Week Fifty.

Hello there everyone,

I don't have a lot of time to write today, so I will try and make this fast. Today we went to Recife, in the old part of the city and brought a members brother who was a history teacher, and knows a lot about the history of the city. We basically got a free tour of some of the historic sites of the city, it was very cool. I liked it a lot! I will have to send pictures next week. This city has a ton of history to it and a very diverse culture. It is very interesting. I love this city

But not much has happened this week. It was pretty normal, didn't have lows or extreme ups either. Just..normal. :) But We are going to be preparing a person to be baptized this week, she is a bit nervous because she is afraid that she won't be able to stop smoking. She has basically stopped but is afraid that she will return begin smoking again, and wants to know more about the church. But we know that she is ready! This week the assistants came and visited us to see how we were doing. They didn't give us any warning, it was quite a surprise, but good. 

Yesterday, I felt like a member again not a missionary, because I was at church almost the whole day and I just came home to eat, ha-ha. There was a stake women's conference yesterday, and wow it was amazing, I learned a lot. The theme was guardians of the home. There was a spiritual part, then a workshop part, it was very well planned. 

As for me and am doing great, I keep working hard and am trying to do my best! I am now seeing and feeling the toll on my body after a year of working and walking. I am starting to feel more tired as the weeks past. But yet I am loving it because I know that I am happy doing the lords work and that he will bless me after. 

Well that is about it for me! Sorry that this is short this week Love you guys and hope all is well.

Love,
Sister Rebecca Nelson

Week Forty Nine.

Hello there everybody,

So this week was really good! A lot better than the past week when I was sick and we weren't able to do much. We set some high goals this week for number of lessons, contacts and people at church, and guess what! We were able to complete all of those goals! It was a hard push at the very end, but we were able to do it! Sunday night we were only short a few contacts and a lesson, nothing seemed to be going right. Finally we were able achieve the goals that we wanted for the day and ended up with a great week! It was so fantastic. One of the biggest miracles was the number of people that were at church! After having a month with no one at church we were able to have 7 people at church, and 3 of them were there for the first time, it was amazing! We were so happy. We will soon be preparing some of these people for baptism. It truly was a miracle to have these things happen this week. It really was a stretch but we were able to pull through with the Lords help!

We are continuing helping Nací prepare for baptism (hopefully next week), she just has a few problems she needs to sort out, but she is amazing. We have been teaching her for a couple of weeks now, but her daughter said that her mom has always been looking for a church but has never been able to find one. She said her mom has been super happy about this church and always talking about it. She is a miracle and will be ready for baptism soon. We have been able to see a bunch of small miracles here this week and are finding a bunch of new people. 

One of the things that has happened this week I really loved was the interview that I had with the mission president. He asked how everything was, he thanked me for my work and thanked me for everything that I was doing. I talked to him about service, and he said something very interesting. That the atonement of Christ is one of the most important things in our life, but usually we never give thanks for it, the same thing is in life. A lot of the time we give and see nothing in return. After my companion and I had our interviews we both changed a lot!  He said something to both of us about our companionship, and we knew that we were going to stay together for this next transfer. So Transfers were today and we are together for another month and a half. But we are continuing learning, growing and serving one another and this transfer will be different!!

But that is about all for me this week, I hope that everything is good everyone. You will hear form me again next week.

Love,
Sister Rebecca Nelson

Week Forty Eight.

Hello everyone,

So this week was a bit interesting. I was sick almost the whole week. It was nothing bad, so don't worry. It started one day with just my throat hurting, then I lost my voice and got a bit of a cold flu thing. On Tuesday my companion told me that I need to at least take a nap for a bit and that afterwards, if I felt better, we can go and work. I ended up sleeping the whole day! I was a bit out of it. But I then started feeling better, but my voice was not. There were several days where I didn't really didn't have a voice and couldn't talk. When my voice became really bad my companion made us go back home and gargle with salt water. (I found this to be good way to diet because you never want to eat after that, ha-ha). But now I am almost back to normal, so things are great.

But because I was sick there was a few days where we weren't able to work or worked part of the day. So we weren't really able to teach a whole lot. Also when I was good to go out, we found absolutely no one in their homes, it was probably the weirdest week ever. But through our trials we were able to see miracles! We got to church and one of our investigators came to church on her own, we were so happy. The other called saying that she woke up late, so we went with a member who had a car and brought her to church. We both were super happy. We even set a baptismal date, the first in awhile. We are helping her to stop smoking and with other goals, so that she can be baptized. She actually said exactly some of the same things that one of my investigators said to me in my last area, and she was baptized. So it was like reliving the experience over again, it was pretty neat.

This week we had a Zone Conference with half of our mission and it was really good. I was able to see some of my old companions, and met some new people too. The president gave a ton of good advice, my companion and I were quick to put it into practice. We are excited to see our area progress. I am so grateful to be here on the mission, it is passing by so fast, and I am trying to make every day worth it. I hope you all have a great week.

Love,
Sister Rebecca Nelson

Week Forty Seven.

Hello there everyone,

So this week was another good week, we just keep trying to work hard and we know that someday our work will pay off. We are continuing to work hard, but the area is still a bit hard, but it is progressing slowly but surely, haha. This week we were able to meet a lot of our goals that we had set personally and as a companionship, so we were pretty excited. We were able to have another new person at church! Three weeks in a row with new people at church, but they need to go 2 weeks before they can be baptized. But that will come eventually. This week was good too, she was very welcomed by everyone and she said that she would come back next week with her daughter also.

The last few weeks we have been trying to make a lot of contacts, to find new people, in other words trying to find people we can baptize. One day was very interesting with our proselyting. The last contact that we made, had probably the worst reaction to us that I have ever seen. I knocked a door, a lady answered and I explained who we were and asked her for her name. She then yelled at us saying that she doesn’t like Mormons, told us how she has studied our church before and knows how wrong it is. She proceeded to yell at us to leave! I then nicely responded “have a good night” she then yelled us that we were going “down below”. It was quite interesting, probably the worst response I have ever had. My companion and I looked at each other and just had to kind of laugh. It was a bit funny. But one of the first contacts that we made that same day was an old lady, she invited us into her house to show us all of her “projects”, so we went in and there were quilts everywhere, crocheted things and crafty things. It kind of looked like a JoAnn´s exploded in her house. She does a bunch of patchwork quilts and they are really good!!! It was quite amazing to see. It felt pretty cool that at least I new a bit, and told her that my mom quilts sometimes too. She was pretty excited. That was probably the coolest contact that we made. So it has been a bit interesting.

These last couple of p-days Sister Rodrigues and I have been going into the center of town to do a few things and has also been showing me a few of the tourist things also. Because her whole mission she has been in or close to the center of town, so she knows a lot here. We haven’t had a ton of time, but each time we see something new. This city has a bunch of old history to it and it is pretty cool. I like it a lot. I need to send more photos, but yet she always tells me to hide my camera to not look like a tourist. It’s a bit hard, ha-ha.

But we are continuing strong and working hard. We both have woken up every day this week completely exhausted but we keep working hard. It is great I love this work, and I love the people that we met here, even the interesting ones. Ha-ha. But I hope that everyone has a good week. Until next time

Love,
Sister Rebecca Nelson

Week Forty Six.

Hello there everybody,

This week was better!! Finally no one was sick, so we were able to get some work done. We had an amazing week; we were able to teach a lot of lessons, knock on a lot of doors, so we found a lot of new people! We set some pretty high goals and were able to get pretty close. This next week will be even better.

Finally I have some stories to tell you. One of them is about a girl we brought to church this week. We found her the other week knocking doors; she was at the last door that we knocked on that day too. She promised to visit our church, but had a few other things going on. We were finally able to teach her this week, her name is Myara and is about 23 years old. She is going to another church from time to time, but nothing serious. We were teaching her the about the restoration and the first vision when her friend from the other church came to get her to go to their church. However, her friend stayed and listened to our lesson. They both were moved by the lesson and my companion’s testimony. It was great! Sunday, when she showed up to church, she found that she knew a few of the Single Adults in the ward too. One of them who is a recent convert who had been attending the same church that she is, so it was perfect. They quickly talked and became best friends. They plan, together, on going to institute and to church this week together. After church was over we looked around to see where our investigator was. We found her leaving the building with a member laughing and everything. We at first were concerned that she had left without saying bye, but were then were thrilled at how fast she made friends here in the ward. Friends at church can make it or break it for people!

We were able to find lots of people this week by knocking doors. I think the most interesting was an old man. When I asked him his name he grumpily yelled at me “what do you want”! I then, in as nice as a voice as I could, responded who we were and our purpose, He then muttered some things under his breath waved at us to go and walked away. It was kind of funny.

We then found a lady who was in a time of need. My companion had decided that we should knock on one more door, even though we already met our goal for the day. The lady let us right in and started crying, asking us “how did you know to come here”. The answer was simple. But we were both very happy to find someone who needed help. We had several other experiences like that this week. This week truly has been a lot better than previous ones.

Our companionship has been getting a lot better. My companion and I didn’t really mesh that well at first, but we are now becoming not just companions but friends We still have our ups and downs, but we are doing a ton better even though she is crazy sometimes I like working with her. I am learning a lot, and a lot about myself too while I am here. I love this work. It is very hard sometimes, but I love it for everything that it is! I am so grateful to be here. I hope that everyone has a great week.

Love,
Sister Rebecca Nelson

Week Forty Five.

Hello again everyone,

I hope everyone is doing well. So this week was interesting. I will just tell you first, that I have been praying a lot to better my relationship with my companion, and then... she got sick and hurt all this week. I don’t really know if that was an answer to my prayer exactly, but hey, it worked.

Last Tuesday morning Sister Rodrigues woke up with her eye hurting a lot, it was all pink and swollen. So after our meeting and lunch we went to the local free health clinic. They didn’t have anyone there for eyes so sent us down town. Well we went there and they said that because she was over 21, anyone accompanying her had to wait outside (in the street, at night, downtown). So we tried to explain that we had to stay together, about the mission and the rules. He said she was 24 and could handle herself. So... I ended up waiting outside in the street, at night, in the middle of the city (I am an American, and everyone always thinks that we have a lot of money). So I was a bit scared, and alone, but talked to a nice lady who was also waiting. It was very weird. As it turned out that my companion had something like pink eye, but that it takes away the protective layering of the eye. It burns and feels like your eye is popping out. But I had to put eye drops in her eye every 6 hours. Oh, and this is super contagious, so I have been washing my hand a lot, and getting after her to wash her hands too.

The doctors told us that she has to rest the next day. That day we tried calling everyone to see if someone could make visits with me and someone else stay with her, well no one wanted to catch what she had. Sooooo... We ended up staying in the house. But our nice Zone Leaders came to our area to help us out (because the area has been struggling a bit). So I made them brownies, or tried with this recipe. They don’t have brownies, but because all the Americans talk about them, all the members and missionaries know about them and want them. But it’s really hard without a simple brownie mix and other things. But they turned out pretty good. But the next day she really wanted to leave the house, so as we were leaving our apartment building, she fell down the stairs (one elder said because she was blind from her other illness, :)) But she fell and ended up sitting on top of her foot, It was a pretty bad fall, I saw it. So.... She then couldn’t walk very well for the rest of the week, and it actually is still hurting.

However we were able to work some this week. But the time that we spent together this week has strengthened our relationship, and I am very grateful for that. When we were able to work this week, we accomplished a lot.  Not only do we have a problem with the amount of baptisms, but were are having problems just getting our investigators to church. A lot of people told us that they would come, but because it was father’s day here in Brazil, it all fell through. Iwas not going to go another Sunday without any investigators at church. So we were calling some of our investigators and one of them kept saying that she was coming. It so happens that she lives just across the street from the church building, so I left the building went to her house to go get her. It turned out she wanted to go but was embarrassed. But we brought her there and she really liked it. So things here are improving slowly but surely and everything is good.

Today for our P-day, Sister Rodrigues showed me some of the cool things in the center of Recife. I don’t know why it has taken me so long to look at some of these things. We are planning on doing more things now on our p-day. We looked at a lot of flea markets, where things were super cheap! We then also went into an old prison where they made it into a tourist shops. I went into one shop and she asked if I spoke Portuguese, ha-ha, I have actually never gotten asked that before. It was funny. But then she kept giving us samples of sweets too. A hippie stopped us on the street and made a ´´art´´ metal ring for us, it was pretty cool. But during lunch we were able to talk to this funny old guy and shared a lot with him about the church. So things will turn up here. I continue strong, and thank Heavenly Father for all my blessings and my struggles. I hope that everyone has a wonderful week.

Love,
Sister Rebecca Nelson

Week Forty Four.

Hello there everyone,

So it has been another week in Várzea. Wow how time flies by so fast, I cannot believe that we are in the month of August already! But this week was another challenging week, another week to test our faith. We had a meeting at the beginning of the week with all these goals and plans to do stuff. We then went out that day with "fire in our bones" and accomplished all our goals and more, it felt great! Then... Sister Rodrigues got sick, so for the rest of the week it was hard to work. But it was funny because she would lay down and wake up a little while later trying to say that we needed to work, but she couldn't. So the rest of the week we took it easy, and worked to the limit of what she could do. We ended the week on Saturday on a more positive note, Sister Rodrigues  was feeling better and we were finally able to teach a lot of people. Again we had several investigators promise that they would go to church but no one did. We however are doing our part, just need to keep trying. Maybe... it's because all through my mission I have prayed to the Lord for patience and he is now testing me. But it's all good. All these experiences let me learn and grow as a person.

So again, I am sorry I don't really have many experiences or stories to tell you this week. But there was one that really touched my heart. We were walking with one of the sisters in the ward after lunch and we happened meet one of her neighbors as  we were walking down this street (actually a very muddy hill) and the neighbor with her hands full of groceries and two small kids in tow; was just starting up muddy hill. My companion and I helped her back up the hill to her house with her groceries and children. She invited us in and we were able to talk and visit for a while. Her little daughter, who is 3 years old, has leukemia. They moved into the city so she could receive her treatments. This young mom who is going through a lot of trials, was happy to hear our message. During the discussion I took notice of this little girl, what a positive and happy spirit this little girl has! She interacted everyone: laughing, playing, joking. You wouldn't know that she was really very sick, but I noticed that she was filled with the Spirit of Christ. Seeing this little girl;  and being able to talk and play with her really touched my heart and gave me a better appreciation of life. It is amazing the positive effects that examples of others can have on you. We need to remember to look for these fortifying examples in others, because they can strengthen us when we need it.

But as for me I will just continue working hard, doing my best every day, doing the Lords work. I truly am blessed to be here and grateful for this opportunity. I am thankful for all of the experiences on the mission to and the chance I have to learn and grow from them. I hope all is well with everyone. Until next week.

Love,
Sister Rebecca Nelson