Woooop

Sorry a bit short on time this week. Lots of things happened because we had
transfers again!

So I will stay here in Arapiraca and I will train again. My beloved
companions are both leaving... :( But all´s good in the end. I will let you
know how my daughter is next week.

This week was good. We had two families at church yesterday! It was a
blessing and also a first on the mission. The only bad thing is that
everyone here has to get married and that is always great. Not. For one, it
takes FOREVER to get married here and also the other is that usually the
people don´t want to get married in the first place. BUT.  We are working
with them!

It was fun to have splits with the Sister Training Leaders this week. It is
always fun to see how they work and learn A LOT from them.

We had a good, solid 3 days of rain. I still haven´t decided if I like the
rain or not. I like it because its sooo hot every day and it´s nice to have
a change but also its horrible because we have to walk all day and just be
soaked to the bones.

We had the added blessing of no electricity because of the rain. I think a
person doesn´t know real fear until they have to walk through unlit streets
in the dark with rain and know that there is tons of robbers everywhere.
But, I believe in the power of prayer so I was just prayin as we walked and
finally we got to our apartment that miracle of miracles had electricity.

So that was our week.

I love you all.

I love this work.

Sister Helm

So, after hearing about the craziness of my family´s week....my week was pretty boring.

Something exciting! I got DENGUE! haha not really but this week I got really really sick and I was covered in red spots and so we all thought it was dengue but it was just another sickness that has the same symptoms. So that was fun. 

We are teaching the most elect investigator of all time. She is literally the coolest person ever. She is progressing sooooo fast. We plan lessons and then we get to her house and she already read something or watched something and then just pretty much teaches us our lesson that we planned! She is incredibly smart and wants to get baptized so bad. The only problem? She has to get married because she lives with her boyfriend and he doesn´t want anything with marriage. She wants to move out but has no money or friends or family to help her. Prayers for Ligia! She is probably the most amazing person I have met on the mission so far.

I ate SUBWAY this week. Our lunch fell so we decided to eat out and it was the best thing ever after weeks and months of rice and beans. (have fun with that, Wyatt!)

I had my interview with the Presidente of our mission,....That was fun. It was good to talk with him and think about everything that I have learned on the mission so far and how far I have come in the language. My first interview I just nodded my head as he spoke and understood nothing. Haha!

We made the best chocolate cake this week. I have a cook as one of my companions and I am a good eater so we make a good team. :) Love the mission!!!!

I am trying to think of something exciting that happened....we saw a dead cow.....I successfully avoided the chicken foot in the stew we had this week with an investigator.....it rained today....I got cold on saturday and it was the weirdest thing ever.....I saw a drunk teaching a bunch of boys how to march and it was hilarious....we are trying to find an investigator here that doesn´t have to get married....it´s hard.....

So that was my week. It was a good one.

I am so incredibly grateful for this opportunity. I love the mission so much and I love the gospel and my Savior even more. I am so glad that each day I can get up and share this joy with the people around me.

I love you all sooooooo much!!! Stay cool fam!

Sister Helm

A Full Week

Well it was a good week. We worked a lot and less people were running from
us so that was a blessing. I also had the amazing opportunity to talk with
my family on Sunday! It was the best birthday present ever!  It was great to
talk with you all. It was hard to say goodbye especially when I remembered that was the last time I will see Wyatt until next mothers day.....when I am home and he is on a mission.

I tried to tell a few stories yesterday that didn´t work because of my
terrible english.

One was that we had a miracle in our Zone Meeting. Our ZLs gave everyone a
challenge. Ours was that we had 30 minutes to find a family and mark a time
to teach them. WHATT? LIKE, NOW?  Yup. So we left the building and prayed
to find a family that was waiting for us in that very moment. We turned the
corner and I had the impression we needed to talk with some youth sitting
in front of  a house. We talked with them and then finally found the mother
and talked to her and she was so excited to see us and said she always
wanted to go to our church and that her son was baptized but wasn´t going
anymore. She said she never went when he was going because she didn´t feel
comfortable with the elders. WOO WE FOUND SOMEONE WAITING FOR US!! It was a
blessing/miracle and she went to church yesterday and loved it and also all
the members love her and her family. So that´s my miracle.

Also I got word from my daughter yesterday (I trained her so she´s my
daughter on the mission) that back in my old area our investigator got
baptized. He was confirmed at STAKE CONFERENCE. Ahhh I was sooooo happy and
I am so happy for him! Yay for Nalbert!

I tried to tell a funny story yesterday but that didn´t work either. I was
trying to say that one time we were teaching an old lady and she all of a
sudden decided she didn´t want to get baptized anymore because people are
always leaving the church. We tried to explain to her the importance of the
church and the restored gospel but she was firm in her decision. She said
again ``no I won´t get baptized in this church because people leave the
church`` I was a bit fed up with this so I just said ``Yes, everyone leaves
the church....at 12:30`` (That´s the time church ends here on sunday) I
think you had to be there but my companions were laughing so hard we could
hardly finish the lesson. If you are wondering...she never got the joke.

So that was a fun experience.


I miss the temple. I feel a bit strange knowing that we have a temple so
close. The people here love the temple but can only visit once or twice a
year because it´s so long and no one has cars and they can only go when
there is a bus that the stake rents. Then they have to travel for 5-9 hours
to actually get there! We sometimes take the blessings of the temple for
granted. I wish that the people that have temple so close would remember
that sometimes.

I was glad I didn´t experience the real brazilian birthday tradition of
eggs smashed on your head with a bit of flour on top. My companions were
planning I think but I cooked all the eggs and it was Sunday so they
couldn´t buy more! Yay for my smartness!

Not much more happened this week. I just want to remind everyone about the
importance of missionary work and the happiness of the gospel.

I love you all sooo much! Have a great week!

Sister Helm

What a week!

Well it certainly wasn´t the best week of my mission. Luckily with great
companions and a few miracles it gets better.

It started that we found some great people to teach. But when we returned
to teach more they hid from us in their houses. And not just one person or
one family. Everyone. People on the street that don´t know us too. The best
was when we saw the lady sitting out front and then she saw us and then ran
into the house and shut the door. When we got to the door we knocked and no
one answered. The neighbor was there and she said `oh she´s in there!` and
then opened the door as if to enter but it was a bit difficult because the
lady inside was holding the door so no one could go in. So that was fun.

The good part is that we had people in church that said they wouldn´t come
and we were going to drop them but yesterday when we walked in they were
there! They sure had a change of heart that is a blessing and a miracle! We
are working with some great people and I am praying and hoping they will
accept what we are teaching. One lady has already had dreams with Joseph
Smith and The Book of Mormon and lots of other things. So when I say it
wasn´t the best week....it really was an alright week.

I was thinking today about missions and how awesome they are. Something
that I remembered that the president of the MTC said when we were leaving:
You aren´t going to serve missions, you are becoming missionaries.

May we all apply that in our live today.

Shout out to Wyatt that will get his call sooooon! So excited!

Love you all to Brazil and back,

Sister Valente

Mission Life

Well the transfer went well. I am in Arapiraca safe in sound with my two
companions! Yup TRIO. So that´s great. I am loving my companions soooo
much. They love to laugh and work and eat. So we are all the same. Yay! It
was a bit strange to teach in the beginning but its all good now.

My new area is very different. Luckily we have water and we have huge jugs
filled with water just in case. The area is close to the center of the city
so it is less rural than my other area. Its also a lot smaller. Woo. Also
it doesn´t have hills and valleys. yay again!

The people are great. We are teaching an amazing lady named Adriana. She
WANTS to be baptized and we are working with her because she has a bit of
trouble with the commandments. But she came to church yesterday and also
last week and so she might be baptized this saturday! Prayers! I am loving
our investigators and the youth here are literally the best.

So that´s my area. Not much happened this week except that no one calls me
by my real name. Sister Helm is just too hard for them. So they say Sister
Maionese (mayonese), Sister Valente (valente means brave from the movie) or
Sister Leme (leme is helm in portugues) or just Sister Ruiva (ruiva is
redhead) I  have gotten all these names in the space of almost a week.
Haha.

I will complete 7 months this week! Yay! Haha the time is flying by and its
scaring me a bit. Also exciting is that my birthday and also mothers day is
the same day so I will get the best birthday present ever! Talk to my
family!

The only sad thing is that I have no idea what is happening with
Jessica......More prayers for her!

Love you all!

Sister Helm