November 5, 2018 - Leadership Council, Splits, Letters, and Awesome People

Sorry I had tons of required stuff to do! I'll try to get through as much of my week as possible.

Just a couple of little things:

Yes Daddy, I did get your letters and no they did not take 3 months! I actually got them hand delivered to me in my area, because President was travelling and had to pass through the city, so he stopped by :P I'll send responses next week.

Not sure if you all were thinking of sending a package or not, but if you were, don't. Pres sent an email today saying that Brazil is charging huge fines to receive the packages once it gets here.

Also, Happy Halloween!!! Hope it was awesome!

and Happy Birthday, Cami! Sorry I forgot to include that last week!! And while I'm ahead, Happy Birthday to Tavia, too!

Ok,  now for this week. Highlights would certainly be Leadership Council, starting splits, getting letters, and a couple of awesome people we're teaching.

Don't want to brag or anything, but Leadership council with an ocean view and homemade quarter pound hamburgers is pretty hard to top! Plus the trainings are always so spiritual! Sister Mazzagardi wrote (but didn't give because she had a sore throat) a super awesome one about the power of the little things, which included a video that you all need to watch, by the author of 7 Habits... It's something about a boat rudder.

We're having trouble bringing people to church, because all the awesome people are super busy. But the people we're focusing on the most are William and Vanessa (not sure if I already talked about them, but they're an awesome couple that lost a 3-year-old son to cancer 4 months ago), Lygia (a 13-year-old who is super mature and super involved in just about everything. Her family is awesome--we had to bring her another Book of Mormon because her dad stole it to read himself haha--but it's hard to find them all at home), Amanda (12-year-old who has a bit of a difficult family situation. Yesterday we taught the Restoration, and I guess she didn't exactly understand the point at first, but we were finishing the lesson and she was like "wait. this church...your church...is the SAME church that Jesus Christ created? Like it's not just any other church?" and when we confirmed it, she was all "seriously!? I'm gonna tell all my friends that there's the same church that Christ founded. Hey Grandma! Did you know that this church is the same church that Jesus Christ established?!?!?!), and a young couple called Ana and Jonathan (they're hard to find because they work a lot, but they're very receptive. Practicing Catholics, but very prepared, and have a 3 month old baby).

This week we are going to have splits here in Linhares, and in Bahia as well, and next p-day we are going to do a super p-day with churrasco and feijão tropeiro, and açaí, and sorvete, and all good things! Should be fun, especially since I'm organizing it ;)

Ok gotta go. Love you all!

 Até mais!

-Sister Kirkham

October 29, 2018 - Isaac was Baptized!

Haven't read mom's email yet, but I know it starts with "hope there was a wonderful baptismal service for Isaque!" Aaaaaand there was :) More on that later.

So this week was a little crazy, what with showing the 3 new sisters around the area, responding to Isaac's (oh yeah, we found out that he spells his name the English way, except it's pronounced like Portuguese: Eez-ah-key) crazy questions, like whether or not making phone calls on Sunday would be breaking the sabbath (because the scriptures say that it's wrong to make others work on this day, and someone has to operate the calls), why abortion is wrong, and trying to convince him that "faith is not to have a perfect knowledge," therefore he does not need to read the Book of Mormon twice before being baptized. Also, I am once again taking antibiotics for another crazy skin infection. And we had to have a last minute district meeting because the former district leader (who was transferred) accidentally took the cell phone with him (hahhahhaa) so he gave it to me at the bus terminal, and I had to hand it over to the new district leader. Other interesting things would be that it rained a ton, and we walked miles and miles and miles, and took the city bus (which we never use) 3 times, because all of our Almoços were on the other side of the city. (The closest 2 are each an hour's walk away). Yup that was pretty much it. That, and the presidential election was finalized last night, so everyone was going crazy with fireworks and honking horns for hours on end.

Ok, but back to Isaac. So yeah, he has really awesome, in depth questions, and we spent a lot of time studying various chapters of the BoM, and also Doctrine and Covenants. Wednesday we went over the interview questions, which was good, but also made me really nervous, because he's not a fan of tithing, and also felt like he hadn't gotten a clear witness that these things are true. At one point he said something like "ok, but I can't decide why this church, right? What makes this church different than the others?" and I'm like staring at the Book of Mormon in his hands, like really? You can't?  But anyways, the interview on Thursday was really awesome. Elder S. Silva (he was my district leader my last transfer in Cobilândia) bonded with him pretty quickly, and helped him realized that the "certainness" that these things are true, (for example, when he's reading the BoM) is an answer from the Holy Ghost. He (Isaac) came out of the interview smiling, like "ok so I can be baptized on Saturday?"!!! :)

Friday's lesson was pretty funny because we decided to sit at covered the bus stop across the street from his house (instead of on the curb--we can't go inside his house unless we bring another woman with us), which ended up being really good because halfway through explaining baptisms for the dead, it started to pour torrential rain. And then this other woman came and sat down next to us and started to ask questions, so basically I finished the lesson with Isaac on my left, and my comp started another mini lesson with the woman on her right (haha).

And then he was baptized! 

There was a lot of confusion because there was an activity before the baptism that ran super duper late, and an activity after the baptism that was supposed to be in the chapel (so people would just come to the baptism and stay for the activity) ended up being elsewhere, which meant that not many people came, but it was such a beautiful baptism.  We started out with "Oh Elders of Israel" and I almost cried right then and there. Isaac himself picked out the music, with a little bit of help. I showed him this hymn because it's masculine one, and I explained to him how leaving Babylon represents forsaking sin and following Christ. And wow, it was really powerful. The talks and messages and welcomes were PERFECT, and he was baptized by a member of the ward that's been helping us since the beginning, mostly without even being asked. Isaac also chose "Oh how lovely was the morning" as the closing song (I started explaining that the hymn tells Joseph's story, and he cut me off--"this one. Let's sing this one"), so we sisters sang a special rendition using the melodies from Hie to Kolob and Come Thou Fount. The spirit was SO strong the whole time, and at the end, I don't know who was smiling more--me or Isaac.

Yesterday he was confirmed, and also ordained a priest! And we're going to get him all ready to go on a mission a year from now ;)

Ok that was basically my week! Love you all tons! Até mais :)

-Sister Kirkham

October 22, 2018 - One Year and Back to the Beginning

Ok I saw Trunk or Treat in one of the email summaries, and I'm DYING to open it, but I've already used half my time (I technically did splits with 4 sisters this week, so I wrote a ridiculously long emial to Pres) so I gotta write this ASAP.

You all heard about most of my crazy crazy day in Vitória last p-day. The only part you all didn't hear is that there wasn't space in the 7pm bus, nor the 8pm, and not even the 9:30. He told me the soonest would be 11 something and I was like "no no no that's not gonna work!" but he somehow managed to find two seats in the 10:20 bus, which means we got home to Linhares at exactly 1am. Sister Parente and Sister Perez met us at the terminal with our stuff, and at exactly 2am, Sister Parente and I left on another bus to Bahia.

So in case you missed the excitement last week, I have now stayed and worked in 4 Brasilian states! The people in Bahia are a lot like the people in Minas. We didn't see much of the city, but it seems pretty similar to Minas as well, except the food is a lot cheaper. Seriously, every single lanchonete has Pastel 1$R!! I know most of you don't know what that is (haha), but it's a really good price. The highlights of the day were district meeting (we had this super awesome training about optimism), and a Noite Familiar with a less active family. We had another crazy night thinking that we were going to miss our bus, but we didn't haha--which was good, because we got back to Linhares (again) just in time to meet Sister Creswell and Sister Rodrigues, coming from Teófilo.

Quarta-feira I hit one year on the mission! We ate ice cream to celebrate, but mostly because we used the time to do part of our training. And then it rained the whole day (actually, it rained half the week, and had tornado-like winds the other half), and we had tons of work to do, so that was pretty much the only celebrating haha. BUT, I got to do splits with my former companion Sister Creswell, (at least for a few hours in the morning) AND with Sister Rodrigues (whom I trained, so so long ago) which was super fun. It was amazing to see how much she's grown as a missionary since I last saw her.

And speaking of trianers! I forgot to tell you about transfers! I'll be staying here, thank heavens, but my comp was transfered back to her old area to finish training an american sister, and I'm going to be companions with my trainer, Sister Farias!!!! Crazy.

Ok, I only have like 10 mins left, but the other exciting news this week is that Isaque is going to be baptized!!!!!! He went to church again, and he's reading the Book of Mormon, and keeping commandments and has a good relationship with a couple in the ward that's been helping a ton, and he accepted a baptismal date for this Saturday! Lots and lots and lots of prayers please!

I'd tell you about all the other cool people if I had time, buuuut I'm kind of out, sorry. More next week!

Love you all!!

-Sister Kirkham

October 15, 2018 - Epic Week and More to Come

Sorry I'm on so late today! And sorry if there's a couple of Portuguese words that don't make sense haha. I'm at the library in Vitória, today, which uses Portuguese auto-correct. :)

This week was seriously crazy! Don't ask me how much I slept this week, cause it isn't much. But since I last talked to you all, I have taken 7 long-distance bus trips, and I still have the return trip tonight, and then another to/from tomorrow. BECAUSE WE'RE GOING TO BAHIA! I don't even know why Bahia is so exciting, but it's an area that was in a another mission, that is now part of ours, which means it's new, and also in a different state, so that makes it awesome!

Tuesday was Leadership Council, at the mission home in Vitória. Also, a doctors appt because my companion was under the weather. But don't worry, modern medicine is awesome, and she's doing great now! And, in case you missed it, Leadership Council was in the mission  home!!! It was a coincidence at first because an old sister in the local Ward passed away, so they were using the chapel for her funeral, but I think it's going to be officially there from now on! Soooo much more comfortable! I mean the chapel is great, but I'll take the couch and the ocean view any day. AND I think that means that the next time, we'll be eating Sister Mazzagardi's cooking ;) Oh, but the meeting was really good too. My favorite part(s) was(were) the special musical number (If the Savior Stood Beside Me, in Portuguese), the fact that our training went well (don't tell anybody, but the AP's called us at like 8 pm the night before asked us to prepare it), and this super awesome all-encompassing practice, where we literally practiced everything, and all of the records (for the area book) and everything, from contacting on up. Super cool.

Wednesday we worked in our area, but not for very long, because we had to take a bus to another city, where we worked a little bit, and then spent the night.

Thursday we woke up early to take two more buses to yet another city, and then walk a mile in our best clothes to Zone conference! Which was also awesome. We did the same exact practice, but it was still just as fun. Also, we watched more epic talks that all you normal people don't have access to, and talked about how awesome General Conference was. Um, and Sister Mazzagardi gave a really awesome training about something that I don't remember because I don't have my notes with me (haha). And then it was interviews, and 2 more buses back home.

Friday, I don't really remember, but Saturday and Sunday were awesome, mostly because of a great Branch Council meeting, and Isaque. So, Isaque is a 23-year-old that we met a couple weeks ago, when we got lost really really close to our house.  :)  It was a pretty funny contact, but we could tell even then that he had tons of potential. Only problem is that he didn't know his address, because he had recently moved. Last week we managed to talk to him over the phone, and we marked an appointment for Saturday night. (He's a little shy/antisocial, but he's also in the midst of getting his life back together after a failed long-term relationship, and a couple weeks of trying to drink it off, so we won't hold it against him. Anti social people are easier to teach anyways - haha). And wow, is he prepared to learn about the gospel! We spent about 2 hours Saturday night explaining the Plan of Salvation (he has LOTS of questions, but they're really really good ones), and then he went to church with us the next morning, stayed all 3 hours, and even made friends with a couple of people! We brought a young RM named Felipe with us Sunday night and taught him the Restoration, and it was PERFECT. Seriously, so awesome. So now he's happily Reading the Book of Mormon, and we will be back to teach him as soon as we're done in the Bahia.

Today was just buses, and hanging out in the mission office, chatting with everyone. Not too exciting, but I love Vitória, so coming here is Always fun :)

Aaaaand...  the exciting News I already told you all.  I'm going to hit one year this Wednesday! (Had to think really hard about what day that was in English haha). And we will be doing splits with not one but 2 of my old companions that day, so it should be awesome :) And I'm planning on having strawberries involved.

I think that's it for this week! Love you all tons and tons! Until next week :)

-Sister Kirkham

October 8, 2018 - "Doze Freaking Templos!!!" - Sister Parente

Well Hi, family! It's been another great week here in Espírito Santo. Actually, it's been a little crazy, what with the rain, and the election (no, we have no idea who won, but my comp's been going a little crazy) and getting ready to travel a TON this week. We spent waaaaaayyy too much time stressing about bus passes and timing and all that. But, none of this travelling actually happened yet, so I'll fill you all in on the details next week.

So last Monday, we did what we'd been wanting to do for like forever, which was make muffins/cupcakes, and go around our little apartment building giving them out to and meeting our neighbors! It was really cool, and we met two really awesome women (and their families) that we hope to be able to teach! Haven't made any more progress on that yet though. But I have lots of other people to talk about today!

So right now we're teaching 3 families: Isadora and her parents, Uanderson and Fabrícia, and William and Vanessa.

So Isadora is a 14-year-old that we met on the street, and marked down to visit her and her friend. Her friend wasn't able to make it, but we taught her and her dad, and it was really cool.

Uanderson and Fabrícia we have been teaching for a couple weeks now. They're recently married, even though they've been together for a long long time, and super receptive. The only problem is that they both work a lot. Fabrícia works night shifts, and then also works day shifts more or less 1 out of every 3 days, And Uanderson works all day long every other day. So you all can imagine that math that goes in to figuring out when we can teach them, and when they can come to church!

I think I talked about William last week, but I'm not sure. He and  his wife Vanessa were a reference from some members of the branch, because they recently lost their son to cancer. We taught William last week, and then came back and taught Vanessa, because William had to work last minute. It was an awesome, but crazy stressful lesson. She most definitely felt the spirit, but has some pretty strong religious beliefs that she's scared to let go of. She literally told us "if you only believed in this one small difference, I would definitely join  your church!" without us even mentioning anything about baptism! She told us flat out that she wont ask God to see what's right, but that she will read the Book of Mormon, so we'll see how that goes.

We had a zone fast this week, and saw some amazing miracles! Including finding another legally married couple that accepted a baptismal date! Their names are Danilo and Milena. I wrote them all out in my journal and then I forgot to take a picture! But I'll try to remember and send it next week, because I don't have much time.

We worked so so so hard this week, inviting people to general conference, and we had so many people interested! We spent all of our free time before and during the sessions calling everyone reminding and asking if we could walk them there, and everyone said they were coming, and then didn't show up... So that was pretty disappointing, especially because there was a talk that was especially for each one of them.

Disappointments aside, general conference was 'freaking awesome!' as my brazillian (yes, she really does say 'freaking') companion would say. Seriously. Mind blowing. And 12 temples!! One of which will be in Brazil!!!! And it will be sooooooo good for Minas!!!! (A bit random, but I swear I saw Emily Blanchard in the MTC Choir. Is she in the MTC?!) I don't want to spend tooooo much time, so I'm going to write you all a letter about the stuff I thought was cool and what not, and send it to you next week!

Oh hey, and just a random news flash: Our mission added a new area this week! Our 4th state. :) We are now responsible for a little bit of Bahia! (the state where the new temple will be built). And we are going to do splits there in about 2 weeks :)

Ok,  I think that's all the exciting stuff. My companion and I think we ate a bad piece of pork this week, so the past 2 days have been a little rough, but not too bad. And it was general conference, so at least we weren't on the street.

But anyways, love you all! Have an awesome week!

-Riah :)

October 1, 2018 - More of Linhares...

We discovered a lot more of Linhares this week, including a bunch of mysteriously dead vultures, lakes that aren't full of plants, LOTS of cool wildlife (herons, storks, seagulls, weird duck/bird combinations, and maybe a very large rat), and lots of people of other religions that usually don't like us, but that we ended up teaching. For example, Friday night we knocked on the door of a Seventh-day Adventist family, and they let us in, and we shared a short message. The old grandmother went off in a hilarious rant about the sabbath being on Saturday and people not reading the bible when we were in the middle of explaining Jesus's baptism, which was a little confusing, and then she made her granddaughter change into a skirt before saying the closing prayer, which was a little funny, but then in the middle of her prayer we were like "OH! Their sabbath starts Friday at sundown!" So then it all made a little more sense. We were pretty embarrassed to not have recognized, but at least I don't think we were interrupting or anything. And then that same night, we were sharing a message with a woman that's a member of this other popular church that was created here in ES and her (drunk) catholic husband comes over and starts very slowly and calmly ranting quite extensively about how most Christians don't accept his baptism but he doesn't need another one. And then he compared all the different christian denominations to types of beer 😂😂 We laughed about that one for quite a while.

Ok, in serious news, we are teaching this really cool 19-year-old named Breno. He's progressing really well, and is friends with a girl in the ward, so that's going to be a huge help. (Also, they would make a really cute couple, just saying...). He's super smart and understands everything really well, but he wasn't feeling so well yesterday so he didn't go to church. But he will!! Everyone please pray that he can recognize the spirit answering his prayer, and that he will accept a baptismal date! (We invite him every time and he says "yes I will definitely be baptized, but not right this minute").

Also, pray that we can manage to find and teach Lorena. She's also really awesome, but work as a nanny and doesn't have a cell phone, so it makes it really hard to contact her!

We honestly didn't have all that productive of a week, since we were focusing on taking care of the sisters that we're responsible for, but this week should be much better! Love you all!

-Sister Kirkham