :D

Tuesday: Well, Monday night we headed off to start exchanges with the Windrose sisters! I went to Windrose with Sister Christensen and Sister Liljenquist came to my area. It was pretty fun! We visited a member named Autumn who is hilarious and super sweet. I visited her last time I was on exchanges too, so that was fun to see her again! Then we went and visited Grandma Norma at an old folks home. When we got in the elevator, a deaf man that I saw last time got in the elevator with us! I waved hello and he told us that he was deaf. So I signed "How are you?" He signed that he was good but tired, thank you. I then signed and introduced myself, signed that I was a missionary and then the elevator doors opened and we went our separate ways. The whole time we were playing rummikub with Grandma Norma, I kept thinking about Andy, the deaf man. I really felt like I needed to invite him to learn about the gospel from the ASL missionaries, but I had no idea how to do that! Plus, he is a custodian at the home, so I also had no idea where he was working at in the building. However, I decided to act in faith. During someone else's turn, I wrote a sticky note that said, "Hi Andy! We have church completely in sign language every Sunday and missionaries that know sing language who would love to meet you! Please text them at #" and wrote down the ASL elders phone number. I had it ready as we were leaving. Nothing. We got in the elevator, and who else would get in with us but Andy!! I gave him the sticky note, he read it, and asked for a pen to write something back. He wrote "Thanks for that, I do believe in God and the Bible, but I'm not very religious. Its between me and God." But he signed thank you, and kept the sticky note! I told the ASL elders about him and they were so excited! Hopefully something will come of that. Its really cool how Heavenly Father uses us to invite people to come to Him in any way possible, even if its through choppy sign language (by me) and sticky notes.
Then, we had some yummy dinner and I got a cute pen that had a duct tape flower on it that the little girl there made for me. I forgot how cute and adorable little kids are to missionaries! After that, we were supposed to have a lesson but the investigator cancelled on us :/ We were already at the members house though, that the lesson was going to be at, so we just talked to her son about missionary work. I don't know why I asked him about a mission, but I know I was prompted to do so, because we were able to motivate and encourage him to go on a mission when he told us that he wasn't really planning on it. It was a neat experience, and his mom was just smiling ear to ear the whole time.

Wednesday: We went to "The Mission" and Stewart, the president of the Christian group, introduced us to a lady named Lauren. We had a really long and super good discussion with her. I think Stewart thought that she'd help sway us away from "mormonism" because she's investigated the church THOROUGHLY and isn't a member. But, if that was the plan, that failed. We were not confounded in our words. The Lord kept His promise, as He always does, and gave us everything we needed to say. My faith and testimony were actually strengthened by that experience. I came away saying "Wow, this church is so true!!"
Then, we taught Sandra! We planned to teach about repentance using Alma 36. We got there and asked her how praying about a baptismal date was going, and she told us that she was a bit confused and didn't know what to do as far as the church and being baptized goes. So we talked about that, and while we were talking, I felt that we should read in Ether with her. So, we completely changed our lesson plan and, as Sister King and I often do, "winged it by the Spirit." We read about the 16 stones and how the Brother of Jared didn't know what to do and was confused and that the Lord solved one problem, then let the Brother of Jared come up with a solution for the other problem. We also talked about the scary winds that blew the Jaredites on the sea, and how those winds were actually pushing them in the right direction, not just pushing them down. She loved it! She even bookmarked the pages so she could read it again later. I know that the Lord used Sister King and I as instruments to help Sandra out.
Then, we ate dinner and did some ward list cleanup, and helped a member named Jennifer pack up her stuff. During that time we missed a call from the Windrose sisters. We called back, and they needed to talk to Sister King as STL, and because I'm her companion, they needed to talk to me too! I'll leave out the details, but the gist is the Sister Lq. and Sister C. were pretty upset. Sister Lq. received a pretty mean letter that really diminished her confidence in herself, and needed some guidance and love. We talked with them about it on their little apartment balcony and Sister King said a very inspired prayer that I know came straight from the Holy Ghost.  After the prayer, we were talking, and I knew that Heavenly Father wanted me to say something. So I opened my mouth and I don't really remember everything I said. But I know that the gist of it was "Heavenly Father is so proud of both of you and loves both of you!" We hugged them for a while and then, the mood needed to be lightened. And, because I learned to be a bit of a jokester from my dad, I took it upon myself to lighten things up! I grabbed the letter, declared the contents of said letter void, and (with permission) ripped it right in half. Then, Sister C. got a pan and some matches, and we burned it. It made Sister Lq. feel so much better, and we were all laughing a lot by the time we were done. The best part is that Sister C. found a tiny little bottle and preserved the ashes of the letter in it! I then bequethed it to Sister Lq. as an award, and we gave Sister Lq. a standing ovation (like we did at that one girls camp years and years ago- remember when we would all give everyone standing ovations??). Sister Lq. is going to label the bottle "The Diseased Letter from Hell." SO FUNNY.

Thursday: So we got up, and at 6:33 am, we got a text from President Pingree. It read "Sister Shell, we have just received word that you will be flying to Brazil on Apr 29 at 3:41 pm. Congratulations! It has been such a blessing having you here and we will miss you! We can arrange details as your departure date nears, but in the meantime there are many miracles to be had."
#biggestlamoniofmylife
I was in shock. Sister King had just finished praying or something and had flopped on her bed in protest of life, and I just walked in and sat on her bed and shoved the phone in her face. And my eyes started to sweat a little. That woke her right up! I was seriously in shock the whole day. Sister King made a video of me and I'm kind of just sitting at the table in shock. Its not a very exciting video. Here's part of my journal entry for that day; "Holy cow. I just don't even know how to process this information right now. Holy cow. Like... I'm excited to go to Brazil, but I'm sad to leave TX. This IS my mission. This is my "holy land" in a sense.
Do you know how many prayers and fasts this has answered? God listens, and God answers. But He answers in His time."
I was in shock like all day. I don't really even know what happened. Weekly planning happened. Thats what happened. Yeah, weekly planning.
Then, we had a Mexican Fiesta Barbecue with Frank and like 20 members of his family! It was so fun!!! We invited the Hermanas in that area along so that they could do the spiritual thought since Sister King and I don't know Spanish and half of Frank's family doesn't know English very well. The Hermanas taught the Plan of Salvation and it went really well. The whole thing was super fun! Frank and his sister Deisy (aka Daisy) were super sad to find out that I'm leaving soon. Frank said "Maybe we'll move my baptismal date up so you can be there! I'll find out when Erin comes home." Sidenote, Frank told us that his dad told him that I "really know how to eat" and Frank told me that's a good thing, whatever that means. I'll go ahead and take that as a compliment. And, we found out that Erin is coming home the 24th, so Frank moved his baptismal date up to April 26th!!! I'm super happy about that!!!! :D He also told me that I've helped him change and made a difference in his life. I'm not even gonna use the excuse of my eyeballs sweating this time, I'm just gonna go ahead and say that I cried.
Also, this is how I feel about the whole Brazil thing a bit. In song lyrics.
"I couldn't be happier! Simply couldn't be happier! Well.. not simply. 'Cause getting your dreams, its strange, but it seems, a little, well.. complicated.... But I couldn't be happier! Because happy is what happens when all your dreams come true! Isn't it? Happy is what happens when your dreams come true!!!"
-Thank Goodness, Wicked
Yupp, I use song lyrics to describe my life. So thats how I feel. A little. Mostly I'm just really excited and a bit nervous. WOOHOOOO!!!!! :D

Friday: We did some detective work to do some more ward list cleanup and burned a dvd of mormon messages. Then, we went to the park to do some contacting. Sister King was having a bit of an off day, so we sat down on a bench and talked. Her eyeballs may or may not have started sweating a bit because it was so hot outside, and because I was telling her how she was awesome and has totally changed my mission for the better.
Then, we visited Allison, Jenn's sister, and that was fun. We used our snazzy new mormon messages dvd and that worked really well! I recommend watching the "Patterns of Light" series with Elder David A. Bednar, especially the third one. Its really good!!!
After, we ate dinner at Chili's with Kevin. That was pretty fun, and I'm glad I was able to eat at Chili's one last time before i flee the country!!

Another designer to-go-box by Sister King

Then, I dunno why, but I was kind of not okay. We tried to do a few more things, but nothing really panned out. So, since Sister King and I were both kind of "off", we watched The Testaments after doing our nightly planning. That was awesome and cheered us right up. Oh, and we also had to call Frank and ask him something about his baptism, and he asked us how we were. We told him it had been a rough day because Satan had been trying to get to us because Satan is a jerk. Frank just said, "Aw, sorry. Well, you guys should just pray. Then you'll feel better."
I'm so proud of our stinkin' cute investigator Frank who reminded the missionaries to pray!!

Sister King and Sister Shell sharing a "pinky swear" over the phone!  

Saturday: We both felt much better! We helped Jennifer move, and I got to talk to a guy about the church! He got another member's number and said he was going to contact her about church. Woot woot! I explained a few things about church to him and said goodbye. Awkward thing was... Later, I found out that he'd asked Jennifer if I was single because he was interested in me. Jennifer of course, explained that I am a missionary and don't date. And then I had that conversation with him about church. But I know that he really was interested in the church too!! #missionaryproblems #ysawards
Then, we ate at CiCi's Pizza with some of the people who helped her move. That was pretty fun! And by fun, I mostly mean funny. Then, we visited with AJ because she's leaving for BYU-I this week! We used our snazzy new dvd again, and we all celebrated that I got my visa together for a minute. They invited us to their huge family dinner again on Sunday so I could share the good news :) Then, we did some more ward list cleanup, and had a cupcake with Diana and afterwards visited with Janae! That was super fun :)

Sunday: Church was super good! We went to PEC and had a really good meeting. Sacrament meeting was really awesome- the talks were just perfect. Frank a dressed up for church!! He wore nicer pants, a white shirt and a suit jacket! I was just so dang happy it was ridiculous. Sandra came to church again, but I think she's still feeling a bit overwhelmed with everything. We're teaching her again this week, so hopefully we can help her resolve her concerns. After church, we did some more list cleanup and then headed over to AJ's family dinner. They all clapped for me when I told them I got my visa and was headed out, so that was nice :) I felt like I was at home!

Last picture with AJ

We visited a member named Chelsea and she is just so cute!! I love her!!
After that, we headed home and tallied up numbers for the week and I lamoni-d on the floor because I'm still in shock about my visa.

This morning, we super cleaned our apartment and it now successfully smells like blech, clorox, and febreeze. But hey, its cleaner than ever and looks spectacular! And now, here I am, emailing y'all and still in shock about my visa!!

Life is weird, especially as a missionary. But I love it :) I wouldn't trade this for anything in the whole wide world!!!

Eu amo voces muito!!! Tchau for now!

com amor,
Sister Shell

PS Happy Easter everybody!!!! :D Please remember the reason for Easter. In fact, here are a few beautiful videos to help you remember:
To This End Was I Born
The Savior Suffers in Gethsemane
He Is Risen
None Were With Him - this one is one of my most favorite videos of all time

Enjoying a refreshing shake!