August 30, 2010

Olá! Wow this week was so amazing!!! Zone Conference was a blast! It was so good, the talks that the elders gave, President and Sister Batt did a great job, lunch was amazing. It was all so GREAT!!! And I haven´t got to the greatest part yet! After the conference, Pres. Batt had all the sisters stay and he talked to us for a couple minutes. He told us what are "plans" were afterwards: all the sisters and sister batt went to this craft store to look around at some stuff that we might want to get towards the end of our mission (it was so cool, I definitely want to go there and get a couple things) then we went to our hotel to take our stuff there adn get settled in and waited for our van to come get us. Then we headed to the temple grounds where the temple is going to be built in Fortaleza! It was so beautiful, I can´t wait for them to start building. We took pictures and all that fun stuff then went to the beach! We couldn´t go out in the sand, but we went to this pier and we were there at sunset. It was absolutely beautiful! And the ocean, oh my heavens. I got pictures! I´ll send some next week over the computer. Then we went to Pres and Sister Batt´s and had dinner....TACOS, Watermelon, Pineapple, POTATO SALAD. We were all in heaven!!!! And we made cinnamon rolls with sister batt. Then after dinner we had ice cream sundaes and rootbeer floats...with A&W brand :) Then we played games and got to know everybody then headed back to our hotel. It was so much fun! I think they did this for us because in the past they had problems with the sisters and he told us that we´ve been the best group of sisters he´s had while serving as mission president. Well, it´s definitely becoming summer weather here. It´s SO HOT!!! My tan is really coming along :) but im still wearing sun block don´t worry! And mom I think you would be really proud to know that I made CINNAMON ROLLS all by myself (I´m a big kid now ;) no but really i made them for the first time without out you telling me what to do, and I didn´t have a bosch....i used my own two hands to mix it! But.....they turned out PERFECT i was really happy :) And I´ve made a few other things, I can´t remember if I told you, but I Made tyra´s famous chocolate cake for a baptism, turned out REALLY good and today I made "Enchanted Popcorn" the one with the almond bark, i made it for FHE tonight. In portuguese it´s called Pipoca Encantada :) I´ve also learned how to make pastels, they´re really good! I think that´s it, but I´m having a really good time here in Metrópole the people are so awesome to work with, they´re very receptive and accept the gospel very well. Well I better get going. Thank you for all your love and prayers. The mission has been a real eye opener to me and has totally changed my perspective on life. I´m starting to realize a lot of things that are more important in life and wishing I would have done things different, but it´s in the past and what I´m learning now will change the way I live and look at things from now on. THis gospel is such a blessing. Chandler , Garrett and Joseph, listen to mom and dad and do what they say. Be supportive in everything and help mom and dad out with scripture study and prayers and all that. It´s so important to do all these things with the family. You might not realize it now but it´s so important and it will help and strengethn all of you. I love you all so much!!!! love, Sister Ariana Salisbury

August 23, 2010

Oi Família!!! Wow, this week was great! We had a lot of good experiences and the baptismwas so great that we had. Last week we were working with this 15 year oldnamed Lucas. We marked a baptism date for this past Sunday (yesterday) andthroughout the week he just kept on progressing it was so awesome to see thechange, just within a week! One night we went to get him for seminary so hecould go with a group of member kids and he was all ready to go and beforehe left he asked what they were studying, and the kids said The Book ofMormon and Lucas said wait a minute let me grab my Book of Mormon. Ah it wasso cool! And then the next time we went to see him he asked before westarted the lesson, what do I have to do to become a member of the church?I´ve always wanted to hear that from an investigator! Then yesterday at thebaptism his mom and sister were there and he was as happy as could be. He´sgot great member friends, a great family (which we´re starting to work withnow) and he has a strong testimony. It was a really good week for us. Themembers are great in being involved in the missionary work. The youth arealways giving us names of friends that we can visit. Help from the membersreally are such a help to us missionaries, I love being able to work withthem. My Portuguese is still coming along, I´m able to understand everyonefor the most part and converse with them somewhat J It´s progressing thoughand I´m satisfied with that, I´ve been the most patient than I´ve ever beenbefore. Thank you for all your prayers said in my behalf, I can truly seethe blessings and love from you!Mom I´m so glad my package got to you, I was so worried because I hadn´theard anything from you I´m glad you liked it and I got your package onSaturday! Thanks so much, I was so happy to see the Peanut Butter! That mademy day :) And the shirts are great, thank you and I love the colors they´rereally pretty! Kortneigh is dating Shane?!?! Wow, everyone´s going to bemarried by the time I get home. But that´s exciting! I heard Whitney wasgetting married, I got letters from Shay and the kids the same day I got thepackage and she mentioned they were going to Idaho. Kenzie and Landoncolored pictures for me and wrote me little notes it was so cute. Wow Ican´t believe Garrett is going to be in high school. He´ll have his drivinglicense when I get home, that is SO crazy to think. My little bros aregrowing up. And Joey, man they´re all going to be little studs when I gethome ;) Tell Chandler he´s a little slacker though, he hasn´t written me fora couple weeks. As for what I might need I´ll let you know next week, I´ll think about it.The clothes I brought are fine, they´re working out great...I just wish Iwould have brought more shirts and different colored skirts :) but there´s amember here that is going to make a couple skirts for me so that will benice :) and my shoes are fine as for now, all i wear are the sandals, thereain´t no way I´m wearing shoes it´s too hot. Well I better get going, hopeschool goes great this week for you boys and everything is going good foryou and dad. Dad I´ll write you next week, I need a little more time on hereto write everyone I want! Well i love you all and you´re in my prayers! Love, Sister Ariana Salisbury p.s. did i tell you there is a sister here in my mission from Othello?!Sister Risenmay, she was in my district last transfer :) Oh and this week is Zone conference and all the sisters are going to be atthe same zone conference and my mission pres is getting a hotel for us andwe´re going to stay the night in Fortaleza, just us sisters!!!! He said he´sdoing it so we can get to know all the sisters because at the other zoneconferences we were all split up into different conferences. I´m superexcited!!! :) Love you!!!! Going to play volleyball with the ward members now :)

August 16, 2010

Olá!!!!!! Well, this transfer is going GREAT so far! I absolutely love the areaand my companion! She is so sweet and we´ve had a lot of success thisweek. The people here are wonderful and the ward members are such ahelp to us. I´m realizing how critical it is to have the help andsupport from the ward members. Here in Metrópole 3/4 of our work iswith the members. They sit in on lessons with the investigators, sharetheir testimonies, take them to church with them, and involve themwith the church activities. Members can play a big part in missionarywork and I want you mom, dad, family, and those reading this to tryand think of people that the missionaries can visit. Neighbors,co-workers, anyone and everyone! And be involved with them as themissionaries teach them. You can make a big impact during theconversion process! Something else, mark a day to have themissionaries over for meals! I love eating and conversing with themembers, so mom this next sunday mark a day to have the missionariesover! And make sure you have a dessert too, that´s something Imiss...not many people here have dessert after meals, it´s sad :( So yesterday we had a baptism, João Pedro, he´s 8 year old and thecutest little thing! He´s knows so much. It was cute, we were teachinghim about the word of wisdom and before we told him the substanceswe´re not to use he named them all off. We were so surprised, but itwas cute because he just smiled and was happy that he could name themoff before we told him. Then when he came into the church buildingsunday morning he was all dressed up and carrying his Book of Mormon.It was a great sight to see :) It´s good to hear that everything is going great! I love you all somuch and hope that football goes good this week and everything at homeand on the farm is going well. I love and miss you and you all are inmy prayers! Love, Sister Ariana Salisbury

August 9, 2010

Hey! Just to let you know before hand, if I make a lot of mistakes I´msorry. I think I have the worst keyboard right now and I don´t havethe patience to go back and fix the mistakes. Anyway, well i got transferred and i have a new comp. I am now inMetrópole with Sister S. Oliveira. SHe doesn´t speak english so we´llsee how the transfer goes. She´s really nice though and I´m stillgetting used to her accent. It´s a bit different than Sis. Gonzaga´s.My new comp is from São Paulo (by the way HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRAVIS,TREVOR and BRIAN!!!!!!) and garrett yours is coming up in a coupleweeks :) Well, transfers were today and it was really hard to saygoodbye to sister gonzaga. I didn´t think it was going to be as hardas it was. And yesterday in sacrament meeting Presidente França askedme to share my testimony since it was my last day there. THat wastough too. I said goodbye to everyone and got pictures with branch.Baturité is such a neat place and i absolutely love the people there. Good to hear you guys had a fun time at the oregon coast! And i couldactually go for some tillamook ice cream right now :) And yeah you cansend pictures on the computer that´s fine. The only thing is,sometimes they come across too big and i can´t see the whole pictureand it takes awhile to load, but you can try. And I´m not sure aboutBrett´s release date, he hasn´t told me yet. Wow sounds like the wholecommunity is getting married this month! THat´s exciting though, lotsof receptions to go to!!! :) Make sure you tell them all congrats forme! Well, i need to go. I hope everything goes well for everyone thisweek. And good luck with football boys! Wish i could be there to seeyou play, but look at all the practice you´ll get and by the time iget back you guys will be 10 times better ;) I love you all so much and I´m grateful for all your love and supportfor me. I pray for you always!!! The church is true!!!! love, sister ariana salisbury

August 2, 2010

Olá Everybody!!! Wow, it´s the last week of the transfer can you believe it?! I´m notsure what´s going to happen. I think I´ll be transferred and so doesSis. Gonzaga. She thinks that because we´ve been together for 2transfers now and I haven´t had experience anywhere else, whereasshe´s been a trainer and had experience in another area already. Butwho knows, I could stay and another sister could come. We will get acall saturday night to know who goes and who stays (kind of soundslike Step Up 2 ;) Well, it´s been a tough transfer, but at the same time I look back atthe experiences we had with the people and the growth me and SisterGonzaga have experienced and think that I´ve grown a lot morespiritually and my faith and patience was definitely tried. But I wasable to overcome the hard times and I know that I can overcome comemany things with the help of the Lord. I´ve been studying lately about the priesthood, ordinances andcovenants. And I was thinking yesterday in church about the covenantswe make each Sunday. We covenant that we will “take upon us the nameof the Son.” And I was thinking about how I put my name tag on everyday and on my name tag is the name of Christ. I wear His name over myheart every day and I related that to taking upon us the name ofChrist. He should always be in our hearts and it´s an absolute honorto serve here in Brasil in the name of our beloved Savior, JesusChrist. Even though those of you at home aren´t wearing a "name tag,"make sure that Christ´s name is written on your hearts...always! I´mso grateful for this gospel and the blessings we receive from ourloving Father in Heaven. We are literally God´s children, that initself is such a blessing. I´ve also been studying about prayer. Wehave a Father in Heaven who loves us and wants us to communicate withHim. But to do that we need to pray to Him. And something I´m going todo more, I´ve made a goal, that after i pray to wait a little bit andlisten. After a prayer we may be able to receive answers orpromptings, but if we don´t take the time to sit and "listen" we´llmiss that opportunity. Well, you guys are probably having a wonderful time at the beach rightnow. You´ll have to let me know how your trip was. And of course,whenever we try to go on a trip somewhere something has to go wrong onthe farm to keep us from leaving on time. Nice to see things are stillthe same at home :) School starts back up in a little bit, are youboys ready?! :) Football will be fun though, make sure dad gives meall the updates!!! And mom don´t worry, the food was cooked. My leg isfine, it hasn´t been giving me any problems. Oh! I got the news letterand your note mom! Thank you. I love getting the newsletters andreading the message from the presidency and everything else that isgoing on in the ward. Every message so far from the RS presidency hasbeen such a help and strength to me. Each message has been just what Ineeded to hear at that specific time. I love receiving them, so keepem comin :) Hope everything is great for you guys and you had a fun time at thecoast! I love you and pray for you all! Love and miss you tons!!! Love, Sister Ariana Salisbury