5 BAPTISMS!!! and Fun Pictures

Hope everybody had a fantastic week! We saw lots of miracles this week.

This SUNDAY we will not be having 1... not 2... 5 BAPTISMS.

I still can't believe it.

So Geralda's family! Angela with her kids? They all came to Stake Conference yesterday (which was AWESOME, I took so many notes... it was so so good. lots of great stuff about missionary work.)

It was great to see so many investigators there, Rose and David were there with Lucas & David III, Leonardo (friend of a member who's reactivating) was there, it was awesome.

After the meeting, we were all leaving (you know how it is with Mormons leaving chapels... suuuuperr slowwwww.) and I went up to Angela and asked her if she liked the meeting. Her response:

"It was fantastic... question, what do I have to do to be baptized? Can I be baptized this Saturday?"

I had to stop myself from squealing there in the middle of the chapel... so we planned to do it on Sunday so Bishop can announce the baptism in the meeting.

Then Giovanna, 9 years old (Angela's daughter) was there, and I asked her if she would like to be baptized with her mom... and she said yes with the biggest smile on her face. Geralda (her grandma) said that she gathers the family every night and reads the Book of Mormon to them... what 9 year old does that?! <3

And Gabriel and Larissa, the other 2 children, will be baptized with them!!

AND Eva will be baptized this Sunday as well, we just need to finish the lessons with her as she has already known the gospel for 20 years now... she told us that she told herself that she would be baptized when her sons returned to church. <3 the Lord sooo knows what we need and when we need it. <3 I'm so grateful He is in charge of this work.

And every day I am grateful for a companion that loves me because every time I see a cockroach in our house I freak out. And Sister 

Alvarez says she loves the sound they make when you step on them, so she's perfectly fine getting rid of them for me. <3 I love her to death.

And every day I am still amazed at the miracle of the Book of Mormon. I have been devouring 2 Nephi chapter 3, it had never occurred to me the miracle of the brass plates with the records of Joseph of Egypt, and that he saw Joseph Smith and the Restoration... how cool is that? I love that the Book of Mormon has so many pieces to the puzzle that the Bible doesn't have. and Ive realized that as I read the Book of Mormon, it strengthens my testimony of everything else. EVERYTHING.

I have a testimony that as we read the Book of Mormon, really study and ponder it... any answer we have about the restored gospel can be answered. It is the keystone to our religion. <3

Have a fantastic week! Here are pictures. The picture with us on the couch with the family is David and Rose and David and Lucas :)

I also attached a picture of the POURING RAIN.

5 Baptismal Dates!!!!!

Oi gente! Esta semana foi boa... tivemos um MONTE de milagres esta semana, eu ainda não acredito.

Highlights from the week:

Birthday Party/Family night on Monday (eu amo bolo.)

Lunch with David, Rose, David and Lucas!!

We marked 5 baptismal dates in one day with people we love and have been waiting for <3

We finally met with the grandchildren and daughter of Geralda, a recent convert in the ward! This woman was suuuuuuper religious before she joined the church, she started 2 churches, knows the Bible better than the back of her hand... but now she really has this fire of testimony in her, she's sharing the gospel with her entire family! Saturday morning she came and picked us up (impossible to walk there.) and we went to her house to meet her daughter and grandchildren! one of the granddaughters is Jessica, she speaks English and was super excited to talk with us and find out more about us.

We ended up teaching Angela (the daughter), Larissa (granddaughter, daughter of Angela) and Jessica with Geralda present... the Spirit was super, super strong. It was so amazing to see how the Lord has prepared everything, Geralda needed to join first to help them meet the gospel... they really felt the Spirit and accepted baptismal dates for May 2nd/3rd! We're excited to continue teaching them, it will be a challenge since they only meet on Saturdays.

Cadu... exists still, member's boyfriend. He's already had a date that fell through, but after he almost died on his motorcycle last week we went back as he really needs the gospel in his life right now. He's always been a little skeptical about receiving answers, so when we finished teaching him the Restoration and how the Book of Mormon came to be, and the promise in the Book of Mormon, he asked us, "Has there ever been anybody who hasn't received an answer?" What a powerful thing to tell him that no, there hasn't been anybody who has asked with a sincere heart and real intent!! He also accepted a baptismal date for May 2nd, we're so excited for him <3

Eva (mother of Jefferson and Sandro), who rejected marking a date for baptism because it wasn't time yet.. finally accepted!!!! She said that she knew the time was right. Because now her sons are returning to Church. :) Sandro and Jefferson both talked with Bishop and everything is great for them coming back, the three of them were in Church together and they were in white shirts <3 

Sunday was amazing to see Geralda's family in church, they all were commenting and reading and participating, they loved it!!!!!!! I love this family. And Eva was there with her 2 sons are coming back, and Cadu went with Marcio's family to another ward because they went out of town (we think, still need to talk to them)...

I realized yesterday that LOVE is such a huge thing. When we selflessly LOVE people and truly forget about ourselves, we feel the Spirit and have spiritual experiences. And when we have spiritual experiences, our testimony is strengthened!!

There is really something amazing about completely forgetting yourself and getting to work. Like President Hinckley's father said... "FORGET YOURSELF AND GET TO WORK." 

Oh, and President Holland's talk from Conference is still blowing my mind.

Tenha uma boa semana. Nunca esqueça que Deus está esperando a levantar-nos quando cairmos.

Só levante-se de novo. Nunca desista.

Amo vocês! Até mais.

Sister Hill

photos to come next week since this week didn't work :)

Even Nephi Had Family Scripture Study

Oi amigos e família,

This week was good.  We went to the house of David/Rose to see how they are, they had a visit so we were a little hesitant to go in, but we went in anyway. Who was visiting? David's sister and her husband, and another friend of Rose!

David's sister Jane is SO COOL, officially one of the coolest women I have ever met. We started messing around with David's guitar, she plays welllll I was super duper impressed.

I started playing Frozen for her little daughter and the daughter started daaancing siiiinging, it was the cutest thing ever I absolutely loved it :) I love playing guitar when it makes people happy <3

And then the moment that brought the hugest smile on my face, I started playing "I Am a Child of God" because David absolutely loves that song, he loves it so much. and he pulled up the words on his iPhone, in ENGLISH. He doesn't speak English but he started singing in English, and Jane started in with him... seeing these people I love so much singing in English was one of the most beautiful things ever :) almost teared up a little.

We talked to David Neto (12 years old) about how he feels about the church, since every time at his house he never sticks around long enough for us to talk to him.. he said that he doesn't know if the Book of Mormon is true because a kid at his school told him that the Nephites/Lamanites couldn't exist because of the Mayans and Aztecs... so we explained to him and he seemed more eased about the thought of the Nephites/Lamanites. But then I asked him if he had any desire to know if the Book and the Church are true, and he just said "No." We're working with him.

It's funny, sometimes I'm just like "ugh, this darn agency thing." baha.

Jefferson and Sandro (inactives for like 15-20 years) CAME TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! With their mom Eva, non-member. We were absoutely ecstatic when we saw them walkin in the door, and then Jefferson told me in English that he already schedued an interview with the Bishop, he wants to be re-baptized. !!!!!!!!!!!! I was so thrilled, I was too happy about that. <3

Everything is good here... latey I've been missing how clean the US is. :P i miss cleanliness haha Thank goodness for hand sanitizer, right?

I've been pounding through the Book of Mormon in portuguese... I'm a visual person, if I remember where the verse is on a page I can find it, so I figured I'd better learn where everything is in portuguese. I'm finally understanding 100%, it's amazing how the gift of tongues is. <3 

I've been finishing up Nephi. I love his example. Found a little treasure the other day:

 22 Now it came to pass that I, Nephi, did teach my brethren these things; and it came to pass that I did read many things to them, which were engraven upon the plates of brass, that they might know concerning the doings of the Lord in other lands, among people of old.

 23 And I did read many things unto them which were written in the books of Moses; but that I might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer I did read unto them that which was written by the prophet Isaiah; for I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning.

I love verse 22 because it says that Nephi taught the scriptures to his family, to his brothers!! And this thought came to my head, EVEN NEPHI HAD FAMIY SCRIPTURE STUDY. Whoa.

And verse 28 has the WHY?!...why do we read the scriptures a\s a family?

1. To more fully persuade [our families] to believe in the Lord their Redeemer

2. For our profit and learning

The prophets wrote the scriptures for US. That we could profit and learn from their mistakes and experiences. How grateful I am for every prophet who was obedient and wise enough to listen to the Lord and record the things that were happening. 

If the prophets of old read scriptures together... shouldn't we do the same?

I love you all, have a fantastic week!!

Muito amor,

Sister Hill <3

Conference + Easter = Best Day Ever!

Olá, família e amigos! Espero que todo mundo teve uma boa semana...

This week was wonderful... conference! I loved loved loved conference. I was planning on watching it in English, because in Brasília enough missionaries and members speak English that they put the English transmission in another room... but it wasn't working. So I watched all five (including the General Women's Meeting) in portuguese! I'm super gratefu for the gift of tongues.. without it, I wouldn't have understood a thing! But I know Heavenly Father helped me that I was able to understand everything. <3

And the daughter of a recent-convert came to conference with her mom and two children!! It was so awesome to meet her, we want to meet with them this week and hopefully set some baptism dates :D

Transfer was this morning... and Sister Alvarez and I stay here in Bandeirante! I'm super grateful because I love her soooo much, and I love this area... and there's so many people we still need to work with together! Super gratefu :)

This afternoon we moved! To a WAY bigger apartment... this apartment has 3 rooms and 2 bathrooms, it's enormous. We still have to go back and clean the old apartment... we're thinking that President will send elders next transfer to work with the Sisters. Should be interesting.

I was SO impressed with how much the ward helped with the move... we just had to talk with our Bishop, and in 3 hours we moved everything from one apartment to the other. There were about 8 people helping, it went so fast. I was so grateful for members that stepped up to help us. It was so incredible to see after the Palmas moving-house-disaster when nobody wanted to help us. Good members make such a difference!

We never saw David and Rosilda and their family in any Conference sessions... we're going to visit them this week and see what went on.

Maria is now saying that she wants to separate from Chico because he's saying that he doesn't want to get married anymore... sigh. We're still working with them.

I loved loved Easter, the members we had lunch with on Sunday gave us a huge box of chocolates. :)

Life is good, change is scary but it's so good for us!!

Pray for a missionary experience this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love you all, muito amor e beijos!

Sister Hill

Conference Is Coming!!!

This week was long but good :)

These past days we've been visiting references from members, it's awesome when the members really get involved.

We visited the friends of a member of the ward, she went with us...it went super well! We know that this friend is really important to Patricia, so I was a little nervous... but it's really an incredible thing how the Spirit just takes over. I'm so grateful I don't ever have to be concerned about what to say. Because the Spirit does all the teaching. Really takes the pressure off sometimes. :) The Spirit is incredible.

We also went to Élida's house to meet with her friend that we met, Taynna. Taynna had started a WhatsApp conversation with some friends about who is God/Jesus Christ, if they're the same person... we happened to be at Èlida's house during this conversation, and Elida asked us if she should respond with what she believes! So of course we said UH YEAH YOU SHOULD, and she did!

This comment turned into a visit at Élida's house with Taynna! We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she picked it up SO FAST, I was absolutely amazed. For a girl who hasn't ever gone to a church frequently, I was so impressed with how quickly she learned the lesson and the doctrine. We set a baptismal date with her for April 26th, we're excited to see her progress! She committed to come to General Conference, we really are hoping she'll come!

We're still working with David and Rosilda. He says that he doesn't want to be baptized "out of respect for the Church"... nobody understands what he means by that. He really wants to know everything before he's baptized, he wants to be close to perfect... we're praying really hard for him. He's already been to church 5 times, knows just about everything... he loves the Book of Mormon. And he loves listening to the Primary Music, he's even learning some of the songs on his clarinet.

We know he's going to be a stake president or something someday. All in the Lord's time. <3 #imlearningpatience

We love the Ganbold family, the family from Mongolia! They invited us to dinner yesterday... Sister Oyunaa made us dumplings, they were sooooo good. <3 #ilovemongolianfood

I've been reviewing October General Conference, I love it. Such good messages in that conference. I hope everybody is excited for Conference this Sunday :)

I also remembered that this week is EASTER. Here in Brasil it's 'Semana Santa', Holy Week. I don't think it's as huge of a festival/party as it is in other countries, but I do know that on Friday, nobody eats meat... everybody eats fish instead. Interesting tradition. It'll be interesting to see that this week. I'm excited to see how it will be :)

I really do love Brazil. Love the people. Love the culture. These days it's raaaaainy, cold rain. But then a few hours after, it's nice and sunny again if not really hot. Gotta love crazy Brasília.

But really, the patience I'm learning here is fantastic. No, it's not fun... and sometimes I get super frustrated when people know that the gospel is true but they still don't want to act on it. Sigh. All in the Lord's time. I keep having to tell myself that hehe.

If you haven't seen the Easter video yet, watch it:

http://www.mormon.org/easter

Hope everybody has a great General Conference weekend, share it with everybody you know! We have a living prophet who speaks to us today... how cool is that?

I love you all, have a great week!

Muito amor,

Sister Hill

Ate Mongolian food... I love this ward! Angels love helping ward members

Dear family and friends,

This week was full of so many adventures! I'll try to hit the highlights.

Friday we received a call from our Zone Leader that they found a family in the Rodoviária... a family of members, from MONGOLIA!! But they don't speak any portuguese! Only English. He passed the phone number/address as they are in our area.

I called up Brother Gambold, we marked to meet with them on Saturday to get to know them and help them find a ward to attend.

Sister Alvarez and I went to their place on Saturday... they're living in this suuuuuuuper nice hotel, I felt unholy just walking in this place. o.O But we went to their house, this family is suuuuuuuper sweet!

Brother Gambold and his wife, with their 25-year-old daughter Emmy! Brother Gambold is here on work for the Embassy of Mongolia (yeah, he's all official), and he learned a liiiiittle bit of English from the missionaries in Mongolia. We were able to communicate. The mother and daughter don't speak hardly anything, but they are so sweet!

Sister Gambold made us Mongolian lunch, it was officially the best Asian food I've ever had IN MY LIFE. So, so, so so good. Then we ate Mongolian ice cream. And she gave us Mongolian ice cream to take home. #lovethesepeople

Then they were all excited when we started understanding that Emmy (she is legally deaf) was Miss Asia in a pageant!! (Miss and Mister Deaf International Pageant)... and she was MISS ASIA. She dances amazingly, she was even in a music video for some famous Mongolian singer. What is this?! Who are these people?! Um, FAMOUS?! And their family owns a Mongolian TV station!!

They put us in Mongolian queen clothing... we felt like princesses :3

Brother Gambold started showing us pictures of people he's meet when he was in Mongolia working for the government there... he showed us ap icture of when he met JACKIE CHAN. This man met Jackie Chan!! So I almost shook Jackie Chan's hand, because I shook the hand of a man who has met Jackie Chan... it's kind of the same thing, right?! :)

So we had to get them a ward to go to! They told us they had been to an other ward here but they didn't like it because the people weren't friendly... so we arranged for them to come to our ward on Sunday.

They came... and they LOVED IT! They couldn't talk with almost anybody, there's probably 6 members in the ward that speak English, they were fantastic. But they loved it! The members totally embraced them, even though they didn't speak anything. It was the most amazing thing to see. This ward is amazing.

The ward is really trusting us with references!! Coolest thing ever. I am loving this ward so much! Yesterday was Ward Conference, and I played the piano for "Master the Tempest is Raging" for the Ward Choir... they sounded fantastic!! There were definitely angels ;) Loved the Spirit in the meetings. Super grateful for the gift of tongues. I love portuguese so so much. <3

That was my adventure this week! Loving the ward here, the members are super super awesome. Love this area. <3

I've been reflecting a lot on the story of Lehi's dream. We had an activity in a FHE last night where we had a cord that was "the iron rod", and the family closed their eyes to arrive at another point in the room. Other family members had to arrive at the other point in the room without holding on to the rod, but with their eyes still closed. They almost ran into some things haha:) was such a great reminder on how we NEED the word of God in our lives. We need it! There is no way to arrive at the love of God, the Atonement, without holding onto the words of the prophets, the Gospel, everything. The Iron Rod is so necessary!

Hope everybody is getting ready for Conference that's coming up:) I'm excited <3

Espero que tenham uma boa semana, amo muito vocês!

Até a semana que vem,

Sister Hill 

Chicken Feet

Dear family and friends,

Oi! Hope everybody had a fantastic week. This week was full of sooo many things, I'm going to try to share as much as I can in this one email! :) Vamos ver como vai ser... (desculpa, eu amo português, eu vou colocar português nos meus emails, se você quer saber o que falam, tem que colocar em Google Tradutor ;)

First off... spoke in Sacrament Meeting yesterday! Was my first time speaking in Church since my farewell talk... so that was definitely weird. But it went great! I have a cold, so I was a little worried that the cold was going to throw me off and I wouldn't be able to communicate my thoughts as well as I wanted to... but it was awesome. I'm so grateful that the Spirit helped me through that <3 at the beginning of my talk I made a comment that "I pray that the Spirit will help you be able to understand what I want to say, I know my português isn't perfect." After the meeting everybody that complimented me was all "What?? How could you even say that? You practically speak better than I do!" It was hilarious kkk :) Miracles are so real. <3

My talk was based on a devotional given by Brad Wilcox titled "His Grace is Sufficient." I shared the story about the piano lessons and a couple of quotes from his talk... it was weird translating things haha but I managed, everything made sense in the end :) I love love love this talk. If you haven't watched it or read it, WATCH IT RIGHT NOW. It's honestly lifechanging.

It gives you a completely different perspective on how we use the Atonement in our lives and why we actually live the gospel.

To watch -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLXr9it_pbY&noredirect=1

To read -> https://www.lds.org/ensign/2013/09/his-grace-is-sufficient?lang=eng

More stuff...

As of last Tuesday, I officially have 6 months in the mission! People say "Wow, that probably passed by way fast..." Ummm no it actually passed by really slowly haha. But, the day that I arrived in the CTM feels like it was yesterday... #CTMmemories

There's another video that I and Sister Alvarez have been sharing lately.

I could introduce the video, but he says things much better than I ever could.

Just watch it. It's a Mormon Message so it has to be good, right?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7zwQ_7q-fU

We have to make the decision to forgive before the moment arrives that it will be necessary.

We're going to start teaching Cadu (Carlos Eduardo), the boyfriend of a member in the ward. We weren't thinking that he really wanted his own testimony... but the last time we went there, he told us all about how he really wants to work to have his own testimony. Surprised us both. He's already been to church 2 times, we set a baptismal date with him for the 28th of March... #prayforhim

Jemilhe is an 8-year-old girl that inspires me every time we go to see her. She has the goal to be baptized, but she's been wanting to wait until her grandma comes to town... and who knows when that will be. Could be in Septemer. So, we had a good conversation with her the other day about baptism and the Holy Ghost. She said she wants to be baptized because she wants the Holy Ghost with her always, because she knows that means she will be happy!! That was amazing to me. We talked about how she wants to be happy now instead of having to wait until her grandma comes to have the Spirit with her all the time!! We're hoping that she can baptize on the 26th, a day that she felt impressed she needed to baptize a while ago :) #prayforhertoo

We were getting off the bus the other day and a girl was like "Sister!" and tapped me on the shoulder. I looked to see who it was, it was a girl I did not recognize... we got off the bus and got talking, her name is Marcella, she's 17, and she's been going to church frequently for the past YEAR. Already has a testimony, already knows the Church is true... And she's not baptized!! We're hoping that she can be baptized this weekend <3 #prayforhertoo

Things are going great her. I love this ward, I feel like I'm home in this ward. <3

Thank you for the support that I receive from you! I love you all.

Beijos,

Sister Hill

P.S. ate chicken feet this week. #yuck #doesntevenhaveanymeatonit #notevenflavorful #iwillneverunderstandwhypeopleeatit