March 26, 2018 Sick! but still focusing on the positive, of course

[MOM NOTE:  You may notice in this letter that Mariah is down-playing the fact that she is sick.  If you know her, you know this is very much like her.  I know she says she is doing fine, but this Mom would REALLY appreciate prayers on her behalf so she can get well.]

Ok, well it's been kind of an interesting week! I have lots of logistics to worry about today, unfortunately, so I won't be able to write a super long email. Not that very much happened haha.

The first lovely piece of news is that I may or may not have tapeworms. Yep. Lovely. My district leader (after having to describe to me what it is because I don't know the word in portuguese) was like "hey that's cool! you got to go to Brazil and get tapeworms!" I don't really think it's all that cool, thank you very much. But anyways, this week was pretty rough physically, and, because of that, not very productive as far as missionary work goes. But there were some awesome highights, so I'm going to cover those instead!

Zone Conference! We had yet another tri-zone conference, which means lots of long lost friends, awesome trainings, super awesome trainings, exceptionally awesome trainings with super artistic video components, imported birthday presents (not that it was my birthday, but Sister Farias finally got hers from February, and she shared ;), letters, and lots of picture taking! It was super awesome, as usual, even though it takes up literally an entire day. A little over 11 hours from when we left the house to when we came back. Exhausting, but worth it.

We also had interviews with President this week, which is also super awesome. He always talks to me half in English, which is super hilarious, and didn't ask me how long I've been in my current area, so I think I get to stay another transfer ;) Sister Farias was not so lucky, so I probably have to say goodbye to her soon :((( he also told everyone but me that I probably have tapeworms and to keep an eye on me. It was like have 3 mothers in the house this week... They all keep telling me that parasites like chocolate and to stop eating it, but no one has brought scientific evidence, so until that point, I will continue eating as I please.

Friday night the other sisters had a baptism! Hercules (he's been working with the missionaries for a super long time, and gotten to know quite a few sets of sisters) and Sueli (long-time member of the ward who's been inactive but coming back) finally got married (more on that later) which meant Hercules could get baptized! Sister Lima and Sister Creswell both got permission to come (And bring their companions, of course) so the 8 of us sang Hercules' favorite hymn "How Great Thou Art" in English and Portuguese. It was an amazingly beautiful day, and I don't think Sueli stopped crying the entire time.

Saturday was pretty awful, and I did just about nothing. Arrived at the wedding ceremony for Sueli and Hercules sweating and in pain and wanting to throw up and also exhausted and super out of it, and my District Leader (Hercules had only ever seen sister missionaries, so when the elders came for the interview, he got super duper excited and invited the 4 of them) shook my hand and told me I had a fever. He was super concerned all week, but he and another elder gave me a priesthood blessing before the ceremony, and that helped a TON. Between the blessing, the wedding ceremony (which was super beautiful) and the company of all the missionaries (we're pretty much a party disguised in Sunday dress), I got my spirits back up pretty quick, and haven't lost them since :)

Ok this turned out pretty long (as usual) but the last cool thing is that we got to sing a song as part of a youth fireside last night. It was more of a favor for the youth leader who filled in last minute on our lunch calendar this week, but we had lots of fun, ended up with free T-shirts (t-shirts!!!!!) and really really loved the fireside. Youth events are so much fun!

I promise we took billions of pictures this week, but none of them have made it to me yet, sorry!!

I gotta go, but I love you all, and I promise I'm being taken care of here, especially by my Father in Heaven :)

-Love from Sister Kirkham

March 19, 2018 O que isso, Brasil?!

It was another crazy whirlwind of a week! I'm trying not to throw up as I write this, but that's another story.

Ok first of all, this weather is crazy. Every time we walk out in the ridiculously hot sun, which likes to alternate with crazy lightning, thunder and rainstorms, one or all of us has to ask "o que isso, Brasil?!?" It's that or "nossa! Cada coisa!" Seriously, if there's one thing I've learned on my mission (hey I hit 5 months this week!) it's 1) trust in God, and 2) surprises never stop. Even expecting the unexpected doesn't cover it! But anyways, I can't decide which is better/worse. Been kind of a rough week on the streets, but lots of little miracles.

Peterson and Clarysse both fall into this category. We were filling time before an activity at the church Tuesday night (more on that later) when we ran into Peterson. It's going to be hard to find time to teach him, but just talking to him for the first time was a really awesome experience. He was like "wait... all of this is in the Bible? How come no one ever told me about it!" and when we talked about the Great Apostasy and Restoration, he was like "so... you talked about prophets.. Did God tell the prophets that all of this would happen?" and we're all like, you know what, as a matter of fact He did! Anyways, it's always awesome to find people who ask really good questions, because it means they're actually listening and taking it in.

The next day, we were on our way to the bank, walking down the same main street we walk about a thousand times a week (cause that's how you get to the church and back) when out of nowhere, Clarysse pops up and asks us what it is we do. She didn't have time to talk, but invited us back the next day. We found out from her mom that Clarysse is in need of some direction in her life ("I already have a church, and I'm happy there, and I'd love for her to come with me, but really, I just want her to get help, from any [religious] source") and everytime we walked by, she always pointed us out, and was going crazy to know who we were. We were very happy to explain it to her :)

Lucileia is the friend of a member who went to church last week. We managed to switch things around so that she could give Almoço on Friday, and ended up spending half the day there. We taught almost all of the lessons, ate an amazing lunch and a fresh chocolate cake, and she even sent us home with lemon meringue! ("Don't tell me it's too much. I know you live in a group of 4, and you spend all day walking around!") But the best part was just getting to know her. She's a single, working mom (not by choice, of course) since her husband died of cancer. She's worried about her son, and was looking for a church with a better program for children, which is how she ended up learning about the Primary, and then coming to visit last Sunday. And she loved it! Was super curious about the Book of Mormon, and really tried to make sure she was comprehending everything we were teaching. She cried as she told us how lost she's been feeling, and how she had been praying and praying for guidance. She really has so much faith and is sooo prepared, and already keeping the commandments, and is reading and praying for her own testimony to be baptized on the 25th :) Can't wait to see her again tonight!

Oh, and a side note. Working with Lucileia has been an awesome experience all on it's own, but it also reminded me a lot about my experience teaching Aliny. That was the first time I really felt equal, that I was contributing in the lessons, and really doing my part in this amazing work, and I'm so so so happy that my companion gets to have this same experience! We really grew a lot as a companionship this week, and I'm seeing her faith and her confidence, and as a result, her capacity, growing more and more every day :)

Ok that brings me to Ivan and Enilda. We were kind of surprised to see Enilda home when we went to visit Monday night, but she was, and she was feeling so much better. She went with us to the Relief Society chocolate-making activity on Tuesday night, and absolutely LOVED it. Fell in love with the chapel, the Irmãs, and especially the hymns. Wouldn't stop raving about it all night. Unfortunately, Satan always follows, and the next day she was absolutely distraught (again, about Ivan's drug problem). I really didn't want to leave her, and we were really super duper late to Almoço because of it, but we left her with a prayer and a challenge to read the Book of Mormon, and she had an AMAZING experience! I'm out of time to write it all, but she called me later that afternoon just going on and on and on about how much she loves the BoM :) And this coming from someone with a first or second grade reading level! Anyways, the biggest excitement was that Ivan and Enilda finally came to church!!!!!! Hallelujah!!!! I wasn't able to visit them afterward (get to that in a min) but I heard that they loved it, and they're working hard on their marriage plans.

Ok, that brings me to being sick, as well as a couple of interesting answers to prayers. Saturday leaving Almoço I had the worst headache of the week. I prayed and decided to sleep for half an hour, and then get up and leave no matter how I felt afterwards. I woke up feeling worse, if anything, but I got up and left, just like I promised. Long story short, we spent the afternoon inside, away from the sun, helping a very lonely Irmã make a hundred chocolates for Relief Society on Sunday. God gives us a way to serve no matter how capable or incapable we are! Sunday I ended up going home to sleep after Almoço with sister Farias (she has an awesomely bad cold so our comps did splits instead) and woke up with a pretty nice fever. Slept off and on all day yesterday, and also slept in this morning. Got up feeling much, much, better, but then I ate a whole ton of food because I was starving, and now I'm thinking that might not have been the best idea... But whatever. I really am feeling much better, and I promise I'll take care of myself this week!

Love you love you love you all! Hugs for everyone! Have a great week!

-Sister Kirkham

March 12, 2018

It was a bit of a hard week. There was a ridiculous amount of rain and thunder and lightening, metaphorical as well as literal. I've become the official calm person in the house. Everyone else jumps and screams, but at this point my companion lands back on the ground (she really does get air sometimes) and turns to me and says "let me guess, it wasn't anywhere close to us?" and I'm like "yup, exactly!" and we keep going.

I wasn't feeling super awesome this weekend, but don't worry I'm totally ok now. Just kept counting down the hours to pday. And I got letters! A whole massive envelope from home!!! Seriously made my day :)

We took some considerable time out of our week this week to focus on practice and training. Sister Rodrigues is progressing quite a bit, but we're totally behind schedule on the 12-week program. She just needs a different pace, and its really hard to find time for that. Also, she's still struggling with the physical demands of the work, swollen feet, and all that. Please keep praying for her!!

This week was pretty sad (and I don't mean pathetic, I mean like there were a lot of sad, unfortunate things that happened) as far as our investigators are concerned. 

We had some great visits with Carol and Yasmin this week, and of course we were thrilled that Rosa and Yasmin came to church, but Carol has gotten harder and harder to find, and Rosa told us yesterday that she likes a different church better, and doesn't want to continue being taught. All we can really do is write awesome things about them in the area book and hope that some other sisters go looking for them!

This is the part that needs a warning label: We had a really awesome lesson on Sunday with Ivan and Enilda about keeping commitments (they didn't go to church, again) and how it will bless their lives. We didn't get to visit them on Monday, and then on Tuesday we got there pretty late, and Enilda was already sleeping, because she hadn't been feeling well, and finally gave up waiting for us (felt really super awful about that) and went to bed, but we read the Book of Mormon with Ivan, and had a good discussion. Wednesday, we call Enilda's phone to see if we can visit, only to find out that she was in the hospital alone, because Ivan was leaving for a doctors appointment Luckily, the hospital is super close (and in our area), and we managed to get the workers to let us in to sit with her, and make sure she got everything she needed. It was probably the saddest afternoon of my life, watching her struggle to stay awake and to communicate, and then to realize from her mixed up explanation that she was there because she tried to commit suicide. She already struggles with depression, and doesn't treat her diabetes well either, and with all the stress of Ivan going back to drugs, she decided to didn't need to live anymore. I can't describe to you all the pain we were both feeling that night, the helplessness. We visited the next day, and she participated in the lesson for a little while and then fall asleep (oh, but we had an awesome conversation with Ivan. Her attempted suicide really woke him up, and helped him on the path to repentance. He really really does want to change his life!), but then when we got there on Friday, neighbors were taking her to the hospital, again, because of yet another failed suicide attempt. We haven't managed to contact either of them since then, since Enilda is being kept somewhere (I forgot the English word, sorry), and Ivan doesn't have a phone. We know they both need the gospel in their lives now, more than ever, so we're not giving up, but please please please everyone keep praying for them!

Ok, but happy things! We had 3 people come to church yesterday, and we didn't even invite them! Our ward is super energetic, but often lacking in followup, so it was super duper awesome to have them bring friends and family! We also got a couple of references during ward council last night, so we're super excited to start working with all of them!

Also, we continue to eat well, as usual. This week we found yet another awesome but cheap bakery, and I also made cookies (my companion might need addiction recovery help) and milk shakes! Oh, plus the members are awesome and they never forget to feed us. That's super awesome too ;)

Wish I had happier news, sorry! And lots more time. Love you all! Have a great week!!

And sorry I didn't have time to write to Jessica! Tell her I'm so proud of her, and so happy I got to know her, just the little bit that I did!

-Sister Kirkham

March 5, 2018

It was a long long busy week, but a good one too. I like training, and it's been going pretty well, even though I've been doing pretty much all the talking. It's still ridiculously hot, and I was absolutely certain we were going to have a surprise rainstorm yesterday, so I lugged around my overly large umbrella the whole day, and nothing happened. But hey, murphy's law. I'm positive that it WOULD HAVE rained if I didn't bring my umbrella, so I guess it was better the way it was. And actually, based on all the lightening I saw last night, we just weren't quite within the boundary of the storm. Shame....
Nothing super exciting happened this week, unfortunately. There was a wedding, but we couldn't go because we have work to do (wow, imagine that!) and I didn't even get to congratulate the couple because they were gone on a honeymoon (strange, I know haha). But we have a couple of ward activities, another wedding (this time we're invited because it's a combined wedding and baptism) and some really awesome Almoços coming up, so I'm excited! Oh, and we did play a hilarious round of "Who am I?" (you know, with the person stuck to your forehead so you can't see it but everyone else can) with the ward for our monthly missionary activity. It was doubly hilarious because I made the cards, but also because our ward is ridiculously competitive. "No! you can't ask that! It has to be yes or no! And you can't give tips!" or "you waited to long to come up with a question so now it's my turn!" and this is from the adults! But, lets move on to more serious stuff...
Yasmin, Carol, and Rosa were our miracles this week. Carol didn't come to church, but her mom and sister did, and we're super excited to keep watching them progress! Carol is 14 and Yasmin is 10, and they live with their mom, Rosa. We "knocked" on their door trying to find someone else we talked to (who lied about his address. It's amazing how many people do that) and Carol right away was like "wait I'll unlock the gate and let you in!" I still have no idea why she wanted us to come in, but they have been serious miracles. Carol especially has such a desire to learn more and more and more. She always has super awesome questions, and was on cloud 9 when we gave her her very own Book of Mormon! We jumped for joy the day Rosa decided to participate, since she was just watching in the beginning. She doesn't outwardly show as much interest, but she's starting to confide more and more in us, and is thrilled we're teaching her daughters, and is inviting all of her friends and neighbors to listen in too. It's awesome!
We are still working very diligently with Ivan and Enilda. They didn't come to church again :( but are totally seeing the difference that the gospel brings in their lives/home, and had a super awesome experience with the Book of Mormon! Ivan had a bit of a slip back into drugs and alcohol, which caused quite a bit of friction between the two, so I would appreciate some extra prayers in their behalf! They day we went to teach Chastity (they're not married, but they're working on that) and the Word of Wisdom (because we knew Ivan was having problems) was a pretty awful day for them. They had obviously been fighting all day, and even in front of us, but we waited for them to calm down, and then we taught. And wow, it was a beautiful lesson. There really is nothing better than the word of God to help people in their difficulties!
We also started teaching the family of Dona Leila, who is a reference from our beloved Sara (mother of our recent converts, Wanderley and Aliny), so I'm hoping that goes well!
Don't have pictures this week, but I hope you enjoyed the hundreds I sent last week!
Love you all! Have a great week!
-Sister Kirkham

February 26, 2018 Training Week 1

My companions name is Sister Rodrigues, she's 19 years old, and from São Paulo South (interlagos mission). She doesn't have a lot of missionary experience, but she's really good with people, and ready to learn. She has 5 brothers, most of whom are inactive, or semi-active, so she came on a mission to show them a good example--and then realized how amazingly miraculous it is. She's "corintiana" (most of you don't know what that is, don't worry about it) and doesn't like Açai or soda, but loves chocolate and ice cream and eating in general, so we get along great :P like I said, she doesn't have a lot of experience, but she's always up for trying her best!

It's been a great week! Difficult, since my comps feet are all swollen, and lots of our appointments fell through, and almost all of the people we contacted don't actually live in our area, and only one person came to church, but we've been focusing on the little miracles, and having fun where we can. For example, we were eating dinner at a little bakery one evening, and it started to rain all of a sudden. Of course, neither of us had an umbrella. Thinking it would be the usual rains-for-5-mins-and-stops, we put all of our stuff inside a plastic bag and were like 'alright lets go teach!' After 5 mins of walking it still hadn't stopped, which generally means it's going to rain the entire night, so I was kind of like 'ok I think we better head home, change, and grab an umbrella before heading to our meeting.' Yeah. Easier said than done! I sent pictures of myself when I got home, but I still don't think it does it justice. I don't think I've ever been so wet in my entire life! Super fun. But anyway, by the time we got home and changed, our meeting had already been cancelled (probably a good idea since the neighborhood around the chapel floods like crazy and we're not allowed to go swimming) so we were like 'ok! plan b: let's go to the park and do training!' Long story short, while we were doing training, underneath this little raised pavillion, with the raining pouring down on all sides, and practically no one in the streets, a man comes out of nowhere and starts asking us questions about our work. We ended up teaching him the first lesson, and inviting him to be baptized. Afterwords, my comp reminded me that right before we left the house, to go back out in the rain and the dark, I said in our prayer that we knew there were still more people to find, more work to be done, and I asked for help finding them. Seriously people, Heavenly Father answers prayers!

Sorry I didn't get to write very much! I spent pretty much the whole time helping my companion. But I have lots of pictures, so I'll send those out now!

Love from Sister Kirkham

February 19, 2018 AAAAHHHHHHH Transfers!!!

President said there would be "VERY FEW CHANGES THIS TRANSFER" buuuut I think he changed his mind cause, um,  wow, it's like the earth cracked open. Not sure I'll be able to get to everything that happened this week, as well as the transfer, but I'm gonna try.

1) Super sorry to everyone that I owe letters! They may or may not get written today, because I have a billion and one things to do.

2) The work: Almost all of our appointments fell through at the beginning of the week, and then we had a couple of really good days, and then back to almost nothing. But then at the very end, we found three really awesome families with tons of potential, and I can't wait to work more with them this week! Also, Aliny is struggling with smoking again, and we think she's kind of avoiding us because of that, so if you could all keep her in your prayers, that would be awesome! We also had a really awesome (but sad) last district meeting with our district leader who is heading home. He told us that we're the best district he's ever had (because he's never had one with sisters, obviously) and shared a couple of really cool things that he learned throughout his time serving. Something really neat that he told us was that he already has the feeling that the Lord accepted his mission, and everything that he did here, and so he's ready to go home. The spirit was so strong in the room, and that statement just really stuck with me. I hope at the end of my mission I can have the same feeling! But not just my mission--I want to know every day, every night, that I did the work the Lord had for me that day. And I especially, at the end of my life, want to feel that acceptance, that readiness to go back home to my Heavenly Father. Do you know what God has for you to do today?

3) Funny story about yams: Ok this is totally changing the subject, but I just have to share it. I don't think I've ever seen a raw yam in my life before my mission, but we got pretty acquainted this week. It all started when Rita, our recent convert, said something about using them to combat acne. Sister Farias already takes a spoonful of yam extract every morning, but decided that that wasn't enough, and that we were going to use them to their full potential. Long story short, I will forever have a picture in my mind of her in mismatched pajamas, her bright red towel wrapped around her head, with yam smeared all over her face and a slice sticking to each cheek, kneeling on the ground painting Sister Creswell's nails. And then when the slice on the left cheek slipped off, she somehow managed to catch it, and literally slapped it back on her face, which dislodged the one on the right cheek, which landed on the dirty floor, and she ducked under the table, snatched it up and slapped it back on too! My goodness I almost fell off my chair laughing! She just gave me a weird look like "what?? I need my yams!" hhahhhahaa. Anyways, that brings me toooooooo...

4) Me and my companion: This week was a really awesome break after last week. I definitely gained a testimony of companionship inventory. We managed to figure everything out, and laughed our way through the rest of the week. And seriously, Preach My Gospel isn't kidding when it says that unity in the companionship is everything. We were working and teaching and everything before, but the spirit just wasn't there between us like it was at the end of the week. I'm sad we went so long without resolving everything, because I feel like it would've made a difference with a couple of the people we're teaching. But anyways, we got everything figured out just in time--just in time for us to not be companions anymore. Because....

5) I got called to train! I literally jumped every time the phone rang yesterday, and finally, the very last time, was the call for which we had been anxiously waiting. Not that we knew it was going to happen, but just the possibility had us all on edge. Ok, but back up a little bit. In my mission, no one finds out the transfer until Monday morning (or whenever you go to do email) and then you have p-day to prepare, because Tuesday is transfer day. But, if you get called to a leadership calling (as a trainer, sister training leader, district leader, etc) you get a call from President on Sunday night, with the absolute minimum amount of information, because he's like that. :) So anyway! I will be training a Brasillian sister, Sister Rodrigues, and I will be staying in my same area :) Literally don't know anything else, and I'm a little nervous and a little excited and a lot humbled. I promise to update you all more next week!

As far as the rest of the transfers, Sister Farias isn't going far. She will be staying in the same house/ward, but will be taking over the people that Sister Creswell and Lima have been teaching (which will be great, because she's already been helping them a ton) and will have a new companion. Sister Lima will also be training, and will be working in Vitória. She could also probably use some prayers! She's not feeling very ready to train, and especially not an American, and especially not an American coming straight from the Provo MTC, and she's also super sad to leave here, and super nervous to be going to a new area. Sister Creswell will finally get to know a new area, and she'll be with an American companion. There's lots of other random stuff happening, but the only other applicable news is that Elder Boswell, from my MTC district, will be training also! Can't wait to see him tomorrow!

Love you all and hope you have a great week! -Sister Kirkham :)  

February 12, 2018 Carnivaaaaaal!

Haha! I'm actually not super excited for Carnival, but the whole rest of the world sure is!

This week has been pretty hard because everyone has been making appointments with us and then going on vacation last-minute, or else they don't want to schedule anything until next week at the earliest, and half the ward is gone at the youth camp thing they do. Also, my comp and I aren't doing so well, but don't ask me what's going on cause I have absolutely no idea.

OK quick summary cause this computer is having issues and everything is taking way longer than it should...

We did splits a couple times this week. It was good at first, to be able to learn from other people, but I really feel like it's breaking up our companionship, and that our work is suffering because of that.

We're still working a ton with Sara, but, aside from Almoço tomorrow, I think we'll be avoiding that neighborhood this week. Honestly, though, she's really not progressing, mostly because she's not reading the Book of Mormon. I honestly feel like it's on purpose, because she doesn't want to change, and she knows that if she reads, she'll get a confirmation that she can't deny. I think lots and lots of prayers would be good for her!

We pretty much dropped everyone we were working with last week, unfortunately, but maybe we'll revisit them after Carnival. And we found several families with lots of potential this week, so I'm excited for that! Just have to wait until they either stop partying, or come out from under their beds.

I promise I'm really not exaggerating anything, btw. This city is seriously calm compared to the rest of Brazil, but even still, normal life doesn't really exist for a whole week before and a whole week after. Oh! And next week is transfers! Pretty sure I'm staying, but our District Leader is going home, so we have a party planned for district meeting tomorrow:)

OH! AND WE HAVE HOT WATER IN OUR HOUSE! I TOOK A HOT SHOWER FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE MTC! And then I took another. And another haha! Super duper duper happy!

Ok I think that's all I have for this week. Have an awesome week and enjoy valentine's day!

-With love, Sister Kirkham

February 5, 2018

Ok, this is probably going to be a short email because I have pictures!!! Lots and lots. But here's a quick summary

-Splits: We did in-house splits for the first time this week because President gave us permission. I went with Sister Lima (the oldest but with the least time in the mission) and it was so good to not feel like I'm in training! Seriously, can't wait to finish the training program and just be a normal missionary. I was a little worried at first but we both had a great experience, and enjoyed the extra responsibility.

-Conference: Our mission president's dad, who is a general authority, came and spoke to us. We sang a hymn in 3 languages, and overall just learned a ton. But I think it would have been a good idea to bring ice packs, because there was some serious fire thrown out. I took notes, but I don't have them with me, unfortunately.

-Birthday: Sister Creswell's birthday was on Thursday, so the member who gave Almoço also brought cake. And then that night, we bought pizza and made another cake and had a second party.

-Baptism/Confirmation: Wanderley was baptized! I don't have pictures of this one, because a member took them for us, but I'll get them to you all eventually. It was seriously just a beautiful experience. We sang the 3-language hymn for him also, because he loves languages, and he almost cried. Actually I think he was crying. Doctrinally, this is kind of a big change for him, but he has an open heart and an awesome perspective, and knows how to walk by faith. Now we just need to help his mom make her decision to follow :) Although, she's pretty much there. She's already paying tithing and everything and the Bishop is going to have her give a class about social work, because that's her profession. They're an awesome family, and really this is just what they need to bring them together.

-Birthday again: Sister Farias' birthday was yesterday, and my goodness we are almost sick of cake haha. We once again had a party for Almoço, and then I made Boston Cream Pie for Wanderley, and they bought cake for Sister Farias. (Sister Creswell also made cake for her, but we're going to bring it to district meeting tomorrow instead).

-Garoto!!!! Today we toured the chocolate factory! Well, the museum, anyway. We unfortunately couldn't take pictures inside the main room, but we have lots of pictures outside and around and in the middle of the street (that was fun!) which I will send to you today! We got to go with our whole district (cause it's in their area) and learned all about how chocolate is made, and the history of the factory, and everything. And yes, the whole city smells like chocolate :) Also, I'm super excited because they have a chocolate that's very similar to Milky Way, but only one comes in every box, so today I bought just those, and then everyone gave me theirs too (I guess Brazillians don't like caramel?! ), so I have plenty to make me happy :)

I keep feeling like this transfer is winding down, but it's really not, yet. Plus I'm pretty sure I'm gonna stay here. But anyway, I'm going to go send pictures now! Love you all and have a super awesome week!

-Sister Kirkham

January 29, 2018

To be totally honest, I'm feeling absolutely awful right now (wasn't feeling well last night, and by the time I was feeling well enough to sleep, it was 6am and I wasn't sleepy. Think I got like 3 hours, max. I promise I'm going straight home and to bed after this) but it was a great week, so I'll try to do it justice.

This is totally starting at the end, but Aliny was baptized on Saturday!! I'll fill in all the details as I go, but it was beautiful and packed, and she was confirmed Sunday during church :) She and her mom also managed to snag a spot on our very well-filled lunch calendar, so I'm excited for that! (Not that we're not there eating with them every day)

Real quick summary of the week. We had interviews with President on Tuesday. It was great as always, although earlier than usual, so now we have to spend half the transfer interpreting the hints he left about the next one. Because apparently it's already made. But I'm like 95% positive I'm staying. District meeting was fairly normal, minus the food (one of the elders brought coxinhas. Won't take time to explain them this week but trust me they're amazing) and the dropped 2L bottle of Coca Cola. Blame the greenie! But hey, he cleaned it up, so it's all fair. Ooh we also had splits in Vitoria this week, and I got to see a lot more of the city, and even walk along the ocean! (But not on the beach, because that's a no-no). It was honestly a really amazing learning experience. We also had a training about being a consecrated missionary, and we were challenged to choose a few things to put on the "altar of sacrifice." I won't share everything, but one of my things is day-dreaming while we're walking to appointments. It's such a small thing, but it makes a HUGE difference! Seriously huge. Right off the bat, I could tell that I was closer to the spirit, better prepared to teach, more in harmony with my companion, and way more connected to all of the people walking by. I haven't left a challenge in a while, so here's one for you all: what are you going to put on the altar of sacrifice this week?

We have 3 new people to teach that have tons of potential, so I'm excited for that! Talita is super sweet, and super receptive, but unfortunately works all day every day at the grocery store, so it's going to be a struggle to find time to teach her, but we'll figure something out. We ran into some relative of Aparecida when we were knocking doors, and were so impressed that we immediately passed him on as a reference. And then we'll teach her in the meantime :) And then there's Andre. He was a reference from our AP, and is seriously awesome. The first person we've taught to express doubts about the First Vision (this country's religious atmosphere is weird, but seriously, no one ever questions that part) but to me, that means he's actually taking it in. He also works a ton, and can only recieve us on Saturdays, but you can bet we're going back! (and not just because we ran out of the awesome new fruit he gave us, I promise! :P)

Rita is our recent convert that we haven't seen in awhile because her drug-addicted son ran away and she didn't want to see anyone. But anyway, our Bishop is awesome and found a 9-month care program for Rodrigo, which helped her calm down a bit. She was out on the street waiting for us when we went to pick her up for church, and she stayed all 3 hours (for the first time) AND wants us to teach her neighbor! Talk about blessings!

AAAAnd that leaves us with Aliny's family! Ok so like I said, Aliny was baptized this week, and is almost totally recovered from her smoking! In the past, her mom, Sara, had a little bit of resistance over Aliny being baptized, since she tends to be a little impulsive, but that totally changed this week. I'll get to the whole story in a minute, but Sara had a dream about Aliny committing suicide, and told us that she'd been praying for Aliny for a long time, and knew she needed a different path. As she shared in Sunday School (THAT was awesome!) "The answer to my prayer could have been missionaries from this church or that church, but no, it was from the Church of Jesus Christ, and so I know that it's right, and I'm planning on becoming a member too." Talk about wow!!

Ok now I'll back up a little bit. The entire story is in my journal, but here's the gist:

A couple of days ago, Sister Farias had a dream that when Wanderley and Sara returned from their trip to São Paulo, Wanderley told us that he had been reading the book of mormon and praying, and decided that he wanted to be baptized. You can probably imagine how excited we were to go back after that haha. But anyway, we went back the next day and, as it turned out, both Wanderley and Sara had in fact been reading the BoM during the trip, and had some pretty miraculous experiences, but both of them wanted one more confirmation. We discussed the role of the Holy Ghost a bit, and I encouraged Wanderley to pray VERY specifically that night. I (and in case you were wondering, it wasn't really me, just the spirit working through me) to tell God that he had recieved an answer, but that he wanted a confirmation, and when he got it, he would be baptized. Long story short, he got really quiet, but accepted my invitation, and the very next day, he told us that he had recieved a clear answer, and decided to be baptized! Anyways, we planned for him to be baptized with Aliny, but things didn't work out with the interview because it was pretty late in the week, so he's prepping for next Saturday instead. And I think Sara will join him :)

I promise I'm taking pictures, and I'll get them to you as soon as I can!

I really am quite literally out of time (sorry I didn't respond to anyone!) , but I love you all and I'll have more news next week!!

-With love, Sister Kirkham

January 22, 2018

Ok I have a billion and one emails today so this might be kind of short. I also have l think seriously at least a hundred pictures to send, but the computers at the library in Vitoria were under maintenance so we ended up having to come home, and I'm not gonna risk losing all of them! Super sorry :( I promise I'll send them as soon as I can!!

This week wasn't quite as amazing as last week, unfortunately. We got stuck several times because we wanted to work on the other side of our area, the closed side, but the members that we asked to go with us either couldn't go last minute, or couldn't stay very long, but we managed to at least visit Aliny and family pretty consistently. In other news, we had a surprise zone conference this week, and we have surprise interviews tomorrow, so it's been kind of crazy. Also, we hiked to the most beautiful place on earth today and I can't wait to tell you all about it! But first, the people.

Aliny - She's awesome, as always. Was supposed to be baptized yesterday, but she's still struggling with smoking. Or she was, until Saturday, but we set a new goal so that she can be baptized this Saturday. Her body really isn't taking it that well, but she received a priesthood blessing yesterday, and she has lots of support.

Sara is working on giving up smoking as well. Still unsure about baptism, but she's reading the book of Mormon, and planning to come to all of the activities! Also, she made sure we helped her give a donation yesterday because she really wants to help.

Wanderley! It's hard to tell where he stands because he takes 10 minutes to answer a yes or no question, ;) but he also absolutely loves coming to church and the activities! Also, I challenged him to read the Book of Mormon before the end of the transfer (30 days, which is about 8 chapters a day--it's possible!) because he was getting super hung up on the details (he thinks too much. Know a couple people like that!) and he accepted! Was actually so excited that he took out his bookmark and said he's gonna start from the beginning. Also, we challenged him to stop drinking coffee, and he has been proudly reporting every single day that "this is the X day without coffee!" He's adorable. And in case you're wondering, he's 37 and a professor of philosophy, not 10, but idk, sometimes I wonder haha.

Angelita. I know I've mentioned her family, we don't usually spend much time with her. But yesterday she asked us to come over and study the scriptures with her two 11 year old grandsons. Well, not study. She wanted us to help them get excited about the scriptures. So we went over and just had an awesome experience reading the Book of Mormon, and discussing how we can teach/learn something from any verse (I used a fortune teller to pick scrips at random). I wrote a lot more about it in my journal, but you'll have to wait until I can send pics.

Some unfortunate things: Rita is struggling a little right now because Rodrigo ran away (again) with her TV and also stole a member's bus card, which also means he fell back into his drug addiction. Thankfully we have an awesome Bishop who is taking care of that. We were also prohibited from teaching Ivan, because he apparently has a lot more problems than we thought, but he's still coming to church. We also weren't able to visit a couple of people, because of time constraints and lack of members, but I think we'll do better this week!

AAAAAnd then there's the Convento! It's an old catholic church that was built literally on top of a very green hill right on the edge of the bay. Whatever you're imagining, it's even more beautiful and more breathtaking. We had an embarrassing situation with a lost nametag that the police had to get involved in fishing it out of the post (my lovely companion was taking a picture--without holding onto it--on top of an open sign post) but other than that, it was an awesome trip!! Between the 4 of us, I think we have hundreds of photos, plus a couple videos, and I was super duper duper excited to finally be able to show you all what kind of beauty I live in, but unfortunately that's gonna have to wait. Sorry!!

Ok I spent way longer than I wanted to on this, and didn't get to everything, but I have journal pages and pictures to come!

Love you all!

January 15, 2018

I have lots and lots of emails to respond to today, but this week was the best week yet, so I have to do it justice!

Less important stuff first:

It is crazy hot here! Thankfully every day for the awesome breeze/blow you off your feet wind. All the members are just like "you know it's gonna get worse, right?" Not looking forward to February and March. But we're well taken care of, don't worry!

I think if you added up all my miles this week, I could've gotten halfway to California. If I said that last week, I take it back, cause this week was worse. Plus, we were practically running everywhere because we had soooo many people to teach! You know the whole "too much of a good thing" concept? We have 4 people and a family that are all preparing for baptism, plus one that was baptized this week (hang on, I'll get to that), and we're technically supposed to visit them all every single day. I will tell you right now that that did not happen. We tried, but yeah...

We met our newest "greenie" [a missionary who has just come from the MTC] in the district this week, but we still haven't met two of the elders that got transferred here. Will see them tomorrow.

I'm not sure how this conversation started, but one day at lunch we got onto the topic of April Fools day. The Brazillians were like "oh yeah we have that. Day of the Liars. I just don't believe anything anyone says." And we were like "oh no, you have no idea. April Fools Day is SO much more than that!" And then we spent the whole rest of Almoço describing our favorite pranks. The Brazillian sisters were kind of horrified, but that didn't keep sister Lima from helping Sister Creswell wrap Sister Farias' mattress in toilet paper!

Yeah ok, I think toilet paper is a pretty good transition point. Now on to the big stuff.

-Regina: Our sweet Senhora was supposed to be baptized on Saturday, but something happened (we don't actually know what yet, but we're not abandoning her) and she kind of fell off the grid.

-Raiane is a super sweet woman in her mid-twenties with two little girls. We weren't able to visit her more than twice this week, but she's super adorable and super receptive.

-Ivan came to church for the 4th time this week, and we finally managed to start teaching him. He's working on quitting smoking this week.

-Breno. He's a part of this massive part-member family we've visited quite a bit, and we've started teaching him, as well as helping his inactive family members remember their love for the gospel. I really love their family, but we didn't really know Breno all that well until Tuesday, when we taught him seperately from his family. Turns out he loves reading the bible, and was sharing scriptures and spiritual experiences with us as we were teaching :) Now he just needs to come to church! And stop smoking, and drinking coffee, and all that.

-Rita. We've been working with Rita forever and ever, and really have seen miracles in her life. Unfortunately, satan's pretty clever too, and a lot of things have been getting in her way. Which is why we were SUPER HAPPY that she chose to be baptized and confirmed this week!!! I'll spare you all the stressful details, and just say that it was absolutely awesome. And don't worry, we have pictures! They're just not on my camera. But I'll get them to you at some point! At the end of the baptismal service, the 4 of us sang "A Child's Prayer" half in English, half in Portuguese, and it was the most beautiful thing ever. Even though no one could understand the words (at least not during the English part) almost everyone in the room was crying, and especially Rita. The spirit was so so so strong, and really testified that Heavenly Father hears and answers all of our prayers, because we're all His children. Oh, also, her son Rodrigo, gave the opening prayer, and I almost cried during that, too. He was baptized a couple months ago, and has wanted nothing more than to see his mom join him. He's become a totally different person, and has been so blessed. We went over last night and he was sooo excited to tell us that he got offered a job with a member of the ward! Just one more way Heavenly Father is showing His love :)

-OK this one's probably the biggest one. We got a call last p-day from the missionaries in Salt Lake City. That, alone, is really really weird. But anyways, they said they'd recieved an internet request through mormon.org from a woman living in our area, and that they'd contacted her by phone and then taught her twice by skype, and she was ready to meet the local missionaries and be baptized! that's not news you get more than like once a lifetime! I could write an essay about every single visit, but this email is already 50 pages long, so I think I'll summarize. Aliny is 32 years old, and has made a lot of wrong choices in her life. She's struggled with smoking, coffee addiction, chastity, misuse of internet/social media, depression, self-destruction, all of it, but finally came to her senses and has been changing all of this all on her own. She came across lots of ads for mormon.org and kept feeling like she should click on them. She finally did, and she started reading all about the church (and sharing it with her family) and decided that this is what she wants in life. In the week that we've known her, she's quit smoking, quit drinking coffee, read all of the missionary pamphlets, watched the Restoration video (they flipped out when we casually mentioned the assassination of Joseph Smith this week and we were like "oh yeah.. they don't know that..." so we showed them the video haha) accepted and kept every single commitment, and started reading the Book of Mormon and doing her family history. She's super intelligent, always has good questions, and is just so eager to learn more. Her family is catholic, and loves religion in general, and yet is super open minded. Her brother, Wanderley, is also studying (not just reading) the Book of Mormon, and has been absolutely thrilled to find out that it correlates exactly with his immense knowledge of the Bible. Sara, their mom, absolutely adores the church's humanitarian work, and has loved everything we've taught. I didn't think she'd be very interested, because of her strong catholic background, but she believes very strongly in "by their fruits ye shall know them" and said the very first day "you know, if it's good, and I like it, then I'll know that it's right, and that's where I'll stay." Also not something we hear everyday! (Also, they all have a baking obsession, or maybe it's a hospitality obsession, so we've been eating really well this week :P) At first, Aliny wasn't sure about coming to church, because the path is a little bit dangerous early in the morning and late at night (we only visit in the middle of the day) but come sunday morning, in walked Aliny, Wanderley jr, Sara, their cousin, and later, Wanderley sr! And they stayed all 3 hours! (The cousin was only there because they were all going to lunch afterwards, but hey, she was there haha). They absolutely LOVED it! Aliny and Sara especially are aready making plans to come to all of the upcoming Relief Society activities haha. Miracle upon miracle upon miracle!

Good luck reading all of this! can't wait to update you all next week :)

-Love from Sister Kirkham