Thursday, December 29, 2016

Just Like the Movies

Feliz Natal!!!!

My Christmas week was great!!! To start off, we had a fantastic Christmas Conference! Presidente and Sister Campos really outdid themselves this year! It was the whole works with a talent show, a play of the life of Christ, a musical rendition of the life of Christ, the best lunch I've had in my 8 months here, a balloon release and to top it all off Santa came and visited all the missionaries and gave everyone a new leather back triple. At the very end we went to sing Christmas carols at a bus terminal, but as we were leaving the chapel someone had the idea to sing right there in the parking lot (the chapel is surrounded by tons of highriseing apartment buildings) and as we sung the windows started opening and people started watching and filming​​ and it was just like the movies.

On Christmas Eve we went to the Ilg family's house and I learned how to make churrasco! It was fantastic. They also had a little Christmas puppy there that was soooooo cute! and liked to bite lol.



On Christmas we saw so many miracles! Our star investigator was there at Sacrament meeting which was fantastic! and we also did some tracting after lunch before we skyped and we were able to spread some Christmas cheer with a few little kids who live in pretty sad conditions. It's amazing to see how the love of Christ can permeate across all boundaries if you only let it. As we were walking to the members house to skype, we were running really really late and we ran into a recent convert who was walking alone. We were able to talk to her and she told us that she feels like God has left her and she no longer wants to go to church and that she is falling into depression and all sorts of things and there at a little bus stop me and Sister Alves got the opportunity to bear our witness of the Savior's love for her. As we finished up, she told us that maybe God hadn't abandoned her after all because she knew that she had 2 representatives of Christ in front of her. At a time when I was really really hot and running really behind and I knew that my family was waiting for me, I'm glad we took the opportunity to talk to her.

And as always, your Sister Jolley is always having a few adventures (or better yet misadventures)
Today we went to the doctor and as we were on the bus coming home, we both fell asleep and all the sudden my comp wakes me up and says Sister we missed our stop, we need to get off of the bus. So, we stop the bus, get off the bus and as I'm still waking up, I realize that we're not even in our area and that we're really far from home. We got to walk and walk and walk some more until we got home. HAHAHAHAHAHA and it was so hot outside.


Have a great week!

Love you guys
Sister Jolley

Friday, December 23, 2016

Feliz Natal!!

Alrighty everybody we had another killer hot week (literally) here in Neopolis
So this week turned out to be fantastic just like they all do!
I'll cut right to the miracle of the week okay!
So for like 2 transfers we've been praying and praying to find a really solid family to teach and yesterday at 4 o'clock we found an ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC  family to teach! They have 6 kids and wowe they're all so cute and so great and we marked baptism dates with all of them!!! CHRISTMAS MIRACLE y'all!!
Also my comp has some sort of spine problem so we travel to the center of town every P Day to visit doctors and today we got to get all dressed up in these ugly clothes for her CAT scan. HAHAHA it was great


LOST IN TRANSLATION (ha y'all thought these were over but if only)
So I translated the ward Christmas party in sign language last week and instead of telling them that we came here to make friends I told them that we came here to KISS friends. HAHAHAHAH I died laughing when I realized 3 DAYS LATER!!! 
But on the Portuguese side of things I got asked what part of Brazil I was from so that was great! 

I love being a missionary and I love the opportunity I have everyday to share the saving message of the restored gospel and testify that Jesus is the Christ! 


MERRY CHRISTMAS
SISTER JOLLEY

Sunday, December 18, 2016

the temple

ALRIGHTY FOLKS THIS WAS ONCE AGAIN ANOTHER FANTASTIC WEEK IN THE BEST MISSION IN THE WORLD!!! 
Despite the fact that we ended up discontinuing almost all of our investigators, we had tons a miracles! We found some great new people to teach this holiday season. Right now we're teaching Mauricio! He was found knocking doors almost a year ago and his wife was a less active member. He was addicted to just about everything and they weren't actually married; they just lived together. With time, the sisters here discontinued him because he wasn't ready to commit to change but he still went to church every week. A month ago they got married legally and in a few weeks he'll be baptized! It's so amazing to see how the Lord prepares people to be taught. The sister who found him knocking doors a year ago got transferred to this zone again and it's so cool to hear just how much he has changed to be worthy to be baptized.


We found some other people really special this week and I'm so excited to be teaching them!

My companion, Sister Lima is a convert of 2 years and  last Tuesday we were able to take the names of her mom and grandparents to the temple. It was such an incredibly special experience. Missionary work is being done on both sides of the veil! 

I'm really excited for Christmas and today we put up the Christmas tree! Took all of 5 mins but NONETHELESS WE HAVE A TREE!!! The weather here is killer and I've never been told more times in my life to put on sunscreen cuz I'm white. HAHAHA 

Line of the week
*teaching the law of chastity to a couple*
The guy*completely taken aback* so you guys actually live that way?

line of the week part 2
*giving me a hug* Sister Lima: "I love hugging white people"
Sister Santos "Ha I love hugging all people"
Sister Alves "But you (missionaries) don't loving hugging men, okay"


HAHAHA THIS LIFE NEVER GETS OLD

MERRY CHRISTMAS

com amor
Sister Jolley

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

the christmas tree

​​So last P day we went shopping in the center of Gravatai and I wanted to buy a Christmas tree and Sister S. Santos told me it was a waste of money. I nearly died. And then I bought it. It's really small, like 12 inches, but it'll do!




So once again I'm running out of time so here are the highlights

Taught 2 lessons in sign language this week
Bought fabric to have a seamtress make a Christmas dress (woot woot)
Had a killer stake conference and the one and only President Campos spoke. It was the bomb.
We have a some fantastic investigators who are progressing really well. 
My comp was sick this week and I took her to the hospital, and lemme tell y'all something, I know missionaries don't talk about political stuff but government run healthcare is the pits. 



WE'RE GOING TO THE TEMPLE TOMORROW AND I'M PUMPED

Have a great week!

love,

Sister Jolley

Monday, November 28, 2016

transfers

ALRIGHTY PEOPLE I DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO PLAN THIS EMAIL SO HANG IN HERE WITH ME 

Highlights of the week
I didn't get transferred! So I'll be staying Neopolis (more commonly referred to as Heaven here) during Christmas and I'll be finishing the training of Sister Lima! SISTER COREY GOT TRANSFERED TO THE ZONE SO ITS ABOUTTA BE A PARTY

We now have a deaf investigator, which is legit so cool, so I'll be learning libras (sign language) on super speed now!

Also guys this week we went to a training in Porto Alegre and Presidente Compas was there and in passing he said "Sister Jolley isn't learning portuguese anymore, she speaks it already" I NEARLY PASSED OUT I WAS SO HAPPY so shout out to Irmao Jaques and Irma Sunaga the best portuguese teachers the CTM ever had! 

I had a great birthday!! thanks for all the birthday wishes!! Sister S. Santos and I got caught in a thunder storm (on my birthday people) and homegirl had never been in a thunderstorm before and it was just about the funniest thing that ever happened. All she said was "my hair, my hair, Sister, my hair" She straightens her hair 3 times a day and I just laughed and laughed and she thought we were gonna die but we just arrived at a meeting very wet. I have a great video and some killer pictures but yours truly forgot the cord to pass photos so just hang in there 'til next week.

PEOPLE miracles are happening here in Brasil and I'm so happy to be apart of this great work to spread the Gospel. If I had more time you could know more but just hang in there and next week I'll organize things better.

Love you guys!!

Sister Jolley

Sunday, November 27, 2016

The third language

Alright people! This week was absolutely full of miracles! The Lord is sending so many blessings to our area!!! And I'm so excited and so humbled! 


On Saturday we  went to eat lunch at a the home of a part member family, and the bishop had asked me to begin teaching the husband because homeboy needs to get baptized. Anyway we showed up and some miracles happened but I'm short on time so I'll cut to the good stuff. HOMEBOY ASKED US TO TEACH HIM, TOLD US HE WANTED TO GET BAPTIZED ASAP AND I'M JUST FLOORED Y'ALL. The only problem is he likes to drink, but we'll get that cleared up. ALSO IF THE WEEK COULDN'T GET BETTER OUR OTHER INVESTIGATOR HASN'T SMOKED SINCE TUESDAY. Y'ALL HOMEBOY WAS SMOKING A PACK A DAY 30 DAYS AGO. MIRACLES ARE SO REAL. AND HE WANTS TO GET BAPTIZED TOO!!! 

Also the ward I'm serving in is really special, in the past 6 months the missionaries here have baptized 4 deaf converts! And on Saturday one more was baptized! It was super spiritual! He was baptized by another convert who is deaf and it was all in sign language! So GUESS WHAT? I'm learning sign language now! And next week I'm gonna translate the gospel principles class!!! 

so I had a lot more typed up the computer erased it all :(
but have a fantastic week!

com amor,
Sister Jolley


Thursday, November 17, 2016

CHURRASCAO

ALRIGHTY FAMILY AND FRIENDS Y'ALL DON'T EVEN WANNA KNOW HOW MANY TIMES I GOT ASKED ABOUT DONALD TRUMP- or as the Brasilians say it "Trumpy" it's really funny. And every time I got asked I remembered that line in the Missionary Handbook that talks about how we cant talk about politics- so in the end I just told everybody that I didn't know anything- which is pretty much true. 

But on the other hand this week was really great! My comp and I are in heaven! or as we always say it "Neopolis é o ceu" The members here are fantastic.


 Highlights of the week

Took a bath in the rain this week! 
Had pancakes and syrup at our district meeting--thanks mom!
Went to a baby shower and gave a message about eternal families
Sang a solo at a baptism service
SUNDAY WE HAD CHURRASCAO!! 




This week when we asked our investigator how his day was he answered "It's not worth it to complain" and pretty much that's the line of the week here- we just say it all the time when life gets rough and laugh and laugh and get to work! 

The work is moving forward here in Neopolis and we're seeing miracles everyday!!! ​​
I've been studying Ether 12 a lot this week and it's the bom.com! 

Have a killer week

Sister Jolley

Friday, November 11, 2016

Deodorant anyone?

Oiiiiii family!!! 

How was your week?? Our week here was great! we spent way less time lost and much more time teaching! We have this one investigator- Edivino- and lemme tell you he's fantastic- he's progressing so much! He went to church and best of all last week he was smoking 20 cigarettes per day and as of yesterday he's only smoking 3! It's crazy to see such amazing miracles! He's so excited to get baptized! 

This week we went to follow-up with one of our investigators to find out if she received an answer about the BOM and she did, which is way cool! But she told us that she doesn't want to change religions because her religion doesn't require anything. I immediately thought of the scripture in Luke 6 where the followers of Christ decided that they didn't want to follow anymore and Christ turns back and asks his apostles if they too will leave him and Peter answers and says to whom will we go? You have the words of Eternal Life. Christ has the words of eternal life and only by following Him can we return to live with our Father in Heaven. At times it will be hard to follow him but if you quit you have no where else to go. He is the one. He is the only one. 

This week we celebrated my comp's birthday in our Zone Meeting and it was fantastic! In true missionary fashion no one brought a knife to cut the cake so we made it work... hahaha




line of the week
Elder: "Sister do you keep deodorant in your bag?"
Sister: "Nope"
Elder  "Aw man, I forgot to use mine this morning and it's really hot" 

ELDERS ARE JUST TOO MUCH

have a great week!
love you guys!

Sister Jolley


Thursday, November 3, 2016

Didn't you want a certificate signed BY THE PROPHET

Oi Familia!

So I GOT TO GO TO THE TEMPLE THIS WEEK!!! which was literally the best and also why I'm writing you guys today! 

This last week was a little crazy because one of the sisters that I live with (Sister Santos) was sicker than a dog y'all. You can't even imagine, and so we spent a lot of time trying to make sure she didn't die HAHA JOKES but it was rough lemme tell you.

ALSO this week our water got turned off 3 times for 1.5 days so we spent most of the week without water.

ALSO We're dying of heat here-- I live with 2 Brasilians that are from Northern Brasil and all they say is "I've never imagined a heat this terrible."


SO IN TRUE ANNELISE FASHION WE STARTED A JOKE
When things get rough we just say "Didn't you want a certificate signed BY THE PROPHET?? Well now deal with it" (we all get a little paper signed by the prophet saying we're missionaries)  and just laugh and laugh at the situation 
But the best part is Sunday night when I was staying in with Sister Santos, out of nowhere she said "Sister Jolley, I actually didn't want a certificate signed by the prophet. I want to baptize people" BAHHHH I TRIED SO HARD NOT TO LAUGH-- we still haven't explained the joke. Irony is rough for some.
But on a high note, we have some great investigators! Training is not a joke y'all by the way- but things are going well! Sister Lima is FANTASTIC! I love her to pieces and we just pass the day laughing and trying not to die of heat stroke (my watch tan is KILLER) 

Also my make up is officially useless- I'm so much darker than my foundation and I left the bathroom with some foundation on,  cuz yours truly is suffering an acne attack and they all told me I looked like a ghost. So there's that BUT I WANTED A CERTIFICATE SIGNED BY THE PROPHET--SO I'M DEALING WITH IT FAM.


Man, mission life is literally the best, in the words of my dear trainee 
"Sister Jolley I'm much happier than I was last week, because last week I didn't know what mission life was."
"What's mission life?"
"It's when all the appointments fall through, and then it rains, and your feet have tons of blisters, and you spend all day lost, and when you get home and can't take a shower cuz the waters off, and well I think that only missionaries could be happy in this situation."

Man, missionary life is literally the best! because we know what our purpose is, and when you're on the Lord's errand nothing can take you down. This week I'll hit 6 months and I've already started crying. Time flies. I love Brasil and the people here! and I love being a missionary.

I love serving here in Neopolis. It's literally heaven despite all other stuff cuz the ward is the bom.com. Legit all they wanna do is help the sisters- well not exactly but pretty much. The bishop is the best and we're teaching some friends of his family right now.

We had lunch this week at this member's home, much better than last P day

ALSO Y'ALL I gave a 10 minute talk at church this week and this week someone asked me what part of Brasil I was from. PORTUGESE IS COMING ALONG 

Have a great week!

Much love
Sister Jolley


Saturday, October 29, 2016

NEÓPOLIS!!!

ALRIGHT Y'ALL! 

I was transferred to the glorious city of Neopolis! Actually it's a suburb of Gravatai and it's way cool and way different here. I'm so excited to work with the ward here, they are literally amazing and are so excited about missionary work! It's literally the best thing ever. My companion is SISTER LIMA!!! She's from Fortaleza and is way cool! I live with Sister Alves and Sister S. Santos! It's literally the best, they're all so funny. They like to look at my photos of me when my hair was straight and tell me that they will "straighten my big hair and make it pretty." HAHA Y'ALL THE FRIZZ IS AS GOOD AS IT GETS AROUND HERE.

We spent most of the week lost because we're opening an area and we don't exactly have a map and when we arrived our cell phone didn't have anymore minutes.....QUE BENÇÃO BRASIL  And the part we didn't spend lost we spent sick. My dear comp spent 2 days with a really high fever, but the bishop came over and gave her a blessing and the fever broke and now we're all good! The mission is defs full of adventures and blessings y'all. This week is defs looking up! 

Sneak Peak into Real Missionary life:
How to have a great lunch on P DAY- brought to you by Sisteres Jolley, Lima, S. Santos e Alves
Noodles and freezer burnt sausage with a sauce made with strawberry yogurt, mayo and oregano!
For a killer side dish, warm up a can of sardines with cold canned peas and mayo! 
NEVER HAD A BETTER LUNCH IN MY LIFE
BEM-VINDAS A MISSÃO 
I have some killer photos of this delicia but this computer doesn't like my camera so just wait a week!
hahaha but on the real it was a bit of a trial this lunch but next week we'll make it to the supermarket before it closes for lunch! 

ALSO IF ANY OF Y'ALL HAVEN'T READ JESUS THE CHRIST TAKE SOME TIME AND GIVE IT A READ--LEGIT THE BEST BOOK YET WRITTEN. 

I'm learning tons! And I love mission life despite the little hiccups (@sardines--I had sardine pizza this week y'all, talk about trials) 

Study your scriptures fam! say your prayers! Take the sacrament!

Love 
Sister Jolley

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Rat in the house!!

ALRIGHT Y'ALL THIS WAS YET ANOTHER FANTASTIC WEEK HERE IN VENANCIO!
and sadly my last week here. I've been transferred. AND THAT'S NOT ALL Yesterday President Campos called and told me that I'm gonna train! AGHHHH--THIS IS CRAZY Y'ALL. And I don't know where I've been transferred to or who my comp is. But I'm pretty sure I'm opening a new area as well.


But this week actually was really good! We found a bunch of new investigators who are so prepared! We have one new one, and boy that guy is a TRIP Y'ALL A STRAIGHT TRIP! LEMME TELL YOU HOW WE FOUND HIM--OR ACTUALLY HOW HE FOUND US! He saw the other sisters in the street and went up and talked to them asking them to visit him, but he actually lives in our area. So the sisters got his number, called me and told me that I needed to drop all my planning and visit this man who was literally dying to hear about the gospel. Well, the number he gave them was incorrect and I wasn't able to talk to him to set up an appointment. WELL homeboy realized that he gave us the wrong number so an hour later HE GOT ON HIS BIKE AND WENT KNOCKING DOORS to find the other sisters and give them the right number! WOWE FAM- so the sisters called us and gave us the right number and we went to go teach him. Wowe what a lesson!

So we arrive there he has some chairs on his patio and one of them looks a little weak, ya know, so I whisper to Sister Clark "you sit there cuz you weigh less!" and we start the lesson and he seats us, goes inside, and brings back 7 BIBLES, SEVEN GUYS, and tells us how each one is important and all sorts of stuff. He's way religious, obviously, but he has a lot of wrong ideas about God cuz homeboy's been interpreting the Bible way wrong. He thought he was a prophet. And all I could think was "oh my oh my not another one, teaching false prophets is such a trial" so there I was trying to help this poor guy understand that he actually isn't a prophet AND ALL THE SUDDEN SISTER CLARK'S CHAIR BREAKS!!! BAHHHHHHH MAN IT WAS HILARIOUS. I was just trying not to laugh but Sister Clark was done with this lesson, man oh man was she done, so she just stands up and says "We have another appointment right now! We need to go" and I try and tell her to sit down but she doesn't have a chair anymore. So the guy goes and gets another chair all the while saying things like "Bah, you're a little heavy, huh?" MAN OH MAN IT WAS TOO MUCH.  

Anyway, when we were all seated again I just bore a quick testimony and set up another appointment for the next day and invited him to say the closing prayer. Well this guy doesn't just say a prayer--he has TODO MUNDO stand up, hold hands,  and then starts this prayer, literally full of apostasy y'all, and then all the sudden the PLAGUES OF MOSES COME AND ATTACK SISTER CLARK-- well actually just a medium sized bug- but you would've thought it was the plagues of Moses cuz she starts flailing her arms and stuff and man I nearly died trying not to laugh. Anyway the next day we returned and set homeboy straight and now he's doing much better and is reading the Book of Mormon and progressing quite nicely. But every time we return he makes some comment about the chair or breaking the chair, or 'being heavy" BAHHH IT''S TOO MUCH

On the other hand, Sister Clark and I have been hit with a plague of acne which Sister Da Silva has ever so kindly taken to naming some of them-
Sister Da Silva- "What's that in between your eyebrows?"
Me "A ZIT"
Sister Da Silva "Bahh Sister, looks like Mt Sinai"


In other news, I cleaned out Sister Clark's hairbrush for her and made a pet rat! 


LOVE YOU GUYS!
HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!
SISTER JOLLEY


Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Highlights

Alright y'all! This was just another fantastic week in the Porto Alegre Norte Mission! 

I'm running really short on time today so you'll get the highlights of the highlights! 

1. We found an investigator who is legally married (honestly this never happens) and who told us that he's catholic BUT he knows that the Catholic church is not the same church that Jesus Christ established, and homeboy said this all by himself. I nearly fell off the sofa y'all! The Lord really prepares people to hear the gospel!

2. We got a new Branch Mission Leader and life is aboutta get real great! Y'all cant even imagine! Legit so pumped about this.

3. Sister Clark and I are really taking to heart the counsel in the white bible (missionary handbook) about "attractive shoes" see the pic! LOLZ MY FORMER SELF WOULD DIE

Crocs all day, every day

4. It rained a couple of times this week and yep we didn't have our umbrellas so we got real wet but miracles of miracles we still ended up with a lot of lessons and one dear lady, while sitting on her porch yelled "Girls it's raining!" HA as if we didn't already know! 

5. Taught a man who thought he was a prophet--really rocked his boat to know that Thomas S. Monson is the prophet. The truth is hard sometimes y'all 

6. Also here's a sneak peak into the reality of the mirror situation in my life. It's weird to never actually see yourself. 


Life is great here on the other side of the world--and my 3rd transfer has just about finished up! Which is actually really sad-- time flies--

have a great week!
I LOVE Y'ALL
Sister Jolley 

Friday, October 7, 2016

cinderella!

YOOO FAM!

This week was fantastic! Last Monday after I emailed you, we went to Santa Cruz to find some shoes for my dearest comp...we left there having spent way to much money on ice cream and some shoes that we thought were fantastic but actually were horrible and in the words of Sister Clark "I bought diabetic elf shoes for 170 reales!" To be quite honest, they are really funny looking. But after she wore them she had 9 blisters :( but I'm here to tell y'all that God has a sense of humor because the next day during comp study we found Romans 10:15- give it a read!


Also this week a less active member called us and asked us to visit her so we went there and turns out she wanted marriage advice and I didn't have a clue what to say and neither did my comp. (Missionaries don't think about marriage...like at all) And she was crying. And it looked like it was gonna be a disaster, but then I remembered that the Spirit would actually be the one helping her, and in the end it turned out all right.

Also that one young man that turned up at church last week? yeah he's probs the best investigator that ever existed. We met with him this week and he's reading the Book of Mormon. When we returned and asked him if he prayed, he gave a beautiful testimony of how he knows the book is true and how he felt when he received an answer to his prayer. The Spirit was so strong. I know that the Lord prepares people to for us to teach. Also homeboy watched conference with us and his favorite talk was Elder Anderson's about missionary work and man it just touched my heart. I love being a missionary so much. Every single day I see miracles and feel the Spirit so strongly as we testify of the reality of Christ and His divine love for all of us and His amazing plan of happiness. I know that Christ lives and loves us. 

line of the week
*after a session of conference*
Me 'Sister, were you sleeping during conference?"
Sister Clark "Um...look Sister I slept during work! I have a problem."
Me "You worked at a doctors office!"
Sister Clark "and at a theater!"

part 2
Sister Clark "what are you writing your family this week?"
Me "Our Cinderella experience"
Sister Clark "hmm maybe I'll just respond to my family's questions"
HAHAHA I DIED Y'ALL

have a great week
love you guys!
Sister Jolley

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Bom.com

YO FAM!!

This week was pretty much fantastic because yesterday the greatest thing happened!
 
So Sister Clark and I knew that none of our investigators were gonna go to church cuz we called them and they all gave the lamest excuses on the planet. And when your investigators don't go to church its real sad and that means they aren't actually progressing. BUT a miracle happened! We got to church and right before the last hour one of the members introduced us to a young man that had been at church and I saw him there and said Hi but I thought he was an investigator of the other Sisters but actually HE DECIDED TO COME TO CHURCH JUST BECAUSE HE "ALWAYS FELT A DESIRE TO GO INSIDE THIS CHURCH" and the best part is---he lives in our area!! I'm legit so pumped! The elects are coming to us! BLESS UP Y'ALL

In other news we got a new Branch President and he's the bom.com and things are looking up for our little Branch here on the other side of the world! 

And the other parts of our week weren't that exciting besides walking 3000 miles a day and making banana bread til kingdom come! 

Also this computer doesn't like my camera as well so I'll try again next week. 

quote of the week
"Missions sure are the best years of our lives, huh?"
Sister Clark  "Kindergarten was the best year of my life"

Love  
Sister Jolley

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

oatmeal

OIII Y'ALL!!!!

Here in Venancio Aires things are going well! This week was great cuz 
1) I found oatmeal in the grocery store for the first time since I got to Brasil! 
2) Sister Clark has maple flavoring so at our last District meeting we made pancakes! 
3) Elder Rais of the Area Seventy visited our mission and it was LEGIT THE BEST THING EVER! LEARNED TONS FROM THAT GUY. ALSO HE'S HILARIOUS.
He visited us on Friday so everyone went to Porto Alegre and it was the first time the whole mission has been together! (ALSO IT MEANT I GOT TO SEE SISTER COREY WHICH WAS THE BEST!!!) Our zone took a van there, and here in Brasil you gotta have an ID to ride these vans. And Sister Clark and McCandless forgot their IDs and there we were walking to the bus station and suddenly they remember (it's 6am mind you) and were running late (not a surprise) and in the end Sister Cark and I ended up running back to our apartment which is actually pretty far and we were fasting as well but we got the IDs and made it to Porto Alegre in time so it's all good! One thing I really liked that Elder Rais said is for everyone to think about the question "what am I doing today that I need to stop doing?" and "what am I not doing today that I need to start doing?" It's really important that we are constantly evaluating ourselves and repenting so that we can be the best people we can possibly be! 
This week was a little rough cuz we ended up cutting almost all of our investigators and we're starting out new this week. But I know that there are people out there waiting- and Sister Clark and I will find them!! 

Also I got to use some of my first aid skills I didn't even know I had this week! (Katana I needed you!) We were meeting up with the other sisters to go to our lunch appointment and one of them was in the act of fainting as we arrived and yours truly brought her back. BLESS UP Y'ALL

Also I don't think I'll be able to send all my way legit and cool pics cuz this computer is real sad, so sit tight and wait for next week y'all.

quote of the week
Sister Clark "I need healthier food"
We found a bakery last week and its a taking a bit of a toll y'all- whoops...

Also to all y'all suffering in school, go read Ecclesiastes 12:12 

love you guys!
Sister Jolley 

Monday, September 19, 2016

"i want to vomit"

OIIIIIIIII FAM! THIS WEEK HAS BEEN FAN-FLIPPEN-TASTIC! 

It started out with Sister Portilho leaving which was actually really sad but I got Sister Clark in exchange and she is the bom.com! But we both has the same time out here in the field so sometimes we're lacking in the Portuguese part of life but it's all good! 



Sister Clark and I have honestly been so blessed and we've found so many people prepared to accept the gospel this week! We found one family, a mom and a son and they are honestly the greatest! Our first lesson there was fantastic and as we left they told us that the night before the son had been talking with his mom and told her, "I want to be happy but I don't know how. I want God to send me angels to tell me how," and the next day WE SHOWED UP! MIRACLES FAM MIRACLES.  The mom is super caring and feeds us and has the best questions and one night we were there and it was almost 9 o'clock and she lives on the other side of town and HOMEGIRL CALLED A TAXI AND WE MADE IT HOME BEFORE 9- BLESS UP FAM-

Also I think I've worked poor Sister Clark to the bone, we walk a lot here in Venancio (like legit 20 miles some days- not exaggerating) and today she bought new shoes! Haha and we've started running in the morning cuz beans and rice don't do good things for the waistline. We'll see if we make it out of Venancio alive! 

ALSO Y'ALL ELDER NEIL A. ANDERSON  CAME TO OUR MISSION AND GAVE A BOM.COM DEVO AND IT WAS THE BEST. Elder Anderson is a member of the quorum of the twelve apostles. Sadly we didn't get to see it in person cuz there wasn't space for todo mundo in Porto Alegre. So our whole zone traveled to Caxias do Sul and watched it there and after our Zone Leaders made us lunch. It was really good! and Sister Clark and I brought banana bread and it was a hit! One thing I really liked that Elder Anderson said was, "if a person is not honest they cannot progress spiritually. It is impossible," in short- honesty is way important y'all! 

Quote of the week
*during the Sister Clark's first lunch appointment with me and the other sisters here in Venancio*
Sister Clark *trying to tell the member that she was full* "I'm full and if I eat more I think I'll throw up."
Member "what?"
Sister Clark "I want to vomit"
My goodness I don't think I've ever laughed so hard during a lunch appointment. Portuguese is a struggle y'all-LOST IN TRANSLATION ALL DAY EVERYDAY

quote of the week part 2 
Me *reading John 3:5 (go read it)*
Investigator- "I don't think I can enter the kingdom of God anyway, the Bible says the gate is narrow and I'm fat. I won't fit"
LEGIT SO FUNNY Y'ALL

Anyway I loving being a missionary and I see God working miracles here in Venancio everyday. I love my Savior and I know He lives and answers our prayers!

Sister Jolley

Friday, September 9, 2016

transfers

ALRIGHT EVERYONE! THIS WEEK WAS TRANSFERS AND YOURS TRULY WILL BE STAYING HERE IN VENANCIO! AND MY COMP WILL BE SISTER CLARK!!!! SERIOUSLY SO PUMPED!!
Also my training is done (bless up) but I'm so sad that Sister Portilho is leaving- honestly already cried and she hasn't left yet... :( 

But in other news-
We went to Porto Alegre on this week to finish up my training and SISTER COREY WAS THERE SO BLESS UP Y'ALL IT WAS GREAT-- LOVE HER-- The training was fantastic y'all, learned tons and during the training we always do these practice things where missionaries pretend to be investigators and two missionaries teach and then todo mundo talks about what you did right and what you need to improve on- AND GUESS WHAT- I WAS CALLED TO DO A PRACTICE IN FRONT OF TODO MUNDO AND THE INVESTIGATOR WAS NONE OTHER THAN THE MISSION PRESIDENT HIMSELF WOWE Y'ALL-TALK ABOUT PRESSURE- Sister Corey taught with me (BLESS UP- just like the good old days at the CTM)

But I'll have y'all know that we spent Thursday night there in Porto Alegre, and by we I mean like 30 sisters in one house and we didn't have quite enough beds, so I "slept" on the floor. It reminded me of camping out for football games- yeah I didn't sleep a wink. It was so cold and the floor was so hard- lolz what even is mission life?



Also I had yet again another encounter with the Word of Wisdom, I was making a chocolate cherry cake for our baptism this Sunday and our District Leader called and I was talking with him. I told him that I was making a "bolo de chocolate e cerveja" and he was like "really sister, cerveja?" and then everyone started laughing and making jokes about how I really am the drunkard of the mission. And there I am,  little Sister Jolley who hasn't got a clue what's going on, just trying to plan a good baptismal service, ya know?  Anyway turns out cerveja is actually beer and cereja is cherry. MAN OH MAN. SECOND LANGUAGES ARE ROUGH Y'ALL

And then our baptism fell through this Sunday and I cried for all of sacrament meeting. But, he'll be baptized next week or y'all will see me sitting there in El Paso 5th ward on the 18th of September. HAHA JOKES I'M NEVER GOING HOME

Quote of the week
*while making contacts*
Stranger "Wow you guys speak Portuguese really well for being foreigners"
Me "Ahh thanks"
*walking away*
Portilho "OF COURSE I SPEAK PORTUGUESE WELL I'M BRASILIAN!"
MAN I NEARLY DIED LAUGHING RIGHT THERE IN THE STREET 

Love y'all
Sister Jolley