Another Great Week!

Has it really been another week already? It´s almost June! I´ll be hitting a year here before we know it!

 

This week was great :) We got a new Sister that is just starting her mission! Her name is Sister Sousa and she is from Fortaleza. My district is all from the Northeastern part of Brazil..... and then there´s me. It´s fun and I´m really getting the hang of Portuguese. My companion turned to me after I said a prayer last night and said, "Wow! When did you start speaking Portuguese so well? Who´s teaching you?" Life is good.

 

I´ve had a lot of thoughts go through my head this week. I was reminded of one of the emails Elder Valentine sent out a while ago about his mission; the mission really points out your weaknesses. This is so true and I´ve felt that a lot more this week. But I also know that the mission is the best place for me right now to perfect these weaknesses. I have so much more to learn on my mission and I´m determined to learn it all. The mission is so short and is passing by quickly, but the experiences I´m having here will help me for the rest of my life. Hard things really are necessary for us to grow, and WORK. The things that mean the most take effort. The work that we choose to do today will have long-lasting consequences. Maybe looking back, we can already see things we neglected in the past that if continued, would have made a big difference in our lives today. I found this article a month ago that I love. Here´s the link:

https://www.lds.org/new-era/2014/01/preparing-gifts-for-your-future-family?lang=eng

It´s directed towards the youth. It talks about gifts we can give to our future children that will mean more than things bought in a store, but they are things we need to start working on today. I know that the decisions we make each day to get up and better ourselves will not only be good for us, but will influence the lives of many, many others as well.

 

Sister Maryann Shipp

What a Wonderful Week :)

The beginning of my 7th transfer in the field and 3rd in Brazil. I just graduated from the 12 week program, again, but this time in Portuguese. The news? I get to stay in Bebedouro with Sister Soares! And Sister Jales is going to train. I'm praying for an American, but we´ll see today or tomorrow what we get.

 

Yesterday was so special. I showed up to church and found Jose Luis (the man who was baptized a month ago) in a suit for the first time. He went from regular clothes, to jeans, a white shirt and tie, to a full suit. He also blessed the sacrament for the first time. I almost cried. This is what this is all about; seeing people grow in the gospel. Seeing them progress. Seeing how Christ really changes people. Sister Jales and Sister Soares were asked to speak yesterday and we needed someone to give the Sunday School lesson, so guess who was the lucky one....... that´s right. Me. I had almost no time to prepare and I was so nervous. I had never given a long lesson by myself in Portuguese before. I prayed really hard. It went really well. I only struggled a few times and found a way to say what I wanted to.

 

And finally, talking with my family. We got to skype! It was so special. We were in Barbara and Ruthor´s house (Ruthor is Jose Luis´s son). I talked to my family for a while, slipped up and said some Portuguese words, and then each person got to talk a little with my family. Barbara spoke and I translated. She expressed grattitude to my family for letting me go on a mission and said how grateful she was to me for helping her father-in-law. Ruthor spoke in English saying thanks as well. And my companions said a few things as well. It was fun to translate. It was really special. This is what a mission is about. I'm so glad my family got to meet some of the people who are special to me right now.

 

That´s all I have time for. Looking forward to another transfer of miracles!

 

Love yall!

Sister Shipp

9 Months on a Mission :)

Hello, Everyone!

 

It was a really amazing week :) We had an unexpected transfer and so now Sister Soares and I have another companion, Sister Jales from Fortaleza! We´ve been living together for the past 2 trasfers and now we get to be companions for at least one more week until the end of the transfer. She is amazing and I´m so glad we get to work with her! She has the same amount of time as me in the mission, so we´ll be going home together in January. To celebrate, we took this 9 month picture with all the weight we´ve gained, hope you enjoy ;)

I am looking forward to talking to my family this week! I can´t believe it´s Mother´s Day already! Time is going so fast. My companions are practicing some English so they´ll be able to talk to my family too. :)

 

I have really been reflecting on studying the scriptures this week. How blessed we are to have The Book of Mormon and the Bible. I know that they are God´s word for us so we need to study them! I know something that has been helping me to study is asking myself "What can I learn from what I´m reading? How can I change as a result?" I know that the scriptures are a way that Heavenly Father will answer our prayers and also a source of strength for us. When we are regularly studying the scriptures, we will have more patience, we will be better and want to be better, and our faith and trust in God will increase.

 

I love yáll! I hope you have an amazing week.

Happy Mother´s Day!

 

Sister Shipp

9 Months on a Mission!

9 Months on a Mission!

I'm well! And over Dengue. Thank Goodness. From what I heard this week from people, it could have been a lot worse. I was only sick and out for 5 days. I know it's because of lots of prayers and a Priesthood blessing. I found out yesterday, that Jose Luis (our convert that was baptized almost a month ago) fasted for me last Monday. His first fast. He is the sweetest. I am so grateful for him! He has been helping me and is also helping our branch here in Bebedouro.

Okay, here I want to talk about Easter! and some things I've thought a lot about this week.

First. Please go watch this video. It is amazing. I didn't see it until Wednesday, but this is why we celebrated Easter. Do we really understand how amazing this is?

http://easter.mormon.org/

Because Jesus Christ was resurrected, each of us will be as well. I'd like to share a scripture for The Book of Mormon:

Alma 40:11-12,23

11 Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection—Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life. 

12 And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow. 

23 The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body;

yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame.

I know each of us will be able to overcome death. And I know we will be able to see our loved ones again. How incredible. 2  Other Scriptures Id like to share! Isaiah 55:8-9 

8 For my ^athoughts are not ^byour thoughts, neither are your^cways my ^dways, saith the Lord. 

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my^aways ^bhigher than your ways, and 

my ^cthoughts than your thoughts. Sometimes things don't happen the way we want them to. They even leave us questioning our faith and our understanding of things. But I know Heavenly Father can see the whole picture, and He will only do what is best for us. We just need to trust Him. And when we trust in Him, we have this promise.

 

Ether 12:4 

4 Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with ^asurety ^bhope for a better world, yea, even

a place at the right hand of God, which^chope cometh of ^dfaith, maketh an ^eanchor to the souls

of men,which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in^fgood works, being led

to ^gglorify God.
When we have faith in God, we trust in Him. We trust that He has a better plan for us than we have for ourselves that extends beyond this life. We can wait for and expect a better world, peace and rest from our labors and worries.

 

I love you all! Have a wonderful week!

Sister Shipp

Adventures in Brazil!

The first trip to the doctor of the mission!

I've kind of been sick the whole week, but it really started Friday night/Saturday morning... midnight to be exact. I woke up with the worst headache of my life. Took Ibuprofen, didn't do anything... tossed and turned... my body really ached so I figured I had a fever too. I finally got back to sleep around 3:30 or 4. We went to the doctor/hospital (like an urgent care place I guess) in the morning. They took some blood and then we waited. They sent us back to the reception area to wait. I felt really weak. Sitting up has never been so hard. Sister Soares let me put my head on her bag in her lap. One of the nurses finally noticed and took us to a room with a couple beds. I slept for 2 hours there while we waited for the results. So I have something called Dengue, which is nowhere to be found in my dictionary. From what I can tell, its something that is carried by mosquitoes (I guess this is my wakeup call to be more dilligent with the bug spray). It's really common here. They gave me this really gross medicine for the pain and sent me off. I wasn't allowed to attend church yesterday because I'm really weak and not supposed to walk much. I totally forgot it was Easter until halfway through yesterday when I looked at my calendar. Happy Easter, y'all. We got some ice cream, chocolate, and juice that I have absolutely no apetite for whatsoever. Don't worry, I'm fine. I should be back to normal in a few days. One of the members brought some soup by that I can eat and my companion and the other Sisters in our house are taking care of me, making sure I eat, and doing lots more for me too.

What an adventure!

 

We have interviews with our mission president this week in Ribeirão Preto Wednesday and then Choir practice Thursday so I'll get to spend a chunk of the week chilling outside of our area. 

 

That's pretty much all that's happening here. Sorry for the short, pretty dry email. It's been quite the week. I'm just ready to crawl back into bed.

We really did have some fun at the doctor. People here love Americans. The doctor got to try out some english and the nurses too. There were asking lots of questions about how to say things.

 

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

 

Wish my mom a Happy Birthday this coming Sunday ;) I know she would appreciate that!

Much Love,

Sister Shipp

Peace that comes from God

The confirmation of Jose Luis was yesterday. It was so special! He is so great.

We got caught in the rain for the first time on Friday or Saturday. It started raining right when we got off the bus. Then it was pretty much pouring. I have an umbrella, but I don't carry it with me everyday because its just extra weight on my back! So we got really really wet. Like dripping. The other Sisters were home planning when we arrived. They got a pretty good laugh in.

We stopped to get some pastry things for dinner one night on the way home. We tried talking to the person selling us the food, but he didnt speak Portuguese... or English... only Chinese. It was pretty much impossible. Where's Elder Valentine when you need him? ;)

Otherwise, nothing way eventful happened this week. I am just really grateful for the gospel in my life. I am grateful for the peace it gives to me and others. We met a woman who has been through some really terrible things. At the beginning of the lesson, she was crying telling us God didn't love her. By the end, after talking about God's plan for us and what that really means, she was smiling and really recognizing the blessings she has in our lives. I know only the gospel has the power to really bring us peace in this life. Its not always going to take away our hard times, but it will give us the strength to endure. I read this morning in Mosiah 24 in The Book of Mormon (I think especially 9-15ish) about the Lord strengthening the people in their afflictions and then eventually taking the afflictions and freeing them. I love that. That's the pattern for our lives. Whatever trial we have, God will help us through it and we can feel peace in the midst of hard times. I know these things are true; I've definitely seen this pattern in my life and am so grateful for the help of the Lord.

Love yall :) I hope you have a blessed week!

Sister Shipp

My First Baptism

WHAT A WEEK.

Okay.

So the baptism of Jose Luis was Saturday. Can you say opposition? He got baptized in the middle of the 2 sessions of conference. We arranged with a member to bring their laptop so that I and Sister Jacoboski could connect to the wifi and watch conference in English. The member dropped off the laptop, we turned it on and... bam. We didn't have the password. We tried calling him for the first 30 min of conference without an answer. Finally we got the password and then we couldn't connect to the wifi. We tried for about an hour to get it going. Finally we gave up and I watched the last 30 minutes in Portuguese, not really retaining anything. I wanted to cry. I have never felt before in my life that I had needed conference as much as I felt coming up on this weekend. Then it was time to prepare for the baptism of Jose Luis. In our frenzy of trying to get conference working and the first baptism for my companion and I of our missions, someone forgot to start filling the font...............

So with buckets in hand, we frantically filled them in sinks and the hose outside to speed up the long process of filling the font. But it worked! And Jose Luis was baptized. During this time, someone came and fixed the satellite and hooked up a tv so I could watch conference in English. The Saturday afternoon conference was for me. I know it was. I am so grateful for the opportunity we had to listen to the words of the Prophet and Apostles. I'm looking forward to the Ensign so I can read the session I missed. I learned so much from conference. Elder Scott's talk was the one that hit me the hardest, but as well President Uchtdorf's address Sunday morning. He said that there really are no endings, only temporary interruptions. I know that's the case with Chelsea and I. Not an ending, but a temporary interruption and I will see her again soon. If you missed conference, go watch it. I know the Lord has words meant just for you. I know He had words for me, and I am so so so grateful for them: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2014/04?cid=HPSU040614654&lang=eng

I'm starting my 6th transfer! I'm staying in Bebedouro with Sister Soares. I know that I learned so much from serving in California, but I needed to learn a lot from Brazil as well. I think that one of the biggest things I am learning here is truly giving my time to the Lord. A lot more is required of me here and at first it was a struggle to give all that was required, but now I am learning to find joy in it. I know that when we truly give our will to the Lord, we find the most joy in our lives. It may be a struggle at first, but I know it is worth all the effort.

On a less serious note, I finally can kind of roll my r's. I literally screamed when it happened. My companion and Sister Jales just laughed at me. I still have a long way to go, but it is amazing how much I have learned.

LOVE YOU ALL :)

 

Sister Shipp