Count Your Blessings on a Mission

Hey everybody! It was SOOOOO good to talk to everyone yesterday! It made me feel more excited about my mission and the experiences that I´ve been having.

Something that I´m learning here is to appreciate the things that I have. I have been blessed with so many good things in my life. I have been blessed with a good physical body, a good mind, a good family. And I have the gospel in my life!!!!! I have so many blessings in my life. One of the greatest blessings that each of us have is the Holy Ghost. When we listen to his voice we are always led to make the right choice which will lead to eternal life. When we stop to really count our blessings is when we see how much heavenly father has truly blessed us with and how much he truly loves us. Then we want to share these things with other people, not just with the people we know and like but with everyone!!!!!!  I have been blessed with a mission here in Brazil to share the gospel with a lot of people who have never even heard of the church. People who stop to talk to me and try to understand what I´m saying. Sometimes people don´t always accept to act on what we teach and when this happens it´s always sad to see because we know how much joy and blessings the gospel bring. But I know that Heavenly Father loves them and that he will give them many chances to accept the gospel. 

I love you all and I´m glad for everything that you teach me and show me through your examples. Don´t let little things get you down. Keep going strong in what you know is right. Walk by faith!!!!!!! 

Tomorrow are transfers and I´ll let everyone know what happens!!!!!!!!

Love,

Desi

Challenges of Missionary Work

A lot of really good things happened, and a lot of really sad things happened this week. All of which have really helped me realize the love that Heavenly Father has for all of us!!!! I don´t like to dwell on the bad, so I´ll tell you the good. 

1. After waiting for almost 3 months for the divorce papers of our investigators Donizete and Adriana to come through, so they can mark their marriage to one another to be baptized, they finally came through and should be married and baptized by NEXT MONTH :) 

2. We started teaching a really awesome 15 - year old girl, named Sabrina, who really has a desire to be baptized and to follow the example of Jesus Christ. 

3. We´ve been visiting a man who left the church about 8 years ago when he and his wife divorced, and sunday he and his new woman we´re at church.  

4. Me and Sister Teixeira have finally came to an understanding, and our relationship is growing. It can only get better from here. She helped me a lot this week. 

5. We get to go to the TEMPLE next week. I`M SOOOO EXCITED :) :) :) 

I´m glad to see that everyone is doing good, hope you all have a good week!!!!

Desi

Facing Trials

This week was hard, but I´m grateful for my trials. It means Heavenly Father is testing me. I know that I´m strong and that he wouldn´t give me a trial bigger than I could handle. Good news is that the divorce papers of my investigators Adriana and Donizete are finally moving. They should be divorced, married and baptized by next month. It´s been really strengthening to see the patience and faith that Adriana has, and the desire that she has to truly follow Jesus Christ and be baptized. I know that if we seek out the good we definitely see the blessings that the savior has given us. I´m grateful for all of you guys and the example that you´ve always been for me.

Love,

Desi 

Conference Inspires Missionary

Yesterday I watched conference in Portuguese. I was a little bit nervous because I was scared it would be hard to understand the translation into Portuguese and that I wouldn't get very much out of it, but I had been praying for a whole week to be able to prepare to understand and get something out of conference. Before hand I prayed that Heavenly Father would help me understand and that all my questions would be answered and it was amazing. I understood almost every word, and I felt like the talks where directly spoken to me (excluding the talk about marriage haha) I loved Elder Holland's talk on faith, he is always phenomenal and to hear President Monson talk is always so uplifting. Heavenly Father truly does answer prayers. Tomorrow is transfers and I´m dying to know if I´ll stay or if I´ll go. I´ve been here in Morumbi for almost 4 months, so we´ll see what happens. Hope everyone is good and that they enjoyed conference as much as I did!!!

Desi

Doubling Teaching Pool

Last week of the Transfer. This week was good. Yesterday Denise, our recent convert, told us she wants to serve a mission and that she already told her family, that she´s been praying about it, and that she wants to start saving money!!!!!! And Bruna, our other recent convert, gave a talk on standards!!!! I´m so proud of them and the changes they´ve made in their lives and their willingness to serve the Lord. It´s so awesome to see. HAPPY EASTER to everyone. Here in Brazil it isn't the biggest deal ever. They have these big chocolate eggs and they give their kids chocolate eggs and that's all, buttttttt Bishop Nilson is awesome and he bought me and my companion one and surprised us at church. He is seriously one of the best bishops in the world!!!! I´m grateful for the savior and his sacrifice and his Resurrection. One day all of us are going to be resurrected as well!!!! We  saw many little miracles happen this week and we doubled our teaching pool, I´m excited to work hard to show my gratitude to the savior!!!!!! I´m also REALLY excited for general conference this week. I´m hoping to really use it as a tool to help people know that we really have a PROPHET today that communicates with Heavenly Father to lead and guide us!!!!! One week till transfers. I don´t know if I´ll stay or if I´ll go.... I´m hoping to stay because I´m finally loving the ward and I´m finally getting a hang of everything, but then again I don´t want to get my hopes up because everytime this happens I end up leaving...... ANyways I love you all!!!! Hows it coming with sharing the gospel?!??!!?!?!?!
Sister Bruno

Elder Cruz Motivates the Missionaries

This week we had mission conference!!!! Elder Cruz from the seventy came and gave a talk. It was really awesome! It gave me such encouragement to go out and find the people that are ready to accept the gospel. It gave me more will power to do the things that I need to, but most importantly it increased my testimony in the Savior. Something that I learned is that salvation isn't easy and it wasn't meant to be. But what we suffer here is just a fraction of what the Savior suffered for each one of us and that when we trust in him and keep his commandments he promises to help us overcome whatever were suffering. This Sunday the bishopric didn't know who was talking in church, so I volunteered to speak. I was so nervous because I didn't have anything prepared, but luckily for me I remembered Franny´s talk which she sent me last week and used the same scripture in Mark and spoke with the spirit. It ended up being really good for me. It boosted my confidence in my ability to speak Portuguese and it reminded me that Heavenly Father is helping me with whatever thing that I need and ask for in Faith. I Can´t believe that Franny is going into the MTC tomorrow. I know that she´s going to be an awesome missionary. I hope that everyone is good. Hows sharing the gospel with your friends coming????

Desi 

Joy in Bringing in New Member

Yesterday was the baptism of Denise!!! It was amazing!!!!!! I´m so lucky to be serving here in the Morumbi Ward because the members here are phenomenal. I´ve never in my whole entire life seen a ward so active and involved in EVERYTHING. We had a great turnout the relief society room was packed, there weren't even enough seats for everyone and Denise was just SOOO happy, I´ve never seen anyone as happy as she was yesterday. Feeling the spirit I felt yesterday makes all the days walking in the hot sun, all the days walking in the pouring rain, all the não entende´s (I don´t understand´s) I have to say, all the não obrigado´s (no thank you´s) I hear ,more than worth it. I´m so happy for my recent converts, because I know and I feel that they already have REALLY strong testimonies and I´m not scared to leave them because I know that the ward will take good care of them. On Sunday Bruna, who got baptized last month, got up and bore her testimony about how she knew that the church was true and how happy she was that the missionaries found her. I felt the spirit so STRONGLY I couldnt help but of course CRY. haha.  I know that the Lord still has a lot of work for me to do here  in São Paulo and even though sometimes its hard I know that what I´m doing is right. Sometimes I feel completely and utterly lost, but I know without doubt that Heavenly Father has put a lot of trust in me and I don´t want to let him down. I want to continue working hard until not only the end of my mission, but the end of my life!!!! I invite all of you to try and fazer um contato, try to make a contact??? Not sure how to say it in English but when you meet someone and give them a pamphlet or say something about the gospel to them and invite them to church or invite them to know more about the gospel. Everyone try and let me know how it goes next week. TA BOM???? Love you all!!!!!!

Sister Bruno

Teaching with Power

Querida FAMILIA!!!!!

First week with a Brazilian companion.... Sister Teixeira. She is AWESOME!!!!! She teaches with such power and authority!!!!!! I know I´m going to learn A LOT from her!!!!! This week was really really good. Weird, but good. I wanted to be sad because I had to say bye to my trainer, but I wanted to be happy because my new companion is really cool!!! On Sunday is going to be the baptism of Denise, a 19 year old girl. Awesome how we found her. Her mom is a long time friend of the brother of the teacher of the gospel principles in the ward. She added irma Beatriz on Facebook because she was friends with her brother in high school. Irma Beatriz posts a lot of church related things on Facebook and Val (Denises mom) was really curious what all of it meant so she started chatting with her on Facebook. Irma Beatriz asked her if she could send some friends to visit her and explain more about the church. One week later Sister Waite and I showed up at their house, but no one was home except for Denise. She said that usually she doesn't let strangers in the house when shes home a lone but she felt prompted that she should let us in. And we´ve been teaching her and She´s been reading the Book of Mormon and she went to church yesterday and ate lunch with us in the house of a member and she loves the church and she felt the spirit really strongly one night when she was trying to sleep but she kept thinking about all the things that we talked about and she prayed to know the truth and she felt like it was true and after she slept like a baby. And Sunday she´s going to get baptized!!! She is incredible, she´s already talking about maybe serving a mission!!!!! I´m so happy for her. I know that Heavenly Father really prepared her for the gospel. We´re teaching her mom right now too. It´s been a little slower with her because it´s hard for her to grasp the concept that we have a prophet TODAY, but I know she can´t stop thinking about it. I know through the example of Denise she´ll see that this really is the Church of Jesus Christ!!!!! 

Don´t have a lot of time, but I love you all!!!!! ps franny and annika who is tiffany engaged to???? Travis or someone else????????? 

Love, 

Desi