12/29/14

week 50 

Well of course this was an amazing week!! I got to talk to my family christmas day and I absolutely loved that! I was so happy when I saw them! We were able to talk for a bit and share some good laughs. It was super weird to think that it was snowing there and its super hot here. haha But I am so grateful for my family and everything they do for me. I am so thankful that we are an Eternal Family! :)

So we are teaching Josiane still. She wants to be baptized and she has already gone to church one time, but her dad has a heart problem and she literally needs to stay at his side 24/7. So we understand why she cant go to church, but she is always reading the Book of Mormon and every thing we ask her to read. She´ll be baptized for sure, the question is When? haha but she is awesome. 

We made a contact last week and returned this week with a lady. We taught about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. She said ´´I already know this is true!´´ Her mom is 90 and she also needs to stay by her side all the time, but we are going to try to help her go to church this Sunday. 

Christmas Eve we went to a members house for a special dinner. It was super good and i loved it! the Hostess gave all 4 of us missionaries a tie for christmas. And they were super good looking ties!! 

Christmas day, we went to Eltons house to do service and help him with his lawn. Then we went home and showered then we got to skype!! Yay!! I cant believe I have to wait another 5 months to wait to talk to yall. but we´ll see if ill servive! haha 

I love yall and am so grateful for yall!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Com Amor,

Elder Marstella  

12/15/14

Week 49

Hello friends and family! This week has been pretty good! and its one more week closer to Christmas! I dont really feel like its christmas time because its super hot here. like super hot. Monday and Tuesday this week we were in Cuiabá for zone meeting. Then we got back and went to work. 

This week our goal was to talk to everybody about ´´He is the Gift´´. We made lots and lots of contacts. And we ended up getting more than 25 addresses that people said we could teach them more in their houses. Christmas time really is awesome and a wonderful opportunity we have to feel the spirit of christmas in our lifes. And the opportunity to help other people that are in need.

For right now, we have a baptismal date set for December 27th with a young woman named Josiane. She is 17 and she has been reading the Book of Mormon everytime we leave a chapter for her to read. She is currently dating Recent Convert and the RC invited her to know about his faith. She went to church yesterday for the first time and liked it alot! She has already gotten an answer that the Book of Mormon and THe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true! She is truly awesome! 

Yesterday we watched the Christmas Devotional and Elder Christoffersons talk touched my heart. He talked about a family that the parents couldnt get there kids anything for christmas, but on christmas day the kids found a dime and swore it was from santa. The kid went to the grocery store but it was closed. the kid went to the owners house and the owner opened the store for him and gave him lots of candy for him and his little brothers and sisters. We all can do a little bit more to help those in need during this time of year.

I love yall and ill talk to yall next week!!

Feliz Natal,

Elder Marstella 

12/10/14

Week 48

Well Monday i wasnt able to get on because we were in Cuiaba. But im here in Cáceres again. I ended up getting here at 3 am... so last Tuesday i just pretty much slept and unpacked. Tuesday night we went to a member´s house right behind our house. When the wife saw me she started to scream with excitement because I came back. hahah that was cool! 

So my new companions name is Elde Johansson. It looks like an american name, but he is brazilian and he is new to the mission. This is his 7th week in the mission, so im finishing his training. 

This last week, I wanted to meet everyone he and his ex companion have been teaching. There is one family that consists of the mom (Less Active), the dad (non-member), and their son (Recent convert). The dad wants to get  baptized, they are just waiting to get married before he can be baptized. And the son wants to marry a girl who also wants to get married! This family is really cool and they love the Lord! 

Also the wife and Husband from above (the one that screamed when she saw me) brought to non member young women to church. And they really liked it! We have shared the book of mormon with them and talked about baptism with one of them! It really is neat how much the members help in our work! 

So the church worldwide started a program for christmas that is called ´´he is the gift´´ which talks about the true meaning of Christmas. Its a video on youtube and we will start using that to make contacts and meet people! 

So im good, just tired all the time! Monday was my official 11 month anniversary on the mission!! Yay!! Time really does fly! 

Ill send pictures of my couple days in cuiabá next week! I love yall! I love you mom!!

Com Amor,

Elder Marstella

PS Happy birthday to Elder Johansson! 

12/1/14

Week 47

Sooo we got our transfer calls last night. and im going to Cáceres, again! I served there for 9 weeks before i came to Lucas, so I still know alot of the members there! Im excited to go back, but im sad to leave Lucas! Lucas was awesome and it was an honor to serve here. The members here are absolutely awesome and I love them! 

I leave 3:30 and take a bus to Cuiaba, then at midnight, i take a bus to caceres. So itll be a long bus ride for sure haha.

Anyways, this week we taught a family that the sisters met on the street. This family wanted the sisters to visit them, but its in our area, so we did a compromise, 2 sisters and us 2 elders went to go teach them together. This family consists of a wife, husband, a daughter, and a nephew. They are super accepting and wanted to go to church. We taught about the restoration and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Both of those lessons the sisters came to help out. I wont be here to find out what happens with them, but i hope they all get baptized!

And this week we asked the sisters to visit katia with us. They did and we all talked with Katia about making the covenant of being baptized. She is still a little unsure of it, but i hope she gets baptized soon! Im sad i wont be here for when that happens! 

Ohh we went to a less actives house this week and we made a little band. haha the member plays bass, Elder Payne played guitar, and i sang. haha it was actually pretty cool and i wish i would of filmed it, but we didnt. haha 

I dont have much time this week because of transfers, but I love yall and I love you mom! I hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving week!!

Com Amor,

Elder Marstella

11/24/14

Week 46

Hello friends and family! This week was another slower week, but we visited alot of Less Actives and Recent Converts.

One of our Recent Converts name is Anderson. He is 17 and he was baptized in Setember. He is really cool! These past Sundays his family went fishing and he went with them. We focused on him this week to go to church yesterday, and he went!! And he even picked us up in his brothers car! It was awesome! He really is an amazing guy and we are trying to help him have a desire to serve a mission in a year! We love him! I gave him a tie and my last comp gave him a white shirt so now he looks the priests here! Ahh he is awesome!!  haha

On Thursday, we had a BBQ with another Less Active. His name is Rafael and he is super sweet. He is 28 and has been a member all his life. He now works on Sundays, so we are just trying to help him keep the gospel as the number thing in his life. We try to visit him a couple times a week just to talk and ask if he needs help with anything.

Im running out of time again, but I love yall and in one month ill be able to skype home!! Im sooooo excited!!!

Com Amor,
Elder Marstella

Next Monday is Transfers so depending on what happens, im not sure when ill get on!