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.

Bombs in Brasil!!

Happy Monday Everyone!

Well, I learned a lot of things this week. The first being that Brasil LOVES soccer!! (I already knew that, but it was manifested in a really big way this week.) The World Cup started this past week, and the first game that Brasil participated in was yesterday. The city literally shut down for 2 hours while the game was taking place. And then, shortly afterwards, was rudely awoken with lots of yelling, lots of drinking, and lots of "bombs" (it's like really loud fireworks on the street that make you think that you're about to die... it's awful.) But we made it through it, so it's all good. :) We'll have 5 days until the next game on Friday at least.

Another thing that I learned this week is just how closely Heavenly Father listens to us! I was having kind of a rough couple of days, and I told my companion that I just wanted some chocolate cake. Well, when we stopped by a member in the ward's house to use her bathroom, guess what she had sitting on the table. That's right- a giant chocolate cake that she had made specifically for "the sisters". Isn't the Lord so great?! He literally listens to everything we say, and WE are important to HIM! What wouldn't he do to help his children?!

And finally, just one little cool experience I want to share. This week we brought our investigator Luan to church. He is 16 years old and we found him by doing a contact on the street. He had been excited all week to go to church, and when he finally got there, he couldn't stop taking pictures and talking to the members. hahaha. The members all really helped him, and everyone made an effort to talk to him! It was honestly so great. At the end of the 3 hour block, he asked Sister Baez and I if he could go to church every week. :) I'll keep you updated on the adventures of Luan. haha!

Well, I guess that's all for this week. I love and am praying for you all!!

Love,

Sister Shelton

Alma 13:28-29

28 But that ye would humble yourselves before the Lord, and call on his holy name, and watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted above that which ye can bear, and thus be led by the Holy Spirit, becoming humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering;

29 Having faith on the Lord; having a hope that ye shall receive eternal life; having the love of God always in your hearts, that ye may be lifted up at the last day and enter into his rest.

*Oh, and if you're thinking about serving a mission read Alma 42:21!

Pina!

Bom Dia!!!

Well, this has been quite the week- to say the least! I left the beautiful (cold) city of Garanhuns early Wednesday morning, and after a crazy 5 hour trip on the travel bus, the metro, and the city bus with two very large very heavy suitcases, I arrived in the (very hot) city of Pina, Boa Viagem! I don't have a lot of pictures to send, because I don't dare take my camera with me proselyting on the street, but this city is crazy beautiful! I'll try to send a picture of the map for you all to understand, but, I'm literally the farthest that I can go before falling into the ocean. Our map has more ocean on it than land. :) Every single day we walk along the coast (The other side of the street- not on the beach... don't worry. :)) to get to our area, and I'm honestly loving it so much!

My new companion is Sister Baez. She's from Argentina, and has 3 months in the mission. She's really great, and I'm loving working with her!

The work here is really great! The sisters here before me have been working with a man named Joao for about a month, and this Saturday Joao got baptized!! It was a really great baptism, and Joao was so happy. He literally seems like he's been a member of the church for 20 years. He goes to institute, organizes family nights with the other members in the ward, and gives the members rides to church on Sunday. He is super great, and I'm really grateful to have been here to see him enter the waters of baptism!

I hope I'm not forgetting to say anything... it's been a crazy week, and I don't really remember what all happened now. haha! But, just know that I'm happy, healthy, and safe in my new area! 

Love,

Sister Shelton

Helaman 3:29-30

29 Yea, we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a strait and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked—

30 And land their souls, yea, their immortal souls, at the right hand of God in the kingdom of heaven, to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and with Jacob, and with all our holy fathers, to go no more out.

Pictures:

My new church building surrounded by skyscrapers!

Joao's baptism!!

Our map  (more ocean than land :))

Goodbye Garahuns… :(

Happy Monday everyone!!

Well, this week has been filled with lots of ups and downs! I found out today that after 7 months, I'm being transferred from my second home Garanhuns, to a place called Pina. It's on the bed of the ocean, and really close to the capital. I'm anxious for this new adventure, but I sure am going to miss this place. I've already shed many tears with many people, and I literally never will forget the people I've met here. I never knew that someone could love someone else so easily and so deeply that the thought of leaving them, maybe to never see again, really hurts. I really am so grateful for the time that I've had here.

Other than transfers, one other big thing happened! MARCONE WENT TO CHURCH YESTERDAY!!! Marcone is the husband of Lais (who got baptized a few months ago), and we've been working with him for 3 months trying to get him to go to church. And it finally happened yesterday!!! I can't even describe the joy that I felt to see him at church. The members were wonderful, and Marcone left feeling super great, and super excited to get baptized now! We marked him for baptism in two weeks, and I'll be very anxious to hear about what happens with him. It was a wonderful last Sunday in my sweet Cohab 2 branch.

I honestly am very grateful to be serving a mission here in Brasil. It's not an easy thing to do, but it's all worth it. It's literally so worth it.

Have a great week everyone!

Love,
Sister Shelton

I hit my one year mark!!!

Even the donkeys need to be saved!

My sweet sweet Vitoria and her mom, Fernanda.