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