Sowing Seeds, Reaping Rewards
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    • Connecting Learning to Life
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    • Back to the Land of the Giants
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  • MTC & CTM
    • Provo MTC >
      • The Journey Begins! Feb. 22, 2012
      • This is REAL LIFE! (Jeffrey R. Holland) Feb. 29, 2012
      • The MTC. I'm New Here...and Loving It! Feb. 29, 2012
      • "I Don't Know WHY We Love You, But..." Mar. 7, 2012
      • Stay tuned for the "Sisterhood of the Traveling Skirt" Mar. 7, 2012 >
        • More "Sisterhood of the Traveling Skirt"
      • Prayers ARE Answered, and Miracles DO Happen! Mar. 11 & 13
      • Is This What Foster Kids Feel Like? Mar. 14, 2012
      • Our 2nd "First Day" Mar. 19, 2012
      • I'll Be... Leavin' on a Jet Plane Mar. 26, 2012
      • Piecing Together Caveman Sentences Mar. 26, 2012 letter
    • São Paulo CTM >
      • I've Got a Stamp in My Passport! April 4, 2012
      • I LOVE Having Sister Dickson Here! April 11, 2012
      • My "Permanent Thumbs Up" April 18, 2012
  • 1st Area
    • Santa Margarida (May-June 2012) >
      • This is the Rio Life! Estamos no Brasil! May 1, 2012
      • There are Crazy Crazies Here. May 7, 2012
      • To Teach People, Not Lessons May 14, 2012
      • My Advice to All Prospective Missionaries May 21, 2012
      • The Crazy Crazies... Part 2 June 4, 2012
      • Manaus Has a Temple Now! June 11, 2012
      • My New Phrase: "Yep, Right There." June 18, 2012
      • The Responsibility of ALL of Us June 25, 2012
    • Santa Margarida (July-August 2012) >
      • A Superhero in the Neighborhood July 2, 2012
      • Let's Get Ripped, Spiritually. July 9, 2012
      • This is FUNNERRRR! July 16, 2012
      • Next-Door Neighbirds July 23, 2012
      • Is That a Peacock? July 30, 2012
      • Opposition in All Things August 6, 2012
      • Ye Olde Photographs August 13, 2012
      • A Challenge to My Dear Friends August 20, 2012
  • 2nd Area: Jacarepaguá
    • I Found My Smile! August 27, 2012
    • The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly September 3, 2012
    • District Fairytale?? September 10, 2012
    • Heavenly Hugs September 17, 2012
    • A Mission is SO WORTH IT! September 24, 2012
    • Growing Pains September 24, 2012 letter
    • An Up and Down Spring October 1, 2012
  • 3rd Area: Cabo Frio
    • Cabo Frio (October-November 2012) >
      • "Are You Brazilian?" October 8, 2012
      • More Advice for Prospective Missionaries October 15, 2012
      • Games Missionaries Play October 22, 2012
      • What a Pain in the Box October 29, 2012
      • You Win Some, You Lose Some November 5, 2012
      • Humble-Pied in the Face November 12, 2012
      • What a Weekend! November 12 & 13, 2012 letter
      • First Impressions November 19, 2012
      • You Are Never Alone November 19, 2012 letter
      • Faith For a Miracle November 26, 2012
    • Cabo Frio (December 2012) >
      • My House, My Rules December 3, 2012
      • Spurts of Sabedoria [Wisdom] December 10, 2012
      • SO Much To Do, SO Little Time December 18, 2012
      • Working For a 401 Miracle December 24, 2012
      • Almost a Heart Attack December 31, 2012
    • Cabo Frio (January-February 2013) >
      • Birthday Bash January 7, 2013
      • Unlike the Fat Personal Trainer January 14, 2013
      • The Best Day Yet January 21, 2013
      • I'm a Patient Woman January 28, 2013
      • No Time Today February 4, 2013
      • CarNATAL Yes. Carnaval NO. February 11, 2013
      • I Will Follow in Front February 18, 2013
      • Talent Show... Talent Hide February 25, 2013
    • Cabo Frio (March-April 2013) >
      • Leprechauns, Fedoras, and Ducks. It's Gonna Be a Good Day March 4, 2013
      • "WHO TOLD?!" March 2013 letter
      • Bloom Where You're Planted March 11, 2013
      • Being Me... a NEW Me March 18, 2013
      • Pneumonia Shpoomonia March 25, 2013
      • Hello Mom-o, Hello Dad-o April 1, 2013
      • TEEEMMMPLLLEEE!!! April 8, 2013
      • I'm the "LAUGH-ER" April 15, 2013
      • BIG, BIG NEWS! Drumroll, Please. April 22, 2013
  • 4th Area: Niterói
    • Fonseca (April-June 2013) >
      • We're Creating the IDEAL Here April 29, 2013
      • Hold Your Horses May 6, 2013
      • Let the Good Times Roll May 13, 2013
      • She's Gettin' Old May 20, 2013
      • Guns and Roses... with Thorns May 27, 2013
      • Oldsters Are the Greatest! June 3, 2013
      • And Lots and Lots of Love June 10, 2013
      • It's Not Us. It's God. June 17, 2013
      • And You Know What??? June 24, 2013
    • Worth the Wait July 1, 2013
    • Living Water July 8, 2013
    • I DON'T WANNA DIE!!! July 15, 2013
    • It's Not Abnormal to Feel Like Manure July 22, 2013
    • Splish, Splash July 29, 2013
    • Keep It Together, Man! August 5, 2013
    • Até Logo, Meus Amiginhos. August 12, 2013

Is That a Peacock?

July 30, 2012

So, our new house is... unique.  I'm actually starting to love it!  First off, we have more room to run around, and we have stairs up to the roof/balcony thing.  I LOVE roof/balcony things here.  When I first saw one, I wanted it so bad; and now we have one!  However, we don’t go up there too often because we are greeted by 
an atrocious smell of the illegal birds our neighbors are raising. Apparently, they sell the poop, too??  There is some sort of illegal bird/duck/peacock there, also.  I was talking about it with Sister Diller while we were waiting for President Lima to set up his presentation before our interviews (so, unfortunately, there was an audience); and one of the Brazilian sister missionaries blurted out, "O que é COCK?" Eeeeeeekey!  Sister Diller and I started laughing, and I started blushing for the sister.  She said it again, and Sister Diller put her hand over the sister’s mouth and shushed her. Then, she whispered the definition to her.  Baaahaha, I bet the elders around us were trying really hard not to bust up.  
[At times, a new language can be... embarrassing.]
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Rio de Janeiro Mission President Lima and his wife.
This week was ridiculous.  We moved Monday AND had to work that day.  

We had interviews with President Lima on Tuesday; and we recruited the help of a brother and sister (teenagers), which resulted in finding 2 families, 4 lessons with member present, 1 other, 8 new investigators, and references.  I love teenagers. 

Thursday, we organized an interview with the cousin of the teenage boy we baptized 2 weeks ago.  Our poor DL [District Leader] had some rash he thought was chicken pox that he contracted from a service project.  The DLs arrived late to our meeting because the pregnant wife of their investigator pretty much almost died.  Elder Briglia (Elder Jenks is our new DL) held her convulsing body as they zoomed to the hospital.  Sheesh. 



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Elder Claudio R. M. Costa
Friday, we had a conference with Elder Claudio R. M. COSTA [First Quorum of the Seventy].  Elder Rogério G. R. Cruz [Area Seventy for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil] was there, too. Elder Costa rocks my socks.  Basically.  I liked him before, but this seals it.  
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This is the apartment in Jacarepaguá. It looks pretty niiiice.



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Elder Rogério G. R. Cruz
The conference was split into 2 groups, and we stayed at Jacarepaguá [a large suburb of Rio].  We spent the night in the same apartment where I had stayed my first 2 nights upon arriving in Rio with 10—count ‘em—10 SISTERS.  We were given permission to have a sleepover, heehee, because we would have to wake up at 4 AM 
in order to get to Jacarepaguá in time for the 8:30 AM conference.

ALSOOOOO, I was specially chosen to sing "Oh, How Lovely Was The Morning" 
[a.k.a. "Joseph Smith's First Prayer"] at the conference.  I was the only alto.  
It was nerve-wracking, but I loved the opportunity.
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Picture taken on February 21, the night before Sister Nelson entered the MTC. By that time, Sister Taylor had received her mission call to Rio; so the two friends knew they would be seeing each other eventually.

Our ride home was fun because I sat with Sister Taylor, yeeeee; but it was way embarrassing because on our first bus, my extra backpack and bedding got stuck in the turney thing [turnstile] in the bus.  My backpack was open and coins fell out everywhere.  Elder Winterholler, luckily, was behind me and acted like it was no big thing (even though I was holding up the bus and the whole zone from getting on the bus).  There were even a few people on the bus who were laughing at me.  Go, Sister Nelson!  I should have bowed. 
Yesterday, Carlos, the cousin of Marcos, was baptized.  Marcos is the grandkid of the less-active women we have been working with.  Carlos always goes to church with his uncle, but it wasn’t until a missionary of another church told him he'd "vai por inferno" if he's not baptized that he wanted to get baptized.  Carlos had attended his cousin's baptism and wanted to do the same thing.  They’re both interesting characters; but I have faith that if we baptize all their family members, this family will be a family of gold.

Love,
Sister Nelson

P.S.  We don’t go door-to-door.  Sister Diller and Sister Carréra did that last week because they just COULDN’T get any new investigators.  The mission goal is 15 new investigators.  Our week's numbers were great for once!  This week was crazy, crazy, crazy... in a good way.
11 lessons with members
12 others
1 reference received
17 contacted
17 new investigators
4 lessons with less actives
WHEW!  GO TEAM!
My chacos are fraying at the area where it meets the sole... but I love not having the toe strap. 
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