One Transfer Down!

Monday, March 28, 2016

I´m sitting here reading all these emails about Easter and laughing because it´s very much not a thing here. Okay I lied. Its a thing. But its more like "we got the whole weekend off so we´re all gonna get wasted" which is basically what happens here in Brazil every other day, so pretty normal. We didn´t do much to celebrate, it felt weird. Church was even different. We still had meetings and we had 3 talks about family, none about why we celebrate Easter. It was quite sad.... the church doctrines here are the same but the culture can be so different at times. But at our Easter lunch, Sister Souza´s parents surprised her at the house we were eating at because she left today. She was so excited but I was the one crying LOL. She was such an amazing trainer and missionary and hope one day in the near future to see her again. I also cried when she left but thats too much info. I apologize.
I´ve officially survived my first transfer(for all my non-mormons a transfer is 6 weeks you spend in a certain area of your mission with a certain companion). Good news! I´m staying here in Conjunto Novo Ceara and Sister Jackson will finish my training. All I know is that she´s American. Funny thing: Sister Mish (the other American I live with) has a new American companion too. So our house will have 4 AMERICANS in it. Which is insane because we really only have 8 or so American sisters here. I´m way excited.
Things I´ve learned during this transfer:
-I´m not very good at sharing but charity is an attribute of Christ that I am working on each day
-As a missionary, you have this inimagineable love for the people you´re teaching
-If someone feeds you something other than rice, beans, chicken, and juice its a good day
-Busy days are the best days
-God will never leave you comfortless
-Miracles DO happen
-Fortaleza: it either feels like a furnace or a wet furnace
Everything is really good here! The past couple weeks were difficult with not very much success but I´m excited to see what this new transfer brings!
Thank you everyone for your support. I´m still amazed with the amount of emails and letters and packages I´ve recieved. It warms my heart to know I have the world´s best cheerleaders.
Ate mais!
Sister Myers

Because I know all of you youngsters posted and Easter selfie, here is the last selfie of Sister Souza and Sister Myers.
This is Irma Socorro. She's an angel here on Earth and we visit her every week.
Happy Easter!
 The one joy of having a thousand dogs jump on you each day, is that some of them are bound to have PUPPIES!!!
Sister Mish, Sister Ferrieria, Sister Souza and Me.

Physically tired, Spiritually Uplifted.

Monday, March 21, 2016

Seriously how does Segunda-feira come so quickly?! This week was a little bit of heartbreaks. I felt like a teenage girl needing Titanic and chocolate ice cream this week. But just because sad things happen does mean you cant be happy!

We´ll start off with happy things. This week we were in the home of this very old, very religious woman. She was blasting this Gospel music concert when we walked in. As we ended our lesson we invited her to day the closing prayer. By this point, we were worn out. Mostly because she preached to us and not the other way around. Before she started her prayer she asked us for our names again and we replied Sister Souza and Sister Myers. She looked at us weird and began to pray. And she said, and I quote "Please bless these servants of God, Lord. I think they´re confused. Both of their names are Sister". Needless to say it was by far the best prayer I´ve heard.
Then this week was Sister Souza´s birthday. She turned 22 a week before she finishes her mission so we made sure it was special. I began the day by jumping on her bed and singing happy birthday in Potrguese, Enlgish and Spanish. Fun fact: her dad is a language professor and knows like 12 different languages so she too knows a bunch of langauages. But these three were the only ones I knew for the happy birthday song. We ate cake for breakfast. We ate cake at lunch at one of the member´s home, and ate cake for dinner. If I didnt have diabetes before the mission I do now. It was a great day and really special for her.
Okay not so happy news. Just about every thing feel apart this week. Our baptism for this week, started a new college course and was never in his home for us to prepare him for Sunday. Then Cristina who has the three girls, told us with her husband leaving she doesn't want anymore change in her life. Then Gustavo, one of the brothers we´re teaching said he´d ask his dad to be baptized for Sister Souzas birthday and when they asked he was very hesitant and never gave them an answer.
So now we´re here. And this is what I have to say:
"Opposition gives us a priceless opportunity to turn to God and rely on Him"
So that´s what I´m doing. I´m a representative of Jesus Christ. I am praying, fasting, and studying to be a better missionary for the people of Fortaleza. I know this trial is a gift. It's a gift that I can be broken down into pieces and have the faith that the sun will rise tomorrow.
Thank you for your prayers and thoughts. I can physically feel them day to day here in Brasil. I am so blessed to have friends and family supporting me all over this world. Thank you to those who have shaped me to be a missionary today. Its the biggest blessing of my life and want these next 15 months to be the best for my Heavenly Father and His children.
Com muito amor,
Sister Myers or in Portuguese, Sister Mi-uurs


Sister Souza making chocolate chips cookies every PDay
 Sister Souza and I with the family of Cristina

 The birthday of Sister Souza

Nobody said it'd be easy.

Monday, March 14, 2016

I wish I could say it´s a dream in Brazil everyday. I think when you get called to serve in Brazil you think it´ll be easy because the enire world knows if you serve in Brazil, the work of the Lord is really moving quickly here. Although I do see some truth in that here with our area, I don´t feel the same with that statement this week.
On a positive note, Maria Eduarda recieved the Gift of the Holy Ghost in sacrament yesterday. She has quickly become minha filha(my daughter) and the love that I have for her and her family is so big. She lives with about 13 people, including step-mom, 2 aunts, and 2 sisters. Sos basically a family of girls which I completely understand. They´re all a wee bit crazy and always want to input their opinions. If thats not the Myers family, I dont know what is.
We´re working with two families which is great but each family has a big difficulty. I wrote previously about Cristina, Itelo, Jamile, Ariade, and Lia. This week, Itelo, the father, left the family. SIster Souza and I were in tears to find out yesterday. We´re going to visit the girls today. My heart hurts. I dont know what to say to a family that has gone through something so diffivult. I´ve prayed fervently that I´ll know what to say. I love this family. The girls are like my nieces and I feel like the cool aunt that speaks English. Imagine visiting a family 3 times a week... you´re a part of the family. It´ll be a hard week for them but I cant help but know with a surety that the Savior knows exactly how they feel even when SIster Souza and I dont. He can comfort her in ways we never will.
The other family is Jackson, Zelani, Caio, Gustavo, and Artur. We´ve worked with them since I got here. Theyve met with missionaries for years. The parents are less active members. Zelani(the mom) really loves the church, has a strong testimony, and treats the missionaries with a warm heart. Jackson(the dad) has faltered and has many doubts. Hes a sergant in the Brazilian Army so he´s kind of intimidating. But the three sons are the most faithful group of boys I´ve ever witnessed in my life. They STUDY the Book of Mormon everyday... like we´re talking writes summaries about what they learned and felt. Each of them bore their testimony a couple  weeks ago. We do a Family Home Evening Night with them every week and this week they taught their parents the Restoration. SIster Souza and I even made Elder tags for them. They´ve so strong but their dad wont let them be baptized. Its something I´ve prayed about, fasted for, and studied everyday. I know with time, these three boys can be baptized, recieve the priesthood, and serve missions. I´ve become so close to them and hope that one day, my kids will be as wonderful as them.
Right now Sister Souza and I are in the process of searching for new investigators. It´s really difficult because everyone and their mother here are really firm in their beliefs and dont want to give us the oppurtunity to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them. At times it can be difficult, but I thank God everyday that Im here. I have faith that the servants of God are blessed to find those children of God to bring them Home. The work of Salvation will never be easy. But I didnt sign up for easy.
Thank you for your support. Every week is a treat to get emails from friends and family. Home feels so far away but really I feel at home. Brazil feels like home. How weird is that? Home is a place with more motorcycles than people, home is an apartment without a shower curtain, hot water, peanut butter, a dryer. Home is here in Brazil because here I´m serving the person that is most important to me in my life, Jesus Cristo.
This church is true. I know because I have prayed and asked many times. Mnay times, I recieved an answer. An answer of the heart. A confrimation that this is the way that I can live with Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and my family para SEMPRE. Happiness comes from following the Gospel of Jesus  Christ. There is no other way.
I love you all and pray daily for you
SIster Myers
 This truck is always parked down our street and I call it my Jesus truck.

3 weeks in the field, 2 months as a missionary and 1 special baptism.

Monday, March 7, 2016

Holy cow family and friends. I can´t believe its Monday again already! Time really does fly when you´re having fun. I´ve officially been in Conjuntos Novo Ceara for 3 weeks. I cannot describe how much I love my area. Most of my mission I´ve learned is city, which is exactly not what you think of when you think of Brazil. But I´m in an outskirt suburb so I really get to experience the Brazil you think of. Congrats Mom, you´ve made it through 2 months of your baby living on a different continent, only 16 more to go!!

This week was a special one. A young girl that we´ve taught since I got to our area got baptized yesterday! It was so speical to see her progress over the past three weeks and see her so excited to follow Christ. Her name is Maria Eduarda. Everyone and their mom is named Maria here so they always attach another name after. She´s the sweetest and and little sassy. She reminds me of an older version of my niece, Hallie.

It´s hard to think of specific occurances throughout the week because the days melt into one. But something important to me this week is personal study. My companion has buckets of Liahonas (Mormon magaizes written by our Aposotles of the Church) in English so she can practice the language. Its awesome because I happen to know Englsih. I´ve probably read close to 15 whole Liahonas this week. I´ve found that when we´re searching the words of God, we can qquickly recieve answers to questions we never knew we had. One quote about missionary work touched my heart: " Everyday those purposes and goals were clear to them; they knew what they needed to do and that each day´s progress mattered". Everyday I share the most important message, the GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST to other children of God. I am simply a guide to help others come unto Christ. That is my purpose. That is why I´m a missionary.

Thank you to everyone who has emailed me. I am astounded every week with the amount of love and support I have around the world. I send out about 3 or 4 letters every week. It would be awesome to have addresses of those who´d like to recieve a letter, 2 months after I´ve written it. Thank you.
I love you all and pray for you all everyday.

Sister Myers



A huge wasp. Yes. A Wasp. That can kill you. 
 Sister Souza bakes cookies every week and calls me the cookie monster because I eat them all before she can share.
 Maria's baptism.
 Me and Maria.

 
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