Thanks for all the pictures and the stories! They磛e really cheered me up!! So we had transfers Tuesday and me and Sister Nic醩cio are together, but I磎 in another trio! With Sister Owens. She磗 from Alaska and she磗 the best friend I ever had! I love her! She is always happy and funny and awesome and I need it with my other companion. This week was rough. I know missions have ups and downs, but I磎 pretty sure they磖e not supposed to be like this...but I磎 making it through with Sister Owens. I can磘 even explain it, Sister Nic醩cio is just really hard to live with and teach with...but I磎 praying as hard as I can every day for charity, patience and humility. It all came to a point (again) Saturday night when we got home late because I had to sing at a fireside and Sister Owens played the piano. Long story short, Sister Nic醩cio was REALLY REALLY mad and because she was mad, I was mad. But we got home, she went to bed and I just looked at pictures of Lynlee and Ellee and cried and cried and then went to bed and cried and cried, just wanting my mom! Its funny how when something goes wrong, the first thing we want is our mom. I came close to calling President, just so I could call you and talk to you...but I pushed through. I learned a lesson about the Spirit. I磛e always know how essencial the Spirit is in our work and if we don磘 have it we might as well not leave the house that day, but also, the Spirit drives my desire to work and the more I have the Spirit, the greater desire I have to share the gospel with others. Missions are hard, but I know if I push through I will be a better daughter, mother, sister, aunt, wife and child of God because of it! I磎 doing my best and trying not to complain...I磎 so greatful for a great and amazing family that loves me and prays for me and ward family too! Bispo Marcelo, here, said that he wants to have my records sent to his ward. I don磘 know if its because he likes me or because I磛e been here so long...either way...I love this ward too, but its my second ward family...not my first! ;)
Sorry, I don磘 have much to report this week. The week of transfers is always a little blah because it seems like the week doesn磘 start until Wednesday. But its been good. We磖e still visiting Volmar. He磗 so dang cute I wanna punch him!!! And we have a lot of other people we磖e teaching. We磖e also focusing on the husbands of wives who aren磘 members. I don磘 understand how they磖e not members. I don磘 understand how a husband can take his wife and kids to church every day, drop them off, and go home, without a problem in the world. Eternal families! HELLO! But, that磗 what I磎 here for - to figure out why they haven磘 been baptized and received all the blessings of being a member of the church and help them gain a testimony that its so true and so perfect! Its interesting everyday when we invite people to be baptized and they say yes and then you give them a date and they磖e like, Whoa, whoa...I don磘 know about that. But, eventually, with the Lords elect, they understand and they can磘 wait to get baptized and receive all the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Every day I磎 learning more and more about how God works with His children and how he wants me to teach and share the Gospel with the people of Brazil.
Brazil is such a special country. So many people here have had dreams about the gospel and about Jesus Christ and it was their witness that the gospel is true and they want to be baptized. Its not very often that people have vivid dreams about the gospel, but in Brazil it seems very frequent. I love this country. They磖e so pure in heart and simple. Its such a different experience during Testimony Meeting, so many people bare their testimonies and conversion stories and its always so simple and perfect. I always think how much dad would love it because you don磘 have to worry about people speaking blasphemies. :) You can just sit there and listen to the speakers and feel the Spirit so strong. Its great!
I did get to watch General Relief Society Conference in Portugu阺, and yes, my notes are in Portugu阺! Pretty cool, huh? I loved President Uchtdorfs talk, in Portugu阺 it was about the flor : 创N鉶 esquece de mim创 I think its funny how, whenever the Apostles talk to the women they always say, Its okay. Calm down. You磖e doing great. No one is perfect. - Because its so true. I can totally tell the difference between Elders and Sisters. Talking with Elder Spencer at transfers was hilarious. Hearing all the stories of all the things the Elders do and then being a Sister and feeling like a slacker if you sit on a seesaw and take a picture. Haha. So funny.
I CAN碩 WAIT FOR GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOO! I磎 so excited! I learned a cool thing to from a member of the ward. All the talks are pre recorded in Portugu阺 by translators. Except, Elder Richard G. Scott records his own voice in Portugu阺 so when he is speaking this weekend I磍l get to hear his actual voice! Every one in Brazil refers to him as the Brasileiro. (you can look up older conference talks of Richard G. Scott in Portugu阺 and hear his voice if you want) Also, obviously, the Prophet doesn磘 have a talk pre recorded, so there is a man that can translate very fast and he translates the moment the Prophet is speaking. I thought that was pretty cool.
One more thing, a member of my ward here has a friend that needs a place to stay for about 10 days in the US and practice English. Val asked me to ask you if you guys would be able to help. She said it would be in December, but doesn磘 know exactly the dates yet. Let me know if you guys would be willing to do that! Awesome sauce.
It was so good to see pictures of every one at my birthday party. Bridon and Talon are getting SO BIG! CRAZY! Oh! I got my package during transfers! Perfect!!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH! I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!! You磖e the best family in the world, hands down and not just because of the package, but because you磖e my family!!!!!!!
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU!!!!
Sister Kelsi Kate Johnson
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Things get interesting
Hi Family!
I hope all is well! No, Jenna, I will never get tired of the pictures of the girls. They are getting so big! But I probably don´t need ´Spin art of myself´. :P I can´t believe you´re saying things like, when Ellee walks in. I still can´t see that little bean curd walking!!! I loved the story of Lynlee singing...totally remember her made up songs. I love them! Ugh! I miss them so much, but, moving on.
Dad, air conditioning in our apartment? Hahahahahaha. No. We have one fan (like the old kind that you set on the floor or a desk and it turns slowly back and forth and you can do a Darth Vader voice, yeah, that kind) We only have one outlet in our room and its by my bed so the chord goes under my mattress to the fan right next to me and if I move AT ALL it turns off, then I´ll move again and it turns on. Its really funny. But its better than our last fan that I had to hit to get it to start spinning. Oh, Brazil. Its such an adventure!
So, this week was rough. I´m not going to lie and I´m not going to leave anything out. Are you ready?
Everything went normal, we just couldn´t get anyone to talk to us - but that happens sometimes, I wasn´t discouraged. Until Friday. We went and visited Phelipe my first baptism. He hasn´t come to church since he was confirmed. He´s back to breaking the commandments and living at his girlfriends house and he´s really unhappy. He was telling us all his doubts he has about the church. He read Mormon 8 to us how our churches shouldn´t be rich and lifted up and pride and then he printed off pictures of rooms in the Temple and said, ´Look. That doesn´t look rich? Everything is gold.´ Me and Sister Powell are pretty sure he´s looking at Anti-Mormon stuff online because he was reading the BoM from the beginning and to suddenly decide to read Mormon 8 is really random, and then to print off pictures of the temple and then he said he wants to visit the other Mormon (reformed) churches. So, I couldn´t hold back the tears, I started crying right in the middle of the lesson because a lot of things have happened with him that I know he is supposed to be a very influential person in the church, but because of the choices he is making right now he´s not on the right track. It just shows how twisted Satan is because Phelipe is basically trying to use the Book Of Mormon to disprove the church...there isn´t a chapter about that in Preach My Gospel. All we could do was telling him that Satan was working on him and if he wanted to know the church was true he needed to read the Book of Mormon and pray. His main problem is looking at other people in the church and their weaknesses and not his own. But he´s a member of the church now so its ours and the members responisbility to love him and help him any way we can.
Then Saturday. The day of Julia´s baptism. You think would´ve gone swell. Well, it was about 2 hours before her baptism and we were on the opposite side of town looking for a reference from a member. Sister Nicáscio was REALLY angry and frustrated that we couldn´t find this street. Me and Sister Powell were using it as an opportunity to do contacts. But, Sister Nicáscio´s anger boiled to a point where she was being really rude and angry and we just did not have the Spirit and Sister Powell had had enough and sat on the curb and just started crying. Then they started fighting, because when one thing goes wrong everything that has ever happened in the past comes up. So my companions were yelling at each other in the street and crying. All the while I was smiling and laughing to myslef because a 5 year old little boy on a bike was coming closer and closer to us to listen. He ended up so close that I could have reached out and touched him. I finally got Sister Powell up (who had been at the point of bawling that I had to tell her to take deep breaths like mom always told me) and we started making our journey to the chapel that was an hour away. Also in this moment I learned how much Português I know, because I had two companions with arms folded, not speaking, and me talking to people about which bus we should take and calling members (up until this point I haven´t used the phone because its really hard to understand people on the phone ESPECIALLY in Português), but the Lord helped me through it all and by the time we got to the Chapel Sister Powell and SIster Nicascio had resolved their problem. ***I will talk about the baptism last*** So, then yesterday we had transfers. About 9:30 Elder Espinosa called and said I will stay here and so will Sister Nicàscio. The first thing beloved Sister Nicàscio said was, ´I don´t want to stay here with you.´ So that was a big confidence boost. And that Sister Powell will be transfered. Needless to say, this next transfer will be the greatest learning experiences of my life. I know I have a lot to learn about patience and charity with Sister Nicàscio and I´ll be needing your prayers. Sorry, this email is kind of heavy, I´m just trying to be real. Do Elders have these problems?
***But, the baptism!!!!!!!! The Baptism was perfect!!! I actually cried. The first baptism I´ve cried at, but it was possibly a mixture of a lot of other things too. I got to help Julia change after she got baptized which I think is the best priviledge ever because you get to be the first person to hear how they feel. She was telling me how happy she was and it was strange because she felt really light. I loved hearing that. I told her she will never forget that feeling because I still remember how I felt! When we returned Carol (who was baptized last week) was bearing her testimony about how the gospel has already helped her so much and that the Lord sent 3 angles to her house (I´m one!) to teach her the truth. She also said she remembered how light she felt after her baptism. It is so amazing everyday to have your testimony strengthened of the gospel and how true it is. Then, Isabella got up to bear her testimony. That´s when I started crying. Isabella too. She talked about how happy the gospel had made her and she´d never felt such love among a group of people and that she knows this is the Lord´s church. It is so interesting to see Phelipe and how angry and unhappy he is and then see Isabella and her family is getting baptized and how happy she is. Who would you rather be?
Isabella even spoke yesterday in church. She talks and sounds like she´s been a member for years. Her family is truly a special family to the Lord. We were over there the other day and she was saying something about being a member of the church of Jesus Christ and her 6 year old son Lorenzo was at the fridge and he turned and said, with a cute little lisp, ´Dos Santos Dos Ùltimos Dias´ (of Latter Day Saints) It was adorable!
Oh! My birthday! I think Isabella tried to send you a video and pictures. We went over to her house Monday night for Julias Baptismal Interview with Elder Maxwell and Espinosa. I was the last to climb the stairs and as I entered the kitchen Isabella had a cake and everyone began singing Parabéns (Happy Birthday) and jumping. I started to cry because it was so nice to know that even though my family is so far away, I have other family here that loves me and cares about me. And that´s definitely Isabella! Then, Tuesday, my actual birthday, my comps relit my candles and sang to me as I was exercising and they filled my desk with treats and breakfast. It was really different to be away from home, but it was good. :D
So, today is a Super P Day because our Zone had the most baptisms so we get to watch Rio (in Português)!!!!! I´M SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!! Its gonna be awesome! Also, I get to stay in this perfect area and keep working with my other ward family to preach the gospel!!! My job rocks!
How are all of you? Grandma and Grandpa Johnson? Grandma Deen? Jenna, are you pregnant? Is Dallin doing his Mission Papers yet? How´s my mommy? My nieces? Nephew, Jerônimo? :D I hope all is well. I love you all SO SO SO SO SO MUCH!!!!!!
Com amor,
Sister Kelsi Kate Johnson
P.S. Jenna, we have a couple here that have two of their grandkids here from the US. They´ve only been
here for 2 months and are speaking fluent Português. I can teach your kids if you want!
I hope all is well! No, Jenna, I will never get tired of the pictures of the girls. They are getting so big! But I probably don´t need ´Spin art of myself´. :P I can´t believe you´re saying things like, when Ellee walks in. I still can´t see that little bean curd walking!!! I loved the story of Lynlee singing...totally remember her made up songs. I love them! Ugh! I miss them so much, but, moving on.
Dad, air conditioning in our apartment? Hahahahahaha. No. We have one fan (like the old kind that you set on the floor or a desk and it turns slowly back and forth and you can do a Darth Vader voice, yeah, that kind) We only have one outlet in our room and its by my bed so the chord goes under my mattress to the fan right next to me and if I move AT ALL it turns off, then I´ll move again and it turns on. Its really funny. But its better than our last fan that I had to hit to get it to start spinning. Oh, Brazil. Its such an adventure!
So, this week was rough. I´m not going to lie and I´m not going to leave anything out. Are you ready?
Everything went normal, we just couldn´t get anyone to talk to us - but that happens sometimes, I wasn´t discouraged. Until Friday. We went and visited Phelipe my first baptism. He hasn´t come to church since he was confirmed. He´s back to breaking the commandments and living at his girlfriends house and he´s really unhappy. He was telling us all his doubts he has about the church. He read Mormon 8 to us how our churches shouldn´t be rich and lifted up and pride and then he printed off pictures of rooms in the Temple and said, ´Look. That doesn´t look rich? Everything is gold.´ Me and Sister Powell are pretty sure he´s looking at Anti-Mormon stuff online because he was reading the BoM from the beginning and to suddenly decide to read Mormon 8 is really random, and then to print off pictures of the temple and then he said he wants to visit the other Mormon (reformed) churches. So, I couldn´t hold back the tears, I started crying right in the middle of the lesson because a lot of things have happened with him that I know he is supposed to be a very influential person in the church, but because of the choices he is making right now he´s not on the right track. It just shows how twisted Satan is because Phelipe is basically trying to use the Book Of Mormon to disprove the church...there isn´t a chapter about that in Preach My Gospel. All we could do was telling him that Satan was working on him and if he wanted to know the church was true he needed to read the Book of Mormon and pray. His main problem is looking at other people in the church and their weaknesses and not his own. But he´s a member of the church now so its ours and the members responisbility to love him and help him any way we can.
Then Saturday. The day of Julia´s baptism. You think would´ve gone swell. Well, it was about 2 hours before her baptism and we were on the opposite side of town looking for a reference from a member. Sister Nicáscio was REALLY angry and frustrated that we couldn´t find this street. Me and Sister Powell were using it as an opportunity to do contacts. But, Sister Nicáscio´s anger boiled to a point where she was being really rude and angry and we just did not have the Spirit and Sister Powell had had enough and sat on the curb and just started crying. Then they started fighting, because when one thing goes wrong everything that has ever happened in the past comes up. So my companions were yelling at each other in the street and crying. All the while I was smiling and laughing to myslef because a 5 year old little boy on a bike was coming closer and closer to us to listen. He ended up so close that I could have reached out and touched him. I finally got Sister Powell up (who had been at the point of bawling that I had to tell her to take deep breaths like mom always told me) and we started making our journey to the chapel that was an hour away. Also in this moment I learned how much Português I know, because I had two companions with arms folded, not speaking, and me talking to people about which bus we should take and calling members (up until this point I haven´t used the phone because its really hard to understand people on the phone ESPECIALLY in Português), but the Lord helped me through it all and by the time we got to the Chapel Sister Powell and SIster Nicascio had resolved their problem. ***I will talk about the baptism last*** So, then yesterday we had transfers. About 9:30 Elder Espinosa called and said I will stay here and so will Sister Nicàscio. The first thing beloved Sister Nicàscio said was, ´I don´t want to stay here with you.´ So that was a big confidence boost. And that Sister Powell will be transfered. Needless to say, this next transfer will be the greatest learning experiences of my life. I know I have a lot to learn about patience and charity with Sister Nicàscio and I´ll be needing your prayers. Sorry, this email is kind of heavy, I´m just trying to be real. Do Elders have these problems?
***But, the baptism!!!!!!!! The Baptism was perfect!!! I actually cried. The first baptism I´ve cried at, but it was possibly a mixture of a lot of other things too. I got to help Julia change after she got baptized which I think is the best priviledge ever because you get to be the first person to hear how they feel. She was telling me how happy she was and it was strange because she felt really light. I loved hearing that. I told her she will never forget that feeling because I still remember how I felt! When we returned Carol (who was baptized last week) was bearing her testimony about how the gospel has already helped her so much and that the Lord sent 3 angles to her house (I´m one!) to teach her the truth. She also said she remembered how light she felt after her baptism. It is so amazing everyday to have your testimony strengthened of the gospel and how true it is. Then, Isabella got up to bear her testimony. That´s when I started crying. Isabella too. She talked about how happy the gospel had made her and she´d never felt such love among a group of people and that she knows this is the Lord´s church. It is so interesting to see Phelipe and how angry and unhappy he is and then see Isabella and her family is getting baptized and how happy she is. Who would you rather be?
Isabella even spoke yesterday in church. She talks and sounds like she´s been a member for years. Her family is truly a special family to the Lord. We were over there the other day and she was saying something about being a member of the church of Jesus Christ and her 6 year old son Lorenzo was at the fridge and he turned and said, with a cute little lisp, ´Dos Santos Dos Ùltimos Dias´ (of Latter Day Saints) It was adorable!
Oh! My birthday! I think Isabella tried to send you a video and pictures. We went over to her house Monday night for Julias Baptismal Interview with Elder Maxwell and Espinosa. I was the last to climb the stairs and as I entered the kitchen Isabella had a cake and everyone began singing Parabéns (Happy Birthday) and jumping. I started to cry because it was so nice to know that even though my family is so far away, I have other family here that loves me and cares about me. And that´s definitely Isabella! Then, Tuesday, my actual birthday, my comps relit my candles and sang to me as I was exercising and they filled my desk with treats and breakfast. It was really different to be away from home, but it was good. :D
So, today is a Super P Day because our Zone had the most baptisms so we get to watch Rio (in Português)!!!!! I´M SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!! Its gonna be awesome! Also, I get to stay in this perfect area and keep working with my other ward family to preach the gospel!!! My job rocks!
How are all of you? Grandma and Grandpa Johnson? Grandma Deen? Jenna, are you pregnant? Is Dallin doing his Mission Papers yet? How´s my mommy? My nieces? Nephew, Jerônimo? :D I hope all is well. I love you all SO SO SO SO SO MUCH!!!!!!
Com amor,
Sister Kelsi Kate Johnson
P.S. Jenna, we have a couple here that have two of their grandkids here from the US. They´ve only been
here for 2 months and are speaking fluent Português. I can teach your kids if you want!
Still catching up... September 12th 2011
Oi Família!
Thanks for all your birthday wishes. I was thinking, this is my first birthday away from home, but it´ll be an adventure! My party sounded great. I got the pictures of the girls Jenna sent but the video didn´t work. Lynlee´s hair is so long and they are both getting so big! SO weird!!! I won´t know who they are when I get home. Its weird to think, I will spend my whole age of 22 years old on a mission. Kinda cool. Cool that Dallin got kept on. I knew he had the hard work gene somewhere! Its funny you mentioned calling for Christmas, mom. You don´t work on Christmas right? Because I don´t know how it works if you´re not home and I will need to talk to my mommy on Christmas! But, all will work out. It will be weird to speak English because I can write and type in English fine, but speaking is rough. Me and Sister Powell try to have 15 minutes of English to teach Sister Nicáscio and it is awful. We can´t do it. So funny.
I haven´t gotten the package yet, but I haven´t gotten mail this transfer because we haven´t had a Zone Conference or Meeting with the President and he is the one that distributes it...so maybe next week at transfers. Also, DAD, can you get me President Andersons address or email? I want to write him in Portuguêse so he can start practicing now! :D
I love hearing that people still remember me. That´s always nice. I can barely remember quotes from Dumb and Dumber. Its so weird. Its like not being able to use a part of your body. But its good for me. Replacing movie quotes with Português and scriptures.
This week was good. Its starting to heat up and become summer (varão). Scary. I have a wicked heat rash (put that in the blog!) But I love the heat, I just don´t love hugging people when I´m all sweaty and we hug every woman we meet. But. Vamos! Sister Nicáscio was looking at pictures that you guys sent me and said I have lost a lot of weight. I can never tell, but numbers don´t lie. So thats cool. I´m going to come home skinny and tan without even trying. :) But the food here is really good, its just not good to eat a lot when you walk as much as we do and with it getting so hot. I still haven´t really had to eat beans, but when I do they aren´t that bad. I was craving tacos with cheese sauce this week, so bad that my mouth was watering. Haha. Missions. Me and Sister Powell ate a X-Tudo (pronounced: sheess toodoo) its a hamburger with meat, tomatoes, cheese, corn, green corn, batata palha (basically Ruffles chips crumbs), lettuce, egg, bacon, and some sauces I´m pretty sure cause heart blockages. It was good, but a little much. I think just the X-Bacon is good on its own. Ah, Brazilian food is so good! I´m going to start taking pictures of more of the food I eat so you guys will understand better.
This last Saturday we had one baptism, for Carol. She is so perfect. We helped her change into her jumpsuit thing and as she was walking back to the room she started to cry, happy tears. I just hugged her and told her to remember this feeling forever. It was a perfect baptism. I don´t think there is such thing as an imperfect baptism. I sang a solo, I Like To Look For Rainbows (Quando Eu For Batizado) because the Bispo made me. This ward loves me and I love them! Transfers are next week! I hope I stay again, but whatever the Lord wants!
Another miracle happened. We´ve been teaching Isabella´s husband and daughter Julia. Geter is ready for baptism he just needs to quit smoking. But we´ve been having problems with Julia because she´s a rebellious 12 year old and I think didn´t want to get baptized just because her mom wanted her too. But after Carol´s baptism she told Sister Powell, ´Agora, só falta meu batismo.´ (Now we´re just missing my baptism). Sister Powell said What? And Julia said, `Sim, eu quero batizar. Posso fazer próximo Sábado?´ (Yes, I want to get baptized, can I next Saturday.) We of course said yes and Irmaõ Sylvio even announced it in Sacrament Meeting. I am so thankful the Spirit touched her heart and helped her make this decision that will change her life! Isabella was so excited when we told her, because Julia didn´t want to tell her. This family is so special. I can´t wait to see them go through the temple, because that is fullness of joy right there! I thought I had fullness of joy when I saw an Irmaõ in São Paulo that looked and sounded just like Nacho Libre give Elder Hanson an Anaconda Squeeze, but I think this is better.
Besides this my week was pretty normal. Normal companion struggles, awkward lessons, meeting elect people every day, doing the Lords work in Brazil. I love it!!!! Thank you all for your love and support! I love hearing from you every week. Its true what all missionaries say, even if they don´t respond they love letters! SO TRUE! It keeps us all moving forward! Sorry, this was kind of a rambling letter.
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU!!!!
Sister Kelsi Kate Johnson
P.S. Be sure to tell me or ask me things you want to know and I´ll try to respond,
I never know what to say. :D
Thanks for all your birthday wishes. I was thinking, this is my first birthday away from home, but it´ll be an adventure! My party sounded great. I got the pictures of the girls Jenna sent but the video didn´t work. Lynlee´s hair is so long and they are both getting so big! SO weird!!! I won´t know who they are when I get home. Its weird to think, I will spend my whole age of 22 years old on a mission. Kinda cool. Cool that Dallin got kept on. I knew he had the hard work gene somewhere! Its funny you mentioned calling for Christmas, mom. You don´t work on Christmas right? Because I don´t know how it works if you´re not home and I will need to talk to my mommy on Christmas! But, all will work out. It will be weird to speak English because I can write and type in English fine, but speaking is rough. Me and Sister Powell try to have 15 minutes of English to teach Sister Nicáscio and it is awful. We can´t do it. So funny.
I haven´t gotten the package yet, but I haven´t gotten mail this transfer because we haven´t had a Zone Conference or Meeting with the President and he is the one that distributes it...so maybe next week at transfers. Also, DAD, can you get me President Andersons address or email? I want to write him in Portuguêse so he can start practicing now! :D
I love hearing that people still remember me. That´s always nice. I can barely remember quotes from Dumb and Dumber. Its so weird. Its like not being able to use a part of your body. But its good for me. Replacing movie quotes with Português and scriptures.
This week was good. Its starting to heat up and become summer (varão). Scary. I have a wicked heat rash (put that in the blog!) But I love the heat, I just don´t love hugging people when I´m all sweaty and we hug every woman we meet. But. Vamos! Sister Nicáscio was looking at pictures that you guys sent me and said I have lost a lot of weight. I can never tell, but numbers don´t lie. So thats cool. I´m going to come home skinny and tan without even trying. :) But the food here is really good, its just not good to eat a lot when you walk as much as we do and with it getting so hot. I still haven´t really had to eat beans, but when I do they aren´t that bad. I was craving tacos with cheese sauce this week, so bad that my mouth was watering. Haha. Missions. Me and Sister Powell ate a X-Tudo (pronounced: sheess toodoo) its a hamburger with meat, tomatoes, cheese, corn, green corn, batata palha (basically Ruffles chips crumbs), lettuce, egg, bacon, and some sauces I´m pretty sure cause heart blockages. It was good, but a little much. I think just the X-Bacon is good on its own. Ah, Brazilian food is so good! I´m going to start taking pictures of more of the food I eat so you guys will understand better.
This last Saturday we had one baptism, for Carol. She is so perfect. We helped her change into her jumpsuit thing and as she was walking back to the room she started to cry, happy tears. I just hugged her and told her to remember this feeling forever. It was a perfect baptism. I don´t think there is such thing as an imperfect baptism. I sang a solo, I Like To Look For Rainbows (Quando Eu For Batizado) because the Bispo made me. This ward loves me and I love them! Transfers are next week! I hope I stay again, but whatever the Lord wants!
Another miracle happened. We´ve been teaching Isabella´s husband and daughter Julia. Geter is ready for baptism he just needs to quit smoking. But we´ve been having problems with Julia because she´s a rebellious 12 year old and I think didn´t want to get baptized just because her mom wanted her too. But after Carol´s baptism she told Sister Powell, ´Agora, só falta meu batismo.´ (Now we´re just missing my baptism). Sister Powell said What? And Julia said, `Sim, eu quero batizar. Posso fazer próximo Sábado?´ (Yes, I want to get baptized, can I next Saturday.) We of course said yes and Irmaõ Sylvio even announced it in Sacrament Meeting. I am so thankful the Spirit touched her heart and helped her make this decision that will change her life! Isabella was so excited when we told her, because Julia didn´t want to tell her. This family is so special. I can´t wait to see them go through the temple, because that is fullness of joy right there! I thought I had fullness of joy when I saw an Irmaõ in São Paulo that looked and sounded just like Nacho Libre give Elder Hanson an Anaconda Squeeze, but I think this is better.
Besides this my week was pretty normal. Normal companion struggles, awkward lessons, meeting elect people every day, doing the Lords work in Brazil. I love it!!!! Thank you all for your love and support! I love hearing from you every week. Its true what all missionaries say, even if they don´t respond they love letters! SO TRUE! It keeps us all moving forward! Sorry, this was kind of a rambling letter.
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU!!!!
Sister Kelsi Kate Johnson
P.S. Be sure to tell me or ask me things you want to know and I´ll try to respond,
I never know what to say. :D
Another Week 9/5/11
I apologize that I am running behind on getting Kelsi's letters on here. I will get back on track!
From September 5th....
Hello everyone!
This week was kind of slow and boring, but at the same time a lot of things happened. So many things happen in one week on a mission its hard to put it all into one email, one day a week, but I´m trying.
So, I told you about Sister Nicásico and wanting to go home. Well, she stayed and the first couple of days was really hard, but she found her groove again and we´re back to doing the Lord´s work, His way on His Time. So that´s nice.
As I told you, we´re teaching a LOT of great people, but everyone´s baptisms fell except for the angel Carol. I have a stronger testimony now of weekly planning and planning with the Spirit because this last week we DID NOT plan with the Spirit and our week and our goals showed it. Yesterday was much better though, so our fruits will show it!
Carol, ah blessed Carol. She is a 14 year old girl we found ´batendo palmas´. (more or less knocking doors). She lives with her cousin right next to the chapel. She´s lived on her own since she was 12 and I think she´s been through a lot in her life. But she has accepted the gospel with open arms and can´t wait to get baptized. On Wednesday, we went to teach her about prayer or reading the scriptures and I felt like we should change it to the 3rd lesson about Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Gift of the Holy Ghost and Enduring to the End. I told Sister Powell and we changed it. As I taught about Baptism Carol´s face lit up and had the biggest smile I have ever seen her smile. Then, I explained about the Holy Ghost and she began to cry the happiest tears I think I´ve ever witness. I know she is a special spirit of our Heavenly Father and is going to be a great leader in the church...probably with young women. You never get used to daily miracles.
Other than that we´re teaching both of Phelipes brothers Marcelo and Pedro and Isabellas husband Geter. Geter is awesome. We haven´t even taught the Word of Wisdom and he´s already lessening his cigarettes and drinking. Also Pedro and Marcelo...and Phelipe. All the boys are going to be strong Priesthood leaders one day! I love this AREA!!!
Last night we had the priviledge to have a Fireside with our ward and the other Elders in our Districts ward with Presidente and Sister Araújo. It was really good. Us, the missionaries and the youth sang `Que Manhã Maravilhosa´(Joseph Smiths First Prayer) to the tune of Come Thou Fount. It was really good. Then Presidente and Sister Araújo spoke about their conversion stories...very cool. Me and Irmã Paulina sang the closing hymn as a duet ´É Tarde A Noite Logo Vem´(Abide With Me Tis Even Tide). Then Presidente and Sister Araújo took us home. Still as funny as ever. As we were walking to the car President stopped and turned to Sister Araújo and said, `Sister. Giff me da keyss.´ Then me and Sister Powell told him that she studied English in College and he needs us to teach him English, not the Elders and he said he´d like to have Sisters in his area....so that would be fun. We´ll see! President always remembers me because I email him in English and I taught him the word: amazing, because I use it a lot. So when I´m with him he uses it as much as he can. They´re both a crack up.
What else. I think thats pretty much it. Brazilian food is growing on me. I´m even experimenting with beans here and there. I ate some kind of casserole yesterday and I still can´t figure out what vegetable it was. The juice here is delicious! They literally just put fruit in a blender, add suger, strain the pulp and drink it....why didn´t we think of that?!
Also, my mosquito net broke two days ago, the first night was okay, but the night afterwards I had 10 mosquitos bites...on my face. I don´t know why they love my face. Whyy??? But we got it back up last night and somehow I woke up with two bites on my forehead. Mosquitoes are so weird. Its weird to think that while I´m sleeping I have these insects just buffeting on my face, lip, eye. So weird. But this is a mission! And I love it!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU!!!!
Sister Kelsi Kate Johnson
Fica firme família amado! Eu te amo muito!!!
From September 5th....
Hello everyone!
This week was kind of slow and boring, but at the same time a lot of things happened. So many things happen in one week on a mission its hard to put it all into one email, one day a week, but I´m trying.
So, I told you about Sister Nicásico and wanting to go home. Well, she stayed and the first couple of days was really hard, but she found her groove again and we´re back to doing the Lord´s work, His way on His Time. So that´s nice.
As I told you, we´re teaching a LOT of great people, but everyone´s baptisms fell except for the angel Carol. I have a stronger testimony now of weekly planning and planning with the Spirit because this last week we DID NOT plan with the Spirit and our week and our goals showed it. Yesterday was much better though, so our fruits will show it!
Carol, ah blessed Carol. She is a 14 year old girl we found ´batendo palmas´. (more or less knocking doors). She lives with her cousin right next to the chapel. She´s lived on her own since she was 12 and I think she´s been through a lot in her life. But she has accepted the gospel with open arms and can´t wait to get baptized. On Wednesday, we went to teach her about prayer or reading the scriptures and I felt like we should change it to the 3rd lesson about Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Gift of the Holy Ghost and Enduring to the End. I told Sister Powell and we changed it. As I taught about Baptism Carol´s face lit up and had the biggest smile I have ever seen her smile. Then, I explained about the Holy Ghost and she began to cry the happiest tears I think I´ve ever witness. I know she is a special spirit of our Heavenly Father and is going to be a great leader in the church...probably with young women. You never get used to daily miracles.
Other than that we´re teaching both of Phelipes brothers Marcelo and Pedro and Isabellas husband Geter. Geter is awesome. We haven´t even taught the Word of Wisdom and he´s already lessening his cigarettes and drinking. Also Pedro and Marcelo...and Phelipe. All the boys are going to be strong Priesthood leaders one day! I love this AREA!!!
Last night we had the priviledge to have a Fireside with our ward and the other Elders in our Districts ward with Presidente and Sister Araújo. It was really good. Us, the missionaries and the youth sang `Que Manhã Maravilhosa´(Joseph Smiths First Prayer) to the tune of Come Thou Fount. It was really good. Then Presidente and Sister Araújo spoke about their conversion stories...very cool. Me and Irmã Paulina sang the closing hymn as a duet ´É Tarde A Noite Logo Vem´(Abide With Me Tis Even Tide). Then Presidente and Sister Araújo took us home. Still as funny as ever. As we were walking to the car President stopped and turned to Sister Araújo and said, `Sister. Giff me da keyss.´ Then me and Sister Powell told him that she studied English in College and he needs us to teach him English, not the Elders and he said he´d like to have Sisters in his area....so that would be fun. We´ll see! President always remembers me because I email him in English and I taught him the word: amazing, because I use it a lot. So when I´m with him he uses it as much as he can. They´re both a crack up.
What else. I think thats pretty much it. Brazilian food is growing on me. I´m even experimenting with beans here and there. I ate some kind of casserole yesterday and I still can´t figure out what vegetable it was. The juice here is delicious! They literally just put fruit in a blender, add suger, strain the pulp and drink it....why didn´t we think of that?!
Also, my mosquito net broke two days ago, the first night was okay, but the night afterwards I had 10 mosquitos bites...on my face. I don´t know why they love my face. Whyy??? But we got it back up last night and somehow I woke up with two bites on my forehead. Mosquitoes are so weird. Its weird to think that while I´m sleeping I have these insects just buffeting on my face, lip, eye. So weird. But this is a mission! And I love it!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU!!!!
Sister Kelsi Kate Johnson
Fica firme família amado! Eu te amo muito!!!
Monday, August 22, 2011
But I pressed forward...
Hi Family!
Boy do I have some stories to tell! This week was much more different than the others. Tuesday night I could tell I was starting to get sick. I had a sore throat and the head cold kind of thing and was getting more and more weak and really bad body aches. But I pressed forward. My contacts were really horrible because with all this going on my brain was not working in Portugues very fast. We went home, did quick planning and I went to bed. I was up every hour with a fever and body aches so bad I couldn´t sleep. The next morning when Sister Powell and Sister Nicáscio woke up and could tell that I was even sicker than before. They called Sister Araújo and she said to take me to the Hospital because it could be dengue. I was really weak, achey and tired but we got a bus to the Vila Velha hospital only to find out they didn´t take our insurance. Too weak to do another bus we all pitched in for a taxi to a hospital that did take my card. Long story short, the doctor saw me, checked my breathing, asked if I had asthma (I said no) and looked at my throat. It was a replay of the time I had really bad strep and the doctor went to swab my throat to do a test, but just looked in it and was like, ´Yeah its strep.´ Only in Portugues. So I had to get a FAT shot in my arm, I didn´t look but my companions said they were praying for me when she took the needle out of the toolbox (yes, literally a tool box for tools). But I survived. We returned home and got my medicine from the Pharmacy and Sister and President Araújo came to our apartment. Then the coolest thing ever happened. Since we were in a trio President said he would take me to their house and I could stay there until Friday and they would bring me back in the morning. And thus the adventure began. It made sense too that instead of three missionaries staying in a house, they take me and my companions could teach our investigators. So, I packed my stuff and moved into the suite in Jardim a Pena with the President and his wife. It was AMAZING! I got to rest and study and have homeade pineapple juice every hour. It was just like living at Grandma and Papa Bowens again. President Araújo reminds me a tiny bit of Papa Bowen. He´ll tell a story and make himself seem much more suave than he actually was and give the Papa Bowen look with the raised eyebrows like, `You know´. I will never forget my time at the Mission Home. The first evening we sat and talked in the living room, Presidente Araújo practiced his English with me and me and Sister Araújo would just laugh and laugh at his stories and his English. His accent is hilarious. The second night they had a real English class with Elder Swanson and Elder. It was hilarious. President is so funny when it comes to English. But the stories will have to wait for a letter or Christmas or something.
I returned home, rejuvenated on Friday and worked hard all weekend. We taught Phelipe who is having a hard time coming to church and with some aspects of the church but the Spirit was very strong and I know if he prays he will know that all aspects of the church are led by the Savior and he will be happy when he keeps the commandments. I got a little glimpse of how Nephi and Ammon and them felt when they saw the wickedness of the people or the people that wouldn´t keep the commandments. But I´m praying hard for him because I know he will be a powerful leader in the Church. So, that was the crazy week I had.
Oh, yes, it rains. I think like once every two weeks. It rained yesterday but it worked out because the old man, Volmar, we are teaching won´t go to church unless he can take us in a taxi because he doesn´t like feeling dependant on other people..... so, basically, we have an investigator that takes us to church!
I love you guys and love to hear about your lives! Even if don´t respond specifically to each, I love reading about everything thats happening. I´m glad you are serving your fellow man because that is what the Lord will ask us in the last days! These are the last days! I read today in Jesus The Christ that the last days are so close, that in the time of Joseph Smith (200 or something years ago) The Savior was calling the last days ´today´. Kind of crazy. But I´m excited for the Savior to come!!!!!!! Is that a weird way to put it?
Anyways, LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU!!!!!
Sister Kelsi Kate Johnson
P.S. Tell Dallin to go to Mission Prep or I´ll never talk to him again!!!
LOVE YOU!
Boy do I have some stories to tell! This week was much more different than the others. Tuesday night I could tell I was starting to get sick. I had a sore throat and the head cold kind of thing and was getting more and more weak and really bad body aches. But I pressed forward. My contacts were really horrible because with all this going on my brain was not working in Portugues very fast. We went home, did quick planning and I went to bed. I was up every hour with a fever and body aches so bad I couldn´t sleep. The next morning when Sister Powell and Sister Nicáscio woke up and could tell that I was even sicker than before. They called Sister Araújo and she said to take me to the Hospital because it could be dengue. I was really weak, achey and tired but we got a bus to the Vila Velha hospital only to find out they didn´t take our insurance. Too weak to do another bus we all pitched in for a taxi to a hospital that did take my card. Long story short, the doctor saw me, checked my breathing, asked if I had asthma (I said no) and looked at my throat. It was a replay of the time I had really bad strep and the doctor went to swab my throat to do a test, but just looked in it and was like, ´Yeah its strep.´ Only in Portugues. So I had to get a FAT shot in my arm, I didn´t look but my companions said they were praying for me when she took the needle out of the toolbox (yes, literally a tool box for tools). But I survived. We returned home and got my medicine from the Pharmacy and Sister and President Araújo came to our apartment. Then the coolest thing ever happened. Since we were in a trio President said he would take me to their house and I could stay there until Friday and they would bring me back in the morning. And thus the adventure began. It made sense too that instead of three missionaries staying in a house, they take me and my companions could teach our investigators. So, I packed my stuff and moved into the suite in Jardim a Pena with the President and his wife. It was AMAZING! I got to rest and study and have homeade pineapple juice every hour. It was just like living at Grandma and Papa Bowens again. President Araújo reminds me a tiny bit of Papa Bowen. He´ll tell a story and make himself seem much more suave than he actually was and give the Papa Bowen look with the raised eyebrows like, `You know´. I will never forget my time at the Mission Home. The first evening we sat and talked in the living room, Presidente Araújo practiced his English with me and me and Sister Araújo would just laugh and laugh at his stories and his English. His accent is hilarious. The second night they had a real English class with Elder Swanson and Elder. It was hilarious. President is so funny when it comes to English. But the stories will have to wait for a letter or Christmas or something.
I returned home, rejuvenated on Friday and worked hard all weekend. We taught Phelipe who is having a hard time coming to church and with some aspects of the church but the Spirit was very strong and I know if he prays he will know that all aspects of the church are led by the Savior and he will be happy when he keeps the commandments. I got a little glimpse of how Nephi and Ammon and them felt when they saw the wickedness of the people or the people that wouldn´t keep the commandments. But I´m praying hard for him because I know he will be a powerful leader in the Church. So, that was the crazy week I had.
Oh, yes, it rains. I think like once every two weeks. It rained yesterday but it worked out because the old man, Volmar, we are teaching won´t go to church unless he can take us in a taxi because he doesn´t like feeling dependant on other people..... so, basically, we have an investigator that takes us to church!
I love you guys and love to hear about your lives! Even if don´t respond specifically to each, I love reading about everything thats happening. I´m glad you are serving your fellow man because that is what the Lord will ask us in the last days! These are the last days! I read today in Jesus The Christ that the last days are so close, that in the time of Joseph Smith (200 or something years ago) The Savior was calling the last days ´today´. Kind of crazy. But I´m excited for the Savior to come!!!!!!! Is that a weird way to put it?
Anyways, LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU!!!!!
Sister Kelsi Kate Johnson
P.S. Tell Dallin to go to Mission Prep or I´ll never talk to him again!!!
LOVE YOU!
2nd Letter a minute later:
I don´t know what I was thinking...I still have 20 minutes!
So. Adventure at Presidents house. When I got there I felt kind of awkward because I didn´t know what I could or couldn´t do, but it got better with time. We ate lunch and I slept. After I woke up it was about dinner time and Sister Araújo made some kind of something like roast and onions and carrots and stuff, but she put it in the blender for me to eat as soup for my throat. It was actually pretty good. After that me and Sister Araújo played piano and sat and talked in the living room about temples, about traveling and about English and Portuguese. Right as she was telling me that she has fears to speak English because her pronunciation is bad but President doesn´t care he just talks and talks the best he can....President walked in and sat down saying, We spekin ingles? and then he began to say all kinds of things to me in English. He told me the story of how he met Sister Araújo and when they got lost in Salt Lake. At one point Sister Araújo turned to me and asked if I was understanding and before I could answer Presdient was like, in Portugues, She understands! She understands! (like, just let me tell this story) Me and Sister Araújo laughed so hard. He was also telling me how he traveled back and forth from Fortaleza to São Paulo a lot and he came to a word he didn´t know so he did his hand like and airplane and went ´Sssssss!´ I turned to Sister and was like What word is Sssss!? Now we have this inside joke where when we don´t know what to say we go Ssssss! We laughed hard after that too!
The next night, English class was even funnier because Elder Swanson and Elder Athans would give President and Sister a scenario that a missionary might call and they need to respond in English. Elder Athans put his had up to his ear like a telephone and said, in English, VERY SLOWLY `President. My toilet is broken.` President got all serious. Leaned back and then forward, put his hand up to his ear like a telephone and said, ´ Okee, vhary wew. Sory.´ We all started laughing so hard, but Elder Athans persisted with the telephone to his ear. ´President. What should I do?´ President, with his hand up to his ear like a telephone, in broken English, ´Okee, I go sershing fora salution. I vill call joo in a cupple days.´ We all laughed again. We did this with various other situations like headaches and missionaries that wanted to stay home. It was so funny, I wish you could have been there. I could not control my laughter and it was laughter I needed because although Sister Powell and Nicáscio are awesome, they aren´t very funny and I need funny! But, I got it!
It was an awesome couple of days that I was able to rest and recover and get to know my Mission mãe and pai. They really are like my parents now and I can turn to them whenever I need to...it didn ´t feel like that before, but now it does. It was cool too after dinner on Thursday me and Sister Araújo sat at the table and she read the Friend in English and I read the Liahona (Ensign) in Portugues and we´d ask each other what the words we didn´t know meant. It wasn´t fair though because when she asked a word, I´d explain in Portugues and when I asked a word she´d explain in Portugues. But it was fun and helped a lot. I learned how much the President does for his missionaries and how he loves every single one. I got to see behind the scenes the work of a mission president and its truly inspired and vital work. Elder Costa of the Seventy is coming tomorrow and we get to hear from him in our Zone first. Pretty exciting!
Its amazing how each moment that happens on my mission has a purpose and has a lesson that I need to learn. Every hour, every minute is important. It makes sense why people grow so much in a year and a half, two years. I can´t wait to see how much I still have to grow!
LOVE YOU GUYS! Send my love to my nieces too!
Love, Sister Kelsi Kate Johnson
Hope at least some of this makse sense.
So. Adventure at Presidents house. When I got there I felt kind of awkward because I didn´t know what I could or couldn´t do, but it got better with time. We ate lunch and I slept. After I woke up it was about dinner time and Sister Araújo made some kind of something like roast and onions and carrots and stuff, but she put it in the blender for me to eat as soup for my throat. It was actually pretty good. After that me and Sister Araújo played piano and sat and talked in the living room about temples, about traveling and about English and Portuguese. Right as she was telling me that she has fears to speak English because her pronunciation is bad but President doesn´t care he just talks and talks the best he can....President walked in and sat down saying, We spekin ingles? and then he began to say all kinds of things to me in English. He told me the story of how he met Sister Araújo and when they got lost in Salt Lake. At one point Sister Araújo turned to me and asked if I was understanding and before I could answer Presdient was like, in Portugues, She understands! She understands! (like, just let me tell this story) Me and Sister Araújo laughed so hard. He was also telling me how he traveled back and forth from Fortaleza to São Paulo a lot and he came to a word he didn´t know so he did his hand like and airplane and went ´Sssssss!´ I turned to Sister and was like What word is Sssss!? Now we have this inside joke where when we don´t know what to say we go Ssssss! We laughed hard after that too!
The next night, English class was even funnier because Elder Swanson and Elder Athans would give President and Sister a scenario that a missionary might call and they need to respond in English. Elder Athans put his had up to his ear like a telephone and said, in English, VERY SLOWLY `President. My toilet is broken.` President got all serious. Leaned back and then forward, put his hand up to his ear like a telephone and said, ´ Okee, vhary wew. Sory.´ We all started laughing so hard, but Elder Athans persisted with the telephone to his ear. ´President. What should I do?´ President, with his hand up to his ear like a telephone, in broken English, ´Okee, I go sershing fora salution. I vill call joo in a cupple days.´ We all laughed again. We did this with various other situations like headaches and missionaries that wanted to stay home. It was so funny, I wish you could have been there. I could not control my laughter and it was laughter I needed because although Sister Powell and Nicáscio are awesome, they aren´t very funny and I need funny! But, I got it!
It was an awesome couple of days that I was able to rest and recover and get to know my Mission mãe and pai. They really are like my parents now and I can turn to them whenever I need to...it didn ´t feel like that before, but now it does. It was cool too after dinner on Thursday me and Sister Araújo sat at the table and she read the Friend in English and I read the Liahona (Ensign) in Portugues and we´d ask each other what the words we didn´t know meant. It wasn´t fair though because when she asked a word, I´d explain in Portugues and when I asked a word she´d explain in Portugues. But it was fun and helped a lot. I learned how much the President does for his missionaries and how he loves every single one. I got to see behind the scenes the work of a mission president and its truly inspired and vital work. Elder Costa of the Seventy is coming tomorrow and we get to hear from him in our Zone first. Pretty exciting!
Its amazing how each moment that happens on my mission has a purpose and has a lesson that I need to learn. Every hour, every minute is important. It makes sense why people grow so much in a year and a half, two years. I can´t wait to see how much I still have to grow!
LOVE YOU GUYS! Send my love to my nieces too!
Love, Sister Kelsi Kate Johnson
Hope at least some of this makse sense.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Silently Cracking Up
So, first of all I have to tell dad. The Stake Patriarch is in our ward and is so cool! He loves Pink Floyd and even invited us over for PDAY to watch David Gilmour Live at Albert Hall...seriously. But we had to turn him down, obviously. :( But he´s awesome. His name is Wilson. He was a hippie, left his home and lived on the streets for two years and everything! Awesome. Now he´s a Patriarch. This gospel is so cool.
Our Baptism for this Saturday fell. Merisvaldo, the Baiano, we´re still working with. He has to quit smoking and we we´ll probably have to review all the lessons again. But he´s awesome and hilarious. We had asked him if he was reading the Book of Mormon and he said yes, but it didn´t sound very truthful so Sister Morales asked him if he read the part about the white horse and he was like, Yeah, it was a pony né? We were laughing SO HARD, it was really funny. I guess you had to be there. Then he was making dinner and kept offering us stuff and all of a sudden he said I´m gonna go buyt you something to drink...and super fast he jumped on his bike and said to watch his food and he took off! SO we were left sitting alone in a Baiano´s house. Me and Sister Morales were cracking up...like the silent cracking up like...is this real? So funny! But he´s awesome, we just need to keep working with him!
Sunday was amazing. It was testimony meeting and Isabella bore s powerful and simple testimony and Presidente Araújo was there. Perfect. The spirit was so strong in the chapel. So many people after Isabella bore their testimonies and mentioned her and the Sisters. It was so amazing. Indescribable!
So, I didn´t get transferred! I get to stay here! But I don´t know who my companion is yet, hopefully she´s ready to work hard because we have a lot of work to do!!! I´m so excited. I love this ward and this area!!
Jenna - if you could get me Nathan Halls, Danielle Whipple and Alexa Betleys addresses that would be awesome. Facebook would probably work the best. And eanyone else that would like me to try to write them.
Other than that I´m working hard. Mission are really really really really hard but I keep on keeping on doing what I can...thats the key. Just keep going! I love you guys.
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU!
Sister Kelsi Kate Johnson
Our Baptism for this Saturday fell. Merisvaldo, the Baiano, we´re still working with. He has to quit smoking and we we´ll probably have to review all the lessons again. But he´s awesome and hilarious. We had asked him if he was reading the Book of Mormon and he said yes, but it didn´t sound very truthful so Sister Morales asked him if he read the part about the white horse and he was like, Yeah, it was a pony né? We were laughing SO HARD, it was really funny. I guess you had to be there. Then he was making dinner and kept offering us stuff and all of a sudden he said I´m gonna go buyt you something to drink...and super fast he jumped on his bike and said to watch his food and he took off! SO we were left sitting alone in a Baiano´s house. Me and Sister Morales were cracking up...like the silent cracking up like...is this real? So funny! But he´s awesome, we just need to keep working with him!
Sunday was amazing. It was testimony meeting and Isabella bore s powerful and simple testimony and Presidente Araújo was there. Perfect. The spirit was so strong in the chapel. So many people after Isabella bore their testimonies and mentioned her and the Sisters. It was so amazing. Indescribable!
So, I didn´t get transferred! I get to stay here! But I don´t know who my companion is yet, hopefully she´s ready to work hard because we have a lot of work to do!!! I´m so excited. I love this ward and this area!!
Jenna - if you could get me Nathan Halls, Danielle Whipple and Alexa Betleys addresses that would be awesome. Facebook would probably work the best. And eanyone else that would like me to try to write them.
Other than that I´m working hard. Mission are really really really really hard but I keep on keeping on doing what I can...thats the key. Just keep going! I love you guys.
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Johnsons Baby
All I hear about here is HP7. An Irmão fixed our shower this morning and said he was going to see it with his kids. The 2 cutest Brazilian girls you´ll ever meet. I think they´re on the same level as Lynlee & Ellee....just Brazilian. I can´t wait to watch it when I get back. Me and Sister Morales were joking we should call Presidente Araújo and ask him to go see Harry Potter because of all the gospel related metaphors in the movie. Voldemort = Satan. Harry goes to the Spirit World and comes back. The Liahona (Harrys snitch) Tell Melissa, she´ll get it!
But the work is going great! I emailed mom and grandma Bowen about our investigators. Its so amazing to see the work move along. Its booming here in Brazil. We´re not running to appointments like mom heard, but we could really use splits to double our work! One thing, I´m gonna do when I get home is spoil the Missionaries! Rides, food, anything they want because I know what its like.
We can listen to uplifting music. Our new Presidente changed the rules because it used to be only MoTab except on PDay anything uplifting. It´ll probably change back to MoTab during the week though beacuse of how Elders interpret things....like seriously one Elder listened to Guns N Roses and told President Picket that is was uplifting to him...good ole Elders.
I can´t believe how many leaps and bounds Missions make you take. I can´t wait to see who I am when I am done with my Mission! Whenever you forget yourself to serve others you end up the more blessed one it seems like.
You´ll have to look up a Brazilian Hairdresser named Berto. I guess he´s really popular. He cut my hair today for free, because he´s a member and I´m a missionary. The perks huh? Also, I guess you need to put me on a Brazilian type Facebook called Orkut. So my ward members here and investigators can stay in contact with me. Whenever you have time. I know moms are crazy busy. By the way, are you pregnant? Just checking.
I can´t think of anything else specific I need. I have some shirts in my closet if they didn´t get sold I´d like. Those Target ones. They´re the same...white with grey polka dots and a plum colored one. You have the same kind I think. Other than that surprise me!
Thanks for writing. Don´t forget to tell my nieces how much I love them!!!! I love you guys too! Thanks for being great examples to me! LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU!!!!!!
Com amor,
Sister Kelsi Kate Johnson or Johnsons Baby as they call me here....like the shampoo.
But the work is going great! I emailed mom and grandma Bowen about our investigators. Its so amazing to see the work move along. Its booming here in Brazil. We´re not running to appointments like mom heard, but we could really use splits to double our work! One thing, I´m gonna do when I get home is spoil the Missionaries! Rides, food, anything they want because I know what its like.
We can listen to uplifting music. Our new Presidente changed the rules because it used to be only MoTab except on PDay anything uplifting. It´ll probably change back to MoTab during the week though beacuse of how Elders interpret things....like seriously one Elder listened to Guns N Roses and told President Picket that is was uplifting to him...good ole Elders.
I can´t believe how many leaps and bounds Missions make you take. I can´t wait to see who I am when I am done with my Mission! Whenever you forget yourself to serve others you end up the more blessed one it seems like.
You´ll have to look up a Brazilian Hairdresser named Berto. I guess he´s really popular. He cut my hair today for free, because he´s a member and I´m a missionary. The perks huh? Also, I guess you need to put me on a Brazilian type Facebook called Orkut. So my ward members here and investigators can stay in contact with me. Whenever you have time. I know moms are crazy busy. By the way, are you pregnant? Just checking.
I can´t think of anything else specific I need. I have some shirts in my closet if they didn´t get sold I´d like. Those Target ones. They´re the same...white with grey polka dots and a plum colored one. You have the same kind I think. Other than that surprise me!
Thanks for writing. Don´t forget to tell my nieces how much I love them!!!! I love you guys too! Thanks for being great examples to me! LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU!!!!!!
Com amor,
Sister Kelsi Kate Johnson or Johnsons Baby as they call me here....like the shampoo.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)