O amor de nosso Pai

Branch Christmas Party

Hey Guys!!

Sorry I will be really quick today. I had a meeting in the mission office about ´´My Plan´´ or what my plan is for after the mission... it is a great program, freaked me out a bit though. haha

We had our ward Christmas party and it was amazing! Man I am going to miss this branch!! I seriously love them so much!

Since we had stake conference last week we had fast and testimony meeting yesterday. The testimonies were amazing. I thought I would share some of what they shared.

The Elders Quorum President was out of work for the month of November. He was out work for a while and was nervous about how he would pay tithing. He said the first week of December when he went back to work to see if there was a job for him hi boss called him into the office and he thought, ´´Oh know this is when I officially get fired.´´ But his boss actually gave him a race which covered for the month he did not work. The Lord helps us keep his commandments if we are willing!

President Sousas daughter is in nursing school and she had a presentation to do on Friday. Well she woke up with the flu. Her dad said she tried her best to prepare it so the Lord would bless her. She went and said she felt completely better and right after she finished she lost all her strength and had to go home early. It was just amazing to here her testimony of The Love God has for us.

A 12 year old in the Branch talked about the Holy Ghost, and how we really do receive promptings from the Holy Ghost. He said he was at swim practice and could not find his glasses and he had the feeling to look into his backpack he said he looked in other places first and then remembered the prompting and found them.

I love these testimonies so much! They are so simple but just prove the great love our Heavenly Father has for us!! He is concerned with every accept of our lifes. And the church is strong here! The youth the adults everyone! It is amazing!! This work will continue to go forth. I am literally heart broken knowing I have to leave. I just cried at the meeting today but I know that they will all be fine. They all have their own testimonies.

I love you all so much!!

Com tanto amor, Sister Lacey

Fé no Senhor

Sister Lacey got to see her great friends Silvana and Lucas
at Stake Conference in Lisbon yesterday (12/6/15)

Lisbon, Portugal - 12/7/16

Lisbon

Ola Minha Família!! 

Hey guys! I am so sorry to hear about the shooting. It is such a comfort to know that God has a perfect plan and that all will be made right through Jesus Christ. I am so thankful for the knowledge we have that families are forever! And that we truly have a Father in Heaven who loves us! 

I am seriously so happy to say that on Saturday we has the ground breaking of the temple here in Portugal! I am so happy for the people here! They have waited so long! Awe I cant even explain how happy I am!

We had Stake Conference this weekend and guess who is in the stake? Silvana and Lucas! It was so great to see them! Lucas sang in the choir and guess what... He got the Melchizedek priesthood! It was seriously so amazing to hear his name be called and to see him stand up with a big smile on his face!  

As you guys can see from the pictures Portugal is amazing!! I just love it! We had such a fun day! All of the buildings are different colors with red tile roofs and the the calçada (cobblestone)!! Awe I just love it here! 

I have been studying and thinking a lot about faith. I read in Elder Anderson's talk, ´´Faith is not by Chance but a Choice´´. I loved it! In it he said, ´´Your faith is either growing stronger or weaker.´´ I have been thinking about the things I can do to strength my faith in Christ. I am sad to say I still haven't finished memorizing the Living Christ in Portuguese yet but that is something I will do to help keep me more focused on the Savior. I would like to invite you guys to begin memorizing the living Christ. There is something so powerful about the words of the Apostles as they testify of Christ! 

I have also been pondering about the great importance of our pre-mortal life. There we had faith in Christ, we choose to follow Gods plan, which is centralized in his Son. We sustained him as our Savior! Even before he was ever born, and before we were. We had faith in him then! Elder Anderson said,´´ My dear friends, your faith did not begin at birth, and it will not end at at death. Faith is a choice. Strengthen your faith... as you do I promise you that your faith, through the grace of Jesus Christ will one day allow you to stand with those you love, clean and pure in the presence of God.´´ I love this gospel!! Christ is the hope of this world! He will win! We will win! 

Eu vos amo verdadeiramente!! Nunca Esqueçam o amor que Cristo tem por voces! 

Com tanto amor, Sister Lacey

O nosso Pai Celestial

Thanksgiving dinner

Thanksgiving dinner

Presidente Sousas Birthday Surprise

Presidente Sousas Birthday Surprise

Presidente Sousas Birthday Surprise

Ola minha Família,

Hey guys!! I hope you all had a great thanksgiving! It sounds like you did. I am not going to lie I was kind of scared that I was not going to celebrate it this year because my companion is from Canada haha but we ended up celebrating it after district meeting. It was so fun!! I will send pictures. 

So I am going to start out with a funny story. We were eating with Família Bernardo and Tiago was talking about how he plays the guitar. Well Sister Selk and I said at the same time, ´´Quero ouvir!´´ (I want to hear). He looked at us with a smirk on his face and said,´´È normal.´´ (that´s normal) I seriously laughed so hard. He seriously just acted like we were such annoying fan girls! Haha 

So for another funny story, I am defiantly getting over my not so touchy feely side. Haha Well the other day we went over to President Louis Sousa's house. We walked in and I started giving his wife and daughters Beijinhos (the kisses on the cheek) well I went straight up to Presidente and almost gave him Beijinhos as well!!! We seriously were all dying!! I laughed so hard. I am pretty Portuguese now. 

We worked a lot this week with Irmã Graziela (the relief society President) she is amazing! She talked about her conversion story. She was baptized 27 years ago. Well the Elders were knocking doors on her street and had the feeling to go to return to her house. They knocked on the door and Bella (tiagos mom) opened it she said her mom wasn't home but that they could come by the next day. When Graziela heard about that she was very mad her daughter and wanted her to send the Elders away when the came by. Well Graziela opened the door and she said they looked like angels with big smiles on their faces so she had a change of heart and invited them in. They talked about how Christs gospel was restored and invited them to read the Book of Mormon. She invited them to come over about a week later. Well turns out she couldn't get enough of the Book of Mormon. Her and Bella where fighting over who would read it next. They found out were the Elders lived and said they wanted to be baptized! Isn't that amazing! 

I love everything about Portugal. The people here are amazing! I just love them! I love everything about this beautiful culture. On Thursday we were doing some contacting and ended up talking to a man who is 95 years old. He was hilarious! We talked about the Plan of Salvation with him and about the love God has for him. He is amazing! I will try sending a video. :) He is wearing a hat that most of the Elderly men here in Portugal wear and one of his friends is wearing a scarf of Benefica, a beloved futebol team. :) 

I just wanted to end my letter for this week and say that I know that our Heavenly Father is perfect and he is loving. I have heard a lot this week that if God exists and if he does love us then why is the world the way it is. Well for me it is simple. Obedience is the first law of Heaven, and guess who also is obedient, perfectly obedient? Our Father in Heaven, he will never ever take away our agency. This world is the way it is because it is a fallen world because men make wrong choices and forget the Lord their God. Everything that is wrong and bad and evil about this world has nothing to do with God and everything that is perfect, good and bright about this world comes from him. In John 3 Christ explains that he is the light of the world and said,´´ 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light,because their deeds were evil.20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light,  neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.21 But he that doeth truth cometh  to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. And he goes on to talk about our loving Father.´´16 ¶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth   in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.´´

This plan is perfect. God is loving and he mourns with the wrong some of his children are doing but he rejoices as we do what his right. 

I love this gospel and that because of the vision that Joseph had of God the Father and his beloved Son Jesus Christ we truly can know of his nature. He loves us! And oh how I love him! 

Eu amo voces!! 

Com tanto amor e carinho, Sister Lacey 

Transfers!!

The Oceanarium in Lisbon Portugal

The Oceanarium in Lisbon Portugal

The Oceanarium in Lisbon Portugal

Package from Sister Brooke Lacey!

Ola Minha Querida família!! 

Hey guys!! Sorry I am on so late, transfers are always crazy. So I am staying here in Vasco de Gama! Sister Anaya got transferred to Setúbal. My new companion is Sister Selk! She is amazing. She is from Canada. We are having fun.

Sorry this will be really short today. I don't have much time. One really cool thing that happened this week was with Antonio. Last Sunday he came to church and the First counselor of the Stake said to help the missionaries in anyway that they can. Well in our next lesson with him he gave us a bag with pineapple cake and some drinks. He said,´´I know this isn't much but I want to help you guys in the Lords work!.´´ Isn't he amazing! 

I love this work sooooo much! I am so happy! I cannot believe I am on my last transfer. I am seriously in shock! I love you all so much! Sorry this is so short. We are so blessed and the Lord loves us so much! 

Eu amo vos tanto!! 

Com tanto amor e carinho, Sister Lacey

Eu Irei e comprarei as ordens do Senhor

Sister Lacey and Sister Anaya

With Antonio

With Melanie

Traditional Portuguese food
(she said it tastes better than it looks)

Ola Minha Querida Família! 

Hey Guys! Thank you so much for all the emails! You are all amazing! We are going to go to the Aquarium today and Lisboa so we got permission to email early. :) I am pretty excited I heard it is one of the best in the world. :) 

This week has been amazing and also really hard! We have been doing a lot of walking to find members and people to teach but the Lord has blessed us! We are seeing miracles everyday! I just love seeing the Lords hand in my life and the life's of others daily! 

About 3 weeks ago we met a couple who recently moved from Brasil we stopped them in the street and they said they were busy and moving houses and we offered to help and they said they were fine. We ended up getting there contact and have been trying to set up appointments with them and finally we had a lesson with them yesterday. The spirit was so strong! They are amazing! They said that they knew there was something different about us and we had something that they needed because we stopped them in the street and offered to help strangers. It was really cool because we didn't think anything of that. They are committed to reading the Book of Mormon! I love this work! 

Antonio is amazing! He has been having family problems and has been struggling a bit but he is probably the most faithful man I have ever met! He has started to read the Book of Mormon everyday from the beginning. He just loved 1 Nephi 3:7 and he said this scripture helped me so much! He said I know I can be baptized because th Lord will prepare the way. In church a young man shared that scripture in hs talk and Antinio just looked at me and smiled! I love this work!! 

We have been trying to meet with less actives and we called Tatiana and turns out her daughter Melanie who is a member recently moved from Cape Verde and we walked to church with her. She is so funny! And it was such a miracle because we need more young women! :) 

 Oh one more think when we were in our lesson with Antonio we had Irma Graziela with us and she said,´´ My life has not been raiser and I am not perfect but the best decision I have ever made was to kneel and ask our Heavenly Father if this was his church, and it is and I have never looked back!´´ She is amazing! I love this work and Our loving Father in Heaven! 

Eu vos amo! 

Com tanto e carinho Amor, Sister Lacey

Over 7,000 views!!

Nossa Natureza Divina

Relief Society President

Primary President 

Halloween Package!

Belem

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Ola minha Querida Família!! 

Ola tudo bem? Com vocês estão! Sento Saudades tuas. 

Hey Guys! This week was amazing! I am not going to lie I am a little tired. It is funny because I thought the mission would be so easy physically because of Cross-Country, but it is pretty tough sometimes. The amazing thing is though that I always have enough energy to finish the day. Sister Anaya and I were talking about this that it is amazing how tired and happy you can be at the same time. 

We started a cool thing in our branch. Sister Anaya and I had the strong impression during weekly planning to start something called ´´missionary minute´´. In this activity the Bishop/ Missionaries prays and picks a member of the ward who will have the responsibility of giving out a Book Of Mormon for the upcoming week. The Next Sunday at the beginning of Sacrament meeting they share for one minute their experience of sharing their testimony and of giving out The Book of Mormon and they choose another member (It can be any member, youth child or adult) who will have the responsibility of giving out The Book of Mormon for the next week and so forth. It is seriously so cool! The spirit is so strong and the members get so excited to see who will be chosen next. One of the members went on a walk everyday for a few days to find someone that the spirit said to give the Book of Mormon to ans another gave it to one of her best friends! It is so cool!  (Dad maybe you guys can start it. :) ) 

I was studying this week in Alma and I was reminded of the Divine nature we have because we are spirit children of a loving Heavenly Father. In Alma 41:10-11 it says, ´´10 Do not suppose, because it has been spoken concerning restoration, that ye shall be  restored from sin to happiness.Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness.

 11 And now, my son, all men that are in a state of nature,or I would say, in a carnal state, are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity; they are without God in the world, and they have gone contrary to the nature of God;therefore, they are in a state contrary to the nature of  happiness.´´

I loved these verses. When we sin we are literally doing something that is contrary to our Fathers will and that makes us unhappy. And it is our Nature to be happy and we can only be happy when we have God with us and to have God with us we have to repent and be obedient. In the scriptures it defines obedience as ´´Walking with God!´´ How cool is that! I know that we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father and we have inherited some of his attributes. 

This week I had one pretty rough day when I just felt really alone. I am missing you guys a lot. Well I remember thinking I just wanted to talk to my family and my mom and dad. Well I remembered that I have  Father that I can talk to and I really am growing in my relationship with him. He is my Father and I love him! This is one of the hardest and my one of my favorite parts about the mission that I cant just talk to you guys when I want. I have to talk to him. I want to invite you guys to really talk to our Heavenly Father this week.

I LOVE YOU ALL!!

Estou tão feliz! Eu vos amo verdadeiramente! Nosso Pai Celestial e Seu filho Jesus Cristo nos amam perfeitamente! 

Com tanto amor, Sister Lacey