Feliz Ano Novo!

So transfers are this week and there were some changes and we no longer have transfer meetings. So when our leaders call us, they tell us everything instead of just whether or not we will stay in our area. So Sister Sosa was transferred :( I'm really going to miss her craziness haha It's been a blast being her companion. She'll be serving in São Gabriel. I stayed here in Estrelinha and my new companion will arrive tomorrow. She is American which surprised me haha I don't think I'll train before my mission is over, but this will basically be like training a sister because she only has 3 months here and she's struggling a lot with the language. I already met her when I did a division with other sisters in Serra where she was serving before and during some zone meetings so it's cool because we're already friends and we're pretty similar so I think it's gonna be fun. Her name is Sister Dodge. We'll be living with 2 more sisters again too. Sister Barth who is brasileira and she'll be training another sister. SUPER FUN!

Guys I can't believe that the year is ending. My mission is passing by wayyyyy too quickly! Also, I don't want to turn 22 haha But anyways, I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas because I sure did!! I cried like a baby haha I held myself together during all of my other phone calls home, but this time was my last phone call on the mission and everyone was super trunky so i kinda freaked out ;)

Sorry I'm running out of time so I'll send the rest in Portugues (what I sent to presidente):

Bruno está muito animado para ser entrevistado na quarta e saber melhor sobre quando ele vai poder ser batizado. A situação dele realmente é complicada mas ele é muito bom e nesses meses que eu tenho conhecido ele, eu tenho visto uma mudança muito grande nele e ele realmente tem um desejo de ser batizado na igreja verdadeira. Acho que durante os 5 ou 6 meses que ele está frequentando a igreja, ele só faltou duas vezes. Ele realmente gosta das coisas da igreja e tem um testemunho.

Bruno is very excited to be interviewed on Wednesday and better understand when he will be able to be baptized. The situation it is really complicated but he has been very good and in the months that I have known him, I have seen a very big change in him and he really has a desire to be baptized into the true church. I think that during the five or six months he has attended church, he has only missed twice. He really likes the things of the church and has a testimony.

Também, estamos trabalhando muito com a sobrinha do bispo, Gabriela. Ela já foi para várias atividades da igreja mas só começou a frequentar nos últimos domingos passados. Nessas semanas, ela tem viajado muito por causa das férias então quando tentamos marcar uma data para um dia mais perto do natal, ela falou que só poderia depois do ano novo. Então, ela tem uma data marcada para o dia 10 de janeiro. A família dela está muito feliz e ela está orando muito sobre as lições e também, ela falou que teve um sonho sobre a igreja e que está recebendo muitas respostas!

Also, we are working hard with the bishop's neice, Gabriela. She has been to several church activities but only began attending these past few Sundays. She has traveled a lot over the past few weeks because of the holidays so when we try to set a date to meet with her at home, she said she could only after the New Year. So we scheduled a date for January 10. Her family is very happy and she's praying a lot about the lessons as well, she said she had a dream about the church and that she's getting many answers!

Eu amo vocês!

Com amor,

Sister Earls

we had a churrasco on Christmas Eve with Cléria and Junior (recent-converts) and Bruno (investigator) haha it was great

Christmas party with Luceni and Eni. They are eternal investigators but they love us! I actually got to know them in Colatina which is cool and when I arrived here in Estrelinha, I forgot that Luceni lives here but I found her at church :) And Eni is awesome too! She lives in São Mateus and I actually passed her address to the missionaries who were serving there 6 months ago and she has been frequenting the church ever since!  

FAMILY <3 Best phone call home ever :)

quero natal!

Guys, it's almost Christmas!

So this week was kind of a fail. After the last few crazy weeks, everything has kinda slowed down. The work is always harder after we have baptisms because we spend all our time focusing on the people who are preparing to be baptized and we hardly have time to find new people to teach. So this past week was a little bit lame, but we have three more people with potential to be baptized!

Kaeyanne is 11 years old and her grandmother is an inactive member. She always attended church when she was younger but she had never come to church during our time here in Estrelinha. Some members told us about her family so we decided to visit her the other day and they are an awesome family. Andréia (her grandmother) told us that she had been thinking about Kaeyanne´s baptism for a while but she had never gotten motivated enough to bring Kaeyanne to church and hardly anyone had been visiting them. So we brought Kaeyanne to church yesterday and she loved it and she already knows a lot of the youth and after church, we talked to her about baptism and she accepted to be baptizedthis Saturday. Hopefully, everything will work out. We've already taught her about the Book of Mormon and she's already following all of the commandments :)

João Vitor and Mário were references from some recent-converts. We had actually already visited their parents before, but we had never met the kids. Unfortunately, the parents aren't legally married and don't have any plans to get married anytime soon, but their kids are old enough to be baptized on their own with their parents' approval, so when we met them at a church activity, we immediately started to teach them. During the week, they had accepted to be baptized this Sunday, but they didn't come to church yesterday because they left to visit their aunt for the weekend so they have to wait until next Sunday. But they're super great and they are super excited to learn more about the gospel!

Eu amo vocês!

Com amor,

Sister Earls

 

It's almost Christmas!!! FELIZ NATAL!!! Even the post office is celebrating already haha

 

Miracles Happen Once in a While

This week was wonderful and was full of miracles! Raphael and Lazarus were baptized on Saturday morning! We were anxious because we left the house early on Saturday morning to check Lazarus but when we arrived at his house (he lives far from our house and the chapel), he was not there. And he was not answering his phone (he later explained that he had lost on the beach). But when we arrived at the chapel with Rafael, Lazarus appeared! Unfortunately, only Rafael was confirmed yesterday because Lazarus came late during sacrament meeting so it was not confirmed. Also, he said he has to travel on Sunday, but he spoke will make an effort to stay to be confirmed because he really wants to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit as soon as possible and he said it with certainty, it will arrive in certain time the next Sunday to be confirmed.

Sorry I'm running out of time but I am super happy and I am super grateful for the miracles que Have Been happening here in Estrelinha. We Have Been working very diligently and I know the Lord que Has Been blessing us :)

I love you!

With love,

Sister Earls

3 Nephi 12:16

 

reunião de zona! 

 Rafael foi batizado!!!

 Lázaro foi batizado também!! He wanted to be "as pure as possible" so he decided to shave his head and his eyebrows the day before his baptism. Everyone was a little shocked but he was super happy about it então só vai haha

 Sister Tavares and I need to be companions :)