Conferência de Zona, Aula de inglês, e pday com Mãe Rose

Hi everyone!!!!

It was a great week! I walked a lot, ate a lot, met some cool people, and had a lot of fun! We had Zone Conference this week which was super super good. It was about repentance and forgiveness and how to work with the members. I learned that the doctrine of repentance is something really misunderstood. Christ has already suffered, so it's us who suffer until the moment we repent (D&C19:16-19), and the fact that we can repent is truly a miracle, it is "boas novas de grande alégria" (glad tidings of great joy). Pain and guilt can become peace. It's a principle that we need to live as well as teach, because no one understands the Atonement better than someone who has applied it in their life. I love zone Conference because we are spiritually uplifted AND I get to see all the missionaries, including my sweet CTM comp Sister Maxwell. 

A mission truly is a sacred time and I'm so grateful for this time I have to study the gospel, learn more about myself and grow as a person, and see the Lord work miracles. One theme of the week was that Heavenly Father truly answers our prayers. I saw that in so many different ways. When the day doesn't go how we planned it, we thought of someone to visit, and followed the prompting. It turned out to be inspiration because they were really needing it. This happened with Irmã Mara and Jonathan, a recent convert who is the only member in his family. It was a testimony builder for me that Heavenly Father is aware of each of us and loves us so much.

Yesterday at the weekly english class, we made chocolate chip cookies because they wanted to try an "american recipe." The smell reminded me so much of home and my mom's cookies and it made me so happy. In the class, I get to help with the correct pronunciation and grammar and  I really like it. But it's occasionally embarrassing, because sometimes they ask me for a word in english and I can't think of it and yesterday, I thought "forty" was spelled with a "u." My brain just gets a little confused sometimes. 

Today we had a little birthday party for Sister Motta who turned 20 on Saturday! We had lunch with Mãe Rose and she made burgers with batatas fritas (french fries) and a delicious cake. It was delicious and super fun. 

I love you all, I hope you all have a great week, and I hope you all can find some small way to talk about the gospel with someone this week! 

Lots of love,

Sister Dobbs 

I've got a ton of pics this week of some members in our ward, lots of pics from Zone Conference and pics from today at Mãe Rose´s

Our friend Samanta 

Samanta's 2 filhas (daughters): Mari and Mariana

The best family in our ward who helped us unclog our sink and are always helping us: Elvira, Valdir, and Guillerme

Irmã Mara and her baby

Me and Sister Lopes

Zone Conference!!!!

My sweet Sister Maxwell, my CTM comp

More sisters in my zone who are from Switzerland, Utah, and Bolivia

More zone conf pics

Pday at Mãe Rose´s (uma delícia)

Chegou Verão- Summer Has Arrived

Hola família!!!!

This week was HOT! It was 36 degrees Celsius, which is like 96 Fareneheit. We are always sweating and we get a little darker every day. The nice thing is, when we're thirsty, we just knock on literally any door, and even if people have no interest in our message, we can ask for cold water and they'll give it to us. Sometimes we knock on members' doors if we know of any nearby, but it's usually total strangers. Just one neat thing about the culture and hospitality here.

I was super happy because this week, two couples I was teaching in my old area got baptized! Tibiriçá and Leiliane, and Regina and Luis. They both got married, got baptized, and got to make eternal covenants with the Lord that will bless their families forever. I'm happy that I got to be a part of that.

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but we're teaching some people from Venezuela. They're super cool, super neat, but, you guys..... I do not speak spanish. I tried, with the little spanish I remember from high school, but it came out all wrong. Luckily, Guillerme, a recently returned missionary in our ward, is willing to accompany us and he translates for us.

I bore my testimony in sacrament meeting yesterday! That was kinda fun. It was short and sweet, and in portugese of course, so that was a first. I'll pull a London Tipton (from the Disney TV show Suite Life of Zach and Cody) and say, "Yay, me!"

This week we had an apartment inspection, where a member in our stake came by and took pictures of everything to send to the mission president. The night before we scrubbed and scrubbed so everything was pristine. Also, we finally got our kitchen sink fixed! It had been clogged since the week I got here. Our kitchen had flooded many times and we had to do the dishes in this little sink in the laundry room, which was a good time. We are very happy now that it´s fixed. I feel like the feng shui of my life is restored.

My comp and I are going to the english classes on Sundays now and it's way fun. We met a woman one time in a thrift shop, who overheard me saying I was from California, and told me it was her dream to learn English. We told her that the church has a free english course and she came! We were able to start teaching her, so it just shows how the Lord places people in our paths and how we can use the resources the church offers to find people.

I know that this is the Lord's work, because if it wasn't, there's no way it would work. The system is perfect, this church is perfect, and God is at the helm. Imagine 60 million young people, in various countries all over the world, trying to learn foreign languages and invite people to come to Christ. Esta obra está crescendo diariamente, this work is growing daily and it is because of the Lord, not because of us. It is nothing short of miraculous.

Love you all so so much
Sister Dobbs

We ordered pizza one night and it was amazing!

Hellooooooo família!

This email's just gonna be a bunch of random stories and tidbits from the last few weeks:

This weekend was super fun with General Conference and all. This is a special weekend where we get to listen to our prophet and other church leaders through a worldwide transmission and it's super duper cool. I know without a doubt that our prophet is a man called of God and I certainly felt that this weekend. We watched it from the stake center here and it was kinda fun to watch it in portugese. A little different, but fun. In between the sessions, some elders in our zone had a baptism and my comp got to be a witness for the baptism so that was exciting. One thing I definitely felt this weekend was that the Lord is aware of each of us personally and He speaks to us, through His servants, the things that we need to hear. Also, I know that these are the last days and we need to repent and prepare because Jesus Cristo logo voltará.

The apartment building we live in is called Edifício California. It makes me feel famous

We met an old guy and he invited us in and he and his wife showed us LOTS of picture albums of their kids and grandkids. He explained that he had lost his thumb in an accident years ago and kept it because he wants to be buried with it and, as he said, he wants to arrive in heaven with all his body parts. Unfortunately, he did not want to hear the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, but at least we got a good story out of it. The man and his thumb are pictured below.

We're getting out of winter and going into spring, but it's still pretty cold.  It's been raining a ton here. One day it even hailed!! It came out of nowhere. We had brought umbrellas, thankfully, because we could tell by the sky that it was going to rain. We were walking to a lesson and out of nowhere, it started raining and immediately turned into hail! My companion was freaking out because she had never seen hail before. We ran under a little covering on someone's porch. The hail stopped after about 10 minutes and turned into rain. It was a good time.


Teaching Maria and Luis with our friend Guillerme, a returned missionary who got home from Ecuador last month. He helps us a ton and is the best

General Conference with our sister leaders, Sister Motta and Sister Pereira

I really really love my mission and I just want to say something really quickly. As a missionary, we see just how important the role of members is. There's a quote in PMG that says that for converts, joining the church is like entering a whole new world and everything is unfamiliar. So many people are baptized but go inactive shortly after. I'm just gonna get on my missionary soap box for a sec and say that members are crucial because as missionaries, there's nothing better than when you bring someone to church and they love it because everyone welcomed them and they felt at home. I love you all so so much and I know that this is the Lord's work. I'm so happy to be here, grateful for all my Savior has done for me and grateful to be here serving Him.

Love,
Sister Dobbs

Hi friends and family!

Just in case anyone was worried, I'm still alive here in Brazil and things are going great!

My companion, Sister Lopes is a hoot and a half and she makes me laugh every day. She hit a year this week and I hit 4 months (woo hoo!!) Her tempo na missão (time on the mission) makes mine seem a little less impressive, but the time really does fly by.

 We're doing what we can to find the eleitos (elect) here in our area. It's a little hard, but we definitely see miracles. This week, for example, we went almost the whole week without finding anyone new to teach UNTIL Sunday morning as we were walking to church, we ran into this rapaz (boy) and invited him to come to church with us and HE SAID YES. He's 18 and was walking to his own church so we invited him to ours. He really liked it and accepted our help to prepare for baptism! It just shows that miracles come sometimes at the very last moment, but they come.

Whenever I tell people I'm from California, 9 times out of 10 they start singing this song that says "vou pra California" and ask if I know it. They think it's super cool and it makes me feel kind of like a celebrity.

This weekend was a feriado (holiday), Dia do Gaucho (Day of the Cowboy), and 1) everything shut down for the feriado and 2) tons of people were walking around in traditional clothing which was super cool. I unfortunately didn't take any pics, but it was way cool. Friday night there was a stake dance and we dropped our investigator off there with her cousin. It was super cool to watch everyone dance in their floor-length skirts and dresses and the men in these fun puffy pants and vests. The dances are all coordinated, couple dances. People asked me what we dance in the US and I had to say, rather disappointingly, that I don't know how to dance and that we don't have a traditional dance for our region, like Brazil and most of South America has. Everyone told me I need to learn, so looks like I'll be getting dance lessons pretty soon.

Here's a bunch of pictures. I´m having a blast and working hard and learning lots. Til next week!

Sister Dobbs

We made a cake and it was actually really good! We shared about half with the elders but embarrassingly ate the whole other half ourselves and it didn't even last 24 hours.

Acai

We switched dresses for zone conference and honestly that's the best part about having companions

Zone Conference

Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore

Hey everybody!

So, I was gonna title my email last week Country Roads, Take Me Home because truly it was a week full of walking on dirt roads to visit and teach people who live in the middle of nowhere, way far away from the main neighborhoods. Picture evidence:

Also, I love this pic of Sister Santiago. This is what we did all day every day: walk alongside this facha/highway to different paradas/bus stops to bring the gospel to todo mundo. Good times

me and the sisters I live with- at zone conference

Two weeks ago we had the coolest opportunity to watch the live broadcast of the Prophet visiting Brazil! On that Friday, we watched a special conference for full-time missionaries that happened in Brasilia. On Sunday (Sept. 1), we watched the main broadcast that happened in São Paolo AND we brought Tibiriça and Leiliane to watch it. Tens of thousands of people were there in person and we watched it from the stake center here. They loved it! They felt the spirit and Tibiriça even cried. I did too. He said he felt a really powerful "energy" that he cried. Leiliane commented on how charismatic the prophet is. He joked around and he asked the children to sing for him. At the end, he spoke in Portuguese which was super cool. It was a powerful experience and I loved it so much.

So I was living my best life in Itacolumí and then on that Sunday, we got a call at 7:30 at night that I was being transferred to Passo Fundo! We were shocked. It was in the middle of a transfer so we truly weren't expecting it. We were able to visit Tibiriça and Leiliane to say bye. I was really sad because I love them so much and wanted to be there for their baptism, but I know that they are in good hands.

When I got home that night, I packed my bags in an hour and a half, and the next morning I was off. We took a bus from Itacolumí to the train station in Porto Alegre, then I took another bus to Passo Fundo. I left at 10am and got to Passo Fundo at 6pm. We got a ride from the train station there to my area. Yes, it was a total of 7 hours on a bus for me. But, I slept for a bit and it wasn't bad. The bus de viagem to Passo Fundo was way comfy, with reclining seats and everything.

My new area is right in the middle of the city. It's got tons of prédios (skyscrapers) and it's literally the opposite of Itacolumí (hence the title of this email). It's way fun and there's always something new to see. My companion is telling me about all these fun things I need to try here so we have a bucket list of food places that we're gonna try to cram into the last 3 weeks of this transfer.

My new area:

me and Sister Lopes, from the Bahia (in the Northeast of Brazil)

We ordered takeout sushi one night. It was cheap and delicious

I'm doing well and living my best life! Til next week!

Sister Dobbs

Woohoo!! Batismo!!

Helloooo all the way from Itacolumí!!

This week was an adventure for sure! By far the highlight was yesterday at church. We had a baptism of David, a 14 year old boy and he really is a miracle. I'm so happy for him because he's had a bit of a rough home life and the gospel is going to make all the difference in the world. And years in the future, he's gonna look back and see how his life changed because of the gospel. I'm just so happy to have been a part of it and I'm so grateful for this opportunity.

Also, at church, all the talks were about or mentioned in some way the word of wisdom and the investigator that we brought to church, Regina has a problem with smoking. She commented in Relief Society that after today, she will stop smoking. She made up her mind and that was that. She had listened to people testify of how they broke habits they'd had for 30+ years and their testimonies were powerful. Truly, the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real and we can overcome habits, addictions, and truly become new people with His help. It is nothing short of miraculous. I was so grateful for the way the Lord worked that day and how the Spirit touched her heart. His hand is in all things.

So, we had a pday with our zone last week and made churrasco (barbeque) (pic below). AND I had it again yesterday in a member's house. Oh! And I had coracão de galinha (chicken heart)! It was good! I wasn't a huge meat eater before the mission, but I totally am now because we have it so much and it is dang good.

My companion and I fixed our shower so now we have hot water again! There were a couple of cold showers but it was just like camping so I was chillin'. Our shower head has this space in it with water and a u-shaped metal coil and that's how it's heated (pictures below) and we had to replace the metal coil because it had come undone at one end and so the current was broken. It was an adventure and I was way proud of us for figuring it all out.

I went shopping and was trying to decide which milk to buy (the cartons were two different colors) and saw the fine print that said 3% gordura (fat) vs 0% and Sister Workman and I immediately thought of the movie Napoleon Dynamite ("I see you´re drinking 2%, is that cuz you think you´re fat? cuz you could be drinking whole if you wanted") and we laughed.

It was a good week, full of adventures and miracles and lots of walking. I love you all!!!

Sister Dobbs

You can work hard and have fun while doing it

Hey friends and family!!!

This week was incredible and poderoso! I got a new companion this week. Her name is Sister Santiago and she's from São Paolo. She's been a member for almost two years, and she's been on the mission for 4 months. She's super energetic, super hardworking, and she's a powerhouse. I can barely keep up with her! She's got this crazy laugh and I love her to pieces. This week was WILD and just full of miracles. It was also one of the most fun weeks on my mission so far!

So, to start off, we're teaching a couple named Tibíriça and Leiliane (his name is way uncommon, even here, so if you're wondering how to say it, just know that everyone has trouble with his name). Their story is pretty incredible. We met him one day at a bus stop and talked with him for a bit, left a pass along card, and got his information to visit another day. Pretty normal stuff. We tried visiting his house but the address was wrong, and no one on that street knew anyone with that name so we just left it and didn't think much of it. One month later, we get a referral from São Paolo, Tibíriça, and we knew it was a sign. We went to try and visit him again, with a new address, and we found him! He was so excited to talk to us. Apparently, he had called the number of the church site to request a Book of Mormon, having heard a little bit about the church before. The sisters at the São Paolo Temple Visitors Center talked to him a bit and sent us his address and it was just so cool. We were truly led to him and I can see the Lord's hand in it all. We began teaching them and they're just so special. They had been through a lot in the last two years and were forced to leave their home in Florianopolis, and I know that the timing in all this was not coincidental. It was really neat to be able to testify to them that amid all that they're going through, the Lord has a plan for them and He is with them through it all. They came to church this Sunday with their two little kids and are going to get baptized not this Sunday but the next and I'm so so happy for them! We've been teaching them for two and a half weeks now and they are like our family. I'm so grateful that the Lord lead us to them and that we could introduce them to the gospel. This gospel really changes lives and makes all the difference.

We had this super cool ward activity on Saturday and it was so so fun! We went to this place called Planatlantica and had churrasco and played some futbol and it was so chill and so fun. My comp and I played with all the men in the ward lol, but it was so much fun. I wasn't super good, but I did make a killer assist in one of our 2 goals. We brought Tibiriça and Carlos, another pesquisador (investigator), to the activity and it was such a great opportunity for them to conhecer (get to know) the igreja (church) in a more casual way and they made lots of friends. The members are awesome and so friendly and inclusive. I love our ward so so much! Another miracle of the activity was that a member brought their neighbor, a 14-year-old named David, and we got to talk to him. He said, straight up, "I've been wanting to get baptized but my old church said I was too young" and we were so shocked/happy and said, "hey that's literally what we do as missionaries, help people prepare for baptism!" He went to church yesterday and is gonna get baptized this Sunday! It's so, so cool to see that truly people are prepared to hear the gospel and "only kept from the truth because they don't know where to find it." The work is incredible here in Brasil and it's just awesome to see it progress. I know that this is the Church of Jesus Christ and that we are in the last days, preparing the world for the Second Coming of the Savior. There are so many people who are ready to change their lives and follow Him and we need to find them and baptize them. It's a powerful thing to witness and I´m amazed every day at the miracles I see.

I love you all so so much! Thank you for your prayers and for your support! I'm really happy here and I know my Savior is with me, bearing me up, in every moment of every day.

Ericka, a dog, that followed us for almost two hours one day, and that found us the next day. I think she wants to help this work too

Me very excited to eat this sacole (popsicle). It was way hot one day and we saw a sign saying they sold sacoles so you know we bought em and had a good time

my awesome new companion

me and some sheep

Ward activity friends: AnnaJulia and Vitoria