11.24.2015

Week 41: Transfers Round 7

Oi Oi Oi!

Transferências! *dumb roll please* As announced by President over the pulpit of the adult session of district conference, I will be training! woot woot! That's a story for another day, but I got to find out my transfer a day early. I'll be training Sister Lee from the United States. And that's basically all I know about her. I'll head over to Praia this week to pick her up and recieve a bit of training. Should be an exciting experience. Ya know. Praia is always cool. Haven´t been there since I arrived! And now Sister Johnson, my trainer, will be in the other dupla of sisters right down the road!

We also learned that our water will come on every 15 days for about two days. This poor sister will be born into such an interesting place. I just have got to find us a new house. Bucket showers and hand washing clothes is getting a bit rough. 4 months is enough for me haha. Apparently president didn't think so... haha life is good though.

This week we did get to go teaching with Sister Mathews, the mission presidents wife. We had a lot of fun with her. She helped us a lot with Maria and José, the ones who need to get married!, José officially has a date for marriage! February 20, but unfortunately I dont think that I will be here :( super sad. There is a small chance that I´d be here, but that would be 6 transfers in the same area, aka half my mission. Maybe they´ll move it a few weeks earlier so that I have a higher chance of being here :) Sister Mathews said that she wants to attend the wedding. At the least I'll get pictures :) Anyways, another lesson we had with Sister Mathews was with a new investigator, we were teaching the plan of salvation, and right as I was in the middle of inviting her to be baptized, her little baby that Sister Mathews was holding starting farting! haha we all just busted up laughing because the mom was laughing so hard. It was hilarious, but so embarrassing too because the Mission President's wife is there! I was trying so hard to get through the invite, but the baby would fart again and someone would start laughing so then we´d all laugh and we just couldn't pull ourselves together. so funny. But we did get through it and she did accept to get baptized :) 

So that was the funny story of the week. 
But I do have one more, I just remembered.

So Tanha (recent convert) was super stressed out one day, so we had the Elders come over and give her a priesthood blessing, and of course Eder wanted one too. Then when we came back to visit them again this week, Marlene (Tanha´s daughter, baptized with her) told us that her little brother, Joel 7, was pretending to give their little sister, Joelma 3, a blessing! So cute! He put his hands over her head then said some stuff then shook her hand at the end. Bahaha cutest thing ever! Anyways, I love these people! So glad that I have met the people I have here in Sal. The love of a missionary is something truely different. How much you care about these people when you only know them for a few months. How badly you want them to be happy. I´ll keep ya´ll posted next week on the new comp!

Till then,
Síster Kohlert

P.S. Pictures to come next week!

Week 40: Just the Ush

Dear Friends and Family,

Sorry this letter will be kinda lame. Nothing much happened this week. Just a lot of lessons. I could just explain all the problems that we are having right now, but i´d rather not write that all. 

This week was just a blurr, still don't have water, its been two full weeks since we´ve had any. Just prayin that it'll come back because hand washing clothes is very time consuming. The blessings of a washing machine. 

Hope ya´ll like the photo of making french toast in our disaster of a kitchen because we can't wash the dishes very easily and there are 5 liter water jugs everywhere full of filtered water to wash the dishes. 


Transfers are next week, super excited for some change! Can´t wait to find out who my new companion will be! We did get to go to Buracona today, lots of fun.


Cabo Verde is just beautiful. Love it here. Sorry, really dont have anything else this week! Oh, but we did have zone conference with elder dykes from the seventy! that was super cool! He was mission president in Portland Oregon for a bit, and I definitly knew all the places he talked about! And our zone is only 14 people, and 2 couldn't come so we got to have a bit more fun than the rest of the zones. 

And thats all!
Love you! ��
Sister Kohlert

Week 39: Batismo :)

Ola meus amigos!

So another week has come and gone. Not to many changes out here, not too much news to share so this might be a bit of a shorter email. Sorry... hopefully next weeks will be better!

This week Tanha, Marlene, and Eder were baptized! Woot woot! They are truly amazing. I love them so much! I just know that they are going to be a solid addition to this branch here in Sal. It amazes me how much kids pick up on the spirit. Eder is one spectacular 11 year old. He doesn´t falter to read the Book of Mormon everyday, and he truly understands what he reads! (future misssionary, i think yes!) The work here just keeps coming along.


Antonio, Rofina, Josefa, Flavia, and Ricardo will not be baptized till the end of the month because Rofina still has to come to church one more time and we have district conference on the 21st so they will have to wait till the 28th, but it´s better that way because they aren´t all quite ready yet. Hopefully they will keep progressing and nothing will slip till then!

Heavenly Father has truely blessed us and placed us with another family who are married, the mom and daughter are prepared for our message. Just love to work with families!~


Maria and José are still working towards marriage, they have been talking about a date for marriage either the end of this year or the beginning of next. Hoping for december! Maria wants to get baptized now, they just need to get married! José finally let us know his doubt with baptism, which turned out to be that he was worried with his work schedule right now that he wouldn´t be able to be a strong member in the church because right now he has to work every saturday and sunday from 8 am till midnight. That lifted a huge weigth off our shoulders, but still makes it hard on him because his work doesn´t know when they will get more people to work on saturday and sunday. Lets just say im extremely grateful that his worry is not being able to go to church every week! 
Anyways, always working hard, here´s some pictures to prove it. just kidding. here´s just some pictures because I love you!

😘Até Logo,
Síster Kohlert

11.04.2015

Week 38: Decisions and Revelation

Tudo Bem!

Dont have much time today, sorry... but i just have a couple things to share. Oh and our water was out for a week and a half, on for two days, now off again. Anyways...

First, I love mission. Yes, it is hard. Yes, its the best thing ever. So many ups and downs every week, but this was a great week for me. We started off with district meeting on tuesday, and received an amazing reminder about why I am here. Its so easy to get lost in this work and forget what your true purpose is. Lately I have been getting lost a bit in the numbers, it really does make a difference of who your companion is. I havent yet found the balance between numbers and loving the people and following the spirit. Sometimes we just get caught up in the numbers. Sometimes we forget about them, but then end up not having success because we forget about the work of a mission. Its hard to explain, but i feel like in slowly bouncing from one end to the other but getting closer to the missionary I would like to be. I want to bring the spirit into everything I say, I want to show the love of God. 

My Beautiful Piece of Africa
I had an amazing experience this week that really reminded me that I am needed here. That im not just another missionary walking the streets and that God could have used anyone else. We were on divisions, I was with Sister Park (love her!) and we randomly ended up having a lesson in the street with a 15 year old girl because our back up appointment fell. As we are beginning the lesson, one of the less active members passed by, Crisolita, and invited us to teach the girl in her house, so accepted. Crisolita mentioned that her knee was hurt, but nothing more. As we sat down, the girl had to go do a errand, so we asked if we could talk to crisolita. of course she said yes, and as we asked her about her day, she just broke down in tears. Things with family happened with the church, then she hurt her knee and she couldnt get off work otherwise she wouldnt be able to feed her family. As I just stood there hugging her, a lady that I had only talked to a few times, I felt Gods love for her. As we sat down to read a bit of the book of mormon with her, the spirit was thick in the air, you could feel the power testifying to her. There wasnt a dry eye in the room. As I offered the closing prayer, I had the impression to ask her if she would like a blessing from the elders, which she accepted. We called up the elders and just told them that a member needed a blessing of health because of a knee injury. As Elder Ayala gave Crisolita a blessing, everything that he said was exactly what she needed. Absolutely every doubt that she had was answered in that blessing. I know that Heavenly Father knows each of us personally. I know that He inspires his servants. The power of the priesthood is real. It heals our hearts and our spirits and we give him all that we have. There is no way that Elder Ayala knew what Crisolita neded, but her Heavenly Father did. 

The Sisters in the Sal District
The next day, crisolitas daughter came running up to us to let us know that her mom´s knee was all better. Just after we left she was able to walk. It didnt come as that much of a surprise to me, because after that blessing I knew that she would be okay. The moment wasnt just for Crisolita. I know that I needed that. That the elders needed that. that crisolitas family needed that. I know that the miracle touched something deep inside each of us. Heavenly Father knows us. He loves us. I love you all, thanks for everything you do. 


Much love,
Sister Kohlert

Week 37: Rain Storms and the Usual

Ei! Tu dret!

So ya know. Just the usual here in Sal. Workin away. We did have some funny experiences this week, and of course some miracles.

First, our week started off with a HUGE rain strom. Talk about down pour. Definitely were walking in a river of water up to our knees. Super fun, oh i really do love the rain! we took a member through it too. She was giggling like a 4 year old in a candy store. Then I almost fell into a 6 foot deep hole because it was full of water and I couldnt tell that it was there, luckily the member and my comp remembered so they stopped me probably only a foot or two from the edge. It would have been really bad, and I probably would have gotten really sick. The good news is that I didnt! Sorry mom  and dad, don't worry about me! Got angels protecting me :) 
Random boy up in a tree!
We got to see some miracles this sunday, when we had 6, yes, that is not a typo, 6 investigators at church! A family of four, then another investigator who brought a friend who we talked with the night before. Ah! So amazing! Maria (the one who brought the friend) is just so amazing! Every time we talk about the Book of Mormon, she says that she knows it´s true with such a firm conviction! There is no doubt in my mind that she got an answer. Man! Just the way that she said it on Saturday night when we invited her friend to pray about it. Maria, with such power in her voice, with such a surity, you´d think that she has been a member for at least 5 years. so incredible! Those are the moments that make the mission (at least for me).

We did have a bit of a sad moment on sunday when Tanha, Marlene, and Eder didnt come to church so we have to move their baptism to the 7th of november. Ah! I just love them so much and I just want them to be happy! 

When we were reviewing the baptismal questions with Marlene (13) and Eder (11), we asked them what they remembered about the law of chastity, and marlene forgot, but eder whispered the answer in her ear, `dont have kids before your married´ so cute! He is so smart! When one of the elders asked him what was something cool that he read in the Book of Mormon, he showed him the scripture in ether when the brother of jared asks the lord to touch the stones so that they will light their boats. Ah! such a boss! He knew how to apply it too! how the holy ghost guides our lives. wow. God prepares those we teach. The church is true! Its the moments like these that makes the missin worth it. Cant wait till the day that Tanha and her family get baptized, then hopefully ill get to see the day that they get sealed in the temple. 

Love you all! Have a great week!

Till then,

Sister Kohlert

Week 36: Oh..The Ups and Downs

Bom dia, boa tarde, boa noite a todos!

This week was quite the whirlwind! We have changed up our schedule a bit, had some highs and some lows. As a mission, we used to have a goal everyday of getting 10 street contacts, 3 lessons with a member present, 3 references received, and 1 investigator lesson in a member´s house, which was very hard, not gonna lie. But now we have a new goal of getting 15 street contacts and 5 investigator lessons everyday. We have been working VERY hard to meet that goal everday, and we have seen miracles!

Just in case you´re wondering, our schedule now goes as follows:
6:30 wake up and excercise
7:15 prep for the day and eat breakfast
8:00 begin studies
10:30 leave to teach
1:30 lunch
2:15 back to teaching
9:00 head back home and plan for tomorrow
10:30 sleep at last

So naturally our bodies have adapted to this lovely schedule so that we dont need to eat or use the restroom for 7 hours till we get home at night, then binge on cereal and popcorn or whatever other snacks we can eat quickly as we plan for the next day. So yeah... dinner isnt a thing on this mission. We´re super healthy out here in Africa. Life.

We also have been out of water this entire week. The sisters and elders also ran out. We´re just lovin´ it here in Sal! 

But we did have some amazing spiritual experiences this week! I´ll just share one, my favorite one: 

One of the recent converts of the elders moved into our area, so we have the responsibility of reviewing the lessons with her, so we were reviewing the first lesson, the restoration, with her on Saturday. Her name is Edisa (Ed-EE-za) by the way. She´s aborable, 18 years old. Anyways, me and my comp were impressed to stress that Heavenly Father knows Edisa by name. As she quickly made the comment that He knows all of us. We noticed that she was quite bothered by the fact the He loves all His children, so of course He has to love her as well. We both bore our testimonies of how we know that at times we think ´how could he remember me when there are so many others, that sometimes we feel lost in the masses.´ Soon Edisa was in tears and so was I. It´s been a while since i´ve cried during a lesson, but the Spirit was SO strong! No doubt that the Spirit was answering her concerns. I know that Heavenly Father loves EACH of us, more than we can imagine. The Book of Mormon is for Each of us, personally. I know that the words of the prophets in that book were written for me in those times that I feel alone, when life just seems too hard or unfair, when I forget my worth,I find God talking to me through The Book of Mormon. I know He is doing the same for each one of His children. It´s one of the most important things that I have learned so far on my mission. I have seen Him in the lives of all those I teach, all those I talk to. He knows you, He loves you. Never forget your infinite worth in the eyes of God. 
I love you all! Thanks for the love you show and the support every week!

Síster Kohlert

Week 35: Transfers

Heyo! soooo i will be staying here in sal and my new companiion is my grandma, Sister Zimbelman (mission grandma aka trainer of my trainer)! She is from utah and this is her last transfer on the mish, and she started her mission in this area! super excited! Sister Friaça went to my old stomping grounds in Porto Novo! Super excited for her because that area is amazing. so jealous. 



Funny short occurance during gospel principles yesterday, 
Our teacher and all the members of the class were set on the fact that caterpillars die and then are like reinacrnated/restored into a butterfly. They were dead serious. super funny as we tried to explain that the caterpillar is still living and doesnt ever die to become a butterfly in the cacoon. It was hilarious.

So one quick story that was amazing that happened yesterday:
On our way to bring our investigator Tanha and her family to church, sister friaça saw a random pair of kids shoes in the middle of the dirt road. We just walked past, but then sister friaça goes back and picks them up. We look at them, in really good shape still, and they look just about tanhas sons size, Joelm,... as far as we can tell. So we take them with us to Tanhas house. when we get there her daughter answers the door and lets us know that her mom and brothers already left for the church and that she wouldnt be able to go. But we asked if anyone in their family needed shoes. she thinks for a second and quickly replies Joelm! Turns out he went to church in flip flops because someone had stolen his shoes. When we get to the church sure enough, joelm needed shoes because they would be walking all the way to palmeira (a good hour plus walk) right after church. Random story, but I know that those shoes were placed in our path for a reason. (and i think we both prayed to make sure it was okay that we were taking the shoes and that someone didnt need them...) I hope that Tanha felt that Heavenly Father is looking out for her as a single mother trying her best to provide for her family.

Amo vocês!
Síster Kohlert