Deus Vos Guarde 'Till We Meet Again

18 months. 12 companions. 5 areas. 2 missions. 2 MTC experiences. 3 Mission Presidents.

Its been a wild ride.

June 5th, 2012 I entered the MTC in Provo, literally having no idea what I was doing. Luckily Sister Goimarac was my companion, and we pretty much rocked it together.

Our district was the best in the whole MTC. As we always said, "ONE DISTRICT TO RULE THEM ALL!" We survived many a thing together, and I met some amazing people.

Then, we got reassigned.
Texas? Seriously?

TEXAS.
I was welcomed so warmly by President Pingree. What a tall, funny, sweet, powerful, worthy man. I knew as soon as I saw him that I was in good hands. He told me that this would be my mission, and that I would see many miracles.
Boy, was he right.

Montgomery
I got to my first area on my mission, Montgomery, TX. Not Brasil. But thats okay. My awesome trainer, Sister Kyles, had only been out for two transfers, and they had her training me and Sister Elliott. I'm sure she had a rough time raising us rowdy kids. NACHOOOOO!

We met Brian and Derrick, who were so prepared by Heavenly Father. I remember that the first thing Derrick told us was that he just wanted to know the right way to get to baptism. He was the first person I invited to come unto Christ by being baptized.

When Brian, his stepson, came the next lesson, we knew we had found a miracle family.
We had tons of fun doing workouts in the morning, and loved running across the street to the KOA run by some of our favorite people, the Williamsons.

The theme of that area seemed to be miracles, hardwork and happiness. We were told that we'd stay together one more transfer.
Then the unthinkable happened.
One Saturday night, President Pingree called to ask me if I'd be willing to do an emergency transfer to help out another sister. Of course, I said yes. Peace entered my heart, even if I was scared as when I told Brother (now Bishop) Williamson that my new companion would be Sister Jones, he just laughed hysterically and shook his head.

Caldwell
And they said Montgomery was the small town area. I arrived with Sister Jones, who was actually cool, in a tiny little town of 4,104 people, where we had a truck named Antonio, and our cute little branch met in an awesome little warehouse.

I met everybody within 24 hours, I'm sure. I met my little sisters Paige, Allie and Samara, and Thomas who didn't really want to be my little brother but totally is. And I met amazing Jenn. Even if she is a little crazy and nearly poked my eye out the second time at her house, I love her a ton. She's the sweetest person, and she is beautiful.

I got to go to the first baptism on my mission. Brian! Although Derrick wasn't able to get baptized then as well, it was a beautiful day.

Then Dan and Margaret, who made so much progress while I was there. They were such a hoot! It was amazing to see how much they learned while I was there.

Then, there was our amazing Branch President and his family who lived just down the road.
The cows were everywhere, and we got to preach to a few.
We got to help with the horses, just like in Montgomery.
The Crawfords moved in, and man. That family is just too funny. It was awesome to spend Christmas skyping at their house.
We had to go to everybody's house for every single holiday. And right before that started, Sister Jones went home. Sister Paddock and I were joined by Sister Rainsdon, Sister Kyles was in my district. The good life. You know I rocked all the trios I was in!

After months of frankly discouraging work, we got a media referral. SEAN. Man, was he a miracle. Who knew that all you needed to get somebody baptized was to talk about Indians? He was truly prepared, and I was so blessed to be apart of his conversion. Just goes to show that when our best efforts aren't enough, Heavenly Father will help us and bless us.

Then I had to leave Antonio, my lovely branch, and my amazing district.

Sam Houston 1st YSA
I remember pulling up to transfers and Sister King running up to the truck, Antonio, going, "Hey, I'm your new companion!" How blessed was I to have that angel of a girl with me! She literally blessed my life so much. And I know that she is one of my best friends.

When she told me we were in a YSA ward with the Assistants and that we covered three stakes, my mind was blown. Say whaaaaat?! That was a bit of a shock. But you know what? I loved it. After being in small towns for forever, it was nice to be back in suburbia.
I met Frank, my other little brother. At first Frank didn't really like me, and told me I didn't know how to teach him. Another lesson in humility! But, we ended up good friends.

We had our amazing Why I Believe fireside that Sister King and I literally stressed and cried over.
It was such a success and such a miracle.
I met so many amazing people that I have no time to name them all.
Then, with almost eleven months on my mission, I got a huge shock in the form of a text from President Pingree. My visa came through and I was headed out!!

Back at the MTC
So I was with Sister Green and I loved it. Basically thats all there is to it.

Sao Paulo MTC District

President and Sister Tanner

President and Sister Broadbent

Utinga
I got trained again by the lovely Sister Rojas. I sent her home. We had so many miracles, and I learned how to really work hard.

It was an amazing time, even though scary at first. Brasil was so different, and I wasn't sure I could do it. Heavenly Father sure helped me with everything.
Nayara literally fell into our laps and got baptized.

Then Vinicius and Gustavo.

Then Sister Duncan joined me and we saw so many more miracles.

 I met Nathara and her amazing family, who I love and miss dearly.
Then, I was transferred.

Jardim Climax
Sister Rice and I. Oh man, were we like a professional comedy team. We had so much fun walking around our tiny little area. Although it was difficult, we had some amazing moments together.

Larissa, Laysa, and amazing members.

Then, I got the biggest shock ever.
TRAINING. I have loved every minute of it. Sister Ferril is teaching me more than I am teaching her.

Oh and Leidiane is a total amazing miracle.

And here I am at the end, wondering how in the world I got so blessed to have all of these miracles happen to me. I have seen the Lord's hand at work. I have been converted. I have been changed. I will never ever forget this experience.

This church is true. Jesus Christ is our Savior. He loves us, and so does Heavenly Father.
I thank Heavenly Father for this glorious privelege I have had to serve as a full time representative of my Savior.

"Stick to a task 'til it sticks to you; For beginners are many, but finishers are few."
-Thomas S. Monson


I love y'all!! Deus vos guarde!!


com amor,
Sister Shell

Guess I'd better write an e-mail

Sorry y'all, I just have no vontade to write emails anymore. I mean, I really am gonna see y'all soon. Let's eat at La Parilla and watch Frozen so I can finally see what everyone is freaking out about.

Monday: We did absolutely nothing and it was great!! We went nowhere, did nothing, and it was fabulous. Except for now I have no idea what to do with free time. You know you're a missionary when you think "Thank goodness its P-day, I finally have time to clean out and update our area book and write in my journal..." Yeah, so thats what I did. Our area book is as good as new!

Tuesday: Things fell through, adresses were wrong, but Pamela came out with us and we taught a lesson to a guy who broke his leg. He liked it, but then went off on a tangent about some stuff and we promised to bring him a copy of the Book of Mormon on Friday before sneaking out. Then, lots of other things fell through. Day in the life.

Wednesday: We taught Janete!!! I challenged her to pray about baptism dia 22 de Novembro. AND SHE ACCEPTED!!! I am pretty stoked about that. We just gotta keep working with her to get her miracle happening.
Then, we read with Larissa and Laysa in the Book of Mormon and that was fun. They are just so cute and excited about everything. They were asking questions, and they understood pretty well!
Then, we taught Leidiane o Evangelho de Jesus Cristo. All about faith, repentance, baptism, recieiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. It helped with some of her fears for baptism, and we marked for the elder to come interview (I keep trying to spell that as "enterview" because of português...) her on Friday. Then, we went to our Noite Familiar with the ward. We were in charge of the lesson, so we planned on burning everyone- no not literally, mom, don't worry. We've just noticed that our ward is a little lost when it comes to figuring out how to help in missionary work, so we decided to light the fire.
We brought cookies. (I may or may not have stolen this idea from Sister Goimarac). When it was time for us to do the lesson, I set the cookies out on the table, handed one to Sister Ferril, grabbed one for myself, and we started eating.
"Ohmygooness, these cookies are so good!!"
"DELISH!"
"Ohmy- do you think Bispo wants a cookie?"
"Well, maybe, but... I dunno, I'm pretty sure he already has his own cookies."
"Oh yeah, he eats his own cookies all the time. What about Laysa? I mean, I gave her a cookie one time and I think she liked it.."
"Yeah, but remember, she didn't ask for anymore and said she was full, which means that she didn't like it and won't want more."
"Oh yeah, right, right."
"What about Irmã Cris? She's pregnant so..."
"No way, last time she freaked out and was all 'why would I ever want cookies go away!' and I didn't really like that so..."
"Yeah, better not..."
And so it went for a few minutes as we ate the cookies. Finally we stopped, and asked everyone how they felt when we were eating the cookies right in front of them. "COM VONTADE DE COMER!!! I WANTED TO EAT THEM!" was basically everyone's response. We related that to missionary work, and to not sharing the gospel. Because not sharing the gospel is like eating delicious cookies in front of everyone, and then not giving them any.
Everyone got the point.
Then, we re-introduced our competition to gain the most ontis (Alma 11:13) for missionary work, and now everybody in our ward just wants to win.

Thursday: We had weekly planning, my favorite thing. Then, everything fell through. Even our weekly noite familiar with the Dantas family!! But for a reason. That night, we met up with Cicero. Its always a miracle when we meet up with Cicero. He talked and really opened up to us for a while, and we were able to testify to him. We ended up giving him several scriptures to read, and told him that he can't wait- NOW is the day of repentance, not tomorrow.
DON'T WAIT.

Friday: We had exchanges, and I finally had a Brasileira companheira for the day. Halleluyer! She told me my português is actually quite good and that I've got a good accent. Woohoo!!
Of course, as everything always does on exchanges, everything fell through. But, we literally talked to everyone and they're dog. Sister Vieira loves contacting, and is really good at it. I stopped 18 people, and I think her number added up to 32. Say whaaat? Yeah, definitely learned a lot from her. But, in spite of all of our planned lessons falling through, we had 4 impromptu lessons! It was awesome. And we ended up with two new investigators.
Leidiane had her baptism interview, and looks like she'll have to wait just a little longer for batismo before she's fully prepared. But! While she had the interview, we taught her brother-in-law the first lesson and invited him to be baptized!! He said yes. The trick is to get him to church as he always works on Sundays.

Saturday: I got my little filha back, safe and sound. I love my companion!

We taught Larissa and Laysa again, and for some reason Pedrinho was really mad at me so he kicked me a few times and told me he was going to kill me. "Vou te matar, menina!" Yeah, don't know whats up with that. Usually he throws his arms around me, tells me he adores me, and then tells everyone that I'm his girlfriend... Every couple has their challenges I suppose...
Then, we taught Raisa, a contato from exchanges. She loved it! After we told her about the first vision we asked how she felt. She said that she had a really good feeling that came from inside, that she couldn't explain. We testified that that was the Spirit talking to her, telling her the truth. We also invited her to be baptized. She was a little hesitant, but we told her to pray about it, and that she would get that same feeling again. She and her stepsister promised to come to church the next day.
Then, we went to go teach Leidiane and her brother-in-law Pedro. It finally rained!
Sidestory- its been SUPER dry in São Paulo, rivers are drying up, and the water is running out. Literally, most people don't have any water in their house at night or on the weekends. We've been blessed- our house always has water. But this fast sunday, we were fasting for rain. And an hour after we started our fast, it rained good and hard!! For a short time, but we'll take what we can get.
Anyways. Went to go teach Leidiane and discovered that her whole house was part of the torrential downpour. She has a small, three story home and the third story is open with a covering. Except it was raining so hard that the water just poured in, then ran in torrents down all flights of stairs, soaking lots of things and giving everyone lots of work. We showed up as this was happening, walked in and offered to help. Their house had no water to clean up the mess, and like good, obedient, prepared missionaries, we had a bunch of huge water bottles and stuff filled to the brim with water. We grabbed what we could, filled up something for Leideiane, grabbed a squeejee and some rags and ran back to her house, which is conveniently located close to ours. For the next three hours, we helped her move things, dry things, clean things and such. We didn't get a lesson in, but I feel that the Savior would have done the same. We grabbed what we could of the clothes and blankets to wash at our house.

Sunday: It was a good fast sunday. It was my last fast sunday on the mission, which was surreal. Felipe, the son of Bispo, realized that, and after my testimony got up and talked about his mission, and talked about how rough it is when it ends. Thanks... Haha
We all ended the fast together at the church, with a huge, delicious almoço. It was the best. I'm gonna miss this ward a lot.
Everything fell through, but we had a noite familiar with Lu and her family.

Well, folks, I'm working hard out here. Can't wait to see you but... I don't wanna come home. Bless y'all's hearts, I love y'all and all, but its gonna really stink to leave.

The church is true. If you don't know for yourself, pray and ask Heavenly Father. He'll tell you.

All my love!! Te amo!!

com amor,
Sister Shell

District Birthday Celebration! :)

Sign that it is definitely summertime in Brazil! 

I'm old-on the mission and in real life!

Happy 21st Birthday Sister Shell!!!

Well, first off, thanks to all of my amazing family and friends who wished me a happy birthday!! I am definitely am the most spoiled and most loved Sister Missionary in all of São Paulo Sul, maybe in all of the world. I got 15 cards and 2 packages. Thank you all my favorite people!! I do have to say that my favorite birthday wish was one I got from little Mason Curby. Here is, and I QUOTE, what my little buddy said;
"Happy b-day, and come back so I can destroy you when we play our shooting game."
Tell Mason ITS ON!! Haha

Monday: As you may have noticed from all of the pictures, our zona went to the zoo together!!! It was super fun, even if it was super tiring.

 Oh well : There was nobody there because it was a monday. #itsamonday!! We had an awesome zona meeting. We talked about all of the possible people who could be baptized the 26th. Presidente called for a mission wide fast, and told us to think of all the people who could possibly be baptized on the 26th and have them interviewed during the fast. We talked about Larissa and Laysa, and a few other investigators in the zona.

Tuesday: We saw Larissa and Laysa, and they are just as cute as ever. They might have been more excited for my birthday than I was. Which is saying something, because we all know how I feel about birthdays. We talked to the mom of Larissa and Laysa, and got to know what her concerns are more. She also gave us some clothes and told us to come over for dinner sometime. Marisa is so sweet :) We asked if it was alright if the elders came over to interview Larissa and Laysa to see if they were ready and she agreed, but still said she thought they should wait longer for batismo. We left the baptism fichas with her.

Wednesday: We were fasting, and Elder Lundgren came with Elder Anfuso to do the interviews. Larissa and Laysa were declared READY. He talked for a while with Marisa, but she was firm in what she believes. Tough cookie. She's just doing what she thinks is best for her children though. Can't fault her for that.
We also saw Dea and Ana finalmente!! After forever and a day. Dea is working a lot more now, so its gonna be super tough to see them. Ana is just as animated as ever. They really need this gospel.

Thursday: We saw our recent converso/menos ativo and had a good chat with him. He has a good testimony and loves the gospel, but doesn't want to come to church. At least he is studying a lot on his own!!
That night, we had an awesome Noite Familiar with the Dantas Family! Leidiane came again, and some more members swung by. It was fun. We talked about fathers and showed the mormon message father's day video, and then related that to how Heavenly Father feels about us. Leidiane really loved it :)

Friday: We taught Janete. She still doesn't feel like getting baptized, but she is praying and she is trying to keep the word of wisdom. She is just so cute and lonely that I want this so badly for her. She needs it.
We saw Larissa and Laysa again, and they were once again more excited for my birthday than I was haha.
Then, that night, we taught Leidiane. She loved the Plan of Salvation!! She thought it was beautiful and perfect, and kept saying "I just wanna go to the Celestial Kingdom right now!! Man, I want to get married in the temple." It was so cute. Its amazing to see how the Spirit can touch people and testify to them in that moment of truth that what they are learning will bless them for eternity. She's still set for baptism this weekend!!!!! :D

Saturday: It was a pretty ordinary day, and yet not.... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!! PARABENS PARA MIM!!! It was a good day. We had a great almoço- estrogonofe yummm- and delicious dessert with Irmã Ivonete. Then, we went with Leidiane, Larissa, Laysa, Pedro and Pedrinho to the Primary activity.

 It was a huge success. And everyone belted out PARABENS and sang at the top of their lungs to me right before we left. It was fun :)

That night, we ate some delicious chocolate cake from the cake mix and frosting and sprinkles that mom sent me. It was so delicious, and so great to eat American chocolate cake. There's a difference, people, believe you me.

Sunday: We went to go get Leidiane for church and she wasn't awake yet. We waited, she scrambled to get ready and we all went to church!! Relief Society was good, and then I ended up teaching the gospel principles lesson on the fly. Lei de Castidade. It actually went really well.
We had a good noite familiar with Lu's family thats how our week ended!!

Can't believe how fast time is flying by. I love you all so much!!! And sorry my emails are getting shorter and shorter.. The closer I am to getting home, the less vontade I have to send emails. I mean, really, whats the point if I'm gonna see y'all shortly?


com amor,
Sister Shell