Mon, 14 Sep 2009 : Pensa uma pessoa feliz!

"Think of a happy person!!" It´s me =]

Happy Birthday Linny! (yesterday...) I was thinking of you!

Life's great familia. We have 6 baptisms marked; Isaias and Adeildo for this Saturday, Joana and Leandro for the 26, and Janaina and her husband for the 3rd of October.

Last night we had a little festa with a bunch of our recent converts and Isaias and Adeildo (who are 15 and 20... it seems like most of our recent converts are 15-20) It was way fun. We watched the Joseph Smith: Profet of the Restauration film (which I have a copy of in Portuguese, haha) and after the film... Wow. The Spirit was SOOOOO strong familia. One by one, Sis Lemos, me, And Elders Stewart and Lucas bore our testimonies about Joseph Smith and his role as a prophet. If there's one point about my testimony that is strong, it is that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and that through him and the amazing sacrifices he made, including his own life, the gospel and everything we need for salvation were restored to the earth. It was really really good. Adeildo said that he really liked the film and felt something really strong. Woohoo!

We had interviews with President Tuesday in Gravatá, so that was a fun little road trip, with the 6 people in our district crammed into a 4 person car. But the time was spent well--Elder Halvorsen taught me the secrets of The Cube. Aka, how to do a rubik's cube. It´s so simple!!!!! I just need to practice. I can get the first two rows, but finishing it I just need to memorize some moves. But its something thats always been on my list of "Things to do in Life", so huzzah for doing life goals!

Anyway, interviews were great. I love President Emerick! Sis Lemos and I made an Apple pie for him and the Elders--it was well recieved

Other adventures... Sis Lemos and I got lost in Salgado (a neighborhood here) again, and where did we end up? Right next to the Elder's house. Again. And what did I have in my bag? A bar of chocolate for Elder Stewart because it was his one year mark, but he hadnt been to lunch because he did a division with the other Elders. So we called them on the pay phone to see if they were nearby (again) but the credit was running out and I was panicking and it was hilarious. I think it was one of those "You had to be there" moments, but we certanly laughed!

Last P-day we went to a pool party with the Youth in the ward. It was way fun! Although it was kinda torturous to not be able to swim or dip my feet in the pool =[ Oh well, thats a sacrifice I can make.

THEN!!! OH MY GOODNESS!!! FAMILIA!!!!!! We watched a movie called "Fireproof" and omg its probably one of the BEST movies I've seen!!!!!!!! Its about a couple who's about to get a divorce, but then the guy who was a real jerk starts doing things to save his marriage, and how you have to have the same love Christ has for us for your spouse and its just amazing. Everyone, go find it and watch it. Its not a Mormon film, but it might as well be. It had sooo may gospel truths. wow. Sis Lemos and I talked about it for three days after. And even the Elders liked it, haha.

Yesterday was Sis Lemos' birthday too, and I made her pancakes =] we had lunch with Mercia and Monica and a bunch of other people, and there was cake and ice cream and it was just good fun =] Its amazing the love the people have for us here. I remember for my birthday, I couldnt understand or speak hardly at all, but still people had a party for me and just showed so much love =D What a great example to me of who I need to be!

Anyway, I think thats about it for the week. I love you all and pray for you every night!!!!! Remember to read your scriptures and pray and that Heavenly Father loves you!

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 : Você não vale nada, mas eu gosto de você....

The subject is a line from a song that everyone is playing over and over here. Translated, it means "You´re worth nothing, but I like you"

So not much to report this week. No baptism for us. Just working hard, teaching, and serving. I get home every night and just fall into bed. Its good though =] I love the members here, and they, surprisingly, love me too! Giselle (our recent baptism) started crying Saturday night because someone mentioned that I would be leaving in 5 weeks. I remember seeing Mercia and Monica feeling the same way about Sis Jacobs, and I remember wondering if I would ever touch anyone's life in such a way that they would feel that strongly about me. Amazingly, I have. I feel soooo blessed to have that love.

Not much else to report... I do have a hilarious story though!

Sis Lemos and I left the apartment Friday and were walking down the street, when a man called to us from the other side and motioned us over. We went, and he introduced himself as Pastor William, and invited us to his church up the street on Thursday. He told us that he would "free" us from our church. We smiled and invited him to church on Sunday. He accepted, and shook Sis Lemos' hand, then mine, and, continuing to hold my hand, he asked "You, you´re from Europe. Are you German?" and I said "No, the United States" and he said "Ah! I knew it!" (..yeah, whatever dude). Then, haha, this is the BEST part. He continued "And your family, they're all there right? God is blessing your family right now. But! I have the Spirit, prophesying to me that your mother... Her health isnt well. She's not well at all" At this, I think I got a surprised/incredulous look on my face, because he gripped my hand tighter and asked "Is it true?".

I grinned and responded "Well, yeah. She's dead."

Oh man, familia. The LOOK of his FACE. Without saying a word, he dropped my hand and turned away. Sis Lemos and I laughed for about 15 minutes straight. I think I will forever remember his expression.

Well, I love the mission, and I love you!!! The gospel is true!

Mon, 31 Aug 2009: Ya poi

Então familia,

Since this letter is only 4 days after the last one, i dont have anything too exciting to report. The work is going great--we're teaching a lot and have a lot of investigators. Our goal is 8 baptisms this transfer. We´ve already got 2 marked (Joana and leandro) and this week we're going to mark 4 more. Oh I love this work =]

I gave a talk in church yesterday about missionary work. I was basically like "My job is to teach. its the responsibility of the members to find people", because really, thats the way the missionary program should be working. I also talked about why i'm a missionary--because i love these people and i want them to have eternal happiness. Because Jesus Christ atoned for our sins and left us His gospel, and unless we follow that path, we cant have exaltation. Its the same way that, unless you follow the course program in a university to be a civil engineer, you can't recieve a diploma to be a civil engineer. You can't study history and get a degree in math. You cant follow any other path and get a celestial degree, entendesse? And this knowledge was restored through a prophet. Its SOOO important to make this known. And people think that if they dont believe it, it means its not true. Unfortunately (or fortunately!) there is a truth, and ignoring it won't make it go away.

Im still surprised how easily the language is flowing for me. sometimes i have people that are like "i have no idea what you're saying", but thats rare and unusual--i think they just get it in their minds that i have an accent and that they cant understand it, because after 10 minutesx of talking they understand. Or the spirit helps...Probably that one more than anything, haha

Anyway familia, I hope you all know that i love you and pray for all of you specifically. Stay firm in the gospel. Love each other.

~Sister Wilkinson

PS: The foto is a little guest that we found in our apartment. Sis Lemos killed it good.

Wed, 26 Aug 2009: So today was transfers....

And guess where I am now?

CARUARU!!!!!!!!!!! No joke! This will be my 4th transfer here! That means i'll spend about 6 months here total, which is 1/3 of my mission! Oh man, I seriously love this little town. And Sis Lemos is still with me, and Elders Stewart and Lucas are still here, along with Elder Halvorsen in the other ward. Only Elder Flaith got transfered, and we were all sad to see him go. But now he's Zone Leader! Woo! I'm glad I have 6 more weeks here! The next Transfer is 7 Oct. (HOW is it already almost September?! Whoa)

We didnt have any baptisms this week, but this transfer is going to one of amazing miracles, i can already tell. We also have the marriage of our little family, Joana and Leandro. I am SOOOOOO excited I get to be here for that! They are SOOO awesome! Theyre doing family prayer and reading scriptures and oh man, I just love them.

We did have some fun adventures this week. I wanted to do something nice for the Elders, so we decided, for our morning jog, to run to their house and leave something on their door for them. (sis lemos didnt want to, but after a rousing game of rock paper scissors, I was the victor!) So, departing from our house at 6 am, we ran for about 35-40 minutes to literally the other side of town. But when we got there... I forgot the name of the street. After about 20 minutes of searching, Sis Lemos was like "give up! lets go home!" but Sister Wilkinson does not give up! So I called the Elders and asked for their address. They were suspicious but gave it. We finally found their house and left balloons and some chocolate for them on their front door, then left nd called the Elders again. They were panicking because they thought we were calling for their address because Presidente was coming (he sometimes shows up unannounced to see if you're doing what you're supposed to) and they were frantically cleaning their apartment, hahahahahahahahaha. We told them to check their door and hung up. But then, this whole week, they didnt mention anything, and we thought they were planning somethjing, and we didnt want to mention anything until they did. But finally yesterday we told them, and they were like "we checked the door and there wasnt anything!" So apperantly, in the two minutes between us leaving and them checlking the door, someone stole everything. Thats Brasil for ya. But hey! Good story, ne?

Other things this week... We made coxinhas with an investigator, had a couple really fun FHE's with members and investigators, and we found some good new investigators and taught some good lessons and just had a lot of fun doing it. I'm loving life here in Caruaru =] I was talking with Giselle (our recent baptism) last night and I was telling her how I can't believe I feel soooo much love for people that two months I didnt even know existed. It's amazing. I just feel like these people are are my family (well, they are!). But I want so much whats best for them, and When they're happy, i'm happy. And when they're sad, I cry with them. A girl in our ward, Cybelly, who was baptised just before i got here, had her dad die Saturday night... And its really tragic because he shot his brother, then himself. We visited her Monday night and the minute she saw us she started sobbing and my heart was just breaking for her. Sis Lemos taught her family (who arent members) about the plan of salvation. But I remember after mom died, I was sooo sick of people telling me about the plan of salvation, that i'd see her again, etc, because even though I know that and believe it with all my heart, it still hurts and the pain is right there in that moment. I told her its ok to cry, and that the Lord knows exactly what she's feeling because he felt it Himself. That's what helped me the most, and what I needed to hear. She has a LOT of support from the girls in the ward (Mercia and Monica) that are good friends with her... She'll make it through. She has a LOT of faith and is a lot stronger than she realizes. But if any of you want to pray for her, I know she'd appreciate it.

Anyway, I hope all is well with everyone. Thanks for the love and support and especially the emails and letters!!!! They're worth more than gold for missionaries, you have no idea!

Fotos:

1) Our district at our last district meeting yesterday... awwww

2) making coxinhas

3) the surprise we left the Elders!

4) Giselle told Sis Lemos she had ugly shoes, hahahaha, so then giselle tried them on

5) having fun at FHE =]

Love you all!

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 : SEIS MESES!!!!!!!!

Yes Familia,

Tomorrow marks SIX MONTHS that i´ve been on the mish. That means less than a year from now I´ll be back home. Oh, that's strange. I have SO MUCH WORK TO DO in such a short amount of time!!!!!!!!!!

Well, this week has some great stories. First off: BAPTISM!!!! (see fotos)

Andressa and Giselle, two 14 year old girls (cousins) who are among the most prepared people I have ever met/taught to be baptised. My goodness. They accepted baptism without question and stayed firm in the decision, and everything we taught and everything we left for them to read they remembered and started teaching the rest of their family and friends. We had their baptism this Saturday (the 15th), and the Elders had a baptism too, Taciane, who is such a sweet girl and I love her like she´s my own baptism =D

Fun story: Elder Halvorsen and I were looking at the water in the baptismal font, which is a lovely dank yellow color, and I said, "The water's clean, it's just got a lot of dirt in it" which makes no sense at all, and E Halvorsen was quick to point that out and tease me about it the rest of the night "This cake is vanilla, its just got a lot of chocolate in it" "This shirt is white, it's just got a lot of black in it", etc. What I MEANT was that the water was fresh--it wasnt yellow because of algae or whatever, so its clean. But its yellow from the dirt thats in the water here in Caruaru. Oh well, makes for a funny story, né?

Here's the other fun story of the week! A lady in our ward has these (creepy) little monkeys, and I foolishly let one climb around on me. I usually detest small animals/birds on me, because they always poo/pee. And guess what? This time was no different. He hopped away from my shoulder, and I felt like something was different... I turned to E. Stewart and said "Elder, please tell me there isnt a wet spot on my shoulder" and he started laughing and said "There is". Sis Lemos had THE most horror-struck expression, hahaha. I laughed too--what else could I do? Not everyone can say they got peed on by a monkey on the mish!

Next week is transfers, so i wont be sending out an email until Wednesday.... I think i´m going to be leaving my beloved little city of Caruaru =[ I've already been here 3 transfers... thats a long time in the mish. But I love the people here and I love this little city--I know it like the back of my hand. But the Lord knows where he needs me.

Fotos!

1) Me, E. Lucas, Stewart, Halvorsen, Sis Lemos. (front) Taciane, Andressa, Giselle

2) Sis Lemos, Andressa, Giselle, Me

3) Elders Stewart, Lucas, Halvorsen (he's so adorable--I hope I have sons as cute as him)

4) Elen and I (She´s a baptism of the Elders two weeks ago who just LOVES me--sticks to me like glue every time she sees me. But thats alright because I adore her)

5) A picture I drew of our district. We all have little things that we do that are sooo distinctive--I have my sandles, Sis Lemos is laughing at E Stewart doing his retarded impression, E. Lucas is always quiet and always has his backpack, E Flaith always does the thumbs up and ties his tie differently, and E Halvorsen has a natual faux-hawk and has this goofy smile.... Its hard to explain, but Sis Lemos was cracking up because it just fits everyone perfectly.

Anyway familia--ate a semana que vem! Keep reading those scriptures, keep praying!!!!! The Lord loves you and wants whats best for you!

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 : QUE semana, minha nossa

Dearest família,

First off, I LOVE getting fotos from people!!! Thank you everyone who has sent me some. Just try and shrink them down a little, so that they're under 1MB, because my mailbox does not have much space, and it gets filled up really quickly!!!

Also, don't send me forwards.

Anyway. Wow. What a week. Minha nossa. I´ll go chronologically to preserve sanity

MONDAY! We went to SERRA NEGRA!!!!! (observe fotos) Oh man, it was SO fun! It was Sis Lemos and I, the Elders in our ward (Stewart and Lucas), the elders in the other ward (Flaith and Halverson) and Elen, a recent convert and her sister Cris. It was a couple long bus rides and a beautiful hike and an absolutely breathtaking view (once again, look at those fotos!) Wow. We had a lot of fun, and i don´t think i´ve laughed that hard thus far on the mission. Elder Stewart and Elder Flaith together are absolutely hilarious.

TUESDAY! Was Zone Conference, and I got lots of letters from people, so that was great =] We had a lot fo good training and I gave an imprompteu talk in Portuguese and everyone was like “What the... Sister, you KNOW portuguese!” And we had a great lunch at the churrascuria after also. It also POURED, like it has the past two conferencias.

THURSDAY! We went to a members house to help her clean out a room in her house as a service project. Oh man, it was hilarious. It was full of JUNK, and me and Sis Lemos and Elder Stewart were like “JOGA TUDO!!!!” or “Throw it all away!!” and she was having a REALLY hard time letting us, because her husband died only a month and a half ago, and to her, this junk represented the sacrifices he made for her and her familia. But really..... it was junk. We’re talking old water bills from when they lived in Germany and puzzles that were missing half the pieces and things like that. She got really upset about halfway through and left.... And we just threw everything into the trash really fast and organized the rest into boxes and put it back in the room. It was pretty funny, because she came back and was like “You’re right, its junk, just chuck it” I wish I had before and after pictures, but I forgot my camera. We also found some hilarious old clothes that we had fun trying on. I’ll try and get those from Elder Lucas.

The rest of the week was filled with some awesome experiences. Sis Lemos and I discussed what we need to do to be better missionaries, and we decided Obedience is the key to everything. Its the key to having more faith and the key to getting blessings. We’re pretty obedient, but one thing we’ve been slacking on is getting home on time at night. So we prayed and said basically “we´re going to do this to be more obedient, we ask thee to bless us with this work”. And boy does the Lord bless people who truly seek his blessings. We were able to get the marriage papers for Joana and Leandro done and just so many other little things.

We´ve also noticed this week how much we’ve been guided by the Spirit in who we need to visit and what we need to say. Especially with Joana and Leandro, our cute little happy family. My goodness, we love that little family. Leandro is having a hard time because his mom doesnt like Joana, and at first she was fine with them getting married, but now she thinks its too rushed (even though theyve been together three years and have a baby). Its amazing HOW HARD the devil works against us. But we have God on our side, and with Him, we can´t fail. But Saturday night we had na appointment, but we randomly decided to go see Joana and Leandro. And we arrived right after they had a fight about Leandro’s mom. We were able to talk to them and help Leandro a lot. He really wants to get married, but he’s afraid of his parents. We also helped calm Joana down and smile. The Elders are helping a lot with Leandro, talking with him “Man to Man” or whatever. Its good =]

Also, we´ve been working with the members more this week. Last night we again randomly decided not to go to an area and went back to near our house. Sis lemos asked if there weere any members nearby, and at first I couldnt think of anyone, but then I remembered Dona Dora, who loves having the missionaries for lunch and is always anxious for the little spiritual message we leave after and is always quiet at church. I never really talked to her much except at lunch. So we went by, and again, arrived in the right houe—just in time for FHE! And her non-member husbannd, who usually doesnt participate, stayed, and really liked the message we shared. Dona Dora was sooooo excited to have us. She told us we’re welcome at any time to come by. I felt really good about that, and I know that the Lord guided us there too.

Então, familia, keep being great, keep reading the scriptures and PRAYING. Its those small things that make the difference between who is baptised and who isnt, and ultimately, who is saved and who isnt. I know that this work is a sacred work, and Im so happy to have a small part in it.

Fotos:

1 and 2) Sis Lemos and I being cool

3) Sis Lemos and I at Serra Negra!!!!!!

4) Elders Stewart, Flaith and Halverson

5 and 6) The view. AMAZING. I love beautiful green Brasil!

7) Elders Stewart and Flaith believing they can fly

8) The group (E. halverson, sis lemos, me, Elen, E. Lucas, Cris, E. Stewart and E Flaith)

9) Warriors of Zion

Until Next week, love you!

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 : E Agora, Jose....

Oi familia!!!!!!!!!!!

We´re going to Serra Negra today, which is this pretty hike/viewpoint here in the Interior of Penambuco. I´m way excited =] Look for pictures next week! This week I dont have any because we didnt have a baptism.

But!!!! We marked the baptism of two girls, Giselle and Andressa, who are friends of Mercia and Monica, my frist two baptisms. They´re 14 and love the church. I was so happy when they accepted I almost cried. It´s amazing how much I love these people that i´ve known for three months.

It´s funny, because our mission focus is baptising men, because the church needs more priesthood holders to grow. And even though we focus on men and finding men and contacting men, we still have a ton of women joining the church, almost without trying. Goes to show, ne?

Sis Lemos is great. We´re best friends. We goof off a lot together, and work hard too and really see success with our labor!!!! I feel like I can really be myself with her. And being with the Elders is fun too. Elder Stewart likes to pretend to be retarded around Sis Lemos because she gets soooo embarrassed and tries to get away from him, while eu and Elder Lucas laugh. Oh man, I havent smiled so much in my life. I can´t stop grinning!!!!!!!!

Em fim, eu quero dizer que eu sei o evangelho é verdadeiro, que esta igreja realmente é a igreja de Cristo na Terra hoje. Eu sei que Joseph Smith foi um profeta chamado por Deus, e que ele restaurou a igreja e tranduziu o Livro de Mormon,que é a palavra de Deus e testifica que Jesus é o Cristo, o Salvador do mundo. Eu sei que este evangelho traz TANTA felicidade em minha vida, e já eu vi tantas milagres nas vidas de outras pessoas. Eu sou tão grato por estar aqui no Brasil, por servir meus irmãos e irmãs no evangelho. Sou grato que eu posso aprender português, eu amo. Este é realmente o melho tempo na minha vida. Quero batizar todo mundo!!!!!!!

Remember to pray and read your scriptures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!