Week 77~Welcome Home Sister Lockhart

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week 76~"Hurrah for Israel"

Future Missionary

What a week!

This week we had Junior´s baptism which was really special. When he bore his testimony at the baptism, he talked about how he used to be atheist, but now he can see how God is blessing his life and that he always wants Jesus by his side to help him keep the commandments and that the church is true. All I can say is ´´Hurrah for Israel!!!´´

We also had a general authority, Elder Nielson, come to our mission and talk about missionary work. It was really special. He told us about how he had the opportunity to read the journals of Wilford Woodruf and his accounts with the prophet Joseph Smith. Something that Joseph told his bretheren is that ´´You don´t have any more knowledge than a babe on a mother´s lap of the destiny of this kingdom.´´ Amen. Then he showed us the new videos of the new Christmas Campaign that they´re going to do which is called Light the World. But they´re not out yet so it was exclusive hahah and then he thought Brasilians didn´t know what youtube was, which was kind of embarassing.

I don´t have anything else to say except that I love the Gospel, I love my Savior, and I love missionary work! This week I´ll get to visit the other areas that I served in. Thank you all for everything you´ve done for me. I´ll give you all a big hug and kiss when I get home!

Love, 

Sister Lockhart

Junior's dad, Junior, Valeria, Luan, Felipe

Hahaha...

Last P-day...we went bowling

Week 75~"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year"

The Shopping Mall getting ready for Christmas

Hello again! It seems like yesterday I wrote my last email. Time flies!

This week was pretty special. Junior, Luan´s brother, decided that he wants to be baptized. Actually it was pretty funny, we arrived at his house and we shared a mormon message with him about God´s will and when the video was over he called his mom to the room and asked when she would be working during the week and when she asked why he said ´´Because I´m going to be baptized and we need to work out the time.´´ And we were just sitting there like ´´did this really just happen?´´ But afterward his mom and brother started to say that he wasn´t ready and all. They were going to go to the beach this weekend, but Junior said that if they went he would go to church instead. And he came!! Alone!! We gave him the baptism paper to have his mom sign so let´s pray that everything works out this week for him to be baptized.

Also this week Priscilla is smoking less and is excited for her baptism. She still has a lot of questions, but is determined to follow because she feels good about the decision. She already kicked the ´´bad man´´ out of the house (boyfriend), and she´s been goiong to the classes for Auto-suficiência. She´s progressing great.

This sunday was probably the best sunday of my mission because it was completely stress-free and all of our investigators who are on date to be baptized came to church. God is good. This week I was able to feel lots of joy because our investigators are really living the scripture in Mosiah 5:2. I can say that it´s good to baptize, but to see the conversion in people´s lives is what makes me most happy. I love the gospel!

Love you all! Until next week!

Love,

Sister Lockhart

Family Home Evening with a family that is returning to Church

Dottie!!!

Week 74~"The Book is Blue, The Church is True..."

Hello my people, this week certainly had its ups and downs, but we know that in our times of trial is the time of great learning.

This week we went to the temple with Beatriz, our investigator who was supposed to baptized on Sunday. We went and had a lesson there which was really spiritual and we left her in the waiting room in the temple to read the Book of Mormon and search for her answer. When we returned she said that she had gotten her answer and would be baptized. What a miracle! But it just so happens that Satan also has angels and works hard too and Beatriz got scared to make the decision and so her baptism has been put off for now. But the book is blue and the church is true.

Other than that, we´ve been working a lot with Luan´s brother who is progressing really well. He downloaded the Gospel Library app and has been reading the Book of Mormon everyday. And now he´s been asking about the Commandments so that he doesn´t sin in ignorance. I have a real testimony of the Book of Mormon in conversion. 

We´ll be having interviews with President this week which will be great. We´ve been reactivating less active families which is awesome. And we´ve been handing out candy to people when we do contacts in the spirit of halloween which might seem creepy, but people like it. Haha. That´s it for this week. Until the next, 

Love,

Sister Lockhart

At the temple with Beatriz (her son Igor was bit by a dog)

Isaiah 40:31

Luan received the priesthood and blessed the sacrament this week

Week 73~Order and Progress...

São Paulo is full of hills that are trying to kill me...

Hi everyone, another day another dollar! 

This week we worked a lot with our investigators who are preparing to be baptized. They are having a lot of progress so that´s great. Unfortunately Beatriz wasn´t home on sunday so she didn´t go to church. She was supposed to be baptized this Saturday, but we feel that she needs a bit more time to prepare herself. But she´s doing great too. Priscila was able to come on sunday, but it´s a bit complicated situation with the dad of the kid´s. But we are working with the bishopbric to work everything out. Also, we brought two young women to church, Sara and Samara. They are from Rio de Janeiro and have a strong accent. They are really shy so that´s why their mom is all like ´´Please take them to church and have them make friends!!!´´ They are going to come with us tomorrow to the English Class at the church too.

But other than, we have been finding less-active families too. We found a family whose just great. We left them with a message and one of the ladies said ´´I had a feeling you Sisters were going to come today and invite us to church and I´ve been touched by your message that I´ll go to church!´´ And the miracle is that she actually came! They are an awesome family really.

But that´s really about it for this week. Just working until the end. Here´s just one picture.

Love you all!

Sister Lockhart

Week 72~God's not Dead...

Family Home Evening with Rita

(the great thing about returning to an old area

 is that you get to visit the people you taught)

Hello people!

 The time is passing by really fast, but let me give you a rundown of the week.

So we have been following up on Luan´s brother, Junior, and we talked to him yesterday about baptism. He said that he is seeing the change in his life because he used to not believe in God, but now he believes. And he is going to church and reading the Book of Mórmon which is just great! We made a goal to baptize him in the beginning of November. He said if he feels he should, he will. 

Also this past wednesday was Children´s Day and there was a neat activity at the church. We brought our investigator Bea who is progressing well. We went with her and her little two year old and it was nice and also awkward because we couldn´t like pick up the children. But there was a ball pit and trampoline and little Igor (Bea´s son) was very content. 

Priscila also came to church this week and accepted a date to be baptized. Priscila is the first investigator that I can remember who drove to the church in her car. She is passing through some trials, but she is a strong woman who wants to change her life and knows that something was missing from it. And that´s when we called by accident and she said she wanted to know more about the church. God works in mysterious ways. 

That´s all I´m going to write for this week. Love you all and stay safe!

Love,

Sister Lockhart

Sara and Rafael are returning to the Church and they bought us pizza

Week 71~Probably the Busiest Week of my Mission...

Me, Sister Perez, Luan, Felipe

Hello all! I heard about the hurricane that passed through the Carolinas. I hope everyone is safe and okay! You´re in my prayers.

But as for this week, this week was probably one of the busiest weeks of my mission. First of all, on thursday we went to accompany Luan with his Book of Mormon reading, but instead we had ´´real talk´´ with him about baptism and why he didn´t want to be baptized. During the middle of the conversation he said ´´Well, it´s not that I don´t want to be baptized, I do...´´ and he told us that he was afraid to make a big mistake after baptism. So we explained the Atonement more in depth and he said ´´Ok, so when am I going to be baptized?´´ !!! Remember that this is on thursday and his mom was going to get a day off saturday, but Luan felt it would be too soon, but his mom wouldn´t be able to stay on sunday if the baptism were sunday and also he didn´t want to have to wait another week to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. So Luan was baptized Saturday. 

On Saturday we went to the temple with a family we are working with to be sealed. There daughter isn´t baptized yet, and we felt the spirit really strong in the waiting room of the temple.She knows she needs to be baptized, but she doesn´t feel prepared, but she seems to be changing.

After the temple we were invited to an english school to help students practice their english. Me and another american Elder sat up in the front and answered the student´s questions that they had prepared, but they started asking questions about our work and about why we decided to do this and it turned into a very special, spritual moment and I know that we left a good impression there. I felt like I was on the Ellen show or something, it was awesome.

Luan´s baptism went great, President Thomas and Sister Thomas came! It was very special. Luan bore his testimony and made everyone cry haha. Afterwards he received the gift of the Holy Ghost on sunday and his brother and cousin came. After church we went to visit him, but he went to say goodbye to our district leader so we talked to his brother Junior and his cousin Rafael. Junior said that when Luan bore his testimony, he felt something. Junior is atheist like Luan was, but he said he noted the big difference in Luan now that he is interested in knowing for himself if these things are true and he´s going to read the Book of Mormon. Rafael is evangelical, and his dad is pastor so he heard a lot of bad things about the church, but at the baptism and at church he said he knows that the stuff he heard isn´t true and asked for a Book of Mormon to read when he goes back home (he lives in the interior) . The missionaries there are going to visit him! Hoorah!

This week was just a great week full of miracles. Know that I love you all and Hurrah for Israel!

Love,

Sister Lockhart

Prepare yourselves for photos

Last District Meeting of the Transfer

At the Temple

Let"s Speak English

Rafael, Junior, Luan,Felipe, Valeria

After Church

Week 70~Sing a Little Louder, Sing a Little Prouder...

Hello everyone! Thiss week was great! I hope everyone had a great general conference. General conference is pretty stressful for missionaries here because we have to get rides for all of our investigators, but everything worked out in the end. We had 3 investigators at church, including Luan. The others were Bea and Odete. We hope to progress with them this week.

This past week we had a Multi-zone conference which was great. I gave my parting testimony which was a surprise because I still got 2 months left, but whatever, it was nice. Sou muito grata pela missão! President changed a lot of stuff that we are going to be doing on the mission now so everybody has to adjust. He also made everyone feel guilty for not doing contacts on the bus. So when we were returning home I told my companion let´s sing some hymns. So we started singing and one dude started filming us and started mocking us so I told the greenie to sing louder. Maybe that´s why people think Mormons are annoying, but I´m proud to be one of those. From now on when we ride the bus, we are going to sing a hymn and pass out pass-along-cards. It´s great!

I really liked Elder Ucthdorf´s talk on faith during the Women´s Session in general conference. ´´Faith isn´t to change the will of the Lord, but it is to act in line of his will.´´ (something like that) I also liked that one guy´s talk (my notes are at home) about the 12-year old girl and her conversion to the Book of Mormon. It´s true! It really is! Thank you all for your prayers and support! Until next week!

Love,

Sister Lockhart

President took all the zones out to lunch

We're cool...

No, we're all crazy

Week 69~Weddings & Cultural Fairs

Hey guys! This week was smooth.

First of all there was a wedding in the ward! Luzinete and Edivaldo have been going to church for 2 years but were never baptized because they didn´t want to get married. But miracles happen and they were married on Saturday. It was my first wedding that I´ve attended here in brasil and it was pretty cool haha.

This week Luan came to church again and brought his mom who is so nice. Luan is progressing really well and is really liking the church. His brother, Junior, didn´t wake up to come to church because it was cold outside, but next week we´ll get him for sure! 

We also got invited to a cultural fair where a few young men and young women go to school. It was pretty cool to see what a brasilian school is like. It´s very very different haha. They did a fair about technology which was cool. A few students did a project about dengue which was cool. Afterwards we got to talk to a lot of friends of the members and everyone was like ´´You´re mormons? Cool!!´´ 

A miracle for the week: we got a referral on our cellphone that said this lady sent an email to the church saying she wanted to receive the missionaries. So we got there and she said ´´I knew it was you when you rang my doorbell.´´ haha. But it turns out she already received the missionaries, but wasn´t baptized because, well actually she won´t tell us why. But she said she misses all the books of the church and that she wants to start over. So that´s why we´re here!

Here´s some pictures from last week I didn´t send. Love you all! Until next week!

Love,

Sister Lockhart

Master Chef

Culture Fair

Week 68~Master Chef...

Hey guys! This week was great!

First of all, we got a great referral from our district leader. His name is Luan and he is the friend of a recent convert in our district leader´s ward. He went to his friend´s baptism and became interested in the church and wanted to have the same change of lifestyle that his friend had. 2 weeks ago he was atheist, but now he´s going to church, saying his prayers, reading the Book of Mormon and says that now he can see that God really exists. He´s just a great blessing. We are also teaching his brother, Junior, who is atheist too. But is starting to pray too. Their mom supports everything and they all promised to come to church next Sunday! :D

We also got a referral from a member who´s son is a less active and got married recently. Her name is Isabel and is evangelical, but likes our church and she is way cool too. We´re going to make a goal to have her baptized in the next month and have them sealed in the next year. 

These are the main two people we are working with right now. We also had a ward activity (I think this is the second ward activity I´ve had on the mission) and it was a hit! We did Master Chef Desserts! All the members brought a dessert and the people who were visiting were the judges. It was great! Isabel went and loved it and we also got a few referrals from there too. Ward activities are a great tool in missionary work (hint hint!!) 

We also had a meeting just for the sister missionaries at the Mission President´s house which was cool. They had a bunch of Sisters who work at the Headquarters of the church come and give talks. It was awesome. Then they bought us pizza with the crust filled with chocolate (you will never taste anything better than pizza from São Paulo with the crust filled with chocolate, trust me.) The best lunch ever.

That´s about it for this week. I made french toast today for everyone in our house and Sister Thomas gave us maple syrup. It was heavenly. Here´s some pics. Love you all! Until next week!

Love,

Sister Lockhart

French Toast

Sister Perez, me and Luan

Week 67~Blast from the Past

Hey ya´ll, another week down and a few more to go. This week was a blast from the past because we got to do a service project! Yay!

This past week was Independence day for Brasil so all the missionaries coordinated with the stakes to do a service project for ´´Mãos que ajudam´´ or the mormon helping hands group, I forgot what that group is called. So we went to the old folk´s home! And we sang and talked to the old people like we did when I was in young women´s. It was great. I also got to see people from Jardim Celeste which was my first area and all the kids ran up to me and were like ´´It´s the american sister that I helped with portuguese!!´´ Hahaha it was cute.

Let´s see, this week Ramatis is traveling, Fabio cut us because he said he is content with his church, The Temple of Solomon. We brought two young women to church and Danilo came!!!! (Danilo is Stefani and Paloma´s brother) His mom is supporting him now coming to church which is good. When you open up an area, things are kind of slow in the beginning because you have to find people to teach, but at least that means there is a lot of work to do. This is like my 4th time opening up an area, so I guess you could, as my family would say, call me a professional. Hahaha. 

Not much to say, but here is a lot of pictures that I stole from other people´s cameras. Until next week!

Love,

Sister Lockhart

 at the old folks home

singing "I am a Child of God"

my companion likes to take random pictures of me...

I found a Brasilian clone of my nephew...

Week 66~We <3 Taboão

Hello family and friends! 

This week was really great so let me just tell you about it. Disclaimer-this keyboard is really weird so sorry for the mistakes.

This week we have been working with two men. One is Ramatis who is a scientist, but believes in God (thank goodness). I actually found him last week on the plaza and we had a nice conversation and marked another visit with him. He went to church this sunday and liked it, which is good because he thinks that since God is nobel his church should be nobel too. We invited him to be baptized, but he has a hard time trusting people and said he has to look the person in the eyes who will baptize him. He is understanding more now that he needs to baptized, but still has not felt that God has answered his prayers.

The other guy we working with is Fabio. How we found him is cool actually. We were leaving our apartment and walking on the sidewalk when I said [Lets go this way instead]. And when we went the other way we made a contact with a guy who said he wanted to go to our church, but never had the courage to go alone. He came to church with us sunday too and we are planning to teach him at the temple! Whoo!

I could write a book about the miracles that have happened this week. We have had lots of spritual experiences this week. Thank you for your love and prayers! Until next week!

Love,
Sister Lockhart

The General Elections have Begun...

Week 65~Welcome Home...

Zona Taboão! (fireside about missionary work)

Haha hey people. 

This week was kind of crazy!

Turns out I´m being transferred back to Maria Rosa! What?! And I´m opening an area with Sister Peres whose from Chile. Apprently she´s cool so that´s good because the only thing I asked President Thomas was not to open an area. I don´t think he understood what it means to open an area, but at least I know my way around. And I get to see my recent converts at church all happy so that´s good too. And it´s also going to be my last area which is cool because I already know all the members, so it´ll be a warm going away. 

I´m not going to write a lot today, but here´s a pic! (I´ve gotten lazy with taking fotos whoops) Love you guys!

Sister Lockhart

Week 64~Hey Fam...

Don´t have a lot of time to write this week, but just know that I´m alive and safe lol don´t worry bout me!

~Jess

Having Fun making Chocolate Strawberries