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| Sister Shell with Sister Wilcox (Cousins in-law I think) |
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!!
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| Sister Shell and Sister Goimarac (Provo MTC Companion) reunited. |
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
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| Sister Shell has discovered a new hamburger place that she loves. Who would have thought!! |
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