Week 56 - February 26, 2018

Areal Ward Building

This week was pretty good! Not too much out of the ordinary happened this week....we had Stake Conference this week, and the stake center here is the fanciest thing I've ever seen in my life. Like, bigger than the NC temple. Two floors, with an elevator. (There's a lot of rich people in this stake.)

Pelotas North  Stake Center

I got the opportunity to meet some pretty amazing members this week. One, Elizangela, is a recent convert, and yet one of the most faithful and dedicated people I've ever met. She got baptized about 3 months ago, and she always has a notebook with her where she writes down everything she learns at church or in our lessons with her. And in her daily Book of Mormon reading, she writes down a summary of what she learned and notes all the questions she had, then asks us when we visit. And they're like, crazy good questions: "Why is the Atonement infinite? What spiritual gifts has God given me? Does Heavenly Mother exist?" She also has a 12 year old autistic son, Mateus, who likes to stay in the other room while we're teaching, but he listens the whole time and makes comments and asks questions during the lesson :) I adore this family. 

The other amazing member I met this week is named Claudio. He uses a wheelchair and has difficulty speaking because of a sickness he has that was discovered a number of years ago. Before he joined the church, he said he was really angry and frustrated with his illness, not knowing why this was happening to him, especially because we was a singer before, and singing was one of his greatest passions in life, but the illness took that away from him. But when we met the missionaries and decided to get baptized, he says we found an inner peace he'd never felt before. He understood why he was passing through those trials and was able to bear them through his faith. Afterwards, right as his youngest daughter was preparing to serve a mission, his sickness got a lot worse. His daughter wanted to stay to be able to help her mom take care of him, but he told her that she had to go, that the Lord was calling her and he knew it was what she needed to do. Imagine sending your daughter off on a mission without knowing if you might die before she got back. Imagine leaving your father behind not knowing if he would die while your where gone. Luckily, he recovered, and now Claudio is one of the happiest people I've ever seen. He makes such an effort to talk with everyone and share the gospel with people, even though some have difficulty understanding him. This family taught me so much about faith and trusting in God. 

That's about it for this week. I've made it a goal to be more like Elizangela and Claudio and all the other amazing people I've met while on my mission. They're an inspiration to me, and I hope we can all remember to look around us for the many examples of faithful servants of Christ as we try to improve ourselves every day.

Love,

Sister Coleman

Week 55 - February 19, 2018

You guys, perhaps the greatest miracle I have seen yet on my mission happened this week: we didn't get lost. Before my mission, I had trouble getting around my own city without a GPS, and yet this week, with just a little paper map (a pretty crappy one at that, like half the streets don't have names) and some addresses, we managed to find our way around. We also used the members quite a bit, and a lot of prayer, and a lot of asking people on the street. The good thing is that opening a new area gives you a great conversation starter for street contacts.

Areal seems like a good area: the ward and chapel are a lot bigger than all my other areas, which is weird to me. The members seems great and are super helpful, and luckily they seem happy to have sisters in the ward. One thing I was worried about was that the area would be super hilly- walking all day is hard enough without hills- but luckily it's not. THE BEST PART OF PELOTAS: it's known as the city of sweets. They make hecka goot truffles and stuff here. God really does love me you guys.

My companion is Sister Carlota, also from...guess where?....São Paulo! Again! (I'm starting to think 90% of Brazilians are from São Paulo.) She's a little shy, but very sweet, I'm sure we'll get along great. It's funny because both her and my last companion told me that they're a little shy, I said "Me too," and they were both like, "No, you're definitely not shy, Sister." Well, I guess I WAS shy, but seems like  that's something you just gotta lose when you're on a mission.

That's about it for this week. It's still crazy hot, and I think Pelotas is hotter than my last area because there's more pavement and cars and tall buildings, but somehow I'm surviving. Thank you all for your prayers and support. Amo vocês!

Sister Coleman

Week 54 - February 12, 2018

MAJOR UPDATE, IT HAS BEEN THE CRAZIEST TRANSFER YET. 

I was indeed transferred from Arroio Grande. Much sadness, many tears, but I kind of knew it was coming. I'm so grateful for the time that I had in Arroio Grande. I truly found a second home there, and I have never been so sure that the Lord sent me there because He knew that I needed those experiences.

My beloved daughter (aka, my trainee, Sister V. Araujo) will stay in Arroio Grande, and will be training a new sister this next transfer! She's super nervous because she thinks she doesn't know enough to train, but I know she's be amazing. Super proud of her. (I'll have a granddaughter!)

As for me...I'll be training again! Wooo! And opening a new area, a part of Pelotas called Areal. So, basically, neither me nor my companion will know the members or know how to get anywhere or where the chapel is or where we're living...but it will be a fun experience. Actually, when I found out that I'd be training and opening an area, I could see how much the Lord has helped me to grow as a person. For sure, in the past, my first reaction would be to get super nervous and anxious and start thinking about everything that could go wrong and doubting that I would be able to do it. I still have some of those feelings to be honest, but my first reaction was excitement and gratitude for this new opportunity. I know it will help me to grow..mostly in patience and courage...and that it's what the Lord wants me to do. But still, any prayers for me and my companion and those in my new area would be much appreciated.

Also, I passed my one year mark on the mission this week. How insane is THAT. Only 6 more months. The branch president's family (in Arroio Grande) invited me over and bought me cake to celebrate (they are the freaking greatest). And they tried to teach me how to samba, since it's Carnaval and all and I obviousy can't go home without knowing how to samba. But let's just say it's still a work in progress.

So, yeah, crazy week. Hope you're all doing well, like always. Remember to always trust in the Lord and His timing; He knows way better than you do!

Love,

Sister Coleman

Week 53 - February 5, 2018

Nothing out of the normal happened this week. Sadly, I think it'll be my last week in Arroio Grande because I've already been here 3 transfers, so as my grand goodbye to these people that I've grown to love so much, I'm going to make them cookies. Few people here have cookies, can you believe that. Que horror. And I discovered that vanilla is hecka expensive here...but it's worth it because I'll get to eat some of the cookies too :)

Something cool that happened: Our recent convert, Doca, that I talked about last week, got her visiting teacher assignment this week and she got SO EXCITED to go do her visits. She immediately contacted her companion and asked when they could do their visits and she went and bought some skirts (she didn't own any) because she wanted to "do her visits right." She says she knows she doesn't know as much about the gospel as the sisters she'll be teaching, who've been members for years, but she's just excited to help. She is amazing, I love her. 

The twins, Maiara and Sara, are also doing great. They go on visits with us several times a week and introduced us to their grandma, who we're now teaching. 

I think that's about it, honestly. I'm doing great. My companion's great. The work is fantastic.

Amo vocês!

Sister Coleman