Week Thirty Three.

Hello there everyone!

So we had some changes in the area. Our mission president called Monday night and told sister Corrêa that she was going to be transferred. And open an area with Sister Harris (my M.T.C. companion). So sister Corrêa and Sister Harris opened an area, in the same zone, it is in a super small town. They said they knew everyone in one day, and you can walk from one side to the other in 20 mins. But she is in a new house and I got to go with her and get her all set up, I felt like a mom sending my daughter to college or something. It was very hard to see her go, and I do miss her. We worked very well together and we became very good friends. But we both still have a lot of time left. 

But now I have a new companion, and am in the same area still, I think I will stay here for the rest of this transfer (4 weeks) and one more. Her name is Sister Sheewe, and she is an American, form North Carolina. But this is her last transfer here; she now only has 4 more weeks of her mission. So it is very different being companions with Sister Corrêa at the start of her mission, and being with Sister Sheewe at the end of her mission, different views on things. It is weird; now in our house we have 3 Americans and one Argentinian, not one Brazilian. But everything is good. Sister Sheewe, is a very hard worker, and a lot different than what I thought she would be like. I like working with her a lot. She wants the last of her mission to be the best weeks of her mission, so we are trying to work hard and teach a lot. It is good to be with someone who has more experience then you do because they have a lot of different idea and ways to do things so I am able to learn a lot with her.

We were able to start teaching a lot of new families this week and i have a lot of faith that we will be able to baptize this transfer. We will continue to work hard and do everything that we can to bring our brothers and sisters unto Christ. 

(I now don’t have any more time to email, sorry..)

I hope all is well with everyone.

Love you all,
Becca

Week Thirty Two - Photos

All the American Sisters in our mission (before sister Dickson, but 2 leave at the end of this transfer)

Our Family in the mission: Sister Kikuchi(my grandma), Leite (my mom), me, Corrêa (my daughter) (the “family” line of training)

Sister Corrêa and I at the temple

Us at the temple, Sister Sampyo, kikuchi, me, and Corrêa

Week Thirty Two.

Hello everybody,

So yesterday was mother´s day, and I got the fine privilege to talk to my family! I loved it. So this week was different, but it was good, we were able to see a lot of miracle happen, finally our hard work is paying off. But first there were transfers last week, and Sister Sampayo, the sister from Argentina, is now training, and she is training an American, Sister Dickson, she is from Gig Harbor, Washington. What are the odds we live so close, know some of the same people, and are now serving a mission on the other side of the world. But she is a joy to be with and has such enthusiasm for this work. It also gave me a boost confidence with my Portuguese, because all week I have been the translator, and I realized I know a lot more then I realized I did. But I am glad that I am able to be here to help her. I think every dad me and Sister Corrêa are strengthening our relationship, not only as companions but as lifelong friends. I am so blessed to have her and we work very well together and are always on the same page. It truly is a blessing. 

But this week we decided to change things up a bit and try and move our teaching group. So we made even more contacts and got references from people. So we started visiting a few new people this week. And we have had a bit of a problem getting our investigators to church; they say that is usually the hardest thing to do in the mission. But some of the people that we started teaching this week, and have only made one visit with were already at church yesterday. It truly was a miracle, 3 of the new people we started teaching were there, and a few others. It was great, we were super excited. We truly have a testimony of prayer and fasting. Some of these people are very good too. They said they really liked church and want to come back next week already. 

This week we got a few references from less actives. One we have now reactivated, and we started teaching his mom. But the other, there was some problems at church where she doesn’t want to return to this ward, but has an amazing testimony. She said that a lot of people have visited her before and she hasn't had much interest and knew that they just want to reactivate her and didn't really care about her, but she told us that the last time we visited her she felt the spirit so strong and that she told a lot of people about the experience. (Our visit we were all laughing, praying, baring our testimonies, it was great). And she said that she wants to come back and she will work on it. To see how we touch some people’s lives like that means the world to us as missionaries. That is what we live for is experiences like these. 

This week we were able to help our ward a lot. They had a lot of activities, with mother’s day a dance (we didn't go but help set up), that we were happy to help serve. I ran into George, my second baptism again. I think I have mentioned how he is now at military school, but when he is home, he is always at church. He truly is a miracle; he just needs to serve a mission now. But we happened to have the same birthday, in about 2 weeks, but the problem was we didn't know if we would both be here or not. So he told me to hang on and wait at the church. He went and bought a cake and we celebrated our birthdays early with the people who were there at the chapel. It was very nice, and the first time people sang happy birthday to me here.

This week has been great, and I have a ton of faith that these weeks are just going to be better. I love this mission, all of the experiences that it gives me. I hope everyone has a great week.

Love,
Sister Rebecca Nelson

Week 31 - Photos

Week Thirty One.

Hello there everybody,

This week was pretty tiring, mainly because we were traveling, but this week was pretty great. First we had transfers today, however I am still here in Gravatá. So basically everything is still the same, and one of the two other sisters that we live with was transferred.  We will have a mini-transfer in two weeks, and I might go then, we never know. So I think for now if you will send anything to me here it's better to send it to the mission office.

This week we went to Recife, and had a conference with half of our mission. It was pretty neat. We also were able to go to the temple. It was the first time that Sister Corrêa went to the temple. They first told us that we were going to the temple Wednesday and the meeting would be Thursday and we would sleep there. So we canceled everything, because I tend to plan ahead, well this is the first time where planning ahead hasn't worked for me, ha-ha. They moved the day, so we were here for Wednesday, and then couldn't find anyone. We walked everywhere, and it was the first time on my mission where my feet were actually hurling. But it was worth it because we got to go to the temple. We left for our meeting Thursday and were there for a good part of the day. Heard from the president and his wife and the assistants, I learned a lot. I was also able to see some of the other sisters again, it was nice to see them all.

Afterwards we went to the temple and we wanted to sleep there, but we were informed that they had no room because the temple had just opened two days previously, but We tried anyway. We asked if they had any room at all, even a mattress on the floor. They said they had a nursery room. So we went in a room with cribs and everything. but they were very kind and brought in mattresses for us. So we slept on the floor but it was all very good, and we were grateful they gave us the room. But at night we were able to go to the temple. I love going to the temple. The next day we had breakfast with one person and lunch with another. So it took us awhile to leave. We then took a metro bus, to a train, then to another bus, it took us about 3 hours to get home. By this time my companion and one of the other sisters weren't feeling good. But the other set of sisters had baptismal interveiew. So I quickly ran with the sister that wasn't sick to the interviews, it was a very busy day.

But some miracles happened this week. At church, a family that we have been teaching for awhile, but whom needed to go to church, actually showed up. We even tried calling them in the morning and they didn't answer, but they showed up to church! Sister Corrêa about had a heart attack. it was great. They were even able to see one of the baptisms after church . They really liked it. We will see what they think now!!!!!

Another miracle that happened this week. A member who always helps us, was going to bring a friend to our English/Spanish class. However it was a holiday so we weren't going to have it, but he asked us to be there anyway. When he brought a person to the chapel we explained that we were sorry that we weren't going to have the class, but then we talked to him for a bit over an hour and started talking to him about our church. We also took him on a tour of the building and explained all the stories relating to the pictures in the hall with Christ. But towards the end I told them that we were practicing a song before he came and wanted to share it with them. We sang  I know that my redeemer lives first and second verse in Portuguese then the last two in English. It was quite amazing. Later he told his member friend that he loved how we explained everything to him and loved us singing. He couldn't come to church this week, but promised next week. We are quite excited to see how it turns out. It was a spiritual uplifting experience.

I love the things that happen here on the mission, whether for good or bad I love them all.

Love all,
Sister Rebecca Nelson