Monday, December 29, 2014

Week of Natal

What a week.

Natal and Ano Novo make the work a bit hard here. It was interesting to see
how another country celebrates Christmas and I can report that they drink
and party a lot.

BUT. It was all good. I really am blessed to be in an area with awesome
members that want to have us at their houses and feed us. Yay for food! Our
Christmas Eve was good. We went to a member´s house and played Go Fish and
watched the Cultural Celebration of the Sao Paulo templo. It was nice to
relax and strange to watch the television because we usually avoid that
kind of thing. Natal was the best though because I got to skype with you
all! Woo! Best thing ever! It was really nice to talk face to face (kinda)
and hear answers to questions right off the bat instead of a week later.
Other than that my Natal day was pretty much the same as usual.

We had an interesting experience. We went to visit one of our investigators
with a member and wish her a Feliz Natal and give her a little present we
made. She lives with her mom and has a daughter. We were met at the door by
her mother. We have seen her mother only few times before this. The next
thing we know the mother of our investigator is literally screaming at us
and calling us devils and ordering us to leave her house. Yup. So that was
fun. It is sad because she said if her daughter gets baptized she will have
to leave her house. :( and soo....

We had a mini miracle this week when we were walking in our area. We were
on a hill when a young girl came running up to us and said she wanted to go
to church with us. It turns out that her father saw us from below and wants
his children to be baptized. He is a member but hasn´t gone to church in a
while. It was awesome!

I love you all. Have a great Ano Novo!

Sister Helm

Love Skype!



We got to Skype with Bailey on Christmas morning!  It was absolutely wonderful to see her face and talk with her!

Monday, December 22, 2014

Woop!


We had a batismo this week! Yay! It was great.

Last P day we went to the beach! We can´t touch the sand so it was from
some distance but it was still beautiful! I also bought a really cool ring
made from a coconut and I am already planning the cool things I will bring
home when that time comes.

I got a letter from Uncle Peter and it was probs the coolest thing ever so
thanks Tio Pedro. I have read it so many times its already falling apart.

Natal here is strange because its 4000+ degrees and blinking lights
everywhere. Seriously though. Always always sun. The people here tell me
that my skin will adjust but I don´t think they actually
understand......but I just agree with them because I don´t know how to
explain superwhitepersonskinwithsundoesn´twork in portuguese. But. Its all
good.

So the people here are awesome. They try to speak English to me and its
funny because I don´t understand because their accents are so strong.
Mostly I just get Good Morning and Tank You! (they can´t pronounce th so
its sounds like t) There is one man without fail that speaks spanish to me.
Yup. No idea why. Also everyone here thinks I speak German. I don´t, if you
were wondering.

Yesterday was crazy because we had an investigator at church with all her
little nieces and nephews and boy were they a handful. Minha nossa! But the
primary program was yesterday and it was beautiful even though it actually
sounded terrible but they sing with so much enthusiasm that its impossible
to not love them. The kids here are the best btw.

Also when Brazilians party they really party. A girl in the ward returned
from her mission and we went to the party and minha nossa it was awesome.
We had to leave early because it was 9 oclock but they sent us home with
platefuls of food. Woo!

I am excited for Natal and getting to skype with you all! yay! Feliz Natal
to all and don´t forget the Savior and the real reason we celebrate
Christmas!

Sister Helm

Monday, December 15, 2014

Woop! Another Week

This week was good. We had Conferencia de Natal in Maceio and the entire
mission was there! It was so so cool and the food was great and our
Presidente and his wife are the best. I got to see Sister Lopez from the
MTC and also Elder Trout so that was awesome.

Transfers! Ahh! It was super stressful last night because all the other
sisters in Eduardo Gomes have been here awhile (including my companion) and
so it was probable they´d leave. BUT, we are all staying! Yay!! We get to
spend Christmas together and also New Year!

We have a baptism this week and two the week after! They are all awesome
and it has been great to see them coming closer to their Savior. A story:
We were teaching a young mother this week. She has two little girls ages 3
and 1 and she is 20. We were teaching her about the Word of Wisdom and how
our body is a temple. She has a belly button piercing and when we told her
about our body being a temple she took it out and chucked it as far as she
could. It was amazing to see her willingness to keep the commandments. 
 
Today we are going to the beach! Just to look, don´t worry. But I am super
duper excited! :)

Yesterday we got to go to Grageru and watch the First Presidency Christmas
Devotional. It was sooo good even though I didn´t understand everything the
speakers said. I did understand the music and they showed a bit of the
lights at Temple Square and that was great.

I am pretty sure that sobremesa here is the best in the world. You´ll have
to look that word up. Anyways, all the sisters were telling me about this
one sobremesa that is sooo good because we were going to eat it at one of
the members houses for almoco. It turns out that this really good sobremesa
is rice and milk. Haha their faces when I told them I´ve been eating this
my whole life. Hahahahaha But they usually use condensed milk and it´s even
better. Also everyone here loves hot dogs. They are a bit different and
they call them cachorro quente which is literally hot dog in portuguese. It
is funny because people always ask if we have cachorro quente in the US.
haha

Also I don´t know what happened this week but I have made huge strides in the
language. It is the strangest thing I have ever experienced. I can teach
almost fluently and I can speak with the people here with only a little
difficulty. I know this is a gift from God and all your prayers. Thank you
so much. I´m definitely not fluent yet but I am ten times better than last
week.

I love you all. I love this work. I love this gospel.

Com amor,
Sister Helm

Monday, December 8, 2014

Another week

Família e amigos! Como vocês estão?

This week was pretty uneventful. All normal for the most part. (Nothing is
ever completely normal in Brazil)

Yesterday we had investigators at church! Not the same as last week
unfortunatly but it was still awesome. I am excited to see them progress
and come closer to their Savior.

We had some crazies this week. People see me from a mile away because I
stand out like a the black sheep in a herd here. I can usually see them
coming but sometimes they sneak up from behind. Haha. Usually they are
drunk and just starting talking to me in rapid Portuguese and say....oh you
are americana....blah blah blah. So my companion and i mess with them and I
tell them that no, I am Brazilian and I am from Rio Grande do Sul which is
a state in the south of Brazil that has a lot of people with whiter skin
and they totally go for it. My portuguese is still terrible and I obviously
have a super strong accent so when they can´t understand me my companion
tells them that they can´t understand because I am from Rio Grande...fun
times fun times. But this week was different because I was proposed to.
Yup. That was fun. Mosty because he was really drunk and I didn´t know what
he said at first but I shook him off by telling him I had a boyfriend
waiting for me and then showed him my ring and he took it. Woo.

December is the rainy season here and so it will be super hot and sunny and
then all of a sudden it´s raining buckets and so that´s fun. Yay!

Natal!! Woo for Christmas in Brazil! So many exciting things are happening
and it´s 200 degrees and so it doesn´t even feel like Christmas but still
woo! I don´t know if you all have heard of He is the Gift but you should
totally check it out! It´s all about Christ so it doesn´t get much better
than that! :)

All the children here are the best. They are all a bit scared of me at
first but eventually they think I am the coolest person ever. haha :) We
saw a boy this week that looks almost exactly like Zane (except that Zane
is not Brazilian) and it was sooo weird.

Food´s still great. I have decided my favorite juice is maracujá but if you
asked me what it looks like I couldn´t tell you. Also it´s funny because
when I first arrived all the ladies in the ward that make us lunch asked me
what my favorite food is and I told them lasagna and so it spread and now
we have lasagna A LOT. And then it got out my favorite dessert is mousse
(which is seriously the best) and now we eat that a lot too (no complaints)
and now my favorite juice and so we have that almost every meal. Haha the
members here are the best.

Welp. Brazil is still exciting. I know this church is true. I love it with
all my heart. I know Christ is my Savior and I am so excited we have
Christmas to celebrate His birth.

I love you all. Thank you for your prayers.

Sister Helm

Monday, December 1, 2014

Answers to some questions

This is an except from a letter wrote to me(her momma).  I was asking questions 
and this is some of her responses.
They don´t have Thanksgiving here soo......I had Subway and ice cream. I
was actually in Maceio getting registered with the police here. I got to be
with Sister Lopez from the MTC and it was totally awesome. We really missed
each other and it was nice to catch up. We also saw Elder Trout from our
district. Also black friday here is called black friday. interesting. Since
I was in Maceio during that I got to see a bit of the frenzy. Woop! Maceio
is a lot different than our area. a lot. I´m good with everything. I don´t
need anything except the gift of tongues and lots of investigators. Some
prayers wouldn´t hurt. hahah. :)

Yay for baptisms! We went to a batismo of some elders in our district here
and it was beautiful and I can´t wait for one of my investigators to be
baptized! we found a really awesome man yesterday. Staunch catholic but
totally willing to pray about our message and get baptized if he feels it
is true. yes!

Yes, we live with two other sister. The sister training leaders of our zone
actually. Super awesome sisters. i love them all but it´s hard sometimes
because they have been on missions for a while and so I feel stupid around
them a lot because I never know what´s happening. I´m hoping it will wear
off after a while. No, that was a members house....the husband is actually
american so thats cool. We eat the same thing pretty much everyday but i
havent gotten sick of it yet. I hope I don´t because then it will be not
fun to eat at members houses. the food is rice, beans, some sort of salad
like lettuce and tomatoes and apples, juice that is absolutely amazing and
the desserts I actually don´t know what anything is but it tastes
delicious. I don´t know our address. Brazil has weird streets. like in one
place there is a street D and a street B and then the numbers don´t go in
numerical order....yeah. The baskets are for trash. It doesn´t always work
because there is trash everywhere. Yay for open sewers and trash and mangy
animals. It smells really nice too...not. haha but it´s all good. My
companion is....I´m not quite sure because I can´t talk to her very well.
It makes it hard to bond. We are getting along though!

2 months on mission

Yup. dois. It´s kind of crazy but there it is.

This week was pretty low key. A lot of our appointments fell through and it
is only going to get worse as Natal approaches. We´ve been finding a lot of
new investigators and we are excited to teach them more about Christ and
the love He has for them.

Yesterday was crazy though. We were going to pass by an investigator´s
house to pick them up for church on the one side of our area. On the way
there we called another investigator and reminded them about church that
morning. She didn´t want to come so we said we´d come by and get here too.
The only problem is that she lives on the completely other side of our
area. completely. Like a 45 minute fast walk completely. So, we picked up
the first person, dropped him off at church and then headed out to get the
other investigator. Church started in 15 minutes but not sacrament but
Relief Society and Priesthood and all that. Anywho we were about 3 minutes
from her house when her spouse called and said that she already left. woop.
So we started walking back and found her on the way. She has two young
girls. 1 and 3 i believe and so we hauled those kids and her the 45 minutes
to the church. Did I mention that yesterday was also the hottest day I have
ever beheld? Yes. of course it was. And so, we finally arrived at church.
We found another one of investigators trying to leave but we convinced him
to stay. and so then went in and got everyone situated. Minha nossa I was
sweating like a stuck hog. BUT we got our investigators to church. Lots and
lots and lots of walking later.

We went back to the first investigators house after almoco to teach him and
his family and found him half drunk outside his house.... :( We tried to
explain to him the effects of alchol and all that but to no avail. The cool
thing is that he was talking to his neighbor and so we started talking to
him. He has probably 50 or so years and is a staunch catholic. We were
talking to him about Christ and the Book of Mormon and he wanted to hear
more. So we taught him the restoration. He is going to read the Book of
Mormon and pray and has a baptimal date set! Woo!

When we returned home i discovered I have a wicked sunburn. Super bad. My
favorite part is the line from my watch. Yay! Also an awesome blister that
takes up all of my little toe. No pain, no gain. haha

Anywho, I love this gospel. I love you all. Thank you for everything.

Sister Helm

Monday, November 24, 2014

no campo

This past week has been great. Some crazy things have happened but all´s
here.

Our investigators are the bomb. Seriously. So awesome. I´m glad to have the
opportunity to serve them. The food is literally the best. Never eaten so
many good things in my life. Ahhh!!! I´m going to have to be rolled out of
Brazil.

Also this week I rode what I like to call The Harry Potter Bus, but here in
Brazil it´s just the normal bus. But literally I thought last week the bus
I took to get to Sergipe was crazy but actually it was totally calm. So
crazy, exactly like the bus from Harry Potter. We rode it because we had a
zone meeting in Aracaju. Good meeting and I learned a whole lot about how I
can´t understand Portuguese.

I had my first contact this week! All by myself. A contact is where we stop
someone on the street and tell them who we are and invite them to church
and to be taught more....it was good. They said they wanted to know more
but sometimes Brazilians are flaky and so we´ll see.

Also since I was complaining about the heat it decided to rain. And when I
say rain I mean RAIN. Sister Barros and I got caught and we were super far
away from our casa and so we got absolutely soaked. soaked to the bone.
(also thank you so much Aunt Wendy for sending me the stuff to make my
shoes waterproof because they would have died without it)

We had an interesting experience this week. We went to go teach a lesson to
one of our investigators on the other side of our area. Out in the way out.
We clapped and she didn´t answer so we decided to come back later but then
she opened the door and we were super excited. yay! When we got in there
however there was a man there too and he just kind of sat there and watched
us creepily. Anyways, we tried to start and this man offered to say the
prayer. And then he stood up and started shouting and doing super weird
things and it was so strange. He prayed for almost 15 minutes. yup. After
that we tried to share a message but he started shouting more in portuguese
and i couldn´t understand but he kept looking at me and I heard Americana
and stuff like that and at one point he stood up and got right in my face
and pointed at me and said more things and so yup. When we left it was so
nice because there was just a bad spirit in that house. anyways, fun times
in brazil.

Yesterday we walked through a mini amazon! haha but it was really fun and
we found some really cool people on the other side.

The members here are absolutely awesome. They feed us sooo well and do a
great job of helping our investigators feel welcome. The kids think I´m the
coolest things since sliced bread because of my pop rocks. The faces on
their faces when the eat them....haha. Gets me every time. Especially the
adults! Our area is great. I love it here.

I know this church is true. I love it. I love my mission. I love the
opportunity I have to serve the people here and be on the Lord´s errand in
bringing others to Him. I love you all so much. Thank you for everything
you do!

Sister Helm

Monday, November 17, 2014

The Church is True

The church is true. That is all I have to say.

Well, I am definitely in Brasil. My companion is Sister Barros. She is from
Cape Verde. She speaks very very little English. It has been fun to be
using hand signals and pictures and broken Portuguese to communicate with
her! She is incredibly loving and I am so glad she is my companheira. I
really am blessed because she has the most patience I have ever seen in a
person. Sometimes I worry she will get irritated with me because I am
always asking questions in my terrible Portuguese and making her explain
grammar to me.

Did you know they taught me the wrong language at the MTC? I am almost sure
of it. I have been here for six days and people are still just babbling in
some strange language. hahaha not really but sometimes I wonder if anything
could ever prepare you for something like this. Sometimes I look at what I
am doing and I think I am crazy. How am I doing this? The church is true. I
have no idea how I am able to teach lessons in a language I can hardly
understand, let alone speak. I have no idea how I am able to love a people
I hardly know. I have no idea what is happening most of the time. But I
know that I am doing what I am supposed to do.

So after we met the Misson Presidente and his wife we went to a meeting and
met our trainers! Super stressful. But I got a great companion so that is
awesome! Lots of things happened after that but I do not remember much
because it was all in Portuguese. It is funny because I know they were
saying important stuff like rules and things but they said it all in
Portuguese so Elder Trout and Sister Lopez and I were very confused.
Luckily we have trainers to lead us around. We stayed the night in Maceio
and then in the morning headed out the the other side of our misson....it
would probably be about 6 hours away by car but we took brasilian crazy bus
and got there in 5. I like it here. We are in the area called Eduardo Gomes
just outside of Sao Cristovao. Its one of the hottest places in the mission
and I can completely attest to that because it is incredibly hot. Super
duper. Never experience heat and humidity like this in my life. The only
thing I can compare it to is when I was at fair and had to change into my
FFA show clothes and my jacket and everything in the hot van and it was
super hot and sweaty. It like that all the time. I think Wyatt and
Anneliese might understand here. Also the bugs are terrible. I will be able
to kill bugs like a pro when I am done with the mission. I have a story. On
like my third day I was in our casa when I saw this really weird looking
bug and it was by my foot a few inches away and I was watching it trying to
get the courage to kill it when it sensed my fear and, I kid you not, it
full on jumped at my foot and tried to kill me. So I screamed and karate
chopped it in the air. Super fun times in Brasil!!

My first day in the field was very interesting. It started out with a
district meeting at the church building. There are me and my companion and
two other sisters that live with us and then four other elders that are
about 20 minutes away by bus. They are all awesome, but I had no idea what
was happening...at all. I think they were trying to talk to me because they
kept looking at me like they were asking questions but I think they were
speaking chinese because nothing made sense....haha. Anywho after that Sis
Barros and I went to a local store to get some food. It was incredibly hot.
So hot that my companion passed out while we were waiting in line.
Omygoodness I had no idea what to do then all of a sudden some man had
picked her up and was taking her to an air conditioned place and all this
time people are yelling at me in Portuguese and I have no idea what they
are saying and somehow I am able to get our cell phone and call the other
sisters and ask for Sister Lopez (different sis lopez than the MTC) because
she is American so I can speak in English and tell her I have no idea what
is happening but I need help. Yup. Super fun. All this time people are
still trying to speak Portuguese to me and everyone in the store is staring
at me because some white girl is talking in English super fast in a phone
and all the world is in panic. Yup. Great first day in the field. It all
ended up alright. The sisters came and saved me and Sister Barros was fine
and we went on our way.

Compared to the first day all the rest of my days here have been much less
exciting. Every day though, without fail, when I walk on the streets the
people will literally stop what they are doing and just stare at me as I
walk past. Yup, the life of a super white ruiva. Super awkward though.

On my second day we clapped at a random house and a young girl answered.
She agreed to listen to our message...just like that. The people here are
ready to here the gospel. Sister Barros taught her about the restoration
and then sister barros turned to me and I taught the first vision. In
Portuguese. And then I invited her to be baptized and she said yes. just
like that. :))

Brasil is very.........different. To say the least. Let me tell you about
some things in Brasil. People drive like maniacs. They have no crosswalks,
people just frogger across the streets. Also I do not think there are speed
limit because people are always going a million miles an hour down the
street. The food here makes up for everything else. It is amazing. I am
going to be a million pounds when I l leave because all the little
Brasilian women are always shoving more food on my plate.

I love you all. Thank you for your prayers.

Sister Helm

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

I have arrived

WoooooWoooo! Finally, I made it to Brasil. I spent way too much time
sitting in a plane. Really do not recommend it for anyone.

I do not have much time, so I'm going to be quick. 
However, I am here safe. Brasil is crazy. For realz. I have zero idea what
is happening right now. Besides Sister Lopez and Elder Trout like 10 new
missionaries came from the CTM in Sao Paulo. Yes, they are Brazilian. Yes,
they talk a million miles a minute. And yes, I have no idea what they are
saying. They keep trying to talk to me and eu não sei o que é acontecendo.
Hopefully this goes alright or this will be a really really long missão.

I am not sure when I will email again. Just know I am safe and clueless.
Yay. More details will have to come later.

Eu te amo muito! Obrigada for your prayers. :)))))

Com amor,
Sister Helm

Monday, November 10, 2014

Small World

Aunt Melanie saw Bailey as she was getting off the train for work today.  Bailey is headed to the airport to fly to Brazil today!

Saturday, November 8, 2014

 My district being normal
All of us with Irmao Barlow
All of us with Irmao Workman

Brasil, here I come!

The next time I email I will be in BRASIL! Eu sei, it's crazy. I really
have loved being at the MTC so much and I'm so glad I had the opportunity
to come to the Provo MTC. There truly was a reason that I was sent to this
MTC. I had the most amazing teachers, the best companion, the coolest
district, the awesomest zone, and pretty much the most incredible
experience ever here. I'm so thankful for my lovely Aunt Wendy who
diligently sent me packages that made all the elders in my district jealous
(it's alright I shared) and was always one step ahead of me whenever I was
thinking....man, I really could use some cookies. Also, I'm thankful for
Uncle Peter, Ariana, and Myla for writing me beautiful letters that I love
to reread over and over. I'm so grateful for all the people who sent me
letters of encouragement and love. Thank you thank you OBRIGADA MUITO. Eu
amo voces!

I'm so excited to have the blessing of serving the people of Maceio,
Brasil. I love that I have the opportunity to share with them a message of
love and joy. It truly is a message of joy. I attest to that with all my
heart. I know Jesus Christ lives and that he is our Savior. I can't wait to
help my fellow brothers and sisters in Brasil come to know their Savior as
their friend and God as their Heavenly Father.

It was really sad today to say adeus to our professores. Singing God Be
With You Till We Meet Again this morning was triste. They taught us SO much
in the space of a few weeks! Really, everything we know about Portuguese is
all thanks to them. I'm so grateful that I was blessed with having amazing
teachers that were willing to teach us all they know. In reality, our
teachers are only a few years older than us but their knowledge about
Portuguese and the gospel is truly incredible. I'm also so grateful for all
that the Spirit has taught me about the gospel and how to teach people. My
personal study time is something I look forward to every day. Sister Lopez
has also taught me so much. What an example she is to me. Wow. I have been
so blessed. Just looking back now I can see how much I've grown. And it's
only been six weeks! What will come in the next 17 months!?

Thank you to everyone who is including me in their prayers. I feel blessed
beyond all else. Thank you so much. Don't forget to pray for the other
88,000+ missionaries out there bringing people to Cristo! I love all of you
so much. There is nothing else in the world I would rather be doing than
what I'm doing now. I'm so so so blessed to have this opportunity to be on
the Lord's time. Some may say that a mission is a sacrifice, but I can
testify to you that it is a blessing beyond compare.

I've had a great time here with visiting dignitaries, trying to speak
Portuguese, not understanding anything that's happening, learning, growing,
laughing my head off at the elders in my district, and so so so much more.
The MTC has been great. However, I'm ready to say goodbye. It's time to get
to WORK.

Jesus Cristo vive. He is our Savior. God, our Heavenly Father, loves us and
wants us to return to his presence someday. To quote Aunt Wendy, "You've
had eternity to prepare for this mission and you have eternity to reflect
on it. But you only have 18 months to live it....Hit the ground running and
don't ever stop". There is no greater work on this earth than bringing
souls to Cristo. *Shall we not go on in so great a cause? *

Sister Helm

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

WHAT EVEN IS BRASIL?

It's weird to spend Halloween at the MTC. Mostly because we can hardly
remember if there's a real world out there. It ended up being a pretty
otimo dia because......

I GOT MY VISA!

WoooWoooo!! So much of the excitement!! I leave early Monday morning to the
SLC airport to fly to Atlanta, GA, then down to Sao Paulo, and then back up
to Maceio. Ahhh!!! A lot of flying, but I'm so excited right now! I've been
waiting for para sempre dizer all this and I'm just so thankful for all
your prayers, support, and love. So many things to do though before
segunda-feira! I'm also super thankful because Sister Lopez got her's as
well as another elder in our district.

Also on Halloween Sister Lopez and I had TRC. This week we got to skype
with a member from Maceio! It was so so so cool to meet someone from where
we are going just after finding out we are actually going there! It was fun
but I also had a hard time understanding a lot of his Portuguese because of
his accent and also he spoke realllllyyyy rapido. (Yay for going to Brasil
next week and not understanding anything!)

Other than that the week was pretty chill. We have class all day and then
we eat and then we study and then we sleep and then we wake up and do it
all over again. So much fun. But so much otimo at the mesmo vez!

Sorry this email is so crazy. There's a lot of things to say and not very
much time to say it.

It's going to be a whole week of lasts. Last days, last times, last
goodbyes. This morning a bunch of elders and a sister that came a few weeks
ago got their visas and left to the Brasil MTC. Only a few missionaries are
being reassigned. Something strange is that an elder and a sister in our
district that are going to Mozambique got reassigned. Strange to have
missionaries that are going to Brasil getting to go straight to their
missions and missionaries going to Africa are getting reassigned.

I'm happy though. Not sure if I'm prepared for the extreme heat/humidity
but you know that going to be expected. I've been studying so much harder
the last few days trying to cram in as much Portuguese into my head as I
possibly can.

Obrigada para tuda de voces por sua oracaos e por sua amor.

THREE CHEERS FOR BRASIL!

Sister Helm

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

ENTÃO....

Well, I was reading over my journal this morning to try and review the week
so I could tell vocês que é happening mas nada really happened this week. I
cannot spell in english anymore mas meu Portuguese is getting
better.....somewhat. I'm still speaking a lot of caveman.

The days here feel like a week but the weeks go by fast. Tomorrow marks
week 4 and that means I have less than 2 weeks left!!! So crazy! I've been
learning so much but I feel like I will never be actually prepared for the
mission field. It's weird because the missionaries that were here when we
got here are now leaving today and it is SO weird. Now we are the oldest
missionaries in our zone. WHAT?! All of them but one have been reassigned
stateside but are hopeful they will be getting to Brazil soon.

So every week on Thursday nights we don't have a teacher and so we've
decided to dedicate one hour of that three hour block to a kind of district
FHE. Sister Lopez and I were in charge of the lesson this past week but we
didn't know until last second. If you don't know me I do love winging
things and so this just seemed like a super fun challenge. So we came up
with acting out stories in the BoM! I know, flashbacks to FHE night at the
Helm House. It was so good though. All of our elders were hilarious and it
was super fun. Now Sister Lopez and I are the cool kids to beat. :)

Something fun was that Carlos A. Godoy of the Seventy came and spoke to us
for our Tuesday devotional. If you don't remember him he was the one at
conference that spoke Portuguese! And he's from Brazil! Anyways, when all
of us Brazil/Portuguese missionaries saw he was speaking we were all super
duper excited and everyone around thought we were crazy. His talk was
fan-dang-stastic and it was so awesome. If all Brazilians are like him I
cannot wait to get to Brazil. It was awesome because his English had the
coolest accent. He kept pronouncing english words like you would in
Portuguese and we all noticed! He asked (in Portuguese) who was learning
Portuguese and we all raised our hands and were like "we are we are!!"
Anywho, it was a great talk and incredibly inspiring. He focused on the
mission field and what we need to do that we can succeed there.

Something else I forgot to mention. On Sexta-Feira we have TRC which is
where we teach members a little message (all of this in Portuguese of
course). It's much more laid back than teaching an investigator and tons
more fun because often we get to teach these little old Brazilian people.
There are so animated and excited about us going to Brazil. When we tell
them we're going to Maceio they get so excited and tell us the people are
so nice, it's so beautiful, and the food is delicious. YES.

Our investigators are doing well. It still takes me awhile sometimes to
pick up what's happening but I can usually figure it out rapidomente
enough. The past few lessons I just feel I need to say something and so I
open my mouth and somehow Portuguese comes out. I'm so blessed to have the
Lord's help to do his work. I know there is no way I could do it without
that help.

I love the MTC. I love this work. I'm so blessed, animado, and just plain
happy to share this gospel with everyone I meet. I'm looking forward to the
plane ride out of here because I just want tell people about how awesome it
is that we have o Evangelho de Jesus Cristo na Terra hoje.


I love this gospel.

Sister Helm

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

WHAT EVEN IS ANGOLA?!

Entao, esta semana foi CRAZY. So crazy. Let's just start at the beginning.

On Wednesday last week our district was chosen to host the new missionaries
that were coming in that day. Over 500 new missionaries came in. I know. It
was INSANE. It was so fun though. It was sad to see all the missionaries
crying but as hosts we assured them that what they were doing was the right
thing and we told the parents we would take care of their child. At least
for a little bit. It was really fun but also probably the hardest workout
of my life. Have you ever tried to carry 3 massive bags by yourself? Yeah,
bem-vindo minha vida no quinta-feira. It was still great and I loved
getting to know the sisters I hosted a little bit before I dropped them off
at their classroom. All of them were going to the states and it's weird
because they'll leave before I will. All in all, it was a great experience
and I hope we get to do it again!

That night we were in class after dinner doing personal/comp study and our
District Leader came in and was super excited about something. He had been
called to the front desk during dinner along with Sis Bow and Sis Gutke. He
then told us that our district had been chosen to have the CONSULATE
GENERAL OF ANGOLA, AFRICA come visit our class the next morning. Chaos
ensued. PUXA VIDA WHAT IS HAPPENING? If you don't know, the consulate
general is the person who decides if people come into the country or not.
Angola recently decided that they don't want LDS missionaries in their
country anymore. The Church has been talking to them and they don't believe
we're the real deal so they sent the consulate general to come visit the
MTC in Provo. Yup. And for some crazy reason our district was recommended
for this. So craziness is happening and then our teacher shows up and we're
telling him this and he's kinda freaking out too. Anywho, someone came to
our class later to tell us about tomorrow morning and he inspected our
classroom and told us to fix different things and told an elder to not
spike his hair so much and we needed a Brazil flag in there and all sorts
of things. He said that pretty much the whole of the Church was relying on
us showing a good face not to mention the 88,000 missionaries out in the
field. This was a BIG deal. They speak Portuguese in Angola so we had to
wow the consulate general with our Portuguese as well. DID I MENTION WE HAD
ONLY BEEN HERE FOR TWO WEEKS AT THAT POINT?!

The next day. All of us were on edge and jumping everytime someone opened
the door because we were supposed to stand when the Consulate General
walked in. Eventually he came with his entourage and also Elder Hinckley
and President Nally (MTC prez). Yup. And then we all had to introduce our
selves, tell where we were from, and where we were going.......all in
Portuguese. All went well. We showed the Consulate General how we learn
Portuguese and thankfully all went great. Then we took a picture and he
left. Woooo. So much crazy!

Other than that the week was pretty slow. It was still really good though.
We taught a lesson to our pesquisador Amizade last week and Sis Lopez and I
did sooo well. We taught him the Restoration and also how to pray. He said
he'd be baptized. Also guess what when we were talking about Joseph Smith
and his vision I recited the whole first vision in Portuguese and it was
totally awesome! Blessings of the Spirit are real. He's progressing so well
and I'm so excited what we can help him learn next!

We eat a lot here. And read a lot. And speak caveman Portuguese a lot. It's
great. I love it. Loving the mish!

I love you all and hope you all are doing great! Share the joy the gospel
brings with those around you!

Sei que este o evangelho e verdederio. Jesus Cristo e meu Salvador. O Livro
de Mormon e verdederio. O evangelho de Jesus Cristo e como nos podemos
viver com nosso Pai Celestial de novo.

Sister Helm

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

WEEK DOIS

They say here at the MTC that the only thing worse than the first week of
the MTC is the second week. I can testify to that. Opa it was a hard week.
Mas, it was so good at the same time!! I'm learning so much every day that
it's like trying to drink out of a fire hydrant.

Also I solved my dilemma to waiting in line for the shower. I either shower
after gym time in the afternoon or I wake up at 6 AM and shower then.
Perfect. Whole bathroom to myself. Tambem if you're wondering what it's
like to live in a tiny room with 6 sisters then just imagine living in a
bee box. Because that's what it is tido. Muito muito muito pessoas.

Primeria I would just like to thank all the peeps that sent me mail or
packages! I love you all so much! My district is makes fun of me by calling
the mail "Sister Helm's mail" instead of just "the mail" They're just
jealous that I have a super bom familia.

PORTUGUESE IS HARD. ALSO ALL THE THINGS MISSIONARY ARE HARD. Like for
realz. I've never worked harder in my life and I'm still barely keeping up.
Mas, I'm getting there. I've memorized A Primeria Visao and also Nosso
Proposito and the Seven Habits of a Diligent Missionary. I'm getting
there.....lots of things left to do. Uncle Peter sent a perfect poem at the
perfect time and I was reading it yesterday. It's about discouragement and
I need to remember to not get discouraged when I can't teach the way I want
to because of the language barrier. So obrigada Uncle Pedro! (pedro is
peter in porkandcheese)

Something kind of funny....remember our pesquisador Geraldo? Well, turns
out he's now our other teacher. So now his name is Irmao Workman. Yup, I
know, it's weird. Mas both our teachers are great and I'm learning sooo
much from them. They both served in Mozambique and so they speak
Continental Portuguese instead of Brazilian. It's all good though because
they can speak Brazilian Portuguese too. PUXA VIDA I LOVE PORTUGUESE.
(maybe I should take the time to mention that puxa vida translates directly
to "pull life" but Portuguese speakers use it like "Oh my gosh!"

I can understand almost everything my teachers say now. Sis Lopez and I
have found a few Brazilians here and when we try to talk to them in
Portuguese it doesnt' work because they speak REALLY rapido and slur all
the words together. It makes it sound pretty but we can't understand what
they're saying. At all.

I honestly can hardly remember anything specific that happened this week.
All the days feel like a week and then the blend together and I can hardly
tell one day from another. Well, we went to the temple last Tuesday and it
was OTIMO. So good. It was exactly what all of us needed that day. On
Sunday we went to MTC choir and that was really fun too. I had my first
real Sunday here and it was great!! I love the devotionals on Domingos e
Teira-Feiras.

Our district sang a musical number at church on Domingo! It was soo good. I
love singing in Portuguese!

Something funny is that all of the Portuguese speaking missionaries always
say Oi! (Hi!) when we see each other because hello is Ola! and we don't
want to be confused with the Spanish speaking missionaries because we're
obviously cooler. Other missionaries always look at our tags and are like
oh you're spanish speaking where are you going and we're like, NO IT'S
PORTUGUESE. BRAZIL WOO WOO!

Something else otimo, our district gets to host tomorrow!! That means we
get to go help get all the little newbies and rip them away from their
familias and give them a incredibly fast tour of the MTC and then drop them
off at their classroom as they stare around in confusion and wonder what in
the world is happening! Yay! It's almost unheard of to be hosting after
you've only been here two weeks so obvi we're a pretty otimo district.

Two times a week we wake up super early and get to go do service in another
building. I know this is weird to say, mas it's actually fun to clean.
Especially when it's service. It's a muito bom way to start a dia.

So if anyone is wondering why Portuguese speaking sister missionaries
aren't called Irmas is because in there language if I walked around with a
nametag that said Irma Helm they would think I'm a nun. So yeah. Just a fun
little tidbit of info. So we're called sister, but they pronounce it like
seestair. And plural sounds like seestairres.

Also our devo this last Domingo was a brother from the Media Missionary
Dept of the Church. Look out for something really cool the day after
Thanksgiving and also Dec 7th on YouTube!

The mish is great. I'm so excited to teach everyone about o evangelho.
Tambem all the Brazil missonaries thusfar have been sent to the states to
wait for their visa because Brazil is mad at the U.S. right agora. :((

On that happy note, I'm out of time. I love you all and I thank you for
your amazing examples!

Com amor,

Sister Helm

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Bailey's First Letter

PUXA VIDA I LOVE THE MTC!

Seriously though. It's great. After those first few moments of initial
panic.

And everyone is yelling at you, "Welcome to the MTC!!!" And you don't know
where anything is and soo..... Also the food is fine, there's always salads
and wraps for when you don't want to eat anything else.... And tell Papai
the lines for the showers are terrible. Ugh. I just want to take a stinkin
shower.

Haha when I walked into my classroom for the first time my teacher was just
like, "Oi! adfasdjd aslkdjfkdjf sadf adkfja;fj dkasdjf dfkdfakj d tudo
bem!!" And I was like, "uhhhhhhhhhhh." But it's all good now. Irmao Barlow
is a great teacher and yesterday I actually understood what he was saying
for the first time!! Woop woop for Portuguese!

Anyways...my companheira is soooo great. Sister Lopez is so spiritually
righteous. She is funny, pretty, and speaks Spanish! Woo! She can
understand Portuguese because of that and so she's been having to tell me
what our teacher was saying those first few days. I seriously love her to
death.

Something crazy, our branch president told us we need to read the entire
Livro de Mormon in the six weeks we'll be here. I know, it's crazy. Also,
I've already memorized Our Purpose in English and Portuguese! We're also
supposed to memorize a ton more things in Portuguese....ugh! But it's
great. I love it! Portuguese is a beautiful language, us four sisters in
our district decided it's the baby of French and Spanish. Also one elder,
who speaks spanish, told us that the language of angels is Spanish but the
language of God is Portuguese! :) I'd have to agree.

So, our second full day here we taught a pequistador named Geraldo in
complete Portuguese. It was great, I think. I couldn't understand anything
he said. Yay for Sister Lopez! We resolved to do much better the next time.
I was praying so hard to just be able to understand what Geraldo said.
Also, Irmao Barlow had us write down perguntas por Pai Celestial for
Conferencia General. I've never actually done that before and I was
surprised because ALL of my questions were answered. I felt so much peace
and comfort.

CONFERENCIA GENERAL was soooo good. I feel so blessed that I got to be in
the MTC for it. I've never learned so much from it and everytime they
talked about missionaries I cheered inside! ALSO listening to the speakers
in their native tongues was soooo cool. Especially Carlos Goday! Yay for
Brasil and Portuguese! O evangelho e verdadeiro. Muito bom.

We taught our second licao yesterday and Sister Lopez and I were planning
our licao and realized we were pretty much writing the whole thing out
instead of learning the doctrine and relying on o Espirito Santo. We were
walking outside to get ready and get some air while praticing our
Portuguese when an Elder turned around and was like are you sisters
speaking Portuguese? Turns out he was from Portugal and Sis Lopez and I
felt awkward because our Portuege pronunciation is terrivel. But it was soo
good. We talked with him and his companions for a while and we told him we
were getting ready to teach a lesson. He asked for our notes, on which we
had pretty much just written our entire lesson. We gave them to him and
then he put them down and said sisters, tell me about the Restoration in
Portuguese. Yup. So Sis Lopez and I changed our tactic. When we went in to
teach Geraldo we put away our notes and taught by the Spirit and in caveman
Portuguese we taught him about the Restoration and bore our testimonies.
Also, let me just mention that I understood nearly every word he said to
us. It was beautiful and amazing. I am so blessed to be here on dedicated
ground with O Espirito Santo by my side.

I love this work. I love learning Portuguese. I've only broke down once.
Yesterday, after the lesson we taught I felt frustrated that I wasn't able
to tell Geraldo what I wanted to because of the language barrier. It's all
good though. I need to remember that this mission isn't about me. I'm here
to serve the Lord and the people I meet.

Today we get to go to the temple! Also, for our gym time last week some
sisters in our zone went our and played sand volleyball. Turns out none of
them ever played volleyball before. And it showed haha. Just over here
working on my patience! But yesterday I got to go and play real volleyball
inside with a bunch of people in our zone and it was SO FUN. Ahhh finally
real volleyball! (make sure Papai hears about this!)

I've met the coolest people here. Seriously. I wish I could tell you about
each of them, in detail. But it would take forever! I'll just say that my
district is the best, we're getting so close! Kinda like familia. Also,
when our branch presidency was picking our district leader we were all like
whose it going to be?? And when they said Elder Boyd the Spirit confirmed
to us that he was definitely the best choice. He's great...and he's from
Blackfoot, ID! All the Elders in our district are the best. And the Sisters
are even better! I wish I could tell you more, but I'm out of time.

Sei que Jesus Cristo e meu Salvador. Sei que A Igreja de Jesus Cristo do
Santos dos Ultimos Dias e verdadeira.

Com amor,

Sister Helm (What!!?/!) :)))))))

P.S. Eu te amo!

P.P.S. Sorry about the rando Portuguese words....actually I'm not
sorry...there's this thing called Speak Your Language and you're supposed
to use your language as much as possible. It's hard, but awesome!

Friday, October 3, 2014

And she's off....


October 1st finally arrived and Bailey flew out in the morning to SLC on her way to the Provo MTC.  The whole family got up at 5am to take her to the airport.  It was an emotional day.  




Saturday, September 27, 2014

Looks Like I'm Headed to Provo!

Yup. My visa didn't make it in time. I was at my brother's football game today and my stake president came and told me he got an email that said I am to report to the Provo MTC on the 1st. I'm a bit disappointed, but I'm praying my visa will come asap! I'm excited to see what lies ahead!

Monday, September 22, 2014

Temple Day!

I had the opportunity to go to the beautiful Boise, Idaho temple on the 29th of August for my endowments. It was a beautiful, sacred experience that hopefully I will never forget. I especially loved the way I felt through the entire day. I felt almost as if I had a bright light inside of me making me feel warm and fuzzy from the inside out. One of my favorite parts of the day was sitting in the Celestial Room with my parents, Grandma and Grandpa Neider, Aunt Nannette, and Uncle Abram. I was so glad they could come and share that amazing day with me.


The next week I flew to Utah to visit all the fam I have that live down there. I got to go to the gorgeous Mount Timpanogos Temple with them and it was so great to have them there to share that experience with me. Family is such an integral part of the gospel. Also on that trip I was able to go to the Provo Temple with my Aunt Wendy and we had a great time there. Three temples down, 140 to go! :)

THE CALL

The wait for your call is a hard one. It's one of those times when you realize if you have any patience or not. Let's just say I developed some patience waiting for that little envelope to arrive in my mailbox. Good times, good times.

The 22nd of May was a beautiful day. For realz though. I had the opportunity that morning to go do some service for a lady in the ward. My mom (RS Prez) and a couple other sisters went and cleaned her home. About lunch time I got a text from my dad who had come home from work for lunch. It was actually a picture of the mailbox. And the mailbox had something in it. A big, white, important looking envelope-y something. WOOOHOOO!!!

When I got home it was there. Waiting for me. I wanted to open it up asap, of course, but my mom told me to wait until 7:00. Yup. Let's just say the afternoon dragged like nobody's business.

Finally the awaited time arrived. Soo many of my friends and family were at my house to support me. I had several people on speaker phone listening and also on skype. My hands shook as I slid the paper out and read the words:

Dear Sister Bailey Annette Helm,

....you have been assigned to labor in the Brazil, Maceio Mission. BOOM. SPEAKING PORTUGUESE. Brazil MTC. September 24th, 2014.

WAIT. BRAZIL?! I had definitely NOT expected this. But I'm excited, we had a foreign exchange student from Brazil my senior year in high school and I got to know her pretty well. Brazil is a beautiful, amazing place and I can't wait to get there!!!!

Yes, I've heard all the stories about missionaries not making it to Brazil or waiting for their visas in the states for 10+ months. But my bishop (who actually was born and raised in Brazil and is fluent in Portuguese) promised me that I would make it there. So I will. I have faith in him and in the Lord.


*Note: I was notified several weeks later that my report date was going to be pushed back a week to October 1st due to a transfer extension. 


Saturday, September 20, 2014

Replace Fear with Faith

I was not one of those people who always wanted to serve a mission. It never really entered my mind until I graduated from Primary and into the Young Women Program. The lessons change dramatically. You start learning soooo much more about the gospel. I began to understand missionary work and why we want to share the gospel with everyone we meet. It is because it is simply amazing. Nothing on this earth compares to it. I loved it then and I still love it now. And now I have the opportunity to share it with others and show them something that has made me happier than anything else I have experienced on this earth.

When I started high school I thought maybe I would serve a mission. However, at that time the age for sisters was still 21. A lot of things could happen before I reached that age. I decided that when that birthday was upon me I would think about it then. AND THEN MY PLANS WERE FRUSTRATED. DUN DUN DUN.

The age change. I actually didn't wasn't even watching General Conference that morning because I was in Student Council and we were setting up for the Homecoming Dance that was going to be that night. There were a lot of us Mormon girls setting up that morning and when we got word about the change the amount of shouting was crazy. All of us could hardly believe it. 

Fast-forward to my first year of college. BYU. The freshmen class at BYU is a bit messed up because of the age change for missionaries. We had a 5 to 1 ratio of girls to boys in my ward. So many people (girls) in my ward were filling out their papers and receiving their calls every week. My mind was going crazy. I had never planned for this. For much of that year it was all I could think about. I was praying and praying for an answer but I wasn't getting any answers....yet.

The 10 of January 2014 was a really, really late night (and when I say late night I actually mean early morning) and I was (finally) getting ready for bed and was starting on my nightly scripture reading when I had the strangest vision of myself opening up my scriptures randomly and reading from them. So I did. I randomly opened my scriptures to Alma 42:31 and read "...ye are called of God to preach the word unto this people....go thy way, declare the word with soberness, that thou mayest bring souls unto repentance...." BAM. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I was stunned and I think I sat there physically frozen for several minutes. My mind was going a million miles an hour. WHAT?!! IS THIS SAYING I SHOULD SERVE A MISSION?! WAIT. AREN'T THERE LIKE 50 BAJILLION SCRIPTURES ABOUT MISSIONARY WORK IN HERE? THIS HAS TO BE A FLUKE. I THINK. THIS IS A PRETTY SPECIFIC SCRIPTURE! (and so on and so forth)

So here I am. Just like that. I guess that sometimes I have to be hit upside the head to understand the answers to my prayers. YAY for missions!