March 31, 2014- paciência

Bom dia familia!!

This has been a roller coaster week, for sure, but I am learning lots! Most of all, this week I think I learned about the virtue patience. I think it was premonition that I studied this atribute this week because throughout the week I definitely needed every ounce of patience I could muster and actually, my companion was the least of my worries this week in the patience department. Our investigators are just so very stubborn in their own special ways. But actually, I find these situations ever so comical. It may just be a defense mechanism, laugh to keep from crying, but I guess there is not much we can do but laugh about a lot of the crappy moments right?

´Here´s the breakdown:

1. Terezinha: Her baptism was all set for this sunday. She has come to church lots of times and she even brought her family last week. Buuttt she had a dream that we told her she needed to wait for more knowledge before baptism. We told her this was typical and that Satan was the only person who did not want her to get baptized and she should pray about it. She she did. And yesterday at church she said ´´I recieved an answer... I am suppossed to wait until my birthday, May 31, to be baptized.´´ She seems pretty set on this plan so until further notice May 31 it is. 

2. Luana. She was another investigator marked for baptism. She was about ready. She doesnt have a problem with any of the comandments and she even took notes during our lessons. She felt like she was getting an answer to prayers and we were pretty excited with her progress. And then... we visited her the other day and she thanked us for our visits. She told us that she had felt the spirit and strengthened her relationship with Christ but then she respectfully told us not to return. Ouch.. At first this was a bit difficult because I could not help but think we did something wrong, but our job is to teach and testify to the best of our abilities and then people have the agency to make their own decisions. 

3. Creuza: She too was scheduled for baptism this week. Butttt in her interview with our district leader she said.. ´´I can not lie to you as a represntative of God. I have a boyfriend.´´ She went on to tell him that the law of chastity was one commandment she just couldnt keep. Keep in mind, this woman is like 65, she cant really walk or even stand up and shes pretty fat. She we did not really think to spend a lot of time teaching about the importantance of living a chaste life... our mistake. hahaha. We have been laughing for days about this one. 

4. Caique is a 16 year old, smart kid and after lots of study and prayer he has finally accepted that while he loves his other church (largely because of the screeming and drum beating) ours is the one true church on the earth. However, he will only agree to be baptized if we can find him a lake. You see, Christ was baptized in a lake and so he must do the same. Yeah finding a lake clean enough for emesion is quite difficult in our area. 

5. Cida is another senhora, maybe 65 and she is also so excited about our message. She came to church Sunday and had a really great experience. Buuttt she smokes 1 pack of cigarettes every day. So we are trying to work with her now on that. 

The list could go on. But I am learning that this work is not easy because salvation is not a whimsical task. It required everything from the savior and it requires something of our souls as well. 

But, we had some really good moments too!!! This Friday, a cousin of some of our favorite members, Brenda and Barbara, is getting baptized. Her name is Sueliani and she is such a special girl! Turns out she has been waiting for quite some time but her parents are not fans of the church. But now that she is 18 she can finally make her own decisions. She already passed the interview and now we are just meeting with her to clarify doctrine. And she is planning to turn in her mission papers a year from Friday. 

And Jefferson.... Remember our little studly recent convert Danilo? (the one with the snazzy new church clothes thanks to mom) Well last week for dia dos amigos at church he brought his friend Jefferson. He has visited before and he wants to learn more! So we have been teaching him and he is a darling little boy too. He completes his homework like a champion. He is learning lots and as a side note, one of the best feelings in the world is watching an investigator learn how to pray with sincerity to their Heavenly Father. And another is watching a new convert share their testimony. In one of our lessons Danilo shared his love for the gospel and it was touching because he is still so young in age and time in the church. 

You guys probably learned wayy more than you wanted to about some of our current investigators but here is the lesson of the week: This work requires a lot of patience. I guess life requires a lot of patience as well. Because things rarely go as planned and people have the agency to make their own decisions. We are all learning and growing but we need to be patient with ourselves too because the art of becoming is a process. But among this difficult, trying moments, there are a lot of good experiences to be had also. As Elder Wirthlin said we just gotta have the attitude ´´ come what may and love it!´´

Love you guys! Hope all is well! 

Sister Lauren

p.s.  Good job on the book of mormon give away! It just depends on the packages. We get them during conferences or sometimes during our weekly district meetings. But frequently enough. And she acted a little strange at first but it is a little better now. But mom.. she spits loogies. all the time. it is quite disgusting. But all is well! Love you! Lauren

March 24, 2014- Vicaaa, Mountains and Assults!

Hiii!!

A few highlights of the week. First: Victoria and Alex made a surprise visit!!!!! Words can not express how happy I was to see them. Backtracking a little bit, earlier this week I was talking with the other sisters in my house about the things that we miss and the first things we will do when we get home. My campanion, of course said that she will be listening to rock for at least an entire week straight. One said sleep for a long, long time, and the other said she plans to find a boyfriend.  (I resisted the urge to use JD´s favorite sports chant OVERRATED) She hasn´t had much dating experience and it is eating at her now. And I thought for a minute, and the biggest thing I long for is just YOU GUYS, my family. I miss talking and laughing and having adventures. I miss the wonderful feeling of being in a place I love with people I love and feeling entirely comfortable. I try hard to make the people here my family and sometimes it works better than others but nothing can take the place of you guys and I am just so very grateful for the wonderful family we have.

But a visit from Vica and Alex felt like a piece of home. It was so nice to talk to them about just everything. Missions, pregnancy, family, home, adjusting to Brazil. Just everything. I was as giddy as a school girl and I felt like we were back having one of our Cannon Center/Thai food dates. ANDDD they left me with chocolate cookies made from real butter, quality brown sugar, and all the love that a functioning kitchen can muster. You would not believe the difference this makes. All in all, it was so wonderful.

Victoria told me that she was planning on sending pictures of my area but decided against it because she thought they might scare mom. Ironic, because last night the other sisters in our area were assaulted and their cell phone was stolen. Luckily they did not have any money with them and so the two guys on motorcycles just left. But needless to say, I am pretty freaked out. People have told us it is not safe to be on the streets during nights but the sun goes down here around 6:30 and we work until 9:30 every night so I guess all we can do is not bring a lot of things with us, and pray for safety. Have I mentioned how grateful I am for my safe, surburban Alpine home?

And in honor of Dad´s birthday, I want to talk a little about a lesson I learned from him last summer during probably one of the worst days of our lives. This account could have easily made some reality TV show for just how horrible it was. He had been wanting to hike Lone Peak for quite some time, and he decided it was about time. John, Rachel and I reluctantly agreed to the challenge. John is automatically enlisted in all of dads adventures being the only boy. Rachel is a warrior and oh so incredible at this kind of stuff, and I decided it was a good opportunity to bond and experience something `hard`before my mission.

My dad planned and prepared. He bought a few maps, lots of snacks, a water purifier, a lot of gatorades and took off on our adventure at a whopping 4:00 in the morning. We felt entirely prepared. Butttt, things did not go quite as planned (I am learning that this happens often in life). We got lost, terribly lost, more than once. We ran out of water and ended up drinking out of the stream. We were absolutely exhausted physically and mentally. Due to an unexpected, off-trail mountain scale, we were cut up and bloody. But there really was no option but to keep going. And we prayed for strength. a lot. Finally, we found the trail and made it home. Granted it was almost midnight. Mom had decided that she was a widow and Jess started claiming our items as her own but we made it home safe and sound.

This experience taught me more than any sacrament meeting talk could about how hard life can be. At times I truly thought that we would never make it. But we just kept going. And along the way there were a lot of sweet moments too. Like when we reached the very top and saw one of the most incredible views ever. Or the bite of the snickers bar that dad found ot the bottom of his bag torwards the end of the night. Or the time Rachel rubbed my shoulders and gave me a pep talk because I was in shambles by this point. Or when we finally found the trail and knew that we could make it. Or the slurpy and burger from JCW as our reward.

Thank you dad for everything you taught me that day, and throughout my entire life about optomism, lofty goals, and hard work. I can not imagine a better husband to mom, or father to us. I want to be like you and I am hoping and praying that I can be worthy to find someone like you. Don´t let the family talk you out of the great Thai food dinner that you deserve. I love you very much!

In other news, we continue to teach a lot. If all goes as planned we have two more baptisms, Creuza and Terezinha this Saturday. Both are Senhoras and both seem really excited about the things they are learning. We are teaching some other individuals and families too. I will talk more about this next week.

Love you and think about you often,

Sister Lauren

p.s. 

Hi mom! I am so glad that you found your ring! what a miracle. It was so good seeing Victoria. Like seriously, the best thing ever. I honestly needed that visit! 

Missao Oeste Facebook page!

Look who's photo showed up on the Mission blog today!

A message from a cute Brazilian!

It is always a bonus to hear anything from ANYONE in Brazil! Makes the weeks go better and faster!

I posted a cute photo of Lauren in the Rain on Monday! One of the Brazilian ladies made a comment on the instagram. 

"Liiiinda. Minha best Americana"= Beautiful! My best American!

How cute is this! She doesn't know what it does for a moms heart to see something posted like this!

March 17, 2014- Sacrifícios!

This week was good! We had a lot of really good, fulfilling days. And we had lunch with fancy Nancy which always makes for a very entertaining time. She actually let me help set her table which is a very big honor in her house. When the other American, Sister Woods (The same girl that she calls "sister angry" and made the yellow teeth comment to) tried to help Nancy quickly told her to sit down. So I felt this was sort of an honor. At one point during lunch she went around the table and told each and every one of use how beautiful we were... well until Sister Woods. She told her "Sister Woods, you would be more beautiful if you were less grande." Lets just say that Nancy is one of the main reasons I work hard here to keep a girlish figure. 

But Nancy aside, I´ve tried to figure out what diferentiates a good day from a bad one here because now days go perfectly or completely according to schedule. But I have decided that the days I like best are the ones where I get to spend time with our ``regulars.`` Our investigators that are progressing, understanding, and embracing our message. I have also decided that I am a creature of comfort. I don´t really like change. Exhibit A: I still love 7th heaven, full house, and before my mission I listened to Backstreet Boys on a regular basis. so nineties. And so it is hard for me to see people that I grow to love decide not to read the scriptures we give, pray or go to church. I want them to feel the happiness I feel but they just don´t get it sometimes.Like our investigators Marta and Marcos and their daughter Paloma: They have testimonies and they come to church every week, but they just can´t manage to give up smoking so we have had to limit our visits with them. So sad. 

So when we have investigators that do realize how special our message is, and are willing to make the necessary sacrifies it is really special. Like Joana... She was baptized this week!! And so we spent lots of time with her. And in particular we had conversation with her that I just loved. We started reading the Book of Mormon with her from the beginning because she has difficulties reading on her own. And after we read the first chapter I explained the story behind the Book of Mormon and expressed my gratitude for the sacrifices the prophets like Nephi and Moroni made for the book. I told her how because of the work they did with their own hands and according to their own knowledge we have this great book to learn from. 

She responded,"sort of like the sacrifices you made to serve a mission. You are learning Portuguese and that is not easy. And you guys work every day evey when it is raining or really hot outside. And you are doing all of this to help people like me learn about Jesus Christ." 

I thought a lot about this conversation this week and one of my favorite quotes by Elder Holland: his interpretation of experience in the bible with Christ and Peter. "I need someone to feed my sheep and save my souls. I need someone to preach my gospel and defend my faith. I need someone who loves me, truly loves me and loves what our father in heaven has sent me to do. This is the work of the all powerful God and it is to change the world."

The bottom line is, people who love God and want to be like Jesus Christ make sacrifices. But the interesting thing about these sacrifices is that if we were able to ask Nephi, Abinidi, Alma, Moroni, Helaman, Mormon, etc "was it worth it?" I am sure they would all say that the time they spent away from their families, the temptations they avoided, and the service they rendered seemed insignificant when they observe the many blessings they recieved in return. Their families were kept safe, they found happiness and peace in their sometimes shattered world, they had direction and they were blessed with strength in times of need. Yes, they made sacrifices, but God richly blessed them as well. 

I am grateful to be able to learn a little more about this process here, especially alongside such wonderful humble people like Joana. And it is difficult to tell if our efforts are changing the world. There is so much to do and we are only human trying to work with our own hands and our own strengths and weaknesses. But as for Joana and her world: She knows that she has a savior. She now feels clean and pure from her sins. She gave up smoking, and she knows that she will see the daughter that died again. So as for her and her world, I think that we are making a very significant difference. And these baby steps are enough for me at the moment. 

Love you all! 

Sister Lauren

                                            our district meetings. uno is one of the only pieces of home we get here.

                                                                     A park we found! and lots of rain! 

                                                                                         Joana! at the temple

                                                 
                                                                 Danilo and his new clothes! They fit perfectly

                                                         the division last week! so fun!

Jeans-A very Special Occasion!

p.s.  Wow!! Your car is beautiful and the Brazilian Christ statue-green for St. Patricks Day?! how funny! Has dad gotten a new car yet now that Katie has his? Thats crazy about Ashley! Im excited for her. Oh I got a package from Victoria! Loved that. But I see my President every few weeks and whenever we talk I can understand everything he is saying. My campanion is trying to learn English but she currently doesnt know anything and we kind of have a mission rule that we are not allowed to speak English so it is basically Portuguese all the time. 

In conversations about the gospel I can understand everything and say basically everything I want to say but with other converstations it just depends. Today we are going to the mission office because my companion has a meeting with President. I am starting to discover that I think she suffers from depression and her family situation does not really help. And I think she views president as sort of a father because hers died. 

March 9, 2014, WEEK # 12- Yellow Sycamore Leaves!

This week was a little slower than normal. We had 5 baptisms scheduled for Saturday but they all fell through for some reason or another. But I am hoping they are just postponed, not cancled. 

Joana is the woman who we met through her son, Anderson. Her 20 something year old daughter died a few years ago and she takes a lot of comfort from our message because of the promise for eternal families. Her baptism was scheduled for Saturday but the bishop could not be there because of work so he asked us to change it to Sunday. She came to church with a towel and all. I made cookies and we were all sorts of excited. Buttt her son Anderson did not make it back from the other side of town and it was super important to her that he was there so we are hoping all goes as planned for this Saturday. I am learning so much flexibility and patience here. But we got to go to the temple with her this week and we felt such a special spirit as we talked about the opportunity she will have to complete the work for her daughter after she is baptized. She is already so excited. 

Marta and Marcos are the two 60 year-old newlyweds and they just can not seem to stop smoking. We have made calendars and they are making progress but it is just so sad to think that 1 or two measley daily cigarettes are keeping them from such great opportunities. I have such a testimony of the Word of Wisdom and it has actually become one of my favorite lessons to teach. It almost seems like a tradgedy that so many good people want to give up these habits but they just cant. 

Their daughter Paloma, and her boyfriend Adilson are progressing. They are going to church and they are slowly but surely coming along. However, they dont feel ready and I cant really blame them. Baptism is a huge commitment to God and I have a lot of respect for people who put thought, study and prayer into this, and any other big decision in life. 

This week I had a really incredible experience!! With the new traning program, sisters get an opportunity to go on splits with sister trainers and learn a little more from them. And lets just say... I did not know what I was missing out on. My trainer has a few qualities I want to emulate, but I have also learned many things to not do as a trainer or just a companion in general. The sister trainer, Sister Rodrigues has so many good qualities but one in particular that I admire so much is her ability to see things (and people) for their potential. Example: We were walking down the street and there was a man fixing the street lamps and he had a huge pile of colored wire. She kindly asked if she could take a few and when he said yes she proceeded to take a huge pile. I was thinking -- what in the world do you intend to do with this garbage-- but like any good companion would, I humored and grabbed a handful as well. She, indeed, turned it in to something beautiful! She formed it into my name and gave it to me with this darling note. And it made my week! 

Later I was reading a conference talk by Elder Packer and he told a story that I think relates so well. He was stationed in Japan after World War 2. He described the city as rubble littered with blocks, debris and bomb craters. He them told about a little girl in a ragged colored kimono collecting yellow sycamore leaves into a boquet. She seemed completely oblivious to the world around her as she strived to find the last piece of beauty the remained in her shattered world. 

While we are much better off here, I have to be completely honest and say that it is far from beautiful. And our days are not always perfect and the work is really hard at times. But there are some really incredible, beautiful experiences to be had here and I am grateful for this 18 month, positive-thinking exercise. As my mom told me before I left--- every day wont be good but there will be something good in every day. And if you cling to those things you will be okay. wise words from a wise woman. 

ANNDDD as I have officially been here in Brazil for more than 3 months I thought it only would be appropriate to take a moment to jot down a few of the things I learned in this amazing but at times difficult time:

1. Learning a language is incredibly frusterating at times but it is so gratifying to think that I can comunicate with a whole country of people when it would have been impossible before. 

2. In this -- não esquenta sua cabeça-- country I am living in, I am learning that patience and flexibility are 100% necessary. 

3. The Holy Ghost is real and he does testify to those who ask sincere questions with a real intent to follow the promptings given. 

3. Understanding a person who has no teeth is sufficiently more difficult in Portuguese. 

4. I am convinced it is impossible to find a pair of shoes that is comfortable after walking for 9 hours straight. It is basically like picking my poison every day. (side note, I now have cold hard caluses where my blisters used to be and my feet don't hurt near as much.)

5. Reading the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, daily makes all the difference from the rest of my day. My scripture heroes have seriously become some of my best friends. 

6. There is a sheer bliss that comes from a handwritten letter and packages that is undescribable. 

7. I am so so so blessed. Country, family, gospel, friends. Basically in every aspect of life. I can not comprehend much less understand why I am so lucky. 

8. Being with someone all day every day is rough. But it is a great opportunity to explore the human mind and practice a perfect kind of understanding. 

9.  We are all so much more capable than we give ourselves credit for. Life is hard, but we are never alone. 

I am sure there are more but I am out of time and you are probably bored to tears.  I love you all and I am already excited for next week!

Sister Lauren

p.s. Tell Jessica that I read and absolutely loved her letter. It was so thoughtful. Speaking of.... THANK YOU THANK YOU for the packages! I got lots this week!! I got the calendar, the clothes and the healthy package. But I loved your letters even more. Mom, seriously, you are the very best mom I could possibly have. I am so grateful for you and your thoughtfulness. I think about you every day. As you have always taught me, I thought it only proper to send a thank you note, but it probably wont get there for a month so don't get too excited. But I love knowing that you guys are still thinking about me. It makes home not feel so far away. 

p.s.s. haha okay we will get pedicures next week. There are lots of places here but all seem a little sketchy. But lets be honest, a lot of things are kind of sketchy here in campo limpo. But they are really cheap!! 

But Douglas is 21. He is really smart and is all excited about serving a mission of his own. He even broke up with his less active girl friend because she is not a good influence on him. Ironic that she introduced him to the church but good for him. He was actually my first lesson here! And he has been prepared since the beginning except for the law of chastity. This was a huge problem for him so we just let it be. He continued to come to church and read the Book of Mormon and in church two weeks ago he said, I have made the changes in my life and I am ready now! We were all stunned but it worked great!

President and his wife even came to the baptism and it went so well. We get to plan the baptisms as missionaries so I brought my ipod and played some hymns before. (They dont have a piano in that room) and the bishop talked about his experience because he was baptized around the same age. And I made my cinnamon roll cake. It is a huge hit here. 

All in all a special day! But tell Jess that I hope to baptize a girl this week. Granted she is 60 but better than nothing. And telll her I get soooo many compliments on my bracelet she made me. I am waiting for special kids to give the others out to. 

p.s.s.s. Oh and yes, I am with sister Valente for another 6 weeks. I have mixed feelings but I am learning lots so its okay. Love you! Dad, Have a great time with mom in New York. Let her know how wonderful I think she is. I am amazed daily at her support. 

We had an activity with our zone because its the last day before transfers. It was really fun and much needed. the last few days have been a little rough. 

WEEk #11, First Baptism! (Carnival)

Bom Dia!

So first, Carnival is completely overrated. For the past 3 months I have heard of what a big deal carnival is and I am here to tell you that I dont notice much of a difference. Only more loud terrible music they call funky, cross dressing, grinding and drinking. All of which give me the creeps so needless to say I am sufficiently creeped out this week. And it also means an excuse for people to skip out on church so our congregration was at an all time low this week. Lame.

I have a theory that in order to serve someone, you should take some time to get to know them so I have been trying to observe the Brazillian people and I have come to a few conclusions. They really are quite simple. Two things, above all others make them happy: their bible, and their beer. As frequently as you might find Starbucks in New York City or a chapel in Alpine, you can always find two buildings on practically every street. A church, and a bar. Which means, people are incredibly receptive to mesages about Jesus Christ but it is sufficiently more difficult for people to understand the importance of, and commit to keeping the commandments. It is quite a struggle and I am learning so much about the reasons behind the word of wisdom. It is so hard for these people to break lifelong habits.

But in other news, I had my first baptism!! Douglas was baptized on Saturday and he seemed so happy! Further, our mission president and his wife came and the day really was perfect. And he now is preparing to serve a mission. To think that my testimony could have, in some small way, helped him form a testimony that he will share with many throughout his life is so touching! Definitely the fruit of a lot of labor. It is like a funnel here. We talk to so so many people. Some want to hear our message. Some of those take the message to heart and actually read the scriptures and pray about the things we are teaching. All of which recieve an answer but only some care enough to keep the commandments and be baptized. It is a lot of work and I constantly try to brainstorm ways we can be more efficient but in the end, we are helping people form personal relationships with their Savoir and I guess that is no easy task.

A question I get here, more than most, is why are you here in Brazil learning our language? Especially when they find out our work is voluntary people can not seem to grasp that I would want to leave our wonderful country to come preach about God and stuff. Usually I just say that I love our message, I believe in eternal families or something. But this week I had the opportunity to explain my reasoning in more detail, and solidify the reasoning behind my service a little more. I explained that I think of our pre earth life being a lot the same as now. We had hobbies and friends and things. And we at one time or another all recieved our assignments for this life. They probably did not come in big white envelopes but I believe we each recieved an area to live and a family to live with. And for whatever reason, happened to recieve a call that I am sure most of my other spiritual brothers and sisters would kill for. For whatever reason, I was born into an incredible, eternal family in an incredible nation. Further, I was raised on firm princles and morals and I learned early and often what was most important in life.

And now, I have the opportunity to give back. Because where much is given much is required. This is the way I can express my gratitude for my many blessings and try to help other people find the same direction, purpose and peace that I took for granted for so long. And Ill be the first to tell you, days are not always easy, but I truly feel like we are doing a lot of good here and I go to sleep feeling fulfilled but oh so so tired.

I think Marta and Marcos are getting baptized this Saturday! And the others are coming along too. Hope all is well. Thank you for the updates. I always love finding a piece of home waiting for me in my inbox every Monday!

Ate Mais!

Sister Lauren

p.s. Thank you for your emails and thank you so so much for the grandchildren letters and calandar. My calandar is hanging above my desk and I use it every day to write down my workouts and things! I have to keep my figure so that women like nancy dont start calling me gordinha. And remembering birthdays is so much easier.

But fancy nancy is a convert of 10 years. Im not really sure what her husband does but she doesnt work. She only studies for fun and she really is not very nice. However, she is an incredible cook, and in one of our lessons in the favelas she bore testimony that ultimately God doesnt care where we live or how much money we have. So I guess she can be humble at times.

The other day we were at her house and she caught a glimpse of her mom eating cake with a fork and chucked it in the sink proclaiming that in her house she would not permit people to use utensils wrong. haha I laugh every time I am with her.

gifts for valentines day

My package from home!

The Wedding

they are filling in as my temporary sisters and keeping me up to date on the real world