Almoço and Halloween

Hello Everyone!

I cannot believe that we are nearing the end of October! Time goes by so fast! It is still as hot as ever here, but the sad part is it isn´t even summber yet! Oh, well, more time to work on my tan :)

This week we had almoço at a really nice place. There is on irmã who always takes the sisters to a place to eat and this week we went to a place with seafood with a riverside view. We ate shrimp, fish that I have never even heard of and of course rice (because this is Brasil:) My camera is not working today, so I will try to send pictures next week. We felt really special though :)

This week we are planning a Halloween activity for the ward. We have 3 American sisters and one Brazilian in the ward and we are always thinking of new ideas for activities and we thought doing a Halloween acticity would be fun because no one has ever heard of this here. We are hoping that it is a hit and that people enjoy it. 

Oh, how I love Brasil! The people are so giving and open here. The people are so open to hearing about the gospel here and we are teaching a bunch of people. I am learning so much from these people. I love Brasil! :)

I cannot believe that this week I will hit the 1 year mark of my mission. This has been the best year of my life and I am so grateful for all the experiences I have gained here. I love being a missionary and being able to teach people everyday about the plan of happiness that our Father in Heaven made for us. 

I know that Jesus Cristo is our Savior and that He lives. I know that Heavenly Father loves each on of us without measure. I know He wants what´s best for us and everything happens for a reason. I know that the power of the priesthood is real. I know that the Plan of Salvation is real and that families can be together forever. 

I hope you all have a fabulous week and a wonderful Halloween!! I love you and miss you!!

Com amor,

Sister Chilson

Coachroaches

Hello Everyone!!

 

I hope you all had a great week and are enjoying the beautiful fall weather! This is my favorite time of year when all the leaves are changing colors, the smell of fall and wearing warmer clothes. What a beautiful time of year!

 

This week was not very eventful, the only real story I have to tell has to do with a little (but not really that little) bug called a coachroach (I have no idea if I spelled that right...). They are often in the streets here and they can show up in houses, but not usually apartment buildings. They just climb in through the windows and hang out in your house. We were at a members house on night and one showed up in thier house and they got the broom and took care of it and when we went on the talk about how we have never had on in our apartment. A few days later Sister Nielsen was taking a shower and I heard her gasp. Sometimes the hot water turns off and the water get´s cold real fast so I thought that was what happened and I went to flip the switch, but then I heard ´Sister` so I went to the bathroom and she showed me the coachroach in the shower. Yup, he was hanging out with out shampoo and condition, right in the shower. We just freaked out for a few minutes, but then remembering the wise words from a member I got the broom. Now, we have a thing that hangs on the shower wall that holds all of our shower things and he started climbing on the bar soap and that super gross so I knocked all the the things off with the broom. Then I knocked him off too and we just started at it. Then I got really brave and attacked it with the broom. Let me tell you, they are really hard to kill. I disabled him though (some of his legs fell off) and I swept him onto the dust pan and Sister Nielsen flug him out the window. I have no idea what our neighbors thoughts, but just think, two Americans girls trying to kill a coachroach with a broom at 10:00 at night... yeah, it was a good time :) I don´t think I will have any problem killing spiders when I get home after this :)

 

Nothing else really exciting happened this week, I had an interview with my mission president so we got to hang out in the mission office and Sister Gomes (the mission president´s wife) gave us a ride to almoço after in the really nice new car :) Perks of being a sister :) Yesterday at church I played the piano like always and I sight read the sacrament hymn when we were singing the sacament hymn because we don´t have it in English... Heavenly Father helped me and all was well. I am still glad that I haven´t lost all of my sightreading and piano skills :)

 

Well, life just keeping moving on here in Brasil! This transfer will be 7 weeks because my mission presidnet has his annual meeting in São Paulo and having transfers while you mission president is on the other side of the county doesn´t sound like a good idea :)

 

Well, that´s all for this week! I hope you all have a fabulous week! I know that Heavnely Father loves each on of us. I know He knows each on of us perfectly and He really does hear and answer every prayer. He wants us to be happy and He has a plan to help us get there, His plan just may not always be our plan, but if we follow Him, we will be truly happy every time.

 

I love you and miss you all so much!!

 

Com amor,

Sister Chilson

Rain, Energia and Chimarrão

Hello Everyone!

 

What a week it has been! I feel like this week went by so slowly, but here we are once again, Monday. This week there was aton of rain! It rain really hard for like 10 minutes, then there is sun and then the next day it is just raining all day... last week Sister Nielsen and I walked to our District Meeting at our church building and we got there soaking wet, like rain was dripping off our skirts... Yes, we had umbrellas, but there was wind and there isonly so much an umbrella can do. Anyway, we made it through and we are praying that the rain stops until next winter and we can have sun :)

 

Last night Sister Nielsen and I were sitting and talking and the light went out for just a second and we both gasped, but it came back on and we thought we were safe, until the lights went out again and didn´t come back on. What?! We talked a little in the dark and saw that it was at least everyone in our builiding and then I remembered that we have candles, so we lit two candles and walked around with them. But without energy, that means you don´t have lights, you can´t use the outlets, and such, but also that you don´t have hot water, so Sister Nielsen took a very cold shower (I showered before the power went out :) ). We had some fun and took pictures too, of course to remember the good times :) But it came back on later at like 11, so it was all good :)

 

Yesterday at almoço I tried this new thing called Chimarrão. I attached pictures, but it is basically like herbal tea, you just pour the herb stuff and VERY hot water and drink it out of what looks like a straw, but not because you have to try really hard to get it to come out. It is tradition in the south, but some people have it here and I loved it and now I want one :) It looks a little strange, but it is so good :)

 

Also this week I saw a woman that I taught when I was here in Antares the first time. I don´t know if you remember from when I was with Sister Martin, but it was her and her daughter and it was the first baptismal date that I marked. She was not baptized, but we taught her. What I left the first time, I always wondered what happened to her and this past week we were walking down the street, I saw her and she made a loook with her face that was like Ís it really her?!´ We talked and she was SO happy to see me. She caught me up on the past 7 months and told me that we made a difference in her life when we were here before and that she is so grateful to us. I was almost moved to tears to hear this- that we helped her and that she remembered me because looking back now, I have no idea how anyone understood what I was saying and would remember me, but she does! It is no nice to know that I leave an impression on people and that I can make a difference.

 

I know that this church is true and that the Atonement really does change lives. I know that Jesus Cristo is our Savior, that He lives and loves each on of us.

 

I hope you all have a great week! I love you and miss you!!

 

Com amor,

Sister Chilson

 

Cake and Conference

Hello Everyone!!

Wow, this week went by fast once again! Last Monday I made my birthday cake and me and Sister Nielsen enjoyed it greatly all week :) She had her birthday on September 24 and she turned 21 so we made it a cake for the two of us, I just turned 20 instead :)

I cannot believe that it is October and I hit the 11 month mark of my mission! The other months I was counting down the days, but this one just came and went without me having to count! We celebrated with tapicoa because we were hungry at night coming home from work. It was a little weird because it was the same place that I celebrated my 3 month mark of the mission just with Sister Martin. Man how time flies!

I LOVED General Conference of course and some of my favorite talks were Elder Richard G. Scott and President Henry B. Eyring. And of course, who could not love the story that Elder Bednar told about his sons :) It was also great to hear people speaking in thier own language too. A funny moment was when the elder started his talk in Portugês, but I didnt realize that it was Português until the second voice that translates didn´t come and then it hit me, ´He is speaking in Português!´It is so strange how our brains work. I can read something in English and switch to Português like it´s nothing. I don´t even think about Óh, I am, reading in English right now´or ´He is speaking in Português´. I just understand! How amazing is that! The gift of tounges is real :) I am SO grateful for the opportunity to learn Português and be able to understand people. I am so blessed!

Sister Nielsen and I watched ´The World Report´inbetween and it was like a 6 month update for us of what is happening in the world. Unless members tell us things, we literally know nothing. We realized that David Archeleta came home from his mission and that they have a ´Meet the Mormons`movie. What´s with that? 

One thing that I am so grateful for is I am able to be able to recongize more fully all of the work that people do to make this church going. I don´t know if that makes sense, but I recongize the sacrifices that people make to serve other people. Where ever you are, if you are a Stake President, Primary teacher, Relief Society President or nursery worker, I just want to say thank you for all the sacrifices you make to help everyone. It is the little things that may go unoticed by men, but make the difference and I know that Heavenly Father knows your doings and it grateful for your service. 

I know that this church is true! I know that Jesus Cristo is our Savior. I know that he is the head of this church and he speaks to us through his servants, our prophet, apostles and general authorities. I am so grateful to be apart of this great work!

I hope you all have a wonderful week! I love you and miss you!

Com amor,

Sister Chilson

Photos- my cake, tapioca with Sister Nielsen for my 11 meses, and me and sister Nielen with my cake. She is making a ´1´because she turned 21 and I am holding the ´0´because I turned 20 :)