Ups and Downs

Hello everyone!!

It's so great to email again, and to read and be uplifted by all your kind words! I hope everyone is doing well!!

So, this week has been an interesting one. It's been one of the most difficult of my mission. My dear sweet companion, Sister Trinidade's father passed away Saturday night. President and Sister Houseman came over to our apartment at 10:30 Saturday night to tell her, and they were there until about 1:30 in the morning. He's been really sick for a while with diabetes, and his heart and kidneys failed him Saturday night. Sister Trinidade has been devastated. She and I have both cried almost non-stop all weekend. We spent some time at the President's house last night, and we're going to the temple tomorrow, which have, and will help a lot. Sister Trinidade is incredible though. She had the choice to go home, or to stay in the mission, and she made the decision to stay. It wasn't easy for her, but she says it's what her Dad would have wanted. It's just made me realize how precious each and every day is. I hope you all know how much I love you, and that I'm praying for you. Please keep Sister Trinidade and her family in your prayers, and in the temple.

I do have one great thing to tell you about though! Emmanually was baptized this week!!!!! She's the most incredible 13 year old girl, and I just love her so so so much! The baptism was incredible, and I started crying the moment she entered the baptismal font. I'll try to hurry and finish writing this email, so I can send a picture!

I really do love you all! Thank you for the support you give me! I know that God has a plan for us, and he is constantly watching over us. I also have such a strong testimony that we will see our loved ones that have passed away again some day. There is life after death. God loves us, and he has a perfect plan. My scripture of the week is Alma 28:12- "While many thousands of others truly mourn for the loss of their kindred, yet they rejoice and exult in the hope, and even know, according to the promises of the Lord, that they are raised to dwell at the right hand of God, in a state of never ending happiness."

Love you! (sorry for the downer email)

Love, Sister Shelton

Bete"s Baptism!!!

Helllllloooooo!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, this has been such a crazy week! I'm gonna jump right in to the miracle of the week, because I'm so excited about it! My miracle was most definitely Elizabete's baptism!!! It almost didn't happen. The baptism was scheduled for Friday night (because she worked all day Saturday) and Wednesday night, we got a text from Bete saying that she wasn't going to be baptized Friday... maybe next month. We were shocked! And because we've been without credit for a couple of weeks, we couldn't call her. And it was late at night, so we couldn't visit her. But, we were able to have Elder Nunez, our District leader, call her and do a conference call with us. Turns out she was just nervous, and feeling a lot of pressure from the adversary. We were able to talk to her for a little while, and reassure her that she was doing the right thing, and that all would work out. 

Like I said, Bete's baptism was Friday night! It was so special! My first baptism of the mission was a really great one! A lot of ward members showed up to support her, and Pedro (her two year old) only screamed a little bit. It really was such an incredible feeling to realize that Sister J. Silva and I helped someone enter into such an important covenant with God. We have another baptism this week, of the sweetest 13 year old girl, Emmanuelly. I'm so excited for her! Please keep these two sweet people in your prayers!

The other big moment of the week happened Friday night after the baptism. Sister J. Silva and I were sitting in our room talking, when we got "the call". Sister J. Silva got transfered! :( Minha mai left me for another area! I am seriously so sad to not have her as my companion anymore!! But my new companion, Sister Trinidade, is so great! She was in my district, and I already know and love her! It'll be interesting learning how she works, but I'm excited!

I really am doing so good here in Brasil! Rio Doce is an incredible area, with incredible people. I have lots of pictures to send, but the computer doesn't seem to want to send them, so we'll see. I'll keep trying!

I hope you all have a great week, and remember that you have so much worth, because you are a child of a king! Love you all!

Love, Sister Shelton

Scripture of the Week: This week, I encourage everyone to read MOSIAH 3. It's an incredible chapter about the Savior.

-A couple of weeks ago we went to a place called Alto de Se! It's seriously one of the most beautiful places ever!!

My awesome District!!!

Literally, horses just wander the streets here!

I love my "Mai!" (Mom-Trainer)

-Bete's Baptism!!! (I promise she was happy... she
just doesn't have teeth on the top, and doesn't like to
 smile for pictures.)

Another week down!

Hello again everyone!

This week really has just been so good! Nothing super special, but I finally feel like I have a hang of things, and I am able to communicate more freely with people! I've also just had lots of little moments where I was so overcome with joy- joy for these people, joy for this gospel, etc- and I KNOW I'm being blessed.

First things first, I need to wish a happy father's day to my Dad, and to all of the other Dads out there! Yesterday was Dia dos Pais here in Brasil, and I've just been thinking about how grateful I am for my Dad! So, even though it's not father's day in America, I want you to know that I love you, and I'm grateful for all you have done, and are doing for me!

We had several miracles with our investigators this week! First, Elizabete! She had told us that she wasn't prepared to be baptized, and we thought we were going to have to keep pushing her baptism back. But, after talking to her for a while, she told us she felt prepared to be baptized this Friday! (she works Saturday) Now, we just need to finish teaching her!

Second miracle- There's a man we've met with a little bit, but he didn't really seem like he was going anywhere. We decided to wait until Sunday, and if he went to church, we'd keep meeting with him. It didn't really seem like he was going to come though when we talked to him. He told us he didn't want us to come meet him at his house to walk with him, but he would come on his own. (That's never promising) But, as we were sitting in the church, in walks Moeseu! Wahoo! So, I guess we'll keep helping him, and keep teaching him the gospel!

And third miracle- We're teaching a 13 year old girl, Emmanuelly, and her baptism is the 26th! We were all really worried that her mom wouldn't give her permission to be baptized though. But, after talking to her for a bit, her mom signed the paper, and gave her full permission for Emmanuelly to be baptized!!! It was a happy moment for everyone!

I love you all, and I'm grateful for all the thoughts and prayers in my behalf!  I hope you have a fantastic week, and you find something to smile about every single day!

Com Amor,

Sister Shelton

Scripture of the Week: 

Alma 33:14- "Now behold my brethren, I would ask if ye have read the scriptures? If ye have, how can ye disbelieve on the Son of God?" The scriptures really testify of Christ! Are you reading them?

Pictures: Two weeks ago, we went to Marcozero! It's a big tourist spot, and it was really, really cool!

What a Week!

                                                                                                                                                Aug. 7, 2017

Hello everyone!!

Man, this has been quite the week! I wish I could just send a video of every experience I've had, because I just don't have the words to describe it all!! But it's been really great, and I've learned lots of great things.

The miracle from this week is that we found 14 new people to teach in just 3 days!! It's been so insane, and so good. Last week we only found 1 new person to teach, so this week really was a lot better! Almost all of the people we found were references from members. It just goes to show how important member missionary work is! There's always something more we can do. So, I challenge all of you to find some way you can be a missionary this week. It doesn't have to be big, but make it sincere! It could just be smiling at someone on the street. And I want to hear about your experiences! Email me about it!

One quick "Brazil" experience to tell you this week! We were teaching a family in a really really poor part of Rio Doce (all of it is poor, but especially this part) and the living conditions were something that most people in America could never imagine. We taught standing up, because there were only a couple of chairs. The only light in the room was light that came through the slots in the wall, because the house is literally just a bunch of metal sheets pieced together. And there were muddy dogs running around our feet, and a chicken that kept pecking at me.  About 10 people live in this tiny little house, about the size of my living room. It's so different from anything I've ever experienced back home, and it just makes me realize how blessed I am to have grown up where I did. They're such humble people though, and I love them so much!

Basically, I really, really love Brazil. There are lots of challenges I'm learning to overcome, but it's all so worth it! I love these people, and I love their culture. I know I will forever be changed because of what I'm learning here.

I love you all, and I hope you're doing well! Don't forget to tell me about your missionary experiences this week! (I have pictures to send, but not the time to do it... I'll send them next week! Sorry!)

(She sent pictures that her companion took) 

Love, Sister Shelton

Scripture of the Week! Jacob 5:71 "... if ye labor with your might with me ye shall have joy in the fruit which I shall lay up unto myself against the time which will soon come." What I like about this scripture is that we're working with the Lord! We're never alone, because we're doing his work! Not just in missionary work, but in the salvation of our own souls! And, when we remember this, it's so much easier to have joy in what we do.

Comments from Jess on some of the individual emails that she sent:

(Our cousin Natalie just received her Mission call to Brazil)

I am so excited for Natalie!!!!!!!!! AH! Seriously, she's going to love this country!!! Tell her I'm super super excited for her!!!

Tell Natalie congrats for me!!!!!!!!!! AH! I am so excited she's coming to Brazil! This country, these people, the food, etc. It's all so amazing! She is going to love it! Whooo!!! :D

I wish I could share everything I'm learning with all of you, but it would be nearly impossible. I'm learning new things every single day, and I've already grown and changed a ton. But one thing above all else that I've learned is that Christ is our brother, and he loves us more than we can possibly imagine. He's with us always, and we just have to recognize him in our lives.

Thanks for praying for Elizabete!! She's an incredible person  that really could use the gospel in her life. We hit some bumps this week with her, and she had a death in the family which resulted in a lot of closing down on her part, but I still have lots of hope for her! Keep praying!