March 21, 2016

This week passed by so fast. Sister Garcia was transferred and will be companions with Sister Conde in the very interior lots of trees. They are two very very different people and so that should be interesting :) My new companion will be Sister Rodriguiz who was Sister Trainadora but was released for her last two transfers of her mission. 

Luis and Aline got married. We got permission to go to their reception at the fancy restaurant that´s right next to the temple. We ate a ton of food and it was fun. 

Luis was baptized. It was very very tense because in reality Luis lives in another mission interlagos that borders our mission and we share a chapel with them. However, Luis has been frequenting our ward for years and we had permission, but there was confusion and the Presidents of the mission said that Luis would be baptized in the other ward the night before so Sunday we explained to Luis. But Luis was upset and said he would only be baptized in our ward and that he was so upset maybe he wouldn´t be baptized and we talked to the bishop and everybody was talking to everybody and the stake president talked to the mission presidents and in the end it worked out and Luis was baptized! Really this experience showed me how much the enemy works to keep people from the path. The baptism of Luis was so crucial! It´s salvation! and in one year their family can be sealed in the temple for eternity and their baby boy Hector will grow up in the church. I´m so grateful it worked out because it was really very close.

Also Gladies was baptized. Her baptism was also very special because she has known the church for more than 20 years. More than 20 years! All of her children have been baptized but she never accepted. When I arrived at every lesson she always said she would not and never would be baptized. But we are stubborn. Because Gladies knew everything already, was already visiting the church every time we taught Gladies it was really just with the Holy Ghost and the Book of Mormon testifying over and over again about baptism. Testifying over and over again about Jesus Christ and his example for us and the blessing of baptism in His church. And inviting over and over again to pray to God for an answer. And it worked out :) It was also very special because in my first area Maria Rosa I met her daughter who is a member there (she always cooked very well for us) and it was so special and gratifying to know we helped baptize her mom. Missionary work really does not have an end how many missionaries helped Luis and Gladies get to this point? Every missionary and member plays a role in missionary work and I know that this is the Lord´s Work and He is preparing His children for the Restored Gospel. 

Sister Haggard  

Lunch with Miriam

Bautismo de Luis e Gladies

Nativity set from Sister Marques

Thiago and his family :)

Sister Santos turned 20

Luis' wedding at the restaurant close to the temple

March 14, 2016 the field is white already to harvest...

Weekly Update:

Yesterday little Thiago recieved the Holy Ghost. Last Monday, Sister Garcia and I had lunch with Miriam from Maria Rosa! We took a pic but I didn´t bring my camera with me so next week. She will get sealed in the temple with Jussario soon and we´re expecting invites :) After we picked up Arthur from school too.

This week we started teaching a less active named Lucas with his friend Hudson. They´re in their 20s but they´re boyish and Hudson is really good. He has a good desire to learn about the gospel. Our investigator Luis will get married this week and we will baptize him this Sunday or next Saturday :) We will help Aline his fiance make the sweets! She is a member, just was less active for a time. They have a really cute baby boy Hector. Luis has been investigating the church for many years, but wasn´t married so he couldn’t be baptized. The legal marriage here sometimes is really complicated and demora always. Luis has known tons of missionaries. Something very special about mission work is that you can´t know the effects of the work- it does not have an end. The testimony Luis has was made because of all the missionaries that helped him for the future. I think about being a missionary and I´m really just here to give people opportunities and invites to know our Heavenly Father and have a relationship with Him.

Our investigator Gladies who was a forever investigator accepted this Sunday to be baptized so we´re really praying for her to stick with it. She has everything and is ready.  She just has to commit. She has known the church also for forever.

It rains and pours some times and then it´s really hot. Sister Garcia turned 7 months in the mission.

Abraços,

Sister Haggard

March 7, 2016

Weekly Update:

This week flew by! The time flies by on the mission!  I have 9 months here in Brazil which I can´t believe. We celebrated with pizza (Brazilian pizza is SO GOOD). This week was really good too because we had our multi zone conference. I saw the gang of Perdizes again. I really liked that area.  I miss it! The center is cool. 

But multi zona was really great. It was the last one for the presidente del guerso, although we´ll probably have a conference in May. He leaves in June. I love seeing all the people in the mission. Não tem como to not make strong friendships on a mission. 

We´re working a bunch and teaching a bunch. 

I renewed my visa this week with sister Covey and it was weird because 9 months ago we were there in the policia federal -the time really does fly! I loove Sister Covey so much.  She was called to be sister trainadora this transfer. 

I can´t believe I only have 9 more months. I have so much to learn and do still. I think thus far I´ve learned so much more patience with people and with myself and really how to start being happy. The Lord has the gospel and a path for each one of us, we just really need to listen to the Lord and act! 

Abraços

Sister Haggard 

Multizona

9 Meses!

February 29, 2016

Weekly update:

I´m doing well here. It was pretty quick for little Thiago. We marked him to be baptized the next Sunday and everything worked out! His sisters are members, recent converts. We are going to try to teach the mom more although she´s not legally married like so many people here so we´ll see about baptism in the future. Thiago is so cute and was so excited to get baptized we made pics for him when we taught him the lessons to help him remember. 

This week we sang at a thing called The Mark of Peace- like a group of people making a little monument about peace around the world? Not sure, but we sang for these people this week. There’s another American in our Zone, Sister Bido, who is in the same group as Sister Cannon and she´s cool. We also had treinamento das Sisteres which was sweet. I love seeing everyone in the mish.

This week we will have Multi Zona so I will see half the mission again! 

Today Sister Garcia went to get her eyes checked for glasses and we had an activity with our zone.

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Sister Haggard

Thiago's baptism