Reap While the Day Lasts

Hello!

This week was wonderful. Nothing crazy happened except for many inspired studies that obviously make the week much better. :) 

We found a couple, K and A, who WANT to get married and start a new life in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have been visiting them and they even went to church this week. It is beautiful to see. Reminds me of King Lamoni when he talks about giving up all his sins to know Christ. I see that in A as he tries to stop drinking and smoking. He has the faith to stop so I am confident that he will. 

Wonderful news! R and S will be getting SEALED in the temple most likely November 2! And they invited me to go! So I will be asking President and hopefully I can! I am so excited. It will be so beautiful! Ive been praying that this would happen before I leave and today she sent me an email. Nothing is better than seeing recent converts committing to the gospel and taking such important steps to their salvation. 

I am very happy. I have 9 weeks left and all I want to do is work. So that´s what we will do. My companion is wonderful. She is spunky and happy and energetic and a little crazy. So she is perfect. :) I love her. She is the best.  Will ask president to keep us together until I leave. The best part is that because she is training we get to do lots of specific studies together that are really neat. Its funny how even with already doing them many times.... I still learn something different each time. That makes it a lot neater when you are watching the episode from the district for the 100th time. haha. 

A young man here got his mission call to Porta Alegre Brasil! Here they read their call in front of everyone during sacrament. He was so nervous he was shaking! His story is neat....his mom isn’t active and his dad left their family years ago. He was inactive too for a long time but when he was 16 decided to come back. He was watching conference and felt really strongly that he needed to serve a mission. So he prepared and put his papers in. He is doing everything kind of alone...but the ward is helping and he is confident and strong. It is amazing to see. Takes a lot of courage to leave without family support.

Well I love you all! Have a good week!

Sister Heyer 

Everything is awesome!

T and A were baptized!!!! :D It was awesome. The ward totally took over everything. They made a slide show of pics and organized everything and brought cake and food for afterwards. It was a very quick and simple but beautiful baptism. They are very happy and of course, so are we. :) 

My companion and I are well. We have marked a few more baptisms and are in the process of helping one couple get married so they can be baptized the first week of November. They came to church this last week as well and loved it. :) We are very optimistic and are just working on surviving one day at a time. I’d be lying if I said that I am not exhausted or anxious to get home....buttttt I am happy and well and like I said....one day at a time. Just working to do my best and finish out strong. I now have 10 weeks left. But that is still plenty of time to make a bigger difference here in Itatiba. Vamos lá! 

We found a 12 year old girl who immediately loved the church.....she came to the baptism and to church and has already marked a few fun nights with the other young women including the movies this Wednesday. Crazy. hahaha. WE JUST FOUND HER and the ward likes her more than us. I love that. We were super happy. Now to work on getting the rest of her family to come! 

Remember that family I commented are my Brasil family and that they threw a party for me on my birthday? Well THIS is the dad´s story. It was published in the Liahona. It is amazing. Please read!

https://www.lds.org/liahona/2004/03/latter-day-saint-voices/find-the-missionaries-for-me?lang=eng&query=luis+sa+find+the+missionaries+liahona

Have a good week everybody! I love you all!

Sister Heyer

Almost forgot…

I gave a training this week in our zone meeting that I would like to share with you all. :) 

I talked about Lilies....how they grow in dirty waters....how they are made to grow and blossom in difficult circumstances but that they always come out on top (literally) and are beautiful. And I read D&C 88:19 about fulfilling the measure of our creation and Genesis 1:26-27 that we all know so well that says God created us in His image....to BE like him and to DOMINATE. I made a puzzle of a Lily and gave each person a piece and showed them that each piece is different and doesn’t really seem like anything big or important....but that without each piece the puzzle would never become what it was made to be....a beautiful painting. I showed them the original painting of the Lily and talked about their individual importance. I think it went alright. Everyone kept the puzzle pieces at least so I hope that was a sign. haha. 

It was fun to study for and I felt the spirit really strongly. :) Anyways. Have a good week!

There will be water in Itatiba!

T and A will be baptized this week! :D Saturday night. They are so excited and so are we! :) 

My new companion is Sister L. She is Brasilian from Natal. Wayyyyy up north. She is AWESOME!!!! She wants to work work work and so do I....so we have been running around like crazy all week. She will definitely run me into the ground but that’s okay....despite the physical and emotional exhaustion of it all I am very grateful to make the best out of these last weeks! She is a blessing. Not to mention she has a powerful testimony and the cutest accent. You would all love her. She is so little. She reminds me a lot of a mini Brandão, my trainer. 

We have expanded our teaching pool and are excited for a new week of work! Tomorrow I have to give training in the zone meeting to motivate them all. How do you motivate 38 people??? -_- hahaha. So that will be my challenge tonight to put together. 

This week was awesome! My birthday was wonderful. We ate lunch and celebrated with my Brasil Family and I was able to see a dear friend from Jaguariuna who came up to visit and celebrate with us. Apart from having my face shoved in the cake.... It was excellent! Afterwards we had a few great lessons and a very fun family night with some less actives and members where they embarrassed me with lots of singing. ;P When we got home I got my face shoved in a cake again.....but thankfully was spared the raw egg over the head tradition. It was very fun and overall an excellent 21st birthday. :) Even though I feel old. 

I don’t have a lot of time today unfortunately because I will be going to Campinas for a meeting.....but next week I will make up for it in the details. I love you all and hope you have a great week! 

Sister Heyer

It's another girl!

Yep! I stayed in Itatiba....and I will train again! I am so excited. As much as it is a challenge it is also so wonderful to feel really needed and to have the chance to help someone on this crazy journey that is a mission. I am very nervous but I am very excited to not make the same mistakes I did the first time. (I wonder if that's what my mom felt like when she had Dorey....the first one didn't turn out exactly what I planned but now I know how to fix it! ;P hehe) 

Also I am happy because I will stay for my birthday! A dear friend from Jaguariuna who is the daughter of the best family in the world here in Itatiba will drive up with her family and her NEW BABY to see me on my birthday. Her mom is going to make us lunch and everything and I will get to see her after many months. I am very excited to have a brasil family to celebrate with on my birthday. We also have lots of lessons marked. MIRACLES HAPPEN. :)

T and A will be baptized! On September 14th! They chose their own dates and are finally firm in their decision. I am very excited. 

I had a neat experience this week to witness the baptism of our ward mission leader's 8 year old daughter. It was so sweet. She cried when she came up out of the water and cried through the whole confirmation. She is a very special little girl. You just look at her and FEEL that she is destined for great things. She is the same little girl who took the time to pick a friend to share the gospel with, look up her address on google maps, write it down, and pass it to us. It is the most treasured reference I have ever received. She was so cute. She said "I just KNOW that she could be baptized. She doesn’t say ANY bad words! And she is almost 8!" Moved me to tears. We really can learn from the example of little children. Nothing is more precious or holy than a little child. 

I am excited to see what comes in these next 12 weeks that I have left. I know it will be a challenge but I am content. I am excited and happy. And old. -_- 21 snuck around the corner. ;P 

Have a great week everybody! <3

Sister Heyer

SO CLOSE!!!! 

https://www.lds.org/church/news/elder-holland-reports-brazil-is-a-nation-on-the-move?cid=HPFR082914380&lang=eng

It's been a longg hard nighttt....and I've been working like a dog

Actually my title is incorrect....I have been working a lot more than a dog. A dog does nothing except slober and bark and interrupt perfectly good lessons. (I have become dog bitter on my mission....still love them but I lost a little respect for them after I was almost knocked over by a HUGE 5 month old black lab running at full speed and jumping on me this week.....)

 This week was freezing. And rainy. We did not have much luck with any lesson. So I am trying to think what I could share. 

S and O are progressing little by little. What is funny is that all of the doubts and random things that O brings up in the lesson only help S to feel that it is true. SHE will answer and reexplain the things he doesn’t get (in annoyance but STILL....she is teaching him and understanding!) and in the process is remembering what we talk about and liking it even more each time. Our only concern is that they wont get baptized together. But then again....maybe thats what God wants. Maybe its just not O's time yet. They don’t get along very well and have said they only stay married because they are old and traditional and don’t believe in divorce. But the gospel works wonders so we shall see. 

T and A are becoming scared to get baptized for fear they will break the commandments later. Actually T.  A is fine. But one can’t get baptized without the other. They need each other to stay strong.  A is too young to walk alone to church. It has been a struggle. We are thinking of giving them some space for a few weeks. They will keep coming but we will pass them for the members to take care of more and we will visit less. I feel we can only explain so much before it is just a matter of their own faith and will power. 

I read an excellent talk that I would love for you all to read.....

http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1336

This week is Sister T (who lives with us) and Sister S's Birthday so I will be making a lotttt of cake this week. Also I will be singing at ward conference on Sunday. Without an accompanist. haha. That should be AWESOME. (eye roll) but it’ll work out. :)

Have a great week! :) Love you all! 

Sister Heyer

Three in One

[Vacation delayed the posting of these emails.  Sorry to leave you all hanging on where she got transferred!]

July 28: ITATIBA the land of the huge hills and few park benches.

HELLO! 

Well....I am currently in Itatiba! It is a city about an hour from Campinas famous for its huge mountain like hills and cold weather. HOWEVER....it is also the land of the S family (who I ADORE and met when I went on a division here a year ago and also in Jaguariuna where their daughter C lives....they are my family away from home. And Irmã S has her own sweets business and makes chocolates....I am in Zion.) My companion is....SISTER S. Who I lived with in Castelo for two transfers. It is the best! She has just one transfer less than me on the mission so I am finally blessed with a companion where all we do is WORK. She knows what she is doing and I think I know what I am doing. SO we are going to baptize the whole city and help make the needed changes in this ward. It is very interesting to see how Jaguariuna and Castelo both prepared me perfectly to face the challenges that this ward has. I am very excited. I feel that there is a TON to do but I feel like I am supposed to be here and my purpose is very clear. The ward is very excited that me and Sister T (who lives with us and has the same time as me...she is from Argentina) are here as well. We bore our testimonies yesterday and called the ward to the work. They seem really excited. Things have been a bit dead here for...almost a year. I’m excited to the challenge. It’s only been 5 days and we have already marked 2 baptisms and found a whole new teaching pool. The Lord is on our side and I can feel it! It’s awesome. 

The only down side is that none of my other areas prepared me physically for this area....the hills are long and huge....I have almost died going up and equally going down. But...I guess I won’t need my knees in my life after the mission. Also to get to our meetings we have to get up at 4:30. That was an unpleasant announcement. Oh well. I am leaving soon. I might as well just run myself down to the last day and get home dead. Better me than a newbie. ;P 

It has been 60 degrees all week and I have almost died. I feel like Lucky from 101 Dalmations....my nose is frozen....my ears are frozen.... the saddest part is that...its in the high 50s and low 60s!!!!!! THAT’S NOT EVEN COLD!!!! So I have discovered once again that I have become Brasilian. And that I will die when I return in the middle of Virginia November. 

Well I wish I had more....just that things are awesome and will continue to be awesome. 16 weeks! Bittersweet. <3 I love you all and have a good week! 

Sister Heyer

A must see if you haven’t.....

https://www.lds.org/youth/video/because-of-him?lang=eng

August 4: Short Term Memory Loss

I really don’t remember what happened this week.....

We worked. A ton. We had the most lessons and new investigators I have ever had on my whole mission. Ever. We met almost all of our weekly goals! We are kicking it and trying to ignore the little bumps that come along with the ward.

I am getting stronger and I can now climb the hills without dying. So that is a plus. 

I studied grace this week. There is no topic more interesting to me than the power of grace and the atonement. We studied D&C 93  and Jesus the Christ chapter 9 as a zone and had a very fascinating discussion about it that really opened my eyes about what it means to grow "grace by grace". Even Jesus Christ came to Earth and did not receive all the information and glory of God at once.He learned step by step in the times He was ready. THAT is what made him "qualified" to be called the Son of God....he had to learn how to communicate and NEED His Father in the process. Imagine if we were all born talking, eating, walking, knowing everything.....would we really NEED parents? No. The same with our Heavenly Father. If we dont learn step by step we wouldnt need to come to him for help. Nor would Jesus have needed to. Growing grace by grace does not mean one day we are bad and the next we are good. Sometimes it means that we are already good....and the next day we look to be better. We do not go from graceless to graceful. Just like Christ. We can ALWAYS do better. Our potential is INFINITE. If we believe it is and work to prove that statement. He asks us to be perfect because He knows that we are capable of it. 

We through a surprise bday party for Elder S and President and the Assistants came as well. It was fun. It was a good way to finish up an EXCELLENT meeting. I saw Sister H again! From my district in the MTC. It was great to see her! 

Well unfortunately I cannot remember much else from this week. Or maybe really nothing else happened. Sorry guys. Ill start making a daily list so these emails are more interesting. Have a good week! :D

Sister Heyer

August 11: Short and Sweet 

This will be short and sweet because I do not have time to write a lot. But I have some little updates!

J B: Is a recent convert (about 60 years old) who did not know how to read a few months ago....but is now reading the entire Book of Mormon! Out loud to us every week! He reads about 30 pages a week! He is already in the middle of Alma. It is amazing to see his progress. He is a live example of the power of God and the reality of miracles. 

G: We prayed to be able to enter in at least one house. We had a list of people that the missionaries in 2012 talked with them in the street and wrote their address down.....we went to the first name on the list. G. She opened the door, let us in, we taught the first lesson, and she accepted baptism for the 24th! It was crazy! She will have to make some pretty big changes in her life to be ready that day but she is showing her faith and wants to move forward! 

S and O: They are family members of a member in our ward. WE had a really neat first lesson with them! IT felt like for one of the first times I knew EXACTLY what to say and I felt 100% confident sharing it. The spirit was very strong and they agreed to meet with us tomorrow night again. After the lesson the member said it is the first time that her sister (S) has received the missionary visits....and ASKED them to come back and marked for a return visit. She always just listens politely and then never wants to hear more. But this time was different. She also informed us that over the past few years S and O got married legally, O stopped smoking, AND he stopped drinking. And now he only drinks coffee. Talk about PREPARED! IT was very exciting seeing the hand of the Lord literally preparing these people for the right moment. Its been 25 years of Irmã D trying to share the gospel with her sister....who knows. Maybe now is the right time. 

"Teaching the One": This week our zone leader gave us the very inspired challenge to look for "the one" needing the gospel and work to help ever individual person feel the love of Christ, be that member, or no. So we took the challenge and it was amazing the difference. We were able to feel more love for each person we came in contact with. We felt inspired to teach specific principles and we knew exactly what scriptures to share. I studied a really beautiful story from the liahona of july 2013 I think about "Teaching the One" that gave us a new vision as how to help this ward and this area. It was a very spiritual week full of true love of Christ. It was a neat experience and gave me a new vision for the rest of my mission. :) Here is the talk....you will need some tissues. I have read it twice and I cry every time! haha. 

https://www.lds.org/ensign/2013/07/teaching-the-one?lang=eng

Love you all and have a good week! 

Sister Heyer

Tchau Castelo!

Sister W trying to fit in Em's suitcase.  She doesn't want
Em to leave without her...

Welllll.....I was transferred. It makes sense....I have been here for 3 transfers already and I only have 2 left now so I needed to go somewhere else.  But it was still really hard to hear. I am really heart broken to leave Sister P before I finish her training. And Sister W and Sister S. Sister W goes home in 1 more transfer so we are particularly weepy together now. It’s hard to leave when you make best friends. :( I am excited to know where I am going but I also feel really sick. haha. I have no idea where or with who and I was already really tired and stressed before the transfer call so....now I’m a big mess. But that’s okay. It’s all part of the mission fun and I will survive as always. Just let me be really dramatic for a few more hours. 

E was confirmed! She cried so hard. It was so beautiful. She has comfortably moved into her new ward already and is very happy. So naturally we are too. T cried this week saying how I "saved her". I guess it’s still hard for me, a normal girl with my own mistakes and problems and only 20 (almost 21) to feel like I am "saving" someone. It’s an alarming responsibility that hasn’t really sunk into me yet....I do what the Lord asks. And I love it. End of story. I don’t really sit thinking about how I "save people". I don’t know. One day I hope to FEEL what she means by that statement. 

We sang in sacrament meeting (Sister W, Sister L and I) and then later all of the missionaries sang with the primary kids the baptism primary song at a baptism with Elder N accompanying on the Ukelele. It was cute. :) 

Well....that is really it for this week. I’ll let you all know where I am next week. I love you all. Wish me luck. Have a great week! Sorry it’s short!

Sister Heyer

D&C 68:6 Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am, and that I am to come.