Brasil - Week 24

Wow this transfer went by so fast!!

Monday- So Monday night we met this lady when we were getting off the bus and she just started talking to us about the church and we were like oh cool! So we kept talking and then she tells us that actually she is really happy to meet us because her pastor told her the other day that she will meet 2 foreigners that will have an invite for her and a message. 0.0 She then met us....at this point she started crying and told us her life story and how God really has saved her and stuff like that. We were like WOW!! So we gave her a BoM and marked a time to visit with her. 

Tuesday- So we got 2 referrals today from the Bishop's wife and so we visited them and marked a day to visit. But one of the referrals is her cousin who has already been to church so we also had a mini lesson with her. After that we went to visit Grizielle and her 3 kids and niece who have a baptism date for Sunday and we watched the restoration video with them and we talked about testimonies. It was a good time! :) We then visited with Maria Oneide and her son Maciel who has a baptism date for Sunday and her 2 other kids. We talked about the gospel of Christ which talks about faith, repentance, baptism, gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end. And to explain better about repentance we did a little activity where we had a glass of water to represent our bodies and we used my red Kool-aid (thanks family!!) to represent sin and explained that when we sin our bodies are dirty (insert kool-aid in water here) BUT we can always repent so we can be clean again (pour bleach in the kool-aid water here)! It went well! It was a good little activity for them!! Then we had a mini lesson with Cleberson and then with Mialon and Adriana where we talked about conference and showed them lds.org where they could watch the conference talks! 

Wednesday- SO this was a crazy day!!! SO our district meeting got moved to Thursday so we decided to do our weekly planning so we started and then went to lunch and then went to visit Dalva who is this awesome ice cream lady! She is like the sweetest person ever! She stays open longer just for us if we want ice cream that day and always is supporting us! So we decided to teach her. But when we got there she was getting a card machine to use in her shop so she asked if we could come back later, we agreed and went home to finish weekly planning. So when we got inside it started POURING DOWN RAIN like a lot!! So we were happy we were inside and not trying to work right then. But when it started raining our District leader called and asked if we were caught in the rain and we said no and started talking to him when Sister Kimball gets up to get water from the kitchen and then she starts screaming "OUR HOUSE IS FLOODING!!! SISTER!!! Our house is FLOODING!!!" So I ran to the kitchen and sure enough it was starting to flood. What happened was we have this part of our house that is outside for laundry and it has a drain on the floor that doesn't work so water just stays, so when it started raining out the wazoo the water wasn't draining and was just filling up outside and then overflowing into the house! SO Elder John was on the phone when we were realizing this so he was all like "What?! Sisters?! Whats happening?!?!" Because all he really is hearing is us screaming! So I tell him that the house is flooding so he tells me "Sister just get a bucket and start shoveling water out!!" So I hand the phone to Sister Kimball and try to get the back door open (which was stuck)! So I'm pulling and tugging on the door and Sister Kimball is talking to Elder John and then she gets the squeegee and starts pushing the water out the front door and into the bathroom so it won't get into our room or on our stuff. Finally she gets it good enough and she comes to help me pry the door open. So I ran outside and she went back to the squeegeeing. So I grabbed one bucket and put it under the sink (which leaks...a lot...) to catch water there and then the other bucket and started throwing water over the side of the house. This went on for about 2 hours in the pouring rain. When finally I got the water level down and the rain started stopping I went back inside the house. I looked like I just took a bath. I was SOAKED! And Sister Kimball was a mess too! I had to change all of my clothes. There was only one very tiny part of my shirt that wasn't wet!! Needless to say we missed a few appointments....but they understood...

Thursday- So today was our district meeting. It was good. We talked about gifts of the Spirit. Like which ones we think we have and which ones we would like and how we can develop them! We then visited with Grizielle and the kids again and talked about the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom....well actually WE didn't really talk...it was actually Grizielle's member aunt that explained. But it was good!! We then did their baptism records!! After that we went to visit with Maria Oneide and did the same thing!! But without Grizielle's aunt. Then we taught the Bishop's cousin (Rafaela) about the restoration and she accepted baptism!! :D Then we visited with Grizielle's sister Giovanna to see if Rebeca (the niece we have been teaching) can be baptized or not. She said she could! So we did her baptism record too!!

Friday- So today we had just a short visit with Grizielle and the kids and Maria Oneide and her kids to see how they were and then we have the "end of transfer cleaning day"!! Our house was SO clean after!! I+But it took ALL day!! We started about 3pm and ended at 9!! 

Saturday- YAY BIRTHDAY!!! :D So when I woke up today Sister Kimball had me walk blindfolded into our study room. Turns out she got up at 3am and put up birthday signs that she made every night this week when I was in the shower!! It was SOOO sweet!!! :} After lunch we had Maciel's baptism interview!! Then we had to find baptism clothes for all the children! We only had one.... 0.o But it got worked out. We then met with Katia, she is really sweet but really sad. Her husband died 4 months ago and now it is only her and her 2 daughters who are 11 and 9. It was just a mini lesson but it was good! They said that they like it when we visit! :} And that they will go to church tomorrow!! We then visited with Cleberson. We read 2 Nephi 31 with him. It was good! :)

Sunday- So at 6:40 this morning we got a text from Grizielle saying that the kids dad won't let them get baptized or go to church. We were very heartbroken. But Rebeca could still get baptized! So we hurried up and got dressed and went to the church hoping to see Rebeca and Giovanna there, but they weren't. So we dropped our stuff and almost RAN to her house 15 minutes away. They didn't answer the door or their phone. We were really sad but hurried back to the church. They never showed up. BUT Luci-Mar did! And Maria Oneide and her kids!! SO Luci-Mar got the gift of the Holy Ghost and Maciel got baptized!! And Leonardo (Maria Oneide's other son) can get baptized this next Sunday!!! After the baptism we went to Giovanna and Rebeca's house and Rebeca said that her mom was sleeping and they didn't go to church because they got up late. Huhhh. We'll keep working with them. After that we visited with Maciel and Maria Oneide and Leonardo and read 3 Nephi 11 with them. It was good! We then visited with Luci-mar and taught Jeanny (her daughter) about the restoration. It was really good! I am almost positive that she will get baptized. 

AND TRANSFERS!!!! Sister Kimball is being transferred to Dourados, which is in Mato Grosso do Sul. She will actually live in the same house as Sister Luca!!! I will be staying here and my new companion will be the Sister that Sister Puckett finished training! Her name is Sister Gonçalves. (I think that's how you spell it.... :/) I'm really sad that Sister Kimball is leaving but I know that she will have  GREAT time in the south!! I'm really gonna miss her!! 

--

Sister Emma Marion

 

 

 Maciel's baptism

Flooded apartment!

(see details on Wednesday entry above)

Happy Birthday, Sister Marion!

Birthday surprise from sweet, Sister Kimball

(see Saturday entry above)

 

Brasil - Week 23

Tuesday- We had a pretty good day today. We had 6 contacts and 5 lessons! One of our contacts is a family and the son actually has schizophrenia. 0.o BUT he really has a strong faith in Christ. Its awesome! We also met with Helazangela who is the daughter of a member family and the only nonmember in her house. She has already met with the Elders a couple of times but she is like a brick wall. And her mom is always present in the lessons so this time we asked to teach her alone. Her mom agreed and so we started talking with her and asked her if she really wants this or not. She said no. But we talked more with her and in the end we got her to pray with us, something she doesn't even do with her family. One day she will be baptized. She just needs to want it first.

Wednesday- DISTRICT MEETING DAY!! It was really cool again!! Elder John had 2 boxes of chocolate and gave one bar to each missionary and put us all in a different room and told us to hide it good and then we will switch rooms and find the candy. "Your area is from the chapel to this room here and the chocolate bars represent the Elect of God. Go!" So off we went in to the rooms where we saw the other missionaries in and we found the candy and then Sister Kimball and I went and helped the Elders in our room find the candy. At the end of this 5 minutes Elder John told us all to stop and then asked the question "why didn't you look in all of your area? You only went where you knew there was elects but you didn't look in ALL your area. I'm the "Bishop" of this ward and you can ask for help. You can have a few more minutes. GO!" So Sister Kimball and I asked him where the candy was and if he could go with us to find them and the Elders went back in the rooms we were in and Elder John showed us where the candy was and so we got a bunch and then the elders came in and started asking for "referrals" it was really a great lesson. Why don't we ask for more help? Then we got to eat the candy :} After that we went and made cute little invites for conference to pass out to people!! :D
Thursday- So today all of our appointments fell through at the last minute except 1!! This one was a family, Adriana & Mailo & their 2 sons Breno and Samuel. They are really great and really are interested, especially Mailo. AND Adriana Mailo and Breno accepted baptism!! (Not Samuel because he is only 6...) But they didn't accept a date but I really think that they will one day! It was great!! They really are awesome!!

Friday- We visited with Grizielle and her 4 kids (well 3 and 1 niece...) and read part of the book of Mormon with them. We then visited with Luci-mar a bit and helped her make food for her daughter, Jeanny's baby shower. We then visited with a new family that is friends with Luci-mar, Maria Onede and her 3 kids Amanda, Leonardo, and Maciel. All 3 kids accepted baptism on the 13th!! We then visited the family we found Tuesday (not Helazangela). It was good, we just taught the first lesson, but they seem interested!

Saturday- CONEFERENCE!!! :D So we went to the stake center for conference and it was really good only problem was it was all in Portuguese and I couldn't really understand. :( It was sad. I understood a few parts and they were great but the whole talk....nope. :( And then none of our people came today. But afterward we went to the baby shower....it was more like sitting at a restaurant to eat. It was odd. But they were SO happy we were there so it made up for the oddness....

Sunday- CONFERENCE AGAIN!! I really love conference now!! Just sayin'!! BUT same problem as Saturday. Couldn't understand. :( And no investigators. :'( AND THEN afterwards we were talking to some Elders and they said "Oh Sisters why didn't you just ask to watch conference in English in the secretary's office?" We about cried at this point. We were so upset. Then we called Sister Puckett and she got to watch it in English. Yeah. We are still a bit tender about this...BUT they said that we can use our study times to watch conference in English! So there's that!

Monday- So this morning we started watching conference in English!! IT WAS GREAT!!!!!!!!! I got up to the talk from Edward Dube. I will start there next time! :) Nossa! I just gotta say it again! CONFERENCE WAS GREAT!!!!!! :D I just want to print out every talk just to read them again and again!!! :)
--
Sister Emma Marion

 

 

This is a fruit called jaca (jack-a). It is horrible to the taste. It tastes like a slimy slightly off banana. :{

MTC Friends (currently serving in the same zone)

Sister Kimball, Sister Puckett, Sister Marion

 

Washing dishes with Sister Kimball is always an adventure!

 

Brasil - Week 22

SO THIS WEEK WAS GREAT!!

Tuesday- We visited Adrielli and talked about baptism with her, trying to find out if she really has a desire or not. She said she wants to be baptized but not yet. So we are going to work with her on this. We then left her house and found a family with 3 women and we taught a short little principle lesson with them. It went well and they want us to come back. We then visited with Luci-mar with Irmâ Jacqueline it was good, we started teaching the commandments. Today was the Word of Wisdom. It was really amazing. She drinks coffee every morning but when we taught her about this she was like "Yeah okay that's fine. I will buy cevada instead." Like no problem at all! It was great!!! 

Wednesday- Today we had a district meeting that was really great too!!! Elder John told us "Okay now I want everyone to sit in a different part of the room away from each other where you can receive revelation and bring a pen and the paper I gave you and something to write on. Now the Savior commanded you to write a letter to a future missionary, Sisters write to Sisters and Elders write to Elders. And write them about missions and bare your testimony and share a scripture that has helped you." We then wrote the letter. Mine talked about the importance of not losing your faith, because missions are super hard, but they are also filled with joy. I shared Moroni 7:33 and I also quoted Gamme " Pray like it all depends on the Lord, and work like it all depends on you." We then gave the finished letters to Elder John and sat back down. He then had us all facing front and he went to the back one by one and took our tags and put them in an envelope with the letter and told us not to look at the front, and to sit back down. After we all did this he went up to the front and pulled out a mission call packet and told us "Imagine that this is the day of the call and your letter is in it." He pulled out our call from the prophet and called us up one by one and we read the letters, that were really to ourselves and a part of the call. It was a really great experience because you were building your self up. Like a self pep talk! We then left and went to visit Luci-mar and we took her to the church and taught her there with Irmã Marbe about the Law of Chastity. After that we walked an hour to another neighborhood and taught a 15 yr old girl whose family is all members except her and her parents want her to get baptized. But we were talking with her and really she just wants to be a 15 yr old girl. But we are working with her now on prayer, so she can have that connection with her Father in Heaven. The rest will come on day but as we explained to her and to her mom, the choice is hers. If she doesn't want to come back, "okay. we'll see you the next time we have lunch with your family." But we also told her that we want to be her friends too. And she agreed to let us come back. But we are going to try and teach her alone, we think it will help her better not to have her mom hovering during the lesson so she can really talk about her problems. We then walked BACK to the neighborhood we were in (1hr away) and visited with this new investigator family. Adriana, Mailo, Breno, and Samuel. We didn't have a lot of time to teach so we taught an "intro" to the restoration lesson. It was really great and we think they are really interested. :)

Thursday- We visited with Grizielle, who actually is an inactive member that wants to come back and she has 3 kids (Ana Carolina 14, Samuel 11, and Marcos 9)and wants them to be baptized. She found us Monday in the street and called to us from the other side of the road and told us all this and to visit her this week. So we were like "Uhhh yeah! Okay sure!!" So we met with her and her 3 kids and her mom (also inactive) and her niece (Rebecca, who is like 8) and so we taught the restoration to them and they all (all 4 kids) accepted baptism!!! So we marked 4 dates today!!!! 8o It was great!! We then visited with Luci-mar with Irmã Yasmine and talked about tithing and she was SOO excited to pay tithing!!! Seriously this lady is GREAT!!! She said that someone in her family should. It was a great time. We then met with Heloiza with Irmã Kethy (Kaite) and we were going to teach about the gospel of Christ but instead Kethy helped resolve some of Heloiza's problems. Turns out that Kethy was Catholic and had the same questions that Heloiza has when she was learning about the gospel. It really helped having her there!!

Friday-So today we visited with a recent convert, Maria Teresa, and taught her about the Plan of Salvation. It went really well but she only is like 13 so to really understand it will take some time. But after that we visited with Maria José and talked about the Book of Mormon. During this lesson we asked her if she believed us and she said yes. She said "I have this feeling at the top of my stomach but it is way deep in my body and it just tells me that everything you are saying is 100% true. And I will read this book." We then asked her to be baptized and she accepted. :) It was a great lesson. We then visited with Luci-mar and finished off the commandments. It was really great. Then we tried to visit this referral from a member but she wasn't there so we did contacts and actually found this lady, Rosie, that was actually taking the discussions from the Elders before us that they didn't tell us about or put in the area book. So we talked to her a bit and share a scripture and a prayer and marked a day to visit more with her. Thank you Holy Ghost! 

Saturday- So in the mission we have whats called a "Padrão Semanal" (according to Google translator: Weekly Standard) where you need 25 contacts, 15 lessons with out members, 8 with members, 3 baptism dates, 3 investigators at church, and 10 new invest, so we were talking Friday night and we realized that we were actually really close to beating the Padrão. So our goal for today and tomorrow was to get all the contacts and lessons we needed. SO today we left our house a little bit earlier and taught a man in the tire shop next door to our house a mini lesson, we then went to lunch and did contacts at just about every house we could, then after lunch we did the same thing as we went to visit Rosangela who was a referral from the Patriarch here and he met us there and we taught her, her husband Valmir, and her 3 kids Lucas, Liciela, and Ligrecia. We taught the the restoration and invited them to be baptized and all 5 agreed...we then left and went to visit Luci-mar again but with Bishop this time. We really just had a mini lesson and get to know Bishop time. We then left and our next appointment canceled on us and so did the one after that. SO we did more contacts and mini lessons and then at 7 we went to Núbia and Marcelo's house for his birthday party and then went home! 

 

Sunday- SO today we ran out of minutes on the cell phone so we really couldn't call our investigators to remind them about church so we were super stressed!! BUT 9 came!! AND after church WE HAD A BAPTISM!!!! WOO HOO!!!! Luci-mar!! It was super great! Afterwards we asked her how she feels and she said "Free." It was super special!! We then went to lunch and tried to teach after but no one was home but we got more contacts in. We then went to Luci-mar's house and had popcorn with her and her family and gave her a picture frame with a picture of all of us in it and then had a mini lesson with her and her family. After that our next lesson fell through so we did more contacts and mini lessons. SO when we got home and closed our numbers we had......11 baptism dates, 9 investigators in sacrament, 10 lessons with members, 15 with out, 20 new investigators, and 26 contacts!!!! :D We were SUPER excited!!! We met the Padrão Semanal!! 

 

Monday- So our District leader called and she that he was really sorry but he didn't know last night but there is actually a new rule in the mission that you can't count baptism dates 2 weeks in advance so because all of our dates are for 10/13 we can't count them until next week. So we actually didn't get the Padrão Semanal. It was really heartbreaking. We were....still kinda are....really sad. Like disappointed sad. But we know that we just need to get back up and try again next week!! 

--

Sister Emma Marion

Brasil - Week 21

Tuesday- All of our appointments fell through BUT we found this guy, Jodelson, and we taught him about the Restoration. It went really well! But other than that this day was *thumbs down*.

Wednesday- So today we had a division with Sister Carvalho and Sister Braga because they are the Sister Training Leaders here. It was GREAT!! I was with Sister Braga (because Sister Carvalho speaks English...) and I learned so much from her!! It was really good and we found these 2 girls, Ana and Aline(a-lee-nee), and taught them the first lesson (restoration) and they accepted baptism!! They both are 12. And then at 6 we all met back up and the other Sisters left and Sister Kimball and I visited this referral from the Elders, Maria José. She was interesting. But I think that she will progress. :) AND THEN at the end of the day Sister Kimball and I added up all of our numbers and we had 19 contacts! And guess what else... LUCI-MAR ACCEPTED BAPTISM!! We are SOOO excited for her!! She is already so happy! :)

Thursday- So today we had a Zone Conference!! IT WAS AWESOME!! All of the trainings were really great and helped a lot!! Its just like an energy boost!! They really help!! And afterward we visited with Luci-mar and started talking with her helping her stay firm. It was a great day! :) 

Friday- WOO HOO!!! 6 MONTH MARK!!! Today we visited Luci-mar with Núbia and taught about the Plan of Salvation. It went very well and she understood really easily! Núbia helped out a lot!! After Luci-mar, we visited Jodelson and read in Enos with him and talked about the importance of prayer. It went well, and he said he will try and go to church Sunday!! I know that if he will go he will really feel the spirit there!!  After Jodelson, we went back home and had a great (but really long) weekly planning session!! :)

Saturday- We went and helped Luci-mar clean her house because her daughter is 5 months pregnant. It was fun and we also taught her about obedience and how it shows love. we then went to lunch that we REALLY far away (1 hour!!) but it was good and their daughter isn't a member but they marked a day for us to go back and teach her! Then all of our appointments fell through AGAIN. So we went with Luci-mar and her daughter (Jeane) to pass out baby shower invites so I and Sister Kimball can do contacts with them. We only got 2 out of it. :/ 

Sunday- So only Adrielli came today. It was good that she was there but, ugh. No one else. :/ Afterward we had a meeting with the "ward mission leader". It went well. We passed around ideas to help the ward get excited about helping!! Afterward we found one of our invest. that we only found one time, Iago (like the parrot in Aladdin), and marked a day to visit with him and his friend that we taught once, Carlos. We then stopped by Luci-mar's house but no one was there so we left a little note. :) 

Monday- So far we have studied, and I FINISHED THE BOOK OF MORMON!! It only took me 3 months and 12 days!! :D I read about 3 chapters everyday and BAM!! DONE! Next I will try and read the bible!! :D wish me luck with that one!! >.< We then grabbed some lunch and started writing y'all!! :) 

--

Sister Emma Marion

Together as companions again!

Month 6!!

 

Celebrating 6 months on a mission is more fun when you get to

share it with your MTC companion!

 

Brasil - Week 20: Varzea Grande

Tuesday- So today we had lunch with the Bishop’s mother-in-law and afterward she gave us a big bag of MANGOS!!! We are really livin’ the good life haha!! J BUT all o four appointments fell through... we actually had one that told us she doesn’t want our visits. So yeah...we went back home and started organizing what little Area Book we have. 

 

Wednesday- We had a really cool District meeting! We talked about “How is your relationship with your companion” and what Elder John (District Leader) did was he hid a cake in another room and had the Elders side by side one facing forward the other facing back and he taped the the legs that were touching together and blindfolded the one facing front and gave the other a mirror and told them to find the cake. So off they went! Haha! It was interesting. Only using a small hand mirror to lead two people but the did it! Then they blindfolded me and had sister Kimball stand in front of me and I had to put my hands in front of us and try and cut the cake into 6 pieces with her direction....only in Portuguese....it was a lot of “UH NÃO!” “UGH” But finally we got it. Then the other Elders in the same form of Sister Kimball and I had to try and remove a piece of cake. All in all it was really interesting. And I learned that Sister Kimball and I need to talk about the problems better and I need to stop trying to do everything alone and rely on her. It was a good learning experience. J We then returned home and finished our Area Book because all o four visits fell through....again. :/

 

Thursday- SO have I got a story about today!!!! ENTÃO We were going to do a contact day and just find new people to teach when we found the road we have been looking for for a week because we have a referral here! So we found the house and the lady said “oh he is my nephew but he doesn’t live here no. But you can try that house down there and they can help you better.” So we went to this house and this man answered and when we asked bout this kid he said “oh maybe. I don’t know all of my wife’s family. But come on in and you can ask her!” So in we went! Thinking “ah how great we can teach this family!!” right? So we walk in and the lady, Maria Lina, says “Oh no I don’t know him no. But come in! Come in! You are doing such a beautiful work, serving the Lord! Are you hungry?? Come in sit down!! Eat this couscous!! Do you want anything else? Anything to drink?” Stuff like that and we are all like “Wow! She is so sweet! Lets share a message with her!” So we walk in and there is this guy (he was like 20ish) siting at the table and we introduce ourselves and then he says “Oh yeah come in eat! And then we will pray for you!” Now when I heard this I started thinking “Oh no. What church do they go to?!” Because here we have some strange ones. Ones that in their prayers everyone talks and really loudly and give the Holy Ghost in strange ways and receive the Holy Ghost strangely, really just big shows of “Faith” so the world knows whats going on but not with the Spirit. But in we went and we ate and while we were eating in walks 2 other men and a woman, so we are thinking “Oh yeah we can teach everyone! No problem!” Then we finished and sang “How Great Thou Art” and shared a scripture and then Maria Lina thanks us and says “Now I want to share a hymn from our church, *&%$&*(I won’t give the name for respectful purposes, but its one of the ones that is really bad about the prayers and HG)” So when she said that I started thinking “Oh snap!! What now!!” But she started singing really loud about Jesus and as she was singing the 22yr old stands up and grabs the table and closes his eyes and starts saying stuff like “praise Jesus!” “Glory to God” “Amen!!” ya know and then Maria Lina grabs Sister Kimball!! Like one hand on her chest and the other on her back!! And starts shaking S. Kimball and stomping her feet!!!! And during this Sister Kimball and I are so shocked and stunned and trying not to laugh!! And the 22yr old keeps on with the praises and then she stops. And yeah. It was crazy. So Sister Kimball and I just don’t know what to say but know that we need to say something so we just started saying thank you. And then before we can do anything else the 22yr old says “and now we will pray” and everyone stands up and so we do too and he tells me “Grab the hand of your sister!” So I did and then he starts praying and then everyone else starts praying and I and Sister Kimball just awkwardly stood there slightly scared that someone else would try to give us the Holy Ghost! And in the prayer the 22yr old starts saying stuff about Americans blah blah blah. Then after we just kind of thank them again and then he starts preaching to us about how we need to pray lest Satan gets his hands on us. So we say “ah sim amen!” and thank him again and then start leaving. We were SO scared!! We left with like beating hearts and fear! Luckily a member lives close by so we went to her house to clam down! We now avoid that house!!!

 

 

Friday- We met 3 people really awesome!! 1st  Heloiza. She is a single mother of a 2yr old boy. We taught her the first lesson and she really liked it. We really think she will progress!! :D 2nd Luci-ma. She has already been introduced to the Elders and actually she asked a member to send us to her house with literature of the church. So we went with Book of Mormons in hand! We started talking to her and she really just wants Pearls of Great Price  because she has already read the Book of Mormon, Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, and the Gospel Principals book!! So we talked to her about baptism and going to Stake Conference with us this week. She told us that she doesn't think she can because she needs to stay home because she never really has lunch with her husband and this is the only time she has and because the stake center is kind of long and because she has to use the bus she wouldn’t have time to come back and fix lunch for everyone. So we just told her to pray about it and Heavenly Father will help her find a way to do all she needs to Sunday. She promised to.

 

 

Saturday- We met with just about all o four people today!! We met with Adrielli who is close to baptism but isn’t 100% sure yet. But she promised to pray about it. We met with a member referral named Kelvin but he wants more time to think if he wants lessons or not...(he is only 14)...and then with this guy Paulo and his wife. Turns out he has 21 that he uses to study to learn better what the passage says. Problem is that he really just wants to study the Book of Mormon and doesn’t want us to explain, we tried but every time we said anything about the Bible he started telling us Bible history. We were in his house with them for like 2 hours!! And most of that time was listening to him!! But we finally got to talk about Joseph Smith and how he was called to be a Prophet and his wife starts telling us that we can’t have prophets today because at the end of Revelations it says so. And that John was the final prophet. So needless to say nothing really got through but we left them with the Book of Mormon (actually we met Paulo a few days before and he asked for a copy and I said that we would mark some scriptures for him too) and in the Book I wrote out our testimonies about the Book of Mormon and marked for him to read the testimonies of the 3, 8, and Joseph Smith. So I think it will help him.

 

 

Sunday- We had conference. It was really good, President and Sister Reber spoke. We rode with Adrielli so she was there only problem was we got there kind of late and we had to sit in the back.....lots crying children. :/ But after we visited with Luci-ma and she said that she went!! She said that she prayed for help to go and then she rode the bus there and during she said that she didn’t regret it! She felt awesome, especially during Pres. Reber’s talk! And then after a member offered to drive her home!!!! So she made it back in time!! And she also said that the rest of her day was super great!! She also thanked Sister Kimball and I a lot. She said that it was because of us that she went. She then said that she thinks she wants to continue in the church!!!!! She is now praying about a baptism date!! :D This just goes to show that the Lord ALWAYS provides a way, you just have to be willing to take the first step! 1 Nephi 3:7 J

--

Sister Emma Marion

 

 

 

Our District! Várzea Grande!

Elder John(DL), Elder Santana, Elder Silva, Elder Correa, & Sister Kimball and I

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

August 2013 - Month 5

 

 

Brasil - Week 19 - New Area: Vareza Grande

Tuesday- We arrived in Cuiabá at like 9ish in the morning. We then went to drop people off at their houses in a big Taxi van, so when Sister Puckett left I was a solo sister. It was odd....I had to stay with the Elders all day. And then we went to this new missionary training where we meet our new companions. BUT Sister Kimball's flight got moved back a day so I was still a solo sister. (This is where that foto of me teaching comes in...) so in this training we role played to see where the new missionaries are and to help get them started. It was good. It always helps to have a older missionary give advice. (The elder in the picture is Elder Marque he is the new assistant to President Reber) And during this Elder Bonaro and Elder Watchman arrived!!! They were in my group in the MTC too!! I was so excited to see them and they were really impressed with my language.....which made me feel good. :) What happened was Elder Marque asked everyone to look up this scripture and he then asked me to read it. So I did and then he asked me to explain it. So I did and that is when Elder Bonaro and Watchman were like woah! I then went to Sister Puckett's house and spent the night there.

Wednesday- So a taxi picked me up and brought me to the church in Cuiabá and there I waited and President and Sister Reber picked Sister Kimball up from the airport. When she walked in we were so excited! It was great to see her!!! Then after she got here the same taxi driver (who is actually a member...) picked us up and took us to our new house!! So this house was an Elder house....and it is next door to a tire repair shop and above a shop....But it is nice. Only problem is that the kitchen sink doesn't have a pipe and drains out into a bucket,there is 2 showers but one only lets out a little bit of water and the other doesn't have a shower head so it is just like a water fall....and our laundry room sink doesn't have a pipe too but it has a drain on the floor BUT the drain is like clogged or something and so water doesn't drain out so actually our washing machine is in the shower.....

Thursday- We had to go back to the mission office after lunch today because Sister Kimball needs training and also because she needed to get registered with Brasil. And with all of that we ended up getting back to our area at like 8. And we went straight to this members house. These members are the BEST!!! The wife, Núbia, has helped us like everyday! She is AWESOME!! She told us she feels like our older sister! :) And her husband, Marcelo, he speaks English fluently and also other languages so he really helps a lot with our language!! BUT yeah so we went to their house to help Marcelo teach English!! And he said that when we help teach he tries to mark a day with the people when we can teach about the gospel. So we went and it was really cool BUT SO HARD!!!! I kept wanting to speak Portuguese!!! Nossa!! Haha!!

Friday- We had a zone meeting and then 2 of the other sisters went with us to lunch (because they live really far away....like 4 hours on a bus away!) and then Sister Kimball and I went back home to study the language and then we got to work!! We did contacts and it was really good!! We met this couple that said they can't go to church this week because they are leaving town that day but they will go next week! They were so great! I really think they will go! We also met this old lady that I really like she is so sweet and we taught her the 1st lesson and turns out that her daughter is a member!! But she is also going out of town this Sunday but if we can get someone to give her a ride she will most likely come next week!! And when we were leaving we met her son and he has already had the lessons and I talked to him and invited him to read the pamphlet we left his mom on the 1st lesson, we'll see if he really did.....

Saturday- So today was different too...President gave us permission to clean our house today because it was really dirty because plumbers came in and put pipes in under the sinks and so Núbia helped us clean up and then after she asked us where lunch was and we told her that it fell through and they gave us money and she told us "oh well keep the money for later and come with me to my house and I will make you lunch!" So after helping us clean the house she made us lunch!!! She really is super!! After lunch we met an investigator of the elders named Adrielli and talked to her about baptism....but she is kind of wishy washy....but the spirit can change all things!!! 

Sunday- We had our first church here!! Woo hoo!! But in this ward we actually have a sister dupla (English translation: duo) and ALSO an elder dupla...so things are kinda complicated....mostly lunch. Why you ask...its because sisters and elders can't have lunch together so they have to divide the calender into the elders area and the sisters! So our lunch fell through again and Núbia found out and so we had lunch with them again! They also gave us a refferal!!! We then went back home to study and then did contacts!!! In doing contacts we met this old lady who started talking to us about her daughter and how she is worried about her. So we offered to visit with her daughter. Turns out her daughter has already heard a bit about the church but she wasn't allowed to go to church because it was with the Elders and her mom was worried. And I agree. Its 2 young men that they don't really know inviting a young girl to church....BUT now its sisters!! So we will go tuesday night to talk with the daughter!!!

As for my "new" companion....She is really doing great already! She really tried to talk to people and she is picking the language up really well! A lot really hasn't changed since the MTC except the amount of spirituality but we are going to try really hard to make sure we are having personal study everyday. Its really going to be great!! :)

--

Sister Emma Marion

 

Emma has given me a new address for letters.  Instead of sending things to the mission home, it now needs to go to the mission office.

 

Av. Hist. Rubens de Mendonça 1731 Sala 10

Bairro: Consil

Cuiabá- MT Brasil

78050-000

 

 

Tracking the streets of Vareza Grande, Brazil

A street in Vareza Grande, Brazil

7:33 at night and it ONLY 93 degrees!! Welcome to summer in Brazil!

 

 

Brazil - Week 18 TRANSFERS!

Tuesday & Wednesday- We stayed home because S. Freitas was sick. :( 

Thursday- We did a division with a member of another ward and Ana from our ward. It was really great! I was with Ana and we visited a lot of people!! My numbers + S. Freitas numbers really made up for the last 2 days!! And Ana took me to 2 houses of her friends we already taught one and the other we will teach next Tuesday! It was really cool. She also gave the address of another that we will visit some time next week with Ana.

Friday- We tried to visit some of the contacts we got but all of them fell through. It was really disappointing. But we found Cintia in her house and started talking to her, turns out that she thought that the church abandoned her because she is pregnant. We also think that she is embarrassed and because of this she stopped coming. But we taught her about the Plan of Salvation and talked to her about how the gospel can really help her and her baby.

Saturday- We visited more people we contacted but they also fell through. It was a rather disappointing day. And everyone we invited to church said that they can't this week. One lady even told me that she doesn't want to come to church because she doesn't want to leave her friends in her other church. But she believes in the restoration.....We also visited a friend of Luana, who is a member with her two brothers out serving missions, with her and taught her about Joseph Smith, but this girl said that she has church in the morning & there is no way her mom will let her miss. Also disappointing. :(  

The highlight of this day was when we were returning home discouraged and tired from walking all day we heard noise in Cintia's house and so we started talking to whoever it was over the wall and turns out it was her mom who we haven't talked to since we found out that Cintia is pregnant. So her mom called us over and we talked with her a lot and I think it really helped her to have someone to talk to about this (because her boyfriend that lives with her is a truck driver and has been gone over a month). She also thought that  Cintia can't come to church anymore because we believe in the law of chastity. But we explained to her that she can keep coming no problem. Hopefully the whole family will come next week. 

Sunday- Elisangela, counselor in the Relief Society, went to visit people with us and we taught this lady with 3 kids about the restoration it was really good. Especially since Elisangela wasn't born into the church and was baptized when she was in her late teens/early 20's so she has the experience of a life outside of the church and has a testimony of how the church can help you and your family. We then went to Cintia's house and visited with her mom again (because cintia gets sick a lot so she stays in bed a lot) and I made cookies for her to try and we just talked and then we shared a message from Moroni 8:2 and applied this scripture to her life and talked about how she has a sacred calling of mom and how her sacred work is to help cintia and how she has a great opportunity right now to get closer to her daughter and help her through this pregnancy. It was really good. 

We then found out about transfers.....SO Sister Freitas is staying here withhhhh.....Sister Marinho! Annndddd I will open a new area called Várzea Grande innnnn Cuiabá!! And you ready for this......my companion isssss SISTER KIMBALL!!!!!! I will train her. :D

Te amo!!!

--

Sister Emma Marion

 

 

A road in Pioneiros that Emma walks every day!

 

Sister Freitas and Sister Marion

 

Emma's favorite fruit, Mango!

This is how missionaries feel about packages from home!