Lost photos. Lost teeth.

Hello everyone!!!

First things first, remember last week how I said there was a problem with my camera, and I lost all my photos, but a member in the ward was going to try and restore them? Well... he tried, and he was able to restore a few of them. But over 90% of the photos were lost! Yeah, I might have just cried a little bit. At least I've been sending pictures home almost every week, so it's not like I lost everything. It could've been a lot worse. But you know for certain that I am going to be putting all of my pictures onto my pen drive from now on.

As for the week itself, it was pretty strange. Sister Gomes' tooth had been hurting her a lot a couple of weeks ago, so we went to a dentist in the ward, and he said that she would have to get her wisdom teeth out! So, this past Thursday we went to the dentist with the plan to get Sister Gomes' teeth out, but when we got there, the dentist told us that he needed some special supplies, and we would have to return on Saturday. Well, Saturday we went to the dentist again, and everything was ready this time, so Sister Gomes got two of her wisdom teeth out in about 30 minutes. I was amazed at how fast and easy it was! Due to the little surgery, we spent the rest of the weekend at home doing basically nothing. Reading the scriptures, writing in our journals, etc. It was kind of nice to have a little break, but I sure am ready to get back to work tomorrow!

Well, I don't have a whole lot else to tell about this week. It was good, But kind of boring. Hahaha. Also, sorry that I don't have any photos to send this week... hopefully next week. I do have a couple of videos that one of our investigators took on her phone, so I'll try to send those. :)

Have a great week everyone!!! 

Love,

Sister Shelton

(p.s. thanks for all the birthday wishes!!!)

Those that enter...those that don't!

Happy Monday everyone!!! I hope you've all had a wonderful week!

This week has been great!! Our dear Vitoria got baptized this week!!!!! She was so nervous, and so anxious for the interview with the elders before hand, that she studied all of the pamphlets we gave her, and made a summary of all the lessons. She literally was just so prepared and so ready to get baptized. I adore this sweet girl!!! Her baptism was great! Tons of members showed up to support her, and the young women in the ward prepared a special musical number to sing. Vitoria just smiled through the whole thing. :)

One very sad thing happened though... remember our investigator Fernando? The guy who we were a little bit afraid to teach in the beginning, because he seems like he could be dangerous, but is actually a super nice guy. Well, we invited him to the baptism this week, and he was actually super excited to go. He cancelled work and everything to go to the baptism Saturday night, and then to church Sunday morning. Well, we had planned to meet him at a gas station close to the church, but due to the time, we told him just to follow the street until the end, and meet us at the church. When we got to the church, we asked the members if they had seen our investigator, and that's when we found out that he had gone to the church, but one of the members there thought he was a drunk off of the street (like I said, he appears to be a little bit dangerous...) and he didn't let him enter! When we got there, he had already left. And now, we can't get a hold of him to explain the misunderstanding. He didn't go to church yesterday, isn't answering his phone, and "wasn't at home" when we passed by. I honestly am super sad about the whole situation, and just don't know what to do. I can't believe our investigator was banned from the church! :0 I just hope we can find him again!

Other than that, it was a super great week!! We're really seeing so many blessings and fruits from our work!

I love you all, and I hope you have a great week!!!

Love,

Sister Shelton

Alma 37:44- "For behold it is as easy to give heed to the word of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to Eternal bliss, as it was for our Fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a straight course to the promised land." -Read the Book of Mormon! It's Simple!!!

Pictures: Zone conference and Vitoria’s baptism

Vitoria's Baptism

Zone conference

Faith and Works=Miracles

Bom Dia!!!

Wow, this week really was an incredible week of miracles. I'll try to write fast, to tell you about everything!

First things first- our miracle investigator- Vitoria!!! Vitoria is honestly one of the sweetest girls ever, and I really am just so happy and so grateful to be working with her. We found out this week that her dad (her mom and dad are separated) told her that if she gets baptized, he's no longer her dad. :0 It broke my heart to hear her tell us this story. But, here's why Vitoria is so amazing- after telling us this story about her dad, she told us, "But! It doesn't matter what other people say! I'm going to be baptized! No one can change my mind!!" her baptism will be this Saturday, and we're all just so excited for her! Keep this sweet girl in your prayers!

Second miracle- this week while we were walking down the street, a kind of rugged looking man stopped us, and asked if we were sent from God. We responded by telling him that we're missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and began talking to him about the church. We wrote down his address, and this week we stopped by to visit him. We were a little nervous at the beginning, because we weren't sure what his intentions were, but as we were teaching, I was praying to be guided by the spirit, and I had a very strong impression that, "He is also a child of God." We've been able to start teaching him, and he actually is interested in the message of the gospel! (only, he didn't go to church yesterday, because he accidently went to the wrong church... hahaha) I'll keep you updated on Fernando's progress!

And, finally, the third miracle- yesterday we hadn't quite reached our goal for the week, and so we said a prayer, to find 4 new people to teach, and mark 3 of them for baptism! (A super high goal for one day!!) And we started working. The first two houses we went to, didn't have anyone at home. But, we kept working, and we found a family of 4 people sitting outside their house. We taught a brief restoration, and at the end, invited all of them to be baptized. They all accepted! It was incredible to see how when we have faith, and we get to work, the Lord blesses us with miracles!!!

I love you all, and I am so grateful for your examples in my life!

Love,

Sister Shelton

Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

Boa Vista is Looking Good!!!

Hello once again everyone!!!

Wow, this week really has just been so incredible! The first couple of days started out a little bit rough, and we were having a difficult time working and not being tired, but our district meeting this week really pumped us up, and helped us find the excitement and the energy we needed to get to work. We found TONS of new people to teach this week, and marked several people for baptism!

One of the people we marked for baptism is Vitoria! She's the sweetest girl!!! Her mom is less active, but Vitoria never got baptized. A woman in the ward, who has been doing her visiting teaching, and visited Vitoria's Mom, told us about Vitoria, and the same day, we stopped by, and got to know her. Turns out she's been going to church every week for the past month, but we didn't realize she wasn't baptized- I thought she was a member of the ward! She's 12 years old, and honestly just so excited about church. When we invited her to be baptized, she enthusiastically replied Yes! And when her mom asked her if she was sure, she replied by saying that she's had so much joy ever since she started going to church, that she knows it must be true, and is certain she wants to get baptized! I'm excited to keep working with her, and helping her feel even more certain about becoming a member of the church of Jesus Christ. I'll keep you all updated on her progress!

I read a really great scripture this week! It's Jacob 3:1 "But behold, I , Jacob, would speak unto you that are pure in heart. Look unto God with firmness of mind, and pray unto him with exceeding faith, and he will console you in your afflictions, and he will plead your cause, and send down justice upon those who seek your destruction." I love this scripture, and the promise that comes with it!!! (Also, a funny story- I shared this scripture when I was giving the message at lunch this week, and when I asked the member to read the scripture, she accidently read Jacob 3:3... Look it up, and you'll understand why it was so funny. Everyone just kind of looked at me like, "seriously Sister Shelton??? What are you trying to say?!" Hahahaha! It was SUPER funny.

I love you all!! Have a wonderful week, and know that I love and pray for all of you!

Love,

Sister Shelton

Temple, Drunks and Libras, oh my!

Hello!!!

Happy New Year’s everyone! I can hardly believe that it's 2018! Especially because it didn't really feel like New Year’s here, it was kind of just a regular day. Although, we were awoken at midnight to what sounded like bombs exploding in our living room! There were so many fireworks!!! And thankfully, we live at the top of a hill, so we at least got to see and enjoy the fireworks for a couple of minutes. :) 

But honestly, wow, this was such a crazy week! It started on Wednesday with the Christmas party at the mission home! We rode 4 hours in a van with all of the other missionaries here in Garanhuns to get to Recife. It was a little bit long, but it was super fun being with everyone in the van! And then, at the mission home, we ate breakfast, had a devotional, and then went to the temple!!! Ah, it was so great to be in the temple again! I forget how much I miss it, until I get to go inside. Take advantage of all the opportunities you have to go to the temple! I also experienced a little tender mercy while we were there! I had prayed beforehand that I might see someone from Rio Doce at the temple. And well, guess who was sitting outside the temple when I walked out... just about all of the youth from the Rio Doce ward!!! I was so insanely happy to see them all!!! They really are some incredible people, and I just love them all so much! It was literally an immediate answer to my prayer, and I was so so grateful!

Another "exciting" thing from this week was all of the drunk people in the streets. I really don't understand why Christ's birth is a reason to drink alcohol, but apparently lots of people think it makes perfect sense to do so. We were at the house of one of our investigators, and her son was there visiting. He. was. very. drunk. (And it was very ironic, because we went with the intention to teach The Word of Wisdom. haha!) But we ended up just talking to our investigator quickly and inviting her to church, because her son, fascinated by my blue eyes, kept interrupting to ask if I was married. When I told him I was not, he leaped out of his chair and cheered. I quickly informed him that it didn't matter though, because I'm a missionary. Hahaha. There was also a drunk lesbian woman there, that professed her interest in my companion, so overall, it was just a super interesting lesson. hahahahaha!

And finally, I found out one of my purposes for coming to Brasil this week! So many people were surprised when I got my call to Brasil, including me, because they thought I would serve a Sign Lanugage mission. Well, here in the ward, there's a deaf member, and he's been teaching me some Brasilian Sign Language (Libras). It's super similar to ASL, but it's also definitely its own language. This week, I was able to use my limited knowledge of Libras to teach a family of Deaf people. It was literally just such a great feeling to be able to do something like that! In Portuguese, the gift of tongues is called, O Dom de Linguas. And so, we're calling this, O Dom de Dedos. (The gift of fingers) Hahaha. But I really am just so grateful to know that I have a purpose for being here in Brasil. I love this country.

Overall, it was a wonderful week, and I'm so very excited to see what this year of 2018 brings! Lots of love and prayers for all of you!

Love, 

Sister Shelton

Mosiah 1:6 "O my sons, I would that ye should remember that these sayings are true, and also that these records are true... and we can know of their surety because we have them before our eyes."

We can know the scriptures are true, because we have them before our eyes, and can read them to find the answer.

Traveling to Recife!

Christmas Party in Recife!!

Rio Doce at the temple!!

Rio Doce at the temple!!

Templo de Recife!

With President and Sister Houseman!

                                                                                                               

With my "Mom" again!!!