May 20, 2009

Well you´ll never believed what happened, yep transfered again!! To a City really close to Campinas called Paulinha. I have a new Brasilian companion and once again missing English. It´s hard changing all the time. I loved those people in Rio Claro and sister martin!! I saw Sister Souza yesterday during the transfer she is going home in 5 weeks and is doing well it was great seeing her and we are in the same zona so ill be seeing her every week at district meetings. So I got the package from Grandma. I won´t be needing anymore facewashes again while on my mission. Thanks Grandma!!! We had one baptism in Rio Claro a Senhora about 53 years old who is involved in the government stuff here in brasil it was cool talking to her. I need to learn the vocabulary of govt stuff in Portugues. I am here my first day in Paulinha I hear it´s a great area. We live with a member who washes our clothes so that´s cool. I feel spoiled! The area is huge and I hear the ward is huge too!! So I am excited to find families to teach! I love you all rachel

May 13, 2009

Hello Family!! It was great talking to all of you Sunday. Today It seems like that was so long ago… Anyways, the mission is going along. It´s weird the people I meet here, members and investigators I feel like Ive seen them all before they seem so familiar to me. As we were teaching an investigator the first lesson she said she had a dream with me in it if that´s not cool. On the mission heaven seems so close and the pre-existence wasn’t that long ago. Yea dad it´s a constant fight with people, Ive helped a couple living together marry in Campinas and we are teaching two more families that need to be married too. Serving a mission in today´s world is rough. Everyone just lives together, no one is married so it takes a lot longer to baptize people. We have a baptism this weekend a 52 year old lady, she´s really cool and involved in the school systems and political system here in Brasil. She has run for mayor and stuff. So I am going to go home and learn all the political terms in Portugues today to better understand her and Brasil!! I am going to try to find a book for little kids about Brasil. There´s a used book store close by. So far my mission I have baptized 3 people all the age of 50 or there abouts. I am really trying hard to find families!!! I am hoping for this one family, I talked to the dad on the street the other day, he´s married with four kids all the age of baptism, I really want to teach them but it´s so hard finding everyone in casa. You know how it is having teenage kids and how life is already on the run. Imagine the mom is taking a class at the college and working full time. Crazy lifestyle, we´ve already invited her to be baptized and she agreed. So it´s a slow process definitely. Anyways, Hope you all are doing great and enjoying life. The days are long and really hot in Brasil but somehow I am surviving. Focusing on Christ´s life really helps, thinking about how hard it must have been for him, it gets me through the tough times. But thanks for all the support you give me and love. Miss you guys and love you too!!Rachel

May 6, 2009

Hey Family,This week was the Best week so far on the mission. I am so excited to be a missionary, I finally have found confidence and strong desire to share the gospel. It was a process of gaining a testimony of the atonement of Jesus Christ. We found a really cool family to teach this week. I found this black man on the corner of a road and walked up to him and said hi I am a missionary of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints what´s your name and he said Jefferson. I asked if he attended any church and he said no and I said I have a meesage that will change your life that we would like to share with you and your family. I then got his address and found out he´s married and has two daughters ready to be in YW and We are going to teach them Friday the first lesson. We found a family of 4 girls, 12,13,14,and 15 years old who we´re going to go back and teach too. The night we found them they followed us home to see where we lived. We went home to grab some cake to take to them and as we were going back out there all 4 of them standing outside the gate to our apartment smiling and yelling at us. Its cool they are all giggly girls, they couldn´t stop laughing as I was talking to them because of my accent, hahaha… they are a ton of fun. We are filling up the YW organization in our ward, 7 new yw, get out!!! It´s crazy. We had 10 investigators at church and found a family of 8 people, 6 kids and parents!! Crazy… I am on fire look out!! Hahaha, no, the Lord is really blessing us, it´s all about obedience and fasting and praying and talking to everyone in the street. I am loving the mission!! We had a crazy down pour of rain and the weather is getting really cold. I saw my breath for the first time in a long time yesterday morning as sis martin and I were waiting for the bus to go to our district meeting!! Crazy!! I Love you, Rachel

April 29, 2009

Yeah everyone wrote me!!! I feel so loved! It´s so great hearing from all of you. thanks emily for the picture of cinder Ive been dying here because I forgot to bring a picture of her here on the mission. Dad I did respond to your email and like you I lost it and was too mad to rewrite it. the disease!!! I am learning a lot of diligence on the mission something I have alwayed lacked in my life, a routined schedule but it the healthy way to live that´s for sure. missionary work has definitely evolved into much much more than just one thing! But it is great I am loving it.We had a multi zone conference yesterday and we all got yelled at to repent. My mission is the most rigorous mission with the most rules in all the world I think. It´s interesting, and i am learning to love rules and the commandments that keep us safe from the traps of satan. We learned a lot on how to simplify our teaching and our purpose is to baptise. our goal this month of may is to have 300 baptisms in total. I am learning so much that the mission is setting the tone for the rest of my life. It is the time I have to draw close to the Lord to find my strength and confidence in the Atonement, to take everyday as an opprotunity to be better. oh and yesterday I bought a big mac meal from mcdonalds with my card it was good and American. I love you ALL!!!!Rachel

April 22, 2009

So I am glad you emailed me, this was the only email I recieved today. I hope you got my last email?? Anyways it is awesome having an american companion it´s cool learning the language with her she has a way bigger vocabulary because she´s been here for over a year and will be going home this August! We are having a ton of fun. The members love us and are feeding us like crazy, I gave a talk last sunday about missionary work and I talked in portugues for 15 strait minutes, I wasn~t paying attention to the time and didn´t leave any time for the closing speaker that was embarassing!! I felt like the spirit was just talking through me you know, I didn´t really prepare I have a list of scriptures and a quote from Pres Hinkley, it all came together at the pulpit. So missionary work is getting easier I read the talk from the last conference about enjoying the journey by Pres. Monson and so I am enjoying the journey of being a missionary, learning portugues, talking to crazy people and finding those that have truly been prepared to be baptised. this week we recieved a referal from the elders. a woman entered into a chapel talked to a bishop that was there and asked to be baptised! She lives in our area and passed by her house a number of times but never found her home. finally one day it was a Holiday called Tira da dentista and we found her home. We arrived in the first lesson at the part where we talk about Joesph Smith and invite her to be baptised (yes we drop the baptisim invite every first lesson) and I was teaching, everytime I began to talk to say Jospeh´s name someone was at the door yelling her name, this happened 3 times and during the quote of the first vission Í saw a pillar of light...´and so Satan was definatly trying to distract her. We invited her to be baptised this Sunday, way soon, huh? But she accepted the invite and now going to her house every morning sacrificing our study time and of course her house is in no man´s zone of our area, but BAPTISM! She´s entering into the kingdom. anyways sister martins and I are having way too much fun, we picked tangerines off a tree in the street yesterday and I guess in December the streets are just filled with mangos. I found a fruit called caqui that I love and Maracujá is to die for.

April 15, 2009

Sister Martin and I are doing great we are finding familes to teach! It´´s great. This palce Rio Claro is the most religous place I have ever been in. Churches at every corner and on weekends we pass and listen to them screaming yelling playing loud gospel music. Still frusterated and at a loss of words. I am always feelng unqualified for this work I dont have a cool conversion story or experiences to share attending other churches I am just boring Sister Davidson carrying a heavy load of responsiblity to share my testimony. I found this boy miguel this week who is 18 smokes 10 packs of cigarettes a day and for some reason I have hope that he´ll serve a mission some day. We are going back to teach him Saturday. Everyone is catholic or Evangelist so it´s rough teaching people and correcting all the wrong doctrine they´ve been fed all their life. But it´s been interesting us two americans in Brasil; I am so scared for the next transfer they want me to be qualified to be a senior companion, I ám, not ready for that!!! I am constantly bearing my testimony in sacrament meeting and giving talks trying to gain the confidence of members so they´ll give us references. I am sick Beans and rice and roast and potatoes and just want like a salad or something, (nacho libre).

April 8, 2009

Well thanks for all your prayers I feel like they´re being answered. You´ll never guess what happened this transfer... I am with an American companion, Sister Martin from Texas and we are in a small town called Rio Claro. It is a huge blessing! I am really excited to work with her and to learn and teach from her. She has 3 more transfer left and will be going home in August. Today marks 6 months on the mission for me can you believe it?? Time is passing, 12 more to go. I am learning how to have fun here on the mission, joking in Portugues and feeling more comfortable being an american missionary in brasil. A mission has definitely gotten better. Well I got to watch all of conference it´s in the white hand book that we need to watch all sessions of conference, cool, huh? I absolutley loved the talk of the Atonement by Jeffery R Holland, I think?? But it was so powerful. it´s so interesting this conference lots of talk about the temple and being excited and enthusiastic. I also liked the talk about fear and faith. lots of wonderful words and counsel we need to take and apply in our lives and we will be blessed and cared for. Oh and also the talk that talked about members need to be involved in the missionary work. really good stuff... I really excited to be here with Sister Martins and hope we have really good success here in helping this ward to grow. Everything seems better here, the apartment, the people, the culture, finally out of the big city. the church is true, Jesus is the Christ, we have the blessing of this knowledge and hapiness in our lives and it is our responsibility to share it with others. we need not fear for the Lord is on our side and will be there to touch the hearts of those we share our testimony with. Love,Rachel

April 1, 2009

I am so grateful for the members who help us out. It makes all the differnce in our success. So last week here, I am feeling I am going to be staying again here with sister souza, wouldn´t that be great, she has become my best friend and are planning to meet up after the mission because she´ll be going to BYU afterwards, in 2010, when I´ll be home. this week am marveling at all the programs the church has to offer. the YW program for example and just everything, such blessings and makes a huge difference in family life. hey Being a missionsary is such a sacrifice, I don´t have a life it´s all about serving the Lord, everything I do has to do with missionary work, I can´t escape it, it controls me, but it´s all good. . It´s really interesting everything, living here, speaking the language, being Brasilian for 18 months, such a wonderful opportunity and privilege. Read preach my gospel and you´ll understand more about my call as a missionary, what I am doing everyday, what challenges I face on a daily basis, etc... I love you!!!rachel

March 25, 2009

I recieved my package yesterday it felt like christmas, Tell grandma thank you thank you. It felt so incrediably good to get stuff from home. it was a happy moment. the shoes are perfect I haven´t tried on the shirt yet but it looks like it´ll work out great. I have enough chap stick and sun screen to last me all my mission i think and beyond. Bekah sent me some chap stick and sun screan too! funny. So I have learned about living in big cities from my time here in the center of campinas. No thank you! It´s crazy, lots of homosexuals, prostitutes, you name it it´s here. Thank goodness for mission rules, home by 9:30 at the lastest. So the work is really slow here. the apartment buildings are numberless and we can´t knock on doors there so we´re stuck talking to people in the street and everyone just works here and lives in the area of other missionaries. Great huh. This week was a lot more fun because my attitude is changing. I just smile and try to speak portugues. the ELDERS are all worried about sister souza and I. It´s strange, they called us yesterday to talk to us about how we´re doing. I learned there are three types of missionaries, ones who work hard and change and become better, ones who stay the same and fight all their mission to never change, and ones who become worse, slack off the whole time and fall away from the church. It´s interesting the life of a missionary.