Transfer!

Oi!! Boa tarde!!

So yesterday I had the surprise of my life! I'm being transferred! It's really unusual here to be transferred in your training period or when your companion is headed home... but the mission doesn't have very many missionaries right now. 17 missionaries are leaving this week and only a couple are coming in. Because of this, they closed five areas. Since Cabanagem Ward had two sets of missionaries, they closed our area. :( But I'm headed to the interior!! Whoo-hoo!! Paragominas, Castanhal Stake. :) I haven't met my companion yet--she is going to arrive tomorrow. I'm spending the day in Belém with other sisters.

I'm pretty sad to be leaving Cabanagem. It is honestly an AMAZING ward. Amazing. The members, our investigators... ahh!! It was really sad to bid them all goodbye. I love them all so much! It was also really hard to say goodbye to my companion, Sister Mimbela. We honestly became best friends! But she promised to write... so she better. I need to see pictures of her wedding. 

Henrique had his interview for baptism this week, but our District Leader didn't think he was ready.. and I think he was right. I got to teach him with a member yesterday while Sister Mimbela was visting other areas that she had been in, and it was wonderful! We talked about repentance, commandments, and how baptism helps us endure to the end. It was really fantastic. For the first time he said that he actually wants to be baptized, and he is going to really try to prepare for it! Ahh!! Amo trabalho missionário!

Anyway, I love you all! Life is great!

-Sister Dickerson

Zone Conference Choir

Boa tarde todos!

Boa tarde todos!

Well, this week has been an interesting one. Sister Mimbela only has one week left in the mission... so we have been trying to work hard, have fun, and change lives. I love her so much!! I really wish she could stay longer... we've become the best of friends. I don't really have much to report this week... the majority of our appointments fell through, a baptism fell, and other things of the sort... but what is amazing about it all is that I still feel happy and positive! The gospel is still true, for all people, all children of God, whether or not they are willing to accept it in this moment. 

This week I had the great opportunity to get to know lots of missionaries better! We had more practices for the choir throughout the week in Belém, and on Friday we had the conference! I was so great! It was entirely focused on preparing investigators for baptism and confirmation, which is what we've been working on with Henrique. Henrique knows that all the things we have taught him are true, but he's still struggling to find the desire to be baptized. The conference was a great reminder that we need to be patient and loving--he needs to find that desire in order to endure to the end. :) 

That's about it! I love my companion, I love my ward, I love my mission, and I love all of you! Have a fantastic week!! 

-Sister Dickerson

                                                                

Ola!

Ola!

Another week! This one flew by! Fortunately, Sister Mimbela and I are feeling much better now health-wise, so we were able to do a lot more work! This week we experienced a lot of rejection... which is of course part of being a missionary. However, we have two really special people that I want to ask you to pray for! The first is Emily, who is 16. Emily is the perfect, golden investigator that every missionary wants. We had the sweetest lesson ever when teaching her about the Book of Mormon this week. She sincerely reads, prays, and reflects on the things we teach her. She received an answer to her prayers! The only problem is her mom... She is very nice to us, but because she loves her church, she won't let Emily come to church with us. Please pray for this family--they really need it!

The second is Henrique--who is simply fantastic! He's 17, and we are hoping to have his baptism this coming Saturday. The only problem is that he's not feeling prepared enough to be baptized, even though we know that he is. We are going to fast for him tomorrow... You don't have to fast as well, but your prayers are very appreciated!

Other than that, this week has been rather slow. We have a big conference on Friday, and Sister Mimbela and are singing in the choir, so we have gone to Belém twice now for practices. It is very... interesting to sing in a Brazilian choir. The majority of people here are slightly tone-deaf, but it's still so fun to hear their enthusiasm!

To sum up--I'm great! It's still interesting to have people attempt to speak English to me every day and to give pamphlets of the Word of Wisdom to drunk people... And we watched the Testaments twice this week with recent converts... I'm going to have that movie memorized by the time I come home. In Portuguese.

Amo vocês!

Sister Dickerson

Two months today!

Wow, it's really weird to think that I've been a missionary for two months now... And I'm happy to say that I survived another week here in Brazil. :) 

You know that scripture in 2 Nephi that says that there is opposition in all things? That was this week... We had two glorious weeks and then this one. Nearly all of our appointments fell through; none of our investigators came to church; my companion had to go to the hospital; and I got a cold/virus. How fun. 

However, I don't want you to think that I'm down in the dumps because I'm not! I'm still loving the mission. I think it was really good for me to have a week like this because it made me appreciate more the highlights of the week, the experiences I have already had, and the quite moments throughout the day in which I can rest! We learn through hard things, and we grow through our trials! And even though this week was a little difficult, it was still a good week because I'm serving the Lord.

I do want to share with you a little story about a 17-year-old that we are teaching named Henrrique. He was a referral from one of the people here in the ward, Yago, who actually just left to serve a mission in Portugal. Henrrique is so special. The other night, we were teaching him the law of chastity, and I felt prompted to mention eternal marriage. It was so powerful! We had a member, Felipe, with us and he shared his testimony and feelings about the power of the temple. The next day we (finally) found Henrrique's mom. It was so clear that she had been prepared by the Lord to hear our message. As we talked to her about her son and his faith, she began to cry. She shared her feelings of faith and confusion with all the churches here (There are seriously ten churches on every block). It was SO special. I love this gospel and I love this work!

Also, we had stake conference yesterday! So that was great. And last night I got to watch the Testaments with a family of recent converts. That was really special, too. I still think that movie is super cheesy... but I love how it truly testifies of the Savior. He lives and He loves us!!

Love you all,

Sister Dickerson

This is Yago--he left Wednesday to serve in the Lisbon, Portugal mission!

Brasil Belém--Missão de Milagres!

Òla!!

If I don't have time to respond to everyone's personal emails... my apologies. Time is short!

This week was pretty great! I'm gradually learning more and more about the language, culture, and my purpose as a missionary. I think I'm just going to skip to the good stuff--

We had another baptism!! His name is Cleiton; he is 13 years old! We met him my first day here, as he is Yarlei's cousin. He is honestly such a great example of faith; it's a gift of the Spirit to be able to believe so readily without doubts, and he has it! Getting to know him as been such a blessing! On the day of his baptism he was 40 minutes late... which of course caused us much anxiety! However, when we went to his house to get him, we found out that he had wanted to be as presentable as possible. He had even parted his hair; he was practically jumping for excitement as we walked to the chapel. :)

Let's see... other miracles... We were tracting and came across some very special people. One is Anderson; he told us that he already had a testimony of the Book of Mormon and the Church, his only problem was going to church! So we're working with him to get him there. We also met a woman named Gleicy who is married (legally--super rare here) and super excited to learn! She already has lots of member friends! Also there are Rosa and her son Jonathan; we taught the Restoration for them. The Spirit was soooo strong. So strong. I'm really excited for them.

Honestly, all of our investigators here are wonderful. The people here are so open and receptive. Their only problem is commitments. It's difficult to get them to actually follow through... but ya know, agency and all. One huge help here has been the ward. Cabanagem has one of the best wards I have ever seen! They have activities almost every night; the members love to fellowship and work with us! It is soooo great! I'm making lots of friends in the primary. Currently all the little girls call me "Elsa" or "Frozen." It's pretty funny to be an American here...

Oh! This was a fun experience. One night we were teaching Yarlei and Cleiton in the street when all these little kids gathered round to hear the lesson. It was so special! Afterwards they were swarming us... saying "Hello" and "gracias"... It was difficult to get to our next appointment!

Honestly, I love this gospel. Some days are hard. Some days I feel really homesick, but I know that I'm doing the Lord's work! And I'm honestly so blessed. For one, the food here is amazing.

Love you all so much!!

Sister Dickerson

Brazil!

Wow.

Too be honest, I really don't know what to tell you. Except that this keyboard is really difficult. Brazil is so... different. So interesting. And also so great! The people here are really friendly and helpful. Their accent also is super difficult... I talked with a lot of missionaries from São Paulo and could understand them fine, but the locals are MUCH more difficult. But I'm learning so much every day! Every day it gets a little easier. And we talk to people all the time... I think Sister Mimbela and I had 102 contacts this week! Woot woot!

Oh, Sister Mimbela is my "Mãe"--or my trainer. She's from Lima, Peru! A member told me last night that I'm starting to get a hispanic accent... She's fantastic, super helpful and super pacient. So I am really blessed. Really blessed. She's been helping me a lot to get past all the culture shock.

So right now I'm serving in Cabanagem, an area of Belém. Too be perfectly honest it's really the slums... Culture shock, I tell you. But I love it here! It's really hot. Really hot. I sweat all the time. Some days this week were really difficult to stay positive and keep the homesickness away... but then, at the end of the day, I know that every thing was worth it. Our ward is also super cool! They all want to be involved in missionary work!

Oh!!! BIG NEWS!! We had a baptism on Saturday. :D His name is Yarlei--he's ten years old and AWESOME. Other missionaries did most of the teaching, so when we arrived we just had to teach him some of the commandments. His baptism was so special! On Sunday in the MTC, I fasted for a miracle... not a miracle in my own life, but to see a miracle happen in some one else's. I felt like this was the answer. I loved seeing the huge smile on his face. Also, pretty neat, Brasil Belém is the "Missão de Milagres." Pretty coincidental.

Any how, this week was crazy... there are so many little things I'd love to tell you all if I had more time... unfortunately I don't! But bathrooms here are very different, the food is also very different (but great!), and being an American here is.. an experience. But I love missionary work!

Love you all so much!

Sister Dickerson

"Be strong, and of a good courage, be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed; for the Lord thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou goest." -Joshua 1:9 (My motto nowadays) :)