Week 11

Bom dia família e amigos!!

This week was SO amazing and FULL of miracles! I know that God hears and answers our prayers! 

on thursday we taught our investigator arthur. we asked him if he wants to be baptized and he said yes! then he told us that before we met, when he saw us in the american store, he already knew who we are. he had talked to the missionaries before, a few years ago, but he wasnt really ready to accept the gospel then. he said that he had a feeling he needed to talk to us, so he did! (he already recognizes and follows the promptings of the Holy Ghost!) he said that as he was talking to us he thought "i need the gospel in my life right now, i am ready to accept it" Next time we teach him we are going to set a date for his baptism! I am so thankful that God lead us to find arthur. and i am so thankful for the opportunity to help him come unto Christ! I know that God has a plan for ALL of His children. 

Our investigator Vanilza we have been teaching for a few weeks, but she has been going to church with her friend for a while. She kept saying that she didnt feel ready to be baptized, and we encouraged her to continue to pray about it. Sister Lee and i prayed a lot aswell for her to receive an answer. during our lesson with her on saturday, she said that she is ready to be baptized this month! she wants to be baptized on christmas day. I cant think of a better gift. It is so amazing that she knows what Christmas is all about! It is a day of rememberance of the birth of our Savior. on this day she wants to make a promise to follow Him. I have been thinking a lot, what will i give back to my savior for Christmas this year? He has done everything for me, what can i sacrifice for Him? I think this Christmas will be a very special one. 

also on saturday, we taught our first english class! it was really cool. there werent a ton of people there, but i think more people will come to the next one. i think it will be a great way to meet new people to teach and to help our investigators feel more comfortable in the church, and with the members. 

 we have two investigators, Carol e Beatriz, they are sisters,  and they will both be baptized this saturday. Sister Lee and i were a little worried about them because it is so difficult for them to focus during our lessons, and they rarely remember what we talked about after. (they are 14 and 11 years old) sister lee and i have started doing kind of a memory game with them after our lessons. they love it! it works so well to keep them engaged and remember everything! now we are just praying that beatriz will be able to give up coffe. shes 11 and she drinks four cups a day! hahaha we are praying a lot for her. 

This week my faith has increased so much! When i prayed for help, God helped me with everything! He answered our prayers about our investigators, and the prayers of our investigators. This week i tried to forget myself and focus more on serving and teaching these people. it was incredible how much the Lord took care of me! even with little things, i would say a little prayer and say "Heavenly Father im so tired, and hungry please give me energy" the next house we visited, they gave us food. also when we prayed for our investigators to feel ready for baptism, they did! The power of God is real! He knows each of us, loves each of us, and wants to bless us so badly. all we have to do is ask Him. 

alma 37:37-Turn to the Lord in everything you do!

Com amor, 

Sister Jones

Week 10

Olá!!

This week has been crazy and amazing, but here is my day by day:

segunda:

was my two month aniversary!! it was so cute my roommates surprized me with a little celebration. First they blindfolded me and poured flour and water on my head hahaha (they took a video and it is hilarious) then they had a cake and fresh mango juice (my favorite) and they bought me a mosquito net (because the mosquitos LOVE me.. hahaha they always say "you poor brancinha") and they wrote me notes it was so sweet! I felt so loved! also today we found a golden investigator! we met him at the lojas americanas (american store) and he is trying to learn english. he came up to us, and he already knew who we are.  he asked US if we would visit his house and teach him more! we definitely dont get that every day hahah. 

terça:

the funniest thing happened this morning, we went for our morning run, and sister seixas and sister deschamps came with us. I was running by myself and everyone else was sitting in the middle of the square stretching and all of the sudden five wild dogs start chasing me (there are wild dogs all over coité). i was SO scared! i seriously thought "today is the day that i get attacked by a pack of wild dogs. im going to die." i was sprinting in circles trying to out run them, and finally i ran towards sister lee because i didnt know what do do! all she did was stand up and the dogs ran off hahahaha. We were all cracking up I looked so ridiculous! sister lee said there were a ton of brazilians watching and laughing at me hahaha (again "poor brancinha"). sister lee and i have not stopped laughing about this all week hahaha. 

also today we visited a less active family. they have two teenage boys and a nine year old girl. they want to start coming back to church, but i think they dont know where to start. it took a lot of work, but we got the teenage boys to come to the church with us to play volley ball with all of the youth after our visit. It was amazing!! everyone was SO happy to see them and i could tell they felt really welcomed. it was such a sweet reunion. and then when bishop stopped by and saw them he was SO happy!! it made me so excited to help their whole family come back to church. 

quarta:

we taught the most amazing family today! their names are rita and tico, and they have two kids bruno and bruna (its normal here for brother and sister to have basically the same name hahah pretty confusing) they were so open with us and asked a ton of questions. the spirit was so strong. All i could think is how badly i want for their family to be sealed in the temple so they can be a forever family. 

quinta:

today we taught this girl named ana paula, she is 16 years old. she is a friend of one of the members of our ward. we gave her a book of mormon last week and invited her to read it and afterwards pray, and ask God if it is true. she did! and when i asked her how she felt she said "amazing!" she said that she said a prayer of gratitude for the book of mormon after. i asked her about what she read and she actually understood it and wants to learn more! i am so excited to teach her more!

seixta:

today we taught our golden investigator and it was amazing! his name is arthur. he was so excited to learn he wanted to know everything! the spirit was so strong. 

also today we went out with an irmão in our ward to teach some of his friends. he is SO dedicated to the gospel it is amazing! he told us that before his family moved to coité, he had a feeling that they needed to move. his whole family fasted and prayed and asked God if/where they needed to move and they all got the anwser that they needed to move to coité (they already had family here). They packed up and moved! the ward of coité really needed them! both the parents have leadership positions and serve SO much in the church. Irmão sergio is the choir director and he is in the bishopric também! they serve so much! it is such a good example to all of us!

sabado:

we visited a member of our ward today who is having a hard time. she is basically my mom here in coité i love her so much! even though i we cant communicate very well (she speaks really fast hahah) we communicate heart to heart. I loved doing service for her! 

Domingo:

today was amazing! we had 5 investigators in church and EVERYONE in our ward welcomed them so much! even the little children shook their hands and gave them hugs it was so sweet! i am SO thankful for my ward! 

This week was so amazing! i am learning so much and i love these people more and more every day! I am so thankful to be here doing the Lords work. 

com amor, 

Sister Jones

Week 9

Oi tudo mundo!

Today is my two months!! I cant believe it time has FLOWN by! I feel like i left for Brazil yesterday! these two months have honestly been the happiest of my life. I have never felt closer to my Savior, I have never felt more love, and i have never felt more joy than knowing that i am doing the Lords will. Helping others to come unto Christ is the best work in the world. This is for sure the hardest thing i have ever done but it is the best thing i have ever done! 

We taught so many people this week! one of my favorite lessons was when we taught Ana Paula. she has two little children and her husband died. we taught her about the plan of salvation and i could  tell the spirit was touching her heart. her eyes lit up as we taught that she can see her husband again and live with her family forever. It is so amazing to share this good news with others!! 

I am learning how to teach by the spirit! this week we were teaching a woman named tamazia. I was having a hard time understanding what she was saying, but i knew we were talking about prayer, and she asked a question. the thought came to my mind "maybe she doesn't know how to pray" i looked at sister Lee and she nodded for me to say what i was thinking. I began to explain simply how we pray and i was right, she had never prayed before! later sister lee told me that in that moment she had the same prompting, but for some reason she couldn't think of the words! I am so thankful for the Lords help every day! The gift of tongues is real. so many times while i am teaching, words are brought to my memory that i didn't know i knew! 

Sister lee is helping me SO much! every day i teach something new and i struggle so much to explain sometimes, but the spirit helps my investigators understand. and sister lee is always right there waiting to help me if im really stuck. I am SO thankful for sister lee! i don't know how i got so lucky to have her, she is an amazing trainer!

yesterday was an amazing day! before church we went to houses of some of our investigators to bring them to church and everyone made up excuses for why they couldn't come. I just wanted to say "after all the savior did for you, and you cant give him even one hour to take the sacrament?!" i was a discouraged. but when we arrived at church, two of the inactive members we have been working with were there! it was so amazing to see how happy they were! and 7 of our other investigators ended up coming to church! it was a miracle! half of them were brought by members of our ward. I am SO thankful for our ward! they are all such good missionaries. they know the gospel is true, and they share it with everyone. there is no greater joy. everyone here loves everyone, and because they love each other they share the restored gospel! 

something that is hilarious about Brazil is everyone loves English, but they dont understand it. all of the clothes, and accessories have English words on them. for example there is an old man in our ward and the other day he was wearing these shorts that said in huge letters "bad boy" hahahaha sister lee and i were DYING. also, our friend manuela got a new phone this week and she was showing us her phone case. it had writing in English "legendary beer" and she asked what it meant and i told her "Beer!" her mom just about had a heart attack hahahaha her mom was just screaming at her in Portuguese and i was dying laughing hahah. the people here are so funny. we laugh a lot together. 

I am learning so much and gaining so much perspective about what is really important! these people really know what is important. i am so thankful for the opportunity to learn from them. 

yesterday in church i was looking at all of the families in our ward and how much they love each other. i was really missing my family. then the man giving a talk explained that our Heavenly Father misses us! all He wants to do is wrap His arms around us and hug us. He wants SO badly for us to return to His presence. i realized that the feelings of saudade i have for my family right now, Heavenly father feels for all of us! The least i can do for Him is spend 18 months apart from my family, in order to help some of His children return to Him. Never forget how much your Heavenly Father loves you! 

1 nephi 8:24 hold to the iron rod and dont let the mists of darkness in your path lead you away from our savior. 

Com amor, 

Sister Jones

all of the missionaries leaving the CTM for salvador! (im for sure the only american hahahah)

me and sister lee and our agua de coco!

[She titled this one "My cute little house." Ashley thinks she is so funny, its not really her house!]

Week 8

Olá amigas e família!

I am in LOVE with Coité. I never want to leave. it is the cutest little town and everyone here is so happy! sundays are my favorite day because i get to see all of the ward members and they are all so sweet. Coité is already starting to feel like home. I LOVE my companion sister lee and my roommates sister dechamps and sister seixas. my roommates dont speak english so it is kinda difficult to communicate sometimes but we always get a good laugh out of it hahah. Today they taught me how to make brazilian pancakes! they arent really pancakes at all hahah. I love preparation day because we get to bond so much! and we get to go shopping and all of the fruit here is AMAZING!!! with every meal we drink juice and its always fresh fruit blended up i love it so much. 

this week we worked so hard! today is much needed. Sister lee and i made a goal to really share the gospel with everyone and we talked to so many people!!! sister lee made me have a full conversation by myself too. it was so difficult but i did it!! I am learning so much portuguese! sister lee pushes me so much to go out of my comfort zone and it helps me so much! this week two of our investigators commited to be baptized on the 12 of december! i am so excited for  them! 

this week we met the most amazing family. the moms name is valda and she has 4 little children. they are all so sweet. they are really humble and were really excited to hear our message about jesus christ. I taught the oldest one how to pray and it was such a sweet experience. we are going to teach them again tomorrow and i cant wait! 

the people here are just so amazing! I feel so blessed to be serving here! everyone takes us in and just loves us. every time we stop by a house to ask for help finding someone, they say "come in and sit down! do you want water, cake, anything? oh its so hot let me get a fan for you!" total strangers! everyone in this town just loves everyone. i have so much to learn from them. sister lee and i were cracking up because on saturday all the missionaries in our zone fasted, and EVERYONE offered us cake. all day! seriously we came home with 3 different cakes that day and now our fridge is just full of it hahaha. 

this week i have been learning a lot about faith and hope. this past week i struggled to have faith in my investigators. it is kinda rare that they keep their commitments and i found myself just expecting the worst. i realized that i need to believe in them and hope for the best!! if i dont have faith in them how can i help them? this week i made a goal to have hope and faith in my investigators, and more faith in Christ. 

pray for my investigators! love everyone and listen to the promptings of the spirit!

Com amor, 

Sister Jones