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