2015

YEAR of GROWTH/CHANGE

Wow, I can't believe that its gunna be 2016! I finished reading the Book of Mormon in Portuguese and English today!! Yay! My goal was accomplished :) What an amazing book!.. and it's even more awesome in Portuguese haha.

I am loving my new area here on the border of Argentina. The people are so loving and amazing and we are planning on having a lot of baptisms here soon. We are working so much and loving every minute. My companion is an amazing missionary and we are loving serving the sisters here in the mission together. We eat churrassco almost every day (1st area like this) and man it's good!! I'm literally in heaven. Our apartment is what my dad would call "a complete dive" haha. It is sooo small and broken down, but it's fun cause we laugh about it. It is super hot and humid right now in Brazil too. We literally are sweating all day haha. It's about the same temperature as the summers in Arizona, but with humidity and no air conditioning. So ya, we are sweating like none other haha. When we take a shower we immediately start sweating again when we are done. It's all for nothing haha. My companion always says, "Welcome to the jungle, sister!" haha. Ya gotta love being a missionary! :) Here below is my journal entry!! 

JOURNAL

Well, I cannot believe this year is coming to an end. What an amazing year it has been. This year, I dedicated to my Heavenly Father. It was the hardest, most incredible year of my entire life. What an amazing blessing it has been to be a missionary this year and represent my Savior all day, every day! This year was one of much growth and change. As I look back at what I accomplished this year, I can see how truly I did nothing without the help of my Heavenly Father, my companion Jesus Christ, and the Spirit guiding me every word and every move. I am truly nothing without them. I have seen how much our Heavenly Father pushes His children to do hard things so that they can grow, be strengthened, and help His other children return to Him. His plan for our lives is so much better than our own plans. Sometimes it isn't easy to do what He asks, but it's always better and always leads to happiness and blessings. This year I have changed completely. I am a new person and never will be the same. This year I left my family to serve a mission. I began in the Provo MTC and then was reassigned to serve in the Michigan, Detroit Michigan. I served there for a month and a half and absolutely loved it. Received my visa for Brazil, learned Portuguese, and conquered so many of my fears, insecurities, and weaknesses. I cannot begin to express how much I have learned and grown. Every experience, every area, every companion, every investigator have changed my life and left me with something that I will hold dear for the rest of my life. I have seen so many miracles that have left me no doubt that the church is true. There is no way I would have thought I would be where I'm at right now a year ago. I had such a struggle accepting the fact that I was sick when I first got here to Brazil. I truly learned to have full faith and trust in the Lord and his timing. I knew he knew my desire to serve and I knew he called me here for a purpose. So I held on and never doubted and what did He do? He healed me in his own timing and taught me many lessons. He has made me in to someone better than I was. He truly knows best. He is my strength. I am so grateful for the special relationship I have with my Heavenly Father. He has always been my closest friend and He has become even closer on the mission. I owe everything to Him. He truly knows us personally. This week has been amazing! I loved talking to my family on Christmas day through Skype and being here in Brazil spreading the good news of the Savior. An amazing miracle happened on Monday, December 29. We found a name in the area book and we decided we needed to visit him. While we were looking for his home, I saw a man sitting outside his home and my companion and I stopped in the middle of the road, walk towards his home, and saw that it was the man we were looking for. He immediately let us in and we sat and talked with him on his front porch. He began to tell us that he had surgery a couple weeks ago and almost died. He expressed to us that he feels God has a purpose for him. He told us that he saw us walking down the street and thought we would not stop and talk to him, but that he knew our church was true when we did. He expressed to us that he wants to attend our church and that he feels the need to be baptized and choose a path. We were both in complete shock. We taught him about the restored gospel and he accepted and loved it all. He accepted to be baptized on January 16. He told us it wasn't by chance that we stopped there and that now it's time for him. What a tender mercy and miracle! God knows his children and he prepared him to hear us and accept the Gospel. We are teaching a woman who also loves the church and will be married and baptized. Also, we are teaching a couple who have also accepted to be married and baptized. They have a love of the gospel already and we are so excited to help them start their eternal family. N. and M. also have baptismal dates and we are so excited for them too. The work is going great here and we are so happy. Uruguaiana... it is a perfect area. I am so grateful for this time I have to help others come unto Christ. My testimony has grown so much on the mission. I look back a year ago and see a completely different person. However, Heavenly Father truly prepared me for this time in my life. I am eternally grateful for this opportunity I had to leave as a missionary at the age of 19. This is truly where I needed to be at this time. I love Brazil with a passion. I love these people. I love their culture, and their sweet spirits, and their loving personalities. I love being a missionary. I know Christ lives. He is my everything. I know that God is our loving Heavenly Father. He is my king and master and I will serve him forever. There are no words to describe the feelings a missionary has in being his instrument. I'm so excited to see what this new year holds.

PS. 

For New Year celebration the Brazilians eat lentil soup over rice and pork. It's so good! We will be eating with the same family we went to for Christmas.

SHE GOT MARRIED AND BAPTIZED