I Have, Like, a Brazilian Things to Tell You.

Wow, haven´t used that joke in quite a while!  Hahaha still just as funny!  Ok, first things first.  A huge birthday shout out to my pal Jacob who turned 20 on the 20th, and to Anna Griffin who turns 20 on the 28th!  Hope it was/is a great day for you guys!  Anyway, this week was so much fun!  And really crazy.

To start, I did a division with Sister Butler!  She has had a super hard mission but is such a champ.  She gets sick so much!  I won´t even tell you all the problems that this sister has had, but if you can imagine a sickness, she has probably gotten a swipe of it during her time here in Brazil.  She has so much love for the mission though.  She loves to teach and she loves the people and is super creative!  It was really fun to be companions with her again.

Another cool thing that happened was that we had dinner with Yoná.  This is a rather normal occurrence, just that this time was different.  She opened up to us and bore her testimony about how the gospel changed her life.  She told us that before baptism she was suicidal and she didn´t want to be a mom anymore and basically just was lost...completely.  She said that the gospel of Jesus Christ is now the most important thing in her life and it literally saved her.  She was crying and crying as she said this, but this time it was because she was so happy.  She is one of the people that I will NEVER forget.  That was a night when we went home and I remembered how the mission is sooo worth all the sacrifice that we give.  We get so much more in return.

Anyway, along with the World Cup, now is the season of São João!  Basically Brazil goes country.  Everyone wears plaid and dances square dances and eats every type of food made of corn that you can imagine.  It is so much fun!!!  We had a huge ward party here on Friday night.  Basically the whole town showed up and the Bispo hired a troupe of dancers and all of the youth put on shows!  It didn´t even end until 1am!  We helped set up and such with all of the food, but we had to leave when it started because that is not really a missionary-appropriate activity.  But...that´s ok.  They brought us all of the corn food anyways:)

So, probably the biggest thing that happened this week was our baptism.  Nalva, our dear sweet Nalva, was baptized last night!  This was definitely one of the most special in my whole mission.  We were there at her house every day to help her out.  When we got there, she was so happy and prepared and ready for baptism, but then when we left, Satan crept in and told her that she wasn´t ready, that she had too many sins to be baptized...just made her feel horrible, basically.  Her family didn´t help either.  All of them are members, but they told us that we were wasting our time because she just wasn´t the type to be baptized.  Whaaat?  That made me pretty sad.  But she proved all of them wrong by having the interview with the elders on Saturday night and being baptized and confirmed last night.  She is so strong!  I love Nalva to death.  She has basically become our mother here on the mission.  This was a baptism that was about 25 years late.  But it happened:)

Last piece of news:  Transfers!  Andddd...I am still here in Gravatá.  My companion, Sister Rodrigues, was transferred to....Candelária!  Oh my gosh, I am dying.  She will love it there!  My old area!  So perfect.  It was really hard to say goodbye to her though.  We have had 4 solid transfers of glory together.  I learned a lot about patience and how to show love for people from her, and I know that we will be great friends for the rest of our lives.  And guess who my new companion is!  Sister Fortes!  Today will be spent changing rooms, because she already lives with us!  I am super excited, because she´s an awesome missionary and a lot of fun.  We are planning on highlighting her hair today, for example.  And I am going to do it.  Please pray that I don´t have a bald companion tomorrow.

Anyway, I love you all to death.  Glad that the week was great, I pray for you guys!  Stay strong, and root for Brazil.

Love,

Sister Dana

It´s Been a Cup-le of Rough Days

Going to Church :)

First things first, I am so sad to hear about Tawna!  Oh my gosh, that just breaks my heart!  I always loved to hear her play and I had so much admiration for her.  She has been a wonderful example to me...since always.  

Also, congrats to Cooper on the permit!  I know that he is a better driver than I was.  But you know what?  I can speak Portuguese better than he can. So we all win some battles.

So this week.  I read my cuzzy Chad´s letter about the World Cup over there in Argentina, and my dear cousin, you have no idea what it really is.  My world has been painted yellow and green.  When Brasil plays, like how they will play today, we can´t leave the house one hour before it starts and for the rest of the night.  Brasil won last week, which was super cool!  We all got out our Brasil futebol jerseys and had a party watching all of the fireworks going off.   Also we are making the most of our time in the house!  Like...I learned to samba this week!  Something good will come of this mission after all, right?  Ok and please please please everyone pray that Brasil will win the Cup this year, because if they don´t, it literally will be WWIII.  Please.  For all that is good and holy and all the potential baptisms we have waiting...pray that Brasil gets the Cup.

World Cup!

Wow, we look nasty.  oh well.

In other news, I did a division with Sister Hirz this week!  Poor thing, she is an American that had to waith 10 MONTHS in the United States for her visa!  She was serving in Sister Hicken´s home ward though, so that is cool.  She´s great and is progressing really fast.  It is easy to get frustrated about the language, so I told her a ton about all of the stupid things that I said when  I was learning.  Those stories could make anyone feel better.

 

Division with Sister Peñailillo and Sister Hirz

Also.  WE HAD A BAPTISM!  Wilson was baptized this Sunday, and it was possibly one of my favorites that I have had during my mission.  I have never had an investigator that was working so hard to be baptized.  He worked harder than we did for this thing, which is saying something.  We taught him a few times during the week, and he was amazing.  Just knew and had testimony of everything immediately. So we marked his interview for Saturday night.  He called us while we were waiting at the church to tell us that his friend just got stabbed in the neck by his wife, so he had to run him to the hospital real quick, but then he´d go home, take a shower and be back in a jif.  Wow.  So...he did!  He arrived at the church and was interviewed and passed without a problem because he is amazing.  He was sad, but said that this was more important.  We got a call later that night saying that his friend died, and that he couldn´t come to church the next day because he would be at the funeral, but that he would come in the afternoon for the baptism. And he did.  Right as he was getting into his jumpsuit, his mom sent a text saying that his sister, Ise, (our last baptism) had just been bitten by a snake and that he needed to take her to the hospital.  He looked at us and goes, "Wow, Sisters, this really is hard."  He told her to go take a cab and he would pay for it later because this baptism was the most important thing that he could do at the moment. I couldn´t believe it.  He was baptized and it was beautiful.  A ton of members showed up and threw a party...it was great.  I am so honored that I got to teach Wilson and see him be baptized because I know that he will be an awesome leader in the church one day.  Heck, he overcame the serpent himself...that still creeps me out.  But Ise is fine, don´t worry.

 

Wilson's Baptism:)

Wilson with the Bishop

And then there was Natecia.  She is an old investigator that we had to drop because she didn´t want to keep the commandments.  I love her!  It was hard to leave her, but we had to, you know?  Anyway, she saw us on the street this week and told us to come back because she had news.  We returned yesterday and she told us that she broke up with her boyfriend and had gone 2 months, ever since we left her, without drinking alcohol or coffee.  What the heck?! She promised that she would come to church too, and that she wanted to be baptized.  So...we marked her date for July 5th!  That was something I was not expecting, but I am so grateful for it!  She is amazing!  Oh I just love her to death.  Also she is friends with Nalva, who will be baptized this week!  Loveeeee unexpected connections:)  They came to an FHE last night and were just tickled pink talking about their baptisms together.  Those are my favorite conversations:)

Anyway, HAPPY HAPPY FATHER´S DAY TO MY DAD!  I sent a letter today, so expect it in...about a month.  Sorry:/  Hope you had a great one though!

Shout out to my BFF Syster Clouse who is on her last transfer.  Make it the best!

Love you all, have a good week, and Cooper, please don´t kill my parents.

Love,

Sister Dana

FHE with the members:)

Us and Marcos!  He is so cute!

And I Thought I Would Have Nothing to Write About...

The circus is in town!

Don't worry, we didn't go.

Another picture of the circus

This week was INSANE.  First things first though, Tiago is gone!  Mom, I just imagined you dancing around the house singing that song from the Wizard of Oz, "Ding Dong, Tiago´s gone...." and cleaning up his room with a happy little grin on your face and merrily whistling along.  That probably isn´t happening, but it would be funny.  Also, I LOVED THE PICTURES OF COOPER ON THE TREK!!  Oh my goodness, he is so cute!  What a darling little pioneer he would make!  That really just made my day.

Ok, so this week.  Up until about Thursday, I was thinking to myself...what the heck am I going to write about to my familyt this week?  Because nothing has happened yet!  But then I did a division with Sister Fortes, and she is hilarious, so I thought, "Hmm, will this be all that I will talk about?"  And the Lord was like, "Um, NOPE." 

On Friday night, we had an appointment with Wilson.  It was the first one of the week because he travels for work and it is super hard to get in touch with him.  We were planning on teaching him the Plan of Salvation...but then I asked him what he thought of church last week, and he goes, "I liked it!  I am going to keep coming and learning and I´m going to get baptized and it´ll be great!"  And then my mouth just kind of dropped open for a while and I was like...what?!  Ok!  So we did the baptismal interview right then and there!  He passed, and has the strongest testimony!  He reminds me a lot of Messias, actually.  We called up the Elders to come do the interview the next day, and it was all working out perfectly.  The Elders came on Saturday and interviewed him at the church.  He passed, and everything was great.  Until Sunday morning.  We went to go pick him up for church with Ise, his sister, and his mom was out front.  As he was getting ready, I started small talking her, inviting her to church and such.  She said that she would go to her church and wouldn´t have time.  So then I was an IDIOT and invited her to the baptism that afternoon.  She exploded.  "What!  Wilson is getting baptized?!  No, he is so not ready for this, he is a horrible person, he was already baptized, there is no way that this can happen!  This is so so wrong!" Woops. Wilson is 22, so he does´t need her permission, and I did not know that this would be a secret baptism!  Yikes.  So then we went to church, and in the middle of the meeting, he gets a call from her saying that if he gets baptized, he can never come home.  I thought this kind of stuff only happened to the pioneers...but it is real.  So he bailed, and when we called him later that night, he told us that he wants to wait until things smooth over with his mom and will be baptized next week.  We will be praying so much for this poor guy!

And that is not all that happened this week!  You know Nalva, who was marked for this Saturday?  Well, she was in Recife the whole week and we could not talk to her either.  Sister Rodrigues and I were in a real stupor of thought about the situation.  She knows everything...do we call the Elders to do the interview or will she be mad?  This was a really tough cookie.  So then the Lord happened to place the Elders in our area on Saturday night for the interview with Wilson...and we had an appointment marked with Nalva that week.  Well, that is an answer to me.  After Wilson´s interview, we ran over to her house.  She was so excited to see us!  She sat us down on the couch and told us a dream that she had had the day after our last lesson.  Here it is:

She was super upset about something, and someone was trying to hurt her.  She called out to her son, Nataniel, to go get her other son, Mikael, who is a missionary in Campinas.  She knew that he was an elder of the Lord and would have the power to help her.  Mikael entered the room, all dressed in white, put his hands on her head, and called her by her full name.  Then he called her by her full name and said some beautiful things that she couldn´t remember.  She was able to sleep in peace the rest of the night.

When we all heard this dream...wow.  Mikael gave her a blessing!  That was answer enough.  Elder da Silva took her in for an interview, and they marked her baptism for this Sunday too.  She was so happy!  We went to visit her yesterday again and she told us that we are the missionaries she has been waiting for and that we were sent here to baptize her.

I was wondering why Sister Rodrigues and I have stayed together so long.  It is strange for us to be together in the same area for such a long time...and now I know.  I love when things like this happen.  Gosh, I never want to go home.

Good luck on your permit test, Cooper!  Stay in the lines when you drive.  That was always a tough one for me.  Have a good week, and I love you guys!

Love,

Sister Dana

Uhh, we had to borrow a blender and when we brought it back, no one was home.  That was an awkward situation

June 2nd, 2014

There is no escaping Snowflake.

Oh goodness, it sounds like you guys just had the best time this week!  Sister Rodrigues keeps asking me what is wrong because I am totally sitting here crying reading about all of the stuff that happened on the trek.  Those are so cool... congratulations for a job well done.  I think that except for my mission, the trek was one of the experiences that changed my life more than anything else.  I love that the Church makes us do hard things to discover better all of the things we are capable of doing.  The Lord gives us trials not to break us, but to make us stronger.  He really does send angels to help us all the time too...I have definitely seen that here.  Awesome job with that theme, I love it!  Oh I am so happy that all of it turned out well!  Mom, you should probably go take a nap now though.  That is quite a lot of effort.

This week was amazing.  So much stuff happened!  We will have to see if I remember it all.

First off, Wilson.  Our volleyball.  Jokes, he is basically the most perfect investigator ever!  He is Ise´s brother and is AMAZING.  Recently left another church because he saw a lot of bad stuff going on there.  Looking for the truth. He understands EVERYTHING that we say and was like, "Oh, Apostasy?  Wow, that totally makes sense!  Hey, can I have a Book of Mormon?  I love that thing so much!"  Basically everything that he does makes my mouth drop open in surprise.  My fave was when he came up to us and goes, "Hello, my blessed sisters.  I have decided to join your ministry."  Yesssss!  He just isn´t baptized yet because he wants to be absolutely sure that it is all true, so...we hope to get that marked for Sunday tonight.  Prayers please!  Oh, and another good story...he was traveling on Friday night and was at some restaurant in another state when two sisters came up to him and started talking to him about the church!  He was like, "Wait, I already have two of you at home!"  So then one of the sisters told him that this was a sign from God telling him that he was on the right path and needed to join up ASAP.  He agreed!  Wow, I really owe that chick.

We also have another person we are hoping and praying to baptize this weekend.   Her name is Nalva, and all 4 of her kids are baptized and 3 are super active in the church.  One is on a mission in Campinas and the other two are preparing to go.  She loves the church so much, defends it, and goes whenever she feels the need.  She has just never been baptized!  I asked her a pretty straight up question in our lesson on Friday:  "Nalva.  If we all died right now, what would it be like for your family?"  She goes, "Well, my kids would all be in the Celestial Kingdom and God knows how I love the church and defend it, so He would let me in too!"  Nope.  We had to clarify that, and she got real quiet.  I was super afraid that I ruined everything at that point when we left.  Basically I am the one who sticks a knife in the excuses of our investigators and then Sister Rodrigues puts some Neosporin and a Bandaid on it to help it heal over.  We are a good team.  But she was at church yesterday, so I don´t think that she got mad. Whew.

Sister Bedke also had a REALLY funny experience this week that I am not allowed to publicate, but if you want to know what it was, shoot me and email and I´ll spill.

We had a lovely surprise this week and got to go to the temple!  Love that place.  Heavenly Father just knows every time that I need to re-charge.  New Rule:  (idk if this is just in Brasil or in the whole church)  Kids can´t just go do baptisms for temple names anymore, it has to be family.  So get on it!  We got to spend the night in...Candeias!  Which is just a hop skip and a jump away from Candelaria!  When we arrived in Jaboatão Litoral that night, we ran over to the church there in Candelaria because I knew they would be having activities there.  And they were!  It was so great!  I got to see all of my old friends and the kids that I loveeee there!  Oh man, I almost cried.  Little blessings.  We ran back to Candeias through some rain that I forgot existed.  Wow.  Don´t miss that part.  Who should be the sisters of Candeias, but Sister McCleve, my MTC pal!  It was so good to see her and catch up!  We talked and talked and talked and she is doing so well.  

Look who is a photographer now....

Our Zone at the temple

Sister Butler!

With the Sisters!

We were up early the next morning to go to Mission Conference.  This was the last time that we will see Pres. and Sister Lanius!  It was so sad to say goodbye to them!  They have been excellent and I am so grateful for all of the things that I was able to learn from this couple.  I got called up to sing in a quartet when we were there and I sang one of the parts as a solo, which was so scary!  But it turned out ok I guess.  Tchau Tchau Presidente!

Our zone:)

With Presidente and Sister Lanius!

The sisters from Boa Vista that live with us also had a baptism yesterday, which was really fun.  I love that things are going so much better for them.  They work so hard and love the people like crazy!  All of the sisters here are amazing examples to me.

At the Sisters´baptism

Welp, that is about it from this week.  I love you guys and hope that you enjoy your summer!  write me lots...with more time on the mish, the inbox gets pretty sad.  Have a good one!

Love,

Sister Dana

This Baptism was NOT Ise!!!

Oh my goodness.  This week was seriously one of the most difficult of my entire mission.  I have NEVER worked so dang hard for a baptism in my whole life!  

Ok.  Time for the story of Ise.  So we taught her every single day this week to get her ready for baptism on Sunday.  Perfect, she was super prepared and feeling good and happy and everything was going well.  Until Friday, that is.  We go over to talk to her, and she tells us that her mom told her she doesn´t need to be baptized again and that her mom is SUPER against it.  Thus...we should put the baptism off for a little while.  But you know what happens when we re-mark baptisms? NOTHING.  They don´t happen!  Our hearts just kind of stopped when she said this, so we calmly explained to her how she needs to talk to Heavenly Father about this and get His opinion on the whole situation.  She said that she still wanted the elders to come do the baptismal interview though on Saturday, so that was a good sign. 

On Saturday, the Elders came early in the afternoon and we showed them around Gravatá, because they live in Caruarú, which is about an hour away.  We took them on top of this huge mountain where you can see all of the town and it is soooo pretty!  They almost died on the way up, but that´s ok.  Sweat builds character.  Anyway, as we headed over to Marilza´s house for Ise´s interview, we called Marilza, who told us that Ise was no where to be found!  NOOO!!!  False alarm though, she arrived about half an hour after we did.  Hooray!  Andddd she passed the interview!  So everything was all set and ready for the baptism on Sundaynight.  She came to church with her brother, who we are also teaching, and loved every bit of it. The baptism was marked for 6pm, and after choir practice (which was prettyyy painful), at about 5:50, we get a call.  She said that her mom locked her in the house and wouldn´t let her come to the church at all.  I am not even kidding, I almost cried.  The font was full, the cake was made, and everyone in the ward was there. My heart just broke, but then it mended itself again when she told us that she wanted to get baptized in the morning!  This girl has a desire that is SO STRONG!  She knows that the church is true, she feels it, and she is just an amazing example to me.

After the interview with Ise!  Isn´t she so pretty??

So, about 1 hour ago, we put a baptism together and I had my first baptism on a Pday!  It was beautiful.  Tarciso bore his testimony and made me cry.  He talked about how he knows that the church is true and that there is no way he would ever leave it, especially after going to the temple to do baptisms.  Ise came out of the water so happy!  Oh man, that is just the best feeling in the world, you know?  

I never had to work so hard...EVER. For anything!  The prayers, the fasting, the studying....everything is worth it.  Heavenly Father listens to our prayers and is just waiting to help us!  And He will always be there with us, fighting by our side.

Us with Ise!

With Felipe, who baptized her

With Jo, who introduced her to us

Perfect.... <3

Perfect.... <3

Perfect.... <3

Pure and Perfect!

Pure and Perfect!

I am trying to think of other things that happened, but like...nothing even comes to mind!  We were pretty involved in this novella all week, you know?  Sorry.  

Good luck on the trek to you guys!  I know you will have a great time...man, wish I could go!  Please take a lot of pictures to send to me!  Also, I am so sad that Brother Shumway died.  He was such a great home teacher!  Give a hug to their family from me, ok?  Obrigada!

I´ll send pics of the baptism.  Love you guys so much, have an awesome week and stay safe!

Love, 

Sister Dana

Me and Sister Bedke made couscous masks....this does NOT go on Facebook.

I Hope this Next Baptism Will Be Ise...

Pronounced "Easy".  Get it??  Probably not, because I haven´t told the story yet.  But I will right now!  Ready, go.  So Ise is this girl that is dating one of the less active guys here, Jonas.  Marilza, Jonas´s mom, is a recent convert that I adore.  I have NEVER met anyone with such a desire to share the gospel.  And that includes missionaries.  This lady is the best.  Seriously, you go into her house and you know who Joseph Smith is.  Her daughter, Jo, had a cold the other day and Marilza goes, "Jo!  Have more faith!  If you had more faith, you wouldn´t have a cold!"  Loveee her!  So anyway, she is so sad that her son, Jonas, is less active and wants to do everything that she possibly can to help him come back.  So when he got a girlfriend a few weeks ago, the first thing she did was call us over!  This week, we have been teaching Ise nonstop.  It is wonderful!  She feels the Spirit so strongly and says that she knows that God is listening when she prays.  When we taught her the Restoration with Marilza...oh man, it was so cool.  Marilza just was bawling the whole time and she said, "Every time I hear the story of this vision, I just cry!!"  Ise came to church with Marilza this week and we have her baptism marked for next week. Oh I am praying so hard that it happens!  I can only imagine what the work would be like if all members were like unto Marilza.  (BoM junkies will get that...) She is well known for saying, "These churches...everyone just doesn´t understand!  Why don´t they all just get baptized into the true church of Jesus Christ?!" I want to just carry her around with me in my pocket.  Also she makes WONDERFUL lasagna.

We invited our recent convert, Paula, to come teach a lesson with us this week too.  It was one of my favorite lessons of my mission, I think.  It wasn´t super profound, and the lady we taught doesn´t even want us to come back.  But Paula bore her testimony and I felt the Spirit SO STRONGLY in the room that I almost started to cry right there.  As we left, I just got this feeling of how much Heavenly Father loved Paula and how happy He was that she got baptized and got that much closer to coming home to Him.  She now has two callings and said the prayer in church yesterday:)  I think that we baptized an angel, I really do.

Unfortunately, we are going to have to stop teaching José Luis.  This makes me so so so sad, because he knows everything is true and has a desire to make changes.  The problem is that his natural man is stronger than his desire to change I guess.  He won´t come to church or anything anymore, which broke my heart.  We taught him the Plan of Salvation on Saturday night and I just couldn´t believe all of the deep insight that he had and the way that he understood everything so easily.  At the end of the lesson, he told us that he had a dream about us.  He said that in the dream, he walked into the church and we were there, but the inside of the church was different and everyone was all dressed in white.  He then proceeded to describe the inside of the Recife Temple and said thata guy in a suit came over to him and gave him a hug and said, "You are safe here."  I was pretty blown away by that one.  Another proof that this gospel is soooo true.  It just makes me sad when people are given testimony after testimony and...well, you know, now is just probably not his time.

In happier news, I WENT TO A WEDDING!!!!!  That´s right, first one of my life.  It was so great!  Gosh, I love weddings.  Nandara and Jadson got married!!  Oh goodness, I almost just cried.  They are so dang cute and I took a ton of pictures!  It was really simple, just us and their family in the Bishop´s office, but the Spirit was there and now they are preparing for sealing in a year and all will be dandy!  Have I mentioned how I love weddings?  One of the highlights of the mission, fo sho!

Amanda and Eduardo, the testimonies

Jadson and his mommy:)

Nandara and her mom

We got to walk too!

How precious...ohmygosh I am dying...

I <3 WEDDINGS.

I <3 WEDDINGS.

I <3 WEDDINGS.

Us with the newlyweds!!  Ahhh!!!!

Us with the newlyweds!!  Ahhh!!!!

Cooper, about the patriarchal blessing.  I have gained the biggest testimony of those things out here.  It isn´t some voodoo fortune teller garbage.  That stuff is not real.  Patriarchal blessings are given to help remind us of the potential that we have, not just in this life, but in eternity.  Our Heavenly Father knew us from the very beginning and knows our personalities and weaknesses.  He knows exactly how to help us and these blessings are a proof of that.  Many, many times, I have found so much comfort in knowing that when everything seems to be going wrong, I have a guide to keep me centered and focused on the real goal: the Celestial Kingdom.  Knowing my divine nature has given me a huge desire to help other people learn theirs.  Imagine how the world would be different if all of God´s children knew where they come from and what He has planned for them?  They wouldn´t make nearly as many mistakes, that´s for sure.  Also, Show Choir?  Oh man.  Well, we have to try out all sorts of stuff, don´t we?

Anyway, that´s my bit.  I hope that everything goes well with the trek and I can´t wait to hear about it!  I love you guys so much and hope you have a wonderful week.  Also. sooo glad that Cooper and Winn are better!

Love,

Sister Dana

At the Artesanatos Place!

Skyping on Mother's Day

So happy to stay with Sister Rodrigues!
(They found out neither of them would be transferred during our Skype visit on Mother's Day)