He turns fishers of men into shephards

Large Plates 

Finding, Thanksgiving bike fiascos, Portuguese exchange, Sunday morning miracles, and some crazy transfer news!

This week was CRAZY. We didn't have a ton of people we were teaching, because a couple of them got baptized, and then the other people we were teaching were too busy so we had to start teaching them. That meant that we did tons and tons of finding this week. Most of our finding in this area comes from knocking doors, which I don't mind. It's tricky in this area, though, because the Hispanics are harder to find. We either find an apartment complex with a lot of Americans, or one with a lot of Brazilians, and a few Hispanics. We tend to go to the Brazilian/Hispanic neighborhoods. It's been fun though! I've actually taught a lot of lessons in Portuguese, or maybe portuñol, but either way it's fun. 

Thanksgiving was also this week! Holidays on the mission are definitely strange. This Thanksgiving was basically just a normal proselytizing day, but with a little bit of flexibility. It was also the fist day Sister Peterson and I tried out our "new" bikes! I say new, because they are new for us. But they are certainly not new bikes. We're borrowing them from members until we finish our missions. Long story short, an ordinary 10 mile bike ride turned into a bit of an adventure, which included trudging through the wilderness of Florida, sprinting down busy roads in the dark for 20 seconds at a time, and a flat tire when we still had miles to go. Some Elders were so kind and drove to us and swapped one of their bikes so we could ride the rest of the way home. And then, when we got home, they had left a gigantic pecan pie on our doorstep! 

This Saturday, I got to exchange in the Portuguese area, which was so much fun. It was fun to practice my Portuguese with them, and help the sisters learn and grow a bit more! We went to 2 churrascos (Brazilian barbecues) and a Brazilian bakery! Once again, Latin food is so much better than American food. We ended off the day with Davi's baptism! He's someone the Portuguese Elders taught. It was such a good day, and you could say I definitely fell in love with Brazilian culture. 

Speaking of Brazilian culture, yesterday marks 1 year since I found a Portuguese Book of Mormon in my apartment, way back in training. Yesterday was also the day I finished that very book. My intention wasn't to finish it in a year, or in any specific amount of time, for that matter. I just wanted to read it to help me learn Portuguese, and that it did. It's kind of poetic that it worked out that I finished it in exactly a year, though!

The biggest miracle of this week was definitely Sunday. Graciela and Juseli's entire family came with them to church. We were expecting a couple of family members to accompany them, but no. Everyone wanted to come. And they all came and sat in the middle and loved church. Hermano Amyradakis gave the perfect talk about seeking first the Kingdom of God, and I think it really helped our new friends! Also, not only did their family come to church, but 2 other really awesome families! Hernan, who we were teaching a while ago, came with his kids and stayed for both hours. And, a family who Sister Peterson met, while I was in the Portuguese area, came too! Everyone loved it. 

This week was full of a lot of rejection, just due to the nature of us knocking on so many doors. But, it was possibly the most joyful week I have had on my mission. I just felt so filled with love. My favorite part of the mission is getting to know people, learning to love them, and falling in love with their stories and their culture and their food. 

The last thing I'm gonna tell you about before I write my Small Plates is transfers. Transfers are on Tuesday, but we don't know if/where we're going until Sunday night. I had a few ideas and lots of hopes for what would be happening to me, come transfer time. I really wanted to stay in this area and help teach and baptized Graciela and Juseli's family, and keep working with Rosalba and Hernan. Honestly I think all of them could be baptized in the next transfer. I've also loved being in mission leadership. I love helping the other missionaries learn and grow, and I love being in close communication with President and Sister Schmeil. If I had to leave, I was hoping to go serve in Portuguese work. President and I have talked about it a few times and he liked the idea. Speaking Portuguese terrifies me, but I knew that if I got put in Portuguese work, that Heavenly Father would help me. 

So, those were kind of the two options I've been fiddling with in my mind these days. Then, last night, as I was about to start reading the last chapter of the Portuguese Book of Mormon, actually, the APs called. 

They thanked me for my service as an STL, and told me I would be training. That's not what I expected, but I told them I was willing to do it. They then explained to me that my training would be a bit different. They said that I would be re-opening an area that hasn't had missionaries in it for a little while, and that I would be moving up to Merritt Island, by Cocoa Beach. And, that I would be serving in an English unit. My heart dropped. I love language work. I love culture. And I have to leave that all behind. 

Now, I'm not trying to be dramatic here. I'm honestly still wrapping my head around all of it. I'm scared, for sure. It's going to be a completely new experience. I've never served in English work before. Not only am I switching to English, but I'm getting a trainee and we're moving way far away from where I've ever served. And I don't get to be an STL anymore. Some tears were definitely shed. 

That being said, I'm excited. I told President I wanted to learn and grow, and although I imagined that meant he would put me in a new language and not in my native language. I know these next few months of training are going to be a learning process for sure. But hey! I get to live by the beach! Cape Canaveral is literally in my ward boundaries. There are going to be Cruise Ships parked in my ward. Crazy, huh? 

Small Plates 

He turns fishers of men into shephards 

It's funny, you know. Heavenly Father really likes to teach me. And I'm grateful for it. 

I was re-reading one of my books the other day and I learned something new from the author. I knew right then that that was what I was going to write about in my email for the week. 

The thing is, with these emails, I always learn more from writing them than any of you could possibly learn from reading them. I haven't even written it yet but I know Heavenly Father is about to teach me. I'm just letting the rest of you join me for the ride.

So, here's what I learned from the book. When the Savior called Peter to his apostolic ministry, he called a fisherman to be a fisher of men. Essentially He was saying, "Peter. You have strengths that can be used for my work. Come, and I will teach you to use what you already have and who you already are, to build up my Kingdom."

Peter worked alongside the Savior for a long time, and learned a lot from Him. He fine-tuned his strengths, and he surely acquired a few new ones along the way.

He was transformed from Peter the fisherman to Peter the Fisher of Men. He found a new, better version of himself. One that the Savior helped him discover. 

As the Savior's earthly ministry came to a close, He met once again with His disciples. He asked them a simple, yet thought-provoking question: 

"Lovest thou me?"

He asked it three times, too. He wanted them to be sure of their answer. 

"Yea, Lord."

What did he say next? He told Peter, the fisherman and Fisher of Men, to feed His sheep. Peter wasn't a shepherd. He was a fisherman. Yet, the Savior invited Him to join Him in His work, in His way.

Christ's first call for Peter was a call to become a better version of Peter. 

And that's what he did. Peter learned and grew, and strengthened his strengths with Christ's help. 

Christ doesn't just see us for who we are, though. He sees us for who we can become. He knows we can become versions of ourselves far better than who we are right now. He knows we can become even as He is. 

That's what He wants for us. So, that's what He does for us. He helps us learn and grow and He puts us in situations that make us stretch. He helps us move forward and upward. That's how I see it, at least. Helping Peter change from a Fisherman to a Fisher of Men was helping him move forward. He was improving. It's true. 

But that's not all Christ wanted of Peter. He wanted Him to move onward and upward. That's done through exalting grace. 

That's what He's doing with me, too. He's helped me move forward, so much. I know I've grown more in this last year than I have in my entire life. He has strengthened my strengths. Now it's time to discover some more of my weaknesses, and turn them into strengths, too. The Lord wants me to do His work in His way, not in my way. I'm not sure what that is going to look like. After all, I'm just a fisherman. I don't know how to herd Sheep. But I want to learn, because I want to be like Him who teaches me. 

Thanksgiving Week

Hola a todos!! 

Large Plates 

An account of her Thanksgivings. The progress her and her companion are seeing in the work. Pranks on the Elders.

This week was super good! Thanksgiving was tons of fun & I ate so. much. 

We actually had like 4 or 5 Thanksgiving dinners in the span of a week haha. We went to members houses for dinner Tuesday and Wednesday night, and they fed us some traditional holiday foods, and some American Thanksgiving food too. I've actually loved everything we got fed this week! One of my favorites was pan de jamon (ham bread), which is made by rolling out the bread dough and basically making a cinnamon roll out of it. But instead of cinnamon, its ham and cheese and raisins and stuffed green olives. Its one of our friend Carmen's favorites from Venezuela and it was sooo good. 

As far as Thanksgiving day, we only had 2 meals (I say "only" because some of the Elders had 4. And they weren't just meals. They were feasts haha). Our first was at the Cluff's, a senior couple in our district. They're incredible cooks and the sweetest people. Sister Cluff cried when she was telling us about her family because apparently I remind her so much if her daughter Riley. It was so sweet. Sister Cluff is also a master baker and her sourdough is to die for. I'm telling you. If you're trying to become my best friend, the way to get there is through bread. A good sourdough roll can make my whole day. 

Our second Thanksgiving (20 minutes after the 1st) was at the Scott's, another senior couple in our area. They actually live in our apartment complex! Though their apartment is much nicer than ours haha.

Thats pretty much it for Thanksgiving festivities though! We did some games as a district, and I was super content. I can tell this is where I'm supposed to be:)

By far the best day this week, and probably of my mission so far, was Saturday. We had more lessons planned than we had time for. We had 3 lessons with people who are really progressing in the gospel. And wow, they are just some choice spirits. (side note I got that phrase from Bonka Don so for all of my aunts who read this email,  I hope you enjoy haha. Its a phrase I use often because I find choice spirits often). We also met with a recent convert and she's super sweet too. And one of the funnest conversations I've had as a missionary was with a guy in Starbucks. He grew up Catholic, got into some bad stuff, spent 25 years in prison, where he studied scriptures all day every day, and converted to Muslim. He's incredibly smart as far as the Bible, but a bit hard hearted. The likelihood of converting him is slim, and he's been very upfront about that. Of course we understand and respect his agency. The conversation was very civil and informative. Even if we don't convert him, at least he now has a Book of Mormon and a positive perspective about us Missionaries :)

Also we had to drop off some Books of Mormon at the Elders apartment, when they weren't home. Its okay though cause their apartment is never locked haha. So, we stopped by after an appointment to drop off the books...and use their bathroom... and took a bite out of each donut in the box that was sitting on the counter... and put one of the Elders crocs in the freezer... and hid the stale biscuit Elder Jensen threw into the window of our car while we were driving on Thanksgiving under one of Elder Boatmans hats that he never wears. Tehe. 

Also! We found a portuguese book of Mormon in our apartment and I got the distinct impression "hey, you should read that." So I guess I'm learing Portuguese now! So far I've read and studied the first couple chapters of 1st Nephi. I can understand it all when I read it cause Portuguese basically just looks like Spanish with typos. But I also want to be able to speak it, so I listened to it while I read and took notes on how to pronounce certain letter and what the rules are for each letter etc. Should be fun! We'll see how far I make it haha.

Small plates

Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God. Seek and ye shall find. The need for member missionaries.

We saw lots of miracles this week. That's one of the best things about missionary life. 

The experience I want to share with you all today is something that happened as a result of our conversation with the man in Starbucks. He had a lot of really good questions about Joseph Smith, that I didnt have the answers to. So I promised him that I would go home and study throughout the week to search for answers to his questions. We went home that night and got to work.

As we studied with pe hearts, searching diligently, we started to find answers to his questions. And we learned a lot more along the way. Did we find all the answers to his questions? No, or at least not yet. Even if we did find all the answers, would that convert him? Probably not.

But as missionaries we learned something very important. 

Seek, and ye shall find.

I've actually felt like my testimony of Joseph Smith has needed some work for a while now, even before this conversation in Starbucks. Its been one of my goals to strengthen my testimony of Joseph Smith. I have faith that he was a prophet, but I want my faith in Him to be as strong as my faith in everything else I believe.

As I've studied about him this last month or so, my testimony has grown immensely. The more I study the scriptures and other true books, the more I come to know Joseph Smith was a true prophet, and the more I come to know him as a person. I've recieved confirmation though the Spirit that he was a true prophet and that this Church is the true snd restored church of Jesus Christ here on the earth. 

If you feel like your testimony of a principle, or a person, or the church as a whole, is falling short of what you want it to be, do something about it. The more you learn, the more youll know and feel of the truthfulness of what you are studying. 

This church is true, my friends. 

A side note: my dear member friends. Please help the missionaries in your area. This work simply won't be as good without you. And no, feeding the missionaries does not count as missionary work(although it it greatly appreciated). It's been incredible to see the members out here working alongside us, and fellowshipping our friends that come to church. There's a video called "come and see" & I think all would benefit from watching it. The community we can find at church is something a lot of people have never experienced before. But it's a beautiful thing. To meet strangers and become family in the course of one Relief Society, Elders Quorum or Sunday School lesson. Be there for the people who are searching for truth. Help them know and feel that our church is the place to find it. Let me know if you need ideas ;)