We've Been Chopped

And we still aren't really sure what happened. Everything was all set for Paloma to be baptized on Saturday and after the interview on Wednesday she got super excited and invited everyone and everything seemed to be going great. Friday night, she got super sick and asked us to come Saturday to help her clean her hosue and everything. We went to help her Saturday and spent most of the day there helpng her clean and talking with her. Her boyfriend has been super supportive all this time but out of nowhere on Saturday he started talking bad about the church and making her nervous about baptism. We decided to remark it for Sunday to give her a chance to recover and not to pressure her after everything that happened Saturday. We left her house about 6pm Saturday and we aren't really sure what happened but that was the last time we were able to talk to her. Sunday, she didn't come to church, didn't answer her door, and blocked our number along with some of her friends in the ward. We had everything ready for the baptism and the ward was pretty excited too so it was heartbreaking when she seemed to dissappear... we are really confused and yesterday was kind of a hard day but the hard days always come before the best ones, right?? Hoping we can talk to her this week, we love her a LOT.

But we were able to bring Joanne's daughters to church yesterday, who are 10 and 12, and their 11 year old cousin came too! They love when we visit them and I love it too. I always loved working with kids because it is pretty much impossible not to laugh and be happier when you are with them. Tiring to play mom in church hahaha but they were my tender mercy.

Julian, Edlene, still coming to church, reading the Book of Mormon, and we are still visiting them. It is really cool to see the little changes that take place in them every time we visit.

Had a crazy weekend but I really am still loving it here. I got to do divisions with the sister I trained and we always end up being in the same areas which is a blessing. Grateful for her, my companion, the friends I have here that I wouldn't have met any other way.

Thank you guys for the support, I love love love you all <3

Love,

Sister Lauren Mather

photos:
mission conference!
coolest pineapple ever
divisions with sister phillips
biggest dog i have ever seen
minha filhaaaaa <3
como é bom ser sergipana :)
FINALLY got to talk to stef!!!!!!

Our Eleitinha

Had the coolest experience with a FAMILY we met! We were in another area Thursday and Friday and Saturday, we were running to try and visit all the people we needed to visit that day. As we were walking from one house to another, a 10 year old girl stopped us and asked if we were going to church and if she could come with us. We explained that it was on Sunday but that she was invited, and we met her mom, Joanne, and asked if they would like to come with us. She said yes, and when we got there Sunday morning, they were all dressed and ready to go!!!!! And as we were sitting in sacrament meeting, all of a sudden a girl arrived all sweaty with a huge backpack and sat right next to me- a friend of the girl that stopped us on the street Saturday! She remembered we said the name of the street of the church, and left her house early Sunday morning to ask people where the street was. She is only 11 but came all alone to church and loved it!! We nicknamed her "eleitinha"- little elect :) Literally a miracle and still can't believe that they all came to church after a 5 minute conversation on the street. It is usually so hard to get people to wake up and come to church on a Sunday morning and I am feeling so grateful for these miracles that keep happening here.

Paloma is still making huge progress and is almost certain she wants to be baptized this week. Every time we teach her something new, it is as if she already knew it before and I am still amazed at how perfectly she was prepared for everything that is happening right now.

Juliano and Edlene: still coming to church every week and still loving it. We read the Book of Mormon with Edlene every week and it is so rewarding to see the little changes that happen as people really come to know the truth. Sounds really preachy but it is true!!

Not too much more to write other than I am still loving it here and trying to take advantage of the fact that I have so many açai places so close to me :) I love my companion and we are 4 weeks into the transfer together without any problems at all. The members here make all the difference and yesterday we had a family night with all the young adults that was so fun. This morning, a girl who returned from her mission this year stopped by our apartment and gave us a huge plate of mini coxinhas, just because. So many tender mercies and I am so grateful for my time here.

Love,

Sister Lauren Mather

Photos:
shoutout to miranda for being the best friend ever and sending a byu shirt to this elder
first visit with val- she bought all this food just for us 3 and sent us home with most of it
burgers in Itabaiana
Joanne and family
family night
Lucy <3
14 months!!
classic missionary pic
coxinhas from Bruna

8/12

Family and friends-

This week went so fast! We spent Wednesday and Thursday in Maceio and I got to go back to my last área!! I saw Nadejna and we both cried and a few other people I was teaching there. And got to be companions with Sister Seumanu one more day! Love that girl. It was so fun to stay with her and Sister Sandoval and we celebrated one year that my companion has been in the mission!!

Miracle of the week: PALOMA. Guys, she is incredible. We taught her how to pray(for real, noit just recite memorized prayers like she used to) and she started praying every night to know if everything was really true. One night, she was praying and she said even though her eyes were closed, she started to see light and feel like she was full of light. She said she opened her eyes and it was completely dark but when she closed her eyes and started praying again that same light came back. It was pretty funny, she told us that she started praying in that moment not to have the same experience as Joseph Smith because she was nervous and didnt think she would be able to handle seeing God hahahaha. That night, went to sleep feeling a sort of clarity and joy, and the next day, she recieved a phone call letting her know she had gotten the job she had been needing!! Everything is falling perfectly into place and yesterday she shared her experience in church, leaving some in tears. She stopped drinking coffe a year ago, became good friends with Megan, who moved to this Ward a month ago, moved to live alone with her son a month ago, and was perfectly prepared to be where she is now. I am consistently amazed at how much God loves us and is presente in every little detail.

Juliano is ready to be baptized but is nervous. Our Bishop is awesome and has become a great friend to Juiano. Us 4 met together and talked about baptism, Julianos Family, and we explained everything he had doubts about. We read “The Family: a Proclamation to the World” and talked about eternal families and his example for his wife and kids. His wife is a little hesitant with so much change but doesnt have a problem with him being part of the church. He is praying and trying to decide what day he wants to be baptized...more to come!!

Edlene, still the same thing. She loves church but doesnt feel prepared so we are visiting her and helping her learn more each week. She is the cutest and makes us a treat every time we visit her.

Sad part of the week was Adriana. She loves the Book of MOrmon and church but told us she is going to stay in hers. She even told us she likes our church better but has been in the other one 11 years and is scared to make the change. It is sad to see people recieve impressions and answers so clearly and still choose against it. Pretty sad, I love that girl.

Tender mercy of the week: remember Alexandre, who was baptized a year ago in Atalaia? We were walking on the street and out of nowhere a car stopped and a guy got out and said ‘hey you girls, can I talk to you for a minute??!?’ At first I thought it was some creepy guy but I thought I recognized the voice and when I turned around, IT WAS ALEXANDRE!! It was sooo good to see him again and talk about how he is doing and how his family is, I miss them so much. He was working and had other people in the car so we only talked for a few minutes but they want to schedule a pday to go to lunch with us!

I am in the richest área of the mission and was super nervous to serve here but I am loving my área, loving my companion, loving the ward, and amazed at the people we are visiting. I know that faith really is the power by whch miracles happen and the nothing is impossible for God, as cheesy as it sounds. I am so grateful to be here to be a witness of his miracles.
Love,

Sister Lauren Mather

PS. Today marks 14 months in Brasil!! How is it going so fast??!

Photos e vídeos:
Alexandre!!
Ivaneide, our new best friend we met last week and Fernando, our Ward mission leader
Just hiding from the rain eating cake
1 year for sister barco!!!
1:21am waiting for the bus to Maceio...
Leadership meeting- love these girls <3
Lunch with the Ana Paula and Renata
Our chapel
Ward activity with Paloma and Megan(member)
Flower from Pedro, Palomas son, that he gave us to thank us for bringing them to church
How could we pass this wall and not take a pic??
divisions and smores with sister lora
more pics from the meeting

(Forgotten email...from July 22:/)

This week was so much better! We saw miracles with a ton of people but I will talk about a few of them here:

Adriana: lives in a shelter/transition home that is for people to temporarily stay if they are going through a hard time or getting their life figured out. A member works there and asked us to help people that were struggling there and we ended up meeting Adriana!! She is a 40-ish year old lady that had a rough relationship and is figuring some things out while she stays in this shelter. But after we visited her the first time, she said that she prayed and "saw a light and on the side saw our faces and looked in our eyes and jsut knew that we wanted to help her get closer to that bright light that she was seeing". She was explaining all of this to us and we just sat there in awe at the experience that she had. Yesterday she came to church and started crying because she felt the Spirit so strong. It was a really special day and we are hoping to help her prepare to get baptized and just start all over on the 3rd of August.

Juliano: wants to be baptized, already knows a ton of people in the ward, is pretty much a miracle in every meaning of the word but our only challenge is finding a time that their family is all home. We scheduled with them twice and they cancelled both times but we will keep working on it.... we call and talk to them all the time, such an amazing family.

Edlene: a friend of a member who comes to all the activities but was never invited to church. She is the cutest little old lady and loved church and loved when we visited her and gave us peaches before we left. I love peaches and was grateful for that tender mercy :)

Aldo: a contact we made on the street, who came to church yesterday too!! We have never visited him and dont relaly know that much about him but he showed up at church and absolutely loved it!!

Still trying to visit Clarissa, she started work in a new placve this week and when we went to visit her she only had a few minutes to talk and ended up talking ot her 7 year-old daughter about my little pony for a solid 30 minutes. More to come this week...

Also did our last 2 divisions this week and got to go back to Atalaia again!! During the division, Sister Phillips felt strongly that we should knock on a certain door. When we got to the door, I recognized it and couldn't remember who lived there but when he came to the door it was Alan!! I taught him a year ago but he was in a wheelchair and couldn't come to church! But now he is walking and his kids are living with him again and it was so amazing to see how God led us literally right to his doorstep again.

I could write a million more things but I will wrap it up here.... other higlights of the week included division with Sister Welker who reminds me so much of me when I got here, free ice cream from a family in the ward, free cake from our neighbors who have a dog that greets us every night when we get home, seeing Carlos, the cutest olf man that always gave us free candy in Atalaia, etc...

Congrats to Soy and Andrew and Jared on coming home, I am trying not to think about December but also have to admit I am so excited to see all you guys again.

Love you all,

Sister Lauren Mather

PICS:
carlos and I
sister phillips <3
free cake form the neighbors
ice cream with sister welker
our best friend that waits for us every night