February 19, 2018

Hello family!!

Thank you all so much for your sweet words and experiences, they really help me feel closer to you all!!

I have absolutely no time, so I´ll be quick! Last Monday after emailing, President Silcox called my companion and I and asked if we would be Sister Leaders. What what???? This is a huge responsibility, to take care of the four other Sisters in our area! But I can really see how the Lord is helping me change. Attitudes have changed so I can be a better friend, and a better instrument in th Lord´s hands. When I see myself shutting myself out or thinking "I don´t want to talk to my companion right now" I look at my thoughts and counteract "Why am I being such a bum? Let´s decide to be happy!" It´s been helping me prepare for divisions with the other Sisters and for the mission in general. 

But the Lord has not stopped in giving us miracles. In just this week, we´ve been able to mark four people for baptism! And two of these people are the parents of Sandra, the wife of my recent convert Edmilson! Just looking at all of these honest people, my testimony that God is preparing every one of His children for baptism is strengthened! I´ve been so humbled with these miracles, and have definitely been more ready to work hard, especially with members. We have a missionary that just came home, and she has four more families that she wants us to visit! Something that she said that really hit me was this "Sister, I didn´t do the work before the mission, so I need to work extra hard now in bringing people I know to the gospel!" The reason why this was powerful was because she reiterated what has been going around in my head for some time; why did I rarely invite my friends to church activities? Why was I scared of showing them who I really am? That´s why I´m grateful to be on the mission, because I´m showing people who I truly am, who I can truly be when I align myself with God´s will and plan for me. What a wonderful opportunity!!

I love you all so much! Keep reading the book of mormon everyday, and remember the importance of personal communication with Your Father in Heaven!

Sister Carlson

February 12, 2018 - BAPTISM!

Hello family!!

So I´ve had my second baptism on the field this past Saturday! Edmilson and Sandra got married the Friday before, and then he was baptized! it was truly a joy to see someone I have taught partake of the ordinance of baptism and feel the joy that comes with these eternal promises! Plus, he was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints the next day! I´m so so happy! I´ve attached some pictures below of the baptism for you all to see!

Another miracle that happened is that we had 6 investigators at church and lots of less actives come back! This was by no means our work, the Lord truly has been working with each individual in bringing them to church, for the first time or coming back after years of inactivity. With this new transfer, Sister Guerra and I will be very busy working with all of these new people! I´m so grateful for this opportunity to work with renewed vigor, with precious children of God! When I find myself feeling a little annoyed because of the sweat everywhere, I just remember this awesome opportunity I have to be in a different country preaching the gospel in a different language. I am so blessed to be here, and for all the things I´m able to learn in this new transfer with Sister Guerra, Sister Malan, and Sister Borges. It will be a continued adventure of growth and progression!

I love you all, thank you for the letters!

Sister Carlson

February 5, 2018

Hello beautiful family!

So I just want to take a moment to say that I´m still kind of a nerd oops. I was able to learn how to do a Rubix cube in two days. One of our Sister Leaders here is a huge Harry Potter nerd, and she´s a pro at the cube. So I learned a little bit with her, but actually understood with Sister Malan´s help. It´s a fun, colorful way to unwind at night! Another sidenote, I´ve tried teaching Sister Guerra the word salty (there really is no equivilant in portuguese) but she still doesn´t get it. I´ll keep working on the translation!

So this past week has been us really focusing on preparing Edmilson for baptism. He´s the boyfriend of a recent convert. It´s been hard, the adversary has been working really hard to throw distractions in the way of his baptism. His mom is sick, his girlfriend isn´t home, he has an appointment. It´s been a little frustrating because we need to teach him one more lesson before the interview, but our appointment has fallen through three times. It´s just so interesting that in the early stages of teaching, everything was chill, and nothing fell through. But now that he has a testimony and the baptismal date is close, appointments are getting shaky. The adversary will try everything he can to stop the baptism from happening because it is a key to Edmilson´s eternal progress. We need the ordinance of baptism in order to be applicable for exaltation, where the most happiness can be found. 

But with this difficulty, we´ve been seeing miracles in other places. A missionary returned home last Tuesday, and she is so ready to help us with the work. She has several people that she needs us to teach, and she´s super excited to help us out. This just shows that in the midst of struggles, we can always find miracles and blessings in our lives. I love this gospel!

Thank you for all of the emails, it always makes me happy to read a little bit about life at home. I love you and miss you all so much!!

Sister Carlson

P.S. next week is transfers, I´ll keep everyone up to date on what happens!!

January 29, 2018

Hello family!

This week has been real hot and real busy! With interviews. divisions. and teaching, it´s left Sister Guerra and I exhausted, but happy! As well, I finally got the Madison Ward´s Christmas package!! Tell them thank you so much for everything, especially the letters! The other Sisters I live with thank them for the crumb cake too!

So we had a baptism in our ward on Thursday, the boy´s name is Henrique. It was such a wonderful service, lot´s of his non-member family came to support him/ With all of the testimonies, the actual ordenance, and awe-inspiring study of Jesus the Christ, I was reminded of the importance of baptism. When Jesus Christ was baptized, John the baptist said that He had no need of baptism because He had no sin. Christ said "suffer it be done" and the Father was well pleased with Christ´s humility. In reality, baptism is an ordenance that all must take upon themselves in order to be applicable to enter into the kingdom of God. That´s the core purpose as to why we have temples and missionaries--so this ordenance can be accomplished by all people, so all people have the opportunity to gain exaltation. How merciful a plan we have, and how loving a Father in Heaven we have! I´m grateful that I was baptized at the age of accountability (8 years old) and I now have the opportunity to preach to the people of São Paulo and help them prepare to make this sacred covenant with their Father--following the example of His Only Begotten Son down into the waters of baptism. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

With love,

Sister Carlson

January 22, 2018

Hello on this sizzling afternoon!

Haha sorry to brag, but it's real hot down here! I heard that one day, it reached 95 degrees! Whoosh, I am running through sunscreen! But with sunscreen and an umbrella, I've been almost clear of sunburns!

This week has been amazing! We've been teaching an investigator, Edmilson, that's preparing to get married and get baptized! We've been teaching him ever other day, and he's been making really good spiritual progress! The thing that I think is so amazing is that we've had one couple in our ward that have singlehandedly been helping us teach them. They allow us to teach in their house, they are always sharing their strong testimonies about marriage and th gospel, and they treat my investigator and his fiannée like their own children. It is so amazing to me the service they have been doing, for us and for our investigator. Their great example has really made me contemplate on my life before the mission, and how I really want to help the missionaries when I get home!

Also, I love living in four! It's just so refreshing to stay up and talk about life like I would with my sisters at home! We also almost had a water ballon fight after we cleaned the house, but that's a story for another time:)

I love you all so much!
Sister Carlson

P.S.Below are two pictures of our zone conference! My companion and I are at one end while the two other missionaries that live with us are on the other end!! Also an elder from my district in the CTM is in the same zone! ​

P.P.S. I forgot to mention that São Paulo Leste is getting a new president in July! His name is president Stephens from Canada!

P.P.P.S. Sorry I just keep sending EVERYTHING, but this week was my 6 month anniversary on the mission! We had a good time celebrating:)​

January 15, 2018 - First week in Jardim Romano!!

Hello on this very hot (for me) afternoon!!

At this point, I think I've forgotten what it feels like to be cold haha! I'll be getting a frigid reminder when I get home in a year :)

Sorry I'm a little trunky, I think it's because I now have a wall calendar with all the birthdays marked oops But it's so wonderful that we're living in four right now, I've been able to become really good friends with Sister Malan and Sister Borges (these are the other sisters that live with us, I was already friends with my companion) It's so fun, Sister Borges speaks english too, so Sister Malan and I have been able to help her practice! We're working on Sister Guerra haha :P

So we've had a miracle in our area! We've been trying to find a recent convert that's gone inactive, and after two weeks of searching, we finally found her! She's ready to come back to church, and she's bringing her boyfriend with her! So wonderful! They're living together, so the boyfriend can't get baptized until they've seperated or gotten married. And guess who's getting married on the ninth of Feburary? We now have the opportunity to teach and baptize him, and I'll be able to participate in my first wedding on the field!! It's really cool how miracles come after you've put done the work. We've been needed to find new investigators, so we've been knocking on doors a lot, and really making sure we follow up with the investigators we do have. We've had some sucess, but we were overjoyed that with a new investigator, we can reactivate a recent convert and help them prepare to make covenants in the temple!

That's all I have time for! I love you all com todo de meu coração!!
Sister Carlson

P.S.(and sister malan is the greatest)--Sister Malan came over and stole my keyboard for a hot second ;)
P.P.S. I'll send pics next week, we were running from place to place and I forgot my camera

January 8, 2018

Hello beautiful family!

This week has been so so refreshing! A new area really has set a great start to a new year! New year, new companion, just new! My companion's name is Sister Guerra, she's from Bahia and her trainer trained Sister Moura, my trainer! So in mission terms, Sister Guerra is my aunt haha! She's a riot, so ready to laugh and just be friends! Also SURPRISE we're living with another companionship, Sister Borges and Sister Malan! It feels so good to be living with three sisters again! It's always so much fun to joke around before bedtime, and to just have more friends and more noise in the house! We actually live in a house now--more cleaning to do, but it's worth it! I'm really excited to see where the rest of this transfer leads!

Something that I've learned this week is the importance of prayer for everything. My portuguese isn't perfect, but I've been bouyed up by people saying that my portuguese is way better than most

Americans that have less than six months on the mission. Because of this little prick of pride, I've stopped praying for the gift of tongues because I felt that my skill was enough. WRONG!! In Jardim Romano I've been getting introduced to new members, investigators, recent converts, everyone! But something that I thought was strange is that I've been having a real hard time understanding what other people are saying--I can speak just fine (usually), but to understand what another person was saying, especially my companion, it's been a little rough. But what a wonderful reminder for me to have humility! I was silly in forgetting that the only reason I can communicate is because of the divine power of God, and the fact that I've received a call to serve in Brazil where I need to speak portuguese to help others come unto Christ! When I don't pray for help and guidance, He can't help me! That's why in 2 Nephi 32:9, it talks about how we need to pray and consecrate our every performance, because we can truly receive divine guidance when we ask! But this is my small testimony about prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Loving you all!
Sister Carlson

January 2, 2018

Hello everyone!

Gosh, it's been so long since we've last emailed hasn't it? Christmas and New Years have just flown by! I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to talk to my family via Googlehangouts; technology is seriously a huge blessing that I will be forever grateful for! To see the smiles and hear the laughter of my lovely family is something I will hold close to my heart, especially during times of trial! 

I only have five minutes, so I'll write fast! I just wanted to write about a personal experience that I think can help people that feel the same way I felt. This whole transfer, Sister Novais has been encouraging me to be open open open with my feelings, and it has really been helpful because I've learned a lot about myself. With this openness and companionship study, we were able to find out that in reality, I need to learn to love myself. For all of my youth, I've had a voice inside my head that says things that aren't too nice. I would never say these things to another person, but it was all too easy to say it to myself. What we were able to find out is that this voice of pessimism isn't me! I've always accepted what this voice has said because I thought it was me, when in reality it was the enemy! When you look in the mirror and see faults in your body, who's the one pointing out those faults? Heavenly Father, who will never demean your body because He's the one that made it, or Satan, who doesn't have a body? Who's jealous that people on earth have this experience, and have a opportunity to gain salvation? When you make a mistake or feel embarrassed, is God the one laughing in your face, or is He encouraging you to stand up and try again? Please be mindful of self-destructive thoughts, many people will feel sympathy because of my openness, when in reality, they may not see this problem within themselves. Through the atonement, I've been able to start my journey on the road of change. I've been able to see the problem and yearn with all my soul to change this about myself. With the Atonement, all change is possible. Along with reading the Book of Mormon in protuguese, my goal for this year is to change the very way I think about myself. It will be hard, and sometimes I may fall into old habits, but I know that when I can love myself, I can love God's children more fully, an essential part to my mission. I pray that we can all feel more charity for ourselves and others this year.

I love you!

December 18, 2017

Christmas is close, and it´s HOT down here in Brazil! I don´t have a lot to say, only that I´m excited for Christmas and that I get to see my family! 

As well, Sister Novias and I had a really cool experience at the end of the week! We´ve had a referral for a little while now, and we had planned to visit her many times, but she hasn´t been home. We finally got to see her Saturday night, and she is so ready to hear the gospel! She had a really cool expereince with the BYU ballet. She´s a ballerina, and is hungry for more knowledge about the gospel!! We´re excited to really begin teaching her this week! 

We have a zone conference this week, and it was awesome! The Christmas spirit was really present, and we learned about what it means to be a friend of Christ, not just a servant. As well, what we can do as missionaries to bring others unto Christ. I love my district!!

Sorry this email is so short, we running!!

Love love love!

Sister Carlson

P.S. Pics! We finally managed to take some cute photos together haha! One is with Elder Frenwin (greenie) One with Sister Novias, one with our district singing, one with my plaque and a flower, and mom sent Christmas lights out, so we made a tree on the door! 

December 11, 2017

Good afternoon!

Christmas is close and people are getting more and more festive! It's a little different here, we have the Christmas lights and other things, but it's hot! No snow for another year haha!

We had our Ward Christmas Party on Saturday! It was so much fun, but more so the time before! We had lunch with the Ward Mission Leader Irmão Marcio and his family. Afterwards, his wife Irmã Cátia was running around trying to prepare for the party. Sister Novais was quick to ask if we could help, and we were put to work! I'm grateful for my mom, because every party that we prepared for prepared me for this moment--we were the ultimate sous-chefs! We also had a really sweet experience with her. She was really stressed out, but Sister Novais remembered a particular hymn that she loves to sing together. After we sang one, I asked Irmã Cátia what were some of her other favorite hymns. We sang and sang and sang, the whole house just felt good. The spirit can testify to us in different ways, and He definitely testified to me when we sang "A Child's Prayer" I know that the Lord answers our prayers, even when it feels like we've been left alone. There are times when we feel like we can't receive any comfort, but music can so quickly bring the spirit! Something that I've been trying to do more on my mission is sing when my mind is going haywire. Sometimes I'm mad, or sad, or I just want to be happier. When I have a moment to think of a hymn, the spirit has an opportunity to calm my mind and give strength to my body. What a blessing it is to be a missionary, I've had to learn so much in so little time!

I love you all so so much!!
Sister Carlson

December 4, 2017

This is going to be supa fast, I don't have too much time!

So it's another week two, usually the hardest week for me. But I am so grateful for Sister Novais because she has two transfers left before she goes home, and she has taught me SO much! I'v really had to learn humility in leading because I know this area, so I'm the one that needs to plan, needs to know the way. But at the same time, I don't know a lot about the mission, I'm still relatively new.

Sister Novais has been helping me with learning how to lead, but at the same time take heed of her counsel. Sometimes it's hard to be wrong, but it's only when we're wrong that we truly learn the right. I've been wrong a lot this week, and that's why this week has been one of great growth.

I also want to testify of the power of Family Home Evening. We were able to have a FHE with a family last Sunday and yesterday, and it was marvelous to see the trust we gained after sharing a message and an activity. There was so much joy in the living room, lots of laughter and stories of missions. I know that when we take this time to share a spiritual lesson with family and have a fun activity, relationships can be strengthed. Family Home Evening really is a blessing!

That's all I have time for! I'll try to get pictures next week, I love you all!!

November 27, 2017

Wow this week has been a rush!

I need to write fast, and I probably won't cover everything, but it's great here in Brasil! There isn't really Thanksgiving over here, just Black Friday shopping (for the whole month of November?)

Although we haven't had a turkey feast, we sure had a spiritual feast on Saturday! The day started off uncertain and emotional, but ended with a BANG! Last week with Sister Moura, we found Paloma, the daughter of a less active. With Sister Novais, we visited her again. and guess what? She was so prepared to hear our message! We taught her the first three lessons (The Restauration of the Gospel, The Plan of Salvation, and The Gospel of Jesus Christ) and it was so refreshing to teach with a different companion. Don't get me wrong, I love love love Sister Moura, but because we had been together for three months, we had fallen into a routine of teaching. With Sister Novais, I coouldn't stick to the script, hers was completely different from mine. It was really a time for me to go with the flow (spirit!) and say what I needed to say. It was a great experience for me!

Anyway, that's all I have time for, sorry it's so short! I love you all!

We finally bought coconuts again, and now they have sunglasses haha!

Final pizza night for Sister Moura, with Ana

Just a cute pic with sunglasses B))))) 

Sincerely,
Sister Carlson