A expiação de Jesus Cristo

Ola Minha querida família, 

Hey guys! I hope you all had a good week!! This week has been amazing! I seriously love it here in Vasco de Gama. Are you guys excited for conference? I seriously can´t wait!! 

So I just wanted to let you guys know something. I will not be perfect when I get home. You guys are probably laughing at me right now but I have seriously been worrying that I might come home and not be perfect. Which is ridiculous. I realized that I will not speak Portuguese perfectly, I will still get stressed, and I will still get frustrated with people. 

I have been studying a lot about the Atonement and I just kind of cried to Sister Anaya. I said,´´It is not fair! We shouldn´t get all that Christ has. He was perfect he did everything that the Father asked of him. And I am a brat and don't do everything I should do all the time.´´ The thing is that I cannot win my salvation I cant just work as hard as possible and somehow pay Christ back. It is fair it is merciful and I am so thankful for the Atonement. I love our Savior! I am so thankful for his mercy! 

I seriously love this Branch! We are all having so much fun together! We had two dinners this week and lets just say the food was amazing! One is from Ukraine and we ate this cheese and I will just say that cheeder cheese is NOT cheese! Haha It was really good! 

I love you all so much! I am seriously so happy. And I am making a lot of goals to help me sprint to the finish line! :) 

Com tanto amor, Sister Lacey

O coração quebrantado e o espírito contrito

Hey Guys!! 

So I have some crazy news. Sister Anaya and I got transfered on Wednesday. I am serving now in Vasco de Gama. I am still kind of in shock. 

Well the transfer all went really quickly so I had to just call people to say goodbye. Well after getting off the phone with Dora Gomes and her family I just lost it. Seriously hardest day of my mission. You know after a cross country race when you finish and you bend over and put your hands on your knees because you cant stand up straight? Well that was me I just sobbed. Thankfully we were at the Sister Training leaders house so they just cried with me. 

I also called two of our investigators a single mom and her 17 year old daughter  who we actually hadn't see all last week and when I called them to see how they were they started crying on the phone and said, ´´we have decided that we need to be baptized in Christs church.´´ They received an answer that Book of Mormon is true. They started saying that they knew a long but just were kind of fighting the answer they had received. It was seriously amazing I cried even harder but that was because I was so happy they are getting baptized this Saturday. They were pretty upset I was leaving but they are good friends with Dora and her family and the Elders that are there are awesome! 

So I was struggling a bit and then I got here. I love it! This Branch here is amazing! We had dinner with the Branch President and his family and they said they prayed us here. He said they have been feeling for a while that there needed to be Sisters in Vasco de Gama and they said we are miracle. We literally got welcome calls from all of the leaders and went on visits with the Branch President yesterday. I guess there were Sisters her about 13 years ago and a lot of the members have been praying for sisters again. :) They are so excited when they found out how much time I have on the mission. They said, ´´Ainda bem vais morrer cá.´´ (Thats good you will die here)

Sorry if this email seemed a little negative. I literally know that all of this was part of gods plan. Goodbyes just really stink. I have realized more and more on my mission that I really can do hard things. Sometimes I feel so weak and then after prayer I am fine. It is so simple but I know that my Heavenly Father is listening to me and loves me. 

I love you all so much!! 

Com amor, Sister Lacey

O Dom do Espírito

Ola Minha Familia 

Hey guys! Sorry I don't have much time again today. Sometimes it is pretty hard to find internet cafes. And I cant send pictures in this one. I did hear a rumor that we might be getting I Pads soon though. :) 

This week was amazing! I am just going to share how grateful I am for the Holy Ghost! Today I was studying about the spirit and I read in D&C 8:2-3 says, ``2 Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart.

 3 Now, behold, this is the spirit of revelation; behold, this is the spirit by which Moses brought the children of Israel through the Red Sea on dry ground.´´ 

I just thought how amazing that is! That the same spirit that led Moses is leading us today as we keep our covenants with the Lord. He truly is are best friend and guide. It is amazing how much the spirit works through me sometimes. It can be little thinks like we should go knock this building or you shouldn't go there. But also it is big things like testifying to us that Christ is our Savior and That the Book of Mormon is true. I also know that anyone who reads the Book of Mormon can know of its truthfulness. I want every family to have this book! :)

We are so blessed!! I love you all so much!! I pray for you always! 

I know this church is true! I know God Hears and answers are prayers! I LOVE YOU ALL!! This is Christs church! 

Com Amor, Sister Lacey 

A verdade claro como luz

Ola Minha família querida!! 

Hey guys! This week has been amazing here in Vila Franca de Xira. Sister Anaya and I are having so much fun together. She is amazing! We have literally been seeing so much miracles. 

President challenged all of the missionaries in the mission to do 20 contactos a day. It is literally amazing how many people we are finding. We are literally ´´tracking people down´´. It reminds me of Jermias 16:16´´Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord,and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain,and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.´´ we are those hunters! We have found 3 different families from 3 different countries (Australia, Brasil and Angola) this week. This was all because we trusted in Presidente Tavares and he trusted in Elder Ballard who received revelation from the Lord. 

We were knocking doors on Thursday and we found a guy from Australia. It is pretty weird teaching in English but it also pretty cool. He said he doesn't believe in God but he wants to believe and he is praying and reading the Book of Mormon to find out the truth. After we taught the Restoration he said something interesting he said,´´This church is either not true or it is completely from God and is Christs church.´´ When he heard that The Book of Mormon only has 365 pages he said, ´´Seriously I can finish this in a few days!´´ 

I have been thinking a lot about the Atonement and I am beginning to understand it so much more. It is a really weird feeling but on your mission you are probably the best person you have ever been but you sometimes feel like the worst. Sometimes I feel like other peoples salvation is weighing on me. We watched a video in Zone conference and Elder Holland said, ´´It seems to me that missionaries and mission leaders have to spend at least a few moments in Gethsemane...Now, please don’t misunderstand. I’m not talking about anything   anywhere near what Christ experienced... But I believe that missionaries to   come to salvation, to know something of this price that has been paid,  will have to pay a token of that same price. You have reason to stand  tall and be grateful that the Living Son of the Living God knows all  about your sorrows and afflictions.`` I am so thankful for The Atoning sacrifice of Christ.

I can literally feel my nature changing. I am becoming better. I bore my testimony in our little Branch and I just wept out of love for them. I shared how I know Heavenly Father loves us because when I have his spirit I am caring and worrying about others. I have been writing experiences in my journal form the past when I really had a confirmation that these things are true and one thing that I wrote down was about us one night after reading The Book of Mormon we began talking about Heavenly Father and how much he loves us. I remember we went on for hours and it was a school night. :) I am sure he just smiled and wept as he heard us talk for hours about how much we love him.  I am so thankful for this gospel. I know it is true! I love you all so much!! 

Eu amo voces tanto!! 

Com mutio amor, Sister Lacey