Road Trip - Teresina

One of my friends sent an email a few weeks back saying how the last few weeks in your mission are the best, and also the hardest that you will have. And let me tell you, that is totally true. This week was one of the craziest weeks of my entire mission sem dúvida.

The first few days were great, and we started of the week with splits - and in the middle of splits, President Melo calls me, and tells me that due to the fact that São Luís would be without water for the rest of the week, they would take all of the missionaries out of São Luís and send us to Teresina until the water returned.

I will just be honest here, I was bummed. This was not what I expected, to have to leave our area and our investigators for a week. But really, everything happens for a reason! I was able to watch the baptism of Mariana, one of my investigators that I met this past transfer, and it was totally an answer to prayers. She told me that she had been praying that there was some way that I could see her baptism or her confirmation - and we showed up!

It is so crazy to think that this is my last week in the mission. This is so mind-boggling to me. I can't believe that a year and a half have already passed. But as I look back at everything, I just feel grateful. I have changed and grown my personal testimony that Christ lives, and the atonement is so real. We need to live the gospel in a way that it is a reality each and every day for us, recognizing that God always keeps his promises, and that grace is so real. I love being a missionary. Really truly, it is the best calling in the world and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Thank you for the thoughts and prayers. I kid you not when I say that at times your prayers were the only thing carrying me through the day. Please continue to pray for our investigators here in good old São Luís, that we can help them understand the gospel in a way clear and simple.

Amo vocês. Boa semana!

over and out,

Sister Hill

1. lunch with the stake president for the missionaries going home

2. a sign that we made for the staff (:

3. Story of the week:

So. As we were traveling to Teresina, I fell in the bus. Long story short, Sister Melo said it would be better for me to go to the hospital to see that everything is a-okay. HAHA. Everybody pray that I can make it home in one piece!

4-5 MIRACLE OF THE WEEK

We arrived in Teresina on Thursday, and I received the news that one of our investigators would be baptized on Sunday morning - and we would be able to see it!!! I was so excited! We met Mariana knocking on doors, and all of our lessons with her were celestial. Truly, a golden investigator. Her baptism was so spiritual, and it was awesome to see how excited she was (: milagres ainda acontecem! 

"I'm Sister Hill" "I'm Sister Fernandes" "And I'm Jehovahs Witness"

s, this was the stellar contact of the week - we introduced ourselves, and this woman did not want to talk to us due to the fact that we are mormons. hahaha.

But this week was a good one!

We started out with splits with some of the sisters here, and had some awesome experiences in their area. Miracle of the day: As we were finishing up our night, we followed-up with a couple investigators (ana and maria) but they were heading out when we got their, and only their mom was home. We talked a little bit with her, and as we talked I just felt again and again "she needs a book of mormon", but not wanting to take over the situation, we left. As we were leaving, I asked Sister Targino if she had already given her aBook of Mormon, and she said no. I told her how I felt, and she said "I felt the exact same thing". So of course, we booked it back to her house and gave her a Book of Mormon! Lessons learned: 1) always follow the first impression, and 2) it is never to late to follow the spirit's counsel!

We had the baptism of Allany, Allex, and Anna Klessya on Saturday, which was such a sweet experience. They are so prepared and excited to be members of the church! They are so dedicated, and willing to read the book of mormon, pray, and receive answers. One of the best experiences was when we invited Allex to pray and ask if Presidente Nelson is a prophet called of God, and his prayer was so sincer, simple, and heartfelt. And the next day when we returned, he said "I received an answer. Presidente Russell M. Nelson is God's prophet." They are awesome.

Please pray for us that we can continue to see many miracles here in São Luís!

Please pray specifically for Deusiene, that she can receive a clear answer for her baptism on the 26th.

Thank you! I hope everybody has a wonderful week!

Sister Hill

1. splits with Sister Targino

2. doutrina e convênios 4

3. we had a misisonary activity here in the ward, and we divided with some of the youth here (:

4. the baptism of Allany, Allex, and Anna Klessya!

5. members here in são luís

6. Lidilmara is an investigator that I taught last year, and FINALLY she is getting married! May 26th!

7-8 walking back from church

9. we sang at the baptism, and filmed our video yesterday... unfortunately I can't send it, so this picture will have to do (:

A Mighty Change of Heart

This week was incredible - we were able to see SO MANY miracles here in our area.

First miracle: we met Shaolina (an investigator from when I was here last year) at the store on Thursday, and we were able to meet with her again on Friday. She shared with us that Thursdaymorning, she had prayed to God, asking him to help her and send her angels... and that a few hours later, we saw her in the supermarket. Truly there are no coincidences. I know without a doubt that Heavenly Father answers our prayers, we just need to pay attention and seek an answer.

On Saturday, we had to do emergency splits with some of the sisters here - Sister Targino and Sister Doria. Sister Doria is in training, and is having a really hard time adjusting to missionary life, so we had to go and help them. Honestly, I can totally see now why I continued my last transfer as a sister training leader, because I was able to help her and communicate with her in English and help her feel better.

The ward here in São Luís has had a mighty change of heart. They are EXCITED to work with us now, and we are working with so many referrals - it´s amazing!! We had 9 investigators in sacrament meeting this Sunday, and we were able to mark baptismal dates with 7 of them - excited to see their progress and how we can help them these next few weeks!

But I am so so grateful. Heavenly Father has blessed us so much this week, with so many tender mercies I can't even count. I am loving this transfer, my companion is incredible, and we are seeing so many miracles. Yes, I am so tired that I sometimes fall asleep praying on my knees (haha mission probs) BUT life is so good!!

Hope everybody has a wonderful week and a happy mother's day! Excited for Skype this Sunday!

Sister Hill

1. my last leadership counsel

2-5 Zone Conference (two photos are a wonderful moment when Sister Fernandes fell into the bushes. And we laughed. hahaha)

Month of MIRACLES

This last month of my mission will be, without a doubt, filled with miracles.

It has been so crazy to return back to the area São Luís!

The first day here was had to spend hours cleaning our apartment (which was terrible. I won't even lie.) and the next day we used organizing our area book, planning out the week, and calling potential investigators. Saturday, we were able to get out and work and it was SO FUNNY because there are lots of random people that recognize me! hahaha. We had the baptism of Claudiane on Saturday, and the ward was so excited - there will be more to come soon!

An incredible experience - as we entered into the chapel to watch the baptism, Lailla (my recent convert from last year) saw me and got SO EXCITED! She just hugged me and said that she could'nt believe I was here! hahaha It was so good to meet with so many people again that I love so much!!

I was able to meet with Lidilmara again, one of my old investigators, and she said that they will be getting married this month! Also, one of my dearest friends here, Kultry, has some of her cousins living with her as well that want to be baptized (: miracles. 

My new companion is Sister Fernandes - she is from Baía, and she is awesome. So diligent, and she loves to work (: So grateful to finish up my mission with a good motivated companion. It's really funny, because so many people say that she looks a lot like Sister Lucas, which is so true. So yes, I started and finished my mission with Sister Lucas hahaha just kidding.​​​​​​

Sadly, no pics from my camera today because this lan house is sketchy. But hopefully I can send some in the future. BUT I am pushing hard for this last month of my mission! It's crazy how time flies by SO FAST. It seems like I only have 11 months in my mission... is it possible that it's already been a year and a half? I have to say, if I had a choice I would just stay here as a missionary forever (sorry mom) haha. But I love the mission, I love the opportunities that we have to bear our personal testimonies of this restored gospel and the importance of Jesus Christ in our lives. I have a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon, and how it contains the gospel of Christ in it's fullness. It truly can bless our lives each and every day, if we will but read it!

boa semana! amo vocês!

Sister Hill

(pictures from saturday that one of the members took with us (: it was so awesome to see how everybody was so excited to see me again! haha)

The Craziest Transfer of my Life

Once upon a time, Sister Hill and Sister Pedroso were the sister training leaders of the staff, and were in charge of helping everybody with transfers. Long story short, Sister Hill discovered that she would return to SÃO LUÍS!... after after doing so nearly fainted. Hahaha.

Yes, I will return to São Luís with my companion Sister Fernandes, and will continue as sister training leader. Excited and nervous and ready to see all the miracles that are coming this transfer!

Miracle of the week: As we were at church yesterday, we were in the middle of a reunion when Ribeiro called, and said that he was coming to church! He had more or less said a few weeks ago that he wasn't really interested, and we weren't visiting him more. MIRACLE - he decided to come to church, and loved the sacrament meeting. So grateful to see how the spirit worked in him to encourage him to read the book of mormon and come to church!!

This week is suuuuper rushed due to transfers, and the fact that we are in charge of helping all the sisters get to and from their areas in safety... #pray for us

Sister Hill

1. cool art on the road to physical therapy

2-5 Sister Freitas "died" and is finishing her mission, so we had a funeral. Enjoy these photos.

6. our last district meeting

7-8 I love teresina

photoooos

ust photos for today (:

1-2 district meeting in PARNAÍBA!

3-4  so. the majority of the state here is completely FLOODED #so much rain. as we were returning to teresina, there were lots of cities that were just covered in water!

5 Sister Freitas is finishing up her mission, so we celebrated her 1 year and 6 month mark (:

Buckets and Baptisms

This week was a crazy crazy week... I have never slept better in my whole life... hahahaha.

Miracle of the week: The baptism of Bia. Bia is the investigator of Marquês that Sister Pedroso and Sister Lima were teaching, and finally yesterday was her baptism. She has a lot of problems at home, which led to her running away, using drugs, etc. and the gospel has helped her and her family so much. Yesterday was a roller coaster of "she will be baptized!" "she won't be baptized" "She will be baptized" etc. due to the fact that she was nervous about being baptized and some family problems - but luckily all  We headed to the chapel to clean the font and of course, we were without a key. By some miracle, the sisters found a key in our house to open the font - and afterwards we discovered that the chapel was without water. So of couse, we started in with buckets to fill the font. Best experience ever woo hoo!

But her baptism was so spiritual, and she was so happy (:

We had Yasmim's baptism yesterday as well! She invited her dad/brother (who are not members) to watch, and all went well (: I sang I Am A Child of God with Sofia (her little sister) and it was so cute.

Today we will head to Parnaíba for splits, so I am a bit rushed here. But I hope everybody has a good week!

Lately I was studying in John 21, it's a good one (: I love the example of dedication and prioities that is shown here, and the fact that we need to place the Lord in the first place in our lives.

Sis Hill

1. Bia's baptism (miracle of the week, without a doubt)

2-5 baptism of Yasmim!

Easter Miracles

hope everyone had a wonderful conference weekend. Aren't we so blessed to have a living prophet who guides us with such love? I am grateful for President Nelson and the revelation that he receives on our behalf.

Sunday was absolutely FILLED with miracles, I can't even fully describe them.

This week was super dificult with the work, as to the fact that it felt like the whole world went on vacation (here "semana santa" is super big, as to the fact that the majority of people are catholic, so everybody went on vacation, or didn't want to talk to us.) Sister Pedroso and I were feeling pretty down Friday and Saturday, and decided to do a fast for our area.

I am so grateful for the immediate blessings that Heavenly Father gave us yesterday. We were able to meet and teach Ribeiro, a man that we marked with my telephone last week, and taught him of the restoration, and the book of mormon. He told us how he was so anxious for our visit, and that when we saw us arriving he felt happy - and when we prayed with them, he felt joy. Later, he came to conference with us, and said that he felt God in his life so strongly, and really felt the Spirit. We marked a baptism date with him for the 21st of April, so please pray for him!

Next - Victor. As we were walking in the road, we saw two teenage guys sitting at the park, so of course we went over to talk to them. We invited Victor to conference with us, and he accepted - and a few hours later, went with us to conference! WOW. milagres ainda acontecem. He recently moved here (like 2 weeks ago) and said that he is looking to work and study here in Teresina. He really liked the conference and said that we could visit him this week (:

We will have the baptism of Yasmim this week, so please pray for her! Remember to study through the conference talks as well. I don't have a doubt in my mind that we need to be more prepared as members of the church, and that the revelation received in this conference is specifically for us, now. 

Have a wonderful week!

Sister Hill

1- conferência de zona with Sister Pedroso

2 - dessert of zone conference -> pudim, cupuaçu, and cheesecake (aka the best cheesecake on the planet that Sister Melo makes)

3 conferência geral (: sister melo sent us "canjica" a delicious food that I have no idea how to explain.

4- Easter Miracles! A sister in the ward made these little cakes for us and gave to us after general conference :')

5-8  - more photos from zone conference(:

Leadership Counsel...Without Light. haha

This week was a good one!

I will write quickly due to the fact that I am out of time here (sorry.)

We had our leadership conference this week, which was awesome. We talked a lot about the importance of putting the Lord's will in front of our own, and how when we make sacrifices, we see miracles. It was wonderful and spiritual and wow. Loved it!

Miracle of the week: We are working a lot with building our teaching group in a few neighborhoods where we haven't worked before, and we ended up meeting um rapaz named Carlos. He is super interested, and we ended up teaching him about the book of mormon. He was really excited as we teached him, and at the end said "wow, it's crazy how you have doubts and questions, and in the same day, God sends you the answers!" and he told us how he knew this was an answer for him. Heavenly Father really does know his children, and what they need, when they need it. I am grateful that we are able to answer people's prayers here, and really touch their lives with this restored gospel.

have a wonderful week!

Sister Hill

1. grasshopper thing the size of my hand...

2. a photo that we took a few weeks ago - there was a ton of lightening striking the bridge. so cool.

3.  fun fact of the day - we live right in front of a military base here in teresina, and every day during our morning studies we listen to them chanting haha. vida é boa.

4-7 leadership conference! about the end of the conference, all of the power went out.. hahaha of course, we took a photo (: