Adventures of Sister Abdon and Sister Hemmert: Lice, and a Gospel of Miracles

Happy Thanksgiving Sister Hemmert, you will never guess what i'm a so grateful for:

A companion who stays up until the wee hours helping me remove lice from my hair! Yes. For the first time in my life, I got lice! :( I had to call our President's wife and she prescribed a medicine for me to take. When we hung up she re-called and told us that we need to change all the sheets in our apartment (which we had already done!) but in the background we hear the very distinctive laughter of our Presidente. #vidamissionaria 

Today i'll be in the salon getting my hair done and i think I'll start coloring my hair so that this never happens again! haha! 

I was a little bit dramatic this week as a result of the lice incident of 2016, and it didnt help that in every house we visited my companheira brought up the topic of lice com (with) them. Sure, she didn't say that I had lice but only she got a kick out of it hahah gotta love my companheira 

Anyways, we have been working a lot with some amazing families here of pesquisadores and less actives. It has been such a privilege to help them return to church or see them experiencing everything for the first time. I'm truly grateful for this chance to serve so many amazing families through the gospel. 

One family, Rodolfo and Joyce, are a unique case. A few days ago he had an accident at work and decided to call a ward member to come pray for him. He was baptized with 11 anos (years) and when his family stopped coming to church he had been preparing to serve a missionary. His life took a turn and he starting working for people that he shouldn't have. Now, he is trying to turn his life around. He has a beautiful family that he is trying, this time, to bless with the gospel that he knows is true. 

Come Sunday morning it is pouring rain. On a good day we have 30 or 40 people in the sacrament meeting, but without fault, on rainy days our frequencia falls. We weren't expecting many. Clearly we were hoping and praying, but when we arrived to find Rodolfo and his son, Elizeu and his whole family(less active), Suelem and Rogerio (LA), and many more. 53 people in all, we felt extremely blessed. Such an amazing opportunity. 

I'm so grateful for this gospel and know with certainty that in this day and age, the greatest miracles are not healing the blind or sick or afflicted, because God has already blessed us with this as a daily miracle. No, the great miracle of our day is change in a life and person that comes through the principals of the gospel. 

This is a gospel of miracles. And I'm so grateful to be a part of it.

Anyways, these have been the adventures of Sister's Abdon and Hemmert, Bagé, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil

With all my love!

Sister Hemmert

Agradecer (to thank)

I think every single letter home will start will, "I can't believe the time is passing so fast!!" haha Because seriously, I can't believe it. Every week that passes I look back and think, "Didn't I arrive yesterday? How can it already be October? Halloween? November? Thanksgiving??"

Where does the time go?

Since it is Thanksgiving weekend I want to "agradecer" (to thank)

Eu sou grata por minha Família e o apoio eles me dão.

Agradeço por minha oportunidade servir em Brasil e aprender um idioma novo. Agradeço por minha oportunidade de sentir o espirito testificando para mim todos os dias. Sou grata por minha companheira e todos ela faz para nos, especificamente comida:) 

Agradeço por meu Salvador. Eu não estaria aqui se não fosse por causa Ele. Graças a Ele, eu vivo. Por causa Ele, eu servo. Graças a Ele, nos podemos voltar a presença de nosso Pai e viver com uma família eterna.

I'm so grateful for my Family and the support they offer me.

I thank my Father in Heaven every day for my opportunity to serve here in Brasil and learn a new language. I'm thankful for my opportunity to feel the spirit testifying for me every day. 

I'm thankful for my companheira and everything she makes for us, especially food:)

Finally, I'm so grateful for my Savior. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Him. Because of Him, I live. Because of Him, I serve. Because of Him, we can return to the presence of our Father and live in a eternal family.

I have a million more things I can "agradecer," but for now I got to go! Grateful I had this little time to talk with you!

I'm so grateful for every single one of you. I love you all and wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

-Sister Hemmert

Fruits of our Labors

Sister Abdon holding Pitanga -I don't like this very much but it is super pretty fruit! haha!

Maracuja do Mato

I'm staying in Bagé! 

This week was amazing! A week of miracles and exotic fruits! haha! I sent a bunch of pictures of all the fruit we've been finding these days! I hope you'll get them all! My companheira eats everything, and i mean everything that grows here! We've found hortelã (mint) and Oliveira and started making tea every morning! And anytime we pass a house with fruit in the yard we share with the owners what we have of "mais importancia" (the gospel) and they share with us what they have (fruits) kkk :)

It's been amazing serving here in Bagé and this week has topped them all. I forgot that I had an aniversario this week! 8 months! Can you believe it!? I doesn't feel like its almost Christmas but everyone is already decorating here! I super excited to spend my first Christmas in a warmer climate! And by warmer i mean boiling! haha The exact opposite of a white Christmas!

The weather here reminds me a lot of home to be honest. It's very bipolar! We experience every season in one day! I will never complain about the cold though, because I think I'll be begging for it come summer! 
 
This month we have a goal to baptize 5 people for every dupla de missionaries (20 in all). We've been working MUITO (much), to find these people who are waiting and ready to accept the gospel. 


This week we found so many people amazing! I can't remember if I told you about Daniel yet, but he is a student here studying in Bagé. He entered the church website the other day, started researching and deciding to ask for a Book of Mormon. We received the referencia from the Mission Home and headed off in pursuit of him! We didn't have time to leave a message with him the day that we encountered Daniel, but when we returned a few days after he already had read the pamphlet about the Resturação, the introduction of the LDM and the first chapter of Nephi! And he had a bunch of questions! 

This Sunday, a recent convert, Emerson, gave us a helping hand and brought Daniel to church. And guess what?? He sang every single hymn! Not kidding. Normally, Pesquisadores stay really quiet during the hymns. Nope! 


But I think it was really because this Sunday was the Primary Prensentation! We don't have many people active in our ward and those who are don't have many primary age kids, but one of the girls, Marjori, invited all of her friends to participate in the apresentação! Most of the primary kids were pesquisadores! haha It was adorable!

Normally we only have 40-ish people in the sacramental, but this sunday there were 72 peoples! and 10 pesquisadores! You would think with more people there would be more noise. But no. It was the most spiritual sacrament meeting I have yet had in my mission! I could not me more happy.  


And just to finish here. Saturday we received our transferencias. Sister Abdon was transferred for another lugar (place). I was really sad, because I loved serving with her. It was almost 10:30 when we got the call so I hopped in the shower real quick before bed. 
 
When I was done she informed me that 2 minutes after she had been transferred our Presidente called and said that he had decided that after all she should NOT be transferred! 

Looks like we have something important to do here! The Lord wants us here so here is where we'll stay! Here is where we'll work! The field is white and ready in Bagé! 

So excited! 
Much love! Sister Hemmert

Jabuticaba Tree and Fruit

Jejum (Fasting)

The weeks are flying by! I can hardly believe its already November! Soon it will be Dezembro and you know what that means?? 9 months da missão!! How can it be?

This week, though so fast, was amazing. I wish I could film every moment to send home so that you can live what I live and experience what I experience. So many blessings. I'm learning so much and gaining an appreciation for the scriptures that I never had in my life. But also, I starting to feel every day more the hand of the Lord guiding my steps.

Normally we don't have time to hear the classes in Relief Society or Princípios do Evangelho (Gospel Doctrine) because we are out bring our pesquisadores and MAs to church. This week we didn't have anyone who could, and had to trust in the Lord that someone would.

We were sitting in the Relief Society listening to the RS Presidente Helouisa lesson about A Mulher Santo Dos Últimos Dias (A Latter Day Saint Woman). And the first thought in my head was my mom. I am truly grateful for her example in my life. We discussed how some people are, "Sentados nos Ultimos Dias (Seated in the latter days). They let this life pass by and expect blessings to fall in front of them.

For me, my mom is an example of a Latter Day Woman. She is a "guerreira" (warrior) and one of the hardest workers I know. She goes after what she wants and what her family needs. I am so grateful for her. 

Yesterday I was with a Young woman from the ward teaching Suzanne. She has 4 little kids under the age of 12 and her boyfriend has 15 years less active. She really wants to be baptized but Cristiano doesnt want to get married. And yesterday before we arrived Social workers passed her house because someone had reported her as a possible unfit parent. 

I cant help but see her and her family and think of how blessed my life is and how much I desire for Suzanne to have these blessings for her life. She fights everyday to feed her family and care for them. 

I ended up sharing with her Mosias 4:14-15. And promising for her that she will receive everything she needs to do exactly what she needs to to care for her children and to establish her family over a firm foundation that is Christ.  

This week we also had an activty with the youth. It was super awesome! We set up a bunch of minute to win it it games for them! I need to have one of young women post on Facebook and tag me so that you can see all that we did! 

Afterwards, we challenged every single youth to fast. Some of them for the first time and Sunday morning almost every single one of them shared their testimony about the experience they had. It was super great to see how they are growing and becoming more involved in the work of the Lord!

How sweet is the work.

Com amor,

Sister Hemmert