Daylight Savings

Olá a todo!

So many things happened this week! So many things. It was like a giant roller coaster ride. Absolutely full of ups, downs, sudden stops and sharp turns. Overall I can say with certainty that we are seeing miracles here. I have seen miracles. It is amazing.

First off, last week I forgot to tell you that it was day light savings time, so we lost an hour of sleep (whyyyyy?) and I am still super tired. This is why I love Arizona (no daylight savings time).

Second, we went to the temple!! It was beautiful and I loved it. I could feel the peace that the Savior offers us. Going just made me want to go again and again and again. We took lots of pictures and I ate Subway, which was delicious! Oh how I miss it. Going to the temple also made me miss my family. It also reminded me that my family is forever. I will be able to live with my family again after death, if we all live righteously. I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and His amazing plan of happiness.

Another good/crazy thing, we had a really good lesson with Karol and Diego. I think I’ve already talked about them a little bit. We are working a lot with them and trying to help Diego receive his answer too. Karol is absolutely amazing. She is one of the miracles I was talking about. She was a referral (help the missionaries!!) and says she has finally found the church where she wants to stay. She was having a lot of doubts because she wants to live the law of chastity but her boyfriend Diego so far doesn’t want anything to do with the church. She told us that she knows that it’s true. Anyway we marked a dinner with them and also our zone leaders to talk with Diego (it’s super hard to talk to Diego because he avoids us. So far it’s only been through food that we have been able to talk to him. Hence, dinner). I also made chocolate chip cookies! They weren’t as good as my Dads though. I need your recipe dad!

So the lesson was crazy, because we were trying to explain the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity but he wouldn’t accept anything. He told us that coffee being something bad would never enter in his head, and that he would never accept it. And we just told him to pray and to read the Book of Mormon. He said he would, but then I felt prompted to ask him "Would you like to know that the Book of Mormon is true?" He said yeah sure, but then Karol said no, that he doesn’t want to know. 

Diego doesn’t want to know it’s true because if it’s true he would have to change his life. He would have to change a lot of stuff. We have done all that we could to help him, and now it’s all in the Lords hands. He went to church on Sunday and Karol said that he would go with her every Sunday now. Karol is just waiting for Diego for her to be baptized. It’s frustrating, but I know that it’s all in the timing of the Lord. I am so grateful for the opportunity to have taught Karol. We had another lesson with her on Saturday. Just us. We talked, and we cried together. She said that she prays every night with her whole heart that Diego will change and will be able to receive an answer too. We pray so much and so hard for them. It’s crazy the love you feel for people out here.

More news: We moved! Now we are living with Sister L. Freitas and Sister Godoy because their house is huge and is actually in our area. It’s a 2 story house, and so far things are good. We moved Saturday morning and I finally got to unpack and organize a little today. It’s closer to the chapel so it’s easier for us.

Yesterday we had a devotional at the church that was a broadcast from the CTM here in Brazil. It was Aidukatus, Mazzagardi and Presidente Costa. It was awesome and made me so happy to be on a mission. Prepare now to go on a mission! Study the scriptures and gain a testimony now. It will be the best decision of your life.

I love being a missionary. Thank you for your prayers. I need them.

Love ya! Sister Berry

I Feel My Savior's Love

Hey hey hey :)

Well this week was interesting, definitely full of ups and downs, but overall it was pretty amazing. A lot of things happened this week. So let me try and sum it up a bit.

• The neighors cat Mahi always sneeks into our house, but he's adorable so its ok
• I almost ate a whole pizza with some other Elders in our District. Pizza is really different here but its good. And I was hungry.
• Interviews with President Silcox this week (AMAZING) 
• Gave a talk in Sacrament meeting about missionary work. My comp and the Ward Mission Leader did too. Great meeting!
• We are going to the temple tomorrow!! Woo hoo! Ill be going to the one here in Sao Paulo.
• We ponderized John 14:27 
• I made lunch for my comp, complete with salad and dessert. It was delicious and nobody died.Aaaaand -- Val got baptized!!

Alright so thats some of the things we did :) I had times when I was a little discouraged this week but Heavenly Father loves me and answered my prayers. I really found the peace that the Savior offers: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled and neither let it be afraid." I could feel the Savior's love when my President gave me a blessing, when I stood talking to the ward from the pulpit in Portuguese about missionary work, about how the gospel changes lives; when I sang I am a Child of God in English for Val's baptism and when we sang it in Portuguese. I am so grateful for my Saviors love that He freeely gives us. Val was really someone chosen and prepared from the Lord. I am so happy and grateful to have been an instrument in the Lords hands to help her come unto Christ. 

Sorry, I ran out of time. Love ya and until next week!!

Love Sister Berry

Jesus é bom

Olá todo mundo :)

Things went really great this week, just like every week.  I LOVE being a missionary. Have I said that enough? Anyway, this week I've been listening to all the conference talks in English and it is so fantastic. I  understood it in  Portuguese  but it is just more  personal  to hear it  in  your own  language,  in their  own words. I  also couldn’t  pay much attention to the sessions on Sunday because I was thinking  about  a million things at once,  with finding rides  for investigators and worrying about the ones we couldn’t get in contact with. So I am happy now to listen to all the talks in peace :) 

I have also been listening to some songs in Spanish a lot this week. I still want to learn Spanish! I will once I get home.  But I got the song Glorious by David Archeleta in Spanish and I love it! My comp and I also decided to 'ponderize' (reference from gen conference, Check it out!!) scriptures in Portuguese, English, and Spanish every week. Challenge accepted! This week we ponderized 3 Nephi 5:13 "Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life."  Good stuff.

This week a sister in the ward gave us money for lunch and we made Lasagna! It was mostly Sister C. Lima who made it but I helped out. Now I know how to make Brazilian lasagna, so be excited for that when I get home. ;)

Something else delicious we ate this week was tapioca with chocolate filling. YUM! It’s sad that we don’t have this type of tapioca in the United States.

We had a Family home evening with some less actives that was fantastic. People here are so amazing. We watched the Mormon Message by Elder Christofferson called the Will of God. We may not know why certain things happen to us, but we need to remember that it is all a part of God's plan for us. We just have to trust in Him and keep moving forward in faith. 

Sister C. Lima  asked Carlos, the father of the family  to say the  closing  prayer and to everyone’s astonishment,  he got right up to say a heartfelt  prayer to our Father in heaven. Later, his son Gerson, who's preparing for a mission, told us that he had never heard his dad pray out loud before. Gerson wants so much that his family comes back to church, and I know that his prayers are being answered.  Maybe not as quickly as he would like, but it is all according to the time of the Lord.

Other people that we are teaching and that are progressing are Val, William, Karol, and Diego. William was a miracle who went to conference with a friend and loved it. He also had already downloaded the Book of Mormon on his phone and had read it before we taught him! Miracles! Val is another miracle that we are teaching and helping a lot.  She knows that church is important and that she needs to go every week. She has two little boys who are a little crazy. One primary teacher called Junior 'Pimentinha', basically little fire ball, or little pepper. So that makes church exciting. I love her and I know that she was prepared by angels to hear the gospel.

Finally, there's Karol and Diego. Karol is doing fantastic. She always talks about the church as 'her church' and wants to follow its teachings. She says prayers like she has been a member for years and is reading the Book of Mormon and listening to general conference. The ONLY problem is the law of chastity. It’s been hard to sit down and talk with Diego because he was running from us for a bit, but we finally sat down and talked to him a couple times this week. Slowly we have seen the change in him.  He came to church the week before conference and liked it, but he still needs to pray about the Book of Mormon. Karol wants Diego to be coming to church before she gets baptized or commits to living the law of chastity. It’s difficult to accept but I know that it’s all in the Lords timing. We just have to trust in him and keep praying for guidance.

Whoa super long email. Alright, just to finish, this week we heard a lot of people tell us "Jesus é bom.'' Jesus is good. A lot of people from evangelical churches say that phrase or 'Paz no Senhor" when we pass by or say Good morning. So it’s kind of a passing comment between members of the church, almost like 'What would Jesus do?" But I got to thinking about that phrase Jesus é bom. Really, truly Jesus Christ is good.  He loves us and will help us with whatever we need. Heavenly Father made this beautiful world for us with all that we need to eat and survive. Have you ever thought about how amazing watermelon is? God made watermelon! And it is so delicious :)

Thank you all for reading

Love ya, Sister Berry