Agua Viva

This week flew by just like this next one will because we have a ward activity night by the missionaries and then a dinner for couples on Saturday night and President Leite is coming and were hoping our investigators come!!  

This week we were walking down the street after we had an awesome lesson with a less active member who just needed someone to tell him to come back because he still reads the Book of Mormon everyday.  Anyway, so we were walking and this guy and his son were on the other side of the street and they started waving at us and we're like, "Ah, we don’t know you, but let's get to know you because we're missionaries."  So we went over and it turns out this guy has two friends who are Mormon and he always liked the teachings of the gospel and our standards and just didn’t know when the church building was open to visit and we were like, "Well this Sunday it will be open for everyone at 8:30 and you and your family are invited!" And he said, "That’s awesome!"  Sadly, they were headed out of town this weekend, but they want to come next weekend!!! Yaya!!! 

We also got super close to a baptism this week, but after a great last lesson the next day Robson wasn’t feeling ready, so were hoping that next week he will be ready and we know he will be because he really is looking for answers!!

We also didn’t have water in our house this week or light for a time and it was filled with mosquitos which was great fun! Camping in our house! It was so funny! But luckily our water came back on last night!!!  Yayay happiness!!!

Which reminds me of a scripture in John 4:14 where Christ is talking to the women at the well and talks about the living water and how if we come unto him and do our part we can be filled with his goodness and never be thirty again! Such a great part!!  We all need to come unto Christ and be humble and then we will receive not just blessings but miracles and we will have eternal life!!

Anyway I have to go! Love you all soooooooooo much!!!!!!!

Sister Neuberger

We Are All God's Children

This week real fast!

Tuesday I got so cold!!! It was raining and it had to be like 30 degrees (Celsius) because I was using my blankets and a long sleeve t-shirt and drinking cha and still freezing.  #truebrasi or more like #truecerenca

This week we taught some really great lessons and the Spirit was soooooo strong you could have cut it with a knife!!! THOSE ARE MY FAVORITE LESSONS TO TEACH WHEN THE SPIRIT IS NOT JUST TESTIFYING TO YOUR INVESTIGATOR, BUT ALSO TO YOU!!! AHHH THE GOSPEL IS TRUE!! HE LOVES ME AND YOU!!!!!!  We also had a few investigators at church this week!!! So many small miracles we saw this week that lead to investigators in church.  And so many less actives too!! And we finally scheduled an activity night for the ward members which we're super pumped about!!! Ahh, things are going great and the families here are just amazing. I love them all soo much!!  I'm not ready to leave here or Brasil, so I think I'll just stay a little longer, a transfer or two, hahaha

I also made friends with a  4 year old this week as my comp and the other sisters where getting their capas de planajamento laminated. I made animals out of play-doh and had my portrait drawn (let me tell you it's igualzinho de minha cara kkkkk) Then the other day we passed by for my comp to buy a pen and I decided to talk to my little friend again (his name is Diego) and he gave me some popcorn #wereallyarefriends!  He must have known that I always make pipoca em casa!  Anyway my comp and I decided to teach his mom the plan of salvation right there and then !!!!!!! It was amazing! She loved it!! Sadly, they live in Fortaleza, but we passed their endereço para os missonarios la!

We also got super lost this week in going to the center of Fortaleza and ended up at the beach. Whoops! But when you're, lost what else is there to do but take pics? haha

Also, had my last zone conference this week!!!!! I don’t believe it!! I was so nervous to give my last testimony in front of everyone because our zone is big. Anyway, I did it and it went well. I talked about the plan of happiness and mission and the atonement and miracles and just smiling everyday because we're all children of God and we get to share that message everyday!!  Anyway it went well and I was smiling so much I couldn’t cry. Though my mouth was so dry because I was so nervous. I choked up on the word enfoque, mas after a few tries again it got out and I was on my way again.  Then I sat down next to my comp and Sister Garcia and they were like, "You talk soooooooooo fast!!!!!! |You are really from the Ceará!!!"  YES I AM!! I'M FROM BRASIL!!!!!!!!!! 

Love you all soo much!!!

Sister Neuberger

Eight Legs

This week we had sooooo many less actives come back to church it was amazing!! And soo good to see them!!  We are working hard with the youth and slowly a lot of them are coming back and we're really seeing the one by one happen as one youth visits another and invites them to church. And slowly, but surely more and more are coming. It's fantastic!!!!!

I broke my name tag this week, but it all started because I was retelling a story to the elders and well I was really excited about it (I don’t remember the story), but I ended up breaking my name tag. Luckily, Elder Luna fixed it and then a few days later it broke again and I couldn't find all the pieces, but with help from my comp we found it all and now my name tag is all back together again and I hope it holds for the next month. hehe.

I got the exciting news this week that my investigator of my other area was baptized after a year this week!!! I was soo excited with the news!!

Also, last night we were walking home and we ran into my “brothers” of my other area and It was soo fun to catch up with them for a little and hear all about everyone in my other area.    Things are really moving along there which is fantastic!! 

Also, they broke the streets up this week, but everyone has a motorcycle so everyone has just been going dirt biking which is hilarious.  I love Brasil!

Oh and a few days ago we got home and flipped on the light and as I turned the light switch on I almost touched a massive toranchila (massive spider). As it ran across the wall my comp freaked out which made me not freak out, but instead, die of laughter on the floor and she was like "Nooo, kill it!!! But I couldn’t stop laughing, but luckily one of the other sister leader trainers was with us and she killed it. Wow! It was massive but, the reaction of my comp was fantastic!

I was reading in Alma this week in Alma 26:25 about how he asks how can we not rejoice with knowing that we have our Father in Heaven who loves us and is right here for us at all times and this should give us the greatest  amount of joy as long, as we believe and trust in him, because then all things are possible!!

Love you all have great week!!

Sister Neuberger

Happiness Sem Fim!

I almost broke my head on an electric box this week as we were walking down the street.  If you're familiar with the sidewalks of Brasil you know that everyone does their own sidewalk so nothing is even one sidewalk to the next.  Anyway, I was looking down to make sure I didn't miss the step when what I really needed was to be looking up because there was a massive electric box that nailed me in the head.  But all is well.

Lots more cheers and fireworks this week as Brasil keeps winning in World Cup.  We also saw one firework break the roof of a house. (there aren’t many laws against fireworks here). Anyway, the World Cup is lit and it feels like we have fireworks going off in our house because they are often right outside our window.

We also were teaching this lady this week during the soccer game and as we were talking about how much happiness we can have forever, Brasil scored which was hilarious because then we were like "yes see this happiness? Well guess what? We can have even more happiness like this forever. How cool is that?!  (She wasn’t really interested, but it made me and my comp smile.)

I've been reading in Alma this week about Ammon and Amulek and how they had so much faith in the Lord that they were able to teach the Lamanites even though they were a wicked people.  It just goes to show that if we truly rely on the Lord we can do any and all things!

As for the week I had a day in Pacatuba with the Sister Training Leader, Sister Ribanio who is an amazing sister!!  She teaches so well and just is so loving to everyone!! Also, their area is amazing! It's huge and is right up against the mountains and there are just so many people!!!  I learned a lot form her this week.  

They broke up the main intersection road this week, but as we are in Brasil and everyone has a moto, people have just been going dirt biking which is fantastically hilarious.

Hope you all have a woderful week!! Love you all soo much!!

Sister Neuberger

Copa do Mundo

6/18/2018

Cookie Bribes

BRASIL SIL SIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  sadly they didn't win the first game of the cup, but at least it was a tie!  Wow! well let's just first talk about how Brazilians love love love soccer and their country (during the copa do mundo) so basically everything is painted green, yellow and blue. Streamers and flags are everywhere and everyone's got their jersey on!  Its awesome!!! So the first game yesterday we were just casually walking in the  street and it's hilarious because everyone is watching on max volume so you can hear every word even in the middle of the street and then when Brasil scored it was like the world erupted with all the shouts and screams and  ridiculous amount of fireworks. Literally the greatest!!   Hard to do missionary work, but great to see the true Brazilian culture.  We did end up finding a guy who works as a security guard at a shop and we taught the plan of salvation and he loved it and wanted his family to hear all about it. He has two kids at home. Sadly, he doesn’t even live close to our area, but we talked to the elders and other missionaries are for sure going to go find him and his family!!

We also  made a billion cookies this week for our members and made little notes to hopefully get some referrals.  (Thanks Chase for the idea!) 

I've definitely been learning tons and tons about not getting discouraged and to just stay happy even when nothing is really working.  And when nothing is really working,  just remember it's all going to be worth it in the end because we can all be with Heavenly Father again and have joy without end!!

Have a great week!!

Sister Neuberger

With Our GPS We'll Never Get Lost! Oops!

6/11/2018

Well this week I learned so much about the genealogy of Adam and Eve because me and my comp decided that we are going to read the Bible together  before I go home and (for me to learn more Portuguese) to remember more things that we've forgotten and to learn more.  And wow have we already learned so much about the genealogy!! Its fantastic!!!  We also found our favorite verse in Genesis  18:6.  Go read it it will make you laugh/get hungry. Haha

This week we also went to Fortaleza about a half hour metro ride from our area!! (we got to ride the metro hehehe (the metro is weirdly super nice here!! Its awesome!!))  anyway we got directions from a member and one of the directions was wrong and we ended up halfway across town at the wrong area.  Super cool.  But we took some pictures  and acted like we weren’t lost (though we did ask a few people for directions) and then we past a shop that I remembered passing the other time I went and  from there we made it successfully to the center of Fortaleza!!   So fun!! 

This week we also met a family that their daughter is in Italy right now with her family living there because she also is a member and served in Italy! How cool is that! So we’ll see if the rest of the family wants to learn more!

Last night we got to watch the devotional with President Nelson!! It was so good!! If you haven't watched it, watch it because I'm sooo pumped!!! Its soo true we are bringing the gospel to all parts of the world because everyone needs to hear about the happiness the gospel brings and the fact that we can be families forever!!!!!!!!!!!!  This is the time!!! Hehe we are all on the winning team!!

Love you all soo much! Have great week!!!

Sister Neuberger

Finding Joy in the Small Things

6/4/2018

Well this week as food prices sky rocketed because of the greve or strike aqui in Brasil, we continue to teach people the gospel and help people have joy even when they're super stressed out.  

Anyway, this week was a lot more trying to find people.  (It seems like our area is a move to Europe haha).  We did find one old man that invited himself to church before we could invite him and when we gave him the Book of Mormon he started reading that night.  We walked by his house a half hour later and he was still reading!!  Sadly, he went out of town this weekend so he couldn't come to church, but we're still excited to see what will happen with him! 

Some of the youth worked with us this week to find a few less actives which we're hoping will help bring back those youth and strengthen them even more knowing that other youth in the ward miss seeing them too. 

Zone conference was this week and we learned how to teach by the Spirit even when you have to switch plans mid lesson.  Also, how to bring joy to others and how to teach in a way that is more joyful.

And we had divisions this week were we both head to the area of the other sisters and we switched comps for the day.  It was so fun learning about a new area and new teaching tricks. 

We also ate lots of din din this week as we discovered a place just down the street from us that has din din gorment which means they have chocolate ones and biscoito ones and strawberry ones with real strawberries and kit kat ones and Nutella ones that cover the whole inside of the treat!! Best din din ever!!!!  We also found a fun little ice cream shop and this week we will be looking for more agua de coco!!  We also had a tampico party after a long day's work this week.  Tampico is an orange/lime juice that's delicious and Sister Alcazar loves it! We also made carrot cake with brigadero (which is like hot fudge).  It was a grand old time. Also, I burned my lip this week on a hot fork because we made s'mores. 

This week I read in Alma 37:7 about how it's by small and simple things great this come to pass! Which is so true! Even when we do our part, sometimes it seems like nothing is changing and that we hardly accomplished anything, but in the end we will see the big changes that happened just because we did the small thins that we thought didn't have significance.  Bottom line: don't forget to do the small things because it's only through those things that we can have those crazy awesome blessing and miracles come. 

I love the gospel!! It's so true and it's for everyone and brings so much happiness to everyone!

Love you all sooo much!! Have a marvelous week!!!

Sister Neuberger

Sao Paulo in 24 hours

5/21/2018

This week went by so fast! Monday we cleaned the house and all the other sisters were dropped of at their new areas and then Sister Condie and I went to the sec office to wait for everyone else that was headed to São Paulo to get our visas renewed.  It was so fun! There were 12 Americans and the secretary that's from Paraguay.  We left at 10:00 pm for Natal and from Natal to São Paulo where we arrived at 3:00 in the morning. Our driver from the CTM picked us up.  Elder Altomnio had it all planned to a T.  We drove 3 hours to the police station to get our visas fixed.   We first stopped at a cute little diner that was ridculously expensive. I have a  picture of my plate that cost 30 Reis, but it was so good and they had waffles with strawberries.  We also took lots of fotos and when we landed in São Paulo and were in the bus the 12 Americans started talking in English and it was soo weird to hear us talk. Just how we talked was different and we started using words incorrectly. It was so funny.  We talked about when we all first learned Portuguese and how our Portuguese was awful. It was so funny.  (we all have about a year and a half on the mission).  Anyway ,from there it was about an hour in the police office and then it was over. We took the three hour bus ride back to the airport.  But first we stopped at another diner joint that had McDonalds and Starbucks so we all got McDonalds and had a great time eating burgers and then took a picture at Starbucks.  When we got back to the airport we had a few hours to just walk around and hangout and then it was back on the plane by 5:00 and we got back in Fortaleza at 10:00 and from there we headed back to the office where they told us were we would be sleeping. The next day we headed to get our new comps.  My comp is sister Sousa she's from the POI which is like 8 hours by car from here. She has two sisters. One is serving in Rio the other is married and her whole family is members and they've been members since she was 2.  She loves ice cream and the color blue.  She basically already knows everything, so really it's just like being with another comp and not a new missionary that just arrived from the CTM.  We've had some great tim

es.  We also had an amzing lesson last night with Silva that the spirit was so strong.  We are hoping that she decides to get baptized this week.  We also knocked on the wrong house this week, but it turned out well because the lady that answered said that she had met with missionaries before she moved, but then couldn't find them again and then now we just showed up. So we´ll for sure be heading back there this week.

Anyway in brief, this week was amazing!! AND I wish I had time for more, but that's it.

I love you all sooo much!!!!  Soo many amazing miracles happen, but just when were not looking.  I love 2 Nephi 26:13

5/28/18

With Sister Souza

Hi,

I don't really have an weekly email this week because other than getting to know my comp well and talking about everything under the sun, the rest of the week was just walking and talking to people that didn't care to know more and our one interview for the week left early before we got there because she doesn't feel like moving her life yet.  

We did have one lady come up to us and tell us she read our restoration pamphlet like 3 times and we gave her a Book of Mormon and she said she loves reading. So well see what happens with that, but she also said he doesn't have plans to move churches and she goes to church everyday so yep.  we also ate some pizza this week to celebrate my comps first month as a missionary!

On the plus side in my other areas: in my first area 2 people I taught were baptized and in my second area 3 more and 3 more in my other. And the couple that almost got married when I was there are finally going to get married this month!! And the whole family has come back to church which started a few weeks ago!!! which makes me really happy, but also i'm still sad that here and we are trying our hardest and nothing is happening. I feel  bad for my comp who just got here and this is how it's starting for her.

Always the lone Americana

Just Some Pics

Joseph

This week I gave a  15 minute talk in church!  It was super short notice (like a few hours before chuch), so I decided to talk about Lehi’s dream and about the different people in the dream and applied it to missionary work. 

We also met Joseph this week haha.  Turns out that there's a family here that their daughter joined the church a while back and served a mission and then moved to New Zealand. They loved how much she changed from learning so much on her mission and growing in such great ways that the dad decided to name the son Joseph.  Anyway super nice family.  We’ll definitely be returning.

We also had zone conference this week and we talked about living the higher law and see what heaven sees in you! Which I was like "What? Where's my mom?"  Literally was a mom devotional. It WAS AWESOME!! Loved it!! But it's soo true. We need to live in a way that we always do all that we possibly can because when we do all we can, we will be blessed with so many great things from Heavenly Father!! I know it's absolutely true!!

I love yo all soo much!! Have a great week!!!

Sister Neuberger

2 lbs of chocolate chips. Cookies for days!

Truman Show

April 16, 2018

Anyway so real fast this week went by fast with a new area and a new comp.  My new comp is Sister Guimaraes and she's from Curatiba, and she is 26 years old.  She's been a member for 8 years and she has one other sister.  She loves eating and sleeping and she's been in this area for 4 and a half months.  My area has a total of 15 streets and it's like a little beach town that is nowhere near the beach.  It's closer to mountains than to the beach.  Basically it's like this transfer is the Truman Show in real life if anyone has ever seen that show (thank you 7th grade science class).  What's funny though is that on the other side of a main road dividing our area is a mall.  And everyone seems to know my  comp here, like everyone! It's great! 

This week we did a lot of finding people and meeting some of the recent converts here.  The area is small, but my zone is huge. It's the first time that I have other sisters in my district and more than 3 duplas in my district. 

I also ran into my “brother” from Itaperi this Sunday.  He was visiting the other ward and it was so fun to see a familiar face from my other area and even though its just been a week it was fun to hear all about Itaperi and how everyone is.  

I was reading a talk from Elder Hales this week and he was talking about attributes of Christ and how we need to weave in those attributes into our life tapestry.  I like this analogy because if we weave it into our daily lives just think about how much prettier our life's tapestry will be!    

Love you all soo much!!Have a great week!!!

Sister Neuberger

Conference

This week was crazy fantastic and fast!!!  Also Happy Easter!! I hope you all took time to reflect on the amazingly wonderful gift of the atonement in our lives and how as we learn to keep the commandments we can become closer to Christ!

We got to go see the Easter show that a few wards put together every year.  It was soo fun because we got to see the other mission too! Fortaleza. Which was so fun because we got to see a few of our friends from the CTM!!! 

We also had a baptism this week!!! Remair was baptized and it was great!! along with a family of 4 that the Elders had been teaching!!  Just a spiritual moment and at the end of the baptism all the missionaries of the zone got to sing to everyone!  And then after, we all went back to watch the second half of conference.  

Conference was amazing this weekend!! Sustaining of the Prophet and 2 apostles and one being from Brasil.  (people lit up with excitement with the announcement here).  Also with 7 new temples being announced; one being in Russia and one in India.  How cool is that and the changes with visiting and home teaching!! I'm soo excited about the announcements!!!  The Church is moving forward!! And these new changes will help us even more to come closer to Christ as we work together and love one another!  Conference was amazing. If you didn't get to watch it, GO WATCH IT!! You will love it!!! You can find it on lds.org  

Have a wonderful week!!!

Sister Neuberger