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Winter in Brazil!
At the zoo with Jose's grandson, Pedro.

Folks, we had an awesome week!!

>

> We had a really great Family Night with Marcelo last week, but
unfortunately he went on vacation until the 30th, so he´s been put on
hold for a few weeks.

>

> We are teaching a few new families:

> Juliana and her husband Wilson and their two daughters. This is a
family that worked the hot dog stand at the Festa Juninha. They are
friends with some members and we were able to teach the wife, her
mother and her two daughters. She is looking for a church to raise her
two daughters and said she has always been "followed" a little bit by
members from the Church. She read a chapter from the Book of Mormon
already and said she was willing to read more and pray. They will be
going to church with us on Sunday and then to a planned Family Night
later that same night!!

Luciana and Islande is another couple that we found when we
knocked doors one night two weeks ago. They kept telling us to come
back time after time because they were always walking out the door or
didn´t have time, and finally it worked out and when we taught them on
Saturday they really liked our message and came to church by themselves
on Sunday!! They are looking for a religion to raise their 5 children
in !! We will have a family night with them on Thursday!!

We are also teaching the boss, Claudine, of a young women from the
ward. This young women (Tatiana) is an awesome mini-missionary. She
already talked to her boss all about the gospel and Claudine wanted to
receive a Book of Mormon. She says she already knows the gospel is true
and wants to be baptized, but she has to get approval from her husband
who wants nothing to do with the Church. She also lives in another
city, so we have to try to get her integrated with her appropriate ward.

José is progressing, praying about his baptism, but having a hard
time stopping drinking coffee and worrying about Malu not being
interested in the church. We went with him and his wife, Malu, today to
the Zoologico. It was great to see the two of them together, happy, and
to see Malu taking more of an interest in who we are and what we do. We
went with their grandson, Pedro as well.

We are also teaching Telma and her son Paulo Cesar and her
daughter Rute. Telma is the maid of a excommunicated member that we
taught at lunch one day. She took a sincere interest in the church and
the excommunicated member took her to church on Sunday. Telma said she
really like the church because it is family oriented. Rute really like
the young womens and is going to a youth activity tonight!! Telma is
super excited about the church, but not super excited about her husband
being against the church.

There always seems to be a hang-up and the most apparent one right now
seems to be spouses. But the Lord will provide!!
I love this work and love helping and loving these people!!

Have a wonderful week!!

Sister Tittelfitz

From May 19 - oops

I don't know how I missed posting this, but here it is - better late than never, eh?

Well folks, I have good and bad news. Today I lost one of my dearest companions. We stayed together only one transfer and I was completely astonished by the transfer we received. I will be staying in São Caetano this transfer again and Sister Zanella was transfered to another zone to open an area. We were shocked by the transfer and it was two days of straight crying to seperate the two of us. I am not bitter towards my new companion and I am already loving her (Sister Souza is here name, my 2nd "Sister Souza"). I obviously still have some work to do in this area and the Lord has left me here for what will now be 6 months at the end of this transfer. I love the area and have battled hard with two companions, and now the third, to help this ward grow. Baptisms have been in few and far between since I arrived, but perhaps what this area requires more than new converts is a loving heart and dedicated service. I´m still asking for revelation how to go forth with this transfer and have success with my new companion. I don´t like to admit it, but I know I´m learning a lesson in perserverance and staying animated and diligent in the face of many challenges and few but drastric changes. I have been extremely blessed as a missionary and there is no reason to complain. I have regained my health this past transfer, worked hard, loved my companion and loved the area even more! and now I have little time in the mission now to continue to see miracles, so I´ve got to battle it out and work hard and use every moment of time I have left!!

I know this Gospel is true, and I love our Heavenly Father. Until next week!

Sister Tittelfitz

July 14, 2009

(This is how we sweep and mop the house in one quick and easy clean-up!)

Well folks it´s been a great week. We have been super busy finding the Lord´s elite!! It has been so great to be teaching Sister Buckley and to be seeing her progress!!

This weekend we had the Festa Junina at the church, a cultural Brasilian festival. José went and took his grandson and they both loved it and it was great for José to get to know more members. He also went to church on Sunday and stayed for Sacrament Meeting again and took his grandson as well. He´s making progress, but has still got to give up coffee and be ready to jump into the church feet first without any hesitation!!

We are also teaching a really neat family that we met at the Festa Junina. They were a family hired to do the hot dog stand at the party and invited us to come to their home Sunday night. They really liked our message and said they are looking for a church to raise their children, and were really impressed by the amount of families at the activity!

We are also teaching a man named Marcelo. He was taught by the Elders ten years ago in another city when he was a young man. He was not baptized because of family/girlfriend problems, but said that he went onto the internet one day to look up the Church and found the telephone number of our Bishop. He gave him a call and asked if the missionaries could teach him again. He lives alone so we are teaching him in the chapel and yesterday we had a family night in the home of a member that lives in the same apartment building as him!!

We had a great Zone Conference last week that was totally focused on the Book of Mormon and how is the greatest tool in the conversion procress. We are reading the Book of Mormon as a mission in 62 days and I am already at the end of Alma. I know that this book is true, I know that this book answers many of the questions of the soul. I know this book was translated by a prophet of God. I know these things are true!!

Have a great week everybody!!

Sister Tittelfitz

July 7, 2009

I´m having a great time training folks. I love my new companion, she is so wonderful!! It´s a challenge teaching Portugese, but it´s so great to see her progress!!

I had a wonderful suprise on Sunday. As we were arriving in front of the chapel I saw a man that looked oddly familiar, I yelled out "João" and it was truly Irmão João Bosco that I taught and was baptized in Diadema in January!! The members from his ward had told him that I was going home in a few weeks and he took a bus to our area and then walked from the bus station to the chapel for 45 minutes to see me one last time before I go home!! It was such a nice suprise. He said he´s doing well and struggled for a few months to stay active because it was getting a lot of part time jobs and couldn´t go on Sundays, but that he wants to "stay strong" now!!

José actually stayed in Sacrament Meeting this week and liked it, but said there were a lot of kids running around and he couldn´t hear everyone´s testimonies very well :(

My time is running out folks, I have three minutes to send this email, so I´m cutting it short. BUT I LOVE THIS GOSPEL, I LOVE MY MISSION and I LOVE THIS WORK!!

Have a wonderful week folks!!
Tchau!!
Sister Tittelfitz

June 30, 2009

(My new "baby" Sister Buckley)


(Brother and Sister Morrill have been serving in this mission and are going home).



I am training again!! This time my first and only American companion in the mission, Sister Buckley from Idaho Falls, Idaho. I was not transferred from my area, so I will be staying in São Caetano until the end of my mission!!

I am really good, it will be a challenge to teach Portuguese, I will have to slow down my teaching routine, but it will all work out!! I will get a good taste of what it was like to have to train me!!

Love you,
Jenelle

June 23, 2009

Well folks, its been a great week. We worked and we saw some progress!! Hellen and Wesley will be baptized this Sunday, and Sonia we hope the following week. She is still smoking, but we didnt want to postpone the kids baptisms for weeks upon weeks because of Sonia. We are also praying and planning that the baptism of her grandchildren will motivate here to get rid of her bad habits so that she too can enter into the waters of baptism.

José Barba is doing well. He, unfortunately, didnt go to Church on Sunday as he battled with a bought of depression and is getting a little overwhelmed by the negative reaction his family members have friends are having towards him in relation to learning about another religion. He started to read Pearl of Great Price but got a little confused and told us yesterday that he wants to study the basics first and gain a testimony of the Church first. We bought him a triple today in the temple and told him to use it to accompany the Gospel Principles Manuel that he is reading, and nothing more. Profound Doctrine is overwhelming, even for members in the church 15 years.

The members in our ward are getting a little more excited about helping us out with Family Nights and passing references to us. It has been a little bit of slow battle to get members involved here in the ward, but I have found that if we focalize on a family that can help us and call and pass by the members house they start to see that we really want their help and that they are capable to helping out in the missionary work!!

I thought I would throw in here something interesting that happened to me. Yesterday I received a letter that Sister Ward sent to me. It was a letter that I wrote in Seminary 5 years ago that was addressed to myself. I wrote about the things that I wanted to have accomplished by June 2nd, 2009. It was interesting because all but one of the goals I accomplished in this time period (the goal I did not accomplish was have my own apartment). Here are some of the goals that I wrote, in case you wondered:
-Have graduated from a 4 year university with a degree in Social Work or Health Science
-Have learned a 2nd language
-Probably have served a mission, outside of the U.S. (this was interesting, because as I recall, when I was 18 I did not plan on serving a mission, hence the 'probably')
-Have not gotten married and am not planning on it (hahaha, i started laughing when i read this one!)
-Have a strong testimony of the Gospel and of my Savior Jesus Christ
-Have a strong relationship with my family and friends
-Have a strong testimony of the scriptures

Its interesting how well we know ourselves sometimes, but I was also proud that I had accomplished these goals and that I have a strong testimony of the Gospel and of the Scriptures and of course, of my savior Jesus Christ. I think I will write another letter addressing what I hope to have accomplished by 2014, lets see what will happen!!

Folks, today I went to the temple and felt so strongly the spirit testifying to me of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and I know that we have a living Prophet, Thomas S. Monson as the head of the Church of Jesus Christ. I love this Gospel and this work with all of my heart!!

Have a wonderful week everyone,
Sister Tittelfitz

June 16, 2009

The work continues to be great here in São Caetano. WInter has finally arrived and it really cold. I am using spandex legging underneath my skirt, using nylons, closed toed shoes, a jacket, the scarf that Belinda Baldwin sent me for christmas that I thought I´d never use, and´i´m looking around in the stores to find some gloves to buy!! Yes, it does get cold here in Brasil. And worse, it gets windy and it´s a humid cold, the type that chills your bones!! But it´s all good, beause it´s great motivation to teach a lot and spend more time in people´s homes teaching than on the street!!

José (Barba) went to church again on Sunday, but once again only stayed for Sunday School as he had to open his store. He making huge spiritual progress and yesterday asked us that if he were baptized, what would be the consequences with the members and with God that we would have if he left the church. It is a little strange sometimes how he asks questions, but he is really trying to make this decision for ETERNITY and not for a few months or only a year.

Sonia´s baptismal goal was postponed again as she was not able to stop smoking yet. Yesterday I took another package of coffee out of her home. She wanted it really bad, but I told her we had already bought Cevada for her and that she would survive. She´s a little confused about why we want her to stop, but we told her that with much prayer, reading the Book of Mormon and continuing to go to church that she will have a confirmation of these commandments. Yesterday her granddaughter came into the room with a cup of black liquid and asked what it was. Sonia lied and said it was Cevada, and her granddaughter said that it tasted strange. I told her to put a little bit of milk in it and that I would take a sip to see if the cevada needed more sugar. When I took a gulp I realized it was coffee!! The kids started to scream and said that I had sinned!! I explained that in innocence I could not have sinned and the kids decided I was right.


We continue to serve the Lord!! (and drink coffee on accident!)

Have a great week!!

Sister Tittelfitz