Won't you be my... Neighbor/Valentine/Investigator?

OOOIIIIIIIIII! Another exciting week in Brazil includes:

-It raining one afternoon, and although we closed the windows and door to our mini balcony (to dry laundry), our apartment flooded again! 

- We made friends with some people at the butchery, and so they give us free meat. :)

- We are making friends and gaining the trust of members here- we´ve had a couple people come up to us and tell us they want to go out with us this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yay!

- We had 6 investigators at church yesterday! One man is kind of creepy, and we don´t know him well, but a ward member (adult man) yesterday said he is willing to go with us to teach him. This ward is really great!

- I am really excited about one investigator, Maicol. He is 23 and lives in a part-member family, and yesterday was the first time he went to church in 5 years! It was surprisingly easy too- we told him we would pick him up at 8:30, and he was ready. Then later that afternoon, we taught him and set a date for baptism. Just has a problem with coffee...... And I guess his family is slowly falling away from the church, so we will have to help with that. 

- I will gain so much weight on my mission!!!  People feed us and ALWAYS say "eat more sister, eat more! You walk all day in the sun- you need to eat more. Oh and btw, here is half-a-gallon of ice-cream too." I think my problem is I love to eat, so I do as they say and eat more... :)

I am kind of nervous- we are starting an English class tomorrow! We´ll see how it goes- first time for both Sister Finlinson and I.

I absolutely love the sisters we live with! Sister Costa (São Paulo) and Sister Solis (Paraguay.) They are so sweet and work so hard. They definitetly go the extra mile. However, one of them snores SOOO loudly at night. I don´t remember the last time I´ve had a night without waking up.

This work is hard. It's actually really hard and stressful, but it's also really rewarding. And even though you sometimes can´t see the blessings at the moment, I know the Lord blesses us when we do his work.

I love you all!!!!

Love,

Sister Eliason

 

A man in our ward- soo funny! His old mission plack.

Did I tell you that I´m getting some great tanlines?

Sisters!

 

HELP ME!!!! I'M MELTINGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OI minha família e amigos animados! (Hi my beloved family and friends)

THIS WEEK WAS INSANE! Sooooo much stuff happened. I will try to cover it all, but I will go day by day to keep it all organized. 

monday- we cleaned our apartment in preparation for transferes.

Tuesday- Sister Finlinson and I arrived in Sarandi first and were picked up from the bus station by the Bishop's wife (We have a WARD here!!!!) Well we are staying in the same apartment that the elders stayed in, and OH MAN. I'm sorry, but I lost a lot of respect for them because of how they left it. It was a DISASTERRRRRRRRR! For example, I had to clean an OLD old old pan on which they had cooked eggs. Every room was like a tornado, and it obviously hadn't been cleaned in months. Well, we spent the first day there (ALL DAY) cleaning. The other sisters arrived and joined us in cleaning. Then we went to the church where we met the bishop. I´m excited- he seems really on top of the missionary work here, and he gave us a list of people he feels needs to be contacted. Great start.

Wednesday- after study, we went to lunch, then returned to clean some more. Finally we left for part of the evening to teach, and got lost. of course. But anyways, we finally found the house of the one investigator that the elders left us. Edizla- shes really great and has a desire to be baptized. But she has a complicated problem- her ex-husband moved back in with her, and she is too nice to tell him to leave. It's complicated because he legitly has sckitzophrenia. (SP??) He sees people and is a different person at night, so he needs to stay somewhere safe. For other reasons also, Edizla doesn't want to marry him again, and so shes stuck in a rut. A situation I thought I would never run into....Yeah, lots of prayers and hope and faith. 

Thursday- District meeting, and I finally got all your letters and Tyler's package!!! THANK YOU mom and Aunt Dee for the letters!! I love them! and Elder Tyler Eliason, thank you for the hand-made compilation of portuguese scriptures! Love it! Then we went to lunch in a different city where some members lived, then returned and talked with tons of people, then it stormed. MAJOR. The biggest storm of my life I think. Well, the elders called and told us to go to a house of a member, but not knowing ANY members or where they lived, we took cover in the nearest place possible- an ice cream shop. :) It was a good night... until we returned home and discovered our apartment without power. then we walked inside and discovered it had flooded as well. So we spent quite a while cleaning up all the water in the dark. This is essential because we have to sleep on the floor (the bunkbeds are broken). So yeah that was fun. it was a long night. Oh, and also it was my 3 month mission mark!!!!! Parabéns para mim....! haha

Friday- We went to what we thought was a members house. WE clapped at the gate and a young man came out. We asked if Irmã Pricilla lived there, and he asked "my mom?" never actually having met Pricilla, we assumed yes, so we naturally said yes. Well he let us in and we started talking to his mother about the Elders and some old investigators. As we continued, a look of confusion appeared on her face. Finally she said "sorry- I don't know many people here- Ive only lived here for 30 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" AHHH SO EMBARRASSING! Se we explained who we were and the name of the church and asked if she had ever heard of it. She said she hadn´t, so we explained our purpose as missionaries, then taught her and her son the first lesson (the restoration) right there and committed them to a baptismal date. So it turned out to be a good thing in the end..

Saturday- we got a new washing machine, oven/stove, and fridge!!! and then went to choir where I was instantly recruited to play the piano. YAY! Then we worked hard. We got a lot of referrals and 9 new investigators! wooohooo!

Sunday- Church was really good, and I'm also the new ward pianist :) I guess it's been a while scince the ward has sung with the piano... Then we went to lunch....... CHURRASCO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY FAVORITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyways, I love this city- I have a lot of hope for it!  This church is true, the book is blue, and God is a mormon!

Love you lots (and as cousin logan once did, here is a virtual hug: ***hug***) 

Sister Eliason

transferes............???

AND DRUMROLLLLLLLLLL...... I'm being transferred!!!! Along with my companion, Sister Filinson, we are both being transferred to the same area (WEIRD) where we will open the area for sisters! WOOOHOOO! This will be fun. Especially because I haven´t even finished my training... My companion has never opened an area before and I am in training and still have lots of troubles with the language. But the Lord will make us strong. As long as we are doing His work and trusting in His will, we cannot fail. Thus, I am thoroughly excited!  I feel good about this past transfer. haha All the pages in my planner for referrals, members, and notes are filled with referrals. It´s a good thing transferes are this week because I have no room left!

Well, we kind of knew that all of us sisters here in Campo Morão were going to be transferred (elders will probably take our place), so yesterday at church, there were lots of tears. It was a really good fast and testimony meeting, and I actually understood a lot of what was said. So I am pretty excited about that. 

Anyways, this week was a really good week- we found a LOT of people who seemed interested in the church and our message, so we made a lot of appointments for this week. The missionaries following us have a busy schedule this week :) For example, we were walking along the street yesterday, and a young man stopped us (actually he started walking along with us) and asked us about the church. He wanted to know what we believed and what the missionaries do. This does not happen often- actually VERY rare.

 One of the highlights of this week was when we had a member with us for an evening. We went to a certain neighborhood, and she mentioned how she had a friend who lived here. Our appointment for the evening fell through, so we decided to pass by her friends house. Well we got there, and I KNOW we´ve clapped at this house before, and I remember that she wasn´t particularly excited about us. Well this time when we were with the member, her friend invited us in. We explained a little about us and the church and mentioned how families can be together forever. Immediately this friend wanted to know more, so we ended up teaching the Plan of Salvation. We have a date marked to visit again (and she promised to have chocolate cake and fanta for us.) Of course it will probably be with elders, but whatever. My point is that MEMBERS ARE SO ESSENTIAL!!! When you have a member in your lesson, it makes the biggest difference! 

I love you all! Make this week great!

Com amor,

Sister Eliason

P.S. Disappointed about the superbowl. go broncos....  :(

 

I forgot to say, my new area is the city of Sarandi. woohooo! look it up, I know nothing about it :)

at the edge of the city. I randomly wore green and yellow and everyone said I looked like Brasil. :)

even when it´s POURING, we still work

fanta maracujá (passionfruit) BEST DRINK EVER

Oiii!

What a week! It was pretty good. I´ll just start with what is on my mind: Remember Anderson, the person that was baptized last week but never came to church, well...... HE CAME THIS WEEK!!!!!!! And he was confirmed, so yes, He received the gift of the Holy Ghost! Woooohooooooo!!!!!! Oh I´m so happy! It was such a good experience too- he was confirmed at the front of the chapel, and when he came back down and sat next to us, he said that he got goosebumps. What a tender mercy! I´m so glad to be involved with this work, even though it is really hard sometimes. 

Also, Saturday night we had a church activity that us missionaries were in charge of. We did the Iron Rod activity where everyone is blindfolded and they have to hold onto a rope. Meanwhile, they have the Holy Ghost at their side helping them, and occasionaly the Devil will come and try to persuade them to let go. I thought it went really well. However, I guess it was poorly announced because only like 20 people were there. And these people were the people that had choir Right before the activity. 

Speaking of choir- it´s reallllllly interesting and slightly humorous. The missionaries were asked to participate in choir because if we´re not there, the women are shy about singing. The problem is I literally think that being tone-deaf is genetic here, especially for males. like half of the men in the choir are tone-deaf. However, at least they know how to pronounce the words correctly... haha

Other than that, this week was pretty normal. Which is good. I can echo Elder Eliason´s words about the weather, especially since he´s only like 400 miles south of me. So yeah, it was HOTTTTTT then massive storm, then HOT!!!  

Random story- This week we were teaching a lesson, and this woman´s pet chicken wandered in, started pecking at some bugs on the ground, then fell asleep. I realized that the weird thing is that this was totally normal- it wasn´t weird at all. hahahaha! 

Thank you so much for all your love and prayers! Share the gospel this week!!!! It´s so important. People´s salvation is on the line! Just think about it- you can change someone´s SALVATION! 

Com amor,

Sister Eliason

p.s. tyler, why the heck are you sleeping on the floor? You should have a mattress... and I thought you bought yourself a hammock too...

p.p.s. CONGRATULATIONS SISTER CHLOE ANDERSON ON YOUR MISSION CALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oi tudo mundo!

First things first:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

I consider it a tender mercy to write to you on your birthday! I hope your day is filled with lots of chocolate covered almonds and apple pie :)

Second: HAPPY HALF-BIRTHDAY YESTERDAY TANNER!!!! It´s official- you are now 17 1/2 years old. (haha I almost said "you have 17 1/2 years")

This week was really good, and a little hard on the stomach... Hey Elder Eliason, I just about laughed at your letter because you said the same thing! 

But really, so this is what happened: Friday night we went to a house where the wife is a member but the husband isn't. And he has questions. A TON about the church. And he knows the Bible better than anyone else I know. And he loves to pick on the new missionaries. So we get there, and the fisrt thing he does is sit us down and starts pounding me with questions. Questions like:

-In Isaiah 4:1 it talks about 7 women for 1 man. Why is this? Why is this allowed? I only have one wife, and I don't want anymore. 

-What are the three places in the Bible where it says that a member has to pay tithing?

-Where in the Bible does it talk about Joseph Smith?

-Where are the gold plates now? 

-Exactly how many wise men were there that visited Jesus? Where in the bible does it say?

His argument was "you were born in the church, so you have 19 years of studying. You should know all these answers..." 

Then, we sat down for dinner, and had some juice. Now, I've drunk more juice here than probably my whole life, and a lot of times, I don't even know what kind, but this time, when I drank, it was SOO BITTER. It stung my throat and it was everything I could do to not spit it out. My mind was racing to figure out what it was. Then the husband said, oh yeah, this is ONION JUICE!!!!!!!! OH. MY. WORD. It was seriously the worst thing I've ever drunk in my whole life. But, I saw all the other missionaries drink it, so I sucked it up, and finished my glass. Then they said, "oh yeah, you have lunch with us again on Sunday." I wanted to cry.

We were at the church on Sunday greeting people, and this husband and wife showed up. It turns out, they are super active, and were just playing with me. They like to tease all the new missionaries! It turns out, everyone else had LIME juice while I had onion. And they were doing everything they could to not laugh at me. When we returned yesterday for lunch, we had churrasco. MMMMMMMM SOOO GOOD!

Well, the work this week. It was pretty good. So we called one of our investigators on Thursday to see if he still wanted to continue and if he was serious. Well he said, "I've been thinking, and I want to be baptized." WHAT?! Awesome! So, we set up an interview the next day. He passed, and in the interview, they set up his baptismal date for the next day, Saturday. So we had a BAPTISM on Saturday!!!!! It was so wonderful! SO wonderful. But... he didn't come to church on Sunday. yeah. So he never received the Gift of the Holy Ghost- that which seals his covenant. Oh it broke my heart! We will try to work hard this week with him, so he will come to church this next sunday and receive the holy ghost then. I'm praying for him in all my prayers. 

This work is so important, and I am just so grateful to be a part of it. I know the Lord blesses us when we are weak and he makes us strong. 

I love you all, and hope you have an amazing week!

Com amor,

Sister Eliason

P.S. Mom- Tyler is right, Brazilians usually don't use any seasonings- just salt.

P.P.S. THANK YOU for the super bowl update- GO DENVER BRONCOS!

 

Batismo!!!  Anderson

My city! Compo Morão!

My Comp and I on P-Day

This adorable girl, Julia. Not the best pic of me, but she was so cute (and was wearing fake vampire teeth.)

 

 

 

 

Oi!

HEY EVEYRONE!!! How is it going in the USA?? Sharing your testimonies?!? YEAH!

This week was tough, not going to lie. It started out pretty good. WE had some good lessons. WE did a lot of finding this week and taught the Restoration a bunch. I always love teaching about it. And I'm getting more comfortable talking to people on the street. One of my highlights of this week was when we ran into a recent-convert who is semi-active on Saturday. Of course we invited him to come to church, and he was really hesitant: 

him:no, I have to work..

me:what time?

him: 1-9

me:perfect! You can come to church first!!

him: no way- I'm working late tonight!

me: you don't need sleep... you´ll be fine!

him: AHH I need sleep!

me: nah- church is more important...

It went on like that for a little while. Anyways, I was so excited because I actually had a conversation with someone and I didn't need the help of my companion.  And GUESS WHAT?! HE CAME TO CHURCH YESTERDAY!!!!! 

And a good thing too because no one else came. 

Saturday was undoubtedly the hardest day of my mission so far. We had a baptismal interview planned for a man, Anderson, but apparently he forgot. We called him, and he said he would come, but then he wouldn't. So we called again. Same thing happened. WE ended up waiting almost 4 hours because he kept saying he would come but he never did! AHH! We feel so good about him! He has had spiritual experiences, and read part of the Book of Mormon without us even asking him to. He doesn't drink or smoke (WHAT?!!?) and said he will stop drinking coffee. And he live the law of Chastity. Soo it's really frustrating that he forgot... and then he didn't come to church yesterday because he forgot to tell us that he had work. so we have to wait a couple more weeks before he can be baptized.

Well after we waited for forever, we went to an appointment (and a recent convert came with us) so we were really excited. buuuut our appointment wasn't there. And so was our back-up. And a lot of people we talked to in the streets weren't interested. When we got back to the apartment, we called our investigators to remind them about church the next morning, and one woman we felt so good about and had high hopes for, well she said that her husband doesnt want her to investigate the church anymore. AGGGGG!!! I think my heart broke. Seriously, I was so sad. I was just ready for the day to be over. BUT at about 10:15, we got a call asking us to give talks the next day in church. And of course in Portuguese. So yesterday I gave a talk! I guess I forgot I speak a lot slower in Portuguese than in English because my talk ended up being 15 min. Afterwards a bunch of members told me congratulations and then corrected my portuguese. ha

This week, I have decided, will be better! YAY! I know that this is the Lord's work, and HE will help us when we are trying our best. This gives me a lot of comfort. I know this is His church, and I know that I am supposed to be here in Brazil right now. 

I love you all!!!!!!!!!! Hope you have an amazing week!

Sister Eliason

P.S. I got your Christmas cards this week (at zone conference!) And I want to give a special shout-out to the Moore family. Thank you for including me in your Christmas letter.... :) "Starving College students try to eat small children" That made me laugh!

HEY-O!

OI MINHA FAMILIA E MEUS AMIGOS!!!! AMO VOCÊS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!

I LOVE YOU ALLLLLLLLL!!!

This week... well, I´ll just start with what´s on my mind. I'm a little frustrated because all the people who said that they were going to go to church never came. If only they knew how important keeping their commitments is!! Because when people keep their commitments, they are THAT much closer and more prepared to make and keep covenants with God! And I just want them to have that happiness in their lives! 

Everything we do is for our investigators (everyone.) When we study, we study what we teach and how we can apply what we teach for them- so their lives can improve and so they can draw closer to our Heavenly Father. 

Anyways, something AWESOME that happened yesterday though, was when a family who was baptized 25 years ago, but hasn't been to church in 15 YEARS, came to church yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my goodness, it was so great! It was really amazing too, to see some of the branch members remember them, and give them great big hugs! Really- it reminded me of the Prodigal Son. It was a tender mercy for me to see that happen. 

We fasted this week (Fast sunday), and honestly it seems like every time we fast, we fast on the HOTTEST DAYS!!! It's really difficult, but it's worth it. And when we fast, miracles happen. A little sacrifice on our part, but MAJOR blessings!

For new year's, we honestly didn't do much. We went to a members house and had churrasco (I think that's how you spell it). Anyways, SSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOOD!

So this morning, I woke up with an absured amount of bug bites. I have 16 new bug bites on my arms. (11 on the left and 5 on the right) and 7 on my face!!!!!!!!!! It's kind of embarrassing.

 I am 99% sure that I slept with a mesquito last night.... yeah, I washed my sheets this morning. It takes a TON of self control to not itch. I have to think to not itch pretty much every other second. It gives me more understanding of how people with addictions try to overcome their addiction. Really- it's a minute by minute process/decision.

Well, I love you all!!! Share your testimony with someone this week! If you don't know with whom, pray for an experience. I promise God will help you have an experience... after all, it is HIS work.

Love,

Sister Eliason

P.S. Congratulations Sister Ashley Ludwig on your mission call!!!

P.P.S. Congratulations Sister McKenzie Toma on Your mission call!!!

P.P.P.S. Congratulations Liahona on your engagement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (AH!)

P.P.P.P.S. Congratulations Sister Messick on your new marriage!!! (What do I call you now?)

P.P.P.P.P.S. I love you.

 

Christmas Pomegranate

Funny Sign!

New Year's Cake the District Leaders Brought Over