3,000 Views!!

Thank you for your continued interest in Sister Morgan Lacey's missionary service in Portugal.  The blog just went over 3,000 views!!

Turkey... so good but so bad

Ola Familía!!!

It was seriously so great talking to you all on Christmas. I literally loved it so much! I can't even describe how great it was. You guys are just amazing!

So on Friday Manuel and Catia got baptized! Manuels daughter is baptized and his wife and the rest of his family have been investigating ever since (for about 2 years now). Catia is 21 years old and she was actually a referral from Carmen (Manuels wife). Well, apparently a few weeks before I came, she was set to be baptized and then she just stopped meeting with the sisters. Well the day before I got here she came back to church again and said that she wanted to talk to the sisters. So we started teaching her. And she is amazing! She literally just loves the Book of Mormon and prayer and she is just amazing. She wrote us a Christmas card and said how thankful she is for us and that she knows the church is true. It was so great when she got baptized on Friday after she just said I feel so good! I cant describe it!

Soon after the baptism Sister Ventura said she wasn't feeling good and she threw up and actually ended up passing out. So at 11 pm we had member give us a ride to the ER. It was quite an experience.  Well, at about 3 in the morning I started to feel sick and I ended up throwing up too.  We left at around 4 and lets just say that I threw up about 15 times until Sunday afternoon. Turns out that the Elders were sick too and the whole house where we skyped at. It was the turkey. Not very fun but we are alive! Haha

One amazing thing that happened through all of this though was that Manuels wife and son got baptized on Saturday! Our zone leaders and Sister training leaders were amazing! They made sure everything was ready for the baptism, finished any lessons, interviews, I mean everything, it was awesome.

So ya it has been pretty crazy since I talked to you guys.  Sorry for all of the information. Haha In Portugal they have this saying, "É vida" meaning "its life". Haha You guys are so awesome! I seriously cannot get over how blessed I am to be in this family. I love you all so much!!!

Love, Sister Lacey

Clip from Christmas Skype!

Click the link below to see a short clip of Sister Lacey sharing a scripture in Portuguese during our Christmas Day Skype.

Short clip of Sister Lacey sharing a scripture in Portuguese

Ola!!! Quatro mais dias!!! Awe!!

Ola familia!!!

Hey guys I miss you all so much! I cannot wait to talk to you all! I hope you are having fun in St.George! You all should think of a question or something you want me to explain better when we Skype. Awe I cant wait!!

This week has flown by! I cannot believe it is already Monday and that I am almost to 6 months into my mission and already 4 months in Portugal, crazy!! This week we continued talking with everyone! And sharing the He is The Gift video. I just love Christmas! We also had a Christmas Conference with 3 Zones of Missionaries which is about 90 missionaries. Well It was pretty scary though because My zone leader called me on Tuesday and asked if I would recite the scripture of the month. Well anyways, I had it down I mean really and then I got up there and messed up, but then remembered. Haha It wasnt too bad... I hope not. Haha It was funny though because President Fluckiger came up tome after and said, "Bom tralho com a escritura de mez Sister Lacey!" ( Good work with the scripture of the month Sister Lacey) Haha I think he was just being really nice. :)

Well anyways the conference was great and I got to see a lot of missionaries that came in with me from the MTC so that was fun! And President said something that really stood out to me. When The angel Gabriel came to Mary and explained to her that she would be the mother of The Savior of the World this is how she responded in Luke:38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word." That is why she was chosen to be the mother of Jesus Christ. She was humble and full of faith.
I am so grateful for this Christmas season! We are so blessed to be members of Christs Church! I love you all so much!!! I cant wait to talk to you all! LOVE YOU!!

Sister Lacey

Minha Família!!

Sisters Lacey and Ventura with members of the ward

Manuel and Carmen

Ola!!! Ta tude bem!!??

First of all I am so so sorry for not writing yesterday. We had an interesting couple of days. My companion is Sister Ventura.  She is from Utah and she is awesome! I love her. I still cant believe that I am finishing her training right now.

Okay So about the last couple weeks. My last Sunday in Gaia was amazing! Silvia and her daughter Bea bore their testimonies. The spirit was so strong. And I did as well. I just love that ward. Bishop got up and said how thankful he is for us missionaries and said he thinks of us as his kids and that we are truly angels for the people of Portugal. It was so cool. Sister Fuertes and I also set a goal at the beginning of the transfer to have 80 people in Sacrament meeting. Well, my last Sunday there we had 85 people! I was so happy. That ward is just amazing. That Sunday we went to see Silvia and Luis and and with Silvia we picked a date for her baptism. We had the feeling that she would choose the right date. Well she said the 27th of December. And that is what we were thinking before hand!  Well then we got down on our knees and prayed. She asked Heavenly Father if that was the right day for her to be baptized and she began to cry in the prayer.. I am so thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who truly does hear and answer our prayers. Well, after that, we got the call that I was going to Setubal in the morning and that I would be training, well finishing the training of a Sister. Silvia and I cried and she just hugged me. And then I gave her daughter Bea a hug goodbye and she said Sister Lacey fique aqui! Which means stay here. Awe it was so hard to leave them.

Okay so now I am in Setubal! It is great here. I think it is the biggest ward in all of Portugal. We had our ward Party on Saturday and lets just say it was a party! Haha We started at 1 and it didn't end until around 8:30. They were all so fun dancing and just having a good time together. And just a side note there are a lot of Africans in the ward.  I love them so much... I was missing them. :)

On Thursday Sister Ventura and I had lunch with this elderly couple. Jose, was baptized recently and just got the Priesthood. And his wife is not a member yet. Well, they are just a true Portuguese couple. Their food, humor, hospitality. Awe I love them! We had so much fun with them I laughed so hard at all of their jokes. I just cant even explain how funny they are. I just love the people of Portugal. We had a lesson with them after lunch and the spirit was so strong. She is from another church and says she doesn't want to be just leave a church that she was born in and grew up in. And then we just testified to her that we are not there to take away her faith or the things she believes in but just to add to the things she already knows.

Our Zone leaders have asked us as companionships to contact 50 people a day and talk about the He is The Gift video and invite them to church. It is amazing how much more love I not only have for the people, but for this work as we literally stop and talk to everyone. We even have started to talk to people that have already gotten a pass along card. And they say I already have one and then I say well have you watched the video yet and then they laugh and say no and then I tell them to well here is another card... watch it.

I know this church is true. Today for personal study I studyied more about the atonement but also about Our Loving Heavenly Father. I am in awe everyday of his love for us. And that we have the oppurtuinity to pray and talk with him at any moment. I read a qoute from Elder Ballard and he talked about how singifcant it is that when Our Heavnly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove the first word Our Father said was, "Joseph." This is the same relationship he has with us. He knows us by name and he loves us with a love we cannot begin to comprehend. And his love for us is shown through the gift of his beloved son, our Savior, because through him through his help through is strength we will be happy in this life and return to our loving Heavenly Father again. 

I know this church is true. I love you all so much!!

Love Sister Lacey

Transferred and Training!

Sister Lacey was transferred to Setubal today.  Since she was traveling, she only had a few minutes to write and here is some of what she shared:

I am doing great! It is pretty crazy but I got transferred. I am in the south again in Setubal. I got the call last night that I was getting transferred and I went to say bye to Silvia and her family and we all cried. Goodbyes are not fun.  :( And the even crazier thing is that I am training. Well, I am finishing the training of a Sister. Anyways, crazy stuff. I am pretty excited though, this area is supposed to be one of the best in the mission. 

I love you so much!! Thank you for all of your prayers!

Gratidão!

Bea, Silvia's daughter.  She named a Barbie doll after Sister Lacey :-)

Porto, Portugal

She was sooo excited to find root beer!

Ola Familía!!

Hi guys. You all look great! I am so happy you all had a great thanksgiving!  We celebrated a little one here. We bought a little chicken and made apple crisp, salad and mashed potatoes. It was pretty funny because sour cream and whole turkeys do not exist here. So we used plain yogurt to make the mashed potatoes more creamy and it actually turned our pretty good. I will send pictures. 

This week flew by! I think it is because I was in Lisboa for 2 days. It was pretty fun to see friends from the MTC. And I stayed the night with two sisters from Brazil! They were so cool! I just love seeing missionaries from so many different countries serving. This work really is moving forward. Awe I just love it!

We had an amazing lesson with Silvia on Thursday; she is amazing! She is getting married on Friday!! I cant wait. Well anyways on Thursday we had the feeling that we needed to talk about prophets again with her and specifically Joseph Smith. I asked her, do you believe Joseph smith was a Prophet and she said yes because I know the Book of Mormon is true. I then told her that people will always try to say bad things about the Prophet and that our church leaders today have asked us to strengthen our testimonies of the Prophet Joseph Smith. So we asked her if she would pray right then and specifically ask Heavenly Father if Joseph Smith was a Prophet. So, we got down on our knees and she prayed. The spirit was so strong! She finished and pondered for a while and afterwords she said. Wow!  I feel a little something in my heart.  She said that there is no way she can deny that he is a prophet of God and that through him the Church of Jesus Christ was restored.

I am not going to lie these past weeks have been a little rough. I am so thankful that I have my Loving Heavenly Father to rely on. I also love this quote from President Monson, it says, " We know that there are times when we will experience heartbreaking sorrow, when we will grieve, and when we may be tested to our limits. However, such difficulties allow us to change for the better, to rebuild our lives in the way our Heavenly Father teaches us, and to become something different from what we are better than we were, more understanding than we were, more empathetic then we were, with stronger testimonies than we had before." I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve.

When I was in my last week in the MTC, I prayed to Heavenly Father to try me. To help make me stronger and really to push me to the edge. And I did this because I want to come back a different person because the better I become here the better wife and mother I will be later. I need to be better, more loving, more understanding, stronger, more like Christ. The other night when I was praying and feeling alone, the thought came to me, "Sister Lacey do you remember when you asked for this, to be tested to be pushed? Do you want to change?" It was one of the coolest experiences that ever happened to me. I know that God loves us and he hears and answers our prayers.  

I know this church is true. I am so thankful for it! We started young women's this week and we showed them "He is the Gift". The spirit was so strong. They are even going to send the missionaries specific pass along cards for "He is the Gift." And we are setting specific goals for how many new investigators we will have because we are using this video. I know this church is true it is Christ's church. 

I love you all so much! Thank you for all of your love and support. I LOVE YOU!!

Sister Lacey

Ola Familila!!

Hey Guys!!

Crazy it has already been another week! And I have been in Portugal for I think 3 months now! Seriously crazy!! I am actually headed to Lisboa tonight and will stay there for a day or two for my Residência already! Crazy!

We had a wonderful lesson with Silvia this week. We have been trying to help her stop smoking and we had a lesson with her and the spirit was so strong. Sister Fuertes asked a really inspired question and said, Silvia Why do you want to stop smoking and she said because I want to be healthy and live longer. And then I said Well Silvia I think that is your problem. And she said What Sister Lacey. And I said I think you need to change your perspective and say you want to stop smoking because you want to be baptized and want to be sealed to your family in the temple. The words literally just flowed out of my mouth. We then invited her to pray about a specific date to stop smoking and if to ask the Lord if she really could stop before that date. We all knelt and the spirit was literally so strong. She finished the prayer and we all just sat there. We just cried and she said well I think that is a pretty clear answer. I don't think I have ever felt the spirit so strong on my mission. We do have a loving Heavenly Father and he does answer our prayers!!

This whole week my personal study has literally carried me through the rest of the day. Elder Cook told us to read all the accounts in the Bible of the Risen Lord. So that is the last chapter of Matthew, Mark, Luke, the last 2 of John and the first 8 verses of Acts. It is seriously incredible. I have really thought about the account in Luke 24 Christs appears to two of his followers and they do not recognize him. And that really hit me and I asked myself if Christ walked up to me would I recognize him? Do I of him and about him or do I really know him? I started to study more in The Book of Mormon on How to really know Christ and in Moroni 7:48, it says, "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen."

So in order to truly know Christ and recognize him we must become like him. It is so simple but so profound. In English we only have the word "Know" but in Portuguese there is the word Saber meaning to know a fact and then the word Conhecer which is to be familiar with. So I need to conhecer Christ on a personal level. And in order to do this I need to not think of my self but focus on others and be filled with the love that He has for others. 

I am so grateful for this gospel. It is truly Christ's Church on the earth. I love you all so much!! 

Sister Lacey

Elder Cook!!!

Elder Cook with the missionaries in the north

A beautiful day turned to a rainstorm in a hurry

With Irma Fernanda who loves to teach with the sister missionaries

Ola minha familia!!

Okay first of all I am seriously so happy for Brookie!! Isn´t the temple amazing?? I literally miss it but every time I think of the covenants I made there I want to work harder so the people here in Portugal can have a temple. This week has been amazing!!

On Tuesday we had divisions with our Sister Training Leaders. A sister from Brazil named Sister Correa stayed in Gaia with sister Torres and I and then Sister Fuertes went to their area. So we had our divisions. First of all it was pretty cool to be with 2 Portuguese speakers for 24 hours, but I seriously learned so much. Sister Correa and I talked about how there was a study done by the church about how many times recent converts heard about the gospel before they were baptized and the average number is 8. Eight times from members and missionaries before they accept to learn more or come to church. So, when we would contact people and they didn't want anything, we would say alright they just need to be contacted 7 more times :-). It made everything more positive and made me realize that they are not completely rejecting our message of Jesus Christ but they are just not spiritually ready right now. I have already had so much joy in this work. I love my Savior and his work. We truly are his hands and we are all he has. 

One funny story. On Friday night we had our ward activity and we had 8 Elders there because they stayed the night at our district leaders house. Well, they were all joking around because some of them have 3 weeks left so they were talking about girls and dates. Anyways you all know me... I have trouble keeping things to myself when I hear not so intelligent things. Haha Anyways lets just say that I am still known as the sassy sister. Haha And I was speaking in Portuguese. The Elders are lucky that I am not speaking English right now. Haha

Okay now about Elder Cook!!! Awe he is amazing. We all traveled to Porto about a 30 minute metro ride and then a 15 minute walk to a capela there. It is pretty fun traveling in a big group of missionaries. Anyways we had about 40 missionaries there and Elder Cook and his wife wanted to meet all of us. It was so cool! I literally learned so much. He was so loving and said how much he and the Quorum of The 12 and the First Presidency pray for the missionaries. And he said missionaries we are in this together!! This is the Lords work and we are his hands! He also talked about when President Hinckley called him into his office in 2007 on a Thursday night (I think shortly after we met him at that stake conference) and extended the calling to be an apostle. Elder Cook said he asked President Hinckley, "Couldn't The Lord  have found someone better than me?" And President Hinckley said, "I don't want to hear any of that." Anyways he told us this because he felt completely overwhelmed. That Saturday he would be sustained an Apostle and give a talk in General Conference. He said I talked to my wife and said honey we are in BIG trouble. And he said that they both wept. Well he also said that he prayed and the impression came to him... "what does an Apostle do?" And he thought well they are a witness of Jesus Christ and then he thought, well I have been since I was baptized so I can continue to do that now. He told us that he felt an overwhelming sense of peace and love and not because of his own personal ability but because of the love he has for the Savior and for the strengthening Power of the Atonement. 

He shared so much more about that we need to change our thoughts and beliefs and overcome ourselves. He also said Elders and Sisters I know this isn't Mexico or Brazil.  I understand that there are a few more baptisms there. But more faith equals more success, so have more faith. The people of Portugal need a temple here. We need to double our numbers here. He told us that after every transfer or once we leave an area it must be stronger than how we found it. The young men and young women should want to serve missions because of you and the Bishop should have complete trust in you. It was seriously amazing. He ended by leaving a blessing with us. He said I know you have left behind families and loved ones, and you miss them. But I promise you that what you are doing here on your mission will effect them for good and they will be blessed and protected. And not only them, but your future family will be blessed daily for your service here. The spirit was seriously so strong. So guys, just know an Apostle of Christ left a blessings for you guys to strengthen you. On Sunday we went back to Stake Conference to here him speak and he spoke a lot about strengthening families and to always have prayers morning and night and family home evening. 

I know he is an apostle of The Lord. We are so blessed to be members of this gospel. He also talked about how we need to teach people, not lessons. He said you need to feel what your investigator is feeling. In the past (a few days ago) I always thought, well if you believe the Church is true then quit smoking or get married. But now I am really trying to feel the way others feel. For example, I like chocolate a lot, but I'm not addicted to it but I expect others to change when I am not willing to stop eating chocolate or have more patience with companions. Anyways, sorry if this doesn't make any sense. I am having trouble writing some words an English, weird.... Haha

I love you all so much!!! I am so blessed to be a member of this gospel. I know it is true. This is Christ's church. Don't be afraid to share the gospel! I love you all so much. Be safe and have a great week.

Sister Lacey

Ainda em Gaia!!

Hey guys!!!

I am still in Gaia. I am seriously so happy, I was not ready to leave. Thank you all so much for the emails.  You are all awesome!! Seriously (Brooke) Japan!! I still cant get over it. Haha

This week has been great I was out for one day though. I had the flu... not very fun. One of our investigators was sick with the flu and I got it too. We have a doctor that we are supposed to call if we get sick and I wouldn't call her so my companion did and the doctor said I have to stay inside and not work for the whole day. Anyways I am good now. 

So I have a new companion. Well Sister Fuertes and I are still together, but for 2 weeks we have another companion. She is from Portugal ans she is waiting for her visa to Brazil for her mission. So it is a lot of fun in our house right now. We have Sister Fuertes with her Spanish Portuguese mix; Sister Torres with her pure Portuguese and me. Haha We are having fun. 

So I have realized something this week. I am a lot more happy when I am not thinking about myself. Weird right :-). I think it has just been an adjustment for me because before the mission at Dixie, every thing was about me. I went to class for me, I worked for myself, I ran because I loved it. I mean everything. And now there is a ward, a Bishop, members and this whole area that needs me to be thinking about them and I actually really like it. It was an adjustment for sure, but truly The Lord needs his missionaries, because people need us. It is just really cool how much the ward and less actives and recent coverts rely on us. And Brookie will see this too. You will help people quit smoking and help people come back to church and help people get married....

So one of our investigators got engaged lest night!! I am so excited. She is living with her boyfriend and he is a less active who was baptized when he was 8 but shortly after his mom stopped taking him to church. Anyways they have a daughter and they come to church every Sunday as a family and we have been talking a lot about the law of chastity and they said they want to get married in a year. So we have been working with them a lot and then last night we had dinner with them and he proposed to her. And they are getting married on Dec. 5th!  I am so excited! 

I am so thankful for this gospel. There are days when it gets pretty tough and then the Lord just blesses us and shows us that He is still in charge of this work. I love you all so much!! I know this is Christ's Church on the Earth. We are so blessed. I LOVE YOU ALL!!

Ola Minha Familia!!

At Ward Halloween Activity

Bobbing for apples at activity

Sister Fuertes and Sister Lacey

The sisters, Claudia and her friends

Ola!!!

First of all!! BROOKIE!!! Ahhhhhhhh!!! Seriously I am so excited!! Japan!! How cool is that? I am seriously so excited! Did I say that already? There will be two Sister Laceys out at the same time!!! Awe!!!! I am so happy.

This week has been great. I am so sorry about last week. To start off, the members here are amazing! I love the ward here. We have activities every Friday and have dinner and we (the missionaries) share a spiritual thought and then we play games. Well, on Thursday we had a lesson with a family and we invited them to the activity.  They said maybe they would come. Well, Friday came around and one of them (her name is Claudia) came with 4 of her friends all dressed up for Halloween!  We had so much fun playing games; it was literally so cool. 

So on Thursday we had a lesson with a member and we have been working with her for a while to help her quit smoking and start coming to church with her sons. Well, she has come to church 2 times now, but on Thursday she said she wouldn't go this week because her son who is 8 doesn't want to go. Well I was pretty mad because her son told us right there that he loves church. Anyways she was basically making an excuse because she doesn't want to go and I was just frustrated. So Sister Fuertes and I were pretty bummed and we were leaving and I tripped on these stairs and fell. It was pretty funny. Anyways, my ankle hurt a bit which is rare for me because my kankles are pretty sturdy. Haha So we sat down on a bench to check it out and I looked up and saw this kid and the thought came to me to talk to him. And I thought, no he is like 15 he will not want to hear anything, but then I turned to Sister Fuertes and said, " He is going to serve a mission".  And that is the only impression I had. It was seriously way cool. So we talked to him. And he told us he doesn't really know if he believes in God but he wants too. And then his sister came outside and she is 14 and amazing also. We were talking about the Book of Mormon and how they do not need to believe us but they can pray and find out for themselves and we said when you do God will answer your prayer. And his sister Beatriz literally gasped when we said that and her face lit up and she said God has answered your prayers? And we said yes!! Bruno her Brother said a prayer with us and it was the first prayer he has ever given. He was so happy after he said it.

Afterwards Sister Fuertes and I said a prayer of gratitude. We do this a lot during the day. It just helps turn everything over to the Lord. Anyways ,during the prayer I just cried. I was just so happy. I literally just cry here out of pure joy. When you bare your testimony and feel of the love Heavenly Father has for not only you but for those you are speaking to there is just no better feeling. I am so grateful Brooke will be able to experience this soon.

I know this gospel is true! I love my Savior so much. This is his church and he knows us perfectly and he knows how to help us. I love you all so much!!!

Love Sister Lacey

Less than 10 minutes to write!

I literally have less than 10 minutes. We had a district P-Day and it was about an hour and a half away. Anyways, I just got back.  All of the other missionaries wanted to go out to lunch, but I didn't because I wanted to write you guys, but well, here I am now. I am so bummed.

This week has been good. My companion was sick so we were inside a lot.  I guess you can say I have been going a little crazy. But I have also got a lot of studying and Preach my gospel reading in, so thats good. 

It is amazing how much the gift of tongues works and how much the Lord has blessed me. I can just feel the spirit working through me with words that I didn't even know I knew. I love this gospel so much. 

I am so sorry I can only right this. I am really upset because I seriously look forward to today so much. Please tell everyone I love them so much! So sorry!!

Oh, I think Brookie will go somewhere in Europe. :) I want Portugal... you never know. I am so sorry I don't have more time.

Actually now that I think about it, I think she will go to Japan or Hong Kong.  Please tell everyone how sorry I am. I love you so much!!! I cannot wait to here were Brooke is going!! I love you!!!!!!

Love Sister Lacey

Ola Família!!

Overlooking the Rio Douro (Douro River) Vila Nova De Gaia, Portugal 

With the Bishop's Family

New Jacket!

With the Young Women's President in Seixal who just got her mission call to Brazil

Hey guys!!!

So guess what! President wants us to do a 40 day fast not of food or drink but of things that keep us from focusing on the work so I think this is my last letter to you guys. Haha Totally kidding! Anyways, last week I started a fast and then at the end of it I wrote down things I felt like I needed to stop doing and what I need to start doing for 40 days and guess what I felt impressed to do... Stop speaking English. Yep that's right.  It has been interesting but it is seriously so worth it. English has slipped out here and there but it has seriously been only Portuguese. It is pretty cool. Apparently I talked in my sleep the other night and my companion was going to get mad at me for speaking English, but I was speaking Portuguese! Haha I was so excited to hear that. Anyways, its pretty funny.

I have already seen the blessings of this fast. One thing is that I wanted to start talking to more people on the street. I am sad to say but before now, I was completely terrified to just walk up to someone and and start talking to them and I used my Portuguese as an excuse. Well this week I talked to a lot of people and my companion and I have been so blessed! On Tuesday we had just left a member's house and I saw this one lady walking and so I stopped her. We ended up having a lesson right there in the road and she gave us her number and she was just amazing. Her name is Monica and she is from Romania. Well on Thursday we went back to the family and they are amazing, seriously, so awesome and guess who walked in? Yep, Monica.  She is apparently best friends with this couple and so we had another lesson with her... so cool! 

Another awesome miracle that happened. We were leaving the Stake President's house and we were on the metro and this lady sat across from us and I had always said hi to people but I had the impression to leave a pass along card with her. So I did and it turns out 4 years ago she met with the missionaries and they were both transferred and so she stopped going to church and she said she really wants to start going again. Well we ended up staying on the metro for 3 more stops then we had planned because we wanted to talk to her.  So, we got off of the metro and caught another one to head back and we sat down across from another lady and I had a feeling to talk to her too. Well, I was nervous, but she started laughing about what some kids were saying on the metro, so I started laughing too, which kind of broke the ice.  Anyway, we ended up talking to her and had an entire lesson with her. She literally told us she needs the truth because her brothers both died this year and she has been devastated and she asked,  "Do you believe I will see them again?" and we said. "Yes!!" She is amazing. We literally all talked and cried and hugged each other. Cant you just see the Lord's hand in this work??? I mean our plans had changed, we got off 3 stops later and the seats across from her were the only seats left... I mean none of this was a coincidence. 

This is the Lord's work.  He literally does all the heavy lifting. I am so blessed to be here and to see all of these miracles every day. My heart is so full! I love this gospel I know this is Christ's Church. I love you all so much!! 

Love Sister Lacey

Hey Guys!!

Porto and Porto North Zones at Zone Conference

Ola familia!!

Hey guys I am so glad you all get to go to the temple! You all look great!! This week has been great pretty rainy. I mean seriously, I have never seen rain like this before. Haha

I had my first Sunday in the ward and they are awesome! Last night I had dinner at the Stake President's house and they literally reminded me of us. They were all wrestling around and tackling each other. It made me miss you guys. But anyways they are seriously awesome. They asked how long I have been in Portugal and I said "8 weeks" and they said, "you mean 8 months?" and I said "nope I am only in my second transfer" and they almost spit out their food. They just said, well that's what you call the gift of tongues." It made me feel so good.

I just love this gospel. I am going to talk about just a few of the miracles that happened this week. Well, on Wednesday we went to see some less active members and first of all, we got lost.  We went to another member's house and then took the wrong road again.  Well, then we went to another members house and when we were about to knock the door a girl said sisters! "Do you have a pamphlet or something to give me." She laughed at us because apparently we were in shock. She said she is trying to find the true church it was seriously amazing! Then on Thursday we walked out to the far side of our area to try and find some old investigators and we got lost again, but ended up getting help from an older gentleman and he told us where to go and it turns out that he has terminal cancer. We shared our testimonies of the love our Heavenly Father has for us and that he has a plan for us.

There was seriously so much more that happened and it was all the Lord.  We happened to be in the exact places he needed us. And we got lost and changed our plans. This week just made me feel like Ammon in the Book of Mormon in Alma 26:35 When he said, "Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we, since the world began; yea, and my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God; for he has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a merciful Being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name." 

Don't we have great reason to rejoice! We are so blessed to be members of this gospel. This truly is Christ's Church because he is the head of it. If this wasn't His church then trust me, we would not just run into people who the Lord has prepared. 

I also wanted to share this for anyone who might be reading the blog who is not a member or any member who needs to find out if the Book of Mormon is true. This week for training I have practice and taught about The Book of Mormon and I know The Book of Mormon is true and I know that anyone who reads it and follows what Moroni says in Moroni 10:3-5 will know too! It says, "3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

 4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

 5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

So in verse 3 he is literally exhorting us or pleading with us that when we read the Book of Mormon that we need to humble ourselves and remember how merciful Our Father in Heaven is and then we need to ponder what we have read. Then in verse 4 he again is pleading with us to ask God our Father in Heaven in the name of his son if these things are true. I know that anyone prays with a sincere heart meaning they are reading because they sincerely want to know not because they want to prove it wrong and if they pray with real intent meaning you really intend to follow the answer you receive and if you have faith in Christ the truth of this Book will come to you through the Holy Ghost because he truly testifies of truth.  

I know this is true because I followed this promise and I felt of the truthfulness of this book and every time I read it I feel closer to my Father in Heaven and to his Son Jesus Christ. This is Christs church and it was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith. 

If anyone sincerely wants to know of this church is true get in touch with the missionaries or my family and read The Book of Mormon. Dont just believe or disbelieve in my words find out for yourself. 

Anyways I felt like I needed to share what I have been studying a lot this week. I love you all so much!! I miss you all!! Keep being awesome! Eu ama voces muito!! Este é o Evangelho de Jesus Cristo nosso Salvador!

Com amor Sister Lacey

I love you all so much!! You are all amazing. I LOVE YOU!!

Sister Lacey

Over 2,000 views!!!

Sister Lacey's blog just went over 2,000 views!  Thank you again to all who are interested in and support her missionary efforts in Portugal!

Gaia!!

Huge tile wall in Gaia, Portugal

Sister Lacey with Sister Fuertes, an Elder, and others in Gaia, Portugal

Ola!!

Hey guys!! 

You are all so happy!  I miss you all but you all sound so great. This week has been pretty crazy like I said, I was not expecting to get transferred. Traveling was crazy! Haha I met up with some Elders so that was nice that I didn't have to travel alone. My companion, Sister Fuertes is awesome.  She has only been here for 3 transfers and she is seriously awesome. Gaia is beautiful!! You all should look up some pictures of Gaia by the river.  It is breath taking and exactly what I Googled and saw before the mission. 

Vila de Nova Gaia, Portugal

Wasn't General Conference amazing!?! I got to watch a lot of it! And I was so excited to hear people speaking in their native tongues!  Especially to hear it in Portuguese. I won't sound like him when I get back though because he is from Brazil, but it was still way cool. I feel so honored and I feel I have taken it for granted in the past that our church is built upon prophets and apostles just like when Christ was on the Earth. This is his church. I know it. Trust me, this work would not be being taught around the world if it was not Christ's work. We are so blessed.

We have already met many wonderful people here and the ward is awesome. My favorite hymn is Mais Perto Quero Esta or Nearer my God to thee and I like to sing some of it while we are walking. I know me singing it... Haha. I actually sing a lot here on my mission and people say I sound good. They might just be really nice. Haha. Well, we walked past this one lady and we smiled and said hello and I began singing.  Well, the lady stopped and began singing with us. And then she began telling us that she met with the missionaries around 10 years ago and that was her favorite hymn. I just love the way our Father in Heaven touches the hearts of people. She was taking the lessons with them and then they got transferred and I guess went home or something and she stopped going to church. She has our number now so hopefully we can start meeting with her. 

President has us study about the atonement for 15 minutes everyday and I just love it. I am learning more and more from reading the scriptures and talks from apostles.  I know that we will never be able to fully comprehend the Atonement in this life. But what I have learned is that when the Savior suffered for our sins in Gethsemane, it was a whole mass of sin heaped upon him, but it was still individual. Everything Christ did in his mortal life was for the one. He left the 99 sheep for the one. So wouldn't it make since that the Atonement would be personal and individual?  He saw each of us and suffered for all of pains, sins, temptations and weaknesses.  He knows us and loves us! And he knows how to help us if we have faith in him. I love him. I know he is our Savior and that it is only through him that we can return to our Loving Heavenly Father. 

I am so blessed to be on a mission. I feel so uplifted everyday by such amazing people. I love it here and I know this gospel is true. I love you all so much!! 

Sister Lacey

All Packed!!!

Hey guys!!!

First of all... JASON!!! I am so excited! I loved all of the pictures. You guys are awesome. I seriously am so happy!!!

Okay well I got a call last night at 8:00 and I am getting transferred to Gaia. It is in northern Portugal. And I am taking a 3 hour train ride in about 20 minutes. Crazy huh?? I seriously did not expect it. I cried. And then we ran over to see Manuela and her family and we all just cried. Anyways I am really excited though. My new companion is going to be new to the area as well, we are "pink washing" the area. Haha I might be able to get on later today. But I just wanted to let you all know.

I love you all so much!! You are all amazing. Love you love you love you!!

Love, Sister Lacey

One week left in my first transfer!!

Victoria loves to kiss Sister Lacey on the cheek because she knows she's still getting used to kissing greetings :-)

Amora, Portugal

Hey!!

First of all you guys are awesome. I love hearing from you! I miss you all but I am loving it here. Portugal is amazing.

So we had a Family Home Evening with Manuela and her family and it was a blast. They made us some African soup and it was sooo good until I saw a fleshy thing on my plate and I think it was a pig nose. I am pretty sure they just cook the whole pigs head in the soup. Haha It was still way good though and I managed to eat around it. They are so fun! I just love the people I have met from Africa. We are always laughing and they are always so patient with my Portuguese. 

Yummy soup!

Emily (Victoria's cousin)

So a few weeks back we contacted this 18 year old girl on the street and she gave us her number and said we could come by and teach her more another day. Well we did this last week and she is AMAZING!! She is neighbors of a recent convert in the ward and she said she noticed a change in him after he got baptized and that she is willing to change as well. We taught her the word of wisdom and she said well I have a problem with 3 of those things but I want to change so I will try my hardest to give them up. On Thursday we had another lesson with her and we had left her a chapter in The Book of Mormon which she read and she said she prayed about it and knows it is true! I mean seriously is this real life?  She is amazing!! And then she said she only smoked one cigarette the day she read and prayed she said she knew it was the Lord blessing her. It gets even better. We went on with the lesson and started talking about our missions and she said how long after I get baptized can I go on a mission? I mean seriously!!! Is she not amazing!?! 

Another really cool story. One of our lessons fell through (they said they were not interested) so we had time to knock some doors. We prayed and decided to knock this one building. We took the elevator to the top and no one even opened up the door until we got to the last door in the apartment building. A women opened up the door and she said years ago she met with the missionaries but she was working a lot of hours and so she could never go to church. Well anyways, she said that she is working less now and she just recently began thinking about the missionaries from years ago. We have a lesson with her tomorrow. I am so excited!

The more I am on my mission the more I just rejoice in My Heavenly Father for letting me see His work be brought forth. In Alma 16:16 it says, "...the Lord did pour out his Spirit on all the face of the land to prepare the minds of the children of men, or to prepare their hearts to receive the word." He literally is preparing the hearts of the people here. We are just here to be worthy to find His children that are listening to the spirit. I am so thankful for this gospel. I know it is true. I love my Father in Heaven and his Son for this is Christ's church and I am so thankful for the Holy Ghost touching the hearts of the wonderful people here. I love you all so much!!!

Love Sister Lacey

Olá família!!

Baptism of Manuela, Euclides, and Victoria - Saturday, September 13, 2014

Sister Lacey and Victoria

Sister Lacey and Manuela

Abandoned ship in the bay, Seixal, Portugal 

Olá família!!

Hey guys!! Can you believe it has been a week already?! Because I cant. I don´t know if I have told you guys yet but I LOVE PORTUGAL!! I love the country, most of the food (Haha) and of course the people. I actually have not met that many Portuguese people; there are a lot of people from many different countries in my area and I just love them! Anyways this week has been amazing! 

Well first for some not so great news.  Erica called us last Sunday and said she couldn´t come to church and we saw her later in the street and she had completely changed. Normally she runs up to me and hugs me and is really excited to see us but she gave me a little side hug and when we asked when we could see her during the week she said she was busy. I was so sad, but I thought maybe she was just having a rough day. Well, we had a time set up to meet with her and her mom, (who isn´t the biggest fan of us) and when we went to see them, Erica answered the door and said her mom wasn't there but we could hear her talking. Well, we had a little lesson in the doorway with Erica and she did not really listen to us at all and when we asked if she would read a chapter in The Book of Mormon she said no she is too busy.  We left and I lost it. I literally just cried. My trainer seemed a little shocked; but Erica was the first investigator that I met in Portugal the first person who I taught and really the first person here who I really cared about. And she wants nothing to with me. But what made me even more sad is that she wanted nothing to do with the gospel anymore.  I know it is because of her mom, but it still just made me really sad.  Erica used to read a chapter out of The Book of Mormon and take notes on it and then talk about it with us. So anyways I cried for a little while, then I said a prayer and I felt complete peace and I know that someday when she is older and not living with her mom anymore she will come back to the truth she once knew. So sorry for the sad news we are still going to go by and see her this next week.

Okay now about Manuela, Euclides and Victoria. They are amazing!! We had a lesson with them everyday last week and can I just say the Lord did all the work!  We just had to invite and follow up.  I don't think I mentioned Euclides in the last email but he is Manuela's son who is 15 and he is deaf. When we would go to teach the lessons he would come and shake our hands.  Well, Sister Briggs decided to start giving him the pamphlets and then we would write questions on the back and communicate back and forth through writing. Well one day we wrote do you want to be baptized with you sister and mom and he got the biggest smile on his face and nodded over and over again!  Our district leader said he felt the Spirit so strong when he interviewed Euclides as they wrote back and forth and when Euclides wrote he knows the Book of Mormon is true. He is amazing. So they were all baptized on Saturday!!  After Manuela was baptized, she hugged her cousin, Jericly (the Young Men's president) and she just cried. Everyone was so happy and then after she came up to me and hugged me and cried and she said Obrigada, obrigada obrigada (Thank you, thank you, thank you). She was crying so hard and we just hugged for a long time. It was probably one of the best days ever. 

I know this is the Lords work because without him we could do nothing here. He prepared the hearts of this family.  It was not our teaching. I am so grateful that the mission age change happened. I feel like I am being taught more than I could teach anyone. Everyday as a mission we study the Atonement for 15 minutes and I love it.  I read this quote from Elder Holland the other day with this scripture. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. … Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).

Elder Holland said, "that may be one of the Savior’s commandments that is, even in the hearts of otherwise faithful Latter-day Saints, almost universally disobeyed; and yet I wonder whether our resistance to this invitation could be any more grievous to the Lord’s merciful heart...  I am convinced that none of us can appreciate how deeply it wounds the loving heart of the Savior of the world when he finds that his people do not feel confident in his care or secure in his hands". I want to apply this more. I need to feel peace and feel secure in the Lord's hands. We all do. We are so blessed. I love this Gospel so much. This is Christ's church. 

I love you all so much!!

Love Sister Lacey