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!!