Purpose to Everything

The purpose of a missionary is incredibly significant - to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them to receive the restored Gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentence, baptism by immersion, receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end.  Yet, there are times, when all your appointments fall through, few people are on the streets, and the few that are there don't want to listen, and no one answers their doors; that you feel like you are doing nothing as a missionary, just wandering the streets without purpose or direction.  However, I have come to learn that whenever we are on the Lord's mission, we always have purpose and direction, we just might not recognize it until afterwards.  For example, one day a member in our ward gave us a bunch of corn.  My companion and I knew that we wouldn't be able to eat it all, so we decided to take some to our investigator.  We both thought that corn was a strange gift to give, but figured that it couldn't hurt.  When we handed our investigator the bag of corn, she looked at us a little astonished and said, "How did you guys know that I love corn?!"  Another time, an investigator that had committed to be baptized needed to travel to the 'interior' to visit her brother that had become suddenly ill.  She told us that she didn't know when she would return, but that she would call us as soon as she got back.  During the week, we tried calling her, but the call kept falling through.  Without even putting much thought into it, my companion and I decided to pass by on a certain day that week to talk with her sister to see if she knew when she would return.  When we arrived at her home, there was our investigator sitting on the couch.  She had arrived the night before, and had tried to get in contact with us, but hadn't been able to.  Once more, we received the astonished question, "How did you know that I got back last night?"  The Lord is aware of every one of His children and their needs.  It doesn't matter if it is a simple act of kindness, or a small teaching or testimony that we share with someone on the street, Heavenly Father has a purpose for everything.  Sometimes, we are the only people that can pass a certain message for someone in the exact moment when they need it.  Perhaps that person will never visit the church, or accept our visits, but because we stopped to talk to them and share with them our testimonies, we had the opportunity to be the Lord's mouth and hands to bless the life of one of His children.

Yesterday, Sister Wofley and Sister De Paula (the two other sisters that live with Sister Meireles and I in Bessa) went to the chapel in Manaira to receive training and then to pick up their 'daughters' (new missionaries that were entering the field).  However, Sister Wofley and Sister De Paula had marked a baptism for that very night.  Not only would they be in Bessa to make sure that the baptism actually took place, but they hadn't been able to get the signature of the mother of the young woman that would be baptized.  Sister Wofley asked Sister Meireles and I if we could just pass by the home of this young woman and try and get the mother to sign and remark the baptism for Sunday.  When Sister Meireles and I passed by, the mother received us well, but told us that it was much to early for her daughter to be baptized, and that she wanted her daughter to continue to visit the church and in about 6 months or a year, then she could be baptized.  I began to talk with her, asking questions, and teaching her about the importance of baptism, all with the hope that she would have a change of heart and give her permission for her daughter to be baptized.  After we conversed, I asked her, "if your daughter expresses her desire to be baptized and shares with you that she truly received an answer to her prayer that this was the right path to follow, will you give your permission for her to be baptized?"  The mother replied that she would.  I didn't want to leave the house without the mother's signature because I knew how much Sister Wofley and Sister De Paula had gone through to get to this point, and I knew that it would be much easier for Sister Wofley and her new companion to return with everything resolved.  Yet, after waiting, and waiting, the daughter never showed up.  We ended up asking the mother if we could return at around 8:30 at night to see what they had decided and to get her signature.  She replied that we could.  At 8:30, we returned, this time it was the daughter who had some doubts and concerns about her baptism.  With a lot of silent prayers, and questions, we were able to reanimate this young woman about her baptism and resolve her doubts.  Even though we had to walk to whole way home in rain, we walked with smiles on our faces and the mother's signature safely in my bag!  This night happened to be the night of transfers.  Sister Meireles and I both figured that nothing would happen, so you can imagine our surprise with the phone rang and the Elder said, "There will be only a small change in Bessa.  You and Sister Meireles are working in Bessa 1, right?  Well, President wants you and Sister Meireles to switch with Sister Wofley and her companion."  As I hung up the phone, I began to think, 'imagine if Sister Meireles and I hadn't fought for Sister Wofley's baptism.  Imagine if we had selfishly shrugged it off and said, 'it's not our area, not our baptism; we'll just let Sister Wofley worry about it!"  Last night I learned an important lesson, the Lord's work is a group effort!  The success of one companionship is the success of all!  We are all in this together!  When we put aside our selfishness and do everything we can to build and lift others, helping them to have success and reach their potential, everyone is blessed!  I love this Gospel!  I know that our Heavenly Father is aware of each one of us and that He loves us more than we know!

Barata!!!

This week, my companion and I planned a great FHE with our recent convert, Pedro, and his family.  We are trying to help his wife have more spiritual experiences so that she will have the desire to come to church with Pedro and start receiving the lessons.  We gave a terrific lesson about eternal marriage and the importance of the family.  It was touching to watch the 7 year old daughter of Pedro say the opening prayer with Pedro helping along when she needed it.  I can't describe how much I love this family!  After the lesson, Pedro and his wife invited us to stay and eat dinner with them.  As we finished eating, we began to converse about the strange animals and insects that we had seen in the Paraiba.  I told a story about being in someone's home when a scorpion came out from under the sofa and the member grabbed a book and smashed the scorpion.  A few minutes later, Pedro pointed to the sofa where Sister Meireles and I were sitting and said with complete calmness, "barata".  I figured that he was just joking with us because we were talking about insects and he wanted to startle us.  I hardly believed I would see a 'barata' at my side when I looked down, but I decided to check just to make sure.  I only needed less then a second to see the barata, register in my mind that Pedro was not joking, and leap of the sofa and to the other side of the room!  Sister Meireles still thought that all of us were joking until the barata began to crawl up her back!  hahaha!  I was glad that I was on the other side of the room! hehe  Em fim, we all laughed for awhile after Pedro's wife saved Sister Meireles from the barata on her back!

Our ward in Bessa doesn't have a chapel yet.  It has only been about 3 years since the ward was formed, and the stake wants the ward in Bessa to have enough members to divide into two wards before they build an official chapel.  In the time being, the ward is meeting in an old warehouse...I love it!  Every Sunday I get to sit up front to play the piano or direct the music, and I can just observe.  This Sunday, I watched as two or three birds flew in between the open windows near the ceiling.  I smiled as a member ran to unplug a fun that was making a very strange noise and appeared to be on the verge of exploding.  I noticed the large, bulky door at the back of the warehouse and a member with his small daughter ducking out.  As I observed, I thought back on all of my crazy apartments that I have lived in on the mission.  The apartment that had a toilet that didn't flush.  Or the apartment that flooded everytime it rained, the apartment with only one window in the basement of a building, the apartment with a door that only shut when you slammed it, the apartment with a shower that didn't drain, the apartment with the window that we climbed in and out of, and the apartment with bats, lizards, and spiders.  As I thought about all of these things, I realized that for as much as we complain about these small annoyances in the moment, they are what we remember in the future, and look back on with fondness.  It's not the perfect, well kept chapel that makes a unified ward and creates great memories.  It's not the smooth running, sleek car that gives a family stories to tell.  But it's those moments when we don't have the 'perfect'  or 'ideal' situation that we end up learning and laughing the most.

Beans and Blessings!

Even after 14 months of being in Brazil, I find it incredible that I still have adventures with the food.  After we had taught a lesson, the aunt of our investigator gave us some soup that was made from beans and rice.  We took the soup home, stuck it in our fridge, and forgot about it until the end of the week when all of our food was gone except for this soup.  None of the other Sisters in our apartment would touch the soup, but I don't like to see food wasted (even if it has a high probability to cause something terrible to happen to my insides).  Not only did I eat the soup, but I made the mistake to eat the soup for a night time snack and then for breakfast in the morning.  By lunch time, I was suffering.  My stomach and intestines were so full of gasses, it looked like an inflated balloon!  I haven't felt this terrible since the time I went on a 'homemade refried bean' kick in college and ate burritos for about every meal for a week! hahaha 

Last Sunday, I received a call from our Ward Mission Leader, "Sister, the cousin of Vitoria wants to be baptized.  Can you and your companion teach her this week?"  It didn't take me any time at all to answer that question!  We went to the home of Vitoria Sunday night, talked with her cousin, the sweetest 11-year old girl, (Alice) and marked her baptism for the up coming Saturday!  Alice had been coming to church with Vitoria every Sunday, and out of the blue today, asked what she needed to do to be baptized!  During this week, as I thought about the role of the members in missionary work, I couldn't help but think about how successful missionary work would be and the retention rate, if every member truly did their part to invite their friends and family to visit with the missionaries.  I love how in this past Conference, the suggestion was made that when our friends start to ask questions about the Church, we shouldn't just answer all of their questions by ourselves, but we should say, "Let's ask the missionaries, and if you want, I will be by your side the whole time!"  As missionaries, not only will we be able to respond their questions, but we will be able to invite them to come unto Christ and know for themselves that this Gospel is true!!  For all you faithful members out there...I have an invitation for you!  This week, whether it be in person or facebook, or cell phone, invite someone to visit with the missionaries  (that doesn't mean that they have to accept, but you at least have to invite!!) I promise that if you invite someone to visit with the missionaries this week, you will be filled with more vigor and excitement to take part in the Lord's great work!!

Côcegas e Oraçoes

My companion has discovered that I am very ticklish on the stomach, but I explained to her that we will be spending every minute of everyday together for 6-12 weeks, so she had better choose wisely her actions.  Consequently, she promised not to tickle me, but that didn't stop her from using other methods.  One of our investigators lives with his mother who is 89 years old.  This dear woman is the tiniest, most fragile person that I have seen in my life, but still has good health and energy.  While we were talking to her, she felt the need to hold my right hand.  My companion saw the perfect opportunity to make the comment that I liked it when people touched my stomach.  I tried to explain quickly to the woman that my companion was joking, and that it wouldn't be a good idea to touch my stomach, but the poor thing was hard of hearing and went ahead.  When a person is ticklish, they're ticklish, and there is nothing you can do about it...let's just say that when the little old woman touched my stomach it was a good thing she was holding onto my hand because my sudden reaction almost knocked her on the ground!  The old woman looked at me and in all seriousness said, "Você tem côcegas mesmo na barriga!  O que você vai fazer quando um rapaz tocar sua barriga?!"  Eu respondi, "não deixar!!"  rsrsrs!  Mas foi engraçado!  

This week, my testimony and understanding of prayer has been strengthened.  As I pondered about various prayers that I have given, and the different answers that I have received, I began to recognize that the prayers that were answered were the prayers that I truly had tried to seek the will of the Lord, and aline my desires and requests with the blessings that He was already willing to give me.  So, this week, I made a goal to stop praying for general things, and to make more specific requests that focused on seeking the Lord's will and not my own.  All this week, we have been preparing a man named Pedro to be baptized on Saturday.  From the first day that we met him to this week, it has been incredible to watch how his countenance has changed and how his excitement and desire to be baptized has grown.  The first part of the week, everything went well.  He had managed to go from smoking 40 cigaretts a day to only one, and his wife who is firm in another church was begining to open up more and seem more supportive.  Yet, Friday morning, the day of his baptismal interview, I knew from experience that our day woudn't be floating on a cloud.  As we finished our companionship study, my companion and I knelt to pray.  Instead of simply praying that everything would go smoothly for the interview and that Pedro would pass, I prayed that we would be blessed with the spirit to know what to say to Pedro or to his wife to resolve whatever possible problem that could arise to inhibit Pedro's baptism.  At 5:45, we showed up at Pedro's house to take him to the church for his interview at 6:00.  When we arrived, his daughter was playing outside with her friends.  She looked at us and said, "My father called and said that he is working right now, and that he won't get home until 9:00 pm."  My heart sunk.  Of all the possible problems that could have arroused, I hadn't imagined this one. Pedro was super excited for his baptism, and I couldn't imagine that he would let anything interfere with it.  My companion and I stood in silence looking at Pedro's daughter, neither one of us knowing what to do, and neither one of us wanting to believe that Pedro truly wasn't home at that moment to come with us to his baptismal interview.  After asking a few more questions, we simply turned around and starting walking away with that heavy dread in our hearts that we wouldn't have a baptism tomorrow.  When we had gone about 50 meters, I had the sudden thought, "Go back and talk with Pedro's wife."  I stopped in my tracks, looked at my companion and said, "Let's go back and talk to Pedro's wife, maybe she can tell us if he is truly working right now and when he'll come home."  We immediately returned to Pedro's home, and knocked on the door.  Pedro's wife let us in, and we asked her if she knew when Pedro would arrive from work.  We talked for a bit, and then all of a sudden she said, "Can I ask you two a question?"  She then expressed to us some concerns and doubts that she had, and we were able to answer her questions and put her mind at peace.  She then shared with us that ever since we had began to visit Pedro, she had seen an immense change in him.  She told us that she wanted to support his baptism because he had never had this desire to be baptized before.  When I mentioned to her that we would probably need to move the baptism to Sunday because Pedro would miss his interveiw, she replied with a lot of emotion, "No!  Pedro is excited and ready to be baptized tomorrow, and we shouldn't postpone what we can do today until tomorrow!"  My companion and I were pleasantly surprised at the support that Pedro's wife showed.  As we were finishing our conversation, miracle of miracles, Pedro walked through the door!!  After a quick shower and a fast pace walk to the Church, Pedro passed his interveiw to be baptized on Saturday!!  As my companion and I walked home Friday night, we conversed about the day's events.  If we hadn't listened to the spirit to go back and talk with Pedro's wife, we wouldn't have answered her questions and strenthened her confidence and trust in us, and most importantly, we wouldn't have been in Pedro's home when he returned home from work much earlier than we had been advised.  I know that Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers.  As I read in the Liahona this month, prayer is not a business negotio with God to try and convince Him to give us something that we believe is best for us.  Prayer is to understand our Father's will, and then to change our desires and hearts to follow His will and become more like Him.

Soccer in Brazil

Yesterday, was the final soccer game after a series of games with various soccer teams from around the world.  In the two teams that played, one was Brazil.  Let me tell you what, Brazilians love their soccer, and they love it when their country is playing!  At 7:00 pm, the game started, and our work moved from contacts to member visits!  Even though we couldn't watch the game, it didn't matter.  We knew exactly what was going one because everytime Brazil made a goal, the entire street erupted in cheers, and the city shot of a bunch of fire works.  This was us in our lesson with a member, "Let's read a scripture in Moroni 10.  As we learn" ----  Screams and fireworks ------  "Brazil made another goal" -----  and continuing ---- "we need to continue inviting others to learn more about the" ------ Screams and fireworks -----  "Brazil is 'show de bola'! another goal!!"  hahaha :)  I like to see team spirit that Brazil has when it comes to soccer.

After the missionary fireside, two Sundays ago, I spoke with our Bishop and asked him how he would like us to apply what the Prophet and Apostles had taught us.  He told us that he had thought of a number of families that not all the members were baptized.  He mentioned on family, in which only the daughter was baptized.  We had already met the mother and other siblings because we had eaten lunch with them, but we had never met the father.  Our Bishop told us that the father was a great man, who could do a lot for the Church.  In our interaction with the daughter that is already a member, we had the knowledge that her family had an apartment where they lived, and that they also had a home where her father spent most of his time painting because he is a famous painter in Joao Pessoa.  However, we did not know the address of this home or any reference point.  In the evening of the same day that my companion and I had spoken to our Bishop of the father of this member, we were returning home at night, walking in a street that we had never walked down before.  As we were walking, we passed a home with some interesting, ceramic paintings on the outer wall.  I paused and examined the paintings more closely.  They were the exact type of paintings that I had scene in the apartment of this family.  I looked at my companion and said, "This is not a coincidence, let's knock here and see if the father is home!"  We clapped our hands at the gate, and the father answered!  It provided a perfect opportunity to get to know him better and have him get to know us.  Just like we were taught by the 'parable of the father' in the missionary fireside, this work doesn't have a step by step guide book.  We have to move forward with faith and confide in the spirit to guide us as we strive to help others come unto Christ!  I LOVE missionary work!  It doesn't matter who we are, what stage of life we are in, or what calling we hold in the Church, ALL of us have been called to work in the vineyard!  Certainly, this work is the greatest and the most marvelous work that we can be a part of!!  

O Sisteres de Israel

Transfers always bring a bit of excitement into our daily routine of activities, and this transfer just happened to be a little bit more exciting than normal because not only did we receive 13 new Sisters, but it was the transfer that decided which mission we would stay in; João Pessoa or Natal.  Normally, if you will be training in the upcoming transfer, you receive a phone call on Monday because the new missionaries arrive on Tuesday.  So, when I didn't receive a phone call on Monday, I figured that I was off the hook.  However, I didn't know that there had been some complications in the flight plans of the new missionaries, and 9 of the 12 new Sisters wouldn't arrive until Wednesday morning, bem cedo.  Tuesday, I was going about the normal daily activities when my cell phone rang.  I answered it, and my zone leader said, "Parabens Sister Fernelius, você vai trainar!"  Eu respondi, "como assim Elder?!"  He just laughed and repeated, "você vai trainar, chegue na capela de Manaíra 7h30 amanha!"  Pois é, and so I will be training for the third time on my mission without a break in between any of my 'daughters'!  This is what happens when the Prophet lowers the age for young women to serve missions; they come in waves!!  

Tuesday night, we had a slumber party in our apartment with Sister Johnson and Sister Alves, who are also training.  As it happened, we had two appointments at the same time, so I went to one with Sister Johnson, and Sister Alves went to the other with Sister De Paula.  Our appointment, was a referrel from a member.  The referrel was a friend of his that had recently lost her father due to an automobile accident.  We thought about teaching the Plan of Salvation, but prompting to teach the first lesson was much stronger.  When we got to the part when Joseph Smith went to pray in the woods and saw God the Father and Jesus Christ, the woman become very atentive.  As we finished reciting Joseph's experience, the woman told us that as we were telling the story and when she saw the picture of first vision, she immediately thought of her sister, who had shared with her an interesting experience.  She then described to us how after her father's death, her sister had a vision where she saw her father with two people at his side.  She said that the light that surrounded the three of them was like no other light that she had ever seen.  When she asked her father to give her a hug, he only extended his hand, making the gesture that he could not give her a hug, and then the vision ended.  The spirit was so strong, it was almost tangible.  When we invited the woman to baptized, she accepted without hesitation!  It was an incredible lesson!  I know that the spirit is real, and that He is the true teacher.  Without the spirit, our work is absolutely inútil, yet if we seek the power of the spirit in all that we do, we will become powerful instruments in the Lord's hands! 

Man Eating Turtles and Umbrellas

Usually, the animals of concern here in Brazil are the million dogs in the street, your occassional vicious cat, or perhaps a stray cow or goat.  Never on my mission (or my life for that matter), have I been literally scared about what a turtle could do to me!  My companion and I had returned to teach an investigator.  While we were standing in front of his house, a large tortuse came out from the shaded corner, and approached us cautiously.  All of a sudden, he picked up the speed, and charged for my companion's foot!  I know that 'speed' is not a common word to use when talking about a tortuse, but this tortuse could scurry!  If we took our eyes off of him for 30 seconds, he would go in for the kill, and next thing you know he's at our feet with his mouth open ready to chomp!  Well, we entered the house and began to teach our lesson.  The mother of our investigator arrived a little bit after, and stopped outside the door to listen.  Out of no where, she let out this deafening scream.  We all jumped and looked at her.  The tortuse had come up behind her and bitten her foot!  What the crazy tortuse!! 

Just about everyday this week, we have had torrential, downpouring rain.  When we showed up at another investigator's house, his mother took one look at my umbrella and said, "This is an umbrella for a baby!  No wonder why you are completely soaked!"  Saturday night, after all of our appointments fell through, Sister De Paula and I were soaked, cold, and hungry.  We did some quick thinking and came up with a member that we could visit that we had heard always gives the missionaries food.  As we were walking to her home, we passed by the home of a less active that we had always heard about, but had never visited.  As we walked by her street, I had the thought that we should visit her instead of going to the member's home.  Visiting this less active, we ran the risk of not getting any food, but I figured it was better to follow the prompting and worry about the food later.  So, my companion and I headed down the street.  As we began to talk to this dear sister, she shared with us some of the difficulties she was going through and how much she needed someone to talk to that night.  After we conversered, she looked at us and said, "I made some soup and was hoping that someone would stop by to try it.  Are you guys hungry?!"  Wow!!!  Heavenly truly knows each of His children and their needs.  Because we listened to the prompting, we were able to answer the prayer of this sister who was needing someone to listen to her and strengthen her, and coincidently, she was able to answer our prayer and satisfy our hunger!  I couldn't believe how perfectly the Lord had answered our prayers!  It was incredible to see how He is aware of the tiniest aspects of our lives.  I know that Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers.  We just need to be willing to act on the answer that He gives us, even if it isn't the answer we were expecting.