The stone is rolling and can´t be stopped!

This week was absolutely incredible. It started Tuesday when we were looking for a house. There was a woman sitting on the side of the road with a bike (that´s really normal). Anyways, Sister Bento asked her if she knew where the road is we were looking for and then of course invited her to visit the church. She said ok (that´s normal too) and we started talking about the Gospel. She expressed some doubts that she had about religion and I asked if we could share a message with her. She agreed and we sat there next to her on the side of the road. (Side note: One of my favorite things is to teach people sitting outside. So much better than in the house :)) So we were teaching her about the Restoration and out of nowhere she asks, "Do you think that it was by chance that you stopped here?" We said no and then she said, "I know it wasn´t just chance. I was sitting here, thinking nonsense, and know I feel so much better. I know that it was God who sent you. I really will visit your church. I really want to." We finished the lesson, she accepted baptism, and we marked a return appointment. Her name is Jane. Unfortunately she had to work yesterday, but next week she´ll be at Church :)

Friday all of our appointments had ended early so we had a little time before our next appointment. We just started walking. Sister Bento said, "The next person we teach will get baptized." I saw a house with a car (that´s a little rare) and we decided to knock there. A woman answered with her 3 kids. We taught her, she accepted a baptismal date and everything! Super elect. Her name is Paula and we didn´t meet her husband/live-in boyfriend, but she said that they already have plans to get married! Hallelujah!

BUT the best miracle of all: Yesterday was the very first meeting of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in São Cristóvão! It´s a part of area super far away that now has a branch! There are already about 15 members and they are all really excited about the missionary work that can now take place. After the meeting, a brother came up to us and said he wanted to take us to visit a friend of his. Other people found out we were going to make a visit and decided to come. So 8 of us ended up going to teach a couple named Adelson and Maria. The lesson was awesome with everyone bearing testimony. Maria and Adelson accepted a baptismal date and the members arranged everything to pick them up next week for church. It was amazing!

I am so happy to be a missionary at this time when the work is hastening. The members make all the difference! I know that the Lord is preparing His children to hear His Gospel. The Gospel is what truly makes us happy, now and for eternity. Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Lopez

13 Months Down!

Lots to talk about this week! First off, a miracle! We got a text this week from a woman in our ward saying that a boy wanted to be baptized. Of course we got super excited and ran over to the address she gave us with the Bishop. There we met a family. The oldest daughter is 21 and is a less-active member of the Church. Her brother, João Paul, is 11. His mom decided that it was time for him to get baptized, and she dreamt that he was getting baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ. She asked João, of all the churches they had visited, where he wanted to be baptized. He said, "The Church of Jesus Christ!" So now we are going to teach João and get him ready to be baptized and we are also hoping to reactivate the sister and teach his parents too! His mom and dad are baptists, but don´t practice and like the Church a lot. I have lots of hope that this family will soon be eternal! ;)

Wednesday I went on exchanges with my very first companion, Sister Araújo. It was super fun to teach with her again and see how much we have both improved since last December haha. We went to one house to contact a reference. A woman let us in, and we noticed there were a bunch of people so I though we were interrupting dinner. But the man we were there to see came over and said that it was his mom´s 92nd birthday and asked if we could come back another day. We said of course! and then he asked is we wanted to meet his mom on this very special day. We agreed and went to a back room where an old lady was laying in bed sleeping. We didn´t really know what to say because she was asleep, but the few people in the room hugged us and welcomed us and said they were so happy that we were there to share this special day with them. As we were leaving we passed through the kitchen and the sister of the man had cut two huge pieces of chocolate cake and said they were for us. We tried to decline, but she insisted, saying that they had made a huge cake to celebrate with friends. So we ate our cake and then hugged everyone as we left. The man asked us to please pass by another day to talk more with him. It was so funny because we didn´t know anyone there, but everyone treated us like guests of honor and made us eat cake hahaha.

Another funny story: I spoke in the Saturday night Session of Stake Conference this weekend. I was talking about my first convert, Charles, and how he had depression and was super sad and skinny. I said that as we started teaching him his whole countenance changed, he was much happier and he started to gain weight. At this part everybody laughed. The next day the Stake President was speaking and said, "I want to thank all the speakers who spoke yesterday and today. We´ve learned a lot here. We learned from Sister Lopez that the Gospel makes you gain weight!" So now it´s the running joke of the entire stake that food doesn´t make you fat, it´s the Gospel haha. 

It´s not true that the Gospel makes you fat, but it sure does make you happy! I love sharing the Gospel with everyone everyday. The Stake President read some awesome mission experiences from his mission journal and then said, "These miracles and feelings aren´t just for full-time missionaries. They are for everyone who shares the Gospel." I love that! We are all missionaries so we will see miracles in our lives as we open our mouths and share the good news that has blessed our lives so much. I love the Gospel and I love my Savior. I love being a missionary so I don´t intend to ever stop :) Thanks for all the prayers and have an awesome week!

Love,

Sister Lopez

Another week in Paradise

Good morning!

I got a letter from Mom saying that I need to talk more about the people we are teaching. Sorry about that. Actually I forget what I´ve already wrote about haha, but I´ve repented and I´ll get better now.

So we are teaching this awesome couple named Erica and Antonio. They have been going to church for awhile now, but need to get married. They have 4 darling kids Ju (5), José (4), João Vitor (3), and Marcos (8 months). And Erica is only 19 years old!!! We went with them to the forum this week to mark their wedding, but unfortunately, they were missing one document. Erica´s mom will mail it and they´ll get married and baptized soon after.

We are teaching another couple named Rogèrio and Renata that have to get married too. Rogerio got baptized when he was 14, but left the church for a time. Now he´s come back and wants to raise his family in the church. Renata is 19 too and is 8 months pregnant. She is super cute and is loving the Church. We planned to go to the forum this week to mark their wedding. They read the Book of Mormon together almost everyday. Rogerio always has awesome stories to tell about his time in the church, and has a really strong testimony about Joseph Smith. 

This week we taught a family that had their home renovated by some famous Brazilian guy. The parents adopted tons of kids, so this man built an enormous house for them. It was a few years ago and later missionaries started teaching and baptized a bunch of the kids. They aren´t active anymore so we stopped by. It was a really cool lesson because we taught 11 young men, ages 6-20. Four of them were already baptized so we´re hoping to bring them back to church and bring all their family too!

Scripture: "For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so,(...) righteousness could not be brought to pass. neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad." 2 Nephi 2:11

Opposition is a part of life! If we never felt sad, we would never know what happiness is. Every trial helps us get better, be stronger, and when we make it through we will know what true joy is :) God´s plan is one of eternal happiness and we can count on His promises. Sure love you all and have a great week!

Love,

Sister Lopez 

Conferência Geral! (General Conference!)

Wow! What an awesome Conference this year! Hearing the speakers talk in their native languages was such a neat experience, especially being here while Elder Godoy spoke in Portuguese. It makes such a huge difference to hear the tone and emotion in the voices of the speakers! So awesome!

One talk that I especially like was by Elder Scott. He spoke on the importance of Family Prayer, Scripture Study, Family Night, and going to the Temple. Things that we´ve all heard a million times, but sometimes forget. The blessings that he promised were incredible if we will just do these 4 simple things :)

I know some of you have missionaries in the field and are probably getting things ready to send for Christmas so I wanted to make a list of things that every missionary would like to receive:

1. Food (easy things like mac & cheese, cereal, granola bars, popcorn, pretzels, peanut butter, cookie mix, etc.)

2. Candy/Chocolate

3. Toothbrush, toothpaste, floss

4. Deodorant, perfume, cologne, etc. (Their companion will thank you ;))

5. CD with church talks

6. CD with church music

7. Pictures of the family

8. Things to decorate planner covers or make cards (scrapbook paper, stickers, etc.)

9. Printed out talks to study

10. Clothes (ties, skirts, simple shirts)

11. GARMENTS

12. Easy recipes

13. Stationary/post it notes/envelopes (Maybe they´ll write a letter once in a while!)

14. Stickers/toys for the kids

15. Ensigns/Liahonas (especially the Conference edition)

16. UNO cards 

These are some ideas that my companions and I had. It´s a good idea to ask your missionary if there is anything specific that they need like shoes.

I know that our leaders are called and inspired by God. I know that the things talked about in the Conference yesterday are exactly what we need to know for the next 6 months. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God, that God lives and loves us, and that we are candidates for Eternal life because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Lopez

Eduardo Gomes with Sister Bento

My new area is called Eduardo Gomes and it´s part of the city São Cristóvão, close to Aracaju. It´s awesome! The ward was so welcoming. One Brother did not accept that I´m not Brazilian until I announced over the pulpit that I´m from the US haha

My new companion is Sister Bento. She´s from São Paulo and I absolutely adore her! We already work so well together and feel like we´ve been friends forever. We are Sister Training Leaders here which means we go on splits with the Sisters in our Zone. Our zone has the most Sisters in the mission so we are going to be really busy. Tomorrow we have a Leadership Meeting in Maceió which should be really great.

Yesterday we got to watch the General Women´s Broadcast at the Stake Center which was really neat. I loved the quote that Sister Marriott used, "If we want to offer light to others, we need to shine." So true. First we need to strengthen our own testimonies and then we need to share with others. The Gospel is one of hope and eternal happiness. As our family theme song states, "Be strong, be strong with me. We can help each other make it back home. Hold on, hold on with me to the standards and the truths that we know. We can help each other remember what we were sent here to be. Be strong, be strong with me." We aren´t alone here on Earth! We have family and friends who can help us and whom we can strenghen in return. God´s plan is so perfect! Be strong, love your neighbor, love your God. Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Lopez

Transfers to Aracaju!

We received an email today telling us everything about Transfers. I will be transfered to Aracaju which is the capital of Sergipe. I´m really excited because I wanted to go there, but I´m am so sad to leave Itabaiana. This is the first time that I cried leaving an area.

Saturday Nivaldo was baptized which is the biggest miracle! He has been visiting the church for more than 6 months, but finally made the decision to get baptized!!! It was so rewarding to see the light in his eyes and the change that has taken place in his life.

We had a fireside last night about Eternal Families. A young woman spoke on Family Prayer, a young man about Family Scripture Study, and Sister Chilson and I spoke on Family Home Evening. It was really awesome. I know that family is really important. What we learn at home is what we take with us into the world. I know that all we really need to do is pray, read the scriptures, and have family night together and we can have a Christ-centered home. If you aren´t so faithful in these things, start now! It´ll make all the difference. Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Lopez

The Importance of the Plan of Salvation

Dear everyone,

We had a great week. Something I learned: there is a snake here in Brazil that has 2 heads!!!! I didn´t see one (thank goodness), but a member started telling us about it. I didn´t believe it, but it´s true. So weird and freaky. 

Saturday we had a Branch Talent Show. Lots of people came and many participated.

Unfortunately, a member of the branch lost her son yesterday.  He was 38 years old. The Branch President announced in the Sacrament Meeting that the funeral would be 5pm. Afterwards we went to her house to show our support. Almost the entire branch showed up which was incredible to see. It was open casket and really strange because it looked like he was just there sleeping. I was so grateful for the Plan of Salvation and to know that death is just a temporary separation. I know that there is a God who loves us and is very aware of us. He knows our struggles and our pains, but He sees the bigger picture. I know that our families can be together forever through obedience to God´s commandments.

Love,

Sister Lopez

Muitas Coisas! (Lots of Things!)

This week was jammed-packed, which is great because the week goes by super fast. Wednesday we had Mission Tour. Elder Aiducaitis of the Seventy came and spoke to us about Chapter 8 in Preach My Gospel which talks about Using Time Wisely. He gave us some great ideas about making our weeks more productive. Really awesome. Something that I really liked that he said was about obedience, faith, and miracles. Ether 12 talks a lot about how miracles happen when we have faith, and he quoted Elder McConkie, "Faith is a gift from God given to those who are obedient." So if we are obedient we will have faith, and if we have faith we will make miracles!

Saturday night was a Relief Society Activity called, "Virtuous Women." They went all out. Gave me some good ideas for decorations for my wedding haha. They had 6 women dresses in tunics/dresses and they spoke a little about 6 women from the Bible (Eve, Sarah, Rebekah, Ruth, Ester, and Mary). Then they took off the tunics and spoke about their personal testimonies. It was super cool. Rubia, the Relief Society Preisdent, wanted to show how we aren´t different from the women of the scriptures. Each of us has a divine mission to complete here on the Earth.

I´m so grateful to be here on the mission and the opportunity I have to work with awesome leaders. I´m learning a lot about how to be a better member and a better leader when I get home. Sure love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love,

Sister Lopez

Happy Labor Day!

Dear Family and Friends,

Another week has come and gone and now it´s September!!! Woohooo!

There wasn´t too much exciting this week. We had a family night with Jucilene (the sister of our recent convert) in the home of a member of the Branch Presidency and she loved it. Later we taught the Word of Wisdom while she was drinking coffee and accepted to live it! It´s really true that the elect recognize the truth! Her brother started talking about how we also shouldn´t eat red meat or drink soda and we had to explain that that is a personal decision haha. Member-present lessons are always interesting :)

Yesterday the 4 of us were walking to an appointment when a woman came out of her house with a house tub of popcorn and gave some to two kids sitting in front. As we passed by she called us over and offered us some of her popcorn. We declined, but she insisted so we all grabbed a handful of popcorn. It was really funny and Sister Chilson and I laughed and said, "Only in Brazil..."

This week I am finishing up Ether in the Book of Mormon and I wanted to share this scripture:

"And now I know that this love which thou hast had for the children of men is charity; wherefore, except men shall have charity they cannot inherit that place which thou hast prepared in the mansions of thy Father." Ether 12:34

I really liked this scripture because really when it comes down to it, all you need is love! Jesus taught that the first great commandment is love God and the second is love you neighbor. If we love God, we will obey His commanments. If we love our neighbor, we will serve and share this wonderful Gospel. That is charity! We can do everything right, but if we don´t have charity, it won´t mean a thing. My challenge this week is to look for ways to serve. Be a little kinder; love a little more.

Love,

Sister Lopez

11 months down!

Today I have been a missionary for 11 months. How crazy! The weeks are starting to fly by.

Saturday we had a meeting in Lagarto. The men met with President Gomes (The Mission President) and the women with Sister Gomes. She talked a lot about the organizations of the Church. It was really awesome, especially here where there are only branches. 

I finished Mormon this week in the Book of Mormon and I wanted to share this verse:

"And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles." Mormon 9:19

I thought that was an awesome scripture. Truly our Heavenly Father is a God of miracles. He always wrought miracles, and always will. Look for the miracles this week and you´ll be sure to see a few!

Lots of love,

Sister Lopez