One Year Older and Wiser Too!

Thanks so much for all the birthday wishes! It was pretty awesome to have a birthday in the field, but I glad it will be the first and last haha

This week was crazy busy. Wednesday was our wedding! Edilma and José Domingos got married and it was so fun. They are so in love and crazy happy. Unfortunately, José wasn´t able to quit smoking to get baptized, but we had a lesson with him Saturday that was one of the most spiritual of my mission. The four of us were all crying, and since then he has not smoked one cigarette!!! He will be baptized this Saturday.

Our alphabet class is going great. We have 4 students and they are learning really fast! We´ve started reading the Book of Mormon slowly, but surely and they are really getting the hang of it.

Saturday was my birthday and we had a baptism! Alexandre got baptized and was confirmed yesterday. Sister Chilson wrote me a sweet note and gave me some lotion which was awesome. All in all, it was a pretty good day!

Just wanted to end with my testimony really quickly that I know that Heavenly Father lives and loves us. I know that he has a plan for each one of us. I know that obedience brings blessings and true happiness. Thanks again and have a great week!!!

Love,

Sister Lopez

The World Cup Comes to a Close! (Finally)

Dear friends and family,

This week absolutely flew by. We had 2 World Cup games, but it´s all over now. Hopefully things will get back to normal! If you guys are seeing a lot of trouble in Brazil don´t worry because it´s just in San Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Here in the northeast is super calm. We had interviews with the Mission President, and he seems really great. He´s really calm and has an awesome testimony of what missionary work really is. I´m really excited to work with him! We also had a chance to chat with his wife and she is great too.

This wednesday we are going to have a wedding! José Domingos and Edilma will get married in the morning and then the evening will be his baptism. They are really awesome couple and he has an amazing testimony of the Gospel. Please keep them in your prayers so that everything will go smoothly will the wedding and baptism!

This week I read an awesome article in the Liahona by President Eyring. It talked about tithing, but the first thing he said was, "God gives us commandments so that He can bless us." I thought that was a really interesting concept. So this week I´ve been studying the commandments and the blessings associated with them. They are awesome!!! Our Heavenly Father really does love us and wants us to be happy. Every commandment brings blessings and helps us grow closer to Him. I know that obedience brings happiness. That doesn´t mean that our lives will be perfect, but it means that we will be able to endure will faith and hope. I know that this church is true. I know that God is our Heavenly Father and that He is there every step of the way. Sure love you all and hope you have a great week!!!

Love,
Sister Lopez

Vai Brasil!!!

Olá!

This week was interesting. Sister Alencar and Sister Mello left Monday night for their new areas, but because of the confusion with the new way to do transfers our new companions didn´t get here until Wednesday afternoon. Sister Nunes and I just hung out at a member´s house Tuesday which was fun. My new companion is Sister Chilson and she´s American!!! She´s from New York and she´s really sweet. We are already planning a party for the 4th of July :) We weren´t able to work much because she was sick Thursday and Friday, and Saturday Brazil won their soccer game so there was tons of parties, bonfires, fireworks, and, of course, drinking! But miracles are real because somehow we had 4 investigators at church, and we set dates for 3 baptisms! All in all, it was a good week.

Yesterday was 5th Sunday so the Branch President gave a training on missionary work! It was really good because he talked about how we can approach our friends about the Gospel. I admit that I was terrible at this before the mission, but one idea that I really liked was invite a family over for family night and invite the missionaries too. Tell your friends how inportant families are in the church and that the missionaries will give the lesson. It´s super non-threatening and there´s dessert at the end so everyone´s happy! It´s a great way to start conversations about the Gospel and then ask if they´d like to learn more. I know that missionary work is a huge part of our duty as members of the church. Sometimes it seems daunting, but an apostle of the Lord, Elder Holland, made us a promise. He said that when we invite with love, no one will get offended. I know that this is true. The Gospel is something precious and brings happiness! We just need to open our mouths and the Spirit will guide. Thanks for the love and support! Have an awesome week!

Love,

Sister Lopez

Oh we´re halfway there!

This week we had the Farewell of President and Sister Gonzaga, lots of soccer games, lots of rain, and Festa Junina! It made it a little hard to work, but the time went fast. I also celebrated 9 months on the mission! I can´t believe I´m halfway done. I feel like I just got here!

Festa Junina is like a Western Hoe-down. Everyone dresses in plaid, boots, and braids/pigtails. There´s music, dancing, and lots of food with corn. It was held in the church and tons of people came! We had a great time.

In other news, the transfer ended. Sister Alencar was transferred to Maceió and she is super excited. I don´t know who my new companion will be, but I´ll find out tomorrow. This next transfer will be 7 weeks so I hope I´ll like her! haha

This week I learned a valuable lesson about judging others. The Branch President´s wife gets sick a lot and doesn´t participate much in the branch. I thought she just needed to toughen up a bit. But yesterday we ate lunch at her house. I asked how she and President Nailson met. I couldn´t believe the story she told. She said that she had been married to another man for 23 years who was abusive. She stuck it out for so many years because they had children and she thought it would be better for them to have mother and father. After they seperated, she met and married President and ended up joining the church. This woman had stayed with a man who was physically abusive (and at one point tried to kill her) so for her children. I definitely don´t think of her as weak anymore. Just goes to show that most of the time, we have no idea what other people have been through. We are all brothers and sisters here on the Earth trying to live the best we know how. We need to love and serve, and I need to learn not to judge so quickly. I hope this week we can all take a second look at the people around us and remember that sometimes we don´t know the whole story. Have a great week and go USA!!!

Love,

Sister Lopez