Party Week

Ok maybe not parties, but we did a lot of celebrating this week!!

Still very busy with all the people we are visiting and I realized how long my email was last week so I will try to give a short update on them.

 Olivia is okay, more or less. When we called that night, she had just found out her brother in law passed away and was a little frantic. We read the book of Mormon with her this week and she said she would come to church but when we called Saturday no one answered…

Gabi-doing finals this week so we didn’t get the chance to meet with her.

Joiro- had SUCH a good conversation with him and Naide. We weren’t sure what message to prepare for them so we studied and prayed and decided to just go by the Spirit. He ended up talking about some of his doubts in the church and we were able to answer his questions about priesthood, the Book of Mormon, etc. Missionary work really is nothing without the Spirit.

Jailton- when we visited this week he had read 130 pages of the Book of Mormon! He is really showing interest in the gospel now and said that he wants to understand and know the church a little more before baptism, but that he thinks he wants to be baptized eventually!! He has the cutest house that he decorated himself and there is one painting I love on his wall. This week, he said he talked to the person who gave it to him and will get 2 more for me and sister Galdino! We love him.

Eduardo and family- living with their parents for the next week while their house is being remodeled. More to come…

Thanksgiving came and went without much excitement. It is dad’s favorite holiday so we made cookies in behalf of him and to eat something American in celebration. I felt homesick thinking about everyone gathered at home but it only lasted that night and after that I was fine.

Spent Monday at the centro and went out to acai with Melissa to commemorate her mission call opening and answer all her questions about preparing and such. What Sister Galdino didn’t know is that we were also planning her surprise birthday party!! Planning surprises for someone you literally spend all day every day with is quite the challenge but thank goodness for Melissa because it turned out so great and sister Galdino was not expecting it at all. On Friday, her birthday, I took her out to acai and made it seem like that was it. Later, Vania ‘wanted to visit some people with us’ so she picked us up and when we showed up to Melissas apartment there were a ton of ward members there to surprise her. Melissa got the number of Sister Galdinos mom and a ton of her friends sent audio clips wishing her a happy birthday.She cried… Everyone brought food, Melissa made a cake, it turned out perfect.

Saturday- Max was finally baptized!!! After trying this entire month to schedule a date with his family, it finally worked out! Unfortunately our ward mission leader didn’t show up so we ended up waiting 45 minutes for another priesthood holder to come. But Max was so excited and I am glad we got to be there. He is really special and I think he will be a leader in the church someday.

Yesterday was one of the best Sundays. Sidinha, a member in our ward, has a husband who hasn’t come to church in years. We love their family and when I arrived, we immediately bonded over our mutual love for country music :) We have lunch with them every month and last Sunday, we felt prompted to share a message about the Spirit. We all ended up having a really good discussion about the Spirit, getting answers to prayers, and so on. Then, yesterday, her husband showed up to church!! They both looked so happy and Sidinha gave us both big hugs when they walked in. Everyone always talks about baptisms in the mission, but when we bring someone back to church it is just as rewarding. Since I have been here, we have brought back 5 people that had stopped participating in the church. I know without a doubt that Christ really does leave the 99 sheep just to save the 1 that is lost.

Transfer calls came last night and I am staying here 6 more weeks!!!! Since I am training, it was pretty likely to happen but no one ever knows for sure so I am very happy and relieved. I will pass Christmas and New Year here with my temporary family and am feeling very grateful.

That about wraps up the week, sorry this was a novel again. We will spend today with Lorena, Alexandre, and Agathe which will be so fun. We love their family. Only 28 days until Christmas and now that Thankgiving is over it is socially acceptable to start celebrating! J
Love,

Sister Lauren Mather
PS. Jared’s birthday is this week- send him an email!!! Happy Birthday Jar!

Very Busy and Very Happy

Bom dia!

We are FINALLY recovered here and my companion and I have a whole lot more energy than we did before. We spent last Monday at home and Sister Galdino slept pretty much all afternoon, poor thing. But it helped so much to have a day to finally rest. While she was sleeping, I continued our Christmas decorating...felt like buddy the elf and I am still not finished decorating but we are getting there.
Eduardo and Jacira... when we called Saturday to offer a ride to church, they said they would take an uber but promised to be there. Waited for them at church and they didnt show up or answer our calls. We are pretty bummed but are going to stop by their house today.

Jailton came to church again! We visited him with some members this week so he has some friends at church. He doesnt talk much so it is hard to know what he is thinking or feeling but he started reading the Book of Mormon of his own free will this time and I think he is feeling something.

Still visiting Joiro and Naide, and the only difficulty for them is church because they both work on Sundays. We have introduced them to plenty members here, they are reading the Book of Mormon and praying as a family, and we are just praying that they find a way to come to church soon. They told us this week that whenever we come, they feel more peace in their home. We talked a lot about the Spirit and how it is how God communicates through us. They are such a sweet family and we love them.

Started visiting Gabi this week, whose contact we got from members in another ward that are friends with her. She is awesome and quickly has become our friend. She has a lot of questions and decisions to make in her life right now with school and her boyfriend and family and I just know that the gospel can help her with all of it. She is really special and I will write more about her as we continue to visit her.

Still visiting Altomicio and his wife Irene, and gave them a Book of Mormon last night. Altomicio has a lot of random questions and we were able to answer all of them with the bible and Book of Mormon. It was so cool to see him realize how important it is to have bothç that with both, we have ALL of the truth and answers we need.

Olivia...we stopped by this week and she was really sick. When we called Saturday to offer a ride to church, she told us that she wasnt in Aracaju, that she couldnt talk at the moment, and sounded really panicked. She hung up and when we tried to call again no one answered. We are a bit worried about her and are going to stop by her house today as well.

Melissa, a member in my ward here, got her mission call this week!! Rio de Janeiro!! It meant so much that she invited us to be there and I for sure will stay friends with her after our missions.

I could write so much more about the people here but this is already getting really long. Our days are jam packed with things to do and I am very glad to be busy. Sister Galdino and I are becoming better and better friends and the only rule we cannot seem to keep is going to bed at 10Ç30 because we always end up talking until later. Training requires a lot of patience but she is trying so hard and that is the most important thing. We are seeing little miracles every day and I say it all the time but I love the feeling of being instruments in the hands of God. When we are exactly where we need to be, when we need to be for some reason or another. Best part of the mission. This is our last week of the transfer and since I am training, it is 99 percent likely that I will stay here to finish training my companion.  But I always get a little nervous anyways because I love it here and will be very sad when I eventually leave. Praying I stay 6 more weeks...

Thank you all for the emails, love you all so much.

Love,
Sister Lauren Mather

Photos and videos:
friends in the ward - melissa and karen <3
more decorating...35 days!!
melissas mission call
taking advantage of our cancelled visit- I LOVE MY AREA

I Think I'll Just Stay In Aracaju Forever

Fam and friends-

Happy Monday!

Started the week with our zone on Monday, our pday. It was a last minute get-together and we debated going because we were both feeling sick but ended up going and telling ourselves we would take it easy there. But... the elders started a game of soccer and how can I say no to that: BAD idea. I was finally recovering but we played for about an hour and it did me in. Spent Tuesday and Wednesday feeling pretty sick again buut by Thursday I was almost back to normal. Still a little tired, but feeling much better now, thank goodness.
Didnt get the chance to teach Eduardo and his family this week because they are remodeling their house but we called them a few times this week and they are still so excited for the baptism. We are trying to plan a family night with them and another family here in the ward.
Jailton came to church yesterday! He seemed a bit apathetic but he came so we will follow up tomorrow when we visit him. Still confused with him, but we will see what happens.
Olivia is reading the Book of Mormon and she tried to come to church but her husband made it a little bit difficult. He spends pretty much every night at the bar drinking, and when he comes home, it is just to sleep on the couch. It makes me so sad to see the influence he has on their 12 year old son and 8 year old daughter with down syndrome. Olivia is thinking about moving and as missionaries, we cant get involved in situations like that but I am silently praying that she finds an opportunity to leave. We love her.
Joiro and Neide still havent come to church because of their jobs... but he is still reading the Book of Mormon and they took up ourr challenge to pray together as a family every night. They invited us to celebrate their 3 year olds sons birthday this week and sent us home with about 1/4 of the cake. If we can just get them to church...
Through tender mercies, we were able to find a member that hasnt been to church in over 30 years. Other missionaries have tried to contact him but they never really succeeded so it is a tiny miracle that we were able to visit them this week. We spent almost an hour just getting to know him and his wife, Irene. He started talking about times that he has been guided by 'the voice of God', and we read a few scriptures with him, explaining that it was the Spirit. Him and his wife also both work Sundays, but when we invited them to church with us they paused and seemed to really consider it. I think they will eventually, and we are going to do everything we can to help make it happen!
Other than that, not much too exciting has happened here... my filha is doing great and I am so proud of her efforts to continually improve. We have an hour of training every day and it is usually practicing how to teach more effectively and by the Spirit. Practicing teaching over and over can be frustrating but she is doing awesome. She is still tired all the time but I have been trying to find little opportunities to let her rest every once in a while. She is a lot like I was when I arrived- quiet, shy, hesitant to talk to people, but that will change :)
We have gotten sick and rejected and sometimes(most of the time) we are exhausted but I am so happy and so grateful to be here. We are so busy that the weeks are flying by and today marks 5 months since I left home. It feels like so long ago but has also gone so fast and I never would have thought I could learn as much as I have in 5 months. I know it will only go faster and I will learn more and more throughout my mission so I am determined to make the most of it. Sometimes we are walking in the street and it still seems surreal to me that I am serving a mission in another country, in another language, with people I didnt know 5 months ago. I know without a doubt that God has a plan for every single one of us and this is a part of mine. I love Him and Brasil!!

Love,
Sister Lauren Mather

PS. Only 42 days until Christmas(yes of course I am counting) and it would make me SO happy to get your guys' Christmas cards. I know it is a little more expensive to send letters here but one of my favorite parts of December is getting all the cards from people I love. It would be so so appreciated!!
Address:
Av Santa Rita de Cassia, 287
Farol, Maceio - AL
57051-600
Brasil

Photos
our hippie friend i mentioned a few weeks back
yearly christmas countdown chain
birthday celebration with joiro and neide and family
the decorating has begun...
the district

Milagres

Another week full of miracles here in Aracaju and I cant believe it is already Monday again.

Still meeting with Jailton and we arent really sure what to do with him, to be honest. Sometimes he seems completely uninterested in what we have to teach and sometimes he seems so eager to learn more about the gospel. He was traveling this weekend and couldnt come to church but we will visit him this week.
Didnt get the chance to visit Joiro and his family this week, but we scheduled Tuesday to visit them. Stay tuned...

Taught a few other people this week but Ill just skip to the important part - EDUARDO AND JACIRA!!!!! They really are our miracles here!!! We visited them on Tuesday, and they talked about how much they loved church and what they felt there. We gave them a Book of Mormon and taught them a little bit about it, challenging them to read it. When we returned on Saturday, I taught Eduardo English for an hour or so and after, Jacira came in and started talking about what she had read. They read the first few chapters as a family and had marked verses to ask us about! We had an awesome discussion with them and their 2 kids, Palloma and Vitor, and explained everything about the restoration of the gospel through Joseph Smith. The Spirit was SO strong and they talked about how they have felt something different since we started coming to teach english and now teach about the gospel. We talked about how God is in the little details of our lives and everything happens for a reason. After talking for a while, we invited them to be baptized and they all accepted!! Eduardo responded 'I would be baptized in this church tomorrow if i could'!!! We scheduled the 1st of December for their family to be baptized and I am so excited to continue teaching them and visiting them. We always hear about people being prepared to hear the gospel and this family fits that description perfectly. They are such a strong family and it is clear that God has been preparing them a long time to get to where they are now. We came home that night and celebrated with strawberrry and brigadeiro tapioca. MIRACLES. I love them.

The rest of this week was full of good things. We had zone conference this week and I always love seeing all the other missionaries in Sergipe. One of them sold me a guitar and I havent stopped playing it all week. It is helping fill the longing for music...

On Thursday we had lunch with Meg and Marcos, our substitute grandparents here. Somehow it came up in our conversation that ice cream here isnt the same as the USA so they insisted on taking us out to 'real ice cream' that night. It wasnt too hard to say yes.

The only bad part of this week was that we were sick for the last half of it. I feel bad because I got it first and passed it on to Sister Galdino. It started on Monday as a sore throat, but by the end of the week we both were pretty under the weather with sore throat, headaches, body aches, and lots of fatigue. I spent Friday and Saturday with a fever but we had visits scheduled both days so we didnt get the opportunity to recover. After church and lunch yesterday we came home and rested and I think we will stay home today for pday as well. I am doing better now but I think my companion is spent. Adjusting to missionary life is tiring enough but getting sick on top of it isnt fun. She has yet to complain this week and I am so grateful that she is willing to work so hard. It is paying off!

I think that is about everything from this last week. Wanted to congratulate Michaela and Kirk on their engagement!! I must say I never saw that one coming and I dont feel nearly old enough to have friends getting married but you guys look so happy and I am wishing you the best :) Thank you all for your updates and support, I love you guys!!
Love,

Sister Lauren Mather

Photos:

*got permission to go to the beach for pday!!! we are living in paradise
*sisters de sergipe
*reunited with seumanu <3
*a salon just for us
*ice cream with Meg and Marcos
*celebrating with brigadeiro...again