Grand Opportunities

Can you believe that 6 weeks have 
already flown by? We are officially entering October folks! 

Significado: General Conference!! This will be my first General Conference in Portugues! It will definitely be an adventure having to watch Presidente Monson talk but hear a translator, but one way or another it will be amazing! I can hardly believe it was 6 months ago that I was in the CTM listening to Conference! 

This week went by so quickly I hardly remember what happened! 

We have two recent converts here, Alan(13) and Liane(10), siblings and they are seriously the sweetest! I love them like my own siblings! We had Family Home Evening in their house the other night and had assigned them to put it together and if we arrived and they needed help we would, but they literally did everything. They even bought a little bolo and juice with some of their birthday money! Which was such a surprise but they were so excited with all the preparations they had done! And we were also. They taught us about prayer and afterwards we played a couple games and one involved me being blindfolded and having to eat a spoonful of whatever they offered and guess what it was! Sister Agurto was fasting so she got off easy!;) 

I was thinking that though they taught us a lesson that they had come up with themselves, they taught me something else through their actions. 

They're parents aren't members and at first they weren't supportive. Now they are, but still I think of how great these kids are. They go to church every Sunday alone and participate in every activity they can. They are such an example for the youth here and still they are hungry for the gospel. They study the scriptures together and always have questions for us about how they can keep the commandments. They are an example for me. I've been a member all my life. All my family is in the church. But these kids, alone, have a firmeza na Igreja eu nunca tinha. 

Oops. Sometimes my brain forgets how to use english.

They have a strength in their testimony and actions that I never really had. I always knew it was true, but it wasn't until I was older that I really sought a testimony of my own. 

I'm so grateful to be here. Teaching and being taught by these people. There is so much to learn in the world and so much more to learn in the gospel. 

This is a grand opportunity in my life. I'm trying every day to use every moment to learn and grow. And this is my challenge for you all back home. Use every moment of this life to become a better person and remember the Person who gave this opportunity. 

All my love! 

Sister Hemmert

We Plan and God Laughs

I dont have much to report on this end because i blinked this week and it was already gone! 

I told Nana how I'm in need of a massage. We think that the Sisters who were here before us were jumping on our beds and broke them. Well, the other night i was sleeping and...crack! My already broken bed basically split in half (seriously, bed, I really haven't gained any weight ;) ) 

Thankfully after 5 weeks the assistant in the mission home bought new beds that will be arriving this week! I love camping, but sleeping on a mattress on the floor is starting to be one trial demais ;) jkjk

Schedule me a massage for the second monday in september, 2017! :) 

2017! how fast time flies! 

These weeks are passing so quickly. I almost don't have time to do everything I want to! I'm remembering more that little phrase, "We plan and God laughs," but with a doutrinal twist. As we learn from the Brother of Jarede, the Lord is willing and waiting to help us, but we have to come up with the plan and the goals, present them for the Lord, ask for what we need and afterwards...start working. There is no waiting in the work of the Lord. He is truly hastening the work. How patient is He with us, workers in His vineyard, who don't know yet that He is already laboring. Through Him we can be transformed, we can be instruments in His hands. 

The progress here in Rio Grande is slow going. We are really trying to find the balance here but this area is, Rio Grande do Sul, to tell the truth is built upon the sand. Our hope, our faith, and our work is in laying a sure foundation for growth here. We are in the work of conversion, helping not just investigators, but members, active or not, have this real change of heart that comes through the gospel.

I don't have an time left but I want to leave you with a quote from a youth speaker in our ward this week,

"Even the stars, in all their brilliance, aren't infinite, but we are."

We are of a substance divine, we have a divine potential. And through the Atonement of Christ we can be and do all. 

With all my love,

Sister Hemmert

Ask For Less, Be Thankful For More

This week has literally flown by! I honestly have no idea where it went! 

It's official. I have less than one year from this point on! How this time has flown! I can hardly believe it. 

Sister Agurto and I are having a blast here! Its really funny. No one seems to be able to decide who speaks better or worse! Haha Everyone says something different. We're starting to keep count!

This week we started teaching a family that I met the other day in Proselitismo. Regina and her mom, Flavia, and her five children, Calvin(19), Felton(17), Maria Juliandra(15), Maria Eduarda(13) and the baby who is 2 years but for the life of me I can't remember his name! They are seriously so incredible. We're struggling to get our pesquisadores to visit the church but we are really hoping that this family will have an experience spiritual with the scriptures and want to go this next week. Truthfully they already had a great experience that I think was the reason they wanted to listen to our message in the first place because this last year Calvin was headed home from school when a man tried to mug him with a knife, well, he looked left and look right and saw a light from an open door and made a run for it. Turns out that door was the church building of our ward here in Porto Velho. One of the members took Calvin home on his motorcycle afterwards. We're looking into this story to find out which ward member helped him out so that we can have them visit with him. 

How great right? Please keep them in your prayers so that they can receive a response for theirs. 

With 9/11 in mind I want to leave you with something I've been thinking a lot about blessings this week and how we have so much to be grateful for. Unforntunately I dont have much time but I want to leave you all with a reminder to count your many blessings. We have so much we need to ask our Heavenly Father for but we need to remember also that He already knows what we need, what we have asked for, and He will provide. So this week I'm trying something new. Ask for less, be thankful for more. 

One thing I'm so grateful for is that I had the opportunity this week to hear an apostle speak to our mission and answer our questions. It was truly a great experience. Elder Andersen told us that above all our mission is to help these people know Christ and our Heavenly Father. Even if they don't end up entering the church, even if all we do is help them pray, we are doing our part. We are helping know their Father and His Son. This is the work of God. This is His service, and I'm so grateful I get to be a part of it.

All my love,

Sister Hemmert

Less Than A Year Left

September? Como?? 

This week I will officially have less than a year left. How it's possible, I don't know. This week will literally be one week of insanity. In a few minutes we have to rush to a training session with the Prefeitura about Dengue because this week we'll be doing a Service Project with Mãos Que Ajudam (Mormon Helping Hands thing.) Visiting houses and telling people how they can prevent Dengue Mosquitos! 

And also, no big deal Neil L. Anderson will be visiting our mission. So you know, How Awesome is that!? So, actually, he isnt autorized to speak in our mission, somente the missions to the north, but since he'll be passing we got special autorization for him to visit with the missionaries in Porto Alegre, but only the missionaries one hour away can visit the conference. The 1st presidency didnt believe our President can make a 7 hour drive to the south for a one hour adventure. 

But, good news! The church will be doing a special broadcast for all the missionaries more than an hour away! Us! Yay!

I'm super excited!

Anyways, this week was super great! Loads of good news. We had a divisão with our LTS (Sister Treinadoras). I learned so much from Sister Quintiliano! Our other LTS will be leaving at the end of this transferencia so we are planning to ask for autorizaçao do Presidente in order to visit the Cassino (the biggest beach in the south of Brasil!) this next week! We were going to go today, but we have this training session, so cross your fingers we can go next week!  

We are teaching a new family, Vanessa and Felipe who have a baby girl (referencia from Angelita). They are super great! Please pray for them that Felipe's boss will change his schedule so that we can visit them more to teach and so that he can visit the church! 

Angelita: We taught her this week with her husband for the first time! We are really hoping that wil start progressing as a family! Please pray for them. We'll be talking with them this week about their wedding! Super excited! Please pray that Angelita will have a spiritual experience in prayer and will know that the Livro de Mórmon is true! 

Liane (9) and Alan(13) Recem Conversos. This kids are so great. Met them this week and we're really trying to fortalecer them so that they will continue coming to church.

We have almost found all the people the other sisters were teaching, this week we are really trying to find everyone. Please keep Jucemara in your thoughts. She lives in an area we can't visit very often since we have actually met her, but from what I know she is really special and has a lot of desire to raise her children in the Gospel. 

Also, funny thing: NBC will be making a documentary about the Gauchos (cowboys) here in Brasil where I'm serving. Only in Rio Grande do Sul! Maybe you can look it up to see the culture i'm leaving in! 

Added by Sister Hemmert's mother- NBC Special on Gauchos (Pronounced "Gaooshes"):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8TXZpLsrpI

Anyways, Gtg

All my love! 

Sister Hemmert