ohh loco!

So this week. Well I´m supppppper excited for General Conference!!!! Not only will we hear a living prophet and apostles, and feel the spirit super strongly and receive answers to our prayers, but guess who I´ll see? Just for those who don´t know, I and once again serving in the Maringá stake, the same stake as my first two areas, so I´m going to see all the members from my first two areas, Campo Morão and Sarandi!! wooooohoooooo!!!!!!

My companion is Sister Vargas and she´s from.... (drumroll please!) PERU!!!!! From Nasca!  And she´s super excited about everything! So it´s fun to work with her. 

This week we found a bunch of people to teach, which is good. So we found and taught a young man and then yesterday walked with him to church.  And i thought that sacrament meeting was very good- I felt very uplifted. But afterwards, this young man told us that he had to go home and not stay for sunday school, he told us that he didn´t feel good and refused to let us mark and hour to pass by. and we tried to give him a book of mormon, but he refused. AH! it´s so hard when this happens, because you try so hard to share with people what you value most and BAM! direct rejection. In your face. The thing is, if you are there to learn with an open heart and trying to feel the spirit, your will feel WONDERFUL!  But, as that one hymn goes: Let us all press on in the work of the lord.....

Love you all! I know the church is true and there is ALWAYS someone you can share your testimony. So go and share it! This gospel is the most important thing in the world! Without it, and without Jesus Christ, we are nothing!

Sister Eliason

 

 

what I thought I knew.

I thought that I knew about the transfer- everyone said that my companion and I would stay together here in Morangueira. Well I guess the lord has some other plans because Sister Garcia is leaving. WHAT?! It came as a shock. 

This week was a bit difficult, but we toughed it out and ended up teaching a part member family yesterday, and the other part (the non members) told us that they will come to church next sunday. I have a very good feeling about this...... :)

Oh man, I kind of very sad (I know that doesn't make sense) about transfers and I can´t really remember very well what happened this week. It´s all a blur. 

WHO WILL KILL ALL OF THE COCKROACHES NOW!?!?! Sister Gracia and I made a deal that I would kill all the spiders (After killing all those wolf-spiders in our house and Virgina, these spiders are nothing)  and she would kill all the cockroaches (which I find are incredibly disgusting.) 

I heard that my new companion is Hispanic. Another hispanic!!! i guess this is a sign that I really do have to learn Spanish... she being my 4th hispanic companion. 

Hope you are all well. Feed your missionaries. Go to church early and listen to the prelude music. Be a peacemaker. Read Preach My Gospel for FHE. And PREPARE FOR GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!!!!!!

lOVE YOU ALL!!!! 

lOVE,

SISTER ELIASON

 

The sad face foto was when we learned about the transfer.  :(

 

I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful....

Many things happened this week! But first of all, I hope everybody is doing well and reading their scriptures every day! A recent convert yesterday shared with me that she read a scripture which answered her worries and gave her an answer of exactly what she needed to do with her life. It´s awesome when someone tells you that!

So big events:

Friday AND Saturday, it DIDN'T rain. WOAH! :) 

Thursday was one of the best days of my mission- ZONE CONFERENCE!!!!!!!!! I love love love love love love lvoe love lvoe love love love love love listening to the trainings of President Genaro. I try to write down EVERYTHING he says because it is ALL inspired. A cool activity which we did was this. Before the conference everyone was told to bring their area book. So we did, and at one point, we traded area books with another companionship, and after saying a quiet prayer with our companion, we had 10 minutes to find 2 people in the area book that the other missionaries need to contact. It was all about revelation, and was a moment of spiritual growth and confindence in the Lord. You could really feel the spirit was there. 

 

After the morning training, we had lunch, then came back and the assistants gave a training about how to use the "My Family" genealogy booklet. Then President Genaro spoke again. This time about the Atonement, and if just the subject doesn´t get you crying, just wait until you are in a President Genaro training. At one point, we were all given a small nail, and with our eyes closed, president Genaro at the pulpit, every time he said a word, we had to press the nail into the palm of our hands. (not super hard, but hard enough to feel a little pain.) He said words like "contention. Resentment. Being really really trunky. Disobedience. Laziness. etc." 

I know that although this mission is very hard- the hardest thing I´ve ever done in my life, I am getting to know my savior better. Sometimes it´s frustrating. like when you see some lazy missionaries having lots of baptisms and sometimes it feels almost unfair. But that´s when you have a lesson about humility and just have to work harder. Know that the Savior knows how you feel. Knows how much you are hurting and striving, and you have to just trust that the blessings come in His timing. 

Love you all. A whole heck of a lot.

Love

Sister Eliason

 

some fotos of the zone conference. Some old companions were there!

 

March 9, 2015

This week was kind of crazy! We have 3 couples we are teaching, and it´s awesome because we are praying and fasting to find and teach and baptize a family. And the ward council is doing so with us, so that´s awesome! Unfortunately only one of these couple came to church yesterday, but it turned out pretty good. (And they have a car!!!!!!!!)  We (sister Garcia and I) love them!!! Bruno and Mayssa. Pretty much they know that they have to be baptized. And they know that they have to read the BOM and they know that they´ll get an answer. But we have faith and hope :)

The zone leaders helped us out this week- they did a division in our area (well to really a division.... just took a day to work in our area to help us find new investigators.) and they really helped. So Sister Garcia and I made them cookies, one of which was in the shape of the baptismal symbol (see the foto I sent.) 

But this week was pretty spiritual- our zone had what we called a "holy week" where we really focused on the work and didn´t talk about our past lives or family much or really anything not related with missionary work or the gospel. It was kind of hard, but we had some pretty spiritual experiences. 

Saturday night, we held a ward activity that we, the missionaries were in charge of. We had everyone sit as though they were on a plane. And then, with sound effects and everything, the plane was getting ready to crash, and everyone had 30 seconds to write on a piece of paper their last thought and wishes towards their families. Then we collected the papers. And in front of everybody, we tore them all up, as though they meant nothing. It shocked everyone. We then read Jacob 4:3-6 and told everyone that when we neglect to read the scriptures, it´s as though we are tearing up all the work done by the holy prophets. The activity turned out great!

Something not so spiritual: it seems like everyone is on strike here. All the public high schools are on strke here in Paraná and haven´t been in session in over a month and a half. Then all the truck drivers have been on strike for more than a week because of something that the president said. So prices of everything have been skyrocketing! Last week there were no bananas in the supermarket!!! (but luckily our neighbor gave us a TONNN from her ranch!) And because of the lack of truck drivers, the post office is at a standstill, and yesterday we found out from a hurt woman on the street that the hospitals are on strike too.... 

I don´t want to say all this to worry you, but WOAH! It´s a little crazy! But don´t worry- we are all doing fine :)

Pray for Bruno and Mayssa. I´m super excited about them. Love you all!!! 

 

Keep well!

Sister Eliason

 

 

cookie in the shape of a baptism symbol

millions of types of bananas

my shoe died. Sister Gracia´s also died.

 

Lookin´ up

We´re looking up figuratively of course. And at night when there are stars before 9:00.  

This week was insane!!!!!!!!! And I´m super happy! Of course I had some difficulties. But, we kept going. WE are continuing to teach Vitória (the 12 year old) She´s already been to church 2 times and also to mutual. But the bishop wants us to work with her mom more, who really isn´t interested in anything. But we will continue teach and pray. And fast. That´s what we can do .

Also we taught  some references from members this week- one being the nephew of the bishop. He went with us to teach his nephew, Bruno and his wife. I was super nervous!!!! They were already taught by the elders some years ago, but the bishop put a lot of trust in us (he loves sisters!) and really wanted a lesson. I felt super nervous- like I needed to be the PERFECT teacher, but it ended up being suer spiritual. They came to church yesterday! I´m excited to teach them more this week.

But here´s the miracle (well one of the miracles):

Saturday was a super long day- almost all our appointments fell through. We got back to the house exhausted. Then the Zone Leaders called and challenged everyone to leave the house the next day BEFORE 7:00 AM, and invite everyone in the street to come to church. Well... I´ve never had any success with this. But we are trying to be obedient, so we got up extra early and left at 6:59. We got to the end of our street and turned left, got about 5 steps, then turned around- the opposite direction of the church. But we felt better. So we talked with everyone in the street, and NOBODY accepted- got rejected a bunch. Until we were talking with one woman in front of her house, and saw a man pass by- someone we had already contacted some weeks ago. We tried to find him, but it seemed like he had turned the corner. So we ran to the corner and looked down the street, but decided that he was nearby. So we ran down the street, and there in the distance, there he was! We literally ran to him, then acted like it was a coincidence we found him. all in all, he came to church with us! Even though it was 40 min walk from where we were. It was awesome! 

I´m super happy about the work here!

love, sister Eliason