Halloween??

Hello again!!

This has been one great week here in Recife!! We had Zone Conference Tuesday, and then splits with the Sister Training Leaders Friday to Saturday. It's been super fun, and I've learned a ton!

Before I forget, Happy Halloween tomorrow! Halloween doesn't really exist here in Brasil, but us Americans are still excited. Haha! We're going to "celebrate" today for P-day by buying a pumpkin. :)

So, we had a pretty incredible spiritual experience with our golden investigator, Elaine, this week! We brought her to the church, and gave her a tour of the building, ending in the Sacrament room. There we talked about Jesus Christ, and the symbolism of the sacrament. We ended by singing I know that my Redeemer Lives, and the spirit was super strong! Elaine started crying, and said that she was feeling something she'd never felt before, and we were able to explain how the spirit works. Overall, just an incredibly gratifying experience, in which, I'm reminded just how blessed I am to be serving a mission.

In my studies this week, I was reading in 2 Nephi, and I read again the scripture "Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy." This is such a powerful scripture, and I hope you all remember that God's plan for us is eternal, and something that started long before Adam. God wants us to be happy- it is the purpose of this life. Never forget to find the good in the little things!

I hope you all have an incredible week this week, and a happy halloween tomorrow! I love you all!

Love, 

Sister Shelton

We went to Alto de Sé again this week!

Zone Conference

There Can be Miracles…!

Hello!!!

How are you all? How's school, work, life, etc??

This week has been quite the week here in Brasil! Lots of learning and growing experiences! :)

We had a miracle this week in Rio Doce! So, the past several weeks have been a little bit rough. Lots of people lying about their addresses, not being at home for our appointments, suddenly deciding they don't want to learn more, etc. We were in desperate need of a miracle. And... the miracle's name is Elaine! She's a 28 year old single mother of the cutest 1 1/2 year old, that we contacted in the street. We tried visiting her last week, but she wasn't home. So, we tried again this week, and after knocking on her door for several minutes, we were about to walk away when she opened the door! She told us she was sorry for not being home for our appointment the week before, and that she got assaulted, and they took her phone, so she couldn't call us. Well, as terrible as her getting assaulted is, it really prepared her to hear our message. She's an extremely humble woman, that really just wants a good life for her son. She was pretty shaken after being assaulted, and very anxious to learn how she can find more peace. We've been able to teach her almost every single day this week, and she's progressed and changed so much! She went from sobbing in the first lesson, to understanding that she's a daughter of God in just one week! She's an incredible woman, and I'm excited to help her continue to grow! Keep Elaine, and her son Rodrigo in your prayers! 

Being a missionary isn't easy. But it's so so worth it! I'm so grateful to be here in Brasil serving the Lord, and serving these amazing people. Never forget that I love you, and that the Lord loves each and every one of you!

A really great scripture that I read this week is Mosiah 26:24- "For behold, in my name are they called; and if they know me they shall come forth, and shall have a place eternally at my right hand."

I love you all! Have an amazing week!!!

Love, 

Sister Shelton

My amazing district!

Not So Happy Holidays

Happy Monday everyone!!!

This week has been a good one! Although, one things for sure, holidays are definitely better at home than in the mission field. Thursday was Dia das Criaças (Children's day- kind of like mother's/father's day) and literally NO ONE was home. Everyone was out partying and with their families. And this resulted in the streets being full of drunk people, so we couldn't really do contacts. It was kind of a rough day, but tudo bem! And then today we have to email a lot later today because it's a commercial holiday here, and literally everything is closed- the LAN house in our area, all of the grocery stores, etc. We had to take the bus to Janga, another area nearby, to email. It's been quite the adventure!

As for the week itself, it was good! It was definitely one of those weeks in the mission that pushes you to learn and grow, but it was good. I have two quick stories that I want to share!

1st, we were walking down the street trying to find an address, and this older, crazy, lady came up to us and asked if we had a house. We were like, ummm, yeah, we're just trying to find the address of a friend. She then proceeded to invite us to live with her at her house. We assured her that we were fine, and that we're missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and that we write down the address of people, and visit them in their homes. Well at this point, she gets all serious and close to us, and tells us to be careful because people will try to use us, etc. We were like, Okay! Thanks! Bye! and then quickly left that street. But not even 5 minutes later, we passed her again on another street, and she calls us over, and handed us these little packets of pink "popcorn". She said it was popcorn, but it looked more like drugs. Haha! Ah, no worries, we definitely didn't eat it. She was nuts, but it made for a good story.

The second story is my miracle of the week! One of the members in the ward passed a friend of hers as a reference last week, and after several attempts to visit her, we finally were able to find her at home! We taught her the first lesson, and she loved it! She was especially excited about baptism, and saying that she had never thought about baptism the way we taught it to her. And when we invited her to be baptized, my companion hadn't even finished the invitation before she yelled, Yes! Yes! Yes! I want to! I need to!! It was so cool see how prepared she was! I'm just so excited to continue to help her progress and learn more about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This week in my studies I read a really cool scripture- Alma 12:10 "And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full." So, if you have a question, or you want to learn more, humbly seek the truth, and eventually the fullness of the truth will be revealed unto you.

Well, I hope you all have an incredible week this week!! I love you all, and keep you in my prayers always! 

Love, 

Sister Shelton

Most of the Sisters from my old district by the Ocean (don't worry we didn't touch the beach! Haha)

New District!

One more week in my “Sweet River”

Hello again!!

Well, this email isn't going to be super long, because there really isn't a lot to tell. Sorry!

First off, I don't remember if I mentioned this last week, but I didn't get transfered!! I get one more transfer in my Sweet River- Rio Doce! And one more transfer with my dear companion Sister Trindade!! My district changed a ton though! I'll send a picture of the new district!

A lot of you know that before the mission I had a lot of problems with my ankle... Well, the first couple of months it was great, and didn't cause me any problems. But it's starting to act up again, and I've had to do a little bit extra to take care of the poor thing this week, but all is good! It's a learning experience, and I'm grateful God trusts me enough to give me a trial! 

I do have one funny story to tell!

We were at a noite familiar at the house of a member and an investigator, and the 4 year old son of our investigator told me, pointing to a picture of a white cake, "for my birthday, I want a cake as white as this! Equal to you!" Hahahaha! It was SO funny!!! I love these people here, and I'm grateful I can be their "white missionary"!

The scripture I want to share this week is D&C 123:17 "...let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power, and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed."

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

Love, Sister Shelton

Conferencia Geral!!!

 Hello!!!

Bom Dia everyone!! I hope you all had a great week, and a great General Conference!!

Conference here was great!! And it was actually not that different from what I'm used to at home. The 4 American sisters in my district got to watch conference in English in another room, and we had lots of food to eat while we watched, so it was basically the same thing! Haha! It really was an incredible conference though, and I hope that you all had a chance to watch/listen to it. And if not, that you take the time now to go back and watch/listen to it. I really loved the overall message of love for your neighbor. We need to be more concerned with those around us, than we are with ourselves. I don't know if it was just a message I needed to hear, but it sure seemed to come up a lot!

Other than Conference, it's been a pretty normal week! We've had lots of fun celebrating my companion's birthday the past couple days! And all the sisters in the district are throwing her a "surprise party" after emailing today, so that'll be awesome. :)

Speaking of birthdays, my dear sister Emily turns a whopping 17 years old this week!!!! WAHOO!!! Make sure to give her a hug and a happy birthday wish on the 7th!! (LOVE YOU EM!!!)

The miracle of the week happened during a family night with one of our investigators, Emelly. Emelly is 17 years old (wow, that just hit me how similar she is to my sister!!...) and she really wants to be baptized. She's been meeting with the missionaries and coming to chuch for months, but her mom won't give her permission to be baptized. Well, this week we had a family night at Emelly's house, and we were able to really befriend her mom. Before she was always very closed off to the missionaries, and didn't want to talk to us, but as we left the family night, she told us that their door is always open to us!! Seriously, such a miracle!!!!

My scripture I want to share this week is Enos 1:9 "Now it came to pass that when I heard these words I began to feel a desire for the welfare of my brethren, the Nephites, wherefore, I did pour out my whole soul unto God for them." If we want to help other people, we can pray for them!!

I love you all!! Thank you for all the love and support!! And I promise I really am doing super good! I know it probably sounds like I'm dying or something from everything that's happened this transfer, but I'm doing great! I promise!!

Love,

Sister Shelton

Photos-

-My wonderful district celebrating Sister Trindade's birthday

-Conference with the Americans!!!