Week 18 - November 17, 2025

 greenie breaking!! 👩🏻‍🎓

hi!! this week is exciting because I officially finished training. entering training was Katniss entering the Hunger Games and leaving training is when Rapunzel feels the grass for the first time. I am SO happy, it feels so good. 

week:

transfers

graduated training 

transfers: you always feel like you know what's going to happen and then it gets close to it, and you have no idea. We never officially received a call, so we are pretty confident that we are both staying! I'm happy about this for sure. Also, crazy this is my last transfer of 2025. Sister Bird and I had a 24-hour fast this weekend to have another good transfer. Last night before transfers there was a rainbow and my mom always said when there is a rainbow it means something good is going to happen. 

teaching:

this week both of our baptisms got postponed. we're hoping they'll be happening in the upcoming weeks. 

luis got his copy of the Book of Mormon in Spanish this week instead of Português, so that will help. he has very deep questions, but we've been holding our own. he's slowly but surely accepting all of it, too. 

tonny is a 13-year-old boy who likes church and his friends there, but he told us he couldn't do our lesson because he was going to take a nap. Understandable, typical 13-year-old. hoping we can help him see the importance of the gospel soon. 

we have this family we've been teaching that are really engaged. I see them being baptized soon. they live on the top of the hill and have the prettiest view. we always teach them in the evening, so we get to see the sunset from their patio. They're great!  Engaged and reading the Book of Mormon. 

other than that, it was a pretty slow week of work. lots of walking, hot, visiting people and no one answering. But that's ok, we still have a lot of good. 

random

-forgot to mention the other week but we ate chicken heart, I didn't know that's what it was until after, but it was terrible

-last pday we were cleaning our apartment, and we realized we have a newly hatched spider family in our home which live on the ceiling. oh, and they're clear/invisible. 

-this was probably a given, but we have monkeys who live in the trees.

-we found this new all pink gelato shop and the owner lived in England and speaks English. but he also lived in Italy and learned how to make gelato there! new favorite place. he gave us free seconds, and we invited him to church🤞🍨

-currently they're having a German festival in Jaraguá, so everyone is dressed up. Uber drivers, everyone

-we are teaching this family from Venezuela and two of them don't understand Português and so the microscopic Spanish vocab I have I'll use to translate for them, so now they think I'm fluent in Spanish. #thankyousunnyside

it's getting really hot and I'm getting really scared for summer. 

I'm currently studying the Old Testament and I'm in Joshua. my favorite verse so far is Joshua 1:9

"9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest."

Here we can get a glimpse of how much God has it under control and all we have to do is trust and follow him. 

he gave us the gift of agency in our lives but we always have his guidance. it's up to us to listen to that guidance. when we do that, that's when we can be of good courage, be not afraid and know that God is with us wherever we go 

my comp said, "We're not humans having spiritual experiences, we're spirits having human experiences"

don't let our flesh and the world confuse you. stay on the path, hold to the rod and don't worry. never doubt what God is capable of! there is no limit. it's all according to our faith

Be faithful, courageous, be not afraid. God is with us! 

As always, I'd love to know how you're doing

💗Sister Copeland

Week 17 - November 10, 2025

 Hi!

this week

-Nathaliá!! 

-4 months 

-interviews with president 

-baptism date with Luis

I hit four months this week! which means of course we got pizza with chocolate border. Transfers are next week, and this one went so fast. I think I'm staying but we'll see! I'd like one more transfer here In Jaraguá unless they want to send me to the beach. (please) Butttt I feel like there's a couple things I still need to get done here before I'm ready to leave. 

baptism of Nathaliá!! 

So, we go to fill up the font, and a lizard came out the pipe. A lizard. Everyone was a little too chill about it. 

but the baptism was perfect. I've never seen a happier little girl. during the confirmation prayer I opened my eyes and saw her smiling so big. her mom was baptized as a little girl, but they stopped attending church. they weren't open to missionaries. but we found their house by luck (the Spirit) and they let us in. I know it wasn't a coincidence we switched areas with the Elders specifically so this little girl could have Sisters teach her. We spent majority of our time this transfer with her, and it was the best. Next, we're working with her dad. he's opening up to us, and he invited us over for churrasco & futebol last night. (very Brazilian)

teaching

We put Luis on date for baptism.  he is from Peru, so he speaks Spanish. he had soo many questions and it was hard to really understand each other because we don't speak Spanish and he doesn't speak Português a ton, he speaks more English. but after a month with us, and more time before with the Elders he said yes to being baptized! November 16th. Happy Birthday, Ethan 

president 

We had interviews with president and the more I talk with him the more I like him. he's great. the last time we had an interview was in September and it was a really good indicator for me to see how much Português I've learned. I could actually express myself and when he talked, I understood instead of fake laughing on cue. 

We had one of the members come work with us a day this week, she's a 19-year-old girl preparing for a mission. it reminded me of when I was always with the Hermanas who served in my ward and taught me so much. I love and miss you, my Hermanas. 😚😚

Christmas coming up is making me so sad. hopefully closer to it we get more Christmas spirit. not being able to listen to Christmas music is terrible. I tried the youth album we have but it honestly just made my day worse. immediately turned that off. I'm accepting that the closest I'll get to hearing Jude Law's British accent in the holiday will be General Conference talks by Elder Kearon. 

random

-we were planning the meeting for Nathalia's baptism, and she asked if I wanted to sing, I was trying to find the best way to explain that that is NOT wanted. I remember singing at Ethan's baptism with my cousin Hannah and Jenna and that was a joke. got flashbacks

-I've started to love cooking and look forward to making new things and towards having meals at home. blessings of a mission.

-I feel Brazilian because when buying fruit, I shake it and get excited when it's a good fruit and that makes me kind of feel like an island caveman. it's the little things out here

-after we were at the supermarket we crossed the street, and we looked over and we saw an iguana also crossing the street. they're so advanced to use the crosswalk.  

-when finding new people and we either don't remember their name or don't know how to spell it, I started putting "Taylor S" as a stand in. so now the next missionaries here are going to have tons of Taylor S's. 

-here it's the culture that every woman we talk to we have to hug and kiss on the cheek. which took a lot of getting used to for me because I don't love touch. but honestly being hugged 90 times a day by little Brazilian grandmas gives me joy. 

o dom do espirito santo & o sacerdócio 

We know that when Jesus Christ was on the earth, he established his church. he called 12 apostles and established the power of God on earth, the priesthood. John the Baptist had this authority and that's why Jesus Christ was baptized by him. the priesthood was lost from the earth during the apostasy. we believe when the church was restored by Prophet Joseph Smith, the priesthood keys were restored back on the earth as well. we need to have the priesthood to have the authority to act in the Lord's name and perform ordinances. such as baptism. (billions of people died between that time and Joseph Smith and that's why we have work in the temples and the Plan of Salvation).  When we are baptized by this authority, we then receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost by a priesthood blessing by the laying on of hands on our heads. which means we can have the constant companion of the Holy Ghost. but it's a covenant, which means we still need to do our part and keep our promises. in a lesson this week with an older lady, she said she felt our calm presence and peace when we were in her house. which we can identify as the Spirit. 

it's a more in-depth topic but

I am so grateful to have grown up in a home with a father who held the priesthood. every day before the first day of school, as a family we would have a special night where we would receive priesthood blessings by our dad. when I became a missionary, I was set apart as a representative of Jesus Christ through a priesthood blessing. when I get married in the temple, through sacred priesthood keys, I can seal my marriage and my future family for eternity. 

what a blessing

what a peaceful truth to know

families can be together forever

 it doesn't have to be till death do us apart

Doctrine & Covenants 127:  "Whatsoever you bind on earth, may be bound in heaven; whatsoever you loose on earth, may be loosed in heaven;"

I am so grateful for the priesthood. From baptism, to back to school blessings, patriarchal blessings, being set apart as a missionary, temple marriage, eternal families. all the miracles from it. 

anyway, that's all

tell me how you're doing!

I love you all

🤍 sister copeland 

Week 16 - November 3, 2025

 Opa!! happy November! 🦃🍂 🛍 I am so not jealous of American fall, Black Friday and Thanksgiving this month! Unfortunately, I have to admit I didn't put the 2 and 2 together that Brazil wouldn't celebrate Thanksgiving. Education was never really my thing.

This week was pretty good. we walked a lot and had a couple solid lessons. we found 16 new people. our main purpose right now is working with Natália to be ready for her baptism next week. Also, Halloween is not a thing here. after growing up with Natalie Copeland as a mom it was almost alarming not waking up to a perfectly designed Halloween-themed breakfast with real-life actors and bats. But I did wake up to a spider so that was festive

This week

-Halloween

-carved a pineapple and watermelon

-walking

-baptism date with Tonny

-Natália 

-we got fed cow intestine 🤩

We've been visiting Natália pretty much every night. she is so excited to be baptized. we drew out for her the Plan of Salvation, and she went and hung it up on her door. she likes to draw for us, so I drew her a photo of the three of us all in pink dresses, because she wants us in pink for her baptism. so now that and the Plan of Salvation are on her door. ❤️‍🩹 we are really trying to get a good relationship with the dad to hopefully eventually baptize him too. we would love to see this family be sealed in the temple, since the mom is already baptized. he is anti-Elders (valid) and they were never able to go into their home before. little by little he opens up with us so we think with time we can baptize him too. 

Random from this week

-the bugs here are brutal. my ankle is rock solid from how swollen it is. they also go after our hands

somehow (açai) I have $1 U.S. dollar in my bank account. I have no idea how

-we had a night at Natália's house where her mom helped us learn to braid better

-we had a lunch at a member's house and she was playing Abba instrumental and that made my day

-got told I'm funny in Português. I'll take that over being fluent 

-taught 6 little girls a lesson that we found playing in the street, they then didn't let us leave and chased down our Uber. 

-a random horse ran up to me, and I felt like a horse girl again and Disney princess all at the same time

-we teach this family who lives at the very very top of the tallest hill and we're winded every time we get to the top. the dad told us next time he'd pick us up and drive us up the hill because we shouldn't get any skinnier than we are. that is the best thing I've heard all year. especially after the fact Brazilians don't know how to NOT put sweetened condensed milk in every article of food. 

My comp is great. we laugh a lot. she's the honorary spider killer in the house because I haven't advanced to that point yet. it's nice to talk to someone about America. she said the first thing she wants to do when she gets home is go camping and on a hike. respectfully that is probably the LAST thing I am doing. I am getting a massage and not getting up for weeks. 

I can't believe in two weeks I'll be out of training. I am so grateful I never have to do that again. I will be telling stories from my training for the rest of my life haha. I journaled a lot, my future kids will read it and think it was Anne Frank's diary. this second in-field transfer was definitely better for me, was a blessing. here are a couple things I learned since July 7. 

-be thou humble

-God is good even when the world isn't 

-praying and the scriptures are my favorite place to find peace

-there is something to learn from every person, there is something good in every person

-I am so lucky to know God has a plan for me, not everyone knows that

-there is more to the world than just my life

-I was so lucky to have a car 

-when focusing on Christ, priorities become clearer. genuinely my mission has already changed the course of my life and what I want

-everyone needs a smile or a hug, everyone is going through something 

-pizza with chocolate is a 10/10

-to be a disciple of Christ we need to be peacemakers, bare others' burdens, not heap them onto others

-Português is hard haha

-cockroaches are fast

-I can do hard things through Christ, who strengtheneth me

These lessons are all things I've heard before and I've always agreed with, but I didn't truly learn it until I lived it. I am thankful for my mission. 9 transfers left, I'm excited to learn more. honestly kind of crazy that in one month, I'm only one year out. can't imagine doing 2 years haha. 

It's impossible to not miss my life before the mission, we spend hours walking and so I spend a lot of time thinking about everything I miss. but when we get into a lesson with people who hang on to every word you're saying (or they're just trying really hard to understand my Português) and you see them hear about the Book of Mormon, Plan of Salvation everything for the first time and they are just captivated. it's one of the most rewarding feelings. it makes it so worth it. every blister, every bug bite, every tear, every bashing, every event at home I'm missing is all worth it. knowing that what I'm blessed to know, I have the opportunity to share it with people is a humbling honor. 

That's my spiritual thought this week. that I have a testimony spiritually and literally. confirmed to me through the Holy Ghost every day that I am here. I have learned so much about the doctrine in these past months and as I've learned more my testimony has solidified. my favorite sentence to testify is "eu sei que esses coisas são verdadeiras. eu estou aqui porque eu sei."

I know these things are true. I am here, because I know. 

At the end of the day, leaving my family, friends, comfort, country, opportunities would not be worth being here if it wasn't true. 

Miss and love you all every day, email me

sister copeland