February 23, 2015

Hi family!! 

Well, it was a very busy week, like normal. In preparation for the end of the month, we had to go on exchanges two times... Oh so busy... 

I spent the day in the favelas with my filinha, Sister Santos. But now she is all grown up and training one of her own. This mission business is so interesting because at times it is hard to recognize our own spiritual growth. But, after a time  apart, I was so impressed to see how much S. Santos has grown since our time in Cotia. It is truly impressive to think about how much the mission offers us: opportunities to learn and grow and then share that experience with others. Heavenly Father is ready and willing to give us so many unforgettable moments and mold us into someone oh so much better. But how much we change, and if we even change at all is completely up to us. That agency thing. 

Another day I stayed in Ferreira with another Sister. I was a bit nervous because i have only been here for two weeks so I wasn´t sure if I would remember the streets, adresses, people, etc. But turned out totally fine! Actually, we worked super hard the whole day. We basically didn´t stop wonce the whole day. And as we were walking home, the girl mentioned that it was her birthday!! I felt so bad!  I practically killed the poor thing on her birthday!! We went to subway and grabbed bite, made a cake, watched mormon messages and I managed to get a little gift together for her. Probably is a birthday that she will not soon forget. 

Carla and Diego are well. Diego is still traveling lots but we managed to find them at home yesterday. We talked with them about the importance of families and watched together forever. ( a cheesy, ancient church movie about families.) After, we asked what they thought, and their son, Henrique, began to tell us that the whole idea of a god is totally clichê. Turns out, Hnrique is no only athius, but also rather rebellious lately. After a lot of thought and prayer, we decided on a solution... You see, Carla and Diego are great parents but they are super worried that Henrique is going down a very dangerous path, that he will start using drugs if he hasn´t already. So they are thinking of sending him away to boarding school and we kn ow that this will be super hard on the whole family. Henrique is a good kid, just a little lost at the moment. So, we thought of SEMINARY!! Why? Because it seems like the perfect option. 3 hours of the gospel every week, good kids to help him out, and here they usually have seminary in the house of a member at 7 PM so it is totally doable. We will present our idea tonight but pray that it all works out and that he is willing to at least try. 

We also met another wonderful woman named Rosana. She has a sister who was baptized not long ago and due to pretty severe health problems, Rasana has moved to our area recently to live with this member sister. Until recently, she has worked her whole life as a pysicologist and though she grew up catholic, she has lived basically her whole adult life without a defined religion. She thought it would be better to be unbiased for carreer purposes. But, now she is needing something more, something that we have to give!! We visited this week and became friends, instantly. We laughed and cried and talked about the chance whe will have to get her body perfected and ressurected someday. We left a part in the book of mormon and invited her to church. She came, and read, and loved it!!  We talked a little bit about baptism, and though she showed interest, she started to cry as she expressed her fear that she would not be able to enter the water. Because now she has lots of difficulty to walk. We reassured her that it would all work out. Now she is just waiting to get an answer to her prayer! She is amazing. 

Well gotta go. Ignore the typos. This computer is HORRIBLE. 

Com amor, 

Sister Lauren

p.s. wow Europe would be wonderful!!! I feel like I would be so spoiled. But it would be great to spend some precious time with those girls. Are you thinking in August before school starts? I am not sure exactly what day but I´m sure mom does. 

Also, our trip sounds great!! I am excited! Especially for 4th of July! I talked with a member who served in Boston and I missed it so much! I am excited to visit with you!

February 16, 2015- Happy Valentines Day!

Hi Family!!!

It has been a wonderful Valentine´s week. Wanna know why? Because love is in the air!! We had a wedding and a baptism!!

Hanahoor (the professional surfist) and Iris (the returning less active) were married saturday morning and it was such a cool/interesting experience. Early in the morning we helped Iris get ready... hair, make up, etc. We got her all guessied up and took a taxi to the Cartório where Hanahoor and the rest of the family was waiting. I am not sture if we even have an equivalent of a Cartório... but when we got there the first thing that came to my mind was Vegas. LOTS of brides and grooms. LOTS of families. You´re in and out with a wedding certifiquite in had in 15 minutes. But to a missionary, this strange place is an interesting sort of heaven. Because here everyone, for one reason or another, is following a commandment and getting married. And in this crazy world we live in, this is a miracle.

Hanahoor and Iris were oh so happy. Glowing actually. We took so many pictures and right after the wedding, we ran to a nearby grocery store and printed out a few. We made a memory book  with photos and things for everyone to sign. After lunch we had the baptism. And it was oh so wonderful. Iris sang the rainbow/baptism song for her amor. And this ward is incredible. We were worried that no one would be there because it is carnaval and everyone is traveling, but when we announced that there would be a baptism, people moved heaven and earth to be there. We worked with the ward to throw together a little surprise. Darling decorations and lots of food was a great way to end a wonderful day.
When Iris saw her little party she began to cry. She thanked us and told us that she would never, ever forget us. That we changed her life. And she invited us to take part in her sealing exactly one year from now in the Honolulu temple. So cool!

In other news, we found another wonderful family this week!! We found her on the streets and asked if we could visit her and she said ´´please``! Not a response we get every day! She is a young mom with two little, rambunctious boys. We couldn´t stay long because one boy was screaming, but we showed a video about families and she loved it. Oh and she is married!! Legally. Yayy!! Her name is Cristiane. Pray that all goes well!
Fun Facts about Ferreira:
1. We had to scrub the baptismal font before the baptism... In this area, baptisms are so rare that there were cob webs and spiders in the font... yikes
2. We are currently using Lan House (a place with lots of computers and internet use) in the middle of one of the biggest favelas in São Paulo, Paraisopolis, because there is no need for a Lan House in our area. Everyone has computers!! But don´t worry, we make this journey with our district leader for safety reasons...
3. On my way home everynight, we pass an outback, a burger joint, a sushi place and an american pizzaria. Outback is the chiqueiest of chique.
4. I used my first dryer machine in about 14 months. My clothes forgot what it feels like to be washed, dryed and put away in less that 1 hour.
5. As we were walking to church an American family offered us a ride to church. And it felt just like being home! A car with a back seat is NOT commun here.
6. Our ward has lots of american families who use head phones to hear the meetings translated into English
7. I had my first fajitas in oh too long.
8. The very best sound is the clicking of the gate meaning that the guy working at the security booth recieved permission to let us into a building. Seriously, we live for that precious click.

If you were wondering, this area is not the Brazilian norm... But we are having fun and I know we will continue to see miracles!

Have a great week!
Sister Lauren

my ???-  how is it being a sister leader? How is your companion?

My companion is good. She is 28. We are getting a long fine. She is smart and works hard. Being a sister leader is kind of a pain... lots of problems to resolve. There are some crazy sisters on the mission

this week this crazy new girl arrived and she simply said that she couldn´t stand her companion, who is actually a really nice girl. She called president asking to be transfered. We were in a meeting with president when the assistents explained the problem so he assigned us to deal with her. They came into the office and we tried to have a meeting but the girl simply said that she did not like her companion and would not stay with her. Finally president ended up transfering her because she was yelling at the companion always.

Stuff like this... 

This cute lady posted these photos of her wedding and a video on Lauren's Facebook page today. What a beautiful family!

February 15, 2015- Sister Frandsen's Homecoming!

When you are missing your own missionary it is always great to chat with their companions to get a little piece of your own missionary! Today we went to Sister Franadsen's homecoming, it was great and makes me come home and count the days until my daughter comes home, 109! In just 3 1/2 months we leave for Brazil to pick up our missionary!!! I can't wait! One thing that is making the time go a little quicker is the house project! It is looking pretty bad, so we will need EVERY possible day to get this big, dirty hole completed! 

February 9,2015- Ferreira

Hello Family!!

I am here in chique Ferreira doing great but am absolutely dead tired... So, if this email does not make much sense, blame it on the cansaço. Why? Because Ferreira is oh so different than any area that I have ever seen before. To give you an idea... Elder Costa (Brazil´s area President) President Del Guerso, and a lot of other reallyy successful people are part of this ward. We have about 3 streets of houses, all of which have been visited by misisonaries so many times. Seriously. The rest of our area is skyscrapers.. Lots of people with lots of money. People who think they dont need God. I wanted to take an honest sample test this first week so I promised myself I would talk to every person I possibly could. In 4 days we talked with 181 people!! A few gave us addresses but the huge majority walked (ran) right past. I have my work cut out for me.. Wish me luck... 

But actually, as I look at it, this last area of mine can be an interesting, new challenge for me. An opportunity to develop a lot of faith in Heavenly Father and his grand plan. An opportunity to work really, really hard. An opporunity to become a better servant of the Lord. 

Unlike my other areas, we can basically count our investigators on basically one hand. But at least the ones we have are really great... 

First, we are planning another wedding! This one will be on Valentines Day! Romantic right? Immediately after we will have a baptism! The first in months her in Ferreira.  this story is this... Iris was born in the church but after graduation she decided to spend some time in the beaches up north. She ended up falling in love with her surf teacher, Hannahoor. She told her mom that she had found the love of her life and would not be coming back. A few years and a little baby girl later, she started to feel that maybe that wasn´t the best choice. They decided to come back to São Paulo, and by some miracle, they found the missionaries. They want, so badly, to get their life on track and truly want to change. The wedding will be such a secial event!

We are also teaching an incredible family that was actually the miraculous result of a lot of humble prayers said by the other sisters. After December, where EVERYONE traveled they decided to include in ever prayer the desire to find a family. And after 15 days, a reference came through our phone. Turns out, this familty met the missionaries years ago and have always been impressed with the power and authority those ``young boys´´ had. They lost contact but prayed to find the missionaries again. The husband, Diego, finally found the church website and put requested a missionary visit online. He hoped it would work but did not have much faith. And so they were ohhh soooo happy when we visited. They too, need to be married legally but are oh so willing. But they are absolutely wonderful. They already offer to give us rides to anywhere we need to go. And they asked me what I miss from home. I told them maybe Mexican and Thai food and they are now planning to take us to a chique Mexican restaurant to ``matar saudades.´´

They also have a 16 year-old son named Henrique. At the moment he says he is athiest but completely participates in all of our lessons and I am convinced with enough Nephi/Enos/Ammon power strories he will come around. 

Ohh, we are also teaching a man that is basically homeless. Actually he lives in a forrest so we have to visit with members for our safety. But he told us to let him know when we are in the area so he can clean up a bit and get things ready for us. Cute old man. The only problem is when we visit I get completely eaten by mosquitos. 

Well, pray that we can find some really interested people here.  We need the help. But I am super excited for this area. I know that I will learn so much here. Oh, and I will go on my first division this week and I am a little nervous. We are taking care of a few novinhas and I think the adjustment period is a little difficult for them. So pray for them too!

 Please and thank you!!

Sister Lauren

-----

Christine,

First, I'd love to meet you sometime.   Thanks for sending these.   They help me "matar saudades", which means something like, "not miss it so much".

I can't help but respond to her thoughts about Ferreira.  It's the ward we lived in when we were there.  I believe the Sao Paulo West mission president now lives where we lived.  We hardly ever attended church there because we visited and spoke in different wards every Sunday but I know the ward if VERY strong and had the same reputation of being a hard place to baptize when we were there.  Then we put two outstanding missionaries in the ward, one more experienced and one new.  They baptized like crazy and the members supported the work amazingly well.  I know that after we left the President who replaced us put the Assistants in that area and they also baptized a lot of people. 

The message is one that we've heard many times...that there are no "dead areas".  It just depends on the missionaries, and outstanding missionaries will baptize in most circumstances.  The thing I learned about the ward is that they will really support missionaries and missionary work.  All the ward needs is missionaries to bring the investigators.  It sounds like she's turning things around already and I have complete faith that she will have great success.

Please forward this to her to help her maintain the outstanding vision and faith she already has.  Thanks much.

Dale

February 2, 2015- We were born to lead. We were born for glory

Oi!! Tudo Bem?

This week was a really good one! Full of things I won´t quickly forget. 

First, we went to the temple with Joyce and Alexandre!! They have been working on their names for a little while and ended up doing the work for a list! It was incredible to be inside the temple all dressed in white. I just can´t wait to hear the exciting news exactly one year from now!! And, as luck would have it, the temple President was close by and so he spent a few minutes talking to them about the importance of the temple. He talked about all sorts of interesting symbolism. He said that like Jesus, the temple teaches us through parables. Meaning, that we can be looking at everything and end up seeing nothing. He gave a few examples including the fountain in the front. He likened it to the living water that Christ has to offer. The kind that will keep us satisfied forever if we let it. hmm interesting. I guess that is why we need to go often... to start to notice the hidden jewels. 

So remember Ivan? The darling old man who visited 3 months ago at our open house and has been coming ever since? The one who practically locked us in his house and stuffed us with food on Christmas Eve? The one who has a huge family? So he has had lots of difficulties with the word of wisdom. When we started teaching him he was smoking a box per day. (20 cigarettes) and drinking lots. But he has been working hard and this week he happily reported that he only smoked 4 the entire week and didn´t drink at all!! What progress. 

We had stake conference and he came to the adult session and the regular sunday meeting and loved every minute of it. In fact, he said that he liked the conference but felt like it went by way too fast for his liking. (pretty cool because by the end of the last dry talk everyone else was sleeping) I told him that I would be leaving and that maybe I would not be able to be at his baptism and he was furious. We told him that President makes the decisions and he marched right up and introduced himself after the meeting and told him that my presence at his baptism was importantíssimo. President made him the promise that if he can be baptized in the next two weeks I will be able to attend! So pray for him please :)

I had another interesting experience this week. So, that Maria- the one who had the incredible dream and seemed so eleita-- yeah she made her decision. She will stick with the church that screams and accept credit cards on your way in. I was pretty sad. About her and others too. Because after 3 transfers here in Cotia I have basically talked to everyone. And every time we go anywhere we run into at least one person that I taught. During my time here we found soo many amazing people who showed so much potential but ended up choosing another path. And this makes me sad. Real Sad. 

So when we were at the temple we ran into Sister Farfal. We talked for a few minutes and it was so good to see her one last time, but she asked if I was alright. That I look more solemn. Less excited. Just different. I thought a lot about this and ended up on my knees in the temple´s bathroom. I just needed to be alone to talk to my Heavenly Father. I expressed the sadness I feel for all these who I have grown to love and asked Him if I have really done everything in my power to help them. I felt a reassuring peace that, indeed, I did my part and I can go to Ferreia in peace. 

**On a side note, as I was kind of down, wondering if I am really making a difference here,  Sister Granados and I looked at the mission journal and were suprised to find out that we were the ``baptizing sisters´´ of the month. haha I thought there was a misprint!! I guess we always underestimate our own efforts as we compare our weaknesses with others´strengths. 

To end, I would like to share a Sherri Dew quote that I think is applicble to all, missionary or not, at one time or another.... ``There will be days when you feel defeated, exhausted, and plain old beat-up by life´s whiplash. People you love will dissapoint you--and you will dissapoint them. Some days it will feel as though the veil between heaven and earth is made of reinforced concrete.´´

But I guess in these moments we develop the internal force to keep going. Keep trying. Finish the race. At least these moments of spiritual growing pains have made all the difference for me. Because every day I am learning that ``when we have the power of God with us, we turly can do all things-including everything we were born to do. We were born to lead. We were born for glory.´´ (Sherri Dew BYU 2003)

So, love you all. Até mais!!

Sister Lauren

Feb 1, 2015- Note from Paulhino!!

my friends, good morning, they saw what a beautiful photo of your Lauren? today was our stake conference if and been with her, all is well with her and she blows kisses thousand all. I talked to the President DelGuerso and he authorized you to attend sacrament meeting with Sister Lauren May 31. On June 1, Sister Lauren will dine with the President and his Family and already the night she is allowed to stay with you. The President Del Guerso, asked me to see you because he would like to Dinner with you, please consult the schedule and see if you have one night to dine with him.
Hugs and good Sunday.

Paulo Bergoc
Enviado via iPhone

January 26, 2015- O Templo and a baptism

Hi Family!!

I am great! It was another weeks of ups and downs, miracles and mishaps. Just the missionary life full of lots of opportunities to learn and grow. 

First, Anglela was baptized!! It was such a beautiful day! She just glowed. But it was also bitter sweet because Edilson decided that he was not ready to be baptized. I am still not sure, exactly, why, because does not have problems with any of the commandments and I know that he knows this is the right decision for him. We went the baptism in the spirit of fasting and prayer, hoping that someone would say something to touch his heart. President came, actually, and I am certain that his words were inspired... 

There is a sister on the mission, Sister Borges whose dad was baptized recently and so they could finally be sealed. So the family came to São Paulo and President gave permission for them to enter in the temple together for this precious day. After wards, Sister Borges got back to work but her family spent the day with President so they went to the baptism! And President invited the dad to speak about his experience. Tearfully, he told about his conversion process and pleaded with Edilson to think seriously about this decision. Then President invited Edilson to say a prayer and offered to ``sin´´ explaining that even though São Paulo is completely out of water, he is willing to come back to Cotia and fill the font one more time in the near future if he recieves a ´´yes.´´

His two sons pleaded with their dad to think seriously about this decision and we sang the EFY medly together. It was an incredible baptism. 

So, family, if you could, pretty please, pray for Edilson to have the faith and courage neccessary to accept the invitation. And fast. Because it may be selfish but I just really want to be there...

In other news, remember that wonderful family we found that even knelt to pray and followed along anxiously?! Well they turned cold this week. Real cold. As of now, they are deciding between our church and some other that screams and chants and talks, non stop about money. And want to know the interesting thing? A few weeks ago, before we even found them, Maria had a dream that she was walking, a lone, on a path filled with churches. It was a dark night and she wanted, desperately, to find the right church. She approached the first two and they were both locked and dead bolted. She even saw her friends from the other church but they wouldn´t come to the door. Finally, she walked a little more and found another church. Different from the others... huge and full of light. As she approached, the doors opened. She entered and felt more light and joy than ever before. 

She told us that she is only trying to find that church! So we read Lehi´s dream and told her to think about how she feels with us. We talked about the light the gospel brings. We bore our heartfelt testimonies and pleaded with her to think this through. And then Sunday, she did not show up at church. We went to get her and guess what we found... a man laying in her bed. Have I mentioned that free agency makes me crazy? Well it does. The only good thing is, at least maybe I will make smarter choices after metting people that simply don´t understand, try as we may; I guess I am learning a little about How God feels when we make dumb choices. 

This week we worked at the temple again and I had a really special moment. We were outside beackoning people to come in when we saw a man with his arms full of gardening items... a rake and such... As he passed the temple he seemed mesmerized. We introduced ourselves and asked if he would like to enter and see the temple grounds. He got super excited and said, absolutely!! Turns out, he is a gardener and for a long time he has been fixated with the temple gardens. Every time he passes he takes pictures from the gates and sends them to all his gardener friends. People who, like him, appreciate a good plant. He entered looking like a child on Christmas morning. He was just giddy!! He proceeded to take pictures of EVERY plant telling us all the names. ALL the names. At the end of the tour he thanked us saying that he loved, loved, loved the visit.

For maybe the first time in my life I recognized the pure beauty that exists in our temples. The gardens are emaculate, full of colors and textures. In every sense they represent the love our Heavenly Father has for us. He loves us so much that he wants our lifes, also to be filled with all the wonderful things life has to offer. In closing I´d like to share one of my favorite quotes of the week...

 Temples are an expression of God’s love. He invites us all to come, learn of Him, feel His love, and receive the priesthood ordinances necessary for eternal life with Him. Each covenant is made one by one. Every mighty change of heart matters to the Lord. And yours will make all the difference to you. For as we go to His holy house, we can be “armed with [His] power, … [His] name … upon [us], … [His] glory … round about [us], and [His] angels have charge over [us].”⁵

So go to the temple this week! Maybe for family home evening. I guess it is winter there, but imagine beautiful, emaculate gardens and think of me. And more importantly, think of Heavenly Father. He is pretty great. 

Abraços,

Sister Lauren

                                                                                   reading the mission gossip

                                                                                          president´s house

                                                                           Angela and Emerson (a missionary son)