100 More Days!

Dear Family!!!

Well, This week has just FLOWN by!! A lot has happened so I will try to sum it up the best that I can. We started to teach a guy named Felipe. And the lesson was awesome. The spirit was really strong and  I know that he felt that. We are preparing him for baptism right now. We want him to be baptized on the 29th of November! If he keeps going like he is going now, I am pretty sure that he will serve a mission!!

This past week our stake put on the huge activity. They had all of this free stuff to offer. Like free hair cuts, counseling, health advice, you name it and they had it! It was really cool. As missionaries we were told about it the night before and that we were just to show up and help the people that were there. It was meant to have a ton of people there, but in reality, none of the members invited their friends so hardly anyone showed up. So, our job turned into going and talking to everyone in the streets that we could find and inviting them to the activity. Not a ton of success. I was thinking about how sad it was though. A ton of people put in all this work, and there was not a ton of success simply because members didn´t invite their friends.

Things are progressing well with our investigators for the most part. This week we will start to teach two new people who came to church. They are super open! We are hoping that they will be baptized soon. Their names our Rodrigo and Evans.

This week I have become convinced that I can control the weather through my actions. If I forgot to bring an umbrella with me, without a doubt we will receive a TON of rain, even if it doesn´t look like it will rain in the morning. If I forget to put on sunscreen, without a doubt it will be a hot, sunny day. I guess that as missionaries we are given many gifts and talents. I´ll be interested to see if this gift sticks with me when I come home!

Oh, by the way. Did you realize that today I have exactly 100 days more on my mission!!! And then, after that I will be coming home!! Yeah, I am excited!! I am excited for the work that I can do here, for how much better I can learn Portuguese, and then when the time is up, to see you all! 

Sister Beth Spencer

And Life Continues!

Dear Family!!! 

Well I am so excited to email!! This week has been pretty normal... full of ups and downs. I´ll fill ya in a bit with things that have happened with our investigators! 

Almir was confirmed on Sunday and received the Gift of the Holy Ghost! I am SUPER excited! I know that Almir will stay true to the things that we have taught him. He is still reading the Book of Mormon like crazy and doing all of the small things! It is Awesome!!! 

Visited Josey and Nelsey this week. That was sure interesting. Nelsey pretty much told us that she already knew everything that we were saying and didn´t think that the Book of Mormon could add anything to the extensive knowledge that she already has. We bore our testimonies and invited her to read the book and promissed her that it would change her life. She asked us right then to show her something in the book that would change her life. Long story short, She isn´t open. Her husband is open however, but I am not quite sure how to handle the situation. We´ll see what happens! 

Found a new investigator this week-- Alexandre. He has a baptismal date for 29 of November. I am not quite sure if he is truly interested in the message. He kept commenting on how blue our eyes were. The next visit we have with him, we will decide what we want to do. 

Pretty sure we are going to have to drop Ivan. He´s not really progressing. Ugh. It´s lame, but we gotta find the peole who are truly ready. 

Other than that, other things: 

This past week I was walking down the street under some trees. i felt something land on my head. Didn´t really think much of it. Leafs fall on our heads all the time. I went to brush it off and it was wet, slimy, gross, bloody bird poop. Disgusting. So gross. I didn´t give my companion an option, we returned to our apartment super fast so that I could get it out of my hair. Needless to say, I have been avoiding the trees that have a ton of birds in them. 

Funny thing: In Brazil it is really cool to speak English and to wear t-shirts that have english words or phrases on them... however, most of the time, people don´t always know what they say... so they are quite hilarious. Here are a few of the ones that we´ve seen: 

-Look out, Floor ahead

-Im an 60´s star

-Gils from space (with 3 lovely pineapples stamped on as well)

-I need someone

-you´re not good you´re super

-I get my looks from mum

-nice guys finish last

-your girlfriend hates my alarm clock

All day long we walk in the sun, so in turn it makes our hair a bit lighter. Well, in the case of my hair, it has made the red in my hair come out... a LOT! like, I am pretty much a red-head now. Everyone comments on my blue eyes and red hair... :-P

The language is coming along REALLY well. the Lord is really helping me out. Each week I can see a difference in my ability to speak. I feel so VERY blessed!! Thank you so much for all of your prayers!! 

Sister Spencer

The Work Progresses :)

Dear Familia!

Puxa! This week has sure been full of things! I don´t even know where to start!

I´ll start with our investigators first. Almir was baptized yesterday! It turned out really well! A lot of the ward members showed up to support him. I know that he will be such a strong member in the church!! He was reading in 2nd Nephi the other day in the Isaiah chapters and didn´t understand them so he decided to start them over again. We were talking to him the other day and he mentioned how he was just loving the Isaiah chapters. Can´t say that I know too many people who would say that, so way to go for him!!! 

We found a new investigator this week named Véra! She had missionaries come over in the past, but didn´t really understand the Book of Mormon and thought that we worshipped Joseph Smith. We taught her the message of the Restoration and she understood everything really well! She agreed to read and pray about the Book of Mormon to find out if it is true... and if it is true, she will be baptized!!!! Sad thing though is that she will be out of town for a week or so. Why do people need to take vacations anyways?? jk!

I gave a talk on Sunday in church! i think it went over pretty well. I felt like I said what I was supposed to. I thought it was sort of funny though, all of the speakers after me cried in their talks, and I´m not really that much of a crier. All is good though! People said that they could understand what I said and that I am improving quite a bit in Portuguese! i feel like the Lord is helping me out so much with this language! I feel so blessed!! 

The strength of the members in this ward always inspires me. There is this lady who is married to a man who is anti-mormon. Her marriage isn´t the best, her and her husband get in fights a lot, and he is constantly bashing her for what she believes. Yet, every Sunday, she gets ready and brings herself and her daughter to church regardless of all of the rude comments and other things that happen to her. I was thinking about all of the small things that this member does to keep her testimony strong. Putting myself in her shoes, I imagine that she receives a LOT of strength from the Lord through reading her scriptures, praying, going to church, and doing the small things to have the spirit  with her. 

 Other than investigators, the next biggest thing that happened is that I got a letter from one of our investigators. He pretty much said that he wanted to marry me. I think he was a bit nervous that I wouldn´t understand the Portugues, so he wrote it in English and Portuguese for me.... oh man. It blindsided Sister Mitchell and I... both of us did not pick up on this one tiny bit. I had to tell him that as missionaries, we need to focus ALL of our time on the Lord. Goodness, how awkward!!! Things are all better though and he knows why we are there. 

Love you all TONS!!!

Highlights from Brazil

Dear Family!! 

Well the weeks go by SUPER fast here. There is a lot to get done. This past week was a bit interesting. 

On Saturday, we were asked by our Stake President to teach 2 English classes... for two hours each. Boy, that was sure interesting. The people in the class were Brazilians who were trying to learn English and had been studying for about 3 months. So in other words, they didn't know any English. It really turned out being we say a sentence in English, see if anyone knows any of the words that we said. If the knew the words they got chocolate, if not, we translated into Portuguese. We tried to make it interactive and include games, but it was hard. From that experience, I can sure say that I do not want to be a teacher in a classroom setting.

Do you remember a few weeks back when I mentioned how we found this guy named Walter. Well hopefully you do. We were finally able to get in contact with him this week! And it was great!! After talking to him for a half an hour, he said that he knew that he needed to get back to church. He gave us all of his information to move his records! We have an appointment with him on Wednesday with the Bishop and then he said that he would go to church on Sunday. I really believe that he will go! I am SUPER excited for this! 

We did not end up having the baptism for Almir this week. It felt like we were just rushing the lessons a little too fast. He will be baptized on Saturday at 7 pm. I feel a lot better about this date and I know that he does as well! I am excited to see Almir baptized. I know that he will be such a GREAT addition to the ward here and a solid member. 

For the other people that we are working with: Marina! MARINA CAME TO CHURCH!!! This is huge! She loved church and all of the people there! I am really hopeful that she will go back the next Sunday! It is a bit harder for her because she is having a few problems with her husband and doesn't really have the support. We introduced her to a few members that she should connect really well with! Antonio Marcus! I don´t know if I have mentioned this before, but he is a pastor. He believes completely in Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. His hang-up is that he doesn't feel like he needs to be baptized again. We asked him to pray about it, and he said that he did and that he got the answer that he does not need to. I personally feel like he got that answer because I am not sure if he is ready to leave his church and completely join this church. We had a super spiritual lesson with him though and asked him to pray again about the date November 2nd to be baptized. I am praying like crazy that he will accept that date! 

Every day my Portuguese improves a little bit. Right now I sleep in a room with 3 other missionaries. I was talking with one of them who is from Brazil and she said that the other night I was talking in my sleep in Portuguese and that she could understand me!! I thought that was pretty great!! As of right now, I am confusing the words inverno and inferno. The first means winter and the second means hell. Kind of a big difference. Poor Almir. This past week he was asking about hell and I tried to tell him that I knew that God wanted us to go to the Celestial Kingdom and for me, any other kingdom would be hell because I would get to live with God forever.... yeah, well, I used the wrong word. Poor guy was confused for a bit, but we got a good laugh out of it. 

It is REALLY hot here. I have heard that I am in the hottest area. There are a ton of buildings and cars and that traps the heat in a bit. Yesterday people said that it got up to what is the equivalent of 104 degrees. I think I am going to die. It´s just spring here. If I come home as a baked potato, please love me still! 

I love you all tons!! Thank you for all that you do for me! 

Brazil!

Dear Family!! 

Well it hasn´t been very long since I last emailed, but it has been a good week! The best thing that has happened this week is that Silvia was baptized on Sunday!! It was super cool. When she came up from the water, you could just see how free she felt. It was an amazing experience. What was also good was that her son Philipe attended the baptism as well and we are going to start to teach him! I am super excited for this! Hopefully we can start to teach him and get him with a baptismal date for the next few weeks. I´ll keep yáll posted on what happens! 

On Saturday our ward had a fast for the missionary work in the area. I feel like that will help out a lot for us to find new investigators and those who are prepared for baptism. I´m excited to see what happens this next week as we work and try to find new investigators!! I know that fasting is a principle that brings a ton of blessings and has a ton of power. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to fast. 

Marina is progressing well. If you remember her, she is the mother of the family that we found. I´m not sure if we will continue teaching her for much longer. Either she will have to start keeping some more commitments or we´ll have to stop visiting her. Kind of sad. Will see what happens. I pray that we can contine to visit her!!!

 

One of the people that i am most excited about is Almir. He is progressing SUPER great!!!! He has a baptismal date for this Sunday. He is so excited about the gospel and keeping all of the commandments. On Saturday when we had our activity, he went up to the Bishop and said "I know that I am not a member yet, but I want to pay my tithing. So here is the money." The Bishop didn´t know what to do,  but was super excited! It´s really awesome to find people who are so prepared to accept the gospel!! 

We had the transfer call yesterday and I will be staying in this area with my companio, Sister Mitchell. One transfer goes by really fast! I´m excited to see the difference that we can make in one transfer!! 

The language is still hard. Believe it or not. But things continue to get better. I was asked to give a talk on October 26th. i won´t lie, I am super nervous for it, but I know that everything will be fine. One of the hardest parts for me is talking on the phone. Everyone sounds way different...aka completely uncomprehensible. Maybe one day I will understand them. My companion likes to put me on the spot a lot by asking me to do the phone calls. I guess it is a good learning experience for me. 

Well, sorry this email is shorter... Guess I don´t have a whole lot to report especially since our last p-day was Thursday. I love you all tons and am praying for you tons!! 

Mmmkay, well I love you all tons! 

Sister Spencer

Brazil, Week #2!

Dear Family!!!

Well what a week. It´s been so long since I´ve emailed and I´ve missed you all sooo sooo much!!! It´s been a crazy week and a half, but my companion and I, Sister Mitchell, have been having a ton of success. This Sunday one of our investigators, Silivia will be baptized!! She is super excited for baptism and I think that all will go well. Next week I´ll send a picture home of that! 

The best experience that I had this week was when we were walking home from this place called the Taquaral. Normally we cross this bridge to get home, but for some reason, that night we felt like we shouldn´t. So, we took the long way around... add another 20 minutes of walking time. On our way home, we passed this man and started talking to him. After talking to him for a bit, he told us that he was a member and had been baptized about 20 years ago and had been through the temple with his wife. A bunch of things happened and his wife left him, so in turn, he left the church. We were able to invite him to conference and everything! If we had not followed the spirit, we would not have found him. The man hardly ever leaves his house, only for food and to go to work. Miracle that we found him! 

We have started teaching this man named Almir! Two weeks ago he randomly came to church. We started teaching him. On the very first lesson that we had with him, we committed him to be baptized on the 19th of October!!!! It´s crazy how open and receptive he is. After the first lesson, we got a phone call from him. He was wondering what beverages he could drink and how to pay tithing. ( At this point, we hadn´t mentioned tithing or anything to him). And, Almir came to all of the sessions of conference! So awesome!!! It´s really awesome teaching Almir. I can´t speak perfectly, but I feel like he can understand me and feel the spirit. It truly is amazing!!! 

We walk a ton here. SO much! In all honesty, I love it!!! The food is great too!!! We eat a lot of rice and beans, and fruit. The fruit is amazing and tastes like unother I have ever tasted in the world. SO GOOD! The language is difficult. I´ve made a lot of mistakes this past week, but I am learning and improving! I´ve said a lot of funny things. For example, this past week we were contacting a few people on the street. I was trying to give this one lady a pass along card that had a picture of Jesus on it. Well, in Portuguese, the word for picture is cuadro. I was still trying to learn that word, and didn´t quite say it right. What I ended up using was the word quarta which means fourth. So instead of saying we have a picture of Jesus for you, I ended up saying we have a fourth of Jesus for you. Poor lady was a bit confused....

Things are improving here. It is a bit hard, but every day things get better!! 

I love you all and miss you so much!!! 

Sorry the notes are so short today!! I love you all TONS though!!! 

After 14 Months of Waiting . . . I made it to Brazil!

Dear Family!!! 

Thank heavens for english! I´m grateful that we all know english and that we can communicate. Sorry I didn´t write last week. I didn´t get a p-day. I left for Campinas on Tuesday and the p-days here are on Monday.

One of the best things that happened in the past two weeks is that I got to go to the temple since being in the Provo MTC. Man, that brought so much peace and comfort. We went to the Sao Paulo temple. (This is when I was still in the MTC). We got to watch the session in English. After not being able to go to the temple for about a year, it was so nice! I can´t even begin to describe how nice that was for me!! 

The people in Brazil are much different from the people in TN. They are much, much more open! On the very first day that I got here, we went street contacting and we were told to invite people to be baptized. So, on my very first day out in the field in Brazil, I committed a lady with a small daughter to be baptized. Yeah, super legit!! 

This past week we saw another miracle. We were out trying to contact a person, and she wasn´t home, so we decided to go down the street and see who was home. From that, we found this family. Marina and Mauro with 3 daughters (all grown, only the daughter Rafeala lives at home). We were able to teach them the Restoration this week. It was my first time teaching the REstoration in Portuguese in the field!! Man, it was so great. I got to share the first vision, and the spirit was so strong. My Portuguese wasn´t perfect, but I´m pretty sure that I made sense. This is the first family that I have gotten to teach on my mission and I am super excited about them!! 

We have two other investigators with a baptismal date right now. Silvia and Ivan. Silvia is going to be baptized on the 12th of October and Ivan on the 19th of October. I don´t really know a whole lot about them now, but I am learning and things are good!! 

Language. Oh boy is it difficult sometimes. My companion is extremely patient with me thank heavens!!! This past week she was saying something, I didn´t catch all of it, but from what I understood, she said "Eu preciso colocar torta em tambem".... which, from what I know, means "I need to put the pie in as well." I couldn´t figure out for the life of me what she was talking about! We got a good laugh out of that though.... I have a lot of those moments, but each day things get better. For me it is simple, when I feel the spirit, I can understand what people are saying for the most part. When I don´t, things are a lot more difficult. I find though that the Lord has blessed me SO MUCH for doing my language study in TN. As of right now, I think I can understand about 65-70% of what people say...needless to say, miracles exist on the earth today!!! 

Also, we walk a ton!! Thank goodness for bandaids. I have a few blisters on my heels, but those should go away this next week I am hoping!! 

My companion is Sister Mitchell from Maryland. She´s super nice and patient!!! Thank heavens for that! I really like being companions with her. Turns out that we were in the MTC at the same time in Provo. I´ll be out in the mission longer than her though since I will most likely be extending for another month. We´ll see what happens though! 

Brazil does have some weird things that I am not quite used to. 

Well, I love you all tons!!! 

I have some píctures to send home, so I´ll do that now!