Well WAHOO! ;)

Well.... this transfer will be exciting, and... interesting. But good. Very very good. :)

Surprise! Sister Pina will finish her mission on Wednesday so right now she is in Praia, Sister Walker was transferred to Sal for her last transfer of her mission, and Sister Barros will serve in the other area here in Porto Novo. Her companion is a sister who still needs two weeks of training but arrived one transfer after me.

And...

I will be training! Sister Johnson will be my companion, and she will be brand new. They wonºt arrive from America until Friday, so this week Iºm not really sure what will happen. But itºs pretty crazy! But Iºm excited, which I wasnºt really expecting.

Well, this week was great. I have started to reflect on what I have done well each day and where I could improve each day. I donºt know if I have already told you that, but wow, it has been so incredible. It has really allowed me to recognize the growth Iºm experiencing and the progress Iºm making, as well as help me make better daily and weekly goals on where I want to focus to improve and become even more exactly obedient and lose myself even more in this work.

Well, ever since my interview with President Mathews, Iºve been trying to prepare myself like he told me to do. This week we had divisions on Thursday, and I was with Sister Pina in our area. Being with her, I realized how I had grown and changed even just since the time I had been with her. I felt like something "clicked" inside me, and I realized that I kind of know what Iºm doing now. And Iºm figuring out more and more how to just be myself, because the Lord has called ME to be His missionary. Definitely, I will work on turning my weaknesses into strengths through the grace of the Lord, but I can be proud of myself, too. I can be myself and that is who He needs me to be. I think the thing that "clicked" was that I let go of my fears about my weaknesses. I started completely trusting in the Lord. And thatºs when I felt His love, fully. I wasnºt complicating things or fogging things up with my own worries about my own inadequacies.  I was able to see, for a moment, myself as God sees me. And I realized that I really am capable, and that I just need to be myself, do my best, and not worry. Keep improving, but not worry.

It reminded me of something Elder Anderson told us when I was in the MTC: to look at everything in life through the eyes of faith. To have the faith that all of these things are the plan of the Lord. That even if they seem like they arenºt supposed to happen, even if they arenºt expected, the Lord knew that all these things would happen in the timing that they happen. We just have to trust Him, let go of our worries and doubts, and keep going forward. We just have to turn to Him and keep turning to Him. And when we turn to Him, He will bless us and help us be who He needs us to be.

Well, this little "ah-ha" moment was a great tender mercy. In that moment, I felt like I was ready for the future, for these future opportunities that Pres. Mathews told me to prepare for. I have held onto that feeling and that tiny revelation, and I am so glad that I did. Because if I hadnºt, I think I would be feeling a lot more overwhelmed with the idea of training. But I just decided that it is going to be an awesome experience and I am going to love it and learn a lot, and that this is another opportunity to serve another child of God. With this mindset, I have been really working not to let fear or doubts creep in. But I just remember that little tender mercy moment. If the Lord thinks I should have this opportunity at this time, then I will do all I can to give my best and trust in His plan. It was meant to happen this way, and I wonºt let fear or doubts creep in to destroy my faith and happiness. I´ve already decided that this transfer is going to be awesome, and Iºm going to love it, even if itºs hard. Because it was meant to be this way, and God wants us to have joy. Thatºs why weºre here. And I want to learn to have more joy during challenges. I want to learn to receive even more of the blessings that God wants to bless me with. So Iºm really excited to train. :) I know that with the Lord, I can do all things. If I just trust in Him, be myself, do my best, and especially BE HUMBLE, I know that I will love this transfer. I´m so excited to see the small miracles of this week, along with the bigger ones, and to help another missionary see how this work is truly a work of miracles.

Well, sorry, I havenºt even gotten to people yet! So Iºll just share a few experiences. We visited Walter this week, and it was so awesome. We needed a woman to sit with us for the lesson, and his girlfriend was there, so she sat with us and we got to know her a little bit. Walter told us that after going to church this past Sunday, he has decided that he will never miss another Sunday. He will do what he needs to do for work on Saturday or Monday, but not on Sunday so he can go to church and keep the sabbath day holy. He also told me that he wants to read the entire Book of Mormon by the time I leave Porto Novo, which would be so cool! Heºs really putting the Lord first in His life and trusting in Him. Itºs so cool to see that. And, Iºm so excited to teach Nadine, his girlfriend! She seems really humble and prepared.

We also found a lady named Maria, and she showed us a family, and now weºre teaching both of them. Maria has eight children, and one of her daughters was baptized in the church and passed away two years ago. She said she felt something when we taught her the first lesson, and when she gave the closing prayer, she prayed that we would be able to return often to teach her the word of God and help her feel this peace that she hasnºt had in her life. It was so cool.

This family is pretty great, too. Mizi and Marlino live together and have a baby boy together, and Mizi has a seven year old daughter. Theyºre super humble, but Marlino likes to talk a lot. But theyºre awesome. Mizi went to church yesterday and really liked it.

Also, Daniela and Milene are going to get baptized this week! Milene wants to get baptized as soon as possible, and she is just awesome. Sheºs so prepared, and everything we teach her she accepts and starts living. She even started dressing modestly after we taught the law of chastity, which was a little miracle because she said she wouldnºt feel good about herself if she dressed modestly. And Daniela is changing, too. Theyºre so cute. Itºs been cool, too, because Jacqueline, Danielaºs sister, has been coming to church with Daniela and Milene. Sheºs less-active, but sheºs been changing a lot and is becoming active again. These girls are so amazing. Itºs such a blessing to see them come unto Christ so enthusiastically.

Well, thatºs about it! Iºm so excited to train and to serve another sister missionary! Kind of crazy: this will be my fourth companion in Porto Novo, haha (including my mini-missionary). But Iºm so excited!

Well, I love you all! Have an awesome week! And trust in the Lord... itºs so much easier! :)

Love,

Sister Zimbelman

How Great Will Be Your Joy...

Well, this week was awesome. Iºm not sure why, but it just was. :) Even besides interviews, it was a good week. I think itºs because Iºm learning how to be myself and to have fun while also maintaining the dignity of my calling. I am always worried about erring on the side of frivolity, so Iºve been pretty serious. But now Iºm trying to make sure I donºt take myself too seriously. :) Also, Iºve been working on being more bold, and wow, that has been such a relief! I donºt know how to describe it other than a relief. I think I had forgotten that if I love these people and show them I love them, I can be clear and honest with them and they will listen and know that I am speaking with love.

Last night we talked to Nerr to see where he is spiritually. He has a date set to get baptized this Saturday, but our last three lessons weºve marked with him have fallen through because he has had things come up... well, thatºs what he says. But finally we were able to talk to him and see how he is spiritually. We basically talked to him very openly and honestly. It was such a powerful lesson. He was wearing one earring, so reviewed the law of chastity and he took it out right then. I could tell that the Spirit was working through us both to be completely open and honest about the Gospel and the need for obedience to the commandments to receive all the blessings and true, lasting happiness that God wants to give us. Our openness definitely allowed him to open up more about his true feelings, and we could address his concerns and doubts more clearly and powerfully. It was so cool.

I love seeing how Sister Barros teaches. It is so different than my other companions, and I love seeing how she adapts lessons to fulfill needs and how she follows the Spirit during our lessons. Sheºs often inspired to ask questions I wouldnºt think to ask, or in a way that I wouldnºt think to ask. And these questions allow our investigators to open up more or allow us to understand their needs more. Itºs such a blessing.

Also, Lara got baptized!!!  It has taken a LONG time to get her understanding and testimony, especially of the atonement, to the point where she was excited to get baptized and felt worthy to be baptized. But wow, she is just amazing. And after her baptism, she was so happy. So, so happy. Those are the kinds of small moments that I never want to forget. Those are the small but significant moments that remind me why I wanted so badly to serve a mission. She has a great future in the Church. And there is nothing sweeter than seeing someone baptized, especially someone who was so burdened by the sins of the past. This Gospel is amazing, and the Atonement is so, so incredible!

Also, it was so good to see President and Sister Mathews this week. Iºm really focusing this week on learning to control my thoughts even more... the last week of the transfers is always the hardest with that. :) But Iºm learning more and more to focus on the moment, the person, the need, and to recognize the subtle promptings of the Spirit. Iºm also learning to act. To not question or hesitate, but just to act. I love this work, and I love all that Iºm learning. I feel so blessed to be serving a mission, and especially to be serving here.

Interviews are awesome. President reminded me of what Pres. Monson said: that "whom the Lord calls, He qualifies." That was so good to hear, and Iºm trying to remember that. :)

Also, miracles happen, and often when you donºt expect them! A recent convert, who is also a less active, was in church yesterday! His name is Walter, and he hasnºt been to church since I have been here, I think. Itºs because he has been working, and he is going to be a father and is worried about having sufficient money to take care of a baby. We have been trying to talk to him, and itºs been really hard to find him. Then on Saturday morning, we found him and invited him to an activity for Saturday night. He didnºt go to the activity, but he went to church! Hopefully we will be able to sit down with him this week and teach him the lesson that we have prepared to teach him!

Well, I love you all! Ficam bem!

Love,

Sister Zimbelman :)

Surprise!

My companion arrived Wednesday!

Her name is Sister Barros, and she is 21 years old. She is from Praia, and she has an afro. She keeps it fairly short, but itºs still an afro. Everyone here comments on her hair, haha. :) Sheºs the third of five kids, with two older sisters and two younger brothers. Her family met the missionaries and were baptized when she was 8 years old. Her family and her two older sisters (theyºre married) have all been sealed in the temple.

I am doing great. Wow, it is so refreshing to not be the senior companion to a mini-missionary! Itºs a lot of fun to not be in training and to be able to work more as a team... less as a teacher and student. Iºm still figuring it out, and figuring out how to teach with her, but I love Sister Barros already. Sheºs so fun, loving, and just genuine. I want to learn as much as I can from her during the time we serve together. She has a gift with people, which is always one of my more weak points: to get to know someone and show my love and let them feel comfortable with being open, even very soon after we meet them.

I love how she chooses numbers for some of the goals we make, and she teaches differently than anyone Iºve ever taught with. I love it. She is a very simple, clear, powerful teacher and she definitely follows the Spirit. I hope to become more still (so I can follow the Spirit more during the lessons) and clear in my teaching during my time with her. She is also very direct, but she does it in such a loving way. That is something that I love about her. I really hope I can become more like that. :)

Yep, Iºm doing well here. This week was pretty awesome because nothing crazy abnormal happened, besides Sister Barros arriving on Wednesday. :)

We had an awesome lesson with Nerr this week. We had a hard time getting him to sit down with us this week, but finally one evening after Sister Barros arrived, we were able to talk to him really quickly. He said heºs keeping some of the commandments, still, so probably he hadnºt really tried to change his habits. We reviewed the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom with him, and he said that he only has problems with the Word of Wisdom. His only problem is that when he is with his cousins, they will drink a bit to have fun. He was justifying it, because it wasnºt an addiction and it was just a little bit, every so often. Sister Barros shared Mosiah 2:41 with him, and we talked about how we receive this state of happiness through keeping the commandments... all of them, completely. It was a really powerful lesson, and the Spirit was definitely present.

Nadine's baptism from last week

Also, we committed a family to baptism this week! We didnºt get to talk to the dad, but everyone else accepted the baptismal date we had set. And the dad went to church yesterday, so Iºm excited to talk to him, too! It was so cool. The spirit was powerful in that lesson too, and it was probably the most simple I had ever taught the Restoration with someone. I love seeing how the Spirit will work through us and help us become better teachers. Such a tender mercy.

We also got to talk to Lara a few times this week. She is anxious for her baptism, and was feeling like she needed to confess to the Bishop. We explained that the Bishop doesnºt have the authority to have an interview with her, because she still isnºt a member. Then we talked a lot about repentance. We used D&C 58:42-43 (or maybe itºs section 59?), and Isaiah 1:18. It was really powerful. We talked about how a lot of the confession can just be between us and the Lord. We also talked about how we arenºt forgiven partially... thereºs no pink people. I think that has been her trouble in the past: feeling worthy to be baptized and feeling like she really has been forgiven. I think she really will get baptized this Saturday. Itºs so exciting! Sheºs excited to be clean and feel forgiven, and to start a new life.

Well, thatºs it for this week, I think. I know there were more exciting things that happened, but I forgot my planner at our house.

Oh! Itºs finally "cooling down" here! We can sleep with the window closed and the fan blowing without sweating! I still donºt use my top sheet, but I think I will start to soon. The day is still just as hot as always, but around 6:00 in the evening it starts to feel more like 70s/high 60s here. Tender mercies, haha. :)

Love you all! Ficam bem!

Love,

Sister Zimbelman

Friends

Well, this week we are back in our own house(as of Tuesday)! Itºs so nice to be there. It was fun to be with the other sisters, but tiring too. We were ready to go back to our own house.

This week was a little weird with teaching. We ended up coming home early on Thursday and Saturday... Thursday because Sister Maurício was feeling sick (I think she had the stomach bug that Sister Pina had last week), and Saturday because I was feeling sick. I think I had heat exhaustion, because we had been fasting that day for some less actives, Nelly and Fretson, so I hadnºt been drinking water, and it was super hot. So I broke my fast early and we came home early because I was feeling really nauseous. But the next day, after I had drunk lots of water, I felt 100% better. :)  I think I had more heat exhaustion than a stomach bug, because I started to feel nauseous during a lesson with a menos ativo, and her house was SUPER hot. That day, too, we had been fasting for two menos ativos who want to get married but are having a lot of obstacles, so I hadnºt been drinking water, so I think it was because of that. So I broke my fast early, and now I feel fine. It was just that night that was miserable, so I think it was because of the heat + fasting combination.

We were fasting for Nelly and Fretson because they want to get married in December, but found out that they wonºt be able to get married that soon unless Nellyºs stepfather will let her stay in her parentsº house after they get married, and right now he doesnºt want to do that. I hope they can know what to do!

Well, this week we talked to a lot of menos ativos, and basically found out that the majority of them donºt have anything to do during the day and were perfectly willing to teach with us and go to church with us. They donºt know a lot of people in the church, and they feel alone, so they werenºt going to church. It was so sad to realize that these people are ready to be active again, they just didnºt have anyone telling them they should go to church. So, weºre working on helping the members be atalaias for these people. The trouble in this ward is that there are some really strong members who are super willing to help out with everything, so the other members donºt really do much... or they donºt know how they can help, or feel like they wouldnºt be able to help. So we really want to work with them to help us with these people, and to teach with us more, and to give them some responsibilities for the people weºre teaching so they feel like they can contribute more. I hope it will help.

We found out this week that Nerr is hesitant to get baptized because he doesnºt want to keep the commandments. He doesnºt really understand why theyºre important. We hadnºt yet taught him the commandments, and we found this out at the end of our last lesson with him, so we didnºt have a ton of time to talk about it. But, we challenged him to live the commandments that his brother Clovis has already taught him to find out if those commandments really are from God and if our obedience really does bring blessings. He said he will, so I really hope he will. He is changing a lot in a short amount of time, but at the same time there is a part of him that doesnºt want to change. He doesnºt want to have to give up the ways he has been living, especially by keeping the law of chastity and the word of wisdom, I think. But he still doesnºt know if heºs gotten an answer about whether this church is true. I donºt know how much of that is because he knows that once he gets an answer, heºll have to keep these commandments, and how much of it is that he still doesnºt understand how to recognize the Spirit. Weºve talked about recognizing the Spirit with him, but weºll talk to him again about it. During our district meeting on Friday, we practiced how to teach about the Spirit, and we used Nerr when we were practicing. Wow, the Lord definitely helped us receive revelation to know how we can teach about recognizing and understanding the promptings of the Spirit. Iºm so excited to teach him about it!

Also, Lara is doing great. She seems so happy, and I think she is really trusting in the Lord. She will get baptized November 1, and I donºt think sheºll have any problems with this date. Sheºs so great. I think she really is becoming more converted every day. It is so amazing to see the light of the Gospel enter peopleºs eyes. I donºt think I will ever get used to it.

We were fasting for Nelly and Fretson because they want to get married in December, but found out that they wonºt be able to get married that soon unless Nellyºs stepfather will let her stay in her parentsº house after they get married, and right now he doesnºt want to do that. I hope they can know what to do!

Yesterday, I was having a hard time feeling overwhelmed. Then, I remembered a saying that I had heard, that if you feel comfortable in your calling in the church it is either because you arenºt fulfilling it completely or because itºs about time for you to get a new calling. So, now I am seeking to learn how to feel comfortable with being uncomfortable, if that makes sense. Or maybe it is feeling comfortable with being stretched and with having spiritual “growing pains.”

So, I am really learning how to know in my heart and trust in my soul that the Lord really called me to be His instrument so He can do His work, and that He called me to be here in this situation at this time. And to trust that if I will continue to give my all and to do my best, the Lord will continue to guide and direct me, and help me learn how to serve all these people who I have been called to serve. He will magnify my best efforts, so it doesnºt matter if Iºm imperfect. This is a learning process, and I am learning how to trust that in my heart, too. But I love this work. I really do. And I love the growing pains and the things I am learning, especially about not being a perfectionist but still doing my best. Missions are awesome. :)

Love you all!

Love,

Sister Zimbelman

WOW... Just Wow!

Meus amigos!

Well, this week was a reminder that miracles always come after trials of our faith. Seriously.

We found two different families this week (sadly, neither are married, but theyºre families!), and a less active that we started working with (Bilinha) said that they want to get married. The challenge will be to get these families married, but wow, it has been a week of miracles.

Bilinha gave us a friend of hers, Jorgina, as a reference before we even had the chance to ask for references. It turns out, Jorgina and her amorado Rui have been searching for truth, and Rui told us that if he feels like it is right, he will join a religion, especially to help his family and his kids so they can grow up in the truth. He walked into our second lesson that we were able to have with Jorgina (the first was while he was at work, and he returned from work late that night). He was a bit drunk, but we basically gave him a brief first lesson (we will definitely teach it again to make sure he understands and to focus on the First Vision as well as the Book of Mormon) and then focused on the power of the Book of Mormon and how the truthfulness of the entire church hangs on whether the Book of Mormon is true. We talked to them a lot about how we are here to invite people, but not to convince them... to help them learn the truthfulness of these things for themselves. I think that really struck home with Rui. He offered to give the closing prayer, after we taught him how to pray. It was so cool, because he was so willing, and the Spirit was so strong. After his prayer, he said, "hey, I felt something... something different. Lighter, more peace, happier." Man, it was so cool. We talked about how that is the Spirit.

Also, one of our investigators, Nerr, had a dream that he told us about yesterday. He is someone that basically every missionary has worked with since his brother joined the church a year and a half ago (Clovis), but no one has been able to get him to the point where heºs ready to be baptized. He told us that he doesnºt know yet if God has answered his prayers, especially about whether this is His church. It is usually really hard to agree to times when we can talk to him, but he accepted to talk to us yesterday and when we passed by earlier in the week he was really kind and offered for us to sit down, have some dinner (whoops... almost got some bad manner points for refusing, but he understood), and talk to him. It was really odd. Then yesterday we had an adult woman with us, so we could teach him! And he told us about his dream.

In his dream, there were people surrounding him, and they had lights... or they were glowing... something like that. And they were singing "a song of the stars" or about stars... my understanding of Creole is still not complete. :) Then he woke up, and that same music played on his phone. He told us this, and then said, "Iºm not really sure if it was all just in my head, or what. But if it was from God, I want to know what it means." Well, we asked him how he felt in his heart when he thought about this dream, because at that moment when he was describing his dream the Spirit came into the room so strongly. He said he felt something different. He said it was a good type of different, though. So we told him he was feeling the Spirit and talked about different ways we can recognize the Spirit, and how he now knows what the Spirit feels like. We challenged him to pray about his dream, asking God to let him know if the dream was from Him and if so, what he should do... how he should act. Man, it was so cool! The Spirit was so strong, and he said the closing prayer, which is amazing because it was really hard to get him to pray with us the first few times we taught him. His prayer was so humble. Something is changing inside him. Heºs beginning to repent and turn to the Lord.

Also, Nadine got baptized! Man, she is awesome. She is so humble, and SO ready for baptism. I donºt know what to say about her baptism... sheºs just amazing. Firmeza. :)

And Lara, her sister, didnºt get baptized this week, but we had a great lesson about trusting in the Lord and she said she knows now that she will keep the law of chastity with the Lordºs help. We read Alma 26:12 with her, and it really struck home and she really opened up to us about how she is feeling. In the past, she would say, "thereºs nothing you can do to help me. Itºs all up to me to keep the law of chastity." This time, she said, "Itºs all up to me to keep the law of chastity... and the Lord. And I know that with His help, I WILL keep it." Wow. The Spirit was so strong, and since that lesson she has seemed so alleviated when weºve seen her at church. :) It really was a miracle.

Also, our Zone Meeting/training... not officially a zone meeting... was just awesome. I learned so much there, and Sister De Pina got transferred to São Vicente, so I got to see her again! It was great. Oh! And we get to use 90 min of email now, so I can breathe a little bit and actually write you guys! :)

Sister Pina and Sister Maurício were sick at the same time, so that was a bummer because we couldnºt work in our area a ton, but it was a blessing because I was able to spend some time working with Sister Walker and we could still visit both our areas. It has actually been somewhat of a blessing that we donºt have light at our house, still, because I have learned a lot by watching how Sister Pina and Sister Walker handle stress and work together. Iºve learned a lot about making sure I am acting and speaking with the authority of my calling, allowing the Spirit to guide me and to touch peoplesº hearts and lives like I witnessed this week.

This is what I love about missionary work: watching people change their lives. Seeing the light and hope and direction of the Gospel enter another personºs eyes. It makes all the hard times, all the "growing experiences", so worth it. And I like what one missionary said in The District: on the mission, you have really good times and really hard times. The thing is, the hard times fade, but you will always remember the miracles you witness. Also, I know that these miracles are more sweet because of the week before, when everything that could have gone wrong seemed to go wrong.

I love being a missionary. :)

Love you all so, so much!

Love,

Sister Zimbelman

Refiners Fire

the riberia

Wow, this week was... a growing week, haha. A faith-testing week. :) There’s always the good with the bad and the bad with the good. This wee just had more bad than normal.

How we dry our clothes 

I am doing my best. And I am really learning to believe that if I simply do my best in the best way I know how, the Lord will accept my efforts, like Pres. Hinckley said. (thanks for sending me with that quote, Ames :) ) It’s really been a hard week, but there were still miracles. We had every day full of lessons, but every day at least half of them would fall. But, because some of them fell, we were able to meet with members, or have members show us some references they had given us, like Bilinha. She was a reference from a member. She is a less active who is so humble and ready to return to activity in the church. THe only thing that will/could be hard is that she needs to get married. WE will need to see what her boyfriend thinks of that idea. But she’s so ready to return. SHe wants her family to be eternal and her three kids to grow up in the Gospel. And she came to two of the four sessions of General Conference, and tried to go to the other two as well, but of course Satan made it difficult for her. But Saturday and Sunday nigth she came, and brought all her kids with her. It was awesome. :)

Being the senior companion has been really stressful for me, because I’m a perfectionist. It was especially difficult when they cut the power to our apartment on Tuesday (still not really sure why the bill didn’t get paid, but the office is getting it all straightened out), and our phone is basically useless unless it’s plugged into an outlet... so it was completely useless, unless we were at the church. Then a bunch of our lessons were falling, and Andira, who was supposed to get baptized this week, didn’t come to church. When we passed by to talk to her, she didn’t want to talk to us. But we were able to talk to her anyway and found out her sister, who is her son’s godmother, wants to baptize him in the Catholic church. And she’s stressed out about it, so she decided to leave religion alone for a while, she said. Man, that was such a crazy lesson! We ended up finding out that she hadn’t ever prayed to know if the BOM was true or if the church was true, and that she wasn’t reading the BOM, just the pamphlets she had collected. But she ended up picking a scripture to read, one that a member here had marked for her, and as she read it and thought about it, I could see the Spirit enter her heart and bring her relief from her stress. We talked about the power and importance of reading the BOM, and reading it every day, and praying and asking God for an answer. She still has a bunch of concerns, but she said she would start reading it every day, praying every single day, and asking God if the BOM is true and if this is His church. The hard part is that after that lesson, we haven’t been able to see her... she hasn’t been home every time we’ve passed by, which has been at least once every day after that. Her brother, Roberto, is a member, and he said she doesn’t like to accept help from people, so she might be avoiding us... I don’t know. But I really hope we can help her learn in her heart that it’s okay to need help, especially help from the Lord, and that He WANTS to help her and that life will be SO MUCH EASIER for her if she will accept His help.

Typical Caboverdean lunch, fried egg, "hamburger"
and rice with whatever you want to add to it.

The member who agreed to stay with me until my mini-missionary arrived is-surprise!- my mini-missionary. :) Apparently they hadn’t yet found anyone to serve a mini mission, so now she is serving. :) I was super relieved when the assistants to the President calle dand asked if the member who was with me wanted to serve a mini-mission, because I already know her, and she already knows these people and the area a bit (she lives in the other area, so she doesn’t know our area SUPER well). And wow, she is so good at teaching part of the lesson, too. And helping me understand Creole. :) LIterally everyone speaks at least a bit of Creole... kind of like how almost everyone in the South has some sort of Southern accent if they have been there long enough. Except everyone has basically lived here their whole lives, and each island basically has their own “Southern accent”. I think I’ll be really good at understanding Spanish after all the Creole that I’m learning to recognize and understand.  I’m still figuring out how to train, and to remember to push Sister Maurício, but not hard enough to overwhelm her and to do it in a loving but firm manner. I’m definitely not perfect, but I’m so glad I don’t need to be.

Oh, and Lara and Nadine moved houses and said they wouldn’t ahve time to meet with us and show us where their new house is until they’re moved in, which will be this week. So I learned a lot about not stressing out, taking all these things in stried, and saying, “I’m doing my best, and that’s good enough. THat has to be good enough. I’m doing my part... I’m doing my best in the best way I know how. Relax and trust that it will be enough.” And, because a lesson fell through, we ended up running into Nadine when she was heading back to her house, so she was able to show us where they live... yay! Small miracle. :)

It was still hard, though. But we still saw miracles!

We stayed with the other sisters when we had no power
and they shared their nightly popcorn with us.
When it's hot we sleep in a "panel" which is a piece of really thin fabric.

One day we were avoiding a lady who we had marked with, but were told that we NEED to have a member with us to teach her because she talks about Satan and with really rude language and... I’m not exactly sure what, but dark stuff that made Sister Pina and her mini leave her house really fast when they sat with her one time. But, no member could come with us, so we went down a few streets from where she lives. I thought one would be enough, but then I felt like we should go down one more. And WOW! WE ended up contacting some people, and one of them was a former investigator that was going to get baptized with her cousin, but they both went to a party or something the day before or something... somehow it fell, and they also stopped going to church. But now we’re going to talk with them and see how they’re doing and where they’re at! It was a tender mercy!

Man, there’s so much more I want to say! But I’ll just mention one more thing.

We were able to talk to Lenine this week, and wow, he has grown so much spiritually! He and his girlfriend broke up, and he said he doesn’t feel anything. Yay! Now he can find a woman in the church who will support him and help him be his best. Sadly, he couldn’t be baptized this week because he will start school in São Vicente this week, and we didn’t have sacrament meeting so he wouldn’t have been able to be confirmed. He really wanted to be baptized this week, and has been reading the BOM every day, from the beginning. He was going to leave yesterday, but he ended up coming to the last session of General Conference instead, and he’ll be on the boat with us today (we have zone conference there tomorrow). Man, he is so awesome. I wish I could be there for his baptism!

So really, this week was good. I learned a lot about trusting in the Lord and being okay with doing my best and recognizing that other people have their agency, too, and Satan is working hard to stop them from being happy.

I think the biggest thing I learned from all the chaos this week is just to trust in the Lord. To remember that it will all be okay. And to decide not to stress out about things, especially if I am doing my best. The Lord will accept my efforts, and I was still blessed to see many miracles this week. And it’s okay not to be perfect. That’s why we’re here. Wow, I’m so grateful for the Atonement! Oh, and General Conference was just amazing. I’m excited to listen to all of them again, in English. :) But it definitely helped me refocus on what matters most and to decide not to stress.

Love you all!

Love,

Sister Zimbelman

Crossing again!

Crossing the Riberia which we do multiple times a day

Transfer 3

The only rain I've seen in Cabo Verde

It rained for an hour - the children loved it!

Hey

 !

Well, Iºm officially done being trained! Yaya! Haha :) Actualy, I really liked the 12 week training probram.they have for the field Itºs really good. :)

And... so... new transfer. And General Conference! WE watched the General Womenºs meeting yesterday from 5-6:30 ior so, and it was good, really good... goingmore from teh revelations I received durin gthe talks. I ned to listen to them in English. :) Especially Pres. Uchtdorfºs talk, because we received transferr calls in the middle of this stalk and I had a hard time focusing on the talk after that. :) Sorry this computer is super slow so Iºm sure I have like a billion typos... but it will just have to stay that way . :) Donºt worry, I had good reason to be so disteracted. But his talk was super great, from what I was ablt to get. Man, Iºm excited to listen to them again! And I loved the focus on the temple! Man, I miss the temple.

Okay, okay, enough with the suspense. TRANSFER CALLS! The other sisters here, Sisters Walker and Santos, got the call first. Then he asked to talk to us. Sister Santos is getting transferred, and Sis. Pina is getting transferred to the otehr area in Porto Novo to be a Sister Training Leader with Sis. Walker. And... I will stay in this area. But as a senior compaion. Iºll recieve a mmini-missionary or a missionary awaiting her vis. WE donºt know yet.

So, Iºm going to be training another missionary, basically. CRAZY! IIt wonºt be exactly like training, ut I wil bedoing the 12-week program with her. And he said this was susper rare, but htey have total confidence in me and great expectations for me in the future, or something like that... I had trobule remembering everything he said because I was reaeling from the information that Iºll be senior companion!

Anyway, this week was great. We were preparing Lenine and Lily to be baptized, but Lenine was having problems with the Law of Chastity. We had some great lessons with him about it, but he still seemed confused or unprepared. So, we ended up having a lesson completely different from what we had planned to teach him about. We ended up sharing the story of the 2000 stripling warriors and really letting the Spirit direct the lesson and speak to him. Then we committed him to go home and pray about whether he felt ready to be baptized. He did so, and felt like he needed more time. It was a really good experience... really cool to see the Spirit guide us and to help us make sure we were helping him prepare to be baptized, and not just get baptized before he was really prepared.

Lily was also having problems with the law of chastity, but only because she had a tongue piercing. It had been her dream as a little girl to get her tongue pierced, so taking out that piercing was a big step of faith. We had a lesson with her on Tuesday, and she still had it in, but thanks to the Spirit guiding not only Sister Pina and me, but also two future missionaries named Gil and Clovis, we had a super powerful lesson about following the commandments and doing what the Lord asks us to do. She took out the piercing right there in our lesson, and gave it to Clovis so she wouldnºt be tempted to put it back in. Man, it was so cool! She was baptized on Saturday, and she is so amazing. So humble, and with a simple but strong testimony already. I feel so priviledged to help her prepare to be baptized!  

Yep, so this week was really good. I am going to miss being companions with Sister Pina, but I know that this is the Lordºs will. I donºt feel prepared to be a senior companion, but I will do my best. I know I will grow a LOT and learn a lot about trusting in the Lord, and Iºm sure Iºll learn other things, too. Man, I love this Gospel! I love being a missionary! Iºve learned so much from Sister Pina, and I learned some good things from Sister Santos when we were companions while Sister Pina and Sister Walker were in Sao Vicente. Iºm always learning, and I love that part about a mission... almost as much as I love being able to help people and see the light of the Gospel touch their hearts and change their lives.

I feel very humbled and priviledged that the Lord trusts me enough to put me in a new area for only three weeks and then give me a mini-missionary or visa-waiter my third transfer. I will do my best. I know with the Lord I can do all things, but this will really stretch me. But thatºs a good thing. :)

Love, Sister Zimbelman

I Feel Like I'm in Zion, Seriously!

Me and  Sister Pina

Olá amigos!

Wow, I love it here. I feel so grateful to be companions with Sister Pina and to get to know this ward and to serve the people here. It is so fun, and tiring, and just amazing! I canºt believe Iºve already been here for two weeks. Time is really flying for me.

This week we contacted 44 people. It was good, but weºve pretty much exhausted the area where most of our investigators/less actives live. It is getting harder to find people new to contact, but Iºm really coming to enjoy it. About halfway through the week, though, Sister Pina and I got a bit stressed with it because we had been marking with almost everyone we contacted, and we were having a hard time finding time to visit less actives, recent converts, and less actives. We werenºt sure how we were going to do it. Then we talked to our district leaders about it at our District Meeting and asked them if they had any other ideas of what we could do to still invite the people we contact to repent and give them a chance to talk to us without marking appointments, or how to only do 20-30 minute lessons, including walking in between lessons, praying, etc. They gave us a great idea to use our pass-along cards to invite people to church(with the church time and "address" on the back), so then we can mark with them if they come to church. Wow, it has been so much easier, and so less stressful!

Some days are really awesome, and others are... not as awesome. But Iºm really learning that thatºs just the nature of the mission. There was one day when we couldnºt find any mulher who was willing to teach with us or let us teach in their house, and we only had appointments with men. It was really disappointing, but we ended up visiting some less active women in the areas we were in, so it was good. Hard, but good. And yesterday we passed around a sign-up sheet during relief society, asking the women to sign up for even just one hour if they were willing to go out with us or let us teach with them in their house, and I was amazed to see that except for Saturday and Sunday, almost every slot on the other days was full! Tender mercies. Members who will work with us... yay!

Let me tell you about some people here. The mini-missionary who was with Sister Pina left on Thursday to start her mission. She will be serving in Portugal, but she is waiting for her visa, so she is currently serving in Brava. On Wednesday, we had a little "chá missionária"... a little goodbye program. It was so awesome, and sad and exciting.  The people here really love each other. I know it wasnºt just her family that was crying. Really, everyone in the ward is like family. It is so awesome! Sorry, her name is Rosiane, but everyone calls her Nininha. She always would go out with the missionaries, and was super friendly, so we became really good friends even in the short time that I was here before she left. She is so awesome, and sheºs going to be an INCREDIBLE missionary!

Our apartment, we are on the second floor

The other person who always goes out with the missionaries is Clovis. He just submitted his papers, and he is so excited to go! He reminds me a bit of dad: he was baptized in March 2013, and he has been studying the scriptures and any church book he can get his hands on to prepare for his mission. Apparently he spends the day studying church doctrine and the scriptures until we call him and ask him to come teach with us. If he isnºt doing those things, heºs probably with his family, helping out family members. Man, I think he knows more "deep doctrine" than I do, haha. I wouldnºt be surprised if some day he is a general authority. Seriously though.

There are a lot of people like that in this ward. Clovis was only baptized a year and a half ago, but he has helped almost his entire family join the church in that time. And his little brother Steven sent his papers in recently, too, and studies just as studiously as Clovis. Their little sister Tatianna is only 16, but sheºs thinking about a mission. Man, there are some amazing people here.

And I have to mention Roberto. Heºs got about 4 different callings in the ward. Without him, the ward wouldnºt function, I donºt think. I donºt know if he literally has all those callings, or if he is just so willing to help that he does all those things. But wow, he is awesome.

Then thereºs Andira. She is going to be baptized two Saturdays from now. Sheºs pregnant with her second child. She is so excited about the Gospel and said she thinks Joseph Smith is a beautiful name, so if this baby is a boy that will be his name. :) Sheºs so honest and tells us what sheºs thinking, and she LOVES to learn the things of the Gospel. She just soaks it all up like a sponge. She has been experiencing abdominal pain, so she went to the hospital after some encouragement from us on Saturday. Apparently they didnºt tell her anything there or do anything for her. So yesterday, Roberto (her brother) and Clovis gave her a priesthood blessing. It was amazing, too, because Thursday we had just taught her about the priesthood, and she got to experience it! Please pray for her and this baby. Hopefully the pains will go away or the hospital will tell her something if she goes back today.

Letºs see... thereºs so many other people!

The pigeons that greet us outside our window

Iºll tell you about Lenine. He will get baptized this Saturday. He goes to every activity we invite him to, and he is trying so hard to keep the commandments and do all we invite him to do. He even told his girlfriend about the law of chastity! The last time we met with him, we found out he broke the law of chastity once after we taught him about it. It was incredible, but at the same time it was still sad because he had broken it. But we had a great lesson about the Atonement and about how Christ experienced even our temptations so He can help us overcome them. He is so excited to get baptized. He wasnºt at church yesterday, which was super strange, and we havenºt been able to get ahold of him, so hopefully nothing crazy has happened... please pray for him!

Oh yeah, and our phone rarely turns on and stays on unless it is plugged in. So thatºs fun. :) Hopefully weºll be able to get a new one soon.

Oh! And an appointment fell through on Saturday, but there was a member that wanted to talk to us. His name is Élton, and he is 14 yrs old and has been a member for 4 years. He wanted to teach us about PMG ch. 5. It was so amazing. He isnºt afraid to share the Gospel with everyone, and he studies the scriptures/PMG every day. He told us that he, another YM in the ward, and some more YM too go around every Saturday night to invite the less active YM to come to church the next day. How cool is that! Maybe heºll be an apostle, too. :)

Oh! I decided to start Personal Progress again. :) I want to try to finish it before I hit my 9 month mark on the mission... February 28. I am so excited! And hopefully it will help me have a little more structure to some of my study time.

Okay, I think thatºs it for this week. Thereºs a lot more people, but Iºm running out of time! Love you all!

Love,

Sister Zimbelman

Porto Novo!

The moment youºve all been waiting for...

...or I have, at least...

I think Iºm going to accidentally throw in more portuguese words now in my letters home! I realized a while ago that my mind translates English experiences into Portuguese and my Portuguese experiences into English. Except, now it isnºt translating as much of my Portuguese experiences into English right when I think back on them... :)

Anyway, Iºm here and safe and I did half of my email time on Tuesday because I didnºt get into Porto Novo until 5 or 5:30 on Monday. So thatºs why you guys got random little notes. :) But I also ran out of time, so thatºs also why Iºm not sure if all of you got notes, and why they were really short. :)

Okay... where to start...

Oh! The boat ride. I took anti-nausea medicine, and I was fine... but Iºm not sure if I needed the medicine. The ride was pretty smooth between Mindelo and Porto Novo, so Iºm going to take some with me but not take it until I start to feel sick next time we go to Mindelo. Our zone conferences will be in Mindelo, so it should be within a month or six weeks, more like. But when I could first see Santo Antao, it had been kind of a crazy, stressful day already and I was a bit frazzled. Then I saw Santo Antao, and it felt like something that had been slightly unaligned inside me just clicked together, and I felt like I was going home. It was such a tender mercy! I was really surprised to feel that way, because it was all crazy, and I didnºt have that experience when I landed in Sal. It was a tender mercy of the Lord, and at the very least, for me it was a reminder that everything would be okay. That this was part of the Lordºs plan, not a last-minute adjustment for Him. And I felt so excited to get out and meet these new people and help them come unto Christ.

Then I met Sister Pina. Man, she is awesome! She is so fun and humble and obedient. I now have a new goal: to learn as much as I can from her, and hopefully be like her by the end of my mission. She reminds me of my friends from High School, especially Emma. Iºm not exactly sure why, but even on Monday she reminded me of Emma. Itºs been so fun. She is just so good at being easygoing and loving everyone and having fun, but also buckling down and working and striving to become better all the time. Like I said, I really want to be like her by the end of my mission. :)

Apparently missionaries stay really long in Santo Antão, which Iºm really excited for because already, these people and this ward have my heart. But missionaries are supposed to stay really long in Sal, too, so weºll see. But honestly, I feel like if I served here for the rest of my mission, I would be happy with that. But wow! This ward is awesome! And maybe itºs the difference between a ward and a branch that makes it so awesome. But they have a chapel, and there is so much more structure and order to things. And they have family history classes every Sunday and Wednesday! Even though almost no one has their own computer, and a lot of people donºt even have a modest skirt or a white shirt to wear on Sundays, they have family history classes! The people are just so open and kind and loving. There are so many people who are so willing to help us, too. I already love it here.

Anyway, this week has been such a good week. It reminds me of Christmas break: school had been crazy and hard and I had learned and grown a lot, and then I had a break, a breather, a time to refocus and prepare and a bit of a rest. Then it was even harder, in different ways, the next semester. But right now, I feel like I did over Christmas break. Iºm refocusing, resting a bit from all the craziness that happened over the past nine weeks... and in the MTC too. And itºs so good. Iºm a little worried about what  that might mean for the "semester ahead", haha, but Iºve just decided not even to think about it.

Sister Pina always offers to cook, so I always clean up, like Amy and Jordan. Oh, and itºs just the two of us in our apartment. Thereºs another dupla of sisters in Porto Novo, but they are in a different apartment. I guess there used to be four elders and two sisters in Porto Novo, but now thereºs just the four sisters... in two separate apartments (ours only has room for one dupla, really). But Iºm eating a lot of Caboverdian lunches now. Lots of rice, with different beans or vegetables or meat mixed in. Itºs really good. Iºm going to get some recipes for Sister Hill so she can try it :)

Also, our apartment is right over the storage for our dom da casa´s minimercado (the guy who owns our apartment has a food store... and we live over the food storage for that store. Oh! grocery store, haha). So that means we have LOTS of ants, some beetles, and cockroaches will appear. Mostly small ones, but theyºre so gross. I havenºt seen any of the big ones, but itºs probably just a matter of time. And Iºve learned that Sister Pina wonºt kill them. Sheºs too afraid, she says. So itºs war between me and the cockroaches, because my imagination doesnºt let me live with them in my house. :)

Yep, itºs awesome here. Sorry, I´ll try to tell you more about our investigators and menos ativos next week. But one cool experience happened when we were doing our weekly planning session.

We were trying to decide what day to remark with two girls we teach named Lara and Nadine. They basically have all the lessons, but they both feel unprepared/struggle with really believing that they can be forgiven. I kept feeling like it should be October 11 that we should remark with them for them to be baptized, but because I didnºt really know their situation super well I waited for Sister Pina to suggest a day. But she couldnºt bring herself to suggest a day, either, so I finally told her I felt like October 11 should be the day. She told me that was what she felt, too. It was a date of faith, pretty close to now, and so she felt hesitant. But we realized that the Lord was telling us both the same thing, so we wrote it down. Then we suggested it to Lara and Nadine, and they both agreed right away! It was amazing. The Lord was preparing all of us. It was just a simple experience, but a good reminder that the Lord really is directing His work and sometime we just have to get out of the way and let him do His work.

It was like that with contacts, too. Pres. Mathews and Elder Moreira challenged us to do 10 street contacts, at least, every day, and Sister Pina and I have really been working on figuring out how to do that and just going forward and doing it with faith. We´re also supposed to focus on finding families and working with families, and they promised us that if we would do these contacts we would find families, already married families, which is a SUPER rare thing out here. Well, it has been amazing: we have found at least two families that are definitely married, and two or so other families who may or may not be married... Iºm not exactly sure. Itºs been so amazing! Man, I love this work. I love these people and I love the miracles the Lord will bless us with if we will just act in faith.

Love you all!

Love,

Sister Zimbelman

Also, side note: I feel like Iºm writing the small plates, where Moroni says that not one hundredth of all the things that happened could be written down. I donºt know if Iºve told you guys that before, but thatºs what these letters feel like. Love you all!

Goodbye Sal!

Yep, apparently Iºm being transferred to Santo Antao... an area called Porto Novo. My new companion will be Sister Pina. She is Caboverdiana, and apparently really nice, and obedient too. Iºm a bit nervous, but Iºm so excited! But Iºll miss these people!

So Sister Garcia is going home because her mom has cancer and they prayed about it and everyone felt like she should be there with them. Weºve known  for a few weeks, but she gave me permission to tell you guys today. She leaves today for Praia, then flies home tomorrow. So our area will be closed down to Sisters for a bit... probably just until the actual transfers in three weeks. I have to be at the airport in 15 min, so weºll see how much I can write about my week... then hopefully Iºll be able to write when i get to Santo Antao with what is left of my internet time.

Iºll be flying to Mindelo, then Iºll take a boat to Santo Antao. Apparently everyone LOVES Santo Antao and wants to serve there, but itºs also the hottest island. But Iºm excited. :)

So this week, Sister Garcia has been sick... she might have a parasite again. So we spent quite a bit of time indoors. Santos hasnºt been drinking, and we were so excited for him, but then he came to church yesterday and he was so drunk. It was so sad! Itºs so sad to see someone keep choosing things that are so harmful and that donºt allow God to bless and help them!

Also, our Special Training with Elder Morreira of the 70 was so awesome. He is so funny... he reminded all of us of Gru from Despicable Me with his little mannerisms and his Portuguese accent. I will send pictures from Santo Antao if I can. I learned a lot though. Oh, and Pres. Mathews now wants us to do 10 contacts each day, along with getting and contacting 10 references each week. Iºm really excited to be able to start doing that... with Sister Garcia being sick, we didnºt go out much, especially toward the end of the week. But he wants us to look for families, too, who are already married. Iºm so excited to try and to exercise my faith to find those families. Itºs going to be great.

Elder Morreira talked about a lot of stuff, mostly about our need to repent and change and to continually do so if we want the people we work with to do the same. It was so good, and he talked about really studying PMG and the scriptures instead of just reading it. He also talked about Abraham and when the Lord asked him to sacrifice his son, and asked us what Abraham had to overcome/give up for that trial. Then he told us about how that trial was really Abraham overcoming Abraham, not Isaac, and talked about how we all need to overcome our natural man and completely give ourselves to the Lord.

Anyway, it wasreally good. Iºll hopefully be able to email you all personally soon. Love you!

Love,

Sister Zimbelman

Note from Karen - I've attached a few pictures I found on line of Santo Antao.

Little Miracles Every Day

Well, hello again!

Let’s see… this week was great, as always. A member of the quorum of the 70 is doing a mission tour this week, and our zone will get to meet with him for some special training on Friday. And apparently I will be playing the piano for it! I’m a little nervous, but I’m sure it will be fine, and definitely worth it. I don’t like playing in front of people, but if it means we get to hear from a member of the 70, I’ll do it. :)

Well, this week has been full of miracles, as every week seems to be in the work of the Lord. I was having a really hard time on Sundays… every Sunday I felt so exhausted and dreaded going out to teach, even though I love teaching these people. I think it was made worse, too, because I LOVED Sundays before my mission, and now they were just the days before P-day and I felt SO ready for a bit of a rest… or a different type of work, as P-days always are. I didn’t want to dislike Sundays, so I felt bad about feeling that way, too, so I was basically just miserable Sunday afternoons until we actually left the house to teach. So, I asked for a blessing, because I wanted to love Sundays and not feel so stinkin’ exhausted and unmotivated to go out teaching. That blessing was such a tender mercy. It actually addressed a lot of other stuff, and I think it will help me a lot in the future, too. But one thing he told me was that the Lord will help me to keep going, to have the motivation and energy to do what He needs me to do.

Knowing that if I wasn’t careful I would have a bad attitude about teaching Sunday afternoon, I prayed for help and I just told Heavenly Father how much I really just wanted to love Sundays like I used to before the mission, when it really was a day of rest for me. Obviously it wouldn’t be the same, but I wanted to love it the same way I loved it before.

Let me tell you, even with small things, God really does answer prayers. He helped me control my thoughts so I didn’t think about P-day being tomorrow, or how tired I was, and He just helped me focus on the moment, on teaching and loving these people and following the Spirit. It was something so small, and a challenge that I could have lived with for the next 15 months, and that made it even more amazing to me, because it was an attitude change that probably didn’t affect the work very much (since I only felt that way for the two hours of lunch before we went out), but it was important to me. God really does care for us, even in the small things. He really is our Father, and He really loves us and will bless us with so many things… sometimes He is just waiting for us to ask for those blessings. When we ask Him, we are showing our faith in Him and we are showing humility and trust in Him. Then He can bless us with what we need… but a lot of times He can’t do it until we ask.

Also, this week is probably going to be one of the hardest in my mission. We have a lot of people that we visit, but they just aren’t progressing… especially with going to church. And some will only go if we pass by and pick them up for church… so they go more for us than for the Lord or because they have a testimony, which isn’t good. I’m hoping we could get some members to help our investigators, too, but that will probably have to wait a week because our focus this week will be to decide who to drop and who to keep visiting. And we’re going to try to get more references from members to help us find the people that are ready to accept the Gospel. It’s going to be hard, but both Sister Garcia and I feel like that’s what we need to do to help Sal progress and to find the people the Lord has prepared for us to teach.

This week we have really focused on helping out less actives here… partly because our investigators just aren’t really progressing. But there have been some serious miracles as a result.

Do you remember Arlindo? We visited him again this week, and instead of saying he has faith that someday he will be active again, he said that he will go to church! He told us he prays a lot for help getting to church, but something would always come up. They way he said it, we could tell that he was thinking that Satan is stronger than he is. But we had a great lesson with him about how if we trust in the Lord, Satan will have no power over us, and how we all have our agency and that God will ALWAYS provide a way for us to do the things He asks us to do. It was really good, and he came to church on his own, dressed in a white shirt and tie, and stayed for all three hours. It was incredible!

I don’t think I told you about Santos last week. He is a returned missionary who served in Cabo Verde in 1995-1997 or so, but he hasn’t been to church in YEARS. We had heard of him (an RM who now was less active, had dreads, and drank sometimes), and my first Sunday here we had tried to find him, but we couldn’t find him. Then, last week, we were having a pretty rough day. I was having that allergy-enduced asthma that I would get in the fall in America, so I was super tired and just feeling off, and Sister Garcia was really struggling too. We were on our way to our last lesson of the day, and we stopped to talk to Andrea (Bia’s less active daughter), and we had this guy come up to us. He was a little drunk, but he had a Bob Marley hat hiding his dreads, and he told us he was an x-missionary and then walked away. Sister Garcia got super excited and we stopped him and ended up talking to him for an hour or more.  He told us that he saw a lot of missionaries pass by him on the street, but that we had something different, which is why he showed himself to us. Anyway, we’ve been teaching him. He still has such a strong testimony of the church… he could be such a strong leader in the church once he gets active again! But he has been working to stop drinking and smoking, and he came to church with us on Sunday. It was so amazing. He wants us to help him become active. Wow.

Anyway, that’s about it for this week. I love you all! I have really been learning how much God loves each of us, and how much He will help us and bless us if we will just trust in Him and continually try to be better. But He has so many blessings in store for each of us. It’s just so incredible. And a lot of times all we have to do is ask.

Love you all!

Love,

Sister Zimbelman

Apparently Cockroaches Fly...

Well, this week has been great. I’m not really positive why, but it’s been so good.

At District Meeting this week we made some goals and talked about where we want to be as a district by the end of this transfer. It was really good and we talked about a lot of concerns that we had. We really were struggling with being united, and it was mostly with being united between the Elders and the Sisters. So we talked about that, and about what we could do to be more united. A lot of it came down to obedience, actually, so now we’re all working on being more obedient/more exactly obedient. It’s been really good.

We have also started to do some zone activities. For example, we just got back from playing kickball (with a soccer ball) on some sand dunes just outside of Santa Maria. It was super fun! Hard, but so fun. And, oh… the feel of sand on bare feet… it was heavenly, until the sun came out and the sand got burning hot in about .2 seconds, haha.

It was so fun to just play in the sand, and we tried to see who could jump the furthest down the sand dune. It was so fun, and I feel like we became a lot closer as a zone in this past week and especially in this one activity than all the time we spent last transfer. I think this increase in unity and trust will help us help Sal, too.

Our district leader challenged us to pick a Christlike attribute to strive to develop and we would report on it, or something like that, next district meeting. So, this week I have been working on strengthening my hope. It’s been really good to study it, and I have really learned that hope comes from faith and trusting in the Lord and in His plan. It is about looking forward with faith and gratitude, and being optimistic in spite of challenges. I think the Lord was really encouraging people to have hope when He tells them to “be of good cheer”/“lift up your heads”. It is always paired with faith and charity, but I feel like hope kind of gets glossed over. But when we have hope, we are looking at things with an eternal perspective. We are focusing on the Savior, and remembering that God has a plan for us, and that all our challenges are part of His plan for us. He loves us, and our challenges are what we need to grow and to become our best selves. I have been praying for help having hope, especially because things are still really hard for my companion and it would be really easy for us both to go teaching without the Spirit, just feeling/acting exhausted and stressed. But with hope, you have to have patience. You trust in the Lord, and you don’t worry about how everything is going to work out… you just go forward, trusting that it WILL work out.

Oh yeah, and wow, it’s been crazy. We have really been working on using the BOM more and bringing peoples’ concerns back to the BOM (if the BOM is true, the Church is true, etc.), and there have been so many opportunities to teach people that this week. Or to re-emphasize the importance of going to the BOM to answer any questions, or to teach how the BOM is such a key to gaining a testimony of this church and to coming closer to Christ. I have just loved it. And we’ve started doing teaching more 50/50, where I teach or start discussions half the time, as if I weren’t in training. It’s been hard, but really fun. Especially because we kept having opportunities to teach the BOM. It has been so great. Wow, I just love the BOM, and it is just so important!

Well, that’s really what has been happening this week. Oh yeah, and we have started teaching an Adventist named Ravy.  He is great. He has a lot of questions and ideas about God, and it is really challenging to teach him because he asks so many questions and has these strong notions about who/what is God, but it is so interesting, too. We have just kept pointing him to the BOM, and have told him that that is his prova… his evidence. Everything depends on whether the BOM is really the word of God. But it has been interesting too, because I’ve been studying the Bible really well, and finding stories and seeing how the two support each other and help us understand God and the Doctrine of Christ more clearly together. I love it.

Oh, and Bia and Francisco are doing well. Our main challenge is to make sure they really understand how vital it is that they read the BOM every day… even if they only have time to read a few verses. Man, I just love them. They are so amazing, and Bia really wants to get a testimony… she hasn’t really put much time into reading the BOM, though, because when she isn’t at work, she is home, but her house is crazy busy with lots of little kids, so she is exhausted by the end of the day. I hope we can really teach her how important this is.

Well, we didn’t end up training as many members as I had hoped this week. And we only trained a few to help our investigators/less actives. Hopefully this week we will have more success with that. It’s been tricky though, because Sister Garcia is sick again… and super weak this time. I don’t think she has a parasite this time, but I guess we’ll probably get it checked out if she doesn’t get better soon. Haha, the house is very organized because of the time we’ve had to spend inside as she tries to recover. Apparently that’s what I do when I have excessive time on my hands and need a break from studying. Well, that’s about it. But please, keep Sister Garcia in your prayers, especially. She is really being faced with a lot of challenges right now.

Love you guys! I am doing great. Wow, it is amazing how much it helps to be focusing on having hope. I think it was President Packer that said hope is an anchor to the soul. That is so true. Hope is a small, strong trait that can keep us anchored to the rock of our salvation, Jesus Christ. Satan can’t toss us way off course and into reefs if we are anchored to Christ through hope. Man, it has been such a blessing to study it and to refine/strengthen/refocus my hope.

I just love being a missionary. I love being out here serving these people. I love learning so much about myself and about the Savior and about His plan for me. I love learning to trust in Him and to keep a smile on my face and in my heart because of His plan for me.

I love you all! Things can be so hard, but they are always opportunities to come closer to the Savior. That’s what I’ve really been learning/gaining a stronger testimony of. ALL these things work together for our good. It is just amazing.

Oh, one last story. I saw my first Caboverdian cockroach in our house this week. I’ve seen them before, but just on the outside wall of Dirce’s house when she was moving from it, and once in the street at night. And I learned that cockroaches fly, but they aren’t as hard to kill as I thought they were. They just fly, so you can’t dump them off the balcony unless they’re already dead. Also, just a word of advice… make sure you are holding onto the actual part of the dust pan when you through them off, and not just the plastic piece at the end, because if you try to chuck dead cockroaches off the dust pan a little too enthusiastically, the dust pan will go with the cockroach, haha. But it was broken anyway. :)

Love you all! Have a FANTASTIC week!

I can feel your prayers with me every day. 

Love,

 Sister Zimbelman

No longer a greenie!

… according to Sister Sharp.

Hi Everyone!

First set of transfers and none of the sisters here in Espargos got transferred, and only one of the elders did… but he is going home, so we knew he would leave. It was quite a shock to all of us, I think, except transfers were all a little surreal to me so I don’t know how much it really shocked me to have everything stay the same. A lot of missionaries were thinking every companionship would get switched up, and this will be the longest Sister Garcia has ever been in one area.

Well, I am doing well here! It has been HOT here, and more humid than it usually is… it even sprinkled one day! (Sal doesn’t get rain… ever…) We got water again on Tuesday, so I think we went without running water for almost exactly one week. But YAY! It’s back! Our toilet isn’t actually fixed though, so we have to make sure to shut off the water to it every time after we use it. Sister Garcia didn’t end up coming back until Saturday afternoon because her tooth needed more work, but she is back now. And she apparently had a little baby parasite, which they cleared up while she was in Mindelo, so now she can eat!

On Tuesday night, the sisters from Boa Vista flew in for Zone Conference on Wednesday. There are just two sisters on Boa Vista: Sister Turner and Sister Goss. They went with me to my area, which was nice because we could teach more than one or two lessons, which is all we have taught in my area every other day when I’ve been in a trio with the other sisters. Wow, they are awesome missionaries, and it was so fun to teach with them! They are super funny. Oh, and Sister Goss knows Katie from High School, but she didn’t know she was married, or even engaged, haha… she couldn’t stop looking at the picture I had of Christian and Katie. They were so fun to have as companions for two days.

Zone Conference was just awesome! Wow, I learned so much and I felt like I had a lot of questions answered about how to keep improving as a missionary. We had it in the church, but the church didn’t have the A/C it usually has, because someone needed to pay the electricity bill. Haha, Cabo Verde is a bit funny with paying their bills, it seems. But I just loved Zone Conference.

I have been really grateful to have all these opportunities to teach with different people, because I have really seen what some people do really well, what I want to incorporate in my teaching, how to teach more simply, etc. In Zone Conference, we talked a lot about teaching the Restoration more simply, with more emphasis on the First Vision and especially on the Book of Mormon. It was super good, and I’m excited to be focusing that lesson on the Book of Mormon. Sister Mathews taught us about revelation and how to receive revelation, and wow, I learned so much about it. She said when their kids were little, they gave them all a pencil and a journal to keep by their beds, and every time they prayed, they were supposed to wait a bit and write down any impressions they received. She said that it is amazing how well the Lord will respond to someone who has a pencil and paper waiting, ready to write down any answers they get. This really struck me, and I want to be better at writing down any impressions I receive, and giving myself more opportunities to record revelation as I pray, study the scriptures, etc. You guys should try it, too! :)

After Zone Conference, Sister Mathews pulled all the sisters aside and we had a little how-are-all-the-sisters-doing-meeting. She feels like a second mom to me. They both truly feel like a second set of parents. She shared her famous-quote-of-the-week with us, which is: you never know how strong you are until being strong is all you have. That really stuck with me. I’ve learned a lot about how strong I am, but really, I’ve learned how strong I am when I trust in the Lord. Because I am nothing without Him, but with Him… I can do amazing things.

Thursday or Friday, we taught a less active member in the other sisters’ area. Among other things, he said he is afraid to go back to church just in case he becomes less active again. I was thinking about that, along with this quote that Sister Mathews shared with us, after we came back from teaching that night. It is so easy to be afraid to do something good just in case it ends up leading to more hurt in the future. But with the Lord, we don’t need to be afraid. He will never give us something that we aren’t strong enough to handle with His help. If we just do the things that He has told us to do, we have the promise of His help, of His strength and guidance and support. Sometimes we may feel alone, or like we have to face some things without someone to help us, but the Lord is always there. And besides, there are so many angels on both sides of the veil, ready and willing to help. Because of the Gospel, because of the Atonement and because of eternal families, we are never alone. We may not realize it until looking back, but just like the Pioneers, we literally have angels walking with us, helping us and protecting us. How beautiful and amazing.

Well, I just love being companions with Sister Garcia. She is so bold, and I am learning more and more how to be an effective companion with her. She is just awesome. I feel SO blessed to be learning from someone who works so hard to serve these people.

Bia and Francisco are just amazing. We were able to mark a baptismal date with them, which was especially incredible because Bia really understands how serious baptism is. But we have marked it as a goal to work toward, and they’re willing to work for it. She wants to get an answer about this church, and she has told us that if she is baptized, she will follow this church for the rest of her life, which is why the baptism thing was so amazing. They are so prepared. It just amazes me every time we teach them… I feel like I witness a miracle every time we sit down with them! :)

Well, family, that’s about it for this week. Apparently Sister Bacon got bit by a dog, and while we probably have as many dogs around here, don’t worry… ours just lie in the shade with their ribs poking out and bite wounds on their ears, which causes Sister Garcia to ask, do you think that one’s dead? Haha.

Love you all! Until next week!

Love,

Sister Zimbelman