Jardim Climax!!

Hello everyone!! Long time, huh? My new area is Jardim Climax, and my companion is the lovely Sister Rice from Missouri. She is awesome. I just love her. She's got almost 14 months on the mission.

Monday: Well, I was in my pajamas for the majority of the day, which is always a way awesome thing on P-Day. Found out I was getting transferred.
We had an FHE with Nathara and Fabio and Mateus, and Nathara's sister Barbara. When I told Nathara I got transferred, she just gave me a huge hug and was like "NOOOO." It was kind of sad. I really am going to miss that family.

When I left, everyone was a bit teary eyed. But, I know I'm going to see them again. It will be alright :) We also stopped by to say goodbye to Vitor. That was pretty sad for me, and I had such a tough time not crying because he is just so darn adorable. Mom, dad, y'all have to meet him one day.

Tuesday: We had no ride to transfers, so we lugged my two suitcases and carryone, and Sister Carazas' suitcase and a thousand bags and backpacks all the way to the Knight Bus stop.

We got on the Knight Bus fine and met up with some people from our zone at the train station. We made it through the train and metro and various line changes just fine. Sister Carazas almost fell down the escalator, but luckily my suitcase stopped her. Transfers! Super fun, as always.

Sister Duncan, Sister Rice, and Sister Shell

Goodbye Sister Duncan!!

I had to wait until almost the very end when my picture popped up with Sister Rice's in Jardim Climax! Our area is super super tiny. We rode an onibus here and through my suitcases in the house. When she found out that I have 15 months on the mission, she got super excited and blurted out "I am so excited to kill you!!! Nossa. I really hope I get to kill you. Don't be scared."
Yupp. Thats my companion.

Our first almoço was with Carol, and her kid Guilherme. AKA Gui. He is five years old and his energy is limitless. I told him to guess how old I was, and his first guess?
"99!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
I told him to guess lower.
"98!!!!!!!!!!!!97!!!!! 96!!!!! 95!!!!!!!" His mom finally said, "She is younger than dad and I!"
"10!!!!!!!! 11!!!!! 12?!?!?!?!?!" After about ten minutes he finally guessed 20. When I told him he was right, he yelled at the top of his lungs "SABIA!!!!!!!!! I KNEW IT!!!!!!" It was just too funny.
We visited Rita, the mom of a less active who we are teaching. She is cute. She has been taking the lessons for about 13 years and is somewhat of an eternigator. But all is well! She is super nice and likes all of the stuff we share with her. We just need to let the Spirit really work with her.

Wednesday: We had a lesson with an investigator named Janete who told us she doesn't feel like getting baptized. Its really sad when that happens. Because I just know how much is here waiting for them and they are just like "thanks, but no thanks."
Rita made tapioca for us. It was pretty great. I ate a lot and then was like UGH.
Met Bispo!!! His daughter Pamela just got back from her mission like 2 weeks ago and so they are all super pumped about missionary work. We had a really good meeting, and Bispo during it asked if we'd seen somebody's life change on the mission. I answered automically and said, "Com certeza. Minha. Minha vida." That really touched them, and they somehow felt the Spirit a lot through that tiny, sincere response. I shared my favorite scripture with them Alma 36:24-25 and told them that we are here to baptize and rescue. We are going to have miracles.
Then, we taught our investigator Ana Cristina! She is awesome. Her husband is a pastor of another church, so she is a bit timid about getting baptized. But she is living everything we are teaching her and its so awesome. Her best friend is a member of the ward, and so everything is going really well with her.

Thursday: I started studying the Christlike attribute of humility. And thats where our week turned sour. Literally EVERYTHING fell through, we walked for forever, no one wanted to talk to us. Sister Rice and I were still pretty determined though. At night, she said, "Go big or go home!!! And we CAN'T go home, so...." It was pretty funny. We had a random impromptu lesson with Dina that went pretty well, so thats good. The highlight of my day was this- someone in the street asked if I was Gauchá. (From some place in Brasil where lots of people are more white). And it made my day. I don't even care if maybe she was on drugs. Thank you, Fabiana. We are going to visit her sometime this week!

Friday: We ate with Irmã Texeira for lunch and man, she gobbed the food on our plate. I was seriously so ridiculously full. Then, everything fell through. Literally. I've said that before, I know. But seriously, everything. It was bad. We were on our feet for EVER.

Saturday: AGAIN, everything fell through. But we helped clean the chapel with the ward and we had churrasco. So that was pretty fun.

Sunday: Church was awesome. After the sacrament was done being passed, Bishop called me up to the front to introduce myself and to start off testimony meeting. It was a really powerful testimony meeting and our investigator, Ana Cristina, loved it! We are teaching her tomorrow, so I can't wait to talk to her more about it. One again, everything fell through and we ended up walking around and trying to talk to people who really didn't want to listen. We ended up visiting some members who haven't been able to make it out to church the past few weeks.

And here we are!! This week is going to be awesome! I am super excited. I love you all!
Do me a favor. Pick a Christlike attribute this week and have the courage to pray to develop it more this week. PMG chapter 6.

Tchau!!!

com amor,
Sister Shell

Last Selfie

15 Months and Transferred!!

Yupp, folks, you read that right. Finally, at 2:30 we got the transfer calls. I'm leaving Utinga! I'm sad becaue I love everyone here, but I am super stoked to see where I am going to end up.

Monday: We went to 25 de Março to buy some stuff. And we all know how much I love buying stuff. It was kind of an unsuccessful day. Our investigator Lucas came with us to make sure we didn't get lost or anything.
We got back and I was super tired. But! District Meeting was good, and we were able to teach Fabio a lesson about trusting in God. I think it went really well overall for everyone there. Because everyone needs a reminder to just trust Heavenly Father- me inlcuded!

Tuesday: We had a mission conference! Yupp, thats right folks. OUR WHOLE MISSION WAS IN THE SAME PLACE!! This is where I finally saw Sister Jacobsen and found out that Elder Filmore finally got here!! Our whole district finally made it to Brasil!!!
Our conference was pretty awesome, and I left even more excited to do the work. It was all about hastening the work, and how the Lord is hastening His work now- are we stepping up to His pace? It was long and we didn't get back until 10:30 at night, but I didn1t care. It was just so amazing. They made an amazing motivational video just for our mission (or so they told us) using the song Berlin by Piano Guys. I almost cried. It was amazing.
I have got a lot more work to do here in São Paulo Sul! I'm gonna step things up a notch these last two transfers.

Wednesday: We finally had a lesson with a street contact name Lidiane and her husband. It went so well! They are a cute little family and are expecting their first child. The Spirit was so strong in that tiny little house.
We taught Vitor again, and it went prett y well. We talked about the Spirit world and temples. I know he felt the Spirit a lot. I remember that we were EARNESTLY testifying to him that the time is now. I love Vitor!
So, Monday night, we decided that Tuesday to Wednesday, we would do a group fast with Fabio. We have tried this several times before, so we weren't sure if he would fast the whole time. But! We found out that he fasted!!! I was so happy!!! Nathara told us that he had a weak moment at work, when he felt very tempted to break his fast and smoke because everyone around him was smoking. But, he called Nathara instead, asking her what he could do. She told him to go to the bathroom and say a prayer. He did and stayed strong and finished his fast!!! I am so happy! Heavenly Father truly is right there, willing to help us. All we have to do is ask.

Thursday: We had lunch with a non member family- family of Irmão João, who is in fact, a member. We talked about how families can be together forever if we have the proper authority. They thought that was just beautiful and really liked it.
We also visited Irmã Dirci. She is just so darling. We had a really good lesson with her, and she is just growing in the gospel. Its amazing to watch someone remember all the things they once learned.
Then, everything else fell through and Sister Duncan wasn't feeling too well. It wasn't the best end of the day. but hey. It ended, and we are still happy, still helping others to come to Christ. What more could I want?

Friday: It was a good day! I went with Sister Carazas for exchanges! I love that cute little Peruana. She is getting transferred too. Leaving her first area on the mission- thats rough. Especially after a long time! But she is going to do great things, I just know it. I love her to pieces.
We had a lot of contatos, a lot of lessons with less actives and got one new investigator!!!

Saturday: We did a lot of contatos, and we helped out at a Family History Fair. When we were there it didn't have a whole lot of people, so we went out to the street to invite people in. My favorite thing is when people pretend that they can't hear me. Its just so funny! Like, I'm not whispering. I'm actually talking kind of loud because hey, its a busy street. Sister Duncan and I have decided that we are going to write a book called "Tá." And its going to just be full of excuses that people give us. "Tá. Tá bom. Pode deixar. Vou ligar, sim. Vou visitar. Tenho minha religião. Não. Se Deus quiser... Quem sabe, um dia.." Its going to be funny. Well, for people who served missions in Brasil.

Sunday: We walked all over our area trying to walk to church with our investigators, and showed up alone. We waited by the door for all the people who said they would come. Nobody was showing up. All the missionaries were singing Sunday, accompanied by a less active pianist, so we went inside to grab some hymnbooks to go over the words while we were waiting for people. This whole time, I was just praying to have SOMEBODY show up. As we walked down the stairs, who came in but our investigator Alberto?! It truly was a miracle. It just affirmed to me that when I do all I can do, and nothing works, I can trust in Heavenly Father and step back, and watch Him work.
Alberto loved church! He was brought to tears when we sang "Eu Sei Que Vive Meu Senhor." That really was a spiritual moment. It was even more beautiful to know that a less active was playing the piano for us and feeling the Spirit that strongly too.
We ate lunch with Irmão Junior, who used to play soccer professionally in Indonesia. And his wife, Fabiana, and his cute little family. They have a hammock by the way. Its fun.
Then we walked, walked and walked some more. We didn't have a whole lot of success that day, or so it seemed. But, I was pretty happy with our week. Especially with the fact that Alberto came to church.

This church is true. Pray about it, and you will get an answer.

Sorry things are so jumbled this week! I'm trying to send a million and five pictures.


com amor,
Sister Shell

Missionaries Sang as They Walked and Walked and Walked AND WALKED!!

Monday: I don't know who said it first but as we were walking to the Knight Bus stop, somebody said, "Vamos cantar no ônibus?" Then, before we knew it, everyone was basically saying "Yeah, why not?!" So Sister Barraza, Sister Carazas, Sister Duncan and I chose some simple hymns- Families Can Be Together Forever and I Am a Child of God. My brave companion lucked out when we did the Brasil version of "noes goes" and was chosen to ask the motorist if we could, and to make the announcement. The bus driver gave permission. We stationed ourselves perfectly in the bus.
After a few minutes, my companion stood up, said hello to everyone, told them we wanted to sing for them, and that after we would talk to everyone about our church. So we stood up and sang Families Can be Together Forever. The bus driver turned off the radio. One lady plugged her ears. But then I looked beyond her, and everyone was smiling broadly. So we continued with I am a Child of God. One teenage boy started conducting the music. Which was kind of hilarious. We finished and everyone was just smiling so much, except for the one lady who had her hands clasped fervently over her ears. Then, we set to work, and started talking to everyone on the bus. Between the four of us on that tiny ônibus that didn't have a whole lot of people, and the ten or so minutes we had left, we got 16 contatos. And everybody was like "Why did you stop singing? Thank you so much! You made my day!"
I felt really good about that. It was super fun. And it just.. I don't know how to explain it. The Spirit was there on that crazy knight bus. And even the lady who was grumpy and didn't want to listen couldn't deny that.
We also taught Fabio that night. They invited a bunch of family members over. That cute little house was so crowded. And the Spirit was so strong. I nearly cried when I shared a personal experience I hadn't planned on sharing. We had Fabio and his sister Andreia there. It was pretty amazing.
Plus, they had really good cake.

Tuesday: We taught Cida, who has been coming to church for 14 years with family and still has no desire whatsoever to be baptized. But! We hada good lesson, and she is just adorable, so all is well.
We also taught Fabiana about the Plan of Salvation. During the middle of it, she just got up and walked away. She came back after changing clothes and we finished the lesson, but still doesn't understand why she needs to be baptized again. Between those two lessons, we were feeling a bit frustrated.
Then, we visited Sueli (member) and Carlos, her nonmember husband. We didn't get an actual lesson in, so we left feeling pretty frustrated with our whole day.

Wednesday: We scheduled a lesson with Lucas, but he had to cancel. But! We had a good lesson with Vitor! He has now prayed with us over 5 times now, by the way. Its pretty awesome. And miraculous. Then, we were finally able to have a lesson with someone we contacted in the street! Her name is Auriene. Or something like that. We have been trying to figure out for the past few days exactly what it is, because her accent is a bit different and her name sounds different every time she says it. Oh well. She is awesome! Her family is prepared, and they actually understand what our purpose is. They all gathered to listen, particpated and accepted baptism!
Miracles. They are everywhere.

Thursday: Everyone and their mom's dog cancelled on us or weren't home. We walked from one end of our area to the other, and back again. And then walked some more. We did lots of contacts that day. LOTS. But! Finally, at night, we had another lesson with Fabio about esperança. Hope. It went pretty well, and afterwards we were able to really help Natara as well. I just love them so much! By the way, Natara is going to come visit me. Hope thats okay with y'all. We also had a lesson with Bryan again finally! Sort of. He was being rebellious and sat on the stairs instead of coming into the kitchen and hearing everything. So we didn't really teach him anything. But he told us he listened to a few things.

Friday: Everyone cancelled on us AGAIN. And again we walked back and forth from one end of our area to the other. So that was pretty fun! But! We got to have a sort of lesson with Santa and a bunch of people in her family. It was a bit crazy there, but all is well. We set up to meet with a family in the ward who has a less active son, but he wasn't there. So after talking to the family for a few minutes, we hit the streets again. Walking. This was when I started laughing, turning to Sister Duncan, and I asked, "Why am I so happy?!" Because it made no sense. Looking at our numbers, the week, how much we WALKED, I should have been furious or walking around with tears streaming down my face or collapsed on the sidewalk massaging my feet. But I was just so happy! I can't even explain it. Sister Duncan agreed, said that she was happy too, and we had a good discussion about the Spirit and about happiness.

Saturday: FINALLY, we were able to teach Lucas again! He has a lot of questions about Joseph Smith and prophets, but he is reading and praying. I know that he will get a response. He is just so prepared! We also had a pioneer activity which was super cute and fun. And we got there late because we finally cornered- I mean, found- Marcelo in the street and talked to him for a while. He told us that he is a lost case. We told him that nobody is a lost case, and had a really good chat with him in which I told him that I am stubborn and that we won't be giving up on him. He laughed and told us to come back this week.  Booyah!  After the activity, we went to see Vitor who had a bunch of family over! It was super fun! We had a neat intro to mormons kind of discussion, sang with them, and prayed with them. The Spirit was strong.

Sunday: Lucas wasn't able to make it to church :( But! We were finally able to have a lesson with Vitoria, who told us her cousin Kailane doesn't want to learn more. But we got to teach Vitoria, who is super adorable, and we got to talk to her family who are members but haven't come to church in a reallllly long time.  Oh, and we walked some more.  And we had another good lesson with Auriene! It was on the Plan of Salvation, and they all loved it. Another daughter joined us this time, who hadn't been there the other day, and during the prayer at the end (which she offered) she thanked Heavenly Father for the answers to her questions that she had in mind this past week- Why are we here? and Where are we going after this life?  Heavenly Father knows all of our needs and questions. He knew that Willi needed answers, that we have the answers, and sent us when she was home to help her. He also knew that Sister Duncan and I needed a good lesson to end our sort of discouraging week.
All in all, I'm just happy.

Happy anniversary to my grandparents!! Parabéns!
E parabéns para meu amigo, Brad, que já terminou sua missão!!!

My faith is so strong as ever.

Love you all!! Next week is transfer week! Can't believe another transfer is almost gone. Time is just flying by soooo fast.

com amor,
Sister Shell

And the Miracles Continue!

Well, I am excited to hear how Brayden's first days in the field have gone!!! I am seriously so proud of my little brother.

Monday: We made pão de queijo successfully!!! It was a pretty awesome experience. Also, you have to use your hands to mix the dough. So it was kind of messy. But we were pretty proud of ourselves. Plus, everyone in our zone was super impressed. Nobody else in our zone knows how to make pão de queijo from scratch. Not even the Brasileiros. BOOYAH.

Tuesday: We taught Maria again, the grandma of Irmão João. We planned to teach her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but ended up just talking about faith and reading Alma 14 with her. All in all, the Spirit was there and leading us the whole time. Sister Duncan and I were so in sync. When Maria asked questions, we both flipped to the same passages of scripture to help her find the answers she wanted. Time and time again, we opened up to the same thing without planning and without mentioning it to each other. Thats how I know that the Spirit was leading us the whole time.
We also taught Irmã Dirci the rest of the Plan of Salvation. That went pretty well, and she showed us the rest of her house. Nossa, their house is fancy! She also made us tapioca again. And we all know that I love tapioca.

Wednesday: We taught Lucas finally!! Oh my goodness, is he prepared! He was a street contact from the other sisters in our ward. We got in touch with him not this Saturday but the one before, and set up a visit for this past Wednesday. Last Sunday he came to church, all by himself, and was taking notes and stuff!!! Needless to say, we were super stoked to teach him.
Our lesson with Lucas went super well, and the Spirit was so strong. And he felt that what we were saying was true. He wasn't sure, but he wanted to believe. His faith is so strong! We invited him to be baptized on August 24th. AKA THIS SUNDAY THAT IS COMING UP! He accepted, but said he isn't sure about the date and that he will pray about it. Then, he gave us some chocolate thing he made for us, and we set up to come back on Saturday.
Also, it was raining that day. I got an umbrella that was six reais that broke immediately after during all the whirlwinds and downpour. So I got another one much nicer that still hasn't broken yet. Halleluyer! The whole thing was so ironic, classic and hilarious that I was just cheerful and laughing the whole day. All the people we talked to walked away smiling. Win!
We were supposed to have a meeting with our ward mission leader, but it didn't work out. We waited at his house for a while, and when he finally got home from work with pizza, it was basically time for us to leave. We talked about a few things while scarfing down pizza.

Thursday: We taught Vitor about enduring to the end! Which is funny because he has 87 years. Ha ha. Ha.
Then we taught Fabiana's family again. They are so nice, and they always give us way too much food. Thats one thing I love about Brasil. Basically every house you go to, they are like "Oh, you must be hungry because you walk a lot! Here, in ten loaves of bread, some chocolate cake, how about some juice? Oh! We have some leftover rice and beans from lunch if you want? How about some chicken?"
Its great. I love people.
Then, we taught James and Patricia. And thats where I learned that being "dumped" in Porutuguese is the same as getting dumped in English. So that was sad. But we did all we could to help them, and everyone has their choice.
Oh goodness, I almost spelled choice c-h-o-i-s-e. What is the world coming to?

Friday: Everything fell through! Yay!
But! We had a really good lesson with Fabio. Everybody participated and helped out. And laughed. Which is good, because I like to laugh. I really hope he will be able to kick the cigarettes soon and get baptized.
We also were finally able to visit Natanael! He was baptized not too many months ago, and has since stopped coming to church. We talked about the Restoration of the gospel, and he remembered a lot. At the end, we told him that at baptism, he made a COVENANT with Heavenly Father, with God, to keep the commandments and to be at church every single Sunday and that he is breaking that covenant. It was what the Spirit told us to say.
He told us he would come to church.

Saturday: We taught Lucas the Plan of Salvation. He loved it! He felt the Spirit throughout the lesson, understood everything, told us he has been reading and praying. I wanted to die of happiness. I can't even explain how awesome the lesson was. It just was amazing. The Spirit was there the whole time. He is so prepared.
We visited Vitor again, and we talked about Missionary Work, which he is already doing by the way. He talks about us and the church with everybody. Its awesome. We also talked about how he will, one day, see his wife again, and how she is waiting for him to enter the temple and promise to be with her forever. The Spirit was very strong in that moment.
We had rescheduled our meeting with our WML for that night, but again it got cancelled. The Bishop decided to have a meeting with us since our WML couldn't, and it was super helpful on both sides.

Sunday: MIRACLES!! We had Ward Counsel, and then oh boy. We had 5 investigators at church and Natanael came as well! Cida came, Bryan came, Vitor came, FABIO came, and Lucas came as well! Man, I was super happy.
Then, of course, everything fell through. But I didn't even care because I was just so happy with all the people who came to church!
That night, we had a lesson with Paulo and Carolina. They are Espiritas, and all I will say is Espiritismo doesn't make any sense to me. When we got home, we both just felt kind of frustrated and sad.
But! All is well! They still like learning and I know the Spirit will touch their hearts.

I love you all a ton!! Can you believe that this transfer only has 2 weeks left?? Eep!!
Here's a scripture for you all:
"Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."
Jude 1:21

com amor,
Sister Shell