Reaching Out and Finding Miracles

"Borrowing clothes...I looked like a business executive. Haha! And I PROMISE that I didn´t wear those shoes out-just for the pic...haha! It´s actually the first time I've used those shoes since coming on the mission."

*Sister Little's companion has been struggling with a foot problem that makes walking very painful.  At a doctor's appointment this week, Sister Ribas was told to rest the foot for 20 days, so they are not able to be out working as much as they would like to be, which has been hard.

This has been quite the two weeks of LEARNING for me. It´s amazing how on a mission you are shown SO CLEARLY all of your weaknesses. Wow. I have fasted and prayed a lot about the situation here, and I'm learning more and more the literal exercises I need to do to develop more patience, more charity, more strength. I need to focus more on the Atonement. I´m the kind of person that likes to look at all the details in front of me, come up with a solution, and then go full speed ahead until the problem or task is solved and completed, but I´m learning a lot here on the mission, that I am very small and very incapable of many things. I´m learning a lot that I need to SLOW DOWN and let the Lord LEAD me. 
 

*This is our family mission statement, which hangs in our home, and has been repeated by our family every week for nearly 10 years. The statement actually reads "seek out".  Not a huge difference, but so interesting that the Spirit would plant the word "reach" in her heart when she needed it this week.

 
I was thinking this morning about the mission statement that my family has. We repeat it together every Family Home Evening at home, and I was repeating it to myself this morning, and every word really hit me. "The Little Family Mission Statement: I will give, love, serve, and share. I will reach out and do those things my Heavenly Father needs me to do, yoking myself with my Savior, Jesus Christ."
 
Really hit me. I need to REACH OUT, and not just expect to find comfort for my own problems. I need to yoke myself with Christ, because a lot of the time, I simply don´t have the strength to extend my arm, but He DOES have the strength, AND He knows way better than I what to do with that extended hand to help the person on the other end. 
 
I will focus on using the Atonement to change me. I will pray that the Lord uses me in ways that I can´t see yet to fill my purpose here. I need to find my role, my purpose, but maybe it´s simply learning about the Atonement, and letting Him do the rest.  I´m very honestly grateful for the things I am learning. 

This Christmas, I want everyone to look for the little miracles in your life. I heard this week that a miracle is the correct application or true and eternal principles. They come in big ways and little teeny tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiny ways, so FIND THEM! Make it a game, whatever it takes!

And even more than finding the miracles in your life, BE THE MIRACLE THAT SOMEONE IS NEEDING. This will change you. This will make you more like Christ. He is our miracle, and He makes miracles, and He makes us miracles. Let Him be your miracle this Christmas. Love you all!!! Até!

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Descubra Por Quê.

Discover Why.

 

"Our very clean apartment!"

"Oh! And I was gluing things in my journal these last few days, and I found sticky notes from the CTM.......hahahahaha! Translate that sentence! " *translation reads "I know that Jesus Christ helps make me a woman."  I believe she was shooting for "helps me become better".  The joys of learning a new language!*

 

 

A Fast Recovery and New Adventures

I´m feeling great!!! 100% from the dengue (a week and a half later, woohoo!) The sinus infection is clearing up finally as well...two more days of antibiotics.

I started feeling better and ready to roll when the dengue hit 1 week (Wednesday, Thursday-still tired, but ready to DO!)

I´m feeling GREAT, though, so thank you thank you thank you for the prayers and fasting. SUPER HUGE difference! Faith really works (I should have been a lot sicker for a lot more time!)

BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My comp has problems with her foot......so we can´t walk much.....or run.....or leave the house much..........

 We need to find investigators. We´re a brand new area, so we have NOTHING to work from, and I still don´t know where it´s safe to knock doors and make contacts yet, so it´s a little slow starting. I´ll definitely include this in my prayers.

Thanksgiving pies...yes, Grandma!!! Keeping the tradition strong (And my Brazilian friends LOVED them!!! They said I can marry...haha!)

My Plano de Salvação that I made! Super excited to use this now!

A bunch of people from Paulínia to wish me farewell. I LOVE THEM MORE THAN I CAN SAY!!!!!!!!!  The family of Gisele and Jurací (minus João who was missing...not sure where...probably sleeping....haha!), Esmerelda, and Franklin

The baptism of Thaís and Manu. Talk about another miracle. My first Saturday in my new area, I got to sing at the baptism of Thaís....again. If that isn´t a love note from heaven. I don´t know what is.

I don´t know why my face looks so red in this picture.....Sister Ribas (pronounced "HEE-bus" in Portuguese) and me. [Note from Brigette - Love that she has already forgotten how sick she was when it was taken!]

 Love note from heaven just when I needed it

Dengue Fever, Transferred, and "the most peaceful feeling in the whole wide world"

Sister Little and Sister Bastos

This week was.....interesting....yeah...

Highlights

Birthday of Sister Bastos!!! Woohoo! Foi ótimo!! Super great! May I just say that for the last three months, Heavenly Father blessed me with an angel for a companion-and the best angel He has around at that!!! She is so funny, works so hard, teaches incredibly well, and she has so much love for everyone-me included! She has very literally changed my mission and shown me a vision of the Sister I want to become. I will be grateful for my Sister Bastos forever. In all honestly, she is the best, most humble, funniest, strongest example! I have a great big gratitude bubble in my heart for her. 

 

"And a favorite Brazilian tradition...egg bath on your birthday! But we got a little excited with us both giving an egg bath on the other...and here´s us washing out our hair with a member´s hose...haha!!! Good times!!!"

The rest of the week was go, go, go....until I ended up in the hospital (hospital sounds worse than it really is.....that´s just the "doctor" here.....EVERYONE goes straight to the hospital...I don´t like the hospital.....FYI......blek.....) with a sinus infection and dengue fever. Yup....it´s been quite the weekend....only to get more interesting the next day when we got news of the transfer....and that I´ve been transferred!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is the first time that I´ve been transferred yet. I´ve been in my first area for over 4 months now. Phew.....ADVENTURE IS OUT THERE!!!! That´s my war cry right now....now I´ve just got to pack...and sleep...haha ha ha.... X]

 

"This was after the egg bath and a real bath on her birthday! Yup!! That´s what an angel looks like, everyone!!! ;D"

 

Spiritual highlight this week was about being grateful. Last night with transfers, Sister Bastos and I had some very tender moments. Lots of hugging and crying and being grateful (I´d NEVER seen S.Bastos cry until last night. Yup. We cried a lot. Good cry, yeah).  I am SO GRATEFUL for her and everything she´s taught me, EVERYTHING! It was really sweet for her to see a glimpse of who she is and the difference she makes-she doesn´t see it. This is why EXPRESSING gratitude is so important. Wow. Everything is just so perfect!

 

 But it was really good as well, to pray and know that what I´ve done here in Paulínia pleases the Lord. That was the most peaceful feeling in the whole wide world. I want to work everyday to be able to have that feeling for eternity. Leave every person better than you found them, and express gratitude for everything. Everything! Times passes fast; I´m learning more and more to enjoy the moment. I think that this is how God lives- He has plans (really good ones-ETERNAL plans!), and then He lets His preparation play out moment to moment. I want to be more like this. 

OH!!!! But I did hear about a crazy cool revelation in the book of John in the bible that says EXACTLY what happened after church this last Sunday. Read John 7:53. CRAZY REAL!!!!! Read it and see!!! Super ...WOW!!!!

The only other thing is a great big happy birthday shout out to that Daddy of Mine!!!!!!!! He´s for sure the greatest! Thank you Dad for everything you´ve taught me about hard work, honesty, loving everyone around you, serving in the church with ALL of your strength, time, force, and faith, and about how to love and provide for a family. More than anything you taught me exactly what to look for in a husband and father for my children. Did you know that when I was little, Mom told me that she married the best man in the world, and I cried for nights on end because I thought that there was no one left in the world for me that would be as good as my Dad? Yup...I was a paranoid child...BUT know that I sure loved and always will love my daddy!!!! You are my hero, and that will never change. Know that all those times that I became nervous with your advice, was just because I wanted to be just like you and make you the proudest dad ever. Know that I'm still trying, and EVERY word of advice you give goes straight to the heart!!! LOVE YOU TONS AND HAPPY FORTY SOMETHING BIRTHDAY!!!! (It´s 44, right....? Tenho dúvidas agora...)

So yes. Keep going. Every cloud has a silver lining. Everything has a purpose, and so do you!!! Read Doctrine and Covenants 45:3-5, 7-9.  This makes EVERYTHING worth it!!

A glimpse at the everyday details

YES!!!! I got the packages this week! I LOVE THE SHIRT and everything!!!!! The M&M´s were SO GOOD I CAN´T EVEN TELL YOU (and sadly gone bc Sister Bastos loves cookies de M&M, so I made some, and now they´re gone. Haha! Too good! Funny thing, Sister Bastos is JUST LIKE CAMERON when it comes to surprises, so she already opened BOTH the presents you sent for Christmas. The necklaces are BEAUTIFUL, Mom!!! And Sister Bastos pretty much screamed when she opened the pens. She has been using them everyday with EXTRAORDINARY care! She said that you read her mind. She can´t stop talking about how amazing you are, and your generosity, and good heart, and EVERYTHING! She loves you to pieces!!! (But still not as much as me! ;D)

This is steak....ha...ha..haha...hahaha....*começa saudades do churrasco do sul!!!!!* [commence longing for Southern Barbecue!]

 American pancakes and Sister Hay´s fantastic, amazing, wonderful, incredible syrup!!(EVERYONE loved them!!! Congrats, Sister Hay! ;D)

 PacMan... just 'cause!

I made myself a notebook for recipes! Woohoo!!!

This is me writing in my journal by candlelight one night during a storm that cut the power. This was the beaautiful part...the part of sweating, sweating, sweeeeeaaating and NOT sleeping until the power came back at 4:30 in the morning because it was SO UNBEARABLY HOT without our fans was the less beautiful part....but the candlelight is still beautiful!!!

 

Finally, after 6 years of always being there in the exact minute I needed him, my right-hand man died this morning (haha...that was funny...)......through Philmont, early morning seminary, cross country, college, rain, sunshine, snow, more sunshine, lots of heat, and more heat ], and lots of heat, and superglue to fix the breaks, and rubber bands, and more superglue (and probably more super glue), and everyday from the start of my mission, he finally passed away this morning (unfortunately it wasn´t peaceful either.....seizures of numbers and beeping after having fog under his glass all week...) So, now I´ll be headed to the shingy-lingy to find a replacement ..... sleep well, my watch...you´ve been a good friend.

A chance to SING! - "The gifts we have aren't ours."

Grabbed an old picture today - she's had technology problems and hasn't sent any new pics in a few weeks!

Cool thing this week. I got to SING! I was asked by a sister in our ward to sing for a stake activity. They lipsang and acted a bunch of parts from The Sound of Music, but she wanted me to sing the first opening song. So -  Super cool! Until they showed the clip of Julie Andrews singing it....right before me....like when I was already on the stage....yup....Julie Andrews....my hero...yeah....no comparison.....BUT!!! I prayed before the activity that I´d be able to fill the expectations of the Irmã for her activity and that everyone would enjoy it, and guess what!!!! Without training for MONTHS, I SANG!!! It felt SO GOOD! Everything that I had practiced forever before the mission just came back, and BETTER! I´m WAY MORE RELAXED here, and that makes singing WAY easier! My comp told me after that she videoed it, so I´ll try to find a way to send that. But after. Wow. Everyone is SO KIND!!! They said that it was wonderful, and as good as Julie Andrews or better (super sweet-take that compliment with a grain of salt-whoa!), and that I´ll be in the next remake of the Sound of Music. All said and done, SUPER FUN and SO GOOD to really, really, SING again!

And beyond all of that-such a testimony of doing the best things. Studying, practicing, continuing my life back at home would have been a good thing, but God knew what would be BEST for me, and with His help, I can still use the gifts He´s given me even when my focus is somewhere else. A HUGE testimony that the gifts we have aren´t ours. They´re GIFTS and God will use them in the way He needs, and those gifts sure work a whole lot better when we let Him do the driving!

 I´m super grateful for what I´m learning here on a mission.  I´m learning how to stay happy when things are happy and when they´re sad, or the days when you´re irritable, or just tired and your body wants to flop. If you´re happy, people will want more of what you have. If not, who will want what we have? So keep on a keepin' on. Forgive others, and refrain from judging. Life is WAY happier when you don´t judge others. I´ll never forget what I heard one time from a friend - that what he wants to be remembered for after his life is that he never judged anyone. Yeah. That´s the kind of charity that I want to develop.  Mother Theresa said "If you judge people, you have no time to love them." And the same goes for loving yourself. See not who you are, but who you WANT to be and who you CAN be and ARE throught the Atonement. Everything will line up to become that when you think and work in that manner. Remember, if you don´t love yourself, you can´t love others.

So, I love you all, and send my prayers and faith!!! Keep on keeping strong!!

Sister Little  (At church, I´m now "Sister Little-Andrews"...Talk about childhood dreams come true! Haha!)

Life is simply better when you DECIDE to believe in something!

This has been the best week and one of the more trying weeks.....I think this explanation works for every week in the mission....haha!

I´m  learning a LOT about faith! My comp is a Sister Training Leader right now, so every week, we'll have two days of splits. ("Splits" are when each of them go out and work with a different missionary companion for the day.) This last week was our first. I was SCARED OUT OF MY MIND for these two days. How was I going to lead everything without her? What if I didn´t understand? How was I going to make effective contacts? HOw? How? HOw? HOw? hOw??!?!?!!? Well, I promised Heavenly FAther that I was going to pretend that I am the missionary that I wanted to be, and I was just going to need a lot of help. GUESS WHAT!!!!! THOSE WERE THE BEST TWO DAYS OF MY MISSION YET!!!! I was happy, I joked with everyone, I was bold, I taught (I actually talked TOO much, and had to back off to give my comp more chances to talk), and I made contacts out the wazoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I´m SO excited to keep this up!!! I need to learn how to lead more even when I´m with my normal companion-not be afraid to do well. It was amazing. 

The other thing I learned about faith was with the baptism of _______. I´ve never so adamantly believed in something before. Every time a little voice or doubt crept in, I killed that little bugger!!!!!! "________WILL BE BAPTIZED SATURDAY!" Seriously, I believed this with all my heart, might, mind, and strength. We did EVERYTHING we could to help him with his testimony, help him understand, have hope, and feel ready. But...............he wasn´t baptized.........so why did I feel so GOOD believing in this? It really shook me that I could believe so firmly, and then...KABOOM!!! Slap in the face, it doesn´t happen. 

Well, what I learned is that I was happy this week. Excited, and I was on FIRE. Conclusion: Life is simply better when you DECIDE to believe in something. Whe you have faith, you have a purpose, and you work for something. This will ALWAYS be better than being pessimistic, depressed, and lost with no purpose or direction. We´re not meant to simply drift though life aimlessly and half-dead. LIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO DO SOMETHING GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DECIDE to beilieve in something good, and then chase after it with everything you´ve got. Faith is ignoring those voices of doubt, and even the voices of reason. Some people may call you blind, but I´d rather be blind, happy and accomplish something with my life that have my eyes open to the doubt and fear in life and live under a rock until I die. 

Sister Hinckley speaks my heart:

“I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails.
I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp.
I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbors children.
I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden.
I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.
I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived.” 
― Marjorie Pay Hinckley

So yeah. LIVE this week. Choose something to believe in with your whole heart, and then go out and GET IT DONE!!! Remember that you chose this path before this life, and you were so strong. You´re that same person now, you just don´t remember, so pretend that you´re that same strong, capable, loving, patient, consistent, awesome, amazing, faith filled person that you TRULY are, and be ready for the surprising outcome. 

LOVE YOU ALL and have the GREATEST week EVER!!!

Síster Little!! <3

It's not too good to be true. It's too good because it IS true!!

This is my email to President Hill this week. It pretty much captures my thoughts and feelings right now. GO AND DO WITH FAITH!!!! JUST BE HAPPY, EXCITED, AND GO CONQUER THE WORLD!!!

I´m honestly EXCITED for this week. Just EXCITED!!!! I´m learning a lot about what faith is lately. Faith is not listening to the voices of reason all around us and in our head. Faith is telling yourself that fear doesn´t exist. Faith is remembering who you were before your life, and being that same person now! My dad LOVES to solve problems and innovate solutions. He´s SO good, and I´ve always admired this in him. The thing that stands out to me most now, is what I´ve always heard him say whenever anyone questions the probability or possibility of the task he was taking on. His response has always been simple and direct, "Well, why not?" This is my new motto! Why not?! Why can´t we be great? Isn´t that what we´ve been sent here to be? Why can´t we baptize every week? If you´ve told us to do it, that means it´s not only possible, it´s EXPECTED! So why not?!?! When we have plans to reach our goals, the only thing that´s lacking is the doing and the Heavenly help. So DO and SEE the results! See them before they happen! Have faith, believe with everything you´ve got! When that little doubting voice tries to creep in, JOGA FORA [THROW IT AWAY]! 

It´s possible. That´s what I´m learning. It´s not easy because this is the work of the Savior, and His life wasn´t easy, but because His life wasn´t easy, and because he gave EVERYTHING, it´s possible!!!

Things here are lining up as you said they would. I need to not think that´s it´s "too good to be true" because it´s not. It´s too good because it IS true! We are working with some amazing people, and I´m learning SO MUCH from them and from Sister Bastos. My goal this week is to decide to be a different person than I was last week-in specific, with my contacts. I´ve learned a lot about HOW to make them now, and I can speak Portuguese SO much better than in he beginning, but I haven´t been able to lose the fear. So, I´ve decided that I´m just going to ignore it because it´s almost impossible to hear the Spirit when you´re scared out of your wits. So today and forward, I´m not the Sister Little that is afraid of what will happen if I open my mouth. Today and forward, I am an instrument in the Lord´s hand, and it´s His work that I´m doing, and when I give what I have, He makes it so much more. 

Thank you, as always, for your patience and dedication. Have a FANTASTIC week! The best week EVER!

Love you all so much! Keep being who the Lord knows you are!

Sister Little!!!

João 16:33

D&C 50:44-46 (I think that´s right....about little children....maybe its flipped

A sweet baptism of some dear friends, a water fight, and getting egged!

BATISMO DE DÉBORA E THIAGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are AMAZING!!!! Their testimonies are amazing, and watching their light grow these last three months has been the most beautiful thing I´ve ever experienced. They´ve endured some crazy hard things in their life, but to see them have the chance to start everything again, and the tangible DIFFERENCE that the gospel and Atonement have made in their life....just wow. I am so different because of their testimony!

The Atonement is simply beautiful. Doutrina e Convênios 4:5 says.....(I only know it in Portuguese....one minute...have to look it up in English....) Okay! Here: "And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work."
 

 

Repentance is hope. Hope and faith in action. Hope for a better life, for forgiveness, for a better you-EVERYTHING! And faith. Faith in the Atonement and our Savior, Jesus Christ. And Charity and love...that´s what Jesus Christ gave us with His birth, life, Atonement, death and Resurrection!!! When we focus on God, put Him in primeiro lugar [first place], we will be "qualified" for he work that we are called to do in that moment. We all have works to do, and these things change throughout our life, but we have the promise that with Christ, we are capable. WE are enough because the Atonement of Christ is INFINITE!!! I really don´t have the words to say what I want....I´m trying to explain this feeling of profound gratitude I have, but really, you just have to feel it. Pray to feel the love Heavenly Father has for YOU. He wants to tell you, so just ask. Ask and wait. We learned in Conference this last month from a chosen servant of the lord that if we will pray, wait, and listen, with EEEEVERY intent to hear and do, the Spirit will speak to us very literally. I tried it, and I will tell you that I received a very real and specific answer, so, I challenge you to do this as well. Pray. Ask Heavenly Father to feel the love He has for you and to feel the enabling power the Atonement of His Son offers us, and wait. Let Him answer. Write down what you feel because I can promise you that more days hard will come, but you will have this witness from the Holy Ghost to look back on. 

Don´t forget how much Heavenly Father loves you, and that because of that love, you have EVERY opportunity to succeed. That´s what Heavenly Father sent you here to do. Here´s a poem that I love. (It´s at the bottom...easier that way...)

 

Just remember, TUDO VAI DAR CERTO [everything's going to be alright]!!!!!! Have trust in this!!
 It was SO HOT THIS DAY!!!!!!!!

.......we kind of got in a water fight in the kitchen.......yup.....Sister Bastos started iiiiiiiiiiit! XD

 And right after that.... I GOT EGGED!!!! (It´s a favorite Brazilian tradition....I´m just lucky I didn´t get floured as well!) For a happy four months in the mission (and yes, I´m late with the pics...this was a couple weeks ago...)
 

 Love you all! And boa semana [have a good week]!!! <3

Sister Little  X]

One night I dreamed a dream.
As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,
One belonging to me and one to my Lord.

After the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,
especially at the very lowest and saddest times,
there was only one set of footprints.

This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.
"Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
You'd walk with me all the way.
But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me."

He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you."

Note from Brigette - Thought you all would enjoy this!  This picture of Ash was featured on the Missionary Mommas page last week!

 

Life doesn't have to be easy to be filled with JOY!!!

Lots of highs and lows this week. What´s been high ALL WEEK?!?!? The TEMPERATURE!!!! I´m melting, and it´s not even summer yet! Craziness!

What I learned this week: Life is good, and even though the sun is too hot (41 graus here! Demais!!!!), the work is good. Never easy, but like Sheri Dew said, "If it were easy, it wouldn´t be hard." I´m very grateful this week. Grateful for my life, for everything I have, all of the opportunities in my life, my family, the ordinances of the gospel, all of the people I´m meeting, the ways they are blessing my life, and more than anything, my Savior. Even when it´s hard to feel the Spirit or I don´t realize that I´m feeling the Spirit, I know He hasn´t left my side, and that´s EVERYTHING to me. We have His promise that everything will be right if we follow Him, so that´s what I´ll do. That´s what we´re doing here on the mission, and THAT´S why it´s not easy. His life isn´t easy, so why should ours be? It doesn´t have to be easy to be filled with JOY!!!

"This is how to have happiness in any stage of life"

Beautiful sunset!

What is in my heart today is that I am SO BLESSED!!!! Mom, Dad, [and you can share this on the blog, I'll just be writing directly to you, but everyone should read it ;) ] THANK YOU for everything. Thank you for never letting divorce be an option. Thank you for never ever raising your voices at each other. Thank you for teaching us and showing us how to respectfully work out problems and that marriage is a thing to be worked for and that simply giving up when things "apparently weren't meant to be" ISN'T EVER AN OPTION. Thank you for working to give us every oportunidade for success in this life. Thank you for setting my sights on college and helping me succeed there. Thank you for my bed. Thank you for my clothes. Thank you for teaching us that the Spirit lives in a house of order, clean and orderly. Thank you for teaching us to love our family, and that living together forever is the thing most important in this life. Thank you for teaching me how to treat my spouse one day, to love him, and want to help him. Love is wanting to make that person happy, NOT expecting to receive everything YOU need. Love isn't living together for a year and then saying it just didn't work because you saw greener grass on the other side of the fence. Love is about service. Love is constant and steady, and FOREVER! Family is FOREVER! THANK YOU FOR TEACHING ME THESE THINGS THROUGH YOUR WORDS AND EXAMPLES!!! When we have our eyes fixed on God, everything will work out. This is how to have success in a family. This is how to have a marriage that can overcome anything that this crazy, last days world can throw at it. This is how to have happiness in any stage of life we find ourselves in. 

My cute companion and I

The gospel is true. If you have difficulties in your life (and who doesn't) pray and read the scriptures. Read the book of Mormon, and pray again to know if it's true (and if you've never asked-ASK!!! God knows! Simply ask His opinion.) As one of my missionary friends said this last week, we need spiritual confirmations again and again. This is how we continue to be focused. Ask God again, and again if the gospel is true. Invite the missionaries over, PLEASE!!! Member of the church or not. PLEASE!!!! Just one time- on a 'trial basis' - invite them over, and take their challenge to ask God if you can have MORE happiness, MORE peace, MORE direction, and MORE of everything good in your life. God will answer. Just try. 

Eu sei que Cristo vive! Ele deu tudo por mim, e eu vou seguir Ele para sempre porque eu O amo! Por favor, pergunte Deus! Ele vai te responder. Eu sei. E isso é meu testemunho, e o dou em nome de Jesus Cristo, amém. 

[I know that Christ lives!  He gave everything for me, and I will follow Him forever because I love Him! Please ask God.  He will answer you.  I know.  This is my testimony, and I give it in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.]

Pretty - and mission life in a nutshell!

Singing at a "Garage Church"

No new pictures today, as her camera battery was dead, but we did get to see a video of her singing this week from last Spring, and since this post is about singing...

 Okay. I did a crazy missionary thing a week and a half ago....I sang in church......I sang in A church.....yeah....not ours!!!!!  One night, Sister Bastos and I were walking to our bus stop after a lesson, and we passed a house with a "garage church" congregation SINGING AND YELLING in a microphone. We passed like normal, and then Sister Bastos turns to me, 

"Do you have the courage?"

The courage to do what?!

To sing in that "church"!!!! 

......yeah.....Why not! :D

So she went up and asked the person if I could sing a hymn for them. She went up and asked the preacher, and he said yes. I sang "Salvador, Redentor da Minha Alma".  TOTALLY different spirit than the yelling. The preacher actually introduced us as missionaries for the Church after! Super funny and super cool! It´s definitely a moment that I´ll tell my children about one day!

Also, Psalm 23. What comfort!!! I came across this during a really hard day about a week ago, and Heavenly Father is just amazing. He answers prayers, and many many times, He sends miracles that we don't even think to ask for. I know that!

CONFERÊNCIA GERAL!!!!!! QUE BOM!!!!! I got to watch the first day of Conference in English, which was great, but the second day, with technological problems, I only had Portuguese available.  Thanks to the Spirit, I actually understood practically everything!  Heavenly Father is so amazing; One of my language goals from when I first arrived in the field was to be able to understand Conference, and Heavenly Father gave me the opportunity to test that.  Super neat! 

 

I learned SO MUCH!!! But one of the biggest lessons I learned is that Heavenly Father wants to answer our questions. I thought that maybe I had too many questions for Conference, but Heavenly Father answered EVERY ONE so directly. When we really want to learn and act, He´s just ITCHING to answer our question. SO MUCH LOVE

 

Oh!  Sister Marriot AND THE SOUTHERN ACCENT!!!!! I ALMOST CRIED!!!! AND SHE SERVED IN BRAZIL!!!!!!!! SERIOUSLY ALMOST CRIED!!!! IT FELT SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD TO HEAR!

And thank you, Daddy, for everything!!! I love the things you teach me. Knowing that you´ve served a mission already (one longer and with a harder language too!!!) really helps me more than you know! It´s super inspiring! And your advice is always perfect! I hope I can do this for my brothers and sister and my children one day! I´m learning more and more how my mission is really for my family, and that makes EVERYTHING WORTH IT!!!!

 

This week, PLEEEEAAAASE pray for _____ and family and for ______. They can both be baptized this week. They´re ready, they just need to realize that they are and have the strength to resist the fear and  trials that the Adversary likes to put in our way right before something really good!

 

All my love,

Sister Little

The Sweetest Surprise and a Video

Monkey she sent for Kate.  Haha! She wrote letters to each of her siblings as well.

Note from Brigette: Most of Ashley's email time yesterday was spent trying to coordinate some information she needed for an upcoming doctor appointment. I got a message from her toward the end saying that she was out of time and that there were some pictures in her "draft" folder that probably wouldn't send before her computer shut off, but that I could go into her account and get them.  Well... they didn't attach.  And I was super sad!!!  As we returned home yesterday, there was a handwritten letter - the first of those we've received from her - in our mailbox!  What a sweet and tender (and much needed for this mom!) surprise!  I love the strength of her testimony expressed here.  She has always been a selfless young woman with desires to do what's right, but it is truly amazing to see all of that solidify through the experiences she is having.  How we love her!!

Mom and Dad!!!

I write y'all every week, but I'll never pass up an opportunity to talk with you more!  Mostly, I just want to THANK YOU OUT THE WAZOO for everything you've taught us, the standards you've set for our family, and for your examples.  Seriously!  Here I realize how CRUCIAL scripture study and prayer as a family is.   How essential Family Home Evening is.  Visiting teaching, home teaching, serving in callings, making church attendance a priority, EVERYTHING!  So many things that I was so blessed to just grow up knowing, are options to people, and that is really hard.  Thank you for always putting the Lord first in EVERYTHING!  Your example is just an innate part of me, and serving a mission has made me more grateful for this than ever.

Believing isn't hard for me, and I've to a degree taken this for granted throughout my life.  Wow.  I had no clue.  Life is so simple if we just let go of the need for things, turn to the Lord, and give Him our doubts.  I don't mean simple as in the complexity will leave, but rather, we'll always have one solidity to return to and hold to.  Trust God.  Nothing else is constant.  If we can trust God, tudo vai dar certo.  Everything will be RIGHT.  This is all we need.

So yeah.  THANK YOU from the bottom, top, and all around of my heart!  Para SEMPRE!

All my love,
Sister Little

* She also asked in her brief email that we share this video with you!  The title and subtitles are in Portuguese, but the audio is in English.  Enjoy!

A 3 month surprise

This week. I hit my three month mark on Thursday.  Word of the day for me that day....piolho......MUITOS!! Haha...look that one up!

Yup, lice.  A rip roaring case of it! BUT all is well now, and with expensive shampoo, and HOURS of sitting in a chair combing bugs out of my hair, I am now bug free.   HOURS! WE actually went to get it cut (I was on the edge of crying), but the hairdresser, Esmerelda (member-woohoo for people who love you!!), said that if we were cutting it just because of the lice, we didn´t have to. So we didn´t. My comp picked them out for the first day, and after that, every spare moment I had in the house, I sat in a chair and combed them out myself. Sheeshanoly! It was hard. But yeah- Happy three months in Brazil!!! You have LICE!!! HAHA!

Cleaning the house last p-day. More than 4 hours of cleaning to try to get our house in decent condition. Apparently it´s one of the worst...like ever....haha- glad I haven´t known anything else!

Oh! but this is how you clean a house in Brazil. Joga agua!!!!!! Throw water!!! LIKE FOR REEEEAAAALS!!!! It was super fun!!!

So - I´m going to melt here. It has been 41 degrees celsius and full sun all week. That´s 105.8 degrees farenheit. And humid (like, your clothes in the house are always a little bit damp when you put them on-NOTHING is every actually dry). So...yeah...spring starts TOMORROW (yup, it´s been winter, too.....) and summer starts the end of December......I will melt, or burn to a crisp, or I don´t know yet, but please pray for our skin and hydration!!!   I´m actually a totally different color than when I arrived here. I´m going to come home looking like Kyra!! I´m getting super dark, and my hair is turning red. It´s SO light in comparison to before. Everyone asks if I dyed my hair before my mission when they see photos! HAHA!

This was a SUPER HOT DAY that we had been walking in the sun ALL DAY, but we kept going, and were taught a lot of things-a LOT about the Atonement. 

Serving a mission teaches you a lot, a lot about the Atonement. There are days when you´ll sacrifice your study time to meet with someone because it´s the only time they can, pay for a bus, walk in 40 something degree weather (that´s celsius...), get sunburned, everything, just to get there and find that they´re sleeping or too busy making lunch to talk with you. You leave knowing that the message you have will change their life now, and offer them happiness, peace, unity in their family, security, identity, and SALVATION, but they don´t want it. Other things are more important. This is how the Atonement is- Christ did a lot more than get a bad sunburn. HE did EVERYTHING for us,  felt everything, suffered things we can´t imagine, and did it all for us, but so often,  far too often, we are too busy with other things to open the door He´s knocking at and take it. I understand much better the picture of Christ knocking at the door. That´s what we do all day, and wow. Yeah, I´m learning a lot about my Savior. I need Him so much, because I´m also learning how incredible incapable I am alone. I can´t do diddly squat alone. But, thanks to the Atonement, I´m not alone. And neither are you. Don´t forget it. PLEASE! It´s so easy, and I know we do forget, so please, remember. Pray to Heavenly Father, and He will talk with you.. He will. He promises He will, and I trust Him.

Sunburned!  You actually can't see it much on me.  Thank you flash!

1 Nephi 22:9 - "And it shall also be of worth unto the Gentiles; and not only unto the Gentiles but unto all the house of Israel, unto the making known of the covenants of the Father of heaven unto Abraham, saying: In thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed."

Also, I´ll write more about my investigators next week when I have more time and more good news. Kind of a downer week to report, but GOOD THINGS ARE HAPPENING!

Boa semana!

Sister Little

Omni 1:26

A Sweet Miracle, a Mini Hurricane, and Other News!

A woman we have been meeting with told us this week that she didn´t want us to come back after watching some horrible anti-Mormon videos on youtube. We bore our testimonies, and explained everything, but when we visited her the next day, she said she was done. The day of the video, we explained what we could (as in, my companion did, because I do NOT have the words to explain lies about polygamy and massacres and everything), so I bore my testimony (my very simple testimony I have in Portuguese), and asked her how she felt while watching the video. Scared. Yeah, me too. But now, I want you to pay attention to how you feel in just a minute. I then sang Onde Encontrar a Paz or Be Still My Soul, and PRAAAAYED like I´ve never prayed before that she would feel the Spirit, and Heavenly Father answered that prayer. Wow. What a testimony builder to me of the DIFFERENCE I feel between the world and the Gospel. The Spirit is SO REAL! The next time we visited, she still said that the church wasn´t for her, and she didn´t want to meet anymore. I´ve been praying for her everyday since, that if anything, she´ll at least pray and begin developing a relationship with Heavenly Father because she doesn´t pray now. AND GUESS WHAT!!!! HOLY MIRACLE!!!!!! She showed up aaaaall by herself to Sacrament Meeting!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOSSA QUE BÊNÇÂO!!!! [What a blessing!] So pray for her. We´ll be visiting her again.

Sisters Bastos, Little, Paiva, and L.Souza

 Transfers: I stayed in my area (Hooray!)

Minha nova companheira!  [My new companion!] SHE IS AMAAAAAAAAZING!!!!!!!!!! Sister Bastos! She is seriously AWESOME!! We are super similar and work super well together. I think I´ve laughed more this week than I have on my entire mission yet!! She´s super spunky.  Sister McPherson (the other American in our house) got transferred, so it´s just me in our house now that speaks English. I actually have barely noticed the no English thing (before, we spoke English at night). My brain is a little more tired, but it´s really not even a problem at this point!

My umbrella finally was done in this week. Yup. I didn´t yet know what rain in Brazil was like. Now I do. I think we had a mini hurricane one night (luckily we were already in the house). SERIOUSLY looked like Ike with the wind and rain.  Flooded our front room, but luckily everything´s tile, so we just shoved all the water back out (my English is dying...I know that sounds funny, but I don´t have a better word...)

 

Pretty view from yesterday!

 

 

I GOT TO SEE SISTER PILCHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Sister Pilcher is one of her friends from BYU that was called to the same mission.)  TWICE THIS LAST WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was seriously the happiest reunion EVER!!!!!!!!! We basically just hugged and laughed and giggled some more and chattered away in Portuguese (THAT was cool!!!!). Oh my goodness, I love her so much, and NOSSA!!! She had an amazing testimony and all BEFORE the mission, but NOW!!! She just GLOWS!!!!!! It´s amazing!!!!!!!!

 

 

The achilles is getting better. Little by little. The KT tape and Strassburg sock are miracles!

 

All my love!

Sister Little