Olá família abençoada!

Desculpe, eu só quero escrever em Português, acho que vou parar digitando estes emails em inglês porque não pode vencer quão maravilhoso e bonito português é! Você não concorda?

 

(English Translation -- Hello blessed family!
Sorry, I just want to write in Portuguese, I think I'll stop typing these emails in English because you can not beat how wonderful and beautiful is Portuguese! Do not you agree?)

 

Ok, but really this week was great. We started out with a big Leadership Council where for the most of the time we studied in small groups the fundamental of gaining revelation through Church attendence. Presidente is going through the cycle of all of the fundamentals (I think there are 8) again for our training each month. It helps a lot. I love these trainings because we always learn a lot and the Spirit is strong. It is also fun to see our old missionary friends from the other side of the mission. Síster Beck and Síster Bécar came and slept in our house this time. I don´t know if these names of other Sísteres mean anything to you, but Síster Beck was with us for a while in a trio and Síster Bécar is basically my twin (the only other woman in this country as tall as me). It was a great start to the week.

We have been fasting a lot for our investigators and praying with all of our hearts. I have never fasted so earnestly in my life. I want to help these people change so badly! We are trying and trying to do all we know to help them keep commitments and change their lives. We have some great investigators right now who are super nice and always welcoming to us. Sometimes I wish that they would move some of that effort of being so nice to us to keeping commitments instead.

So someone at Church yesterday said that anyone who sees me would know I am American immediately. I asked why and she said just because of my blue eyes. No matter how I try to be Brazilian and lose my accent I will always be pointed out for that. It is interesting to me how many people notice something so small, because it was never a big deal to have different colored eyes in the states. We are always super excited when someone in the street thinks we are Brazilian at first. It is our goal with contatos. :)

I love teaching the Restoration. No matter how many times I teach it it never gets old. I continue to learn about Joseph Smith and the pattern of prophets. Heavenly Father really is the same yesterday, today, and forever. You would think that it shouldn´t be that hard to follow what He wants us to do when He has been asked His children to do the same things for thousands of years! I am extremely grateful that God called prophets in the past who were great examples to us and wrote His word for years to come. I am also grateful that we have a living prophet today who we can follow and know we are doing what is right. I was reading today about the brother of Jared and the barges. There were 22 people in his group I think who crossed the ocean. They must have had a TON of faith to step on to those unusual ships and stay in there for 344 days! It says that they "cantava louvores ao Senhor e agradecia e glorificava ao Senhor O DIA TODO; e quando chegava a noite, não cessavam de louvar ao Senhor" (Éter 6:9). Can you imagine being so grateful and thinking about the Lord and His blessings so much for so long? They are truly examples to me of how I want to love the Lord and praise Him with all that I have. They are also huge examples of following the prophet, the brother of Jared, into any place the Lord asked them to go. I want to have the faith to step into any situation, place, or scary boat the Lord through His prophet asks me to. The heros in the Book of Mórmon teach us how to live our lives today. The prophet of God will never let us down!

I am loving this work. Is it hard? Oh yeah. Is it worth it? You better believe it. I love Brazilians and this ward and my companion and the other missionaries here. What a perfect place to be.

I Love you all, beijões,

Síster Marchant

Boa tarde Presidente!

Esta semana foi muito boa. Estamos correndo de um lado ao outro. Focalizamos muito nos nossos pesquisadores em João Rossi esta semana. Aquele bairro é muito abençoado. Parece um pouco perigoso tarde a noite mas nunca tivemos problemas e tomamos cuidado lá. É um bairro de apartamentos do governo e tudo mundo é simpático e receptivo. Quase todos dos nossos novos pesquisadores vêm de lá agora. Trabalhamos muito para ajudar os nossos pesquisadores a ir à Igreja esta semana. Seus treinamentos sobre este fundamental veio no momento perfeito (eu aprendi muitas coisas, especialmente falando nos grupos pequenos). Jejuamos duas vezes esta semana para nossos pesquisadores, que eles pudessem ir à Igreja. Deus trabalha em maneiras misteriosas. Quando Domingo chegou, tivemos o Carlos (woo! Estamos lutando para ele) e um outro pesquisador novo. Não foi exatamente o que nós estávamos esperando, mas foi uma resposta de muitos orações com certeza que algumas almas chegaram lá. Nossa ala é maravilhosa. Eles estão ajudando mais e mais. Eles são muito amagáveis, e não só os mesmos quatro ou cinco membros estão ajudando todos os momentos, mas muitos diferentes. Eu estou amando as pessoas aqui como eu amo as pessoas em Campos Elíseos. Que bênção ser uma missionária aqui! Tenho a melhor missão no mundo.

Fizemos divisões com a Síster Kunkel e a Síster Sena aqui em Irajá. Eu saí com a Síster Kunkel esta vez. Ela é uma missionária de muito poder. Falamos muito sobre a nossa área e comentamos que a ala está ajudando muito, e realmente achamos que esta área grande estaria pronta por uma outra dupla se tivesse mais missionários na missão. Síster Kunkel sabe como fazer e ensinar tudo e faz perguntas muito bem durante as lições. Ela é uma das Sísteres e pessoas mais feliz que eu já conheço. Ela nunca está com raiva e sempre está sorrindo e rindo. É uma alegria ter ela aqui na nossa casa. Ela está treinando muito bem, e a Síster Sena está ganhando mais coragem cada dia. A Síster Sena está muito animada sobre a obra e sempre gosta de falar histórias para nós quando chegamos a noite do que aconteceu durante o dia. Eu amo estas sísteres muito. Elas estão saudáveis e fazendo muito bem. Acho que um problema delas também é para ajudar às pessoas ir a Igreja. Sempre é uma batalha com isso! Vamos continuar a aplicar e praticar este fundamental importante nas nossas lições.

Eu amo estas sísteres e quero ver o sucesso delas. Síster Hoggan e eu somos abençoadas cuidar com as melhores Sísteres na missão. Elas são maravilhosas! Estamos cansadas mas muito felizes e amamos esta obra. Estou aprendendo muito, especialmente sobre liderança e jejum esta semana. Eu amo servir aqui.

Obrigada,

Síster Marchant

 

 

English Translation,

Good afternoon President!
This week was very good. We are running from one side to the other. We focus a lot on our researchers John Rossi this week. That neighborhood is very blessed. It seems a little dangerous late at night but we never had problems and take care there. It is a neighborhood of apartments from the government and all the world is friendly and receptive. Almost all of our new investigators come from there now. We work hard to help our researchers to go to church this week. Their training on this key came at the perfect time (I learned many things, especially talking in small groups). Fasted twice this week for our researchers, they could go to church. God works in mysterious ways. When Sunday came, we had Carlos (woo! We are fighting for it) and another young researcher. Was not exactly what we were expecting, but it was an answer to many prayers with certainty that some souls got there. Our ward is wonderful. They are helping more and more. They are very amagáveis​​, and not only the same four or five members are helping all times, but many different. I'm loving the people here as I love the people in Elysian Fields. What a blessing to be a missionary here! I have the best mission in the world.
We did divisions with the Kunkel Sister and Sister Sena here in Irajá. I went with Sister Kunkel this time. She is a missionary of great power. We talk a lot about our area and commented that the wing is helping a lot, and really think this area would be ready for another double if I had more missionaries in the mission. Sister Kunkel know how to do and to teach everything and asks questions very well during lessons. She is one of the sisters and happiest people I already know. She is never angry and always smiling and laughing. It is a joy to have her here in our home. She is training very well, and Sister Sena is gaining more courage every day. The Sister Sena is very excited about the work and always enjoy talking stories for us when we arrived the night of what happened during the day. I love these sisters too. They are healthy and doing fine. I think their problem is also to help people go to church. It's always a battle with it! We will continue to apply and practice this important fundamental in our lessons.
I love these sisters and want to see their success. Hoggan Sister and I are blessed with the best care sisters in the mission. They are wonderful! We are tired but very happy and love this work. I'm learning a lot, especially about leadership and fasting this week. I love serving here.
Thank you,
Sister Marchant