Charity Never Faileth

Hey all!

First, to my family (immediate and extended): I love you all so so much. More than you all know. You're a big part of why I'm here and your testimonies strengthen me so much. I'm so excited to see you all again soon!

This week we did a lot of service. On Tuesday and Wednesday we helped at Granite Education Foundation which gives out school kits to families who may need it. I really liked it because it was a lot of inventory/organizational work which always is fun for me. On Friday, us and the elders helped a sweet irmã clear her backyard. They had chopped down a tree and wanted us to move all the branches. I wish we had before and after branches because the pile we moved was like HUGE! It was ridiculously hot but I had a lot of fun. 

Yesterday we started EnglishConnect via Zoom! I posted it in a Facebook group called Brasileiros in SLC so I figured it would reach mostly local people. We had like 40 people respond and many were in Brasil lol!! Not what we intended, but all were welcome. It was fun! We had about 10 people and they liked it! 

Sometimes it's kind of hard here because it's just so different that the missionary work I'm used to. And sometimes with all the changes in the world and my world specifically, it can be hard. But I have felt my Savior with me and have had special experiences with prayers and answers to prayers. I know that as we pour out our heart to Him in prayer, we can feel Him lift our burden. With prayer, I believe we get out what we put in; more earnest prayers are more likely to receive more tangible responses. Also, I love priesthood blessings.

Jesus Christ is our Savior and He walks with us. We are blessed to live in these times as we await the day He returns. They may be scary, but "the future is as bright as our faith."

Love,

Sister Dobbs

I fed a cow last pday and cow tongues are super weird!! Long and kinda blue

Service! We counted all the school supplies in each of those boxes :))

We made enchiladas!

We made apple crisp from apples from my grandpa's tree

Helloooooo!!!

Sorry about no group email last week! But it was a fun week. We had Zone Conference, made a fun video for Facebook (in Portuguese), KELLI WENT TO CHURCH! and we went to the baptism of a kid in the ward and got invited to his BIRTHDAY PARTY after. It was way fun. We stayed outside and wore masks but it was fun. We also got to eat good old Brazilian food: salgadinhos, brigadeiro e bolo. Kelly LOVED church and felt the Spirit. There was a musical number and she said she wanted to stand up and clap after, it was so good. A super great week.

Now on to this one:

Super great news!!! Kelli was baptized yesterday!! I'm so so happy for her! It's been really special. When we got the referral in May when we got here, she was suuuuper busy so it was hard to get a hold of her. But, we were able to have a cool lesson and gave her a Book of Mormon, promising the power it can bring into our lives. She was super diligent about reading it and it helped her make a lot of changes in her life. I'm so happy for her and proud of her progress. People CAN change!!! She made the decision to be baptized! The service was so special yesterday. A cute family did a musical number and the spirit was so strong. I got to be a witness! Kelly cried during the talk, during the musical number, when she received the Holy Ghost, basically the whole time. She's so funny. She had to be baptized 3 times because her left hand didn't go down and she laughed about that the rest of the day. But, the whole thing was so special and such a miracle. 

Another miracle!! We found someone to teach through Facebook!! We posted something about doing a Bible Study in a Brazilian Facebook Page and someone named Frank messaged us saying he wanted to learn about the church!!! It was awesome!! He's super cool and super interested. He just texted us right now that he's been reading the Book of Mormon on the plane and is loving it! He lives in another mission so we passed him off to the elders there but he is awesome. Eleitos!!

We made more pão de queijo and it was yummy! We tried making cuscus and brigadeiro (a Brazilian truffle thing) but it did not work out. Also, if anyone's in doubt, baking powder and baking soda are VERY different and can NOT be used as substitutes, as we learned with some brownies that turned out super weird. We still ate them though.

Today I was kinda stressed because there's a lot going on at home and here but I found a lot of comfort in the hymn "Be Still, My Soul." I especially loved when it said:

Leave to thy God to order and provide;

In ev’ry change he faithful will remain.

Be still, my soul: Thy God doth undertake

To guide the future as he has the past.

This was just such a comfort to me because He has guided me in the past and will continue to do so. Everything will work out. I know it will.

Beijos!!

Sister Dobbs

My district!!

Kelly!!

For pday we went to Wheeler Farm and saw lots of animals

E aí galera!! Tudo bem??

Another great week has FLOWN by! 

We went on a super pretty hike in Cottonwood Canyon called Donut Falls. It was pretty cold in the the canyon. The waterfall was beautiful. It had just rained so it was a bit slippery, but so so fun. We ate our lunch on the trail like the legit campers we are. #nature 

This week we met lots of families in the area and are trying to find new people to share the greatest news ever with: that there is a God who loves us and He has restored His church on the earth today! We have a lot of fun knocking on doors of people who were taught in the past. We've met some fun people! I'm coming to realize how (relatively) diverse Salt Lake is! We've met people from Angola, Ghana, Yemen, South Sudan, The Congo, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina, Bosnia, Somalia, Portugal and Brazil of course. It's crazy! 

For the 4th we got Brazilian style hot dogs at a food truck owned by a member in our ward. It was soooooo good. Complete with mayo, mashed potatoes, peas, corn and cheese, it was delish. 

Our shower broke last week! The faucet just came straight off and when we tried to put it back in place, and turned the water on, the water pressure shot it off again. So guess who showered using buckets for about a week. 🙋‍♀️ At least it was hot water. It finally got fixed on Friday.

We also met John Bytheway this week! He lives like 2 minutes from us and we had to stop by to pick something up and talked to him and his wife for like 30 minutes! They were so nice. He used to be our Stake high councilor over missionary work but was telling us he just got called to be on the General Young Men Presidency so that's kinda exciting. His daughter's getting married tomorrow too and they invited us to the drive by reception, lol. 

This was something our mission president's wife read in a devotional. It's Mosiah 15:14-16. This is to all my missionary friends out there (and you know, every member a missionary!) In crazy times, the Lord needs US to "publish peace." To let the world know that it's all gonna be okay and this is all part of the Plan. All those who continue to declare peace to the world, are an example to the world, an ensign to the nations. And I know Prince of Peace Himself is so pleased when we do so.

I love you all!! It's all gonna be okay!

And these are they who have published peace, who have brought good tidings of good, who have published salvation; and said unto Zion: Thy God reigneth!

And O how beautiful upon the mountains were their feet!

And again, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that are still publishing peace!