There Can Be Miracles

So this christmas is by FAR my favorite :) can I say that? First off I got to skype with you family!!! 

Sorry, I really didnt know what to say when I was talking to most of you haha in reality it feels like I just saw yall, & I thought of everything I wanted to say after I got off -_-

Have to be better about that next year! 

But this week was a week of miracles HONESTLY. 

We tried to get O excited to be baptized but hes still having some difficulty, on the other hand we did have a baptism! The nephew of our ward mission leader, W. 

Hes 23 but he has a mental handicap that makes his mental age that of a 10 or 12 year old. and SERIOUSLY the sweetest kid youll ever meet. He talked to me & Sis S & told us he wants to be a missionary  & wants to be baptized! So we immediately started teaching him! 

A few problems cropped up (his grandma is SUPER catholic but gave permission for him to be baptized) then when we tried to have her sign the form she tells us she cant read or write so M (ward mission leader) signed for her. But everything got squared away and we had his baptism 2 days after Christmas. 

Sis S asked him to bear his testimony have he was confirmed and he gave the sweetest simplest testimony Ive ever heard. He said he felt "better" & "that this is the right place. The church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints". We ended by singing Families can be Together Forever & I cried like a baby. 

MIRACLE#1

Then yesterday, I had a prompting to go over to O to teach him, but he wasnt home. I felt a lil put off but noticed a couple unloading stuff from a car across the street. Sis S told me maybe we needed to talk to them. Started talking to the woman, Va, & found out her mother, grandma & great grandma are members! And that her great grandma was one of the 1st members in brazil! Va is catholic & at the beginning seemed pretty firm while she was talking to us, but in the end she told us that we were the 3rd set of missionaries that she found & that it must be God telling her something. She said shes usually super busy but agreed to mark a day for us to talk to her & she said shed read the book of mormon!!!

#MIRACLE2

There are so many other little ones that happened this week, but I wanted to bear you my testimony that miracles are STILL happening now. They havent ceased!!! Maybe theyre small, maybe theyre not what youre expecting, maybe you dont even notice, but miracles are still happening among us. It could be a green light when youre late for work, the last ticket to a movie you REALLY want to see, or a free parking space at the front of a store when youre superrrr tired & sore.

Miracles, yall! They exist! They didnt die out after Christ was ressurected. They didnt stop after Peter James and John ministered after Christs death. Theyre still happening! If you look hard enough, miracles are even in the form of people we meet, and our family members.

Love yall so much!!

xo

Sister VerHoef

btw, these 2 pics are of the baptism of W, and my attempt at making brazilian bbq (churrasco) :) 

Merry Christmas Darling

we're apart thats true

but I can dream & in my dreams

Im christmas-ing with you

Holidays are joyful

Theres always something new

but everydays a holiday

When Im near to you

Okay okay enough of that! Merry Christmas! one & all! :) Transfers were this week & I have a new comp! New comp, same area. Her name is Sister S from Conneticut! I GOT AN AMERICAN FOR CHRISTMAS!!!! 

*fist pump* YES! haha

 so much happened this week honestly dont know where to begin. Maybe at the Christmas conference with Pres & Sis G. It was AMAZING! Sis G prepared a banquet for us with our own lil stockings and Pres G gave a talk that literally changed my perspective on missionary work! It was fantastic! 

Even better, we get to have dinner with them Christmas Eve :) Okay, can I just say Heavenly Father has spoiled me rotten this transfer? Dont know what I did to deserve it!

Me & Sis S have been workin super hard too. Remember Osvaldo? We marked his baptism yesterday for Christmas Eve too :) Pray SUPER hard he feels ready. He has a testimony of Joseph Smith & the Book of Mormon but he keeps saying his faith is weak & he needs more time. But I know for a fact that his wife is waiting for him to do her work on the other side of the veil. 

My only Christmas present I want is to baptize this amazing man! Pray it happens, guys!!! Seriously! 

Anyway, other than that this week has been pretty fantastic. Me & Sis S sang in Sacrament yesterday & we had a pretty funny story that happened to us.

We were "knocking" at doors yesterday & came across a woman sitting in her front porch so we said (in portuguese obviously)

"Hi! Were missionaries & we have a special message for you!"

.......

*blank stare*

"What?"

"Were missionaries from the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints and--"

"Im tired..."

"Oh okay, another day can we stop by and--?"

she starts walking towards the door & closes the door without another word.

me & Sis S could not stop laughing the rest of the day! oh the people you find here in Londrina.... definitely the highlight of our week. 

Anyway, I hope yall have gotten my letters & I hope in the hustle & bustle of this amazing time of year yall remember the true meaning of Christmas. Remember to "look for Christ outside of tinsel and Christmas lights & remember Christmas like the kingdom of God is within you"

Ive just one wish on this Christmas Eve

I wish I were with you

I wish I were with you

Merry Christmas darlings!!

xo

Sister VerHoef

Everything

Well this week went by like a hurricane! transfers are today, pretty sure Im staying in Centro Civico for another 6 weeks but I'll be having a new comp! Sis C is being transfered to Prudente... NO idea where the heck that is, but its super far away. 

Have a lot of things going on this week, in addition to a christmas conference with Pres & Sis G, so this'll be an awesome week for us, Im thinking! :) 

Have to share a funny story with yall before I forget. So me & Sis C were in Irmao M's car, he was driving us to someplace, cant remember, and he was giving us advice on how to help a woman were teaching quit smoking. My comp asked, "Wow Irmao! Did you have problems smoking??"

And he said he had problems with cerveja which is beer in portuguese. Though, I heard sorvete which is icecream. They sound SUPER similar to each other, right? So I pipe in and say, "Oh yeah, I do too Irmao M! Im addicted! Sorvete is a big problem for me!"

.....

The entire care went quiet because they thought I was talking about beer.... until I said icecream...

Eruption of laughter! Yeah, not my finest moment, but hey. Maybe my calling here is to bring the brasileros comic relief right? 

Now to the spiritual stuff! :)

Osvaldo came to church this sunday! And I was unbelievably happy. Seriously the sweetest man youll ever meet. During Sacrament I was sitting and praying while they were passing the sacrament & felt an overwhelming sense of love for him & for some of the other people in the ward whove been struggling with their testimonies. 

I prayed fervently all through the meeting that Osvaldo would know that this is the true Church of Jesus Christ, that he would find the same happiness I have. Even in the hardest times, I know that theres no other place we can find unequivocal happiness or joy except through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Tears streamed down my face as I prayed to Heavenly Father that I would give everything and anything for Osvaldo to be happy. 

Which reminded me of a song Everything

& how can I stand here with you

& not be moved by you?

Would you tell me how could it be

Any better than this? 

Cause youre all I want

Youre all I need

Youre everything

Yes its a romantic song, but I think it applies to the gospel hands down. 

This gospel is everything, everything Nothing is better than the peace & joy that Ive found in this gospel. And thats exactly why Im here to bring this same happiness to the people in brazil. To give them everything

Lights

Hello my wonderful family & friends!!! 

This week has been... in a word... otimo! maravilhosa! serio, não tenho as palavras para explicar e expressar como o Senhor me abençoar. 

:) 

Its been a wonderful & hard week all over again & I couldnt be happier. Ive actually been doing a lot of thinking and pondering about lights. 

Last Pday me & Sis C went into Centro to buy a few things (actually she bought a few things while I stood around looking at stuff haha yall know how much Im NOT a shopper in the slightest) but in the end we bought a christmas tree because I really needed it. I bought the smallest one the store had, along with a set of christmas lights and plastic bells. 

Every night for the past week after nightly planning is over, and Sis C takes a shower, I sit in our little study room and plug in our christmas tree and listen to Mannheim Steamroller's Stille Nacht while reading Luke 1 and D&C. 

As I sat there and watch the lights flicker across the pictures of the grandkids at christmas & the picture of all of you at the family history center Ive never felt so at peace. 

Theres a scripture in Doctrine & Covenants thats really had an effect on me. D&C 67:9

and that which is righteous cometh down from above, from the Father of^blights.

Wow.... did yall catch that? the Father of lights. I stopped midsentence as I read this. I felt the gentle, warmth of the Spirit wash over me as the violins playing silent night played, & our little christmas tree lit our room with a romantic light. 

The connection between our Father in Heaven & our Savior & lights is an analogy that never gets old for me. 

Son of God loves pure light

Radiant beams from thy holy face

With the dawn of redeeming grace

That which is of God is ^alight; and he that ^breceiveth ^clight, and^dcontinueth in God, receiveth more ^elight; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.

 25 And again, verily I say unto you, and I say it that you may know the ^atruth, that you may chase darkness from among you;

Remember the declaration our savior made? I am the light of the world. 

So family, friends, as you listen to Stille Nacht, and watch the lights of your Christmas trees, remember our Redeemer. Remember our Father of Lights. And know that Im doing the same thing, not so far away from you. 

I love you all so very much. Merry Christmas.

xo

Sister VerHoef

Calls Me Home

So this week was marvelous. Boy I hope I spelled that right.... my english professors would skin me alive if they saw the spelling & grammatical errors in my journal.

Oh well! hashtag-missionlanguageproblems bahaha

To start off with, we had a mission tour this past thursday! with Elder Costa of the 70! The area prez in brazil. This was Pres & Sis Genaros first mission tour so naturally they put the fear of God in us to be dressed to the nines & be there early AND be on our best behavior.

The morning of, I remembered everything.... everything.... except my plaque! The most important thing for a MISSION tour & I forget my PLAQUE!!! ugh!! couldve sworn if I could! Well, actually probably not, but I certainly was NOT happy. Luckily Sis Cassiano called the secretaries & they picked up an extra plaque for me to wear. So for a day, I was Sister Silva from Sao Paulo brazil.... you can imagine me shaking Elder Costas hand trying to cover my false plaque with my hair, tilting my head and saying 

"Im Sister VerHoef from the United States.... BYE!"

Ugh so awful.Sis Genaro probably wouldve killed me but all went well. It really was an amazing conference, and we had a better week. Renewed & revved to go as far as missionary work goes. 

At the end of the conference we sang our missionary song, all 180 missionaries in the Londrina mission. It was INCREDIBLE. Theres a part of the song that goes: Missão Brasil Londrina, nosso lar. which translates to Brazil Londrina Mission, our home. I couldnt even get through the first syllables without choking up. And seeing Sis Genaro cry & Pres Genaro get emotional, all 180 were in tears by the end of the song. And I knew in that moment that for the next 14 months... this is home. Londrina, Brasil is home. 

And this sunday was especially amazing. I was feeling super frustrated because NONE of our 10 investigators made it to church, and since it was fast sunday we had a class, all of the members together for the first hour. We were talking about family history and me & sister cassiano sat next to an older lady in the ward, Irma Aurora. Shes SERIOUSLY the sweetest, kindest dearest woman youll ever meet. As we sat next to her, she took my hand in her frail hand and kissed the back of it & smiled at me. 

In that moment the sweetest feeling ever came over me & I started to cry. I was overcome by an immense love & I suddenly remembered Grandma & the day we did her baptism & confirmation in the temple a year after she passed away. I felt super strongly that she had accepted the gospel on the other side of the veil. And I suddenly didnt feel dispondent anymore. 

I suddenly felt like even though we had no investigators progressing & no baptisms, our work wasnt a waste. 

Im so immensly grateful for this gospel, & for the knowledge that our familes are eternal. I love you all so very much!!!

xoxo

Sister VerHoef