I Survived!

Mai!  Eu sou em Brasil!  Ok There has been so much happening this week, I don`t even know where to begin!  The flight over was super long and it kind of sucked but you know what?  I didn`t even care because I was so excited to get to Brazil!  Sister Remy and Elder Hendrickson and I made it over here and the airport in Sao Paulo was awful to figure out, but we made it through with the help of a Brazilian guy from the church and the Lord!  

When we arrived on Tuesday, President Lanius picked us up with the APs and then we had dinner at the mission house.  It is just a small apartment, because that`s what everything is here.  But it was really nice and President and Sister Lanius made us feel super welcome!  There are 6 of us new missionaries from America this week.

After dinner, we got some of our stuff and stayed the night with some other sisters. It was raining super hard and was possibly the most confusing thing I have ever done...but oh well!  We made it again!  The next day, we got our companions.  I am with Sister Seidmann and I LOVE HER.  She speaks a little English, but she is adorable and so nice to me!  She`s Brazilian and from Campinas.  She has only been on her mission for 3 months, but the people love her and trust her very much.  I trust her too.  Not that I have much of a choice ;)

We live with 2 other sisters, Sister Olivera and Sister Alancar.  They are great and NEVER boring and although I don`t understand a lot of what they are saying, they are so kind and patient with me!  Our apartment is pretty small and different than anything I`ve ever experienced.  I think we need to get some American bathrooms up in here pronto.  But our place is so much better than any of the other houses I`ve been in so far.

On to the important part!   The work.  Wow.  You know the pictures of 3rd world countries you see on National Geographic and the History Channel?  That`s Recife.  I have never seen so much poverty in my life.  The ]people don`t have much of anything, but they are so happy and they are incredibly receptive.  We teach probably ten lessons a day.  Well, sister Seidmann teaches and I just sit there and look American.  Which is a very good thing, btw.  People here go nuts over white skin and blue eyes apparently!  Also the fact that I have a big butt, which has always been an hinderance, is pretty well accepted here too!  hahaha mayyyybe I should just live in Brazil forever...ok that was a big tangent.  Sorry!

We have a teaching pool of 32.  THIRTY TWO PEOPLE!  I love it!  We work all day long and it is hot and it is hard and probably not hygenic in the least.  But it is so cool.  People here love the gospel and are incredibly receptive.  Best part...I had my first baptism this week!  Her name is Valesca Maria Silva and she is 16 years old.  She is so sweet!!! It was crazy to prepare for everything because we don`t exactly have a ward mission leader, but oh man, it was such a great feeling.  I will send pictures!  We have two more baptisms scheduled for next week, Cirley and Maria Eduarda.  Please pray that they will go through!  This is so different than Pittsburgh!  It is easier to get people to teach, but very difficu lt to get them to keep commitments.  

This has definitely been the hardest week of my life.  I don`t really know what people are saying, although I`m miles ahead of where I thought I would be as far as language goes.  I wish that I could help teach more, but I can`t really understand when people tell me there problems yet!  I know that I just need to have more patience though.  It is very frustrating to live in a place where everything you want to say takes a great deal of thought, but I know that the Lord is helping me. 

God is SO aware of his missionaries.  Every time we need food, someone offers us lunch.  We ran out of water today and everything is closed because of Sao Joao, (a holiday that I really hate because Brazilians like to celebrate it by sitting around and drinking and blowing things up), and I prayed that we would find a way to get water and the mercado right next to our house happened to be the only place open in the whole area.  That was definitely a miracle.

Some random things to finish up with...I had to give a talk yesterday.  Yeah that sucked.  But after, a ton of people came up to me and told me that I had been blessed with the gift of tongues!  Way cool!  We go running on the beach in the morning for exercise.  I currently have about 40 mosquito bites on my legs because I forgot my repellent the first day.  Brazilians reallyyyy like pop and carbs, so i feel slightly disgusting because that`s all they eat!  Haha this is a country of diabetics, but they probably don`t know about it.  

Mom:  I can`t even begin to tell you how many times I gasped during the email you sentt me!  Engagements and weddings and what the heck!  Oh, and you can go ahead and accept those friend requests!  I love you so much and it was so good to hear you in the airport!  I want to take pictures of my area and show you what it`s like, but Sister Seidmann says it is too dangerous for me to have my camera out in public.  Sorry! I hope you are doing ok and I love you!

Coop and Dad:  I`ll respond to your emails seperately!

I love the work and I love that it is hard.  Brazil will either kill me or make me into a freaking strong woman!  Have a great week and I love you so much!

Tchao!
Sister Dana

Tuesday, June 18th shortly after arriving in Recife.  With 6 missionaries from America and the mission APs and President Lanius

A Few of Mom's Feelings

This is not a letter from Shelby, but since I'm running this blog, I figure that I can take a little space to say how grateful I am for all of the people who have loved and taken care of my daughter.  I got to talk to her yesterday when she was in the airport in Detroit - waiting for her flight to Sao Paulo.  She had 24 hours of travel time beginning yesterday and I just heard about the 1st leg of the journey.  Shelby's last letter about saying Goodbye to Pittsburgh brought tears to my eyes.  When I read about the people in a single's ward who took care of my daughter and loved my daughter I was beyond grateful!!  Then when I see the love she feels from and for those she has been teaching, my heart swells.  

I was worried about her trip yesterday.  I still haven't heard that she made it, but I haven't heard that she didn't, so I'm taking a page from the book of Mary Louise (my mom) and just thinking that no news is good news.  I was at work - waiting for a call from Pittsburgh - before her first flight, and she didn't call and she didn't call, then my son was sick and I needed to take him to the doctor and I just wanted to cry all the way from Scottsdale.  As I walked in the door and got a phone call from an unfamiliar area code I was completely relieved (the fact that Coop was walking around and seeming fine helped too).  Then when Shelby told me that she had tried to call from Pittsburgh, but couldn't get her calling card to work in the pay phone, so the nice man she sat by on the plane let her use his cell phone to call me, I just wanted to cry (in fact...I did).  My little girl - flying from one big city to another - all by herself and getting ready to go to a country 5000 miles away from home where she barely speaks the language had found someone who would help her out.  A friendly person - who I'm sure didn't understand why a 19 year old girl would not be able to speak to her family for 6 months, offered what he could to make this journey a little less difficult.  When I texted this stranger to tell him thank you, his response was that she seems like a really good girl who has a lot of passion for what she is doing.  

I loved my conversation with Shelby, but I think my favorite part was when she told me how she feels the Lord's protection over her.  She said there were several times when she was walking with her companions in Pittsburgh and they would look at each other and realize that they should not go in that direction, so they would promptly turn around and go another route.  That's when it really hit me that I can let her go into Hands of a loving Father who loves her and wants more for her than even I can imagine.  He wants her to be safe and to feel loved and as I've been kind of forced to let her go, she has turned to Him and she feels His protection. 

So as I was imagining what her day today must be like, she got to Sao Paulo this morning after an 11 hour flight, and had to go through customs in a strange country.  Was she frustrated that she couldn't understand much of what was said to her?  Did she feel lost? She then flew to Recife to finish of her 24 hours of travel.  She must have been so tired.  I'm sure her mission president and his wife kindly welcomed her and the other 3 missionaries from her district who got their visas and were able to start their Brazil serving time, but I don't even know if he speaks English (Jeff has since assured me that he most likely does).  My worries about how frustrated she could become in this situation where there may not be people who she will be able to communicate with for a few months while she tries to get a better grasp on Portuguese, but then I remembered what I had felt yesterday.  Since she can't turn to me or her friends, she can turn to the Lord.  He always speaks her language and she has spent the past 12 weeks making Him her confidant and Friend.  

I'm so glad to have that comfort.  My heart still feels like it's  being squeezed at the thought of her being so far away from me, but I'm so blessed to know that she is learning to turn to the One who wants the very best for her.  Help and comfort could come through members in the ward she will be serving, or from a man sitting on the plane (or bus) next to her - just as she saw happen for the past 6 weeks in Pittsburgh, but there will be people put in her path for the next 15 months who will be instruments in Heavenly Father's hands to help her, just as she is being an instrument in His hands to bring the gospel of Love and Service to the people in the Brazil, Recife mission.  

Hey I'm Not in Brazil Yet!

But I shall be soon! Like... in a couple hours I leave for the airport!! Holy smokes is this real life?!

Ok so this week has been the best and hardest week EVER. Never have I felt so much love...for a week straight. Love from my companions, from ward members, from our investigators, and from Heavenly Father. It has been so cool to be a part of. We have had the most spiritual lessons and I just felt like God has been with me every single day as I get ready to leave these people!

One of our lessons was so cool. Lisa was our teamup, and she shared her story of how she came to know that Heavenly Father was there with an investigator, Becca. Becca is an agnostic-atheist with Buddhist influence. She has a tough exterior and has a hard time feeling love. But when Lisa bore her testimony, we all felt love. It was incredible and I just know that I'll be getting a letter from Sister Hill telling me all about Becca's baptism!

The members here have been amazing. Kim takes such good care of us...she brought us breakfast one day and teaches with us and gives us rides everwhere and she even made me a dvd with all of the pictures that I've taken here. I have seldom met people who are as thoughtful and giving as she is. George, a less active that we taught, brought us sweet potato pie and ribs and journals and cards and holy cow! I can feel the love! But he is such a sweetheart and has a great appreciation for the gospel now that he is getting active and I will miss him so much!

Lisa was soooo hard to say goodbye to. It seriously broke my heart. She has become my big sister and I adore her and I just thank God every day for sending me here if only so that I could become her friend. She has shown me what a broken heart and contrite spirit looks like. She burned her past and became so strong because of it. I feel so lucky to have her as my friend and I can't wait until I'll see her again when I come home!

I've had the best companions here! Seriously, we bonded like nobody's business and have seen miracles together and I will never forget the things that we learned. Tomorrow is Sister Romero's last day as a missionary and dang. That girl is a champ. She has overcome so much and has been an awesome example for me to follow. I was so lucky to have her as my foster mom! Sister Hill gets to stay here and take care of my people, lucky girl! She is so loving and so strong and even when she stepped on the straighter and had a blister the size of a quarter on her foot, she street contacted like a champ. I am so so blessed!

Mom, Thank you for the package! I got it and all is well:) I love you and will talk to you...today!! GAHH! I'm so excited! I'll call you soon so be ready!

Dad: Happy Father's Day! I thought of you all day yesterday and missed you a ton and I hope that everyone gave you a real celebration over there! I didn't forget...there should be a card coming soon! I will say hi to your Brazilian pals for you, ok?

Cooper: Why on earth would you not want to go to Big Surf! But way to be a good cuzzy:) Keep being nice to mom, she probably needs a pal every now and then. Hey I hope you're home so I can talk to you too! If not... I love you so much!

Have fun at Louis's wedding! And Shelby Clifford got married?! Cool! Ok I love you all and I just want to share something really fast! For comp study today we read Alma 26 and I don't know if a scripture has ever applied so perfectly to a missionary life! Please read it:)

Talk to you soon! And then...on to Brazil!

Love,

Sister Dana

PS- If ya'll could pray for the gift of tongues to help me out, I'd reallyyyyyy appreciate it.

George brought us cake

Sister Dana, George and Sister Romero



Us with Jared, one of the members we love



Our District!

It must be a Pittsburgh thing

Ready for P-day

It's been a long week for Sister Hill.

Us with Elders Jaggi, Peralta, and Coleman

Me and my pal Keith! He has street cred...and I do not.

Us with Lisa

With Quan, a darling recent convert that we meet with!

Vivian, our Chinese investigator!

Helloooo Vivian!

I don't have words for this week

Holy Smokes.  Well folks...visas do come!!!  As of Monday, June 17th, I will  be leaving for Recife, Brazil!  I can't even describe how it feels...oh my gosh. Ok, here goes.

So mom, I got your letter right before the time ran out so I found out that my visa was ready, and then I totally freaked out and started bawling and oh my goodness, it was ridiculous.  Then I got a call from President Topham a few days later telling me that I would be leaving Pittsburgh on the 17th and flying to Detroit, then Sao Paolo, then Recife! It'll be a 24 hour journey, and I...don't even know what to think.  I really don't.

My time here in Pittsburgh has been SO PRECIOUS to me, and although I am excited to go to Brazil, I can't help but feel a little heartbroken having to leave the people that I have watched grow and progress so much. Thank you for your prayers, btw.  I've really seen them bless the lives of my investigators and people we teach!  I can't even describe the miracles that I have seen here, and how I have gained a deeper appreciation for the Atonement and the true power that is found in this gospel.  For a while, I thought that as a missionary, I had such a huge responsibility!  All of these people keep coming to me and telling me about their problems and expecting me to fix them!  What the HECK, I'm only 19!  I'm a college drop-out for Pete's sake!  But then I totally had this epiphany and I felt like I should have the word "stupid" stamped across my forehead.  The answer is the same for every single problem.  Prayer, scriptures, and church.  What the heck.  Having an addiction?  Pray, read, and go to church.  Want true conversion?  Study about it. Communicate with your Heavenly Father.  Put yourself in a place to receive revelation.  I can't believe how easy it all really is!  Honestly...I feel so dumb.

That was a tangent...yep.  But anyway, I feel like I had to come here to learn that and that I wouldn't have gone through half of the changes that I have if I hadn't been in Pittsburgh!  I have turned to my Savior in ways I didn't know I could and established a really personal relationship with Him.  It is so cool.  Also, I've been lucky enough to remember all of the Portuguese that I learned in the MTC.  That isn't a lot, but it is still amazing because I was terrified that I'd forget all of it before I got to Brazil!  But I can testify that the gift of tongues is real!!  Well...it better be, because I'm pretty much banking on it to help me survive! But I have faith :)

So apparently not everyone's visas are coming.  My beloved MTC  companion, Sister Butler, will be staying in PA for a little while longer.  It was SO HARD to say goodbye to her!  We have been through so much together, and she's really become one of my best friends.  But she is doing awesome work here, and I know she'll stay as long as the Lord needs her.

Ummm here's something amazing that happened.  Have I mentioned that we had a full mission conference with Elder Bednar this weekend? Heck yes we did!  Our whole mission met in a chapel over in Harrisburg and had an amazing meeting with him, Elder Rasband, Elder Hamilton, and Elder Smith.  We learned so much and I had one of the most spiritual experiences of my life.  He totally revolutionized the way I teach, making it more personal and focused on our investigators.  We had a Q&A sesh, and I had the opportunity to ask an apostle of the Lord a question!  Yeah it was unreal.  I asked him how I could more fully give my heart over to the Lord, because I have such a desire to serve and do my best, but some of the worries and concerns that I had before my mission prevent me from focusing all of my attention on my service.  He told me that the key was to turn outward...just like the poem that I wrote when I was first in the MTC... and then gave me a challenge to take a fresh Book of Mormon and go through it from start to finish and mark every time it talks about "hearts" and "ordinances".  Talk about amazing...you'd better believe that I will!  He said a lot of other things that I had already been thinking about, and it was amazing to have Elder Bednar confirm things that the Spirit had told me.

Everyone got to shake our guests' hands after the meeting, and Elder Bednar thanked me for my question, and then Elder Hamilton looked at me and said, "Sister Dana, you are very special."  Holy cow it was so cool!!

As if that wasn't enough, we had an amazing meeting with Lisa yesterday.  She is making incredible progress...everyday there is a new challenge that she has overcome.  I am so proud of her!! She met with the bishop, which was a big step in the right direction, and then we went to her house to talk about what she was going to do.  We were able to share our testimonies and work through a lot of her problems.  I have never met anyone like her before.  She is the most humble, faithful, and pure person...If I were to come home from my mission today, I
 would be a different person purely because I met Lisa.
Mom: I got your package!  Thank you!! The garments are wayyyy too big...so I shall be sending them back!  Haha so be expecting a package soon with all of my clothes and lots of love in it:)  I will get to talk to you soon!!

Dad: Happy Father's day! I hope that you guys get the letter that I sent!  I love you very much...I'm going to Brazil! Hooray!

Cooper:  What's up, I hear that you're turning into quite a stud!  Please beat away the girls and I hope you remember how to smell nice.  Boys can really stink when they get growthspurts.  But I hope football is going well and that you guys have an awesome team!

Mima and Papa: Thank you so much for the package!  I love the books and they are super helpful!  I hope you get my letters soon!

I love you all so so much...and I won't be able to write next week...I don't think.  So be safe and know that you are in my prayers and HOLY CRAP I AM ACTUALLY GOING TO BRAZIL!

Love,
Sister Dana

Lisa - an investigator? Shelby and her comps have been working with 

Full rainbow after a rainy day

Sister Romero (middle) with her "children" she has trained

Sister Hill, Sister Dana, Sister Romero and...

with Sister Butler holding Shelby's visa

Hello Hello!

Thank you so very much for the letters this week!  Oh my heart just sings when I open that mailbox and THREE letters fall out!  I got the one from Leslie all the way from Sweden! Les!  I love you!  It is cool to me that my very best friend can be all the way across the world, yet we are doing the same thing, sharing the same message, and being taught and growing because the same God loves us very much.  The same goes with all of my pals who are out serving!  I am so happy for everyone who got their mission calls and all my friends preparing to head out!  Mountain View will pretty much be splashed across the globe by the looks  of it...that is a beautiful thing:)  Best of luck to Jacob Boehme as he prepares to head out in a couple days!  I'm so excited for him and I know he will do amazing things!  Also, missionaries who write letters to Sister Dana receive extra blessings.  Just saying.

Congratulations to Lily, Jesse, Hayden, Reggie, and all my pals who graduated!  That is so much fun and I hope you have a great summer and live it up, because real life hits real quick!  Also, happy birthday this week to Crystal Gardner!  I wish I could give you a hug!  Just pretend or something, ok?  But I have been thinking about you! 

Mom, thanks so much for the letters from Snowflake! It was so good to hear from my family and I really was so excited when I read all of your sweet messages!  It means the world that you guys would take the time to do that for me!  And also thank you to Sister Gee and Bishop Skousen for your letters!  Bishop Skousen, I totally tried repeating the address back to some guy we met on the street.  He was legit.  That's a pretty handy trick, I must say! 

Ok sooo the work here in Oakland area is EXPLODING.  It is sick!  Us sisters almost can't keep up with it!  We get about 20 potential investigators every week, and it is not an easy task to follow up with all of them!  Our elders are very surprised by how much success we've been having, but let me tell you why that is.  People find innocent girls in colorful dresses much easier to talk to than elders in white shirts and ties.  We had one guy on the bus tell us that he HATES it when the elders sit by him, because they have no tact and basically just shove doctrine up his nose the entire ride. But he loves sitting by sisters because we know how to chat and be friendly!  One man told Sister Romero that he didn't want to listen to what we have to say, but if he didn't he felt like that would be like kicking a puppy.  Whatever works, ya know? :) 

We have some pretty interesting experiences out here!  I've learned to listen to the Spirit tell me who to talk to and who to stay away from.  Apparently not all people have the pure intentions that we do, and I was naïve to that for quite some time....yeah.  It is really funny when we go up to guys about our age on the street and hand them a card.  They get all kinds of excited until they realize that it's a picture of Jesus on the front, not a phone number....HA. Serves them right!

Ok so I have to tell you about some of the people that we are teaching lately!  Names have been changed for a couple to protect identities.  One of our investigators is named Lamont (not really.)  Our first lesson with him was more of a Q&A, and it wasn't very effective, but he came to church and loved it and wanted to learn more.  So we met with him last week and the lesson was fabulous.  We got to teach all of the Restoration and he was asking very good questions and really understood what we said and wanted to get an answer from God if it was true.  He is super excited to meet with us again, and all of the RMs in the ward love him and say that he is probably gonna get baptized one of these days.  So yay!

Our next pesquisador is Sam.  He is really curious about a lot of things and from Vietnam.  It is SO HARD to teach Asians!  They don't respond to warm and fuzzy feelings, so you have to be sure that everything you say is logical and they feel the Spirit through clarity of thought.  We explained the nature of God to him and the importance of receiving revelation for himself and not just relying on us to provide answers. He thought that was a really cool idea and agreed that he wants to know things for himself and he is very enthusiastic about learning more as well!  I love him!! Oh Asians are just darling.

Another darling Asian is Vivian!  She's about 4 1/2 feet tall and has these giant glasses that take up her whole face and is a cancer doctor.  She's a genius and doesn't speak much English, so teaching her is super intimidating for me.  But she came to church yesterday and LOVED fast and testimony meeting.  She said that she was so moved and she has a great desire to find out if there is a God or not.  She loves learning and even though the language barrier is very difficult, everyone can understand when you teach by the Spirit. 

Sarah - Our Investigator

I have to tell you about Sarah!  She is so so sweet and she has a baptismal date!!!! June 29th!  I am so excited, you don't even know.  Our first lesson with her was during my first week, and she wasn't very into it, but as we continued to meet with her, she started really understanding and gaining a love for the things that she learns.  She loves us and we love her so much!  She told me that she thinks that we were sisters in the premortal life after we taught her about the Plan of Salvation, and I just about peed my pants because that is a definite sign of understanding!  She has just gained so much light since we started teaching her and I think that this is the first time she has really felt a part of something.  The ward has taken her in very well.  I'm pretty torn, because I want to see her baptism SO BADLY but at the same time...June 29th is very far away, and that's a whole other month that I don't get to go to Brazil. But now is the time to trust in the Lord I guess:)

Lisa is AMAZING.  She has had the hardest life of anyone that I've ever met.  She went through a lot of abuse, and has many addictions and lived a lifestyle that wasn't conducive to the gospel for a longggg time.  But this woman is the Atonement in action.  She decided that she wanted to change, and now we meet with her every week and she is progressing so rapidly that I can't believe that it's real.  She has given up most of her addictions and is reading her scriptures and relying on the Lord with a faith that I wish that I had. Every time we see her, she grows brighter and stronger.  She bore her testimony yesterday and I absolutely bawled.  I honestly think that Lisa is one of the reasons I came to Pittsburgh. 

Sister Dana, Sister Butler and Lisa

I'll talk about more people later...because there are more!  Sister Butler got to hang with me on Friday and it was so good to see my little Portuguese buddy again!  I love her!  I taught her how to street contact...we had a grand old time traipsing around Pittsburgh!

Sister Dana and Sister Butler reunited (MTC companions)

We didn't come out here to look pretty

I hope that you guys are all safe and happy at home!  Enjoy the summer and have a lot of fun!  I know that the Lord is taking care of you very well:)

Life is beautiful here, and I am so happy.  It is HOT and humid, and no one has AC, but that's probably just the Lord prepping me for Brazil.  The visa can take as long as it wants...I have a work to do here in PA!

Love you so much,

Sister Dana

Sister HIll and Sister Dana at the Ward Picnic

Sisters Hill,Romero and Dana

With Karen, another member who takes care of us

Sister Hill at the Ward picnic

Kim, one of the members who takes care of us.  I love her!

Our Church

These cathedrals are EVERYWHERE

Yeah, so Pittsburgh is kind of beautiful

Sister Hill and Sister Dana

Sister Romero, Sister Hill and Sister Dana

Wanna hear a message?

Lunch Date

Sister Hill eating a Primanti Bros sandwich

Cooking with George

Elder Iwertz and Elder Greenwood

Sister Romero's "I will not get married" face

Down the street in PA

Sister Romero and her life plans

Weekly Letterrrr!

Hello my family!!

 Oh man Mom, those pictures from Snowflake just made me miss it up there so badly!  I can't believe how long it will be before I get to go back!! Super weird.  I hope you guys all had a great time though, and I loved Ryan's joke:) Hooray for Levi going on his mission!  Missions are fun and the farewell talk is the worst part, so now he only has good things to look forward to!  That's a lie, missions are way hard, but they are worth it:)  He will do so well and best of luck with that Spanish!  Lucky sonofagun gets to actually go to his mission...where is the justice in this world?!

 So you know how there are people from Snowflake everywhere in the entire planet?  Pittsburgh is no exception.  My Zone Leader is Elder McDowell, who is from there!  I could not believe it when he told me where he was from!  I was so excited to talk to him about all my family and pals up there, but I got a death look from his companion, so I shut up real quick.  Apparently he gets all sorts of trunky when he talks about home.  I don't know what his first name is.  He only says, "My name is Elder, Sister Dana," when I ask him.  I'm betting on Bart though.  He looks like a Bart McDowell from Snowflake. 

 I can't believe all the weddings and such going on up there!  Congratulations Louis!! I'm so excited for you and I am bummed to miss your wedding, because weddings are my favorite!  After being a missionary of course.  And Congrats to Naomi too!! Oh goodness, I remember her at girls camp dressed up like a giant penguin...and now she is all grown up and married...this is so weird but so happy!  And Ray is dating Skye...bahahaha.  NEVER saw that one coming.  That is all that I shall say!

 This week was good!  I had some interesting experiences that I've been super excited to share with you guys.  So it just kinda hit this week that I was soooo not as prepared as I thought that I was to be a missionary.  The Lord requires a LOT of His servants, and it is very hard to be up to the challenge!  My poor companions....they have had to deal with some Sister Dana freakouts that are extremely out of character!  But all is well,  Sister Romero assures me that sister missionaries all go crazy when they are being trained.  Good to know!  

 Anyway, the other day I was just feeling like a worthless excuse for a missionary.  Whenever we taught, I couldn't think of the right things to say, and I was kinda yearning for Brazil and just in a bad state.  Not conducive to the Spirit at all.  All of a sudden we get a text from our District Leader, Elder Iwertz, that says "Do any of you three need a blessing?"  Sister Romero and Sister Hill were like...uh, what the heck?  and I was like "YES.  Oh my stars my Lord knows me!"  And it was just way cool.  So the next day, the elders met up with us at the church and Elder Connors, a visa-waiter for Argentina, gave me a blessing that was exactly what I needed to hear.  I felt so much peace after and I knew that the Lord was looking out for me and giving these experiences to make me into the missionary I have potential to become.

 Another!  So this one was rough.  We teach a ton of  Chinese people, and have been teaching this couple, Jinlong and Liz, for a few weeks.  Yesterday we got an email from them telling us that they did not want to meet anymore and that they didn't want to hear anything else because they didn't believe it.  Oh my heart just dropped  Then we emailed this thug we met on the street who seemed super interested, only to find out that his address was fake.  That happens a whole lot.  We face a lot of rejection every day, and that gets pretty hard to deal with after a while, you know?  So I asked Sister Romero to tell me some stories about her amazing stories on the mission, and she had quite a few that lifted my spirits right up.  The Lord is teaching me patience here in Pittsburgh, and that is what it is going to take to get me to Brazil!  If I can deal with the lil Pitt stop, I can deal with anything:)

 Ok, I have to tell you about some of the people here.  They LOVE the missionaries!  Even people who don't want to hear our message have so much respect for us, simply because of our calling.  There's a guy, Brother Chaz, who sells Pitt sweatshirts and such on the side of the road, who gave us all free sweatshirts because we are missionaries.  And all the people at the grocery store are so friendly, and old people just love 3 young girls out preaching the good word!  It's really cool!  The members are awesome too, and they treat us so well!  One less-active, George, is hilarious.  To thank us for getting him to come back to church, he brought us fried chicken and ice cream and taught us how to make sweet potato pie and then taught us a really good lesson!  It was so sweet!  OH! and another of our less actives who was very adamant that we do not change her bad habits is letting us get rid of all of her wine this week!  So that was an amazing miracle.

 I can't even remember all the great stuff that happens every week....it's so much fun.  Sister Romero and I had a wrestling match after daily planning.  We ran to service at the library through pouring rain.  We went shopping and 4 people thought we were sales associates because of our tags.  People think we're crazy, but that's ok.  We signed up to be a peculiar people. 

 This work is true.  Trust me, I would not be here if I didn't believe it and know what it can do for people.  Have a great week and I love you so much!  Sorry there are no pictures...I walked out the door without my camera today!

Love,

Sister Dana

 Oh PS!

I am bound and determined to work on my Portuguese.  We found a Mexican guy sitting on a bench the other day who spoke Spanish and a little English, and I figured it was close enough so I basically just talked at him in Portuguese for 10 minutes.  I don't think he knew what to do, because I'm sure I was more than a little terrifying (I might've gotten a bit bossy)...so I gave him a Book of Mormon and about 5 passalong cards and then he gave us his number and we gave that to the Spanish elders so it was good!  Hooray for Portuguese!  

My Miracle Week - May 20,2013

People I love! Hi! I have just got to tell you bout everything that went down this week, but I almost don't even know where to start.  I just said a prayer that I will be able to remember everything that I need to tell you, so we should be ok now:)

Sooo since we are over a YSA ward down here, all of our investigators left when school got out.  Our teaching pool was in a very sad state indeed.  Now, I know that I am here in Pittsburgh for a reason, and it is not to sit around in our apartment when there is work to be done.  So on Sunday I fasted that we would find more people to teach.  Missionary fasts must be supercharged.  This week, we spent a ton of time out street contacting alllll over and guess what? We found people.  God blesses His missionaries.  We had 19 new potential investigators THIS WEEK and they were all very interested in learning more about our message! 

Here is a really cool message.  Since we are over a singles ward, we are only able to teach people under thirty who are single.  Most of the people we found were older than that or married, so we don't get to keep them.  BUT here's why it's cool.  The elders over the family ward have all been on their missions for a long, long time, and have not seen much success.  In fact, they have had 0 investigators for most of their missions.  They are very faithful, but just don't see results, and that is very difficult!  We got to call them last night and tell them that we found 9 new investigators for them to teach.  They were speechless, and said this was an answer to their prayers.  Elder Iwertz said that they had fasted for 36 hours just to find one person to teach, and now they had NINE!  I heard one of the other elders in the background going "Nine?! It's a miracle!!"  Best feeling ever! 

But here's the coolest part!  We met a less active member when we were street contacting the other day and he gave us a referral for his friend, Bob.  I called up Bob the next day and he was way excited to hear about the church.  He said he would be more than happy to attend church with us this week and felt like this was a really good direction for his life to go.  So we arranged for him to get a ride over because he is currently staying at a homeless shelter.  I thought he was  about our age from the way he sounded on the phone, but when he walked in to church, he had to be around 60 or so.  He loved every bit of the meetings yesterday.  He came to Gospel Principles class with us and I got to explain a lot of the things we believe in and he was so excited that we had the Bible and the Book of Mormon and as he left, he said (with tears in his eyes), "There is something different about this church.  There is a feeling here that I love and I know this is what I need to do. You will definitely see me next week!"  We got to give Bob to the elders.  He has an appointment with them on Tuesday and I think it's safe to say that his baptism won't be far off.

But the miracles don't stop there! Yesterday we had an investigator show up to church, and a random guy that just saw it and was interested!  I was freaking out because I was talking in sacrament meeting, and that is a lot of pressure!  But they loved the whole meeting as well and made friends very quickly with the members.  Both of them loved it and want to hear more, so we have more investigators!  God blessed us so much...I can't even begin to describe how grateful I am and how much I LOVE being a missionary!

Other than that....this week we went on exchanges with the Sister Training Leader, Sister Cohen.  She is so cool and helped us out a lot because she used to be in this area for 8 months.  She said that she was worried about it for a while, but after walking around all day with me and Sister Hill, she said that she knows it is being taken care of and the work will move quickly. 

I really am grateful that the Lord sent me to Pittsburgh.  I have learned so much, and I can't believe that I've only been here for two weeks.  On the mission, every weakness you've ever thought of having is magnified to the extreme, and sometimes that can be very discouraging.  But the Lord knows what I need to learn and where I will best learn it, and that has definitely been here.  I have the best companions, and they have been extremely loving and encouraging the entire time.  I didn't know what a flawed individual I was before I came out here, but the Lord has definitely pointed it out to me now!  I'm trying to be grateful;)  My companions help me out with my testimony a lot though, especially when I am at my low points.  I go to bed every day happy, even when things have been rough.  That's just the best feeling:)

Soooo I know that I forgot to send my address last week, and I'm just gonna assume that's the reason why I haven't gotten ONE SINGLE LETTER since I've been in Pittsburgh.  Well just so you are all aware and have no excuses, I can be reached at

5806 Ellsworth Ave #10

Pittsburgh, PA 15232
No excuses. 

 Mom- I love you! So So much and thank you for your letter and I am so very glad that you are a cancer-free, albeit lumpy, individual!  A few things: could you check my visa status?  I know that I should be patient and the Lord will send me to Brazil when he wants me there, but I reallyyyyy want to go and I just wonder if that will happen soon!  Also, I'm trying my hardest not to get fat, but if you could mail some workouts you like and print off of Pinterest or something, I would be much obliged.  Thank heavens for walking areas.  I love you and thank God for your example every day.  In fact, most of the people that I meet know how wonderful you are too.

Dad- Keep me updated on things that go on at home! I love you too and I want to know what is happening in your life! How is the business?  The ward? The fam?  Come on now!  I love that I will be able to speak Portuguese with you...if I don't forget it all...so you should write me letters in Portuguese and I'll call it language study.  How's that? :) 

Cooper-  Have fun with your last week of school and have an awesome summer!  I hope football goes well and I hope that you like it a lot.  Also, I'm glad that you are reading Harry Potter and I will trivia challenge you when I come home:)  Write me letters and I love you!

I hope you all have an awesome week and I know that this church is true!  I love you!

Love, Sister Dana

 

This is my empty mailbox.  Every day...it's empty

Our Apartment building!  Again...I look better in real life

I promise I really do pay attention in daily planning

At some diner place that a member took us to.

Diner Menu she says "yeah I don't look this gross in real life, I swear."
I have no idea why this one picture won't let me turn it, but I don't have time to play with it anymore - Mom

Oh the joys of being a walking missionary :)