Be The Change You Want To See In The world

This week a lot happened.... 

First and worst off.. Italo decided he didn´t want to get baptized anymore. He went out of town for a few days and came back with his heart as cold as ice. He went out of town for a couple of days and made some bad decisions. And now he says that a religious life isn´t for him. He says he believes in the book of mormon, the church, the prophet, the importance of baptism everything, but that he just doesn´t want to give up his old life and his old self. And nothing we said or did made the slightest difference. It was maybe the most depressing moment that I have seen in my life. To think that someone is willingfully denying all of the blessings that Heavenly Father has for them. 

Then right after we heard this bad news we went to visit Sandra and Alexandro. Sandra was super depressed and so we decided to help her clean her house. While cleaning Alexandro came out of the bedroom completely drugged up, crying. He started begging us to help him. Begging us to get him out of the situation he was in. He collapsed on the floor and started pleading for us to get him out of his house. Get him away from his wife. I had no clue what to do!!!! We thought maybe this is a chance to get him help. We tried calling the bishop but no response... We sat down and talked to him about how it was the drugs that were making him crazy, but he just said he didn´t want to give them up over and over and over again. Unfortunately neither he or sandra are willing to do what it takes to progress and recieve the blessings of the gospel. Its just a sad situation because they both want so bad to get out of the situation they are in and Heavenly Father sent us to show them how to and they aren´t willing to do what it takes...

Drugs are annoying. Jorge continues to go to church everyweek reads in the book of mormon almost everyday, but can not stop using cocaine. 

In Better News

Paloma is AWESOME!!!! She just is soooo elect. She understands things and she has a deep desire to really be good and do good. She loved going to church because she says that ``mormons are happy`` and that they stress families. And that one day she wants a family that she sees at church. Happy, with strong relationships. Hopefully if all works out accordingly to plan I will still be here to see her get baptized!!!!! I´m soooo excited. 

Pietra who is the child of an inactive that is going back to church is also going to get baptized on the 12th... She is sooooo happy. And it was such a tender moment when we taught her and her mom this week. Her mom was explaining the importance of baptism and shared pretty much her testimony with her. It was the cutest most tender thing ever!!!! 

I know that the gospel is TRUE!!!!! 2 WEEKS!!!!!! 

I Guess I Have More Time Than I Thought

Well this week was good because we had a lot of really good lessons with our investigators. 

Italo still doesn´t have a desire to get baptized!!! He believes in EVERYTHING, but he says that he just doesn´t want to get baptized.... We taught him almost everyday this week and he just keeps becoming more and more converted.... 

We are helping a few less active families come back and it´s great to see when they too progress, but sometimes it seems harder than even teaching investigators.

Friday was the leadership meeting. It was a greet meeting. I felt the spirit SOOO strong and it made me want to be BETTER than I have ever been. I also got to bear my farewell testimony and of course I cried!!!!! It made me think back about all the experiences that I have had on my mission and think how grateful I am for each person I have met here!!! All of my investigators, recent converts, companions, members!!! EVERYONE!!!! 

Saturday was an emotional day.. First an investigator, who we have been trying to decide whether or not to cut, CUT US!!!! It was weird. He called at 7 am and told me that it was better for him to stay far away from us because he said he was starting to ``like`` me and he knew that it was not allowed. UGHHHHHH it made me sad because I never did anything to make him like me.. I think its just because he is so lonely and we actually cared about him and he felt the spirit and confused the feelings. I don´t know..... I just hope that Heavenly Father gives him humbling experiences that will help him accept the gospel ASAP!!!! 

Then at night we had an open house at our chapel. It was good because 2 friends of a member came and they really liked learning about the church, but me and my companion tried really hard to get people from the street to come and see what it was like, and NO ONE would... :( But one girl that we talked to came to church the next day so that was AWESOME and we´re going to start teaching her on tuesday!!! Woohoo. 

These Last 4 weeks I just want to TRY my hardest and see MIRACLES!!!!!!

Desi 

Road Rage Kindness

THIS WEEK WAS GREAT!!!!!

On thursday we had mission conference with Elder Costa from the quorum of the seventies!!!!! He is sooooo awesome..... He shared so many awesome stories. My favorite one goes like this. He had just moved back to Brazil from são paulo when he got called to be the presiding seventy of brazil and his wife asked him.... you´re going to have to learn how to have patience in the traffic of São Paulo... andddd he said his first day driving to church office building he entered a lane in front of a little red fiat and the little red fiat gotttt SUPERRR mad and started honking and following close behind him. When he came to a red light she pulled over next to him motioned for him to roll down his window and started cussing him out.... He remember what his wife said about patience... Nodded his head and said have a good day... god bless.... and went his way. He said the very next day the very same thing happened with the exact same lady. and he gave the same response. Then a few days later they just happened to be in the same spot again.... And a few days later again.... And before he knew it she was smiling and waving back at him... The next week he decided he was going to give her an invitation to stake conference and a book of mormon. And that sunday she went to stake conference and then was eventually baptized.... Hahah it was great to hear all of his little stories.. It made me realize that heavenly father really puts us in the right places at the right times. And we have to take the opportunities that he gives us!!!!!!!

On Saturday We taught an awesome lesson to our investigator Italo who has been saying that he knows the book of mormon is true and that joseph smith is a prophet, but doesn´t feel ``vontade`` Wich is like will or desire to be baptized. We taught him the plan of salvation again and taught him about the importance of faith and repentance.... He was super interested in the repentance part and  he committed to repent and be baptized on saturday.... but then he didn´t go to church on sunday so we have to move it to after he goes to church one more time, so maybe sunday.

We also taught 6 new investigators this week, and 2 of them went to church. We were super happy about it!! ANDDDDD big surprise they also have word of wisdom problems: cocaine... dang it. But one of them is SUPER smart. He read almost 40 pages in the book of mormon after we left it with him. And he remembers like almost every detail. 

Alexandro and Sandra are doing A LOT better. This week we went to the place to mark their wedding, but unfortunately their birth certificates were too torn apart... So we have to order new birth certificates and go back this week. BUT they will get married, and I hope I´m here to see it :)

Hope everyone has a great week!!!!

Sister Bruno

Persistence in the pursuit of righteous desires can help us develop talents, attain our spiritual goals, and serve others.

Tomorrow are transfers!!!! and that means.... just 6 more weeks of me... wearing this name tag.. 6 more weeks of me being this cute sister missionary. 6 more weeks to do my best and help as many people as I can!!!! This week was good. After Elder Evans visit, we worked hard and saw some great results!!!! ANdddd this week Elder Claudio R.M Costa is going to come give us another mission conference. Two members of the 70s in Two weeks... WOOHOOO :) It will probably be my last mission conference. We started teaching a few new investigators. We are helping reactivate a few less actives. The family whose dad is a drug addict didn´t use crack this week. He just used marijuana instead.... Not as bad.... andddddddddd HE WENT TO CHURCH!!!! finally :) :) It was the cutest thing ever to see their family sitting on the church bench all together. It truly was a miracle. They called sunday morning and said they weren´t going... and I kept saying yes you are. YES YOU ARE. Someone will be at your house in 15 minutes to pick you up. AND THEY WENT :) and he loved it. and their going to get married this month and it´s going to be great!!!!! Italo went to church as well, which made us really happy!!!!!!! andd the family that we are helping reactivate...which also made us super happy!!! Sunday we had a weird experience.... We were walking home to do our weekly planning and some ladies from another church stopped us and invited us to go into their church to visit and to talk to their pastors... I´m not sure why I accepted the invitation. But we went in... and just stayed for a few minutes, and prayed with their pastor. It was sad. But I shared some pass along cards with them and invited them to come to our church. Who knows? Maybe they´ll call for the free dvd :) What did I learn this week? Righteous persistence pays off. Alexandro always says that were are persistent and that's why he went to church. When I think of persistence I think of Jesus Christ. He persisted day after day to follow the will of Heavenly Father. And he inspires us to do the right thing in our own lives. To be persistent in our righteous desires and actions. Because one day we will receive a reward for it! I´m pretty sure I will stay in my area with my companion for my last transfer, but If anything happens I´ll let you know tomorrow....

"It's not enough to wish, it's not enough to dream, it's not enough to promise. We must do."

TUDO BEM??? This week was an eye-opener. We are still working with our investigators to help them obey the word of wisdom. Unfortunately we made the decision to cut a few of the investigators that we had that were not interested in changing or even wanting to know more about the gospel :( BUTTT we are going tomorrow to mark the wedding of one of the family we are currently teaching! woohoo. I´m so excited for them. Sandra is SO awesome. She has the biggest desire to change. ANDDDDD she is pregnant. So she will be married before the baby comes. Saturday I had the privilege to go to a meeting that had the zone leaders and sister leaders from the 5 missions in the huge city of São Paulo. We got to hear from Elder Evans from the seventy who works on the missionary executive council. It was an awesome experience. He talked so much about our true purpose as missionaries. A lot of the time missions focus on the one thing that is easiest for them to do. Here it is baptism. In some places is less active work. and we forget that we should be helping in all areas of the doctrine of Christ: faith, repentance, baptism, receive the gift of the holy ghost and endure to the end. Heavenly Father has great expectations for our generation. He wants us to be obedient so that he can bless us. He wants us to help him with his Purpose: to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of men. He also talked a lot about the importance of families. There is nothing more important than our families. We can only get to the celestial kingdom when we are sealed together and enduring to the end as a family. This morning he came and talked to our whole mission. It was a very humbling experience. He was very inspired and hit the key points that our mission needs to be better at. It was one of the best mission conference I have been to. He also told us that Heavenly Father gives us our desires. If we desire good things and good results he will give them to us. and how do we show our desires? By the things we do. So we have to do GOOD things. I know that this really is the work of salvation. Sister Bruno

And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones; And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures; And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint. And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen.

YUP you guessed it : WORD OF WISDOM!!!!!! This week weirdly enough really strengthened my testimony of the word of wisdom.

It seems like ALL of our investigators have problems with the word of wisdom. Two drug addicts that are FIGHTING their addictions. One family being destroyed by the bad drug habits of the dad. One investigator who wanted to become a professional bartender. One family whose parents are chain smokers. I have never seen so many bad effects of breaking the word of wisdom. 

We had an awesome lesson with Italo (investigator who wanted to become a professional bartender)! We taught him about the plan of salvation and marked his baptism date for the 2nd of March. Then when we taught the word of wisdom he ACCEPTED it so well! And has now stopped drinking alcohol and coffee!!!!! 

We started teaching another drug addict who is truly sincere about changing. He has cut down so much. He went from using drugs almost every day to once a week. And he told us that when his dad told him to have a beer at the bakery (yes here the drink at bakery´s...) He ordered a COKE!!!! 

Shout out to all of you for being such great examples when it comes to the word of wisdom. I have luckily NEVER been tempted to break the word of wisdom. But up until this week I also had never realized how big of a blessing it has been in my life. I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR THE WORD OF WISDOM!!!!! It truly blesses us in all aspects of our lives. Health Wise, Knowledge Wise, Safety Wise... ALL ASPECTS even money wise if you think about....

If anyone has any good ideas on how to break an addiction let me know!!!

Desi

"Our destiny is not determined by the number of times we stumble but by the number of times we rise up, dust ourselves off, and move forward."

Dear Family,

We had a great week!!!! A LOT went on. We stayed pretty busy throughout the whole week. 

We taught a lot of Restoration lessons! It was great! We had 11 new investigators and we have started to teach 2 new families :) 

One of the familys we are teaching is really accepting! One problem. The dad of the family is addicted to CRACK. We taught the first lesson with him drugged up. It was an interesting experience because his week is SUCH A GOOD INVESTIGATOR. She had so many good questions, and she is so sincere in her desire to know. She felt the spirit so strongly. The dad wants to stop he told us that he did. He recognizes that its destroying his life... It was really sad to see what he was giving up, and to see the pain that he caused in the life of Sandra, his wife. I know it will be HARD, but I know that he will be able to!!!! 

Saturday was the baptism of Megara!!!! It was SO SWEET. I am so happy for her. She had been waiting for this day for so long, and her mom who isn´t a member went and really liked it as well. She may still be saying that she is not interested, but I KNOW that Meggy is going to help her whole family through her example. 

We taught Italo again this week and he accepted the invitation to be baptized :) He is SOOOOOOOO AWESOME. He works so hard in life, and he really just wants to know peace and wants to know how he can get rid of the guilt that he feels. He read the chapter we left him in the book of mormon 2 times, and he said that he felt good when he prayed!!!! 

Happy Valentine´s day this week to everyone!!! LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Desi

Do You Think God Puts Good Things in Our Path! I Do

Dear Family this week was a HOTTT one. We were told that this summer has been the hottest ever recorded here in São Paulo.

This week we WORKED hard. A lot of walking in the hot sun, but it wasn´t all in vain. We did a lot of contacts, and now have a lot of not only new but also potential investigators. 

Next Saturday is the baptism of Mégara. She is so awesome, and excited for her baptism. I made her little invitations. She has been waiting for soo long for this. It´s going to be a really special day for her.  I picked a sheep on her invite because she is entering into the flock of Jesus Christ :) 

This week we also had interviews with President Ferrin. It was a GREAT interview. He showed us two pennies a bronze penny and a steel penny, and asked us which coin we would want to be. I of course picked the steel penny because I had never seen a steel penny before and I thought I would want to be the different one. But then he told us that steel rusts a lot faster and other facts about steel that made me want to change my answer. Afterwards he showed us a silver coin and then a gold coin... A pure gold coin... It was SOOO pretty. By this point I definitely had changed my mind. He told us that the truth is that there is very little pure gold in the world. And that we are like the gold coins. There may not be a very high percentage of members in the world and an even smaller percentage of missionaries, but we are UNIQUE and of GREAT WORTH. We need to show the world that our message is worth more than gold :) I have learned so much from President Ferrin, I hope that I can be a light in this world and help many people enjoy the gold that I have (THE GOSPEL :) )

Sunday we had a VERY interesting experience.  We were walking to church and this random guy came up to us and asked if he could ask a question. I of course answered Sure... He proceeded to ask ``Do you think God puts good things in our Path?`` I answered yes.... He then started talking anddddd it didn´t take long to realize that he was a little drunk. He told us that a girl that he had met the night before sent him a message saying that he needed to let Jesus enter into his heart. So what did he do? He walked into the nearest church... A Igreja Universal... The Universal Church... He stayed there for about 5 minutes got uncomfortable and left. That's when he saw us. We invited him to go to church and he did. And he stayed all 3 hours and LOVED it... and I think the alcohol had even worn off by the end... I´m hoping we can help change his life and his families life!!!!! I know that Heavenly Father loves him regardless of his poor choices. I hope that he is willing to give up worldly things and search for the kingdom of God. 

We also found 2 new investigators. Rosangela and Italo. Mother and Son. They are just two really nice people. And Italo had a lot of great questions. After we taught the Restoration he asked us how he could know if Joseph Smith was a real prophet or a False prophet and we explained that he could read the book of Mormon and pray!!!! And he told us that he is looking for PEACE in his life. We promised him that he would find peace through the BOOK OF MORMON and the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know the book of Mormon is true and if Italo really reads it he will know for himself as well!!!!!!!! 

I know that God puts good things in our Path!!!!!! He did after all put all of you in my path :) We just need to look for the good things and make sure to share them!!!!!!!

Mission: Resgatar

Me and my companion have been working a lot with the ward list. Visiting every single person that we don´t know. Sometimes the address doesn´t exist or the person moved more than 10 years ago, but this week we saw some awesome results because of it. First we visited a family and got them to go to church two weeks in a row. Come to find out the youngest never got confirmed, so she has to be baptized again. So now we are teaching her the missionary lessons and helping her prepare for baptism.

We also found a family that has been half inactive half active for about 2 years. They got offended and started going to their moms ward, and slowly became inactive. Us visiting Tatiana, the wife, got her super excited to try out the ward again. She misses going to the TEMPLE, so she is going to go to the ward on Sunday!!!!!

I call it Mission:Resgatar. Resgatar means to Rescue :)

We also found an ELECT this week. We were walking down the road and a lady called out SISTER and we went back and talked to her. She told her that her daughter had recently moved to the area and is ``from our church`` She told us that she however had her own beliefs and that did not want to visit our church. We wrote down the address to visit her daughter and let her know how to get to the chapel. When we got there we sat down and talked to her for a bit, and come to find out she was NEVER baptized. She lived with her Dad for most of her life in a place called Juquitiba and was introduced to the church by her aunt. Her dad, however never let her get baptized. BUT now shes living with her mom and her mom told her that its her choice. SHE is awesome. She has been going to church for 10 months now and she pretty much taught US the first lesson. When we asked her if she knew what the priesthood was she asked if we wanted to know about the aaronic or melquesidique... :) We will see how long her mom will stay with her ``own beliefs`` 

Tomorrow we have transfers!!!!! I am going to stay in my area and TRAIN. I will probably finish out my mission here in Vila Esperança. My last 12 weeks will be my companions first 12 weeks. I´m super excited to be able to help my new companion learn how to be a missionary. I hope I can teach her how to be a GREAT missionary.

Well thats about all that is happening here in my new area!!! I hope all of you have a great week and write me!!!! Depending if I have time after I get my greenie from the mission office I might get on again tomorrow for the rest of my time, so WRITE ME!!!!!!!! and I agree with franny: EVERYONE SHOULD READ MY EMAIL :)

Love you all!!!!!!

Sister Bruno

La Cucharacha

Summer is in full bloom here in São Paulo...

This week was CRAZY!!!!! 

I think I got a sunburn 6 of the 7 days this week...

On New Year´s there were SOOOO many fireworks right outside of or window... and while trying to sleep a firework landed on our house... It was pretty intense.. I thought that I was in a war zone. I think Brazil should think about revising their laws about firework use. 

Cockroaches are just having the time of their life... Funny story. We were teaching José this week and he had bug bombed his work office about 2 hours before we got there and there were COCKROACHES EVERYWHERE... I would say I saw at least 100. My companion killed about 20 while we were teaching... Let´s just say it was a hard lesson to get through... and that I may or may not have screamed during the first vision because of a cockroach on my foot.... José is the cutest old man I have ever met in my life.. He just kept laughing and killing them before they got to me.. 

Me and Sister Peart worked HARD this week and though we may have not seen immediate success we are starting to up our pool of investigators :) 

Tomorrow we are going to the Temple as a mission and I am SUPER excited. Me and Sister Peart read a talk by Elder Holland about missionaries and covenants and I loved this quote maybe it will help you Franny and Michael.

It is when an entire mission is united by the strength of every missionary’s integrity, every 
 missionary’s personal covenant keeping,that we move mountains. When there is such unity  
and power, an endowment from heaven, coming to every individual in the mission, nothing can
 “stop the work from progressing.” It is in this way that the“truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, 
 and independent.”

Congratulations Annika and Keith.. I would love to see some pictures ASAP!!!!! Now that Keith is a part of the family someone should tell me his email so I can add him to the list... 

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Touched by the Spirit

This week I feel like I have learned a little bit about what it truly means to bear one another's burdens. This week we started teaching a woman named Fernanda. She is passing through a really hard time because she is currently living with the father of her two sons. Who is unfortunately an alcoholic. He can´t even work because he is so addicted to drinking. He is literally drinking his life away. As we have gotten to know her and have talked to her, I can honestly say that we have been bearing her burdens. I feel SO MUCH sadness for her, but I also feel so much HOPE for her. Unfortunately she can not work because she has a little baby of 1 month old and has to wait until he is 4 months old to stop breast feeding him. But she said that every time she prays and thinks about the new years something fills her with happiness and hope. I don´t know exactly how to help her overcome these problems, but I am confident that Heavenly Father does and I hope to be able to continue to bear her burdens and help make them lighter. 

We also taught Josè and he is SOOOO ELECT!!!!! We taught him the restoration and he got really emotional and cried. It was the most tender moment I think I have ever had in my life. This cute little old man so willing to accept the teachings of Christ in his life. I thought about how much Heavenly Father must truly love him. We marked his baptism for the 12th of January. 

I´m so excited for this new year. It is going to be SOOOO Great. I know it. I am a firm believer of New Year´s Goals, so I hope that everyone writes out 14 goals for the year of 2014 and puts them in a visible place so that everyday you can remember and try your hardest to reach them.  

LOVE YOU ALL!!! HAPPY NEW YEARS!!! THANKS FOR ALL OF THE SUPPORT AND LOVE :) 

Desi 

Christmas Week

A lot happened this week!!!!

Tuesday we had our mission Christmas conference. It was great to see all of my missionary friends that I have made over this last year. It also made me really reflect on my own testimony of Jesus Christ. I KNOW that he was born to save US!!!!

We worked well the rest of the week. 

We had a REALLY AWESOME experience this week!!! We were headed to an appointment at an investigators house that we had never been to before. I looked on the map and memorized the route, but as we were heading there I decided to turn on a street that wasn´t on the route. I didn´t know know what the street was but I was just like let´s turn here. As we were walking down the street we saw two men standing outside of a house. Two men that we had Never seen before in our lives. When of them shouted ``OI SISTERES`` We were like ummmm hiiii???? And he started going off about how we were sent from God.... We were like are you a member? And he just kept going off about miracles.... Turns out that he is a member that lives in a different city that was just visiting his friend for the day. A friend who isn't a member. His friend is going through a rough time and earlier in the day he told him that he should let the missionaries come by and talk to And we just happened to show up when the member was leaving. We really were sent by GOD!!!!! I´m super stoked to start teaching José.. .He seems really sincere and actually interested. Thanks to the awesome missionary work that his friend did. I know that when we are worthy we will be led by the promptings of the Holy Ghost!!!!!! 

This week we PRAYED so much to be able to find new investigators, and we actually found a lot of new people to teach. Most of which are not married, but living together. Hoping that the New Year brings a lot of weddings and happy newlyweds... Maybe Annika's wedding will start the trend :) 

Excited to talk to everyone on Christmas... We get an hour and a half to talk... What time should I get on?!?!?!?!?! 

LOVE YOU ALL 

Desi

Doubt Your Doubts Before You Doubt Your Testimony

This week was an INTERESTING week.

We met some interesting people with a lot of interesting stories. 

Yesterday we had an interesting experience. We had the baptism of Sol. Weirdest baptism I have ever seen in my life. Sol is 29 years old. She is a friend of a recent convert Raquel. She lives with Raquel and her family. We have been working with her on and off for about 10 weeks, and she finally made the decision to be baptized. We were SOO happy for her, and knew how happy Heavenly Father was for this decision too. So the baptism was going perfectly... Opening Song, Prayer, Talk on Baptism... The hour of the ordinance came, and she was officially baptized after the first time. And then.... the minute she came out of the water clean from all sins... what happened?!?!? SHE HAD AN ASTHMA ATTACK!!!! Before she even had time to get out of the baptismal font she passed out, and 2 priesthood holders had to jump into the font and help get her out. I literally thought she was going to Die. Luckily the Relief Society President is a nurse and helped get her awake again. We found out that she also has some kind of cancer, that makes her muscles unable to react. So after she passed out she couldn´t even move for about 30 minutes. And even afterwards they had to carry her to a chair in the bathroom. And we helped dress her. The priesthood leaders gave her a blessing and we finished the baptismal service and brought her home to rest because she really really did not want to go to the hospital. As of last night she still hadn´t regained full control of her legs.

TALK ABOUT TRIAL OF FAITH!!!!

I almost wanted to doubt!!! ``Why is this happening right now of all moments?`` I thought to myself. I remembered all of the blessings I had promised her if she would take this BIG STEP of faith. This did not seem like a blessing... But almost immediately I thought to myself, `NO!!! This is happening for a REASON! I know it!!!!`` I have no clue what reason this might be, but I trust that Heavenly Father knows all things. I know that Sol will receive all promised blessings because of the faith that she showed to follow Jesus Christ´s example and make this essential covenant with Heavenly Father. 

I know that that everything will work out how it´s supposed to with Sol. This experience was a great testimony builder for me, the members and maybe even Sol. It was extraordinary how fast and willing the members were to help. I know that there is POWER in the priesthood. I know that Heavenly Father keeps his promises, and I know that when we serve as Jesus would we come to know great joy in our lives.

We visited her last night, and she seems pretty calm about everything. She said she feels more peace in her life. I hope that this can really help her build her testimony and not leave room for satan to work. 

I guess the point of the story is what President Uchtdorf says ``Doubt your doubts before you doubt your testimony``

I´m excited for Christmas. I feel like I´m learning so much this year of the true divinity of Jesus Christ. Tomorrow is our Mission Christmas Conference. I´m SOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!  

 

I LOVE YOU!!! THANKS FOR EVERYTHING!!!!!

We should even give thanks for our afflictions because they turn our hearts to God and give us opportunities to prepare for what God would have us become. - Dallin H. Oaks

This week was a TOUGH one!!!

Tuesday I got a knarly farmers burn. 

Wednesday I went to the doctor because I haven´t been able to sleep because I cough so much that I start to vomit at night, but then I didn´t have money to buy the prescripition so I felt like I wasted precious work time :( I´m allergic to all of the pollution that they have here in São Paulo :( And I still have random allergic reactions This week was a TOUGH one!!!

Tuesday I got a knarly farmers burn. 

Wednesday I went to the doctor because I haven´t been able to sleep because I cough so much that I start to vomit at night, but then I didn´t have money to buy the prescripition so I felt like I wasted precious work time :( I´m allergic to all of the pollution that they have here in São Paulo :( And I still have random allergic reactions 

Thursday was thanksgiving. No one here even knows what Thanksgiving is, and we didn´t have money to really celebrate. We scraped some personal money together and bought a lime pie after we worked and ate it at night. 

Friday was the day of rejection. We got rejected by every single person we talked to on the street, and to make matters worse this great family we started teaching that I had really gotten my hopes with told us not to come back. and worst was that they refused to give me a specific reason. Just that they just weren´t really interested right now. That was the worst. I tried to be brave and tell them what they were missing out, but it didn´t seem to have much effect. Afterwards, I cried so hard that I couldn´t work for like an hour!!!!

Today I got robbed... Again.... luckily they only stole the cell phone and my bus pass. 

The point of these hardships isn´t to complain... just to say that Heavenly Father gives us afflictions because he wants us to learn and improve. I think he wanted me to learn to be grateful no matter what happens!!! It made me really evaluate the things I am grateful for. I´m grateful that I have the gospel in my life, and I´m grateful for all of the people that I have had the opportunity to teach. I feel like I have LEARNED so much from each and every one of them. Today I got to spend my pday with a recent convert from Vila Prudente. At the end she started crying when I left.... and just told me Sister Bruno... Não esqueça perseverar até o fim... Sister Bruno, Don´t forget, Endure to the End... It made me happy to see that she remembered what we had taught and that she was HELPING me!!!!! 

Going to continue enduring to the end... and taking advantage for every day that I have here on the mission

Sister Bruno 

PS- Thanks for everyones help with my byu apps!!!!!! 

Thursday was thanksgiving. No one here even knows what Thanksgiving is, and we didn´t have money to really celebrate. We scraped some personal money together and bought a lime pie after we worked and ate it at night. 

Friday was the day of rejection. We got rejected by every single person we talked to on the street, and to make matters worse this great family we started teaching that I had really gotten my hopes with told us not to come back. and worst was that they refused to give me a specific reason. Just that they just weren´t really interested right now. That was the worst. I tried to be brave and tell them what they were missing out, but it didn´t seem to have much effect. Afterwards, I cried so hard that I couldn´t work for like an hour!!!!

Today I got robbed... Again.... luckily they only stole the cell phone and my bus pass. 

The point of these hardships isn´t to complain... just to say that Heavenly Father gives us afflictions because he wants us to learn and improve. I think he wanted me to learn to be grateful no matter what happens!!! It made me really evaluate the things I am grateful for. I´m grateful that I have the gospel in my life, and I´m grateful for all of the people that I have had the opportunity to teach. I feel like I have LEARNED so much from each and every one of them. Today I got to spend my pday with a recent convert from Vila Prudente. At the end she started crying when I left.... and just told me Sister Bruno... Não esqueça perseverar até o fim... Sister Bruno, Don´t forget, Endure to the End... It made me happy to see that she remembered what we had taught and that she was HELPING me!!!!! 

Going to continue enduring to the end... and taking advantage for every day that I have here on the mission

Sister Bruno 

PS- Thanks for everyones help with my byu apps!!!!!! 

"The Lord’s way is not to sit at the side of the stream and wait for the water to pass before we cross. It is to come together, roll up our sleeves, go to work, and build a bridge or a boat to cross the waters of our challenges."

I don´t have a lot of time to write this week because I have been working on my college essays, but this was a great week!!!!

On friday we had a specialized training with President Ferrin and the assistants. I really enjoyed the training and it gave me motivation to work harder than I have ever worked before!!! When we left I started talking to like EVERYONE in sight. It was a really rewarding day. 

On sunday was the baptism of Gabriel. He was so HAPPY afterwards :) It has been super awesome to see the change that he has made in his life. Next step... Endure to the End 

We are currently increasing the number of people that we teach, and had a good number of investigators at church so that was really rewarding to see. I hope that this week is a good week for all of you!!!!!!!!!!

´´Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written´´

OIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!

So.... This week was a another GREAT WEEK. It started out pretty slow and we had some major bumps in the road, but the bumps hardly matter because it ended so good. Yesterday was the baptism of Raquel. Raquel is a 15-year old young woman. Who is SO awesome. A couple of weeks ago we met her because we were looking for a different investigator who lives in the same divided house. Our other investigator wasn´t home, but Luis (Raquel Dad) opened his door and told us that she wasn´t home and asked who we were. It just happened to be really outside this day, and he invited us in and told us that his teenage daughter was home, so we took advantage of the situation and asked if we could share a message with him. He accepted even though he wasn´t very interested. As we were teaching Raquel left her homework to start listening. She told us that before we had showed up she had a feeling that she needed to find God, a path to follow, and that all that faulted was us knocking on her door :) She and her sister Rafaela and their friend Geiza went to church with us for the last two sunday´s. We always invited them for baptism, but they always felt like it was too early. This week as we taught Raquel we invited her for baptism and she told us that she knew that it would be something good, but that she was SCARED. We shared the scripture in Alma 7 that says not to fear baptism, and we felt really prompted by the spirit the whole entire lesson. She is such a good example of courage to me. I know that she was scared because her sister and her friend thought that baptism was way too early, and that she was CRAZY for wanting to be baptized. But she decided that it was necessary for her. She has a desire to follow Jesus Christ and she didn´t let fear get in the way of keeping and doing all that is written in the scriptures. She didn´t let it get in the way of following the promptings of the Holy Ghost. ANDDDD because of her example Rafaela and Geiza felt the spirit so strongly during the baptism that they want to be baptized next week!!!!!! The baptism was such a spiritual experience for me as well. I LOVE Raquel and Rafaela and Geiza so much. They are such beautiful daughters of Heavenly Father and I know how much happiness the gospel is going to bring in their lives.

Sabrina, another investigator we have been teaching for a long while now, has also decided to be baptized on the 14th!!!!! Announced yesterday during Sacrament Meeting. She is also a great example of courage to me. Her mom is dying of cancer and she feels so helpless, and yet she still has the courage to put her faith to test and follow the savior Jesus Christ. 

Courage is to not be afraid, especially of doing what is right. I know that it is necessary to live the gospel of Jesus Christ, and I know that all of us can apply this principle in our lives. As a missionary, I know that sometimes it´s hard to have the courage to go up to random strangers on the street, sometimes it´s hard to have the courage to commit investigators to baptism on the first lesson, sometimes it´s hard to have the courage to always follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost. I also know that when my heart takes courage and I keep and do all that is written, the Savior blesses me. I feel so blessed to be having such great experiences on my mission. I feel so blessed to be in such a great area with such a great companion. I feel so blessed to be seeing so much success on my mission. I know that I am helping the Lord help and touch the lives of others. 

Never Fear. Be of good courage.

Desi      

"Life by the yard is hard; by the inch it's a cinch. Each of us can be true for just one day--and then one more and then one more after that--until we've lived a lifetime guided by the Spirit, a lifetime close to the Lord, a lifetime of good deeds and righteousness."

Every day that passes I love my mission more and more. Sometimes when I look at all the things that I have to do, the people I have to talk to, the things I have to remember I get really stressed out. But as I remember the little things and try to do things slowly but surely, I feel better and I see a lot more success!!!  I´m learning how to take life one day at a time.

This week was a great week. We taught Valmir a lot, and he has decided to take a step of faith by marking his baptism for Saturday the 24th. We had marked his baptism for yesterday and we kept insisting. We know your baptism is going to be on Sunday, and we made a circle on his calender at home, but the only thing he ever answered was I want to be baptized before the end of the year. But as we taught he said look on Sunday I´m going to meet my sister (because he´s never met her before) but let´s mark it for Saturday the 24th!!!!! WOAH we are sooooooo happy for him and his FAMILY. We know that he doesn´t have 100% surety of what he is doing, but he decided to take a step of faith. We read the baptismal interview questions and he has a testimony of Joseph Smith and of the church. He wanted to feel 100% sure, but we explained that many times we aren´t going to feel 100% sure. What Heavenly Father really asks for all of us to do is to go on faith. This week I started to see this in many instances of our investigators and recent converts. Sometimes it may be about leaving something behind or about having the courage to act, or it may be about breaking barriers (Improve what we already are doing) Whatever it might be we have to do it because of the faith that we have. I know that Heavenly Father is willing to bless us and help us in every aspect of our lives when we are willing to show our faith and do the things that he asks of us. 

Whatever may be happening in your lives, GO BY FAITH!!!!!!!!

Love,

Desi

"Answers will come in the Lord’s own way and in His time."

A BIG HELLO from Sao Paulo!!!!!

This week was a good week. This week in our ward we had the opportunity to watch the baptism of a man who has been attending the church for 26 YEARS and finally decided to be baptized. His wife and kids are such a great example of faith and prayers. They have been praying for this for a really long time. It really puts into perspective the phrase: Patience is a Virtue. It made me think of some of my investigators. Some that I have been working with for a good while now who go to church every week and are reading in the Book of Mormon and still don´t want to put a date on baptism. I know that the Lord is listening to my prayers and their prayers and that he is answering them in his own way and in his time. If I have patience and trust in his timing I know I will see the blessings that he has promised. 

This baptism was a great teaching tool as well. We started teaching another man whose wife and daughter are members of the church who saw the example of Carlão and was really touched. We have been teaching him this week and he told us that his desire is to be baptized!!!!! He wants to be able to baptize his daughter who is 6 right now, and wants to take his wife and daughter to the temple!!!! We challenged him for baptism for Sunday and he´s about 50/50 right now. But with patience and faith I know that the Lord will grant this miracle to us. 

Patience is the capacity to endure delay, trouble, opposition, or suffering without becoming angry, frustrated, or anxious. It is the ability to do God’s will and accept His timing. When you are patient, you hold up under pressure and are able to face adversity calmly and hopefully. Patience is related to hope and faith—you must wait for the Lord’s promised blessings to be fulfilled.

Never lose Hope. 

Sister Bruno

``And by the Power of the Holy Ghost ye may Know the Truth of All Things``

Minha Querida Familia,

This week was the last week of my 6th transfer!!!!!!. A lot of great things happened this week. Me and Sister Amaral have been teaching some great lessons, and have seen a lot of results. This week it was evident how much the Holy Ghost helped us.

This week we had the baptisms of Rafael and Gustavo. Rafael is an investigator who we have been teaching for a couple of weeks now. We met him pretty coincidentally. We were walking in the street and out of nowhere I tripped and almost fell. Graceful... I know :) And Rafael was sitting on the other side of the street and saw and started LAUGHING. So of course I started laughing too. We approached him and started talking to him and turns out that it happened to be on his 21st birthday!!!! July 16th. We had already gave him a goal to be baptized on the 4th of August, but he just said I don´t know... Let´s see..... But this week on Wednesday we got to our teaching appointment and noticed that something was wrong. And when we were all sat down he told us that he didn´t want to be baptized. We were in SHOCK.... Wait... WHAT?!?!? So we asked him why and he started explaining that he wanted to enjoy life that he liked going to dance and what not. We explained that he could still dance, and that through the gospel he would enjoy life even more, and read a scripture

  14 Now I say unto you that ye must repent, and be born again; for the Spirit saith if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye may be washed from your sins, that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, who is mighty to save and to cleanse from all unrighteousness. 15 Yea, I say unto you come and fear not, and lay aside every sin, which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments, and witness it unto him this day by going into the waters of baptism.

After we read this scripture he said he wanted to be baptized, but that he wanted to wait more time. When he said that we didn't even know what to say, but in that exact moment we had realized that we hadn´t even prayed yet, so we said OK let´s start with a prayer, and we invited Rafael to say the prayer. And as he started to pray he thanked Heavenly Father for everything, and said Heavenly Father I decided that I want to be baptized. And after he said the word Baptized, he paused for about a minute and said `Lord, I´m going to be baptized this Sunday`!!!! When he said that I felt the spirit so STRONGLY, and when we asked him what had changed he said that the minute he said baptism he felt like something was alive inside of him a burning in his heart. He explained the feeling of the spirit perfectly!!!! 

THE HOLY GHOST IS KEY IN CONVERSION!!!!!!!!!! 

The baptism on Sunday was such a great experience. Gustavo and Rafael were both so happy. The water was freezing cold and after his baptism Gustavo tried to swim in the water. It was funny. President and Sister Ferrin attended our ward and baptism :) Rafael said that he felt like he now had complete joy in his life. THE GOSPEL IS TRUE AND CHANGES LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!! 

This week in Sunday School the teacher said that it doesn´t matter what we are in life. It matters that we are the best of what we are. I am a missionary and I want to be the best Missionary. I hope you all can adopt this into your life. BE THE BEST STUDENT, BE THE BEST MOM, BE THE BEST DIRECTOR OF LIBRARIES, BE THE BEST AT SHARING THE GOSPEL!!!!!!!!!! 

Até Mais!!!!!

Sister Bruno  

PS - This week we had a contest between the districts in our zone who could eat the most pizza and my district won!!! I ate 9 pieces of pizza :)  Sending a pic!!!!!

Our Desire to Share the Gospel Takes All of Us to our Knees, and It Should, Because We Need the Lord's Help.

Something I learned this week is that a testimony truly is powerful!!! We have been teaching a man named Jefferson from Bahia, and it´s been hard to get in contact with him because he works so much, but this week on friday he called because he needed help with his living situation because he lives in a place where people are always drinking, swearing, and doing bad things. We called the bishop to help him, and the next day when we called to see if we could meet with him he told us that we could, but he didnt feel like studying and that he just needed a friend. Hmmmm...... Ok I thought let´s go be his friend, and we listened to him talk about his life and things that we´re going on, his goals and dreams in life, and I mentioned something about my family and showed him a picture. He asked me, So if you have such a pretty family why did you leave them to come here??? When he asked me why I left my family it made me really reflect, why am I here?????? I thought for a second and what I came to the conclusion to is that I´m here because the Lord has given me everything that I have, it was the Lord who gave me such an awesome family, it was the Lord who has given me the gospel and I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. I know of the importance of the gospel in my life and in the lives of other people. I know that Baptism is not an option, its necessary. So I shared my testimony with Jefferson, he said he didn´t want to study but I shared a scripture anyways. 

1 Nephi 9: 6 `But the Lord ^aknoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all ^bpower unto the fulfilling of all his words. And thus it is. Amen.´ I felt like I was actually being prompted and inspired by the Holy Ghost, it was the best feeling I had all week. And now Jefferson wants to become a member of the church and be baptized!!!!  I was really happy to see the message that he sent us saying that he wanted to be baptized.  

I hope everyone has a good week, and don´t forget to write. It makes all the difference

Sister Bruno