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