Opening a new area will bring so many miracles!!

                                                                                             October 10, 2016

Olá Família!! 

Tomara que vocês estejam bem, e felizes!!! 

Eu amo MUITO vocês, e sou muito grata pelo conselho e sabedoria que cada um de vocês me ofereceu esta semana.

 

SOOOOOOOOOOOO, I´ve got some news for you all. 

 

I´m being transferred tomorrow to Vargem Grande (closer to Cotia)--more of a rural/suburb area, and I will be opening an area there with my new companion.....I actually don´t know who she is yet because I was called to be a trainer/mom!! I´ll have another daughter in the mission!! WAHOO!!! Also, I will still be sister training leader there in Vargem Grande, so I´m still going to be responsible for going on splits with other sisters in other areas near my area to help them (caucaia, cotia, vargem grande). I can´t tell you how excited and scared I am at the same time, because, let me tell you, opening an area is really hard, but it´s one of my favorite things in the mission because it brings SO MANY MIRACLES. Heavenly Father definitely answered my prayers because I have been wanting to open another one for such a long time, and I have been wanting to serve again a little bit away from the city. I wasn´t expecting training, but I know my companion will help me feel the Spirit so much at the end of my mission because that is what I prayed for. Tomorrow I´ll find out who she is--brasilian or hispanic! SO EXCITED!!!! Also, Sister Caleira, my first daughter in the mission, was called to be Sister Training Leader, and will serve here in Ferreira in my place with Sister Hall. Sister Hall is ending her mission--this is her last transfer, so Sister Caleira will be perfect for her to help her endure to the end in the mission :)

 

This past week, we took Aline to the temple with Irmã Roberta, the wife of our Ward mission leader here who is super sweet, and has been helping us integrate Aline into the Ward.

 
After teaching Aline in the waiting room inside of the temple about eternal marriage and the blessings of finding peace in the temple, I asked Aline if she could see herself, in the future, in the temple with her family. She said yes, and smiled.

 

That day, I´d never seen Aline so happy before.Afterwards, we gave her a photo of the São Paulo Temple to put up in her house. She was super grateful for the gift. Also, she promised that this next week (Sunday) she will go to church with Leandro :).

 

She´s been preparing things for her wedding on October 22nd. I hope I get permission from the President to come back to see her wedding and Elis´s baptism!!

Another event happened that was a miracle!!! Junior broke up with Natasha!! Crazy right??? Their relationship is over, and when Sister Hall and I found out, we began jumping up and down and dancing in our apartment because of how much joy we had. Elis was glowing because of how happy she was as well. Natasha can now make better friends in the Church and stay away from bad influences because Junior is out of the picture.

 

Natasha and Elis came to church on Sunday, and Natasha received a personal progress from the Young Women´s President. She was so happy, and it was so sweet to see her and Elis holding hands in sacrament meeting.

Elis made us some yummy cake!
She is a wonderful cook!!

As for Elis, she has stopped smoking completely. It´s been about a month since she quit, and she is trying to quit drinking coffee. She told us she wants to finish the Book of Mormon before she gets baptized, so I think in about 2 weeks, she´ll be done. She´s in the book of Alma.



Recently, she gave us advice to raise our kids in the gospel because she said that it´s so hard right now to raise Natasha in the gospel because she´s already 16 years old. It was so crazy to hear that from Elis. She´s incredible!!

 

She said last night, after I told her I would be transferred, that she will go pick me up there in Vargem Grande sometime, or that she would go to church there one Sunday. hahaha, It´s pretty far away from here, but she´s so sweet. I cried when I told them I would have to leave their family. Tonight will be hard to say goodbye. 

 

 

 

Another event that happened that wasn´t such a miracle was another breakup---of Valéria and Fábio. Valéria was super sad and couldn´t stop crying when we taught her about the Atonement with an Irmã of the Church named Raquel. Raquel comforted her and hugged her, and told her that everything would work out if she handed it all to Heavenly Father, and relied on Him for strength. She loved Fábio, and they broke up because he is still living with his mom, and Valéria has a hard time with that. It´s a bit complicated, but I know that everything will work out for the best. With faith, Valéria and Fábio will be married, and then, will both be baptized. 

 

This past week we found another family!! A cute couple and their little daughter. We found the dad while walking on the street one day, and he passed his address, and we marked a day to visit him. We taught them the plan of salvation, and at the end of the lesson, we invited them to pray to know the plan of salvation was heavenly father´s plan for their family. The mom, named Rikaelly, immediately began to pray alone silently because she thought we meant we were asking them to pray in the moment instead of later, in their own personal time. soon after, the dad, named Cícero, started to pray silently as well, and we waited until they finished their prayers. They truly want to do what´s right, and it was incredible to see how much faith they had in that moment. This week, Sister Hall, and Sister Caleira will visit them again, and I hope they´re able to come to church this next week!!

 

I wanted to share a few more pictures:

Sis. Lockheart and me at our Multi-Zone Conference

I love seeing these wonderful Sisters!!

This week we met with a Sister named Isolina.
She is 76 years old and such a sweet lady.
Although she has a hard time hearing, she accepts our invitations
 and is a great woman of faith!  

Sister Hall and I with Paola, a recent convert, her Dad, Marcilio,

(who is less active) and Paola´s daughter named Alice.

Paola is one of the strongest recent converts I´ve met!

She is always so happy, and was recently called to be a Relief Society secretary 

So, that´s about it!! A LOT of news for you all!! I´m excited for a new adventure pretty soon!! I only have three transfers left (yikes), which means, I really have to make this time last. A mission goes by so fast, it feels like it´s a dream. 

 

Also, do you remember Valéria, Robson, Emily, and César, the family I worked with in Cotia?? So, aparently, I heard they moved to Vargem Grande, so I really hope I will be able to see them and teach Robson there. It would be an incredible experience!! 

 

Oh, and fun fact, so, I don´t think I´ve told you all, but Elder Costa, of the seventy, Elder Aidukaitis, of the seventy and Elder Bassett, of the seventy as well who spoke in this last conference all go to my ward here in Ferreira. I´m not sure why I haven´t told you this earlier, but it´s so crazy to see these faithful men on Sunday sitting in the front of the chapel.

 

Sister Aidukaitis, before going to conference in Salt Lake, asked us what we wanted back from the U.S., and I asked for poptarts, so I enjoyed eating those recently!!! 

She brought me POPTARTS!!!

One of my favorites!!!!!



Have a wonderful week fam!! LOVE YOU!!!!