Rain, Rain and more Rain

FAMÍLIA!!!!! TUDO BEM?

Sister Oliveira and I are doing just splendidly fantastic! We were able to find new investigators this week, and our progressing investigators couldn´t be any better! This week we had two activities at the church which brought in a lot of our investigators. We have a hard time getting them to church but through these activities, we were able to get 8 of our investigators to come, take a tour of the church building, and talk with the members and meet the bishop. For the first activity, we watched ``Meet the Mormons´´ (which I found out was only shown in the U.S.) and had all the movie theatre treats to along with it! Then on Saturday we had pizza night! side note--the pizza here (in my opinion) is not as good as the pizza in the U.S. Pizza here doesn´t have any sign of tomato sauce and if you order a pizza with meat, all you get is the dough and meat. No pizza sauce. No cheese. Nada. Só carne which is a bummer because what is a pizza without cheese and tomato sauce? But oh well it´s still good but just not as good. Anyways.....through this experience, I learned that activities are a fantastic way to get investigators to come to church in a more relaxed, non-intimidating way. Então at the next church activity, I encourage you all to invite a friend. Introduce them to the missionaries, other members, give them a quick church tour and who knows what could happen from there?! 

OH MY......it rained so much this week--which is good because we need it--but that means that there aren´t as many people in the street to talk to but one afternoon it got really bad. It was thundering and lightening and just pouring cats and dogs and guess who forgot her rain jacket? Me. Luckily when it started we were almost at the member´s home so I didn´t get too drenched! But it got so bad that our district leader called and told us to stay inside the member´s home until the rain let up a little. As a result, we were able to get to know the member really well! 

I would also like to share a scripture with you guys that I have been pondering this week in 1 Néfi 15:11 which reads: ``Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?--If ye will not harder your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you.´´ When studying the Book of Mormon em seminary my senior year, my seminary teacher called this verse ``the formula for life´´ and as I pondered on it this week, I truly came to realize that it is. If we truly want help with our dificuldades or problemas and answers to our questions and prayers, we need to ask with fé. We need to have complete confidence that He will answer. But not only do we need to have fé, confiança, e trust but we also need to do the things that our loving Heavenly Father has asked us to do or in other words, keep the commandments. As we do this, we are exercising our faith in the Lord and as we show that we are willing to do and obey what He quer nos fazemos, we are blessed and receive help with our problems and answers to our prayers por que nosso Pai Celesital é fantástico. Ele é maravilhoso. He wants to help us but first we need to ask Him, believe, and do our part. 

AH! I just realized that this Saturday is HALLOWEEN!!! Here in Brasil, they don´t celebrate Halloween, which is kind of really sad, but that won´t stop me from celebrating with Sister Oliveira. soooooo HAPPY (early) HALLOWEEN!!!! May your day be full of spooks, pranks, and all the other wonderful Halloween stuff! Until this glorious day, have a spooktacluar week!! Love you all!! 

Love, 

Sister Hilchie :)

p.s. I would love to receive Halloween pics from you all!    

OI!!!!

FAMÍLIA!!!!!! I hope you all had a week that was out of this world! 

Courtney and Sis Oliviera at the Temple

This week was a little bit crazy because we had a lot of meetings and weren´t em Jordanópolis half this week, but it was an awesome crazy week! I had the opportunity to go to the temple on Tuesday, and it was fantastic! It was nice to get away from all the problems of the outside world and just really reflect on the Lord and everything He has done for me--which by the way is a ton! Our Savior has a tremendous amount of love for each and every one of us. He came into this world, perfect, not owing any debt but yet He paid the price for our sins. He was mocked and despised by men yet He persevered because He loves us. He wanted us to be able to be clean of our sins and have a perfect example to follow. He wants us to return to live with Him again and because He lived and suffered and died for us, we can. Ah He is wonderful! 

In one of my meetings this week, I learned something that I continue to learn each and every day in the mission, and that is that I can do hard things through faith and trust in the Lord. Through Him all things are possible. Sometimes it is hard for to take that next step up a hill that seems to never end or talk to some stranger on the street, or speak Portuguese but I know that as I have faith in Him, He will help with in all things. I also learned that this world is crazy--well I knew that but now that I have taken a step back, it is even more apparent to me. Because this world is crazy and moving every which direction, we need to stay firm. We need to stay firm in what we know to be true. As we do this, we will be a light for someone. Don´t let the little things distract you from your ultimate goal. 

Tomorrow we have transfers! But I found out yesterday from our district leader that I am staying in Jordanópolis with Sister Oliveira, which is awesome! I love Jordanópolis and the people here and can´t wait to continue to meet new people, teaching our investigators, and grow my relationship with Sister Oliveira! 

I love you all and am so grateful for your support and love! Until next time, have a super awesomely fantastic week! 

Love, 

Sister Hilchie :)

One Month!!

HEYYYY FAMILY!!!! WHAZZZUP?! Nothing much has changed around here,,,still walking a ton, teaching the wonderful people of Jordanópolis, and acquiring some beautiful tan lines! Although this past Thursday I officially reached my one month mark in the field! CRAZY. Time is flyin´. And to celebrate my companion treated me to some traditional Brazilian doces--I don´t know what they were called but trust me when I say they were delicious!  In addition to my onemonthaversary, Brasil celebrated some grand holiday this weekend which means:  *fireworks 24/7 *fiestas everywhere but this leads to ninguém on the streets or in their homes so missionary work was a little slow this weekend mas todo bem! But what was exciting this week was that I taught the Great Apostacy em Inglês! One of our investigators--Tatiana--has worked for an American company for 5 years and knows enough English to get around. Então I was having a hard time trying to translate what I wanted to say em English into Portuguese (which happens daily but I´m getting better) when Sister Oliveira said `speak English, she´ll understand!´´ So I did! It was such a relief to know that I was able to say what I wanted to and to know that all my verb conjugations were 100% correct!  I also learned this week that the Lord is very generous. I was reading in the Book of Mormon en 1 Néfi 16 when Lehi and his family find the Liahona (a compass) outside their tent, and the only way the Liahona worked is if Lehi´s family worked diligently and had faith that the Liahona would guide them through the wilderness--two simple things. Then I can across the end of verse 29 which reads ´´....and thus we see that by small means the Lord can bring about GREAT things.´´ As Lehi and his family did the small things, the Lord was able to act on their faith and diligence and guide them to the promised land. I know that as we do the small things every day, like reading our scriptures, praying, going to church, or being obedient, that the Lord will bring about mighty miracles and show us the path we need to take. The path that will lead us back to our Heavenly Father.  I love you all so much and thank you tremendously for your support! Until next time, I hope you all have a week that is out of this world!!  Love,  Sister Hilchie :)