Thrilled to Stay in Virginia

I GET TO STAY IN VILA VIRGINIA!!

I was so afraid I would be transferred that I've been praying all week and fasted to be able to accept the Lord's will because I thought my life would end if I had to leave...but turns out the Lords will is mine as well, so it's just WONDERFUL!!

Tongan Pancakes

Miracles of the Week: 

Beautiful Brasilian Scripture Cases

1. Jessica and Hebert got married!!!! I don't even know how to explain how happy I am, this is truly the biggest miracle ever. Jessica is marked for April 8th, but is still a little shakey and is seeking an answer. Please pray for her ♥ We are doing the 21 day Book of Mormon challenge with her. She is the sweetest, most loving, coolest person ever (Hebert is pretty cool too, I guess. HAHA just kidding!HI HEBERT!!! (he reads my blog by putting it in google translate)) In Portuguese, Herbert is pronounced "Heh-birch." Norma and Marcos (Jessica's mom and brother) are marked as well. I think their home is my absolute favorite place to be in this area. Certainly I came to this area to meet them.

Family Home Evening

Last visit with Veronica

2. In the span of 2 days a few weeks ago, we taught all the commandments, and G**** and E**** had to make some major changes. They are following the law of chastity, Guilherme has given up his coffee addiction, and he has stopped training on Sundays, which is a BIG DEAL, GUYS. These two incredible people have been making major changes in their life and they are just so inspiring to me. G**** always says things in his prayers that make me cry. For example, this week "please help me find a job to support my family that still allows me to go to church every week" or "I am so grateful that I get to get baptized next week, it certainly will be the best decision I have ever made." Tonight we are going to the house of the Rico family to make cookies and have a family night about Personal Progress with Erien, Ruth, and Rosana.

3. The missionary spirit of our ward is changing. Thanks to Sister Gomes and our new LMA (ward mission leader) Geraldo, we are on FIRE. We have had multiple Family Nights in members' homes with investigators every week, and we are planning to do another Chamado Ao Servir activity (Called to Serve--the same one I did in Satelite) the members have been coming out with us to many lessons, many carpools with investigators, just incredible! And the ward is SUPER EXCITED for the baptism this weekend of Guilherme and Erien!! WOOHOO!

4. Maria lives in the apartment building next to ours. We ran into her twice at the front gate and on Sister de Jesus's last day Sister De Jesus said, "She's going to get baptized, you're going to send me an email in a month and tell me she was baptized!" And after many miracles, she will be on April 15th! She calls us her angels. I don't think I have ever felt so much love for an investigator. She lives alone and just treats us like princesses when we visit her. She has been having debilitating leg and back pains, so some members came over and gave her a blessing. Her faith was enough to heal her, and now she is able to sleep and walk without limping!! At first she was really unsure about baptism and said she had a dream a pastor said to her she shouldn't be baptized again because she has already been baptized ( I could tell she this was not a dream but had actually happened, and she was afraid of hurting our feelings or dissapointing us), but after we watched the long Joseph Smith movie she said, "Alright. I accept. I will be baptized in your church." And she just gets stronger and more firm in this decision every time we meet ♥

On the 27th, Irma Gilmara will go into surgery for breast cancer. Please pray that all will go well and that angels will be by her side. She is scared, but she is still always thinking about other people. She is just the most incredible dove. I LOVE HER SO MUCH!

LOVE YOU GUYS! I am being so spoiled over here!!

Ava Answers Questions

Changes in the mission:

We wake up at 7, but it can be earlier too! Sometimes we wake up at 6 so Sister can use a members punching bag or so we can run to the chapel. I am so happy I can run a few times a week!! We then do an hour of personal at 8, half an hour of planning, half an hour of 12 weeks (new missionary training) and then we leave the house to do proselyting. We eat lunch with a member for an hour (no more) and then get back to work. At some point during the day we can do language (30 minutes) and Comp study (30 minutes) but it has to be in public, like a park or on the sidewalk. We also have 30 minutes to eat dinner at home. The key indicators didn't really change in my mission. We only report the 4 (confirmations, baptismal dates marked, investigators at church, and new investigators), but we still need to make goals and work with all of the original ones.

Felipe's story:

As I said, we found him on the street with Taisa and Wanderson (members who are letting him live with them) on a Saturday night, and began to teach him every other day. He had moved from Alagoas to have a clean fresh start here in São Paulo. He was a little unsure if we really wanted to go through with everything, but when President came here to interview him, he got super super excited!!! President just has that powerful spirit that spreads light into peoples lives and helps them want to follow the Savior. I love President. President said "He will be baptized and confirmed tomorrow."

Then....everything that could've possibly fallen apart, fell apart. We spent the rest of Saturday running our tails off to make things right but when we would fix one barrier, another would arise. I kept thinking "Is this a sign it isn't meant to be?" But I remembered President's words and realized it was the adversary doing everything possible to keep it from happening. Even AFTER he was baptized the next morning before church we were still hitting barriers (they pronounced his name wrong in the ordinance). In the last 10 minutes of sacrament meeting, President finally called us back and said to go ahead with the confirmation so we did some hand signs with the brothers in the front...and it all worked out! WOO!  I felt like I had finished a marathon once church ended! It was truly miraculous that despite all the opposition, we were able to fulfill the Lords will. :)

Rosana and Rute went to Girls Camp (but it also has the young men, so it's not really girls camp) and they had an amazing experience. Rosana bore her testimony the Sunday after and tearfully shared how much she learned and grew. She walks an hour to and from the church 4 times a week to go to seminary. Rute has been inviting all her friends to church and to hear the missionaries. We have been gathering a ton of modest clothes for them :)  I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!

What does it mean to train?

Every 6 weeks new missionaries enter the mission and begin their training. Their first companion is their trainer and they do a program called "12 weeks" which is how long training lasts. So, Sister Gomes is brand new in the mission and I am helping train her how to be a missionary!

There are more Guilherme miracles, but I don't have any more time. I'll update his story next week :)

LOVE YOU ALL! I forgot my camera at home today, I am sorry!!


Have a great week!

WEEKLY VILA VIRGINIA MIRACLE REPORT

My Weekly Vila Virginia MIRACLE REPORT

This week we found Guilherme (William in English) and Erien.

GUILHERME AND ERIEN AND FAMILY ♥

Okay, I know I always say this, but this time I mean it, they are the most prepared and elate people I have ever seen on my mission!

We found them on Tuesday, taught the Restoration and it was a great lesson, but then the first lesson is always wonderful -- and then they don't follow through on commitments. We went back on Thursday and he had read until JACOB in the Book of Mormon! I couldn't believe my ears. We began to teach the Plan of Salvation and he had so many incredible questions that we only got half waythrough. We came back the next day and he had written two pages of his impressions and questions from reading the Book of Mormon.

 Erien at first didn't really want to participate, but after accepting lots of love, she too began to follow Guilherme's (her boyfriend) example and now they are both so excited to be baptized on March 25th! The list of little miracles I have already seen just from these two is too long to tell, but I am just feeling too spoiled to have the privilege to teach them.

Working with the other sisters

Sister Gomes is teaching me how to do little things to show my love for people. She goes out of her way to use a little bit of paper/time/money to make people's day. Before I would think, "No, it's a waste," but honestly, she has won the heart of our ward and investigators. I am always hearing little ideas of how to make someone's day, but rarely do I do those little things. BUT NOW I DO!

So basically its raining really hard here and it zapped my computer here in the lan house, so all the things I was writing were lost so I don't have more time. I'm sorry! Next week I'll talk about Felipe, the changes made in our mission, and what it's like to train.

THANK YOU FOR THE LOVE!

Sister Ava

On the way to the zoo!

Today Ava's letter came in Portuguese, so I will include the google translated version below:

Sao Paulo Zoo

3,200 animals, 102 species of mammals, 216 species of birds, 95 species of reptiles

Sorry, but I need to write in Portuguese today. We are going to one of the biggest zoos in South America with a family that I love VERY much, Sister Gilmara and Brother Ronaldo!

I'm writing on her cell phone because she does not have time to go to the LAN house. So it gets very difficult to write in English because autocorrect tries a thousand times to correct every word in English.

This week I had an interview with President Silcox and he gave me all the wisdom and strength I needed. It is very clear now what you expect of me in this "challenge," and in fact, it is very beautiful. This situation that is so challenging helps me overcome the weaker parts of myself. Charity, patience, and humility. Really, the Lord loves me so much that he entrusts me with such ... intense challenges. LOVED your letter. Mom! And I also always love the details of the week.

President Silcox's advice is always very inspired.  I love you all so much.

Kisses! Sister ludlam

No Time to Write

Felipe's Baptism

 

Ava did not have time to write this week. 

She says she can't wait to tell us about Felipe's baptism story when she has a minute.

She asked me to apologize to those she was not able to respond to this week.

She'll be back before we know it!  Sorry I am late with her news--we were out of town.

A week in the life of...

Irma Gomes's First Day in Vila Virginia

 BOM DIA FRIENDS!

WOOOOOOO this week was different and filled with learning. The reason it was different was trying to get used to the new schedule (training a new sister), but every day something unplanned would throw our plans for a loop. I was SO PUMPED for this week and thought we would mark a ton of people for baptism, but sometimes the Lord has other plans in mind!

Tuesday was consumed by transfers because Sister Gomes's suitcase broke BUT WE SURVIVED! I was so impressed by her because when we got home we put her stuff down and I said, "I know you're hungry, let me warm up some left-over birthday cake," but she said, "No, Sister! Let's say a gratitude prayer!" We knelt down and she began to thank Him for every detail of the day. <3 Beautiful.

Wednesday our phone "died," so the plan was to borrow Irma Marcia's phone at lunch to call Elder Webster but when we got there Sister de Jesus called THEM and was worried sick because she thought we had never made it home because we didn't go to district meeting. Then Elder Marquina called and we explained what happened again. Elder Melo said we needed to come to the office to switch the phone because it wouldn't even turn on when connected to the charger, so almost the entire day was used up in that adventure. We did get to teach an investigator when we finally got home, so that was a blessing.

Thursday was consumed by trying to do Weekly Planning and some members found out we didn't have a working stove, so they tried to help us but it didn't work out and ate up the afternoon. The people in our ward are angels and treat as like daughters.

Friday we ate lunch with Bispo and had a meeting with him about all the things we wanted to do to get the Obra Missionaria moving in our ward.I was overcome with gratitude because Bispo Cesar (became Bishop a month ago) is incredibly spiritually guided and organized and studies Preach My Gospel to know what his role is in helping the Obra Missionaria.

Felipe and Ryan

Then we taught Veronica who has always been a little "mole," but Sister Gomes really followed the Spirit and helped her open up about her fears of baptism. I just sat and stared at Sister Gomes as she said the most inspired, powerful things. It was divine. On our way to the next appointment, she started having really intense stomach pains. Very, very scary. She was out of commission for about the next 24 hours.

Saturday and Sunday we are able to make some visits, so that was good too :)

Things I Love About Sister Gomes:
1. She loves UNCONDITIONALLY. She is putting her arm around me and being the sweetest thing.
2. She talks to EVERYONE. She does contacts with everyone, and it is such a good example to me.
3. She is helping me live the law of consecration and share everything I have with her (hahahaha!)
4. She is SO GOOD AT COMMUNICATING! I have never had a companion who just says what she is feeling! It is so refreshing and I feel so relaxed that I don't have to think, "Uh oh, what's bothering her?" or "What did I do that annoyed her?" I feel like we are true sisters, irmas na carne!
5. Her testimony is so powerful, I already know many reasons why she was sent to this area, many of our investigators need her!

Hope you all have a great week!
Love,
Irma Ava

Mission on Fire

I will stay in Vila Virginia (hallelujah!) and train a new sister! I don't know anything about her yet, just that she is not American. Sister de Jesus is being transferred to another area to finish the training of a new sister.

I am so so so unbelievably excited to meet my new companion tomorrow, woohoo! She is a lucky duck because she is going to start out her mission on FIRE because Vila Virginia is just over-flowing with miracles. Rosana received the Gift of the Holy Ghost this week. We fasted for the 17 investigators who said they would come to church would actually make it...and it didn't exactly work out how we wanted it to. IT WORKED OUT EVEN BETTER!

 We ran into couple from the ward the day their cousin moved in with them. We taught him the Restoration,  and he wants to be baptized and has already received an answer. His name is Felipe (I am sensing a trend with this name..it is the name of ELEITOS). I AM SO EXCITED! This week I have just been on cloud 9, I have never felt such a constant and profound peace and joy in my life. I was especially grateful to take the sacrament on my 20th birthday. I saw a little bit into the heavens as I thought about the last 20 years and felt so CLEAN. I have a perfectly clean slate for the future in my life! I get to do it again next week too, woohoo! Oh, how perfect is Heavenly Father's plan for us!
I received 2 packages this week, one from the fam with a ton of little cards from Grant's wedding guests which was honestly the best thing I could've asked for for my birthday <3. THANK YOU FAMILY!

Sister Gines also sent me a honkin' box, jam-packed with love and carinho. I felt like it was my birthday and Christmas and all things wonderful at the same time <3 THANK YOU KELSIE GINES!

Thank you to all who wished me a happy birthday, and sorry I can't respond to much this week :( BUT I WILL!

The Big 2-0.  No more a teenager!

I want to bear my testimony that I know we are children of a Heavenly Father who loves us. We are here on earth to learn and grow and become more like Him. And it just incredible to me that that is possible, because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is God's kingdom here on earth, with all of the truths and principles we need to one day return to Him. If we obey His commandments and the counsels of our modern-day prophets, we will have eternal life, or life with God. THAT is the fullness of joy we seek.

Have a wonderful week! ♥