And another transfer begins..

Well, it has been quite a whilrwind.

Monday: We said goodbye to Sister Rojas and Sister Laura! Man, I miss them a ton.

That night, I was with Sister Carazas, and we were doing some street contacting. We stopped one guy who is an atheist, and had an interesting conversation. It really showed me how much I have changed on my mission. Sister Carazas tried to prove to him that God exists, but I was able to hold my tongue and just simply testify to him. I told him that I know that God exists, that God is our Father, and that Hamilton (the atheist) is His son, and Heavenly Father loves him so much, that I could feel God's love for him. And I really could! I walked away from that conversation just feeling so sad that Hamilton didn't know that God loves him.

Tuesday: Bright and early, we headed out to transfer meetings. There, we had a big festa basically. Everyone was gathered together, and one by one each companionship was revealed. My new comp is Sister Duncan, 23, from Oregon! She is awesome!! She has just one transfer more than I do in the mission. She and I are so similar its ridiculous. We both love to read and write, we both waited for our visas in the States for a while, we both like movies, etc. Down to the shampoo we use even- John Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Special. Can you say companionship unity?

We had a miracle! A kind member offered to take all the luggage she could fit into her car for us, so between me and Sister Duncan, Sister  Carazas and her comp Sister Barraza (FROM SANTIAGO CHILE!!!) we only had to deal with one suitcase on the train, metro, and onibus. It was such a blessing.
We had kind of a rough start, which means that literally everything fell through and I walked poor Sister Duncan all over the place. Her area before this one was super small, and ours is kind of big, so she was so tired. but! We were able to visit Marcelo! we had a really good lesson with him, about prayer and marked another day to visit him.

Wednesday: We taught Vitor, who gave Sister Duncan a cute pen with his cute name on it. And he gave us some chocolate. We taught him about fasting, and he understood everything. He still doesn't feel like he has gotten a response yet though.
That night, we had a really good lesson with Fabio. We watched a video called "Graças A Ele." In English, "Because of Him." That video that Sister King and I were absolutely obsessed with back in Texas. The Spirit was so strong, and he handed us his pack of cigarettes! That he hadn't even had the chance to open yet! I was so happy to see his desire to truly change for the better.

Thursday: We stopped by Fabio and Natara again, and found out that Fabio had smoked 5 cigarettes. But! That was super good because usually he smokes 20 cigarettes in one day. So we were pretty happy.
We also taught Jurandi, a young mother of two. She really liked the Restoration lesson, and comitted to baptism when she gets her response from Heavenly Father. She is really sweet, and we are teaching her again tonight!

Friday: Everything fell through again, and so we went to go see how Fabio was doing. As we walked up to his house, we saw him sitting outside smoking. It was sad to see that even though he wants to quit, its super difficult for him. We went into the house and talked with Natara before he walked in. When he came in, he was super discouraged. He was talking like quitting smoking was impossible, and was just super, super frustrated with himself. Thats where the Spirit started guiding everything. I don't know what we said, but Fabio really opened up to me and Sister Duncan about some things that have happened in his life. We were able to testify about the Plan of Salvation and the power of the Savior, and use his experiences to help him. By the end of the lesson, he was saying, "I know it won't be easy, but I know I can do it." The Spirit was so strong, and there were even a few tears. Thats the first time Fabio has opened up to us so much, and I feel like he trusts us so much more now. He truly has such a big desire to change and be baptized, its amazing to see.

Saturday: Vinicius and Gustavo (13 and 10) had their baptismal interviews and passed! I was super happy. Predictably, everything else fell through that day as well. but We were able to teach Vitor, and he said that he is thinking about baptism!! I was super happy to hear that.

Sunday: BATISMO!! It was a really beautiful moment. Irmão Marcos was so happy his children got baptized. The Spirit was so tangible during the Baptismal Service. It was incredible. And the other amazing part? Fabio came to church AND stayed for the baptism!!! :D
I seriously was so happy. I love this work!

Then, when we got to almoço, it wasn't cooked completely, and the Irmã said we had time, so we followed our new mission rule and went out contacting in the rain. As we were walking down the street, I looked in one garage and saw this man constructing these huge, BEAUTIFUl doll houses. I stopped dead in my tracks and said, "Wow!! How beautiful!! Did you build all of these?" The guy looked up, a bit startled, and invited us in to see them. As we started talking more he says, "Where's the Peruana? You're from Georgia right? Where's your Peruana friend?" So immediately, I started thinking how do I know him, how do I know him, HOW DO I KNOW HIM? And I was so worried he was one of their old investigators or something. But as we talked more, and I asked him his name, I realized who he was. After we met his family, got some carrots from his garden, got a few people's contact info, and promised to return to help paint the dollhouses this week, I turned to Sister Duncan in shock.
"SISTER DUNCAN! Thats Hamilton!" She was all like... duh. "Thats Hamilton! That athiest that I was telling you all about earlier! I don't believe it!" I was seriously in shock. I had forgotten almost completely about Hamilton. Just goes to show how much Heavenly Father really loves his children. I forgot about Hamilton, but Heavenly Father didn't forget about His son. What are the chances of us running into him again? About zero. Definitely wasn't a coincidence. Heavenly Father wants his son Hamilton to know that He loves him.

Miracles happen every day! Coincidences don't exist.

Happy happy birthday to BRADY BOY! Oops, I mean Elder Shell... And T-man!! 19 and 12! And my friend, Elder Sears! Man, tudo mundo, parabéns!

com amor,
Sister Shell

Sunday Dinner

Janaina, Sister Shell, Vitor, Bispo Tiago e Irmã Andrea

Sister Shell and Matheus

Tchauzinho

Well, today is Sister Rojas' last day with me! And its not even a full day. She's leaving at 1:30 for São Paulo. Right after lunch. To conserve time, we are emailing at a different location today and unfortunately I cannot email pictures this week because this computer won't work with my camera... So I forwarded some that Sister Laura forwarded to me last week!

Also, we have new rules for P-Day so from now on I will probably be emailing around this time or earlier. Our P-Days will now start at 9 in the morning right after personal studies and end at 5, and we will have district meetings at 5 on P-Days now. Just a heads up :)

The District

Oh, and we got transfer calls today. Surprise, I'm staying in Utinga! And so is Sister Carazas. Her companion is going to be one of the Sister Training Leaders here. We don't know who the other one is yet. I dont know who my new companion will be but I am sure she will be awesome! I won't be training this transfer, so it will be someone already out here. I've been pestering Sister Rojas ever since we got the call to find out who my new comp could be haha

Here goes the rundown!

Monday: We taught Fabiana and her family again, and they were so sweet and made us dinner! I was pretty happy. They were sad that Sister Rojas is leaving.
And miracle of miracles! We have a new mission standard to stop at least ten people a day, personally. Twenty people as a companionship. For some reason, this is really difficult for me. Sister Rojas can stop 17 people all by herself, no problem. But, this week, I decided I would try harder to reach this goal. And Monday, even though it was P-day, I stopped ten people!! Woot woot! Hey, it may not seem like a lot of people, but it is. Trust me.

Tuesday: We taught cute Vitor! And then basically everything else fell through. But, we were able to teach Kailaine and Vitoria! Kailaine and Vitoria are so cute and prepared. I just love them so much! Kailaine even made us some delicious cake. During our lesson, we talked to them about the Atonement a lot, and they finally started to understand it. It was a really neat moment. "Wait, wait, wait! You mean Jesus suffered that much for EVERYBODY?! I mean, just for me, thats a lot!" It was really sweet.
Oh, and I stopped 10 people again! Woohoo!

Wednesday: Guess what? Everything fell through again. But! We were able to visit Marcelo. He really is pretty sick. He was feeling pretty down, and kind of hopeless. He opened up to us, and we had to change the lesson plan. We were going to teach the Restoration, but the Spirit prompted otherwise because he needed something else. While Sister Rojas was testifying and sharing about trials to him, I flipped open to D&C 121. This is where Joseph Smith is in jail, and prays to Heavenly Father. Joseph was super discouraged and going through a lot, and the response he got is just amazing. I read some verses with him, we discussed them, and then I read them to him again but I put his name in there. It meant a lot to him. The Spirit was so strong as we both testified.
Heavenly Father is here for each one of us. He understands us completely. Turn to Him.

Thursday: Well, I was on exchanges with Sister Carazas. And we spent the whole day at the hospital. Not for me, don't worry, for her. She's okay, but ever since she got here to Brasil, she wakes up with so much pain in her stomach and major headaches. So we finally went to see what they could do for her. Nothing turned up in all the tests they did, but they did perscribe some good medication for her.
And, I still stopped 10 people! Making 40 from Monday to Wednesday. Woot woot!

Friday: We taught cute Vitor again, with Irmã Andrea. And he made us pão de queixo! For Sister Rojas. He is so sweet and amazing. He told us that he can really feel our love for him, and that we feelmore like children to him than his own children at times. It was a really tender moment, and I know that love that he can feel from us is really the love of Christ.
That night, we had our Festa Caipira! My first festa here in Brasil! That was pretty fun. Tons of food, tons of games, and tons of people. I will for sure send pictures next week :)
I stopped 9 people, which is still pretty good for me people!

Saturday: I was super tired and out of it because Friday I woke up in the middle of the night, feeling pretty sick. I couldn't sleep for about two hours.

I didn't feel tired all day, but I wasn't completely all there. So I only managed to stop 4 people by myself :/ But I talked to many more with Sister Rojas!
We had a lesson with a woman who hasn't been to church in a really long time named Silvania. She even made us cake! Of corn! Which, by the way, is delicious.
Then, that night, I was with Sister Carazas again so Sister Rojas and Sister Laura could visit some of their converts from their missions. Sister Carazas and I taught a good lesson for a girl who is starting to come back to church.

Sunday: Literally everything fell through. I told Sister Rojas that Heavenly Father doesn't want her to feel too sad about leaving, so He gave her a rough day so she would want to leave. Haha :)
But! We did have a lesson with Andrea, the sister of Fabio, and Natara was there. And Natara made us some cake that was sooooo good its ridiculous. And then she let us take some home. Seriously, I am going to get fat here.

Sister Rojas and Sister Laura packed a lot last night, and Sister Rojas was really sad. But I told her what I will tell y'all.
Goodbyes here aren't really the end. We really will see each other again. So for me, this goodbye isn't so sad. Because its not really "tchau" its"tchauzinho." We will see each other again.

This church is true. And if you don't know that for yourself, ask Heavenly Father. He will tell you, just like He told me and just like He has told millions of other people.


com amor,
Sister Shell

Time is Flying!!!

Well, here we go.

Monday: Was crazy. We were shopping all day. And mom knows how I feel when we go shopping all day. Needless to say, it was not the most relaxing P-Day. But, Sister Rojas wanted to buy an outfit for going home. Which I don't understand why she wants a new outfit because I want my family to see the tired, worn out looking, hard working missionary that I will be. So I don't think I'll buy anything new. I'll just wear my nicest, used outfit. :P
Then, that night, we had an FHE with Natara and her family. It was fun to teach Fabio again and to play with Matheus. He's definitely my amigo.

Tuesday: We had to be at our stake center for interviews with Presidente Broadbent at 8 in the morning. We got there, had a little training on some of the changes that are going on, and then the interviews started. He wanted time to really get to know each of us personally, so they were longer interviews. We had to leave to get lunch and then come back to finish interviews. He is just so awesome. He reminds me a lot of President Pingee, which is a really good thing. I already have a lot of confidence and trust in him, and I can tell that he has a lot of confidence and trust in us as missionaries too.
When we finally got done, it was 5 o'clock- aka, game time. We waited for the Knight Bus for about forty minutes. We could hear everyone's reactions. They were not very happy. By the time we got back, it was time for the second half to begin. Our mission president gave us permission to watch, and told us that he felt like we should stay inside after for our safety. We heard from people that the score was 5-1. So we got to our street and were going to drop something off for some members that are just a few houses down from us, but they insisted on having us watch the second half with them. My eyes kinda glazed and I kinda zoned out and ate pretzels instead of actually watching. But! All is well!! We ate pizza with them afterwards which was pretty yummy. Then we walked to our house, about 40.6 seconds away.
Our District Leader, Elder Hales, calls about every night to make sure we are doing well and to offer pieces of advice and check up on how we are doing with our goals. So, we answered when he called. He was the last interview with Presidente Broadbent, and they got a ride back home! Why? The Assistentes, who were also helping out with the interviews, started getting calls from missionaries. One set of American elders called and said that they were walking back to their home after the game, and some drunk people in the street starting yelling at them, thinking they were German. "Go back to your country! I'm gonna beat you up! We don't want you here!" and started running after them. But, as Elder Hales assured us, "They're fine. Its not that hard to outrun drunk people." But there were several calls like that, so the Assistentes started calling everyone to make sure things were safe and help out and stuff. And I was just eating pizza.
Don't worry, everyone is fine :)

Wednesday: Well, all of the people who were drunk enough to chase down servants of the Lord on Tuesday probably had lots of headaches and were sleeping and avoiding daylight, so things were pretty calm and normal, and everyone thinks I'm American anyway.
And man, we ate so much food Wednesday. I have never been so full on my mission. I don't think that I even made a snack before bed because I was so full.
We had a lesson with Fabiana where we read from the Book of Mormon, and they fed us a ton of food. That family is so sweet and amazing :)
Then, we taught Bryan with his mom, Irmã Roberta. That was pretty fun. He didn't go to church the Sunday before, so we taught him about the Sabbath day. I remember at one point going, "Do you want to be baptized or not Bryan?" and he said that he wanted to be baptized. So then I said, "Then you have to go to church. If you really want to be baptized, you'll go to church."
By the way, *spoiler alert* Bryan came to church this Sunday.
Then, we went to Irmã Carmen's house so that Sister Rojas and Sister Laura could say goodbye. And we ate pizza. And there may have been a few tears shed. And then, we went home.
And I just kept thinking... man, that was a rough goodbye. I don't want to say goodbye!! I don't want my mission to end!! I'll just say tchau-zinho.

Thursday: Basically, all of our appointments happened!! Booyah! We taught Marcel, and then we taught the grandma of Irmão João, Maria. We taught the Plan of Salvation, and boy, she loved it. She understood everything a lot more, and even basically taught part of it herself. Thats the best thing ever! When investigators teach themselves, and you just testify.
Then, we taught Marco. When we invited him to church, he said he couldn't because he had somewhere to be in the morning. Where? Catholic church. Haha, oh well.
Then, we had a member present with Irmã Adriana teaching Maria Helia that night. We taught part of the Plan of Salvation, up to the Atonement, as its a really long and informative lesson. It was very spiritually powerful, and I loved it. After, Irmão Marcelo (who lives on the same street as her) gave us all a ride home. Booyah!

Friday: We went on exchanges! Sister Carazas was in my area. We helped Natara make some stuff for Matheus' birthday, and got to eat some of it too. YUM. Then, we had an impromptu lesson with Fabio. We shared 1 Néfi 3:7 with him, and talked about how he needs to follow the example of Néfi and go and do! He really liked it, and seemed more motivated to really search and find out for himself, and to stop smoking.
Then, we had a lesson with Vitor about the Sabbath Day. He still hasn't gotten his answer yet, but we aren't gonna give up on him! He understood pretty well, and gave us some peanut butter!!!! FOLKS, peanut butter!! Which is a rare find here in Brasil, folks. Expensive too. I was pretty happy.
Then, we taught Zenaide about the Sabbath day too.
Go to church, people. What can I say more?

Saturday: We taught Vinicius and Gustavo, who are two kids that will be baptized on July 27th!!! They are so cute and excited for their baptisms. Then, we were trying to find a street without our map because we'd left our map at home. And so we stopped a guy in the street. He had no idea where the street was, but goes, "Y'all are Mormons, right?" And we are all like"Yupp, definitely."
"Cool! I ordered some book... Mormon Book? Book of the Mormons? I don't remember, but I ordered it two months ago and it still hasn't shown up. From that mormon website too!" Say whaaaat?
We talked to him for two hours in the street, taught him the Restoration lesson and part of the Plan of Salvation, and invited him to be baptized on the 27th of this month.
It was AWESEOME! He is so prepared, and the Spirit was leading us that whole time.
I'm not even mad that he lives in a different area. I'm really not. I just can't wait to hear about his baptism :)

Sunday: Church was good, but nobody wanted to come this week. We did have Vinicius and Gustavo, and then a member brought Victoria and Kailaine. They are 11 and 12 I believe. We taught them later that day, and man. They are so prepared. For 11 and 12, they sure are very spiritually mature. Kailaine has already investigated about three other churches. She didn't like them because "They just go to eat food" or "They just go there to chat not to pray!" But she likes ours because she feels like she is in God's presence there.
We taught them right through the final game of the World Cup, and they both want to be baptized. The mom of Kailaine, though, has firmly told us that Kailaine cannot be baptized until she is 18 years old. But! Miracles are real, and prayer always works. We will continue praying for her.

Thats basically my week. It was amazing. I'm gonna miss Sister Rojas. And I can tell you all, I want to follow her example. She is working right up to the end of her mission, not slowing down at all.

com amor,
Sister Shell

I forgot to put the subject, the most important thing of all!!!!!
It would have been "HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!" because my parents, the best parents in the whole world, have been married for a long time people, as of the 13th of July!

Open Your Mouth!

Everyday Sister Shell discovers new reasons why Brazil is the place for her!!  :)

Time is just flying by. Sister Rojas is down to just two weeks left on her mission, and Brayden finally made it to Chile!! Saw some pictures and man. He looks like a consecrated missionary already!

Monday:Irmã Carmen bought us new shoes!! They are super comfortable. Oh, hang on. Let me take a pic of them real quick. Okay, I'm done. Just sent it to you.

Oh, and she also paid for lunch. I love her!! She is so sweet and hilarious and giving.
We taught Fabio with Natara. We read parts of the talk "Your 4 Minutes" from Conference and talked about how now is the time to act and to change. After that, we made a list of ordenances that each person in his family lacked. Matheus isn't old enough to be baptized yet. But, basically, everything that the family needs right now is hinging on Fabio. I think it helped him recognize the importance he has and of baptism, so he helped us set some goals. He is shooting for the 20th of July to get baptized. Sister Rojas and I have a lot of faith, and miracles are real, so we fully believe that he will be getting baptized!!!

Tuesday: We taught a woman named Vera, who we found tracting. She's more curious than anything, but she really liked everything we taught her. She told us that she likes her religion, but also likes to learn about other religions. We'll see what happens with her!
We also taught a woman named Jacira. She and her family loved the message, and we have another appointment with them this week.
Then, we stopped by Marcelo and man. That was so cool! He was different. He told us that he's on holiday, and now is the time for him to change. He wants to be more involved, he wants to help. He just wants to come back. So, we set up for him to visit Vitor with us and help out with an activity Saturday. He was so pumped!
After, we taught Maria again as she lives on the same street as him. It was a short lesson about the Book of Mormon. She is just too cute! She also sews for her job, so she reminds me of Grammy. Although definitely not as amazing as Grammy. Because she didn't make me four gazillion prom dresses.

Wednesday: Sister Rojas and Sister Laura went down to São Paulo for a leadership counsel, so Sister Carazas and I took charge in Utinga! We taught our recent convert, Nayara, about temples and the importance of family history. She is excited to be able to finally go into the temple!
After lunch, we taught Vitor with Marcelo! And we got there, and Marcelo was already there, laughing and talking with Vitor on the front porch. So cool! We were going to teach Vitor about fasting, but the way the lesson went and the way the Spirit prompted, we ended up teaching about prayer and the Priesthood authority. It was a really cool by the Spirit lesson that I loved.
After that, we visited a member who is coming back to church named Janaína. She is so sweet! We ate some sandwhiches and laughed together, with her mom who isn't a member. Then, she came with us to a family night with Irmã Alice and a few other Imãs in the ward. Irmã Alice taught us how to make some yummy dessert that has lots of chocolate, and some pineapple. Which, by the way, is pretty yummy.
Oh, and I dunno, BRAYDEN GOT TO CHILE AND STARTED HIS MISSION!!!!! :D

Thursday: Zone Meeting!! We discussed some new rules and standarsd, and got pumped for missionary work.
Well, lots and lots of things fell through. But! We finally had something that came through! We taught Fabiana and her family, and they really liked learning about the restoration of the gospel. We are teaching them again this week. They even fed us some delicious home made bread- not as good as Dad's of course- and some even better bolo. I don't even remember what kind of bolo it was. But it was good. And they sent us home with some.
Then, we taught Pedro with Irmão João. And oh man, after that lesson, I felt like "Oh yeah! Sister Shell is back!" Because Sister Shell in TX was more bold and spoke a lot, and wasn't afraid to answer hard questions. I kind of felt like I was at The Mission again with Sister King. He isn't trying to tear down our faith or anything like that, but he definitely has a million and five questions, is super skeptical, and knows the Bible like nobody's business. Irmão João definitely helped a lot with him. But one question he skipped over that Pedro asked was "Why did Jesus have to die? I mean, He is all powerful and God is perfect. So why was that the plan? Why did He have to die?" After they went on for a minute about a few other things, I pulled it back around because hey, thats the perfect time to testify of the Atonement. I told Pedro what the Holy Ghost told me in that moment. "Christ had to die because there was no other way. He had to die because afterwards he had to be resurrected. And how could he be resurrected and live again if he never died in the first place? And he had to be resurrected to conquer death, so that the rest of us could live again as well."
Pedro was listening intently and grinned, and said that everybody always pulled out scriptures to answer but never really answered his question, but I just answered it for him. I told him that the only way I knew the answer was because I have the gift of the Holy Ghost, and the Holy Ghost helped me know the answer and what to say. Then Sister Rojas testified and we continued teaching. At one point, Pedro looked at me after answering another question and asked how old I was. I told him 20, and he just shook his head and asked Sister Rojas. 22. He just shook his head and told us that he was impressed with how much we knew and how much conviction we had. We continued to testify and teach, and he accepted baptism when he receives his response from God.
It was pretty cool, and got me pumped. I am so thankful for the Holy Ghost, who definitely guided Sister Rojas and me in that situation.

Friday: I serenaded Sister Rojas with the Star Spangled Banner multiple times throughout the day. Because why not? I love my country! USA! USA! Haha

Kirsten sporting her Red, White, and Blue Thanks to Alyssa

 We also had weekly planning. Which is also crazy. Super important, but super long.
Our appointments fell through, but we were able to visit Santa and Luis! We laughed, like we always do with them, and then booked it over to Irmã Carmen's house. I have a video of Sister Rojas and I walking with literally no one in the street. Soccer is a big deal here, people.
We got to Irmã Carmen's house and watched the game! Presidente Broadbent gave us permission to watch with a firm member and Sister Rojas and Sister Carazas really wanted to watch it. That was pretty exciting, I must say. Even if I was super tired and just wanted to sleep the whole time. But, I also wore green and yellow to support Brasil!

After that we were supposed to have a meeting with our ward mission leader, so we marched over to his house amidst the craziness. To find out that he actually wasn't home and we weren't having a meeting. So we traipsed on home swiftly, contacting people along the way.
On our street, there was a woman talking through the gate to another woman. And I felt like I should stop and talk to them, so I did. Sister Laura hung back to talk to them with me as Sister Carazas and Sister Rojas had already passed them. In fact, I passed them last. Ivone, the woman inside the gate, talked to us for over half an hour. She even let us inside the gate to pray for her. She is just having some really tough trials right now, and told us that all she wants and prays for is peace. And she can't seem to find it anywhere. We testified of God's love for her, and testified that God sent us to help her find peace. Sister Laura and Sister Carazas will be visiting her this week, as its their area.
And after, I got to thinking. What if I hadn't have talked to her? What if I hadn't have listened? Thank goodness I don't have to find out.
What if you are the one person that can make a difference? What if we are somebody's last chance? We can't let any opportunity pass us by.

Saturday: We had a few lessons and contacts, but basically everything fell through again. Right before our activity that night, we decided to knock a house. A young woman named Janeira (if I remember correctly) let us in on the fly and we taught her the Restoration. She loved it and is planning on coming to church next week. She wants her family to be together forever, and she wants them all to belong to the same church. Halleluyer! We can help! Haha. She is really sweet and just amazing.
We had our activity and tons more people came!! Marcelo came with tons of games in mind and everybody had such a good time. Vitor came too! It was a good night.

Sunday: Irmã Deborah and Irmão Robson blessed their new baby girl and invited tons of their friends to come watch. So tons of non members were at church! It was a missionary heaven. I didn't know what to do with myself. And Vitor came all by himself! Marcelo told us he would, but didn't make it out. But! It was still an amazing day! Plus, the testimonies were all super powerful and amazing. The Spirit was so strong. We got a potential investigator and a few referrals for some of the other missionaries in our zone!
Then, basically everything fell through again. Dumb Satan.
We visited Natara, but Fabio wasn't home. So we talked with her about how we can help Fabio and shared a few scriptures with her. And I played with Matheus for a little while. Because we are amigos.

And today! Today we are going to do some shopping and I am gonna get me some world cup stuff!!

Remember to pray for missionary opportunities and to not let them pass you by when they come!! Love y`all!

Sister Shell

Another cool mural!  After all Kirsten is Mary Jane! :)

Another view of Sao Paulo.

Happy Birthday America, Chile gets an amazing missionary and 13 MONTHS!

Sister Shell with Sister Wilcox (Cousins in-law I think)

Man, this week is definitely going to be a week of milestones. And yes, I will be wearing red, white and blue on the 4th of July. Or at least, white and blue because I don't really have any red...
Second, my amazing brother Brayden is leaving for his mission tomorrow!! We've all been praying for him here in Utinga, especially me. In every prayer, I try and pray for Brayden to recieve the gift of tongues, so I'm sure that counts for something!!
Third, this week marks thirteen months out on the mission for me. Over a year. How is that even possible? I'm not even sure. All I know is that it has been quite a ride, one that I will never forget and one that I will think of every day for the rest of my life, and probably eternity too.

Monday: Well, I was going to send off some letters finally, but we forgot that Brasil was playing against Chile. So by the time we got done with emailing basically everything was shut down and we had to fly through the supermarket before it closed too. So needless to say that after we go shoe shopping with Irmã Carmen today (no mom, she doesn't know what she has gotten into with me and shoes) that is my priority. Sister Rojas and I have a gameplan for it and everything.
That night, we stayed inside as it was a bit... crazy out there haha. There were fireworks everywhere, people never ceased to start cheering and trumpeting all over again. We all felt it was better that we stayed in our house.
So Sister Rojas and Sister Laura had me braid their hair a few times to figure out a "going home" hairstyle as they are both leaving in three weeks. And, I attempted to teach them a bit of ballet because they wanted to learn some things. Good times, good times:)

Tuesday: We had our District Meeting, which was awesome as always, and then lunch with Irmã Carmen. Her husband passed away just a few months ago, and Tuesday she was missing him a lot. While we were eating, she was super upset, so I stopped and gave her a big hug for five minutes or so. We were all able to really comfort her. We sang Nearer, My God, To Thee together and the Spirit was so strong. After, I had the message, so I shared a scripture in Romans 8, one that I shared with Irmã Alice too, about how our trials and heartaches in this life can't even compare with the joys waiting for us beyond this world. (Sidenote, this reminds me of a song Sister King and I absolutely love by Mercy River called Reason For the World. Listen to it.)
We taught cute little Vitor about tithing and then Dorival.
And then. We taught Bryan, the son of Irmã Roberta. He is 12 years old, and man, he is soooo so ready to be baptized!! He basically taught us the Restoration. We asked him which church he thought was true and he said our church. When we asked how he knew, he said, "Well, how isn't it true?! I mean, for example. We have the Book of Mormon. How many other churches have that? None! And we have the Priesthood. No other church has that. And we have a prophet, and how many other churches have that? NONE." It was so neat. Now we just have to pray extra hard that his non member father will give him permission to get baptized, because Bryan wants to be baptized so badly.
Also, Irmã Roberta gave us dinner, which is a huge miracle, because we never get dinner and I always eat random stuff for "dinner"- like a sandwhich or some crackers or some leftover chocolate cake. Or pão de queixo if we have any.

Wednesday: We had another English class, which was fun. It is so weird to hear my voice in English though. So different. But, those little Brasileiros are learning some English, and they remember everything pretty well!
We taught Andrea, the sister of Fabio, husband of Irmã Natara. Actually, she basically related a bunch of experiences to us and we testified of the principles she mentioned in those stories. When we go back, hopefully we will be able to teach more about the Restauration. Then, a lot of things fell through but we taught some woman on her doorstep- Vera- and have a return appointment with her, so that was cool!
Miracle of miracles, again! We stopped by a members house to use their bathroom, and they fed us dinner. I was so grateful and happy. Two dinners two days in a row!! Man, has the day of miracles ceased?? I say unto you, NAY!
We also contacted a referral from the Elders when they knocked doors in our area. Maria. Holy cow, that was cool! We went by to mark another day with her, and she invited us in. We taught her the Restoration lesson, and she loved it! When we were talking about the Holy Ghost and how Heavenly Father answers our prayers through the Holy Ghost, we asked her if she'd ever had an experience where Heavenly Father answered her prayer. She related a cool story about her mom, and how her mom was sick and close to death in the hospital. She went to a church and sat there on the bench, crying and praying for her mom. Then, suddenly, she got this huge overwhelming feeling of peace in her heart. She stopped crying and went back to her family. Her sister was mad at her because she didn't seem to care that their mom was going to die, but Maria told her sister that she know that their mom would not die. Her sister sarcastically asked if God talked to her and told her, and Maria told her sister that no, God did not talk to her, but that she felt it in her heart. But she couldn't explain it to her sister. Later, her mom recovered and is still living today.
We testified to her that that was the Spirit, and that is how she will get an answer about everything. She said, "Oh, I know, I always get answers through strong feelings in my heart." SHE UNDERSTANDS THE SPIRIT! At least, more than any other person I've taught in the first lesson. It was seriously so cool.

Thursday: We had lunch at a non members house, and that was pretty fun. She is the mom of a member who recently got back from his mission. That went well, and they told us we are always welcome in their home.
We taught cute little Vitor again about prayer and reading the scriptures, with Irmã Natara. He talked and shared a lot more with us, but still won't pray in front of us.
Basically everything else fell through that day, but thats okay because we were able to teach a few people in the street. We also moved our classes to nights because more people will be able to come.

Friday: I was on exchanges with Sister Laura in my area. That was fun. I'm going to miss her a ton :(

We taught Maria, the grandma to the returned missionary Irmão João. We ate lunch at his mom's house. Anyways, we showed the DVD of the Restoration, and she really loved that. She thought it was so beautiful. She still isn't sure about everything though, and doesn't really feel in her heart that this is right yet.
We also taught Bryan again about the Plan of Salvation. When we asked if he read what we had assigned him last time, he pulled out his triple and flipped it open. Did he read? Why yes, and not only that, but he had marked that chapter up!! He STUDIED, not just read!! It was so amazing. And during our lesson, he pulled out two scirptures from that chapter while we were teaching, "Yeah, like it said in that chapter..." And when we asked him to share some thoughts about the Atonement, he said, "There's... I don't have words to talk about that."
He is so prepared.
We had a meeting with our Ward Mission Leader and that was awesome. We laughed a lot, and I think we are gaining his confidence more and more. After, he bought us some bugers, and seriously, it was probably the best burger that I have ever had in my whole life. I don't even remember what its called, but it was so good. And its not that expensive and is dangerously close to our house. This could be a problem haha.
Presidente e Sister Tanenr also left for home :( It was sad. That night the song God Be With You Til We Meet Again started playing as I was writing in my journal, and I said a little prayer for them.

Saturday: We had a conference with our whole mission to meet our new mission president, Presidente Broadbent. He is awesome, and so is his cute wife!

 I love them a ton already. He spoke to us and so did she and the Spirit was so strong. It was also fun to see everybody!!

Sister Shell and Sister Goimarac (Provo MTC Companion) reunited. 

I talked to Elder Morgan from my CTM district and he sounds like a Brasileiro now. He also said that his family moved to Atlanta, so if you know about any new family with the last name of Morgan, ask if they have a son serving in Brasil! I talked to everybody else in my Provo CTM district, and some other people like Elder Nichols who was surprised that Aubrey, Krista and Ashley are all married now haha.
Our whole mission also took a picture, which was fun, and we all took individual pictures with Presidente e Sister Broadbent.
That night, we had a missionary activity kickoff. Its a kind of competition that will last until August 2. I'll update y'all on that later.
We taught Vinicius and Gustavo, 12 and 10 years old, and the children of a member. They want to get baptized and are so cute and nice. We them right after the game, outside, so sometimes we had to stop and pause for the fireworks before proceeding. It felt kind of like a war zone haha. Anyways, BRASIL WON!!! Ha ha Brady boy. I'm pretty sure its only because you weren't in Chile yet, because if you had been there with all of your awesomeness and spirituality, Chile would have definitely been blessed with a win.

Sunday: It was a good day! We taught Vinicius and Gustavo again, and ate some cake.
After, everything was falling through, so we decided to try somebody we tracted into forever and a day ago. Finally, Marco and Alessandra were home!! We taught them the Restoration. People. They are so prepared. I feel like they are the people that we have been trying to find this whole time. The Spirit was so strong, and they responded perfectly to all of our questions. And I know they are special because my Portuguese, during that lesson, was at least 100 times better than normal. Not perfect or anything, but noticeably better. It was an amazing lesson, and one that definitely could fit in with The District series because of how prepared the investigators were and how strong the Spirit was.
We didn't get back until a little after nine thirty because of our appointment with them. It was truly amazing.

Miracles are happening, and I am sure these last few months have many more in store! I would love to type some more, but I've gotta send some pictures to y'all!

Tchau! Eu amo vocês!!

Sister Shell

Sister Shell has discovered a new hamburger place that she loves.  Who would have thought!!