Only one week left in my 4th transfer in Portugal! O que??

Quinta da Regaleira, Sintra, Portugal - 1/19/15 

Quinta da Regaleira, Sintra, Portugal - 1/19/15 

Sintra, Portugal - 1/19/15

Portuguese Puppy :-)

Hey Guys!!!

I am so sorry about last week. I was so bummed. I was going to get back on but we had a train to catch to leave Sintra. Okay, so last P-Day we went to Sintra. I will send more pictures, but basically it is a bunch of cool old palaces!  And there were also caves that we went exploring through. Well it was pretty funny. Sister Ventura and I won a competition in our Zone. The Zone Leaders planned our P-day for us and it ended up being us, the zone leaders and two other elders. 

Man we were a group to see! Haha Two elders are from America, one Utah and the other Colorado and two elders are from Africa, one Angola and the other Mozambique. We all had so much fun talking about our different cultures and what we did growing up as children... it was so fun! One of the elders said how they would play as little children in a river by his house, but then they saw crocodiles and got scared. Haha We had fun! 

This week has been great. I really cant believe how fast the days are going. One really cool thing happened. The primary President, who is a recent convert, invited us over for dinner and for a family home evening with her and her son. They have only been members for a year and her son is 17. (Heather ;) seriously you have my permission to marry him haha anyways) They are the coolest people ever!! We get there and Tiago says, sisters you have been teaching a lot today so I thought I would prepare a spiritual thought. It was amazing! He talked about the blessings of the temple. And we all just bore our testimonies of the temple and how hard we are going to work so that Portugal will be blessed with a temple faster. I can't even explain to you guys how spiritual this kid is. Afterwards, he even went contacting with us! He is so cool!

Well, another cool thing about them is their conversion story. Paula was going to a different church and she said something did not feel right so she stopped going. Well, she ran into the sister missionaries 4 years ago and they gave her a Book of Mormon. She left it on a book shelf and didn't read it. Well, a little over a year ago she was praying and said she wanted to know the truth. The elders ended up knocking doors in her building and she was baptized a few weeks later!  But she also told us how she saw missionaries in the streets for those 4 years and didn't want anything from them; not until she truly asked to know the truth.

I know that there are people out there who are ready for the gospel. Our Heavenly Father is so loving and wants to bless us.  As we have studied and prayed, I have been realizing more and more that prayer is not for changing God's will, but it is to help us align our will with His. I am so thankful for prayer and one of my favorite things to do on the mission is teach someone to pray for the first time. Every time I feel the spirit and I feel the love Heavenly Father has for them and that he has missed hearing from them. He loves us and wants to hear from us. 

I know this Gospel is true!! I love you all so much!! 

Com Amor, Sister Lacey

Two Sister Laceys!!!

P-Day in Sintra, Portugal - 1/19/15

Ola Familia!!

So I was in the middle of writing the email and my computer crashed. :( So I think I only have time to send pictures today. Sorry!! I love you all so much! I know that we are so blessed to be members of Christ's Church! I love you all! Sorry!

Love Sister Lacey

Ola família!!

Alice and Jose - Setubal, Portugal

Hey Guys!!

Awe Brookie!! I am so excited for you!! I cannot believe there will only be two kids in the house!! Crazy stuff!! Okay I also cannot believe I have been on my mission for 6 months! Crazy!!! 

This week was a little interesting. We went to the hospital for the appointment with Sister Ventura and Sister Fluckiger was with us. She is so awesome! We had as much fun as you can have in a hospital. Haha I also wasn't feeling so great again, but I am feeling good now. I convinced Sister Ventura that we have to be running (with the help of Sister Fluckiger :) ) because I hardly ever got sick during Cross-country. We went for a run this morning. :)

So a pretty crazy miracle happened this week. We had been having the feeling to visit this one recent convert and she has been pretty sick (she has cancer). Well, anyways,we couldn't visit her because she was feeling pretty bad but we talked to her on the phone and sent her text messages.  Well on Sunday she came to church with her niece, Joana, who is 23 and has a little boy who is 3. Well, she came up to us and said she wants to be baptized! She is getting baptized this Saturday! It was seriosuly such a miracle! Joana is so awesome. She said how she went to church one week in the past with her aunt Stella and she felt tranquil and then we testified to her that this feeling is the Holy Ghost and she will feel this same feeling when she reads and pray about the Book of Mormon and if Joseph Smith was a Prophet! It was so cool! 

Jacinto, Manuel and Carmen are all doing great!! Jacinto comes to church really early and is always in a white shirt and tie! He is so awesome and he says he cannot wait to serve a mission. I just love seeing the change in families when they apply the prinicples of the gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives. We are so blessed to be members of this gospel!!

During studies today I felt so much love from my Savior and Heavenly Father. I am so grateful!! I know they live and not only are they aware of us and our circumstances but they are longing for us to choose the right and come unto them!!

I love you all so much!! We are so blessed!!! LOVE YOU!!

Sister Lacey

Almost 6 months!!! O que??!!

Bishop Soares (from Gaia) in the center

Saying goodbye to Sylvia and her family :-( - Gaia, Portugal

Catia at her baptism! 12/26/14 - Setubal, Portugal

Manuel and Catia's baptism, 12/26,14 - Setubal, Portugal 

Sister Lacey and Sister Ventura - Setubal, Portugal

The Christmas 'tree' we sent her with the gifts we sent her underneath :-)

Their study area

With a sweetie named Samantha

District in Gaia

Ola minha Família!!

Hi guys!  Can you believe it has already been another week? I am doing A LOT better! The ward here is so awesome. There was someone literally who would call us everyday to make sure we were fine. I still had a little fever yesterday and at church they all started feeling my head and saying, Sister Lacey we will take you to the hospital. Haha Portuguese are so funny. Haha I didn't go to the hospital.

You guys want to hear some crazy news? The mission is splitting in July when President and Sister Fluckiger go home. We will have the Portugal Lisboa misson and the Portugal Porto mission. And we will have two mission Presidents from Brazil! Cool huh?? This is exactly what the people of Portugal need. Because we will have double the amount of missionaries in Portugal which means the work will increase and the temple will be finished faster!! :D I am so excited.

This week was great.  As a mission we are doing something called "Mestres de Israel" or "Masters of Israel." In John 3:9-10 it says, "Nicodemus answered and said unto (Jesus), How can a man be born again? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?" So in other words, we as a mission are going back to the basics and teaching doctrine with more simplicity so the spirit can work through us the best. We have Challenges that we have to pass off in order to be a "Master of Israel". It is so cool to see the difference in the way I teach now.

We had an awesome lesson with the husband of a recent convert. He always comes to church with her but in the past he has not wanted to listen to us. Well, we taught him the Restoration on Thursday and it went so good!. When we invited him to pray about if Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and that through him the Church of Jesus Christ was restored, he said "I already believe he is. I mean it makes sense. Why would Christ stop appearing to his prophets, he appeared to Moses so why not Joseph?" It was seriously so cool!

I know this gospel was restored through the prophet Joesph Smith! I know that this church isn't just another religion or just an American religion but it is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Christ is the head of this church and this is his work and it is a privilege I have to be a representative of him. 

I love you all so much!!!!

Love Sister Lacey