Just a dip

Well this week has been pretty... Entertaining. We have been working hard but also haveing alot of fun! Many laughs! Which is good right?! I once heard someone say if you're not having fun on your mission then you're doing something wrong. So I take that to heart, But obviously there has to be a balance... the key is to have fun WHILE you're working which is what we manage to do. We were working really hard this week to find new investigators, I feel like our area is a little weak right now and I am tyring to figure out what we can do to pick it up. I know that this area has alot of potential and that the Lord has prepared people here we just have to find them. As a trio we have been working hard to set goals that will help us be better missionaries. If there is one thing I am learning on my mission its how to set goals and then work to meet them. These are eternal principles that I know I will continue using throughout my whole life. And its such a blessing to be on a mission to be able to learn that. So with putting these goals in practice we have been able to find quite a few people to teach which is always cause for joy. Everytime we find someone new I am reminded that the worth of souls is great in the sight of God and what a precious child they are of our Heavenly Father. And then I need to do all that I can to help them return to His presence. 

Unfortunatly we had  some sad news in our trio on Saturday. There will be an emergency transfer and Sister Jeronymo will be leaving us. We are really sad cuz we love her so much and have learned so much from her. But we will be getting another Sister in our Trio Sister Robinson from New Zealand and she is awesome so that makes it better. It'll be a bitter sweet move. But President is guided by the Lord and I know that its whats best and that we will be able to continue learning from one another. If theres one thing im sure of on my mission its that we are  put with our companions for a reason and theres always something we can learn from them. Ive been so blessed on my mission to have had all amazing companions thus far. Even the ones that I didnt get along with as well I learned so many wonderful lessons from them and I know that the Lord knows where and with who we need to be with. 

I am so grateful to have a Savior who loves me so much that he was willing to suffer and die for me. I know that when I come closer to Him thats when I see who I really can be and when I can reach my full potential. Becasuse it is when we come unto Christ that we see our weaknesses and then we can make them strong and be the better for them. 

I thank each and every one of you for the love and support I recieve. I feel your prayers and I hope that you feel mine! Have a wonderfun week!

With Love,

Sister Schwitters!!

Shout out to my wonderful mother whos having a birthday this week!! FELIZ ANIVERSÁRIO MOM! Love you!

Oh and you should all take a minute to read Ether 12 this week. It really inspired me this past week and I know it will do that same for you"! :D

At our District meeting!

Study time!

Leavin the House

Snuggling in Bed with my stuffed animals! 

WE BE CRAZY!

Angry cat!

Elda a ward member we are helping! She's the sweetest!

Who did it?! ;)

Gunna miss this trio! :( love them!

The last lunch!! 

FOREVER!

I was so close to "Falling" in! Ive never wanted to swim so bad in my life! haha

Giving a book of mormon to Brad

Then we also taught George ;)

Goofin off waiting for Sister Schooley! 

Happy New Year!

Well we have been having a great week!! Transfers passed and we were happy to stay together but now we are excited to report that we are in Trio!! Woo! We are already having tons of fun! Our new companions name is Sister Jeronymo! She is actually from Mauá a city next to ours so she will just be serving a mission corto praso (just one transfer) she wants to serve a full time mission but has a few problems with her knees so they want her to have a testing period to see if they would be okay and until now she is doing great! We are confident that she will be out on a mission in no time. Its also nice to have a brasiliian around to help us with our portugues when we dont know a word haha She has such a special spirit too, this whole week our lessons have been awesome! We really feel that we are going to see many miracles this transfer!

Tueday night was new years eve! That was fun... The members that we kinda live with had a few people over and made yummy food unfortunatly it wasnt ready by the time that we had to be inside so she passed us food through the window! haha Pretty much the essence of New Years in Brasil is Churrasco (BBQ) and Fireworks! haha When midnight came as we were attempting to sleep it was pretty much a half hour of nonstop fireworks. It started to just sound like buzzing! haha but by 1:00 we were able to fall back asleep. I think it would have been fun if we weren't missionaries and could have stayed up and slept in the next day! ahah I'll have to return sometime to experince it for real.

It is so weird that 2013 has come to an end, It has been an amazing year, weird to think I spent the whole thing on my mission but what a blessing it has been. I have been doing quite a bit of reflecting these past few weeks. About all that I've  done this past year and also all that I want to do in these next six months and when I get back from my misson. (Don't  worry I'm not trunky yet! haha) But I have set many good goals that I am excited to put in practice. Its going to be a year of much growth and changes! :D I hope you all have the same opportunities!

As for our teaching goes we have quite a few families and people wonderful that we are teaching right now! We just need to get them to come to church. It is so important not only for us to learn more about the church but also because of the special spirit and the strength we gain there! Every sunday is a treat and I have gained such a strong testimony on my mission of the importance of going to church for ALL 3 hours! haha It is so important for our spiritual safety!

That is about all the exciting things that have happened this week. We are just always looking for more opportunitues to find those prepared to hear the message of the Restoration! I hope you are all taking advantage of every opportunity you have to share the gospel with those around you!!

I love you and hope you have a great week! 

Com Amor,
Sister Schwitters

 We made cookies for our ward with a little message with a scripture on the back! It was fun and they tasted pretty good! 

CHRISTMAS PACKAGES! :) woo! Im very blessed! 

The million dollar package... I had to pay 191 reis ( about 81 dollars) to get it from the post office. That was a bummer but it really was a great package!! haha

Trying to "paint" my companion! haha

Our district! They were pretty awesome! 

Our zone "christmas tree" haha

The one present I was able to wrap this year. I really love wrapping presents so I went a little over board! haha It was for a white elephant in our zone. 

Sister Schooley and I on christmas eve. We walked around town with these on our heads all day! We got a few strange looks...haha

With Sister Cox! Shes awesome! 

Making the dessert brandi sent me for christmas eve dinner! They turned out yummy!!! 

ZONA SANTO ANDRÉ! yeah!

Christmas eve dinner!! Super delicous! Thank you D'Agustino family!!

New garb! woo! 

 FELIZ ANO NOVO! 

New years Churrasco! 

Celebrating new years eve at 9:00! yay!

After a long days work this is all we want to do! haha

One of the families that we LOVE that ive been visiting since I got here! They are moving to a different area so we had to say bye.. so sad!  We'll miss them!

Hot Beauty

So you wanna know what I've been doing this week?? MELTING!! haha No but really it has been so hot this past week, I'm finally learning what a brasilian summers like. And I'm in one of the milder areas! haha I Think the Lord definitely knew what he was doing when he sent me to São Paulo cuz I'm pretty sure I would die in the northern part of Brasil! But we've just been trying to stick it out and not complain too much! Apart from the heat we've actually been pretty blessed this past week. We found a Less Active member who actually came to church on her own who we are trying to help. They are an adorable little family and I really think we can help them come closer to Christ. I really enjoy helping people come back to church because you can help them remember the good feelings they had when they were baptised and help them feel the love of Heavenly Father in their lives. It is a wonderful blessing! :)

We have been working really hard this week and have actually been seeing a lot of good things happen because of it. We have quite a few investigators who are progressing which is awesome. The mission is making some changes that we think will help our investigators become truly converted instead of just baptised so they wont fall away. I think its really good and although our numbers will be low to start I think it will make a different in the quality of our baptisms. We are just always looking to improve and see how we can be a more effective and successful mission.

Something nice I was able to do this week was go on a division with Sister Reis in another area. It was nice becuase not only did I get to learn from a wonderful missionary but I got to go to a super calm and green area!! It was so nice to be away from the city for a day. It was more how I imagined brasil to be I absolutly loved it. Im hopeing maybe thatll be my next area it just has alot of hills which is a bummer but the Lord knows where I need to be. 

I am so grateful for the opportunity to see the Lord working miracles in the lives of those around me and in myself. I love the Savior and strive everyday to be a better representative and servant of Him. I hope we can all ponder how we our representing the Lord and what we can do to better honor him and his name which we hold as members of the Church of Jesus Cristo of Latter Day Saints. I love you all and know that every person we meet we can help and can help us grow closer to our Heavenly Father. I hope you have a wonderful week you are always in my prayers!!

Com muito Amor,

SIster Schwitters

SO MUCH GREEN!! This is south america!!

 Our Party Trio!!! Sister Jeronymo and Sister Schooley!

The interesting bugs of Brasil!! 

I want to live in the trees! ;) haha

This is how I imagined brasil and I loved it!!

Christmas in the heat

Well This week has been quite exciting!! Clearly the highlight of the week was being able to talk with the fam but alot of other really good things happened. This was our week of new investigators! We found about 6 or 7 new people to teach which is awesome because these past few weeks we have been getting like 1 or 2 new investigators which is not good. But we have been trying to get more member references and it has proved well. It looks like this new year is going to be a good one! We are really ecxited to start working with these people. Hopefully we can help them progress and really see how much the Lord loves them. 

This time of year is sometimes a little difficult for the missionaries here because alot of people travel or are really busy but we have been lucky and have been able to find people to teach which is a huge blessing! We saw many little miracles this past week and are quite greatful! 

Christmas was actually really fun. Here in Brasil pretty much all the festivities happen on christmas eve and then they open presents at midnight. So we were given permission to stay out until 10:30(as long as we has a ride home) to particiáte in traditional brasilian dinners that usually dont even start until 9. We were with a super awesome family and it was just really fun. unfortunately they did the more spiritual part after we had to go home so we missed it but we enjoyed on time with them. On christmas morning sister schooley and I woke up and made chocolate chip pancakes! They were really yummy! (thanks brandi for sending the mix! haha) and then after we just chilled and headed over to a members house to eat lunch and talk with our families and thats all we did. We wore cute little christmas headbands and walked around town speading christmas cheer! It was actually really entertaining. Talvez people thought we were weird but they still smiled so its okay!

One of the other exciting things was that we moved houses! I dont know if I would use the word exciting cuz it was kinda stressful but it we are slowly getting settled in. We got a call on friday saying we needed to move EVERYTHING in our house to the other one that day or saturday. We ended up doing it saturday but we were pretty rushed! Packing is never fun... But our house is bigger now so we are happy! Also we got transfer calls today. Sister Schooley and I will be staying together!!! wooo! (as of now...haha) we are really excited and know that the new transfer and the new year will bring many blessing and mircales. 

Ah also on sunday We both gave talks in church. It went pretty well, there was like NO ONE there, like 25 people, because everyone was gone. But thoes who were there were definitly spiritually uplifted! :) We were grateful to have the opportunity!

Well I hope that everyone has a happy new year and sets some awesome goals that can be reached so that we can all end 2014 better people. I know that the only way we will grow and change is through setting inspired goals. Be safe and enjoy time with family and friends! oh and enjoy the cold cuz im dyin over here in the heat! ;)

LOVE YOU!

Sister Schwitters

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and remember the reason we celebrate this wonderful holiday. The birth of our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ. I have been so greatful to be able to share this knowledge with those around me this Christmas. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! 

With love,

Sister Shaelie Schwitters

My favorite scripture about Christ this year: Moroni 10:32, I memorized it for our Conferencia de Natal. Its an amazing scripture that has helped me alot this past year on my mission.

Eu sei que Jesus Cristo é nosso Salvador e Redentor. Ele veu na terra para nos salvar. Podemos ser fortalecidos em sua graça. Estou muito feliz pregar O Evangelho é a melhor benção em minha vida. Todos no podemos sentir este mesmo alegria compartilhando o que sabemos. Realmente este é o melhor presente podemos dar por nosso Pai Celestial. Eu amo cada um de vocês, muito obrigada por me ajudando tornar se a missionária eu sou hoje. A IGREJA É VERDADEIRA! :D

Yes we walked around like this all day! haha ;)

Eating yummy homemade bread of Sister Tanner at our Christmas Conference and yes its pretty much the best thing ever. Sister Tanner is perfect! ;)

Sisters in the Bathroom! woo!

 Eating delicous churrasco for our lunch!

Awesome Sisters! 

Me and my filha Sister Beck! Love her!!

Service Project painting a house!! yay!! :)