Bom dia família!

Biggest news of the week is that the newbies have arrived! The American Sisteres and Elderes for this transfer came in last Wednesday. They are doing great and moving right in. One of them is Sister Casperson! She is living in our apartment now as companions to Sister Rodriguez.They are really great and hardworking. They are in charge of Campos Eliseos A now. The office elderes are also training an Elder Johnson now too so we have 7 missionaries in our ward! Our ward is so full. This Sunday we had 95 people in Sacrament Meeting which was even more than last week. I thought last week was a once in a lifetime opportunity but once again our chapel was way full! Bispo Fabio e Irmã Sueli are very on top of things and never stop working. They are so excited to work every second and are willing to help with anything we need. I am never going to find another ward quite like this one. Part of me wants to stay in this area until the end of my mission!

I also saw this week...Sister Shipp!!! It was SO great to see her again! She is such a strong missionary and will be so great here in Brazil. The night she arrived she actually stayed with us in Campos Eliseos (we have lots of extra beds and there was a zone conference in our chapel the next day) so I got to talk to her a little bit and catch up on the past 5 months. She loved California and is also excited to start here in Brazil. I could really see myself in her as we interacted with the other missionaries and a few members that first day. I was so scared and silent when I arrived here too! I feel like I have changed SO much since being here in Brazil and have really grown since that first day. Moving to Brazil after getting your visa is kind of like starting all over again as a missionary for the first few weeks. You really can hardly contribute at all and have no idea what is going on. I am so grateful I survived through that stage and that I can be a true part of the work now every day. I understand this language better every day and it is not holding me back from anything anymore. Eu amo Portuguese demais!

The sad news was that Debora was unfortunately not baptized this week. Her husband has CRAZY work schedules (basically he doesn´t ever stop working either) and doesn´t find out when he will be off until the day before. Debora really wants him to be present at her baptism which we are all up for, it just makes it hard to plan. But she said for sure during this week or next Sunday it will happen. I know how important this is and how much she needs the gospel in her life! We will continue to visit her often and encourage her to stay strong and committed even amongst any struggles she may have with support from family or personal motivation. She is such a happy person and is SO prepared to be a member of the Church its not even funny.

We have worked a lot with Marisa too this week. Her daughters are on fire and attend basically any reunião the Church has. When we told them they could be clean of all of their sins and worries through baptism this week they said they wanted to get baptized tomorrow. They would be very ready if only their mother was as excited. We have a rule in the mission that you cannot baptize kids under 18 without their mom or dad being baptized as well. They have had lots of problems with kids going inactive fast and then still being responsible for this covenant they made. I think it is a great rule. It is a little sad in this situation though because the girls are so righteous and ready! Marisa really likes the Church too and is super supportive of us coming over and her daughters learning everything possible, she is just super active in her current religion still and has no desire to switch. But she is coming to Church almost every week as well and is reading the Book of Mormon like crazy. I think the gospel will touch her life and she will be able to feel the difference between her religion and the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ as she studies more and truly prays in faith.

I love these investigators so much and really love the ward members and other missionaries here. Life is great and I continue to learn a lot about the gospel and about myself each day. Every single youth in the Church should serve a missionary. It changes you SO much.

I love you all tons!

Sister Marchant

P.S. Last night I had a dream in Portuguese that I was at Subway trying to buy a sandwhich, but they would only give me white bread, cheese, and meat. All of the vegetables were just sitting right there in front of me but they wouldn´t give me any! I begged and begged until they said I could pay extra for the veggies. Story of Brazil. Be happy for every single green thing on your plates and eat your fruits and veggies with pride. They have a lot of great fresh produce here but no one ever serves it. The food is super good though, just not very healthy. :)

Olá Presidente,

Foi uma semana boa e corrida. Nós tivemos oito Sisteres em nossa casa uma noite esta semana com a transição com os novas Americanas. O dia depois a reunião de zona foi muito boa. Eu amo nossos reuniões aqui. Nós temos líderes de zona e distrito muito bons e eu sempre aprender muitas coisas em nossas reuniões semanais. As praticas são muito eficaz, e nós estamos aplicando elas mais agora em nossos estudos em casa também. Eu estou gostando as temas dos treinamentos destes meses passados e agora me sinto muito mais confortável com todas as lições e com Pregar Meu Evangelho. Eu sei que tem muito poder e dedicação nesta missão.

Nós trabalhamos muito com Debora e a família de Marisa de novo esta semana. Debora esta progredindo ainda mas não foi batizada este domingo passado. Ela quer que o marido dela possa assistir, que seria muito maravilhoso, e ele só tem folga o próximo domingo. Ela prestou um testemunho forte esta semana conosco que ela quer ser renascido e começar uma vida melhor. Vai ser difícil sem muito apoia de sua família mas ela esta determinada ainda. Vamos continuar a ajudar ter um testemunho mais forte do Livro de Mórmon e de perseverar até o fim.

As filhas de Marisa são progredindo muito rápido. Elas vão a todas as reuniões e atividades da Igreja e estão fazendo boa amizade com as Moças aqui. Nossa lição passada foi o Evangelho de Jesus Cristo e as duas filhas mais jovem falaram, "Quero ser batizada amanhã!" Nós ainda tem muitas coisas ensinar, mas elas estão aprendendo rápido. Nossa ala continua ajudar muito, especialmente a Presidência das Moças e o Presidente do Sociedade de Socorro, Irmã Sueli. Marisa continua ler o Livro de Mórmon muito e ir a Igreja, mas ela não está mudando muito como as filhas dela. Ela está muito animada que suas filhas estão melhorando e mudando, mas ela ainda gosta de sua religião Espirita. Ela frequenta as duas agora e acha que Espiritismo é certo para ela e nossa religião é certa para as filhas dela. Não faz muito sentido para mim que ela pode acreditar em as duas, mas estamos tendo ensinar muito sobre autoridade e que realmente só tem uma lugar com toda a verdade.

Estou tentando muito para receber revelação por nossa área esta semana. Eu posso sentir-se o Espírito forte e estou recebendo respostas a minhas orações. Eu amo esta obra!

Boa semana,

Sister Marchant

Wow!

What a great week. We have been working até o pó. Our ward is so fantastic! We had an awesome Domingo this week at Church and had tons of investigators and less actives we have been working with there too. I have never seen that chapel so full in my life. It did my heart so good to sit up there on the stand (I played the piano every week) and see so many happy souls there soaking in the truth. There were so many people there that they ran out of sacrament bread! They had to run out real fast and find some more and rebless it. I personally have never seen that before but it was a pretty great problem to have.:)

We also had our first stake choir practice this Sunday. Sister Brum asked us to participate in the Stake Womens Choir. They are having a big fireside event for the birthday of Relief Society this month and we get to be a part of it! It is super fun to sing in a choir again. I always miss singing in choirs after a long break of not having one. I love to sing!

Debora is getting baptized!!! We have her interview this Thursday and then our planning her baptism for Saturday. Things are going really well and we have become really great friends. She seems to really understand what we teach and is eager to improve her life through Christ.

A lot of great things have happened with Debora and Marisa and her family this week. I wrote most of them below so you can read it in broken Portuguese. Sorry I don´t have much time today--so many people wrote this week I have just been reading up a storm! Thanks so much to all of you dedicated email writers! They are very appreciated!

Love ya,

Sister Marchant

Olá Presidente Brum,

Esta semana foi uma outra maravilhosa. Nós estamos trabalhando duro e vendo sucesso. A parte melhor do que tudo com certeza foi Domingo. A capela foi cheia! Nunca em minha tempo aqui em Campos Eliseos tenho visto tantas pessoas lá. Tivemos oito pesquisadores na capela (woo!), e os Élderes tinham alguns também. Sou grata que vamos receber uma outra dupla esta semana por que tem muito trabalho fazer aqui! Nós sempre temos pessoas visitar ou contatos contatar. A liderança nesta ala é ótima. Bispo Fabio e o Presidente da Sociedade de Socorro, Irmã Sueli nunca param. Eles sempre querem visitar pessoas e nos ajuda. Eles têm muitas ideias boas para resgatar menos ativos e são muito dispostos trabalhar com nossos pesquisadores. Os outros membros da ala estão ajudando muito com reuniões familiares e fazendo amizade com nossos pesquisadores na Igreja. Eu AMO esta área!

Nós estamos preparando um batismo esta semana para Debora! Ela tem estado preparando-se para batismo toda a vida dela. Ela nunca fumou, nunca tinha enamorados antes de casamento, quer pagar dízimo--todas as coisas que geralmente são difícil para vencer ela já está fazendo certo. Nós amamos ensinar ela porque ela escuta bem e entende bem. Ela tem o desejo melhorar e ser nascida de novo. Ela tem algumas dificuldades com a família dela não dando muito apoia, mas o marido dela aprova e a filha (com seis anos) gosta da Igreja também. Ela vai ter uma entrevista Terça, e se isso vá bem, eu acho que ela vai ser batizada Sábado!

Marisa e as filhas dela estão progredindo bem também. Marisa não foi para a Igreja esta semana porque ela estava passando mal, mas todas suas trés filhas foram, e elas gostaram muito. As Moças foram muito boas e muito simpáticas. Nós também tinham um reunião familiar ontem anoite com Irmão Mateus e Irmã Natali. Foi muito bom especialmente para fazer amizades. Marisa e duas filhas dela foram. Quando fomos a casa dela para levar elas para a reunião, o Presidente das Moças da ala e o marido dela, o Presidente das Moças da Estaca, e uma Moça da ala estava saindo da casa! Nós não sabíamos mas eles fizeram uma visita também. Esta família recebeu muitas visitas da Igreja ontem, e também aceita tudo. Nossa ala é ótima. Marisa e suas filhas ainda tem algumas coisas mudar e coisas aprender, mas eles estão progredindo para com batismo esta transferência também! O Senhor é tão bom. Nós estamos recebendo MUITAS bênçãos de Deus em Campos Eliseos.

Tudo é bom e melhorando também! A vida missionária ainda é difícil mas com certeza vale a pena todos os dias. Sou muito grata por esta oportunidade servir meu Senhor. Isto é a obra Dele, e é uma honra ser uma parte dela.

Obrigada por tudo!

Sister Marchant

 

 

Translation into English:

 

Hello President Brum
This week was another wonderful . We're working hard and seeing success. The best part of all was certainly Domingo . The chapel was crowded ! Never in my time here in Campos Eliseos have seen so many people there. We had eight researchers in the chapel ( woo! ) , and Elders had some too. I am grateful that we will receive another double this week that has much work to do here ! We always have people visit or contact contacts . The leadership in this wing is great . Fabio Bishop and the President of the Relief Society , Sister Sue never stop . They always want people to visit and help us. They have many good ideas to rescue less active and are very willing to work with our researchers . The other ward members are helping a lot with family gatherings and making friends with our researchers in the Church . I LOVE this area!
We are preparing a baptism this week to Debora ! She has been preparing for baptism throughout her life . She never smoked , never had lovers before marriage, wants to pay tithing - all things that are usually hard to win she's doing right now . We love to teach her ​​because she listens well and understands well . She has the desire to improve and be born again . She has some difficulties with her family not giving much support , but her husband and adopted daughter ( six years old ) loves the Church as well. She will have a Tuesday interview, and if that goes well , I think she will be christened Saturday !
Marisa and her daughters are also progressing well . Marisa did not go to church this week because she was sick , but all his three daughters were , and they loved . The girls were very good and very friendly. We also had a family gathering yesterday anoite with brother Matthew and sister Natali . It was very good especially for making friends . Marisa and her two daughters were . When we went to her house to take them to the meeting , the ward Young Women president and her husband, Stake Young Women president , ward and a young woman was leaving the house ! We did not know but they made a visit too . This family received many visits from church yesterday, and also accepts everything. Our ward is great . Marisa and her daughters still have some things to change and learn things , but they are progressing toward baptism this transfer too! The Lord is so good . We are receiving many blessings of God in Elysian Fields.
Everything is good and improving too! The missionary life is still difficult but definitely worth every day. I am very grateful for this opportunity to serve my Lord . This is His work , and it is an honor to be a part of it .

 

Translation into Dutch:

Hallo President Brum
Deze week was een andere prachtige . We werken ER hard aan en het zien van het succes . Het beste deel van alles was zeker Domingo . De kapel was druk ! Nooit in mijn tijd hier in Campos Eliseos zo veel mensen daar hebben gezien . We hadden acht onderzoekers in de kapel ( woo! ) , en ouderlingen had wat ook. I ben dankbaar dat we zullen ontvangen nog een dubbele deze week dat veel werk te doen hier heeft ! We hebben altijd mensen bezoeken of contact contacten . De leiding van deze vleugel is geweldig . Fabio bisschop en de voorzitter van de ZHV , Sister Sue nooit stoppen . Ze willen altijd mensen te bezoeken en ons te helpen . Ze hebben veel goede ideeën om minder actief te redden en zijn zeer bereid om samen met onze onderzoekers . De andere leden van de wijk zijn het helpen van een veel met familiefeesten en vrienden maken met onze onderzoekers in de kerk . I hou van deze streek!
We bereiden een doop deze week om Debora ! Ze is de voorbereiding op de doop door haar leven . Ze heeft nooit gerookt, nooit minnaars had voor het huwelijk , wil om tiende te betalen - alle dingen die meestal moeilijk om te winnen ze nu aan het doen . Wij houden van haar te leren omdat ze luistert goed en begrijpt goed . Ze heeft de wens om te verbeteren en wedergeboren . Ze heeft wat problemen met haar familie niet geven veel steun , maar haar man en geadopteerde dochter ( zes jaar) houdt van de Kerk ook. Ze zal een dinsdag interview , en als dat goed gaat , i denk dat ze zullen worden gedoopt zaterdag !
Marisa en haar dochters zijn ook voorspoedig. Marisa ging niet naar de kerk deze week omdat ze ziek was , maar al zijn drie dochters waren , en ze vonden . De meisjes waren zeer goed en zeer vriendelijk . We hadden ook een familiebijeenkomst gisteren anoite met broer Matthew en zus Natali . Het was zeer goed, vooral voor het maken van vrienden . Marisa en haar twee dochters waren . Toen gingen we naar haar huis om ze naar de vergadering , de afdeling jongevrouwenpresidente en haar man , Stake jongevrouwenpresidente , wijk en een jonge vrouw werd verlaten van het huis ! We wisten niet maar ze maakten ook een bezoek . Deze familie zijn bezocht door vele kerk gisteren , en ook accepteert alles . Onze wijk is groot . Marisa en haar dochters hebben nog een aantal dingen te veranderen en te leren dingen, maar ze gaan vooruit in de richting van de doop deze overdracht ook! De Heer is zo goed. We krijgen vele zegeningen van God in Elysian Fields .
Alles is goed en te verbeteren ! De zendeling leven is nog steeds moeilijk, maar zeker elke dag waard . I ben zeer dankbaar voor deze gelegenheid om mijn Heer te dienen . Dit is Zijn werk , en het is een eer om een deel van te zijn .

Oi Oi Família!

I cannot believe you all are STILL having huge snow storms. I don´t really remember what snow is like. But actually we did have an experience this week where I got a glimpse of what my memories of snow. Slowly over the transfer our freezer froze over with big ice chunks so that eventually we couldn´t fit anything in it. We had to unplug our fridge/freezer for a day and let all the ice melt down to nothing. I was scraping away at the solid layer of ice and it reminded me a little of snow:) Broken freezers are the closest I can get.

This week we have been in a trio! This is all three of our´s first experiences in a trio. It is quite different but I am learning A LOT. There is a lot you have to organize and straighten out to keep everything equal between three people. But our new companion Sister Rodriguez is great so it´s not that hard. She is 27 and is from Porto Alegre. It is great to be serving with a Brazilian again too. She used to be a Portuguese teacher so she knows the grammer and everything about Portuguese really well. We are also starting to teach her English which is great. She doesn´t know anything right now so we are starting from the very beginning. It is neat to see her and imagine what it must have been like to try to teach me Portuguese from the beginning. Vish! There is a lot to learn about a language.

Debora is doing great. We visit her almost every day and she always has news stories about her life to tell us. It will be SUPER hard to give her up next week. So we are currently working in all of Campos Eliseos until Sister Rodriguez´s novinha comes from the MTC next week. Then we will split Campos Eliseos in half and give them half of our area like we did before with the Elderes. Debora is in their area (nooooo!) so after this week we will not be able to teach her much. I´ve never been so sad to leave an investigator but I know she is going into good hands and that Sister Rodriguez will take care of her well. We will still see her every week at our English class and of course at Church every Sunday :). She has a baptismal date for this Saturday. I don´t know if she will make it then but either this week or next week for sure. I really hope and pray she can get baptized while I am here.

Marisa´s family is doing great too! We are becoming good friends with them and developing a trust that will make it easier to teach. Marisa, Giovana, and Mariana (Bianca was in a different city visiting relatives this weekend) came to Church this week! I think the girls were a little bored in Relief Society and Gospel Doctrine (see below) but they said they liked it and I think they will come back again to try out as Moças when all of the young women come back from their trip. They are eager to learn and we are eager to teach. I love working with them! And yes, they are in our area for good.

I have been studying a lot about and trying to apply charity into my actions and work more this week. As I study the example and life of the Savior, I am learning that their really is always so much more we can give to help others. He gave every second of His life to teaching and helping us, and I want to be able to gain a sliver of the charity He shows for us. I know that just a little bit of charity can go a long way and that our service in the Church does not go unnoticed. Thank you so much to all of you who are fulfilling your callings willing and giving of yourselves to build the kingdom of God. Blessings overflowing (literally more than we can count) are available to us when we live the Gospel of Christ with all of our hearts. I love you all tons!

Love,

Sister Marchant

Olá Presidente!

Esta semana foi ótima. Estou aprendendo muitas coisas. Ter Sister Rodriguiz em um trio conosco é muito bom. Ela é muito inteligente e sábia e nos ajuda muito. E diferente ensinar e planejar com trés pessoas, mas Sister Rodriguiz é muito fácil. Nós estamos felizes e aprendendo coisas diferentes juntas. É uma oportunidade muito grande para aprender novas coisas. Sister Rodriguez está me ajudando muito com Português também. Nós falamos Português 24/7 e é muito mais fácil agora falar o que eu quero. Eu amo esta idioma! É muito bonita e muito legal finalmente entender quase tudo que todos os pessoas falam. Para mim falar é ainda a parte mais difícil, mas estou melhorando pouco por pouco. Tenho um desejo muito grande ser completamente fluente nesta língua.

Nosso pesquisador Debora está progredindo rápido. Ela foi para a Igreja esta semana de novo e gostou. Ela não trabalha então nós podemos visitar ela quase todos os dias. Ela entende o que nós ensinamos e já tem um testemunho que a Igreja é verdadeira. Sua dificuldade é que ela não tem a apoia de sua família. O irmão dela é um pastor de uma outra igreja e não quer que ela entre nossa Igreja. Mas ainda, eu acho que ela vai ter as forças para seguir Cristo e ser batizada ainda com desafios. Ela sabe que este evangelho está trazendo mais felicidade na vida dela. Ela está preparando ser batizada o próximo sábado.

A família de Marisa também foi para a Igreja esta semana! Foi sua primeira vez, e infelizmente todas as Moças estavam no acampamento durante Carnaval, mas eu acho que a família ainda gostaram e vão voltar. Nós vamos tentar ter mais lições com membros esta semana com esta família e com Debora para que eles possam ter amigos na igreja e ter mais incentivo frequentar. Temos uma reunião familiar planejada para anoite com Bispo Fabio que vai ser muito boa e especial. Estamos animadas para o progresso de nossos pesquisadores!

Tudo é bom aqui. Estamos trabalhando duro e estamos cansadas, mas felizes. É muito bom ser missionária.

Obrigada por tudo,

Sister Marchant

Boa tarde Família!

It´s true! It´s true! I´m staying in Campos Eliseos!!! And...with Sister Hoggan! We are SO excited to be here together for another six weeks! Transfers couldn´t have been more wonderful. The two Elders here in Campos Eliseos (Elder Graf and Elder Kimball) are staying here too which will be super great and helpful. And...we are receiving another dupla in our ward!!! Can you believe it? Three sets of missionaries in Campos Eliseos as well. This area is zooming. We will be receiving a new set of Sisteres. We picked up Sister Rodriguez from the rodoviária this morning and she will be living with us in our wonderful apartment with a newbee! Sister Rodriguez will train her here, the best area to start your mission. Sister Rodriguez is from Porta Alegre and is SUPER nice and a great missionary. I don´t know her super well but I have a good feeling it is going to be great to work together here. I love this area!

This week we had lots of miracles and taught lots of lessons. Our area is small so we don´t have to do tons of walking to find people to teach. It is so amazing to be here! This past transfer I have truly gained a love for being a missionary. Every day is wonderful and I can´t wait to go out and teach people. We are teaching two families right now! Marisa and Valter with their three girls: Giovana, Bianca, and Mariana. Then we have Marcos and Vanessa with their daughter. I am so happy to stay here to have the chance to continue teaching them! They truly understand what we teach and now just have to put out a particle of faith to pray to gain their own testimony. These families are very smart and catch on to almost all of the principles that we teach very quickly.

Marisa has a sweet story. Let me tell you: We met her and her husband one night while doing contacts. They were sitting in the street in front of their house. We talked to them for a while that night and they seemed curious about the Church but not very interested in our message. Then come to find out they are the aunt and uncle of our Ward Mission Leader. He called us one day and said that they had called him lots of times to try to meet with us again! Our week was really crazy and they can only meet certain days at night during the week so somehow with lots of committments we could never schedule another time to meet with them. We tried to go back and we talked to the daughter and Dad outside of their gate who seemed a bit lukewarm so we didn´t think it was going to really go anywhere. Then we were just walking down the street one day and ran into Marisa again. She said she had been thinking about us a lot and really want us to come back. We turned around right there and went back to her house to teach her a lesson. She is Espirita and told us a lot about her religion, (which is a super common religion here) and it was very interesting and helpful to learn. Then she told us that that first night we had contacted her, as soon as she went back inside she had a prompting "Go back and talk to them. Try" She said she tried to run after us but we had already sumimos! She had then been trying to get in contact with us the best two weeks but was never able to. Satan has been trying to work against us because he knows this is so right! But we finally did meet with them again and everything turned out great! Marisa told us in the first lesson that she didn´t need to pray to know that the Book of Mormon was true and that she should get baptized because she already did pray and is ready to go! She knews this will bring good values into her family in this crazy world. The rest of her family isn´t quite as gungho as she is but they are willing to learn and are very attentive during lessons. I really hope and pray they keep sticking with them and we can find them em casa mais!

Wow, we have just started teaching them but I really hope they stay firm and continue accepting so well! What a huge blessing. We have been working a lot to try to find those who are elect. There are tons of Brazilians who are willing to let us in and teach a lesson, but its hard to find those who will actually keep committments and progress. This last week was way better and I am SSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOO grateful to stay here in this wonderful area.

Deborah came to Church this week! She is progressing great and I am SO exuberantly happy to have the chance to stay here and continue teaching her. I love Debora and her family so much!

Sorry, there is tons more to say but I am all out of time here! It has been a fabulous week. Thanks so much for all of your prayers and words of love. They are working so well and I have been so blessed! I continue to pray for you every day.

LOTS of love,

Sister Marchant

Presidente!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eu estou MUITO MUITO animada estar aqui em Campos Eliseos! Eu amo esta área demais e amo Síster Hoggan ainda mais. Quando nós ouvimos as notícias sobre transferências gritamos e abraçamos e choramos. Vai ser uma ótima transferência de novo! É uma bênção muito grande ficar aqui e nós estamos prontas continuar trabalhar muito duro e tentar seguir a vontade do Senhor. Nós também estamos muito animadas ter Sister Rodriguez em nossa casa! Ela é bem simpática e vai ser uma outra bênção em nossas vidas. Nós recebemos muitas, muitas bênçãos esta semana, bênçãos demais contar.

Nós encontramos uma família esta semana! Os pais se chamam Marisa e Valter. Eles têm três filhas e todos eles são muito inteligentes e dispostos aprender. Eles estão atentos durante nossas lições e ter muitas perguntas boas. Nós convidamos eles ser batizados na primeira lição e eles aceitaram! A mãe quer isto muito. As filhas e pai têm menos certeza mais ainda são dispostos continuar aprender e orar em fé. Nós vamos orar muito por uma milagre para toda a família.

Nós também tivemos um pesquisador na igreja! Acho que você conheceu ela: Debora? Ela é MUITO chique e esta progredindo rápido. É muito fácil encontrar ela em casa e nós estamos ensinando ela mais ou menos quatro dias por semana. Eu amo ela muito e estou muito animada e feliz ver ela progredir. Nós já tivemos MUITAS milagres nesta área!

Tudo é maravilhoso. Nós estamos saudáveis e felizes. Muito obrigada por tudo que você sempre está fazendo para nós, especialmente sua visita a nossa ala esta semana. Me faz feliz ver você e Sister Brum de novo. Eu amo a missão!

Com amor,

Sister Marchant

Hello there!

These weeks are zooming by! I cannot believe it is already almost the end of this transfer! It has been fabulous working with Sister Hoggan. I hope we never get transfered.

This week we had a neat experience on Sunday. As you know we have been having lots of problems with getting investigators to come to Church. Sister Hoggan and I did a special fast this week to try to help some specific investigators we have been working with have the motivation and drive to attend Sacrament Meeting this week. We had some great lessons and felt the Spirit strong. A few of our investigators promised to come and we were getting excited. We also have been working a lot with less actives and were able to help a few of them get the motivation to come back to Church. After a bit of a funny morning (we forgot about daylight savings time and woke up at 5:30 instead of 6:30! We got all ready for Church and almost left the house before we realized it. Oops!), we woke up one menos ativo (se chama Christiane. She is awesome and has a super strong testimony) to help her come to Church and made it exactly on time. It turned out that none of our investigators were there, and we were pretty beat. But then after the meetings we had this mini meeting with Bispo Fabio (who is absolutely amazing and does everything wonderfully to make our life great! Basically our one and only link to the ward, but a rock solid link). He had written down the names of every single less active/investigator who came to Church today who usually doesn´t come. It turns out there were two teenage girls who slipped in who we didn´t know about, and also two casals who are part member families. Our ward had 6 investigators in total (1 from the elderes) at Church! It was a huge blessing. It came to teach me to never ever doubt the Lord. He works in mysterious ways and will grant unto us every righteous desire that we have. Our prays and fasting may not be answered exactly how we expect, but they will be answered. I truly believe that our other investigators will start coming in the next few weeks as well. The Lord is watching over us.

We also had a neat experience with a new investigator, Deborah. She is our one faithful aluno de nosso aula de Inglês. It has been going on once a week for about two months now. She is super sweet and has a strong Christian background. She used to sing in her evangelical Church and has an AMAZING voice (that means a lot here too because most Brazilians don´t know how to sing much). She basically has been preparing to be a member of the Church all her life because she doesn´t smoke or drink and is married and wants to pay tithing. When she was younger  (like high school age) she said she didn´t fit in very well because she wanted to have good standards and not have tons of boyfriends. People like Deborah are hard to find! She is a very special soul and I know how much the gospel can bless her life and her family.

I have felt the Spirit super strong this week. He has really led our lessons and helped me to know what to say when I do not know. I few times this week Sister Hoggan or I have opened to a scripture or asked a question that we hadn´t planned beforehand that the other was thinking about saying in the same moment. It is so neat to see the Spirit work strong in our lessons and planning. We are loving serving together and learning a lot. I feel a lot more confident and bold after this transfer and can see my Portuguese improving little by little. I love being a missionary! Campos Eliseos is the best area in the world.

Love you forever,

Sister Marchant

P.S. A few of you have sent me some poems that are really great. Thanks so much for your extra time and service of thinking of me with funny poetry.  :)

Olá Presidente!

Estas semanas estão apressando demais! Não acredito que já seja a última semana da transferência! Campos Eliseos está muito bom e nós estamos trabalhando com felicidade todos os dias. Sister Hoggan é ótima e uma bênção grande em minha vida. Eu tenho aprendido muitas coisas dela inclui como ser mais ousada e feliz em todos os momentos. Ela é uma missionária muito boa e muito dedicada. Espero que eu posso ensinar e trabalhar mais como ela.

Esta semana tivemos algumas lições muito boas. Temos estado estudando sobre o Espírito Santo muito esta semana e eu realmente posso ver o poder do Espírito muito mais. Eu posso reconhecer os sussurros do Espírito mais e acho que isto está liderando nossas lições melhor. Sister Hoggan e eu somos muito unidas e tínhamos ideias semelhantes em muitos momentos. Eu aprecio a importância de seguir o Espírito mais agora e quero ter este poder comigo por minha missão inteira e depois. Nós podemos ter muitos esforços e poderes com o Espírito do Senhor em nosso lado.

Tudo mais está bem e tranquilo. Nós duas somos saudáveis e fortes. Nosso bispo, Bispo Fabio, é absolutamente maravilhosa e está ajudando todos os dias. Tinha muitos mais pessoas na igreja esta semana graças o trabalho dele combinado com nosso com menos ativos. Ao trabalharmos juntos, eu posso ver muitos milagres na nossa ala. Temos muito trabalho fazer! Temos muitas pessoas visitar e estamos muito ocupadas. Eu amo esta obra!

Um abraço,

Sister Marchant

Hello minha amada família!

I am loving this place so much! There are a lot of challenges but the people are so good and friendly and the work is so worth it. Our new bishop, Bispo Fabio, is especially amazing and on top of things. He is working with us really closely and helping out a ton with the work. He is always going on visits to see people in the ward (yesterday we ran into him twice while he was trying to visit the same people we were:) ). We had almoço at his house this week and he gave us four references after the lunch message (one of which was Adriana (see below)). He also showed us lots of his old papers and lembranças that he kept from his mission because we asked about how it was before Preach My Gospel. Wow, it was a very different missionary world. It is really fun and funny to see him go on and on and remanise on all his missionary days. It reminded me of Dad. I hope to be like that some day. We have a ward mission plan now where we are working closely with the leaders of each organization to find pesquisadores and menos ativos to teach. There are always too many people that we want to visit that we can´t get them all in. It is a great problem to have.

We had a great lesson with Iara this week about the Plan of Salvation. We have to teach her kind of basic because she has very little Christian background, but she is always eager to learn and listens intently to all of our lessons. I can always feel the Spirit strong there and feel like I am fulfilling my purpose. I love Iara and her cute little family and truly hope they will start keeping more commitments to work towards baptism. They have a date but didn´t come to Church this week again so we´ll have to change it. One thing that is interesting to me is how so many people are not accostumed to prayer. Almost all of the people we teach will not pray the first lesson, are really reluctant to pray, or do not know how to pray. Brazil is a very religious country but yet prayer is still not something most people are willing to do in front of others. I am very grateful to have been taught since era criança to pray often and to pray fervently. It is making all the diference for me as a missionary now and I depend on speaking to my Father in Heaven so much! Prayer WILL bring miracles. So Iara has always tinha MUITO vergonha to pray but this week when we were going to start the lesson she said "Eu vou orar hoje." She offered and even offered at the beginning! We were super excited and hope that this means she is praying lots on her own as well. She is very timid and has a crazy past that makes it hard for her to change, but we love her so much and will continue to work a lot with her to help her see how the blessings of the gospel can improve the quality of her life forever.

We have been talking a little bit about General Conference already and I am counting down the days. It is so much more exciting now and I can hardly wait for Abril to get here. Conference should be the very beginning of not next transfer but the one after. Having current real prophets is such a huge blessing in the earth today and I cannot wait any longer to hear them speak!

I love you all tons! Always remember how wonderful our Heavenly Father is and how much He is willing to bless us. I am learning to be patient and happy in adversities as well. Remember that must of the things that will make you frustrated really are not a big deal or will pass. Everything is going to be alright! We have the truth and are on the winning team! I love the good news of the gospel with all my heart.

Love you forever,

Sister Marchant

Ola Presidente!

Sister Hoggan e eu estamos trabalhando muito bem juntos. Tínhamos uma boa semana com algumas lições muitas especiais. Era um pouco difícil esta semana porque nós estamos fazendo nosso melhor e fazendo tudo que nós sabemos para que nossos pesquisadores vão a igreja e progredam, mas eles não estão guardando compromissos. Vamos continuar trabalhar com estas pessoas, porque muitas delas têm muito potencial. Nós estamos amando estas pessoas mais e mais todos os dias, e nós desejamos a salvação e felicidade deles. Espero que o evangelho vá mudar suas vidas.

Nós tivemos uma experiência muito especial esta semana com um rapaz que esta começando preparar-se servir uma missão. Ele se chama Lucas e a mãe dele se chama Adriana. Ela não é um membro e sempre era mais ou menos contra a igreja, mas esta semana ela falou que ela quer ler o Livro de Mórmon, ir a igreja, e considerar sendo batizada! Lucas claro está bem animado porque faz muito tempo que ele tem estado esperando para isto. Nós tentamos algumas vezes este fim de semana mas não tivemos ainda a oportunidade ensinar ela. Nós falamos com Lucas uma noite esta semana muito sobre a missão e tão maravilhoso é. Ele parece muito animado continuar preparar-se sair. O Espírito foi muito forte, e eu estava MUITO feliz e animada para ele e sua família. Espero que tudo vai continuar melhorar em sua vida e que ele pode desfrutar todas as bênçãos do evangelho. Eu amo estas pessoas muito!

Nossos estudos estavam muito melhor esta semana também. Nós estamos planejando nossos estudos melhor e eu estou aprendendo mais coisas mais eficazmente. Durante nosso estudo de companheirismo nós sempre praticamos o convite batismal e planejamos por nossos pesquisadores com práticas. Isto está ajudando muito e embora seja difícil as vezes, eu gosto e quero continuar. Eu ainda só espero que nós tenhamos mais tempo para estudar! Eu AMO estudar.

Em geral esta semana foi normal e feliz.

Obrigada por tudo!

Sister Marchant

Hello Hello!
Phew! It has been a busy week. We are running around like chickens with our heads cut off. There are so many people to teach and visit! It is such a wonderful problem to have. Unfortunately, no one is really progressing right now, but we have taught a lot of great lessons this week and are talking to TONS of people. We have a few really great investigators that would be ready for baptism if they just came to Church. We will continue to work hard with them and the ward and hopefully they will have to desire to visit and see the difference in the only true Church of Jesus Christ.

We did some neat service projects this week too. One family in the ward (Irmão João e Irmã Marlene) was moving across town and their son (Irmão Tiago e Irmã Fabiana) moved into their old house. Don´t worry, they are both still in our ward, they just now have a nice upgrade (one even has air conditioning:) ). We helped them move out of the old and into the new. The second family lived in an apartment on the fourth floor...Let´s just say those escadas were a trial in my life. I don´t know how many times we went up and down, but we did a lot of great work! It was fun to see so much support from the ward come together too to help each other. We finished super fast. My leggies are a bit sore today but it was totally worth it. I want to go to every service project after the mission that our ward ever has! They are so fun.

Our ala de inglés was also way fun this week. Sister Hoggan and I taught parts of the body this week. We sang heads, shoulders, knees, and toes together. It was awesome to see all of these adults singing and dancing to head, shoulders, knees, and toes with thick Brazilian accents. That must be how they all think of me to listen to me talk in Portuguese! I am really enjoying teaching this class.

Speaking of which Portuguese is going great. I can understand almost anything and think this language is just beautiful. We have had some good language studies this week and I am beginning to learn the little details of grammer that aren´t really the basics anymore. We are supposed to study the language every day of the mission until the very end. I am excited to really become fluent and to learn all the little picky details about Portuguese. I know the gift of tongues is real and that God is really helping me a lot. I was a little nervous about the language when I heard I would be with an American companion but things are really going great and I am still learning a ton. I am SO grateful for the chance to learn a new language and culture. This is such a wonderful experience unlike any other I have ever had or will ever have. What a blessing it is to be a missionary in Brazil.

Love ya,

Sister Marchant

P.S. I bore my testimony for the first time in Sacrament Meeting this week. It was short and sweet and about the Atonement of Christ, that we can perservere and overcome with the guidance of the Holy Ghost any trial that comes our way. The Spirit is so real and will help us to understand more of what the Atonement means for us personally. Testimony Meetings in this ward are great! A swarm of members always gets up at the very beginning and you have to go fast if you want a chance to speak. There are no silent pauses here! Luckily I was playing the piano like always so I was already on the stand and could sneak over real quick to get in line in the beginning. I love this ward!

Oi Presidente,

Isto foi uma outra boa semana. Foi um pouco mais difícil e nós estamos bem cansadas, mas nós trabalhamos duro e estamos felizes. Estamos tentando trabalhar mais com a ala também. Falamos com mais ou menos cinco pessoas para sair conosco e ensinar, mas tudo caíram. Porém, ainda tivemos algumas lições boas, especialmente com recém conversos. Estamos começando ensinar algumas pessoas da área dos Elderes de Campos Eliseos (incluindo recém conversos) porque eles não têm muito tempo no campo. Estas lições foram maravilhosas. Eu amo ver quando um pesquisador ou membro aprende alguma coisa nova e finalmente faz sentido para ele quando estamos ensinando. Isto é uma de minhas partes preferidas da obra. Eu amo ensinar a verdade!

Nós também ajudamos com duas mudanças esta semana. Foi muito bom e nos sentimos muito úteis. É legal ajudar pessoas em maneiras diferentes e ver todos os aspetos de serviço. Depois da missão eu quero servir em qualquer  maneira possível em minha ala. Nunca aprecia antes a  diferença podemos fazer em nossas próprias alas quando nós servimos e levantamos onde nós estamos. Eu nunca tenho que parar ser um missionária e ajudar onde eu mora.

Obrigada  por a entrevista e o treinamento! Nós estamos aplicando os ideias melhores para estudar e estamos vendo um diferença grande. Eu AMO estudos e agora estou aproveitando melhor.

Obrigada,

Sister Marchant