Wednesday, December 2, 2015

The Christmas Bells are Ringing

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL EMMA!!!!! Man she’s growing up so fast!!! I hope all of your weeks were as good as mine because mine was pretty good!!
My week started out pretty great!! We reached our weekly goals really fast in the week which was really unusual...It took me by surprise but this week we saw the Hand of God in the work. So we had been planning to have a `Night of Pancakes` for about a week now so all week we’ve been planning and prepping for that night so we really didn’t have much time to work. But again, the Lord works with the time that we have. HUGE TESTIMONY OF THIS!!! We were re-looking at our goals for the week and then adding the numbers up for the month and realized that we were still lacking in a few spots. Well now being the STL here on the Madeira, I get to go stand in front of all the leaders and talk about our numbers and why we were below standard. Well we decided this week that we were going to do everything in our power to reach the month’s goal so we could reach Presidents standard. So on Thursday we decided to fast. We made a HUGE Thanksgiving meal, which was awesome! I made mashed potatoes; we had chicken, lots of vegetables, bread, and a mousse for desert! It was awesome!! Gotta love having 4 sisters so we can all cook! So we feasted really well on Thursday! We even had left over’s for the Elders to eat too! It was fantastic! Can’t beat having Thanksgiving on an Island, that’s for sure!! But anyway, after that meal, we started our fast. MIRACLES HAPPEN!!! We really didn’t have much time in between Weekly Planning, Activity on Saturday, Branch Council, and Correlecao da obra missionaria (i can´t remember what it’s called in English...). But we ended up almost making all of our goals for the month! It was incredible to see the Hand of the Lord so close in the work. We worked until the very last minute or every day. It felt so good to work as hard as we did. The Lord is in EVERY aspect of the work; there is no denying it.
So I thought that today I would be flying to Porto for Mission Council but turns out I’ll be flying this next week and starting the divisions with the other sisters. Not going to lie, I’m super nervous to do everything. I look up to presidente a lot and the fact that he called me is something. I think I’m the youngest STL and here in 2 transfers all of them will be gone. I still have this transfer and 4 more. I also think I’m the youngest of the Leaders. I’m excited but also REALLY nervous. President expects a lot of his missionaries. He recently gave us this packet of stuff to see where we are teaching wise. We teach alone and 3 people will evaluate how you did, and then give you numbers. He also created a packet of monthly progresso to see what you did that month, like how many activities did the missionaries do, how many contacts a day, what bold thing did you do, etc. He expects a lot out of us.  `Through the ashes of disaster grow the flowers of success. ` -Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
I was Reading at the end of Alma about captain Moroni and all of you know that the stripling warriors and captain Moroni are some of my favorite stories. We can learn so much. What I loved about Moroni was that he never stopped preparing and strengthening his cities. He was always improving and with every battle he had a new tactic of defense. It’s the same today! We can’t let our defense weaken or Satan will win. The mission is like that. We can’t let our defense down or we become less obediente or less aware of the spirit. It’s so importante that we keep the Armor of God strong and polished. I love the example of Moroni so much!! I love the mission! I love you all so much!! I’m learning and growing so much. I can’t believe how fast it goes. I love these people so much and this Island is my favorite place ever.

Sister Hillam

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