September 9, 2009

Oi gente!
How are you all doing this week? I hope all is well wherever you are! Thank you for the emails and letters! Things here in Brasil are great and life as a missionary rocks! I am loving the people, the language, and each experience more and more! It was a good week! We are doing a project here in the ward called "Familia de ouro" family of gold. Where we are giving a DVD (church product) to two families in the ward each week and they invite a friend or family member (non members) over to watch it and have a family night in their house with the missionaries (us :) ). We had our first one last night and it went really well! I love this family, they are so fun and willing to help in the work. They planned a really special family night for a family we´ve been teaching. I am excited about it and hope it will get the ward more excited about missionary work! Today was also transfers, I´m in the same area but I have a new companion, Sister Leal. She seems great. I was sad to say goodbye to Sister Derciliano...I learned a lot from her. But I am excited about Sister Leal. She is from a small town outside of São Paulo and is a bit quieter but she is sweet and I know that this is the Lord´s work, with out a doubt we are meant to be companions here in Novo Osasco. I am so happy to be serving here in Brasil. I love this gospel. I love our Father in Heaven. I love and miss you all! Have a great week!
Beijos,
Sister Chelsea Dawn

September 2, 2009

Hey! Happy September! It´s kinda crazy how fast time flies! It just keeps going! I hope all of you that have school are enjoying the new semester/school year and I wish you luck! What else is new in your lives? Things here in Brasil are great! It is getting nice and warm...actually WAY HOT! And all of the Brasilians are worried about my white skin baking in the sun...I´m using sun screen don´t worry. Plus after all of those times at the lake getting fried...I think I´m prepared for anything. Ha! Remember that awesome trip to flaming gorge...before chan and car were officially part of the family... :). That was hilarious and in all of the pictures I am as red as a lobster! Anyway...my companion and I are feeling so blessed! We are working with a family that we prayed and fasted to find, they are awesome! They are so firm and have a baptismal date for sept 19th. They are happier and happier everytime we visit. Their daughter is 11 years old and is SO smart! Whenever we ask her to read a scripture she reads it and afterward explains what it means perfectly. She is way in tune with the spirit and has a testimony that this is the true church. She has been a great strength to her parents as well! The bishop and his wife visited them with us last night and we were way happy about that. On Sunday my companion and I and the ward mission leader gave a training on missionary work. We did some practices with members and talked about the role of members in missionary work. The bishop also asked me to give a talk on missionary work the same week so I hope the ward didn´t feel too much like we were repremanding them :). But we´ve already seen some changes...for example the bishop and his wife visited a family with us for the first time, he also planned a meeting with us and the ward mission leader (the first time we will meet with both of them together), and a few people in the ward offered to visit people with us as well. We were really excited about the response. Members really do have an important role in missionary work and I am glad to be learning more about this here so that I can apply it after the mission as well. What a blessing to be here in Brasil serving in the Lord´s kingdom on earth! I love this gospel and I love sharing it with others! I love you all! Hope you have a great week!
Beijos!
Sister Chelsea Dawn

August 26, 2009

Tudo bem?!How are you all? I hope everyone is doing great and that you all know that I love you! Thanks for your emails, letters, packages, prayers, support, love, etc, etc. I seriously feel so blessed to have such awesome people in my life...shout out! :) But really my testimony and faith is strengthened through you and your examples! It has been a good week here in Novo Osasco! We had zone conference this week and have interviews tomorrow. I love the structure of the mission...everything comes just in time and it is always a great help and guide in the moments we need it! This really is the Lord´s work and I am seeing His hand in even the smallest of things! President Cooley spoke a bit about our comfort zones and that when the Lord wants us to grow he takes us out of our comfort zones. It hit me hard because I feel like each week I´d venture to say everyday on the mission I have had an experience that is outside of my comfort zone but I have felt my testimony grow through these experiences and I am so grateful for each of them. I hope and pray to continue to be stretched and put outside of my comfort zone because I know it is for my good. I know that the Lord loves each of His children and as a perfect father He only wants what is best for us...I know as we obey Him we will be blessed and become much more then we thought we could be! Thank you all again for being such incredibly awesome people :). Boa semana!!!
Muito amor!
Sister Chelsea Dawn

August 19, 2009

How is everyone this week?! CONNER HAPPY BIRTHDAY on the 17th!!! How was it? And Tiff and Jas HAPPY ANNIVERSARY (a couple weeks ago...I know)! Did you guys do anything fun? I hope it was a great week!Things here are great! I am seeing the hand of the Lord in my life and the lives of those we are teaching more and more everyday! My companion and I started this transfer fasting and praying for the opportunity to teach a family that was looking for the gospel and ready to accept it in their lives. Last week we met this family and last night we marked baptismal dates for the mom, dad, and their daughter for the 12th of September. It is such a great blessing to see this family and their desire to follow the example of Christ. Their daughter is 11 years old, Virginia, and she is super smart! She has read every part of the Book of Mormon we marked and understands better then a lot of adults we teach. When we asked her if she´d prayed about it she said...i did...first I prayed and then I had a really good feeling and I knew it was true. It was so simple and clear for her. As she said this her mom´s eyes were filled with awe. What an awesome example for all of us there. One of our other investigators, Jeisson, has a cousin who is a member in the ward here and was helping him a lot but about a month and a half ago they got into an argument and stopped talking. I love them both and seeings that Jeisson doesn´t have parents or other family around he didn´t really have anyone. This situation was really sad to me and one day we were talking with Jeisson and he said he didn´t think it would pass. We told him that we would pray for them. A few days later they started talking and things are better and Jeisson was at church again on Sunday and told me that our prayers were answered and tonight we have a family home evening scheduled with the two of them. The Lord has such great love for each of His children and with out a doubt answers our sincere prayers! I am praying for each of you and love you all! Have a great week!
Beijos!
Sister Richins

August 12, 2009

Hey family and friends,
How are you all? Did you have a good week? I think the family campout was this past weekend? Did you go? How was it? Grandma sent me some of her raisin cookies so I almost felt like I was there with you all! :) I also got some sunflower seeds that had instructions on how to eat them and it looked like something you would write ryan...it was way funny! Have you started writing "how to"´s for food items? What´s new with you all? Tiff and Jas when is your baby due? I know it´s not for a few months. This week was a good one here in the mission field! It was hot this week so I thought summer was coming but they tell me that august will be cold and in sept it will start warming up. I guess we´ll see. My zone had an activity at a park here and we played soccer...i was a little intimidated to play soccer with brasilians but it was a lot of fun. Things are great! My companion is great and we are looking forward to zone conference next week! We had a baptism on saturday of a 16 year old girl who reminds me a bit of Carly Dekeyzer, she´s so cute and funny! She was so excited and the young women in the ward are great with her! It was a good day. Her parents aren´t members but her dad and brother were there too. I am loving Brasil and the people here a lot! What a blessing to be serving here in the Lord´s work! Thank you all so much for your love, support, prayers, testimonies, examples, etc, etc! I love you all!Beijos!
Sister Richins

August 5, 2009

Hey everyone!How are you all doing? Any exciting news? I hope life has been sweet to ya´ll (that´s for you trav and chan ;) ) this week! Things here are great! This week has been a good one! It´s been a bit warmer and but windier lately and every street we walk down there are people flying "pipas" they are little kites with way long string so they get way high in the air and when you look up into the sky you can see tons of pipas everywhere...it´s hilarious. I think I´ve made a big deal about it cuz almost everyday I stop and look up to see the pipas and I´ve talked about how I want to bring some home to fly with my nieces and nephews and I talk about how funny it is to me that people spend the whole day flying pipas, etc. So the other day my companion was talking to our district leader and she´s learning eng. so she was talking to him in eng. and he said something about the kites she didn´t know the word and he translated "pipas" and she said...but you don´t have them there (in the US) right? and he said yeah we do...and she said but Sister Richins has never seen them in her life. Ha...she continued to explain how I make such a big deal about them so she thought ít was something completely new to me...which it kinda is but pretty sure our district has made fun of me for it everyday since. We have had some success working with the leaders in the ward here which is great and really helps the work. The members here in Brasil have a real desire to help in missionary work, I think part of it is because many of them are converts themselves and so they had the lessons from the missionaries and have a testimony of the power of the work. It´s great, I´m learning a lot! We have a goal to work with the members more and more and to really strengthen the ward here so we do have a lot more work ahead of us but so far we have seen the benefits of having the support and help of the ward. On Sat. we had two baptisms, two men that were seriously elect of elect of the Lord, we taught them a principle and they accepted it prayed about it and changed. It was so great to see how happy and sure they were about their decision to be baptised. One of them, Claudine, said that he just kept becoming happier and happier the more he learned. What a blessing, I have been strengthened through seeing their testimonies grow. I seriously learn something new everyday. I am feeling the love of the Lord for His children stronger and stronger everyday and see His tender mercies more and more. Well, I better get going, but thanks again for your love and support! I love you all! Have a great week!
Beijos!
Sister Chelsea Dawn

July 29, 2009

Family are friends!Oi! Tudo bem?! How are you all this week? I hope you are happy and well and know that I love you all! Thanks for the emails and support! So it was a good week in the mission field! We had a baptism last week the senhor I wrote about and a little girl...adorable!! And we have another coming up this week, two older men that live together. They are seriously elect of the elect. Our only job as missionaries was to teach the principle and the spirit testified and they accepted. We have been teaching them for a little over a month and the ward has also been very involved which is great and has helped a lot since we couldn´t visit their house alone we always had a memeber to help and testify. What a blessing to see the hand of the Lord directly in this work, leading us directly to those that are prepared! I am so grateful to be here! I also witnessed a miracle in my Portuguese progression this week that I am so excited about. I can understand way more and converse way more then just last week. It was like almost over night and I already feel more like myself...not that I like to talk or anything ;). But really it is a blessing! Transfers were today but my companion and I will be staying in our area for at least one more...we were both way excited about that! Life is good! Missionary work is the best! I am so grateful for you all, for your examples, testimonies, love, etc! MUITO OBRIGADA! I love you!
Beijos,
Sister Richins

July 22, 2009

Hey fam and friends! How is everyone this week? I hope life is great and the summer weather is treating you all well! This week the weather here was way tempromental we had a couple really cold days and a few really hot days...it´s great...I never know for sure what to wear. I think it´s supposed to get colder in August and start warming up in Sept. I hear by December I will want to die because it´s so hot! yay! Any fun summer vacations or plans? This past week was great! We have been teaching a man named Wilson for the past two months almost. When we met him he was way sad everytime we visited because he just got a divorse and his daughters weren´t communicating with him and he was drunk everytime we visited. His mom is a member but left the church years ago and doesn´t really talk about why but she agrees with every principle we taught Wilson. Anyway, it was pretty draining everytime we went to their house and he would cry and she woud get on his case. But he kept going to church and really had a desire to change. About two weeks ago he found out about some health problems he has that are pretty serious and so we taught him about priesthood blessings and he said he would like to have one. After the blessing his pain subsided and the next day when we visited he wasn´t drunk and didn´t cry...which really was a miracle. Everyday after the blessing he looked better and better. He hasn´t drank since and we moved his baptism date up to this Saturday. I am so excited and feel so blessed to have witnessed the spirit and power of the atonement work in his life. He has since been in contact with one of his daughters who plans on attending his baptism this week and his mom will enter the chapel again for the first time in almost 20 years this saturday!! I am so happy and so grateful to have the opportunity to be a part of the Lord´s work. The atonement is real and powerful and changes lives...and gives eternal life. This gospel is true and God works miracles today the same as he did yesterday and will forever!Next week is transfers again...I can´t believe how fast the time is passing...wow! Well I love you all, thank you for your love and support! You are in my thoughts and prayers!!
Beijos!
Sister Richins

July 15, 2009

Hey everyone! So how was the week? I hope you are all happy and doing great! Thanks for the letters and emails...as always so great to hear how things are going for everyone! Grimes kids thanks so much for the letters and pictures...they were so cute and way fun to receive! :) So Brett asked if I was able to receive pictures at this email address...I can...probably only a few at a time because the memory in this account isn´t very big but I´d love to see pictures of you all! As far as sending pictures from this account I dunno but I´m working on putting my pictures on a CD and sending that. So this week was another good one. We had zone conference and interviews. It is such a blessing to have every transfer because it really helps us evaluate what and how we are doing and where we need to improve. I love our mission President he truly is an inspired man! He talked a lot about the advesary and agency and the plan of salvation. It is so interesting and so very clear that the advesary is constantly working to stop the progression of the work of God and of each of us. We are either progressing or digressing based on our decisions. I´m grateful for this knowlege because it helps us realize how important it is to use our agency wisely. Agency truly is a gift from God and He will never take it from us, that is the opposing plan of satin that we have addictions, give into our weaknesses, and lose our agency. But there is peace in knowing that our Savior already atoned for our sins we can be forgiven and God will always do His part to bless us and help us overcome our weaknesses, have true happiness, and return to His presence and with these promises we just need to step up to the plate and do our part...obey His commandments. I love this gospel! I love teaching it and I love seeing the joy and change it brings. I love you all and hope you have a great week!
Te amo!
Sister Richins

July 1, 2009

Thanks so much for the emails family :)!! It really is great to hear how everyone is doing! I hope you all know how much I admire each of you and learn from you! Thanks for your words of wisdom! How is everyone this week? I hope California was a blast! Mom and dad happy anniversary...I know I´m late. Lucas happy birthday!! And everyone happy July! Things are good here in Brazil! I am learning more and more that I have a lot to learn!! I didn´t write about Lucas´s baptism last week. He is a 9 year old boy and his dad was baptised when I first got here and was able to baptise two of his sons. It was so sweet to witness. It was a hard week to be honest...still great but he had to drop of few investigators that I really love and still have hope for but they really weren´t progressing...and in turn were digressing...it´s hard to do but is better for the work. It seemed like satan was doing all he could this week to tear down each of our investigators but we are teaching some people with a lot of faith and I know they will endure. So my companion is great! She is 38 years old and has been a member for 3 years. She looks and acts like a 26 year old...she´s really fun and easy to be with. She has experience that helps our investigators a lot and she is very supportive and complimentary...I am learning a lot from and with her. We are poorer this week then usual so we only have 30 minutes on the internet today and I want so badly to reply to everyone of your emails but I will have to wait until next week...just know that it really means the world to me to hear your advice! I love you all! Have a great week!
Muito amor!
Sister Chelsea Dawn

June 24, 2009

oi familia!
How is everyone? How is the summer without your favorite lil sister? ;) I think that the youngest child is more spoiled here in Brasil because whenever people find out I´m the youngest they tease me about it all the time...it´s kinda that way there but I get a lot more of it here. So what is everyone up to? Training for any races tiff...or dad? Brett you doing school during the summer...and car how is the business thing? Trav and Chan you guys visiting utah this summer? RY...how are ya...where are you :)? Jason your words of wisdom are always welcome...how is work? Chris and Jas enjoy the lake for me...k :). Mom how is summer? I´m sure you are still very busy. I love you all. Thank you all so much for your examples and love and support...you rock! Things here in Brasil are great! What an awesome experience this is! I hope my letters aren´t the same every week but it really is great to be here! I am learning more and more about the love of our Heavenly Father for everyone of His children. This week we taught a mom and two of her daughters they were very touched...at the end of the lesson the 7yr old daughter prayed and it was so tender so heart felt and her mom cried, it was such a beautiful thing to witness...it was the first time her mom heard her daughter pray...it really was powerful! As missionaries we have these experiences several times a day and we encounter people that I know the Lord has sent us to because He loves them and they need to feel this love in their lives. I am so grateful for this work.Well I hope you all have a great week! I love you and pray for you everyday!
Muito amor!!
Sister Chels

June 11, 2009

Tudo bem?! How is everyone? I think the weeks are progressively speeding up...it´s been a good one :). My companion and I made a ton of pancakes yesterday for a Family Home Evening thingy with an inactive family...it´s funny because I never really loved pancakes before but everyone here wants american sweet pancakes and it´s a nice taste from home. If anyone has some good american recipies for me feel free to send them...the people here always want to try american food and all I have is cholate chip cookies, brownies, pancakes...um...yep...that´s about it. Good times. I love this work. I feel like as missionaries we just get to do the most exciting things all the time. Teach the gospel and strive to bring peace and joy to people...lol...sounds way cheesy but seriously it´s exciting and fun. We get to be very involved in many peoples lives which is great and emotional...but I love sitting with the families here in there tiny very humble homes talking about and learning about things that matter most in this life and eternity! It is the perfect plan of our Heavenly Father! This week was good...I have been pretty worried about some investigators with a baptism date but my companion told me that we can´t worry on p-day until 6 pm because we have 6 days to worry and one day to rest and clear our minds...so thank you for your emails and letters and support...it has helped me clear my mind for now. We had interviews with our mission president. It went well and we learned what we need to do better which was good, he is a very good and dedicated man and Sister Cooley is extremely open and loving, it´s great I love them both. My companion is as great as ever! She is trying to learn some English so that´s been good. Next week is transfers and I´m pretty confident she won´t be transfered yet because she´s my trainer and I just got here but...she has been in this area for 6 1/2 months so it´s a possibility...I´m hoping for one more transfer with her! Well I love you all! I hope summer is going well! Have a great week!Muito amor!
Sister Richins

June 3, 2009

How is everyone this week? I hope you are all well and that you are enjoying the nice summer weather! Happy June! It´s getting cold here. Yesterday was really cold and they tell me it is going to get colder so I´m kinda nervous...I figured Brasil is always HOT but nope. It´s been a good week here. We are preparing for two weddings and four baptisms so it has been a lot of fun and we have seen a lot of progress and the hand of the Lord in our work here! I also attended my first zone conference of the mission and got to bear my testimony...I still get way nervous to bear my testimony in Portuguese but I need the practice so it was good for me. It was also way good training and our mission president gave an amazing talk about the Plan of Salvation. It was great and inspiring and made me want to be a different and better missionary. We also have our first interviews with him this week and then by the end of next week I will have experienced my first transfer of the mission. It´s an exciting feeling. We also had stake conference this week and Elder Ellis of the seventy spoke. It was a great conference. We had three of our investigators there which was good and they loved it! There was a stake dance the night before conference as well for families and 5 of our investigators were there so we went with some of them just to bring them introduce them to some people and leave. We were only there for a short time but my companion and I both felt the lack of dancing in our lives...miss it. And they have some different fun dances here I want to learn...one day...after the mission. My companion and I made pancakes and maple suryp for some of our investigators and members in the ward...I thought they turned out well but she didn´t really like em :) they eat salty pancakes here with meat or cheese inside...kinda weird but our investigators really liked the sweet pancakes. It was fun...and nice to have a taste from home. The diet here is way different for me...I like the food but it´s different. We eat rice and beans everyday and a lot more meat then I am used to. I´m getting used to it but it´s funny when my companion and I cook in our house because I always want to buy fruits and vegetables and she always wants to buy meat so we compromise...I make salads and fruit salads and she cooks the meat.I am so grateful for this opportunity...our investigators that are preparing to get married and baptised are truly inspiring to me. They have so much faith and love for the Lord. We are witnessing miracles in their lives. Thank you all for your letters and support and prayers and love! I love you and pray for you everyday!!Have a great week!
Te amo!
Sister Chelsea Dawn

May 27, 2009

Wow, it´s such a weird feeling to sit down and try to write about my week on the mission...I feel like I can explain what I did day to day but that is pretty standard and doesn´t vary much if I were to just write about it but in the another sense I feel like there is no way I can explain the feelings and experiences that my weeks, days, and minutes are full of! This is the Lord´s work! He loves each of His children so much...I can feel that love for these people here so apparently! I am so grateful to be a small part of this great work! Everyday I am in awe at the humility and dedication to Christ the Brasilian people express and at the same time I am in awe at how lost so many of them are. I also learn something new everyday through the experience of acquiring a second language. I thought that learning another language would just...happen...so many missionaries leave not knowing a language and return speaking fluently...it´s easy right? Honestly Portuguese isn´t too bad and I really do feel like I am learning more and more everyday and I can express what I need to. But the hardest part is the feeling of almost being a different person at times. I have moments when I am completely stoked because I realize`I am conversing in a different language´ sweet! and I have moments of feeling completely discouraged! Ha! I have formulated about 1000 analogies about the language learning process and how to apply it to life in general. I am grateful for a patient companion and I am grateful that the Lord is blessing me with patience as well! This week was awesome! We have been blessed with some amazing investigators! We are teaching a couple named Danielle and Sergio who we met my second day in the field. They readily invited us in and have and many questions since day one! They have also kept their commitments since day one and have progressed quickly! When we met them we recognized right away their great faith and desire to find the truth. They both smoked `de mais` (a ton) and are not married but we knew that all that could change. We had a family home evening at their house on Sat with 4 members of the ward and it went really well (it has been a miracle how much the members have been helping us and it really makes a big difference!)...we watched the restoration and had an activity. The have begun to quit smoking and are down to one pack between the two of them per day! It is incredible to see through faith and help of the Lord lives are changed. They are so excited! On Monday we invited them to be baptised and they accepted and we talked to them about the need to be married first and they accepted with excitement and enthusiasm in living the way the Lord wants them to! We also marked a baptismal date with another investigator of ours Maria who is also not married to the man she has been living with for the past 16 years but she has great faith and desire to be baptised and is ready to do what she needs to. It´s somewhat of a crazy thing inviting people to totally change their lives but it´s an amazing feeling because I always know that it is the right thing no mater how they react. The invitation really isn´t from us it is from the Lord. I feel extremely blessed to be a part of this great work. Life is good! I am learning a lot from the Brasilians they are so open and loving! I hope you are all doing great! Have an awesome week!!!
Muito Amor!
Sister Chelsea Dawn

May 20, 2009

How is everyone this week?! I hope life is great! Things here in Brasil are good! The past week was fun...getting used to the routine here and the language. I like the area a lot it´s like the outskirts of São Paulo city so it is a little smaller and less busy but still a city and still a lot of people. My companion and I live in a nice apartment for the area and it is plenty big enough for two of us! We teach a ton of lessons because people are incredibly open and accepting of a message about Christ and we had 7 investigators at church on Sunday which was awesome! It´s a crazy and incredible work! It amazes me because everyday I feel the Lord´s hand in the work more and more! It is great! This week has been a little different because my companion got sick on Monday so our work was slower and we couldn´t even leave the apartment yesterday which was hard but there was no way. She is doing better today so we are hoping to visit all of the investigators that have baptismal dates tonight after p-day is over. It was hard to be in the house...I had a lot of time to study...and to think about the people who we weren´t able to teach that day. But it is better that she get well and so we can work hard. Mom did I already thank you for the cookie recepie? I made them for a family in our ward that always helps us and they loved them. They don´t do homemade cookies here really so I gave her the recepie and I think she´s going make them...she was excited so thanks! I feel like there should be a lot more to write but I don´t have a ton of time and can´t think of much else except that I LOVE you all!! You are in my thoughts and prayers! This gospel is incredible and I am so grateful for the opportunity to be teaching it and to be learning more...I have learned a lot out here! Life is sweet! You are all in my thoughts and prayers! Thank you for your prayers, letters, emails, etc etc.
I love you!
Muito amor!
Sister Chelsea Dawn

Temple trip taken April 2009.

May 13, 2009

Oi!
How is everyone? Family it was so good to talk to those of you that I was able to talk to on Sunday thanks for your words of wisdom and encouragment! :) I´m glad to hear you are doing well...I love you all! Thanks everyone for the letters and emails!! Carly you are hilarious seriously I was laughing so hard at your email! Mom I hope you had an awesome Mother´s Day!! This week was great! It´s great to be in Brazil because people are warm and pretty receptive to missionaries wanting to share a message about Christ with them! We taught a lot of lessons this week which was great for my Portuguese and I feel like I´m starting to understand a lot more too. We had a baptism on Saturday...it was great. I only was able to teach him one lesson but it was so great to be a small part of it and see how happy he and his family are. His wife has been a member for awhile but was inactive and when the missionaries visited her she was excited and her husband was receptive so they started going to church and he decided to get baptised as well. On May 23rd he is going to baptise two of his sons one is 8 and one is 11. Our area is awesome it´s like a city built in the middle of a mountain range all of the roads are very hilly and we walk up and down hills and stairs all day it´s great! I´m in awe at the use of space here people live in the smallest cracks in the wall all concrete and hardly any room it´s kinda crazy! They are great people! My companion is so patient and helpful with Portuguese and we have fun together! Today p-day has been great...marking my first week in the field. We had an activity with our zone at the church we had cake and ice cream to celebrate some Elders birthdays and we played uno and some soccer and our President let us watch Mobsters and Mormons which was kinda funny...it was fun and a nice break but it already felt kinda weird to me to feel unproductive. Well I am excited to be here. I love you all! Have a great week!!
Muito amor!
Sister Chelsea Dawn

May 6, 2009

Olá!!
HAPPY MOTHER`S DAY mom, and sisters, and all other wonderful mothers reading this! I am in my first area! It is called Novo Osasco...as if that means anything to anyone...not even me yet but it will very soon! I got here today and met my trainor today...her name is Sister Correia. She is so sweet and seems great! She doesn´t speak any Engish which means I better learn Portuguese really fast. She also wants to learn English so we are going to help each other out! It feels so good to be out of the CTM and walking around...my feet need to create some calusus after sitting for two months...ha but all in good time. It is also a little overwhelming but exciting. Oh and now that I´m in the field our mission rule is I can receive emails from anyone but respond only to family so friends if you want to email me the address is chelsea_dawn@myldsmail.net...:). Sweetness! So this week I had to say goodbye to my companions and district from the CTM. It was sad...we had really bonded! But it was time to get out of there. Yesterday my mission president and his wife took me and the other new Elder out to lunch to a really nice and delicious resturaunt!! Apparently it´s like rodisio grill but better, the real deal ya know :). It was so good! I love my both President Cooley and his wife a lot! They are very warm and loving and open! They shared there love story with us which was hilarious! And we pretty much just laughed all through lunch. After lunch I went and taught with some sisters in that area. It was awesome to just jump into the work however I mostly just prayed and bore my testimony and tried really hard to understand what else was going on. I can usually catch the general idea of the conversation but sometimes I miss key things and then I am totally lost. I just need to focus on what I can understand and realize that it will come. The Lord will provide! I am excited to be here! I love you all and hope you have a great week! This is an awesome work and I am excited to share the gospel...even if it must be in very broken Portuguese at first :).
Muito amor!
Sister Richins

April 28, 2009

Hello everyone!!!
How was the week for y´all (shout out Trav and Chan ;) ). HAPPY BIRTHDAY Brett! Hope you did something exciting to celebrate!! Oh mom and dad thank you so much for the Easter package!!! It was so fun to get and my entire district says thanks for the chocolate! The chocolate here just isn´t the same. You all rock! I appreciate the letters and emails from all of you!!!YAY! It is my last p-day in the CTM! It is kinda crazy...I feel like I have served my time here and I am more then ready to leave but at the same time I´m a little nervous to be thrown into the real world of Portuguese. I feel confident here speaking and I feel like I´m understanding fairly well too but I also think that once I get to the field it´s going to hit me just how much I have to learn still :). Either way I´m super stoked to go! One of my teachers, Irmão Nacimento is engaged to a girl who is serving in my mission right now. She was called to be there for three weeks because one of the Sister´s had to go home for a health reason so she took the place for the three weeks before I get there. She actually came back today but Irmão Nacimento said that he is pretty sure I will have a Brasilian companion and that he thinks he knows the area I will be going apparently a little bit out of the main city area...he says it is great! I´m excited! I am hoping for a Brasilian companion...I feel like it would help my Portuguese improve a lot more quickly. So, I had a dream that the entire family was learning Portuguese...so...how is it going? It´s a great language to learn! I hear it´s the second most dominant language in the church. LOL I would love to come home to all of my nieces and nephews speaking Portuguese to me :). So we went proselyting on friday for the last time in the CTM. It was another wonderful experience and as I have expressed before it is so refreshing to get out and talk to people and TEACH about the restored gospel!! WOW...it´s amazing! I love these people!! They are so open to stop and listen and so patient with us forgeiners trying to speak their language!! I think we, in America, can learn a lot from them! I already have and I can only imagine what more I will learn from them in the next 16 months. A small accomplishment that I feel like sharing with you all...I did three pull-ups this week (yes total). Hear me out for a second :). I have never really tried to do pull ups in the past...I think in elementary school I had to do the hang above the bar thing for golden sneaker but other then that I can´t remember the last time I tried. But about three maybe four weeks ago my companion wipped out 5 pull ups like it was nothing so I thought sweet I´ll give it a try...only to find out that I can´t do a pull up. So I have been working on it...and struggling. On Thursday of last week I finaly did one...just one but I felt really good about myself, and then last night I did two in a row!! Haha! I hope I have somewhere to keep working on it once I leave the CTM. There is a quote by a general authority...I can´t remember who or what it says but something about how the spirit can increase our spiritual, mental, and physical abilities. I´m grateful for the help!!Well since it is my last week in the CTM I just wanted to share some thoughts about what I have learned here in the past 2 months. I look forward to learning much more once I get to the field of course :). *Faith works MIRACLES! This is not a new concept for me but my understanding and testimony has been strengthened causing me to have and act more on my faith.*God loves exact obeidience! As missionaries and members of the church we have the awesome opportunity to be constantly led and protected by the spirit and through the spirit we will have guidancein ALL aspects of life...we are blessed with this through being obedient.*I want to be trusted by all especially our Father in Heaven. As a missionary I am making it a goal to be trusted with His elect, so God can place them in my path and know I will recognize them, I want to be trusted by my mission President, my companions, the members, the investigators in any area with any companion, etc so that I will carry the work and never hinder it.*House of order. I tend to be spontaneous and just live life as it comes which is fun and can be fine as long as there is order! I have thought a lot about this here in the CTM...the importance of planning the importance of order, etc.*Always look for ways to improve. Watch and pray for ways to improve myself, my relationships, teaching, studying, all aspects have room for improvement and it happens line upon line.*Last one I will share (I have a long list but not time for all of them)...the power of LOVE!! I do love people pretty naturally but I don´t ever want to take that for granted or forget to express it. Love is central! I mean CHARITY really loving as our Savior does. ALL is possible because of love and without it we are nothing and could become nothing...with it we can have everything and become everything our Father has promised!!On that note...I love you all!! You are amazing! You are in my thoughts and prayers always!
Much love!
Sister Chelsea Dawn

April 21, 2009

So I was writing an email and my computer froze up and so I´m going to have to recap real quick. CTM is good! Life here is good...I am getting anxious to leave the CTM to the field in only 2 weeks but as I have said before I love my district here and my teachers! It has been a good 7 weeks. This week a huge group of missionaries that I love...we flew in with them...left. It was sad to say goodbye but I´m excited for them! There were two Brasilian (mom I haven´t quite figured out exactly how many a brasilian is yet...) sisters that left they are like for real sisters...same parents ya know ha...and they didn´t have very many clothes and the clothes they did have didn´t fit very well so we talked to the CTM Presidents wife and arranged to get them a couple dresses. When we gave the dresses to them they were so grateful and it was so sweet! I was excited to see them head to the mission field with some nicer dresses! They were sweethearts! Helped me a lot with my Portuguese! This week we did a practice baptism and I had to give a talk in Portuguese...it was real short but it was fun. It´s amazing to me how strong the spirit is in our practice lessons and baptism, etc. It is an important work and the Lord guides it! I have been practicing the piano the past three weeks. I am an amature but I have learned like three hymns and a bit and I actually played for the special musical number in my branch this week. I played sweet hour of prayer and my companion and an elder from our district sang. It was awesome! It was a good experience...I was nervous but happy to have the opportunity. I am hoping to keep practicing and learning in case I ever need to play in a meeting, etc.So I would love to write more but I better bounce. Time is up. I love you all. I love this work! I am so grateful to be in Brasil! I am so grateful to be growing closer to my Savior! I am so excited to be learning Portuguese! I hope you are all well and know that I love you! I pray for you all everyday!Much love!
Sister Chelsea Dawn

April 14, 2009 On the countdown . . .

To my favorite peeps!
I only have 3 more weeks in the CTM. How is everyone?! How was Easter? I hope you all had a great week and a good holiday!! Easter here was good. It was fun because all of the branch President´s wives made all of us missionaries homemade cookies and they were dElIcIoUs! And one of the Elder´s in my district got a package from his mom so he shared the candy and we had a mini district Easter party! It was fun put a little variety into our very structured lives here. I live for anything that adds some variety here at the CTM and this week we went proselyting as well as celebrated Easter so it made for a very eventful week ;). Proselyting ROCKED!! We went to a park near a museum here in São Paulo and it was beautiful (both the park and the museum). Some of the Elder´s got kicked out of the park and were told they weren´t supposed to proselyte there (we found out later) but we walked past several um...park rangers if you will...and none of them said a thing. Sometimes it pays off to be a sister :). Proselyting has been the most exciting and invigorating part of my time here at the CTM for me there are so many lessons I have learned here and I know there is much purpose in the CTM but when we go proselyting it is more clear to me what my purpose is and I love my purpose! I am so excited about this work! People here in Brasil are ready and willing to at least listen and the spirit guided and directed my words and my ability to understand Portuguese so much! Both of my companions are a bit better at the language because of their Spanish but it has helped me a lot! But on the bus ride home my companion said "wow you understand everything" she thought because of my responses and granted I did understand a lot more then last time I really did´t understand everything and I probably missed a lot more than I realize but the spirit directed my words and I was able to answer their questions. We gave away 11 Books of Mormon...it was a lot of fun! I also was very excited because I felt that I was still able to be and express myself even with my limited Portuguese...it made me so happy!! I am very grateful that the people here are loving and warm...they were patient and willing to listen to us with our broken Portuguese and to this beautiful message. I felt the love that the Lord has for these people so strongly! It was great. We don´t go again for another week and a half but I can hardly wait.My companions and my district are so great! We have a lot of fun together and laugh a lot! I have learned so much from them! There are six of us so it is a small and tight district...consisting of the three of us sisters and three elders. Our branch presidents wife took a picture of us at the temple today so you should get that soon. They are such awesome and hilarious people! The other night my companion Sister McCandless was singing ´God Be With You´ in her sleep. It was the middle of the night and I remember trying to figure out what was going on and having the desire to tell her to stop singing but in the morning when I realized what had happened it was so funny to us. She was creeped out by it...but it was hilarious. Our teachers here at the CTM are so awesome as well! They are inspiring and so patient! They are both very humble and hardworking people and I have learned a lot about what I want to be like as a missionary through them! It is a great experience to be here! Sometimes I get so anxious to get outside that I am clawing the windows but I know this is part of the journey too so I am trying to take advantage of the time I have here while making through it by remembering that at some point I really am going to go out and teach the gospel. This time is much needed to learn, prepare, and fill my lamp for the months and experiences to come! Life is sweet! You are all awesome! Thank you for the letters and emails! It is so fun to hear from home and feel the love and support! Keep me posted! Tiffany thanks so much for posting all of my letters on the blog I have already heard from a couple people that have been able to read my emails on the blog...you rock!I love and miss and pray for you all!!
Have an awesome week!
Much love!
Sister Richins

April 7, 2009

Dear Family and friends,
Hello so I have such limited time on the computors and I have so much I want to write! I will try to hurry... This week was great! General Conference being the highlight! It was so powerful to watch it here with a bunch of missionaries it was so powerful and I learned a lot! I felt a big focus on being of good cheer! What a blessing to be a part of the church of Jesus Christ, knowing the fullness of His gospel and perfect plan in these hard times! I am so grateful and feel at peace! Protection through the temple was another theme that stood out to me! Another blessing in which brings much peace to me life. And I loved Elder Jefferey R. Holland´s talk about the atonement...he is powerful! His talk shed new light on the atonement for me and helped me understand why our Savior had to suffer completely alone. He being a perfect man never experienced aloneness...he was always worthy or the Spirit and had the Father so close...but in order to understand how we feel when we are far from perfect and feel completely alone the Father had to take His spirit away and our Savior suffered for us completely and alone! WOW! I also loved Elder Hales talk about provident living...so important and very needed in this day! What were your thoughts? I would love to hear what you all got from it!We went to the São Paulo temple today for the first time. It is the temple in my mission and it is BEAUTIFUL I would venture to say the prettiest temple I have ever been in!! We also went to a BBQ place with our teacher. It´s like Rodisio grill...or however you spell that. It was really good! I´m not a huge meat eater but it was fun to try and experience...and it did taste really good. I ate chicken heart...um...tasted fine but the texture was sick. I hope I wont have to eat much more of it. The language is coming along! This week our teacher told my companions and I that we don´t need to speak English anymore. He said that we can say everything we NEED to say and even though we can´t say everything we WANT to say...that according to his definition we are fluent...ha. My problem is what I want and need to say is all relative...he may think I can say everything I need to but I disagree. Forcing ourselves to speak Portuguese is great though. This week we are doing 3 no English days...wow...it is hard for me! I like to talk and express and relate to people and I can´t do that very well in Portuguese...it will come!I love you all! I want to write more but I have no time! Thank you for your emails and letters...it is so fun to hear from home!! Keep me posted!
Much love!
Sister Richins

March 31, 2009

Hi family and friends!
So, when I sit down to write it is hard to think of what I should include to update you on the week. I am so happy to be here and I´m so grateful to be in Brasil among such humble and open people! I love the spirit and blessings I have experienced here in the CMT! I just hit my month mark today...in a sense it has flown by and on the other hand it seems like I´ve been here forever. Time honestly moves differently in the MTC I think. As I said in the last letter we had an opportunity to go proselyting on Friday. It was AWESOME! It was so great to be out of the MTC walking around Brasil and speaking Portuguese with Brasilians, teaching them about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. It was invigorating! We get to go twice more before we leave the MTC and then pretty sure it´s like an everyday thing ;). I´m excited!! It was also a very humbling experience because as you can imagine I speak limited Portuguese and I understand limited Portuguese as well. But my teacher made a comment that hit me...he said "you are exactly where the Lord wants you to be...if he wanted you to be better you´d be better...if he wanted you to be better you´d be better" seems so simple but it hit me as very wise! I am doing the Lord´s work, I am a tool in His hands and if He wanted me to speak more or less...it would be. But I know I have been so blessed by the gifts of the spirit because I have learned so much in such a short time I know I could never do it on my own. I am so grateful for the help. I feel encouraged and positive and I know that the Lord is in control. Today I read 1 Nephi 3 in Portuguese and I understood what it was saying. Between being familiar with the story and knowing many of the words I was able to piece together the words and phrases I didn´t understand yet. It was a great feeling! Oh, back to proselyting...it rocked! My companions and I made a great team I think! I had no problem approaching people and opening up the conversation about the gospel and one of my companions is very good at pronunciation so when I struggled she would correct and my other companion is really good at understanding what they said back so she would translate when we didn´t catch everything. It worked out well. We had nine Books of Mormon and planned to give them all away. It came time to meet back up with our district and we still had one left. I told my teacher that we had to give the last one away before we left so he said ok go talk to that lady...I walked up to her and began explaining who we were and what we were doing etc etc and she was apparently not too interested because she dodged around another guy and walked away...ha. I was determined but my teacher wanted to take us to look inside this huge old theatre in that we were walking past and said not to talk to anyone on the stairs. I still had hope though that we would be able to give it to someone. We were the only ones in the theater at first but a couple walked in. I said hi how are you? Not thinking anything because our teacher had said not to talk to the people on the stairs. But he began talking to me about where I was from and what we are doing...and of course it was the perfect set up. My teacher smiled and nodded and I proceded to tell him about the church and the Book of Mormon and asked him if he would like the copy that I was holding. He said of course and I asked if he would read it and they both said they would. It was awesome and it was a blessing! We had a lot of other neat experiences as well! We talked with a lot of people that had some familiarity with the church and most people were so nice to us!! I had the opportunity to meet my mission President and his wife this week. It was great! There were about 7 Brasilian missionaries in the MTC who are going to the same mission as me (they left today) so our President came to do interviews and things with them. They came in the lunch room to tell me he was at the MTC and so my companions and I went and hunted them down. They were great! We only had a minute to talk to them but it was fun to beable to meet them before I get out there. Sister Cooley seemed great! I was very impressed with her! I am excited to get to know them both better!My time is up...but I will end assuring you all that life here is great! I am so happy and grateful to be serving a mission! This gospel is incredible and it is true and I am so happy to be sharing the message!Thank you all for your support! Hope to hear from you all soon :).
Much love!
Sister Chelsea Dawn

March 24, 2009

HeLlO!
So it has been another great week in the CTM. Honestly it has been a great week! Time is such an interesting thing...it seems like it is all relative. We talk about time a lot here...how long have you been here? how much longer before you go to the field? it feels like its only been...I can´t believe it has already been... You get the idea, it makes me laugh but at the same time I can´t help but think about it. My life is marked by Sundays, p-days, and pizza night (where they serve banana chocolate and cheese all one the same piece...it´s actually really good)...other then that every other day seems to blend together. First things first...THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE LETTERS AND EMAILS! It is so great to hear from yáll! mom and dad thanks for the letters, Tiff and fam thanks for the card, Anika thanks for the drawing, and friends thanks for the letters! If I had only known what letters mean to a missionary I´d like to think that I would have done better. Sorry to those of you I didn´t write. I am amazed by how close my district and companionship have become. My companions have always been easy to get along with we have just been able to grow closer. However, we did have an Elder that was kind of hard to deal with at first, but as we worked together, prayed and have been filled with the spirit I´m sure we have all grown really close and have already learned a lot together and from each other. We basically spend all day everyday together...in the same classroom...at the same desk...ha. It´s great. We read each others letters and know each others lives...it´s like my little family within the MTC. Also as my companions and I have become closer our lessons have been going a lot better and have had a powerful spirit. This week we passed of the first long lesson and the spirit was so strong. Our teacher was very happy and impressed but more then that the three of us walked away with stronger faith in the guidance of the spirit. It was amazing to me that even though it was just a "mock lesson" if you will it was important enough to the Lord that we were aided in our teaching and word choice, etc. I learned a great lesson from it...my mission has already started. That may sound obvious but being here in the MTC I sometimes feel like it hasn´t...that I´m not really a missionary yet...and though I am just in the learning and preparing process I am a missionary and there is a calling for me here at the MTC. I am so grateful for the realization! I hope it changes my work and time here! My companions and I were called to be the ´coordinating sisters´this week. We are basically in charge of making sure all of the sisters feel loved, have someone to talk to, somewhere to go for information, we go to the leadership meeting and give anouncements, welcome the new sisters, make sure the ones leaving get a proper goodbye, and I´m sure I will learn more about what we do as we go. I´m excited about the opportunity, it will help us to get to know all of the sisters better and I think it will give me more experience speaking Portuguese because there are a lot of Brasilian sisters. Speaking of Portuguese, we are going proselyting on Friday! I am so excited!! But I am somewhat nervous about the whole...I don´t really speak Portuguese factor. I am actually pretty confident about what I am going to say but if they ask me any questions I dunno that I can 1st understand what they are saying and 2nd formulate an answer. Good thing I have two companions...pretty sure between the three of us we will be just fine. In preparation for it our district had an Eng fast yesterday...we spoke only Portuguese...or as close to it as we could...ha! It was um...hard...and motivating...but surprisingly I could communicate, not as much as I would have liked to but ya know...we got by. I wish I had more time...for some reason today I feel like I could go on and on. Most important though, life is good and the gospel is true! I am so grateful to be in the Lords service and I LOVE YOU ALL!!!Have a great week!

Much love!

Sister Chelsea Dawn

March 17, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,
Another week in Brasil has passed. It was a good week! I can believe how much I have learned is such a short time! Learning a new language is pretty amusing ;). I accepted a marriage proposal this week not realizing I did so until after the Brazilian Elders all laughed. I realized that I need to learn Portuguese really fast and not pretend to understand if I don’t. An Elder in my district…Elder Payne is my hero…he seriously struggles with the language. He has a lisp and has a gringo accent like crazy. He is so happy and positive and just laughs at himself. It is all I can do to not laugh through all the prayers he gives. But it is so endearing and he keeps me motivated and there is just as much reason to laugh at me when I speak too. One of the Brazilian Elders told me he can totally understand my Portuguese and it´s cute because I sound like a little kid…ha! I´ll have to work on that. Another funny story about learning a new language…this week in class we had our window open and one of my comps, Sister Marchant, said that it smelled like a barbecue outside. Our teacher (who is Brazilian) said (so I can´t find the quotations on this keyboard…bear with me), he said yes there is one down there. We were confused and didn’t want to get too excited so Elder Payne said…next door right? He said no it´s downstairs at the MTC and you can get your hair cut. Elder Payne got worried and said I need a haircut and Sister Marchant said a barbecue for getting a hair cut…as Elder Payne preceded to ask his comp if he needed a hair cut. We were all laughing way hard because of all of the confusion and suddenly I realized…oh Irmão you are talking about the barber shop. He said yes of course…and we all started laughing way hard! We explained to our teacher what a barbecue was and he said we should go on a p-day. It was great…and so funny.Thanks so much for the emails this week and the letter mom. So I know now what letters mean to a missionary and I am repenting for being the worst letter writer of all time before my mission. It was so great to hear from y´all!Dad I hope you had a great birthday! Anika I hope you got your birthday email today! My birthday went well too thanks for the happy birthday wishes! I got a card from my comps and some yummy yogurt candy things from the MTC president and his wife.I love the MTC here; I love the Brasilian people already and the food. Pretty sure I will enjoy my time here. It seems like I have a lot of it ahead of me but I´m sure itll go quickly.The MTC is a great place with a powerful spirit! My testimony of the restored gospel, the converting power of the Book of Mormon, and the great power and gifts of the spirit have grown a lot! I am excited to be here!Keep in touch!
Much love!
Sister Chelsea Dawn

March 10, 2009

Dear Family,
I`M IN BRASIL!!! It´s great! The keyboards are a little different so I´m kinda struggling but I think I will get used to it. The CTM here is great! There is a powerful spirit here and I am learning a lot! I know that the Holy Ghost is aiding in the learning and remembering process! It´s amazing! The language is actually coming kinda quickly right now. It´s fun because during meals my companions and I always sit by Brazilians and practice conversing with them. They are hilarious! And they are very nice...always acting like they understand our Portuguese and what not. It makes for a lot of laughing and not so much talking but we try...and try...and will keep trying. It´s non-stop studying as I´m sure all of you that have been to the MTC can testify of. We take breaks to eat, work out, and sleep. Even then Portuguese verbs, phrases, prayers, etc are running through my head. I fall asleep reviewing what I learned that day. It´s pretty intense!I have two companions because we were the only brand new sisters, and they are awesome! There names are Sister Marchant, from Colorado, and Sister McCandless, from Idaho. They both speak quite a bit of Spanish and Sister McCandless speaks some Portuguese as well so they are a good resource to help me learn! The country is so amazingly beautiful and great, with beautiful trees that have colorful blossoms and hills, etc, in some places...but...in others it is incredibly ghetto and dirty and crowded. It´s awesome! The food is great! We do eat a lot of rice and beans but not like any I´d ever had before...I love it. And lots of fresh fruits and veggitables! The CTM actually serves a lot of chicken too which is good. Mostly we eat rice and beans, a salad with peco de gio, and fruit. I was called on out of the congregation to give a talk the first Sunday here (two days ago...weird). It only had to be five minutes long but I had no prior notice or preparation. It was a good experience I´m sure haha...maybe they could have given me a week or so. I think it went fine, dunno if it was a full five minutes or not but my companions thought it was.Well I only have a couple minutes so I better bounce. I love you all! Happy Birthday this week dad and Anika! You are amazing!
Much love!!Sister Chelsea Dawn

I'ts Official

Chelsea was set apart by her stake president, President Smith, on Monday March 2.

Mom and Dad are serving a church service mission while Chelsea is serving a full-time mission.

Grandma Richins with the girls.

Anika cried all night, she is really going to miss her sweet Aunt Chelsea!