trabalho, trabalho, trabalho

Oi meu povo!

Sorry I won't be writing much this week because time is running out and I'm still trying to send photos. But we're still just working really hard here and we're trying to find different people to teach. 

Vanderneis' baptism fell through because she kinda went a little crazy and didn't want anything to do with anymore. We tried stopping by every day to visit and teach her but she kept her door shut every time :( Keep her in your prayers.

We had stake conference in Cariacica yesterday and we had to take an ônibus with the members to the church building there. But we invited an entire family to come and they made it in time to catch the ônibus with us! Maycon, Lidiane, and their three kids Jhoseph, Jhon Wesley, and Júlio Cézar. They're super great but Maycon has some difficulties with the word of wisdom and they also have to get married legally in order to be baptized. But they really want our help to keep the commandments!

Eu amo vocês!

Com amor,

Sister Earls

 

These are pics from a couple weeks ago when we went to the Fonte Grande with some members :)

 

 

Somos Estrelinhas :)

We had a very productive and interesting week. We were able to have interviews with President Young and I was able to feel the Spirit very strongly as I talked with him and I am very grateful for the advice that he gave me. He is an amazing mission president and he truly receives inspiration from God. It was funny because when he called us into his office he said "Agora posso falar com as estrelinhas da missão!" which basically means that we're the superstars of the mission because Estrelinha means little star haha :)

During our zone conference this week, we learned about the importance of following up with our investigators every day, especially Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. We have been doing our best to contact all of our progressing investigators every day. During this transfer, I have really been learning about how important it is to teach our investigators all of the commandments as soon as possible and to follow up with them every day so that they can start living the gospel immediately and feel the Spirit even stronger and make the right choices.

Vanderneis came to church again this week and arrived early to make sure that she wouldn't miss the sacrament. She is firm in her decision to be baptized. She will attend stake conference this week and we had to move her baptism date to next Tuesday because we didn't receive support from the ward to baptize her on Sunday after stake conference because they didn't want to have a baptismal service in another chapel and they didn't think anyone would come if we planned to have it in our chapel during the afternoon after stake conference...But Vanderneis is still firm!

We have a lot of other investigators who are progressing and we had other baptismal dates marked but none of them came to church so we're praying that they'll come this week. 

We watched a video the other day about missionary work that was amazing. Elder Holland said something that's been stuck in my head all week: "Salvation is not a cheap experience." During my mission I've really been learning about this phrase. A lot of our investigators are just looking for a quick and easy way to be saved, but there isn't one. The gospel is very simple and we work very hard to explain this to our investigators, but we also have to understand that we have a part to do. My favorite thing to teach about is the Atonement and even though I still can't comprehend it completely, I know that salvation is not and never was cheap. I know that it is only through the Savior's Atonement that everything is possible.

Eu amo vocês!

Com amor,

Sister Earls

And I can't send pictures this week but there will be a ton next week so get ready! ;)

ESTRELINHA!

So my new area is Estrelinha! Sister Richards was working in this area and I took her place :) My companion is Sister Sosa. You might recognize her in the photos because I was living with her in Glória. She is from Paraguay and she's super crazy but I love her to death and she keeps me happy during the day haha We are super stoked to be working together here in Estrelinha! Sister Sosa has been on the mission for 11 months so we're both getting pretty trunky haha It's my first time being senior companion so it's been a little stressful, but it's pretty easy with Sister Sosa :) Oh and I'm living with other sisters again which is fun. Sister Vieira is brasileira and Sister Wheeler is from Hawaii! SUPER FUN!

Our area has so much potential and we've already received a lot of references so we've been trying to contact them all as soon as possible. We received one reference from a recent convert (Kawan) of the other sisters (Richards and R. Silva). He showed us his friend's house and we started to teach his mom (Vanderneis). She came to church yesterday and we had already marked a date for her to baptized on the 18th, but she only arrived for the last two hours of church and didn't arrive in time to take the sacrament. So we visited her after church and she accepted to be baptized on the 25th. She is super elect and she already stopped drinking coffee and she's already been following all of the other commandments. We introduced her to the bishop and the other members on Sunday and she really enjoyed being at church.

We have been teaching a few other people that the other sisters left for us as well. Silvestre and Edinéia are a couple who are preparing to get married legally really soon. They are super prepared to be baptized and they love all of the lessons that we teach them, but they still need to come to church. Lízeo is 14 years old, but next week he'll turn 15. He has already visited the church 3 times, but we haven't been able to teach him much yet because he always leaves immediately after church. But we marked a visit for tomorrow to teach him with one of his friends who is a member and to mark a baptismal date for the 25th.

I am super excited to be here and to learn with my companion. We are already really good friends and I know that we will have a lot of success this transfer together.

Eu amo vocês!!!

Com amor,

<3 Sister Earls

 

Tchau Sister A. Melo :(

 

Açaí with Sister Sosa! Still can't believe we're companions haha

Super awesome lunch with Yulle and Amanda and their amazing family :)

Estrelinha is so pretty!

1 ANO!!

This week was interesting. We got the call about transfers last night and...I'm going to be transferred tomorrow. I'm still surprised that I was transferred. I will admit that I was pretty discouraged in this area and I am excited to work in a different area, but I thought for sure that I would stay for at least another transfer here. I'm super super sad to be leaving Sister A. Melo, but I'm excited to learn and work hard with a new companion in a different area. 

Conference was amazing on Sunday. Jacó almost came on Saturday, but he backed out at the last minute so I had to miss the first session on Saturday because we weren't allowed to watch the Saturday sessions without an investigator so we spent the first half of the day talking to people on the street like crazy and inviting them to church haha (Oh funny moment! A drunk crazy guy on the street almost hit me while we were contacting people...Oh and last Sunday a crazy women hit me while we were walking to lunch...No big deal) I enjoyed the talks on Sunday a lot, especially the talks from the new apostles. I loved the talk from Elder Dale G. Renlund and when he said that the Lord doesn't call us because of something that we did, but for something that he wants to do through us. Also, I was super excited because our former stake president (Allen D. Haynie) gave a talk during the last session. So cool! His talk was great and I loved the experience that he shared.

During this week, our mission president and his wife asked us to try to be more grateful every day and to say as many prayers of gratitude as we could. Every night, instead of saying a normal prayer, I only thanked Heavenly Father for everything that had happened during the day and for the blessings that I was able to see throughout the day. Even though it has been a difficult transfer, I was able to see how blessed I've been to serve in this area with Sister A. Melo.

Eu amo vocês!!!

Com amor,

<3 Sister Earls

 

Got a super awesome package from Dad!

 

These kids love us. We always try to visit an investigator (Marilza) but she's never at home. So her nieces and nephews always open the gate to tell us she's not home or they give us water or they just talk to us haha One of them is obsessed with me because I'm americana/coreana. She says she's my fan. So we had a photo shoot the last time we stopped by :)

1 ANO DE MISSÃO!!! Sister A. Melo's brother-in-law drew this for me and she gave it to me on Thursday :) So cool!