April 27, 2015- Bug in my salad, referee kind of week

Hi family!

Well it was an... interesting week. Not one of the best, nor the worst. Just intesting. And full of moments that I will not likely forget. And I guess a few miracles too. 

First, VERONICA WAS BAPTIZED!! It was a beautiful day. Seriously, lindo. To remind you of her story, we found Veronica through her teenage son that doesn´t even live with her but was just visiting. He told us that he already knew a little bit about our church but maybe his mom would like to hear a message. (I found out after that her son, Victor, even LIVED in the USA in Gilbert for a year and a half and took a tour of the gilbert temple) We tried to visit her about 5 times and I started to think that she was simply avoiding us because Victor said that she was always home. But finally, she let us in!! Turns out, she had been praying to find a church and didn´t even realize it, but she lived about 5 doors down from the chapel! We invited to church and since the first week, she has gotten up and ready bringing her little baby alone. She as as strong as they come and truly a miracle. 

Her baptism was so beautiful. She was thrilled because her two children came and loved it. So much so that they said they would come back for church!! The whole relief society came and even presented the rainbow baptism song. We surprised her with a little party after and she was so so happy! 

In other news, I had to do some serious referee-ing. We finally marked their wedding at the Cartório!! BUT, not without a lot of fighting on our part... and I gues litterally their´s as well. Because one night we went to visit them and they were fighing. bad. H warned us as we entered their apartment complex, telling us that they had decided to separate. uhh nooo. Courageously, we went up and tried to help out. And separating.. yep, he was actually packing his bags. We talked, prayed, made goals, the whole time Diego was folding and unfolding his things.. The very next day we made it to the cartório but the word awkward doesn´t even begin to explain it. Long story short, we will do everything in our power to help this couple. Heaven knows that they need our help. But in the end it will be up to them. Let´s just saw, that I am a little bit terrified about this whole marriage thing. 

Also, our lunch fell through basically every day this week. It is interesting to note that our lunch basically never falls through in poor areas, but rather they feed us with such love. Even the most simple lunches, rice beans and a fried egg, taste good when made with love) But many of the more wealthy members seem to forget very easily. SO we made a lot of salad. The good kind with fruit, spinach, and even a different dresing. We were loving it. Oh so happy,UNTIL I we found a living, crawling insect. The little guy had skill too because we even washed the lettuce super well. The other morning, we were with President and he asked us where we would be lunching. We explained that actually we didn´t quite know, he got super excited. Presi loves to cook, and he whipped up an excellent fish. I LOVE the Del Guersos. 

Oh, another miracle, this week as we were trying to talk to people who simply did not want to talk to us, another woman, Regina noticed our efforts from her window, and called to us. She explained that she was needing a prayer and asked us to come in. She introduced us to her husband and her daughter Livia. Livia is 23 and at the end of the month she will be moving to Portugal to start a new life there. Regina is super religious, but has yet to find a church that she thinks is completely correct. She has already been baptized two times, but does not view either as a baptism totally complete. As a result, she always read the bible with her children and taught them correct principles, but she never baptized them. And as Livia is getting ready to leave home and test out her own wings, she wants, more than anything to be baptized because she knows that their is uncomparable power waiting fore her in the waters. She has been praying for an opportunity, and we showed up at her doorstep. Regina, also agreed to be baptized as well. She too wants to follow and agrees that our church has something that all the others lack. She just needs to wait a few weeks for her husband to recuperate from a surgery. But, Livia went to church yesterday and absolutely loved it. She laughed and cried. It was incredible. 

Well, all is well. Have a wonderful week!

Sister Lauren

April 26, 2015-The COUNTDOWN IS ON!!! 30 days and counting

When Lauren first left on her mission that first week seemed to last a century! Each day we wondered if we would ever get a letter. We spent our days wondering what she was doing at that minute and if she was happy. We watched her plaque in the hall at church go from the last spot at the bottom of the board to the top row, only 4 people to come home in front of her. After 17 months of AMAZING uplifting letters each monday, I can't believe she only has 30 days left. I don't spend my days hoping and praying she is happy, I know she is!!! She loves the people she has had the blessing of meeting and teaching. She loves her Mission President and his Wife. I cry at the end of every letter when she closes with, "By the way… Did I tell you I love being a missionary?" I actually find myself now surprisingly torn; SOOO excited to have her around and feel her sweet spirit, but a little sad to see this amazing experience come to an end. I will miss the Monday letters of wisdom, stories and her special message she always adds that helps us all try to be better people. I will miss watching her make the best of a bad situation, like the dog bite or the ear infections. I will miss watching Sister Lauren grow and learn through her trials and experiences but we are excited to watch her in the next phase of her life.  I am grateful she gets to take all the knowledge and the skills she had learned from her mission and use it in life, FOREVER! So for now, we will cherish every word of the next 4 letters, her last 4 of her mission!!!

April 20, 2015- Another Wonderful Week!!!

Hi Family!!

I am well. Actually really well. Wanna know why? Because the Lord is wonderful and I had a miracle this week.... I will tell..

So, last monday at 8:00 I had an appointment marked with the specialist I have been seeing for quite some time. The same one that I went to late one Sunday night, a few months ago,  when I was not able to stand the pain. Anyway, she seemed to be pretty good. She works in the chique-iest hospitals here in São Paulo, and for a while the anti biotics she gave me seemed to be helping. BUT, the last time I saw her she told me that she would try to give me another 10 days of medicine but if that didn´t work, she wouldn´t have much more to do to help me. I did the 10 days. NADA. 

Actually, I got a lot worse, so at this point I talked to sister Del Guerso and called the mission doctors and everything. So I was a little scared for my appointment knowing that she would probably be baffled and confused about what to do to help me and I didn´t even want to imagine what would come next. WELL.. last Sunday, S. Del Guerso recieved a phone call saying that my appointment had been changed to 9:00. Thinking nothing of it, let Brother Swensen I me know of the change. When we arrived at 9:00, the receptionist told us that she had NOT made the call, and that the doctor had already come, waited and left. To make matters worse, she would be traveling and only be able to see me again in 2 weeks. 

As you may imagine, I had to fight back tears as I explained that with the pain I was in, 2 weeks would simply not work. She told us the only other option was to mark an appointment with another specialist. I was reluctant, but having no choice, we marked and returned. And guess what?1 He was able to help me. He looked at the exams, expained everything, and told us that anti biotics would NOT help me.I needed to take steriods. In short, my problem is rare, and a little serious, but nothing that can´t be solved here. 

Until now, we have no idea who called. Maybe some angel somewhere? But I am oh so gateful. Because I am loving every minute of this mission experience. So may blessings. So many miracles.

I will tell a few... So, Veronica is wonderful. Everyone is in awe at her faithfulness. She has began preaching the gospel to her friends and family. This week we taught the word of wisdom. After we finished we asked if she had problems or questions and she responded.. ``It is a good thing my coffee is running out!! I simply won´t buy more! Commandments are made to be follwed.´´ After reading, she gave her husband the pamplet, explaining that she really needed it. She is sharing the gospel with family and friends, making remarkable comments in church, and astounding everyone her knowledge and faith. If all goes as planned, she will be baptized this Saturday. Pray for Veronica!

The Ganzarolli family invited us to eat at their fancy restaurant this week! (mom and dad, you are also invited for a great dinner when you get her. You will love this place) Another night we visited and talked about famlies. We showed photos and told stories. We sang hymns about the family together and it was wonderful. This is such a special family and I want to help them so much. I dream about baptizing their 3 beautiful children. Only, it is a little more complicated now because their 15 year old daughter no longer believes in God and the 13-year old has stopped praying :( We had a cool idea this week.. We will give all the children a Book of Mormon with a dedication from someone in the ward with their same age. The testimonies we have recieved are incredible and we know they will be touched. 

Also, this week we were invited to participate in 2 FHEs with president. One was a pizza night, because his son Rafael is in town taking a pizza course and he needed to practice. So we had 10 pizzas! We invited Morgan and Rogério. Guess what?! Rogério recieved the OK from bishop and he will able to baptize his friend!! He is SO excited and I know it will give his some goals and purpose and stuff. They loved chatting with Presi. 

The other night, I had the privilige to see some of my Campo Limpo investigators!! Marcos, Martha, and Paloma. More than a year ago, Sister Valente and I helped with their wedding, but they ended up not being baptized because of freaking cigarettes. But, they contined going to church weekly, and finally, after one year, their special day arrived. It was SO COOL so see the difference the gospel has made in their lives. They looked younger, happier, and full of hope. Paloma, their 21-year old daughter talked to us about a mission. Who knows? Maybe she will serve?!

And, another night the Vila Sonia sisters were needing our help so I got to spend a few hours in one of my favorite places! And, I got to see a Bolivian convert, Miguel. He was so excited to see me and informed me that he has never forgotten us. Actually, he even took the christmas card I sent with him to Bolivia to tell his mom about his baptism. And, he is participating in institute and the danges. And, he baptized his friend recently, and I got a change to meet him too. 

In other news, we are great. Working hard and seeing lots of fruits. My English class grows weekly and my students are just darling. I gave them all their very own Book of Mormons with a little English message and a picture of our family. We read a little bit every week. We sing primary songs and learning gospel and english basics the whole time. 

Did I mention, I love being a missionary?!

Have a great week!

Sister Lauren

p.s. Ohh we were thinking about marking the wedding for when you will be here!! That way you can help me with the reception. I am in over my head with things to do and i want it to be so special for her

Carla LOVED our family. And her friend too. So much so, that her friend said that she now wants to know morea bout the church. She said that you guys have a positive energy that she has never felt before. 

hahaha. President is baffled because Ferreira has always been the assistants area and they were never able to baptize anyone, but we have baptisms planned practically every week of the next transfer so I won´t be surprised if he calls us again soon. :)

  

April 18, 2015- UPDATE!

Meia queridos acabei de falar com a Lauren e ela está bem melhor do ouvido e o
remédio que ela está tomando está fazendo efeito ela já está quase sem dor
alguma. Por favor avisem esta notícia para o stephen e christine. 

Beijos é
bom domingo. 

Paulo Bergoc

Photos from Carla!

Sorry, i know brownie with white chocolate topping is not the healthiest, but wow it was good :) 

My US number no longer works but you can reach me this way. Have a good weekend. 

April 15, 2015- the Ear update!!!

Lauren passed the medical tests and did not found any internal infection, it is with an external infection that does not compromise much any type of hearing function. She was treated with an antibiotic own and will use a remedy in drops to act at the infection site. The Medical Mission and I felt very well with the doctor and we are quite confident that everything will be alright. I have one more expert that case in five days does not show substantial improvement will it. Lauren has many kisses for everyone.

I spoke with President Del Guerso and I will accompany her on a daily basis, both for drugs and clinical improvement. I will always inform you by e-mail. hugs.
Paulo Bergoc
Enviado via iPhone

April 13, 2015-Ear Problems, Vern and some miracles

Hi Family, 

Well, I want to start thanking all of you for the fasts and prayers. Seriously, I am so touched and have felt it all! 

I heard one time, that Satan will try anything and everything to get a missionary not to finish and I am hear to testify, it hasn´t been too easy. Actually, this problem has been going on quite some time, but it comes and goes in waves. But this week was a painful one. I think it may have something to do with the colder weather. Because during the hottest of days, my hear just ran non stop. But with the breeze, the puss get dry and hard... After a few sleepless nights I talked with Sister Del Guerso. Luckily, President had chosen us to give a training to a few of the zones, Caucaia and Cotia. (On a side note, dad you would have been proud. Caucaia only has elders, so it was a funny sight, us teaching a whole bunch of elders)

Anyway, Sister Del Guerso called the mission doctor, Elder Swensen who called the MTC doctor who called me. He asked about the symptons and the treatments I have already tried (there are A LOT of them) and got a little worried. You see, lots of things have had a temporary effect, but this stupid infection always comes back... with vengance. This CTM doctor is a specialist and told me that this situation is in no way normal and if the best doctors in the best hospitals are not able to help me here, there is a chance that I will have to go home a little early to figure out what in the world is wrong with me. And I panicked. I CAN`T go home early. I have things to do and people to help. I don´t want to lose anything. Not even one day! 

But, long story short, they found an anti biotic that does directly in my ear. (in all honesty, I think I have already used it once but at this point I´m desperate) and it seems to be making a difference. A little less pain. A little less puss. So, we will see. 

But as I thought and tried to find the good thing about this situation, I realized that Heavenly Father has indeed given me a great gift:time. Because after the last episode back in January, everything stopped for a while. I was able to spend a few months basically painless, and in the process, I was able to help a lot of people. Also, with this last scare, I was given a chance to think about just how precious my mission time is. As my hour glass is just about empty, I want to enjoy every last grain of sand because I don´t exactly know how much I have left. 

But, on another note, this week had lots of wonderful things too. I saw my bestie, Vern (vanessa) and spent a wonderful few hours with her as missionaries! We taught a few people, made a Thai lunch and everything. 

Also, Veronica is just wonderful. She came to a baptism saturday and absolutely LOVED it. Then Sunday she was at church again! She made all sorts of wonderful comments. At one point, she even bore her testimony, the the Relief Society, about the divine origen of the Book of Mormon. She said that she is only in 1 Ne 20, but she can already tell that it could have only been translated by God´s servant. She has already recognized that the Book of Mormon and the bible teach the exact same doctrine and complement one another so perfectly. In Sunday school she talked about Abraham´s lineage and expressed desire to start her own family tree. Everyone sat with jaws dropped. 

As we were going to the baptism Saturday, I felt that we needed to visit a recent convert. We found his son Fabio, who we had actually dropped some time ago because he simply would NOT go to church and was not progressing. Fabio was a police officer until recently when he suffered a wave of mental illnesses due to the horrible things he saw on duty. I knew he needed the gospel. So much so that he was reading the Book of Mormon and writing summaries in English and Portuguese. But he simply would not go to church. Frusterating.  On a whim, we invited him to the baptism, and he ACCEPTED!! Even though we still had an hour before the meeting would start, we couldn´t give him even a minute to change his mind, so we waited in the chapel reading scriptures and talking about the importance of the sacrament. 

And, Sunday, HE CAME TO CHURCH!! What joy! 

The baptism was actually the son of our LMA so you can best believe that he invited a few family friends and introduced them to us. There was a super special couple who LOVED the baptism and we asked if we could visit them and they graciously accepted.. They too are owners of another fancy restaraunt.. But after they told Kiko that they think we ``felt their positive energy´´ and were irresistably drawn to them! haha they are anxiously awaiting our visit! 

Anyway, thank you for the prayers and the support. I couldn´t ask for a better support group!!

Sister Lauren

April, 8, 2015- What a special Day for Sister's Lauren and Jane!

Cousins Reunited! 

After 18 months these 2 cousins that were both serving missions in Brazil we are able to serve for 6 hours together.

Sister Jane- served in Curritiba and was finished with her mission and on her way home. She had a stop over in Sao Paulo and got permission from Sister Lauren's mission President to go surprise her and go on splits with her today!!!

Sister Lauren- served in Sao Paulo and has just 48 days left!! What a great way to end 2 amazing missions, for these cute cousins to spend the day together, serving!!!

The Family Trip to NYC/Connecticut to Vanessa's homecoming!

Lunch with Carla and her Friend

April 6, 2015- Easter, Novidades, and a shout out for dad

Hi Family!! Happy Easter/Conference Weekend! I hope it was wonderful for all of you. We are oh so happy and working hard.

First, Brazil has this wonderful tradition... huge chocolate eggs! I think it takes the place for easter baskets or something? But we got so so many! From Carla and Diego, and from sweet members in the ward. We even tried an egg filled with strawberry mousse! Basically we have chocolate coming out of our ears and I can´t wait for our divisions this week as a way to get rid of it all. BUT that being said, I am bringing home a form for sure, so that I can make chocolate eggs with my kiddies in the future. It is the best tradition. ever. 

Conference was wonderful! It was great to hear from the beloved, inspired brotheren. Especially sitting next to our beloved investigators. As always, they nailed it. 

But I have some now people to tell ya about... 

First, Veronica... A few months ago we talked to a teenage boy in the streets. We presented ourselves and offered to teach him a little bit about Jesus. he explained that he didn´t live there but was just visiting his mom., With some prying we got him to tell us her name, and for the next few weeks we tried to find her at home. Without luck. But, as we passed by the other day, I told my new companion aboutthe experience and said maybe it was worth a try to pass by again. And, that time she was at home!! And let us in!! 

Turns out, she had already visited our church some time back but lost contact, moved, and recently began praying for a new church to attend. She has a 5-month baby girl Nataly, and wants to create her in a church setting. Soon after, we knocked on her door! The Lord is incredible, isn´t he? But we talked a little, said a prayer and invited her to come to church. Last Sunday morning we passed by her house but guess what?! She had already started off to church. Without our help! She absolutely loved church, made lots of friends, and even asked the bishop if she could have her baby blessed in church!! She heard an announcement about the general women´s meeting and choir and told us that she would like to participate in EVERYTHING! 

And this week she came to 3 of the 4 sessions of general conference. And she is already in 2 Nephi and LOVING the Book of Mormon. This woman is incredible!

Also, we are teaching a man, Morgan who recently moved into our ward and is living with his less-active friend Rogerio who is trying to come back! SO we are teaching the two together!! And it is an incredible experience! We gave Rogerio the chance to write his testimony in the Book of Mormon and give it to Mormon. And he even marked his favorite part, the tree of life!! Morgan told us that his goal is to write in his own book and give it to another friend one day!! My goal is to have Rogerio baptize Morgan! We just gotta get to that point but it will be incredible! 

Finally, we taught the Ganzarolli family again and it was great! We managed to get the three children together and all participated!! Mauricio was didn´t stick around the whole time but I could tell that he was paying lots of attention. And in Mauricio style, he had laid out a little feast for us. He is coming around in his own way and in his own time. I LOVE this family! It will be one of my last great mission triumphs... Correction. the Lord´s triumph. Because I can tell that this family has so much potential to do so many great things. They just lost their way for a little while. 

We taught Diego last night and he asked an interesting question... he asked an interesting question.. how we decided to serve a mission. I thought for a minute and told the story.. I told about how I did not WANT to serve. at all. That I had all sorts of other plans and priorities. But that my wise dad (I guess my two fathers actually) saw something in me that I wasn´t able to see at the time. We went to a Thai lunch and chatted about lots of stuff but the underlying theme was a mission. As we left he gave me a letter. That he wrote on actual stationary in which he told some mission stories and basically pleaded with me to rethink my resounding NO. 

Though I still did not have much of a desire (I knew that the mission would require a lot of really HARD work) I began to see that I needed to serve. I decided that I had been given SO MUCH and the least I could do was give back a short 1.5.  I filled out my papers, got a call, and left. What I did not know at the time was that Heavenly Father was just ready and waiting to bless me more than I could have ever imagined. I left wanting to serve my Lord, but actually I have been served, shaped and molded more than words can describe. As he does with any sacrifice, he took my time and talents, used and multiplied them, and then gave me back everything and more. 

I told him the story and bore testimony of the importance of following God´s plan, even when it seems inconvenient. I also told testified of the influence he would have on his children in the process. (On a side note, Henrique is being just as Athiest and annoying as ever and it seems like as hard as we try, we just can´t get through to him) He cried. 

So, I know that I have a few months left, and you best believe I will hit it hard until the last day, but as an early thank-you, dad, this is my shout out to you! I love you and am oh so grateful for your loving influence and everything you have taught me. Just so you know, you weren´t wasting your breath :)

Have a great week,

Sister Lauren