Minha última semana em Campos.... probably.‏

Yep. If can read portuguese you probably understood that I said that this is probably my last week here in Campos, Rio de Janeiro. I am 99% sure I am being transferred, probably for the last time. Crazy. I am pretty sure I will be returning to Espirito Santo. Whatever happens will be good. Sister Anderson and I are really gonna  go for it this week and leave everything ready for the new sisters that are gonna get here. There are 4 new sisters (brazilians) arriving next week! President said that our mission which currently has 13 sisters will have 30 by the end of the year!!!! Crazy! How cool! President wants to have a zone of just sisters. haha

Speaking of sisters. We had our sisters conference this last week in Vitória. It was SO great. We left here at 2am on Thursday morning and got there around 6am. We were pretty tired and took a little nap until the conference started at 9:30. It was way good and not gonna lie, the lunch we ate might have been the best part. Mmmmm. We took a ton of photos as the sisters always do. We talked about our purpose as missionaries and President talked for a while. It was so good and it really helped me to remember my purpose here and to kinda rededicate myself. I am sure that makes sense to other missionaries. haha Sometimes you get so into the rhythm of things you just need to take a step back, look at you purpose, and kind of start over.

But anyways. I have been thinking about a lot of things lately. Sister Anderson and I are making a lot of goals for this new transfer coming up and I am pretty excited. Sister Peterson goes home next week! NOOO! I have been living with her for the last 6 months and I am gonna miss her so much! Good thing she goes to BYU so i will definitely see her. haha

The baptism last week was postponed because a relative was hospitalized and Rita had to go to another city to be with her. But everything is set for this saturday and everyone is excited! 

We went to the ward council meeting yesterday and they talked about how important communication is. We played one round of telephone just to illustrate the point. The work that started was ``ovo`` (egg) and ended with ``confiança`` (trust). Não tem nada ver! haha I was in the middle and when it passed me I heard ``ho ho ho.`` haha Communication is so important. Especially for leaders in the church. 

Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEFFY PEFFY! 17, right? CRAZY! I hope you have the best day little guy (I mean, big guy, you are way tall now)!!! Rach, have fun in vegas (I like the cover story ``going to see family`` HA) haha love you so much! I can´t wait for you to experience the greatness that is Brazil! You are gonna fall in love.

I love you all so much and am so grateful for the prayers and support of all of you. A mission is an interesting thing. Not an easy thing. It is fun. It is stressful. It is emotional. It is tiring. It is rewarding. It is a rollercoaster. and it is so short. That is what I am coming to realize more and more. It is so short this time that I have to help people and the time is only getting shorter. It makes me remember that every moment counts and it is not worth it to let fear get in your way of doing your best. 

Love you all. Remember to read your scriptures and say your prayers. Strengthen yourself so you can go strengthen someone else.

Até Março (o melhor mês)

Sister Zeller

Carnaval acabou! FINALLY!‏

I gots to type real fast today! Starting with last p day. We actually got up a little early to watch the sunrise on the roof of our building. It was beautiful. Then we made a real american style breakfast. French toast, eggs, bacon and pancakes. Mmmmmm. Carnaval was officially tuesday and there was not a soul in the streets. I am convinced my companion and I were the only two people in the city (besides the other two sisters of course). But it was crazy. and kind of cool. But dangerous at night so we had to go home a bit early.

Maurícios mom passed her baptismal interview and is all set for Saturday! It is gonna be a surprise for him so we are inviting everyone on the down low. Yeah, we are sneaky like that. Her name is Rita and she is 80 years old but is gorgeous and doesn't even look like it! She said she already set apart the clothes she is gonna use for her baptism and that Maurício keeps asking why she  put clothes in a sack. haha She says ``they are my clothes I can do what I want with them.`` haha It´s gonna be great!

 

Yesterday I hit the 10 months in Brazil mark! Wahoo! Crazy how fast it has gone by and oh man am I grateful that I can already speak Portuguese. I mean I still get frustrated sometimes but I was reading back in one of my journals and it is amazing how much it has improved and is improving all day. Cant wait to take Portuguese for returned missionaries at BYU! It´s gonna be a  party! 

We have one investigator that I have grown to love so much and it just breaks my heart that she hasn´t received or isn´t recognizing the answer Heavenly Father is giving her. She is one of the most sincere people I have ever met and this is one of the biggest challenges I have had on the mission so far. I am praying and doing all I can to know how to help her. I am learning patience for sure and to trust in the Lord and in His timing. It is sure gonna be hard to leave this area when the time comes.

I wanted to leave a brief testimony. I know Jesus Christ lives. He is a real person and He is our brother. Heavenly Father won´t always take our difficulties away but He will give us a big hug, pat us on the back, give us a shove in the right direction and tell us to try again. I bet He is getting sick of doing that with me but I am still young so He is in it for the long haul. haha I know He loves me and so He won´t give up on me. Or any of us. 

Love you all.

Sister Zeller

Also, we had a ton of investigators at church yesterday and it made me so happy that summer is coming to an end and carnaval too! Yay!

It´s a carnival over here.‏

We are now beginning the 3rd week of the transfer! Que loucura! And this would be the week of the infamous ``Carnaval``. And as a result, the city is pretty much deserted. Everyone is at the beach but we are on the hunt for the elect people who don´t like the beach and want the Gospel. Wish us luck in finding them! This last week was great but the sun is coming back with a vengeance and one day I forgot to put on sunscreen. Ouch.

I have been trying to finish Jesus the Christ this week and I have about 70 pages left. IT IS SOOOO GOOD. I feel like I am getting to know Him so much more. I have learned about Him all my life but I feel like this book really helps me to get a picture of how He really is. Like His personality and all. It is really cool. Sometimes the things He says to the pharisees make me laugh because they think they can confuse Jesus? Good luck. They just ended up looking dumb every time they talk to Him because hello, He is Jesus. I am just really loving the book and want to read it again when I get home.

Our investigator Rita is getting ready for her baptism next Saturday which is gonna be a surprise to Maurício and should be really good. We had a lesson with her and she said she takes the BOM with her everywhere she goes and especially when she goes on vacation. Sister Anderson is speaking Portuguese like a PRO! Seriously. Yesterday, NONE of the speakers showed up for church. Luckily, this ward has four back up sister missionaries to call on and so they used plan B and we all gave a short little talk. I am pretty excited that giving a talk on the spot is getting easier and easier (don´t get any ideas Bishop) haha But it was good and when we asked Sister Anderson if she could give a short talk she hesitated at first and I could tell she was a little scared but she accepted and went for it and it was AWESOME. She is talking so well and it is the biggest reminder to me at how important this work is and how the Lord will give His missionaries the tools he needs. Gift of tongues baby. It´s pretty cool. Also, it must mean I am a pretty good trainer right? haha JK she is just really smart.

We had an investigator call us the other day and say goodbye and that she can´t meet with us anymore because her mom is giving her a rough time and actually stopped talking to her. The woman is 40 years old but her mom lives with her and is making life miserable for her. She said she will continue to read the BOM and will call us when things calm down a bit. I am not gonna lie I was pretty sad. I wanted to help her so bad and I know she wants it and so it is hard that someone else is just trying to get in the way. But we are gonna keep praying for her.

Well the celebration of carnaval actually started Saturday and will end Wednesday. We were doing visits Saturday and it was SO HARD to find people at home and we had a member with us. We walked the whole day and all the lessons we gave were standing so we were all pretty tired. The member that was with us bought us popsicles and she shared some words of wisdom that her mission prep teacher told her, ``When you are with the missionaries and they are having a hard day, stop a second and buy them a milkshake.`` haha she said she didn´t see anywhere selling milkshakes so popsicles would have to do. I agree with that teacher and was very glad to eat that popsicle. I think everyone else should put into practice those wise words as well.

We were teaching a lady about eternal families and she just wasn´t getting it. She said, ``If families were forever than no one in heaven would be happy.`` It made me pretty sad. And grateful for the knowledge I have about eternal families. And for the wonderful family that I have.

I can really see that my teaching has improved a lot these last couple weeks and I am learning to be a lot more courageous than I ever was before. I think when we are put in a position to be an example it really gives us an opportunity to step up to the plate and get the job done. I have been trying to do that lately and it seems to be working. Only because the Lord has been holding my hand the whole way but still.

We had a lesson with another investigator and were teaching about a principle that she wasn´t really getting. I bore my testimony to her and she said she still didn´t understand but she could see truth in my eyes as I bore testimony and so she is gonna trust us enough to pray and study. It made me think of how powerful our testimonies really can be and how important it is that we share them. During the mission, before, and especially after for the rest of our lives. I think the after will be the real test.

Yesterday at church a couple that says EVERY week when I ask if they are coming to church Saturday night, ``OF COURSE WE ARE`` and haven´t come for the past month or more finally came! I was SO HAPPY! I hope now that it becomes a regular thing because I know they will start to see a difference in their family.

Well this week has really been a blast and I know this transfer is gonna pass by sooo fast. Gotta really enjoy it while it is here! I am so excited for you Rachael and am telling everyone that is preparing for a mission here ``OH cool, maybe you will meet my sister in the MTC! She looks just like me and her name will be Sister Zeller!`` haha You will for sure meet my MTC comp who is serving in Fortaleza. Pretty cool. She could even train you! Ahh. I send my love to all of you! and the cousins!!!!!

Tchau tchau!
Sister Zeller

As green as it gets

haha That was me describing my new companion. haha A new greenie! We went to Vitória tuesday to pick up our newbies. It was hard to part with my first trainee Sister Wedma but she is actually headed to my first area so I am happy and excited for her. Sister Peterson is training the Brazilian from recife (Mace, I showed her a picture of your family and she said she already met your dad before. Random but kinda cool.)

My comp is American and her name is Sister Anderson (I always want to say her name like in the matrix, Mister Anderson haha) and she is also from the awesome pacific northwest. To be more specific, Auburn, Washington. Her mom is Japanese and so ALL the people here think she is from Asia and ask her to speak Japanese. It´s pretty funny because they all mention that her eyes are different. haha She is 21 and just arrived here in the mission Tuesday from the MTC in São Paulo. But, she is already speaking Portuguese like a pro! I already went the whole train a Brazilian route and now I get to do the same with an American. haha As a result of the little language barrier I have been teaching more this past week than ever. Sister Anderson is learning way fast because she is not afraid to try or say things wrong. That is how it has to be. But still as she is learning I am trying to give her little parts to teach without overwhelming her. I remember when I first got here and how hard it was to try and teach and have no idea what you are saying let alone what the person you are teaching is saying. haha But this will be good for me to really improve my teaching skills and confidence.

We marked a baptism date with Maurício's (recent convert) mom and so we are working with her and I am really excited for her baptism. She wants to surprise Maurício though so we have to do everything on the downlow which gets kind of complicated but we will figure it out. 

Last p-day we found a john bytheway cd and listened to it. It was so funny and made me think of EFY and being a youth in the church. GOOD TIMES!

We are teaching Isabel and Benício and they are progressing slowly but surely. Isabel was sick sunday so she couldn´t make it to church and I was kind of bummed but she is realizing more and more every day how true the church is. She just needs to learn to recognize the answers that Heavenly Father is giving her.

Also, the infamous ``Carnaval`` starts friday and goes until next wednesday. This week should be fun and actually we have to get home a little earlier every day to avoid the parties in the streets. It shouldn´t be too bad here in Campos because everyone just leaves the city and goes to the beach. 

Also, RACH! You are 21! Crazy! I am so excited for you! March 13th is gonna come so fast! Ahhh!

There is a guy is our ward here that is heading to the MTC on Thursday. This last Saturday night they had a little going away party for him at the church. They had some returned missionaries share an experience from their mission and they asked me to share an experience as a current missionary. It was way cool to think back at all the experiences I have had and share just one of them. It made me remember how lucky I am to be here and to have had these experiences and difficulties that have helped me to learn and grow. And I´m not gonna lie, a mission is pretty fun too. You have some pretty random things happen that just make you laugh. 

This transfer is only 5 weeks instead of 6 and is gonna FLY by! Love you all! Dont forget to write me before it gets to late!!!! That means you!

Love you mom and dad and thanks for EVERYTHING!

Beijão!

Sister Zeller