Verão já chegou! :)

She saw a swing and said she just had to :-)

Vila Franca de Xira!

Sister Lacey!

Ola minha família!!

Hey guys!! I loved all the pictures you sent! It looks like you are all having a great summer. Verão já chegou! :) Summer has arrived here! I am trying to get used to humidity haha and no Air conditioning. ;) I am really starting to love fans right next to the bed. Haha 

I just love Portugal! The other day we saw a fresh food market. It was so cool, we bought a fresh mango and then flowers for our Relief Society President. We then went to her house and ´´Heart attacked´´ it. We tried getting away but her daughters ended up finding us. Haha So we had a nice lunch with them. We had fresh grilled fish from Africa! It was so good!! 

So this week lesson wise was pretty tough. Sister Harper and I were pretty down because there were days when no one was really interested but last night I realized something. We have been praying to find people who are really interested in the gospel not just people who say they are and then don't want anything. And we realized that the Lord gave us exactly that... every lesson we had this week has been with people who really want to know the truth! It is amazing. I am so blessed! 

We had one lesson with this woman named Tessa. She met with the Elders about 15 years ago in England. The spirit was so strong! When I shared the First Vision with her, she said right after. ´´I believe, but I want to have a testimony like you girls and say I know!´´ We then testified of the Book of Mormon and that she can know for herself through the Book of Mormon. It was awesome! 

I have been thinking a lot lately about families. I have been studying the General Conference talks and they are amazing. I feel like anyone who is following the counsel of our Prophets and Apostles for this day will truly believe that God loves his Children and that The atonement of Christ is all powerful. As missionaries in the first lesson we start off with ´´God is our loving Heavenly Father´´ and then that ´´the gospel blesses families´´ If we truly believed this we would not support and want anything less than a marriage between a man and a women. President Packer last conference said, ´´The end of all activity in the church is to see that a man and a woman with their children are happy at home and sealed for eternity.´´ That is the 'Why' behind the gospel and marriage and families. We need to stand behind the beliefs we have and support marriage between a man and a women. I love that this is the final testimony of Elder L. Tom Perry, ´´Let me close by baring my witness (And my nine decades on this earth fully qualify me to say this) that the older I get the more I realize that family is center of life and is key to eternal happiness.´´ 

I am so thankful for my wonderful family! You all and the testimony we have of the Savior is the reason I am on a mission. I love you all so much!!

Com tanto amor, Sister Lacey

Melhor missão do Mundo!!

Sister Lacey saying goodbye to Sister Fluckiger :-(

Sister Lacey and Lacey the Lamb

Rio Tejo

Rio Tejo

Sister Lewis (from the MTC!)

Ola minha querida família!! 

Hey guys!! This week was amazing! I just love it here in Portugal! It is the best mission in the world. ;) 

This week we went to Alhandra again which is the town irmão Lopes lives in. And so we were hanging out with his sheep again. Lacey, the little brown lamb from the pictures last week is getting so big. I will send some pictures of her. It is so funny because she has greenish blue eyes so everyone says it is perfect that she was named after me. :) 

One of the coolest things happened the other day. We were on the train and this woman said, ´´Where is your church?´´ She then began to tell us that she met with the elders in Angola and that she loved the message. We met with her on Friday and had an amazing lesson with her. She said that she has really begun to rely on Christ more in her life because her boyfriend just left her and she has a baby who is only 2 weeks old. We really testified of the Love that her Father in Heaven has for her. She is just amazing. She said she wants her daughter to serve a mission one day. :) 

I am just loving Portugal more and more everyday. The people are so funny! I cannot count how many people tell me that I should not be outside because I am so white. They tell me to put sunscreen on (which I do). They are so funny they say,´´Minha tens que aplicar protector do sol! Es tao branca!´´ (Girl you need to put sunscreen on! You are soo white!´´) I just love the people here. You can just be walking and someone will just yell something out the window to you just to talk about the weather. Seriously, love it here.

I am so happy! I know that this happiness comes from this gospel and trying to align our will with our Father in Heaven's. He loves us so much! He wants us to be happy just like it says in " 2 Nephi 2:25 in The Book of Mormon, ´´Adam fell that man might be and man are that they might have joy.´´ Love you all!! 

Com amor, Sister Lacey

Fardos são por nosso bem-estar

Transfer travels - with Sister Harper

The lamb named after Sister Lacey

???

Vila Franca de Xira

Grocery shopping today... She said no thanks to this

Ola Minha Família!! 

Hey guys!! I loved all of your emails. You guys are all so awesome!! Today I am going to share a lot of things I learned this week in studies because I feel it not only applies to missionaries but everyone who is trying to follow Christ. 

Okay I am not going to lie, I was struggling a bit this week, but I am really happy too, at the same time. Sister Harper is awesome! She is so funny. 

I guess this week I was just feeling a lot of weight on my shoulders with this area and branch. Well, I read a talk that Elder Bednar gave called ´´Bear Up Their Burdens With Ease.´´ It is amazing he shared this scripture in Matthew 11:28-30 I have already read this scripture many times but it really hit me differently this time. It says, ´´28 ¶Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.´´ So I have always read this scripture thinking that The Lord will take away our burdens and are trials and we would find rest but really we take ´´his yoke´´ (A wooden beam that is used to between a pair of oxen that enables them to pull a load together) or in other words we must trust in the Lord and pull the load with him then it will be made light. I realized that I have been doing most of the lifting alone on my mission and let me just tell you it is hard. I do the right things because I love the Lord but then I sometimes forget to rely on him and pull with him. 

I read another talk from Elder Bednar today and it was amazing. In the talk he speaks about Looking to the Lord and he shared Matthew 14 where it says.´´26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?´´ I just loved this so much! It was only when Peter stopped looking unto The Lord that he began do drowned. I think it is moments like this when like Peter we ´´begin to drown´´. When we stop looking at the Why behind the gospel and we get worried about things that don't matter we forget do look to our Savior. He is the Why behind all we do. He is The only way we can be happy. He loves us! 

The mission is hard but it is so worth it and that is why it is worth it because it is hard. Elder Bednar said in Bear Up Their Burdens With Ease, ´´ I wonder if we fail to fully acknowledge this strengthening aspect of the Atonement in our lives and mistakenly believe we must carry our load all alone—through sheer grit, willpower, and discipline and with our obviously limited capacities. It is one thing to know that Jesus Christ came to the earth to die for us. But we also need to appreciate that the Lord desires, through His Atonement and by the power of the Holy Ghost, to enliven us—not only to guide but also to strengthen and heal us.´´

I love this gospel so much!! This is Christs Church we are not in this alone. He loves us!

I love you all so much!! Have a great week!! Eu amo voces tanto!!

Com tanto amor, Sister Lacey 

Missão Portugal Lisboa!!

Birthday morning pancakes after a long run (6/3/15)

Sister Lacey and Sister Elliott

Irma Noemia (who made her birthday dinner)

 

Surprise birthday party

Surprise birthday party

Ola Minha Família!!

Okay well now I know I will be staying in The Portugal Lisbon Mission! I am really excited. :) I am here still in Vila Franca with Sister Harper who just came from Gaia, my second area. She is from Provo, Utah and she went to School in BYU Hawaii. She is awesome and she has one less transfer than me. We are so excited. :) 

So, she just game from Gaia. And she said it is amazing. She talked about Bishop and how much the ward is growing. Lets just say when I got there in October there were about 50 members coming and now there is at least 95 each week!! Their goal is to divide the ward. And she talked about Maria Jose the Mother in Law of Silvia. Well Maria has stopped smoking and is active in the church and is a ward missionary! I almost cried. Her and I had such a good relationship. I am just so happy to hear how that area is doing. Just hearing that is worth 18 months. 

My Birthday was amazing. We went on a long run and then had pancakes for Breakfast. :) It was so cute the, Branch had a little surprise party for me. :) They made me a cake and we played games. It was so fun!! And then Noemnia invited us over and she had made a huge surprise dinner for me. It was so nice! I love Portugal!! 

I don't have much time. But I am just so happy! People are starting to think I am Portuguese. They can tell after a little with my accent that I am not, but I think it is pretty cool. I love you all so much!! Have a great week!!

Com muito amor, Sister Lacey

Já é Junho??

District P-Day

District P-Day

Ola Minha Família!!

Hey guys!! I cannot believe it is already June! I know it is a pretty awesome month for our family! Mom and dads anniversary, Birthdays, schools out. :) 

I gave a talk yesterday about Joseph Smith and the Restoration and I cried. I am so thankful for the Prophet Jospeh Smith and the truths we have today because of what he sacrificed. Just like elder Anderson said in the October General Conference I know that God choose a good and honest man to be the prophet through whom the fullness of Christs Gospel was restored. You all should read that talk so good!

I am also so thankful for Prophets and Apostles that we have on the earth today. I am so thankful for Elder Perry and for his service and love for families. I read his talk from October and he shared my favorite scripture Helaman 5:12. I know that through Christ we truly cannot fall.

We had a really awesome lesson with this woman who has lots of health problems. And she talked about how Gods is punishing her and that she will start having more faith once her sickness is cured. She also talked about her marriage problems she is having because of this sickness and she said if she would rate the importance of her sickness on a scale of 1 to 10 her sickness (being the most important thing) would be a 10 and her marriage a 2. It was really sad to hear. I then testified to her of the importance of marriage and I said that even through trials we can be happy if we turn outward. And I bore my testimony about the Reichmanns and many others in our Stake that through trials turn outward and help lift and bless others. I cried as I told her that is the only way to be happy in this life is to focus on others.

Speaking of this we saw a new Mormon message called ´´Lift´´ it is amazing (Dad could you put it up on the blog) You all have to watch it. It is about a ward of men that provide 7 years of service to a women in their ward. One man said, ´´When you Heal the body it is always an inward effort... When we heal the soul turning inward doesn't work the triage of the soul is found in turning outward to other people.´´ That is what I am learning so much more on my mission. To turn outward. Before the mission I feel like everything was about me. I didn't think much of other people. I have realized that the times I am Happiest on my mission is when I have not focused on myself but on others.

I love this Gospel so much. Brooke and I were talking about our missions and I mentioned this to her too.  The point of repentance and this gospel is not to just be forgiven and become worthy to return to God, but to change into who God can make and he can make us perfect. ´´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.´´ Moroni 7:48. That is why living the Gospel of Christ and everything we do is to become like him. The commandments, our callings, the service we do is not a list of things to do but things we should just do if we are to become like our savior.

I love you all so much!! Have a great week. Seja Feliz!!

Com tanto amor, Sister Lacey