Week 18 (9 December 2013)

Segunda- It was one of my favorite p-days so far.  I am usually super stressed-out on p-days, but today was different.  Oh, and I got a package!  From my family!  Y'all are the best and let's just say that Swedish Fish never tasted so good.  You know me too well Mom. :)

Terca- We had our district meeting in Cruz Alta this morning as usual, but we missed our bus home.  It was a blessing in disguise because we were stuck in Cruz Alta (where they have a mall and cheap clothes) for three hours.  So we went and bought some well deserved and much needed skirts.  I got two new ones that are super comfy and were quite cheap.  It was great!

Quarta- Sister C~ and I went to visit a recent convert that just moved here and it was kind of awkward.  She has health issues.  After our visit I realized that I had not been treating her as I should have been.  It can be hard sometimes even as a missionary to not judge and to see the good in people, but the President reminded me today of how the Savior treated everyone.

Quinta- It rained all morning, but then we went to pick up R~ for his baptismal interview and there was sunshine in our souls today.  Every day I can see him glowing with the light of the Gospel a little bit more, I literally can see it.  When I mentioned that to him he said that he sees it too, and he feels it as well. :)

Sexta- We found out about transfers today... (Drum roll please!)  I will be staying in Panambi but I am getting a new companion.  Sister P~ is her name and apparently she is the bomb.com and is one of the best of the best in Santa Maria.  I am really excited!!  I will miss Sister C~ and am a little nervous about the change, but God know what I need and what I can handle, so I am ready.

Sabado- BAPTISM!!  R~ was baptized today.  I felt the Spirit more during the baptismal service than any other time so far on my mission.  It was great.  He was baptized by a recent convert who just received the Priesthood last Sunday so it took a little time to get him under the water, but it was great.  Afterwards the Sisters and I sang "I Am a Child of God" in English (because he loves English and is one of our best students).  It was great.  He is such an amazing youth and has so much potential!

Domingo- R~ received the gift of the Holy Ghost and was very involved in our lesson in Sunday School along with some other investigators of the other sisters who were visiting.  I love Gospel Principles!

I can't wait to talk to y'all on Christmas!  Have a great week!

Love,
Sister Phelps

Week 17 (2 December 2013)

Tender Mercies:

Segunda- We had THANKSGIVING today and it was great!  I mean they don't have some ingredients here that we wanted, but tudo bem.  We ended up having rolls, chicken, sweet potato casserole (we think, it was some type of vegetable...), stuffing, apple juice, mashed potatoes, and gravy. It turned out great and I am proud of us.  Pode casar... (haha).  People in Brasil say this when someone cooks well. :) I also made an apple turkey and he turned out quite handsome.  I will send you a pic.

Terca- I have been reading the New Testament recently and have been able to rediscover stories about the life of Jesus Christ that have really touched me and inspired me to be better.  I am so grateful for personal revelation and the scriptures!

Quarta- So my knee has been bothering me off and on for the past few weeks and I have been praying really hard lately that I can have days without pain.  Today was one of those days.  We walked to and from our lunch appointment that is about 45 minutes away and I felt no pain.  It was such a great blessing.  (I haven't really had pain since...) :)

Quinta- We are teaching a young man right now who has a great testimony and even shares the gospel with his friends and invites them to activities and church.  Today we challenged him to pray about a certain date for baptism and his heart was changed and he realized that he really does want to be baptized.  I am so grateful for youth, and the potential and power that they have.

Sexta- We did splits and Sister G~ and I were set free in Brasil.  We were able to teach a lesson (with the help of a member) and invite tons of people to our branch activity Sabado, and they understood us! Overall it was a good day, and boosted my confidence in my Portuguese. :)

Sabado- Our activity was a success!  We had 61 people there which means that we overreached our goal!  We played games, shared a message, sang a hymn, and then ate churrasco.  It was wonderful, it was one of the first times that I felt like I was in a ward again.  We really need to help this branch grow so that every Sunday and activity can feel like this.

Domingo- The President of the Branch here is really getting into this missionary thing.  I am so grateful for his support.  Seriously, the help of the Presidente and the members is crucial and the support is growing here in Panambi; I couldn't ask for anything more.

Overall it was a good week.  The work has been slowing down in some aspects, but picking up in others.  I am so grateful to be a missionary and to be serving the people here in Panambi!  Keep up the good work in your own ward too!  Be best friends with the missionaries and ask what you can do to help them reach their weekly goals!

Love y'all! (Amo voces)!
-Sister Phelps

Henry the Apple Turkey

Week 16 (25 November 2013)

Tender mercies. . .

Segunda-feira-  We had a lesson for family home evening all planned out and then had the sudden feeling that we needed to watch a cheesy seminary video, so we picked one and watched it with the less active family we were visiting.  At the end of the video they all had such great comments about how the message touched them and how it was just what they needed to hear.  I love cheesy seminary videos. (It was the one about the armor of God).

Terca-feira-  There was a giant thunder storm tonight and we were twenty minutes from home when the worst of it hit, but we had to keep going in order to make it home in time for curfew.  We were almost home when the thunder and lightning started and it was really close.  As we huddled under our umbrellas and ran up the hill we were both praying so hard to make it safely home and we did.  Seriously, we could have died, it was a Texas worth thunderstorm.

Quarta-feira-  We found a couple today who acted like they were not interested at all in our message, but by the time we left and after we had lovingly answered all of their questions and doubts about the church, the husband told us that we were welcome in their home anytime.  The Lord really can change people hearts when the Spirit is present.

Quinta-feira-  We were about to go home about fifteen minutes when we decided to run by the house of a contact that was never home when we went by.  He was there!  And he and all of his family members, and extended family that was visiting were so open to our message and it was just perfect.

Sexta-feira-  I got sick along with Sister S~ with a little stomach bug, but it passed very quickly and we didn't have to miss out on much because it disappeared so fast.  Seriously.  Twas a miracle.

Sabado-  Our baptism fell through, but tudo bem.  She is still coming to church.  Sister C~ and I were a little down after that happened so we went home and watched "Finding Faith in Christ" and it brought up our spirits instantly.  Man, I love that movie.

Domingo-  We had 35 people in church today!  That is a tender mercy in itself.

-Sister Phelps

Week 15 (18 November 2013)

One baptism down milhoes to go!

This last Friday (Nov 15) I had my first baptism of the mission.  His name is W~ and he is a great guy who has really gained a testimony and a love for the gospel.  He has a lot of friends in the ward, which has helped more than anything else in his conversion (after the Holy Ghost).  He received the gift of the Holy Ghost yesterday and it was perfect.  The spirit was so strong in that sacrament meeting and I am so proud of Him.  Wahoo!

Tender mercies. . .

Segunda-feira:  We had just cleaned the entire apartment and were on our way to use the computers and go shopping when Sister G~ found 10 reals in the middle of the road and we all got super excited.  Next thing I know there are 2 reals right in front of me,  I pick it up, look around and boom see 20 reals in the grass next to us.  So we found 32 reals in the street on our p-day.  Sometime the miracles of the Lord are SO obvious and it just helps us remember that things happen that we don't even notice.  The Lord really will bless His poor, tired, hungry missionaries when they try to do their best.

Terca-feira:  I have started taking the reigns more in our lessons and it has been nerve wracking, but fun to practice teaching in different ways and using my vocabulary more.  I taught a lesson by myself today and it was so hard, but I know that the gift of tongues in real.  Today I didn't feel like I was speaking my best, but the people we were teaching were able to understand me.  So, God was blessing them with the gift of interpretation of tongues, luckily. :)

Quarta-feira:  We had a hard day and everything fell through including our last chance to meet with W~, our investigator who has his baptismal interview tomorrow.  We walked to his house, which is about 35 minutes away and he wasn't home, so we sat at the park outside his house and waited.  After about an hour and a half of waiting and a lot of praying he showed-up out of the blue and we were able to teach him and get home with one minute to spare before curfew.

Quinta-feira:  R~, our awesomely amazing investigator, called us tonight and bore his testimony over the phone about the power of the Book of Mormon.  Apparently he had been having a hard day, started to read, and his whole day turned around.  I love it when we get to hear the sincere testimonies of our investigators.

Sexta-feira:  WE HAD A BAPTISM!

Sabado:  I was in charge of teaching the English class this week and have been talking a lot to my companion about what I want to do with my life after my mission.  I still don't know, but one of our students (a recent convert) randomly said "you should be a teacher."  (He said it in Portuguese) but it really was an answer to prayer.

Domingo:  Yesterday we invited a man to come to church and didn't expect him to come, but he showed up and gave lots of good feed-back during Sunday School. :)

Love,
Sister Phelps

Week 14 (11 November 2013)

This week was pretty crazy, but good crazy for the most part.

Segunda-feira:  Today we had planned a family home evening in a members house and invited a family of non-members, but they never showed-up... but during the last five minutes of our lesson their daughter came and we were more than relieved.  I still don't know why this was such a blessing, but it changed our entire night.  I am grateful for those small things, thoughts, impressions, and actions of others that can change you entire day for the better.

Terca-feira: Some days my Portuguese is better than others and today was one of those days where I wake up from a dream in English, my companion says something to me in Portuguese that I have heard a millions times, but I just cannot understand what she is saying.  So that is how my day started, but we had Zone Conference today in Cruz Alta and miracles happened while we were there.  I started talking to some of the other missionaries and sometimes I didn't even realize I was speaking in Portuguese and I felt so comfortable.  Right now that isn't the case still, but the Lord truly will bless us with the words (in English or Portuguese) that we should say, but we have to be comfortable with ourselves.

Quarta-feira:  One of the recent converts in the branch gave us a reference so we went to talk to her at the shop she owns.  I had been carrying around a Book of Mormon and felt like I needed to put it back in my bag before we went into the shop.  As we introduced ourselves to her one of the first things she said was that she preached for her church and did work like us and one time someone read out of a book or scripture that wasn't the Bible and she didn't listen to anything that she said.  So we are going to start by talking around the restoration a little and getting her to realize that this church is true.

Sexta-feira:  J~'s mom is awesome.  We had this idea the morning before we were going to go talk to her and decided to read with her in Alma 56 : 45-48 about the mothers of the army of Helaman.  We went on to talk about the great importance of moms and how they can truly affect the life and righteousness of their children.

Sabado:  English class was great!  And afterward we were able to teach R~ about the Plan of Salvation and follow-up about how we asked him to pray to know if the Restoration was true.  He received his answer in a dream.  I have never received an answer like this, but God knows us personally and answers our prayers the way we need them to be answered.

Domingo:  We got 44 people to stake conference today in Cruz Alta!  It was a miracle.  With lots of fasting, prayer, and work we achieved our goal!!

I love you!
Sister Phelps

Week 13 (4 November 2013)

Tender Mercies. . .

Segunda-feira (Monday):  During a really rough time today my companion and I were sitting in a little park about five minutes from our house and these three really beautiful white butterflies kept flying around us.  It is little things like that which help me remember that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us and gave us such a beautiful world to live in.

Terca-feira (Tuesday):  One thing that I have learned on the mission is that when we need peace all we have to do is ask for it.  Say a little prayer in our minds with a sincere heart and God will give us all of the comfort we need.  He really does love us.

Quarta-feira (Wednesday):  We were able to meet a young man who is very different than most other people we meet here.  He is one of those people that I would have been afraid to share the gospel with before the mission, but my companion and I both felt like we should invite him to our English class.  We did and he loved it.  So, this tender mercy is that Heavenly Father can let us see His children the way that He sees them, with unlimited potential if we have love for everyone we meet.

Quinta-feira (Thursday):  Halloween.  I was pretty homesick today and wanted something American. . . so bad!  Next thing I know we walk past a restaurant that just started serving burgers this week!  How cool is that.  I ate the burger and it was good! Not quite the same as Wendy's or Red Robin, but it made me feel right at home.

Sexta-feira:  Every single appointment that we had today fell through, but we met two perfect investigators that really came out of nowhere into our path.  God is so good!  Every time we pray together, my companion and I pray that we will find those people who God has prepared for us, sometimes the answer is more obvious than others, but we will always receive blessings from our Father in Heaven.

Sabado (Saturday):  We were able to have a special meeting with the ward members today about how we can work hand in hand with the members in the Work of Salvation!  Some of the members were a bit hesitant when we had shared our ideas in the past, but today everyone was on board and their hearts were opened to our message and the importance of each member in this great work!

Domingo (Sunday):  We met a young man on the street a week ago and were finally able to meet with him and teach him.  Earlier today I was having a lot of doubts about my ability to speak Portuguese, but during our lesson with him he did not believe me that I was American and said that I had no accent at all.  How cool is that!  He really boosted my confidence with that little, maybe insignificant comment.

I love Brazil.  I love being a missionary and am so grateful for all of the support and prayers!

Com Amor,
Sister Phelps

Week 12 (28 October 2013)

Thursday- We were on our way to an appointment when two guys across the street from where we were walking started calling us.  We usually ignore that kind of thing because they usually want trouble, but this time we both looked.  The two guys looked slightly familiar, but we could not figure out where we knew them from.  We met them the FIRST WEEK here in Panambi and taught them every single lesson on the street and gave them one of each pamphlet, but they lived in Sao Paulo.  Guess what, they moved here!

Friday and Saturday- Our baptism fell through, but I hope that we will have it on the 16th like we are planning.  Other than that all is well here in Panambi.  I will be here for at least one more transfer.

Love you all!
-Sister Phelps