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

Transfers!!!!

Well I was transfered. Tomorrow I will go to my new area (Arapiraca). Sorry
you have to wait a week to hear how it is. The two things my area is know
for is great members and no water. So we´ll see how this goes! :)

Jessica had her baby and she is the cutest thing ever!!! Her name is Carla
Lauane de Oliveira. It is so sad that today I will have to say goodbye to
Jessica and her cute little family. She had a C-section so it will be a
while before she can get baptized. The only problem is that my companion
got transfered too and I think they will close my area. So I am hoping all
goes well with her and the other people we have been teaching.

We found and taught a young man named Nalbert. He is such a cool kid! He
went to church yesterday and made a lot of friends and has a baptism marked
for the 2nd of May! He is great and I hope that he continues like this.

It was sad to say goodbye to the members and my investigators here in
Eduardo Gomes. I loved them all soooooo much and it was such a blessing to
help the work here. I am excited for my next area but not all the packing
and stuff I have to do today.

This week was great. I had a great last week in Eduardo Gomes and I got
burned by the sun and soaked in the rain in the same day so that was fun. I
love you all and I will let you know how my next area/companion is next
week!

Love,
Sister Helm

BABY BABY BABY

Well I was going to write that Jessica still hasn´t had her baby but we
just got a call that SHE IS GOING TO THE HOSPITAL RIGHT NOW AND WILL HAVE
THE BABY TODAY! AHHHHHHHHHH

So that´s great. I will probably be going to visit her today and I will let
you know next week how it went. Sorry you all have to wait.....

So this week was good. The weather has been great. Not.

The first part of the week it was SO HOT. I know that I said it was hot
before but it really was the worst heat I have ever experienced. Hell-fire
times two. It was weird because the air was really heavy like it was going
to rain but it never did. Until Saturday. And then the heavens broke loose
and everything came falling down. Cats dogs cows rats cockroaches.
Everything. We had some lessons in part of our area that is really low next
to the river and it was just a lake. Yay for being wet and shoes that still
haven´t dried out because it´s still raining. Right now. As I write.

Also. More fun things.....when it was terribly hot we had the blessing of
NO WATER. Luckily we have a faucet outside that is water from the reserve
and so we have been showering with buckets. fun fun fun! We have to fill
the buckets and carry them to the bathroom....4 girls....3 buckets....1
bathroom....1 faucet. yay.

But. We had an amazing lesson with Jessica this week. We taught the 3rd
lesson again and Jessica bore her testimony on how she knows this church is
true. She told us how she knows the Book of Mormon is true and the good
feelings she has when she reads it. It was amazing. Her house is completely
different now. The Spirit is there. What a miracle. The only sad thing is
that transfers are next week and I will probably be leaving. So I won´t get
to see her baptism. I am just glad I got to see the conversion.

Tomorrow we have Zone Conference for all of Sergipe so that should be
great. I will get to see Sister Lopez from the MTC!!! Yay!

We had a cool experience. We had a training from our ZL where they had the
person pray before the invitation to be baptized. We tried it this week and
marked two baptisms like pie. It was amazing!

I love you all and I love this church.

Keep being awesome!!

Sister Helm

6 Months

Yup. I hit the 6 month mark this week. It was a bit strange to think but
fun because we celebrated with pizza and soda.

This week was good. It felt short because of the two days of Conference and
we put on a ward easter party on Friday so the actual walking in the sun
and all that normal work was only three days. But. We got a lot of stuff
done. My companion and I with a woman in the ward helped prepare Jessica´s
house for the baby. Speaking of the baby. SHE STILL HASN´T COME. Jessica is
past 9 months with this baby and so we are all praying it comes soon. We
are reading the Book of Mormon with her and she is doing well.

We ran around a lot trying to find people at home. It went alright. Haha
sometimes I think the people are at home they are just hiding inside
because they don´t want to talk to us.....certainly is a possibility. To
me, a mission is a time when you talk to A LOT of people that don´t want to
talk to you.

I loved every part of General Conference. Especially the air conditioning
they have in the stake building. I was cold during conference and I loved
it! Haha but really conference was great and I learned a lot and the Spirit
was so strong. On Sunday Jessica came and watched with us and she liked it!
During the last session she started feeling some pain and I was kinda
freakin out because I didn´t know what to do. Anyways COME BABY COME
hopefully it will be today or tomorrow.

Well that was my week. It was good. I love the mission. I know this church
is true. I know Thomas S. Monson is the prophet of God on the earth today.

I love you all!
Sister Helm

Yay!

So this week wasn´t the best. BUT. We are still working hard and doing our
best to find people to teach.

Jessica is still doing great. She has to wait until after the baby comes to
get baptized. She came to church yesterday and liked it! I have the
absolute blessing of seeing a real-life miracle right in front of me. A
person who had nothing, lived for nothing, didn´t want anything is now
trying and praying and making goals and everything else. One thing I
noticed this week was that when we went to teach her this week her home had
the Spirit. It was such a difference and I love her so much! We are hoping
that baby come soon!!!

We had the best lunch ever in the whole world yesterday after church. Also
I tried frozen sugarcane and it was weird but strangely very good. We
helped prepare and I was put in charge of the meat. Woo woo for Brazilian
bbq! The members have their two children out on missions and so its always
fun to go to their house and hear the stories!

We walked a lot. I got burnt. Someone asked me if I had a problem with my
skin because of my freckles. So all in all, normal.

We are walking a lot because no one was at home this week!!! So we walked a
lot and made a lot of contacts instead. It was good and we always find
interesting people on the street.

Yesterday we watched Conference at a member´s house. The same members that
we had lunch with. It was good and I was glad I understood the Portuguese.

Well, that was my week. It was not the best at the beginning but ended well
enough! Can´t wait for General Conference and Easter!!! Yay! We are having
a ward Easter activity this Friday so it should be an exciting week!

Thank you all for everything!

Sister Helm