Oi! bom dia!
BRENLY IS 6! 🥳🎀🍰👯♀️🎉
Everyone who knows Brenly loves her
she is my little best friend for life, I miss how we'd squeeze each other's hands 3 times to say "I love you." I miss her riding in my car and telling me to turn the Taylor Swift up. i Miss her needing to dress like me and order a pink drink just like me.
In Brenly fashion, she had a world-tour-themed birthday party, and a little birdy told me there was a life-size cardboard cut out of me placed in the Brazil section of the world tour? About time they started making those of me.
oh yeah, back to Brenly
real quick, I have to share two stories
-one time she was being a little uh misbehaving so I told her she couldn't get a drink, but I still wanted one, so we went and she then rolled down the window in the backseat and ordered one herself.
-when I'd teach her dance classes she'd run over to me give me a hug and say, "I love you, Ella" and run back to her spot
i can't believe she's 6!! she has the purest heart and is our family's little rainbow baby. she gets first hug at the airport 🫂🤞
speaking of airport..
I hit 🖐 months! 🥳
it's bittersweet because I definitely don't want to wish the mission away, it's such a unique, valuable experience. but it's definitely nice to see time ticking. (very nice) It feels like I've been out for years but also I arrived yesterday.
the work is going good! we walk for 10 hours a day directly in the sun to teach at most 3/4 people/families a day & those lessons are so worth it. but I love being a missionary. the hardest moments are probably when I feel unneeded or the work is slow. which happens a lot. Some members explained to us people who live here have to work at least two jobs to afford to live in Jaraguá and that's why everyone is so busy. this week I've been able to really teach half and half with Sister Bird and now than I can actually teach, I'm in love with it.
I love when people have such profound questions which are exactly what the doctrine we have, answers. We get a lot of religious people who ask life questions that the Book of Mormon explains exactly. it strengthens my testimony so much being out here. where did we come from, where are we going, what is the purpose of life, why are there so many churches, etc etc..
If I didn't baptize one person, my mission would still be worth it because of the way I'm being converted. but we are so lucky to know we have a loving Heavenly Father, we should never get used to that or let it lose its value.
🫂We're teaching a family who just moved here from Venezuela, who speaks little Português. We have an Irmã come with us who's also Venezuelan to speak Spanish with them and seeing them connect with tears in their eyes about their Savior was so tender.
We knocked (clapped) a new house one day and I did not think they would have interest because they were already heavily religious, but we shared a verse with them and our testimonies, and the man started to cry. He said he was so happy to see young people serving the Lord. I told him what he was feeling was the Spirit confirming to him what we're teaching is true. I love when we can feel the Spirit with people.
random
-Sister Bird: "Sister Copeland, the word boujee has never been in my vocabulary until you were my comp. you say it all the time"
-I set up a little nativity in our house and I accidentally put Mary with one of the wise men instead of Joseph. realized it later but that was the scandal of the day
-the roaches come out at night so every night like Cinderella at midnight a cockroach comes running down or hall like routine, so we kill probably five a week.
-a northeastern family (the nicest people in the world are from the northeast) invited us over to have a family home evening to have dinner and set up Christmas with them. they played Christmas music and Sister Bird and I sat there and didn't know if we loved it or hated it. it was too close to home without being home. it just hurt haha.
-there was a lizard in our house one night but we decided to keep it to help get rid of bugs, he's still with us. we're on day three.
a Christmas spiritual thought: 💌🌲🍪🕯🫂
"Christmas awakens in us a desire to extend ourselves beyond our normal ties of love and friendship. The heavenly proclamation “on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14) was not limited to those for whom we already have feelings of love and affection. It directed goodwill to casual friends, to strangers, even to enemies. Christmas is also a time for forgiving, a time to heal old wounds and restore relationships that have gone awry." (Christmas Devotional '25 President Oaks)
the spirit of Christmas is so special. everyone's a little nicer, little more joyful, little more like Christ. without all the business and flashy parts of Christmas, I've really felt the spirit of Christ more during this time. as much as I would love nothing more than to watch a Christmas Hallmark with my mom (#trunky) I know what makes Christmas so special is the spirit.
wishing you all a season full of the spirit of Christ!! and since I am a missionary...;), my invitation is for you all to forgive someone this season. I promise blessings of peace and lightness. I remember in high school my dad said forgiveness is a small price to pay for happiness.
I love you all, praying for all of you. Every one of the emails I receive get me through my day! thank you!
(Also, send me photos of home this week! I love to know how you are all doing, genuinely it helps so much)
obrigada 🥰
até
💝Sister Copeland
No comments:
Post a Comment