Feliz Pascoa!

Well....passed my first Easter on the mission and I was SOO surprised to see that in Brasil on Easter they eat....rice and beans. (note the sarcasm). ;) But in addition to rice and beans there was the yummiest fejoada, pork, pasta, salad, and vinaigrette. It was AMAZING and I think I will be full for the next week or two. Which is good because our fridge is very empty right now. haha. ;) 

Drinking Coconut Milk.  It's gross...

This week was awesome. We had a multi-zone meeting on Friday and so naturally on Thursday night the assistant called and asked if we could sing the song we were going to perform on Sunday....at the meeting as well. As always I said yes. It went really well but I did cry at the end. But that’s because a lot of other missionaries were crying too...including some Elders...and so I cried too. But it could have been worse. The meeting was AWESOME. It is always great to have a spiritual boost during the week. President shared a really inspired message and included some really meaningful words about how he truly loves each one of us and prays for each of us every day. For one of the first times I truly FELT that he meant what he said and knew it was true. I am really blessed to have a really wonderful mission president. I’m sure every missionary says that though. :) Afterwards I had the opportunity to talk to him for a little bit in an interview and he told me he believes I have blossomed. I found that to be very interesting because I don’t feel THAT different. But it was nice of him to say. 

Our area is going great! We met with and marked a baptism date with a man named K. He is a great guy and so far he seems really serious about making a change in his life and finding the truth. We are finding lots of investigators who are honestly seeking. And two of our investigators even came to church on Sunday! We are starting to master teaching together….it's a slow process because my companion is still learning the language. But she gets better every day (not because of me though THAT’S for sure) and she is working hard and staying happy. I am really proud of her. And really grateful for her. The ward members are working well with us as well. We got 6 references yesterday to an amazing family. We are very excited to contact them this week! 

Yesterday, Easter, I sang His Hands again in sacrament meeting. It was in English. But over half the ward, including the bishop who doesn’t speak even a lick of English, were crying. And....for the very first time in my whole life....I sang a solo in church and didn’t cry, get nervous, get quiet, or go flat or shaky. It was....well for me it went perfectly. And afterwards I sat down in complete shock and amazement. I’m sure Elder Sears did too. He has played enough piano for me to know what usually goes down. I really have to thank him somehow for forcing me to sing anyways every time. haha. Because yesterday I think I had a major breakthrough. :) And the spirit was super strong. 

Why I adore my companion...

After church we went to S and R’s house. They are the couple that I sang at their wedding a few months ago. Well...now I’m here! :D haha. And they are AMAZING. It was the most fun and wonderful lunch ever. I am so proud of them and their firmness in the gospel. They are really struggling financially but they feed EVERYBODY anytime they need. They are so loving and open. They call me their daughter now. (It may be because they can’t say my name....but it makes me happy just the same. <3) It was a very fun pascoa. We hid eggs with scriptures on them about the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was fun watching them hunt for the paper eggs and share their testimonies about Faith, Repentance, Baptism, The Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End. 

Em fim....this week was amazing as usual. Working as usual. Happy as usual. Keep praying no one gets Dengue cause it is going around. And….that's about it. I love you all and HAPPY EASTER! :) <3 

Sister Heyer

Follow this link to see a beautiful video about Easter made by the church. :)

http://easter.mormon.org/?cid=HPTU041514694

Let's Do This!

It says "Today is my Birthday" under Sister L's name tag and
"Today is my Companion's Birthday" under Emily's name tag.
Emily made her new companion wear it all day.
Fortunately, it really was her birthday.

Well sorry I am a day late! Yesterday we had to go to the police station to get my new companion´s visa figured out and while we were there we ended up teaching an African family who only spoke English and their native language. It was so neat! But it took about 2 hours longer than we expected and then the internet houses closed down. So we had to move our email time for today. Worth it though! First time teaching the gospel in English. It’s a good thing my companion just got here from teaching in the states and knew what to do! :P hahaha. 

This week has been a blur. Sister L got here on Tuesday and so we really got started working in our new area on Wednesday. But despite loosing a few days we worked our butts off and our area is getting off the ground well! We are excited. There are high expectations but there are high possibilities here so....we are just focusing on being obedient and working as hard as we can. :) So far so good! 

Em is not used to seeing fish in this state...

Sister L is from New Mexico. She has been serving in Tennessee for 9 months and got here two weeks ago. She just turned 20 yesterday. She is amazing. :) She has the best attitude. Best part of the week....we had been walking for hours and hours and it was incredibly hot and then out of no where it started to rain....and I turned to her and said "Do you want to go down this street and knock on all the doors?" and....considering the inclement weather and the exhaustion she must have been feeling I was expecting a less than excited response....but she goes ".......lets do this." (with a total warrior voice and everything) and then we pushed on. It was awesome. hahaha.

...but she loves Acai berries served with ice cream and granola.

Our ward is amazing. :) The members are very helpful and excited we are here. I was in sacrament meeting for ten minutes and was asked to sing at three different events. -_- So easter I will be singing in sacrament meeting, I will be singing at the stake women’s conference, and at the Elders’ next baptism. LOTS of singing. I’m getting less nervous though so that’s a bonus. And Elder S is like my official accompanist now. hahaha. 

I am excited to be here. Not much time to report a lot of things but next week the email will have more neat stories. We are happy, healthy, safe, and working. :) Thank you for all of your support and I hope you all have a great week! 

Sister Heyer

Hahaha

A Capybara (or a mutant guinea pig)

No Swimming :'(

Never Let Miracles Pass You By

Hellooo. 

Well….I'm making it. One day at a time. 

Coolest thing that happened this week was we visited a woman who is soo close to being baptized and she shared a miracle with us. Only she didn’t even know that it was a miracle. 

Last time we visited we told her to read 1 Nephi 8, Lehi´s dream. When we came back she told us she hadn’t read. We were bummed but we moved on and started asking her about if she has received an answer. She told us she wasn’t sure and that she was worried about being baptized and that the rest of the family wouldn’t follow her example and she would be alone in the gospel. We asked her how her prayer asking was and she told us she didn’t feel anything. Then she goes "oh but I did have a weird dream that night. But its probably nothing." I had already pretty much given up when she said dream because I am not much of a dream reader or believer because personally....I only dream about dinosaurs and strange unrealistic things. But she started in. I reallllyyy tuned in when she started talking about how she was walking in the dusk holding onto a line and to her side had a giant crack in the earth. She said it seemed like an earth quake had come and broken the earth in half dividing her from the other side. She described it as an “abismo”. She said that she was clinging onto the line and walking forward through the darkness. Then her husband came to her and told her to let go of the line and follow him to the other side. She told him absolutely no. That she would never let go. He was surprised but decided to leave without her into the darkness. She said she saw him reach the edge of the giant cliff/abismo and then stop. He then turned around and found his way back to her. He grabbed onto her hand and said "Nevermind. I’ll come with you." Then she woke up. 

We sat there dumbfounded. She described Lehi´s dream. Exactly. And she never even picked up the Book of Mormon. She didn’t read the chapter we gave her but God answered her anyway. Holy cow we were....FLOORED. Never had a miracle been so obvious. Sister Moura pulled out her book of church pictures that we have and opened to the representation of Lehi´s dream and showed her.  She just stared.....as dumbfounded as us. We explained that her husband returned. That she will be the example. She will bring her family to eternal life. But SHE has to hold on. She has to CLING on even in pressure. She must be baptized. 

She knew. You could see it in her eyes that she KNEW. She knows. But at the end....she said "not yet". It was the saddest moment of my life. The zone leaders were with us (to interview her....but it didn’t happen) and we all left....solemn and dumbfounded. Our testimonies were strengthened but she said no. And it killed all of us to see her ignore such a blatant answer from God. We are still waiting for her to call. I hope that she doesn’t keep us waiting too long...because the only one it hurts is her. 

Other than this event it was a great week of conference. :) My "filha" ("daughter" because I will "train" her even though she has already served maybe longer than me in the states....) gets here tomorrow. I’m excited and scared to pieces. Pray for me. haha. Three elders from my MTC district get here!!!! :D Sooo excited. No longer the lone wolf from District A. :)

I love you all. Have a great week. 

Sister Heyer

Stuck in Limbo...aka Iguatemi

Hello!!!

Everything is going well! Not much to report this week. Just getting settled in (as settled as I can be without unpacking my suitcases and considering I’m leaving). The Bishop had us introduce ourselves on Sunday and I was like “Hi. I will be here for just one more week" and then I watched as everyone in the ward stopped paying attention. hahaha. It’s okay though because I am getting super excited to get my new companion. Sister Moura is really helping me out with some great advice and I am teaching her as much English as possible. haha. It’s a good trade off. 

There is an American family living here for a little while. We ate there on Sunday. I ATE REAL FOOD! :D It was awesome. And I gave the message in English because their little kids don’t know Portuguese. They all cheered when I agreed to give it in English. They are very English starved. I found, with quite embarrassment, that I don’t remember how to speak English anymore. Wonderful. 

There really isn’t anything to report on. Only that the other sister I live with is HILARIOUS and her name is Sister Alessandre. We laugh wayyyy to much to be missionaries. It’s the most laughing I’ve done for 10 months. haha. She is awesome. She was in the Women’s broadcast video singing I am a Child of God. I’ll try to include a link. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/watch/2014/04?lang=eng&vid=3408781210001 (Minute 24:55 is when the song starts.) She is the blonde one in the middle. She is from BAHIA. BAHIA is all beach and fun and I want to visit there so bad. The culture is awesome. :) The accent too. haha. 

Well….I'm sorry it is short and lame. Next week I may not be able to email until Tuesday because we have a leadership meeting almost all day on Monday. Just as a warning so no one thinks I died if I don’t write Monday. :P haha. Have a great week everybody. I’ll send a better email next week! Promise. Here’s a little scripture boost of the week for you all. :) If we truly love our Heavenly Father, we keep His commandments. Even if it is hard. Obedience is the best way to show we truly love and honor our God. 

John 14:15- If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Love, 

Sister Heyer

Just When I got Comfortable...

Well....I was transferred. Got a call from the assistants yesterday. Why? Because my situation is complicated. I will be transferred to Iguatami (which is our President´s ward) to stay with Sister Mora (sister trainer leader) for 2 weeks to open a new area....then in two weeks I will be transferred again. To open a new area in Castelo (which is basically Chapadão. Same church building just a different ward and the other side of the neighborhood.) sharing the area and the ward and all lunches with the....assistants (0_0)....with my new companion who will be American and who I will train. She is at the mtc in São Paulo for 2 weeks starting tomorrow doing the new two week intensive language study for missionaries who have been serving in the states. 

I know...sorry its complicated. Just to review: 

-2 weeks opening an area with the sister trainer leader in Presidents ward

-Transferred AGAIN

-Training

-American companion who just got here

-Opening ANOTHER area while training

-The transfer is only 5 weeks so....opening TWO areas, being transferred twice, and doing 6 week training...in only 5 weeks. 

-Sharing an area with the assistants

-Back to where I was just a few months ago 

-Living in a new house just the 2 of us

-Stake president is the richest man in brasil....lincoln martins.

-Help

Trying to stay positive. But it’s a lot of big and difficult changes to take in in only one day. I guess now that I am almost 10 months in President wants to make sure I stay on my toes and don’t get too comfortable. I could really use the Rocky theme song right about now...but Peace Like a River by Mormon Tab. is a close second. ;P hahaha.

Good news:

-........I will be close to Sergel the best ice cream place on the planet

-My zone is closer to the temple so maybe we will be chosen to go

Anyways....apart from being really sad to go and quite a bit stressed....WE HAD A BAPTISM! Our dear Pa was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. It was easily one of the most beautiful and spiritual baptisms I’ve seen.

On Saturday she showed up at the church at 2:00 because she was so excited. Her baptism was at 6. hahaha. We made her a cake and bought her flowers.She cried so much. It was very beautiful. I sang "I feel my Savior´s Love" in Portuguese for her. It was fun. I wasn’t even nervous (making BIG progress here). It was so sweet because right after the baptism there was a Relief Society activity and she immediately started helping set up everything, chatting with all the Sisters and making a ton of friends. We just stood there feeling completely useless watching her become a part of the ward in less than 10 minutes of being baptized. It was....comforting. :) The next day she was confirmed, gave the closing prayer, already paid her tithing, and the Bishop asked if he could give her a calling next week. It couldn’t have been more perfect. Literally. 

So....that was my week. :) Thank you for the emails of support. I really appreciate getting that extra boost every week. <3 Love you all. 

Sister Heyer

Ps- President gave all the missionaries the new manual about how to handle stress....just in time. It would prob be more helpful if it were in English though.... -_- Sometimes you get stressed just trying to read it all and understand what its saying about stress in Portuguese! hahahaha. Its ironic.

Blessings of Safety and Peace

HELLO! Well...last week of the transfer. Can´t believe its almost over already. When we went to the temple on Saturday (explanation as to why will follow) I saw a couple from Valinhos carrying a tiny little baby....I remember when she told us that she was pregnant! It was very strange to see a living proof of how quickly time passes and how long I have been gone already. It was hilarious however seeing their faces as I talked to them in fluent Portuguese. ;P lol. 

This week was another great week! Pa wanted to go to the temple with us on Saturday so Sister M and I drove with Pa and M who is her good friend and recent convert in our ward. It was beautiful. There were FIVE weddings there. It was sweet to see Pa get all teary eyed as a Dad being sealed to his wife and little girl explained to his daughter that she, mommy, and daddy could now stay together forever and ever. Something that if I had heard I wouldn’t have really thought twice about because it is a normal idea to me, became incredibly special and incredible to this starry eyed 23 year old Pa. I realized how much we often take the gospel for granted. The gospel really is....special. 

Our zone leaders met us there to interview her for baptism. She will be baptized this Saturday. I found a really pretty of the Salt Lake Temple (where she wants to get married someday) and backed it on cardstock. I then made it into 6 puzzle pieces each with a quote about Faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and as the endure to the end part I put in two beautiful quotes about eternal marriage and forever families. We will put a puzzle piece in her mail box every day this week until Sunday when she is confirmed. :) Figured that would be some sort of way we could do follow up with her every day this week amidst school and work that keeps her out of the house almost all day. Please pray for her. She needs it. Satan isn’t ever happy about new angels in God´s kingdom. 

Under the temple is a little tent where they sell custom made mormon knick knacks like key chains and CTR shirts and stuff. She bought a key chain that says "SUD" which is "LDS" in portuguese. She put in straight on her keys and she was so excited. hahaha. When we were driving home from the temple she stopped to get us Japanese food! It was so sweet of her. And very inspired because when we got out of the car.....we heard a nasty hissing sound and discovered her tire was slowly seeping lower to the ground. Seeing as how we were in the middle of Campinas she freaked out. We hopped into the car and with shaking hands and lots of "oh crappppssss" she desperately started looking for a gas station. Not surprisingly Sister M and I were totally calm. We said a prayer and sure enough....a gas station popped up and a nice guy helped us switch out her tire. We took the missionary moment to point out that God is protecting her as one of the blessings of her decision. She was very startled but became really happy when we pointed that out. She took the new found peace she felt from our words to take some pictures and post them on instagram. It is so funny teaching a young adult. hahahaha. Spiritual moments are always just so facebook worthy. ;) hahaha. Anyways we got really good food and made it home safely. Quite the adventure. 

We visited the family we are teaching  and P (the mom) told us an interesting story. Monday was a huge thunder storm. M (the dad) was on the roof fixing the antenna when he felt very strongly that he should get off the roof. He immediately climbed down and the minute he was inside the house lighting struck the antenna and burned out all their electronics....but M was safe. H (the son, now 11) was very startled by the event and quite traumatized. So when we visited yesterday we called a ward member who lives close by and he came and gave H a blessing. It was very spiritual. We also invited M to say a prayer as a family on our knees and to ask if the church is true. He did. He cried the whole prayer. It was a beautiful prayer. And I think he got his answer. He just is too scared to follow it for now. But P and M are becoming more and more impressed with the church and are really RECOGNIZING that God has been more present in their lives since we started visiting. I have confidence they will be baptized one day. I just don’t know when that day will be. They are hard work this family. But they are so special. We wont give up. 

When she walked us out, P made a comment about how it was going to rain and she forgot to buy a new umbrella. As we were walking away....I told Sister M that we were going to come back in a few minutes here. She asked why and I told her "We´re going to go buy P an umbrella!" She laughed (I think she thought I was kidding) and we literally ran down the hill to the first little shop we found and bought an umbrella. We then ran back and arranged the umbrella on the door and went home. It was fun. :) P called later that night and told us that never before had she seen such a precious and heart felt umbrella. She told us she will never ever throw it out. It felt really good to do something nice for her. I really love her and her family. 

Anyways….I'll stop going on and on and let you guys get back to your lives. But just as a spiritual message this week.....

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=3267475157001

This video really demonstrates the importance and the true meaning of loving one another. All of us are different but to our Heavenly Father we are all His children. May we look for those who are struggling, picked on, or who are needing a friend. Take the challenge that Jesus gave to all of us to “love one another, as I have loved you.”

I love you all. Have a great week. <3 

Sister Heyer

Update From the Ark

Beautiful Jaguariuna

Well...it poured almost every day this week. If it weren’t for the fact that the scriptures say that God promised never to flood the whole Earth again, I would start building an ark. The best day was when we got home to find that the sisters left the front room window open and the whole study room was filled with about 2 inches of water. That was fun to clean up. Baptism forms and pass along cards were literally floating.... 

Apart from the rain, this week was AWESOME! Easily one of the best weeks on my mission. Which is funny because nothing super extraordinary or adventurous happened. We just....WORKED a ton. And actually had results! 

Friday night the other pair of Sisters organized two members to take them and a family who are investigating the church to the temple. After everything fell into place to take them, their investigator cancelled. They asked us if maybe we wanted to take the rides and invite one of our investigators to go see the temple. We of course accepted and started calling around. We thought in P and M, our family who we have been teaching. But she didn’t answer. Nobody was answering the phone. Finally we did what we always do....fell on our knees and said a prayer. Sister M said that the first person we call and answers will be who goes. We finished the prayer and called P again. AND SHE ANSWERED! Better than that....it only took her about 2 seconds to accept our invite! So on Saturday we split into 2 cars and took their whole family (mom, dad, and two sons) to the temple.

At the Temple

It was an amazing experience. The spirit was so strong the whole time and the temple was of course BEAUTIFUL. There is a little room inside the temple that is a waiting room open for everyone. We went inside and sat there for a while enjoying the peace. A temple missionary who happened to be an older American gentleman came in and in the cutest Portuguese explained about how families can be forever and that the temple is the house of the Lord where we can make everlasting covenants that stay with us even when we die. It was really sweet and the spirit was just so strong. It was interesting because H (10) and I (2.5) were super quiet and respectful the whole time. They listened very attentively and weren’t even bored even though we sat for quite awhile inside. After he finished sharing with them a little bit about the temple he invited H to come back and eat a big mac with him sometime. It was pretty cute. P and M were just glowing.

We took some pictures in the front and then stood talking for a while in front because P said she didn’t want to leave yet....Sister M asked I (2.5) what his favorite part was. He left us all a little teary when he immediately answered very sincerely and reverently "to go inside". It was incredible. We could tell P and M were really touched. He could have said running in the grass or sticking his hands in the fountain that is in front....but for him the most special and memorable moment as a little 2 year old was to go inside and sit on the couch quietly in the temple. On the way home I rode with P. We talked for a good hour about testimony and about eternal families. She told me in the end that she has always felt she was the only person on the planet who felt that a woman’s purpose is to be a mother and stay home and raise her kids in the word of God. She said that she has always felt strange or even alienated for this belief. And then she said that she felt this way....until she met us. And now she sees that she is not alone in her beliefs. That this way of life is not dead. She was so impressed. And she told me that she is just loving getting to know about the church. It was one of the first times that she didn’t bring up her church and compare hers with ours. It was the first time that she really had a spiritual moment and I believe a testifying moment....that this church is not just a church. And that maybe...just maybe it could be for her. 

The next day their whole family went to church with us. They loved it. She told us she has tons of questions and is so happy and curious and agreed with everything she heard. She wants us to come before our normal time on Sat. So we will go tomorrow. We are so excited because SHE is so excited. We know that she is very involved at her church and is very stubborn. But we have a lot of faith and hope that she will find what she is looking for within the walls of the gospel and that she will have the courage to enter in. Please remember her and her family in your prayers. 

Celebrating the halfway mark...9 months.

I don’t know if I have mentioned Pa before but she is our "eternal investigator". We have been teaching her for weeks. And she was taught by the Elders before us too. She had a date to be baptized but then the elders left (or I should say...THE elder left....-_-) and she got confused. She hasn’t been talking to us for about a week. As a last attempt we bought her M&Ms and wrote her a cute little letter expressing our love and concern with a list of inspiring scriptures about going back to church and not giving up. (My favorite being 1 Thessalonians 1:8...which was really true considering how determined we are to help her) We then put it in her mail box because she wasn’t home. The next day she called! And asked to meet with us. We thought she was going to tell us to beat it and leave her alone. But instead she made us a huge dinner and then asked if she could be baptized! 0.0 It was crazy!!! We set up her interview for this Saturday and then she will return to church and be baptized next saturday. It will be our last week here and we can finish it off with a very special and very spiritual baptism. We are STOKED. To say the least. We are going to go to the temple with her before her interview and then come back in time for the zone leaders to get here and interview her. She is so happy. She cried with us. Her dream is to find her true love and be married in the temple for time and all eternity. This one little dream is leading her to make the best decision of her life. (And as a side note I invited her to my wedding (in the future) and to come hang out with me at BYU Idaho. She is 22. And we love all the same movies and books. Found my Brasilian best friend.) <3 Please pray for her too. She needs it. As she said herself…every time she wants to get baptized something bad happens that keeps her from going through with it. But we are determined to see it through. She is just too special to give up on her. 

Hiding under Sister B's bed to surprise her for her b-day!

Anyways....that was my week. Two events that may seem little but for us....it was like a huge Christmas present. I am so happy. :) And as a cherry on top...Elder Nelson asked me to lead the music at our multizone meeting with Elder Costa (Area President) on Wednesday. I love leading the music. So I’m stoked. Again. :) I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!! 

Alright, well I’ll stop bugging you guys and finish this up. I love you all and I am so grateful for your love and support. Have a great week! 

Sister Heyer

Ps- A wonderful friend of mine sent me a link to a video that I loved and thought I would share with you. :) Enjoy. 

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=911129092001

4 But as we were ^aallowed of God to be ^bput in ^ctrust with the gospel, even so we ^dspeak; not as ^epleasing men, but God, which^ftrieth our hearts.

9 For ye remember, brethren, our labour and ^atravail: for^blabouring night and day, because we would not be ^cchargeableunto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God. - Thessalonians 2