Yay for sleep!

I really can´t believe that I am about to hit my half way mark. It is sooo crazy to think that I have been out for 9 months. Wow. I know it´s probably going a little slow for you guys (I don´t know maybe it´s going fast too), but dang, my time in the mission is just flying by for me. I can´t believe that May is almost over.CRAZY!!! 

I don´t know if I am happy that I am half way done or sad. I am happy because I am that much closer to seeing you all again, but I am sad because I feel like there is so much more I need to learn and there is not enough time. IT´s a weird feeling.

Anyways, this week we worked like crazy. Our beginner´s luck is still going strong because we have sooo much stuff to do here. My numbers have never been this great in the mission. Poços de Caldas really like Zion. I DO NOT want to leave here.  

My favorite experience this week happened Sunday. First off, I was in a great mood because we had 2 investigators come to church. The first was this boy named Gilherme we found knocking doors. He´s 14 and a really great kid. I asked him what his favorite music was and he said "Gospel". Yeah, I am pretty dang excited to teach him. The other was a kid named Gabriel. All the members of his family are members, but for some reason he didn´t want to get baptized. Now, he´s thinking about baptism and we are helping him with his doubts and stuff. Baptism is definitely in his future:)

Anyways, my experience. After church we had one of the young women call us up and asked to go out with us. I was all for it so we met up and got to work. Turns out that she had a referral for us and wanted to go visit her. IT was a great lesson!!! We taught the restauração and gave the lady, Selma, a book of Mormon. She said that she already knows that it´s true, but she´s going to pray just to make sure. I am excited to see where this goes. I loved teaching with Julia (the YW). She has such a strong testimony and a strong desire to share the gospel. I was just in awe of her. She´s only 16, but already she is an amazing missionary. Really, missionary work is for everyone:) It was so great!!!!

Well, I hope that everyone has a great week. We´re going straight home after emailing to sleep. After 9 months, I am used to being dead tired, but it´s always a huge blessing when we have time to take a nap. Yay for Sleep!!! 

Love you all!

Sister Whitney

 We hiked the Cristo last week. Yay for three times!! I should just move up there we hike it so much.

My favorite sister trainer leader. We had splits this week and it was so much fun to learn from her. (Sister López)

Never been happier in my life!

So, I have honestly never been happier in my life than I am right now. I love serving a mission!!! One of my favorite things to do is remember my past transfers and see how much I have changed. I feel pretty confident in my mission skills. Don´t get me wrong, I still have SO much to learn, but I am lightyears ahead of where I was in California. Teaching is sometimes a stuggle still, but I have learned trust in the Lord so much more. It´s one of the greatest feelings. Also, I love remembering all the hard stuff I´ve had to go through and all the new stuff I have learned because of the those trials. Seriously, the Lord makes weak things become strong and it´s really only through the trials that we have do we learn what we need to learn. And let me tell you, a mission is one great, huge, hard thing, but I wouldn´t trade even a minute of it for anything else. I am so happy to serve a mission!!!

Anyways, this week was amazing for the work. Poços de Caldas is exploding with work. I don´t know if it´s because I have a new companion and we have beginer´s luck, but it seems like we ALWAYS have something to do. This past week we taught like crazy. We tried to invite everyone to baptism, but it didn´t work out. The majority of our investigators just turned it down, but they are still open to learning more. So we are doing to teach like the dickens and help our investigators find the truth. I am not worried in the least because we are doing our part and I know the Lord will bless us for our efforts.

Also, this week was really great because President Canuto came and gave a special fireside thing for the wards of Poços de Caldas. It was all about how the members can get more involved in missionary work and it went really well. Now, our ward is all excited to jump into the work and help us. I can´t tell you how great this is because missionary work always goes better when there are members involved. Really it should be called the Lord´s work because missionaries and members should always be working together. I am so excited to see where it goes:)

I am having the time of my life serving with Sister Ferreira and living with Sister Sargent and Sister Menezes. Especially Sister Sargent. She is like my mission BFF. She is such a hard worker and I have so much respect for her. I can´t even think of a better example as a missionary. Also, she cut my hair yesterday and it looks amazing. It was only the ends, but still, I really appreciated the help. I had a stringy Reapunzel look going on and it was not attractive. No wonder we weren´t having baptisms. Haha, just kidding:)

Well, I love you all and I hope that your semana goes as good as mine:) Also, I hope you catch the missionary work bug and help out the missionaries in your area. That would be really great:)

Love, Sister Whitney

Batteries recharged!

So, this week...

Yeah, I had a fantastic week!!! Sister Ferreira and I have been working so dang hard and I love it. There is nothing more rewarding that coming home completely drained and ready for bed. I feel like an awesome missionary when that happens. 

Not much is really new for us though. We´re building up our teaching pool so we made a ton of street contacts this week. I actually really like to go contacting. It´s the only time in my life when it´s been completely acceptable to talk to strangers. I love it!! Also, I usually have to talk first because Sister Ferreira is new and still a little shy around strangers. Training her has helped me get rid of that last little bit of fear of talking to people. Now, I talk with everyone all the time. I´m sure it´s a little annoying, but It´s something I´m really proud of:)

I seriously am having the best time of my mission right now. Every day we work hard and do all we can in the work and then at night I get to come home and talk with Sister Sargent. She is seriously the coolest, nicest, funniest person I know. I am so grateful that she is here working in Poços with me.  She is like the definition of a good missionary. I have learned so much from her. Plus also, she´s funny. :) It´s the best.

On Friday we went to São João to have our interviews with President. We have them like every three months. This one was so much better than my previous 2 because I actually understood him and I could reply intelligently. So great. Also he gave me some advice that I really liked. He said that when we work with joy and happiness, the numbers come. So I have been focusing on that this past week. It´s actually really help too. Sister Sargent and I found out on Sunday that our numbers are the best in the zones. Woot!! Girl power!!

The other big thing this week was talking to my family on mothers day. Oh my gosh was it the best!!! My batteries are recharged for the next 8 months:)  I love you guys so much and I can´t tell you how happy it make me when I know that you guys are happy too:) #eternalfamilies 

Sorry for the shortness. Next week should be longer:)

LOve, Sister Whitney

Just a quick fuzzy shot from the computer talking to Sister Whitney yesterday.

Me and sister Ferreira. She does this weird neck turny thing in pictures. I think it´s hilarious:)

These are some investigators.  (I wonder what they would think if they knew their faces were being shared between Americans 6000 miles away!)

Girls Camp

This has been a crazy week! Holy Cow!!! So, last p-day we left to spend the night in another city so we could arrive in Piracicaba earlier. We almost missed our bus, but luckily we made it in the nick of time. Unfortunately the Elders did miss the bus and had to pay a member to take them to São João. I didn´t feel sorry for them because they are late to everything. I think it was a good life lesson. Anyways, we spent the night at the São João sister’s house. It was pretty dang fun, like a sleep over, or girls camp. I slept on the ground on an old mattress. It was the best!!! But seriously, I really do love roughing it in Brasil. I feel like a real missionary or a pioneer. Priceless memories.

The next day we got up super early to catch two omibus to Piracicaba. It took forever, but I mostly slept the whole way.

When we finally got to Piracicaba I was so so so happy! I got to see all my peeps from the MTC and the majority of my brasilian friends. Also, Eliana (My brasilian mom) showed up at transfers!!! It was so good to see her again and huge the tar out of her. She also gave me a sweet brasil tee shirt. Yep, I love her.

At 2:30 we went to pick up our Filhas (Me and all the other trainers). Training actually doesn´t make me super nervous. I get to stay in my same area with the same people that I love. So, I feel like I can take on the world. Anyways, as trainers, we had a little bit of training before and got to meet our new companions. I love my new Comp!!! Her name is Sister Gomez and she´s from João Pessoa (a state in the north). She is hilarious and a little bit dingy, but I love her. So far training her has been pretty easy. I feel like it´s going to be an awesome transfer.

Also, Sister Sargent and the missionary she is training, Sister Menezes, are living with us and working in our same area. I am completely happy with this. Sister Sargent is the absolute best and I love her so much. It has been so much fun working and living together.

Returning to Poços de Caldas took forever and 4 busses, but we made it safely home on Wednesday (we spent the night in another sister´s house on Tuesday). Now, we are working hard and having a great time doing it! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope that you all have a fantastic week and your hopes and dreams come true!

Sister Whitney

This is at a really cheap place to eat. It´s like 2.50 a meal in dollars. I love it. We go there every pday.

My last day with sister Oliveira:( I was really sad to say goodbye to her :(  But I love my new comp too!

Gordo the dog

GORDO THE DOG.

GORDO MEANS FAT!

Oh my gosh did we have the best week! I love being a missionary!!!

Last P-day we had a zone activity in another city. We had to take the bus to get there, but it was worth it because we had amazing meat for food. I was in heaven. Overall, ait was a great activity, eating and talking. Yep, pretty much it.

Anyway, after the activity and emailing our families, all the missionaries from Poços had to catch the abus back to our areas. Well, the bus was super slow and we didn´t end up catching it until 7:30pm. So, we were riding the bus back home and I received a phone call. It was our sister trainer leaders and they were waiting for us at our house in Poços de Caldas. Let´s hear it for not calling ahead of time to make plans. Yay! Ok, enough sarcasm. 

Luckily one of the Sisters, Sister Lopéz, knows a member here and they just chatted with her at her house until we arrived an hour later. Oh yeah, the Other sister trainer leader is my old companion, Sister N.Lopes! I was so happy to see her again! The only ship I need is a friendship!

Anyways, they stayed two days with us to help us out and see what kind of missionaries we are. It was a really fun split. I was with Sister Lopéz and Sister Oliveira was with sister N.Lopes. We got a ton of work done and I learned some new techniques from the Sisters. It was a party also with Sister N.Lopes. Man do I love her. Yeah, so that was pretty great.

Also this week we found out about transfers. And....I am staying in Poços!!!! Yay!! But I will be training a new missionary and another companionship is moving in with us. And the other companionship includes Sister Sargent!! MY Bff from the MTC!!! I am so happy I can´t even stand it!!! She will be training a new missionary too. So, it´s going to be amazing here in Poços de Caldas 2 with four sisters. YAYAYAYAY!!!

The only sad thing is that Sister Oliveira was transferred:( I am going to miss her so much. She is seriously and awesome missionary.

So, later today, we´re going to catch a bus to São João (the city were we had our zone activity) and spend the night with the sisters that work there. Then, in the morning, we´ll head to Piracicaba to exchange companions and pick up the new sisters. I am so excited for this next transfer! I love Poços!!!!

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers! I love you all so much. Have a fantastic week!

Love, Sister Whitney

p.s. It´s finally cold here in Poços. It´s probably like in the 60s. It´s heaven:)

p.p.s. If there are random a´s in my letter it´s because of the stupid keyboard.

April 21, 2014

So this week was another to remember. First off, about 6 weeks ago we stopped to talk with a guy in the street. We ended up inviting him to church and after that I didn´t think about the matter anymore (we talk to a ton of people in the street). Anyway, during conference, he showed up at church and stayed for the first session. I was like "Wow, he actually came to church. Neat. Let´s try to teach him." So I grabbed his address and planned to visit him the following week. I don´t know what happened, but we were super busy that week and didn´t see him. But that didn´t matter because he came to church again the following week. I explained more about the church for him and about the restauração. It went pretty well and he was very open about learning more.

Well, this past week I was determined to visit him, so we looked for his house right after church. And....he lives literally 5 houses into the Elder´s area. That means that he isn´t in our ward´s boundaries. I was a little bummed about that, but the rules of the mission are really important to me, so we passed Welington (the name of the guy) to the Elders. And...This saturday he was baptized!!!! Yay!!! 

Even though it wasn´t technically our baptism, I felt like it was because we found Welington and taught him a little bit. IT was really awesome seeing someone we stopped in the street make it all the way to baptism. Wow, so neat I can´t even describe it:)

Easter was also great. We recieved a ton of chocolate from the members because they love us and I got to talk with Viviane (our recent convert) a ton. She is so great and I love talking with her. The only sad thing is that she´s moving soon. It´s still in the boundaries of our mission, so maybe I´ll see her again. I hope so:) But until then, I try to talk with her as much as I can.

Well, my family, I love you all so much. I want you all to know that I Know that our Savior lives. I know that he is the only person to know exactly how I feel and what I need to grow and become more like Him. I am so grateful for His sacrifice and for His love for me. Eu amo meu Salvador! Sei que Ele vive e me ama! Esta Igreja é a Igreja dele e é verdadeira! 

Tem uma boa semana família!

Com Amor,

Sister Whitney

Our district at Welingto´s baptism

They don´t do Easter baskets here in Brasil. They do huge chocolate eggs of goodness. It was a very "hoppy" day. (Yes my puns are weak. that´s what happens when you learn another language)

We had a zone activity today and it was back in the state of São Paulo.

Total eclipse of the heart

April 14, 2014 I feel like I grew up a little bit this week. I don´t know why, but it´s kind of a weird feeling. I think I´m getting better at this missionary thing, haha. Anyway, we had a zone conference on Tuesday and it was really great. The only downside was that Sister Oliveira and I had to get up at 4 am to catch our bus to another city. That´s the only problem with Poços. It´s the VERY last city in our mission. Other than that, it´s paradise and I love serving here.  The focus of the conference was becoming a better teacher. We practiced a ton by listening, asking questions, and applying scriptures. I really enjoyed it and I saw first hand with our lessons that it helps. Our teaching is becoming pretty fancy:) Also, I got to see Sister N.Lopes (my old comp)! I was so happy to see her and laugh with her again. She just got put in as our new sister trainer leader and I´m super excited about this because sometime in the future we´ll have a split with her:) Yay for friendship!  Another great part of the day was the ride back to poços. Our zone was all together and we were just talking about the fun things of the mission. I don´t know why, but it was kind of a special moment for me, hearing all the stories of the other missionaries. Also, the driver was playing "total eclipse of the heart". That was probably what made it so special, haha. The rest of the week was normal, but we really focused on teaching better. We´ve been teaching this elderly couple for a long time now and they still haven´t come to church. Our last lesson with them, we really focused on their needs and how going to church would help them out. I also was kind of rough with them saying that they always promise to come to church, but never do. I left their house thinking that Sunday wasn´t going to happen for them. But surprise surprise, THEY CAME TO CHURCH!!! I was so happy! And they really enjoyed it. So, we´ll see what happens with them. Kept Janete and José in your prayers:) So that´s about all that´s new with my life. Find, teach, baptize, and somewhere in between, study, eat, and sleep. The life of a missionary is a beautiful, simple thing:) I love you all and I am so happy that you are all doing well. Have a fantastic week and remember that our Savior LIVES and the He loves us! Think about what you can do to repay him this month. Better yet, think of someone that doesn´t know this wonderful, happy truth and invite them to have a chat with you and the missionaries:) The gospel is true and Jesus loves YOU!!!! Love, Sister Whitney                                                              Sister Padilla from the MTC! Sister Lopes and Sister Whitney at a zone conference.

General Conference week in Brazil!

April 7, 2014 from Lauren

This week was soooo busy! I love it when we have a ton of stuff to do. I feel like I´m being a very effective missionary and I love that feeling. 

Anyway, our district was struggling to find people to teach. So, we decided that everyone would work in one area each day for three days. The first area and day was in our area and the Elders helped us out a ton. All together, we found 21 people to teach. Yay! I am so excited to get to work! For the rest of the three days we worked in the Elders’ areas, knocking doors and talking to people in the street. We found a ton of people and I loved the practice of making so many contacts. It´s super challenging to try and condense the message of the Restauração or the Plano de Salvação into 2-3 minute lessons. It was a lot of fun, even if the contact didn´t work out. 

Also, this week was great because I finally ate Feijoada. Uncle Andy, your feijoada is pretty good, but holy cow is it amazing in Brasil! Also, I didn´t see any meat with hair still on it, so that was pretty great. 

The best part of the week was conference. Wow. I have never loved conference as much as I loved this past session. We really do have a living Prophet of God and 12 apostles. What a blessing! 

My favorite talk was Elder Bednar´s. Probably because I´ve learned a lot about "loads" in the mission. It´s so true that that difficulty or trial can help us get "unstuck" so we can return to our family. I also loved his testimony of the Savior and His atonement. I have gained such a great appreciation and love for my Savior and what He did for me. How wonderful it is that we have someone that loves us that much. Wow. 

I want to share my testimony that I know that this is the Savior´s church. That He lives and that He loves us. We DO have a living Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and he holds the sacred keys of the priesthood. I know that this church is true and I know that because of my Savior´s love for me, I can return and live with Him and my Heavenly Father. I love you all and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Thank you so much! I love you so much.

 I thought about you guys a ton during conference. I don´t get homesick anymore. It´s kind of weird to describe.  I’ve been away for so long that everything has probably changed. I don´t know why, but this thought actually helps me to focus more on my mission. I still get excited when another month passes, but I´m starting to get sad that I only have 11 months left. 

Also, I am so happy that things are going well at home. I can´t tell what a powerful force this is for me in my mission. Thank you so much :)

 

                                      We made tapioca. It´s actually more like a crep more than a pudding. It was so good.

 

 

We climbed the Christos again. It was good, again. 

Viviane's Baptism!

Can I just say that I love my mission. It is seriously the best thing I have ever done. This week was really hard, but at the same time, extremely rewarding. For the past two weeks, we´ve been struggling to find new people to teach. We knock doors, talk to strangers at the bus stop, and ask the members for referrals. Unfortunately, nothing seems to be working. I was a bit upset with this. We´ve been working really hard and are exactly obedient, but nothing is turning up.

On Friday, I had a little chat with Heavenly Father. Mom, what you said about prayer is so true. Heavenly Father will ALWAYS help us if we ask. I basically told Him that I was ready to become the missionary He wants me to be. I told Him I would knock doors for the rest of my mission for just a little bit of help in that moment. (This was during my language study, so Sister Oliveira was in the other room reading.) Anyway, I had a strong prompting to read a little in the Liahona. I came across a talk from Elder Holland. I just scanned the talk a little bit, but what I did read was exactly what I need to hear. Elder Holland said something like this, "There is always hope. Always. But sometimes that bitter cup doesn´t pass from us and we need to drink it and carry on." Wow, these words totally gave me that little help and the will to work harder and trust in the Lord. So, we went to work. And you know what? The Lord DID bless us with a miracle.

VIVIANE WAS BAPTIZED ON SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After a full day of knocking doors that same Friday, Viviane called us up and said that she wanted to be baptized in our ward this past Sunday. Words cannot describe how happy I was and still am. Talk about an answer to a prayer. Holy cow Heavenly Father is the best.

The Baptism was really amazing too. It was directly after church, so the whole ward was there to support Viviane. Our Bispo baptized her and she was confirmed directly after because next week is conference. Oh my gosh was it the best. 

I love Viviane so much. She is studying to be an elementary school teacher and works full time. She only has Sundays free, so that´s when we taught her. It´s only been like three weeks, but she prayed about the Book of Mormon and received an answer. So, she decided to be baptized. The church is true my friends. And God hears and answers prayers. 

Missions are the BEST! And I am so grateful for mine. I love learning to trust in the Lord and more about the gospel. When you really think about it, it just makes sense. The gospel is so simple and so clear that it´s difficult to doubt it. I know that we have the same gospel that Jesus Christ taught. I know that it is true that that the Book of Mormon is true too. I love this church!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope that you all have a fantastic week! Also, read Matt 10:31 if you´re feeling down.:) I promise you will feel better:)

Love, Sister Whitney

 

Tell grandma pat that I got her package and that is was so great. I sent her a letter today. We made cookies from the ingredients that she sent! They were amazing. We brought them to the baptism too and everyone loved them. Thanks Grandma Pat!!!

 

Us at the baptism. My face looks a little sad and I don´t know why. I was seriously soooooo happy!

 

The churches here are so beautiful. (Sorry I forgot this one!)

SPIDERS IN BRAZIL and GIDDY UP FOR THE GOSPEL

SO, this week has been pretty great! I found out that this transfer, Sister Oliveira and I are staying together in Poços! Yayaya! I am so happy about this. This transfer is going to be the greatest! I love sister Oliveira so much and I am so happy we get to be companions for another transfer! Woot!

Anyway, I need to tell an epic tale. Yesterday, we were coming home from lunch to study. Our house has this door/gate thingy and then a hallway like thing that leads to our front door. It´s pretty narrow in the hallway thingy, but this has never been a problem before. That is, until yesterday.

Sister Oliveira opened the gate and I walked in without another thought. I was almost to the end of the hallway, when something caught my eye and stopped me dead in my tracks. Seriously the BIGGEST, HAIREST, BLACKEST, SPIDER was crawling down the wall in front of me, probably like 3 feet away. I screamed like a little girl and ran for the gate. By this time, Sister Oliveira noticed the enemy and ran screaming for the other side of the road. We stood there screaming for only a couple of minutes.
 Anyway, I knew I had to kill the beast, so I grabbed a couple of rocks and headed for the battlefield. Sister oliveira stayed screaming on the side of the road- it was her only defense. With a quick prayer, I headed down the hallway to face my fear. I flung the first rock and knocked the monster off the wall. But it wasn´t enough to kill the brute. With a little more courage, I headed down closer to our front door. Almost mockingly, the spider headed for our door, as if to show that it wasn´t afraid of me. Well, I was having none of this, so I hurled another rock at its hariy face. AND....It was a successful hit! With one mightly blow, the great black beast was defeated. We reclaimed our home and safety.

This really has no spiritual ties, but I though it was an experience worth sharing.

The spiritual aspects of our week were great. We have one GOLDEN investigator that wants to be Baptised! Her name is Viviane and I love her so much. The only problem is that she wants to be baptised in her boyfriend´s ward. I´m really not too upset about this because she knows the church is true. That is pretty much my whole job, to help people recognize the truth and then come unto God. So, if she gets baptized here or there, I am happy:)

Thank you so much for your prayers and kind thoughts:) I love you all so much and I hope you have a fantastic week!
Love, Sister Whitney

I found this. Giddy up for the Gospel. 

Happy Birthday to me. 

Yes, this is the enemy of which I spoke. I had no clue that brasil has monsters like this. Yay for me.

Sister Whitney is 20!!!

Everybody listen up. I´m 20 now so I have more wisdom. NOT. Haha. A birthday in Brasil is seriously a strange thing, wonderful, but strange. I actually forgot it was my birthday until my comp said something. Then I was like, "Oh yeah, I've been alive for 20 years today." That was weird. We had a good time. For our last lesson of the day, Sister Oliveira (Sister C. Silva changed her name to Oliveira) wanted to go see a recent convert. I was all for it, so we hurried there. When we arrived all the lights were off in the house, but Sister Oliveira just let herself right in. I was like, "This is weird, but whatever." Come to find out, they had planned a little surprise party for me with cake and everything. I was so surprised and so happy that I almost cried:) It was an excellent birthday.

This week had it's ups and it's downs. We lost a lot of investigators, either they didn't want to learn more or they weren't progressing, so that´s always hard. I was kind of having a hard time with this. We have been working so hard for so long and haven´t seen much success. I honestly didn't know what I was doing wrong. I study hard to become a better missionary, we talk to everyone- and i mean everyone-, we work all day, and still we´re struggling. I was really frustrated with this so I decided to take a minute and cool down. I read a couple talks in the ensign from conference a few years back and came across a talk from Elder Nelson. It was entitled, "The trial of our Faith". I know that this talk was an answer for my desperate prayers. In this talk, Elder Nelson cites Either 12:27, with basically states that the Lord will give us weaknesses so we can become stronger. It´s only after we have exercised our faith though out our trial will we see the growth and the strength we have received. This scripture and talk gave me so much peace. I know that I am doing all that I possible can to be a good missionary. I know that because of this the Lord WILL bless us. Maybe not with 20 new investigators, maybe not with 5 baptisms, but I know that because of the trial of my faith I WILL be a better missionary. I know that I am becoming the instrument that the Lord wants me to be. 

Before my mission, everyone talked about how hard missions are. I was always like, "I can do hard things, a mission can´t be that hard". Well, I can still do hard things, but my mission is seriously the hardest thing I´ve ever done. But it´s also the most rewarding, most cherished part of my life. I feel like a new and better person. The parts that I like about my old self are still there, but I have noticed that I have new and better qualities. Like I´m not afraid to talk to strangers anymore. Look out McDonald's, I´ll be asking for a boatload of ketchup now:) The mission breaks you down so the Lord can build you back up, but better. I love it.

Also, we were rewarded this week for our work and faith. A girlfriend of a member wants to learn more about the church and came to sacrament by herself this week. We had someone in church! (Thanks mom for the prayers!). Her name is Viviane and she´s very open to learning more about the gospel. I am sooo excited to teach her!

I love you all. Thank you so much for the Birthday wishes too! It was seriously an unforgettable birthday:)

Have a fantastic week!

Love, Sister Whitney 

March 10, 2014 Pictures

Lauren's birthday wish to Elena!

Churrasco. This is real life:)

Our Zone!

This happened this morning. The spout broke and I had to jam a plastic bag and plastic tubey thingy into the hole to stop the water. I was so soaked. IT was hilarious.(not)

Sister C. Silva and I with some Elders in our district.

View from the top of our apartment!

March 10, 2014

CARNEEEVAAALLL!

This week was pretty good.

So it was carnaval here in brasil. Seriously it was just like any other week here. It´s not very huge here in Poços. The only difference is that everyone was away visiting other places, so it was a little hard to teach people this week. 

The highlight of my week was Wednesday. We had a zone meeting and then after we had pday (we switched the days so it could work out). The meeting was a little boring, but pday with the Zone was fantastic. We had Brasilian barbeque! I was in heaven. It was really fun too. We just hung out at the church, eating churrasco and playing games. Our zone is pretty dang fantastic too. We have some great missionaries here.

On a spiritual note, this week was pretty great too. I decided that I wanted to learn more about Christ and how he taught. Luckily, preach my gospel has a chapter on Christ like attributes, so I totally dug into that. Oh my heavens have I learned so much! Jesus Christ really was the Master Teacher and it was because he had(has) so many wonderful attributes. My favorite was learning about Patience. Patience is the ability to get through trials, problems, and difficulties without becoming discouraged or angry. It´s the ability to put our trust in the Lord and know that in the end it will all work out. 

I totally needed to study this this week because I got a little upset with some of our investigators. Every week we do all that we can to get them to church, and they still don´t come. But after studying Patience, i feel a lot better. I know that I am doing my part and all that I can to be a good missionary. I just need to be patient and trust that the Lord will help us. It´s been a good learning/growing experience:)

Thank you all for the Birthday wishes! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Have a fantastic week!

Sister Whitney

March 3 2014

From Lauren March 3, 2014

 

Ok, so I´m sorry to do this again, but our baptism fell through. But, this time it was actually a good thing and I will tell you why. So this week we tried to see Marcos every single day. It´s really important that we see investigators preparing for baptism a ton the week before thier baptism because they might get blown away be the winds of Satan if we don´t.
Anyway, every day we set an appointment to see Marcos and he agreed. But when we called right before the lesson, he would cancel and say he had work or something like that. This went on the entire week. I really didn´t understand it because every time we talked to him he expressed how happy he was to be getting baptized.
I was really struggling with knowing what to do. Here was this guy with the desire to be baptized, but he didn´t want to gain the necessary knowledge to be baptized. And the crappy thing is that I´m senior comp and have the make the decision. Well, I prayed really hard to know what to do and then I read D&C 20:37 which talks about the qualifications for baptism. After I read that scripture, I knew Marcos wasn´t ready. And as soon as I came to that decision, another scripture popped into my head (Jacob 1:19) which talks about the responsibility of teaching the gospel and if we don´t teach it as best as we can, essentially that person becomes our responsibility.
So, I called Marcos up and told him that we needed to move his baptism date. He got really angry with me, but after awhile, he agreed to have a lesson with us . We set up the lesson during the exact same time as his baptism was going to be. Well, time for the lesson came and went and we didn´t see Marcos. Then, yesterday, he didn´t show up for church. So, obviously, I think there is something going on with him that isn´t 100% honest. I really hope we get the opportunity to finish teaching him and that he can be baptized, but only when he is ready.
Overall, this week I´ve really come to realize that this is the Lord´s work, not ours. I was really hoping to have another baptism to help out our mission, but the fact of the matter is that it will only happen when the Lord wants it to happen. I actually think this is more of a comfort than anything else. I know that the Lord will place those ready for this gospel in our path. I sincerely and 100% believe this. As long as I’m doing my part and working as hard as I can, the Lord will lead us to His elect. How great is that? Pretty dang great if you ask me :)

Other than the drama with Marcos, our week was pretty normal. We knocked doors a ton, but I actually really like it. It´s fun and we get to talk to a ton of people about the gospel. Plus working with Sister C. Silva is the best. She is so dang hilarious and sometimes we have to take breaks in between knocking doors because we get the giggles. I love her so much :)

Well, I hope that you all have a great week that is full of magic and joy :)

Com amor, Sister Lauren Whitney