Bom Dia, minha familia!!

Hello!!!

I got the packages! They were so fun and so exciting! Thank you so much for your letters and cards!! My apartment smells AMAZING with candles. Thank you, mom. It rained a ton this week and one night we forgot our umbrellas and got caught in a super bad rain storm but we made it home safe and soaked! We also had a great zone conference in Londrina which was super fun!

This week we went over to a less active/ sort of coming back families and the mom made us torta de banana (banana cake- basically banana bread) and it was SO GOOD. I got to wash her dishes which was super fun and just tried to serve them. We took lots of fun pictures with their cute kids and we always just leave there after a spiritual thought feeling so good. They are my family of Apucarana. We always stop there for food and laughs and we always just leave feeling so loved and homey.

We are really trying to find new people to teach this week and are just really working hard. This week as we were out doing contacts in the street a sudden and surprising rain storm beat down so we took cover under a building cover and our umbrellas and then hundreds of pigeons from the plaza across the street were getting whipped around in the wind and we got attacked by helpless pigeons and i about lost it. It was so insane and we just laughed a ton but also screamed because it was terrifying. So there's that. 

I am amazed by the women here in our ward who take on so many callings and are just so good. We are loving reading the Liahona during our studies and i encourage you all to use the liahona and ensign in family home evening. It is so wonderful to hear the words of the prophets!

It is so good to hear from all of you and hear how well things are going at home! Things are going well here in Apucarana and I am just feeling so great. My companion showed me this song called Closer by Kyle Thornton and its amazing. Look it up. It explains how I am feeling. 

I want it to be super super super clear to all of you how sure I am of all of this-

I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that He lives and that His Father, our Father, has a plan for each of us individually but also has a plan for all of his children- the gospel of Jesus Christ. We must have faith, repent, be baptized, be worthy to keep the spirit, and endure to the end. (Go to church, read the scriptures, pray, serve others, and become like Christ.)

The gospel of Jesus Christ was restored through a prophet of God and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the kingdom of God established again on the earth. Cherish the gospel and the scriptures. I wish i would have given them more value before. I can not imagine my life without these short months of learning now. The gospel is true and God is aware of us. 

I love you my wonderful family. Find somebody in your life who could benefit from the joy of the restored gospel and get them some help. There are people ALREADY prepared by the Lord, we just need to find and rescue them. Thank your local missionaries. Its harder than they let you see.

I love you and until next Monday.

Love, Sister Penni

02/22/2016

NEW TRANSFER!

I am now in a trio still with Sister Smith but now also with Sister Knoll. Three americans together. Super weird haha. But we are loving it! We are all still in Apucarana and things are going great!

This week´s email will be a little strange just because right now we are in Londrina for Visa stuff for Sister Smith and for a zone conference tomorrow with a few other cities in Parana, Brasil.

This week we got caught in a rainstorm so that was super interesting and ill send pictures next week but things are going well and we are just trying to find more people to teach! Junior is doing well and we are running into a lot of ´coincidences´(we know they are not) with people who have a Book of Mormon already or have heard of the church. Super cool.

One thing i thought about a lot this week was perseverar até o fim. It is so important that after we have faith, repent, are baptized, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, we endure to the END! (i just realized that i wrote in portuguese. wow. I cant speak portuguese or english anymore). Going to church, reading scriptures, prayer, everything is all part of enduring to the end and it is a direct safe path that leads back to our Father.

Also, go look up The Answer is in the Doctrine by Elder Bednar. It is a life changing. We read it as a companionship this week and it changed everything. It is amazing. Dont get caught up in applications. Our testimonies and the answers should be and are in the doctrine.

I love you all and will email better and send more pictures next week! Be safe and know I love you!

If i dont answer each email individually- i will save it and answer next week. I'm sorry this week is so weird!!

TRANSFERS!

Another Monday!!!

I am staying here in Apucarana with Sister Smith and I am super excited!! Some updates for the week-

JUNIOR GOT BAPTIZED! It was a complicated mess but eventually it all worked out and he was baptized and it was amazing. It was so cool to do a baptism without words- because he cant hear- and we just all felt the spirit and he was so excited. Sister Smith and I feel so blessed to know him and it was such a cool experience to watch somebody come to know the gospel, choose to love it and live it, and make a covenant with God. WOW!

We did a family home evening with a family this week about the vision of the tree of life and we talked about the four multitudes of people and how we can apply that to living the gospel today. It was super cool and i gained a stronger testimony of FHE because it truly strengthens family. There is nothing cooler than watching a family enjoy the gospel together. We left them with a conference talk called Stay by the Tree. Look it up. Its amazing!!

Sister Smith and I are working with our investigators and are trying to find more people this week. Also, we might start teaching an english class which is cool!!!

Things are going well here in Apucarana and I am learning so much. We are so lucky to have the gospel. 

Jesus Christ lives, He is our Savior, The Book of Mormon is true and He established his church again on the earth through a prophet of God. Missionary work is fun. Do it. Help the missionaries.

I have a lot more pictures that i will try and send to you guys. A lot of them are on Sister Smiths camera so if i can get them from her, then i will. If not, i will try next week. Here is us with Junior before his baptism!! Also, that is a picture of the esfirras that we made. A member taught us how! They are filled with brigadeiro e morango (something chocolatey and strawberries). YUM!

Love,

 Sister Penni

Hello Family!!!

This week was a really good but hard week! Junior is progressing so well and wants to be baptized and i feel so blessed to know him. He is such an example of faith and love and he is amazing. We are trying to learn to sign for him and he is getting baptized this weekend and i can hardly wait!!! Transfers are next week so I don't have any news about that yet!! 

We went and met with a lady in the ward and helped her clean and ended up learning how to cook esfirras (delicious baked dough filled with whatever you want.) SO GOOD!

we are working hard and its super hot here! Carnaval is happening this week which means pretty much nothing for Apucarana but in big cities, its basically a big party because...why not. Pretty cool.

Not a ton to report this week other than miracles are real and Heavenly Father is in the details of our lives. The Book of Mormon is true, people! 

I want to hear about share the love!!!

Love you all!!

Picture- Mais Amor por favor.

more love please

cool grafitti in brasi

Week 5

Hello Family!

I loved getting all of your emails this week. Not a lot out of the normal this week. It was Apucaranas birthday this weekend so there were fairs and running races and lots of activity in the centro. We just worked really hard again this week.

Sister Smith is amazing. I am so blessed with a wonderful companion. Mom- yes we are eating well. Actually, here in Brasil, the main meal of the day is lunch so we eat lunch with members everyday and then usually just eat light when we get home. The members feed us so well. I am in love with stroganoff here- not what you think it is. Way better. Also, we eat saladas, arroz e feijão (rice and beans) basically everyday. The food is amazing.

Also, we taught a 4 hour lesson with Junior this week. I cant remember if I already explained him but we found him doing contacts and he is deaf and mute. He is a super cool guy who loves to learn. He is such a special spirit and it was so powerful to feel the spirit in the room as we used books and videos and pamphlets to teach the truth to someone who has never heard or spoken in his life. I gained such a powerful testimony that eloquent and persuasive words are not required for conversion, words arent required at all to feel the spirit. (thank goodness because my portuguese words are limited hahaha). But really... He has such a cool background story and has turned his life around. He lives in Londrina but wants to move here and it just happens (by divine intervention) that he was right where he was in the street when we found him. We are finishing lessons this week and he wants to be baptized so we are helping him prepare for that. 

I have loved reading in mid-Alma this week about the missionary work of Ammon, Alma, and the sons of Mosiah. My companion and I can totally relate with Alma 31: 34-35. These sould are so precious and we just are praying for the power to bring them to Christ. I just cant explain enough how obvious and simple and true the gospel is. We have to cling to it because it is too easy for people to fall away. I have learned so much watching investigators accept and treasure the word, and ignore it and choose not to partake.

I made brazilian heath bar cake this week (none of the same american ingredients but same idea) for a missionary's birthday this week and it was delish.

I love you all so much. I miss you all so much.

Brooke- Happy Birthday on Saturday. I love you!

Ms. Behrle- Good luck with Share the Love. I am so excited to hear how it goes!

Everyone- Read the Book of Mormon. Just do it. You wont walk away the same!

I love you all. 

Sister Megan Penni