To: Mom

It was another really good week here in Maringá.  It´s still ´springtime´ but we´re having some really nice sun (followed by a day of colder air and rain). 

Yesterday was really special because it was testimony meeting and I got to see C. bear his testimony.  It's amazing to see the fruits that come from missionary work.  Seeing someone's life change through the atonement of Christ and receive the joy that comes from living the Gospel is truly the best thing.
I also got to see two of our investigators in church yesterday.  They´re a couple who had their 2 sons baptized by sisters who passed here before me and we taught them for time and a whole bunch of other sisters too.  But they´re an amazing couple and he finally got the paperwork ready so that they can get married and then baptized.  It's been really special to see people and to encounter this area again. 

We participated in two divisions this week with two of the sister companionships.  I love getting to do divisions, I always feel that I can learn so much and I know that the learning process never ends.  We truly learn line upon line in the Gospel.  I know that we can make such a difference for someone through our actions. I love seeing how the Gospel is the same for each of us.  But the message of the Restoration adapts and moves each time we teach.  That the Spirit truly gives you the words and promptings. 

We had a really neat family home evening with a couple this week and their son who is a member.  We read some of a talk from Elder Godoy on Families and how they can be eternal.  I know that FHE truly makes a huge difference in the spirit that stays in the home.  That family prayer and scripture study help us stay in the straight and narrow path.  Paying tithing and serving in the church leave a lasting impact on the blessings that come to our family.  I know that obedience is essential for our salvation and is connected to faith.  That we don´t have to always understand, but trust in God that he knows how to lead and guide us. That God calls prophets in every dispensation to lead us. 

Today, we´re catching the bus to go to Londrina for our meeting.  I´m excited to feel the Spirit that is always so strong.  I´m so grateful for our Mission President and his wife for their service and their testimonies. 

I´m so grateful for the joys that come through the little things each day.  That the search for new people and investigators is never easy, but always worth it.  That every person has a divine right to use and exercise their free agency.  I know that God loves us and has a divine role for each of us. 

I hope you have a great week! love you all!

A few notes from several letters received from Sister Bullen today:

Sisters Huinao and Bullen were talking to a person who was having a really hard time with some problems in his/her life.  A great person who has really made changes in life.  Like Preach My Gospel teaches, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost doesn't get rid of temptations.  It reminds me of Alma 36 where Alma the Younger talks about his conversion.  We all make mistakes, we all sin.  These sins create feelings of guilt and shame that can only be fixed or redeemed through repentance and forgiveness.  Our sins and short comings can be completely washed away through the Atonement of Christ.  But we have to be humble, demonstrate our faith and trust in God.  Our Savior always knows how we are feeling and what we have passed through.  Because he suffered through lower than us all.

I know that Christ lives.  That He is my Redeemer.  I know that our families can be together forever.  I know that peace and joy come from living the Gospel.  I know that the Book of Mormon is true.  I know that God hears my prayers.  I know that people - our friends, neighbors - need us to share our testimonies with them.  That the Gospel and the ordinances are the only way to gain salvation.

You already know by my email that this week was a little harder for me physically.  After the blessing I really was healed and we worked hard the following days.  Sunday I spent a little time in the house because my head was splitting, but I've gotten better.  I'm doing great now.  Nothing makes you miss Mom more than to be sick.  :(

It's freezing outside!  It's about 40 degrees and we get all bundled up to walk outside.

Today I'm planning to go with Sister Huinao to get our hair cut.  I've been wanting to trim my hair for ages.  But when you only have Monday to do so and so many other good things to do too...  So we'll see if we succeed in our plan.

Ha!  I laughed that you said Elders try to dry socks in the microwave.   From what I've seen of other Sisters, we're a little bit smarter, but more dangerous.  I've NEVER done it, but seen other Sisters leave clothes on the back part of the fridge where heat leaves.  Or here in Campo Mourao it's cold enough that we have an electric heater (that doesn't work too well) that Sisters leave clothes on too.  (They also don't see problems with leaving them plugged in when we leave the house for a quick errand.  But I do my part to protest (haha "my Dad taught me better") but it hasn't been a problem much.

Sister Huinao and I had a good week and I have been having a lot of fun and working really hard.  We think, talk, laugh, cry and invite people for baptism.  So it's going good for us.  We're in the search for people who are prepared and waiting for our message.

We had some neat experiences this week, making contacts in the streets with people and testifying of the truthfulness of the Gospel.  I respect people when they don't have interest or don't want anything.  But I'm going to do my part to clearly testify.  Because I know it's the only way to gain salvation.  Like Nephi said, "I have spoken plainly that ye cannot err"  (2 Nephi 25:20).  I know the Book of Mormon is true and that it has the Plan of Salvation.  It blesses us with the Spirit and the forces that we need.

I love you,

Laura Ann Bullen

1:01 PM

To: Mom

Congrats to Brian and Kaycee he´s a handsome little boy!!  That´s really neat and hope Kaycee and Elias are doing great.

This transfer was crazy.  We had 9 (NINE) sisters who arrived.  I´m still working as a sister trainer leader. My companion is Sister De Moura and she has almost 1 year in the mission.  She´s great and we´re really enjoying working together.  I returned to Maringá in the same ward and in the same area.  So its been really neat to see some of our recent converts and some of the members here.  We´re loaded up with divisions every week to help the sisters here.  We have 6 sisters here in Maringá and 4 in Ibiporâ (my 2nd area close to Londrina) that we will be going on divisions with.  Because so many new sisters arrived we have some sisters that are still kind of new training or that turned seniors.  But we´re all really excited and doing great.

I´ve been encountering people that I remember, houses that I´ve already knocked and I´ve been in the houses of the members here more then the sisters that are here.  haha so it's been a really interesting week and we´re enjoying the week.  In church I was able to see Claudecir who was ordained as a priest.

This week as we were teaching a family we were talking about praying and searching for answers.  How a desire sincere really is important.  If you are comfortable and happy in your house you certainly won´t go looking for a new one.

I love the little things that bring happiness in the mission.  The sun.  Water.  Sun block.  Visitors and investigators at church.  And being able to give every person an opportunity to accept or reject the message of the Restoration.  I am so grateful for the mission and for everything that I have gained being able to testify that we have the same church of Christ that existed on the Earth when Christ ministered here.   I know that this church is the church of God. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that it is the word of God.  I know we have a prophet who is called of God.  I know that our families can be together forever- but only when we do our part first to follow the example of Christ.

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

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Laura Ann Bullen

8/19/13

To: Mom

• 

Transfers have arrived.  And I'm being transfered... to Maringá. ha  Where I already passed 4 transfers.  I'm excited to return, but I´ll really miss Campo Mourão - its a great area.  I´ll be companions with Sister de Moura who I know a little bit, but only from our monthly meetings. 

This week we started teaching S. - who is the mom of one of the brothers in our branch.  She´s 68 and has diabetes, so her sight is kind of bad and she stays in a wheelchair most of the time.  She moved this past week  and is now living with her son and his wife.  She is amazing.  She marked her baptismal date for this Sunday the 25.  I'm really sad I won´t be here to see it.  But I know the most important thing is that she has received an answer and that she will receive the greatest blessings through this choice.  That now, she will be able to be with her family forever.  She´s so sweet and I really enjoyed getting to know her and see her progress. 

This week I also really had some neat experiences with the other sisters here.  They have been accompanying a family who was baptized yesterday.  We went on divisions with them several times to help and to teach her.  I was able to go on splits with Sister Butler on the morning we were able to mark her baptismal date firm and get her signature for her 2 children to be baptized too.  We had a really great lesson and the Spirit was really strong.  She baptized yesterday in really cold water (the water heater wasn't working..) but it was really neat.  :)

This week we also had a few little moments to see how sometimes someone does a little act of service for another person and they think it doesn´t matter, but it really makes a big difference.  For example, the day I went on splits with Sister Butler - Sister Hartvigsen was sick in house with Sister Huinao.  So it was just us two at lunch.  When we had left we didn´t think it was too cold...  So at lunch the sister let us borrow sweatshirts.  And she was right - we passed some pretty cold weather that afternoon/evening.  But it was really sweet and I'm grateful for the people who do small acts of service - they make a difference!

But this week was really good. Hope you all had a great one too. Love you!

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Laura Ann Bullen

12:15 PM

To: Mom

• 

Mom, 

Sorry this email home probably won´t be terribly long.  I had to send some attachments, etc for the mission office and it took a little extra time. 

But we had another great week.  Yesterday we had the baptism of J. He was a miracle who fell into our lives this past week.  He really developed a testimony and had a strong desire to follow the answer that he received.  F. has been progressing so much, and he has been so fun to teach and see progress.  Yesterday, M. gave her first talk (she was only baptized 2 months ago!).  It was so neat and so special to hear her give a talk.  The gospel truly changes lives and it's been so neat to see her grow and change through the Gospel and the atonement of Christ. 

This week we had our leadership meeting in Londrina.  Which was really powerful and inspiring.   I am so grateful for the opportunity to learn and grow and the new things that we are learning with Pres. and Sister Genaro. 

We were supposed to catch the bus to go back to Campo Mourao the day after.  But Pres. and Sister Genaro gave us 2 and the 2 sisters from Maringá a ride. They were going to Maringá for interviews with the missionaries there and then Sister Genaro needed to see our house.  So we got to cut the hours down on the bus ride and get to know them a little better.  It was really neat and they are both really funny. 

Our branch is preparing for a temple trip in October and it was really neat to hear a short talk from one of the counselhors who talked about preparation and sacrifices.  It was really neat.  The temple here is about like Anchorage for us.  About 7 or 8 hours of driving.  But often times represents a larger sacrifice for the people here.  I am so grateful for the testimony my parents helped me develop from when I was young and could see the sacrifices they made and the love they have for the temple.  I know that it is worth the sacrifices we make to go there.  That it can enrich all of the aspects of our livee. 

Our internet library is closing... But I love you all and hope you have a great week!!!

To: Mom

It´s good to hear you all had a good trip in Washington and made it home good.  Happy Birthday to Erik! hope it was a good one for him.  I forgot to tell you in the last emails, but I sent home a package about 2 weeks ago. But it´s not too exciting.  It has some things of mine that I wanted to send home and i included some juices and a few other things.

 

But this week was really good.  Yesterday was the baptism of F.  The sweetest old man I know.  He´s a little deaf, so teaching him the past few weeks was sometimes really interesting.  But it was really endearing and sweet.  Most of his children and some of his granchildren are members, but he was never interested. But we started to teach him, he went to church, then he quit coffee, then he committed to baptism this week.  We had some really special moments with him and his family this week.   One of the sweetest moments, was when we were in the church when the elders came for the interview.   Elder Jensen (our district leader) was saying how it would be an interview to see if he was ready, etc.  And Francisco replied, Yes, I´m ready.. AHHHH it was so sweet.  We were so happy for him and it's really been so special to get to know him.  His son, who´s about 16, was able to baptize him and it was a really special baptism.

 

In our meeting with our leader of the missionary work in the branch he was sharing a message with us from the scripture in Matthew 5 about the salt of the earth.   He was talking about how we can be the salt of the earth.   He talked about how if its not good, don´t say it.  If it's not good don´t do it, and if it´s not good, don´t think it.  It was a really neat message that he gave that we thought about a lot this week as we worked and taught.  That if you want to do or say or think something, if it´s not something that will benefit or help someone, just don´t do it!

 

We met some really neat couples/families this week.  That helped testify of the importance of the Gospel in our homes and in our lives.  One of the people we met this week was talking about some of the difficulties in their marriage.  But we could testify for him, that when Christ is the center of the home, when gospel principles are taught in the home, and when we serve and love one another, our relationships can be saved and strenghthened.   Maybe we are young and single and don´t really know anything about raising children or being married.  We do know that Christ has taught through the scriptures and through modern revelations that the home is a happier place when all work together to help one another learn.  That service of small and simple things make a big difference.  Repentance and forgiveness needs to be given and received.  But we had some really neat moments trying to accompany and teach some families.

 

Today (right after the internet) S. Huinao and I are going to catch the bus that will bring us to Londrina for our monthly meeting there. But our meetings are always really neat and it´ll be nice to have the teachings and talks from President and Sister Genaro and some of the elders.

 

love you all! have a great week!

To: shauna bullen

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The two skirts sound really pretty, I trust your judgement.  White would be fancy and fun, but maybe harder to keep clean (but if you think its prettier, I'd definitely use it).  But, I like both colors, so send what you think would be prettier. I always like what you send me :) 

You mentioned that maybe I know what date I return home.  But nope, haven't heard anything yet.  I THINK i'll be returning home around the 13 of November or so.  But no one has called me, and I haven't had the desire to call and ask. haha but trust me, youĺl be the first to know (well when i use the computer Monday after i hear)  

But this week was really good.  We went on splits with the sisters of Cascavel and the week always seems to fly by even faster then usual because of the travel and running to catch up after. 

This week we caught some pretty cold weather.  It reached about 34 degrees or so here,  and probably a little bit colder in Cascavel.  Ha i feel for the 4 sisters that are serving there.  They're all from the North of Brasil (Manaus, Recife, & Bahia) so theyŕe suffering a little bit.  Haha but i had to laugh a little bit.  The apartment there has 2 bedrooms and they have 2 electric heaters.  So they crank up the heat and the energy doesn't support it so the circuit breaker goes off after about 10 minutes so they normally pass the whole night without, but they know if they turned down the heat to low it would support it. ha But they're amazing sisters and we had some neat experiences together. 

This week we were really overwhelmed by the sisters in our branch, who love us and are taking good care of us. haha they had an activity Saturday and sent us about 3 bags of food - hot dogs, breads, etc. Then Sunday we received a ton more (homemade bread, milk, cookies/crackers, chocolate for milk, leftovers from lunch, etc.) haha our fridge is jampacked :)

But it really is a great area.  The help most appreciated from members is always the trust they put in us when they trust us to teach or try to contact their friends or people they know. When they teach with us and our investigators are blessed with their testimonies. 

We had a couple of experiences this week that showed one more time how the Gospel truly brings happiness into our lives.  I know that true happiness comes from living the Gospel in our lives and obeying the commandments of God.  When we go to church and live the counsel from the scriptures and the prophet, our lives are blessed.  I know that we are happier when we do so. 

We had a really good lesson yesterday in church on working and responsibility.  Which was really good.  I love how much of a difference our attitude makes when we decide to be happy.  The gospel is moved forward by those who are willing and ready to work. 

Happy Pioneers day!  happy birthday Paula and Kayla and Erik too!!  (I think i said happy birthday to Sariah in the last email) but I hope you're all doing great and having fun. 

love you all!