Christmas Miracles-FELIZ NATAL

This is going to be short because i dont have a ton of time but this was such a good week and I am so glad to be her this time of year, really! This week we havd a zone conference for Christmas and gathered with all the missionaries in Sergipe. we stayed the night with 4 other sisters which was so funa nd I am grateful for the friends i have here. They really feel like family, along with my ward members.

Saturday and Sunday nights we sang with out ward in different parts ofAracaju which was so fun. I absolutely love Christmas.

Yesterday- our Christmas miracle!! :) We were at chruch when a random guy from a ward on the other side of Aracaju showed up with a friend that lives in our area. Her name is Camilla and she is 22. She loved church and told us later that she wasn't sure about coming but something made her feel like she should go. We gave her a tour of the church and talked to her and Lucas, her friend, for a good hour after church. We are visiting her on Wednesday and I am so excited. She already texted Lucas thanking him for bringing her and saying again how much she loves church and meeting everyone there. We are woirking so so hard and moments like that make it so worth it. Paolo and Betania also came to church and we are working with our bishop, who is a lawyer, to plan their wedding., They are both so excited and it is adorable.

Tender mercy: an american family visited our ward yesterday and when i talked to them I found out they are from Lake Stevens, WA!! It was so good to have a little reminder of home and be able to try and speak english with them.

Also finished the Book of Mormon in Portugese this morning!! I am so grateful for the opportunity to read it in a different language because I have had to read slower and thus pay more attention to things that I have missed in the past. I know without a doubt that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, that it has power I don't yet fully understand, and that it is proof that we have the complete church of Jesus Christ restored on Earth today. I am so grateful for the gift of the gospel in my life and though I thought this would be a really hard time of the year for me, I find myself feeling so much joy and peace. When Christ is my foudnation, everything else can change and He is always there, never changing, I know it sounds cheesy but it is so true. One of my new favorite songs is 'In Christ Alone' - thanks mom - and wanted to send the lyrics cause the words are a lot prettier than mine.

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand
In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
'Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live, I live
There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ
No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
Till He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand
I will stand
I will stand, all other ground is sinking sand
All other ground, all other ground
Is sinking sand, is sinking sand
So I'll stand

He is the reason we celebrate and I am so grateful to be here helping others feel his love.

Wishing you all a very FELIZ NATAL from Aracaju !!!
Love,

Sister Lauren Mather

PS. thank you olsons for the christmas package!!!!

I don't have time to label all the photos...

Wafer Houses

My people!

First of all HAPPY ONE DAY LATE BIRTHDAY TO STEF! If you guys forgot to wish her a happy birthday yesterday please make her feel extra loved today because we are practically sisters and man do I wish I could have celebrated with her.

Such a good week in Aracaju and things are starting to pick up again.

Found out that Paolo and Betania have a ‘uniao estavel’ which is basically marriage without the official title… so we are working on getting them legally married before we plan Betanias baptism. To be baptized, a person has to be living all of the commandments, or standards God has set for us. One of these commandments is the Law of Chastity, which advises us not to have sexual relations before marriage. So, to be baptized, Betania needs to live separate from Paolo or they need to officially marry, which is what we are figuring out right now. Our bishop is a lawyer so we are bringing him to our visit tomorrow and hopefully it is just a matter of signing a few more papers. They came to church for the 3rd time yesterday which made me so so happy. We visited their ice cream shop this week and they gave us giant sundaes for free while we talked for almost 2 hours. Finding people like them makes all the hard parts of the mission worth it.

This week we got the chance to teach Cicera, a 26 year old who was a reference from another person we are visiting. She lost her dad 3 weeks ago, and when we taught her about the Plan of Salvation and the fact that there is so much more after this life, she started to cry. She didn’t come to church yesterday so we will see if she is interested in the church or not but it is the best feeling when you know you are exactly where you are supposed to be, when you are supposed to be. Tools in His hands…

Speaking of which- remember the tweezer lady?! We felt prompted to visit her again and found a member of the church that lives there! She had gotten home early from work that day and felt like she was expecting someone, but couldn’t remember who. When we showed up and started to talk to her, we found out she was baptized yearssss ago and hasn’t come to church in a long time but ahs a desire to start coming again. We are hoping she does, and again I am grateful that we were able to be led by the Spirit to find her. Who knew God worked through crazy ladies asking us to buy them tweezers?

Not sure if I have talked about Gabi, but she is a 24 year old who has become our friend. We finally visited her again this week and gave her a Livro de Mormon. She has so many questions that can be so perfectly answered by the gospel and I know she will find her answers. She will travel for Christmas but I am so excited to talk to her when she gets back!!

To explain the subject title…I may be halfway across the world but the Christmas traditions will continue! Graham crackers don’t exist here so we made wafer houses and gave up on trying to make frosting so ended using elmers glue instead. They lasted just long enough to take a picture and quickly collapsed but it was fun while it lasted.

Had to say bye to 2 families this week that will travel until after this transfer ends. Just 2 families and I already cried so January 7th is gonna be a rough day.

Next time I email will be CHRISTMAS EVE and I cant wait to spend it here!! This Thursday, we have our Christmas conference with all the missionaries in the state of Sergipe. Saturday is our ward Christmas activity, where we will go caroling in a poorer part of the city. We will spend all Christmas Eve with the other missionaries in our zone, and Christmas day with Melissa and her family. So excited!!! And cant deny that after more than 6 months, I am excited to finally talk face to face with my family. I was expecting to feel a lot more homesick this time of year but I have yet to feel more than a little bit. Knock on wood, but I think it is a blessing of the mission. It helps that I know I am right where I need to be and that I am so happy here. Who couldn’t be happy- it is almost CHRISTMAS!!
Love,

Sister Lauren Mather

Photos/Videos
Pday with the friends
Free ice cream from Paolo and Betania
Lunch with Karen
My little buddy Igor- seriously gonna miss this kid
Weekly market
Acai to celebrate 6 months in the mission!!
Enjoying the view from Vanias new apt
Wafer houses…before and after

Sure, We Can Buy You Some Tweezers...

There really never is a dull moment here in the mission. As we were walking to one of our visits, a lady stopped us outside her house and asked us if we could go to the market on the next street and buy her some tweezers because she didnt want to leave her sick dad home alone. We ended up going to 3 different markets because the firs 2 didnt have tweezers but we eventually got some for her. In brasil, there is a little mini store on every street. But anyways, we were eventually able to get her some tweezers and she wasnt too interested in the gospel but we gave her an invite to church and went on our way.

As far as people we are teaching, this week was a slower one again. We 'cut', or stopped teaching, a lot of people this week. One of my least favorite parts of the mission, but it is necessary because our time here is so short and if they dont act and do their part, we cant do much. I am especially sad to stop visiting Eduardo, Jacira, and their family. Everything seemed to fall so perfectly into place and when they made a goal to be baptized I thought for sure that it would happen. But for whatever reason, they stopped coming to church and have been politely avoiding our visits. It really is a little heartbreaking because my hoped were so high for them but I have faith that they will find their way back someday. They are such a good family.

Stopped teaching a lot of people this week but we had a miracle!! I mentioned last week the couple that came to church and when we visited them this week we were blown away! Paolo, thee husband, worked for the church years ago building chapels and temples in Afrrica and Portugal. He has such a strong testimony and a ton of knowledge about all aspects of the church. Him and his wife, Betania, have a goal to be sealed in the temple! She wants to be baptized this month and we are meeting with them today to work out which day. We taught them about the Book of Mormon and Paolo talked about the first time he read it which brought the Spirit so strong. They own an ice cream shop so we are going to visit them there today for our pday! Miracles. I am so excited for them.

Other highlights of the week:
Christmas activity with the women in our ward. Love my temporary family here.

Divisions with the sister training leaders! FOrgot to take a picture but got to spend the day with Sister Dailey which is always so fun.

Edilson, our crazy friend, showed up to church again...no clapping this time but he is a little creepy so we kindly sat him with another man in our ward.

Lunch with Ione! Every month, she invites all the single girls in the ward over for lunch. Yesterday she surprised us all with little christmas gifts as well. We love her.

That about wraps up the week and I am so glad to be here. We had interviews with president this week and he told me it is almost guaranteed that I will leave this area in January so I am trying to make the most of the time I have left. Grateful to be spending Christmas here- only 14 days!! Listen to some Michael Buble and watch plenty of Christmas movies for me :) Love you all!!

Love,
Sister Lauren Mather

Photos:
chocolates from Betania
lunch with the girls and the feast that Ione made
the zone
decorations at the centro

You're Happy, We Know It, But Please Don't Clap Your Hands...

Yesterday was probably the Sunday I have laughed the most since I got here. This week, we taught someone new and as we were finishing our visit, her brother, Edilson, came in. As usual, we invited them to our activity on Friday night and to church. I honestly didn’t expect much but to our surprise, Edilson showed up to our activity Friday night with his 10 year old niece, and then yesterday he showed up to church as well. You guys should know this guy is just strange- I don’t know how to describe him but he has a personality alllll his own. During a class at church, the teacher was teaching about the signs of the second coming. Edilson asked to speak and when called on, he got up in front of the whole class and started showing us, on his hands, the signs of the second coming. It looked like a failed attempt at sign language but he was making all kinds of signs and explaining that they were the same signs that Jesus made and that when people make these signs at you, you will know that the second coming is soon. At one point he started jumping and making different signs with his feet as well. We really couldn’t help but laugh, it was quite the speech. Later, during sacrament meeting, we were listening to the speakers and one of them started talking about how he has to ask for forgiveness from his wife and how he is grateful for Christ’s example of forgiveness. Out of nowhere, Edilson started clapping his hands and YELLING ‘she forgives you! We all forgive you! Congratulations!!!!’ I had to grab his hands and explain to him about reverence. We were sitting on the front pew and behind us were lots of laughs trying to be contained. Then, during the last song we sang, we all stood up to sing. Edilson proceeded to march in place to the beat, as if he were in a marching band, for the entire hymn. Like I said, we spent a lot of time laughing yesterday both during church and after, talking with different members about their points of view as well. Definitely a Sunday to remember.

As far as the other people we are visiting, I felt a little discouraged this week. Olivia didn’t come to church again this week- the 3rd time she said she would and didn’t. We are trying to help her and her family but we can only do so much without effort on her part.

Had such a good lesson with Jaiton about the commandments and he committed to try and live all of them. He is still reading the Book of Mormon and so ready for baptism but this week, he started helping his sister at the market every Sunday in a city 3 hours from here. He will work there every Sunday until March, which was really sad to hear. He is making so much progress and one little thing is holding everything back. We have been bringing members of the church to every lesson so he has plenty of support from the ward and I am hoping we can find a way to bring him to church on Sundays.

Still waiting on Gabi to finish finals, and Eduardo and Jacira to finish the remodel…

BUT we had a little miracle yesterday. 2 new people showed up to church, and when we introduced ourselves, we found out that Paolo, the husband, is a member of the church but hasn’t attended in years. His wife, Betania, has never come to church before and finally agreed to come with him after 4months of him asking!! We are visiting them tomorrow morning and very excited.

I am just going to be honest in saying that this week was a little harder for me. We spent all week planning a ward activity and on Friday, when it came time, only 3 families showed up. We also weren’t informed that there was soccer at the church that night, so the space we wanted to use outside was already taken. The activity went well with the little group we had, but I came home feeling down. We are working so hard and I really am giving my all but I don’t know why we aren’t seeing the fruits of our labors. It seems like every time we start visiting someone who wants to learn more about the church, something gets thrown in the way of their progress. Friday was kind of the last straw, per say, and I think when my optimism fell, the rest of my body did too. I woke up sick Saturday and after lunch came down with a fever. We went to all our visits scheduled that day but when we came home the fever had gotten worse and I went to bed with body aches, sweating, and feeling very cold for the first time since I got here hahaha. Thankfully it only lasted through the rest of that night and I was able to go to church on Sunday. I am feeling great now, just tired. But I learned how much of an impact a positive attitude makes- literally affects my physical health. Yesterday I was reading in 3 Nefi about the Saviors visit to the people in the Americas. He teaches them to pray and there is a passage that explains ‘’that Jesus blessed them as they did pray unto him, and his countenance did smile upon them…and they did pray steadfastly without ceasing, and he did smile upon them again…’’ I felt the Spirit so strongly reading these verses, and felt as if Christ was doing the same and ‘smiling upon us’. He is the reason I am here and I have had to rely on him an his help more than any other time in my life. I am grateful for the relationship I have strengthened with him during my mission so far and I know for a fact that he is in the details of this work. He sees every one of my efforts and I have faith that in His time, we will bring more people to the knowledge of Him and His gospel. This week had a few harder days but I really am so happy here. I am so grateful for my companion who is more of a friend than anything else. I know we are doing everything we can and for that, I feel so much joy and see so many tender mercies every day.

Speaking of tender mercies- got my Christmas package this week and must say I think my mom outdid herself. She collected letters from family, friends, etc for me to open every day until Christmas. I put up the paper Christmas tree she sent(see picture) and with every letter, there is a paper ornament to add to the tree. And we finally got MUSIC!!! In her letter this week, she said she hoped that through the distance, I feel the love of everyone more strongly. It is very true- in the almost 6 months I have been here, I have felt so much love and received so much support from you guys. I know I don’t have much time to write emails and sometimes my responses are short but I am so grateful for each one of you. Sending much much love from Brasil!
Love,

Sister Lauren Mather

Pictures:
Package!!
Picture to remember the joy of receiving music
Made all the soccer players participate in one of the games for our activity
More pictures from the ward activity
Random horse wandering the street- common here
Christmas tree from mom <3
Collection of letters from my people