Arrived in João Pessoa, Brazil

After about 24 hours of travel, we were happy to get an email letting us know that she arrived safely today in João Pessoa, Brazil! 

Enjoying a nice dinner with President Elzimar Albuquerque and his wife Anna Rebeca.

Good looking group!

Sister Wride with Presidente and Irma Albuquerque.

Here is a facebook link to a video of them arriving off the plane. We're excited for her and the new experiences she will have in Brazil!

Week 47 - A semana final

 Olá de novo!

Sorry I didn't get this email sent out in time. I was on such a good streak, dangit!! So for me it's August 3rd but you won't get it until later but just pretend you got it sooner. 

But man, things have been SO crazy lately!

There are so many people to contact and so many lessons, and I have to pack up and get ready for Brazil, and on top of that, Diane's baptism was moved to THIS Wednesday!!! AAHHHH!!! 

I've never had so much anxiety in my whole life. Whenever we get a referral we're just like "UGHHH!" because there are already so many people to take care of!

I'm stressed, and my brain kinda hurts, but I'm not complaining :) Missionary work is the best. It's so cool to see the gathering of Israel right before my eyes!

Random highlights from this week: 

• On exchanges I saw like 7 amish people and it was so cool! One of them passed by us on the road in a horse carriage 

• Rat (our cute recent convert friend) said "I love you" when I told him I was leaving 

• We ate sweet Tamales at Teresa's house and Sister Wood kept sliding her food onto my plate

• We met with Mike again and taught him about how he can become clean from past mistakes!

• I had best Ice cream I've ever tasted (It's called The Chiefs in Elkhart. Go look it up and book your flights!)

But probably the most interesting part of this week was our lesson with someone named Jaq. We went over to his house, and he had some great questions about God and the plan of Salvation, but his questions kept getting super deep. Then he pulled out an anti video, "10 things mormons won't tell you" and had us watch it to hear our explanation. We were like "Oh yeah, this guy doesn't know what he's talking about, we'll prove him wrong!" So then it was really awkward when it turned out that a lot of the things he said were true. It talked about how we have the potential to become like God, baptisms for the dead, the word of wisdom, and other things that are hard to understand when you don't know the basics. And then for the other points in the video, the guy twisted the truth or exaggerated it, so it wasn't true, but anyways...

I did my best to explain his questions in a way that made sense to me, and we even showed him Saints Unscripted, but Jaq still couldn't understand. He kinda thought we were crazy haha, but he was still super nice and his questions were sincere. 

I used to think that I could convert people to the church if I could just sit and explain it to them. But clearly, that's not the case!

He listened intently as we talked, but even if we were there for 3 more hours, I don't think we would be able to convince him of anything. 

This lesson really helped me see that conversion comes through the spirit! People don't join the church because it was proved to them, they feel it! They don't know everything, but they rely on that feeling from the Holy Ghost, and they follow that spirit to be baptized. 

We won't ever have all the answers, but one thing we can trust is the way we feel! God speaks to us through quiet peaceful feelings, and often times those spiritual feelings are more compelling than anything else. 

I love you all, and remember to read the scriptures every day! Tchau! 

- Sister Wride

Week 46 - I'M LEAVING?!?

 Olá tudo mundo!!

First of all, Diane is on date for baptism!! I talked about her a little last week, but she's basically the coolest person ever. But it wasn't even a real lesson, we just called her and asked if she has thought about baptism, and she said 

"Yeah I think I want to do it." 

"Ok, how about August 7th?"

"Ok sure." 

We are so excited!! She is so elect. 

So we finally got back in contact with Kyren! He was the dude who was on date, and then randomly got baptized into another church, and then ghosted us. Then Sister Wood tried messaging him, and we set up a lesson! 

He told us how he threw away his Book of Mormon because someone told him that Joseph Smith was a "false profit" and "he enriched himself into Utah" or whatever. We asked "Well when you read the Book of Mormon, how did you feel? Did it make you happy?" He said yes, so we explained that those feelings came from God. There are so many opinions and sayings, but we can know that it is true because God will tell us through quiet and peaceful feelings!

We tried to answer his concerns, but he got a little side-tracked. He asked "Are you allowed to have boyfriends in the ministry? I'm looking for a girlfriend." Then he was talking about how he wants to get married and have kids, and become a pastor, and how he's attracted to women of faith like us. He showed off his tattoos (flexing his Phillipians 4:13 tattoo on his bicep), and then he looked at us and said "You both are very beautiful." Then he turned to Sister Wood. "I want to stay in contact after your mission, and then we can get married."

Poor Sister Wood was so scared and didn't know what to do. We smiled awkwardly, and then gave him a Book of Mormon and left. He's been messaging her too, it's kinda funny. (Screenshot attached) 

We were also able to see so many cute places this week!! We were able to stop by lake Michigan again and the houses all around were so cute!! It's so pretty here. i can hardly believe it.

I've been loving it here so much, I could probably stay here forever. I love Sister Wood, I love the missionaries, and I love the people we teach! 

And then on Wednesday while we were in Indianapolis, President and Sister Page brought me into their office, and told me that I just got approval to go to Brazil!! 

I was NOT expecting that at all. They both started crying, and then I started crying, and I was an emotional mess for the rest of the day. I've been waiting for this my whole mission, but now that it's here, I don't want to leave! I've come to realize how lucky I am that I got to serve here in Indiana/Michigan. I love it so much, and I wouldn't trade it for anything!!

So I fly out on August 5th, which means I only have 10 days left here!! I'll have to live it up while I can!! 

This also means, that I will miss Diane's baptism by 2 days :( Dang it!! 

Wish me boa sorte because I'm going to need it. If you made it this far, send me your favorite conference talk, so I can listen to it in Português!!

Amo vocês!! Tchau for now!

- Sister Wride

Headed to Brazil!

We just got news yesterday that Melodie will be going to Brazil! 

Today we got her flight itinerary. 

5 Aug - 11:55am - depart Indianapolis IN

5 Aug - 1:23pm - arrive Houston TX

5 Aug - 8:15pm - depart Houston TX

6 Aug - 7:55am - arrive Sao Paulo Brazil

6 Aug - 11:55am - depart Sao Paulo

6 Aug - 3:00pm - arrive Joao Pessoa

That's a full 27 hours of traveling. I guess it's really for real, she's got travel plans! Exciting!

Week 45 - Busy busy busy

 Oi Pessoal!!

This week was crazy. We have been grinding almost non-stop all week! It's left me so exhausted, but it's been so good! I can't waiit to see what happens here in Niles. I could stay here forever. In interviews, Sister Wood and I both hinted to president that we really want to stay together next transfer so fingers crossed!

There are so many awesome people here! We have like 5 people who we could put on date like this week. Here are some of them:

Diane:

She is the lady that Sister Kinikini found on facebook on facebook a few months ago, and she is so amazing! She's the easiest person to teach ever because she just accepts everything and she loves the Book of Mormon! She's even having her grandkids read the children's Book of Mormon which is super awesome. 

This week we had another lesson about baptism this week, which was a little scary because she's being super slow and  doesn't want to be pushed into anything, but also she is SO ready!! We talked about baptism, and asked if that was a goal that she wanted for the future, and she said "If you were to ask me right now if I wanted to be baptized, I would say yes."

WOOO!!! She just wanted to come to church in person first so she can get a feel for it, and this Sunday she finally came!! She loved it, so we're going to try and put her on date tomorrow. Wish us luck!! Prayers for Diane would be appreciated. 

Rita:

We had a lesson with Rita this week and going into it I kinda had a bad attitude because she hadn't really been progressing or keeping commitments. We were planning on just asking her about her goals with meeting with us, and she said she wanted to learn more about the Bible, and to come closer to Jesus Christ. Great! We can help with that. It wasn't planned, but we then went over the whole gospel of Jesus Christ lesson and the steps: Faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the holy ghost and enduring to the end. She was super interested in the gift of the holy Ghost, and how it can always be with us. We asked if that was something that she wanted and she said "Yes!" So then I asked if she wanted to be baptized, and she said "Probably, I'll have to think about it." YAY!!!! I'm going to count that as a yes. It was a huge step up because last time when we invited her, all she said was "I've already been baptized..." It's so amazing to see how the Spirit works to change people.

Deidre: 

Deidre is someone that we taught a tiny bit when i first got here, but we had to stop teaching her because she would hardly ever answer. Then this week, she suddenly called us! On the phone call she told us about all of the problems she has and all the things she's been dealing with, and she just sobbed. It was kinda heartbreaking especially because there's not much we can do to help her situation. So we invited her to church, and she said she would come! We arranged a ride for her, and she came to church, and she LOVED it!! She was cheerful and happy, and she made so many awesome comments in our Sunday school lesson. She fit right in, it was so cute. Some of the men in the ward also gave her a priesthood blessing, and tellling her to "be calm". After the blessing, she said how did you know that I needed to hear that?? Did the Sisters tell you what to say? But nope, it was all from God. It was so cool.

Afterwards, Deidre told us how much she enjoyed it, and she said over and over, "y'all go that glow." and to "Stay with it! This church is so good." And next Sunday, she wants to invite a bunch of youth that she knows!!

It was so cool to see how she recognized that light that we have, and how it blesses lives so much. Things totally flipped around after that! The church is so true, and it's so good!

Ok sorry this email is long enough. I love you all, and email me if you can!!

Tchau, amo vocês!!

~ Sister Wride

1.  We found a monarch caterpillar and kept him but then he randomly decided to die this morning 

2. <3

3. Sunset

4. Frog

5-6. More pics of our little island 

Week 44 - Policemen and miracles

Olá! 

We met the coolest guy this week!! His name is Mike, and he is ELECT. He was taught a little by some missionaries in Illinois, but he recently moved here, so now we get him! He is the coolest guy ever. He's been going through a lot recently, so he's in a really humble spot. He's really eager to learn, and he told us that we came along at the perfect time, because this was exactly what he needed. We gave him a Book of Mormon, and he said that he's going to start reading right away!! 

This week we went to this sketchy area of South Bend that left us a little spooked. Lots of worn down houses, narrow roads and weird smells. As we were walking down the road and this lady stopped us saying that we should get out of there. And then we drove down the street and we saw  police cars surrounding a house and some police men with massive guns pointing towards it. Sister Wood really wanted to pull over and see what was going on, and then after we pulled over another police car pulled up and blocked us in! I was scared that we were going to get shot so I laid back the seat to get out of the range of shooting, while Sister Wood really wanted to walk over there to get a closer look. After a while, a guy came out with his hands up and the police arrested him and it was sketchy. 

We also met a lady named Princellous! We stopped by her house and she told us about all of the hard things she's been going through. She just got married a few months ago and they've been struggling financially, her kids got taken away, they're arguing, they hardly have any food, they're dealing with a lawsuit, etc. We promised her that this gospel would bring her so much peace and that it would help her. But as we were saying that, I kinda thought, what good can we do? We can share scriptures, but we can't solve her problems. 

But then I realized, that it can! It may not change our circumstances, but it will change our thoughts, our attitudes, our habits, and in turn, it will change our lives as well. What Christ offers brings long lasting change! It doesn't directly fix things, so that's why we need faith! On paper, it doesn't make sense that reading a book every day or giving up 10% of your income to the church will change anything. But it does!! The gospel changes people from the inside, out.

I love being a missionary! The gospel is so great. I love my companion, the other missionaries, and there are so many people here with a lot of potential! I just love it, and I kinda don't want to leave for Brazil yet. For now, I really feel like this is where I need to be!

If you made it this far, send me your favorite quote for me to post! Or just let me know how you're doing :)  

- Sister Wride

Hey there. It's Melodie's mom here - thought I'd share one comment during our phone call today that made me laugh. Mel said to Hyrum "Fabric softener isn't detergent... I learned that the hard way..." Lol!

Week 43 -

 Oi pessoal!!

I hope you all are doing fantastic. This week was crazy! So many things happened.

First of all, I met my new companion Sister Wood!! Training her is so fun! I love showing her all of the things we do as missionaries and the people we meet with. She is so cute and she gets excited easily and laughs at literally anything so it's a good time. 

She also gets like 50 friend requests a day from random Elders in other missions, and they've been randomly messaging her and being flirty which is a little concerning. 

There have been other dudes we pass by who call out to her too, and say things like "Hey, do you have a boyfriend?" or "finest thing I ever saw! Woo!" It's so weird. Don't worry though, we've got pepper spray. 

So this last transfer the Elders in the ward both left, so we took over their area and their friends, and it's been SO crazy. The size of our teaching pool doubled overnight! We now have 87 people that we are teaching, and only 6 of them are progressing. 

So this whole week we've been sorting through all of these people, calling to set up lessons or to see if they're actually interested. (Most of them aren't that interested...) So we've been crazy busy, but Sister Wood is like a pro organizer so it's perfect. 

This week, tracting and streeet contacting finally opened up!! It's SO nice to be out of covid times. And we've seen so many miracles!! Here are a few:

We had to take an emergency run to the store, and as we were walking into the store and said hi to this guy chilling on the curb, and then he asked "Who are you guys?" We introduced ourselves as missionaries and said that we go around helping people and teaching them about Jesus Christ, and he said "Where is your church at?" So we gave him our number and he said he would call us!! 

We were driving back from District Council and we passed by this one house, and I felt this strong prompting that we needed to stop by it. I wasn't sure if that came from the Spirit or what even to do, so I kept driving. But then I kept thinking about it and going crazy, thinking "Was that a prompting? Do we need to talk to someone in that house? Should I go back??" Then suddenly the traffic stopped for some reason, and there was a perfect spot to turn around, so after a minute of thinking, Sister Wood said "Let's just go" So we drove back and found the house. 

This was my first time tracting ever, and I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm the trainer, and I'm supposed to be experienced but I'm not. It's like we're doorbell ditching but I'm waiting at the door so they can see me and talk to me! I was so nervous haha. We rang the doorbell and no one answered. After a minute, this car pulled up into the and I started panicking because I didn't know what to do. This cute old lady came up to us and we had solid conversation. We gave her a pass along card and she was so touched that we wanted to help her! I'm just glad she was nice haha. Even if things don't go anywhere with her, I'm glad I followed that prompting! God loves it when we're willing to go and do, even if we can't see why. 

Ok this miracle was probably the highlight of my mission!

So we were at this little park, and right as we were leaving, this guy walks by, and we thought we heard him say "hi" so we said "Hi, how are you doing?" and at first he kinda looked at us weird, but then he stopped and turned towards us, and said "My son just died." And then he just totally opened up to us and told us about all the things that he's been going through, and then he asked "I see you've got a name tag, who are you guys?" And we said that we are missionaries for the church of Jesus Christ, and then he just started crying. We told him that he will see his son again, and that we have a message about what comes after this life. He started crying even more, and he pointed at the sky and said "Conrad sent you to me." And then we all started crying and it was so special. We swapped numbers and we agreed to call later. As he left, he kept crying and he pumped his fists in the air, and shouted back to us "Thank you so much!" It was the coolest thing ever. 

 

UGH I love this gospel!!! I love our Savior Jesus Christ and I love sharing his light with people. I love seeing how it changes lives and brings hope, and I just want to keep doing it forever. Tbh, I don't want to go to Brazil yet just because I love it here so much!

I  love you all, and I hope you have a fantastic week!! Email me if you can <3

- Sister Wride