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