Monday, September 26, 2016

more pics from the MTC






Londrina Pics


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9/26/16 Batismo, Cats, and All the Feels

HELLO EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!!!!! 2 months tomorrow!!!!

Well, this week has been pretty fantastic. First off........ NIRO GOT BAPTIZED!!!!! So excited for him! He got baptized on Saturday and then confirmed Sunday. He said something really cool after he was baptized. I asked him how he felt and if anything felt different? He responded with, "I feel like a child of God". So amazing. He said he feels loved. He hasn’t had many people in his life. His parents live really far away and are pretty old, he´s 45. He isn’t married and doesn’t have any kids so he was so happy to actually feel like people cared for him and that there is always someone that is there for him :) so awesome, got a little teary eyed, not just from the Spirit, but also from the storm of flies that were getting into my eyes during the baptism... DISGUSTING!!!!!

Anyways, so yeah Niro is officially a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. :) Nelson, the missionary who served in Paraguay, and Curly helped him out with the whole baptism process. I have pics :)

Also, we went to a member’s house for Almoço and she had 21 cats. She also made a ton of food for 2 people to eat. It was enough to feed Shamu and still have left overs. It was good though :) I wanted to become Shamu that day, but my whale powers weren’t activating that day, also the lady and Sister Leite only ate like 2 bites of their food, didn’t wanna look like a pig or something... pffft.

So, sad news. Sis. Barbosa left :( there was a transfer like right in the middle of the week and 3 weeks early. It was sad, but Sis.Y. Santos has a new companion, Sis. Teixeira. She is the bomb.com. She understands my references to Nacho Libre and Miranda Sings!!! Now I don’t look like an idiot when I say something that makes absolutely no sense and then laugh at myself.... So she’s pretty amazing.

Umm... earlier this week there were a bunch of sisters over and they were looking at all my pics I have of family and friends and... guy friends... Man, they were going crazy. "Americano!!! Meu futuro Marido!!" It was hilarious. XD We also had 5 cakes this week. Pretty sure I am going to have “Diabeetus” when I come home, but I´ll be totally ripped, so its ok I guess.

Moving on… we have some peeps that seem pretty promising. They are really firm in their church, which is Catholic, but they have a load of questions about our church. We taught 3 lessons in one night answering their questions. We had to leave cuz we were there for almost 2 hours.... They are Fátima and Ronald. They´re really nice people and very, VERY faithful.

So before we went to their house the first time I had a really cool experience. So it was pretty dark and we had about an hour till we needed to go home so we just made some contacts. We were talking to this one lady that was at the beginning of a neighborhood. While talking to her my heart started to beat really fast and I thought that we should not go through that neighborhood. I didn’t know if it was just me trying to make an excuse to go home cuz I was pooped, or the Holy Ghost. So, I went with the Holy Ghost and we left. Then we went to a different neighborhood and the first person we talked to said she wanted to be baptized and that we can teach her the lessons to prepare her. Pretty crazy huh?

So, yeah.. lots of people. Sonya, who lives alone, which funny story with her. We went over to her place for a lesson and we were starting to teach it and getting really spiritual, when a lady, who I swear was Don Knotts, came in and they started to prepare for a pedicure...... it was really awkward. so we left and are gonna go back another day. Don can be there, and have a different cleansing, of the SOUL!!!!

So, we met lots of people, but none have been home when we stop by, or they don’t answer the phone. Also, we had 4 people say they would be ready in the morning for us to pick them up for church, but none of them answered the door when we got there :/ Pretty disappointing, but whatchu gonna do. Glaucia is one person that said she would go and bring her kids, but she didn’t answer, she wants to get baptized, but doesn’t really have a desire to actually learn or go to church.... we´re gonna work on that :P

So, that’s basically it this week. Disappointment, happiness, excitement, angry, all the feels. Well, I love this gospel and am so excited for this next week. Its going to be amazing!! Hopefully :P I know the church is true and that this gospel is what makes people truly happy and people can´t be without it. They might think they are, but it’s because they haven’t had the chance to understand the amount of joy that comes form this gospel of Jesus Christ. I love serving the Lord, it is really, REALLY hard, but man is it so worth it to see people feel the Spirit, even if it is just for a slight moment during a lesson or even a contact on the street. Love it so much. I truly feel the love of Christ in my life and hope you all do too. Love all of you and miss you lots!!!!


Love -Sister Ferguson

Monday, September 19, 2016

More pics before leaving the MTC





9/19/16 Look at All Those People




Well, Brasil has been on FIRE for the past couple of days. It has been so hot... Pretty sure I was breaking a missionary rule of no water activities cuz I was swimming in my own sweat.... thats gross.... forget I said that... ANYWAYS!!! So, this week has been hot and filled with lots of new people!!!! There´s, Carol, Rose, Aparecido, Niro, and like 5 others that I cant pronounce their names...

So we have a lot of people to talk to... but the families or usually the husbands dont want anything to do with the church so they say that we can't come back.... :( so sad. There were so many poeple that would join the church and have better lives, but the husbands kept saying no. :( stup.... so thats disappointing, we're still gonna stop by and at least just say hi, but yeah, like 4 ladies were in that situation. 

Moving on, something very exciting happened!!!! So we were out contacting late one night and we ran into Niro again! We asked, or Sis. Leite asked, if he was gonna come to church on Sunday... in which, me not knowing at the time until we were at his house picking him up on Sunday, that he said yes!!! He came to church!!! A then we went to an almost members house to get them to come to church, his name is Gabriel and another sister that went home from mission taught him, so we are helping him now, he came too :) He's really funny. We were over at his house one day and talking to his brother Damião, who is another almost member, about preparing for baptism. Damião is pretty much ready, and then we ask Gabriel if he thinks he's ready, in which he responds, "Sempre pronto" as he drinks a cup of coffee. XD it was pretty funny, cuz he knew he shouldn't have been doing that. 

Anyways, so yeah... Niro really enjoyed church and he was talking a lot during gospel doctrine class so that's cool, didn't understand what he was saying, all I knew is that we were talking about missionary work and people kept on gesturing to us sisters and saying "As missionarias ajudam pessoas...." and so on. So yeah. We also taught him a lesson!!! WITH MEMBERS PRESENT!!! one of the memebers served in Paraguay and the other looks like Curly from The Three Stooges... so yeah............
moving on, we taught him the restauração and he said he wanted to be BAPTIZED!!! and he will stop smoking and read a chapter in the LdM. Its so cool to see someone feel the spirit. oh, I was supposed to ask him if he wanted to get baptized, but Curly went and asked for me.. which is cool cuz I was really nervous I was gonna mess up or something :) so yeah :) that was cool. 

It's been really hot but yesterday it got  really stormy, which I loved, and today it is pouring down rain and theres thunder and lightning!!!! I love it. Feels like home. Also, I get to finally wear my rain jacket!!!!!! I love it :) I also made some cookies for my roommies and they are so in love with America. They always say my name just cuz it's an American name. XD They dont just say it, they yell it too. They were really excited to have some real american cookies from a real american recipe made by a real american. XD One of them, Sister Barbosa, wants to go to BYU-I so she is always asking me about it and if there are any cute guys there cuz she wants to marry an american... also if I will help her learn how to make real american cookies there too. XD She´s hilarious. 

So, thats what's been happening... other things have happened, like i spilled ice cream on my leg, ate some meat from a lady that would. not. stop. telling. me. to. eat. her.stinkin' meat.... I got sick from probably some water I drank, but all good now, almost cried because of all the dogs here... I WANT THEM SO BAD!!!! saw a lady smack her kid during a lesson about loving families.... I was trying so hard not to laugh at the irony of the situation. I bought a watch, ran like 500 miles to catch a bus, which we had missed 2 times previosuly,  also almost had a heart attack when 3 of these dogs almost bit my ankles. They were barking a lot and started chasing us and were literally 2 inches from my ankles, but I used my professional ninja skills and flipped away. it was pretty legit. 

Então, this week has been pretty cool. Lots of new people and lives that are changing :) Very excited for them. It has been hard this week cuz I really miss America. Brasil is great, but I am too much of a wimp to live here. It is VERY different here... the food is good though... its always good.......... OTÌMO!!!!!!! So yeah :) I am excited for what this week brings and for the amazing moments I can have with my companion and with the Spirit. :) I know this gospel is what makes me not cry 24/7 and be positive in my life. The Church is true, the book is blue, and I still dont know where to do the doo...... 

Love
-Sister Ferguson

P.S. I cant send pics this week cuz my computer is stupid, I also didnt take any... except for today in the rain..... so sorry!!!! I will next time!!!!! 

Monday, September 12, 2016

9/12/16 Londrina Fields Forever!!

Well, I made it to LONDRINA!!!! It's so pretty here!!! ​​Well, I had to say bye to my District which was probably one of the hardest things I have ever done. Miss them a lot. Anyways, so I got to Londrina and there was a bunch of Elders holding a sign, so that was really welcoming, I met ,my mission president, President Pereira, he's awesome. Then We had a little orientation thing and Almoço, then we met our new companheiras, which, mine is Sis. Leite. She's awesome and has so much patience. Then we kind of chilled at our apartment and I bawled my eyes out and then we went to bed, so that was the first day.
Second day we went proselytizing. It was really fun actually. I wasn't uderstanding anything that was being said, but it was fun to be able to see all the people and see Brasil. Then we had a service project. We painted and cleaned up this park. Its on youtube if you guys wanna see :) "Missão Brasil Londrina Projeto Mãos que Ajudam 2016". I'm in it quite a lot :) Then we went home and got all settled in. The toilets in our apartment do not flush very well so I have no idea how I can fulfill my "doody"... thought you guys wanted to know that, and our kitchen flooded. Someone left the faucet on and it flooded the kitchen, so that's cool. 
Umm... we walked literally across the whole city, probably  20 miles just in one day and we walk to that same neighborhood everyday, so I am gonna have some killer legs when I get back... just wait. 
There are two other Sisters in our apartment, Sister Barbosa and Sister Y. Santos. They're really cool. So story, so missionaries here say freak a lot. So when they say my name I think they're saying Freakuson, so I told them that and now they that's what they call me.... so fun... fits me though :P Ummm.... yeah. thats pretty much all that has happened. We had Almoço Sunday at this members house and the house looked like it was abandoned or incomplete, but nope, a whole family was living there. Brasil has some strange houses.... so yeah. I am enjoying it here, I can understand Portuguese a little more and I am getting the hang of conjugating past, present, and future... still a little hard, but its only been like 2 months in.
We talked to a lot of people and have a couple potential investigators, so well have to see where the Lord takes us :) Love you all and miss you so much!!!! 
-Sister Ferguson

Here is the link to the News report of the Service Project:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjVz7o33KyI

Goodbye MTC 9/5/16