3rd Transfer!

Oi! Family and friends! Feliz Natal! Merry Christmas to all those not speaking Portuguese :) How are you all doing? I hope this Christmas season finds you all happy and sparkly, or very hot and fireworky like here in Brazil! This last week has been CRAZY! I have no other words to describe it other than CRAZY! I spent most of the week in Goiania, I stayed with Sis. Nall in Novo Mundo which was super super fun! We sent our companions, Sis Ball and Sis Mills, off for America with a few tears and goodbyes, I was sad to see Sis Ball go, but I am also happy for her! Sis Nall and I worked really hard Monday night and Tuesday in her area and we marked two dates for baptism which was an awesome Christmas Miracle. It has been amazing to see the Christmas miracles that are happening right now in our mission, so many people have been baptized that were having problems, it has been amazing to see the hand of the Lord and the softening of peoples hearts here! Wednesday was our Mission Christmas Conference! All of the missionaries from our whole mission came into Goiania for the day before transfers that night! Sis Nall and I took the onibus through Goiania with some other elders in her area, when we arrived Christmas music was playing, the chapel and gym was decorated with Christmas decorations, and we had a bunch of missionaries in red and green! No place like Christmas in Goiania, Brazil! We pretty much spent the next three hours taking pictures, singing, eating, writing letters to each other, and just catching up with all of the other missionaries, it was so much fun! It was so neat to be with all the missionaries at Christmas and share stories about all the miracles we are seeing! Then we had a chocolate secret santa which was super fun, the chocolate I got was a little bit strange, but it was Christmas, so I just ate all of it anyways :) Then there was a talent show and we had some awesome talents! One elder blew up a balloon with his nose! Other missionaries sang or played piano or did magic! It was an awesome night! We then had a huge Christmas dinner, where I think I ate a cow a pig and a horse all put together, but it was just soooo good! After our massive dinner, we had TRANSFERS! And two crazy things happened! First, I got my companion, her name is SISTER LIMA! My first Brazilian companion! She has one year on the mission, is from Fortaleza, and she is a very happy, outgoing person! I am super excited for this transfer with her because I know we will see so many miracles! She loves the gospel and loves sharing it with others! The other great surprise is Patos de Minas now has another companionship of sisters! There are four sisters here and only two elders! This was very strange for me, we actually have enough missionaries to split our area into three, we dont have to walk for two hours to reach our investigators, this is a HUGE BLESSING for our areas! Anyways, Thursday morning bright and early we left Goiania for Patos de Minas, what should have been a 10 hour bus ride, which is already long, ended up being 13 HOURS. The bus broke down three times, so we had to stop and wait for an hour or so each time, we didnt make it to Goiania until 11:30 pm that night, it was a very, very long day! But, we made it and our lovely members were there waiting for us to drive us to our houses, it was so nice to make it back to my little Patos. I truly feel at home here! Christmas Miracles! Alessandro, our eternal convert, was BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY! He called President Andre this week and said he wanted to be baptized! We got a call Thursday night! Well, we quickly set up an interview for Friday night and he was baptized Saturday morning at 8 am because his wife works all day! They are planning to be sealed in the Temple next Christmas with their three girls! This was such a huge miracle because he was not progressing for the last month and a half and missionaries have been working with him for eight months since his wife got baptized last April, but he said that he just woke up and knew he needed to get baptized, so that he could be with his family forever! He was confirmed on Sunday as well! Rodrigo, he is amazing! He received the priesthood this Sunday and is truly loving the gospel, he is growing in his testimony of the Book of Mormon, and walks to church every Sunday by himself an hour early just to be at church on time! Our other investigator, Alessandro, he came to church and stayed for all of sacrament! He asked us how long you have to wait for baptism! We just found him knocking doors, but he is totally ready for this gospel! We had a huge Branch Christmas Party Saturday night with tons of less actives and investigators! It was so great to be with everyone again and introduce my new companion! I absolutely love this Branch, they worked so hard to have a super fun, but spiritual activity! Also, they had a dinner, which is amazing as always :) President Kuceki has given us a goal of 100 contacts per week, we need to talk with 100 people per week. Well, since we spent half the week in Goiania and traveling on the bus, we have had no time to get 100 contacts. Well, the zone leaders called us Saturday night and gently demanded that we get 100 contacts by Sunday night. Well, I will be honest I thought there was no way we would be able to do this! I only had 20 contacts for the whole week! Well, we cancelled all of our lessons for the day and walked through Centro and the Bus station for five hours, miracle or miracles it is Christmas, so everyone was walking and shopping! Well, Me and Sis Lima were able to both get 100 CONTACTS! It was seriously such a miracle, but I have truly never talked with so many people in Portuguese in my life! The Lord absolutely provided a way :) Remember, the Lord can do anything. He is a Savior of Miracles. He can soften anyones heart. He loves us and it is only through him that we can return to his presence. Remember the ultimate gift we have in our lives is our Savior. What better gift can we give then to share this gospel and the gift of the Savior with someone else during this Christmas season? Lots of love and Merry Christmas! Sister Brotherson

2nd Transfer in Brazil

Dear family and friends! Merry Christmas or Feliz Natal em Portugues! I hope this email finds you all happy and cuddled up in your blankets because from what I have heard most of you are freezing to death! I am sorry that it is so cold for you all because it is a blazing 90 degrees here every day and I am pretty sure I am as red as a lobster! I need to use more sunscreen! I promise I put it on like three times a day and it is never enough! Anyways! I do not even know where to begin! This last week has been absolutely exhausting! With it being Sister Balls last week, we were running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to get everything done for her, for our investigators, and for our ward! Well to start out the week, two families decided to have family home evenings this last week which was awesome, but that meant we needed to plan them! Food, activity, lesson, tudu! So, we invited all of our investigators that we could and less actives and NO SA! We had such a good turnout for both FHEs, it was seriously a miracle! We even had a crazy man from the street come in and listen and he was super Evangelical, and thought that we mormons were crazy, but he came in and listened to the message and was silent the whole time! Rodrigo was also at one of the Family Nights and he totally loved it, the ward is realy stepping up to work with him and fellowship him in the ward which is so awesome! We also were sitting in church last Sunday when President Andre, gets up and announces a missionary fireside for that Wednesday, haha we all turned and stared at each other in shock because we had absolutely no idea about any of this! Well, we talked with President Andre after and he said that we needed to have a fireside, so in three days we put met every single morning and put together a fireside for Wednesday night! The turnout was not as good as we wanted, but for only three days of warning it went surprisingly well and the branch really enjoyed it! Of course we ate hot dogs after because everyone in Brazil eats hotdogs after any and every event! Well, then Friday morning rolled around and we got a call from our district leader, he said we had to go bail out the faunt because it was broken and had not drained since the last baptisms three weeks ago. So we spent Friday morning in the faunt using buckets to pour the bug infested water down the toilets. My arms and legs are still hurting! But, we did HAVE A BAPTISM FOR RODRIGO! He is seriously the most humble, spiritual young man I have ever met! And he was just so ready to be baptized! I truly feel so blessed that we have been able to teach him and work with him! In our last lesson with him he asked if he could receive the Holy Ghost on his knees because he saw a picture in the pamphlet of Joseph Smith on his knees receiving the priesthood... WE tried really really hard to not laugh, but it was just so funny and he was so serious! We said we would talk with our district leader about this... The baptism went really well and ALL of the young men were there to support him, it was so awesome! Then we spent Friday night packing for Sister Ball and cleaning the apartment and at 3 am we got a ride to the Bus station and waited for three hours for the bus! We then rode the bus for ten hours, got in super late Saturday night, and Sister Ball left me :( I am super sad about this, but I know she has completed her time and it is time for me to have a new comp! So I am currently staying in Goiania with another sister until Wednesday when we have transfers and our Mission Christmas Conference with a TALENT SHOW! So excited! We also got to watch the Mission Choir sing in a concert last night which was super awesome! I am super excited for my new companion! But, also slightly nervous about someone new! I know it is for the best! Merry Christmas, I love you all! I know this gospel is true and I am so grateful for all of the wonderful blessings it has given us! Sister Brotherson

A Few Pictures from Houston and Arriving in Brazil

Week Number 6 in Brazil!

Querida familia e amigos! Como voces estao?? Alright, I will switch to English now because I think that is much easier for all of you to understand! This last week was super good, a little bit difficult, but still awesome! I just love working with Sister Ball, I am seriously learning so much from her! She is very wise and is basically the perfect missionary and SHE IS LEAVING ME! I am so sad about this, but she is actually finishing her mission next week and will be returning to her home for Christmas! I will miss her a lot, but she has faithfully served for 18 months! So with her leaving and me being companionless, we will be traveling to Goiania AGAIN on the onibus! This Saturday for ten hours! You know I never thought I would spend over 50 hours riding a bus in my first month in Brasil, but that is exactly what I am doing! We are leaving Saturday at 4 am for a ten hour bus ride and then I will stay in Goiania with other sisters UNTIL WEDNESDAY when we have transfer meeting! I have no idea who my new comp will be, but I am excited and nervous and have all sorts of feelings! We will stay in Goiania next Wednesday night and then take the bus back for ten hours! I am nearly positive my next comp will be Brazilian, so I will be speaking in Portuguese 24/7 :) Sometimes, Sister Ball and I slip into English... not a lot, but sometimes! More news! We are having a baptism! His name is Rodrigo, he is 16 and so golden it is ridiculous! I am so excited for him! A less active, Yuri, came to church last week and brought his friend Rodrigo who just moved her and is looking for a church! Well we scooped him up real fast, went over to meet Rodrigo last week and taught him the Restoration! He totally accepted it and loved it! We then invited him for seminary on Wednesday and he walked with us all the way there, it is is like a 40 minute walk! Well, when we got to the chapel, Robinho, the teacher was there, but he said seminary was done until school started again! We were like WHAT?? NOOO!!! Well, miracle of miracles, three other seminary kids showed up and we taught Rodrigo the third lesson, and showed him the baptismal font, and the spirit was so strong, and everyone shared their testimonies about the restored gopsel and then we challenged him for Baptism on the 21st of December and he said CAN I BE BAPTIZED SOONER??? Now, this does not happen very often at all! But, he is getting baptized this Friday, the 13th, the day before we leave! His father has passed away, so we taught him the Plan of Salvation and he just has so many questions! He prayed and knows the Book of Mormon is true and wants to be baptized so badly! Truly a miracle in our lives! We taught a lot of new investigators this week! We are having trouble with getting people to church. A lot of people say they will come and then the morning of they cancel. We are praying hard to figure out what better we can do to get our investigators to church and for them to have an enjoyable experience! We are still working with Ozvudo, Jacqueline, and Marcia. We challenged for baptism last week and they said no, they are not ready to take that step, but they want to keep meeting with us. Jacqueline is super ready and totally has a testimony! Every time we go over she has so many questions and just wants to read the Book of Mormon with us, but her parents are not fully supportive yet! Pray for them! This week we knocked A LOT A LOT A LOT of doors. I am still trying to gain a testimony of knocking doors and we actually did teach a lot of lessons and we found quite a few new investigators, I think I will have a testimony of this eventually :) It was super, super hot on Friday! WE got super, super sunburnt! Ouch, my skin still hurts thinking about it! I have never been so red in my life! And then on Saturday, it totally DOWNPOURED! Like there were rivers in the street and we got soaked head to toe. We had almoco or lunch about 20 minutes away NO SA it was loco! We were super scared to go outside because there was so much rain, thunder, and lightning, but we said a prayer and somehow we made it to almoco! Completely soaking wet, but safe! I have never been so grateful for my yellow shoes, my blue rain coat, and my green umbrella! I make quite the fashion statement here in Brazil :) I just want to leave my testimony with you that this Church is true. That when we choose to keep the commandments, all the commandments, we will be blessed. The Lord wants us to be happy in this life and to learn and grow. We are here to prepare to return to live with our Heavenly Father. Sometimes we are given challenges, but they are ALWAYS FOR OUR GOOD. The Lord never gives a command without FIRST PREPARING A WAY. If we have faith in the Lord, then all things are possible through him. That is essential in Missionary work and in life in general. We need to remember the sacrifice our Savior made for us. And truly the sacrifice we are asked to make is so small in comparision with the Atonement. I am grateful for this Christmas season where I can remember my Savior and all that he has done for me. I am so grateful I have the privilege to share this message with everyone! Hurrah for Israel! We also learned how to make Pao de cuejo this week! Ah it was so delicious! And we found Papa Noel! We took a picture with Santa! And I have awesome tan lines on my feet! Loves, Sister Brotherson ps Here are some funny moments from the last few weeks! Everyone here eats corn with hotdogs and burgers and it is super good! A drunk man stopped us in the street, began to sing, and then shook his butt. We walked away very quickly. Another man told us the world had AIDS and that we were all going to die, oh and he sang to us too, I guess random singing men is common here in Brazil?? Who knew? I got gum stuck on my shoe. We visited Irmao Kennedy again and put up his tree again... I am still trying to come to terms with this. Apparently, the missionaries have done it every year for well forever? We will be eating there again this Friday and I am praying that the tree does not lean one little bit! Whenever we leave our house, there is a very large apartment building with construction workers, they have begun whistling at us and drawing hearts at us. I think we will invite them for baptism next week :) That is all for now! Oh the funny things of being a missionary!

Oh Brazil I Love You!

This last week was Thanksgiving! Except Brasil does not have Thanksgiving, yet we still had HUGE almocos every single day, so basically I eat Thanksgiving dinner every single day! This week was a lot better! We definitely saw some major mirales and my testimony of fasting every Saturday, knocking doors,and contacting on the street have all grown a lot. We found a family knocking doors about two weeks ago, the parents are actually married which is a miracle here in Brazil! We had taught the first two lessons and were not sure if we would continue teaching, but we walked in that night and Jacquline, the daughter who is 14! She ran in saying I have three members in my class and I want to go to Seminary and I read the Intro of the Book of Mormon and prayed and I know that it is true! Ah the Spirit was so strong and we were so excited for her! We invited her for seminary, but she did not want to go without her parents! Well, Ozvuldo and Marcia, were not so sure they wanted to go to the church and were very evasive. But,the next night we went by the church to talk with President Andre and Guess who was at the church?! Ozvuldo, Marcia, and Jacqueline for seminary! And Ozvuldo and Marcia were talking with a bunch of the other parents! It was such a miracle! And then all of our investigators cancelled Sunday morning for church and none of them were coming, but we had fasted and prayed so hard that we would have at least one there! Well, we decided that sitting in our apartment Sunday morning was not going to do anything for us, and it is so true, The Lord will give you miracles when you are up and moving and doing the work! As we were walking to Ozvuldo, Marcia, and Jacquelines house we ran into a less active who was bringing his friend to church! We then got to Ozvuldos house, they had said they would not be able to come because they were at the farm. Well, Ozvuldo was sitting outside his house! We walked right inside, woke up Jacquline, and said we will see you at church in twenty minutes! We were not quite sure if they would come, but THEY CAME TO CHURCH FOR ALL THREE HOURS AND THEY BROUGHT THEIR COUSIN who wants to learn more! Ah we saw so many miracles with our investigators! Tiese brought her boyfriend who we will start teaching and our less active brought Rodrigo who we taught yesterday! He is so golden it is ridiculous! We also had a baptism for Mariana! She was already baptized haha. But they lost the paperwork, so she needed baptism and confirmation again. We still had to teach her all the lessons and her mom is not active, so we were able to work with her a lot! Sorry I dont have more pictures or more time to write! Love you all, the church is true, keep praying, and answers and blessings will come! Sister Brotherson

What I Am Grateful For...

Querida Familia e amigos! Another week in Duckberg! It rained a lot this week, I am grateful for the coolness because it has been super hot and sweaty especially walking up giant hills all day every day! Feliz por Dia de Gracas! Unfortunately, Thanksgiving is not celebrated here in Brazil, but I will celebrate with Sis. Ball in our tiny, little apartment! This week I want to share what I am grateful for because I have much to be grateful for! I am grateful for my body. That I have a strong body that can work hard and walk for miles every day. I am grateful for my mind and spirit that I can continue to develop attributes of Christ every day in my mission. I am grateful for my family. For their love, support, and example to me. I could not serve a mission without them. I am grateful for the members in Brazil, in this little Ramo. They already make me feel right at home! We eat meals every single day with the members and they always hug and kiss me on my cheeks when they see me! They like to touch my hair and ask if I am American or Brazilian and they always tell me I speak really good Portuguese, haha I think they are just being nice! I am grateful for Sundays, days that we can have time to partake of the sacrament and remember the sacrifice of the Savior. I am grateful that we have a day set aside each week for this opportunity. I am grateful for our investigators, those progressing and the new ones. I am grateful for their desire to do what is right, to change their lives, and I am so grateful that I can be here to see it. I am grateful for Sis. Ball. I am ever so grateful for her love, faith, and desire to serve the Lord. I am especially grateful for her patience with me and how diligently she works every single day to teach me and help me. I am grateful that the Lord is helping me to share the gospel every single day with people on the street. That we walk into peoples homes every single day and teach about the gospel and that I have a chance to tell others about the Restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I am grateful for my Savior. For his sacrifice for me. That the Atonement can and does change peoples lives every single day. I am so grateful that I can share this knowledge with others and help them come to the understanding that they have a Father in Heaven who loves them and has a plan for them. That I can share my knowledge of the Savior and Atonement with everyone. This week was difficult, we have not been able to find a lot of new investigators and we were rejected a lot. I am grateful when people are honest and just tell us they do not want to listen. A lot of our investigators were not home when we went by and none of them were at church on Sunday. But, I know with all of my heart the Lord is mindful of this work! I know that his hand is here in Patos and he will direct the work every single day if we are faithful and work hard! Miracles! We did find a few investigators with a lot of potential all because we knocked doors! I will gain a testimony of knocking doors eventually! We had no luck on Saturday afternoon almost all day, but finally we were able to teach two different women that evening and they were both powerful, spiritual lessons! Thought for this week. The gospel of Jesus Christ requires sacrifice. We need to sacrifice something every single day to be closer to the Lord. This gospel, this church, is a gospel of sacrifice. Joseph Smith said we do not deserve salvation if we are not willing to SACRIFICE EVERYTHING for the Lord, just as he did for us. Truly, my sacrifice as a missionary is so small in comparision with what the Lord did for me and what he does every single day. Love you all and I am so grateful for all of you! Flying high from Duckberg, Brasil and Happy Thanksgiving for all of you! Enjoy the torta bobra! Pumpkin pie! Sister Brotherson

Another Week in Duckberg

Patos means Ducks, we have started called Patos de Minhas Duckberg! Haha very funny! I love Patos! Very green, hilly, beautiful! Hot, but not overwhelmingly so! It has rained three times this week, like it is sunny and beautiful and BAM! the clouds come in and it just downpours! We have been caught in it three times now without umbrellas or jackets, I have a lot of clothes hanging around our house drying at the moment! My legs do kill, we have probably walked three marathons in one week, but I figure with time it will get better! I am just adapting! We knock a lot of doors during the day and have races to see who can talk to the most people! Apparently I talked to 40 people this week, but I think that is a slight exaggeration because Sis Ball had to help me everytime :) I am trying though! I am teaching two small parts of our lessons now! Super scary, but I am doing it! I finally read through a whole chapter in the Book of Mormon and understood eveything! I still only understand maybe percent of what people say, I am recognizing more words though! We had some very funny, crazy expereriences this week! We helped a crazy Brazilian man take down his christmas tree. We then took off all the decorations, he probabably had like 300, we organized all of them from biggest to smallest, very strange! I guess he is OCD? He wants us to go back next week and put up his tree again? I guess the missionaries do this every year for him? OH and he said he has more decorations for us to put up :) He talked really loudly to me because He figured I did not understand anything which was true, but he does not need to yell! Anyways, very very funny! I also had my first run-in with a Bible Basher! Man they sure get going! He talked for almost forty minutes just talking and talking and talking! I only understood a little, but finally I was so angry, frustrated, and JUST PLAIN SAD for this man that felt the need to literally drag my religion and beliefs through the mud that I decided I had had enough. In very small, simple words I shared my testimony with this man who was so lost! I told him what I knew with my whole heart to be true and that he had no right to say these things because he had never read the Book of Mormon and he needed to read it and pray before he said these things! I felt the Spirit testify to me so strongly that this church is true and we have a Prophet today. I know without a doubt! By this point I was crying and well yeah :) He thanked me for my sincere testimony and said He was grateful I stood up for what I believe in! Which was really good! Spiritual Experience: We have an investigator who knows the church is true, but he is struggling a lot with being baptized. I shared my testimony in English, so that he could see that no matter what language you speak in, the Spirit will testify. We testified of temples and how his family can be together forever. His wife was baptized about eight months ago! They have three little girls, I hope and pray that his heart is willing and open. I guess that is the first time that he actually sat through a whole lesson! It was amazing, the Spirit was so strong. We teach a lot, some great lessons, some people not very receptive. But, we work hard and will find those who are ready! This is going to be hard, but I know with the Lord I can do it! Love you all and have a wonderful Thanksgiving! My address is on my blog! Loves, Sister Brotherson

Most Loco Week of My Mission!

Querida familia e amigos! I have probabably had the most crazy week of my mission! I do not even know where to start! Let us begin with I GOT MY VISA! I AM SERVING IN PATOS DE MINHAS, BRAZIL! A city that is TEN HOURS CAN I REPEAT TEN HOURS away from Goiania, where the mission home is! I was happily sitting in Victoria, Texas in an interview with President Ashton, my former mission President, when he said about two weeks ago on a Tuesday that I HAD RECEIVED MY VISA! Totally crazy! I cannot even believe that I got my visa! Anyways, I packed up real fast, finished out the week in Victoria, and saw some seriously AMAZING MIRACLES with our investigators, less actives, and new converts! John, our recent convert received the priesthood, and we had a ton of less actives and investigators at church that day! I got to bear testimony and I had prayed so hard that everyone would be able to feel the spirit during all the testimonies that day! It was seriously amazing to hear EVERYONE bear testimony of the power of the Atonement and how the gosel had changed their lives! Then Monday morning, I said goobye to Sis. Bianchini :( that was very sad because I love her so much! We drove to Houston, I flew from Houston to Atlanta, met up with a bunch of other missionaries who had received their visas including ELDER ARCHIBALD, from my MTC District! Totally Loco! We talked a lot and then flew on a plane for nine hours to Sao Paolo, Brazil! While waiting in the airport in Sao Paolo, another friend showed up! Elder Gardner, another elder in my MTC District, going to the SAME MISSION! We parted ways with Elder Archibald, and flew from Sao Paolo to Goiania, it was raining when we landed, but Goiania is totally beautiful! Brazil is super, super green! With lots of rolling hills and trees and plants! Our Mission President and the APs picked us up! We rode with President Kuceki to the mission office where we had a huge meeting with him, the APs, the secretaries of the mission, and 19 other missionaries! There were four sisters in our group, but A LOT OF ELDERS! I understood maybe 30 percent of what was said during this meeting! Luckily, we had a translator! That night we ate at President Kucekis home with his wife and children, he has seven kids! The youngest being only one, just like my family! The food was totally delicious and it was super fun to speak Portu-Engli-Spanish (Some of the missionaries are from Peru and Argentina!) Sis. Hathaway and I, another American missionary, stayed in a hotel. The next day we went to transfer meeting! We made it just in time for transfer week! I was put with SISTER BALL! She is 23, from South Jordan Utah, and has been serving in Goiania for 16 months, she leaves after this transfer! I absolutely already love her so much! She speaks perfect Portuguese, corrects me all the time, has already taught me so much, and is pretty much just amazing! I am so grateful for her and that she is the one training me because Brazil missionary work is TOTALLY DIFFERENT! On Thursday, we took a ten hour bus ride to Patos de Minhas! We taught three lessons, knocked doors, she made me speak in Portuguese to people I did not know, and I got to bear my testimony a few times! We then got a call that we would be going back to Goiania for a SPECIAL MISSION CONFERENCE WITH PRESIDENT COSTA, the Area President for Brazil. He was coming on Monday! So, we packed up and took another ten hour bus ride on Saturday back to Goiania! We stayed with some other sisters in Novo Mundo, went to church, went on splits with sisters I did not even know and then went to Mission Conference on Monday! It was super exciting, yet again my understanding was minimal! I did the best I could and felt the Spirit so strongly! I was able to really learn some new things that I could apply to my work as a missionary. This is not my time, this is the Lords time. He has called me here. He needs me here. I will learn Portuguese, I will learn how to work here, I will learn to love the people, culture, and language, but I need to be patient. This is a trial and a test and I will learn slowly with patience if I am obedient and work hard every day. On Tuesday, we then took another bus back to Patos de Minhas and finally today is P-day! My week has been absolutely crazy and exhausting, but I am excited to finally get to work in this area! Sister Ball has been here for one transfer and she is going home after this one, we are pretty sure that I will stay in this area and receive a new trainer, but ONLY I WILL KNOW THE AREA AND OUR INVESTIGATORS! It is hard to not feel overwhelmed, but I know the Lord will guide me! Yes, it is super hot! Lots of people, I only understand about 20 percent of what people say. I probably get laughed at a lot! I study, eat, breath, read, and think in Portuguese all the time now! Sister Ball corrects me a lots, but the words are slowly starting to come back. After one week in Brazil I can finally hold a small conversation and bear my testimony and teach parts of lessons! I have so much to learn though! We eat a LOT OF MANGOS, fruit, pao or bread, rice, beans, and meat! The city is super busy, we ride buses all the time or walk all the time, WE talk with everyone on the street, we go to random baijos or neighborrhoods and knock on doors! Everyone lives behind walls with doors in the wall, very strange! There are bugs in our house all the time, we kee the windows and doors open at night because it is so hot, and I think there is a lizard living in my window? I absolutely love it though :) This will be the biggest challenge of my life! I am so excited to start and work so hard these next 15 months in Brazil!!! Lots of love, Sister Brotherson ©

My VISA Came...I'm on my Way to BRAZIL!!!

My VISA finally came and I am on my way to Brazil on November 4th.  I won't get there until Tuesday and I won't be able to email until next Monday probably...so excited, I can hardly believe it!

A Bunch of Pictures!

I Have Never Been so Physically Exhausted in My Life!

Oi Familia e Amigos

Somehow this week was the most exhausting week of my mission so far, but IT WAS SO WORTH IT! We had teaching appointments every hour of every day and if an appointment did fall through, then we ALWAYS had someone to teach that was either walking down the street or just lived in the same neighborhood or apartment complex and we felt that we should try talking to them. I feel asleep every night absolutely exhausted, but I felt the hand of the Lord in our work so significantly. We worked so hard at finding new investigators and we were so blessed with so many people to teach.

It is truly amazing to see the Lord's hand in this work every single hour of every single day. I am constantly amazed that if we are EXACTLY obedient and have faith then we will be placed in the right place at the right time. I studied the gift of the Holy Ghost a lot this week because the role of the Spirit is so intertwined with our work as missionaries. To truly be able to find and teach by the Spirit, we need to respond to every good though that we have, not just what we think comes from the Spirit.

I have also been realizing more and more that the Atonement is symbolic in so many areas of our lives. That the birth of a new child, baptism, going through the Temple, being married and sealed in the Temple, these are all symbolic of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I am realizing more and more how if we use the Atonement in our lives, then we allow ourselves to be healed physically, spiritually, emotionally, in every way possible. The Savior is waiting for us to reach out our hand to him and if we take that first step he will help us to become completely clean of everything. We don't have to feel the hurt anymore.

This week was amazing! We received new investigators right and left, who I just know have been prepared by the Lord. They are the kinds of investigators who have some things to work through, so it will take a lot of faith and prayers, but I know that if it be the Lord's will these people will be baptized and be able to change their lives 100 percent.

We had a lesson with a less active named John who has been starting to come back to church, he called us that morning and said you better change the lesson because my Mom is sitting in with us today. Uhhh... his mother had never said more than two words to us when we went to his house. We went over not really knowing what to expect, but J said she had never sat in on a lesson before, so we felt the pressure. We taught the Restoration and oh that woman has such a good and willing heart! She shared with us her desire to have what we had, she wanted the light that we radiated. She wants the gospel and she sees how it can change her life. We are so incredibly excited for her! It was amazing to see this woman's complete turnaround to never speaking to us, to completely opening up about her problems and asking how she could be clean from them.

We had to give up J G this week to the elders :/ It was a sad day for us, but we realize that he  will relate better to the elders because they are the same age and they will be great priesthood holders for him to look up to. We still get to see him at church and Institute! He is also still getting baptized on November 16 :)

We taught seminary this week! Very humbling to have children sleep while you are trying to teach. And let's just say that 5 am is very, very early compared to 6:30 am.

This week our recent convert came to church FINALLY and is able to receive the Aaronic Priesthood next Sunday! We are so excited for this and have been praying extensively over this miracle!

I know this is God's work. These are the Last Days. He needs each and every one of us to share the gospel with just one person, so that another soul can be brought to the truth. I have seen the hand of the Lord in this work and I know without a doubt that he is mindful of all his brothers and sisters on the earth. All we have to do is reach out our hand to him and take the first step. I know without a doubt that as we read the Book of Mormon, a spirit of peace and joy will come into our lives, this book testifies of Jesus Christ. This book testifies of Joseph Smith as the Prophet of the Restoration. And if we abide by its precepts we will be happier and more blessed than ever before.

Thank you and I love you all!

Sister Brotherson

God is a God of Miracles

Querida minha familia e amigos!

Como Vai? Muito bem! I want to focus on the miracles that I saw this week as we put our faith in the Lord and truly tried to do his well. Miraculous things happened as a result. I'll be honest, this has probably been the longest week of my mission. I don't know why it felt so long, but there was just so much going on during the days, that when today, P-day finally rolled around, I felt like the week had lasted for a month. They say the days are long and the weeks are fast in the mission. I guess we are in our fifth week of the transfer, I am almost done with my first transfer, that is a super strange thought.

I am falling in love with Victoria more and more. I love the weather, the people, the kindness, and especially the members. I think you can truly go place anywhere in the world and you can always find people who needs love and kindness. I am definitely seeing that in Victoria. I am praying with all of my little heart that I am not transferred.

This week, our less active family's future son in law, who is our investigator, all met together so that we could teach a less on faith and repentance. The family is parents and their daughter, they are all members, but haven't been active in years, but they all want to come back to church. Their daughter is engaged to a young man, they are getting married in May, but we showed up this week to a perfectly clean home, the TV was off, and we all sat at the dining room table for the lesson ( now these things have never happened before.) Usually we sit in the messy living room, with the TV on, phones on, and we don't always have the Spirit, but this time it was a complete 180 change. The son in law that is supposed to be baptized on December 7 was completely open to our message and he is totally reading the Book of Mormon and praying. They wanted to be married in May, we were praying for a miracle that somehow they could be married before December 7! How in the world was that going to happen?? Well, it did. They told us this week they wanted to be married in the next few weeks by the Bishop at the church! Talk about a complete change of heart! Ah, it was such  HUGE MIRACLE!

Secondly, J. Goodness, he is the most amazing, prepared young man that I have ever met. A less active man, named Bro. S, who is starting to come back to church started working with J at T this week. Let's just say that J met with Friday, accepted for baptism, we had the most spiritual, amazing lesson about the Restoration that I have ever had in my mission  thus far, he came to church, had the second lesson on Sunday, is being taught twice more this week, and he read six chapters in the Book of Mormon last night when we only asked him to read one. When I asked him if he would be baptized, the date that we had prayed about and felt strongly about was November 16, but for some reason when I asked him I said November 14 or 16.... He just stared at me with shock and then said yes. I said what is the matter and he said How did you know? Essentially, he his mom had a baby  three years ago, and he completely changed his life around for his baby brother, whose birthday is November 14 or 16, except he can't ever remember. I know without a doubt that the Spirit spoke through me in that moment. I felt the Spirit testify to me of that when I spoke.

All in all, it has been a great week :) A little rainy, a little sunny, great members, and the work is picking up all over, not just here in Victoria, but all over the world. Our members keep calling us all the time with referrals and we keep getting random calls from less actives or inactives who haven't been to church in years, saying they want to come back! This work is hastening and the Lord is absolutely, perfectly behind it and I know it without a doubt.

If you will pray to have missionary opportunities, I know that they will come. Be faithful and seek out those opportunities, you never know who is ready and waiting!

Love, Sister Brotherson

My Official Two Month Mark!

Oi familia e amigos! 

Eu amo voces muito! I hit my two month mark today and I cannot even believe the time has flown so quickly! Granted, I have only been in the field for three weeks right now which makes my claim of being on a mission for two months, not quite as valid :)

Did you know that Victoria, Texas is in the 80's and super sunny in the middle of October? I did not know a place like that existed on the earth, but it does and I quite enjoy it :) I have two really neat experiences that I want to share this week and then I might get a bit preachy :)

First, we are teaching a less active family, Sister Bianchini has been meeting with them all summer. They all FINALLY came to church on Sunday, plus our new investigator, their future son in law. They also paid their tithing. They don't pay their tithing, it was seriously a miracle. We dropped almost all of our investigators and our baptismal dates at the beginning of last week and we then turned around doubled our investigator pool and got a baptismal date. The Lord is truly mindful of us. We have been gardening an older lady's home all week, we are seriously amazing gardeners! Mom, thanks so much for making us weed and garden and mulch all summer, it definitely came in handy! We got to hear a member of the Seventy on Friday, he was fabulous! He just has so much knowledge and wisdom about he gospel, he told us things that I have never even thought about! I hope to someday be half as smart as him after studying the gospel for fifty years!

Conference was stupendous. I need to go back and watch it because I received so much revelation that I have to go back and just study what was actually being said! I have such a testimony of the Prophet and his apostles, they are truly called of God, they study, pray, ponder, and receive inspiration for us. All of those talks were absolutely inspired. I know that every single talk somehow taught me what I need to improve as a missionary. They also all applied to our investigators in some way or another.

I think the two of the biggest focuses of Conference was member missionary work and going back to the basics of the gospel. I cannot tell you how amazingly crucial it is for members to bring their friends, co-workers, and neighbors to the missionaries. There are only two missionaries, whereas there are hundreds of members who are out and about everyday! When nonmembers are able to feel of  the Spirit in member's homes and be taught there, the conversion process literally sky rockets! Please introduce your friends and neighbors and co-workers to the missionaries! We cannot do this work without you! Also, praying morning and night, diligently reading the scriptures, and keeping the commandments convert us unto the Lord. We have to go back to the basics to increase our Faith and draw closer unto the Savior. I know as you do these things, the Lord will bless you ten times over!

I love you all and  thank you again for support, prayers, and love! May God be with you in everything you do.

Sister Brotherson

2nd Week in Victoria, TX

Hello family and friends!

Thanks again for all the birthday wishes! They mean a lot :)

 

Well, this week was amazing! So many great things happened and so many great things are happening in this mission! Our zone is the highest baptising and doing confirmations in the whole mission right now! Let's just say two of those baptisms and confirmations were ours Saturday night! We have an older lady in our ward who joined the church four years ago, her granddaughters came to live with her and my comp, Sister Bianchini has been working with them for the past few weeks! Their names are Khoriah and Kamrenea! They are 13 and 10 years old and they were just so excited to be baptized and confirmed, they have such sweet, simple testimonies.

 

We watched conference this weekend mostly at the church, but we did watch it at a less actives house with a non member and a recent convert, it was seriously a miracle! They all really enjoyed it and we are hoping to go back and teach the non member! It is amazing to me how appointments will cancel throughout the day, but we always manage to end up finding someone to teach a lesson! The Lord is so merciful and always gives us the blessing of a lesson almost every day!

 

We are working with a lot of less active families that we are trying to reactivate, we also are working with a lot of part member families and the non members are our investigators right now. They are such solid investigators, they are really striving to learn for themselves! Honestly, member missionary work is SO IMPORTANT! That is how people are truly converted!

 

I truly did love conference this weekend, it was super inspiring! I loved Elder Oaks talk and President Monson's about his, I just cried through the whole thing. We get fed like four times a week here in Victoria and seriously the ward members have been so kind and welcoming to me! I feel right at home and I have only been here for two weeks! We eat seriously delicious meals and it is going to be a problem... good thing Sister Bianchini and I are running every morning for our work outs! Also, it is super hot here! I cannot believe that it's October and like 90 degrees out! North Dakota is the complete opposite and everyone is always shocked when they hear where I am from. I do absolutely love the weather though because it is so nice!

 

I did cut my hair to just about my shoulders :) Long hair is just too hard to deal with when you are in the heat all the time! Let's see here are some neat experiences from this last week! We were asked to teach seminary Wednesday morning on 2 Nephi 4:17 which was awesome! Reading Nephi's thoughts about himself as a servant of the Lord really touched my heart. We were able to find two new investigators last week, when we went to teach other investigators and instead found random family members at their house! We were able to teach the Restoration to both of them and they invited us to come back! We went to a lady's house last night out in the country and she seriously had 50 kittens running around her front yard, I guess that's common?

 

We were also totally doged this week. We went to teach a lesson with an investigator and she drove away right as we pulled up! We went to the door, her daughter answered, and then we saw our investigator drive pass us five times for the next twenty minutes while we started to teach her daughter. It was kind of unfortunate that she was wanting us to leave, but it was super funny once we got into the car!

 

This week, Elder Golden, of the Seventy is coming to speak to us at a huge mission conference! I am super excited to hear him speak to us and to get special training, it will be AMAZING! Also, this week we got a call from our district leader and he told us that we ARE OPENING THE CHAPELS! We are one of fifty missions in the US to be starting this and we had two days to come up with a plan for the classes and activities that would be available to the public! We are so EXCITED! This is an amazing way to get people into the gospel and to find out who is truly interested! They will be presenting out plan to the Stake President and other Bishops this week, pray that all goes well!

 

I love you all and thanks again for all of your support :)

 

Love, Sister Brotherson

 

ps. no word on the visa yet!

My First Week in VICTORIA, TEXAS!

Querida minha familia e minhas amigos!

Alright if you want to write me or send me a package then please send it to this address:

 

104 Spur Dr. Victoria, Texas 77904

 

This is the member's house that I live in, so it is easiest to just send things to this address! I will try my best to write letters this week at some point when I have more time! If I get my visa at some point in the next few months, I will send out a quick email saying stop sending stuff until you know my new address, but for now you can send letters and packages here :)

 

Como vai?! o Como estas?! I think I need to start writing in Spanish because everybody here speaks lots and lots of Spanish! I am in Victoria, Texas! It is this smaller, country town about an hour away from the Coast and it is SO PRETTY! It actually reminds me a lot of Fargo, North Dakota because it is so incredibly flat and green, but the similarities pretty much end there because it IS SO HOT! I am not quite dying every day, but the heat combined with the humidity is turning my hair into a greasy, fuzzy mess!

So, you are all probably dying to know about my last week and everything that has happened to me since I haven't had P-day for like a week and a half! My trainer/new companion is Sister Bianchini! She is a red head, pale with freckles, huge brown eyes, has been out for eight months, sings SUPER BEAUTIFULLY, and she is from California. She is also super sweet, down to earth, and loves the gospel so much. I keep making mistakes like not backing her out of the driveway and she just laughs at me. Everyone has told me that I am so lucky to be with her and that I could not have a better trainer which is so true, I feel so incredibly blessed to have her and the Lord is already working miracles in our lives!

We live with a single lady/member named Sister Hastings. Her husband passed away a few years ago and she loves having the Sister missionaries live with her. She is so super nice and sweet; I just love talking to her about everything because she knows all sorts of things about Texas and has been teaching me Texans really talk like "ya'll" and "all ya'll" and  they say "golly" ALL THE TIME! She is super nice and sweet.

Well, I adore the Ward with my whole heart! They are so welcoming and kind! They feed us every night and everybody is absolutely fascinated when I say I am from North Dakota and when I introduce myself as Sister Brotherson. They all think I have the funniest name ever and that I am from pretty much a different country. I just laught about it and say, "Yes it is very cold in North Dakota and yes Texas is much hotter and why does my family live there well, I don't know that is a great question :)"

My mission president is Brian K. Ashton and his wife, Sister Anderson, were so welcoming to me last week when I got off the plane! We went to the mission office that day and there were about 15 elders and sisters that were brand new to the mission, so we unloaded all of our luggage, did interviews with the Mission President and his wife, ate dinner at the mission home with the AP's and senior missionaries, and then we had a testimony meeting. Unfortunately, I left the MTC at like 2:30 am, so we were all dead on our feet by the end of the day, but I tried really really hard to stay awake! I am truly so impressed by my Mission President and his wife. He and his family, they have seven children, they are so kind and so welcoming to us. He truly has great expectations and the two things he told me to do were to be exactly obedient and to work hard! I promised that I would do everything I could keep these two rules and then he promised me that everything would fall into place. Wednesday night LAST WEEK I stayed with some other sisters at a senior couple's home. On Wednesday, we had a ton of training classes that morning with the President, his wife, and the AP's, so I learned a lot about mission life and how to teach! They then shuffled us all into the chapel, the newbies sat on one side, while the trainers sat on the other and they just called our names out and that's when I met Sister Bianchini! It was then transfer day for the rest of the mission, so everybody else from the whole mission that was being transferred all had to come into Sugar Land that day! The chapel was packed because so many missionaries were getting transferred! They just put a huge slideshow up and put people's pictures together it was surprising that it was done so publicly for everyone to see!

Also! My birthday was fabulous! My companions TP's my room which was so kind of them and they made me a photo book of our district and zone with cute notes from everyone, it was super super sweet :) The elders in my district also decorated the whole classroom with balloons, paper towel streamers, and they drew all over the board! Every time I walked into the room they started to sing Happy Birthday in Portuguese, it was quite hilarious!

 

Anyways, you probably want to know how mission life is going! Sister Bianchini and one of her previous companions opened this area (called white washing) just about four months ago. This area hadn't had sister missionaries in YEARS! She has literally built the work up from the ground! It has a long way to go, but so many miracles are already taking place and there are so many people being prepared to hear our message! Well, we have taught a ton of less actives this last week who are trying to get their lives back in order to come back to church. I have never had to be so brave in my whole life because we just show up at less actives doors when we don't have appointments and just walk in their house! This mission works solely through member/investigator referrals and street contracting, so I have been talking to lots of random people I do not even know, but it is amazing to see the Lord's hand in missionary work. Every day we have been blessed with a lesson whether it be a less active or a random investigator when other appointments fell through.

We taught this sweet elderly couple last Thursday, my first day in the field, and they have not been active for many years, but we taught them about the Sacrament and how important it is to take the sacrament each week, I am not a big cryer, but I was sitting there bearing my testimony when tears just started to fall! We all felt the Spirit so strongly testifying of renewing our baptismal covenants through the sacrament. It is amazing to me that I can be taught so much through what I am trying to teach others! We also taught a less active lady named M who is pregnant and living with her boyfriend, he is interested in the discussions, but we haven't taught him just yet. She came to church on Sunday and she has not been at church in years!

Two of the less actives that we taught this last week were at church on Sunday along with one of our investigators and a recent convert!  On Saturday, a little boy named Jonathon, age 14 was baptized and I was asked to speak at his baptism! I was so nervous, but I figured I might as well get my feet wet, it went well and I was grateful for the opportunity I had to share what I knew to be true with him and his family, and the other ward members. On Sunday, we had a ward musical fireside, set up by the elders and it was awesome! So many people performed and I guess it has been in the works for months! I sang a duet with my companion and we sang "Come Thou Fount" and it went pretty well! I'll be honest, some of my notes might have been off, but we were a capella and I have not sung in front of people for years, so it was just neat to share my testimony through song! I was also asked to share a scriptural message about five minutes before the program started, so that was again very exciting! A lot of investigators and non member families came to the musical fireside on Sunday night, so we have a lot of following up to do this week! I am so excited because we have so many lessons planned for this coming week! Oh, also we have two baptisms this Saturday after conference! I cannot take any credit for these because Sister Bianchini has been working with these two granddaughters of a member for months and they finally committed to baptism, but I do feel very special to be given this opportunity to see them enter the waters of baptism!

I am realizing more and more that missionary work depends on my desires and on my faith. I need to want to and desire it so badly! The Lord will then bless me when he sees that I am working as hard as I can to find people and teach the gospel to everyone. I am realizing just how inadequate I am and how much I have to learn as a missionary. I just want to study all the time, but I also want to be out finding and teaching all the time! It is a hard balance to find :) I know that through the Lord I can do anything and that he will bless me. Also, I need to be patient because the Lord's time is not my time and often what I want it selfish, whereas he knows that I need to learn patience and humility!

 

I love you all so much and thank you again for the birthday wishes and the good lucks that I have been getting from everyone :) It means the world to me and I am so grateful!

 

Love, Sister Brotherson

I'm On My Way To...

Querida minhas familias e amigos! 

Como vai? Oi! Come esta? I am doing just great and I'm sure you are all dying to find out where I am going.... since I have been reassigned to the United States to await my VISA! I have received a second mission call and I will be serving in TEXAS, HOUSTON SOUTH! I fly out Tuesday morning and I AM SERIOUSLY SO EXCITED! My new mission is right on the coast of Texas and it's super super hot! It's going to be so nice!  I was kind of in shock because Texas was one of the last places that I was thinking, but hey if the Lord needs me there then I will be more than happy to serve there! The MTC has been a great training ground for the mission field, but I am so ready to finally get out into the field and teach people what I know WITH ALL OF MY HEART to be true :) 

Alright, this week was probably one of my longest weeks. I got a really bad cold last Saturday and it has just been horrible all week. Hopefully it starts to clear up right as I leave, but I decided that it was a test and I was going to pass it! There was no way I was going to sleep in or skip out on my personal study or missing class just because I felt sick! Nope! I got up every single day and only took an hour nap one day during free time! So take that cold sickness!

This week was neat because we did a lot of training for the actual field, like how to find investigators, service ideas, how to work with the members, and getting referrals WHICH ARE SO IMPORTANT! I am so pumped to be out in the field and to actually put everything I have learned to practice! I guess I could potentially be speaking Spanish in my new mission which would be totally nuts!!! I just learned Portuguese for six weeks I might as well throw in another language :) 

Exciting news! I had to redo my Online application this week which means that my visa is probably coming in the next two months or so, keep your fingers crossed! 

I finished the Book of Mormon last night! Can I just say that it was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had to be able to read the Book of Mormon in six weeks! I have never read it all the way through, but the love I have for that book and for the Prophet, Joseph Smith kind of shock me. I know without a doubt that the Book of Mormon is true. It was written by prophets of old who spoke to God and the Savior. That book was written for our day and by reading it you can know for yourself the truth. That Joseph Smith is truly a prophet of God and the Church of Jesus Christ is truly on the earth again today. Now, I am going to start reading the Book of Mormon in Portuguese, that should be fun :)

This week we spoke a lot of Portuguese and taught a lot of investigators! I can tell that when we plan for our lessons, the Spirit is truly there and will guide us in what to say. I have an absolute testimony of the Spirit and how it guides us and helps us. I also have had to learn a lot about patience and love this last week. I have loved serving in a leadership position, but it did not leave me a lot of time for study time or personal time. Yet, I had to be patient with the other sisters, with the Lord especially, and just love the sisters and the opportunity that I have been given to serve them and help them. 

I will officially be 21 on Sunday, so thank you family and Grandma Nancy for the card and the box that I got! I loved the touching words and the gifts Mom :) 

Eu amo voces muito con minha todo coracao! 

Sister Brotherson

One More Week in the MTC...Maybe!

Querida familia e mis amigos! I have only one more week in the MTC! Ahhhh I cannot believe that the time has gone so quickly, yet also so slowly! I have loved every second of it and honestly I have never felt better about myself, felt the Spirit more, or just felt like I was doing 100% the right thing. I just feel like this is where I am my best self without a doubt! I get my reassignment to the United States next Friday! I cannot believe it! If I don't get my VISA then I will go somewhere in the US, until my visa comes. I have good feelings though and I think I will be getting it within the next month for sure! One of my companions, Sister Haight, got her visa this week and AH she went through the Chicago consulate, so it is very possible that visas are going through that consulate rather quickly! We shall wait and see! I really am excited to serve speaking English in the US for awhile! I think it will be super neat to have both experiences! 

This week was amazing for lots of reasons! Sister Kron, my senior companion left and she was the other Sister Training Leader, so I was left in charge since the Zone Leaders also left! Sister Loo, was called as the other STL and she is seriously amazing! I love her so much! We had a lot of difficulties with some of the sisters this week, but she was so on the ball and she just knew exactly what to say, how to help, and where she needed to be to help these sisters who were struggling! I am so grateful for her and definitely count her as a kindred spirit.

This week we also did an English fast! I spoke Portuguese for a straight 24 hours with now English! It was so hard, but also so awesome just to see how far our district has come in four weeks! I mean I can speak Portuguese for a whole day! The gift of tongues and the Spirit are so real and true. I am so grateful for both of them! 

My district is still split, so there are only five of us in this humongous classroom with one teacher. We get a lot of personal training from our teacher and it has been so great to work one on one with our teachers! I still have a Brazilian teacher which has been great for pronunciation and figuring out what people actually say in Brazil! I now have James 1:5, the First Vision, D&C 4, and my purpose memorized in Portuguese, so that has been awesome! 

We are teaching four investigators! Andre, Sam, Jaime, and Junior! Three of them are super difficult and don't really care about what we have to say, but I know that without a doubt we will be able to help them if we just keep praying and listening to the Spirit! Jaime has committed to baptism and he is seriously having the best time with us! He is just so ready to change his life and he is just eating up what we say! 

A very funny thing happened yesterday :) My companions, me, and another girl in our district had a shaving cream fight in the showers in the bathroom. It was seriously SO MUCH FUN! We were completely covered though and had to clean up the whole bathroom, but it was so worth it! Unfortunately, we locked ourselves out of our room, so Sister Goodwin and I had to run to the front desk in soaking wet gym clothes to get a new key. Let's just say plan shaving cream fights accordingly and ALWAYS REMEMBER YOUR KEY WHEN GOING TO THE BATHROOM!

That is all for this week :) I love you all and am so grateful for all of you! I'll let you know next where I am headed for my reassignment! Also, it's my birthday in like oh eight days which is seriously weird and surreal! I will be 21! That is soooo old! I don't mind cards at all :)

Love, Sister Brotherson

The Spirit Is Everywhere! (more pictures)

Oi familia e amigos! 

Funny story from the week! We learned the word "que droga" which means oh darn or what drugs in Portuguese, but most people use it as oh darn in Brazil! So, we have been saying it a lot this week! Oops, we were told by a teacher that it's a SWEAR WORD in Brazil! Now, I don't know why somebody didn't tell us before then, but we have learned our lesson that you do not say words you don't know :)

Como vai? How are all of you doing? You know that I really only hear from one or two of you, so if you ever have time to drop a note it would be greatly appreciated! Just so you know I am already four weeks into the MTC! I will be either getting my visa or my reassignment in the next two weeks, so I will let you all know once I know! This week has been more difficult than other weeks for me because I truly have very little personal time, but I love love love spending my extra time working with the other sisters in our zone! I just love them so much with all of my heart! The Spirit has worked through me in so many ways, so that I would know what to say to help these girls when they are in need. Also, my district was split up this last week. It was probably the saddest thing ever! I have only been with my district for three weeks, but I already feel like they are my brothers and sisters. I just love them so much and cannot imagine leaving them! I was not expecting to be this close to them! Anyways, some things have been happening here. Our district was split in half and five of us were put with an older district and two new teachers which was just terrifying because the older district is two weeks ahead of us and they have much better Portuguese! The Lord obviously has an idea about these things though :) So, I now have a new district with 20 people and 2 new teachers! But, 3/4 of our new district is leaving on Tuesday since they got their reassignments today! So, we will be a district of five people and I have no idea how that is going to work out! Our old district may be put in with us again?? We have no idea! 

Last week we also got to do TRC for the first time and it was SO MUCH FUN! We just talk to random members who speak Portuguese and we basically do like a visiting teaching message and share an experience that we have had that might help them. It was so neat because there was no stress of teaching someone new, we just got to talk about normal things in Portuguese and I loved it! Also, on Sunday I had three meetings which took up all of my extra time when I wasn't at mission conference and Sacrament meeting. It was the first of the month, so we had fast sunday! We didn't eat for 24 hours which I normally do, but to do it with everyone in the MTC and then to have a huge MTC conference with the MTC President, Lon B. Nally speaking to us was just so amazing! I felt the spirit so strongly and I am always so rejuvenated on Sundays! I can just really think about my purpose for serving a mission and why I am here! 

We started teaching two new investigators this week, Jaime and Junior. Both are super different. One already knows everything about the gospel and pretty much shut us down about everything that we said! It was so frustrating to try and defend my religion, but I didn't have the words to tell him what he needed to hear. All I could do in the end was bear my testimony. I was pretty upset after that meeting, but I also realized that this was a learning experience and that the Lord was trying to teach me something. I won't always have the answers and sometimes all I can do is testify. Jaime is what we call a golden investigator, he knows something is wrong in his life, but he doesn't know what. He wants to change and he really believes the gospel is true. We had an amazing lesson with him and really felt the spirit with what we were teaching. \

Another neat experience happened this week, we are studying the third lesson in Preach My Gospel about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and my teachers decided for some ridiculous reason that I would be the role play investigator while they taught me the lesson and how to teach the third lesson IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE CLASS! I mean I have only been speaking and listening to Portuguese for three weeks! I could not believe that they wanted me to go up there! I ended up telling everybody I was from Canada and that I had only lived there for twenty minutes! Everybody was laughing and I was beet red! From there, the lesson did go better, but it was so nerve-wracking and I was so nervous the whole time! It made me realize how little Portuguese I know and how much I need to study so hard! 

Tuesday night we had David F. Evans speak to us at devotional and it was phenomenal! My mind was seriously blown topsy turvey! He just talked about the revelation that has been received in the last year for missionaries and how the work is hastening and the Lord has his hand in everything! We are already at 85,000 missionaries in the field, is that not amazing! When a few short months ago we were only at 58,000! Oh, you should all go and read Jacob 5 and apply the last twenty verses to the Latter days because you will be amazed at the symbolism. The servant of the vineyard asks not for more time, but FOR MORE SERVANTS! HELLO! Thomas S. Monson lowering the age and calling for more servants which are the MISSIONARIES! Just think about it okay :) The church is so true and I am so grateful for it! I have to say that my Portuguese is doing alright, I am super worried about being reassigned state side and losing all my language, but I am trying my best to work hard and retain Portuguese! 

I am just so grateful for this amazing opportunity that I have to serve a mission and share the gospel with people! I know this church is true and I know that it can and does change lives if you let it. Love you all and thanks for your support!

Sister Brotherson

Saying Goodbye in Utah Before Entering the MTC

Ellen and Heidi

Ellen and Grandpa Jack

Ellen and Grandma Nancy

2nd Week at the MTC a.k.a. I'm already losing my English!

Querida Familia e Amigos! 

Oi! Como esta! Ah! I cannot believe I have only been in the MTC for sixteen days, it seriously feel like I have been here forever! Well, here is the first bit of exciting news for this week...Last sunday one of our Sister Training Leaders had finished her six weeks in the MTC and was reassigned to Colorado, in our zone or branch our branch president does this interesting thing were the Sister Training Leaders are staggered every two weeks, so that there is always a senior sister training leader. Guess who the new sister training leader is for the next four weeks! Yes, that would be me! I am the new sister training leader for the 52nd Branch in the MTC and oh my do I feel overwhelmed! All of my spare time now goes to visiting all of the sisters in our branch, reporting to the Branch Presidency, and just helping the girls with anything they need, and now I have meetings early on Sunday morning! But, I am super appreciative of this calling and I know that the Lord will work through me to help these girls. I just feel so blessed that I get to spend my time helping and serving others these girls. We got new girls this week and it was so exciting! Sister Kron is my sister training leader companion, so we get to spend a lot of time together and she is just such an inspiration to me! She works so hard and just loves the girls so much! She is teaching me so much about how to be a leader, but also just how to love the people you are serving. 

This week has been so great and it has flown by so quickly! My companionship with Sister Haight and Sister Goodwin is going so well! Our Portuguese is definitely increasing, we have so much fun together, and we are really working hard when we need to! Our lessons keep improving with our investigators and I am really coming to love them and appreciate what they bring to our trio! Everyone says trios are so difficult, but I think they are the best kept secret ever! It´s so great to have three different, unique personalities that can offer ideas and can help in a lesson! We are kind of on an off week for our investigators, we are teaching our teachers who are pretending to be investigators, so it is great practice for teaching, but I do not feel as strongly motivated to teach. We do start teaching actual members of investigators tonight in TRC which will be crazy and super scary! We are teaching real people who have questions and concerns and we have to speak Portuguese the whole time! 

Also this last week my teachers had me teach alone just to see if I could do it. I felt so queasy and sick! They also challenged me to do it without notes and IT WAS A COMPLETE MIRACLE THAT I SURVIVED! It was 100 percent the Spirit working through me, but I actually did it! I taught a lesson by myself to investigators and I didn´t use notes at all! It is such a testimony to me that the Lord will bless you when you work hard, study hard, and are EXACTLY OBEDIENT! We also got to go to the Temple last week on Pday and it was so wonderful! The Spirit was so strong and I felt so much peace. The new video is super good too, so I encourage all family members to go and do a session, so you can see it! There is just so much more emotion! I loved it! 

I met with my teacher this week and he said I was progressing really well. I was grateful for his kind compliment because I have been working so hard to get the language down! It is still so stressful to speak in Portuguese when everything is so much easier in English, but i have faith that the Lord knew what he was doing when he had me learn a language! 

This last week, we sang Lead Kindly Light in the MTC choir at Tuesday night´s devotional and guess who spoke! It was Neil L. Anderson! We are so blessed to have apostles come and speak to us while we are at the MTC! I felt the Spirit so incredibly strongly when we got up to sing that song and the devotional was broadcast to all the other MTC´s around the world, how amazing! Elder Anderson talked about how we need to love what we sacrifice for and sacrifice for what we love. That makes so much sense especially with a mission! It started storming outside, so we had to run in a huge raining downpour back to the MTC from the marriot center, it was probably one of my favorite moments since coming to the MTC! 

I am already on my third week and I only have three more weeks! The time is going so quickly and I seriously feel like I have been gone forever, even though I haven´t been gone that long! In the Book of Mormon I am already to ALMA! Isn´t that a miracle! I have no idea how I have read so quickly, but again the Lord is here helping me to accomplish this goal! I can´t believe that I spend between fourteen and sixteen hours a day studying the gospel, Portuguese, and learning how to teach! I just feel like I have come into my own and that I am my best self as a missionary. I am working harder than ever before, I am more dedicated and disciplined, and I just gobble it all up! It´s seriously been amazing! I pray this feeling just stays with me my whole mission! 

Thank you again for everything and I am so grateful for the support and love! Please write dear elders or just letters, I do love getting mail! One of the highlights of my day! 

Com muito amor,

Sister Brotherson