Monday, December 11, 2017

HOME SWEET HOME

Oi Familia!!

So I just finished up an eventful week of coming home! It was a crazy experience! Its really fun to travel for 24 hours straight! Haha actually its not. After a few flight delays and a slap back into reality with lotsa Christmas music in the airports I made it home on wednesday afternoon to my wonderful family. 






I will be eternally grateful for the privilege I had to serve a mission and the experiences that I had. I love the beautiful people of Brasil and will hold them forever in my heart . I met people that  changed who I am and changed what I want to become. Being a missionary is the best thing ever. I have never done anything so incredibly rewarding in my whole life. I love my Savior and during this time I have learned how much happier we are when we "come unto Christ"

My homecoming talk will be on the 24th of December at 12:30, 500 Rosemont El Paso Texas. I would love you see you there! 

love,
Annelise

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Wedding

Oi Familia!!!

This week was the long awaited wedding, baptism and confirmation of Raquel, the best investigator that ever was! It was all so beautiful and so spiritual. Blessings come when we follow the Savior! Other good news is  that the Campo Bom Branch is officially leaving the sad blue house/church to the new and improved "Church Space" that  looks like an LDS Chapel from the inside! The first meeting will be this Sunday!!! We're all so excited! 

I vividly remember the day I was set apart as a missionary, on the 2nd of May in 2016. I remember arriving at the CTM and feeling so lost, yet feeling the spirit so strong as I learned a new language. I remember the day I arrived in the field and met my trainer, the day I hit 9 months and most recently the day I hit 18 months. In all this time I never really believed that one day it would all come to a close, that one day I would have to go home. As a missionary I have lived the highest of highs and the lowest of lows and I can testify without a shadow of a doubt that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world. In Preach My Gospel it says "The Lord will reward and richly bless you as you humbly and prayerfully serve Him. More happiness awaits you than you have ever experienced as you labor among His children." I know that this promise is true. There is great joy in serving the children of God, there are many experiences serving as a representative of Jesus Christ, and there are rich blessings in store for those that choose to do so. 

love,
Sister Jolley



 



Tuesday, November 21, 2017

saint nephi

Alrighty folks 

This was another crazy week!
I have a new companion, Sister Schmidt! From Curitiba! I'm showing her the area and everything these last few weeks of the transfer. She's my fourth companion here in Campo Bom! TÁ LOUCO! 
We had a great week finding and teaching and seeing so many miracles. Campo Bom is an area where there are so many miracles! 

Napolean, remember him? Ele está firme forte na fé! And he took us to visit all his friends IN THE RAIN! People this is just another level of member missionary.

On Friday we had splits with the sisters from Bento! It was really good! We had lunch at Jackie and Sergio's and it was really really good! 

On Saturday Beatriz, Dinás daughter, was interviewed and on Sunday she was baptized!!
This week we'll have the wedding and baptism of Raquel!!! 

I'm so grateful for the time that I have to serve as a missionary and the lives that I have seen the Atonement of Jesus Christ change! Including my own

quote of the week
"If we believed in saints I'd be a fan of Saint Nephi"

Love you guys

Sister Jolley


Monday, November 13, 2017

"honre o nome de cristo com suas ações"

FAMILY HELLOOOOO

THIS WEEK DINÀ WAS BAPTIZED!!! IT WAS AMAZING AND I LOVED ALL OF IT AND WOW. MIRACLES ARE REAL

So I’m almost out of time like always but I'll share a spiritual thought with you guys! So I was studying in Preach My Gospel this week and I found a phrase that I really liked

 "Honor the name of Christ with your actions."

As disciples of Christ we have the duty to be witnesses of him at all times and all places and the way that we do that is through our actions. If we want to truly represent Him we have to do always do what he would do. We all know that God and Jesus Christ love us but how do they know that we love them? Do we show them our love?

I'll probably never send photos again
jk
I don’t know when I’ll send photos because my comp went to Passo Fundo for 2 weeks and she has all the photos and this lan house is horrible so even if she was here I wouldn’t be able to send them. But I believe that in 2 weeks I’ll send photos so everyone hold on to your horses the pictures are coming

Love you guys,

Sister Jolley

Tuesday, November 7, 2017

18 Months !!!


OI FAMILIA!!!!

I left my planner in the apartment so here it goes

Highlights of the Week

1.We went out on splits for 3 days with one of the Young Women in our branch! It was a blast

2. On Sunday some YW from another ward called and we went on splits with them on....for some reason the sisters from Campo Bom are getting popular!

3. Went into the Catholic church to return the saints that Diná will no longer be using because she'll be getting baptized next Sunday! BLESS UP also we watched part of the Mass and my companion was like freaking out because we really are not supposed to go to Catholic Churches but you've gotta do what you've gotta do

4. We had Mission Leadership Council on Wednesday and I just thanked my lucky stars that it was not my last!

5. Almost bought a shot glass for Grandma Jolley but decided that a representative of Jesus Christ wouldn't buy shot glasses. It's the thought that counts, right Grandma?

6.ON SATURDAY I HIT 18 MONTHS!!! 18 months and counting!!

love you guys!!

Sister Jolley

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

There can be miracles when you believe

People I don't know if I told you guys about Diná, so I"ll tell you guys today. She's 80, she's smoked her whole life and her family  has been  Catholic for generations. Now Diná doesn't smoke, she ran off the JWs and is way pumped to get baptized. "THERE CAN BE MIRACLES WHEN YOU BELIEVE"

So my sister asked me to tell a funny story this week, so we'll see what I've got.

So on Saturday we got a call from a member in our branch telling us that at the stake center there would be an activity where the Church would  be giving awards to some people and some programs that have helped preserve families and she told us that there would be a group of Scouts from Campo Bom and that she wanted us to go there to  make contact with them and hopefully  meet a few families to teach. So we happily called President and he gave us permission. We worked like crazy all day to visit all the people we had to before 7:00. Then we went to Novo Hamburgo and lemme just tell you how I was looking at this point of the day...I was wearing an orange shirt backwards because the front had a stain, a skirt 4 sizes too big (this is a cute skirt that I found in one of the  missionary apartments and instead of making it smaller I just moved the button over so that one side has more fabric than the other) and I was sporting what I fondly call "os sapatos da guerra" because they're on their second mission and are really comfortable but they're also really ugly and discolored, and low key on their last. Also I didn't have a speck of makeup and my hair was slicked back in a nasty bun.

And suddenly all these really well dressed people showed up and then the MAYOR showed up and there I was looking like I had fallen off the turnip truck AND IN THE END NONE OF THE SCOUTS WANTED TO HEAR OUR MESSAGE. 

Also a  bunch of American missionaries arrived in the mission and  the president was giving training for them and they weren't understanding much so he asked me to explain some stuff in English. So I walked to the front, grabbed the mic, opened my mouth and nothing came out. And then I got all red in the face and said "Presidente, não consigo" PEOPLE I'M A LOST CAUSE. I write  and read English but speaking is really rough. I think this is the first time in my life that I told President "no" I think I'll just stay here for another transfer or two or for the rest of forever. JK 

Have a great week

Love
Sister Jolley

Thursday, October 19, 2017

rain rain go away come again NEVER

Oi familia!!! 
By some miracle this week we didn't turn into frogs because with the amount of rain that fell from the sky we were getting close. I don't think I ever spent a week soaking wet like I spent this one! But in the end it's all BLESSINGS. In my prayers I starting thanking God for the rain because hating it wasn't helping anything! 

But this week it also rained blessings and miracles!! One day in the rain our plans had all fallen through and so we said a little prayer and took out our planners and found a contact that we made like 3 weeks ago that we hadn't been able to find at home, so we decided to go there! We got there and she wasn't home AGAIN but her mom was and she let us in and told us that her dream is to be baptized but she just hasn't found the right church to be baptized in! BLESS UP because now she's talking to the right people! 

We had splits with the sisters in Santa Cruz and I passed through my beloved Venancio on the bus! It's crazy to think that it's been more than 1 year ago that I left Venancio! We had splits with Sister Whiting and Sister Freitas! Sister Whiting is from my group! and my whole group will be home in 9 days BUT I WON'T SO BLESS UP Y'ALL! There is nothing better than being a missionary!

We marked a wedding today! November 24th! I'm so excited! Nothing better than planning other people's weddings! and baptisms!

Yesterday we were at the mission office and all the sudden I got signed up the play the violin at a training we're gonna give on Wednesday..I think it's been 4 years since I played...I'll start praying for the gift of music instead of the gift of tongues! 

I'll send more pics next week!


Love you guys

Sister Jolley 


Saturday, October 14, 2017

A week of parties

So this week was literally just a week of parties! Lemme tell you about it!

So the parties started on Tuesday, where we had a dinner for all the sister leaders at President and Sister Campos's home,as the Brasilians say it,"foi chique foir muiiitooo chique." Sister Araújo and I gave a training and so did Sister Campos. THEN we all stayed the night at their house and had a huge sleepover. Don’t worry you read that right, we had a sleepover at mission presidents house! Then during the afternoon we had mission leadership conference! It went really well! We gave a training titled "Leading in the Savior’s Way." I don’t think I ever spent so much time prepping for a training: I read almost all of the 4 gospels in the New Testament. 


We got back to our area on Thursday with just enough time to execute wedding but like always, there has to have opposition...our handy dandy cellular decided to stop working and no one could call us and we couldn’t call anyone. Imagine trying to plan a wedding without a phone and without a car, not to mention that the wedding is held in a chapel that’s not in your area! I've decided to just start loving the challenges in life. BUT in the end it all worked out and DIOGO AND LUANA GOT MARRIED AND GOT BAPTIZED. ATÈ QUE EM FIM. We taught these people for an eternity, me and 3 different companions!




Fun Story
So even though this week was full of parties it was high key stressful and I ended up breaking out a ton and a member told me, "Sister if you eat 4 eggs a day for a month your skin will get better" These Brasilians and their comments kill me.

Love you guys

Sister Jolley


PS hope you guys enjoy the pic of me leading the fam in a 7 min plank




Wednesday, October 4, 2017

And there are miracles when you believe

ALRIGHTY SO I'LL CUT RIGHT TO THE GOOD STUFF

YOU GUYS REMEMBER RAQUEL? Well if you don't I'll just give you a back up we taught her for the first time last Saturday, she went to church on Sunday and  we went back to teach her on Wednesday. AND SHE SAID "I ALREADY STOPPED DRINKING COFFEE AND I'M READING THE BOM EVERYDAY" people I almost cried right on the spot and then she said "OUR PLAN IS TO GET MARRIED AND THEN I'LL GET BAPTIZED" PEOPLE MIRACLES ARE REAL!!!  She and her family went to 2 sessions of general conference and she LOVED it! 
On the other hand Dariana and her 4 daughters don't wanna get baptized anymore...I love learning more about agency...
 Also  you guys remember about the house where the branch meets? our ghetto chapel? WELL during the last session of general conference it started getting really really windy and then it started a downpour like no other and it also started a downpour INSIDE THE BUILDING. Sometimes you just have to laugh. Nothing better than taking your investigators to church for the first time and then it rains on them WHILE THEY'RE INSIDE. Also the power went out so we didn't even get to watch the whole session....

But despite all that, I really enjoyed general conference. I don't know why but this time it just hit me really hard that the people that I was watching and hearing speak really are apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. Its something that I testify of everyday. I have a photo of them that I carry in my bag to show to people. I really had my testimony strengthened.



quote of the week
Member "what countries have you visited?"
Me "Mexico and Canada" 
Sister Araújo "Sister he asked what countries you've visited"
Me "yeah Mexico and Canada"
Sister Araújo "Canada's a country ? ...I thought it was part of the US" 


All of ya'll are welcome to take geography 101 with me and Sister Araújo...vão aprender muito, tenho certeza


Have a great week

Sister Jolley





Wednesday, September 27, 2017

500 Miracles

Oi Família! 

This week was really busy and really hot and really great! We are preparing a few families to be baptized in the next few weeks! One of them is Dariana and her 4 daughters, I think I told you guys a bit about them last week. We decided to wait another week to baptize them because they weren't exactly ready and are dealing with a lot of opposition but we're here firm in the faith that this week tudu vai dar certo! Nicole and Cris received the gift of the Holy Ghost and they received some of the most powerful blessings that I have ever heard anyone receive as they were given the gift of the Holy Ghost. I am so grateful for the day that I decided to listen to the Spirit and we talked to a 13 year old girl on the street! 

Another bit of fun news is that this week was a state holiday here in Rio Grande do Sul! the 7th of September is independence day in Brazil but the 20th of September is when all of Rio Grande do Sul celebrates and commemorates the war they LOST  to secede from the rest of Brasil...and I thought Texas had state pride! Esses Gaúchos, neguém entende. They have parades and dress up and act out the war and make churrasco and drink more chimarrão than normal, if that is even possible.


So last week I hit 500 days as a missionary! Nearly 2 years ago when I  was planning and preparing to go on a mission I made a goal to record a miracle for every single day and every single day I have found a miracle. This week I was reflecting on a few of these miracles. 
- I remember being the the CTM and giving a full lesson in Portuguese 2 days after I arrived. 
- I remember the first time I gave the Restoration lesson and could actually say what I wanted to say and not be hindered by memorized phrases and lack of vocabulary. 
- I remember the miracle of loving some companions that were hard to love, of finding strength to keep working on the hard days and long days but mostly-- 
- I remember the miracle of teaching these amazing Brazilian people and watching them change to become more like Christ and find more happiness! 

Some miracles you can see in a day, others in a week and others only after a transfer or two but I testify that our God is a God of miracles. Moroni as he closes the last few chapters of the Book of Mormon he testifies of miracles as well, he says 

"And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me. 

And he hath said: Repent all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, and have faith in me, that ye may be saved. 

And now, my beloved brethren, if this be the case that these things are true which I have spoken unto you, and God will show unto you, with power and great glory at the last day, that they are true, and if they are true have the days of miracles ceased?

 Or have angels ceased to appear unto the children of men? Or has he withheld the power of the Holy Ghost from them?... Behold I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men..."  Moroni 7:33-37

I add my  testimony to the testimony of Moroni, I know that God is a God of miracles and that he is the head of this great miraculous and marvelous work. He lives and loves us.

love you guys!

Sister Jolley

ps   I had to put half of these words in google translate to remember how to say them in English and the other half for how to spell them. Haha I never thought I would forget the word hindered or how to spell marvelous. This is why my emails are so short! Falando ingles de novo...bem, o negócio vai ser tri tenso voltando pra casa. 

Saturday, September 23, 2017

And then it rained

Oi Família! 

This week it rained and rained and rained and then rained some more. Just how I like it! hahah jk. But besides the rain,  this week went really well. On Tuesday we went to the airport to welcome the new missionaries and 7  American Elders arrived. It was amazing to see  how well they could speak Portuguese after just 6 weeks of training. The gift of tongues never stops amazing me! An Elder  from my  home town stake arrived and it was really weird to talk to someone who knows the same people and places that I know. Its been so long since I've talked to some one from El Paso Texas! 

On Thursday we got back to Campo Bom and we found some amazing people to teach! We'll be having a wedding and baptism in a few weeks and we are  also teaching a family of 5! A mom and her 4 daughters! They are so excited about getting baptized! At church they were telling everyone about their upcoming baptism. Its amazing to see how the gospel changes the lives of people. We we went back to their house to follow-up the first lesson and their mom told us how she knew that Joseph was a prophet and that they wanted to get baptized, this was such a marking moment, the spirit was so strong. Its moments like these that make it all worth it!


love you guys

Sister Jolley



Tuesday, September 12, 2017

The Extra Mile

This week was really busy and really AMAZING 

We started out the week in Porto Alegre and went to the temple! It's great to have comps that are leaving the mission because you end up going to the temple! We gave the training on Wednesday and had splits with the sisters from Neópolis on Friday

The weather this week has been KILLER hot here in Campo Bom, and its technically still winter here until the 21st so yeah summer will be super fun! 

The best part of the week was the baptism of Cris, Nicole and Elisa! It was so incredibly special! And the whole branch attended too! They are 3 really special and really inspiring people. I'm so amazed at how the Lord prepared them to be baptized. Elisa (the  grandma) told us that at night when Nicole was sleeping she would go in Nicole's room, kneel down,and pray at the edge of her bed asking God to send angels to protect Nicole from the evils of the world. And then we showed up! I know that we were sent to find and teach and baptize this family! Becoming an instrument in the hands of God to help in the work of salvation is amazing,  being a missionary is the best thing I ever chose to do!

Sister Pedrosa left after the baptisms for Porto Alegre and my new comp, Sister Araújo, will be arriving here in Campo Bom in a few hours! 

Also, I have an announcement!

After lotsa prayer, fasting and 2 interviews with President Campos I WILL BE STAYING ANOTHER MONTH! I'LL BE HEADED HOME ON DECEMBER 5TH! Just in time for Christmas! 
Love you guys,
Sister Jolley




Sunday, September 10, 2017

Foi Chique

Oi Familia!

This week was full of miracles!!! Our leadership council went really really well! The spirit was sooo strong I was able to learn a lot as I prepared and gave training. Out training was about becoming a consecrated missionary. 

The biggest and best miracle of them all is that Cris and Nicole and Elisa all went to church and NICOLE TOLD US THAT SHE WANTS TO BE A MISSIONARY ONE DAY!!! ahhhhhhhhh I'm so excited, their baptism will be next Sunday! The Branch here loves them and they are excited for the baptism. In our little branch there are 15 active young woman and the young women's president is so excited to have another join the gang! She visited Nicole yesterday with us and gave her a personal progress book and all that stuff and Nicole is pumped! 

ALSO PEOPLE on Monday Sister Pedrosa and I went to Gramado with President and Sister Campos and as the Brazilians would say, it was "foi chique, foi muuuuuuuuuuito chique"
 


My dear companheira Sister Pedrosa will be going home next week and lemme tell you there are A LOT  of emotions when your mission is ending and the only way to get over it is WORK. Thank goodness I still have a while before i'm heading home

Sister Jolley






Wednesday, August 30, 2017

the JWs

Alrighty folks THIS WEEK WAS AMAZING AND FULL OF MIRACLES AND I'M SO EXCITED AND CAMPO BOM IS LEGIT THE BEST AREA EVER.

Also I've realized that my emails have gotten worse and worse with time so this week I'll send a longer one to make up for all the other ones lolz.

So on Monday we went to Porto Alegre to have a meeting with President and the assistants to plan the leadership council which I'm really excited about. This one, it was inspired! I'm excited for this Wednesday when we'll be able to give our training!

Sister Pedrosa and I invented a new way to go on splits so we talked to President and we did a test run on Tuesday and Wednesday. Sister Pedrosa stayed in Porto Alegre and I took Sister Aguayo to Campo Bom with me! She is so cute! She was trained by the sister I trained, so it was cool to get to know her. Also on Wednesday it was SOOOOO HOT I got sunburnt. 

On Thursday morning Sister Aguayo and I left home at 6 am and got to Porto Alegre at 8 am where we met up with Sister Pedrosa and Sister Aguayos comp. Then Sister Pedrosa and I took a bus to Santa Cruz where we met up with President Campos to start traveling to Passo Fundo! On the road President passed through my first area- VENANCIO AIRES- and I got out of the car to take a photo. It was really weird to see all the same places and same roads, we passed in front of the apartment where I lived. Can't believe it was a year ago that I was there! Then we continued the trip to Passo Fundo. 

So Passo Fundo is the zone where every missionary wants to be transferred. There there are the best members, the best lunch, the biggest zone, the best area to work, the people are receptive and all the missionaries hear stories about Passo Fundo their whole missions. So logically I wanted to be transferred to Passo Fundo BUT looking at how things are I've realized that some dreams just don't come true. BUT We asked President if we could go with him and sister Campos to Passo Fundo and he let us! We got there on Thursday afternoon and started splits with the sisters there and on Friday as well. Well I learned that not all tall tales are true and that Campo Bom is the best area in the mission! BUT Passo Fundo is pretty cool! Passo Fundo is also the farthest area in the mission so we took a bus at 2am on Saturday and got back to good 'ol Campo Bom at 8:30! And then we worked all of Saturday afternoon and Sunday and it was great to be back home!

On Saturday we went to visit Nicole, I think I wrote you guys about her a few weeks back. Well in these last few weeks it turned out that her dad wasn't gonna let her be baptized until she had 18 years! It was really disappointing news. But we kept going back there with lotsa faith that it would all work out and started teaching her sister and her grandma. Well on Saturday her grandma told us that that morning a missionary from the JWs had visited her. And I just thought ''QUE DROGA" And she kept talking and she said that after he left she thought to herself "you know what, I'm just gonna get baptized in the Mormon church" HAHAHAHAHA I think this may be the first time the JWs missionaries were used by God to help one of his children enter into the TRUE CHURCH. Anyway so now Nicole and her Grandma are gonna get baptized on the 10th!
 
I'm so grateful for the miracles that God lets happen in the lives of His children so that they can receive true happiness!

Have a great week

love

sister Jolley

Friday, August 25, 2017

the biggest fabric store

Oi Familia!

I'm running late on time this week BUT I'm e-mailing photos so get happy about that!

This week was really fantastic, just so you guys know..the Lord's work is continuing here in Campo Bom.

The photos are of us and the Assistentes at the Porto Alegre Temple just three weeks ago. We all went with the new missionaries. Also I went to the  biggest fabric store I have ever been to in my whole life.

love you guys

Sister Jolley






Friday, August 18, 2017

knockin' doors

Y'ALL AREN'T GONNA BELIEVE IT but this week I visited BENTO ! The hills there haven't missed me and I haven't missed them, that's for sure! It was weird to walk the same streets and see the same people again but it was really nice! It was cool because Sister Pedrosa served in Bento a transfer before I did, so it was sorta like going back home! We went on splits with the sisters there, they are so great! I always learn something new when I got on splits with the sisters! 

We had a special experience this week with a girl we met named Nicole. So just as a back story I stopped knocking doors as a way to find new investigators way back in Bento because it just doesn't really work that well but on Saturday FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MONTHS we ended up knocking doors. It was weird. We walked into the neighborhood and I felt like we needed to turn onto a certain street so we did and we started knocking, and like always no one let us in but then I saw a girl about my sister Bethany's age (13)  walking on the street and we made contact and then walked with her to her house where we taught her and her sister. The lesson was so incredibly spiritual! And I know the the only way we could've found her was going to knock doors on that very street. I'm excited to continue teaching her and prepare her and her sister to be baptized!!!

line of the week
Member *bearing testimony about the importance of having a prophet* "What's the name of our prophet again?"
I had to stifle my laughter! 

I've realized that my emails have become full of bad grammar and lame, I'll do better next week

Have a great week

love, 
Sister Jolley

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

the faith of campo bom

OI FAMILIA

This week was great! Sister Pedrosa and I went to the airport and we got to welcome the new missionaries to the mission! It was SICK! There is a sister missionary from Texas that arrived! We also had a fancy dinner at the President's house that was FANCY and the food was SO GOOD! President Campos' daughter tried to teach me how to samba but it didn't go very well. ITS A GOOD THING YOU DON'T HAVE TO DANCE WELL TO BE A GOOD MISSIONARY! 

Then we got back to good 'ol Campo Bom and started a whirlwind of work to to find and visit and follow-up with everybody. We're teaching a girl named Alexia who is 13! She's so sweet and she plays basketball! Her friend (a recent convert) brought her to church a few weeks back and we've been teaching her! If all goes well she'll be baptized next Sunday!

So this was Sister Pedrosa's first time going to church here in Campo Bom...and LEMME TELL YOU the first time can just give you a bit of a fright. Lemme tell you why (if I've already said this in other emails I forgot so you'll just get to hear it again) First off- we meet in a falling apart old blue house that has cracks in the walls and despite all the cleaning never gets clean, sacrament meeting is held in the garage and if it's raining hard enough it rains INSIDE the sacrament room and if it gets quiet enough you can hear the rats running in the ceiling. Also NO ONE can sing the hymns. If you guys can imagine an out-of-tune choir, imagine it and then make it ten times worse. Once an investigator said to us "in your church the hymns are REALLY different" with a nauseated look in her face. Don't worry, she got baptized later. Anyway the classes, well they could use a bit of help. One time we had a HEATED debate in Relief Society and a talk about Satan and his angels in Gospel Principles,  and when the class was about repentance but we just talked about temptations. BUT despite it all, the Spirit is really strong, the members here have SO MUCH FAITH. It's amazing to see! For the last few weeks our sacrament meeting attendance has been better than some of the wards in the stake! AND THE BEST NEWS IS we're getting a new meeting house! Hopefully before I leave it'll be all ready!

quote of the week
member- "Sister, I was studying English this week and learned that in English 2 d's make an r sound"
me- "Portuguese is much easier, isn't it?"

A day later I realized that 2 d's don't make an r sound. 

love you guys

Sister Jolley

transfers

THIS WEEK WAS PRETTY COOL! We spent half the week in POA and the other half here in good ol' Campo Bom. Sister Hannah and I went to the temple with the other missionaries that are headed home on Tuesday with President and Sister Campos. While we were in the waiting room one of the helper ladies asked my comp where we were serving and she said "Campo Bom" and jokingly added that the field is white here and then the helper lady said "are you guys having a frost in Campo Bom?" and I mean it's kinda funny and I gave a little chuckle but Sister Campos LOST IT laughing until she sat down. She laughed so hard, she just cried and watching her laughing was so funny that we both ended up laughing and laughing and laughing and all the helper ladies were trying to shush us but it was a lost cause. And then during the session I ended up with a really bad case of hiccups that just got louder and louder and everyone was stifling their laughter and once again I felt grateful for all the times in Sacrament meeting I learned how to not laugh! Probably one of the most memorable temple sessions EVER. LOLZ.

So Sister Hannah's family came to pick her up which was really cool! It's funny how crazy everyone gets about Americans and American candy! My new comp is SISTER PEDROSA from SERGIPE! She's on her last transfer so I'll be sending another one home! 


This week I had the opportunity to teach a really special lesson to Napoleon's sister and her husband. We've been working with them for a bit and they have a baptismal date marked but they were getting ready to sorta give up and wanted us to come back when their life was easier. HAHA people life isn't gonna get easier. As I sat in the lesson searching for the right things to say I learned a lot about faith and the commandments. This couple, they know the church is true. They've received an answer, actually a few answers, that they need to get baptized but they don't have the faith to do it. They can't see the blessings that they will have if the keep the commandments and don't have enough faith to try. During the lesson I felt a little bit like how I imagine parents feel. They can see things that their kids can't see, and they understand things that their kids don't understand, but lotsa times the kids don't do what their parents counsel them to do. It was a frustrating experience but something finally went right because THEY WENT TO CHURCH YESTERDAY and LOVED IT, AGAIN. Hopefully you'll be getting their wedding pictures in a month! 

line of the week
Recent convert who is 79 - "If you don't love our church, you don't love Jesus"
It was killer one in our Gospel Principles class! She was trying to convince an investigator to get baptized. LOLZ

Have a great week

love,
Sister Jolley