Eliza's Mission Adventures in Fortaleza Brazil: December 2024

Thursday, December 12, 2024

Week 21: December 11, 2024 Temple Day and Mission Conference!

Wow what a week and a half!! I had to go back and look at my photos to remember what happened but it was good!

To start off, I learned that my first trainer, Sister Reis, is engaged which is pretty wild.

We also got a few days with some heavy Rain in the morning which was exciting and I can also feel sympathy for the people serving in really rainy areas

We had some really cool experiences finding people to teach this week and inviting them to be baptized which was good! Gisele is a woman who sent a reference at the beginning of the year for missionaries and nothing really happened, but we found her name and phone number and visited her! Our first lesson the spirit was so strong and she just talked about how her life is pretty blessed and the only thing is that she feels empty because of her relationship with God, which we were like that's why we're here!!! So I'm super excited to keep teaching her!!

Yesterday we had our mission Christmas Conference!! It was so fun to gather together and ear yummy food and there was a talent show where most of the sisters sang Christ the Lord, a new church youth Christmas song that you all should listen to!! We also had a great message from President Feitosa that really make me think about this special opportunity that I have to represent Jesus Christ as a missionary!!

And then today we went to the temple which was great and peaceful as always!!

As I was reading the Book of Mormon, I was reading about the Lamanites, who were a people of murderers and robbers and sinful living and how they changed when they came to know about the plan of redemption through Jesus Christ. Alma 24:19 says, "And thus we see that, when these Lamanites were brought to believe and to know the truth, they were firm, and would suffer even unto death rather than commit sin; and thus we see that they buried their weapons of peace, or they buried the weapons of war, for peace." They were able to change and transform COMPLETELY because of the Savior, so much so that they were willing to be killed for their beliefs and desire to do good. This sacrifice and willingness that they had to be good and follow the Savior is such a good example to me that no matter what, it is worth it to make sacrifices for our Savior!! I love you all so much! Let me know if there is anything I can pray for for you guys!!

Tchau tchau,

Sister Howard

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Bg5r8oJSd2da4Pxu8

Week 20: December 2, 2024 Happy December!

Week 20: December 2, 2024 Happy December

Hello hello!! I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving!! Another great week of sharing the gospel in Fortaleza!!

This week we had zone conference which is always so good and inspirational!! They always talk about the things I know I need to get better at which is very helpful and helps me to be a better missionary!! It was also so fun because almost all of the sisters in our mission were at this zone conference I finally got to meet them

We also had a blitz where everyone in our zone went to one of the areas to help them find more people to teach and I got to go for about an hour with Sister Molina which was great and we put someone on date for baptism!!

On Friday we got to go to the temple with Rubens for his first time and he said it was "maravilhosa" so I think it was a pretty good first experience!! I love the temple!!

This week we also tried to visit, contact, and find people to teach and some days there's just not many people that want to talk to the missionaries. Even if I don't necessarily love those days, I really do LOVE the work that I am able to do and the times when I can share the restored gospel of Jesus Christ with people really make every thing worth it. This has made me think about faith because sometimes we are lead to go certain places and then nothing happens and it's kind or like we'll why did we feel like we needed to go there. But I know that we really show Heavenly Father that we trust Him and that He can trust us when we exercise our faith at all times to follow Him. There's a quote that I love from Elder Scott that says "We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become each day." The whole talk is so good if you want to read it!!

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2010/10/the-transforming-power-of-faith-and-character?lang=eng

This quote is so powerful for me because it really is our daily actions and faith that help us transform and change into who we have the potential to become. So, start today!! If there's something you want to improve in yourself, do something today to be a little bit better!! God sees our efforts and magnifies them when we put our faith and trust in Him!! Love you all so much!! Enjoy the cold weather for me

Love,

Sister Howard

Fotos:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Bg5r8oJSd2da4Pxu8

Week 19: November 25, 2024 Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy thanksgiving this week!! They have so many holiday here but unfortunately thanksgiving is not one of them...

This week was another week of highs and lows, but God's hand is always in the details! We were supposed to have a baptism yesterday but unfortunately he decided that he's not sure anymore, so we’re going to keep trying! It's hard when people seem so prepared and ready and then all of a sudden they're like just kidding! That's OK though because we really just have to do our part and leave the rest to the Lord!

This week we did a divisão where I went to another area and stayed the night and worked there! Even though it's not a break, it felt kind of like one just because I got to be somewhere different and I was with Sister O'Barr who is so awesome so that was really fun!!

We met a couple of really cool people this week that we can hopefully keep teaching and I also bought and até almost an entre cake, so don't worry that hasn't changed.

Spiritual thought: Something we talked about during the divisão is that as missionaries we are literally here to help people prepare for the second coming of our Savior Jesus Christ. He really is going to return and there are so many people everywhere that are not ready! It is really cool to remember that I have such a unique experience to help so many people to prepare for our Savior! Nothing about being a missionary is really easy, but that doesn't really matter because every moment that I can help someone learn a little bit more about Christ and feel the Holy Spirit testify to them about Him is SO GOOD!! In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am so so grateful for you all!! I am so grateful for my familu and I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ that has blessed my life!! I am so grateful to have a living prophet President Nelson who also helps us to prepare for thr coming of Christ!! I am so grateful for my opportunity to be a missionary in Brasil and the people that I have met and will meet and God's hand in my life and so many other things!! I love you all so much!! Have an amazing week

Love,

Sister Howard

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Bg5r8oJSd2da4Pxu8

Week 18: November 18, 2024 Montese Part 3

Oiii how is everyone doing? This week went by fast because of transfers and was filled with miracles!! It was sad to say bye to Sister Barbosa but Sister Mayor is super awesome too!

One thing that's cool about staying in the same area for a while is that I get to see the progress of the people here and the ward and I know I will be able to keep seeing it.

This past week, we knocked on the door of an address that a member gave us and we ended up being able.to return the next day and invited him to be baptized and he accepted! He said he always sees the missionaries walking by but they never stopped at his door, and now he is in a time in his life where he really wants to change and be better so that was super cool!

We also got a média reference and sent him a message. He responded with how does baptism work and in how much time can I be baptized. We were a little shocked and we went and visited him and he also has found himself at a time in life where he knows he needs to come unto christ, so another miracle for sure!

Also funny story yesterday we were trying to leave the house after lunch and study time and our lock has to be locked very specifically and Sister Mayor forgot so when we tried to unlock the door, it didn't unlock... so yeah we were locked inside our house for awhile calling the mission secretaries and maintenance and luckily someone finally came to unlock our door so that we could leave

But yeah those were the main things this week! Also I have Christmas music now so I am sitting here with my fan blasting and listening to Christmas music

Yesterday I was listening to the talk "Until Seventy Times Seven" by Elder Robbins and he talks about how there is no limit to the amount of times we can be forgiven if we repent with real intent, and he says "Scriptures uses to define repentance: “A change of mind and heart that brings a fresh attitude toward God, oneself, and life in general.” That kind of change results in spiritual growth. Our success, then, isn’t going from failure to failure, but growing from failure to failure without any loss of enthusiasm." This week, pur recent convert Rubens was having some struggled with some old habits and we reminded him that God sees his desire to change and do what is right, and what is important is to be putting in the effort to change from those setbacks. Something that's hard to remember at times is that failure is a part of life and has to happen to all of us because of our human nature. BUT, what matters is how we respond to our failures. If we just accept it and move on, we are not changing and becoming like Christ, but as we truly try and grow through our failures, our nature will change and we can become the person that God knows we have the potential to become! I know I fail in a lot of things here, whether it's because I didn't say the right thing or I could have put a little more effort into my study or lots and lots of other things, but I love this reminder to just try and change a little bit, one failure at a time!

I know that God sees all of our efforts and loves all of them! I love and miss you all and am so grateful for all of you and I love hearing from you!!

Até próxima semana!!

Com amor,

Sister Howard

Google fotos:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Bg5r8oJSd2da4Pxu8

Week 17: November 12, 2024 Transferências de Novo!!

Oii tudo bem?? Not gonna lie, I can't believe another week has gone by! Sometimes the days feel long, but the weeks are definitely getting faster!!

Yesterday we found out transfer news, and I'm staying here in Montese again! Sister Barbosa is leaving the area to become a sister training leader, but my new companion will be Sister Mayor from Chile!! Transfers also means that I am now out of training and am just a regular missionary, which is low key a little scary but also really exciting!!

This past week went by fast, but we put Francisco on date for baptism! He is 89 years old and lives super close to the church but never met with the missionaries before and we happened to knock on his door!!

We also were able to visit an inactive family that wants to be sealed in the temple and they have two daughters in primar that are so cute! Só I'm excited to be able to keep working with them!

It's rained a couple times in the mornings while I'm still in the house, but for the most part it's been super hot and sunny which has made it feel a little weird to see Christmas light and trees in places, but I love to see the Christmas spirit!!

That's about it for the week, nothing super crazy, but for my spiritual thought, I want to share a quote from Elder Uchtdorf that says "God does not need people who are flawless. He seeks those who will offer their ‘heart and a willing mind’ [Doctrine and Covenants 64:34], and He will make them ‘perfect in Christ’ [Moroni 10:32–33].” This quote really stuck out to me because it is really easy to think that we need to be, look, talk, act, etc. in a certain way that we have made up in our heads that would be the perfect type of person as a friend or as a missionary or as a parent or anybody! But the reality is, this is not what God asks of us. He asks us to come to Him as we are and let Him mold us into the people He needs us to be, not who we think we should be. For me, this is super comforting because it takes off a bit of the pressure!! Yes we need to work and do our part, but God just asks that we come to Him willing to change and with an open heart!! He loves us so much and just wants to help us and this change is all possible through our Savior Jesus Christ!! Through Him, each of us can become the person God wants us to become!!

I love all of you so much and I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love you so much too! I pray and think about you all often!!

Com amor,

Sister Howard

Google Fotos:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Bg5r8oJSd2da4Pxu8

P.S.

If anyone wants to send me the family Christmas card, here's my mission address

Av Santos Dumont, 1383

Aldeota

60150-160 Fortaleza - CE

Brazil

Week 16: November 6, 2024: Mango Tree!

Oi família e friends! I cant believe it's November already! It feels like August here still

This week actually went by pretty fast! Even though some days start slow, it always seems like at night we are running around talking to differernt people which is mostly a good thing haha.

I got to go to the temple twice! Once was today which is why my pday is today, but also last week we got to go do baptisms with Rayssa! That was super good of course to get to do that with her! Sister Barbosa also didn't know we could do baptisms ourselves as missionaries so she was pretty excited to do that to and I got to be the experienced one

One day I had to go to the doctor because my toenail that fell off before I left was having problems and I was a little scared about how the doctors would be here but it was a nice office and a super easy fix for my toe

Also, one day we were walking home from lunch and found a mango tree with a bunch of mangoes that we could just take! That was an exciting post-lunch activity

On Sunday Rubens was baptized! The day before when we were getting ready for thr baptism, the water stopped working at the church. You can't get baptized without a LOT of water so this was definitely going to be a problem. But, it just so happened to be that I was fasting for that baptism to happen and Heavenly Father really answers prayers because the maintenance people.came within the hour and we left the water on hoping that it would filled by morning. In case you haven't guessed, it worked! The baptismal font was filled! The baptism of Rubens really was a miracle because he really changed his life when we started teaching him which was cool to hear about from his family members there at the baptism!

Emilly and Alessandro also got baptized! After he was baptized, Alessandro said "now I can go to Heaven!" which was really cute.

The temple today was also so good!! Temples are the house of God and it always is a good reminder of how blessed I have always been to have a temple near me! I also happened to be there at the same time as Sister Higbee (my friend from BYU in the Fortaleza East Mission) which was such a blessing to see and talk to a familiar face!!

This week as I was reading the Book of Mormon, I was reading the words of Isaiah about the allegory of the olive tree which I usually don't understand much of. But these versus stuck out to me in Jacob 5:21-22: "21 And it came to pass that the servant said unto his master: How comest thou hither to plant this tree, or this branch of the tree? For behold, it was the poorest spot in all the land of thy vineyard. 22 And the Lord of the vineyard said unto him: Counsel me not; I knew that it was a poor spot of ground; wherefore, I said unto thee, I have nourished it this long time, and thou beholdest that it hath brought forth much fruit." Even if we don't know why something is happening in our lives or why we have to do what we have to do, I know that as we listen to the Lord and His counsel, He will use us and our situation to bring forte thr "good fruit" in our lives! He know each and every one of us by every details and He truly knows what is best for us because He loves us! Never forget that! I love you all!

Tchau tchau,

Sister Howard

Google photos

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Bg5r8oJSd2da4Pxu8

Emily's Baptism Day

Alessandro's Baptism Day

Week 15: October 28, 2024 Another Week in the Books!

Hi everybody!! How's it going?? Another week of learning lots out here in Brasil!!

This week we found several promising people to teach that really seem to be eleitos and had some good lessons too!! One day we were looking for an address and asked this guy if he knew where it was and then he was like are you guys mormon? My sister served a mission, etc. etc. and that's how we met Bruno!

We also had zone conference!! Always a good time to be with other missionaries and learn from President Feitosa! One thing that really stuck out to me was recording spiritual experiences. In the moment, it's really easy to think you'll remember but when you're going through those hard times and cling those mountains, it is so important to look back and know that God helped you before and will help you again!

On Friday, nothing was really going according to our schedule and we were knocking doors when I remembered the name of an inactive member and we decided to visit her. I could tell pur visit was really important and I think we were really able to help her so that was cool to see the Spirit work in guiding is there!

We were also able to help another member, karyne, and her family come back to church after a long time, which made me so happy!! Sometimes people just need a little reminder that they are loved and missed and that most importantly God wants them there! This was such a good reminder for me to never stop reaching out to people because you never know which time will be the time that affects them and really helps them!

We are also teaching a 10yo boy Alessandro and it's so fun to teach him because he has question after question about the gospel so that he reallj understands and he wants to be baptized so bad, so please pray for that everything will go well for the baptism of Alessandro and Rubens too!

Yesterday was the youth broadcast for the new youth theme look unto christ! It was such a good reminder about how, as we are disciples of Jesus Christ and follow His example, we bring His light to others and point them to Christ! Continue to share the light of Christ! It is only through Him that we find true joy and peace in this life and I am so grateful that I can bring this to others! God loves you! I love you! Have the best week!!

Tchau tchau,

Sister Howard

Also I finally created a shared Google fotos if yall want to join

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Bg5r8oJSd2da4Pxu8

Week 14: October 21, 2024 Hello Hello! October 21, 2024

Hello Hello! October 21, 2024

Oii tudo bem?! Another week down here in Fortaleza with miracles as always!

Last week we had a divisão so I went to another area with one of our LTS's, Sister North, who speaks english which was honestly so nice to just have a day to actually be able to communicate 100 percent with somebody. On the language note though, português is improving everyday! Yesterday we had a meeting after church and I was just setting there thinking wow I actually understand what's going on and what they're talking about, so it's coming along slowly but surely! Anyways, the divisão was good and nice to have a change of scenery, but it made me grateful at least for the wind in my area because we were teaching a lesson and I literally just had sweat dripping down my face and neck just sitting there, so yeah it's hot but that's OK.

Also last week, Reubens decided he wants to be baptized! After he decided, we were teaching him about the commandments and that he couldn't drink coffee anymore, and he was like ok well I want to be baptized so ill just stop drinking it. So that was cool.

I also experimented mangoes with salt which is a really good combo for anyone wondering:)

Lenita decided she was ready to be baptized which was super exciting! It was supposed to be yesterday, but at the last minute her mom said she wanted her to be baptized in the Catholic church and that she couldn't be baptized, so that was a bit of a bummer. Please pray for Lenita and her mom!

Oh also I forgot, on Friday I had my first kind of bible bashing experience which was interesting

One thing that was kind of cool for me yesterday was during church, it came about that we were talking about who were converts to the church and basically all of the adults are. This was kind of a moment for me like wow, I am really blessed that I was born into the gospel of Jesus Christ with the knowledge I have, and also I am so blessed that I get to share this joy and knowledge with people that will be sitting in church 20 years from now living in with this same joy! In Elder Kearon's general conference talk, he said, "We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ. We are members of the church of joy!" As we focus on Christ, we truly find our joy. When things maybe aren't going the way we thought they would or the way we planned, we can always find joy in the One who sacrificed His life for you and for me because of His great love for us! I am so grateful for a gospel of joy! I love you all! Have a great week!

Tchau tchau,

Sister Howard