There Can Be Miracles

So this christmas is by FAR my favorite :) can I say that? First off I got to skype with you family!!! 

Sorry, I really didnt know what to say when I was talking to most of you haha in reality it feels like I just saw yall, & I thought of everything I wanted to say after I got off -_-

Have to be better about that next year! 

But this week was a week of miracles HONESTLY. 

We tried to get O excited to be baptized but hes still having some difficulty, on the other hand we did have a baptism! The nephew of our ward mission leader, W. 

Hes 23 but he has a mental handicap that makes his mental age that of a 10 or 12 year old. and SERIOUSLY the sweetest kid youll ever meet. He talked to me & Sis S & told us he wants to be a missionary  & wants to be baptized! So we immediately started teaching him! 

A few problems cropped up (his grandma is SUPER catholic but gave permission for him to be baptized) then when we tried to have her sign the form she tells us she cant read or write so M (ward mission leader) signed for her. But everything got squared away and we had his baptism 2 days after Christmas. 

Sis S asked him to bear his testimony have he was confirmed and he gave the sweetest simplest testimony Ive ever heard. He said he felt "better" & "that this is the right place. The church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints". We ended by singing Families can be Together Forever & I cried like a baby. 

MIRACLE#1

Then yesterday, I had a prompting to go over to O to teach him, but he wasnt home. I felt a lil put off but noticed a couple unloading stuff from a car across the street. Sis S told me maybe we needed to talk to them. Started talking to the woman, Va, & found out her mother, grandma & great grandma are members! And that her great grandma was one of the 1st members in brazil! Va is catholic & at the beginning seemed pretty firm while she was talking to us, but in the end she told us that we were the 3rd set of missionaries that she found & that it must be God telling her something. She said shes usually super busy but agreed to mark a day for us to talk to her & she said shed read the book of mormon!!!

#MIRACLE2

There are so many other little ones that happened this week, but I wanted to bear you my testimony that miracles are STILL happening now. They havent ceased!!! Maybe theyre small, maybe theyre not what youre expecting, maybe you dont even notice, but miracles are still happening among us. It could be a green light when youre late for work, the last ticket to a movie you REALLY want to see, or a free parking space at the front of a store when youre superrrr tired & sore.

Miracles, yall! They exist! They didnt die out after Christ was ressurected. They didnt stop after Peter James and John ministered after Christs death. Theyre still happening! If you look hard enough, miracles are even in the form of people we meet, and our family members.

Love yall so much!!

xo

Sister VerHoef

btw, these 2 pics are of the baptism of W, and my attempt at making brazilian bbq (churrasco) :) 

Merry Christmas Darling

we're apart thats true

but I can dream & in my dreams

Im christmas-ing with you

Holidays are joyful

Theres always something new

but everydays a holiday

When Im near to you

Okay okay enough of that! Merry Christmas! one & all! :) Transfers were this week & I have a new comp! New comp, same area. Her name is Sister S from Conneticut! I GOT AN AMERICAN FOR CHRISTMAS!!!! 

*fist pump* YES! haha

 so much happened this week honestly dont know where to begin. Maybe at the Christmas conference with Pres & Sis G. It was AMAZING! Sis G prepared a banquet for us with our own lil stockings and Pres G gave a talk that literally changed my perspective on missionary work! It was fantastic! 

Even better, we get to have dinner with them Christmas Eve :) Okay, can I just say Heavenly Father has spoiled me rotten this transfer? Dont know what I did to deserve it!

Me & Sis S have been workin super hard too. Remember Osvaldo? We marked his baptism yesterday for Christmas Eve too :) Pray SUPER hard he feels ready. He has a testimony of Joseph Smith & the Book of Mormon but he keeps saying his faith is weak & he needs more time. But I know for a fact that his wife is waiting for him to do her work on the other side of the veil. 

My only Christmas present I want is to baptize this amazing man! Pray it happens, guys!!! Seriously! 

Anyway, other than that this week has been pretty fantastic. Me & Sis S sang in Sacrament yesterday & we had a pretty funny story that happened to us.

We were "knocking" at doors yesterday & came across a woman sitting in her front porch so we said (in portuguese obviously)

"Hi! Were missionaries & we have a special message for you!"

.......

*blank stare*

"What?"

"Were missionaries from the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints and--"

"Im tired..."

"Oh okay, another day can we stop by and--?"

she starts walking towards the door & closes the door without another word.

me & Sis S could not stop laughing the rest of the day! oh the people you find here in Londrina.... definitely the highlight of our week. 

Anyway, I hope yall have gotten my letters & I hope in the hustle & bustle of this amazing time of year yall remember the true meaning of Christmas. Remember to "look for Christ outside of tinsel and Christmas lights & remember Christmas like the kingdom of God is within you"

Ive just one wish on this Christmas Eve

I wish I were with you

I wish I were with you

Merry Christmas darlings!!

xo

Sister VerHoef

Everything

Well this week went by like a hurricane! transfers are today, pretty sure Im staying in Centro Civico for another 6 weeks but I'll be having a new comp! Sis C is being transfered to Prudente... NO idea where the heck that is, but its super far away. 

Have a lot of things going on this week, in addition to a christmas conference with Pres & Sis G, so this'll be an awesome week for us, Im thinking! :) 

Have to share a funny story with yall before I forget. So me & Sis C were in Irmao M's car, he was driving us to someplace, cant remember, and he was giving us advice on how to help a woman were teaching quit smoking. My comp asked, "Wow Irmao! Did you have problems smoking??"

And he said he had problems with cerveja which is beer in portuguese. Though, I heard sorvete which is icecream. They sound SUPER similar to each other, right? So I pipe in and say, "Oh yeah, I do too Irmao M! Im addicted! Sorvete is a big problem for me!"

.....

The entire care went quiet because they thought I was talking about beer.... until I said icecream...

Eruption of laughter! Yeah, not my finest moment, but hey. Maybe my calling here is to bring the brasileros comic relief right? 

Now to the spiritual stuff! :)

Osvaldo came to church this sunday! And I was unbelievably happy. Seriously the sweetest man youll ever meet. During Sacrament I was sitting and praying while they were passing the sacrament & felt an overwhelming sense of love for him & for some of the other people in the ward whove been struggling with their testimonies. 

I prayed fervently all through the meeting that Osvaldo would know that this is the true Church of Jesus Christ, that he would find the same happiness I have. Even in the hardest times, I know that theres no other place we can find unequivocal happiness or joy except through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Tears streamed down my face as I prayed to Heavenly Father that I would give everything and anything for Osvaldo to be happy. 

Which reminded me of a song Everything

& how can I stand here with you

& not be moved by you?

Would you tell me how could it be

Any better than this? 

Cause youre all I want

Youre all I need

Youre everything

Yes its a romantic song, but I think it applies to the gospel hands down. 

This gospel is everything, everything Nothing is better than the peace & joy that Ive found in this gospel. And thats exactly why Im here to bring this same happiness to the people in brazil. To give them everything

Lights

Hello my wonderful family & friends!!! 

This week has been... in a word... otimo! maravilhosa! serio, não tenho as palavras para explicar e expressar como o Senhor me abençoar. 

:) 

Its been a wonderful & hard week all over again & I couldnt be happier. Ive actually been doing a lot of thinking and pondering about lights. 

Last Pday me & Sis C went into Centro to buy a few things (actually she bought a few things while I stood around looking at stuff haha yall know how much Im NOT a shopper in the slightest) but in the end we bought a christmas tree because I really needed it. I bought the smallest one the store had, along with a set of christmas lights and plastic bells. 

Every night for the past week after nightly planning is over, and Sis C takes a shower, I sit in our little study room and plug in our christmas tree and listen to Mannheim Steamroller's Stille Nacht while reading Luke 1 and D&C. 

As I sat there and watch the lights flicker across the pictures of the grandkids at christmas & the picture of all of you at the family history center Ive never felt so at peace. 

Theres a scripture in Doctrine & Covenants thats really had an effect on me. D&C 67:9

and that which is righteous cometh down from above, from the Father of^blights.

Wow.... did yall catch that? the Father of lights. I stopped midsentence as I read this. I felt the gentle, warmth of the Spirit wash over me as the violins playing silent night played, & our little christmas tree lit our room with a romantic light. 

The connection between our Father in Heaven & our Savior & lights is an analogy that never gets old for me. 

Son of God loves pure light

Radiant beams from thy holy face

With the dawn of redeeming grace

That which is of God is ^alight; and he that ^breceiveth ^clight, and^dcontinueth in God, receiveth more ^elight; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.

 25 And again, verily I say unto you, and I say it that you may know the ^atruth, that you may chase darkness from among you;

Remember the declaration our savior made? I am the light of the world. 

So family, friends, as you listen to Stille Nacht, and watch the lights of your Christmas trees, remember our Redeemer. Remember our Father of Lights. And know that Im doing the same thing, not so far away from you. 

I love you all so very much. Merry Christmas.

xo

Sister VerHoef

Calls Me Home

So this week was marvelous. Boy I hope I spelled that right.... my english professors would skin me alive if they saw the spelling & grammatical errors in my journal.

Oh well! hashtag-missionlanguageproblems bahaha

To start off with, we had a mission tour this past thursday! with Elder Costa of the 70! The area prez in brazil. This was Pres & Sis Genaros first mission tour so naturally they put the fear of God in us to be dressed to the nines & be there early AND be on our best behavior.

The morning of, I remembered everything.... everything.... except my plaque! The most important thing for a MISSION tour & I forget my PLAQUE!!! ugh!! couldve sworn if I could! Well, actually probably not, but I certainly was NOT happy. Luckily Sis Cassiano called the secretaries & they picked up an extra plaque for me to wear. So for a day, I was Sister Silva from Sao Paulo brazil.... you can imagine me shaking Elder Costas hand trying to cover my false plaque with my hair, tilting my head and saying 

"Im Sister VerHoef from the United States.... BYE!"

Ugh so awful.Sis Genaro probably wouldve killed me but all went well. It really was an amazing conference, and we had a better week. Renewed & revved to go as far as missionary work goes. 

At the end of the conference we sang our missionary song, all 180 missionaries in the Londrina mission. It was INCREDIBLE. Theres a part of the song that goes: Missão Brasil Londrina, nosso lar. which translates to Brazil Londrina Mission, our home. I couldnt even get through the first syllables without choking up. And seeing Sis Genaro cry & Pres Genaro get emotional, all 180 were in tears by the end of the song. And I knew in that moment that for the next 14 months... this is home. Londrina, Brasil is home. 

And this sunday was especially amazing. I was feeling super frustrated because NONE of our 10 investigators made it to church, and since it was fast sunday we had a class, all of the members together for the first hour. We were talking about family history and me & sister cassiano sat next to an older lady in the ward, Irma Aurora. Shes SERIOUSLY the sweetest, kindest dearest woman youll ever meet. As we sat next to her, she took my hand in her frail hand and kissed the back of it & smiled at me. 

In that moment the sweetest feeling ever came over me & I started to cry. I was overcome by an immense love & I suddenly remembered Grandma & the day we did her baptism & confirmation in the temple a year after she passed away. I felt super strongly that she had accepted the gospel on the other side of the veil. And I suddenly didnt feel dispondent anymore. 

I suddenly felt like even though we had no investigators progressing & no baptisms, our work wasnt a waste. 

Im so immensly grateful for this gospel, & for the knowledge that our familes are eternal. I love you all so very much!!!

xoxo

Sister VerHoef

It's In Every One Of Us

Its in every one of us

To be wise

Find your heart

Open up both your eyes

We can all know everything

Without ever knowing why

Its in every one of us

By and by

Hello familia e amigos :) Ive been on a muppets kick,the closer it gets to christmas. by far my favorite muppet song other than the rainbow connection!!! ahhh kermy!!!! :) 

Well this week had its ups and downs as per usual. The biggest obstacle in me & Sis C's path this week was the bishopric in our ward.... lets just say, him & his wife has caused us multiple headaches and thousands of tears of frustration. I for one am immensley (forgot how to spell it sorry) grateful that Ive had nothing but amazing experiences with bishops & bishoprics. All through out college & my time in utah Ive had amazing bishops. If theres one thing Ive learned here in Londrina is to be grateful for the bishops Ive had.... 

Its a long story full of the gruesome details only appropriate for my journal, but lets just leave it at this:

I have an incredibly strong testimony of this gospel. I know the Book of Mormon is true, I know that God lives and I know my Savior died and lives for me. I know without a shadow of a doubt that this gospel is true. That the doctrines within it are pure and unadulterated and that this is the same church that was organized when Christ was on the earth.

I, however, do not have a testimony of the members. And I think thats the difference between some of the less actives we've encountered here. About a bakers dozen worth of people have left the ward here because of the things this bishop has said or done. Although it doesnt excuse the bishop in any way shape or form, its made me wonder...

Are our testimonies based on the church or the Gospel?

Because believe me theres a difference. And when I say the "church" I mean its members. I cant help but remember Jeffrey R Hollands talk "Lord I Believe" where he says: Apart from His only Begotten Son, imperfect people has been all God has to work with. It must be terribly frustrating for Him but He deals with it. And so too should we. when the infinite fulness is poured forth, it is not the oil’s fault if there is some loss because finite vessels can’t quite contain it all.¹⁰ Those finite vessels include you and me, so be patient and kind and forgiving."

If our conversion is based on what other church members or bishops or stake presidents do/say, then we will surely apostate some day in the future. If the foundation of our testimonies are rooted in our RS president or our home teachers, then we will surely have an experience that tries our faith at some point.

The point is to make sure that we differentiate between the GOSPEL of Jesus Christ and the CHURCH of Jesus Christ.

The Gospel is perfect. The Gospel is pure. Its members are not.

And to leave you with a little thought I was thinking of, dear family & friends:

When I feel overwhelmed, heavy with obligations & burdened with the weight of responsibility I look at your pictures and your letters, your smiling faces and it gives me the strength to carry on. Knowing Im here for you. Because I know there is no greater gift I could give you than to give of myself for 18 months to the Lord. There is no greater blessing I could receive than to know that  through my trials and service in Brazil, you all will be blessed one hundred fold. 

I love you all so very much! 

and HAPPY BIRTHDAY H & C!!!!! :) LOVE YOU BOTH SO MUCH!!!! and even though i cant celebrate it with you i celebrated it here in cray cray brazil-ay :)

 

 

Love Notes

From an email dated 18 November 2013:

No its not what you think! haha oiiii familia e amigos!

In Centro Civico for another transfer finishing my training with Sis C & I couldnt be happier! not gonna lie, 2 weeks ago was pretty rough but this past week was A LOT better.

But I'll get to that later.

First off, Id like to start off this email/blog post with a bit of fun. Ive decided that Brazil has the worst drivers of any country EVER. But I mean that in the nicest possible way. 

K, so to steal a scene from a popular 90s movie, if Brazil were a student driver & asking her/his instructor how they did, Id imagine this response:

"Howd you do? Well... lets see shall we?!

You cant park

You cant switch lanes

You damaged private property 

& you almost killed someone

Offhand? Id say you failed."

Mas.... tudo bem haha. 

Now to the slightly more spiritual stuff. This week was amazing because this past sunday C (who was confirmed last week & my first real baptism) recieved the Aaronic Priesthood :) 

Well needless to say, me & Sis C were thrilled! We also found out he went to Mutual by himself. Seriously, a kid thats among the elect. So happy we found him. One day hes gonna be a powerful missionary & I hope Im here when he gets his mission call! :) 

This same sunday, Irmao B, Irmao M & Irma O worked a miracle for us. They collected 37 references for me & Sis C. Were lucky to get 10 on a good day....

seriously MILAGRES!

& as a small, tender mercy, the adorable brasilera meninas (little girls) gave me 2 notes during church which reminded me of my neices & nephews. 

Well, other than that not much has happened. Trying super hard to help O realize that gospel is true. Hes seriously the sweetest man ever! And cries every time we talk about eternal families & temples because of his wife. 

Ughh! Pray SUPER hard this week family! I want so much for him to be baptized & go through the temple. Me & Sis C have felt that his wife is being prepared on the other side of the veil to get her work done. 

Also, Im preparing a lil special something to send to yall for Christmas :) but you cant open it till Christmas Eve!!! got it?? good!

Anyway, love yall so much. Remember to not get caught up in the tinsel & shiny wrapped commericalism of Christmas. Obviously, have fun, but remember the real reason we celebrate Christmas. Our Savior has never fogotten us & we should make sure to never EVER forget him.

Love yall so much!!! 

xoxo

by the way, this lil pic Im sending Id like to call the "neopolatin effect"

note the different colors? top of my feet id like to call vanilla, middle rasberry, and the lower chocolate.... ahhhh brazil. you make my feet beautiful.... hahahaha

 

 

Oi everyone!

From an email on Monday, November 11, 2013:

Oi everyone!

This week was as per usual, a mixture of intensely spiritual moments and moments where I felt consumed & overwhelmed. 

Lets only focus on the good though :) 

So, this past week we taught 2 nonmembers P & Ia & 1 less active A with a member, L. With me so far? 

Anyway, taught the 1st lesson on the Restoration & Sis C invited Ia to pray. She declined a bit bashfully, so  Sis C turned to P & asked him to pray. He did so a bit hesitantly. As he started a humble simple prayer, the Spirit entered the room with so much force it was almost tangible. Halfway through the prayer P couldnt speak. His emotions were too strong & he began to cry. Ia then, continued the prayer, & started becoming emotional as well.

At the end of the prayer, we asked them how they felt. P responded that he felt like he was being hugged; Ia responded that she felt relief. Both their prayers left us all in tears & very overcome with the emotion & power of the sweet Spirit that could only be from Heaven. 

Another tender experience was with an older investigator who came to church yesterday: O. He's a widower, in his late 70s, and lost his wife 13 years ago this past week. As I sat next to him  in sacrament meeting, I asked him about a photograph on his keychain. It was a black & white photo of a beautiful girl I only assumed was his wife. It was.

A few minutes later, I saw him wipe the tears from his eyes as he said to me that when I sat next to him, he felt his long departed wife close to him. I reminded him of her & he said he felt so close to her during sacrament meeting. I looked into his old, tired eyes, with tears in my own, & bore my testimony in broken Portuguese.

 

"O, I know through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you will see your wife again. Its possible. Families are eternal & this is only a temporary separation. Death cannot separate you two from each other."

He began to weep & my heart broke into a thousand pieces. 

This week was pretty rough, wont sugar coat it, but if theres one thing that this mission has taught me is that the Lord is ever aware of each & every one of us. Each & every one of his children anywhere in the world. And in our darkest hours, when we are drowing in grief & anguish that seems impossible to bear, He is ever closer to us. Ever attentive. Ever aware. 

I love you all so much. Sorry if this email seems sanguine haha. I really am happy. Just pensive. And want so much for each of you to know that whatever issues, problems, trials, sufferings, no matter how grand or inconsequential, the Lord not only knows... Hes with you. So close to you. Sometimes the pavilion that covers us from our Savior is our own.

xoxo

Sister VerHoef

True Colors

From an email dated 4 November, 2013:

*when this world makes you crazy and you take in all you can bear*
*just call me up*
*because you know I'll be there*
*and I see your true colors shining through*

Okay, I know I know... no faz isso, but lets be honest Phil Collins makes
EVERYTHING better. Pretty sure he could salvage a justin bieber song if
necessary, but lets hope it *never *comes to that! haha

anyways,
this week has had its ups and downs as per use, buuuuut I think as time
goes by it'll get better. Not easier, but better. Really the only stumbling
block for me right now is the language, but like I said, it takes time
right?

Had another baptism this week! A young *rapaz *Chezekiyah.... yeah I know,
but if you met his dad youd understand.... haha he grew up in a religious
community and left about 3 months ago. We seriously taught him 3 lessons &
he went to church once & wanted to be baptized! We were like.... OKAY! haha
so he got baptized yesterday :) It was great! And whats even better is we
asked another young man in the ward, Marcello, to baptize Chezekiyah.
Marcello is about the same age as Zekah, but all the elders like asking the
son of the Mission Prez to baptize investigators, or do it themselves.
Marcello was absolutely over them mooooon when we asked him! And in his
closing prayer he thanked Heavenly Father for being chosen to baptize Zekah
;) so we helped not one but 2 young men realize their worth & see their
divine potential.

Which leads me to my next spiritual segment of my emails :)

Lately Ive been thinking *a lot *about our eternal, divine naturel.

In 2 Peter 1: 4 it talks more about this:

*Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by
these ye might be partakers of the divine nature having escaped the
corruption that is in the world through lust*

Wow. If theres one thing this mission has shown me is that scriptures Ive
read before have been opened up to me in ways unlike ever before. This
scripture hit me so hard the other day when
I read it.

We all, *all *of us are literal children of a divine Being. Which means we
all have inherited divine attributes from Him. I loved thinking about this
deeper today as I looked at a quote Id taped up on my wall.

"You are not a drop in the ocean, you are the entire ocean in a single
drop"--Rumi

So many MANY layers of interpretation in this quote, but Id like to just
say this:
We are limitless beings only limited by the limits of mortality.

Wow, haha look whos been Wordsworth-ing it up right?? haha but seriously!
Our spirits are eternal, limitless, unhindered, & divinely powerful. We
have an *ocean* worth of potential within ourselves that have yet to be
tapped into.

*You are the entire ocean in a single drop*

You are *eternity *in a single body. (Aristotle didnt say that I did. what
up!)

Its impossible to fathom and comprehend the idea of eternity & forever
because of our mortal minds, but I know its true. I know it so deeply.

And bearing this in mind it is incredibly essential for us to NEVER EVER
forget our divine nature. Our divine heritage. I think thats the best part
of being a missionary is seeing people like Chezekiyah see at least a part
of his divine potential and live up to it;.

Our Father in Heaven doesnt see us by our sins or our scars, our past or
our present, our decisions or our doubts.

He sees us in terms of forever.

Never EVER forget your divine worth. But more importantly LIVE your divine
worth.


To end this email I'll share a few things Ive learned while being in Brazil:

1.) The bus drivers here are NUTS
2.) they have ants here that look like the butt of a scorpion. they call em
"formigas" but I like to call em "ants from the innermost circle of Satans
un-airconditioned basement" hate em!!!!
3.) everyone writes in cursive. and unlegibly. EVERYONE. including guys.
4.) every animal here hates me. seriously. EVERYONE owns a dog & not a
single person takes care of em. Ive only met 1 dog out of about 300 who
hasnt wanted to gnaw my head off
5.) every house has an electric voltage thing that runs across the top of
their fence. it looks like the shawshank redemption
6.) if youre not careful you could end up eating 4 meals in a single
sitting depending on how fast you eat
7.) they have the best bread & cheese ive ever tasted
8.) their napkins are made out of paper.... seriously

9.) & if you buy tampons, youre considered a prostitute... SERIOUSLY

anyway, love yall so much!!!! cant wait till christmas to skype yall!!! :)
:)

Bittersweet

From an email dated 28 October, 2013:

First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY J & N!

second, HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! :) this week has been pretty crazy not gonna lie.
had my first baptism this past saturday! a wonderful woman named Sueli.
She's seriously a dream. I call her my Brasilera mai! & she calls me her *filha
brinca *haha, her white child! Which Im like, cool! haha

Anyway, shes amazing. And it was definitely a wonderful baptism. Did a
special musical number (which I sucked at majorly but whatevs!)

(oh & I wanna apologize if my email last week was random, weird or
strong... haha didnt have time to proofread it, but I promise this emails
better!)

As far as other things go, this week has been bittersweet to say the least.
Found so many wonderful people to teach, in addition to a young *rapaz *named
Chezekiyah (yeah I know.... but if you met his dad you wouldnt really be
surprised with the name choice haha)

Today though, we found out that the mother of a sister in our mission
passed away last night suddenly. So you can imagine whats been going
through my mind today.

When I first found out, the entire morning I was in tears. Thats definitely
my greatest fear ever, but especially on the mission. The sister has
decided not to go home, since she wont be able to come back on the mission.
A terrible thought came to my mind that Im not sure I could be that strong
to do the same.... as soon as I heard about it, I instantly wanted to see
you all. To hug you all. I *never *felt as homesick for each of you, mom
you especially.

And thats lead me to this thought:
This life is so temporary. This moment, this year & a half, this *lifetime *is
only an infinitesimal, unnoticable, drop in the ocean of eternity. And with
that being said, its even *more *vital for all of us to say "I love you"
more, to say "I miss you" more, and not only that but *show* it more. As
Pres Monson quoted shakespeare "they do not love that do not *show* their
love"

Please PLEASE this week, make it a habit to show your love to each other.
Through little acts of service, little acts of affection & kindness & words
of comfort and uplifting words of encouragment. This life is *so SO brief. *

If, heaven forbid, something were to happen, you can rest assure that the
last thing you did or said to a brother, sister, mother, father, aunt or
uncle, son or daughter, were words of love.


Another thought, when it comes to faith through hard times:

When I 1st got to Brazil, my portuguese was very weak. & I told myself I
wouldnt say much, only things Id memorized or I knew were correct. I
wouldnt risk embarrassing myself by saying something wrong & only *after *Id
studied for a period of time *then *Id converse more. Well, yall, the Lord
doesnt work that way. Its only *after* we try. After we make a "leap of
faith" after weve taken a calculated risk & take  the first few steps into
the darkness will the Lord add uponmore light for our pathway. So is the
same with faith. Just as we will never find a light switch in a darkened
room unless we take the steps to search for it, so too we will never find
the faith to light our own lives unless we move forward into the dark
unknown. Unless we reach for our Savior &we find that His hand has alreayd
been outstretched waiting for us to take His.

Love you all so much! Happy Halloween & Happy birthday J & N!


MISS YALL!
xoxo

Never Give Up, Never Surrender

From an email dated 21 October, 2013:

Ahhh Halloween is just around the corner & Im seriously having a hankering for Galaxy Quest yall...

Alex where are you going?

To see if theres a pub!!!

Ahhh good times. However, jokes & brincadeiras aside this has been quite a week for me & my comp Sis Cassiano. I dont honestly know where to begin but let me say this, to quote from a very fav movie of mine:

Some dreams you have to fight to come true.

Well, some miracles you have to fight to make happen.

Our young rapazes (or young men) investigators have really been giving us heartache & grief. One of them, Daniel, was stoked to attend Sacrament meeting yesterday & we 2 other people accepted our invite. So when we walked the 45 minutes to their apt complex, one of them didnt answer his cell (as per usual) & the other one was stuck one (Daniel) was stuck on the fact that we couldnt attend his church. 

Well bro, theres a lil white handbook that specifically states we cant out of respect for other religions. Just as we dont like it when protesters & weirdies stand outside our temple gates were not gonna go offend people of other religions. Well he straight up rejected us when less than 24 hrs he was pumped to come to sacrament.

Sis Cassiano broke down into tears & I held her as she cried & composed herself.

Well, this had kind of been the last straw for me, I'll say. 

I remembered the feelings of resentment & anger that swept over me. Did these people have no idea how much we sacrificed for them? We walk miles & miles to teach them a 30 minute lesson, theyre constantly in our prayers, we cry for them, we weep for them, we rejoice with them, we even give them food when they have nothing & this is how they repay us? 

Oh it was so easy to be angry. So easy to sink into despair & grief over these 2 boys. 

I did not leave my family, my friends, my language, my culture, my home, my neices & nephews Id give my life for, if I didnt know this church, this gospel is true....

I did not travel 3000 miles to a strange country, to a strange culture, to a strange language, where I know no one if I didntknow that this is same church that was established when Christ was on the earth

& I did not leave my dreams, my wishes, my hopes & aspirations folded in a drawer if I didnt know without a shadow of a doubt that this Christ lives & that this is his restored gospel. 

NO. Im not giving 18 months of my life to a false dream. Im not. 

But then I remembered, when I & my comp are rejected, to remember that someone else who was a lot better was rejected, despised, spit upon & suffered every kind of pain & excruciating thing imaginable.

Our Savior is real. He is painfully aware of us. And he will NEVER forget us. May we NEVER forget him in return. Its so easy for us to forget Him, how often do we? 

So family & friends remember Him more this week. May we not reject the truths we know & we have clung to all this time. 

Love yall so much!!!!

xoxo

Sister VerHoef

Sister Barbie

 

As the title suggests.... I have a new NICKNAME which I'm not exactly a huge fan of.... haha not gonna lie. When I was in the MTC a lot of the hispanic sisters would call me Sister Barbie but I kinda just thought it was because they'd never seen an American before or a person with blue eyes. EH. nope. haha

everyone told me Londrina has a good mix of dark skinned and light skinned folks & that Id blend right in! Well whoever gave me that information was sorely mistaken. I dunno what it is about it here or if its just Brazil in general but the homems or men here have absolutely no shame in blatantly STARING at me. And the moças or women are really no different.

Shouldve dyed my hair black before coming out here... then again my nickname prolly wouldve been Katy Perry & I honestly dont know which is worse! hahaha oh well. Gotta laugh right? 

Anyway, had my first zone conference which was much needed. Not gonna lie, true to my self, I end up making an idiot of myself again. Haha Pres G called on me randomly to give a comment & I fumbled through my horrible Portuguese painfully aware of the stares of other missionaries who have no prob with their Portuguese. So embarrassing! But whatevs. I provide comic relief, so its all good.

Afterwards we watched 17 Miracles (or 17 Milagres) and it was pretty good. Theres a song they used in there that I absolutely loved--calledSavior Redeemer of My Soul. Seriously AMAZING. Honestly, BJ, Mom look it up! 

Wont lie to you, this week has had its ups & downs as Im sure most missions do right? Even in a single day I can go from higher than the atmosphere & then back down again in a ditch as far as my mood goes. I have a feeling once the language gets better I'll be more comfortable in my own skin. 

Did have a wonderful experience at church yesterday. Theres a young rapaz or young man named L whos very interested in the church & he came to sacrament yesterday & I invited him to be baptized!!! Freakin awesome because he accepted! :) it was great. 

Other than that not much has happened. Wanted to share with yall an excerpt from my journal if ya dont mind.

Im sitting in gospel principles after commenting in my broken portuguese about eternal marriage. The teacher started saying something else & something thats never happened before happened. I thought about every particle every aspect every thing in the Gospel & I felt so deeply all of a sudden--a vibration or an echo in my bones like after a triangle has been struck during a song. & I knew--I knew with tears in my eyes that this Gospel is true. Almost as if I could see a part of heaven--as if a strong wind blew up part of the curtain that separates us from the other side. I adore this religion & I cannot deny the validity & truthfullness of this Gospel.

Love you all so very much!!! 

oh by the way, my address is 

Brazil Londrina Mission

Rua Higienopolis 1100 Sala 61

86020-911 Londrina-PR

Brazil 

:) spread the word! letters make my week SERIOUSLY. especially for the next little bit. please keep me in your prayers, because youre constantly in mine.

oh & my pdays are always on mondays :)

xoxo

Dazed & Confused

OI!! Familia e amigos!

Yes I am in Londrina & no as of yet I have not contracted an incurable parasite or gotten mugged... but it's only 2:30 here so I wont hold my breath haha. K, so much has happened & what they say about the mission is correct. The weeks feel like days & the days feel like weeks. 

First off, I had a 3:30 launch from the CTM to the airport & then to Londrina. Longest freaking day of my life not gonna lie.... haha barely made it through the day without falling asleep midsentence but it was all good. I did have some HUGE reservations & fears but they all melted away as soon as I saw Pres & Sis Genaro with a hord of other missionaries waving a huge banner with LONDRINA BRAZIL MISSION plastered on the front. Muito bom :) 

Second, the CTM/MTC really doesn't do a very good job preparing you for the real life investigators you teach. For example, no one ever told me about sitting on a couch in something that probably wasnt water trying to get through a prayer in portuguese while 2 kids are playing with your comps camera taking pics during the entire lesson. But whatevs brosefus. All is well. 

Another thing is I've NEVER seen this kind of poverty than I have here. Everyone told me its a rich area here & there are some areas that are nice. However, I will say, the other day I saw 3 kids eating toothpaste surrounding by maggots.... yeah. Definitely makes you stop & think. 

But on the brighter side I have provided some comic relief to my zone :) For our zone conference each mish got up & introduced themselves & I definitely got up & said "Elder VerHoef" 

hashtag-facepalm

seriously??? Elder VerHoef?? Gah. So is my life! haha it was pretty funny. Another embarrassing moment was when I walked for 2 blocks down the streets of Londrina with my SKIRT caught in my G'S!!

Ahhhh.. I love it. haha

Something I've noticed here is that there aren't that many lighter skinned people here which is great but I get stared at A LOT. Not sure if its cause I'm wearing a skirt with a plaqueta everyday or if its blatantly obvious Im american or if the Brasileros have never seen blue eyes before... either way its quite unsettling haha. Been called Barbie Reese Witherspoon & Taylor Swift. In addition to the language & culture adaptation Im having an identity crisis!!! Who am I?? Im Jean Valjean! haha jk jk brincaderia ;) 

Anyway, its been a good week. Lots of high highs & low lows. Frustrated because I thought I knew more portuguese & I get here & I feel like a deaf person.... but in 6 weeks Im sure itll be better. 

Wanted to share a quote from an elder in the CTM that has really helped me this week. It goes like this:

"You can have sacred revelatory profound instructive experiences with the Lord in the most miserable experiences of your life----in the worst settings while enduring the most painful injustices when facing the most insurmountable odds & oppositions youve ever faced. In one way or another great or small dramatic or incidental every one of us is going to spend a little time in Liberty Jail. The lessons of the winter of 1838-1839 teach us that every experience can become a redemptive experience if we remain bonded to our Father in HEaven through it. These difficult lessons will teach us that mans extremity is Gods opportunity & if we will be humble and faithful and not curse God for our problems He can turn the unfair & inhumane prisons of our lives into temples."

Love you all so very much.

Where is the good in good bye?

From an email dated 25 September 2013:

Tell me what can be fare in farewell?

Well as you can prolly guess from the title this week has been..... not so bom. Menos of the maso menos. Menor. Ruin. Terrivel.

Yeah. haha where to begin you might say? Well, for starters, we lost our fav instructor here, Irmao Mos. He was incredible but he got another job working construction but he did say he was gonna be coming back on Monday for a last picture with us, so when I get to Londrina, whenever my next p day is I'll email a pic of him to yall. He's seriously amazing & we miss him every day.

In addition to that, there was a HUGE fight (well... confrontation) that broke out between one of the elders who says some offensive things & my companion & a few other elders.... lets just say a desk got over turn & there was some strong language.... yeah..... well the Spirit IMMEDIATELY left the room & we were all left in silence trying to study but getting no where. Finally our ZL (zone leader) said that he couldn't feel the Spirit & apologized for something really minor (isn't it funny how the ones who don't do anything that causes a fight are always the first ones to apologize?) anyway, I assured him that it wasn't just him & that we had all been in the CTM one dang week too long, if you ask me. Then I got the impression to offer to the district to say a prayer. I got at the front of the classroom & knelt & watching most of the other elders kneel down beside me. Something else told me to ask Elder W to say the prayer & I asked him as I watched tears in his eyes he nodded in agreement and said the most heartfelt most sincere prayer I've ever heard in my entire life. SERIOUSLY. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I heard him struggle & get choked up. I can't repeat everything that was said in the prayer but it was much needed. After he was down several minutes later, everyone else got up but he was still on his knees with his head in his hands. It took EVERY ounce of self control & self discipline not to just scoop him up in my arms and tell him everything was going to be okay. Honestly, this kid isn't a crier, he's 6'5 & has the build of basketball player, so that combined with his tears really tore my heart apart. But I helped him up and thanked him profusely & things got better after that.

On a brighter note I played Come thou fount for devotional & I didn't totally suck at it! hahahaha plus I say the 2010 Jeffrey R Holland fireside he did at the MTC & I melted! I swear he's my other dad.... I love that guy! very memorable for sure.

Anyway, not much else happened, just trying to get the language & get ready for next week when we all leave for our missions! Londrina here I come!!!!!

Oh! & this week on SES (Stuff elders say)

*singing*

Elder B & Elder C: Toniiiiigghhhttttttt

Me: We are youngggggg

Elder B & C: Actually we're young....

Me: *glare*  I hate yall....

but I fist bumped them anyways cause that was pretty good!

Elder W: Did yall ever see that one barbie movie where she meets her twin?

Elder B: You mean the princess & the pauper?

Elder W: Yeah!!

Me: Are you serious????  hahahaha

anyway, love you alllll soooooooooo much! Eu amo voce! Tambem eu sei que esta igreja a verdadeira! Eu sei que o Senhor Jesus Cristo e Deus vive e amam nos.

Church is true book is blue. READ IT.

xoxo

Sister VerHoef