Sister Aundrea Evans In Sao Paulo

Bom dia família e amigos!!!

This week was transfers!!! I was really nervous at first, because I am new, and I have to show my new trainer around Cerquilho, and introduce people and know the members, but it wasn´t even bad. In fact, it is so good. My new trainer is Sister Berntsen, and she is an angel sent from heaven. (Technically not my trainer anymore because the mission will not be training officially… more on that later.) The problem with Cerquilho is that the same generation of missionaries have been working there for so long, that it has just plateaued, and even started to go downhill. The branch is severely struggling, as we have 300 members baptized, but only 20 come to church. But as I am brand new, I know nothing. BUT my new trainer came in and HOLY COW SHE IS AMAZING. She is so good at discerning the spirit, and has so many new ideas. We´re having family home evening tonight with a bunch of members and nonmembers and hopefully people will show up, because we made a cake and everything. This has not happened in a long while, I can tell. We studied together to figure out why no one comes to church. Listen to this, this is how she works. I am astounded.

We talked to several menos ativos (less actives or people who don’t come to church a lot anymore), and asked them why they don´t come to church. All of them said they didn´t get along with someone, or they didn´t like they way someone did things… basically they were offended. In church, Sis Berntsen heard in her mind ´´gadianton robbers´´ which was like, what the? But she made the connection that if we do the thing like the gadianton robbers, using inside people and underground tunnels and such (metaphorically) we can infiltrate Cerquilho and spread the gospel like that. The members are our inside people of power that seem like normal people, and don´t look like missionaries. if we can use them to help us find people and get references, we can teach the people and baptize them, which in turn, gets the members excited and wanting to help more. As we continued to study, we found in the scriptures that when there is contention amongst the people, it means that they are not united under a common goal. That is so true among this people, everyone has a different goal for the branch, even if it´s a good goal, it´s not the same goal. So, we decided we needed to establish a common goal among them that we can all work toward. But what? Well, Moses 1:39, my friends. God´s work and glory is… to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. That is our goal. We need to unite together to bring eternal life unto the people of Cerquilho. And if they accept or reject is up to them, but we are going to give them every opportunity. We will not be wasting time with people who are almost ready to receive the gospel anymore. Either they are ready to learn and be baptized now, or they will have to wait. That was a problem of the past… chasing after the people who are almost prepared. They need just a little more time in the oven until we can take them out and put the frosting on top ya know what I’m sayin? We can´t afford to waste time chasing after those who say “oh, maybe I’ll go to church this Sunday… I’ll try´´ because we have SOULS TO SAVE.

Anyway, I would just like to bear my testimony that I know with a certainty that this church is the church of Jesus Christ, and that He established this same church when He was on the earth, with a prophet, 12 apostles, and the authority of God. I know that there is literally nothing better I could be doing with my life right now. Preaching the gospel is everything. I am so grateful for this once in a lifetime opportunity to serve the lord with all my heart, might, mind, and strength, with my eyes set solely on God´s will. There is so much more to life than just surviving. There’s more to life that even just living. This gospel allows you to have true joy in your life. It fills the hole in your heart you never knew was there. It brings you closer to your family, and your relationships have deeper meaning. You are never alone, and no matter what you do, His hand is stretched out still. 

Eu amo todos vocês!!! (I love you all)

Sister Evans

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, brothers and sisters, unto you I proudly present… the year 2017! The year of new beginnings, the year of second chances, the year of the Lord, and the year of my mission. My first 3 months are pretty much over, and I get to be in the service of the Lord this entire year!!! Whaaaaat! And I get to experience winter in Brazil!! I’m excited. 2016 LORD´S TRIP WE´RE GOIN BIG! (That was for you, Jaren)

Anyway, this week was interesting. We almost had 2 baptisms but then we didn´t. but Abel was confirmed, and so was Claudia, who was baptized last transfer! It was so awesome. 

Also this week, I was hit on by an old Brazilian man with long greasy hair. It was quite an experience. Help me. basically we were walking down the

street and he is behind us but we were pretty far away thank goodness, and he yells out to us ´´I don´t know you, can I get to know you?´´ except in Portuguese, which is creepier, because the word conhecer was used and that really translates to ´to be familiar with´ and it was creepy as heck. Sis robbi yelled back “only in the church. come to church on Sunday and you can´´ and he was like ´´no can I get to know you now´´ and we were like oh heck to the no and turned around and started walking away, but he yelled hey at us, and he rips off his hat to reveal gray, greasy, shoulder-length hair, which he whips out and stands there with his head to the side to show it off, while pointing at me\sis robbi and we were like well, this is awkward and walked away, he kept yelling at us but we just kept walking. *shiver*

Also, transfers are tomorrow, and I’m staying her in Cerquilho, with another American named sister Berentson or something like that to finish my training. (I’ll give you her real name next week mom so you can stalk her) and sis robbi is going to zona Barcelona to be a sister lider treinadora in Rio Acima. so I’m getting a madrasta, but it´s okay. what´s going to be

weird is I am a greenie, and she has 7 months, and I don´t speak Portuguese, and I don´t know where she is with it, and I don´t know the area very well still, and she has no idea., so I like have to be in charge with talking to members and stuff. AHHH RESPONSABILIDADE!!!! It´s okay, just pray for me. 

Anyway, New Year’s resolutions anyone? I’ve always hated new year´s resolutions, in fact, last year, I didn´t make any. But this year our zone decided we were all going to leave something behind to make this year better. And besides my family, home, air conditioning, and my life, I’ve decided to leave behind thoughts of myself, and think as much as possible about others. I truly want to lose myself in the work, but as I am still adjusting, it´s rather difficult. I know that if I have faith that the lord will help me, and I act on that faith by really trying to forget myself, it will come to pass. I’ve found that is how faith works. I was struggling with it a few weeks ago, but now I know. When you have faith, you will act. It leads to action. You make it happen, and usually you can´t do it all by yourself, so the Lord steps in and helps out. Think about this: using your faith, try to move a table. ´´I have faith that I can move this table´´ but no matter how hard you try, you can´t move it just by sitting there. But if you truly have faith that you can move that table, you´ll go over there and push it. This is faith. 

Also, family, if you could pray for my feet, that would be great. I don´t know what to do anymore. They´re better than in the beginning, but they don´t actually have the time to heal because I am always wearing shoes and always walking. I’m praying but I need help because I am this close to cutting them off. 

Eu amo vocês!!!

Feliz novo ano!!! 

Sister Evans

pics: Cerquilho sunset

my zone Itapetininga

when brazilians try to speak english…(knockout)

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