O Casa Do Senhor!

A visit to Villa Franca de Xira for the baptisms!

Dora Gomes and her family

A typical little car you see in Portugal

Hey Guys!! 

So guess what!! They are starting the construction on the temple on the 5th of December!!!! I got the text and Sister Anaya and I cried and then screamed and then we started dancing. Haha We did get some funny looks. 

I will be quick today but this week was great! It kind of scares me how fast it is going. Antonio is doing really good. He is seriously so amazing! He is still aving family problems but he just said, ´´Sisters I cant sleep at night. All I do is think about baptism, baptsm is my first priority.´´ He said that if his family was supporting him he would have been baptized right after General Conference. :) He is amazing! 

The Baptism in Vila Franca was so cool! The Lord truly is preparing people. I think that is my favorite thing about the mission that Lord truly loves each one of us and he wants us to return to him. I get to be a special witness of the Great love he has for us. 

I love you all so much!! 

Com amor, Sister Lacey

O Plano Perfeito

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Ola Minha querida família!! 

Hey guys!! This week was amazing!! I seriously love the Branch! We have so much fun with them. We visited three families from the Branch last night and we seriosuly all laughed so hard! Tiago and Bianca are Irmão Sergios kids (The Mission leader). They are so funny! Tiago is really skinny and they were joking around with him and saying he is lucky because when it rains he cant even get wet because he is so small! Haha 

Our friend from Africa Antonio is doing great! It was amazing because Sister Anaya and I had the strongest impression to talk to him about his family and it turns out that is what is holding him back. He is going to be talking to his wife but the Church and that he knows it is Christs Church. She is still in Africa and so he wants her support.

We had another lesson with Jessica. She is seriously amazing! We taught the plan of salvation and tears came into her eyes as we talked about the spirit world and that the gospel will be preach there. She said,´´I never learned that before! Gods plan is so perfect!´´ The spirit was so strong! I testified that his plan is perfect and it was designed so that everyone of his children could have the chance to return to him. :) 

I loved my Ponderize this week!! Truly I am so happy! We are so blessed both spiritually and materially as we keep the commandments. They are not restrictions but steps to help guide us safely home!

I love you all so much!! 

Com tanto amor, Sister Lacey

Montijo!!

Ola Todos!! 

Hey guys! So I am staying here in Montijo with Sister Anaya! We are seriously so excited! I am loving it here. 

This week was amazing! We have been meeting more with Alfredo (the man who came to General Conference and loved it. :) ) and we had a lesson with him and it was amazing. He said, ´´Sisters I am sad, Christs Church does not exist where I am from.´´ He is only going to be in Portugal for a few months because of health problems and then he will go back to a little country in Africa. He said that he knows the Church is true but he would be the only member there. He is seriously amazing! We had a lesson with him and our Branch Presidente and he said that there only needs to be one person to start the church in another part of the world. :) 

We had another awesome experience. We have been looking through teaching records to try to find more people to teach and we went on a bus to an area about 20 minutes away and starting working there. We were not having much luck but on the last person we had on the list, a lady opened the door, who was not the lady we were looking for, well actually she was because she is so prepared. We left a Book of Mormon with her and then went back on Tuesday. She is amazing! She said,´´I have reach the point in my life were all I want to do is become closer to God.´´ We taught her about the Restoration of The Gospel of Jesus Christ and she literally had tears in her eyes! She has been sooo prepared by Heavenly Father!

I know this church is true. I am so thankful for the Commandments and the straight and narrow way we need to follow. My scripture to Ponderize this week is Mosiah 2:41,´´ 41 And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that 

there by they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.´´

I love you all so much! Keep on doing what is right and follow the promptings of the spirit!! 

Com tanto amor, Sister Lacey

O Casamento

Surprising Silvana at her wedding

They became very close while Sister Lacey was serving in Setubal 

What a sweet moment

Forever Friends

With the lovely couple

Other friends from Setubal

Other friends from Setubal

Lisbon

Their apartment! :-0 I didn't have any apartments like this
on my mission in Pennsylvania :-)

Another shot of the apartment

She found trail mix

Mission Leader and son

Boat ride to Lisbon

Ola minha querida família!! 

Hey guys!! This week was amazing! And lets just say fall finally arrived here in Portugal! It is raining so much!! I do kind of like it though. 

Well Saturday was seriously amazing!! I got permission to go to Silvana´s and Lucas wedding! She walked down the isle and he literally starting bawling and then everyone started crying! I didn't tell them I was going so they were completely surprised to see me. Lucas got so excited and almost gave me Beijinhos (A kiss on the cheek) We all laughed so hard! It was amazing just see how much they have changed! The gospel changes families. 

Her parents spoke at the wedding and her dad just cried saying how proud he is of her. The spirit was so strong there! It was amazing that I was able to be there and see all of that and to be able to see how much the Lord prepared them! They are so excited to go to the  temple to be sealed as a family next year! 

From all of this and conference I was just thinking about my mission and how blessed I am to see God working all of these miracles. I feel like Ammon in the Book of Mormon when he said, ´´ Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever... Yea, we have reason to praise him forever, for he is the Most High God...  Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.´´

My heart is so full! We had a wonderful lesson this week with a man from Africa and he is also so prepared. He bore is testimony about the love he has for our Heavenly Father and he said, ´´I just know that God is our Father!´´ We focused a lot on the Book of Mormon and he is reading and he believes it is true because he is feeling it. We explained that the way he feels when he is thinking about God that peace he feels is the spirit and he will feel that when he is reading The Book of Mormon. He went to Conference yesterday and said,´´Eu gostei bastante.´´ (I like that a lot)

I also just loved conference! We are so blessed! Christs church is all centered on families. That is the way it was established from the beginning. I am so thankful for prophets and apostles. I know they are men of God. The Gospel is simple and perfect it is Christs and The Church is Gods kingdom on the earth and it is growing and it will fill the whole Earth as prophesied! 

I love you all so much!!