transfers, ukulele, feeling old

Transfers: Still here in sâo Luís, with sister vidal.  Happy I got to stay here in São Luís for one more transfer (:

Sister Finati was transferred... which I totally saw coming, totally understand, but I would be lying if I didnt say I was a little sad. *sigh* all part of the mission, I know.

BOUGHT A UKE (: Will try to send pics next week!! Sorry pictures are so few and far between, the lan houses here are so sketchy, and I dont want to risk losing all of my pictures and videos.

So yes, I will continue as lts here in são luís. Its been great to help the other sisters, especially two who I have quickly grown to love so so much. Sister Brito (she is from Capo Verde, Africa. We bonded so quickly, and after splits, we were just in shock at how good of friends we are. It was like we knew each other before this life, and then just picked it right back up here on earth. haha) and Sister Freeman (newest American in the mission!! This was her first transfer, and she speaks so well. I was jealous at how well she understood eerybody!! hahaha but yes, she did study 3 years of spanish before the mission, so theres that)

Watched the womans conference - in portuguese.

And it was incredible to see that I UNDERSTOOD almost everything that was going on. Just a few words and parts that were a tad unfamiliar to me, but overall I understood the most important parts (I think..) (that being said, I would be everso grateful to receie the liahona in ingles in a month or so... thanks. hahahaha)

But this will be a good week. Wednesday we head to Teresina for the leadership counsel, then sabado/domingo CONFERENCIA GERAL! I am so so excited (: It doesnt get better than this!!

Love you <3 have an awesome awesome weeK! AND ENJOY CONFERENCE OKAY? This will be 2/3 conferences until I get home. Wow time flies.

Sis Hill

cause i'm halfway there, and i'm on my way

and I'm feelin', feelin', feelin' super dang tired. but it's all good, it's just a part of mission life! haha but yes, I have officially hit my 9 MONTH MARK. Wow I feel so old. Like how did this even happen!? It feels like just yesterday I got here, and I didn't understand anything that anybody was saying! hahaha.

But this week was good!

Work was a tad complicated, as Sister Vidal was complaining about knee pain, so we had to take it a bit more slow...

This past week we had a noite familiar with a family. They invited some family members - two girls agges 20 nd 19 - who aren't members to participate, because their dad passed away recently.

So we focused on teaching the plan of salvation, and the fact that we have hope due to this plan. It was so spiritual, at one point we asked a question that really touched one of them. She started to cry, sharing about the fear and unsurety that she felt. And we just testified. We cried with her, sharing her pain, but also sharaing of the reality of the atonement - the fact that Christ knows exactly how she is feeling, and that he is with her through every moment. And because of this, we are happy! We have hope, that through whatever trial, whatever situation, everything will be alright. Tudo vai dar certo!

Met a new family this week that I am really hoping and praying will progress. The woman we met is Maria do Socorro. She was a referencia from the stake presidente, and she is so wonderful. As we taught her, she started to cry, expressing that she was worried about her familiy, especially her daughter (22 years old, involved with drugs, and has a daughter already) nd her husband (an alcoholic). It was awesome to see the spirit working in her, testifying of what we were teaching, so that when the moment came to invite her for baptism, she accepted - and accepted a date for 18 of november. they need to get married before she can be baptized, but oh well.

That is clearly my calling here in São Luís, to get everybody married.

Ha.

this is the last week of the transfer, so we are running until the end! definitely expecting miracles here in our area, com certeza!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Sister Hill

Family night, Sushi, and the fact that I am offically BRASILIAN

Hello all!

This week was wonderful, and I'm grateful for the mini miracles I was able to see day by day. Really it's the little things that are evidence of how much Heavenly Father loves us, and wants us see His work move forward here on the earth.

We started out this week with family night with some recent converts here in the ward. When we got there, the feeling was a tad awkward.. because they had fought throughout the day.. not exactly "love at home" like no. As I was planning family night (yes, just I. Sister Vidal was sick, so it was up to me to plan what would happen woot woot) I had the feeling that we needed to focus on the talk of President Monson from this past conference, as he bore testimony of the importance of the Book of Mormon. We read through the talk, and shared feelings and testimonies of the book of mormon with them, and invited them to write in some books for us to hand out for investigators. And I am telling you, it is incredible to see how family night can change everything. The Spirit was present, we could feel a difference in how everybody felt, and we left this family feeling happy and spiritually energized. Miracle, for sure.

We are now teaching a reference from a member, a man named Biel, and his wife, Macia. They have 3 kids, and Biel uses a wheelchair due to a bacteria that left him paralyzed in his legs. When I first saw them in church, I kid you not, I was excited. Because I knew that I could relate to this family, their feelings, their experiencies, and how the gospel will help and lift them. We had our first lesson with them this past week, and it was awesome to testify of the reality of the plan of salvation, and how it is through this gospel that we unify our families. Beil accepted the baptism date of 11/11, so we are excited to continue helping him prepare for this day (:

It is so incredible to see how everything has a purpose. I thought a lot about the fact that everything is in the Lord's time - I needed to be here now, to be able to share with this family my testimony, and the fact that I understand what they need. Grateful for the Lord, and the fact that he is so, so mindful of each and every one of us. He truly loves us, and wants us to feel that.

Crazy that this week I hit my half-way mark of my mission... like WHAT. HOW. I have no idea. Time passes by so quickly!

Hope everyone is getting excited for general conference, and preparing spiritually to receive personal revelation! (:

Boa semana!

Sister Hill

1. Batismo de Laila!

2-3 eu amo favelas <3

4. sushi night is the best night

5. uma americana, uma hispânica, and INDEPENDENCE DAY OF BRASIL! (:

6. we were pretty much trekking through the amazons to get to almoço the other day hahaha. I TOTALLY felt like we were in the game 'Temple Run', am I right?

7. Like, if this isn't real life temple run, I don't know what is.

Well HELLO there September

wow time flies so fast.

I'm not sure if this is just something about being on a mission, or if everybody is feeling this too. But man, I can not believe it's already SEPTEMBER. Where did the time go? In a few weeks I will be hitting my halfway mark... WHAT.

But this week was just plain good! We have really been able to see some serious miracles in our area, which is just splendid.

First miracle of the day - l, Madison Hill, finally got a hair cut. *cue hallelujah chorus* and it is sooo much shorter than I expected... mas já era. Hopefully I can send a pic soon hehe

This Saturday we had the baptism of Laila, an investigator of Sister Bagatoli and I. Laila has been going to church for 3 years, and I remember when I arrived in the area and saw her, I just thought "I'm gonna baptize this girl." Ahaha. All of the lessons we had with her were so incredibly spiritual, as we testified of the reality of the plan of salvation and ​repentence, that the atonement is for us. Her baptism was so spiritual, and Sister Vidal and I sang 'I Know that My Redeemer Lives' in Portuguese/English/Spanish. Because hey, how many times in your mission will you have 3 languages in 1 dupla?

Our other investigator, Silvana, will be baptized this next Sunday! It was such a miracle this past week when she met with us, telling us that she is finally leaving the man that she was living with, to move in with her son - so she could finally be baptized! MILAGRE. I had prayed and prayed that she could have the courage to pack up her things and move out, and finally make this convenant with Pai Celestial (: Sadly, she moved to a different area, so she is no longer in our ward (bummer). But so incredibly excited and happy for her.

Have a fabulous week. Read the Book of Mormon, say your prayers, do some visits with the missionaries this week - whatever you can to strengthen your testimony (: OOH and read through conference. Because SEPTEMBER 23 is womens conference, and SEPTEMBER 30 is conference again!!! Clearly I'm not excited at all. Hahaha.

Sister Hill

1. our mtc group together again, MISSION TOUR

2. did somebody say 'americanos'?

3. my baby, Sister Brito and Sister Dias