My Last One

Happy Monday everyone!!!

Well, I can't really believe it, but this is my last email before going home! I'll be in Recife next Monday, so I won't be able to enter my email, and then Tuesday I'm headed home! I'll take a plane from Recife to Rio de Janeiro, from Rio to Atlanta, and from Atlanta to Utah. I'll be getting home Wednesday morning, and I am very anxious to see everyone! It'll be one of the hardest things I've ever done to leave Brasil, but I am beyond grateful for this last year and a half of my life that I was able to be here in Brasil serving the Lord. I will never regret serving a mission. It was, like everyone says, the best and the hardest thing I've ever done, and my life was changed for the better because of the experiences I've had and the people I've met here.

This week went great! We had to run from one thing to another to get everything done, but it was a fun week. We're still working with Tiago, and are preparing him for his baptism this Saturday. Keep him in your prayers!!

A fun story from the week-  an old drunk man on the street asked me to marry him and stay here in Brasil. hahahaha!

Well, I love you all, and I'LL SEE YOU SOON!!

Love,

Sister Shelton

Sister Jessica Shelton will speak in Sacrament Mtg at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 25, 2018.
Lindon Stake Center- 1050 E. 100 N. Lindon, Utah 84042

The Signs of His Coming

Happy Monday!!!

This week went pretty great here in Escada!! We're working with our investigator Tiago like crazy, and trying to help him use the full power of the Atonement in his life! It's such a great feeling to see how someone can start to move their life for the better. Keep him in your prayers!

So, there's definitely a signs of the last days happening here in Escada right now. At the last General Conference, President Nelson said that difficult times were coming. He also told us to not use the nickname Mormon. Well, we saw a little part of why he said that this week. A group of missionaries showed up in our area, using white shirts, black pants, ties, and black bags like ours. Their name is very similar to "Mormon" and everyone is confusing them with the church of Jesus Christ. But here's the real problem- they show up at people's houses yelling at them to repent and to organize their lives, and preaching all sorts of apostasy. (multiple Gods, etc.) We already don't have a lot of support here in the city, and now with these missionaries, people are starting to hate us. But, it's just one more testimony that the church is true, because if it weren't, Satan wouldn't be working so hard against us. So, we're just going to have to work even harder to help people get to know the truth!

But other than that, things are going well here! 

I hope you all have a great week, and always strive to strengthen your testimony, because difficult times are coming, and we'll have to be prepared.

Love,

Sister Shelton

Alma 5:27 "Have ye walked keeping yourselves blameless before God? Could ye say, if ye were called to die at this time, within yourselves, that ye have been sufficiently humble? That your garments have been cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ, who will come to redeem his people from their sins?"

Our Trip to the Beach!!

Happy Monday everyone!!

This week has gone super great!! We're working like crazy, and finally starting to see some results! We're working with a man named Tiago right now, and he is really starting to progress. He went to church yesterday, and is working to get over his addictions to drink and smoke. It's been really cool to see how happy he's been the last few days, and to see the difference in him from when we first met, until now. The gospel really is a gospel of joy!

Also this week, Sister Oliveira and I had the opportunity to visit the most famous beach here in the North Eastern Brasil. Porto de Gallinhas!! Hahaha, it wasn't really much of a visit, because we went to try and find a reference we had received. (It's like two hours from our area, but we're the ones that take care of that area, because there isn't a church there yet) But at least we got to see the ocean! It was honestly super beautiful!!! I understand now why it is such a big tourist spot. In the end we didn't find the house of the reference we received, but it was still a way fun experience!

Well, I guess that's about all for this week! Until next Monday!!

Love,

Sister Shelton

Jacob 5:22 "And the Lord of the Vineyard said unto him: counsel me not..." 

-At times we try to tell the Lord what he needs to do for us, but we need to trust him, and let his plan happen.

Enjoy to the End

Happy Monday everyone!!

So, this week has been pretty normal- nothing too exciting to tell. We've been working like crazy trying to find new people to teach! Escada isn't the easiest area, but I am grateful for the challenge here! My goal now is to enjoy to the end (not just endure to the end), and really use all of my time these last few weeks!

I do have a pretty incredible story to tell!! On Tuesday Sister Oliveira and I were walking down the street, and out of nowhere, I tripped on a rock in the middle of the road as we were crossing, and it threw me forwards. I just saw the ground getting closer and closer to my face- with nothing I could do to stop. But then (inches from the ground) I stopped and rose back up. And as I stood up, my stomach where my bag was clipped was hurting a little bit. It was as if someone (there was no one behind me...) had grabbed my bag and pulled me up before I could hit the ground. Both my companion and I just looked at each other for a minute, and then she asked, "What just happened?!?" ... I know I am being protected by the angels of the Lord, and I am so grateful to be a servant of the Lord here in Brasil. 

I hope you all have a great week, and know how much the Lord wants to help you. Trust him!!

Love,

Sister Shelton

Alma 37:34 "Teach them to never be weary of good works, but to be meek and lowly in heart; for such shall find rest to their souls."

Blessings in Escada

Happy Monday everyone!!

This week has been pretty incredible!! I don't have a lot of time to write, but I have to tell you about two miracles we experienced this week!!

First off, our investigator Grazielle got baptized!!! We've been working with her for a while now, and she's just so great! She's received some pretty incredible answers to her prayers, and was just so prepared to be baptized. It was the first baptism in over a year here in Escada, so the members were all pretty excited. We're all just so happy for Grazielle, and for the miracle that is taking place in her life!

The other miracle we experienced was with our investigator Edson. We've been working with Edson for a couple of weeks, and last week he watched General Conference, and then this Friday he went to an event they have here in Brasil called "MeetUp". He returned super happy, and super excited about everything to do with the church. He even bore his testimony in sacrament meeting yesterday saying that he knows the book of Mormon and the church are true, and that he's so grateful for the help he's receiving during this transition in his life! It was pretty incredible, and we were all pretty amazed with him!

The Lord is so good, and he is definitely in charge. I'm so grateful to be a servant in his vineyard!

Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Shelton

Alma 56:48 "We do not doubt, our mothers knew it."

The Beginning of the End

Happy Monday!!

Well, I'm sure like most of you, we were sure rejuvenated here by the spiritually full weekend of General Conference. I'm so grateful to have a living Prophet to lead and guide us in our day. Watching in Portuguese was fun, but I'll be glad to hear the actual voice of the prophet and apostles in the future.

Also, today is transfers day, and Sister Oliviera and I will stay together!! She's going to be the companion that "kills me", seeing as today officially marks the first day of my last transfer. It's crazy how fast my mission has gone, and it will be sad to leave these people and experiences that I've had here. But I am so grateful for the time that I've had to learn and grow here on the mission.

Sorry for the short email today, I promise to write more next week! 

Have a wonderful week!!

Love,

Sister Shelton

3 Nephi 18:21 "Pray in your families unto the Father, always in my name, that your wives and your children may be blessed."

It's better to feel tired than to feel guilty!!

Happy Monday!!

This week started out a little bit difficult, but it ended pretty great! One of the difficulties we're having here in our area is helping people progress. They're almost always open to hear the first message, but to make any sort of commitment is almost impossible. Including Alan and his sweet family. Their neighbors (who are inactive members) started talking bad about "the Mormons" and now they don't even want to talk to us. They literally changed from night to day, and we tried everything, but it was already too late. They've decided to listen to their neighbors more than us. It was super super sad. 

But in happier news, we decided that if there would be a lot of difficult people, we would just have to work harder to find even more people; and in the middle of all these people, there would be someone who would progress. And that's exactly what happened! We've starting working with a sweet woman named Grazielle. She's the ex-daughter in law of a member of the branch, and recently moved into the house of this member because of some difficulties with her family. (it's kind of a complicated situation) But she has a great desire to be baptized, and we're preparing her for baptism this Saturday in between conference sessions. The only thing that could keep her from being baptized now is if she drinks coffee this week. So pray for her to have strength to not drink any coffee!!!

To finish off, I'll tell you about a funny story that happened this week. (it's funny now that it's over...) On Saturday morning we walked out the door and after about 10 seconds the sole of my shoe started to fall off- but I continued walking. 5 seconds later I looked behind me, and there was the bottom half of my shoe on the ground. It had completely fallen off!! So, tudo bem, we returned home really fast and I grabbed another pair of shoes. About 10 minutes later, we're walking towards our investigator's house, and it happens again, the sole of the shoe started coming off, and then completely fell off all together!! By this point we were already pretty far from our house, and would have been late if we returned back to get other shoes, so I kept going. That's when the other sole on the other foot fell off!! But luckily, the Irma (sister) from lunch gave me a pair of old shoes to use.... só que... these shoes were a little bit small for my feet, and I ended up with blisters so bad by the end of the day that another member let me use some flip flops to get back home. hahaha. It was not my best shoe day. But it's all good now, because I just bought some new sandals that will hopefully last two more months! The adventures of missionary life! hahaha!

But all is well here in Escada. I hope you all have a great week, and a fantastic General Conference!

Love,

Sister Shelton

Alma 5:60 "And now I say unto you that the good shepherd doth call after you; and if you will hearken unto his voice he will bring you unto his fold, and ye are his sheep..."

Our Visit in the Night

Happy Monday!!!

Well, this week was pretty incredible!! We're just seeing so many miracles here in Escada, and I'm so grateful for the hand of the Lord in our lives here! We're finding so many new people to teach, and several that have so much potential!! We marked Alan and his family for baptism this week, and are going to work harder than ever to help prepare them for this special covenant that they'll do with Heavenly Father. Please keep them in your prayers!

So, I have to share a super incredible miracle we saw this week. As sister Oliveira and I were walking to pick up our investigators for church, it started to rain super hard. Sister Oliveira had lost her umbrella, so we only had my little umbrella to cover us both, and we still had a ways to go to get to our investigator's house. Plus, we knew that if it was raining, these investigators wouldn't go to church. So, we stopped on the side of the road, and underneath my little umbrella we said a prayer pleading for the Lord to stop the rain for enough time to us to get to our investigator's house, and then to get to the church. As Sister Oliveira said "in the name of Jesus Christ" we started to feel a heat come up from the ground, and as she said "amen" we opened our eyes, and the rain was gone. And it didn't start again until we got inside the church. The Lord is so very good to us, and he is listening to our every prayer. I am so grateful to be his representative here in Pernambuco.

Our other fun adventure from the week happened at about 2:30 in the morning. As Sister Oliveira and I were sleeping peacefully, we were awakened by a sound in the kitchen. As we went to investigate, we found a mouse in the garbage!! But he escaped, and we didn't see any more of him... until 3:30, when he appeared again. And then again at 4:40! It was pretty awful and we didn't know what to do. But ever since the 3rd time he appeared that night he hasn't appeared again, and so we're praying he's left for good. hahaha

But all is good here in Brasil, and I'm happy, healthy, and safe. Have a great week everyone, and don't forget to give my Mom a big hug and wish her a happy birthday on the 26th!!!

Love,

Sister Shelton

Alma 7:14- this chapter is pretty incredible, and I invite you all to read it. Pay special attention to verse 14.

Happy Monday!

  This week has gone pretty well!! We saw a ton of miracles in finding and teaching people this week- 20 new people!! It's in part because we went to visit a boy we met on the street named Alan. He is 12 years old, and super excited about the Book of Mormon. As we went to meet his grandma, he started inviting everyone on the street into his house to hear about the Book of Mormon as well. We ended up with about 6 people from 9-17 years old gathered around us, all excited to hear about the book of Mormon. It was super great!! And they all promised to read and pray about it! We're going back this week to see how it went! As we left their house, they all walked a ways with us down the street, calling their friends over to meet us, who then started to walk with us as well. As we reached the top of a hill and looked back, we saw Alan talking to an older man on the side of the street with the book of Mormon open, showing him different pages in the book. It made us so happy to see!! He really is a pretty incredible kid!

  Other news from this week, is that my beloved sandals that I've used almost every single day of my mission broke this week. Literally, they broke right down the middle. I tried to glue them with super glue and duct tape, but it only lasted about 3 days like that. *sigh* oh well, I guess I'll have to use my flats for these last two months. So close! haha

  Besides that it's been a pretty normal week. We're working like crazy and seeing the miracles from that. It's amazing to see how the Lord will bless us as we keep his commandments and the mission rules.

I hope you're all doing well, and are staying safe from the fires! 

Until next week!

-Sister Shelton

  Moroni 7:41 "And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the Atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise."

And the Adventure Continues!

Happy Monday!!

Well, the adventure of working in a branch has continued!! The house has gotten a lot better, and we're living pretty normally now. We're going to try and get a bit more done in the bedroom today, so that we can actually use it, but other than that, it's going pretty well! The craziness however hasn't calmed down yet though. We're now teaching seminary to the youth, I gave a talk in church yesterday, Sister Oliveira will be speaking next week, we had a mission tour with Elder Pinto this last week, and had to travel to Recife, we're organizing family nights with the branch, and so on! But it's been really great, and I much prefer it like this than to not have anything to do. I'm learning and growing like never before, and it's been exactly what I need to stay focused and continue working.

And not to mention, the Lord has blessed us SO much!! We're finding so many people just waiting to hear about the gospel! This last week we were waiting to cross the street when an older woman and her husband called us over. They wanted to know what time our church started, because we had passed and seemed so friendly because we said hi that they wanted to know more!! It's incredible to see how the Lord has been preparing people to hear about the gospel, and I'm excited to keep working and see all of his miracles that are coming.

Have a great week everyone! 

Love,

Sister Shelton

A scripture that I read that helped me out a bunch this week was Ether 3:7 "...Rise up. Why have you fallen?" (or something like that- I'm translating it from Portuguese.) Every time we fall, the Lord will always invite us to rise up again.

Escada!!

Happy Monday everyone!!

Well, this has been quite the week!! I met up with my new companion, Sister Oliveira in the Rodoviaria, and then we took a bus together to our new area, Escada. It's a cute little town in the middle of nowhere. It's super green, and unfortunately for us, it stays true to its name. Escada means stairs, and this city is literally just up and down. There are tons of giant hills!! 

Getting to know the area has been interesting, but we've definitely seen the Lord helping us out, because we're learning the area super fast!! Also, the members have been helping out a ton. One of the Irmãs in the branch took us out yesterday and showed us where a bunch of the members live, which was a huge help.

Opening a new area has been challenging, but it's been good as well.  I'm now opening a new area in the middle of nowhere that for the last 15 years has never had sisters. It's a tiny little branch, and our meetings are in a cute little house. My companion is a recent convert (was baptized a year and a half ago) and has been here in the mission for about 3 months (she's been here 3 months and has 15 more to go, and I have 15 months, and have 3 more to go!) Our house is kind of a disaster. When we walked in the door, it looked as though no one had lived here in 10 years... even though it was actually only 2 months. There were rotten eggs on the counter, rotten milk in the fridge, rats, cockroaches, moldy walls and mattresses, etc. etc. etc. We basically just cleaned the entire week... The first two nights we literally slept on top of our suitcases until President brought us some new mattresses. But it's been a fun adventure, and we'll for sure have something to laugh about in the end! Plus, we're learning how to be good housekeepers for the future!!

Overall, it's been a crazy but good week!! Sorry if this letter was a little all over the place, we've been working like crazy, and I'm exhausted. hahaha.

Have a great week!!! 

Love,

Sister Shelton

Read Mormon 7 this week, it's a pretty incredible chapter!!

Tchau Pina...TRANSFERS!

Happy Monday!!

Well, I just received some crazy news- I'm being transferred from this beautiful piece of land next to the ocean, Pina, to open a new area called Escada. My new companion is Sister Oliveira, and I don't know who she is yet, but next week, I'll be able to tell you all about her. :) President told me last night when he called that we'll be the first sisters to ever serve in this area, so it'll definitely be something crazy and new! I'm nervous to start from zero, but I am way excited as well. I had been feeling kind of stuck lately, and needing something more to push me, and I feel like this is exactly what I need. Something I've learned more than anything on the mission, is to trust in the Lord and his plan for me. If I have this trust in him, and I work with this trust, he will be able to guide me, and I will be able to live a better life. Literally EVERYTHING HAS A PURPOSE! I can't wait to see what my purpose is in Escada. :)

There's a scripture I really like in 3 Nephi 16:19, it says, "Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem." I know that's true, and I know that the Lord will be, and always is, at our side to help us out in times of need.

Have a great week everyone!!

Love,

Sister Shelton

One Busy Week

Happy Monday!!

Well, I promise, this email won't be as long as last week's email. Haha. :) This week went super well though. We worked super hard, and finally were able to reach several goals that we've been working towards the last couple of weeks. And, we even had time to help clean the church on Saturday. :)

There was one day though that both Sister de Jesus and I were just super stressed out, and wanting to cry, so what did we do? Well, we first screamed into our pillows for a little bit, said the word "bubble" in weird voices, and then ate a bunch of chocolate.  And strangely enough, it worked!! Haha! The things I've learned on the mission...

But, it honestly was a really great week, and I'm just learning so much from Sister de Jesus.

Remember, when you're feeling down, find something to laugh about. I promise you that it works. :)

Have a great week everyone!!

Love,

Sister Shelton

1 Nephi 9:6 "But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words. And thus it is. Amen."

Our Miracle Dog Mione

Happy Monday everyone!

Well, this has been quite the week. I'll try to write fast to tell you all about it.

On Tuesday we had Zone Conference, which was super great! But, as we were on our way back home, we had to carry 4 large boxes full of Books of Mormon with us on the bus. It was going well until Sister Marin (one of the sisters I live with) was trying to make her way to the back of the bus, and ended up on the floor somehow, unable to lift the box up. Luckily, a man on the bus helped us out. Then, as she finally got to her feet, i almost fell over, and this same man grabbed me to keep me from falling (the busses here are pretty insane- haha) Everyone was laughing super hard- even the other people on this very crowded bus. Hahaha.

And then on Friday, I had the opportunity to do a street contact in English! As we were returning home at night, we passed by a group of 3 people speaking English, and Sister de Jesus pushed me over to talk to them. Well, I started talking, and it was actually so insanely hard. I hadn't realized how bad my English has gotten. But, I was able to figure out that these three people are here studying/traveling etc. 1 of them is from Australia, 1 is from England, and 1 is from Germany. They informed me that they're not really "church people" but it was still really cool to talk to them!

And now for Saturday. Warning- this is kind of a sad story. 

Sister de Jesus and I were walking down this large street pretty late at night trying to find the house of a reference we had received. This street is kind of dangerous at night, so we were a little nervous. But then, out of nowhere, a dog off the street showed up, and started to follow us- She followed us for more than an hour, up and down this street. We gave her the name Mione, and super quickly fell in love with this dog. Everytime anyone kind of suspicious looking came close to us, she started barking like crazy. This little dog was literally protecting us. (I'm certain that the Lord sent her to help us out.) But, now, for the sad part. As we were getting close to our house at the end of the day, we had to cross a very large avenida. Mione stopped, looked at us, and then walked in the other direction. It was as if she knew that her mission was complete, and had helped us get home safely. But, just as we crossed the street, Mione saw us, and ran to meet us. Just as she got to the middle of the street, a car hit her, and she went flying. Sister de Jesus screamed, and I started crying. We went to find her, but someone had told us that she had run off. She didn't die at least. It was pretty sad, and we're both kind of scarred, but I sure am grateful for our miracle dog Mione.

Sorry for the long email- but I hope you all have a great week!!

Love,

Sister Shelton

Mosiah 23:21-22

Am I walking or swimming?

Heeellllooooo!!!

Well, this week was pretty fantastic. Nothing all that different or special, but we're just really working like crazy, and meeting tons of new people. We met a woman named Ana this week, and she's AMAZING! We marked her for baptism and she went to church yesterday, and really liked it. Her sister in law is a member of the church, and their giant family of 25 brothers and sisters are slowly but surely starting to receive the missionaries in all different cities in Pernambuco. I'll let you know more about her in the weeks to come!!

So, one thing from this week was the heat. It has been so humid that after walking for 10 minutes, I become drenched from sweat. We often joke that we feel like we're swimming down the street, instead of walking down the street. :) But it's giving me some great tan lines, so it's all good. hahaha!

Well, sorry for such a short letter. I'll try to tell about more experiences in the future weeks to come. 

Thanks for taking good care of my little sister while she's recovering from the surgery!!

Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Shelton

Alma 30:44

And walked, and walked, and walked...

Happy Monday!!

This week went really well!! We had a pretty normal week- which I was super grateful for, because we were actually able to work in our area again! Haha! The work is good, and we're seeing miracles every day! One difficulty we have in our area though is that it is an extremely large (long) area. And this week, we had several days that we had to walk from one end to the other, because we were out of money for the bus. But, it was good, because it gave us the chance to talk to a whole bunch of people on the street. :)

Update on Kathleen! She received a calling as secretary in the Primary!!! She's super excited, and also pretty nervous, but I know she's going to do great. She already gained the confidence of the kids, and is just going to rock it there.

We're now starting to focus more on the rest of her family. Nikolas has a lot to work out in his life (depression, word of wisdom, etc.), and we're gonna help him by starting little by little. Today we're going to help him clean his room (aka black hole), and make waffles- distract his mind a little bit from the difficulties he has in life. It's gonna be great!

Overall, life is pretty great! Love you all, and hope you have a great week! Keep my little sister Emily in your prayers this week as she faces another surgery on her legs! (Take care of her, because I won't be able to!)

Love,

Sister Shelton

3 Nephi 13:34 "Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient is the day unto the evil thereof."

Kathleen got baptized!!!

Happy Monday!!

Well, this week has been quite the week! My new companion Sister de Jesus got here, and it's been fun to get to know each other better, and learn how to work together!  

The other big thing from this week was Kathleen's baptism on Saturday!!! She was so cute, and couldn't stop smiling the whole way through. It seem like she really is going to do some great things in the church, because the enemy sure didn't want her to get baptized. This week was one of the hardest weeks she's had, and it seems like everything was happening to make it so she'd give up. But, Kathleen being the amazing person she is, didn't let any of it stop her, and she pushed through the trials, and was baptized Saturday night, and confirmed Sunday morning. It was so sweet to see everyone that showed up to support her, and all of the people that congratulated her and hugged her at church on Sunday. This ward really is embracing her, and helping her feel welcome, and this is one of the best things to see as a missionary. I love her so much, and I love to see the change that has happened in her life.

Well, I guess that's about everything. Thanks for all the love, prayers, and support! Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Shelton

One more in Pina!

Happy Tuesday everyone!!

Sorry for not writing yesterday- it was a holiday here in Recife, so literally everyone closed work, school, etc. and went to the beach. hahaha. So, because of this, our p-day was moved to today. :)

A couple of big things this week!

First off, we found out about transfers today!! Sister Baez was transferred, and I'll be receiving a new companion here in Pina. Her name is Sister De Jesus (Sister of Jesus) and she's super great! I'm ready for a power filled transfer with her. :)

The other news from this week is that Kathleen is just progressing so well, and is preparing for her baptism on Saturday! The enemy is throwing all sorts of things at her, but she's not letting it distract her, or keep her from working towards her goal of baptism. She's amazing, and I just love her so much!

Sorry for the short email this week! I'll let you all know how this coming week with a new companion and a baptism go!

Love,

Sister Shelton

Alma 13:28-29

A Week at Home

Happy Monday!

Well, once again, this email isn't going to be super long- not because of the time today, but because I honestly don't have a lot to say. My companion Sister Baez was super sick this week, and we spent several days at home. The first day to stay at home is always pretty nice, but more than one day, and you almost go crazy. Haha! But, Sister Baez is doing a lot better, so it's all good. :)

Update on Kathleen, Kelly, and Nikolas- They finally returned from the hospital this week, and we were able to start teaching them again!! We taught them the Word of Wisdom, and well, this might just be their difficulty. Kathleen and Kelly love coffee, but are super willing to trade it for something else. But Nikolas, he literally has a problem with all 5 substances in the Word of Wisdom. We set some goals with him, and are really gonna focus on helping him overcome these addictions! Keep him (all three of them) in your prayers this week!

Okay, now for the way crazy tender mercy of the week. Did you know that this really is a small world? On Saturday Sister Baez and I went to the baptism of one of the investigators of the sisters we live with, Yasmin, and she first met the missionaries while doing an exchange program in Atlanta Georgia. So, at her baptism, the sisters from there were able to Skype and watch the baptism. Afterwards, while Yasmin was talking to the sisters, I thought I recognized one of them, so I asked Yasmin the name of the sisters, and sure enough, it was my friend Katelyn Morrow from high school. We called back really fast, and I was able to talk to her and her companion! It was so crazy!! It ended up being a really good thing, because they hadn't understood any of the Portuguese from the baptism, and I was able to translate a little of it for them. Overall, just a super crazy experience, and a very small world!!!

Well, I hope you all have a great week!!

Love,

Sister Shelton

1 John 4:9

GOOAAALLLL!!!!

July 2, 2108

Happy Monday!!

Well, this email is going to be super quick. Brasil is about to play in the World Cup, so literally everything (including the LAN house) is going to shut down soon. Brasil sure loves soccer. :)

This week went well. We didn't have a whole lot of time to work, because The world cup has been going on, and we literally just have to wait for it to be over to be able to talk to people. It's been cool to see all of the decorations though! All of the streets are totally decorated for Brasil, and everyone walks around with Brasilian shirts. I sure do love these people. :)

We also weren't able to work a whole ton, because my companion has been really sick this week, and we still don't know what with, so we spent some time at home for her to be able to rest. Hopefully, she'll get better soon, and we'll be able to get back to work this coming week. :)

Update on our "golden family". We actually weren't able to see them almost the entire week, because Kathleen has been in the hospital ever since Thursday. They think she has Dangy. Satan really doesn't want them to go to church, and he knows that the only way to keep her from going is to literally stop her body, so, if you could, please keep her in your prayers!! She's amazing though, and has been studying the Book of Mormon while she's in the hospital. :)

Sorry to be so brief! I hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Sister Shelton

Moroni 9:25

The real life "Lil' Abner"!!

Happy Monday!!

This week has been quite the week!!! Thursday we had the opportunity to go to the temple as a zone, and it was so great!!  It was the spiritual reboost that I needed. :)

The other great thing from this week was a miracle that happened in finding a very sweet girl named Kathleen, her mom Kelly, and her friend Nikolas.  this week as Sister Baez and I were walking down the street, we passed a girl working in a little shop on the side of the street. Both Sister Baez and I noticed her, but didn't say anything, because she was working. But shortly after we passed, a young man (Nikolas) ran up to us and told us that there was a girl calling after us. It was the same girl we had both seen. She had seen us as well, and shortly after we passed had decided to talk to us! But due to a rowdy group of drunk men on the side of the street, we hadn't heard her calling. When we returned back to talk to her, she told us that 5 years ago when she was living with her Aunt and cousin who are members of the church in Curitiba, she had frequented the church, and really really liked it, and she wanted to know how she could go back again. Well, we wrote down her address, and when we went to visit her; her, her mom, and her friend, all were very excited to listen to us. They have books of Mormon in their house that they've studied and kept for years, but except for Kathleen, they'd never gone to church. We invited them to go to church, to read the book of Mormon, and to be baptized, and they accepted all of the invitations. Kathleen and her Mom went to church Sunday, and they are all now marked for baptism. They literally are a "golden family", and I am so grateful to have crossed paths with them. There really are people being prepared to hear the gospel. Of that I am sure.

As for my subject line- many of you might know/remember a play I was in in High School called Lil' Abner. Well, due to a holiday called Festa de Juninho (a.k.a. Sao Joao) the entire month here in Brasil has been just like the play "lil' Abner". The decorations are all "country", people are dressed up in clothes that remind me of "the old west" and everyone eats CORN. Literally, in every form you can eat corn, the people here eat it during this month. it's a super fun time to be here!! To understand better what I'm talking about, look up Festa de Juninho, Brasil, on the internet. :)

Well, I guess that's about everything that happened this week. (Oh, and guess what I received more of this week... chocolate cake! I think the Lord wants to prove to me that he's listening. :))

Have a great week everyone!! (Give my little sister Abby a great big hug on Saturday, because she'll be turning 13 years old!!)

Love,

Sister Shelton

I almost forgot! Helaman 11:19

"And behold, Lehi, his brother, was not a whit behind him as to things pertaining to righteousness."

Just because you don't have an entire book written about you, doesn't mean you don't play a big part in God's plan. Lehi was important too.