That Moment When A Drunk Stands Up For You

So we were super blessed this week with the weather. It was finally cool enough to actually live and sleep!! Seriously one night it was COLD!!! Seriously this weather is bipolar…but I’m not complaining..I’m super grateful for the week we had.

We've been working with a special family, Diego, Vivian and their kids Gustavo e Bella. We found them in the area book and we just went for it. Diego is only home on the weekends so we just went and visited Vivian a lot. We are trying to help build her testimony on the Book of Mormon. She told us she wants to feel peace and tranquilidade but has a ton of doubts about the Book of Mormon...We told her just to throw all doubts out the window and trust in her Heavenly Father that she will receive an answer that the Book of Mormon is true. She told us she would!! Well when we went back, she hadn’t read…so we read 1 Nefi 6 with her and Diego...it was super legal because you could feel the spirit when we testified that the Book of Mormon really is the word of God. When we finished we invited them to church and they told us that sem problema they were going to be there!! YAY!! Their son Gu, had been bugging them about going to church...and when they got to church Sunday morning, Gu was smiling from ear to ear!! He was super excited for his classes with the other kids. When we asked him how he liked church he said "I loved it...and we are coming every week!!'' Sweet words to my ears!! I love this family so much and we are planning to take them to the temple this week!! They are already LDS smile emoticon

Normally during our District meetings we do role plays on trying to discover a person’s problems...ok so we try that in real life and it’s not like it works every time...but when it works it’s the best thing in the whole wide world!! It happened to Figgy and I this week. We went to try to revisit a few people we had knocked into last week...and the only person who let us in was Leia. She seemed sad and so we just started talking to her and then we decided to show her the ''Gracas a Ele'' video...when it finished her eyes were watery and we started testifying of the things we know to be true...like how we can be with our families after this life...she told us that she didn’t think that was possible (she had lost her mom and husband) and we just told her that she will be able to see her mom and husband again. A wave of relief went over her and when we invited her to follow the example of Jesus Christ to be baptized, she accepted!! See! It’s super important to follow the spirit and ask inspired questions!

The craziest things happen to Figgy and I...seriously!
We were at this Japonês food stand getting lunch and this drunk guy started talking to us. He told us that he thought the work we do is super cool and he gives us a ton of respect. He even accepted the Elders a few years back. And he thought it was super cool that I was American who speaks Português. It was going super good...until out of nowhere this lady walks up and says ''Mormons are the worst race'' Yup after she said that this drunk man went off on her saying that she shouldn’t be saying that sort of things to girls preaching the word of God and he went on and on.....finally he left and we were left standing next to this lady...all of us waiting for our food....it was tense...but it’s always the drunks that defend us...

Sister Figueredo told me a really cool fact this week...birds don’t die when they touch the wire because both feet are holding on...but if they were to have one foot on the ground and one on the wire, they’d get electrocuted . Same goes for us as followers of Christ. We can’t have one foot in the world and one in the gospel and expect to be happy. Just doesn’t work that way. Yes we live in this world but we don’t...no...we can’t be a part of it. So every time you want to do something worldly just remember of the happiness of the birds...just sitting up there on the wire singing away.

Stay strong meu povo!! Eu amo vocês muito!!!
Com Amor, Sister Perez

When we finally get a chance to do service...this is what happens

FHE with the Reis Family

FHE with my mission family!

HOT! HOT! HOT!

Guys it is so hot you have no idea...I don’t even know how we are still working! At night Sister Pontes and I started soaking our sheets with water and then putting them in the freezer. That helps a little...but just to fall asleep...and then you wake up sweating every hour...But tudo bem...we are still alive!

This week was ordinary...but we had some funny things happen to Fig and I. for one, our neighbors gave us one of those rackets that kill mosquitos!!! It’s the best thing we have ever gotten! And it is literally a game to see who can kill the most! We are all tired of being bitten by those little buggers! Last Monday night Fig and I need to do a few more contatos...so our idea, get on a bus and preach to the people! We were so stoked and ready to do this...we caught a bus...swiped our cards....and there was like 4 people on the bus....‪#‎fail‬...we just talked to the people individually. Then we got off and walked home and the street was empty too...so the whole plan of talking to a ton of people was a bust! On Friday we had a multi-zona...it was awesome but we left there totally brain dead! 9 hours of training and 24 role plays...but of course it was all worth it and we all walked out with a bigger vision and the desire to work even harder!

Sunday night we, all 6, went to the Bola de Neve church...Sister Fig and I have an investigator who is a member and she already went to our church, so we went to hers. It was like a rock show…the music was good...the church part was interesting. And it was deff an experience. but what is cool, she, Marcia, is really looking for the truth...and after we left we marked another visit with her!!

OK, maybe my week wasn’t so ordinary...ha

Now on to my studies: This week I read some awesome stuff in Alma! I think it’s like every missionaries dream to live the Book of Mormon, but luckily we can see the same things happen in our lives.

The missionaries (in the B of M) really helped their investigators be converted unto the Lord...not the church activities, the people in the ward, or the missionaries themselves...just the Lord, and his Gospel. and we can see than in verse 6 of chapter 23: "And as sure as the Lord liveth, so sure as many as believed, or as many as were brought to the knowledge of the truth, through the preaching of Ammon and his brethren, according to the spirit of revelation and of prophecy, and the power of God working miracles in them—yea, I say unto you, as the Lord liveth, as many of the Lamanites as believed in their preaching, and were converted unto the Lord, never did fall away." I just love that last phrase...never did they fall away! That is the only thing we want as missionaries…we want our converts to be so converted to the Lord that they will never fall away. But how can we even help our investigators be converted, if we ourselves are not super converted...Don’t worry because in chapter 24 it says how we can be more converted. "...we will hide away our swords, yea, even we will bury them deep in the earth, that they may be kept bright, as a testimony that we have never used them, at the last day; and if our brethren destroy us, behold, we shall go to our God and shall be saved.” (Verse 16) Our "swords" can be passions, fears, bad habits, laziness, or anything that stops us from progressing. When we give up these things, we let our Heavenly Father have a hand in our lives...and we prove to him that we want to be converted...so converted that we will never turn our backs on him. So...my convite (invite) to you guys this week is give up anything that is stopping you from being truly converted unto the Lord. Be like these Anti-Nephi-Lehies...and go read/watch this talk
https://www.lds.org/general-conf…/…/converted-unto-the-lord…

Eu amo vocês!!
Sister Perez

after 9 hours of training and 24 role plays we went and treated ourselves to ice cream

The whole Zone after zone conference 

And this my friends is what a 6'7 guy looks like next to 5'1 girls....

me and my first friend in Brazil!

MILAGRES SÃO REAIS!

The other week our APs wanted us to reach our weekly goals 80%....And Sister Figueredo and I accepted that challenge with a smile. We started our week off super good and literally worked a ton! We even went out with our Ward missionaries and contacted all of our contact. Then poor Figueredo got sick (2 days). She felt bad because she didn’t want to hold us back...but I told her that it’s fine and we will make up for the days we stayed in. I remembered about the scripture I read where Alma prayed for strength and more Faith to overcome his trial...so I started doing the same thing for us. And it worked...of course! We ended up finding 7 new investigators and almost reaching all our metas...we missed them by like 2...but still when you have righteous desires, Heavenly father will help you no doubt!

We also had a Baptism!! My favorite one on my whole mission! Cristian! He was so excited to get baptized. He called our DL to mark the interview and we had originally planned it for 7 but he was like "can you be here at like 4...or 6:30" há he could not wait for the 10th. Then when we went to meet the Elders for the interview...our ZL and the DL showed up with their comps...But it turned out super fun. Our ZL, Elder Greer, brought his football and taught the kids how to play American football! And they just had a blast! Then finally it was Saturday...and Cristian and his Family were all late!! We started freaking out! One member gave us a ride to their house and they were all late because they were all taking showers and getting ready. So we got Cristian and about 20 minutes later the rest of his Family came. It was a shocker when his Grandma showed up. But guys she was so, so, so happy! His aunt Thalia (6 year old) said the opening prayer. Then after his baptism he bore his testimony!!!!!!! And then his other uncle said the closing prayer! It was super perfect and spiritual! The next morning at church he got the Gift of the Holy Ghost and he was just beamming ear to ear with a huge smile! I don’t think Sister Figueredo and I could’ve asked for a better little milagre!

hmmm...I love being a missionary!

Hope you guys are all doing good and enduring till the end! I love you all very much!

Oh and go read this talk!

https://www.lds.org/…/approaching-the-throne-of-god-with-co…

te amo,
Sister Perez

Brought our leaders out to meet Christian

#sohappy

The whole mission!

1 YEAR OUT.....wait; what...?

Yeah, that header was right. I have one year in the mission. First question, “where has the time gone?” And second question, “Do I really have to go home in 5.5 months?”...sad.

This week was really good. People were out of town and drunk, but somehow we found people to visit. We made a goal to knock doors for 1 hour every day. We did it and we found some amazing people. We also explored the outer parts of our area and almost left our area like every day...oops. Over all, it was a good week of finding potencias (potentials), which will help a lot this new transfer!

So yeah, now we are in a new transfer and I got to stay with Sister Figueredo!!! YAY! We were super stoked about that! And we are also getting 2 more sisters in the house...so back to 6...ughhh. And our ward mission leader is really helping us this transfer and he has tons of plans to get our members excited to do missionary work!

This week I was reading in Alma 14…and if this isn’t a mission chapter...I don’t know what is. The things that Alma and Amuleque went through were really sad. But as missionaries we walk in Christ shoes, we represent him, so of course we are going to have to go through hard things. I like how in the middle of their trials Alma prayed saying "How long shall we suffer these great afflictions, O Lord? O Lord, give us strength according to our faith which is in Christ, even unto deliverance. And they broke the cords with which they were bound…" He didn’t ask that their pain and trial be taken away...he asked that they could have força to overcome their trial according to their faith. Many times as members we just want to see results fast, but the Lord doesn’t work that way. He works according to our faith. So maybe when we are going through something tuff...pray to have more faith and more strength. The key to happiness is understanding how the Lord works. And where do we learn how he works...the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon.

Hope you guys are being brave and telling everyone about the gospel!

Amo vocês!!
Sister Perez